Birthday Blog Mobbing!

Happy Birthday to a very special lady....Kim! Many of you know her as the My Favorite Things lady and I am pleased to call friend. I wanted to do something fun and not typical for her birthday card.
I used the image and sentiment from the Flower Set #1 of the "Inspired By" line as my focal point.
I used a couple of bingo cards from Melissa Frances for my non-traditional card base....notice the "5" that is highlighted in pink. That is the date of Kim's actual birthday :)

The papers and little touches are all Melissa Frances to tie in the vintage theme from the 5th Avenue Collection.

You have made it to the end of the hop....whew! Are you inspired? Go ahead and check back at Kim's blog...leaving her some birthday love there too!

If you'd like to join the celebration, we'd LOVE you to participate! You can add a card to the Splitcoast Galleries using the keyword "HBMFTLADY" or, if you're a Facebook lovin' girl you can add your project to the MFT Fan Facebook page!  Not yet a fan of MFT on Facebook? You can "like" it here and add your post!  Don't have time to stamp?  Just stop by the MFT Facebook page and wish the MFT Lady a happy birthday.  Let's MOB her on her special day!

Monday, Monday

 It's Monday....last day of exams for my daughter in high school! Yeah, no more school running around, instead it will be replaced with summer running around.

Today's card is one that was inspired by the flowers around my yard. There are some really pretty ones beginning to bloom.

I stamped these long stem flowers from Hero Arts on X-press it card stock and colored them with my copic markers. I airbrushed the edges to give more of a vintage look.

I treated my focal image to some Melissa Frances Paper.... The treasured attic collection. I sewed around the edges and used Melissa Frances rub-ons for the sentiment and little resin frame to finish it off.

Below is a close up of the card.

Enjoy your Monday!

Time to Garden....

School is out and it is time for summer! I thought it would never come this year...I can actually "sleep in" tomorrow and not have to do any morning "running around".
I can also spend some time nursing my husband's garden.....hence, the inspiration for this card....

Isn't it fun to do a shaped card? I cut this card base on my Cricut Expression using the "Freshly Picked" cartridge. I have finally learned about all the little buttons on my machine so I was able to do the same shape (one in mirror image) so that they could glue together at the handle.
I used the stamp set "Mud Buddies" from My Favorite Things. I did some paper piecing of her outfit and colored her hair/skin with my copics.

Skin: E50,21,33 and yes, some BV20 and R20 for the cheeks. Hair E13,17,18. Watering cup and spade W1,5

*****Take a close look at her watering cup, those of you who have taken the intermediate certification class will identify the shading of a basic cylinder*****

All the paper is from the Kitschy Kitchen collection of Melissa Frances.
Tied up with some twill tape for fun and a rolled daisy die for some dimension on the bow.

Here is a shot of the inside. Notice that I lined my watering can with complimentary paper. I was able to do this quickly and precisely using my cricut.
The card is held together by the handle. The backside of the card is that cute polkadot paper that is on the front....it is sooooo sweet!

Wishing you a warm and relaxing weekend filled with the things you love! I am looking forward to puttering in the garden and starting a good book. Yeah for summer!!!!

Baby Congrats

 I was playing with these darling canvas clothes by Maya road the other day. I was helping my sister with a layout for a baby shower. Still on my desk and within reach....caused me to make this cute little card today.
Melissa Frances 5th avenue collection made the perfect backdrop for this card. I used the little banner swag as my faux clothesline.

Here is a little close detail shot. The sentiment is from My Favorite Things "Clearly Sentimental About Babies". I stamped it directly to my satin ribbon with versacraft ink. Adding some decorative brads and little resin frame (also from Melissa Frances).

Just in case you thought I abandoned my copics today.....think again! That ribbon WAS white.....colored up with RV00!

MFT Teaser Time!

Welcome to day 1 of the My Favorite Things teasers! Our furry friend Fred is back with "Well Done"! He is always so much fun to color. I used my copics to color this image and then used papers from the Kitschy Kitchen Collection by Melissa Frances to finish the card. 

Here is a close shot of my coloring....now...confession time....
Can you spot my shadowing error?
It is the shadow from the bbq, since my sun is up in the left hand part of the sky my shadow for the bbq should actually be the mirror of what I colored. I realized it too late and didn't want to start all over. I did want to point it out however as I am always learning too....

Here are the details about the upcoming release on June 7 at 10 PM EST:

• The MFT release is on June 7 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 June 7 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 $10 vouchers being given away daily, just for leaving a comment. :) Check Kim's blog every day for the winners.

Shopping List

Happy Monday! I am home from my fantastic weekend in Toronto....boy was it full and fun!
Thank you to all the ladies who made my weekend so enjoyable.

Back to home life realities and one of them is grocery shopping....today's project is a cute little item I made for my kitchen for grocery lists. It is being featured today on the Melissa Frances Blog!
This is made from Melissa Frances goodies in their Kitschy Kitchen Collection. I love this collection, it has the retro, cheeky, vintage and beautiful all wrapped up in one.
I used one of Melissa Frances' backdrops as my heavy chipboard base and covered it with patterned paper and built it up from there.

A few details that I want to point out. I did do some stamping and copic work on this project. The cute silhouette images of pots and pans and spoons is from the background stamp of Hero Arts called "Kitchen Silhouette". I embossed this image in white directly to my patterned paper.
I also used my copic airbrush system to add some color to the die cut apples (cut from Melissa Frances crepe paper) and also to color the crepe flower I created in the corner.

Here is a close up of my crepe rolled flower. I used the rolled rose die from My Favorite Things to cut out my crepe flower and then rolled it up and a few shots with my airbrush gun. I colored a pearl with my copic marker to match as well.

Wishing you a creative and colorful day!

Monochomatic Copic Tutorial

 Last month the MFT design team posted a team challenge for monochromatic cards. I was really busy at the time and didn't get to play along....but I SOOOO wanted to try this! Better late than never.
Today's card and tutorial will show you some cool techniques as well as copic coloring. I decided to go with "neutrals" in color for this challenge.

First of all the image and the papers:
My Favorite Things image...."Love you with all my heart"
"Notched Tag Die and Stamp Set"
Melissa Frances paper...."Treasured Attic Collection"

 Here is a close shot of the copic marker coloring. The COOOOOL thing about this? Notice that she is not outlined in black or brown but rather white.....Here is how!

 I stamped her on X-press it card stock with versamark ink and embossed using CLEAR detail embossing powder.

 Here is my colors and layers for my skin tones....my light source being in the top left corner.

 Here are my skin tones blended. I have learned that I don't need to blend everything TO DEATH....rather that there are times in natural light where shadows do cause crisp lines.
The crisp lines that are created from her skirt and sleeve blocking the sunlight would create hard lines therefore I did not blend these out.

 Here are the colors I used for her dress and shoes.

 After blending and softening. Don't forget to leave those hard cast shadow lines. Notice under her arm and the shadow that is cast under the heart on the dress.

 Here is the colors for the heart.

 Blended....note the continuation of the cast shadow that I started under her arm continues under her hand on the heart.

 Colors for her hair, I didn't blend these out as I was going for a streaky look.

 The shadow around her....I am imagining she is up again a wall or backdrop.

 Blended out shadow and then used my blender solution to soften the edges.

 Now to clean up my image....I wanted to remove any copic ink that may have stuck to my image lines. I spritzed a clean cloth with blender solution and gave my image a quick wipe.

There was one part of the image that I did want in brown and that was the details on her face. I dotted over top of the embossing powder with my pigment ink multiliner pen.

Hope you enjoyed that wee bit of inspiration....I sure had fun coloring an image in a "different" way today...give it a try!

I have a fun Melissa Frances project to show you Monday. See you then!

The Royal Wedding

Who can resist a royal wedding? I think there is a little fairy tale wedding enjoyment in all of us. I, for one, will be staying up to watch the festivities. I remember watching Diana's wedding when I was a little girl....awestruck by her dress.
Today's card is in anticipation of the wedding....also I love to have wedding cards in my stash as we get close to summer.
All the images and papers are Melissa Frances, you can find them in the 5th Avenue collection at Ellen's shop HERE.
The rolled roses were created out of paper and crepe paper using this Mini Rolled Roses die from My Favorite Things.
Here is a little close up of the rolled roses. You can really manipulate the petals when cutting them from crepe paper...the pearl centers are just a finishing touch.

I'd love to hear if you are staying up too.....looking forward to the pageantry, elegance and attention to every detail that only a royal wedding brings. I hope they get a beautiful day as it is POURING here today.

The Lamb of God

It is Good Friday and a day where my mind reflects on the Lamb of God.....sacrificed for me.
Today's card wasn't to fulfill any design team commitments but just to enjoy card making, a gift that I really enjoy.
A little about this card, it is combining a few of my favorite companies together. The paper, image, crepe paper and tag are from the 5th Avenue collection by Melissa Frances.
I cut from felt this pretty "open scallop doily" and then cut from crepe paper the "mini rolled roses", I used the large one in the duo. I gasped at how pretty these flowers are cut from crepe!

The white seam binding was dyed with my R30 reinker in a ziplock bag....quick and easy, because it is alcohol ink it dries lightning fast so no waiting!

On to the tag....
I have this Papertrey set from years ago that has some beautiful sentiments in it. I thought this verse was very fitting for Easter. Jesus' death and resurrection is the reason that I have my eternal hope. If any of my readers want to know more about this hope...please contact me as I will share my faith with any/all of you!

This weekend I get to celebrate my faith with my family and loved ones! There will be church where we sing some of my favorite hymns and there will be paska (in true mennonite fashion).

Wishing Easter Blessings to you and your families!

Classes coming to Toronto

I am going to be in Toronto May 28th to teach a Standard Copic Certification. Details on that event HERE.
While I am in Toronto I am revisiting a fabulous store named "Forever Scrapbooks". I love this shop...the owner Anne is super sweet!
I will be offering two copic card classes at this shop while I am there. This is a peek at the cards we will be creating Saturday Night (May 28th). All the stamps here are Hero Arts. The pretty papers are all Melissa Frances.
I will also be doing a Pure Innocence copic card class on Friday Night (May 27th)....picture hopefully to come by next week.
Hope to see you there!

Melissa Frances Recipe Exchange!

Have you been to the Melissa Frances blog lately? We are having a fun recipe exchange! There is going to be a prize as well!

Here is my family favorite recipe...you have seen it on my blog before....
Jam Jams
2eggs
1c. brown sugar
1c. shortning (crisco blue box)
6tbsp syrup (rogers)
2tsp. baking soda
1tsp. vanilla
Flour to make a soft dough (3-5c.)
Cream together your shortning and sugar Add the eggs, syrup, and vanilla Sprinkle in the soda Gradually add the flour, just enough so that the dough pulls away from the perimeter of the bowl. Roll out to desired thickness and cut into shapes. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 7 min (or until lightly golden brown) Sandwich your cookies with your favorite homemade jam. I love raspberry, nice and tart!

Remember the scrapbook page I did with these cookies?

You can see the close ups back in THIS POST.

So hop on over to Melissa Frances' Blog and link up a family favorite to be entered in the draw for a fun prize! Looking forward to checking out those recipes!

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!

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!

Card for Carolyn

This is a card created for a very special woman who is going through a tough time right now. She is Carolyn Peeler, the creative director for Melissa Frances. If you would like to read her story, she wrote a little something on her blog here.

Carolyn is so sweet and giving, it is tough seeing her go through a hard time. The girls on the Melissa Frances DT put together a menagerie of "Thinking of you" themed cards. This one is mine. If you would love to be inspired by the whole crew you can see them here.

I went with very soft and pretty for Carolyn's card. Using the 5th Avenue collection from Melissa Frances and all the pretty tags in this collection. I could find a "for you" rub-on so that is my handwriting with a multiliner copic pen on vellum.

Hugs and Prayers for both Carolyn and her husband.

MFT Teaser!

Welcome to day 1 of the teasers for this month's My Favorite Things release! Today I am showing you a glimpse of a fun new set called "Sassy and Sweet". This set has a lot of fun sentiments as well as patterns that work with a die-namic and some great flourishes. Here I used a few of the flourishes and the "hey sweet stuff" sentiment.
I thought the reference to sweet was a perfect reason to pull out the Kitschy Kitchen line from Melissa Frances.
Just so you don't think that I didn't use my copics.....yup, the jewels are colored :)
I also wanted to show you the little close up of this fun sticker.

Here are the details about the upcoming release on March 1st at 10 PM EST:

• The MFT release is on March 1st 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.

Homemade and Handmade

Thought I would share something that went into the Melissa Frances catalog. This is from their Kitschy Kitchen Collection....which I LOVE!
Here is a close up of the card. This collection is filled with sweet tags and rub-on sentiments. I particularly love the crepe paper. This is so fun to spray with my airbrush system.
Here is a close up of my homemade jam. I wrapped the crepe paper around the jar first, airbrushed the edges and them when I placed the label over the crepe paper then I stretched the edges of the crepe paper. I did the same thing on the lid.

Mmmmm homemade jam....I think I need a scone....Have a great day!

What Little Girls Are Made Of....

It was fun pulling out a picture from my daughter's archives...she was about 2 1/2 in this photo (she is now 15). You can imagine how it pulls on this momma's heart strings.

Showing you some brand new 5th Avenue papers from Melissa Frances. You can see the whole collection HERE.

I decided to mimic the banner in the paper design with a couple of paper banners of my own. Airbrushed the crepe paper a little for color and added a few vintage buttons.
If you click on the photo you can see close up and read the darling little verse on the paper itself....so sweet.
One of my favorite products at Melissa Frances is their rub-ons....so darling! I love that you can put rub-ons on uneven surfaces as well. Here I have part of the "L" on my photo and the rest is on the background paper layer.
A little bit of a closer shot of the top banner.....tied up with string that the little birdie is holding.

This is the Banner Day Die from My Favorite Things and it went so perfect with my papers in this design! I used it to cut all the matching papers from this 5th avenue collection.

Wishing you a day filled with "Sugar and Spice"!