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.

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.

Finding Time to Color

It has been so hectic this year at school that I haven't had any time to be creative. Last weekend, Sept 14 and 15,  Kitty and I attended copic certification classes with Colleen Schaan. We were blown away; her work is awesome and she is a dream teacher. We both learned so much that we are on overload. I really need time to practice what I learned so I don't forget it all. I really like learning to use copics with airbrushing; I have added an air compressor to my wish list.

 I made some time last night after dinner to sit and color an old image from Great Impressions (#H89). I like the pumpkin highlights and the curly hair a lot. I sort of like the dotted ground but am not real happy that I lost my leaf highlights. Sigh! I tried a slightly darker skin, but couldn't get real brave yet; maybe next time.

Pumpkin Girl is stamped on ex-press-it in memento black. The card sketch is MFTWSC9. Nesties were used to cut the circles and scallop circle.  The DP is from BoBunny and called "Apple Cider." The cs is from SU: limeade and chocolate chip, as it the ribbon. Papers are sponged in Distress Ink: brushed corduroy. Inside, older sizzix leaf die cuts were used along with an unidentified verse.













Lots of lovely fall colored copics were used to make her pretty.
      

School is back in session!

Did you miss me? School is back and it's a crazy, busy time. I have lots of students - about 190 daily - and I am not sure how I am going to keep up. They seem like a good bunch, but just keeping up will be a challenge.

It's been only a few fast and easy cards for the last two weeks. I made the first two cards with the "cult" a couple of weeks ago. I used distress stains and perfect pearl mists on watercolor paper to place behind die cut shapes: The flourish is from MFT and the fern is from Memory Box. The words and cs (shimmer, old olive and purple) are from SU. I used the cut outs on the inside along with some older words from my stash. It's an elegant look, but remember to stamp the verse before die cutting and then place this in a safe place away away from the inky mess of the stains. (I guess you can figure out how I know this).

 

We made this card last week. I copied the card from one that I saw on pinterest and then changed the colors using this color inspiration from design seeds. Be sure to check out my pinterest boards; I love spending time looking at all the wonderful ideas.

The colors didn't photograph very well. I used cs from SU: celery, wasabi, razzleberry and purple. (I know it looks blue, but it's dark purple).  The butterfly punch is a new one from SU; they have been dry embossed and embellished with some bling before being popped up on the 1 1/4" srips. The verse is also from SU and embossed in white. I used the 1/8" corner chomper to round the corners of each strip.

This last card is done for our Cult monthly challenge. This month we used the Mojo Monday Week #107 sketch. I used the SU set: For the Birds. The image is stamped in memento on neenah and colored in copics. I used E40; E31, E33 and E37 for the nest; R20, R22 and R24 for the heart and bird; and the image is outlined in B60. The paper is from My Mind's Eye; Lost and Found: Market Street. SU circle punches and PTI doily die are used for the focal image. Pearls and SU ribbon embellishes the outside; inside the MFT flag die and SU heart border punch are used.

 

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).

SFYTT July 2012 Revisited

I was inspired to use the camera and filmstrip for this monthly challenge. I am happy with how it turned out. I ink MFT's Little Shutterbug with Memento ink and stamped the image on neenah solar white. She is paperpieced and colored with copics. The DP is from echo park and called Happy Days. I also used SU cs: black and River Rock. The camera circles are cut from nesties and raised with a "wobble." The crystal "flash" is colored with copic marker R29. The camera and filmsrip are from MFT. Fishtail flags are used inside and the small circle is from the camera die.

I used some of the same markers for this card as for my other sketch 82 entry: Her skin is from E50, E00, E11, R20 and R00. Her hair is E13, E15, E39 and E59. Her hair clip is spica glitter pen in red.  Her camera is C1, C3, C5 and C7.  She is outlined in BG70.

Welcome Tilda

Thanks for taking a look at my first time inking up a Magnolia Stamp. This image is Princess Welcome Tilda. I used the MFTWSC82 again and the same DP: BoBunny Little Miss. Cardstock is SU: River Rock and Artichoke and retired Gauva. Images are stamped with Memento on neenah solar white.  Dies used are MFT's fishtail flags, mini tabs,  and rolled royal rose. Inside I used a retired SU heart punch. The sentiments come from the MFT set: Love You With All My Heart and PI All Occasion Sentiments. Dazzling Details (glitter stickles from SU) is added to the tips of the flower petals.

Most of the copics are the same at my first sketch 82. (I liked these combinations and they were all on my worktable!) Her skin is E000, E00, E01, E02, R20 and R00. Her hair is Y21, YR23, E35. Her crown is Y15, YR23 and YR24. Her lace is E40 and E41. The pink is from RV21, RV23, and RV25. The peach is from YR61, R20, R02 and R22.

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.