Sending sympathy

For some time now, I've had some Mat Stack 3 panels in Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake and Baja Breeze sitting on my desk, waiting for an idea. I seem to be very productive lately with PTI's Iconic Images so I decided to stamp the bird image and thought it might make a good sympathy card. The sentiment is from Stampin' Up!'s Petite Pairs.

I sponged the edge of the Baja Breeze panel with Crumb Cake ink so it would stand out against the base layer. The ribbon is Crumb Cake taffeta and the button is from SU's Twitterpated collection (in the Occasions mini catalog) - I love these buttons!

At first I thought I would love this bird panel on the Crumb Cake base which was stamped with one of the background stamps from PTI's Background Basics: Text Style. I have been making a lot of backgrounds with this set during the last few weeks and loving the effect.

But this card just creeps me out. (I think it reminds me of Edgar Allen Poe's poem The Raven...) I mean, it's supposed to comfort someone, not give them the heebie-jeebies!

So I put together another panel, just like the first one, and used a Baja Breeze base this time with an overlay of Very Vanilla cut from PTI's Quatrefoil die. What a difference, don't you think? The brighter background lifts the rather somber panel and makes it much more friendly, and soothing.

I think I'm going to lift off the panel from the first card and remake it like the second. (And read something cheery before bed to fend off the nightmares...)

Frame challenge

Just a quick post to add my project to the weekly PTI challenge to create a larger frame from a frame-type stamp. I struggled to find a good combination here, as I don't have a lot of frame images. One of my new Stampin' Up! SAB sets, Elementary Elegance, does, however, have a frame image, with a crown and lots of flourishes - not a stamp I'd normally use. After some trial and error (mostly error), I ended up stamping the image mostly in the corners of a Spellbinders die cut (I don't remember the name or even what this shape is called!) I stamped an oval die cut with a sentiment from PTI's Iconic Images and layered it onto another die cut made with a Framelits die, and layered that over the altered frame image, to mask the overlap.

The card base was textured using a Cuttlebug embossing folder. I think all the swirls and flourishes of the stamp and the embossing go well together, along with the rhinestones on the Framelit die, and Rich Razzleberry lends a regal tone.


It's certainly not one of my best creations (even if you ignore the smudge), but after giving up a couple times over the weekend, I decided at the last minute to finish it up and enter it into the challenge. Better late than never, I guess!

Simple thanks

As often happens in my workroom, this card came about not with a design in mind, but as a result of trying out a new tool, Stampin' Up!'s new Edgelits dies. I happened to have a piece of PTI's Ocean Tides card stock at hand so that's how the color was chosen. I love the shape of this oval edge and think that the oval Nestability die complements it perfectly.

To emboss the edge of the oval, I ran it back through the Big Shot, still in the die, with a piece of cork and then the rubber mat against the cutting edge (the cork was there to help protect the mat and provide more of a cushion for the embossing). It gives a nice definition to the oval die cut (hard to see on the photo, but it's a pretty detail).

Linda recently lent me her PTI Iconic Images stamp set and I had some Crumb Cake pitchers already trimmed out. I have only two PTI colors - Ocean Tides and Aqua Mist - and so stamped the flower spray with these, and added the ribbons (also PTI, same colors).

I love how soft the flowers are in Aqua Mist, and I love these colors together. The photo doesn't do it justice (I'm still using my rather pathetic set up for taking pictures...) The little "thank you" is from Tiny Tags.

I think the simplicity and plain, old-fashioned look to this card work well with the vintage pitcher image.

Now I'm off to try out another new tool... and to see what develops!

PTI Make it Monday challenge - glitter buttons

Even though I have been finding a little time here and there to work on cards during the last week, I haven't gotten around to posting until now. Papertrey Ink's challenges have been a good impetus to get me to share them on my blog.

When I began watching this past week's glittered button tutorial, my first thought was "Too messy!" I'm not a big fan of glitter, nor of spray adhesive, unless I can use it outside. Even before Ashley demonstrated using glitter glue, I remembered Dazzling Details (Stampin' Up's version of Stickles) and the challenge was on!

I used PTI's Iconic Images to stamp the cool batik-looking floret in Daffodil Delight, Lucky Limeade and Pool Party. I stamped the Whisper White banner (cut from the Petal Cone die) with an image from (retired SAB) So Happy for You and made a Pool Party banner to go behind it. I covered clear Itty Bitty Buttons with Dazzling Details, let them dry overnight and added a sliver of card stock as a faux stitch. I found I rather liked them with the thin coat of glitter; as plain clear buttons, they don't make much of an impact unless they are backed with colored card stock or a stamped image.

I made two very similar versions of this card, since I was just loving the batik flower. The banner on the other card is folded and popped up in the middle, and I used round buttons on the flowers.

I think I like the first version best; what about you?

The inside of the card was stamped with an old retired stamp - I don't remember which set it belongs to, as it has been in a drawer of stamps which have gotten separated from their sets. I thought it went well with the little "birthday wishes"; they have a similar style even though they're different fonts.

So even though I initially dismissed the technique, I'm glad I tried it. I may even use it again!