Addicted To Stamps & More Challenge #175 - Photo Inspiration

Hello!

I'm excited to be joining the fun Design Team over at Addicted To Stamps & More! I'm having so much fun with my blog so far this year and I'm looking forward to the months to come. :)

This challenge is to create a project based on the photo inspiration.

I LOVED staring at this springy, happy photo. The gray skies of winter are wearing me down already! Not a good sign, since we are just a few days into January and Middle TN has had seriously mild winter weather. I can deal with the cold fairly well, but I struggle with a lack of sunshine. Yuck.


I used the Simon Says Stamp Hi Lovely stamp and die set for my card.

 

 

I die cut the blooms before stamping and layered them over a background lightly stenciled with MFT's Large Circle Burst and PTI Hibiscus Burst ink. The sentiment is from MFT's Feel Better stamp set and stamped on a paper strip cut using Blueprints 25. I added a few scrap strips of My Mind's Eye wood grain patterned paper.

 

 

I'm also playing along with As You Like It Challenge - Anything Goes and Cute Card Thursday - Anything Goes.

 

 

Thanks so much for stopping by to visit! Please come again soon - and please remember to stop by Addicted to Stamps & More Challenge blog to join in the fun!

 

 

 

God Bless,

Mandy

 

 

 

Judges 21:25   NKJV  (New King James Version)

    "In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes."

 

 

   

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Polka Dotted Daisy

Hello and Happy New Year! :)

I know I can't be the only one who is shocked that the New Year is here already. Really - today is the 4th so it's old news by now. Ugh - I feel like I'm getting old! :)

I have been "out of sorts" today with the mad holiday dash over, the housework done, closets already cleaned out, and kids not going to school. The sky was gray all morning (Thank the Lord it is shining now and I have perked up!) and I just didn't know what I wanted to do. (Well, that's not 100% true, I would have been perfectly happy to take a cat nap OR read a book, but it doesn't feel like a very adult thing to do on a Monday morning. Ha!) So, after one failed attempt at a crafty idea I wanted to try out, I took a little break to tidy the house and fix the kids lunch. Once I got back to my room, I had a another idea pop up and it worked out well. Kept me occupied for a good while, too. Win-win. 8-)

I wanted to play along with the MFT sketch over at their Challenge & Inspiration blog.

 

 

I did some "double die-cutting", as I call it, to create the large red/white polka dotted daisy by using my Gerbera Daisy dies (my all time favorite flower) and Jumbo Dot Cover Up plate.

 

 

 

I first die cut red and white cardstocks using the Jumbo Polka Dot coverup. I placed the white dots inside the frame of the red cardstock and used this combined piece (taped to plain printer paper) to die cut the daisies. I used the same technique to cut the center of the flower with other colors cardstock.

 

The Kraft panel is die cut using MFT Double Stitched Rectangle and stamped with Versa Mark ink and the Bold Diagonal Stripes. The sentiment is white embossed on a black cardstock strip using MFT Get Well Wishes stamp set.

 

 

I'm also playing along with a few other challenges:

 

Stamping Sensations - Anything Goes with  a Die

Glitter N Sparkle - Anything Goes

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Something New.

 

   

 

 

 Thanks so much for stopping by to visit! Hope you enjoyed my card and will come again soon. :)


God Bless,
Mandy


Philippians 2:10  NKJV  (New King James Version)
   "that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth," 



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Christmas Card Challenges #5

*This is my second post of the day. To see my ATSC #117 Labels/Tags post, click here.*


Good morning!

It's time for another challenge over at Christmas Card Challenges. Play along with us each week to get a great leaping start on your Christmas cards for 2016. Not that we even want to think about that yet. But, the sting of this past year's mad dash is fresh enough to motivate me to be even more prepared. And, yes, I say that every year.

For this week's color challenge, I went back to my MFT Hug in a Mug set. I'm kinda, sorta obsessed with this set! It is very rare for me to get a set and want to use it over and over, different colors, different designs - you name it, but it's all on my agenda with this one. It makes me want to go hunt another that I will fall in love with just as much, but it probably wouldn't happen. That's what makes it so unique (for me). So, that was a precursor for saying that you may get tired of seeing cards with these mugs on them on my blog. I just love it.

I got the inspiration to make the cup a shaker from this card. It's swoon worthy. :) I finally broke down and bought a big roll of the GOOD foam tape, so I'm excited to make more shakers. I was too stingy with my foam tape before, then got fast and loose with it once a friend gave me an enormous roll she had leftover from work. It's so heavy duty that it's not good for shaker cards, but it did get me spoiled on having such a large roll that I don't have to hoard it. (I've said before, it's really a struggle to be a miser AND an obsessed crafter. I should be the president of that support group.)

I've layered this on a PTI Soft Stone card base and used the same color ink to stencil in the subtle (Tim Holtz) Fair Isle pattern in the background. The mug and coffee oval is die cut from DCWV Basics 6x6 pad and the chevron background is MFT patterned paper. The adorable plaid strip is from Basic Grey's Juniper Berry 6x6 pad. I'm also in love with this paper and can't quite get enough. I'm trying to be a good girl and not hoard it, but it's hard.

I'm playing along with the current CASology challenge and Simon Says Monday Challenge, Winter Wonderland.

    

Thanks so much for stopping by to visit! Please stop on over at Christmas Card Challenges to play along with the color challenge and to visit the wonderful inspiration.

God Bless,
Mandy

I John 3:23  NKJV (New King James Version)
    "And this is His command: to believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us."



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Addicted To Stamps Challenge - #117 Labels/Tags

Hello!

It's time for another challenge at the Addicted To Stamps Challenge blog. The theme this time is Labels or Tags.

I used my Altenew set, Label Love, to make this fun little birthday card. 

I began by die cutting a circle from plain printer paper to mask off a portion for the background of my card. I stamped the "Cool!" repeatedly and then sponged the same MFT Daffodil ink over the edges before removing the mask. The ice cream cone is die cut using MFT's LJD Sweet Treats Die-namics and popped up on foam tape for dimension. The Happy Birthday was stamped from the Label Love set in WPlus9's Coconut Husk ink. I sponged Tim Holtz Gathered Twig Distress Ink around the edges of the panel die cut using MFT Blueprints 13. 

I'm also playing along with Seize The Birthday "Anything Goes" challenge and Freshly Made Sketches. 

   

Thanks so much for stopping by to visit! Please don't forget to stop by at ATSC to play along with the current Labels/Tags challenge. The more the merrier! 

God Bless, 

Mandy

Phillipians 2:3-4  NKJV  (New King James Version)

     "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others."

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Relax-y Time and a Few Challenges

Wow. Making a card just for fun! What is that? :)

Today we have been just hanging out around the house - trying to recover from the festivities. Sadly, we aren't quite finished as some of the family on my side (who are 3 hours away) fell ill the morning we were supposed to drive to visit! Yikes. We've had to postpone until everyone is better. So, we were home today unexpectedly and took advantage of that by doing NOTHING. Seriously. We had some errands to run and didn't get out until 4pm. :D Of course, it was storming all morning, so that was part of our excuse.


I wanted to play along with the current Lawnscaping Challenge - once I saw it was still active for Christmas cards and I had received a new stamp in the mail from the Coffee Lovers Blog Hop. :)

I paper pieced this cute little fox and adhered him on a card base I had sponged with MFT Blue Yonder ink over the Tim Holtz Fair Isle stencil. I had fun trimming all these little pieces from scrap papers and was much happier with the result than my original colored and hand-trimmed image.   (Boo) As I watched a documentary about the 1990's (thoroughly depressing after an hour or so of that!) I trimmed and glued and was happy as a little songbird.

I stamped the sentiment using Milo's ABC's and then added the twine and Peace, Love, & Joy sequins.

I'm also playing along with (CAS)E This Sketch and Less Is More "Homespun" challenge.




I hope everyone had a lovely holiday and are able to enjoy some much needed downtime.

Thanks SO much for stopping by to visit! I hope you will come again soon.

God Bless,
Mandy

I John 3:18  NKJV  (New King James Version)
     "... let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth." Pin It

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from our house to yours! I hope you are enjoying time with family, relaxing, and having fun.


I wanted to share again some of my favorite Christmas cards from this year --

God Bless,
Mandy


Galations 3:26  NKJV  (New King James Version)
    "So in Christ Jesus you are all  children of God through faith"

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ABC Christmas Challenge - Z - Zoo Animals

Hello!

I'm excited to be posting my first card created for my new Design Team assignment over at ABC Christmas Challenges! Since I've found this blog, I've loved to play along with the themes: Christmas cards all year long - with the challenge theme inspiration changing each week with the letters of the alphabet. I think it's a lot of fun.

This week the theme is Z - Zoo Animals and the sponsor is Bunny Zoe Crafts.

Bunny zoes crafts

 

 

 

 

 

Bunny Zoe's Crafts is an internet only craft store based in the UK.  We ship world-wide and UK orders over £50.00 qualify for free delivery.  We sell a great selections of rubber stamps, papers and embellishments.  Some of the stamps designs we carry are: A Random Fan, Bebunni, Bildmalarna, Pollycraft, The Greeting Farm, Wild Rose Studio, C.C. Designs, CandiBean, Kaisercraft, La-La Land Crafts, Magnolia, Whimsy plus many more.

 

 

I've made my card using WPlus9's Party Animal set and MFT's Jingle All the Way stamp set (I love to combine sets when I can).

I added a pattern paper strip from Basic Grey's Juniper Berry 6x6 pad and a strip of Teal Shimmer Tape from CTMH. I sponged Blue Yonder ink over the Large Grid Stencil by MFT behind the die cut & colored images After adding the sentiment banner to ground the images, I added the sequins and tiny veneer heart.


I am also playing along with the following challenges:

Dream Valley Challenges - Christmas  , Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge - Die Crazy, and CASology's Merry challenge this week.

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks so much for stopping by to visit! Please do so again soon. :) And don't forget to pop over to ABC Christmas Challenges to join in the fun.

 

 

God Bless,

Mandy

 

Isaiah 40:5   NKJV  (New King James Version)

    "And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together."

 

 

 

 

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