Wednesday, November 30, 2011

and a little MFT WSC for you!

I'm sneaking in a WSC card.  We just kicked off our teasers for the December release and I always seem to forget to incorporate the WSC sketch with the new product teasers.  That's okay....keeping things separate helps keep me organized. HA!
I have a holiday card this week! I'm in full swing on getting mine done and this is one of my designs.  Usually I make 80 of the same holiday cards....this year I am changing it up.  I'm making 20 of 4 different designs.  I'm thankful for 3 basketball practices  a week-this is when I'll be cutting and assembling my cards for the next two weeks. Multi-tasking at it's best! My goal is to be done by the end of next week.



I can't get enough of this Christmas Ornament set.  Papers are actually Valentine-ish by Lilybee Designs (Head Over Heels), but the matched my new Tim Holtz holiday distress inks! I didn't stray from the sketch and went with the great, Well Worn Greetings die-namics.  Sentiment is from Clearly Sentimental About Christmas.

Here's this week's sketch.

Stop by Kim's Blog for the list of WSC players this week!
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MFT December Teasers-day 1

Welcome! it's that time....the time you've been waiting for all month....the newest MFT stamps and die-namics are almost here! We are starting the week off with Teaser Time!

Here are the details about the upcoming release on December 6 at 10 PM EST:
  • You can attend the New Release Party on December 6th from 8-10 PM EST HERE in the MFT forum, where you can enjoy fun, games, and PRIZES!
  • The MFT release, including all new stamp sets and Die-namics, is on December 6 at 10 PM EST.  You'll find all the newest products HERE at release time.
  • The guest designer contest is ON!  Check out the forum for details on how YOU can win $200 in stamp sets and Die-namics, and play along with the MFT Design Team for a month.
  • If you'd like to see all the teasers for today, please click on over to the MFT Blog NOW.  Be sure to leave comments as you go for the chance to win one of 2, $10 gift certificates given away daily.  The winners will be posted on December 6 just before the release party, on the MFT blog.
First up this month is the beautiful Who's that Girl and Who's that Guy combo set.... yes, the gal and guy have paired up for this month's release. The new set is called, May I Have This Dance.  Isn't the image lovely??? ahhhhh**SIGH**......if only my guy would dance with me.  For now, I'll live vicariously through my card.


I used the pretty new papers by Lillybee designs, Head Over Heels. Check out that new skyline die-namic!!! Pretty cool, huh? I really wanted to accentuate the silhouette (can a skyline have a silhouette?) look, so I decided to keep all the little window pieces in the die cut strip. Two looks, one die....gotta love that! 
Some other fun details....a pretty lacey border done, easy peasy with the faux crochet die-namic.  My sparkly hearts were created with some fun, scor-tape sheets die-cut with the Hearts a Plenty die-namic and then dusted with glitzy glitter!  It's all tied up with some grey seam binding ribbon!


Stop by Kim's blog for the full list of teaser posts!

Take a closer look at this AMAZING skyline die-namic. I just think it's the coolest!


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Tuesday, November 29, 2011

MFT Creative Chat-Desk and Tools

It's time for the MFT Creative Chat. The My Favorite Things Design Team Creative Chat is a monthly feature, where we are challenged to explore our creative spaces and share valuable organizational methods, tools, and shopping strategies with you. You'll be able to peek into our creative spaces, ask questions, and share your own ideas in the MFT forum.  This month, we were asked the following questions:  


Show us your desk.  How do you have things set up, and why?  
What are your "go-to" tools?  Tell us what you can't live without.

I chickened out last month, but I'm here this time.  My desk needed a good pick up, so this was the perfect excuse.  BUT I thought some of you might like to see my desk on a typical day.  I took a before shot for you. Before, meaning, before I picked up for the rest of the pictures on today's blog post.    

I am NOT one of those people that pick up after each project.  I do put away most major tools, re-stack papers pads, and put away ink pads, stamp sets, and copics.....BUT......scraps, bits and pieces of ribbon, and ALWAYS dimensional backings are left scattered all over.

Let's jump in, I've got lots to share on my desk tour today. Lots of Pictures....hope you likey!

So here's how I work. I have a hand-me-down desk from my DH's grandfather.  I work with everything right at my finger tips and within a 3 foot radius.  It's really kind of funny, how sometimes I have to crawl into my desk chair, stepping over papers, and projects.  I literally use all the space around me, even the floor. LOL!

I have a MS Score board, with  a Scor-pal cutting mat sitting on top.  This is new to me and I'm still giving it a trial run. 

In the top desk drawer is my scrubby pad, and my acrylic blocks.  I also store my watercoloring tools to the back of this drawer.  I used to use them all the time, but since my copics, I rarely reach for these tools.  You'll see I have a collection of acrylic blocks, most of them Unity (I love the wooden handles), but my favorite is the long skinny one from SU (I think it's H). I use it for most of my sentiments.
Directly to my left, in the top drawer is my paper cutter.  I have an older Fiskars Triple track.  You can see the black scoring blade, I keep that on my cutter at all times and quickly can rotate between the cutting blade and scoring blade to score a card base if I need too.

These two, top  drawers are almost always open (at least halfway),  since I use them all the time.

The drawer directly below my cutter drawer is my Corner Chomper drawer.  This drawer used to hold all my SU tools and my circle cutters (Creative Memories).  While those tools are still there, I needed a deeper drawer for these bigger, sturdier tools. Plus I used these Corner Chompers all the time, especially the corner rounder. Love that I can round thicker items (chipboard and double layers of cardstock) with one punch.  I've purchased them all with a 40% coupon!
To my left on my desk, I have ribbon (actually you'll see I'm surrounded by ribbon. I have many, many storage options for all my spools of yummy, beautiful ribbon) and one of these craft storage cubes.  It  has a shelf that holds my jute twine, and all my button jars-Two of my 3 most used embellishments!
 I also love that it has two canvas drawers and I have one full of all my adhesives-scor tape, Jody Boosters, snail, mono-multi, Hermafix, and glue dots.  It's all there and I can grab what I need very easily. My most used glue, the liquid kind,  sits out in the open.
The other drawer holds some SU markers, but I also tuck my BELOVED ribbon scissors in there.  I ONLY cut ribbon with these scissors. Am I weird, that I enjoy every little snip I make with these bad boys??? LOL!

Directly in front of me are two Apothecary jars I rescued from my DH's grandma's garage sale. I shove all my ribbon scraps in one and the other holds my sponges.  I add a lot of distressing to my edges, so I have to be able to grab the correct sponge.  I used to use daubers, but recently bought the Tim Holtz blending tool and I'm quickly falling in love with that.

You can also see that my Ott light sits right on my desk as well. I got this one for Christmas last year, finally, and I really don't know how I stamped without one for so long. I need another one to help with shadows, but for now I'm grateful for the one I have.

Directly above these jars, and on the walls are some more ribbon storage and all my punches.  I got some  towel rods from Ikea and the baskets to go with them. While they are pretty, and I love looking at my punches, unfortunatley, I hardly ever reach for those these days.  Thank-YOU die-namics!
Following clockwise on my desk, next up is my copic storage. I use this White Magpie Storage System. I love it and it has a little drawer on the bottom that I use to hold my little ink cubes. 
The upper left corner is a cubby that holds other tools I use quite a bit: sanding blocks (can really extend the life of a cutting blade...just rub and remove any paper fuzzies), adhesive remover, a ruler (drawing in lines or sidewalks to ground my stamped images), a paper piercer, pens, and pencils.
See those two small SU punches....those are probably the only punches I use now adays. One is my horizontal slot punch. Love it for making little knotches for my ribbon to slide through on a cad panel. The other is the ticket corner punch. I dusted that one off when MFT released the ticket die-namics. It's fun to have a matching corner!
I use the top to hold my most used ink pads-momento, and distress inks, and also my Staz-on and Versamark and a few PTI pads I own.
The rest of my ink pads are to my back, on top of another set of storage cubes.  I got one of the SU ink caddy's at the stamp consignment store I teach at (Your Stamping Cottage).  So fun, and I didn't spend a fortune on it. You can see I have easy acces to my stickles and glimmer mists, too.
Back to my desk, on the right side drawers, I store my heat tool and bakers twine.  I wrapped all the twine onto these small ribbon holders and they fit nicely on a giant ring that I hang right on the drawer pull.
I forgot to take a picture of it, but  the second drawer on my right holds all my embossing folders. 
On the floor to my right is the stack of my newest, and seasonal 6x6 paper pads.  I have to see them, to use them, so having them stored in a drawer or box doesn't work for me. When new ones come in, I store them to my left and add the newest batch to the floor. I also keep a small basket filled with all the recent MFT release stamps on the floor (can't show you.....it has all the new Dec. release stamps and you have to wait until tomorrow for the first teaser!). Easy to reach and easy to use.

I also have a sweet little, wooden tool box that the Joshua made me last year in scouts. Joshua decided the boys could decorate it and give it to me for Christmas.  It is one of my prized possesions in my my craft room.  It holds my 12x12 papers that are my current favorites.
The last picture I have to share is the rest of my white scrapbook storage units.  They sit to my left, inside the closet and they hold everything else that I may need. 

Visit Kim's Blog for a full list of designers that have taken up the challenge and get ready to delve into the minds of our creative team.
PLUS....there's a SPECIAL ANNONCEMENT you won't want to miss!

Thanks for hanging with me! See you back here tomorrow for the start of the December teasers!


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Sunday, November 27, 2011

Sweet Sunday Sketch

I gave Karen's Sweet Sunday Sketch a go, today. Inked up the wonderful Santa image from Inspired by Christmas.  Isn't he just lovely????

Check out Mr. Claus.  Can you guess what I used to color him up?

Would you believe me if I said Chalks??!!! What?! Yup....I dusted off my SU chalks and quickly colored him up.  First I stamped him on some newsprint dsp by SU!
The fun snowflake accent is made from the MFT snowflake die-namic.  A button, some twine, a bit of stitching, and some distressing finish this card off.   The papers are by Authentique  and I also used one of their coordinating chipboard sentiments. 

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Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Thank-You!

Again....I'm taking a break from the holiday card making and thought a pretty Thank-You card was appropriate for today.  Here in the US we will be celebrating Thanksgiving, tomorrow. I am very blessed and grateful for so many things in my life. One of them is being able to share my love of paper crafting here with all of you.  I work for two amazing companies and I never forget for a second how fortunate I am to have this opportunity. I just wanted to say Thank-You to Kim and Angela for allowing me to be a part of your family's. 

I know I make sure I say it often around here, but thank-you to all my readers, too. Your words are always appreciated and reading your comments is always a highlight in my day.

Okay, ok, okay....on to the sketch. It's Wed. so it's time for another WSC sketch. Here you go!
 No surprise I adore it....it's got a tag as the main panel. I ♥ the Tag You're It die!
 As you can see I flipped the sketch and added the pretty Vintage Cameo Frame to the center of my tag.  Look, I extended the length of the tag by adding a simply scallop border to the bottom.  Cool trick to make the tag look a bit larger, than it is. Some pretty seam binding, twine, flat back pearls and a teeny, mini rolled rose  complete the look.

 Stop on by Kim's blog for the line up of today's players. 

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Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Two Challenges and Unity

Love, love, LOVE these two sets!
 Time is Now and  Live What You Love.

Sadly, they have been sitting on my table, waiting to see ink.  They were patient and remember, Love is Patient.  I gave them some love this weekend. I actually made 3 cards with these stamps (1 I'm using for a magazine submission. Oh, and I earned these stamps for free, THANKS to a magazine publication!  Did you know Unity rewards you for using their stamps?Angela is so kind and generous!), but I'll share 2 of them here today.
I used Karen's Sweet Sunday Sketch for this first one,


and FTL167 for this second one. 

For some reason I am drawn to the CAS layouts for my Unity stamps. I guess it helps show off the beauty of these images and it helps me change gears in my creative process.  While I love to color, it's nice to put down the markers.
Have a great day!
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Monday, November 21, 2011

A Scrapbook Page!

Thanks to my stamping pal, Krisitin Moore, I got a layout done this weekend with the intent to do a few more this week. It felt so good to dive back in and do a page for me. Not for a DT obligation, not for a challenge, simply just to document a family memory.
Kristin directed me to a new-to-us site, called Let's Scrap. It's an online community for the love of scrapbooking (you can make cards, too ;) ).  The sketches are awesome!!! and sketches for me....beautiful layouts making room for lots of photos. Check it out!
 
 I  did a 2-page spread of Ry's 5th birthday (yeah, he turns 8 this year....just a wee bit behind.....but I'm ok with that).
Some fun papers and some  MFT Stamps and Die-namics to help pull this page together.
Here's the sketch:

I'm hoping to have more layouts to share, real soon.  Oh, and if you want to see what Kristin did, you can find her  layout here. It's pretty amazing.  Tell her so!


Since I'm back here....I also thought I'd share what this little sweet boy made for me yesterday.

Nicholas got in on the action, too....he does everything Ryan does. Love that they snagged up some leftover die-namic pieces and put them to work.
The letter made me a bit teary....it's these unrequested, spontaneous moments that make the tough job of parenting all worth it!


Thanks for stopping by!
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Sunday, November 20, 2011

Sending Joy

A cloudy, rainy day and the boys and I hung out downstairs while Tim slept (working a few nights this week).  They played with Legos and I got crafty.  Love lazy days like that! I played along with the Ribbon Carousel Challenge this week. 

It was a great sketch and I'm pretty certain, I'll be making quite a few cards like this for my holiday cards this year. I really like how this turned out! I used the cool new kraft papers by My Mind's Eye.

Stamps and dies are all MFT...it's from the gorgeous new Christmas Ornament set.

Check out this week's challenge.
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Saturday, November 19, 2011

TCPTUES185-Love Bunches

Another Tuesday challenge with TCP.  I used the sweet new Go Bananas set...those monkeys are too, cute. This week we worked with a sketch and I decided to put the images in the smaller squares along the side and the sentiment to do up my main panel. Papers are fun ones by Bella Blvd and the sweet heart is a TCP Cut Up.
Check out this week's challenge HERE. and thanks for stopping by!
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Friday, November 18, 2011

Holiday FWF....

Welcome back and thanks for coming!
I told you I had another Unity Holiday goodie for you today.
and TWO weeks in a row for
 FWF-WOW!

I made an ornamet.
Easy Peasy.
did you know Unity is carring a co-brand
that has a matching die???
by Scrapbook Cottage.
I COULDN'T be happier!
I love my dies!!!

I used the new

I die cut a chipboard snowflake.
I die cut another one out of shimmery white cardstock.
Then I stamped the gorgeous snowflake on the shimmery white paper
Adhered it to the chipboard one.
Added the sentiment tag, some ribbon, and some cool jingle bells!
A bit of stickles and this was DONE.

Have a great day!
Check out
for the full list of FWF players.

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Thursday, November 17, 2011

Unity Holiday Fun!

Yep, we are in full swing with all things Holiday. 
Have you seen the FUN going on over at Two Peas???
This week Unity is being featured.
Have you seen how HUGE the Two PEAS Unity stock is??  


I've got a few holiday projects to inspired you....I hope!

I think I've said it before....I love matchy-matchy things....
so these Bella Blvd. papers and their
 matching stamps....
L.O.V.E.!
This one is



 Next I used the Welcome Winter set
 (I didn't see this in the two peas store....but it's holiday, so it fits with today's theme.)
More Bella Blvd. papers....and this sweet, sweet tree!
Super simple design,
I think mailable, holiday cards should be.
Scallop border is by MFT.

You can read all about the fun stuff over on the Unity blog.

Hop along....Maria is up next!

click the button and off you go!
Next Blog

See you back here tomorrow.....
I've got another holiday goodie.
It's sparkly!!!

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