My Top 10 of 2012

As is the tradition, I've picked out ten of my favorite projects from my blog over the past year to share with you. Clicking the post titles will take you to the original blog post. Thanks for checking out my blog now, and over the course of the last year (and hopefully 2013 as well!) :)

Make it Monday: Ghost Masking

 

Happy Birthday to my sweet boy!

 

Hopping for Janelle + Make it Monday: Graduated Backgrounds

ColourQ Challenge #134 - Happy Birthday

 

One more Easter card: Little Bitty Bird rejoices!

 

Two Father's Day cards for Two Special Dads!

 

 Sending Birthday Wishes - CR84FN #61

 

a Thank You from a Choir of Tweet Little Bitty Birds! 

 

Music themed card set

 

Mama Elephant Color Challenge

 

Mama Elephant Color Challenge

Have you checked out Mama Elephant stamps? If you haven't - you should! I only have a couple of sets so far but can't wait to expand my collection. :) I decided to play along in their brand new challenge, which was to use a color combo of red, aqua, white... and glitter! Ack! Glitter? ME? LOL.... it's not usually my thing, but luckily, I happened to have some glitter cardstock on hand, so I decided that would do the trick!

I used the sweet snowglobe set, Believe in Magic. I created a Silhouette Cameo file to cut the snowglobe, and then stamped the image and colored the outside of the globe with Copics. The top border is an MFT die, and the bottom bracket edge and the red pattern are PTI dies.

One more quick Mama Elephant project to share, this time with the adorable No Peeking set. I cut out this fold-up "card" on the Cameo, and hid a little riddle inside for my husband, to lead him to one of his Christmas presents. It worked perfectly! He would have guessed the gift for sure if I had put it under the tree, due to the give-away size of the box. This was quick and easy to whip up!

 

Thanks for stopping by!

Music themed card set

OK, let's just not talk about how bad I have been about updating! ;) Today I am going to share a card set that I made for my son's trumpet teacher. Since she teaches all sorts of musical instruments and also is a school music teacher, I knew I wanted the set to have a musical theme.

It all started with that fun Gina K music frame, which coordinates with the Spellbinders Bracket Edge Label die. I love it so much! From there, I pulled from several different sets that have a music and bird theme to create the different cards (see stamps listed below), and colored the images with Copics.

The pattern paper is from the Papertrey Ink patterned paper packs in Rasperry Fizz, Blueberry Sky and Summer Sunrise.

I carried the theme over to make a band for a PTI clear card box, as a holder in which to give the set.

Thanks for stopping by!

STAMPS: Papertrey Ink (Little Bitty Bird: branch; Little Bitty Bird Additions: birdbath, music notes; Tweet Talk: bird, sentiments); Gina K Designs (Lovely Labels 2: music label, ornamental scroll); Waltzingmouse Stamps (Say It With Style: Just for you); My Favorite things (You’re So Tweet: girl)

a quick Happy Birthday card

Yes, it's true! I'm actually updating my blog today... lol! I can't believe how long it's been since I've posted. Been very busy, it seems, and most of my craft time lately has been planning kids' crafts for school parties and Cub Scouts, but I did recently squeeze in a quick card! I could not wait to use some of my brand new Bossy Joscie flair! Have you seen Joscie's site? If not, you must check it out! She has all kinds of fun handmade flair, and is even adding digital items now!

I used the "happy birthday" flair on this card and it came together in no time.  I used a background stamp from Waltzingmouse Pic-Nic Patterns, PTI's Blueberry Sky pattern paper and Orange Zest cardstock, and Framed Out 3 set. Added a few little gems to the corner, and had a quick and easy card ready to go!

Thanks for stopping by, and don't forget to check out the fun at joscie.com! 

A Thousand Rainbows: a special Make It Monday card

This week's Make it Monday is a challenge to cut apart a stamp to use it in a new, creative way. This was just the perfect challenge for a card I wanted to make this week, because I wanted to use the block sentiment from Movers & Shakers Sentiments, but I think it really adds impact to stamp it in multiple colors. Ok, ok... I won't lie - it was a little bit scary to cut this one apart (even though I have cut other stamps apart before), but it worked out fine! The key is that the lines of the sentiment where I was cutting are all very straight and linear, so it was easy to just sort of bend the stamp and carefully trim it apart with my Cutterbees.

The color combo is Raspberry Fizz, Orange Zest and Blueberry Sky - bright and fun, and perfect for a special little girl who will be getting this card, whose favorite colors include pink and orange! I thought this would be a fun card to use the Movers & Shakers: Sliders dies on this one... hopefully she will get a kick out of the interactive element!

Here is the unopened front view. The whole sliders apparatus is attached to a slightly larger white base, with the orange scalloped edge (heart die) attached to the bottom, and then popped up on the Raspberry Fizz striped paper.

As the slider slides open, it reveals the pretty little Copic-colored balloon from Up, Up & Away. The little outline clouds are from There She Goes - Aim for the Clouds.

And the slide-out part also has the sun and rainbow from Up, Up & Away. I first stamped thethe Movers & Shakers sentiment, masked that and stamped and colored the rainbow, and then masked the rainbow and stamped the sun.

This was a really fun card to make, and I love how it turned out - especially the multi-colored sentiment block, which I never could have done as well by just masking or selective inking! Cutting the stamps apart made it soooo much easier. Thanks for the great challenge, PTI!

And thanks for stopping by!

Thinking of You - Sunflower Bouquet

Just a quick post today to share this card with Sunflower Bouquet. This is such a beautiful image and perfect for so many occasions. I colored it with Copics and then just popped it up on my 5.25x5.25 card base and added the Photo Finishers die-cut strip with the sentiment from Little Labels.

I added a couple little pearl gems in each side of the sentiment to finish off the front. I stamped a verse inside from Beautiful Blessings, perfect for the family that this card went to.

I can't wait to pull out this set again and color up the image. It's a great one to just play with, and then have on hand to pull together a quick card, when needed.

Thanks for stopping by!

Sending Thanksgiving Blessings

Just a quick post to share a card I made a few days ago. I was eager to play with the new Autumn Hills stamp set and to color that pretty little scene with Copics. I also used PTI's new Orange Zest patterned paper pack, along with a strip of gingham from the Simply Chartreuse pack.

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I used a Half-&-Half die and impressed it with the Woodgrain Impression Plate.

Thanks for stopping by!

MFT Wednesday Stamp Club - Teacher, have a Great Year

Well, like I said in my last post, I had one back-to-school teacher's card finished and one more to make. So I thought I would try my hand at the latest MFT Wednesday Stamp Club sketch! (See image at the bottom of the post.) I only have a couple of MFT sets so far (looking forward to getting more soon!), so I incorporated some school-themed PTI stamps as well. The patterned paper is Bo Bunny Learning Curve, an older line but full of fun, classic school-themed patterns!

I modified the sketch by turning it 90 degrees to make a horizontal card. I used MFT's Vanity License Plate stamps and die-namics die. I masked the "have a great day" sentiment to use just the "have a", and then added the "GR8 YR" letters to the plate. Since I don't have the MFT tab die (yet - it's on my wishlist!), I improvised by using the rounded corner rectangle die from First Class Friend as a "tab", letting it stick up behind my patterned paper.

I added the "first day of school" embellishment, created with PTI's Tag-It's #6 and School Time. I used It's Official to make the ruler border along the bottom, and added the Die-Namics Little Open Scallop along the bottom. Since this is a larger 5x7 card, I had to cut 2 of the scallop strips, but it worked out fine because I hid the overlap under my circle embellishment.

Thanks for stopping by!

Here is the MFT sketch:

Make it Monday: Garlands - Back to School card

I got started on this week's Make it Monday challenge on Monday... but finally finished it today! LOL! Since my kids don't go back to school until next Tuesday, I thought maybe I would finally get some "back to school" cards completed for their teachers this year. One down, one to go!

I used several school-themed PTI sets: Teacher's Apple with the brand new die; School Time; and Tag-its #6. I also used the medium scallop border die.

My color scheme is Harvest Gold and Blueberry Sky (our school colors - blue and gold), and Pure Poppy for the apples. I used a strip of paper from the Blueberry Sky pattern paper pack. I made the garland with just a single layer, taped the baker's twine across the back with my ATG gun, and then attached a couple of small pieces of foam adhesive to the back of each apple, and attached them into place. I tied the ends to a brad in each corner of the panel.

I also finished the inside of the card, using a sentiment from Signature Greetings that was just perfect for the card!

Now I need to make one more card for the other boy's teacher. I'm so glad to have finally given Teacher's Apple some love - I've had the set for a while and always liked it, but not used it very much!

Thanks for stopping by!

Sending Birthday Wishes - CR84FN #61

Another color challenge card for me today! A male family member has an upcoming birthday and I thought the color combo in the current CR84FN color challenge would work well for a masculine card. (See the image at the bottom of post.) This is one where I used bits and pieces from lots of different sets! For the colors, I used PTI Hawaiian Shores for the aqua, Kraft for the tan, and Vintage Cream for the cream.

I used MFT's First Class Friend stamps and dies, along with PTI's Postmarks set for some of the postal elements. The word "Wishes" is from Verve's Merry Wishes.

The postage panel is popped up on the Kraft, which has been impressed with PTI's Picnic Plaid impression plate.

Like that littls stamp? It's the MFT die-cut, and then I added a border using PTI's Label Basics, by putting a mask diagonally across from corner to corner, and stamping a corner of the label stamp along 2 sides, then moving the mask to the other half and carefully stamping again in the opposite corner. OK, so it took me about 3 tries to get it right, but I really like how it turned out! LOL! I added the little circle from Tiny Tags, and then built the "47¢" using numbers from Postmarks, and the lower-case "c" and upper-case "I" from Simple Alphabet... I didn't have a ¢ stamp! LOL! There is a significance to the postage amount, but I'll let you figure that out! ;) Hehe!

I finished off the front panel with some bakers twine, and added a stamp-style border at the bottom with a Border Punch. Everything is mounted on a cream card base. The card base ended up being about 5"x6" - I used a standard 4.25"x5.5" panel for the Kraft layer, and just "built out" from there, and that's what it ended up being. 

Here is the original challenge inspiration photo:

Be sure to check out the other great entries at CR84FN, and thanks for stopping by!

Hello, Friend - ColourQ #150

Yay, me! I got a card done for the current ColourQ Challenge (see the image at the bottom of this post). I interpreted the color scheme as PTI Spring Moss, Lemon Tart, Pure Poppy and Hawaiian Shores. I really wanted to use that cute phone from Heart 2 Heart #4. It's so cute and I hadn't inked it up yet! I stamped it on the die-cut in Pure Poppy, and also stamped the center dial and cut it out with my teeniest Spellbinder's circle nestie die.

In keeping with the phone theme, I added texture to the green panel with the By The Numbers impression plate, after inking it with Versamark to give the impression a bit more oomph. The "hello" is cut with the Block Alphabet dies, and the word "friend" is from Flutterby Friend. 

How about that phone cord? I used the little curly-border from Tiny Treats: Birthday, after carefully curving it on the acrylic block, and with a Post-It Note mask in place so it wouldn't stick out from under the phone. :) The phone and handset are then popped up on dimensional adhesive. I also used the Square Limitless Layer dies, and an MFT die for the bottom border.

Here is the ColorQ inspiration image:

Thanks for stopping by!

Color Throwdown 204 - Wonderful Friend

I finally seem to be finding a little bit of the mojo that has been lacking for the past few weeks! I've managed to squeak in just under the deadline with this card for the current Color Throwdown Challenge (CTD204):

I translated the colors into PTI as Smokey Shadow, Pure Poppy, Vintage Cream and Orange Zest. I got out PTI's Lovely Layers to play with, and added the "Wonderful friend" sentiment from a Think Big Favorites set on a WPlus9 banner die-cut. The checkered background is from Waltzingmouse Stamps.

I also used PTI's Limitless Layers: Squares dies, and popped up both the squares layer and also the Lovely Layers grouping.

Thanks for the great color combo, Color Throwdown! And thanks for stopping by!

MFT Stamp to Win - Sending You Hugs

I'm excited for my first time to play along with the MFT Wednesday Stamp to Win challenge! I've admired MFT stamps for some time, and finally placed my first order recently. So this week's sketch was a perfect opportunity to break out my new First Class Friend die-namics and stamp set. Here is the sketch:

I modified it to a horizontal card:

The focal point is popped up on dimensional adhesive.

The patterned paper is My Minds Eye, and the cardstock is PTI Orange Zest, Spring Moss and Spring Rain. Buttons are also PTI.

I'm looking forward to more fun with my MFT stamps, and adding more to my collection in the future! Thanks for stopping by!

Make it Monday: Ink Pads as Watercolors

I played along with the newest Make it Monday challenge this week, where Dawn McVey demonstrates how to use ink pads as watercolors - cool technique! I used Lovely Leaves and watercolored the leaves with a blend of Simply Chartreuse, Spring Moss and Harvest Gold, and the berries with Winter Wisteria.

For the sentiment, I used the frame and die from Framed Out #2, paired with a sentiment from Framed Out #6.

Thanks for the cool challenge, PTI!