Just You...OUAS November 56

Hi there! I can't believe it is only hours away from November 1st! That means it's time for an all new Once Upon A Sketch Challenge! Here's the fun sketch we will be playing with all month long and the theme is "ANYTHING GOES" which means the theme of your choice but remember, you MUST include journaling somewhere on your layout. 

This layout is all about sweet 22 year old daughter Angie. Being completely honest here, I'm not a big fan of all her tattoos or the fact that she opted out of attending college for now. I try to keep an open mind and remind myself that she is chasing her dreams and is healthy. Angie is a crazy talented artist and of course, I would love to see her pursue that career but she opted to turn her bicycle riding hobby into a job for now. She is currently riding professionally on an International competitive team and is sponsored by various companies. You can read about her here: BMX Transworld. When Angie decides she is through with bike riding, I hope she enrolls in college. After all, she is only 22. I returned to college for 5 years when I was 25 so it's never to late and hopefully she will do the same :)

To create this layout, I started with a piece of Pink Paislee's Portfolio - Remarkable patterned paper. For some texture, I applied Gesso to a stencil then added color using heidi swapp Color shine Mustard. 

Once the background was dry, I added lots of spritzed manufactured white paper flowers using the following heidi swapp Color shine spritzes: Primrose, Georgia Peach, Sweet Cherry, Mustard, Black Velvet and Tinsel. The white pretty doilies peeking out are Elements from the Pink Paislee Artisan Collection:

Thanks so much for visiting! For some AMAZING International inspiration and complete details, please refer to the Once Upon A Sketch Challenge blog.
Be Sweet :)

Other supplies used:
Chipboard Title from Imaginarium Designs

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MFTWSC96 43

Hi there! It's Wednesday and that means it is time for an all new My Favorite Things Wednesday Stamp Clubsketch challenge! Thanks to all who joined along ~ so many wonderful cards! For additional inspiration from participating DT members, please be sure to visit the MFT Blog.

Here's the fun sketch:

I love that sweet little fun and festive banner featured in the sketch. How can it not cheer you up? It inspired me to pull out and put the Die-namics Banner Day Die to good use and create the birthday card shown below.

After assembling the die cut banner, I stitched on several teeny Natural buttons then stamped the Happy Birthday sentiment from Die-namics Let's Toast Die & Stamp Set Combo directly on the patterned cardstock. 

Thanks so much for visiting! Always enjoy hearing from all of you :) Have a great day/evening!
Be Sweet ;)

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MFT October Creative Challenge 57

Hi there! I hope everyone is safe and sound from the storm that is sweeping the Easern U.S. seaboard. Keeping you all in my thoughts and prayers :)

Welcome to the October MFT Design Team Creative Challenge! Just in case you are not familiar, the MFT Design Team Creative Challenge is a monthly feature, where we are challenged to explore our creative side using a specific theme, product, or technique. This month, we were challenged to create a custom banner using our assortment banner themed Die-namics. Be sure to check out the MFT Blog for a list of all participating designers who have a project to share with you today.

I opted to create a baby girl themed welcome banner made using nearly 100% MFT felt!

Using the two largest dies from the Die-namics Jumbo Fishtail Banner STAX, I cut Kraft and Whip Cream felt x 7, layered them on top of one another, then stitched around the perimeter.

I die cut 8 Sweet Tooth onesies using the Die-namics Baby Onesie Die then stitched them on to the banner.

Each onesie features an English Rose Felt heart that was cut using the cute heart die from the Die-namics Homespun Birdhouse Die, then in the center of each heart is a Kraft Felt die cut letter made using dies from Die-namics By the Letters.

Every other single banner features either a pretty Cotton Candy Felt flower embellishment made using Die-namics Flower Trio & Leaf Trio with a Whip Cream button sewn on along with Gumdrop Felt leaves OR...

a pretty Cotton Candy Felt flower embellishment made using Die-namics MINI Rolled Roses along with Gumdrop Felt leaves that were made using Die-namics Royal Leaves.

For a little extra touch of elegance and to resemble snaps/buttons/safety pin, I adhered 3 pearls on each onesie.

I used pink seam binding to tie the single banners together then fastened a Natural Button to each using Hemp Cord.

Thanks so much for visiting! Hope you enjoyed my banner as much as I enjoyed creating it! Remember to check out the MFT Blog for a list of all participating designers who have put their Die-namics dies to work to create a banner for you today!

Be Sweet :)

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happy birthday...CR84FN66 53

Hello! Time sure flies doesn't it??? It's time for an all new CR84FN Color Challenge! Thanks to all who joined along with CR84FN65 ~ so many beautiful projects in the gallery. For nearly the next two weeks, we will be playing with the pretty color combination shown below. 

I made a birthday card featuring the beautiful Vintage typewriter image and die cut from Die-namics Just My Type Die & Stamp Set. 

I am a firm believer that a crafty girl can't have too many flower dies in her stash so I recently added the Die-namics Rolled Gardenia to my collection then put it to good use to make the pretty Whip Cream felt embellishment on this card. 

For sketch inspiration, I used the MFTWSC95 sketch. There's still time to play and win a great prize! For COMPLETE details, click HERE.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Please be sure to visit the DT for wonderful inspiration and the CR84FN site for COMPLETE details.

Be Sweet :)

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True Colors...MFTGUESTDT1112 41

Hi there! Hope you are all having a great weekend! After settling in after being away for nearly a week, I sat down and played with some of my favorite things ;) 
In case you were not aware, MFT has a monthly Guest Designer Contest! You have a chance to win over $200 in stamps and Die-namics from an upcoming release. Moreover, the winner joins the team for our weekly Wednesday Stamp Club sketches, as well as Teaser Time for the subsequent month’s release. Please visit the MFT blog for COMPLETE information.

Here is the fun sketch for this month's Guest Designer Contest:

I had a lot of fun with this sketch! I gave my Vagabond and Die-namics Butterflies dies a great workout ;) I took advantage of the four circular die-cut "windows" made with the Die-namics Peek-a-Boo Squared die to showcase 8 pretty colors of MFT cardstock including: (left to right, larger butterfly die cut color listed first) Berrylicious & Sno Cone, Cotton Candy & Pink Lemonade, Grape Jelly & Grapesicle, Kraft & Natural.

I stamped a sentiment from Clearly Sentimental about Art on a die cut strip made using Die-namics Sentiment Strips.

Thanks so much for visiting! I hope you join along in the fun. Remember, if you don't play, you can't win! Please be sure to visit the MFT blog for COMPLETE details!
I'll be back tomorrow with an all new CR84FN Color Challenge.
Be Sweet :)

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beauty & grace...a Pink Paislee project 38

Hi there! Today it's my turn to share a project on the Pink Paislee blog. 

My assignment was to use the fabulous sketch shown below for inspiration while focusing on the beautiful Spring Jubilee Collection.

To create this layout featuring sweet Meredith, I combined various products from the Spring Jubilee Collection including: Patterned Papers, Press Ons, Collage Cards, Shipping Tags and Bitty Blocks. 

I die cut several beautiful shipping tags then added a few pretty press on butterflies that are so easy to apply and look AMAZING!

I added a little dimension with a few layered die cut embellishments. First up is a butterfly made using pretty Spring Jubilee patterned papers.

and a flower with fun patterned leaves.

Rather than hand writing a subtitle, I used the fun bitty blocks. They make it so easy to add a personal touch to any project!

Thanks so much for visiting! I hope you've enjoyed my layout featuring the pretty Spring Jubilee Collection.
Please be sure to visit the Pink Paislee blog for additional inspiration.
Be Sweet ;)

Pink Paislee Products Used:

Spring Jubilee - Party 00601

Spring Jubilee - Soiree 00604

Spring Jubilee - Shindig 00605

Spring Jubilee - Festival 00606

Spring Jubilee - Press Ons 00610

Spring Jubilee - Shipping Tags 00612

Spring Jubilee - Chipboard Stickers 00611

Spring Jubilee - Bitty Blocks 00614

London Market - Clear Stamps 00638

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A featured publication... 42

Hi there dear blogging friends! I love to travel but it's always nice to return home and sleep in one's own bed. I can't wait to pick up my furry babies from the pet resort early Thursday morning! I hope they don't think I abandoned them, they are quite spoiled and my little Gretchen is rarely more than 4 feet from me. She is definitely my shadow where Griffin is a little more independent and spends many hours upside down, sleeping on the couch :)

I've always said, having the opportunity to be published is like winning the paper crafting lottery! I am quite honored to share with you a collection of cards that I had featured in the awesome Simply Cards & Papercraft Magazine Issue 101. If you are not familiar with Simply Cards & Papercraft Magazine, it is a magazine brought to us from Practical Publishing located in the UK and is full of fabulous inspiration from designers around the world. I recently discovered that my local Jo-Ann Fabric & Craft store carries not only Simply Cards & Papercraft Magazine but many other publications offered by Practical Publishing.

The focus of this feature was Chevrons. I combined a variety of MFT stamps, Die-namics and pretty patterned paper from the Pink Paislee London Market Collection to make this suite of 8 cards.

Thanks so much for visiting! I hope you have a great day/evening!
Be Sweet ;)

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For You and a few NYC photos 38

Hi there! Hope you are all having a great week! Scott and I will be out and about NYC taking in a little more culture and sights of the city before heading back to Phoenix. Our flight has Wi-Fi so I'm looking forward to catching up with my paper crafting friends ;)

For the first time in 7 years Tina was not able to take care of my sweet Gretchen and Griffin for the length of my vacation because she was traveling herself for work. She did care for them a few days before taking them to the pet resort. As a little thank you gift, I baked her a loaf of pumpkin - ginger bread and made a tag using the Die-namics Tag Your're It and Stamp Set to fancy up the bag.

I also stamped the For You sentiment from Die-namics Tag Your're It and Stamp Set on a die cut tag made using a die from Die-namics Traditional Tags STAX. I adorned it with a multi-layered die cut heart that was made using Die-namics Hearts a Plenty along with Grapesicle Felt and Kraft cardstock, finishing it off with a stitched on Whip Cream button.

Shown below are a few photos of various sites taken while here in NYC:

Taken from the "Top of the Rock" / Observation deck top of Rockefeller Center: The tallest structure in the far distance is One World Trade Center:

Central Park:

The Empire State Building is the tallest building in the distance:

Here's a closer view of One World Trade Center. Upon completion, this building will be the tallest structure in the United States:

This is one of the two pools at the National September 11 Memorial:

The Statue of Liberty:

Rockefeller Plaza ice skating rink:

St. Patrick's Cathedral:

THE Apple Cube store on 5th Avenue ;)

The Wall Street Bull:

Thanks so much for visiting! Hope you have a great day/evening!
Be Sweet ;)

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