Make It Monday #68: Pocket Cards 2nd card

Another MIM...I used Tweet Talk and stamped those little birdies all over the card!  You can see the inside of the pocket too...it's a birthday card!  What a great card idea!

Make It Monday #68: Pocket Cards

Pocket Card is the video for this weeks Make It Monday over on the Papertrey Blog, you can check out the video by Heather HERE and get inspired to make some "pocket cards".  I pulled out "On the Links" and inked it up for a fun little Father's day pocket card...and here is the inside of the pocket:

For those of you who are not into golfing...the "19th" flag is for the Club House!!  ....where one can celebrate the good shots on the course...or NOT!  tee hee!!

Freshly Made Sketches # 36

I needed to make a Father's Day card, so I thought I would use this sketch to make my card.  I had been given this stamp set, Masculine Motif, for my birthday and had not inked it up yet..so I thought this was the perfect card to use this stamp set for this special day for my Dad.  He will be 91 in October, my mom passed away 5 years ago, my MIL just died last November and my FIL followed 4 months later in March.  I am indeed blessed to have my Dad still with us giving us his bits of wisdom and all his veggie starts!  He always plants way more than he needs, but he is so good about sharing with family and neighbors!  So here is my card:

 I embossed the sentiment on black paper and stamped the world on some 1.75 inchies that I had...it made it really easy and gave it a nice dimension!  The stamps and paper are all from Papertrey Ink.

If you would like to play along, check out the blog Freshly Made Sketches and see all the cards that the DT made with this sketch...they are fabulous!  And here is the sketch:

Retro Sketches # 13 this makes card # 4!

I guess I am on a roll...really trying to make up for the lack of "Thank You" cards...so here is my fourth card for this sketch:

Everything but the pattern paper is from Papertrey Ink.  The flower, frame and sentiment are all from Pretty Peonies (this is their anniversary set that you can earn reward points to purchase...you cannot buy it, it must be earned with reward points)...and it now has die cuts to go with it, which makes this stamp set so fabulous!  I also die cut Detail Doilies in Sweet Blush to go behind the frame which was stamped with Ocean Tides ink.  The peony was stamped in melon berry and I highlighted a bit of it using some copics. 

If you would like to play along with this sketch then go to Retro Sketches Blog and check out all the cards and the sketch!  Thanks for taking a look!

Retro Sketch # 13 a third card

I must really like this sketch!  Are you bored with them yet?  Well, I needed more "thank you" cards and just thought this sketch is great for whipping out quite a few without a lot of fuss and mess...so here goes for the third card:  I used summer sunrise paper for the card, the tag is PTI # 6 stamped with Flower Fusion # 8 and the sentiment is from Tag It's # 1.  I also stamped the background basics:  gingham with the new wisteria ink!  I think I followed the rule of three pretty good on this card!

And if you want to see the cards the DT made for this sketch, then go HERE and get inspired!!  And once again, thank you for taking a look and leaving me a comment!!

Retro Sketch # 13 another card

I used some washi tape for my background, a notebook die, Flower Fusion # 12 stamp and the sentiment is from Fillable Frames # 5 all those and the paper is from Papertrey Ink.  The ribbon I colored with copics to get a better match to the aqua mist flower and the scallop (although looking at the picture the scallop...which is really the heart die...looks like spring rain, but trust me it is aqua mist!).  I really like the simplicity of this thank you card...clean and simple!  Thanks for taking a look!  If you want to check out the sketch and the DT cards go HERE...

Another Graduation Card

This one is for a male...grrr..not so good at masculine cards...no flowers, no bling, just kind of boring.  And especially since I do not have any graduation stamp sets (what is with that?)...so I went really simple.  I stamped the CONGRATS from the Think Big series for my background.  Using the school colors of green and yellow, I stamped the sentiment from Simply YOU and gave him some words of encouragement!  Pretty simple, pretty quick...and now it is done!

A couple of Thank You cards

My daughter came over to borrow a couple of Thank You cards and I realized I did not have but just a few left in my stash...so I decided to make a few cards while DH was watching Nascar!

This card was cased from HERE by Danielle at PTI, I added a strip of washi tape (from Target...thanks girls for giving me the heads about that  tape...great price...4 rolls for $4!!)  all other supplies are PTI and of course the famous Rosie Pose flowers that we all love!

The second card is a flower from In Bloom that has been sitting on my desk all colored and everything...and the "placemat" lacey background is also one that has been sitting around for months.  It was made using a Martha Stewart two part punch that a friend has...

retrosketches #13...

I needed a graduation card for a young girl who has worked for us for 7 years..through three years of her high school and through all of her years at Linfield College...and she is graduating with honors in the Nursing Field.  Are we proud of her?  You bet!  What an accomplishment and to do it while working also!  We are proud of her and sad to know that we are losing a valuable employee, but we are so happy that she is going out in the world and fulfilling her dreams!
This is the sketch for this week and I have used the above card for this sketch.  Most all paper, stamps and ink is from Papertrey Inc, the strip of pattern paper is just a random piece from my stash.  The flowers are Rosie Posie and the sentiment is from Daydreamers.  Thank you for taking a look!

Papertrey May Blog Hop Challenge #3 Card

For this last card, I used the hexagons in the Rosie Posie stamp set and then I die cut the flowers from Friends til the End on simply chartreuse paper.  I added a little copic coloring in the center of the flowers, and the sentiment is from Think Big #3.

                                                                                                                                                                         

Papertrey May Blog Hop Challenge #2 card

This is the inspiration photo for the PTI May Blog Hop.  I decided to go with the simply chartreuse background paper, stitchedaround the edges and then stamped black with Rosie Posie, the sentiment is from Think Big #3 stamped on Mat Stack # 1.  

                                              

Papertrey May Blog Hop Challenge #1 Card

This is the inspiration photo for the Papertrey May Blog Hop.  I am loving those colors...WHITE, BLACK, SIMPLY CHARTREUSE!   I read on a blog that May is National Bike Month...so I found a Hero Arts bike stamp, I used PTI Background Basics:  Gingham, balloons from Heart 2 Heart #2, sentiment from Fillable Frames #5 and a little embroidery floss.

Gift Bags

My 10 year old (soon to be 11) grand daughter plays on the Portland Volleyball 12 + under Purple team.  This weekend is their last tournament of the season.  They won the Regional Championship in April and will head to Bellevue, Washington for their final tournament.  They were paired up with the 18 + under Black team as "sister teams for this weekend (Ellie was given two girls as they have more players than Ellie's team)...so they were all asked to give "little" gifts to each other both Friday and Saturday nights.  My daughter, Dina stopped in today and asked if I could make some of those cute bags (using the Front and Center Die!) that she had seen me make for birthdays...So we got the players volleyball numbers and I got out the Super Stars stamp set and went to work.  I cut their number using my cricut and added lots of little stars, some I embossed with white powder.  I made one bag in white and the other in black.  Now their job is to fill the bag with little gifts...lip gloss, pen, small notebook, that sort of thing...I think my grand daughter will be pleased with these bags.  the other thing she needed was a tag that she can write some words to each girl...so I used the Library Card die and stamped a sentiment from the Simply You set.  Take a look and see what you think...(ps...I still wish PTI would make a volleyball stamp...I bought the "Have a Ball" stamp set and the volleyball was NOT included...darn, my family is BIG into volleyball!)

The funny thing is that Ellie used a stamp I bought her for Christmas that says:  created by Ellie and stamped it on the back side of the bag...yeah, she didn't do anything to put this together, but she loved stamping her name!

Lift Challenge #17...a Holland Card Challenge! And another MIM # 67

My good friend, Jose, is one of the DT's for the Lift Challenge.  I have come to know a couple of the other girls also, Cornelie and Marjan who do beautiful work.  I saw this card on their Lift Challenge Blog...it was lifted from stamps and taxes blog, Julie Lacey's blog.  They all three did such wonderful cards based on this one, that I couldn't resist playing along.




                                                                                                              
So I pulled out some scraps and did some stitching, added a bow and a button and my sentiment is from Beautiful Butterflies...my frame is a die for the Simply Jane stamp set from PTI!

Edited:  someone suggested adding this to the MIM, so I will do that also...

Make It Monday #67: Step-it-Up: Mixing Patterned Papers Card # 2

I gave it another try...this time I decided to go for a Christmas theme...one can never start too early with those Christmas cards!!  If you want to check out the video go HERE and watch and listen to Betsy as she explains her thought process when selecting several pattern paper for cards.

I am using the Holiday Swirls and Flourishes Paper Pack...again, I guess I am using all the same paper from one source so I know they all blend.  But when I went looking through my stash and saw this pack I just couldn't resist making a card.  I thought this snowflake background paper was definitely a larger scale.  I liked the stripes because it picked up the same green as the background paper but added a pop of the scarlet jewel red.  My next thought was to die cut the Damask snowflake using the soft tone on tone music sheet from that same pack.  I added a white limitless layer and then a .75 circle that I distressed with the chamomile tea ink.  The sentiment is from Signature Christmas...I added a little stitching here and there and it is done!

                                                           Thank you again for taking a look!

Make It Monday #67: Step-it-Up: Mixing Patterned Papers

Another great MIM with Betsy Veldman teaching us her process when using pattern paper on the face of the card.  You can check out the video HERE to watch it and hear what Betsy has to say.  I must say I learned a lot about the selection process.  I made this card the easy way...I had a pack of My Mind's Eye "lime twist" paper and made this first card using this paper...it was easier because all the colors blend...it was just a matter of me selecting the colors that appealed to me and was eye soothing.  I will definitely try this again using other random pattern paper and see how I can pull pieces together.  For now, this is the card I will post for my first card for this Make it Monday!

Thank you so much for taking a look and maybe even leaving me a comment.  How did I do?  Using a lot of pattern paper has always been something I struggle with..but I shall persevere!!

Make It Monday #66: Felt Flowers From Border Dies

The latest MIM from Papertrey Ink (go HERE to check out the video) shows how to use a border die to make a felt flower...Ashley used a scallop border die and a heart border die and one other one.  Then she rolled them to make a little bud embellishment.  I used the small scallop border die with raspberry fizz felt to make some small little buds.  For my card, I first stamped with versamark ink the flowers from Pretty Peonies, then I heat embossed with white embossing powder.  I then used some Distress Inks and a foam sponge to ink in the areas of the flower and the leaves.  My original thought was to have these felt buds nestled in among the full blown flowers, but it didn't look quite right to me, so I just put them down at the bottom of the card.  I stamped the frame image off the card and added my sentiment. 

Tweet Talk...

This is the first chance I have had to ink up the new stamp set from last month's reveal..Tweet Talk...those birds are so darn cute..and love their little tails..And I just received the Take Three Die which has been on my wish list for a long time.  So this is the very simple and quick card I made, the sentiment is from Half and Half.

Lily makes a BAG

Well, here I am to show off a little bit more of my grand daughter, Lily, she will be having her 9th birthday this June!  She is amazing and just loves to get crafty with me!  For quite a while she has been telling me about a book bag she wants to make and have one strap that goes over her head and the bag sits on her side...so we got some material and she made it...darling...she brought it to school and her friends immediately said they wanted her to make one for them!  And of course she is more than willing to do so!

Lily was with me last weekend while the rest of her family was in Corvallis for her older sister's volleyball tournament...Yeah, it was Mother's day weekend and Lily chose to stay home with me instead of going with her family...can you blame her?  We were finally getting some hot weather in the 80's (26-31 c)!!  that is hot for us in Oregon!  So you know what Lily wanted to do....sew a bag for a new friend that is in her class and moved in just down the road from us...here it is:

This time around we decided we should have a pocket...so we used the same fabric as the lining for the  pocket...then we decided it was boring, so we should die cut some flowers and leaves and add those (now in hindsight, it would have been better to add all those BEFORE we sewed the pocket on...but  we were kind of flying by the seat of our pants and having all sorts of ideas as we went...then we decided to put her initial (Jane) on the pocket too...Lily hand cut the letter from felt...all felt is from PTI and the dies are from the Beautiful Blooms.  Lily is very proud of this bag and can hardly wait to give it to her friend!  I am so proud of her...I have a feeling we will be making a few more of these as gifts for her friends!

A special Mother's Day card from Lily

Lily, my almost 9 year old grand daughter die cut this card, then she stamped and die cut some butterflies.  Some of the paper was made with reinkers and water color brushed...the inside has a special message for her Mama...my daughter...And right now she is sewing a "bag" for a neighbor friend!  Her parents, sister and brother all headed to Corvallis, Oregon which is about 1 1/2 hour drive from our home...her older sister plays club volleyball and Lily really didn't want to sit in a gym for two days, especially since they are the two hottest days we have had this spring!  So she stayed with us and we have been making projects!  I told her I would post her card on my blog...she is very proud of it.  And I am proud of her!

Make It Monday #65: Background Patterns From Patterned Paper Scraps 2nd Card

Here is the second card I made using scraps of paper...I thought to make a "flower pot" and add some flowers...so I used the Simple Sunflower stamps and dies along with some leaves...I added a tiny tag that says:  hello friend!

thanks for taking a look!

Make It Monday #65: Background Patterns From Patterned Paper Scraps

Another great Make it Monday by Dawn...using up scraps of designer paper...so this is the first of two cards that I came up with pulling from my scrap pile.

Pretty clean and simple!

A little embossing, a little distress ink

I took inspiration from HERE on Betsy's blog for this card, using In Bloom stamps and heat embossing with white powder.  I used a couple of distress inks that I sponged over the embossed image and finally spritzed it with a lot of water and then waited for it to dry.  I like the soft effect of this and I think I will try it with different colors.  I did use water color paper for this effect.

A New Freshly Made Sketch

Using scraps of paper from our stash, (which we know we all have tons because most of us love to hoard the paper) they asked us to use some of it up using the sketch below..My paper is from My Minds Eye, Lime Twist...the front and the back was used.  The cupcake stamp was a PTI stamp from Baby Button Bits stamped and paper pieced.  The button is the cherry on top and a piece of embroidery floss was used for the stem of the cherry.  I used a cuttlebug numbers folder for the background.  If you would like to play along, then go HERE and check out the inspiration from the DT girls!  Below is the sketch...
                                                                                   

Make It Monday #64: Using Color Inspiration

I am using the same inspired color challenge as the previous one however I am making it a one layer card, no extra layers or bling.  I followed the rule of three except for my neutral color, fine linen, and just couldn't get Simply chartreuse in more than once for the sentiment.  All stamps are from Beautiful Butterflies.

I think I am getting the knack of this and may just give it another go!  Color challenges are just that:  CHALLENGES!  what color where? how much? should I die cut or not? Add pattern paper?  and make it so that it is all eye appealing!  I guess that is why they call it a challenge, right?

Make It Monday #64: Using Color Inspiration

Nichole's video today for the MIM can be seen HERE. "Many customers have expressed how they would like to see more videos about the actual creative process and how to learn to have a "designer eye".  For my video this week I actually designed a card from the beginning, showing every step of my process (complete with lots of paper pushing!).  I am also focusing specifically on using color inspiration and how to achieve color balance!  I hope you enjoy!"  WOW!  And did I ever enjoy the video and all the comments for her thought process!  She then provided a download with 8 inspiration photos and color challenges.  This is a lot harder for me than I thought, but something I definitely need to practice when making cards.  Nichole talked a lot about "threes" to draw your eyes visually to groupings of three, so if you are using three colors or five colors, you want to try to use each color three times to balance your card.  Here is my card for this MIM challenge:

And this is the inspiration for the color challenge.  I used the fine linen for the card and for the tag die cut, then I added some twine on the buttons and I am considering that to be the third for that color!  The berry sorbet pops out three times for me, the top of the tag, the scalloped side (which by the way is the edge of the "heart die" and then the button. (I hope it doesn't count that I used berry sorbet ink for the medallion back ground).  The three # 8 Flower Fusion flowers were all inked up or die cut using aqua mist.  The stems are simply chartreuse as is the background for the tag which I hand cut and also the strip for the sentiment.   Hawaiian shores paper was used twice, once for the background, once with the sentiment and then finally with a button.  So that is it for me...I might try this with another color challenge...it is good practice.  What do you think?  Did I follow the rule of three?  Is it eye appealing?  Nichole sure makes it look easy...!!