Sweet 16

Good morning folks! So umm, remember last week when I posted my "last" project for Paper Romance??? LOL...I may have unintentionally fibbed a little! I forgot that Amy had invited me to play along for one last challenge. So this is officially my last contribution to the Paper Romance Team as a guest designer.

This week's challenge is brought to you by the incredibly talented Vicki Garrett!! She is asking to see projects with a "Teen" theme this week. I decided to pull out this adorable Popcorn the Bear set called "Someone Special", available at Paper Romance. I decided to make this into a "Sweet 16" card. The pretty papers are from Cloud 9 and KaiserCraft...I really love yellow, pink and green together! I layered two Fancy Tags from Spellbinders for the sentiment which was done on my computer. Add a little machine stitching and a few pearls, and voila! Happy Sweet 16th!

Copics used on Popcorn: E50, E31, E33, E37, E25, E47, E59 (sorry...forgot to record my colours for the grass and flowers :( )

My good friend Krista gave me some Beckett Expression paper to experiment with, so thought I should try it out! It's quite different from my regular Neenah...it actually reminds me a bit of Prism Simply Smooth which is what I used when I first started colouring. I do like it, but I think that Neenah is still my favourite. I really would like to get my hands on a new paper called X-Press It Blending Card, but I think it's only now coming to the USA...hope it will be in Canada soon! It's supposed to be "the best of both worlds"...the blending abilities of Neenah, but with very little bleeding as when using the Prism. When colouring Popcorn stamps, I always use tiny "flicking" motions to create the texture of fur. Be careful not to overblend when using this technique...you want to see your marker strokes! Try to keep light-handed with your markers as well, to avoid "blobs" of ink.

Hop on over to the Paper Romance Challenge Blog to see the beautiful cards made by the rest of Amy's DT. You will also spy cards by her new August Guest Designers! Join in the fun for your chance to win a great prize from Paper Romance!

Once again, my thanks to Amy and her lovely DT for allowing me to play along over the last several weeks. You ladies rock!

Blessings,

Melanie

Stamps: Popcorn the Bear "Someone Special"

Ink: Memento, Copics, Distress Ink in Bundled Sage

Embellishments: Crochet trim, pearls, Glossy Accents

Tools: Spellbinders Fancy Tags

A Warm Welcome, and a Little Popcorn Too!!

Good morning sunshine!! How's your Monday morning going so far?? I'm still trying to recover after a busy weekend! Ainsleigh had a highland dancing performance at the County Ceilidh on Saturday...it was lots of fun, with some great Celtic bands and lots of dancing throughout the evening. My son Nathan helped the teens lead our worship music at church on Sunday...he played electric guitar. Did a little gardening, a little work from home, caught up on housework...not much time to rest! This week is busy too as we are gearing up for Ainsleigh's ballet recital this weekend and Scottish Night tomorrow evening. Whew!! After next weekend, I should have some time to breathe!

Now I do have a card to show you today if you stick with me to the end of this post, but let's take care of some Town Scrapper news first!

• Phebe is currently running a sale at The Town Scrapper until the end of June: buy one stamp, get the second of equal or lesser value for 50% off!! Also, she has in stock Distress Inks and the new microfine glitter...buy 5 and get your 6th for free! You'll find all her contact info on her blog here.
• Sadly, we are saying goodbye to a few members of our team. Leah, Kylie and Kim S. have all contributed so much to our team, and we want to thank them for all their hard work. We wish you all the best in your future endeavors. God Bless!
• On a happier note, we are welcoming four new Scrapettes!! Robin and Danielle are our new blog managers, and our two new senior Scrapettes are Dawn and Donna!! We're so glad you are joining us ladies, and we look forward to seeing your work!!
• Don't forget to stop by for our Showcase Monday to see what some of the Scrapettes have made with some of the fantastic product lines Phebe carries!

Ok...as promised, here's a card featuring Popcorn the Bear. My inlaws "hired" me to make a card for a birthday party they were going to. They needed something with a more masculine flair, and I immediately thought of a particular Popcorn the Bear set. Lucky for me, my pal Amy carries Popcorn sets at her store Paper Romance!! Make sure to hop on over to Paper Romance and check out all the great products and stamps Amy carries!!



I stamped Popcorn on Neenah cardstock and coloured him with Copic markers. This is actually a Father's Day stamp set, but as you can see it works well for other occasions too! I went for a very simple layout, and just matted the the main image with cardstock. This striped paper is from KaiserCraft. The sentiment was requested by my inlaws.

I hope you all have a fantastic week! My blogging time may be a bit limited this week, but I will be back for sure on Friday with two posts...one for The Town Scrapper and one for Wags 'n Whiskers. You'll also want to check in on Saturday for Kraftin' Kimmie's weekly challenge and Sunday marks a new challenge at Sundays With Crissy!!

LOL...I'm thinking that with all our family activities and stamping projects for this week, I just may look like sweet Popcorn when it's all done! I'll definitely need a cuppa tea to wind down!

Blessings,

Melanie

Stamps: Popcorn The Bear Father's Day set
Ink: Memento, Copic markers
Paper: Neenah, KaiserCraft, Bazzill

Merry Christmas Little One

It's the weekend! We have a very busy weekend here, as we have company down. We will be having "Christmas" with our nephew tonight, as we will not see him again until the new year. I've started decorating the house, and am about half-way done. Lots to do!!

I had bought this Popcorn the Bear stamp set a few weeks back, and decided to finally make a card with him. This is the first stamp set I saw featuring Popcorn, and immediately fell in love with this cute little bear.

I stamped Popcorn on Neenah cardstock and coloured with Copics. I wanted to give Popcorn a 3D effect, so I stamped his head, hands and feet a second time and pop dotted them. The berries on his wreath are done with Christmas Red Stickles, and the ribbon received a top coat with a clear Spica pen. Here's an angled shot to show the dimension.

These Popcorn stamps are so big, that there isn't much room for a fussy layout, so I kept it simple. All the DP is Basic Gray Wassail (love, love, LOVE this paper...as I'm sure you've seen!). The cardstock is Bazzill. I ran out of room for a sentiment, which I had planned to say "Merry Christmas Little One", so I decided to use this metal embellishment from the dollar store. Actually, I really like it on this card...I think the whole piece has a kind of "vintage" feel.

Here's the closeup:

I wasn't sure why this stamp appealed to me as much as it did, until we put up our tree this year! For my daughter's first Christmas (she's 9 now!), we bought her this ornament...look familiar?!

I'll be entering this card into two challenges:

1. A Spoonful of Sugar as they are asking for cards for baby's first Christmas, or a card for a toddler.

2. Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps Challenge, who is also asking for Christmas or Winter themed projects.

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great weekend!

Melanie

Popcorn the Bear: Thanks a Bunch!

Good morning! I hope this day finds you all happy and healthy. There are so many colds and flu going around. Does anybody go anywhere without hand sanitizer these days?? So far, my family has managed to avoid all these bugs, and I'm hoping it stays that way!

We have been so incredibly blessed by so many of our friends and family lately, that I have been in need of thank-you cards! I was able to ink up one of my brand new stamps yesterday to make this card. I first saw a card with Popcorn the Bear from Crafter's Companion a month or two ago, and instantly fell in love with this cutie! I was thrilled to find out that the Rubber Room in London, Ontario now carries these stamps. I picked up two sets when I was there this past weekend, and hopefully the other will see ink soon too!

As always, I stamped Popcorn on Neenah and coloured him with Copics. I was trying to achieve a "furry" look, so I avoided blending the colours very much. I used a lot of feather strokes in many, many layers. I was pretty happy with the way he turned out! I won't tell you how long it took to cut this little guy out...but I am very grateful that I have Cutterbee scissors! These are the best for cutting out detailed, finicky images. Popcorn was pop-dotted for dimension. I added just a touch of shimmer to the flowers with a Spica pen (although it probably isn't showing up in the picture!).

I kept this layout fairly simple. I sponged the edges of all the layers with brown ink. The ribbon was originally white, but I coloured it with a Copic marker to match the cardstock. The papers are from Cosmo Cricket and Basic Gray. The sentiment is included in this stamp set.

Here's a little peek at the inside (those flowers are also included in this stamp set!)

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This card just happens to fit in with two challenges this week! (love it when that happens!)


1. Stampin' Sisters in Christ is asking for a card that expresses thankfulness.


2. Kraftin' Kimmie is asking for a card with shades of autumn (brown, rust, green and/or yellow). (Kimmie, I'm hoping you will count the dark orange shades in the flowers as the "rust" requirement!!)


I hope you all have a fantastic day, and thanks so much for stopping by! Oh, and don't be shy...leave me a comment to let me know you were here. I'd love to come by your blog and see your creations too!

Blessings,

Melanie