Simple Saturday... I know, I'm technically late.

I'm writing this at 12:10 am. I really need to go to sleep, but I don't want to give up on my "Simple Saturday" goal already. (Let's just pretend we are on mountain time, okay?) I intended to get a project done this afternoon to show you all, but hubby was finally home today, so he sent me off to the mall to do a little shopping all by my lonesome! Then my bff and I had a little girls night... Had some sushi and saw the new Amy Schumer movie. Like all Judd Apatow movies, a little raunchy and unorthodox but with a sweet overall theme. It was a nice way to end a very long, stressful week. Thanks to my sweet hubby for letting me off for the night!!

Anyway, here is a monogram card and matching gift box created with Altenew Vintage Florals and the frame from Beautiful Brushstrokes by PTI. The monogram is from the PTI Bookprint die set. The background is created from the PTI Twisted cover plate cut from gold Bazzill foil card stock. I created the box using my envelope punch board, and I really love it! Very simple (especially if you take away the stationery box), no fancy techniques, just stamps and ink and dies.

Hope you enjoyed! Tomorrow I plan to spend the day hanging out with hubby and kiddos and probably folding the mountain of laundry I've been avoiding all week.... Have a great Sunday, friends!

Create with us!

I don't always get to participate in the Papertrey Ink Make It Monday contests, but I usually enjoy the spark of creativity the videos bring. During release week, the creativity from the design team knows no bounds, and they are so inspiring that I always want to create (but usually I am impatiently wanting to create with the new goodies they are releasing that week). Well, Nichole announced that they are going to have a challenge for us to create something based on a project the team showcased during release week in lieu of the make it Monday! I'm really going to enjoy this challenge, I think, because my creativity is always so inspired to use my NEW goodies, and sometimes I forget about my oldie-but-still-goodie goodies.

I was seriously in love with Betsy's ink sponged projects this week. They highlighted the beautiful stamping so wonderfully that I couldn't wait to try it on my own. Then I remembered that my ink blending skills are less than stellar, so I did my best. It's still not that great, but luckily I didn't have much space to have to try to cover with ink blending haha. (Can I just say I love the cross hatch design when you blend on the linen card stock?!) I used my Nostalgic Notions stamps to create a floral cascade and a die cut from the Scripted die set. I added some glossy accents to the center of the flowers and the die cut sentiment to add a little dimension.

Hope you enjoyed this card! I'm going to enjoy looking through the rest of the entries after my kiddos go down for their nap. :) I will be back tomorrow with Simple Saturday. Have a great weekend, friends!

Have a super day!

Our kids were invited to a birthday party for a three year old superhero a few weeks ago. I didn't have time to make him a new card, but I was so inspired by his invitation that I translated it into shaker card form! I used Papertrey Ink's Zappy Birthday and Superhero stamp and die sets, as well as their Mat Stack 7 dies to create the shaker front. I blended some Simon Says Stamp Island Blue ink to create the blue sky background. (I had intended for there to be more dimension to the sky, but my ink blending skills are sorely lacking...) I filled the shaker with some Pretty Pink Posh stars and sequins, some mini star sequins from Michael's, as well as some mask die cuts from the Superhero die collection. The skyline is a Spellbinders die that I got at Hobby Lobby.

It's a little out of my comfort zone, but I have a card at the ready for the next time we get invited to a birthday party!! Hope you liked it! :)

Bokeh love

I love the bokeh look. It's so trendy, but there is something about it that I think is so ethereal and magical. There are several ways to create the bokeh look with stamps, and my card is pretty simplistic as far as technique is concerned.

I used the Bokeh set from Ellen Hutson's Essentials by Ellen to create this cascade of bokeh dots. It reminds me of the sparkles that came out of the fairy godmother's wand, and that magical feeling is what I was trying to capture. I used Delicata gold and Simon Says Stamp Island Blue inks to create the cascade. The princess and her shoe were die cut from Bazzill gold card stock. I added a few gold sparkle die cuts from the Shakers and Sprinkles kit by PTI.

I hope you liked this card! I created 4 different backgrounds with this great stamp set, (you saw a sneak peek of them if you follow me on Instagram)but my mojo has kinda taken a hiatus, and I haven't figured out what to do with the remaining three. We shall have to see! Have a fantastic week, friends!

Simple Saturday, volume III

Today's post is probably one of my simplest cards, but it is one of my favorites. It's inspired by one of Betsy Veldman's cards from the last PTI release, but in a much simpler form. I love the look of bright flowers on a dark base, and so I used the Nostalgic Notions kit and the Still Life: Summer mini kit to create this little cluster of painterly blooms and fruits. I added a little shimmer with my Wink of Stella to a white linen die cut "thanks" from the Still Life: Summer kit to complete this incredibly simplistic card. As I was editing the photos, I thought it needed something, so I am going to go back and add a few rain stones, I think. Other than that, just stamps, dies, and some pretty ink colors. Sounds good to me. :)

My sister in law is having a baby in a few months, and our other sister in law and I are planning the baby shower. I'm so excited to start working on it, and I will be sure to show you the finished result! It's going to be darling, I think. Busy busy busy!

We had a fairly restful day, and tomorrow looks to be just as relaxing and fun. I hope the rest of your weekend is wonderful! Talk soon!

Simple Saturday, volume II

Today's Simple Saturday post is super quick. I'm making it in just under the self-imposed deadline, since we let the twinkies stay up a little (a lot!) Late top watch fireworks, and I only just now have a second alone with my phone.

I had a picture in my head of an aqua background with pink roses (I have a thing for pink flowers, obviously), but I also wanted to keep it as simple as possible. This "keep it simple" rule is one that I struggled with... I kept wanting to add something... Heat embossing, watercolor, etc. It was much more challenging than I expected to stick with just stamps and ink. I used Altenew's Vintage Flowers stamps and dies, along with their red ink quartet and PTI's simply chartreuse and new leaf inks for the leaves. The sentiment is from Winnie and Walter. The background stripes are a Market Street Stamps background stamp, stamped with Simon Says Stamp Sea Glass ink. (Sadly, MSS is no longer in business.) A few sparkling clear sequins from Pretty Pink Posh finished it off! Simple techniques, easily mailed, simple layout... I'd say that fits the bill! I like the idea of challenging myself to not fuss over things so much, but boy was it more difficult than I expected.

I hope everyone is having an absolutely wonderful holiday weekend! Stay safe, make good choices, and have fun!

MIM #216: Adding Color to Cover Plates

Laura Bassen's cards exude happiness. Bright colors, fun, playful nature, lovely techniques... It's amazing how much talent one person can have. Her video this week focuses on adding color to your cover plates. I have several cover plates, and I love them all, so I had to give this one a try.

One of the most beautifullystunning projects I've seen from her was her Copic colored Garden Gild cover plate from a couple of releases ago. I tried my own version with the Ziggy Ziggy Zig pens, but as it was almost a direct copy of Laura's card (completely unintentional, but her card must have seared itself into my creative subconscious), I decided I wanted to make something a little more unique.

I cut the Balloon Bash cover plate from watercolor paper and blended some lovely shades of dried marigold and ripe persimmon and picked raspberry, then "painted" the outlined stars with some Perfect Gold Perfect Pearls mixed with water. I added some die cut balloons from the Birthday Style die set that were cut from watercolor paper. I used my Ziggy pens to add color and shading to match my cover plate die cut, then covered them with Glossy Accents. Some gold die cuts, hot pink sequins from The Ton, and an appropriately celebratory sentiment from Wet Paint III finished it off.

Hope you enjoyed these! I have been working on some backgrounds that I hope finish into cards to show in a day or two. Have a fabulous day, friends!