ColourQ Challenge #158, Mojo Monday #262

I've been receiving the ColourQ Challenge email for a few weeks now - it's about time I actually entered a challenge. I love this color palette for Halloween. But the thing that really attracted me is the Jim Shore Witches hat hinged box. Isn't this awesome!

It did cause me a little distress to not use green on the tops of the pumpkins - but somehow I live through it! :-)

I am also entering this design in Mojo Monday #262. 

Lavender Card Base: GinaK Pure Luxury cardstock
Orange cardstock: Stampin Up!
White cardstock: PTI
Designer paper: PTI
All die cuts: PTI dies
Stamps: Stamps by Judith, Savvy
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Ancient Page Foxglove, Copics
Other: Black Stickles, Glossy Accents, hand punched stars

Papertrey September Blog Hop Challenge

The theme this month was about wrapping and packaging, working with fabric or felt. I've actually admired several very cute felt cell-phone pockets on Etsy over the past year or so. I thought I would try my hand at one for this challenge.  I didn't have a template or any formal stitching instruction. So please don't laugh at my needlework - this is what you get when your first blanket stitch lesson comes from a You Tube video - Lol!  BTW - Wouldn't this be cute using the telephone die from Heart-2-Heart #4 ?!!

  

Cream felt is from PTI. I used Edgers #3 die on the folded edge, the house die from Love Lives Here and the birds from Little Bitty Birds.

Textured Stamping and Will

I've been slowly accepting that Autumn is upon us. There is a definite chill in the air once the sun begins it's descent in the Western sky and I'm already needing to turn on headlights as I drive to work at 6:30am.

 






I had some burlap laying on my stamp table from the PTI blog hop. With my sister's birthday just days away, I wanted to try stamping directly on the burlap for her card.  I re-inked my Avocado ink pad just prior to stamping and was pleasantly surprised to see how well the burlap took to dye ink
 (All supplies Papertrey Ink - except burlap from my stash)

I also wanted to share a photo of our youngest Corgi, Will. We spent last week camped out at the Hoh River, near the Washington coast, with our two Corgi's and Aussie Shepard. To get back and forth to his good steelhead fishing spots on the river, DH decided to take his ATV. Our youngest Corgi, Will, LOVES to ride on the back of this bike. It makes me laugh out loud to see the expression of pure delight on his face whenever DH is buzzing around with him on the back.
Enjoy!

                                       

August 2012 Blog Hop

It's that time again, PTI Blog Hop. The the theme for this one was a bit more challenging for me. The theme is Autumn Textiles. I am not yet ready to stamp fall colors but as I am trying hard to think more creatively outside my comfort zone, I decided to play along. I chose to make this a sympathy card, as I have had two occasions recently when I needed one, but had to buy them. (I need to keep a couple in my stash.)

     

This is my take on this month's theme. I had some burlap leftover from the wedding favors I did for my niece's wedding earlier this month. I used a Half and Half die and some fabric glue carefully around the edges so it wouldn't unravel. DP from Fall Prints and Patterns. Stamps are from Tag-It's #3 and Peaceful Garden, another one of my favorite sets because of it's versatility.

Here is a close up of the burlap and detail: 

Leaf Prints

This card is inspired by PTI's Senior Design Team's challenge for August. Leaf Prints is one of my all-time favorite PTI sets, complete with matching dies, of course!  I was inspired by Heather Nichols design here (which I shamelessly CASed to a large extent.)  I am especially fond of Heather's natural, earthy use of color and texture in much of her work.

I chose to use a variety of green and blue alcohol ink and gold pigment on white glossy card stock for the background. After this was dry, I stamped and embossed various leaf prints directly on the background. This is stitched to a watermark stamped kraft card. "I just love you" and border
die image is from Fabulous Frames, stamped in Kraft.

A Simple Thank You

This is my new favorite color combo - Melon Berry and Black. I've wanted to use this combo since I first saw a similar card from one of my favorite stampers and bloggers, Laurie Willison, whose work you can view here. This lady is one talented stamper and blogger!

I used the Cuttlebug Textile embossing folder. The focal point is PTI's Mat Stack 1, stamped in black pigment ink and clear embossed. I embellished with black ribbon and rhinestones colored with Copics to match. A very simple design but quite striking in appearance.

Quatrefoil and Bloombuilders Birthday

A birthday card for my niece  using Papertrey Ink's Quatrefoil and Bloombuilders 3 die. This color scheme is new to me, and way out of my comfort zone. I like challenging myself to trying new color combinations, though still refer frequently to PTI Color Combinations chart to guide me on color choices. 

(Thanks again to Steph Ellis for providing this MSWord file - it really is invaluable!)