Thursday, January 26, 2012

CCEE - Australia Day

I just joined the CCEE gals on their design team. As today (January 26) is Australia Day, we were to make a card that is Aussie-related. I chose their national colors of green and gold. I have been having fun making CAS cards lately, so that's what I did today.



I inked up a rectangular acrylic block alternately with Memento Bamboo Leaves and Dandelion and then stamped directly onto the card base. Then I stamped the chair and tree with Versafine Onyx Black over the green and yellow -- and clear embossed it. I have found I like the look of the line frame on CAS cards, so I drew the frame with a Bamboo Leaves marker.

Stamps: Mark's Finest Papers - Adirondack Summer
Paper: MFP Fresh Cream
Ink: Memento Bamboo Leaves, Dandelion; Versafine Onyx Black
Accessories: Clear embossing powder, Memento Bamboo Leaves marker

Friday, January 20, 2012

MFP Blog Hop - You Are Cherished


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



This month's New Stamp Set Releases are



Love Remains Featured January 17
Cowgirls Rule Featured January 18
Sending Happy Thoughts Featured January 19
You Are Cherished Featured January 20



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!)We will announce all four winners on January 21, 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!) The winners will be chosen at 11PM EST on Friday January 20, 2012.


The last set for this month's blog hop can be used for Valentine's Day, as both of the images are in the shape of hearts. As you may be aware, these images (like yesterday's) also coordinate with other MFP sets. The front of my criss-cross card uses the wreath of black-eyed susans; whereas the insert uses an image from another set, Black-Eyed Susans for Encouragement. After coloring the wreath, I cut it out and mounted it on a heart-shaped panel and centered it. The designer paper for this set is the same as one from yesterday, Basic Grey's Cappella, which coordinates very nicely with the MFP August Greens cardstock.



I stamped the pansy heart with Versafine Satin Red and clear embossed it,, then colored the pansies using Copic markers. After embossing the white card base with a Sizzix Valentine embossing folder, I attached a piece of Authentique Uncommon designer paper and a thin strip of the same MFP Red Hots cardstock as the Lacey Circle shape behind the heart.



Again, I remind you to comment on the following blogs for your chance to win some stamps. We're so happy you joined us this week for our blog hop. Good luck in the drawings.

Lois (you are here)
Vicky
Anne
Pat G.
Karen H.
Patty P.
Mary
Dawn M.
Marilynn
Chrissy
Karen K.
Pam
Debbie
Nancy
Bonnie
Harriet
Kathy
Silvia
Brenda
Mark's Finest Papers

Thursday, January 19, 2012

MFP Blog Hop - Sending Happy Thoughts


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



This month's New Stamp Set Releases are


Love Remains Featured January 17
Cowgirls Rule Featured January 18
Sending Happy Thoughts Featured January 19
You Are Cherished Featured January 20




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!)We will announce all four winners on January 21, 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!) The winners will be chosen at 11PM EST on Friday January 20, 2012.


Sending Happy Thoughts, today's featured set, consists of "postage stamps" using several images which are included on other Mark's Finest Papers' sets. This gives a lot of versatility to the stamps. My first card is an example of that versatility. The image on the front is from today's set, whereas the flower and bee images on the insert are from Happy Pansies.



My second card uses just the rosebud postage stamp image colored in three different shades. I cut out the postage stamps and mounted them on a piece of MFP August Greens, with a contrasting layer of Deepest Mahogany. The designer paper that is peeking out from behind is Basic Grey's Cappella -- which has that same soft green color interspersed with a darker brown. The sentiment is cut out using a Spellbinders ribbon die.



Be sure to comment on the following blogs to increase your chance of winning some stamps.

Lois (you are here)
Vicky
Anne
Pat G.
Karen H.
Patty P.
Mary
Dawn M.
Marilynn
Chrissy
Karen K.
Pam
Debbie
Nancy
Bonnie
Harriet
Kathy
Silvia
Brenda
Mark's Finest Papers

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

MFP Blog Hop - Cowgirls Rule


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



This month's New Stamp Set Releases are


Love Remains Featured January 17
Cowgirls Rule Featured January 18
Sending Happy Thoughts Featured January 19
You Are Cherished Featured January 20




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!)We will announce all four winners on January 21, 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!) The winners will be chosen at 11PM EST on Friday January 20, 2012.


I think today's set, Cowgirls Rule, is my favorite of this month's release. I made another criss-cross card today, using MFP Dark Chocolate Bar and some Heidi Grace designer paper. My contrasting cardstock is Later Afternoon Sun, so I colored the roses on the boots yellow. The insert is a fairly simple birthday wish.



I love the image of the little girl and her horse! When I colored the saddle, I made it a sort-of-mahogany color to coordinate with the Basic Grey Boxer DP I used as a background for the focal image. The sentiment is attached using some brown/white bakers twine threaded through eyelets.



Remember to comment on all the following blogs to increase your chance of winning.

Lois (you are here)
Vicky
Anne
Pat G.
Karen H.
Patty P.
Mary
Dawn M.
Marilynn
Chrissy
Karen K.
Pam
Debbie
Nancy
Bonnie
Harriet
Kathy
Silvia
Brenda
Mark's Finest Papers

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

MFP Blog Hop - Love Remains


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


This month's New Stamp Set Releases are


Love Remains Featured January 17
Cowgirls Rule Featured January 18
Sending Happy Thoughts Featured January 19
You Are Cherished Featured January 20


 


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!)We will announce all four winners on January 21, 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!) The winners will be chosen at 11PM EST on Friday January 20, 2012.

My first project for today's set, Love Remains, is a criss-cross card made with several images from the set. If you've never made a criss-cross card, you can find the directions in the Resources section of Splitcoaststampers. My card base is MFP Razmataz Berry, a 100-pound cardstock, with designer papers from Authentique's Uncommon paper pack. I colored the rose images with Copic markers R00, R01, R11, R12, R14, BG93, BG96, and a Prismacolor marker PM-192. I cut out the large rose and popped it up onto a strip of MFP August Greens and pale green ribbon. The insert is August Greens and Snow Storm Smooth. I added some bling for interest. I did find out you shouldn't use Memento ink on ribbon. After I photographed my card, I noticed that the ink was bleeding into the ribbon. (Lesson learned!!!)



My second project is a set of four coasters. The rosebud on the front coaster is from Love Remains, and the others are from various other MFP sets. The background image is from MFP Background Fun, stamped in Palette Charcoal. You can find these coasters in the photo frame section of Michaels.



Here are all four of the coasters.



Remember to comment on all the following blogs to increase your chances of winning.

Lois (you are here)
Vicky
Anne
Pat G.
Karen H.
Patty P.
Mary
Dawn M.
Marilynn
Chrissy
Karen K.
Pam
Debbie
Nancy
Bonnie
Harriet
Kathy
Silvia
Brenda
Mark's Finest Papers

Thursday, January 12, 2012

A Sketch Challenge and More

In the next couple of weeks I am going to be joining a challenge team, the CCEE Stampers. To get my feet wet, I'll be doing the challenges but not as an official member. Today's challenge is a sketch drawn up by Frances Byrne, StampOwl on Splitcoaststampers.

I used a new set from Mark's Finest Papers, a Heinrich Company, called Love Remains, which will be released next week. The set includes both a full rose and a rosebud, a trio of leaves, and seven sentiments.



I also made a card for the SCS Ways to Use It challenge -- to use stickers on your card. I've recently realized that I could actually make CAS cards, something that came as a total surprise to me. One thing I like to add to a CAS card is the line frame around the edge of the card. My required stickers on this card are the butterflies -- from a sheet of Startform stickers. The rose is from the same soon-to-be-released set from Mark's Finest Papers, a Heinrich Company -- Love Remains.



I'm looking forward to playing with the CCEE stampers, a few of them who were on the Stampin' Bs with me for several years.

Card #1
Stamps: MFP Love Remains
Paper: MFP August Greens, Snow Storm Smooth; K & Company Julianne DP
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Copic markers, Circle nestabilities, Eyelets


Card #2
Stamps: MFP Love Remains
Paper: MFP Premium Heavy White
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Cottage Ivy
Accessories: Copic markers, Starform butterfly stickers, Memento Cottage Ivy marker

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

MFP Sneak Peeks

My challenge cards for yesterday and today were sneak peeks of a new set called Sending Happy Thoughts that will be released by Mark's Finest Papers next week. My first card was for yesterday's SCS color challenge (Blushing Bride, Riding Hood Red, Baja Breeze). I didn't have the exact colors, but I think the ones I used were pretty close. This stamp set includes three postage-stamp images (a rosebud, a pansy, and a black-eyed susan) and three sentiments.



My second card was for today's sketch challenge. I did rotate the sketch to accomodate the black-eyed susan image.



I'll try to post a few more sneak peeks before next Tuesday, when our official MFP Blog Hop starts.

Card #1
Stamps: MFP Sending Happy Thoughts
Paper: MFP Precious Pink, Red Hots, Snow Storm Smooth; Prima Sweet Fairy DP
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Copic markers, Ribbon

Card #2
Stamps: MFP Sending Happy Thoughts
Paper: MFP Greener Grass, Snow Storm Smooth; Basic Grey Curio DP
Ink: Memento Bamboo Leaves, Cottage Ivy
Accessories: Copic markers, Buttons, Bakers Twine