MIM- Live Life

Hi there! Popping in quick with a card for this week's MIM technique, using non border dies to make a border. After looking through the dies I had I settled on using Meadow Greens. This is such a lovely set. I was prepared to have to possibly die cut a few times to get it right, but this was my first attempt! I do love the seamless look achieved using the partial die cut and the stamps. I matted my card front to a Fine Linen card base and kept it very CAS adding just a bit of machine stitching. Fun technique for sure! Thanks for dropping by :)

Happy- MIM

Hello! I took a few minutes to create a simple card using the current MIM challenge for debossed images. It's a bit hard to see on my card but I de-bossed the frame, happy and the butterflies. This color combo came as a result of me just playing around with some colors I don't normally reach for and I have to say I really like them together! The colors are Autumn Rose, Kraft, Canyon Clay and Aqua Mist. 

 I couldn't leave well enough alone and added some sequins. :) Hope you like it! Thanks for dropping by!

Prayers- Artsy Watercolor Backgrounds MIM

I hope you've had a good beginning to your week. This week's MIM is Artsy Watercolor Backgrounds. I am more than happy to keep playing around with different watercoloring techniques as I am quite infatuated with them. I inked up Solid Stitches and Swirls and Beautiful Butterflies for my images. After I stamped them all I just used a water brush to move the dye ink around and ended with some splattering and few bigger drips.

 It is fascinating to watch how the watercolor dries as it looks quite different dry than when it is still very wet. I love the variations you get and the overall soft look. I hope you like it and if you take the time to leave a comment I just want to say thank you and that it means a lot to me! Have a wonderful day!

Happy Birthday-Cluster Stamped Sentiment

Hello friends! I wanted to play along with the current MIM which is cluster stamped sentiments. This card is my second attempt as my first one failed miserably and went into the trash! Does that ever happen to you? I completely changed stamps for my cluster stamping and I must say I love how this one came out!

I embossed my sentiment (Think Big Favorites 12) in Versamark and embossed in clear powder. My first attempt I used white and the ink just doesn't rub off well. I then chose the tiny flower pair from Happy Hexagons and stamped in Soft Stone, Blush and Heavenly Blue (CTMH) dye inks. For my little tiny dots I used the trio from Harvest Berries. Once I was done I just didn't feel the sentiment popped enough and wanted to pull a bit of green in so I took a tiny leaf from Mini Blooms and stamped in Simply Chartreuse just around the sentiment. 

I added a super thin black mat to give it a bit of contrast, machine stitching and some tiny felt blooms I made using dies. I hope you like it and thank you so much to those who take the time to leave a comment, really brightens my day! See you soon :)

From Me to You With Love- MIM

 Hello! Popping in super quick to share the project I made for the current MIM which is Envelope Wraps. It's a fun idea and the options for it are endless. For mine I kept it pretty simple as it's for my mom to house her Mother's Day card and she likes things more simple. I pulled out my Half and Half dies for my wrap portion and then did some stamping using Life and a sentiment from Mini Blooms. I did lots of second generations stamping and the ink colors I used were Plum Pudding, Soft Stone and Ripe Avocado. My sentiment is in Versafine Onyx Black. I'd like to make more of these as I think it really makes the card inside extra special. Thanks for stopping by!

Paper Scraps Butterfly and Heart

Hello! I'm joining in over at PTI's MIM which is a technique on using up those pretty paper scraps. For my card I chose to use one of the Beautiful Butterfly dies for my negative space and filled it with some bits of pretty paper scraps. I loved the tiny flower embellishment Melissa made on her card so I went hunting through my dies to see what I could use as I don't have the ones she used. I discovered that my Mini Blooms dies work really well for this! I am pretty smitten with how my flower turned out and it is especially sweet cut out of felt. 

I also just had to share what my 6 year old daughter created after being very inspired after watching the MIM video with me. She went and got out her supplies and got to work. She was so cute and she knew exactly what she wanted to do. She hand cut and pieced everything together and as a finishing touch stamped all those little acorns. :) This is going in my special binder that I have to save my favorite art projects my kids do. I hope you enjoy both our projects! Thanks so much for stopping by, and if you choose to leave a comment for my daughter I'll be sure to share them with her, she'll be tickled pink for sure.  xoxoxo

Quilted Baby

Hello! This week's MIM is to create a quilted type look with patterned paper and then give it the quilting detail by running it through an impression plate. I used my Hexagon cover plate with the sandwich so it would cut, just impress. After I impressed it I added a couple of flowers from the Simple Sunflower set and the die cut word, "baby". This was a fun and easy technique. Hope you like my creation! :)

MIM #105- Glitter Trim

I hope you have been having a great weekend:) Mine has been okay...nothing too exciting going on. All last week I was busy making tons of cards to take into a local shop here in town that sells them and managed to combine this week's MIM challenge with one of the baby cards I made. I die cut and glittered the Heart Border die and also pulled out my Sending You set to make a little patterned paper. I really love this set still, but I have got to stop doing this until much, much more of my patterned paper is gone!  Anyway...I colored the flowers and leaves with Copics intentionally not adding any shading and added a cute sentiment from Wplus9. Thanks for stopping by:)

MIM #101- Layered Embossing

This week's MIM was the technique of layered embossing. Well I sure had fun with this one and not only did I layer once but 3 times! I had tried to sell my PTI Remember set but had no takers so I decided to see if I could sell it back to myself :)  I am happy to report that I did. I forgot that this set is a multi-step stamp which I really enjoy and it lent itself perfectly to the MIM this week. I first stamped the light pink layer of the poppy in Versamark and used pink embossing powder to get the color. Then I layered the flower overlay in burgundy EP and finally the center in black EP. The colors ran a bit but not too much and I was careful not to over heat it. The leaves and stem were embossed in green. See the bud flower? I discovered such a pretty was to make that one stamp into a whole new flower that I am excited to try it on a project. So I feel as if I've gained a new stamp set that was mine all along....feels good to use what I already have because really, I have so very much. Thanks for stopping by! 

MIM take 3 and a mini tutorial

One of my MIM cards this week used the PTI Circle coverplate and Guidelines stamp set and I got a request for a bit more on the technique I used, so I put together this little tutorial to show I how I did it :)  I'll show you my completed card first in case you aren't interested in the tutorial. I used the colors Summer Sunrise, Hibiscus Burst, Palette Toile Pink, Spring Moss and Aqua Mist.

 I started with a standard A2 card base of 5 1/2" x 4 1/4" and cut a piece of kraft cardstock that wouldn't completely cover my card base so I'd have room for my sentiment. I used my Big Shot and cut the kraft with the Circle cover plate.

 After punching out all the circles and bits I adhered it to my card base using Scotch Quick Dry adhesive.

 Then I selected my ink colors. I found it easier to keep track of so many colors at one time by lining them up  in the order I was going to stamp them. I also pulled out the Guidelines stamp set again but this time chose 2 of the images to alternate with.

 Since you are not covering the entire card base with the cover plate there is the issue of stamping the top row without getting it on your nice white card base. That is easily solved with a bit of masking. I used a post it and moved it across the top until my top row was all stamped.

 Here is what it looks like with all the stamping done. I alternated the order of colors for each line and also alternated between the two stamp designs I chose.

To finish I stamped a Cricut die cut and stamped the sentiment from Damask Designs (PTI). It's really a very simple technique and you could choose whatever small stamp images you have that fit the circle openings. I think little flower images would look really cute or hearts! I hope you enjoyed my post and thanks so much for dropping by! :)

Repeats and Rainbows take 2

For my second card I used the Circle cover plate die and Guidelines 2. I was very excited to discover that the Guidelines stamp set works so well with the cover plate and makes such gorgeous patterns. For this color combo I made up my own of Melon berry, Summer Sunrise, Hibiscus Burst, Spring Moss and Aqua Mist. The sentiment is a Think Big Favorites. I hope you like these happy colored cards as much as I enjoyed making them! Thanks for stopping by:)

MIM #99- Repeats and Rainbows

 This week's MIM is repeats and rainbows. I actually had a lot of fun with this and it's something I'd probably never do without a challenge:)  For my first card I used the smallest fully assembled image from Lovely Layers and used one of the color schemes given on Nicole's blog. I reversed the order for the bottom row, added a couple of score lines and added the sentiment in grey ink. I really like how it turned out. I have a second take as well and since it won't let me link it twice on the challenge site I'm off to write up a post for that one :)

MIM#96- Nothing is Impossible

 Hello! I hope you have been having a good week. Mine took an unexpected turn when early Tuesday morning  I had a stomach bug that did not play nice with me at all!  Thankfully I am feeling much better and the kids seemed to have bounced back quickly too :)  I suppose it was a good time to hit...better now than in a few days which would be much to close to Christmas!  This week's MIM was a fun one, patchwork dies. I decided to make up a last minute gift with this technique and chose to use one of the butterfly dies from Beautiful Butterflies. Normally I really, really dislike mass producing but it seems I've been doing more of it lately and well, it's sort of growing on me. They sure do look all pretty together don't they? I kept these simple so they could be easily mailable so I used some dry embossing and some pearl pen for a pretty, but still flat accent. I also used PTI's Half and Half dies (love those!) and the Sew Simple Borders. I hope you are enjoying these last few days before Christmas...our week is going to get very busy:)  Thanks for stopping by!

MIM #95- Birthday Wishes

This week's MIM is to make layered glitter shapes. My glitter is sure getting a workout :) I have a very small Xyron sticker machine so I had to be sure my shape would fit through it and I chose a butterfly die from Beautiful Butterflies. Ever start a card and have no idea what direction you are going? Well, that's how this one was for me, so I pulled out my inspiration binder and decided to use Lace Bouquet and then thought of the Filigree border die and used a pre-cut and stamped Fabulous Frames die and it just kind of made itself:)  The sentiment is from Round and Round. I really love how it came out and that butterfly has major sparkle in person! Hope you are having a good week....I'm so happy to have most all my Christmas gifts done. It's the first year I haven't felt stressed out! Totally worth starting in September. Thanks for stopping by!

Hang Your Heart....MIM#94

This week's MIM has been good for me because though I love glitter I do often forget to use it. I like adding just a bit too. Here I pulled out my Love Lives Here-Holiday (how I adore this set!) and stamped the lady, angel wings and a little pine sprig for her to hold. My glitter detail is on the bottom of her dress and the tops of her wings...it's so hard to get a good photo of the glitter, but I promise it is there! The square frame was cut with my Cricut using the Artiste cartridge and the little banner was inspired by the new Wplus9 release. I am trying very hard not to spend money on every crafty goodie I see and want and instead search my more than ample stash and see if I can come up with something similar to fulfill the need for new. In this case I am very happy with the results. The banner string is from Banner Builders and the hearts are from a Pretty Patches set from Wplus9. I did some dry embossing and then finished it off with the sentiment also from LLH-H. Well...I hope you like it! I got most of my Christmas cards out in the mail today and have been finishing up all the other gifts....I am nearly done! Thanks for dropping by:)

MIM #94- Blessed Christmas

This week's MIM is to use glitter as an accent. I had a Quickie Glue pen but it didn't get used frequently enough that the glue dried up in it and I had to toss it. So I just used my favorite liquid glue, Scotch Quick Dry. I pulled out my Simple Sunflower set again because I had seen a card using it to make poinsettias and thought that was a fabulous idea and it makes the set even more versatile. I went for a very non-traditional color scheme and used Fabulous Frames as well as a sentiment from Star of Wonder. My glitter is Martha Stewart, Antique Gold. I really like how it came out and I hope to use this technique again this week, it's fun to add just a bit of sparkle:) Thanks for stopping by!

MIM #93- O Holy Night

Hello! This card uses the technique on the MIM post for this week, splitting die cuts. I can't say I'm happy with how this turned out and almost didn't want to post it, but decided to anyway:)  The star (nativity silhouettes) I tried to make the star all pearly but, um, it didn't turn out so well. Hopefully whoever gets this card this Christmas won't mind too much. I did break out the new Sew Simple Borders which I really had fun with and will use a lot. Hope you are having a good weekend. The kids and I went shopping for a few more gifts and got them all wrapped and under the tree. Now they are even more excited! Thanks for stopping by!

MIM #92- The Star

This is the first time I've ever played along with a challenge twice in one week! I just love the MIM using layered vellum die cuts and while thinking of what I could layer up next I got the idea for this card. Do you ever have an idea that actually comes out even better than you first could see? Well, this card is it for me:)  Such fun creating this one! Sorry for the less than great pic.... The trees (from Love Lives Here-Holiday) were cut with vellum and embossed with polka dots and then stitched with my sewing machine to the card panel. I also added some stitching to the snow banks, I love that special stitch my machine has! Then I added the sentiment (Silent Night) and a big star embossed in gold powder from Nativity Silhouettes.  All the little vellum stars are from the same LLH-Holiday die as well. I then distressed the edges and popped up the whole panel on foam adhesive. I hope you like it as much as I do! Your comments truly brighten my day! See you soon:)

MIM #92- Merry Christmas

This week's MIM was to use layered vellum die cuts. So pretty. I often forget to use vellum but I do love the softness is adds and it's so pretty embossed. I cut the Lovely Layers dies twice, embossed them with a cuttlebug folder and layered them up. I added some liquid pearls to the middle for a little bit of shine and to keep it flat and easy to mail. I used Snowflake Serenade for the background and the sentiment is from Nativity Silhouettes. I do like how the Lovely Layers came out cut with the vellum. I think it gives the feel of a snowflake. Thanks for stopping by:)

Pretty Bloom-MIM

This week's MIM is to make your own embellishment and you can do it to varying degrees of intricacy. For mine I did a fairly simple flower, but I love how it came out. I finally got the Beautiful Blooms II die #1 collection that I have had wishlisted since they were released and I am so happy to have them! So, here is another baby card, using the new Bitty Baby dies (which I love!) and some sentiment words from a couple of other PTI baby sets as well. Can you tell I'm in baby card mode again? Just be thankful I don't show them all to you! *lol* Not sure if you can tell, but I flocked the bunny, so sweet IRL. Hope you are having a great Wednesday!