Essentials by Ellen April Mix-up Challenge

April 18, 2016

Essentials by Ellen April Mix It Up Challenge: Taylored Expressions

Hello everyone and happy Thursday!!!!  Laurel Beard here today bringing you our April Mix it Up Challenge!! I LOVE these challenges and am always exited to see what the month brings and this month, we are mixing it up with… Drumroll…Taylored Expressions!

 

Stamps:  Essentials by Ellen Totally Awesome and All Inside.  In the Park by Taylored Expressions.

Watercolors:

Background- Gansai Tambi

Bear- Zig Clean Color

Everything else- Inktense Watercolor pencils by Derwent

 

 

Essentials by Ellen February Mix It Up Challenge

Hello everyone and happy Thursday!!!!  Laurel Beard here today bringing you our February Mix it Up Challenge!! WOOT WOOT!!!  I LOVE these challenges and am always exited to see what the month brings and this month, we are mixing it up with… Drumroll… PENNY BLACK!!

Before I get on to the challenge and the amazing project inspiration,  let’s first congratulate the randomly selected participant from our last Pin-Sights Challenge. Remember, YOU could win a $50 gift certificate to the Ellen Hutson store just by playing along.

And our randomly selected participant (courtesy of random.org) is: Catherine Bowen! Congratulations! Please email me at laurelbeard at me dot com to claim your prize!

A friendly recap:  The Mix it Up Challenge is a challenge where we invite one manufacturer to contribute a design that combines Essentials by Ellen stamps/dies with their product to inspire our readers!

 

 

 

My Card:

 

 

Enter a caption

Stamps:  Penny Black, Essentials by Ellen

Watercolors:  Zig Markers

Die: Memory Box

From the same stamp set:

 

 

Love Die:  Essentials by Ellen cut from black fun foam

 

Papertrey Ink 9th Anniversary Challenge- Clothing item

In honor of Betsy’s new Dress Up Dolls, go through your closet or explore a favorite clothing store online and select a piece of clothing or outfit to use as inspiration for a project.  Whether you select something simple or a bit more complex, this is sure to be a fun one!  Be sure to share a photo of your inspiration somewhere in your blog post too!

1. Create a new project that is inspired by a piece of clothing/outfit from your closet or online clothing retailer.

2. Your project must use at least one Papertrey product.  

3. Upload a photo of your project to your blog, online gallery or any other photo-hosting site (such as photobucket or flickr).

4. Add the direct link to your project on our InLinkz list below.

5. ONLY ONE ENTRY PER PERSON PLEASE!

6.  And/or you can leave a comment here to be eligible to win.  What do you think of today’s fun product introductions?  Can you see yourself using items from the Dress Up Dolls line-up?  Will you be collecting them all?  (Just click the small “comments” link  beside the date in the footer of this post.  If you are reading this as an email subscription, be sure to click through to the actual blog to leave an eligible comment)

7. You have until 7am ET, Monday, February 15th to add your project link or comment and qualify for the contest.

8. NiNE randomly selected winners will be announced on our February Release Winners page no later than 5pm ET, February 15th.

NINE randomly selected winners will each receive an $90 Papertrey gift certificate to spend however they choose! Thank you for joining us today and best of luck with the contest!

My inspiration is the dress below with the herringbone insert:

 

Stamp/Die: PTI  Happy Birthday Brush Stroke,  Stars

PTI Anniversary Challenge- First Day

 

CLICK HERE to Download Feb16 DT Favorites Inspiration Cards

Each of the DT members have shared their favorite color schemes above!  Now’s your chance to make a project using this inspiration as well as an opportunity to leave some love for the best team in the business!

1. Create a new project that uses one of the Color Recipe Cards from the options above.

2. Your project must use at least one Papertrey product.

3. Upload a photo of your project to your blog, online gallery or any other photo-hosting site (such as photobucket or flickr).

4. Add the direct link to your project on our InLinkz list below.

5. ONLY ONE PROJECT PER PERSON PLEASE.

6.  And/or you can leave a comment here to be eligible to win.  Leave a “thank you” for the amazing design team members and all of the inspiration they have provided you this past year!  Only one comment per person please. (Just click the small “comments” link beside the date in the footer of this post.  If you are reading this as an email subscription, be sure to click through to the actual blog to leave an eligible comment)

7. You have until 7am EST, Monday, February 15th to add your project link or comment and qualify for the contest.

8. The lucky winner will be announced on our February Release Winner page no later than 5pm EST, February 15th.

One lucky winner will receive their Papertrey wish list for FREE (up to a $300 value)!  Be sure to create a special wish list within your account on our website labeled “2016 PTI Wishlist“.  If you are randomly selected as a winner, you will be sent the first $300 worth of items on that list!!!  We encourage customers to include more than $300 worth of items on their anniversary wish list because if a particular item is out of stock on the morning of February 15th when the winner is selected, we will replace it with the next item on the list.  Best of luck with the contest!

 

Die:  PTI Mighty Bloom Coverplate

Ink:  PTI Hawaiian Shores, Aqua MIst,  Mint Julep

Paper:  PTI

Stamps:  PTI Choose Joy

Wink of Stella Pen

PTI 9th Anniversary Challenge-

I hope you have enjoyed all these amazing creations that both the team and I have shared with you today!    Keep reading for today’s contest!

Since we introduced the return of the Grab Bag today, we thought it would be fun to do a “Grab & Craft” challenge!  So, set a timer for 5 minutes and *grab* supplies for your project. Don’t think about it too much, just grab what inspires you!  But don’t grab too much!  You need to utilize everything you grab to create a project!

1. Create a new project that is created with supplies you grab and gather together in 5 minutes.  Your project must utilize everything you grab!

2. Your project must use at least one Papertrey product.  

3. Upload a photo of your project to your blog, online gallery or any other photo-hosting site (such as photobucket or flickr).

4. Add the direct link to your project on our InLinkz list below.

5. ONLY ONE ENTRY PER PERSON PLEASE!

6.  And/or you can leave a comment here to be eligible to win.  What do you think of today’s fun product introductions? Are you as in love with these darling buildings as we are?  Will you be using these houses to create a little home decor scene, or do you plan on putting them to use as gift packaging?  (Just click the small “comments” link  beside the date in the footer of this post.  If you are reading this as an email subscription, be sure to click through to the actual blog to leave an eligible comment)

7. You have until 7am ET, Monday, February 15th to add your project link or comment and qualify for the contest.

8. NINE randomly selected winners will be announced on our February Release Winners page no later than 5pm ET, February 15th.

Stamps:  PTI Petite Places : Home & Garden, Choose Joy

Dies:  PTI Petite Places:  Home & Garden

Ink:  Ocean Tides, Aqua Mist,  Hawaiian ShoresCard

Pre-Printed Card:  PTI

Black Micro Pen

 

 

PTI 9th Anniversary Challenge-2/9/16

In honor of our 9th Anniversary, you are challenged to cut nine 1-1/2” squares from white cardstock, then alter all nine of the squares using a variety of techniques, colors, stamps, etc. Be sure to do something different to each square!  Cut lots of extra squares so you can experiment and have fun!  If you are running short on ideas you can always go through the Make It Monday archives.  Once you have completed them, adhere the nine squares to a 5-1/2” x 5-1/2” square card front and share their masterpiece on our InLinkz list below!

1. Create a new card that features nine 1-1/2″ squares, each altered in a different way.  Mount them all onto a 5-1/2″ x 5-1/2″ square card base.

2. Your project must use at least one Papertrey product.  

3. Upload a photo of your project to your blog, online gallery or any other photo-hosting site (such as photobucket or flickr).

4. Add the direct link to your project on our InLinkz list below.

5. ONLY ONE ENTRY PER PERSON PLEASE!

6.  And/or you can leave a comment here to be eligible to win.  What do you think of today’s fun product introductions? How are you liking the new coloring sheets and watercolor sheets we’ve started releasing?  Will you be purchasing the Bright Buttercup collection?  Is the Inspired series calling your name?  And how about the new stencils?  Have you used stencils before?  Do you have a favorite product announcement from today’s line-up? (Just click the small “comments” link  beside the date in the footer of this post.  If you are reading this as an email subscription, be sure to click through to the actual blog to leave an eligible comment)

7. You have until 7am ET, Monday, February 15th to add your project link or comment and qualify for the contest.

8. NINE randomly selected winners will be announced on our February Release Winners page no later than 5pm ET, February 15th.

Stamps:   PTI Twig Wreath

Ink:  PTI Scarlet Jewel, Ripe Avocado, Canyon Clay, Simply Chartreuse

Cardstock:  PTI Scarlet Jewel, Ripe Avocado, Canyon Clay

Embossing folder:  Sizzix

Others:  Translucent embossing paste, White embossing powder-Hero Arts, Zig Watercolors

 

 

 

 

Papertrey Ink January 2016 Blog Hop

JANUARY 2016 BLOG HOP

Today we are excited to present the BIG monthly Blog Hop that Papertrey Ink hosts for all of its talented customers to show off their skills! The Blog Hop is an ALL DAY EVENT!  An Inlinkz list is posted below and you can add your link anytime up until 11:30pm ET.  And don’t worry if you didn’t get a chance to make a project and play along, there is a contest for non-participants as well over in our forum in the designated thread. I look forward to seeing all of your creativity!

A day dedicated to seeking inspiration through projects utilizing Papertrey Ink products.   This event allows all of our customers who enjoy sharing inspiration & artwork with their peers do so through their personal blogs.

Today, 10am EST until 11:30pm EST.

photo source: Rex Ray

I recently ran across the amazing collage artist Rex Ray and his colorful works.  His use of shape and painted textures were especially inspiring to me.  If you have a moment, definitely google him and take a look at his extensive portfolio.  This particular piece seemed perfect for blog hop inspiration.  With a bold, unique color scheme and a unique arrangement of basic shapes, there is a lot you can take away from this!  Substitute other images or shapes for the ovals and rounded squares.  Use your own interpretation of the colors to create a masterpiece!

I owe my design to the wonderful Laura Bassam:

SSS-You Have My Heart Blog Hop

 

My response is:

 

 

My supplies:

• PTI Happy Hexagons :  Stamps, Cover plate
• PTI Inks and Cardstock:  Spring Rain, Blueberry, Enchanted Evening
• Hero Arts Woodgrain Rubber stamp background and paper from my stash, Versa Color Brown pigment ink (perfect color!)
• PTI Think Big Favorite Stamps (Sentiment) + Hero Arts White Embossing Powder
• SSS – U

I put this together a little different from Laura’s technique (which is definitely the smarter way to go).  I was too lazy to fetch the Press n’ Seal and thought I could put the hexagons in the cover plate and flip it  — Bad idea because my fingers kept sticking to the foam squares.  So I took one of the outlines from the cover plate die and added some light adhesive.  I stuck it to the card from and used it as a template to place the hexagons.  It worked out just fine but I think I was lucky I could remove the template.

I am not sure how I feel about the smiley face — that may go.

 

Ellen Huston Mix-Up Challenge Nov. 17, 2015- Mama Elephant

Stamps:  Mama Elephant Alpine Carolers, Essentials by Ellen Christmas Scribbles

 

Essentials by Ellen November Pin Site Challenge

Essentials by Ellen October Pin-Sights Challenge

The Pin-Sights Challenge is an inspiration challenge based on a Pinterest inspired piece to spark your imagination and creativity that will be held on the 3rd Thursday of every month!

Are you ready for today’s inspiration piece??? It’s sure to get you in the “fall” mood!

My take on the challenge:

Stamps:  Essentials by Ellen Bold Blooms, Hero Arts Envelope Pattern Background stamp

I used the “KISS” technique with the HA stamp — I added ink to the background stamp and kissed the flower stamp with the background to pick up the pattern and ink before stamping it on the paper.

Paper:  Neenah Desert sand, Bazzil brown

Ink:  Memento Rhubarb, Dandelion, Tangelo. PaperTrey Ink Canyon clay.  Simon Says Stamp Khaki, Coral Reef and Sparrow.

Oval Die:  SSS

Embossing Powder:  Ranger Copper

SSS Wednesday Challenge – October 14, 2015 CAS Christmas card _ Memory box

This challenge was for a CAS holiday card with Memory Box products.

I painted the background with Zig Clean Color green pens on Tim Holtz watercolor paper.

Tree:  Memory Box Snowflake tree.  The tree is cut from Silhouette gold foil that is adhesive backed.

Sentiment:  Old stamp from my stash.  Stamped with VersaMark and embossed with SSS Gold powder.

Sequins:  Pretty Pink Posh