PaperFections

Another MFT Sneak Peek!

I really don't like letting go of summer, so I guess this card is my farewell to it! I love tropical locations, so I this will just have to get me through the winter until we can make it to the beach again! This card came together pretty easily since I already knew the set I needed to use (By the Seashore -- available for purchase on November 1) and for the layout, I used the My Favorite Things Sketch Challenge #2 over on SplitcoastStampers.com. Since MFT is a member company over at SCS, we have our own forums and challenges going on over there. So if you are a MFT fan, head on over to check it all out! There will also be a release party going on tomorrow night, waiting for the stroke of midnight when you'll be able to order this set, the Build A Bouquet set I used yesterday and a fabulous new 28-word sentiment set, Essential Sentiments! I stamped all images with Brilliance Graphite Black on Curious Cryogen White Iridescent cardstock and colored them with Copic markers (yes, these markers color beautifully on this wonderful shimmery cardstock)! The sky was created by sponging with turquoise... Read more →

MFT Sneak Peek-Build A Bouquet

You are going to love this new Build A Bouquet set from My Favorite Things -- it will be available for purchase this Thursday, November 1 at 12am, so don't miss it! I used just one flower and one pot from this 23-piece set! You'll get 3 different flower shapes in varying sizes, flower centers, leaves, stems, 2 flower pots, and some great shadowing circles, too! Here, I stamped the largest flower I thought resembled a poinsettia in Versamark onto DaisyD's Paisley Sugarplum 6x6 designer paper and clear embossed. They were cut out and then I wanted the thin outline within the flower petals to stand out more, so I used a marker to color over the embossing, depositing the color to the outline. Then I wiped away the marker from the embossing and this aged the flower a bit. Here's a photo to show you what I did: It's subtle, but I liked it. The flower pot was stamped with black pigment ink onto another design of the DaisyD paper pad, clear embossed and cut out. The red scalloped panel is a pre-cut 4.25" x 5.50" flat card from The Paper Company (not sure if they have an online... Read more →

Ho! Ho! Ho!

Here's that Santa challenge I mentioned yesterday. When I was in Portland a couple of weekends ago with some stampin' friends, we had an image swap and I latched on to this beautiful Santa immediately -- I adore Santa images, especially the more "vintage" variety. Sweet Leann Yoho from S. California (you know her on SCS as elyoho) brought this one (Rubber Stampede's Santa Collage #3408F) and a few of us decided we needed a challenge! While in Portland, some of us went shopping at PaperZone and found our beloved Stardream Metallic cardstock and discovered this gorgeous "Mars" color -- a perfect Christmas red, so we decided to throw that into the challenge as well. If you can't find it on PaperZone's site, I know you can get it at CutCardStock.com (they are about the same pricing). This is what I came up with: It's a gatefold card by DCWV I picked up quite a while back at Hobby Lobby, I believe and it was the a good complimentary olive match to Basic Grey's new Figgy Pudding paper. Here's a little better view of the card closed so you can see the layout better: The Mars red matched the red... Read more →

Challenging Thanks

I always enjoy a challenge, so I was all set for Beate's weekend sketch challenge this week and I wanted to try out my new PaperTrey Ink set, Piece of Cake, so all I had left to do was choose my color scheme . . . this makes for easy stamping! Except I wanted to challenge myself even further by making a thank-you card :D Since this set is geared towards cake and all kinds of celebrations you have with cake, this DID prove challenging! Since the set also includes some flower images, I tried thinking how I could use those for a thank-you card. Then I took a look at the 3-tiered cake image and thought it might could be used for a vase . . . I turned it upside down and omitted the largest bottom layer and voila, a vase was born (with pretty scalloped edges, I might add)! So I masked the bottom layer when inking the stamp with Brilliance Pearlescent Lime and stamped it on Cryogen White shimmer cardstock. Then I stamped part of the large cluster of flowers in Brilliance Pearlescent Coral and the single cluster of flowers in Brilliance Pearlescent Orange. Green leaves... Read more →

A Challenge For You - Snowflakes

Today I'm guest-hosting the color challenge over on SplitcoastStampers.com. When I saw this color combo, I knew it would be a fun one to try. So here it is: Basic Gray (dark gray), Purely Pomegranate (or Rose Red) & Soft Sky (or Bashful Blue). So come on over and play with us! We were given this card kit at Stampin' Up Regionals and it's what first spurred the color challenge. Then a few of us thought it might be fun to challenge each other to use just the pieces in the kit and make a card (adding just a little additional pieces, if needed). So as an additional side challenge Jessica, Lori and I decided to see what we could make! Be sure to check the links above (and below!) to see what they came up with! ETA: Card challenge samples from Beate & Jenn -- thanks for playing, girls! Here's the kit we had to work with (click for a larger view): So if you'd like to play along, too, make your card this week and post a link to it here. I'll let Random.org pick a winner and I'll send you a little prize! I'll close the contest... Read more →

Free Stamps!

I bet that caught your attention! If you'd like the chance to win some free stamps from a NEW stamp company called Kitchen Sink, head on over to Craft Critique and read the linked article (above) to find out how you can enter the drawing! Read more →

WSC24-Lockhart Tulip Thanks

I'm really glad Beate has these weekend sketch challenges each week; otherwise, I might not have stamped this week! I'm still recovering from being out of town last weekend (having a blast with friends in Portland, OR!), so I'm glad I made time to stamp last night! I hope you give this sketch a try, too, and do a little stamping this weekend. I found these designer card bases by K & Company at Michael's . . . they are 5" x 7" size and lined with coordinating paper. This particular card already had scalloped edges on three sides, which I loved! This made it easy to choose some pretty colors from the pattern to color my main image. The sketch called for a horizontal strip across the middle, so I added this pretty pink & green gingham coordinating paper from a 6" x 6" paper pad (Hannah) also by K & Company. I stamped this gorgeous vase of tulips by Lockhart Stamp Company in Brilliance Graphite Black on Curious Cryogen White shimmer cardstock and colored with Copic markers. Colors used were New Leaf (YG23), Pea Green (YG63), Light Prawn (R22) & Salmon Red (R05). The vase was shaded with... Read more →

Think Pink Auction

Since it's Breast Cancer Awareness month, the My Favorite Things Design Team is raising money for a good cause...Breast Cancer Awareness. Visit this eBay auction to see a group of 18 cards we all hand-created and donated for this auction. THIS is the card I created for the donation. ETA: Here are group pics of the auction cards: 100% of the proceeds from this auction will be donated to the Susan G. Komen Foundation to further research toward a cure. Please pass this link along to friends & family and hopefully, together we can all help to make a wonderful donation! Read more →

Friend Tree

Light green Nestabilities Rectangle was die cut and then inlaid into shimmer ivory card that had the same shape cut out, so all cut-outs are flat against card. Tree was stamped in green ink and lightly colored with green dye markers, then accented with liquid pearls. Tag was self made and matted with same shimmery green cardstock; accented with ivory taffeta ribbon and adhered to card with dimensionals. Stamps: PaperTrey Ink Believe. Paper: Stardream Serpentine Shimmer & Cryogen Poison Ivory Shimmer Ink: Tsukineko Versamagic Tea Leaves Dew Drop, Stampin' Up Markers: Celery & Moss. Accessories: Spellbinders Nestabilities Scalloped Rectangles, Ranger Liquid Pearls, SU Ivory Taffeta Ribbon, Dimensionals, Tag Corner Punch. A quick and simple card! Read more →

Santa's Key Box

This key & box should put childrens' minds at ease if their house doesn't have a chimney or visit relatives during the holidays that don't! The key is to hang on your front doorknob for Santa to use to enter your house if you don't have a chimney for Santa to come down on Christmas Eve! Read on for the adorable poem that accompanies it . . . This was a chipboard wood box (about $1.99 at Michael's) that I painted with silver metallic paint. The top has Santa stamped onto shimmer white cardstock and colored with a small sponge applicator an shimmer chalks. I pounced the chalk on, to try and achieve a velvet look to Santa's coat. His beard, hat and coat trim are done with Liquid Pearls. The star is covered in clear glitter pen. After stamping "Believe" (my favorite holiday sentiment!) below Santa, I shadowed both the sentiment and Santa with a light gray marker, then I die cut and embossed the image with Spellbinders' Nestabilities Classic Oval and matted the image in black with the Nestabilities Scalloped Oval. All were adhered to the top of the box that is trimmed with black ribbon. Rub-ons were... Read more →

Spellbinder Nestabilities Review

My article should be up today on Craft Critique and I'm including here as well. I had been gathering information and comparisons for this revolutionary product for several months and have compiled bits and pieces I've found from several different sources that helped me get started easily and quickly! Spellbinders Nestabilities Review They are everywhere you look -- in scrapbooking, cardmaking, rubberstamping, papercrafting of all types . . . scallops! At first, Marvy Uchida couldn’t keep up with the demand we papercrafters placed on their scalloped punches and were backordered for months. PROBLEM: Last spring (2006) when Ellen Hutson had a hard time keeping the punches in stock at her online store, she began brainstorming on a solution with Spellbinders Paper Arts Company owners, Jeff and Stacey Caron, whom she had met at the Winter CHA show a few months earlier. SOLUTION: Together, they’ve developed revolutionary plates that will emboss as well as die cut solid (straight) circles, ovals, squares and rectangles as well as scalloped versions of all those shapes! And here’s the outcome they produced . . . (they say a picture is worth a thousand words! Photo courtesy of Ellen Hutson): STORAGE: Look at that pile of... Read more →

WSC23-Thomas Kinkade Cobblestone Bridge

Here's what I did with Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge #23 -- a square focal image on a square card. My card base is 5.25" square copper metallic. Cobblestone Bridge is another Thomas Kinkade rubber stamps by Cornish Heritage Farms that was just released for sale today. You can check out the full line of Thomas Kinkade stamps HERE. There are now 12 full-sized images and vignette-sizes of the same images available, along with many complimentary sentiments. Here, the full-sized Cobblestone Bridge was trimmed down to 3.25" x 2.5" and matted with shimmer ivory cardstock. It was then layered onto a chocolate rectangle embossed die cut-out created with the Spellbinders Nestabilities Scalloped Rectangle dies. This is the largest 4-inch wide rectangle. The same sized scalloped rectangle was then die-cut from the card base and the focal image nested back inside it, so it's flush with the card. The piece is secured from the back side of the cardfront with another piece of cardstock to hold it in place. Here's a closeup -- hopefully you'll be able to see the beautiful embossing these dies create. Such a professional finish, I think: I finished off the card by stamping the sentiment onto shimmer... Read more →

A Thomas Kinkade Christmas

What gorgeous Christmas and winter holiday cards & projects this image will make! You can always depend on Thomas Kinkade for that classic style. This is another of Mr. Kinkade's images that were transformed into rubber art stamps by Cornish Heritage Farms and is available for sale beginning tomorrow. I stamped it in Tsukineko's Versafine Vintage Sepia ink onto Curious Irridescent Poison Ivory cardstock and lightly colored it a bit using Copic markers. The snow is white dimensional paint that I applied thickly over the rooftop snowy areas and then added glitter to it: The snowflake is Jolee's by EK Success and started out silver & blue -- I colored it using a Encore metallic copper ink pad. The image was then adhered to a chipboard box that I painted with a metallic espresso colored paint. << Here's how the box started out. The lid top and bottom of the box were trimmed with chocolate May Arts loopy ribbon and the outside rim of the lid was further accented with brown velvet ribbon: The sentiment was rearranged and stamped onto poison ivory cardstock by using a brown marker to selectively ink the words I wanted, arranged where I wanted them... Read more →

Thomas Kinkade-The Light of Peace

Well, there's been a little glitch and the Thomas Kinkade rubber stamps won't be released until tomorrow now. But if you hang tight, I'm sure you won't be disappointed! Keep at eye out at the store: Cornish Heritage Farms or blog for details. So finally -- the lighthouse image you all had been requesting! Isn't it beautiful? I decided to make a rather non-traditional holiday card and ornament -- I thought this beautiful sentiment would be appropriate for both just a lighthouse in general and for the holidays. Cheesecloth backgrounder (SonLight Impressions line by Cornish Heritage Farms) was stamped in white StazOn on acetate sheet which is folded over the front & back of card. Ribbon tied thru a slot in the tops of both cards helps hold the overlay in place. Cryogen White shimmer card base is large size (6.25" x 4.5"). A rectangle was cut out of the middle of the card front, leaving a 1/2" frame all around. It is backed with navy cardstock, so the white Cheesecloth shows up better: Lighthouse vignette/oval image was inked with a dye marker, omitting the rectangle frame and stamped on Cryogen White shimmer cardstock, adding the separate sentiment below. The... Read more →

Design Team Call

Are you looking for a Design Team opportunity? Then check out How Do You Glue. Yeah, I know -- funny name but they are a manufacturer of wonderful alterable products and made that fantastic Vertical Album I got thru Doodliedoo and turned into a desk calendar! So check out that link above for all the details -- the call ends October 27. Read more →