MFT Sketch

I've been wanting to play along with the weekly MFT sketch challenge for months and finally got a chance to play... just in time for my camera to go haywire. :(  So, I photographed my card using my daughter's camera. I hope to get better photo uploaded later tonight.

I loved this week's sketch. It was very simple and basic, allowing the focus to be on these fun Lime Twist papers and cute Claire Kay MFT image:

I know a little girl in mittens and a pom pom hat doesn't usually bring to mind flowers, but there was something about this paper that made me want to use it with this image.  (Maybe just my innate love of pink - lol!)
Lisa

Marissa

Sally-Ann has just released some great new images, including this adorable mermaid named Marissa. You can find Marissa and the other July images here. I've been dying to make a card with this cutie since I saw her. She's my favorite July release. :)


I'm submitting this card to three challenges: A Spoonful of Sugar challenge #58 ("Summer"), Simon Says Stamp (use some combination of lemon, orange, apple green and pink - I used everything except lemon) and DareU2digistamp's embossing challenge (I used my Cuttlebug to dry emboss the bottom pink panel).

I used a combination of Copics and watercolor crayon with Dove blender pen to color in this image. The shells are stamped images (MFT's "By the Seashore"), which I colored and cut out.

Secretaries' Week

I always give little gifts to the secretaries at both girls' schools. Jessica's school has 6 secretaries, so I try to keep the gift to something small and inexpensive. I bought these Laura Ashley post-it notes and little trinket boxes a long time ago in Michael's dollar section. Jess helped me fill the boxes with Dove chocolates and tie the post it notepad and box together with ribbon. I stamped the tag with a flower dollar stamp from Michael's and a retired sentiment from TAC.


I gave the secretaries at Ali's school notepads, etc. at Christmas so I bought them each a gift certificate to Barnes & Noble and made bookmarks with "Reading Flopsey" from My Favorite Things stamps. (Bookmarks are great for using up your ribbon and paper scraps!)


I packaged up the gift cards, bookmarks and a few Dove chocolates into white paper lunch bags that I stamped with the same flower stamp that I used on the tags above.

For those who don't know, I'm a secretary at a local high school. I had a very nice week. Our principal actually serves all the secretaries lunch! My gifts included a Barnes & Noble gift certificate - I love to use those to indulge in my favorite stamping magazine, Craft Stamper. It's from the U.K., so it's a little pricier and harder to find than U.S. stamp magazines, but I love the projects and detailed instructions. I even enjoy looking at the ads, seeing products from some of the U.K. based products.

Stampavie Challenge

The Stampavie blog hosted a sketch challenge this week. I used this Rachel Ann Miller "Lily" stamp to make my card:

She's so sweet! :)

Supplies: Rachel Ann Miller stamp, digital paper pack from My Favorite Things stamps, Doodlebug brads (All That Scraps), Cuttlebug, scalloped rectangle Nestabilities, Copic markers, ribbon from Michaels.

Flopsey

I made this gift set for last week's "judges only challenge" over on the Splitcoaststampers MFT Idol forum. It uses MFT's Reading Flopsey stamp set along with a retired paper line from The Angel Company (TAC) called "Mulberry Meadow". (I really loved that paper and was so bummed when they discontinued it!) Everything is colored with Copic markers (of course!).




OK, confession time... The card was supposed to be a "card with removable bookmark". like the one in the MFT forum on SCS. My bookmark was too wide to slide under my main image, though. I'll have to try this again because I think it's a cool idea.

Crafty Candy

The Crafty Goings On blog is offering some awesome blog candy - a set of 72 Copic makers! (Boy, would I love to win those!!) If you use an image from her shop, Charmed Cards & Crafts, you can be entered into the drawing twice.

These days I use Copic markers on most of my projects. I still use my Prismacolor pencils a lot, but I love the speed and ease with which I can blend my Copic markers. I just wish I had more! (Maybe I'll get lucky and win this blog candy, huh?) Here's a card I made for the MFT Idol contests going on over at SCS:

Supplies: Mothers' Day stamp and digi printed paper (My Favorite Things), Martha Stewart border punch, ribbon from Michael's, Versafine black ink, Copic markers (Pale Pink, Tender Pink, Skin White, Lime, Yellow Green, Sepia, Sand, Canary Yellow and Golden Yellow), pop-dot.

It's a "Masquerade"!

This week's MFT Idol challenge was to use masking on your card. I used my new "By the Seashore" set and turned it into a spring scene. I wanted to celebrate Spring and the fact that Dixie and I can go on nice long walks together now without freezing!

Here's a closeup of the sponging/masking technique. I made the cloud template myself from a piece of scrap cardstock.

On the stamp, she is carrying a pair of sandals. The set includes a hat stamp, so I stamped, colored & cut that and placed it over the sandals. I drew in the grass and stems/leaves with my Tombow markers. The flowers were cut from stamped hat images.

Supplies: By the Seashore (MFT Stamps), floral paper from DCWV floral glitter stack, Tim Holtz Distress inks in Faded Jeans and Vintage Photo, Versafine black ink, basecard made with PTI cardstock (assorted cardstock pack), Copic and Tombow markers, Prima flowers, flower punches, brads.

Whew!

My Favorite Things (MFT) is hosting challenges over on SplitCoast for those of us who didn't make it into the MFT Idol contest. This week's challenge was "to celebrate not being in the top 10. It could be a sympathy card, a relaxation card, what ever you want to do." I don't know if *celebrating* is the right word (it was rather disappointing, really), but here's my take:

Those of us who didn't make it were given a consolation prize discount, so that's supposed to be me passed out on the chair from frantic card making, working on my MFT shopping list. ;-) The stamp is part of a Christmas set. I cut out the woman in the chair to eliminate the Christmas tree and gifts in the background of the stamp. I used the Big Stripe paper in the MFT digi paper pack to make a new background. (I thought it looked like striped wallpaper.) Voila! No sign of Christmas!

Supplies: stamp digital printed paper from MFT, Prima flowers, COPIC markers, ribbon from Hobby Lobby, pink cardstock from PaperTrey Ink.

MFT Idol!

I've never even watched an episode of American Idol (am I the only one in America who hasn't?!) but I couldn't wait to play MFT Idol over on SplitCoastStampers! I used the Mothers' Day MFT set that I'd recently purchased from All That Scraps, along with my trusty K&Co designer cardstock stack. The beautiful prints and soft, vintage colors seemed perfect for a Mothers' Day card.


Side view to show off the varying layers & textures:


A close up of the paper piecing (yes, I paper pieced those leaves and flowers!):

I punched the leaves out of cardstock, stippled them with green ink and used a stylus to create the veins:

I figure that even if I don't make the first cut, I'll at least have my mom's Mothers' Day card made!

Supplies: Mothers Day stamp (MFT), K& Co Classic McKenna designer paper stack, DCWV cardstock, kraft and ivory cardstock from TAC, Fiskars floral border punch, Emaginations leaf punch, flower (source unknown), COPIC markers, Noir and Jardin Moss Palette inks, pop-dots.