You Stole my Heart with My Favorite Things!

Hi friends!  Here we are with the last day of inspiration before all of the new My Favorite Things will be available for purchase Tuesday evening!

Today I am using an ADORABLE new set called Miss Tiina Cute Critters stamp set and matching Die-namics!  I know I've mentioned before that I'm not a colorer but these were just too cute to not try!

I started out by stamping the new Burlap Background stamp with gray ink onto Steel Grey cardstock for a tone on tone look and trimmed a wave to the edge.  I diecut lots of little hearts using the Mason Jar Die-namics in Electric Red cardstock and stitched them onto the wavy edge.  My little critter diecut and was colored in with various Copics (N1, N3, N5).

My sentiment was stamped first in a light grey, then white, and then a darker grey for a ghost stamping look onto a Sno Cone cardstock panel.  This was all mounted onto an Electric Red panel.  The last embellishing was adding in a few more diecut hearts topped with clear sequins!

That's all for today but make sure you visit the MFT Blog for a list of all the new products and links to more inspiration!  

Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge: Wishing Well

It's time for a new Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge!

We have a wonderful new sponsor, Clearly Whimsy Stamps, for the Curtain Call Inspiration: Wishing Well!  A randomly selected participant in the Wishing Well challenge will receive $25 store credit to Whimsy Stamps and the LEAD will be invited as Guest Designer of a our next challenge!

I stamped my tulip image from In the Garden from Whimsy Stamps in various inks and added a Hello diecut as the sentiment!

Make sure you visit each of the designers' blogs for more inspiration!

Wishing Well Designers

Guest Designer, Esther Asbury

Amy Kolling
Amy Sheffer
Amy Tsuruta
Gayatri Murali
Kim Singdahlsen
Laurie Willison
Lisa Henke
Marisa Ritzen
Maureen Plut
Monika Davis
Sarah Gough
Sheri Gilson
Stacey Schafer
Tenia Nelson
Tracey McNeely

Stop by the Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge:  Wishing Well for the challenge details and to play along with us!

Grateful with My Favorite Things!

Welcome back to the New Release Countdown for My Favorite Things!  This month has been jam packed with new FABULOUS stamps, die-namics, and stencils......don't you think?  Well, there is more goodness to come!

Today I'm using the Falling Leaves Die-namics along with the Words of Gratitude Die-namics.  These die sets are amazing and can be used for so many occasions!  

I started by blending some fall Distress Ink colors (Barn Door, Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade, Frayed Burlap, and Crushed Olive) onto white cardstock.  Using that cardstock, I diecut my Falling Leaves Die-namics.  Once the leaves were diecut, I added some extra color to the edges of the leaves.  Next I used some white woodgrain cardstock and diecut a circle out of the panel.  My leaves were arranged inside this circle and adhered.  The woodgrain panel was only adhered with double layer of foam tape at the top of the circle and the bottom.  By doing this, it gives a "dome" shape to the woodgrain panel which is fun!

My diecut sentiment is from the Words of Gratitude Die-namics set.  I blended more of my Distress Inks onto a scrap piece of cardstock and diecut the word.  I was left with this beautiful colored sentiment!!  I diecut 3 more out of white cardstock and glued them all together for dimension.  Now, I wanted to discuss all the detail in these leaf dies.....seriously lifelike and amazing!!!  All this detail is just from diecutting the leaves!  

That's all for today but make sure you visit the MFT Blog for a list of all the new products and links to more inspiration!  

Embossing Paste......

I was just discussing Embossing Paste with my friend, Jen Carter, the other day.  We love the stuff but it's messy and frankly, I don't have time to wait for it to dry!  But for my card today.....this panel was something I had worked on a few months back and decided it needed to finally make its way onto a card.

I used Wendi Vecchi white embossing paste and while it was still wet....sprinkled some white glitter over the top and lightly tapped.  IRL....this looks amazing!  So what I went for here was a more elegant "thanks" card using this "pre-made" embossing paste panel!  My diecut "thanks" is from Whimsy Stamps......LOVE!  To add to the elegance, I spritzed the word thanks with white Color Shine spray by Heidi Swap for a shimmer look and added some pearls.

Thanks for sharing a part of your day with me!

{thanks}

Paper:  White, Black, Pure Poppy (PTI)

Die:  Thanks (Whimsy Stamps)

Misc:  Embossing Paste (Wendy Vecchi), Glitter, Foam Adhesive, Color Shine-white (Heidi Swapp), Pearls, Corner Chomper, Stencil (Heidi Swapp)

Cutting Edge Challenge #10

It's time to share the next Cutting Edge Challenge!  We have another beautiful inspiration project, this one done by Jean Manis.  I can’t wait for you all to play along, so let’s get to it, shall we?!

I was totally inspired by the grasses and neutral colors from Jean's card.  I went in a different direction but using the Wheat dies from Impression Obsession,  My card turned out more elegant than masculine than I intended but oh well, that's how it goes sometimes!  

I dug deep into my cardstock stash of textured Bazzill for my wheat!!  I haven't used this cardstock in years.....and I have heaps and heaps of it!!  Anyone else??  My ovals were cut with the Stitched Mats: Ovals from Lil' Inker Designs and the sentiment and flag are from Simon Says Stamp, Striped Greetings.  My kraft layer was stamped using a new background stamp releasing soon from My Favorite Things!

We’d love to have you play along with us! If you click on through to The Cutting Edge Challenge Blog, you’ll find lots of information, including:

• The Winner of the last challenge, as well as the Top 3, are being announced;
• The Cutting Edge Design Team is sharing their samples for the challenge, and they are pretty fabulous;
• The InLinkz link-up tool for you to link up YOUR project!

The challenge closes in 2 weeks....... so what are you waiting for?!  You can find everything you need to play along HERE.  We can’t wait to see what you create!! 

{HELLO}

Stamps:  Striped Greetings (Simon Says Stamp), Burlap Background (MFT)

Paper:  Kraft, Rustic White, Dark Chocolate (PTI), Textured (Bazzill)

Ink:  Chocolate (Fresh Ink)

Dies:  Wheat (Impression Obsession), Stitched Mats: Ovals (Lil' Inker Designs), Small Folded Banners (Simon Says Stamp)

Misc:  Brown Twine (May Arts), Foam Adhesive

Verve August Release Retrospective Hop!

Welcome to Verve's August Release Retrospective Blog Hop! The Verve Divas are hopping today and serving up some more inspiration using the August release stamps & dies! Besides a peek at some really cool cards, there are also a couple of prizes up for grabs!

1. Julee	10. Janelle
2. Teresa	11. Christyne
3. Amber	12. Jen
4. Charmaine	13. Andrea
5. Marisa	14. Betty
6. Monika {Guest}	15. Karen
7. Stacey	16. Sarah
8. Maureen	17. Amy
9. Laurie

I fell in love with this frame/floral image from the new Framed Florals stamp set.  First, I white heat embossed my floral frame.  Then, I decided to watercolor my image with a few Distress Inks real "messy-like" and then trimmed out my image by hand.

I layered this over a panel of vellum and a very light gray pattern paper.  Just wish you could see this in person!  For a little extra detail, I added tiny tiny drops of Glossy Accents!!

Want to win some shiny new Verve? We're giving away a $40 gift voucher to one lucky commenter along the hop, so be sure to leave a shout out in the comments as you hop about. 

Want another chance to win? Now it's your turn! We'd LOVE to see what you've done with the August release. Link up your cards using at least one product from our August release and you'll be entered in a drawing to win our entire next release! All the details and the linkup widget are on the Verve Blog today. The deadline is October 3, so there's still plenty of time to get the August release if you haven't already.

{With Sympathy}

Stamps:  Framed Florals (Verve)

Paper:  White (PTI), Vellum

Pattern Paper:  Family Ties (Pebbles), Moments (MME)

Ink:  Delicata Silver, Versamark

Misc:  White EP, Crochet Thread, Foam Adhesive

Seasons's Greetings and a Winner!

Happy Friday!  I am back with a another card to share using more of the FANTASTIC STAMPtember release from Simon Says Stamp!  If you haven't checked out this release or even what's been happening over on their blog, you really need to!  They had a huge release but now they have been sharing some exclusives that you can only get during STAMPtember!

I may have *needed* this set.......exclusive from Mama Elephant and Simon Says Stamp!  Eek!  Isn't it just the cutest??  You can find it HERE.

On with my card!  I created another watercolor background (using Distress Inks) to use as a backdrop for my GOLD heat embossed ornaments from Presents and Ornaments.  I love how it turned out especially with all the GOLD!

That's it for me today but I do have the winner of the goodies from Simon Says Stamp STAMPtember Blog Hop.........Mary Gray Whitcomb.  You have been contacted!

{Season's Greetings}

Stamps:  Presents and Ornaments, Peace on Earth (SSS)

Paper:  Watercolor paper (Tim Holtz), White (PTI), Gold Foil (DVWV)

Ink:  Versamark, Distress Inks

Misc:  Foam Adhesive