Sweet Trio :: Guest Designer :: Diane Noble

It's Friiiiiday! Whoo hoo!

Today I am thrilled to share a trio of gorgeous, gorgeous projects by the ever-so-talented and genuine Diane Noble.

I am always in awe of our Guest Designers and how generous they are with their time, talent and energy in creating beautiful works of art for our blog. 

Diane is not only one of the nicest, most thoughtful and inspiring people I've met in the Blogosphere, but she does fantastic work. I was so touched by the thoughtfulness and soul Diane has weaved into each project. Just keep reading more below (in Diane's words) and you'll see exactly what I mean! 

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I am a retired educator and I live near Kansas City, Missouri, with my pastor husband.  We have an empty nest now so I’m at a stage in life where I can enjoy my favorite hobby—paper crafting.  I love creating 3-D projects, including mini albums and mixed media art, but my favorite craft is card-making.  

As a pastor’s wife, I have many opportunities to send cards to encourage people and to let them know we are praying for them.  What I enjoy most though is sending cards for no special reason other than to let someone know I was thinking of them.  

My design style varies since I try to fit the style to the images I’m using, but I love the shabby chic look for paper crafting and home décor.  I try to participate in online card design challenges because they help me get out of my box and try new techniques, color schemes or design layouts.  

I’ve had over 120 cards published in crafting magazines, and currently serve on two design teams.  I was also honored to be asked to be a guest designer for Market Street Stamps.  I recently discovered MSS and am already hooked on the fun, whimsical images. 

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Enjoy the Journey Mini Album  

Measuring 4” x 4” this mini album is jam-packed with fun spots for photos or journaling.  It contains 14 pages, including interactive elements, and showcases 24 images from MSS sets.  I love mini albums and try to create ones that could fit anyone’s tastes.  This could record fun trip memories, or could be a mini journal about some significant life experiences.  I want to keep it to record some highlights of my life—important moments and special memories. The last 2 pages will record some of my faith experiences and ways God has answered prayer. (Angelica's note: you will DEFINITELY want to check out the GORGEOUS inside pages on Diane's Blog! They are must-see!)

MSS Sets Used:  

• Bon Voyage
• Cane Background
• Compass
• Home Sweet Home
• Simple Joys
• Vintage Notepad Background

Other Materials Used:

• My Mind’s Eye / Indie Chic “Citron” 6 x 6 designer pack
• Crochet lace, buttons, rhinestones, designer brads, linen thread, craft envelope
• Punches/Dies: 1-3/8” circle punch, Hearts and Brackets die (Stampin’ Up!), Beautiful Wings   embosslit die (SU), Two Tags die (SU), wide oval punch (SU), Martha Stewart edge punch, 
• Zutter Bind-It-All and binding tools
• Copic Markers, Memento Ink (Tuxedo Black, and London Fog) by Tsukineko

Enjoy Special Moments Card

I know so many women who live life at a very hectic pace…young moms who are constantly on the go.  This card invites the recipient to sit, relax and enjoy all of life’s special moments.  If only for the brief moments taken to sit and read the special message inside, I hope to bring encouragement and refreshment with this creation.  These delightfully warm, vibrant patterned papers give a slightly shabby chic ambiance to the card. The card measures 5-1/4” square.  The image has been paper pieced, and for a touch of realism, the tag string is inserted in a tiny hole, and covered with the paper pieced tea portion of the image.  (This card coordinates with the “Enjoy the Journey” mini album).  

(Angelica's note: see more photos on Diane's Blog! simply gorgeous!)

MSS Sets Used:

• Enjoy Today
• Simple Joys

Other Materials Used:

• Crochet lace, mini market tag (office supply store), buttons, hemp twine
• Patterned Paper—My Mind’s Eye / Indie Chic “Citron” 6 x 6 paper pack

Market Street Stamps Storage Bin (Altered Art)

This 6-1/2” x 9” x 4-1/2” cardboard storage bin is perfect for storing all my new Market Street Stamps! I purchased CD jewel cases to hold each stamp set. The stamps cling to the inside of the case.  I cut the labels and the pictures from the stamp set packaging to identify each case of stamps.  This is perfect for my growing collection of my favorite fun, whimsical sets from Market Street Stamps. 

MSS Stamps Used:
• Gone Campin'

Other Materials:

• Stampin’ Up!: cardstock, patterned paper (retired) and ribbons
• Rhinestones 
• Copic markers
• CD Jewel cases from Staples
• Mini cardboard file case 

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Thank you SO much for visiting today and thank you SO much to DIANE for her incredible, incredible projects! PLEASE head over to her blog for lots more photos - they are amazing!!

Have a great weekend, guys!!

Pack Your Bags {Tips and Tricks} :: Tifany DeGough

Hi! It's Tifany here and today I wanted to share with you a few tips to really get the most out of your stamps.

I know many crafters out there are working on a tight budget, so being able to stretch your supplies can be a big help.

The clean designs in the Market Street Stamps line are so versatile and really lend themselves to paper piecing and coloring, which can get you a lot of different looks with just one stamp. 

In addition to just coloring or paper piecing, don't forget what you can do with those great Market Street Stamps sentiments. Stamp them multiple times to really draw extra attention:

You can also mask the sentiments (to remove some of the words and create a new sentiment) or combine some words from multiple sentiments to create your own. 

To change up the look of your stamped images, sometimes it just takes a little change in perspective. Try stamping off-center (or die-cutting off-center) as I've done here:

If you want to really change things up, instead of paper piecing to add patterns you can add your own doodles and designs with a pen.

These are just a few ways you can get some extra mileage from your  Market Street Stamps stamp sets.
For these three examples I've used the same supplies: stamps, ink, markers, cardstock, and ribbon. Just think of how many more looks you can create by changing the color scheme or adding in various patterned papers. 
I'd love to hear if you have any other tips on how your stretch your supplies!

Thanks for stopping by today and please stop by and visit me on my blog - I love visitors!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Discount Cardstock (Brilliant White 130#); The Paper Company (Kraft);
Stamps: Market Street Stamps (Make A Memory, Bon Voyage);
Ink: Memento (Tuxedo Black); Ranger (Archival - Jet Black);
Markers: Copic (YR68, YR18, E25, E57, YG25, YG17, B21, B23, Y38, Y08);  Memento (Tuxedo Black);
Ribbon: Ribbon Carousel (Vintage Seam Binding); 
Dies: Spellbinders (Circles - Large);
Tools: Fiskars (Trimmer, Scissors); Scor-Pal (Scoring Board);

In the City

Good morning everyone! Happy Friday!

You're going to be blown away by this AMAZING city street scene created by (of course!) Samantha Casey! She took these sets (that she designed by the way!) to a whole new level!

  LOVE IT!

Samantha used the new Bon Voyage and Travelscapes sets from our latest release! 

Make sure you go check out her blog 

Samantha Casey

to see more about how she created this masterpiece!!

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Also- don't forget about our Paint the Town Challenge! We have some beautiful inspiration for you and you could win a stamp set of your choice (value >$15)! You don't want to miss it!

Have a great weekend!! 

-Steph

January Release - Sneak Peek 3 {Bon Voyage, Travelscapes}

Last Peek before the Reveal!

Don't forget to check out Day 1 and Day 2 to get in on DOUBLE the giveaways this month!

Yep - 2x the FUN!

I'm so excited to show you this last set of samples before we do the BIG reveal tomorrow.

Samantha designed both sets and they work PERFECTLY together.

Is this your first time checking out our new releases?

Check out the details of how our release weeks work here!

GIVEAWAY DETAILS

Here's how you can win one of TWO "BON VOYAGE" or "TRAVELSCAPES" sets we're giving away tonight:

• Earn ONE entry for each comment you leave across ALL of our designers' blogs tonight. {p.s. if, for any reason, a designer does not have a new release post up don't worry!! Winners will be chosen only amongst posts that are published. :)}
• Earn TWO entries for following us on Facebook OR Twitter(be sure to let us know if you do in a separate comment on this post)
• Earn THREE bonus entries for sharing this giveaway on your Facebook page OR Twitter account (be sure to let us know if you do in a separate comment on this post)!
• You have through Wednesday, January 25th @ 11:59 pm CST to enter to win each set. We'll choose TWO lucky winners (usually we just pick one!) who'll win "Bon Voyage" or "Travelscapes"! 

DESIGN TEAM SAMPLES

Almost everyone got in on the Bon Voyage and Travelscapes wagon and it's no surprise, these are two sets you will turn to again and again. They even work AMAZING with our February release next month... :)

Samantha Casey: Samantha's been coined the "Queen of Scenes" by her Peachy Keen Stamps sisters, and it's no wonder! You've gotta head over to her blog, too. She has LOTS of fun, creative ideas for these sets!

Jen del Muro: This white on white combo is absolutely perfect using both "Bon Voyage" and "Travelscapes"! Jen also used "Vintage Notepad" as her background which gives just the right amount of texture!

 

Amy Kolling: What better way to bid a friend or loved one a fond farewell than with a handmade card letting them know how much they'll be missed?  Amy's card is bright and cheery thanks to a fun twine-y sun and lovely die-cut clouds! Amy also used our "Pretty Perfect Grid" background stamp.

Stephanie Washburn: "Travelscapes" coordinate so perfectly with "Bon Voyage" plus they make excellent backgrounds, as Stephanie showcases here! Love the sweet heart she added to the car, too!


DoBea Alberts: Re-create a fun road trip using both sets like DoBea has here! Adding a bit of dimensional paint or a white gel pen makes the snow-capped mountains come to life!

Brenda Weaver: I love, LOVE, love Brenda's card! She created a darling cityscape with "Travelscapes" and strips of patterned paper. Be sure to head to her blog to look at the super cute layout she created, too!


Stephanie Muzzulin: Coloring or paper piecing Samantha's images are a breeze because each of them has lots of wide open space. Stephanie even pieced the windows to make them look like glass here - so fun!!

That's it, guys! I hope you enjoyed this week's sneak peeks, I cannot WAIT to show you the reveal tomorrow! Don't forget you have through tonight to win each of these sets, so don't be late! ;) See you back here tomorrow, same place & same time!

  - Angelica & The MSS Crew