Damask Designs

It's all Susan's fault. One Saturday in a Sketch For You To Try post, she was gushing and obsessing over Papertrey's then-new Damask Designs set and anxiously awaiting for it to be back in stock. Of course, I had to see what the fuss was all about. And you know how it is with Papertrey ... I couldn't stop at just one set, or just one new paper color, or just one style of ribbon. It had been a long while since my last Papertrey purchase, so I was overdue. (That's what I'm telling myself, anyway.)

Anyhoo, the beautiful Damask Designs, designed by Dawn McVey, finally saw some ink this past weekend. I created the background using Guide Lines Two, also by Papertrey. The grid is stamped in SU's white craft ink on kraft card stock, then the circles are filled with white craft and one of SU's pinks (I think Regal Rose craft?). Last I added in the tiny black images. The final touch was to dot the circle centers with a tiny dab of Stardust Stickles. The focal image is from Damask Designs, and is stamped in Versafine Onyx black and then heat embossed with black detail embossing powder. The ribbon is by Papertrey, and the punched border was done with the Fiskars A-Fleur punch. I trimmed down the background panel by 1/8" on both sides, then edged it in white ink before adhering it to a Kraft card base.

Have an awesome day!



Stamps: Damask Designs (I just noticed it's out of stock again - see? it's a HOT one!) and Guide Lines Two (Papertrey Ink)
Paper: Papertrey Kraft and White card stock
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, SU Whisper White craft and Regal Rose (?) craft
Accessories: circle Nesties, Papertrey ribbon, Fiskars A-Fleur punch, Stardust Stickles

Cheers, Chick!

Cheers everyone! It's a happenin' day at My Favorite Things today. To start, we're down to only FIVE contestants in the MFT Idol competition. Voting for this week's challenge closes tonight (Wednesday, April 29) at 10pm EST. Go HERE to see the entries, and HERE to cast your vote. Feel like playing along? You can! There is a Judges' Challenge each week as well, where you can play along with the same theme as the finalists. This week's theme: Frame It! An MFT Panel of three serves as judges, and each picks a winner and describes what she likes best about the chosen card. Each winner gets $10 in MFT Stamp bucks. Doesn't that sound like fun?! You can read all the details HERE.

Next is this week's Weekly Spotlight, the May VIP bundle, which includes some awesome not-yet-released MFT goodies. Check out all the details on the MFT blog. Michele has a GORGEOUS peek at the bundle contents posted on her blog today, too. Hurry, the VIP package is available today only, and quantities are limited.

Since it's Wednesday, you'll also find the regular What's Up Wednesday tutorial and challenge, too. Christina demonstrates cutting out of the box in this week's How'd They Do That tutorial (and she has some peeks of a not-yet-released Flopsey, too!). When you're ready to give it a try, play along in the What's Up Wednesday "Out of the Box" Challenge.

Wanna find out all the fun MFT news as soon as it's announced? Sign up for MFT's Brand Spankin' News newsletter. The sign-up box is at the bottom of the store's home page.

Now, about today's card ... I used Girls Night Out, one of the new April sets. I stamped the image in Versafine Onyx Black, clear embossed, and then colored with a combo of Prismacolor pencils and Copic markers. The papers are from my beloved K&Co Retro Florals Cardstock Pad. The die-cut shape behind the stamped image was cut with Spellbinders Labels 4 Nestabilities. I love the curvy, feminine feel this shape adds to cards. I finished off with Dew Drops, some piercing, and a ribbon/button accent.

Thanks for stopping by today!



Stamps: Girls Night Out (My Favorite Things)
Paper: Papertrey Vintage Cream, K&Co Retro Florals Cardstock Pad
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Ranger Vintage Photo Distress
Accessories: Prismacolors, gamsol, blending stump, Copic markers, SU large oval punch, corner rounder, paper piercer, and clear embossing powder, Dew Drops, Labels 4 Nestabilities, ribbon (unknown); Papertrey button, burlap string

Viva La Verve Butterfly Birthday

If you have not been playing along with this month's Viva La Verve sketches, there's still time before the deadline on Thursday (April 30). But hurry, there are FIVE sketches this month! What are Viva La Verve sketches? Each week, Verve Diva Amber Hight posts a new sketch (with a twist) in the Verve Forum on SCS, and if you complete all of the month's sketches, you can be entered into a drawing for the entire next Verve release. How's that for a prize?

I used the VLVAPR05 sketch (with a few extra layers and a misplaced sentiment - ooops!) for this birthday card. This week's twist is an easy one - make a spring card. The butterflies are from last month's Beautiful Kindness set, and the background pattern and sentiment are from this month's Wishful Elegance. The designer papers are from K&Co's Retro Florals Cardstock Pad.

Guess what?! It's also time for the next Verve Project Parade! Head over to the Verve Stamps blog to see what line leader Jen del Muro has cooked up for today. Our theme this month is "It's a Girl Thing - Celebrating the Women in Our Lives, and the parade will be going on through May 13. You're warmly invited to play along with us. Two random participants will receive $25 gift certificates to the Verve store.

Have a great day, and thanks for stopping by!



Stamps: Beautiful Kindness and Wishful Elegance (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Papertrey Vintage Cream, Prismatics Desert Coral Light, Stampin' Up Mellow Moss
Ink: Tsukineko VersaMark, Stampin' Up Always Artichoke craft
Accessories: Offray ribbon, Spellbinders tag die and circle Nestabilities, clear embossing powder, paper piercer, sewing machine
Size: 5 1/2" square

Cheep Cheep

Happy Saturday! I've had Stampin' Up's adorable Cheep Talk set my possession for months, but this is the first time I've used it -- such a fun set to work with! Today's layout comes from Jen's Sketch For You To Try. I took a few liberties with the sketch and changed one of the rectangle panels to a rectangle-shaped grouping of stars, branch, and bird, but I think you'll still see the sketch foundations there. Check out what all the SFYTT gang has put together this week:

Jen del Muro and guest designer Kimberly Crawford
Amy Rohl
Carole Burrage
Kelly Lunceford
Susan Liles

To play along, use Mr. Linky to add your creation over on Jen's blog. If you upload to SCS, use keyword: SFYTT.

I'm keeping it short today so I can get back to my family and the grandparents who are visiting this weekend to help us celebrate my youngest's second birthday. Whew - where does the time go??

How about a proud mama moment? (I haven't done one of those in a while)





Stamps: Cheep Talk (Stampin' Up)
Paper: Papertrey Kraft, SU Kiwi Kiss, My Mind's Eye Bloom & Grow "Bloom" collection
Ink: SU Tangerine Tango, Kiwi Kiss, White craft
Accessories: SU button and ribbon, large and small star punches, and paper piercer; burlap string

Scrappy Birthday

In the broad cardmaking categories of "stampy" and "scrappy," I've long fallen squarely into the stampy camp. Lately though, for fun, I've been experimenting a little bit with the more scrappy look. It takes a long time to teach this old dog new tricks, so most of it is ending up in the trash. But sometimes, like today, I find something that works.

The layered flower and sentiment are from Verve's new Wishful Elegance set, and the die-cut leaves and journaling box are from the Bloom & Grow "Grow" papercrafting kit by My Mind's Eye. I punched some larger circles out of coordinating paper, distressed them and placed them behind the stamped flower to give it a little extra weight. For the stem, I used the pinking border Piercabilities by Spellbinders and then clipped off the points, making it look a little more like ric rac. There it is again ... that Aqua Mist satin ribbon by Papertrey {sigh}... I think I'm in love!



Stamps: Wishful Elegance (Verve Stamps)
Paper: My Mind's Eye Bloom & Grow "Grow" papercrafting kit, Papertrey Aqua Mist card stock
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, SU Garden Green craft, Ranger Antique Linen Distress
Accessories: clear embossing powder, Copic markers, Spellbinders circle Nestabilities, Papertrey Aqua Mist ribbon, distressing tool, sewing machine, foam adhesive
Size: 5 1/2" square

Welcome Little Baby

I am seriously having way too much fun with the papers from My Mind's Eye Bloom and Grow "Grow" collection (that's a mouthful, huh?). Today's card uses an image and sentiment from Children of God by Our Daily Bread Designs. I stamped the image of Jesus with the children (the full image shows a full-length Jesus and also has a young child standing to Jesus's right) in Versafine Onyx Black, clear embossed, and then cut out just the part of the image with Jesus holding the baby. Coloring is done with Copic markers.

All the ivory parts are cut with Spellbinders dies (circle Nestabilities, Labels 4 Nestabilities, and Double Ended Tags) and sponged with Old Paper Distress Ink for an aged look. I popped up the circles for some dimension. The beautiful ribbon is my latest addiction - Papertrey's Aqua Mist satin ribbon. Scrumptious! I colored white brads with a Copic marker to get the aqua color. The die-cut orange border along the bottom was done with the Fancy Scalloped Border Piercabilities, also by Spellbinders.

Hope you're having an awesome week so far!



Stamps: Children of God (Our Daily Bread Designs)
Paper: Papertrey Aqua Mist and Vintage Cream, Prismatics Desert Coral Medium, My Mind's Eye Bloom & Grow "Grow" dp
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Old Paper Distress
Accessories: clear embossing powder; Copic markers; Spellbinders Circle Nestabilities, Labels 4 Nestabilities, Fancy Scalloped Border Piercabilities and Double-Ended Tags; paper piercer; sewing machine; white brads; Papertrey Aqua Mist Luxe Satin Ribbon

Cuddle Up Carter

Today I have a little somethin' to show using the new Cuddle Up Carter set from My Favorite Things. Isn't he a darling? If you haven't heard about this set already, it was designed after a very inspirational little boy, Carole Burrage's son Carter. A portion of the proceeds from its sales will be donated to EuroPeds, a wonderful non-profit clinic for kids who have cerebral palsy and other neuro-muscular conditions. I love the spirit of generosity at MFT and knowing this set will help out such a worthy cause!

Some MFT happenings today:

• Michele is showing how to use Peerless Watercolors in today's How'd They Do That tutorial.
• The companion What's Up Wednesday Challenge, hosted by Joanne, is watercoloring.
• Voting for this week's MFT Idol Competition closes tonight at 10pm
• Save 10% off your entire order today (April 22) using code MFT10.
• Get a FREE Peerless Watercolor Complete Edition (a $13 value) for orders over $65. Use code PEERLESS13. (Offers cannot be combined)

Thanks for popping in!



Stamps: Cuddle Up Carter (My Favorite Things)
Paper: SU Garden Green, PTI Vintage Cream, Prismatics Desert Coral Medium, Bloom & Grow "Grow" dp by My Mind's Eye
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, SU Garden Green
Accessories: SU 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" circle punches, button, ribbon; Cuttlebug Just My Type embossing border, paper piercer, foam adhesive, green burlap string, sewing machine, Copic markers, Prismacolor pencils

Love One Another

Earlier this month, Our Daily Bread Designs released three different sets perfect for celebrating weddings and anniversaries (and so much more). I've enjoyed playing with the Scripture stamps for my projects so far - the font treatments are just so gorgeous. This is the first I've inked up the sweet image of two intertwined hearts found in Love One Another. So pretty with the ribbon wrapped around them and the rose cluster! I stamped on Neenah white card stock and colored with Copic markers. The sentiment is clear embossed. The image and Scripture panel is cut with Labels 1 Nestabilities (which are now available in the ODBD store - yippee!). For the piercing and decorative borders, I used the Ric Rac Scalloped Piercabilities by Spellbinders. The designer papers are from Basic Grey's Porcelain collection, also available from ODBD.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Enjoy your day!



Stamps: Love One Another (Our Daily Bread Designs)
Paper: Prismatics Herbal Garden Dark and Medium, Neenah white card stock, Basic Grey Porcelain
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Versafine Onyx Black
Accessories: Copic markers, Inksentials white gel pen, clear embossing powder, Spellbinders Nestabilities and Piercabilities, Cuttlebug Textile embossing folder, SU ribbon, sponges
Size: 5 1/2" square

Flopsey Celebrates MFT Day

The 20th of the month brings Celebrate MFT Day, so come on and join the MFT fans in getting your My Favorite Things stamps inky today! I'm working with one of the new April sets, Flopsey's Flowers. He is so adorable holding this bouquet of flowers, and his expression looks just sheepish enough that he could be trying to beg forgiveness. I colored with Copics and Prismacolors on MFT's new Perfect Paper Panels, and can I just say, what I've been hearing about this paper is true - it is exceptional! It's super smooth, super thick, and the copics and Prismacolors blend like a dream! The dps are all from the Penny Lane Tiny Dancer collection by My Mind's Eye. For the corner treatments, I just wrapped a short length of SU's Certainly Celery twill (from the recent Sale-A-Bration) around the corner, then used a piece of burlap string to secure a Chocolate Chip button to the celery ribbon.

And the inside looks like this:



Thanks for stopping by! Hope you'll give your MFT stamps a little love today, too!



Stamps: Flopsey's Flowers (My Favorite Things)
Paper: Papertrey Dark Chocolate, SU Certainly Celery and Whisper White, MFT Perfect Paper Panels, Penny Lane Tiny Dancer by My Mind's Eye
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Ranger Walnut Stain Distress
Accessories: Copic markers, Spellbinders Nestabilities and Piercabilities, Chocolate Chip marker, paper piercer, Papertrey Dark Chocolate twill ribbon, SU celery twill and chocolate chip buttons, Cotton Candy Stickles, Heidi Swapp flower bling, distressing tool, BossKut die (inside)

Because of You

Hi everyone! Today I'm showing some different cards made with Verve's brand-spankin' new Because of You set. There are some beautiful floral images in this set, as well as some of the most incredible sentiments honoring mothers and other women in our lives. This first card is my personal favorite of the three. A little bit more of a scrappy look. The designer papers are all from K&Co's Retro Flowers pre-scored card pack. I also used the Elegant Flower Plain Jane for the larger layer of the flower.

This next one is my sample for Jen's Sketch For You To Try this week:



The papers are from the same K&Co pack. A little wilder and brighter this time! Since I'm posting a little bit late (sorry, my 5yo had her first softball game ever this morning - so cute!), I've already seen what the rest of the SFYTT sistahs have made, and I've gotta say their samples are among my favorites ever. I hope you'll check 'em out!

Jen del Muro (with the sketch and guest designer Kimberly Crawford)
Amy Rohl
Carole Burrage
Kelly Lunceford
Susan Liles

Remember, to play along, use Mr. Linky to add your link to Jen's blog. And if you upload to SCS, use keyword: SFYTT. Hope you can play!

This last one uses my favorite image from the set and another paper combo from that same K&Co pack:



Can you tell I love these K&Co papers?

Have an awesome weekend! It's supposed to be close to 80 degrees here in Northern Virginia!



Happy Mother's Day
Stamps: Elegant Flower, Because of You (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Papertrey Aqua Mist, K&Co Retro Flowers dp
Ink: SU Regal Rose and Garden Green craft, Ranger Vintage Photo Distress
Accessories: Spellbinders Nestabilities, BossKut flourish die, Fiskars border punch, Papertrey satin ribbon, K&Co adhesive pearls, Copic R32 marker, SU button, clear embossing powder, and corner rounder, sewing machine, burlap string

Thank You
Stamps: Because of You (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Papertrey Dark Chocolate and Aqua Mist card stock; K&Co Retro Flowers dp
Ink: SU Chocolate Chip craft, Soft Sky, and Certainly Celery
Accessories: MS butterfly punch, Spellbinders oval Nestabilities, foam adhesive, Papertrey ribbon, clear embossing powder

Friend
Stamps: Because of You (Verve Stamps)
Paper: SU Whisper White and Regal Rose, Papertrey White, K&Co Retro Flowers dp
Ink: SU Regal Rose and Certainly Celery, Ranger Vintage Photo Distress
Accessories: SU buttons and ribbon, Fiskars border punch, Spellbinders Nestabilities and tag die, sewing machine, foam adhesive

Anniversary Wishes

Here's a full version of the card snippet I posted on Tuesday. And here's what I wrote for the Verve blog:

I've been a big fan of Verve's Plain Jane line ever since it was introduced, and I'm an even bigger fan now, because this month, in addition to two new sentiment stamps, for the first time, Verve is introducing two image stamps as well! I was especially drawn to the Medallion image. It is quintessential "Verve" -- sophisticated, elegant, timeless. Plus it's versatile enough to use as a focal point or as an accent or background. I paired it with some formal papers from the La Creme stack by Die Cuts With a View to make an anniversary card. Fancy paper piercing and dry embossing, black satin ribbon, bling, as well as two different decorative borders all help play up the elegance. To keep the focus on the medallion, I placed the sentiment on the inside, which is also decorated to coordinate with the card front. While this image works beautifully as a focal point, long-time Verve enthusiasts are sure to appreciate how well it goes with so many of Verve's previously released sets.

A look at the inside:



Tonight's the night for Verve's next release. The party starts HERE at 9 pm EST!



Stamps: Medallion (Verve Stamps)
Paper: SU Basic Black, Whisper White card stock; DCWV La Creme dp
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Ranger Old Paper Distress
Accessories: Spellbinders Nestabilities and Piercabilities, Fiskars border punch, Offray ribbon, Swarovski bling, paper piercer, stamping sponges, foam adhesive

Pez-A-Doodle Blog Hop

Greetings! I was so excited when my local friend Marti, owner of Pez-A-Doodle Designs, invited me to guest design alongside her design team, the Pezzy's Playgroup girls, as they launch some wonderful new stamps! They're puttin' on a show today with a blog hop. If you got here by way of Cheryl, then you already know that, but if not, backtrack to the beginning with Catherine so you don't miss out on anything.

Doesn't this adorable image just scream summer? Here's a bug I don't mind having at my picnic! I colored the image with Copic markers and paired it up with some Citrus papers by DCWV. See those little tiles I used as accents? They're one of the new items in the Pez-A-Doodle store. They come in two different sizes, tons of colors, some glittery, some plain. Check 'em out!

Not only is this set available for purchase (the set includes two watermelon stamps and a leaf border), but this main image is also available as a digital download, but only for three days, so hurry!

Hope you've enjoyed the hop so far. Next stop, the grand finale, is Marti herself. Have fun!

What A Girl Wants - Blog Hop!

Welcome to the MFT blog hop! If you didn't come here from Jody's blog, then you'll want to zip on over to Kim's blog so you can start at the beginning and get the full experience. I'll see you when you get back. And if you did come by way of Jody, thanks for hopping with us!

I'm excited to show you What A Girl Wants, a new set in the MFT Presents line by a new illustrator, Amanda Baird. I *love* this image!! I'll confess when I first saw it, I was sort of intimidated by her. I mean, let's face it ... she's hip, chic, sophisticated, and I'm, well, none of those things, lol! But once I saw her shopping list, I knew we could be friends ;)

I was going for kind of an urban grunge look on this one. I love the big-city look of all the heavy distressing combined with the bling and satin ribbon. I colored her tiara with a silver Spica and her gloves with a clear Spica. The wall and shopping bags are paper-pieced, and everything else is colored with Copics. Let's imagine that today she's window shopping outside of Anthropologie. Next time I stamp her, maybe the atmosphere will be more like Tiffany's or Gucci. I can imagine so many different looks. (But of course her bags will still be filled with coffee, stamps, and chocolate ... in that order!).

Along with What A Girl Wants, MFT is also releasing a fun, new BC Dzyns set called Text Ya Later. Check out the MFT Forum for this week's How'd They Do That Tutorial, where Candice shows us the ins and outs of coloring various skin tones and make-up with Copics. She's hosting a corresponding What's Up Wednesday Challenge, too. In the store, you'll find some fun new products, including Perfect Paper Panels, a luxurious, ultrasmooth, ultra thick white paper that's perfect for coloring. MFT has conveniently packaged it in pre-cut A2 panels (5.5 x 4.25). Mine did not arrive in time to use for today's card, but I'm hearing it is absolutely divine! Last, have you seen the Bubble Bin this week?? (One of my "purr"sonal favorites is in there at a crazy low price!)

That's it for me today. Your next stop on the hop is the wonderfully talented ..... Candice Lighty! Thanks for stopping by!



Stamps: What A Girl Wants (My Favorite Things)
Paper: SU Basic Black, Neenah white, Pink Paislee "Vintage Moon" dp and acetate overlay
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Vintage Photo Distress
Accessories: clear embossing powder, Copic markers, foam adhesive, SU mini binder clip and spiral punch, Hero Arts bling, clear and silver Spica pens, Offray ribbon, distressing tool, white gel pen
Size: 5 1/2" square

New Baby Blessings

Hi friends! Hope you each had a blessed Easter!

Today, I have a couple of things to show that I made with the new Children of God set by Our Daily Bread Designs. First up is this soft and feminine baby girl card. I just love the pretty papers and colors on this one! I had to decorate the inside too ...



For this next card, I wanted to show the image of Jesus with the children as well as one of the Scripture stamps from the same set (Children of God). I love that the Scripture selections in the set are not limited to only baby cards. As usual, the Scripture choices in this set are fantastic!



Be sure to visit Our Daily Bread's Children of God gallery for more ideas and inspiration. Do you know you can upload your creations there too? We love to see your creations with ODBD stamps!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Next, I have a teaser of one of the new stamps that Verve Stamps will be releasing on Friday.



You can see the full card as well as peeks from some of the other Verve Divas over on the Verve blog. Peeks started today and will continue through Thursday. As always, you have a chance to win free Verve sets just by leaving a comment on the Verve blog. Not only that, but Verve also has some special release week challenges. Prizes include four $30 Verve gift certificates, and two New Release Bundles (in other words, the full release)! You'll find all the info in this thread on SCS. Hope you can play! Winners will be announced at the Release Party, which begins at 9 pm EST in the Verve Stamps forum on SCS.



Baby Blessings:
Stamps: Children of God (Our Daily Bread Designs)
Paper: Papertrey Vintage Cream, K&Co dp
Ink: SU Mellow Moss craft, Ranger Vintage Photo Distress
Accessories: clear embossing powder, K&Co adhesive pearls, Martha Stewart and Fiskars punches, SU button, Papertrey ribbon, sewing machine

Children of God:
Stamps: Children of God (Our Daily Bread Designs)
Paper: SU Chocolate Chip, Memory Box Sweetbay dp
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Vintage Photo Distress, SU Chocolate Chip craft
Accessories: SU brads and ribbon, Copic markers, clear ep, Labels 4 Nestabilities, sewing machine, foam adhesive

You Brighten My Day

I took a break from my break, so to speak, to play with the very cool Sketch For You To Try that Jen del Muro put together for this week. This is one that will surely get you thinking out of the box - can't wait to see all the different interpretations!

Visit Jen at i{heart}2stamp, where you'll be able to check out the sketch as well as what Jen and guest designer Kimberly Crawford have done with it. As usual, a few of us have put together some additional samples for inspiration: Amy Rohl, Carole Burrage, and Susan Liles. (Kelly isn't playing this week, but be sure to check out what she's been up to as Papertrey's guest designer. Woohoo!! Congrats Kelly!) And Kim has a second sample on her blog, too. We'd love for you to play too. Link your creation HERE, and if you upload to SCS, remember to use keyword: SFYTT.

Thanks for stopping by! I've been enjoying spring break with my kids, but I'm also looking forward to getting back into more regular creating, posting, and blog surfing next week. Thanks so much for your patience!



Stamps: Thoughtful Florals (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Papertrey White, SU Basic Brown, Cosmo Cricket Everafter (red-orange and saffron), Kaiser Spirograph (green polka dot), Basic Grey Porcelain (brown polka dot)
Ink: SU Chocolate Chip
Accessories: burlap string, SU buttons and square punches, Michael's flowers (pulled off of a floral stem), Cosmo Cricket twill

What's Up Wednesday - Embossed Moon

Hello, and Happy Wednesday! My kids are on Spring Break this week, so I thought I'd take a mini-break with them. Sorry to be MIA!

Today, I'm hosting a fun How'd They Do That tutorial and What's Up Wednesday Challenge in the My Favorite Things forum. Both the tutorial and the challenge have to do with heat embossing your dry embossing, which is how I did the moon on today's card. Hope you'll stop by and play along!

I've used the astronaut image from Ben Paper Dolls to create a preschool graduation card that my daughter can give her classmates at the end of the school year. She's been going to preschool with many of the same kids for three years now, but they'll all split up in the fall as they start kindergarten at different area schools. I think I have 15 or 16 more of these to make - yikes! I'm actually thinking of doing a girlie version with a pink spacesuit - what do you think? The navy background is spritzed with Silver Glimmer Mist by Tattered Angels, and the stars are painted with Golden Wheat Shimmerz paint. The sentiment is done with the Brayton font and a JustRite Stamper.

I also wanted to let you know about my Copic certification class on Sunday. Sally Lynn did an awesome job with the class. She even corrected some certi-"fictions" ... for instance, my markers will not choose themselves and blend themselves just because I'm now certified. Darn! Even so, I had a great time and learned a lot. I saw some familiar faces and made some new friends, too, so that's always fun.

Have a great day, and, as always, thank you so much for stopping by and for the kind comments you leave! I appreciate each one of you!



Stamps: Ben Paper Dolls (My Favorite Things), Brayton Font (JustRite Stampers)
Paper: Papertrey White, Bazzill Navy, SU Basic Black, Going Gray, Basic Gray, So Saffron
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Versamark
Accessories: clear ep, Cuttlebug folders, circle nesties, copics, shimmerz, glimmer mist, dimensionals, white gel pen, SU ribbon, hardware, and star punches
Size: 5 1/4" square

God's Beauty

While stamping last night, I did something I haven't done in a long, long time - I made a Stampin Up-only (SUO) card! Not just mostly SU, but all SU. Are you proud of me? The whole SUO idea usually makes me nervous, as I've become quite dependent on my Spellbinders dies, non-SU stamps and embellishments, and non-SU designer papers. But I'm happy with this one, thanks to the fun corduroy buttons and the beautiful Parisian Breeze textured designer paper.

And then there's the awesome sketch I worked with - Jen's Sketch For You To Try. You can see the sketch and Jen's sample at Jen's blog, i{heart}2stamp. While you're there, be sure to give a warm welcome to April's guest designer, the fabulous Kimberly Crawford! Also be sure to take a peek at what the rest of the SFYTT sistahs have cooked up. We love when you play along, too! Remember to use keyword SFYTT if you upload to SCS.

Jen, with the sketch and guest designer
Amy Rohl
Carole Burrage (she'll be posting later tonight or in the morning, FYI)
Kelly Lunceford
Susan Liles

Have a great weekend!



Stamps: God's Beauty (SU hostess Level 1)
Paper: Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip, Parisian Breeze Specialty dp
Ink: Chocolate Chip craft
Accessories: clear embossing powder, Baja Breeze ribbon, white taffeta ribbon, Chocolate Chip corduroy buttons, paper piercer, dimensionals, scallop border punch
Size: 5" square
All supplies by Stampin' Up

The Greatest of These is Love

When I got married, my husband and I, like so many others, had 1 Corinthians 13 read at our wedding. My twin sister and maid of honor, Jennifer, read the passage for us. It was an evening wedding in November, so I went pretty formal with the ceremony, opting for the Scripture to be read in the beautiful sounding King James version - you know, the one full of "eths": "love never faileth," "does not vaunteth itself," "rejoiceth in the truth," etc. My sister, a mischief-maker and jokester who loves to torment me, threatened to end the reading with, "and the greatest of these is loveth." She didn't, but to this day, when I read this passage, I get a good chuckle at the thought.

You won't find any extra "eth's" in the new love- and wedding-theme stamps just released by Our Daily Bread Designs. These are some gorgeous sets! I paired the last verse from 1 Corinthians 13 (from the set called Love) with some yummy La Creme designer paper by Die Cuts With a View to create a classy black-white-ivory wedding card. I included the wedding sentiment (from Love One Another) on the inside:



You can see the three new sets in full, plus the 1 Corinthians single stamp, at Our Daily Bread Designs.

I thanketh you for stopping by today ;)

Before I sign off ... if you happen to be going to the Copic certification class at The Queen's Ink in Maryland this Sunday, please email me. I'll be there, and would love to know who to look for!



Stamps: Love One Another and Love (Our Daily Bread Designs)
Paper: SU Basic Black, Papertrey White, DCWV La Creme dp
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black
Accessories: oval Nestabilities, clear embossing powder, foam adhesive, BossKut flourish die, Michael's silver and pearl buttons, Michael's flowers (from floral dept), Fiskars lace border punch, SU Top Note die, Cuttlebug embossing folders, Offray ribbon
Size: 5 1/2" square

Just Hatched

Today I get to share my project for this month's Egg-stra Special Spring Project Parade, which is going on over on the Verve Stamps blog. If you haven't seen the parade yet, or if you've missed a day or two, it's well worth your time catching up. The projects have been amazing!! We're also giving away free sets! Head over to the Verve blog for details.

For my project, I decided to get a little crafty in my kitchen as well as my stamp room. I thought these hatching chick candy molds by Wilton would be perfect paired up with the "Just Hatched" sentiment from the Chocolate Bunnies set. I followed the directions on the mold using white and colored candy melts, then added lollipop sticks while the candy was still melted. After the candy set up, I tied the raffia bow and button accent to the stick.

The pail came from the Target $1 spot a while back. (It came in a pack of three, and was labeled as a wedding favor item). First, I gave the pail a little skirt using a combination of scalloped green polka-dot paper, some yellow and brown paper and pink pom-pom trim. The pail is filled with a small piece of florist foam topped with some paper Easter grass. When the pail was finished, I stuck the lollipop stick into the florist foam. It was a little wobbly, so to stabilize it, I gently pulled the stick and foam back out, stuck a large glue dot on the end of the stick, then put the whole thing back in the pail. Here's a closer look:



The packaging is a clear gusseted cellophane bag. In the bottom is a piece of thick chipboard covered with matching green polka-dot paper. The pail is attached to the base with a large glue dot. For the topper, I layered the green polka dot paper onto white, folded in half and secured to the cello bag using two silver brads. I stamped the eggs in brown ink, colored with Copics, and trimmed them out. The white egg was cut with an oval Nestability, then stamped and cut with a freehand zigzag at the top. Here's a close-up of the topper:



Thanks for visiting!



Stamps: Chocolate Bunnies (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Papertrey White, Kaiser Craft Spirograph dp, So Saffron, Chocolate Chip
Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa
Accessories: oval Nestabilities, Stardust Stickles, paper piercer, distressing tool, SU scallop border punch, silver brads and Celery button, pink burlap string, yellow raffia, pink pom-pom trim, white tin pail (Target), florist foam, Easter grass, lollipop sticks, candy melts, hatching chick mold (Wilton)

MFT Superhero Blog Hop

Hi everyone! Welcome to the next stop on the My Favorite Things blog hop! Did you come here from Frances's blog? If so, you're right on track. If not, and you just happened to stop by, then I highly recommend going back to the beginning, with Kim, aka The MFT Lady. I'll see you back here in a few.

So yesterday, I promised something wild and crazy, and now I'm back to deliver. Is this loud or what? These bright colors and bold patterns are sooooo not my normal style, but I love how this card turned out! I used the new Ben Paper Dolls set, which includes the adorable Ben, plus a bunch of fun costumes for Ben to dress up in. The superhero cape was really callin' my name. See, I have an awesome 8-year-old who's been having some behavior problems for the past couple of weeks, and I want him to know that at the end of the day, no matter what, he's still my hero. I hope he likes it!

Before I send you to your next stop, I want to invite you to join MFT at its New Release Cocktail Party tonight (April 1) from 9-10 pm ET. You can win prizes, see bunches of MFTeasers of the four new sets, plus find out how YOU can become MFT's next Guest Designer! Hope to see you there!

Next stop on the hop is the fabulous and always entertaining Carole! I'm sure she has something amazing cooked up!



Stamps: Ben Paper Dolls (My Favorite Things Presents)
Paper: Bazzill Limeade, SU Basic Black, PTI white, Prima "Dude" dp
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black
Accessories: clear embossing powder, Prismacolor pencils, Gamsol, and blending stumps, Scenic Route chipboard stars, SU small star punch, Platinum and Stardust Stickles, Coal and Angel Wings Shimmerz, American Crafts ribbon and white vinyl thickers, SU silver brads, foam adhesive dots
Size: 5 1/2" square