Summer 2017 Coffee Lovers Blog Hop!

Hello everyone!
Ahhh.... I almost missed out on making a card for the Summer Coffee Lovers Blog Hop.  I don't know how I dazed on this event because I have been following it for a while; also because I love coffee!  I think I have been super busy with my nieces and nephews that I lost sight of it, but I did manage to put up a card today for it.  A simple one layered wonder.  I quickly went through my stash of stamps and had a few cards in mind.  I finally was able to purchase a few coffee related stamps, although there are a few more on my wish list. :P  When I rolled around to MFT's Beast Friend with the mug I immediately was drawn to it.  I figured I could do a small scene with the image with an Amy R. sentiment stamp.  I love Amy R's sentiment stamps, too bad she no longer makes/sells them. :( I have been looking out for them in destash groups.  I stamped the main image in Simon Says Intense Black ink and luckily I had a mask made for it from a previous card; I save all my masks for the stamp sets for such occasions, so I don't have to make masks for them over again.  Once I masked the image I stamped a few trees.  I decided to use my Prismacolor pencils today to color them in.  It has been a lot of fun playing and coloring with them.  Once I finished coloring the images I used my stamped my sentiment with Simon Says Black ink, which is a great black ink for sentiments.  Hope you like my card.

My Favorite Things: Tweet Wishes

Hello everyone!
I totally forgot to do a blog post for the card I posted on my Instagram yesterday, so here it is.  :)  I will be featuring MFT's Tweet Wishes.  I recently received a wonderful gift from my boyfriend that I am beyond grateful for.  I have been wanting to try my hand at color pencils because of all the beautiful cards crafty guru's like Nicole Spohr and Sandy Allnock have been making with them.  I received a large package of Prismacolor Pencils in the mail last week and wanted to create a card using them.  From what I gather the color payoff is most present on craft card stock; luckily I had one piece of 4.25 x 5.5 in my stash, which means I will be adding craft card stock to my list of supplies I need to purchase.  This card was definitely not planned out, I was working at what I wanted to do as I was making the card.  I used my MISTI to stamp two images from the Tweet Wishes stamp set; I also made a mask for the owl because I wanted the tree behind it.  I used various colors of blue, yellow, green, and browns to color the images.  I had no idea where to start with the colors because I have not made swatches for all the colors I have (I still need to do this).   I looked up on google which shades would blend well with each other.  Once I was done I used MFT's Scallops Basic Edge dies to cut the edge of the craft cardstock as well as another edge from white cardstock. .  I used a pattern paper from my stash that seemed to go with the geometric shape of the owl I used.  I popped up my image panel with fun foam.  I used one of the sentiment from the set and stamped it with Versafine Onyx Black.  I hope you like my simple card.  :)

My Favorite Things: Thank you for loving me...

Hello everyone!
Today I will be featuring MFT's Sweet Succulents and Happy Hedgehogs.  I recently got my hands on Sweet Succulents and wanted to create a card with the stamp set.  I automatically thought it would pair nice with Happy Hedgehogs with its prickly spins.  I haven't had much time to make cards lately so I did something nice and simple.  I stamped and made masks for all the pots so that I could put the cacti stamps into the pots using Simon Says Intense Black Ink.  I chose a hedgehog that I wanted to use for the card and stamped that as well.  I Copic colored the images and fussy cut it out.  I then used MFT's grid stencil to create a light background with Hickory Smoke Distress ink.  I position the cacti plants where I wanted and glue them down.  I popped up my hedgehog image to the front.  I then used my Copic Markers to create some grounding for the plants so it did not look like they were floating.  I chose the sentiment from Sweet Succulents and heat embossed it with fine detail white embossing powder by Ranger on black card Stock.  I used some matching sequins to finish the card.  Hope you like my card! :)

My Favorite Things: Owen's 1st Birthday

Hello everyone!
Today, I will be featuring MFT's Beary Special Birthday.  My brother asked me to make a card for his friend son's 1st birthday.  I have been having a lot of fun with pop up cards, so I decided to make another pop-up card using the method I showed in the previous post.  First I stamped my images with Simon Says Intense Black ink which is Copic friendly as I wanted to use my Copics to color the images.  I then created my pop-up tabs for each of my images.  I distressed inked the inside background with Salty Ocean and Tumbled Glass.  After which I water down some distress colors that were close to the colors I colored the images to splatter onto the background.  For the front of the card, I decided to keep it fairly simple by cutting out "OWEN" and distressing it with Candy Apple in an ombre style.  I also die cut a few balloons and distressed them with Mustard Seed, Abandoned Coral, and Shaded Lilac.  I used one of the balloons for the front on my card with the number 1 distressed in Salty Ocean along with an image I colored.  The other two balloon I used for the inside of the card and drew some strings.  I hope you like the card I created.

Mama Elephant: Happy Happy Birthday!

Hello everyone!
Today I will be featuring a few Mama Elephant stamp sets, which include Party Animal, Lunar Animals, and Little Dog Agenda.  I wanted to re-create a card I had made a few weeks earlier with a few little tweeks, a big one being the scene would be placed inside the card as a pop up.  I do not own any pop up dies so I had to improvise and experiment a bit.  I know the traditional pop up involves quite a bit of layers of card stock to create the pop up element.  I figured there has to be another way to making a pop up without all the layers of card stock so I played around with making tiny open ended rectangular boxes to hold up the card and how I could position them to flatten and pop up.  I did this but cutting up four 3 x 1 strip of light weight card stock and scoring/folding the strip every 1/2 an inch.  I then folded the end flaps towards the center and flipped to adhered to the inside of my card aligning the middle score with the crease of the card stock.  I did the for the two corners of my first and second layer of the pop up.  I constructed one out of scrap card stock as an example piece.

Once I had the structure of the pop up thought out and organized, I was able to start on the elements of my card.  I used a hillside boarder and grassy boarder die to cut out elements of my pop up in white card stock.  I then used distress inks in Pine Needle, Shabby Shutters, Mowed Lawn, and Twisted Citron to ink blend the hill and grass pieces.  I then stamped out quite a few critters and elements for the card using my MISTI.  I Copic colored the images and fussy cut them out.  Once my elements were complete I was able to start putting together the pop up.  When I was done putting everything together I realized the outside of the card seemed a bit plain as I had not decided weather I wanted to do anything with it.  I had some quite a few colored critters left over so I thought I could do a simple front of the card.  I then realized the card was a bit bulky from the pop up so I made a band out of pattern paper to enclose the card with a heat embossed sentiment.   I hope you like my card. :)

MarkerPop Challenge 122: Seashells by the Seashore

Hello everyone!
I am super exited about this one because MarkerPop asked me to be a Guest Designer for this bi-weekly challenge! Thank you MarkerPop for allowing me this opportunity.  If you would like to get more details on this challenge go to their blog here.  This bi-weekly challenge is a color challenge using a color pallet with the theme of Sea Shell by the Sea Shore. You have to use a minimum of 3 of the colors on the pallet.

When I saw the pallet and theme I knew I wanted to do a beach themed card.  I do not have much shell, beach, or ocean themed stamp sets, but I improvised and experimented.  I went through my stamp sets picked ones that would work; MFT's Hog Heaven, Up in the Air, and Adorable Elephants as well as Mama Elephant's Little Agenda Dog.  I knew I would have to alter the main stamp images a bit to make it more of a beach theme. I used a scratch paper to plan out my lay out, where I wanted the sandy shore and ocean as well as my images. When I had my layout sketch out, I was worried that there was a lot of empty space.  I had to figure out a way to make sure the ocean would stand out as to not draw to the empty space.  

I used my MISTI to stamp my images onto my card stock and made masks for the images as I wanted to distress my background.  I used my sketch sheet as masks for my ocean, sandy shore, and sky. First masked the ocean so that I could work on the sandy shore by using distress inks (Old Paper and Frayed Burlap).  Then I maksed the Sandy Shore and sky so that I could work on the ocean using distress inks (Seedless Preserve, Blueprint Sketch, Broken China, and Cracked Pistachio).  For the sky, I used Tumbled Glass and a stencil I made from Lawn Fawn's Puffy cloud boarder to create a cloudy sky.  I then used MFT's Radiating Rays stencil with distress inks (Squeezed Lemonaid and Mustard Seed) to create some sun shine in the sky.  

Once all my distressing was done I pulled all the masks off my images.  I thought my images could be a bit more beachy, so I sketched on some swim ware for my critters and used my Copic multi-liner to outline my sketch as the pen is Copic friendly and will not smudge when I color the images in.  I Copic colored the images and put a bit more detail on the sand.  I used MFT's Adorable Elephants for the sentiment, which I stamped with Versifine Onyx Black and Heat set with clear ink.  Hope you like my card.  And Thank You again Markerpop for putting on such great challenges and allowing me to Guest Design for this Challenge.

Also, MarkerPop is having a great summer giveaway for Challenge #122 & #123 (which are the challenges for the month of June.  To Play/Enter for the giveaway package, go like their FB & IG pages and share the information about this giveaway with your project to your Social Media account with the hashtag #mpsummerfun.  The prize package is: Penny Black Summer Fun Paper Pad, Avery Elle’s Cool Treats Stamp Set, Sunny Studios Perfect Popsicle Set and Distress Oxide Inks in Worn Lipstick and Broken China.  Such a great package!

Paper Smooches & Mama Elephant: Happy Mail

Hello everyone!
I'm here with another card combining stamp sets by Paper Smooches, Mama Elephant, and Simon Says Stamp.  I used Paper Smooches' Itty Bitty, Mama Elephant's Happy Mail, and Simon Says Stamp's Happy Mail stamp sets.  When I started this card I knew I wanted to use Mama Elephant's stamp set; at first I thought about doing a watercolor background, but in the mist of laying out my design and grabbing some stamp sets I wanted to use the design changed.  I am also a bit intimidated by water coloring as I am not that good at it.  Once I saw the Itty Bitty stamp set I knew I wanted to make a scene for the card.  I stamped with Simon Says Intense Black Ink and Copic colored the images.  I then fussy cut the images to lay out on my card so I could figure out where the areas I wanted to distress.  I used post it note and scratch paper to cover the areas I did not want to get inking.  For the grassy area I used Mowed Lawn/Twisted Citron, the Sky I used Salty Ocean/Tumbled Glass, and the pavement/driveway I used Pumice Stone/Hickory Smoke.  When I finished distressing my areas I then stamped my sentiment from the Simon Says Stamp set on black card stock with embossing ink and heat set it with Rangers Fine Detail White embossing powder.  I fussy cut the sentiment.  I then glued my images onto the card and popped up the panda and mailbox.  I used my Spectrum Noir glitter pen in clear to put some sparkly goodness on the mail.  Hope you like my card. :)

My Favorite Things: Mission Control, I Need the Balloon

Hello Everyone!

Today I will be featuring another one layered wonder using MFT's Space Explorer stamp set,  I was super happy when I got the stamp set in the mail on Friday.  I've been wanting the set since it came out two releases ago.  I had a couple ideas in mind and was sketching out one on a scratch paper, but that one didn't work out too well (I want to come back to that one in the future because I like the idea, just need to tweek it). Then I decided to do another one layered card because the one I did last week was so much fun to make.  I started by picking the images I wanted to use and laid it  out on the card panel.  The idea for this card is that the astronaut boy is "running" after a balloon to take home with him for a birthday.  At first I thought I would not have enough images on my card and was afraid I wasn't going to use enough card space; with what I wanted to do with ink blending it would be extremely difficult to add any other images later, but I kept with images I had laid out.  I used my MISTI to stamp the images with Simon Says Stamp Intense Black Ink because I wanted to Copic color them and wanted a very dark stamped outline, which is a benefit of using the MISTI.  I then created masks for each of my images as well as the shape of my moon.  Once I masked everything, I used Distress Inks (Mustard Seed, Picked Raspberry, Salty Ocean, and Chipped Sapphire) to ink blend my sky. 

Now comes the fun part, I used some water to splatter on the sky to create the distress look, then I took some white acrylic paint, watered it down to splatter all over.  The white paint really brings everything to life.  Well the white paint also brought my floors to life as well.  :P  I was using a box to cover the splatter, but I guess I was having a bit too much fun.

I then took my heat gun to dry the sky background, so that I could it off to work on the Moon.  I used a similar technique in distressing, but wanted the edge where the moon meets the sky to be defined.  I used Pumice Stone for most of the moon and then went back in on the edges with Hickory Smoke to define edge.  Once I was done distressing I used some water to splatter.  When I unmasked everything, I thought there was something missing from the moon, so i used my Copic markers to draw in some rocks.  I hope you like the card I created.  

My Favorite Things: Up, Up, Up Scenes

Hello Everyone!
Happy Mother's day! Today I will be featuring two cards using MFT's Up in the Air.  The first, my co-worker had asked me to make a graduation card for her cousin who is graduating from USC.  I started by laying out my design on the card base and figuring out what I wanted to do.  I find I have been a bit more organized when I do this.

Once I figured out my layout, I cut out my matting for the card.  I used the USC colors for the matting, while I was at it, I die cut my hill as well as using MFT's basic stitch lines (I used the regular stitch) to put stitching around my main card piece. I then stamped out my images with Simon Says Intense Black Ink as I wanted to Copic color my images.  I tried to incorporate some more of the USC colors on the images.  Once I finished coloring I fussing cut the images out.  I then used Distress Inks (Mowed Lawn and Twisted Citron) to ink blend my boarder hill.  I then used Tumbled Glass to ink blend some clouds out onto the main card.  Most of the images were glued down flat, however, I popped up the balloon image.  I stamped a sentiment with Versafine Onyx Black and embossed with clear ink.

My next card was a labor of love.  I really wanted to do a one layered card with the same stamp set and had an idea of what I wanted to do.  At first I was toying with the sky color; did I want to do a cloud sky? I do like the look of the cloud sky but I wanted to do something a bit different for this card, so I google searched sky at different times in the day and I loved the sun set sky and wanted to mimic it.  I started by laying out my card by stamping the images on a scrap piece of paper and labeling which would be in front/back.  Then I stamped and fussy cut masks for my images.

After all my images had a mask I masked off the sky area to do my grass area by ink blending Distress Ink colors (Evergreen Bough and Cracked Pistachio).  After distressing the grass area, I asked it off to do the sky.  I took inspiration from some google images and came up with some distress colors (Antique Linen, Victorian Velvet, Seedless Preserves, Chipped Sapphire, and Black Soot).   Once the sky was distressed I then used the MFT stencil Radiating Rays to create a sun setting behind the house.

I was finally able to unmask everything and Copic color my images.  I did have a bit of a problem with my clouds.  I shouldn't have masked them because they were so stark white it would have been better to blend it in with the sky, but I solved this by lightly distressing it with the colors of the sky.  I opted to use darker colors for the trees and homes as it was at night.

I hope you like my cards. :)

Mama Elephant: Party Animals

Hello everyone!

Today I am featuring Mama Elephants Party Animal and Little Dog Agenda stamp set.  I had an idea of what I wanted to do with this card when I got the stamp set last week, so I wasn't flying at the seat of my pants like I usually am.  I laid out what images and dies I would be using.

 I started by die cutting 2 Scallop Rectangle panels with Gina Marie Designs dies; one for the base the other I used Lawn Fawn hillside and MFT grassy broader to create my outdoor scene.  I put those panels aside while I began stamping my images with Simon Says Intense Black ink so that I could Copic color them.

I then went back to my rectangle panel to ink blend with distress ink (Mowed Lawn and Twisted Citron) my grassy boarder and hillside.  The main panel I distressed with Tumbled Glass.  Once that was done I used a bowl of water and paint brush to flick and drip some water onto the panel to create a distress look.  I really should invest in a distress spray bottle for this.  After the panels were done I stamped and heat embossed (versefine black with clear embossing powder) a sentiment I used from Mama Elephant's Girlfriend stamp set.  I then I put all the images together and popped the top grassy layer up with foam tape.  I finished the inside with a little dog and confetti.  Hope you like my card...