Papertrey Ink Make it Monday #267

Hello there everyone,

I am participating today in the Papertrey Ink Make it Monday Challenge #267 - Assembly Line Card-Making. 

I had not begun any of my Christmas cards as yet so this was just the project that I needed to get me moving.

I will also apologize right now for the quality of the photos. I took them at night and the lighting was far from ideal. However, I am going to be out of town so needed to get these done tonight so really had no choice.

I chose to keep the design very simple and it is all just stamping with no die cuts this time.

The white card is roughly 4 1/2" by 5". I cut the stamping layer just a wee bit smaller. When I finished up the stamping I mounted it on the card using the same fun foam as in the video. It works just great.

I chose to use three Papertrey Ink stamp sets, Love Lives Here Holiday, Boards and Beams and Home for the Holidays.

I stamped the large house from Boards and Beams in Memento Tuxedo Black ink and then added a section of fence from Home for the Holidays on either side. I also stamped the wee little wreath on the front door.

Above the house I used the evergreen garland from Love Lives Here Holiday which I stamped in Memento Bamboo Leaves. I added the small heart in Memento Rhubarb Stalk and then also added a small hanging bunch of evergreen with another heart. I absolutely love that garland and I use it a great deal. That is one of my very favourite stamp sets from Papertrey Ink.

To finish off the card I stamped the sentiment from Love Lives Here Holiday in the same Memento Rhubarb Stalk ink.

To get accurate placement of the house, fences and sentiment, I used my brand new MISTI which I simply love. I stamped the garland and hearts using a block.

Lastly I coloured in the teeny tiny little garland on the fences and the wreath on the door with Copics, YG67 - Moss and R39 - Garnet.

So there you have it. I have made 4 cards and it is a start on the Christmas cards. Great idea for a challenge to get us all moving.

Thanks so much for stopping by to visit with me today. Please do leave me your comments as I read every one of them and really appreciate you taking the time. Have a great day. Cheers.

  ~ Melanie ~

Simon Says Stamp - Penny Black Challenge

Greetings everyone,

I am back today with a very simple card that I made for the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge. The theme was "Thinking of You", preferably using a Penny Black stamp.

I do not own a lot of Penny Black stamps but I do have a few, most of them older models that I absolutely love. My card today uses my very favourite of all time. There is something so utterly lovely about the image that despite all the stunners that have come along over the years, this one remains my personal favourite.

I wanted to keep the card very simple so I limited my colour palette to just white and beige.

I began with a beige card. I stamped my Penny Black rose image with Memento ink on white card and cut it out with a Spellbinders die. I layered this over another Spellbinders die and adhered both to the card with pop dots.

The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink, again stamped in Memento ink and also cut with a Spellbinders die. I added a few pearls just for a bit of interest.

You can see from this photo that the card is very simple but I have achieved a bit of interest from raising up all the layers.

Thank you so much for stopping by today. Do leave your comments as they make my day. Cheers.

  ~ Melanie ~

MFT Sketch Challenge #305

Hello everyone,

I am participating today in the My Favorite Things Sketch Challenge #305 which you can see pictured below.

I chose to use a mouse from the adorable set "Harvest Mouse" for my focal image which I stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black and coloured with Copics and cut out with the coordinating die. I used a Copic marker to colour all around the outside of the image so that it would not stand out as white against the blue background.

My card began with a basic white card base over which I added a layer of chocolate. I used the MFT Homespun Stitch Lines die along the side and along the bottom to add a bit of interest.

Over that I layered a piece of rust cardstock and then an oval matted with the same chocolate cardstock. I sponged on some Distress Ink in Broken China and stamped the leaves and a bit of the bushel basket of apples at the bottom. They were also coloured with Copics.

I cut out several leaves with the MFT Falling Leaves dies and coloured them with Distress Ink in Scattered Straw, Wild Honey, Rusty Hinge and Festive Berries. I like that the veins in the leaves still show through.

A small piece of gingham ribbon was used for the "banner" and then it was just a matter of arranging the leaves around the focal image.

Thanks so very much for stopping by today. Please do leave me your comments as I do so love to read them all. Have a wonderful day.

  ~ Melanie ~

Papertrey Ink Make it Monday #266

Hello everyone,

At long last I am back to participate in the latest Papertrey Ink Make it Monday challenge which is called "It's a Wrap". 

This was a lot of fun to do. The challenge was to create a piece of wrapping paper. What a terrific idea, I thought. :) 

I chose to use the stamps from one of my most favourite sets, Love Lives Here Holiday.

 I stamped the sentiment in Memento Rhubarb Stalk and the evergreen boughs in Memento Pear Tart, adding the tiny cluster of hearts in the same Rhubarb Stalk.  Alas, I do not as yet own any of the yummy colours of ink from Papertrey Ink but I hope to do so one day.

I then wrapped up a wee gift, adding a bit of ribbon and a felt poinsettia which I think makes a really cute present.

Thanks so much for visiting with me today. Hope you have a wonderful day. Cheers.

 ~ Melanie ~

... Papertreyink Make it Monday 257

Hello everyone,

I know it has been quite a long while since I posted. Sadly we lost our beautiful big, sweet dog Teally to cancer in early May and I just did not have it in me to bother with "happy" pursuits.

I have spent my time working in our vegetable garden and fighting the horrible drought that my part of Ontario is experiencing. The weather here, in addition to being bone dry, has been lethally hot.

I thought yesterday that perhaps it was time to spend a bit of time in my studio and get back to card making.

The card I have today is for the Papertrey Ink Make it Monday #257 challenge which is "Sentiment Strip Grounding".

I have used a basic white card base over which I added a piece of pattern paper from my stash. 

I added a white strip along the bottom section for the requisite sentiment strip. I have stamped it with a sentiment from Tulip Time in Memento Tuxedo Black and cut the bottom edge with a Spellbinders die.

I cut out the tulip shape with the coordinating die and stamped the images using Memento inks: New Sprout, Pear Tart, Angel Pink, Lulu Lavender and Lilac Posies. I popped up the tulips with dimensional squares.

Well that is all from me for today. Thanks so much for stopping by. Cheers.

 ~ Melanie ~

... very sick indeed

Hello everyone,

I am sorry that I will be away from blogging for the immediate future. 

My male dog, Teally, is very sick. We are hoping for a good outcome but we do not yet know for certain exactly what is wrong with him.

In the meantime, I want to spend all my free time with him, just in case things turn out badly. I am sure you can all understand. I can make cards anytime.

Thanks for your understanding.

... sick, sick, sick

Greetings to you all,

Just wanted to pop in to let you all know that I have not, in fact, fallen off the face of the earth. I have simply been unable to get time to do anything creative.

Alas, ALL of US have been sick. It started with our female dog Amber. We have found out that she has stomach acid issues, the poor little munchkin. She is now taking Pepcid AC twice daily and finally it seems to be working. We have had far too many late night vomiting sessions from her, thank you very much.

For myself, I merely ate something I should not have done and reaped the benefits of my own stupidity. That only lasted for two days.

Our big male dog has had some tummy issues of his own that fortunately resolved themselves in just a day.

And that brings me to my DH who is presently at home with a very nasty head and chest cold. Chicken soup being made in quantity.

I am hoping to get back into my craft room after I have disinfected the entire house. I am sleeping in our spare room in an attempt to remain as germ free as I can. He has been sick for about 4 days now and I am still OK at the moment. Fingers crossed.  :)

Have a great day, see you all soon. Cheers.

  ~ Melanie ~