Tag: PTI Design Team

Some announcements and News!

Hi there my crafty and creative friends! How are you? How is your new year going so far? It's been a minute since I checked in and said hello and wrote a post that wasn't for a team. I really want to touch base today and catch up. I hope that 2018 is treating you well so far! I think overall it's been good to me. I am excited about new opportunities to come and the forward progress I've made in the last year working on myself and my goals. It's been a pretty creative year so far too! And it's only two weeks in! LOL. I cannot wait for the rest of this year. I know God has been preparing me for something wonderful!

First of all I have some big news… I made the decision a few months ago to go into 2018 without being under contract by any stamping/paper design teams. For eight years I have been on a design team (usually more than one at a time!) and it just felt like my inner voice was telling me it is time for a break. Time to regroup and re-energize my creativity. Time to relax about it all for a minute and let some things naturally flow. I have so many ideas to share with you and there is never enough time! I have been incredibly blessed by people in this industry and I'm so grateful for all the wonderful opportunities I have had. It makes me want to cry (happy tears).

Papertrey Ink was the last team I was on and I have not renewed my contract for this coming year. My post on Sunday was my last official PTI blog post. It was a SUPER hard decision to make, because I absolutely adore the ladies on that team. Like REALLY adore them. The kindest, sweetest, most talented bunch. Just as amazing as you all think they would be (and more). I was sooooo honored to stamp with them for a year. One of the highlights of my stamping career! I have been a PTI customer since the very beginning and a fan girl from the beginning too. So, a HUGE shout out and THANK YOU to everyone at PTI for letting me be a part of the legacy of your awesome company. From the bottom of my heart – thank you! Thank you.

In addition to saying thank you to Papertrey Ink and the amazing design team, I want to say thank you to all of you who have followed along with me on this awesome journey the past year. I met lots of new friends and got to know a lot of new followers because of my work with PTI. Thanks for your uplifting, kind, sweet, and funny comments all along the way. You brought me a lot of joy and smiles. It's a great community for sure. CLICK HERE to see all my PTI cards from 2017!

It feels right to me to share a few of my favorite PTI cards from the past year here….GOOD memories!

This coming weekend (starting tomorrow) is the giant Creativation Trade Show in Phoenix! (Formerly called CHA) I will be flying to Phoenix on Friday morning and staying until Tuesday and I cannot wait! OMG I look forward to this so much every year! This is my seventh year attending the show! WOOOOOT! I am excited to see the new products, and network professionally, and see (and hug) all my friends. It is always one of the highlights of my year every year. For the first time, this year, I will not be working at the show. I will not have a set schedule or any deadlines. So this year I can take my time and walk the show, stop and chat with EVERYONE and be a bit more chill about it all! (If you've ever seen me at CHA this last part will make sense! Ha) I won't be staying up until 2am writing blog posts and editing photos! Should be great.

I will be posting on my social media throughout the Creativation show – sharing what I see and what I'm excited about. I will try to post often but I'm not going to stress about it. I think the easiest way to connect and follow along with me from the show is on Instagram Stories. My Instagram account is @stampcatwg. You can also follow along on my Facebook page for A Blog Called Wanda. I will do my best to bring you with me! I really enjoy that part of things. CLICK HERE to see my wrap up post from last year!

I have some fun blog hops and guest designer gigs lined up for February which will all be fun. Other than that, I'm going to see where creativity takes me in 2018. Thank you for following along with me on this journey. Have a wonderful day! XOXO

January 17, 2018
Papertrey Ink January 2018 Release Week: Birthday Balloons, Birthday Strings, and Never Enough Birthday!

Hey everybody! LOTS going on around here! So many blog posts this week! I hope you saw them all! LOL. Yesterday's blog hop for Pretty Pink Posh has a prize, so make sure to leave a comment on that one! Today I'm continuing with the Papertrey Ink January 2018 new release countdown, and it's day four! That means only a couple more days until all the new products will be for sale. Be sure to pop over to the PTI Blog to see the projects from the other design team members. And, everything new will be for sale on Monday the 15th at 10pm EST.

Today I'm sharing two birthday cards with beautiful, colorful, happy balloons! there really isn't a more cheerful image that a brightly colored balloon! There are new stamps, dies and stencils to go along with the balloon theme. Today I'm featuring the Birthday Balloons Collection stamp set, the Birthday Strings stamp set (love), the Never Enough Birthday stamp set and the Birthday Balloons stencils! (say that three times fast!) All of these new products work so beautifully together to create birthday cards. That is the type of card I send the most – how about you?

For this first card I went crazy with the rainbow colors with the balloon stencil! So fun to ink the balloons with a small sponge dauber, and so quick. My card is a five inch square card and the layers were cut down in 1/4 inch increments. I centered the stencil on my white square panel. After I inked the balloons, I splattered white paint and some water droplets over the balloons for added interest. A vivid rich black die cut and a white embossed sentiment finish off this card.

I love the look of black cardstock with white embossing in contrast with lots of color. I used bright red cardstock for my card base.

In this close up you can see the white paint splatters!

For my second card, I made a really clean and simple card design with three cardstock balloons. The patterns were stamped onto the balloons using Versamark Ink for a watermark effect. LOVE that. This card is trimmed down 1/2 inch in width from a normal A2 card. I just thought that looked nicer to have a narrow card here. The new Birthday Strings stamps are so pretty! And I love this sort of tropical color palette. The stamp set has small accent stamps that look like confetti! Quick and easy to replicate this one in any color scheme!

As always, thank you so much for visiting today! ONE more day of previews this week! Be sure to come back tomorrow! XOXO

January 13, 2018
Papertrey Ink January 2018 Release Week: Lucky Scratch!

Hey hey hey! It's day three of the awesome Papertrey Ink January new Release previews! Welcome back! We're getting closer to release day! Everything new will be available for purchase on Monday the 15th at 10pm EST! Do you have a favorite thing so far? There's sooooo much good stuff! Thanks for hanging out with me this week while we reveal all the new products for you. I love being able to finally share these stamps and dies with all of you. It's hard to keep a secret! Be sure to visit the PTI Blog to see what the rest of the design team is sharing this week.

Today my featured post is all about the brand new collection of stamps and dies called Lucky Scratch! Fun mix and match stamps and dies that make announcements, coupons, tickets and all kinds of fun stuff. Really creative and clever. I especially love the new "Lucky" word die and I know I'll be using that one a lot. I have three cards to share with you today, all made with the same collection. You'll see how versatile it is!

First up is a St. Patrick's Day card! I looooove green! It was really fun to create this greeting. Only green and white, and one little pop of yellow! I made my own shamrock accent by combining three heart dies together and putting an enamel dot in the center. Easy peasy! I used green ink and a small sponge dauber to create ombre die cuts for the background. The Lucky Scratch stamps and dies are used for the sentiment.

Here's a close up of the shamrock! So pretty in polka dots! Also, you can see up close the ombre die cuts. I really like this look. I forget to do it more often. Simply use a small sponge and your ink pad to gently place the ink where you want it.

Next up is a baby announcement! It's a Girl! I used the new Lucky Scratch stamps and dies along with another new stamp set (Warm Regards) to create a pretty pink ticket card. I used the large ticket shaped die to create my card! I love doing this with large dies – just place the edge of the die over the top of a folded piece of paper and run it through your die cutting machine. Makes it unique and special.

Those little blossoms are perfect to announce a baby girl!

Finally, a Save-the-Date card! The new Lucky Scratch Wedding set has numbers included that allow you to fully customize your cards with your special date. I used gold glitter paper and a pretty floral (Especially You) stamp to make an elegant wedding appropriate card.

Soft watercoloring with a water brush and ink pads make this soft and dreamy!

Okay we're half way done now! Only two more days of release fun and then it will be time for Release Day! Thank you again for coming by and for your support! Have a great day! XOXO See you soon! All of the new items will be live for shopping on Monday the 15th at 10pm EST!

January 12, 2018
Papertrey Ink January 2018 Release Week: Brushed Birds, Year of Psalms, and Warm Regards!

Hi crafty pals! Welcome back to Day Two of the awesome January Papertrey Ink new release previews! So glad to have you here with me as we introduce the new products from PTI. We are doing previews every day until the 15th. All the new products will be available for purchase in the PTI Store on Monday the 15th at 10pm EST. Be sure to check out the PTI Blog to see what the rest of the design team is sharing all week! So much good stuff. Hopefully you saw my birthday card post from yesterday!

Today I'm sharing two cards! The new stamp sets I'm featuring today are: Brushed Birds, Year of Psalms January, Warm Regards and Ways to Say Missing You! That's a lot! But as you know, everything from PTI always works so nicely together. Both of my cards have a Spring feeling to them – birds and flowers. I'm so ready!

First up is a card made with the beautiful new Warm Regards stamp set. It's a grouping of pretty Dogwood flowers. I LOVE this set!!! I tried an old technique that I haven't used in a while. Thought it would be a good time to share something different with you. It's stamping on dark cardstock with white ink and colored pencils. I hope you try it! I'll talk more about it in a minute. Here is the finished card – on Smokey Shadow Cardstock.

How do you do this??? It's so fun and easy! I used white pigment ink (listed in supplies) and inked my floral images. I set it aside and waited for the white ink to dry. After the white ink is dry, I went back with my colored pencils and colored over the white ink! PRETTY! I used bright pink and lime green and just a touch of brown. I think this is very elegant. I splattered some white paint over the images for an artistic look and feel. Added a few sequins…

I used the small stitched rectangle die from the Noted die set to cut my inner layer. I stamped a few blossoms in white on the card base. This is A2 size!

I used the new Missing You Die Cut to add my sentiment across the bottom of the card. I also think this card design would work well for a sympathy card.

Next up is a cheery bird card made with the new Brushed Bird Stamp Set and Year Of Psalms January Stamp Set! Those little birdies are adorable! I used another of my go-to techniques for this card – distress ink stamping with water spritzing. Also, very easy and fun. I started with an A2 card base and layered watercolor paper for my top layer.

I used mini Distress Ink pads in different shades of blue, green and purple and inked directly onto the bird stamp. Then I used my water sprayer and spritzed the stamp/ink before stamping onto watercolor paper. It makes all the inks blend together for a beautiful watercolor effect! I did the same thing with the sentiment. Looks very artsy and painterly!

For the background I used a water brush and some extra ink and gently painted a wash on the top and bottom of the panel. Then I attached the bird with some foam tape. Of course I added paint splatters too! (I love doing that!)

That's it for today's projects! I hope to see you right back here tomorrow for more fun and inspiration as we count down to the Papertrey Ink release! Have a wonderful day everyone! XOXO

January 11, 2018
Papertrey Ink January 2018 Release Week Starts now!

Greetings! It's the 10th of the month, which is always exciting! Why? Because it's the day we officially start the new release countdown at Papertrey Ink! For the next five days the design team will be previewing all the fun and awesome new stamps and dies coming in January! All the new items will be available in the PTI Store on Monday the 15th at 10pm EST. But, for now, we'll enjoy a look at everything together! Be sure to pop over to the PTI Blog to see what the other designers make each day. This month's release is full of cool birthday items and some pretty new florals…and lots more goodies!

Today I'm introducing the new stamp set called Fiesta Flag Birthday, along with a new stencil called Diamonds. Two products that work great together. I made a super bright and cheerful birthday card with my two favorite Papertrey Ink colors (Bright Buttercup and Hawaiian Shores)! The new birthday set is great for customizing in any colors!

I started with an A2 card base in crisp white cardstock. I layered pretty stripes on top of the card base (covering the entire front of the card). Then I layered white and Hawaiian Shores cardstocks. The top layer has an oval cut out of it using a die.

I stenciled the Diamonds stencil in Bright Buttercup ink and used that as the background layer for the cake. It's mounted on the bottom of the card and then the top (Oval) layer is attached over it with foam tape.

The matching die cuts make for a beautiful perfect edge on all the pieces of the stamp set.

I added a few accents of Diamond Stickles onto the cake and the banner! Here's a side view to see all the layers!

Thank you so much for coming by today! I'll be back every day until the 15th with new Papertrey Ink projects! Hope to see you tomorrow! XOXO

January 10, 2018
Papertrey Ink Throwback Thursday – Candy Cane Christmas!

Hi everyone! It's almost Christmas! Hope you've been having a wonderful season this year! Our holiday season has been very low key this year, and that's totally okay with me. I'm winding down from a hard year and trying to really give myself a break and not be too stressed out. I'm anxiously looking forward to a new year and a fresh start. Creatively I've been a bit burned out and I feel like I need a renewal and a rest! It gets like that from time to time, right? I have been making Christmas projects since June (that's how the creative calendar works!) and I'm just ready for flowers and hearts!

With that being said, I have one final Christmas project to share today! A Christmas thank you card! I like to make these and have them on hand for whenever someone gives me a special gift or extends an invitation to me. I like to have holiday themed cards for that occasion! Today is Papertrey Ink Throwback Thursday and the stamp set we're featuring today is called Candy Cane Christmas! It's clean and graphic and happy! I used two of the peppermint stamps to create a vivid background paper and I love how it looks against the red card base!

I started with a red card base (A2) and then layered some pretty white glitter cardstock. The center panel is crisp white paper stamped with pretty red ink. SO fabulous! I used Diamond Stickles to 'color' in the white spaces of the candies with glitter. Then I had to leave my craft room for three hours so I didn't touch it!! (Can you relate??)

I used the brand new Huge Sentiments Thanks die to make a black die cut sentiment. It looks really nice set off against the white and red. Lastly I added clear gems to the centers of the larger candies.

Thank you for stopping by today! Happy Christmas time! Merry Christmas to you and your family! Thank you for always being there for me! XOXO

December 21, 2017
Papertrey Ink December 2017 Release Week starts now!

Hi there creative friends! Happy Weekend! And happy PTI Release Week! Today is the 10th, which means we're kicking off five days of fun, new stamps, and inspiration leading up to the December release on the 15th! In crafty land, we are definitely already transitioning out of Christmas and on into Valentine's Day crafting! This new release is chock full of cute, sweet, funny and beautiful products sure to cheer up anyone you love. Something for everyone – kids, grownups, and the young at heart! I love this release and I am really looking forward to sharing with you from now until Thursday!

Be sure to visit the Official Papertrey Ink Blog all week for inspiration from other design team members, news, and contests! PTI really knows how to do a release up right! All of the new products will be available in the Papertrey Ink Store on Friday, December 15th at 10pm EST. Until then, we'll have fun every day looking at all the new stamps and dies (and paper!)

Today I made a cute Valentine to show you! I am featuring two new products: The Mix and Mat Hearts Dies, and the Everyday Affection Stamp set. I have a crush on YOU!

I started with an A2 card base from Classic Kraft paper. Then I layered some pretty gingham (love). I used my Big Shot to die cut out the Mix and Mat Hearts Dies from crisp white cardstock. I layered Melon Berry cardstock under the white die cut so that the hearts would be pink! I love that color pink!

Next I stamped and die cut the ice cream cone from the new Fun Lovin' Stamp Set! I layered the ice cream cone onto a kraft circle to kind of break up all the white on the card. I stamped the adorable sentiment in black onto a banner.

For the finishing touch I added a little resin heart and some sequins to the card. I thought it needed some sparkles and sprinkles!

This Mix and Mat die cut is so beautiful! I love the embossed arrows going around the inner edge. So sweet! I am thinking I want to make a shaker card using it as the top layer so the sequins would show through the heart cut outs!

Is anyone else humming this song by The Jets??? LOL. Is anyone else besides me even old enough to remember that song??!!

That's it for day one of Papertrey Ink December Release Week! Be sure to come back tomorrow for more cards – and the rest of the days too! It's good to see you. Last week I tagged along on my husband's business trip to San Francisco so I didn't do any blog posts. But I'm back! Thanks for stopping by today! XOXO

December 10, 2017
Papertrey Ink September 2017 Release Week: Introducing Wine Bottle Tag #2!

HOWDY! Today is my last post for the launch of the new September Release from Papertrey Ink! It's been so fun sharing all my projects with you and thank you for checking in with me. This was a fabulous release – so many beautiful holiday products for cards, gifts and packaging. Whew! Today I'm featuring the new Wine Bottle Tag Dies. This is a great die set for those of us who like to bring a bottle of wine as a hostess gift or give away wine for friends and neighbors. It's a perfectly sized and engineered tag ready for stamping in whatever theme you want…and then it fits perfectly around the neck of the bottle!

I chose to use pretty soft Vintage Cream Cardstock to die cut my tag and banner. Then I stamped in pretty shades of Olive and Rose inks – some holly and flowers from the Cutaway Tags Winter stamp set. I used the banner (included with the die set) as a border and then stamped the same sentiment over and over in soft ink. Lastly I used the brand new Just For You die cut to add the words across the banner. I love this idea to decorate a gift!

After stamping my images, I used a water brush to gently soften the colors around the images. Kind of a faux watercoloring! I also inked around the edges with a soft beige ink.

PTI September Release Week is officially in the books! I can't wait to see what I get to stamp with next month!! Yippeeee! It's like Christmas every month waiting anxiously for my Design Team box to arrive in the mail. On October 1st you don't want to miss the launch of an awesome GIANT Christmas kit from Papertrey Ink. It's gonna blow your mind. Truly!!! CLICK HERE to shop the new release. CLICK HERE to go to the Official Papertrey Ink Blog to see what the rest of the design team is sharing today! XOXO

September 20, 2017
More Papertrey Ink September 2017 Release: Introducing Cutaway Tags Winter!

Hi friends! What day is it? LOL! I've been writing so many posts I don't even know if I'm coming or going! My husband is away on a business trip this week so Buddy and I are alone here in the studio but we miss our guy. I have a lot to accomplish this week, though, so hopefully it will go by fast and he'll be home before I miss him. I hope that you have a wonderful week ahead.

Thanks for coming by each day to see my projects from the Papertrey Ink September release! Today's card features the gorgeous Cutaway Tags Winter stamps and die. I made a really vintage and shabby chic card with these products and gave it a twist by using big bold striped paper! Hope you like it!

This finished card is a five inch square. I used the new Chartreuse Patterned paper in the big stripes to completely cover my card base. I inked all around the edges with Distress Inks and a sponge dauber. The square layer in the center was cut from watercolor paper, as was the Cutaway Tag die. You can use any type of water based ink or watercolors to watercolor the flowers and leaves if you use watercolor paper to start!

I die cut a PTI Banner and stamped the sentiment onto it to layer over the Cutaway Tag die. I really inked up everything to make it look vintage and aged!! If you look closely you can see that I used my Finetec Gold watercolor paints to add hints of gold to the leaves and flowers. I also used gold ink to splatter over the entire project. OOOOHHHH LA LA!!!

These gold paints should be in everyone's studio! I use them alllll the time, and they never go down! They are the perfect shimmer!!

In this photo I'm hoping you can see the gold. I used a tiny paint brush to dab some gold here and there. Nothing too specific.

I attached the Cutaway Tag to the card using foam tape so that there would be some dimension off the other paper. I also used foam tape to attach the sentiment banner.

I've been saying it for a few days now – THANK YOU! Thank you for joining me on this release week! CLICK HERE TO shop the new release. CLICK HERE to go to the Official Papertrey Ink Blog to see what the rest of the design team is up to today! XOXO

September 18, 2017
More Papertrey Ink August 2017 Release: Introducing Truffle Tote Box, Bite Size Tags & Too Hot to Handle!

Happy weekend! Yes, it's me, and I'm back with even MORE inspiration and projects from the August Papertrey Ink new release! What a fabulous release! So far, it's all been about Fall/Autumn crafting, but today I'm shaking it up a bit and using bright red in my projects! Today the design team is introducing Too Hot To Handle stamps and dies, Bite Size Tags stamps and Dies, and the awesome Truffle Tote Box die. Loads of inspiration for the bakers and chefs! Beautiful ways to make tags for your homemade goodies and a favor box really right for any special occasion. This was a fun set of products to work with for sure! Let's take a look at what I cooked up for ya! CLICK HERE to shop the new release!

First up is the adorable Truffle Tote Die! I love a good treat box die – my collection is really growing. They are great for giving out candies or homemade treats, gift cards or small presents. And they are great for party favors too. So many ideas, so little time! To make the box, you will die cut two of the dies (out of one 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper) and glue the sides together. The top folds over and stays shut on it's own – genius! These come together very quickly in case you have to make a lot of them.

I used my signature gingham along with the Bite Size Tags stamps and dies! You guys all know by now how much I love gingham!

I wanted a little pop of green on my project so I used the Branching Out die cut to make some leaves for the top. I made a double bow with some twine also. It would be very pretty with colored twine or ribbon as well. I used the To The Point Edgers Dies to make a tiny scallop border for the top of the box. I used a white gel pen to add white accents throughout the project!

With this apple theme, you could even make these as teacher thank you gifts with some chocolates or a gift card inside! Love how fresh and pretty this is!

Since I was having so much fun using red, I stayed with it for my second project too! I used the Too Hot To Handle stamp set along with the Bite Size Tags stamp set to make a cheerful card. I wanted it sort of vintage so my main papers are cream instead of bright white. I started with an A2 kraft card base and layered red and cream on top. I hand stamped my own background paper using the pear stamp and the flatware stamp! EEEK. So cute. To achieve the softer look, I stamped with Antique Linen Distress Ink.

How cute are these oven mitts????? LOVE this! The die cuts make a perfect cut around them and I layered them onto the tag using foam tape. A bit of turquoise twine and a bright red button finished off the details. I always like red and turquoise together, don't you??

I've been saying it all week! THANK YOU for coming by each day to see what's happening here! Tomorrow is the last day of the release week festivities. I have one more card to share. To see all the inspiration from the PTI Design Team, CLICK over to the Official Papertrey Ink Blog! Have a wonderful day! XOXO

August 19, 2017
More Papertrey Ink August 2017 Release: Introducing Halloween Hugs Kit & Wicked Elixir

Hi crafty friends! Welcome back to day three of my posts for the August Papertrey Ink new release! Are you ready for more sppooookkkkyyyy fun?! Today's projects are all about Halloween and treats. Today we are introducing the new Make it Market Mini Kit called Halloween Hugs! This new kit has tons of papers and matching stamps and dies. The possibilities are endless! Be sure to pop over to the Official Papertrey Ink Blog to see all the inspiration. CLICK HERE to shop this month's new release and this great kit!

Instead of making treats with my kit, I used the elements to make a clean and simple graphic card – one that would be easy to reproduce into mulitples. Sometimes it's nice to have a bunch of cards ready – for class mates, teachers or coworkers. I used the awesome new stripes paper along with some edgers dies for this one. The image in the center was die cut with the matching die that comes with the kit. I stamped some bright green stars from the stamp set! Easy peasy, but oh so fun.

I started with a white A2 card base folded at the top. Then I covered the entire card base with the orange stripes paper. I used two different edgers dies – and black and white paper – to make the top layer of the card. The focal element is attached to the card with foam tape.

I added a mirrored star to the center of my twine bow at the top of the card (see supply list). I love those stars for almost any occasion and thought it matched nicely back to the stamps and graphics.

Today on the PTI blog we are also featuring the Wicked Elixir stamp set. I posted about that stamp set a week ago! In case you missed it, here are my two cards I made with that stamp set! Tooooo fun. Love all those potions and tonics!!! LOL. All three cards I'm sharing today use the new patterned papers!! YEAH!! Can't wait for more colors to come out.

Thanks for coming by today and for sharing the excitement with me all week! So happy to share with you! Tomorrow it's all about kitchen fun! You're gonna love it! Have a very happy weekend! (but I hope to see you tomorrow!) XOXO

August 18, 2017
More Papertrey Ink August 2017 Release: Introducing Autumn Scarecrow & Kind of Corny!

I'm back for day two of five new release posts for the August Papertrey Ink release! WOOHOOOO! All of the products are available now in the Papertrey Ink Store. Did you already get some things? What was your favorite from the new release? I am loving everything so far because it's all about Fall! I hope you're having a good week so far. Last night I went to a cool event at a local studio and had a great time with fellow creatives and bloggers. The event is called Wide Open Walls and it's a mural festival! CLICK HERE to see more about it! Tonight I'm off to another creative meet up. Sacramento has so much going on lately. I'm loving it! And I'm loving being busy on these cooler nights. I'm taking tons of photographs lately too. Life is good. I am grateful.

Today the PTI design team is introducing two more new stamp sets and I have cards made with both of them: Autumn Scarecrow and Kind of Corny. The Autumn Scarecrow set is the most adorable scarecrow you ever did see, and Kind of Corny is anything but corny – it's classic and beautiful. If you're like me, and you love Autumn, today's post is for you! Let's get to it.

I told you he was adorable! Orange and blue are opposites on the color wheel, so these two colors always look good together. I decided to use accents of blue in this Fall card. I paper pieced the scarecrow's shirt with some gingham paper from my stash. The rest of him, and the other images, are colored with Copic Markers. I added yellow and orange Stickles as accents to the card too. I used the PTI Picket Fence Die cut to give the card some depth. This is a die I use all the time! (Info in supply links)

The other thing I adore about this stamp set is the sentiments and the beautiful fresh fonts!! I will be using these sentiments with lots of other stamp sets for sure. LOVE. And they stamp so crisp and clean.

I added one little red enamel dot heart from my stash to his shirt. He looks like such a friendly fellow!

This next card features the Kind of Corny stamp set, and I went crazy with distressing and antiquing this one! I used rich Autumn colors and the new PTI paper!

For the corn image – it is several stamps that go together. Three images for the corn – you can see that I used red, orange and yellow, and two images for the leaves….and two more images for the bow. I die cut out the bow and popped it up with foam tape.

For the sentiment banner, I stamped onto Vintage Cream cardstock and then hand cut the banner out with some small scissors. Makes it more old looking. I splattered paint and ink all over the entire project. The edges of everything are sponged with Distress Inks.

Thank you very very much for stopping by today! CLICK HERE to see all the newest stamps and dies released this week! I will see you right back here tomorrow! Tomorrow we are introducing a new kit from Betsy Veldman and it's ADORABLE!! XOXO

August 17, 2017
More Papertrey Ink July 2017 Release: Introducing Stemmed Statements!

I'm back! Day three of Papertrey Ink Inspiration week for the July new release! Happy to see you again so soon! Today I'm featuring a sweet and pretty new floral stamp set called Stemmed Statements. This stamp set has tons of floral images just right for cards, and also has matching dies. I thought these images were perfect for watercoloring! Everything in the new July release is available now in the PTI Store. I hope you've found some things that you like this month. I kind of loved everything this month!!! Wait until tomorrow's post!! YEAH!!

For today's card, I used the pretty geranium stamp image. My card base is A2 size and then I covered it with PTI polka dot paper from my stash. I die cut a panel from watercolor paper to stamp on and then kept the left over watercolor paper handy for an additional image. I started by stamping and heat embossing the geranium twice on the bottom of the panel. I left a space in the center for another geranium. The third one was stamped, embossed and then die cut out and added on later. I used Zig Clean Color Brush Markers for my watercoloring in vivid reds and soft greens….so pretty!

These stamps are so delicate and lovely! Here is a close up of my watercoloring. I added a light aqua wash of color around the images and also splattered some aqua onto the entire panel. I attached the third geranium with foam squares.

The sentiments included with this set and sweet and delicate – simple joys….ahhhh…

That's it for today's post! I hope to see you tomorrow! Hint for tomorrow's post: TROPICAL!! XOXO

July 18, 2017
More Papertrey Ink July 2017 Release: Introducing Give Love and Quatrefoil Cover Up!

Hi friends! Yipppeeee, it's finally time to share all my design team projects from the July Papertrey Ink new release! I'm so happy, I'm bursting at the seams…so hard to keep all these projects secret the past week! The entire new release went live for purchase last night at 10pm EST. Did you already order? Or, are you waiting to see some more projects from everyone? There will be inspiration the next five days in a row from all of us so be sure to stop by each day to see me! And, hope you're having a lovely weekend! My husband went to the State Fair yesterday and they had a Dole Whip stand….and he brought me one home. Yummmmm. Made my entire weekend. So delicious, just like we had in Hawaii!

I'm sharing three cards today. One card is a classic design for a congratulations card and the other two are happy and cheerful greetings with adorable birds and pretty flowers. I'm featuring the Give Love Stamp Set (and dies) and the Cover Up Quatrefoil Background Stamp. Lots of pictures coming at ya!

The brand new Cover Up Quatrefoil stamp is one large background stamp that makes this beautiful pattern! I wanted to think of a unique way to use it in my project so I decided to stamp it in pretty blue onto cream paper, and then die cut that panel into a circle for my focal point. I used a nautical theme for this card. I think it would be wonderful for someone retiring, or getting a promotion in their job. Or even moving away to a new home. I always love red, white and cream for a vintage feeling too. I used lots of patterns and stripes but since the scale is all small, it works.

The sailboat is from the new release – Cloche Quarters Summer Fillers! The Congratulations die is also new from this release. I layered the sailboat onto the card using foam sqaures. My card base is A2 and made from Kraft paper. The nautical theme continues by using twine to look like rope. Can you tell I had fun making this card?

I used my MISTI tool to perfectly line up all the layers of the sailboat stamps. There are four colors altogether in this one stamp. It looks so elegant floating there!

The next two cards are the same exact card – just with different colors! I made the first one in bright cheery Spring and Summer colors and when I was done, I thought… Hmmm, what about in Fall colors too? So I made another card! It's amazing how different it looks just by changing the season! The cards were made with the brand new Give Love stamp set and matching dies. This is seriously the most adorable stamp set! I love the birdies and all the different options for flowers and leaves… The font is also really beautiful. You can't help but smile.

My favorite shades of pink and green…..ahhhh…. And a pretty bluebird! I love the coordinating stamp to make the speckles on his chest. Too cute! For the leaves, I stamped some directly onto the paper and others were die cut out and mounted with foam squares.

See what I mean about that beautiful font? I added a few enamel dots at the end of the process for the flower centers.

And, here is the Fall version of that card! What do you think? Which one do you like better? It's hard for me to decide. But I loooooove Autumn time!

Nice shades of yellow, brown, orange and gold for this card….

Thank you oh so much for stopping by today! Remember, the next four days in a row I have tons more to share from the new Papertrey Ink release so I hope I see you tomorrow! Hope you have a great week ahead. CLICK HERE to shop the new release!

July 16, 2017
Papertrey Ink July 2017 Release Week: Introducing On the Wagon!

Hi creative and crafty friends! It's time to start the festivities for the July Papertrey Ink new release! The fun started on the 9th with our monthly intro/sneak peek video and we will continue to share projects on our design team blogs and on the PTI blog all the way through the 20th. So, lots of inspiration coming your way in the next week! All of the new release items will be available for purchase in the Papertrey Ink Store on July 15th at 10pm EST. This month is definitely one of my favorite releases ever! I have TEN projects to share with you coming soon!

Today I'm introducing the FUN and cool and retro stamp set called On the Wagon! The main image in the stamp set is a cool old station wagon that you can layer and color in any color combination you can dream up. The accent stamps help you create a surfing scene or a beautiful Christmas scene. Don't even get me started on the GORGEOUS font for the sentiments! LOVE. So I have three cards today to show you. I tried to showcase each of the stamps in different ways so you could get a good feeling for the set. There are also matching dies, which makes everything better!

First up is a vintage Christmas card to make you think of Winter in New England… This is my first official Christmas project for 2017 and I am so happy with how it turned out! The background stamp can either look like snow or waves (so cool) and I adore the little Christmas trees that fit on the top of the car or as parts of the entire scene. For this project I also used the brand new Mix and Mat Postal Dies. I got out another one of my favorite stamp sets from PTI too – Spruce and Sprigs – to add the holly accent at the top of the card.

Here is a close up of that awesome wagon! I used a MISTI to perfectly line up all the parts of the car. There are lots of colors so the final look is amazing! Genius actually! I die cut it out with the matching die and then stamped and die cut a tree for the top of the car.

Here is a close up of the holly leaves from the Spruce and Sprigs set. I gave everything a pretty coat of Diamond Stickles for some frosty shimmer.

I stamped the background stamp off to the side to look like a snow bank, and then added some pine trees. The sentiment is stamped in rich brown ink to lend more of a vintage flair. Everything on the postcard is stamped onto Vintage Cream Cardstock instead of bright white.

The Mix and Mat Postal die is so crisp and clean!!! I will be using this a lot!

The car, the trees, and the holly leaves are attached to the card using foam squares or foam tape. The card base is made from Kraft cardstock (A2) and then layered with some beautiful PTI papers and ribbon from my stash.

Now I'm going to completely switch gears and share two Summer projects made with the On the Wagon set! After all, it is July right now! This stamp set is perfect for the guys in your life too. So easy to make fancy feminine cards, but just as easy to make perfect masculine cards. I love it when a stamp set is versatile in that way. I'm thinking birthday cards, and Father's Day cards… My husband loves Hawaiian shirts so this is the perfect set to make him cards with!

In this card, you can see that now the background stamp looks like waves and water. I stamped a few times onto a white card layer to form the background scene. Then I stamped the sentiment and the palm tree in dark rich black ink. I stamped and die cut out the card and the surfboards to complete the look. Everything is attached to the card with foam tape. My card base is in Soft Stone. I layered Parakeet paper and Parakeet polka dot paper for more visual interest.

The surfboard looks so fun on top of the wagon!

What is better than that? Surf, Sun and Summer fun!

This final card today is clean and simple. I started with an A2 Kraft Card base and then die cut a Kraft circle for the focal point of the card. I stamped and die cut out the palm tree, wagon, and surfboard and then assembled the elements onto the circle. The little flowers stamped around the circle are the accent stamps for the surfboard!

The seagulls are the perfect accent! The sentiment is from the brand new Fruit Salad Sentiments stamp set. It's big and bold and super fun. Also goes great with this wagon set.

That's it for me for today! Remember, everything new is for sale on the 15th at 10pm EST. If you don't want to miss anything from the new release, make sure to visit the official PTI blog! I'll be back on Sunday starting five days of sharing PTI projects with you. Until then – have a great weekend! Thanks for stopping by today! XOXO

July 13, 2017
More Papertrey June 2017 Release: Introducing Petal Box Dies & Cutaway Tags Summer!

I have TWO blog posts today! Yowza! Happy Monday! I had the best weekend! I'll write more about it later, I promise. I have too much to share today that I'm excited about. I'm showing you the last two projects I made for the Papertrey Ink June 2017 Release. I have one card to share, and one treat box idea (I love making treat boxes!) Have you enjoyed the new release? Everything is available now in the PTI store! Today's products being featured are the Petal Box Dies and the Cutaway Tags Summer stamps and dies. YAY!

Papertrey Ink has some of the coolest dies for making treat boxes and bags. And I love them all. The newest one is called Petal Box and it creates a cute box that kind of looks like a purse. It's big enough to hold candy, small gifts or even a gift card or money. I can see using it for wedding favors, bridal shower place cards, Halloween treats, or birthday party decorations. The possibilities are endless. Since it's Summer, and because I wanted to use the Beautiful Berries stamp set, I created some picnic themed treat boxes to show you!

To make one treat box, you need to cut out two of the die shapes. Then you glue the bottoms together and fold the sides up to go over the handles. So easy really! They come together very quickly. You can get one treat box out of an 8.5 x 11 inch sheet of paper. The Petal Box Dies set comes with the main die to make the box, and then three different tags to use with your boxes. I used the Beautiful Berries Summer stamp set to decorate my gingham boxes and tags.

My go-to topper for boxes is ribbon + twine. I love the look of shiny ribbon with natural twine or cord. Just makes it look a bit more fancy I think. I used gorgeous Berry Sorbet polka dot ribbon for this project. The stamps on the tags are from the Berries set as well. I stamped the words in two different colors and added a leaf to the top!

My second project for today is a card I made with the latest addition to the Cutaway Tags series of stamps and matching dies. I love red and white for Summer so I die cut the main die out of bright white cardstock and layered it over some Pure Poppy Cardstock. YUM. My finished card is a 4.5 x 4.5 inch square card made from kraft cardstock. I added pretty vellum leaves and a few enamel dots as my accents for this card.

I stamped the sentiment in True Black ink onto a Double Ended banner die to make the words go all the way across the center of the main die. Don't you love that teeny scalloped edge around the circle? Swoooon.

Okay, well, I think that's it for me for PTI June Release Week! My first post was on the 13th featuring Garden Party and Ways to Say Hello stamps if you want to check that one out again. I have so enjoyed sharing all the new items with you! CLICK HERE to see everything and shop! Have a good week! I will see you soon! XOXO

June 19, 2017
More Papertrey Ink June 2017 Release: Introducing Herb Garden Mini Kit & Quoted True Friends!

Hi! I'm back with more projects from the June 2017 Papertrey Ink new release! It's been a fun week showing you everything! And, Happy Father's Day to all of you as well! And Happy Sunday! I'm still away on my little getaway to the Bay Area and I'll be home tonight. Can't wait to tell you about it. Hope you're having an awesome weekend. It's going to be over 100 degrees every day this coming week where I live. Yikes! I wish we had a swimming pool at our house!!

Today I'm sharing two cards – One made with the fabulous new Mini Kit called Herb Garden, and one with the newest Quoted stamps – called True Friends. All of the brand new release products are available in the PTI store now. Hope you found something you like! CLICK HERE to see the new release.

The newest addition to the Mini Kits is gorgeous! It's called Herb Garden, and, as you would expect, has beautiful herb images and pretty words, beautiful linen papers, and awesome matching dies… Sigh. I think that gardening themed products are perfect for so many occasions. We all have that one friend who has a brilliant green thumb! And we all need serene images of greenery for hard occasions. I have so many ideas for this set. I used the stamps and dies today, but the matching papers are GORGEOUS! I'm going to have to try to not hoard them. LOL.

My card started with a kraft woodgrain card base. Then I layered beautiful green paper – just a sliver. Then I stamped the herb images onto a white panel to create my own patterned paper. Then I stamped and die cut my main image and placed it on a crisp tag. Some twine finishes it all off. Because, heck, gardening cards must have twine!

I used several shades of green and brown to create a natural feel to the card. When I put the parsley onto the tag, it kind of got lost. So I stamped some background images in a soft brown tone to ground it. I stamped the words in darker brown.

So elegant and classy!!! I love that each of the herbs is different and unique, but they all look good together mixed.

My next card uses the brand new Quoted: True Friends stamp set! I also decided to pair it with the fun camping images from the Hello Mother, Hello Father stamp set. I started with a rich green card base and layered kraft cardstock. You can see that I used the woodgrain stencil to make my kraft layer have some interest. I stamped all the images in brown, and colored with my Copic Markers.

For the front piece, I rounded the corners of the paper. This is cream cardstock, not bright white, for a natural look. I splattered some light tan paint over the images once they were all colored in. I laced some twine around the top of the kraft layer.

THANK YOU for coming by each day to see more Papertrey Ink inspiration from the new release. LOTS more coming tomorrow! CLICK HERE to see the entire new release and shop. Have an amazing day. XOXO

June 18, 2017
More Papertrey Ink June 2017 Release: Introducing Land That I Love and Textile Impressions!

Hi crafty friends! Happy Saturday! I hope you're having a nice weekend! Today I'm going to my first ever Planner Meet Up! I have no idea what to expect, but I know for sure it will be FUN! I can't wait to hang out with happy crafty girls all afternoon and evening (and eat pizza too!). Looking forward to seeing everyone's amazing planners, doing some creative things, and laughing. I'm also excited and looking forward to meeting one of my online crafty friends in person too. It's at an awesome store, owned by a totally awesome lady – called The Island's Creative Escape! YAY!! Are you a planner girl?? Have you ever been to a meet up??? Tell me!!

Today, as part of the June Release Week Festivities for Papertrey Ink, I'm introducing two more projects with two more new stamp sets! One is a beautiful set perfect for 4th of July (Land that I Love), and the other is a fresh and funky set of design elements (Textile Impressions)! Everything for the new release is now available in the PTI online store!

First up, a 4th of July card! Yeah, 4th of July is coming soooooon! How is that even possible? Okay, never mind about that. Hahaha. I love kraft and red, so I started with that as the basis for my card. I used the new Mix and Mat Pretty Brackets Die to make the focal point of the card. Then I used white ink, and red, blue and yellow inks to randomly stamp the fireworks all over. I added the beautiful sentiment in black. All of the stamps are from the new Land That I Love stamp set.

I used Vintage Photo Distress Ink to edge around the center die piece. This makes the top kraft part stand out against the bottom kraft base. I added some clear rhinestones for the centers of some of the fireworks.

I felt like the card needed one big pop of color so I added a bright gold star at the bottom!

The next card was made with the new Textile Impressions stamp set. It's a set full of textures and graphics that you can mix and match to form design elements. Very creative! There are also a few perfect sentiments. I used the one chevron image and some fresh colors to stamp randomly onto a little note. The note was cut from the PTI Spiral Notebook Die. I thought it was nice with that sentiment!!

I layered some pretty PTI patterned paper and added a bow and a pin to the card for accents. This is very clean and simple and I kinda like it!!

Thank you again for coming by today! Have an awesome weekend! See you tomorrow!

June 17, 2017
More Papertrey Ink June Release: Introducing Humming Along!

Hi everyone! The June 2017 Papertrey Ink Release is now live, and all the new items are available in the PTI Store! What is your favorite new item from the June release?? It's hard to pick a favorite this time around (okay every time). For the next few days I'll be sharing all of my projects with you and I can't wait for you to see everything. I posted on the 13th with my three projects for the Garden Party set (scroll back to see those)! Today I'm featuring and introducing the set called Humming Along. It's so unique! I don't think I've ever seen a stamp set with fuchsia flowers in it. Fuchsias remind me of my grandmother. She always had these beautiful plants right by her front door of her house and I have that memory firmly in my mind. Also, this set has morning glories and sweet little fluttering hummingbirds.

My card today is very colorful!!! Get out your sunglasses! Bright green, pretty pinks, and gorgeous turquoise….ahhhhhh. There are matching dies for this set, so creating a card is easy as 1, 2, 3. I started with a green card base and used the A2 Scalloped Noted die to make it into a pretty scallop card. Then I layered a piece of bright white. If you look closely, you can see that I misted on some aqua paint mist for a little interest in the background.

I stamped and die cut out two fuchsias and one hummingbird. I used my MISTI to line up the stamp color layers. I added pretty Diamond Stickles over the top to look like the sunshine is hitting the flowers and the bird wings.

How sweet is that hummingbird? This is the small one, there is a larger one too!! You can stamp the birds and the flowers in so many color combinations.

The sentiments in this set and unique and beautiful and meaningful. I will pull this set out to use with other sets – just to use the sentiments. Lovely.

Thanks for popping in today! CLICK HERE to see the new release! I'll see you tomorrow, right back here. Have a lovely day! XOXO

June 16, 2017
Papertrey Ink June 2017 Release Week: Introducing Garden Party & Ways to Say – Hello!

Hey there! I'm back already! Because…it's June Release Week for Papertrey Ink! I love release week! I will be sharing TEN projects in the next week all made with the new items from the latest release from PTI. Are you ready? I'm excited to share, and always shocked, at how fast a month passes by. The June products are a great mix of everything good for Summer, flowers, 4th of July, innovative dies, and beautiful sentiments. Can't wait to show you everything – so hope you visit often in the upcoming days. Be sure to visit the Official Papertrey Ink Blog for ALL the details of release week, and the fun activities that go with this time! All of the new products will be available for purchase on the 15th at 10pm EST. Woot!

Today I'm helping to introduce two new stamp sets – Garden Party and Ways to Say: Hello! They worked so perfectly together, that all three of my cards for today use both stamp sets. I've also used the matching dies for both sets. And, on my third card I used the awesome new Edgers Dies! I tried to shake it up and show you some different ways to use the sets, and some different color combinations, too. Thanks for visiting today!

First up is a super bright and colorful one layer stamped card. It was really fun to use vivid and happy colors to create floral clusters on a crisp white layer. My card base is the beautiful Bright Buttercup paper. The sentiments are in rich black for contrast.

I'm going to use this Hello stamp A LOT! I know it. It's the perfect size for cards and also for the front of envelopes. Sure to cheer up anyone! You can see that I added just a couple of pearls to the finished card for shimmer and shine.

I did just a tiny bit of masking on that big flower. The rest was freehand stamping. This would make a pretty tropical party invite! Aloha!

Next up, I went for a more muted color palette, some gingham, and a country feeling. I love a good kraft card base! I layered the PTI gingham paper onto my card base then cut a smaller white layer with a touch of Pure Poppy. I stamped the flowers into one big bouquet off to one side. I'm all about yellow right now…

The sentiment was stamped and heat embossed on a strip of black cardstock and cut into a banner by hand. I layered it onto the card with foam tape.

And lastly, I used kraft again, but this time with white and Hawaiian Shores paper! Pow! Look at that pretty Hello die! So fun. Here is one of the new Edgers Dies in action too. I stamped and die cut a few of the flowers and leaves and made an accent in the V created by the edger die.

I used PTI Snow White Ink on kraft paper for the flowers and leaves.

That's it for me today! Remember, everything new is for sale on the 15th at 10pm EST. I'll be back on Friday with more (much more) inspiration from the new release. Until then, have a great week. Thanks for stopping by!

June 13, 2017