MDSM98 My Little Monster

Beth's challenge this week for MDS Monday is to fill punch shapes with photos.

I was short on time, so I whipped together this page.  I'm sure you can tell that Beth's page was a major inspiration for me.  I've never filled a punch partially with a photo, and I wanted to try filling a second punch with patterned paper, as described in the challenge.  Worked like a charm!  I did put both photos side-by-side in a separate photo-editing program before filling the punch.

It was fun to find gothic items in MDS to coordinate with my daughter's Monster High outfit.  Heehee!

Here is this week's sketch -

MDS Elements: Night and Day DSP, Timeless Taffeta Trimmings, Basic Pearls and Rhinestones; Font: Chiller.

Want to follow me in your blog reader? You can now follow me in Bloglovin -

The Stamp Review Crew: Valentine Free For All!

Welcome to another Stamp Crew Review Blog Hop!  We share our take on a selected stamp set every first and third Monday.  This time we are hopping along with any current Valentine-oriented images and supplies.  I love Valentine's... we get to dress up chocolates (yay!), and it also gives us something to look forward to during the cold month of January.  If you are hopping around in a circle, you have just come from Wendy Weixler's blog.  She is just so creative!

With Wonderous Wreath carrying over from the Holiday Catalog, I had a Valentine's wreath in mind.

Nothing too terribly complicated.  Just a lot of layering, which is quick and easy with the Wonderous Wreath + framelits bundle.  I used Color Throwdown #323 color combo again, because I just love it, and Freshly Made Sketches #165 layout to help me out.  And I did add Crystal Effects to the Calypso Coral berries in the wreath.

Stamps: Wonderous Wreath, You Plus Me, Hardwood BG; Paper: Crisp Cantaloupe, Calypso Coral, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla; Ink: Crisp Cantaloupe, Calypso Coral, Crumb Cake, Baked Brown Sugar; Accessories: Confetti Heart border punch, Crystal Effects, Wonderful Wreath framelits, Big Shot, Thread.

Now make sure you check out the next stop to see what beauties Ann Schach has put together for us. 

 

Stampin' Addicts Occasions Catalog Blog Hop

Hello Everyone, Welcome to the Stampin' Addicts Occasions Catalog Blog Hop, which features amazing products from the new Occasions Catalog.  Sit back and enjoy some wonderful ideas using the newest stamping goodies!

If you have been following the blog hop in order, you have just come from Yapha's post featuring the fun alphabet set Sophisticated Serifs.  Yapha has some beautiful projects!  And today I will show you some projects using the set You Plus Me.

First up is a project I created (27 times) over Christmas for the Control Freaks swap group.

Sewing the layers together is a really slick way to assemble a shaker card, as long as the shaker items inside aren't bulky.  And the baker's twine is a pretty convenient way to attach the pompom trim.  Since I prefer the look of a stamped image, I stamped a circle image from Geometrical with Crisp Cantaloupe ink and punched a heart with the Itty Bitty Accents punch pack.

Stamps: You Plus Me, Geometrical; Paper: Crisp Cantaloupe, Calypso Coral, Basic Black, Whisper White, Stacked with Love DSP, Vellum, Gold Foil; Ink: Real Red, Crisp Cantaloupe, Calypso Coral, Versamark; Accessories: Gold Sequin trim, Basic Black baker's twine, Calypso Coral pompom trim, Stacked with Love washi tape, Itty Bitty Accents punch pack, Confetti Heart border punch, Gold EP, Hearts & Stars decorative mask, Sponge, Sewing machine, Thread.

The large ampersand image just begs for a fun background.  Watercoloring and bokeh effect are very big right now.

Did you notice the "You + Me" stamp image is actually open words with solid background?  To create dark lettering, I embossed with clear embossing powder, sponged the open area with black ink, and used the iron-off embossing technique to remove the melted embossing powder.  Neat trick!

Stamps: You Plus Me; Paper: Crisp Cantaloupe, Basic Black, Whisper White, Watercolor paper;  Ink: Crisp Cantaloupe, Calypso Coral, Real Red, Basic Black, Memento Tuxedo Black, Whisper White craft, Versamark; Accessories: Clear EP, Sponge dauber, What's Up punch, Circle punches, Squares Collection framelits, Big Shot.

And hopefully you'll forgive me for making another Curvy Keepsake box; this one is for stamp club.  Such a busy month, I need to double up whenever possible!

The tiny hearts from "Be Mine" didn't look right in black ink, so I used my hot craft knife and cut my stamp.  Gasp!  I much prefer to ink stamps with pads rather than markers.  

Stamps: You Plus Me; Paper: Real Red, Whisper White, Stacked with Love DSP; Ink: Real Red, Memento Tuxedo Black; Accessories: White baker's twine, Pearl jewels, Dotted Scallop Ribbon border punch, Scallop Tag Topper punch, Itty Bitty Accents punch pack, Curvy Keepsake thinlit, Big Shot, Dimensionals.

Make sure you check out the next stop to see what Tina at Paper Art Garden put together using Hello Life. She made some amazing projects!
 

 

FM193 Birthday Pine

Sara has challenged us to the triple-layer technique at the Friday Mashup.

Ok, clearly I have issues.  I never really liked the look of triple-layer stamping, because as my daughter would say when her father wears checked shirts, it's too square.  I have the same issue with cards that are perfectly centered.  It's a disease.  So I wanted to try something a little different with my card, but with pinterest searches and thinking, nothing was springing to mind.  Insert creative block and several days of inactivity here.

Then the light bulb goes off... combine triple-layer stamping and a clean&simple sketch, in this case, Sketch #313.

This week's Mashup Challenge is:

• Create a project with the "Triple Layer Technique" Tutorial HERE.
• Create a project that's "Floral". 
• or Mash it Up! and create a "Floral Triple Layer Project".

Ok, so I didn't get it mashed up with a floral element, but a nature element is close?  The fact I finally got a card done is a miracle in itself.

Stamps: Ornamental Pine, Express Yourself; Paper: Baked Brown Sugar, Whisper White; Ink: Mossy Meadow, Baked Brown Sugar.

Stampin' Up! Flower Shop

I resisted and resisted getting the Flower Shop stamp set and Pansy punch, but finally I gave in.

This is a quickie club card CASED from Nancy Smith.

A neat trick with the Flower Shop set is to mark the lower petal, on the backside of your stamp, that coordinates with the lower petal of the punch.  Always stamp that mark on the bottom of your card stock, and no more rotating and rotating to find the right orientation.

Stamps: Flower Shop, Perfect Pennants, Hardwood BG; Paper: Old Olive, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla; Ink: Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Crumb Cake, Black Stazon, Basic Black marker; Accessories: Linen thread, Pansy punch, Aquapainter, Flower Frenzy die, Big Shot, Dimensionals.

Tuesday Updates

There's a new photopolymer stamp set released today, Better Than E-Mail, a cute way to be in compliance with the Angel Policy.

And here are this week's Weekly Deals -

Angled Tag Topper Punch Price: $22.95 $17.21	Blackberry Bliss 3/8" Satin Stitched Ribbon Price: $8.95 $6.71	Hello Honey 3/8" Satin Stitched Ribbon Price: $8.95 $6.71	Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack Price: $16.95 $12.71
Little Pieces Embosslits Die Price: $11.95 $8.96	Starburst Framelits Die Price: $26.95 $20.21	Tangelo Twist 3/8" Satin Stitched Ribbon Price: $8.95 $6.71	Watercolored Winter Kit - Digital Download Price: $9.95 $5.97

MDSM97 Ampersand Love

Welcome back to another MDS Monday challenge.  This week Anita is hosting the sketch for us.

I have to admit I had scrap-envy over Beth's page.  I really have been wanting to get and use the Fall Memories kit.  But I couldn't blatantly copy her page, could I?  I started flipping through the old kits and found Amped Up Ampersands.  There is a scrap sample on pg. 4 of the Occasions Catalog that is really fun, so I also used that as inspiration.

Here's Anita's sketch -

Please stop by and join us!

MDS Elements: Amped Up Ampersands, Get It Done notepaper, Back to School ribbon, Gold Sequins, Whisper White Stitching, Full Heart punch, Scallop Edge punch; Font: Niagara Engraved.