Paper, Ribbon, and Thread: November 2013

Saturday, 30 November 2013

Get Inspired - Red and White Christmas

Hi everyone! Its Saturday which means its time for some cardmaking inspiration!

This week its my turn to share something I've found inspirational. Again I've turned to Pinterest, but I couldn't help it, lol! With the turn in weather I've been starting to feel the holiday spirit, so I've been wading through a lot of pictures on Pinterest. I found this one really pretty:

The original comes from Entheos Web Blog in a post that contains free calendar desktop wallpapers. Click the link to have a look!

I love the contrast of the white on red, and I immediately had a card idea with this pictured. The card came out pretty much as I had imagined. Don't you love it when that happens!

I started with a red card base and a panel of velum for the front, and white for the inside. Once I stamped and embossed the trees from "All is Calm", and I added some gitter glue and allowed it to dry. Once the panels were distressed and adhered I added some doodling with white gel pen, red gemstones, and a decorated wooden snowflake. The velum did curl a bit while drying, but when adhered with pop dots I like the vintage look it gives.

As it turns out, this card was pretty quick to make (not including glue drying time) so I may make some more of these assembly-line style for mailing to family and friends. A simple substitution of a die cut snow flake for the wooden one would make this mail friendly. I also think this would be pretty in many different colours like green, navy and kraft.

I hope you have found my creation inspiring! Don't forget to go to the Get Inspired page at MFP Speedy TV next week to see what MariLynn does with this image. In the meantime have a look around you and see if anything inspires you. Inspiration to create can come from anywhere! Feel free to share your creations with us. :)

If you are not a member of MFP Speedy TV, its a free social networking site focused on stamping and cardmaking with MFP stamps. In additon to our column you will find lots of inspiration, including other informative columns on a daily basis, so why not click over and see what you are missing!

By the way, part one of the December blog hop featuring the new stamps starts next week so don't forget to visit the Mark's Finest Papers Blog on Tuesday, I hope to see you there. We're trying out a new way to hop so feel free to let us know what you think!

Saturday, 23 November 2013

Get Inspired - Colors of Sisters (Part 2)

Hi Everyone, happy Saturday! Its my turn to contribute for our Get Inspired column over at MFP Speedy TV!

My card this week uses inspiration provided by MariLynn last week, a cute picture of her beautiful girls when they were young. Those grins would make anyone smile! :)

I love the bright pink and grape purple, a favourite colour combination from my own childhood. I love the bows, then thought of other cute things that little girls like such as butterflies, sparkles, little birds and fuzzy caterpillars. Here is what I came up with:

I started with the embossing folder and worked out from there. I thought the images and sentiments from stamp sets 'Birds and Trees' and 'Spring Things' went well with what I was going for. I really like how this turned out!

Are you inspired to create? If so please link your creation below, we would love to see what you come up with!

As I mentioned before, this post is part of the Get Inspired page at MFP Speedy TV . If you are not a member of MFP Speedy TV, its a free social networking site focused on stamping and card making with MFP stamps. In addition to our column you will find lots of inspiration, including other informative columns on a daily basis, so why not click over and see what you are missing!

Thats it for me this week! Next week I will have some new inspiration for you, see you then! :)

Friday, 15 November 2013

MFP Blog Hop Day #4 - Chill in the Air

Mark's Finest Papers November Blog Hop!

This month's new stamp set releases are

November 12 - Tigers

November 13 - Duck Hunting

November 14 - Out on the Town

November 15 - Chill in the Air

Please hop along with us! You have a chance to win one of the above stamp sets! Just comment on the folowing blogs (don't forget this one) each day for more chances to win! You do NOT have to comment on all the blogs each day as the names are drawn randomly. All four winners will be announced on November 16, 2013 on the Mark's Finest Papers blog. You can go back and comment if you missed a day. (HINT: The more you comment, the more chances you have to win! Comments on the MFP blog count twice!) The deadline for commenting is 10 PM EST on Friday November 15, 2013.

The special stamp set we have for you this month is called "Calendar"

The mini stamp set we have for you is called "Mini New Year"

Today's set is called "Chill in the Air".

I can't tell you how much I love this set! I love trees, especially trees in winter. As a result I was inspired to make three cards for this set, all holiday themed.

First of all, I apologize for the blurryness of image of the inside of the card. I usually take multiple photos of each angle, but when I flipped it to the inside the card wouldn't stay up so I snapped one picture as quickly as I could before it fell again. I didn't realize it was so blurry until I went to edit the pictures. Oh well, I think you get the idea! I used sentiments from "All is Calm".

I love embossing on velum, and its hard to see but to make the branches look more snowy I added some white gel pen highlights. I lalso ove the little bit of glitz the shiney snowflakes add, they look black in some shots because I was wearing black when I took the pictures, but they are actually mirror-like silver. They were a fun dollar store find! :)

For this card I decided to take advantage of some patterned paper from my favourite Fancy Pants 6x6 pad, using the mittens image that looks almost paper-pieced. Don't you love when your patterned paper does all of the work for you? I used sentiments from today's set on the outside, and then the "Happy Holiday's" sentiment on the inside from "All is Calm".

I think this one is my favourite of the trio, I used all of my favourite things when making it! Embossing on vellum, distressing, lots of rhinestones, snowflakes, and another sentiment from what has become my favourite Christmas set, "All is Calm". (By the way, I think "All is Calm" is the perfect complement for "Chill in the Air". If you don't already have this set you may want to add it to your cart when purchasing this month's stamps).

I also love how my snowflake embellishment turned out. The curly ribbon was added to the card first through two holes punched in the top layer. The snowflake covers up the holes. I then added some platinum and silver pigment inks to a wooden snowflake, then added some clear embossing powder before the ink dried which was blasted with the heat gun. It gives an icy effect! The wooden snowflake was layered with a silver snowflake and a big rhinestone. The whole thing was glued over the ribbon.

I hope you have enjoyed my creations, but the fun is not over! If you started here the hop list is below so you can start from the beginning. Or, if you've been hopping along talented Toni is next on the list!

Once you are done hopping you should really visit Mark's Finest Papers Store where you can find all of the lovely stamps we've been showcasing. They also have lots of supplies to supliment your crafty creations!

Here's the Design Team:

Cathy C

Gail

Guest Designer - Kelli Jo

Thursday, 14 November 2013

MFP Blog Hop Day #3 - Out on the Town

Mark's Finest Papers November Blog Hop!

This month's new stamp set releases are

November 12 - Tigers

November 13 - Duck Hunting

November 14 - Out on the Town

November 15 - Chill in the Air

The special stamp set we have for you this month is called "Calendar"

The mini stamp set we have for you is called "Mini New Year"

Today's stamp set is called "Out on the Town".

I love this set! These stamps remind me of classic glamour, and also of my grandmother who always made a point to dress like a lady. Here is what I came up with:

Often when I make a set of cards I know from the start that that is what I'm going to do. This time, thats not how it worked out. For this stamp set I had fully intended to a few completely different cards, but after I made the first one I fell in love and decided to do the same with the other two stamps. I simply stamped the image in Chestnut Roan ink on kraft cardstock and coloured with a white Recollections marker. I stamped the image again on scrap paper, trimmed it out, and used removable adhesive to make a mask. I masked the image and sprayed, trying to concentrate the spray on the image so most of the colour appeared to be behind the image. This didn't work out as well with the navy but I still like the effect. I finished the images with clear glitter glue which I loooove!! Sentiments and rhinestones finished the cards off.