My Favorite Things, Color Challenge #182

Today's card is for a special lady who will soon celebrate her 80th birthday! It was fun to make. I hope she likes it. :)

I started by creating a backdrop in black for the pretty colors that would come later. The stamps I used for the words, numbers and definition are by Heidi Swapp. 

The balloons, cupcake and party banner are from the My Favorite Things, Mice Day to Celebrate stamp set. Came together really quickly and I love just the pop of color on all the black.

Product List:
My Favorite Things, Mice Day to Celebrate stamps and dies

My Favorite Things, Smooth White heavyweight cardstock

Heidi Swapp, Captions Numbers stamp set

Heidi Swapp, Celebrate stamp set

Copic, Xpress it blending card

Copic, Sketch Markers

BG11  BG32  C4  R35  RV13  RV14  YG01  YG03

MFT Sketch #578

This week's sketch challenge with My Favorite Things, #578.

I used the Mice Day to Celebrate stamp set (it's one of just a couple MFT sets I brought with me to SD; I don't know what I was thinking bringing so few!!!). I modified the little mice just a touch to change it from party/birthday, to a Valentine/Love theme.

I added the "I 💓 U" message and little hearts to the banners, and replaced the cherry with a larger heart for the mouse on the left. The tiny letters on the banner, and the "together" sentiment are from a Heidi Swapp stamp set, Everyday Grids. 

The background circles are from the My Favorite Things 6x6 paper pad, Cool Collab. Mini hearts are all from the Penguin-ning to Look a Lot Like Christmas stamp set by MFT. I didn't have colored cardstock, so I simply colored these pieces of MFT Smooth White heavyweight cardstock with copic markers to match the pattern paper.

Product List:
My Favorite Things, Mice Day to Celebrate stamps and dies

My Favorite Things, It's Pengin-ning to Look a Lot Like Christmas (tiny heart stamps)

My Favorite Things, Cool Collab 6x6 paper pad

My Favorite Things, Smooth White cardstock

My Favorite Things, Summer Splash dye ink (hearts on blue border strip)

My Favorite Things, Fishtail Flag Banner sentiment strip *retired

Gerda Steiner Designs, Fall Mice (large red heart)

Heidi Swapp, Storyteller Grid Stamp set ('together' sentiment; tiny I U banner letters)

Copic Xpress it blending card

Copic Sketch Markers:

     B0000  B00 E02  R17  R27  R46  W00  W1  W2

Foam tape, nesting circle dies

CASology challenge, Renew

I hope this qualifies as clean and simple - it does to me, but maybe because it came together so quickly. I basically copied one of my own designs (see it here) and put it onto a card front. But with so few elements, I thought it might fit the bill. Also, the prompt is "renew", which to me says spring, which says sunshine so, there's my thought process on this one. Thanks for looking! 

Product List:
Ellen Hutson, Squeeze the Day stamps and dies
Ellen Hutson, Good Day stamps (sentiment)
Honey Bee Stamps, 6x6 paper pad, The Bee's Knees
My Favorite Things, Smooth White cardstock
My Favorite Things, Stitched Essential Sentiment Strip dies
Copic Xpress it blending card
Copic Sketch Markers
BG000 BG01
YG13 YG23
Y00 Y02 Y15
Imaginesce pearl dots *no longer available
Foam tape, glossy accents

Tag cards

 I got a little carried away with the tag cards I guess! Working on Valentines with Brielle, I sort of got stuck making tags. LOL But they really are fun to do. Also, if I had thought of this before I took all the pics, you can add them to the front of a regular A2 card if you want a "real" card size. Maybe the next ones. Anyway, I hope you like. 

These all started with the My Favorite Things, Do it All Gift Tag die set. The tag itself is nearly 3x4 1/2 inches so there is a lot of room to play with. 

The "chicken wire" is the Chain Link Fancy Die by Hero Arts. 

The large sentiments are by Pinkfresh Studio from the Perfect Sentiments stamp and die.

Jewels by Pretty Pink Posh, in Pink Blush

The florals on these two are also Pinkfresh, called Blooming Branch. 

Product List:
My Favorite Things, Do it All Gift Tag die set
My Favorite Things, Smooth White cardstock
My Favorite Things, From the Heart sentiment stamp set *retired
My Favorite Things, Dye ink cubes
My Favorite Things, Main Squeeze (leaves) *retired
My Favorite Things, various stamp sets for backgrounds and hearts
Pinkfresh Studio, Perfect Sentiments stamp
Pinkfresh Studio, Perfect Sentiments die
Pinkfresh Studio, Blooming Branch stamp
Pinkfresh Studio, Blooming Branch layering stencils
Pinkfresh Studio, Blooming Branch die
Ellen Hutson, Squeeze the Day stamps and dies (small flowers)
Hero Arts, Chain Link Fancy Die 
Pretty Pink Posh, Pink Blush jewels

Foam tape, embroidery floss, studio katia pick-up tool

Simple Stories, Hearth & Home

Oh how I love Simple Stories. I used the Hearth and Home collection for this one. I love the muted colors. When I started the card, I wasn't sure how I would do with already made pieces, since I usually use my own die shapes and color them myself. But I'm away from home and don't have access to my vast array of craft supplies, so I'm learning to make due with just a few things. This one turned out better than I anticipated. I hope you like it as much as I do. 

Here I used some of the bits and pieces. I used copics on them to add shadows and dimension. If I hadn't told you I did that, would you be able to tell? The hello sentiment is by Pinkfresh Studios from the Perfect Sentiments stamps and dies.

I think the addition of the tiny twine bow adds just the perfect touch. :)

Product List:

Simple Stories, Hearth & Home Collection

6x8 paper pad

Bits & Pieces

Enamel Dots

Pinkfresh Studio, Perfect Sentiments stamps and dies (hello)

My Favorite Things, Smooth White cardstock

Hero Arts, Chain Linked Fancy Die

Distress ink, Rusty Hinge

Copic colors

YG91 YG93 YR24 YR27

Brown hemp twine, glossy accents, white gel pen

Valentines

Having lots of fun with Gerda Steiner images the past few days. They are such fun to color and so cute to use on cards. Here is some of the cuteness. I hope you'll be inspired!

Some of the Valentines I have created. I love making tag style cards. They're like we used to give in grade school. Quick and easy to pop out a bunch of them in a short time.  

I used a variety of stamps from my stash for the different backgrounds, just for fun. I don't have any Valentine paper at the moment and this seemed like a fun way to remedy that, and I used the same four ink colors on all of them so they didn't get too off track. 

Sunday we picked up B for our annual crafty day, which has become our yearly Valentine making day. but first, Oreos and milk for energy. :)

....and the aftermath. This is what was left of the pile after B finished 35 Valentines for her homeroom class. She is ASB President of Fletcher Hills Elementary School this year, and if she could, she would have made cards for every student in the school. That's how big her heart is. She is the sweetest, kindest, most caring person. 

We have such a small space to craft here in the Airbnb that I precut and colored ahead of time a ton of tags, images, and sentiments for her to put together and it worked out to be an excellent plan. She was able to finish all the cards she wanted to make in just one afternoon. Yay, B!

Didn't she do such a great job?! She hand-drew the pink and blue hearts for the background of every one of her cards. 

We love our crafty time together, we just wish there was more of it. But she's a very busy girl and the older she gets I'm sure it will be as it was with my first crafty buddy, Miss Grace, who grew up too fast, and she'll have less and less time for this and more and more time with sports and friends and school. But I digress!! We will enjoy all the time we have and be happy! :)

Thanks for coming by the studio. 

MFT Sketch Challenge #577

We have a lemon tree in the yard at the Airbnb here in San Diego. I've been enjoying fresh lemons in my water and tea every day and I'm spoiled now. So here is this week's challenge card in keeping with the lemon theme. Because I like lemons. :)

In looking for links to hook you up, I have discovered the stamp set, Main Squeeze, is retired. And so is the MFT paper pad I used. So sorry.

The sentiment stamps are Heidi Swapp from her new stamp set, Lemon Squeezy. Cute! 

My Favorite Things, Sketch #577

Product List:

My Favorite Things, Main Squeeze stamps and dies *retired

My Favorite Things, Smooth White cardstock 

My Favorite Things, Fishtail Flag die (sentiment strip) *retired

My Favorite Things, Happy Trails 6x6 paper pad *retired

Heidi Swapp, Lemon Squeezy stamp set (sentiments)

Copic Xpress it blending card

Copic Sketch markers

Foam tape, Studio Katia clear drops

Gerda Steiner Design Challenge

Gerda Steiner makes the cutest little images. I've used the Fall Mice for this Valentine card, doing just a little modification here and there to fit the theme, instead of Fall/Thanksgiving as it was intended. Using a stamp set for something it wasn't originally intended is always fun for me. I like to think outside the box and find new ways to use them.  

Foam tape lifts the panel from the card front to create windows for the little mice. I blended ink on the card front before adhering the panel, for even more dimension. 

 

Product List:
Gerda Steiner Designs, Fall Mice

Gerda Steiner Designs, Lovely Pandas (pile of hearts)

Avery Elle, Frenchie (pile of hearts, heart balloon)

My Favorite Things, Smooth White cardstock

My Favorite Things, dye ink cube (wild cherry) (window background)

My Favorite Things, From The Heart sentiment set *retired

My Favorite Things, Skinny Strips sentiment flag

Copic Xpress it blending card

Copic Sketch Markers

R17, R27, R20, R46

W00, W1

Foam tape, blending brush, circle dies

MFT Sketch and Color challenges

Today's card combines current challenges, Sketch #576 and Color #181, for a colorful Valentine. 

I've used the Penguin-ing to Look a Lot Like Christmas set and modified the ornament to make a cherry for the cupcake. I've also modified the cupcake by removing the candle and adding heart sprinkles. The teensy hearts are included in the penguin set. 

I love how tiny they are and they fit perfectly not just on the cupcake but also on the sweet banner from the Mice Day to Celebrate set. 

Check out the current challenges on the My Favorite Things blog here. All winners are chosen randomly so everyone has a chance to win a gift card to shop in the store! :) 

Product List:
My Favorite Things, It's Penguin-ing to Look a Lot Like Christmas (penguin)

My Favorite Things, Mice Day to Celebrate (cupcake, banners)

My Favorite Things, Smooth White cardstock

My Favorite Things, dye ink cubes (wild cherry, razzle berry (r), cement gray)

My Favorite Things, Skinny Strips dies 

My Favorite Things, From The Heart sentiments *retired

Pinkfresh Studio, Slimline Skinny Plaid stencil

Copic Xpress it blending card

Copic Sketch Markers

C4 C6 C7

E27 E37

R17 R27 R46

RV00 RV02 RV04 RV09

W00 W1

Y35

YR14

Foam tape, blending brushes, circle dies

Birthday gift tag

Here is another tag using the Pinkfresh Essentials Folding Shake Tag Die set. Again, I used just half to make a single layer tag. The reinforcement circle die is included with the tag die set. I used the stitched circle window die and inlaid the sentiment. The floral piece is from the Blooming Branch set. It's only a small portion of the full stamp which I layered and raised with foam tape. 

The cute little flag with heart cut out is from the My Favorite Things Do it All Gift Tag Set. Drops are  actually clear dots over copic colored circles to give the illusion of matching drops. I love using this technique when I have to limit my craft supplies and don't want to take some of every color. This is way more practical. "Wish Big" sentiment is from My Favorite Things, Mini Birthday Messages.  

Product List:
Pinkfresh Studio, Blooming Branch stamps

Pinkfresh Studio, Blooming Branch die

Pinkfresh Studio, Blooming Branch layering stencils

Pinkfresh Studio, Essential Folding Shaker Tag die set

My Favorite Things, Smooth White cardstock

My Favorite Things, Birthday Mini Messages

My Favorite Things, Do It All Gift Tag set

My Favorite Things, Black & White Stripes 6x6 paper pad

My Favorite Things, ink cubes (armena cherry, wild cherry, princess pink)

My Favorite Things, ink cubes (prickly pear, limelight, lemon drop)

Studio Katia Clear Drops

Glossy accents, hemp twine