PTI Throwback Thursday: Cuppa Love

 Hello and welcome to this installment of the Papertrey Ink Throwback Thursday feature! I'm thrilled to be here today sharing some Valentine's Day inspired gifts using the ever-adorable Cuppa Love stamp set! This set is probably mostly geared toward cheering up the sick, grieving, and aching, but I fell in love with the "Cuppa Love" sentiment, hence the title, and got the creative juices flowing for some unexpected Valentine's Day gifts!

 It is hard to tell from the photos, but these "cups" are actually treat boxes made using two of the Cuppa Love die and a box, which I will share the instructions for here as well. I'm a big gift giver, so if I can make a cute treat box, bag, or tag, I'm ALL over it! You can pretty much make any large die into a box, if you want! For these, I used an 8 by 5 1/2 inch piece of white/Sweet Blush cardstock and then did some simple scoring, slipping, folding and gluing! Soooo easy!

 I did all of the stamping on the cups prior to assembly. I didn't stamp the back, but you could if you are feeling ambitious or if you want it to look more "finished". Once the stamping was complete, I got to work on the box, which is what the two cups are suspending between themselves. Oh...also, I did reinforce the bottoms of the cups by die cutting an extra piece for each cup. I didn't want the cups to bend with the weight of the Lindt Strawberries and Cream treats I have inside. In hindsight, I would have probably just doubled each one up with a full cup rather than just the bottom portion! If you try it out, will you let me know how it goes? I'd love to hear!

The boxes are created by scoring the long side of the 8 by 5 1/2 inch piece of cardstock at 1 1/2. Then you turn it the short way and make a 1 1/2 inch score mark, then move that SCORE MARK  over  to the 2 1/4 inches mark and score again, then 1 1/2 and then 2 1/4 inches again. This leaves a tiny flap so that you can adhere the box together. Use a bone folder to crease all of the score marks and then clip each of the score marks from the bottom up to the long score line that you made first. These will be the flaps to fold in and glue using scor tape. I will give you a link to a similar box so you can see what I mean.  This particular box that I am linking has a top flap, so just look past that portion, but the assembly is the same besides that.

I'm adding some step by step photos to hopefully make more sense.

Once the box is made, you can secure it to the Cuppa Love dies using Scor Tape. I used the top of the cup as my guide to get it straight. These cups hold 3 of the Lindt balls and the ribbon and stand up okay. If you add anything heavier, you will need additional reinforcement. 

I made a coordinating 3 by 3 card using the smaller cups that is included in the die set. It is the perfect size for this little card. 

Which one do you like better, the pink or white? I can't decide!

 I added some Nuvo drops to the centers of some of the flowers. I also used the new Nesting Basics Pierced circles to create a fun detail in the background of the card.

This gives you another view from the top with the cute tag that is included in the Cuppa Love die set and coordinates with many of the images in the set. You can also see the Lindt balls peeking out of the cello bag tied up with Spring Moss Saddle Stitch ribbon. I'm so excited to make a few more of these cute boxes to give out this Valentine's Day! These would also be perfect to give to a sick person using the other sentiments included in the set with some tissues and tea inside! I'm sure I'll make some of those, too! Thanks for fluttering by!

Inspired By #55 Just a little something!

 It's time for another fabulous Inspired By challenge! I took last week off because I was immersed in PTI release frenzy, but I'm back today sharing a trio of gift card holders using this week's inspiration! You can check out the challenge HERE as well as see how the rest of the team used the inspiration! I loved the mix of plaid, ticking and color combination, so that was my starting point.

 I hosted a cocoa night for the ladies in my church and I needed a few "cocoa" inspired thank you gifts, so this challenge was perfect! I love these papers from Authentique and knew they would work well to include the mix of patterns from the photo. I used the fabulous Coffee Cup Gift Card Holder from Honey Bee Stamps for today's cards. 

I also used the Gina K tag bundle that was a freebie from Simon Says Stamp during the holidays. The "just a little something" sentiment was the perfect thing to add to the front of these gift card holders. 

 I used a circle punch to create the circles once they had been stamped. It is obviously larger than the image, but I like the bold white edge.

 I'm planning on putting gift cards to a local sweet shop into the gift card holders. I will package them up in cellophane bags with a couple of packets of hot cocoa as well, so I wanted to make some tags for the cello bags. I really like the pillow from the inspiration photo that says "let's huddle" so I used the simplicity of that for the tags. I also did some zig zag stitching along the edge for some extra textile detail since that is so present in the photo. I hope you get a chance to join us this week. I know I sound like a broken record, but participating in challenges really helps get the creative juices flowing and creating things that you might not normally. Thanks for fluttering by!

SugarPea Designs Mix It Up Challenge: Welcome to the Neighborhood!

I'm so thrilled to be here today sharing my card that I created for this month's SugarPea Designs Mix it Up Challenge! It's been a while since I've gotten a chance to use my SugarPea Designs stamps, so I had a lot of fun on today's design! I love that I get to do something that brings me such joy! I realized that each day as I sit down to create, I am thinking about a certain someone who will be receiving whatever it is that I will be making!  

I love the new look of the Mix it Up Challenge, don't you? I love the color swatches and the clean and classic layout! 

A new family moved into the neighborhood this week, so I really wanted to make a "Welcome" card for them. I used the calm and soothing colors from the swatch and got to work creating a neighborhood nestled in snow framed with the Lantern SugarCut. It is one of my favorites, but I don't use it often enough. As soon as I decided the direction of my card, I just couldn't get it done fast enough! It was so much fun!

To begin, I die cut the lantern four times from blue cardstock and glued it together using liquid glue. The gray accent pieces are only cut once and adhered with glue as well. Once that was done, I spritzed it with Shimmer Spray and set it aside to set the snowy scene!

The houses are die cut in shades of blue and gray using the ever-adorable Around Town SugarCuts. I chose the three houses that looked the most like the ones in my neighborhood. The snowy drifts were created by using my all-time favorite Card Front Element Builder. The rest of the background pieces were die cut using these as well.

The "welcome" portion is die cut 4 times as well using the Welcome SugarCut and glued together. I already had this piece done, so I was thrilled to find it all ready to go in my clear storage envelope. The coordinating "to the neighborhood" sentiment is heat embossed in silver and is from the Warm Welcome stamp set. These pieces were so easy to add to the top of the lantern using foam squares and liquid glue. This card is THICK...like really thick! Since I wasn't going to be mailing it, I didn't shy away from the dimension it required to achieve the look I was going for. 

The white background has silver heat embossed snowflakes from the Flurry of Warm Wishes stamp set. I also added some clear rhinestones to the centers for some added shine. I nestled the houses down into the snow and added a few more rhinestones around them.

I stamped the inside as well, and after I did, I thought it was a little ironic that I used the snowflakes around the "warm welcome" sentiment! LOL! Anyway, that made a light bulb go off to give them a welcome basket filled with a soup mix, hot cocoa, etc. It totally made sense after I did that! ha ha! As I mentioned a few times, I really had so much fun putting this card together! I hope you'll play along this month! Thanks for fluttering by!

Reverse Confetti Stock Your Stash challenge: Would you be mine?

I'm so happy to be hear today sharing my card for this month's Reverse Confetti Stock Your Stash challenge! This month's theme is "Love is in the air"! I'm still having a ball with Valentine's Day designs and especially the new release stamps! I combined a few of my favorite sets on today's card! Before I dive into the details of my card, don't forget that there is  a chance to win for playing along. You can read all about it over on the Reverse Confetti Blog! I hope you'll join us this month!

 For today's card, I couldn't wait to use more of my favorites from the new release! I didn't get my fill of Big Bear and all of his/her sweet accessories so that was the starting point of my card and then I let everything else just fall into place! I was particularly inspired by the cute little piece of mail that the bear can hold and thought that it would be fun to add in a larger envelope focal point. I used the new From Cupid 6 by 6 paper pad and an old Martha by Mail envelope template to create the envelope.

I used the striped heart from the Patterned Hearts as the backdrop for the "would you be mine?" sentiment which is heat embossed in white. This particular sentiment is from the Heart Pals stamp set and is one of my new favorites! 

For the background, I used the fabulous new Diagonal Stitches Cover Panel to set the stage for all of these cute images and embellishments. I added two strips of paper at the bottom and did some zig zag machine stitching for some added detail.

I stamped the bear, piece of mail, flower bouquet, bees, hearts, and flowers in black and then got to to work coloring them using Copic markers. I love how all of these sweet details came together to work so nicely on this design. I was worried with them coming from so many sets that it wouldn't have a cohesive feel, but they seem to all work. I just couldn't resist having a few bees buzzing around this cute bear! The hearts have a coat of crystal glaze and a sprinkling of glitter for some shine. Nothing is better than a sugar coated juju heart at this time of year, am I right? 

I hope you get a chance to join us this month! It really is so much fun! Thanks for fluttering by!

Papertrey Ink January Release Countdown Day 5

Welcome to the 5th and final day of the Papertrey Ink January release countdown! What has been your favorite so far? There's so many to choose! Today I'm sharing two cards using two new sets that you're sure to fall in love with. Up first is the new set called Together Forever Blooms. I was inspired for today's card by my large desk calendar that I use to  keep track of my design team commitments, due dates, etc. At the top is a border of flowers with a black binding. The flowers look very similar to the ones in this set, so that was my starting point!

These colors aren't my go-to colors or ones that I normally use and I contemplated changing them up, but in the end, I decided different is good! I actually really like how bold and bright it turned out!

I used the word die from the new "Bold Borders: Arabesque" die cut that was showcased on Saturday. I didn't get a chance to use it earlier, so I was happy to be able to incorporate it into today's design. The stamped and embossed sentiment actually includes the word "You" but I omitted it since I used the die cut.

 I added some machine stitching to the left portion to mimic the perforations on my desk calendar. I also used the new Nesting Basics ovals and the new Nesting Basics pierced ovals. I really love the sweet little detail that it adds to my cards! These are definitely one of those go-to basics that will make any design special.

The sentiment is heat embossed in white and the die cut is stacked 4 times and glued together with liquid glue. I also added a coating of crystal glaze for some shine.

I added a simple strip of black and white paper to give the design an extra pop of interest. I also added some rhinestones in the centers of a few of the flowers.

This final card uses two new sets: "Vintage Type" and "Circle of Love". I did a lot of gold heat embossing to give this card a lot of texture and shine, which you can see in the photos below.

The "thinking of you always" sentiment is heat embossed in gold onto a piece of Pale Peony cardstock and then die cut using the Nesting Circle dies.  It layers perfectly inside the frame of the stamped image. I heat embossed that as well and then colored it using copic markers.

This particular set comes with solid images that layer inside the lined images if you don't like doing your own coloring. I really like versatile sets like this because I don't always have time to color and the solid images are a lifesaver!

I used one of the single bloom images from the set to heat emboss in gold onto a strip of black cardstock for some contrast. I layered the focal image onto one of the new "Shape Shifters: Square 4 dies. I just love the romantic look of the edge.  I hope you've enjoyed the last 5 days and remember that everything will be available for purchase on January 15th and 10 PM EST. Thanks for fluttering by!

Papertrey Ink January Release Countdown Day 4

Welcome to Day 4 of the Papertrey Ink January release countdown! Betsy has done it again with another fabulous die in the Potbellies collection! Unicorns are all the rage and these Potbellies are just too cute! She has also come out with a companion set with a lot of fun new sentiments. You can check it out over on the Papertrey Ink Blog and see the rest of the designer's creations!

The thing that I love about the new unicorn Potbellies is that you can die cut EVERYTHING in white and use markers to color in the detail pieces. The only thing that I didn't cute out of white was the horn, which was cut from some gold foil paper that was part of some Christmas packaging! I was sure glad I saved it because it was the perfect choice! Other than that, I die cut everything from white and then just custom colored each of the different pieces. Some of the flowers, ear pieces and leaves are so tiny and the thought of having to run those through my die cut machine for each individual color felt a little tedious! So, lazy for the win today! LOL! No, but really, it worked out so well!  

 I colored a few of the wings and manes with Copic markers and did some ink blending on others; I like both looks, but you could just experiment and see what you like. I ended up by making 5 in total because I was having fun with all of the different coloring techniques and color combinations. They are addicting, I tell you! I don't know if you remember my original Potbellies post , but I got carried away then as well! LOL!

Actually, the real reason that I made 5 is because the hand sanitizers at Bath and Body Works are 5 for $6! Ha ha! Aren't they so cute? They have sparkles inside and I love the cute saying on the front; Never stop dreaming! I heat embossed the sentiments in gold and then added the tummy circle using Scortape since I knew it would be holding something heavy. I adhered the sanitizers using Scortape as well. 

 I added crystal glaze to the hooves, the eyes and the inside of the ears and the center of the petaled flowers.I added some chunky glitter to the hooves of the one on the left, which happened to be my last one, and boy do I wish that I had done that on all of them...it looks super cute! I also learned some tricks with the eyes on the next series that I will be sharing below!

 Well, this is certainly a strange combination of critters, if I do say so myself! Especially since I was supposed to be making unicorns. As I was playing around with the mouth piece on my unicorn creations, I noticed that if I turned it upside down it ended up looking like a hippopotamus! I grabbed the horn to see how teeth would look, but realized it looked more like a walrus! Light bulbs going off right and left! When I was adding blush to the unicorns cheeks, it started looking like a pig, so another lightbulb! I quickly finished up my unicorns so I get started on this little trio. My daughter was out of school, so we sat and laughed and laughed; a Walicorn, a hippocorn, etc! My husband remembered the Simpson's episode where Lisa talks about a Two-nicorn! Oh my...things were getting silly around my desk!

Using the wings as the walrus's flippers seemed a stretch, but he sure ended up cute, if I do say so! He happens to be my husband's favorite and the fact that he even HAS a favorite, is something spectacular! LOL! With this set of Potbellies, I am using the new Words to Live By: Smile set that will be released on the 15th. All of these sentiments worked perfectly with these off-the-wall critters!

I did some sponging around each piece to give it some definition. I gave the walrus a dapper bow tie from the new "Even More: Worth the Wait" that I showcased yesterday. It is just perfect. I also added some super tiny buttons down the front. The 'smile' sentiment is die cut 3 times out of white cardstock and then glued together using liquid glue. I added crystal glaze over the top for some shine. The "while you still have teeth" portion is heat embossed in white....too bad it doesn't say "while you still have tusks"! LOL!

And here is Miss Potbelly pig! She was by far the easiest of the set. All pink paper, except for some colored hooves, eyes, and flowers. Her snout it simply punched out using a circle punch after I die cut the nostril holes from the mouth piece. I added sponging around her as well as all of her pieces. A few flowers finish this cutie off! As I mentioned earlier, I learned some tricks with the eyes; I colored them black using an alcohol marker, added tiny white dots and then added a drop of crystal glaze for some dimension and shine. Make sure you don't add the white right in the middle or she might looked like she's under the influence, if you know what I mean! ha ha!

And finally, the little hippo ballerina that got me started in the first place! Isn't she cute all decked out in her tutu? I made her little hooves pink to look like ballet slippers! I ended up by using the inside of the ear die cut for her sweet little teeth. I die cut two mouth pieces and just sandwiched them in between for security. I did the same thing on the hippos eyes as I did on the pig.

Each of the three critters are actual cards that can be opened. The pig and the hippo stand up, but Mr. Walrus's flippers prevent him from standing up! The tutu is simply baste stitched Tulle that is cinched up and secured in the back. Because she is added to the shaped card base, it is all hidden! I used Scortape since it was a little bulky! I was inspired to give her a tutu based off THIS card I made a few years ago. I realized that I couldn't use the same color tulle since that hippo was pink and this one is gray. It just looked a little drab, so hot pink was the next choice I had! I guess she likes to be bold!

You can see the two girls here side by side! The pig would be equally cute in a tutu, I think! If you have any questions about anything I have shown today, please leave a comment and I will happily get back to you. I know that I still have some unanswered questions from a few projects earlier in the release and I promise I am not ignoring you! I will happily answer them soon!

Well, that's all for today! I hope you've enjoyed these sweet little critters as much as I enjoyed making them! It truly is a joyful process! Join me again tomorrow for the 5th and final day of the release! Thanks for fluttering by!