Category Archives: My Favorite Things

Don’t be so diSTRESSED…

Posted on September 24, 2014 | Leave a comment

deer-500x500

 We just put the finishing touches on a fun project at Splitcoast! Our Product Focus review team had an opportunity to work with a new Clearsnap ink product. I had time to create a few fun projects for the gallery, and I thought I’d share them here.

I made the card above a few weeks ago for my Cutting With Detailed Dies tutorial, but also used the new Clearsnap ink in Dark Cashmere. I do love a nice, rich chocolate brown ink. These stamp cleanly and dry quickly. I love the circle deer die element (Beauty Lies Within – Taylored Expressions). So perfect for the many deer hunter’s in my life, and the heart (Hearts-a-Plenty Die-namics – MFT) and label (Label Stacklets 2 – Taylored Expressions)dress it up just enough that this works well for either a male or a couple. The Woodgrain Background is from MFT, and the Proverbs 16:9 verse is from Verve’s Scripture Medley 3.

typewriter-500x500

This is probably how I use distress inks most often… to give different papers on a single project the same tone by distressing the edges… here I used Dark Cashmere. The typewriter is stamped with Antique Moss, both from Clearsnap. This typewriter stamp and die combo is a fave… sadly, discontinued, but from the set Just My Type from MFT Stamps. The little kraft doily is cut with Mini Detailed Doily Dienamics from MFT.

distressed-wildflowers

 

And, lastly for today, a clean and simple nod to yesterday’s Color Challenge at Splitcoast. I used MFT’s Peaceful Wildflower stamps and coordinating die-namic set  for a clean and simple. The Clearsnap colors that I used here are Venetian Lace, Triumphant Red and Dark Cashmere. 

Still many, many fun things going on… hope you are creating time to stay crafty!

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Posted in My Favorite Things, Splitcoast Challenges, Splitcoast Stuff, Taylored Expressions, Verve Stamps

Your Future is BRIGHT

Posted on May 19, 2014 | 4 comments

My daughter graduated from 8th grade last week. (Pardon me while I dab my eyes!) We are very proud of her and the maturity that she’s shown, and we are so excited to be a part of her upcoming high school career! This was the card that her dad and I gave her that night.

May is full of promise for us this year with this milestone for our daughter and lots of high school and college graduates in our life. For as crazy as this messed up world is, when I think about these kids, their families and their successes…the future is BRIGHT!

A little birdie dropped a goodie bag of MFT to my door last week, so this Watt’s Up? stamp set and Lightbulb Dienamic from MFT were perfect for my daughter (and all of the grad cards I’ve needed this week!) Love how quickly this came together with Blueprint Dienamics 15 as a backdrop! So bright and cheery!

The Copic Airbrush with Y35 makes a very fun glow behind the vellum cut light bulb! I’ll be using this easy combo A LOT!

I’ve just added some new Copic classes to the list on my Copic Classes tab. I hope you’ll find time to join us at any one of our classes across the continent this summer! Check it out! Lots of fun, inky goodness going on!

Have a great day!

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Posted in Copics, My Favorite Things

Happy Mother’s Day

Posted on May 11, 2014 | 1 comment

Happy Mother’s Day!

I’m spending the day with my daughters and mom while remembering my mother-in-law with love and a grateful heart for being such a wonderful mother to my husband. It’s a beautiful day!

Quick snippet of my Mother’s Day cards that I made using MFT’s Sweet Roses and Dienamics Blueprints 3. MFT Sweet Tooth cardstock with MFT Lemon Drop and Blu Raspberry inks.

I’ve been stamping so I will be back soon! 😉

Happy Mother’s Day!

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Posted in My Favorite Things

Oh, Snap…

Posted on May 8, 2014 | 1 comment

My friends at My Favorite Things asked me to share on their blog. That made me feel fabulous, for sure!  Thank you to them for the kind invitation.

I always love playing with MFT. I fell in love with this Cute Camera die and stamp set a long time ago, and thought this might be a perfect opportunity to match it up with Copic Markers and show it off.  I hope you’ll check out my guest design post.

Keep your eyes peeled to the MFT girls. They are prepping for another fabulous release next week. (I have already laid eyes on the May-release goodness. I can attest…it’s adorable!)

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Posted in Copics, My Favorite Things

Friendship & 2014 Copic Classes

Posted on November 7, 2013 | 3 comments

I thought I would share a Copic Mixed Media project that I created for some store owner classes that I taught last month in Houston. I really loved using my Copic Markers and Various Ink refills for something a little different.

All of the color you see here was either painted, dyed or hand colored with Copic. I painted my 6″ x 8″ canvas with Various Inks, and then went from there. The white is Opaque White applied with foam brush through a Square Motif stencil from MFT. Other MFT stencils were used with the Copic Airbrush System. Love that look. The Zinnia Bouquet image was colored with Copic Sketch, masked with Mask It film and then airbrushed. I know it looks intimidating, but really an easy piece to pull together. We did this in a 2 hour class. 🙂

In other Copic news, the first certification classes and new workshops of the 2014 calendar are being offered in Anaheim in conjunction with CHA this coming January. I have a brief outline on my Copic Marker Classes page. To see the full schedule and class description, look HERE. Be sure to peek at our new workshop classes HERE. The classes will be lots of fun and so informative. I hope you have the opportunity to take one or three! They are going to be a lot of fun!

Back soon with more paper goodies. I’m thinking about trying December Daily this year. Anyone else have ideas, feedback or tips to share about that?

  • Stamps: Zinnia Bouquet – Taylored Expressions & Typewriter Alphabet – MFT Stamps
  • Paper: 6×8 art canvas – Hobby Lobby, ledger paper – Doodlebug Designs, old hymnal – thrift store
  • Ink: Espresso Truffle Memento Ink – Tsukineko
  • Copic Products: Opaque White, Various Ink refills & Markers (R35, R39, YR15, YR18, Y32, Y35, Y38, E33), Copic Airbrush System
  • Accs: burlap trim – Maya Road, sequins, twine, button, foam brush, glitter

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Posted in Copics, My Favorite Things, Taylored Expressions

May the miracle…

Posted on October 20, 2013 | 4 comments

I  had a marathon of crafting over the last few days. I’ve been busy with Hope You Can Cling To challenges at Splitcoast. Such a great cause for a card drive, and over $5,000 is up for grabs from some fabulous incredible sponsors, like Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps – the maker of this image and sentiment, Born This Day.

This card is for Teresa’s Stand Tall challenge. My image is colored with Copics. Add a few fun dies and some Xpress It Double Sided adhesive paper (to cut and glitter the star), this one was easy! This die/stamp combo cut better than anything I’ve ever tried before. I was able to line it up perfectly – easy. I am even considering a batch of these for Christmas, especially since I can have my daughters do a lot of the tag and star die cutting! Other than the manger scene, all of the other dies are Die-namics Blueprints 8 and Traditional Tag STAX Die-namics and Pierced Traditional Tag STAX Die-namics from MFT.

Please check out the challenges. Participate if you can! You’ll have a good time and feel great supporting the MD Anderson Cancer Center!

I’ll be back tomorrow with another fun sample! Can’t wait!

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Posted in Copics, My Favorite Things, Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps

Rewind: Laughter and Cheer

Posted on October 14, 2013 | 11 comments

I’m just getting back from an incredible set of Copic classes in Austin, Texas. Since this was my last set of classes until January, I’ll be going fingers-first into Christmas crafting over the next few weeks!

The MFT team and I are sharing our favorite stamps and dies again as we REWIND back to last week’s release and create just a few more favorite things.

I had such a good time working with all of the new sets and dies. Things just really clicked for me with this set of products, and I loved getting back to my roots with a clean and simple cream cardstock and ink.

For this card, I paired the new Ornament Banner Builder and Banner Builder Die-namics with Lisa Johnson’s Grand Holiday Greetings for a festive and fun card that will be easy to mail. My ink colors are MFT Sno Cone, MFT Gumdrop Green and MFT Kraft. My card stock is MFT Whip Cream. A few added sequins give it just a little bit of glitz.

I’m looking forward to seeing the rest of the team’s rewind projects. I know it will give me a whole host of new ideas to try. You can find a lot more inspiration at the MFT Blog.

Thanks for stopping by. I’ll be back tomorrow with some more Hope You Can Cling To! Have a terrific Tuesday!

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Posted in My Favorite Things

MFT New Product Tour: Merry Christmas

Posted on October 8, 2013 | 4 comments

It’s release night at MFT! Thank you so much for all of your visits and kind comments over the last week. I have enjoyed being their October guest designer so much!

Tonight I have two very similar cards to share with you using Mona’s new set Starry Christmas. It is a fabulous Christmas set with coordinating dies. The sentiments are sized perfectly for card makers and in such a beautiful script. I think for the first time during this release, I went traditional red and green with my projects.
 

First, I cut two tags from kraft cards stock – one from Traditional Tag STAX Die-namics and a second the coordinating size of the new Pierced Traditional Tag STAX Die-namics. this pairing of dies is one of my *very* favorite things about this release. I sponged the edges of each tag with MFT Whip Cream ink, and then I used the new Fleur-de-lis Stencil and a sponge dauber to accent my tag background. My tree was cut from kraft with the coordinating tree die and then stamped with MFT Gumdrop Green Premium Dye Ink.

A few itty-bitty banners from Die-namics Blueprints 8 accent the top left corner (see that new Music Backgrounder?). The whole ensemble is paired with some MFT twine and button, pretty Simple Stories paper, a little stitching and a piece of a white doily that I airbrushed with an E43 Copic Marker.

 

I have started trying to make two cards at a time when I am cutting up patterned paper for a card base. (These pieces were cut with Die-namics Blueprints 6.) I’ve found that I rarely go back to the scraps, and it just makes sense to do double duty when I’m in the zone. 😉 The only thing different about this card from the first is that sweet reindeer image and die in the new MFT Paver Red Premium Dye ink.

I hope you’ve enjoyed the release! and I hope you’ve found a few products and ideas that will make you Christmas card season very merry!

You can find the entire new release HERE. Merry Christmas to you!

I’ll be back tomorrow with more Hope You Can Cling To goodness!
Have a great night!

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Posted in My Favorite Things

MFT Previews, Day 7: Deck the Halls

Posted on October 7, 2013 | 25 comments

Day 7 is here, and all MFT fans should know that it means release is today! Tuesday, October 8th – party starts HERE at 8:00 PM EST.

Today, I’m showcasing  the new Ornament Banner Builder and the coordinating Die-namic with this sweet little Pure Innocence Trim the Branches Snowman. The Banner Builder set and Die-namic were so easy to use! My banner ornaments are stamped with MFT Blu Raspberry and MFT Gumdrop Green Premium Dye Inks.

Mr. Trim the Branches was stamped on XPress It Blending Card with Espresso Truffle Memento and then colored with Copic Markers. I layered the colored panel on Sno Cone Cardstock, added a little stitching and the banner on snippets of XPress It Foam Tape.

Make sure you stop by the MFT blog for all of the release and teaser prize info. Lots of prizes up for grabs! I appreciate you stopping by!

 

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Posted in Copics, My Favorite Things

MFT Previews, Day 6: Happy Christmas

Posted on October 6, 2013 | 29 comments

 

Here we are at Day 6 for the new MFT previews. I think this might be my favorite card that I’ve made for the release! She’s so cute, and I never regret it when I make time to sit and color!

I let the Copic Markers do the talking and kept the embellishment to a minimum. Happy Christmas is layered on a piece of My Mind’s Eye paper and accented with a button and piece of burlap trim.

All of the stamps the design team are showing off this week will be available tomorrow night at 8pm EST. Don’t forget that you have the opportunity to win one of several $75 gift certificates for cruising the design team blogs and commenting. You can find the full details on that here.

I’ll be back tomorrow, maybe even later today, with more new MFT and more Hope You Can Cling To. Don’t forget that Splitcoaststampers is giving away over $5,000 in prizes during the Hope You Can Cling To campaign. Please join us in this awesome cancer awareness project! Details here.

See you soon!

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Posted in Copics, My Favorite Things