{the lakeshore stamper}

MFTWSC58

2012-02-14T22:05:00.000-05:00

I have been so late getting my MFT sketches done, but hopefully I can get back on track soon. Here's last week's (#58):

I ended up keeping this super simple, my favorite kind!

Hope you had a Happy Valentine's Day, thanks for stoping by.

PTI Heart Challenge

2012-02-11T21:20:00.000-05:00

Today's PTI challenge was to make anything with or related to hearts. I don't know anyone that just got engaged, but I made an engagement card anyway!

I punched a bunch of hearts out of Berry Sorbet paper and stamped them with various patterns from Bitty Background Blocks in Pure Poppy ink.

Thanks for stopping by!

February SFYTT #2

2012-02-11T11:00:00.000-05:00

Here's some more SFYTT inspiration for you! I flipped the sketch this time, and used ribbon in place of the three objects on the long panel. I used Seasonal Icons - Set One from our wonderful sponsor, Your Next Stamp.

Here's the sketch again:

Check out Jen's blog for more inspiration.

I hope you will play along with us this month!

PTI Sketch Challenge

2012-02-10T15:50:00.000-05:00

I'm back with a PTI sketch challenge today. After I made my inspiration card for yesterday, I thought the overlapping medallions looked really cool, so I did it for part of my card today!

The aqua mist banner has canvas impressed on it, and the flower is popped up and I added some sparkles to it.

Thanks for stopping by!

Another PTI Challenge

2012-02-09T15:14:00.000-05:00

Today's PTI challenge was to be inspired by Pinterest. I went through some of my boards and picked out this picture as my inspiration:

(Click HERE for photo credit)

And this is what I came up with:

Thanks for stopping by!

PTI Color Challenge #2

2012-02-08T16:35:00.000-05:00

I made another card using Lisa's colors, and I really love it!

I cut a mask the same size as the card front and cut a circle out of it. Then I stamped the woodgrain background, stamping off to make it a little more subtle.

Thanks for stopping by!

PTI Color Challenge #1

2012-02-08T16:32:00.000-05:00

Today's challenge for PTI's anniversary festivities is a color challenge. I chose to use Lisa's color combo of kraft, pure poppy, aqua mist, and spring moss. I got an early start on my Christmas cards, haha!

Thanks for stopping by!

PTI Anniversary Challenge 1

2012-02-05T21:11:00.000-05:00

Today marks the start of PTI's anniversary festivities, and I found time to do the first challenge. We were to take inspiration from one of the designer's favorite cards and make our own card. I chose to be inspired by Dawn's card HERE. And this is what I came up with:

Thanks for stopping by!

February Sketch For You To Try!!!!!

2012-02-04T11:00:00.000-05:00

It's time for the February SFYTT! Our fabulous sponsor this month is Your Next Stamp. I've never used their stamps before, so I was really happy to get my hands on some!

Here is the February sketch:

and what I made with it:

I used the set Seasonal Icons - set 1 for this sketch. YNS stamps are rubber cling-mounted, and they stamp beautifully because they are deeply etched. Very nice quality. I stamped the image on a white panel and colored it, then stamped the hearts again on patterned paper, cut them out and popped them up. Then I selectively inked just the sentiment, and used my stamp-a-ma-jig to align it back up on the pink half-circle. The hearts were embossed and a button treatment added.

I hope you will play along this month! Here is the info you need, and stop by Jen's blog to check out what some of the YNS designers made with the sketch.

Thanks for stopping by!

February MFT Guest Designer Contest

2012-02-03T22:28:00.000-05:00

It's the beginning of the month, and that means it's time for another MFT guest designer contest! We were challenged this month to Stamp Our Hearts Out - make something to do with love and/or hearts. Here is my submission - I really love it!

The process:

1. I cut the rustic white layer, the big heart frame, and the letters. I laid it all out and taped the letters on with removable adhesive to make a mask of sorts.

2. I stamped. LOTS OF STAMPING! It was so fun to do! I started with the text background strip, then a BUNCH of hearts, and the word LOVE. I used only one red ink pad and stamped full strength and stamped off to get some lighter colors.

3. I then removed the die-cut letters to reveal the cardstock underneath. Stamped the Yours Truly (love that the outline in black is not too overpowering!), added the ribbon, glued down the heart frame, chomped the top corner, and added the black pearl clusters.

4. Lastly, and it gets its own number in the process, a generous spritz of Calico Shine. :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

stamps - First Class Friend

paper - red, kraft, rustic white

ink - black, red

acc - black pearls, By the Letters dies, hand-drawn and cut heart frame,

red seam binding, corner chomper, Calico Shine

SIL Christmas Gift

2012-02-02T20:52:00.000-05:00

I made this for my SIL for Christmas:

It's just a black composition notebook I covered and decorated. I love that Studio Calico houndstooth paper! I stamped the leaves directly on the paper and made some paper flowers to go on top. That green silk ribbon is one of my favorite ribbons!

Thanks for stopping by, see you Saturday for a new SFYTT!

MFTWSC56

2012-02-01T16:32:00.000-05:00

I pulled out some more old patterned paper to use on this card (from SU).

The blue strip has text stamped on it. I die-cut the letters and attached them together with a little bit of glue to make it easier to center on the doily diecut. A clear Heidi Swapp heart and some purple seam binding finish it. I have a bunch of Heidi Swapp clear shapes that I've had for YEARS, so I'm trying to use them up, along with cutting into my patterned paper stash.

Thanks for stopping by!

Mehndi Medallion

2012-01-30T20:24:00.000-05:00

I stamped just for fun a bit last week, and made a card with

Mehndi Medallion that I actually like! First one ever!

After all the stamping was done, I impressed it with the Linen IP

and spritzed it with Mister Huey Calico Shine.

Thanks for stopping by, have a nice day!

January SFYTT - #3

2012-01-26T20:20:00.001-05:00

I've got one last sample of inspiration for this month's SFYTT, have you played yet?

I colored, cut, and pieced this cutie-pie sheep, and flipped the sketch around to make it fit better.

The sentiment is really two lines, but I masked it and stamped it all in one line.

Thanks for stopping by, have a great weekend!

MFTWSC55

2012-01-25T05:14:00.001-05:00

And here is MFTWSC55:

I pulled out some OLD Basic Grey patterned paper, I'm really trying to cut into my stash. And not be worried about using it up, because there will always

be something new to take it's place.

This sentiment is so true - we are so blessed to have great families! They truly take care of us.

Teacher Gift

2012-01-24T05:36:00.000-05:00

Here is part of what my son's teacher received for Christmas from us:

A covered notebook and pen, and a cup with cozy. The cup is a Food Network one I bought at Kohl's and replaced the rubber grippy thing it came with my own handmade cozy. Sewing courtesy of my mom :). I added a couple boxes of green tea and some cards (of course!) to finish the ensemble.

Thanks for stopping by!

MFTWSC54

2012-01-22T21:20:00.000-05:00

I had hoped to be able to post on a more regular schedule, but life is just sucking all my energy and motivation lately. Here is MFTWSC #54:

Here you can see I clear-embossed some text on the black strip:

Thanks for stopping by!

MFTWSC #53

2012-01-16T15:48:00.000-05:00

We got spoiled so far this winter, in that it hasn't been winter yet here. Well, that changed this weekend. We got DUMPED on! And it was soooo cold. It didn't stop snowing from Thursday until Sunday morning. Good grief. Oh well, we stayed home and ate soup!

And here is the first MFT sketch of the year, #53:

Got me some gift certs for Christmas and got a few new things, yay!

Thanks for stopping by.

SFYTT #2

2012-01-14T11:00:00.000-05:00

You may have noticed the format for SFYTT has changed a little this year. You will see samples posted from half of us on the second Saturday of the month, and samples from the other half the third Saturday of the month, and then we all post again before the end of the month. So there is lots of SFYTT inspiration for you!

I love these little guys from our sponsor The Cat's Pajamas, they are so cute, all hand-holdy and stuff!

Here's the January sketch for you again:

Check out some more SFYTT inspiration from

Amber, Amy, Megan, and Iwona.

Jen's blog has all the info about SFYTT for you to check out.

Thanks for stopping by!

Last Two MFT Sketches

2012-01-08T20:55:00.000-05:00

Here are the last two MFT sketches for the year, figured I better show you them before I show the first one from this year!

Hope your week is off to a great start, thanks for stopping by.

January SFYTT

2012-01-07T11:00:00.001-05:00

It's the first Saturday of January, so that means it's SFYTT time!

Our wonderful sponsor this month is The Cat's Pajamas!

Here is the sketch for this month:

I flipped the sketch around and used this cutie-patootie Bearing Flowers to make this:

I went with sort-of a monochrome background with some pops of color. This image is soooo easy to paper piece, and the flower is popped up. The brown/tan patterned papers are from Studio Calico (I picked them up on clearance, yay!).

Now, head around to see what the rest of the SFYTT sisters did with this sketch:

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you will play along with SFYTT this year!

MFT Guest Design Challenge

2012-01-01T22:17:00.001-05:00

This month's guest design challenge over at MFT is to paper piece. Yay, I love paper piecing! My friend Mariska does some AMAZING 3D paper piecing, so I was inspired by her. I certainly did not take my piecing to her level! She also happens to be my coloring idol.

Here is my finished card:

And here is how I got there:

I stamped Snowboard Boy several times on Xpress blending cardstock, more times than I needed (just in case :)) Though if I was Mariska, I would use them all since she colors everything. But since I used patterned paper, I only needed two. One for a base, and one I colored just a few parts. Also, this is when I decided which parts were going to be popped up and which were going to be background layers.

Then, I cut out my base and stamped all the different parts on patterned paper.

Snowboard boy gets his face and shoes colored:

I colored the base boy gray (per Mariska) so that you don't see white when you are looking down at the 3D piece, and cut out all the pieces:

After cutting out the pieces, I ran a black marker around the edges to fill in any white edges that may have occurred during the cutting process:

And the finished boy:

His face, hat, and snowpants are all popped up. The base layers were placed on a layer of glue without being pushed down just to give some very slight dimension.

Then I went to town with my Calico White spray for some snow effects:

I added a birthday banner and some clear Heidi Swapp snowflakes that I've had foreeeeever, and fit the sentiment to the curve of the snow slope. And here he is again:

You can see a tutorial by Mariska HERE, go to page 16 of the ezine.

Thanks for stopping by!

Looking Back and Ahead

2011-12-31T19:40:00.000-05:00

Where did this year go??? Though I am not sad to see it go! It was not a good year for us, and I'm praying that 2012 is better. That being said, our kids are happy and healthy, Chad's cancer is back in remission, and he has been employed for the last 6 weeks. It's not a long-term solution, so he continues to look for something else.

I went and looked at what I written as my goals for this year, and I didn't do too bad! I reclaimed some kitchen cabinets, worked on my cookbook project (which will be a perpetual project), and completed all 52 of MFT's weekly sketches. You will be seeing #'s 51 and 52 in the next few days. So my goals for this year are:

1. continue to work on my cookbook project

2. do more stamping for ME, when and what I want to.

Keeping it simple this year, I have no energy to do much more than that!

I didn't think I was going to get Christmas photo cards out this year, but things came together at the last minute (i.e., the kids cooperated) and I managed to

send some out a few days before Christmas.

So here are my 5-1/2 year old and 17 month old (going on 3, lol):

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I love looking at everyone's year in review posts, so I thought I'd add my favorite cards by month:

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Thanks for stopping by!

Last SFYTT Sample

2011-12-31T13:46:00.000-05:00

Here is my last sample for this month's SFYTT:

I've had this made for a while, I've just been SUPER lazy about blogging lately. But it's been nice to have a break! I hope you will join in on the SFYTT's next year, a new round starts next Saturday!

Have a safe and happy New Year!

MFTWSC #50

2011-12-20T22:32:00.000-05:00

Here's MFTWSC #50:

I went super simple on this one, as I barely squoze it in on time. Between work and kids and Christmas prep, not a lot of stamping going on here. But I don't want to screw up my MFTWSC streak here at the end!!!

Thanks for stopping by!

MFTWSC49

2011-12-08T21:01:00.000-05:00

Here's my card for MFTWSC #49:

I really wanted to ink up this cute little snowboarder. I cut the main panel to the size I wanted and cut him out and popped him up so he extends off the edges (which, by the way, is covered in Calico Shine). There are also 2 rows of scallop "snowdrifts" behind him. Then, I got the idea to spray the end of the sentiment strip with Calico White, and I LOVE how it looks like snow spray. I thought about spraying Snowboard Boy with it too, but I thought it would end up looking like he was buried in an avalanche, so I left well enough alone. I was inspired by my friend Jackie's cards this week where she put long sentiment strips behind her main image. LOVE IT!!!!

I took a little liberty with the embellishments, there are supposed to be three of them in the upper right corner. But, there was no room for them, so I put one snowflake embellishment instead.

Thanks for stopping by!

MFTWSC + MFTGUESTDT

2011-12-05T12:56:00.000-05:00

I was able to combine the MFT sketch challenge with the MFT Guest Design Challenge this week, woohoo!

We were challenged to Play Tag for this guest design challenge, and here is my finished ensemble: gift with tag plus coordinating card.

Let's start with a close-up of the card (MFTWSC48):

I used some fun papers on the background, and stamped on another patterned piece. I then blasted it with calico shine, so you can barely read the words here, lol! It says, "Though we are apart, you're in my heart this Christmas", from Clearly Sentimental about Christmast. I layered that sentiment on a piece of paper that I diecut with the Tag-You're It die. After I cut it, I turned it around and ran it through again, creating the tag top design on both ends. You can see a little open scallop border peeking out from the ribbon. And to finish it off, I diecut a fancy flourish that is also covered in calico shine.

And here is the gift tag:

Let's take a closer look at some details:

I started with a kraft Tag-You're It base, then added some patterned paper, a dizzy doily cut from more patterned paper, and another fancy flourish. You can also see more calico shine. Yes, I love that stuff! To make the 3D ornament, I punched 7 circles out of two different papers, folded them in half, and glued them back-to-back. I fanned it out, added some twine to hang it, and a bow of crinkled seam binding. The sentiment is again from Clearly Sentimental about Christmas, and I inked it separately to fit on two banner strips. A few random rhinestones finish it off!

Thanks for stopping by!

December SFYTT

2011-12-03T08:00:00.001-05:00

Here we are at the last SFYTT of the year! One lucky stamper who has participated in all 12 sketches will be chosen as the winner of a prize package that includes gift certificates, stamps, and a year's subscription to the SCS Fan Club. So if you've done the other 11, make sure you get this last one done too, so you can be in the drawing for the awesome prize!!!!

December's sketch:

There is no official sponsor this month, so I chose to work with stamps from My Favorite Things, a previous sponsor.

I kept things super simple and stayed within the sketch to make this card that will go in my mom's stash. I used PI Super Boy, File Tab die-namic, and Stacking Stars die-namics.

1. The SKETCH FOR YOU TO TRY {SFYTT} will be posted on the first Saturday of each month on www.iheart2stamp.com at 8am EST and will stay open to participants until the last day of the month, unless otherwise noted.
2. This is for fun! Interpret the sketch as you wish and embellish as desired. There are no vendor restrictions, but we would love to see you use the sponsor’s stamps!
3. Each month we will have a Designer of the Month that will be chosen from past month’s participants.
4. Come and play with us on each and every sketch! On Christmas Day 2011 a prize package worth over $200 will be given away to one very lucky and loyal SFYTT stamper that participates in EVERY sketch for the year.
5. To be eligible for the prize package, you must complete ALL of the sketches by each of the deadlines AND link your creation to the link system on that month’s sketch post (the first Saturday of the month). Everyone except for SFYTT Sisters are eligible for the prize package, including Designer of the Month and international players.
6. When posting your sketch creation on your blog, please post the sketch and link back to the sketch post on www.iheart2stamp.com. When posting to online galleries, please use the keyword “SFYTT.”

Jen has lots of links for inspiration on her blog, so check it out.
I hope you'll play along! Thanks for stopping by!

November SFYTT - #2

2011-11-29T05:29:00.000-05:00

It's almost time for a new SFYTT, but before we get to that, here's one last sample using November's sketch. Verve is the sponsor this month, and there's a prize up for grabs, so get your entry in! You can find all the details HERE.

Thanks for stopping by!

MFTWSC47

2011-11-28T20:29:00.000-05:00

Here is MFTWSC #47 for you:

I always keep my mom in supply of cards, so this one will go to her stash. I sprayed the leafy flourish with Calico Shine, that stuff is my new fave!!! Take a look close-up:

Thanks for stopping by, hope your week is off to a great start! I'll be back tomorrow for another SFYTT sample for this month.

MFT WSC 46

2011-11-21T17:14:00.001-05:00

And here is MFTWSC #46. I pulled out this sweet girl and pieced her pumpkin. The patterned paper is old SU that I've had forever, yay for trying to use up what I have!

My assignment for Thanksgiving this year is to bring the rolls. Usually I throw a batch in my breadmaker, but this year I am going to try these:

Delicious Dinner Rolls

Though I think I will cut the recipe in half, 9-10 cups of flour is A LOT, lol!!!!!

Peace

2011-11-18T04:59:00.000-05:00

This is a total case of Nichole Heady, except I made it in red instead of pink.

I used an ink cube to ink just the edges of each layer of stamps. I really do love this poinsettia set! Another stampy, flat, mailable Christmas card.

Thanks for stopping by!

Snowflake Greetings

2011-11-17T04:50:00.000-05:00

Another stampy Christmas card class sample! I used a neat little trick here. I don't have all those circles as stamps, and I didn't want to do masking/sponging. So I took some of my clear stamps that were kind of circular and put them on my acrylic block backwards and used it as a circle stamp. It turned out really well!

The snowflakes here are another SU set I've had forever. Then I sprayed it with my Mister Huey Calico shine again!

Thanks for stopping by, come back for my last sample tomorrow.

Happiest of Holidays

2011-11-16T04:30:00.000-05:00

Here's another Christmas card class sample for you:

When I sat down to come up with this card, I wanted something with lots of stamping on it. My last class was heavy on the die-cutting, so this time it's more stamping. I also pulled out some OLD stamps for this one, it's almost an all-SU card!

I stamped the card base with French Script and the Medallion, both in crumb cake ink. The music on the tag is old olive ink on lucky limeade paper, and the house and sentiment are both white embossed. I added a crinkled seam ribbon bow and a white doily diecut.

Thanks for stopping by!

Holiday Hugs & Kisses

2011-11-15T04:31:00.000-05:00

Here's another card we are doing at my class this Friday. Isn't he cute? He's from Hero Arts and he's been in my stash for several years. So it was time to pull him out and use him.

I stamped him in Memento Tuxedo and colored him with copics, nothing fancy. He's nice and flat and mailable! I think when we make this for class we will glitterfy the "holiday", make it nice and sparkly.

Thanks for stopping by!

MFTWSC45

2011-11-13T20:29:00.000-05:00

Um, so this is sketch #45, which means there are only about 7 left, yikes! I know I keep saying this, but where did this year go???

I pulled out an oldie but goodie for this card, Polar Love. I had lots of fun with all these bright colors! The scarf and heart are paper pieced, and they are standing on stickle snow. I fluffed up the edges of the scallops and added a snowflake/twine/button embellishment.

This is one of those weeks where I'm tired just from looking at what needs to happen in the next 5 days. And I've got a sore throat and chest congestion. Yuck. So it will be early to bed every night for me! And lots of tea.

Thanks for stopping by, have a great week!

Merry Christmas to You and Yours

2011-11-08T20:52:00.000-05:00

This one of the cards we will be making at my upcoming Christmas card class. If you are local, email me for details! becky(at)lakeshorestamper(dot)com

Though I think we will use silver stickles on the edges instead of sugar dust. You can also see in the picture that I sprayed the music background with some Studio Calico Mister Huey in Calico Shine. It's very cool!

Thanks for stopping by!

MFTWSC44

2011-11-07T20:35:00.000-05:00

Here's my card for MFTWSC #44. I used that big ole typewriter instead of the oval on the original sketch. I sent this to Katie Renz last week, and heard the sad news that she passed away today (Monday). We were on the Limelight DT at the same time, and she was such a sweet, sweet lady. I was cleaning out my stash the other day and came across two notes she sent me back when my hubby was fighting cancer the first time around. What an encouragement she was to me! We will all miss you, Katie.

November SFYTT

2011-11-05T08:00:00.003-04:00

It's time for another Sketch For You To Try!!!!!

Our sponsor this month is Verve!! Yay! I love my Verve stamps, so I am excited

to put them to good use this month! Such a unique, beautiful, and elegant line of stamps.

Here is November's sketch:

And here is what I came up with:

I made a sympathy card for my stash. I used New Mercies, Bloom & Grow, and Framed Wishes stamps here, plus the Floral Circles and Elegant Leaves dies.

Jen has lots of links for inspiration on her blog, so check it out.
I hope you'll play along! Thanks for stopping by!

Baby Boy

2011-11-03T13:33:00.000-04:00

My sister is going to be having a baby boy soon, and so this is the card I made for her upcoming shower. This is almost a direct copy of a card made by one of the Verve divas, but I cannot read the watermark on the picture I have of it, so if you know who originally made this, let me know so I can give credit where it's due! The original card had a butterfly in place of the airplane.

The open heart in "LOVE" looked too plain, so I colored it in with a green spica glitter pen.

Thanks for stopping by!

MFTWSC 43

2011-10-31T05:00:00.001-04:00

For this week's sketch, I really wanted to use some Christmas paper, so here's a Christmas card! She is mixing up some magic Christmas cookies in her bowl. Mmmmm, cookies.

I glitterfied the snowflakes and her batter with stickles, and her apron with my spica glitter pen.

Thanks for stopping by, and Happy Halloween! We are headed to a friend's neighborhood for trick-or-treating plus som chili, yum! Be safe.

MFT Guest Designer Challenge

2011-10-29T10:11:00.000-04:00

Here we are, time for another MFT Guest Designer Challenge! Where are the months going?? The theme of this month's challenge is to Bling It On. Bling is a great way to add some extra interest, especially on CAS cards.

I decided right away I was going to use my rainbow and cloud dies.

I cut all the pieces from different colors of paper, attached them together, added some sticky paper and then poured sugar dust on it.

I cut the clouds out and then covered them in stickles, so sparkly!!!!

The banners in the background are stamped with the text block from First Class Friend, and I used my photo corner punch to notch the ends.

The silver cord and a few random rhinestones add just a little more bling.

The great thing about clear stamps is that you can manipulate them a bit, as I did here with the sentiment. I lined it up using the rainbow die before stamping to make sure the curves lined up. The sentiment is from Just My Type.

And here's a closer look at my sugared rainbow and sparkly clouds!

I just love die-namics!

You can find all the info about this challenge HERE on SCS.

Thanks for stopping by, hope you enjoyed my entry!

More Christmas

2011-10-27T05:57:00.000-04:00

This is another card we made at my last class. The sentiment is embossed, and I added Star Dust stickles to the candy cane. The bow is red seam binding. The inspiration for this design came from Nichole Heady HERE (scroll down REALLY far until you come to the green skateboard card.

Thanks for stopping by!

MFTWSC42

2011-10-25T09:08:00.001-04:00

Here's MFT sketch #42 for this year. I layered a bunch of patterned paper pieces after I stitched around the edges. The three hearts on the file tab go with the whole theme thing. I did shorten the file tab because it was too big for what I wanted. To shorten it, I die-cut one normally, then put it back into the die but slid it over until it was the shorter length I wanted and cut again. Clear as mud?

Thanks for stopping by!

Girl Birthday

2011-10-25T05:38:00.001-04:00

This is the birthday card I made for my sweet niece's birthday in September. Some polka dots, pink, ice cream, what else does a little girl need?

Thanks for stopping by!

Two Christmas Cards

2011-10-23T14:38:00.000-04:00

I got a start on some Christmas cards last week because I had a stamp class.

That's as good a reason as any, right?

This first one is a one-layer card. I stamped the sheet music (PTI) in versafine gray first, added the trees in various shades of green (wild wasabi, memento cottage ivy), added some tinsel in silver, and colored over the star with a spica gold glitter pen. I notched the edges of the card to wrap some silver cording around it, and stamped a sentiment (Verve) in versafine black. I just love the sheet music background - after I stamped it I stared at for like 5 minutes just because it's so beautiful! :)

And here's a snowflake card in purples (wisteria wonder and concord crush). The background snowflake is a block I've had in my stash FOREVER and I use it every Christmas! The sentiment is Hero Arts and the snowflake die is Cat's Pajamas.

Have a great week, thanks for stopping by!

October SFYTT #2

2011-10-19T05:28:00.000-04:00

Here is another card I made with this month's SFYTT. I used Teeny Trees from our sponsor Waltzingmouse Stamps to make a little scene.

The link above has all the details for SFYTT, there's still plenty of time to play along this month! Thanks for stopping by.

Thinking of You

2011-10-16T20:27:00.000-04:00

We made this at my card class last month. Probably one of the most basic stamping layout, but it always works!

I'm getting ready for another class this week, we are doing Christmas cards!

Thanks for stopping by.

MFTWSC41

2011-10-15T22:23:00.000-04:00

Phew, not much motivation or time to stamp this week, but I went downstairs to make this card today. I flipped the sketch and just started adding elements from this set (First Class Friend). Now that I look at it, the patterned paper doesn't really go. Oh well.

Have a great week, thanks for stopping by!

MFTWSC #40

2011-10-09T20:38:00.000-04:00

What a week, phew! Hubby and I were given the opportunity to go away for a few days, so we took it! We spent 2-1/2 wonderful days in NYC, we LOVE visiting there! The rest of the week was spent working on a project my church hired me to do. October is Pastor Appreciation Month, so many people wrote notes of gratitude/appreciation to our pastor, and it was my job to compile them into a book. It ended up being a 15-page 6x6 scrapbook-type album. I finished it yesterday afternoon, and I'm pretty proud of myself seeing as I don't scrapbook much (and I didn't have the notes to get started until last Sunday!)

I'm determined to do all the MFT sketches this year, so I went downstairs and knocked out #40 this afternoon:

Thanks for stopping by, hope you have a great week!

MFTWSC 39

2011-10-03T05:21:00.001-04:00

Here is #39 in the MFTWSC series:

These colors make me happy! I die-cut some hearts, adding some stamping to one and polka dots to the other. The sentiment is stamped on two strips, then I punched the ends with my photo corner punch to make flags. Finished it off with a button and some twine.

Thanks for stopping by!

MFT October Guest Designer Challenge

2011-10-01T10:50:00.000-04:00

**this is my second post for today, scroll down for SFYTT**

This month's Guest Designer challenge at MFT is to create Pretty Packaging. I had a few different thoughts on what to do, and finally ended up with this:

Frosted Christmas Roses

I wanted to do a Christmas package, but I don't have any MFT Christmas stamps, so I decided to show how you can use die-namics for ANYTHING!

To start, I die cut a Fancy Flourish out of scrap paper to make my stencil for the wrapping paper. I then sponged cream ink over the stencil, creating a patterned wrapping paper on my kraft cardstock. I wrapped the present, which is a clear plastic box filled with some MFT cards, of course! I knotted some May Arts gingham ribbon around the box, to which I attached my tag. To make the tag, I started with a 1-3/4" circle of cardstock as a base. I cut and rolled three large roses and glued them on the circle base. I added holly leaves cut from two colors of green cardstock, and two flags stamped with "christmas" and "joy". To frost the roses, I squeezed some Crystal Effects on the edges and dumped Sugar Dust on them, and let it dry overnight. After I cut the frame from First Class Friend, I added some pearls on the bottom and just slipped the open frame under the loose ends of the ribbon knot on the package. I used green Mono Multi to glue the rose base to the ribbon knot. That stuff is the best!

Here's a close-up of my frosted roses:

Thanks for stopping by, I am off to try to clean up Sugar Dust,

that stuff is worse than glitter!

October SFYTT

2011-10-01T08:00:00.021-04:00

It's October, and that means it's time for a new SFYTT!!!! Our sponsor this month is Waltzingmouse Stamps. I was really excited to finally get my hands on some of their stamps!

Here is the sketch for this month:

and here is what I did with it:

I used the teardrop shape from Teeny Trees to make a half flower as my focal point. I added a button as the flower center, some woodgrain background, and a polka-dot embossed kraft panel.

Thanks for stopping by!

September SFYTT - Take 2

2011-09-28T13:32:00.000-04:00

I decided to get a start on some Christmas cards, so I made one using this month's SFYTT.

I stamped some sheet music on the chocolate piece, embossed the kraft piece, and added some die-cut/stamped main images from PTI's Candy Cane Christmas. I notched the side of the card base to make it easier to tie my bow.
I hope you were able to play along with September's SFYTT, you still have a couple days left to play!

Thanks for stopping by.

MFTWSC #38

2011-09-26T05:00:00.000-04:00

Happy Monday, everyone! I was having a hard time deciding what stamps to use for this sketch, as my current MFT collection doesn't have an image that would work well with that gray panel. So I decided to leave the panel plain and make a little flower flourish

for the embellishment in the upper left corner. I cut several sizes of posies and worked the edges to give them volume.

Thanks for stopping by!

PTI September Blog Hop

2011-09-25T05:01:00.001-04:00

This month's challenge was this inspiration photo:

Inspiration photo challenges are not my favorite, but I saw the bold colors and lines and graphics and thought I could do this one. So I came up with this:

I trimmed an inch off the right side of the card base, then cut strips of cardstock to match the colors in the photo. I die-cut matching leaf borders to attach on top. The sentiment with matching addition and bow with hearts finish it off!

Off you go on the rest of the hop, check out Nichole's blog for more participants and inspiration! Thanks for stopping by.

FTL156

2011-09-23T04:40:00.000-04:00

Happy Friday, friends! Here's a bright baby card I made for FTL 156.

Any good plans for the weekend? My mom and I are heading to Amish country this afternoon to check out their meats/cheeses/bulk foods, and I'm excited about it! I've really made a conscious effort in the last year or so to get rid of as much processed foods and food-like substances from our diet as possible. I'm not going to get on my soapbox here, but let me just say fresh and preservative-free foods taste SO much better! We are not perfect by any means, I'm never going to get hubby to give up his sugar cereals, but we do the best we can. I read "In Defense of Food" recently and will never look at stuff in the grocery store the same way! My other favorite food book is the supermarket edition of "Eat This, Not That". Check them out if you are into food!

MFTWSC37

2011-09-21T13:56:00.000-04:00

This was one of those cards that I had finished several days ago, except for the *ahem* special flower I wanted to put on it. That is a rolled daisy, in case you can't tell. I must have tried rolling that thing 25 times and it still doesn't look great. I tried rolling it tight, loose, and any other way I could think of. Finally I gave up and said this is how it's going to be. My friend was so kind and told me it looks like a mum. I said it's supposed to be a daisy. She said well it looks like a flower. So there you go! My *special* flower.

Thanks for stopping by!

Thank You #3

2011-09-16T13:00:00.000-04:00

Just continuing my series of flat and easily-mailed thank you cards. I randomly stamped some text on the background, stamping twice before re-inking.
Keeping it short today, gotta go make sure the dining room table is cleared off for my stamp class tonight! I'll be showing you those samples soon.
Thanks for stopping by!

Thank You #2

2011-09-14T22:14:00.000-04:00

It seems lately that I need a LOT of thank you cards, which is a good thing. We are very blessed to have extremely generous family and friends. Hubby is on his way to feeling normal again, though he has a sinus infection and this weather change threw him for a loop today. It's supposed to drop into the 40's a few nights, brrrr! We were at 80 degrees yesterday.

The layout here is cased from the SU catty, and I played with some of the new in-colors. The flower dies are PTI, and the flower centers are Verve.

I'm busy getting ready for a stamp class Friday night, so that means $$$ to get some new stuff, yay! Plus, I sold a few more things. I don't like/am tired of my current Christmas stash, so a lot of it has found a new home, so I will be getting a few new Christmas things.

Thanks for stopping by!

SSC Star Sketch

2011-09-12T22:34:00.001-04:00

I made this months ago for a sketch challenge on the Simply Scrapping Crafts forum (unfortunately the owner had to close it due to health issues).

The sketch had 5 panels on the side, so I die-cut star borders out of 3 colors of cardstock and added the kraft sentiment strip all the way across the card front. Finished it off with a pop of orange ribbon! Stamp is from the Craft's Meow.

Thanks for stopping by!

FTL 156

2011-09-09T05:39:00.000-04:00

I hope you have your sunglasses handy for viewing this card! I obviously went very bright for my color choices here. I have always loved the SU cupcake set that has a bow stamp in it, but I already have a wonderful cupcake set and can't buy another. So it hit me that I could tie an actual bow on the wrapper! It only took me 2 years to come up with that idea, haha! The colors are calypso coral, poppy parade, lucky limeade (SU), and harvest gold (PTI).

MFT WSC 36

2011-09-08T11:41:00.000-04:00

Is it just me, or is the year flying by? It seems like I just started writing 2011 on stuff! Anyway, I pulled out Fred Bear for this week's MFT sketch and paired him up with some Salt Air paper by Cosmo Cricket.

Thanks for stopping by!

Make It Monday #2

2011-09-07T20:07:00.000-04:00

This is another card I made for this week's Make It Monday. I made it when I put aside my other idea that wasn't working yet. Stamps are from Wedding Day, stamped in white on blueberry sky on the bottom, and spring rain on white on the top.

Thanks for stopping by!

Make It Monday #1

2011-09-06T14:46:00.000-04:00

This week's Make It Monday challenge is to use non-background stamps to create a background. Immediately I thought of the big label stamp in Ad Sense and knew that's what I wanted to use. So I played around a bit with it, set it aside, came back to it, and this is what resulted:

And a multi-colored version:

Thanks for stopping by!

MFT Guest DT Challenge

2011-09-05T04:07:00.001-04:00

I didn't get to play along last month, so I wanted to make sure to play this time.

This month's MFT guest designer contest theme was Rip and Roll. This card turned out COMPLETELY different than the original vision in my head! But I like it. Maybe I'll be lucky enough to win one of these months. Nonetheless, these themes stretch me a bit, and look what happens:

A scrappy little card that I really love! I think I managed to pull off the theme

but still stay true to my CAS style. This paper was still sitting on my desk from the last time I stamped, so I used it again! I've gotten a lot better about using up stuff instead of saving it.

I ripped a panel and rolled lots of edges and corners and a felt flower. I stamped a faint text background on the sentiment panel, and layered some crochet trim over green ribbon for a peek of color.

Thanks for stopping by!

September SFYTT

2011-09-03T08:00:00.002-04:00

You may be wondering why I have my SFYTT card done now as opposed to the last few days of any given month, haha! That's because I'm now a SFYTT Sister!!!!!! I am excited to be joining the other sisters to bring you samples each month for these great sketches. Thanks, Jen, for inviting me to join you!

Here is September's sketch:

Here is my sample:

I really love black/yellow/gray, with a pop of green.

This month's sponsor is Skipping Stones Design, and be sure to check Jen's blog for all the details! I am off to check out what the other sisters did with this sketch. I hope you'll play along! Thanks for stopping by.

MFTWSC #35

2011-09-02T05:38:00.001-04:00

Wow, we are up to #35 already! Didn't this year just start? I don't want to know if you've already started your Christmas cards, lol!
I dug out some old Cosmo Cricket paper and used the colors in it pull this together. The blue and green cardstocks are a much better match IRL, they are kinda weird in this pic.

Thanks for stopping by!

FTL + cQc

2011-08-31T21:38:00.000-04:00

This week, we are teaming up with the ladies at colourQ for their 100th color challenge!

I made two cards for this challenge, one for when the sketch went live, and one for when the colourQ challenge went live. If you haven't checked out the combos on colourQ, you are missing out, they are just gorgeous!!!! I had a hard time picking just two.

I hope you will play along, thanks for stopping by!

Thank Yous - #1

2011-08-30T22:55:00.000-04:00

I sat down a few weeks ago to make some thank you cards for a friend, and here is the first one. I kept them all flat and simple, easy to mail. The sentiment is from a new Verve set that I won at their last release, yippee!

Thanks for stopping by. Hubby is officially done with radiation, so we are hoping he will be rid of the effects quickly and life will get back to normal.

MFTWSC #34

2011-08-28T22:15:00.000-04:00

Happy Monday! My little guy starts kindergarten today, yippee! I'm feeling excited and not emotional as he NEEDS to go to school, he is bored. On the other hand, I can't believe this day is here already - 5 years really isn't that long!

On to the card, MFTWSC #34:

I used more lucky limeade here, as well as wisteria wonder and concord crush. You can't tell in the pic, but I used the canvas/linen impression plate on the tilted concord crush panel.

Thanks for stopping by!

August SFYTT

2011-08-27T20:56:00.000-04:00

Where are the month's going? I realized I hadn't done the August SFYTT, and there's not too many days left in the month! Yikes! My very generous MIL bought me the new SU in colors, so I played with Lucky Limeade here. It's very close to old olive, but brighter. I like it! I used my cane IP (of course), and cut out and popped up the

melon mambo heart for some dimension.

Here's the info for the August SFYTT if you want to play along.

Thanks for stopping by!

MFT WSC 33

2011-08-21T21:43:00.000-04:00

Here's what I made for MFT WSC #33. I took a little liberty with the sketch because I've had these rainbow/cloud dies for a while and wanted to put them to use. The only stamping is the sentiment. Oh, and kindly ignore my horrible machine stitching. There's no variable speed on that thing, lol!

Thanks for stopping by!

FTL 136

2011-08-19T05:39:00.000-04:00

And here is the card I made for FTL136. It turned out kinda scrappy, don't you think?

I love that polka dot paper!

Thanks for stopping by, hope you are having a great week! We are hanging in there, hubby hasn't been feeling too great from the radiation. And he's been eating like a teenage boy from the steroid they put him on, yikes!!!!! At least I know what to look forward to when my son gets to that age, lol!

FTL 152

2011-08-18T05:47:00.000-04:00

I have several FTL's that I never got around to showing on this blog, so here is one to start with: FTL152. I love how this came together, and will definitely be making more of them. I cut the heart by hand, using the elementary art class trick of drawing half a heart on a folded piece of paper, cutting it out and using it as to trace on my patterned paper (which is from Scenic Route, I think). Dies and stamps are PTI's Wonderful Words and additions.

Thanks for stopping by!

Fun and a Little Retro

2011-08-17T05:10:00.000-04:00

This was a fun card to make! One reason it was fun is because I made it for no reason! The frame in the background is from PTI's Ad Sense, which I never gave a second thought to when it came out. All of sudden I started seeing it used and thought, hmmm, I really like that. So I snagged it a while ago from the buy/sell forum on the PTI board.
You can't really tell, but I stamped some of the little doo-dads from the set on the blue pinked layer.
Thanks for stopping by!

Whipped This Up...

2011-08-16T12:09:00.000-04:00

... Just For You!

Here's MFT WSC #32. I pulled out this a la mode (again) and colored her to match the fun paper. Kept the layers simple again.

Thanks for stopping by!

FTL + CAS-ual Friday

2011-08-12T12:33:00.001-04:00

This week, us girls at the Clean & Simple blog are teaming up with the girls at the CAS-ual Friday blog for a combined challenge! Here's my sample:

I stamped some text background on the base and clear embossed it before adding the stamped front panel.

I planned on posting more this week, but my son shared his sickness with me, so I was out for 2 days. And of course, I got it worse than he did! Ugh. But I'm better now, I even cleaned out and scrubbed the entire fridge this morning. Fun times!

Thanks for stopping by, hope you will be able to play along with us this week!

MFTWSC 31

2011-08-06T19:09:00.000-04:00

I used Fred Bear again for this week's MFT sketch. He is so cute! I can't wait to add more Fred Bear's to my collection! I pulled out some old October Afternoon patterned paper in the on-going quest to make a dent in my paper stash.

Thanks for stopping by!

Another CASE and Some Chatting

2011-08-04T11:03:00.000-04:00

I cased this from the new SU catalog, it's a different way to use those banners that are so popular in stamp-land these days. I don't have any banner dies, punches, or stamps, so I use my photo corner punch for the fish tail look, and varied the lengths.

Some of you were around when my DH went through cancer in 2008. I'm very sorry to say that it has returned. Over a month ago, his routine bloodwork came back flagged, and a PET scan showed renewed activity in the same general area as before. He is now going through radiation again, and will most likely be put on a maintenance chemo drug when that is done. To add to the stress of that, he lost his job almost 16 weeks ago. So we ask for your prayers for healing as well as for a job!
We have started a caringbridge page (HERE) if you are interested in reading the story and staying updated. I have also put a donation button on the left column of this blog, as I can't put it on caringbridge.

Thanks for stopping by!

MIM: Decreasing Apertures

2011-08-03T17:16:00.000-04:00

I know, it doesn't really sound like a card-making blog post title, but I promise it is! This week's Make It Monday technique is really fun. I was very much inspired by this card by Cristina.

And here's a close-up:

I embossed the black panel with the cane IP (of course!),

and stamped the inside-most flower and leaf parts with Bitty Background Blocks.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

stamps - Bitty Background Blocks, Think Big Faves #6

paper - kraft, white, black, hawaiian shores, aqua mist, raspberry fizz, hibiscus burst, new leaf, certainly celery, vellum

ink - white, black

acc - cane IP, beautiful blooms dies, sending you dies, button dies, dimensionals

MFTWSC #30

2011-08-02T15:34:00.000-04:00

Here's what I made for MFTWSC 30, I went pretty simple on the layers. The cane impression plate and a large dots embossing folder add texture to the bottom layers. I cut out a pink scallop, then flipped the negative upside-down on top to create a cool oval-y thing. I added pearls to the sentiment layer as well as the scallop strip.

Thanks for stopping by!

July SFYTT

2011-07-30T14:11:00.000-04:00

Just sneaking in the SFYTT for July. Phew, that was close! I went very simple with the layers on this one. I had originally stamped the sentiment in white ink, but smeared it because the patterned paper doesn't soak up the ink, so plan B was to stamp it, punch it out, and put it right over the smear! Problem solved!
Thanks for stopping by!

PTI SAF Challenge 10

2011-07-26T16:39:00.000-04:00

The last PTI SAF challenge was to add a stamped focal point over a

stamped background, all in the same layer. This is the only challenge I was able to play along with, but it's one of my favorite techniques. And I am NOT a technique kind of stamper.

I started by stamping the polka dots in soft sky, then added the flourish/stem in early espresso, and the flowers in baja breeze. I am trying to remember that leaves and stems don't always have to be green! There are some very cool graphic and modern designs using other-colored leaves and such. So I tried it here. I stuck with my blue/brown theme by adding a sentiment on kraft and some kraft seam binding. This is my first attempt at a double bow. It's okay, but I need more practice! Some rhinestones in the flower centers finish things off.

Thanks for stopping by!

MFTWSC29

2011-07-25T11:25:00.000-04:00

I inked up this a la mode for this week's sketch. Colored her up and pieced the cups. I made this yesterday after not having stamped for a week. My SIL and I had a garage sale and my stamping table got pressed into service. The good thing is we made some decent money and my stamp space is all clean again, lol!

Thanks for stopping by!

MFTWSC28

2011-07-18T09:29:00.000-04:00

Here is MFTWSC #28. I used Super Kid for this sketch, and then had my super kid model it. I get so frustrated with photos of cards. I edit them in Picasa and they look fine, but somewhere along the way to uploading them here, they get blurry. Ugh.

Well, it's garage sale week around here, so I will be busy getting ready for that. And of course it's going to be the hottest weekend of the summer. I'm already melting just thinking about it. Thanks for stopping by!

White-On-White Wedding

2011-07-13T10:01:00.000-04:00

I really had to make a lot of wedding cards this summer! I think I am done now,though.

I have seen a lot of white-on-white wedding cards, and decided this was the perfect time to try it myself. I love it! Are you sick of the Cane IP yet? :)

The paper I used here is shimmery white, it adds so much to the elegance of the card. The sentiment is from an old SU set I've had forever, and it fit perfectly in the frame from Verve. Flowers and leaves are also Verve.

And a big happy 5th birthday to my little guy!

Thanks for stopping by!

Red, White, and Blue Weddings

2011-07-12T02:03:00.001-04:00

I had to make cards for two Fourth of July weekend weddings.

The color scheme for one of the weddings was red/white/blue, so it was a

fun chance to make a non-traditional wedding card.

The color scheme for the second one was mainly light blue,

but I went ahead and added some red hearts.

Can you tell I just love that Cane impression plate?

Just wait, I have one more wedding card to post that also uses it!

Thanks for stopping by!

Catching Up on Some MFT Cards

2011-07-09T13:57:00.000-04:00

While my computer was out of commission last week, I still managed to

get my MFT cards done and posted (thanks to my mom!).

This first one is MFTWSC #26:

MFT Guest Designer Contest - a Touch of Texture:

And MFTWSC #27 (this week's sketch):

Thanks for stopping by!

Congratulations!

2011-07-07T22:09:00.000-04:00

Well, I certainly didn't intend to disappear for a week. My computer came down with a virus, and I finally got it back today. I did steal my mom's laptop the last 2 days so I wasn't completely cut off from the online world, but I still have some catching up to do. And right before my computer went down, I had finally caught up on my google reader. I haven't checked it in a week, so I know it's going to be super full again!

I made this for a friend to give as a wedding card. The colors were pink and green, and the layout is cased from Dawn McVey, I'm pretty sure.

Thanks for stopping by!

PTI Posse - Before and After

2011-06-29T22:59:00.000-04:00

Our second June PTI Posse challenge was to pick a card we had made that we weren't quite happy with and re-do it.

Here is the card I picked:

I liked the stamped background, but the rest of the card didn't come together well. Too stark and harsh, the bow is too big, and the sentiment is just kinda floating there.
So here is the after:

Much better! I kept the background but added some flourishes. Made the bow smaller and added the gray to the color combo. I really like this card now!

Thanks for stopping by!

PTI Posse June Challenge #1

2011-06-25T04:37:00.001-04:00

Cathy is our PTI Posse hostess this month, and the first challenge she issued was to use something trendy. So I went with a doily.

The layout here is adapted from a card I saw in the new SU catty (I noted almost 40 layouts I want to work on).
I cut two butterflies and ran them through my Big Shot with the cane IP (by far my new fave thing EVER!), then attached one in the middle. I'm really happy with how this turned out! I also have the next challenge finished, I just need to photog it. Then I have the two challenges from April to catch up on.

Thanks for stopping by!

June SFYTT

2011-06-24T10:31:00.001-04:00

I kind of unofficially have two stamping goals this year: 1 - play along with all the MFT WSC challenges (I'm 25 for 25!!!), and 2 - play along with all of Jen's SFYTT sketches. Here is #6, I'm right on track!
Seeing all the super adorable Cat's Pajamas peeks this week made me want to break out those stamps, so I did for June's SFYTT. The sentiment says, "Forget the cake, go for the icing". I suppose that's true for most people, but it's the opposite for me. Give me that moist delicious chocolate cake (there isn't any other kind cake could be, in my book, haha)! So there you go, a random fact about me. I like cake better than frosting.

Thanks for stopping by!

MFTWSC 25

2011-06-23T22:27:00.000-04:00

We are up to #25 in the MFT weekly stamp club sketch challenges, wow! Where is time going??? I told my hubby that by the end of this month, we'll be half way back to Christmas. Crazy!!!! And my little baby will be 11 months old already. Double crazy!!!

I thought this quote balloon paper was perfect with this a la mode girl. I just love the a la modes, sigh.

Thanks for stopping by!

Boy Birthday

2011-06-21T04:06:00.000-04:00

My son had a birthday party to attend over the weekend,

so this is the card I made for his little friend.

This was fun to color, and I really like the font choices in the sentiments of this set.
Hope your week is off to a good start!

Make-It Monday: Reverse Masking

2011-06-20T17:06:00.000-04:00

This week's Make-It Monday is to use reverse masking.

I pulled out the dress form die and went to work. I cut out the dress form using my Big Shot, and used the negative as my mask. I stamped some text in chocolate and then stamped the gingham in crumb cake to mimic the texture of a real dress form. I then put the actual die cut form on top of what I had just stamped, and then stamped the leaf sprig over that. So I actually used two forms of masking here! I finished it off with some crochet trim and flower at the waist, and a raspberry fizz scallop piece and a loopy piece of ribbon with a button.

Thanks for stopping by!

MFTWSC #24

2011-06-16T17:44:00.000-04:00

Here is my entry for MFTWSC24, I used Fred Bear again, I can't help it:

I used some machine stitching on the two main panels as well as the scallop strip. The sentiment is actually two stamps, but I used them both on the front of the card instead of putting "every single time" on the inside. This came together pretty quickly for me, in spite of the many layers (SO not my usual style)!

I hope you've had a great week!

MFTWSC #23

2011-06-10T03:22:00.000-04:00

Here's this week's MFT sketch card. I went simple and straightforward with the sketch. Thanks to my friend Lisa for the stamps!

My good friend loaned me her Big Shot, and then my new one came yesterday!!!!! I couldn't believe it, I wasn't expecting it for at least a week! I think that's the fastest I've EVER gotten anything from SU, haha! So I'm back in business.

I'm always on the lookout for new recipes to try, I get bored and tired of the same things. So here is what was for dinner last night: Steak Burritos (from Eating Well). Soooo good! Though we skipped the guac because my hubby doesn't like it. I wrapped the bottoms in tin foil and my almost-5 year old thought that was so cool! He ate almost the whole thing too. Let me know if you try it and like it!

AMuse CASE

2011-06-08T13:07:00.000-04:00

Do you know how hard it is to make a card without my Big Shot???

I kept reaching for my dies and impression folders, haha!

This card was cased from the cover of the Amuse Studio catalog:

The sentiment was originally stamped right on the base, but I messed it up, so it became a strip instead! Stamps are all Verve.
Thanks for stopping by!

MFT June Guest Designer Contest and BAD Stamping News!!!!

2011-06-05T21:59:00.001-04:00

Here is my entry for the MFT June guest designer contest. The challenge was to Get Personal (personalize something). Right away I knew I wanted to make a baby card for our former neighbors, I just had to make it work with my limited MFT stash! So I thought Fred Bear would do the trick. I did have to use non-MFT alphabet and sentiment sets, though.

I cut out the daisies and popped them up, then created a name banner with the Perfect Posies die. The flowers are strung together with crochet trim that I cut in half so it was skinnier. I put a dimensional on the back of each flower to hold them in place.

So the bad news is MY BIG SHOT BROKE before I finished cutting out the flowers/centers!!!!! The shaft (where the handle connects on the inside) snapped in half!

I couldn't believe it! I bought it when I was an SU demo, so I called them right up. GOOD NEWS, it was still under warranty so they are sending me a brand new one! If you bought a Big Shot from SU the warranty is good for 3 three years, and mine would have been up in October, so the timing was pretty good, phew! Now, how to finish this card WITHOUT the one thing I use on every card. I thought about tracing the die and cutting them out, I thought about running to my friend's house to use her machine, and then I tried something:

I turned the die cutting side up, put my scrap paper on it, and then did a "rubbing" with the metal edge of one of my small hand held punches. That created a nice groove for my scissors (I used paper snips) to follow, and so I was able to finish the card. So yes, all 5 flowers PLUS their sunburst-y centers were cut out by hand. You would never know if I hadn't told you, not bad, huh?

Thanks for stopping by, hope your week is off to a great start!