Monday, August 31, 2015

Papertrey Ink Stamp-a-Faire 2015 Mix & Match Challenge

Here's my last post for the evening. The last challenge that Betsy and I had time for was the Mix and Match Challenge.

http://nicholeheady.typepad.com/capture_the_moment/2015/08/saf-2015-mix-match-challenge.html



I chose to do Dawn's challenge to use colors that you don't normally use. I hardly ever use Blueberry Sky, Plum Pudding, Limeade Ice, or Terracotta Tile. I love the colors, I just never use them often for some reason.

To start off with, I decided to pull out my Plaid Builders Background stamp set for the first time. I love love love how the plaid paper turned out! It was so much fun and I can't wait to try using my plaid stamp set again. Once I finished my background piece, I used my Tipped Tops die to cut it out using the middle size. I used the largest die to cut out a Limeade Ice shadow. I then cut out the Happy from Tipped Tops using Smokey Shadow card stock, a neutral I hardly use as well. The stars are also part of Tipped Tops, and I just cut them out using Terracotta Tile, Blueberry Sky, and Plum Pudding card stock. I randomly placed them on the card. I really wanted to use balloons to make it a birthday card (and it's still a birthday card if you look at the inside sentiment), but I couldn't figure out how to do it without covering up my beautiful plaid patterned paper! So I nixed it for the stars and I think it still turned out okay. Lastly, I put everything onto a Plum Pudding card base.

I'm so happy that I had a chance to participate in this year's Stamp-a-Faire. I didn't get a chance to do all the challenges, but I hope to go back and complete more of them later.

I plan to make a couple videos using these cards, but not sure when they will get up. School is back in session (well, teacher's are back in session right now anyway) and my time is limited! Ahhh! And the kids haven't even come back yet!

Anyway, thank you for visiting my blog tonight! Thank you Papertrey Ink for another great Stamp-a-Faire!

Stamps: Plaid Background Builder
Die: Tipped Tops
Ink: Terracotta Tile, Blueberry Sky, Limeade Ice, Plum Pudding
Cardstock: Plum Pudding, Blueberry Sky, Limeade Ice, Smokey Shadow, Terracotta Tile
Other: Queen & Company Twine

Papertrey Ink Stamp-a-Faire Pattern Challenge

Hi!

I'm back with another post for Papertrey Ink's Stamp-a-Faire 2015 Challenges.


 This is the Patterns Challenge. We were given 12 different sketches to pick from to use as inspiration to create a card. I chose to use pattern #2, Betsy Veldman's pattern. I absolutely love the stripes in this pattern and it really spoke to me :)


Here's my take on the challenge. I love love love the way this card came out!

Edited to add: I filmed a video for this card!!


Let's start with the background. I used my distress inks again for this background, but this time I did some ink blending instead of watercolor. I used Fossilized Amber, Picked Raspberries, and Abandoned Coral to create this stunning background. Then I cut it from my PTI Horizontal Stripes Cutting Plate. I also used the cutting plate to create a black border. I really think it makes the colors on the background pop! Now I have the opposite pieces left over, so I plan on making a card with them as well.

For the Flowers, I used the Make it Market Kit Stamp Set Beautiful Brushstrokes and dies.
Pink Flower: Sweet Blush, Hibiscus Burst, Raspberry Fizz
Red Flower: Berry Sorbet, Pure Poppy, Terracotta Tile
Orange Flower: Summer Sunrise, Orange Zest, Canyon Clay
Purple Flower: Winter Wisteria, Royal Velvet
Leaves: Simply Chartreuse, Ripe Avocado

For the sentiment, I used the Wet Paint Cuts die. I use the Fossilized Amber ink pad directly on paper to create my own color paper. I cut it out 4 times and stacked them together. I then used my Perfect Pears (the clear one) the make it shimmery. To finish the card off, I tied some white and black bakers twine around the top.

 Stamps and Dies not Listed: Beautiful Brushstrokes Stamp and Die Set


Thanks for stopping by!

- Ashley 

Stamp-a-Faire Threads Challenge

Hey all, 
Ok, so I'm back with another post for Papertrey Ink's Stamp-a-Faire 2015. Betsy was over all day Saturday and we had fun creating some cards for the challenges! We only got through a couple challenges, but that's ok. I could have spent more time Sunday creating, but Andy and I have been trying to watch the entire Walking Dead series in order to catch up before the new season starts, and we have been pretty obsessed... so we spent all Sunday watching it, lol.

Anyway, my next couple posts will be about the different challenges that I was able to finish.

Here's a link to Betsy's blog for the threads challenge: Made by Teddi

Ok, so here is my card for the Threads challenge!

http://nicholeheady.typepad.com/capture_the_moment/2015/08/saf-2015-threads-challenge.html

 
So this was the first thread nest I've ever made, and I don't even have thread! So instead, I had to use some Embroidery Floss that I had. I pulled a piece of thread apart so that it was much thinner.

For the background, I used my distress inks Cracked Pistachio, Peacock Feathers, Mermaid Lagoon, and Twisted Citron. I smooshed them onto a piece of acetate, spritzed them with water, and then smooshed my watercolor paper into the ink. I dried it with my heat gun and pressed it into the ink again. For the border paper, I took Blueprint Sketch and dragged the ink along the edges of the paper to create my own colored paper. I did the same thing for the "grateful" (from Count My Blessings Die). I cut that out 4 times and then glued it over my thread nest... It's not awesome, but I think it turned out okay. Then I thought that it needed a little something else, so I decided to try out the Leaf Silhouettes Die. I again dragged my distress inks across the paper to create a color paper to match the background. I used Twisted Citron and Mermaid Lagoon.

I like the way the card came out because it's different from the cards that I normally create.

Supplies:
Stamps: PTI - Count my Blessings
Dies: PTI - Leaf Silhouettes Die, PTI - Count My Blessings Die
Ink: Distress Inks - Twisted Citron, Mermaid Lagoon, Peacock Feathers, Cracked Pistachio, Blueprint Sketch, PTI - True Black

Ok, so I'll be back with my next Stamp-a-Faire Challenge!

- Ashley


Saturday, August 29, 2015

Stamp-a-Faire Bridal Challenge

Hey guys!

It's been a busy first week back to school setting up my classroom and going to meetings, but it's finally Stamp-a-Faire day!! My friend Betsy came over and we are already hard at work on some of the challenges. We got a little bit of a late start so we are just finishing up the bridal challenge, so we obviously won't get to them all today but that's ok!

While Betsy finishes up her wedding card, I thought I would go ahead and share mine! I really love how elegant it came out! It's a challenge not being able to really stamp anything since its supposed to be all white, but that's where die cuts come in hand! I used my brand new Twig Wreath dies to create the focal wreath on my card. I just layered them around the wreath until I liked it. Then I used a sentiment from the older set Bigger Blooms and I heat embossed it with silver embossing powder. Love it!

Well, I'm off to work on another challenge!

Supplies used:
Stamps - Bigger Blooms, Quilled Elegance (inside wedding sentiment)
Dies - Twig Wreath
Paper - Papertrey Ink Fresh Snow Linen paper, Stampers Select White
Other - Stampin' Up Silver Embossing Powder, My Style Stamps white pearls, Stampin' Up White Satin Ribbon

Thursday, August 20, 2015

Stampin' Up Holiday Pre-order

Hey guys,

So I'm really excited about Stampin' Up's new Holiday Catalog that goes live September 1st. There's a lot of good Christmas goodies in this one! Because I'm a demonstrator, I got to pre-order early. I got my goodies in last week and can't wait to use them! The only problem is I'm not in Christmas mode yet! Ahh! But I'll get to them soon. I filmed a haul video of all the new things I got from the catalog.

https://youtu.be/7vnGVXAXAh0

If you find $125 worth of products you like from the new catalog, you can sign up to be a demonstrator for only $99!! (And you can order from the holiday mini early too!!) Demonstrators get a great discount and are allowed to order items early, you don't even have to sell, you can be a hobby demo as I mostly do. If you're interested in more information, feel free to ask me any questions! Or, why wait!? Go to my website and join today to get $125 worth of product for only $99!

http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/ashleyniedert/

-Ashley

Tuesday, August 18, 2015

PTI CD case stamp convserion

Hey all,

I'm working in my craft room, but not doing any projects right now. I switched to the Avery Elle pocket storage system a couple years ago and I definitely love it! But the problem was, I still had about 35 Papertrey Ink stamp sets that I had transferred over to the CD cases years ago that I never looked at because they weren't in the bin with the rest of my PTI stamps. That included some awesome sets like Rosie Posie and Turning a New Leaf which I always forgot I had :(

So now, I'm finally working on transferring the rest of my CD sets over to the Avery Pockets. I was using the clear cardstock from PTI but I was running out and it was getting too expensive to keep getting it. So I searched on Amazon and found some 12x12 clear cardstock in a pack of 25 at a great price! Now instead of getting 2 pieces out of the 8 1/2 by 11, I could get 6 pieces! That corresponds to 3 stamps (or stamp halves depending on the price of the set) instead of 1. Much more economical! Find the clear cardstock here!

Well, my Amazon package arrived today so now here I am finally moving the rest of my sets over to the Avery Elle pockets!

So what I did was cut 2 pieces of clear cardstock at 4x6 for each stamp set (4 pieces for the $24 sets). I'm taking one side off the VS case and arranging them on one sheet of the clear cardstock so they all fit. Then I'm using the other piece as a backer (I may eventually do this for all my other PTI stamps because I hate the cheap plastic piece they use!!). Add a little washi tape at the top to keep them together and now they're ready to go in the pocket!

Because I had already used my CD label on the CD case, I needed something that would show me what the stamp set includes. So, I went on the PTI website, searched each stamp, copied the picture of the stamp to Word and then sized it to 4x6 so it would fit perfectly in front of my stamps. I printed it out and am placing it in the front of my pocket and then my stamps in the back of the pocket, just like the rest of my PTI sets! If there's a coordinating die, I'm putting that in the Memorex CD cases and keeping them with the stamps.

Finally! Everything is the same :)
Here are some pictures for those looking to do the same thing!

- Ashley

Last week of summer...

Hey guys,

So I've decided to start taking up my blogging again. Ever since April, I've been super excited to craft again. Before that it had been several months since I even looked at my craft room. I was in a crafty rut and even buying new toys to play with couldn't get me out of it...

Then along came Betsy. Now, Betsy has been one of my best friends since 7th grade (I'm now 28!) and has always been a crafty person. Even back in high school she was artistic and making her own stuff. I dabbled in some scrapbooking as a junior/senior in high school but didn't really do much with it. Then I give it up and didn't touch it again after senior year except for one time to create a prom layout for my younger boyfriend. Then again nothing after that... Then Andy came along and I knew he was the love of my life and I wanted to remember all the fun things we were doing together by scrapbooking it. So, in 2011 I picked it back up. I bought a cricut, found Robyn - My Pink Stamper, adored my cricut and then began to turn to Stampin' Up and a couple months later Papertrey Ink. I was hooked! I loved crafting... Then came summer 2014 and I fell out of love. I stopped buying a lot of stuff, stopped posting on my YouTube channel, stopped blogging.... It pretty much stayed that way until Betsy and I decided to reunite! 1 1/2 years after the last time I saw her (at my wedding!) She saw my craft room and said we should craft together and that we should do a show together to try and sell some stuff. So I started kind of slowly getting back into it and refinding my mojo. Then the craft fair came along and I actually made some money on my crafts. People wanted my stuff!! That was it, it was all over for me again. I again found my love of crafting and have been finding myself back in my craft room (or daydreaming of being in my craft room when I wasn't) incessantly!

Betsy and I decided to form a business team and signed up for a couple more craft shows and now I imagine myself in my room day and night! (When I'm not watching my beautiful nieces, reading my lastest book obsession, or hanging out with my amazing hubby)

So now I've decided to restart up my blog and hopefully find some followers with which to share my creations!

The only problem is is that it is my last week of summer and my last day watching these 2 awesome girls!! I love them and I'm going to miss this so much when school starts up again!

That also means less time in my craft room to put down all my ideas onto paper...  But I'm still going to try and post as much as possible when school is back in session and I'm still going to try and spend a couple nights a week in my craft room making projects and videos for you!

Thank you for taking the time to read this and I'll see you back here real soon!