Cult Challenge for January

Anita picked a new sketch challenge; she chose Mojo Monday 147. I used a MFT digi printed on copic expressit cs. This digi is also a new release this month in a clear stamp.She is paper pieced and colored with copic markers.

The paper is from MME: Lavender. I also used ribbon and cs from SU: Sage (retired) and Pretty in Pink. The darker pink is colored with a copic marker: R56. The sentiments are stamped in memento and are from MFT: All Occasion Sentiments. The "hello" is cut in half. On the inside I used MFT dies: Fishtail Flags and one of their flower dies: Layered Rose. The flower center is Distress Rock Candy dry glitter.

Markers used for her skin are E50, E00, E11 and R20. Hair is YR24, E44 and E25. Her dress is RV11, R85 and R56 and the shoes are E42 and E43. The wood on the furniture legs is Y28 and E44. Shadows are C1, C3 and BV00.

MFTWSC99

It has been awhile since I have had time to play with the weekly sketch challenge. I made the first card using Thankful Leaves and then decided to use the same dp and ink up a new image: PI Angel for another card. She is stamped in memento on copic blending cs. The dp is MME: Lost and Found and called Portobello Road. Dies used on the card include MFT's tab, crochet border and snowflakes. SU cs is baja and gray. Rhinestones, dimensionsl, stickles, and a SU snowflake embossing folder. She is paper-pieced and colored in copics.

Her skin is E50, E00, E11, R20 and BV00. Her hair is E33, YR23 and E39. Her wings are layered and colored in  C1, C3 and BV00. A sakura stardust pen and aqua brush were used for some sparkle. Shoes are C1, C3 and BV25. Her dress is paper-pieced and shaded in C1, C3 and BG70. The ground is E50, E43 and 0. The background is BG70, C1 and 0. Her halo is a spica glitter pen: sand and gold.

Thankful

I am so thankful for life's many blessings. Family came together last weekend to celebrate my husband's 60th birthday; it was so wonderful to have family gather from near and far. Thanksgiving day was quiet and a small gathering of friends.

I spent today playing with my new air compressor. It came in a couple of weeks ago, but I haven't really done more than turn it on. I made the following cards:

The sympathy card is done with a masked oval window using V15, BG72 and G99. The SU image is stamped in Memento on SU whisper white cs. The image is layered on SU plum and then mounted on whisper white.

Happy Holidays uses SU artichoke ink on whisper white cs and stars my all-time favorite SU stamp set: Lovely as a Tree. I air brushed copics (Y21, Y28 and BG72) to create the sky. I used MFT's new die: Snow Drifts with an edging of Frosted Lace stickles and a retired SU greeting stamped in artichoke. The card front was spritzed with Perfect Pearls mist, layered on artichoke cs and mounted on whisper white.

I'm so Grateful from MFT's stamp/die set: Thankful Leaves is stamped with SU Suede ink on Vanilla cs and mounted on Crumb. A band of suede cs is embossed in an SU embossing folder. The leaves are cut from SU text paper using the MFT Fall Leaves die . They are air-brushed using E49, E35, R29, Y15 and YG97. They are mounted on the suede band along with SU crumb tulle and seam binding and a button.

The next card also used the MFT Fall Leaves stamp/die set. The layout is MFTWSC99. I air-brushed E49 and BG72 around a leaf die cut on the main image and also distressed the edges of each piece of paper. The script from Thankful Leaves is stamped in SU suede. The dp is from MME: Lost and Found called Portobello Road. The card front is layered on SU cs: suede and mounted on a card base of baja. SU crumb tulle and baja seam binding accent the image. Other MFT dies include a lace border and oval tab.

November Cult Challenge

This month's cult sketch challenge use Mojo Monday #259. I used MFT PI Birthday Girl. She is stamped on Copic x-press-it with Memento Black. The card base is SU: Marina Mist and the dp is MME-A Mother's Love. Dies used include: MFT flag, flouish and layered rose. A PTI doily and leaf are also used. Her dress is paperpieced and colored with copics. Dimensionals were used under the dress; I remembers to shade under the dress with W1 this time. Stickles and a pearl were used in the center of the rose.




Copics used for the skin were E50, E00, E11, R20 and BV00. Hair is  Y21, Y35 and E33. The balloon is BG72, BG75 and BG78. Her shoes, dress shadows and ground were W1, W3 and W5. The background is shaded with BG70 and 0.

I also used this sketch (in reverse this time) to make a Thank You card for Anita. She made me the most beautiful beaded doll. You can see her at the end of the beading page. This time I used MFT PI: Blowing Bubbles that just came in my last order. The dp is another from MME callled Bluebell. The cs is copic x-press-it and SU: Indigo and Starfruit. The dies used are MFT doily oval, nestie scallop oval and oval; a MFT flower and a MS border punch. Also used are dimensionals, Stickles (Scattered Straw-for the flower center) and a Sakura Stardust gel pen (blended with an aqua pen over the top of the bubbles). Her skirt is paperpieced and she is colored with copics.










I used  the same colors as above for her skin and hair and background . Her shirt is BG70, BG11 picking up a bit of BG72 and W1. W1 is also used for the ground and skirt shadow. The bubbles are BG70, BG10 and BV00. Her socks are W and 0.

MFTWSC#92

It's seems like forever since I have had time to color a weekly challenge. For this birthday card I used MFT: Lil Pumpkin. She is stamped on copic x-press-it with black memento ink. The dp is from BoBunny: Apple Cider that I picked up on our last cult road trip. The cs is from SU: expresso and gumball. I used nestie circle and scallop dies and only partial cut the circle so the pumpkin can extend past the border. The ribbon is from my stash.

She is paper pieced and colored with copics. Markers used include: E30, E21, E11 and R02 for skin with BV00 for cast shadows. Her hair is YR23, Y28, and E39. Her paper-pieced dress is shaded with YR23. The stem is YG25, Y28 and YG17. The pumpkin is R23 and YR15 as a base with shading done with YR18 and YR68. The background is Y000 and YR0000. Her hair barette and dress heart is colored with a Melon spica glitter pen.

MFTGUESTDT1012

I used this month's sketch to make a card for my friend, Beth, who was voted Teacher of the Year at our school. She is a terrific math teacher. I stamped MFT ALM "An Apple for Teacher" on neenah cs with Memento black ink. The sentimenta are MFT's:"Teacher's Pet" and "Clearly Sentimental about Teaching." The apple is from PTI. The dp is from Echo Park: Happy Days. Our school colors are red and black and the graph paper background is perfect for a math teacher. The cs is from SU: red and black. The red ribbon is from Ellen Hudson. Fishtail flags stax and a MFT star border die are used. I used the negative part of the star border along the bottom edge. I partially cut one of the smaller rounded banner stax dies to extend the length to fit the longer ALM image without adding unwanted width.

She is colored in copics: Skin is E21, E11, E13 and R02. I am trying to use the darker tones like Colleen suggested in our class. The hair is YR23, E13 and E37. Her shirt is E40 and E42 and her shoes and skirt is C3, C5, C7 and C9. The apple is YR21, R14, R24, R29 and R39. The leaf and stem are YR23 and E37; YG25, YG63, YG95.

Another look at MFTWSC84

This time I played with MFT: Freckles using this week's sketch. She is stamped on X-press-it with memento black ink, paperpieced and colored with copics. The dp is MME, 6 X 6 and called "A Beautiful Life." The cs base is SU: bashful blue and plum is the base layer for the front.

Did you notice that I didn't use the fishtail flags; but I used the small leafy flourish, fresh cut grass border, fence and vertical greetings one. Buttons are used as "flower" accents. I darkened the flourish with YG93 and wish I had used distress ink on the fence.

She is colored in copics: Skin is E50, E00 and E13. Hair is E13, E37, E59 and Y21. Her hair heart is colored in spica glitter: Lavender. Shading on her clothes is BV00 and around the outside is C1. B60 and 0. Her shoes are BV21, BV23, and BV25. The ground is G40 and YG61; the grass is YG63 and YG93.

MFTWSC84

I wanted to make some cards for my teacher friends and I have had this MFT set: Teacher's Pet for a while, but hadn't found a sketch that I really thought would do it justice until this week. Following Barbara's inspiration, I rotated the sketch for a perfect.

Over the past weekend I found the dp pack from MME (Lost and Found: Union Square) on sale at HL. I love that it is in our school colors of red and black. The card base is SU: Cherry Cobbler and the black cs is also SU.

The image is stamped on X-Press-It white in memento black ink. The sentiment is SU: Cherry Cobbler. The image is blended with distress ink: Old Paper. Fishtail flags die is used as well as a 3/8" circle punch for the embellishments which are two layers of cs and one layer of dp (the red one is colored in copics). They are covered with a thick layer of glossy accents as it the apple.

She is paper-pieced and colored with copics. Her skin is E50, E00 and E11. Her skirt is W3, W5, W7 and W9. W1 is used to shadow the shirt and is used around the image along with 0. The books are combinations of E31, E33, E41, E42, E43. The apple is R24, R29 and E09.

MFTGUESTDT0812

I have been sitting on this design sketch for the past month; I chose a school theme to make a card for one of my good friends at school. Summer break is just so short; I can't believe there's only a week left. I had the apple colored and really liked how it turned out, but wasn't happy with any of my paper choices until I found this dp at Michaels called "The Edumacation Stack." The image is from MFT's A la mode line and is called "Apples for Teacher." She is stamped on x-press-it blending paper with memento black ink and colored with copics. I used SU cardstock in wasabi and real red for the layers. The green layer is dry embossed with a 'large circle' folder.

The sentiment on the front come from other MFT set: "Teacher's Pet" and is curved to fit the shape of the MFT die oval tab.  I colored small brass brads with R29 to match the image. I love using my copics to alter embellishments: they match so perfectly and it saves me a lot of time looking through all my stash for a perfect match (which is often close, but just a bit off). I usually color them before I add them to the card so I can get around the sides. The hardest part for me is taking time to let them dry throughly - I usually have to touch up the color after applying them to the card.




Other dies that I used include the star border, fishtail flags (I can't seem to make a card without this die) and the stacking stars cut from MFT wild cherry felt and topped with a button and twine.

She is colored with copics: her skin is E50, E00, E11, and R20. Her hair and shoes are E13, E37 and E59. Not very visible is her hair clip colored with a lemon spica glitter pen.  Her shirt is YR21, YR23 and YR24. Her skirt and the leaf come from YG25, YG63 and YG67. The red apple is YR21, R14, R24 and R29.  The ground is W3, W1 and 0. The background is BG10, BG70 and 0. I did not use the BG11 at the top so it helps reflect the light source.

I am always so inspired by all the designs that I see online and my personal challenge this summer was to 'step up' my inside design. I used scraps of paper (I am basically lazy - I use what is on my work space) and repeated the star border die. I space the paper scraps apart so that the red base peeked through the stars (and it wasn't just that the stamped paper was a bit short for the space.)  I really like how it sparks the inside. The sentiment comes from the MFT set: "Clearly Sentimental About Teaching." I use the small bottle (of glossy accents to apply glue to small/thin pieces like the stars because the tip is tiny. To apply, I hold up the bottle and squeeze gently to bring a small drop to the end of the tip and then I just touch the paper to the glue very lightly. Too much and you will have very shiny adhesive showing where you don't want it. If some does push out, I quickly use my fingernail to scrape it off. I also like this product to adhere any buttons or other embellishments;  it is really strong and works on all types of surfaces.

MFTWSC#82

Spent the morning running errands and stopping by school to pick up my new rosters and then I headed home to play with the new sketch. I really like this one and have several ideas that I want to try. For this one, the background is SU Midnight Muse dry embossed with the Holtz snowflake folder and layered on white and then onto a Wisteria card base.  I  created some pretty paper by putting Distress stains(broken china and concord) and Perfect Pearl Mist on a craft sheet and the pulling white cs through the inks until it was covered. After drying it, I die cut the paper with MFT Fishtail Flags. I wish the wonderful shine showed more in the photos. The "Joy and Love" sentiment is an oldie from Great Impressions (C-32) that I stamped on one of the flags using black archival ink.

 After stamping MFT's Heart Stripes on neenah with Memento black ink, I colored her with copics,  and layered her using nestability dies and SU paper: Wisteria and Midnight Muse. This is then raised onto a large diecut snowflake (for SU bySizzix) that is cut from SU's glitter paper (my very favorite glitter paper - and the new Champagne color is totally awesome!).  A MFT snowflake die cut from SU glitter paper and decorated with bling (colored with copics: V04 and BG45) finishes the front. 

Her face is colored with E000, E00, E01, R20, R00 and BV00. Her hair is Y21, E15, and E39. Her hair clip is colored with Spica glitter pen in lavender. Her jumper is B32, BG45 and B34. Her striped shirt is BV02, B04 and V04.

Inside is another glitter snowflake from the MFT die layered on a small scallop punch (new one from SU) of midnight muse and then added to another fishtail flag. The inside verse is another oldie, this one is from Embossing Arts (560-J).

MFTWSC #82

It's Wednesday again - was busy today and almost forgot it was time for a new challenge. Squeezed some coloring in after taking my DH to the eye doctor and before the next round of company arrived.
Isn't she too cute? This is MFT's "Heart Stripes" that I bought on my last trip to the shop and I used some new BoBunny paper: "Little Miss" that I picked up at Deb's shop yesterday. I had fun; it's not my usual color combinations. The cs is neenah and SU: Chocolate Chip. The ink is Memento. MFT dies are used: Fishtail and Mini Tabs.

I used the following copics to color her skin: E000, E00, E01 and R20. Her hair is E13 and Y21 (over all), E35 and E37. The pink in her outfit is from RV21, RV23 and RV25. The greens are YG03, YG25, and YG63. Her peach jumper is YR61, R20, R02 and a touch of R22. She is outlined in E50. The grass and gound is G40 over Y28 with YG93 and YG95 for grass.

Gone Surfing Again

Deb and I chose this stamp for an upcoming class to teach basic blending, and coloring skin and hair with copics. She is stamped on white neenah with Memento's Tuxedo Black. The dp is from Authentique: Fresh and the CS is SU Real Red, Sahara Sand and Saffron.

The Sun is an older Sizzix original die. The sun has been blended with Distress Ink: Old Paper. The inside of the sun is covered with Stickles Distress: Scattered Straw. Several MFT dies are used: the wave and wonky borders and the image is stamped on the new rounded banner.


The copics used for her skin are E50, E00, E11 and R20. Her blond hair is Y21, YR23, and E33. Her Suit is from R22, R24, R27 and B91, BG32, B93. The board shadow and ground is W1 and 0. The background shadow is BG70 and 0

Nurses are Angels

Made for a friend who starting a new job. I used the MFTWSC81 sketch layout for this card. The stamped images are "Get Well Wishes" by There She Goes Clear Stamps. The DP is MME Lost and Found: Blush. CS includes neenah, SU: Blush and Burgundy. Inks include memento black, and distress inks: velvet and old paper. The edges of all paper are blended with Distress Old Paper.
The rose is fiber dyed with distress stain: mahogany. Dies are MFT: Royal Leaves, Doily border and Fish Tail Flags.

Her skin is colored with E50, E00 and E11 along with R20 and R00. Her hair is E34, E25 and E57. Her shoes and hat are E40, E41, E42 and 0. The background outline is in W1 and 0. The ground is E34, E42, E41 and 0. Her top is R81, R83 and R85 and her pants and the leaves are Goo, G82 and G24.