YNS March New Release Blog Hop!

Welcome to the Your Next Stamp March New Release BLOG HOP!

We have some amazing new YNS stamps to show you today! These new stamps are available to buy right now from the Your Next Stamp store along with all your YNS favorites.

If you would like to participate in the hop and you didn't arrive here from Crystal's blog, please return to the start of the hop at Simonne’s blog, as you don't want to miss these fab new releases!

The hop starts today (March 8, 2011 at 08:00 EST) and ends on March 11, 2011 at midnight EST.

As always here at Your Next Stamp, we have a wonderful prize for you to win! One lucky winner will be drawn at random from the links in the linky list to receive a surprise package of new release stamps!

You will see that every stop along the hop has a linky list - this is the SAME linky list posted on every blog, so that you can enter the prize draw from any stop along the hop (although we hope you will visit every blog!). The linky will update itself on everyone's blog when a link is entered - how cool is that? Please remember to only enter your name ONCE into the linky list during the hop - you do NOT need to enter your name at every stop and multiple entries will be removed. It's not a requirement for you to comment at every stop along the hop to be eligible to be entered into the prize draw, but the DT would sure love to hear what you think of our new release creations!

Karen is also running a special 10% off promotion from today until 14 March 2011. Just enter the code YNSMARCH when checking out to apply your 10% discount. There are also some FANTASTIC special offers and promotions running over at the YNS store at the moment, so once you've finished the hop be sure to hop on over and check out the clearance sections: 35% off selected stamps - 50% off selected stamps - 60% off selected bare rubber stamps - 35% off selected embellishments - 35% off selected DP sampler packs. WOW! What a great time to grab a bargain!

Here is a complete blog hop list in hopping order:

Simonne Clay
Peggy Toole {Guest Designer}
Crystal Irwin
YOU ARE HERE ---> Maureen Wong <--- YOU ARE HERE
Kerri Michaud
Dana Joy
Wendy Ramlakhan
Jenny Suchin
Beth Ranney-Thomas
Diana Genario
Chris Olsen
Karen Dedman

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

I only have 1 project to share with you today, but I do have a lot of photos, so get comfy as this might take a little while! I had such a blast playing with Dixie Daisy and a sketch from Sketchy Thursday:


The sentiment in the pic looks a bit fuzzy because the camera was focusing on Daisy, who is floating way above the card as you can see here:


Yes, I did my little acetate spring trick and when you move the card or flick Daisy with your finger, she springs around! (Get it?! hee hee!)

I also did a bunch of paper piecing and paper tole because this image just begged for it (and also because the Moxie Fab blog is having a Paper Piecing challenge right now)!

I stamped on 3 different patterned papers and 3 times on plain white cardstock for a base, a full face and just the eyes, which were covered with clear dimensional glaze for shine. Here you can see all the pieces (except the plain white base) cut out, shaped and shaded with colored pencils/odorless mineral spirits (all pics can be enlarged):


After applying scrap bits of cardstock or foam boosters to all the pieces for dimension and sticking them together, this is what I had:


And finally, here's a shot of the back showing the acetate spring:


It's just a piece of acetate scored and folded into a sort of Z shape. One end was glued and taped to the back of Dixie, and the other end was fed through a slit in the vanilla oval and taped to the back so all the glue/tape mess wouldn't show behind Daisy (as you can see in the second pic above).

So now it's time for you to hop on over to Kerri's blog as she is the next stop on our hop, but I'd love it if you left me a comment before you go!

Thanks so much for hopping with us today! I hope you enjoy our new release!

Hugs,
Maureen =)

Mini Ellie with Pressies

Thursday is my day to post on the YNS Blog and here's what I came up with:


I used Mini Ellie with Pressies and some Echo Park paper to make a little decoration you can hang on a gift. I cut a strip off the 12x12 sheet, punched 1 edge with a Fiskars punch, and accordion folded to make a medallion. Ellie was colored with Copics and cut out with a Nesties circle. I matted it with the next larger Nesties circle and glued them to the front of the tag. Then I also decorated the back:


The sentiment was cut with a Quickutz die. Finally, the hanging ribbon is some hand-dyed seam binding.

This is also for ABC Challenge - P is for Pink. I hope you like it and TFL!

Your Next Stamp Challenge #37

Yay! I have another Your Next Stamp Challenge today! This time our theme is "Feeling Blue" - use the color blue anywhere on your creation. Here's what I came up with:


I used my old fave Yippee Fhiona and a sketch from Friday Sketchers. I just got some gorgeous new twine from Trendy Twine and had to use it right away. So going with our blue theme, I matched some light and dark blue Bazzill cardstock to the colors in the Blue Berry twine and went with a monochromatic card.

If you look closely, you'll see that the light blue cardstock is embossed with the Cuttlebug Argyle folder to match the design on her shirt. To finish the whole thing off, I used the Martha Loops punch on the dark cardstock, did some straight machine stitching, and added a sentiment from the Mini Greetings set.

This card is also for:

• Stampin' for the Weekend - Monochrome
• Top Tip Tuesday - fave technique and/or embellishment (my fave technique is fussy cutting images and popping them up on foam boosters)
• Papertake Weekly - Anything goes, and optional something old (everything on this card, except the twine, is pretty old!)

We hope you'll play along with us! One lucky participant will be drawn at random to win $10 in YNS Stamp Bucks!! You don't have to use YNS images on your card, but if you do you'll get a double entry in the draw!

Also, the challenge hostess will choose her favorite card, and that winner will get the YNS Challenge "Top Pick" blinkie to proudly display on their blog PLUS $5 in YNS Stamp Bucks! You must use a YNS image to be eligible to be chosen for Top Pick.

Full details can be found at the YNS Challenge Blog. TFL!

Be Happy

Today is my day to post on the YNS Facebook page so I have some YNS fun for you!

This week YNS is sponsoring the Etsy Inspired Challenge and have chosen the Etsy shop Claylicious. I had so much fun looking through all the fabulous clay creations and knew right away that I had to take inspiration from one of the fun plates. I picked this cute Be Happy plate:


You can see that I did a pretty literal take on it:


I used Asha from India and a sketch from Mojo Monday (I took out the 3 round elements on the top right because my patterned paper is so busy). Asha's dress was paper pieced and the rest of her was colored with Copics, then cut out and popped up on foam boosters. I added a Prima flower with a brad over the stamped flower in her hair and a tiny red rhinestone for her bindi. The butterfly is also paper pieced and I added a bit of wire for its antennae.

The ribbon is hand dyed seam binding that I hand pleated and stuck down with double sided tape. Finally, the sentiment was done with Just Rite alpha stamps.

I hope you like it and that you'll come by our FB page to see what other eye candy has been posted by the DT! TFL!

Your Next Stamp Challenge #36

Yay! I have another Your Next Stamp Challenge today! This time our hostess is Simonne and she would like to see paper piecing on our projects. I adore paper piecing so this was a super fun challenge for me! Here's my card:


I used Party Fhiona and FTL#127 from Clean & Simple Stamping. Fhiona was colored with Copics and colored pencils and her dress was pieced. I also did a little coloring/shading on her dress with Copics. I added little heart rhinestones for her earrings and a round AB rhinestone on her tiara.

You can see in this close shot that her hands go over her dress just a little. Instead of cutting out those hand parts from her dress piece, I actually took a craft knife and cut her hands away from the background cardstock and slipped her dress underneath them. It just looks more realistic that way.


To finish it off, I did some straight machine stitching, added a sentiment and some hand dyed seam binding.

This card is also for:

• Paperplay - Hearts and flowers, but not Valentine's
• Kaboodle Doodles - Hearts and flowers
• Cupcake Craft - use at least 1 heart

We hope you'll play along with us! One lucky participant will be drawn at random to win $10 in YNS Stamp Bucks!! You don't have to use YNS images on your card, but if you do you'll get a double entry in the draw!

Also, the challenge hostess will choose her favorite card, and that winner will get the YNS Challenge "Top Pick" blinkie to proudly display on their blog PLUS $5 in YNS Stamp Bucks! You must use a YNS image to be eligible to be chosen for Top Pick.

Full details can be found at the YNS Challenge Blog. TFL!

Bananas About You!

Today is my day to post on the YNS Facebook page and here's what I came up with:


I used the Monkey Gone Bananas set and a sketch from Truly Scrumptious. I stamped the monkey on kraft cardstock and colored him with colored pencils/odorless mineral spirits. Then I cut him out and stuck foam boosters on the back. The word "bananas" (part of the sentiment in the set) was stamped on patterned paper and cut out. The paper is from the Crazy Love 6x6 paper pad and the little letter stickers are really old Making Memories.

For the finishing touches, I used some pink Timeless Twine, a felt heart cut with a Nestabilities die, and some little half pearls that I airbrushed light pink with a Copic marker.

This card is also for the following challenges:

• The Pink Elephant - "Be My Valentine"
• Going Grey - "Animal Antics"
• Stamp with Fun - Love
• Cupcake Craft - incorporate something red
• Creative Card Crew - "For a loved one"
• A Spoon Full of Sugar - Love
• My Time to Craft - "Hearts and Flowers"
• One Crazy Stamper - Pink

I hope you like it and that you'll come by our FB page to see what other eye candy has been posted by the DT! TFL!

Your Next Stamp Challenge #35

Yay! I have another Your Next Stamp Challenge today! I have the honor of being your hostess and I've chosen a challenge called "Pretty Pleats" - add pleating to your project with ribbon, paper, fabric, etc. In case you're a little unsure what pleating is, here's the Wiki article with more information than you'll ever need! Also, I've put together a couple very simple tutorials that are shown below my project.

First of all, here's my card:


I used Ellie Loves Music again, but this time I just used Ellie alone. I colored her with Copics, cut her out and mounted her with foam boosters. The sentiment is from the Garden Greetings set.

I did 2 different types of pleats on my card. For the black piece, I cut a strip of paper and then scored at 3/4", 1", 1 3/4", 2", and so on. After lightly folding, it looks like this (I used plain cardstock to make it easier to see):


To finish it off, I notched the ends, smushed it down and then sewed it down the center to keep it flat. Here's the finished pleat:


For my second pleat, I used white seam binding. I pierced a line of holes in the red background paper and then hand sewed the binding, pleating as I went. I could also have done it with my sewing machine, but because the binding is really slippery, I thought it would be easier to do it by hand.

For my tutorial, I've used white cardstock again to make it easier to see. I cut a strip and scored with the same measurements as above, but instead folded it like this:


And then I stitched down the middle again to flatten it:


Obviously the pleats in the seam binding are skinnier and I sewed across the top instead of the middle, but it's basically the same fold as the paper example above. I hope this clears up what pleating is a little, but if you need just a bit more guidance, HERE is a card I made previously that used the same first pleat that I used on today's card, but it's a little easier to see, and HERE is a card that included an accordion folded medallion (they are so popular right now!)- those accordion folds can be considered pleating!

This card is for the following challenges:

• Scrappy Saturday - Sketch
• Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes (optional - flowers)
• Top Tip Tuesday - Anything Girlie

We hope you'll play along with us! One lucky participant will be drawn at random to win $10 in YNS Stamp Bucks!! You don't have to use YNS images on your card, but if you do you'll get a double entry in the draw!

Also, I will choose my favorite card, and that winner will get the YNS Challenge "Top Pick" blinkie to proudly display on their blog PLUS $5 in YNS Stamp Bucks! You must use a YNS image to be eligible to be chosen for Top Pick.

Full details can be found at the YNS Challenge Blog. TFL!