My First Twilight Card

Happy Friday!! I hope everyone has had a wonderful week! It's been an eventful week here - my youngest started his last year of Preschool this week so we've definitely had some adjusting to do. I got some YUMMY stamps in the mail today - I placed an order for a couple of Twilight-inspired sets from Artful Inkables and I have been stalking the mailbox all week waiting for them to come - hee hee...the Artful Inkables sets have to be my favorite Twilight sets - the collage image that I have used on this card is just perfect!! (Oh - and BTW - thanks to my friend Laura for sending me the link to the stamps when they were released this summer - you have officially enabled me - LOL!!) I thought it would be appropriate to make a removable bookmark card with these stamps - so you can send this card to your fellow Twilight lovin' sistahs - I know exactly who I'm sending this one to and I'm hoping it'll put a smile on her face! I used Michelle's HTDT? Tutorial from back in March to create this bookmark card - here is a link to the tutorial. All images are by Artful Inkables - the diamond background, feathers, sentiments and main image. I used the Nesties Labels2 set for the main image. The red satin ribbon is from a Michael's $1 bin - it's perfect for a Twilight card!! Here's a pic of the bookmark pulled out so you can see what it looks like...
Hee hee...I love that line from "Breaking Dawn" that's on the bookmark...**sigh**...hee hee...thanks so much for stopping by - hope you all have a wonderful holiday weekend!!

Cowabunga, Dude - I found some inspiration!

Hope everyone is having a wonderful start to their weekends!! Today was a big day for my youngest DS - he's 4 - and he had his very first soccer game this morning!! He did awesome - a little hesitant at first - but by the end of the game he had gotten some good kicks in. It's a fun age I think - they aren't into the competitiveness of it yet and they're just having fun - plus they're all just too cute to boot too!! :) I did do some stamping when we got home - participated in my very first Inspiration Challenge in SCS. I was perusing the Creative Wall Coverings site that is today's inspiration and came across this wallpaper border...
...and I knew exactly what I wanted to do!! I didn't have any images of dogs surfing - but I do have images of turtles surfing - so I went with that. The set I used is OCL's Hangin' Loose with Kona (an Eclectic Paperie exclusive set) - the sentiment is from this set as well. I've had this set forever and I need kicked in the behind for not inkin' it up yet because it's just too darn cute. I think I made up for it though by using every turtle in the set to create this scene - hee hee...the matching wall paper that goes with this border on the inspiration site was striped - so I drew inspiration from that too by adding some striped paper behind my image panel. I colored the image with Copics and sponged my sky on like I did on my card yesterday. I added a few flower brads for accents and even got to play with my new Nesties too - the inverted scallop circle set. Thanks so much for stopping by - hope you all have a wonderful weekend!!

Tell me if you've heard this one...

...the Wicked Witch, a turkey and Santa Claus walk into a bar....hee hee...doesn't this card remind you of one of those jokes?? LOL!! I know what you're thinking - she disappears for a month and comes back and thinks she's a comedienne! ;) I'd like to give you some exotic excuse as to where I've been - backpacking in Europe, summering in the Hamptons, etc. - but alas - it's nothing that exciting - hee hee...I had some medical problems (nothing serious) that I had to deal with in June and then took some time away from blogging and DT work to make time some more time for my family. We had a great end of summer vacation though and I sent my oldest back to school last week for his 2nd grade year!! Yikes - where does the time go?? With the kiddos heading back to school (my youngest starts his last year of Preschool next week) - I feel like I'm getting back into a stamping groove and would like to get back to regular blog posts (I'll try my best). I'm still teaching Copic classes though and will update my blog later today with upcoming dates if you're in the area and are interested. Now onto my card I have to share with you today...

It's been a long time since I've had this much fun making a card - this one just sort of came together really easily too...I've been drooling over this OCL "Holiday Cruiser" set since I discovered the new releases. I ordered it from EP as soon as it was back in stock and inked it up as soon as it got here yesterday - it's such a fun set to play with - I just love the way everything in the set interchanges - the possibilities are endless really. I did a lot of masking to create my scene - and it's sort of an ironic scene too, isn't it?? It certainly feels like the holidays fly by - one right on top of the other - Halloween stuff has been in stores for a month or so now and I saw Christmas stuff out at Hobby Lobby the other day - crazy!! Anywho - I colored the scene in with Copics - well - except the sky - it was sponged on with Versamagic Sea Breeze ink. The three panels were embossed with Cuttlebug folders - the purple with the Spiderweb folder, the orange with the Pumpkins folder and the red with the Snowflakes folder. Thanks SO much for stopping by and for those of you still following me - for not giving up on me - you guys are the best!!! ;)

I'm Feelin' Fruity!! **MFT Hop Around the Block**

Hello and welcome to the July mid-month MFT Hop Around the Block!! If you've just happened onto my blog - then hop back over to Kim's blog and start the hop from there - I'll see ya when you get back!! ;) We've got some of the cutest sets to show you along the way - I'm gonna start by sharing a card made with the UBER-CUTE "Feelin' Fruity" set - OMG - the fruits are just precious and the sentiments are so sweet - you are gonna LOVE this set!! I used the pear image from the set - I stamped one pear onto my MFT Perfect Paper panel - masked it with Eclipse masking tape - then stamped my second pear to create the "perfect pair" - LOL!! I colored them in with Copics (and BTW - if you want to see how to get that cool 2 tone effect on the fruit - check out my new HTDT? Tutorial this week here). The paper is from the MFT 6X6 Spring Collection - the buttons are from the Spring Button collection too and I don't know if you can see - I added a little stem and leaf to each one. The pink ribbon is from the yummy MFT Plaid ribbon pak.
This second card was done with the new Annie LaPoint "Harvest of Hope" set - what a beautiful image, huh?? I can see this one being VERY versatile!! The image was colored in with Copics and the new HTDT? tutorial also shows a great trick on getting shading in those small leaves and flower petals. The paper on this one is from the MFT Spring collection as well and the ribbon from the MFT plaid ribbon pak. I punched my flowers and put a small pink gemstone in the center of each of them as well.

MFT is releasing 3 sets - which will be available starting at midnight - Feelin' Fruity, Spread a Harvest of Hope (Annie LaPoint) and Bubble Bunny. Be sure to get your order in early to qualify for the "First 50" - the special "First 50" Memento Dew Drop collection continues this week with "Bamboo Leaves"!! And in honor of another Copic tutorial - this week's spotlight is on the My Favorite Copic Collection - the perfect way to either start or add-on to your Copic collection!!

Thanks SO much for stopping by - your next stop on the hop is Cindy- and I know she has some BEAUTIFUL eye candy to share with you!!!

Just Beachy! **MFT July Hop Around the Block**

Hello and welcome to this month's MFT Hop Around the Block!! If you've just happened upon my blog - then hop back over to Kim's blog and start the hop from there - I'll see you when you get back!! For today's hop - I chose to share a card I did using the new MFT "Catch Some Rays" set being released Wednesday night at 10 PM EST - I figured it was pretty appropriate considering I just got back from a week of doing just this - LOL!! OK - well - exchange the books for an Amazon Kindle and my margarita was on the rocks - but hey - it was pretty darn close to this image - hee hee...I even included a little memento from my trip on this card - but I'll show you that in a minute. ;) I started by coloring my image with Copics - I paper pieced the umbrella with paper from the MFT 6X6 Spring Paper pak (the background paper is from this pak as well). The big button is from the Spring Button Collection and that yummy yellow gingham ribbon is from the MFT Perfect Plaid Ribbons pak (this ribbon is BEAUTIFUL!!). Now for the fun part...check it out...the sand underneath my Who's That Girl is ACTUAL sand...here's a close-up...

We just got back from Myrtle Beach and like the total dork that I am - I brought back a small bag of sand for crafting purposes (scrapbook pages, keepsake bottles for the boys, etc.) - so I thought it would be fun to add a little bit of my vacation to this card. I started by putting down 2 strips of 1/4 in. redline tacky tape - I cut the ends to fit the image. Then I just sprinkled some sand onto the sticky strips - patted it down to make sure it was nice and stuck and then shook off the excess. And believe it or not - it's really stuck on there - I thought that maybe I'd have to seal it - but it seems to be OK without it.

We've got a FUN release for you this month - MFT will be releasing 4 brand new sets Wedneday night after the new release Cocktail Party over on SCS from 8-10 PM EST (remember TLC'ers get to order the releases starting at 9 PM EST). MFT is also releasing some new polka dot ribbon - a perfect choice for those summer projects!! Also - this month starts the First 50 Memento Dew Drop Collection - for the next 24 weeks, the first 50 prize will be a Memento Dew Drop and each week - we will feature a NEW color. If you place an order each Wednesday and are in the first 50 orders - you will earn the complete collection for FREE over the next 24 weeks. For this Wednesday - the first 50 will receive a FREE Memento Dew Drop in Angel Pink with their order - how cool is that!? And what a way to complete your Memento Dew Drop collection!! Hope to see everyone at the party - Paula and I will be announcing the One Click Collection winner as well - see you then!! Your next stop on the hop...the FABULOUSLY talented - Cindy - enjoy!!!

I'm ba-aack!!!

Happy Monday!! And a big hello to all my blogger friends!! I'm back!! I've missed blogging and stamping and chatting - so I'm very excited to be posting this morning! Where have I been?? I'll show you in a second - first - I wanted to share an MFTeaser of one of the new MFT sets being released this Wednesday night - it's a new set by MFTPresents illustrator Amanda Baird called "Puttin on the Glitz". Isn't she fabulous!? I love Amanda's sets - they are so whimsical and very "Vogue"!! I created a little scene with the set - drew in the flooring and colored everything in with Copics. All the silver on the scene - around the mirror and on the make-up cases - were colored in using Silver Fox Smooch Ink - these are VERY cool for accents!! This card is for the July One Click Challenge - hosted by Paula and I this month - our challenge for you is to create a card using FLOWERS and POLKA DOTS!!! The sky's the limit and I can't wait to see what you all come up with - you have until 10 PM EST Tuesday night to enter - you could win all the stamps from the July release!!! I went with a black and pink theme - my polka dots were done with circle punches and my flowers were punched as well - I added little pink gemstones to accent them.
So where have I been?? Well - we just got back from a week in beautiful Myrtle Beach, South Carolina!! Here are my 2 beach boys having fun in the water - we just had an absolute blast and I am SO itching to scrap our trip already - so you may even start seeing some LO's soon!! ;) I think I mentioned we were leaving in my last post - but I normally don't like to splash all over my blog that we were leaving our house for a week, kwim?? But I'm back now - feeling great and ready to get back to blogging!! I hope to see you all at the MFT Release Party over on SCS Wednesday night from 8-10 PM EST - and don't forget about the blog hop - it starts tomorrow at 10 PM for lots of eye candy and maybe some blog candy at the end too!! ;) See you then!!

A Little Java...

...to get you hoppin'!! Hi everyone! Sorry for the week-long absence - I did not end up having my wisdom teeth out on Tuesday - I had a bit of a medical emergency happen on Sunday and while I'm not quite ready to talk about it yet - I will tell you that I'm OK and was even able to finish up this adorable little Flopsey jar this morning. I missed the MFT new release blog hop this week :( - this was one of the projects I had planned on sharing during the hop - so since I finally finished it I thought that I'd share it with you today. I started with one of the MFT Perfect Packaging squared jars and the newly released "I Need Coffee Flopsey" set. I stamped the new Flopsey on an MFT Perfect Paper panel - colored him with Copics and then cut him out. The sentiment is from this new set as well. I tied some ribbon around the jar lid and then decorated the top as well. I used a piece of the 6X6 MFT Chocolate Kiss paper as well as a button from the Spring Collection button mix to accent the top. The kicker though are the bunny ears I added to the lid - LOL!! I just die cut a couple of skinny ovals and then folded them right at the tips to adhere them to the top of the lid. The jar is filled with - well - java of course - but not just any coffee - it's filled with Dunkin' Donuts coffee - YUM!!! What java fanatic wouldn't love this adorable jar!?

Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope that after my long absences - I still have some blog readers left - LOL!! I really hated not posting this past week as we are getting ready to head out on Saturday for some week-long R & R in Myrtle Beach, SC - ahh...I'm SO looking forward to vacation!! If you're looking for some MFT goodness though - be sure to check out the other MFT design team members' blogs as well as the MFT forum on SCS - there's ALWAYS some fun going on there!! Talk to you all soon!!