Thinking Inking

Hey, Atlanta and Boston Area Copic Friends!

Cindy Lawrence and I will be in Atlanta together for our FIRST Creative Color Café classes next weekend, May 4-5. I have been working like a mad woman on last minute tweaks to the manual and can't wait to share it there! For more information, go to the Creative Color Café home page and click on either the Atlanta or the Boston squares on the right side of the home page.

On a related note, you know all of those clean studio pictures that people share about once a year? Well, I can tell you that there is a REASON that photos are shared only once a year. Want to see the real studio picture today? You know you do. It will make you feel better that your desk is not such a big mess. ;-)

Yes. It's that bad. And the die-cutting area isn't any better, straight off of three days of die-cut flower cards for the MFT Stamps April Card Kit! I'd better get back to work. Thanks for stopping by,

Happily Ever After: Stitched Blooms Card Kit Release!

Welcome! It's April Kit Release night at My Favorite Things Stamps! I have one more Stitched Blooms card to share with you tonight, this one with felt flowers. I have a sweet young friend who is getting married soon, and I wanted to make my flowers out of something a little more substantial than cardstock. These felt flowers should mail easily without being damaged, even if I can't be there for her big day.

The Stitched Blooms Die-namics cut the felt easily. I did find that I had to be gentle with the thinner stems though; you should be fine if you cut cleanly and take your time getting the stems out of the die.  I used my Copic Airbrush System on the background, along with BG02, for a bit of color. Blueprints Die-namics 27 is the one with that lovely scalloped layer--one of my favorites for a fancy occasion!

I hope you get a chance to visit the MFT Stamps blog for a complete list of designers playing with this fun new kit, which is now available! Thank you so much for visiting,

Birthday Wishes: Stitched Blooms Card Kit Countdown

Welcome! We're still in the Stitched Blooms Card Kit Countdown, but tomorrow night is the big release (Tuesday, April 24 at 9pm Eastern time, My Favorite Things Stamps). Today I went with a much more muted color scheme. I'm not even a fan of orange tones, but I remembered a Cosmo Cricket patterned paper from years ago that I loved, and it was in grays and oranges. That was my jumping off point!

I used Peach Bellini and Coral Crush cardstock for my blooms, and Steel Gray for my leaves. Just a hint of Copic YR82 airbrushed in the background behind the sentiment tied the peach tones into the card base.

I hope you get a chance to visit the MFT Stamps blog for a complete list of designers playing with this awesome new kit, which will be available on Tuesday night, April 24, at 9pm Eastern Time. Commenting on the MFT Blog Post can earn you a $25 gift--Good luck! Thank you so much for visiting,

Thank You So Much: Stitched Blooms Card Kit Countdown

Welcome! It's April Kit Release time at My Favorite Things Stamps! Today I have a Stitched Blooms card to share with you--even if we still have snow outside. Sometimes you need to make your own Spring. ;-)

The Stitched Blooms Die-namics make it easy to create a bouquet of flowers! I used my Copic Airbrush System in the back, along with  BG53 and a YG05 for just a bit of background color. Honestly, the part that gave me the hardest time was just figuring out what sentiment I wanted to use and where to put it! 

I hope you get a chance to visit the MFT Stamps blog for a complete list of designers playing with this awesome new kit, which will be available on Tuesday night, April 24, at 9pm Eastern Time. Commenting on the MFT Blog Post can earn you a $25 gift--GO FOR IT! Thank you so much for visiting,

Congrats--You're a Star: MFT WSC 381

Welcome! Today I'm playing along with the My Favorite Things Stamps WSC381 Sketch Challenge. I had been asked to bring a couple of congratulations cards on my recent trip to Japan, to be given to two of the grand prize winners of the Copic 30th Anniversary coloring contest. Having seen the amazing entries, I thought I would play it safe and make graphic cards! (Okay, besides the fear factor, I had some time constraints too. ;-})

It's hard to go wrong with a shaker card, and it's easy to make a shaker card with the MFT Shaker Window and Frame Die-namics and coordinating plastic window pouches! I chose the Star Shaker Window and Frame, paired with this past month's "free with a $60 purchase" Congrats die-namics. For the "Congrats," I cut three cardstock pieces and glued them together as my base, then cut one layer from Silver Foil Cardstock as the top layer. Patterned paper is from the Black and White Basics pad, and sequins were from the packs shown below in the supply list.

 I hope you get a chance to go see the other WSC381 Sketch Challenge pieces and play along with us--remember that there is a chance to win awesome MFT products IF you play along! Thanks for stopping by,

You Did It: WSC380

Welcome! Today I'm playing along with the My Favorite Things Stamps WSC380 Sketch Challenge. I needed a graduation card for upcoming events and thought that this sketch would work well with the MFT congratulations dies and stamps that I already had. I used the frame star from the Star Shaker Die-namics, and intertwined it with the Congratulations Shaker Frame Die-namics to get both of the school colors in.

For the background, I used the new Cross Stitch Background Die-namics; I liked its texture as well as that it let the school color stripes show through.

I hope you get a chance to go see the other WSC380 Sketch Challenge pieces and play along with us--remember that there is a chance win awesome MFT products, but only if you play along! Thanks for stopping by,

In My Heart: MFT April Release

Welcome! It's that time--April My Favorite Things Stamps Release time, that is! If you've been around my blog for a while, you might remember that I love working with felt. So for today's post, I used the same Bold Blossoms Die-namics that I had used on yesterday's post, but cut some luscious, new FELT instead of stamped images!

I did a bit of hand stitching because my card was for someone special, but you could just as easily glue the layers together. I used French knots in the centers of my felt roses. The background was airbrushed with Copic BG13 and G21. I used the Distressed Patterns stamp set to add a random spatter pattern to the background and finished it with a few of the clear round droplets. 

All of the new April products are now available, and the links below should all work. Each of the MFT Design Team members will have projects to share tonight, so please check out the MFT Stamps Blog for many more cool projects and products, as well as a chance to win fabulous prizes. Good luck, and thanks for visiting!

Best. Mom. Ever.: MFT Stamps Release Countdown Day 1

Welcome to Day One of the My Favorite Things Stamps April Release Countdown! I combined the new Bold Blossoms and All About Mom stamp sets and coordinating Die-namics to introduce today. The stamp sets used today will be available on Tuesday, April 3, at 9pm Eastern time.

I had cut a few extra flowers so that I could finish the inside as well. I lightly airbrushed some Copic YG01 on the card base before adding the stamped flower. (I could have stamped the flower directly on the inside of the card, but then I would have to have colored carefully around the flower and leaves. So I took a short cut.)

Again, while I have linked all products that I used below, the links to the NEW products will not be live links until tomorrow night--release night--9pm Eastern Time, Tuesday, April 3. All of the other links should work now. Be sure to check the MFT Stamps blog for more April Release inspiration and PRIZES! Thank you for visiting,

Under the Weather Cloud Shaker: MFT Stamps Release Countdown Day 2

Welcome to Day 2 of the My Favorite Things Stamps April Release Countdown!  At 9pm Eastern time on Tuesday, April 3, the April release will be live and all of the new products shown in the past few days will be available. I chose to use the new Aim for the Clouds sentiment set, paired with the Cloud Pouch and Cloud Shaker and Frame Die-namics. I used Rain or Shine for the ducks and puddle. I needed a Get Well card for sweet little guy, and I thought that this might make him smile. Plus he can probably drive his older siblings nuts by shaking it, right? :-D

Shown above are the Copic Sketch markers that I used to both color the Rain or Shine images and airbrush the background. I used the new Mini Raindrops stencil to airbrush the raindrops.

Shaker material is three different sizes of Sparkling Clear Sequins. I thought I had plenty in there, but after I glued it together, I decided I could have used a few more. Finally, I added glitter to cloud frame for some additional sparkle power.

In addition to the ones that I've shared here, there are several fabulous new products being showcased today; I hope you get a chance to visit the MFT Stamps Blog for a complete list of designers playing along with today's new products AND to enter for prizes! Remember that while all MFT products that I used are linked below, the NEW product links won't be live until Release time--that's late tomorrow night (Tuesday, April 3) at 9pm Eastern time. All other links should work now. Thank you for stopping by today,