Papertrey Ink Make It Monday Challenge

Hola!

Papertrey Ink is my newest obsession. I love everything about it: the cardstock, the ink, the buttons, the boxes, the ribbon, the dies... not to mention the {stamps}. The stamps are just about the most beautiful things ever. I have been an avid papercrafter for about 2 years, but never before have I been so very obsessed with my crafting. All of their products are so inspiring; it makes me never want to leave my Scrapbook Nook! (Christened so very sweetly by my adorable husband.)

They hold weekly "challenges" of sorts, where Nichole Heady (co-owner of PTI and crafter extraordinaire) showcases on her blog a tutorial of a technique that might be useful to stampers. The readers are invited to play along, and this is the first time that I've done so (partially because this is the first week in which I've had a blog to link up). I am so excited for this project... it's one of the first things that I've made just for *me* in a while.

I utilized one of my newest stamp sets: Rosie Posie. It was released in December, and it is indescribable how excited I was to receive it. I will admit that I was quite intimidated by this stamp set for the first 5 days that I had it. So many possibilities... My poor little brain was swirling with tidbits of ideas that never seemed to make one single, useable project. Finally, I just got out my stamps and started playing. 

I also got to put into action a color combination of which I am completely enamored: pink, gray, and crisp white. If I ever had a baby girl, I think her room would be centered on this color scheme! I was told I was not allowed to use pink when decorating our house, (apparently, pink is not manly. Who knew?) so I guess I'll just have to do lots of pink crafts ...or maybe I'll just have to have a baby girl. :-)

For the challenge, we were told to utilize any of the MIM techniques from 2011. What an arsenal from which to choose!! I chose to use

"Multi-Stamp Background Building" for my project. The point is, basically, to put to use those stamps that would be focal points and build a completely unique background. I've done this a few times since watching Nichole's video, and I have to say... it's definitely one of my favorite techniques. I'd love to try it with some of my larger stamps on a piece of 12x12 scrapbook paper, so as to create my own scrapbook paper, but alas... PTI does not sell their Stamper's Select paper in anything larger than 8.5x11. It saddens me.

I chose to create a Monogrammed stationery set for this challenge. I have always loved anything with a monogram... so classy, so sophisticated, in my opinion. This is what I came up with:

I made myself a little box to hold my stationery, 8 notecards (4 each of two different designs) and some lovely coordinating envelopes!

First, the box: I used a PTI "Timeless Template" named "All Boxed Up." (I've made several of these, and they are just adorable! So easy to put together, too!) You basically print, cut, score, tape, and you're done! Maybe 30 minutes to make the whole thing. The front is the more complicated part: it uses several different stamps and inks, as well as die-cutting the doily shape and circles. I did exactly as Nichole's video said to do: start with your largest image first, then the medium sized image, then fill in the blank spaces with your smallest image. In addition to my Rosie Posie stamp set, I used PTI Autumn Rose carstock and ink, Smokey Shadow cardstock and felt, Cat's Eye pigment inks, Memento London Fog ink, and ribbon from my stash. The monogram was created with Martha Stewart's custom stamp set that I bought at Joann's, and the decorative border for the monogram was from PTI Boxes, Bags, and Tags.

The cards are made in basically the same vein, with a few subtle twists. On this set, I used Rosie Posie to build the background again, but this time I went over it with PTI Background Basics: Polka Dots in the London Fog just to fill it out nicely. I cut the little Smokey Shadow doily from the Doily Details die from PTI, popped it up with some pop dots, and used a Smokey Shadow card base. I really like how this one turned out... kinda reminds me of Anna Griffin.

The other notecard set was built using the same formula; I didn't, however, cover the entire front panel with the floral image. I decided to make a flat card, keeping the monogram on the front panel with the rest of the stamping. I covered a little less than half of the decorative panel with stamping, and I really like how this one turned out, as well. The flourish beneath the monogram is from Mat Stack 2 by PTI, and the card base is Autumn Rose.

That's it. That's my project. It took me about 6 hours to complete this whole set... it was totally worth it. Now, I just have to get over my fear of sending a note to someone and them throwing away my hand-stamped, time-consuming card. My shoulders get tense just thinking about it. :-/

Whew, I did not mean for this to become such an incredibly long post.

I told you, I talk... a lot.

I am so excited to play along with this week's MIM challenge... I hope this is the first of many to come!