Heart to Heart

Yesterday, I posted with Mel's very first set for Gina K Designs, today I'm sharing a card made with her most recent stamp set "Hand in Hand"!  

I shared this at the Gina K launch party last month, but then totally forgot to ever share it here! Giggle.

I've just loved watching Melanie customize these hands - she's added mittens on one card, fingernail polish on another but I think my favorite yet, was the one where she paper pieced a little sleeve onto the baby hand here.  I also adored Kurtis's card where he drew in a sweet vellum sleeve and made it a wedding couple.

As always, Melanie gives you so many options to customize your stamps, making for just the best value for your stamping dollar!

You can see all the stamps that Melanie has designed for Gina K Designs HERE.

Don't forget to stop by Melanie's blog every day from now till Tuesday to see what her daily giveaway is!  Today's giveaway is from The Paper Temptress.  Be sure to also check out the following designers who are also posting for the big Melaversary today!  

Gina

Carolyn
Donna  
Jessica 
Lee 
Michelle 
Theresa  
Carolina

Jessie 

Merry Christmas!!

At long last, here's the Christmas card that I taunted you with only pieces of.  As I've mentioned, these were a lot of work, because I just can't say no to layers and embellishments and ribbon and buttons and such. 

I did have a crazy thought that I'd run all the cardbases through my Janome and sew all these panels- but reason set in when remembered that I was creating 100 cards this way.  I also had my heart set on 100 nice loopy bows, but sadly, I had to give in on that wish too.  I wanted to be sure I could mail each card with standard postage, and I knew my buttons were already putting that in jeopardy!  

This is Cornish Heritage Farm's "Joyeux Noel" stamp set and the paper is from October Afternoon.  I love the rustic detail of this image, and the beautifully scripted sentiment.  I remember I first saw this set used by Amy Rohl and then added it to my shopping cart the next day. She has some seriously beautiful creations on her blog "Ink About Me." I must say, if you don't already read her blog.... get going!

My husband thinks I'm totally crazy, but it was well worth it and I actually can't believe how quickly I was able to get the job done and somehow, I managed to keep this blog populated with newness too!  

Wishing you all a wonderful holiday, filled with all the people you love best!

Snowmen with Shimmerz on a Snowy Snowy Day!

I've always loved Alli Miles work, and I've long been a favorite of the clean and simple cards that she makes from time to time using Nesties strictly for embossing.  You can see a recent example of what I mean on this post.  

So here I am, shamelessly emulating one of my Design Idols, and former Design Team buddies!  ((hugs Alli!))

This sweet little snowman is "Made of Snow" from Paper Trey Ink.  I adore that you can totally customize your snowman.  There are choices of scarves, choices of hats, and then various heads, bodies, faces etc so that you can completely design it however you'd like.  And, of course, since they are clear acrylic you get perfect placement every time.

I colored in the snowman's accessories with my B00 and B52 Copic markers, and added a shadow with my W1 marker.  Using my craft knife, I created an opening just large enough to thread through some of my striped Baja Breeze grosgrain ribbon from Stampin Up and then secured a bow.  I finished off the inside of the card with some scraps of Ski Slope designer paper.  I loved the sweet sentiment, but since I'd gone with a 4 1/4 square card, it was just too long for my design. So instead, I stamped it onto the envelopes - equally cute.  

I thought about using my B000 copic marker to color in a background for this sweet man of snow, but then had a true a-ha moment. Shimmerz!! I grabbed an aquapainter and I added a glistening coat of shine all over my Frosty's.  I just love that stuff, its mess free, quick drying and was just the right touch!  I'm frequently lugging my supplies upstairs to work where my hubster is watching TV, so being able to work without making a big old mess is ideal for me.  He's always laughing at me coating myself in glitter! 

Liquid applique was used to give some "puff" to the pom pom, hat brim and all the polka dots on the scarf.  I love that stuff, so fun!

We had a big road trip to celebrate Christmas with my in laws today, but a big snow in the northeast has precluded the trip.  Its so beautiful outside right now... and I love being all nestled up with a hot chocolate, and of course some stamps too!

Have a wonderful day!

Hopes, Dreams and Wishes. Make them come true

While I know that this year has been exceptionally difficult for so many of us, I'd like to take a moment to reflect on all the good things that happened this year.  What was your proudest moment, your happiest moment, or your greatest memory from 2008?  

This year was certainly not without challenges, but I will say that so many of my dreams became a reality for me this year.  I'm so happy to have been able to share it with all of you each day. I'm looking forward to the next year, and the many adventures that each new day promises. 

Let YOUR dreams come true this year. What are you wishing for in 2009?  I'd love to know..... 

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I thought I'd take a little break from Christmas items to share a card I made for the Gina K Designs launch last week.

This set, titled "Take Flight" is the One Free with Three set this month.  I stamped the butterfly with Brilliance ink, then applied clear embossing powder and warmed it with my heat tool.  I just love the extra touch of shine all over to bring this butterfly to life.  

Then I colored the remaining portions with my R11, R20 and E33 markers.  I did stamp the butterfly also directly to the patterned paper so that I could pop up his wings for some extra dimension.

I'm hooked on creating cards with my image panels askew lately.  Just creates new spaces to include embellies, tie ribbons etc.  

I used a fun tip that I picked up from my buddy Karen.   I call it "Karen-ing It" and by that, I mean that I used my Copic marker to outline the debossed edge of my nestie - creates a nice faux layer.

Have a great day, and a wonderful weekend. I'll be back with my Christmas card on Monday. By then, they should hopefully have all reached their destination.   

Elves? Martinis? I'll take some of both!

I'm so relieved to have my cards done, it was a labor of love for sure, and I'm very glad I made them, but its been fun to get to just play a little too!

This is, a giant card.  Its 5 1/4 x 6 1/2, but I really really wanted to use "Merry Christmas?" from MFT because this so epitomizes how I'm feeling right now, and I wanted to use the fabulous MFT Sketch Challenge #60.  In order to get the proportions right, I had to go big.....

I figure, back in the day, when I bought cards at Hallmark, cards were bigger than this anyways.

The background is cuttlebugged with the folder with all the ornaments on it, I had to run it through two times to get this full panel done, but its okay, the seam is behind the vertical striped panel!  

After I cuttlebugged, it, I crumpled it all up then flattened it out again to give it an worn look.  Then sewed everything down.

This paper is Fa La La from Making Memories along with a package of coordinating ribbon I tripped across this afternoon during a cleanup (whoops.) 

Today is a new release day for MFT's "BcDzns" line and lots of girls on the team will have previews for you, you can begin the blog hop over on Kim's blog. Don't forget to check out this month's Hot to Trot Designer Jana Hull along the way!

Its also Wednesday which means you'll find a new Challenge, Tutorial and of course, the Wednesday Hookup!  Get going on over on the Splitcoast Member Company Forum for My Favorite Things to check it all out! 

Morning Birding

Today I have a Gina K Designs preview for you illustrated by Rupa titled "Home Tweet Home."  I know I've said this before, but the illustrators have really outdone themselves this month.  

One of our morning rituals here at my house, is to watch the birds at my feeder. Its a great way to get the boys to sit at the table and actually eat their breakfast rather than run around like maniacs, and I love to sit and enjoy a hot cup of tea watching our little feathered friends.

Lately, we've had this really beautiful black and red bird with a little bit of red around his head.  You've got to be very sneaky watching him, or else he's off like a shot.  The feeder needs a refill, but brrrr its cold here in New England, I'm having a hard time convincing my husband to fill that puppy up, and me, I'm too short to reach.  So, needless to say, I was very excited when I first saw the artwork in this new set.  

I stamped the image with Memento ink, then colored with my Copic Markers.  Then I applied the Nestie right over the image, secured it with some Eclipse Masking Tape and ran it through my Cuttlebug.  Worked like a charm.  I used to always cut the nestie out first, then stamp on it, but this new system is working better for me.  What do YOU do first? Stamp then diecut, or diecut then stamp? 

What I really wanted to do was one of those beautiful Copic backgrounds... with the airbrush, but since I don't have that tool, I improvised with lots of things I DO already have.  First,  I went over my entire image with a Versamarker, applied Clear Embossing Powder and heat embossed.  Then I sponged all around my diecut shape with Soft Sky ink from SU, then did a second pass with Craft White Ink to soften the sky.  The clear embossing powder resisted the ink, so I was able to wipe it right off the main image.  I will say, I made a complete mess in the process, but that's half the fun right?

There are also some beautifully illustrated birdhouses that you might just see as you blog hop around to the Design Team this morning.  I got to say I just love preview days and jumping around to see what everyone has done.....and it gets better... there are TWO sets being revealed today. Be sure not to miss a thing by visiting: 

Gina, Erika, Theresa, Donna, Jessica, Melanie, Kurtis, Emily, Cammie and our Spotlight Designer - Carolina

So Thankful.....

Good morning!  I hope you all had a wonderful weekend,  I'm starting to feel a little better finally, thanks for all your well wishes, but boy does this cough linger. 

I do have two new things to share with you this week, but I'm starting work on my Christmas cards, and Christmas shopping so I might be a little light on the postings the next few weeks trying to just keep up with you know...life!!

I know we're all feeling the pressure of the holidays, but I'm committing myself here and now, to enjoy it.  To try to make lists, and get a little done day by day, but to enjoy the spirit of the season, and try to NOT stress.  

I'm so looking forward to Thanksgiving.  We're going to be having a small celebration this weekend with just my immediate family, and lots of time to just relax (of course, I'll be toting a small project with me to work on...) but I'm looking forward to a brisk walk on the beach, trying to get a cute picture of the boys for our Christmas cards, enjoying my parents delicious Thanksgiving cooking, but most of all, cherished time with those people I love the very most.

To get myself into the spirit, I tested out my new Labels One Nesties from Polka Dot Plaza (I can't believe they still have them in stock, they're uber hard to find right now, if you need some, I advise running over there!) and my Peerless Watercolors with Gina K's set: So Grateful.  

This was my first chance getting to play around with my peerless watercolors and I was SO thrilled with them.  I HIGHLY recommend Kim's Perfect Palette, to go with them it really helps to be able to scribble out the color onto the palette to pick the depth of pigment you need for your project.  

By the way I'll be doing a tutorial SOON on using the Palette with your Peerless so that you can see exactly what I mean.  

Have a great day everyone!

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 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!

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??

Quiet Embrace

You know me, I'm a sucker for monochromatic, and a huge fan of River Rock. So, when I saw this polka dotted paper from the Ginger Blossom Designer Paper from Stampin Up I knew I had to add it to my collection.

This is a quick card, but I think that the little blossom here was looking for a nice quiet, subtle treatment. I'm finding that I'm using my scalloped nestabilitie squares are just perfect for so many of the images I already own.

Last night I was on mass production mode again, lots of umbrella cards, lots of these... but truth be told, the real thing that got in the way of my stamping, is that my husband and I are planning a trip to Las Vegas! Hooray!!!

I've been once on business, but saw mostly the inside of a convention center, my husband has been on a bachelor party and for business as well. I'd love any advice you all have as to fun things to do while we're there, places to eat etc.