When Nicole posted the inspiration piece for April’s Blog Hop, I wasn’t sure quite what to do with it. 

The colors certainly aren’t anything I usually reach for, and I rarely create stamped backgrounds. In the end, I went for it, choosing Papertrey’s “Happiness in Bloom” and “Beautiful Blooms” to try to capture the essence of the inspiration piece. 

Once I had the piece stamped, I was again at a loss to know what to do with it. But then I discovered in my pile of “to use/try” stamps and dies on my desk, the “Sentiment Splits” dies. A few weeks ago, I was sorting through my dies, and found them in a plastic bag–no label. I had no idea what they were, or even which company they had come from. Luckily, I was visiting a friend, and took them along. She recognized them immediately, and then I knew exactly why I’d bought them. Truly, I don’t know if they’ve ever been used before, but I’m pretty happy with the way they worked with this stamped background. My friend also loaned me the “Sentiment Split” stamps which I don’t own. 

The only embellishment I added was a few yellow enamel dots. I’m posting this early, but won’t be able to link it up to the Blog Hop until I get home from some appointments. Then I’ll be off to see what others have made of this inspiration piece. You can check it out right here after 10:00 this morning.

It’s been awhile since I’ve participated in a challenge despite my intention to get to at least one each week. This week I have a trio of butterfly cards that I made Sunday night. The pink ones will get entered in the Time Out Challenge #81.

Every year on our way to Longboat Key, we make a stop in St. Petersburg, Florida for lunch at the Red Mesa Catina, and a shopping trip for me at Whim-so-Doodle. I wish I had access to a store like this in our area, although it’s probably best for my budget that I don’t! One of my purchases this year was a set of paper butterflies by Maggie Holmes for Crate Paper. They were lying on my table, and I pulled out a narrow roll of Washi tape and some card stock, and pretty quickly had three birthday cards ready for May birthdays.

The “celebrate” die is from Papertrey Ink’s “Good Times.” That and a few sequins and the cards were done.

I was lucky enough to borrow a few new Papertrey Ink stamps from a friend, so hope to get some more crafting in this week along with the #100DayProject, some Project Life pages, and assignments for two online classes. Both of the agencies for whom I volunteer are closed this week for spring break, so I’ve got some extra time (if I stay home long enough to use it!)

It’s the 8th birthday of the Wednesday Challenge at Simon Says. Not surprisingly, the challenge prompt is Happy Birthday, and I have two (almost matching) cards ready for some April birthdays.

Both were made with the new “Beautiful Berries: Spring” set released last month by Papertrey Ink. The multiple stamped images were very easy to line up, so I die cut the pieces first and then stamped them. I found the design inspiration from Wanda Guess, one of the new members of the PTI Design Team. Both card bases were made with the A2 Noted dies and Memory Box paper which I love because the inside is white.

Since these are brand new stamps (never used stuff), I can sneak them into the NBUS April Challenge which ends today.

Here are two birthday cards in the same color scheme–teal and white. 

This card has a lot of color and texture but came together in a hurry. The background paper is from Papertrey Ink’s “Winter Woods” paper pack, covered with the “Dainty Scallop Cover-up” from My Favorite Things cut from white. All it needed was the “happy” die from a free set from Papertrey with the accompanying sentiment white embossed on a black strip of paper. I ended up adding three little pearls as a final embellishment.

This one makes me happy–bright colors and CAS design. I used a piece of Washi tape down the left side of the white card and added a thin strip of True Black cardstock for an accent. The sentiment, from “Scribbled Sentiments” (PTI) was stamped in Hawaiian Shores to match the card base and black as a repeat of the black accent. Three enamel dots finished it off. 

I’m linking these up to the newest Less is More Challenge: Mostly Teal.

There was, once again, a beautiful inspiration piece for the Papertrey Blog Hop this morning, and I was glad I was around to take part in it.

It took me awhile to think about how I might want to interpret it. I’m very happy with how it came out—pretty much as I envisioned it which doesn’t always happen. I knew I wanted a dark background, and I also wanted to use my newest Papertrey Ink set, “Gathered Garden.”

I actually stamped and die cut more branches and flowers than I needed. Once I started arranging them on the Stitched Oval from the Noted A2 die set, I found I didn’t need as much as I thought I might. The gold, purple, and bright pink all come from the inspiration piece.

I absolutely love the delicate bow die in this set which I die cut from some matte gold paper, as well as the sentiment which is a die cut from a favorite set, “Uncorked.”

I tried several different colors for the card base, but once I laid the Smoky Shadow pieces on the Amethyst Allure paper, I knew that was the right one. A few muti-colored sequins and it was finished. I’m anxious to see what other folks did with this inspiration piece, and you, too, can take a peek at Nicole’s blog.

Papertrey Ink is celebrating their 10th anniversary this month. They’ve been hosting a post each day highlighting some of the stamp sets released during each year, and hosting a challenge to use a set from that year. I would have loved to have participated every day, but it just wasn’t in the cards (pun intended.) Today I finally had time to play along with three of them.

First off a favorite set from 2008: “Bitty Baby Blessings.” It’s one of the first sets I go to when I need a baby card. I have an baby shower to attend next month, and was excited to see that this was one of the sets highlighted. 

I paperpieced the little onesie with some paper from Carta Bella’s “It’s a Girl” paper pack, created a little clothesline with some twine and clipped it on with a tiny clothespin onto a Stitched Circle from Simon Says. The flowers were punched from Sweet Blush paper and highlighted with a center from a flower in the “Petite Pots” set and a tiny pearl.

The sentiment is also from “Bitty Baby Blessings,” stamped with Raspberry Fizz on a banner die.

Next up, a card using “Take Three:  Summer,” from 2010. I’m not sure where the blue cardstock came from; it was scrap in my scrap folder. I love the contrast of the black and blue, and mounted the three images behind a Pretty Pink Posh “Stitched Film Strip” die.  I couldn’t decide where to put the sentiment so decided to leave the front of the card without a sentiment. Most likely, I’ll stamp a “Thinking of You” sentiment inside for a friend who’s having some health issues.

Last an image from 2012: “Sentiment Signs.” I was pleased to discover that the sentiment fit perfectly on a stitched rectangle mounted on the Papertrey “Center Style: Masculine” die which I don’t use often enough. I adhered both to a piece of Ombre Striped paper (also Papertrey Ink). 

A few gold enamel dots from Simple Stories and a cupcake sticker finished it off.

I’m linking each of these to the appropriate challenge at Nicole’s blog. I’ve enjoyed seeing some of the older sets highlighted during their celebration, but also looking through all the releases from each year. I was reminded of some favorite stamps that need to see some love!

I’ve seen the Tag, You’re It Challenge pop up occasionally, and recently I added it to my Feedly. This week’s challenge was just perfect for a baby card I needed to make and get in the mail.

I rearranged the elements a bit in order to get the sentiment where I wanted it, but otherwise, it’s a pretty close match to the inspiration piece.

The little giraffe was in my stash of die cuts, and I’m not sure where it came from. I found the bright orange twine when I reorganized last month. The price tag was still on it. It only cost $1, but I have no idea where I picked it up. The patterned paper is Echo Park’s “Dots and Stripes,” which I’ve had in my stash forever. The sentiment die cut from a scrap of paper in my stash is Papertrey’s “Wet Paint II,” and the little hearts are Simon Says “Holiday Shapes” die. I guess you could say this was a “Stash Tag,” but I’m pretty happy with how it turned out.

I wanted to put the tag on a card so I’d have room to write a note. I ran the Aqua Mist card through a Lifetime Crafts embossing folder.

And here’s a look at the inside where I used Papertrey’s “Baby Button Bits.”

I used a light blue Copic marker to color in just the bottoms of the open letters. It’s cold and windy here today; a good day for some more crafting.

This afternoon I had time to make some valentines. Not many of them can be shared here, but I’m pretty sure my three granddaughters don’t have any opportunity to check my blog! The card fits three challenges–an unusual event for me.

I’ve always loved the My Favorite Things animal stamps by Birdie Brown. Now that I have five grandchildren, I didn’t have any trouble justifying the purchase of several sets. I used one of the stamps from this set, “Polar Bear Pals,” for Caleb’s birthday card, and now I’ve used two of the images for a valentine for my three granddaughters, aged 5, 2, and 7 months. I masked the little bear in the front, and then stamped the two bears in the back sitting down. The sentiment seemed pretty perfect, too. I colored the images with my Prisma colored pencils which have been neglected for awhile. After stamping the images, I die cut them with a Simon Says “Stitched Rectangle” die; might be the most used die in my collection.

This give you a better view of the shiny hearts I added as embellishment.

I’m posting this card at The Heart Desires . . .

The Card Concept . . . Love and Romance challenge . . .

And last, but not least, the Simon Says Wednesday Challenge:  Cute!

Tuesday’s post for the Five in Five photography meme was my 1,800th post. Somehow I missed that milestone, but I do find it incredible!

Our grandson, Caleb, is a huge fan of penguins. While we were in Chicago, “My Favorite Things” stamps had a quick sale, and I ordered “Chill Wishes” knowing I’d be able to use most of the images over time. He’s also become a fan of Nate the Great books, and I picked up a couple for him this week at Barnes and Noble. I thought I’d send him a card and one book as a bit of happy mail this week. 

This card was lots of fun to make, and in addition to the new stamp set, I pulled out some products I hadn’t used in awhile—a stencil and embossing paste, and old Spellbinders Circle and banner dies.

I colored this cute penguin with Copic markers and fussy cut it. I also used a die from Papertrey Inks “In the Meadow” set to create the snowy hill. The sentiment comes from the August 2014 Simon Says Card Kit, “Ice Cream Dream.” I applied some Glitter Stickles to the hill for a bit of accent. And although you can’t see it in the photo, the hat and scarf have a coat of Wink of Stella glitter.

I’m entering this in two challenges. CASology’s theme this week is Youth. 

And here’s another one for NBUS #10 (Never Before Used Stuff). Sad to say I’ve still got a bit of that around.