Tuesday, August 25, 2026

Papertrey Ink, Altenew and SSS

Decided to make another entry for the August PTI challenge.  This card is very different than my first one and gave me a chance to use some of my PTI cardstock and printed paper.  
PTI 2018 Beautiful Birthday is such a fun stamp set.  I used PTI inks Pure Poppy, Tropical Teal, Green Parakeet, Summer Sunrise and Terracotta Tile.  I added Stickles to the flames for a bit of sparkle.  I brushed PTI Border Bling: Diamonds diecut with Tropical Teal and glued it to the Tropical Teal rectangle.  I matted the cake panel with Green Parakeet cardstock.  Really love the look of the Pure Poppy dotted cardstock layer.  I'm almost out of Green Parakeet cardstock, but had enough to cover the card front.  I stamped the PTI Tiny Tags sentiment in Pure Poppy and matted it with a larger Pure Poppy circle diecut.
Our wonderful doctor of many years is retiring.  We're sad for us, but happy for her.  Decided to use the Altenew August Inspiration Challenge colors for her card.  I can't get enough of Altenew's Chateau Blooms stencils. 
The inks I used are Altenew Rouge, Memento Lilac Posies and Lawn Fawn Manatee.  The flowers and buds were then heat embossed with clear sparkle powder.  You can see it in my IG post.  I die cut the center of the panel with an Altenew Nesting Oval, added thin foam tape and attached it back in place.  Love how the black mat shows enough to help define the oval.  I didn't like so much white around the sentiment from Painted Greetings, so just used the gray ink left on my brush around the edges.  What a difference!  The stems from Branches and Berries die set were cut from vellum and I used gray pearls for embellishment.  I'm also entering WAW.
I had fun using my Lindy's Flat Fabio sprays to make a birthday card for SSS Flickr #250.  
SSS Beautiful Buttercup was die cut from papers I colored with these sprays:  Pink Ladies Pink, Pineapple Paradise and Caribbean Blue.  The flower edges were covered in matching Stickles.  I used SSS Leaf Tumble folder for the background and sprayed it with Flat Fabio Luscious Lime.  To get the design to show, I rubbed a green ink pad over the raised edges.  The vellum die cut is PTI Love to Layer:  Soft Ridges and the sentiment is from PTI Tuck It.  I'm also entering SSS Monday.
Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you.


Monday, August 17, 2026

My Three Latest Cards

We've had some nice weather with lower temps and good air quality.  If only some of the rain causing flooding in other states could be directed where drought is the problem, like here.  Hope you're staying safe.
Had to put on my thinking cap to make a card for Poppystamps Let's Go!  Travel! August challenge.  I'd love to be traveling this Fall for a family Thanksgiving at a big house in the country or to a cardmaking retreat with friends.  
The house is from Poppystamps Layered House Globe die set and the trees are Shasta Twigs dies.  The sentiment from PTI Scripted was stacked and embossed with clear matte powder.  I used a bunch of distress oxides for the background and colored all the white diecuts with Altenew inks.  A fine point black pen was used to draw the birds.  I'm also entering WAW.
Our small town has the most beautiful hanging baskets and they inspired this card for SSS Flickr's Bright and Colorful challenge.  I picked Altenew inks in colors very close to those in the baskets:  Razzleberry, Pinkalicious, Pink Diamond and Hydrangea.
Most of what was left of an old light green shimmery cardstock sheet was embossed with SSS Cherry blossom 3D folder.  It's my nod to the green leaves.  A scrap was used for the sentiment from Altenew's Timeless Sentiments 2 and I covered it with clear glaze.  To represent the white flowers in the baskets, I colored the flower centers with a white paint pen and used white cardstock for the sentiment background.  I'm also entering Snippets Playground where I've been absent quite awhile.
The card for the Pinkfresh Monthly Challenge was made with their lovely Modern Layered Florals stamp set.
I find layering stamp sets quite challenging, but my first attempt lined up almost perfectly.  Then I grabbed the wrong ink cube to darken the leaves and didn't catch it before I stamped.  It turned out to be a good thing, because I changed the colors and like the look much better.  The altenew inks are Caribbean Sky, Persian Blue, Firefly and Green Field.  The sentiment is from the same set.  I added blue and green splatters and blue sequins to the panel die cut with PFS Elongated Oval: Blanket Stitch.  I'm also entering SSS Wednesday.
I heard an older song for the first time and wow!  Lori McKenna wrote it for her children.  What if these words defined us?  Our country would be so different.  This is just the chorus:

Hold the door, say please, say thank you
Don't steal, don't cheat and don't lie
I know you got mountains to climb but
Always stay humble and kind.
When the dreams you're dreamin' come to you
When the work you put in is realized
Let yourself feel the pride but
Always stay humble and kind.

Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you.


Sunday, August 9, 2026

Friendship, Christmas, Birthday

I always loved the PTI Challenges and Blog Hops where customers could enter their cards.  So I was thrilled to see the August challenge.  Luckily, I have Pure Poppy, Tropical Teal and Green Parakeet ink cubes.  I used them with PTI Wild Blooms layering stencil set. 
As you can see, I gold embossed the flower details.  Hard to tell, but the Pure Poppy flower centers were embossed with clear sparkle powder.  Since Green Parakeet isn't very dark, I used Tropical Teal for the leaf details.  It worked great!  Love how the panel turned out, so I just die cut it with Scallop Stackers: Small and used Pure Poppy for the mat.  I added very small gold splatters and soft gold sequins.  The die cut PTI Scripted sentiment was stacked and gold embossed.  I've started keeping my favorite makes on display until I mail them.  Makes me happy each time I walk by.  I'm also entering JUGS and WAW.
I wasn't planning to make a Christmas card for Color Hues Navy and Teal challenge, but that's what I ended up with.  The Spellbinders Joy die didn't even get used last year and I really love it.
I tried to follow the directions for how to set your phone camera so it captures the color teal and doesn't turn it more blue.  No luck, but I wanted to enter the card anyway.  The cardstocks are really a navy blue and a teal about the same intensity.  I attached the diecut to a silver oval.  Stickles Glitter Glue that's a very close match to the teal cardstock was added to the flower centers and clear glaze was added to the holly leaves. 
I saved the teal glitter tape letters from the snowflake card in my previous post.  Glad to use them quickly.  I've sure gotten my money's worth from Altenew's Essential Sentiment Strips.  My camera captured this shade of teal without a problem.   
I attached the glitter tape to printer paper and then die cut SSS Stitching Butterflies.  I used a scrap of black cardstock for the bodies and lightly bent the wings forward.  Hadn't used the Altenew Flower Bed embossing folder for awhile and it was just the look I wanted for this card.  I'm entering DCD, SSS Monday and SSS Wednesday.
Edited:  Thanks, Linda.  You're right.  The glitter tape is more of a mint than a teal.  Guess that's why the color looks right in the picture.
Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you.


Thursday, August 6, 2026

Friendship, Birthday and Christmas

We've been fortunate not to have any wildfires close to us.  So heartbreaking to see the destruction.  The smoke did finally make our air unhealthy the last few days and it's been too hot for me.  Fritz doesn't understand why I won't let him lay on the deck like usual.  I also had a sick day and haven't been motivated to blog.  But today I feel better, so here are a couple cards on my way to catching up.
First is the card I sent to Julia for the CCC July exchange.  I used the beautiful color combo of kraft, pink and gold.
SSS Leaf Tumble embossing folder was used with gold metallic cardstock.  It really gives a beautiful result and I've never had issues with cracking.  The flowers are a set from Pigment Craft Co that I've hardly used.  I stamped in Brilliance Pearlescent Brown and added gold Stickles to the centers.  You can see the beautiful sparkle in my IG post.  The sentiment is from Alex Syberia and I can't remember which branches I used.  The tiny pink butterfly is Poppystamps.
Next is a winter birthday card using 2 Waffle Flower dies for the first time:  Frosty Texture and Small Snowflake.  
I inked the snowflake with Altenew Volcano Lake which is a close match to the beautiful teal glitter tape I've had for years.  I attached the tape to cardstock and then die cut the dots and Altenew Essential Sentiment Strip Happy Birthday.  I usually think of navy blue for snowflakes, but really like the soft, pretty look of the teal.  These products will be great for Christmas cards, but I enjoyed making a birthday card first.  I'm entering SSS Monday via IG, SSS Wednesday, NBUS and DCD.
Here's the last card I made for Christmas in July.  Didn't get nearly enough done, so I'm also planning to do Christmas in August.😀 Actually, I usually make Christmas cards every month, as they're my favorites. 
This one uses the wonderful CN9 Boughs and Holly stencil pack.  The inks are Altenew Firefly, Grass Field, Cherry Sweet and Coral Red.  I inked the branches from a CN9 die set to match and added red and green splatters.  Waffle Flower Cardinal Duo diecut was colored using the matching stencil with Altenew Rhodolite, Cherry Sweet, Coral Red, black and PTI Honey Nut and Weathervane.  I used a glue pen to add touches of fine glitter to the bird, berries and branches.  You can see the sparkle in my IG post.  Birch Press Vintage Sentiment letters were stacked 2 high and inked with Cherry Sweet before being glued in place on the vellum shadow.
Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you.