Saturday, December 24, 2016

Merry Christmas & a very happy and blessed New Year's wish

Hello crafty friends,

The holiday season has kept me super busy as I'm sure you all can relate to. I haven't had much time to craft let alone post pics here but did manage make some super quick Christmas cards to be able to send to family and friends but I didn't take any pictures of those. I made one more card using one of my favorite MFT sketches for my DD because I accidentally sent hers in the mail. lol



Wishing all of you a blessed and safe holiday season and many blessings in the coming year!

Hugs,
Bettina :)

Thursday, December 8, 2016

Magical Christmas

Hello there,

Is everyone getting into the Christmas spirit? We're slowly getting ready taking our time decorating and whatnot over the course of advent. Of course, I have to make a few Christmas cards, too, to send out to family and a few close friends. I dreamed up this card I'm sharing today over the course of a week or so. I've had this super cute BB You Have My Heart stamp set for a while but strangely enough haven't used it very often. Every time I look at the stamp of the little girl with her pup looking at each other I feel like they're sharing some secret or witnessing something beautiful together (like a cozy fire, a beautiful sunrise/sunset, fireworks (I actually made a card with that)......or Santa trying to scramble up the chimney.

I couldn't even begin to share what all went into making this card but the main products were the BB You Have My Heart stampset & dies by MFT for the main image, the BB Santa's Elves for the elf, the tree & some of the presents and baubles, the BB Beary Special Birthday stamp set & dies for presents, the ME Charmed stamps & die set for the wreath, and finally the Cricut Quilted Christmas cartridge for the Santa in the fireplace image and the Cricut Creative Cards cartridge for the window & curtains.. Before your eyes glaze over, lol, here's the card:




I cut the firplace with Santa image using my old Cricut Expression 2 from all white cardstock because I didn't want to have to figure out the colored cardstock and also because either way I would add details because otherwise it looks a bit flat to me. So, all the colors and details were colored in using my Spectrum Noir markers.



I imagined a story where Santa and his helper were busy delivering presents and decorating when they heard footsteps. 'Course they had to try to leave in a hurry and the little elf didn't get a chance to clean up after himself and left tree baubles all over the place. He's still waiting for the right time to make his escape. I'm sure Santa won't leave without him. Lol. That little girl and her pup are just amazed at watching Santa scramble up the chimney. He's taking a while cause his jelly-belly isn't making it easy. lol. That's my story, and I'm stickin' to it. hahahah...



The card still needs a sentiment and a recipient but it's otherwise finished. Hope you enjoyed this share.

The sentiment will read "Enjoy the magic of Christmas" and that's what I wish for all of you.

Thanks for stopping by. May you have a blessed, crafty, & magical day.

Hugs,
Bettina :)

Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Hope Santa spoils you rotten and lots more...

Hello there,

Huge card share for you. Once again, I'm late. I share a computer and it's just hard for me to get on here lately to post but I finally have a chance to jump on here and share.

The cards that I made were for the MFTWSC#308...last week's. A really great sketch; super versatile. I made quite a few cards with this sketch simply because once I got the idea in my head that the circular shape in the background was like a Christmas ornament I decided to make a bunch of Christmas cards with this sketch. And I was just on the roll. lol

For the first cards I used the MFT BB Santa's Elves stamp set. I used a Tim Holtz stencil (Holiday Knits) throughout and some distress inks to create the background circle. Then I colored in the elf and fussy-cut him out. I did some heat embossing for the sentiment (I love heat embossing, by the way...I don't think I know how to make a card without using this technique. lol) and then just put the elements together using foam tape for some added dimension. That's pretty much how I did all the cards. I just varied the images and stamp sets and the matting papers. Oh, and one of them is a shaker card. Here they are:


I think this next one might be my favorite of the 3. I cut around the sentiment because it helped to make the elf look like he's peeking over while holding onto an ornament. I fussy-cut him; in the original image he's peeking into a stocking. Adorbz!!!




For the next set of cards I used Mama Elephant's 'Reindeer Games' stamp set and colored up a bunch of those cuties. Thankfully I have the coordinating dies for these. I think of these 3 maybe the pink one is my favorite but they're all really cute aren't they?




Did you have a favorite?

Thanks for stopping by and peeking in. Leave any questions in the comments and I'll try to answer them quick as I can.

Have a blessed and crafty day.

Hugs,
Bettina :)

Wednesday, November 23, 2016

Happy Bear-thday Shaker

Hello,

Just quickly wanted to jump on here to share a card I created for an MFT Color challenge. I've never done a color challenge before and had been wanting to so when I checked it out and saw the color palette I couldn't let it pass me by.


The colors are classic and timeless. So here's my entry for MFT Color Challenge #57


It's a shaker card using MFT ever so cute BB Beary Special Birthday stamp set. For this stamp set I also have the matching dies which makes me very happy because I'm not great at fussy cutting and sometimes my hands hurt. To frame the shaker bits, which are a combination of red, silver, and clear sequins from my stash (probably Darice brand from Michael's) I used the MFT Stitched Rectangle Scallop Frames die and colored it with some dark red Spectrum Noir markers to match the balloon and bow. I stamped the sentiment directly onto the acetate with black StazOn ink. That took a couple of tries because I always seem to make a mess and smudge things. But nothing an alcohol wipe can't fix.

The bear I colored with cool greys. Everything got sparkled up with my Spectrum Noir glitter brush marker and a touch of glossy accents adds shine and extra cuteness to the bear's nose.


I thought the inside of the shaker looked a bit bare (lol---just realized that could sound a bit like a pun) so I stamped the stack of presents in Memento flannel grey ink and colored it with light shades of cool grey. And I thought that was just enough of something in the background.



That's my card share. Hope you enjoyed.

Have a safe & blessed Thanksgiving and I hope you get to spend it in the company of family & friends with much love & laughter.

Hugs,
Bettina :)



Saturday, November 19, 2016

Seasonal Cards

Hi there,

Wanted to share some more card projects that I created last week. The first one is a variation on a card from a previous post using the tree image from the MFT stamp set Santa's Elves. But this time I used Tim Holtz distress inks like watercolors and applied the color with a paint brush and layered the colors, drying each layer in between. I entered this one in a monthly challenge for a FB Group called Scrappin' Stampers. It's the FB page of Jamie from Not2Shabby shop. She always has a fun new challenge every month for a chance to win a $10 gift card to use in her store. And she also always offers discounts when you shop with her. 

So, here's the card I created for her challenge:


I have a snowflake embossing folder that I finally had a chance to use and it just adds just the right detail to the background so it's not too plain but still kind of clean and simple. For some sparkle I used a Spectrum Noir clear glitter brush pen...I'm not sure if it's legal to create a holiday card without sparkle and shine and I just couldn't take the chance. lol ;)


I used Tim Holtz Platinum Gold embossing powder around the edges of the center image as well as to stamp the image and the sentiment. I used a die from the MFT Blueprints Dienamics 5 set to add the notecard detail to the top of the front panel piece. And for some extra shine I added some gold splatter using some gold spray.


The next card was for an MFTWSC305 from a couple of weeks ago. I didn't get it done in time but still wanted to make a card because I had this idea right away when I saw the sketch. I didn't use an MFT stamp for this. The stamp is from Art Impressions called Mini Raccoon Spinner. It's also my first spinner card. I used similar colors and the style of coloring as I saw on the packaging of the stampset. I used warm greys of Spectrum Noir alcohol markers to color him in. This card was super fun to make and came together pretty quickly. I had a little bit of a problem getting the front and back to match up (the stamp set does come with a die) and I think you have to stamp the back image onto the back of the die cut, if that makes sense. I will have to try it that way next time to see if it works out better that way. Instead of a pic I thought I'd post a short clip of the card in action:



Soooo....that's my card share for now.

Thanks for stopping by.

Have a blessed and crafty day.

Hugs,
Bettina :)

Tuesday, November 15, 2016

It's Your Day!

Hi there,

I managed to make a few cards over the weekend and I'm excited to share them with you.

First I have a cute birthday card using this adorable piggy from the MFT BB Hog Heaven stamp set. I was using the MFTWSC306 for the layout but changed it up ever so slightly because I really didn't want to cover up the piggy. So this is what I came up with.





The next card is also for the MFTWSC306 but it's a Christmas card. Here I used the tree image from MFT's BB Santa's Elves stamp set. The colors didn't translate well in the picture, but I tried to create a soft pink background using Tim Holtz's Spun Sugar distress ink and then contrasted that with a brightly colored tree in Twisted Citron. I added lots of sparkle with a Spectrum Noir clear glitter pen.




So, that's my card share for today. I have a couple more posts I'm working on for later this week. If you have any questions about colors and products, please do ask in the comments and I'll try to get the info for you.

Thanks for stopping by.

Have a blessed and crafty day.

Hugs,
Bettina :)

MFT Thankful for You

Hi there

Kind of have something cool to share....one of my favorite stamp companies, MFT Stamps, was having a "Thankful for You" event last week in which they featured some of their customers' and designers' creations using their products. Well, one of my recent card creations made it on their blog. It's pretty neat-O. Here's the link http://www.mftstamps.com/blog/thankfulforyou_4/

Here's the card they used.


And there were many other beautiful card creations to inspire you. Hope you get a chance to check it out.

Thanks for stopping by.

Have a blessed and crafty day.

Hugs,
Bettina:)

Thursday, November 10, 2016

Trick or Treat Bear Hugs

Hi there,

Thought I'd pop on here real quick to share a couple of card creations. They're for the MFTWSC #305. I did post it on time at the MFT FB page but just hadn't gotten around to posting about it on my blog. Sorry about that. My week was crazy busy and I didn't get a chance to join last week's challenge at all (super bummed). But anyway, here are the cards I made using MFTs Pure Innocence "Bear Hugs" stamp set, which is no longer available. I do apologize. I did not realize that the stamp was discontinued because I feel like I haven't had it that long.

I did NOT realize, when I started out coloring the image, that it would be a Halloween card. Sometimes it's easier for me to pick out papers or a color palette first before coloring any images, but I decided to color the image first and then had a hard time figuring out what papers to use. Then I found the Halloween paper pad by My Mind's Eye and decided that worked well.








And, although I was happy with the Halloween card it bothered me that the card didn't come out the way I envisioned it. I wanted flowers on it. So, I stamped her one more time and colored her differently and found some pretty papers and this time I was really happy with how my second card turned out. 




Hope you like them too. That's all I have for now. I am working on some more cards for this week's MFTWSC and actually finished one yesterday (late) for last week's. (Too late to enter it but I'm still going to share it with you guys when I have more time (hopefully this weekend).

MFT blog and their FB always has lots of inspiration so I hope you get a chance to check them out.

Thanks for stopping by and I'll be back soon.

Have a blessed and crafty day.

Hugs,
Bettina :)

Friday, October 28, 2016

Pawprint on My Heart card

Hello,

I almost nearly forgot to share this little cutie project. This is for yet another MFT card challenge, MFTWSC303. I barely finished it on Wednesday after their next sketch had already gone up.....in other words....I was late. lol.

The reason I've been joining these challenges is two-fold. First, I seem to have a lot of MFT stamps & dies and Two: this gets me started in cardmaking and I finally use the stamps and dies that I have.

Anyway, so this card came about after some brainstorming with my daughter. I showed her the sketch and asked her what she envisioned. So we went from fish and bubbles to fish tank (I told her I have no fish stamps) to halloween & x-rays....and ended up with this. lol.



I know...it was a logical progression ;)

My favorite part is actually the blended background. I used Tim Holtz distress inks in pinks and reds. The stamp set is the same one I used in the "I Love Mew" card that I posted here.

A lot of heat embossing went into this card. The pawprints on the background, the kitty's outline on the x-ray and the sentiment were all heat embossed. The enamel dots are actually Nuvo Crystal drops that I created separately on my craft mat and then placed on the card once they were set. I originally placed the Nuvo drops directly on the card but didn't like the rough edges once they dried. So I carefully pried them off and used the pre-made ones. Here are some close-ups.




The sentiment is continued on the inside.


So that's this week's project. I've already started work on the new MFT card sketch challenge and I will hopefully finish that one on time. I have a million ideas for this latest sketch but I think I finally settled one. If I have time, I might create the other ideas I have.

Anyway, thanks for stopping by and hanging out with me for a bit.

Have a blessed and crafty day.

Hugs,
Bettina :)

Sunday, October 23, 2016

Christmas Gift Tags

Hello fellow crafters,

Just a quick share of my latest crafty project. I made a few tags for Jamie's Scrappin Stampers FB group October challenge using the BB Santa's Elves stamp set by MFT. These playful elves are too cute and were the perfect size for these little tags.


As small and as simple as they may look, they were truly a challenge for me to make. I don't know what my issue was but it took me days to finish these. I used an older Christmas themed 6x6 paper pad I had in my stash and cut the shapes with a Spellbinders die. When it was time to add the ribbon for hanging I tore the paper a bit (the hole was too small for the ribbon I was trying to use) hence the use of a snowflake eyelet on one of the tags. I also switched to some gold thread and baker's twine instead of ribbon. Because the images took up quite a bit of space I couldn't fit the "to" and "from" on the front of all of them so I stamped it on the back.



Coming up with colors and color combos is always hard for me as well. I really like the idea of bright colors and green hats vs red so all of the elves are wearing the same colored hat and shoes. I did want them all to be a little bit different so they all wear different colored shirts and leggings. For the white on their hat and the stocking I added lots of shimmer with the Spectrum Noir glitter brush pen.




So that's my project share for today. I hope it gave you inspiration to start on your own Christmas projects. Thanks for stopping by.

Have a blessed & crafty day.

Hugs,
Bettina :)

Saturday, October 15, 2016

I Love Mew

Hi there,

So, I decided to leave the card alone and not add any more to it. Less is more, right? I'm super happy with how the card turned out and I definitely also learned a few things along the way--mainly what NOT to do when creating a shaker card with micro beads. lol.  Anyway, here's the card and my take on the MFTWSC302 


I used the MFT BB Knead You stamp set...soooo cute. I tried to color the kitty to look like ours; she's a tortoise shell and she's grey and white with tan patches all over. 


I hand doodled the string coming from the ball of yarn and squiggled it a bit to give the string some "yarny" texture. I used the largest of the MFT Stitched Rectangle Scallop Frames and also decided to use the MFT Stitched Interactive Window Trio die for the first time EVER. Once I had the windows cut out and stamped the images that would be under each window flap I decided to make it a shaker card.

I first layed the front panel with the windows onto the card front and traced the squares so I could see where I wanted to stamp the images and sentiments that would go inside the shaker and be concealed by the flaps. I stamped one of the yarn ball images in the first window, one of the mice in the middle, and the I Love Mew sentiment in the last window underneath the kitty. Then I masked off the area around the window and added some Tim Holtz distress inks; Spun Sugar along the bottom portion of each window and Tea Dye across the top.

Next I added some acetate on the back of the front panel to create the windows and then added foam tape and micro beads. I kind of did things backwards and had trouble centering the card panel with the front panel but in the end it all worked out. 


I think this would make a cute Valentines or anniversary card...or a Just Because card.


So, that's my card for today. I really enjoyed creating this card. Hope you like it, too.

Have a blessed and crafty day.

Hugs,
Bettina :)

Thursday, October 13, 2016

Sneak peek

Hi there

I'm working on the next card sketch challenge by MFT and I'm nearly finished. Here's a sneak peek


Just trying to figure out if it needs anything else before I post final pics.

Have a blessed and crafty day.
Hugs
Bettina :)