Holiday Happiness

Today I am posting a card I made for the Fusion card challenge.  You can follow the link below for all of the details on this challenge.
http://fusioncardchallenge.blogspot.com/2015/11/fusion-warm-welcome.html 

I decided to use the sketch as my inspiration this week and created a Christmas card for my little boy. I think the little gingerbread man in the corner is so cute!  I kept my colors traditional with red and green plaid pape, a dark green panel behind, and the lighter green sentiment die.

I hope you enjoyed taking a look at my son's Christmas card.  I need to get back to my craft table and make a few more cards.  Only 37 days til Christmas!!!

Motif Building

For today's post, I'm sharing a card I created for this week's PTI Make It Monday:  Motif Building.  You can get all the details about this challenge here:  http://nicholeheady.typepad.com/capture_the_moment/2015/11/make-it-monday-231-motif-building.html

I was a little nervous about participating in this challenge because I had never really tried anything quite like it before.  I was having a hard time deciding which stamps to use at first.  When I pulled out my Cuppa Love set, I knew that the tulip medallion would be a great focal point, plus it created a nice circle to build around.  The tiny ribbons and curly designs are from Tinsels and Tags and the hearts are also from the Cuppa Love set.  The sentiment is from Star of Wonder.

I used the new Tucked In:  Holiday stamps to add a message inside my card along with a couple of stamped hearts.  I had so much fun with motif building that I definitely want to make more Christmas cards with this technique!

My Supplies:

PTI Cuppa Love stamps

PTI Tinsel & Tags stamps

PTI Star of Wonder stamps

PTI Tucked In:  Holiday

PTI Cardstock in white and New Leaf

PTI Ink in Pure Poppy, New Leaf, and Hawaiian Shores

Red & white baker's twine

City Crafter Challenge - Dye it! (or die it!)

In an attempt to build up my supply of Christmas cards and improve my card making skills, I am looking at more and more card challenges.  This week's City Crafter Challenge had me sorting through my myriad dies trying to find something inspiring.

Here's the link to the challenge:  http://www.citycrafter.blogspot.com/2015/11/city-crafter-challenge-blog-week-287.html

It was a bit of a challenge not to use any stamps at all.  However, I decided to use these dies from last year's PTI Tinsel and Tags kit along with my new quilted tag die and the word "peace." I also added a snowflake from the quilted winter set.  I went with a monocromatic color scheme, but felt it needed a pop of color.  That's when I decided to add the red ribbon and to trim down that patterned paper and add the pure poppy cardstock as a base.  I threaded a couple of jingle bells through some gray and white baker's twine and tied them around the ribbon.  A few rainstones finished my card front.  (Maybe I'll stamp on the inside!)  Thanks for stopping by to take a look at my card.  I hope it leaves you looking forward to the Christmas season!

Merry Monday - Pink, Green, & White

Pink, green, and white were the colors assigned for this week's Merry Monday Challenge.http://merrymondaychristmaschallenge.blogspot.com/2015/11/merry-monday-179-pink-green-and.html

I choose to create a shaker card using my new PTI Quilted:  Winter die.  The bright Hibicus Burst pink and new Vintage Jadite green cardstock along with the pink and green sequins are so cheerful and festive.  It was such fun creating this card.  It will be perfect for my youngest daughter.  Her favorite color is pink!

As far as shaker cards go, this one wasn't too difficult to assemble.  First, I cut the quilted snowflake from vintage jadite cardstock.  Next, I cut a piece of accetate and a piece of white cardstock the same size (3 x 3 inch).  Then, I carefully placed the accetate behind the snowflake cutout and used scortape to hold it in place.  I added some thin strips of doubled-sided foam to the edges of the snowflake die.  I sprinked in my sequins and then placed the white square on the back to hold it all together.  Finally, I cut my quilted tag from hibicus burst cardstock and placed the shaker on top.  I add some sheer pink ribbon to the tag, cut a banner from the jadite cardstock and stamped my sentiment using hibicus burst ink.  Everything was placed on a plain white card and the sentiment banner was popped up using foam tape.

Thanks for visiting today!  Have a super Sunday!

Coverplate Watercoloring

Today I have taken on the Make It Monday challenge provided by Ashley over at papertrey ink.  She demonstrates how she has used her coverplates to create stencils for watercoloring.  The result is this beautiful fall card.

I just love that even though she used bright, vivid colors, the card has an overall softeness to it.  It's simply gorgeous.  The beauty of this card inspired me to create one of my own using Ashley's technique.  Below is my winter creation.

I used my PTI waves coverplate and watercolored with spring rain and blueberry sky ink.  The tree and snowman are stamps and dies from All Through the House and the sentiment is from Quilted:  Winter.  This card was fairly simply to make and I am pleased with the way the background looks like a blue-gray winter sky.

There is another card I'd like to share with you today.  I actually made this one last week for the red and gold Merry Monday challenge, but became so busy that I was unable to create a blog post for it.  Since this card didn't make it to the challenge, I decided to add it here today.  I kind of like how the songbirds and "junk" bow with its mix of ribbon and twine give this card a bit of a vintage feel.  If you look closely, you can see the three rows of music stamped in the background on the lower portion of the card.   Thanks for visiting my blog and have a blessed day!

Trio of Tags - PTI October Blog Hop

Today I am presenting a trio of red and green tags inspired by the photo for this month's Papertrey Ink blog hop.  You can read all about the blog hop by clicking on this link. 

http://nicholeheady.typepad.com/capture_the_moment/2015/10/october-2015-blog-hop.html

This is such a pretty photo with its shiny red and green ornaments and the green sprigs on the tags.  I decided to create three Christmas tags in traditional red and green colors.

I combined several different PTI products like the new Holiday Plaid paper pack and Quilted Tag die with Deck the Halls, Songbirds, and All Through the House to make these festive tags that will surely add an extra special touch to any holiday gift.

Frame It

Today I have created a card for this week's Merry Monday challenge which must include a frame.
You can click the link here to get more details about this challenge:  http://merrymondaychristmaschallenge.blogspot.com/2015/10/merry-monday-175-frame-it.html

My PTI order arrived eariler this week and I've been looking forward to using my new quilted winter stamps and dies.  When I saw this week's Merry Monday challenge, I knew this would be the perfect set to use.  The lighting in my picture isn't the best; it was late at night and I had to use artifical light.  It was a bit tricky trying to eliminate the shadows.  Anyway, I used the quilted tag die to cut that pretty plaid background and the quilted winter die to cut my snowflake from adhesive backed cardstock.  I cut a square from pure poppy cardstock, peeled my snowflake from its backing and carefull stuck it onto the red squard.  I then placed the red and white snowflake on top of my plaid tag and added a small button for interest.  The banner at the bottom was cut from the banner die that came with the tag die.  I stamped a sentiment from the PTI Freshly Fallen stamp set in pure poppy and popped it up with foam tape.  I just love that sentiment and it's one of the main reasons I purchased that set.  

Thanks for stopping by today.  Have a wonderful weekend!

MIM - Focal Clusters

Today I am sharing the card I made for this week's Papertrey Ink Make It Monday Challenge.  Lexi Daly demonstrated a stamping technique she calls "Focal Clusters."  You can check out her video by clicking on the link here:  https://youtu.be/_xbm5BVtODE.  After experimenting with a few different ideas, I finally decided to use the window stamp from Betsy Velman's All Through the House Christmas Make It Market Kit.

First, I stamped the window three times in black ink on white cardstock.  Next, I used Post-it notes to cover the space below and on both sides of the center window.  I then stamped the Christmas tree in new leaf ink.  The stars on the tree were stamped in pure poppy and the for the star I used Mementos Galaxy Gold ink.  Then, I stamped the wreaths on the side window with new leaf and stamped the berries using pure poppy.  Finally, I added a sentiment from the Tree Trimming Trio set below the windows and trimmed my cardstock down, centering it on a piece of pure poppy cardstock.

I also decided to make this little gift bag to go along with the card.  I'm not sure what tasty treat it will hold yet.  Perhaps I'll fill it with a few Oreo truffles!

For this bag, I simply folded a small doily in half.  It's being held in place by a small clothes pin.  The red cardinal is hot glued on top.  I die cut the wreath and bow using the Deck the Halls dies and attached them with scor-tape.  The holly gems are stickers (available at Hobby Lobby).  Last, I added a strip of patterned paper and festive holly ribbon.  I hope you enjoyed taking a look at my projects. Have a blessed day!

PTI Create Along with Us - October 2015

I am so excited to share some of my latest PTI inspired Christmas projects with you.  It was nearly impossible to select only one project for this challenge, so I am showing you photos of many of the things I've made recently.  I did finally choose my nativity dome as the item I wanted to link to Create Along with Us, so I guess I will show you that one first.

I just adore Betsy Veldman's Petite Places collection and thought the new nativity set would look appropriate next to a little white church.  I added a couple of tiny bottle brush trees and stamped a sentiment to match the holy family before sprinkling some snow on the ground.  Lastly, I hot glued a string of gold sequins around the base of the dome.

I continued to work with the Petite Places:  Nativity stamps along with Oh Holy Night to create a collection of neutral gift tags for the gifts under our main Christmas tree.  The tree is decorated with white lights and cream and gold decorations all focusing on the true meaning of Christmas.

Now for a Christmas card.  Again, I used the Petite Places:  Nativity stamps with some gold glitter paper for a bit of sparkle.

Thank you for visiting my blog today.  I hope you've found this post inspirational.  Happy crafting!

CASology Challenge Week 168

This week's CASology cue card is "You."  Here's a link to the post:  http://casology.blogspot.com/2015/10/week-168-you.html

I decided to take a card that I had been working on for a while and finally finish it.  A little twine, some pink staples, and a sentiment embossed in shiny gold add some fun touches to this card.

My Supplies:

Cardstock - Papertrey Ink

Stamps & Die - PTI Life is Beautiful & Friendly Flowers

Patterned Paper - Michael's

Baker's Twine - Hobby Lobby

Trick or Treat Goodies

Today's post is all about Halloween!  Black cats, ghosts, jack-o-laterns, and bats are coming your way with treats, not tricks, full of crafty goodness.  My first project today is a set of three small gable boxes that I decorated for my own children.  I am going to purchase each child's favorite candy and put it inside the box as a special Halloween treat.  I think they are really going to enjoy these.

My Supplies:

Kraft Gable Boxes - Hobby Lobby

Stamps & Dies - Papertrey Ink - Happy Spooky Halloween

Ink -  PTI various colors

Ribbon - Hobby Lobby

My second project today is for this week's Fusion card challenge.  Here's the link to the challenge:
http://fusioncardchallenge.blogspot.com/2015/10/fusion-all-hallows-eve.html

I decided to combine both the inspriation photo and the sketch to create this fun Halloween card.

My Supplies:

Patterned Paper - PTI & Paper Studio

Stamps & Dies - PTI Happy Spooky Halloween (Jack-o-laterns)

Happy Halloween Rubber Stamp - Michael's

Cardstock - PTI 

Mini Clothes Pin - Hobby Lobby

PTI MIM Stripes

Today's PTI Make it Monday challenge is stripes.  I don't really have any background stripe stamps, so I had to get creative on this one.  Ever since I receive my Minute to Make it tag dies, I have been whipping up cute little Christmas tags little crazy.  I remembered that the second stamp set that goes along with these tag dies has a horizontal stripe background.  But, I didn't want to make Christmas tags this time.  I found my Autumn Tag stamps and found a sweet "Happy fall" sentiment that fit on the tags perfectly.  Then I got out my three trees die from my petite places collection and cut several trees in fall colors.  Finally, I tied on some jute twine.  This is the result:

2 Sunday Challenges in One

Today I combined two challenges to create one "Thank You" card for a sweet coworker of mine.  The sketch is inspired by this week's Sweet Sunday Sketch.  And this week's challenge at CAS on Sunday is polka dots.  So, I decided to tackle both challenges with one project.  I used some colors I don't normally use.  PTI scarlett jewel cardstock was used as my base background along with a polka dot print.  The "Thanks" sentiment is from PTI Graceful Greetings and I used ocean tides, scarlett jewel, and pure poppy inks.  This card came together quite quickly and I enjoyed doing something a little different today.

You can find the Sweet Sunday Sketch link here:
http://sweetsundaysketch.blogspot.com/2015/10/sweet-sunday-sketch-challenge-289_4.html

The polka dots were this week's challenge at CAS on Sunday.  Click the link below to take a look at some of the wonderful inspiration cards.
http://cleanandsimpleonsunday.blogspot.com/2015/09/challenge-68-polka-dots.html

Make It Monday - Treat Boxes

Wow!  I can't believe it has been over two months since my last post.  Needless to say, life has been busy and I haven't spent as much time crafting as I'd like.  When I looked at Ashley's video today, I thought it would be fun to give this project a go.  I chose the Cuppa Love die and created this cute little Christmas treat box.

Supplies used for this project are as follows:

Cardstock - PTI white & raspberry fizz

Ink - PTI raspberry fizz, spring moss, & simply chartreuse

Stamps - PTI Deck the Halls, Sparkle & Shine Holiday Additions, & 

Minute to Make:  Holiday Tags 2

Embossing Powder - Zing!  Silver Glitter

Rhinestone - Paper Studio

Create Along with Us

I was thrilled when I heard the news that Betsy Veldman had introduced a new PTI challenge!  The Create Along with Us challenge allows crafters to select a card design from PTI's release week and recreate it with their own personal twist.  I knew this was going to be super fun; the hardest part was selecting an inspiration card.  I decided to make two!

My first card is my take on this lovely creation by Dawn McVey.  I just love the pretty shades of melon and pink.

I used the same colors here, but created a dry embossed dot background.  Then, I added a kraft bookmark and stamps and die cut leaves from Friendly Flowers.  

My second card borrows a little inspiration from Amy Sheffer.  I really like the brightly colored apples and the black plaid she used.

I went with a similar apple theme, but changed it a bit.  I used my gingham background stamps and notebook die to create this Back to School card.

Thanks so much for visiting my blog today.  I hope the PTI design team has provided you as much inspiration as they've given me.  Now, time to begin working on the Blog Hop Challenge!

Cupcake Mojo - 2 Challenges Combined

I recently returned home after vacationing with my husband and children and had not been able to get crafty in over a week.  I spend this weekend crafting with my daughter and SIL and we had such a great time creating pretty cards togehter.  Today I decided to combine two card challenges:  Mojo Monday and Cupcake Inspirations.  I took my color cue from Cupcake Inspirations and used the Mojo Monday sketch to create a happy, sunny, summer card that reminds me of a refreshing glass of lemonade.  Thanks for stopping by to have a look.

http://mojomonday.blogspot.com/2015/07/mojo-monday-406.html

http://cupcakeinspirations.blogspot.com/2015/07/challenge-318.html

MIM #216: Adding Color to Cover Plates

http://nicholeheady.typepad.com/capture_the_moment/2015/06/make-it-monday-216-adding-color-to-cover-plates.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=qS4gEgeINpQ#t=0

For today's Make It Monday challenge, Laura demonstrates how to increase the mileage of your cover plates by adding color to your cover plate dies.  There are several methods for adding color, and Laura shows us two different ones using Copics and a watercolor brush.  Unfortunately, I do not own any Copic markers; therefore, I decided to using ink and my blending tool to color my Waves cover plate die cut.  I thought it would look pretty over a smooshed watercolored background.  I was really happy with the result of the background and die together and I wanted to keep the other elements of the card fairly simple.  I used the new Ahoy dies and cut the boat, rope, anchor, and birds from white card stock.  The sentiment was stamped three times:  first in Hawaiian Shores, then in Ocean Tides, and finally in Smokey Shadow.  This was one of those mistakes that just sort of worked out.  The first time I stamped, the sentiment just didn't show up that well.  The second time, I didn't have it lined up that well.  Third time was a charm. Fianlly, I added some rainstones to mimic bubbles in the water.

The Paper Players: CAS Challenge #250 - Summer Treats

Find the challenge here - http://thepaperplayers.blogspot.com/2015/06/pp250-cas-challenge-from-claire.html

I was so happy to find a card challenge that involved summer treats!  I just received a new stamp and die kit featuring summertime fruits and could hardly wait to break it out and use it!  By the way, the kit I used is the Papertrey Ink Make-It Market Mini Kit called Still Life:  Summer by Betsy Velman. All of the elements in this kit are fabulous!

My Supplies:

PTI Make-It Market Still Life:  Summer Mini Kit (stamps, dies, patterned paper)

PTI Cardstock (White & Melon Berry)

Black Embossing Powder

White Doily

Black & White Ribbon (Paper Studio) 

Make It Monday #215 - Bringing the Inside Out

The challenge for this week's MIM is to bring the focus of the inside out.  I recently received my products from the June PTI release and was anxious to use a few of them for this challenge.  I really wanted to use Stacked Statements , so I combined with Friendly Flowers and a June color recipe.

My Supplies:

PTI Cardstock (White and Raspberry Fizz)

PTI Ink (Raspberry Fizz, Summer Sunrise, Scarlett Jewel, New Leaf, Limeade Ice)

PTI Stamps and Dies (Stacked Statements, Friendly Flowers, Tinsel & Tags)

Baker's Twine

Enamel Dots

June PTI Blog Hop

When Nichole first presented the inspiration photo for this month's Blog Hop, I couldn't help but grin.  I have this exact picture posted on my "Cute Baby Stuff" Pinterest board.  Aren't these precious?  I just adore all things baby, especially shoes as sweet and pretty as this tiny pair.

It wasn't difficult to find inspiration from these little beauties.  I used a combination of Smokey Shadow, Orange Zest, Melon Berry, Fine Linen, and Ripe Avocado cardstock along with some striped vellum to create my materpiece.

This was such a fun card to make!  I loved combining several dies to come up with a card that was truly inspired by the photo.  

My Supplies:

PTI Cardstock (colors listed above)

PTI Striped Vellum

PTI dies (Oval Sprinkles & Shakers, Garden Gild, Scripted)