MCT August Release Blog Hop!

Hello again crafty peeps! I want to welcome you from wherever you came, but I hope you hopped here from Tracy’s wonderful blog. If not, start here.

I was assigned the 3” x 3” card and envelope for the hop, and I decided that instead of reinventing the wheel, I would keep it short and sweet. I think that is the point of a note card anyway. And, once again, I used vellum for my envelope, but I like it, so there! (Imagine me sticking my tongue out like a little kid . . .)

I know that we all get really busy during the last few months of the year, and most of us are cardmakers, right? So, I figure, take a few hours and diecut a few of these little beauties and have them on hand for the upcoming holiday season.

Now, I will admit that I might have went a bit overboard with the bling and pearls, but they were cheap coughdollarbincoughcough. And just because I love the Melissa Frances pearls, I couldn’t stop at one!

The snowflakes are element stickers from the old Echo Park Merry Christmas collection. Confession, I haven’t purchased Christmas paper for the year yet. But, I like to use what I have, and what better way, that to embellish a quick card?

Before I forget, I diecut the card from Rustic Cream cardstock. My personal advice is to keep these light, you don’t want to have to put a layer on the inside. I feel like the Rustic Cream satisfies my need to give it a homespun feel without using Kraft cardstock.

My sentiment is from Gift Card Sentiments. If you don’t have this one, you need it. I use it all the time – it has a special place on my work table, along with a few other sets. I stamped it with my favorite red ink, Stampin’ Up’s Real Red. I opted to finish it with a silk ribbon bow, but I don’t think it is absolutely necessary.

BLOG HOP GIVEWAY ALERT

For our Blog hop giveaway, there will be 2 winners chosen from ALL the comments combined!  The 1st prize is: A guest design spot for our next release in Sept & the 2nd prize is you can pick $50 worth of products from the "My Creative Time" 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 us to contact you!  Emma will use random.org to pick the lucky winners!  All you have to do is leave a comment on all blogs in this hop for more chances to win! The deadline is Sunday, August 19th at midnight! EASY PEASY!!! GOOD LUCK!:)

Blog Hop Line Up

Emma

Amy

Cassandra

Cathryn

Cindy B.

Glora

Jeanne

Katie

Kim

Leanne

Liz

Micia

Nancy

Nikki

Ruthie

Shar

Tracy

Trell (You’re here!)

Veronica

Before I let you go, I want to invite you all back next week. I’ll have more Holiday (both Halloween & Christmas) themed projects that you don’t want to miss! I even have a 3D project!

Thanks for you coming by and leaving such awesome comments, I love reading them. Have a blessed weekend!

Just For You–MCT Sneak Peek Day #4

Hello crafty peeps! I’m back with a quick note card set using Card Sentiments and the new note card die.

It would be dishonest if I didn’t fully disclose that I love my A2 cards. That’s just my preferred size, and I usually cut them in portrait orientation. Occasionally , I will stray from that formula, but I know what I like, because I have a certain style of card making. I’m all about my layers and stuff. I think I mentioned this before, but my sister calls it, “pomp and circumstance.”

Initially, I started making the note cards way too elaborate. So, I had to step back and reevaluate and I decided that a simple embossed note card with a vellum envelope was the way to go. I diecut five note cards from Soft Stone cardstock and embossed the top flap with the Perfectly Paisley Cuttlebug folder. It’s one of my favorites. Somewhere in the middle of diecutting the cards and envelopes, I decided that I NEED to invest in a Vagabond. I use a lot of dies and that whole crank handle thing is, as they say, for the birds. Plus, my Cuttlebug is kind of sickly. I digress!

I stamped the sentiment from Card Sentiments with Versafine Onyx Black ink right above the score line on all of the cards. I wanted to package the set in my clear boxes, but they were too big and I didn’t like the presentation. Now, I’m thinking that it would be a great idea to go ahead and adhere the envelopes; then, tie them together, and package everything in a Kraft or glassine bag. Simple, yet classy – totally my style!

That’s all for me today! Thanks for stopping by, and I wish you a blessed day!

Chevron Congratulations

Hello everyone! Today I am filling in for Emma while she spends time with her family. I have a card today that can probably be described as clean and simple. I will let you all be the judge.

Before I share my card, I’d like to share what inspired me to make it – a toddler dress!

Mitered Stripe Tunic

Chevron is very popular right now, and I love the color combination so I decided to see if I could make it in card form.

I started with a Soft Stone card base and I used my ruler to draw a line down the center with pencil. I worked from the bottom of the the card, to the top, starting with Hibiscus Burst. The blue I used was Pacific Point from Stampin’ Up, and the yellow is Lemon Tart.

I stamped my sentiment from one of my favorite My Creative Time sets, Gift Card Sentiments, with Versafine Onyx Black ink. And I tied a bow with Hibiscus Burst Saddle Stitch ribbon. Came together in no time!

Thanks for stopping by, have a blessed day!

My Creative Time June Release Blog Hop

Hello everyone! I hope everyone is doing great! If you came here from Tracy’s blog, then you are headed in the right direction. If not start at Emma’s blog by clicking here.

I strayed away from my shabby and I came up with this fun number!  I really wanted to do something fun and colorful with this release.

I tried my hand at coloring again. I used my Prismacolor and BIC markers to color it. My paper is from My Mind’s Eye. It’s from the Lime Twist Out of the Blue 6” x 6” paper pad.

My cardstock is all Papertrey Ink. As are the buttons, and the red twine is from the Twinery.

I used the cloud dies that coordinate with the Fly Away With Me sets to give the scene some dimension. I die cut those from Vintage Cream.

I stamped my sentiment with Versamark and I embossed it with white Zing Embossing Powder from American Crafts. I recently acquired a, “embossing buddy,” so my love of embossing has been renewed.

GIVEWAY ALERT

ONE LUCKY WINNER can choose $50 worth of Emma's products from her store HERE! You NEVER know, Emma just "might" feel generous & choose more than one winner, for some other FUN prizes as well!  All you have to do is leave a comment here & for MORE CHANCES, leave a comment on ALL blogs in this hop!  Also leave a way for us to contact you! Emma will use random.org to pick the lucky winners from ALL THE COMMENTS COMBINED!!! So, you actually have 21 chances to win~!  Again, All you have to do is leave a comment on all blogs in this hop for more chances to win! The deadline is Sunday, June 24th at midnight PST! EASY PEASY!!! GOOD LUCK!:)

Hop Line Up

Emma~ http://www.creativetimeforme.com/
Amy ~ http://www.scrappingmommy.com/
Cassandra ~ http://www.ctimz3.blogspot.com/
Cathryn ~ http://inthepinkcathryn.blogspot.com/
Cindy B. ~ http://www.cindybcreations.blogspot.com/
Cindy L.~ http://cindylee77.blogspot.com/
Glora ~ http://glorascrafts.blogspot.com/
Jeanne ~ http://www.jeannespapercrafts.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/
Ruthie ~ http://septemberninth.blogspot.com/
Shar ~ http://scrapendipity.blogspot.com/
Tracy ~ http://tracyscricutcorner.blogspot.com/
Trell ~ http://polkadotsandpaint.blogspot.com/
Veronica ~ http://www.vkcreate.blogspot.com/

I apologize that my post is kind of short and to the point. I’m not feeling my best today (Wednesday). But, I hope all will be well tomorrow! Thanks for stopping by. Have a blessed day!

Get Well

Hey all! I have a super quick card to share today. A friend of mine commissioned a masculine get well card and this is what I came up with. I know that I struggle with making cards for men. I like to use ribbon and softer colors, and I don’t think that translates well for a masculine card!

I recently ordered the Pink Paislee Nantucket Collection. I’ve seen it used so many places that I just couldn’t resist it any longer. Now, because the colors of the papers in the collection were feminine, I couldn’t use them here, but I did get the boat from the ephemera pack. It’s loaded with so many die cuts that I cannot wait to use.

My paper came from the My Mind’s Eye Lost & Found Portobello Road pad. It’s an oldie, but definitely a goodie! I die cut a Label 4 from the patterned paper and a piece of Kraft to use as a backdrop for my boat. I inked around the edges of the larger label with my Slate Fresh Ink. It’s my new go to gray ink. Before I adhered my label, I did glue down a piece of burlap that I received from Liz’s Paperloft Boutique.

I stamped my sentiment from the WPlus9 Hope Seed Co. stamp set. I used another of my new inks, Blue Sage, also a Fresh Ink, to stamp it. I then trimmed it with my scissors.

Super quick card. I didn’t even have to change the thread in my sewing machine!!

Thanks for stopping by! Have a blessed day!

A Sight for Sore Eyes!–MCT Release Week Day 1

Hello crafty friends! I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother’s Day. Kicking off the week with a bonafide clean and simple card. It’s something I’ve tried in the past, but I hated the result so I would start over. It’s not my normal thing, but I actually like what I made today!

Today the team is showcasing What’s Growing On? The set is full of super cute sentiments and phrases and a coordinating set of dies.

My card today was sort of inspired by my sunglasses. I have a pair of Ray Ban Wayfarers and even though mine are tortoise shell, I know they can be purchased in practically any color one’s heart desires.

The base of my card is Soft Stone. It’s a nice light gray and I have to say that it has quickly become one of my go to neutrals. I diecut the glasses from Lemon Tart and Aqua Mist from Papertrey, and Melon Mambo from Stampin’ Up. My sentiment was stamped with Jenni Bowlin Fountain Pen – another new edition to my ink arsenal and I like it. I finished it by using the half inch setting on my Corner Chomper to round the bottom corners.

This wouldn't be a party w/o GIVEAWAYS!

With all of our SAMPLES/ SNEAKS this week, 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 Friday, May 18th uring the blog hop  @ 12:01am PST in her video! GOOD LUCK!

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

Thanks for stopping by! As always, have a blessed day!

Thinking of You

Hello crafty friends! Today I am guest designing for my wonderful design team sister, Liz. I have a super simple card to show you all using the latest My Creative Time Release and patterned paper from Crate Paper.

I was helping a friend of mine make some invitations for a dinner that we’re attending and she was kind enough to give me some of the patterned paper that she bought to make them. The beautiful floral paper is from the Crate Paper Restoration Collection. The labels are Spellbinders Label Three – one of my absolute faves. My sentiment is from the new Floral Sentiments (Backordered, but will be back in stock on April 27th!) set from My Creative Time. I used Versamark to stamp it and I embossed it with white Zing embossing powder from American Crafts.

I am not a big embellisher – I don’t own a much to be honest, but I used some mulberry roses in coordinating colors and added a little bit of Stickles to help them stand apart from the patterned paper. I used some cream twill from Michael’s to tie a simple bow and I added a button and some blue twine from The Twinery as well. To finish it off, I took some white and pink Studio G pigment ink and swiped it around some of the various card elements. Easy peasy! That’s it for me, but . . .

Liz has some exciting news to share with you, but not quite yet. However, in the meantime, while she's recovering, she is reading every comment! Not only is she reading them, she's counting them, because at the end of all this, she will have two announcements! The first will be a winner of some exciting BLOG CANDY! The second, it's a big one...and no, she's not coming out with stamps...you just have to wait and see!

I know I want to know what she has in store! Again, thanks for coming by, and always, I wish you a very blessed day!

My Creative Time March Blog Hop!

Hey everyone! It’s been a super busy week, but I’m back with a card to celebrate the March release! If you came to my blog from the wonderful and talened Tracy’s, then you are doing great, if not, start here: My Creative Time.

I decided to go vintage with my card for today. I’ve been trying to work with color palettes outside of my normal box and I have to say that I just love the little touch of turquoise. against the richness of the dark red, I think it makes for an interesting card.

My card is Vintage Cream and is a standard A2. I have a mat of Hawaiian Shores and patterned paper from a Paper Studio pad called The Classics. Lots of timeless patterns and I think it was around ten bucks. Totally worth it. I sewed those together with my sewing machine and some cream thread. I then inked the edges with Antique Linen and Walnut Stain Distress Inks. I used my blending tool and I used the Walnut Stain very sparingly. I didn’t want to overdo it.

I cut the stamp shape from Elegant Edges at 3.75”. I used the wonderful background Emma designed from Coffee Backgrounds and stamped it with Versamark. Initially I was going to leave it plain, but I decided on a whim to go ahead and clear emboss it. I then took the same Distress inks to my stamp mat. My to-go cup is from the AWESOME Coffee Break Set. I diecut it in Vintage Cream and stamped the sleeve with the polka dot background with Cherry Cobbler ink from Stampin’ Up. I love this red. Love it. I inked my cup as well. 

I tied a bow using some Offray grosgrain, one of my favorites. I adhered the stamp mat with my thicker dimensional adhesive dots at an angle, and I adhered the cup with Stampin’ Dimensionals. I stamped my sentiment from You Are Perk-fect on a piece of Vintage Cream with the same Cherry Cobbler ink.

***** BLOG HOP GIVEAWAYS *****

For the BLOG HOP giveaway each one of us will be giving away a brand new Release Echo Park 6x6 pad of paper! All you have to do is leave a comment and a way for the DT member to contact you if you should win. Each designer will be using RANDOM.ORG to pick the lucky winner. Emma and Each Designer will announce their winners on THEIR blogs on Wednesday March 21. So remember you have 16 chances to win! ! All you have to do is leave a comment on ALL blogs for more chances :) 
EASY PEASY!!! GOOD LUCK;)

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/

Cindy ~ http://cindylee77.blogspot.com/

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

Jeanne ~ http://www.jeannespapercrafts.com/

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

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

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

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

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

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

Trell ~ http://polkadotsandpaint.blogspot.com/

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

Micia ~ http://yellowbirdcreation.blogspot.com

Thanks so much for coming by! See you for the Imagine challenge on Monday. Have a blessed weekend!!

Favorite Stamp of the Month

Hello everyone. I hope everyone is having an awesome week. It’s still gloomy here, and I think that we’re supposed to get a little snow today. The new year brings changes, and one of the changes that we’re having at My Creative Time is the Favorite Stamp of the Month. On specific Thursdays of every month the team is going to focus on an older stamp set and Emma is going to offer the set a a discounted price. This month’s set is, “You Had Me at Chocolate.”

If you own this stamp set, we would LOVE to see ANY projects you have made OR any NEW projects using this stamp set! My Creative Time is having a, "You Had Me At Chocolate," Link Party! Please link up your projects HERE to Mr. Linky on My Creative Time's page! If you do NOT own this set, it's your LUCKY day because it is on sale right now: HERE! Go pick up your set before they sell out!  We are ALL looking forward to seeing your projects!;)

I’ve had a desire to make a black, white, and red Valentine’s card for a few days now. It’s the idea that just seems to be at the forefront and I find that I have to make whatever project that is before I can move on to other things. My goal for this year is to also try my hand at making cards that are more simple.

My card base is from a sheet of patterned paper by DCWV. It’s called Dancing Polka Dot, and I bought it open stock, but it’s also in the All Dressed Up stack. It’s a 12” x 12” sheet that I trimmed to 4.25” x 11” and scored at 5.5.” I used my Scallop Sentiment punch to put a scalloped border on a scrap piece of red cardstock. I added a thin black mat and a piece of cream that was an eighth of an inch smaller. The red heart is the stitched heart from the 100% Sweetness stamp set. I used my Jenni Bowlin Malted Milk ink to stamp my sentiment on the cream cardstock to create sort of a patterned paper. And I stamped it once in Real Red. To finish it off, I tied a bow with some black grosgrain.

That is all for me today. Next week is Sneak Peak week – the first of 2012 and I am so excited to share the new things Emma has come up with! Thanks for coming by and have a wonderfully blessed day!

Throwback Thursday: Touchdown Bama!

Hello creative friends! It’s 2012 (woot woot!) and I’m back with a sports card! For this week’s Throwback Thursday, Emma wanted us to make this a sports challenge. So, use any sports cartridge or, if you’re like me and don’t own one, use another cartridge to make a sports themed card or layout. This is the Throwback Thursday before our January release and the winner gets the entire release so make sure you have your project linked to Emma’s blog by Wednesday, January, 18th. Trust me, it’s a great set of new goodies!

Okay, so I have a confession. I find it incredibly difficult to make masculine cards. I’m a guy and I love being one or whatever, but I think cards are prettier with a bow. I’m making myself laugh as I type this, but that’s just how I am. One of my crafty goals this year is to branch out! I definitely think I need to add some sports stuff to my stash. However. I digress!

I decided, for the sake of masculinity, to try and make the card as clean and simple as I could. With touches of, “Trell,” – the polka dots, the embossing, and the white gel stitching. I’m pretty sure the Alabama boys won’t be sporting polka dotted helmets anytime soon. But a boy can dream, right?

I used Sure Cuts a Lot for my cuts. I knew I wanted to use a specific font (Subway) and I wanted it welded together. The helmet is an SVG that is included with SCAL 2.0. I used Real Red Classic Ink and my polka dot background stamp to jazz it up. I know that pennants and banners are super trendy right now and I am admittedly addicted so I stamped, “Touchdown!,” from MCT’s stamp set of the same name, on one. I used my favorite watermark ink, VersaMark Dazzle in Frost, and black Zing embossing powder from American Crafts. I don’t know if I’ve ever mentioned this, but I use a square punch to cut the notches of all of my banners. I used a Sticky Doo from Hobby Lobby under the banner to create that wavy look and I glued the sides with Zip Dry (Emma loves her some Zip Dry, me . . . not so much. I don’t like the smell!).

And, in case you’re wondering, my card base measures -  7.5” x 3”. The houndstooth patterned paper is an eighth of an inch smaller and it comes from the DCWV Dots, Stripes, and Plaids stack.

This coming Monday is the BCS National Championship and the Tide is playing the LSU Tigers. This is my way of supporting them, hahaha.

That’s all for today! But after my break I’ve been brainstorming ideas for the new year. So, if all of the stars align, I’ll be back on Monday if not before. Thanks for coming by. Have a super blessed day! Here’s to an amazing and crafty new year!

No Peeking!–MCT 12 Days of Christmas ~ Day #3

Hello everyone! If you arrived here from Tracy’s blog, you’re on the right track. If not, start at Emma’s blog here: My Creative Time.

Today’s card utilizes something that I know we ALL have, scraps! I have NEVER made a card as fast as I made this one. Probably would have made it faster had I not been totally screwing up some Destiny’s Child songs. If there was a secret to coming up with ideas, I think it would be pop music. I make my best stuff when I’m listening to music and singing terribly. My mom asked if I was trying for a Grammy last night. She has jokes. Moving on!

The only full sheet of cardstock that I used to make this card was for the card base. Everything was cut from the same 4 scraps. Granted, the brown was a big scrap. I know it’s hard to tell, but most of the strips are embossed with either the, “Seeing Spots,” or, “Candy Cane Stripes,” Cuttlebug folder. Tip, emboss the cardstock before you cut your strips. That was a lesson learned. The strips range from .25” to 1” in size. I started off thinking that I would use only red and green 1” strips, but it wasn’t looking like I wanted. My card was actually inspired by the sentiment that I used. I wanted to create a card that looked like a present. The sentiment comes from “All Around Christmas.” And I used the, “Scallop and Stitched Circle Die set,” again. It’s REALLY useful. Love it.

I don’t think this needs directions, but if by some chance you need clarification let me know in your comment. I read them all and I REALLY appreciate it.

***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

Jeanne

Katie

Leanne

Linsey

Liz

Nancy

Nikki

Ruthie

Shar

Tracy

Trell (you’re here)

Veronica

Thanks again for coming by! I hope everyone has a awesome and blessed weekend!