Paper Playhouse

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Be Mine

Today is the second day of my feature spot as a Fab Friend on the MFT blog. It's Valentine's Day, so I thought I'd squeak in with one more heart themed project.

I used everyone's favourite bunny, Valentine Flopsey, and paired him with the Sweet Surprise Gift Box.

Flopsey is stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black and coloured with copics. I attempted to give him a furry look by colouring him with little dots of marker instead of the usual solid colouring technique. I think it does add a little dimension to his look...not sure if it looks like fur or not, but I like the broken-up effect.

I did the 'faux-poxy' technique on the heart, to make it look like a custom epoxy sticker. It's super easy to do, just requires patience for the drying time. First I covered the heart with crystal Stickles...maybe a little too much stickles since the words are difficult to see...sigh. Then once that was dry I coated it with crystal effects for a glossy, dimensional finish.

I cut out the largest of the hearts a plenty die-namics from pink cardstock, ran it through an embossing folder and added it behind Flopsey. The belly band is edged with a red scallop that I cut out using my small scallop border die-namic.

the patterned papers on the Sweet Surprise Gift Box are from Doodlebug's Sweet Love collection. I stitched around each piece before adhering it to the flaps on the box.

Wishing you a wonderful Valentine's Day, wherever you are and whomever you're with!!!
Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Sweet Sunday New Digs

It's time for this week's Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge, SSSC104. You'll find the sketch on Karen Giron's blog The Sweetest Thing.

My brother and his wife have been building a new house and they finally get to move in this Friday so I made a congrats card to send them.

I used Cozy Cottages from Taylored Expressions. During February, March and April, Taylored Expressions will donate $7.00 from the sale of each Cozy Cottages set to Habitat for Humanity. It's a wonderful stamp set to benefit a fabulous organization.

The house is stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black onto choice buttercream and coloured with copics. I added some clear glaze to the windows then cut it out. I stamped the sentiment then cut it out with my Take Note 3 die. The patterned papers are from October Afternoon Campfire, and I thought the starry night was a perfect fit with the house. I added a yellow picket fence then stitched on a layer of blush red dark. I placed three clear rhinestones on the background layer...not exactly as the sketch shows, but it works with my card.

I hope you'll play along with this week's sketch and link your creation on Karen's blog. Now it's time to hop around and see what the rest of the Sweet Sunday Stampers created.
Dana White
Jen Tapler
Lynn Put
Sarah-Jane Kale'
Vicki Burdick
and Karen Giron

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Sweet Sunday Reindeer - on Thursday

I was a little busy this past weekend...skiing in Vermont (I know...rough life!) so I didn't have a chance to get my card done for the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge, SSSC103. But I couldn't let the week go by without playing along.

Today I'm sharing my Project Christmas 2011 Card #5 and Card #6. Yay!! I can't believe I actually remembered to make more than one card! Actually though, this stamp set had me cracking up every time I read the joke sentiments, and I just couldn't decide which to use. :-)

The reindeer images are from Reindeer Games by Our Craft Lounge and the joke sentiments are a companion set called Reindeer Pun. Both images are stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black and coloured with copics. The patterned paper is My Mind's Eye Snowed In from a couple of years ago. I added plenty of stitching and some Twinkles for a little sparkle.

Then I added a simple scalloped layer to the inside so I could stamp the punch line.

Here'sthe second card...

And the inside...

These are my kinda cards...cute AND funny!!!

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Wonderful Birthday {MFTWSC6}

It's time to get sketchy with the MFT Wednesday Stamp Club. Sketch #6 caused me to put my thinking cap on, but that's a good thing, right? I hope you'll play along because you just might win a gift certificate to the MFT Boutique!

I took a break from the Pure Innocence images this week and pulled out my Polka Dot Greetings stamp and die duo. There are always more birthdays coming up than cards in my stash, so I decided to use the birthday sentiment. I paired it with papers from October Afternoon's Fly a Kite collection, along with chocolate, pomegranate, and kiwi.

I created the fun pleated layer with my 3/8" rosette die (currently out of stock, but you could do this with the 1/4" rosette die as well). It was super easy...cut two strips and adhere them end to end. Then just start folding the pleats and adhere! The length of two strips was a perfect fit across my card. I added a rolled rose and some sweet pearls to finish the details.

There's a prize each week for one participant, chosen at random. You may use any stamps and supplies that you wish. Each week a keyword is assigned to the sketch, and this week's keyword is MFTWSC6. All you need to do to enter is upload your card to the gallery at Splitcoast and enter the given keyword in the keyword box during the upload process. After the deadline (noon Eastern on Tuesday) we randomly choose a winner from that week's entries and the winner will receive a $15 gift voucher. If the winning card uses MFT stamps, the participant will earn a $5 bonus, for a total of a $20 gift voucher!

Be sure to head over to Kim's Blog to view the entire list of design team participants...there's plenty of inspiration for you with today’s sketch!

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Fab Friend?

I'm thrilled to be the MFT Fab Friend this month!!! Talk about a super fun honour!! Pop over to the MFT blog and check out Kim's post, then come back here for the deets on my little project. I'll wait......

.....thanks for coming back!!

Everyone has notepads by the telephone, right? Well I was looking at the notepad on our desk in the kitchen the other day and thought "hmmm...it's not very cute. I should do something about that.". And that's how this little notepad was born!

I started with a plain memo cube from the dollar store (for my Canadian readers...this one is from Dollarama, which means I've had it since before we moved here nearly three years ago!). I thought this sweet Pure Innocence set was perfect to jazz up my kitchen notepad.

She's stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black and coloured with copics. I popped her on some layers that I cut with my layered label die-namics. The patterned paper is My Mind's Eye Fine & Dandy Tickled Pink. I added two pink mini rolled roses and some white pleated ribbon, then stopped at that. I wanted to keep it fairly simple.

I stamped a few of the papers...probably about 10 of them...which was enough. I plan to take paper from lower in the pile to keep the cuteness on top!

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Friday, February 4, 2011

Taylored Expressions Release Day!

Woo Hoo!! It's finally time to go shopping at Taylored Expressions for all the new stamp sets and dies!!! But before you head off to fill your cart, the Baker's Dozen has a fun recap of new stuff to share today.

I worked with Cozy Cottages again today and created this fun piece of art. It started out as a simple scalloped circle acrylic frame. The frames are really fabulous because they're almost like a shadow box, so you can add dimension to whatever you place inside the frame and create all kinds of fun scenes!!! You'll find an assortment of acrylic frames for sale in the TE Store.

When I first saw Cozy Cottages I was drawn to the boot house. You see, I have a bird house collection...all sorts of rustic little houses from all over...and one of them is in the shape of a boot. The image in the stamp set reminded me of it immediately and I knew it was the one I wanted to use on my frame. Here's a picture of it so you can see the similarity...

Because my frame is on the smaller side I opted to include the sentiment on the inside and place the house image on the outside. I like the balance and dimension it creates. The sentiment is stamped onto choice snow white and cut out with a circle nestability. I added a flower brad and cut some green leaves with my leafy branch die. Then I assembled the frame and covered it with papers from the KI Memories Paisley Parade collection. The house is stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black and coloured with copics. Then I cut it out and adhered it to the acrylic frame with foam tape. I added some brown ribbon so I could hang it in my stamp room. These fun acrylic frames are perfect for creating custom gifts and I know I'll be ordering more of them!!!

Here's a recap of the new products and some great sale items too:

4 new stamp sets
4 new dies
1 Lucky Sampler of Papercrafting goodies
1 colouring book for Tiny Chefs
Darcie's Acrylic frames in assorted shapes and sizes
New colours of Stickles
New colours of Smooch
6 patterned paper collections on sale for 20% off

So pop over the the Fresh Out of the Oven section to view all the new items in one place, and don't forget the What's the Deal department for all kinds of sale items, including the patterned papers I mentioned above.

Oh, one last reminder...the February Blast from the Past customer blog hop is coming up on Thursday, February 24th so join in the fun and sign up! Click THIS LINK for all the details. One random participant will win a stamp set of their choice, just for playing along!!

Now you're off to get more ideas from the rest of the Baker's Dozen. Once you're done hopping be sure to check out the Fresh Out of the Oven section for all the new products!!

Lea Lawson, our guest designer

and Nancy McKinney, our fabulous Whimsical Wishes illustrator

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Taylored Expressions Sneak Peek Day 3

Today the Baker's Dozen is sharing samples using the new set It's a Banner Day and the banner day 1 die. This is the first in a series of three stamp sets featuring banner stamps and sentiments with a coordinating banner die. This fun banner concept was brought to us by Iwona Palamountain and she'll be joining us for sneak peeks today.

All the new stamps and dies will be available at Taylored Expressions tomorrow, February 4th at 8am PST.

It's a Banner Day doesn't have any image stamps so you'll find that the Baker's Dozen has combined the versatile sentiments in the set with several stamp sets from previous releases. I decided to pair it with Hangin' Out and make a baby boy card for a friend. I used last week's Mojo Monday sketch, Mojo175, for the layout.

The baby onesie is paper pieced and the three soothers are coloured with copics. I cut everything out and popped the images for dimension, adding three stitched lines to 'hang' the soothers from. I stamped the banner outline with Memento Tuxedo Black then added the sentiment before cutting it out with the coordinating banner day 1 die. The patterned paper is from the Fine & Dandy True Blue paper pad.

Be sure to stop by the rest of the Baker's Dozen blogs to see more eye candy with It's a Banner Day and the banner day 1 die.

and Iwona Palamountain

Tomorrow is release day and I'll see you right back here for a fun project using Cozy Cottages.
Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Taylored Expressions Sneak Peek Day 2

Today the Baker's Dozen has two more fun new stamp sets to share, Fashionista and Wreath of Luck. All the new products will be available at Taylored Expressions on Friday, February 4th at 8am PST.

Let's start with Fashionista. This set is chock full of fun images and sentiments for the diva in your life.

I made a birthday card and I know exactly who this one is going to...I won't say here though just in case she's reading. I stamped the shoes and boxes with Memento Tuxedo Black onto choice buttercream and coloured them with copics. I added sparkle with a Spica glitter pen and a crystal Twinkle. Note the red-bottomed shoe...totally stylin'! I used my Take Note 3 die to cut out the curvy shape before running it through my swiss dots embossing folder, then I adhered the image with foam tape.

The patterned papers are from the KI Memories Paisley Parade collection. I used my small scalloped border die on some suede brown dark then dotted it with more Twinkles. Plenty of stitching is the perfect finishing touch. The layout is SC315.

Next up is Wreath of Luck, the second mini set in the wreath series, which coordinates with the seasonal wreath die that was released last month. I used products from the Lucky Sampler to create this little favour bag.

I chose to use the hat image instead of the wreath and I coloured it up with plenty of shades of green. The hat buckle is all sparkly thanks to my pitch black Spica pen. I stamped the shamrock image with Memento Cottage Ivy all over the little bag and added two green sparkly candy dots. Inside is a cello bag filled with Hershey Kisses...yum!