Time flies...OUAS March 41

Hi there! Since it is the beginning of a new month, that means it is time for an all new Once Upon A Sketch Challenge. Shown below is the fun sketch that we will be playing with all month and the theme is "It's the Weekend". 

Almost Happy March in the US! It is currently March 1st here in Sydney where I am actually this weekend and will be for the next 5 days! Scott and I will be visting Australia and New Zealand until March 18th. 

Nearly every other weekend, on Saturdays, Meredith has a horse riding lesson so I scrapped a photo of Meredith riding Dallas one Saturday morning. 

I combined a variety of store bought flowers with various chipboard pieces that I had on hand. The scalloped circle on the right hand side is from the Blue Fern Studios Nested Circles Set.

I applied a layer to of embossing enamel to all the chip board pieces. Shown below is a beautiful butterfly large from Imaginarium Designs 

The sentiment is another beautiful piece from Imaginarium Designs with a coating of pink enamel.

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

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congrats...MFTWSC113 35

Hi there! Since it's Wednesday, that means it's time for an all new My Favorite Things Wednesday Stamp Club sketch challenge! Many thanks to all who joined along ~ so many wonderful samples! For additional inspiration from participating DT members, please be sure to visit the MFT Blog.

Here's this week's sketch:

For my sample, I made a card for my dear son Jerry who relocated to San Francisco in January to start a new chapter in his life :) I'm so proud of him! After graduating from the University, he immediately accepted a job and moved. I think he is so brave and I can't even begin to tell you how proud I am of him! I put together a care package and shipped it off including this card :)

I love the cute birdhouse that was made using Die-namics Homespun Birdhouse Die. I have so many uses for it and never tire of it! To create the sentiment tag, I first die cut the tag using the die from MFT Notched Tag Sentiments, then using MFT Sno Cone ink, I stamped the tag image followed with the congrats sentiment, both from MFT Notched Tag Sentiments. I finished the card with a MFT Natural button and Hemp bow.

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

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Happy Birthday Tina! 43

Hi there! Today is my dearest sister Tina's birthday! She is currently out of town traveling with her job so we have to celebrate when she returns. I made her this mixed media canvas board using a combination of MFT stamps, paints, markers, molding paste and chalk pastels.

I started by creating a collage of patterned paper on the canvas board, then using a mixture of paints, molding paste and a stencil, I added the damask design. Collaged and painted the vase then added the bouquet of MFT flowers that were made using the following stamp sets: MFT Inspired by Flowers Set #1 and MFT Inspired by Flowers Set #2. If you want to see a tutorial that I made creating a painted vase of flowers, please feel free to check out my tutorial HERE. 

I painted the Daffodils from MFT Inspired by Flowers Set #1, the Daisies and Roses from MFT Inspired by Flowers Set #2 using a variety of paints then outlined using a variety of Pan Pastels and Faber-Castell Pitt Pens. To complete my project, I swiped a layer of a few different colors of Pan Pastels over the background. 

For texture inspiration, I referred to Christy Kinard's beautiful gallery and for color inspiration, I joined along with The Play Date Cafe:

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

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Follow your Bliss... 45

Hi there! So happy it's the weekend! I've been at again ~ playing in my art journal :) ***I took the time to create a step by step tutorial that I would love for you to take a peek at so I am only going to share a few pics and words in the post.

I recently discovered this really pretty canvas on the Faber-Castel blog created by Jill Foster which led me to this AMAZING mixed media artist named, Christy Kinard. Between the two works of art, I was inspired to create my art journal page:

The roses on this page were made using the beautiful rose stamp from MFT Inspired by Flowers Set #2. 

 The leaves were made using Die-namics Royal Leaves.

I stamped the sentiment from MFT Inspired by Flowers Set #2 using Ranger Archival Ink on a piece of torn cardstock, prior to collaging the background.

 For color inspiration, I played along with the current colourQ Challenge:

In case you are interested in the creative process on how I made this art journal page, please be sure to take a look at my tutorial:
TUTORIAL

Be Sweet ;)

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A few layouts for Blue Fern Studios 44

Hi there! It's my turn to share a few projects on the Blue Fern Studios blog today. I created a few layouts using the following beautiful Blue Fern Studios chipboard pieces: Nested Circles, Brigitte Butterflies and a Blue Fern Frame. 

First up is a layout featuring a photo of sweet Angie and Connor that was taken nearly 10 years ago. I used a beautiful Brigitte Butterfly and a trio of Nested Circles.

I applied embossing enamel to each of the pieces of chipboard. What's not to love about the beautiful design of all the butterflies included in the Brigitte Butterfly Set?!

My second layout features a photo of Scott, Connor and Meredith. I used another beautiful Brigette Butterfly and a gorgeous ornate Blue Fern Frame.

The Blue Fern Frame is FULL of so much detail, I simply applied a coat of enamel, adhered a few embellishments then topped it off the layout with a pretty golden embossed Brigette Butterfly.

Shown below are the Blue Fern Products used on my layouts today:

Blue Fern Frame: 074325

 Nested Circles: 074455

Brigitte Butterfly Set: 074387

Thanks so much for visiting! Please be sure to visit the Blue Fern Studios blog for further inspiration.
Be Sweet ;)

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Thinking of You...MFT joins SCS for LOVE FEST 38

Hi there! My Favorite Things is pleased and proud to be a founding Splitcoaststampers Member Company. My Favorite Things is hostessing a challenge today as part of the Splitcoaststampers Love Fest. The Love Fest includes 11 days of challenges, chatter, and prizes! You'll increase your opportunity to win by playing along in each of the 11 challenges. You can find all the details HERE. 

You'll find all the details on today's challenge from My Favorite Things HERE in the MFT Forum.

Please note: Gallery uploads must be completed by February 28th, 2013 at 1:00pm Eastern Standard Time to be eligible.

Here's my card for today's challenge: (all details are located HERE in the MFT Forum). One of the many things I love about MFT stamps is how easy it is to mix images from various sets.  I combined stamps from LJD Embellished Eggs, LJD Homespun Hearts and Inspired by Flowers Set #1 to create this card.

I combined the sweet flowers from LJD Embellished Eggs, with the leaves from LJD Homespun Hearts and a sentiment from Inspired by Flowers Set #1.

Thanks so much for visiting! Be sure to visit the MFT blog for a list of designers who are participating in the Love Fest and for COMPLETE details!
Be Sweet ;)

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Dream...MFT February Creative Challenge 39

Hi there! Welcome to the February 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 projects using a "clean and simple style" - without the use of any pattern paper. Yep, needless to say, this was quite the challenge for me but I'm always up for a great challenge so I pulled out a variety of MFT stamps, inks, buttons and Die-namics dies and had a boat load of fun! :)

First up, is a card featuring a trio of stamped / die cut butterflies that were made using a combination of the butterfly stamp from Die-namics Tag, You're It Die & Stamp Set along with one of the butterfly dies from Die-namics Butterflies. 

The sentiment is from Die-namics Let's Toast Die & Stamp Set. The butterflies were stamped using the following MFT inks: Sno Cone, Kraft, Jellybean Green.

The next card features a beautiful stamped die cut butterfly that was made using Inspired by Butterflies along with a coordinating Die-namics Inspired by Butterflies die. Both the butterfly and sentiment from Finishing Flourishes were stamped using MFT Black Licorice ink. 

I layered the butterfly on a gingham stamped / die cut label that was made using Die-namics Well Worn Greetings Die & Stamp Set. I topped it off with a Whip Cream button and Pink Lemonade rolled rose that was made using Die-namics Mini Royal Roses.

I really went super simple with this one ~ not even a stitch! LOL This card features a stamped / die cut label that was made using Die-namics Polka Dot Greetings Die & Stamp Set which I layered on top of a library card that was made using a stamp from LLD Journal It - Library Card and coordinating die cut made using Die-namics LLD Insert It - 3 x 4 Insert.

 I finished it off with rolled rose that was made using Die-namics Mini Rolled Roses and Die-namics Royal Leaves.

Lastly is a garden full of hearts :) Seriously, could it get any sweeter than that?! 

I stamped a trio of hearts using stamps from LJD Homespun Hearts on die cut coordinating hearts that were made using Die-namics LJD Rustic Hearts. 

Remember to check out the MFT Blog for a list of all participating designers who have a project to share with you today.
Be Sweet :)

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