Nature 43

Hi there! I hope you are having a great weekend! Today I have a layout to share featuring a photo that was taken while we were visiting Jerry and April in San Francisco. Can you believe I actually used a colored photo rather than black and white??? I printed the photo in both variations but so much of the detailed brick and stone work seemed to have been lost in the black and white version. 

To create the background, I started with a pretty piece of 13arts patterned paper, applied a thin coat of gesso. Once dry, I stamped a trio of Winged Beauties and the chickenwire design from Distressed Background Blocks. For texture, I applied the brick wall design using the Brick Wall stencil along with fiber paste followed with several different shades of pink paints. Once dry, I added more design using the Teardrop stencil:

I embellished with all homemade flowers and foliage using the following Die-namics dies: Die-namics Leaf-Filled Flourish, Die-namics Plentiful Petals and Die-namics Mini Rolled Roses:

For color inspiration, I joined along with Scrap Around the World:

while focusing on the color combo shown in this photo of the inspiration board:

and for sketch inspiration, I joined along with Once Upon A Sketch where the theme is "Addicted to..."

Thanks so much for visiting ~ I hope you have a great week!

Be Sweet ;)

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Fun 50

Hi there! Hope all is well with you! I've been having fun playing with stencils, stamps, texture pastes, paper, etc... again! I'm all over the place with my crafting ~ one day, I feel like making a card for a certain someone or just for fun then the next day, I feel like creating on a much larger scale so I make a 12" x 12" layout or maybe I feel like playing in my art journal or creating a tag. That's what I love about this crazy hobby, it is so versatile and there are so many "things" to create. In my opinion, one can never get bored! :) I'm curious, do you have one type of project that you make or do you mix it up too?

With that being said, today I have a layout to share featuring a photo of myself that was taken while hiking one of our favorite hiking trails in our backyard. 

For the background, I started with a gorgeous piece of 7 Dots Studio paper then added texture using the Brick Wall stencil along with some fiber paste. Once dry, I applied various colored inks and sprays. 

I layered lots of distressed strips of 7 Dots Studio paper then added a variety of blossoms from my stash including a beautiful hand crocheted blossom made by my sweet sister Tina:

After everything was stitched in place and dry, I randomly stamped the chicken wire image from Distressed Background Blocks:

For theme inspiration, I joined along with the 7 Dots Studio October challenge which is to create a project focusing on "Something Done for Yourself" which for me is hiking. Of course I enjoy spending time with my sweet husband ~ Scott and dear sister  ~Tina hiking, biking and lifting weights at the gym BUT when it comes down to it, I do it for myself :) It makes me not only feel good, strong and healthy but allows me to fit in my clothes :)

For sketch inspiration, I joined along with the Sketchabilities sketch challenge:

Many thanks for visiting ~ I hope you enjoyed my layout.
Be Sweet ;)

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Explore 40

Hello there! Hope you are having a great weekend! I had some "me" time tonight so I made a layout featuring a photo of Scott and I standing in front of THE St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican City. I can't even begin to tell you how amazing the inside is! 

I made a trio of flowers using the following Die-namics: Large Royal Rose, Upsy-Daisy and a Mini Royal Roses die.

I added a Fancy butterfly then for added interest to the background, I randomly stamped the polka dot image from Distressed Background Blocks and the text image from Collage Backgrounds:

I've never made an exclusively black and white layout so I took on the September Scrap Around The World Challenge for "color" inspiration:

and for sketch inspiration, I joined along with Keeping the best sketch challenge:

Thank you for stopping by ~ I hope you are inspired to create!
Be Sweet ;)

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with love 39

Hi there! Hope all is well with you. I had a lot of fun with April while she was in town visiting. We completed all the wedding invitations over the weekend! Yahoo :) There wasn't any stamping involved other than on the envelopes so when all was said and done, the assembly took roughly 6 hours. April and I worked for 3 hours on Saturday then her Mom joined us on Sunday and we wrapped it up within 3 hours. Scott being my tech support 24/7, designed and formatted the inside of the invitation as well as the response card info. April was very appreciative to have that task behind her and skipped off with her box full of invites :) I feel very blessed that my son Jerry met such a sweet girl and that I had a chance to get to know her over the past 5 years.

I had some time to play today, so I made this mixed media card. After creating the colorful background paper using the Gelli Arts printing plate and various acrylic paints, I die cut 6 square panels using Die-namics Pierced Square STAX dies and a heart using Die-namics Hearts a Plenty die. 

For added interest and contrast I randomly stamped the chicken wire design from Distressed Background Blocks and stenciled design using Concentric Circles. I finished it off with a sentiment from Winged Beauties and a Sno Cone button:

For sketch inspiration, I joined along with Freshly Made Sketches:

and for color inspiration, I joined along with the Fusion Card Challenge:

Thanks so much for visiting!
Be Sweet ;)

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Bucket List...MFT September NPT 35

Hi there!  Welcome to the MFT September NPT where you'll get a look at ALL the new stamp sets one more time. You can finalize your wish list and head over to the MFT Boutique to SHOP until your hearts content! All the new products are available NOW, right HERE! Thanks to all those who took the time to leave such kind and encouraging comments over the past week. I am very grateful for your time! I hope you like all the new MFT products as much as I do!

***WARNING ~ this post contains MANY  photos!***

Tonight I have a variety of projects to share focusing on my newest products: Winged Beauties stamp set, Die-namics Winged Beauties, the Winged Beauties Stencil, the Scallops Stencil, the Checkerboard Stencil and the Houndstooth Stencil while of course including many other fab products included in the new release.

First up is a layout featuring a photo of me taking my sweet Westies: Gretchen and Griffin for a stroll :)

To create this layout, I stitched a piece of paper that I made using the Gelli Arts plate onto a piece of card stock then using the Winged Beauties Stencil, I added a trail of fluttering butterflies. 

I embellished it with Contemporary Roses:

and various sized Winged Beauties:

Layered behind the photo is pretty die cut paper that was created using the Die-namics Fancy Butterflies die and I stamped a few sentiments using LLD Journal It - Take Note then adorned each sentiment with small butterflies made using Die-namics Winged Beauties:

Next up is another layout featuring a photo of Meredith feeding the giraffes at the San Diego Wild Animal Park several years ago:

Using the Houndstooth Stencil, I added a lot of texture and design to the background then embellished with various butterflies made using Winged Beauties 

as well as the Die-namics Fancy Butterflies die:

I also embellished with stamped / die cut Contemporary Roses along with a variety of handmade rolled roses:

I journaled on a die cut piece of notebook paper that was made using a Die-namics Mini Album Torn Notebook STAX die. I stamped the paper lines, checkmark and title using images from LLD Journal It - Take Note and also added a clock made using MPD Timeless. 

Last but not least is a card featuring a back ground that was stenciled using the Scallops Stencil and topped off with a butterfly and sentiment from the Winged Beauties stamp set

Thanks so much for visiting ~ I hope you enjoyed my projects today!

It's time to head over to the MFT Blog to see what the rest of the team is up to. Be sure to check out all the designers' creations to get one last look at every stamp set releasing 
tonight.
Be Sweet ;)
Mona

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With Love 37

Hi there! Hope you are having a great week! It's time for an all new MFT Wednesday Stamp Club sketch challenge which is now hosted on the MFT blog! 

I've been playing around with a few stencils, ink, mists and stamps and this is what I came up with:

I created the background paper first using the Concentric Circles stencil, the Petal Pattern stencil, the text stamp from Collage Backgrounds and the polka dot stamp from Distressed Background Blocks:

I framed the smaller hibiscus from Tropical Sensations in a die cut InstaFrame then finished it off with a Blu Raspberry button, a kraft die cut heart and sentiment from Tropical Sensations.

Here's the this week's sketch:

For color inspiration, I joined along with the ColourQ challenge:

Thanks so much for stopping by ~ please be sure to visit the MFT blog for complete details and inspiration!
Be Sweet ;)

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