Papertrey Peeps Challenge #9

Hello everyone and a Very Happy Official Unofficial Start of Summer! Well, at least here in the US, Memorial Day signifies the start of summer. It may still be 50 degrees and three weeks until the Summer Solstice, but get out those shorts and don the flip-flops. Damn the mosquitoes, full speed ahead. It's off to the beach, the lake or the pool. Roll out the grill and get cookin'.

So I thought for this challenge what could be better than to make a project that has to do with vacation or travel. No involved, complicated rules, just hit the road! And I chose the best trip of all -



This is a birthday card for a fellow that has been facing a lot of challenges since his retirement. When you have a conversation with him, he always winds up with a smile and the statement "Life's a trip". So right away I grabbed Enjoy the Ride. It was inspired by Melissa Phillips' card you can view here.

The sentiment is computer generated in fonts similar to Enjoy the Ride. I used the PTI sentiments inside, so it wasn't necessary that they match.

A Little Argyle is stamped in Smokey Shadow & Pure Poppy on Soft Stone cardstock. The map of our town was found on the internet and printed also on SS. I scored and folded it to look like the real thing and edged it with the Vintage Touch duo. I also used some Enchanted Evening CS for the background.

I loved Melissa's car. If you were a child of the sixties, as I was, VW bugs/beatles were the absolute rage. All of my friends wanted one. Me too, but my folks got me a secondhand yellow Corvair - "unsafe at any speed" is how Ralph Nader described it. Oh well, I managed to survive and that's another story for another time. The hip bugs were painted with flowers and hearts and peace signs. I loved the polka dots, so I stamped my own PP with Pure Poppy Polka Dot Basics on Kraft CS. I paper pieced several images and added an acetate windshield, rhinestone headlights and even a steering wheel. The ribbon is from Michaels and reminds me of the road.



Inside I stamped the large argyle diamond in Smokey Shadow & Pure Poppy and topped it off with the sentiments from Enjoy the Ride.

Well I hope you've enjoyed this ride. Once the festivities die down, get those stamps inky. Let's start summer out with a fresh new project, be it a card, a layout, or maybe a Bon Voyage gift. Keep it loose, think of vacation and stamp away.

I'd like to leave you with one more image.



That's my grandmother wrapped up in Old Glory and it was taken shortly after my grandfather left for WWI. My Dad served in WWII. Whatever you're doing today, I hope my friends in the US will pause for a moment and remember what this day is all about. Go watch a parade, thank a veteran, or just wave a flag. I sincerely appreciate if you read this far. Now I'll get off my soapbox.

Thanks for dropping by.

Papertrey May Blog Hop Challenge

Hi. I'm Linda and I'm a Papertrey Fan-addict. But I must confess, I am a member of that oh-so-small group that does not own any felt! There, I've said it. I hope I can still participate in this Hop tonight. If you've exiled me from the group, you can stop reading now.

The reason for not purchasing the PTI felt is that I have a humungous, ginormous investment in felted wool. This rather similar product is achieved by laundering (eeeek!!) 100% wool fabric and then tossing it in a hot dryer (double eeeek!!) When I was a teenager my mother did this to one of my beloved sweaters, she felted it, and it didn't cost $64 a yard! Have you seen the felted purses? They're made from knitted wool yarn and are really yummy. The end result is that the fabric is thicker and tighter and will not ravel. Most of mine are over-dyed. You can find plaids, tweeds and textures which are not available in felt. I have made candle mats, table runners, pin cushions and make-do's. I have appliqued small motifs and I just ordered a pattern for a small crazy quilt. Wool felt can always be used in any of these patterns. Here are some pictures I could find of things I have made.



I made this card following the requirements for tonight's Blog Hop. It was inspired by this card by katielawton. Thank you Katie and if you're hopping, I'm so glad you posted your beautiful card to the gallery.



You may notice the PTI die cut the felted wool quite nicely. I had to pass it through my Cuttlebug several times. A thicker piece would have been a bear to cut.

My love affair with the Delightful Dahlia continues. I think one of my best investments this year was the set of Pastel Copic sketch markers. They're mostly the ones with four 0's. Here I colored the entire flower with Y0000 and then went back and shaded with Y21. The dahlia was stamped with VersaMark and embossed with white embossing powder.

I hope you enjoyed your stop here. I hope I'm off somewhere enjoying your project. Thanks for hopping by.

Supplies
stamps: PTI Delightful Dahlia, Life, Floral Frenzy
ink: PTI Simply Chartreuse,True Black; VersaMark
paper: PTI Berry Sorbet, 2008 Bitty Box Basics;Neenah white
ribbon: PTI Sweet Blush Swiss Dot Satin, Leaf Ribbon
other: pearls, Martha Stewart border punch, Copic markers, white embossing powder, PTI Butterfly die

PTI Peeps Challenge #7

Nerina presented us with a challenge to take a delightful trip to A Creative Mint ....

There, we were to select a photo that would be an inspiration for our design. Now be aware that it is extremely easy to get lost in the sheer beauty of this blog. Be forewarned that you may spend a lot of time there. Here's what I chose from the Feb. 1, 2010 post:




I loved the simplicity of the two colors and the texture in the bottom left photo. I thought I could translate this into a Birthday card for our DIL. Mind you, she was disappointed she didn't receive a handmade card last year. So, here goes . . .



I hope I haven't bored you with my Dahlias. But I absolutely love them and love coloring them. For this one I stamped it on white cardstock (Neenah) and embossed it with white embossing powder. I then created the shadows with a Copic marker C00. The center is a Making Memories large flat-back pearl. Here's a close-up of the flower.





For the background, I wanted to imitate the look of the tablecover (or whatever is under the ball of perle cotton). Well, after several failed attempts, this is what I came up with. The Lavender Moon CS is stamped with Damask Designs in Fresh Snow and again embossed with white embossing powder. The lower half is Tin Type stamped in Lavender Moon.

The leaves (PTI leaf ribbon) aren't attached yet. I have time and am waiting on the new Chartreuse ink before I decide on a stamped image or the ribbon. The lace with pearls is from a local fabric outlet. The bow is Lavender Moon satin ribbon. And the sentiment is from Year of Flowers: Sweet Peas.

Hope you all enjoyed your visit. Thank you Nerina for a truly inspiring challenge.
ETA: After I received the June release stamps, I decided not to send this card, but went with this one.
Thanks for stopping by.

PTI Peeps Challenge #6

Late, but done! Signed sealed and on it's way to Florida. From conception to completion, this card underwent so many changes it doesn't resemble anything I started with. Now it looks like this by Barbara of Paper Pursuits. It's going to my 93 year old MIL and I hope she likes it. She's such a sweetie. I'm sure she will.

Quilter's Sampler was the first set I ordered from PTI in January '09 and I made my first stamped cards with it. Here I used one of the sentiments. For the background design I also used one of my older sets, Background Basics: Retro. I had only used one of the stamps in that set. I added the small flower and leaf from Delightful Dahlias. You might have to hunt for the bling. It's some Star Dust Stickles in the flower center. Inside I stamped the flower and then stamped over it with the Sentiment from Delightful Dahlias. I added the Dahlia & leaf on the enveloped.



Hope you liked it. Off to see if I can catch up on the next challenge. Thanks for dropping by.

PTI Guest Star Stamper - Honorable Mention

Now that Nichole has announced the winners and honorable mentions for the February Guest Star Stamper, I thought I would share my card with you. It is such a thrill to be included with all the talented people she has spotlighted.



If you click on the photo, you can see more detail. The pinwheel quilt was paper pieced using PTI Pretty Pastels. The bear and sentiment are from Baby Button Bits. The button is from my Grandmother's button box. You can definitely call it vintage!

I'm looking forward to the launch of the new PTI website. Hopefully we will be able to see all the entrants then. Although I'm sad to see the GSS end, I can't wait to see what inspiration Make it Mondays will hold for us.

It was such fun to create this card. I hope you enjoy it. Thanks for stopping by.