confetti by lexi

new stamps tonight!

thanks for joining me this week as we counted down the days to the papertrey ink march release! ink it in, ink it in: quoted, ink it in: notebook and the coordinating dies for all three will be available tonight along with the rest of the new product showcased this month. here's a look at the complete sets...

to see the rest of the release product images, head over to the papertrey ink blog now. to buy, head to papertreyink.com at 10:00 pm eastern time tonight. it's always so fun to share my projects with you. i can't wait to see what you guys do with them next!

happy shopping!
:) lexi

 

hello rainbow!

hello! we've made it to day five of the papertrey ink march countdown to new stamps! today, i have another card featuring product from my new ink it in collection. in addition to the die that cuts the ink it in: notebook stamp, i included a second notepad die in the die set that cuts a slightly smaller piece of notepad paper with cut coils rather than stamped ones. it's kind of a bonus die inside of the one that matches the stamp.

since it fits inside of that one, you can still use the stamp to add lines to it as well - the "stacked" edges and coils are just outside of the smaller die, so you simply get the lines. i thought it would be fun to create a rainbow of notepaper pages, so i die cut lighter shades of the rainbow and stamped each of them with lines in a coordinating bright.

i fanned my rainbow pages across the bottom of my card, staggered slightly for interest, to fill the space. and then i realized that the extra pen i cut from my glazed distress oxide paper the other day coordinated perfectly. matching rainbow desk supplies? yes, please!

i tilted the pen across the pages with the color spectrums going in the same direction. this left the perfect corner space on the pink notepaper to stamp a quick hello and doodle arrow, both in smokey shadow as though they had been written by the pen. you really could put just about any sentiment on a card like this or maybe add more doodles. i'll have to play with a few variations when i have more time!

colorful and happy, the final card is sure to brighten someone's day! and that's a wrap on the countdown for me. all new product will be available to purchase tomorrow night, march 15th, 10:00 pm eastern. don't forget to check today's links on the papertrey ink blog - and of course, the full reveal tomorrow! what's on your list so far?

one more sleep!
:) lexi

 

all new product, including ink it in + ink it in dies + ink it in: notebook + ink it in: notebook dies, will be available for purchase on march 15th!

one child, one teacher, one book + one pen

good morning! it's day four of the papertrey ink countdown to new stamps and i have another card to share, this time focusing on ink it in: quoted. because the words and images are all separate, the quote can be spaced out in different ways to fit different shapes and sizes, with or without the images in the set. this is great for getting different looks. versatility at its best!

i thought it would be fun to build the quote within betsy's shape shifter's: oval 1 and pair it with a globe from lizzie's glorious globes: march, both coming out this month. i decided to use only the words with a couple of simple well-placed star pairs for a cleaner, more sophisticated look. for ease in stamping, i placed the stamps out on the oval and picked them up with my misti mini - one impression for a perfectly placed sentiment.

there are two "world" stamps in the set, a supersized one with the earth as the o, and another to match the rest of the printed words. this simpler version makes it perfect to pair with a globe which i diecut, stamped and popped up on foam tape. i also added a little gold wink of stella over the honey nut stamped stand for a little shimmer and shine. i just love the little globes! i chose this one in particular because it says, "you make the world a better place," which complements the malala quote so well! 

i love how this design turned out - the quote really is the star here! and it's such a good quote. the supporting details are just right, too! thanks for stopping by again today. we have one more day to go, so come back by tomorrow for another card. meanwhile, check out the scoop and links on the papertrey ink blog - gotta start making your list...

happy hump day!
:) lexi

 

all new product, including ink it in: quoted + shape shifters: oval + glorious globes: march, will be available for purchase on march 15th!

never erased!

happy monday! and welcome to day three of the papertrey ink countdown to new stamps! today i have another pen card - this time focusing on the pen dies rather than the pen pattern stamps, along with a look at an inspirational quote included in the main ink it in set.

the influence of a good teacher can never be erased. so true and so perfect to pair with an ink pen. because the dies have the same detail as the stamps, they can also be used to build a pen with patterned papers. so instead of stamping the pens this time, i wanted to create a pretty paper following a technique that caught my eye on jennifer mcguire's youtube channel: glazed distress oxide. as soon as i saw it, i knew i had to use it to create a few pens. 

it's basically a watercolor technique with the distress oxide ink pads on glossy card stock, and then glazed to make it shiny. the more you layer the colors, the better the depth - you just have to make sure it's dry between layers. of course, i went with a rainbow design - such a departure for me, right?! - and i love the results. i cut the top of the pen from the red-orange-yellow half of the paper, and the barrel out of the green-blue-purple half. before adhering the pieces together, i colored the clip with a gold wink of stella pen, and the portion just above the nib with soft stone ink and a water brush.

to tie everything together, i added some coordinating papertrey ink colors to the sentiment with one of the doodle images i included for just that purpose. it's kind of a sketch rectangle doodle. and while it can be used on its own doodled straight out of a pen, my first thought when i created it was to use it to "highlight" words, like the prominent ones here. i didn't imagine this perfect rainbow pen when i drew it, but it all came together as though i had! the size is perfect for a few words in the set, but for those that are too short or too long, i simply masked the end of the word to make it fit, with two impressions for a longer word or word pair.



here's one more angle of the pen - it was hard to capture the shine in the photo, but i think you can get the idea from this shot the best. the final part of the glaze distress oxide process is adding a distress micro glaze to bring out the shine - the overall effect is so cool and reminiscent of a real specialty pen. all that shiny color makes me so happy - i think i need this pen in real life!!

although very clean and graphic, with lots of white space, the final card has plenty of interest and even a nice bit of texture. i'm always happy with a lot of white space, but this one is balanced with so much color too - the best of both worlds! i could keep making pens for days and i'll probably do that at some point, but i have an ink it in: quoted card for tomorrow - be sure to come back and check it out. until then enjoy today's links on the papertrey ink blog - as always the design team is knocking it out of the park!

thanks for stopping by!
:) lexi

 

all new product, including ink it in + ink it in dies, will be available for purchase on march 15th!

ink it in blue!

hello! welcome back for day two of the papertrey ink march countdown to new stamps, available on the 15th at 10 pm eastern time. today, i have a card featuring the ink it in pen in another fun pattern mix. also a throwback to my very first make it monday, white on white with a pop of color. i created a similar pencil card when pencil me in was introduced and of course i had to do it with the pen too!

layered detail die cuts are the trick for this card design. the extra layers on the pen add interest and texture and help the white pens look just as much like pens as the pop of color one. for that color pop, i decided on a complementary color pairing of blueberry sky and orange zest, with blueberry sky in the grid line pattern for the pen top...

and orange zest in the pinstripe pattern for the lower barrel. a neutral soft stone on the clip and just above the nib finish the pen off perfectly. i continued the blue and orange color scheme and gave the pen blue ink, stamping my sentiment in blueberry sky as well to make it look like the pen wrote it. i chose two fonts for the sentiments in the set - a script and a print - both with a kind of a handwritten look to coordinate with the pen. from pen barrel patterns to fonts, i love a good mix!

in addition to the pop of color, the color pop pen is also popped up on foam tape so that it really stands up and out. the completed pen consists of three layers of die cuts - the base pen layer, one barrel layer and two pen top layers. this means that the clip and nib are a single layer, the barrel is two and the pen top is three, giving the pen a bit of a 3d look, especially on top of the foam tape. the pen also points right to the sentiment, which because of the dots then leads you to the inside: ink it in...

you're the best! it's fun to have a complete card inside and out. in addition to the dots and swash that i used to accent my sentiment here, there are a few other decorative doodles in the set that can be used in the same way. or they can also be "doodled" right out of a pen! little details can add so much and i'm always amazed to see them used in ways i didn't imagine!

it was really fun to visit this old favorite design layout. i love a good pop of color in a textured field of white! i'm sure i'll revisit several pencil me in layouts now that i have a coordinating pen! i hope you like what you're seeing so far - it's so much fun to play with!! i've got another fun one lined up for tomorrow! until then, don't forget to check out all of today's links on the papertrey ink blog - so much eye candy!

see you tomorrow!
:) lexi

 

all new product, including ink it in + ink it in dies, will be available for purchase on march 15th!

ink it in!

good morning, it's that time again! welcome to the papertrey ink march countdown to new stamps and a first look at my new sets debuting on the 15th - ink it in, ink it in: quoted, and ink it in: notebook. ink pens to coordinate with the pencils in pencil me in? oh yes! i love office supplies and stamping them is even better! plus a fun quote building set and a notepad stamp too...

for today's project, i made a card showcasing all three sets together - perfectly coordinated! i just love this malala quote. "one child, one teacher, one book and one pen can change the world." it's such a powerful quote and a great way to say thank you to your favorite teacher, or to anyone involved in helping a school even. (gina, i'm thinking you can do a few cool post-it's for your encouragement board out of these words!!) 

the words and icons are all separate so that the quote can be built in different ways. i'm sharing my original vision here with the icons mixed in next to the word it coordinates with, but there are several possibilities - with or without the pictures, spread more widely across rather than down, shortened slightly with some words taken away, etc. i used copics to color the little icons, but you can also stamp them in color without coloring them in. there are a few more little pieces in the set as well.

of course, the quote set fits on the notepad stamp and coordinates perfectly with the pen in the main set, which i added off to the side popped up on foam tape for added dimension. like the pencils, you'll notice that there are few patterns to create fun pens! in addition to the foam tape treatment, i also layered the die cuts for the upper and lower parts of the pen onto the full die cut for depth as well, two for the top in fact. having the top raised ever so slightly above the bottom is a great realistic touch.

the end result is a super cute and colorful 4bar note card - i love working with this smaller size, especially when i have smaller images! but they work on standard cards too. i hope you like what you see so far. i'll be back with more tomorrow, but meanwhile be sure to check out all of the links on the papertrey ink blog - there's lots of ink it in inspiration to see today! i'm headed there, too...

happy saturday!
:) lexi

 

all new product, including ink it in + ink it in: quoted + ink it in: notebook + bitty big: mint julep, will be available for purchase on march 15th!

color me excited!

good morning! today marks the beginning of my new monthly guest post on the papertrey ink blog as color ambassador! whether I'm stamping solid designs or adding color to line images, i love color. ink pads, markers, paints, pencils - you name it, i probably have it. and if i don't, i'm likely to have it in two days, prime willing. from techniques and inspiration to coloring mediums, i look forward to sharing all kinds of color topics with you on the seventh of every month.

today, i'm continuing the color wheel conversation i started in my make it monday video this week, sharing ideas on how i use the color wheel when creating any colorful card.

using the same spectrum from my color wheel card as a starting point, i made color swaps where it made sense, added in extra shades of my focal color, and took away one color completely.

The end result is a card that both flows nicely and has points of interest that stand out.

looking back at the other two cards i've made recently with the same basic color spectrum, you can see that each has its own feel based on the balance and weight of the colors used, while still having a cohesive look.

head over to the papertrey ink blog to read the full post and tell me what you think. and please let me know if you have any color topic requests - i want to write what you want to read! until next time...

happy coloring!
:) lexi

 

stamp it!

make it monday :: color wheel cards

good morning! it's my turn for make it monday with papertrey ink this week (i'm on a roll!) and i'm sharing some ideas for making color wheel cards...

cards inspired by the color spectrum with primary and secondary colors (ish!), but not necessarily a rainbow. it's all about the idea and finding the hues and shades that speak to you!

for me, it was another excuse to stamp with flower power and all the spring colors - the earth laughs in flowers!

 i can see so many possibilities with this design idea. what will you create?

watch the video and then head over to the papertrey ink blog to play along...

happy monday!
:) lexi

 

 

throwback thursday: stacked sentiments

another day, another papertrey ink blog feature project! i was so excited to play with stacked sentiments for today's throwback thursday post, in which three team members take a look back at an older set. the style is so bold and graphic and whimsical - all things I love. the sentiments can really hold their own, but they also pair well with other sets, which is exactly what i decided to showcase. i literally stacked the word happy into the middle of a sunny patch of flower power. i thought the boldness of the sentiment would really stand out among a rainbow of flowers! 

the first thing i did was prepare the happy die cut - after stamping one, i stacked it on two more die cuts in addition to cutting one into the upper middle space of a white card front panel, leaving a hole for reference. then, using my misti mini so i could double stamp if needed, i stamped the flowers strategically around the opening. every now and then, i popped in the prepared die cut stack to see how it was shaping up. after stamping the larger flowers from flower power, i added in a tiny bloom and some greenery from stacked sentiments to fill in a few gaps. finally, i stamped the words to finish the sentiment right over the flowers, again with my die cut hole as a guide - oh happy day!

next, i trimmed the edges of the completed panel and attached it to my card base, creating an instant frame. the aqua mist also peeps through the center of the die cut, which helps the die cut stand out even more than if the card base had simply been white. at the last minute, i decided to add a single black die cut to my stack before adhering the last white die cut from the card front and dropped the stack right into the hole. the black layer is one of those fun little details that you see when you move the card around - a small hint of a line that repeats the black of the text and adds to the graphic pop. 

i just love how it turned out - rainbow(ish) colors, bold graphic black, white space. it's such a happy card, even if it wasn't spelling that out for us! now i want to repeat the design with each of the other words. wouldn't that make a pretty card set? wow, it's been a busy week - lots of projects for all these fab feature posts. i hope you've enjoyed the fun, too! Be sure to check out the original post on the papertrey ink blog - including links to heather and laurie!

happy thursday!
:) lexi

 

stamp it!