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Birthdays

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There were a lot of birthdays to celebrate in August, but I ran out of blogging time so I'll be sharing three of them here today.

The first one was cased from Stephanie of Clearly Besotted Stamps. I loved the cut out clouds and knew they would work with balloons as well as a kite.

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All the papers and stickers came from the July Simon Says Card kit. 

Since my grand-nephew was celebrating his birthday right around the time he was here visiting at Conesus Lake, a nautical card seemed in order.

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The card is one I've had in my stash for years, and I can't remember who manufactured them. They came pre-embossed and I bought several pack of them. 

This card is really one of the most versatile around. By changing the colors of the cardstock and candles you could create a card for almost anyone. I loved Papertrey's new birthday set, Wishes Come True, as soon as I saw it because along with the candles the sentiments are perfect for men, women, or children.

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I added some glitter to the flames with my Gelly Roll Clear Star glitter pen, the quickest and cleanest way to add some glitter.

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Card Recipe #1:
Cardstock: Robin Egg's Blue (Bazzill ), Soloar White (Neenah)
Patterned paper: Sweet Shop (Lily Bee) 
Stickers: Sweet Shop (Lily Bee)
Dies: Balloon Bash & Clouds (PTI) 

Card Recipe #2
Card from stash
Patterned papers: Bitty Dots (PTI)
Stamps: sailboat from Celebrate (Unity), sentiment (Stampendous)

Card Recipe #3
Cardstock: Summer Sunrise, Scarlet Jewel (PTI)
Stamps: Wishes Come True (PTI), Tilted Banners (Simon Says)
Die: Tilted Banners (Simon Says) 

 

 

August 2013 Papertrey Ink Blog Hop

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I knew Papertrey Ink's Blog Hop came the day after the Stamp-a-Faire, but I had no time to prepare ahead. Luckily, the inspiration pieces are great, and meant to help you complete a card quickly. Since I need a couple birthday cards for guys in September I chose this combination of colors and sketch.

BlogHopSketch

I followed the sketch almost exactly, skipping only the ribbon/twine & bow. I pulled out some Fine Linen and True Black patterned papers and cut strips for some of the diagonals, and two thinner strips of Dark Chocolate. The 2012 Birthday Tags were a perfect answer for the circle element in the sketch.

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The Birthday Tags cut perfectly with a circle punch and I added slightly larger True Black and Fine Linen circles as mats.

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Quick and easy—another sketch to come back to when I'm in a hurry for a card. You can find the other color combos and sketches here.

Card Recipe:
Cardstock: Classic Kraft, True Black, Fine Linen (PTI)
Patterned Papers: True Black, Fine Linen (PTI) 
Stamp: 2012 Birthday Tags (PTI)
Circle punches  

Sweet Sugar Coated Embellishments

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After a fantastic dinner with a group of church folks last night at a new restaurant, Revelry, I took a look at the rest of the Papertrey Ink Stamp-a-Faire Challenges. There are a few more I'd like to tackle, and I managed to get this one done this morning. Glitter was the focus for this challenge, and I ended up making a masculine card! I would have never thought glitter would be appropriate for a guy, but I do like this one.

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Danielle Flanders demonstrated how to use Score-tape to creat a striped, glittered die cut. It was much easier than it looked thanks to her great directions, especially the quick way she took care of all the negative space after the Score-tape was applied. 

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I wasn't quite sure what to do after I finished the sentiment, but found the perfect Washi tapes and some black enamel dots to finish off the card. A little glitz is good for the guys, too, I think.

I just realized today is also the Papertrey Ink Blog Hop which I always enjoy. Is it possible to have too much inspiration? It's a good thing I'm in need of some cards for September! Hopefully, I'll be back later today with another card or two.

Card Recipe:
Cardstock: Smoky Shadow (PTI), Medium Morning Mist (WorldWin)
Stamp & Die: Wonderful Words: Birthday (PTI)
Washi tape
Glitter: Ultra-fine Crystal (Mark Enterprise)
Enamel dots: My Minds Eye 

Mixing Mists to Match Challenge

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Stamp-a-Faire Logo

I have a second card completed for a challenge at the Papertrey Ink Stamp-a-Faire. For this one I mixed rubbing alcohol with a reinker to create a mist. It was easy to do, and I'm quite sure I'll do it again. My misting bottle is a mini-mister by Ranger so I had to make significant adjustments to the quantity, but it worked really well. Originally I tried a white embossed design like Nicole demonstrated and wanted to mist with Lemon Tart, a rather pale yellow. The white embossing just did not show well so I turned the watercolor paper over and misted the back side. Then I die cut the three flowers from Beautiful Blooms 2.

DearFriend

Much to my surprise, I liked the design created by my flawed embossing attempted and ended up using those instead! I decided to use another of the sketches from the first challenge to put together the card.

Sketch2

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Sticking with my goal to use my newer stamps, the sentiment came from Delightful Dahlias Additions. On Monday a group of us are taking a good friend out to lunch to celebrate her retirement. This will be the perfect card for a garden loving lady!

Card Recipe:
Cardstock: watercolor paper (Canson), Canyon Clay, Summer Sunrise
Stamps: Delighful Dahlias Additions
Twine: Papertrey Ink
Pearls:  Kaiser
Dies: Beautiful Blooms 2 (Papertrey Ink), Tender Leaves (Memory Box), Happy Everything Tags      (Spellbinders)
Ink:  Lemon Tart for mist 

Papertrey Ink Stamp-a-Faire

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I've been "off the grid" for a lot longer than I expected. I really thought I'd have time (and energy) to blog from Chicago, but I was wrong. By the time we'd spent the day unpacking boxes and organizing Sarah and Adam's new house, all I had energy for was reading a few blogs! It wasn't all work and no play, however, so I'll be back with some photos of our week there. But today, and this weekend, I'm hoping to find time to play along with some of the challenges at Papertrey's second annual Stamp-a-Faire. 

BestWishesDetail

The first challenge of the day was a color and sketch challenge. The color combinations and sketches could keep me going all day, but new challenges will be popping up all day long! I'm quite sure I'll be back to play with more of these combos before long.

I chose this color combination to start with:

ColorRecipe1

And this sketch:

Sketch1

My personal goal is to use some of the newer stamps and dies that have arrived in the last few months. For this card I chose the dies from Maille Belles new set "Bubble Talk." None of the sentiments with that set fit my needs, so I turned to an older set, "Fillable Frames #7" for that.

BestWishes

I followed the sketch almost to the letter, just substituting the talk bubble for the circle. The inside sentiment is an anniversay one. I think I'll use this sketch again. It seems really versatile.

Card Recipe:
Cardstock: Enchanted Evening, Hawaiian Shores, Spring Rain, Select White, New Leaf, Limeade Ice
Die: Bubble Talk
Stamp: Fillable Frame #7
Enamel Dots: My Minds Eye

 

Happy Birthday, Sarah! & Family Fun

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Sarah's birthday was August 3rd, but we waited until she arrived with Adam and Caleb on Monday to celebrate. Matt, Betsy, and Skylar came to dinner, and we had a great time. From elementary school on, the only birthday cake Sarah ever wanted was an ice cream cake, and that was her request again. There were three candles for 33 years. 🙂

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Skylar wasn't quite sure what to make of having another toddler in our house. Initially she told Caleb that the toys were "mine," but she soon recovered, and they had a lot of fun running up and down our driveway together, shouting and laughing.

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Skylar kept losing one shoe, and eventually was running barefoot. I was just glad neither of them fell!

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But this is my favorite photo of the evening –the two of them on our poor glider at the bottom of the driveway that's waiting to be refinished.

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Here's the card I made for Sarah. Her personal "symbol" is a tree, and she has a wonderful one designed by Adam on her business cards and website. There's a tree hanging over their bed, a colorful tree that hung over the fireplace in Ashland, and one on her favorite totebag. When I bought the "All Seasons Tree" die by Simon Says , I knew it would be on her next birthday card.

SarahBD

I'm linking this up at the Moxie Fab Birthday Card challenge. It's the last of the white woodgrain cardstock that came in a Simon Says card kit mounted onto a green Memory Box card. The sentiment is an old wooden stamp from A Muse that I've had for years stamped onto one of Papertrey's banner dies.

Yesterday, all the cousins (but one who couldn't come) gathered at Conesus Lake. We don't think they've ever been all together in one place before. They arrived from Illinois, Arizona, Oregon, Vermont, and Louisana as well as locally. The only damper on the day was the my mother-in-law was too ill to join us. She had been looking forward to this day for months! But we got great photos. First, one of all the cousins and their children.

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A pretty good-looking group, if I do say so myself!

And then one of all of us. I'm amazed that we actually got one with everyone (except Caleb) looking at the camera with a smile on their face, and their eyes open!

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Tomorrow Adam heads back to Chicago. Sarah and Caleb are staying for the last two days at the lake (we drive back and forth each day), and we'll be driving them home. We'll leave sometime on Sunday and spend one night on the road. Tracy and I are planning to spend a week in Chicago, helping to unpack a house full of boxes and get everything settled. Once we get back home, my brother is coming for a few days.

I have a few posts to put up for the time we're away, but I won't have much time to visit blogs or comment. I'll be sure to catch up with all of you toward the end of August.

Storytelling Sunday

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Sian at From High in the Sky hosts a monthly Storytelling Sunday. This year it’s about those precious things and memories we hold dear to our hearts, and this month Sian suggested we consider “something about togetherness or something given in love.” I knew right away what I wanted to share. It’s a piece of jewelry. I’ve done a scrapbook page on it before (part of my very first Christmas Journal in 2006), and I shared jewelry last month as well, but this comes to mind immediately.

Opal_blog

Here’s the journaling I did nearly seven years ago. I don’t think it can be improved on much.

The perfect present–I got it years ago, and there’s a sad story behind it. My mother died while I was in college. She didn’t have a lot of jewelry, but she had a beautiful fire opal my father had given her on their wedding day. It was her birthstone. When she died, I took the ring and wore it constantly, not knowing that opals are very soft stones. The opal had a small crack in it when I got it, barely noticeable, but with in a few years a large crack developed down the middle. I was heartbroken when the jeweler said that nothing could be done to save it. 

That Christmas Tracy gave me a beautiful opal ring. We had just bought our first home, my job was not secure, and there wasn’t a lot of money for gifts. I was stunned and so moved. It is my favorite ring, but I only wear it on special occasions. One damaged opal is enough.

You'll be able to find other precious stories right here today.

Summer Feet and the BPC Phone Photography Project

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On a whim, more or less, I enrolled in the Big Picture Class "Phone Photography Project" in July. I'm not sure if I didn't read the class description accurately, or if it wasn't quite presented as billed, but I was a bit disappointed. From reading the message boards during class, I know I wasn't the only one. I was hoping to get some good ideas about how to improve my iPhone photography, but there was little, if any, content related to that. There were great reviews of apps, and I learned how to use a few I already had, and picked up a new camera app that I'm quite pleased with so far. I also got in the habit of posting to Instagram regularly which I'm always meaning to do, but don't. The bulk of the content was a project to work on each day. The first day was Summer Feet, and I decided that would be my Project 365 for the month of July.

SummerFeetCollage_blog

This turned out to be a lot of fun. Trying to capture some context to the photo was the challenge, but most days it worked out well. Here's where I was this month (left to right, top to bottom): Strong Hospital, working at Foodlink, at an RPO concert, in the garden, under our tree where mushrooms are sprouting daily, at the gym, at church, buying groceries, at the Irish Harp for lunch in Niagara-on-the-Lake, in the OR waiting room with my friend, on a walk with Tracy, at book group, on the Ford St. Bridge walking to the Corn Hill Arts Festival, at the pool, on the patio, catching up with email, in the kitchen, getting a haircut, out to dinner, at a wedding (no context here though I really tried!), at the Dryden Theater (waited too late for good context on this one), lunch on the Erie Canal, dessert on our patio with candle light through our open work table, a midsummer pedicure, at Charlotte Beach for sunset photos, with Skylar, at the Mt. Hope Cemetery where Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass are buried, at the Silver Thread Winery, pumping gas, waiting for the dermatologist, and ready to run errands. 

Most of the other projects were ones I was familiar with after doing Capture Your 365 for nearly two years. I may go back to look through them another day, but I didn't find any of them compelling. I'm not sorry I took the course, but I'm not sure it was worth the money.

 

New Baby

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It's not often I have a reason to create a baby card, but this past week our neighbors have had their first child. I can't wait to meet her, and I had a lot of fun at Carter's picking out a cute pink and ruffled outfit for her. (Needless to say, I came home with a bag of clothes for Caleb as well who will be here in just three days!)

NewBaby

I reached for some of my favorite papers and stamps for baby cards: Papertrey's Bitty Star Basics and Bitty Dots patterned paper, and Bitty Baby Blessing stamps. The tag is the Papertrey Tag Sale #3 die which is tied with my favorite sheer Midori ribbon which I bought years ago at Impress. 

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I finished it off with some paper piecing and some pearls from Michael's. This is another card for the Simon Says Wednesday "Anything Goes" challenge this week.

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Belated

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Several years ago, I made myself a birthday calendar which hangs over my desk. I consult it at the beginning of every month (and usually the middle of the prior month) so I'm sure to have the cards ready for birthdays and anniversarys. I do have to hustle to get a sympathy card made. I never seem to have one of those made ahead, and usually a get well card is made at the moment I need it. But I'm very prompt with birthday cards, so it surprises me that I've had to make two "forgot your birthday" cards this summer. My go-to sentiment is this:

InsideOhShoot

Given my fondness for cameras, and my love of photography it seems a perfect fit.

OhShoot

Papertrey Ink's Shutterbug Special includes one of my favorite camera stamps, and I used it for both the background and the focal point. The inside sentiment is from this set as well.

Here's one I made earlier with just a slight modification in the sentiment and a camera from Mama Elephant's "We Click" set. The inside sentiment reads "So sorry I forgot your birthday!"

OhSnap

I'm linking these up to the Moxie Fab Birthday Card Challenge, as well as the Simon Says "Anything Goes" Challenge.

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I'll be back later with some more birthday cards–finished ahead of time!

Summer Scavenger Hunt 2013: July Link-up

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Well, just how did it get to be the end of July so quickly? I'm really hoping to find all 21 items on Rinda's list this year, so I needed to get a move on recently. One night last week we drove up to Charlotte Beach on Lake Ontario to see if I could find a fisherman and a sunset. I managed both. 

Fisherman_blog

This man was very friendly, and made every effort to make sure I got a decent shot. (#19 fisherman)

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As we were walking back down the pier, these two still had their lines out as they came down the Genesee River to their dock.

I have two to offer for the sunset (#5).

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On Sunday as we drove to Seneca Lake, Tracy spotted this cute windmill (#16). I had another photo op in mind for a windmill, but this will suffice for now.

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 The first two stained glass (#14) windows are from our church.

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Here's a more modern offering from the Corn Hill Arts Festival.

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The candle (#17) was on the table for our anniversary. I didn't notice until after I'd taken the photo that the candle actually singed the edges of the flower.

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On our travels Sunday, we encountered a young couple with a sleeping baby (nap: #6), and they were willing to let me take his photo.

Nap_blog

So now I just have three items left to find—none of them easy, I might add. I'm glad there's still a good six weeks left!

BUT, I have two more photos to share. I've already posted photos for a police car, but we followed this old one down the road on Sunday. I zoomed in with my iPhone from the back seat of the van, and it's actually a pretty decent shot.

OldPoliceCar_blog

Two years ago, I hunted and hunted and hunted, but never found anyone on a unicycle. This year at the Farmer's Market, there he was. So two years late, but finally found. I'm still looking for a pirate from that year.

Unicycle_blog

By clicking on "Summer Scavenger Hunt" under "Categories" on my sidebar, you can find the rest of my scavenger hunt photos. You'll be able to find more fun scavenger hunt finds right here today.

Anniversary Post and 52/50

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We had a lovely day Sunday celebrating our anniversary along Seneca Lake. Our first stop was a new to us winery, Damiani. The staff was delightful, and so were the wines. Later that night, we ended up choosing one of their wines to have with our dinner. Tracy was anxious to get back to a lovely, small organic winery called Silver Thread. Although their wines are a bit more pricey, their whites are just perfect for summer entertaining on the patio.

The view from Silver Thread is not bad either.

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This is my pick for this week (#31) for the 52/50 project.

The grapes are still green, but beautiful.

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But the best part of the day was the fabulous dinner at Suzanne's.

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It's a beautiful setting, overlooking the lake. If you look closely you can see tables and chairs on the porch for dining. We opted to eat inside as it had rained off and on all day.

Imagine my surprise, when I looked at the menus Tracy and I were handed.

Menu_blog

Not only did we get anniversary wishes from the hostess and our waitress, but the chef came out at the end of the meal to wish us happy anniversary.

The food was amazing. Each of us chose a different entree, and all four of us were delighted with our choices. Before dinner we were offered a complimentary appetizer, and we shared a cheese plate as well.

CheesePlate_blog

Much of the food served here is sourced locally, and if it's not, you know where it came from. All four cheeses were from New York, three of them from the Finger Lakes. My rack of lamb came from Colorado and was cooked to perfection.

There are beautiful gardens surrounding Suzanne's but by the time we finished dinner, it was (once again) raining, so we'll have to save those for another trip. At the end of the meal, we were given our menus rolled up and tied with a green bow. I did take a photo, but the light was so poor for the iPhone by that time, that it's not very good.

So this week's 52/50 photo is at the top of the post, and here are the last few weeks in reverse order:

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Miss Skylar, for Week 30

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A yellow daisy from my garden for Week 29

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An umbrella from a crafter's booth at the Corn Hill Arts Festival for Week 28

Here are a couple more shots from the festival, one of three huge arts festivals that are held every summer in Rochester.

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I loved the name this crafter chose, and we loved her art—bought two gifts and a little something for ourselves. I also found something for Rinda's Scavenger Hunt at the festival, but I'll save that for tomorrow.

Happy Anniversary to Us & a CASology Challenge

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Today is our 40th anniversary. Last night we both agreed it surely hasn't felt like 40 years—we can't be THAT old! But it is, nonetheless, and we've had our big anniversary trip already. But we didn't want the day to pass without marking it in some way, so a bit later we're off to Seneca Lake with our good friends, Bob and Cathy. We have two wineries to check out, and a farmer's market I want to explore. Then we'll have dinner at Suzanne's Fine Cuisine, a restaurant highly recommended by friends and in the book, Summer in a Glass, which we both finished reading this month.

I thought I'd post this card tonight with a few photos of our day, but I want to link it up to the CASology challenge for this week, and the link closes before we'll get home. I recently discovered this challenge on Cassandra's blog, but haven't had much time to play along this month.*

Week 54 - Gold
I cased the design for this card from Nora on A Creative Touch. The woodgrain cardstock and the chipboard hearts both came from a Simon Says Card Kit. The die is also Simon Says, and the sentiment is from Papertrey Ink's "Live Love Life." The gold paper I've had in my stash for years. (The store where I bought it closed at least 10 years ago.) I love it, and this is the last piece of it.

AnniversaryCard

The inside sentiment (I forgot to photograph it before I wrote a note inside) reads: "A good life is a collection of happy moments," and we've had 40 wonderful years of happy moments together. There's no one I'd rather spend time with! I'll be back tomorrow, hopefully with a few shots of a day in the Finger Lakes (though it's a bit drizzly now), and a 52/50 update.

*Great update on our friend, Mike! He was released from the ICU Friday night, and is walking around the nursing station, eating real food, and joking with us all. He's still very tired, and will need some weeks of rehab, but a complete recovery is within reach! Thanks again for all your thoughts and prayers. 

Summer Card Camp: Week 3

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This is my second post of the day, but it's the first time I've had a chance to play around with the Summer Card Camp challenges. Here are this week's colors and sketches:

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Truthfully, these are the most difficult colors I can ever remember trying to work with. After I finished the first two cards, I realized you only needed to use four of the five colors. That certainly would have been easier! 

The first card, and my least favorite, was supposed to be Sketch #2, but it ended up looking more like Sketch #3.

StarSpangled

Looking through my embellishment drawer, I came upon these wooden start stickers (Studio Calico?), the patterned papers are from Paper Source (purple) and the Hip Hip Hooray paper pad by American Craft. The sentiment stamp is one of my oldest wooden stamps (St. Louis Stamp Design). I managed to get the fifth color in there with some My Mind's Eye enamel dots. I think the funky light at the bottom of the card is because the banner extends off both ends. 

I'm happier with the second card.

SuperStar

I haven't used this border die cut from Memory Box yet, so I thought it would be perfect for Sketch #3. I used three patterned papers, two from Bo Bunny and one from American Craft, added some pink gems (there's that fifth color again!), and a tiny banner I hand-cut for the sentiment from Star Prints (Papertrey Ink.) This card is getting linked to the Moxie Fab Birthday Card Challenge.

My favorite of the three cards is this last one where I tried a double-stamping technique Jennifer McGuire shared in a video. 

Awesome

I used Mama Elephant's "Trifecta" stamps to create the background. It's a border stamp with three rows of tiny triangles. First I stamped it in purple, and then went back and slightly offset the blue triangles. This is the kind of thing that usually is a disaster for me, so I'm really please that I only had to do it once. The rosettes are an oldie but goodie and I'm not sure who made them (another find in the embellishment drawer. The die cut banner and sentiment are a set from Simon Says called "Tilted Banners." 

I'll be linking this last card up with the Moxie Fab "Trendy Triangles Challenge." 

July 2013 Papertrey Blog Hop

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This month's challenge for the Papertrey Blog Hop was a color challenge. There were six gorgeous color combinations to choose from based on the "Fruits of Summer." You can see them all here. This color combo screams summer to me, so that's where I started.

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I was hoping to use the new birthday stamps I ordered this month from Papertrey, but for some (yet unknown) reason, the package arrived in Rochester, but was returned to Papertrey Ink before it ever got on a mail truck! I was so disappointed, but turned to the Wonderful Words: Birthday die cut for my card.

JulyPTIBlogHop

I die cut the word in each of the five colors, carefully cut the letters apart, and reassembled the word. "Wishes" was selectively stamped from the Think Big Favorites #16, and I die cut the stars from the Star Gazer dies. It's a pretty simple card, but I'm happy with it. I'll be entering it in the Moxie Fab Birthday Card Challenge as well. 

You can find lots more colorful inspiration here today.