Emma’s Birthday Bash Blog Hop!

What up folks?! I am the last stop on today’s hop, so I hope you got here from the the wonderful Veronica’s blog. If not, start at Emma’s blog: here.

Today is Emma’s birthday and I am doing a guest spot with my former teamies to celebrate! I’m happy I had some extra time this week to cook something up. And, because I adore Emma, I broke out the Copic markers!

I want to first start off by apologizing for the horrible photos. I had to photograph at night because of my work schedule, and I really need to get a new camera. Mine doesn’t like me anymore. Anyway, when it stops raining, I will do my best to get some better photos. These kind of depress me a bit.

I used two of Emma’s older sets, Bloom Where You Are Planted & Floral Sentiments on my card. Floral Sentiments is one of my all time favorite MCT sets.

My card is pretty straightforward. I stamped the sunflower bouquets with some Momento Rich Cocoa ink. I started off with Tuxedo Black, but it was totally harsh and made me sick to my stomach, so I decided to 86 it and start over. I used two Copic markers, YR65 Atoll & Y35 Maize, to color my flowers. The brown markers are Prismacolors. I stamped my sentiment with Versamark Dazzle in Champagne then embossed it with some detail gold embossing powder. I mixed some gold Perfect Pearls with water and did a little misting on the card front to give it a little more shimmer. Plus, I love the big droplets that misting adds. Me thinks it’s a bit textural.

Alrighty, I am going to call it a night. This boy has to work ALL day tomorrow so I need to get some Z’s. Thank you so much for stopping by! I wish everyone a great day and a blessed weekend. Also, HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY to all the moms!!

BIRTHDAY GIVE AWAY ALERT!

How would YOU like to be the LUCKY winner of this FABULOUS  “Project Life COMPLETE Scrapbook Kit BLUSH EDITION”?  Yep, Miss Emma had ordered an extra one to giveaway for this special day! ;)  All you have to do is leave a comment at EACH stop in this hop!  For additional entries you can spread the word on Facebook to all of YOUR friends! Once you do that, go ahead & visit my Facebook page HERE & let me know that you did so!  This is a FABULOUS prize so "Good Luck!"

***SALE ALERT***

Okay, are you all ready for an AMAZING sale as well? For THIS WEEKEND ONLY, please use this code: BDAY42  at checkout to get 20% off of your purchase! You can start shopping HERE! This sale will end on Sunday, May 12th at midnight PST!  As a Birthday present from ME to all of YOU, I am giving away this ADORABLE stamp set to orders placed THIS WEEKEND ONLY! There is a $20 minimum order required to receive free stamp set.

  ***All orders from this sale will start shipping out on Monday, May 13th~! Emma’s Mom will have the weekend OFF for Mother's day!;)

Blog Hop Line Up:

Emma~ http://www.creativetimeforme.com/

Amy ~ http://www.scrappingmommy.com/

Cassandra ~ http://www.ctimz3.blogspot.com/

Cathryn ~ http://inthepinkcathryn.blogspot.com/

Cheryl ~ http://dragonflydesigns58.blogspot.com/

Cindy B. ~ http://www.cindybcreations.blogspot.com/

Courtney ~ http://courtscrafts.blogspot.com/

Glora ~ http://glorascrafts.blogspot.com/

Katie ~ http://www.craftingwithkatie.com/

Kim ~ http://www.scrapinmomofoneinspiringlittleboy.blogspot.com/

Leanne ~ http://createdbyleanne.blogspot.com/

Liz ~ http://www.lizspaperloft.com/

Micia ~ http://yellowbirdcreation.blogspot.com/

Nancy ~ http://scrappingoutofcontrol.blogspot.com/

Nikki ~ http://scrappinnavywife.blogspot.com/
Rosy ~ http://sweetdelightspapernmore.blogspot.com/

Ruthie ~ http://septemberninth.blogspot.com/

Shar ~ http://scrapendipity.blogspot.com/

Tracy ~ http://tracyscricutcorner.blogspot.com/

Veronica ~ http://www.vkcreate.blogspot.com/

Trell – http://www.polkadotsandpaint.blogspot.com (Me)

Autumn Greetings

Hello everyone! So, I’m starting a new adventure, and I am having a lot of fun with it. I have found myself being drawn to image stamps for a long time now, and I held off because I didn’t want another thing to spend money on. Well, that didn’t work, but I tried!

Disclaimer: I have never taken a class and I do not profess myself to be an expert, nor do I think you have to be. That being said, if the powers that be at Copic ever come across this, please schedule a class in the South! Like, Nashville or Birmingham please. Thank you.

I think it is kind of hard to give a step-by-step description of the making of this card, so I’ll be doing it a little differently this time. I still kind of struggle with that.

I started with the cutest image from Stampin’ Up’s Greeting Card Kids stamp set. I have eyed this set since I started stamping, and I am so happy to finally have it. Because I am easing my way into coloring, I used a variety of markers for this project. I *think* that I will be buying the Copic Sketch markers. I am researching my options. I might stick with Prismacolors. Anyway, for this card, here are the markers I used:

Pumpkin

Prismacolor PM-15 Yellowed Orange, PM-16 Orange & PM-13 Poppy Red

Dress

Prismacolor PM-193 Mint Cream, Pm-166 True Green, PM-32 Parrot Green & Copic Sketch B000 Pale Porcelain Blue

Cape, Hat & Socks

BIC Mark-It Polynesian Purple, Prismacolor PM-55 Rhodamine & PM-50 Violet

Hat Band & Buckle

BIC Mark-It Cloud Nine Grey, Tuxedo Black & Prismacolor PM-123 Spanish Orange

Hair

BIC Mark-It Tiki Hut Tan, Prismacolor PM-69 Goldenrod & PM-98 Dark Brown

Skin

Prismacolor PM-72 Eggshell, PM-170 Peach & PM-65 Sienna Brown

Broom, Leaves & Branch

PM-166 True Green & PM-31 Dark Green, BIC Mark-It Tiki Hut Tan, Prismacolor PM-69 Goldenrod & PM-123 Spanish Orange

Shading

Copic Sketch Warm Gray No. 1, B000 Pale Porcelain Blue & Colorless Blender

The card base is 4” x 5.5.” Yes, I trimmed it because I felt it was a little bit too wide. The card base is Kraft and the patterned papers are from Pink Paislee’s London Market 6” x 6” paper pack. I stamped the image with Memento Rich Cocoa Ink onto Stamper’s Select White cardstock. I diecut it with my Spellbinders Petite Ovals Small dies and inked it with Antique Linen and Wild Honey Distress Inks. I set it aside to dry while I worked on the card base, but I went back to it and stamped stars around the image with Versamark Dazzle ink and heat embossed it with clear embossing powder. I then matted it on a Petite Scalloped Oval Large cut from Terracotta Tile cardstock. And before I forget, I dry embossed the Aqua Mist cardstock with the Textile Cuttlebug folder.

I tried to keep everything relatively neutral. The only non-neutral color comes from the red-orange of the Terracotta Tile. In my opinion, aqua and lavender are colored neutrals, but again, that’s my view.

I did some embellishing with Prima Say it With Crystals, scrunched seam binding, and a faceted button. I used sentiments from My Creative Time’s Piles of Smiles stamp set. I popped up the sentiment banner with dimensional adhesive, and added some rhinestones to bring in a little more lavender. Lastly, I rounded the corners with the .25” setting on my Corner Chomper and hit the entire care with Mister Huey Shine.

Thanks so much for coming by! Have a blessed day!

MCT April Sneak Peak–Day #1

What’s up crafty peeps! It is that time of the month again and I have a relatively simple card to show you today.

Interesting tidbit, I didn’t use any patterned paper or ribbon on this card. Yes, shocker, no bow!! Truthfully, I decided to try something a little different, but don’t be alarmed if this isn’t your cup a tea, I’m 100% positive that there will be ribbon and layers and inking and yummy vintageness later in the week!

So, a few weeks ago, Nichole Heady from Papertrey Ink, did a post on graduated backgrounds and I really liked the look of it. Now, here is the thing. I don’t own a single Copic marker. They’re on the list, and I would love for them to offer a certification class in Nashville (it’s the largest city close to me).

I made my background with Prismacolor Markers. They’re alcohol based like Copics, but the two big differences are they are not refillable, and don’t have a brush tip. Mine are super old, and still have a lot of ink in them. And they’ve been through interior design courses, so if you color, they can be a more cost effective option to Copics.

Now, I used two of our new sets on my card. My cute whimsical flower is from the All Around Everything Accessories set. The entire team is using this set today so and you will find that it has an image for every occasional. And, I must mention, that it coordinates with my FAVE Scallop and Stitched Circle die set! My sentiment is from Floral Sentiments. You will see more of it later in the week Because I used markers, I stamped it with Memento Rich Cocoa ink so that it wouldn’t bleed.

I felt like my card needed something else (because I couldn’t put on some ribbon!!) so I took out a piece of pink cardstock and stamped the Chicken Wire background on it with Wisteria Wonder ink from Stampin’ Up. I then took my Recollections butterfly punch and punched a few out. I am so loving the light blue/purple tones right now. In need of some lavender here!

Sneak Peek Giveaway Time!
With all of our Sneak Peek weeks, Emma likes to do some FUN giveaways!

All you have to do is leave comments on our blogs! You do NOT have to comment on every blog, BUT if you do, you will just have more chances to win!

SPREAD THE WORD TO THE WORLD ON FACEBOOK about this release & whatever connections you may have! Let us know on "My Creative Time's" FB page here http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/My-Creative-Time/364568506334 that you did so! OR you can just tag me in your post!

Emma will randomly pick & announce all winners on Thursday, April 19th during the Stamp Release Blog Hop  happening @ 12:01am PST in her video! GOOD LUCK!

Log onto to your Facebook now & let start spreading word!;)

That does it for me today! I hope everyone has a blessed day and an amazing week!

P.S. Vintageness is not a word. It was created by me. Feel free to use it. ♥

Peter Cottontail is on His Way!

Hello everyone! I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend. In case you haven’t heard, the My Creative Time Team is manning the Everyday Cricut blog this week and today is my day to guest post! I am so excited and thankful to Joy and Melanie for the opportunity.

I did something for this card that I haven't done in a long, long time - used my Gypsy. Go me, woot woot! I used the ever reliable Create a Critter and the must have Elegant Edges on my card today. 

Normally when I use my Cricut, I will cut the image first and then build my card around it. Well, this time, I started with my card base and patterned papers, and cut my image to coordinate. I used patterned paper from the My Mind’s Eye On the Bright Side – Two collection.

I used my Tim Holtz edge distressing tool to rough up the edges of the Spring Moss cardstock. For the patterned paper, I simply bent the edges back and forth after I stitched it to the green mat. I used a gray thread, so it’s not very visible. Everything was inked with Antique Linen Distress ink.

As I mentioned earlier, I used my Gypsy to design everything, and I don’t know how the sizing would work without using it. Especially with the scalloped oval, I had to hide contour and things of that nature. So, if anyone wants the file, shoot me a message and I will do my best to get it to you.

My sentiment comes from my first, and most favorite, My Creative Time set, Color Me Happy. It’s just perfect for Easter and Spring themed projects. If you look closely, you’ll see the Chicken Wire background stamp from Spring Chicken Backgrounds. To do this, I stamped the background onto the green strip of cardstock using London Fog ink. I then stamped my sentiment onto a strip of vellum cardstock using VersaMark and embossed it with white Zing embossing powder from American Crafts. To complete the card I tied a double bow with some gingham ribbon I picked up from Hobby Lobby and I added an adhesive rhinestone to the flower.

Now, before I go, y’all know a party ain’t a party unless there is a . . .

GIVEAWAY!!

A Color Me Happy stamp set, courtesy of the fabulous Emma, will go to one lucky person! All I need you to do is leave a comment on Everyday Cricut, and at my blog, Polka Dots, Paint & Cake Batter. Please be sure to leave a way for me to contact you!

Have a blessed day everyone!

MCT February Release Blog Hop

Hello everyone! If you came from Tracy’s blog, then you’re in the right place. If not, start at Emma’s blog, My Creative Time. I’m going to go on record and say that I think this is a one of those month’s that I would recommend getting the entire release. All three of the sets that Emma designed this month coordinate very well together.

For my card today, I tried to keep it soft with a vintage feel.

My card base is Sweet Blush and is a standard A2. I used patterned paper from the My Mind’s Eye Follow Your Heart “Be Happy” 6” x 6” pad. I stitched it to a 4” x 5” piece of white cardstock. I then took a doily, trimmed it in half, and stamped them with the Chicken Wire background stamp in Pool Party ink. I then adhered them to the mat on each end.

Next, I took my Spellbinders Label Four dies and diecut a label out of Aqua Mist. I decided that my card needed another pattern, and I gravitated to the weathered woodgrain pattern from the My Mind’s Eye On the Bright Side Two pad. I stamped the Aqua Mist label with the Floral Background and adhered the patterned label with dimensional adhesive. I cut two butterflies from Storybook out of some yellow cardstock. It’s from Hobby Lobby so I don’t have a color name. I stamped on the butterflies with the swirled egg from Hello Spring with So Saffron ink. I adhered the two butterflies together with liquid adhesive.

To pull everything together, I stamped my sentiment with Memento London Fog ink. I tied a bow with Lemon Tart saddle stitched ribbon and adhered the mat directly to the card base. I used dimensional adhesive to adhere the label mat to the card, and a small strip to adhere the butterfly.

***HUGE GIVEWAY ALERT***

For our giveaway today, we are  giving ONE LUCKY winner a $100 Gift Certificate to "My Creative Time's" new online store!  All you have to do is leave a comment here along w/the rest of the design team's blogs AND also leave a way for me to contact you! Each designer will be picking a winner, then Emma will use random.org to pick the lucky winner out of those 18 names! So remember you  have "18" chances to win! All you have to do is leave a comment on all blogs in this hop for more chances to win! The deadline is Sunday, Feb 19th at midnight! EASY PEASY!!! GOOD LUCK!:)

Blog Hop Line-up

Emma

Amy

Cassandra

Cathryn

Cindy

Glora

Jeanne

Katie

Kim

Leanne

Liz

Nancy

Nikki

Rosy

Shar

Tracy

Trell – You are Here

Veronica

Kim Score

As usual, I thank you for stopping by and I wish you a very blessed day!

Elegant Treat Box

Hello everyone! This is my second post of the day. If you’re looking for my blog hop post, click here.

I have a super quick post using some My Creative Time products. I am in love with the new Bubblegum Treat Box Die, and I wanted to show that one can make adult appropriate things with it. In my mind, yellow, gray, and black equals an elegant Valentine!

The paper is from the DCWV Lemon Flower Stack. I think the only place to get this is Jo-Ann. I cut out the stitched heart from 100% Sweetness and stamped the coordinating love stamp with Antique Linen Distress Ink. I then stamped, “Be My Sweetie,” in Tuxedo Black.

So, am I crazy, or does it work? I’m contemplating making these for coworker. I won’t be asking any of them to be my sweetie though!

Thanks for stopping by! Have a blessed weekend!

MCT 12 Days of Christmas ~ Day #12

Welcome to the last day of our 12 days of Christmas!! I feel confident speaking for the team when I say that I hope you have all been inspired to create something to celebrate this year. If you arrived here from Tracy’s blog, awesome; if not, start at Emma’s blog – My Creative Time.

I’ve been singing, “Winter Wonderland,” for the last few days, but especially yesterday. And my favorite lyric is, “. . .in the meadow we can build a snowman . . .,”. So, for my project today, I made a card with a very cute snowman. By the way, the version that I prefer of the song is by Ella Fitzgerald.

I feel like I haven’t used my Cricut in forever. I do use it, but as of late, I've been using it to cut rather simple shapes. I don’t remember the last time I made an image cut. My snowman comes from Winter Frolic and he was cut at 3.25”. I used my Gypsy to organize my cuts and to hide the contours. I ordered the Everyday Character Assortment from Peachy Keen a while ago and I felt like this was the perfect time to put them to use. I cut the accessories with Aqua Mist and Pure Poppy from Papertrey Ink. I used VersaMark Dazzle and the houndstooth stamp from the Build-a-Banner Kit to give the scarf a little texture. And his pink cheeks are Angel Pink Memento Ink.

My card base is a standard A2 and is Kraft from Papertrey. I stamped three different snowflakes in Studio G white pigment ink. I then went back with VersaMark Dazzle in Frost and stamped the smallest snowflake. I also swiped some ink on the edges of my card. I got the wooden fence from Hobby Lobby. I liked the idea of a snowman in front of a fence. I adhered it with hot glue. My snowman is adhered directly to the fence with hot glue as well. My sentiment is from Mixed Holiday Sentiments, and I stamped it in pigment ink as well. And to complete the card, I used the half inch setting on my corner rounder to round the top right corner.

***12 Days of Christmas Give Away Alert***

To qualify for ALL the AMAZING giveaways for the next 12 days, you must comment on every blog in this hop! You will have until Tues, Dec 13th @ midnight to have all of your comments in! VERY IMPORTANT, PLEASE LEAVE A WAY FOR US TO CONTACT YOU IF YOU ARE ONE OF THE WINNER'S!

There are some AMAZING giveaways for this special 12 day event & some SURPRISES to help celebrate "My Creative Time's" One Year Anniversary! Yep, Emma released her 1st set of stamps one year ago! So make sure you are tuned in because this is ONE hop you do NOT want to miss!;)

Blog Hop Line-up:

Emma

Cassandra

Cathryn

Cindy

Glora

Jeanne

Katie

Leanne

Linsey

Liz

Nancy

Nikki

Rosy

Ruthie

Shar

Tracy

Trell (you’re here)

Veronica (Next stop)

Kelley Eubanks

I hope you all have enjoyed the past 12 days as much as I have! Have a blessed day!

November Harvest – Celebrate the Occasion

Hello Everyone! I hope you all had a great weekend and that THIS week is off to a great start for you!

It’s team 2’s turn this week at Celebrate the Occasion, and our challenge this week is a make a Thanksgiving card and use a button. And this is what I came up with.

My card base is a standard A2 and is Papertrey Ink New Leaf. My patterned mat is Vintage Cream and measures 4” x 5.25.” I used a Studio G stamp set from the dollar bin at Wal-Mart, as well as a Stampabilities set from Hobby Lobby called Fall Holidays to create the background. My inks are from Stampin’ Up (Lucky Limeade, Cherry Cobbler, and Chocolate Chip) and Jenni Bowlin (Malted Milk).

The pumpkin die cuts are from my Imagine. Once again, I used one of the stock images come preloaded on the machine. I really need to start using the carts that I continue to shell out money for. Anyway, the Orange Zest pumpkin was cut at 2.4” and I embossed it using the Perfectly Paisley Cuttlebug folder. The middle pumpkin was filled with a pattern from my go to cart, Ancestry, and is sized at 2.5.” I inked the edges with Tea Dye Distress ink. My last pumpkin was cut at 2 from Vintage Cream cardstock. I stamped the polka dots with Tangelo ink from Memento. I adhered the orange pumpkin directly to my card. I used dimensional adhesive to adhere the largest pumpkin, And the smallest pumpkin was adhered with a combination of both. I stamped my sentiment in Chocolate Chip ink on Vintage Cream cardstock and used my scissors to trim it. I adhered it to my card with dimensional adhesive as well. To finish off my card, I took some brown bakers twine from Martha Stewart and a Autumn Mix button from Papertrey Ink.

Thanks for stopping by. Have a blessed day!

My Creative Time Design Team Card

 

Happy Saturday everyone! My card today is a really special one.  I’m sure everyone knows that October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, and a lot of people know someone that’s been affected by this disease. Well, my dearly departed grandmother died of breast cancer and this card makes me think of her. I think it’s fitting that I make a card in remembrance of her as I use to make all of my art projects for her when I was a kid. Never for my mom, always for my grandmother.

It’s a standard A2 card. The base is white, and I inked the edges with Memento Angel Pink.

Personally, I really like the juxtaposition of the distressed edges and the elegance of the stamps and embellishments. And, I did something very new to me – blending inks. The mat with the damask and paisley background was the same shade as the inside mat. After heat embossing the images with white embossing powder, I used my blending tool and Memento Rose Bud and Angel pink to give the paper a worn effect.

Here’s a close-up of the inking and embossing. I used white Zing! embossing powder from American Crafts. And the bling is a Prima swirl. I’m in love with those.

The sentiment was stamped with my trusty VersaMark Dazzle and embossed with pewter Zing! embossing powder. The ribbons were adhered with hot glue and I used a ribbon slide from Hobby Lobby. 

I decided to enter my card into the design team call at My Creative Time. I have to say I look forward to her sneaky peek weeks more than Hello Thursday now! Plus, I’ve learned a lot from watching her videos, so I would be super thrilled to design for her.

Thanks for stopping by. Have a blessed day.

Frogs Read Too!

 

Hey everyone! Instead of usual card or occasional layout, I decided to make a bookmark. My little cousin, Bree, loves to read, so this bookmark is for her. I think I may make another one for my boss because her son loves it when she reads books to him.

I inked the edges of the frog with Martha Stewart Wasabi Pigment ink.

The paper that I used for the bookmark come from DCWV’s Playtime Stack. I LOOOOVE this stack. I tend to gravitate towards Kraft before anything else. I know everyone has a process for when they create and for the most part, I go through my cardstock to pick what I think will be a great base for my project. It doesn’t always work, but for a project like this it did.

The body of my little frog here is from another DCWV stack. I picked up the Grade School Mat Stack at work a while ago. I thought for the occasional school project that it could come in handy.

Lastly, I decided to stamp, “You’re the Best,” because I think kids need encouragement. And,I think reading is super important . On a side note, I totally screwed up on the stamp.

Here are the details:

• Bookmark: Plantin Schoolbook, 3.25” x 6.25” (Gypsy sizing)
• Frog: Create a Critter, 2.75” x 2.84” (Gypsy sizing)
• Base: Hobby Lobby Brown
• Plaid Layer: DCWV Grade School
• Tummy: DCWV Brights Mat Stack
• Cheeks: Stampin’ Up Regal Rose
• Darice Hemp
• Fiskars Simple Stick, “Grateful,” Stamp Set
• Light Blue 3/8” Offray Satin Ribbon
• Martha Stewart Wasabi Ink
• Colorbox Chestnut Ink

Thanks for coming by. I hope everyone has an amazing week and a super blessed day!