Happy birthday, Merry!

Here is a blue and cream card I made for a friend's birthday.  Hope it will bring her smiles:

I rounded the corners on a cream card base and then cut a slightly smaller PTI spring rain panel. I stamped large flourishes on the spring rain panel with Brilliance pearlescent blue ink that has a shimmer to it.

I used my Take Three die to cut out three squares and stamped PTI's Background Basics Geometric graph paper design in Jenni Bowlin soap powder ink.  I stamped more flourishes in spice tin ink (dark navy) and then the Mega Mixed Messages sentiment in brown sugar.  I popped up the spring rain layer on foam dots and voilà, all done!

Hope you have wonderful birthday, Merry.  Sending you hugs.

Supplies:
Paper: Staples 110lb cream, PTI spring rain
Stamps: PTI's Fancy Flourishes, Background Basics Geometrics, Mega Mixed Messages
Ink: Brilliance Pearlescent Blue; Jenni Bowlin inks (soap powder, spice tin, brown sugar)
Misc: PTI Take Three die, foam dots, corner rounder punch

Polka Dot Frenzy - borders and dots

One final submission for Lawnscaping's polka dot frenzy challenge... I love my polka dots!  I cut a window with Spellbinder's Labels One out of my card base that I had stamped with Hero Arts Cling Dots and then a frame in dark chocolate cardstock.  I stamped Harold's ABC's with a fun sentiment that is all over the place in decor these days.  I even stamped the little birds from Bannerific.

A closeup of the window frame:

Lots of dots to keep it fun!

Supplies:
Paper: Staples 110lb cream, Gina K dark chocolate
Stamps: Lawn Fawn's Bannerific, Harold's ABC's; Hero Arts Cling Dots
Ink: Jenni Bowlin ink (chilli powder, chewing gum, spice tin)
Misc: corner rounder punch

Polka Dot Frenzy - keep calm and carry on

Here is another submission for Lawnscaping's polka dot frenzy challenge... I really had fun with this one!  I stamped PTI's Background Basics polka dots in Jenni Bowlin's Brown Sugar ink.  Then I cut out a Spellbinder's Labels One in dark chocolate cardstock.  I stamped Harold's ABC's in Versamark and then the little birds from Bannerific.  I embossed in pastel and gold embossing powders.  I popped up the label on foam dots to add some dimension.  I also rounded the corners of the card base.

Here you can see the card a bit better.  I kept this one super simple with no extra embellishments etc. 

And one final picture here ...

I took a picture of the card with one of my favourite cookbooks behind it - a crazy pattern but what a fabulous cookbook!  It's called Rebar and it is from a restaurant in Victoria, BC that serves fabulous vegetarian food.  I went there a while back and got this cookbook as a gift.  There are some AMAZING recipes in it!

Anyhoo, happy crafting (and cooking)!

Supplies:
Paper: Staples 110lb cream, Gina K dark chocolate
Stamps: Lawn Fawn's Bannerific, Harold's ABC's; PTI's BB Polka Dots
Ink: Jenni Bowlin ink (brown sugar), Versamark
Misc: foam dots, corner rounder punch

Polka Dot Frenzy - pink polkas

Over on the Lawnscaping Blog, they are hosting a challenge to incorporate polka dots and Lawn Fawn stamps into your project.  Here's what I came up with :

I ran pink textured cardstock through my Cuttlebug with the polka dot impression plate from Papertrey and then stamped lots of the little cute stamps that come in Lawn Fawn's Sophie's Sentiment set into the impressed dots.  I took the banners from Bannerific and stamped them in Jenni Bowlin Spice Tin, Seed Packet and Chili Powder with Harold's Alphabet.  What yummy colours!  After doing some fussy cutting, I popped the banners up on foam dots and mounted the pink layer on my cream card base that I had stamped with Hero Arts Cling Dots.

Filled with polka dots galore!  I really like Lawn Fawn's whimsical style of stamps.  It takes me from my usual style of cards and this is a good thing!

I just love polka dots!  This was a really fun challenge and I will have to try another one again soon ...

Supplies:
Paper: Staples 110lb cream, random dark pink cardstock
Stamps: Lawn Fawn's Sophie's Sentiments, Bannerific, Harold's ABC's; Hero Arts Cling Dots
Ink: Jenni Bowlin inks (Spice Tin, Seed Packet, Chicken Feed, Chili Powder, Soap Powder)
Misc: detail scissors, PTI's Polka Dot impression plate, foam dots

Die Storage and Organization

So my die collection has steadily grown due to the wonderful offerings out there, in particular from Papertrey Ink.  I originally was just keeping them in the packaging they came in but wanted to find a simple uniform solution that was properly organized.  Nichole Heady posted about her die storage on her blog here:

This inspired me to try something different from what I my haphazard storage.  I didn't find these same boxes she had and don't have enough dies to fill one anyhow but used a similar idea.  I had a plastic container from Yokoyaya, a local dollar store with all products from Japan (similar to Daiso).  This was originally a plastic container with a hinged lid to open for flour/sugar.  I took the lid off and covered the outside with patterned paper.

I used plastic cd cases that have a little flap - these are perfect and will be very durable.  I downloaded the labels from Nichole's post and they worked wonderfully.  I even popped in any extra die cuts or masks I had for the dies in the envelopes. 

I found the cases at my local Staples (Memorex CD/DVD Keepers in colour and clear for only $11.92).  They were a great deal - 50 for that price.  They had clear and also coloured.  If you wanted to buy the coloured ones, you could have different colours for different categories.

I had already made dividers with cardstock squares and simply snipped tabs that I made by cutting apart the scallops from a scalloped punch cut.  Easy!  I stapled each one to the cardboard square and staggered them.

 For some reason, it keeps on uploading upside down but I'll add this pic anyhow.  :)

 Simple easy die storage that is easily expandable.  So far, it is working wonderfully!

Oh, and to make it a little whimsical, I eve added a little bitty bird on the front decorated with black Enamel Accents on the front with a glue dot! :)  Why not, I say!?

PTI Make it Monday - selective inking

This week's video technique was selective inking.  I do this often to create the exact sentiment that I want.  All you do is ink the portion of the stamp you want - with clear stamps and raised ink pads, this is very easy.  Here are some of my creations:

I did this one with lots of layers.  A layer of Ocean Tides impressed with the text impression plate.  Then a layer of Basic Grey Basics manila paper, a Melon Berry Mat Stack 4 stamped with Background Basics: Retro, and then the numbers with the Outline Alphabet and the sentiments selectively stamped from Mega Mixed Messages.  I edged with some Colorbox Frost White and mounted the die cut on foam dots.

This red one was a square 5x5 card of Scarlet Jewel.  I cut out a Delightful Doily in vellum, then stamped it with the tree image from Little Bitty Bird.  I also die cut the bird to put on top with foam dots.  I was able to adhere this vellum layer to the card with a glue dot behind the bird.  I stamped a label image from Mat Stack 4 in Colorbox Frost White on Kraft and cut it out.  I then selectively stamped the sentiments from Little Bitty Bird as well as the hearts.

The inside sentiment is also selectively stamped with two different sentiments from Little Bitty Bird.  It is a bit hard to see but click the pic for a larger view.

Supplies:

Grad Card
Paper: Staples Cream 110lb card base, Basic Grey manila basics 8x8 pad, PTI Ocean Tides and Melon Berry
Stamps: PTI Outline Alphabet, Mega Mixed Messages, Background Basics Retro
Ink: Versamark watermark ink, Versafine Onyx Black, Colorbox Frost White
Misc: PTI Text Style impression plate, Mat Stack 4 die,  foam dots

Little Bitty Bird
Paper: PTI Scarlet Jewel, Kraft, vellum
Stamps: PTI Little Bitty Bird, Mat Stack 4 collection 
Ink: Brilliance Coffee Bean, Versafine Onyx Black, Colorbox Frost White
Misc: PTI Delightful Doily die (large), glue dot, foam dot

Gorgeous Jenni Bowlin inks - I'm in love!

I am in love with the new colours of Jenni Bowlin inks from Ranger.  They are so vibrant and the colour names are so cute ... Cough Syrup, Seed Packet, Spice Tin, Stick Candy, Malted Milk ...

I stamped these onto my ink reference sheet and love all of them!  I also labeled the sides of the ink pads with white labels and pressed the edge into each ink pad to get a colour reference as well.  I photographed them in front of my decorated Cuttlebug - added some clear stickers to add a little something something. :)

I have never had a whole set of inks before so this is quite a momentous occasion for me.  They stamp beautifully with rubber stamps and acrylics and clean up with no staining on my beloved photopolymer stamps.  My experiments went well ...  I was also able to emboss with them and the spice tin (dark navy colour) is a nice deep blue when embossed.  Yum!

I stamped a simple card with PTI's Modern Basics set using an idea from Paperella's blog I saw to create a simple flower:

Here's my take on this ... I changed it up quite a bit:

I used Chicken Feed, Cough Syrup, Chili Powder, Chewing Gum and a chocolate brown button.  I love how vibrant these inks look ...

You can buy them here at Two Peas or here from an Etsy seller.  Happy stamping!!

Oh, and here are some references:
Jenni Bowlin reference sheet
PDF label sheet from Ranger
Colour reference online