The Greetery {La Dolce Vita Collection} Release Day

Hello friends! It's release day for the beautiful and inspiring La Dolce Vita Collection from The Greetery! Everything will be available for purchase beginning at 10 am EDT! I have a bonus card to share with you today sneaking in a few products I didn't get a chance to use on my countdown projects. That being said, there are still quite a few I still need to use!

To begin, I used the new Cottage Tile Background; this is a big background that can accommodate all different sizes of cards. You'll want to cut your background to the size you want to use and then place it on the die; it doesn't cut an outside border, if that makes sense. 

I glued it onto an A2 card base using liquid glue and set it aside to work on the details of the card. I already had this lemon bunch all ready to go because I ended up not using it on one of my countdown projects. I used the Citrus Fields Die and cut it from white cardstock and colored it with blender brushes and dye inks. I gave it a spritz of fossilized amber distress oxide spray and set it aside to dry.

The "grounding" strip it embossed using the new Shortbread Shapes Rectangle Tiles Embossing Folder. I attached it to the card background using foam squares.

I cut out the villa using the Countryside Villa Mini Die from white, with the exception of the tiled roof and shutters. I cut the roof from Melon Berry cardstock and then added some rust ink with a blender brush. The shutters are cut from the same green as the tile embossed panel. 

I used foam squares to mount everything to the card base including the sentiment, which is from the new Rolling Hills Bella Terra Addition Stamp Set. I absolutely adore these sentiments and the font!

This concludes today's post, but remember, the new release will be available for purchase today at 10 AM EDT! Thanks for fluttering by!

 

Project Inspiration {All Kinds of Wonderful}

Hello friends! It's my turn for the Project Inspiration feature for Papertrey Ink! I will be sharing step-by-step photos and instructions on how I put this card together!

It combines so many of my favorite things: foiling, glitter, flowers, and a butterfly!

Step 1: Hot foil a panel of Mint Julep cardstock using the Regal Flourish Frame Hot Foil Plate and turquoise foil. Add some Mint Julep ink around the corners.

Step 2: Adhere the foiled panel to a 4 by 5 1/4 inch piece of Tropical Teal cardstock. Mount it to a top-folding A2 card base using foam squares.

Step 3: Cut the middle-sized mat using the Love to Layer: Top Notch Die from white cardstock. Attach it to the background using foam squares.

Step 4: Cut the butterfly pieces using the Build-a-Butterfly Die. Add the stenciling using the coordinating stencil collection and Mint Julep ink.

Step 5: Cut the flowers from white cardstock using the Into the Blooms: Bag of Blossoms Die and the Build-a-Bouquet Die. Add color with dye ink and blender brushes. Attach to the butterfly.

Step 6: add the leaves.

Step 7: Cut the sentiment using the The Sweetest Bunch Die and stamp it in black using the The Sweetest Bunch Stamp Set. Attach it to the top of the card with foam squares.

Step 8: Add glitter and a trio of sparkling clear sequins.

The foiling reminds me of butterfly wings, so that is why I chose this particular plate. 

I hope you have a wonderful day! Thanks for fluttering by!

 

Papertrey Ink April Release Countdown Day 1

 Hello and welcome to day 1 of the April release countdown for Papertrey Ink! There are some really fun new products that might be able to fill in some gaps your collection might need! For me, I have really been wanting some larger bees to go with some of the larger flowers and my wish has come true! Not only that, but there is also an adorable new Build-a-Ladybug Die as well! Both new die sets come with three different sizes of bees or ladybugs!

My first card for today features the new This is Big Sentiments: Strength Stamp/Die set and the new new Build-a-Ladybug Die. It also showcases the lovely new Love to Layer: Top Notch Die set and a beautiful new hot foil plate!

To begin, I die cut all of the flowers and foliage using the Into the Blooms: Wild Wood Die and then colored them with dye inks and blender brushes. I also added some fossilized amber distress oxide spray and set them aside to dry.

I used the new hot foil plate with champagne foil onto a panel of Pale Peony cardstock. I added some Hibiscus Burst ink around the edges and trimmed it down just around the edges of the foiled design. I layered that onto a top-folding card base that is cut using the Nesting Basics: Pierced Rectangles Die. 

I die cut the middle-sized layer included in the Love to Layer: Top Notch Die from white cardstock and then added it to the Peony layer using foam squares. I added the sentiments; one stamped in black and the companion sentiment is heat embossed in gold.

I arranged the flowers and ladybug using foam squares and liquid glue until I was satisfied with the arrangement. I added glitter to the flowers and foliage for sparkle and shine!

 My second card for today features the new Build-a-Bumblebee Die and the new Wildflower Frame Stamp/Die set!

To begin, I die cut the frame using the Wildflower Frame Die and then stamped it with Vintage Photo distress ink. Once that was done, I colored the image using OLO markers and other alcohol markers in my collection. I also added some white acrylic pen details and some brown marker splatter for an aged, vintage look. I cut the frame out one more time and glued the two together for a sturdy piece.

Once that was done, I got to work on the bees; I chose to use the middle and smallest sized bees for my card. There is another large bee and some legs to add to the bees if desired. I cut the body from Dark Chocolate cardstock and then added some True Black ink around the perimeter. The stripes and wings are cut from white cardstock; I added Harvest Gold ink to the stripes and Spring Rain ink lightly to the wings. I had a bit of fun adding some yellow flocking powder to the stripes for a fuzzy, realistic texture. I adhered the wings using small pieces of adhesive foam.

The sentiment is also from the Wildflower Frame stamp set and is cut using the coordinating die. I layered it onto the smallest die included in the new Love to Layer die set.

For the background, I used the Cover Plate: Honeycomb Die and added some vintage photo distress ink splatter lightly over the top. I layered the entire panel onto a top-folding A2 white card base using foam squares. I added a few sequins for sparkle and shine!

Join me tomorrow for day 2 of the countdown! Thanks for fluttering by!

Happy New Year {PTI Designers' Favorites}

Happy New Year, friends! We've made it to 2026, which seems so crazy to me! The Papertrey Ink Design Team and guests are participating in a fun Designers' Favorites Instagram Hop to share our personal favorites from 2025. You can head there to participate in the hop, but I also wanted to share my favorites here, too! I purposely didn't pick any of the cards that were featured in my Top Nine from Instagram, even though some of them are other favorites. I just wanted some fresh things to share, if that makes sense.

One of the things that is special about each of these cards, with the exception of one, is that I remember who I gave each one to and why. 

The first card I'm sharing is one of my favorites because of the beautiful scripture verse and the flowers. This was when the Into the Blooms: Anemones Die was first released and little did I know then, but this has become a well-loved favorite and I have used it for every season since, including Christmas! You can see one of my favorite Christmas cards that uses them HERE.

You can read all about how I created this card from the original post HERE.

My second card is just so bright and cheery and uses a bee-theme, which I always love AND the beautiful Into the Blooms: Wild Wood Die and the Cover Plate: Hexagon Die. You can read all about this card HERE. I still have this card and I know this will be one of those that is hard to part with.

This particular card was made just-for-fun and not part of a release. It isn't solely PTI products, so I was hesitant to share it on the hop, but it IS one of my favorites, so I said, why not? ha ha! You can read all about this card HERE. This is one of those cards that I want to make again because I love it so much!

This particular card was a favorite on Instagram this year, but didn't make it in the top nine. This is one of those pleasant surprises that I didn't think people would respond to like they did. I really like it and I enjoyed making it, so it makes me happy when you like it too! You can read all about this card HERE.

I mentioned earlier I didn't want to include any Christmas cards, mostly because so many always end up on my Top Nine. I decided to share one favorite that didn't make it on the top nine. I was telling my daughter when I was writing out Christmas cards that I look at the photos of my cards way more than the actual cards, but when I see them in real life, they just look SO much better. This is one of those cards that just sparkles and shines and photography just can't capture that. You can read all about this card HERE. 

I want to thank each of you for your sweet support this year and always! I love this community so much; it's hard to find kindred spirits in our everyday life, so I truly appreciate you all so much! Happy New Year! Thanks for fluttering by!

 

Warm Holiday Wishes

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I'm headed to The Nutcracker this afternoon with my mom, sister, daughter, and her boyfriend so I thought it would be fitting to share this card with you today! To begin, I cut a 5 by 7 piece of Weathervane cardstock and embossed it using the beautiful Merry Moments 3D Embossing Folder. When I bought this particular folder a few months ago, I didn't realize it was 5 by 7, but it works well with the amount of flowers I chose to use and the tall nutcracker. I added some Stormy Sea and black ink around the edges and over the raised embossed portions to give it some added depth.

I cut quite a few poinsettias in varying sizes using the Into the Blooms: Poinsettia Die from white cardstock and then colored them with ink and blender brushes. I layered and glued them using both liquid glue and foam squares. I inked up the four leaves from the same die set and set those aside.

I die cut all of the pieces that I would need for the nutcracker using the Lovely Layers-Nutcracker Die. 

The pictures are washing the poor guy out a bit, but his skin is a peachy color and his hair and beard are cream. This is the first time I have used or assembled this nutcracker, so I learned that the base layer should be the color you want his hair and pants. I initially thought it would be the color of his face, so I went with peach, so now this dapper fellow is wearing peach pants! ha ha! He DID have peach hair, but I decided to cut the top portion again to give him the cream hair and just glued it to the base.

I adhered the poinsettias and leaves using foam squares and then secured the nutcracker in the middle using a double-stack of foam squares. I added some white acrylic paint splatter and then got to work on the sentiment.

For the sentiment, I chose an older one from Honey Bee Stamps that I bought a few years ago and haven't used yet called Home For the Holidays. I heat embossed it with gold powder and then cut it using the coordinating Home for the Holidays Honey Cuts. I secured it to the card front using foam squares. Each of the flower centers got a gem and then I also added a trio of sparkling clear sequins. It was looking just a bit bare, so I turned to my leftovers pile and found some bits of foliage that I tucked here and there. I gave it a spritz of shimmer spray and called it done! 

Thanks for fluttering by!

 

Project Inspiration {Tis the Season for Peace}

Hello friends! I shared this Project Inspiration on the Papertrey Ink Blog last week, but I also wanted to share it here to give some additional tips and tricks I used to create this card. I was inspired by a snow globe I saw that had a plaid base, so that was the springboard for this design. I also have missed some of my favorite previously released products, so it's always fun to pull those out again and put them to use!

I combined two of the Winter Globes dies to bring this card to life: Winter Globes Die and the Winter Globes: Believe Die along with some other stamps and dies!

Here's a quick look at steps 1-6 (there's actually 7, but it messed up the grid) and I will walk you through each step.

Step 1: Use the Fanciful Snowflakes Hot Foil Plate and silver foil on a panel of Ocean Tides cardstock measuring 4” x 5 1/4”.

Step 2: Use a corner rounder punch for all 4 corners and attach to a white card base using foam squares.

Step 3: Cut the base of the snow globe from pattern paper and antique gold. Cut it again twice from Soft Stone cardstock and glue everything together.

Step 4: Cut all of the pieces for the scene from White card stock and color them with blender, brushes and dye ink. Assemble using liquid glue and foam squares. Add some white ink splatter.

Step 5: Cut all foliage and berries using the Into the Blooms: Swag Die from white cardstock. Color them like the other elements and spritz with fossilized amber distress oxide spray. Attach to snow globe with foam squares and liquid glue.

Step 6: Cut the Peace sentiment twice; once from antique gold card stock and once from White. Glue them together and attach to the snow globe using liquid glue. Heat emboss the companion sentiment on a strip of vellum using silver powder. Attach it to the snow globe using strategically placed liquid glue on the back of the embossing.

Step 7: spritz with shimmer spray and add glitter. 

Some other details to note: this particular pattern paper that I used on the globe is a craft smart North Pole Mail pad of paper. The plaid was just a small strip on one of the pieces, so I used washi tape to line up the bottom portion of the globe on the paper.

The rock candy glitter is more like sugar and doesn't have a lot of sparkle, but I love the frosted, snowy look it gives my projects.

This hot foil plate is one of my favorites because it doesn't need a high heat or a long time to heat and it always gives me great results!

I didn't want to wrap the vellum strip around the entire background panel, so I simply added some liquid glue to the back of the vellum behind the embossed portion for an invisible adhesion.

Thanks for fluttering by!