I’ve been squeezing in a few ‘rushing-by-my-craft-desk’ evening marginal moments over the past week or so … very gradually putting together some cards for Papertrey’s 8th Birthday celebration (and other challenges that fit well). Here are the ones that are ready for showing! Day 1 … a colour and sketch recipe from a choice of eight of each …

I stamped a card panel in four of the colours with PTI Ombré Builders and white heat embossed the sentiment from Filled With Joy. The Tilth Flower is from Memory Box, cut at the Lake House … a number of the BABES have it, so don’t know whose I borrowed! It was heat embossed in white before the petals were adhered flat to the card panel and the outline was fixed just in the middle so I could lift the edges to add some dimension. I added a gem to the middle in the lightest yellow and popped the panel up on foam tape on the card base.
As well as linking this up to Day 1 at PTI, I’m also joining in with the Runway Inspired Challenge, where this amazing lined and floral confection is our inspiration.

Day 2’s challenge at Papertrey is to make a card inspired by Maile Belles. I’m always blown away by Maile’s work … and love how she uses sentiments as a design element, slicing and splitting them to perfection! Here’s my take, followed by a few of Maile’s beauties …


I stamped the banner from PTI‘s Sketched Shapes in blue hues across a white card panel, silver embossed the happy over the top and sliced through it. I added a black strip to the card base and popped the split panel up on foam tape over it. The PTI Birthday die (again from the Lake House stash … thanks, BABES) was double silver embossed to give it a metallic look and was adhered in place over the split. I added some black bling to finish off. Looking at it now, it would’ve been better to have had the ‘happy’ either above or below the line … or have a very small one inside the slice (as Maile did) … oh well, isn’t hindsight a wonderful thing? Rather like the masculine feel, though … hmmm?
As well as playing at PTI Day 2, I’m linking this card up at Seize The Birthday … without the hearts/arrows optional topping.

Onto Day 3 at PTI, which is a matching gift bag and tag challenge … here’s my spring green and fresh white dinky (8cm x 5cm) little offering …
I don’t have a gift bag die (yet!) … so made this the old fashioned way … with a ruler, pencil and craft knife. Once it was cut out, I white heat embossed the bottom edge of the front using PTI Ombré Builders, added a reinforcer to the top and adhered it together. The tag (more Lake House stash, a Lawn Fawn one from Bev I think) was also stamped with Ombré Builders (look, it matches!) and I used a sentiment from PTI Sketched Shapes, masked off so I could do the two colour happies and the shadow stamped birthday. The reinforcer isn’t a reinforcer … it’s a dot stamped over the hole! A smidge of twine attaches the tag to the bag and ties the bag shut to keep the little goodies inside it out of sight of curious eyes!
If you’ve made it this far … thank you … I know it was a bit of a marathon! The time-eating monster that’s been in residence here is beginning to loosen his grip (at last!) … and that means I’ve been able to spend some nights catching up with and commenting on your fabulous creations … there’s still a little more gorgeousness to see! Can’t say I’m quite there with emails yet, although I am trying (some would say very trying … ahem!) … and will be with you as soon as I can! Thanks so much for coming by, your visits and comments are always a joy! Anita 🙂