MFT Sneak peek

Yup, it's that time again... My Favorite Things sneak peeks! I did the My Favorite Things Sketch which can be found here.

When I first saw the sketch, I automatically thought of the card opening up and the scallop edging being the "inside" of the card (see picture below). I decided to use Behind the Scenes to add polka dots to the dress. This meant masking the flowers. I stamped the lady on white so that I could watercolor in her dress and the flowers with ink and Prisma Watercolor pencils. I stamped her again on Barely Banana as I wanted the saying on that color. Added a little color by watercoloring the flowers and adding some stickles to the middle.

I even found some Primas that match the cardstock perfectly. The frame and lady are on dimensions. I used the 3/16th corner round punch to do the scallop edge to which I also used the Behind the Scenes Dots to add to each scallop. (might be hard to see as it is Barely Banana on Barely Banana)

stamp: Happy Mother's Day, Behind the Scenes - MFT; paper: Bashful Blue, Barely Banana, Mellow Moss; ink: basic black, brocade blue; accs: Prisma Watercolor pencils, aquapainter, primas, brad, stickles, corner round punch

Here is the card "standing" up so you can see how the card opens.

My Favorite Things (www.mftstamps.com) is having a New Release Cocktail Party on Wednesday, April 2 from 9-11 p.m. Eastern time. Lots of fun is planned including finding out how YOU can be the next MFT Guest Designer. Head over to the MFT forum on www.splitcoaststampers.com to find out all the details and we hope to see you there on Wednesday night.

Back in the Saddle again!!

I stamped today!! woohoo No, I can't say the sickness is gone from the house as Carmen, my oldest, finally got it last night. I kept her home from church today and had time to make a quick Featured Stamper card! Feels so good to be stamping again!


Today's Featured Stamper is ScrapNExtras. She has a lovely gallery with a mixture of cards. I picked one of her simplest cards to case for today just incase I had a sick run ;)


I changed the stamp set and designer paper. I also added some faux stitching and made faux brads as I wasn't able to do the challenge I have going with a group of friends called Sassy Seven. This week we were suppose to make a card with something Faux on it for April fool's. (our challenge is on Wend of each week)

The image I used is from Treehouse stamps and is called Whimsical Vase. I watercolored it with SU inks and added some Cotton Candy stickles to the middle of the flowers. Faux stitching was done with Chocolate Chip marker and faux brads was done with the Crop-a-dial.

stamp: Whimsical vase by Treehouse Stamps; ink: black stazon, purley pomegranate, chocolate chip, garden green: paper: Very Vanilla, Berry Bliss dp; accs: crop-a-dial, aquapainter, grosgrain ribbon, chocoalte chip marker, cotton candy stickles

Sick

Not sure if I'll get to stamp today. Guess whose turn it is to be sick? Yup, me!! So I just wanted to let you know that I might not be blogging for a few days. Wouldn't want to pass any germs on to you. ;)

Have a great weekend.

Sick kids but still find time to stamp!

Welcome to the sick house this week! Last week i had one child sick and now this week I have 2 sick! Mommy needs a break!! So for my break, I made two cards yesterday for the color challenge.

Colors were Whisper White, Soft Sky and Basic Gray (which I still don't have but Emily said we could use Basic Black).

First card features stamps from Treehouse that will be released this Friday and is also for the Featured Stamper challenge on SCS. I have some friends who are expecting their first children. Yes, I said first children... they are expecting twins!! (and I get to babysit them when the mom goes back to work!!) So I made this card for them. The stork is actually carrying only one bundle but since it''s Twins, i cut out another bundle and added it to the stork.

stamp: Baby, Sentiment - Treehouse Stamps; ink: black, soft sky, pretty in pink; paper: soft sky, basic black, whisper white; accs: hodge podge, word window punch, cloud stencil, ribbon

Ever made a card and it went completely different direction than what you had in mind? Well that is what happen with this card! but i like the end results. Flowers are embossed in white embossing powder, flourish is highlighted with white gel pen. All corners were rounded using the 3/16th corner rounder punch from SU. This is going to a very special friend whom I hope draws strength from it.

stamp: Brocade Motifs; ink: black, soft sky, white; paper: soft sky, basic black, whisper white; accs: eyelets, ribbon, white gel pen, white embossing powder, scallop square punch, corner round punch

Happy Easter (cupcake and card)

Here it is Easter morning and I bet you all are wondering if I got all my sewing done in time? Yes, I did! Even had time to spare as usually I'm working on dresses the night before! lol Hope to get some good pictures of the girls in them to share later on. But for now I have a card I made during the week and another Giant cupcake that I made for today!

Ways to use it visited an old ways to use it challenge which was to use tags. I made my own tags by cutting the corners with SU's ticket punch. And I decided to tear the bottom of the tags to give them a different look. Images are colored with watercolor crayons with a little diamond stickles added to the eggs.

What is cool about acrylic stamps is that you can actually cut them apart but still put them back they way they were originally designed. Like the saying, it comes as 2 lines but I wanted one long line so I cut it apart so I wouldn't have to do any masking when I stamped to get one line. How cool is that?

This card is also for a little challenge I do along with 6 other ladies, we call ourselves the Sassy Seven. You can find our cards in the SCS gallery by using the keyword ' fjk3 ' Last week we were to make an Easter card.

stamps: Hoppy Easter, Eggstra Special - My Favorite Things; ink: black stazon, perfect plum; paper: soft subtles; accs: watercolor crayons, ribbon, stickles, aquapainter, ticket punch

Here is another Giant Cupcake that I made for Easter. My son picked orange as one of the flower colors.

Next week I should be back in full force stamping and posting now that all my sewing is done so don't forget to check back!!

Hope you have an enjoyable/relaxing Easter with family and friends.

Treehouse releases yet ANOTHER set!!

Let me tell you, Treehouse Stamps is on a roll!! They are releasing another set tomorrow as part of their "National Craft Month" releases.

The set is called Prehistoric Pals and invovles what else? Dinosaurs!! Here is a card I did for the Ways to use it (had to use tags) challenge on SCS and also this weeks sketch. The complete "pals" sentiment is actually "prehistoric pals" but I only wanted to use the word "pal" so I only inked up that part of the stamp.

stamp set: Prehistoric Pals; ink: distress inks; paper: close to cocoa, always artichoke, cranberry crisp, black; accs: cuttlebug, tag, candle wick yarn, prismacolor markers, sponge, tag, brad

MFT coupon

How about a little *promo* that offers a discount on all orders, including Intl orders! Enter the code MFTDay0308 and receive a discount of $4.60 on your order! This is like offering free shipping on US orders under $40, but the discount will work on all orders, and those US orders over $40 get both free shipping (as usual) AND the discount! This offer extends of course to our valued Intl customers and there is no restriction on what is purchased!

Here are the deets:
*During your oder process, use the coupon code MFTDay0308 and receive a $4.60 discount on your order total
*This coupon is only valid until midnight March 20th in honor of Celebrate MFT Day and National Craft month
*There are no product restrictions, but note that some items are currently out of stock and the coupon can't be used on those items
*Orders will ship within 2-3 business days as usual! Most often more quickly, but sometimes the pesky family beckons...

The Burning Questions

• Can you cry under water?
• Why does a round pizza come in a square box?
• Do the Alphabet & Twinkle Little Star have the same tune?
• If corn oil is made from corn and vegetable oil is made from vegetables, what's baby oil made from?
• Why are you IN a movie, but you're ON TV?
• Why are we "head over heels" when we're happy, isn't that the way we normally are?
• Why can Goofy stand & Pluto is on all fours if they're both dogs?
• Why doesn't the hair on your arms grow as fast as the hair on your head?
• Why do dogs hate it when you blow in their face, but stick their heads out the window during a car ride?
• If you own land, do you own it to the center of the earth?
• Why doesn't glue stick to the inside of the bottle?
• Do penguins have knees?
• Why do we drive on parkways and park on driveways?
• Why is an alarm clock "going off" when really it is coming on?
• If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons?
• When bald people work as chefs, do they wear hair nets?
• Why say "slept like a baby" if babies wake up every 2 hours?
• If you only have one eye, are you blinking or winking?
• Why don't you ever see baby pigeons?
• Why is it called "after dark" when it's really after light?

So I saw this all on a shirt today and had to get it for my brother. Hope it brought a smile to your face.

My Ugly card

I was asked to join a group of ladies, known as the Sassy Six, to participate in a weekly challenge that they come up with. Well now they'll have to change it to the Sassy Seven! The challenge is due on Wend. and this week it was an all green card with neutrals allowed.

I used the Sketch challenge as my focal point. I had a really hard time with both challenges as I had to change my idea around a few times. I finally settled on only using CHF's Pretty Pattern background stamped in Mellow Moss on Vanilla and also stamped on Always artichoke in always artichoke. I found a piece of chip board that I sponged Mellow Moss onto and embossed saying in white. I titled it ugly card because it took me so long and wasn't what i had planned in the first place!!

stamp: pretty pattern - CHF, It's your Birthday; ink: mellow moss, always artichoke, versamark; paper: mellow moss, always artichoke, vanilla; accs: white embossing powder, chipboard, sponge

FREE FONTS!!

You know those craft magazine newsletters that you sign up for but then hardly read when they come to your inbox? Well I was checking my mail this morning and there was a Creating Keepsakes newsletter. For some reason I scanned through it and this is what I found: FREE FONTS!! Now who could pass that up?

So i spent maybe 20 mins of my "me time" downloading 20 fonts!! And now I'm sharing the link with you! They are only available for a limited time so head on over to Scrapnfonts to download them. I set the link to take you right to the page. You do have to register but there is no fee for that.

Disclaimer: I am not held responsible for any other items you may actually purchase along with the free fonts. :)

No Basic Gray in the house

Stampin' UP! Basic Gray that is. Well I don't have any Basic Gray paper either. But the color challenge was for SU's Basic Gray, Basic Black and Purely Pomegranate. I substituted Going Gray (I did order some basic gray though!!) on my card.

Punch a Bunch by My Favorite Things is what I used. I stamped the flowers all over the envelope and added some purely pomegranate cardstock to the flap. I made the scallops with the SU's 3/16 round corner punch. Black ribbon keeps the envelope shut. Mini gray card fits inside the envelope and I also used the round corner punch on it. Sketch pen was used for the doodles with the white gel pen for accents.

I also made this card to go with Sharon's (notimetostamp) challenge of making a card with a Fun Flap, meaning having a cardfront with a mini card/envelope/something that opens on it.

stamp: punch a bunch by MFT; ink: purely pomegranate, basic black; paper: going gray, basic black, purely pomegranate, computer paper for envelope; accs: sketch pen, scallop oval punch, ribbon, white gel pen

I happen to have a swap card in my stash that had used a retired set but the main cardfront was Basic Gray! I decided to recycle it as I was just itching to use some Basic Gray. Image is from Treehouse's Simply Organic set. Stamped in black, watercolored with purely pomegranate and a little old olive for the branch. More doodling and faux stitching added to the card. Made a faux ribbon by cutting the cardstock down to 1/4 inch and angling the ends.

stamp: Simply Organic by Treehouse Stamps; ink: purely pomegranate, black stazon, old olive; paper: basic black, basic gray, purely pomegranate, white; accs: aquabrush, sketch pen, white gel pen

So for those of you that don't have Basic Gray, now you can see the difference and also see why I had to order it! ;)

Also check out this new company I just found. Well okay, they aren't new but they are new to me. I know.. I must get out from under my shell and venture out more!! Anyways check out Unity Stamp Company and make sure you stop by her blog to enter in Gift Giveaways! (I entered yesterday but didn't win :( oh well, there is always a next time as she is giving away until May!!)

ps. Did you know you can click on the pictures to enlarge them? Just thought I'd throw that out there for those of you that didn't know it and wanted a closer look at the images.

What card?

I highly doubt I will get to make a card today as I need to start sewing Easter dresses for my girls.

But I wanted to share this card with you:

Yes!! I am getting a card published!! First time ever for me so that's why I'm a little excited. It will be in the July/August '08 RubberStampMadness magazine.

Thanks for letting me share my excitement with you and i promise not to gloat again!

Happy Cupcake day

Today's Featured stamper, Parisotremba, was a new gallery for me to look through.

I cased this card of Paris', Mint Melody. I changed stamp sets, colors and i distressed my squares. Layout and the sponging on the pink is the same as the featured stamper's card.


stamp: cupcake, sentiment - Treehouse stamps; ink: stazon, chocolate chip, pretty in pink, real red; paper: pretty in pink, chocolate chip, white; accs: ribbon, sponge, distressing tool

The digging out

So after the snow, we now must dig out. Hubby and the kids went out to dig us out. Here are a few shots that hubby took.

Allie wanted to be buried in the snow!

Carmen and Benjamin standing on the pile that was shoveled out of our drive way.

Tomorrow, I promise to post a card!!

Blizzard of '08

So we have been stuck inside today because of this "blizzard". Our county is under a level 3 emergency which means roads are closed to travel for non-emergency personnel. My brother called earlier saying he was watching the cops pull over people! lol Such excitement in a little town!

I did venture outside to take some pictures. I wasn't brave enough to go off the porch as I didn't want the snow to go inside my boots. lol I know, call me a baby!! Enjoy our "blizzard":
Anyone want to play in the boat sandbox or go down the slide?

I just love how snow forms on the bushes.

Alright, remember my picture a few days ago with ice hanging off of the mailbox? Here is the same mailbox now covered in snow!! This really gives you sense of how deep it is by the road.

I don't think our car is going anywhere soon. Thank goodness the truck is parked in front of it!! Still with the truck in front, a lot of snow still drifted back. Can you imagine what it would look like if the truck wasn't in front?

I caught someone out!! lol That is still snow coming down.

This is my neighbor's house. Amazing how the snow has drifted off of the roof.

Couple of little cards

I managed to make two cards for today's Limited supply. We were suppose to make a card smaller than 4.25x4.25 BUT (there is always a but!) we had to use scraps only on the card. So I pulled out my scrap container and went to work.


My first card uses two stamps from Treehouse Stamps that was just released. I colored with prism watercolor pencils and prismacolor markers. I sponged pretty in pink on both the image and the background paper. I added some creamy caramel to make it a little 'dirty' looking. Put some Frosted Lace stickles on the his bubbles.



stamp: pig in the tub, sentiment - Treehouse Stamps; ink: black stazon, pretty in pink, creamy caramel; paper: pretty in pink, berry bliss dp, close to cocoa, white; accs: stickles, prismacolor markers, prisma watercolor pencils, scallop punch

I am having a workshop for the teachers at my daughter's elementary next week. Thought the challenge was perfect for them to make a small card. I wanted striking colors so i went with Red/Black and white, which ironically now that i think about it is our school colors!! lol (more black and white with a little bit of red are our colors so this is pretty close! too funny)

Faux stitching around the edge with white gel pen. Notched corner punch used and ribbon too. Small thanks comes from Amazing to Zany set.

stamp set: Friendship Blooms, Amazing to Zany; ink: black, real red; paper: real red, white, black; accs: ribbon, white gel pen, notched corner punch

Llama anyone?

Here is simple card I did for Treehouse's release last night. No layers (love those kind of cards), image is colored with prisma watercolor pencils.

stamp set: Farm-tastic by Treehouse Stamps; ink: black stazon; paper: white; accs: prisma watercolor pencils

March is National Craft Month which means....

New releases every Friday from Treehouse Stamps!! Over 120 new stamps will be released by the time March is over! wow!!

First ever release party for Treehouse Stamps is being held tonight from 9:00 - midnight est. to join in the fun, you will need to sign up at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TreehouseStamps/



Today's card features two different sets being released at 12:01 am tonight. Farm-tastic and Go Green. Description for the card is below. Decided to switch things up a little today! :)

stamp set: Farm-tastic, Go Green by Treehouse; paper: white, black, vellum; ink: distress ink black; accs: prismacolor pencils, prismacolor markers, gamasol

Today's Ways to Use It was to use your computer!! I found a site that is just awesome with Photoshop Brushes. You can find it here, Obsidian Dawn. Have fun!! I did! :) I downloaded fences/walls and used the Stone wall for my card. Printed it on vellum cardstock and colored in the back with prismacolor marker. Images are colored with prismacolor pencils/gamasol and some prismacolor markers.

Ohio weather and MFTeaser

Want see what I woke up to this morning? Needless to say the kids didn't have school today!

Each year, our village hosts a three-day festival called, Pony Wagon Day's, to commemorate the Walborn & Riker Company and their success. One of the events that is held is a Children's Parade. There are different cattigories for the children to choose from and then dress up accordingly. They shut down traffic for this little parade and people line the main road just to watch the kids parade in their costumes.

In 2001 my oldest dressed up as a cowgirl, sorry, have no clue what catagory she was in! MFT's new set, Ride 'em Cowgirl, goes perfectly with the pictures I have of Carmen as a cowgirl. I colored the image with prismacolor markers. The title "These boots are made for walkin'" comes with the set! Paisley stamp is from SU's Polka Dots & Paisley set.

stamp set: Ride 'em Cowgirl by MFT, SU's Polka Dots & Paisley; ink: distress inks; paper: Prisma cardstock; accs: prismacolor markers, artist pen for journaling

My Favorite Things (www.mftstamps.com) is having a New Release Cocktail Party on Wednesday, March 5 from 9-11 p.m. Eastern time. Lots of fun is planned including finding out how YOU can be the next MFT Guest Designer. Head over to the MFT forum on www.splitcoaststampers.com to find out all the details and join us there on Wednesday night.

Deboss that cowgirl!

Ready for another MFTeaser? I know, I know.... 2 in one day! wow!! lol But I had to do a card for the Try a new technique and also for Cindy's sketch in the MFT forum!

So I used "Ride em Cowgirl" which is being released Wend night during the Release party in the MFT forum on Splitcoaststampers at 9- 11 pm EST.

I debossed her rope, scallop hem and decorative part on her boot. Markers were used on the backside of the vellum. Braided some hemp twine for more of a rope look. Stamped the "ms.sheriff" badge in versamark on the strip. Mini scallop scissors were used. SU's Berry Bliss decorative paper for the background.

stamp set: Ride em Cowgirl by MFT; ink: black stazon, purely pomegranate; paper: pink, vellum cardstock, purely pomegranate, berry bliss designer paper; accs: markers, eyelets, hemp twine, hodgepodge, mini scallop scissors

MFTeaser Thanks a bunch

It's that time again for some MFTeasers!! MFT is releasing 2 new sets on Wend evening. Release party is in the MFT forum and is from 9-11 EST, come join a crazy fun party!!

One of the new sets: Punch A Bunch! Works great with Marvy scallop Oval punch. Of course there is more stamps to the set then just the ones I used here. This is a complete Thank you card set! 10 cards in all with matching envelopes. The smaller flowers have Diamond stickles while the bigger flowers have a rhinestone. Also with the smaller flowers, I completely cut them out and stuck them on with glue dots. Some of the ovals are completely cut out in the middle and the scene is done completely on the card! I completely masked the scallop oval when adding the sky and grass. SU cloud stencil was used. I also used mini scallop scissors to make all the cards have scallop edges! You can see the details better in the cards below.



Scallop oval punch used, Middle of oval cut out, flowers cut out too.

Marvy scallop punch used, middle oval cut out but flowers are stamped directly onto the card.



image is stamped directly on the entire piece that was punched with the scallop oval punch.



scallop oval is stamped directly onto the cardstock with image stamped directly onto cardstock too.



I made this set of thank you cards for a dear friend who is going to be having surgery the end of this month. I was planning on this being a surprise but the stinker emailed me and asked how much I would charge her if she bought some Thank you cards from me! So I had to tell her my big plan! This first set is my gift to her but if she wants anymore, she's gonna have to pay! ;) I love ya, Angie, ya know I do!! Hope you (and everyone else) like the note card set I made you.

MFT Punch A Bunch stamp set, whisper white cardstock, envelopes, various SU inks and distress inks, glue dots, stickles, rhinestones, scallop scissors, marvy scallop oval punch

Old Revisited #2 w/Tutorial

Here is a card I did back in April '07 with a tutorial to boot!

stamp: weathered, canvas; ink: bashful blue, creamy caramel; paper: bashful blue, white, creamy caramel, designer paper; accs: brads, word window punch, 1 3/8 square punch, 1 1/4 circle punch

Tutoiral: I used the SU 1 3/8 square punch and punched a piece of printer paper for my template. Each corner is marked A, B, C, D. Cut each corner towards the middle. To get my cut lines, I fold corner to opposite corner and cut on the crease line.) Stop cutting before you get to the middle.

Now take corner A and fold it towards the middle, take corner B and fold it towards the middle and so on. Glue down tips and add a brad smack dab in the middle (or whatever you want to) after the glue has dried.




Here is another card with the same layout as above using pinwheels:

stamp: canvas, it's your birthday; ink: chocolate chip; paper: chocolate chip, cameo coral, mellow moss, spring flower designer paper; accs: vintage brads, 1 3/8 square punch, circle punch, ticket punch

Check back tomorrow... sneak peeks for MFT are coming!!!