This week’s challenge at CASology is “FLY,” and I have a card to share that fits right in the challenge.

I’m not sure why I fell in love with this Papertrey Ink set when it was released over three years ago, but I did. I typically go for sets that have multiple images for different kinds of cards, or florals.  “Feather Finery” is nearly all feathers but I loved the feathers and the overlay that can be applied to the top. It also has a set of beautiful sentiments although I didn’t use them here. I have to admit, however, that I don’t often think of this set when I need to create a card.

 I double stamped the feather with Ocean Tides, first with full ink, then slightly offset without reinking. Then I embossed the dotted layer with Platinum Embossing Powder. The sentiment is die cut from silver Paper Source cardstock with Wplus9’s “Hand Lettered Thanks.” I love the font of this die cut. The stamped sentiment comes from the same set. After adhering the white panel on an Ocean Tides card, I added a few clear sequins for embellishment.

I have another idea for this challenge that’s pretty quick and easy, so hope to be back in another day or two with another “feather” card.

A quick post to join in with Papertrey Ink’s June Blog Hop. Here’s the inspiration photo:

When I first saw it, I immediately thought of an older Papertrey Ink set called “Gracious Vases.” Then life got really busy, and I couldn’t get to my desk to create a blog hop card until late this afternoon. I stamped my favorite flower and then two vases from the set on watercolor paper, and watercolored them. Then I used a new My Favorite Things die cut for the frame and mounted the image behind the frame. I stamped the sentiment from Papertrey’s “Round & Round” and mounted it all on a Tropical Teal card.

Off to check out the other cards created with this inspiration piece.

The new Time Out Challenge is “Celebrations.” There’s an optional twist to make a one-layer card, but as usual, I wanted to use my dies for a little dimension. A good friend recently retired, and I wanted to get a card (and gift card) to her.

In addition to wanting to create a card, I wanted to use two new sets that I ordered from Papertrey Ink in April, but still hadn’t used. The first was “Gran’s Garden.” I passed it up when it was first introduced, but saw so many cards on blogs that I liked, that I broke down and purchased it. No regrets. The second was this year’s Anniversary Set, “Grand Finale.” It can only be acquired with reward points. I don’t always opt to use mine for the anniversary set, but I thought this one had quite a few possibilities. It made a perfect frame for the flowers. The sentiment came from a Simon Says “Banner Sayings” set that I’ve had for a long time. The card really didn’t come together, though, until I found the patterned paper from the “Lovely Lace” mini-kit by Papertrey Ink. I didn’t order the kit, but I loved enough of the papers to order them. 

I hope my friend enjoys retirement as much as I do!

I subscribe to several card challenges through Feedly, and frequently post to one or another of them. Rarely do I set out to create a card specifically for two challenges at once, but yesterday I did. I thought I had checked the dates for both, but this morning was rather dismayed that one of the challenges had been closed before I got my post written. Ah, well. Here are both the challenge images even though one  has closed.

The second challenge is the Time Out Challenge which is their “Inspired by Words” challenge:  ‘Flowers and Friends make life a garden.’ I recently purchased a new stamp set from Simon Says called “Friends of Life,” which had the perfect sentiment for this challenge.

I stamped the floral images from the set with Altenew’s mini cube set, “Cool Summer Night.” I have just a couple of their layering ink sets, but have some more on my “wish list,” as they make the layering process much easier. I die cut a piece of dotted vellum from Papertrey Ink with an old Grand Nestability Scalloped Circle die and then cut it in half. I adhered it to the card with a strip of narrow Washi tape, added the die cut sentiment and flowers, and embossed the remainder of the sentiment on a narrow strip of black cardstock.

I’m linking this up to the Time Out Challenge which closes soon as well. 

A quick post to share two identical anniversary cards for the Simon Says Wednesday Challenge: Anything Goes. 

Using some Fresh Snow Linen cardstock, I die cut a Simon Says “Stitched Rectangle” and then the “Tic Tac Toe Hearts.” I die cut the hearts again from a piece of patterned paper in Echo Park’s “Blowing Kisses” paper pad. With some fun foam behind it, I mounted the squares on a card from the same Fresh Snow paper. The sentiment is from Hero Arts.

I’m a fan of inlaid die cuts and this is a quick and easy one when you need a couple of anniversary cards! Hope your week is going well.

Today is Sarah and Adam’s 11th anniversary—how is that possible!!! Nonetheless it is, and I have a card for them inspired by The Card Concept: Freshly Elegant challenge. Here’s the inspiration photo:

I was inspired by the colors that are throughout the photos–pinks–light and dark–yellow and golden colors. The card itself is based on one I pinned awhile ago. I liked it so much I bought the die. 

I watercolored a background and then added some splatters with Studio Calico’s “Piglet” spray. Neither are fortes of mine, but this time I was satisfied with the result. The gorgeous “Stacked Hearts” die is from Simon Says and I die cut it three times and layered them. The sentiment from an old Papertrey Ink set “Mat Stack 3” was white embossed on a scrap of black cardstock that was then cut with a banner die from My Favorite Things.

The watercolored panel was cut down just a bit and layered onto a Memory Box card. One of the interesting feature of The Card Concept challenge is to identify your card by its style. I think 90% of my cards fall under the Clean and Simple category, but in this case I think “Clean and Graphic” might be the better choice. You can find the explanations for the different styles right here. How would you classify this one?