BLOG CANDY CELEBRATING 10,000 HITS

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We have good & bad news, the bad news is no challenge this week, sorry! The good news is, in it's place we have CANDY!!!!

Our blog counter has officially passed the 10,000 mark & to celebrate this milestone (& to thank you all for helping us achieve it) we are offering amazing - money can't buy - Papertrey Ink Candy!

Firstly & most importantly, we'd like to say a huge thank you to the wonderful Toni for donating this incredibly generous prize, comprising of none other than PTI's 2008 Limited Edition Stamp Set - Everyday Classics:

This versatile & gorgeous set (31 individual stamps) is not available for purchase and was a thank you from PTI to their most loyal customers.

To be in with a chance of winning this much sought after prize (European entries only please), leave a comment here & also spread the word by linking this post on your own blog.

The random draw will take place on Monday 1st June 2009.

Good luck everyone!

Steph & Kate x

Fathers Day Card

My Father is a no-nonsense character who has always been firm but fair, here's a card I have made for him....

Recipe (all PTI): Stamps - Father Knows Best / Paper - Black & White Basics / Card & Ink Pad - True Black / Ribbon - Saddle Stitch Grosgrain & Topnotch Twill True Black / Other - Zutter Corner Rounder

Okay, well I'm off to Florida for a couple of weeks now - check back tomorrow for our next challenge if you can!

Take care & see you soon :)

Love Stephanie xxx

Superstar Sibling

If there's one area in my life I feel truly blessed, it's my family - in this instance I'm speaking of my parents & 2 younger siblings - we are incredibly close, extremely supportive & fiercely protective of each other!

I have made the following card for my brother - he is a true gentlemen in every sense of the word & absolutely adored by myself, our Sister & Mother. My children love him so much and on his part, he can barely go a few days without wanting to see them (I'm actually welling up!)....

Recipe (all PTI): Stamps - Star Prints & Men of Life / Paper - 2008 Bitty Star Basics / Cardstock - Ocean Tide, Aqua Mist & True Black / Ink Pad - True Black / Other - Spellbinder Nestabilities

Thanks for listening to my sentimental babble (lol) & enjoy your Friday!

Love Stephanie xxx

For a friend

I was feeling full of a head cold and really lacking any creative juices yesterday but managed to get this friendship card made for a dear friend that I spent Bank Holiday with, this flower is fabulous to colour!


Recipe:
Stamps - Frends til the End
Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black
Card - Stamper's Select White/Raspberry Fizz/Ripe Avocado
Paper - Bitty Dots Collection in Spring Moss
Ribbon - Raspberry Fizz satin
Other - Copic Markers/Sewing Machine

Have you entered our giveaway? You have until Monday to enter when we'll be setting another challenge so do check back then!

Kate x

Birthday Girl

I needed a quick card for my Cousin Christina (who lives in Denmark) so I cased this design from Cards Only Magazine (April 09) but gave it the PTI touch....
Recipe: Stamps - PTI Damask Designs / Paper - PTI 2008 Bitty Dot Basics / Cardstock & Ink Pad - PTI Raspberry Fizz / Ribbon - PTI Grosgrain Raspberry Fizz / Other - Martha Stewart Edge Punch, Cuttlebug Embossing Folder, Spellbinder Nestabilities & Quickcutz Dies

I'm seriously thinking I need to go cold turkey on the Raspberry Fizz lol

Dropping kids off at Mum's then off to Bluewater Shopping Centre today to buy holiday clothes (10 days = 10 outfits + accessories) - yippeee!! The credit cards are going to have to cool off in the freezer tonight haha

Have a great day!

Love Stephanie xxx

Simply Stationery

I decided to make some Monogrammed Notecards for my Godmother, Evelyn, who lives in Cumbria & is one of the very few people I still correspond with in the old fashion way lol....

I've kept it quite simple, making my own background paper in her favourite colour, purple.


Recipe (PTI unless otherwise stated): Stamps - Simply Stationery, Guide Lines Two, Fresh Alphabet, Borders Corners Square & Boxes Bags Tags / Cardstock & Ink Pads - Lavender Moon, Plum Pudding & True Black / Ribbon - Luxe Satin Plum Pudding / Other - SU! Punches

Initially, I wanted to decorate the envelopes to match (with seals etc.) & showcase them in a fancy box (using a Lauren Meader template), but alas time restraints got in the way!

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Hope you're having a lovely Bank Holiday weekend & thanks so much for stopping by :)

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Love Stephanie xxx

A Passion for Teachers

I'm a huge admirer of Teachers, I think they have one of the most important jobs & are so underrated (& underpaid!)....

Recipe (all PTI): Stamps - Teachers Apple & Guide Lines Two / Cardstock - Stampers Select White, Dark Chocolate, Raspberry Fizz & Aqua Mist / Ink Pads - Dark Chocolate, Raspberry Fizz & Aqua Mist / Vintage Buttons - Dark Chocolate & Aqua Mist / Ribbon - Dark Chocolate Luxe Satin / Other - Guide Lines II Grid Sheets

I've never tried creating my own background paper before so this was a first, but definitely not the last - it was surprisingly therapeutic!
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Thanks for looking & have a fabulous day!

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Love Stephanie xxx

Our new winner!

Thank you to everyone who entered our recycled challenge - there were some great ideas!!

And the winner of the PTI goodies is...

Here are your random numbers:

6

Timestamp: 2009-05-18 08:42:29 UTC

(Using Random.org)

.....Dawn! Congratulations Dawn!!! Please email your snail address to apassionforpapertrey@yahoo.co.uk and we'll send you your prize asap!

Don't forget to enter our blog candy (see above post) and hopefully we'll see you in a fortnight for another challenge!

Kate x

More showers..

So another 15th of the month has been and gone! I was determined to be good this month but as soon as I saw the releases yesterday morning I caved in! Such fabulous and versatile sets, trouble is, I want them on my doorstep today!!!

In the meantime I'm still loving this Scattered Showers set and it seems quite appropriate given the rain over the past few days...



Recipe:

Stamps - Scattered Showers
Ink - Aqua Mist/Sweet Blush
Card - Kraft/Dark Chocolate
Paper - 2008 Bitty Dots in Aqua Mist and Sweet Blush
Ribbon - Dark Chocolate Satin
Other - Vintage Buttons - Dark Chocolate/Scallop Border Punch (SU)


For the next card I used some Clearly Creative Cardstock - stamped the polka dots on with Palette Ink (I know Stazon is the best to use for this purpose but for health reasons I can't use it due to it's solvent content) Palette works fine, you just have to allow it to dry ;)

I realised the hard way that Papertrey's Fresh Snow Ink (pigment) definitely won't work with clear cardstock - unless you want an abstract smeary mess of white ink on your card and hands!


The cute brolly was paper pieced with Raspberry Fizz Bitty Dots Paper. I love the effect of the clear card and am really going to try to use it more often.

Recipe:

Stamps - Scattered Showers
Ink - Dark Chocolate/Palette New Canvas
Card - Clearly Creative Cardstock/Stamper's Select White/Raspberry Fizz
Paper - 2008 Bitty Dots in Raspberry Fizz
Other - Petite Oval Nestabilities/Scallop Oval and Large Oval Punches (SU)

Thanks as always for visiting, as we're approaching 10,000 hits there may soon be some fun blog candy up for grabs;)

Kate x

Under My Umbrella....

....ella, ella, lol Thought I'd try something a bit different, hasn't turned out too well but as usual, I was in a rush....

Recipe (all PTI unless otherwise stated): Stamps - Scattered Showers / Cardstock & Ink Pads - Berry Sorbet, Summer Sunrise, Lavender Moon & Dark Chocolate / Other - Spellbinder Nestabilities & Cuttlebug Embossing Folder

BTW, what looks like confetti is suppose to be rain drops haha Have a nice shower-free day :)

Love Steph xxx

Mother's Day Quilt

My beloved Godmother is American - lives in the sun state of California - and every year I send her a Mother's Day card - celebrated this coming Sunday in the USA. After holding off from buying this Quilter's Sampler set for a long time I finally caved in and good job - I love it!!! And what a perfect sentiment for Mother's Day.



I love this colour combination of Sweet Blush, Aqua Mist and guess what, my favourite Kraft. I coloured the quilting squares with Copics, adding Liquid Pearls to their centres.

How much do I love those Aqua Mist buttons... I can't imagine life without them now lol!!

Have a great weekend peeps!

Recipe:

Stamps - Quilter's Sampler
Card - Kraft/Aqua Mist
Paper - Bitty Dots (Sweet Blush)
Other - Aqua Mist buttons/Aqua Mist satin ribbon/square scalloped Nestability/corner rounder punch/Copic Sketch Markers

Thank You....Kate

I was feeling a little bit sad last week so I rang my PTI partner Kate for a shoulder to cry on (I kept her on the line for hours lol), the very next day I received this little beauty in the post....

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I'd like to mention that although we've never 'met', I consider Kate a very dear friend and feel so lucky to now have her in my life :) She's the most thoughtful, caring & generous person ever!

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After this slush fest I'll probably never hear from her again lol

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Love Steph xxx

Challenge 6 - Recycle

Hi everyone and welcome to a new challenge! Today it's all about recycling!

We want you to make a card that uses at least one recycled element on it - this could be a household item, ribbon or buttons from clothing, or maybe stamped images or scraps that didn't get used up.

Here's my card, all the elements were left over from other stamping projects - a strip of paper from these cards, and a stamped sentiment and heart that didn't make the cut for previous cards! The ribbon came with a new top I bought - and it's almost a perfect match for Raspberry Fizz, whoop!



Recipe:

Stamps: Guide Lines/Heartfelt Blessings/Heart Prints
Ink - Raspberry Fizz/Aqua Mist/Summer Sunrise
Card - Stamper's Select White/Aqua Mist/Raspberry Fizz/kraft
Ribbon - Recycled
Other - Aqua Mist button/thread/square nestability/corner rounder punch


And Steph's:

Recipe (all PTI unless otherwise stated):

Stamps - Tea For Tw0
Papers - Green Tea Leaves Collection & 2008 Bitty Dot Basics
Cardstock - Gold & Vintage Cream
Other - Zutter Corner Rounder, Encore Gold Inkpad & Twinnings Tea Packaging (recycled item)

And here's what you can win:

- 1 sheet of every design from the following 6 x 6 paper packs: Everyday Blessings/Guide Lines/Chocolate Remix

- 1 A4 sheet of cardstock and 1 metre of ribbon in the following colours, to match the papers: Plum Pudding/Lavender Moon/Aqua Mist/Spring Moss/Vintage Cream/Dark Chocolate

To be entered into the random draw please leave a link to your card in the comments section below. At least one Papertrey product must be used. Prizes can only be shipped withing Europe.
You have until 9am, Monday May 18th to take part!

Good luck - can't wait to see what you come up with!


Kate x

1. Aimes' Entry
2. Vanessa's Entry
3. Nina's Entry
4. Jennie's Entry
5. JanJ's Entry
6. Dawn's Entry
7. Chris' Entry
8. Dana's Entry
9. Emilia's Entry
10. Dana's Entry (no 2)
11. Ann's Entry
12. Jeanette's Entry

Challenge 5 Winner....

The winner of our 5th challenge is....

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Jeannette

(random.org no. 5)

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You can see Jeannette's gorgeous card here

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Thank you to everyone who took part, I think all the entries were of a particularly high standard this time round - thanks for all your inspiration ladies :)

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I hope you will join in with our next challenge which should be up later on today!

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Love Steph xxx