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One of my personal resolutions this year is to create something at least once a week.  That may seem like so little to most people, but last year lacked a whole lot of creativity.  Baby steps.

It's rainy and cold here today, so it's a perfect time to catch up on the new challenges at the MFT Challenge and Inspiration Blog.

The Sketch Challenge:

The Color Challenge:

My take on both challenges:

I used the "Say What?" stamp set and die from My Favorite Things for this cad.  I inked up three of the speech bubbles in the set to create the background on the white panel.  The sentiments were used on the green strip, stamped in Versamark.  I diecut the largest speech bubbles in teal and white and layered them for the main sentiment.

This will probably be in the mailbox this afternoon on its way to one of my dearest friends.  We haven't seen each other in a while, and she has a lot going on.  She was on my mind the whole time I was making this.  We need to catch up.

Thanks for visiting My Happy Place!

Thanks - MFT

This card is made for this week's Get Sketchy challenge at My Favorite Things. They are in the middle of a release right now, and I have been adding a lot of goodies to my wish list this week! 

Here's the sketch for this week's challenge, which you can play along with if you click here.

I had a thought in my head all day for this sketch, but when I sat down to work on it, nothing turned out the way I thought it would.  So, I grabbed some of this patterned paper that I had used for another project and everything fell into place. 

Sentiment from "Say What?" Stamp set by MFT.

Thank you for visiting My Happy Place!

This Rocks

Three posts in one day - quite unheard of lately.  It's been nice being able to relax and craft again.  I'm here to share the last card I made this afternoon for this week's sketch challenge for Paper Smooches. 

You can get all the details here, at the Paper Smooches Sparks Challenge blog. 

Here's my last take on the challenge:

I used four Paper Smooches sets on this one!  I used Notebook Paper for the lines, Clipboard and the coordinating die for the little clip, Captured Moments for the sentiments, and the heart is from Giddy Bugs.

I have visions of my son doing really well when we return to school next week, so I have this ready to tuck under his pillow one night. 

Thanks for visiting My Happy Place!

One Layer - Enjoy This Day

I made two more cards for this week's sketch challenge for Paper Smooches.  Oh, the joys of being off work for a couple of weeks!

You can get all the details here, at the Paper Smooches Sparks Challenge blog. 

Here's another take on the challenge:

I wanted to see if the sketch would work with a one-layer card, so I masked off the border of the white card base and stamped images from Botanicals 1 in the open panel.  The sentiment is from Flap Happy.  I wanted to give the card some texture, so I wrapped some twine around the middle of the base and placed a dot of glossy accents in the middle of each flower. 

Thanks for visiting My Happy Place!

Paper Smooches Designer Draft

I'm heading back into my crafting room with full-steam ahead.  2014 brought many changes for me, including buying a new home, moving and selling our old home.  It took six months for me to really feel like the new place was under control, so my crafting time really suffered.  With the turn of the calendar, I have new goals for the year, and one of them is to craft more.

This week's challenge at Paper Smooches is a sketch challenge:

You can get all the details here, at the Paper Smooches Sparks Challenge blog.

Here's my take on the challenge:

Botanicals 1, Flap Happy stamps and die

I stamped the sprigs from Botanicals 1 on the green base and cream panel.  The butterflies were stamped in differed shades of pink.  I wanted one butterfly to stand out, so I used the die to cut out one butterfly, stamped it, and colored it with Prismacolor pencils.  After adhering the panel and stamping the sentiment, I added a few rhinestones to add some texture.

Thanks for visiting My Happy Place - which will be a lot more happy in the new year!

MIM #194 - Stamping Borders

This card is for this week's Make It Monday from Melissa.  She used regular stamps to create a border around the cardstock.  You can find more details if you click on Nichole's blog here.

Scattered Showers 2, Hello Sunshine, Phrase Play #1 die
Harvest Gold, Stampers Select, Summer Sunrise cardstocks

 

 

I created a border using the sun image from Scattered Showers 2, stamping in three different yellows - Harvest Gold and Summer Sunrise from PTI, and Lemon Drop from Jenni Bowlin.


Thank you for visiting My Happy Place!

Thank you!

My son and I spent the 4th of July with family - immediate, extended, and once or twice removed. 

My sisters and I grew up with all of our cousins in the same town, and often vacationed with both of our parents' cousins and their children.  We've attended graduations, weddings, and funerals together, and now we have our own children.  Circle of Life.

I wanted to make a couple of thank you cards for my mom's cousin, for housing us, and her son, for driving us up and down the river on his boat, so this is what I came up with.

Excuse the photos! I wasn't planning on blogging about these and only took the pictures to send to my sister.

Beautiful Blooms paper, Instant Photo Die #1, Super Stars Border Die, Inside and Out: Thank You (all PTI), Say What die (MFT)

Tropical Teal paper/ink, Instant Photo Die #1, Inside and Out: Thank You (all PTI) Patterned Paper (My Mind's Eye), Say What die (MFT)

Thanks for stopping by My Happy Place!

MIM #168

This was fun!  This week's Make It Monday's technique is baby wipe stamping.  You can see Ashley's video and sample card if you click here.

I used Oopsie Daisy stamp set to create a background using plum pudding, Hawaiian shores, summer sunrise, and hibiscus burst refills. The leaves were stamped using ripe avocado and simply chartreuse ink.  The sentiment if from Think Big Favorites #12.

Thanks for visiting My Happy Place!

Make It Monday #166

This week's Make It Monday is all about debossing using dies or cover plates.  I was able to make two cards for this challenge. 

This was my first card.  I received Oopsie Daisy the other day and couldn't wait to work with it.  I stamped the outline first and then depossed the images.  I should have completed all my stamping first; a couple of my images look a little warped. I also discovered that after running the card through to deboss the third flower, the first flower was already flattened out.  I couldn't really see the debossing. 

I corrected myself on the second card and completed all the stamping before running it through to deboss it with the die.  That made a big difference and I think it turned out better.

Here's a close up of the details.

Thanks for visiting My Happy Place! Click on the link above to see other cards and play along with this challenge!

Focus on Words

Today PTI is introducing a new series of dies and stamps that I am very excited about!  It's called Phrase Play.  You can see the big announcement and the first in the series if you check out Nichole's blog here.

 Nichole posted this challenge today:

"So today we have shown you all kinds of fun ways to add *words* to your cards using the new Phrase Play stamp set.  Now it's your turn to give it a whirl for yourself!  Grab your favorite word die, alphabet dies or alphabet stamps and make a project that has a *word* for the focal point.  Have fun experimenting with the positioning of your word, whether it be at an angle, along the edge of your card, etc...  We can hardly wait to see what you make!"

Here's my take on the challenge:

Thanks for looking and visiting My Happy Place today!

PTI 7th Anniversary

Here are my cards for today's contest!

Using Betsy's design:

Also:  Turning a New Leaf, Circle Plate, Raspberry Fizz and Stampers Select cardstocks

And Melissa's design:

Also:  Background Basics:Retro, Enchanted Evening and Stampers Select cardstocks

PTI January Blog Hop

 

The blog hop this month at PTI is all about pink!  I don't use pink often enough, and when I do, it's usually Hibiscus Burtst!  In my card for the hop, I had to stretch myself a little and use Sweet Blush and Raspberry Fizz too!

I used the circle cover plate to create the background and then inserted some of the hearts from Heart to Heart #11.  I was pleasantly surprised when the fit right in the cut out circles!  The sentiment is from Thing Big #11 - stamped in Hibiscus Burst. 

You can see all the projects devoted to pink if you click over to Nichole's blog here!

Thanks for visiting My Happy Place!

Make It Monday 145

This week's Make It Monday was a catch up of anything we missed throughout the last year.  After looking through all the fabulous choices, I realized that I missed a lot.  I had high hopes of getting seven cards made today, but other things happened!  I did get one made for the Glitter Borders challenge.  Here it is:

I glittered up the Heart Border with my Xyron and some prisma glitter.  After I adhered the borders to the white panel, I stamped the hearts and sentiment.  Tiny Treats: Valentine was a favorite of mine, and I use it for so much more than Valentine cards.  I love that PTI came out with Tremendous Treats and dies.  I die cut the puppy, stamped and colored him.  I coated him with some glossy accents to give the card a little more texture. 

I still may go ahead and attempt the other six challenges I had in mind today, but it won't be in time for the challenge.  I haven't really crafted since August, and it feels great to be getting back into it!

Thanks for visiting My Happy Place!

CAS-ual Fridays #124

 

I thought I would begin my New Year's Resolution of getting more crafting in my life a bit early with CAS-ual Friday's Happy New Year Challenge.  It is combined with the 10-minute Craft Dash Challenge, but I can't enter this one for that challenge.  I was interrupted way too many times by a hungry 8-year old boy wanting a second, and then a third dinner.  

I used a technique that I just love - glitter masking.  It's messy, and you really have to LOVE glitter to do this technique.  

First, I cut an adhesive sheet to the size I wanted and peeled off the backing.  The sticky backside is the side I needed.  Then I die-cut the word "happy" and the numbers for 2014 out of regular cardstock.  Being careful not to touch the sticky part, I placed the die-cuts where I needed them and firmly pressed them down.  I coated the remaining sticky part with black glitter, pressing down so that it covered all the area.  Then, I carefully peeled each word or number and applied the glitter for that section.  So fun!

Here's a close-up:

Here are a couple of other cards I've made using this technique.  If you get the glitter adhered correctly to the backing, you can even stamp on it!

Thanks for visiting!