My Favorite Things Good Time to Wine December Card Kit Project #2: Partners in Wine

Hello MFT friends!  I'm back with my second card made with the new Good Time to Wine Card Kit.

For this card, I decided to go with a fun "Cheers" theme using shades of pink, orange and gold.  I first die cut my two wine glasses and did some quick watercolor for the drinks using Picked Raspberry and Spiced Marmalade Distress Inks.  I splattered some Pick Raspberry Distress Ink on both the base and the top panel.  After lining the top panel with acetate and doing some quick gold stitching around the edge using my Stitched Rectangle Die-Namics, I used foam tape on the base and filled the glasses with fun gold confetti.  After putting the top panel on the base, I die cut the Mondo Cheers out of gold mirror cardstock and stamped my sentiment on vellum, embossing it in gold.  This card is so fun and festive... perfect for your best GF!

Links to the products I used are below.  I participate in the My Favorite Things affiliate program, which means that I receive a small commission when products are purchased through the links I share at no additional cost to you.  Thank you for your support!




I hope you enjoyed this project!  I'll be back shortly with my second card, which takes a different spin on this card kit.  I see a gift set in someone's future - these are just so fun to make!

Interactive Slider Card: My Favorite Things Tweet Friends by Stacey Yacula

Crafty confession time: I have never made an interactive card.  And I have no idea why!  I decided to remedy this situation when I received the new Tweet Friends stamp and die set from My Favorite Things.  I have been a huge fan of Stacey Yacula for years, and I am so thrilled that she is MFT's newest illustrator.  How cute are these birds?  Completely irresistible.

I started my card by coloring my little birds and garden elements with bright Copic markers and die cutting them with the coordinating dies.  I ink blended a sky with MFT's Cloud Stencil and cut grassy borders in two shades of bright green with MFT's Grassy Hills dies.  I wanted my interactive elements to be hidden, so I used a die from MFT's Hit the Slopes to die cut a channel behind my grass.  I mounted my little blue bird on a piece of acetate, and adhered the acetate to the channel using a spin and slide disc (for an excellent tutorial on how to do this, MFT has an excellent YouTube video here).  All that was left to do was assemble my little garden scene!  I framed the scene using MFT's Stitched Scallop Rectangle Frames and added some hand stitching for a little extra interest.

And that's it... my first slider card!  I think I'm hooked - it was so easy and I love the little flying bird!

I hope you enjoyed this project!  Links to the products I used are below.  I participate in the My Favorite Things affiliate program, which means that I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you when products are purchased through the links I share.  Thank you so much for your support!

Thanks for stopping by and have a tweet day!  :)

My Favorite Things Good Time to Wine December Card Kit Project #1: Rose´ All Day

Woohoo!  My Favorite Things just release its new Good Time to Wine card kit this morning and it is so much fun!  And I wholly agree with its theme... this month is a Good Time to Wine!  This card kit has everything you need to create super fun wine-themed shaker cards, including a wine glass die and coordinating shaker pouches and a hilarious wine-themed stamp set.  This month's Free with $60 is also the Mondo Cheers die, which is the perfect accompaniment for this kit.

For my first project, I started by die cutting a wine glass and doing some quick and subtle ink blending with pool-colored ink.  I then die cut two roses using MFT's Mini Rolled Roses Die-Namics in different shades of pink wool felt.  I also die cut a smaller flower using the Stitched Flowers Die-Namics, using a tiny pom pom as the center.  I die cut some leaves using the Royal Leaves Die-Namics and Fab Foliage Die-Namics and colored them with Copic markers.  I adhered the wine glass to the panel using an included wine shaker pouch, filling it with fuchsia-colored flower sequins and tiny leaf confetti from my sequin hoard stash 😬 to keep with the flower theme.

I then simply adhered my felt flowers and foliage around the glass, adding some hand beaded clear flower sequins here and there for some added interest.  I stamped and embossed my "Rose´ All Day" sentiment in pink and added a stitched frame I created using my Stitched Rectangle Die-Namics, popping it up with foam tape to match the dimension of the felt flowers.  Super easy but super impactful... my kind of card making!

I hope you enjoyed this project!  Links to the products I used are below.  I participate in the My Favorite Things affiliate program, which means that I receive a small commission when products are purchased through the links I share at no additional cost to you.  Thank you for your support!




I'll be back soon with another card made with the new release... can you believe the cuteness of the Stacy Yacula stamps?  I can't even!!!!

Dimensional Watercolor Card: Scrapbook.Com Festive Florals and Berries

You know the feeling when you see a product and you immediately know you just have to have it?  That's what I felt when I saw Scrapbook.com's Fresh Florals and Berries stamp set.  I was so excited to create a project with this gorgeous set.  I think the berries are what set it apart for me... I LOVE the pairing of the pretty peonies with berries.

This card came together so organically due to the beautiful images.  I stamped my images with Scrapbook.com's Charcoal hybrid ink onto watercolor cardstock.  I then watercolored them with Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers.  Here's my tip for using these markers: you get so much more interest and dimension when using multiple colors.  I simply lay down a wash of my base color, let it dry, then lay down additional layers of color using darker shades as I go.  I color the markers directly to paper to lay down these washes and use a wet brush to blend them out.  You can do this as many times as you want until you achieve the look you're after.

After watercoloring all of my images, I fussy cut them out and put foam tape on the back to add dimension.  I stamped my sentiment from Scrapbook.com's You and Me Quotes and Sayings 2 stamp set on my base panel and adhered my watercolored images around the perimeter.  I added some gold sequins for a little sparkle and the card was done!

I love the dimensional effect you achieve when popping up watercolored images with foam tape - it just makes the card so much more interesting!  I hope you enjoyed this project.  Links to the products I used are below.  I participate in the Scrapbook.com affiliate program, which means I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you when products are purchased through the links provided here.  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Honeybee Stamps Guest Designer: Winter Floral Card

I am so excited to be guest designing for Honey Bee Stamps today!  Head on over to their blog to check out all the details!

Simon Says Stamp You Are Loved Release: Outline Clustered Leaves Die

Simon Says Stamp has just debuted a surprise release and it is absolutely lovely... and aptly named "You Are Loved."  This release is full of beautiful products focused on love, and I was so fortunate to be able to create a project with the gorgeous new Outline Clustered Leaves die.

I first want to note that this die is beautiful and really big!  The photo above depicts the die next to a standard A2-sized card.  It would be super impactful, yet wonderfully simple, to cut out a few die cuts, stack them up, and simply layer a stamped or die cut sentiment on top for a beautiful clean and simple card. I wanted to play with it a bit, so I decided to pair it with Simon's Modern Flowers dies to create a beautiful floral cluster.

I first die cut three flowers.  After coloring the inside pieces with yellow Copic markers, I inlayed them back into the clean white outlines.  I then cut out my gorgeous leaf outline and nestled sprigs of leaves in between the flowers.  I added some stitching on the inside of the leaves and around the border of the card for some texture and interest.

I die cut my "Hello" from Simon's Oh Hello There die, colored it with the same yellow markers to create an ombre effect, and adhered it onto the panel.  Some pretty yellow sequins from Pretty Pink Posh, some yellow gems from Lucy's Cards, and some tiny sparkly green leaves from my stash finished the card with a little sparkle.

This card was so simple to make, yet this gorgeous Outline Clustered Leaves die makes such beautiful visual impact.  Just my kind of die!

I hope you enjoyed this project... I hoard collect Simon's sentiment dies, so I am off to order that new "Thinking of You" die.  Other than my collection of "Hello" dies and sentiments, this is my most-often used sentiment.  And I just can't resist Simon's gorgeous script font!  ❤️

Fantastic Freebie from Scrapbook.Com: You and Me Quotes and Sayings II

Guys!  There is an awesome freebie up for grabs today at Scrapbook.com and I'm so excited to be able to give you the heads-up about it.  Scrapbook.com is offering its You and Me Quotes and Sayings II stamp set as a freebie with ANY purchase!  I don't know about you, but I'm always looking to add great staple sentiment sets to my stash and this one is fantastic.  I love the way Scrapbook.com mixes up its sentiment fonts yet they always coordinate with each other and are always beautiful.  This set is no exception!

I created this tag with the You and Me Quotes and Sayings II set and Scrapbook.com's Fresh Florals and Berries set by cutting out a tag and stamping the florals on dark cardstock.  I used gouache to paint in the florals and heat embossed my sentiment in white.  

This is actually the start of a larger card project that I'll be back to share later, but I couldn't resist the opportunity to share the chance to get this awesome freebie with you now!

ADDED BONUS: There are 12 mega brands all on sale right now, and CARDMAKING IS 20% OFF!  Yes!  To claim this freebie, simply add the stamp set to your cart and the price will be 0.00.  There is one freebie per customer allowed per day, and shipping rates will apply.

Links to the products are below.  I participate in the Scrapbook.com affiliate program, which means that I receive a small commission at no cost to you when products are purchased through the links I share.  Thank you so much for your support, and happy shopping!  Go treat yourself!

Pretty Things Survivors Do Blog Hop: Sending Hugs this Holiday Season

I am so honored to be a part of the Pretty Things Survivors Do inaugural blog hop today. I'm so happy you're here. If you're hopping along with us, you have arrived from Ruby's blog.

PTSD is a “psychiatric disorder that can occur in people who have experienced or witnessed a traumatic event such as a natural disaster, serious accident, terrorist act, war/combat, rape or other violent personal assault” (American Psychiatric Association definition). Although mostly associated with war veterans, it affects 3.5% of the population, and 4% of US children ages 13-18 will experience PTSD in their lifetime. About 8 million adults have PTSD during a given year. (Bran and Behavior Research Foundation) 

This issue hits close to home for me because a dear family member is a war veteran who served several tours in Iraq. I know very little about what he saw and endured while serving our country because he doesn't share the details with us, but what I do know is horrific. And I know he returned a different man than when he departed. I would give anything to take away the emotional pain that those suffering from PTSD endure, whether it be from serving in war or due to any other cause.  

I kept those suffering from PTSD in mind as I created this card.  I turn to creating as a way to escape the anxiety I endure as a result of taking care of a child with a chronic health condition (as well as the stresses of just everyday parenting), and I wish it was that simple for those suffering from more than these everyday pressures.  The holidays in particular are a difficult time for those living with PTSD. We are participating in the blog hop in the hopes that you may be reminded to reach out to loved ones, neighbors, and friends who could be living with PTSD daily. If one person is remembered this holiday season, then we have achieved our goal of spreading awareness. 

Thank you for joining us! Next up on the hop is Mamie Carson Wadsworth.  If you know someone who lives with PTSD and would like ways to support them, please visit the following sites and remember to reach out to a neighbor, friend or family member during this holiday season.  This could make a huge difference in their day!  

The National Institute of Mental Health https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd/index.shtml

US Department of Veteran Affairs https://www.ptsd.va.gov/

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/

Thank you for joining us today!