Hot Water!

Happy Wednesday/Hump day to you friends! I had a chance to play along with this week's Mojo Monday sketch and this card was the result.

I've had this Lockhart tea bag stamp for a while but only used it a couple of times, so I decided to put it to use again with this new quote from a Stampin' Up set (from the Summer Mini). I paired the image with some October Afternoon Thrift Shop paper (actually I think there's also some Fly a Kite in there as well) and some yummy crochet ribbon from MFT. Loving this stuff - as you'll see in upcoming cards!

I did some stitching and added some brads and prima roses and called it quits. Looking at the card now, I could have scaled down the panels slightly as there's a lot of space around the images, but oh well!

I'm keeping this short as it's late and I have to take my son to get some teeth pulled tomorrow. Wish us luck!

Marrying the Perfect Person!

How's that for a title? Well I couldn't just call my post - wedding card. A friend of mine asked me to make her a couple of wedding cards and this is the first.

I used MFT's Clearly Sentimental About You. I actually thought long and hard about whether this was an appropriate sentiment for a wedding card, but after speaking to my friend and discovering that the groom works with troubled teens, decided he would understand. I used cream cardstock and some Basic Grey Phresh & Phunky papers. One of the patterns that I wanted to use was a little too white for my liking, so I used my E51 copic marker to turn my white accents into beige ones.
Love that you can use markers that way as well!

Well, I'm off to get stamping. It's almost time for MFT Teasers and I still have some creating to do. Tomorrow is the last day of school here so we're looking forward to that too! Later taters!

Supplies:

Stamps: MFT Clearly Sentimental About You

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, copics

Paper: MFT Cream Perfect Panel, Poison Ivy Irridescent cs, Black, Basic Grey Phresh & Phunky

Accessories: Crochet Ribbon, MFT Die-Namics Jumbo Scallop Die, Nestabilities, Sewing Machine, satin ribbon, brads, prima flowers

Teacher Thank You's!

Finally I've finished the thank you cards for my son's teachers. Because he is in French immersion, he actually has 2 teachers - he sees each one for half the day. I used a Pure Innocence stamp - You Make the Grade and paired her with some Basic Grey and October Afternoon patterned paper. I used Karen's sweet sketch challenge for the layout. There's a little something else to go along with these cards, but I can't show you just yet!

Happy Friday and hope you have a great weekend! We have an especially busy one so I'm going to get started now! Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps: MFT Pure Innocence You Make the Grade, sentiment from Teacher, teacher label set

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, copics, Memento cantaloupe

Paper: MFT Cream Perfect Panel, October Afternoon Fly a Kite, Basic Grey Ledger, Kraft, Real Red

Accessories: Labels 1 Nestabilities, MFT Die-Namics Jumbo Scallop Die, Adorn-its, sponge, foam boosters

Thank You Berry Much!

I must be crazy, because not only did I need to make teacher's cards for my own kids teachers, I also offered to make cards for my friend's teachers as well!

When I heard that my friend was doing a strawberry theme for her teacher gifts, I knew that I wanted to use this strawberry die that I had bought for another project and had only used it that one time. I paired it with some Cosmo Cricket Garden Variety paper and added some stitching. I made 4 of this same design so kept them pretty simple!

Hope you're having a great week friends!

Taylored Expressions Blast from the Past Blog Hop

Welcome to the Taylored Expressions Blast from the Past Blog Hop!! I love blog hops so I signed up right away when this one was announced. The last one was a ton of fun too!

Last time we were given a sketch to use if we wished, this time we were given an inspiration picture. Ain't it purty? I loved the colours and the idea of the different patterns on the bench and cushions, and the squares on the wall so I went with those ideas.

I used an image from The Places You'll Go and paired it with some October Afternoon Fly a Kite patterned paper. The quote is from the book "Guess How Much I Love You" which is still one of our faves around here. I coated the rocket ship with Sakura Clear Glaze pen and used Sakura Stardust pen on the flames and stars to make them sparkly. I also added some baby braddies in the corners.

Thanks so much for hopping by! I hope you'll take some time to visit all the other amazing bloggers participating today! The complete list is just below! Later taters!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day! We're actually celebrating next week since my hubby is out of town this weekend, but I think I'm safe to post his card here.

I made this card using MFT's Clearly Sentimental About Fathers and some MME So Sophie patterned paper. I distressed the panels and added some screw brads and twine for embellishments. The layout is an older Taylored Expressions sketch (TESC108).

Hope you have a great day celebrating the fathers in your life! I'll be back on Tuesday for the Taylored Expressions blog hop. Later taters!

3 Great Companies, 1 Great Cause!

Many of you have read THIS post about Eric's battle with cancer and the impact it's having on the Liles family.

Susan designs for My Favorite Things, The Cat's Pajamas and VERVE, and all three companies have banded together in a fund-raising effort that also benefits YOU!

By shopping at either TCP, VERVE, and/or MFT, you can save 10% now through Sunday, June 20th.

In addition, all three Companies are donating a portion of the proceeds for the next three days directly to Susan and Eric so they can devote their energy and time toward healing and caring for their children and not worrying about how to pay for rising medical bills.

The MFT Deets:
The code for MFT to save 10% is SusieQ. You'll enter it at checkout in the promo/discount code field and click redeem. It will discount everything on the site, no exclusions!

The TCP Deets:
No code is needed! Everything in the store is 10% off!

The Verve Deets:
Save 10% on all everything Verve, no code needed!

If there's any items on your wish list at any of these companies, now is a great time to get them! You'll save some money and help out an amazing family. Thanks for reading!

Sweet Teacher Thank You!

Hello friends! Thank you so much for all your sweet comments about my big news. I am still super excited and am still up on cloud nine!

Today is my daughter's preschool graduation and I agreed to make cards for the teachers. Because I was a little crunched for time, I ended up making the same card for each of them (gasp - the shame!).

I used Fred Bear Graduates and paired him with some My Mind's Eye Quite Contrary paper to "girl" him up a little! I sewed around both panels and found that my Soft Sky ribbon matched really well. The layout is Karen's sweet Sunday sketch challenge from this week.

Well I'm off to pack a picnic lunch for our graduation picnic! Have a great day!

MFT July VIP Hop aka My Super Exciting News!

First off - could someone please pinch me??

If you've arrived here by way of Jody's blog you have an idea of why you're pinching me! I'm beyond excited and absolutely over the moon because I am one of the new designers for My Favorite Things!!

I have loved MFT for years and was floored when Kim and Jody called me. I feel so blessed and so incredibly grateful to join this amazing team! Insert warm fuzzies here!

This month's VIP kit is chock full of yummy stuff and lets you purchase the new set three weeks early! For my project, I decided to make an envelope album. My idea was that it can be given as a card and includes the seeds as goodies. I have a good friend who was generous enough to let me divide some of her plants before she moved to her new house - I thought this would make a nice thank you/new home card.

I used the new Who's That Gardening Girl which is this month's VIP set as well as a sentiment from the free Green Thumb mini set that's included free in this month's package. I also used Cosmo Cricket's Garden Variety paper which is also included in the package. And holy guacamole - wait till you see the ribbon! I can't wait to get my hands on some!

Here's the front. I love this image because you can swap out what's growing in the raised bed - there's five different options. I used foam boosters on only half of my image panel so that I could tuck the flap under the panel and use it to hold my book closed.

Here's a shot of the inside. Guess what kind of seeds are in the first pouch? Yup - peas! Matches the paper and all!

There are three pouches, the second contains carrot seeds (again with matching paper)

And the third pouch holds lettuce seeds (darn - no lettuce paper!). The pouches were made using a business envelope, sealing it, and then cutting it in half.

Here's a side view so you can see all the parts.

Look at all the goodness in July's VIP kit. It's available now but only while supplies last or until 11:59pm EST Wednesday. You can find it HERE.

Well folks - that's all she wrote! I'm the last stop of the hop so it's time for you to hop over to purchase your own kit! Thanks for hopping with us tonight.

Sketchy Sorry!

It's been so long since I've been able to play along with a challenge over at Splitcoast but last week I was able to squeak in the sketch challenge.

I used some Doodlebug scraps and added some stitching, brads, pearls, and ribbons. The stamps is a MFT Pure Innocence cutie called Flower Girl. There's a lot of dots going on in this card!

Well I'm keeping this short and sweet as I'm on my way to Preschool duty. Can't believe that preschool ends on Thursday (our elementary schools are still in until the 29th). I'll have the grad cards I made for the teachers to show you this week as well! Later taters!

Lucky Me!

Thought I'd take a quick sec. to post these awesome pics that Lesley took on Friday night when we all met up. I was lucky enough to spend Friday with Sherrie, helping out (I use that term loosely) at a couple of classes she was teaching at one of our local scrapbook stores. It was so great to hang out and chat!

And then we met up with two more amazing women for dinner (yummy Thai food). Lesley Langdon and Jen Roach all served on the CHF design team at the same time, and I was lucky enough to get to meet them. Amazingly we live in the same city and now I have some new stamping buddies. They're both super sweet and amazingly talented! I'm so blessed to have met them!

Lesley, Me, Jen, Sherrie

Thanks so much ladies - I had such a great time!

Beachy Mojo

Happy Saturday to you! I had such a great day yesterday - I got to hang out with Sherrie Siemens while she was here teaching copic classes, and then went out with her and some new stamping friends for dinner.

I made this card using another Pure Innocence stamp that I hadn't had a chance to use - Beach Bum. I used this week's Mojo Monday sketch for the layout and was able to incorporate lots of Die-namics goodies! I also tried to use lots of texture - cork and felt, as well as different stitching.

Hope you have a great weekend! We're off to a pancake breakfast with my daughter's preschool. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps: MFT Pure Innocence Beach Bum

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, copics, So Saffron

Paper: MFT Perfect Panel, Riding Hood Red cs, DCWV Citrus dsp

Accessories: MFT Die-namics Jumbo Scallop Die, Die-Namics Cloud Trio Die, Die-Namics Sunshine Die, Cork, Felt, Ribbon, Sewing Machine

Sketchy Emelia

Hey everyone! This is another one of those stamps that I recently got from Kraftin' Kimmie stamps and I've been dying to ink her up! A couple of weeks ago we saw the movie "Amelia" and it was pretty good but reminded me to dig her out.

I've used Jen's Sketch for you to try and paired her with an MFT sentiment (from Fred Bear in Flight). The paper is MME So Sophie and I used the cloud trio die-namics for the strip in the sketch.

I made this card for one of my besties who just launched her new business. I'm bursting with pride for her and thought I'd give her this card to show her.

Have a great day friends! See you soon and thanks for stopping by!

Card Positioning Systems Well Wishes

When I saw that MFT was sponsoring this week's sketch over at CPS, I knew that I wanted to play along. I love sketch challenges! I paired some Cosmo Cricket Material Girl paper with this Pure Innocence stamp that I hadn't used yet (gasp!).

You can't tell in the picture, but my sentiment banner is quite dimensional and is all wavy in real life. Here's the sketch for this week if you want to play along over on the CPS blog.

Well again this is short and sweet. We're getting new windows in our house today and I have to go take down some curtains and clear a path! I'm so excited (is that lame?)! See you soon!

Supplies:

Stamps: MFT Pure Innocence Happy Mail

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, copics

Paper: MFT Perfect Panel, Cosmo Cricket Material Girl dsp, Kraft, Baja Breeze, white cs

Accessories: Sewing Machine, MFT Die-Namics Scalloped Scallop die, trim, button, twine, foam boosters, Sakura Clear Glaze Pen

Rolled Flowers Card & Cake

Happy Monday friends! I have my son home from school today as he's ill so this will be short and sweet.

Today I have the last of my Stampin' Up samples to show you that I created for my Wow technique demonstration. My last flower embellishment was the rolled paper flower. Right around the same time that I did my demo, Joanne B. did an awesome video tutorial for Splitcoast Stampers. It can be found here. The main differences between hers and mine are that I used cardstock for mine and I used a pair of tweezers to roll my paper. This gave them a nice tight coil and has a different look than hers. I also skipped the pushing/distressing as I was going for a cleaner look.

The flower with petals was created by starting with a scalloped circle and then winding from the inside, instead of the outside. That way the petals end up on the last coil, instead of the first.

I also made a tealight candle and plopped some flowers on top. Again, since I made my samples, a tutorial was created for Splitcoast and can be found here.
Hope you have a wonderful day and thanks for stopping by!

Oooh la la!!

Is that a weird post title? Regardless, that's what this stamp makes me say! I got my first Kraftin' Kimmie stamps a while ago and haven't really had a chance to play with them yet. I absolutely love Monique! She's filling a hole in my stamp collection - I need a little more sauciness!

I had a very specific person in mind when I created this card - which gave me a direction to go with colours. The black patterned papers are old Basic Grey and the pink script is from Papertrey Ink. I used lots of Sakura Stardust pen on Monique's outfit and accessories - you can see the shimmer in the close up picture.
Well friends, hope you have a great weekend!! I'll be back Monday with a new card for you! Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps: Kraftin' Kimmie Monique

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, copics

Paper: MFT Perfect panel, Basic Grey Phresh & Phunky, Papetrey dsp, Melon mambo, black, white cs

Accessories: Oval and Scalloped Oval nestabilities, ribbon, rhinestone brads, foam boosters, Sakura Stardust pen

June Shop & Hop

Welcome to the MFT June Shop & Hop! All of the new stamp sets and Die-namics dies are now available for purchase right here. If you've just stumbled on my post then you'll want to go to the beginning of the hop at Kim's blog.

Tonight I'm showing you a card I made with this month's Triple Scoop set - Clearly Sentimental about Summer Vacation. The triple scoop set is one that you can't buy, you earn it for free with the purchase of 3 full sized sets (1 full size set is equal to two $9 sets). It will be available for purchase next month.

The first time I saw this particular sentiment I giggled out loud! I remember my two brothers and I sitting in the back seat on long road trips, fighting over who had to sit in the middle. With that memory fresh in my mind, I decided to recreate it! I used a car shape and mounted it over top of two Pure Innocence girls with foam boosters. I used cork for the bottom of the card and pleated some gingham ribbon over top. My sewing machine really wasn't very happy to sew through the cork - but as long as I fed the cork through, it sewed!

In addition to the Triple Scoop Set, you could also earn the Cherry On Top Reward. It's for the most loyal MFT fans. When you purchase 7 full-sized stamp sets ($15.95 or $17.95 price point), on top of earning the Triple Scoop set of the month, you'll also choose ANY set on the site for FREE.

Thanks for hopping by and for sticking with me! Don't forget that there's blog candy hidden along the way - but we're not telling you where. The more comments you leave, the better your chance of winning!

Your next step along the hop is the amazing Michele! I know she'll have something gorgeous and clever for you to drool over. Happy Shopping friends!

MFT Teasers - Who's That Geek Guy?

Welcome to the last day of MFT Teasers for the June release! All the stamps that have been previewed (14 sets) and the new Die-namics will be released tonight at 10pm EST. The shop & hop also kicks off at 10pm. For the couple of hours immediately before the release (8-10pm EST), there's a party in the MFT forum which includes prizes!

I am absolutely in love with this new Who's That Guy set! Have I mentioned that I work in I.T.? I have so many people that I could make cards for with this new set. It comes with a whole whack (there's that technical term again!) of sentiments and all are sized so they will fit on the t-shirt. Of course I love that if you leave the sentiment off, it can be any of the other men in my life as well (my hubby and father in law are not techie, but love their laptops).

I kept my card pretty simple since it is a guy card. I paper pieced the desk and his shirt and of course his arms and laptop so the dimension would be correct.

A list of all the designers posting teasers will be up on Kim's blog after 11am EST. Hope to see you tonight at the release party! Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps: MFT Who's That Geek Guy (releasing tonight)

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, copics

Paper: MFT Perfect Panel, Cosmo Cricket Joy Ride, black, so saffron cs

Accessories: Brads, foam boosters

MFT Teasers - Jolinne

Welcome to Day 4 of MFT Teasers for the June release. Today I'm showing you Jolinne All Dressed Up.

I coloured her up with my copics and paired her with some Basic Grey Kiyoshi paper. I also used the scallop scalloped die-namics. I absolutely love how easy these are to layer. The layout comes from Karen's Sweet Sunday sketch challenge although I've changed it ever so slightly. I also layered a ribbon rose with a Prima flower as I thought it suited this image. I coloured her shoes and bag with a very light pink copic and then covered them with a Sakura Stardust pen to make them seem gold. I used a Heidi Swapp flower jewel in her hair.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Kim will have a list of designers showing teasers today on her blog at 11:00am EST. There's another Jolinne being released this month too - make sure you check her out! See you later taters!

Supplies:

Stamps: MFT Jolinne All Dressed Up (being released Wed. night)

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, copics

Paper: MFT Perfect Panel, Kraft, Basic Grey Kiyoshi dsp

Accessories: MFT Scalloped Scallop Die-namics, Ribbon, Labels 11 Nestabilities, Glittered Garnishes, Sewing Machine, Prima flower, Sakura Stardust Pen, Heidi Swapp Flower Jewel