Quiet Waters

I'm excited to show you a peek at one of the new sets coming from Our Daily Bread Designs next week: Quiet Waters. This image is so serene and peaceful - and perfectly suits the Scripture passages that make up the rest of the set. I wanted a light, soft look to go along with the pastel colors of Basic Grey's Wisteria papers, so I stamped in Memento London Fog (a grey ink), then lightly colored with Prismacolors. The Scripture is tucked in the inside with a little bit of decorating:



For more peeks of Quiet Waters, as well as Ask, Seek, Knock, both of which will be released on June 1, be sure to visit the other design team members' blogs throughout the week and weekend - links are on the left sidebar.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and have a blessed day!




Stamps: Quiet Waters (Our Daily Bread Designs)
Paper: SU Bordering Blue, Papertrey White, Basic Grey Wisteria
Ink: Memento London Fog, Ranger Old Paper Distress
Accessories: Kaiser pearls, Offray ribbon, paper piercer, sewing machine, flowers (pulled from a floral stem I found in the Michael's floral department)
Size: 5 1/2" square

I'm So Proud of You

How did it get to be Saturday already? I'm looking forward to the long holiday weekend, and want to wish my American readers a Happy Memorial Day weekend! If you're planning to fit some stamping time in, Jen's Sketch For You to Try is a great place to start. I love the vertical strips of paper on this one - great way to use some scraps.

Here's another look at Verve's new Up, Up and Away and Dare to Be You, which were both released last night. I'll say it again - I love these two sets!! (By the way, Verve is having a Memorial Day sale through My 31 - save 10%-20% on everything.) I used some Cosmo Cricket Girl Friday papers to create this kind of funky look. I realize I broke a "Jody rule" by mixing my white and ivory. I'm thinking it's one of those times where if you break the rule bad enough, you get to call it art - LOL! The glittered balloon looks a bit washed out in the photo, but in real life it's nice and vivid and sparkly.

Hope you'll play along with us! For inspiration, be sure to check out samples from the SFYTT gang:

Jen del Muro, with the sketch and guest designer Julie Lacey
Susan Liles
Kelly Lunceford
Carole Burrage
Amy Rohl

When you're ready to play, use Mr. Linky to hook up your creation to Jen's post, and if you upload to SCS, use keyword: SFYTT.

Thanks for stopping by!



Stamps: Up, Up and Away; Dare to Be You (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Prismatics Dark Brown Suede, SU Whisper White; Cosmo Cricket Girl Friday
Ink: Papertrey Dark Chocolate; Ranger Walnut Stain Distress, SU Soft Sky
Accessories: Copic markers, Art Institute superfine glitter, Spellbinders oval and circle Nestabilities, 7Gypsies hardware, Bazzill ribbon, EK Success Fleur-de-Lis and Dotted Wave border punches, foam adhesive, sewing machine

Dare to Be You

Tonight, Verve Stamps is releasing six new sets. Join us at 9 pm in the member company forum for our May Release Party. In the meantime, have you seen the sneak peeks so far on the Verve blog? Be sure to check out the projects and leave comments each day for chances to win new stamps of your very own.

Before I get to my card details, I also want to make sure you know about the sketch challenge and special guest contest. Julee has created one of her awesome sketches, and if you can get something made by 5 pm eastern time, you could be one of five random winners who will receive a Verve set of her choice.

In addition, participants in the sketch challenge are also eligible for a chance to be Verve's Special Guest Diva for our June release. The deadline for that part isn't until 10 pm Tuesday, May 26. You'll find all the details HERE in the Verve Forum.

Okay, so a few words about my project. Here's the little blurb I wrote for the Verve blog:

I'm especially excited to preview Up, Up & Away! A while back I was browsing home decor catalogs when a trio of hot air balloon wall hangings caught my eye. There was something so sweet and magical about the balloons, and, as we stampers so often do, I thought "wouldn't that make a cute stamp?" I shared the idea with the Divas, and Julee ran with it. I don't know how she does it, but once again, she's created a set with the perfect balance between whimsy and elegance. I couldn't be happier with "my" hot air balloons! This set will be perfect for so many occasions - congratulations, pick-me-up, encouragement, even baby and travel. The other set we're previewing today is Dare to Be You. The title sentiment, Dare to Be You, jumped out at me as a fantastic message for a new graduate. Paired with the balloons, it makes a great send-off for someone entering "the real world"! If only life were always blue skies and smooth sailing (or should I say smooth floating?). I hope you'll fall for these two sets every bit as much as I have!

That's it for now - I'm saving the rest of my projects for the party. Hope to see you there! Don't forget to swing by the Verve Blog to see the rest of the previews!

[Edited to Add: I forgot to thank my friend Gretchen for inspiring me to pull out my ghost shapes again! I love how she added one to her ribbon/button treatment on this card! Thanks Gretchen!!]



Stamps: Up, Up & Away; Dare to Be You (Verve Stamps)
Paper: SU Kiwi Kiss, Papertrey Vintage Cream, K&Co Carolyn Gavin Greenhouse dp
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, SU Soft Sky, Ranger Vintage Photo Distress, Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Martha Stewart snow glitter, Spellbinders Labels 4 Nestabilities, Stampin' Up spiral punch, Papertrey ribbon and button, Heidi Swapp ghost star, sewing machine, foam adhesive, clear embossing powder

MFT Hop Around the Block: Fill Your Jar!

Welcome to My Favorite Things' mid-month Hop Around the Block! This month, we're changing the way you gift! If you've arrived here from Christina's blog, you're right on track. If you stopped by on your own, you may want to start at the beginning with Kim. I'd hate for you to miss a single thing!

Tonight, MFT is releasing two fantastic new stamp sets designed for gift-giving, as well as an all-new packaging product - these awesome 16-ounce, squarish, clear plastic jars! Together they make perfect packaging for personalized and economical gift giving! I've filled my jar with office supplies (binder clips, paper clips, rubber bands) and decorated it with the teacher label set. It's all about presentation sometimes, you know? Would I leave the same supplies in their original packaging and call them a teacher gift? Never. But presented this way? You bet! Especially with a gift card tucked inside the matching card.

I pulled out my Making Memories Chloe's Closet assortment of papers and embellishments for this project. This line is so cute to start with, and with its office look (grid paper, ledger paper, ruler-themed twill, etc.), I thought it would work well for a teacher gift. The one downside is that it is a bit girly. I have two more of these to make, but they need to go to male teachers. Well, tonight MFT is also releasing some new, wonderfully gender-neutral, school-themed digital papers that I can't wait to try just as soon as my stinker of a printer starts playing nice again!

A closer look:












Next up is a spa gift item using the new Time For the Bubbly label set:



I found these tubes of bath pearls in the dollar spot at Target this week and discovered that three of them fit perfectly in one of the oodles of clear card boxes I have left over from doing craft shows a few years ago. (This packaging is definitely inspired by the many test-tube-type projects that have been floating around blogland over the past year or so.) I decorated the tubes and the clear box with MFT's luxurious Chocolate Kiss patterned papers and coordinating ribbon assortment, and then added a fancy tag. Three dollars for the bath pearls and a couple more bucks (at most) for the clear box and papercrafting supplies, and you're looking at a total of $5-$7 - can't beat that!

Did you notice the pleated and stapled twill on the teacher card and the ruffly, pleated pink ribbon on the bath pearls tag? I'll show you how to achieve those looks in this week's How They Do That Tutorial. And this week's What's Up Wednesday Challenge is, you guessed it, ribbon pleating. I hope you'll give it a go!

Some detail shots:








That's it for me! Next stop on the hop is the amazing Holly McMillen! Remember, there are goodies at the very end!!




Teacher Gift Supplies:
Stamps: Teacher Label set (My Favorite Things)
Paper: Making Memories "Chloe's Closet" dp, SU Basic Black, Kiwi Kiss, Buckaroo Blue, Papertrey Vintage Cream
Ink: SU Buckaroo Blue and Kiwi Kiss, Versafine Onyx Black
Accessories: MFT clear jar; Chloe's Closet acrylic stickers, ribbons, buttons, flowers, brads; SU mini paper clips, paper piercer and spiral puch; Martha Stewart cornice border punch; Pink Hedgehog Papercrafts burlap string; foam adhesive; paper piercer; distressing tool; staples; office supplies for jar contents


Bath Pearls Gift Supplies:
Stamps: Time for the Bubbly Label set (My Favorite Things)
Paper: MFT Chocolate Kiss dp and Perfect Paper panels; SU Whisper White
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Papertrey Dark Chocolate
Accessories: clear box; MFT and Offray ribbon; EK Success fleur-de-lis punch; SU scalloped border punch, scalloped circle punch, flower punches, and Pretties kit; Labels 3 Nestabilities; Michael's floral dept flowers; Kaiser self-adhesive pearls; Prismacolors, Gamsol, and blending stump; foam adhesive

Floral SFYTT

Jen's got a super cool Sketch For You To Try this week - can't wait to see all the creations this week! I went in a minimal-stamping direction for my sample. The large center flower came from a pad of K&Co die-cut flowers that I found for a ridiculously low price at my local AC Moore last week. The layout, which you can see at i{heart}2stamp, has a series of graduated circles where I've used the flowers. I tried to work in a sentiment somewhere on the front, but it worked much better on the inside. The sentiment is from Because of You by Verve Stamps.



Ready to check out what my fellow SFYTT sisters have made this week? Here are your links:

Jen del Muro, with the sketch and guest designer Julie Lacey
Susan Liles
Kelly Lunceford
Carole Burrage
Amy Rohl

We hope you'll play along, too! Use Mr. Linky to hook up your creation to Jen's post, and if you upload to SCS, use keyword: SFYTT.

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great weekend!




Stamps: Because of You (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Papertrey Vintage Cream, Ripe Avocado, Summer Sunrise and Ripe Avocado dotted dp; K&Co die-cut flowers
Ink: PTI Ripe Avocado, Summer Sunrise; SU More Mustard
Accessories: PTI ivory button, SU More Mustard buttons, Bazzill paper flower, Michael's ivory wedding confetti flowers, burlap string, SU ivory taffeta ribbon, Fiskars lace border punch, SU large oval punch, Scor-Pal

Ready ... Set ... BLOW!

I found the mother lode of stamping supplies in my mailbox on Tuesday (well actually on my doorstep as the loot did not fit in my box): not-yet-released June stamps from all of my design teams (start saving your pennies, I'll say!), plus my monthly scrapbooking kit from Paper Posies, in which I found some lovely dps from Crate Paper's Lillian collection. Mmmmm, mmmmmm. Nothing like new goodies to rev up the creativity. I used the newly released Birthday Flopsey set by My Favorite Things along with SCS sketch challenge #228 and Susan's "Ribbon-Button-Loopy-Thing" from yesterday's How'd They Do That tutorial. Check out MFT's new button collections HERE. The glitter was added to the cake and around the candles following the steps Linda Heavens posted HERE. Fun stuff!

After staying up half the night to finish up My Sister's Keeper by Jody Piccoult (a tear-jerker ending for sure), I spent the morning watching my middle child graduate from preschool. I'm an emotional mess (in a good way)! Stamping therapy, you think? (And now you know why I haven't stamped as much the past few days. There's not a lot that will keep me out of my stamp room, but a good novel is definitely one of them!)

Have a fantastic day!



Stamps: Birthday Flopsey (My Favorite Things)
Paper: Papertrey White, SU Basic Black, MFT Perfect Paper Panels, Crate Paper's Lillian collection
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black
Accessories: SU glitter, Copics, Prismacolors/Gamsol/blending stumps, clear embossing powder, Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folder, 1 1/4" circle punch (for large scallops), Offray black ricrac, SU Baja Breeze striped ribbon, MFT button
Size: 5 1/2" square

God Bless America

Sorry so long without any updates! Busy time of year, huh? I've had two of these three cards in partial stages of completion since the end of last week and finally got them finished last night. They all use the powerful new patriotic sets released earlier this month by Our Daily Bread Designs.

For this first one, I've (once again) turned to a vintage look. I can't help it - I just love how well these sets look with a little aging and distressing! The eagle is from the set In God We Trust, and the sentiment is from God Bless America. I stamped in Versafine Onyx black onto watercolor paper, clear embossed, and then colored with a water brush and reinkers.


For this next one, I went with a more vibrant variation of the red, white and blue color scheme, which is easy to achieve with the fantastic patriotic papers available in the ODBD store.



The gorgeous, lifelike image of the American flag is watercolored with a water brush and reinkers. After it dried, I colored in the stars with a white gel pen. I trimmed down the image a little bit to show a little more of the background paper.


Last, I wanted to show how these sets aren't limited to patriotic colors. (Well that and I just couldn't wait to break into my new Wisteria paper pack by Basic Grey, which just arrived yesterday - LOL!)



The oval on top of a Top Note diecut is one of my go-to arrangements - love the way it looks! I accented with some paper pleating, which I almost entirely covered up (oh well!) and a flower and flourish combo. Easy!

Thanks for stopping by!

By the way, I usually post a My Favorite Things project on Wednesdays to go along with the weekly What's Up Wednesday feature. Since I took so many days off, I'm a little behind, so My What's Up Wednesday is probably going to be a What's Up Thursday ;) Which is a good thing, because I can't wait to incorporate some of Susan's tips for working with buttons! She has shared some great ideas in this week's How'd They Do That tutorial. Be sure to check it out!



God Bless America:
Stamps: In God We Trust and God Bless America (Our Daily Bread Designs)
Paper: SU Ivory Naturals and Night of Navy card stock, Canson watercolor paper, red and white dps are Creative Imaginations (same sheet, red with stars on one side and white with red grid on the other); blue star print unknown (but I just got it at Michael's or JoAnn's a week or two ago, so it's current)
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Ranger Distress Antique Linen and Vintage Photo; SU So Saffron, More Mustard, Close to Cocoa, Sahara Sand and River Rock
Accessories: water brush, 1/4" circle punch, distressing tool, SU vintage brads, PTI button, May Arts burlap string, Spellbinders circle Nestabilities and double-ended tag die, sewing machine

Grand Old Flag:
Stamps: God Bless America (ODBD)
Paper: PTI white, SU Real Red, Canson watercolor paper, Masterpiece Studios dp
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black; SU Night of Navy, Real Red, Cranberry Crisp, Baroque Burgundy, Sahara Sand
Accessories: Martha Stewart flourish edge punch, paper piercer, ribbon from stash
Size: 5 1/2" square

Abraham Lincoln quote:
Stamps: God Bless America (ODBD)
Paper: SU True Thyme, Almost Amethyst; Basic Grey Wisteria; Canson watercolor paper
Ink: SU True Thyme; Ranger Antique Linen and Vintage Photo distress inks
Accessories: SU Top Note die and Pretties half-back pearl; Spellbinders oval Nestabilities; amethyst twill (unknown); sewing machine; BossKut flourish die; Martha Stewart branch and flower punch; Dew Drops; Kaiser pearls