Papertrey Ink August Blog Hop

 Hello, welcome!  Today is the Papertrey Ink August Blog Hop and I'm excited that this month I actually have time to play along.  I was so inspired by this month's inspiration photo (see below) and the colors and textures that I created three different cards.

For my first card, I used the Bibliophile stamp set and coordinating dies (this set is fantastic) along with the Fancy Tea Cup die to create a birthday card for one of the ladies in my book club.  Anyone who knows me, knows that I love reading.  If I don't have a book that I'm reading I feel lost.  I carry a book with me everywhere I go, I mostly read at night (sometimes very late into the night/morning) but if I'm really drawn into a book I will read while cooking dinner, waiting in line at a store or waiting to pick up one of my kids.  People have asked me how I find the time to read so much and my answer is simple, I watch very little television and I make time to read because it's something that brings me joy.  Yes I had to add the little tea label with string because there's nothing better than curling up with a good book and a cup of tea especially on a cold or rainy day.

For my next card, I used the stamp sets Noted along with the coordinating Hello die and the set Ombre Builders.  The one stamp within the Ombre Builders set made me think of the strands of wool in bright colors from the inspiration photo.  I used that stamp and stamped it twice for each color, then trimmed down what I stamped, adhered it to the front of a white card base and added my die cut Hellos and a few sequins in the matching colors and stamped my sentiment.

For my final card, I created a birthday card inspired not only from the inspiration photo for the hop but from Betsy's Make-it-Monday #222: Die Cut Kissing.  Click on the link and be sure to watch Betsy's video because it's a fun technique where stamping and die cuts come together to create something unique. I used the stamp sets Beautiful Butterflies and Think Big Favorites #13 along with the Filigree Border Die to "Kiss" my inked up butterfly stamp to (Butterfly Kisses, lol).

That's it from me, thanks for stopping by and enjoy the hop!