Aged to Perfection **April MFTeaser**

Good morning!! Whew - what a week - and it's only Tuesday!! I ended up with both of my boys home sick yesterday - yikes! We spent the morning at the Dr. and found out that my oldest son Andrew had never gotten over the Strep throat he had last week and that my youngest son Calvin ended up with it too - I guess I'm glad we caught it early in the week - our Spring Break starts on Friday and I would hate for them to be sick on their break and not enjoy it. I do have a teaser for you today of the new MFT "Girls Night Out" set being released tomorrow - this set is just fabulous - not only do you get this gorgeous main image and a ton of great sentiments - but there are wine glasses, a martini glass and a margarita glass in it too - lots of great images for a perfect girls night out!! I chose to use the main image for my card and go with a vintage wine feel to it - I paper pieced their clothes and colored the rest of the image with Copics. I pieced my background together to look like an old-fashioned wine cellar - I started with the dark brown base - then criss crossed 1/2 in. thick tan strips of cardstocks on it - cut the excess off at the edges and then placed brads where they criss-crossed. I finished off the cards with some Primas and a couple of branch pieces cut from the Martha Stewart branch punch. There is lots of exciting stuff happening over on the MFT forum this week...

My Favorite Things (www.mftstamps.com) is having a New Release Cocktail Party on Wednesday, April 1st from 9-10 PM EASTERN. This month there are 4 new sets being released! Head over to the MFT forum HERE to find out all the details and to find out how YOU can be the next MFT Guest Designer. We hope to see you there on Wednesday night!! And don't forget to vote for your favorite MFT Idol starting tonight at 10 PM EST - check this thread for more details - the top 8 will be featuring the new "Girls Night Out" set in their projects!! Thanks so much for stoppping by!!

Missing You Bunches **April MFTeaser**

Happy Monday!! Are you ready for some MFTeasers??? April is packed full of FABULOUS new releases from MFT and today I have a card made with the newest Flopsey to share with you!! This set is called "Flopsey's Flowers" and is absolutely adorable!! Now the image itself is actually only one Flopsey holding flowers - but I wanted to do a bunch of Flopsey's to go with the sentiment - so I made 3 masks of Flopsey holding the flowers and stamped a group of Flopseys! The image was stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored in with Copics. The patterned paper is from the 6X6 MFT Stephanie Fizer Summer paper pak - I love this print and it's just perfect for this new Flopsey! The sentiment is from the new Flopsey set as well. I punched some flowers out of matching cardstock and added some little gemstones to the centers of them. I did a little bit of machine stitching around the edge of my card as well. And as always...

My Favorite Things (www.mftstamps.com) is having a New Release Cocktail Party on Wednesday, April 1st from 9-10 PM EASTERN. This month there are 4 new sets (one of which will benefit a very special charity ;) ) being released! Head over to the MFT forum HERE to find out all the details and to find out how YOU can be the next MFT Guest Designer. We hope to see you there on Wednesday night! Don't forget that the Top 8 in the MFT Idol contest will be showing off their best "performances" this Tuesday night at 10 PM EST over in the MFT forum - the voting opens then - so be sure to hop on over to the MFT forum and vote for your favorites - this week they'll be showing off the brand new Who's That Girl? set!!!

BLOG CANDY WINNER!!

We have winner!! The randomly chosen winner of my blog candy is...

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers: 6

Timestamp: 2009-03-27 17:56:33 UTC

Comment #6 was...

Tracey said...
Love your card Candice!! The Changitos are adorable!! Thanks for the chance to win some of my own. xx

YAY!! Congrats Tracey - please e-mail me your snail mail address to candicelighty@sbcglobal.net so I can get your goodies out to you! Thanks to everyone who left comments - you guys are the best!! I hope you will all pop back in on Monday - the April MFTeasers start on Monday and these new sets are just AWESOME - can't wait to share them all with you!! Have a wonderful weekend!!

Have you voted for your MFT Idol yet????

Happy Wednesday!! So while the President's news conference put American Idol on hold last night - the MFT Idol voting is in full swing!!! If you haven't voted for your fave yet - you can do so here. The girls REALLY outdid themselves this week - so be sure to head over and check out their creations and leave 'em some love too! The theme this week was masking - which I used on today's card (this is also for today's sketch challenge - you can view the sketch here) - I masked my shoes and the front table to create this little window scene. *Sigh*...I wonder how much those red pumps in the window are...hee hee...like I actually have a need for shoes like that anymore - LMBO!! This was such a cool sketch to work with - it's so nice and balanced. The shoes, tables and sentiment are from the MFT "Window Shopping" set - colored in with Copics and accented with a white gel pen. The awning is from the MFT "Meet Me at the Cafe" set - I find myself using this awning a lot - it's fun to combine with other MFT sets!! All DP is from the My Mind's Eye Out and About glitter stack - I kept that "diamond" theme in the papaer and did some decorative scoring on the blue base of the card with my Scor-Pal as well. I accented the corners of the card with some red Hero Arts gemstones.

Thanks SO much for stopping by - don't forget to vote for your favorite MFT Idol and my blog candy is still going on as well - see the post below for that!!

Greetings from the Changitos plus **BLOG CANDY**!!!

Greetings and Happy Monday everyone!! So I'd thought I'd start out the week with a little love for my Changito stamps and offer up some sweet blog candy in honor of the start of Spring and the fact that last week I reached 30,000 hits on my blog!!! It's really thanks to all of you - you all make blogging SO much fun and I can't tell you how much I appreciate all the sweet comments you leave too - it really brightens my day and so I am hoping this blog candy will brighten one of your days too!! First - let me tell you about the card I have for you today - I recently bought the "Car Changito" cling mount stamp at Archiver's and for some reason - I kept thinking it looked like a taxi - LOL - you guys know me and the way my mind seems to twist things around sometimes. So - I added the word "taxi" and a number to the front license plate using Doodlebug Simply Sweet rub-on letters - colored it yellow - masked it in front of the cityscape from the MFT "Going Places" set - and BOOM - instant taxi - hee hee...OK - well maybe not so instant - but it was fun to make this little city scene. The die cut cityscape behind the image was cut using one of those old Sizzix border dies (yeah - had to wipe the dust off of those) and I embossed the yellow panel with the CB "Traffic Jam" embossing folder. The decorative edge at the bottom was done using the Martha Stewart Checkerboard edge punch and the sentiment is from the MFT "Sassy Sayings" set. Now - onto the blog candy....here is what is up for grabs...

I am offering one brand new in package Stampendous "Changito Hop" stamp set - this is the Easter Changito clear set and it is exclusive to Archiver's - so it can be hard to find if you don't have a Archiver's near you. I'm also offering some spring-y colored ribbon and a pak of assorted flower brads. All you have to do is leave a comment on this post to be entered to win my blog candy - you have until this Friday (March 27th) at noon to be entered to win - on Friday - I will draw one random name from the comments left to win the blog candy!! Easy peasy - oh - and if you are leaving a comment under an Anonymous ID - please be sure to leave an e-mail address so I can contact you if you are the winner!! Thanks to all of you for your support!! Don't forget to leave me a comment for your chance to win and please spread the word if you know of anyone who would love a chance to own a set of these adorable little monkeys!!

A Big Burly Moose!

I'm back for one more post today!! I'm trying to get caught up on a couple of challenges today and this is for the Friday Hanna Stamps challenge - today's challenge is to use Embossing on your card - you can view the challenge here. I chose to dry emboss on my card using the Cuttlebug "Branches" embossing folder on my brown panel - and what a perfect folder for our Lumberjack Riley!! I stamped some trees in SU! Old Olive ink and cut them out for the background as well (they are from the MFT "Nature Calls" set). I decided to make my Riley a big more rough and rugged by adding some scruff to his face with my Copic Multiliner pen - hee hee...Stampin' Di did this on one of her Rileys and I just thought it looked adorable - thanks for the inspiration Di!! I also drew and colored some clothes on him - I was thinking that "The Naked Woodsman" sounded a lot like a Monty Python sketch gone wrong so I decided that maybe he needed some clothes too - LOL!! I colored him in with Copics. The sentiment was done with Doodlebug Simply Sweet mini rub-on letters - I love these - I get them in the $1.99 bin and Archiver's - the font is great and they are perfect for when you can't quite find that sentiment you are looking for in your stamp collection.

Also - I wanted to let everyone know that if you haven't seen the list of blog candy winners for last Friday's Good Luck Blog Hop - Kristi has it posted here. Check it out and if you haven't PM'ed Kristi with your deets and you are a winner - make sure you do so she can get your goodies out to you!! And speaking of blog candy - thanks to all my wonderful readers - I went over 30,000 hits this week - WOO HOO!!! As a thank you - I've got a SWEET surprise up my sleeve for next week - so check back then!! Have an awesome weekend!!

Soakin' Up the Sun on Celebrate MFT Day!

TGIF!!!!!! I've never been so happy to see a Friday in my life - holy crow - what a week!! Both my oldest son and I came down with a case of Strep Throat (add Tonsilitis as well to my diagnosis) - geesh - serves me right probably - I had just commented last Friday to one of my friends that my family had made it thru the winter with exactly one trip to the Dr. and then BAM! - we all get sick - LOL!! Andrew is MUCH better thankfully - he's been back in school - I am still having some issues with my left tonsil - but the infection was pretty deep in it - so I am hoping it'll be all better over the weekend. So anywho - that at least explains why I've been pretty quiet this week - I did manage to get my blog hop post up (and still managed hardly any typos in my feverish fog - LOL) - but it feels good to have a bit more energy to be stamping this morning!! This is my card for Celebrate MFT Day as well as Cindy's MFT sketch challenge this week - you can view Cindy's awesome sketch here - I did have to flip the sketch in order to get my Who's Those Girlies to be floating in the right direction! ;) I used the "Hit the Beach" set for my card as it is MUCH rather what I'd be doing today - I know - it's the first day of Spring - feels like Winter and I'm making a card about Summer - LOL - go figure - a girl can dream though, can't she? The card really started with the image - I had been wanting to do some skin color combo tests on the new coloring paper coming soon to MFT (STAY TUNED - you guys are gonna LOVE this stuff!!!) - and let me just say - it just goes to show how really awesome the Copics blend on this paper. Skin tones can be tricky to blend - and they blended beautifully on this new paper!! It was so much fun to color WTG? in different skin tones - after all - that is what makes this world beautiful and she is our "every woman", kwim?? So anywho - I stamped my girls at random angles to make them sort of look like they are lounging around the pool - hmmm...do you think they are gossiping?? Must be - I know that's what we do at our neighborhood pool - LMBO!! I used patterned paper from the 2008 DCWV Summer Stack - I punched one of the orange slices out of the paper with my circle nesties to use as an embellie to display my sentiment on. I cut a couple of leaves out of the paper as well. I added some little ribbon accents to the image as well. Thanks SO much for stopping by - hope you all have a wonderful Friday and that you'll swing by the MFT forum and Celebrate MFT with us today!!

Feeling Funky! **MFT HOP AROUND THE BLOCK**

Hello and welcome to another MFT "Hop Around the Block"!! If you have just happened onto my blog - pop on over to Kim's blog and start the blog hop from there - trust me - you won't be disappointed!!! ;) This is an exciting release as we are introducing a new illustrator to the already talent-packed MFT Presents line...so without further ado....MFT proudly presents...Sara Williams!! For those of you who do not know - Sara is the sister of our very own Susan Liles - what a talented family that is, huh?? There are 2 new sets being released today - 2 GORGEOUS flower-y sets by Sara - "Funky Flowers" and "Spring Sprouts". This first card I have for you today uses the "Funky Flowers" set - this set is wonderful for making beautiful flower images - it comes with lots of different blooms, stems and vases so you can make your own gorgeous flower arrangements. I did a bit of masking using Eclipse Masking Tape to make my arrangement - Susan has a wonderful masking tutorial for today's installement of HTDT? over on the MFT forum at SCS in case you were wondering to yourself "how did we do that?" - LOL! My image was colored in with Copics - which leads me to a bit of another sneak-y peek-y for you...check this out...
Here's a close-up of the image - I did this image with layers upon layers of Copic ink and not a brush stroke in site - hmmmm...must be the AMAZING blendability of an awesome new coloring paper I've recently been introduced too...it's a beautiful 130 lb. cardstock and let me tell you - Copics blend like buttah on this stuff!! I did the vase on this image with 3 layers of color plus the Colorless blender to get that transparent vase look and not only is there not a brush stroke to be found - but the color didn't "fan" out either - check out how clean and crisp my ink black outline still is. It doesn't bleed thru the back of the cardstock either - it absorbs the ink perfectly!! So how can you get your hands on some of this awesome cardstock?? Well - all I can tell you is to stay tuned - it will be made available soon on the MFT site - ohhh...and I forgot to tell you the best part - it will be available in paks of pre-cut A2 sized coloring panels - how cool is that?? Keep your eyes peeled for this paper - you're gonna LOVE it!!!

A couple of other bits of info about the card above - the big flower behind the image was done using my circle nesties. The orange striped paper is from the Stephanie Fizer Fall Digi Paper pak from MFT and the sentitment is from the MFT "Sassy Sayings" set - isn't that font perfect for these funky flowers??

I've got one more card to share with you before you go - this card was done with the new "Spring Sprouts" set - aren't they adorable?? And check out that sentiment from the set - SO cute!! I decided to stay bright and funky with this set as well - wouldn't this be a fun card to give to a little someone - maybe after like a preschool or Kindergarten graduation?? The flowers are all from this set - colored again with Copics on that amazing new MFT coloring paper. The patterned paper on this card is from the DCWV Grade School Stack - for the background - I pieced 1 in squares together on a piece of 4X5 white cardstock - trimmed it down to the size I needed for my card front and then machine stitched at all the "seams". I wanted something to go under the main image - serached and searched for some funky ribbon - didn't have any that matched - so I opted for a strip of pleated paper - Amy did an awesome HTDT? tutorial on paper pleating last week and I am totally hooked!! I needed a super-strong adhesive to adhere all those layers of cardstock to that paper pleat - so I tried out some of my new Helmar Premium Craft glue and it worked perfect - and lucky enough - I managed NOT to glue my fingertips together in the process - LOL!!

Thanks SO much for stopping by - sorry to keep you so long - I'm just super-excited by all this great new stuff - continue on your journey today by hopping over to the SUPER talented Paula's blog for some amazing eye candy!! Enjoy!!

Shop 'Till You Drop!

**IF YOU ARE HERE FOR THE HANNA STAMPS GOOD LUCK BLOG HOP - PLEASE SCROLL DOWN ONE POST TO FIND MY BLOG HOP POST**

Happy Sunday!! Hope everyone has had a wonderful weekend! Did you enjoy the Hanna Stamps blog hop? I hope so - we had fun doing it and I hope we'll have more hopping opportunities for you in the future! :) I've been up since 6:30 this morning with a sick little one - Calvin (my 3 year old) seems to have a bit of a stomach bug and can't keep anything down :( - my poor little man - Daddy went to the store to get him some popsicles to see if that will perk him up a bit! I decided to play in the Featured Stamper challenge this morning on SCS between his vomiting spells - ick - and this card managed to come together quicker than I thought it would. You can view the challenge here along with TwinsHappy's gallery - Stacy has such a beautiful gallery - it was very tough to pick just one to case! I ended up choosing this card to case. And actually - Stacy's is more of a card holder/purse album - so the biggest change I made was to turn her card holder into an actual card. I turned it into a purse card. I kept the basic layout of her card and I LOVED the stacked coffee cups image on her project - I didn't have any stacked images like that so I made my own. I wanted a purse image - so I chose this adorable purse stamp from the Hanna Stamps "In Vogue" set - created a mask and then stamped my stack of purses. Wouldn't it be nice to have a purse like this - just spilling over with money??? LOL!! I chose a smaller sentiment for my card - this one is from the Hanna Stamps "Things Hanna Would Say" set. I also added a stacked flower to my card. To make the actual purse card - I started with a 4.25 in. sqaure base for my card - then made the little over hang with a seperated piece of cardstock and adhered the ribbon on between it and the base. I used the Fiskars Threading Water punch for the scalloped edge and a little Hero Arts gemstone flower for my "clasp". Thanks so much for stopping by - don't forget to scroll down for some BLOG CANDY!!!

Garage Band Hanna **GOOD LUCK BLOG HOP**

Happy Friday the 13th - BWA HA HA!!! So are you enjoying the Hanna Stamps "Good Luck Blog Hop"?? Soooooooo much Hanna eye candy to view...if you've just happened upon my blog and want to start at the beginning of the blog hop - then pop over to Kristi's blog and start from there - there is LOTS and LOTS of Blog Candy up for grabs today!! And I'll be here when you get back ;)....OK - so are you back?? LOL!! I decided to use "Rock Star Hanna" for my card today - I built a scene around her to turn her into "Garage Band Hanna" - she's quite the rebel, don't you think?? I started by stamping my Hanna - then I masked off the amp and stamped the step ladder (from "Tool Time Hanna") behind it. I then started drawing in the rest of my garage using a Copic mulitliner pen and a ruler (it's an unfinished garage BTW ;) ) - I drew in the side of my "house" and some bricks - the wall of the garage - and also the "tool shelf" - I used more stamps from the "Tool Time Hanna" set to stamp tools and other things you would find in a garage on the shelves. The entire image was colored in with Copics. I used some DP from the DCWV Rock Star stack (of course) and I stamped the edges of my pink panel behind the image with music notes from the Rock Star Hanna set. The sentiment is from a clear Stampendous set called "Rock Out".

And now - how about some BLOG CANDY!!!!???? Yup - there is Blog Candy up for grabs on all of our blogs!!! WOWZA!! And it is courtesy of the one and only Kristi Ferro (the fabulous owner of Hanna Stamps) - Kristi is giving away one Surprise Blog Candy Goodie Bag per blog - how fun is that!? Hmmm....what will you get?? It could be anything - stamps, ribbons, brads, paper...it's a surprise!!! I'll make this easy for you today - all you have to do to be entered to win the blog candy from my blog is to leave me a comment on this post - you have until Monday at noon (EST) to leave me a comment - that's it - easy, peasy, right?? Just leave me a comment and you could win one of those Surprise Goodie Bags!!

Thanks so much for stopping by - now onto the next blog - the FABULOUSLY talented Sandra - enjoy!!! And don't forget - it is Friday - and as always - the Hanna Stamps challenge is up on SCS - Jeanne has a fun challenge today - I hope you'll pop on over and play!!

Catching Up...

Hello, hello!!! Eek - I've been quiet this week! I thought I would pop in and do some catching up and let you guys know what I've been up to this week - it's been quite a week really - my oldest son is gearing up for his big debut tonight - LOL!! He's got a speaking part in his school's Spring musical (he is in the first grade and is reciting a poem) - he's SO excited and really not nervous at all - I think Mommy and Daddy might be more nervous - hee hee...I did get a bit of stamping done - the card I did with the adorable MFT "Hooga Booga" bunch was for the What's Up Wednesday challenge over on the MFT forum - go check it out - Amy did an AWESOME paper pleating tutorial yesterday for HTDT?- so I had to try it out. I think it turned out cute - like a pretty little dust ruffle for your card! :) I did a bit of masking on these little monsters to create the scene as well. Here's some more cards I did using an MFT set - this is from the "You Take the Cake" set - I did these for a card swap I am in here locally - I wanted something fun - but that could be mass produced fairly easily - so I did these little cake cards...

The candles on these cards were die cut using a Sizzix die - but the rest of the "cake" was just pieced together using strips of cardstock. For the top layer of the "frosting" - I first did the decorative edge on it with the Martha Stewart Lace Doily punch and then embossed the top with the Swirls Cuttlebug folder to make it look more like textured frosting. The white base of the card is 4.25 in. X 4.25 in. - I hung the candles over the top a bit (like a tent card) - so the card is just as tall as an A2 size card and fits in an A2 envelope perfectly!!

So I've been chatting a bit about American Idol recently on here - and had a couple of people who have asked me about my pick for this year's Idol - so if you aren't an Idol fan - you can skip this part and go right to the end of this post - LOL! But if you are an Idol fan - I would love for you to post and let me know who your faves are too! Let's see - after this first week of the Top 13 (yeah - not sure about the whole 13 thing) - I am sticking with my gut instinct and that's Adam Lambert - he's just downright in a league of his own - which makes me think that maybe NOT winning Idol would be to his benefit - but that's a whole other debate that I will save for another day. ;) I thought Kris Allen was absolutely ADORABLE and loved his version of the MJ's "Remember the Time" - so I'll probably be keeping an eye on him too. And I know there are a lot of Danny-lovers out there too - I am guessing he's definitely around for the long haul - but something about him rubs me the wrong way. I TOTALLY sympathize with him in the passing of his wife - but geesh - he was more likable this week when they weren't harping on his back story, kwim? Biggest disappointment for the 1st week??? Well for me - it would have to be Megan - all those Michael Jackson songs and she picks "Rockin' Robin"?????? Yeah - STILL scratching my head about that one. I REALLY like her - she really is a relevant artist (think Duffy or KT Tunstall) - she just needs a bit of fine tuning - so I hope she does well and maybe that was just some first week jitters. I wish I would have posted yesterday because I could have made my predictions for who was going home last night and then you would have all been amazed because I was totally right - LMBO!! You'll just have to take my word for it - but I suppose I can't brag too much - it's always easier to predict those things in the early rounds. So anywho - that's my bit of Idol rambling - I bet no one will ever post asking for my opinions about anything again - ROTFL!!! But again - I would love to hear your favorites - so if you are an Idol fan - who is YOUR pick???

And speaking of Idol - have you been over to the MFT forum on SCS to see the FABULOUS finalists of the first ever MFT Idol contest??? Here's a link - check them out and give them a shout-out - I cannot wait to see what they'll create - it's gonna be a FUN contest!! Thanks so much for stopping by and listening to my incessantly babbling - and if you skipped some of it - well - I can't say I blame you - hee hee....have an awesome Thursday - check back tomorrow - there's gonna be tons of fun going on around here!!! ;)

DeNami Design **New Rubbah Alert**

Good morning!! Hope you all have been having a wonderful weekend! It's been unseasonably warm here - so we've been enjoying some outside time and yesterday my hubby watched the kiddos so I could go peruse the Heirloom Stamp Show here in downtown Indianapolis - yay!! I had a nice morning there - it's a small show - which is probably not a bad thing for my bank account ;) - I stocked up on some Copic re-inkers, found some fun new stamps and fell in love with one company in particular - DeNami Design. I had seen their stamps before - Cindy at Papertrix first introduced them to me this past Fall - she had gotten in some of their Christmas images in - but I was not prepared for the cuteness that I ran into at their booth - LOL!! Their stamps are just adorable - I was particular drawn to their Mimi line (but you guys know I love my people stamps - LOL) but they do have some adorable chicks and frogs and other little animals too. Here are the ones I picked up the booth - there were SO many more that I wanted - but my goal was to NOT come out of the show in debt - LOL - which - BTW - I managed to do - hee hee...

I used the Bride Mimi and the Mimi with Flowers stamps to make the card at the top of this post - it's also for today's Featured Stamper challenge over on SCS - today's featured stamper is the amazing StampingQueenJAR - you can view the challenge and a link to Judy's gallery here. I chose this card of Judy's to case. I was really drawn to the layout of this card and all the cool corner accents. So I kept the overall layout of the card - but changed the image and the color combo. I wanted to keep those corner accents on both square panels like on Judy's card - but changed them to match my image. I added eyelets in place of the stars and some Sizzix filigree die cut corner accents to my card to match my Bridal Party image. I had to do some masking to make my Mimis into a Bridal party - I started by stamping Bride Mimi first - masked her with some Eclipse Masking tape - then started stamping her Bridal party behind her - I had to make one mask of the Mimi with Flowers as well to do the Bridal party. Thanks so much for stopping by - I'll have more cards this coming week made with some of the other new stamps I bought at the show yesterday - one thing I do love about going to these shows are that you get exposed to all these great little compaies you never new existed! Have a great Sunday!

"Not For the Faint of Heart" Hanna

Happy Friday!! YAY!! And have I got a doozy for you today - my BFF Jennifer told me I should put a warning on this card - hmmm...she is kind of a sexy little thing, isn't she?? Hee hee...this card - believe it or not - is for today's Hanna Stamps challenge over on SCS - which was to create an Easter project or card using eyelets - you can view the challenge here. And I know - this isn't exactly an Easter card - but in my defense - it DOES have a bunny on it - LMBO!! I used Dress-Up Hanna for the card - and embellished her a bit to turn her into a "Girl Next Door" (think E!). I used a Copic Multiliner pen and ruler to draw in her fishnet stockings, made her bra and panties into a one piece, pieced some bunny ears on her (these were from a Changito Easter stamp - yikes - those poor Changitos!!) and then the bow tie is a punch (remember those old EKSuccess Punchkin punches??). The sentiment is pieced together from a couple of different Stampendous sets. I added my eyelets to the corners of the top panel for accents and used my Martha Stewart Lace Doily punch for the pink strip behind my image. The DP is from the My Mind's Eye Just Dreamy stack. Thanks so much for stopping by - I hope you'll indulge my warped mind today - hee hee...and I do hope you'll pop over to the Hanna forum over on SCS today and play in the challenge - show me up by making a true Easter card ;)!!!

OMG - I scrapped....

....and stamped - at the same time!!! How about that!? LMBO!! Hee hee...I've been SO itching to get back to doing some scrapbooking lately and those of you who know me from the Cricut site know that I love my die cuts when it comes to my layouts - so I branched out a bit with this one and used my stamps to do a layout!! My kiddos and I absolutely fell head over heels for these new litle monsters from the MFT "Monsters Ink" set (which BTW - you can now purchase on the MFT site) - so I've really been having fun with it and it was just what I was looking for to do this little layout with. This is an 8X8 layout and all paper used was from the DCWV All About Boys stack (you KNOW I had to have that one *wink*). I paper pieced my monsters on a 2 1/2 inch by 8 inch strip - added wiggly eyes to them too. The word "little" was stamp with some foam alphabet stamps and Brilliance ink in Rocket Red. The word "monster" was done using the MFT "Bling 'Bet" - I stamped the letters using an SU! Old Olive Ink pad and then cut them out.

Oh - and if you are wondering about the little monster in the pic - that would be my little man - Calvin - he's 3 and had just eaten a cupcake with BRIGHT blue frosting - he had to be hosed down afterwards - LOL!! And can you tell that he's a total ham?? That's my Calvin!! Thanks so much for stopping by!!

Peek-A-Boo!

So are you ready for the MFT Release Party tonight?? I thought I'd pop in on my blog for a minute to share this little "peek" at the new "Hooga Booga" set being released tonight by MFT (part of the MFT Presents line) - the little monsters in this set are SO adorable!! This is my card for today's sketch challenge - you can view today's sketch here. It's such a cool sketch - I had a lot of fun with this one. The little monsters in this set are so much fun to paper piece and I pulled out papers from one of my favorite My Mind's Eye stacks for this one. I wanted it to look like this little guy was playing "peek-a-boo" with you - so I stamped his arms off the edges - then pieced them back on and kinda curled them around to look like he was playing a game of peek a boo - hee hee...I added a nice big bow to accent and a couple of sparkly brads. OK - I'm off to watch the end of the "American Idol" results show - hope to see ya at the release party!!

Blog Hoppin' with my MFT Peeps!

Welcome, welcome!! It's another MFT Hop Around the Block! If you haven't hopped over here from Kimmie's blog - then pop back over to Kim's blog and start hoppin' from there - I'll be right here waiting for you to get back!! Ok - so are you back?? LOL!! I simply adore the new "Who's That Girl" set - "Hangin with my Peeps" - what a FABULOUS image!!! And sooooooo making me long for spring! I colored in my image with Copics - added a sidewalk and some grass (an image that comes in the set) and paper pieced her dress. All dp on this card is from the My Mind's Eye "Just Dreamy" stack - I love the beautiful spring colors in this paper - it so reminded me of this set! The chicks at the bottom of my card were punched with the Martha Stewart "Chicks" edge punch - I actually ended up using the positive pieces that this punch cuts - they turned out much cuter than the actual punched border (after a little embellishing). My sentiment was cut out using circle nesties. And don't forget...

My Favorite Things (http://www.mftstamps.com/) is having a New Release Cocktail Party on Wednesday, March 4th from 9-10 PM EASTERN. This month there are 5 new sets being released including a Who's that Girl who is hanging with her peeps!Head over to the MFT forum on http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/ to find out all the details and to find out how YOU can be the next MFT Guest Designer. We hope to see you there on Wednesday night.

Your next stop on the hop is the uber-talented Natalie's blog for more MFT eye candy - thanks so much for stopping by!!

Monsters Ink **MFTeaser**

Happy Tuesday!! First of all - I have to say I am SO excited about the MFT Stamping Idol contest that started yesterday - I can't wait to see everyone's auditions - if you are interested in being the first MFT Stamping Idol and having loads of fun along the way - check out this thread. I have an MFTeaser of the new "Monsters Ink" set being released tomorrow (for a larger image - click on the picture) - I am in LOVE with this set!! Most of you know that I have 2 boys (ages 3 and 7) - so I grab up any sets that I can get my hands on to make projects for them and these little monsters are perfect!! My 2 just went nuts over these little guys - so I decided to use them to make some bookmarks for them. I am SO blessed to have 2 kids that enjoy reading - my 7 year old started reading chapter books last year and always has his nose in one (just like his momma when she was his age;) ) - but one thing we never have is bookmarks for him to mark his place - so I made some. I started by stamping and coloring all my images I wanted to use with Copics. I cut 2 1/2 in. by 6 in. cardstock bases for my bookmarks - then added interest with some funky angles on the ends and edge punches for decorative edges. All sentiments are from this set as well. I rummaged thru my Halloween paper stash for DP to use for these - what a fun way to use up some of that old Halloween paper and I have LOTS of it- LOL!! I finished up my bookmarks by added lots of fun ribbons to the ends. I kept layers and embellishments limited on my bookmarks as not to make them too bulky and cause the book you are using them in not to close, kwim? Thanks so much for stopping by - and don't forget...

My Favorite Things (www.mftstamps.com) is having a New Release Cocktail Party on Wednesday, March 4th from 9-10 PM EASTERN. This month there are 5 new sets being released including a Who's that Girl who is hanging with her peeps!Head over to the MFT forum on www.splitcoaststampers.com to find out all the details and to find out how YOU can be the next MFT Guest Designer. We hope to see you there on Wednesday night.

A Cup of Tea, A Shady Tree...**MFTeaser**

Well - it's Monday - I hope you all are having a good start to your week! I've got lots of fun stuff planned for this week - so I hope you'll come by and visit me ;) - today I have an MFTeaser of the newest Flopsey set being released from MFT this Wednesday night - March 4th. Isn't he SO sweet!? He may be my favorite Flopsey yet - he's so whimsical - I just love that sentiment too! I colored my Flopsey and my tree in with Copics. **COPIC TIP**: To color in my white image, I added a hint of shading with my Cool Shadow (BG10) marker - and then I went back over the edge of the color with my Colorless Blender (0) to blend the color to the white. This little Flopsey set is so fun - it comes with a little leaf image that you can stamp all over your tree branches - I stamped mine with a SU! Old Olive classic ink pad. I wanted to use paper from the DCWV Once Upon a Time stack for my card - but couldn't decide which paper to use - so I sliced up a couple of small pieces into 1 in. squares - pieced the background together and then machine stitched at all the seams. I also machine stitched around my image - it felt good to fire up my sewing machine - I love sewing on cards!! I layerd up a couple of Primas with the Martha Stewart Branch punch for a card accent. Thanks so much for stopping by - and don't forget...

My Favorite Things (www.mftstamps.com) is having a New Release Cocktail Party on Wednesday, March 4th from 9-10 PM EASTERN. This month there are 5 new sets being released including a Who's that Girl who is hanging with her peeps!Head over to the MFT forum on www.splitcoaststampers.com to find out all the details and to find out how YOU can be the next MFT Guest Designer. We hope to see you there on Wednesday night.

I Pine 4 U **Riley Sneak Peek**

Good Morning!!! And what a beautiful Sunday it is - well - it's deceptively beautiful here - the sun is shining - but it is FREEZING outside - yikes - bring on Spring!!! I've got a peek at the 2nd new Riley being released this month from Hanna Stamps - this little cutie "Timber Riley" along with Spa Riley and 3 new Hanna sets will be released tomorrow night after the release party (9-11 PM EST on the Hanna forum at SCS). This card is also for today's Featured Stamper challenge over on SCS - yay! - I love getting up in the mornings and playing in the SCS challenges - such a fun start to the day. Today's featured stamper is the talented Kelly_H and I chose this card to case - such an adorable outdoor-sy card!! I knew I had to try to work in Timber Riley on that tree background somehow - so for my card - I kept the basic layout of the original card, the trees in the background and that big ol' sentiment - I LOVE how Kelly did the sentiment on this card! I used some old alphabet foam stamps that I bought at Hobby Lobby that I haven't used in ages!! OMG - I remember going thru that foam stamps and acrylic paint phase in scrapbooking - LOL - I have so many of those sets and never got rid of them - I'm glad I didn't and found another awesome use for them this morning!! So the "pine" was done with the foam stamps and the "i, 4, u" were done using Doodlebug Simply Sweet mini rub-on letter. I cut my Riley out with circle nesties and colored him with Copics. The changes I made to the original card were to change the image - I added some ribbon to the top and left off the brads on the bottom of the card since my base is just one layer. Can I also say I love doing "CAS" cards??!! I so want to get better at these - there is nothing more beautiful than a strinking CAS card, KWIM?? Thanks so much for stopping by today - hope you are all having a wonderful weekend and I hope to see you at the Hanna release party tomorrow night - what a fun way to cure those Monday blues!!!! "See" you then!!