Fall layers

Hey, everyone! It's Brenda here with you all today.

I know many of you are probably gearing up for the holidays. Christmas lists are made, and maybe some gifts already purchased. Some of you may even be thinking of putting up the decorations. I love this time of year with all the hustle and bustle and preparations of every kind, but before we move into the Christmas season altogether I wanted to focus on fall a little bit longer today.

I, for one, just love Thanksgiving and everything that the day means to me. A day to spend time with the ones we love, lingering over delicious food and enjoying each other's company as we remember all that we have been blessed with over the past year. It's a very special day to me and sometimes I feel like it gets lost in the shuffle of the busy season.

But our Thanksgiving tables deserve to be dressed up in seasonal beauty as well, right? So, I decided to share a little project that's super easy to make and can dress up your Thanksgiving table as you gather around it with people you love.

The fall season is usually chilly around here and I think of lots of layers for fall, especially in my wardrobe. but I often find myself adding more layers on my craft projects as well. Layers give warmth and softness to a project that just seems fitting for the colder months.

This decor piece can be used solely for decoration, maybe as part of the centerpiece, or you could make one to set beside each plate to mark each family member's spot. There is plenty of room for adding a name somewhere if you would choose to do so.

The base piece is a plain piece of chipboard which leaves lots of space on the backside, perfect for adding special notes or blessings or room for each person to jot down something they're thankful for.


I used the pumpkin from the Autumn Greetings set (love that pumpkin!), stamped it onto canvas fabric and colored it in with ink and a brush. Then I cut it out and layered it on top of the leaves, along with some buttons and twine.


The sentiment is also from Autumn Greetings. I also stamped the sentiment strip with the Pretty Perfect Grid background.


The whole thing is tucked into a large binder clip that was covered in printed gaffer tape. The clip is large enough to hold the entire thing upright.

That's all I have for you today, folks. I hope I have inspired you to beautify your Thanksgiving table too.

Thanks for joining me!

Mini Notepad {Tutorial}

With the holidays coming up quickly I've got handmade gifts on the brain.
Add to that the combined love my children and I have for paper and pens, and the perfect little stocking stuffer is born - a mini notepad.


I started by cutting some patterned paper to 4 1/4" x 2 3/4". I stamped each patterned paper with a different background stamp from Market Street Stamps (Zebra Print, Argyle, Pretty Perfect Grid, and Vintage Music). I also stamped some additional patterned paper with one of the decorative circle stamps and the "just a note" sentiment from the "For All It's Worth" set.


I then added embossing powder to each of the stamped images and set the embossing with my heat gun.


I cut out the circular tags to add to the front of each notepad, punched the notepad pages, cover, and chipboard backing with my Cinch.
{Tip: For a 2 3/4" x 4 1/4" notepad I slid the ruler on my Cinch 1/8" out and punched only pegs 1 & 4.}


To bind the notepad, I cut a 1/8" dowel in 2 1/2" pieces and used a small rubber band (the kind you get in the hair accessories) to hold the dowel in place.

By combining patterned papers with the many great background stamps offered by Market Street Stamps, you can create individualized notepads for everyone on your list.

Thanks for stopping by today!
Please visit me on my blog - I love visitors!:

Supplies:
Stamps: Market Street Stamps (Zebra Print, Pretty Perfect Grid, Argyle, Vintage Music, For All It's Worth);
Ink: VersaMark (Watermark);
Embossing Powder: American Crafts (Zing - Chestnut);
Patterned Paper: Crate Paper (Portrait - 6x6); My Mind's Eye (Mabel - 6x6, Hattie - 6x6);
Other: 1/8" Diameter Dowel; Chipboard; Rubber Band;
Tools: Fiskars (Trimmer, Scissors); Cinch Binding Machine;

Celebrate {Tutorial}

Hi there!
It's Tifany and I've got a tutorial to share with you.
Hopefully you will see today that those awesome Market Street Stamps background stamps are great for so much more than just staying in the background.


On this card I've used two background stamps (Zebra Print and Pretty Perfect Grid) along with the Celebrate Cake image and sentiment set.

First, let's gather our supplies:


{Don't forget the Extra Large Acrylic Block for those big background stamps!}

You'll need to stamp the image onto a scrap of thin paper (or a Post It note, as I've done), and then stamp it again onto your cardstock.



Now you will need to carefully cut out your stamped image with a craft knife to create a mask.
{Wherever you want your background stamp to show through on your image, those are the pieces that should be cut out.}


Next, lay your mask on top of your image that has been stamped on the cardstock.
{Line up the images carefully and use removable adhesive to hold it in place.}

Then...ink up your background stamp...


...and stamp!

Remove your mask and check out your beautifully stamped image!
{Like paper piecing...only easier!}


If you want to add in another background, create another mask (this one covering the full stamped image) and stamp.


Remove the mask, add a sentiment...


...and add it to your card:



Thanks for stopping by today!

Lovely Notecards....

Hi, everyone! Steph here! Sorry so late! I scheduled the post, but forgot to post it.... silly me! Anyway, are you having a wonderful FRIDAY! I'm here today to show you some quick and simple notecards that I made! I love to have little postcard style notes on hand to slip into packages I send out or into my son's backpack for his teachers or soccer coaches. I always need more so I thought I'd whip some up with some of my favorite Market Street Stamps background stamps! Here they are all lined up......

To make these lovelies, I simply cut an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of cardstock into 4 pieces (each 4 1/4 x 5 1/2). Then I scored each end of the cardstock- one end 1" from the end and the other end 1/2" from the end. I pulled out my favorite background stamps, lined them up with the score lines, and stamped the backgrounds on the cards! The sentiment "Hello there" is from Slow Movin'. Love that sentiment!

Here are all the notecards individually! Hope you enjoy them!

Zebra Print with VersaMagic Turquoise Gem

Vintage Wallpaper with VersaMagic Pixie Dust

Vintage Music with VersaMagic Aquatic Splash and Pumice Stone Distress Ink

Bit of Burlap with Pumice Stone Distress Ink

Perfectly Perfect Grid with Raspberry Fizz Ink

I hope you make some great little notecards, too!

DON'T FORGET!

We're still looking for projects using Market Street Stamps to be highlighted as the "Cream of the Crop!" You can link your projects that use Market Street Stamps to any of the places linked below for a chance to be spotlighted and win a $20 Market Street Stamps Gift Certificate! I can't wait to see what you all are making! You have until April 25th for consideration this month!

• Market Street Stamps on Facebook
• Market Streets Stamps on Twitter
• Market Street Stamps Flickr group
• Market Street Stamps SCS gallery (keyword: marketstreetstamps)}

Congratulations!

Today's card is a mix of a must-have background stamp and pieces from two very versatile stamp sets.
{Everything is from Market Street Stamps, of course!}


I started off by stamping the Perfectly Pretty Grid stamp on basic white cardstock in a brown ink. I cleaned off my stamp and inked it again with a blue that matched my card base and stamped it slightly off from where I stamped the brown grid. I sprayed the background with some pearly mist (which I am not skilled enough to get to show up in pictures, unfortunately) and let it dry - then cut it to size.

{The Market Street Stamps background stamps are so big that they cover the front of an A2 card - so what you see here is a trimmed down version.}


Using the brown ink again I stamped "Congratulations!" which is one of the many fun sentiments in the Celebrate Cake set. I then trimmed around the sentiment and added it to my card front with some dimensional tape.


The stars were so easy thanks to the new Blast Off set. The blue stars are sprayed in pearly mist again (use that imagination to see it!) and they are all popped up with dimensional tape.

I'd love to hear what you think about my card...please stop by my blog and leave a comment.

Supplies:
Cardstock: Bazzill, Georgia Pacific
Stamps: Market Street Stamps {Perfectly Pretty Grid, Blast Off, Celebrate Cake}
Ink: Distress Ink, Memento
Mists: Perfect Pearls Mist {Turquoise}

Enjoy Today Treat Bag

Admittedly, I waited until the last minute for Valentine's Day gifts this year. It's justified, there's so much going on!

I gifted some small Valentine's Day toys to my friend's son in this Treat Bag Cover, the SCS tutorial is here. I did have to modify it a touch to accommodate my cello bag size, but it was no trouble to do.

I stamped Perfectly Pretty Grid onto stone cardstock using Brilliance Graphite Black ink, super black, love it! Next, I punch a heart from the same color and used Brilliance Rocket Red to stamp A Bit of Burlap for more interest and texture. The sentiment from Enjoy Today was stamped on a die cut and adhered with pop dots and decorated with a button tied with twine.

I didn't want anything too girly since it's for a boy, I think this is masculine enough to pass even with ribbon and bows. It probably won't matter once he sees what's inside anyway! LOL

Thanks for stopping by!

SWAK!!

Hello, how are you all doing today. I have a technique that I would like to share with you today. This has been around awhile, but for you newbies, and some not so newbies, I thought that I could show you it using a couple of the wonderful Market Street backgrounds.

This technique is called kissing. There are several ways that you can do this, depending on the stamps you are using.

Since I am using Perfectly Pretty Grid and Here Comes the Sun, which are 4.25" by 5.5" each, I will only be using one block (I only have one big enough to fit them on.)

1. I first put Perfectly Pretty Grid on the block, then layed Here Comes the Sun on the table.

2. I inked up Here Comes the Sun really good with Ranger Distress Inks, because they stay wet a little longer than other ink pads.

3. I then, very carefully face to face, layed Perfectly Pretty Grid on top of Here Comes the Sun. The stamps will slid against each other when they are nice and juicy, so you've got to be careful not to jostle them too much.

4. I then, just as carefully picked up Perfectly Pretty Grid and stamped it on my paper. If you are using a different ink pad, you may want to huff on it to revitalize the ink.

5. Lastly, I stamped Here Comes the Sun onto another piece of cardstock.

And whala! I have two different images to use for different cards. I also used Sure Miss You for the small clouds and small sun, and Ain't No Sunshine for the sentiment.