MFT Idol Challenge #1

Sorry I haven't posted in so long, but it's because I've been feverishly working on the first MFT Idol challenge!! Yes - I made it into the Top 10!! I'm so excited, but also incredibly stressed out - I have to make the most awesome, fantabulous cards I've ever made in my whole life!

Here's the first one that I hope will keep me in the competition a week longer:


This is me celebrating making it into the Top 10. I used An Owl for All Seasons for the owl and the sentiment, and I embellished my little heart out!

But wait - there's more! Here's what the inside looks like:


This is a tribute to everyone who made it into the Top 10! I cut the letters on the top with my Quickutz dies and Doodlebug Sugar Coated cardstock (hope you can see the sparkle). All the owls were paper pieced and their little faces done on white cardstock colored with Copics. Then I fancied them up with Stickles, and some tiny flower rhinestones.

And they're all stuck to this double tiered stage that I created myself for the Cricut! I've been doing a lot of Design Studio work using other people's patterns, so I'm really proud that I actually thought this up and created it all by myself!! I learned the basics of designing pop-ups from The Pop-Up Book by Paul Jackson, and then I worked a LOT of hours to create this. The curtained part is a separate piece that I just hand cut and glued around the stage.

Here's an angled, closer view of the stage:



And this final picture is looking down on the card so you can see the "floor" in front of the stage:


For the sentiment, I used the Congrats from the Digital Girl set, and the exclamation point from Window Shopping. BTW - here's a little tip for masking your clear stamps - I use little pieces of acetate instead of tape - they stick to the clear stamp and you can just wash them off and they're re-usable.

Last note - the card really does fold down - all the pop-up parts really work!

I hope you all will go and vote at the MFT Forum at Splitcoast [voting starts at 10PM EASTERN time on Tuesday, March 17th and continues through Wednesday, March 18th at 10pm EASTERN. My SCS user name is mm9772] and I really hope that I'll be able to stay in the competition for at least one more round! TFL!

Other materials used:
Ink: Graphite Black Brilliance ink - Tsukineko; Raspberry Fizz - Papertrey Ink Cardstock: Bazzill; Doodlebug (White Sugar Coated)
Patterned paper: Basic Grey (Eva 6x6 paper pad)
Embellishments: satin ribbon - MFT; small fern punch - CarlaCraft; flower and star rhinestones - Queen & Co.; white brad - Pink Hedgehog Papercrafts; Marisa Mini dies - Quickutz; Labels Trio dies - Spellbinders; Scallop Border Punch - Stampin' Up!; Stickles Glitter Glue; lace, embroidery floss, and buttons all from my stash.