Challenge: Make For The Border

Hello all and welcome to a new challenge!! This time we're thinking about borders and how to incorporate them into our projects. You can use any type of border - stamped, punched, stitched, hand-drawn - let's get creative! 

Oh and as luck would have it  Moxie Fab World are also having a border challenge at the moment - so head on over there for some inspiration and a chance to enter another challenge!

I went a little crazy with scallop borders for my challenge, layering them up with some white ribbon magically turned black with the help of a Copic marker!

Recipe:

Stamps: Birthday Bash Sentiments/Make a Wish

Ink: Plum Pudding/Memento Tuxedo Black

Card: Stampers Select White

Paper: Bitty Dot Basics (plum pudding & black)

Other: Medium Scalloped Die/black Copic Sketch Marker

And now over to Caryn...

Well I am trying to get organised this year and so have been busy making my "Thank You Teacher" cards.  The new Fruit Fusion: Apple stamp set and die were the obvious choice for this project and as the colour of apples is often red, I am in Pure Poppy heaven too!  I used the Simple Alphabet set to create the name of the teacher and and Round and Round for the Thank You sentiment.

{Recipe}

Stamps: Fruit Fusion: Apple, Simple alphabet, Round and Round.

Card: Acetate, coaster (apple die cut)

Ink:  Pure Poppy, New Leaf, Smokey Shadow

Other: Apple die, gingham ribbon (SU!)

The "border comes from cutting a chunk out of the card front with pinking shears and replacing the missing bit with acetate to give a wee window effect.

And here is over Featured Stamper, Moe:

"I had to giggle when I saw the title of this challenge...you see, I AM "heading for the border" in 3 weeks...EEK...the U.S. border, bound for the PTI Stamp-a-faire event!!  My blog buddy, Lynn, invited me down to stay with her and go to the event. How sweet is that?  So with borders, loving thoughts of a dear friend and berry sorbet on my mind, I came up with this sweet little number.

I love layering border punches so I started with the EK Success large scalloped punch and then cut a strip of berry sorbet with the PTI banner borders die.  I took my colour choices from the new Cosmo Cricket's Odd 'n Ends paper pad.  I love the vintage images in this collection.  Say It With Style was the perfect set to add to the vintage feel. 

I've had sooooo much fun hopping the pond (did I say that right?) and hanging out with my buddy Aimes and Caryn and Kate.  What a fun blog with challenges, inspiration and giggles :)  Thanks so much, ladies, for letting me hang out and launching an official challenge!!  Hey, you still have a few more days to enter!!   Hugs everyone!!"


Aimes is a little snowed under but may be stopping by with a creation soon. So now it's over to you! Wanna see what you could win?! It's this super cute Fly Away set:

Here are the full challenge deets:

* All entries must contain at least one PTI product to qualify (please state what is PTI as sometimes for us it's hard to tell :D)

* To enter, use our inlinkz thingy at the bottom of this post. Please leave the correct URL for your entry post and not just your generic blog address! If you're having problems then just leave a comment with a link to your post featuring the project on your blog or online gallery.

* Worldwide entries are more than welcome to share the inspiration and can be in with a chance of being a Top 3 PTI Passionista, but unfortunately prizes can only be shipped within Europe!

* Challenge closes on Monday, July 11th 2011 at 9.00am GMT

* As well as a randomly picked winner, we'll select the top three creations we like the most and feature them on the Blog. The top three PTI Passionistas will have chance to display a Top 3 Passionista Blinkie on their own blog.


We can't wait to see what you come up with!


Kate, Aimes, Caryn and Moe xxxx

 Our entries:

Our winners!

Hello lovelies! Are you stopping by to see who won our latest challenge? Well we have a winner:

Here are your random numbers:

5

Timestamp: 2011-06-28 13:00:54 UTC
(Random.org)


...Emma! Congratulations Emma, please email your postal address to apassionforpapertrey@yahoo.co.uk and we'll pop your prize in the post to you!

We also have three Passionistas to award a blinkie to - a difficult choice as ever! Firstly though a big thank you for all the entries - we loved your interpretation on the elements challenge! So onto the blinkie winners:





1) Antje: We just loved Antje's kite card - especially the polka dot hills! What a colourful, uplifting card and don't you just love those kites!

2) Lisette: Lisette's collage card is just a work of art - take a minute to take in all the elements she's used - just gorgeous!

3) Sandra K: Sandra also used the Postmarks set with a beautiful, clean and simple design on kraft card. What a great one layer card!


Congrats ladies! If you'd like a blinkie to blink with pride on your blog then pop us an email at apassionforpapertrey@yahoo.co.uk and we'll send you the code.

Check back later today for a brand new challenge!

Kate, Aimes, Caryn, and Moe xxxx

Reverse Masking - Make It Monday challenge.

Don't know about you but when Nichole launched her new  "Make It Mondays" challenge I was full of good intentions and thought I'd be trying out the techniques every week.  Well, it's now at Week #20 and I have entered it a grand total of .....once!  So, without further ado, here is my second go at a MIM Challenge.  This week it's "Reverse Masking" and all the deets are HERE.

I die cut the middle sized star from the Stars die set and used it to mask an outline into which I stamped one of the paint-splattery-type stamps from Grunge Me in Pure Poppy, Hawaiian Shores and Summer Sunrise.  The Happy Birthday is from Enjoy The Ride, the "6" is from Banner Builder and "Today" is selectively stamped from the Celebrate Today stamp in Mega Mixed Messages.

Right, off for a cuppa!
Caryn xxx

Happy Happy Happy...

...Birthday...

To ME! :)

Yup, today I enter my final year of my twenties. Eeeek! Am I worried? Anxious? Sad? Nah! After all, I've been told that I act closer to my shoe size than I do my actual age and no doubt that will continue for many years to come!

I know you were probably expecting a green-themed card but hey - as a card maker I'm really hoping that this is the one occasion I don't have to make a card for! This card is still one that makes me smile though as you can find it in the special issue of Paper Crafts: Card Creations 9!

I'm also super lucky to be born on the longest day of the year. So what are we doing here - let's go make the most of those hours :)

Aimes
x

A WaCCCky Challenge...

Hi everyone!!

It's Maureen (aka Moe) here with a fun post and challenge I think you will all enjoy.

Last June, I participated in the PTI Blog Hop on colour. I had been submitting to many many colour challenges and feeling frustrated about several colour combinations that people were coming up with. It almost felt like they were "pulling them out of a hat." That's when the Wild Card Colour Challenge was born (lovingly referred to as the WaCCCky on my blog....see HERE). I wrote all the PTI colour names on little slips of paper and put them in a little box. Whenever I want a new colour challenge, I draw 4 colours out. NO RE-DRAWS!!! It has been a fun and weird experience...some combinations are definitely Wacky!! LOL.

I thought it would be fun to use my time here on A Passion for Papertrey to host a Colour Challenge!! Here are the deets:

1. Create a card or project using all 4 colours, plus any neutral you like...black, kraft, cream, white (berry sorbet is already in the line up {wink, wink}) Don't have an exact colour? Substitute a close match :)
2. Add your card or project to the linky thingy below
3. We will pick our favourite top 3 cards when the challenge closes on Monday July 4th 9am (UK Time)
4. A random participant will win a $25.00 USD gift certificate to PTI and will have to send me their email address to receive the prize.
5. Challenge closes on Monday July 4th at 9am (UK time). Participants worldwide are eligible to play along and be in with a chance of winning the gift certificate!!

Here are the colours that I drew last week with my card sample :) Yes, that's a lot of pink and purple...but that's what I drew!!! Now you know it's not fixed!! lol


Sound like fun? I've only even done this challenge by myself (with a few friends participating now and then) so this is a thrill to have a linky thing involved with a prize!! Woot, woot!! Can't wait to see what you all come up with.

Hugs!!

Moe
x

Hello...

Happy Weekend!

Hope you're all having a lovely weekend so far! We've got families to visit for Fathers' Day but I'm quickly popping by here to say:

Hello!

I forget about the tiny stamps in some of my sets sometimes. This flower is from Around and About Sentiments - it's tiny and so is the tag! Why not have a dig through some of your own older sets and see what you can rustle up? Who knows, it may even fit in well with our current challenge *wink wink*

Now I've just gotta find something nice to attach this tag to...:)

Aimes
x

Tag Deets
{Hello}
Stamps: Around and About Sentiments, Friends 'til the End (Papertrey Ink)
Ink: Aqua Mist, Hawaiian Shores (Papertrey Ink)/Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Cardstock: Stamper's Select White (Papertrey Ink)
Accessories: Fresh Snow Twill Ribbon, Rustic Cream Button Twine (Papertrey Ink)/Eyelet (We R Memory Keepers)/Gem (Hero Arts)/Promarkers (to colour twine and eyelet!)/Cuttlebug/Labels Eight (Nestabilities)

CHALLENGE: It's Elementary!

Hello PTI fans and welcome to a new challenge over here at APFP. We're talking EARTH, WIND, AND FIRE {and water}! Yes, we want to see you include something to do with one of the four elements earth, air, fire and water. This can be incorporated in any way and PTI have TONS of stamp sets and dies that could fit in with this theme - even just a sentiment could be used (as in my example!!).

You Rock (get it? ROCK!!)

Card recipe {You Rock}:
Stamps: Boy Basics: Rock On; Grunge Me, Fillable Frames#4.
Ink: Smokey Shadow, Pure Poppy, Versamark.
Cardstock: Smokey Shadow, Stampers select white.
Other: Saddle Stich ribbon, FF#4 die, Guitar die, staples.

I used an A2 card base of Smokey Shadow card and die cut the Fillable Frame #4 shape from white and stamped it in Smokey Shadow ink. The sentiment is from BB: Rock On and is stamped in Pure Poppy with one of the Grunge Me elements. The guitar from Boy Basics: Rock On was stamped again in Smokey Shadow with a little detail added with a red ProMarker. The card base was stamped with two other elements from Grunge Me to give a bit of interest to the background and a strip of red saddle stitch ribbon was placed across the card and stapled at one end (to emphasize the rocker theme!). The focal point was then popped on to the card to one side using foam pads.
Caryn x

Over to Kate: " As I rummaged through my PTI stamps I stumbled upon my Scattered Showers set, I haven't used it much recently and thought it fitted the bill for this challenge - water! Also very topical given the amount of rain we've had recently! I made a real effort to get away from my normal colour combos, although a touch of Aqua Mist has slipped in there!"

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Scattered Showers
Ink: Ripe Avocado/Memento Tuxedo Black
Card: Kraft/ Ripe Avocado/ Stamper's Select White
Paper: 2008 & 2009 Bitty Dot Basics
Other: Corner Chomper/Ripe Avocado Twill/sewing machine/Tag Sale 2

Over to Aimes:

So which element did I go for? Well as a fiery redhead I had no choice to pick fire, right *wink*

I wanted to reflect my element mainly with my colour scheme but as luck would have it, I DID have a stamp that had a flame on it!

Card Deets
{HB 2 U}
Stamps: Around and About Sentiments, Birthday Bash Sentiments (Papertrey Ink)
Ink: Pure Poppy, Melon Berry, Orange Zest, Lemon Tart (Papertrey Ink)/Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Cardstock: True Black, Stamper's Select White (Papertrey Ink)
Accessories: Baker's Twine (Papertrey Ink)/Crystal Stickles (Ranger)/Chompy! (Corner Chomper - We R Memory Keepers)

It's a very graphic card with gradient stamping to reflect the look of flames. You might not see on the pic, but my flaming candles have added sparkle too :)

And now our lovely June featured stamper, Moe

Hi everyone!! I am so excited to be playing along with the Passion Ladies this month :) I am an ELEMENTary teacher so I had to giggle at the play on words.

The element I've chosen is "air." Maybe that's because we've just finished studying matter in my grade two classroom and one of the favourite experiments was blowing bubbles outside :) I was first thinking hot air balloons, but the Postmarks set has been sitting on my desk waiting to be inked up. It was like it was whispering "air mail" to me. THEN I thought it would make a fun birthday card for any dear friend who lived far away (shhhhh, you don't know anyone like that do you?). I cut the rustic cream panel to the size I wanted to use, then took out some stamps and laid them down to get a feel for size and mix of fonts and images. Then I stamped using a light gray. After, I took the "urgent" stamp and stamped it a few times randomly...love that look. I added the sweet little Love Lives Here butterfly stamped with the coordinating image, added some fun distressed dots paper and, of course, my beloved berry sorbet ribbon. I picked a bold sentiment from Big Birthday Wishes and added some bling.

Now that I think of it, there's a bit of irony with this card...our Canadian Postal workers are on strike right now (ugh!). They are on a rotating strike, though, so mail is moving, just a little more slower than before.

Can't wait to see what you all come up with!!

So what can you win this time around?

A fabulous Fillable Frames#8 stamp set.

Here are the full challenge deets:

* All entries must contain at least one PTI product to qualify (please state what is PTI as sometimes for us it's hard to tell :D)

* To enter, use our inlinkz thingy at the bottom of this post. Please leave the correct URL for your entry post and not just your generic blog address! If you're having problems then just leave a comment with a link to your post featuring the project on your blog or online gallery.

* Worldwide entries are more than welcome to share the inspiration and can be in with a chance of being a Top 3 PTI Passionista, but unfortunately prizes can only be shipped within Europe!

* Challenge closes on Monday, June 27th 2011 at 9.00am GMT

* As well as a randomly picked winner, we'll select the top three creations we like the most and feature them on the Blog. The top three PTI Passionistas will have chance to display a Top 3 Passionista Blinkie on their own blog.

Can't wait to see your elementary creations!

Caryn, Kate, Aimes and Moe
xxxx

A Winner! - Recipe Challenge.

Thanks to everyone who entered our last challenge - it was lovely seeing all the different colour combinations people used and the creative uses for buttons.  They were all just gorgeous.

There can be only one winner though and the lucky lady this time round is.....

10

Random numbers generated Jun 13 2011 at 19:32:46 by www.psychicscience.org

and that means it's.... Sarita.

Well done girly - get your address deets over to us and your prize will be winging it's way to you very soon.

Now onto our Papertrey Passionistas.  What a hard job we had this time round - there really were so many amazing creations.  Here are the three we all agreed were our favourites.



Rachel - We all loved her choice of colours pairing the gorgeous Melon Berry with Spring Moss - the little pea pod was just too cute too.

Lynn - Lynn has showcased beautifully how elegant and simple the new anniversary set is - gorgeous colours too.

Sarita - Another fabulous card with a stunning layout and gorgeous colour scheme.  The little ribbon element was just the perfect touch to this beautiful card.

Well done ladies - if you'd like the blinkie for your blog then please send us your email and we'll get it over to you.
Don't forget to come back tomorrow when we'll be launching our new challenge.

Hugs,
Caryn, Aimes, Kate and Moe.

A little wall art!

Morning all, just thought I'd share this little project with you that I created for my niece. She asked me ages ago if I would make her some letters for her wall so as it was her 10th birthday last week I thought it was the perfect time to get round to it! I cut the letters from thin chipboard on my Cricut (Plantin Schoolbook) and then cut the letters again in some papers from the Beautiful Blooms paper Pad (my favourite PTI DP ever!).

Each letter has a little design element added and have foam pads on the back to adhere them to the wall. Her favourite colour is red (a girl after my own heart) so it should match the rest of her room pretty well. I have to apologise for the poor photography though - I just couldn't get it right no matter how hard I tried!! I think I need to invest in a lightbox or something!!
Caryn xxx

Summertime Vibes...

Phew! So I finally get some time to post something here on the blog - sorry it's been so quiet recently; let's just say this time of year is proving to be super busy!

I'm counting down to the summer holidays now I'm back at work for our final seven weeks (or 33 days to be exact *wink*) I can almost taste the summertime: the fresh, juicy strawberries, the ice-cream, the late night drinks during the light nights...bliss!

Here are a couple of cards I've not shared with you here that definitely make me think of summer:

I'm not one to love Berry Sorbet as a colour but I think that could change if the sunshine sticks around. I'm loving this paired with white for that clean, fresh look (makes me think of watermelon - yummy!)

And finally, summer wouldn't be summer without some heat so let's turn it up with a hot, hot, HOT colour combo:

Well I'm in a summertime mood now - how about you?

Aimes
x

Card Deets
{happy happy birthday}
Stamps: Birthday Bash Sentiments (Papertrey Ink)
Ink: Versamark
Cardstock: Stamper's Select White, Orange Zest, Raspberry Fizz (Papertrey Ink)
Accessories: Detail White EP (Stampendous)/Pink Gem (Hero Arts)/Raspberry Fizz Grosgrain Ribbon (Papertrey Ink)

{Celebrate Your Day!}
Stamps: Friends 'til the End, Signature Greetings (Papertrey Ink)
Ink: Fresh Snow (Papertrey Ink)/ Versamark
Cardstock: Berry Sorbet, Stamper's Select White, Vellum Cardstock (Papertrey Ink)
Accessories: Detail White EP (Stampendous)/Bling (Hero Arts)/White Gel Pen (Ranger)

June's Featured Stamper

Wow! Can you believe it's June already? We're half-way through the year and I'm left wondering where the first half disappeared to!

We're welcoming the new month here on A Passion for Papertrey with a new featured stamper which means we sadly have to say farewell to May's featured stamper; I'm sure you'll join us in thanking Jen Carter for sharing her creativity with us for May (I have to say, I'm still smitten with the home-made puffies she shared with us!) Thank you so much, Jen!

From farewells to happy hellos, wanna know who's joining us for June? Well let us introduce you to...

Maureen!

Maureen is a lovely (and talented!) stamper from across the pond in Canada and she definitely has a passion stamping! Let's grab a cuppa and get to know a little bit more about her:

1)How did you get into papercrafting?
I actually made cards when I was in elementary school! I even had a card making kit that someone gave me. Then in the '90s I got into it again, but all we had was ink, paper, rubber stamps and embossing powder. THEN I got back into it in the early '00's with Stampin' Up! and then about 3 years ago a good friend introduced me to card BLOGS!! Eeek! I've been hooked ever since!

2)How long have you been stamping for?
I would say about 15 years, but seriously for 4 years. I've had my blog for 2 years.

3)How did you get into PTI and why do you love it so much?
I believe it was that good friend that got me into the card blogs. We discovered Dawn McVey's blog and then PTI through her (before she started on the DT). I love it because of the awesome quality of stamps and product AND that they are fresh and creative. All round top notch!

4)What would you say is your stamping style?
Hmm, I've always struggled with this a bit. I took the "What's your Style" quiz in the 2010 Card Style Magazine by Papercrafts and it came out "Fun and Cute." Although, I do Elegant and Classy and have been dabbling in a lot of Shabby/Vintage lately. I'm not a CAS gal, although the odd time I've done it, I've loved it and admire people who have perfected it.

5)Do you have a favourite PTI colour or colour combo that just makes you drool?
Okay, IMHO berry sorbet is a neutral!! LOL I probably would say berry sorbet...with kraft! Oh my!

6)If you had to choose just one PTI stamp set to keep, which one would it be and why?
I don't like to play favourites with my stamps, but right now Button Boutique is not gathering dust...KWIM? However, Hello Friend is a pretty close second. These stamp sets are very "brown."

7)Who is your PTI Idol?
Dawn McVey hands down. I followed her blog before she became a DT member and just love her stamping genius and the person she is. I also love Melissa Phillips work...I could never replicate it, but just love looking at all her eye candy. But really, Nichole has built an A-Team list of stampers with her DT.

8)Where do you get your inspiration from?
All over...mostly other blogs, inspiration challenges, Moxie Fab...I'm really into colour so any fabric with great colour combinations make me swoon.

9)What’s your stamping dream?
Truly? Aimes, our blog buddy Lynn and I making cards in my new studio and then enjoying martinis on the sundeck!! LOL But seriously, I reallyl want to make it to CHA one day and stamp with the PTI ladies...ugh, that would be a fantastic dream!

10)Where can we go to check out more of your wonderful creations?
Oh, yes!! Come visit anytime!!

• My Blog: Buttons and Bling
  

• My Splitcoast Gallery (Irishlatte)

• My Verve Diva Gallery

The odd time you'll see me in CARDS magazine, and look for me in the July/August edition of Papercrafts!

Thanks so much, Maureen! I know for sure we've spotted a few of Maureen's fabulous projects in a number of issues of CARDS (I recommend signing up for an online version if you don't want to pay for the shipping to the Europe *wink*) and are so happy to have her on board with us. I'm sure you'll welcome Maureen too and look forward to what she has to share with us!

Aimes, Caryn & Kate
xxx