MFT January Creative Challenge - For the Guys!

Welcome to MFT's January Creative Challenge.  This month we're focusing on cards for the guys in our lives.  This was perfect timing for me as my husband's birthday was yesterday so I took the opportunity to kill two birds with one stone.  

I pulled my trusty Well Worn Greetings Die-namics and stamp set out.  My own personal rule of thumb when creating masculine cards is "texture, texture, and more texture".  I love denim, twill, woodgrain, and anything distressed on a "guy" card.  So I used the denim pattern stamp and also cut some real denim with the Simply Scallops Large die.  You can never go wrong with metal on a guy card so I added lots of brads too.    

For the inside of the card, I spelled out my Happy Birthday To You message using the By The Numbers stamp set and die and the By The Letters die.  There's that woodgrain again on the number 2 - I love that you can customize the numbers this way (and will do double duty for customizing your letters too!).

I hope you'll hop over to the MFT blog to check out what the other incredibly talented MFT designers have cooked up for you!  I know it will be awesome!  Thanks for stopping by.

January Sketch For You To Try

Welcome back for a new year of sketches with Sketch For You To Try!  I'm so excited to be back with my sketch sisters creating for you with the awesome sketches Jen has drawn up.  And they are awesome!  

This month we are sponsored by The Cat's Pyjamas.  Although I don't own many of their stamps, I'm head over heels with their cute characters and the fabulous quality!  I decided to take this adorable bunny from Away We Go out for a spin.  I coloured him up with my copics and paired him with some MME Lime Twist papers.  Once I had my image picked, I knew that I wanted to use cloud paper for the upper panel, so it was just a matter of digging through my stash til I found some!

I stayed pretty true to the sketch and didn't add a ton of embellishment.  I did however cut both the balloon and the bunny's ear out of the circle using the "out of the box" technique.  I just love the added visual interest this technique adds.

His cute little nose just begged for some Sakura clear glaze pen so I gave him a couple of coats!

Here's January's sketch!  I hope you'll play along and enter your creation over on Jen's blog.  There's a huge prize package you can be eligible for if you complete every sketch this year.  One sketch a month - easy no?

And don't forget to check out the rest of the sketch sisters to see what awesomeness they've created for you as well!

• Amber Hight
• Amy Sheffer
• Becky Carafa
• Carole Burrage
• Iwona Palamountain
• Jen Tapler
• Jodi Collins
• Kerry Johnson
• Megan Lock
• Susan Liles

Kraftin' Kimmie Challenge - Shape Up!

Happy Saturday!  It's a busy day here on my blog - you'll definitely want to come back after 11am to see 2012's first Sketch For You To Try.

In the meantime, I'm so glad it's time to re-start our Kraftin' Kimmie challenges as I've missed them!  All the details can be found over on the Kraftin' Kimmie challenge blog as well as samples from all the fabulous Krafty Girls.  Sharon is our hostess this week and she's challenged us to SHAPE UP!  And by that she means to use 3 different shapes on your card.  

I chose to colour up this sweet girl from Cheryl Alger's Sugar & Spice set.  I paired her with some Echo Park Yours Truly papers and paper pieced her balloon.  So let's see....did I make the grade?  I spy a rectangle, heart, and an oval!  Yippee - I passed!

I used some pink adhesive rhinestones all over my card but I'm especially fond of these three that I used for buttons on her dress.

I also gave her cute little Mary Janes a couple of coats with my Sakura Clear Glaze pen to make them shiny and more patent-like.  

I hope you'll come play along with us over on the challenge blog as you could win free stamps!  Thanks so much for stopping by!

A New Year! MFT Wednesday Stamp Club!

It's time again for MFT's Wednesday Stamp Club sketch challenge.  Since it's a new year we're on to sketch #53 and in keeping with one of my goals for this year, I was able to play along.  

My birthday card stash was in need of replenishing so I pulled out one of my very first Pure Innocence stamps - My Balloon.  I paired her with some My Mind's Eye Kraft Funday papers and some pink and blue cardstock to lighten the darker Kraft papers up.  I coated the balloon with my Sakura clear glaze pen.  I used the larger die in the Open Scallop Doily Duo Die-namics for my second circle and I also used one of the flags from the First Place Award Ribbon Die-namics for my sentiment.  

Remember, you can get all the details by visiting the MFT Blog and the MFT forum on SCS (look for the most recent WSC thread). You'll need to upload your card in the SCS gallery using the keyword shown on the sketch. You will have the chance to win up to $20 in MFT money. One winner is chosen at random each week! 


Oh and have you heard?  MFT is having an end of year WSC party?  If you've played along at all this year (even just once) go HERE to register.  We're celebrating and giving out prizes!  How cool is that?  The deadline for registering is Jan. 7th so head over now!

MFT New Product Tour - At The Movies

Welcome to the MFT New Product Tour for the January release!  All the fabulous new stamps and dies are now available in the MFT store - right HERE.  I'm so glad you've joined up along this tour - this is your chance to see all the stamps and dies one last time.  To see links to all the designers, you'll want to check Kim's blog and you'll definitely want to leave comments as you go as one lucky person will win a gift voucher to the MFT store.  

I created a quick project for you using the new At The Movies die and stamp set.  I absolutely love this new set and know that I will get lots of use out of it.  I confess that my favorite part is the little popcorn box die and the accompanying stamps.  I just love that element!  And won't it coordinate fabulously with both the Who's That Girl Chick Flick and Pure Innocence Popping By stamp sets??

I used some older My Mind's Eye papers and made a card and a popcorn pull treat.  I also pulled out the Mini Film Strip Die-namics since it matched so well.  

The card is pretty straightforward.  The popcorn and ticket stamps were super easy to match up with the die cuts.  When I'm stamping solid images like these my go to black ink is Versafine Onyx Black.  I love that it dries quickly but is a thicker ink and has great coverage.

I found the directions for the pull treat over on Splitcoast Stampers and just added a stamped panel and some dies to decorate the pouch.

Here's a picture of what happens when you pull the ribbon.  I love this pouch because you don't even need to untie the ribbon at the top.

Thanks so much for stopping by.  I hope you've enjoyed this last week of teasers as much as I enjoyed creating the projects.  I appreciate all your visits and comments!  Have fun shopping!

MFT Pre-release Pep Rally - Berry Sweet

Now that we've teased and tempted you all week long, it's almost time for you to shop for your favorite Brand Spankin' New products from MFT. But first... it's time for our Die-namics Feature and Pre-Release Pep Rally! Our Design Team has been busy creating jaw-dropping and inspiring projects for you, and we've saved the best for last. 

We've taken an in-depth look at this month's Die-namics, while re-visiting the amazing sets being released tonight at 10 PM EST RIGHT HERE in the MFT Boutique. And while we are at it, how about we make your life even easier with a "cheat sheet" of all that's new?  Head over to the MFT Blog to print out a shopping list. 

I made up a little project using Pure Innocence Berry Sweet.  I decided to create an explosion box (I found the directions in the resources section on Splitcoast Stampers) and put a Berry Box inside as the surprise.  I also made a matching card.

The card uses Karen's Sweet Sunday sketch challenge from this week as well as some Jillibean Soup papers.  I used the new Jumbo Monarch Border Die-namics for the vertical element in my sketch.

Here's the top of my explosion box.  I used the smallest die in the new Oval Decorative Doily Duo Die-namics and layered it with the oval from the Well Worn Greetings Die-namics.  To make the strawberry for the top, I cut one panel off of the Berry Box Die-namics and rounded the top.  Then I cut the stem portion of the die in half and rounded the top of it as well.  I thought it looked kind of cute as a box topper.

Once you remove the lid of the box, it pops open (thus why it's called an "explosion" box) and you can see my berry box inside.

I also stamped a sentiment from the set in both black and red ink (by selectively inking) and adhered it to the bottom of my box.

And here's a close-up of the new Berry Box - isn't it cute?  I love the debossed seeds!

Here are the details about the upcoming release on January 3rd at 10 PM EST:

• You can attend the New Release Party on January 3rd 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 January 3rd at 10 PM EST.  You'll find all the newest products HERE at release time.
• You have just a few more hours to submit your entry for this month's guest designer contest.  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 designers' posts 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 January 3rd just before the release party, on the MFT blog.

MFT Teasers - Pure Innocence Paper Dolls

Happy Monday!  Hope you're having a wonderful start to 2012!  Today is Pure Innocence teaser day - one of my favorite MFT teaser days.  We have 6 fabulous new sets this month and I've chosen Paper Dolls to share with you.

I paired this sweet girl up with some Basic Grey Picadilly papers and coloured her up with my copics.  I used Y13, Y15, and Y18 for her dress on X-Press It blending cardstock.  I cut her out and mounted her on a square panel that's part of a layout from this month's Dirty Dozen sketch over at Splitcoast.  I added a border cut with the new Paper Doll Border Die-namics and I also used the same die to cut my yellow panel so that I could feature the negative portion of the die as well.  In order to not fully cut the paper on the right side, I used a thick chipboard shim (which the die was not able to cut through in my Cuttlebug - this may not work in a machine with better pressure like the BigShot or the Vagabond) to stop the die from cutting after the 7th doll.  

Here's a close up showing you how I used the negative portion of the die on this panel.  

And here you can see the Paper Doll border die peeking out from behind the orange panel.  

Here are the details about the upcoming release on January 3rd at 10 PM EST:

• You can attend the New Release Party on January 3rd 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 January 3rd 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 January 3rd just before the release party, on the MFT blog.

MFT Teasers - Dip Me In Chocolate à la mode

Happy New Year!!  Did you have a great time ringing in 2012?  This is going to be a fabulous year - I can just feel it!  And what better way to start the New Year than with another MFT Teaser.  Today we have two new à la modes to show you and I picked the one that appealed to my sweet tooth!

This is Dip Me In Chocolate à la mode and she is pretty much my idea of heaven!  LOL!  I'm a bit of chocoholic and would love to find a chocolate bar that big.  I've never met a chocolate I didn't like!  I stamped her out on X-Press It blending cardstock and coloured her with my copics.  I cut her out and stuck her over top of the original Oval Decorative Doily die and the largest die in the new Oval Decorative Doily Duo.  The oval in the middle of the doilies were cut using the smallest layer of the Well Worn Greetings Die-namic - it was a perfect fit!  I love how all my dies play nice together!

I was going for a clean and simple look to this card.  I'm not so sure I achieved the simple part, but I think the design is pretty clean.  The layout is a Mojo Monday layout from a couple of weeks ago but I veered quite a bit from the sketch in the end.  The papers are all BoBunny Snowfall (that I got from Lora at One Crazy Stamper - thanks Lora!).  

Here's a detail photo showing you that I coated the chocolate bar with a Sakura Clear Glaze pen.  I also used the Sakura Stardust pen over top of the wrapper.  I was aiming for a gold wrapper so I coloured first in Y21, Y26, and Y28 and then coated it with the Stardust pen.

For the inside, I stamped my sweet toothed friend again in Memento Rich Cocoa (how appropriate!) and another sentiment from the set next to it.  I ran a strip of patterned paper through my Cuttlebug with the new Jumbo Monarch border Die-namics and adhered it to the top.  

Here are the details about the upcoming release on January 3rd at 10 PM EST:

• You can attend the New Release Party on January 3rd 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 January 3rd 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 January 3rd just before the release party, on the MFT blog.