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

For A Friend...

DYSU Week 82 – For a Friend

Pink Gem

* Winner's Choice of 3 Digis

Little Darlings Rubber Stamps

* $10 Gift Certificate

Floppy Latte Digital Designs -
 http://www.floppylattedesigns.com/catalog/

* $10 Gift Certificate

Greetings DYSU friends!!  Today marks another great challenge with great sponsors at the DYSU challenge blog!  This week is to create something for a friend and there are super fabby sponsors, as always!!

Here is my creation for this week:

I kept is crisp and CAS. I created a row of rainbow hearts out of Fimo clay, added some stitching, a bit of Ouchless Cardboard from Gauche Alchemy and cork corners cut using my MFT Photo Corners Die-namics.

 

The sentiment is from Loves Rubberstamps and is inked in SU! Basic Black ink.

 

I love the simple impact this creations has.  I can't wait to see what you create for us!!

Crafty Hugs!
Meredith

Fabulous Birthday Girl

Greetings All and Happy Long Weekend!!  YAY!!  We are hanging around this weekend as I vowed to never travel on these busy holiday weekends.  The traffic simply makes me insane!  So we're sticking close to home, enjoying the pool club opening, lacrosse championship games at Gilette Stadium, and visiting family.   We will be celebrating my darling sister-in-law's birthday as well!  I took the opportunity to bust out this week's MFT sketch to get me started.

Her favorite color is purple so I started there adding grey and yellow as my accents.  I've been dying to ink my new ALM - I've Got Your Back.  It has been inked with Momento and she is colored with my Copics.  I paper pieced her shirt and the letters U and R using papers from MME.

I used the sketch pretty literally and simply shifted my main panel making it slightly askew to accommodate the large flowers I created.  I added ittiy bitty micro pearls to the corners of my main panel and used lots of Hero Hues Latte Chalk Ink to distress all of my edges. 

I used the Photo Corner and Chevron Stripes Die-namics to compliment the background.  I used an embossing folder to give a bit of richness to the middle layer (white) behind the flowers.  It really added just the right amount of texture that I was looking for.

I used both the Royal Rose and Rolled Mum Flower Die-namics layered together to create the fun and fluffy flower cluster.  I added a resin flower in the center of each one for some added depth and color.

I kept my interior simple and crisp, using my favorite Finishing Flourishes, for my greeting.  

Thanks so much for popping in today!!  Don't forget to come join the MFT fun at the sketch gallery here!

Have a fun, safe and creative long weekend!!

Crafty Hugs!
Meredith

Make A Splash!!

Good Morning Oddies!!  So excited to be here with you today to introduce you to one of the newest members of the Odd Girl Family - Under The Sea Mae!!  You are going to fall in LOVE with this gorgeous clear set.  This new set is chock full of gorgeous designs, elements and sentiments.  Today I've used one of the stunning Mae Mermaids along with some sea shell elements and a sweet sentiment.

I did something completely different with my stamping this time.  I inked her onto watercolor paper with white craft ink and then heat set her with white embossing powder.  I masked my image and then sponged all around her with Scattered Straw and Wild Honey Distress Inks (can you tell I'm LOVING on my Distress Inks lately?!)  While the image was still masked, I lightly spritzed the entire background with my pearlized water.

I colored her skin with my Copics and then proceeded to paint her with my Distress Inks.  For her hair I used Barn Door and Fired Brick, along whit a hint of Spun Sugar.  And I used Peacock Feathers FOr her tail, top and decorative seashell hair clip. 

I used a micro pen to exaggerate her luscious eyelashes!  For my background I used a large background stamp inked with white acrylic paint.  I was in a texture "mood" if you will so it was calling to me.  I used my MFT Photo Corner Die-namics to embellish the top, left corners, new Washi tape and a Tim Holtz edge embossing folder for the bottom.

I inked, painted and trimmed out a few of the fun seashell elements that come with the set and added them to my creation using 3-D foam squares.  As a final touch, I added self-adhesive pearls scattered here and there.  I love how they almost look like bubbles floating around her!

 Thanks for popping by today!!  I know you're going to LOVE this release as much as I do!  Please be sure to pop by my fellow amazing design team members over at the SOG blog to see all of the absolutely STUNNING creations there are today!!

"Sea" (heheeh) you tomorrow!

Crafty Hugs!
Meredith
 

Paper and Such Anniversary Celebration!

Greetings Paper and Such Fans!  Today over at the Paper and Such Challenge blog we are hosting a fun weekend of challenges and prizes all in celebration of Paper and Such's Anniversary!  Today I'm hosting a Monochromatic Challenge.  I love monochromatic as it allows you to delve into one color family and find all those fun hues and patterns that mix and match so well together. 

If you're a follower of mine you know that I have been totally loving on the new Distress Ink colors...especially Peacock!  So I with that in mind, I paired it with my neutral - black and came up with this creation:

In this project here I sponged a white doily with Peacock ink while resting it on a piece of white cardstock.  I used the negative of the doily as the main focal layer behind my Wild Rose image which was inked with black Colorbox ink, heat set with black embossing powder and then watercolor painted with the same ink and Pearlized Water on watercolor paper.

I added some photo corners, blue staples and some rustic twine to pull it all together.  I thought the bling and fun dizzy doily were the perfect finishing touches.

 To play along with this and all of the other amazing weekend challenges and to win some fabulous Paper and Such stamps come along to the challenge blog and check out all the fun!!

Thanks for stopping by today!!

Crafty Hugs!
Meredith

My Favorite Things - Wednesday Stamp Club

Greetings Friends!!  Posting today bringing you my interpretation of this week's MFT sketch challenge.  I know I've said it before but over the years of enjoying, learning and sharing this amazingly fun craft I've found that time and time again sketches are just such a fantastic point at which to jump from when you are feeling low on mojo and/or time.  The sketches and samples that the designers at MFT post weekly are classic, imaginative and always easy to follow.  Every week there is a sweet prize to win as well as lots of fun inspiration to oooh and aahh over!

Without further ado, here is this week's sketch:

And here is my interpretation using Pure Innocence - Cowgirl.

I inked her with Momento and colored her with my Copics.  I paper pieced her hat, dress, vest, shoes and arms. 

I dug deep into my scrap bins to pull out some fun purple designer papers to pair them with some of my favorite Bazzil colors in Bling (yellow), Mermaid (turquoise) and Classic Purple.  I layered and stitched and went a little rogue by adding a few extra Rolled Rose Die-namics Flowers with designer paper and felt.  I anchored two of the Country Charms Die-namics tied to the felt flower with rustic twine. 

 I recently acquired an awesome selection of resin flowers in all colors and sizes and they just needed to adorn the center of my flowers.  I use hot glue to hold them all together and to attach them to the card to make sure they simply don't move.

I finished everything off adding a Photo Corner Die-namics to my main image to trim down the expanse of white space that was showing and I used my Oval Tab Die-namics to house my sentiment.  I chose to round my sentiment to mimic the shape of the oval tab so that left me with a bit of extra space showing directly under the sentiment.  To add a bit "more" to this area, I trimmed out a second Oval Tab using the yellow designer paper from Recollections, and I simply trimmed off the oval part leaving a simple strip that I adhered and then stitched to the sentiment tab.  I love how it came out, simple and bold. 

My daughter has recently started riding lessons and is totally enamored of the entire world of Equestrians.  I am going to be tucking this into her lunch box tomorrow!  Thanks for popping in today!! 

Crafty Hugs!
Meredith

MFT Teaser Time! Dig Deep...

Greetings MFT Friends and Fans!!  So happy to be with you on another wonderful Teaser day!!  Today it's all about the fabulous 'a la mode' sweeties!!  There are two amazing sets being shown today.  I am showing a set called "It's Getting Deep".  I have a dear friend who, when times are tough, will use the expression "You have to dig deep" and for me it's about soul searching and finding the courage to deal with whatever may come your way.  

Here is my tribute to my darling friend who is always there for me.

 

I started by inking my sweet ALM in Momento ink and coloring her skin and hair in with my Copics.  I then paper pieced her outfit and shovel.  I used silver embossing powder to coat the shovel to make it look a bit more realistic.  I love how it shines once it's heated and melted!  I couldn't quite figure out how I wanted to do the 'dirt' so I ran out to my kiddies sandbox and scooped up a teaspoon of very clean sand.  I used my quickie glue pen to hold it in place temporarily and then secured the sand in place with a nice thick coating of Glossy Accents.  It looks SO fun!!  

I used my new MFT Oval STAX 1 & 2 to cut her out and matte her.  I clipped a small piece of the dirt mound off when cutting her out so I simply tucked it back under like a puzzle piece and adhered it with a bit of Glossy Accents.  

All papers are MME - Miss Caroline - Dilly Dally 6x6 pack.  LOVE!!!  

For the interior, I used the recently released Mix and Match Banners set, cutting one of each using the scraps that I had on my table.  I stitched the outside edge and stamped my sentiment and outline image in SU! Cherry Cobbler ink.

I do hope you are enjoying these Teaser days as much as I am!!  I will see you all again tomorrow for another amazing day of Teasers!!

Many Crafty Hugs!  

(and thank you, again, for the amazing words of encouragement you have been leaving me every day!!)
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:

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: