PaperFections

Watercolor Roses

Happy Friday, everyone! Today over in Ellen Hutson's the CLASSroom, I show you how to easily create stamped watercolor roses. I hope you'll join me there, and that you have a fabulous weekend! Read more →

MFT May Creative Challenge - Crafting for the Men in Your Life

All too often the boys and men in our life get lost in the shuffle when it comes to handmade cards and gifts. With Father’s Day approaching, we couldn’t think of a better time to get in touch with our masculine side with this month’s My Favorite Things Creative Challenge -- Crafting for the Men in Your Life! I'm absolutely loving thinking up different ways to use the new Suit & Tie Die-namics and came up with a couple of different alternatives for this challenge! I love when a product has a lot of versatility and this one sure fits that description! First up . . . how about a camouflage fishing vest for the fisherman in your life?!! It is a gate-fold card like the Hawaiian shirt card I showed you a few weeks ago on the MFT May New Product Launch: I made this card a little differently than the Hawaiian shirt ... here are the details: 1. To create the camo front, after die cutting Factory Green cardstock with the Suit & Tie Die-namics, I embossed the pieces with the Wildcat stencil and sponged over the top with Distress Ink: 2. Next, I die cut two of... Read more →

Memorial Day Thanks

Just a quick post today to send thanks to our military personnel, both present and past, for their service to our nation. Having both a father and father-in-law who served in past wars, this day is always a time of reflection . . . This card came together quickly, by using Blueprints 15 and My Favorite Things' current Wednesday Stamp Club sketch #177 ... you can play along with the weekly sketch, too, for a chance to win some MFT prizes! After stamping this cute Apple For You Pure Innocence image onto Copic X-Press It Blending Card with Black Licorice Hybrid ink, I colored her with these Copic Sketch markers: I did a little slicing & dicing with her hands, to wrap them around the die cut heart (from Blueprints 15). She was die cut with the smaller wonky panel from BP15 and then airbrushed with the B0000 Copic while the cardstock was still in the die. The inside of the card was finished with some leftover navy star die cuts from the front banner piece and the long pierced accent piece from BP15. The star and stitched circle elements are also from the new BP15, as is the large... Read more →

Copic Drip Technique

Hello and happy weekend! I have a fun Copic Drip technique to share with you today over in Ellen Hutson's the CLASSroom . . . I hope you'll join me there to see how I created this white-washed effect! ~ Sharon Read more →

MFT May Release Rewind

Welcome to the My Favorite Things May Release Rewind - Day 2! I hope to inspire you with more ideas for those new May goodies you've purchased and are patiently waiting to be delivered or to help you finish up your shopping, if you are still on the fence about anything! For me, it’s a chance to (catch up on my scrapbooking--yay!) and use some of the new products that I may not have had the chance to show you yet that are available right HERE, right NOW in the MFT Boutique! Direct links to all products used on my project today can be found at the bottom of this post. I only asked for one thing for Mother's Day this year -- a sweet photo with my girls and luckily, they obliged! (Click on any photo for a larger view): So you know us crafters (at least me -- please tell me I'm not the only one?!) . . . we save everything, because you never know when it may come in handy -- right?!! So you'll never guess what these flowers are made out of . . . (well, some of you may recognize it immediately!) . .... Read more →

MFT May New Product Launch!

My Favorite Things' May Product Launch is finally here! All of the new May products from My Favorite Things are available for purchase -- right now! Check out the Brand Spanking New section of the MFT Boutique. AND to make this day even sweeter, we have some free goodies for you! Visit each of the MFT Designers' May Product Launch posts linked on the MFT Blog and leave a comment by the end of the day on Thursday, May 15th for your chance to WIN one of two $100 Gift Vouchers to the MFT Boutique. The winners will be chosen at random and the prizes will be sent out on May 16th. Ready? Set. Comment! Tonight I have some of my favorite release projects to share with you! First up is a little bit of a different twist, using the new Suit & Tie Die-namics: LOL! I had SO much fun making this anniversary card for my husband (could also be a Father's Day card)! Our 20th is next week and we honeymooned in Hawaii, so I thought it would be an appropriate anniversary card for him! Plus, he really prefers shirts like this vs. wearing a suit ANY day!... Read more →

MFT May Release Countdown 1

Tonight's the night ... just one day until My Favorite Things' May Release is available in the MFT Boutique! Today I have a peek at another new Pure Innocence stamp set, Just the Way You Are, and she's so sweet -- reminds me so much of my youngest daughter and some of the eclectic outfits she used to put together! I had so much fun colorig this cutie! She was stamped with Black Licorice Hybrid ink onto Copic X-Press It Blending Card, colored with the Copic markers shown below, and then hand trimmed: She was placed onto a Primitive White card base, stamped with Abstract Art brush strokes and paint drips in these Hybrid Inks: Razzle Berry, Orange Fizz, Lemon Drop, Sour Apple, Grape Jelly. A Blu Raspberry Rectangle Frame was popped up with foam tape over her. The "You Make Life Colorful" sentiment from her stamp set was stamped with Black Licorice ink onto a Fishtail Flags die cut accented with a Tangy Orange Button tied with Hemp Cord. I finished the inside with more stamped paint drips, a strip of Orange Fizz cardstock, and another sweet sentiment from this set: I traced over the sentiment with Black Copic... Read more →

MFT Release Countdown 2-Free With $60

Welcome back to the My Favorite Things May Release Countdown – I hope you had a lovely weekend! There are only 2 days left until the new releases can be yours on May 13 at 10pm EST! Be sure to head over to the MFT Blog for full stamp set and die reveals for today. I have a peek for you today of the fabulous Centerpieces You Mean the World to Me Die-namics that can be yours FREE this month! Isn't that a great die set? So many possibilities! I die cut the world twice, once from Berrylicious cardstock and again from Sour Apple cardstock, then pieced them together onto another plain circle die cut cardstock base. "The World" letters were glued onto a Primitive White cardstock Dimensional Banner and popped up on foam tape. I die cut the sentiment also from two different colors of cardstock: Cotton Candy and Orange Fizz, then glued the letters onto "paint strokes" from Abstract Art stamped in Pink Lemonade Hybrid Ink. All the new products will be available for purchase tomorrow -- May 13th at 10pm Eastern in the MFT Boutique! During this countdown you can enter to win some HUGE prizes over... Read more →

MFT Release Countdown 3-Mom

Hello and Happy Mother's Day ... I hope all you Moms out there are having a lovely day! My family is treating me to a wonderful brunch out, so I don't have a dirty kitchen to clean up ... that's always a treat! Then I'm sure there will be some stamping fun for me at some point in the day! What will you be doing? We are getting closer to the May 13th My Favorite Things Release date and we have another countdown day of previews for you today. Be sure to head over to the MFT Blog to see today’s full stamp set and die reveals AND enter for your chance to win some goodies! My sample today uses a darling new Pure Innocence girl, Can't Wait to See You, the new Gerbera Daisy and Blueprints 15 Die-namics: I had the idea to make a combo flip (meaning the white panel flips open) and window card out of the Blueprints 15 wonky panel. Here's a view from the top of the card, to help explain it better (click on any photo for a larger view): The Primitive White front panel has a window opening in it, which is held... Read more →

MFT May Release Countdown 5 Sparkle!

Day 3 of My Favorite Things May 13th Release Countdown is under way . . . Just 5 days left until the release! Today the design team is focusing on this sweet sequin goodness stamp set, You Were Meant to Sparkle and coordinating Sequins Die-namics: How fun is this set?!! The card I created is a shaker, filled with sequins die cut from MFT's beautiful cardstock colors AND sequins stamped on the card front in coordinating Hybrid Ink colors . . . shut up! :) I adore when things matchy-matchy! It's a little hard to tell in the photo above since my sequins are behind acetate, but half of the die cut sequins have faceted sequin line detail embossed in them . . . so pretty! Here's another view where you can maybe see the acetate sheet behind the new Rectangle Frames Die-namics I used for the pretty Berrylicious shaker frame: To make my sequins really sparkle, I filled a water reservoir brush with MIX-ables Shear Shimmer Mist to create my own paint-on glittery goodness! I painted it on the Sparkle banner (created by die cutting a Smooth White Vertical Stitched Strips and stamping in Razzle Berry Hybrid ink), stamped... Read more →

MFT May Release Countdown 6 and Copic Coloring Tutorial

Welcome back to our second day of MFT's May Release Countdown . . . Be sure to head over to the MFT Blog to see today’s full stamp set and die reveals! Today the design team is featuring one of my favorite new MFT stamp lines, Birdie Brown, in her new stamp set, Let's Hang Out: She reminds me SO much of my oldest tomboy daughter, so I wanted to create a Father's Day card for her to give her Daddy! I kept the colors of the card masculine, using blues and greens. I have a Copic tutorial for you, on how I colored Birdie (click on photos for larger views): 1. Stamp girl with Black Licorice Hybrid Ink onto Copic X-Press It Blending Card die cut with coordinating Let's Hang Out Die-namics. Color the overalls in a base coat of B32, then add medium shading with B34. Leave fold marks in overall legs white (uncolored) or create the creases by using Copic Colorless Blender marker to push away color from those areas. 2. Blend the shading (B34) into the B32 base coat, using lightest B32. Add deeper shading to pockets and far edges with darkest B37. 3. Place Copic... Read more →

MFT May Release Countdown 7

Hi everyone -- Thank you so much for your very kind warm welcome to the My Favorite Things design team! I’m very excited to be back today, to help begin previews of MFT‘s May release! Be sure to head over to the MFT Blog to see today’s full stamp set and die reveals. My sample today uses the super cute Sea Life stamp set with coordinating Die-namcs by Lisa Johnson, as well as new Blueprints 15 Die-namics, to create a window card: Don't you love the Blueprints 15 die set? It makes those "wonky" layered cards so easy to do now! I had been wanting to try to make one, but thought I'd never get the layers just right. Well, BP15 makes it SO easy! In the photo above, I taped the card closed so I could get a good photo of the fish inside for you. Here's how the card would normally look, standing up: I love the stitched detail around the circle element in this set! For the blue "water" background layer, first I die cut the Polka Dot Cover-Up from Blu Raspberry cardstock, layered it over Berrylicious cardstock, then die cut the two layers with the wonky... Read more →

Exciting Announcement!

Hi, everyone! Today I have a very exciting announcement to make . . . I'm extremely proud to add this new icon to my blog sidebar! Someone please pinch me! I've adored My Favorite Things' products (and the people behind them!) for ages and was on the design team waayyyy back in 2007, so I'm thrilled to be back! You can see the announcement over on the MFT Blog here. So to celebrate the day, of course I have some eye candy for you, using one of my favorite MFT stamp lines -- the Pure Innocence series: For my color palette inspiration, I used MFT's new monthly Color Palette Challenge for May: You can find all the details about the challenge over on the MFT Blog here (or click the graphic above) and enter for your chance to win! For my card layout, I used the latest in MFT's fabulous Blueprints Die-namics line, #14 ... I think this is my favorite one yet! The Blueprints Die-namics make card making SO extremely simple, by giving you have all the shapes and pieces you need to quickly and easily make a card . . . . or scrapbook page! For the Sno... Read more →

May Calendar

Happy May, everyone! Wow, can you believe how fast the first part of this year has flown by? I can't believe school will be out and summer will arrive in just one month! You can find all the details about how I created my May calendar over in Ellen Hutson's the CLASSroom today . . . I hope to see you there! I hope you enjoy your weekend. I received some happy mail and will be stamping away all weekend and I look forward to sharing some of that stampy goodness with you here again on Tuesday! Until then . . . Read more →