Wednesday, March 25, 2015

National Craft Month with Mountain Plains Crafters and Unity Stamps

Hey everyone! We just couldn't let March, aka National Craft Month, go by without some sort of celebration over at Mountain Plains Crafters so we teamed up with the ever-awesome Unity Stamp Co. and have a great giveaway for you!


We are having a tag-a-friend event at our Facebook Community page.  Head on over to our FB page and be sure to "like" us, then look for the pinned post so you can comment and tag your friends.

The ever-so-generous Unity Stamp Company is offering not one, but two fabulous prizes!  A grab bag of 25 random stamps will go to one random tagger and their friend.

This event begins at 6:00 am on Monday, Mar.23, 2015 and ends Wed. Mar.25, 2015 at midnight ET. The 2 winners will be announced on the MPC blog and Facebook page on Friday.

Due to the high cost of shipping, this is for US residents only, so sorry.  We do offer giveaways on occasion internationally, so check back.

Of course we need some cards to celebrate, and this time our theme is Easter:


Yup, I'm still on my watercolor kick! I started with some watercolor paper and heat embossed the Unity sentiment in white embossing powder, then started layering on my Distress Inks like paint with my water brush.

Colors used (from top left down): Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade, Abandoned Coral, Picked Raspberry, and Dusty Concord
While that dried, I got to work on my card base. I cut a piece of Bazzill Taffy cardstock to make a standard A2 top-folding card, then added some interest to the bottom by die cutting a curve with one of my Pretty Pink Posh border dies. To dress up the inside, I added a strip of Pinkfresh Studio washi tape along the bottom.


Once my watercolor piece was dry, I die cut it quick with a stitched rectangle from Lawn Fawn and flicked on some water droplets to add some interest, then cut down some fun foam for height. Time for assembly - fun foam to watercolor piece, whole thing glued to the card base with Tombow Xtreme adhesive so it wouldn't move. Add a small scattering of gold sequins and this card was done!


Right now we're at 384 'likes' on Facebook - if we get to 500 there will be a bonus prize given away! Go on, tag your friends, get those likes, and win some fun stamps in time for Easter. :)

Supply list:
Unity Stamp Co. - Dying Eggs
Bazzill Taffy Card Shoppe card stock
Ranger Watercolor Paper
Distress Inks - Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade, Abandoned Coral, Picked Raspberry, Dusty Concord
Hero Arts White Embossing Powder
Water brush
Pinkfresh Studio washi tape
Pretty Pink Posh - Stitched Border Dies 1, 4mm gold sequins
Lawn Fawn Small Stitched Rectangle dies
Fun Foam
Tombow Xtreme adhesive
Ranger Multi Medium Matte

Please note - some links are affiliate links, meaning I get credit if you shop using one of them. Seeing as they finance giveaways and prizes, I would greatly appreciate it if you used them. Thanks!

Happy Crafting!

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Floral Watercolor Easter Wishes

Hey everyone - I'm over on the So Suzy Stamps blog today sharing how I made this pretty, spring time card!


Head on over and check it out!

Supply list:

So Suzy Stamps - Leaf 1Petal Flower 3Easter WishesPeacock SkittlesWink of Stella Clear
Simon Says Stamp Slate Gray card stock
Inks - Memento ElderberrySimon Says Stamp LavenderHero Arts Soft Green
Distress Inks - Stormy SkyDusty ConcordBlack SootPicked Raspberry and Spun Sugar
Pretty Pink Posh Stitched Tags 1
Watercolor paper
Brush and water or water brush
Ribbon
Foam tape
Fun foam
Tombow Mono Glue
Tombow Xtreme Adhesive

Please note - some links are affiliate links, meaning I get credit if you shop using one of them. Seeing as they finance giveaways and prizes, I would greatly appreciate it if you used them. Thanks!

Happy Crafting!

Friday, March 6, 2015

Coffee and Friends...Spring Coffee Lover's Blog Hop

Happy Friday everyone! I'm here with one last coffee card before the Spring Coffee Lover's blog hop closes down tonight. Anyone else dying for warm weather, flowers, and no snow??


Oh yes, I desperately want warm weather so I can break out the t-shirts, grab a good book (and tons of sunscreen) and go lounge in the sun!


Of course, meeting friends on patios for coffee is also fantastic. I colored my gal in with Spectrum Noir markers, then fussy-cut her out for layering. Chocolate (or is that coffee?) brown card base with some MME chevron papers, Pretty Pink Posh heart confetti and edge die, and the sentiment heat embossed in Ranger Liquid Platinum powder.


Thanks for stopping by! I am also linking up to:
Eclectic Ellapu - Anything Goes
Unity Stamp Company Friends with Flair

Happy Crafting!

Thursday, March 5, 2015

That Darn Cat...Coffee Lover's Blog Hop

Good morning everyone! I just couldn't let a good Coffee Lover's Blog Hop pass without entering at least one card, so I'm here today with my first entry.

Now here's the thing; the theme is spring, but right now in the Northeast we just got hammered with yet another snow storm. Yeah, not very spring-like outside...and when it is spring, you get mud. So instead of flowers and butterflies, this one is more reminisce of going stir-crazy waiting for spring to come!

If you've been here before, you've heard I have cats. When Newton's Nook came out with their new Naughty Newton stamp set, one cat in particular came to mind:

I'm shocked he's not sleeping in the clean laundry...
Meet Jasper. Jasper is...well, overall a good cat. Other times, however, Jasper is a bit of a jerk. Anyone who's been to my house learned fast never to leave any beverages unattended when Jasper is around. The little furball has broken two of my coffee mugs over the years and wasted countless amounts of caffeine.


Looks just like him...I clipped out the flower pot Newton there knocked over and replaced it with the coffee mug from the Verve Holiday Treats stamp set that I won during the last hop.


I colored in Jasper with my Spectrum Noir markers, fussy cut him out and added in the coffee cup. I then figured out where I wanted him on the watercolor paper and grabbed my Distress Inks and water brush to paint in that poor, wasted cup of coffee.

While it dried I used the Mama Elephant frames to die cut the deep chocolate (or is that coffee?) brown cardstock and add it to the kraft base card I created. I die cut the watercolor paper to fit on top, then stamped the little sayings in black Versafine ink. The word bubble is a set I won from My Favorite Things and the patterned paper is from My Mind's Eye. I heat embossed the 'bad kitty!' in Ranger super fine black powder and then broke out the foam tape to add it and Jasper to the card. A little Ranger black enamel for his name tag and the front was done!


And for a change, I stamped the inside, too:


I love how it turned out, and may need to frame it as a warning to others...LOL

Also linking up to:
Eclectic Ellapu - Anything Goes
Virginia's View Challenge 13 - Embossing

Thanks for stopping by, and happy crafting!

Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Arguments and Watercolors

Good morning everyone! I'm blogging about this fun card over at So Suzy Stamps today:


Hop on over to see the full card and how I created it!

The design team is having a friendly competition this month, and you guys benefit from it! Use code Jen10 at checkout to receive 10% off your So Suzy Stamps purchase. Oh, and if you scored the 20% off for life deal, it STACKS. To me, that says time to shop! If you absolutely need that fabulous sentiment (or know someone who does), it's called Argument and can be found here

Supplies:
So Suzy Stamps - Argument
Distress Inks in Shaded Lilac and Spun Sugar
Pretty Pink Posh Stitched Duo 1 dies
Kraft cardstock
Patterned paper (My Mind's Eye)
Water
Sheer ribbon
Hole punch

Don't forget that So Suzy Stamps can be found on InstagramFacebookPinterest and Twitter. Be sure to join us there for sneak peeks, silliness, snarkiness and fun!


Also linking up to:

Happy Crafting!

Sunday, March 1, 2015

Bring on the Sunshine

Please note - this is my second post today. To check out my post for So Suzy Stamps, keep scrolling or click here.

Morning everyone! It's March 1st and that means time for a new challenge over at a2z Scrapbooking. This month we're all about Coloring.

It has been such a cold winter here, I am beyond ready for spring! Thankfully, a little sunshine does help:


There we go, better already!

I grabbed one of the new stencils from the spring release and taped it down to some Neenah Solar White cardstock. See all the different colors? That was me mixing embossing paste with Soft Vanilla, Butter Bar, and Orange Soda shadow inks before applying it through the stencil. While I let that dry, I created a card base from some Pool layering paper and inked up my Hero Arts 'A Little' stamp set and stamped it onto another piece of Neenah Solar White. Then I broke out my Spectrum Noir markers and started coloring.


When I was done I fussy-cut it out and added a trio of rhinestones for some sparkle. I adhered the floral background to the card base, then popped on the sentiment with some foam tape. All done and cheery!


Supplies Used:
Hero Art Shadow Inks - Soft Vanilla, Butter Bar, Orange Soda
Hero Arts BasicGrey Floral Vines stencil
Embossing Paste
Hero Arts A Little... stamp set
Pool Layering paper
Neenah Solar White 110# cardstock
Spectrum Noir markers
Rhinestones
Foam Tape

I hope you'll join us in coloring the month away. Remember to use coupon code Jennifer15 for 15% off your purchase of $25 or more in the store...there are still some great new spring goodies in there!

Also linking up to:
Eclectic Ellapu - Anything Goes
Virginia's View Challenge 13 - Embossing

Happy crafting!

Watercolor Butterfly

Good morning everyone; it's the first day of March, which means it's release day over at So Suzy Stamps! It's also time to announce the next challenge; Watercolors

I absolutely adore the new fancy butterfly this month, so I paired it with one of my favorite sentiments:


I heat embossed the butterfly & sentiment on watercolor paper (the bumpy side to keep the texture) with white embossing powder. Then I smooshed some Distress Inks onto my craft mat - I chose the new Cracked Pistachio, Mustard Seed, and Picked Raspberry. Using a water brush, I simply painted over the embossing to make it pop.


When that was dry, I used a smaller brush to add splatters of the same colors. I mounted my watercolor paper to a white card base, added a few sparkling clear sequins and this card was done.


Supplies used:
So Suzy Stamps You are my forever and ever, Fancy Butterfly
Distress Inks in Cracked Pistachio, Picked Raspberry, Mustard Seed
Ranger Watercolor paper
Hero Arts White Embossing Powder
Pretty Pink Posh Sparkling Clear Sequins in 4mm & 6 mm
Foam Tape
Neenah Solar White cardstock
Ranger Water brushes

I hope you'll break out your watercolors and join us this month.

Also linking up to:
Eclectic Ellapu - Anything Goes
Virginia's View Challenge 13 - Embossing

Happy Crafting!