Polka Dot Snow

Hi!

I'm flying by (or should that be sliding along with today's snow and ice!) to share a card with ya:

This card could pretty much qualify for our current challenge with it's red and white combo. It's also a pretty fitting card to share on here today considering the snow and ice we've had here in the heights of the Peak District! I love snow, but I sure don't love driving in it!

Stay safe and warm wherever you are and while you're at it, why not join in this challenge too? :)

Aimes
x

Card Deets
{Happy Holidays}
Stamps: Holiday Tree, Polka Dot Basics II, Holiday Signature Greetings (Papertrey Ink)
Ink: London Fog, Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Cardstock: Stamper's Select White, Pure Poppy (Papertrey Ink)
Accessories: Gems (Craft Supply)/Corner Chomper (We R Memory Keepers)

Challenge: Christmas

Hello!

Welcome to a fabulous new challenge!

So if you didn't guess from my hint in the last post, this fortnight we wanna see you craft with Christmas in mind (or any other type of holiday you have in mind for the season, e.g Hanukkah) Let's face it, Christmas is only 39 days away and so it's time to start whippin' out the cards!

I started well this year; creating a couple of Christmas cards last month, but I'll confess that I've hit a bit of a dry spell right now....but after creating a few different cards, I now know that my final design will feature the following elements:

Firstly, it has to be CAS! Not only to satisfy my CAS lovin' side, but also for the convenience of mass production:
Card Deets
{Merry Christmas}
Stamps: Holiday Tree (Papertrey Ink)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Cardstock: Fine Linen (Papertrey Ink)
Accessories: Cuttlebug (Provocraft)/Linen and Canvas Impression Plate, Pure Poppy Buttons (Papertrey Ink)/Promarkers/Gem (Craft Supply)

It has to have a good ol' traditional colour combo. If red and green don't sum up Christmas, I've no idea what colours do!

Card Deets
{Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year}
Stamps: Holiday Signature Greetings (Papertrey Ink)/Musical Background (Kaisercraft)
Ink: Versamark/Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Cardstock: Stamper's Select White, Hunter's Green (Papertrey Ink)
Accessories: Pure Poppy Saddle-Stitch Ribbon (Papertrey Ink)/Gems (Zva)/Promarker (to colour gem!)

...and finally, it has to be a design that uses my existing stash (no new crafty Christmas goodies for this gal this year - not that I've been a bad girl of course, just that my stampy budget had to be spend on a new tyre the other week!)

Card Deets
{Season's Greetings}
Stamps: Holiday Signature Greetings, Background Basics: Chevron Stripes (Papertrey Ink)
Ink: Rich Cocoa (Memento)/Hawaiian Shores (Papertrey Ink)
Cardstock: Dark Chocolate, Vintage Cream (Papertrey Ink)
Patterned Paper: Tickets from Daily Junque Collection (Pink Paislee)
Accessories: Shimmer Chalks (Dovecraft)/Gems (Zva)/Mat Stack 2 Die (Papertrey Ink)/Grand Calibur (Spellbinders)/Twine from Daily Junque Collection (Pink Paislee)

Those baubles have been cut from Mat Stack 2! When I saw the shape of it, I immediately thought of a bauble. The subtle one in the background is created by using the negative shape of the die-cut as a stencil with my chalks.

Over to Caryn:
I am super-in-love with this challenge - there is no other time of the year I love more than Christmas so making this card was no challenge for me at all!! I am looking forward to your entries more than any other time too - can't wait to see your festive creations!

For our challenge I have cracked open and lavished some inky attention on my new Holiday Lights set as well as the Stylish Sentiments: Holidays set. I just adore both of them – think they’re both going to feature heavily in this years cards!
I LOVE Pure Poppy and for Christmas there just is NO OTHER COLOUR!! I have paired it this time with Hawaiian Shores and Raspberry Fizz – yum!

Here's Kate: "Thank goodness for this challenge to get me kick-started into making some Christmas cards! I have to say it made me want to play with all my Christmas sets but for this card I decided on my Wreath for All Seasons set for a good old CAS card!"

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Wreath for All Seasons/Think Big Favourites 8
Card: Stamper's Select White/Pure Poppy
Ink: Pure Poppy/Ripe Avocado/Basic Black
Other: Scallop Die/Ripe Avocado Twill

So now it's your turn! Just to tempt you some more, up for grabs for one European-based peep is this li'l stamp set:

Mehndi Medallion!

Here are our challenge deets:

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

* All entries must be newly created (well, new to Blogland anyways!). Please don't link to old posts that might happen to fit the brief of the challenge!!

* 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, November 28th 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 be inspired by your creations :)

Aimes, Kate & Caryn
xxx

A holiday tree is not just for Christmas...

Happy Tuesday! Can't quite believe it's only Tuesday....I'm already thinking about the weekend LOL! Guess that's what happens when you're back at work and finding hardly any time for inky therapy!

So with this in mind, I've tried my hand at making a couple of 3x3 cards. Not only do they use half the precious PTI supplies that my normal cards take, but they're pretty quick to make, make great use of scraps and look sweet too (well sweet IMHO!)

Notice that rounded corner? *wink* My new corner chomper has arrived! Yay!

With reference to the title of today's post, I've being playing with my Holiday Tree set. I love the versatility of that tree - suitable for any season with a splash of colouring I think! I couldn't resist dabbling with autumnal colours; on my drives to work I've noticed the leaves are starting to turn, it's getting windy and the car park is a hazard zone with conkers encased in their spiky homes falling prematurely from the trees!

Aimes
x

Card Deets
{just a note}
Stamps: Papertrey Ink (Holiday Tree, Daily Designs Sentiments)
Card: Papertrey Ink (Kraft)
Ink: Memento (Tuxedo Black)
Accessories: Corner Chomper/Promarkers/Fineline Pen

Holiday Tree Versatility!

Hey!

Happy Wednesday! I hope your week is going OK? Mine is zooming by because I've got the week off work - typical eh?!

I don't know about you but I'm ready for Spring now! Though we've had no snow this week (I know some parts of the UK have) I'm getting bored of being cold and not seeing so much of the sun. Let's see if this card can help spring come along sooner:

Card Recipe
Stamps: Holiday Tree/Polka Dot Basics II/Daily Designs Sentiments
Ink: Dark Chocolate/Hibiscus Burst/Sweet Blush/Raspberry Fizz
Cardstock: Stamper's Select White/Aqua Mist/Bitty Box Basics Spring Rain and Ripe Avocado
Accessories: Cream Ribbon Twine/Hibiscus Burst Button

The idea for this card originated from this card by Maile Belles. Do you recognise the tree? Yup, it's no other than the tree from my Holiday Tree set! My main reason for my passion for PTI is how their sets are so versatile - who'd have thought a holiday tree would be suitable for a spring card? Well once it's decorated with some polka dots (yup, still lovin' 'em!) this tree could be a tree for all seasons depending on what colours you'd use! I've gone for pink blossom today, but tomorrow I could go for a mix of greens for summer or even some reds and oranges for autumn!

Not into decorating trees? Well how about making your own DP with it? This card was totally inspired by the packaging you get from Dorset Cereals products (not affiliated with the company btw, just lovin' their muesli and porridge ;D) The DP is made from the other tree from my Holiday Tree set.

Card Recipe
Stamps: Holiday Tree/Daily Designs/Daily Designs Sentiments
Ink: Dark Chocolate/Spring Moss/New Leaf
Card: Dark Chocolate/Pure Poppy/Spring Moss/Stamper's Select White/New Leaf
Accessories: New Leaf Twill Ribbon/Martha Stewart Border Punch/Circle Nestabilities/Cuttlebug

Not into trees at all? Well here's just one more card before I leave that doesn't have a holiday tree in sight!

Card Recipe
(PTI Supplies)
Stamps: Damask Designs/Daily Designs Sentiments
Ink: Versamark/Memento Black
Cardstock: Vintage Cream/Kraft/Spring Moss
Accessories: Vintage Cream Luxe Satin Ribbon/Decorative Edged Scissors

This 3x3 card was created for one of the many challenges to celebrate PTI's 3rd anniversary. I had such fun playing along when I could. My jaw continued to hit the floor with each new product they revealed. Shame we've gotta wait a while for some of them though as they sold like hotcakes! Good job I totally know they'll be worth the wait ;D

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Aimes
x

Letting the Paper do the Talking!

Hey!

Hope y'all ready for the big day?! I'm ready but not in the right place! Weather conditions haven't improved so we figured it best to hang tight and travel to see the family when it's safe to do so!

So with none of my Mum's famous Maids of Honours to scoff on, I figured I'd share some Christmas cards with you:
A pretty simple design but the only way I've found I can use this particular pattern of DP - it's like a diva demanding the full attention of the card and not too many embellishments stealing its spotlight LOL!

I can't mass produce cards (my brain gets way too bored!) so only made 4 but even then had to mix things up a little with the ribbon and buttons!
So firstly ripe avocado ribbon and a pure poppy button:


...and secondly pure poppy ribbon and a spring moss button (I think this is my fave mix though don't tell the combo cards LOL!)

Card Recipe
(All PTI)
Stamps: Holiday Tree
Ink: Dark Chocolate/Versamark
Card: Dark Chocolate/Rustic Snowflakes DP/Ocean Tides/Spring Moss/Pure Poppy
Accessories: Cuttlebug/Nestabilities/Polka Dot Ribbon Pure Poppy/Polka Dot Ribbon Ripe Avocado/Vintage Buttons Pure Poppy & Spring Moss

So before I leave to scoff some more chocolate, I'd just like to wish everyone a very merry Christmas! I hope you have a wonderful, peaceful (and maybe in some cases, merry) day!

Love,
Aimes
x

Challenge - Macho, Macho Man!

Welcome to another challenge - I hope with all the festive madness you might be able to take a break from it all and stamp something!

Today's challenge is all about the men in our lives because we want you to make a masculine card, can be any themed card - Christmas, birthday etc - and must include at least one PTI product.

I have made a card for the challenge, but now can't find my cable to upload it to my computer!! So you'll have to bear with me until I find it!

Here is Aimes' sample:

"Well whilst the Christmas stamps are well and truly inked up I thought it best to make my masculine card a Christmas one! This one will most probably go to my honey - he loves green (just like me!)"
"I even created coordinating ribbon twine to coordinate by dragging some white twine through a smokey shadow ink cube. Just be sure to wash your fingers after as it's very messy!"

Recipe Stamps: Holiday Tree/Vintage Labels Ink: New Leaf/Smokey Shadow/Fresh Snow Card: Smokey Shadow/New Leaf/Soft Stone Accessories: New Leaf Vintage Button/Cuttlebug/Cuttlebug Swiss Dot Embossing Folder/Nestabilities/True Black Saddle Stitch Ribbon/White Ribbon Twine

Also, as our featured December stamper, here's Taheerah's example:

Recipe
Stamps: Giga Guide Lines/Guide Lines II/Star Prints/Polka Dot Basics II
Ink: Dark Chocolate/Scarlet Jewel/VintageTouch Chai/Pure Poppy/Smokey Shadow/True Black/Versamark
Card: KraftDark Chocolate/Ripe Avocado/Scarlet Jewel/True Black/Rustic Cream/Smokey Shadow
Accessories: QuickKutz Embossing Folder/Nestabilities/Vintage Cream Topnotch Twill/Copics/Fiskars Star Punch

• All entries must contain at least one PTI product to qualify
  
• To enter, 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, but unfortunately prizes can only be shipped within Europe!
• Challenge closes on Monday 28th December at 9.00am GMT
• A winner will be chosen at random to receive a collection of PTI goodies!

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

Kate and Aimes xx

1. Clare
2. Paulina
3. Aga

Shhh! Secret Santa!

Hey!

We're into the full swing of the festive season now so I'm busy beyond belief! Apologies for my lack of posts recently!

Tonight I'm out for a few Christmas drinks with my work colleagues and as always there's a secret Santa. This year we've decided to just buy any old gift and have a lucky dip rather than buying for someone specifically. Now I prefer to do the latter, but as some people ended up without gifts last year (due to the winter lurgy!) I guess this way everyone gets a guaranteed pressie!

So what a perfect opportunity to play with the secret Santa stamp out of PTI's Stocking Prints! I think most of my colleagues will know that this gift is courtesy of me, but lucky for me I picked a nice gift. Don't tell anyone, but it's a scrummy cinnamon soap I picked up at market stall at Covent Garden last weekend! I normally like to buy something really silly but the I just know it'd be my luck for my boss to pick it and for me to be summoned to their office on Monday morning LOL!
I also decorated both the tissue paper and the ribbon using the sweet snowflakes from PTI's Holiday Tree! I love, love, LOVE the effect of stamping onto ribbon - it takes a while but it's totally worth it!
Recipe
Stamps - Stocking Prints/Holiday Tree
Ink - Spring Rain
Card - Stampers' Select White/Spring Rain
Accessories - Cuttlebug/Nestabilities/Vintage Cream Satin Ribbon/Martha Stewart Border Punch

Now then, would it be totally wrong if I picked this present outta the tub for myself...? LOL!

Right then, I hope y'all have a wonderful weekend! I'm off to start Christmas shopping - that's right, START it! LOL!

Aimes
x

P.S There's still time to enter our current challenge - Oh Christmas Tree! Surely you've got a creation with a Christmas tree on it?! Especially those who attended Steph's make and take! ;D

Challenge - Oh, Christmas Tree!

Hey everyone!

OK so we know that it's a busy time for everyone at the mo, so we've tried to make this challenge one that's so easy to play along with that you'll probably do it without realising it LOL!!

For this challenge we want to see creations featuring a Christmas tree! For those of you who attended the most amazing weekend ever (Steph's PTI Make and Take), this challenge is one you've already got a card for so feel free to enter it!

Here's my take on the challenge featuring my fave lil' tree of the moment:

Recipe: Stamps - Holiday Tree/Signature Christmas Ink - Spring Moss/Dark Chocolate/Pure Poppy Card - Stamper's Select White/Aqua Mist/Pure Poppy/Rustic Snowflake DP Other - Nestabilities/Martha Stewart Border Punch/Pure Poppy Polka Dot Ribbon

Here's Kate's showing that you just can't go wrong with a classic, elegant Christmas card:


Recipe: Stamps - Tree Trimming Trio/Background Basics - Text Style Card - Stamper's Select White/Aqua Mist/Enchanted Evening Other - Epoxy Circle Stickers

"I'm in mass production mode at the moment!"

So are you ready to enter? Here's the deets:

• All entries must contain at least one PTI product to qualify
  
• To enter, 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, but unfortunately prizes can only be shipped within Europe!
• Challenge closes on Monday 14th December at 9.00am GMT
• A winner will be chosen at random to receive a collection of PTI goodies!

So get your Christmas trees ready; we can't wait to see what you come up with!

Aimes and Kate
xx

1. Laure
2. Laurel
3. Lesley
4. Karin
5. Cathygel
6. Caryn

Blingin', Baby!

Hi everyone and welcome to another challenge, it seems to have come around so quickly!

This time it's all about the bling, baby! To join the challenge we want to see some bling on your cards - it can be any type of bling - gems, gliiter - so long as it sparkles, anything goes!!

The bling on my samples is quite subtle (so subtle I'm not sure you can even really notice it from the pictures lol!) - there are 3 rhinestones in the centre of the poinsietta, and the Flourishes are stamped in Versamark Dazzle Champagne ink which has a fabulous soft shimmer:



Recipe:
Stamps - Peaceful Poinsietta/fancy Flourishes/Signature Christmas
Card - Stamper's Select White/Enchanted Evening/Brushed Silver
Ink - Versamark Dazzle/Versamagic - Night Sky/Versafine - Black
Other - Rhinestones/silver ribbon

And a close up:


Over to Aimes... "Here's my attempt to bling up a Christmas Tree! Basically smothered it in Stickles and added some jewels coloured with my promarkers - BLINGIN!"

Recipe:

Stamps - Holiday Tree/Signature Christmas/Around and About Sentiments

Card - Stamper's Select White/Dark Chocolate/Pure Poppy/Rustic Snowflakes DP

Ink - Spring Rain/Spring Moss/Fresh Snow/Dark Chocolate

Others - Pure Poppy Polka Dot Ribbon/Spring Moss Button/Jute Button Twine/Stickles Crystal Glitter/Clear Gems Coloured with Promarkers/Nestability/Cuttlebug/White Gel Pen

Here are the details:

• All entries must contain at least one PTI product to qualify
  
• To enter, 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, but unfortunately prizes can only be shipped within Europe!
• Challenge closes on Monday 30th November at 9.00am GMT
• A winner will be chosen at random to receive a collection of PTI goodies!

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

Kate and Aimes xx

1. Katie
2. Dawn