Grazie, Jevous remercie, thank you

On Saturday, I joined my daughters and friends for my daughter Kristina's bachelorette party. We started out by doing a painting class at The Lost Canvas, (719 Main Street Keokuk, IA). We painted love birds in a cage. When we were done there was more that I had wanted to do to my canvas. I thought about just changing the canvas, but decided to leave it how it was when we finished class because it was part of a memory. I did however decide to make a mixed media card with similar design as a thank you card for Ginny, our teacher for the evening.  I added embossed polka dots in the corner for this weeks Dragonfly Journeys POLKA DOT challenge.

 Today when my friend Pam and I saw the colors for the color challenge on splitcoast CC585 we decided to challenge eachother. We challenged eachother to make a card with a bird cage, inka gold metallic rub, cheesecloth and the colors. I really tried, but ended up with the card you just saw. I just couldn't make the colors work. So I decided to give it a second try.

 This photo shows the colors and the papers that I pulled from my stash to make my second card for today.

 As I started working on my card I decided to make two of the colors into the Italian flag. I drew another birdcage. I added music notes from stamplorations mini mixed media set. I added quilled roses using the colors.

 

I hand lettered it to say "Grazie per il mervaiglioso pasto!" Which translated from Italian says

Thank you for the wonderful meal.

 

This card is going to be going to the staff at La Tavola Italian Eatery (316 N. 4th St. Burlington, IA). After we did the painting class, we jumped into our cars and drove up to Burlington IA to eat at a marvelous restaurant, La Travola Italian Eatery. Because the painting class took longer than we had planned for, we were running late for dinner. We ended up getting to the restaurant 10 mins before the kitchen closed, with a party of 10. If it had been me working, I would have been irritated and frustrated. I am sure the staff felt that way too, but you never would know it from the service that we had. Our waitress Molly, didn't even sigh or roll her eyes when waiting on us. The food was fantastic and I will definitely go there again. Service like we got was outstanding and I think needs a thank you card letting them know.

MFP Wild West Blog Hop - Boots Burlap and Lace

WELCOME  
TO MFP STAMP SHOP

The Wild Wild West
 BLOG HOP
Ride em Cow Boys!!
and Girls!

JOIN US EACH DAY, May 24-27 FOR SOME RIDING HORSES FUN. WE'LL HAVE  TUTORIALS AND DT INSPIRATION. THERE WILL BE PRIZES FOR LEAVING COMMENTS ON THE DESIGN TEAM'S BLOGS AND PRIZES FOR TRYING OUR TUTORIALS.  YOU WILL HAVE 2 WEEKS TO ADD YOUR PROJECT to the May 27th POST FOR US TO SEE SO THERE IS NO EXCUSE NOT TO JOIN IN THE FUN. 

Please Hop along with us!! 
 You could win one of the MFP Stamp Shop WESTERNED THEMED STAMP SETS Just comment on the following blogs ( don't forget this one ) each day for more chances to win! ( You do NOT need to comment on on all the blogs each day! The names are drawn randomly.) Try one of the tutorials shown during the Hop and add your photo to the Inlinkz at the bottom of the May 27 post. The winners will be announced on June 11, 2016 right here on the MFP Stamp Shop Blog. You can go back and comment if you missed a day. ( HINT: The more you comment the more chances you have to win. And comments on the MFP blog count twice. ) The deadline for commenting and posting pics of your projects is Friday June 10, 2016 at 10:00 PM EST.

Tutorials
May 25-- Faux Wood Technique by Marilynn
May 27-- Technique by Sandy

Let's get started !!

Here's the Design Team

Gail

 Karen
Kren
Lois  
MariLynn

Pat
Pam
Sandy 

Shirley

Toni

Vickie

MFP Stamp Shop 

Enjoy the Hop. Come back each day. We hope to inspire you to start your own Cowboy Fun projects.  Get to work on the tutorials, show us what you made by June 10th and 
check back on June 11, 2016 to see if you are a winner. 


I used Cowgirls Rule stamp set.
I was thinking about writing a WILD WESTERN song.

"la la la Boots Burlap and Lace...
I am more than just a pretty face.
I am strong and tough with a bit of grace.
I have a place in this world no one can replace... la la la"

What do you think?
It might need a little more work.
Here is my card featuring Boots, burlap and lace.
 

Relax MIX-ability card

The MIX-ability challenge this week is to take text paper, and make a beach themed card to welcome summer.(Bonus points if Shabby) 

I decided to use a page from an old hymnal. I stamped the beach scene

circles and flowers. I  watercolored it. I knew I wanted to add cheese cloth. This is how it looked. I thought it was a good start but as it is here I thought "BLAH"

 So I asked my friend Pam and she said maybe embossing or glitter or the word relax. I fSollowed her suggestions and love how it turned out. How do I attach burlap and cheesecloth? Can you see the staples? Staples hold it secure and I knew they were going to be covered up by the beach panel.

I stamped the palm tree 5 more times on white cardstock and fussy cut it out. I watercolored them and glued them together.

Here is a side view to show the tree's dimension.

I added texture paste for the beach. I added glue and glitter for the water. I added gold glitter glue to the sun and centers of the flowers.

MFP- Wild West blog hop Day 3

WELCOME  
TO MFP STAMP SHOP

The Wild Wild West
 BLOG HOP
Ride em Cow Boys!!
and Girls!

JOIN US EACH DAY, May 24-27 FOR SOME RIDING HORSES FUN. WE'LL HAVE  TUTORIALS AND DT INSPIRATION. THERE WILL BE PRIZES FOR LEAVING COMMENTS ON THE DESIGN TEAM'S BLOGS AND PRIZES FOR TRYING OUR TUTORIALS.  YOU WILL HAVE 2 WEEKS TO ADD YOUR PROJECT to the May 27th POST FOR US TO SEE SO THERE IS NO EXCUSE NOT TO JOIN IN THE FUN. 

Please Hop along with us!! 
 You could win one of the MFP Stamp Shop WESTERNED THEMED STAMP SETS Just comment on the following blogs ( don't forget this one ) each day for more chances to win! ( You do NOT need to comment on on all the blogs each day! The names are drawn randomly.) Try one of the tutorials shown during the Hop and add your photo to the Inlinkz at the bottom of the May 27 post. The winners will be announced on June 11, 2016 right here on the MFP Stamp Shop Blog. You can go back and comment if you missed a day. ( HINT: The more you comment the more chances you have to win. And comments on the MFP blog count twice. ) The deadline for commenting and posting pics of your projects is Friday June 10, 2016 at 10:00 PM EST.

Tutorials
May 25-- Faux Wood Technique by Marilynn
May 27-- Technique by Sandy

Let's get started !!

Here's the Design Team

Gail

 Karen
Kren
Lois  
MariLynn

Pat
Pam
Sandy 

Shirley

Toni

Vickie

MFP Stamp Shop 

Enjoy the Hop. Come back each day. We hope to inspire you to start your own Cowboy Fun projects.  Get to work on the tutorials, show us what you made by June 10th and 
check back on June 11, 2016 to see if you are a winner. 


I used Buffalo Spring stamp set to make a CAS masculine birthday card.

MFP Wild West Blog Hope day 2 Faux Barn Board tutorial and card

WELCOME  
TO MFP STAMP SHOP

The Wild Wild West
 BLOG HOP
Ride em Cow Boys!!
and Girls!

JOIN US EACH DAY, May 24-27 FOR SOME RIDING HORSES FUN. WE'LL HAVE  TUTORIALS AND DT INSPIRATION. THERE WILL BE PRIZES FOR LEAVING COMMENTS ON THE DESIGN TEAM'S BLOGS AND PRIZES FOR TRYING OUR TUTORIALS.  YOU WILL HAVE 2 WEEKS TO ADD YOUR PROJECT to the May 27th POST FOR US TO SEE SO THERE IS NO EXCUSE NOT TO JOIN IN THE FUN. 

Please Hop along with us!! 
 You could win one of the MFP Stamp Shop WESTERNED THEMED STAMP SETS Just comment on the following blogs ( don't forget this one ) each day for more chances to win! ( You do NOT need to comment on on all the blogs each day! The names are drawn randomly.) Try one of the tutorials shown during the Hop and add your photo to the Inlinkz at the bottom of the May 27 post. The winners will be announced on June 11, 2016 right here on the MFP Stamp Shop Blog. You can go back and comment if you missed a day. ( HINT: The more you comment the more chances you have to win. And comments on the MFP blog count twice. ) The deadline for commenting and posting pics of your projects is Friday June 10, 2016 at 10:00 PM EST.

Tutorials
May 25-- Faux Wood Technique by Marilynn
May 27-- Technique by Sandy

Let's get started !!

Here's the Design Team

Gail

 Karen
Kren
Lois  
MariLynn

Pat
Pam
Sandy 

Shirley

Toni

Vickie

MFP Stamp Shop 

Enjoy the Hop. Come back each day. We hope to inspire you to start your own Cowboy Fun projects.  Get to work on the tutorials, show us what you made by June 10th and 
check back on June 11, 2016 to see if you are a winner. 

Today I get to share a tutorial I created to show how I make faux Barn Wood.  What I like about this technique is you get random results. No two piece look alike. But that also means that sometimes you don't like how it turned out and other times you do, you just have to play around. I figure, it is just a cardboard box, glue and paint so if I mess up, not a big deal and I try again.

Faux Barn Wood Tutorial

By MariLynn DeGroot (Mississippi-McGyver)

Materials:

       Cardboard (I used a cereal box)

            Assortment of brown markers ( I used crayola markers)

White school glue ( I used Elmer’s)

            White acrylic paint ( I used Apple Barrel)

Step 1-

I cut out a piece of cardboard.

Step 2: 

On the back side of the cardboard, I took brown

markers and I randomly scribbled.  

Step 3:

I took white school glue and randomly applied the glue to the cardboard.

Step 4:

I used my fingers to smooth out the glue so that the whole surface had a layer of glue over  it. 

Step 5:

While the glue was still wet, I randomly dropped dots of acrylic white paint over the layers of glue and cardboard.

Step 6:

I used my fingers to spread the white paint. 

Step 7:

I let the glue and paint dry. This is the hardest part of this technique, waiting for it to dry. As the glue dries the paint cracks and you can see the different shades of brown underneath.  When completely dry, I cut the cardboard into strips so it looks like planks of wood.

I used faux barn board stripes to make this wild west frame. I wrapped twine around two of the strips.

tear bear eats watermelon

If you are looking for the MFP blog hop scroll down one post. This post is for the Color Challenge at Splitcoast. CC584.

 I tried to match the color challenge as best I could. I knew I was going to make the watermelon wonder (red) into a watermelon. The other day I was using a scalloped circle die and the small pieces that are left over, looked like watermelon seeds to me. So I purposely did the die in black so I would have seeds. I guess the scalloped circle will be used on another project. Ok. One color down. 2 to go. I also knew I wanted to make a tear bear because he would be mostly neutral. I decided to give him a pumpkin pie (orange) tie. I was still trying to figure out how I would get get crushed curry (yellow) on my card and I happened to look down and see an old bee stamp that I probably haven't used in the last 10 years. I stamped it on the yellow. I also stamped it on vellum. I fussy cut the bees on the yellow (cutting the wings off)  and vellum. I glued them together and added glamour dust to the wings. When I glued them down to the paper. I left the wings free, not glued down so they have dimension. I added little black dots to show the flight of the bees. Thanks for looking at my card. This is going to be entered in the Tuesday Throwdown (295- for a child). 
and Dragonfly Journeys Challenge 58- tooty fruity

MFP Wild West BLOG HOP day 1 COWGIRLS RULE

WELCOME  
TO MFP STAMP SHOP

The Wild Wild West
 BLOG HOP
Ride em Cow Boys!!
and Girls!

JOIN US EACH DAY, May 24-27 FOR SOME RIDING HORSES FUN. WE'LL HAVE  TUTORIALS AND DT INSPIRATION. THERE WILL BE PRIZES FOR LEAVING COMMENTS ON THE DESIGN TEAM'S BLOGS AND PRIZES FOR TRYING OUR TUTORIALS.  YOU WILL HAVE 2 WEEKS TO ADD YOUR PROJECT to the May 27th POST FOR US TO SEE SO THERE IS NO EXCUSE NOT TO JOIN IN THE FUN. 

Please Hop along with us!! 
 You could win one of the MFP Stamp Shop WESTERNED THEMED STAMP SETS Just comment on the following blogs ( don't forget this one ) each day for more chances to win! ( You do NOT need to comment on on all the blogs each day! The names are drawn randomly.) Try one of the tutorials shown during the Hop and add your photo to the Inlinkz at the bottom of the May 27 post. The winners will be announced on June 11, 2016 right here on the MFP Stamp Shop Blog. You can go back and comment if you missed a day. ( HINT: The more you comment the more chances you have to win. And comments on the MFP blog count twice. ) The deadline for commenting and posting pics of your projects is Friday June 10, 2016 at 10:00 PM EST.

Tutorials
May 25-- Faux Wood Technique by Marilynn
May 27-- Technique by Sandy

Let's get started !!

Here's the Design Team

Gail

 Karen
Kren
Lois  
MariLynn

Pat
Pam
Sandy 

Shirley

Toni

Vickie

MFP Stamp Shop 

Enjoy the Hop. Come back each day. We hope to inspire you to start your own Cowboy Fun projects.  Get to work on the tutorials, show us what you made by June 10th and 
check back on June 11, 2016 to see if you are a winner. 

I used Cowgirls Rule set. I stamped the horse and girl onto wood grain dp. I also stamped them on white card stock and water colored them. I fussy cut them out cutting off the reigns because I knew the one on the dp would have it. It made fussy cutting it out so much easier. I added silver metallic rub to parts of the saddle. I used a die to cut out the image. I went around the edges with an old marker that had run out of ink ages ago. I dipped the end of the marker into glycerin and then just drew around the edges and then added silver embossing powder. I added lace and pearls and burlap. (cause little girls in the wild west can be feminine and outdoorsy at the same time) I stamped the sign and hung it using a brad and twine. 

Sympathy card

This last week I had a lot of requests for certain types of cards. I had graduation, birthday, wedding, baby cards and a sympathy card to make. It is so much easier for me to make cards for happy occasions. I kept putting off making a sympathy card, but I knew I had to just do it. I used MOJO Monday sketch. 449  to make my card. I used UNITY - Here today here tomorrow set (butterfly) and VERVE -Forever in our hearts.  I substituted the butterfly for the circle on the layout. I took the square panel and covered it with lace and burlap. The long vertical panel in the sketch, I used gold netting ribbon. I put a layer of cheesecloth over all of that. I embossed a piece of tea stained cardstock and added gold metallic rub to the raised areas. I added pearls and brads to finish up my card.  I am sharing this card with
Addicted to Stamps Challenge 127 (To use lace and pearls on a project)

Graduation Card

I needed a graduation card for my pastor's son. I have known I would need this card for a long, long time, but didn't make it until the day of his graduation party. I think there is a lesson about procrastination in there somewhere. I needed ideas fast so I went to pintrest, which led me to this post on this blog by FAIRLY CRAFTY. 

 I used her card as a starting point, because I was really in a hurry to finish, I didn't follow her directions. I just looked at her photos and I crafted my card.

This is how my card looked when I first finished it. With a pocket under the cap.

 

I was going to put cash in the pocket but at the last minute decided to put a gift card in. And of course it was too big for the pocket.  So after making an envelope for the gift card, I added "class of 2016" and I colored one corner of the envelope black to line up with the card.

 

 Inside view of pocket holding envelope with gift card inside.

I think I might make some more of these and next time follow her directions, but I am happy about how my card turned out.

I'm sharing it with DL.ART Thankful Thursday 180.

Framed Fairy

This week's  splitcoaststampers MIXability challenge is to FRAME IT UP. I made my frame using faux barnwood technique. I made another little fairy dancer. For her dress I cut roses from the dress dp. I added quilled roses, ribbon, pearls, rhinestones and embossed wings.

Floral Fairy Dancers

A Day for Daisies challenge #147 was to PAINT IT UP.

Using the wonderful digi image that they provided, I made two cards. I turned the little dancer into a fairy by adding wings. I made the wings by embossing a butterfly with a psychedelic transparent embossing powder. I added glamour dust to add that extra sparkle.  On both cards after I printed the girl, I made a mask for her and used a toothbrush dipped in white acrylic paint to splatter the cardstock.

 On this first card. I paper pieced the skirt and colored her in with prisma colored pencils. I stamped the little circles with Lizzie Anne FUNKY FLORAL stamp. I added dots of glamour dust to the circles. I also stamped little dandelions at the bottom. They are from MFP set called NATURE'S BRUSHSTROKES. I stamped them with white ink and added glamour dust to them as well. I added quilled roses. Pearls, lace, brads and cheesecloth finished it off.

For my second card, I thought it would be neat to have the fairy holding a cup of coffee. Because I printed her on the green cardstock I paper piece not only the skirt but the girl as well. I printed her on white cardstock and watercolored her. I added rhinestones for her necklace.

 I stamped the music notes ) STAMPlorations MINI MIXED MEDIA BACKGROUNDS. I also stamped the FUNKY FLORAL circles and dandelions. I added silver INKAGOLD metallic rub to the circles. I edges them with glamour dust. For this fairy I added extra glitter to the wings to make them really sparkle.

I made it into an easel card. I have been working on my hand lettering of sentiments. It isn't perfect, but practice will get me closer to it.

 These cards are also for:
TUESDAY THROWDOWN - EMBOSSING
and
DRAGONFLY JOURNEYS -DANCE WITH FAIRIES