Polkadot Door Blog Hop!

Welcome to My Paper Tales! I am absolutely delighted to have been invited to be part of the Polkadot Door blog hop! Today's hop is all about celebrating their second anniversary ~ congratulations Rebecca & Sarah!!! You should be arriving here from DeeDee's blog. If not no worries; you can head over to the Polkadot Door at any time to start from the beginning. The designers have been given this beautiful inspiration photo to work with. Hopefully you'll be inspired to create something as well! I've put together a Mother's Day card and little sparkly gift.

When Rebecca sent this inspiration/color story board to me I was completely smitten with the buttons and felt. I knew they would be a big part of my design. I chose a sheet of paper from Webster's Pages: Lullaby Lane collection containing just about all of the colors! It even had a smidgen of the blue used on the little cakes and napkin ring in the photos. To this I layered felt flowers made from Papertrey Ink dies and an assortment of buttons. I found these splendid leaf buttons at Hobby Lobby and had to get just a few! I wanted to echo the picture frame assortment from the inspiration photo so I die cut (PTI) some shimmery brown paper. I added two layers of die cut banners (PTI) for my sentiment and topped this with a pretty floral focal and felt butterfly (PTI). When threading the button to adorn my butterfly I left the ends of the thread long to serve as it's antenna!

I store my buttons in little glass jam jars with raspberries on the lids (too sweet!). So I thought I would make a sparkly little pin cushion/button jar gift to accompany my card. This is a cut glass canning jar that I picked up at Hobby Lobby for a song. I used a scrap of fabric and cotton batting to create the cushion portion. Then I set about decorating the jar with layers of felt die cut borders, flowers and an assortment of buttons. And there you have it friends. Next up on the hop is the fabulous Rebecca; she's sure to have a simply fabulous creation to share!

Thanks for taking a peek into my little corner of the world today! ~Lisa

Polkadot Door Designs ~ A Banner Event!

Welcome to the November Polkadot Door Designs Inspirational Blog Hop!!! If you've come here from Debby's blog you're on track; if not you can head over to the Polkadot Door to start at the beginning...you don't want to miss a thing! This is my first time as a guest designer (yay!) and I wanted to mark this occasion as a "banner event" in my life. When I saw this scrumptious inspiration photo my eyes were immediately drawn to all of those pies...Mmmmm!

With Thanksgiving drawing near I decided to create a festive banner inspired by all of the pretty pies on the long harvest table. Wouldn't you like to be sitting at that table with a fork in both hands...HA!!! Thanksgiving is our holiday; we've hosted dinner at our house for more years than I can remember. It represents family to me; I am forever grateful for them.

The base of my banner represents the harvest table, I scored lines to mimic the planks. Next I added papers from Webster's Pages, My Mind's Eye and tags from K & Company. I used bottle caps as pie tins filled with polka dot and striped papers as berries and pie patterns.

The Martha Stewart lattice punch along the top of each panel reminded me of latticed topped fruit pies. I used several scalloped punches and dies to echo those pies and tarts. A splash of turquoise to reference the pottery that stood out to me. The brads reminded me of tiny juicy berries and a couple of buttons had a pie-like pattern to them.

I drew and cut my pitcher from cardstock adding ink and chalk to give it the pewter look then filled it with bits of silk & metal herbs.

Tim Holtz typewriter keys spelling out family, a few more herbs and teeny tiny metal leaves pull my banner together! 

Your next stop is Aki and she's got something wonderful to share! Be sure to visit all of the blogs (the full list is below) and comment along the way (there's a prize to be had for doing so!). When you're finished hop back to the Polkadot Door and leave a comment voting for your favorite designer's project (we have a chance to win a prize!). After that make a dash to your craft room to whip up your own spectacular creation then link it up for your chance at an awesome prize too! You can find all of the info at the Polkadot Door Designs blog. Can't wait to see what you come up with. Thanks so much for being a part of this with me ~Lisa

Design Team: Lindsay, DeeDee, Amanda, Debby, Lisa (that's me!), Aki, Nicole, Smitha, Joanne, Diana, Erin, Ujjwal, Nita

Our November sponsors:

My Exciting News!!!

It's a bird...it's a plane...nope...it's just little ol' me me jumping over the moon with pure delight!!! I have been invited to be a guest designer for the Polkadot Door's November Challenge and Blog Hop!!!

Oh goodness I feel so blessed to be given this opportunity. Sarah and Rebecca have a delightful blog with splendid inspiration photos each month for their challenges. I encourage you to stop by for a visit and join in the fun...you won't be disappointed. There are fun prizes to be had my friends! The next challenge and blog hop is coming on November 1st...I do hope to see you and your marvelous creations there! ~Lisa

The Polkadot Door Inspiration Challenge {5} !

A more perfect display of storybook imagination there could not be! The mere sight of these tiny tots in their playful costumes amidst this whimsical dreamland set my head into a tailspin. I studied this photo over and over deciding how to capture this wee bit of pure delight. The ladies at Polkadot Door Designs have given us something so special this month!!!

This was my vision, my own bit of whimsy to share with you. I utilized the colors and patterns in the photo and the soft puffy clouds. I stitched together PTI felt and some shimmery vellum to create mine.  The little girl is from Ann-ticipations, the little boy is 100 Proof Press and the tricycle is Unity.  I crafted the tiny gnome hats from red felt. The DPs are Cosmo Cricket & My Minds Eye. I  hope you enjoy it as much as I do. Thanks for visiting...I appreciate it!!!  Be sure to stop by the Polkadot Door Designs blog to check out the lovely work by the design team! ~Lisa

Edited October 19, 2011...I'm delighted to have been chosen the October Inspiration challenge winner at the Polkadot Door for this card!!!

Polkadot Door Designs ~ An invitation!

Several days ago I received a lovely comment on one of my cards from Rebecca. This was followed by an invitation to join in the fun at the Polkadot Door. Hmmmm... I had not heard of them...had to check it out! That's when I stumbled upon this beautiful inspiration photo for their current challenge.

My eyes fell instantly upon the cluster of paper lanterns. Oh so dreamy! My brother's youngest daughter was married earlier this month under a beautiful arbor. She hung various sizes of round paper lanterns in yellow and white from the cascading canopy of live greenery. There was no decision making for me on this card, I wanted to create that wonderful cluster of lanterns!!!

I started with a shimmery gold card stock to mimic the pretty gold frames in the photo. Next a panel of whitewash paper as my wall/ceiling and then the layers of lanterns I created out of snippets of punched circles and some pink fabric flowers. How lucky I was to have a dream stamp! And finally a tiny felt flower/button combo to anchor the picture! This was so much fun to make and I just love the whimsical feel of these lanterns floating about!

A big thank you to Rebecca for the invitation...I think I'll be around your Polkadot Door for some time! Be sure to stop by their blog yourself for some wonderful inspiration; you won't be disappointed! ~Lisa

Edited Aug. 27, 2011... I am over the moon happy to have been chosen the Polkadot Door's August Inspiration Challenge winner for this card!!!