witticisms: December 2011

Well, folks...
here it is...
the post with one meeeeelion pictures in it :)

I'll be sharing the last of my December release projects.
Excited, aren't ya?

So let's jump right in!
Starting with Tag-its #11...

I always love it when such little stamps can have such big impact :) I started with that cute little open heart and then gave it a big ol' base by embossing the Parisian Lace die on the card base. {I love how when it's embossed on white it totally emulates a doily but without the layer.}

ETA: I've had lots and lots of emails coming my way asking how to do this little magic embossing trick :) So here it is! Basically, you will use this die, or ANY die, exactly as you would use a PTI Impression Plate. I use a Big Shot and this is the way that works best for me. Starting from the bottom up:

Big Shot multi-purpose platform opened to Tab 1
cutting plate
die, face up
cardstock
tan & chocolate embossing mats
cutting plate

If you are using a Cuttlebug, start by using the die with the same sandwich you would use for an Impression Plate and you should get the embossed result from your die.

Let me know if that helps!

I used a bit of the brand new Aqua Mist felt to add another heart in the middle... that anchors the little Tag-its sentiment while the open heart anchors the bigger Think Big Favorites #11 sentiment.

It's likely that I'll be stealing this layout for use on some more projects :)

Next up... Tremendous Treats: Valentine...

kind of a fun one :)

I really wanted to combine this set with the original smaller version so I thought I would play off of the large/small images by coming up with something with some quality of perspective. So boats it is!

The smaller Tiny Treats boats appear to be further away in the background while the larger Tremendous Treat boat is much closer, and therefore larger, in the foreground.

And lookie... I made one of the small boats face the opposite direction...

I wanted to add a bit of variety in the boats so I decided to mirror one of them.

It's super simple. Really all you need is a solid stamp large enough to stamp the image you want to mirror (in this case, the boat) onto. When looking through my stamp drawer, the first one I came across that would work was the large bloom in the Christmas Poinsettia set.

Ink up the image you want to mirror, then stamp it directly on the solid stamp...

When you lift it up, the inked image should be left on the solid stamp and ready for you to stamp on your project.

Magic, right?

A few tips. First off... this isn't a project for dawdling :) Be quick about it and huff on the image to refresh it if needed.

Also, you may want to experiment with the ink you use. I used Memento ink for this project since I knew I'd be coloring the images with Copics.

As for putting together the rest of the card, I used the large scallop border die as well as some scallop scissors to create the waves. I wanted the waves to get smaller to keep with the perspective.

The real key to this card is foam tape.
Lots and lots of foam tape...

And now, for another magic trick, I will transform the label from the new Happy Everything set into an acorn...

Ta-da!

I'm here all night, folks.
Mostly cause I live here :)

Seriously, I saw that label and could not get the image of an acorn out of my mind. So, I went directly to my dies and pillaged and plundered them until I came across a suitable acorn shape to go with the label.

And lo and behold... I found the *perfect* acorn die.
It generally goes by the name "Love Birds" but personally, that birdcage shape will now always be an acorn to me :) I used the new Canyon Clay cardstock and man... LOVE. It's the perfect pumpkin-y color I've been dreaming of. {Now, if all I have to do is get Nicole to come out with a deep, summery yellow and my color dreams are complete.} I added a little houndstooth for fun.

And the stem and leaves from Flower Fusion #11 just pushed the whole acorn theme over the top :)
I trimmed the stem off and stuck the leaves right on top.

So, to recap, starting from the top of the acorn I used three dies...
1. the Flower Fusion stem die for the leaves
2. the Happy Everything label die for the acorn top (I trimmed it off just below the dotted line and then
trimmed the curve down at the sides just a bit) and
3. the large Love Birds die for the body of the acorn.

A few buttons and a Flower Fusion #11 sentiment to finish it all off.
The quirkiness of it totally makes me happy :)

And now, for a very girly project...

I'm not gonna lie. I kind of like the fact that my only daughter shares a birthday with my older son. It means that I have to find a theme that will work for both... and that means we don't have to go all out girly.

But I know my day is coming.
It will be pink.
It will be princess-y.

So I'm breakin' myself in gently with this one.

Obviously, a fancy princess party calls for a fancy invitiation, so I used a copy weight shimmer paper that I had in my stash. I stamped the images from the new Little Princess set in Black Memento ink... it turns a shimmery gray on the paper. Some simple Copic action turned the castle into the Kingdom of Pink.

I borrowed the lines from the Gratitude Journal set and the little filigree border from Love & Marriage. The lines are there so that the Royal Mother can fill them in with a few party details :)

And, since the invite would, theoretically, be going to a beautiful bevy of other little princesses, I thought it would be appropriate to wrap it up scroll-style and wrap it with a pretty bauble fit for a princess (i.e. costume jewelry that Mrs.Claus may or may not have poached from Noelle's Christmas stocking stash).

I'm thinking that any little princess would love to be handed an invitation like this, right??

Next up... Lock & Key...

I wanted to go in a more masculine direction with this, so I stuck with a simple design in neutrals plus a few pops of red. The keys are all attached in a single die, so I just lined it up on the white layer and did a single pass in the Big Shot to get all the keys cut.

Pretty sweet how it looks like I painstakingly lined all the those keys up, right?

I cut the single key out of Smokey Shadow then stamped it with True Black. Some baker's twine and a little felt heart finish it off.

Totally love the look of a negative die cut :)

So much so that I used it on this card, too...

Get it?

Seriously, sometimes I make these things and when I'm all done I go... um... what if no one gets it??

I die cut the snowman on the front of a white card then added a layer of Aqua Mist cardstock to the inside and a layer of clear cardstock to the back of the card front. That way, the Aqua Mist shows through but you still have the clear cardstock layer to attach the missing snowman's scarf to.

I love this little one. It's perfect to send off to a friend in the great snowy tundra of Denver :)

So there you have it. My last PTI release projects for the year! Time to finish up the Christmas shopping and have a little Christmas present wrapathon.

And, oh yeah, get started on those 140 Christmas cards. Feeling a wee bit nervous about that one.

In the meantime, though, there are lots of other projects to be seen today. And I mean LOTS. So check 'em all out...
Nichole Heady
Betsy Veldman
Erin Lincoln
Maile Belles
Lisa Johnson
Dawn McVey
Heather Nichols
Melissa Phillilps
Michelle Wooderson
Danielle Flanders

{XOXO} card
Available 12/15, 10pm EST - Tag-its #11, Think Big Favorites #11; Aqua Mist felt