I Am A Robot...

Good Morning DYSU friends and fans!!  I'm SO excited to be posting my first post as a DYSU Challenge Blog Team member!!  We'll be bringing you fun and exciting challenge each and every week at the DYSU Challenge Blog so please be sure to come by and check us out!!

My project today features a super cute and funky image from Wonderstrange Arts.  I printed my image onto X-press paper and colored it with Copics.

I cut my image out with my Spellbinders Circles and then matted it with Bazzill Licorice cardstock.  I used my MFT Fishtail Flag STAX to cut out the flag element on the bottom and used a whole bunch of metallic pearls scattered here and there. 

I added some stitching, a binder clip tied with a twine bow and a few torn bits of red and white polkadotted Washi tape.  

I wanted to add more layers, more...something but I truly loved it as CAS as it is!  So I went with my gut and called it finished!  =)

I do hope you come over to the DYSU Challenge Blog and play along for some great prizes!!

Crafty Hugs!
Meredith

You're A Saint!!!

Greetings Hambo Friends and Fans!!  Thanks for coming by today!!  There's a brandy new challenge over at the Hambo Hoedown Challenge blog and this week we are challenging you to use only Black and White on your projects!!  This week's image is an absolutely fabulous one.  It is called Nun.  It comes with a few very funny and slightly snarky sentiments. 

I have colored the Nun in with my Copics and Prismacolor Markers.  I used my Copic Xpress Blending paper and blended and colored and blended and colored and blended and colored some more to make the shading just how I wanted it. 

I used some fabulous new papers from Bazzill and Amy Tangerine to pull together an eclectic mix of patterns and shades.  I used some of my extra Amy Tangerine paper, a sheet of music and some white plastic mesh to create the hand rolled flower grouping in the upper left corner.  I added some black and white pearls to the center of my flowers and adhered them with hot glue.

I punched out my sentiment using an old SU! word punch.  I then coated the sentiment with Versamark ink and clear embossing powder and heat set it to give my sentiment panel a nice shine.  I did this process three times making sure it was nice and shiny. 

Apparently there was some stray glitter either on my Versamark pad or in my embossing powder because they got suspended in the shine of the sentiment panel which ended up looking very cool!

I do so hope you come join us over at the Hoedown!!  Can't wait to see your black and white creations!!

Crafty Hugs!
Meredith

Give Them Wings...

Hi Friends!!  As the end of the school year draws to a close, I find myself reflecting on every year, every day, every moment I've spent with my children (ages 7.5 and 6 respectively) and marveling at how fast the days fly.  I brought my youngest for his Kindergarten screening today and while I know he is very ready, I am still having a hard time knowing he'll be in full time school for the first time.  Not because I think he can't handle it...it's something I simply can't describe.  Just a feeling.  Sigh.  =)  I'm going to miss our time together.  But by the same token, both my children move forward with confidence and excitement so that's a sign to me that we're doing something right!  Anyway - I was moved by these thoughts to create something for this week's MFT sketch that incorporated wings...pretty symbolic, huh?  ;)

Here is this week's sketch:

I reached for Inspired By Birds and created this project. 

I inked the bird onto watercolor paper with Colorbox ink in Black and heat set it with clear embossing powder.  I then painted the image using Pearlized Water with Distress Inks in Peacock, Shabby Shutters and Milled Lavender. 

My cardstock is all from Bazzill - I get my solid cardstock at my local Michael's and the patterned paper is also from Bazzill - Vintage Marketplace that I just picked up at SSS.  It's GORGEOUS!!  Total swoon.  The ribbon is from The Ribbon Carousel and is totally luscious!  I added lots of stitching and tiny pearl groupings scattered here and there for added texture.

My sentiment is housed on one of my very favorite and oh so classic MFT Bracket Tab Die-namics. 

That's it for me tonight!!  Hope you're having a crafty evening!!

Thanks so much for popping by!!

Crafty Hugs!
Meredith

There Goes My Hero...

(please click for my first post of the day for Paper and Such)

Hello Friends!!  Today you'll for sure want to come join our new challenge over at the Loves Rubberstamp Challenge Blog!  This week's theme is for the special man in your life - the challenge is anything masculine.  With Father's Day right around the corner it's the perfect time to head on over an join us!

My creation today features a fantastic stamp from Kenny K called Super Hero.  It's a super fun stamp to color!!  I used some of my newly learned techniques that I received at my Copic Certification class and am pretty happy with the results!!

I colored and shaded and colored some more! I used new papers from Bazzill and a few smatterings here and there...some bright yellow, grosgrain ribbion, yellow baby brads, self-adhesive cork that I cut with my Stacking Stars Die-namics, some twine and a super fabulous star embellished stick pin sent to me by a dear crafty friend!

I used my Fishtail Flag STAX Die-namics to house my sentiment which is from Amy R Stamps from C.C. Designs - So Wordy Sentiments. 

I cannot wait to see what you come up with to share with us over at the Loves Rubberstamps Challenge Blog!!

See you over there!

Crafty Hugs!
Meredith

Birds Of A Feather...

Greetings Paper and Such Friends!!  Today at Paper and Such we are showcasing a true classic set called A Song In My Heart.  It is such a sweet set and super versatile.  I've used my Distress Inks to watercolor the birds who were inked onto watercolor paper with Brilliance Coffee Bean Ink and heat set using clear embossing powder.

I used chocolate felt and two different rolled rose Die-namics to create the flowery grouping in the top right. 

 I used a combination of chocolate grosgrain ribbon, gold baker's twine and a tiny little charm that is a pair of binoculars.  I thought it would go perfectly for a anyone who is a bird enthusiast!!  I added a few silver brads and finished it all off with a wonderful sentiment from the newly released Melvin and Susie set.  

I hope you've enjoyed and been inspired to create something fabulous!!  

Crafty Hugs!
Meredith

Snuggle Bug...

Good Morning Paper and Such Friends!!  Welcome to another fantastic New Release Blog hop featuring a new and super cute set Melvin & Susie along with a re-release of one of Paper and Such's classic sets A Song In My Heart.

You should be arriving here from my friend Kendra's blog!  If you've just popped by to say hi...then "hi!"  and thanks for coming by but I know you'll want to see all the fun creations today so please start here for this fun hop!!

My creation today included two of the super sweet sentiments included in today's set:

I am stamping on heavy watercolor paper and have inked my sentiments in Versamark ink and coated in white embossing powder.  I then used an ink blending tool to mix Scattered Straw and Wild Honey Distress Inks over the entire panel and then spritzed with pearlized water.  I used my Spellbinders to cut out and make the sentiments the focal point of my card.  I am using new papers from Bazzill (swoon) punching it up with lots of color, pearls, rolled Die-namics flowers and stitching.

I had so much fun with this set as it has seven adorable sentiments and two fabulous images!!  Thanks so much for coming by today and leaving love!  Remember - comment along the way to be entered to win both of the wonderful sets featured today!!

Now off you go to my friend Mindy's blog!!  Enjoy!!

Crafty Hugs!
Meredith

Growing up...

Happy Friday everyone!!  Here with you today bringing another fun creation using stamps from the awesome Loves Rubberstamps store.

Today's creation is sentiment features using Gourmet Rubber Stamps - Vintage Verses.  I was totally taken with this fantastic sentiment.  It's a great one that I have always adopted in my life! 

I pulled some papers from Cosmo Cricut - Upcycle 6x6 paper pack using lots of greens, pinks and ivorys.  I stamped my sentiment in SU! Basic Black and cut it out using my Fishtail Flag STAX. 

I did a bit of stitching and have added some resin and rolled flowers using my Rolled Rose Die-namics.  I used just a little bit of Distress Ink on the edge of my sentiment banner to really make it pop.

Thanks for popping in today!!

Crafty Hugs!
Meredith

Best BEST Friends!!

Greetings YNS friends and fans!!  I'm super excited to be here bringing you the most amazing color challenge today at the YNS blog.  The challenge is one of my favorites a color challenge!  Orange, green and pink!!  Such fun and summery colors.

My creation today features the very sweet Girlfriends stamp.   I inked the stamp with Momento and colored with my Copics.  After I colored their jeans, I took a scrap piece of denim, dabbed a bit of my Colorless Blending Ink onto it and lightly dabbed their jeans picking up color and leaving in it's place the super cool denim pattern. 

I used lots of layers - papers from Recollections, Bazzill and MME.

I used a doily die layering it three times behind my main image which I've added a blingy circle for added visual interest.  I used three, plain, white paper doilies to coat in SU! ink, clear embossing powder and heat set it for that extra fun and glossy shine.

I added a bunch of my favorite resin flowers from Michaels and some self-adhesive orange gems to compliment.

I used a mini tab die to house the YNS sentiment 'Best Friends' stamped with Basic Black from SU! and inked onto kraft cardstock.  I did a bit of stitching and added a hot pink fluffy Grosgrain bow to finish the entire creation.

I do hope to see your Pink, Orange and Green projects over at the YNS Challenge at SCS!!

Thanks for popping in today!

Crafty Hugs!
Meredith

Some Odd Girl - Mini Memory Tutorial

Greetings Oddies!!  So glad that you are here with me today for a fun and super easy tutorial.  As the Mum of two little ones I am ALWAYS taking photos.  I love the digital age that we live in as it allows for such a huge catalog of memories.  However, I find that I get overwhelmed with the immense amount of photos that I take and keep on my computer (backed up on an external hard drive AND disk of course!).  I have some albums started but I find it hard to catch up.  So what I like to do when my family and I have an event, an outing, a trip, etc. is create a quick mini album to pull together just a few simple photos to have an instant tangible memory.  My husband and I love it but more importantly, my children love it.  They love to see themselves in photos, along with fun colors and images.  So today, I am showing you how to make a quick mini 4"x4" accordion album. 
Here are the supplies you will need:

• two pieces of cardstock that measure 4" x 8"
• two pieces of chipboard or thin cardboard measuring 4" x 4"
• cardstock
• designer paper
• embellishments
  
• Some Odd Girl Stamps
• "red liner" style tape

 

First step is to take the two pieces of cardstock that measure 4" x 8" and score each piece at 4". 

 

After scoring, you will notice that I've positioned my kraft cardstock with one score line facing up (mountain style) and the other with the score line facing down (valley style).  

Add "red-liner" style tape to one side of the scored pieces of cardstock as you are going to overlap the two 4" x 8" pieces to create one continuous accordion folded mini-album.  

You will have three panels on each side of the album.  Because this is made with cardstock it will be a little "light" so the addition of the chipboard or thin cardboard cover and back really help to sturdy up the album.   In order to hold the album together I have decided to use thick, grosgrain ribbon that is adhered between the back 'cover' and the back of the album.  The ribbon then wraps equally around both sides of the album and ties on the front cover.

Once everything was secure and folding nicely, I set to decorating.  I pulled out all of my Some Odd Girl stamps using bits and pieces of many sets pairing them with some fabulous 6x6 Authentique papers - Celebrate.  I chose this paper pack specifically as this is a mini album for my 6 year old son.
On the cover I've used the bubbly, oval frame from the Sweet Thinkin' Mae set and the sentiment from the Lovey Tobie set. 
For the second and third pages I've used Crushin' Gwen and Lovey Tobey sets to compliment the pages.  I did end up keeping the pages simple and crisp as I will be adding photos.  I didn't want to add 3-D embellishments as I wanted the book to fold nice and flush when it's closed. 

 I kept the back page, where the ribbon tie is secured, blank as I will be writing a note to my son in this space.  In the other two spaces I've used the Nouveau Girls set - Grow and the adorable and sweet digital image Fluffy Love.

This entire project took me about an hour or so to pull together which affords the luxury of being able to make multiples rather quickly to have for so many different occasions, teacher gifts, hostess gifts, etc.  It can be a mini-album - with or without photos, an elaborate card if you didn't want to add photos, a mini journal or an inspirational book.  It's extremely malleable and adaptable for so many wonderful things!

I hope you have enjoyed my tutorial today!  If you have any questions please don't hesitate to pop it into the comments section and I will be sure to write you back!

Crafty Hugs!
Meredith

Dive In With Us!!

Greetings Hambo fans!!  I'm SOOOOOO super excited to be here with you today bringing you my first ever Hambo creation!  You are going to be in awe of the wonderful creations that are going on today at the Hambo Hoedown Challenge Blog!

Today we are challenging you to add sparkle into your project!  Glitter, Stickles, gems, flourishes, sparkle spritzes, you name it!  We can't wait to see what you come up with!!  And you'll get bonus "Oinks" for any creations using one of the Father's Day sentiments! 

My creation today is using the fabulous Snorkel Boy - Digital Image by Hambo Stamps.  It comes with two awesome fishy sidekicks and  four awesome sentiments!  

 I created a fun, scrappy and bright masculine card for my sample today.  I started by printing Snorkel Boy onto Xpress Blending paper by Copic and coloring with my Copic markers.  After coloring and shading, I used Glossy Accents to heavily glaze up his diving mask and the air bubbles floating above him.  I then used a glitter pen to brighten up his handsome fishy companion!

I distressed the edges with Hero Hues Latte Chalk Ink and backed it with Bazzill paper.  I did a bit of stitching on the edge for some added visual interest.

Here are the markers used in my coloring:

The round markers with no writing are from Prismacolor. 

I used one of the Father's Day sentiments that came with the set cut out with MFT Fishtail Flag STAX Dies.  I also lightly sponged the edges to make them pop a bit more.  I added a fluffy Grosgrain bow tied with a bit of rustic twine to make it more manly!  ;)  I did add a tiny bit of a blingy flourish interpretively to represent the water he's swimming in.

I used a Martha Stewart punch for the double loops on the bottom and created these rolled flowers by punching three circles measuring 2.5".  I then cut them into swirls and rolled them inward upon themselves sealing them tight with hot glue.

Oh this project was SO fun to create!!  Please come join us right at the Hambo Hoedown Challenge Blog!!
Looking forward to seeing your sparkly creations over there!!

Crafty Hugs!
Meredith

Snail Mail! A Sneak Peek!

Good Morning Everyone!!  Today is a fun and special sneaky peeky of the upcoming new release at Paper and Such!  The new set is super cute and very fun for all sorts of occasions!  Especially for sweet summer cards.  My creation today sneaks cute Susie Snail and one of my favorite phrases "snail mail".

I inked Susie in Momento ink and colored her with my Copics.  I blended a lot of my oranges and reds for the body - using the dotty pixelation technique and greys, neutrals and blacks for the shell.  I added some fun red dots on her shell glazing everything up - including her luscious lips with Glossy Accents.

I pulled oranges and greys for my papers - a mish mash of scraps stitching everything together and tying all up with a fluffy, satin taupe bow. 

I used some MFT dies - Dizzy Doily and Mini-Tabs to compliment the layout which is also an older MFT sketch. 

I finished everything off with some blingy flourishes and punchinella for an added pop!!

See you soon on June 9th for the full release of this sweet set!!

Crafty Hugs!
Meredith

Sweet Hugs...

Good Tuesday Morning!!!  I'm SO excited to be here with you posting my very first ever creation for the fabulous Loves Rubberstamp company.

I'm using one of the fabulous designs from Elisabeth Bell Designs from Belles n' Whistles.  This image is called Patches 'N Braids.  This week's challenge is an ANYTHING GOES challenge which I know everyone loves! 

I've kept my creation fairly monochromatic using mostly white, ivory and kraft.  I really wanted my bright image to stand out!  She is inked with Momento and colored with my Copics.

I created a fun cluster with white grosgrain ribbon, white cotton yarn, a pre-made flower and a tiny clothespin. 
My sentiment was cut using the Fishtail Flag STAX Die-namics from MFT.   The sentiment {hugs} is from this amazing set that is in the Loves Rubberstamp shop from Amy R it's called So Wordy Sentiments and it's FABULOUS!

Come play with us over at the Loves Rubberstamps Challenge Blog and here are all the details!

How to play:
Just upload a creation that follows this week's challenge to your online blog or gallery. Then leave a link to your project in the linky widget at the bottom of this post. If you upload to online galleries, please also use the tag or keyword LRSBC3. Our challenge is open to everyone, you can use any stamps and products that you would like, and you can enter as many times as you want.

Deadline:
The linky entry widget will close at 9PM CST on Monday, June 11th so all entries need to be in before then.

Prize Information:
One lucky participant will be chosen using a random number generator and will win a gift voucher for use at our store, Loves Rubberstamps, and will be able to proudly display our Winner's Badge on their blog!
The more people we have play... the bigger our gift vouchers will be so be sure and tell your friends and spread the news :)

Gift Voucher Amounts:
1 - 30 Entries = $10.00
31 - 60 Entries = $20.00
61 - 99 Entries = $30.00
100 and up = $50.00

WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED WITH THE NEW CHALLENGE ON TUESDAY JUNE 12th!

Thanks for coming by today!!

Crafty Hugs!
Meredith

Some Wonderfully Fabulous News!

Just wanted to share THIS with you all! 

Crafty Hugs!
Meredith

Courage

Good Morning Paper Canteen Fans!  It was a busy weekend around here but I was able to squeeze in some crafty time to play with this week's MFT sketch challenge.  I pulled out my Vertical Greetings Stamp and Die-namics and some warm and rich colors in chocolate, vanilla and bright red.

I inked the majority of the greeting in SU! Chocolate Chip ink and the word 'courage' in Real Red.  I stitched one edge with red thread in a zig zag strip and added some rich deep pearls to the top and bottom of the greeting panel.  I backed it with kraft cardstock to make it pop from the card front. 

I inked the edges of my layers, added a strip of polka dotted Washi tape, some silver brads to anchor the corner and a blingy circle to make everything pop.  I used the fabulous Jumbo Monarch Border to cut red felt to add the border along the bottom. 

I finished my creation off with a fluffy, vanilla Grosgrain bow. 

Thanks for popping by today!!

Crafty Hugs!
Meredith

Sea You Soon!!

Greetings Oddie Fans!!  It's June 1st and time for another awesome challenge at the Odd Girl Blog!  This month's challenge is one of my very favorites...an inspirational color challenge!  Here is your inspiration:

Seriously gorgeous, right?!?!  Ok well here's my interpretation using the newly released Under The Sea Mae. 

I colored her with my Copics and used the fun "pixelation" coloring that is so trendy right now.  I used papers from Bazzill and MME.  I used one of my favorite summery color combinations turquoise and gold and paired them with a fabulously rich chocolate brown to make everything pop.  I used some classic stitching and fluffy grosgrain ribbon bow. 

I can't wait to see what you create for this month's fun and inspiring challenge!

Thanks so much for coming by!!

Crafty Hugs!
Meredith