Hi ! Happy Monday!

Steph here! Hope you're all doing well!

I have had the most fun with the stamps from this latest release- they really get my creative juices flowin' and I just keep turning to them time and time again! And today I'm sharing a card where I have combined elements from the Home Sweet Home set with the super cute digi that was available for the Block Partiers over the weekend!

Here's the card:

Ca-ute, right! I was going for a cute little chicken sitting on a fence on the farm! I put my own little twist on the house from Home Sweet Home by transforming it into a funky, colorful barn! Here's a little about how I created it!

First, I stamped the house on a sheet of cardstock. Then, I cut up a few scraps that I have leftover from my Farmhouse Dreamin' kit (still available for single purchase in the Marketplace!! Get yours now! You'll love it!) and got the Mod Podge out for some artsy fun! Does anyone else love using Mod Podge only so you can pick it off your fingers when you're finished? LOL!

I cut the top off of the house to make it more "barn" shaped. 

Then I got busy! I added a thin layer of Mod Podge to the house and then started layering little pieces of pattern paper to cover the whole image. I added another layer of Mod Podge over top to seal all the papers together and create a smooth surface.

This part is really important! Don't forget to let your Mod Podge dry! It only takes about 10-15 minutes so you can choose to do something responsible like laundry or dishes, or you can be like me and catch up on your Words With Friends. Very important step, people! When it's dry, trim the scraps around all of the edges of the barn to create straight, clean edges!

To finish it off, I added some other elements from Home Sweet Home! The "barn doors" are actually two of the large WINDOW from the smaller house image! And the "barn window" is another window from the set! So cute! The white outline piece around the top was just hand cut from some scrap cardstock- I needed a little brightness at the top of the "barn" to pull it together.

This "mosaic" technique is a great way to add some brightness to your project AND use up some scraps! And it's SO much fun!

Have a great day! 

Guest Designer :: Kris Chirhart

Good Morning Everyone!

We are THRILLED to welcome this month's Guest Designer-

KRIS CHIRHART!

Kris won a guest spot last month in our Block Party challenge

and created some GORGEOUS cards to share with you today!

Be sure to pop on over to her blog to find out how she used

BIRDS of a FEATHER and COOL CATS

to create her amazing cards!

 

Be sure to pop over to our Neighborhood and score a free digital stamp so you can play along with our Block Party today! You could be our next Guest Designer!! 

xo Angelica

February CREAM OF THE CROP!!

Hello!

Steph here to announce our February Cream of the Crop!

Once again I am BLOWN AWAY by the creativity in our galleries! You guys are so super creative and inspiring- I love taking time out to browse and soak it all in!

 There are TONS of places to find MSS inspiration- you can find some here:

{Splicoaststampers} {Flickr}  

{Market Street Neighborhood- NING}

Also, if you haven't checked out the "Neighborhood" yet- come on by! We'd love for you to come introduce yourself in the forum!

Click HERE to join us!

I'm VERY excited to share our picks for this month's "Cream of the Crop!"

Before I share the winners, we would like to encourage everyone to join in on the fun! It's super easy to enter and you can enter as many times as you want! Show us your best work!

Thank you to ALL the wonderful designers that shared their project with us this month!

So..... here are three projects that caught our eye and stood out- well executed, creative, and inspiring!!

In no particular order, here are the three designers who are the "Cream of the Crop!"

LORI TECLER

Lori LOVES her Market Street Stamps and not a month goes by that we're not in awe of her beautiful projects! She created this super cute card using the Pawprints on our Hearts set and even added her own little spin on the sentiment! The front of the card reads, "They come into our lives, leave pawprints on our hearts," and the inside of the card reads, "and on your floors and furniture, too!" TOO CUTE, LORI! 

Stop by Lori's blog for TONS of great inspiration!

Inking Aloud

KAREN BAKER

Karen uploaded this AMAZING card to our flickr gallery and I was SOOO impressed by how she made it! She used the Faith In You set and a fun Copic technique to create this beautifully encouraging card! She added interesting shading and color to the vase by coloring with Copics on the back of the paper! SO COOL!

Make sure you stop by Karen's blog and show her some love- her designs are AMAZING!

The Bald Dragonfly

DENISE JANUARY

Denise used Grace, the sentiment from Compass, and a pretty flower from the January Market Fresh Kit LOVE BIRDS to make this beautiful shabby chic creation! I LOVE the colors she used on this card- so soft and pretty! 

Stop by Denise's blog to see even more beauty! Her style is just amazing... sigh.... 

Sassy Stampin'

Ladies- please contact  
{angelica at marketstreetstamps dot com}

to collect your $20 gift certificate and the code for a blinkie that you can proudly display on your blogs!!

So... who will be the

"Cream of the Crop"

for March?

Here's how you can play along!!

The details:

The Cream of the Crop Spotlight is a merit based contest- we're looking for projects that catch our eye, but we also encourage stampers of all skill levels to upload their cards for consideration! We will be looking for projects that are well executed, use Market Street Stamps in a new and fun way, have great use of color, and have amazing overall design. Most importantly, we want to see what you're making!

• Deadline to get your project in will be the last Friday of the month
• Cream of the Crop Spotlight projects and winners will be announced that weekend!
• Spotlight winners will EACH win a $20 gift certificate to the Market Street Stamps store!
• If you are chosen, in addition to the $20 gift certificate to the Marketplace, your project photos will appear on the MSS blog (as well as a link to your blog (or gallery if you do not have a blog) )!
• You may upload/link as many projects as you like!

You have until 11:59 PM Central Time on March 30th to share your projects and be in the running for February's Cream of the Crop!

Here are links to places we'll be looking for your projects:

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

We LOVE to see your projects! Thank you so much for sharing with us!!

*********

DON'T FORGET! 

There's still time to join the BLOCK PARTY! It's a great opportunity to win a fabulous prize or earn a Guest Design spot! Link your projects up on the Block Party post for your chance! You have until 11:59 Central Time Sunday night! And there's a super cute FREE digi available in the Neighborhood, too!

February BLOCK PARTY TIME!!

Welcome to our

Market Street Block Party!

We have had SO much fun sharing our creations with you this week! You're going to LOVE those stamps when you get them in your hands! They really are super versatile and SO MUCH FUN! While you're waiting for your stamps- how about a little party?!

You know we LOVE to see what you're making with your MSS stamps and this is by far one of our most popular contests! Why's that? Because of the FANTASTIC prizes!

Here's what you have to do:

• Create a new project with MSS stamps! It can be anything (cards, layouts, altered items, etc.)- be creative and have FUN!
• Link your project below by Sunday, February 26th at 11:59 PM Central Time
• Note: Your creations for this contest will not be considered for the Cream of the Crop contest. Each MSS contest or challenge requires a separate, unique entry to be eligible to win!

Here's what you could win!

• One randomly selected participant will win an awesome prize package full of yummy stamps & accessories!
• ONE show stoppin' paper crafter will be asked to join us for a Guest Design spot for the following month! (This months winner will be the Guest Designer for the month of April!)

I know a lot of you would LOVE the opportunity for a Guest Design Team position- here's you shot!

We can't wait to see what you are making! Don't forget to spread the love and visit each other's blogs/galleries to share inspiration and ideas!

We'll announce the winners on Wednesday, February 29th!

Don't have any Market Street Stamps yet?
We've got you covered.
We want EVERYONE to play along and created a FREE DIGITAL stamp to make it easy!
Just head on over to our Neighborhood and snag yours to get started!
(please note, you must be a registered member of our Neighborhood to join - it's quick and easy!)
To access your FREE digital stamp, simply click "Join" if prompted to join the "Block Party" group, the thread with the digital file will be there!

This FREE digi is available for a limited time so don't miss your chance!

Here's a sneak peek!

PARTY ON!

February Reveal + Winners!!

I am SO happy to finally introduce you to our February Release!!!!

This is a BEAUTIFUL collection, one that I couldn't be more excited to present to you all!

Samantha has drawn the sweetest little neighborhood I could ever imagine.

AND guess what?! She's even going to create elements throughout the year to add on to 'hood, so you don't want to miss your chance to snag this base set at an AWESOME price!!

Thank you so much to our fabulous illustrators and our designers who bring all of our designs to LIFE!

{SHOP} our February Bundle!

BEST VALUE!!! 

• Includes all four sets released this month: Home Sweet Home, Riding By, Neighborhood, and Houndstooth!
• Special savings of 25% off if you purchase this limited-time bundle (available through 3/1 only!)
• Regular Retail Price: $49.50 / On Sale for $37.12!

{SHOP} Home Sweet Home

• Set measures 5.5" x 8.5"
• Regular retail price: $19.50 (15% off thru 3/1/12)
• Includes 23 individual stamps (each size listed in detail on our website)
• Images illustrated by Samantha Casey 

Home Sweet Home WINNER:

GabyCreates.com said...

FB follower here....I am envisioning my layout with this set! cute!

{SHOP} Riding By

• Set measures 4.25" x 5.5"
• Regular retail price: $12.50 (15% off thru 3/1/12)
• Includes 8 individual stamps (each size listed in detail on our website)
• Images illustrated by Samantha Casey 

Riding By WINNER:

Colleen Dietrich said...

...annnnddd, I just made an FB post about the great new goodies MSS has goin' on!

{SHOP} Neighborhood 

• Set measures 2" x 3"
• Regular retail price: $5.00 (15% off thru 3/1/12)
• Includes 2 individual stamps (each size listed in detail on our website)
• Images illustrated by Samantha Casey

Neighborhood WINNER:

jen said...

so fun! love these images!!!

{SHOP} Houndstooth 

• Set measures 4.25" x 5.5"
• Regular retail price: $12.50 (15% off thru 3/1/12)
• Includes 1 background stamp
• Image design by Tifany DeGough

Houndstooth WINNER: 

Emily Keaton said...
Love that houndstooth tree. :)
2/22/12 8:58 PM

Winners - please email:

 jorge at marketstreetstamps dot com 

and include the following info:

First and Last Name

Address, City, State, Zip Code (country if not USA)

Set you won

Winners: please contact us within 15 days to contact us to claim your prize.

We will attempt to contact all winners that we have not heard from within that time frame.

THANK YOU to everyone who joined us this week! Your support means the world to us!!

xo Angelica

February Sneak Peek :: Houndstooth

It's our FINAL day of our February Sneak Peeks!!

I just KNOW you are going to love this background designed by Tifany DeGough! 

Houndstooth is a standard in design and this stylish pattern has shown up in textiles, clothing, and home decor for years.

But have you ever owned a houndstooth stamp? If you have, you might have noticed that many of them aren't really proportionate for card-making.

Our new houndstooth background is the PERFECT scale for cards and other embellishments which you'll see in the designer samples below!

First time here? Be sure to head back to Monday's post and Tuesday's post so you don't miss a single sneak peek and chance to win!

If you'd LOVE to win a Houndstooth stamp, just checkout the details below!

GIVEAWAY DETAILS

• 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, February 22nd to enter to win each set. 

DESIGN TEAM SAMPLES

Tifany DeGough: Tifany designed this Houndstooth pattern to be smaller and more scaled down for cardmakers and embellishment lovers all over the world! Just look at these cute magnets she whipped up!



Stephanie Muzzulin: Stephanie and Tifany were on the same page and were inspired by butterflies! I love Stephanie's soft, airy card and the double-layered butterfly is a fun little surprise!



Michele Gross:  Michele paired up TWO fun backgrounds our new Houndstooth and our best-selling Vintage Notepad! She also included the tree and a sentiment from Home Sweet Home!

Amy Kolling: Amy had another AMAZING card up her sleeve using Houndstooth AND Riding By! Seriously, how FUN are these colors together?

DoBea Alberts: I LOVE those stunning roses DoBea created and the Houndstooth is perfectly stamped - it looks like paper! I also love that fun shape she created for the top of her card to include sentiments from our January Release!



Stephanie Washburn: Like we saw yesterday, open spaces on stamps don't necessarily mean you have to do anything with them! Steph has created a beautiful stacked scene using Houndstooth in two different shades and stamping our new mini, Neighborhood, right on top of that gorgeous green ribbon!

I really hope you enjoyed the peeks this week; I know our designers always appreciate the love you leave them! Each time you visit their blogs and leave comments during release weeks, it gives you an extra chance to win! They work super hard to make our designs look good, and I can't thank them enough and YOU enough for coming by!! See you tomorrow when we'll reveal the full sets and our winners!!! :) - Angelica and the MSS Crew

February Sneak Peek :: Riding By & Neighborhood

 

Welcome to Day TWO of our February Release sneaky peeks!

Our little banner today is deceiving because we're sneaking TWO sets tonight, but I only used one for the preview image!

Samantha did it again - she created an ADORABLE trio of houses and a SWEET, sweet, SWEET bicycle set that has lots of sentiments, some other fun design elements and won't break the bank either!

Today's previews are just $5 (Neighborhood mini) and $12.50 (for Riding By).

YOU ARE GOING TO LOVE these sets!! I promise!

If you're just jumping in today, please head back to yesterday's post for three reasons:

1. You really DON'T want to miss the fabulous projects our DT whipped up yesterday!
2. Find out how each release week works and how to win our sets before they're released!
3. Increase your chances to WIN the set we peeked yesterday - "Home Sweet Home" by commenting on all the designers featured yesterday and sharing the love with Facebook and Twitter! 

 Today we have another opportunity to win - well, actually TWO because we're giving away a "Riding By" set AND a "Neighborhood" stamp! Wanna know how you can win? Details below:

GIVEAWAY DETAILS

• 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, February 22nd to enter to win each set. One lucky stamper will win "Riding By" and another lucky stamper will win our new "Neighborhood" mini stamp!

DESIGN TEAM SAMPLES

Amy Kolling: Amy's vibrant clean and simple card is perfectly accented with a button, chevron element and sentiment from Riding By!

Brenda Weaver: Brenda's simply stamped bicycle looks lovely against the distressed brights in the pattern paper she used!

Samantha Casey: I love the bright colors Sam used to highlight her adorable bicycle! She has created SUCH a wonderful assortment of elements and images for us this month, I am SO glad we can finally show them to you all!

DoBea Alberts: DoBea's sweet, feminine card has all the beautiful colors of SPRING! Just looking at it makes me anxious for those first Spring bulbs to sprout!

Jen del Muro: I adore the metal accents Jen used on her card, they really tie into her beautiful coloring and remind me of the chrome on the wheels!

Stephanie Washburn: Elegant as always, I love the peek-a-boo panel Stephanie created for the bicycle! That silver emboss on kraft?! Be still my heart...

Stephanie Muzzulin: Stephanie always finds the BEST pattern papers to go along with our stamp themes, and this is no exception! Love the pretty pink twine against the blue!

 

Stephanie Muzzulin: I really enjoy coloring, but sometimes I need to make a card quickly, or I already have too many colors going on in my design, so I LOVE when our designers also show us examples of straight up stamping and beautiful design as Stephanie has done here. You can use our stamps anywhere!

Brenda Weaver: This color scheme is one of my all time favorites! I also love the way Brenda's highlighted her focal point by stamping the "Neighborhood" stamp in a warm gray and then adding a paper-pieced house with a dimensional adhesive to literally make it "pop" off the page! Gorgeous!

Samantha Casey: Samantha continued her bright color theme throughout all of her creations and I love the scallops on the bottom of this card! It plays so well against the roofs int he tall houses!

That's all for tonight - be sure to visit each of our designers blogs to increase YOUR chances to win one of these sets! Thanks so much for coming by tonight!! - Angelica & the MSS Crew