Papertrey July Blog Hop Challenge

This has been a crazy CRAZY month!  Mother Nature has given us a run for our money, that's for sure.  Feels good to slow down and do a little card making.  Granted, I'd have had this posted 2 hours ago were it not for the Orangeville Carnival (and trying to get there between the rain drops!)  The Teaberry ice cream was a subtle start, but really packed the flavor by the end of my scoop.

For July, we were given this photo for our inspiration.

Much like my ice cream, it was a slow start, but I found the more I looked, the more I liked.

And, a huge plus, ZERO calories.

I was initially drawn to the ribbon spilling in the corner.  I wasn't sure how to interpret it but I just kept coming back around and around to it.  

I really wanted to make it the focal point of the card.  After a couple different approaches, I went with Papertrey Ink Fresh Snow Twill Tape sprayed with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in blue.  It wasn't as easy to get an ombre effect as I had hoped, but I do like the subtle variegation.  Neat discovery--if you apply light heat to the twill tape, it will melt slightly and warp, which was just perfect!

The card was stamped with PTI Inks on White Cardstock with a sentiment in Blueberry Sky.

The leaves are stamped in Spring Moss, Ripe Avocodo and Simply Chartreuse.  The flower is stamped in Lemon Tart, Sweet Blush and Soft Stone.  The panel was bumped up with foam tape and the clear drop embellishments are from Simon Says Stamp.

The stamps and dies are all Papertrey Ink:

Pen & Ink

Embellished Elegance

Vintage Linens

Lots of great cards in this month's hop which you can see by following this link HERE.

A Little Guilt-Free Crafting

OK, so maybe TINY bit of guilt, crafting on the Mister's birthday.  It's so nice to have him here and a break from school for him and work for me. To be fair, I did prioritize and he got his treats first, including the traditional non birthday cake.

His mom always made sticky buns for his birthday growing up.  It was the start of their annual trip to Canada for a family vacation.  I did take a moment to tease him last night that A)  His Mom REALLY  loved him as a child because in looking at the recipe, and remembering back a couple years, this was not a quick task, or B)  She got smart and realized how much work the buns were, who wants to bake a cake on top of that?  Knowing his Mom, it had to be a little of both.

So while T is working on his business assignment for class next week, I decided to make a card for Papertrey Ink's latest challenge.  What usually happens is I wait until the whole release is revealed, narrow a couple choices down for my inspiration and either create a card over the next day or two or make mental notes for later on.  I was so taken with Nichole's card below I had to re-create it.  Love it so much I wanted mine to be as close to her original as I could get.  

Nichole's Original as seen on her blog

Her card was made using the new Stemmed Sentiments and Infinity Frames Die--both available on July 15th and both of which will be finding a home in my studio--and the Infinity Sentiments set.  My card is on Kraft cardstock as well, using the Morning Glory image from the Year of Flowers Collection.  While I am slowly collecting the larger Year of Flowers sets, I was fortunate to re-home the collection set in June.  Thanks again, Linda!  My Nana's birthday is coming up Sunday and this is a great way to continue the flower theme from my Aunts' June birthday cards.  

The sentiment is also Papertrey Ink, from the now retired Framed Out #1.  The die used for the center square is from QuicKutz, a cookie cutter nesting die.  It had the weight needed to mimic the infinity dies.  Getting the outer layers of the card front to just the right even width will be so much easier with the new PTI dies.  One final note, I like the Spectrum Noir pens, but I think I need to pick up a Copic or two that match the Fine Linen and Classic Kraft papers more closely.  

Thanks for stopping by!