Thursday, August 30, 2012

Thanks to You

Hi all!  Today I have a card made using the current Waltzingmouse Sketch:

VintageCirclesSmall2 

I pretty much copied the sketch exactly, down to the flower with its 2 leaves which I cut from felt.  I stamped them with images from the Vintage Circles, Small set in white craft ink and then added a button tied with Strawberry Cupcake Timeless Twine.  The sentiment is from the Fancy Phrases set and the border on top was cut with a MFT Die-namics border die.  I hope you like it and TFL!

Monday, August 27, 2012

Many Thanks

Hi all!  Today I have a card made for the Paper Smooches Sparks Challenge - to be inspired by this picture:

And here's what I came up with:

WordSalad1

I was inspired by the little squares of color and the shape of the sofa.  I used a sentiment from Word Salad and papers from MME’s Lost & Found Two Rosy paper pad.  I finished it off with a little twill and some black and white Timeless Twine.  I hope you like it and TFL!

Friday, August 24, 2012

Season’s Greetings

Hi all!  Today I have a card made for the Verve Customer Card Carnival:

OrnamentalChristmas1

I used the Ornamental Christmas set and some papers from MME.  The sentiment is from the same set and the banner die is from Spellbinders.  I hope you like it and TFL!

Monday, August 20, 2012

Birthday Bash Blog Hop

It is Miss Christine’s Birthday and we decided to have a party! We are doing a blog hop just for her. If you came here from Yenni’s blog, you are in the right place. If you didn’t, you may start at the All That Scraps blog. You don’t want to miss any of this party. :)

I just got chosen to be on the ATS Challenge team and I couldn’t be more thrilled to work with Christine and the rest of the teamies!  Even though I’m just starting, I’ve been a LONG time fan of ATS – one of my very fave places to shop!

***And now for my card***

I wanted to make something special for Christine, so here’s my very first circular easel card:

IWantCandy1a

I used the super cute digi Meoples set I Want Candy.  She was printed multiple times on white cardstock and colored with Copics.  I also paper pieced the icing and liner for the cupcake.  I did multiple layers to make her even more fun:

IWantCandy1b

The sentiment ticket on the inside is from My Favorite Things.  I hope you like it!

Next up on the hop is the incredibly talented Dangina.

Thanks for coming!  Enjoy the rest of the Hop!

Saturday, August 18, 2012

Love U

Hi all!  Today I have a card made for a couple challenges:

LoveU

I made a card shaped like the letter U with my Zing using Make-The-Cut and attached a Cheery Lynn Fanciful Flourish and a heart stamped with Love from Papertrey Ink.  To finish it off, I did a straight machine stitch all around the U and added some rustic twine to the Love heart.

This is for Cheery Lynn Designs – use a letter and Stamptacular – shaped cards.  I hope you like it and TFL!

Friday, August 17, 2012

WMS August Blog Party

Hi all!  Today I have a special project that I made for the Walzingmouse Stamps Blog Party:

WMSWaltz1a

I altered a step card so that the center section would be a platform for a little tealight cake!  One great thing about this card is that it can fold relatively flat for storage (after taking the cake out, of course!).  The Happy Birthday sentiment is from the Frame-It set and the flowers are Prima with some glitter and half pearls in the centers.

Each high step has a hole punched in with a bamboo skewer topped with a large pinwheel from the Playful Pinwheels set:

WMSWaltz1b

I added some Stickles to each pinwheel and  yes, they both spin! 

Then in the middle is a banner made with the Bitty Banners set and an alphabet from Close to My Heart:WMSWaltz1c

I cut the scalloped circle top for the tealight cake with my Zing using Make-The-Cut and a file I created myself.  The bottom of the cake is just covered with a plain strip of patterned paper.  Finally I added some Stickles and teeny half pearls to the top.  I hope you like it and have fun on the rest of the hop!  TFL!

Monday, August 13, 2012

Yoo who!

Hi all!  I have a punny card for you today using the Paper Smooches SPARKS challenge sketch:

Spookalicious1

The owl, branch and the eyeballs (in the “yoo”) are from the new Spookalicious set that I recently won from Paper Smooches (thanks again Kim!!) and the rest of the alpha is from the Alphadot set.  The papers are from the MME Lime Twist – Fly a Kite paper pad and the pennant die cut is from Stampin’ Up!  Finally I finished it off with some orange and white Timeless Twine.  I hope you like it and TFL!

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Why I Use Brilliance Ink

Hi all!  Every time you see an image stamped in black on my blog, 99.999% of the time, it will have been stamped in Tsukineko’s Graphite Black Brilliance pigment ink.  When the Tsukineko Tuxedo Black Memento dye ink came out, I saw a lot of Copic users raving about it so I decided to try it out myself. 

Here’s an image (by Dandelion Designs) that I’ve stamped with Memento on the left and Brilliance on the right:

Brilliance1

As you can see, they both stamp very nicely, with very good coverage.  But when you look at it really closely, this is what you see:

Brilliance2

The Memento side looks a bit fuzzy, but the Brilliance side is really crisp and clear (you can click on the images to see them even larger). For most people, that little difference doesn’t matter, but for me, I prefer the cleaner images you get with the Brilliance ink.  Yes, the Brilliance does take longer to dry than the Memento, but I think it’s worth the wait.  So that’s why I use Brilliance instead of Memento for stamping in black.  Hope this helps and TFL!

Thursday, August 9, 2012

YNS Fun Friday

Hi all!  I have a Your Next Stamp Fun Friday card for you today.  This month our theme is Birthdays/Celebrations.  I had an idea pop into my head when I was trying to decide which stamps to use and here’s what I came up with:

SpringSummerGlobeAccessories1a

I used the Wide Globe stamp, the fish from Spring/Summer Globe Accessories, and a sentiment from the Fancy Frame Sentiment Set.  I colored the fish with Copics, then masked him off and airbrushed the background.  Then I used a super fine black pen to color in the music notes and draw a little open mouth on the fish to make it look like he’s singing.  Here’s a close shot so you can see him better:

SpringSummerGlobeAccessories1b

I paper pieced the base of the globe and it’s sitting on a line of black and white Timeless Twine.  I hope you like it and TFL!

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Heartfelt Thanks

Hi all!  Today I have a card made with the Waltzingmouse sketch:

Labels4 4

I stamped the frame from Very Vintage Labels No. 4 and a sentiment from Frame-It.  The papers are from Bella Blvd. and I finished it off with some hand stitching using 1 strand of cream crochet thread, some twill, and button and some black and white Timeless Twine.

This is also for Challenge Up Your Life – everything goes and Ribbon Carousel – stitching.  I hope you like it and TFL!

Monday, August 6, 2012

YNS 3rd Birthday Blog Hop!

Photobucket

(This is going to be a very long post so please bear with me!)

Hi all! We have another special Blog Hop this month because Your Next Stamp is celebrating its 3rd Birthday!!! We are so excited about this milestone, and we have some fun and ADORABLE projects to share with you today!

You should have come here from Wendy R.'s blog, but if you just happened upon my post, please start at Peggy's blog because you won't want to miss a stop!

We are making this hop even more fun, because we have put together a scavenger hunt! Each DT member and guest has a bold, colored letter on her blog. Collect all the letters and unscramble them to find the special saying. Once you do that, e-mail Karen at karen@yournextstamp.com and you will qualify for the $25 YNS shopping spree GRAND PRIZE!!!

We also have 3 special new release prize packs hidden along the hop. Just leave comments along the way to win!

You have until August 9th at 12 midnight EST to play along and the winners will be announced August 10th on the YNS Blog!

*****And now on to the show!*****

Remember in this post where I said there was more to the Fab-u-licious! image than what I showed? Well, here you can see the full image (if you haven't already):

Fabulicious2a

As you can see, in my previous card, I cut out the worm from my stamp so that it would just be a plain apple on a branch. For this card, I've left the worm in and even popped him up a bit for dimension:

Fabulicious2b

For my next card, I've used Gordon the Pig:

GordonthePig1

He comes with a couple sentiments, including this one, so I thought it would be appropriate to make a shaker card for him! I also used YNS' Puffy Cloud die set and the Flower Fun Spring Grass die.

For my final project, I've made a special card to celebrate YNS' 3rd birthday:

PartyFhiona3a

I used Party Fhiona and papers and stickers from Echo Park's A Walk in the Park collection. The 3 and its shadow were cut with my Zing using Make-The-Cut and the banner is stuck to a bit of Timeless Twine.

When you open the card, a little piece pulls up to reveal a gift card or hidden message:

PartyFhiona3b

I adapted this design from this one I saw on the Dandelion Designs blog. I adapted it to be made from 1 piece of 8.5x11 cardstock instead of using a piece of 12x12 paper. Here's how:

Take a piece of cardstock oriented in the portrait position and cut at 5". You should have 1 piece that's 5x11 that you will turn and score at 4.25 and 8.5". The other piece is 3.5x11. Cut it off so that it's 7.5" long and turn and score at .75" and 4". Then turn over and apply tape to the bottom section and the other piece as shown:

PartyFhiona3c

Adhere the pocket on the larger piece and attach the smaller piece to the top as shown. Place your gift card in the little folded area and it will look like this:

PartyFhiona3d

Finally, you just tuck the gift card piece into the pocket and close the card up. Instead of a gift card, you can just write a message on the inside piece that will lift up when you open the card. It's fun and easy - I hope you try it!

As always we have some awesome specials at the YNS Store! Everyone will receive a FREE scratch card with every purchase all month long or while supplies last! Every card is a WINNER!


Also receive 25% off your order August 6th-August 10th! Online code is HAPPY

Karen has just improved the YNS Store website, so make sure you check it out! We now have larger thumbnails so you can see these adorable images even better!

Now it’s time to hop on over to Suzanne’s blog, but before you go, don’t forget about the scavenger hunt! My letter is T. Happy hopping!

Saturday, August 4, 2012

Fab-u-licious

Hi all!  Today I have a sneak peek at one of the sets from the upcoming YNS release:

Fabulicious1

The set is called Fab-u-licious! and will be available to purchase on August 6th.  There’s more to this image than what I’m showing here, so you’ll have to wait until the Blog Hop to see the full stamp!

I stamped the image,  paper pieced the apple and colored the rest with Copics.  The sentiment is from the set and I used a banner die from Stampin’ Up! and the circle Nestie is from Spellbinders.  I hope you like it and I’ll see you back for the YNS 3rd Birthday Blog Hop on August 6!  TFL!

Friday, August 3, 2012

Holiday airplane greetings

Hi all!  I have another simple card done with MFT’s Airplane Greetings Die-namics:

AirplaneGreetings3

The sentiment is from an old retired MFT set and the papers are from the old MME Colorful Christmas line.  The banner is attached to the plane with some olive green Timeless Twine.

This is for Loves Rubberstamps – inspiration photo (I was inspired by the colors) and Stamptacular Sunday – use at least 3 different patterned papers.  I hope you like it and TFL!

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Have a nice day feltie

Hi all!  I have another feltie creation to share with you today:

SugarRush1a

Just like my toast card, this feltie is also a magnet that’s removable from the card:

SugarRush1b

And of course when you remove the magnet, there’s another ice cream cone underneath so that you still have a finished card.

I used the Sugar Rush set for the ice cream and the sentiment is from Wake Up.  I stamped the ice cream on a vanilla felt with dark chocolate ink, and onto a pink felt with pink ink.  I then cut the whole cone out of the vanilla felt, and just the ice cream scoop from the pink felt and layered them.  Then I did a running stitch around the scoop with 1 strand of embroidery floss and added a little bow of Strawberry Truffle Timeless Twine.

Finally, I stamped the cone one more time on some self-adhesive magnet sheet, cut it out and stuck it to the back of the cone.  There’s another piece of magnet behind the brown circle to hold the magnet to the card.

This is for:

I hope you like it and TFL!

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

You’re too cool!

Hi all!  Today I have a shaped card for the Timeless Twine challenge – Summer foods:

Popsicle1a

I cut this orange popsicle with my Zing using Make-The-Cut and the Pretty Pops Cut It set.  I used PTI kraft cardstock for the base, the oranges are from Bazzill and the white is good ole Georgia Pacific.  The bow is made of orange Timeless Twine.

Here’s a shot of the computer generated sentiment inside:

Popsicle1b

This is also for Crafty Creations – cool summer treats, Secret Crafter - Bright and Cheerful, and Digital Tuesday - monochromatic (I used a digi cutting file and sentiment). I hope you like it and TFL!

P.S. Did you happen to see the announcement over at the All That Scraps challenge blog today? I was chosen to be on the challenge design team!! Yay!! I can't tell you how excited I am! Woohoo!