random reflections

Moxie Fab #2 & Papertrey Pixie Challenges

Here's another card for the Moxie Fab Off-Set Scallop Challenge as well as for the Papertrey Pixies September challenge. As usual, I'm getting this in just under the wire for the second challenge! Pat's inspiration piece was an ad from a Macy's catalog. It was truly a challenge; so much going on here. 

Pat identified six Papertrey colors she saw in the ad: white, kraft, Ocean Tides, Terracotta Tile, Orange Zest, and Plum Pudding. There are, of course, florals, diamonds, and repeated patterns as well. I finally decided to go with just the colors. They aren't ones I would typically put together, but I incorporated all of them and am pleased with the outcome.

 

I started with a Kraft base, used the Woodgrain Impression Plate, and coated it with the Tim Holtz Antique Linen Distress Ink. The image, colored with Prisma colored pencils, and sentiment are from the Friendship Jar Fall Fillers. The cork tag came in one of my Scrapbook Circle kits. and the border punch is an EK Success punch. The purple twill from my stash is a bit more purple IRL.

Just Playing Around

I had some time today to play around, and started with some photos I took recently. I love the textured photos I see on some of the blogs, but haven't come up with a lot I like when I try myself. Today I did. I'm quite happy with this photo.

I bought this bouquet at the Ithaca Farmer's Market on Saturday. I added Kim Klassen's Light Paper 4 with a soft blending mode. Here's the original:

It made a nice card as well.

 

There's plenty of room to add a message directly to the photo, so I think I'll try that as well. I purchased Kim's e-book of Photoshop Recipes, and this texture was part of a preview pack she sent. I realized that I need to learn about Gradient Maps in PSE which I have never used. Tracy has a subscription to Lynda.com so I've started watching the PSE instructional videos there. I haven't gotten to gradient maps, but I've learned quite a few new tricks in just a half an hour or so. The videos go for nearly 7 hours!! PSE 9.0 is coming out in November. They've added some very nice new features, so Tracy is going to upgrade it for me as a late birthday gift. He offered to buy the full Photoshop, but I know the learning curve there is greater than the time I want to spend on it. Hopefully, Lynda.com will do a video series on the new additions when 9.0 comes out.

I also got inspired to make a card with some supplies I've had around for ages.

I've had a pack of these Happy Day journaling cards from Webster's Pages for ages, as well as the floral rub-on and gems from Basic Grey. The papers are also Basic Grey, the Origins line. I scored the card in the wrong place, but instead of starting over I just went with it and rather like the two layers. The sentiment is from Papertrey (Simply Stationery & Take Three: Summer) and the ribbon is from Paper Source.

CPS 186

It's been a long time since I participated in a CPS challenge. They've always been one of my favorite challenge sites. This week's sketch is a bit challenging, but I had some new Jillibean papers on my desk and a new Spellbinders Nestability so I decided to take it on. Here's the sketch:

 

And here's my take on it:

Cardstock: Chartreuse (Papertrey) & Core'dinations Core; Patterned paper: Pasta Fagioli (Jillibean); twine, canvas flower, journaling sprout, cardstock sticker: Jillibean; button from stash

Papertrey September Blog Hop Challenge

I love the Papertrey Blog hops and feel lucky to have gotten this card done in time! Here's the challenge:

One of the most fun things about this hobby is the people you meet, whether in person or online, and the things you learn from them.  Now is your chance to show off any skills you might have learned from a fellow stamper, and perhaps even give them a little shout out to thank them for the inspiration they have provided.  Create a project using one of your favorite learned skills and perhaps after a little blog hopping, we will ALL learn some new tips and tricks and continue to pass on the love of this hobby!

Nicole Heady, one of the owners of Papertrey Ink, inspires me every month with her creations for the monthly release parties. One of the techniques she uses frequently  that I have always admired is drawing a frame around her main focal image. I have tried occasionally to master this technique, but my ability to draw a neat, well connected frame around an image is far from masterful. Now with the new "Framed" set of stamps, I can replicate this look with ease.

For this card, I stamped the leaves from "Turning a New Leaf," masked some of the leaves and then stamped the frame. The butterfly is from "Butterfly Dreams" and colored with Twinkling H2Os. The sentiment is from an old PTI set, "Faux Ribbon." One of the things I love the most about Papertrey stamps is how they can be mixed and matched. Sentiments from this older set fit beautifully into the break in the frame of this brand new set. The cardstock is Select White and Enchanted Evening, and the gems are from Creative Imaginations.

Fall Excursion #1

We have several short trips planned for the fall. This week we spent three days in the Adirondacks with good friends. Bob and Tracy spent two days backpacking to Phelps and Tabletop Mountains. Cathy and I dropped them off at the Adirondack Loj on Sunday about noon and picked them up late Tuesday morning. Their views were much more colorful than ours. Here are two of the many photos of the stunning scenery Tracy captured on their hike.

 

Cathy and I had much nicer accommodations than a backpacking tent, but we didn't have views like this.  We had a great time, nonetheless, shopping, eating out, and a wonderful visit to The Wild Center in Tupper Lake.

 

The Wild Center is a natural history museum of the Adirondacks. They have wonderful interpretive displays,  several river otters, and a collection of birds that are being rehabbed. We enjoyed seeing this small falcon and hearing about the falcons in the area.

 

We also listened to a talk on loons . . .

and took a walk with a naturalist down to the Racquette River.

 

I loved the details on the bridges.

About a year ago I saw (but wasn't able to get a good photograph of) a Wood Duck at a local pond. They are so beautiful and I had no idea why they're called Wood Ducks. Now I know. They actually have claws that allow them to climb into trees and to find food on shore. It's hard for me to imagine these ducks sitting in a tree.

 

When we picked up the guys, I walked down to Heart Lake by the lodge. In the two days we were there the colors became much more vibrant (though not to the extent they had changed at the higher elevations). Here are a few of my favorite images.

 

Tomorrow we're off to the Finger Lakes and the Ithaca Farm Market. We're meeting Tracy's cousin and her husband at the market, hope to visit Cornell's ornithology lab, and then do a bit of antiquing on our way home. It was very hot here today, nearly 90°, but tomorrow's high is expected to be only 62°. Fall and its erratic temperatures is here!

Paper Pieced Posies

I did a paper piecing project for the blog at Scrap-Mart and thought I'd share them here as well.

I really enjoy paper piecing. I can cut the pieces out while I watch the news and feel like I got two things done at once! All the papers on this card are Sassafrass Lass. The flowers are from Unity's Material Girl stamp set and the heart from their "Stitched Greetings" set. The label is a Scrap-Mart Exclusive die from Spellbinders that's quickly becoming a favorite. The sentiment ("Birthday Bash Sentiments"), cardstock and twine are both from Papertrey Ink. 

This is another Sassafrass Lass project. I didn't realize at first that the scalloped border was little owl images. Quite the surprise, but they seem to work just fine. The posie on this card is one from Jillibean's "Sending Thoughts."  A little layering, two layered buttons, and a tag finished it off. The cardstock and sentiment are Papertrey Ink, ribbon and buttons from my stash. Years ago a friend gave me a tool that cuts off the shanks of buttons. It's the best little device and allows you to layer buttons like the fancy metal one.

Moxie Fab Offset Scallop Challenge

I love scallops and Moxie Fab issued a challenge for projects with offset scallops. It was a perfect opportunity to get our my Papertrey Ink scalloped border dies.  I started out hoping to use some of my new Teresa Collins papers, but ended up with just cardstock and a chipboard star from her Celebrate collection. I also used my Tin Type Impression plate for the first time and just love it.

Cardstock: Spring Rain and Pure Poppy (PTI); Chipboard start: Celebrate (Teresa Collins); Stamp: Fillable Frame #5 (PTI); Dies: Medium Scallop and Mat Stack #3 (PTI); Impression plate: Tin Type (PTI); ribbon from stash; white Filigree Embossing Powder (Superior)

Here's a layout I did for our California album that also uses scallops. These remind me of Minnie Mouse, although we don't have any photos of Minnie.

Cardstock: American Craft, Chipboard alpha: AC Thickers "Sprinkles;” Patterned papers: Chicken Noodle "Dried Egg Noodles" & Soup Staples "Red Sugar" (Jillibean)

More Cards from Bits & Pieces

In the little bag of goodies I found the other day were several partially colored images or pieces of projects that had never been completed. Here's another round of cards from my "Finish It Up" session.

This card is a total lift from Maile Belles. I loved her card and reproduced it pretty closely, just changing the color of the daisies and adding some Judi-Kins Expresso Speckles to the centers. All the rest of the supplies are from Paper Trey Ink. The ribbon is their off-white silk ribbon which I colored with a Copic marker.

The picnic basket was in the baggie, so I stamped the pumpkins from the same set (Vintage Picnic by Papertrey Ink), used my Tin Type Impression plate (for the first time!) on the Paper Source card, die cut the Spiral Notebook page and stamped it with lines from It's Official (both PTI). The ribbon's from my stash, and the sentiment from Communique Sentiments (another PTI set.) Must say I have lots of Papertrey stamps and I love the way they can be combined so easily.

The mums (Autumn Abundance--PTI) had been colored on this image at one of my crafty sessions with my friends, so I finished coloring the vase with Copics, die cut it with a Nestability Labels One and layered it onto two scraps of paper from the scrap drawer. I used a Martha Stewart border punch on the bottom and a sentiment from the 2009 Autumn Tags set (PTI).

Feels good to have some finished cards and a few less scraps laying around!

Bits & Pieces

I had a little time the other day and found a baggie filled with bits and pieces of stamped goodies and some tags from Make & Takes at CHA. I decided to turn them into some cards. Here are the cards I made from the CHA projects.

The orange dotted tag and the ribbon were both from a Make & Take at CHA that came home in pieces. I don't remember where I was or what the finished project was supposed to look like, but I had saved those two pieces. The little gift card and envelope were in my stash, and I think they came from Paper Source. I added the letter stickers, stamped "For You" on the inside of the gift card and then a get well message inside the card.

This tag was done at the Ippity booth with my friend, Eva. All I did was put it on a Dark Chocolate(Papertrey) card. It could be a birthday card, thinking of you . . . I'll do the inside message when I decide to use it.

The circular tag was a Hero Arts Make & Take at CHA. I layered a piece of A Muse gingham paper on New Leaf (Papertrey), and have a quick Christmas card ready to send.

And a bit of happy mail to share. In July I was a winner in a Zva Creative Blog Hop, and my package arrived this week filled with brand new releases.

Cards

I had a card published in the most recent Cards magazine. I thought I'd share it here along with a few others none of which I've posted before. This is the card that was picked up for the Cards magazine. I subscribe to the digital version and haven't received a hard copy yet, though a friend sent me a digital copy of the page.

 

Cardstock: Terra Cotta Tile, Vintage Cream (Papertrey Ink); Patterned paper: Material Girl (Cosmo Cricket); Rub-on: American Craft; twill: Scenic Route; Tag punch cut to size.

Here are two birthday cards . . .

 

Cardstock: Bazzill; Patterned paper: Kioshi (Basic Grey); stamp: cupcake (Hero Arts) & sentiment (A Muse); Doily (Martha Stewart); silk ribbon (Ellen Huston); glitter pen (Copic); pearls (A Muse)

Cardstock: Bazzill; Chipboard flowers: Lily Bee; Doily: Martha Stewart; die: Ribbon Trio (Spellbinders); Patterned paper: Lily Bee; Button: Sassafrass Lass; stamp: Savvy.

A baby card . . .

 

Cardstock: Lavender Moon, Scarlet Jewel, & Vintage Cream  (Papertrey Ink); Patterned paper: Bitty Dots (Papertrey Ink) & Making Memories; pearls (A Muse); stamp: Baby Button Bits (Papertrey Ink); Nestability die: Labels Four; brad: Making Memories.

A "just because" card . . .

Cardstock: American Craft; Patterned paper: Go Fly a Kite (October Afternoon); Slice Basics 2 and Calendar cartridges; button: Sassafrass Lass; twine from stash; DMC floss

And a get well card . . .

 
Cardstock: Hawaiian Shores (Papertrey Ink); Patterned paper and die cut: My Mind's Eye; stamp: Blooming Button Bits (Papertrey Ink); flowers: Prima; brad: Making Memories