{capture the moment}

Senior DT Challenge: First Fruits Revisited

For this months Senior Design Team challenge, I had the gals get inky with an old favorite from the Papertrey collection, First Fruits.

Back when First Fruits was released in 2008, I instantly fell in love with the classically designed concepts that Becky Oehlers had contributed to the set and the way I was able to execute her vision.  The basic decorative shapes can be used for SO many other things than the obvious, making it something you can turn to again and again.

I thought I would revisit one of my favorite projects from the original countdown of this set.  It used the elegant two-step pineapple image as well as the bold background border stamp.

I called this the clip & curl technique, where you make small slits with a craft knife and curl each section upward, just slightly.  It is a great way to add drama and detail to these pineapples!

Now, get even more inspiration from the rest of the gals!

CLICK HERE to read more from Betsy Veldman.

CLICK HERE to read more from Dawn McVey.

CLICK HERE to read more from Heather Nichols.

CLICK HERE to read more from Lisa Johnson.

CLICK HERE to read more from Michelle Wooderson.

I hope you enjoyed all of today's projects as much as I did!  Thank you for stopping by today, and happy stamping!

October 2010 Blog Hop

First of all, I want to welcome everyone to the October 2010 Papertrey Ink Blog Hop!  It is so exciting to see so many of you here!

 

There is always a lot of focus on Christmas in our industry this time of year, as that is what the majority of the population celebrates.  However, this month's blog hop is dedicated to those that celebrate winter holidays other than Christmas.  Create a project that celebrates Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or some other winter holiday as we embrace everyone's beliefs in a celebration of diversity through paper crafting.

First, I have a few projects to share with you to get you warmed up!  I have a few dear friends who are Jewish that I never seem to get a card out to during the holiday season, so I thought I would take this opportunity to create a few and get ahead of the game!

My first project showcases the menorah, one of the classic Hanukah symbols from our Jewish themed set, Mazel Tov.

I stamped the menorah on a piece of white cardstock that was cut out using the Tag Sale #2 die.  The menorah was colored in with Copic markers.  I used small smudges of Lemon Tart ink using a qtip for application, to help give a soft glow to the candle flames.  The sentiment strip is created with Spring Rain cardstock and is stamped with a background from Background Basics: Retro using Versamark ink.  The sentiment was then stamped with black ink.

I wanted to pick up just a bit of the yellow from the candle flames, so I added stripes to some Fresh Snow satin ribbon using Copic markers.

I love how this turned out and will definitely be using this layout again soon!

My best friend, Wendy, is a very clan & simple gal, so this card is for her.

I stamped this patterned circle from Mazel Tov onto Ocean Tides cardstock using Versamark ink.  I then punched it out using a 1-1/2" circle punch.  

I adhered a background that was impressed with our Background Basics: Circles impression plate to my card cover.  I love doing multi layers in white like this.  So fresh and crisp.

I adhered a vellum strip across the entire card front that was stamped with my sentiment of choice.  I added four Ocean Tides buttons with glue dots to help add balance.

Now it's time for us to see your projects!

I have included a Mister Linky list below for you to add your link to your blog hop project.  You have until 11:00pm EST tonight (October 25th) to add your link to this list.  THREE random participants will be selected to win a FREE Papertrey Ink stamp set of their choice.  They will be announced and highlighted here, on my blog, by midnight.  We look forward to seeing all of your creations!

EDITED TO ADD THE RANDOMLY SELECTED WINNERS!

I love this project by Tessan that embraced Advent as celebrated in Sweden.  I thought the use of Framed to enclose her candles was so clever and work with any type of images for any holiday preference.

Traveling Mama created this delightful tag & card combo, perfect for sending warmest wishes for any occasion.  And really, who can resist a woodgrain-patterned mug?

Lizzie Jones cleverly created a sophisticated menorah from birthday candle images and portions of other stamps.  I love the polished color scheme and the special touch of rhinestones as the candle flames. 

Congratulations to all of the winners!  You have 30 days to contact customer service with your shipping information and your selected free stamp set!  Thank you to EVERYONE for participating!  And happy holidays to ALL!!!

Menorah Card

• STAMPS: Mazel Tov, Background Basics: Retro
• INK: Versamark, Black Noir, Lemon Taet (with qtip for candle flames)
• PAPER: Stamper's Select White, Blueberry Sky, Spring Rain, Classic Kraft
• OTHER: Fresh Snow satin ribbon, Rustic Jute Button Twine, Tag Sale #2 die, Copic Markers (Y35, B45, T1)
• FINISHED SIZE: 4.25" x 5.5"

Simple Chanukah Card

• STAMPS: Mazel Tov
• INK: Versamark, True Black
• PAPER: Stamper's Select White, Ocean Tides, Vellum Cardstock
• OTHER: 1-1/2" circle punch, Ocean Tides buttons, Background Basics: Circles impression plate
• FINISHED SIZE: 4.25" x 5.5"

 

October Blog Hop Tomorrow!

Tomorrow we are excited to present the BIG monthly Blog Hop that Papertrey Ink hosts for all of it's talented customers to show off their skills! We are doing things a bit different again this month and going forward.

The Blog Hop will now be an ALL DAY EVENT!  A Mister Linky list will be posted here on my blog at 10am EST and you can add your link anytime up until 11pm EST.  And don't worry if you aren't going to get a chance to make a project and play along, there will be a contest for non-participants as well over in our forum in the designated thread. I hope that I will see many of your familiar faces over here tomorrow! I look forward to seeing all of your creativity!

All of our customers who enjoy sharing inspiration & artwork with their peers through their personal blogs.

 

 

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The actual Blog Hop will take place tomorrow, October 25th, beginning @ 10am EST. 

 

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You will explore individual blogs through a thread here, on my blog, beginning at 10am EST tomorrow. 

 

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 A day dedicated to seeking inspiration through projects utilizing Papertrey Ink products. 

 

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There is always a lot of focus on Christmas in our industry this time of year, as that is what the majority of the population celebrates.  However, this month's blog hop is dedicated to those that celebrate winter holidays other than Christmas.  Create a project that celebrates Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or some other winter holiday as we embrace everyone's beliefs in a celebration of diversity through paper crafting.

 
 -Participating bloggers can add their link to the appropriate list here anytime between 10am EST and 11pm EST on October 25th within the Mister Linky list that will be posted.. The title of your post should be "Papertrey October Blog Hop Challenge".

-Customers & participants alike can peruse all of the links and absorb all of the amazing inspiration that will be shared!

-After you have made your way through the list, simply return to our forum and participate in all of the fun!

-You can chit chat with everyone in the Blog Hop forum! Take this time to praise your peers efforts, discuss anything new you might have learned and which projects really offered something unique!

-The three random blogger participant winners will be announced at midnight EST on our forum and highlighted here on my blog!

-You can enter our Blog Hop Forum contest. There will be a special thread posted in our forum specifically for this purpose asking a question. Please only post once, as the winner will be picked via the Random Number Generator. The forum contest will end at midnight EST and the winner announced tomorrow morning in the thread.

-Create a project while you are here, using the new inspiration you have gathered from the Blog Hop. You can post your projects in the gallery, even if you do not have a blog! We are looking forward to all the fun tomorrow and we hope to see you there!

 

The morning after...

As tradition holds, I always enjoy browsing through the Design Team gallery the morning after the release to see all of their new creations for the first time.  I have assembled some of my very favorites to share with you today!  Enjoy!

Betsy Veldman cleverly used sparkly pompoms as snowballs in her Friendship Jar Holiday Fillers project.  I also love the blue & purple color combination!  So fresh and fun!

Dawn McVey combined one of the new Vintage Ornaments dies (and the Vintage Ornaments stamp set of course!), and Holly Jolly to create this fabulous card.  I love how she paired the holly leaves with the button trio as a layer on op of the ornament.  So pretty!

Debbie Olson blew me away with her coloring skills on this Year of Flowers: Marigolds card.  It looks SO realistic!  And I can't get past how great her clear card base works with this project too!  I just adore everything about this!

Erin Lincoln made a pretty pair of ice skates look right at home dangling from the top of this fabulous On Ice card.  If you look closely, you can see the Fancy Flourishes & snowflakes behind the skates.  I just love this layout and design so much!

Heather Nichols wowed me with her use of Holly Jolly, Merry Little Christmas and Big & Bold Holiday Wishes.  The little birds sitting on top of the large-scaled word is just an incredible detail!  I will definitely have to try to recreate this myself!

Kim Hughes created an AMAZING patterned border along the side of her card using the tree from Merry Little Christmas.  I never would have thought of this myself and I just love the look of it!

Lisa Johnson's bold Year of Flowers: Marigolds project has such a unique color scheme and I just love the layout!  The small detail of the twine ties to the end of the Eyelet Lace border is a fabulous finishing detail!

Maile Belles created something really special by pairing Background Basics: Text Style, Framed and the new Year of Flowers: Marigolds.  The button addition to the Framed image is just perfect!

Melissa Phillips created this adorable Holiday Sparkle project using some of the new Limitless LAyers dies. Her combination of Christmas Prints paper is fabulous as well!

Michelle Wooderson wowed me with this On Ice project that she created.  I love all the buttons lined up long the rickrack!  And the chunky glitter and jingle bell...need I say more!  Just love it!

Niki Estes' Big & Bold Holiday Wishes card was able to utilize one of the beautiful sentiments and frame from Mini Scrapbook Series: Journaling Circle.  I also love the way she used the negative "leftover" pieces from the Victorian Lave Border die along the edge of her card!

One last note today!  We are starting a new series at Papertrey, just in time to help you with the holidays and into the future, throughout the entire year!

A newfound interest in creating heartfelt, handmade gifts has developed amongst crafters of all levels. We at Papertrey Ink, with help from the talented Michelle Wooderson, are developing this one-stop resource for your inspiration.  Not only will the projects shared here be quick & easy to create, but they will also be inexpensive so you can stretch your dollar even further, essentially allowing you to make and save.  We look forward to adding to this resource often and building a plethora of projects to choose from year-round.  

Michelle Wooderson will be doing random, unscheduled blog posts throughout each month, focusing on quick & easy gifts for the Make & Save series.  These projects & blog links will be updated on our website HERE, complete with a supply list & instructions.  And the best part?  You will be able to add the supplies directly into your cart from this page, making it easy to shop for upcoming occasions!

Michelle has updated with her first project for the series, Candy Cane Christmas.  You can read her blog post HERE and access the project page on the website HERE.  

The link to the Make & Save page is built right into the front page graphic this month, so you can access it anytime you like to see if there are updates.

Thank you to everyone for another fabulous month here at Papertrey!  We appreciate all of you SO much!  Have a wonderful weekend everybody!

Official October Release Party Contest

I am absolutely smitten with all of this month's new releases and I can tell by the excitement that some of you have shared with me that you are too!  A big thank you to each and every one of you who have joined us tonight during release festivities!  

To celebrate the upcoming holiday season and our amazing October release line-up we are giving away a fabulous prize package tonight!  Practically the entire October release,which has a $275 value!!!  All you need to do to have your chance to win is post an answer to the following question in the comments section below.

Congratulations, Margaret!  Please be sure to email customer service with your shipping information so we can get this prize out to you!  And thank you to everyone who played along.  I loved reading through some of your answers!  Have a wonderful night!