Papertrey Projects!

Oh. Good. Grief. Can I just say... um, yeah. I'm pretty much totally diggin' this month's Papertrey Ink release. So much so that when I finished up my projects and needed to move on to checking some other things off of my to-do list, I just didn't want to. I kind of had that but-I've-only-just-scratched-the-surface-of-what-I-want-to-do-with-them type feeling. Good thing I get to come back to them. I'll be up front... this one is totally my favorite.

I think it might be possible to use this leaf image from Blooming Button Bits for nearly every occasion. Seriously. It's that versatile. And the sentiments... I'm completely taken with them. I love how encouraging they are and just a tad bit different than anything else out there.

I wanted to keep the image and the buttons as the focal point, so I kept the sentiment soft by stamping it in Aqua Mist. Added just a bit of sparkle with a dainty frame made with my Quickie glue pen and a ruler. It's a 3.5"x5" card because... well, just because.

Have you used the Soft Stone cardstock? Because if you have, and you did not tell me how it is the absolute perfect neutral, then I am holding it against you, because it so is.

Soft Stone with white embossing... I think I'm going to be working that combo until the end of time. I love it that much. I know... another 3.5" x 5" CAS card. What can I say? I'm a creature of habit. Have I mentioned how much I love small and sweet, simply stamped, no layer cards? {sigh} They're my favorite.

This card is all about the new Say it With Style set by Dawn McVey. This set was kind of one of those Jerry McGuire moments for me. She had me at the font. The sentiments could probably be something like "Don't Call Me" or "I'm Not Sorry" and I'd still want them just because of the font.

And I am completely pleased with how using just two stamps from that set fills up an entire card! I'm still loving the gradient color look, so I wanted to play around with that idea on this card. (Colors from the top down are: Sweet Blush, Hibiscus Burst, Raspberry Fizz, Pure Poppy, Terracotta Tile, & Orange Zest.)

And then I liked how it turned out so much that I decided to go back and make a masculine version...

I think this one would work for nearly every guy out there, young or old. To keep the spacing consistent, I put the sentiment stamps (the Happy Birthday stamp and the single Happy stamp) on two lined acrylic blocks. I layed the stamps down on the card and made a little tick mark on the side to mark where to line the inked image up at. (Colors from the top down are: Spring Moss, Aqua Mist, Ocean Tides, Spring Rain, Enchanted Evening, and Smokey Shadow.)

And finally, a little project inspired by my toddler. Intriguing, right? You know how toddlers go through phases? Where all they love is one certain thing? For instance, right now Zeke is hopelessly, completely over the top obsessed with Nemo. {It's not even Finding Nemo in our house. Just Nemo.} And board books. Especially the kind with the flaps that they pull open. The one we read at least 10 times a day is Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell. {Remember that one?} Zeke knows what is behind each flap but still likes to tell me before he opens it. When I saw the new Tiny Treats: Valentine I must have just read Dear Zoo for the majillionth time because I totally thought I could do a little spin on the whole open-the-flap idea. I started off by cutting two 4" x 11" strips from one sheet of kraft cardstock. I scored both of them at 4" and 8". That will give you two 4" panel on each strip, plus a 3" overhang at the end. I adhered the second strip to the first right at that 3" overhang. That left me with four 4" panels and a 3" overhang at the end, so I just cut that part off. I stamped the whole thing with one of the images from the new Background Basics: Hearts. Sweet, isn't it? To make the flaps, I die cut two labels (Nestabilities Labels II) for each panel, one Spring Rain and one white. I stamped the spring rain labels with Polka Dot Basics II and Versamark. Trimming the flaps is the trickiest part. I determined that I needed something to cheat with... sort of a ready made pattern. Turns out that my long, skinny acrylic block {that I just used to stamp the backgrounds} is 2" wide. Perfect. To help me out, I added just a bit of repositionable adhesive to the bottom of the block, then lined it up on the label. Then I just lightly traced around three sides with my craft knife. {And please, please, take my advice and cut the cardstock in several passes. PTI cardstock is so nice and thick that the cuts will be much neater if you just take your time on that one, I swear.} After that I flipped each label over and scored the remaining side. A little punch out with a 1/2" circle punch totally brings the lift-the-flap concept to life. To get the placement of the inner images just right, I put the labels together and lightly traced the window onto the white label. Then I was able to stamp and color the images (had to use Vintage Labels on the inside, too!) before gluing the labels together and sticking the whole thing to the kraft base. I used the new Simple Valentine set by Heather Nichols to make some little embellishments for the flaps and I added a few letters from Fresh Alphabet to spell out "I (heart) U." Have to say, it's genius how all of the Valentine sets really work together. There are so many little elements to mix and match from one set to the next... you really end up with a ton of options.

At the bottom of each panel I used my super tiny hole punch to make a hole in each of the folds. That gave me a little spot to tie some embroidery floss across each panel. Then I stamped the sentiments up in two colors and used a bit of foam tape to stick those over the floss. I can't wait to try the same lift-the-flap idea on a simple card! I can see the layout being exactly the same with the flap above and the sentiment right below. I think that would be super cute. And there you have it! I put off my 10 Minute Scrap Pile Challenge for a few days to celebrate tomorrow's release, but I didn't think you'd be too disappointed {wink!}. Thanks for visiting! Later, friends! {New Day} card Stamps - Blooming Button Bits Ink - Aqua Mist, VersaMark Paper - Soft Stone Other - Prisma glitter, Vintage Buttons {Happy Girly Birthday} card Stamps - Say it With Style Ink - Sweet Blush, Hibiscus Burst, Raspberry Fizz, Pure Poppy, Terracotta Tile, Orange Zest Paper - Stamper's Select White Other - Vintage Button, embroidery floss {Happy Manly Birthday} card Stamps - Say it With Style Ink - Spring Moss, Aqua Mist, Ocean Tides, Spring Rain, Enchanted Evening, Smokey Shadow Paper - Stamper's Select White {Valentine Board Book} Stamps - Tiny Treats: Valentine, Background Basics: Hearts, Simple Valentine, Polka Dot Basics II, Fresh Alphabet Ink - Fresh Snow, Dark Chocolate, Pure Poppy, Orange Zest, New Leaf, VersaMark Other - Vintage Buttons, embroidery floss Tools - Labels II Nestabilites, craft knife, 1/2" hole punch, tiny hole punch