I don't know if this really qualifies for the Spotlight Stamping technique that was showcased on the MFT blog yesterday, but that was definitely my inspiration for this card.

I had had this idea swimming around in my head last week to use the stepped up chevron Die-namics to make a tone-on-tone background. So I started by diecuting a bunch of those and then laid them all out on a piece of printer paper that was cut to 4.25 x 5.5 inches, spacing them .5 inch. Then I used press-n-seal cling wrap to hold them all in place while I cut out a stitched circle. I used my favorite Distress Inks for rainbows to color each of the chevrons in the circle, being careful not to pull them up from the Press-N-Seal.

Now was the tricky part. I needed to somehow transfer all of the chevrons that were remaining white to my card front without the pesky printer paper in the way. Press-N-Seal to the rescue again! I placed a piece of the wrap onto the front of my chevrons, pressing down really well and carefully peeled off the back wrap and scrap paper. I then used some spray adhesive to completely coat the backs of my chevrons, and lined up the cling wrap to my card front. After pressing down each strip I carefully removed the press-n-seal wrap. I was expecting a bit of the adhesive to rub off the wrap, but was pleasantly surprised that I didn't have that prob-llama.

I carefully removed each of my colored chevrons from the die-cut circle of wrap with my tweezers and applied some multi-medium to the backs and fitted them all back in place.

The Llama and sentiment are both from MFT's Llama Love set, and the llama is colored in with assorted copics.

Ok I seriously don't know what I was thinking when I told Ella, "sure you can have a sleepover for your birthday party." No correction, I know what I was thinking, I was thinking, "sweet! this will be easy! a few friends come over we eat pizza and cake, the girls watch a movie and they go home or go to sleep. Awesome! Only work on my part will be cleanup and surely Jamie will do that." I was thinking "easy peasy!" Oh how I can deceive myself. The party is tonight! I still need to finish cleaning, go pick up a movie from Redbox, and find some more cake decorations for the girls to use to decorate their individual cakes. Not to mention the fact that I'm so sleepy because I stayed up late last night to make these:

Yep, handmade purses for each girl. Inside is a yummy lip gloss, sparkly fingernail polish, pink fingernail polish, and little bead kit I put together to make a beaded ring. I sewed each purse, and added some sweet polka dot ribbon. Both the canvas fabric and ribbon I had left over from a bag I made for Ruthie last year to carry her ballet stuff in. The letters I diecut out of some felt I found at Hancock fabric and bought for a different project that has long been forgotten. I had to do a little stitching with white embroidery floss on each letter because otherwise they looked quite sad. All in all they went rather quick and were easy if only I hadn't started them at 10:30 pm the night before the party.Oh well I hope the girls like them.

As for the birthday cake, Ella really wanted me to make a Train Cake for 2 reasons. 1.) This has become a tradition. Sometime between Christmas and Ella's birthday we always make this cake and decorate it like a cool candy train. Some years have been quite elaborate and some we just dust it with powdered sugar and read the Polar Express. And with our Atlanta trip after Christmas and Ella going back to school as soon as we got back, we just haven't had time to do this yet. 2.) She loves to go crazy with candy as do her friends that will be joining us. So what do I do? I agree to make this. The cake is easy to make and is in fact already done and waiting to be adorned with yummies. However, I always forget how hard it is to find good candy in early January! UGH! So now I must run and hunt out the many options to use tonight. Wait! I just realized I'm going to have 5 eight year olds here tonight and I'm arming them with loads of candy and other sugar! I really need to think things through better.

A couple more cards to share today. On Saturday, Ella had a birthday party to attend, so I whipped up this really quick card:
I have loved these frogs from the first time I saw them in TAC's catalog a year or so ago and immediately bought them. But, you guessed it, this is the first time I have used them. :) And the only reason they were used is because I finally started that reorganizing project of my stamp room and found them. Now they are in my favorites basket right on my desk so I hope to have a little froggie collection to share soon.
Also it was Jamie & his dad's birthday yesterday! So I made this card for Ned:
And for some reason I don't have a photo of Jamie's, I'll have to find it and share later. And, unfortunately you can't see this in the above photo but the chicken is inside an embossed scallop square (Nestabilities) and the brown paper is very shimmery (Bazzill Bling) and is actually quite darker. Oh well. And the ribbon is a cute little spool I got at Michael's for 75 cents. :) I started to color this chicken in with my new Copics, but I just can't get the look right with them. I'm really not liking them. :( So I went back to my tried & true Prisma pencils and Gamsol. Please someone help me love my Copics! I have 10 of them including the Colorless Blender (which does help somewhat when an area gets too dark) but just don't see myself using them much. Oh well.