MFT Sketch Challenge

This week I thought I would join in on the MFT Get Sketchy challenge and create a card based on the sketch posted on the MFT blog.  I enjoy creating cards from card sketches.  It gives you a road map for putting together the card, but the freedom to select all the elements that make up the card (paper, stamps, embellishments, etc.).  Here is the card I created from the sketch.  You can see me putting together this card on my YouTube channel here.

Materials used to make this card include:

My Favorite Things Fishtail Flags STAX 

Fishtail Flags Layers STAX 

My Favorite Things Fancy Flourish die

110lb White card stock by Recollections

New Leaft card stock by Papertrey Ink

Sweet Blush card stock by Papertrey Ink

Spring patterned paper by American Crafts

VersaFine Onyx Black ink.

Thank You Sayings clear stamp set by Hero Arts

Matting Basics A  by Spellbinders 

 Matting Basics B by Spellbinders

Martha Stewart Crafts Butterfly Punch

Tonic Small Butterflies Punch

Recollections white paper flowers

UHU Glue Stick

Fabri-Tac.

That's it for today. Thanks for visiting my blog!

EK Success Punch & Stamp Review

I recently purchased two of the EK Success Punch & Stamp sets from Blitsy.com.  I have always liked the idea of stamping an image and having a coordinating punch that perfectly punches out that image. The EK Success Stamp & Punch sets each come with 7 stamps (rubber foam mounted stamps) and the coordinating punch.  You will see photos of the punch and the stamps at left.  I purchased the Retro Bottle Cap set and Just for You set.  I have to say that I am not a fan of the rubber foam mounted stamps.  Some of the stamps in the set stamp fairly well while others - especially the stamps with fine line type (you can see what I am talking about in the Gee Your Swell stamped image.  The Swell stamps fine, but you can hardly see the "Gee Your" part of the sentiment). For the Gee Your Swell sentiment stamp, I masked off the Gee Your Swell by punching a 1.25 inch circle from an Avery Label Sheet, inked up the stamp, removed the Avery Label mask and stamped.  I then stamped another sentiment from a photopolymer Avery Elle stamp set - much better!  You will see this in a photo at left as well.

I will use these sets, but probably not as often as I might have if all the images stamped well.  I think it would have been better if EK Success used clear photopolymer stamps in these sets instead of the rubber mounted on foam stamps.

Quick Post

I wanted to show you two cards I made earlier this month and have not had a chance to post.  One is a birthday card I made for my brother and the other is a sympathy card.  I made them several weeks back so I don't have a materials list for these two.  Sorry about that!

Thanks for visiting my blog!

Pet Sympathy

Last week I made a pet sympathy card for a family member who had to say goodbye to their four-legged friend.  I wanted to send a sympathy card to let her know I was so sorry to hear the news and I was thinking of her.  I have a Pet Sympathy stamp set by Papertrey Ink and a Pet Charms die set by My Favorite things that  I used to make this card.  I hope the card brought a little bit of comfort.  I know how hard it is to say goodbye to a beloved pet and member of the family.

Get Well Card

This week Get Well seemed to be a theme in terms of card creation.  Two family members are under the weather and I needed to make Get Well cards for them.  I used my Silhouette to cut out the words Get Well and used the Offset feature to create a layered look.  The papers chosen for the card are a little more muted to convey a more masculine feel (I can't remember the name of the patterned paper pad I used for this card.  That's what I get for procrastinating on posting to my blog!)  

After making the Get Well cards, I turned my attention to making another Valentine card.  This was a card I made on YouTube last Friday - here.

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Conversation Hearts

I love making my own embellishments.  The creative challenge of making an embellishment instead of purchasing that embellishment at the store is really a fun exercise for me.  Enamel dots are all the rage these days and they are fun to make and use.  But dots just won't do for Valentine's Day!

 The Valentine's cards I am making are calling out for enamel hearts so..........I decided to make my own.  I purchased these assorted color bling hearts from Joann.com (they may sell these in the store, but I ordered mine online for $2.49 for a bag of 78 hearts in assorted sizes).  Next I  painted the hears with white paint.  I did this to take away some of the translucency of the hearts. You can skip this step, but it may take you more coats of nail polish to give the hearts that enamel look.  Next I stuck two flat-topped toothpicks in a piece of foam packaging and put a glue dot on top of each toothpick. I did this so I could affix the heart on top of the toothpick in preparation for painting them with nail polish.  Next, I took out my collection of nail polish (most purchased at the Dollar Tree) and started painting the hearts.  Most colors only took two coats to achieve the enamel look I was after.  

The next challenge in this project was to find stamps small enough to fit on the medium, medium large and large size hearts.  I used my Papertrey Ink Tiny Tags and Tiny Tags II to stamp on the hearts with StazOn ink.  It is important to use a permanent ink that is formulated for slick surfaces - otherwise whatever you stamp on the hearts will wipe right off.

That's it.  Really fun and cute embellishments.

Thanks for visiting my blog and let me know if you have any questions.

I Am Guilty Of.......

I am guilty of major blog neglect!!!  It has been months since I last posted and my only excuse is that other things in life took priority.  I am hoping to post more regularly on this blog - the goal is at least once per week. My intentions are good so we will see what happens.

Valentine's day is a few weeks away and so I have been busy making Valentine's cards.  These are hands down my favorite type of card to make.  It's probably because I love the colors often used on these cards - the pinks, the reds, and the aquas.

The card featured on my blog today was made using the following materials:



SimonSaysStamp Heart Rainfall die
Silhouette Two-Tone Umbrella cut
My Favorite Things Flat Bottom Cloud die
Papertrey Ink Confetti Garland Border die (Hearts)
Paper Studio Tiny Hearts Embossing folder
Papertrey Ink White card stock
American Crafts 6x6 Valentine patterned paper
Wink of Stella glitter brush pen

When I purchased the SimonSaysStamp Heart Rainfall die I knew I wanted to make this card.  Don't some dies just speak to you like that?  This one certainly did for me.

I hope you like the card and thanks for visiting my long neglected blog!