Beautiful Bride

Hello! Here is my submission for today's sketch challenge. As soon as I saw it I got this image in my head. I don't have any weddings or bridal showers coming up so I tried to resist and go another direction, but as you know I have been having some mojo issues, so I ended up deciding not to temp the mojo gods and just went with it, and am glad I did:0 I stamped the image with Versamark and Ranger Brushed Corduroy onto decorative paper and then embossed it with clear ep. I colored the image with my Copic Markers (E51, E33). The backed panels were stamped and embossed also with the SU! En Francais BG Stamp. I added some sewing which is intentionally wonky to add to the charm of the card (I am going to keep saying that until I learn to sew straight perfect line, okay).

I know I said I was going to show you some stuff with the Copics, but I think I have something better. Marianne, the person who did our Copic Marker Certification Training, has a blog that really shows and covers EVERYTHING I learned in class plus more. Her blog is I Like Markers, what else would it be called? I think most of the stamping planet probably know about this blog already, but I just went to it yesterday and will continue to go back. Tell me what you think. I will totally show you stuff I do if you can't see what is going on there, but I cannot stand to reinvent the marker, er wheel.

In case you were wondering why not so many posts, I spent Monday painting my son's room. It looks pretty cool. Sorta Tommy Hilfiggerish, but I am not sure if I want to show you picks because he decidedly has his own decorating preferences now (he's 12) and I pretty much have to walk away and let him be. I am going to do my daughter's this weekend. I have also been working on some new stuff for My Favorite Things, which I think you are going to LOVE!

Have a fabulous day, thanks for stamping by!

Laura~

Butterfly Card

Hello! Well, I think my mojo has returned, thank goodness. When I mentioned to my DH that it was missing, he asked where was the last place I remember having it, lol. If only it were that easy. I did this for Jen's Dirty Girl Sketch Challenge and Julia's add some sewing challenge. The images are from a new set that I picked up while in Chicago (see previous post). It is from Magenta and is called Butterflies. Today I used my ink pads and blender pen to color the Brown StazOn stamped images. I don't own enough Copics yet with enough color range:( The butterfly wings are cut out and popped up and you can't see it but I used my Spica glitter pen to highlight some of the details on the wings.


Here's the finished inside....

Here's the girls I spent most of my time at CHA with, man I miss them. From the back row left: Carolyn (Cammie), Alma (The Cat's Pajamas, I guess I did get a pic with her:), Deb (Bead n Stamps), Michelle (FlaxyChick), Kim (My Favorite Things), JoAnne (basilefamily) , Carole (TruCarMa) and Kirsten (Ked). There are a few girls missing from this photo like Amber (Bambi64) who is so sweet and Christy (illustrator for MFT) and I just know that I am forgetting someone. I do have a few product things to share, but I need to get some decent photos of them, so little time so much stuff:(

Thanks so much for stamping by!
Laura

Hot Dog!

Hi! I made this card for the Dirty Girl sketch challenge. I have had this adorable set from The Cat's Pajamas for awhile now with this idea in my head, I finally got around to getting it onto a card. I have now had the privilege of hanging out 2 times with the owner of Cat's Pajamas, Alma, both in Texas and at CHA. I don't know how I didn't manage to get a picture with her, but I want to tell you what a fabulous girl she is. So warm and funny and her stamps are just adorable. On Friday night in Chicago, a local stamp store owner invited a bunch of us to come over and have some pizza and other yummy food (including wine) and do some shopping. I was able to grab some more of her stamps there, so I will have a few more projects coming up with those.

FYI, Alma is having a 25% off summer sale on her in stock stamps, what a great time to pick up some of these adorable images!

I love the retro look and feel of Alma's designs and thougth a black and white card would be fun. I also used this card to try out my brand new set of Copic Markers. Did I mention that I am now a Copic Certified Instructor? Whoohoo! I will start putting together some tutorials about what I am learning (I need some practice still:) For this card I stamped the image in Black StazOn and used the C1 and C5 colors to add some shading on just the inside of the space bubble and the poodle. I added Crystal Effects to the the swirls and collar on the poodle. The dp is from a pack of handmade paper a friend gave to me, it has embossed stars on it.

Thanks so much for stamping by!

Laura~

Finally a card....

I thought I would come back from CHA so filled with inspiration and ready to stamp masterpieces....well in reality my mojo left and I was not inspired at all. This is the third version of this card:( This is for MFT 40th sketch challenge which is so graciously hosted by Cindy Haffner every week. I also wanted to get a little dirty so I used vellum to play along with Lauraly's challenge. This card is really straightforward. I stamped the image on cream cs and then paperpieced the dress from the decorative paper and added a little shading with a chocolate chip ink pad and a blender pen. I embossed the vellem cs with my Cuttlebug and sponged on some chocolate chip ink. The flower button brad is from Deja Views. Please let me know if you need any additional info about this card.

On Saturday morning while walking over to the convention center I noticed someone bouncing along ahead of me and thought, "That looks like Stephanie from Homegrown Hospitality". So I sorta called out "Stephanie?" She turned around and looked at me like I was a tiny bit touched:) I told her I recognized her from her blog and could I please have a picture. She is just an adorable person and it was so fun to get a chance to say hi! (Sandy, I know you are going to see this and say, ohhhhh. But know that I was thinking of you)

Well, I am collecting pictures a few at a time and am waiting for my box of goodies to arrive so I can take some pictures.

Thanks for stamping by!
Laura~

WOW! What a show....

I had such an amazing time at CHA, I hardly know where to start. I was so glad that I remembered to pack my camera (I always forget), but discovered when I got to the show that I left my memory card at home, aarrrgghhhh. So I am left stealing pics from other blogs. These are from Michelle Giraud's blog. This is with Tim Holtz, who we ambushed while he was in the middle of a demonstration. He was fun and gracious. He is holding Kirten's camera (she is to my left) while someone is taking a picture with Michelle's. That's Michelle to his left and JoAnne Bassile is on the far left. We are having as much fun as it looks!



This is Michelle and me with Lisa Johnson who is just super sweet. She joined our table on one of the first nights at the hotel and just hung out with us. While all these girls are uber talented, I was more impressed with the fact that they are simply great girls.
I think the thing I enjoyed most about the actual show was that I could see whole product lines at once. Most stores only carry a portion of a particular product line. We did see some fun new items which I will share more about over the next few days.



This trip was as much as I expected and more. I am so grateful to Kim, owner of My Favorite Things, for inviting me to part of such an amazing company and a truly fabulous team. I really can't say enough about what a wonderful person she is. Thanks, Kim!



I will be back with more name dropping and some looks at product we saw and got to bring home (I had to ship some of it back so it will take a few days).


Thanks so much for stamping by!

Laura~



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...one more!

So I did get a chance to stamp a little yesterday, yay! I really wanted to do the sketch for My Favorite Things this week. I have been wanting to use this fabulous paper for awhile. I did just a little coloring on the image with ink pads and a blender pen (bravo burgandy, rose romance, and close to cocoa). I stamped the rain drop in VersaMark and embossed with clear ep and then sponged over the top with close to cocoa. The raincoat is paperpieced and the water is done with Diamond Stickles. I am posting this on ebay so I also decorated the inside.

I really do think this is it for me, really:) Take care!

Laura

Chit Chat

Hello! I am catching up on a couple SCS challenges this week. I chose the sketch and way to use it challenge to use a scoring tool. I don't have score pal (yet) so I used my Fiskars scoring blade to do the trick. It might be hard to see in the picture but I added to lines of scoring around the edge of the top and middle panel. I rubbed a sponge with choc. chip ink over the top to help it stand out. The hedgie and caterpillar were stamped twice on watercolor paper and colored with my fabulous pearlescent watercolors that are available from MFT for the unbelievable price of just $5.95. They give a wonderful shimmer to the image! I added Crystal Effects to the furry part of the hedgie and to the caterpillar and flowers.

On to other news. I may not be back to blog land for about 2 weeks. I am leaving on Saturday to go to Illinois where I will be spending a few days with my wonderful Mother-in-law and then on Wednesday I am heading up to Chicago where I get to attend the CHA Convention. I am so stinkin' excited I can hardly stand it. I am taking a Copic marker class on Thursday with Kim from MFT and Michelle (Flaxychick) ...the thuding sound you hear is the glorious sound of name dropping!!! On Friday SCS is holding a cupcake reception for SCS people in town for the convention, here comes one more name, hosted by Jenn Balcer. Since I am going to be gone for over a week I have to get my house in order. I have a thing about coming back to a clean house. Also, my kids really want attention while they are out of school, you know going to the pool and movies. They are seriously cutting into my stamping time:)

Thanks for stamping by!

Laura~

Kick Back and Relax...

Here are two more samples of sets being released for the month of July. The First is called Bunny Slippers. This set lends itself so well to paper piecing. I used some dp from Basic Grey and then added Liquid Pearls and Fun Flock to the lapels, sleeves, pockets and belt. The corner embellishment is from Studio G ($1 stamp at Michael's) which I stamped with VersaMark and embossed with white ep and then used a saffron ink pad and sponge to lightly distress over. As you can see a very simple layout here.



This is a new Annie LaPoint image. You might remember that two other flower pots were released last month, Chamomile and Lavender. I can't wait to have a complete set of 4!

This little frame from Michael's measures 2 1/2 x 3 1/2...perfect for this little image! I stamped it with Brown StazOn on watercolor paper and the used a straight edge to lightly pencil lines over where I wanted to cut. After a little fussy cutting and line erasing, I have a flower coming out of the frame. I used the Sanded SU! background stamp, the create word is from MFT Boho Blossoms, the butterfly is from SU! Winged Things, and the French Scrip background is Inkadinkado. I colored the image with watercolor pencils and a blender pen. I added tiny dots of Liquid Pearls to the flowers by using the end of a straight pin.

If you are visiting before the party on Wednesday, I hope to see you there. If not all the images will be available at MFT on Thursday. See previous post for all the details. Happy shopping!

Thanks for stamping by!

Laura

Another MFT Sample

Hi ! Here's another sample of one of the six stamps sets that will be released Wednesday night at My Favorite Things. We have seen this adorable bunny before, but now he has a bigger role at MFT as the main character. Look for him in different settings in the coming releases. I just love this paper combo together and it was on my desk so you know why it looks like the little hedgie from a post or two ago.


I colored him with watercolors pencils and ink pads with a blender pen. The layout is pretty simple, but I like it for this image. the flower DP is from Bo Bunny, the polka dot is from DCWV Nana's Nursery Collection.


My Favorite Things (www.mftstamps.com) is having a New Release Cocktail Party on Wednesday, July 2 from 9-11 p.m. Eastern time. July marks MFT's 2nd birthday, and Kim's 40th, so we'll be celebrating all over the place!*

$2.00 US shipping for orders under $40, and for Intl orders and US orders over $40, they'll receive the same $2.75 discount until July 15th.*FIRST 50 orders will receive a full sized stickles glitter glue!*

The Girl Who Wants It All special for the July Collection is $49.95. Head over to the MFT forum on www.splitcoaststampers.com to find out all the details and to find out how YOU can be the next MFT Guest Designer. We hope to see you there on Wednesday night.



Thanks for stamping by!
Laura