Picture Perfect Hello

Hello, lovely friends.  First of all, I want to thank all of you for your concern for LuLu and for my family while she, hopefully, recovers from her stroke caused by the fibrocartilaginous embolism.  It has been a trying time and this emotional roller coaster is a crazy ride.

I haven't had time to make cards, but I do have some card photos sitting here on the blog and ready to share.  Hey, I can sit with LuLu and do that at the same time, and the diversion helps keep my mind in a better place.  Besides, it's hard to feel down when looking at this:

These darling little hamsters are from the MFT Picture Perfect set, colored with Copics, and designed on a 4 3/4" square card.  All ingredients are listed below.  It was definitely a fun card to make.

By the way, I need to finish the switch from my Google (Feedburner) email service to the new follow.it service.  I loved the way the blog emails looked up to this point, but I'm not sure if I have the new service set up right for all of you.  So, please, if you get this email (possibly twice) I would love to know what the follow.it email looks like on your end.  Are you getting a full post with photos, or is it just a title that you have to click on to visit the blog?  Thank you so much for your help.  Have a beautiful day!

Stamps:  MFT Picture Perfect  Paper:  Neenah Classic Crest Super Smooth Solar White, SU Bermuda Bay, ribbed white (unknown brand), My Mind's Eye Notable designer paper, Bo Bunny Natural Necessities Double Dot designer paper  Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black  Coloring:  Copics  Dies:  MFT #captions, Memory Box Jasmine Frame (2012)  Other:  SU Subtle embossing folder

Picture Perfect Smiles

Hi, there!  Having fun "just because" with today's cards.  I had an urge to play with designer paper and, in the process, finish something that's been bagged up for a while.  I had all the not yet used stamps from my MFT Picture Perfect set all stamped out and cut into squares, with a few spare parts thrown in the bag for possible use.  Their time had come.  I'm sharing two of them today.

The first card has a frame that was the leftover after cutting a square die.  I covered it with designer paper and sanded the edges.  Die cut the "smile" into the orange strip, then filled it with white letters that were left from something else.  Added a cute floral border and a single flower for embellishment.  The glitter dot in the flower center is a 1/4" punched circle with glitter added, then covered with glossy glaze.

Just scraps of designer paper on the next card, figuring a way to use it without being the same old same old.  The orange smile letters are what popped out of the first card.  I layered over two more spare sets of smile letters.  The card measures 3 1/2" x 6".  All coloring was done with Copics.

This was a lot of fun!  I'm determined to use up this pad of designer paper that I've had for years.  It has been a favorite and it's almost gone.  Being a fan of designer paper and having a vast hoard, it sometimes bothers me that I don't use it more often.

Have a good day and take care till we meet again!

Stamps:  MFT Picture Perfect  Paper:  Neenah Classic Crest Super Smooth Solar White 80 & 110 lb, SU Bermuda Bay, My Mind's Eye Notable designer paper  Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black  Coloring:  Copics  Dies:  MFT Die-namics #captions, square die for frame cut out, Poppystamps Floral Dotted Border, Sue Wilson String Flowers, Die-namics Wonky Stitched Squares  Other:  Stickles Stardust Glitter Glue, 1/4" circle punch

Picture Perfect Sloth

Hi, there!  I'm happy to see you again this week.  I thought I might skip blogging this week in exchange for simply coloring, but that didn't happen.  How is it that the weeks go by so quickly?  I've been outside planting flowers rather than sitting at my coloring table or the computer.

Nevertheless, I did finish one card.  It's a quickie and a cutie.  I've had this MFT Picture Perfect set for over a year and I've only colored one of its six image stamps... Wait... what?  How is it that the years go by so quickly?  I guess my stamp buying spree goes back further than I thought.  Still trying to catch up.  Will it ever happen?

I made this clean and simple -- bright on white with some cute and glittery die cut leaves and a punched heart.  I'll list everything below.

I'll be coloring more of this set soon, seeing as how I stamped it all out so it would be sure and get done.  It's too cute to leave it lay dormant.  Why do we do that?  This post is full of questions, isn't it?

I'm playing along at NBUS Challenge #15 with my never before used sloth.

Thanks for coming to visit!  Have a great day!

Stamps:  MFT Picture Perfect  Paper:  Neenah Classic Crest Super Smooth Solar White 80 & 100 lb, DCWV Animal Crackers matstack (dated 2008, sheesh!)  Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black  Coloring:  Copics  Dies:  MFT Die-namics Wild Greenery and MFT Die-namics #Captions  Other:  Heart punch, linen thread

CAS Watercolor: For a Child

Hello on a Monday, friends!  I can hardly believe I'm back so soon with another card.  I'm starting to feel like one of those people who stamps a lot.  I changed my morning routine, got new stamps and, well, things happen.  I don't know how long I can keep this up as we've already gone on our first camping trip (last week) and now that the weather has changed we'll be out and about a lot.

For the time being, I've been inspired by some challenges I hope to play in more often.  Today it's the CAS Watercolor Challenge.  This month's theme is "For a Child", and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to ink up my new MFT Picture Perfect set.  I didn't buy this set with kids in mind, but it works.  I made this into a birthday card which will go to one of the little girls next door.  Between us we have three dogs, so it's perfect -- picture perfect!

Per the challenge rules I watercolored and kept the card clean and simple.  I used Tombow markers and some MFT dies and mounted the image panel on a grocer's kraft card base.  The sentiment is MFT Die-namics #Captions, frame is Wonky Stitched Rectangle Stax, and leaf sprig is Wild Greenery.  I had to put the leaf sprig there to cover up a splotch where I dropped a marker, but the card is better for it.  Nice how that works out sometimes.

That's all for today.  Thanks, CAS Watercolor team, for the creative spark.  Have yourself a beautiful day... hug a furry friend and try on a smile!