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.

So as I said earlier, I've decided to get a burst of creativity in today in order to enter MFT's 2016 Card Design Superstar Contest. This is my 2nd card for today, and it is so strange to actually be crafting more than one project in a day. But it seems once I got my creative juices flowing I didn't want to stop.

This one uses one of MFT's older sets which unfortunately has been retired. This is the You're Super stamp and coordinating dies. This little super hero girl is so cute and fun to color. For the girl, I brought out my Prismacolor pencils which probably haven't been used in five years or more. My Prismacolor color combinations are (Hair: PC944, PC943, PC1032, and PC1033); (Skin: PC927, PC939, and PC921); (Cape: PC901, PC996, and PC1024); and (Outfit: PC932, PC1026, PC995, and PC949) and everything was blended with a colorless blender pencil because I was too lazy to go look for my gamsol.

For the front I blended together Chipped Sapphire and Seedless Preserves Distress Inks with a little Hickory Smoke at the bottom. Then I sponged Versamark ink over MFT's Star Celebration Stencil on some heavyweight vellum and heat embossed it with detail white embossing powder. When I laid this over the card front, I was disappointed that the color didn't come through as much as I'd liked so I sponged the same Distress Inks over the vellum and diecut the bottom edge of the vellum with one of the edge dies in MFT's Stitched Basic Edges Die-namics. The sentiments on the front and inside are both from the You're Super set and were stamped with Versamark Ink and embossed with the same white embossing powder and diecut with the starburst image from the die set.

As always, please leave a comment down below if you happen upon this post and feel free to link me up to your creations if you are also entering the contest.

I finally got some time to play and be creative this morning. Oh how I've missed getting my fingers all inky. And it's a good thing too, I almost missed out on entering My Favorite Things 2016 Card Design Superstar Contest!

So first up is an interactive card I made using MFT's new Llama Love stamps and dies. I so adore these little llamas! When I first saw them in the September release previews I knew they were going to be fun to create with. And they did not disappoint!

This particular llama is my favorite of the 4. I love the little ear that is sticking up. The llama and sentiment on the inside were stamped with MFT's Black Licorice Hybrid Ink and I colored the llama with various copics. All of the cacti are stamped with MFT's Jelly Bean Green Dye Ink and then colored with copics. I know normally you shouldn't use dye inks when coloring with copics, but I really wanted the lines of the cacti to blend with the coloring. I think these inks are amazing because I had no bleeding of the ink and I got the result I was hoping for. The sun rays behind the llama were created with MFT's Sun Ray stencil and Distress Inks (Rusty Hinge, Scattered Straw, and Squeezed Lemonade). The "Hay You" was actually created with diecut letters using MFT's Happy Birthday To You Die-namics over some scrap cardstock that I had blended using the same Distress Inks.

So the interactive part of this card comes from using MFT's Circle Flop Card Die-namics. This was my first time using this, even though I've had it for months, and I was a little intimidated with how well it would work. Turns out, it was super easy to line up, cut perfectly and showcases my cute little llama. And speaking of cute, how fun is that sentiment on the inside?

Once I started assembling everything I realized the background of the card front and the inside of the card were too stark white up against the warm colors. So I sponged some Antique Linen Distress Ink over the bottom portion of the card front and used the same ink to stamp the faint lines on  the inside of the card. The lines are from MFT's Distressed Patterns stamp set and add a really nice subtlety to the inside.

I hope you like my little creation and if you do please leave me a comment down below. And if you have any of these stamps, stencils or dies, please link me to how you've used them. I love looking at more inspiration.

YAY, another Compose A Card challenge!I love Becky's challenges and have tried almost everyone of the 7 but usually don't have them finished and posted in time to post them on her blog. But not this time. This challenge was perfect for me as I needed some inspiration for a thank you note for my neighbor, who is absolutely the best neighbor in the world. She is one of the top reasons we are considering adding onto our house instead of moving. Yes our neighbors really are that wonderful, they are like family.


Here is my card:

Supplies
Stamps: Signature Greetings, and Polka Dot Basics (PTI)
Inks: Vintage Cream (PTI), Noir Black Palette
Vintage Cream, Spring Rain, and Hibiscus Burst cardstock (PTI)
Hibiscus Burst Vintage buttons (PTI)
Black wool felt (no idea of source, it was a scrap from my sewing box)
Scallop circle punch (SU!)
Flower Die (Sizzix)

I think it is safe to say Spring has finally arrived for North Carolina. The Bradford Pear trees along our neighborhood driveways are in full bloom which means there are 4 noses in our house that are completely stuffed with allergies. Oh well, I refuse to let that keep my windows sealed any longer. The fresh breeze blowing in is so refreshing and worth the daily doses of sudafed we are now taking.
And speaking of refreshing, I went with Ruthie and her preschool class on a field trip this week to a local farm. Ah it was so nice to just run around and play outside. And Ruthie rode a horse for the first time! It was so cool to see her just jump right up and completely feel at ease on this huge creature. I can't wait to enjoy riding with her more. Another mile marker for us this week was registering Ruthie for Kindergarten. Oh my goodness, I just can't believe it is time for that already. How big my girls are getting.
With all the fun stuff this week I only managed to snag a few minutes here and there to do a bit of stamping, but I wanted to participate in 2 challenges, so this one fits both.
First is the Poppy Seed Challenge from the very talented Lisa Johnson. This is Lisa's 2nd Poppy Seed Challenge she has issued. Unfortunately I didn't get to play along the first time (due to my incredible slackness), but I wasn't going to miss this one although I know I'm cutting it close by submitting it on the last day. *ETA: oops deadline was last night. Oh well next time I'm not going to wait to post. :)


Secondly is the Mojo Monday 131 . I loved the longer card style of the Mojo Monday sketch. And I have a ton of these longer envelopes left over from a previous project class I taught, so I'm always on the lookout for long card ideas.



And here is my card (click to enlarge):


Supplies:
Cardstock: Stamper's Select White (PTI), Aqua Mist (PTI)
Patterned paper is from Everyday Blessings paper pack (PTI)
Stamps: I can't remember the set name but it is from TAC from many years ago. Extras: Ribbon (Spring Moss PTI), Button (Aqua Mist PTI), tiny pearl (Kaiser craft), Ribbon tag die is from Spellbinders.

Ok I am in so much trouble! If you want to join me in drooling over so many yummy concoctions then you should definitely check out The Cupcake Project. I knew there was no hope of me not making these goodies, the only question was which to make first. Well I didn't have to look far into the posts to find my trial cupcake. The Margarita Cupcakes of course. So yesterday with the help of the girls we made them. Oooooooo, such a fabulous decision! And definitely a good choice for a Monday afternoon. :) I wish I could share these with others though because I'm in danger of eating the whole batch.

On another note, I was stamping and yet again forgot to post in time for the Compose A Card challenge. :(
Oh well. I had to make a cupcake card in honor of my new found yummies. Hmmm now what will be my next cupcake?

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.

This weekend was so much fun! My mom came down to celebrate her birthday and that means I stamped. It has been so long since that has happened and it really felt good to create something. We spent most of the day on Saturday out shopping at Archivers. This was mom's first time in there and it was so much fun watching her. :) After that we hit Michaels and A.C. Moore also. ACM was having a great sale on some organizers that I've been wanting so I picked up 2 of those and had them assembled before I went to bed that night. My favorite card mom and I made was this spinner card:


Isn't it cute? I know spinners are not a new thing, but this was the first one I've ever made and it was actually easy and fun to do. Which is a good thing because we made tons of them for a swap my mom was doing. Which was why I had to snap a picture, because I didn't get to keep one.

So now that I've gotten myself back into stamping and enjoying it (more on that later), I started going over to stamp at a new friend's house every Wed. morning after the girls are dropped off at school. Oh my gosh, Tricia has the most wonderful stamping space! I love it! There are also 3 other ladies that come as well but I have yet to meet them. I hope this will be a new group for me to really fit in with. I miss my creative friends and so need that regular interaction. So stay tuned to see what I stamp each week. :)