Perfect Presentation: Top Notch ~

WARNING: Lots of pictures in this post!
Good morning!  Perfect Presentation is having a new release today of a really great little box called Top Notch. 

 It uses two pieces (really one and a half) of 81/2 by 11 paper plus extras for decoration if you would like.  The top simply folds over the box and slips into a notch cut along the bottom of the box.  Here, take a look

I stamped the box base with Tin Types and decorated the panels with the new Delightful Dahlia set.  I had to wait a week and a half to get this set!!  Poor Annie had to hear all about it - it was quite the drama for me!  lol  Thanks Annie!!  I chose the color combo of Berry Sorbet and Wild Wasabi.  I want to go with New Leaf because all of PTI's colors are just a bit richer than Stampin' Up's, but I'm practicing restraint and getting rid of the WW that I have first.  Yes, I'm patting myself on the back right now! ;o)  I measured and cut panels for all sides of the box and stamped them with the large and small flowers and leaves.  I stamped them first on Eclipse masking tape and cut them out so I could layer them better.    The front of the box utilizes the new dies that are an additional purchase to the Dahlia set.

As you can see, my coloring is not blended perfectly, but still gives a nice effect.  Stamping  on the die cut was easier than I anticipated, so I would recommend getting the dies.  A little lemon tart button with a tag that says 'celebrate today' finishes this off.  I love to make these templates so the recipient can use them over if they'd like. 

As you all know by now, I can't make a template without making a card to go with it!  I actually made two and would love to hear which you like better.  They are exactly the same except that one has a little bee from Honey Bees.  The sentiment is embossed and is from Damask Designs.  Talk about a completely PTI card!

I'm not sure if the bee is quite to scale enough for me.  The process on these cards is the same.  I stamped the big flower first, masked it, stamped a leaf, masked it, etc. until I had built my scene.  It sounds like a pain, but once you've cut out your masks, you can just store them in the case and use them continually.  I used embroidery floss in color 703 (the color closest to New Leaf) instead of ribbon.  I am loving the color and ease and lack of size of the floss!!  You might be seeing a lot more of that in the future!

 Here's the whole ensemble together.

Now you should bop around to the other designer's blogs to see their amazing creations and leave them some love.  These ladies are fantastic and truly inspiring:

Annie  ~  Chris  ~  Harriet  ~  Kerri  ~  Rebecca

Be sure to come back tomorrow for the new Sketch Girl sketch along with a cute Spring Basket template that was released previously this month!  Thanks for stopping by today!  Sorry it's been so quiet around here and also with the comments on your blogs.  I've had a hard time bouncing back from the stomach flu that rocked the house and then weddings and birthdays and mayhem!  Have a fantabulous Tuesday!  It's supposed to be in the mid 70's today and we're moving the furniture outside to get the carpets cleaned.  :o) lyss

SUPPLIES ~

STAMPS: PaperTrey Ink (Background Basics Tin Types, Damask Designs, Delightful Dahlia, Honey Bees & Mixed Messages) 

INK: Memento Tuxedo Black; Versafine Onyx Black; PTI Berry Sorbet; SU! Wild Wasabi

PAPER: PTI (Berry Sorbet, Stamper's Select White, True Black); SU! Wild Wasabi

OTHER: Copics (pictured); Filigree Clear embossing powder; EK Success scallop border punch; Eclipse masking tape; Sakura Clearstar pen; dimensionals; Embroidery floss (703)

No winter lasts forever ~

or so Hal Borland says.  Me, I'm not so sure!  Today is gorgeous, nearly 70 degrees, but tomorrow we have a forecast of more snow.  Enough already!  I know areas of the country have seen it way worse than us up here in Northern Colorado - my dad kept getting hit with back to back snowstorms in Durango that dumped at least 3 feet a piece.  I remember that from growing up - we'd have to shovel the snow away from the windows so the weight wouldn't crack them.  Spring will show up soon enough I'm sure, I just want to enjoy more of this fabulous sunshine!
Anywho, here is a card I made for a little card sketch challenge at Paper Garden Projects.  The main image is a digi freebie that you can download at the store.  Echinacea or purple coneflower is one of my favorite flowers - it's a perennial that does wonderfully in Colorado and has medicinal qualities too.  Love it!  It's not really a spring time flower, more of a mid to late summer bloomer, but it still works with the quote I think.

I colored it in with Copics but wasn't able to achieve just the right color...guess that means I need to go shopping! lol  Did you all see that Hobby Lobby has doubled their collection of Copic markers!  Yay!  I still have my online sources, but I like to save those for colors that I can't get at Hobby Lobby.  Frustratingly, I've called  the art stores and hobby/crafting stores and no one else carries them.  I even called our LSS and they didn't even know what they were.  I'm thinking, hello?, have you not been on any stamping blogs or even SCS to see what the current trends are?  Sorry to get off on a tangent there! 

I used a quote from the Verve anniversary set, Beautiful You.  It's a cool set that was developed by utilizing each of the design team's favorite quotes.  Each day of the pre-release showed a peak of a quote and project made by the DT with that quote as well as why they chose it.  "No winter lasts forever, no spring skips its turn. -Hal Borland"  This one is from Laurie Schmidlin and speaks of hope and that things will get better.  After 3 days of the whole family having the stomach flu, this is the quote I chose for this card!  Ha! lol  I distressed the quote while still in the circle die with Antique Linen distress ink, as well as the edges of the main image.  The background is stamped in VersaMark with the Tin Types background set from PTI.  I then swiped the Always Artichoke cube around the edges of the card for a bit more depth.  That's all I have for you today!  Cross your fingers that this stomach flu will go away and leave us all alone!!  :o) lyss

Celebration of Spring Sketch Girl 14 ~

Spring is starting to peek in at us here in Colorado...yay!  We've had some 60 degree days, and I feel so much better with all that sunshine!  Course today had no sun and was only about 40.  That wasn't much fun, but I'm showing some optimism and enthusiasm with my card for today's sketch!  The sponsor for this sketch is Frenzified.  A random participant in SG14 (the tag you should use when uploading to an online gallery like SCS or PCP) will receive a $15 gift certificate to use in the store and a special yet-to-be-released image!  There are some really great images in this new, up and coming digital stamp company, so be sure to bop on over and check them out!  Check out the Sketch Girl blog for more info.

I love this sketch!  Sketches with all these layers are initially very intimidating for me.  I find that if you keep it relatively simple by choosing one grounding color to mat everything with, you can easily make the sketch into a great card.  Now that I'm looking at it, I realize I didn't follow the sketch to the 'T'...we'll blame that on my husband! He was on facebook, and since I don't like to print things out {read as I am a child of the 80's and don't want to waste any trees}, I was unable to look back at the sketch.  It's just a little thing though, so I think it works!


  I used one of my newer PTI sets Through the Trees for the focus on this card.  The base is stamped in Chocolate Chip.  I stamped the leaves first in Ripe Avocado and then in Spring Moss, just a tad off set.  I dotted on some glue and added some Sweet Pea FlowerSoft to represent all those buds that are about to pop!  I've had these cool season, text stamps that I just *had to have* {and have never used} for about 4 years now.  When I got the idea to do the spring like tree, I thought it would be cool to use the Spring stamp for the square element of the sketch.  It's stamped in Ripe Avocado on Spring Moss (love those together!! Yummy!!), and I had to get out the Stamp-a-ma-jig to get it just right...which is probably why I've never used these *old* rubber stamps before.  lol  The large rectangle is a bit of the spring moss paper from the PTI Pretty Pastels paper book.  The sentiment is one from Autumn Abundance and is punched out with the SU modern labels punch.  All of the panels are distressed with a bit of the Vintage Touch inking duo {yes, also from PTI...my blog name is there for a reason!!}.  I might have to go back and ink up the edges of the entire card now that I'm thinking about it.  The whole card is on Rustic Cream - I love this paper!  It allows you to make a CAS card or have a bunch of open space because there is so much texture in it. 
Now I'm sending you off to look at the other fabulous Sketch Girl designers cards - a couple of ladies are taking a sketch off, so I haven't included their names.  We have a new Guest Designer for March - be sure to stop by and give her some love!
March's Guest Designer Deanne Kuntz  ~  Amber  ~  Annie  ~  Bonnie  ~  Harriet  ~  Jess  ~  Julie  ~  Randee  ~  Sara  ~  Tiffany
Have fun bopping along!  I'm off to see all the other lovely creations!  TTFN :o) lyss

Time to Celebrate ~

Hey there!  I told you I'd be back...I just wasn't sure when!  Well, today I have a little gift ensemble for you utilizing the Perfect Presentation template Gift to Go.  It's a cute little take-out-box template that is super easy to put together.  I'm in love with the ease of .svg files and my Cricut!  This duo also qualifies for the Cute Card Thursday challenge {Celebrations!}.  First, the card

I measured off a 1" border and drew a line with a scrapbooking marker and masked the edges with post-it notes to stamp.  The branches and flowers are from Out on a Limb and the lanterns are from Verve's Holly Jolly christmas set.  I used a Sakura clearstar gel pen to draw a line and bow on the tree for the lanterns to hang from.  All of the flower centers are super sparkly with some Fruit Punch stickles.  Fun!  A one layer card that packs a lot of punch!  I had to go with a Chinese lantern look to go with the cute little box

I cut this out on my Cricut in Rustic Cream cardstock.  The two patterned papers are from the digi pack Summer Solstice by Kristin Cronin-Barrow.  Once I had picked the paper, it was easy to coordinate my color combo in my card.  Now they look like they go together!  The decorative mat layer in the template file made it super easy to make this box!  I used ribbon as my handle, but you could easily get some wire in the jewelry section at your local crafting store.  The eyelets are jumbo ones that I found in the leather tooling section at Hobby Lobby.  They're not a perfect match to the largest size on the Crop-a-Dile, but I'm willing to punch a couple more holes to save a little cash!  Hey...I'm frugal not cheap! lol

I'll leave you now to your weekend!  Be sure to come back tomorrow for the new Sketch Girl sketch!  I love it!!  It's a fun one! Toodles :o) lyss

CARD SUPPLIES ~

STAMPS: PTI {Autumn Abundance & Out on a Limb}; Verve Holly Jolly

PAPER: PTI Rustic Cream

INK: PTI Hibiscus Burst & Raspberry Fizz; SU Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin Pie & Wild Wasabi

OTHER: Sakura Micron 03 black pen & Clearstar gel pen; Fruit Punch Stickles

Oh, Alice! ~

Hey ladies!  Hope your week is going great and you get to play hooky for the rest of the day!!  I'm about to go outside and enjoy the beautiful Colorado sunshine.  The card I have for you today began with the hopes that I would be able to enter it for 3 separate challenges - JUGS {sketch challenge}, The Greeting Farm {create an Alice inspired card} and Oh, Alice! {color challenge red, blue & purple}.  Well, I just checked The Greeting Farm and it seems their new challenge for this week is a birthday card, so I guess this will fit the bill!  Sweet!

I used one of the super cool new digis - Twisted Tea - and lovingly colored her in with Copics.  I didn't even try to shade this...sometimes I think I get too bogged down in an image, and I didn't want to on this one! lol  The color combo is Elegant Eggplant {my fave purple color}, Aqua Mist {kind of blue, right??} and Pure Poppy.   She needed a little extra umph, so I shaded with some aqua-ey chalk while she was still in the circle nestie die.  The background is stamped with PTI's Polka Dot Basics in eggplant.  The sentiment is another digi from Sassy Studio Designs.  You can kind of tell in the picture that I added a little bit of sparkle to her hair, eyes and all the little cherry type dots on her outfit and cupcakes.

Even though this is an UN birthday card, I think I would still send it as a birthday card.  So many of us are past that 30 mark and no longer celebrating the passing years, right?  I mean, ahem, I'm still 29, but my friends are passing that big 3-0...you believe me, don't you?  lol  I have a Perfect Presentation called Gift to Go all ready to show you but want to make a card to match, so we'll see how soon you see me again!  Hope you all have a fabulous weekend!  adios!  :o)  lyss

Dotty Birthday ~

I told you I'd be back today with some more margarita inspired colors!  I made two of these super fun and easy emboss resist cards.  They are a great 4.25" square size.  I like square cards, but don't like to try and find larger size envelopes, so I stick with these because they'll fit in a regular A2 envelope.  Course I did splurge and buy the new Martha Stewart score board the other day at Michael's (with a coupon, mind you!).  It comes with a little guide of how to make your own envelopes, so I may not have that problem anymore!  Anyhow, on to the card: 

I stamped three different dotted circle images from the PTI set Dot Spot in VersaMark ink and another of the smaller circles in Versafine Onyx black ink, sprinkled on some Filigree clear embossing powder and heat set it.  Using a paper towel, I swirled Aqua Mist ink over some of the paper, and SU Gable Green and Green Galore ink cubes directly on the paper to fill in the rest of the areas. 

The inside is finished off with a little scrap of the embossed paper.  I stamped some smaller circles in Gable Green and Aqua Mist and stamped the sentiment from Mod Squad over the top of the circles.  Cute font, huh?  Fun, easy and cheery!  Hope you like!  Have a great day!  :o) lyss

Margarita Mojo 128 ~

Mmmm...margaritas!  I love them...they don't love me so much!  LOL  We have this place in Northern Colorado called The Rio - this restaurant is known less for it's food and more for it's fabulous margaritas!  The recipe is secret and super strong - the limit is 3.  Anyhow, I'm sure you're wondering why I'm talking about margaritas.  My color combo today (and tomorrow for that matter) reminds me of the lovely margarita.  Aqua Mist, Gable Green/Green Galore, Black and white.

I used the sketch for Mojo Monday sketch #128 for today's card.  The circular element couldn't just be a circle, so I used the flower from Thankful Blossoms.   

It is embossed 3 times in Versamagic Onyx black and clear filigree embossing powder.  The center of each flower is sponged with Gable Green and the outer petals are Aqua Mist.  The bottom layer of the flower is cut in half and spread apart to make the flower just a bit larger.  Each layer is set up on dimensionals.  The second layer has some little green rhinestones on the swirls - a little extra bling makes a girl happy  :o)  The sentiment is a combination between Verve's Because of You and PTI's Mother. 

Ok, I'm off to finish dinner.  Hope you all have a great Sunday evening!  :o) lyss

Sketch Girl 13 take two ~

This past spring/summer I attended a scrapbooking/stamping expo at our local fairgrounds.  I got this really cool stuff called embossing paste and a gorgeous brass stencil.  I proceeded to make a couple of samples as I had seen the demonstrator do...and then couldn't figure out a layout for the card.  In comes Sketch Girl 13...perfect!  Here's the sketch again

Here is the card that popped into my head the moment I saw this sketch

This is how it works...you tape the stencil down with a low tack tape to your paper and slather on the embossing paste, similar to frosting a cake.  Once you have the height and consistency you are happy with, you gently peel off 3 sides of tape, leaving one side on as a hinge.  You take the stencil off and allow the paste to dry...I think I left mine overnight, although I don't think it needs that long to dry.  {You have to clean the stencil right away b/c this stuff hardens and will become permanent.}  Once it's dry, you lay the stencil back down and sponge color onto the image.  I used ripe avocado for the stem and plum pudding, raspberry fizz, hibiscus burst, summer sunrise and barely banana for the flower.  In the future, I think I'll do a lighter base for the stencil so the flower stands out a bit more.  I kept the rest of the card very simple - a dark chocolate mat, rustic cream base and sentiment tag on a plum pudding satin ribbon.  The sentiment is from PTI Autumn Abundance and is stamped in VersaMagic Jumbo Java and sponged around the edges.
Hope you are all having a wonderful day!  Hopefully, I'll see you back with more soon!  I'm super inspired today but have a 2+ year old that wants to go to the park ;o) lyss