some Clean and Simple...live in the sunshine

I made two cards for yesterday's CAS challenge over on SCS (I'll share the other one on Friday!). Love that challenge.  This week it was an inspiration photo. My eye went right to the Adirondack chairs and then my mind went right to the Inspired by Summer stamp set by MFT. 


I stamped the scene in Basic Grey ink, and highlighted a few of the lines with a W-1 copic marker. I also inked the edges of the circle with some vintage cream ink.  The sentiment was done in Barn Door Distress ink.

Check out that paper....SWOON!!! It's new My Minds Eye....Dilly Dally from the Ms. Caroline line....I.Am.In.Love.  I have to admit, I was going through new paper withdrawl....trying to be patient for the new CHA releases is hard. Why do we always want it NOW?!!! lol! These new papers (I got 5 new packs yesterday....thanks to a pre-order from Scrap Castle) will keep me busy. 

I added a little SOLID BRACKET BORDER Die-namics to the CAS layout. Some buttons, and twine and a decorative punched corner finished this one off.   Easy Peasy!

Guess what else???? Tomorrow starts MFT Teaser days......stay tuned, I'll be back tomorrow with NEW goodies!

MFT-Card Patterns Sketch

GUESS WHAT???? MFT is the sponsor for this week's Card Patterns Sketch challenge. How fun! You have a chance to win an MFT Gift Certificate for playing along. Go read all the details HERE. I played along.....you know I'm a sucker for a great sketch. 
Here's what I did with it. I used the beautiful set, Own Your Story stamp set and matching Four Point Frame Die-namics.  I layered the text background stamp included, the Be Brave sentiment AND the beautiful flourishes in the set.

Here's a closer look at the center frame details. I just LOVE the distress look of the stamps included in this set. 

You can also here a bit of the Postage Stamp edge Die-namics I used along the top of the brown floral print paper. I added some zig zag stitching for the ric rac design on the sketch.  Speaking of the sketch...here's a look at it. Head over to the Cardpatterns Blog to see the rest of the samples made with this layout. 

Hip Hop.....and Unity CHA!

wow! Can you believe it's that time again....time for another round of CHA! Are you like me...dying to see all the new stuff that's coming???? I've been drooling over sneak peeks this past week! Now it's Unity's turn to whet your whistle!!!
I have to admit...I was a slacker with this weeks Hip Hop theme. I hope you'll forgive me. We were supposed to create something that inspired us from Pinterest....should have been easy to do..... BUT I got wrapped up in all the new UNITY CHA GOODIES RELEASING NEXT WEEK that I forgot. Ooops!

BUT I do have card I made with new and Oh-So-CUTE Unity stamps to share! This is from the new Co-Brand with Bella Blvd.....Let the Spoiling Begin. LOOOOOVE that little monkey. I colored him up with copics and embellished with some buttons and twine. Perfect for any new mom! Papers are by Lilybee designs, Picket Fences.

You should be able to find all the NEW UNITY WINTER CHA releases on the website tomorrow....You'll want to check it out tomorrow, anyway....We've GOt something special planned JUST FOR YOU!


Off you go to Maria's Blog.  Check out what she has in store for you today!

CAS-ual Butterfly

Sliding one in before the cut off on this past week's CAS-ual Friday Challenge.  It was a penguin suit challenge.....what's that you ask? We were to create a CAS card that is ALL black and white (last week was National Penguin Day?).  I was inspired late last night to put together this elegant card.

I used MFT Inspired by Butterflies set and Decorative Doliy Die-Namics.  Gosh....I love how vibrant that Brilliance Graphic Black ink pad stamps.  I added a gorgeous black rhinestone flourish to complete the look.  Sorry the photo is so dark....lack of sunlight really doesn't help my photo sessions.

WSC56-Hugs and Kisses

Happy Wednesday! Happy Hump Day! Let's glide into the rest of the week with another fabby sketch by MFT! It's an easy one and you'll have fun doing it up in lots of pretty ways.

 I was a bit of  a rebel with this one. I used the LAYERED HEART DIE-NAMICS in place of the scalloped circle, AND I flipped it. I really wanted that heart to take center stage.  I cut some corrugated cardboard and painted it up with some white acrylic paint. It's pretty shabby chic, dontcha think? 

The hugs and kisses (x's and o'x) were stamped from the super coolio new alphabet, MONOGRAM ALPHABET.   That's the FIRST PLACE AWARD RIBBON DIE-NAMICS at work, again.

If you look closely, you'll also see the pretty SOLID BRACKET BORDER  done up in Sno Cone cardstock.     I was excited to use the new-to me Peppermint twine. 

 Head on over to Kim's blog for today's inspiration from the DT with the sketch. 

MFT and Scor-Pal....A Message for you

Welcome, welcome! What a fun surprise, huh?  Seeing My Favorite Things pair up with Scor-pal.....two of MY favorite things.  

You are in for a TREAT....the two design teams are joining forces today to share some crafty goodness. Head on over to KIM'S BLOG for all the details.

You know I love MFT and use their stamps and Die-Namics ALL THE TIME, but I don't speak of my love of Scor-pal products as much as I should.  They are a kind of "behind the scenes" product I used on almost ALL of my project. In my opinion, Scor-tape is by far the best adhesive for attaching embellies and chipboard to projects...the fact that you can tear it is why I love it so much! I also use it when when I'm making 3-D boxes or packages....it's strong!  

Here I show you  that I also use it on the back of my panels to hold button thread in place.  I stitched on my button and didn't want the bulk of a knot on the back of my panel, so Scor-tape holds it in place and keeps it FLAT.

Today I made a sweet little file folder card.  I saw Beate make one a few weeks back and I loved the look of it. Quick and Easy when you have a Scor-pal (I actually have the Scor-buddy and adore it's cute size!).


I started with a  3.75 inches x 12 inches piece of textured kraft cs. Using your Scor-pal (or Scor-buddy) score at 1 inch and 6.5 inches.  

Using a corner rounder, round the corners of the 1 inch flap. This creates your file folder, then go ahead and decorate as you wish.

 I stuck with the "office theme" and inked up the oh-so-cool JUST MY TYPE stamp set and matching Die-Namics.  You can also see strips of the NOTEBOOK EDGE DIE-NAMICS AND MEDIUM SIMPLY SCALLOPS. 


 Today I also thought I'd share with you how I line up my stamps that have matching die-cuts.  I LOOOOVE not having to cut things out by hand, so any stamp that has a die to match, I'm all over it. But sometimes it's tricky to line up the stamp to fit the die cut piece.  I follow a tip THE OH-SO-CREATIVE JODY shared with me....ALWAYS stamp first, then die cut! 


Here's how I do it......

• Flip your die over and Trace Around it with pencil.  Don't worry, the pencil lines won't show up in your final project, the outside of the die is larger than the actual cut piece. You'll see.   On this example, I did not trace around the piece of paper on the die, since it cuts separately, I didn't need to include it for my guide.

• Using the pencil lines as your guide, go ahead and stamp your image directly in the center of the   trace lines. 

• Line up your die again with the pencil marks you drew the first time, cut side down.  I then tape it down with "washi tape". Any low tack, or repositionable tape (you can even de-stick tape by sticking it to your clothes a few times to remove some of the tackiness of it) will work. 

• Run it through your die cut machine and Wa-La! A perfectly placed stamped image every time!

I also did up the inside of my file folder.  Take a look.  

More NOTEBOOK EDGE and SCALLOPS.  

I also added a bit more ribbon and some fun score details to my inside message. It's another fun accent you can create with your Scor-pal. 

Thanks for stopping by. I'll send you on your way.  

Hop on over to Kim's Blog for the list of bloggers today and don't forget to hop on over to the Scor-pal blog as well! LOTS to see today! Have fun.

**click any of the graphics below to be taken directly to the product**

try it, it's fun.

Feel Better....are you up for a Challenge?

One of my dear stampy friends, Kristin Moore has started her own color challenge. Kristin and I met through Stampin' Up! and a swap group we were a part of.  We roomed together (without ever meeting each other IRL....boy you should have heard the concerns our husband's had....lol!) at Convention and right away we had an instant bond! She's amazing AND  sooooo talented and just loves to share her love of stamping- no design teams, no agenda.....she does it just because.  So, when she asked me to play along, ummmmm, NO BRAINER! The colors you'll need to work with are: Certainly Celery, Elegant Eggplant, and Marina Mist (of course I threw in a little kraft).
Here's my card. I used a Unity Stamp by Nikki Sivils, Under the Weather.

I stamped the main image on one of the layers from the MFT Layered Lable die-namic with momento ink and then colored with copics. The cute little monster is pieced with some oooooold SU pattern paper. The polka dotted background is Distressed dots by Unity. 

Do you recognize the sketch? It's from Jen's ASFYTT.  Can't wait to play again this year. Love her sketches.  Now I need to make another one with some of my TCP stamps...they are this month's sponsor!

I hope you'll consider playing along....it's all for fun. At least stop by and check out Kristin's blog. 

Happy Monday!

RCC36-Forever in your Heart

I'm up over on the Unity Blog today! It's a Mixed Media Sunday post.  I pulled out some acetate, burlap and twill ribbon to make this card.  It's always fun to play with some materials you might have forgotten about in your stash.

I used the super cute sketch from the Ribbon Carousel Challenge.  In stead of the square panel, I used a Layered Heart die-namic to hold my sweet Unity Heart and button from the set, The Time is Now. 

That cool burlap ribbon is from the Ribbon Carousel store...so is the twill ribbon and button twine are also from their store. Love the fast shipping and GREAT selection of ribbons!  That burlap wired ribbon is really cool, I love the stitched edges of it. 

To read all about the details on this one, please head over to the Unity Blog. I'll meet you over there. Happy Sunday!

Thanks...Unity FWF!

I have a Unity card, just because, today! How about THAT!!! I inked up a few images from the Jan. 2012 KOM and paired with this week's SCS sketch challenge. I actually made it on Wednesday, but needed a few days to find some time to post. Plus, I wanted to share it on today's FWF post over on the Unity Blog.

I do love this day....remember when it used to be called Hip Hop Hangover??? That seems forever ago.  I think it's great that on Friday's we have our own little space to share our love of Unity....just because!


You can find the sketch HERE.  Have something made with Unity stamps??? Want to share it?  Use the Linky tool on THIS post to show off your creation.  It's fun, and there is a chance at a prize.

For my card I used the Oct. Afternoon, Farmhouse papers.  I added some texture with some cotton twill tape and I pieced up the sweet birdies on the sentiment oval. Everything is edged with some tea dye ink!

Here's a close up of the stamp and the fun banner strips I made (Mix&Match Banner by MFT.  I used my trick to make them longer).

Enjoy your Friday! See you back here real soon!  DON't FORGET.....Ang's BIRTHDAY promotion....39%  OFF ALL STAMPS....only a few more days left to save!