Zoom Zoom ...

... there goes August! Whew, I know I'm not the only one feeling this way, but seriously, what happened to August??

My Favorite Things is gearing up for its September release on Wednesday evening at 10 pm EST. Teasers have begun showing up on DT blogs, including here, yesterday. But wait -- I'm not ready to put away my August sets yet! I have three things to share today, and all three have been sitting in partial stages of completion for more than a week. I carved out a little stamping time today to finally get them finished and posted. Here goes ...

First up is a card using Trick or Treat with Who's That Girl:



The last time I colored this image, I gave Flopsey a green suit. This time, I thought I'd try out orange - now he looks like a giant candy corn! I gave the trio a green glow to give a little bit of a spooky feel. Coloring is with Prismacolor pencils. This started out as a large tag, but when it overpowered the bucket I was working with, I stuck it on a card base instead. Perfect size.

Next up is a super easy Halloween treat bag. I love the things Michelle Wooderson does with the glassine bags and clothespins and have been itching to give her idea a try.



How cute are these? The clothespin I used is a craft supply and therefore a good bit smaller than your normal laundry clothespins, but either will work. The pumpkin and sentiment are from Trick or Treat with Who's That Girl, and the bag is filled with my personal Halloween favorite - candy corn (has to be Brach's, though).

Last is the third of three items in the reading set I made for my daughter a while back. I posted a little backpack box to hold her library card and a matching card HERE, but this sign for her doorknob was just a sketch at the time.



The girl and the bookshelf are two separate images from I {Heart} Books (which is currently out of stock - I'm sorry!). I stamped them, then colored and drew in the floor and the wall using Prismacolor pencils. The "shh" letters are done with Bling 'Bet. I did the "I'm reading" sentiment by hand.



Thanks so much for stopping by!

It's Bean Awhile ...

Happy Saturday! Today, I have a peek at a new set called Coffee? Tea? coming next week from My Favorite Things. "Who's That {Coffee-Drinking} Girl" is wearing a paper pieced dress and otherwise colored with a combo of Copics and Prismacolors. I'm really, really, really lovin' the colors and patterns in Cosmo Cricket's new Earth Love paper pack. The papers I used on this card are all from the 6x6 Mini Deck.

The layout is this week's Sketch For You To Try. Visit Jen del Muro at i{heart}2stamp to see the sketch and guest designer Megan Lock's sample (Jen's sample is coming later). Some of the SFYTT sisters have samples, but not all - for sure check out what Amy Rohl and Kelly Lunceford have made! To play along, link up your project to Jen's post and remember to use keyword SFYTT if you upload to Splitcoast.

About this new stamp set ... Coffee? Tea?, along with four other sets, will be available at 10 pm on Wednesday, September 2, immediately following MFT's New Release Cocktail Party, which takes place from 8-10 pm EST in the MFT Forum on Splitcoast. Stop by and visit with us if you can! Leading up to that, we'll be doing our usual pre-release Blog Hop on Tuesday, September 1, at 10 pm EST, beginning with Kim at the MFT Blog.

Have a fantastic weekend!



Stamps: Coffee? Tea? (My Favorite Things)
Paper: MFT Perfect Paper Panels, Cosmo Cricket Earth Love, PTI Vintage Cream
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Ranger Antique Linen and Walnut Stain Distress Ink
Accessories: Prismacolors pencils, Gamsol, blending stumps, Copic markers, Spellbinders circle and mega curved rectangle Nestabilities, foam adhesive, Papertrey buttons and ribbon, EK Success wavy border punch, sewing machine

JustRite Week - Day Five

It's Day Five of JustRite Week at Stamper's Dream. Hope you've had a chance to follow along with all the gorgeous projects this week! Today, Cammie, Kimberly, and Michelle are also sharing JustRite projects.

I thought it would be fun to use the "Let It Snow" oval border and center from Christmas Joy as the letter "O" in the word "snow." The other letters are from my chipboard stash. The patterned papers are all from the Merry Days of Christmas Paper & Accessories Kit by My Mind's Eye.

Here's a tip you may find helpful. When I was die-cutting the oval center with my oval Nestabilities, I couldn't be sure the image was perfectly centered under the die. See below how the die covers the perimeter of the stamped image?



Here's what I did. I took a larger oval die (one large enough that the smaller die would fit inside) and centered it around the image. Since its opening is larger, I could see the full image and therefore center it.



Then I centered the smaller die within the larger die and ran it through my die-cutting machine.



Anybody have other ways to do this?

Thanks for visiting! See you tomorrow for a fun Sketch For You To Try!



Stamps: Christmas Joy (JustRite Stamps)
Paper: Merry Days of Christmas Paper & Accessories Kit (My Mind's Eye); Vintage Cream card stock (Papertrey Ink)
Ink: Bashful Blue and Cranberry Crisp (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: chipboard letters (My Mind's Eye), snowflake punch (Martha Stewart) Angel Wings Shimmerz, Classic Oval, Scalloped Oval, Labels One, and Deckled Mega Rectangle Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Pretties Kit and ivory organdy ribbon (Stampin' Up!), Bliss pearls (Kaiser Craft), Christmas Red Stickles (Ranger), sewing machine, foam adhesive
Size: 5 1/2" square

JustRite Week at Stamper's Dream!

Hi everyone, it's Day 2 of JustRite week at Stamper's Dream. Each day this week, the Dream Team will be showing different projects using the new JustRite Christmas sets. Today, be sure to visit Charmaine, Laurie, and Michelle for more ideas. (And if you didn't catch yesterday's projects, visit these posts, too: Tosha, Denise, Kimberly, and Michelle.)

My project is a wooden snowflake ornament that I decorated using A Merry Little Christmas Borders & Centers. I love the snowflake saying on this stamp: "Snowflakes Are Winter's Butterflies." After sanding the ornament just a little bit, I covered it with one of the patterns from Cosmo Cricket's Jolly By Golly 6x6 Mini Deck, sanded the edges, then lightly sponged with Ranger Tea Dye Distress Ink. (I used Zip-Dry Adhesive to adhere the paper to the wooden snowflake.) Next I took a chipboard frame and coated it with Martha Stewart snow glitter, using VersaMark ink and heat-and-stick powder. Last, I added my stamped border and center, a silver filigree flower brad by Nunn Designs, and a smidge of striped ribbon.



Here's a detail shot where you can really see the sparkle on that chipboard frame:



Thanks for stopping by! I'll have another JustRite project to share on Friday. In the meantime, here's the schedule for tomorrow ...

Laurie, Tosha, Kimberly, and Michelle

... and Thursday:

Kimberly, Denise and Michelle

Thanks so much for stopping by!



Stamps: A Merry Little Christmas Borders & Centers (JustRite Stampers)
Paper: Jolly By Golly 6x6 Mini Deck (Cosmo Cricket), Simply Smooth Ivory Cardstock (Prism)
Ink: Tea Dye Distress Ink (Ranger), Aqua Mist (Papertrey)
Accessories: bare wood snowflake ornament (one of the big craft stores - Michael's maybe?), Framed Fonts Glimmer Chips (Tattered Angels), vintage buttons (Papertrey), classic and scalloped circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders), 1 1/4" circle punch (Stampin' Up), snow glitter (Martha Stewart), silver filigree flower brad (Nunn Designs), ribbon (SU), foam adhesive

Boo!

Happy Saturday! Ready for another Sketch For You To Try? Jen's got another fun one this week - check it out at i{heart}2stamp, where you'll also find Jen's sample and guest designer Megan Lock's sample. Be sure to hit the rest of the samples too: Amy Rohl, Carole Burrage, Kelly Lunceford, and Susan Liles. Hope you can play along! Remember to use keyword SFYTT if you upload to Splitcoast.

I went for a scrappy look with my sample - no stamping at all in fact. Most of what I used for the card comes from the adorable new Boo To You Paper & Accessories Kit from My Mind's Eye. It has some of the cutest Halloween papers I think I've ever seen, as well as a coordinating sheet of die-cut accessories, which is where the owl in the tree, the orange label shape behind the owl, and one of the vertical strips came from. I couldn't wait to dig into it! I added some American Crafts vinyl alphabet stickers, a row of brads, some paper piercing, and some stitching and that was that. Super quick and easy :)

While the kit was still out, I made another super quick one:



See the adorable mummy brad up at the top? I made that with the new I-Top Brad Maker Tool from Imaginisce. You can totally customize your brads to whatever project you're making! How cool is that? The little mummy was part of one of the patterned papers in the MME kit. I just used traced the I-Top template onto the dp, and trimmed it out. It's see-through so you can see exactly what part of the patterned paper is going to show on the brad. Then I followed the directions that come with the tool (there's also an accompanying how-to DVD) to add the paper topper to a medium-size (22mm) I-Top Brad Daddy. Voila, in just two squeezes I had a custom brad. The tool works with fabric too! A little while back, Michelle posted an Imaginisce video on the I-Top - check it out for a great little introduction to this cool tool.

FYI ... Michelle has added tons of new paper collections and stamps to the Stamper's Dream store. The New Arrivals section is my favorite place to visit :)

So glad you stopped by today. I've received some of the nicest comments from readers this week, and I just want to let you all know how thankful I am!



"Boo" Card
Stamps: none
Paper: Stampin' Up Basic Black card stock, Prismatics white card stock, My Mind's Eye "Boo To You" Paper and Accessories kit
Ink: none
Accessories: American Crafts vinyl alphabet stickers, Stampin' Up vintage brads, paper piercer, black embroidery floss

"Happy Halloween" Card
Stamps: none
Paper: Stampin' Up Basic Black card stock, My Mind's Eye "Boo To You" Paper and Accessories kit
Ink: none
Accesories: Imaginisce I-Top Brad Maker Tool, I-Top template, I-Top Brad Daddies (medium), corner rounder, SU black striped ribbon, Papertrey Summer Sunrise saddle-stitch ribbon, foam adhesive

O Christmas Tree

I've been in the mood to color lately, and this Impression Obsession Christmas tree from the Tree & Poinsettias Clear Stamp Set was calling my name. I cut my Top Note white piece first, then stamped the image and used my Prismacolor pencils, a little Gamsol, and blending stumps to color it. The snowflake centers are topped with Kaiser Craft rhinestones. The patterned papers are from K&Co mat pads (the red is from Christmas Cheer and the blue is from Peppermint Twist). The sentiment is also from the Tree & Poinsettias set. I'm really liking this sweet, simple card. No distressing, no sponging, no stitching, no ribbon ... and I'm feeling just fine :)

I'm keeping this post sweet and simple today, too. I was already up to my eyeballs in tomatoes and green beans even before I picked up a bushel of apples at the market yesterday. I'll be the happy little homemaker the rest of the week canning the green beans and tomatoes (maybe some salsa, too) and making sauce from all the apples. Can't wait for that first fresh, steaming hot spoonful - YUM!

So glad you stopped by!



Stamps: Tree & Poinsettias (Impression Obsession)
Paper: Neenah Solar White, K&Co Christmas Cheer and Peppermint Twist Mat Pads
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Prismacolors, Gamsol, blending stumps, SU Top Note die, scalloped border punch, and small oval punch, paper piercer, Kaiser self-adhesive rhinestones

Knowledge is POWER

My kindergarten-bound daughter has been working hard on her reading skills this summer. I'm so proud of her progress, and can already see a bookworm emerging. On one of our recent trips to the library, we finally got Adrienne her own library card. She's really excited! To help her take responsibility for her card, I thought I'd make a cute place for her to keep it between library visits. The backpack box that was posted on Splitcoast a week or so ago was perfect. Like most little girls (and us big girls, too, right?), she loves miniature anything, so I'm thinking she'll be begging to go the library more often just so she can get out her cute little backpack.

Here's a closer look:



From the side:



And here's a closer look at the coordinating card:



The bookworm, stack of books, and shelf of books are all part of the new I {Heart} Books set by My Favorite Things. This set is just so gosh-darn adorable, I can hardly stand it!

Thanks for visiting! I'm heading out this morning to pick up Adrienne from a "three sleeps" visit with her Nana and "Dodger" (their name for their granddad). Can't wait for her sweet little hugs and kisses!



Stamps: I {Heart} Books (My Favorite Things Presents)
Paper: Papertrey Dark Chocolate, MFT Perfect Paper Panels, My Mind's Eye Penny Lane Tiny Dancer dp
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Prismacolor pencils, Gamsol, blending stumps, American crafts foam letters, SU hardware and ribbon, Papertrey ribbon, sewing machine, foam adhesive, classic and scalloped circle Nestabilities

Practice Hospitality

Hello Saturday! Hello weekend! I'm back with not one, but two, samples for Jen's Sketch For You To Try. Earlier today, I promised to be back with a "do-over" and this is it. More about why in a jiffy. Great sketch this week from Jen - check it out, along with Jen's sample and guest designer Megan Lock's sample, at i{heart}2stamp. Fellow sketch girls Amy Rohl, Carole Burrage, Kelly Lunceford, and Susan Liles await with a bounty of creativity and inspiration. To play along, link your sketch to Jen's post and remember to use keyword SFYTT if you upload to SCS.

The papers are from Cosmo Cricket's Early Bird line. The Scripture is the new Romans 12:13 Plain Jane by Verve, and the teapot is from Verve's new Cup of Life. [Note: I did my photo editing on my not-so-new-anymore Mac laptop for the first time - the display is very different from my desktop, so if my photo looks off, that's why.]

Okay, on to the silliness about the do-over. No, my dog didn't eat the first one. And neither did my 2-year-old. If you were at the Verve release party, you may have seen me express some embarrassment that my Cup of Life project from yesterday bore a noticeable resemblance (in my eyes, anyway) to Laurie Schmidlin's Anni-VERVE-sary blog hop post from a couple of weeks ago. I didn't realize they were so similar until last night, and it gave me that weird, kind of icky "I must look like a total copy cat" feeling. Yes, I care what other people think :)

Fast-forward to this morning. I had my SFYTT post almost ready to go, just needed to add the card photo. As so often happens, I got sidetracked by my email. Among those emails was Laurie's blog feed from her post last night. GASP!! Not again!! You have to click over and see Laurie's card (the first one) ... (I'll wait) ...

And now, with Laurie's encouragement, I present you my first SFYTT sample:



Now that I have a fresh pair of eyes, maybe they don't look THAT similar (Laurie added a lot more warmth with her lovely distressing), but still, do you see why I could NOT post this this morning as planned {giggle}? Laurie, I love ya, and I hope you're not creeped out!

Have a great weekend, friends!

Card #1:
Stamps: Romans 12:13 Plain Jane, Cup of Life (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Cosmo Cricket Early Bird, Papertrey Dark Chocolate cs, Stampin' Up Handsome Hunter cs
Ink: SU Chocolate Chip craft and Soft Sky, Ranger Antique Linen Distress
Accessories: Spellbinders circle and blossom Nestabilities and Fancy Scalloped Border Piercabilities, Papertrey button and ribbon, clear embossing powder, foam adhesive, sewing machine, distressing tool



Card #2:
Stamps: Romans 12:13 Plain Jane, Enjoy (Verve Stamps)
Paper: My Mind's Eye Bella Bella French Flea Market, Papertrey Dark Chocolate card stock
Ink: Stampin' Up Chocolate Chip craft
Accessories: Spellbinders circle and blossom Nestabilities and Fancy Scalloped Border Piercabilities, Papertrey button and ribbon, Kaiser Craft bliss adhesive pearls, foam adhesive, sewing machine, clear embossing powder

SFYTT

Due to a highly amusing, but unfortunate series of events, I won't be showing my Sketch For You To Try card :) Stay tuned for my do-over (not sure when I'll get to my stamps today, though)! In the meantime, be sure to show some love to the rest of the gang:

Jen del Muro with guest designer Megan Lock
Amy Rohl
Carole Burrage
Kelly Lunceford
Susan Liles

Have a fun Saturday!

Cup of Life

I've secretly been wishing for coffee and tea images all dressed up in Verve style, so I was thrilled when I saw the new Cup of Life (tea) and Delightful & Delicious (coffee) sets. Some of the Divas, myself included, are showing peeks of these sets over on the Verve blog today, so be sure to head that way!

For my project, I made a gift set that includes a box to hold loose tea and a coordinating card. Here's a closer look at the box:



To make this, I dismantled a box I already had on hand, intending to use it as a template, but it pretty much ended up working out to be a variation of the 2-5-7-10 box (a tall, skinny box with the front and back pinched together at the top - follow the link for directions).


The card was so fun to make! Here's a closer look:



I made the tea cup using different Spellbinders dies. The bowl part of the cup is a partial circle, the pedestal is the very tip top of a Labels 4 die, and the handle is from the Flourish Accents Shapeabilities. The tea bag tag and the steam rising from the cup were made with images from Cup of Life.

The grand finale of all the Anni-VERVE-sary fun, Verve's official Release Party, is TONIGHT from 8-10 pm in the Verve Forum. We'll be revealing the full sets, showing more projects, chatting, and announcing the winners of all the giveaways we've been doing this week. It's sure to be a fun time - hope you can pop in!

In the meantime, have a fantastic Friday!



Stamps: Cup of Life (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Papertrey Vintage Cream, Prismatics Medium Island Mist, K&Co "Charlotte" and "Roam" dp
Ink: Ranger Antique Linen, Vintage Photo, and Walnut Stain Distress inks
Accessories: Spellbinders classic and scalloped circle and Labels 4 Nestabilities, Spellbinders flourish die, Papertrey buttons, May Arts burlap string, foam adhesive, Stampin' Up Top Note die, sewing machine, Martha Stewart doily lace border punch

August MFT Kit - Gifty Girl

This August MFT Kit is here! Your Gifty Girl Kit will contain:

• 6 Shopping Tote Die Cuts ($6.00 value)
• 1 Package Perfect Paper Panels (24 panels) ($3.95 value)
• 2 yards Red/White Polka Dot Ribbon in 3/8” ($2.00 value)
• 2 yards Black/White Polka Dot Ribbon in 3/8” ($2.00 value)
• 50 Silver MINI Round Brads ($2.50 value)
• 50 Red MINI Round Brads ($2.50 value)(brads are packaged in an adornments case)
• Exclusive, UNRELEASED Gifty Girl MINI stamp set ($9.00 value)

All for $25!

Also:
An EXCLUSIVE offer good only for those who order the August kit! Details will be included with your kit!

Check out Joanne's cute sample HERE.

Flourishes Peek

I have a peek today of a fabulous, soon-to-be released Flourishes set called Peaches and Cherries. You can find this absolutely delicious set at Stamper's Dream on Friday night!

I did my coloring with Copic markers, then added a few dollops of Diamond Glaze to the fruit and leaves to look like water drops. The frame of tiny squares around the main image is one of the patterns from Basic Grey's Marrakech line, the lime panel is from BG's Lemonade, and the yellowish-orange strips at the top and bottom are from K&Co's Que Sera Sera line. I cut the white scallop panels with Spellbinders Fancy Scalloped Border Piercabilities and then embellished the scallops with brown mini brads. Elsewhere I've added some machine stitching, paper piercing, brown twill, and dew drops.

Have a great day!



Stamps: Peaches and Cherries (Flourishes - available from Stamper's Dream Friday night {3/14})
Paper: Dark Suede Brown and Intense Kiwi Prismatics, Neenah Solar Crest White, Basic Grey Marrakech and Lemonade, K&Co Que Sera Sera
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Ranger Antique Linen Distress
Accessories: Copic markers, JudiKins Diamond Glaze, Stampin' Up oval punch, paper piercer, foam adhesive, Offray brown twill, Dew Drops, sewing machine, brown mini brads, Spellbinders Piercabilities
Size: 5 1/4" square

Girls' Night Out

How about a look at some of the new Verve that's coming this Friday? I've used one of Julee's Anni-VERVE-sary sketches (#2), along with the new set Express Yourself, for this very, very girly card. Ooo la la! - love this set!! Peeks are up on the Verve blog too - check 'em out!

Some details that may not show up in the photo: the images and sentiments on the circle panel are heat embossed (clear EP over black pigment ink). For the corner flourishes, I stamped in VersaMark and then used heat-and-stick powder to add some Martha Stewart Onyx glitter. Last, I embellished the silver ribbon slides with some pink Stickles. Gotta love a little bling!

Thanks for visiting,



Stamps: Express Yourself (Verve Stamps, releasing Friday, August 14)
Paper: Stampin' Up Basic Black, Papertrey Vintage Cream, Making Memories Sabrina collection
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black
Accessories: clear embossing powder, black mini brads, SU scallop border punch and silver hodgepodge hardware, black ruffly ribbon (from a TexasJodyLynn ribbon share), Spellbinders Piercabilities, Copic markers

Because of You

Remember the Anni-VERVE-sary blog hop two Saturdays ago? Well, that was just the very beginning of a fabulous anniversary celebration! The festivities continue this week in a big way:

--Julee has posted five special Anni-VERVE-sary sketches. One participant from each sketch will win a set of her choice, and if you complete all five, you become eligible for the grand prize (the entire release).

--Each day in the Verve Forum, a few of the Verve Divas will be posting giveaway threads, where we each get to give away one $25 Verve gift certificate to one of the participants in our activity/challenge/game/etc. So far today you can see, Julee's activity giveaway, Charmaine's challenge giveaway, and my game giveaway. Hope you'll come play!

-- Sneak peeks of the new sets begin tomorrow (Tuesday), over on the Verve Stamps blog, and continue each day through Friday.

-- Today, the two new August Guest Designers were introduced on the Verve blog! Welcome, Mercy and Sankari!

--Friday night, August 14, we'll have our Release Party. Mark your calendars!

A bit about the card before I go ... I {heart} Cosmo Cricket's Early Bird line (although I must be channeling Lynyrd Skynyrd because I keep wanting to call it Free Bird. Either that or Early Girl, a variety of tomato - LOL). That said, I don't love my card - just being honest here. I had a vision in my head, but this was not it :) That's okay, you get to see it anyway!

Have a great week!



Stamps: Just For You (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Stampin' Up Real Red, Cosmo Cricket Early Bird dp
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Ranger Antique Linen Distress
Accessories: SU ribbon and linen thread, Papertrey buttons, sewing machine, corner rounder, foam adhesive, and Scor-Pal

To Everything There Is A Season

Today I'm sharing the second of the two cards I made for the Scrapbook News & Review feature back in April. It's Divine Design day, too, a day set aside each month to share a papercrafting project that helps us commit more of God's Word to memory. (I haven't played along in a while.)

I don't share a lot of personal stuff on my blog, but I am today - a little Sunday sermon of sorts. The week before last, I had a particularly tough week. I was cranky, stressed out, and feeling especially frazzled trying to keep up with my super curious, strong-willed, tw0-year-old mess-maker. You know it's bad when it's only Tuesday and only 9:30 in the morning at that, and you're already silently vowing to yourself, "I will not yell at anyone today, I will not yell at anyone today, I will not yell at anyone today." Have days like that? Weeks like that?

Many years ago, when I was similarly frazzled by my now-8-year-old (is it a boy thing? my dd was so EASY), I happened upon a wonderful devotional that I can't even think about without choking up. It spoke that powerfully to me. It was an excerpt from Cheri Fuller's Quiet Whispers from God's Heart for Women, and it had to do with feeling like your days as a mom of young children are like stringing beads all day only to find out at the end of the day that you forgot to tie a knot at the end of the string. I can relate ... beds that are made get slept in, floors that are swept clean get spilled on, toys that are picked up get strewn around again. The week before last, I needed God's gentle reminder (through re-reading this devotional) that by serving my little ones, I am serving Him. This is a season, and one that will pass far too quickly. I am so blessed that I get to make beds, fold clothes, prepare meals, clean up spills, pick up toys, wipe runny noses, etc. - though those things may not always look or feel like blessings at the time. I never want to take for granted this amazing responsibility God Himself has given me - being mom to these three precious children of mine.

Thanks for visiting! Hugs!



Stamps: Scripture Collection I (Our Daily Bread Designs)
Paper: Prismatics card stock, K&Co dp, Stampin' Up Always Artichoke, Papertrey Vintage Cream
Ink: Stampin' Up Always Artichoke
Accessories: May Arts satin ribbon, Michael's brad (wedding section), Kaiser Craft adhesive pearls, yellow flowers (Michael's floral dept), Martha Stewart punches, Spellbinders dies, sewing machine, paper piercer, foam adhesive

Melinda With Bouquet

Happy Saturday, friends! Are you ready for another Sketch for You To Try? Jen's got a fun one this week (okay, they're fun every week), so have a look over at i{heart}2stamp. You'll also find Jen's sample and August guest designer Megan Lock's sample. I hope you'll visit the rest of the sketch team for even more inspiration: Amy Rohl, Carole Burrage, Kelly Lunceford, and Susan Liles. If you're inclined to play along (and we hope you are), remember to link up your creation to Jen's post and/or use keyword SFYTT if you upload to Splitcoast.

Today I'm showing a card I made using Melinda With Bouquet by Whiff of Joy. I colored first with Copic markers, then added some extra shadowing and depth with Prismacolor pencils. Her wings are lightly colored, then coated with Frosted Lace Stickles. The pink and blue papers are from the Breaking Free collection by My Mind's Eye. I embellished with a few different punched borders (the blue is with Spellbinders Lattice Borderabilities, the black is with Fiskars Lace Border, and the cream is with Stampin' Up's scallop border), some Kaiser Craft adhesive pearls, Prima mini roses, Teal 5/8" sheer ribbon (May Arts), and some paper piercing. The finished size is 4 3/4" wide by 5 1/2" tall - I know, odd, but that's the way it ended up working out :)

Got any fun weekend plans? We have the new Harry Potter and some swimming on the docket here today. Whatever you're doing, have a good one!

Some Thoughts on Chocolate

I get such a chuckle out of this cute sentiment in My Favorite Things' new Flopsey Chocolate Bunny set. It won't make sense until you see the inside ...



Can you relate?? ....

I used this week's MFT sketch for my layout, which you can find HERE, along with the weekly My Favorite Challenge. (Remember, there's a $5 MFT gift certificate prize for the winners of each challenge each week.) Coloring is with Copic markers. The paper I used for the background and to piece Flopsey's recliner is from MFT's Summer Paper Pack. For the border stitching on the background panel, I hand-stitched using some May Arts burlap string. I'm liking the look of the heavier string (as opposed to my usual thread). The sentiment comes as one stamp, by the way. I inked it in portions and added the ellipses so I could break it into two parts.

Thanks for visiting!



Stamps: Flopsey Chocolate Bunny (My Favorite Things)
Paper: MFT Summer Paper Pack. Papertrey Vintage Cream, Stampin Up Kraft
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Ranger Antique Linen Distress
Accessories: Copic markers, SU ribbon, label punch, and scallop border punch, PTI buttons, May Arts burlap string, paper piercer, edge distressing tool, corner rounder, foam adhesive

Always Look on the Bright Side

A few months ago, I had the honor of being Featured Cardmaker in the April issue of Scrapbook News & Review. Thanks Anne, and thanks SNR!! As part of the feature, I got to answer some fun interview questions and share two projects. This is one of them. (I'll post the other one another time.)

Here I've used stamps from three different Verve sets: Miracles Blossom for the flowers, Beautiful Kindness for the butterfly, and Fluttering By for the sentiment. The papers are from Basic Grey's Porcelain 6x6 pack. The Top Note die shape is popped up with foam adhesive, and the flowers and butterfly are each popped up again.

Before I go, I want to say thanks to all the participants in Verve's recent Anniversary Blog Hop. The projects were all incredible, and everyone's comments were so very much appreciated! I {heart} all the Verve fans out there in blogland!! Two of you have won the entire August release (a $117 value) - congrats to the winners!