Papertrey Ink Anniversary Challenge - Package Inspiration

Welcome back....

On to the second challenge which was a tag or a gift package.

I have chosen to use a small bag I had and to decorate it.

I have used the fantastic stamps and dies from Don't Forget to Write. I LOVE that set so much.

I cut the circular frame with the inside removed from white cardstock and then stamped on the stripes with yellow ink.

Inside that I have used the "Gift" die and sponged on some yellow and pink ink for some colour.

Below that are the blossoms and a couple of leaves.

The transformation from a very plain and ordinary little bag to something that would be a joy to give and receive all comes down to a few stamps and dies.

Thanks for stopping by. Back soon with the next challenge. Cheers.

~  Melanie  ~

Papertrey Ink Anniversary Challenge - Stitching

Hello there everyone...

As you may know, Papertrey Ink is celebrating their 10th anniversary. They are having numerous challenges for us all to play along with and I am participating in a few of them.

You are about to get an onslaught of posts from me as I have completed a few of the challenges and will post them all right now, one after the other.

So...without further ado...here is the first one.

The challenge was to use felt or stitching on a project. As it happens, I do not own any of the Papertrey Ink stitching dies. But...I do love to do needlework so this challenge was one that I was looking forward to trying.

Basic white A2 card with another panel of white over the top layered up with a piece of fun foam.

I have stamped the cross-stitch border from Sew Simple Borders down along one side and the actually went back and embroidered it with red floss. Easy to do, just follow the X's.

I then used the X and O from Stitched Alphabet to cover the rest of the panel with red and black X's and O's.

I then used the dies from Apple Prints to cut out the parts of an apple from red, white and green felt.

I have embroidered the veins on the leaves and also an outline of the seeds inside the apple with embroidery floss and then combined the pieces with fabric glue.

The sentiment, which I think is absolutely perfect, is from the same stamp set and I have used Memento Tuxedo Black ink and cut it out with a Spellbinders die and sponged on a bit of ink so it would lot be lost in the background.

Challenge #1 is in the bag and now moving on to the next one.

Thanks so much for taking the time to visit with me and leave me your kind comments. Cheers.

~  Melanie  ~

Double D Challenge - Springtime

Greetings and welcome to my blog

I am getting in just under the wire for the Double D Challenge for this fortnight. You can see the inspiration photo below. Isn't it just delicious. So soft, so pretty and speaking of Spring.

I have chosen to focus on tulips for my card so I dug out a stamp set by that artful genius Marcella Hawley.

I stamped the tulips with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and then coloured them with the Copics you can see below.

The sentiment is from a Power Poppy stamp set Everything's Even Rosier and cut with a Spellbinders die.

I have used a strip of pink paper down the left side and stamped in very soft pink with a Papertrey Ink stamp called Sew Simple Borders. The look is very subtle as you can see from this picture.

A scrap of a leafy green and heart paper on the right side is separated with a strip of lace and ribbon.

I have used two Spellbinder dies to cut out the focal image and a mat behind it. I have layered them up with pop dots as I do so love dimension on cards as you can see here.

So there you have it. Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving me your kind comments. Each and every one makes me smile. Cheers.

~  Melanie  ~

Reverse Confetti March Sketch Challenge

Good morning everyone and welcome...

There is a new sketch on the Reverse Confetti blog for March and you can see it here. I am playing along. I do not have very many Reverse Confetti stamps yet but I am working with what I have.

I started with a white 5 x 7 card and sponged some Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Festive Berries around the edge. Layered on a piece of pattern paper cut with a bit of a curve for some interest.

 I cut out the words "love" and "hugs" and added them along the left side of the card. 

The focal image I have chosen is that adorable raccoon from Quirky Cuties: Rocky Raccoon.

Stamped him with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and coloured him up with the Copics you see below. I fussy cut him out and then I paper pieced his shirt and then added another envelope on top of that.  He is added with some pop dots for some dimension.

That is all from me for today. Thank you so much for stopping by. Please do leave me your comments as they make my day. Cheers.

~  Melanie  ~

Papertrey Ink Make it Monday 276

Hello there everyone and welcome to my blog...

It is Monday so that means another fantastic Papertrey Ink Make it Monday and this week features Melissa Phillips and her brilliant and beautiful technique of colouring on kraft cardstock. Aren't her sample cards stunning?



Melissa suggested that we might like to try this technique with black cardstock as well as kraft and I have done just that. 

I have made two cards for this challenge, one on black and one on kraft. Let's have a look at the black one first.

I have used the fantastic dies from the Don't Forget to Write set to cut out a dark blue note card and the square inset in white. I really love that these dies already have that stitching line all around, in keeping with my love of stitching projects. I used the square die to cut out the centre and then I backed it with some decorative vellum-like paper. Actually, I have to confess that it came from a delicious box of chocolates. I loved the paper so much that I saved it. :)

I have used one of my all time favourite stamp sets, In Bloom, which I embossed in white on black card and cut out with the dies. I have used Prismacolor pencil crayons to colour in the two blossoms.

The word Note is again a die from the Don't Forget To Write set. I have cut it out four times for dimension. If you can see from this photo, one of the layers is pale blue and another is black and I have barely offset them for a teeny tiny bit of a shadow to match the black border around the blooms.

And that finished up that card. Next up, kraft.  :)


I started with a white card base, rounded the corners and very lightly sponged on some lavender ink all around and then stamped the cross-stitch stamp from Sew Simple Borders down along the edge. The other edge got a nice lavender ribbon and bow.

The centre panel is kraft and I have used the two large branch stamps from Stitched Sentiments in a pale green and the little blossom in lavender down both sides of the panel. 

On top is the beautiful lattice die from Garden Gate kit. I just adore this die. Cannot imagine why I do not use it all the time!

The stamp I chose is the Year of Flowers Gladiolus. I embossed in white on the same kraft cardstock and cut it out with the coordinating die. I used the same Prismacolor pencil crayons on this as well.



After beginning to assemble the card I did not like the look of the flowers just sitting on top of the lattice so I cut them apart and stuck them through the lattice. Much better.

I also did not like the idea of the lattice flat on the card (I do so love dimension) so cut the tiny foam squares into even tinier little slivers and stuck them on the back to lift it up a bit. Even better still. :)

The sentiment stamped in black and lavender is from Banner Sentiments and cut with the coordinating die.

And there you have it. Really loved this technique and plan to make some more cards for my stash along the same lines. Thanks to Melissa for another terrific challenge. 

And thanks to all of you for stopping to visit with me. I do so love it when you leave me your comments. Cheers.

~ Melanie ~

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 ~