Girls Night Out--MFT Idol Contest, Week 3

Goodness, but the competition is making it hard! Last week's MFT Idol contestants blew me away with their creativity and I'm sure they'll do it this week! I'm definitely going to have to work harder if I want to stay in! This week's challenge is to use a specific stamp set and here's what I've come up with.

The girls are going out for a night on the town! How's this for something to get their evening off to a good start: Appletinis for two all dressed up in a kit?! They're taking a cab, so don't worry! This project includes a card, a kit with fixin's for two Appletinis, and martini glasses, dressed up with matching charms.

The card starts off with a Whisper White base and layers of Basic Black, silver, and Green Galore. All of the patterned paper is hand stamped. The focal image, from the soon-to-be-released April Who's That Girl set, Girls Night Out, was stamped on Gina K. Pure Luxury 80 lb. paper using Memento Tuxedo Black ink and is entirely paper pieced for added dimension, including the girls' skin and the wine glasses, both of which were colored with Copic markers (see below). The wine glasses are also highlighted with Sakura glitter pens in green and clear for some shimmer (close up below). It was then cut out and popped up with 3M foam squares on Green Galore then layered on silver and Basic Black, which was cut/embossed with a Mega Curved Rectangle Nestabilities die. I added a couple flat backed clear jewel accents and the whole image was popped up on foam squares. The sentiment, from the same set, was stamped using Memento Tuxedo Black on Gina K paper and was cut/embossed with a Spellbinders ribbon slider die. I then edged it with a silver paint pen, added green jewels, and attached it to the card base with black and silver ribbon. I added an adhesive back scrolly clear jewel embellishment to the left side and three flat backed clear jewels to the right upper corner. Prima flowers with fancy button centers were attached and accented with silver and black leafy branches punched with a Martha Stewart punch. A silver champagne glass charm hangs from one button by a silver cord bow.

The Appletini kit was modeled on one Jen Tapler did for Our Creative Corner back in December and can be seen here. I'd thought it was so cute and bookmarked it in case an opportunity to use it ever came along--well, along came opportunity! Jen expanded on a template from a tutorial done by Andrea Walford which can be found here. I bought the tutorial because I can see using it in many great ways in the future. You can see a close up of the Appletini ingredient tubes in the next picture. I decorated the box very similarly to the card--lots of bling and color. The sentiment is from the same set and was done in the same way as the card sentiment. The hanging tag sentiment, also from the same set, was layered on Green Galore and Basic Black cut/embossed with Nestabilities dies and is hanging by a silver cord, with another silver champagne glass charm attached. The ingredient tube labels were printed on my printer, embellished, and tied on with silver cord with green ribbon trimming the top of each tube. The martini glasses have green, black, and silver ribbon tied around each stem in a bow, with a martini glass charm (also from the same set) that was stamped, colored, cut out, and tied onto the bow with silver cord.

I'd never thought of doing this color combination but I knew I wanted to use black and silver and the color of the schnapps dictated the green. I love it together and will have to use it more in the future. Finally, a use for Green Galore!

Thanks for dropping by! And don't forget to head over to the MFT Forum tonight at 10pm and vote for your favorite entry--hopefully me! You should see the poll for week three close to the top of the page. You can vote for more than one entry, but you can only vote once. The poll is open until 10pm tomorrow night. Fingers crossed that I'll make the cut another week! This is sooooooo much fun!!

~Recipe~ Stamps: Girls Night Out (MFT); Weathered Wood, Leaves #3 backgrounders (Cornish Heritage Farms); Posey and Stitched backgrounders (SU!) Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black, Green Galore (SU!); Gina K Pure Luxury 80 lb, paper; silver metallic card stock (Office Max) Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black; Green Galore (SU!) Accessories: Cuttlebug/Nestabilities/Spellbinders dies; 3M foam squares, all ribbon, jewels, buttons, silver cord, silver paint pen (craft store); leafy branch punch (Martha Stewart); Prima flowers; Copic markers; repurposed glitter tubes and earring; printer/black ink

Chill out

That's what I'm trying to do, LOL. My MFT Idol project is done for this week so now I can relax and play--until tomorrow night ;-) This card is for MFT Sketch Challenge #74.

My base card is Very Vanilla with layers of Kiwi Kiss, Pumpkin Pie, and Blue Bayou (retired SU! In Color) and Chloe's Closet DP from Making Memories. The focal image was stamped on Neenah paper with Memento Tuxedo Black in and colored with Copic markers (see below). After punching the corners with my Ticket Corner punch it was layered on Kiwi Kiss, Pumpkin Pie, and Blue Bayou. I tied a double stitched Blue Bayou ribbon around and added a button from the Chloe's Closet button collection, tied on with Pearle cotton. I added a tab punched with the Round Tab punch from Blue Bayou and with some amber colored Dew Drops and then popped it up on 3M foam squares. It's chillin' me out, looking at it :)

Thanks for dropping by!

~Recipe~
Stamps: Chill Out (Annie LaPointe for MFT)
Paper: Very Vanilla, Kiwi Kiss, Pumpkin Pie, and Blue Bayou (SU!); Neenah ivory paper; Chloe's Closet DP (Making Memories)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: 3M foam squares, Pearle cotton (craft store); Chloe's Closet button (Making Memories; ribbon, Ticket Corner and Round Tab punches (SU!); Dew Drops; Copic markers

Flowers of tomorrow...

This card is for the first Viva la Verve With a Twist challenge for April. The twist is to use only a sentiment on the card. Not a stretch for me--I love to do that!

My base card is Whisper White with layers of Wild Wasabi (retired SU! In Color), Regal Rose, and DP from the Porcelain 6 x 6 pad by Basic Grey. The next element is Wild Wasabi and Regal Rose run through my Cuttlebug with the Swiss Dots embossing folder. The next element is Wild Wasabi with a scalloped border, Regal Rose, and more DP. A ribbon and bow of Wild Wasabi double stitched ribbon was tied around the card at this point. The sentiment uses a Verve Plain Jane stamp called Flowers of Tomorrow, stamped on Whisper White with Wild Wasabi and cut/embossed with a circle Nestabilities die. It's layered on Regal rose cut/embossed with another circle die, Wild Wasabi cut/embossed with a Labels Two die, and is up on 3M foam squares. Three flat back pearls accent the bottom left corner and tiny pearls accent the corners of the focal image.

Thanks for dropping by!

~Recipe~
Stamps: Flowers of Tomorrow (Verve)
Paper: Whisper White, Wild Wasabi and Regal Rose (SU!); Porcelain 6 x 6 pad (Basic Grey)
Ink: Wild Wasabi (SU!)
Accessories: Cuttlebug/Nestabilities/embossing folder; 3M foam squares, flat backed pearls (craft store); Wild Wasabi ribbon, scalloped border punch (SU!)

Urban Roses

Good morning!! It's been raining off and on here for several days and it looks like it's going to continue. I need to get out there and prune my roses, but I don't think that's going to happen this weekend. Since I can't prune the real ones, here's a rose cupcake to tide us over. This card is for two challenges: SCS Sketch Challenge #221 and SCS Color Challenge #211: Pretty In Pink, Kiwi Kiss, and Baja Breeze.

My base card is Whisper White with layers of Kiwi Kiss and Baja Breeze on which I did some paper piercing. The next element is Kiwi Kiss with DP from the Urban Prairie 6 x 6 pad from Basic Grey. The next element is Kiwi Kiss with Pretty In Pink with more paper piercing and a pink satin bow was tied around at this point. The focal image uses a Karen Lockhart stamp which was stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on Gina K Pure Luxury 80 lb paper, colored with Copic markers (see below) and had a little paper piercing done in the corners. It was layered on all three of the challenge colors and is popped up on 3M foams squares. I think it's kinda sweet and definitely cheers up a gloomy day.

Thanks for dropping by!

~Recipe~
Stamps: Rosebud Cupcake (Lockhart)
Paper: Whisper White, Pretty In Pink, Baja Breeze, Kiwi Kiss (SU!); Urban Prairie 6 x 6 pad (Basic Grey)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: 3M foam squares, ribbon (craft store); paper piercer/mat/template (SU!); Copic markers

Mojo Get Well

This card is for Mojo Monday #79. I'm really loving these new Verve sets--can you tell? ;-) This card started out as an Easter card but the sentiment wouldn't fit like I wanted so I switched direction. I think it also works for Sharon Johnson's Stamp Simply challenge today--#80--Let's Forget the Rules!

My base card is Whisper White with layers of So Saffron and Delicate Dots Sale-a-bration DSP. The next element is Whisper White with a punched border and more DSP. I then tied a ribbon from the Sale-a-bration ribbon bundle around the base card. The focal image is from Verve's Miracles Blossom set stamped on Whisper White with Certainly Celery and So Saffron. It's matted with So Saffron and Certainly Celery, has 3 celery colored flat back pearls as accents, and is up on 3M foam squares. The sentiment is from Verve's Wonderful Wishes set and is stamped on Whisper White with Certainly Celery and punched out with the oval punch. It's matted with So Saffron punched with the large oval punch and Certainly Celery punched with the Designer Label punch, and is also up on foam squares.

Thanks for dropping by!

~Recipe~
Stamps: Miracles Blossom, Wonderful Wishes (Verve)
Paper: Whisper White, So Saffron, Certainly Celery, Delicate Dots DSP (SU!)
Ink: So Saffron, Certainly Celery (SU!)
Accessories: 3M foam squares, flat back pearls (craft store); ribbon (SU!); border punch (Martha Stewart); oval, large oval, and designer label punches (SU!)

Happily Ever After--Sketches! {by Tamara} # 88

It's Thursday so it's time for another Sketches! {by Tamara} challenge. This one is #88. I have trouble with round cards, so this one WAS a challenge for me.

My base card is Whisper White. I ran it through my Cuttlebug with the largest Large Scalloped circle Nestabilities die, leaving a "hinge". I then used a stamp from a Kitchen Sink Stamps set called Never a Loss 4 Words. I needed something long and flexible enough to curve around and this one fit the bill, so, I decided this would be a wedding or anniversary card. I then stamped a wedding cake from an Inkadinkado set called Wedding, added some Prima flowers with crystal brads, and some faceted jewels at each scallop. I then punched a slot at the hinge and tied a pale blue bow through it.

Thanks for looking!

Don't forget to check out the sketch at the Sketches! {by Tamara} blog and give it a try--we'd love to see what you come up with!

And be sure to check out the other team members' cards:
Alexandra--California Stampin'
Becky--Bouncy, Flouncy, Fun, Fun, Fun
Carol--Carol's Paperplayce
Jo--Here I Go Again
Krista--Krista be cardin'
Marley--Marley Blog
Olena--From My Hands...To Your Heart
Riley--Stampin' and Dancin' With Riley
Suzanne--Stamp In Style and Cut It Cute
Sylvia--Sylvia's Stamping Place
Tricia--Tricia's Treasures

Thanks for dropping by!

~Recipe~
Stamps: Never a Loss 4 Words (Kitchen Sink Stamps; Wedding (Inkadinkado)
Paper: Whisper White (SU!)
Ink: Basic Black (SU!)
Accessories: Cuttlebug/Nestabilities; 3M foam squares, ribbon, brads, jewels (craft store); Prima flowers

MFT Idol Contest--Week 2 Poll Is Open

Many thanks to all who voted for me last week in the MFT Idol contest. Voting is open for the second round, so hop on over to SCS and vote--hopefully for me :) Here's the link to where you can find the poll.

Flowers are the music of life--Color Throwdown #35

Time again for the Color Throwdown Challenge--this is #35. Danielle picked the colors this week and they rock! Purely Pomegranate, Tangerine Tango, and Kiwi Kiss.


I'm still on my Verve kick, LOL. I love Julee's sentiments and I'm loving these new sets. After I decided on my DP, I knew this sentiment would be perfect. This design paper is so pretty, I decided to let it pretty much stand on it's own, so this was very easy and quick card, but I really like how it turned out.

My base card is Whisper White with layers of Kiwi Kiss, Tangerine Tango, Purely Pomegranate, and DP from a Prima mat pack called the Sasha collection. The focal image uses a stamp from Verve's Floral Symphony and was stamped on Whisper White with Purely Pomegranate ink. It was cut/embossed with a Nestabilities Lable One die and sponged with Purely Pomegranate before being taken out of the die. I punched a slot on the side, mounted it on the base card with 3M foam squares, and ran some sheer ribbon that's a good match for Purely Pomegranate through the sentiment and around the card. Three pomegranate Dew Drops in the right upper corner was all it needed to be finished, I think.

C'mon over to the Color Throwdown blog and play along with us this week. If you upload your card to a public forum, please use the keyword CTD35 so we can see your beauty all in one place. And if you play, you *could* be picked as our Featured Stamper and a guest designer! Hope to see you there!

Be sure to check out what the other team members have come up with this week:
Broni Holcombe--Splashes of Watercolor
Cathy Indelicato--Crafty Thoughts
Danielle Kennedy--Wild Dragonfly Designs
LeAnne Pugliese--Wee Inklings
Tammy Hershberger--Stamp Happy

Thanks for dropping by!

~Recipe~
Stamps: Floral Symphony (Verve)
Paper: Whisper White,f Kiwi Kiss, Tangerine Tango, Purely Pomegranate (SU!); Sasha mat pack (Prima)
Ink: Purely Pomegranate (SU!)
Accessories: Cuttlebug/Nestabilities Lable One; 3M foam squares, ribbon (craft store); slot punch (SU!); Dew Drops

Life is in Full Bloom

Today is the day to submit our entries for round number two of MFT Idol. The theme this week is The Masquerade--we were to use the masking technique in our project. I've never done much masking but I knew how it worked. I think I caught up on this card! The entire project is a gift basket for a gardener--or a gardener wannabe. I need a nice gift for a special occasion and, what with Spring newly arrived, I thought this would be the perfect thing! Included in the gift basket are: a rosemary plant and pot, a seed starting tray, an assortment of flower and vegetable seeds, gardening gloves, a trowel, some gardener's hand soap, some hand lotion, and a can of Trail Mix. A good starter kit!

My base card is Whisper White with layers of Chocolate Chip and Tempting Turquoise. The next elements are, at the top, Chocolate Chip and Summer sun, cut/embossed with circle Nestabilities dies and across the bottom, Chocolate Chip and DP from a DCWV Mat Stack called Garden Party. The focal image was stamped on Gina K. Pure Luxury 80 lb paper with Memento Tuxedo Black and is almost entirely masked. I used three MFT stamp sets for this scene. In the forefront are the bunny and the watering can, next is That Girl and the plant in her hands, then the wheelbarrow and bird, all from the set Can Ya Dig It? The "trees" are at the back and are from the set called Branch Out and the leaves are from Tea With Flopsey. Everything, except That Girl's dress and hat, are colored with Copic markers (see below for colors). I'm including a closeup of the focal image. The dress and hat are paper pieced with paper from the Garden Party Mat Stack and is cut out around the bunny--not an easy feat! The hat was stamped twice and one cut out, has flower brads for the band, and is up on foam squares. The trowel was stamped twice, one cut out, and it's up on foam squares. Little butterflies were punched out and attached with Crystal Effects. The sun was punched with a starburst punch from Summer Sun card stock and has a 1/2" punched circle up on foam square for it's center. Instead of my usual ribbon, I decided a garden theme called for raffia. So it's tied around the card and has a little dragonfly charm dangling from the bow. This dragonfly started life as a silver dragonfly but I colored it with Copic markers to get the antique brass effect. Prima flowers (looks kinda like a sunflower in the center, doesn't it?) were attached with an antique brass brad, and has leaves punched with a Martha Stewart punch. A matching brad balances the upper right corner. The sentiment is from Can Ya Dig It? and was stamped on Whisper White with Chocolate Chip, cut/embossed with a Spellbinders tag die, and is up on foam squares. That's it for the card. Whew! Very labor intensive and time consuming but it was fun!

Some of the items in the basket have tags. None of these images were masked, but I think they complement the card and support the overall gardening theme. The rosemary pot, the gardener's hand soap, the hand lotion, the vegetable seeds, the flower seeds, and the trail mix all have a Tempting Turquoise band and a tag tied on with raffia. I used the Rosemary and Chamomile stamps for these. These images were also colored with Copic markers and cut/embossed with Petite Oval Nestabilities dies. The basket handle and both groups of seed packets have a gardening quote attached as well, printed on GP cardstock with black printer ink. The one on the basket handle was cut/embossed with a Petite Oval Nestabilities die, matted on Summer Sun and Tempting Turquoise, and has a Prima flower and brad accent.

Thanks for dropping by! And don't forget to head over to the MFT Forum tonight at 10pm and vote for your favorite entry--hopefully me! You should see the poll for week two close to the top of the page. You can vote for more than one entry, but you can only vote once. The poll is open until 10pm tomorrow night. What do you think? Will I make the cut this time?

~Recipe~ Stamps: Can Ya Dig It?, Branch Out, Tea With Flopsey, Rosemary and Chamomile (MFT) Paper: Whisper White, Summer Sun, Chocolate Chip, Tempting Turquoise (SU!); Garden Party Mat Stack (DCWV); Gina K Pure Luxury 80 lb paper
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Chocolate Chip (SU!); black printer ink
Accessories: Cuttlebug/Nestabilities dies/Spellbinders tag die; 3M foam squares, raffia, flower brads, charm, antique brass brads (craft store); large decorative brads, butterfly punch (The Paper Studio); starburst punch, leafy punch (Martha Stewart); 1/2" circle punch (EK Success); Copic markers

Happy Easter

This card is for the fourth Viva la Verve challenge for March. The twist was to go CAS. Well, to the extent of using only one embellishment. Ugh! Definitely a challenge for me, LOL! I'm really behind with making Easter cards, so I'm taking this opportunity to build my stash.

My base card is Whisper White with layers of Rose Red and Raspberry Tart DSP. The circle element is another pattern of DSP cut/embossed with a large Circle Nestabilities die layered on Rose Red cut/embossed with large Scalloped Circle die. The focal image uses a stamp from Verve's new set called Miracles Blossom. The stem and leaves were stamped with Kiwi Kiss and the flower was stamped with Rose Red on Whisper White. I stamped the flower again on DSP, cut it out and paper pieced it. Punched out the corners with my Ticket Corner punch, layered it on Kiwi Kiss and Rose Red, on which I used my scalloped border punch, and popped it up on 3M foam squares. The sentiment is a Plain Jane and was stamped on Whisper White with Rose Red, layered with Kiwi Kiss and Rose Red, and is also up on foam squares. My ONLY embellishement is a raspberry colored Dew Drop in each corner.

Thanks for dropping by!

~Recipe~
Stamps: Miracles Blossom, Happy Easter Plain Jane (Verve)
Paper: Whisper White, Kiwi Kiss, Rose Red, Raspberry Tart DSP (SU!)
Ink: Kiwi Kiss, Rose Red (SU!)
Accessories: Cuttlebug/Nestabilities; 3M foam squares (craft store); Ticket Corner punch, Scalloped border punch (SU!); Dew Drops

From the heart

Now that I've got my MFT Idol project done for this week (at least I won't have to stay up until midnight tonight finishing it like last week, LOL) I could do a couple of fun challenges. This card is for MFT Sketch Challenge #73 and No Time To Stamp's Stamp Simply Challenge #79--to use ribbon tabs.

My base card is Whisper White with layers of Garden Green and Bashful Blue, with the upper corners paper pierced. The next elements are Garden Green and DP from a DCWV Matstack called Whimsy. The focal image was stamped using a MFT set called Bundles of Bouquets on Gina K. Pure Luxury 80 lb card stock with Memento Rich Cocoa ink and colored with Copic markers (see below). It was then cut/embossed with a Rectangle Nestabilities square, as was the Bashful Blue mat, and the Garden Green mat was cut with a Scalloped Rectangle die. Two light blue ribbon tabs were attached to it and it was popped up on 3M foam squares. The sentiment is from the same set and is done pretty much like the focal image, but needed no coloring. An apricot colored flower brad accents it and it's also up on foam squares.

Thanks for dropping by!

~Recipe~
Stamps: Bundles of Bouquets (MFT)
Paper: Whisper White, Garden Green and Bashful Blue (SU!); Whimsy DP (DCWV); Gina K. Pure Luxury 80 lb card stock
Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa
Accessories: Cuttlebug/Nestabilities; 3M foam squares, flower brad, ribbon (craft store); paper piercer/mat/template; Copic markers

Beautiful Kindness

I've been working on my next MFT Idol project but I needed a break, so I inked up another of my new Verve sets to use on SCS Sketch Challenge #220.

My base card is Very Vanilla with a layer of Basic Black. The next elements are Groovy Guava (retired SU! In Color) and DP from the Porcelain 6 x 6 pad from Basic Grey, following the sketch. The focal image--and sentiment--are from Verve's Beautiful Kindness set and are stamped on Very Vanilla with Memento Tuxedo Black ink. After using the Ticket Corner punch on the Very Vanilla layer, it was matted with Groovy Guava and Basic Black and popped up on 3M foam squares. The small butterfly from the set was stamped the same way twice and colored with Copic marker R02--Flesh. One was cut/embossed with a circle Nestabilities die and matted with Basic Black and is also up on foam squares. The other butterfly was cut out, had it's wings bent in a little for definition, and was popped up on bits of a foam square. Three faceted black jewels accent the sentiment element and it's done!

Thanks for dropping by!

~Recipe~
Stamps: Beautiful Kindness (Verve)
Paper: Very Vanilla, Basic Black, Groovy Guava (SU!); Porcelain 6 x 6 pad (Basic Grey)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Cuttlebug/Circle Nestabilities dies; 3M foam squares, black faceted jewels (craft store); Ticket Corner punch (SU!); R02 Copic marker