Chalkboard Inspired

Movers & Shakers - PTI, April Showers - Flourishes 

This card is inspired by the chalkboard trend.  I am combining a few challenges for this card.  One is the Friday Mash Up #101.  I mashed the chalkboard look with stamps from two companies.  The sentiment is from PTI's Movers and Shakers Sentiment stamps and the tulips are from Flourishes April Showers set.  I decided to color over the tulips with yellow and the stems with green because it looked like colored chalk does on a chalkboard - often a little pale.  The umbrella is a die from MFT.

The second challenge this was designed for is Dynamic Duos Challenge #44 - using black and So Saffron.  And finally, Splitcoast Stampers Inspiration Challenge 380. The Inspiration is a company called Spoonflower.  What an amazing site!  I used this fabric as my inspiration.

I hope you'll leave a comment and follow my blog.  I'm hoping for 100 followers - 25 at a time!!

Buttons and Flowers

Bittybloom- Stamping Bella

Back again with another card that I am using for two challenges this week.  The first is a
Papertake Weekly challenge, called 1-2-3.  Use 1 of one thing, 2 of two things and three of something else.  In this card I uses one colored figure, two flowers and three buttons.

The second challenge is Use It Tuesday's  using your stash of dies, punches and cutouts.  The center square is die cut from a simple square nestie, as it the patterned blue paper behind it.  The bottom of the card is one of those border dies that I again "had to have" and it sits in the drawer more than it is used!

MFT - Part Deux

Back in MN from my trip to New York, where I was temporarily spoiled (yesterday) with spring-like temps in the mid 50s.  Landing back in Minne this morning, I was reminded it's still winter here ~ but thoughts of spring aren't far away.  No better way to combat a cold, gray day than spend some time making a card!

Being Cute Is What I Do - MFT

Today's post idea comes from a challenge site that's new to me, called the Friday Mash-Up!  (I love the name!)  They are celebrating their 100th challenge by having people choose one of their previous challenges.  I took the "mash-up" part seriously and combined a few.  Challenge #21 was dry embossing (a "regular" in my card making), and Challenge #32 was a girlie theme and favorite technique (Copic coloring).  Quite a mash, eh?!?!

The card uses one more of the MFT kids I colored last week . . .  in this one, I focused on creating the idea of ripples in her top in my coloring.  I cropped the image and framed her with a PTI die.

Copics Used:
Hair: E50, 51, 53, 57
Dress:  Y11, 13 15
Skin:  E00, 11, 13, R20

The die cut flower with the button in the middle mirrors the flowered background paper.  Don't the soft colors of this card make you think of spring?

Taking the Plunge . . .

Being Cute Is What I Do - MFT

. . . so wish me luck!
I am super-excited about today's posting.  I have decided to take the plunge and enter MFT's  March Guest Design Team contest!  I have toyed around with trying out for a design team for a while and think a one month guest role would be fun.  MFT is a great company and their stamps are perfect for honing my coloring skills.

 For this sweet little girl, I used a combination of paper piecing and Copic coloring.  Her face uses E000, 00, 11 & R20.  Her hair - E50, 51, 53, & 57. 

If you look closely, you can see the flower on her shirt has a center that's a French knot.  Her legs and feet use the "outside the box" technique and extend beyond the circle die.  I found that old felt scraps are the perfect barrier to slip under the edge of the die so it doesn't cut through the image.

The white card base uses a dotted swiss embossing folder, and all of the patterned pieces are layered on white paper.  

I've been coloring MFT images like crazy lately. You can see a different version of this same girl colored in the post below this one.  There's an adorable boy snowboarding two posts down!

This month's Guest DT sketch

I don't know where this will lead, but it has been fun to push myself to take a risk and try!  Cross you fingers and send good wishes my way.  The contest closes next week.  I'll keep you posted!


P.S.  I'm going out of town for a few days to the Big Apple!  (Mostly work and a little fun.)  I'll post a card when I come back on Sunday.

An Extra Day to Play!

Cute Is What I Do - MFT

We were dumped on with snow in MN today.  Our school had a snow day, so I got to spend the day in my craft room working on cards.

One of my favorites that I made was for the Designed to Color Challenge.    I loved the sketch and the MFT gal is perfect for coloring.  I tried to give her top some movement at the bottom.  I started subscribing to Designed to Color's quarterly publication a few months ago to help my coloring.  It's been fun to read.

Copic Colors Used:
shirt:  R20, 21, 22, 24
pants:  C1, 3, 5
grass:  G20, 24, 28, YG23
hair:  E50, 51, 53, 57
skin:  E000, 00, 11, R20

One of My Favorite Peeps - MFT

The sketch left me with half of a circle, so I made a second card.  This one is going to first grade girl who is moving to Illinois in a couple of weeks.  She's a real sweetie.

Copics and Paper Piecing

Snowboard Boy - MFT

Back again with another card.  This one is for the MFT Sketch Challenge.  I decided to paper piece the snow attire, but wanted to show dimension, so used my Copics to shade over the top of the patterned paper.  The boots and mittens are colored with Copics.  I used C3, C5 & C9 for the boots and E44, E47, & E49 for the mittens.  The snowboard is G40, 43 & 46.  Skin is E000, E00, E11, & R20 for the cheeks.

In putting the card together, I used the Cute Card Thursday challenge of "something old".  I interpreted the challenge as using old things from my supplies.  I rooted around in my scrap drawers and came up with some paper I have had in there for close to five years!!  Seriously - the brown paper was a scrap of about 4" x 8" and I loved it at the time.  The polka dot was about twice the size of the one I have used in my card.  Both have been passed over with the thought, "I can't use that one - what if I need it?!?"  The metal embellishments have been sitting around for years too.  It kind feels good to use some of this stuff I have been collecting!  I also think this card will work for the Papertake Weekly Anything Goes challenge this week.

One more thing to point out - the number 4 is actually cut from an embossing folder I have.  I don't have any letter dies, so I improvised.   This is a great birthday card for a little boy who took up skiing this winter, a.k.a. - my grandson, Ellis.

Serene and Simple

Modern Basics - PTI

Back again with another CAS card.  I combined three challenges for this card.  Splitcoast Stampers' Saturday Challenge is an inspiration challenge.  I used this clock from the featured Etsy shop.  I just got some Memory Box dies this week and was itching to break them open.  The poppy die was the first to be used!  I also used CAS-ual Friday's challenge to "stamp your own background" (which I did with PTI's Modern Basics) and Play Date Cafe's color challenge of tangerine, apricot, and mint.  This went together pretty quickly.  There is something comforting in the simplicity of this card.