Monday, April 29, 2013

Scor-Pal and SEI Week

Hello crafty readers!  It's been too long since we have had a fun cross promotion like this one!  Today, Scor-Pal in combination with SEI kicks off a week full of inspiration. You don't want to miss a single day!  Be sure to visit both the Scor-Pal blog and the SEI blog every day this week for fabulous projects and chances to win a little something-something too!
Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great week!
 
 

Friends and Tissue

We're back to Monday and another Friends of Speedy TV challenge.  This week's challenge theme is tissue, so I went with the faux silk technique.  I stamped my flowers on one side of the tissue and my butterfly on the other.  I needed to change the orientation of the butterfly and it totally worked.  A little coloring, a mat and a layered ribbon finishes off my card.  This is a rather simple technique that is big on effect.  It provides nice texture to your card.  I needed simple as I moved and stacked firewood for six hours before I made this little lovely.
Let's not forget that Mark's Finest Papers offers a free stamp set to one lucky participant.  This week, the set up for grabs is the Thankful Mini stamp set.  Here's peek at it.
Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!
 
Details - Stamps: Glad Glads (MFP); Paper: Sweet Tooth White, Black Licorice, tissue paper; Ink: Tuxedo Black; Accessories: Copic Markers, glue stick, black burlap twine, scor-tape, pink satin ribbon, stampin' dimensionals. 
 
 

Monday, April 22, 2013

Friends and 1, 2, 3

Happy Monday!  I'm back with another Friends of Speedy TV challenge for the week.  This week our challenge is as easy as 1, 2, 3.  That is one ribbon, two buttons and three patterned papers.  With so much patterned paper, I let it be the star of the show and looked for a fabulous sentiment to tie it all together.  My floral paper is accompanied by the subtly patterned blue and yellow papers.  I nabbed the sentiment from Cracked Hello as I wanted to make a birthday card for the friends 21st birthday (ahem, the 19th anniversary of her 21st birthday). 
For my background, I ran the floral patterned paper through an embossing folder and sanded it a bit.  With my blue patterned paper, I sponged the edges with a slightly darker blue.  On my yellow patterned paper, I stamped after I die cut an embossed oval shape.  I layered on the satin ribbons and then flanked my sentiment with a couple of buttons.  Easy Peasy!
 
Don't forget that Mark's Finest Papers offers a free stamp set to one lucky participant.  Will it be you?  You have to play to win.  This week's offered set is called Vacation Messages Mini.  What  a great set, take a look:
 
Oh boy, I can imagine some amazing cards with this set.
 
Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great week!
 
Details - Stamps: Cracked Hello (MFP); Paper: Shimmery White, Early Espresso, Prima Annalee dsp; Ink: Early Espresso, Soft Sky; Accessories: Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, sanding block, sponge dauber, Vanilla Satin ribbon, random buttons, 1/8" taffeta ribbon, glue dots, scor-tape, Classy Label Die (Verve), Embossed Oval Die (Verve), stampin' dimensionals.


Thursday, April 18, 2013

Birds & Trees - A Mark's Finest Papers, A Heinrich Company Blog Hop


April Blog Hop! 
This month's New Stamp Set Releases are:
 Featured April 16
Columns & Topiaries
Featured April 17
Be a Showoff 
Featured April 18
Honor & Glory 
Featured April 19
Birds & Trees

Please hop along with us! You have a chance to win one of the above stamp sets! Just comment on the following blogs (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 April 20,2013 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 11PM EST on Friday April 19,2013.
 The special stamp set we have for you this month is:
"Zoo Friends"

 The mini stamp set we have for you this month is
                    "You May Bow"                     
All of the images in this new set are super cute, but I just couldn't be normal!  Forgive me, I had to fuss with them!  One of the neatest things about clear stamps is being able to cut them apart.  I took a pair of craft scissors and carefully cut one of the small trees off the end of the row of trees image.  That made the image more manageable because then I had to mask it.  Before a couple of week ago, I would have used a marker, direct to stamp, to ink up only the selected portions I wanted.  Recently, I watched a video about using painters tape to cover up the portions of an image that you don't want inked up.  What  a difference that makes!  I masked off the trunk of the tree and created a flower with the main portion of the tree.  Then I hand drew in my stem and leaves (pardon the childish drawing) and colored up the whole thing.  A sentiment and some burlap twine finish off my card.  I love the burlap twine and sometimes you have to give it a haircut (wink, wink)!
That's my last card for April's blog hop.  Don't forget to travel on over to Sue's blog to see her next card.  Thanks for stopping by!
 
Details - Stamps: Birds & Trees (MFP), Paper: Sweet Tooth White; Ink: Tuxedo Black; Accessories: Copic Markers, Copic multiliner, Black Burlap Twine, Scor-Tape, stampin' dimensionals, Moonlight Smooch.



Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Honor & Glory - A Mark's Finest Papers, A Heinrich Company Blog Hop


April Blog Hop! 
This month's New Stamp Set Releases are:
 Featured April 16
Columns & Topiaries
Featured April 17
Be a Showoff 
Featured April 18
Honor & Glory 
Featured April 19
Birds & Trees

Please hop along with us! You have a chance to win one of the above stamp sets! Just comment on the following blogs (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 April 20,2013 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 11PM EST on Friday April 19,2013.
 The special stamp set we have for you this month is:
"Zoo Friends"

 The mini stamp set we have for you this month is
                    "You May Bow"                     
What a fun new set this one is!  I got my fussy cutting on today.  The turrets on the castle were a bit of a chore to trim out, but worth the effect for me!  I think this is a pretty unique house warming card and I can't wait to use it.  I also think it will pair marvelously with "You May Bow".

Thanks for stopping by!  Head off to see what Sue has for you now.

Details - Stamps: Honor & Glory (MFP); Paper: Sweet Tooth White, GKD White, SU dsp; Ink: Tuxedo Black, Kiwi Kiss, Old Olive; Accessories: Copic Markers, 1/8" taffeta ribbon, Scor-Tape, paper snips, glue dot, Curved borders die, stamping sponge. 
 
 

Be A Showoff - A Mark's Finest Papers, A Heinrich Company Blog Hop


April Blog Hop! 
This month's New Stamp Set Releases are:
 Featured April 16
Columns & Topiaries
Featured April 17
Be a Showoff 
Featured April 18
Honor & Glory 
Featured April 19
Birds & Trees

Please hop along with us! You have a chance to win one of the above stamp sets! Just comment on the following blogs (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 April 20,2013 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 11PM EST on Friday April 19,2013.
 The special stamp set we have for you this month is:
"Zoo Friends"

 The mini stamp set we have for you this month is
                    "You May Bow"                     
With the events in Boston, I felt compelled to change the card I had planned to make to show off today's set, Be A Showoff.  I have been feeling sadder and sadder as more information rolls out.  I decided to make an uber-simple card to illustrate the grace and beauty in the single feather image.  Because this set is congratulatory and celebratory in nature, I borrowed a sentiment from a previously released set called Oopsy Daisy.  I don't normally use a images or sentiments outside of the newly released set, but like I said, I felt compelled.
 
Thanks for stopping by.  Head on over to Sue's blog to see how she used today's set.
 
Details - Stamps: Be A Showoff (MFP), Oopsy Daisy (MFP); Paper: Pool Party, Shimmery White; Ink: Tuxedo Black, Pool Party; Accessories: Black Velvet ribbon, PTI Canvas & Linen impression plate, Scor-Tape, stampin' dimensionals, blender pen, Baby's Breath Shimmerz Spritz.


 

Bookin' It - A Scor-Pal Flip Flop Book

It's Toni here with a fun book for you to try.  It's called a Flip Flop Book and it's really quite simple.  Now don't be afraid to try a book or an album because if I can do it, so can you!  Just make sure you have your Scor-Pal and your Scor-Tape handy because that will make this project much easier!
For this project, you will need: 
  • Scor-Tape
  • 2 pieces of  6 1/4" x 6 1/4"  light chipboard
  • 2 pieces of 7 1/4" x 7 1/4" designer paper
  • 2 pieces of 6" x 6" card stock
  • 2 pieces of 6" x 12" card stock
  • 4 pieces of 1 1/2" x 6" card stock
  • 3 pieces of 3 1/4" x 5 1/2" card stock
  • 3 pieces of 2 1/8" x 5 1/2" card stock
  • Twill tape
  • Embellishments, as desired
Prepare front and back book covers first.  Adhere the 6 1/4" by 6 1/4" piece of chipboard to the back side of the 7 1/4" by 7 1/4" piece of designer paper with Scor-Tape
Trim the corners of the designer paper and line flaps with Scor-Tape.  Remove backing and adhere each flap to the chipboard. 
Finish the covers, by adhering the  6" by 6" piece of card stock with Scor-Tape to cover the flaps on the inside.

Place the 6" by 12" piece of card stock with the 12" side along the top fence of your Scor-Pal.  Score at 3", 6" and 9".  Repeat this process with the second piece of 6" by 12" card stock.
Crease the score lines, creating this "W" shape with a mountain fold in the center.  Repeat this process with the second piece of 6" by 12" card stock that you scored in the previous step. 
Place a 1 1/2" by 6" piece of card stock with the 1 1/2" side of the card stock against the top fence of your Scor-Pal.  Score at 3/4" down the length of the card stock.  Repeat this scoring on the remaining 3 pieces of 1 /12" by 6" card stock.

Crease the scores on each of the 1 1/2" by 6" pieces and line the inside of three of the pieces with Scor-Tape.  Line the outside of the fourth piece with Scor-Tape.
Attach the two 6" by 12" scored pieces in a center mountain fold with one of the 1 1/2" by 6" piece of card stock with Scor-Tape lining the inside.  
Turn over this piece and reinforce the seam with the 1 1/2" by 6" piece of card stock with the Scor-Tape lining the outside.
Turn this piece over again.  Remove the adhesive backing of the remaining two 1 1/2" by 6" card stock strips and adhere them to the two remaining mountain folds for design consistency. Here you see it standing up. 
Line both ends of this accordion-like piece with Scor-Tape, as shown.
Remove adhesive backing from each end and adhere to the inside of the covers. 
Take the three 2 1/8" by 5 1/2" pieces of card stock, line with Scor-Tape and adhere to the left hand side of each mountain fold.  (Take extra care to make sure that your Scor-Tape doesn't extend beyond the top of the mountain fold.  A light pencil line drawn just beneath the top of the mountain fold prior to placement of Scor-Tape can serve as a guide).
Next, take the three 3 1/4" by 5 1/2" pieces and line them with Scor-Tape.  Adhere them to the right side of each mountain fold (remember to make sure that your adhesive doesn't extend beyond the top of the mountain fold). 
Finally, embellish your Flip Flop Book as desired.  I used additional card stock, Simple Stories Documented designer paper, Simple Stories Documented Fundamental Cardstock Stickers and dies to decorate the inside of my Flip Flop Book.
On the front cover of my book, I used more Simple Stories Documented designer paper, card stock, dies, twill tape, paper flowers, a brad, stamps and ink to create my focal image.
Thank you for joining my today for my Flip Flop Book tutorial!  Have a great day!


Details - Stamps: Sentiments O'Simple (Unity), Friends 24/7 (SU); Paper: Simple Stories Documented Simple Basics Designer Cardstock Damask/Flourish, Simple Stories Documented Fundamental Cardstock Stickers, Black Licorice (MFT), Paper Reflections Naturals, Canson Naturals; Ink: Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Tea Stain; Accessories: Scor-Pal, Scor-Tape, Twill Tape, Hero Arts paper flowers, Spellbinders Labels 8 die, Little Leaves die, Build-a Brad, stampin' dimensionals, crystal effects, sponge dauber.




Monday, April 15, 2013

Columns & Topiaries - A Mark's Finest Papers, A Heinrich Company Blog Hop


April Blog Hop! 
This month's New Stamp Set Releases are:
 Featured April 16
Columns & Topiaries
Featured April 17
Be a Showoff 
Featured April 18
Honor & Glory 
Featured April 19
Birds & Trees

Please hop along with us! You have a chance to win one of the above stamp sets! Just comment on the following blogs (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 April 20,2013 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 11PM EST on Friday April 19,2013.
 The special stamp set we have for you this month is:
"Zoo Friends"

 The mini stamp set we have for you this month is
                    "You May Bow"                     
Today's featured set is called Columns &  Topiaries.  I used both sizes of the columns included in the set to create my background on my card base.  I stamped the columns in Versamark ink and then heat embossed them with clear embossing powder.  Next, I die cut my label shape from the card base and backed it with some vanilla colored card stock.  I die cut a smaller label shape, sponged the edges and heat embossed my sentiment.  I adhered some thin satin ribbon and some paper flowers.  I popped the whole thing up in the center of the negative space and rounded two corners of my card base.
Thanks for stopping by!  Don't forget to head on over to Sue's blog to see what she has in store for you. 
 
Details - Stamps: Columns & Topiaries (MFP); Paper: Mellow Moss, Very Vanilla; Ink: Versamark, Mellow Moss, Very Vanilla Craft; Accessories: Nestabilities, paper flowers, thin satin ribbon, clear embossing powder, white embossing powder, heat tool, corner rounder, crystal effects, Scor-Tape, sponge dauber, stampin' dimensionals.

 

Zoo Friends & You May Bow - A Mark's Finest Papers Bonus

Have you come to expect a bonus when it's time for the next Mark's Finest Papers release?  Well, I hope I never disappoint!  I have a couple of cards today made with the fifth set offered and the mini set available for the month of April.  The first card you see is made with a set filled with sweet little animals called Zoo Friends.  I love giraffes so this card was a natural for me.  It's a simple card with one of my go to designs.  Some patterned paper, letter stickers, scallops and sponging pull together a quick baby card.  I love that this one is gender neutral too.  It's good to have a few of these in your stash.

Now, we are going to get a little royal!  I really don't know one woman who wouldn't love to be treated like a queen on her special day.  Now, I do know several ladies who would never ask for that kind of treatment.  This set let's you tell it like it is: QUEEN FOR THE DAY!!  You have to love that!  For my card, I heat embossed the crown in silver ink and then colored the jewels and the rest of the crown.  I die cut my image and sponged it.  Finally, I laid the crystal effects to my jewels.  I used another go to design for this card.  I added a triple layer of ribbon beneath my crown.  Now this is just a little taste of what is to come this week.  Stay tuned for more new Mark's Finest Papers stamps!!
Thanks for coming by!

Details - Baby Giraffe - Stamps: Zoo Friends (MFP); Paper: Very Vanilla, Early Espresso, Fancy Pants Designs Hopscotch dsp; Ink: Rich Cocoa, Early Espresso, Crumb Cake; Accessories: Nestabilities, Bigz XL Tasteful Trim die, corner chomper, Fancy Pants Designs Hopscotch Sticker Fundamentals, sponge dauber, stampin' dimensionals.  Ruby Queen - Stamps: You May Bow (MFP); Paper: Sweet Tooth White, Black Licorice, MM Wedding dsp; Ink: Tuxedo Black, Silver Encore, Cherry Cobbler, London Fog; Accessories: Clear embossing powder, Spica Atyou pens, crystal effects, Nestabilities, sponge dauber, Scor-tape, 1/8" black taffeta ribbon, burgundy grosgrain ribbon, wide burgundy organdy ribbon, stampin' dimensionals.

Friends and Vellum

Welcome back!  It will be another busy day (and week ) on my blog.  This post helps to kick off the newest Friends of Speedy TV challenge (number 68) to create a project with vellum!  I love vellum, but don't always think to use it. 

I received a custom order from a co-worker to create a gift for one of her friends.  She asked me to include some Gordon Lightfoot lyrics (modified Rainy Day People) along with a picture and some ducks.  The whole project is a book card and I followed some directions given by Astrid Maclean.  What you can see above is the left hand page of the open book.  I printed the lyrics as my co-worker had them modified on vellum.  They were taking forever to dry, so I used some clear embossing powder and heat embossed them.  On the white background, I stamped my raindrops from the set called Rain Clouds.  I layered two layers of vellum so that the lyrics could be read easily.  Next I die cut my waves and layered them on.  Then I stamped colored and cut out my duck from Oh Baby and popped it up on top of the waves.  To deal with the issue of seeing adhesive through vellum, I cut out a frame and mounted it over top of the adhesive.

Just in case you are wondering what the rest of the book look like, here is the cover.  I used the same two stamps sets for it.
Here is the right hand side of the book, where I framed a photo of my co-worker and her friend.

I don't want you to forget that this week's Mark's Finest Papers challenge is all about vellum, since I have shown you the other two sections of my project.  There will be a prize too!  One luck winner will receive a Mark's Finest Papers stamp set.  This week's set stamp is Zebra Fun. I hope you play along with us this week.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!

Details - Stamps: Rain Clouds (MFP); Oh Baby (MFP); Paper: Vellum, Whisper White, Vintage Springtime dsp, Sahara Sand, Not Quite Navy, GKD White; Ink: Sahara Sand, Tuxedo Black; Accessories: Labels die, sanding block, eyelet lace border punch, white baker's twine, crystal effects, clear embossing powder, heat tool, Nautical Frame and Accents die, Scor-Pal, Scor-Tape, stampin' dimensionals, Copic Markers.

Monday, April 8, 2013

Friends & All White

Hey there!  It's Monday again and time for another Friends of Speedy TV challenge!  Today we are making all white cards.  Boy, was it hard.  I kept wanting to add a bit of silver or gold or kraft or blush.  I stood strong and managed an all white card.  Of course, my whites have a slight variation in shade.  I'm a little outside of my normal style here today with all of those layers.  I actually have 7 layers and that is huge for me!  I embossed on the front and back of my vellum tag and used some Scor-Tape and glitter to underscore my sentiment.  Everything else is pretty simple.  I embossed, matted and popped up layers.

I used the current CAS(E) this sketch! for my card today.  I like the simple design and thought it would work well with an all white card. 

As always, Mark's Finest Papers offers up a free stamp set to one lucky participant.  Won't you play along?  This week, the set up for grabs is called All Postal

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!

Details - Stamps: Cracked Hello (MFP), Bring On The Sun (MFP); Paper: Sweet Tooth White, vellum; Ink: Versamark; Accessories: White embossing powder, heat tool, Branches embossing folder, Swiss Dots embossing folder, scallop border punch, tag corner punch, crop-a-dile, flower shpaed eyelet, thin white satin folder, Scor-Tape, Dazzling Diamonds glitter, glue dots, stampin' dimensionals.

Friday, April 5, 2013

Let's Eat...Fruits and Vegetables!

I'm the Ways To Use It challenge hostess this week and I picked (no pun intended) fruits and vegetables as this week's theme!  After last week's feast at Easter, I need to eat my veggies.  Not to mention, I have had gardening on the brain.  Last weekend, we had beautiful weather and the whole family went to the local nursery to pick out herbs, veggies and flowers.  We got quite a bit of it planted and then the rain started.  Never fear, we'll get in!

I was having so much fun making the first card, that I decided to go ahead and make a second one.  I used the same seed packet stamp and adorned it with a different veggie this time.  I carried through the same crocheted lace and border stamps.  I didn't follow a prescribed sketch, but allowed the seed packet to take center stage.  I'm not sure what I will use these cards for, but I think they would make nice note cards to slip into a basket of homegrown vegetables later this summer!
Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend!
 
Details - Tomatoes: Stamps: Seed Packets (MFP), Love Love Love (MFP); Paper: Smashed Peas (MFP), Black Licorice, PC Soft Serenity dp, BG Marrakech dp; Ink: Tuxedo Black; Accessories: Touch Twin Markers, black crocheted lace, scor-tape, dimensional adhesive, paper snips, Copic Markers, corner chomper. Peppers: Stamps: Seed Packets (MFP), Garden Bunny (MFP), Love Love Love (MFP); Paper: Smashed Peas (MFP), Black Licorice, PC Soft Serenity dp, 7gypsies Victoria dp; Ink: Tuxedo Black; Accessories: Touch Twin Markers, black crocheted lace, scor-tape, dimensional adhesive, paper snips.