HB2U

Here's a grungy birthday card  and bookmark combo I made for my Godson.The stamp set is Tim Holtz's Bitty Grunge which has lots of fabulous grungy images.

Supplies

Cards Magazine

I don't think I ever showed you this card which was picked up by Cards Magazine in August.  Yesterday, my print copies of the magazine arrived, along with a few scrapbooking supplies. So exciting to see my card there on the page! 

I've used some of my favourite Crate Paper Restoration collection, along with an svg dress form file.  Can't imagine ever sending a Girls' Night Out invitation myself, but it was fun creating it all the same.

Birthday crafting kit

It's my friend Pattie's birthday this month. Like me, she loves cardmaking, so I decided to put together a crafting kit as a gift.

I decorated a white metal box with patterned paper  (from Basic Grey's Nook & Pantry collection)

And filled it with all kinds of goodies:

I used glassine bags to hold ribbon and a variety of  embellishments:

And also included a portfolio of patterned paper and a stamp set:

Happy Birthday Pattie!

My new favourite ink

Up until now, I've been a strictly dye ink kind of gal. I've just had so many bad experiences with pigment ink - too goopy, takes too long to dry, patchy coverage, smudging. You name it.

But all that changed this week when I took delivery of some A*Muse Studio pigment inks, thanks to Kristie from the PTI forum. Thanks Kristie!  And all my bad experiences just melted away. Can I just say I LOVE this ink, absolutely love it. It's pigment, but not as I've ever experienced before. Not goopy, gives great coverage, dries as fast as a dye ink. A-ma-zing!

So if, like me, you're a die-hard dye ink fan, a pigment-a-phobic, you should definitely try this ink. Check out A*Muse Studio here.

So here's a birthday card I made to test out the ink.  Rather limited colour choices for now, but all that's going to change pretty soon :)

Supplies

Bloomers

Love the hydrangea image from PTI's summer jar fillers.  In fact, that was one of the main reasons I ordered the set (the other was to get the pint jar image).  I coloured the flowers with my copics (PTI royal velvet trio).  For once, I also filled in the jar using B000. After I'd stamped the image and started to colour,  I realised I'd used Versafine ink rather than Tsukineko Tuxedo Black which works better with copics. Got a bit of smudging, but not as much as  I expected.

As the hydrangeas don't have stems, I masked off and used the stems from the daisy in the Jar Fillers set. The tulip stems from the Spring Fillers set would work well too.

Supplies
Paper - PTI stamper's select white, Damask paper
Stamps - PTI Friendship Jar Summer Fillers
Ink - Versafine onyx black
Accessories - copics, PTI jar label die, foam tape

Bliss

I finally succumbed and bought the large rolled rose die from My Favorite Things. I can cut paper and card stock rolled flowers using an svg and my cricut, but cutting felt which is to be rolled up is a bit more difficult because it needs to be stabilised with heat n bond or something similar and then would be visible.

So I've been cutting felt flowers as if my life depended upon it.  Here is one cut from scarlet jewel felt. Such a gorgeous colour!  Bliss :)

And a close up of the rose:

Supplies

A little whimsy

This is a card I cased from Danielle Flanders' blog. You can see the original here (scroll down a bit). After seeing her card, I just had to have that adorable Jenni Bowlin stamp - what a cutie!  I recycled some of the stamp packaging to make the border:

Supplies
Paper - PTI stamper's select white,  polka dot from Jenni Bowlin packaging
Stamps - PTI Birthday Bash Sentiments, Jenni Bowlin Whimsy Silhouette
Ink -  Tsukineko Brilliance graphite black 
Accessories - stapler, cricut, bakers twine, foam tape

More calendars

Can you bear to look at a few more calendars?  I've had a wonderful time using up stacks of patterned paper and churning out calendar pages with my cricut and photoshop elements.  This is one of my favourites and features Basic Grey's Curio Collection:

Supplies
Paper - white cardstock from stash, Basic Grey Curio Collection,
Stamps - PTI Calendar Basics
Ink -  Memento cottage ivy
Accessories - Perpetual Mini Calendar Maker for PSE, calendar page svg, calendar CD case

Birthday wishes

My aunt's birthday is at the beginning of November.  I've made her this set of notecards as a gift and today I made a birthday card to accompany them.  Since she loves flowers, I used a rolled rose  that I cut with my cricut.  My next challenge is to try and cut one of these using felt.  Will let you know if it works!

Supplies
Paper -  SU sahara sand, PTI scarlet jewel, ocean tides, vintage cream
Stamps - PTI Mat Stack 3 collection, Round and Round (sentiment), Hero Arts Envelope Pattern
Ink - Versafine onyx black, versamark
Accessories - matstack svg, banner svg, rolled rose svg, clear embossing powder, foam tape

Thankful

We don't celebrate Thanksgiving here, but it is good to remember to be thankful for all the blessings that we have. I was inspired by the mums (as in chrysanthemums) die that Papertrey Ink just released and went looking for a cutting file I could use with my cricut.  Thanks to the SVG Cuts blog, I came across this great project featuring a 3D chrysanthemum svg file.  And here's what I did with it:

Here's a close up of the 'mum':

Supplies
Paper -  SU sahara sand, PTI terracotta tile, orange zest, ripe avocado

Ink - Versafine onyx black
Accessories - chrysathemum svg, thankful svg, glue gun, PTI button, glue dots

MIM #35 - washi tape take 2

I had so much fun making my own washi tape using tissue paper and scor-tape for this post that I decided to keep going and make some more. I turned this tape into panels for the focal point. Love this butterfly from Hero Arts!

Supplies

Make it Monday #35 - washi tape

This is the first Make it Monday challenge I'm taking part in for months.  This one was a lot of fun - check it out here on Nichole Heady's blog.  I love washi tape and this is such a great idea - make your own. Haven't had so much fun in ages.

So without further ado, here's what I came up with:

Supplies

Steampunk debutante

I don't remember noticing steampunk the first time it was around in the late 80s and early 90s, but I like Graphic 45's 'Steampunk Debutante' collection.  Here is a card I whipped up recently for a friend's birthday:

Supplies
Paper - PTI vintage cream, Graphic 45 Steampunk Debutante paper pack
Stamps - PTI Fancy Flourishes
Ink - PTI vintage tea dye duo
Accessories - PTI  scallop die, foam tape