MFT Sketch 248

Ready for a new sketch from MFT?



I kind of stripped this one down.  I wanted to use the green chevron print, and when I was looking for something to go with it, I thought why not pair it with the pink, but offset the pattern.

I like the kind of optical illusion you get and I thought this sentiment went perfectly.

I wanted to give the green chevron panel a bit more height without popping it up, so I backed it with some cardstock so it has a little more definition.



A few sequins and some sparkly embellishments that have been languishing in my stash finished it off.

Please stop by the blog to see what the rest of the team created, and I hope you'll play along too!

LLD Geek Is Chic	Die-namics Geek Is Chic Glasses	Fresh Squeezed Chevron Paper Pack	Sweet Tooth Card Stock
Black Licorice Prestige Card Stock

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Christmas is three months away!

Sorry, don't mean to be an alarmist, but it's kind of creeping up.

I always tell myself that I'll make Christmas cards throughout the year and then I'll have plenty when it comes time for Christmas.  Somehow it never quite works out that way.  I counted up how many Christmas cards I have so far this year and it came to a woeful five.  FIVE.  And truthfully two of those are left over from last year.  Sigh.

So I need to get cracking on my cards, but I don't want to mass produce them because I kind of hate mass producing and I think it takes the joy out of making a card for someone.  At the same time, I can't afford to take the 1-2 hours it normally takes me to make a card (I know, I'm slow, and indecisive, and I make mistakes).

So this year I'm going to do my best to create scaled down cards, and mass produce in a fashion.

This means I pull some Christmas stamps I want to use and a pad of patterned paper.  I do all the stamping, images and sentiments, at once.  Next I select/cut the patterned papers, then I go back and color.  Once that's done, I'll add limited details and assemble.

For today's set of cards I pulled out some of my Essentials by Ellen stamps (Tis the Season and Christmas Scribbles) as well as a Hero Arts Woodmount (Winter Evergreen) stamp.  The papers are from last year's My Mind's Eye Sleighbells Ring 6x6 pad.  And I used my Kuretake Gansai watercolors to color the images.


After I finished this one, I thought the stamped panel was too stark, so I stitched some strips of paper/vellum on the top and bottom and added a bit of twine.

Similarly, for this next card, I added some glitter paper and vellum.

 This next card is a CASE of this card I made last year, just a little simpler and more mailable.

These last two cards were a little bit more involved.  I stamped the Hero Arts image on a cardstock panel.  The merry is an Ellen Hutson die, and I masked off one of the other EH sentiments to get just the Christmas.  I stitched the vellum to the stamped panel with gold thread and then adhered the sentiment die.  It was looking a little boring, so added a few gold embossed stars.

 



I really liked this design so I ended up making a second one.



So those are my semi-mass produced, less involved, Christmas cards.  I've officially doubled the number of cards I have on hand.  Hopefully I can keep this up!

Have a great weekend!

MFT Color Challenge 30

It's time for a new Color Challenge from MFT.



I will admit this was a tough one for me and I cheated a little bit.  I had a hard time working Gumdrop Green into the card, but there's a little bit of it in the plaid pattern I chose, so I'm calling it OK.



Be sure to head over to the blog to check out how the rest of the team met the challenge.

LLD Be Original	Die-namics LLD All-Star High Tops	Die-namics LLD Hip Clips	Tropical Teal Prestige Card Stock
Spearmint Card Stock	Lemon Chiffon Prestige Card Stock	Sweet Tooth Card Stock	Plaid Patterns Paper Pack
Tropical Teal Hybrid Ink Pad

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MFT Sketch 247

Time for a new sketch from MFT!



I went a little off-road on this one, but I'm quite happy with the result.

I started with the Etched Flower Background which was stamped/embossed on watercolor paper.  After trimming it down, I fussy cut out the negative spaces and then added watercoloring.

I created a frame using the Inside Out Rectangular STAX and added a really subtle pattern beneath it.



A strip of vellum softens the sentiment strip.

OK, please head over to the blog to check out what the rest of the team made.

BG Etched Flower Background	LJD Delicate Pretty Poppies	Die-namics Inside & Out Diagonal Stitched Rectangle STAX	Sweet Tooth Card Stock
Black Licorice Prestige Card Stock	Translucent Vellum

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Birthday Mice

I needed a quick birthday card this weekend for one of Carina's friends.

These London Mice are just so cute!  They were die cut/stamped on watercolor paper and quickly watercolored with my Kuretake Gansai watercolors.



I added a simple inked ground line, stamped the Happy Birthday sentiment and then added the mice with foam tape.

Seriously so easy, and don't you just love the mice?

Happy Monday!

London Mouse	Totally Happy	Die-namics London Mouse	Sweet Tooth Card Stock
Hybrid Ink Pad Black Licorice

InLinkz.com

Silly Season

We're just wrapping up the silly season here.  Between the end of August and middle of September it gets a little crazy around here.  We've got Ellie's birthday/party, Carina's party, school starting, and Carina's birthday.  

It's a little fast and furious but lots of fun.

I thought I would share a few photos with you guys as I pretty much didn't make anything all week, I needed a little creative break!

Ellie saved for almost a year for a new American Girl, so we went on release day to get Mary Ellen.  She was so excited!  

We had a smaller birthday party this year, inviting a few friends for lunch at the American Girl store and then back to the house for cake.  It was pretty interesting listening to the conversation in the car on the way to and from the store.  The girls' knowledge of all things American Girl was literally mind-numbing.

The illustrious line up of dolls:

The next day was Ellie's actual birthday.  We had the 'family' party.  My mom and best friend and her family came over.  This is one of my favorite, albeit slightly blurry, photos from the evening.  Ellie wants cake and the rest of the kids are busy being in a band.

 Ellie and my Mom



Next up, Carina's Minion Party.


 
The laser obstacle course.  Red yard with little bells strung on the yarn so you hear a jingle if you touch the laser.



The Box of Shame

 Snacking with her best buddy from preschool



Minion Cornhole (the Frozen corn hole from last year with a Minion makeover)



Minion cake!

Something very important was happening here...



Last to leave



And then the first day of Kindergarten and 3rd grade!  The girls are going to a fancy schmancy new school this year.  It was built to alleviate overcrowding in the district and is pretty nice, although slightly unfinished....the gym and library should be done by the end of the month and the fields next month.  You can read all about it here if you're interested:  https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/more-sunlight-moveable-walls-new-va-school-reflects-new-teaching-ideals/2015/09/06/cabf7410-51ae-11e5-9812-92d5948a40f8_story.html

It was a good day!

 

 

 And finally Carina's actual birthday!  I surprised her and had lunch with her in the cafeteria.

 

 

 

 And then our little family celebration yesterday evening.

 

Love this reaction!



That's what's been going on here, I'm ready for the weekend!!!