Bright and Bold!

Greetings Friends!!  I'm here today to bring you my take on the most recent MFT sketch challenge.  As I've noted in previous posts, I'm now 6 weeks from expecting my third child and my other children are 8 and just about 7 respectively.  I've been working hard at getting through my 7 year old's first year album before baby boy #3 comes along!  And believe me, the clock is TICKING!!

Here is this month's sketch:

And here is my interpretation:

I've used the super popular and oh so fun chalkboard art technique that's so popular right now along with MFT's Behind The Camera Stamp Set, First Class Friend,  and Lovey Dovey Sentiments. 

My cardstock is from Bazzill.  The blue background is from SU! and the other patterned paper is from Basic Grey - Obscure.  I don't know about you but I have the HARDEST time photographing 12x12 pages.  No matter how perfect it seems to look through my camera lens there is always one spot that seems out of focus when I pull the pics off of my camera.  I think scanning it would be the best way but I feel that scanned images sometimes come out looking slightly off in some fashion.  Anyway - here are a few close up shots of the page.  I kept it relatively simple since it was so bright - but I love how the colors play and pop. 

As you can see, I used MFT's Photo Corner Die-namics as accents on the photo and on the 12x12 page itself. 

It's so hard to believe that my darling boy is going to be 7 in a few weeks and that I'll have another being THIS tiny in my arms! 

I used pre-cut cork alphabet stickers to spell out his name and a white gel pen to add faux stitching and dots on either side of his name. 

I used my circle Spellbinder Nestabilities to cut out the photos and corresponding mattes on the left hand side of the page.  The first two are of my son's first bath and the bottom photo is of my darling daughter - at all of 18 months old. 

I'm in the middle of taking Clean and Simple 2 card class with Jennifer McGuire and Friends right now so I'll be back to post some fun creations inspired by that class soon!!

Thanks for coming by!!

Crafty Hugs!
Meredith

My Favorite Things Goes Scrap-Tastic!!!

Greetings Friends!!!

For those of you who follow along - you'll know why I haven't been blogging in forever and for those of you who don't - here's WHY!  =)  But I'm heading into that really good stage where my energy is pretty high as is my motivation.  I can feel the nesting coming on!!  I'm trying very hard to dive back into the scrapbooking world as I have so many projects that have been waiting so patiently for me for many MANY...(gulp)...years! 

And really - you all know how much I ADORE all things My Favorite Things related and couldn't contain myself when THIS was posted on the MFT blog. 

And I must be honest with you - I have THE hardest time photographing 12x12 pages.  I have a light box that works wonders with my cards and other small projects but when it comes to large scale projects I struggle so I hope that I did my page justice!

I so adore the simple and classic elements of this sketch.

 This page is, as you can see, of my darling daughter from this past summer.  I chose four of my very favorite pictures from a family trip to Vermont to capture the essence of her fun, sweet and wonderful nature.

I kept my colors light, summery and breezy using cardstock from Bazzill.  The majority of my patterned paper is from Amy Tangerine.

I've used some of my very favorite MFT products including Behind The Camera Die and Stamp set, Tag You're It Die and Stamp Set, Mini Pennants, and Botanical Beauty.

 

I love the earthy use of sticky back cork combined with the fun summery colors.  As you can see above, I took a light blue button, colored it with a turquoise hued Copic to create just the color I needed.  I then coated it in Matte Multi Medium and dunked it into crystal glitter so that it added a hint of sparkle.  I backwards tied my bow behind my button and anchored it down with a drop of hot glue.

I am hoping to have some time to create with the Project Life version that the crafty gals at MFT provided as well!  We'll see what the rest of the week brings my way!!

Thanks for stopping by!!

Crafty Hugs!
Meredith

MFT Teaser Time! Click, Click, Click!

 

Oh do you have ANY idea how hard it was for me to keep my mouth shut about THIS one!?!?  (wink!) I am sorry to tell you that really...it's another fantabulous set that you MUST add to your shopping list!  I know it's getting long but this is such a FANTASTIC RIDICULOUS AMAZING release that I simply can't help myself do anything but gush on and on about the amazing stamps and dies that are coming out this month!  GASP!

So without further ado...may I introduce you to Behind The Camera Stamp and Die-namics set!!  YAY!!  Oh my goodness...just wait until you see the amazing number of sentiments/words that come with this set...twenty to be exact!!  I had to roll this one around in my brain for a while and thought about all of the wonderful things I could do with this set...scrapbook pages, shaped cards, awesome bookmarks, luggage tags, backpack hangers, oh the list is endless!  In the end I went with a mini album.  I'm sure I'm not the only one but I have a "thing" for the proof sheets that come with your pictures when you order them from a company like Shutterfly, etc.  I hate throwing them out so I hang onto them knowing I'll do something with them someday!  LOL!  (sound familiar!;)

Here is what I came up with and I must say...I'm in LOVE!  (grab a cup of something...there are a lot of photos!)

I'm first going to show you the album all assembled (with room to add more pages!!) then I will show you each page:

All tied up with red seam binding

There's something about ribbon tabs that simply make me swoon

Just makes me happy!

You'll notice that some have corrugated cardboard in the center while others have regular flat board.  Just adding different textures and dimension.

All fanned out with so many places to go!

And here is the journaling side

Page 1 - Front

Within the set there is a long, solid strip that helps you divide the into camera parts, which I've inked in navy blue, heat embossed with clear powder.  I've added three hysterical pictures of my son which I've matted with Kraft cardstock, I've added some fun buttons - one with baker's twine, one with embroidery floss.  I ran a large line of stitching over my embossed line and added a sentiment from my 7Gypsies paper pack 'Abundance'.  

I went through my stash of paper packs and pulled out all of the text and ledger paper I could find.  With them I created jounaling spaces on the back of each tag.  

Page 1 - Back

 The sentiment "make every click count" is actually two separate sentiments.  Click is it's own stamp so it can be moved and substituted throughout different sentiments in the set.

 Page 2 - Front

I used the word MOMENT along with the other amazingly versatile sentiments to embellish my second page.  I also used a funky charm, some metallic pearls and my Rock Candy Distress Stickles over the blue panel.

Page 2 - Back

The stamped sentiment above comes with the middle word missing...so it's "every (blank) is worth remembering" so you can substitute many words that are within the set (click, moment, smile).  But I decided that I wanted the word 'day' so I used glittery stickers instead.

 Page 3 - Front

Again, I've used the word 'smile' which is a sentiment all in of itself and can be used with many other paired sentiments like the one I have here 'picture perfect'.  I also used the new to be released and SO fun Photo Corners. 

Page 3 - Back

Page 4 - Front

Here I've used the other two dies that come with the camera - one larger lens and a smaller lens.  I inked the solid line and stitched over it.  I inked my circular sentiment on around the center of the larger lens and nestled a picture of my brother and daughter together.  Just too cute!

Page 4 - Back

I used the same technique only added stitching at the bottom.  And I used another circular sentiment (there are two) this time around the center shutter inked with a white heart from the Hearts-A-Plenty Die-namic.

Page 5 - Front

I did a page specifically for our super fabulous dog Katie.  She's just our furry angel.  I used a sentiment from the CSS about Pets set along with the solid line. (see how nicely it divides a small space? ;)  

Page 6 - Back

I struggle with journaling.  So sometimes, if I'm a bit tongue tied I leave it blank and come back to it.  That way I have time to gather my thoughts before jotting something down. 

Page 6 - Front

Again another sentiment and the photo corner.  So cute!!

As you can see at the beginning of the post I used a very large three ring to hold the pages together passing through the viewfinder of the camera.  This way I can add a few more pages as time goes on.  

Thank you so much for hanging in through this uber long post!  I so appreciate all of your support.  It makes me smile in every way and give me true inspiration. 

Looking forward to seeing you all tomorrow!

Crafty Hugs!

Meredith

Administrative Bits and Bobs:

You can attend the New Release Party on March 6th from 8-10 PM EST HERE in the MFT forum, where you can enjoy fun, games, and PRIZES!

• The MFT release, including all new stamp sets and Die-namics, is on March 6th at 10 PM EST.  You'll find all the newest products HERE at release time.
• The guest designer contest is ON!  Check out the forum for details on how YOU can win $200 in stamp sets and Die-namics, and play along with the MFT Design Team for a month.
• If you'd like to see all the teasers for today, please click on over to the MFT Blog NOW.  Be sure to leave comments as you go for the chance to win one of 2, $10 gift certificates given away daily.  The winners will be posted on March 6th just before the release party, on the MFT blog.

 Here are the details about the upcoming release on March 6th at 10 PM EST:

• You can attend the New Release Party on March 6th from 8-10 PM EST HERE in the MFT forum, where you can enjoy fun, games, and PRIZES!
• The MFT release, including all new stamp sets and Die-namics, is on March 6th at 10 PM EST.  You'll find all the newest products HERE at release time.
• The guest designer contest is ON!  Check out the forum for details on how YOU can win $200 in stamp sets and Die-namics, and play along with the MFT Design Team for a month.
• If you'd like to see all the teasers for today, please click on over to the MFT Blog NOW.  Be sure to leave comments as you go for the chance to win one of 2, $10 gift certificates given away daily.  The winners will be posted on March 6th just before the release party, on the MFT blog.

Fabulous MFT Die-namics used in today's project: