MFT Teaser!

Day 1 of the teasers for My Favorite Things! This month is a doozie!

Here is a little tease for the new set "Own Your Story". This is a HUGE set with lots of great pieces to build albums but I also wanted to show how you could make a cute card of this as well.
I paired up the set with Cosmo Cricket patterned paper and chipboard. Who can resist this darling little chick!
I use this fresh cut grass Die-namic ALL THE TIME! Love it, so quick and easy. I ran my new honeydew twine along the edge of my die to hide the seam. I think that finished it off really well.

Here are the details about the upcoming release on April 5th at 10 PM EST:

• The MFT release is on April 5th at 10 PM EST. You can attend the release party from 8-10 PM EST here in the forum for fun, games, and prizes! All the new sets and dies will be available on March 1st at 10 PM EST.


• The guest designer contest is ON! Check out the forum for details on how YOU can win over $100 in stamp sets and play along with the DT for a month.


• If you'd like to see all the teasers for today, please click on over to Kim's blog NOW! Be sure to leave comments as you go for a chance to win one of 2 stamp sets being given away daily, just for leaving a comment. :) Check Kim's blog every day for the winners.

Sketch Challenge

We are on our way home today....back from a fun and fabulous vacation in Palm Springs! Oh it was so nice to have a little sunshine.
Here is a sample of this week's sketch challenge at My Favorite Things.
This is "Butterfly Kisses" from the Pure Innocence collection. All colored with my copic markers. I also airbrushed the ground and sky, then used my sepia multiliner to make the little grass sprouts.
I love using different textures on my cards so for this one I used some MFT cork. I used the Butterflies die for the outside and the inside of this card.
The paper collection is DeLovely by Cosmo Cricket, perfect for picking up the colors on the wings.
Here is a little shot of the inside where I used the Butterflies die and the Simply Scallops die. Quick and easy!

You can play along with this fun sketch in the MFT forums and find the whole list of designers providing samples on Kim's Blog!

Redraw of Copic Book Prize

Seems that I drew one very lucky winner that was also drawn on Lori's blog....maybe she should be going out to buy a lotto ticket!

Anyway, did a redraw and here is another lucky winner:

Alyssa Clawson said:
What a gorgeous card! Thanks for sharing it and for offering such amazing blog candy! This book looks like such an awesome resource! I really hope I win!

Please e-mail me with your address Alyssa so that we can get this fabulous book out to you! Congrats!

Lazy Daisy Wishes and Copic Winner!

Today I have a fun little card design to share with you. This is "oopsie daisies" from the Fred Bear collection at My Favorite Things. I colored Fred Bear with my copic markers , airbrushed the sky and then die cut him out with the Textile Rectangle die. This die was the perfect size for cutting out my image.

Here is the point where I would regularly pair him up with some patterned paper and go from there....but today I decided that I was going to do a bit of a bold design and didn't use patterned paper, instead using patterned chipboard letters from Cosmo Cricket.
Here is a shot of the inside of the card where I used the same die for where I will write my message and then embossed my sentiment and image in white.

Now for the winner of the new copic "Shadows & Shading Book"....

Carisa said.....
wow, LOVE that technique - def have to give it a try. it's fabulous.

i can't wait to look thru and learn from this book! thanks for the chance to win it. it looks amazing and i didn't know it came with the clear guides! what a fabulous bonus. :D

Please e-mail me with your mailing address so that we can get this book out to you ASAP! Thanks for all that commented!

Come and join me on Wednesday where I have another sketch card to share! See you then!

New Copic Book Giveaway and Tutorial

Oh I have LOTS to share with you today! As many of you know, Marianne Walker's new book "Shadows and Shading" is now in print! This is an awesome guide to coloring that can be applied to many different mediums (including copics). You can purchase this book on Ellen's site HERE.

Here is a little piece of the book (photo courtesy of Sharon Harnist)....included are these fabulous lighting guides.
Now you get a chance to win your own copy! A book is being given away on each copic members blog listed at the bottom of my post, make sure you visit each one to improve your chances and see some great copic art! All you have to do is leave a little love in the comments. I will be making my draw Sunday night (12:00 am PST) and then will post the winner on my blog!
Here is my little piece of art that I wanted to share with you today. A couple of weeks ago Colleen Schaan shared this tutorial on splitcoast stampers. I was unable to play along as I was in Edmonton at the time but I really wanted to play with this technique. I used the Hero Arts stamps:
Tree Trunks
Fox and Sleeping Fox
Earth Flowers
I also used a sentiment set from My Favorite Things called "Textile Rectangle Die and Stamp Set"
Here is a close up of my fox colored....added a little texture with a towel and blender mist.
Here is the inside....this is for a dear friend (Marianne Walker)...my schedule got busy and I forgot to send her a card...so this is on it's way to her!
Now for the "How-to"....
I used glossy card stock and ripped a rough edge with post-it notes. I sprayed both G24 and G28, trying to keep my G28 as close to my post-it notes as possible.
To create the sky I used my B30 series of markers starting with B34.
Next a little B37.
Finally some B39.
Here is where the technique comes in. I filled my mister with copic's colorless blender, I tried to mask off the grass area but you will see further down that my blender soaked through my post-it note mask. I was ok with it.
Spritz up that nice rubber background stamp and then quickly stamp the glossy paper with it. Don't wait too long...it dries quickly!
Here is what mine looked like after stamping. I love the hint of trees this gives my background!
Since I was already playing around, I grabbed my earth flowers stamp and did some direct to stamp coloring with my markers.
I had to mist my stamp (with blender) to refresh my ink and then stamped on my glossy paper. I loved this extra layer of dimension.I love playing with the technique possibilities that my copics have to offer....Be sure to check out these ladies and enter for your chance to win a copy of the book!
Copicmarker

Marianne Walker

Lori Craig

Sharon Harnist

Jenn Balcer

Jennie Black

Colleen Schaan

Bianca Mandity

Debbie Olson

Sherrie Siemens

For our friends down unda:

CopicOz (Australia)

Kathy Jones (Australia)

Mandi-Lee Klinger (Australia)

Thanks for visiting!

Sketch Challenge and a Sale!

I love all things birds....sentiments, images, embellishments. This card has all 3! The image is from the Pure Innocence collection called "You're so tweet" and the sentiment comes from the "Butterfly Kisses" set.

The paper is from the Eva collection of Basic Grey...the colors matched great and even though it is an older line of their paper I couldn't resist in using it!

I colored her up with my copic markers and Marianne Walker helped me with a reflections shadow at the bottom of the image. Do you see how she is sort of standing in a little puddle or something with a reflective surface?

You can play along with this fun sketch in the MFT forums and find the whole list of designers providing samples on Kim's Blog!


Keep Scrolling for the info of My Favorite Things Spring Cleaning sale!

Spring Cleaning Sale We've been spring cleaning here at MFT! We found a huge number of products that were limited edition, retired, or are retiring, and we have filled a big box full of our finds. From Wednesday, March 23 though Friday, March 25, we are having a Spring Cleaning Sale. When you place ANY order that requires shipping, you will receive a freebie with your order. It could be a full spool of ribbon, a patterned paper pack, or any other item out of our Spring Cleaning Sale box. It'll be a suprise... a little extra reason to look forward to receiving your order. You have three days to take advantage of this fun sale, so get your wishlist together and go shop HERE in the MFT Boutique. *The Spring Cleaning Sale freebie is ONLY good for orders that require shipping. If your order is ONLY for digital products, you will NOT receive a freebie. We're sorry, but the shipping department cannot take requests for the freebie.

Hero Arts Flower Day 3

Just a little note: I have updated my copic certification page. It is located at the top of my blog and you can find it HERE.

Ready for this flower to have a graphic/modern twist? This is the Hero Arts flower "Outlined Magnolia". I thought it would be cool to just add little sections of copic color and not stay "in the lines". I used my new YG61 with the YG63 and then masked it off and airbrushed another crafter's workshop stencil overtop in E18. ENTIRELY different from the last two I posted.....I am still not sure if I like this look although I must say it is growing on me. Just pushing myself outside my coloring/design box a little today.
What do you think?

Hero Arts Flower Day 2

Welcome to another look at Hero Arts "Outlined Magnolia" stamp. This reminded me of the beautiful pink magnolias that come off my mom-in-laws tree.
I paired this flower up with some Grove Memory Box paper that I had kicking around and some fabulous Spellbinder dies.
Here is a REALLY close shot of the copic coloring. You know I still can't get the new colors out of my hands so I used the BEAUTIFUL new YR30 and feather blended that into my R81 series of pinks. My favorite E40 series for a little bit of coloring outside the image. This is a gorgeous bloom to color and I love the size of it.....so much room for shading and blending!

Enjoy your Monday!

Hero Arts Flower Day 1

These next three posts I will be showing you this beautiful hero arts flower "Outline Magnolia" in three different ways.
Here is the clean one layer card. You know I HAD to use the new violet colors from copic....V20 & V25 and my blender to fade away to white. I then cut out a mask and laid over this beautiful stencil from Crafter's Workshop. I airbrushed YG03 and then airbrushed a bit of violet at the corners.
The little sentiment is also Hero Arts. I love this clean fresh look....reminds me of spring!
Come back Monday where I will have an ENTIRELY different look with this same bloom. See you then!

Favor Box Trio

Today is a fun little project I did with my cricut and Melissa Frances products. I adore Melissa Frances's new 5th avenue collection. I cut out these boxes with my cricut and patterned paper and then dressed them up with Melissa Frances accessories. I wish these were around when I did my wedding, they would have been fun for at the reception table or even a way to give my bridesmaids their gifts....Here are some close ups!
I created a little waistband sash out of crepe paper and then added some glue and mica glass flakes for accent.
I adore this cake box! Love that open scalloped edge....I decided to spruce it up a little with some mica glass flakes.
Here is a close up of my favorite box of the three. This little heart box could be used for any occasion. I added some mica glass to the edge of this wedding sticker and mounted it on a decorative tag.

A quick post for today as my laundry is calling me....
Enjoy your day!

VIP Blog Hop and Shop

Welcome here! If you are on the MFT VIP Hop and have come from Susan's blog then you are hopping along great! If you are a regular visitor to my blog and would like to start at the beginning of the hop then you can go to Kim's Blog.
I just got back from Edmonton today, just in time for the MFT VIP blog hop and shop! I was so excited with this image when I opened my package from My Favorite Things....this dress is truly fabulous and I couldn't wait to color it!

I paired up my image with some great Cosmo Cricket "Up-cycle" paper and then used some of my favorite MFT dies to embellish. The dies I used:
Jumbo Scallop
Rolled Flower (I used 2 of these with a glueber from Cosmo Cricket to make a large, loose rolled flower)
Rolled Rose (for the center of my large flower)
Sweet Stack Layer (I used the top layer piece from this die for the cute little tab in the top corner)

Now onto the copic coloring....here is a little step by step....you know I had to use the brand new colors! Wowsa!
My base tone, leaving my highlights white at this point.
I used this color as my midtone.
Blended the two.
Added some cast shadows and some deeper shading.
Final blending on this FABULOUS dress!
The colors that I used for her skin.
A little bit of yellow to make my dress pop! Love this new YR30! So pretty!

Wow, would you take a look at all this fabulousness! Here is the direct link to the VIP kit for today!
Looking for more inspiration? Hop on over to Barbara's Blog and see what beautiful creation she has come up with! Enjoy the hop!

Get well Melissa!

This is a card that I did for the dear Melissa....yes the Melissa of Melissa Frances. She has just gone through some surgery and the design team decided to do a little virual "get well" shower of cards. If you would like to see all the DT's cards and a little bit of Melissa's story you can find that HERE.
My card has the intention of "cheeriness" so I used the Kitschy Kitchen line for this clean, bright card.
I did, of coarse, need to do a little stamping.....so the "get well soon" sentiment is from a Pure Innocence set from My Favorite Things.
A little sewing and the "sweetie pie" rub-on to finish off this card.

Get well soon wishes to you Melissa!

MFT Creative Challenge

Welcome to the MFT creative challenge for March! Joanne challenged us to use our die-namic dies for Home Decor....oh how fun! There are so many things you can do with these dies due to the fact that they can cut so many different materials....
I decided to go with this little owl to bring a little cheer to this window.
SUPER easy to make so I included this photo by photo tutorial.....here we go!
First off, I am not so great at free hand drawing so I relied on my cricut to provide the shape of the owl. This not only gave me a shape to trace but also the eye placement for later. So I laid 2 pieces of fabric together and traced my owl body shape.
Cut out the shape.
Now to the die-namics! I used my simply scallops die to cut out a bunch of felt strips for the belly of the owl.
I could have stitched them on....one by one, but I decided that my fabric glue would work just fine. I tried to stay away from my edges as I would be sewing the owl together later and I don't like to gum up my needle with glue.
Glued each layer on. I tried to stagger them a little.
I used the rolled rose die for the eyes of my owl. I cut them out of felt as well.
More glue.....I made wide circles of glue for the eyes. I had laid my cut out stencil and marked where the eyes were so that I knew where to put my glue.
Instead of rolling up the rose in my hand and then placing them on I decided to roll them up AS I was sticking them to the owl. This makes for a looser roll, which is what I was wanting here.
Secured with cute pink buttons and thread.
Right sides together and I trimmed off the excess felt strips. I sewed them together leaving a small gap at the bottom.
Turn right side out and stuff with fill. I just have a few old pillows kicking around that I reuse the fill for projects like these. Once filled then you can hand sew up the bottom.
Voila!

Now I'm off to see what the rest of the girls made....you will find the full list of participating designers on Kim's blog!