MFTeaser: Spring Is In the Air

This coming Wednesday, February 3, My Favorite Things will be bringing its biggest release to date! Of course, you'll see familiar favorites, such as Who's That Girl and Flopsey. We'll have three brand-new Pure Innocence cuties, as well as a new illustrator you're sure to love, and the third installment in the annual twisted series!

Can't wait? Let's get started! Today is the first of five days of MFTeasers, all leading up to the big day. In the spotlight first are a new Flopsey set and Love Birds, previously part of an MFT kit, but now available on its own.

I've used Love Birds to create a fun, Spring card. I'm watching snow fall outside my window as I type this, and believe me, I'm much rather be hearing birds chirp! I stamped on one of MFT's Cream Perfect Paper Panels - love the warm, buttery color - and colored with Copics and Prismacolor pencils. The designer papers are both from October Afternoon (Report Card and Farm Fresh). Here's a look at the finished inside:



Do you know that with each release, MFT has a guest designer contest? This month Frances and Cindy are hosting, and the challenge is to create something Spring-themed. Give it a whirl and you could be our guest next month! You'll find all the details HERE.

Want more peeks? Each day around 11 am EST, today through Wednesday, tune in to the MFT blog, where Kim will be posting a list of all the MFT designers who will be showing teasers. Enjoy!

Thanks for visiting!



Stamps: Love Birds (My Favorite Things)
Paper: Papertrey Kraft, Prismatics Dark Suede Brown, October Afternoon Report Card and Farm Fresh, MFT Cream Perfect Paper Panels
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Up So Saffron, Ranger Vintage Photo Distress Ink
Accessories: Papertrey yellow stitched ribbon and natural string, Stampin' Up celery twill, Papertrey and Making Memories buttons, Copic markers, Prismacolor pencils, edge distressing tool, foam adhesive, brown brads, sewing machine
Size: 5 1/2" square

Ornamental Love

Well, I'm back from sunny Southern California. It feels like I've been gone from here forever, and yet the three days at CHA flew by in a blur. How does that work? I'll post some show favorites just as soon as I can get my pictures all together in one place. Good stuff coming!

In the meantime, I have something to share that I put together this afternoon. It sure was good to get back to stamping! Michelle gave me this gorgeous new Hero Arts set, Speckled Ornaments, at CHA, and I couldn't wait to get home and play with it. When I saw Julia's textiles challenge on Splitcoast this morning, I knew this was the perfect set. The images work beautifully on fabric. I used some very inexpensive muslin and stamped with two different colors of VersaMagic ink - Tea Leaves first and then Jumbo Java applied just around the outside. I frayed the edges of the fabric panel and machine-stitched to the paper panel just behind it.

The papers are from my beloved Life Stories Collection I by My Mind's Eye. The "LOVE" sentiment is one of the paper die-cuts included in the Life Stories kit. Embellishments include a Prima flower (love, love, love these!), some woven burlap trim, ivory burlap string, and some Champagne Kaiser pearls. The scallop border was cut with one of the Spellbinders Fancy Scalloped Border Piercabilities, and the card base mats were machine stitched and distressed with Ranger's Frayed Burlap and Walnut Stain Distress inks.

Here's a detail shot of the fabric panel. Perhaps I should have ironed it?? :)




Thanks for stopping by! Hope you're having a great week!

Stamps: Speckled Ornaments (Hero Arts)

Paper: My Mind's Eye Life Stories Collection I, Papertrey Kraft

Ink: VersaMagic Tea Leaves and Jumbo Java, Ranger Frayed Burlap and Walnut Stain Distress Inks

Accessories: muslin fabric, sewing machine, Prima flowers, May Arts woven trim and ivory burlap string, Kaiser Craft pearls, Spellbinders fancy scalloped border piercabilities, foam tape

Men ...

It's Tuesday again, which brings another Skipping Stones Design sketch challenge. This is my last SSD sketch, and I just want to say another big thank you to Heather for having me as the guest sketch designer for January!

I've saved one of my favorite sets for last - Funny about Men. Check out the rest of the sentiment, which I included on the inside of the card:



Wouldn't this be great for a girlfriend going through a break-up? Click HERE to see the rest of this hilarious set! [UPDATE: When you click on that link, you'll see a "no image" graphic. Click on it anyway, and you should see the whole set. Sorry for the extra step, but it's worth it.] It got the big eye-roll from my husband, but a hearty chuckle as well :)

For my card, I stamped the man in Spring Moss, then overstamped the sentiment in Versafine Onyx Black. I cut a a ring out of the grey grid patterned paper and then added the hand-cut arrow at the upper right to make the male gender symbol. For the horizontal band on the sketch, I went with a length of twill (I've been using a lot of twill lately) topped with some black buttons.

And here's the sketch my card front is based on:



As always, we'd love to have you play along! Use keyword: SSD09 when you upload to online galleries. Skipping Stones Design stamps are not required.




Stamps: Funny About Men (Skipping Stones Design)
Paper: Stampin' Up Basic Black and Very Vanilla; Cosmo Cricket "Boyfriend" collection (6x6)
Ink: Papertrey Spring Rain, Versafine Onyx Black
Accessories: Spellbinders circle Nestabilities, Stampin' Up twill, Papertrey buttons, May Arts burlap string, Stampin' Up spiral punch, sewing machine, foam adhesive

More Rolling Pin Kitchen Decor

I guess I have a thing for rolling pins! When I posted this project last week, I was reminded of another rolling pin project that I made back during my Dirty Dozen tenure. The month I made this, our theme was Making a House a Home. Here's what I wrote for Splitcoast:

When my husband and I moved to the country, my dream was to find an old, historic home with lots of character. When we weren't able to find what we were looking for, we opted to build new and try to include some historic elements. We have salvaged barn beams on the ceiling of our breakfast room, a fireplace mantel put together from an old floor joist and two roof corbels, and a pantry door that was salvaged from a more than 200-year-old farmhouse near Virginia's capital. When I started thinking about this month's theme, I thought how fun and how appropriate it would be to repurpose an antique of some sort. After MUCH looking, I settled on using this old dough pin to hold a wall-hanging for my kitchen. I've mounted it on our aged and well-loved pantry door.

The stamps are retired Annie LaPoint herb images from My Favorite Things. Coloring is with Copics. The designer papers are older papers from Stampin' Up - Brocade Backgrounds, maybe? The grayish-looking horizontal panel just behind the three herb images is actually more of a Close to Cocoa color. Check out those bows - they could use some serious help, huh? {giggle} And to think I had a Bow-Easy in my possession that whole time - I 'd forgotten about it!

The hardest part about this project was finding the pin. A couple of antique shop owners told me the older rolling pins go out just as soon as they come in, especially the ones that are made from a single piece of wood. It was torture looking through all those antique shops, I tell ya {wink}!

Thanks for visiting!

Viva La Verve!

It's been far too long since I last participated in one of Verve's Viva La Verve sketch challenges. At the beginning of this year, Amber, our sketch artist/challenge host, changed things up a bit, and I love the new format! (I wish I loved my card as much - more on that later.)

The VLV theme is "At Home With Verve: A Year-Long Home Walk-Through," and each month Amber will be featuring a different room, along with some gorgeous inspiration photos. Foyers and entryways have been the focus this month. Just like last year, there is a grand prize each month - the next month's full stamp release from Verve! That's HUGE! To be eligible for the drawing, all you have to do is complete all of the sketch/inspiration challenges for that month. The deadline for participating this month is January 29. You can find all four January Viva La Verve challenges in the Contests & Challenges area within the Verve Forum on Splitcoast.

I've used the January Week 4 challenge for this first card, along with this inspiration photo:


As you can see, I pulled my color combo from the inspiration photo - lots of black/white/gray neutrals and little pops of green. My card is a little different from my "usual" (if there is such a thing), and I'm still deliberating whether I like it all that much. The heart floral, the sentiment, and the florals I used to create my background pattern, are all from the new Love's Flower set.

Since I'm already posting one card outside my comfort zone, how about another one? I have to say this next one is a radical departure from almost anything else I've ever done. You'd be hard-pressed to use up even ten minutes to create this - I, on the other hand, spent over an hour on it! Clean-and-simple just doesn't come naturally for me. I puzzled and puzzled, stitched and unstitched, distressed edges and cut again, switched a white felt stem for a black one, switched back ... you get the picture. I think I would like this one if I saw it on someone else's blog, so hopefully someone else will like it on mine :)

One of the things that first attracted me to Verve was the abundance of these small sentiments. I'm so glad Julee continues to put together sets of these little gems, like she's done this month with Celebrating You. The fonts are fun and the sentiments are always a fabulous mixture of traditional and fresh.

I try to check in soon with some CHA pictures!




Fabulous:
Stamps: Love's Flower (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Stampin' Up Sahara Sand and Basic Black, Papertrey Vintage Cream, Smoky Shadow, and Spring Moss
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Memento Tuxedo Black, Papertrey Spring Moss, Stampin' Up White craft
Accessories: Oval Nestabilities, Stampin' Up striped ribbon, May Arts burlap string, Papertrey button, Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder, EK Success scalloped border punch

Just Because:
Stamps: Celebrating You (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Stampin' Up Kiwi Kiss textured, Papertrey Vintage Cream and Kraft
Ink: Papertrey Dark Chocolate
Accessories: Prima felt stem, Spellbinders tag die, Papertrey button and twine, sewing machine, distressing tool, Scor-Pal, EK Success scalloped border punch

Skipping Stones Design Winner

I almost forgot about this! The winner of the Skipping Stones Design giveaway from Tuesday is ... Christian Cropper!

Christian Cropper said...
I really love what you did with the paper and butterfly. Stamping onto patterned paper. Beautiful!

Congrats, Laura. This fun set is heading your way!!

Friends are Flowers in the Garden of Life

Some fabulous new JustRite stamps are now available at Stamper's Dream: Plant A Little Love and My Garden. For a floral-loving gal like myself, these new sets are divine!! I started with a border and center from My Garden, then mixed in a little of Basic Grey's new Origins papers. I'm not normally a big fan of yellow and green, but I kind of like this new BG line. It seemed especially well-suited for a yellow Gerbera daisy, one of my most favorite flowers ever. I stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black and colored with Copics. The sentiment ring was cut with Spellbinders circle nestabilities. I accented with some twill, a button, rounded corners, a touch of paper piercing, and a scalloped border.

I'm so excited to be heading out bright and early tomorrow morning for CHA. If all goes well, I should arrive mid-day Saturday, just in time to hit the retail show for a few hours. Then I'll stay Sunday and Monday for the trade show. The arrangement is absolutely ideal - I'll only have a few hours to spend my money, and then two whole days to spend Michelle's! ROFL!!



Stamps: My Garden (JustRite)
Paper: Prismatics Birchtone Dark card stock, Sunflowers Medium card stock; Neenah Classic Crest Solar White; Basic Grey Origins
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black and Rich Cocoa, Ranger Antique Linen and Vintage Photo Distress
Accessories: Copic markers, Spellbinders circle Nestabilities, EKSuccess scalloped border punch, Stampin' Up twill, Papertrey buttons, May Arts brown burlap string, foam adhesive