PIN IT FRIDAY FAVS: Garden Gate and the Very Best of Pinterest Pins

I follow the Papertrey Inc. blog and discovered the release of this complete set of dies, stamps, printed sheets, stencils and a brass gate lock called GARDEN GATE and a video showing off the kit possibilities HERE:

Original Pin HERE

Original Pin HERE

You know how you see a card and then you immediately say to yourself: I MUST have this set?! That's what happened to me! Plus, my dear friend, Alice, was having a birthday and she loves all things flowers...so all the more reason I had to have it! 

It took a bit of practice to line up the stamps with each die cut, but here is my first card using this wonderful set:

Here's a thank you card I made:

There are loads of project ideas on the GARDEN GATE Make It Market Kit release page HERE. I can't wait to make more cards and tags with this kit (so I can justify my purchase)! For more pins related to this kit, click HERE.

PIN IT FRIDAY FAVS: Tim Holtz Dies and the Very Best of Pinterest Pins

I use the backs of photos when I cut out intricate dies. Simply make the following sandwich: BASE CUTTING PLATE, DIE CUTTING PLATE, PHOTO with back facing up or down, PAPER TO BE CUT, DIE, FINAL PLATE then place into your machine. I have a Cuttlebug so my sandwich is: A plate, C plate, photo facing down, cardstock, die, B plate....and here is the result:

...and another card made with the die above:

This die is from a set of three: Tim Holtz Sizzix thinlet dies #661185:

Here are the rest of the dies in this set:

When I saw this Pinterest pin...

I went straight to Amazon.com and ordered this set of dies!

They are quick and easy cards but look

fancy and impressive in MHO!

PIN IT FRIDAY FAVS: Easter Cards and the Very Best of Pinterest Pins

Easter in March snuck up on me! Here is a quick and easy Easter card:

...and my slew of Easter Cards pinned recently

that made me very happy:

Original Pin HERE

Original Pin HERE

Original Pins HERE

Original Pin HERE

Original Pin HERE

Original Pin HERE

....and here is a card I got to make thanks to a new

stamp set I got from a very generous TIFFANY:

(Leaf Die = Leaf Filled Flourish from Die-namics

and ordered from mftstamps.com HERE)

She gave me the Papertrey sentiment set called 

THINK BIG FAVORITES #16 shown below:

See this set on Papertrey's site HERE

Inside view using SU's retired set called Garden Collage

I also found another card below on Pinterest that uses this new set from Tiff plus 3 additional Papertrey sets called Rosie Posey and Rosie Posie Step 2 stamp sets on this page HERE plus the set below:

Boutique Borders:

Birthday Mini Stamp Set

Original Pin HERE

See this set on Papertrey's site HERE

I wish all photopolymer sets stamped like Papertrey's stamps.

They have the best clear stamps on the market IMHO!

Thank you, Tiff, for making me 

do a super BIG happy dance with your gift!

PIN IT FRIDAY FAVS: Flowers and Bears and the Very Best of Pinterest Pins

My most recent card projects inspired by Pinterest pins are as follows:

Sentiment by Papertrey, Inc:

Signature Greetings

Flower Stamp by SU:

Think Happy Thoughts

Original Pin HERE

...and I must try this variation on Pinterest using the same masking technique --- perhaps I can modify it for a Thanksgiving card:

Original Pin HERE

I needed some get well cards and I finally had a chance to use my new Posy Trio bear set from Lili of the Valley:

...and a tone on tone version:

Sentiments from SU:

Thoughts and Prayers

My Pinterest pin inspiration:

Original Pin HERE

CARD CHICKS: Fall Meeting

We had another fantastic night of paper crafting with the Card Chicks last Friday night and here are the pics from our fun meeting:

Stampin' Up's Four Feathers and For All Things

Sentiment Inside: Papertrey Ink's Autumn Hills

Ghirardelli Purse Treats

See the Directions at the End of this Post

Envelope Punch Board Mini Treats

For directions, click HERE...and these were the

the sunburst cards we made:

 Inside View

The bats were made using a butterfly punch as shown below:

Original Pin HERE

Here's a slight variation of this technique that I think is easier: Punch out a butterfly in black paper then use the space directly above the negative to punch again to create a bat. 

 Sunburst Variation using Photos

(Bat punch on this card by Martha Stewart)

Variation Three

Sunburst cards are quite simple to make once you learn the secret of using a line down the center of a 5" x 2 3/4" piece of medium weight DSP! Start your own sunburst card using four different pieces of 1 1/2" x 4" pieces of DSP cut on the diagonal then click HERE for the post with the rest of the instructions...and I also shared with my Card Chicks some of the PF Chang's gift card bags that my BIL had received through the years:

...and here's the "after" once they were decorated and recycled for another use:

Tiffany brought each of us some adhesive gems, a spool of sparkling black ribbon and a Ghirardelli chocolate square!...and here's the flashlight I found in the dollar bin at Target. I added a tag and some batteries and voilà!

Now...for the goodies we feasted upon!

...and these YUMMY table snacks that Mel also brought:

...and the decorations:

 Lights On

Lights Off

We ended the evening playing this addicting game:

This is the Pinterest pin below that led me to modifying this paper craft for our Fall Card Chicks Party - I love how they can be modified for any occasion or party!

Click HERE for the original pin. Click HERE to go directly to Qbee's Quest blog post for the instructions. Here is the set of purse instructions I made for the Card Chicks:

·        On medium weight 11 ½ x 3” DSP, score at 3”,  5 ¾” and 8 ½”

·        If making 4 purses at a time, start with 11 ½” x 12” scored as stated above along the 11 ½” length, then rotate 90 degrees and cut at every 3”

·        Cut in 5/8” from each side at the 5 ¾” score line

·        ON THE PRINT SIDE OF THE PAPER, place 2 medium/large glue dots or ½” sticky tape above and below on each 5/8” cut line

·        Add a piece of 5 ½” ribbon for the purse handle adhering each end at 2 opposite glue dots – angling the ribbon slightly towards the center

·        Fold RIGHT/PRINTED sides together at the 5 ¾” score line and pinch to secure that glue dots stick

·        At the edges furthest away from the fold, add 1/8” sticky tape along each side

·        In the center of each square closest to the center fold, add a glue dot or some sticky tape to hold the chocolate square

·        Adhere a chocolate approx. 1/8” above the score line

·        Lift up each flap to the top and adhere slightly above the 5 ¾” fold

·        Embellish as desired