Birthday Wishes for My Sister!

Hello, I just wanted to share this card I made for my Sister for her Birthday. She has loved siamese cats for as long as I can remember, we had a lilac point growing up. This past spring she finally got a beautiful siamese kitten, this is him below.

So I made her a card using a set for Mark's Finest Papers (sadly no longer in business). I coloured the image with copics. The card base is pacfic point and the then a layer of very vanilla embossed with paw prints, which is actually a 12" long embossing folder that's only a couple inches wide so I embossed the piece twice.

Have a Great Day!

Laurie

MMTPT163, A Teaparty For Michelle!

Hello, I made this for this weeks Teapot Tuesday Challenge MMTPT163! This weeks Destination is Michelle, it sounds like she's has alot of stress in her life lately, so we're having a teaparty to celebrate a new beginning!

We were to bring girly, flourishes, pearly curly things etc. I was able to fit a few of those things in!

The teacup image is from Mark's Finest Papers Floral Tea set. I recently saw this post by Maureen, and loved the circle punch technique so I had to try it!

The background and the heart are embossed with the Vintage Wallpaper EF.

I was too late to enter it, but I used the sketch from a new Blog Freshly Made Sketches FMS1.

I hope she likes it!

Have a Great Day!
Laurie

With Sympathy!

Hello, I wanted to share this sympathy card with you. My Uncle Bob passed away Sunday September 4th, and this is the card I made to send to his family.

He was a very active outdoors kinda guy. When I was younger, a spent 2 or 3 Thanksgivings with my Uncle and his Family. They had a tradition of hunting pheasant out in the woods, meeting up for lunch and having a hot beverage made over a fire, it was a totally new experience for me. Then later we all met back at his house and he cooked up a feast, another new experience for me!

This image seemed perfect, it reminds me of those weekends in the woods it looks so peaceful! It's from a Marks Finest Papers set called In the Forest. I coloured the image with copics, then sponged in the sky and trees.

I used the cracked glass technique, and after it cracked I rubbed in Tim Holtz walnut ink (I wished I had used something lighter).

The card base is black, with a layer of old olive stamped with the woodgrain bg stamp, edges sponged. I cut the hole in the olive piece with a square nestie and added a black piece behind with a smaller opening. This panel is popped up, so the glass image looks recessed.

I finished it off with a little tag and a sentiment from SU silhouette sentiments.

Have a Great Day!
Laurie

MMTPT149, CAS Flowers!

Hello, this is my card for this weeks Teapot Tuesday Challenge MMTPT149! It's a clean & Simple challenge with flowers! I used the teapot for inspiration! This weeks Destination Station is to Lindsay! She's has been battling cancer, even during her pregnancy, I can't imagine how scary that must have been! She is now having to undergo a heavy dose of chemo and will be confined to the hospital for a month.

Since Lindsay loves to buy and give homemade cards, along with the cards we are sending her, we are sending the pieces for her to put together & make her own cards!

My card to Lindsay is a get well card, but for the card I'm sending for her to put together, it says Happy Birthday, you can never have enough of those!

It's definitely a CAS card! The card base is tempting turquoise with 2 pieces of white embossed with the swiss dot EF. The sentiments are from Mark's Finest Papers - Ladybugs & Carnation. The flowers were made with the sizzix Birds & Blooms die and the leaf with the sizzix little leaves die.

Have a Great Day!
Laurie

Speedy's Challenge #52, Happy Anniversary!

Hello, I made this for the Speedy The Cat's Friends Challenge #52, Hopefully I'm not too late! This weeks Challenge was to make an Anniversary card!

I used Faiths Ink,spray and smash technique for the background! I used bermuda bay, baja breeze & crushed curry on glossy paper. Then I sprayed on some gold shimmer spritz!

The sentiment is from Mark's Finest Paper set 'Happy Pansies' and the butterfly is from the 'Take a Peek' set! Both were embossed with gold EP.

Have a Great Day!
Laurie

MMTPT142, Tulip Time!

Hello again, this is my card for today's Teapot Tuesday Challenge MMTPT142. This week we were to bring Tulips!

The Destination Station this week is to Kay, the almost 92 year old Grandmother of Charlene aka crystaldolphins! Kay has had some health problems lately and has been in the hospital since February! Now that's enough to bring anyone's spirits down, so we are sending her some happy mail. She is looking forward to returning home soon, just in time to enjoy the nice weather, and get back to her computer!

I've has the new owl punch from SU for a while now, still in it's wrapper so I decided to brake it in instead of using a stamp. I followed Valita's wonderful tutorial, she always comes up with the coolest ideas even the leaves are genius!

The tulip is daffodil delight, edges sponged with ruby red. The stem & leaves are old olive, edges sponged. I used a glue pen and added dazzling diamonds glitter to the tulip.

The fancy mat in the background is a Marianne's Designs creatables die, which our local stamp store is now carrying.

The card base is ruby red, with a layer of crumb cake embossed with the SU square lattice EF. Then I used the ticket punch on the corner and added some yellow pearls!

I finished it off with a sentiment from Mark's Finest Papers set 'In the Forest', and a little bow!

Have a Great Day!
Laurie

Speedy's Challenge #50, Emboss Resist Technique!

Hello, I made this for this weeks Speedy The Cat's Friends Challenge #50! This weeks challenge is to use the emboss resist technique!

I used a stamp from the MFP "In The Forest' set. It was stamped with versamark, and embossed with black embossing powder. Then I used sponges to rub in the colours. I started at the bottom and went up with so saffron, daffodil delight, bashful blue, and marina mist.

The card base is black with a layer of so saffron on top and marina mist on the bottom. Both were embossed with Tim Holtz embossing folders and then I sponged & rubbed matching ink on them. The outside edges were also sponged lightly with going grey! The sentiment is from MFP 'Ladybugs & Carnation' set. It's embossed too. I finished it off with some gold brads, and popped up the image and the sentiment!

Have a Great Day!
Laurie

Speedy's Challenge #47, 3-3-1 round!

Hi, you can find the Riley and Company Blog Hop Here!

I made this card for the Speedy's The Cat's Friends Challenge #47! We were to use 3 pastels, 3 embellishments, 1 image on a round card!

I used the bunny from 'In the Forest' set. He was stamped onto white with Tim Holtz vintage photo.

The card base is bashful blue, with a layer of so saffron and then the main image. I curved the sentiment from the same set and stamped in on the top.

The flowers were made with a marvy punch and the leaves from the 2-step bird punch. I finished it off with some rhinestones in the center of the flowers!

Have a Great Day!

Laurie

Speedy's Challenge #46, CAS Cat!

Hello, I made this for this weeks Speedy The Cat's Friends Challenge on the Mark's Finest Paper Blog. This weeks challenge was to use lime, green & grey and have up to one layer!

I used the More of Speedy The Cat's Friends set. I love this siamese cat! I stamped the cat with basic grey, and coloured his eyes green with copics.

The grass was punched from old olive with the MS edge punch.

The sentiment is from the same set, also in basic grey.

I finished it off with some old olive ribbon and a couple pearls!

Have a Great Day!
Laurie

Speedy's Challenge #45, Bleaching!

Hello I made this for this weeks Speedy The Cat's Friends Challenge #45. This weeks challenge is to use bleach!

First I tried stamping and image with bleach, but I wasn't too happy with the outcome! Instead, I scrunched up a small portion or paper towel, dipped it in bleach and then used that to sponge it onto my cardstock! I love the way it turned out, the cardstock is from MFP and it's like a cross between kraft & creamy caramel, the bleach made it look weathered!

The cardbase is black with a layer of dp from Basic Grey's Oliver, edges distressed.
I stamped the bleached cardstock with the anise stamp from the Daffodils & Anise set. The sentiment is from the Greet the Day With Gerber set. The edges are also distressed on these pieces. The sentiment is popped up and I finished it off with some twine.

Have a Great Day!
Laurie

Speedy's Challenge #44, Include food!

This is my card for this weeks Speedy The Cat's Friends Challenge! This weeks challenge is to include food on your card!

Before I tell you about my card & the challenge, I'd like to thank everyone on the Design Team and at Mark's Finest Papers! This is my last card as Guest Designer, and I have truely enjoyed every minute of it! Thank you so much for the opportunity to meet and work with such a great bunch of talented stampers!

Now I originally had pictured this done in pastels, but some how I got this idea in my head, and I just couldn't make anything else work! So it may not be your normal spring/Easter colours, but I like it!

I made tye-dye eggs by stamping the eggs by the basket from the Spring Has Sprung set onto some dp from the $ store!

The card base is black, with white embossed with the swiss dots. For the main panel, I cut put & piled up the eggs, and then I stamped the bunny from the In the Forest set in black, cut him out and popped him up.

I used an oval punch for the sentiment and finished it off with ribbon!

I hope you can join in the challenge, please make sure to upload your card to the Mark's Finest Finest Papers Blog for your chance to win! There's an awesome new prize package, here's all the info:

Participate in at least 3 of the challenges for the current month,[enter as many times as you would like - must be new projects, no back dating please-] for your chance to be a Guest Designer for the following month on the MFP Sr. Design Team. (Each time you participate, your name is entered in the drawing. The more times you participate, the more times your name is entered!)
The randomly chosen winner will have the choice of participating in the following month's Blog Hop, and will receive a Sr. DT Member package that will contain the 4 stamp sets that will be released in that month, along with papers, and embellishments. The winner will also receive a blog button and a watermark for their MFP creations.

You have until 3:00pm Friday March 4, 2011, to upload your entry! Happy Stamping!

Have a Great Weekend,
Laurie

Speedy's Challenge #43, Colour & Piercing!

Hello, it's time for this weeks Challenge from Speedy The Cat's Friends! This week we're challenging you to use black, white, 1 other colour + piercing!

Please play along and enter your card on the Mark's Finest Papers Blog!

NEW PRIZE PACKAGE: Participate in at least 3 of the challenges for the current month,[enter as many times as you would like - must be new projects, no back dating please-] for your chance to be a Guest Designer for the following month on the MFP Sr. Design Team. (Each time you participate, your name is entered in the drawing. The more times you participate, the more times your name is entered!)
The randomly chosen winner will have the choice of participating in the following month's Blog Hop, and will receive a Sr. DT Member package that will contain the 4 stamp sets that will be released in that month, along with papers, and embellishments. The winner will also receive a blog button and a watermark for their MFP creations.

For my card today, I added pink passion as my third colour. The image is from the new Greet the Day With Gerber set. It stamped so beautifully with really nice detail.

The satin ribbon also from Mark's Finest Papers. I just recently purchased the bow easy, and it really helps make bows much quicker and it's great for ribbon that's good on one side!

Have a Great Day!
Laurie

Speedy's Challenge #42, It's a Sketch!

Hello, this weeks Speedy the Cat's Friends Challenge #42, is to follow this sketch!

I used the newly released Spring Has Sprung set, and flipped the image! The Easter basket was stamped onto white and coloured with copics. I added dp scraps to the eggs.

The sentiment used is also from this set. The card base is old olive, with a layer of blushing bride. and basic grey's green at heart on the bottom.

Please join in our challenge and upload your creation to the Mark's Finest Papers Blog!

NEW PRIZE PACKAGE: Participate in at least 3 of the challenges for the current month,[enter as many times as you would like - must be new projects, no back dating please-] for your chance to be a Guest Designer for the following month on the MFP Sr. Design Team. (Each time you participate, your name is entered in the drawing. The more times you participate, the more times your name is entered!)
The randomly chosen winner will have the choice of participating in the following month's Blog Hop, and will receive a Sr. DT Member package that will contain the 4 stamp sets that will be released in that month, along with papers, and embellishments. The winner will also receive a blog button and a watermark for their MFP creations.
How exciting is this! Oh so fun - we can't wait to see what you create, and who will be the next GD!!

Now, go and have fun with the sketch - you may tweak it but just make sure we can tell it is the sketch~~ We'll be commenting~~ Speedy's Friends

Have a great Day!
Laurie

MFP New Release, Spring Has Sprung!

Hello, it's New Release and Blog Hop time at Mark's Finest Papers! I made this card with a new set called Spring Has Sprung!

The card base is baja blue with a layer of MFP white that has texture. Then another blue piece that has a window made with a mega rectangle. I popped up the top layer.

The eggs were stamped onto Basic Grey's Olivia and the bows onto pink! They remind me of the beautiful painted European eggs. I curved each egg slightly by running it over the edge of my bone folder. Then I added dimensional tape down the centers.

The sentiment was embossed with white embossing powder!

Make sure to join in on the Blog Hop, the prize is Awesome! Here's all the details....

Welcome to the MFP February Blog Hop! This month, we are releasing 4 NEW SETS!

Our New Sets are: Greet the Day with Gerber, Big Cats, Spring Has Sprung and He is the Lamb.For your convenience, all 4 stamp sets are available for purchase TODAY!

We have a BRAND NEW Blog Candy Contest! BE A GUEST DESIGER!

PLEASE READ THIS CAREFULLY!

All Blog Hop participants will have the chance to win a Month Long GUEST DESIGNER position on our Senior Design team! That’s right! ONE lucky winner will receive a Guest Designer package that will include March 2011’s Four New Release sets, a selection of Premium Papers, and beautiful embellishments. The winner will also receive a Guest Designer Watermark, Blog Button and have the choice to participate in the March 2011 Blog Hop!
What do you need to do to qualify? Just comment on the Design Team blogs during the blog hop. EACH DAY that participants comment on all the Design Team blogs, their name will be entered once in the random drawing. Each participant has the opportunity to have his/her name entered up to four times. (There are four days of the blog hop, so there are up to four entries per person.) The winner will be announced on the Mark’s Finest Papers blog on Saturday, February 12, 2011

Thursday, February 10, 2011-Spring Has Sprung

Nancyruth
Lois
Vicky
Anne
Emily
Karen
Patty
Roxie
Vicki
Liz
Claudine
Dawn M
Joanne T
Nicole
Marilynn
Geri
Lynn
Neva
Silvia Mabie
Mark’s Finest Papers

Have a Great Day!
Laurie

MFP New Release, Great The Day With Gerber!

Hello everyone, it's Release Day at Mark's Finest Papers, and Day one of the Blog Hop! I'm not participating in the Blog Hop, but you can find all the info below!

Welcome to the MFP February Blog Hop! This month, we are releasing 4 NEW SETS!

Our New Sets are: Greet the Day with Gerber, Big Cats, Spring Has Sprung and He is the Lamb.For your convenience, all 4 stamp sets are available for purchase TODAY!

We have a BRAND NEW Blog Candy Contest! BE A GUEST DESIGNER!

PLEASE READ THIS CAREFULLY!

All Blog Hop participants will have the chance to win a Month Long GUEST DESIGNER position on our Senior Design team! That’s right! ONE lucky winner will receive a Guest Designer package that will include March 2011’s Four New Release sets, a selection of Premium Papers, and beautiful embellishments. The winner will also receive a Guest Designer Watermark, Blog Button and have the choice to participate in the March 2011 Blog Hop!
What do you need to do to qualify? Just comment on the Design Team blogs during the blog hop. EACH DAY that participants comment on all the Design Team blogs, their name will be entered once in the random drawing. Each participant has the opportunity to have his/her name entered up to four times. (There are four days of the blog hop, so there are up to four entries per person.) The winner will be announced on the Mark’s Finest Papers blog on Saturday, February 12, 2011.

TUESDAY February 8, 2011- Greet the Day with Gerber
Nancyruth
Lois
Vicky
Dawn L.
Anne
Peggysue
Connie
Emily
Karen
Patty
Roxie
Vicki
Liz
Geri
Lynn
Emily N.
Neva
Silvia Mabie
Mark’s Finest Papers

For my card today, I used the new Greet The Day With Gerber set! All the cardstock & dp is from Mark's Finest Papers, the dp is from Basic Greys Green at Heart!

I stamped the Flower on water colour paper and coloured with SU inks & a waterbrush. I added burgundy stickles to the centers of the flowers.

Have a Great Day!
Laurie

Speedy's Challenge #41, Self Made Flowers!

Hello, it's time for this weeks Speedy The Cat's Friends challenge! This week we are challenging you to include self made flowers on your card!

NEW PRIZE PACKAGE: Participate in at least 3 of the challenges for the current month,[enter as many times as you would like - must be new projects, no back dating please-] for your chance to be a Guest Designer for the following month on the MFP Sr. Design Team. (Each time you participate, your name is entered in the drawing. The more times you participate, the more times your name is entered!)
The randomly chosen winner will have the choice of participating in the following month's Blog Hop, and will receive a Sr. DT Member package that will contain the 4 stamp sets that will be released in that month, along with papers, and embellishments. The winner will also receive a blog button and a watermark for their MFP creations.
How exciting is this! Oh so fun - we can't wait to see what you create, and who will be the next GD!!

Sneak peek alert, for today's card, I used a new set called Greet The Day With Gerber. It will be released along with 3 other new sets on Tuesday February 8th, which will also be the first day of the Mark's Finest Papers Blog Hop!

The cardbase is so saffron, with a layer of white, and then another layer of white that I stamped with a flower head and so saffron.

The frame was made with the Label#9 dies. The sentiment was embossed with white onto a tag from the Spellbinders fancy tag set. I love how delicate it is and it embossed beautifully! I attached the tag to the frame and popped it up.

The flower was made using 3 marvy punches. The branches were made with the SU 2 step bird punch. I sponged the edges a bit and added a flat back pearl to the center.

I finished it off with some ribbon and pearls, I really like the way this turned out!

Have a Great Weekend,
Laurie

The Birthday Girl is a Sewing Fashionista!

Hello, well it's been quite a week! I didn't get much accomplished, Olivia and I were both sick on her Birthday which was Monday. I didn't even have a card made for her, because I was too busy preparing for the Mystery Party we were having and the Riley release!

Today we had her family Birthday, which means my Mom, Sister, Brother and their families were here for dinner and cake of course! So last night a made Olivia's 11th Birthday card, and I won't tell you how long it took, lol...lets just say when I sat at my craft table I only knew I wanted to use the Sew What set from Mark's Finest Papers!

Then after seeing all the vintage type cards made for this weeks C4C72, I decided to give it a try.

The card is 5.5 x 5.5". The card base is regal rose, with a layer of black and dp from K&Co. black & ivory pad.

I first stamped the image onto vanilla with black 2 times. Then again in pretty in pink. I cut out one black skirt with about 1/4" of the body for a waist band, and the whole pink outfit. I did some shading around the edges. Tim Holtz antique linen was used on the black skirt & pretty in pink on the pink outfit. The black skirt was glued to the pink outfit only at the waistband. Then I wrapped black ribbon around the waist and added some pearls.
The outfit is only attached to the main panel from the waist up. I added a couple of dimensionals inbetween the layers of the skirt to keep it popped out.

The flowers in the corner were made with the dienamic rolled flower. I need some practice with that! I added little back pearls in the centers. The leaves were made with the sizzix little leaves die.

The sentiment is from the Sew what set. The border was made with the fleur de lis die, it's popped up and I finished it off with some MS ribbon & a button from my stash!

This is the inside of the card. I used 2 sets for this, Daffodil & Anise and Flourishes & Frame, both from Mark's Finest Papers.

Reminder, check out the Totally Stampalicious Monday challenge, my card will be a bit late!

Have a Great Day!

Laurie

Speedy's Challenge #40, Valentine!

Hello, it's time for a challenge from Speedy the Cat's Friends! This weeks challenge is to make a Valentine card!

Upload your Valentine to the Mark's Finest Paper Blog, by Friday February 4th at 3:00pm, and your will be entered to win a FREE stamp set. The is one set drawn for every 50 entires! Use Mark's Finest Papers stamps, and you will be entered twice! You may enter as often as you like!

I decided to make my Valentine a little more masculine. When I looked at the birch trees, from Stinky Situation, I thought of the hearts & initials you often see carved in trees, so that's the look I was going for.

I punched some hearts from sticky notes with a fiskars heart punch. I positioned them on white cardstock and stamped the birch trees over them. Then I removed the sticky note hearts and used a fine tip marker to outline the hearts. The sentiment stamped in each heart is from the Hearts, Hearts, Hearts set. I also coloured very lightly between the trees with a copic BG10.

The card base is black. The next layer is cherry cobbler, crumpled, edges distressed and sponged. I also ran my ink pad over the whole piece to dirty it up.

I covered a chipboard heart with the red and sponged it. It's tied on with faux leather.

Have a Great Day!
Laurie

Speedy's Challenge #39, Sympathy!

Hello, it's time for a challenge form Speedy the Cat's Friends! This is challenge #39, and we are challenging you to make a sympathy card!

Play along and upload your card or project to the Mark's Finest Papers Blog. There is a winner drawn for every 50 entries, and the lucky winners will get a Free Stamp set. If you use MFP stamps, your name will be entered twice, and you can enter as often as you like!

I used this beautiful new set called Happy Pansies from Mark's Finest Papers. I stamped the image with memento tuxedo black and coloured with copics. I cut it with circle nesties and layered it with the lacey circles, I think they are so pretty!

The card base is black with a layer of daffodil delight and the bottom dp is from K&Co. black & ivory. The top was embossed with the seeing spots EF.

I finished it off with some black satin ribbon and a stick pin!

Have a Great Weekend!
Laurie

Speedy's Challenge #38, Hearts!

hello, it's time for this weeks challenge from Speedy The Cat's Friends! This is challenge #38, and we're challenging you to add a heart to your card or project!

Play along for your chance to win awesome stamps from Mark's Finest Papers! Just upload your creation to the Mark's Finest Papers Blog. There is a set drawn for every 50 entries. Use Mark's Finest Papers stamps, and your name is entered twice, you can enter as often as you like!

The set Hearts, Hearts, Hearts is perfect for this challenge and many other occasions. I combined this challenge with this past weeks SCS colour challenge CC305 pretty cherry melon!

I stamped the heart three times, first in versamark and then the coloured ink. They are each embossed with iridescent ice EP. You can do this with any colour, just make sure to stamp in the versamark first so you don't stain the versamark pad.

I cut each heart out and layered them with dimensionals. The sentiment is also in this set, I used the tag shape 3 to cut out the sentiment and mat it.


You can see the glitter better in this picture.
The card base is cherry cobbler, with a layer of pretty in pink and then white embossed with little hearts.

It's finished off with some ribbon and a heart brad on a tiny heart punch out!

Check out what the other Design Team members made at the Mark's Finest Papers Blog, then join us for your chance to win!

Have a great Day!
Laurie