Stampin'B Challenge - Use Ribbon

As hostess for the Stampin'Bs this week, Faith asked us to use ribbon on our cards -- pretty easy challenge. I decided I wanted to use the ribbon some way other than simply tying a bow, so I used it as the stem of my sunflower -- and also in the three loops on the side of my focal panel.



I hadn't used that single sunflower from Mark's Finest Papers' Planted With Love set before, so this was my opportunity to showcase her. I colored her with Copic markers and then punched her out with a 2" circle punch and popped her up at the top of the "stem." The leaves were made with one of the dies from Spellbinders Foliage set, cut from MFP Spring Leaf and sponged with Tim Holtz Distressed Bundled Sage. The background is made with six squares of Cosmo Cricket Material Girl DP mounted on the same MFP Fresh Cream cardstock as the base.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today. Happy stamping!

Stamps: Mark's Finest Papers - Planted with Love
Paper: MFP Fresh Cream, Spring Leaf, Snow Storm Smooth; Cosmo Cricket Material Girl DP
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Tim Holtz Distressed Bundled Sage
Accessories: Ribbon, Spellbinders Foliage Shapeabilities, Oval punches, Pop dots, Sponge dauber

Stampin'B Color Challenge

Vicky Gould gave us a color challenge this week -- brown/black/ivory. I confess I was in a hurry and didn't put a whole lot of thought into my card this week. I stamped the train with Versafine Onyx Black onto a piece of MFP Corn Husk and clear embossed it. After scoring around the edges and adding the brads, I mounted the panel onto a piece of Basic Grey DP (unknown pad) and matted it with MFP Deepest Mahogany. The card base is MFP Vanilla Cream.



If you'd like to play along with us, head on over to the Stampin'B Blog. The pewter train is from a collection of about 25 that my late husband had.

MFP Blog Hop - Adirondack Summer

Hello! Welcome to the last day of the July 2011 MFP New Releases Blog Hop! We hope you've enjoyed looking at our new stamps.

This week's new releases are: Little Birds With Big Mouths, Planted with Love, Lilacs in the Summer, and Adirondack Summer.For your convenience, all these sets are available TODAY at Mark's Finest Papers.

So, do you want to WIN today's Featured Stamp Set: Adirondack Summer? (If you don't want to wait to win, you can always purchase the sets right away! We'll substitute a set from NEXT month's release if today's winner has already purchased this set!)

For your chance to win: Comment on the participating Design Team members' blogs listed below TODAY before midnight EDT. There will be ONE random winner chosen from the comments on today's Blog Hop blogs. That winner will win Adirondack Summer. We will announce the winner's name on tomorrow's MFP blog post.

As I mentioned yesterday, I attended StampFest Orlando a couple of weeks ago. I bought this frame die there. I thought it would give you a "look outside" at what could be my back yard -- although my palm is considerable bigger than the potted one shown.



My second card is a simpler, monochromatic one. I confess I channeled a fellow DT member for the "feel" of this card. I love the way Joanne (jojot) makes cards with rounded corners and piercing. And, by the way, she is the one who introduced me to that dimpled corner punch!



Be sure to comment on the following DT members' blogs for your chance to win today's set. Thanks so much for joining us this week. We hope you have gotten lots of inspiration!

Emily
Nancyruth
Neva
Silvia
Faith
Claudine
Dawn
Marilynn
Patricia
Chrissy
Karen
Pam
Joanne
Kittie
Mark’s Finest Papers

Blog Hop Day 3 and Stampin' B Challenge

Hello! Welcome to the July 2011 MFP New Releases Blog Hop!

This week's new releases are: Little Birds With Big Mouths, Planted with Love, Lilacs in the Summer, and Adirondack Summer. For your convenience, all these sets are available TODAY at Mark's Finest Papers.

So, do you want to WIN today's Featured Stamp Set: Lilacs in the Summer? (If you don't want to wait to win, you can always purchase the sets right away! We'll substitute a set from NEXT month's release if today's winner has already purchased this set!)

For your chance to win: Comment on the listed below Design Team members' blogs TODAY before midnight EDT. There will be ONE random winner chosen from the comments on today's Blog Hop blogs. That winner will win Lilacs in the Summer. We will announce the winner's name on tomorrow's MFP blog post.

I'm not an "official" blog hop participant today, but I appreciate your stopping by my blog today. Actually, my first card was also made for this week's Stampin'Bs DT Blog challenge. Our hostess Pam wanted us to use lots of bling and embellishments on our card. I recently attended StampFest Orlando, and in one of the booths I found lots of bling that match Spellbinders Labels dies. How cool is that!!! The Labels die I used on my card is Eleven. I stamped the smaller bunch of lilacs and colored them with Copic markers. Please note that the sentiments above and below the lilacs are actually one stamp. I cut it in half for the purpose of this card.



Other embellishments on my card are the punched butterflies with darker pink pearl bodies. The colors in the Basic Grey Porcelain DP complement the colors of the lilacs.

My second card is somewhat simpler. I embossed the white cardstock with a Cuttlebug folder and colored the butterflies with the palest shade of Copics -- R0000, YR0000, and V0000 -- just enough to make them show.



Be sure to comment on all of the following DT members' blogs to be eligible to win today's set.

Emily
Nancyruth
Neva
Silvia
Faith
Claudine
Dawn
Marilynn
Patricia
Chrissy
Karen
Pam
Joanne
Kittie
Mark’s Finest Papers

MFP Blog Hop -- Planted With Love

Hello! Welcome to the July 2011 MFP New Releases Blog Hop!

This week's new releases are: Little Birds With Big Mouths, Planted with Love, Lilacs in the Summer, and Adirondack Summer. For your convenience, all these sets are available TODAY at Mark's Finest Papers.

So, do you want to WIN today's Featured Stamp Set: Planted With Love? (If you don't want to wait to win, you can always purchase the sets right away! We'll substitute a set from NEXT month's release if today's winner has already purchased this set!)

For your chance to win: Comment on the listed Design Team members' blogs TODAY before midnight EDT. There will be ONE random winner chosen from the comments on today's Blog Hop blogs. That winner will win Planted With Love. We will announce the winner's name on tomorrow's MFP blog post.

I was in Michaels a couple of weeks ago and spied some items in their clearance section I thought I could use for this week's blog hop. They are the "props" with my cards today -- the seed box and the garden gloves. ($3 a piece!)

My first card uses the watermelon seeds image from Planted With Love. I tried to make my card carry that theme -- green cardbase, pale green and white matting, and the unknown red DP even has little black circles (watermelon seeds?) in it. I used the "ink the embossing folder" technique for the horizontal panel in the center. I stamped the image again and cut out the watermelon to glue to the front of the seed box.



I tried to get a country look for my Sunflower card. I thought the layout might look like a quilt -- using two pieces of DP from Cosmo Cricket's Material Girl pad. Not a whole lot of additional explanation is needed for this card.



Don't forget to visit the following DT members' blogs for your chance to win today's stamp set.

Lois (that's me)
Vicky
Dawn
Anne
Peggysue
Connie
Emily
Karen
Patty
Roxie
Vicki
Liz
Geri
Lynn
Mark’s Finest Papers

MFP Blog Hop - Little Birds With Big Mouths

This week's new releases are: Little Birds With Big Mouths, Planted with Love, Lilacs in the Summer, and Adirondack Summer. For your convenience, all these sets are available TODAY at Mark's Finest Papers.

So, do you want to WIN today's Featured Stamp Set: Little Birds With Big Mouths? (If you don't want to wait to win, you can always purchase the sets right away! We'll substitute a set from NEXT month's release if today's winner has already purchased this set!)

For your chance to win: Comment on the listed Design Team members' blogs TODAY before midnight EDT. There will be ONE random winner chosen from the comments on today's Blog Hop blogs. That winner will win Little Birds With Big Mouths. We will announce the winner's name on tomorrow's MFP blog post.

I used the Birdhouse image for my first card today. After coloring it with Copic markers, I cut it out and glued a straw (which I had cut in half lengthwise) to the back -- to serve as the pole. The DP for both of my cards today come from a K & Company pad called Julianne. I cut a blue piece with Labels 13 to back my popped-up birdhouse, matting it in white.



I punched some greenery using a Martha Stewart punch and popped on a flower at the base of the "pole." To add some texture, I put some Ultrafine Razzberry Fizz Flower Soft on the flowers cascading down the side of the birdhouse.

I used the nested birds for my second card. Aren't they rather funky looking birds? I brought in some turquoise with the sentiment, matting and brads for the eyes. I added some ribbon and a charm. The diecut is Labels 4 -- both regular and small. I like that Spellbinders added some "small" versions of the labels. It's a lot easier than tracing around the edge and cutting by hand.



Don't forget to comment on all the participating DT members' blogs today for your chance to win today's set.

Lois (that's me)
Vicky
Dawn
Anne
Peggysue
Connie
Emily
Karen
Patty
Roxie
Vicki
Liz
Geri
Lynn
Mark’s Finest Papers

Inspiration Challenge and Speedy's Friends

Happy Saturday, Everyone! My favorite day on Splitcoaststampers - the day of the Inspiration Challenge. I was a little worried though when I read the name of the inspiration site and took a look at the home page. Neither "posh" nor "vintage" are my style, but I felt better when I came upon this dress, not that I would ever in a million years purchase it!



I did think I could use it as inspiration for a card. One of my favorite images is the tiger in Mark's Finest Papers set, Big Cats. And today's challenge on the MFP Blog is to use a diecut as a background mat. The largest Labels Eight diecut fits very nicely onto an A2 cardbase. I stamped the tiger onto MFP Snow Storm Smooth with Versafine Onyx Black and clear empossed it. The Copic markers I used to color him are E00, E08, YR14, RV21, and Y38.

After adhering the tiger-print mat, I placed the matted tiger panel on with Pop dots to give the card a little dimension. This set makes great masculine cards, which don't usually need a whole lot of embellishment.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today.

Stamps: Mark's Finest Papers - Big Cats
Ink: Versafine Black Onyx
Paper: Mark's Finest Papers - Snow Storm Smooth, Dark Chocolate Bar; DCWV Safari Chic DP
Accessories: Copic markers, Labels Eight, Rectangle Nestabilities, Pop dots, Clear ep

Stampin'Bs Challenge - Beach Scene -- & A Request

This week's Stampin'Bs challenge was posed by Anne Harmon. She wanted us to make a beach scene -- with sand, either real or stamped. I don't use it often, but I do like Mudd Puddles -- which basically is sand and glue. After I stamped and colored my beached boat, I constructed my card and then added a little bit of Mudd Puddles around the boat. I think it gives some more texture to the picture.



I'm sending this card to a wounded soldier in a VA hospital in Maryland, who likes the beach. If you'd like to read a little bit about him and maybe drop a spare card into the mail, here is the information which was posted on Splitcoast. I'm sure he and his family would appreciate your thoughtfulness.

Stamps: Mark's Finest Papers - Sand Surf Relax
Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa, Danube Blue
Paper: MFP Dark Night Navy, Red Hots, Snow Storm Smooth; October Afternoon Seaside
Accessories: Copic markers, Mudd Puddles, Button, White gel pen