Reverse Confetti February Sketch Challenge

Hello and welcome everyone..

I just recently received my very first order of Reverse Confetti stamps and I have to tell you...they are SO cute!

Therefore... I am finally able to participate in the monthly sketch challenge at Reverse Confetti.

Here is the sketch for February. I know that I am cutting it close but I am still in time.  :)

I am using that simply adorable stamp set called Cured. Those little piggies are just so cute. And the fact that I live on a small farm and hope to keep pigs one day...well...it was meant to be.

I started with a standard A2 white top folded card and added a panel of pattern paper from my scrap bin. A layer of white cardstock over top cut with a stitching die followed and then another smaller strip of pattern paper and a scalloped circle.

I stamped the piggies on a scrap of pink pattern paper, coloured up their toes and nose and then fussy cut them out. (Alas, I do not own the coordinating dies as yet). I popped them up for a bit of dimension and then added the sentiment on a hand cut banner with a twine tied button.

And there you have it. I know that I am going to love using these stamps. I simply cannot believe their cuteness!

I will also be entering this card in the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge for this week.

Thanks for stopping by to visit and leave me your comments. Cheers.

~  Melanie ~

PTI February 2017 Blog Hop

Hello everyone and welcome.

Today is the day of the February 2017 Papertrey Ink Blog Hop and I am very happy to be participating in it.

The inspiration photo is shown below. Quite a challenge for me as these colours are a bit outside my comfort zone. I am much more of a pastel lover.

So sorry to be slow to get this posted but I lost my internet connection for most of the morning.

Also, I want to apologize for the photo quality. It is such a miserable day here in Ontario. We are in the midst of a melt-down with buckets of pouring rain for the last few days. We had so much snow and now it is all melting away. The problem is that it makes it very difficult for me to get a good photo.



In keeping with my idea to try to combine my two loves of needlework and papercrafting I came up with the idea of recreating a piece of a crazy quilt. The older ones most especially used these deep rich colours.

Found a few suitable pieces of cardstock and pattern paper in my stash and set about to create the "crazy" part.

Stitching on a crazy quilt can be in a number of colours and I choose gold in keeping with the photo. Then I began the hunt to find suitable stamps to use.  I have used quite a lot of sets for this project but I think that they all worked quite well.

I have used Framed Out #9, Tag Its #2, Sew Simple Borders, Stitches & Swirls, Harvest Berries, Rustic Wreath, Stitched Sentiments and Simply Jane. I found small images from all these sets that worked well as the stitching lines.

For the sentiment I chose Banner Sentiments and used the coordinating die to cut it out. It is stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black on vellum.

I have added a few little touches here and there such as the metal butterfly with a crystal and also crystals on the three blossoms to represent the gems in the photo. 

So there you have it. I cannot wait to visit all the other blog sites so I can ooh and aah at the amazing work of all the other ladies.

Thanks so very much for stopping by and leaving me your comments. I read them all and very much appreciate you taking the time. Cheers.

~ Melanie ~

Papertrey Ink 2012 Challenge

Well, I am back with a card for 2012 but it is getting late and I am running out of gas for tonight. Not sure if I will manage to get anything else done but at least I have done 6 out of 10 so far.

My favourite set from 2012 was Embroidered Blooms. I have used it along with another of my favourite sets, Stitched Sentiments.

This is a white A2 single layer card. That is a hard thing for me to do but I am up against the clock. And again, I do apologize for the night time photo quality.

I was trying to create the idea of a piece of embroidery using the blooms and leaves and then the words "for you" inside the embroidery hoop with the needle and floss.

Extremely simple. Memento inks used throughout.

Thanks so much for stopping by to visit. Cheers.

 ~ Melanie ~

Papertrey Ink 2011 Challenge

And so we arrive at 2011.

You will likely by now have noticed a bit of a theme in my cards. 

Much as I love doing all sorts of paper arts...my first love has always been needlework. I learned to embroidery at my Grandpa's knee. He taught all the women in the family. He had the patience of a saint and he was SO skilled with a needle. Grandpa had fought in WWI and lost both his legs in the battle of Ypres. After he recovered from the war he discovered a love of gardening and needlework...both of which he passed on to me.

I do not know why it had not really occurred to me in the past to try to combine these two loves but I am doing so now. Another passion of mine is collecting vintage linens. And that brings us to this card for 2011. And yes, it is my first Christmas card for this year. Nothing like getting a jump on things.

And...I must apologize for the quality of this photo. It was taken at night and I am not really set up for shooting photos at night but needs must so I had to.

I have used the poinsettia stamp from the Year of Flowers Collection and sort of recreated a vintage Christmas tablecloth. I have used a Spellbinders die to create the fancy edge along the bottom that does remind me of a beautiful cutwork tablecloth. 

The poinsettias are stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and coloured up with Copics. I added the tiny little green dots clusters from the Harvest Berries stamp set and the sentiment is from the Holiday Wishes set.

I will be back shortly with a card for 2012. Cheers.

~ Melanie ~

Papertrey Ink 2010 Challenge

Moving on to 2010.

One of my most favourite stamp sets is from this year, called Love Lives Here.

It is just such a sweet set and can be used for all sorts of cards.

I started with an A2 card and my whole card idea came from the scrap of pattern paper on the left side of the card.

I used Stitches & Swirls to stamp the small leaf clusters on the right side of the card in red and then added the red gingham ribbon to separate the two.

I have used the Tag Sale 4 die to cut out some beige cardstock which I then aged with Tea Dye Distress Ink and tied up with the same ribbon.

I used the die of the little house (so sweet) and cut it out three times. I stamped it with red and green ink and then layered them up for some dimension.

Sentiment at the bottom in Memento Tuxedo Black ink.

Back soon.

~ Melanie ~ 

Papertrey Ink 2009 Challenge

Hello again...moving on to 2009.

I have used the In Bloom stamp set and coordinating dies.

My card is extremely simple. I have used a white A2 card, matted a rosy pink and then a second white mat run through the Swiss Dot embossing folder.

On this I have layered the large flower and two leaf sprays. I stamped them with Versamark ink on vellum and embossed in white. I coloured on the reverse side with Copics.

As I said, very very simple.

Moving on to 2010. I am scrambling to get these cards finished and posted by the deadline.  :(

~ Melanie ~

Papertrey Ink 2008 Challenge

Hello again. I am back with my card for the 2008 challenge.

My favourite stamp set from 2008 was Bitty Baby Blessings. I just love it. If you only buy one "baby" card set, let it be this one. I have used it over and over again and never get tired of it.

White A2 card layered with pattern paper from my scrap bucket. I have used a MFT  Basic Stitch Lines die to cut stitch lines all the way around the paper. 

The focal image is that adorable little onesie popped up on a circle and a scalloped mat. 

I have used the Wonderful Words Baby die, cut out in white three times and layered for some dimension. The sentiment is from the Bitty Baby Blessings set, stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black. I finished off with a simple white ribbon.

Thanks so much for visiting. Back shortly with 2009. Cheers.

~ Melanie ~

Papertrey Ink 2007 Challenge

Good Evening everyone...

I am trying hard to play catch up with all the Papertrey Ink challenges for their 10th anniversary. We have been dealing with the aftermath of a huge snowstorm that hit us here in Ontario, the Canadian Maritimes and no doubt a large area of the eastern US as well. Thankfully one of our neighbours came over with his massive tractor and plowed us out. 

Enough about the weather....back to card making.  :)

CELEBRATING THE PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE: 2007

This first card that I have made is to celebrate 2007, the first year that Papertrey Ink was in business. 

I have chosen to use the Spiral Bouquet stamp set from that year, along with Sew Simple Borders.

Very simple card, white A2 with rounded corners.

I stamped one of the tiny leaf sprigs all over and then added some cardstock cut in chevrons or zig zags or rick rack...whatever you like to call it. I stamped the little cross-stitch along the side  and then added the sentiment and the three focal flowers. Other than the zig zags, this is a one layer card so easy to mail. All inks used are Memento.

I will be back shortly with my card for 2008.

I am also entering this card in the Double D Zig Zag Challenge.

Thanks for dropping by. Cheers.

 ~ Melanie ~

PTI Favourite

Hello again everyone,

I cannot believe that I am managing to get in two posts today but there you have it.

After posting my card for the Make it Monday challenge I stopped for a few minutes to read the new blog post about this years design team. They are all amazing designers and I cannot wait to see what they all come up with.

Celebrating the Past, Present and Future: Favorites

The celebrations have begun for Papertrey Ink's 10th anniversary. We have been asked to post a picture of a project of which we are most proud. That was easy for me.

I have long been a fan of Betsy Veldman's wonderful card making, her tremendous kits and her unique vintage style. 

I also absolutely adore Tiny Town. I have posted this photo before on my blog but it is something of which I am quite proud. I made a house for friends as a Christmas gift this year. They live in a log home that they built themselves. I used the Tiny Town dies to make them a wee little version of their own house. It took me forever to cut out all the little logs and stick them on but I loved doing it. After all the construction was complete, the entire house got a Christmassy coating of fine glitter. 

So, here it is. Thanks Betsy for making this possible. You're a peach!

That is all for me for today. Thanks very much for stopping by. Have a great weekend. Cheers.

~ Melanie ~ 

PTI Make it Monday 275

Hello everyone,

I have a card to share today that I made for the Make it Monday challenge. As you can see, today is Friday. I have been a tad busy. 

I live in eastern Ontario, Canada. We got walloped at the beginning of this week by a wicked ice storm. The worst part is the fact that our whole property which is way out in the country is one big skating rink right now as you can see from these photos. Can you see the sun glinting off the ice? It is lethal I tell you. I have slipped so many times and today down I went. Gonna be a bruise, I feel sure of it.  :(

 I have been spending my time digging through the ice which is about 1" thick trying to make pathways to get to my chicken coop, the wood pile, etc. Actually as I dig out a big hunk I send it flying over the frozen landscape to see how far it will travel. Sort of a lunatics' version of curling. Hehe. So no time to make cards until today and that was a stretch.

I have to say that I really liked Amy's challenge. It made me look at ALL my PTI stamp sets with fresh eyes. I found little wee images that I did not even know were there.

Here is Amy's terrific inspiration card. 



I have chosen to make a baby card. I had it all thought out in my head and it almost worked. What did not work in my opinion is I have used way too many dangles. I am not happy with it but as there is more ice to clear I did not really have the time to do it over again. Such is life.

Basic A2 white card with a side fold to which I added a strip of pattern paper top and bottom.

I used Sew Simple Borders to add the cross stitch along the bottom.

The word "Baby" is the Wonderful Words Baby die and I have used the sentiment at the top from the coordinating stamp set.

I used the bunny and duck images from Bitty Baby Blessings and cut them out with the coordinating dies as well and added just a tiny touch of colour to nose and bill.

All the dangles come from the following sets...Polka Dot Parade #9, Love Lives Here, Boutique Borders: Love, Places Please and Over Under Easy. All the inks that I have used are Memento.

I have popped up the bunny and duck as I have a hard time making a completely flat card.  :)

The more I look at it the more annoyed I get with myself for using all those darn dangles. Live and learn. 

Thanks so much for stopping by. Please do leave me your comments and feel free to confirm what I have just said. :)

Have a great day. Cheers.

 ~ Melanie ~