Handmade cards

MFT Stamps Monster Love

| marialrussell

I am completely obsessed with MFT Stamps lately so when I was asked by Jamie of not2ShabbyShop to pick the stamps I wanted for my design team package for September, I naturally picked a cute stamp from MFT called “Monster Love”.  What’s not to love?  They are so easy to stamp and with a stamping tool, you can easily achieve perfect results each time.
I originally filmed a process video for the cards but with a vertigo attack recently, I accidentally deleted the footage!  I still shared them on my recent YouTube video though if you’d like to see it.
Here are the 3 cards that I designed showcasing the stamp set.  I also used my all-time favorite Tag Builder Blueprints No. 5.

I hope I have given you some inspiration today! Have an amazing day!

Home of the Brave Stamp Launch

| marialrussell

Today I am so excited to share two cards that I designed for the launch of the new stamp set by http://www.jessicalynnoriginal.com called “Home of the Brave”.  This is an amazing stamp to have in your stash to create cards (or scrapbook layouts) for the real heroes of our country ~ our very own military family!

 

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If you are not a member of the JessicaLynnOriginal: Craft, Create and Share facebook page yet, here is the link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/JLOcraftcreateshare/  Jessica will be hosting a live Facebook event and she will be giving away the Home of the Brave stamp set, a $25 Amazon gift certificate and free digital stamps.

 

Have a great weekend!

 

Thank You Card for MFT Stamps

| marialrussell

I’m always touched by people’s kindness!  I always believe that the kindness that you show will always be reciprocated but I am sometimes wrong!  Today, however, a wonderful person that works at MFT Stamps showed kindness to me.

 

I had some problems with a defective stamp (totally not MFT’s fault) and wanted to see if it was going to be replaced. I contacted MFT Stamps immediately. Brianna of Customer Service responded to my email so quickly and asked me to send her photos of the defective stamp and what my order number was so she can take a look. I realized then that I actually ordered the stamp set from a different shop and not directly from MFT. I sent her a copy of the invoice where I ordered the stamp set originally. She responded again a few minutes later to let me know that she will contact the shop and she will arrange to send me a replacement immediately. I was really touched by how my little dilemma was immediately taken care of and how nice Brianna was to me on her email.   It’s very rare these days, unfortunately to receive such a nice gesture from somebody.  MFT Stamps is already one of my top 5 favorite companies, but with the great customer service I just received ~ they just became my number 1!

 

Here is the Thank You card.  This card is made especially for Brianna and the amazing, wonderful people at MFT Stamps! Please don’t ever change!  You guys have the biggest hearts!

 

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Shaker Luggage Tag | Shaker Tags & Shaker Bookmark

| marialrussell

Some fun and easy projects that I made using sequins and confetti by http://www.katscrappiness.com.

 

I love creating shaker tags and before I left for London a few weeks ago, I decided to create a fun luggage tag.  It held up quite nicely and survived 2 international trips so far!  I love making unique projects.

 

Here are the photos of the project but I also have a video available for you below where I showed all of the projects I made and a process video for the bookmark. I hope you get inspired:

 

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Christmas in July with JLO + Thank You Card

| marialrussell

The time has come to start the design team season with a bunch of digital stamps from JessicaLynnOriginal.   Jessica (owner and artist) had drawn some amazing beautiful stamps for everyone to enjoy. Whether you are into cutesy designs, serious or just a nature-lover, Jessica has everything for you. For more details, please check out all of the new digital stamps at www.jessicalynnoriginal.com.  For those of you who love to start creating Christmas cards early and getting it out of the way, you are in luck! Download it and keep your little ones busy by coloring and crafting with them. By the time summer is over you will not only be thankful that you started your cards early, but you would be creating some great memories with your children!

 

I honestly struggle designing realistic cards. I’ve always been a fun of cute stamps so I naturally picked the stamps that were more “my style”.  Here are the 3 Christmas card samples I have for all of you. I hope you love them:

 

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Scrooge

 

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Sydney the Penguin with Friend

 

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Christmas Snow Globe

 

The last card inspired me to do a Thank You card for a teacher. My children were lucky enough to have had amazing teachers in the past. For me, teachers are super heroes. They do amazing work to sharpen the minds of our children and inspire them to do greater things and most often, they are completely unappreciated!  If your child has or had a great teacher, show him or her how much you appreciate them.  My daughter has a great relationship with her past teachers and is now finishing her degree in a year to become one.

 

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Brentwood ABC – Front of the card
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Brentwood ABC – Inside of the card

 

I am currently in London with my family by the time this post goes live. If you have any questions about the stamps or would like to know more about the upcoming events with JLO and the design team, please head on over to Jessica’s Blog (www.jessicalynnoriginal.net).  Jessica is also offering special rates if you’d like to buy all of the digital stamps.  Please also join the Facebook group to win prizes this weekend and tag a friend.  2 lucky winners will win a $15 gift certificate to Jessica’s store.   Jessica will announce the winner on July 5th at 8:00 a.m.

 

Happy crafting and have an amazing weekend!

World’s Best Dad~A Father’s Day Card

| marialrussell

Father’s Day is just around the corner. My daughter is staying with us for the summer and as she discuss her plans of making my husband his favorite coconut cream pie on Sunday, I decided that this is the perfect time for me to make him a Father’s Day card.

 

I recently went crazy with my Lawn Fawn Summer release order and I have been dying to use the Dad & Me stamp set. I wanted to create a scene with snow-capped mountains in the background. It reminds me of our summer trip in Washington in 2003. We stayed at Silver Lake Resort. The cabin was pretty basic but the view was just breathtaking. The card I made below represents my husband, my son and my daughter fishing in the lake.

 

My husband taught my children how to fish. He also taught me, but fishing is not my cup of tea! Just the whole process of putting bait on the hook creeps me out so I sit there and watch while they all fish. I was the sunscreen police! They can fish for hours! I can close my eyes right now and still see their cute little faces light up when their little fishing line starts to wiggle!

 

Here is the card. I decided to make a shaker card because I wanted the little fishes to move around below with the blue cotton candy sequins from http://www.katscrappiness.com/?aff=21.   I think shaker cards are so much fun!

 

Supplies Used:

 

Lawn Fawn Dad & Me stamp set and coordinating dies

Lawn Fawn Hello Sunshine Lawn Cuts

Lawn Fawn Puffy Clouds Lawn Cuts

Mama Elephant Snow-capped mountain die

MFT Stamps Grassy Hillside Border die-namics

Copic Markers W0, W1, W3, W5, V22, BG13, R29, YR17

Hero Arts Bubblegum Ink Pad

Lawn Fawn Noble Fir Ink Pad

Stampin Up Baked Brown Ink Pad

Sequins – 4 mm Blue Cotton Candy from KatScrappiness

Acetate

Fun Foam

White Card Stock for the Card base

Blue Card stock

Baked Brown Sugar Card Stock

Mint Card Stock

Daffodil Delight Card Stock

Dazzling Diamonds Card Stock

Spectrum Noir Sparkle Brush Marker in Clear

Tombow Mono-Dot Adhesive

 

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I hope I have given you some inspiration to create something wonderful for your father, grandfather, husband or partner. Have an amazing day!

CC Designs ~ Surprise Stamp Set

| marialrussell

For the month of May, I was sent a stamp set by from http://www.not2shabbyshop.com called “Surprise” by CC Designs. I had a lot of fun playing with this stamp set and created 2 cards and 1 shaker tag.  Here are the photos.  I have also included my YouTube video if you’d like to see them or know more about what supplies I’ve used to create the projects.

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Birthday Card No. 1 created by Maria Russell
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Birthday Card No. 2 Created by Maria Russell
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Birthday Shaker Tag created by Maria Russell

And here’s the YoUTube video. Have a great day!

 

Lawnscaping Sketch Challenge 128

| marialrussell

I am back from my anniversary trip from Greece and today I am joining the Lawnscaping Blog Sketch Challenge No. 128 using one of my favorite Lawn Fawn stamp sets called Fairy Friends.  I just can’t stop playing around with this set and this time, I used it for a birthday card.  I also used a couple of older Lawn Fawn stamp sets and dies.  The supplies I have used are listed below for your reference.   You will also find a photo of the sketch challenge if you decide to join.  Remember, you only have until Wednesday to finish your card.

I am also entering this card for another challenge at Crafters With Artitude Facebook group and my friend, Sandi Nagel is hosting this month’s challenge called “Solid Gold”. You can basically create anything your heart desire, using Gold and bling.

 

Here is my rendition of the sketch challenge #128:

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Here is a photo of the sketch challenge:

 

Supplies used:

LF Fairy Friends Stamp Set and Dies

LF Happy Wedding Stamp Set and Dies

LF Stitched Scallop Border Dies

LF Large Stitched Rectangle Die

Stampin’ Up Birthday Greetings

Copic Markers – E000, E00, E02, R00, R20, B0000 (Skin tone, dress and wings)

Copic Markers – E37, E35, E31 (Hair)

Copic Markers – R85, R81 (Cake)

Tombow Mono Permanent Tape Runner Adhesive

Scotch Foam Adhesive

Ranger Diamond Stickles

Recollection Gold Paper Pad

Recollections 110 lb. white card stock

Recollections Gold Washi Tape

 

Here is a close-up photo of the project so you can see the glitter.  I hope you like what I created. Have an amazing day!

 

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MFT Stamps Sketch Challenge 274

| marialrussell

It has been a very busy week for me so far but one of the things that always relax me is to go to my craft room and create something beautiful. On today’s blog post, I decided to join MFT Stamps Sketch Challenge for the first time.   Here is the photo of Sketch Challenge No. 274.

 

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And here is my rendition for the challenge.

 

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I have used MFT Stamps Adorable Elephants (one of my favorites), with the LJD All Heart stamp set and my new favorite, the Tag Builder Blueprints #5. I just absolutely love the color combination that I used for this card. The pink and gold color combo is very popular these days but to tune it down a little, I used gray card stock for my banner and for my card base.

 

I hope you like this card. Happy crafting!