Papertrey Ink Blog Hop

The theme for this month’s Papertrey Ink blog hop is tips. I scan a lot of blogs through my reader every day, making notes in a little notebook of color combinations that catch my eye, layouts I like, and other things I’d like to try in my own crafting. Unfortunately, I’m not always too good at noting where all of that inspiration comes from . . .

So, with that in mind, I can’t share the originator of this little tip, but it’s one I’ve used for a while now to make it easier to make those fun little flag-ended accents for cards. I love to use them for sentiment panels, as I did on the card I’ll share later on in my post.

Here’s the tip: Use your square punch to make a notch in the end of a strip of cardstock. Inserting the strip into the punch at the corner on an angle and pressing down will take out a triangle-shaped piece. Much easier—and more even—than if you did it with scissors.

Here’s my example on a card. I made this sympathy card for my co-workers to sign and give to a colleague who recently suffered a loss in her family. I used soft pastel colors and images from Turning a New Leaf and Beautiful Blooms II to create the floral panel. The center of each flower is dotted with some matching Liquid Pearls for a little shine and dimension. One of the sentiments from Through the Trees is stamped on my sentiment flag and accented with a button that’s tied with a scrap of pink grosgrain ribbon.

Materials Used:
Turning a New Leaf, Beautiful Bloooms II, and Through the Trees stamp sets, Sweet Blush and Ripe Avocado inks, Sweet Blush, Ripe Avocado, and Spring Moss cardstock, button (Papertrey Ink); pink grosgrain ribbon (Stampin’ Up!); square punch (EK Success); Pink Petal Liquid Pearls (Ranger)