World Map - Take 2

Hello!

(Whoa, three posts in three days?  YES!)

I kind of had a momentary love affair with PTI's World Map stamp... and it's quite possibly my new favourite stamp, EVER.  Also, I stuck with MFT's WSC Sketch #108, 'cause, well.. if it ain't broke, don't fix it, right?!  (I made this so soon after the other one, I don't think the VersaMark even had time to dry on the stamp! lol)

Check it:

Supplies Used:
Stamps:  PTI "World Map", "Tiny Treats: Valentine"
Paper:  PTI True Black, Soft Stone, Soft Stone Bitty Dot
Dies:  PTI "Photo Finish Strips
Other:  Studio Calico Wood Veneer Hearts, Pink Chevron Washi Tape, Distress Stain (Weathered Wood), PTI Hibiscus Burst Ink, American Crafts Neon Zing Embossing Powders

Neon Rainbow World Map... *swoon*

The map is heat embossed with Zing neon EPs on a black panel, which is then mounted on a Soft Stone mat & adhered to a black base.  Add a little pink chevron Washi tape here, a little Studio Calico wood veneer heart there, and a die-cut Soft Stone bitty dot sentiment strip, and you've got yourself a card!  (Easy peasy, lemon squeezy!)

I'm off to see what else I can come up with...

Have a great day!
Steph

CAS2: Day 1

Hello, hello!
(This is my second post today, hence the double greeting!)

Online Card Classes has just kicked off their Clean and Simple 2 card class, and I thought I'd take part in it this time around... the first one looked like it had been pretty awesome, and I didn't want to miss out again!  :)

Today's lesson was all about craftsmanship and various tips & tricks, and for our 'homework' tonight we were to choose one of the sketches provided and put those tips & tricks to good use!

I'm kind of pumped that I finally got to use Lawn Fawn's "Lovin' Breakfast" set!  The little toaster is heat embossed on shimmery silver cardstock, and the toast is heat embossed in brown on kraft.

Time for me to head to bed...
Laters!
Steph

MFT WSC Sketch #108

Hello!

I finally had a chance to play along with MFT's Wednesday Stamp Challenge - Sketch #108...and by 'finally', I mean I've been trying to play along since the WSC's inception!  (It's about time!)

Here's the sketch:

And here's my take on it:

Supplies Used:
Stamps:  PTI "World Map", "Heart-2-Heart #11",, "Destination"; Simon Says Stamp "Plenty of Hearts"
Dies:  Simon Says Stamp "Large Hearts"
Cardstock:  PTI "Classic Kraft", "Ripe Avocado"
Other:  Distress Stains (Peeled Paint, Broken China), Filligree Clear Embossing Powder, PTI Rustic Jute Button Twine, eyelets

You know those cards that sort of take on a life of their own?  Yeah.  This actually started out with the intention of being my father-in-law's birthday card... before any hearts were added, of course!  I had the Heart-2-Heart stamp set sitting out, and the sentiment caught my eye....and that was the end of the birthday card!  The accent hearts are from Simon Says Stamp's "Plenty of Hearts" set - ummm, woodgrain hearts?!  *love!*  I heat embossed the map image with clear ep, then messed around with Distress Stains to get the colour on it.   I can't really explain the eyelets & twine... in the end, I thought they resembled some sort of system to hang the map on the wall...turned out kind of funky, and I like it, either way! The green panel is stamped with the swirly trail image from PTI's "Destination" set, and then popped up.... and that was that! 

Have a great day!

Steph

MFT February Guest Designer Contest

Hello there!

Long time, no see... but guess what?!  It'll be that way no more!  The kids are all finally sleeping through the night, and all in bed early enough in the evening that I have time to play WITHOUT having to stay up until the wee hours of the morning!  YAY!  (Haaa.... Here's hoping I didn't just jinx that!)

Since I haven't made anything just for the fun of it over the last year, I thought it was high time that changed... and playing along with MFT was the perfect place to start!  I have quite a few of their stamps & dies (and have had them for some time now), and couldn't wait to get into them.

Want to see?  Sure you do; why else would you be here?! (hehe)

Supplies Used:
Stamps:  My Favorite Things "Who's That Birthday Girl", "Who's That Girl All Wrapped Up" (I can't find a link to that set - retired, perhaps?)
Dies:  MFT Mini Rolled Roses, MFT Sentiment Strips, MFT Leafy Flourish, Spellbinders Classic & Scalloped Ovals Large, PTI Small Scalloped Border
Paper:  Echo Park "Sweet Day"
Cardstock:  PTI Stamper's Select White
Copic Markers:  E00, E11, YR000, YR01, YR02
Other:  Buttercream Baker's Twine (the Twinery), Gold Stickles

I decided to combine the bottom half of the Birthday Girl with the present in All Wrapped Up (simple masking), and then paper-pieced the gift & her skirt.  Not much Copic action on this one - just her legs/hands, and a bit of shading on the gift & skirt.  The sentiment strip is wrapped around the edge of the card front for a bit of a different effect.  Despite having an entire cupboard full of flowers, I couldn't seem to find the 'right' ones, so I broke out the MFT Mini Rolled Rose dies and made my own; I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised there.  It was WAY easier than I was anticipating!  

I'm a little rusty, but it'll do.  (Haa... this is the most labour-intensive card I've made since...before I was pregnant the last time - like, before July 2011!)  Thank goodness there was a sketch to follow - I love having that little bit of 'stucture' to start out with!  (Thanks for the awesome one, MFT!)

I didn't have any small tag dies/punches, and the sentiment strip die was calling my name...hopefully my sentiment/flower/flourish cluster will be okay!

Well, I'm off... thanks for stopping by & have a great day!

  ~Steph

For the Children...

I know I haven't posted in a very. long. time... what can I say?  Life with three littles means crafting time is severely limited - unless I can find a way to survive with no sleep.  (Yeah, not gonna happen.)

I did come here to let you all know (if 'you all' actually still read this blog!) that Amber at Damask Love has had the brilliant idea to organize a fundraiser for the surviving children of Newton, Connecticut.  Her goal is to compile at least 50 creative kits to help the children affected by this tragedy to cope through art.

Please see Amber's post HERE for more details on her Drawn Together campaign.

Hug your babies tight, folks.
Steph

Go Confidently...

...in the direction of your dreams - Live the life you've imagined... (Thoureau)

That's what the quote says on this card.  I was just (finally) playing around with Echo Park's So Happy Together line, saw that sticker, and thought I'd make my sister a card.  She's just recently moved into her own home, and I'm pretty sure she will appreciate getting some mail that ISN'T a bill!

Supplies:

Cardstock:  Hawaiian Shores (PTI)
Papers:  So Happy Together Collection Kit (Echo Park)
Miscellaneous:  Hawaiian Shores Satin Dot Ribbon, Pure Poppy Button (PTI),  Lemondrop Twine (The Twinery),  Misc. Pearl & Stick Pins

 And look - no stamping.  Or colouring.  (Well, except for the pins - they were white, but I coloured them with a YG17 Copic)  All in all, a fairly quick card... which is really all I've been able to make since March!  (Boy, it's taken awhile to adjust to having 3 kids!)  I can honestly say, I'm happy the girls are ready for school - because I'm ready for it, too!  :)

Have a great day,
Steph!

Oh, hey - look!

Awesome - looks like a project I made for PSA Essentials last year is being featured on their blog today.  You can check it out HERE!

(I would have added a photo, but Blogger's being a pain in the arse today and won't let me.)

The Twinery Baker's Twine - SALE!

EDITED TO ADD:
Someone mentioned the links don't work; it appears they go to the GroopDealz offer for paper straws when I click them - to get to the twine, you need to scroll down a bit and click the 'view deal' button under the photo of the twine in the right sidebar on the GD site.  Hope that helps!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anyone in need of some yummy Baker's Twine from The Twinery, but not willing to pay $14.99/spool + $3.50 shipping (and an additional $1.50 per spool after that)?!

GroopDealz is offering 6 of The Twinery's colours for only $8/spool + $2 shipping (and $1 for each additional spool)!!!

(Photo from the GroopDealz site)

Colours Available:  Maraschino, Mandarin, Lemondrop, Peapod, Denim & Lilac

If you bought all 6 direct from The Twinery, you'd be paying $89.94 + $11 shipping - so, $100.94, or $16.82/spool...

If you bought all 6 through GroopDealz, you'd be paying $48 + $7 shipping - so, $55 or $9.17/spool!

How awesome is that?!

Happy shopping!
Steph

Party Favours!

Ooops - made these back in November for a friend.  She needed party favours for her daughter's 7th birthday party and didn't like anything at Claire's... so glad she wound up asking me to come up with something, because it sure was fun making these!

Supplies Used:
Cardstock:  PTI Rustic White
Stamps:  PTI Button Boutique
Ink:  SU! Elegant Eggplant
Dies:  PTI Button Card, Tiny Tags, Leaf Prints, Signature Series: Flower, Star Prints
Other:  PTI Felt (Hawaiian Shores, Autumn Rose, Simply Chartreuse); The Twinery Caribbean Twine; PTI  Plum Pudding Vintage Button; Robin's Nest Dew Drop - Metallic Teal

Pretty simple - cut & stamp the button card, cut a slit to slip the hair clip in to...  I put the whole thing into a little open-top bag (pretty sure they came out of the Wilton-type aisle in HL or M's) and punched two holes through the top; threaded that with baker's twine, added a stamped Tiny Tag, and called 'er done!

Hope y'all are having a great day - I'll be back (hopefully sooner than later) with all sorts of new stuff!  Lots going on around here, both with the monsters and craft-wise... life is good!

Laters,
Steph

Two Posts in One Day?!

I know, right?!  I had a chance this afternoon to play along with Deconstructed Sketch #49, and it turns out they're doing a Guest DT call with this sketch as well, so I figured I'd throw my name in.  I love Jen's sketches & doing a guest stint is just the kick in the pants I need to get back into the swing of things!  (Anyone else have a hard time making a card just to make one?  If I don't have a reason/deadline to make something, I find it falls by the wayside - and that sucks! lol)

Anyway, enough jibber-jabber... here's my card:

Supplies Used:
Cardstock:  Fine Linen (PTI)
Patterned Paper:  Summer Soul (Fancy Pants)
Stamp:  Sending You (PTI)
Dies:  Delightful Doilies, Wine Bottle Tag, Love Lives Here (PTI)
Other:  Rustic Jute Button Twine, Sweet Blush Vintage Button (PTI)

See the patterned butterfly?  I fussy cut a few of the surfboards out of one of the papers in the pad, and turned them into something I could actually use!  (Living in Manitoba = not a whole lot of surfing going on!)

I'm off to the in-laws with the littlest one as soon as she finishes eating... the two bigger munchkins are already over there hanging out with the cousins, and have been all afternoon - so it was nice & quiet here for a bit!  (Yay!)

Hope you're having a great Sunday!
Steph