Monday MFTeasers!

Good Morning!  

I should have been doing a little gardening myself this weekend, but instead I had lunch and spa day with my husband on Saturday and a baby shower yesterday.  Not much got done around here, save for some stamping!  

This cutie bunny is "Flopsey" a new character from My Favorite Things. Isn't he just adorable?  I paper pieced his overalls with a scrap of Nana's Nursery paper from DCWV and colored him in with some of my copic markers.  My older son just LOVED this image and made a little card himself with it.  

I have a few other samples with the SIX new sets being unveiled Wednesday night.   The New Release Cocktail Party will be Wednesday, July 2nd from 9-11pm Eastern Time.  July marks MFT's second birthday, and Kim's 40th!  So come celebrate with us!!

$2.00 US shipping for orders under $40, and for International and US orders over $40, they'll recieve a $2.75 discount till July 15th.

Frst 50 orders receive a full sized stickles glitter glue!

The girl who Wants it All special will be $49.95

And, don't forget, head over to the MFT Forum on www.splitcoaststampers.com to find out the details and how YOU can be the next MFT Guest Designer!  Hope to see you there.

More MFTeasers tomorrow!  

Less Gas, More Good!

Good morning! So, last week I mentioned that my husband commuted to work for two weeks on only ten dollars of gas.  Incredible right?  The trick is that he rides his Vespa Motorscooter to work as often as possible.  

His commute to the office in his car is usually 20 minutes on the highway, by taking the scooter on the backroads only takes 25 minutes, and that he can ride that baby for two weeks until having to refill it.  And guess how much it is to refill it - you've got it ten bucks!   Of course, he can only ride it on sunny days for safety reasons. He's really enjoyed taking the more beautiful backroads to work and of course, loves the savings!  The kids crack up each day that he scoots off to work with a little "beep beep" as he pulls out of our driveway.  

In fact, his boss mentioned what a great idea it was to ride the scooter to work, and then realized that he's close enough to work to actually ride his bicycle to the office!  

So, while you might not be able to drive a scooter to the office (giggle) are there other ways that you can reduce your gas consumption and carbon footprint?  How about working from home one day a week? Can you organize your weekly shopping to cluster your trips to use your gas most efficiently?  What about shopping online instead?  

In other green news, our backyard composter arrived this week, and we're collecting all those kitchen scraps to turn into some beautiful, black compost for our perennial garden.  My dear friend Audra also picked up a bin recently and noticed that she's now reducing her weekly garbage for pickup by half!  Fantastic!  

If you've got a greenie blog to share I'd love to link you up.  Please comment on this thread with your blog name and I'll start a "greenies" link list.  

Have a great week everyone!

ATC Swaps with the MFT Gals

I've had this photo tucked away for a few weeks and I've been waiting on posting it.  But, I'm officially out of eye candy to show, and thought it was a good time to pull this out.

I joined an ATC swap with some of the girls on the Design Team with My Favorite Things.  I'm really excited to see all the fantastic work that is going to be coming back to me!  I've been running down to my mailbox every day -- hopefully they'll be here SOON! 

This ATC was so fun to create, but gosh a lot of work for all that paper piecing, trimming and coloring. 

In the end, I was really excited about how they came out, this is one of my very favorite MFT sets for sure.  Even though it is titled "Happy Mother's Day" I think it can be used all year long!   Shannan's right, those jump rings are cute and all, but eeks a lot more work than I would have expected to get them snuggled up just right on the ribbon and twisting to get them to lay flat as you'd like.  

Have a WONDERFUL weekend everyone!  MFTeasers for the July Release begin on Monday. Can you guess what I'll be workin on? giggle.

Details:  Stamp Set "Happy Mother's Day"  and "Essential Sentiments" from My Favorite Things, PTI Aqua Mist Cardstock and Sweet Blush Grosgrain Ribbon,  Tiny Tags Cuttlebug Die, Copic Markers, Cosmo Cricket Honey Pie Designer Paper

Love to Stamp? Love MFT? Come stamp with me!

I'm so excited to finally announce that I'm going to be teaching over at Right at Home!  My first class is going to use My Favorite Things "Here's the Scoop" and "What's Up Cupcake." 

I've just delivered the last three samples to the store this afternoon.  It was such a surprise, and so fun, to already see my other cards on display! Giggle.

So, if you're local to Boston and you're available, I'd LOVE to see you there.  The class will be July 26th from 1-3 at Right At Home Scrapbooking in North Attleboro.  You can read more details on what we'll be doing on the store's blog located at www.scrapathome.com/scrapathome.html

If you can't make it to the class, but would like to make the items at home, you can order a class kit instead!  Hope to see you there!!

A Very Special Day

Yesterday was my husband and I celebrated eight years of marriage. Some days its hard to believe eight years have gone by so quickly, other days, it is hard to remember what life was like before we met.

He's truly a great guy.  A wonderful father and my very best friend. This past weekend, he played the role of handy man extraordinare to my younger sister and her husband who just moved a few miles from us.  This week he's the shuttle bus for my older son for a half day camp.  He's got boundless energy and works SO hard to give us all the nice little extras in life.  He's been so supportive of my desire to stay home with the boys, despite a huge sacrifice in income for the family.  

I've got to give him props, he's finally realized how important this stamping thing is to me... and has come full circle in his support for it. Did I tell you, he even stamped my mother's day card? 

Yes, this is a pretty nontraditional card for an anniversary, but I wanted something masculine and not so drippy lovey.  (Guys aren't into that stuff.)

When he opened this card last night, he said "Oh, you didn't have to do that!" Then he marveled at the bow, and asked me if I had that sentiment specially commissioned because he really thought it was pretty cool.  I said that no, I didn't have that stamp set written, but that as soon as I saw it from Paper Trey Ink, I added it to my collection.

Last night we celebrated with our kids.  I got all dolled up for dinner (versus my usual capri pants and a polo shirt) opened a bottle of champagne and the boys got to toast along with us with some soda.  The boys thought it was the greatest thing ever. 

Instead of actual presents for our anniversary, we like spending a day together doing something fun.  This year its brunch followed by couples massages, a facial for him, and a pedicure for me.  Two years ago it was horseback riding lessons!  Its a great way to celebrate another year of marriage and really enjoy some time alone.  

He'd like our next adventure to be something like sky diving - eeks - that's SO not me.  But whatever our next adventure will be, I'm just glad we'll be together.

mac help

Okay, anyone out there on blogger using a mac? Why won't my links work!

I see that its adding a www.blogger.com before some of my links. I keep entering it without that - its adding it on its own. Bizzare!!

help!

Gettin' Dressed

Every girl deserves a really great dress.  You know, one that is a guaranteed wear.  I've got one, I purchased it for my cousin's rehearsal dinner two years ago, it looked like nothing on the hanger, but I tried it on and sha'bang, its my dress.  I love any excuse to wear it. I adore it, maybe because my sister calls it "the disappearing dress" because it makes my waist look really teeny! But, two years later, its probably time to find a new one because my family is probably tired of seeing me in it!

Okay, so back to the card you're not really here to hear about my dress! 

This card features the dress image from the recently released "Retro Boutique" from Gina K Designs.  I picked up some paper this week from Right at Home to make a paper pieced purse card, totally cased from Asela!  Keep an eye on her blog if you missed it at the launch party, because it is over the top STUNNING!!

The paper here is Paper Trey's Berry Sorbet and the coordinating designer paper. Here's a tip.  I didn't paper piece the little straps, the dress was first stamped onto the cardstock, then stamped again onto the designer paper. I trimmed out all the dress save for the back straps. Some of you all might be patient enough to trim all those out, but not me.  I also didn't trim out the eyelet trim on the bottom of the dress, left it all white and lacy looking!

This set of cards used up my last of that Berry Sorbet ribbon. Stinker because I love that stuff!

Have a great day everyone!

Bella-licious!

I recently treated myself to a "Bag-O-Bellas" because, you see, I go over there to buy one specific Bella and get sucked in by the cuteness, and end up with a whole batch-o-bellas!  

I'm really looking forward to visiting with Emily - The Stamping Bella herself - in just a few weeks at CHA! 

So, this is the first of a few new ones you'll see I've added to my collection.  I mean who doesn't love cupcakes and balloons??  I used this image to create a card for one of my dearest friends who is partially to blame for this stamping addiction of mine.  

Happy Birthday Audra!! Hope it was a great one.

I'm skipping the blah-de-blah today because my eldest is waiting patiently (okay not so patiently) for some computer time. This shared computer is killlin' me.   

Deets:  Designer paper DCWV's Nana's Nursery collection, PTI Stampers Select White, Stampin Up Cert Celery, Ink Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic Markers

pink and green - my very favorite!

I'd just like to thank Melissa from Kulsea Designs who has created this fun little graphic for all my Sunday Posts moving forward.  How CUTE is this?  I simply couldn't WAIT till next weeks post to share it with you!

You can see all of her fantastic blog banner work over on her blog.

Lastly, I just was reading through comments on today's post and have one more hint. When you're done unloading your groceries from your reusable bags, I just hang them on my door to the garage so I grab them on my next trip out to the car!  That way I don't forget them at home! 

Have a great night everyone!

The new B.Y.O.B.

Welcome to my latest installment of "just a little green!" 

I'd like to thank "chelle" who is the one that came up with that title for my new Sunday feature. Can you believe it was the first suggested title and it ended up being my favorite?   Not only does it tie nicely into my blog name, but also, I love that it reinforces that even the smallest little things that you can do make a difference.  It also was important to me to let you all know that I never want to be preachy about this, just talk a little about what we're doing here at our house!  Chelle please send me an email at stampedbyhand@comcast.net when you have a moment! Thanks!

That being said, I'd like to thank each and every one of you that came up with a title suggestion, and for all of your support on this new adventure for my family.  I hope that you'll continue to tune in, let me know if you're joining in on what we're doing, or have any advice to lend on this subject!  

-----------

So the new BYOB?? Well, its for Bring Your Own Bags!  I know I spoke a little last week about my love for my reusable bags last week, but I'd just like to share with you just WHY they're so great.

Of course, I think its fabulous that every time I bring my own bags, its one less that ends up in a landfill somewhere! That IS the point right?

However, I also love that I can carry a whole weeks worth of groceries in only SIX reusable bags. No more crummy plastic bags ripping and letting my groceries fall to the ground.  No more having to make fifteen trips in and out of my garage, over the stairs with those junky trashy bags that hold if you're lucky, three items.   

In the event that something does spill in my bag, I just throw it in the wash!  

We recently picked up some mesh produce bags and they're excellent too!  Especially not having to fiddle with that bag contraption in the produce department, or fight with the bag to see which end is the side that opens.  

I'm not sure what your store's policy is, but where I shop, I get a credit off my bill for every bag that I bring of my own.  In fact, my husband tells me that when he shops at the market in Germany, there is a surcharge for every bag that you have to take form the store, because they just expect you to bring your own.  

One day, with a great "a ha!" I walked back out of Target to pick up my bags realizing that they weren't just for groceries after all.  By the way, if you've seen a Target bag lately, you'll see a big list on the side of all the things you can do to reuse the bag.  Um....how about just not taking one in the first place??  Giggle

The first ten times you shop with them, you'll forget them in the car and go back out for them. But then suddenly, it will become habit and you'll wonder why we haven't always had them.

On a recent trip to the supermarket, my son's friend came along.  As we got out of the car and reached into the trunk for the bags the friend said "Um? What are THOSE?" and I explained that they were our own reusable grocery bags.  My eldest chirped up (happy to repeat the family mantra) "For every bag we don't take from the store, its one less in the garbage."  We did get a look from this boy like we were completely nuts, but then as my son slung a bag over his shoulder to help shop his friend pitched in with "Um, can I please have my own bag too??"  

Last month, at Whole Foods, I was thrilled to see a sign that noted that in the previous week, at that location, customers used over SIX THOUSAND reusable bags in the store, in just one week. Oh was I so happy!  Figure six thousand bags from just that store, from just one week avoided landfills.  I called the store today to see if they had the latest update on bags saved this week, I can apparently get that figure on Monday morning.  

So, if you don't already own a few reusable totes, you can pick some up at the store on your next shop, or pick some up online.  My husband found ours on ebay, but I just googled reusable bags, and found this great site. Trust me, you'll love them.  The planet will too!

Next Sunday, I'll be here to tell you how my husband was able to commute to work for only ten dollars of gasoline for two full weeks!  

Let's Celebrate!

Oh how I love the 20th!  For the past two months, its been both the launch for Gina K as well as Celebrate MFT Day!  

Here's a little MFT Celebration for the day!  I happened across this paper from Making Memories Passport Collection on a recent shopping/browsing/hoarding trip to Right at Home and thought "A HA! I know exactly which stamp that would be fabulous with!"   

Between the vintage designs on the paper, the fantastic color palette - its just so me. I can't wait to get back to Right at Home to pick up some more!  The card base is Kraft from SU, with some Very Vanilla grosgrain ribbon and a hadful of vintage brads on the bottom corner. 

The stamp is "Going Places" which I was so excited to use again.  I'd last used it on a travel journal for the last release.... I stamped it on Poison Ivory cardstock with my new Memento ink pad.  (Have I not mentioned a zillion times that this ink ROCKS??) The dress was paper pieced, everything else was colored with my Copic markers.

If you've got a little stamping time today, its a great chance to ink up all those MFT stamps and come play with us!  If you do, be sure to load them up in the gallery on Splitcoast using the key word "MFTJune08" so we can see them all in one place!

As long as you're on Splitcoast, don't forget to join us tonight for Gina's launch party!  I'm off to see what the rest of the DT crew has been working on with the new releases!      

Previews Continue!

Today I've got two fun cards using some of the newest Kindred Spirits from Gina K Designs. This time, its Kindred Kids!  Which of course, being both a mom and a daycare provider I totally adore.

I picked up this really FUN designer paper from Right At Home when I knew that there was a beachy image on the way.  I thought it was so nautical and my boys love orange, so it was a natural selection for me.

I also now quite excited to say that I am a proud owner of a set of the koh-i-noor pencils that Gina has for sale.  

Let me just say, these are truly OUTSTANDING. The colors are so vibrant and they blend like butter.  I am so impressed with them. I couldn't believe how easy it was to fill in the beach and the ocean - easy peasy!  I did reach for only one of my prismacolor pencils for this - just the one for coloring in their skintones.   

I stamped the images with craft ink, then applied a coat of clear embossing powder and hit it with my heat gun.  It was fantastic to color with the image like this because it was idiot proof! giggle.  I didn't even have to try to stay in the lines, the ink just kept my pencil in the right place.  Fantastic!!  

That little embossing trick was used on this card too, and it made it so especially easy to color in the polka dots on the girls suit, ad the hose etc.  I loved that the pencils maintained the bright feel to coordinate with this paper from Imaginesce. So summery and FUN.  

(um, you might recognize this sketch, its kinda sorta from Jen's Sketch for You to Try - I couldn't exactly make it work this week, but you'l see where I got my inspiration!) 

Don't forget to hop on over to Gina's blog to see even more samples of these Kindred Kids.  Linsey, Barb and Julie have some previews for you too!

In addition to five stamp sets, there are seven singles being released on Friday.  Yes SEVEN!  I have more to stamp with so hopefully I'll have some party time peeks for you Friday night during the release party!

Hope to see you then!

Botanical Dreams

Its so fun to get to work on previews, but so hard to have to hold onto these cards and not post them right away.

Get this, this month's release has five new stamps sets and seven new singles!  I've been having so much fun digging into all this new rubbah!!!

This stamp set is "Botanical Dreams" from Gina K Designs.   I'm sure you've read over on Gina's Blog already, but just in case, the big news is that Asela Hopkins is our latest new illustrator!   

I was SO just thrilled when I learned that this amazingly talented artist was now going to be illustrating for Gina!  I'm sure many of you will recognize her work.  

So much detail is already built into this image for shading, which makes it so easy to work with, and produces great results so easily!  

The image is stamped with my new Memento ink pad which I'm really loving!!  This ink is just so rich in color, and dries SUPER fast so that you don't have to wait around for it to dry, or reach for your heat gun.  Fantastic for me since I tend to not be too patient! giggle.  Then colored in with a handful of Copic markers.

This luscious paper is Crate Paper's Blue Hill collection - a true favorite of mine, and the card base is PTI's Spring Moss.  

Stay tuned to Gina's blog because she's doing previews every day - and giving away lots of free stamps - all leading up to Friday night's release on the Splitcoast Member Forum.  You'll also find more samples on Asela, Mel, Erika and Emily's blogs today.  I'm off to check them out myself, I have no doubt that they're all fantastic!!!

I'll be back with another preview tomorrow!

Dear Blogging Friends....

I feel like I've fallen off the face of the Earth.  My google reader has one thousand posts for me to read (no exaggeration).  I've barely made the rounds to comment on all your beautiful work.  

What's wrong you may ask? Well, my laptop died. GASP!  My husband has a new drive on order, but till then I'm sharing a computer with my kids, and my husband, and its located in the basement, not handy on my kitchen countertop!

Still here... just a bit s-l-o-w and out of touch.  

Hugs

ME

Think Teal

I've been busy working on some DT samples for Gina K's upcoming launch and thought I didn't have anything new to show you today.  But then I ran across this file on my photo card, and can't believe I never shared it.

Although its an occasion that you'd hope you'd never need to have a card for, I find that this set is just perfectly worded and illustrated in the event that you do.....  

This card is MFT's "Think Pink" set which I turned Teal in honor of Ovarian Cancer awareness. The designer paper is Stampin Up's Bali Breeze.  All coloring is with my copic markers, and you can see that I sewed every inch of it with my Janome sew mini!

Crazy day around here, full house of kids, so I'll skip the yadda yadda for today.  Hope you'll join me for some tomorrow!

Wanna Swap?

This is a swap card I sent out to the girls in the Kindred Spirits Swap over on the Gina K Member Company forum.  If only I had a cape and superpowers, it sure would make my life easier no?  This is Naomi from the Kindred Spirits line over at Gina K Designs. 

I saw this fun paper from 

American Crafts on a recent trip to Right At Home Scrapbooking and just loved it!  

This month, instead of a traditional swap where you've got to make a bunch of copies, I'm running a "Secret Swapper" where you make only one fabulous item for another swapper. If you're interested, we'd LOVE to have you come sign up!  I figured hey, its summer, kids are home and we're trying to spend more time OUT than IN these days.  Lets keep it simple!

Have a great day everyone!

Green? Who? ME??- psst. blog candy at the end of this post!!

Last year, my husband started what I've been calling our "transition to green."  I'll admit to doing a lot of sighing and eye rolling and "yes dearing" to appease him at first. However, we agreed to by reusable grocery bags (um, which I now LOVE) and changed all our lightbulbs, stopped our water delivery to reduce all those bottles that were piling up in our recycling bin each week.

This year, during his business trips to Europe he has been so impressed by how little processed food they consume, and has been reading (among numerous other titles) a book called "Lessons form the Miracle Doctors" by Jon Barron.   He decided we needed to go fully organic with our shopping.

At first, I kicked, I screamed and complained about it.  I mean how much more money would it cost on a tight budget?  The organic supermarket is another town away, and it seemed like such a hassle to schlep over there with the kids. Especially during the cold blustery New England winter. 

I knew that the food was better for you, but wasn't sure that it was really ALL that much better to warrant the increase in price, and the inconvenience?  Would my picky kids even eat it?  I guess what it comes down to was that I didn't believe that what we were eating was actually BAD for you.  

As it turns out my kids were happy to comply and we've now fully eliminated drive through meals from what my younger son calls "The Burger House." We do buy as much organic food as is practical and we're striving to make the healthiest choices for my kids.  Granted, it is more expensive - but hey, the regular supermarket is getting pretty pricey right now too! 

Just recently, we've eliminated all those plastic sippy cups and both the kids each several Kleen Kanteen bpa-free stainless steel bottles instead.  They are in fact fantastic and I feel good knowing my kids aren't ingesting tiny pieces of plastic EEKS! If you're not familiar with the issues surrounding BPA - you can check out this link for more information. 

I'm reading "Gorgeously Green" and I love her philosophy.  I want to be better for my kids, our planet, but I'm also not willing to give up ALL my creature comforts either.  I'd like to strike a balance. I've come a long way in a few months, and the fact that we're now saving for a composting bin for the yard is just hysterical to me.  Especially to anyone knows me in real life.

We'll see where this all goes, but I'm trying to make as may changes as I can. Some will be small some will probably not be so small.  If you're farther along this green curve than we are, I'd love any advice you have for us!

So, here's the blog candy part......this will be my new Sunday feature on the blog.  I'm sure my dear husband will pop in now and again on Sundays too.  I'd love your help on the title for my new green Sunday feature.  Any thoughts?  I've got a set of SU rub ons as a prize for one of you that helps me title this new feature. Winner will be selected at random, and will be announced next Sunday!!

Take a break

Did you see these darling images from My Favorite Things Presents?  They're just so sweet.  I was excited to have some time to stamp with them again!  They're so different from anything in my existing collection and I think they're simply adorable! 

I thought this was a great match for my Cosmo Cricket Honey Pie paper.

To be honest, this was my initial card that I'd started for Jen's Sketch For You To Try, but couldn't locate any paper in my collection that would work. I'd used up the majority of my Honey Pie on a recent set of swaps and couldn't find it anywhere!  So, I scrapped the top half of the sketch and just got to work!

The image is stamped with my new Memento pad - which I adore. Dries vibrantly black and quick!  Just perfect for my Copic Markers.  

I'd love to go hide out in the bath - think the kids would find me? 

Color me happy!

I love the combination of Paper Trey Ink's Berry Sorbet and Summer Sunrise together. They just look so cheerful!!

This fun stamp set is from Stampendous and I grabbed it as soon as I saw it come into stock at Eclectic Paperie.  But then, I had some deadlines, and it waited patiently for me.

This was SO fun to color with my Prismacolor pencils and I framed it out in my Nestie rectangles which I picked up at Polka Dot Plaza. 

I thought this was best just left simply. Sometimes I worry when I don't add all the "more" but you all seem to like those clean cards...... So, how did I do?  

Two for Tuesday

Today I've got two Gina K creations for you! And the weather has suddenly been just SO warm here that I've got the beach on my mind!  (I can't even begin to complain about the heat as I've been begging so badly for summer to get here!)

This first card with the Just Be Claws set. I have long adored this set and now that summer is here, its time to get it put to good use!

Gina actually did a tutorial on her blog the other day with this fantastic little critter with her kooh-i-noor pencils which came out fantastic.  Guess what just moved onto my wish list. Giggle!

This card was for my son's best friend, I needed a boy card that wasn't too babyish, and I don't own any Indianna Jones, or Star Wars stamps much to my son's dismay. But this worked out just fine instead!

The little line of piercing under the sentiment is a cute trick I picked up from my friend Susan.  It was just right to fill up that little space. Some hemp twine, which Gina refers to as "guy ribbon" was wrapped around the bottom.  

My second Gina K card today is with Jen's weekly Sketch for You To Try - I always adore that challenge.  And this was SUCH a fun sketch to work with.

This time I reached for my "You are My Sunshine" stamp set which is the current "One Free with Three" set at Gina's store.  

You might remember that this image is a lot longer than this.  I just masked off part of the water, so that I'd have a square image for this card.  The image was stamped on Poison Ivory cardstock, then I watercolored with my reinkers, a little bottle of water and my brushes.  

The card base on this is Stampin Up's So Saffron - with a layer of So Saffron Designer prints paper for the bottom half of the card as well as the inside of the scalloped circle.

Have a great day everyone, stay cool!

Two things I don't have

A little girl, and willpower.  

I told myself that if Jen del Muro used that cute Nana's Nursery paper one more time, I was going to have to buy it. Then I found a coupon for Joann's in my mailbox, then, I ran across the paper while doing an errand.  So, its mine.  Giggle.

This super cute Princess Fairy birthday set is from My Favorite Things. So, is this sketch.  Well, sort of. This is the MFTSC34, only I flipped it left to right.  My friend Nancy taught me that the people always need to face into the center, so I had to switch the layout around a bit, but I really like what Cindy set up for us all this week.

Instead of putting my smaller oval on the top of the larger scalloped nestie, I framed it out.  

Hope you all have a fantastic day. Summer has arrived, and suddenly, it is quite warm here.  I'm so glad our local pool is finally open for business and we can get some swimming time in!

Stay cool!

Friday Stamptime!

Okay, I know this card probably looks familiar to you......  

I had a birthday card to make and wanted to make a sample for this weeks Great Swaps Girls challenge. Since the card was for a little two year old girl, and since I knew I wanted to use SU Only, I knew immediately that I wanted to put my Spring Fling Designer paper and my Big Bold Birthday back in action.   

I could have "cutified" it by using my Nesties, but I went for the Coluzzle to keep it SUO.  I love double layering the flowers from the Three for You punch, and I pulled all the little petals up to give them some added dimension.  I also added one to the cupcake top.  Okay, I'll try not to bore you with that stamp set again since um, I just showed it very similarly two days ago.

The card I needed is actually for twins, and I sat down to make another card for the other little girl, but for that one, you'll need to wait till Monday.

Have a fantastic weekend, and I'll talk to you next week!

Happy Birthday!

You might have been thinking that my Gina K stamps were a teeny bit neglected. Well, that's not exactly true, I've been working on THREE swaps with them, but can't show them till they're received by the other swappers.  

Today is my sweet husband's birthday, and when I received this stamp "Just me and My Dad" from Gina for the most recent launch, I knew it would be JUST perfect for his birthday card from my boys.

This paper is from the Loveland Collection of Scenic Route. I used the pink stripes and hearts about a zillion times for Valentines day, but this fantastic green is on the back of one of them. Its perfect!  This time, I stamped my image and sentiment with black craft ink, then heat embossed with clear.  It makes the black just so clear and shiny and looks fantastic.  The sentiment literally jumps off the page. The heat setting for the embossing, well yes, that does take an extra minute or two, but the effect is well worth it.

The image is colored with my Copic markers, they're great for fine detail images like this, and I wanted really vibrant colors to go with this designer paper.

Rainy day here, good for my grass, bad for kids that have been enjoying playing outside lately.  

Looking forward to rita's and nachos with my husband and the boys tonight we're going out to dinner to celebrate the big 3-5 for my husband. I love those few months that he's older than me!    

Candy Winner

Thanks to everyone that posted, and thanks to ALL of who come by to visit all the time! You'll never know how great all your sweet comments are to read!

Okay, back to business!  Random.org has selected number 43 as the winner  

mochamama  - who loves chocolate macaroon cookies and her cuttlebug.  She's hoping to treat herself to some copics and nesties. 

Well now  you've won the MFT Mini Set of the month! Hooray for that!

Please email me with your snail mail address and I'll get your stamps sent out.  They're actually making their way to me from Kim right now and I'll put them back into the mail to you just as soon as they arrive!!  Congratulations

Looks like chocolate, ice cream and anything with peanut butter were some favorite real sweets.  I think there is a three way tie between ribbon, nesties and patterned paper.  All some of my very favorite things.

Speaking of favorite things, get going! The party is starting over on the forum! Get going!! 

Great Swaps!

I was so excited to recieve an invitation to join the Great Swaps Girls group the other night! I'm in the second round of Great Swaps, so we're the GSG2 girls! As you may know, I've been trying to devote more attention to my Stampin Up business, and this is a great way for me to keep up that momentum.

I'm joined by so many of my blogging friends over there and I'm really excited about this opportunity. I've already signed up for my first swap with these talented ladies and now need to see what I can find in my existing paper stash that I can crank out 15 cards with, OR get a rush order in here fast!

There are weekly challenges posted Please check out the Great Swaps Girls Blog for more details!

I made this little cupcake card for a friend the other day. I needed a gift card holder, so I made a little trifold with my scor pal and a piece of 5 1/2 x 11 cardstock so that I'd have a little flap to tuck the gift card inside. You can sort of see that the inside of the card is decorated as well. I {heart} this paper so much. I wish I could just order the pink polka dot and the stripes, because that's all I really ever use out of this pack (so bad of me, I know!)

This post accidentally published today. I was going to save it for tomorrow. Whoops. So, I forgot the deets!

Patterned Paper is Spring Fling Desigener Series Paper Stamp set is Big Bold Birthday, I used my Celery Wide Width Grosgrain Ribbon, my slit punch and the card base is Pretty in Pink. All supplies Stampin Up!

MFT Launch Day and Fun News!

Today is the final day of MFTeasers because all six new sets will be released this evening!

You may have already read the fun news over at Kim's blog.  My Favorite Things is pleased and proud to introduce you to our brand-spankin’ new line, My Favorite Things Presents!

This is a brand new line of images from illustrator Annie LaPointe.  I just adore them. They're a perfect match for my Copic Markers

Although I love lavender, I don't really "do" purple, so this stamp set was a fun excuse to visit my LSS Right at Home Scrapbooking. This beautiful Designer Paper is Crate Paper's Katlin Collection.

I love the fine detail in these images and these were just so fun to work with, that I wanted to give it a whirl with my Prismacolor Pencils too! Again, a fun little excuse to pick up some supplies. This time I popped over to StarLit Studio to pick up some luscious Fabriano Notecards. Let me say they are truly just luscious! My pencils blend like butter on these cards. I think I'm going to package up this little trio and give them to my grandmother who loves gardening, and who is always looking for a fresh pack of cards!

Don't forget to add a comment to my next post for a chance at Blog Candy - the MFT mini set of the month!

And of course, don't forget to blurf around to all my MFT sistah's blogs to see their MFTeasers too! I've been having lots of fun doing that myself! I've got to get them all added to my sidebar, but for now you can find them here.

I'll see you tonight over at Splitcoast for the launch party! Be sure to check out this thread for details, contest information and a special perk that Kim is giving to the first 50 orders tonight!

Have a great day!

MFTeasin Candy!

Since I showed you all that ice cream yesterday, how about some cupcakes today?

Here's a sweet little treat that I'm going to use for my husband's birthday card this weekend. Hopefully he won't find it too girly....I think it just looks YUMMY!

I completely adore this set, and, I'm pretty sure you will too! So sure in fact, that I'm offering one set up as blog candy as a thank you for helping me cross 150K hits!

Here's all you have to do to enter. Tell me what's your favorite sweet! In fact, I'd like to know what your favorite sweet is both to eat, and your favorite papercrafting treat too. What would you like to treat yourself too?

Just post a comment on this thread with your answers - and I'll post the winner of this MFT Mini Set of the month on Wednesday June 4th at 9pm EST just as the launch party over on www.splitcoaststampers.com begins!

Quick card deets: Stamp Set is "What's Up Cupcake?" from My Favorite Things, Card base is Mellow Moss from Stampin Up, Patterned Paper is from the Cosmo Cricket Hey Sugar line, Nestie Rectangle which I picked up at Polka Dot Plaza and my Cuttlebug Tiny Tags Die for the Sentiment, Hardware from the Precious Metals Hardware Kit which I purchased at Paper Pretties, Ribbon is SU's Close to Cocoa Taffeta Ribbon.

Thanks everyone, and have a GREAT day!

MFTeaser Tuesday

Today I've got two teasers for the soon to be released "Congrats All Around" set from My Favorite Things. And, they couldn't be more different!

Of course I HAD to do one that uses that fun circular "congratulations" whirl, and my nesties. They're a perfect fit! I ran across this fun American Crafts Paper at my LSS Right At Home Scrapbooking (um, did I mention that they now sell My Favorite Things Stamps - I was so excited!!) And it jumped itself right into my little basket.

The "celebration swirl" was stamped in versamark, then embossed with white embossing powder. This set includes all sorts of fun little icons to indicate what it is you're celebrating. In this instance, its for my cousin who just got a new car.

This little card is headed out to someone very special in my life who is having a really fantastic year! You may remember that my sister got married this past fall. Well, she's moving to my town - HOORAY - closing on her house next Friday and guess what, I'm also going to be an auntie! How fantastic is that?? I'm so excited!

This card was super easy - I lined the three little icons up on my block - I picked one that had grid lines for perfect alignment. Stamped them all at once using Brilliance Pearlescent Chocolate ink and set it aside to dry.

A quick run through the cuttlebug for the swiss dots and then another quick whirl for my Spellbinders Tag for the sentiment.

By the time I made my scalloped border, stamped the sentiment (from My Favorite Things Essential Sentiments) and got the first layer taped down, the ink was dry enough for me to quickly fill in these images with my Copics.

Hope you have a great day, and don't forget to check out all the Design Team MFTeasers over at Splitcoast Stampers in this gallery.

One more set of Teasers tomorrow, and then the launch party over at Splitcoast Stampers tomorrow night! Have a fantastic day!

Scoop it Up!

"Here's the scoop" is such a huge set, let me just say that you're going to LOVE it.

In fact, I love it so much, that I couldn't wait to share another MFTeaser with you till tomorrow. So here's an extra helping!!(Pardon the pun, I couldn't help myself....)

In addition to that adorable image of the chickie with her ice cream quart, there is also a delicious sundae and an ice cream cone. I knew right away that I wanted to make a muli-scooped cone, but then got sidetracked.....

Let me just say that I'm not a patient masker, so instead I stamped out several ice cream tops, colored them with my Copics, and then trimmed them all out.

This card also uses the long Nestabilities Rectangles, which by the way, are truly fantastic!




I'll have a sample of a different MFT set for you tomorrow. Did I mention there are SIX, count them SIX new sets releasing Wednesday night??

Teaser Time!

I don't generally like Mondays, I mean really, who DOES? However, today brings MFTeasers, so Hello Monday!

I did post a little early peek at the mini set of the month back on the 20th for Celebrate MFT Day, and I love that little mini set, but this set, oh man, I just adore this one!!!

Haven't you had one of those days where you'd just like to park yourself with the whole quart of ice cream and a spoon. (Um, that's why I can't even have ice cream in the house!!)

This sweet image is stamped onto Cryogen White paper with Brilliance Graphite Black ink, and then colored with my Copic markers. The card base is So Saffron, with Soft Sky and White matting. My cuttlebug is back (sa-weeeet!) and so is my Swiss Dots embossing folder. The sentiment is placed on a Shapeabilities Tag Trio die from Spellbinders and attached with a piece of Soft Sky double stitched ribbon.

My Favorite Thingsis having a New Release Cocktail Party on Wednesday, June 4 from 9-11 p.m. Eastern time. LOTS of fun (and a surprise release) is planned including finding out how YOU can be the next MFT Guest Designer. Head over to the MFT forum on Splitcoast Stampers to find out all the details and we hope to see you there on Wednesday night.