Your Next Stamp Challenge #40

Yay! I have another Your Next Stamp Challenge today! This time our hostess is Chris and she wants to see texture on our projects - "Use at least 1 texture (eg stitching / dry embossing / heat embossing / ribbon / raffia / hemp / felt etc.)." Here's what I came up with:


I used the new A Good Friend set and FTL #135 from Clean & Simple Stamping. I didn't realize these colors would be so hard to photograph - please excuse how weird they look!

I tried to use a bunch of different textures: heat embossing for the bag, dry embossing on the pink background cardstock, Strawberry Cupcake Trendy Twine for the bag handles, tissue paper in the bag, a rose I handmade from Prima flowers and a pearl on the bag center, distressing on the piece edges, and a bunch of machine stitching. Whew! That's a lot of texture!

And because the sentiment has a second part, I had to decorate the inside as well:


We hope you'll play along with us! One lucky participant will win this fun set: Football Dude

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!

YNS Surprise Release Blog Hop!

Welcome to the Your Next Stamp Surprise Release Blog Hop! If you didn't arrive here from Diana's blog, please CLICK HERE to go to Karen's blog and begin hopping! The hop starts today (Friday, April 8th at 8:00 EDT) and ends on Sunday, April 10th at midnight (EDT).

So what's this surprise hop about? You may remember that last year Karen was approached by Lisa (owner of ScrapFest in Ontario) to design an exclusive stamp for ScrapFest October 2010. Well, Karen was asked to design another exclusive YNS stamp for this weekend's Kitchener ScrapFest so we're having a hop to celebrate! Woohoo!!

Both of the exclusive ScrapFest stamps will be available to buy at the YNS booth at ScrapFest or online from the YNS store for the duration of the hop only! And as an added incentive, Karen is offering both stamps at a special price of only $6 each, AND you also get FREE SHIPPING for your entire order - use code SF2011 when checking out.

As always here at YNS, we have a wonderful prize for you to win! One lucky winner will be drawn at random from the linky list to receive both ScrapFest stamps (Cropper Fhiona and the brand new Shopper Fhiona)! If you purchase one or both of the ScrapFest stamps and happen to win the prize draw, you will be given a $6 or $12 credit to spend at the YNS store as your blog hop prize instead!

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 ScrapFest creations!

Here is a complete blog hop list in hopping order:

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

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

Before I get to my ScrapFest projects, I wanted to show you a card I made with a super cute new stamp set that was just released called A Good Friend (you can click to enlarge all pics):


It's a pocket card and here's what the insert looks like when you pull it out:


Isn't that sentiment too funny? And I love all the different shopping bags! BTW - Kerri made the cutest pocket tag with this set and even posted a tutorial which you can find HERE. I also have another project using this set and will be posting it and a tutorial on the YNS blog in the near future - watch for it!

And now for my ScrapFest projects! Here's our brand new exclusive image called Shopper Fhiona:


This is a combo gatefold card with a pull-up gift card holder! You can open up the left side to write your message and then when you pull up the twine bow on the right, it reveals a gift card:


The pull-up idea isn't mine (it's been around for years) and I adapted this tutorial to my gatefold card. One little thing I did differently was to put the GC with twine into the right hand side of the card, insert the twine through the holes, then glue the bottom and side around the GC to make sure the fit wasn't too tight (hope that makes sense). If you glue the GC pocket flat, it will be really hard to slide the GC in and out of the pocket. The twine is Strawberry Cupcake Trendy Twine - love this twine!! I also used it for the bow in her hair and her bag handle. Lastly, the sentiment was computer generated.

And now here's a new project using last year's Cropper Fhiona:


It's a double stair step card (but this is different than the stair step card familiar to most stampers) - it's made with an electronic cutting machine. I was inspired by this post and this post both from Capadia Designs.

I used Make the Cut software to design the card and cut it with my machine. I also cut the "'til you" words with the machine. The panel that Cropper Fhiona is on lifts up to reveal a space to write a message. And I hope you can see that her bag handles are made from the same Strawberry Cupcake twine as the Shopper card.

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 Surprise Release Hop!

Hugs,
Maureen =)

Make a Wish

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


I used the Make A Wish set again (I just love the fun handwritten sentiment and paper piecing the candles!) and a sketch from Clean & Simple Stamping. This also qualifies for our YNS Challenge #39 - use stitching on your creation.

I hope you like it and TFL!

Your Next Stamp Challenge #39

Yay! I have another Your Next Stamp Challenge today! This time our hostess is Beth and she'd like us to "Stitch it up!" - use real or faux stitching somewhere on your creation. I stitch on almost every card I make so I loved this challenge! Here's my card:


I used the Make a Wish set and a sketch from Paper Crafts magazine. I paper pieced the candles and added yellow Stickles to the flames. I did straight and zigzag machine stitching and added some Timeless Twine to help finish it off.

We've changed things up starting with this challenge - you now have the chance to win a stamp set! This time it's the super fun Bad Hair Day Fhiona:

We hope you'll play along with us! 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!

YNS Surprise Giveaway

Karen's having a Surprise Giveaway over at the YNS blog! It's only open for 4 days so hurry over for your chance to win!

Flower Bouquet 4u

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


I used Flower Bouquet Fhiona and some REALLY old papers from Heidi Grace. Fhi's headband and dress were paper pieced and the rest was colored with Copics (yes, even those really thin and tiny bits in the bouquet - just go really slowly and carefully!) and cut out with a Nesties die. The "4u" were cut with Quickutz dies and I did the lattice scoring on the background with my Martha score board.

This card is for the following challenges:

• Secret Crafter - project for a female that has flowers on it
• Stampin' For the Weekend - Spring
• The Pink Elephant - Spring Time

I hope you like it and TFL!

Your Next Stamp Challenge #38

Yay! I have another Your Next Stamp Challenge today! This time our hostess is Wendy and she has challenged us to "Make It Sparkle" - use anything to add some sparkle to your project. One of my favorite images to sparkle up is Fairy Fhiona and I decided to use the mini version this time:


I got the idea for my project from this week's C.R.A.F.T. Challenge, which is to make a doorhanger. I wanted a fun shape for my hanger, so I used the Heart and Scalloped Heart Nestabilities. Mini Fairy Fhi was colored with Copics and her wings Stickled, then she was cut out and popped up on foam boosters.

The letter diecuts are Quickutz and the twine is from Timeless Twine. The colors (Lemony Yellow and Plum Purple) were just a bit too bright for my papers so I just sponged the twine with some Distress Ink and it toned them down perfectly! I twisted the two colors together to form the hanger and then also used them both to tie a bow through the button. Here's a close shot:


This is also for the following challenges:

• Cupcake Craft - anything you'd find up in the air (like a fairy)
• Wild Orchid - die cuts and/or punches
• Going Grey - anything goes
• KB Cute Monday - fantasy

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!