My Paper Creations

feel better soon

I was in a CAS mood when I was creating my cards for this month's Papertrey Ink release.  The card above was my favorite card that I created for the release.  I love the clean lines, color combo, and patterns along with a butterfly from my Butterfly Dreams set that I designed last year (kind of partial to that butterfly *wink*).  I paired my butterfly with a stamp from the new Mat Stack 3 Collection stamp set and a sentiment from Healing Touch Sentiments.  I used the butterfly die and the Mat Stack 3 die.  The patterned papers are from the Library Ledger and the It's Official paper pads (by Papertrey Ink).  I finished it off with a pure poppy button and a piece of Brown Sugar Twine from my etsy shop.

Have a great Monday!!

Niki

Love Lives Here

Tonight, the Papertrey Ink design team is introducing the new Loves Lives Here stamp set, which will be available December 15th.  The new set is the result of a collaboration of Melissa Phillips and Nichole Heady. To me, letting my loved ones know just how much they mean to me is one of reasons I'm a papercrafter.  The new Love Lives Here stamp set, with all its beautiful sentiments and images, is the perfect set for creating heartfelt items for my loved ones. I just love the sentiments in the set.

I created this framed artwork and card using the set.  I think both will be perfect to give to my husband.  (You can click on the photos to enlarge them.)

The framed artwork was really pretty easy to create, but I think it turned out beautifully.  I started by cutting a piece of 4x6 white cardstock.  Then, I stamped the trees from Boards and Beams and the grass from Love Lives Here.  I colored the trees with copic markers.  Then, I die cut the tree and stamped the images.  I added some pure poppy felt behind the home and stamped the sentiment.  I used a blue copic marker and my air compressor to lightly spray the sky.  Then, I adhered my home with foam adhesive and glue dots.


To create my card, I started by stamping the sheet music stamp from Background Basics: Sheet Music (available December 15th) on rustic white cardstock.  Then, I cut a piece of kraft cardstock and stamped the flourishes from Mat Stack 2 Collection (also available December 15th) and the sentiment from Love Lives Here.  I stitched the piece to a piece of pure poppy carstock and adhered it to my card using foam adhesive.  Then, I die cut a piece of rustic white cardstock using the Mat Stack 2 die and stamped an image from Mat Stack 2 Collection.  I die cut another house and stamped the images, added some pure poppy felt and adhered the house and mat to my card with foam adhesive.               

Check out the other designers' blogs for lots more amazing inspiration using the new Love Lives Here stamp set: Nichole, Betsy, Dawn, Debbie, Erin, Heather, Jessica, Lisa, Maile, Melissa, and Michelle.

Have a great night!

Niki

 

live simply. love much.

The December release at Papertrey Ink has come and gone now so I can share the rest of the cards I created for the release.  This particular card was my personal favorite that I created.  I just love those whimsical birds and trees from Heather's new Little Bitty Bird set.  (This set has been delayed due a grammatical error and will be available for purchase in a couple weeks.)

I paired the images with some patterned papers from October Afternoon's Thrift Shop line.  This is still one of my favorite paper lines (no surprise since I love all October Afternoon's lines!).  I also used some red patterned paper from Papertrey Ink's Distressed Dots paper pad.  I added lots of stitching and coloring the images with copic markers.  I love the look of images colored on kraft cardstock.

My etsy shop is officially closed until January.  Thank you to everyone for your purchases since I opened the shop!  Hope everyone has a great day!

Niki

merry Christmas

Super quick post tonight to share another of the cards I created for the Papertrey Ink release.  This time, I was using the new Year of Flowers: Poinsettias.  I wanted the large poinsettia to really be the focus of my card so I went very clean and simple with my design.  I colored the image with copic markers.   Then, I added a little texture with the Holly Jolly impression plate and a little stitching.

Have a great Monday!

Niki

let it snow

Welcome to Day 5 of my quick and easy packaging for the holidays series of posts.  Today, I have a fun discovery to share with you.  Did you know the Tag Sale #1 die fits perfectly on top of the Large Hinged Tins Papertrey Ink carries?  I had created this little tag and was deciding what packaging to use it with when I discovered it fits perfectly!  When you tie a ribbon around at the top of the tag, you can hardly see the top of the tag so it looks great with the large tin.

Creating my tag was very simple.  I used the Tag Sale #1 die to die cut some kraft cardstock.  Then, I stamped the tag with a background stamp from Holly Jolly.  I die cut some white cardstock and some pure poppy cardstock with dies from the Limitless Layers die collection.  Then, I stamped the Let it Snow tag from 2010 Holiday Tags Collection.  I layered the circles and added a small rhinestone to the snowflake.  Then, I wrapped some baker's twine around the bottom of my tag.  I tied some candy apple red wrinkle ribbon (from my etsy shop) around the top and stitched a pinefeather button in the center before adhering the tag to my tin.

Okay, I am off to edit some photos and get them uploaded to the Papertrey Ink gallery.  Hope you're having a great weekend!

Niki

merry christmas

I'm back with another quick and easy packaging idea.  If you have some small gifts that you'd like to package up for teachers, family, co-workers, etc, the little Favor It dies from Papertrey Ink are perfect!  They're just the right size for a small gift.  I used the Favor It 2 die and some Rustic Snowflake patterned paper to create this little gift box.  Then, I used the Mat Stack 1 die and the Tiny Treats: Christmas stamp set to create the label using kraft cardstock.  I colored the little bird with copic markers and added a bow using ripe avocado grosgrain ribbon and a pure poppy button.  Definitely a quick and easy project.

Okay, not much chit chatting today.  I feel like I am running so far behind I can see myself in front of me! lol  Seriously, Christmas is only 2 weeks away!!  Off to work on my Papertrey Ink release projects while the baby is napping and the kiddos are watching a movie.  Have a great weekend!

Niki

a gift for you

I'll be the first to admit I absolutely love the look of fancy gift packaging, but who has all that extra time during the holidays?  Definitely not me.  So, I thought it would be fun to do a series of posts featuring some quick and easy packaging ideas for the holidays.  The focus of the posts will be on the packaging itself not on the goodies inside.  You could use these ideas to package up all kinds of little goodies.

First up, I'm featuring these cute little 8 oz square clear top tins.  Papertrey  Ink carries them and they are perfect for quick and easy packaging during the holidays.  I started by wrapping a piece of fine linen stitched ribbon around my tin after I filled it with some old fashioned peppermints and tying a bow on the top.  Then, I die cut a kraft tag using the Fillable Frames #9 die.  Then, I stamped the tag outline and sentiment using the Fillable Frames #9 stamp set.  Did you know the cute little images from Tiny Treats: Christmas fit perfectly within the stamped tag image?  They make such cute images for tags!  I stamped the little Santa and colored him with koh-i-nor pencils (prismacolor pencils would work great, too) and a red copic marker.  Then, I simply tied my tag and button on my bow with baker's twine.  The whole project only too maybe 5-10 minutes.

I'll be back tomorrow with another quick and easy holiday packaging idea.  Have a great day!

Niki

smallish things

Hi Everyone!  Sorry, I'm late posting today.  I drew the winner of my Butterfly Dreams blog candy.  Thank you to everyone for the sweet comments you left.  On to the winner.  The winner is . . .

I check your blog several times a day and have cased so many of your cards I am embarrased to admit how many. Your coloring is always so beautiful. Congrats on the 900 milestone. Thanks for the chance to win a super cute stamp set.

Posted by: Cathy Weber | December 02, 2010 at 08:57 AM

Congratulations, Cathy!  Please send me your mailing address and I'll get the set out to you.

I've had the idea in my head for a while for this card.  It's really pretty easy to create and I love how it turned out!  I started by creating some cloud masks using some Tim Holtz masking sheets and the Papertrey cloud dies.  I arranged them on my card base and used my air compressor and a copic marker to spray the sky.  You could also sponge ink around the masks to create the sky.  Then, I stamped a sentiment from Inside & Out: Baby along the bottom.  I stamped the onesie from Bitty Baby Blessings on a piece of paper from the Pretty Pastels paper pad.  I colored the onesie with copic markers and cut it out.  Then, I wrapped some baker's twine around my card and used some mini clothespins to attach the onesie to the twine.  (I also added some foam adhesive behind it to keep it in place.)  I just love that sentiment!

Have a great night!

Niki

get well soon

Today, I have a CAS (clean and simple) card to share.  The Larger than Life and Life stamp sets work so well for CAS cards.  I stamped the flower silhouettes across the bottom of my card and added some white highlights with a paint pen.  When it was dry, I added a ribbon tied across the top and a sentiment using Fillable Frames #10 and its coordinating die.

This card is listed over in my esty shop now.  Have a great day!

Niki

Supplies
Stamps: Larger than Life, Fillable Frames #10 (Papertrey Ink)
Cardstock: kraft, blueberry sky (Papertrey Ink)
Ink: indian corn blue (CTMH)
Accents: blueberry sky satin ribbon, fine linen buttons (Papertrey Ink)
Tools: white paint pen, fillable frames #10 die (Papertrey Ink)

missing you

I created this card for the Papertrey Ink release featuring the new Year of Flowers: Mums stamp set and a sentimetn from the Fillable Frames #2 set.  I random stamped the flower on white cardstock to create the patterned paper and then stitched it to a piece of harvest gold cardstock.  I cut a piece of white cardstock with the mat stack 1 die and stamped the mum flower again.  I colored it with copic markers, stamped the sentiment, and adhered it to a piece of black cardstock.  Then, I cut around the die cut using scissors to create the black mat.  I finished my card off with some black stitched ribbon and a harvest gold button.

We're all busy getting ready for Christmas, creating hand crafted cards and other homemade goodies.  I  added some new wrinkle ribbon to my shop, Apple Blossom Paperie,  that is the perfect finishing touch.  The new colors are a beautiful Candy Apple Red, Antique Lace, and Leaf green.  (That photo just makes me happy!  I love all those pretty colors together!)  I also reduced my price on my wrinkle ribbon by 25%.  You will now receive 4 yards of each color instead of 3 yards for the same great price.  You can see all my wrinkle ribbons here in the shop.

Have a great day and thanks so much for stopping by!

Niki


Supplies
Stamps: Year of Flowers: Mum, Fillable Frames #2 (Papertrey Ink)
Cardstock: white, true black, harvest gold (Papertrey Ink)
Ink: tuxedo black (Memento)
Accents: harvest gold buttons, true black stitched ribbon (Papertrey Ink)
Tools: copic markers, sewing machine, mat stack one die (Papertrey Ink)