MFP Blog Hop Day One - Garden Bunny

March Blog Hop! 

This month's New Stamp Set Releases are

 Featured March 19
Garden Bunny

Featured March 20
 Spring Things
 

Featured March 21
 Glad Glads
 

Featured March 22
Seed Packets

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 23, 2013, 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 11 PM EST on Friday, March 22, 2013.

 The special stamp set we have for you this month is:

"News From The Woods"

 The mini stamp set we have for you this month is

                                                         "Corn Ears"

Several of my cards for this month's blog hop were made using directions from some of the cards I found in a new issue of Just Cards 3D.  My first card today is one of them -- an accordion-fold card.  It folds up to a 4 1/4" x 4" card.  I adjusted the directions from the card in the magazine.  That one measured 3" x 5 1/4" when folded up.

 

I started with a 4 1/4" x 11" piece of cardstock for the base and scored it at 1 3/4", 3", 5", and 7".

The extra set for this month is called News from the Woods.  I made a very simple card using this set for you to see today.

There are actually three different "critters" you can choose from (the owl, a bear, and a cute little raccoon) -- all of which will peek out of that center birch tree.

Be sure to check out all the cards in today's Blog Hop and comment on as many as you can.  Remember the more you comment, the more chances you have to win a free set of stamps.

Patty, Lois  (that's me), Vicky (go here next),  Jane,  Debbie,  Pam, Pat,  Thrifty Stamper, 

MariLynn,  Karen,  Bonnie,  Kathy,  Angela,  Cathy,  Toni,  Sue,  Janine,  An'jenic,  Kate, 
Shirley,  Marks Finest Papers, a Heinrich Co 

Card 1
Stamps:  Mark's Finest Papers - Garden Bunny
Paper:  MFP Lily Pad, Natural Vanilla Bean; DCWV The Natural Matstack DP
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Rich Cocoa
Accessories:  Copic markers

Card 2
Stamps:  Mark's Finest Papers - News from the Woods
Paper:  MFP Hurricane Gray, Licorice Whips, Snow Storm Smooth
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories:  Copic markers, Die-Namics Word Bubble die, Die-Namics Clouds Trio die

Speedy Fox & Friends -- Shades of Green

The Speedy Fox and Friends challenge this week on the Mark's Finest Papers blog is to use shades of green.  Even though tomorrow is St. Patty's Day, I resisted the urge to make a card with a shamrock on it.  Instead I made a sneak peek at two new sets to be released next week.  The bunny, pepper, radishes and sentiment are images from Garden Bunny; and the seed packet, peas, and cabbage are from a set called, appropriately enough, Seed Packets.

My side-step card was reversed from the way I normally make them because of the way the bunny is faced. The fence is a Martha Stewart border punch.  If you'd like a chance to win a free stamp set, make a card in shades of green and link it up at the bottom of the MFP Blog.  If you use stamps from Mark's Finest Papers, you'll have two chances to win.

Stamps:  Mark's Finest Papers - Garden Bunny, Seed Packets
Paper:  MFP Spring Leaf, Late Afternoon Sun, Snow Storm Smooth
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Bamboo Leaves
Accessories:  Copic markers, MS fence border punch

CCEE1311 - Pencils Only

I'm late posting my CCEE card for this week.  Sorry -- it's been one of those weeks.  Today's challenge was to use pencils.  I haven't used my Prismacolor pencils in quite a while, and I was glad for the little nudge.  My card today is a sneak peek at a new set from Mark's Finest Papers called Glad Glads, which will be released next week.

We'd love for you to play along with us.  Dust off those pencils and get coloring.

Speedy Fox and Friends - Shaped Card

The Speedy Fox and Friends team is going outside the norm this week.  Our cards were to be anything other than a square or a rectangle.  My card, as you can see, is octagonal.

My images are from the set Hum Along from Mark's Finest Papers.

If you'd like to play along with us for a chance to win a free stamp set, make a non-traditional shaped card and link it up at the bottom of the MFP Blog.  If you use stamps from Mark's Finest Papers, you have two chances to win.

Speedy TV Inspiration Challenge

Today marks the beginning of a new venture for me.  I am hosting the Inspiration Challenge over on Speedy TV.   Each Thursday I will post three somewhat-related photos I have found on Pinterest along with a card inspired by each photo.    All you have to do is make a card inspired by one of the Pinterest photos and link it up to the column.  Each week we will choose one card at random, and the winner will receive a previously-chosen stamp set from Mark's Finest Papers.  The free set for the month of March is the mini-set Adirondack Summer.

As a teaser, here is one of the photos I chose this week.  It is a photo of Central Park, New York.

I used the tree theme and the colors for my card:

We would love to have you join in on the fun over at Speedy TV.

CCEE Stampers - The Eyes Have It

A new month and a new CCEE Stampers Blog hostess.  Charlene is our hostess for March, and her first challenge was to use eyelets on our cards.  I confess I don't often use them, so I was glad for the reminder.

After embossing the vanilla cardstock with the Retro Circles embossing folder, I sponged on some tea dye ink to tone the starkness down a bit.  I used three large eyelets across the bottom.  The inside of the card says "Happy Belated Birthday."  I've already sent out this card to Vicky Gould, whose birthday completely slipped my mind.  Hope you had a happy one, my friend!

If you'd like to play along with the CCEE Stampers, make a card using some eyelets and link it up at the bottom of the blog post.

Stamps:  Mark's Finest Papers Train Talk
Paper:  MFP Deepest Mahogany, Natural Vanilla Bean
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Tim Holtz Distress Tea Dye
Accessories:  Copic markers, Sizzix Retro Circles embossing folder, Large eyelets, Sponge applicator

Speedy Fox and Friends - Joy Fold Card

Today's Speedy Fox and Friends challenge was to make a Joy Fold Card.  I used a couple of images from MFP Love Script to make my card.

I stamped the script image directly onto a piece of Prima designer paper for the left-hand side of the card.  The white panel is embossed with a border embossing folder.

More designer paper on the inside, along with the anniversary sentiment.

We'd love for you to play along with us.  Link your card at the bottom of the MFP Blog post, and you could win a set of stamps from Mark's Finest Papers.