MFTeaser: You Make the Grade

We're on Day Three of this month's My Favorite Things Teasers, and it's all about Pure Innocence today! We have three new images in this very popular line. Be sure to visit Kim at the MFT blog anytime after 11 am to see a full list of the designers who are posting today. You won't want to miss a single one of these cuties!

I chose to work with You Make the Grade. So many possibilities for this set - school days mini albums, notebooks for kids, backpack tags, scrapbook pages, and so much more. With teacher appreciation week coming in May, I decided to get a jump start by making a teacher gift item. Not too long ago, my daughter and I found oodles of chipboard albums in the dollar section at Michael's. I hardly ever do mini albums, but I absolutely cannot resist chipboard, so I brought home quite a few of these (great shapes, too - flower, butterfly, teapot, house, plus lots of label and tag shapes). I decorated two of the "pages" from an apple-shaped album for the front and back of my gift box/bag. The papers are from Cosmo Cricket's Boyfriend line, and the die-cut stickers are from October Afternoon's Report Card line. The image is colored with Copics, then trimmed out.

To create the bag, take an 8 1/2" x 6 3/4" piece of heavy cardstock (I used Papertrey's Vintage Cream), score at 2 1/4" on all four sides, like this:





cut along the score lines as shown:





then fold it into a box ...




and adhere it to the chipboard front and back, as shown:




I'm not sure yet what I'm going to put in here, maybe some treats in a cellophane bag or maybe some mini notecards and envelopes?

Thanks for stopping by today! Tomorrow, we're introducing a brand-new artist, whom you're sure to love!



Stamps: You Make the Grade (My Favorite Things)
Paper: Cosmo Cricket Boyfriend and Nutmeg, MFT Perfect Paper Panel
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Copic markers, foam adhesive, circle Nestabilities, October Afternoon Report Card die-cut stickers, Papertrey buttons and twine, SU spiral punch, stapler, ivory acrylic paint, chipboard album, Scor-Pal

MFTeaser: Dance the Night Away

Today, My Favorite Things is showing some peeks at three new sets, Dance the Night Away, Clearly Sentimental About Emerson, and Twisted Threesome. I chose to work with the new Amanda Baird set, Dance the Night Away. I love the sentiments in this set especially! On the front, I stamped just a portion of one of the sentiments, "Dancing Uplifts the Soul," and then on the inside, I included another sentiment, a quote that reads: "Stifling the urge to dance is bad for your health. It rusts your spirit and your hips." A good friend of mine and I have been debating singing up for some adult dance lessons. I think I'll give this to her along with the schedule at our local dance studio. I hope she doesn't see my blog today!


Here's the finished inside:




And a closer look at the sentiment treatment on the front:



And last, at the risk of magnifying all of my coloring and blending boo-boos, I wanted you to see the sparkle on her dress, which I did by coloring over the entire dress with a clear Spica pen:




Tune in to the MFT blog after 11 am EST, where Kim will post a full list of designers showing MFTeasers today. Enjoy!




Stamps: Dance the Night Away (My Favorite Things)
Paper: Close to My Heart Cocoa and Papertrey Vintage Cream card stock; Kaiser Craft Duchess dp collection
Ink: Ranger Frayed Burlap and Antique Linen Distress Inks, Versafine Onyx Black
Accessories: Copic markers, Prismacolor pencils, Spellbinders petite oval Nestabiltiies, tag die, and fourish accents, Offray satin ribbon, lace trim, Zva crystals, MFT Princess Pearls, Professional Touch HotFix Crystal Applicator, Prima roses, silver cord, foam tape, sewing machine

Overflowing With Love

[This is my second post for today. If you're looking for my MFTeaser, scroll down to the previous post. Thanks!]

I'm so happy to have spent some time Thursday and Friday coloring up this lovely Impression Obsession image - Valentine Fountain. Right before I left for CHA, I was in a huge no-coloring mood. Just looking at line art images was enough to give me hives. Kind of scary for a girl who loooooooves to color! Fortunately, my time at CHA included a visit to the Impression Obsession booth. Talk about inspiration!

I stamped in Versafine Onyx Black onto watercolor paper and colored up this baby using mostly Tombow markers (I did a teeny bit of coloring with Prismacolor pencils to enhance the grass, but even that was mostly Tombows). The main panel is cut with one of the dies from the Spellbinders curved rectangle mega Nestabilities set. To make the thin gray mat around it, I followed these steps that Michelle posted to her blog a while back. Thanks Michelle! The patterned papers are from the Basic Grey Sugar Rush collection.

My favorite part is the companion sentiment, Overflowing With Love, which you can see on the inside:

Isn't that just the sweetest image and sentiment combo? Love it!! Stamper's Dream carries a fantastic selection of Impression Obsession stamps. You can find them all HERE.

Snow has been falling all day here in Northern Virginia, so we've got a pretty good accumulation by now. I was so glad my oldest son got his basketball game in before the county canceled the rest of today's activities. After two back-to-back losses last weekend and the weekend before, it was great to see them pull off an impressive win today. Go Rebels!

Stamps: Valentine Fountain, Overflowing With Love (Impression Obsession)

Paper: Canson 140-lb cold-press watercolor paper, Papertrey Smoky Shadow and Vintage Cream card stock. Basic Grey Sugar Rush designer paper

Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, white craft

Accessories: Tombow markers, Prismacolor pencils, Spellbinders curved rectangle mega Nestabilities, Labels 4 Nestabilities, and Flourish Accents, Martha Stewart scalloped border punch, sewing machine, Stampin' Up gray taffeta ribbon, Papertrey pink button, May Arts ivory string, foam adhesive, paper piercer, corner rounder

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!