Dog Valentine Tutorial

Hi everyone! I've got a fun tutorial over at Splitcoaststampers today that I hope you'll check out.

Here's a peek at the front...

...and a little treat pouch, too!

Thanks for stopping and enjoy the tutorial!

 ~Amy

The Perfect Penguin Pillow Box

Do you love penguins as much as I do?  How about a perfectly poised penguin popping by with your favorite treat in his pouch?!  After seeing a few similar penguin treat boxes on 'the web', I knew I just had to recreate this super sweet and simple pillow box penguin using MFT goodies I received as their Guest Designer last month.

Step one: die cut a pillow box from black card stock using Die-namics LJD Square Pillow Box.

Step two: die cut two orange hearts using the oblong heart from Die-namics LJD Rustic Hearts and one white heart using the next-to-smallest Die-namics Heart STAX.

Step three: hand cut a small orange triangle (nose) and adhere to your white heart as shown. Color two black dots for eyes just above the 'nose'. I think the imperfect nose and eyes add to the whimsy of this project. As my BSF, Carole, would say: wabi-sabi, baby!

Step four: die cut fishtail flag from LLD Die-namics Accent It Labels and Tabs, stamp it with 'xoxo' from Just My Type and adhere it to the side flap of your pillow box before assembling the box (believe me, you want to adhere the 'xoxo' flag BEFORE assembling your pillow box...wink).

Step five: after your pillow box is assembled, adhere the two orange hearts to the underside of the pillow box using foam adhesive (Jody's Foam Boosters are perfect for this job...nice and sticky!).  As you can see from my penguin's feet, he's either had a tough day on the job, or his poor little feet were crafted from a-uhm, shoddy piece of orange cardstock?! Wabi-sabi, right?!

That's it...sweet and simple, right?! I was able to pop two Hershey Miniatures inside Mr. Penguin and poised him on his feet, all ready to treat my favorite Valentine peeps!

Thanks for popping by today...
~Amy

MFT Pre-release Pep Rally!

Well, here we are on the final day of My Favorite Things Teasers week, culminating with the Pre-release Pep Rally! Today's project features sentiments from Lovey Dovey Sentiments, but the main focus is on the Die-namics used to put together these sweet mini totes made from felt. I always love the holiday totes that pop up in the Target $1section and decided to try my hand at them using the new Die-namics Heart STAX, Accent It - Labels and Tabs, and Leaf Filled Flourish.

I've got a few photos that will help you visualize the creative process to make these, but the real inspiration for the tote can be found HERE, so please check out Megan Nielsen's tote tutorial for complete instructions. Thanks, Megan!

I started with two felt panels cut about 4 by 4.5 inches, and that's very approximate. You can make your tote as large or small as need be. Before sewing the two panels together, I sewed on contrasting die cut hearts  (Hearts STAX) and notched the lower corners as shown in the tutorial.

I scalloped the top edge of the red panels using MFT's Die-mamics Simply Scallops Small. I snapped this picture before notching the lower corners, but you must do that in order to achieve a flat bottom tote that will sit up nice and tall for you! After you add all the extras to your panels, sew them together with the panel fronts together (inside out), again following the tote tutorial for further clarification.

Here's a side view of the red tote, showing the flat bottom and the gorgeous detail of the Leaf Filled Flourish Die-namic. My goodness, are you excited to order these yummy treats tonight, or what?!

I finished each mini tote with a sentiment flag using dies from Die-namics Fishtail Flags Layers STAX and Accent It - Labels and Tabs, sentiments from Lovey Dovey Sentiments and heart topped stick pins from my stash.

 The 'arrow' end of this die cut from Accent It - Labels and Tabs is tucked under and held in place by the twin stick pins. Finally, if you look closely, I cut two slits on both front and back panels (above the stitched heart) to form a ribbon slide from which to tie my ribbon into a nice little bow and hold the tote closed.

Time to stop over at the MFT Blog for a complete list of today's Teasers, but before you go read over the bullets below for all the happenings at My Favorite Things right now. Remember, you can win MFT cash by leaving a little comment love!

• You can attend the New Release Party on January 8 from 8-10 PM EST HERE in the MFT forum, where you can WIN PRIZES!
• The MFT release, including all new stamp sets and Die-namics, is on January 8 at 10 PM EST. You’ll find all the newest products HERE at release time.
• The guest designer contest is going on now! Check out the forum for details on how YOU can win over $200 in stamp sets and Die-namics.
• If you’d like to see all the teasers for today, you’ll find today’s participating designers linked at the MFT blog. Be sure to leave comments as you go for the chance to win one of 2, $10 gift certificates given away daily. The winners will be posted on January 8 just before the release party, on the MFT blog. 

Here are the MFT products used on today's project:

Thank you for all of your sweet comments this week, I've been overwhelmed with all of your kind and complimentary words! I am thrilled to have been a part of this awesome, awesome MFT release this week! If you've not participated in the MFT Guest Designer contest, DO IT! The prize is so generous and the honor and priviledge to work with Team MFT is pretty.darn.cool.!
~Amy

YNS Friday Fun: Ticket To My Heart

Welcome to YNS Friday Fun! I'm featuring a fun little adult-style Valentine using the newly released set, World Love from YNS.

I've got a little bit of everything going on here from machine stitching to die cutting to Silhouette cutting. I just love all the options out there in the papercrafting world today and putting them all together. The ticket strip was a freebie from Silhouette last week, so I cut that out, stamped the image from World Love and then Copic colored the heart on each figure. The sentiment is computer generated and then layered on a Big Scallop die cut after stitching the upper and lower edges of the sentiment strip. Just to add a bit more 'love' to the card, I stamped an additional heart background over the patterned paper using the heart from World Love.

Head on over to the YNS Blog for a fun Susie-Q Tip and more Friday Fun samples!
~Amy

YNS Friday Fun!

I've got two cards to share with you today for YNS Friday Fun. Please click on over to the YNS blog for all sorts of tips, technics and giveaways!

My first card is a quick and easy Father's Day card using a sentiment from Mixed Bag of Greetings (now 40% off) and CrissCross Border stamp, topped with a mustache cut with my Silhouette--easy peasy, mac and cheesy!

Second up is a sweet little Valentine using my favorite elephant from Special Delivery. I decided to 'extend' the elephant set by adding a die cut heart swooshing from the trunk along with a computer generated sentiment. I think I could easily mass produce this design, don't you? And what better way to get the most bang from your buck with this adorable set.

Remember to click right on over to Your Next Stamp for all the Friday Fun details, and have a great weekend!
~Amy

TCP Tuesday 194: Love

This week's TCP Tuesday challenge is all about the colors: pale pink, melon and brown, very appropriate for the here and now Valentine season. Are you all gathering ideas for Valentine making? I've been collecting a few ideas here and there, but George and I found the cutest sporty Valentines that were right up his alley with a make-your-own football field and origami football (remember making these as a kid??), too cute to pass up!

I, however, will do my best to give my loved ones something handmade, so here's my first official Valentine, done up for Lori's color challenge.

I've used new stuff from The Cat's Pajamas, including Feelin' Cupidy, CutUps Eggs in a Basket & Cloud Border, as well as Brown Sugar Divine Twine and Dove Seam Binding. The teeny and tiny hearts are leftovers from the CutUps Heart Rosette and it's all wrapped up in Jen's January SFYTT, always a crowd pleaser!

Be sure to stop at Lori's and Alma's blogs for all the swanky deets of this week's TCP Tuesday challenge, and come out and play along--you just never know when YOU could be the next Pick of the Litter, Swanky Stamper of the month or recipient of some Cat Cash!
~Amy

Sneaky Peek Week + TCP Tuesday

Today kicks off Day 1 of TCP's Sneaky Peek Week in preparation for a new release next Tuesday, January 10th (or technically, Monday night after the Pajama Party over at SCS.) Today's Sneaky Peek set is called Gimme Some Sugar, featuring Sprinkles and a build your own candy/kissing booth! Can't get any sweeter, can it?! Check out Alma's blog for everyone showing off today's set!

I incorporated a  couple of things that I've seen here and there and have been meaning to try. First up is box pleating. Seriously, I'd never tried it before, so I did like I always do and 'googled' it for step by step directions. I had to fiddle with the measurements to get the look I wanted, but my fiddling was worth it in the end. I actually used scrap paper to fiddle with rather than wasting precious patterned paper...perhaps I'm getting older and wiser?

I mixed and matched remnant hearts (from another lover-ly CutUps die being released) for each section of the banner after making a cross hatch pattern with a fine tip marker to mimic the burlap in the TCP Tuesday Inspiration photo. You can check it out over at Jen's blog because she's our hostess this week.

The second fun little ditty I've wanted to try was the overlapping pennant/banners look, so I snipped scraps of leftover patterned paper and layered them on the larger black one. Speaking of that larger black pennant...it's part of this week's Mojo Monday Sketch #222!

I'll leave you with a peek at the entire Gimme Some Sugar set as well as a peek at the Queen of Hearts border CutUps die that I also used today.
~Amy

Quick Kid Valentines

If you're still looking for last minute Valentine ideas (especially non-candy Valentines), here are a couple for you! Below are Valentine door hangers for George to give to his friends at daycare tomorrow. We decided on a cow theme flanked with foam hearts. George is a cow fanatic, and I just happened to have a cut file of this darling cow that I purchased from the Silhouette online store, so I resized and cut them out using my Silhouette. LOVE that machine for it's ability to cut fine details perfectly every time! Each door hanger measures 3.5" x 8.5".

Here's another door hanger in pink...



Next up are Valentines for my teenagers. They measure 4.25 x 4.25 (when folded) with an inside flap to hold some Valentine smackeroos (aka money-honey!). This one uses PTI's Polka Dot stamp set, letters cut with my Silhouette, and my beloved CutUps Heart Trio die from The Cat's Pajamas.



Last up is a goofy Valentine for my 15 y.o. son using PTI's Woodgrain stamp set along with The Cat's Pajamas Love Letters stamp set...LOVE this set! This card also uses CutUps dies, Big Scallop & Stamp Trio.



When I saw this TCP card on Susan Liles' blog, using a photo of Heidi the cross eyed Opposum, I knew I had to copy her idea for my Hank. I hope he gets a kick out of it, and if nothing else, he'll enjoy the smackeroos inside, ha!



That's it for today. I know I'd promised to post Kendra's 18th birthday card and another SFYTT this weekend, but I thought a few Valentine ideas might be a bit more timely! Happy Hearts Day to you all!

~Amy

TCP Tuesday 143: L-O-V-E!

Today's TCP Tuesday challenge is being hosted by our gal, Susan Liles, and she's challenging us to a TCP sentiment that contains the word "heart" or "love". Check out Susan's blog for today's challenge deets and don't forget to link up your card to Alma's blog as well.

I've got a few samples using new sets just released from The Cat's Pajamas a week ago. Just in case you haven't experienced quite enough arm-twisting, I'm here to twist and turn your arm a bit more. Let's start off with Love Letters and the new CutUps Heart Trio & Stamp Trio dies...

...and then there's Got Love, accompanied by our CutUps Heart Trio & Big Scallop dies...





...and finally, there's Bee My Honey, featuring stamps from Love Letters and Honey Bear. I know, I know--no "love" or "heart" in the sentiment, but the teeny heart from Love Letters counts, right?!

In order to isolate and stamp random hearts, I snipped one of the teeny tiny hearts from the row of hearts included in Love Letters. Mind you, I am VERY careful when I've finished stamping with that tiny stamp, so that I don't lose it (don't ask...).

Here are full shots of the TCP stamps and CutUps dies used today...

Thanks for stopping by today!
~Amy

Bee Mine!

A quick post to share a picture of the valentines I created for the kids on my caseload at the elementary school where I work as a speech therapist. They had to be quickly mass produced because I waited to start working on them after parent-teacher conferences last night! My student teacher helped me put the finishing touches on them before school this morning--thanks, Lindsay!

The stamps are from Kim Hughes' The Birds and The Bees set available from CHF, and the little bitty heart is from SU!'s Small Sayings set. My 16 yo DD convinced me to color the bees in various colors and I like the result! Who said bees had to be yellow?!

Have a great V-day all you sweethearts!