MFT: Girls Night Out

Due to the rainy, crappy Spring Break weather, I found some time to stay inside and stamp today. I created this card for the MFT (My Favorite Things) judges challenge. The rules this week were to use and Who's That Girl? stamp set with the theme "Girl's Night Out". They are soon to release a REAL set with that title, but here's my take:

For this card I used 3 MFT stamp sets:

• Serenity Now
• How Sweet
• Twisted Two.

I used 1/2 of the girl from the Serenity Now set and had her belly up to the bar (with a friend of course!) I didn't have any wine glasses, so I colored in and stamped just the bottom of the sundae from How Sweet. I added the sentiment from Twisted Two, a little sparkle on both tank tops, a glass of red and white in each hand and there you have it . . . a GNO!

Recipe:
Stamps: MFT
Paper: Deja Views, SU!
Accessories: SU! glitter

Coffee Shop Cards II

Here are some more cards I made to send to the Ohio coffee shop. It was late and the mojo wasn't flowing so I used the same idea for all 3 cards. On the inside there is one of two sentiments by Rosie's Roadshow.

Either "How's your day stacking up?" or "How many are too many?"

The coffee cup is a single image so I had to stamp that little mug A LOT! The original idea of stacking the cups on the stool came from the incredibly talented and uber creative Anna Wight.

Recipe:

Stamps: Rosie's Roadshow

Paper: SU!

Accessories: Michael's Ribbon, Paper Studio buttons

Coffee Shop Cards

Some friends and I have started to make some cards to send to a coffee shop in Ohio to sell! Here's a very simple gift card holder I came up with last night. The belly band around the middle slide off so you can open the card. You can't really tell from the picture, but the band is crimped to give some texture. I showed the card to my DH and he thought it was one of those sleeves you put AROUND the coffee cups to keep your hands from burning :0) Here's the inside. I didn't add the notches for the gift card yet, and I may still do a few minor changes but I think it's O.K. So would you buy this? and if so, how much would you be willing to spend? Recipe:
Stamps: Gel-A-Tins Coffee Break
Papers: SU!
Accessories: Crimper, circle spellbinders and cuttlebug

Caardvarks Sketch Challenge

Here is my submission for the Caardvarks sketch challenge. I tried to keep it simple, which is hard for me to do. My mind kept saying "Add some scallops, paper piercing, distress the edges, ink the edges". I settled for a few brads and called it quits. I was frustrated that the black border was so much larger than the borders around the rest of the card. This is what happens when you don't have the small size dies. Sometimes the 1/4 inch border is too large a gap. But the more I look at it the more I like it. It definitely draws your attention to the butterfly :0)

Recipe:

Stamps: SU!

Paper: SU!

Accessories: Brads-SU!, Ribbon - Michaels

Shopping With Friends

This is my attempt at combining two challenges in one;

1. The SFYTT by Jen del Muro at I (heart) to Stamp.
2. The 2nd week judges challenge for My Favorite Things "MFT Idol".

The layout was fun and worked well with the image I chose for the MFT challenge. The MFT challenge was to incorporate masking into your card. For that I combined two MFT sets; Lets Go For a Walk and Say Charge. To create the image I first stamped the girl and the dogs. Then I stamped a duplicate image on a scratch piece of paper, cut it out and layed it on top of my main image and stamped the purse so it looked like the Great Dane was carrying it in his mouth. Next, I stamped a shopping bag in the girls hand. Finally, I stamped and cut out a scratch shopping bag, layed that over the stamped image and stamped a second shopping bag to look like she was holding two!

For the inside of the card I stamped the shopping bag repeatedly with masking in different areas to give a random look to the bags. They did LOTS of shopping :0) I tried paper piecing for the 1st time by stamping the shopping bag on the same DP used on the front of the card, cutting it out and adhereing it to one of the stamped images on the inside of the card.

Recipe:

Stamps: My Favorite Things

Paper: SU!, Deja Views

Accessories: Flower-Oriental Trading, Bling-Paper Studio, Prisma Colors and Gamsol

Kwerner Challenge #46

My submission for this weeks color inspiration challenge. The colors reminded me of Mary Englebreits whimsical creations. She always likes to use black and other bold bright colors. I used that idea to come up with this design of bright flowers and a cute little blue bird. I wanted each flower to be a little bit different in both color and make-up.

All of the images were punched out of the specified colors (and patterend paper) with the SU! Sizzlet dies and a circle punch. I had a BUNCH of leftover pieces so I tried to do something with the inside as well. I always spend so much time working on the outside, that I forget to do anything with the inside. I think this card turned out really cute. TFL!!

Recipe:

All supplies SU!

Holi E.coli !

I made this card for a friend and coworker celebrating her 25th anniversary here at work - today! That is a big accomplishment all things considered! Being the science geeks that we are I thought she would get a kick out of this card.

The background behind Boris is an actual elctron microscope picture of E.coli that I printed out. Makes a nice background paper!

Recipe:

Stamp: Amuse

Paper: SU!

Accessories: Cuttlebug, Ribbon- Michaels, Chipboard scalloped circle ??

Boys are Blessings

My submission for this weeks Mojo Monday layout. The papers are from a Daisy D scrappack that I got at Archivers. All of the papers had a vintage feel so I went with that theme and aged them (and everything else) with Ranger distress ink in "vintage photo". I would rather have had stamped an old vintage toy like a top or yoyo, or car instead of the bird. . . but I didn't have any! And all of the boy stamps I did have were just to cute for this card. By the way did I mention before that I LOVE this new Marrtha Stewart border punch! It embosses, punches the holes and zigzags all at the same time. How cool is that :0)

Recipe:
Stamps: Crafty Secrets, Cloud 9
Papers: Daisy D's
Accessories: Hardware - SU!, Ribbon- Michaels

Feelin' Green!

Happy St. Paddy's day! This cute little beaver dude was an image cut out of a 12x12 piece of paper from DCWV's "Green Stack". The papers are made with 70% recycled paper and feature cute woodsy and environment related designs. Really CUTE! And the texture and weight of the paper is wonderful too.
The layout is from this weeks SFYTT. I don't have the oval die cuts so I just sponged the scalloped oval to give it some dimension. I doodled the grass and created the shamrock using 4 punched hearts. TFL

Green with Envy

My friend, Katie, made the cutest card using rub-ons for her Kwerner challenge last week. I was in awe at how simple and beautiful it turned out that I had to try the SU! rub-ons that I've had in my stash for FOREVER and never used. This week I'm trying to go with the "green" theme in honor of St. Paddy's day. I love that the SU! rub-ons come in different colors! The flower is made up of stickers from an old Accents and Elements kit on top of a chiboard flower. Even the flowered green stripe is a sticker. Cute card with absolutely NO stamping!

Recipe:
All supplies SU!

KWerner #45 - Bin Full of Baggies

I have this bin full of baggies that contain leftover precut papers and embellishments from past swap cards and make-n-takes. You would think this would be a perfect way to create a nice card quickly. NOPE! None of the baggies have a sample card in them! Being almost 40, my mind is deteriorating at a rapid pace and I can't remember what the intended layout was . . . for any of them!

Anywhoo . . . I saw this baggie and thought the colors fit perfectly with this weeks Kwerner color challenge. "AHA!", I thought "A quick card I can pull together because every thing is pre-cut!!" . . .ummm not so :0) I think this is/was the layout of the card . . . MSG's (my swap girls), am I missing anything? I can't remember if there was some other embelishment or not. UUggghhh!

Recipe:
Stamp: Michaels $1 bin - Kolette Hull
Papers: SU!, Too Good
Accessories: Michael's ribbon, Paper Studio bling

Truffle Pun

It's Thursday and I'm just getting my Mojo for Monday! On Sunday my DH and I went to Cracker Barrel for a nice breakfast (w/o kids :0)) As always, and purposely I think, we had to wait and hang around the endless sea of useless stuff. But in the "I heart chocolate" section I saw the cutest pillow with this saying on it. I knew I need to get it on paper and put it together with my Three Chocolate Truffles stamp by Anna Wight for Whipper Snapper. I didn't have a stamp with this saying (Note to stamp companies - this would make a very cute stamp). So I just printed it out on cardstock. I wish I would have scaled down the card size so that the truffles would appear bigger - who doesn't love a BIGGER piece of chocolate :0). But it was late and I didn't want to deviate to far from the Mojo Monday layout. I used LOTS and LOTS of pop dots on this card, sometimes stacked two high! This card was fun to make. TFL!

Recipe:

Stamps: Whipper Snapper

Paper: SU!, DCWV

Accesories: SU!, Paper Studio, Lots of Pop Dots

Tools: Cuttle Bug and dies

Find Joy in the Little Things

I am a procrastinator, I fully admit it. But I think I work best under pressure :0) My PCG's (paper challenge girls) have been putting on the pressure for me to finish up my cards from paper challenge #2. Just let me explain the rules: We get one 12 x 12 sheet of DP provided by someone else in the group. We are then required to make at least one card (did you read that? at least ONE) for each person participating. Well, I had originally started out with 3 ideas, but ended up delivering only 1 completed card for each person. So in my mind, I fulfilled the challenge rules. HOWEVER, my PCG's seem to think that since I started out with 3 designs, that I still need to produce two more! So with all that pressure and constant hounding, girls . . .here are your other two cards. Mission Accomplished. You can check out card #1 of the paper challenge here. I used a new Martha Stewart border punch at the bottom - like it A LOT.

Recipe:
Stamps: SU!
Paper: DSP- Anna Griffin, SU!, Cardstock - SU!
Accessories: Paper Studio, Michaels Ribbon
Tools: Cuttlebug w/ Sizzlets die, Paper piercing, Martha Stewart Border Punch

Friends Bloom in Color

This is my card for the monthly card swap with my fellow stampers here at work. This months theme was get well/sympathy. However, I think my card falls more into the "Thinking of You" category. The sentiment inspired the design of this card. I wanted the flower to be the focal point and the only thing in color. So who better to hold the flower than this cute little Panda! No coloring there - I think he's perfect. He looked like he had his hand (paw) behind his back so I stamped him first and then masked him and added the flower to look like he was holding it. I decided to add a bit more color with the ribbon and button in coordinating colors of the flower. The layout of the card was loosely taken from this weeks SFYTT. TFL.

Recipe:
Stamps: Panda - Inkadinkado, Flower and sentiment - Anna Wight/Whipper Snapper
Paper: Cardstock SU!
Ink: Staz On - Black, SU! Markers
Accessories: Cuttlebug embossing foloder, buttons - PaperStudio, ribbon/hemp - Michaels

Hook, Line and Sinker

Here is a card I made for my 1st ever CAARDvarks challenge. The theme for this months was "critters". This cute little worm stamp is from Whipper Snapper, one of my fav companys. And the idea for this card was inspired by the ever talented Sweet Miss Daisy (Anna Wight). You can check out her card here. She will soon be releasing a new set, which I can tell from the sneak peaks, is guaranteed to be on my "must have" list!Recipe:
Stamp: Worm- Whipper Snapper, sentiment - unknown
Paper: DSP, cardstock - Stampin' Up!
Accessories: Mark Richards

Blog Candy Giveaway

The very talented Kim Teasdale is celebrating over 100,000 hits on her blog. I can't even imagine! And if that many people are going there (over and over again) it has to be for good reason. Her card designs are so intricately detailed and beautiful it will blow you away! Have a look at some of her masterpieces on her blog Paper in the Works . She's also hosting a free giveaway of some very cute -must have stamps :0) !

Birthday Boy

My friends son is celebrating his 1st birthday this week. I think 1st birthdays are really special and remind me of the saying "You've come a long way baby!". Here is a card I made for his special day. . . good-bye baby, hello toddler!

For this card I used a REALLY old SU! Simply Scrappin Kit. The thing I love about the kits is that everything coordinates, usually with a stamp set and they don't limit themselves to scrapbook pages only. The tag, frog and star strip are all actually cardstock weight stickers that I just peeled off and placed on the card! How easy is that?! I stamped the sentiment on the tag and that was it! You can check out the invites she made for his birthday party here.

Recipe:
Stamp: G Studio
All other supplies SU!

Butterfly Bling

The colors for this weeks KWerner color challenge remind me of V-day and chocolates, so I tried to stay away from that. I just received a bag of heavenly goodness from an SU! workshop so I had to play with my new "Toys" - specifically the mat pack, a paper piercing tool, and the Classy Brass template that coordinates with the Priceless stamp set. So here's my take on this week's challenge -

It's hard to tell, but I stamped the butterflies on Whisper White cardstock with Pretty in Pink and Close to Cocoa inks and then dry embossed them with the Classy Brass template. I also used the guide holes on the template to paper pierce the antennae of the butterflies. I stamped the swirlys in chocolate chip ink on Close to Cocoa cardstock and then used a white gel pen to highlight the dots on the swirls. Finally, I added some bling to my butterflies, the card, and even one little teeny tiny one on the sentiment.

Recipe:

All supplies except gemstones (Paper Studio) are Stampin' Up!

MFTIDOL - Hugs and Kisses

MFT Stamps (My Favorite Things) is hosting an IDOL challenge! Each week the "contestants" create a card with the required theme and each week the cards will get judged. Some will stay and some will go home. Once they get down to the top 10 voting will be open for all the "viewers"! You can only use MFT stamps. So here's my "audition"; I love the "Who's That Girl" line of stamps. However, my 5 year old son can't figure out why and thinks it's the most "hilarious" thing that she doesn't have a head! I think it's hilarious hearing a 5 year old say "hilarious" :0) I used the layout from this weeks Mojo Monday.

Recipe:

Stamps - MFT

Paper - Cardstock - SU!, PP - My Minds Eye, Making Memories, embossed card - DCWV
Accessories - Mark Richards, Ribbon from Wal-Mart

I Get By with a Little Help . . .

Here's a card I put together at the last minute (this morning). I love the SFYTT's that i{heart}2stamp.com offers every week. They are so much fun. The hard part of the card design is done for you, you just need to pick a stamp and colors to work with! For this card I chose a cute little Penny Black stamp I found sitting at the bottom of a clearance bin. I'm a frugal stamper so I LOVE the clearance bins!! To me, these stamps represent either what other stampers thought weren't worthy of purchasing or they just couldn't figure out how to use them. So when I can use them to come up with something I think is just to darn cute, it makes it all the more enjoyable :0) And I definitely think these guys are just too darn cute! FYI: the black and white chipboard accent flower was from a clearance bin too :0)

Recipe:
Stamps: Image- Penny Black, Sentiment - SU!
Papers: Cardstock, DSP - SU!
Ink: SU! markers, Black Staz-on
Accessories: Button -Paper Studio, Chipboard - Making Memories

Got Soup?

I finally got through the busy week and weekend and got a chance to stamp last night! So here is my contribution for Kwerners challenge. I liked the colors this week and used them to put this card together. The stamp is one of my loved but not very inky Anna Wight Whipper Snapper stamps. I want this to be a get well card with the saying, "Got Soup?" but the image is pretty large and the saying didn't fit well on the front of the card.

Recipe:

Stamp: Chicken Trio - Whipper Snapper

Paper: DSP and Cardstock - SU!

Accessories: Buttons - SU!, Ribbon- Michaels, Scallop edge punch - SU!

Technique: Faux stitching