PTI and Card Patterns: Enjoy

This week's Make It Monday challenge at Papertrey Ink was to make a stamped background without using a background stamp.  Since I wanted a lot of the background to show, I found a great sketch challenge at Card Patterns.

I wanted to use one of Papertrey's Flower Fusion sets because I wanted a field of subtle flowers in the background with one colored one popped up using the coordinating die cut. 

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I have to say that I adore Papertrey's colors.  The colors on this card are Dark Chocolate, Ripe Avocado and Terracotta Tile - three of my absolute favorites - along with a neutral that is fast becoming my go-to color.  Papertrey's Fine Linen is a nice change from my other favorite - Kraft.  It is "warmer" and has a nice glow to it.  Along with the fact that Papertrey's colors come in cardstock, buttons, multiple ribbons, felt, etc. it's a nice line of colors to include in a collection.  (They are having some trouble with coordinating inks - but I am sure they will solve it.)

Papertrey's stamps are a high-quality clear stamp which I absolutely love.  There is a huge difference in the quality of clear stamps - there are definitely some off-brands of stamps out there that give clear stamps a bad name. If you have had a bad experience with cheap clear stamps, try Papertrey stamps. With a few tips, you will not be able to tell the difference between their clear stamp and rubber stamps. I gave a few tips on this post and my favorite all-time CAS stamper, Susan Rahaila, did a great post recently with all kinds of great tips.  She was really speaking to solid images, but she has lots of tips for clear stamps.  She also has a tab of her favorite products which give you good information on finding quality clear stamps.

She does mention the differences in ink on clear stamps.  I find that the ink is less important than the paper (which she mentions later).  Our church card ministry makes hundreds of cards so I buy Neenah Classic Crest by the ream.  It's great for coloring with Copics and it's sturdy enough to use for the insides of the card.  But...when I am going to stamp a solid image - I always bring out Papertrey's Stamper's Select cardstock or Stampin' Up's Whisper White.  Those papers are amazingly better at giving you good solid images.

Also, a clear stamp can lose its ability to stick because of oils from your fingers, dust, and in my case, cat fur, that accumulates on the stamp.  The best way to get it to stick again is to use dishsoap - just dip it in some soapy water and rub lightly.  In some ways this seems counter intertuitive, like you would wash away some special "stickiness" - but it does work!!

• Stamps: Papertrey Flower Fusion #6, Tags for Spring
• Paper: Papertrey Fine Linen, Ripe Avocado, Dark Chocolate
• Ink: Versamark Champagne Dazzle, Papertrey Ripe Avocado, inks to match Terracotta Tile (Tim Holtz Distress Fired Brick) and Fine Linen (Tim Holtz Distress Antique Linen)
• Accessories: Papertrey Terracotta Ribbon, Flower Fusion #6 die, Martha Stewart border punch, misc gems colored with copics to match Dark Chocolate