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My Favorite Things

My Favorite Things

Feliz Navidog!

December 19, 2018

Hi again! I’m still scrambling to get a few more Christmas cards finished this week and I’m so happy I had a chance to work with these cute dogs from the MFT Deck the Howls stamp set.

Super simple design on this as I wanted the doggies to take center stage.

I started by stamping the dogs in MFT Cement Gray hybrid ink and masking them before Copic airbrushing the background with BG10, BG11 and BG 18. I taped off a straight line right above the dogs’ feet and airbrushed the bottom with N2, N1, and N0.

I placed the MFT Snowfall stencil towards the top of the cardstock and inked through each hole in the stencil with an embossing pen. I then heat embossed with Wow! detail white embossing powder.

 

I colored the dogs with Copics and added colored pencil details. I saw a great tutorial by Irina Blount (owner of LaLaLandCrafts) where she used a white gelly roll pen to add detail to a sweater, so I had to give it a try on this. Super easy and really cute!

Hope you enjoyed and I’ll be back again in a few days with one last Christmas card for Gerda Steiner Designs.

Thanks for stopping by!

My Favorite Things

Fleece Navidad!

December 17, 2018

Hi there! I’ve got a few more Christmas cards to share this week and these llamas were so much fun to work with! They’re from the MFT Happy Llamadays stamp set and they’re decorated and ready for Christmas. I just love this sentiment. Too cute!

I started by inking the background using Dusty Concord, Chipped Sapphire, Tumbled Glass and Squeezed Lemonade Distress inks. After I blended these colors, I went over the top of all of them with Old Paper distress ink to tone it down a bit. I splattered a little watered down gouache and then heat embossed the star in white embossing powder (that stamp is from an older CTMH stamp set).

 

 

Then, I die-cut a piece of white cardstock using the MFT Stitched Rectangle Stax die and die-cut the piece twice using the MFT Stitched Mountain Range die and the MFT Surf and Turf die. I inked the mountain range using Frayed Burlap and Hickory Smoke distress inks and for the ground, I used Old Paper and Vintage Photo. I heat embossed the sentiment from this set using white embossing powder.

I stamped the llamas using MFT Cement Gray hybrid ink and colored them with Copics and colored pencil for some of the details.

 

Since I chose a dark brown cardstock for the card base, I die-cut a piece of Neenah Desert Storm for an insert and added another cute llama inside.

Hope you enjoyed my card today and thanks for stopping by!

My Favorite Things

Warm Holiday Wishes!

December 14, 2018

Hi there! Can you tell I really really want to be somewhere warmer right now? Making a tropical Christmas card is about as close as I can get. I’ve used the MFT Festive Flamingos stamp set with some stamps from the retired MFT Tiki Party stamp set to create my tropical getaway.

For the background, I blended distress inks in Squeezed Lemonade, Fossilized Amber, Worn Lipstick and Abandoned Coral. The water is Tumbled Glass and Salty Ocean and the sand is Old Paper and Vintage Photo. I used the MFT Beach Scene die-namics to cut the sand and the whole scene was die-cut using the MFT Inside and Out Stitched Oval Stax die-namics.

I’ve colored all of the images with Copics and added some colored pencil details.

Hope you have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by!

 

My Favorite Things

Tweet Holidays!

December 4, 2018

Hi there! I’m back with another Christmas card using these super cute birdies from the MFT Tweet Holidays stamp set. I had an opportunity to visit the MFT boutique a few weeks ago on a little Orlando vacation and it was, well, AMAZING! I bought the birdbath die with this card in mind, so I’ll get to the details…

 

For the background piece, I die-cut a piece of Neenah solar white cardstock using an MFT Stitched Rectangle Stax die and airbrushed a soft green background with Copics (BG90, BG93). I then die-cut another piece of Neenah with the Rectangle Stax die and die-cut this piece twice using the MFT Surf and Turf dies for the snowdrifts.

I heat embossed the top edges of the snowdrifts with white embossing powder, stamped the sentiment in Memento Gray flannel ink and added some shadows with Copics before layering them on the bottom edge of the background piece.

 

I inked the birdbath using Old Paper and Pumice Stone Distress inks and Iced Spruce for the water. The snow on the birdbath is where it got a little crazy. I noticed that the new MFT Mountain High die-namics fit perfectly along the rim of the birdbath and looked like snow hanging off! Love it when I can get double-duty out of a die!

I heat embossed the snow on the birdbath also with white embossing powder along the edges. Then, I colored up the birds and holly using the no-line coloring technique and cut them out with the coordinating dies.

To finish the card, I die-cut a piece of patterned paper from my stash with the largest Stitched Rectangle Stax die and added some more shadows with N Copics to the snow on top of the birdbath and the snow around the bottom.

I really love how this turned out and I hope you enjoyed it!

Be back soon with a new card featuring a brand new release from Gerda Steiner Designs!

Thanks for stopping by!

My Favorite Things

Ghostly Greetings!

October 29, 2018

Hi there! I’ve got one more Halloween card to share using the Fab-BOO-lous Friends stamp set from MFT. I didn’t pick this one up last year, but decided this year I really had to have it. They’re just so cute!

I really love how the background turned out on this. I was going for a spooky dusky look, so I inked a piece of die-cut cardstock with Pumice Stone, Hickory Smoke and Black Soot Distress inks.

I die-cut a piece of black cardstock using the same MFT Stitched Rectangle die-namics and then die-cut the graveyard scene using a Memory Box Graveyard Landscape die.

I added a die-cut tree using the Tim Holtz branch tree die to finish my spooky scene and colored up all of the little ghosts with Copics.

 

 

For the sentiment, I heat embossed using WOW! detail white embossing powder.

When I use black cardstock for a card base, I like to add an insert for a handwritten message inside. I always like to add a little something extra on the insert, so there’s a partial die-cut tree and another cute ghost.

Hope you enjoyed my card today and thanks for stopping by!

My Favorite Things

Frightfully Sweet

October 17, 2018

Hi there!

I’ve got a new card today using the adorable MFT Birdie Brown Frightfully Sweet stamps. I don’t really celebrate Halloween much, but I do love making Halloween cards!

I started by die-cutting a piece of black cardstock using the MFT Stitched Rectangle Stax die-namics and then I die-cut the piece with 3 different sizes of MFT Stitched Mod Square die-namics, one at a time.

I then ran the black cardstock through a spiderweb embossing folder (this is an older Stampin’ up! folder)

I adhered the black cardstock to my card base using thin strips of dimensional foam. I like to use sheets of craft foam that you can buy at any craft store and cut it down to size. Just a tip–I run a marker along the edges of the craft foam to match whatever color of cardstock I’m adhering down so the foam is nearly invisible when you view the card from the sides. Some tape adhesive on both sides of the craft foam makes it work just like the dimensional adhesive at a fraction of the cost.

 

For the background pieces, I die-cut a piece of cold-press watercolor cardstock using the Stitched Square Mod Stax die-namics again and inked using Dusty Concord, Seedless Preserves and Hickory Smoke Distress Inks. I splattered a little watered down white gouache and once dry, I painted a thin layer of Daniel Smith pearlescent shimmer watercolor paint. The shimmer isn’t visible in these photos, but it added a neat effect.

For the sentiment, I die-cut black cardstock using a PaperTreyInk label die and matted it on a green patterned paper. (I fussy cut around the edges to get that mat as the die only comes in one size). I heat embossed the sentiment from this set using WOW! detail white embossing powder.

I stamped the images in MFT Cement Gray ink and then did some no-line Copic coloring on them. They’re adhered with dimensional adhesive for added interest.

This was a lot of fun to make and I hope you enjoyed it!

Thanks for stopping by!

My Favorite Things

These Hedgies are ready for Fall!

September 21, 2018

Hi there and happy Friday!

It still feels like full on Summer here, but these hedgehogs are ready for Fall tomorrow!

I started this by first coloring these adorable guys from the MFT BB Happy Hedgehogs stamp set with Copics and adding some (a bunch) of colored pencil details to them and I die-cut them using the coordinating dies to this set.

I then stamped the MFT woodgrain background stamp with Vintage Photo Distress Ink on kraft cardstock and die-cut using the MFT Stitched Rectangle Stax die-namics. I die-cut an opening in this piece using the MFT Inside and Out Stitched Rounded Rectangle Stax die-namics.

 

I adhered the woodgrain piece with dimensional foam tape and then die-cut and inked a piece of white cardstock with Old Paper, Vintage Photo, Wild Honey and Walnut Stain Distress Inks behind the hedgehogs.

I adhered all of the stamped images except for the large mushroom with dimensional adhesive.

For the sentiment, I stamped and heat embossed with Wow! detail white embossing powder on a dark brown cardstock and die-cut the piece with the smallest MFT Wonky Stitched Rectangle Stax die-namics and cut off a small portion of one end to line up with the edge of the card.

Hope you enjoyed and have a great weekend!

Thanks for stopping by!

My Favorite Things

MFT Card Design Superstar 2018 Submission

September 16, 2018

Hi there!

I decided to enter the MFT Card Design Superstar contest for the first time this year! I really wanted to enter in all 3 categories, but preparation for Hurricane Florence got a bit in the way. As we were riding out the storm on Saturday I worked on my submission for the CAS category. Coloring this sweet guy was SO calming during those high winds!

I die-cut the top panel using the MFT Stitched Rectangle Stax die-namics and then stamped the cute little bear image from the Birdie Brown Beary Special Birthday stamp set with MFT Cement Gray. I masked the image and Copic airbrushed a subtle background in a few light colors using the MFT Circle Burst stencil.

I colored the image with Copics and added some colored pencil details.

For the sentiment, I Copic airbrushed a piece of white cardstock with 4 shades of warm grays and then die-cut the letters using the MFT Birdie Brown alphabet die-namics.

I matted the top panel on a piece of MFT Homespun Gingham paper also die-cut with the Stitched Rectangle Stax die-namics.

Hope you enjoyed my CAS submission and thanks for stopping by!

My Favorite Things

Oh, Crab!

July 9, 2018

I can’t believe it’s been 6 months since I’ve posted on here! I made a decision at the beginning of the year to take several art classes and focus on improving my coloring skills with Copics and colored pencils. The courses were fantastic, but pretty intense, so I found myself not taking any time to just have fun with card making.

And honestly, after 4 months of doing nothing but classes, I kinda burned out on coloring. Eek. I’m gradually getting my mojo back and I thought I’d share this little card I made over the weekend.

First off, the background is part of a fun little mini course taught by Sandy Allnock and available in her online store www.art-classes.com. The underwater scenes mini class has 5 different scenes and full video tutorials on them.

 

I also had an awesome opportunity to attend Jane Allen’s no-line coloring class last month at the MFT boutique! She’s such an amazing artist and the class was excellent. Highly recommend it, but be quick on the purchase of a seat when they announce the next class. Both days filled up really fast.

I used a few of the techniques I learned from Jane on this little crab from the MFT Just Beclaws stamp set. If you’re familiar with this set, you’ll notice the crab stamp has a smiley face. I changed it up a bit by drawing in the top shell parts and giving him a shocked look on his face. Fun stuff!

Hope you enjoyed my card today and thanks so much for stopping by!

I’ll try not to be absent so much and I really look forward to sharing more creative adventures!

My Favorite Things

Peace to you this Christmas

December 22, 2017

Happy Friday! With Christmas a few days away, this will most likely be my last Christmas card to share this season and I’m really glad I pulled out this MFT stamp set from last Christmas! I just love this reindeer.

I started this one by die-cutting a white textured cardstock using the largest die in the MFT A2 Stitched Rectangle STAX Set 2 die-namics. (This die measures 4″ x 5 1/4″). I then taped the third largest die in the MFT Stitched Tag-Corner Square STAX die-namics cutting edge down on the top portion of the rectangular die-cut and ran it through a die-cutting machine.

I wanted just a portion of the tag-corner square shape for my background so I die-cut a second piece of textured white cardstock using the same A2 Stitched Rectangle STAX die and then cut this piece horizontally. I adhered it to the top of the first rectangular piece. I wrapped/adhered a piece of AmericanCrafts ribbon around the piece where the two are adhered to cover the seam.

I cut a piece of MFT patterned paper 3 1/2″ x 4″ and adhered this towards the top of my pink card base. I then applied dimensional foam tape around the outside edges of the rectangular piece and a little in the center and adhered it to the card base.

I colored my little reindeer from the MFT Merry Everything stamp set with Copics and die-cut it using the coordinating dies to this set. I also used dimensional adhesive to adhere the reindeer so he’s popped up in the window.

 

To finish the card, I airbrushed a piece of white cardstock using Copic R00, R21 and R22 and then die-cut this piece with the MFT Peace die-namics. I added portions of a few die-cut snowflakes (MFT Let it Snowflake Too die-namics) to the corners.

I really had fun with this one using a teal/pink color scheme!

I’ll be spending the Christmas holiday next week having fun and relaxing in my craft room, so I hope to have a few new cards to share later on next week. Hope you all have a wonderful holiday season and Merry Christmas!

Thanks for stopping by!