Pretty In Ink -- Adventures in Paper Crafts

More Mother Love...

2011-05-09T17:00:00.005-04:00

Hi bloggin' buddies! :)

Spring is the word of the week here in Maryland. We are having the most absolutely perfect weather. We generally sleep with the windows open here, and I can't tell you how much it delights me to wake to the sounds of birds chirping. I really can't think of much in the world that makes me more upbeat than a beautiful spring day.

This week, our rhododendron is finally in full bloom. I have to tell you, it is the largest rhododendron bush I have *ever* seen. Everything I've read said that rhododendrons only ever get 4-8 feet tall, but ours is pushing 10 or 11 feet! That has to set some kind of record, right?!

(In all honesty, it probably needs a bit -- or a lot-- of pruning, but I can't bear to cut it!).

Since I'm in a pink mood, I thought I'd also share another card that I put together for Mother's Day.

This card was for my mother-in-law. I again pulled out the MFT Die-namics (the rolled flower and the layered label) to make quick work of this card.

I inked the edges of all of the layered dies to make the colors pop a bit and pasted them and my rolled flowers on the card front. I finished it all off with a bit of waxed twine and some tiny letter stickers.

Thanks for stopping by! Hope spring is springing up near you too!

Enjoy your evening! :)

Happy Mother's Day! :)

2011-05-08T07:47:00.004-04:00

Hello out there!

Just popping in to wish all the wonderful women out there a very Happy Mother's Day! I hope that your loved ones are near by and that you get to spend a beautiful day loving them.

I couldn't be with my mom today, but I wanted to share the card I made for her with all of you.

I used the rolled flower die from MFT to cut out and assemble some pretty orange roses and popped them on a background of yellow and green papers, with a touch of lace. The last touch was a cute little sentiment pennant and some hand-cut leaves that I inked up a bit. Easy peasy. :)

I hope all the mothers out there have a beautiful day. Go pig out at brunch or something! :)

Love you mom! You're the bestest!

Enjoy your day. Thanks for stopping by.

What a BEAUTIFUL Day!

2011-04-30T11:48:00.003-04:00

Well, I don't know what the weather is like by you, but here in Maryland, it is the most perfectly superb beautiful spring day. I slept with the windows open last night and woke up to sunny rays floating over my bed and birds chirping in the distance. Divine. So I had every intention of trying to be outside a bit today.

Unfortunately, because of my back problems, my mind is usually way ahead of my body! :) I thought I could lay out some garden bed edging because how hard is that, really? Well, as it turns out, the answer is too hard for me. It's definitely a 2-person job, or at the very least a one-person who doesn't mind repetitive bending job. Plus, my back's been bothering me more recently for some reason, so I guess it was wishful thinking, any way. So that rules out my plans for the day, since my hubby is out of town.

Oh well.

So instead, I thought I'd relax a bit and come share a card I made a while back for my husband.

My husband almost exclusively gets robot-themed cards (don't know why -- they just remind me of him, I guess...), but this time I decided to change it up a bit with a stamp by Kim Hughes for the now out-of-business Cornish Heritage Farms.

Hehehe Who doesn't love a skate-boarding monster? ;)

Okay, I think I've resolved myself to being extra lazy today. How does that sound? ;) So thanks for stopping by! I hope you have a beautiful day!

One Last Card Set...

2011-04-22T20:50:00.004-04:00

Hey there! :)

I'm about to run and pick up my mom from the airport, and I remembered that I still had one last set of cards to share with you. This is another set that I made for a NICU silent auction charity that my friend was involved in.

Once again, I was looking for something that I could produce quickly and easily. Which meant paper-piecing (since, for me, that is much quicker than coloring in large areas). I picked some fun patterned papers, paper-pieced to my hearts content, added some buttons and rub-ons, and voila!

Of course, the fact that I had such awesome images (DoodleFactory Classic Decor) to work with didn't hurt!

Sorry so short, but I don't want to leave my mom hanging!

Enjoy your evening, and thanks for stopping by! :)

Extra Carrots, Please!

2011-04-19T10:16:00.003-04:00

Hi friends! :)

I don't know about you all, but I am getting a little tired of this wishy-washy spring weather. Here in Maryland, it keeps going from being beautiful out one day to rainy and cold (and windy!) the next. And we have notoriously bad weather prediction here. So I never know when I can get anything done outside. I'm a planner at heart, so that kind of makes me bonkers!

Today it's super overcast (and is supposed to be thunderstorming any minute now), so I thought I'd post a bright and cheery (and Easter-appropriate) project that I made yesterday to brighten up this day a little.

My in-laws are notoriously hard to buy gifts for. We always wrack our brains trying to think of presents for them, and this year we were all out of ideas. At the very last minute, I thought of this idea: I'd "subscribe" them in a granola-of-the-month club. And by "subscribe," I mean I'd make them a batch every month and send it out. :)

It's a fun idea, because it means I get to think of seasonally-appropriate recipes for each month of the year and create something yummy with it. Last month (since it was cold and rainy all month), they got "I've got the blues" blueberry mango granola. This month, I thought since it was Easter, I would craft a carrot cake granola for them.

Once I was done with the granola, I packaged it up and added a fun and cheery tag. And there's nothing cheerier (in my mind, anyhow) then two lovery-dovey smiling carrots, a la Paper Smooches. ;)

To make the tag, I printed out "April" and "24 Carrot Carrot Cake Granola" on white cardstock. The fonts that I used are "Caitlyn" and "CK Slim Mitch." Then I colored in the letters of "April," cut the paper in to a free-form cloud shape, and inked the edges. When I was finished, I colored the carrot images and a heart with Copic Markers and white gel pen, popped them on to my tag, and created a few more fun layers.

I hand-craft my granolas without a recipe, so I'm afraid that I don't have one to share. But I can give you an ingredients list that you can use to whip up some of your own, if you need a last minute Easter basket filler or hostess gift:

Ingredients:
old fashioned oats
pureed cooked carrots
raw shredded carrots
pureed pineapple
mashed banana
maple syrup
coconut nectar (found at Whole Foods, but you could just use more maple syrup)
walnuts
raisins
cinnamon
nutmeg
ginger
salt

I bake it at 350 degrees, checking it and stirring it every 10 minutes until it's crisp (which usually takes a bit over an hour).

Once the granola was crisped up, I drizzled a *very* small amount of glaze over the top of it, to give it that true carrot cake with frosting taste. I made the glaze out of powdered sugar, water and vanilla.

I'm off to clean up a little (a lot). My mom is coming to visit this week, plus we're having about 8 people over for Easter lunch. And because of all the construction around here, the place is a M.E.S.S.! Nothing says "Welcome to our home" like a construction dumpster in the driveway! ;)

Enjoy your day. Thanks for stopping by!

Spring is in the Air...

2011-04-18T11:10:00.004-04:00

At least over here it is. :) I'm so happy that the weather is finally shaping up... which partially explains my lax blogging. This time of year, there's just so much going on outside that it's hard to keep up! :)

I do have a quick share for you guys, though. :)

It just so happens that I am one of the newest "Hybrid Chicks" for the digichick. What's a Hybrid Chick, you ask? Well, it's simply someone who prints out digital supplies (like papers, stamps, embellishments, etc.) and then combines them with non-digital supplies to create something. This is my first project that I did for the team, and I had such a blast creating with all the fantastic supplies.

I made this little gift for Administrative Professional's Day for my husband's admin, but wouldn't this also be a perfect little Easter gift? Or fantastic for Mother's Day? I think so. You should head on over to my post on the Hybrid Chick, where I give a full tutorial on how to make it along with a supply list (including where you can pick up that yummy paper!) and a lot more pictures.

On another note, there's still much to be done over here. :) The basement drywall is all done, and painting begins this week (hooray!). We're also getting all new solid wood doors for the entire house this week. Then all we have left are floors and cabinets/countertops for the laundry room, and we can call it a day! So excited!

Hope everyone is having a good start to their week. I'm off to mail my taxes in (refund-- yes!). Wish me luck that the line at the post office isn't insane. :)

Enjoy your day and thanks for stopping by!

Another Card Set...

2011-04-10T09:37:00.005-04:00

Hello Hello. :)

Long(ish) time, no talk. Things are crazy around here. The basement project is in full swing now. The space is all framed up, the plumbing and electrical are in, and the initial inspections are this week. Then it's drywall and painting. Can't wait for it all to be done. All this pounding and sawing are starting to get on my nerves. :) I've been doing as much as I can to stay out of the house as much as possible, so I don't go completely bonkers.

This past week, they also added a sliding door to our kitchen. I cannot believe how much light and visual space it adds to the room. I think this might be the best thing we've ever done. Here is the before and the (mostly done) after. They still need to drywall around it and finish the install. It's too bad I don't have a better before pic. It really does make all the difference.

In addition to all that, we area also gearing up for some major landscaping plans around here. We are ripping up about 1/2 of our front yard and at least 1/2 of our back yard to put in an extensive organic veggie, herb and perennials garden. We are just barely starting now, and it seems like so much work. I hope it ends up being less time-intensive that I anticipate.

Anyhow, enough about all that. :) I wanted to come back and share another one of the card sets that I put together for the NICU charity auction. :)

I picked up a beautiful set of My Mind"s Eye stamps about a month ago, and I immediately knew what I wanted to do with them. These cards came together rather quickly, since there was nothing that I had to color. :)

Aren't those lacey stamps so pretty? :) I inked them up in varying shades and then inked around all the edges to make the panels pop a little. Then I added a little Lasting Impressions rub-on and some buttons and called it a day.

Hope you're having a productive or fun weekend (or both!). Thanks for stopping by.

Enjoy your day!

I Survived! :)

2011-04-04T09:50:00.003-04:00

Hi friends!

Yes, I survived the past two weeks and have learned to tell about it. Actually, no, I don't want to tell about it. I just want to get on with my life! :)

The basement renovation is in full effect, and everything is framed out at this point. This week is a bunch of county inspections, and then they are proceeding with drywall! I can't wait for it to all be done (though I don't know if I will be able to get used to silence again. My contractors are insanely hard workers and work basically 13+ hour days -- which means banging and hammering all day long.). :)

Part of what had me so busy this last week was that I had offered to make some card sets for a NICU fundraiser that a friend of mine was involved in. I was quite literally up against the wire trying to get these done, since we were leaving to go out of town for a few days and she needed them in her hands. So I decided to go super simple in the designs.

Today I'll share the first set I made. I pulled out my un-inked Inspired by - Flowers Set #1 from MFT and created a set of six cards with two different designs. Once I came up with the initial layout, these cards came together in a flash.

I don't often do quick cards, so this isn't what I'd consider my usual style, but I think they came out okay, considering. I hope they help to bring in some cash for the newborns! :)

That's it for today. It's a beautiful day here in Maryland -- hope it's nice for you as well.

Enjoy your day. Thanks for stopping by! :)

Are We There Yet?

2011-03-22T16:06:00.003-04:00

Hellloooo out there! :)

Whew, this has been a crazy busy week -- and it's about to get crazier. We found out today that our contractor is going to "break ground" on our basement remodel Thursday or Friday. Which would be great, except that we're expecting house guests Friday. So in the midst of the mad-dash cleaning that always happens the week someone comes to visit, we also have a mad-dash effort to get all our junk out of the basement and to somehow find a place for it in a house that has no garage or storage space ;). And then Monday we're set to leave for Pittsburgh for a few days. And next Friday, we're scheduled to have a large-ish recruiting event for grad students here at our house. Oy vey. I am ready for this week (2 weeks, really) to be over. ;)

So, I'm expecting posts to be a little more brief for a while. Hope you understand if I don't chatter your ears off and just show you the goods.

So here are the goods. LOL

I got a little help with this card via another adorable PI image by MFT.

I gave the card to my hubby's dad and step mom (It was a thank you card for them taking us on a cruise). I thought it was appropriate (and wishful thinking!) to share it today, now that spring is on its way and summer follows shortly behind! :)

Thanks for stopping by! Enjoy your day and wish me luck with the next week or so. I definitely need it! :)

Another Reject...

2011-03-18T15:27:00.002-04:00

Hi there! :)

I'm back with another card that got rejected from the latest Paper Crafts Magazine call.

The theme of this call was "canvas," meaning that we had to use canvas in some way in our project. I had some scrap canvas lying around, so I decided to put it to use. Here's what I came up with.

I stamped this gorgeous holly image from Starving Artistamps in brown ink on my piece of canvas. Before cutting it out, I glued it to some thick cardstock, to give it a little stability. Gluing it on the cardstock helped to keep the edges fraying on it, too.

The rest is pretty self-explanatory. I just stitched around the edge of a layer in floss, popped a couple more layers on and added a scalloped border that I cut from cork using a die from Papertrey Ink. Then I tied on a twine ribbon, added some buttons and the sentiment from the same stamp set, and it was done.

REJECT! :) Oh well. At least I have a holiday card done now. One down, 100-some to go! ;)

To see some of the other projects that got the stamp of rejection, you can head on over to Amber's blog. She's hosting a reject blog hop. Pretty amusing (and some great cards! I'm in good company!).

Enjoy your weekend! Thanks for stopping by!

I'm a Triple Reject Today!

2011-03-17T17:17:00.004-04:00

Well, apparently St. Paddy's Day isn't lucky for everyone. :)

As I mentioned yesterday, Paper Smooches was picking a guest designer this month, and the name was drawn today. And (in case you can't tell by the title of this post) it wasn't my name. Oh well. Better luck next month. And I still really like the card I made for the call, so that's all that matters.

In addition, I had submitted two cards to the Paper Crafts Magazine call this month, and I found out today that neither of them made it. So it was a triple whammy sort of day! I made all three cards this week, so maybe it just wasn't my week.

The silver lining to that cloud is that now I get to share the cards I made for the call. :) And since this one is so colorful and contains orange and green, it's practically PERFECT for St. Patrick's Day (okay, maybe that's a big stretch, but I'm going with it.)!

The call was for a circus-themed card, so I got out my yet-to-be-inked circus set by My Cute Stamps. I thought the animals would be really funny all stacked one atop the other, so that's what I did. It looked better in my head than it worked out in paper, but I'm okay with that. It still makes me smile.

I colored the animals with Copics, and I went really simple on the coloring this time. Usually I shade all over the place for a really long time. These images were on the small side, and I was in kind of a hurry, so I just basically filled in the animals with bright colors. Super easy (especially when you're a Copic marker hoarder like I am!).

Once the animals were made, I made the card base. I took some green, slightly patterned paper and used watermark ink to add the pennant background to add a little extra circus flavor (the pennant is a new release by Taylored Expressions). Then I added a scalloped edge, a small blue strip, a bright fun ribbon, and called it a day.

I really thought the card needed a sentiment, but for the life of me, I couldn't figure out the right place for one the day I was submitting it. I think I have a good idea now, though, so I might still modify the card a bit later. :)

Hope everyone has had better luck than I have today! Have a safe and happy evening, whether you're celebrating or not!

Thanks for stopping by! Enjoy your day!

Digging Some Paper Smooches...

2011-03-16T15:29:00.008-04:00

Hellloooo bloggin' buddies! ;)

Have you guys seen the new line of stamps designed by Kim Hughes? The first release was two months ago, and I have been absolutely smitten ever since. Each image is just filled with happiness.

So imagine my delight when I saw this month that Kim was going to be picking a guest designer for the month of April! I just had to play along -- I mean, how cool would that be?! Kim has been one of my stamping idols since I first found her blog many years ago, and it would be so fabulous to have the chance to work with her.

So I got a little stampy this morning with a set I got in the mail last week. I bought the set for the adorable beaver, fish and dog images, but this morning it was the worm that caught my eye!

Heheh! They're too funny.

To make the card, I layered some fun new October Afternoon paper on kraft cardstock. Then I colored the worms with Copics (I gave them ridges like real worms, of course)!

I glued the worms behind a panel of brown Core'dinations paper that I scuffed up a little to look like dirt. I added a triple ribbon treatment, tied on some buttons and finished the card off with the super cute sentiment tag. And finally, I added some Glossy Accents to the worms' eyes to make them really "pop."

Not my usual color scheme... not a stamp I would have normally started with... but it's just what inspired me today! :)

Wish me luck! :)

Enjoy your day, and thanks for dropping by!

A Colorful Post...

2011-03-14T20:36:00.007-04:00

Hi there! :)

Hope everyone had a fab weekend! Ours was super busy (way busier than last weekend when we spent the entire weekend lounging in our pajamas!), but it was nice to change it up a bit.

Before I share a card today, I thought I'd share the flower arrangement I put together for a friend whose house we had dinner at Sunday night. They are kosher and specifically asked that we not bring any food or drink... so I thought flowers were the perfect hostess gift... especially since there are such beautiful spring colors popping up in the markets these days.

Amazing what some grocery store tulips and spray roses can turn in to, eh? :) The woman who I gave it to asked me how I got it so tightly packed. Practice. (And I still need a lot more!) But, the fact that I was a florist's assistant in another life doesn't hurt, either.

Switching gears entirely, I wanted to post a card I made for my hubby's birthday back in February (I'm slowly catching up!). I don't very often make my husband a card that doesn't include at least one robot, and this was no exception. In fact, this time I went CRAZY with robots! :)

These robots were just so happy looking that I knew they'd look adorable with party hats on. And thus, a card was born! :)

Do you know what I like most about this card? I was EASY! And quick! I don't often use stamps that don't require some kind of coloring, but every time I do, I wonder why I don't do it more often. Cards go together in a flash. These particular robots are from My Cute Stamps. And their stamps are (seriously cute, that is!).

I chalked a piece of white cardstock, stamped the robots in black ink and then added colorful party hats. After stamping the hats, I went over each one with a Copic Spica pen for a little added glimmer. Then I just layered on a bunch of panels, tied a ribbon, and finished the card off with some sparkly letters. Super simple.

My hubby and I have gotten super competitive in Jeopardy and have been watching ever since the Watson computer was on. So I'm off to watch with him (and win, like always). ;)

Enjoy your evening, and thanks so much for stopping by!

Some More Oldies But Not Very Goodies...

2011-03-13T11:19:00.010-04:00

;)

Back with more "vintage Kathy" cards. I think it's fun to see the progression from older to newer. :)

First up is an altered folder I made for a friend.

This one I (surprisingly) kind of like. To think... I actually submitted this card with a job application to Stampin' Up. Hahha!

Hrm....

Trying to get creative with my ribbon...

Another cow card (I really loved that set. At the time it was one of the few sets I owned!)...

Address books..

What the heck?!

EEK! This one is bad!

Um....? No idea, sorry. But I do remember that the silver loop was an old earring!

This is an altered CD and isn't *horrible,* I guess...

Getting better...

I seemed to have a lot of problems getting my layers right back then!

My very first "layout!"

CATS!

I remember being SO proud of this card and thinking it was gorgeous! LOL

Two cards for a "fruit" challenge. I didn't have any fruit stamps, so I cut fruit in half, dried it out a bit and then stamped with the halves...

Wow. Just wow. Rio, Maui, Camp?! Seriously?

These two are from right after I first discovered Basic Grey. I was obsessed with it.

And finally, two using clippings from a magazine. I'm actually quite fond of the geisha one...

Thank you for indulging me in a little look back. That's it for the oldies! I'll be back tomorrow with something "new and improved!" :)

Enjoy your day. Thanks for stopping by.

A Walk Down Memory Lane...

2011-03-12T22:31:00.005-05:00

Today was the most frustrating day. I was trying to finalize the layout for our basement laundry room using the IKEA online software, and it kept crashing on me. Granted, the computer that I was running it on was one that my husband built himself from scratch in 2001! I decided that it was so virused out that I needed to do a major update on it. So I started deleting files, reinstalled a bunch of stuff, ran a spyware scanner (there were over 5000 infected files -- yikes!!!) and finally defragmented it. That's a bunch of nerdy talk for "I cleaned house." After I was done, the computer seemed much faster and less annoying, but wouldn't you know it, the IKEA software still crashed. Sigh. Maybe I should take that as a bad omen. :) I ended up drawing multiple layouts by hand.

Anyhow, while I was clearing out files, I found some verrrrry old crafting files -- cards from the "early days." The folder of cards I found were from right after I first started crafting regularly. I thought it would be fun to post a bunch of them over the next couple of days as a good laugh. These are NOT meant to be inspiring! Honestly, I don't know how I ever saw these fit enough to send to anyone! :)

The earliest of the earliest is one that I made for my husband's aikido instructor back in 2003. I made the card base and the hakama (the garb they wear in class), and my husband tied the ends the way he did on the real garment. The folding is awesome (thanks hubby!). The card is otherwise pretty bad.

And then some others, with commentary as needed. ;)

My husband convinced me that the basket would make a great umbrella... I'm not so sure about that one. ;)

The colors don't even match!

I must have really been a fan of the red and black back then, huh?

That last one even got picked up by PaperCrafts Magazine! (And in case you're wondering, I made the stamps for the "DAD" out of potatoes. ;)

Ok, that's enough embarrassment for one night. Be back tomorrow with more. ;)

Thanks for stopping by!

Another Day, Another Gift...

2011-03-11T17:19:00.003-05:00

Hi there! :)

It has been a long and crazy week here. We finally committed (today!) to complete a major basement renovation that we've wanted to do since we moved in. This week has been filled with sourcing fixtures and tile and flooring and all that good stuff. We're nervous because we've never dealt with such a large-scale project before but are excited to have it all done and to have a fully-finished house. And even if things go wrong, it can't look as bad as it does now! ;)

I've got more sourcing to do this weekend, but before that I thought I'd pop on and share another desk set that I made for my little cousin for Christmas.

This set is similar to the one I posted a few days ago, except that it's a lot bolder and girlier. :) I totally adore my little cousin. A few years ago, someone was holding a contest to re-do a kid's room, and she won. They decked out her room in oranges and flowers. I thought this set would go well with the theme.

I used papers and embellishments by My Mind's Eye and just sort of let the creative juices flow! :) One of the things I love the most about handmade gifts is that it gives you a chance to reflect on the person the entire time you're making something for them.

I'm off to research shelving. :) Enjoy your weekend, and thanks for stopping by! :)

Snow Bunny...

2011-03-09T11:47:00.005-05:00

Hey there. :)

I took a couple days off of blogging to get caught up on some other things around here. I hope you didn't think I was gone for good (again). I'm back now, and I wanted to pop in with a quick card share.

In May, I'm going to be a bridesmaid in a wedding of a great friend who was actually a bridesmaid in my wedding a few years back. Last weekend was her bachelorette bash. The party involved going skiing and then going snowshoeing through a chocolate festival afterward. Sounds fun, right?

Unfortunately, I couldn't go, because I still was getting over my surgery and wasn't healed enough. Plus, with all my back issues I don't ski, and snowshoeing probably would have had me laid up in bed for a month! Bummer, really. I really wanted a way to participate from afar, so I decided to put together a giant care package of different gourmet chocolates and send it to her. In the box, I put a ton of different chocolate bars, hot cocoa mix, chocolate-flavored tea, and homemade "nutella."

And since the weekend not only revolved around chocolate but skiing, too, I decided to include this card.

I really don't know why, but I haven't pulled out my TCP stamps in a long while. I keep buying them (I'm such a collector!), but then I never get around to using them. That needs to change! They have some of the cutest images on the market, and this one is no exception!

heheh! That bunny is so cute!

I colored the bunny with copic markers. To make the pattern on the scarf and skis, I colored the scarf a medium-green and then used my colorless blender to make the lighter dots. Then I went back in and added some darker dots for contrast.

As a final touch, I added some liquid applique snow to his ears and some glossy accents shine to his nose. :)

Welp, that's it for today. I need to keep my momentum going and get things done around here! :)

Hope everyone's having a great week! Thanks for stopping by!

New Blog Design, Blog Roll Revamped... and a Crafty Treat!

2011-03-02T15:31:00.007-05:00

First the crafty treat! :)

I'm back to Christmas gifts. Here's a small gift that I made for the teenage daughter of my uncle's girlfriend. I had never met her before making this gift. The only information that I had about her was that she fawned over the advent calendar that I had made for my mom last Christmas and that she liked blue -- as in denim blue. :) How's that for lots of information?

So I sorted through my paper pile and picked out some colors that I thought fit the bill and got to work. Here's the desk set that I came up with for her.

The wooden "bag" was a blank wooden piece that I picked up at the local craft store. I thought it would make a cute pencil holder. I painted it first with acrylic paint and then traced pieces of patterned paper to fit the various sides, inside and out. Then I sanded the edges a bit and embellished it up!

I kept the embellishing kind of simple. I added a metal frame from my stash and backed it with some thin cork from the MFT store. I added a "KO" in brass letters (the girl's initials) and then added a funky bow that I created.

To make the bow, I started with a fabric strips flower that I had in my stash. I added a piece of old jeans on top of it (It's actually a belt tab) and then topped that with a copper brad from Stampin' Up. When I was done, I cut out a leaf shape from a coffee-shop cup holder and rubbed ink over it to highlight the pattern. I glued some scrap pieces of twine to it for an accent and then glued it to the back of the flower.

And here's a close-up of the clipboard in action.

The clipboard was really easy to make. I just covered a blank clipboard with patterned papers. I tried to make it not-too-cheesy, since she's a teenager, and I know they're picky. :) Once I was done covering the clipboard, I added another "KO" in wooden letters and tied on a twine bow.

In the end, I have no idea if she liked it. I was there when she opened it, and she seemed way more stoked for the $15 iTunes giftcard I popped in the top of the pencil holder. She's a teenager -- what can I really expect? :)

That's it for today, but before you go, a couple of quick announcements:

After a couple of years, I finally got around to updating my blogroll (which was *ridiculously* out-of-date). Hooray!

The new blog roll is broken up into categories:
Creative Crafting Blogs (just what it sounds like.)
Crafty Company Blogs (my favorite crafting companies' amazing blogs -- tons of inspiration here!)
Fantastic Food Blogs (my other love! Here you'll find lots of great recipes and ideas, both vegan and not even remotely vegan.)
Delightful Decor Blogs (home design and decor at its very best!)
Gorgeous Gardening Blogs (mostly veggie gardening, with a few other things thrown in)
Hilarious Humor Blogs (stuff that amuses me. Not always safe for work, so beware.)
Other Outstanding Blogs (other blogs that didn't quite fit anywhere else but that I couldn't bear to leave off the list)

This might seem like a lot of blogs, and if you think so, you should see my reader! In actuality, these are just the best of the best of the best. A tiny sampling of all my subscriptions!

In addition to the above, I'm also sharing my favorites from my reader each day. They're also in the sidebar (under the blogroll) and also separated by categories.
Beautiful Craftiness (crafty inspiration from all my subscriptions)
Healthy Vegan* (vegan recipes that *I* consider healthy.)
Vegan Treats* (more decadent, "in-moderation" vegan recipes)

*A note about the vegan blogs: In case you don't know, yes I am a vegan. :) Not a freak, not a complete weirdo, only partially a hippie -- I just happen to not eat meat, fish, poultry, dairy or eggs or buy products made from animals or animal by-products. Yes, that includes honey, chicken broth, and wool. :) I'm sharing these recipes just in case anyone's interested.

For the recipes, some of them are not completely vegan. In most cases, I have bookmarked these planning on using vegan substitutions for standard ingredients. Also, "healthy" means a lot of different things to different people. For the purposes of this link, it definitely does not mean low-fat or low calorie! In most cases, it means recipes low in sugar, wheat, soy, and processed junk and full of nutrients and vitamins. The vegan treats list includes a lot of dessert recipes but also many other recipes that just had too much sugar, wheat, soy and junk for me to add them to my diet on a regular basis. :) And if you think vegan food is gross, try a vegan cupcake. :) You won't be sorry.

Soooo.... with that out of the way, if you're bored and in search of good stuff, look no further. It's all over here! ---------------------------------------------------->

Do you have any favorite blogs that aren't in my list? If so, PLEASE do tell! :)

Enjoy your day!

A Couple of Announcements... And a Card ;)

2011-03-01T09:22:00.005-05:00

First the card, since that's what you're all here for, right? ;)

If I've said it once, I've said it a zillion times. And I'll say it again. I adore the Pure Innocence stamps from MFT. It's funny, because when I first saw them, I thought they were weird looking and didn't really like them (for some reason that I totally don't understand now). I remember everyone being really excited about them and me just sort of being like "meh?". I can admit I was wrong. :) As soon as I started stamping with them, I totally fell in love. And now I have a ton of these stamps and can't wait to collect even more of them. :)

One of my favorites is this little school girl image. I think she's just darling and totally fun to create with.

I made this card ages ago (back before we even moved to Maryland 10 months ago)!

One of the things I love the most about the PI line is how fun they are to paper piece! Here's a close-up of the paper-piecing and coloring.

Adorable, right? :)

Now on to a couple of things I thought you might want to know about (if you don't already):

1. There are a couple of stamp releases from some of my favorite companies going on this week.

MFT releases their new stuff tonight at 10pm. They're having a release party kicking off at 8pm EST tonight on SCS that I'm going to try to attend (since I haven't been to one in a very very long time). Stop by and say hello. :)

And have you seen Kim Hughes' adorable new line, Paper Smooches? Amazingly cute. I have been waiting for Kim's stamp design comeback ever since she stopped designing for Cornish Heritage Farms. Her release is today, also. And you should check out the Paper Smooches blog. It's super fun and has adorable cards like this one that I am so completely ga-ga over (but then again, I'm quite the veggie lover!).

2. Another stamp company I adore, Starving Artistamps, is having a major 20% off sale going on now (it's ending today, so get your order in fast!). You can find the details here. Use the discount to pick up their newest release (Antidepresstamps Royalty), this other adorable Bears, Birds and Bees set by Nina, or my personal favorite DoodleFactory set of all time, Creatures II. Or any other set(s) that tickle(s) your fancy. ;)

3. I just discovered a huge grouping of sketches that Paper Crafts Magazine published on their site yesterday, and (luckily) I saved them immediately. I went back to link to them directly today, but the sketches appear to be gone off the site. I'm pasting them in below, so you can grab them, if you'd like. I hope this is kosher with Paper Crafts (if not, I'll of course remove them). I think so many of the sketches are totally amazing and would be great for inspiration when you're feeling blocked and need a little push in the right direction.

You can click on these photos to see the larger image and to save them on your desktop.

4. I also found this on the Paper Crafts Magazine site. This might not be new to you, but it is to me! So many great downloads, print-outs and easy craft ideas to be found there. I think a lot of this stuff takes the guess-work out of paper crafting, so that even non-paper-crafters can make something amazing. Check it out! This small pub on embroidery stitches is definitely something I'm going to print out and keep on hand!

5. And lastly, a note that my blogroll is completely out of date. I plan to update it today, so you should definitely check it out later on if you get the chance (if not, I'll remind you tomorrow). :P I have so so so many great links and sites to share with you. Some days I spend half my day reading blogs! :)

Off to a doctor's appointment. Enjoy your day. :)

Before February Escapes Us...

2011-02-28T11:50:00.004-05:00

I thought I'd take a second to share a couple of cute valentines from last year (ACK!) that I never got around to sharing before. Lest I wait another year for an appropriate time to share them. ;)

First up is a small gift idea that I'm in LOVE with. I can say that because it wasn't my idea. Every now and then I see something that just has to be CASEd, and this was definitely one of those times.

This was another instance where the photos I took weren't up to par. The cellophane was making the camera do odd things, and I was in too big of a hurry to get out of the door and deliver these that I didn't have time to mess around with it to get the right shot. :( But this gives you the general idea.

The sugar cone is filled with candy (I used dark-chocolate covered almonds for the adults and Mike & Ike's for the kids) and then topped with a fluffy round ball of cotton candy. I couldn't find cotton candy in the supermarket or drug stores near me (even though I swore up and down that I had seen it a zillion times -- don't you hate that?!), so I took a quick trip to the movie theatre in town and bought it there. After forming the ice cream cones, I popped them in a cone-shaped plastic bag and tied them off with a cute ribbon.

I added this tag that I stamped using the Here's the Scoop set from MFT.

Here's where I originally found this super adorable idea. Genius. And here's another version of it using a cake cone that it also fab. :)

I can't remember why right now, but Valentine's Day really creeped up on me last year, and I was looking for valentines that I could mass-produce quickly. I had semi-recently received the MFT 'Bling 'Bet and "Bling 'Bers sets and their rhinestones, and I came up with a design that was super quick and (I think) really darling. :)

To make the card, I cut a square base and rounded the corners with my corner-rounding punch. Then I just stamped out the three images, popped a couple rhinestones on for a little bling, and tied on a big fluffy, over-sized bow. :)

Did everyone watch the Oscars? My personal pick for best-dressed is Mila Kunis. Stunning. My husband has a major crush on her, and I completely understand why. ;) I also thought that Scarlett Johansson looked amazing... but when does she not?

Anyhow...

Enjoy your day and spread some love. :)

Yes, I Am Completely Insane...

2011-02-27T11:07:00.004-05:00

I'm back with another Christmas project that I made this year. :)

Yesterday, I shared my project that took about 40 rolled roses to make. Today, I'm sharing something that took a whole heck of a lot more (oh, let's just say that it was close to 500 -- no exaggeration). Needless to say, I made yesterday's project after I made this one. Because there is no way that I would have seen how long yesterday's took and then still think it was wise to attempt to make this one. ;)

I unfortunately don't have fabulous pictures of this gift. A lot of times I end up madly crafting until the very last minute and don't get a chance to snap photos before I gift something. This time that's not what happened. I just plain forgot. So it was up to my mom to snap some photos for me. And my mom's camera is temperamental. :(

But (after all that disclaimer information) here it is. ;)

Yes, I am, in fact, completely insane.

In my defense, I got the idea for this gift here, where incidentally, you can get a complete tutorial on how to make the wreath, even if you don't own MFT's rolled flower die (The rest of her site is amazing, too, by the way -- check it out!). I naively assumed that if she could make one without even using the die, that it couldn't be that hard or time consuming for me to make one. HA!

In the end, I would probably never make one of these again. ;) Or at least I would make a MUCH smaller version (I think the wreath form I used was a 14 inch?). Or maybe pack the roses less tightly? Sometimes (most times), the fact that I'm completely neurotic really trips me up. This baby took me forever and a day to finish.

Yesterday, I said that I used a Cricut to cut out the dies. That was a mistake. I actually used my Cuttlebug. I always get die cutting machines mixed up. The Cuttlebug is the only one I own, and the whole time I was making this wreath, all I could think about was how I truly, definitely needed to invest in an electronic one. Hand cranking 500 rolled roses is not as fun and carefree as one might think. ;) At least it's kind of mindless though. I just sat in front of the TV and cranked, rolled and glued...and cranked, rolled and glued...and cranked, rolled and glued...

Before gluing the roses to the wreath, I wrapped the styrofoam wreath form with some burlap garland (basically a really long strip of burlap) that I found in the floral section of Michael's. This gave the back of the wreath a more-finished appearance and made the roses easier to glue on, without fear of melting the styrofoam.

After I was done gluing all the roses on, I lightly inked the edges of some of the roses by brushing an ink pad over the wreath. This was an afterthought, and if I had it to do again, I would have inked some of the roses individually before gluing them down, instead. I think it would have looked a little more natural.

Hope everyone's having a good weekend. We're having some friends over for the Oscar's tonight, so I've got to run and make sure my house isn't a complete disaster when they get here. ;)

Enjoy your day.

Great Minds...

2011-02-25T19:26:00.004-05:00

Wow, two posts in two days? What has gotten in to me? ;)

I'm back to share another Christmas gift that I put together for a friend this year.

Have you guys seen the rolled flower dies that MFT sells? As soon as I saw them, I began dreaming of all the fun things I could make with flowers... and all the fun materials I could make the flowers out of. I was putting together some other Christmas gifts featuring old book pages, which inspired today's gift.

There is something about these old book flowers that just look so romantic and pretty, isn't there?

To make the flowers, I ran the MFT rolled rose die through my Cricut about a zillion times. Well, not really a zillion, but I think the ball took about 40 roses to fill it, and that seemed to take forever (though not nearly as long as my insane project for my mother, which I'll post next time).

I put about 3 sheets of book paper together before running it through, to give the flowers lots of ruffles and a little stability. If you don't have a Cricut or the die, you can just cut spirals out of paper and make the flowers yourself, but that would take FOREVER (which is the fantastic thing about having a die and a machine to do all the work!). Anyhow, once they were cut out, I rolled them and then hot glued them on a styrofoam ball. You have to use a low temp glue, so you don't melt the ball. :) Before gluing the top roses on, I added a loop of twine to hang it by and glued the flowers on top of it to secure it. Once they were all glued on, I added pearl-headed corsage pins to the center of each flower and tied a rustic-looking canvas "ribbon" on top. The "ribbon" is actually a scrap of curtain I had left over from hemming my Ikea curtains. Thrifty, eh?

Here's a close-up:

Funny story... I was planning on sharing this project today, anyway. As chance would have it, yesterday I was perusing my long list of blog favs and came across this post. Now honestly, what are the chances? :) I guess that proves that there's only so much that you can do with paper! I have to admit that while I was making the book ball, I was daydreaming about how it would look dressed up in patterned paper. And now I know! Isn't Kerry's ball totally fab? I guess it's true that great minds think alike! ;) (You should check out the rest of her blog if you haven't already -- she's an amazing paper crafter and a good stamping buddy!).

Well, I'm off to try an get some other things accomplished. Enjoy your day! :)

Well...

2011-02-25T09:09:00.005-05:00

It's about time I got around to sharing some Christmas gift projects. Time keeps getting away from me these days. There's a lot going on with the house, and I'm just getting over a surgery (I had my gallbladder out 2 weeks ago after dealing with painful attacks for 2 1/2 years), but mostly I've just been a horrible, lazy procrastinator. :) Anyhow, I thought I'd motivate myself to post by sharing my most favorite gift I made for Christmas.

My friend back in Salt Lake has two boys who I absolutely adore, and I wanted to make them something fun using the new-ish DoodleFactory Creatures set. This set is so fun (my favorite is the nose-picking bear, I have to admit it.). I decided to make a game for them, so I came up with the idea to do a memory game.

Remember playing this game as a kid? ;)

To make the cards, I cut some chipboard into small-ish rectangles, covered them with decorative paper and then sanded the edges for a little bit of a distressed look. Then I paper pieced creatures on to the brightly-colored cards and added details to the monsters with copic markers and a white gel pen.

The cards needed a home, so I packaged them in an old candle jar that I embellished to match.

Here's the jar opened with the game ready to play:

And here's the game in action!

I had such a blast making the individual cards and giving each creature his own colors and personality. I made 2 each of 10 different creature cards, for a total of 20 cards (10 matching pairs). Here's a close up of each of the cards:

I hope the boys enjoy the game as much as I enjoyed making it. I was snickering to myself the entire time. This set kind of has that effect on me. It's kind of juvenile in a very fun, quirky way.

Did you guys put together any super fun gifts for anyone lately? Do share!

Hope you have a super fantastic weekend!

Snow Day... For Real

2011-01-27T10:52:00.003-05:00

Well, it has certainly been an eventful 24 hours. Eventful enough to finally inspire my first post of the new year. I got a little bogged down in Christmas madness, and it took me way longer than it should have to recover. :) But now I'm back.

It is a snowy, snowy day here in Maryland. The snow started falling at about 4:30 yesterday and in a matter of a couple hours completely dumped on us. My husband left work at 4:50 pm. He works about 6 miles away from home, and it took him FIVE HOURS to get home. Five hours. Can you believe that?!

While I was waiting for him to get home, some terrifying things happened. First the power went off. There were transformers popping left and right, lighting up the sky in blue flashes. I didn't even know this happened, but apparently in our neighborhood, it's not uncommon. There was also terrifying thunder and lightening. I've never heard of lightening and thunder in a snow storm... very odd.

After the first set of transformers blew, one of the houses on our block burst into flames. One of the neighbors dragged the older woman out of the house (thank God), and other neighbors tried to call 9-11, to no avail. It just rang busy indefinitely. And then when they finally did get through, it took the fire department a full 30 minutes to get to the house because of the crazy traffic situation. All the neighbors were in the street just watching in horror as the house went down in flames. As we stood there, we could hear the sirens trying to get through the traffic unsuccessfully. We saw (and heard) the windows blow out from the force of the fire. It's the craziest thing I've ever witnessed. So sad. This morning, the house is just a top-less brick facade with nothing inside it. You can see through one window straight through to the back of the house.

We are without power (now for about 14 hours). Needless to say, it is very cold in our house. Thank God for Starbucks and for our fireplace (and for having a sound home to live in). I need to pick up some more wood today on the way home. Who knows how long it will be out. There are downed power lines lying across the road on our street as well as on most of the streets in the neighborhood. A huge tree also fell in our backyard, narrowly missing our house.

So, on a happier note, I thought I'd get back to blogging as a way to lift my spirits. I'm not even sure if anyone reads this thing any more, but in case any of you are still out there...

I don't have my camera with me to share some of my recent stuff, so I thought I'd share something that I made during my stint with the MFT design team last winter. It's completely appropriate for today. :)

I picked up the snowflake on clearance last winter at our local craft store and popped on this cute Pure Innocence girl (that I colored with copics). I added the words that I made from the Bling 'Bet set and added some glitter and a cute buttony bow.

Okay, I'll be back soon (I promise this time -- I have a LOT to share from Christmas time).

...Wondering if we have power yet.

Stay warm. :)

Some Ooey Gooey Love.

2010-12-11T09:05:00.004-05:00

Hello friends!

I am neck-deep in Christmas gift projects (and if you saw my crafty space right now, you'd know that's not much of an exaggeration!), but I wanted to pop on quickly to say hello and share a card with you.

I put together this card for my hubby and my 3rd anniversary together way back in September. Just getting around to posting it now, but it still makes me smile. :)

Awwww! Isn't that image just ooey-gooey-over-the-top? :) I just LOVE it. If you don't recognize it, it's from the very talented Nina for October Stamps. One of my favorite images of hers. I don't think October Stamps is still selling it (though I could be wrong), but if you can't get enough of her, she has a set with StarvingArtistamps that is just adorable! Now if only I could learn to color like Nina, I'd be all set.

I colored the adorable couple with my copics and then just popped them on some brightly-colored layers.

We had our very first snow here in Maryland yesterday. There was nothing to it (just a small flurry), and of course all the idiots were on the roads. Accidents galore. It always amazes me how much a little bit of weather can cause so many problems. It's like people forget how to drive from year to year. :)

I'm off to Starbucks. I have to get there before the line gets too long. It's a Peppermint Mocha kind of day. :) Brrrrrr. Then back to the grindstone to churn out these gifts! There's such pressure on crafters around the holidays, isn't there? Do you feel it too?

Stay warm, my friends!

It Is, Isn't It?

2010-12-07T10:30:00.000-05:00

Normal is Boring.

Well, ain't that the truth?

With everything that's been going on in the last six months or so, I have felt anything but "normal" most of the time. There have been many a day that, at my wit's end, I would have given anything for a little more normalcy.

But, there's something to be said for a little chaos and unpredictability, too. It gets you out of your "box" a little, at least. I don't do chaos or unpredictability well -- something that drives my husband nuts. I need to have everything mapped out ahead of me -- it's kind of a compulsion. So it's something to work towards, right? :)

Aren't these adorable little monsters from the Doodle Factory the CUTEST?!! I am totally in love with them and am probably going to need to slap my hand once in a while so I don't end up using them on every card I make! :)

I colored these guys with copics before cutting them out and popping them up on coordinating designer paper panels that I had inked the edges of. I think matching the monsters to a color panel gives the card a bold and neato look. But that's just me. :)

Hope everyone has had a great week and is gearing up for holiday time. As usual, I feel helplessly behind. Such is life at Christmastime when you're an over-acheiver. :)

Enjoy your day! :)

Happy Thanksgiving! :)

2010-11-25T10:36:00.003-05:00

A big Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! :)

Thought I'd post this card because it's the most "Thanksgiving-y" of all the cards I have in my backlogs to share with you.

I put this card together for my Grandma's birthday back in September using MFT's Happy Mother's Day (It works for grandmas too!). It's all paper-pieced but ended up being a super quick card for me to make, since I had already paper-pieced the main image way back months ago. I was going to use it for some other card and ended up not needing it, so I saved it in my stash. Then when I needed a card, all I had to do is add some squares for a background and paste it on! :) Easy peasy.

Hope everyone has a fun day planned. We've had a lot of questions about what we're eating today. No, tofu turkey is not on the menu (and never will be!). :) We're having a whole host of yummy things... succotash, cornbread, german apple cake, baklava, leek potato soup, bulgar wheat stuffing, apple sweet potato casserole... all kinds of fantastic yummy stuff!

I'm feeling very thankful for good friends, a sweet husband and close family today. And especially thankful that we're (finally) starting to feel settled in our "new" home and city.

Hope you find lots to be thankful for today, too. Happy Thanksgiving, friends! :)

Like, Whoa, Man.

2010-11-17T05:52:00.003-05:00

Holy Toledo! (Looking at my last blog post...) Does that say January?! As in 11 months ago? How is it even possible that I haven't blogged in 11 months? Shameful, I tell you. I can remember back in March thinking "Man, I really need to blog. 2 months is a LONG time!" And then in June, and then in August... well, you get the gist. ;)

Before my card-making days, I once bought a card for a friend that said something to the effect of,"It's been a long time... Guess I've been doing all my complaining to someone else!" and I think that's pretty much the truth in this case. I got very overwhelmed and am just now trying to start to dig myself out (just in time to be buried by the holidays!). Here's a little of what I've been up to in the last almost-year:

In January, my husband accepted a new job clear across the country in Maryland. That started the ball rolling. We put our house on the market (sniff, sniff. I LOVED that house) and sold it within 2 weeks of it being on the market (yikes!). That made everything a lot more hectic, because it pushed up our move date about 2 months. So there were several trips out to Maryland in a hurry to house hunt. Then we bought a house, packed up all our belongings, and boarded a plane (with cats in hand! Another first!) to our new home. We stopped in at my mom's for a week along the way while we waited for all our stuff to get from Utah to Maryland. What an ordeal. I swear that I am n.e.v.e.r. moving again. So. Much. Work.

Once we got here, the fun didn't stop. First was the unpacking... and you can guess how fun that was. Then there was a whole lot of yard clean-up. The old owners left several gigantic brush piles in the back yard that we had to clear out. I started to pull branches out myself, until I pulled out one that had a black widow spider on it!!! Then I called in the big guns (my husband) to do the rest. :) Then we started having basement water-proofing issues, so we had to call in a company for that. Then the insurance company found something that they considered a safety hazard, so we had to have a deck built to be in compliance with that. Then we had to have *extensive* plaster repair done on our little 1950's house and have the whole house painted. Well, you get the idea. It has just been one (dusty, messy, time-consuming, infuriating) project after another.

Thrown in there, we also took a cruise to Bermuda with my in-laws, and I started a bunch of classes. I got pretty serious about yoga for a while. It's fizzled a bit, but I'm planning to get back into it with a vengeance very soon. I've also been taking belly-dancing and salsa classes and doing physical therapy 3 times a week. I am determined to rehab my back/hip!

And... that's it in a nutshell.

Anyhow, this is a paper-crafting blog, so I thought I'd share a card from a looooong time ago that I never got around to sharing (because I wasn't blogging). And since it's a perfectly rainy day, I thought this one was appropriate:

Heheh that little MFT girl just makes me smile.

Hope you have all had a great year! :) Hopefully I can keep up with this and keep in touch more now that I've taken the plunge.

Popcorn, Anyone?

2010-01-05T23:31:00.006-05:00

Hello there!

I'm back with a teaser of a SUPER fun new stamp set, being released by MFT TONIGHT (Wednesday) at 10 pm EST. This set is SO perfect for your best girlfriend. You should see all the cute sentiments that go with it!

I was talking to Kim a while back, and she mentioned that It'd be fun if I made some kind of shaped card for this set and suggested a popcorn box. I decided that was a super fun idea that I HAD to put in motion. I feel like I'm becoming a bit of a "one trick pony," always doing shaped cards. I just like them SO much. I think I'll get back to "normal" cards soon. But I had to indulge myself one last time, first.

Here it is!

For the outside of the card, I hand drew and cut out a popcorn box shape (super easy -- basically just a triangle, without a tip!). Then I cut out "stripes" of red decorative paper and adhered them to the front to make a striped box. I stamped out "popcorn" with my Bling 'Bet set, cut out the letters, and framed them using circle Nestabilities. For the letters, I colored with a red Copic spica pen in each bling hole and added a dot of Glossy Accents on each one. I colored and cut out the adorable popcorn image that comes with this stamp set and added it to the center. Finally, I glued a bunch of pieces of popcorn (more on that later) to the top of the box.

When the front was done, I put a thin strip of adhesive on the left and right sides and the bottom edge and adhered it to another piece of cardstock that I had cut to the same shape and size. This created a pocket.

If you grab the top of the popcorn and pull (like you're about to grab a big 'ole handful of buttery goodness), an inner card pops out!

I intentionally made the majority of the inner card one-layer, because I didn't want a lot of bulk or edges to be caught when the card was sliding in and out of its popcorn box sleeve. To make it, I stamped the main image and the sentiment on the card and colored it with Copics. I did a really simple coloring job this time around, because I thought the rest of the card was wild enough. :) I inked the edges in yellow and attached tons more popcorn pieces to the top.

Here's a popcorn box and inner card together.

And here's a close-up of that YUMMY popcorn.

Interested in how I made it? It's really easy! Here's a quick tutorial for you.

(I'll apologize for the poor quality photos and bad lighting in my craft room in advance!)

First, grab a flower punch and punch out a bunch of flowers. I punched mine out of cream cardstock that had a bit of texture to it.

Next, you're going to cut off selected portions of the flower to make a popcorn-y shape. I wanted to have a couple of different shapes, so I trimmed mine two different ways. In the photo below, you are trimming off the blackened area to reveal the shape shown above it.

Next, I inked the edges first with yellow ink and then just barely "kissed" them with brown ink.

You could be done after this step and have perfectly fun popcorn! For mine today, though, I wanted a bit more dimension, so I decided to get them puffed up like real popcorn.

To do this, I swirled on some globs of puffy paint. A lot of people use Liquid Applique for this, and that would work too. I've just always used the cheap-o giant tube of puffy paint!

Next, you just heat the paint until it gets puffy. You can wait for it to dry first or heat it while it's wet -- they create two different looks. I wanted mine REALLY puffy, so I puffed it up while it was still wet.

And finally, so the pieces had a *bit* more color, I gently kissed each puffed-up piece again with yellow and a touch of brown ink.

Here are the completed pieces. Now just do that about 4,000 times, and you have a box of popcorn! LOL

Hope you've enjoyed this today. Don't forget about the release tonight! If you'd like to come hang out with us, we'll all be chatting it up in the MFT forum tonight from 8 pm EST until the stamps are all released at 10 pm EST. Come say hello!

And don't forget to check out what the other awesome ladies have been creating with this set! Kim will have links to all kinds of wonderful projects on her blog, beginning at 11 am EST today.

Enjoy your day!

1, 2, 3, 4. Get Your Booty On the Floor...

2010-01-05T00:00:00.001-05:00

(Remember that song?! :P)

Hi again!

I'm back with another teaser of another one of the great sets that MFT is releasing this Wednesday at 10 pm EST.

Finally, Bling 'Bet has a friend! I have been wanting a set of numbers to match up with Bling 'Bet for SOOOO long. I am so stinkin' pleased that it's finally here!

For today's project, I decided that I wanted to make a perpetual calendar. I guess I was still on an advent calendar kick from my Christmas projects, and I decided to make one to use all year long!

So for this calendar, all the "components" (months, dates, days of the week) are on magnets, so that you can move them around however you need them. That way, if the 3rd of the month falls on a Monday one month and a Thursday another month, you're all set, and you only have to use one calendar! :)

(I don't know why this looks a little crooked in this picture. It must have been the angle that I took the photo at. I swear that it's straight and even in person! ;P) Anyhow, click on it for a big version that you can actually see! :)

Here are a couple of close-ups for ya, too! :)

This calendar is HA-UGE! The frame for it is 24" x 24" and thick wood. VERY heavy. Trust me on this one -- I had to carry it upstairs to take pictures and got winded! LOL

To make the calendar, I painted the wood frame with brown acrylic paint. I inked the edges of large squares of designer paper and backed them with cream cardstock, to give them a brighter border. I adhered those to the frame with tacky glue. The center section of the frame is sheet metal (galvanized steel) that I cut to size and covered with more decorative paper.

To make the numbers, I stamped the Bling 'Bers numbers on small pieces of decorative paper and attached them to chipboard for some stability. Then I rounded the corners, inked the edges, and sanded them to rough them up a bit. I glued a strong magnet to the back of each one.

For the month names, I did the same thing, this time with Bling 'Bet. I wanted the months to "pop" a little more, so I outlined the inside of each of the Bling holes with a white gel pen. (Yes, that took forever!). In fact, this whole thing took me about 3 days. I don't know why, really... I guess it was just a whole lotta sanding and cutting and inking! :)

I also made little circle tiles for the days of the week. I used the Alpha Dots set for this. I stamped them on red designer paper, but then they didn't stand out well enough for my liking. So I took a white gel pen and hand drew in a dotted border around the outside of their circles. And then I filled in the letter portion of the image with white gel pen, too.

To finish off the calendar, I attached a wide ribbon and a button-y bow accent. It's not that impressive looking all by itself, really, but it finishes off the calendar nicely.

I didn't have any buttons quite as large as I wanted, so I covered a larger chipboard circle with more coordinating designer paper and used that to back my other buttons.

Since the center section is just a piece of galvanized steel, the extra months and dates can just get stuck on the back of the calendar (with their magnets) until I need them. I also wanted to make little tiles for various holidays, but I just plain ran out of time. I'll be adding them soon, and then they can hang out with the "extras" on the back of the calendar, until I need them! :)

Supplies:
Stamps: Bling 'Bers by MFT, Bling 'Bet by MFT, Alpha Dots, by MFT
Papers: Paper Source Creme Luxe, DP by My Mind's Eye
Inks: Memento Brown, Versamagic Brown, Ranger Distress Antique Linen
Accessories: White Gel Pen, Magnets, Wood Frame, Sheet Metal, Chipboard, Wide Grosgrain Ribbon, Buttons by MFT and Oriental Trading Co.

Tha-Tha-Tha-Tha-That's all folks! :) Head on over to Kim's blog after 11 am EST today (Tuesday) to see what the rest of the Design Team has been creating with this fantabulously fun set!

Enjoy your day!

Sneaking by with a Sneak Peek...

2010-01-04T00:00:00.003-05:00

Hello there!

Today I have a super special card to share with you. It's super special because it's a sneak peek of an *adorable* new stamp set being released by MFT this Wednesday!

Ok, let me get this out of the way. I am IN LOVE with this stamp. Kim confessed that the stamp was actually modeled after her daughter, Emma. I got to meet Emma and hang out with her at CHA in August. She is SUCH a doll. In the span of an afternoon of getting her a hot dog, getting her face painted, and playing with Bubber, she made me SURE that when I finally have a kid, I want a girl. No question. I had so much fun playing with her! :)

A small digression, but here is my favorite Emma story...

So at CHA, the food options were totally limited. They had lots of burger and fries type of food, but eating vegan was really hard, and eating healthy was pretty much impossible. The day before, I had had mixed veggies from a Chinese stand, and I was planning on having that again. But when I got there, they told me they were out of veggies. Bummer. All I could find to eat that wasn't potato chips and fries was a $2 orange. So I got it. I was eating it at the booth, and Emma said "Hey, is that an orange? I LOVE oranges." So I asked her if she wanted a piece (even though I was *starving* and totally didn't want to share!), and she said yes. So I gave her a piece and kept gobbling down the rest of my pathetic lunch. I'm just about to pop the last piece in my mouth when she looks longingly at it and says, "Hey, I wonder who's gonna get that last piece." I thought it was too adorable, so I had to give it to her. :) It makes me giggle every time I think about it. Gosh, do you think my biological clock is ticking or something?! :)

ANYHOW.

Back to the card. I usually color all my characters with brown hair, for some reason (maybe because I'm brunette), but to me, this one particular image will always be blonde like Emma. :)

Isn't that image SOOOOOO cute?!!!

To make this card, I hand-drew and cut out a cloud shape and card base from paper. I pierced holes in it and sewed with embroidery floss all along the edge of it. I popped on my image that I had paper pieced and colored with Copics and added a sentiment piece. I had some chipboard "tree" shapes lying around that I thought doubled nicely as clouds, so I added them after covering them with patterned paper. To finish it off, I tied on a bright yellow button-y bow.

I decided to finish the inside of my card, so I stamped the girl image again, along with part of the sentiment. Then I took another chipboard "tree" and traced around it with a black pen to make clouds. Remember when you were a kid swinging, and you totally thought you would get high enough to touch the clouds?! :)

Supplies:
Stamps: Start the Day with "Whee!" by MFT
Papers: Gina K White, DP by My Mind's Eye
Inks: Memento Black, Colorbox Cyan (for inking sentiment edges and clouds)
Accessories: Copic Markers, White Gel Pen, Cream Embroidery Floss, Yellow Ribbons from my stash, Buttons by Oriental Trading Co. and MFT, Chipboard "Tree" Shapes

That's it from me today, but you can check out all the things the fabulous MFT Design Team has been up to with the new Pure Innocence girls today (Monday) by heading over to Kim's blog after 11 am EST.

Enjoy your day! :)

HAPPY 2010!!! :)

2010-01-01T09:08:00.004-05:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! :)

Hello everyone! :) Did everyone have a wild n' crazy night last night? Not me. My hubby and I went out for middle eastern food, and then we stayed in and watched Animal Planet. I took a bath and couldn't even wait for my hair to dry before I was conked out at 11pm. You should see my Medusa-inspired locks this morning! ;) Yes, I am a wild woman. LOL

Since we're ringing in a new year, MFT is celebrating by announcing their new design team line up today! Head on over to Kim's blog to check it out -- there are a couple new faces! :)

If you headed over, you'll notice that my name is not on that list. I am sad to say that I had to step down. I am *much* too overwhelmed these days to add the stress of crafty deadlines in to the mix. As I mentioned in an earlier post, we have a lot of family stuff going on right now, and I just need a break to focus on that for a while. I'll still be crafting (and still will be crafting with MFT!), but I need to march to the beat of my own drummer for a while. ;)

With that said, MFT has to be the best company out there to "work" for, and I am so grateful for the last 6 months! It has been a blast creating with their stamps! Hopefully when (if!) things ever slow down, Kim will consider letting me come back! ;) I'm still on the team through the end of January, so I'm not done with them yet! ;)

To help celebrate MFT today, I wanted to share a fun project that I have been meaning to blog for a LONG time now. I actually made this project for the (gasp!) November release and am just now sharing it! Seriously, how is it January already?!

I made this little gift set for my friend, Kristen, who was busy with midterms or finals or something equally awful at the time. I wanted to brighten her day a little.

To make the card, I hand-drew an apple and caramel shape and cut them out of decorative paper. Then I stitched all around the edges with my sewing machine. I glued a popsicle stick to the card base that I made to fit the apple panel and then glued the apple and caramel piece to the front and a hand-drawn leaf shape sticking out from the stick. I added a sentiment tag and some ribbon and a button, popped on my adorable image, and called it done!

I LOVE these Pure Innocence cuties! I just want to squeeze them! ;) I colored this girl with Copic Markers and added highlights with a white gel pen. Then I used Glossy Accents on the apple, her hairclip and her shoes.

To match the card, I altered a little crate that I got at Whole Foods. They were selling the cutest cherry tomatoes in these this summer, and can you believe that people were taking the cherries and leaving the crates?!! Are they nuts?! So I snatched all the leftover crates for myself! LOL

I colored my image and popped her on a couple of Nestabilities cut-outs. I adhered her to the crate and embellished the crate with some red twill ribbon and buttons.

Then I popped in a caramel apple and tied on a pretty ribbon and button bow.

Supplies:
Stamps: Apple for You by MFT, Sentiment from Feelin' Fruity? by MFT
Papers: Papertrey Ink's White, Tan cardstock, Green Cardstock, Georgia Pacific White, DP by My Mind's Eye and MemoriesComplete
Inks: Memento Black, Versamagic Brown (for inking edges)
Accessories: Copic Markers, White Gel Pen, Glossy Accents, Popsicle Stick, Pop Dots, Vintage Binding Tape (makes great ribbon!), Twine, Red Wide Scallop Ribbon by May Arts, Oval and Scallop Oval Nestabilities, Buttons by MFT and Oriental Trading Co.

That's all for today. Be sure to stop back Monday. I'll have a fun teaser of one of the new January MFT releases to share with you!

Enjoy your day!

December Recap, Part 3

2009-12-31T10:23:00.005-05:00

Hello Hello! And Happy New Year's Eve! :)

Before it turns in to 2010 (2010, can you believe it?!), I wanted to finish showing you my Christmas projects from this year. This post is a random assortment of what's left to share, and there's a lot of it! :)

As part of our hippie-ness, we gave a lot of our family members a "reusables" gift set, which included a reusable bag, a stainless steel water bottle and a reusable coffee mug. It was a really cheap gift that has been reported by several people to be getting lots of use!

I wanted to dress up and personalize the mass-produced gift a little, so I decided to make little "cozies" for the coffee mugs. Reusable cup holders, if you will.

I made these out of felted wool -- old sweaters that were already ruined by washing too much. Basically, to make them, you just throw your 100% wool sweaters in the washer on hot, air dry them, and then cut the sweaters up however you want them. The edges won't fray because the felting process binds them all together.

Once I felted the wool, I just cut out a rectangle shape, attached eyelets (I backed the edges with thick cardboard, so the eyelets wouldn't just tear the wool) and decorated with felt and buttons. Then I just tied them on the mugs with twine. Super easy and no-sew! :)

Here are a couple of the ones I made for the guys on our list. Slightly less girly! :)

Wool isn't exactly vegan-approved (here's why, in case you ever wondered), so once this lot of sweaters is gone, I don't think I'll be making too many more of these, unfortunately. That makes me really sad! So, if you happen to have sweaters that would otherwise be thrown away because you've ruined them in the wash, please consider emailing me and sending them to me!!! LOL I'll pay postage if it will keep them out of the landfills! :)

I also made ornaments for a bunch of the ladies on my list. They made for a relatively easy and quick gift.

And all I had to buy was the fishing wire to hang them from for a whopping $2. I had all the paper and beads in my stash.

These look a lot more impressive and difficult to make than they actually are. I loosely followed the beautiful tutorial HERE, substituting a 3" square of paper for a 6" square of fabric. Instead of stitching the ends together, I used a very VERY small dot of hot glue. Then I just strung them on fishing twine with some beads!

One last share before I go have a totally crafty New Year's Eve Day... ;)

Every year I give my hubby an ornament. It usually has something to do with what went on that year (i.e. new house, new city, new cat, engagement, wedding, etc.). This year the most notable thing we did was have a complete life make-over by going vegan about 7 months ago. It is something that has (unexpectedly) infiltrated just about every aspect of our lives and most of the decisions that we make. It goes WAY beyond what we eat, and it's hard to explain or even comprehend how massive of a change it has made for us. Anyhow, since it was such an important milestone in our lives, I wanted to commemorate that for us in an ornament. Here's what I came up with:

Heheheh! Funny, huh? To make this, I covered one of the wooden tags that used to come with Unity stamp sets with decorative paper (I absolutely HOARD these -- I wish I had more!). I painted and sanded the edges of the tag and added two felt carrots (from the Easter collection at Oriental Trading Co.). I added googley eyes and some embellishments and stamped out "Vegan 2009" for the sentiment on the back.

Ok, that's all folks! Thanks for stopping by! I hope you have a super fantastic New Years Eve! I hope to be back tomorrow with something fun to share!

Enjoy your day!

December Recap, Part 2

2009-12-30T12:16:00.011-05:00

Hello again! I'm back with pictures of more of the Christmas gifts that I made for friends and family. And I have more advent calendars to share.

These advents are a little different than the first set, but (again), they didn't cost me a penny. I didn't even have to buy the bases for these ones today. I literally had everything sitting around my craft space just begging to be used! :) Call me thrifty! (Or call me cheap, whatever.) :P

The first calendar has a kind of wild color scheme for Christmas, I know. But the recipient (my sister-in-law) has a PURPLE Christmas tree. She posted a picture of her tree in all its glory a while back on Facebook:

Pretty wild, huh? I'm definitely more of a traditionalist when it comes to Christmas decorations, but I thought it'd be fun to create something for her using a wacko color scheme. I didn't have anything to match the pretty purple exactly, so I just kind of came as close as I could to it. Hopefully it will jive with her other decorations.

I covered the base (that my mom had gifted to me a while back) with decorative paper and sanded and inked the edges. Then I just embellished! I used lots of the MFT glitter garnishes, hotfix glitter pearls and swarovski crystals and some American Crafts Thickers.

The base came with tiles to add numbers. That way the recipient can change the number each day to count down to Christmas. I printed the numbers on my computer and attached them to the decorative paper-covered tiles.

For another gift, I decided to cover some wooden letters that I had in my stash. I had actually bought these letters for myself a couple of years back and never got around to making them. I don't know about you guys, but I am always making things for other people and never get to keep any of my stuff!!! :)

Anyhow, I was having a tough time deciding what to do, because I liked the letters but I had originally really wanted to make an advent calendar for these friends. About half way through altering the letters, I remembered that I had some matchboxes that my mom had also gifted to me a while back, and I decided to see if they would fit on the back of my letters. And what do you know?! ;)

Here's the "advent" in action. From the front, it just looks like altered letters. (Click on the pics for close-ups.)

My hand was SO sore after making these. I couldn't think of anything Christmas-y that I had in my stash that would look good, so I decided to use floral rub-ons, instead. I literally used an entire BOOK of rub-ons on this project! It's amazing my hand even works anymore! :P

When you turn the letters over, the advent is revealed.

I covered the matchboxes individually with decorative paper and attached them to the altered letters with hot glue. I attached a star punch and a printed number to each one. The drawers in the matchboxes slide out, so you can slip a little surprise in each one.

Hope everyone is staying warm. It is fa-reezing here! I'm staying inside and getting crafty today. I'll be back tomorrow with still more Christmas projects to share! Enjoy your day!

December Recap, Part 1

2009-12-27T09:32:00.007-05:00

Hello out there! :)

I wasn't expecting to, but I guess I totally took the month off blogging! There was LOTS going on -- both on the crafting front and the home front -- I just didn't get a chance to pop on and say hello!

I've been composing this blog post for two days now. It is seriously hard to get back in the swing of things after being gone so long! It's like when you don't talk to a close friend for a really long time and then there's so much to report that you don't know where to begin... :)

There's a lot going on in our personal lives right now... I'll hopefully have more to say about that at a slightly later date. But there's been a ton of craftiness going on too!

We decided this year that we were going to be totally hippie and thrifty about Christmas. We decided that for family and friend gifting, the gifts were either going to be handmade or cheap and useful. And of course, I procrastinated like crazy (what's new?), so that meant that the 2 weeks before Christmas, I was seriously busting my butt! :)

I thought I'd break my Christmas craftiness in to a few days of sharing. Today, I wanted to show you the advent "trees" I put together for my mom and a good family friend of ours.

I picked up these tree bases from Walgreens (on sale! huzzah!) for a whopping $4.99. Not a bad price for a Christmas gift! But they were totally plastic and cheap-o looking:

I figured I could alter these to be a much better version of their former selves, so I got to work.

Here's what I came up with for my mom's:

To alter this, I covered all 5 sides of each box with decorative paper and then sanded and inked the edges. Several of the boxes were put together kind of wonky, so I had to take them apart and re-glue them straight before altering. Then I literally just raided my stash and started putting things together! I didn't buy a single embellishment for this baby (that should tell you what a hoarder I am! LOL). I just typed up some numbers on the computer, printed and cut them out and then started adding embellishments here and there.

The drawers pull out, so you can pop a little surprise in each box to be revealed every day leading up to Christmas.

I decided to add a tag for a little extra "oomph." This is one of the wooden tags that used to come with Unity stamp sets. I just covered it with paper and a rub on, embellished a bit, and popped it on!

I made a similar (but different theme) advent for my friend Liz and her family. This one was a little more bright and suited for a house full of kids. The pictures are totally crummy and dull. I wrapped up the advent before I realized they were so bad. Hopefully, you can get the idea, anyhow.

I put this one together basically identical to the first one and, again, didn't spend a dime, except for the $4.99 calendar base. I love thrifty gifting! :)

They were both pretty well-received, so I hope they get to enjoy them over and over again.

I'll be back tomorrow with more Christmas shares. Until then, have a good evening! :)

Hop! Hop! Beep... Beep... Beep!

2009-12-02T22:00:00.000-05:00

Hello and WELCOME to the next stop on MFT's December New Release Blog Hop! If you're arriving here from Natalie's blog, you're right where you should be! If not, stop what you're doing and go back to Kim's blog right away to catch the fun from the start. We've all got a LOT to share with you, and there are a whole lot of special guest designers this month who want to show you their stuff!

Now, on to the fun! :)

Tonight, I have another card using the adorable robo-couple of the moment, Robot 2. I think you're going to have to agree with me when I say that you NEED this adorable robo duo in your arsenal! :)

This is a digi-stamp, meaning that you download and print it yourself on your home printer (or if you don't have a home printer, you can take it to a print shop and have them print it CHEAP!) This month, MFT is releasing FOUR new robot digi stamps. They are super easy to work with, MUCH cheaper than standard stamps and make for a nice, crisp image.

But you know what my favorite part of the digi stamps is? You can print them WHATEVER SIZE you want. Really. You can size them up or down to fit YOUR specific project with no loss in quality. Today, I wanted a really big robo-couple for my card, so I made them 4 inches tall. On my card a couple of days ago, I wanted them smaller, so I made them 2.5 inches tall. If you have a printer and paper that will accommodate it, you can even make them HUGE. They're seriously so fun to work with!

For this card, I colored my robots with Copic Markers, Copic Spica Pens, a white gel pen and Glossy Accents. I cut them out and popped them up on thick pop dots. Here's a side view that shows some of the dimension.

I also pulled out my Baby Braddies, which is an embellishment I haven't used before! I am in love! They are so tiny I kept dropping them, but they add the perfect amount of bling to the card! I am so glad that I have a ton more on order! I can see these becoming favorites of mine!

And here's a close-up or that awesome digi couple!

Supplies:
Stamps: Robot 2 Digital Stamp by MFT
Papers: Papertrey Ink's White, Georgia Pacific White, DP by My Mind's Eye and Cosmo Cricket
Inks: Stayz-On Black and Brilliance White for inking the edges
Accessories: Baby Braddies by MFT, Screw Brads by Oriental Trading, Pop Dots, Copic Markers, Copic Spicas, White Gel Pen, Glossy Accents, Rub-on by Cosmo Cricket

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you share my excitement over this new digi image. I have literally fallen in love! :) Next up on the hop is one of this month's talented guest designers, BONNIE! Trust me when I say that you are not going to want to miss what she has to share with you!

Enjoy your evening!

A Krafty Cool Yule!

2009-11-30T20:46:00.003-05:00

Hi again! :)

Is everyone starting to get ready for Christmas? My hubby and I spent yesterday pulling out decorations and getting the lights put up outside. We still have a couple of finishing touches before we turn them on for the season. I'll have to take some pics when we're all done and share them with you all.

I wanted to share another card that I put together for the MFT Guest Designer contest that Bar and I are hosting this week on the MFT forum at SCS. In case you missed my earlier post about this, the challenge is to use Kraft paper in your creation.

For this card, I pulled out the new MFT release from this past month. I LOVE this Cool Yule set! It's perfect for the snowy time of year! :)

To make the card, I used one of the Fossil scallop notecards from the MFT store. I punched holes in the scallops, using my cropodile and then outlined them with a white gel pen. Then I stamped on my image and flocked it. I colored all the white areas with a white gel pen first, so the Kraft color wouldn't show through the flocking. I added Glossy Accents to the nose, ears and paws, paper-pieced the scarf with a scrap of patterned paper, and finally added a ribbon and chipboard button accent for a fun one-layer card.

Here's a quick tip for flocking: Just glue up and flock your whole area. Then, while the glue's still wet, you can take a pin and smoosh it away from the detailed areas you don't want it in (like I did for the eyes and mouth).

Supplies:
Stamps: Cool Yule, by MFT
Inks: Memento Black
Papers: Fossil Scalloped Notecard by MFT
Accessories, White Gel Pen, Copic Markers, White Fun Flock, White Grosgrain Ribbon, Patterned Ribbon and Ric Rac by American Crafts, Chipboard Button

There's still time to play along in the challenge! Check it out HERE!

Enjoy your evening!

Love, Digital-Style

2009-11-29T09:22:00.004-05:00

Hello there! :)

I'm back with another teaser for the new MFT release, which goes LIVE this Wednesday, December 2 at 10 pm EST.

As part of this release, there are several new digi stamps being released, in addition to the normal super high-quality clear stamps that MFT normally offers.

One of those new digi stamps, Robot 2, inspired this card, which I think might be my favorite card I've made in a LONG time.

ACK!!! I know! Isn't this robot couple so cute you want to scream?!!! I have such a thing for robots. They just make me happy. Maybe it's because my hubby is a geek, so they make for easy obvious cards for him. Heheh

For the moon, I cut a large gray circle and popped it in to a Cuddlebug folder to give it a cratered moon look. Then I inked over the craters with shimmery white and silver ink to make it shine. Finally I glittered selected "craters" so that the card would really SHINE! :) I popped the moon on a glittery black and white polka-dot background to kind of abstractly simulate the night's sky. I don't know what the blue is supposed to represent. I just looked right! ;)

I started to stitch neatly around the edges, but then my sewing machine went wonky (that's been happening a lot lately!), and the needle actually BROKE OFF in my card. So to fix that mess, I just decided to crazy stitch around the edge instead. I think it works. I love happy accidents!

Here's a close-up of that moon:

And a side view, so you can see the shimmer a bit more:

And here's that adorable robocouple. :) I wish you could see me -- I'm grinning from ear to ear. This couple makes me want to go give my hubby a big smooch (but the lazy bones is still in bed!).

I colored the robots with Copic Markers and then went over selected parts with Copic Spicas and Glossy Accents. This whole card really shimmers and shines!

Supplies:
Stamps: Robot 2 and Love Machine, by MFT
Papers: Papertrey Ink's White, Heather Gray Cardstock, Pink Cardstock, Bazzill Bling Tiara (for card base), DP by My Mind's Eye and Doodlebug Designs
Inks: Memento Black, Brilliance White, Brilliance Silver, Colorbox Cyan
Accessories: Copic Markers, Copic Spica Pens, Glossy Accents, Sewing Machine, Chipboard Letter "Thickers" by American Crafts, Cuttlebug Folder, White Gel Pen, Sparkling Ice Glitter

Be sure to check out Kim's blog after 11 am EST today. She'll have links to all the other things the design team has been making with this and other digi stamps and with our newest Flopsey! :)

Enjoy your day! Thanks for dropping by!

Are you Ready for a Teaser?!

2009-11-28T08:00:00.001-05:00

Hello!

Hope everyone had a super fantastic beautiful Thanksgiving! We had an ARMY of people over, and the day was great! We spent yesterday recovering in the quiet and solitude and eating yummy leftovers! LOL It was a great day.

Today I have a very special sneak peak of one of the adorable new sets being released by MFT this Wednesday at 10pm EST! :)

Check out these ADORABLE doggies! :)

For this card, I cut out a bone shape from off-white cardstock, inked up the edges to make it look more "bone-like," and attached it to a slightly larger Kraft background bone that I also cut out. Then I just kind of embellished away! :)

I added a "collar" detail with another piece of Kraft cardstock and added "studs" with black eyelets. Then I attached a nice big bow with a cute little "dog tag" I made. To make the dog tag, I cut a large circle out of red cardstock and attached a tiny circle to the back of it, with just a smidge of the smaller circle sticking out from behind the back. I stamped my sentiment (heh heh!) on a smaller Kraft circle and attached it to the tag, before adding a black eyelet. Then I just tied it to the bow! Here's a close-up of the bow detail:

.

And here's a close-up of these two sweet love-puppies! :)

I colored the dogs with Copic markers and added accents of Glossy Accents.

Supplies:
Stamps: Love at First Sight, by MFT, MFT's Twisted Sentiments
Papers: "Whip Cream" Cardstock by MFT, Kraft Cardstock, Red Cardstock, Black Cardstock, Papertrey Ink's White
Inks: Memento Brown, Colorbox Taupe, Versamagic Brown, Memento Black
Accessories: Circle Punches, Black Eyelets by Making Memories, Pop Dots, Copic Markers, Glossy Accents, Brown Grosgrain Ribbon, Red Striped Ribbon, Red and White Buttons by MFT

Do you have a knack for Kraft? This week, the fabulous Bar and I are hosting the Guest Designer Challenge over in the MFT Forum at SCS. The challenge is to use Kraft to craft up something wonderful! We'd love if you joined us -- the entire January new release, and the chance to post teasers with the Design Team is up for grabs -- that's QUITE the prize! There's also a whole bunch of fun ladies sitting around waiting to chat it up with you! :) Why don't you come join us?! :)

Now, head on over to Kim's Blog to see what the rest of the team has been creating with this fun set!!! :)

Have a great day!

It's a Two-fer!

2009-11-24T23:03:00.005-05:00

Hey there! :)

My posting has been incredibly sporadic lately, and I know it. This week my hubby and I have been totally preoccupied with planning, cooking and cleaning for a giant vegan Thanksgiving feast we're having on Thursday. I'm really looking forward to it, but I'm also looking forward to it being over! :) You all know how that goes.

Since I haven't been sharing much, I thought I'd do a two-fer today and share two projects at once! :)

First is a card I made a crazy long time ago. For some reason, I completely forgot to share this one before now!

For this card, I stamped the image and colored it with chalks and copics before assembling the layers. Then I tied on a giant bow, using this yummy ribbon from MFT.

Not much to say about this card, other than it reminds me of (much) warmer times! It's going to be a long winter! ;)

Supplies:
Stamps: MFT's On the Pier
Inks: Memento Brown
Accessories: Brass Brad, Buttons by Oriental Trading Co., Edge Distresser, Copics, Chalks, Ribbon by MFT, Twine

Next up is a card that's starting to feel a little more seasonally-appropriate. Christmas card season begins in 3 days! :) I am WAY behind this year!

For this card, I used the star template that Kristina Werner put together to make a fabulous star-shaped card. I cut out the base of the card from super sparkly white glitter paper. I think it brings a lot of FUN to the card! :)

Here's a close-up of the fun button treatment I added. I didn't have any glittery buttons, so I just coated a button with tacky glue and dipped it in glitter!

And HERE is a close-up of this adorable polar bear, from the newest MFT release, Cool Yule. I decided that this guy NEEDED to be flocked! I colored in his non-flocked parts with copic markers and then added Glossy Accents to his nose, ears and paws.

Stamps: MFT's Cool Yule
Inks: Memento Black
Accessories: Copic Markers, White Gel Pen, Glossy Accents, Fun Flock, Blue Grosgrain Ribbon, Button, Glitter, Blue Ribbon, Felt Heart by Oriental Trading Co, Snowflake by Stampin' Up

Thanks for dropping by! Hope you all have a fabulous Thanksgiving!!!
Enjoy your day!

Hellloooo Out There!

2009-11-20T10:37:00.004-05:00

I have become the world's most neglectful blogger. Sorry about that. I guess I've just been having too much fun offline :) I've been creating lots and sharing very little. Let's remedy that.

To ease myself back in to blogging, I thought I'd post a seasonally-appropriate card. I put this baby together for today's Limited Supplies Challenge at SCS. The challenge was to make a long and skinny card, which (aside from shaped cards) is one of my very favorite kind of cards to make! I don't make them nearly often enough, so this was a fun one! Yippee! :)

I spent ALL DAY yesterday cataloging stamps from the last 6 months. They are finally all indexed and put away, so I have some desk space back! While I was doing that, I came across this Kim Hughes set that my mom had gotten me for my birthday. It was uninked until now, but I think I'll be pulling out this set a lot! I have a not-so-secret girl crush on Kim Hughes.

On to the card! :)

I hate how everyone skips right from Halloween to Christmas, forgetting that there's this whole very-important occasion in between (that a lot of people don't understand is NOT about how much you can eat in one sitting). So I thought I'd make a card to remind myself. :) I colored my image with Copic markers and assembled a pretty simple card.

I had some "issues" with the bow. I must have played around with different ribbons and formations for about 45 minutes before I came up with something respectable. All in a day's work right?

Here's a closeup of this adorable image.

Supplies:
Stamps: Autumn Trees by Kim Hughes for Cornish Heritage Farms
Papers: Brown Cardstock, Kraft Cardstock, DP by Colorbok, Basic Grey, and Scenic Route, Papertrey Ink's White
Inks: Memento Brown
Accessories: SU's Notebook Paper Punch, Brown Grosgrain Ribbon, Buttons by Oriental Trading Co., Raffia, Brads by Making Memories, Edge Distresser, Pop Dots, Copic Markers

What's everyone got planned for Thanksgiving? We're having a slew of people over for my very first vegan Thanksgiving. Wish me luck! :)

Enjoy your day!

Clearly The Coolest Hop Around

2009-11-04T22:00:00.005-05:00

Okay, I'll stop with the plays on words now... ;)

WELCOME to the November new release MFT Blog Hop! If you're arriving here from the very special Melody Rupple's Blog (who has some very exciting news to share, by the way), you're all set! Otherwise, you should start from the beginning at Kim's blog and check out all the eye candy along the way! Hidden along the way is some blog candy for you too, so it's totally worth your while!

As promised, I'm back with pictures of my other project that I made for this week's HTDT Tutorial in the MFT forum on SCS. In case you missed my earlier blog post today, the tutorial is on using your MFT clear stamps to stamp on acetate! I have some hints and tips to share as well as two fun projects that you can make with step-by-step instructions! So if you haven't yet, head on over there as soon as you're done hopping! :)

Tonight I want to share with you a super fun way to send someone a greeting! Remember when you were a kid and there were those things that came in magic kits that had a picture that would miraculously turn to color when you pulled on the tab? I feel like no one knows what I'm talking about, but I'm sure as soon as you see my card, it'll jog your memory. Magic cards are so fun (and surprisingly not that hard) to put together!

Here's the card:

And here's this baby in action!

When you slide the tab up, Flopsey immediately appears in front of you in full color! And when you slide it back down, he returns to the original, paler version on himself. Abracadabra! Presto Change-o! Cool, right?

The slider tab also comes completely out of the card, if you want to display it as two pieces...

or you can slide the whole slider piece into the front part of the card, to always display Flopsey in his full-color glory!

Remember, there are full instructions over at the tutorial, so you can make one of these yourself! So try it out! I'd love to see what you come up with!

I wanted to show you one more thing before I go...a close-up of my blinged-out letters for the card front:

My goal was to make the letters look like they were lit up by Christmas lights. I colored in each empty hole with brightly-colored Copic Spicas. Then I topped each one off with a dab of Glossy Accents. I think they make pretty good Christmas lights, eh? :)

Supplies:
Stamps: Tree Trimming Flopsey and Bling 'bet by MFT
Papers: Acetate, Papertrey Ink's White, DP by My Mind's Eye, Bazzill Bling for Card Base
Inks: VersaMagic Magenta, Memento Black, VersaMagic Chalk Ink
Accessories: Glossy Accents, Mounting Tape, Copic Markers, Chalks, Copic Spicas, Ribbon from my stash, Corduroy Button by Making Memories, Star Brad, Circle Punch, Large Metal Eyelet

Hope you've enjoyed this stop on the hop! Now head on over to Frances' fun blog and see what she's got up her sleeve! :)

Enjoy your evening! Thanks for stopping by!

Clearly Fun...

2009-11-04T11:46:00.004-05:00

Hey there! :)

Are you guys all ready for the big MFT new release tonight? Word has it that you might have to shop quick. Kim mentioned that she didn't know how popular the Pure Innocence (adorable little girls) line would be, so she may have under-ordered. So get those trigger fingers ready to hit "Buy" right at 10 pm EST tonight if you want to get your hands on them!

I'll be back for the most super amazing blog hop EVER tonight, but I thought I'd share something with you now to tide you over until then.

This fun Christmasy project is made using the new release, Polar Love.

This is a shaker-style ornament, using acetate for the shaker's front. When you shake the ornament, the snowy ground moves! :)

To color the image, I painted the bears with acrylic paint on the back of the acetate, before assembling the shaker. Here's a close-up for the bears.

And a close-up of the glittery tag I made for the ornament...

For full instructions on how to make this project, check out my HTDT tutorial: Using Clear Stamps with Acetate HERE on the MFT forum at SCS! :)

(It's all easier and less-time consuming than the tutorial might make it look!) And there's also a full tutorial there for another project that I'll be sharing at the hop tonight!

Supplies:
Stamps: MFT's Polar Love
Papers: Heat-safe transparency, DP by My Mind's Eye and Scrap DP (purple), Georgia Pacific White
Inks: VersaMagic Chalk Ink, Colorbox Ink (for inking tag edges)
Accessories: Fine Art Glitter, Acrylic Paint, Nestabilities, Bullnose Clip by Oriental Trading Co., Ribbon by Lasting Impressions (blue) and Making Memories (purple ric-rac), Buttons by Papertrey Ink and Oriental Trading Co., Stampin' Up Tag Punches, Candy Dots by Pebbles, Inc., Mounting Tape

Enjoy your day! Be sure to stop back tonight at 10 pm EST for the hop! :)

Happy Birthday, Mom!!!

2009-11-02T09:00:00.002-05:00

Hello everyone! :)

In case you didn't know, today is my dear mother's birthday! :) So it's already a super special day, to begin with. It also happens to be the day that MFT is rolling out the very first teasers of its all new, completely EXCLUSIVE line of adorable little girl images, Pure Innocence.

You guys are just going to DIE when you see all these cuties! I was the oddball out this time around and didn't fall over the second I saw them, but as soon as I started creating with them... man. Let me just tell you that you are not going to want to miss the teasers! This line is so so FUN! :)

Today I thought I'd share with you a card that I put together with this adorable little balloon girl. So, happy birthday, mom! Enjoy your card, internet-style! :)

Now let me tell you, just about everything that could have gone wrong with this card did. I picked out a beautiful green layer to go over the purple one. But once I got through sewing the layers together and making room for the ginormous bow, the layer wouldn't fit. I had already broken my sewing machine trying to sew the layers, so I didn't want to cut down the green layer and re-sew the edges. So it just got left off. Since I messed up my sewing machine mid-layer, one of the corners was sewn a little wonky, so I had to pop down some buttons in the corner to cover it up! Then I somehow managed to swipe my whole hand through the Glossy Accents on the girl before she had dried. So I had to carefully clean up that mess too! Phew! I'm tired just thinking about it! :) Luckily, it all worked out in the end! :)

Here's a close-up of this cutie-pie!

Supplies:
Stamps: MFT's My Balloon
Papers: MFT's Cream Perfect Paper Panels, Brown Cardstock, DP by My Mind's Eye
Inks: Memento Black
Accessories: Wide Purple Grosgrain ribbon, Pop Dots, Copic Markers, Chalks, Glossy Accents, Buttons by Papertrey Ink

If you get a chance, head on over to Kim's blog for more info on this awesome new line of stamps, and then go head over and see what the rest of the DT girls have been creating with it!

Amy
Melody
Cindy
Michele
Frances
Susan
Kirsten
Natalie
Jessie
Christina
Jody
Barbara
Joanne

(and hey, when you're all done with that, you should DEFINITELY pop over to my mom's blog and wish her a Happy Happy Birthday!) :)

Enjoy your day! Thanks for stopping by!

Some Christmas Fun on Halloween

2009-10-31T18:00:00.005-04:00

Hey, I'm back with a couple more shares for you guys! :)

I'm waiting for the trick-or-treaters to start heading over, so I thought I'd jump ahead in the season a little and share a couple cute Christmas projects I put together. It's been Christmas in the stores since about August, so I guess it's okay if I start early too! :)

First, I put together a cute little gift tag using one of the newest MFT Who's That Girl releases, Santa Baby. Isn't this image totally adorable (and a little naughty)???

I just love that sentiment! :)

To make the tag, I altered a wooden tag I had lying around. I painted the sides with acrylic paint and covered the whole thing with fun Christmas-themed paper. Then I paper-pieced and colored my image, and added Glossy Accents and Puffy Paint to a few parts to make them "pop," before adhering it to my tag. I stamped out my sentiment and cut it to look like a banner and popped it on top of my image. Finally, I added some super festive Christmasy ribbon.

Supplies:
Stamps: Santa Baby (by MFT)
Papers: DP by My Mind's Eye, Scraps for Paper Piecing, Georgia Pacific White
Inks: Memento Black, Versamagic Magenta
Accessories: Green Ribbon, Wooden Tag, Pop Dots, Glossy Accents, Puffy Paint, White Gel Pen

Next up is a fun Christmas card that came together really quickly, thanks to a punch and the new MFT background stamp!

To make this card, I inked up my background stamp with light green ink and then just "kissed" the edges of the stamp with a darker green ink. I stamped it out and matted it on colored cardstock. Then I just re-stamped the background image in red and green and used a star punch to punch out some shapes. I added cute buttons to each star and popped them up on dimensionals on top of the stamped background. Then I just stamped and cut out my sentiment and added another button accent. A totally fun and quick card!

Supplies:
Stamps: In the Background (by MFT)
Papers: Georgia Pacific White, Red Cardstock, Green Carstock
Inks: Colorbox's Lime and Green and Red
Accessories: Buttons by Oriental Trading Co., Embroidery Floss, Corner Punch, Star Punch

That's it for today! I think I'm going to take tomorrow off, but be sure to stop by Monday. I have a teaser for a super duper new MFT set that I'll be by to share!

Enjoy your evening!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

2009-10-31T13:16:00.009-04:00

Hope everyone is having a positively spooktacular day! :)

I started a massive DoodleFactory Halloween project a couple months ago. I colored, embellished and cut out literally dozens of Halloween characters for this cool Halloween album I was going to make. And wouldn't you know it, I never got around to assembling the album. Seriously, people, this is the story of my life. I have more half-finished craft projects than I know what to do with!

I was determined to not let all my hard work go to waste this time around, so this morning I got up early and put together a couple cute jars of candy for some adorable little kids I know, using the pieces originally meant for the album.

Voila!

I filled the first jar with eyeball gumballs and a creepy gummy snake (yummy!)




The second jar is filled with an enormous gummy millipede (ew!) and giant gummy tarantula!




Hope you enjoy! :) Happy Halloween! Have a super fun and safe day!

Miss Me? :)

2009-10-28T17:18:00.003-04:00

Hello Bloggin' Buddies! :)

It's been a while, huh? My hubby and I went out of town at the beginning of the month (down to New Orleans, and then we took a cruise from New Orleans to Mexico). It was fun, but ever since I got back I have been SO unmotivated. And worse than that, I haven't been feeling very chatty. Which explains my lack of blogging...

I'm still not feeling particularly chatty, so I'll keep this short and just share a cute little gift I put together for a gardening-loving friend.

To make the bulbs box, I used a fry-box template that I created a while back. You can see another project I made with this template HERE and find a link to download it for your own use HERE.

Then I wrapped a ribbon around it, slipped it through a Nestabilities background circle I made for it and added my stamped image! Then I just embellished a little bit and stuffed the box full of crocus bulbs. I thought it still needed something, so I made a quick tag to top it off. The tag was super easy. I just cut some chipboard into a cool shape, covered it with patterned papers, inked the edges and then added my cut out sentiment.

Supplies:
Stamps: MFT's Garden of Joy
Papers: Papertrey Ink's White, DP by My Mind's Eye
Inks: Memento Black, Colorbox Taupe for inking tag and Nestabilities edges
Accessories: Copic Markers, Tiny (seriously tiny!) Buttons by Lasting Impressions, Brown Faux Suede Ribbon by MFT, Sheer Purple Ribbon, Twine, Large Eyelet, Circle and Scallop Nestabilities, Chipboard

Hope you enjoyed this little project. I'll be back tomorrow with more (and maybe I'll even find my chatterbox by then!). :)

Enjoy your evening.

A Balanced Blog Hop

2009-10-06T22:00:00.005-04:00

Hello, and welcome to MFT's October new release blog hop. If you're arriving here from the crazy talented Jody Morrow's blog, you're all set. If not, you should probably head over to Kim's blog now and catch the hop from the beginning. The design team has a lot of fantastic things to share with you this month, and there's also some pretty sweet blog candy hidden along the way!

I am so excited to officially introduce you to another one of Stephanie Fizer's adorable friends tonight! This little lady is getting an early start on her holiday decorating! :) Like a lot of us out there, she's trying to balance it all herself!

You can grab your very own A Balanced Holiday set for $15.95 when it goes on sale tomorrow (Wednesday) at 10 pm EST over at the MFT store. The set includes this adorable image, some cute ornaments to dress up the tree, some presents for under the tree and three fabulous sentiments!

I know my blog readers really seem to like the shaped cards, and I do too! :) I usually like to create the shapes myself, but for today's card, I cheated a little and used a template by Kristina Werner.

After cutting out the card base pieces, I quickly punched holes around the edges using the larger hole punch on my crop-o-dile. I colored my girl with Copics and Copic Spica pens and added some shine to her outfit with Glossy Accents. Then I dressed up the tree with some of the fabulous Swarovski crystal rhinestones that MFT also has available in their store. I popped the image and a sentiment on the card front using some dimensionals and then punched two holes at the top of the card to thread my ribbon through.

Supplies:
Stamps: A Balanced Holiday, by MFT
Papers: White Cardstock for card base, Yellow DP by American Crafts, MFT's Perfect Paper Panels for the image, Green Cardstock
Inks: Memento Black
Accessories: MFT's Swarovski Crystal Rhinestones, Glossy Accents, Pop Dots, White Gel Pen, Copic Markers, Copic Spica Pens, Red Twill Ribbon

Now I've got to be going, but first I need to send you over to the amazing Cindy Haffner's blog. She's the next fun stop on this party train!

Enjoy your evening and thanks for stopping by!

From Fall to Christmas in One Day.

2009-10-06T10:51:00.003-04:00

Well yesterday I shared all things Fall that are going on around me, and today I'm back with some Yuletide Cheer.

Before you all run away kicking and screaming "It's too early!!!," let me remind you that Christmas is only...dun dun dun...79 days away! It's getty chilly outside (at least it is here!), and it's getting harder and harder to ignore that winter is coming. And Christmas crafting takes a lot of time. So best start early! :)

MFT has been changing things up a little lately and are back to offering a Guest Designer challenge each month. That means that each month, you can participate in the challenge for your chance to win the next month's unreleased sets and the right to post early sneak peaks and participate in the blog hop with the rest of the design team members. Pretty snazzy stuff.

There's still time to participate in this month's contest, which closes tonight at 10 pm EST. The challenge is near and dear to my heart -- to incorporate fabric in to your creation.

I have dabbled in mixing fabric with paper and with printing on fabric in the past, but this time around, I decided to try something new. I pulled out one of the new releases being released TOMORROW and made this little cutie:

To make the ornament, I hand-cut two hearts from red felt. I love felt -- it's a great no-sew, non-fraying fabric, which means lots less work for me! Then, I blanket-stitched around the edges using cream embroidery floss. I had never done a blanket stitch and had been wanting to try it out forever, so I followed this online tutorial. It was extremely helpful and kept me from tearing my hair out! :) Before I stitched the last few stitches, I stuffed the heart with poly-fill. Then I finished up my stitching.

I stamped the mistletoe image with memento ink on a thin cream muslin fabric. Then I cut carefully around it with sharp scissors, being careful not to fray the edges. I colored it in using prismacolor pencils, applied a thin layer of fabric glue to the back of it, being sure to get close to the edges so it wouldn't fray, and then gently pressed it on to the front of the ornament.

I finished off the ornament by carefully tucking some cream twill ribbon in between blanket stitches at the top of the heart. Then I added a button, sewing through the ribbon as I sewed on the button, to secure everything together.

Supplies:
Stamps: Santa Baby, by MFT
Inks: Memento Black
Accessories: Red Felt, Embroidery Floss, Muslin Fabric, Prismacolor Colored Pencils, Button by MFT, Cream Twill Ribbon

Be sure to drop back later tonight (10 pm EST) for another fun project that I have ready for you. I think the stamp in the sample I have to share with you tonight is going to make you swoon! :)

Enjoy your day! Thanks for dropping by.

Pie, Anyone?

2009-10-05T11:20:00.006-04:00

Hey there!

Hope everyone had a great weekend! I spent the weekend doing all things fall -- some fall cleaning, lots of decorating, pumpkin-picking, cider-drinking, cuddling under blankets, hiding from the rain... that sort of thing. I'm just trying to enjoy the season. It always seems to pass too quickly.

Today I'm here to share an MFT new release with you! :) It's Sweetie Pie Flopsey, and isn't he SWEET?!! :)

ACK! I think he might be my favorite Flopsey yet (but that could just be because I'm partial to pie!). The thing I like the best about him, though, is his little removable chef's hat! Darling!

I decided to use him to make a recipe card for a very yummy-sounding vegan pumpkin pie:

I'm not much of a fan of pre-processed food anymore. I don't really "do" processed soy-foods, like tofu and margarine. In fact, I have been working out of the same small container of Earth Balance since we went vegan over five months ago, and I haven't purchased a block of tofu yet. But I thought that for a special occasion (and especially an occasion where pie-- an old LOVE of mine-- was one of the main focuses), this pie sounded great. :) I can't wait to try it out next month!

I got the idea to make the recipe card from a good paper-crafting buddy of mine, Heidi. Heidi makes some amazing recipe cards! I haven't made any before, but I thought that Flopsey lent himself so well to this project, that I just had to go for it!

I colored Flops (Flopsey and I go way back, so I can call him that.) with Copics and added highlights with a white gel pen. Then I added a little dollop of whipped cream to his pie, courtesy of some white puffy paint that I allowed to dry before I heated it with a heat gun.

Supplies:
Stamps: Sweetie Pie Flopsey, by MFT
Papers: Orange Cardstock, Brown Cardstock, DP by Crate Paper and Scenic Route, MFT's Perfect Paper Panels
Inks: Memento Brown, Colorbox Taupe and Copper
Accessories: Pop Dots, White Puffy Paint, Computer-generated recipe, Copic Markers, White Gel Pen, Stampin' Up Tab Punch

Before I go, I thought I'd share some pics with you of what the Daumé house looks like decorated for fall! :)

Have a great day and HAPPY FALL! :) Be sure to drop by tomorrow night to check out the rest of the MFT new releases during the blog hop! The fun starts at 10 pm EST at Kim's blog!

Pink, Black and Bling!

2009-10-03T17:22:00.005-04:00

Hello there! :)

Fall is in full effect here today. It's chilly outside, and my hubby and I just got back from the pumpkin patch, where we bought (GASP!) $63 worth of pumpkins. That's a record for us. But we got a TON of pumpkins and some really cool specialty ones. I'll have to take a picture of our front porch to share, once I have our fall wreath up.

I'm sure you already know that today is World Card Making Day. Did you all get crafty today in honor of this fantastic occasion? MFT is hosting a challenge over at SCS, starting at 6pm EST. The challenge is to use MFT's signature colors (pink, black and white) and to add some bling somewhere on your project. You'll have to check out the thread for the full details, but word has it that there will be freebies and a great prize given out!

For my pink, black, white and bling project, I put together a card using MFT's bling bet, a set I don't think to pull out nearly often enough.

The bling bet has little dots on it that correspond perfectly with the Swarovski crystals that MFT has for sale. I didn't want to go bling-crazy, so I decided to only bling-out one hole on each letter.

This card also works for this week's My Favorite Challenge, which was to use any of the digital files (digi stamps, digi papers) that MFT has to offer.

To make the flower, I cut various circles out of patterned paper using my nestabilities (you could also just use various sized punches, or even just freehand cut some out) -- the black houndstooth is a MFT digi paper. Then I crumpled each circle into a ball for some texture and dimension and flattened them out before adhering them all together with a big snazzy rhinestone brad.

I hope you enjoy this card -- it's a little out of my comfort zone! And please, if you have some time, consider stopping by the challenge threads and saying hello or participating in the challenges!

Before you go... MFT is running a super special promotion for World Card Making Day! For Oct 2nd and 3rd ONLY, when you purchase a full sized set ($15.95 or higher) MFT will add a *FREE set to your order! There is nothing you need to do, MFT will take care of everything! *Only ONE FREE set per customer *MFT will select the free set.

Enjoy your Saturday, check out some challenges, and try to do something that involves some fall fun! :)

MFT's new Digi Images!

2009-09-30T14:27:00.005-04:00

Hello again.

Well, didn't I promise you something cool today? I hope I don't disappoint. I am super excited about MFT's newest idea -- an entire line of digital images. No need to get all inked up and messy. Just print, color and assemble. Love it!

I'll admit that I was one of the nay-sayers who thought digi stamps were dumb. I guess I just didn't "get" them. When I heard MFT was doing digi stamps, I figured I wouldn't use them. But when I clicked on the newest image and saw how absolutely adorable it was, I knew that I HAD to try it out!

As part of their collection debut today, MFT released a digi image "kit," designed specifically to make an adorable Halloween treat for friends. The kit includes the image, a sentiment sheet, a tag sheet, a greetings poem, instructions, and project idea sheet. And at $5.95, you get a lot for your money!

Have you heard of boo baskets? It's kind of like a secret Santa. You get together a collection of treats, stuff them in a cute box, bag or tin, include a greeting and some signs, and leave it on a friend's doorstep. Then, there are instructions telling them to do the same to another friend. So FUN! :)

For my boo basket, I decided to pull out the fabric again and make up a tiny little treat bag. The bag really is TINY, so I had to shrink my digi image to fit properly. That's one of the great things about digi stamps. You can print them whatever size you need them to be! I printed out my digi image on fabric (printing on fabric instructions can be found HERE) and also printed out some MFT digi paper on fabric at the same time. Then I put the bag together!

Okay, so when I printed the black houndstooth digi paper on my cream fabric, it turned brown. I don't know why I didn't expect that to happen, but it never even dawned on me! So, I had to go with a little bit of a non-traditional Halloween color-scheme, using brown. I decided that since I had a cream canvas tote, I'd go with a primitive look (a style I don't usually attempt). To me, this meant to stitch around everything in a manor that made it look like a kindergartner did it and then to put buttons all over the place! :)

I originally colored on my fabric with colored pencils, but I decided I wanted it a little more vibrant. So, I went over the colors lightly with copic markers. You have to be VERY careful with copics on fabric, especially when the image is SO small.

Next, I printed out the greeting, the instructions and the "You've been BOOed" sentiment on textured cream cardstock and put together the paper portions of the gift.

The tag is meant to hang on the outside of the recipient's front door, so that friends and neighbors know who has already been BOOed! :)

I mounted the instructions on the back of the greetings card, so they can be added back in the bag and passed on to the next recipient.

Here's the set all together. Since the set had a vintage-y feel, I decided to stick with old-school treats like candy corn, caramels and gingersnaps. The modern brightly-packaged candy just wouldn't have looked right! :)

Supplies:
Stamps: MFT's Digi Kit -- Boo Crew
Papers: Paper-Source's Creme Luxe, DP by My Mind's Eye, MFT's Spring Houndstooth Digi Paper
Inks: Memento Brown
Accessories: Small Cotton Tote, Buttons by Papertrey Ink, Black and Cream Striped Ribbon, Twine, Embroidery Floss

Hope you enjoyed this little project! Think you'll make some for some friends?

Have a fabulous day!

Lots to Share!

2009-09-29T13:20:00.006-04:00

Hello again! :)

I mentioned in my last post that we'd had some home updating done, so I thought I'd show you a little taste of what we've been up to. It's nothing big or super impressive, but it's one of those things to just check off our lists. That feels very very good! :)

First up, I re-did my craft space. Well, I didn't really re-do it... we had painters come and paint it a new fabulous color and I got a couple new organizational things. Then I just organized the crap out of it. It is much MUCH more functional now, so I'm a happy girl. The color is a little off in a few of the pics. It's a deep plum-ish color. I {{{HEART}}} it.

I still need to find a rug and some art, but it is way way better. For comparison's sake, you can see before pics HERE. I think I must have been hormonal when I painted that blocks wall. And the new space is (temporarily) a lot cleaner! :)

While we were getting things organized, we also decided to call in a closet company to re-do our pantry. The "after" pic is not that impressive, but it has made a huge difference for us. I don't have a picture of what it looked like before, but the pantry was just 4 enormous unorganized shelves of chaos. Now, everything has a place! :)

And since those two things have nothing to do with stamping, I better share a card with you, too, huh? I made this card for the September MFT release and never got a chance to share it yet. I don't know where I was going with the color-scheme... I just kind of threw stuff together. But I like it's non-traditional feel. And the stitching is yet another cool setting on my sewing machine! So much fun!

Stamp: Coffee? Tea? by MFT

Hope everyone is having a great day. I have something enormously fun to share with you all tomorrow, so please be sure to stop back! Enjoy your day!

Bad, Bad Blogger.

2009-09-27T20:29:00.004-04:00

I miss you guys! :) I can't believe it's been almost TWENTY days since I've updated my blog! That is just craziness. I assure you that I HAVE been crafting... I just haven't been sharing! ;)

I have had a nutso couple of weeks. First was our wedding anniversary, then my birthday, then a little home repair/ remodeling, all with some serious health issues thrown in. Everything's mostly okay now, and I'm glad that life is finally feeling (a little) back to normal. But I'm also leaving for a trip in two weeks, so my cozy little comfort zone is going to be up in the air again soon. :)

Before then, I figured that I better pop in and share something fun before you all forget about me! So here's a cute little posy holder I put together a few weeks back, using the Seeds of Love set from MFT.

To make the holder, I just traced three hand-cut triangle shapes edge to edge on a piece of cardstock and added a little "tab" at the edge of one, so I could glue the holder together. Then I just cut it out, scored on the lines, folded it up and glued it together. Super easy!

I tried to channel my inner Paula Williamson for the coloring technique, but, well... I'm just not that cool! :) Still, I don't think it's *horrible* for my first real attempt. I used Goo Gone, colored pencils and blending stubs to color the image. Goo Gone makes a GREAT Gamsol replacement!

Supplies:
Stamps: MFT's Seeds of Love
Papers: Papertrey Ink's White, Green Cardstock, DP by My Mind's Eye
Inks: Memento Black
Accessories: Goo Gone, Prismacolor Colored Pencils, Lace from my stash, Purple Ribbon by Making Memories, Large Silver Eyelets, Edge Distresser

I'm off to eat some dinner with my hubby and then relax. Enjoy your evening! :)

Robot Lover

2009-09-09T17:57:00.005-04:00

Have I mentioned lately how much I adore Kim Hughes and her images?! I mean, her images are sickly-sweet (in a good way), and if you've ever had the pleasure of communicating with her, you know that she is, too. I've only "talked" to her via email and blogland, but sometimes I just can't get over how one person can be so talented and so sweet, all in one package. I'm insanely over-the-top jealous of her talent.

Anyhow, yesterday was my hubby and my 2-year wedding anniversary, but due to unforseen circumstances, we had to postpone the celebrating until today. So that gave me a chance to pull out my Kim Hughes stamps this morning and craft a cute little love card for him. :)

This card started out as a CAS card (clean and simple), but it quickly got out of control. I just couldn't reign it in! :) I mixed two Kim Hughes sets for the image. I think it came out kind of fun.

SUCH a cute little robot!!! :)

Supplies:
Stamps: Kim Hughes "Little Guy" and "Hugs and Kisses"
Papers: Gina K White, Black Cardstock, DP by My Mind's Eye, Bubble DP is a scrap from my stash
Inks: Memento Black
Accessories: Copic Markers, Pop Dots, Black Twine, Glossy Accents, White Gel Pen, Screw Brads by Oriental Trading Co.

Speaking of unrelated robots, have you seen the new September MFT Kit that was released today? It is sooooo cute! I haven't gotten my hands on the image yet, but as soon as I do, I plan to play!

The kit contains:

* Exclusive, UNRELEASED Love Machine mini stamp set ($9.00)
* Mr. Roboto digi paper pack (5 printable patterns, $3.95)
* 6, A2 gate-fold cards with tag flaps ($6.00)
* Approx. 100 brads in an adornments case (25 teeny tiny silver, 25 teeny tiny pewter, 25 mini silver, 25 mini pewter, $5.95)
* 6 yards of coordinating poly-twill ribbon (3 yards 3/8”, 3 yards 7/8”, $3.00)
* 12 Perfect Paper Panels ($1.95)

A $29.85 value, for $25!

PLUS
A special, exclusive offer toward a future purchase

Get it HERE! :)

I'm off to get ready for our belated celebratory dinner. Enjoy your evening! :)

A Weekend Project

2009-09-07T16:41:00.005-04:00

featuring the DoodleFactory Prehistoric set from Starving Artistamps! :)

Supplies:
Stamps: DoodleFactory Prehistoric, DoodleFactory Jungle Background
Papers: Georgia Pacific White, DP by My Mind's Eye, Scraps from my Stash
Inks: Memento Black, Colorbox Cyan, Brown and Green
Accessories: Wooden Pail (bought at Michael's), Acrylic Paint, Glossy Accents, Pop Dots, Corrugated Cardboard, Chipboard, Large Eyelets, Twine, Ribbon from my stash, Buttons, Copic Markers, White Gel Pen

Did you know that Starving Artistamps is holding a blog candy drawing for their newest Halloween release HERE?! :) The new set is totally adorable! I can't wait to get mine in the mail and get some Halloween craftiness going on!

I also played along with the SA sketch to make this weekend's card! I think it's a super fun sketch! :)

Busy busy week ahead of me... We're having a portion of the house (including my stamp room -- YAY!) repainted, so furniture is moved out of rooms and in to others. It's a war zone here! And tomorrow is my 2nd anniversary. We don't have a dining table to eat at for the time being, so I guess we'll be going out! LOL :)

Enjoy your Labor Day!

Too Cute To Spook!

2009-09-02T11:46:00.003-04:00

Hello everyone! :)

Hope you all enjoyed the hop last night. I am packing up and getting ready to board a plane back to Salt Lake, but first I wanted to pop on and share another fun Halloween project from the new MFT release.

I LOOOOVE this adorable new set by Stephanie Fizer. The tree is so fabulous, and the little witchy girl is just adorable! Too cute to spook? Absolutely! :)

So have you all made these broom treats before? They are super easy, and all they take is a couple of brown paper lunch bags, a stick, and some ribbon or twine. They come together in a matter of seconds!

I decided to jazz up my witches broom with a cute tag, for a little extra fun. I used a piece of wood for the tag base. I covered it with some fun patterned paper (from last year's MFT Halloween paper pack) and then just added some images that I had stamped out and colored using Copics. I sanded the edges of the completed tag to rough them up a little. That's really all there is to it!

Supplies:
Stamps: Too Cute to Spook by MFT
Papers: MFT Perfect Panels, DP by MFT
Inks: Versamark brown (for tree), Memento Black
Accessories: Lunch bags, Sticks, Twine, Treats (for inside the bag!), Wood Tag, Orange Polka-dot Ribbon, Copic Markers, Pop Dots

I'm off to finish getting packed up and ready. I'm looking forward to this month. I think I should finally (hopefully) get some real time to get back to stamping as the summer winds down!

Enjoy your day. Thanks for stopping by. If you get a chance, be sure to stop by the release party tonight, starting at 8 pm EST, and say hello! :)

Feelin' Hot, Hot, Hot at the Hop, Hop, Hop!

2009-09-01T22:00:00.003-04:00

Hello!

Welcome to the next stop of this month's MFT blog hop! If you arrived here from Christina's fabulous blog, then you're all set. If not, you might want to head over to Kim's Blog to catch this spooky train from the start! We're running the hop a little differently this month, so you'll want to go to the beginning to find out what's changed!

Today I get the special treat of introducing you to a super sassy, super sexy new MFT gal... Meet Party Girl! She's all dressed up in her devilish attire and ready for some Halloween mischief!

Isn't she totally amazing and FUN?! :)

Party Girl's partying goes live (for $15.95) tomorrow (Wednesday) at 10 pm EST. The set includes Party Girl herself, an accompanying pitch fork, a nice stiff drink (of course!), and FIVE super sassy sentiments.

Party Girl is one of my absolute favorite MFT releases YET!

For today's post, I decided to put together a shaped card for you guys. I LOVE making shaped cards! I think they're so fun and unexpected. For this one, I cut random free-handed flames from brightly-colored patterned paper in various sizes and backed each one with black cardstock to make it really "pop." Then, I stitched all around each one for a little added interest. I stamped out our little partier and colored her with Copics and Copic Spica glitter pens. She really shines in person! I added a couple details with a white gel pen and then adhered her to the card base with dimensionals. Finally, I added one of the sassy sayings, backed with more black cardstock.

Supplies:
Stamps: MFT's Party Girl
Papers: MFT Perfect Panels, Black Cardstock, Core'dinations Vintage Paper (red), Orange DP by MFT (from last year's Halloween collection), Yellow DP is a scrap from my stash
Inks: Memento Black
Accessories: Pop Dots, Copic Markers, Copic Spica Pens, Pop Dots, Sewing Machine

I hope you've enjoyed this stop on the hop, and I *really* hope you love Party Girl just as much as I do. Isn't there a little party girl in each of us?!

Now, don't waste any more time! Hop on over to Natalie's blog for the next stop on the hop! :) I know she'll have something amazing to share with you!

Enjoy your evening!

Eyeballs!

2009-08-31T08:08:00.003-04:00

:)

I have a backlog of projects to share with you guys. When I gave my hubby his choice of two different ones I could post today, he chose this one (definitely the more masculine of the two). I told him he totally picked it, just because it was masculine...

Then he told me that he'd like to see my TRY to make a feminine-looking tin full of eyeball candies. I might have to take him up on that challenge! ;) Hmph!

Anyhow...

Isn't this set fun?! This cute and spooky eyeball is another image from the Ghoulish Label Set, being released this Wednesday by MFT.

I altered a tin that I hoarded a while back (it used to hold some Maya Road goodies). Since the tin had embossed writing around the edges (the Maya Road logo and such), I decided paper wouldn't sit on it smoothly. So I found this blood-red ric-rack that I think actually works perfectly (it kind of mimics the squiggly bloodshot lines in the eyes). I wrapped it around the tin twice, overlapping the two layers slightly.

It's hard to tell in the picture, but after stamping and coloring the eyeballs, I covered them with an epoxy bubble sticker, to make them look a little more eyeball-ey. I also accented the tin with "boo" that I stamped out from the bling 'bet. Instead of embellishing the holes in the bling 'bet, I used a piercing hole to punch a hole in each one (also hard to tell in my photo).

The tin is filled with delicious eyeball gumballs (that match the eyeball image from the new set amazingly well!). :)

Supplies:
Stamps: MFT's Bling 'bet and Ghoulish Label Set
Papers: Georgia Pacific White, Black and Red Scrap Distressed DP
Inks: Memento Black, Colorbox Brick and Black
Accessories: Epoxy Bubble Stickers by Oriental Trading Co., Red Ric-Rack, Black Ribbon by American Crafts, Copic Markers, Pop Dots

Hope everyone enjoys their day! We're headed to lunch with my aunt and grandma in a couple of hours. Coming to Cleveland is always kind of hard. My WHOLE extended family lives here, and everyone always wants a piece of us! :)

Be sure to stop back tomorrow at 10 pm EST for the MFT blog hop. I have something REALLY fun to share with you (my favorite MFT image of the whole release!)! :)

Feels Like Fall

2009-08-30T11:50:00.004-04:00

Hey there! :)

It is a super cold, super rainy, super fall-feeling day here in Cleveland today. The auction yesterday was a success. I don't think my mom made as much as she had hoped (and the auction company definitely made less than they expected), but at least now she has a completely cleaned out garage. I really wish that I had taken before and after shots. The difference is amazing!

We were BEAT when it was all over last night, so I didn't get a chance to pop on and share anything. But I'm back with something for you today. Since there's such a chill in the air, I think this card is appropriate! :)

I made this card using stamps from the new MFT set, Ghoulish Label Set, being released this Wednesday. The set includes a lot of stamps that are great for using on packaging of sweet treats, but I thought they were great card stamps, too! :)

I stamped the spider in black and hand-drew in the spider's string using a black pen and a ruler. I added on cute little rhinestone heads using the Crystal Applicator that you can purchase HERE. I had never used this tool (or the MFT Swarovski crystal rhinestones) before, but when we at CHA, Jody Morrow sold me on them (She is QUITE the saleswoman!). So I had to get them, and she was RIGHT! The crystals shine so much more beautifully than the cheapo plastic rhinestones you pick up at the craft store, and the tool is amazing. You don't muck up your project with glue globs and sticky fingers as you try to adhere your gems. Highly recommended. :)

Supplies:
Stamps: Ghoulish Label Set by MFT (being released Wednesday)
Papers: Georgia Pacific White, Black Cardstock, DP by My Mind's Eye and Scenic Route
Inks: Memento Black
Accessories: Crystal Swarovski Rhinestones, Pop Dots, Orange Ribbon by May Arts, Black Grosgrain Ribbon, Sewing Machine

EEK! I totally cannot wait to start churning out Halloween cards! It is absolutely my favorite holiday to make cards for! :)

I hope you enjoy this little preview! Be back tomorrow with something else fun!

Enjoy your Sunday! :)

Joy

2009-08-27T23:46:00.004-04:00

Hi Friends! :)

I've been taking a blogging break. I bet you couldn't tell! :) I have been creating just about every chance I get, but I have been a very very lazy blogger. I hope to change that a bit in the next couple of days!

I am packing up and headed to Cleveland (my hometown) tomorrow. My mom called in an auction company to get rid of the garage (and half the house!) worth of stuff my dad accumulated while he was alive. There was just WAY too much machinery (including a forklift!) for her to try to manage it on her own. The auction is on Saturday, and the auction house said they expect about 200 people on our tiny street. They are even bringing a port-o-potty and a lunch cart!!! I am still trying to get my head around the fact that there will be a lunch cart in my mother's driveway. Burgers, anyone? :) I decided I needed to be there, mostly for the sake of closure. I think I would have a hard time just coming home next time and seeing the stuff gone, without having been part of the process.

Anyhow, before I started packing, I got a chance to participate in this week's challenge on the MFT forum. The challenge is to create an ornament. Not too hard, right? :) I pulled out some supplies that I forgot I had -- clear tile stickers by Making Memories -- and created something a little different from my normal style.

Supplies:
Stamps: MFT's Baby It's Cold Outside and Boho Blossoms
Papers: Georgia Pacific White
Inks: Various shades of blue and copper by Colorbox, Memento Brown
Accessories: Brass Rings, Making Memories Tile Stickers, Ribbon from my collection

Want to play along? If so, head on over HERE and say hello! :)

Enjoy your evening!

Yes, I'm Still Alive...

2009-08-12T09:52:00.004-04:00

Hey there. Did you guys think I disappeared? ;) Sorry my posting has been kind of sporadic lately. Let's just say it has been a busy busy summer!

So I'm a moron and completely messed up my back again. :( It was doing really well for a couple of weeks, so I decided to do something dumb and audacious like go shopping for more than an hour at a time (shame on me -- can you sense the sarcasm here?), and now my back and hip have been killing me for two days. Grrrr! There's such a roller coaster of emotions when you have chronic pain. You have days where you think you might actually finally be on top of the beast and then BAM! You'd think that after living with this for so long, I'd have figured things out by now, but I guess I'm just a slow learner... or an optimist. :) Super frustrating.

Anyhow, I'm lying on ice but have a couple quick things I wanted to post for you guys while I'm wasting time doing a whole lot of nothing.

First up is a card I meant to post nearly two weeks ago! I made this card for the My Favorite Challenge, sponsored by MFT on SCS. The challenge was to create a CAS card (clean and simple), and this is something that is just NOT my forte! :) But I managed, and here's what I came up with:

I masked off a box in the center of the card with post-it notes, to create a clean border for my swirly raindrop stamps. The inside reads "I'm gonna love you, rain or shine."

Supplies:
Stamps: Rainy Day Friends by MFT
Papers: Papertrey Ink's White
Inks: Memento Black, Colorbox's Lavender
Accessories: Copic Markers, White Gel Pen, Pop Dots, Lavender Ribbon, Corner Rounder Punch

So this challenge is done with, but there is a brand new challenge and chance to win MFT stampin' bucks every single week, in the SCS MFT forum! New challenges are posted every Thursday, and during the week, there are a whole lot of fun ladies to chat it up with. So stop by and say hello! :)

I also wanted to share with you a brand new MFT kit, being released today!

Gifty Girl Kit
Contents:
Your August MFT Kits Collection contains:
6 Shopping Tote Die Cuts ($6.00 value)
1 Package Perfect Paper Panels (24 panels) ($3.95 value)
2 yards Red/White Polka Dot Ribbon in 3/8” ($2.00 value)
2 yards Black/White Polka Dot Ribbon in 3/8” ($2.00 value)
50 Silver MINI Round Brads ($2.50 value)
50 Red MINI Round Brads ($2.50 value)
(brads are packaged in an adornments case)
Exclusive, UNRELEASED Gifty Girl MINI stamp set ($9.00 value)

All for $25!

And, there's a special perk with the August MFT Kit! An EXCLUSIVE offer only for those who order the August Kit -- details will be included with your shipment!

The MFT Kits are only available for a limited time, so you better get shopping! :)

I'm off to pick up my hubby at the airport! He's been gone (in Singapore and Japan) for almost 3 whole weeks! It will be great to have him home!

Enjoy your day!

Keep on Hoppin'...

2009-08-04T22:00:00.001-04:00

Hello again! :) Welcome to the next stop of MFT's August Release Blog Hop. If you aren't arriving here from the talented Christina Fischer's blog, you'll want to head over to Kim's blog to catch the hop from the beginning.

Tomorrow night, MFT will be releasing FOUR new sets:

Trick or Treat with Who’s That Girl $15.95
Chocolate Bunny (Flopsey) $9
Grow Love $15.95
I {Heart} Books $17.95

I decided that for today's project, I NEEDED to pull out Grow Love. I've been waiting for MFT to come out with a fabulous set of trees for a while now, and this set does not disappoint! :) For today's hop, I put together a fancy little altered tin.

I bought some Christmas cards last year that came in this adorable tin, and I've been hoarding it in my stash ever since. It was great to finally get to put it to use! I can't wait to package a cute little gift in it for someone.

Supplies:
Stamps: MFT's Grow Love
Papers: White Cardstock, DP by Crate Paper and KI Memories
Inks: Versamark Scarlet, Memento Brown
Accessories: Ribbon and Buttons by Papertrey Ink, Twine, Glossy Accents, Pop Dots

Here's what else is going on at MFT this week:

Weekly Spotlight: Diamond Glaze and Flock
HTDT Tutorial: Tips & Tricks from the Design Team
First 50: Memento Dew Drop Collection, week 6! color: Dandelion
New Release Hook up: Purchase the August one-click collection at a 10% discount: $52.95 (retail $58.85)

Next up on the hop is Barbara, who I'm sure will have something delightful to share with you! Hop on over there now, and enjoy the rest of your evening!

Coming Home...

2009-08-02T13:47:00.007-04:00

Hi there! I'm finally on my way back home from CHA. It's been a fun week, but I'm super excited to get back home and see my cats and relax a bit! :)

Right now, I'm sitting in the Orlando airport waiting for my flight to take off (thank you, free wireless). And since I'm super bored, and the wireless is too slow to run Netflix, I thought I'd pop on and share a card with you.

So I'm sure you already know that I have a special place in my heart for the DoodleFactory images, right? I completely can't get enough of them, especially the creatures. A while back, Irene, the DoodleFactory illustrator extraordinaire, started dabbling in needle felting, and I told her I was DYING to get my hands on a felt Frozey (my favorite DF creature) of my very own. A couple weeks back, I got the chance to meet up with her when I was in L.A., and guess what she handed to me?!!!

EEEK! Is that not completely and utterly AMAZING??!!! She made me a Frozey to match the "Brocolli Man" I made in the card in this post. I wish I would have photographed this, but she even gave him the cutest little butt! :) I could not be happier with my little creature. Now, we need to convince her to make a whole line of 'em! What about it, Irene? Can we twist your arm? I'd pay good money for a Moki to match!!! ;)

Anyhow, I wanted to send her a thank you card, of course, so I got the idea to create a conveyorbelt of Frozeys (Frozies? Frozey's?), since I want her to get in to the mindset of mass-producing these babies! ;) And since she confided in me that the "original" Frozey was orange and yellow with a cute purple bow in her hair, I had to make my broccoli Frozey the odd man out. :)

Supplies:
Stamps: DoodleFactory Creatures
Papers: Papertrey Ink's White, Black Corrugated Stock, White Cardstock, Green Cardstock, Black Vintage Cardstock by Core'dinations, DP by Colorbok
Inks: Memento Black
Accessories: Screw Brads by Oriental Trading Co., Pop Dots, Glossy Accents, Copic Markers, Paper-piercer

Well, I'm off to sit here and wait some more. :) (It's an exciting life I lead!) Enjoy your Sunday!

CHA-bound

2009-07-28T01:16:00.003-04:00

Hey, remember me?! :) Sorry I haven't been posting a whole lot this summer. It has really flown by! Between traveling and house-stuff, I've barely been able to keep my head above water! And, by the time most of you read this, I should be on my way to beautiful, hot (muggy) Orlando for the CHA show!!! Jealous? ;)

I'm super excited to meet all my online stamping buddies and to see the latest and greatest products on the market! It should be a great time.

I wanted to pop on really quickly and share a project I put together a few days ago. I've had stamping time, but no time to upload anything!!! :)

I picked up a surfboard-shaped clipboard (yes, the make such a thing!) in the clearance bin at Michael's a few weeks ago. And I immediately thought of the perfect stamp set to use with it!

If this project doesn't scream Orlando sunshine, I don't know what does (too bad the weather forecast is predicting thunderstorms all week! GRRRRR!).

(And sorry the pics are so dark. I still haven't mastered photographing large 3-D items!)

Supplies:
Stamps: MFT's Catch some Rays
Papers: MFT Perfect Panels, Tan Cardstock, DP by Crate Paper and My Mind's Eye
Inks: Colorbox ink (for inking edges), Memento Black
Accessories: Sewing Machine, Copic Markers

Enjoy your week! :)

Hop Hop!

2009-07-14T22:00:00.002-04:00

Hello and welcome to the MFT mid-month blog hop! :)

If you didn't arrive here from Kim's blog, you'll want to start there to catch the hop from the start!

I have something totally new and different to share with you today. You hear MFT, and you're used to funky headless chicks and adorable fuzzy bunnies, with the occasional cute girly stuff thrown in, right? (I am!) Well, this month, MFT decided to change it up a bit with some totally unique Kawaii-style images of adorable happy fruit! :)

I dedicate this card to my mother, who hates images of food with faces. :) How can you HATE food with faces?!!! Ack! So cute! :)

Supplies:
Stamps: MFT's Feelin' Fruity
Papers: Scraps for Paper-Piecing, DP by My Mind's Eye and Scenic Route, Green Cardstock, Pink Cardstock, White cardstock
Inks: Memento Black
Accessories: Sewing Machine, Copic Markers, Pop Dots, Buttons by MFT, Embroidery Floss, Googly Eyes

Ok, so I went a little wild with this card, but I swear, THE FRUIT MADE ME DO IT! :)

I'm on vacation in LA, right now, so I have to run, but first here's some info on the new release!

THREE new sets will be released Wednesday, July 15:

Annie LaPoint Spread a Harvest of Hope $9
Bubble Bunny $9
Feelin’ Fruity $17.95

Weekly Spotlight: My Favorite Copic Collection
HTDT Tutorial: Copic markers: advanced blending techniques with Candice

And finally, if you're one of the first 50 shoppers for this release, you'll automatically receive a FREE Memento Dew Drop! The first 50 will receive a FREE Memento Dew Drop in Bamboo Leaves with their order.

Hope you enjoyed this stop. Your next stop on the hop is Barbara! Go check out her blog for another amazing creation!

Enjoy your evening! :)

Bunny Cuteness

2009-07-11T19:20:00.000-04:00

Hi there! Just HAD to pop in to share a fun MFT Teaser made with one of the newest sets being released this Wednesday (July 15).

I'll make this a short and sweet post, but you have to tell me... is this not the CUTEST Flopsey yet?!!

EEEEK! I think he is just too cute for words!

Supplies:
Stamps: MFT's Bubble Bunny, MFT's Time for the Bubbly (extra bubbles floating around)
Papers: MFT's Perfect Panels, DP by MFT and Lasting Impressions
Inks: Memento Black
Accessories: Copic Markers, White Gel Pen, Glitter, Copic Spica, Chipboard (for Tag), Turquoise Grosgrain Ribbon, Purple Eyelet, Tiny Crate (from Michael's)

I forgot to mention another deal MFT has this week in yesterday's post...

This weekend, MFT is continuing its month-long 3rd birthday bash! From Fri. July 10th - Sun. July 12th, ALL in-stock, full sized Who's That Girl? sets are 15% off!

Out of stock sets (including Catch Some Rays) and 3 x 4 MINI sets are NOT included.

The discount will automatically be applied to your order; the correct price from all applicable sets is already deducted.

AAAAAND....

MFT still has a stash of 6 x 6 Daisy Bucket Papers, so EVERY order that requires shipping will receive a sampler until the supply runs out!

Just felt like enabling a little more! ;)

Enjoy your evening!

Fabric Fun

2009-07-10T21:41:00.000-04:00

Hello! Happy Friday! :)

I am gearing up for a trip to Los Angeles on Monday...going to chill out, catch up with some old (and newer stamping) friends and hopefully spend lots of time on the beach soaking up the sun with my hubby. Before I can do that, though, I have lots of cleaning, stamping, and errand-running to do. I hate the days leading up to vacation, but they always make the vacationing seem that much more decadent! :)

Anyhow...

I needed a break from cleaning, so I thought I'd pop on and share a couple of recent projects with you guys!

You might recall that a while back I gave a tutorial on printing on fabric. Well, since I joined the MFT Design Team, Jody Morrow asked me to merge that in to a HTDT feature on SCS. MFT has a new HTDT (How'd They Do That) each week, and it's a great place to learn all kinds of nifty little tricks. Check it out. This week, I gave a reprise of my tutorial and came up with some new projects to go along with it.

You can see the whole tutorial (with the projects included) HERE.

First, I whipped up some cute little sachets, using the MFT digi paper print-outs for the backs:

Then I made a cute pin-cushion with the MFT digi paper as the cushion base and as the tag covering:

I wanted to come up with a really easy, fool-proof project, so I put together this set of MFT digi paper fabric-covered frames to showcase a colored image:

And finally, I wanted to show that the printed fabric is so versatile that you can even use it WITH your paper creations...so I put together a plain old boring card. ;)

For full instructions on how I put all these together, go check out the tutorial! :)

So, I'm a little late on this, but have you seen this week's release from MFT?

This is the first ever of a series of KITS MFT will be releasing on a monthly basis. Every month, an exclusive (not-available-outside-the-kit) stamp set will be released with all the "fixins" to create a few fabulous projects! It even comes with a project sheet download for when your creativity is failing you! Just add color!

This month's kit coordinates BEAUTIFULLY with By the Seashore (the set I used for the samples above). So I hope that my samples have given you a couple of ideas, in case you decide to pick up the kit! ;)

This week, MFT has also discounted their digi papers by 10%, so if you want to try printing on fabric (or just want to pick up the files to print paper), now is the time! In addition, everyone who purchases the above kit between now and July 14 will receive a code for a FREE digi paper download! :) How's that for a deal?!

Get out of here, and go shop! :)

Enjoy your evening. Back to cleaning for me.

Welcome to the Starving Artistamps DoodleFactory Hop!

2009-07-08T11:00:00.000-04:00

Welcome to the new release BLOG HOP for the DoodleFactory!

I cannot WAIT to share Starving Artistamps' newest DoodleFactory release, Classic Decor. Finally...some fun furniture for our DoodleFactory creatures to play house with! :)

If you didn't come here from Donna Baker's Blog, you'll want to stop by the Starving Artistamps Blog to catch the fun from the beginning! Be sure to visit ALL the stops on the hop, because one of us has a complete collection of the new Classic Decor release to give away as blog candy!

And in case you miss anyone, here are links to everyone's blogs (including links to some special guest designers who are playing along this month!):

Donna D.
Juliana
Donna B.
Lori
Lydia
Andrea
Natasha
Irene
Dawn Mercedes
Jenn McMillan
Nina Aaslund
Laura Davis
Kazan Clark
Tracey

And without further ado, here is my take on these fabulous images!!! :)

The new releases are already loaded in the Starving Artistamps Shop, ready for immediate shipping and...

for the next three days Starving Artistamps is offering a blog hop special!:

Buy the complete Classic Decor stamps and sentiments collection (both the Classic Decor stamp set and the coordinating Classic Decor sentiment set) and get ALL the cling cushion you need for the two sets FREE! Now, that's pretty awesome, isn't it?!

You can find the new stamps here:

CLASSIC DECOR STAMPS
and
CLASSIC DECOR SENTIMENTS

And don't forget to use my code savetenKD to save yourself 10% off all your DoodleFactory and Starving Artistamps stamp Purchases!

I hope you've enjoyed this stop on the hop. You should head over to Lori's Blog now. I just KNOW she's going to have something fabulous to share with you!

Enjoy your day!

Welcome to the July MFT Hop!

2009-06-30T22:00:00.000-04:00

Hello crafty friends! Welcome to the July Release MFT Blog Hop! If you didn't arrive here from Kim's blog, you'll want to start there to catch the hop from the start!

I need to make this post kind of short and sweet, because I'm *really* not feeling well today, but I just had to show you another preview of another adorable new set release, Catch Some Rays!

Whatdya think? Is it time for summer?! :)

To make this card, I just traced and cut a half circle shape and adhered it on to a card base that was also a half-circle shape. I randomly cut triangles from some scraps I had and sewed up and down each "ray" before sewing them all to the card base. I then added my image and some buttons to frame the sentiment.

Supplies:
Stamps: MFT's Catch Some Rays
Papers: MFT Perfect Panels, DP by My Mind's Eye and Scraps
Inks: Memento Black
Accessories: Sewing Machine, Copic Markers, Pop Dots

Here's some more info on this month's release!

There are FOUR new sets being released tomorrow (Wednesday, July 1). They are:

WTG Catch Some Rays $15.95
Puttin on the Glitz $17.95
Puppy Chow $9
Purrfect Treats $9
(Or order the One Click Collection --all 4 stamp sets--for $46 for the first 48 hours after the release.)

MFT will also be releasing a new Polka Dot Ribbon Nest in perfect-for-summer colors! (5/8” grosgrain, swiss dot ribbon in bright pink, red, navy, emerald green and yellow) 5 yards each of the 5 different ribbons for a total of 25 yards. $11.95

If you feel like you need all the stamps AND that snazzy ribbon, go ahead and grab the Buy It All Bundle: all 4 stamp sets, plus the polka dot ribbon nest retails for $63.85 but will be on sale for $57 for the first 48 hours after the release.

This week's Weekly Spotlight is Glittered Dots and Flowers. That means that Glittered Dots and Flowers will be discounted 10% on the MFT site from 7/1-7/7.

And finally, if you're one of the first 50 shoppers for this release, you'll automatically receive a FREE Memento Dew Drop! This is actually the Memento Dew Drop Collection Launch Day! For the next 24 weeks, the first 50 prize will be a Memento Dew Drop, and each week we will feature a NEW color. If you place an order each Wednesday and are in the first 50 orders, you will earn the complete collection for FREE over the next 24 weeks. Today, the first 50 will receive a FREE Memento Dew Drop in Angel Pink with their order.

Hope you made it through all that! There's obviously a LOT going on with MFT lately! Hope you enjoyed this stop. Your next stop on the hop is Barbara! Go check out her blog for what I'm sure is going to be something to knock your socks off!

Enjoy your evening! :)

Treats!

2009-06-29T20:52:00.000-04:00

Hello Strangers :)

I've been living life more that usual, so I've temporarily been taking a break from blogging. I hope you'll forgive me for my sporadic posting. I've been focusing less on stamping and more on things like summer, health, fun, vacation-planning... the normal stuff that happens when the temperatures start to heat up. ;)

Anyhow, this week, MFT is releasing FOUR new fabulous sets on Wednesday (July 1). I thought I'd pop on with a couple of cute sneak peeks for you today! :)

When I heard that MFT was finally releasing a KITTY set, I just about jumped out of my seat! You see, MFT really likes its dogs and has released a couple of all-dog sets, but I have been waiting and waiting for a CAT set to call my very own for quite a while now! :) And I finally got it! And the cat couldn't be any cuter, either!

I had to ink it up right away and put together this little jar chock-full of fun cat treats! And since my cats are fat enough, I decided to fill the jar with some non-edible, fun, jingle-bell balls for them to play around with.

See how the mouse "frame" is curved into a nifty shape? The stamp comes in rectangle-form, but MFT was *genius* this time around and cut out the clear stamp material that's usually in the middle of the shape. So you can literally bend and shape the frame how you want it on your block before stamping it out. I love that!

Supplies:
Stamps: MFT's Purrfect Treats, MFT's Punny Farm (for mouse in bowl)
Papers: MFT Perfect Panels, DP by My Mind's Eye
Inks: Memento Black, Colored Ink Spots for Paw Prints
Accessories: Copic Markers, Ribbon Scraps, Blue Ruffle Ribbon, Color blocks Ribbon by American Crafts, Jar by IKEA, Good Kitty Sticker by Karen Foster, Mouse Stickers by Oriental Trading Co., Purple Eyelet, Chipboard (for tag)

And although cats ARE my favorite, I couldn't leave out the dogs in my life... so I had to put the matching dog set to use and pretty-up a bone for my favorite mutt.

Note to self: Cats apparently like meaty dog bones... who knew? ;)

Supplies:
Stamps: MFT's Puppy Chow
Papers: MFT's Perfect Panels, Scraps :)
Inks: Adirondack Espresso, Colorbox's Brick, Colorbox's Copperswift, Memento Black
Accessories: Silver Eyelet, Pop Dots, Brown Grosgrain Ribbon, Twine, Copic Markers, Chipboard for Tag Base

That's it for tonight, but be sure to stop by tomorrow night (Tuesday) at 10 pm EST for the monthly MFT blog hop! It's sure to be a blast!

Enjoy your evening!

Saddened.

2009-06-26T13:45:00.001-04:00

"And when the groove is dead and gone, you know that love survives, and we will rock forever..."

Father's Day

2009-06-20T12:01:00.000-04:00

Needless to say, it was a little rough for me to get in to the spirit of Father's Day this year. I've had kind of an emotional month, and I can blame all of the dumb 1-800-flowers-type of email reminders I've been getting that Father's Day is coming up for that. So, when I sat down to make this card for my Father-in-law, I really struggled. Like 3 hours struggled! :) But, in the end, I finally came up with something.

I had barely any good non-cutesy, appropriate guy stamps, so I decided to make a card I thought my dad would have enjoyed if he were still here. I pulled out these neat chipboard gears and found a layout by one of my stamping idols, Ana Wohlfahrt. My dad was very much in to the mechanics of things (to the point that he left my poor mother with boxes and boxes of things in parts!), so I think he would have gotten a kick out of the gears. I quite like how this came out in the end (even though the pic is kind of bad, since the bulb in my lightbox lamp died).

Supplies:
Stamps: Alpha stamps (supplier unknown)
Papers: Kraft Cardstock, Brown Cardstock, Cream Cardstock by Paper-Source, DP by Crate Paper, Creative Imaginations. The green DP is a scrap (supplier unknown)
Inks: I layered a bunch of different colors to give the gears some depth and to make them look a little dirty...
Accessories: Gear chipboard by Maya Road, Ribbon by Lasting Impressions, Making Memories Brass Brads, Twine, Edge Distresser, Paper Piercer

I've been organizing my office for a couple of days, but I'll have some more goodies to share with you all soon!

Enjoy your weekend!

Welcome to the Hop!

2009-06-16T21:00:00.000-04:00

Update: The blog candy contest is now closed.... And the WINNER is Carolyn from Canada, Ontario!!!

Hello friends and WELCOME to the MFT mid-month release blog hop! :)

If you're arriving here first, you've missed out on all the fun! Be sure to drop by Kim's blog to catch the hop from the beginning! And, you'll definitely want to hop all around, because hidden along the way are TWO chances to win some fabulous blog candy!

As you may know, Barbara Anders and I are the two newest members to the MFT Sweet Sixteen, and this is our very first hop! Pretty exciting stuff, huh? I hope you enjoy what we've come up with for you and enjoy what the other girls put together, too!

Tonight, two new sets will be released. They are:
I Need Coffee Flopsey $9
Rainy Day Friends (Fizer) $15.95

And I have to tell you, they are both ADORABLE! Want a little peek? Well, here you go!

My first card is especially appropriate for tonight, since we're talking HOPPING and all...

Seriously, how adorable is that little froggy?! And when you open the card, this is what you see...

Supplies:
Stamps: MFT's Rainy Day Friends and Rain or Shine (clouds)
Papers: Papertrey Ink's White, Purple Cardstock, DP by Paper Loft, My Mind's Eye, Sonburn Designs, Crate Paper and Doodlebug Design
Inks: Memento Black, Studio G Cyan
Accessories: Circle Punch, Nestabilities, Ribbon by MFT, Buttons by MFT, Chipboard Button by Colorbok, Sewing Machine, Copic Markers, Chalks

And of course, we can't forget about I Need Coffee Flopsey! Here's a fun and super quick gift you can put together with him!

Stamps: MFT's I Need Coffee Flopsey
Papers: White Cardstock, Polka Dot DP by Imaginiesce, Scraps for Paper-Piecing
Inks: Memento Black
Accessories: Coffee Bag by Papertrey Ink, Chipboard tags, Blue Twill Ribbon, Twine, Copic Markers, Chalks, Buttons by MFT and Oriental Trading Co.

These new sets will both be released at MIDNIGHT EST tonight. Make sure you stay up late to get your paws on them! ;)

Now...wait, there's more...

How about some BLOG CANDY? :)

Want to have a chance at WINNING the new I Need Coffee Flopsey?!

Leave me a comment, and I'll draw one winner tomorrow (Wednesday) at around 9 PM EST (and of course, if you couldn't keep yourself out of the MFT store tonight and already swiped I Need Coffee Flopsey, you'll be able to sub it for another mini set of your choice).

And before you go, here's a couple other things you might want to know about! ;)

I don't know if I've mentioned before, but the MFT forum on SCS is still majorly happenin', even though MFT idol is over. There are multiple weekly challenges and chances to win MFT stamping bucks every single week! And if you're not interested in challenges, there's also a weekly tutorial! So if you haven't checked it out yet, come and say hello! A new thread and a new challenge starts each Thursday morning, and we're always very happy to see a new face!

You've reached the end of the hop, and I sure hope you enjoyed it and are inspired. Now, set your clocks for midnight and shop away! This week, (from Wednesday until next Tuesday), all crystal collections are 10% off, and the first 50 orders will automatically receive FREE Heidi Swapp Stickers!

Have fun shopping! :)

How About a Little Teaser?

2009-06-15T22:57:00.000-04:00

Hello and Happy Monday! :) Hope everyone had a great weekend. We had more of the same -- thunderstorms-- here in Utah. The weatherman says this weekend is supposed to finally be sunny, and I am very much looking forward to it! :)

Butttttt.... since we're talking rain, I thought I'd give you a little preview of an adorable stamp set that MFT is releasing this Wednesday, June 17. The set is another fabulous creation illustrated by Stephanie Fizer and is called Rainy Day Friends:

Eek! Isn't she soooo cute?! :) The moment I laid eyes on her, I knew we'd be good friends! :)

Do you like that background paper? How cool is it that that's a stitch setting on my sewing machine?! I thought it was super fun, and I can't wait to use it more.

(I had a funny sewing machine moment this week. Well, actually, it started the last week of MFT idol. I couldn't get the needle to go down in to the paper. It was like it was jammed in the "up" position. I took out about every screw on my machine and found nothing and then got my hubby to finally look at it Saturday night. He messed around with the knobs and took out more screws. Finally, he happened to flip the bobbin winding knob to "sew," and it miraculously worked. I felt like such a moron. I have no idea how it got knocked in to the bobbin winding setting!!! But yay! It's fixed! I'm just glad I didn't take it to a sewing machine repair shop. They would have laughed their butts off at my expense!)

Supplies:
Stamps: Rainy Day Friends by MFT, Rain or Shine by MFT (clouds base)
Papers: Papertrey Ink White Cardstock, DP by My Mind's Eye, Lasting Impressions and Sonburn Designs
Inks: Memento Black, Studio G Cyan, Versamark Indigo
Accessories: Pop Dots, Sewing Machine, Copic Markers, Chipboard Circle, White Gel Pen

This is just a *little* tease, but I've got more up my sleeve. Be SURE to drop by tomorrow evening at 10 pm EST for the MFT mid-month release blog hop. I've got a couple other projects to share with you, and somewhere hidden along the hopping trail will be some fab blog candy! :)

Enjoy your evening.

I'm Certified! :)

2009-06-11T19:46:00.000-04:00

Hi friends.

I had a fun crafting-related day today. I spent the day downtown getting certified in Copics. It was a lot of fun. There were only about 10 of us in a historic mansion-turned-bed and breakfast. The lighting left a lot to be desired, and a lot of the info we talked about was a repeat for me. But I still managed to take away several new things, and I got a chance to try out the airbrush system, which I have to say, is pretty darn nifty. Gotta get one of those babies. :)

Since I had a Copic-themed day, I thought I'd share a card I made for this week's challenge in the MFT forum on SCS (which I used lots of Copics on). The challenge was to make a trifold card.

A while back, I had seen a couple of these neat trifold cards popping up on SCS, and I decided that I had to get around to trying the technique. It was a lot easier than it looks (literally only 4 scores and 2 cuts!) :)

Here's what I came up with.

The outside of the card when closed:

Which opens up to this:

You can find a tutorial for the trifold shutter card here.

And since we're talking Copics, I thought I'd give a close-up of the coloring, just for fun:

Supplies:
Stamps: MFT's We're Not Scared
Papers: Papertrey Ink's White, DP by Stampin' Up and My Mind's Eye
Inks: Memento Black
Accessories: Copic Markers

Hope everyone had a great day. It's been super dark, rainy and gloomy in Salt Lake for over a week now. Where's the sun?! :)

Enjoy your evening.

I Must Be On a Monsters Kick...

2009-06-09T14:32:00.000-04:00

because here's the card I just made for my cousin, who graduated from High School last week:

Supplies:
Stamps: Little Guy (Boy) and Making the Grade (School) by Kim Hughes for Cornish Heritage Farms
Papers: Papertrey Ink's White, Coordinations Vintage Blue Stock, DP by Creative Imaginations and Colorbok
Inks: Memento Black
Accessories: Copic Markers, Glossy Accents, Pop Dots, Clear letters and arrows by Bo Bunny, Spiral Clips by Oriental Trading Co., Orange Thickers by American Crafts

Back to my crafting lair! ;) Have a great day!