Sending sunshine and smiles

SSS Monday Challenge: A Trio of Something
Make it Monday #317: Using Outline Images

It's spring and time for butterflies and flowers!

Today's card used a variety of Papertrey stamps and a Simon Says Stamp stitched rectangle die.
This was a bit of a challenge as I had cataract surgery on my "good" eye this morning!

Solid or color images:

PTI Beautiful Butterflies, Stitched Garden

Outline or black images:

PTI Doodlie-Do (sentiment), Oopsie! Daisy, Rustic Wreath

Inks:

Brilliance Pearl Orchid & Pearl Sky, Ranger Archival Black & DIO twisted citron

I'm linking this to 

PTI Make it Monday #317 

 SSS Monday Challenge: A Trio of Something 

I used 3 colors, 3 daisies, 3 different sized butterflies, 

3 sets of 2 different sprigs of leaves and a trio of dots

grammylovesherboys

Rosie Posie duo

Make it Monday #316
Stenciled Edges

In Instagram I've become accustomed to writing less and less which isn't really what a blog is all about. Today though, the quiet Saturday between Good Friday and Easter dawn, I finally got a chance to finish a card and load it to my blog. In fact, I made two versions but didn't mount the second one to a card yet. Papertrey Ink has a new feature, Simple to Spectacular, which featured the stamp set Rosie Posie last week. I purchased the set last year but haven't used it a lot (Big #1 Habit for many crafters). Out it came for this Make it Monday #316 where Lizzie Jones shared her use of stencils to enhance cards.

                                                                     

 Stamps: Rosie Posie & Rosie Posie Step 2

Dies: Rosie Posie, Noted: A2 Scalloped

Stencil: Woodblock Prints

I used the PTI Woodblock Prints stencil set on my first

card to decorate the corners of the posie panel and also

the edges of the aqua card. I chose the larger motif on 
two corners of the saffron spice panel and the smaller 
motif for the aqua mist frame edges. 

I lightened up the palate for the second card but

used the same design, this time with a sentiment.

Stamps: Rosie Posie & Rosie Posie Step 2, Vintage Linens

Dies: Noted: Scalloped A2 Vertical, Rosie Posie

Stencil: Woodblock Prints

Happy Easter, friends. Christ is risen.

Happy Mother's Day

Papertrey March 2018 Blog Hop
Make it Monday #315:
Embossing Enamel Splatters

It was ironic to see the PTI blog On Crafting a Community this week because on

 Wednesday I had the opportunity to drive an hour north to meet my card-blogging

friend, Greta for a long lunch. It was lots of fun and we each brought PTI die cuts
to share. When Greta found out that I didn't have a jar of embossing enamels, she

  mailed me a couple of packets to help in the MIM challenge.

Now back to business for today's post with the lovely

photo inspiration for the PTI March Blog Hop

I want to find a floral decorator to recreate this basket for my table.

I absolutely love it!! 

As a few of you know, my husband is an avid bird watcher, spending more than 12 weeks away from home this past 12 months on birding trips in NE India, Kenya, Peru, and flying home today from Vietnam. When this picture was shared, he had been away almost three weeks thus my focus on the nest and translating flowers to colorful birdies. A little chickadee from Winter Woods came in handy. Voila - a nest full of birdies looking for their momma.

Stamps: PTI Butterfly Blooms & Winter Woods
Dies: PTI Shape Shifters: Oval & Winter Woods, Hero Arts February MMH kit (nest) PTI Linen Impression Plate
Inks: VersaMark, Distress Oxide broken china & picked raspberry
Misc: White EP, Stampendous EP Enamels Aged Taupe (a gift from Greta), Pebbles 'Garden Party' paper pad, Stickles, Ranger water color paper

Notice the awesome nubby gold splatters?

I combined both the hop and this week's Make it Monday #315 with Melissa Phillips.

love you

Create Along with Us:
 March 2018

On Day 3 of the March release I saw Michelle's square card and 

fell in love immediately. She has a knack for mixing patterns well.

Michelle Leone's card

I chose to concentrate on:

the pastel colors

the die cut sentiment

the cluster of flowers

mix of pattern paper

PTI stamps & dies:

Stamps: Keep it simple: Praying; Quilted: Spring

Dies: Inspired:love; Quilted: Spring; Tag Sale: Quilted

Paper: Bitty Big Sweet Blush, water color 140 lb

Ink: Hero Arts Lemon Yellow, Pool; PTI Olive Twist

Check out more cards from the 

Papertrey March release here

Big Day

I was amused to see the CASology challenge this week - "BUG".

 I had planned to use one of my insect rubber stamps but an older A Muse

  VW bug stamp with its load of presents popped up first. It was stamped in

 Momento Tuxedo Black, colored with Copics and grounded with a stamped

  road from PTI's City Scene. It will work for spring birthdays or graduations.

Sending Sunshine

Papertrey Make it Monday #314

Color Wheel Cards

This week Lexi Daly shared her fun in making cards with lots of colors. 

Her use of the color wheel concept provides a template for choosing colors

but not particularly creating rainbow cards. I stamped three of the smaller

images from Watercolor Wonder in a variety of Distress Inks and placed a

What the Doodle: Sun die cut in the middle as the hub for the circle.

It's a fun technique and really great for spring and Easter cards.
It's already in the mail too!

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to check out the other entries in this week's

Make it Monday challenge

Hippity Hoppity

Mask & Stack

The best thing about entering a card challenge is leaving my comfort zone and trying new ideas, techniques, colors, whatever. This week on PTI's Make it Monday challenge Betsy Veldman created the most darling clowder of cats similar to her recent waddle of penguins Throwback Thursday card. (Google: term for group of cats/penguins, lol)  Apparently so many readers reacted to the silly penguins that she stepped up with masking tips for the MIM. 

Masking is not a favorite technique of most paper crafters. 

Here's my version of a fluffle of rabbits after two attempts.

Papertrey Stamps/Dies: Bunny Basket, Heart Border, Tag Sale: Quilted

SSS stitched rectangle die

For those interested in bird man Jim's trip to SE Asia this week

here are photos from Monday's Angkor Wat day of tourism.