My Favorite Things Guest Designer Contest-July

It's no secret that I am a huge fan of My Favorite Things.  Their stamps and Die-namics feed my addiction and get my creative juices flowing.  The July Guest Designer contest is on and once again this month they have provided a wonderful sketch to work from.



I am really digging this trend of the banner/pennants in paper crafting right now.  I've been so drawn to all of the papers, stamps and scrapbook layouts using this element.  It was fun to use it with a card for this sketch.  I chose MFT Pure Innocence Make Mine a Double for this card.  The stamp set was largely inspired by my recent purchase of the 6x6 paper pad of My Mind's Eye- On the Sunny Side.  Love ice cream cones and popsicles when it's hot out-  And trust me-  it's HOT out here in KY.  Temps this week expected to reach 104!!

I put a lot of time into the details on this card-  the addition of the twine on the dress waistline to match the banner twine, stitching and the tiny custom flowers on the dress and banners.

  The flowers are actually three individual bitty blossoms punch pieces folded and pinched together on a glue dot.

Finally a look at the inside of the card

Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge- Design Team Call 2nd Entry

The second card for the sketch was quite different from what I'm used to doing but I found this stamp set a couple of weeks ago and fell in love with it. I have a hard time doing this style of card but was happy with the result.

The papers used on this card are from My Mind's Eye- Stella and Rose. MFT Die-namics for the flower embellishment and some crochet lace to finish it off.

Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge- Design Team Call

I'm getting braver- another entry into a design team contest!  I ran across this sketch challenge during my blog hopping. I love Karen's work - her cards are always gorgeous and I always find inspiration in them.  








What a great sketch!  I decided to make two different cards with this sketch. 

The first is definitely more my style- a bit whimsical.

I actually took the time to hand-stitch the larger blooms on this one to add a bit more detail to the flower. I wasn't nearly as ambitious with the rest of the stitching and used my Janome Sew-Mini to machine stitch the borders and background for the flower.  My papers are from the Simple Stories Summer Fresh line. I LOVE this paper, now that I've used a bit of my stash I feel like I need to go hoard more so I never run out.  I've had this stamp set for years and not even sure what it is called or who manufactured it.

Only a stamper would understand!

While I was home visiting family last month we had a big discussion about the cards I send to them.  My fears were confirmed-  my sisters DO throw my cards away after they get them!  Oh, the horror!  While I get it- I mean what are they supposed to do with them but really?  My mother is the only one that keeps them.  Today I ran across this stamp at a scrapbook store and I just had to have it!  This is officially going on the back of all of my handmade cards before I send them.  Thought you might get a kick out of it too :)

I'm currently working on a new card for the July MFT Guest Designer Contest.  If nothing else, I'm persistent.  More to post soon!

Upcoming Stamp Club Cards

I am lucky enough to share an evening once a month with some great ladies just being creative and having some fun.  It's such a big stress reliever to get together with people with similar interests and getting my craft fix.  I wanted to share today the cards we will making at this month's club night.  If you are in Western Ky you should look us up-  there's always room for a few more :)

Our theme this month is "Sweet Treats"-  Who doesn't love those??

This one might look a little familiar to some of you as this is a case from a Stampin' Up! mini-catalog featuring the stamp set "Bring on the Cake".

This one features "Sweets for the Sweet" by SU!

I just love this simple but colorful card. Makes me want a popsicle! Stamp sets used : SU! "Mouthwatering" & SU! "Sunny Fun"

Last but not least,  a fun accordian card.  This one combines 3 of my favorite things- Glitter, Twine and Cupcakes, of course!



MFT Guest Designer Entry- June 2012

I thought I would be brave and try my hand at the guest designer contest at My Favorite Things again this month.   The challenge for this month was limited to creating a card based on a sketch provided by the MFT Design Team.  I have to say that it relieved the pressure a bit to have a sketch to work with and I really enjoyed it.  Here is the sketch that we had to work with:

This was my interpretation of the sketch:

As soon as I saw the sketch I immediately thought ribbon for the pink strips behind the main panel instead of paper. I found four rolls of the same ribbon in different colors and my color inspiration was born.  I added the twine in coordinating colors to add a bit more texture. The patterned papers are from Stampin' Up! and My Minds Eye -On the Bright Side.  I used MFT Die-Namics for the clouds and for the file tab with the card sentiment on the front.  Can I say how much I LOVE Die-namics?  So versatile and easy to use!!  To add the last bit of detail to the background I used my Cuttlebug Seeing Spots embossing folder to bring dimension to the "sky" and clouds.

 I also knew exactly which Pure Innocence stamp set I wanted to use- Make A Splash. Isn't she adorable? I colored her with Copics and fussy cut her.  I added some torn strips of Kraft cardstock (from MFT), sponged on the edges to give the look of sand. 

For the last detail I didn't think that a flower embellishment made any sense with my theme so I decided I needed to create my own.  What goes better with the beach and swimsuits than flip flops??  

I was very happy with how it all came together.  You can check out all of the entries here on the Splitcoast Stampers gallery.

Quick Graduation Card

So I'm feeling pretty old this week...my nephew is graduating from high school!  I was just beginning college when he was born so this milestone in his life is really dating me.  :)  We are so proud of him!

On to the crafty details....I have A LOT of stamps in my stash but if there's one event that I'm not stocked for it would be graduation.   I didn't really want to invest a lot in stamps for graduation so I took to the web.  I was thrilled to find this digital stamp offering from Stampin' Up!  I had purchased, downloaded, printed and colored this image within minutes!   I just happen to be a SU! demo so feel free to shop in my online store - you can search for Go Graduate Plus for this particular digital image set. How great is that?  Isn't technology grand!

              Stamps :  Digital- SU! Go Graduate Plus,  Wood mount- SU! Celebrate Everything