Papertrey Ink February Blog Hop ~

Hey there!  I’m playing along with the Papertrey Ink February 2014 Blog Hop Challenge where the theme is spring!  I pulled on some of the pretty colors in the inspiration pic – blue skies and purple crocuses – to make my first card. 

The background is colored with Distress Inks – Shaded Lilac, Dusty Concord and Tumbled Glass – on watercolor paper and then spritzed with Shimmerz spray in pearl.  It’s a very subtle but very pretty effect.  Here’s a close up

I think the twine, twig, feathers and sentiment flag give this an almost dream catcher quality.  The sentiments on both cards are from PTI’s Through the Trees.  I made another card with exactly the same layout but in a more subdued tone.  Unfortunately, I need sympathy cards this week because my aunt passed away.  Instead of boring you all with another post to show the same card, I’ll just show it here.  However, this does mean you’ll probably get another post with sympathy cards this week.

This background uses the emboss resist technique.  The script stamp is clear embossed on watercolor paper and blended with more Distress inks – Fired Brick, Shabby Shutters and Vintage Photo. 

The extra detail on this one is that the twig die cut is cut from wood veneer paper.  I love that stuff.  I don’t know why Michael’s only carried it for a millisecond and discontinued it.  Lame.
Thanks so much for stopping by!  Have fun along the hop!

Alyssa

Trends with Wplus9 Designs ~

Wplus9 Designs is turning 3 and having a large celebration for the entire month of February.  The challenge this week is to make a card using Wplus9 products and one of the trends showcased.  I actually made this card on Sunday for the last challenge – Step it up by adding dimension.  Unfortunately, I completely missed the deadline because I’m a ditz.  Lucky for me, I actually did a couple of trendy things on this card, so I don't have to miss posting it to their challenge!  I used misting and metallics.

I chose to work with Fanciful Feathers and Borders & Backgrounds I which is an Ikat set.  I wanted an elegant, classic color combo of cream, black, gold and kraft. 

So I pulled out a mist I’ve had for a few years – Memento Fireworks in Desert Sand.  I saturated the largest feather die cut (the one in the back) a few times.  The strange thing about this mist is that is has turned kind of green over time. 

The next feather is scribbled with the Sakura Stardust pen and then I used an aquapainter to spread the glitter around.  The last feather is stamped with various distress inks and painted with the aquapainter as well.  I went back through and added more detail and dimension with distress markers and the glitter pen.  Nice and sparkly!

Lots of twine, a button and a sweet sentiment = my kind of card.  Thanks so much for stopping by!

 

 Alyssa

Quilted Happy ~

Hi there!  Thought I’d bop in with a card I made yesterday combining two of my favorite challenges: CAS-ual Fridays CFC:128 So Long and Curtain Call Challenge: Cozy Quilt.  The bonus on this one is that Lil’ Inker Designs is sponsoring the Curtain Call Challenge with a $30 gift certificate to the store, so you should definitely play along!

I had to play along with the CAS-ual Fridays challenge because two of my best crafty girlfriends are on this team.  It’s the last challenge for most of the team members, so the challenge is to make a long card that also says farewell.  I made a 3x6 card for the long part of the challenge and took a different spin on the adios part.  So many times, people have to choose to leave a DT to move on to different challenges for themselves.  I chose to say, So happy for you with Congratulations on this inside.  This also makes it a more versatile card to have in my stash!  ha ha ha

 

I used some patterns and colors from the inspiration photo as the jump off point. I used the Pieced Chevrons Cover Up plate and pieced all the pattern paper together.  The sentiment is from Rainbow & Clouds sentiments {as is the Congratulations on the inside.}  I use this set a lot – the font is perfectly lighthearted and the sentiments are customize-able.  Just a few enamel dots and this simple card is finished!  I think I really like this size too…perfect for sending a little money along to someone you’re proud of. 

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Hope you have a wonderful day!! 

 

Alyssa

Versatile Birthday ~

Hi there!  Feels like long time no see!  Hope you all are fabulous :)  I’ve got a little birthday card for you today that I think you’ll love!  Not only is it fairly easy, it would be easy to customize for any age and change out the colors and make more girly.  My little man had a birthday party to go to that we were invited to at the last minute, so I had to come up with something quick.  I pulled out a ton of stitched Lil’ Inker dies and went to town!

I started by die cutting a card front with the largest Stitched Rectangle die – don’t be confused, this die doesn’t actually cut the card front, but it does cut in the stitching detail.  I then ran it through again with the On the Diagonal die.

I add the background paper from My Mind’s Eye and pulled a couple colors from it for accents.  The stars are a combination of Stitched Stars and My Favorite Things stars – they work so well together!  The sentiment is from The Sugar Kissed Cottage Surprise! stamp set.  I just masked it to stack on the Stitched Flag. 

The ‘6’ has the fun little detail I’ve been seeing a bunch of lately.  I cut the number out several times in both gray and Caribbean and glued the Caribbean color into the center.  It’s those little details that we, paper crafters, notice and usually is unseen.  LOL  I added another small star topped with a twine tied button for just a little extra something and to take away from the sharp design of the stars.

The inside is finished off with a ‘birthday’ die cut and some additional stars.  It wasn’t until I’d taken the picture that I realized I had carried the diagonal theme to the inside of the card.  Love when that happens!

Hope you do something phenomenal with your weekend!  Thanks so much for stopping by!!

 

Alyssa

Lil’ Inker Designs Release Hop Day 3 ~

Hello!  Welcome back to the final day of the Lil’ Inker Designs February Release hop!  You should’ve arrived here from Alicia’s wondrous blog.  You can bop right back to lovely Laura’s to get started off right if need be though.

First off, a little card to encourage and lift the spirits using the new Cloudy Sky die and Stay Beautiful stamps.

I started by cutting the clouds multiple times on a piece of vellum sliding the die from side to side to get a different cut every time.  The vellum is layered over pattern paper with foam tape cleverly covered by some stitched clouds. I thought the sentiment paired well with the symbolism of letting a balloon go, so I stamped it on one of the larger clouds.  The balloon is from the mini party set and uses some reddish pattern paper to further carry out that whole symbolism thing.  The inside is stamped with another sentiment from the set, “You’ll fight through some bad days to earn the best days of your life,” along with a couple of the vellum clouds {with stitching detail} to piece it all together.

  

Last, but certainly not least, are the Anytime Tags.  These little beauties not only feature the signature stitching and a wonderful rounded design, but offer up two separate choices for adding or leaving out the hang hole.  I chose to do a layered tag to add to a birthday gift bag.  This little cutie is Birthday Owl {sorry, he’s out of stock! :( } all Copic colored up to match the paper.  The sentiment is from Surprise! – I just left the ‘belated’ part off when stamping.  Now, if I were up and up with trends, I would’ve added some sequins here, but alas, I am not a trendy gal.  Some colored rhinestones fit the bill for me!  I can see myself making a lot of these in the future!  I get to color but don’t have all the muss and fuss of making a full blown card. 

Ok, thanks for sticking around here! Head on over to Amazing Amy's fantastic blog!  Don’t forget to comment along the way for your chance at three $15 gift certificates to Lil’ Inker Designs!!

 

Alyssa

Lil’ Inker Designs Release Hop Day 2 ~

Hi there!  Welcome back to the second day of the Lil’ Inker Designs February release hop!  The fabulous Alicia should have sent you on your way here, but you can always start at the wonderful Laura’s blog to begin this little shindig correctly.  Let’s start today off with a fun new die that is sure to become one of my all time favorites – Gift a Hoot

   Ha!  Isn’t she great?!  Give a Hoot is a fun gift card holder die that can be used all alone or on a card like I’ve chosen.  I used a textured gray as the body along with some pale lavender and turquoise for the eye area.  The buttons as eyes are a fun little addition although the die comes with a smaller circle cut that could be used as well.  The speech bubble is one of those wood veneer shapes.  I painted mine with a combo of white acrylic paint and Mister Huey mists.  Slip in a gift card, tie it up with some coordinating embroidery floss and voila! 

My second card today uses the new It’s Today, Right? set.  This card has been knockin’ around the old noggin since I first saw the preview of the set.  All I could imagine was a comic strip, so I set out to make just that!

I used Stitched Squares to mat out each part of the happy couple’s relationship and paper pieced her dress as well.  The heart die cuts are left over from the Floating Hearts die.  I save all those little pieces!  The ring is covered in Icicle Stickles for a ton of sparkle in real life.  Quirky and cute!  Love this set!  It has great sentiments too in that fun font.

Your next stop is the Amazing Amy's fantastic blog!  Don’t forget to comment along the way for your chance at three $15 gift certificates to Lil’ Inker Designs!!  Thanks for stopping by!

 

Alyssa

  

Lil’ Inker Designs Release Hop Day 1 ~

  Welcome to the February release hop for Lil’ Inker Designs!  You should be excited!!  We have some fabulous goodies to share with you over the next few days.  Hopefully you’ve found your way here from the amazing Alicia’s blog.  If not, bop on back to Laura’s to get started off right!

Let’s start out with a set of stitched dies that I happen to know will make quite a few crafty ladies out there very happy!  May I have the pleasure of introducing Stitched Hearts…

I chose some Echo Park Love Story paper and a zesty pink to showcase the dual stitching of these dies that is exclusive to Lil’ Inkers.  The sentiment is pieced together from the Hamster Cupid set.  

The stitching on the pattern paper gets lost in the business of the design but looks oh.so.fabulous on the pink!  A quick wooden heart and button tied with twine finish off the outside so that I didn’t feel like it was too clean and simple.

I had the beautiful stitched hearts left over, so I used them to bring the design to the inside.  The sentiment is from the new, fun anniversary set called It’s Today, Right?  What a fantastic font!  The little hearts are a couple accent stamps from the second new set from this release – Stay Beautiful.  Love when I can use so many new goodies on a card…they just work so well together!

Ok, you’ve stuck around here long enough.  Head on over to Amazing Amy's fantastic blog!  Don’t forget to comment along the way for your chance at three $15 gift certificates to Lil’ Inker Designs!!  Thanks for stopping by!

 

Alyssa