Mother's Little Helper

Two Birds, One Stone

Hey, gang. I've got a two-fer for you today.  Here's my Mojo Monday (#395) sample, as well as an example of my favorite color combo for feature on the Your Next Stamp Blog:

Go to the YNS Blog if you want to get up close & personal with moi, as I yakity-yak about the fam, my time with YNS, what images I like best, and my favorite color combos. It's riveting, fascinating, and mind blowing, for sure.  Don't read it before bedtime or you'll be up all night from the excitement.  (I have that effect on people, you know.)

I used the new For the Boys stamp set and the Circles Die Set to create the above card, based on the following Tall & Skinny sketch by Julee.

Tall & Skinny... once upon a time, those very words were frequently used to describe me.  Alas, that is no longer so. Mama definitely needs to get her groove back. But that's a post for another day and time. 

Play along in this week's Mojo Monday sketch, why don't you?  All the info re: how to do so can be found on the Mojo Monday blog, and if you're looking for more inspiration, look no further than these lovely ladies' blogs:

• Debbie Carriere
• Julee Tilman (Owner)
• Marisa Ritzen
• Mary Fish
• Sarah Bigelow
• Teresa Kline
• Wanda Cullen

(Tear) Splattered Thanks

It's the last Friday in April -- can you believe it? This time next week, we'll be starting the merry month of May. Three weeks from this coming Sunday, my eldest will be graduating from high school. I really don't want to think about that right now, so instead, let's focus on something a little less fraught with emotion: Your Next Stamp's Fun Friday Challenge. We can all agree that's a good distraction from the relentless march of time, no?

For the first time in a while, I decided to forgo the given sketch and instead try my hand at Color Challenge #12.  Here's what I came up with:

And here's the inspiration photo/palette for Color Challenge #12:

I created a splattered background using re-inkers in the four lightest of the given colors. To do so, I put drops of re-inker in individual paint wells, then added several drops of water to them.  With a cocktail straw, I flicked and blew the colors on paper until I was satisfied by the coverage, then I dried it with my heat gun.  A border of garnet (PTI Scarlet Jewel card stock) was cut out using the Stitched Rectangles die set.  I also wanted to try the current trend of stacking and gluing several of the same word die cuts to give the sentiment some heft and dimension, and I used the Fancy Thanks die to do so.

I believe I used six or seven sentiments to create this effect.  It looks and feels a lot like a wooden accent die cut.  Pretty cool!

Visit the YNS Blog to see what the other participating YNS Designers have created to inspire you.  Why not play along with us? You just might be selected as the YNS Top Pick and get a nifty blog badge plus a write up all about YOU on the YNS Blog.  As always, one random selected participant will win up to $20 in gift certificate moola to the YNS store. So, whether you want FAME & FORTUNE or FILTHY LUCRE, we've got you covered. You just need to make a measley card. How hard is that?

Jackson Pollock, eat your heart out...

Now, if you'll excuse me, I think I'm going to cry about how that sweet little baby turned into a legal adult while I blinked...

April YNS Design Team Dare

Hello, friends!  It's time for Your Next Stamp's monthly DT Dare, and for April, we're challenged to create a feminine card. Yes, we were let off easy, and I am not complaining. Here's what I came up with, using the new Fun With Squares die set and sentiments from the Word Critters Spring Birds stamp set.

I am not a quilter, but I have several friends and family members who are.  The time and effort put into creating a quilt is a labor of love, thus love is literally in the air when you see one hanging on a clothes line. Am I right?

Ready to see what the rest of DT made for this month's dare? Then head over to the YNS Blog and check 'em out. Leave a comment there, and you'll have the chance to win the YNS stamp set of your choice. 

Okay, peeps.  Gotta get back to binge watching Unbreakable Kimmie Schmidt on Netflix with Carter.  Pretty sure that theme song is my new favorite...

 

Your Next Stamp April New Release Blog Hop!

It's Tax Day here in the states. *sigh*  For many (including mi casa, this year) that is indeed a bummer. Fortunately, Your Next Stamp has perfectly timed its April Release to distract us from us such unpleasantness, and here you are, right at the beginning of the YNS New Release Blog Hop! 

There are 7 new stamp and die sets being released today, and I promise, there is something for everyone in this month's crop. Whether it's Waddles, Jessica, books, bunnies, birdies, or beers -- YNS has you covered. (And that's just some of the stamps!) The new YNS dies are to-die-for, too, including Large Bookmarks, Stitched Rectangles, another fun Peek-a-Boo, and Fun With Squares, in addition to those that coordinate with stamp sets. Versatility + Variety = Awesomeness!  Ready to see what I mean?

First up, I've used the new BOOKWORMS RULE stamp set and LARGE BOOKMARKS die set to create this placeholder for my youngest reader in the house:

Isn't that image delightful: a huge stack of books, with fairy tale references popping out of the pages, and topped by a very smart looking worm balancing a healthy snack on top of his head? After cutting out the bookmark on white card stock, I stamped the image in Momento Tuxedo Black ink, then colored it in simply (in other words, without a lot of fancy shading) with Copic Markers. Because Copics tend to bleed through card stock, I went ahead and made another bookmark die cut to cover the back side. Rather than have a bare white back, I stamped a sentiment on backside in a certain little guy's favorite shade of blue:

Here's a look at the entire BOOKWORMS RULE stamp set, so you can i.d. all the cuteness for yourself:

Right in time for all your masculine card needs comes the new FOR THE BOYS stamp set.  At least, it's right in time for me, as next week is my husband's birthday. To my great good fortune, Sean is absolutely obsessed with his Big Green Egg grill. I'm pretty sure he'll get a kick out of this card...

(Patterned paper by Doodlebug Designs from the "Happy Camper" 6"x6" pad; sketch courtesy of the current Sweet Sunday Sketch, #264.)

In addition to the Happy Grill Dude, FOR THE BOYS includes a Brew Meister and Master Control.  Take a look:

Perfect for guy birthdays and Father's Day, don't you think?

As always, Karen is generously giving away $20 to the YNS Store to one wonderful commenter, selected at random from one of the blogs on the hop. Increase your odds of winning by leaving a comment for everybody (not only might you win, but you'll also give some hard-working designer a reason to smile) -- you have until Friday night at midnight (EST) to do so. And, as you hop along and create your shopping list, don't forget that you can get 20% off of your YNS purchases between now and the 19th by using the coupon code YNSApril20.

Ready to see what the tremendously talented TRACY has up her sleeve for you?  Then off you go! :)

YNS Fun Friday: Delicious Beer...

I seem to have beverages on the brain when it comes to the most recent Your Next Stamp Fun Friday Challenges. Last time, I made a series of pop bottles. For challenge # 11, I'm serving up brewskis...

As you know, the Fun Friday Challenge lets you choose between doing a sketch and/or a color challenge.  I opted for the sketch challenge, yet again, which looks like so:

I tend to like repetitive images/making patterns, so when I saw the three stars in a row, I went looking through my YNS dies to see which caught my fancy. These sudsy sippers from the Irish Fun Die Set quenched my creative thirst, and it seemed right to use the eponymous sentiment from the Magically Delicious stamp set.

Frosty mugs of beer... they're magically delicious!  (<--- Sing to the tune of the Lucky Charms jingle, then try to get that ear worm out of your head.)

For the circle element dictated by the sketch, I thought a tipsy happy face was appropriate. He has a 'Man in the Moon' quality to him, don't you think?  Like he's looking at a constellation of beers in the stars... Moony was created using the smallest YNS Circles die and a face image from the Create-a-Character set.  I cut the circle out of white card stock then stamped the face in Momento Tuxedo Black ink. I colored it in with Copic markers, as this seemed a lot easier than using a yellow card stock circle and having to paper-piece the eyes and tongue. See that stitched rectangle die cut in Safety Orange that creates the background border? Well, that's an extra early sneak-peek of a die set YNS is releasing next week. Shhh... don't tell I shared it with you ahead of time!

It was such a pleasure to cut these dies using my NEW Vagabond die-cutting machine. I have been fighting with my very temperamental first Vagabond for months now. First, it wouldn't emboss evenly, then it got to where it would only cut on one side of the platform, and finally, it would selectively decide whether it would allow the sandwiches to run through from one side to the other. Lately, every time I wanted to die cut something, I held my breath. It seems like I make dozens of die cuts per card, so that's a lot of breath-holding. Last week, Vagabond 1 went down the poop shoot to the crap swamp (as Carter would say -- he makes his mama proud), so I quickly ordered a replacement from Amazon, as well as a Sizzix magnetic platform, which is LIFE CHANGING. Long live Vagabond 2!

Mosey on over to the YNS Blog to see what my fellow YNS DT members have created to make your Friday more fun, and get info about how you can play along with us in YNS Challenge #11. You might just be the lucky participant who wins up to $20 in free YNS goodies.

Have a great weekend, friends.  Cheers!

Words of Encouragement

Hi-dee Ho, my peepages! I'm once again guest blogging for My Favorite Things, and today I do a little riff on encouragement cards. Me, myself, and I have been through a lot of crapola over the past few years, and then recently, I've had some friends get sucker-punched from out-of-the-blue. This and that got me to thinkin' about how important encouragement cards are, and hence my post. Go check it out, and leave a comment on the MFT blog to make me feel popular. Seriously -- no April foolin'.  Some MFT guest designers get dozens of comments and I don't want to look like a tool in comparison. They might -- MIGHT, I say -- make better cards, but I promise you, none of them give you better, more insightful blog writing. That, my friends, is a stone cold fact. I even give you a handy-dandy script you're free to use as your very own when you need to write a note to cheer up a friend; who loves you, baby?

Not to mention the fact that I have two projects for your perusal.  Here's a glimpse at one of 'em.

Okily dokily.  I will be back to as normal as I ever get next week.  Hugs and smooches and have a Tony-the-Tiger Grrrrreat weekend!