MFP Blog Hop Day 1 - Lighthouses

Hello! Welcome to Mark's Finest Papers a Heinrich Company's March Blog Hop!

This month's New Stamp Set Releases are:

Lighthouses Featured March 20
Flap My Wattles Featured March 21
Wild Horses Featured March 22
Mother's Magnolias Featured March 23

Please hop along with us! You have a chance to win one of the above stamp sets! Just comment on the blogs listed below (don't forget this one), each day for more chances to win! (You do NOT have to comment on all the blogs each day! The names are drawn randomly!) All four winners will be announced on March 24, 2012 on the Mark's Finest Papers blog. You can go back and comment if you missed a day. (HINT: The more you comment, the more chances you have to win and comments on the MFP blog count twice!) The deadline for commenting is 11PM EST on Friday March 23, 2012.

My first card for today was an experiment. Some time ago I purchased an aircompressor so that I could try airbrushing using Copic markers. This is actually my second attempt at airbrushing. I did one Christmas card and was a little disappointed with the way it turned out. So, not to be discouraged, I tried again -- of course, it took me three months to do it! I'm happier with the results of this attempt.

When I saw this second image, I thought of the coast of Maine. Having never been there, however, I don't know if it really does look like the coast of Maine!

Be sure to check out all the blogs for the DT members and comment. Every comment increases your chance to win a stamp set.

Lois  (that's me) Vicky,   Anne,   Pat G.,  Karen H.,  Patty P.,  Mary,  Marilynn , Chrissy,   Karen K., Pam,   Debbie,   Nancy,  Bonnie,  Harriet , Kathy,  Brenda,  Toni,  Tangii,  Anna S,  Mark's Finest Papers.


Our new promotion begins this month! With the purchase of the March New Release Package, you will receive this stamp set for FREE!

Our March New Release Mini:

Brick Wall

CCEE1211 - International Flair

Our CCEE stampers hostess this week is once again Joanne (jojot), and she asked us to make a card with an international flair. For me this was a HUGE challenge because I don't have many stamps that would fit that category. I did find a few oriental stamps in my inventory, so that was where I went with my card.

In addition, I chose her favorite color combination of red/white/black. I stamped the card base with two different stamps -- the bamboo stalks and the Japanese lantern -- and colored them with pale Memento markers. I stamped the Hero Arts collage onto white and then matted it in red and black. For a little interest, I added the oriental coin at the corner. If you'd like to play along with the CCEEers, stop by our blog. We'd love to have you join us.

Stamps: Hero Arts Butterfly with Fern, All Night Media bamboo and lantern 
Paper: Mark's Finest Papers Snow Storm Smooth, Licorice Whips, Red Hots 
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black 
Accessories: Memento markers, Twine, Oriental coin

CC1210 - Flowers, Flowers, Flowers

Joanne is the CCEE hostess this month, and today she wanted flowers. Actually, she wanted Flowers, Flowers, Flowers. So my card has three flowers! I used this week's Sketch Challenge layout from Splitcoaststampers.

I have probably said more than once that orange is one of my favorite colors, and this shade of orange (Sunshine Orange from Mark's Finest Papers, a Heinrich Company) is a particularly soft shade. After stamping the black-eyed susans, I colored them with Copic markers (YR01, YR04, YR09, G40, G82, G85) and then cut them out with circle nesties. The sponging was done with Tim Holtz Distressed Wild Honey. Except for the background DP, which was cut from a full sheet paper from the Authentique Glowing collection, I used scraps. It's nice to use up some smaller pieces of DP, which might otherwise get thrown away. We'd love for you to play along with the CCEE stampers, so check out the cards made by the rest of the team.

Stamps:  Mark's Finest Papers - Black-Eyed Susans for Encouragement
Paper:  MFP Sunshine Orange, Snow Storm Smooth; Authentique Glowing DP
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black; Tim Holtz Distressed Wild Honey
Accessories:  Copic markers, Circle Nestabilities, Sponge applicator

CCEE1209 - Spring Scene

Joanne (jojot) is the hostess for the CCEE challenge this month. This week we were to create a spring scene. Spring may not be apparent is some parts of the country, but here in Florida it was almost summer -- with temperatures in the upper 80s a few days ago. I chose to make a CAS card this week, using a new set from Mark's Finest Papers, a Heinrich Company, called Blessings.

After stamping that cute bunny, I gently colored him with grays -- just enough color so you can see him hiding in those pretty yellow lilies. I have found that, when I make a CAS card (which is not too very often), I do like the look of the broken single line framing the image. If you'd like to play along with the CCEE gals, check out the blog.

Stamps: Mark' Finest Papers - Blessings 
Paper: MFP Snow Storm Smooth, Spring Leaf 
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black 
Accessories: Copic markers, Memento Bamboo Leaves marker

Teapot Tuesday and Blog Win!

I recently visited a blog hop sponsored by Our Daily Bread Designs for their February release -- mainly because I wanted to see what the design team did with the ocean stamp, which I thought was outstanding. I figured I might as well throw my hat in the ring, so to speak, and commented on all the blogs -- maybe I'd win something. Well, what do you know -- I won the whole release, all three sets. Doing the happy dance here!!! 

This week's Teapot Tuesday destination is South Carolina, where Robin, another teapotter, lives. Her husband recently died suddenly. If you'd like more information, here's the link to this week's tea party. Cindy related that Robin would one day like to have a condo on the beach, so I thought my newly-acquired ocean stamp would be perfect. Maybe this would be what she might see while sitting in her condo.

I don't know if you can drive on the beach in South Carolina, but here in Florida (particularly in Daytona Beach) cars drive up and down the beach all the time. That is Robin's yellow Mustang there on the sand!

Inspiration Challenge

I recently attended StampFest By the Bay in Clearwater, Florida, with my sister. I love looking at all the new and fun tools at these shows. I found a wonderful lattice die from Cheery Lynn Designs in one of the booths and decided to use it on my Inspiration Challenge card this morning. The site that Stef chose was suggested by a fellow stamper Arleen Yee, a Canadian stamper who goes by the name of Arlybeans. The site shows a wealth of beautiful, handmade Canadian crafts. I chose one of the metal pieces -- the metal butterflies pictured behind my card.

After I cut out the latticework with my Cuttlebug, I removed a section of the frame, glued it onto my white card base, and stamped the butterfly with some kaleidoscope ink. Then I added a bit of "foliage" which was made from a Sizzix "border" die and DCWV border punch strips and punched flowers. Both the butterfly and the sentiment are from a Mark's Finest Papers, a Heinrich Company set called Hello Butterflies.

Stamps: Mark's Finest Papers - Hello Butterflies 
Paper: MFP Snow Storm Smooth, Bang-Up Blue, Precious Pink; DCWV border punch strips 
Ink: JoAnn Craft Essentials kaleidoscope pigment ink 
Accessories: Cheery Lynn Designs lattice die, Sizzix Swirly border die, Marvy flower punch, Brads, Clear embossing powder, Circle punches

Thanks for stopping by my blog today.

CCEE Stampers - Zoo Animal

This is Shirley's last week as hostess for the CCEE challenges, and she chose a good one for today. We were to get wild and make a card with a zoo animal. My choices were somewhat limited by my stamp inventory, but I did have a bear. And I don't think any of the other CCEEers chose a bear! The only coloring I did on my card was the log on which he's standing. I'm in need of some masculine birthday cards in my stash, so this should work.

The design for this card came from Page Maps, a favorite sketch site of mine; and the DP came from a 12x12 DCWV Photo Stack. Fortunately, my printer has an enlarge/reduce feature because I had to reduce the scale of the trees and experimented with several percentages until I decided that 40% would work.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today.

Stamps: Mark's Finest Papers - North American Woods 
Paper: MFP Dark Chocolate Bar, Pensacola Sand; DCWV Photo Stack 2 
Ink: Memento Rich Chocolate Bar, Palette Burnt Umber 
Accessories: Copic markers, Circle Nestabilities, Corner rounder, Brads