We Can All Twinkle, for MFT Guest Designer Challenge

I made this card for the MFT Guest Designer Challenge this month using the MFT Wednesday Stamp Club Sketch #52.

Featured is the Pure Innocence "Being Cute Is What I Do" girl, with a sentiment from "The Great Outdoors" set.  The technique for the GD challenge was paper piecing, so I pieced her outfit, but these images are so perfect for doing that, anyway.  Papers used are Cosmo Cricket's Odds and Ends.  I pieced the legs separately to keep the stripes running parallel with her legs, and lined up the flowered paper so that a stem and flower lined up with the stamped flower on her shirt.  I just added a tiny bit of Copics to fill in the rest of the stamped flower.
Also featured are several MFT Die-namics.  I used the larger fishtail banner from the 1st Place Award set, the Stacking Stars, and the border under the main image is the bottom half of the negative part of the Star Border!
To go along with the "twinkling" theme, the center of the star is glitter paper, and I added some rhinestone flourishes.

A Lego Countdown to Christmas (2011)

We got a Lego Star Wars' Advent calendar for my son for Christmas.  He loved opening the little doors each day to find a small figurine or ship to build.  I documented this favorite gift in a gridded photo layout and used lots of old and new products.
Papers are Scenic Route and Dream Street.  I used sticker strips and circles from Scenic Route and Basic Grey.  I accented the centers of the circles and the little flowers on the one strip with a Viva Pearl Pen in black.  The title was cut using SCAL.  And the small scalloped shapes on the right and bottom were cut using the Verve Tiny Sweet Scallop dies.  The bottom one with the year is stationary, but the one on the right that says pull accesses my hidden journaling.

A Few Last-Minute Holiday Wrappings

Made with the new SVG cutting file "One-Piece Boxes" by SVGCuts.  Super quick, cute, and easy gift box, about 3"x3"x2.5".  I used OLD BoBunny Classic Christmas papers and stickers (one of my favorite Christmas collections), and the Easy Rosette Cut-Ups die from TCP.

I made this quick and easy gift card holder using the tutorial from Gina K Designs' StampTV site.  The ribbon slides off, and the gift cards "pop up," tucked in a fold inside.  Cool, huh?  The Holly Jolly stamp and shaped die on the front are from Verve Stamps.

A Few More Christmas Creations

I made a small calendar for my son's teacher for the holidays. Sizing the pages and using a CD case, up to (6) pages can rest in the ridge (when you open the CD case and turn it back on itself), and the rest can be stored under the back section resting on the desk. 

These are all (12) pages of the calendar. I used a wide variety of stamps (from Gina K Designs, My Favorite Things, Stampinbella, Taylored Expressions, and even an old Stampendous Changito stamp), a digital image by Mo Manning, some quotes referencing teaching I found on the internet and printed, and October Afternoon papers. I added just a few touches here and there, but no bulky embellishments so the pages remain flat for sitting in the CD case. 

And of course, to wrap the gift, I needed some homespun wrapping.  I made a box using My Time Made Easy's SVG cutting file, "That's a Wrap."  The box is sized to fit A2 cards, so I had to enlarge it a little, but I think it came out nicely.  Best part is that I had the older paper (BG Fruitcake) and ribbon in my stash.

For my son's classmates, I made these after watching Robyn with My Pink Stamper's video.  They hold hot chocolate for (6) 6oz. cups, marshmallows, and mini chocolate chips, and are supposed to resemble an ice cream cone.  I handmade the tags using a cute snowman stamp in the Totally Tags-Holiday set by Taylored Expressions.  

Lastly, I made these small holders using My Time Made Easy's Fancy a Cuppa SVG cutting file.  I scaled it down, as it is made to hold two thermal cups for coffee.  I had seen some variety packs of bath gels and lotions at Joann's deeply discounted, and thought pairing them would be so cute in this holder.  But when I went back, they were all out of the lotions.  I picked up the bath gels anyway, and went on a hunt to find something for the other side of the holder.  I stumbled on these oh-too-cute loofa scrubbers, topped with snowmen and penguins (there were also santas and reindeer) at Wal-mart.  Perfect!!  I like them even better.  The stamps I used on all three are from Verve.

Thanks for looking!  Hope you got some time to craft and enjoyed coming up with fun ideas this holiday, too.

Christmas Themed Projects

I've been working on a few projects as gifts and decoration for Christmas.


I've been wanting to create some tags as a gift set for some years now. I finally altered this little tin from Taylored Expressions (about the size of an Altoids tin), using stamps from Verve's Bright Spirits and Glad Tidings sets. Although you can't see the fabulous sparkly detail in the photo, the snowflakes and lettering are covered with a Sakura clear glitter pen. The ribbon also has lots of sparkly shine to it. I highlighted tips of the snowflakes and ends of the letter flourishes with tiny rhinestones.

Then I created these (25) tags to go inside, a combination of Taylored Expression's Totally Tags-Holiday set and Tag...You're It set, and some fabulous supplies by Verve Stamps: Bright Spirits and Glad Tidings stamp sets, and Sweet Scallop Tag and Die.

I created these four simple cards and a box to house them as a gift set. I used the Trim the Tree die set by Taylored Expressions and papers by Echo Park and Basic Grey to piece together these cute trees on black cardstock. Then added them beside the lovely sentiments in Verve's Bright Spirits set on cream cardstock. Some simple double score lines on the edges finish the cards.

I added 5-sided cardstock edges to either end of one of the small clear card boxes from Gina K Designs and a big SU Red Riding Hood ribbon in the middle to house the set of cards. 

This is my version of Jessica Sprague's free Holiday Memories 2011 online class project. The box provides storage for the holiday photo garland. Arrangement and embellishments were left to the participants. I added small punched circles of red glitter paper to the center of the star flowers, added a sequined bow to one side of the numbered green circles and cream glittered snowflakes with metal brads in the centers on the other side. I also altered the front of the box. Rather than the small flap that tucked into the box (like a cake box), I added part of a Spellbinders shaped die and closed it with two metal buttons and more of the twine used in the garland. There are (30) of my favorite past holiday photos, and I popped them up for depth, but also so I can remove and replace them with newer photos easily if I should decide to. Great project!

Inspirational "Easel"

For the Sketch For You to Try (SFYTT) challenge for November, I made a little fold out easel with changeable inspirational sentiments instead of a card.

It still measures a little smaller than a normal card.
I stamped (8) of my favorite sentiments/quotes from Verve's Blue Skies set (my favorite of theirs) and Words of Wisdom set (quickly becoming one of my faves) on the Notebook Paper and Graph Paper Plain Jane stamps (also from Verve).  Cut them out using the Rounded Rectangle Die by Verve.
I created the base of the project like you would a normal card, but the black cardstock is folded to create a triangle shape, and scored in the middle of the bottom part so that it can be folded flat (say, to put in an envelope??).
I attached a nifty Hinge Clip by Tim Holtz with a matching brad through the back part of the clip to the top of the base, and positioned my banner piece in blue, cut with a Die-namics by MFT, such that the ends only are attached with brads and there is a little extra room under it.  The stack of sentiments clip under the hinge clip and gently slide under the banner.  Very simple, and easy to change out to show the inspiration that the recipient needs for any particular day.

Here are close-ups of the sentiments, the easel laying on it's side so you can see how it's folded a little better, and two shots of different sentiments under the clip.

A 65% to 35% Card with My Son

This is a rather specific, interesting little card that my 6-year-old son wanted to make. He sees a counselor at school weekly, who he loves. One of the main things she does with him, in teaching him social skills and self-control, is to play games. So when he said he wanted to make her a card, we focused on the theme of game playing. I had stamped a few images from Stampin' Up's Take a Spin set that my friend owns for future use. We pulled one out and used a little arrow brad I had (I don't have any of the SU spinners yet...they're on my next order). My son also selected the main paper. He thought the letters and squares resembled a game board. I can kind of see that. LOL. I helped him pick the coordinating paper, and suggested the banner. We cut and adhered together. And he stamped the sentiment inside, from Verve Stamps, "You are Amazing," which again, he decided on. So I'd say this is about 65% him-35% me. We had fun on one of our Thanksgiving week days off together, and hopefully his counselor will love it.

The Other VLV Sketches for November

For the Viva la Verve! November week 4 sketch challenge on Splitcoaststampers:  

This one was a challenge. So many different layers and shapes. Hope I ended up with a pleasing birthday card for my sweet friend. 
I used Verve's Capre Cupcake set, and mostly Cosmo Cricket Odds & Ends papers (with a touch of October Afternoon).
Of note are the use of PTI's fabric swatch die and a tip from Raisin Boat to sprinkle glitter into my Liquid Applique before heat setting...fun puffy, sparkly icing for my cupcake!
Created a half medallion for the top, with an old Marcella metal accent as the center.
Rhinestones from Pizzazz Aplenty. So many details.


For the Viva la Verve! November week 3 sketch challenge on Splitcoaststampers:

I used a sentiment from Verve's new holiday stamp release, Bright Sprits, and the coordinating Love Birds dies. 
Papers are BoBunny's Midnight Frost collection (from last year).
I hope I captured the look of the bird bringing the star ornament to add to the sentiment.
The star is colored with Copics, detailed with a gold Sakura glitter pen, and covered all over with clear Sakura glitter pen. Some tiny clear rhinestones adorn the swirls in the sentiment's text.




Using the Viva la Verve! November week 2 sketch challenge on Splitcoaststampers: 

 I unfortunately needed a sympathy card to send to my family. My 21-year-old stepbrother passed away unexpectedly. I didn't know him very well, but his death has left a huge hole in my stepfather, whom I care for very much.
To ease the sadness of cardmaking a bit, I was lucky enough to have this beautiful set of sentiments from MFT (Clearly Sentimental About Sympathy). I paired the sentiment on the front, and one inside "May your heart and soul find peace and comfort" with these elegant but warm homey papers, Generations, by Simple Stories.
I used Verve's Vintage Oval Die twice (and traced around the plastic alignment tool that comes with it twice for the mats), once for the sentiment in the front, and once cut lengthwise, turned and tucked under each side to create the bracketed shape.
I used a Martha Stewart border punch and accordion folded to make the medallion, and added some brown seam binding and Bisque Liquid Pearls.
I hope the card brings a little bit of comfort to my family, or at least lets them know that we are thinking of them and share in their loss.
And I'm grateful that better card designers than I, like the Divas with Verve Stamps, offer beautiful sketches so that I don't have to spend so much energy trying to come up with an idea when I need a card.

Catch up post: Lots of cards, a couple layouts and some Halloween creations

Lots of catching up to do.  I have been hard pressed to find time to post to my blog, seeing as how no one really frequents it anyway.  But I do aspire to one day be on a design team and maintain a well-visited blog, so here I am.
Although the dates will be a little out of order, I'll put the couple other Halloween things towards the bottom with my last posts, and then work backwards so the newest is at the top.  And if you are here for a visit, thanks so much for stopping by and taking a few minutes to peek through my latest creations.



For the Viva la Verve! November week 1 sketch challenge: 

It's a little early for me to normally start on Christmas cards, but the circular shapes in this sketcher were just calling from some 3D round shapes, so ornaments it was!I used Verve's Holly Jolly set, paired with a sentiment from the Holiday Phrases set (and these are both on sale this month!!).
Stamped each ornament 5 times, cut out, folded in half and adhered half to half, back to back, to make the 3-Dimensional shapes.  I stamped and embossed the ornament tops/hooks in silver.  And even that little holly on the larger ornament hook is in the Holly Jolly set.
Papers are Echo Park's Season's Greeting.  The sentiment is cut out with dies from PTI.  Some seam binding and glaze pen finish it off.



For the Viva la Verve! October week 5 sketch challenge:

I used MFT's Sew Nifty stamps and Die-namics set.  Papers are Cosmo Cricket Odds and Ends printed from the digital file by JessicaSprague.com and SU's Riding Hood red cardstock.

On the inside, I strung the tiny thimble, ruler, and scissors dies cut out of aluminum foil on the same blue twine as is wrapped around the larger spool on the front.

And the inside.  A sentiment will go here, too...but the girl I made this for (who intends to give it to her grandmother) gets to choose what she wants it to say.  I'm partial to "Love is the thread that binds us"

Surprise...a layout!  

My local scrapbooking group offered up a "recipe" challenge.  You randomly pick amongst several options (ours was Halloween themed) and then those items are revealed to correspond to various scrapbooking elements you had to use on your page.  My recipe consisted of 1 photo, black cardstock, rubons, bling, stamping and inking.I just love this picture of my son on his first day of playing soccer.  However, being an action shot, it was a bit blurry.  I tried converting it to black and white first, but not quite what I wanted.  So then I used the "Posterize" feature within Photoshop Elements.  It resulted in this cool, slightly sketchified (??word??) look like an old time newspaper.
I used old rubons:Heidi Swapp Rummage for the title, and some Basic Grey Wholly Cow All Boy rubons for the definition and the soccer ball and circle in the bottom corner.
Stamped a place for the date in the bottom corner using an old SU stamp, and embossed in white.  Inked a mat to give a double mat look using Weathered Wood distress ink.  And added some tiny bling to the spots between the four words in the Basic Grey swirl rub on at the bottom.
I was inspired by the motivational posters you see everywhere, and thought this simple graphic design would really show off my very cool son.  ;)



For the Viva la Verve! October week 4 sketch challenge: 

I bought this Verve Bountiful Harvest set after Thanksgiving last year, so this was my first time inking it up.  This little turkey just kills me...so cute!  I colored him with Copics and added a tiny bit of Sakura clear glaze pen to the buckle on the hat.I used MME's Mischievous paper line, some frosted flatback pearls from Pizzazz Aplenty and seam binding.



For the Viva la Verve! October week 3 sketch challenge: 

I actually combined an MFT image with a Verve sentiment for this one.  The circular shape of the Sunflower Who's That Girl worked perfectly for the larger circle in the sketch.  And while I like the sentiments that come with that set, I was in need of a thank you card.  Verve's Bloom & Grow set offered up the great Thanks a Bunch sentiment.I used papers from the new MME Lost and Found Two Sunshine 6x6 pad.
I cut two papers with the MFT Rolled Sunflower Die-namics, and carefully wrapped and layered them around the edge of my sentiment circle.  Added some pen detail to mimic the circle around my image panel.
The border is cut with the Fiskars Upper Crest punch.  Some stitching, Copics, and flat backed pearls for the center of the sunflower finish it off.



Sneaking a layout in on you.  I only finished this one layout and the following card at an ALL DAY crop (sad, I know).  But I really like it.  Hubby captured some great photos of our 6 year old (almost 7) after losing his first tooth.  He was rather disappointed that he hadn't lost any, and I think we were starting to worry a tiny bit, when he lost this one, and the second followed two days later!  
I used a shaped pp from the MME Stella and Rose collection, and cute tree and bird chipboard shapes by Maya Road.  The trunk of the tree is covered in cork.

For the Viva la Verve! October week 2 sketch challenge: 

I used a sentiment from Verve's Small Phrases set, on a banner cut from MFT's First Place Award Die-namics.  The heart is cut by Verve's Jotted Heart die.  Papers are MME's Lost and Found Two Rosy collection.  A little hand stitching and pen detail, some seam binding, and a rolled rose from MFT's smallest rolled rose dies.



For the Viva la Verve! September week 4 sketch challenge: 

I used a sentiment from Verve's Words of Wisdom set (isn't this the coolest font combination?) on a Sweet Scallop Tag stamped, die cut, and popped.  Papers are October Afternoon, and I cut the banners with the Taylored Expressions Pennant Border.  Some shabby wrinkled seam binding, black twine, and rhinestones.


I used the new Verve Boo To You set and Echo Park's The Apothecary Emporium papers.  I cut the ghosts out with a Spellbinders Labels Two Nestability, masked the ghosts, and inked with Weathered Wood distress ink. The "Boo" portion of one of the sentiments and the little pole were cut out with MFT's Mini Pennant Die-namics.  SU scalloped border along the bottom with some tiny black rhinestones.

This haunted house was just too much fun to make.  Made from SVGCuts' Elmhurst Manor cutting file, my Cricut and SCAL software.  Nothing special to include, other than I Stickled the bats.  Three battery operated tea lights fit inside.  We placed it outside while handing out candy to trick or treaters this year.

My son's class had a pumpkin decorating contest.  We couldn't cut or carve our pumpkin, so we painted one of the tiny ones with black acrylic paint and decorated him/her? with a witch's hat and shoes on pipe cleaners for legs.  So fun.  Used the Easy Rosette die from TCP and some K&Co papers.  I just cut circles and crafted the cone shape for the hat by hand.  I found a free SVG file online and cut the little shoes with my Cricut and SCAL software.

 And here's a little close-up of the hat.

Halloween Coffin Treat Boxes

I made these cute Halloween treat boxes for my son's class using the coffin SVG cutting file from SVGCuts' Elmhurst Hallow kit.    Papers are from K&Company's Ghostly Greetings pad, which I picked up at Michael's.  
The stamps are from Raisin Boat's Halloween All Around set, and I created medallions with them using the Easy Rosette Cutups die from The Cat's Pajamas.   Some fun colored buttons from the $1 section at Michael's and a bit of twine to top them off.  
Here are some close ups of two of my favorites.

Halloween All Around for VLV challenge

For the Viva la Verve! October week 1 sketch challenge on Splitcoaststampers: 

I just got my order of Echo Park's The Apothecary Emporium 6x6 paper pad, and have been working on some cute Halloween treat boxes for my son's class, so Halloween was definitely on my mind for this card.
I used two of the new stamp sets by Raisin Boat: Halloween All Around and Haunting Potions.
The medallions, both large and small, are made from the Easy Rosette CutUps die by TCP (my favorite to use for these!).  A little twine, also purchased from Raisin Boat, button and sheer polka dot ribbon.  

Best Birthday Wishes for VLV challenge

For the Viva la Verve! September Week 3 sketch challenge: 

I used the "birthday wishes" sentiment from Verve's Wordy Birds and "wishing you all the best" from their Kind Words set.  
Papers are MME Lime Twist, and cardstock by PTI.  Instead of the tag shape in the sketch, I was chomping at the bit to play with My Favorite Things' new Prima Donna Flower Die-namics.  I also used a Spellbinders Lacey Circle Die (and Small Circle Die), Fiskars border die, and Lil' Inker Designs banner die.
Stitching along the edges and a rimmed rhinestone brad for the flower center finish it off.
Thanks for looking.

Thank You Enough for VLV challenge

For the Viva la Verve! September week 2 sketch challenge: 

I used a sentiment from MFT's Polka Dot Greeting stamp and Die-namics set on a Spellbinders' circle and Lacey circle Die, and surrounded by 2mm flat backed pearls.
I colored some seam binding using a YG17 Copic Marker and wrapped around the front, as well as some black baker's twine.  I punched two tiny tags with a Marvy trio punch, inked the edges with Antique Linen distress ink, and stamped "thanks" from a Stampin' Up set on one.  The flower is a Recollections rose.

Wedding Sentiments card for VLV challenge

For the Viva la Verve! September week 1 sketch challenge:

I used three sentiments from Verve's Love Story set, cut with the Embossed Oval Die and on top of the Vintage Oval Frame stamp, cut with the Vintage Oval Die.  Papers are old Crate Paper.  Some seam binding, flatbacked pearls, and rolled roses made with MFT Die-namics.  I brushed Shimmerz over the roses to give them a slight shine that matches the seam binding and pearls better.

Thanks So Much for VLV challenge

For the Viva la Verve! August week 5 sketch challenge: 

I used a sentiment in Verve's Wordy Bird set.  Circle shapes are Spellbinders, and I cut the tag shape with my Cricut.  Papers are MME Stella and Rose.  Some stitching, seam binding, and flat backed pearls.  Pretty simple design for me this time...running short on time.
Thanks for looking!