Coloring Class with Altenew Beautiful Day

Because today was a holiday, I decided to mark the occasion by taking an Online Card Class about coloring. I burned through the whole class and then sat down to make this for my niece who recently got engaged.

I used a combination of products, some long retired, from a variety of stamp companies. My main image is from Altenew called Beautiful Day. I love this stamp set!! And it was really fun to color using the techniques I learned today combining alcohol markers and colored pencils.

The background is from Stampin' Up! which I white embossed over Linen cardstock from Close To My Heart (CTMH). I sponged the edges in CTMH ink Toffee and Mink. The sentiment is also CTMH embossed on Cocoa cardstock. I cut it with a word bubble die from MFT but then snipped off the part that made it a word bubble. I followed the instructions from the first day of class taking three colors which weren't necessarily from the same color family and combining them. I used Copics in the brown, red, and red violet families with shading in the blue violet family. I then added depth and shade with colored pencils. I decided to make one flower a deeper shade than the other and placed it on the bottom.

I was quite happy with the way the flowers looked after coloring with the markers, so I almost stopped. But the point of the class was to take things up a notch much coloring in the nooks and crannies. Um...yeah! It really did make a difference by the time I was done. Not gonna lie, it was a lot of work, but I hope you agree that the result was worth the effort.

One of the things the teacher talked about was to consider "the trash factor" before spending hours coloring. Because my niece is very artistic, I think she will appreciate the effort that went into this.

Until next time,
Becca

Happy Anniversary Card

If you've been to my blog much, you know that my three favorite stamp companies are Close To My Heart (CTMH), Altenew, and My Favorite Things (MFT). I've made several cards combining products from all three of them, and today's card is one of them.

All paper is from CTMH. Some of it is retired, but the current colors are used are Sugarplum, Eggplant, Pansy Purple, and Sage. The retired, super-dark purple on the bottom layer is Majestic Mountain which retired a long time ago. The pattered paper is also from CTMH. It's in the "Feels Like Home" paper suite which retires at midnight today. I cut it, as well as the two stitched frames, using CTMH die cuts. The "happy" die cut is from MFT. The flower and leaves die cuts are from the 3-D Roses set made by Altenew. The small "anniversary" stamp is retired CTMH stamped in Eggplant ink.

I host a "Bring Your Own Craft" night at Ft. Lee once a month. In March, I brought my die cutting machine, a bunch of colored cardstock, and the 3-D Roses. I cut and assembled a bunch of flowers in various colors. Here's a card I made using almost the exact same set of supplies. If you really like the patterned paper on this card and the other one, here's a link to the Feels Like Home suite on my CTMH consultant website. Again, this paper retires at midnight tonight, so act quickly!

Until next time,
Becca

Anniversary Card with CTMH, Altenew, and MFT

If you've been around my blog at all, it's no secret that my three favorite stamp companies are Close to My Heart (CTMH), Altenew, and My Favorite Things (MFT). I used a combination of products to make a card for friends who are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary.

All paper is from CTMH. I used a combination of old and new colors with Altenew's Rose Flurries 3D Die Set. Once the flowers were assembled, I added sparkle with both a clear and Bashful shimmer pens from CTMH. The "happy" comes from MFT, and "anniversary" is retired CTMH in Heather ink. The stitched frame is CTMH.

I absolutely LOVE how this came out. I made a whole bunch of these 3D flowers at a craft night last week, so you might be seeing more of them in the near future.

Until next time,
Becca

One Scoop at a Time WYW

I always love playing around with the Workshop Your Way (WYW) kits to see how I can stretch them. Here are three cards using the One Scoop at a Time WYW.

This card features the Something Fierce paper suite, Stitched Rectangle Thin Cuts, and Fancy Tag Thin Cuts. I used paper that's not included in the workshop because I wanted to show that, even after the paper is gone from the kit, there are still a bunch of ways to use the stamp set. I rolled the bottom edges of the ice cream scoops in coordinating colors. Ballerina/Raspberry, Mint/Lagoon, and Lemon/Raspberry. The sprinkles are Raspberry and Lagoon.

I'll admit two things on this card. One, I don't actually own the Stitched Rectangle Frame Thin Cuts from CTMH. Yet. They are on the way. I borrowed a set at a get-together when I made the top card. So this card uses stitched cuts from My Favorite Things for the outside border. Two, I went a little overboard on the Clear Shimmer. But I like it. The sentiment was colored using the Mint Shimmer Brush.

This card features the I Heart Us paper. I used the bottom border of the cut-apart sheet of paper. I absolutely love that the cut apart sheet feature images on one side and a pattern on the other. I like to get use out of every bit of my paper, and since I mostly make cards, the change from double sets of PML cards to these cut-apart images on one side and pattern on the other makes the pack far more useful for me. Oh...and this used a lighter hand on the Clear Shimmer Brush.

I only used the ice-cream cones on these cards. I'll use the pineapple images later.

Here's the supply list with links for your shopping convenience:

• One Scoop at a Time WYW
• Something Fierce Paper
• I Heart Us Paper
• Fancy Tag Thin Cuts
• Stitched Rectangular Thin Cuts
• Ballerina ink
• Raspberry ink
• Lemon ink
• Mint ink
• Lagoon ink
• Charcoal ink
• Almond ink
• Toffee ink
• Clear Shimmer Brush
• Mint Shimmer Brush
• White and Gold Ribbon
• Micro-tip Scissors
• 3D Foam Tape

While you're shopping, be sure to check out the "Going Soon" section. Lots of lovelies went on sale today. Hurry before they are gone!

Until next time (which will be later this evening for the February SOM Blog Hop),
Becca

Congratulations Card

A dear friend and fellow author just reached a huge milestone in her career. To help her celebrate, I made her a card combining products from three different companies.

That gorgeous flower is a multi-layer die cut from Altenew, the sentiment is from MFT, and the scallop edge border and all paper is from CTMH. I think I'm going to recreate this exact same card but reverse the patterned paper, making the flower the plaid and the border the dotted pattern.

Since meeting my deadline back in November, I've been catching up on life and spending hours in my craft room to recover. I've been reading a couple of really interesting books to spark ideas for a novella collection. Hopefully I'll have news to share on that front soon...which means in the next six months because publishers have a different definition of the word than the rest of us do.

I'll be heading up to New York early next week to celebrate Christmas with our son. I hope to do a "Best of 2018" post either while I'm there or soon after I get back. I love this crafty, blogging, creative world I get to share with you. I've said it before (and I will probably keep saying it multiple times in the future), paper crafting is as much a part of my writing process as plotting and developing a character arc. I really, really missed being in my craft room while on deadline. It's been good to do nothing but make cards and scrapbook pages (which I don't show because I can't get good pictures) for a long time. My fingers are getting itchy to type a new story now.

Thank you for being part of my "tribe" by supporting both my papercrafting and my writing with your visits and comments.

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year,
Becca

Final Ugly Sweater Card

All 72 Christmas cards went in the mail yesterday. Whew! I wanted to show you the final card I made to finish.

This combines two stamp sets from CTMH (see below for shopping links), retired and current paper from CTMH, two die cuts from MFT, and a Cricut cut.

So here's the deal...the Ugly Sweater stamp set comes with "Fa la la!" but I'm a singer and the full thing is "Fa la la la la la la." I know. I'm a little obsessive compulsive. However, I got an unexpected royalty check for the large print edition of The Promise Bride which needed to be spent and MFT had just released this adorable die.

To get the texture on the sweater, I used a background stamp included in the Flower Market Cricut Cartridge (CTMH exclusive). I'm not sure where the actual sweater cut comes from only that I fussed with altering the image because that obsessive compulsive part of me didn't like that the image came with the red part on top of the ribbing bands. I changed it so the sweater was the full image and the ribbing parts were separate cuts. I used retired Cranberry paper and current Linen paper (light side) and stamped with retired Cranberry ink and Black ink to decorate it.

Here are the shopping links for the current supplies available through CTMH:

• Ugly Sweater (retires at the end of the month)
• Flower Market Cricut Cartridge
• Linen cardstock
• Black cardstock
• Black ink
• Heather ink

That royalty check was large enough to purchase some other supplies, so here's my second card for the day...

I've coveted the Peony flower from Altenew for quite a while and then they went and released a plaid cover die. Oh yeah...put that in my cart right away! The sentiment is a mix of MFT (praying) and retired CTMH (for you).

In writing news, I took a long break after sending off the final book of the Montana Brides series but now it's time to get back to work on proposals for new stories. The rest of my royalty check went toward a couple of research books so I'm off to read.

Until next time,
Becca

Christmas "Pawlidays"

Now...before we even begin today's post, you need to understand that I am not a dog person. I'm not a cat person either. I'm a "I don't really want any pets in my home because I can't even keep a plant alive" person. However, when I saw the adorable "Happy Pawlidays" stamp set from MFT, I couldn't resist. For this first card, I paired the stamp set with the CTMH Fancy Tags Thin Cuts and some Oh What Fun paper. I also used a snowflake embossing folder.

For this second card, I used retired paper and a retired snowflake thin cut from CTMH as well as the current Fancy Tag Thin Cuts. 

Both images were colored with Copic Markers. Soooo stinkin' CUTE!!

Before you go, please enter to with the $150 Amazon Gift Card by following me and five other Inspirational Historical Romance authors. This drawing ends soon! And be sure to link through to my CTMH website for Cyber Monday Deals!!

Until next time,

Becca

MFT Stitched Flowers with CTMH Paper and Sentiment

I'm in the thick of writing the final draft of the last book in The Montana Brides series. Book Two, The Kitchen Marriage, just released. It's available through online retailers now and should be in your local Walmart and other mass-market stores by Tuesday of next week. I've not had much crafty time, so I'm posting a card I made last month but never blogged.

This card combines my two favorite companies. The paper and die cut "thanks" is retired from CTMH, and the scallop border and stitched flower die cuts are from MFT. I colored the flowers and leaves with Copic markers.

Back to writing. I'm tellin' ya, deadlines are great for productivity but murder on my social life!

Until next time,
Becca

CTMH Documented with MFT Sunshine Die

Sooo...I made a really fun card for my friend then made this one with the leftovers. I just forgot to photograph the original card. Oops!

Anyway, I used Documented paper from CTMH (leftovers from this layout) and die cuts from My Favorite things.

I love when I can use up scraps. Remember, this paper pack retires at the end of the month so order now before they are gone.

Until next time,
Becca

Feminine Happy Birthday

I've been playing around with my It's Your Day Thin Cut cover plate, trying to utilize bits and pieces of it in different ways.

I'm thrilled with how this card came out. It features the Beautiful Friendship paper pack. The stamped sentiment is a combination of stamp sets: Central Park-Cardmaking (also featured on this post and this one) and the July Stamp of the Month (no longer available for purchase). I also used several stitched dies from My Favorite Things.

Here's the image of the It's Your Day Thin Cut. To create the centerpiece of this card, I cut just the bottom out of White Daisy cardstock. There are a few ways you can do this: one is to only run the die part of the way through the machine before reversing your crank to roll it back out; two is to shift your top plate so it only covers the part of your image that you want and run it through your machine. After I'd done that, I layered both the candles and the patterned paper from Beautiful Friendship together and ran both layers through with the Oval Stitched die cut from MFT. I was able to do that only because the cardstock and patterned paper are relatively lightweight. If you have thicker cardstock, you'll need to run each image through individually then glue them. (Another option would be to run just your background piece through the oval frame, glue the line of candles over the cut oval, then use scissors to trim off the excess. This option doesn't give you the stitched line across the bottom, but it works.)

Here's the supply list (with shopping links for your convenience):

• *Beautiful Friendship Paper
• White Daisy cardstock
• It's Your Day Thin Cut
• *Central Park-Cardmaking stamp set
• Heather Ink
• MFT Stitched Inside and Out Rectangles
• MFT Stitched Inside and Out Ovals

Please note that anything with an * beside it retires at the end of the month when we get a WHOLE NEW CATALOG!!

Yes, I'm a wee bit excited about that. In fact, I'm so excited about it I've gotten very little work done on my day job. This story is NOT going to write itself, and my deadline is starting to feel impossible. So...I really need to get up to my office instead of standing by the door waiting for my box of new products to arrive. Really. But one of the many perks of being a consultant is that I get to see the new catalog and order products before they become available to the rest of the world. I love that!

Okay...okay. I'm going upstairs. Really.

Until next time,
Becca

Get Well Teapot with Flower Market Cartridge

I'm in need of get well cards, so I sat down today and played with Flower Market, transforming the image that's in the cartridge until it looked more realistic to my eye.

If you own this cartridge, here's the Design Space file. Please note, as this was a home made job, things don't line up exactly. Also, after I cut the background, I decided the inner square needed to be smaller. I've adjusted that on the DS file, but I used the one I cut first on this card as it wasn't bad enough to start over.

I took advantage of the dual tone cardstock here, using the lighter side for the teapot and the darker side for the rim around the spout, the ball on top, and the frame.

One quick tip for the tag: tie the thread around the tag, turn the teapot base over, secure the thread behind with tape, and then glue down the base. Yeah...ask me why I know that's a good idea. LOL! Once the teapot was assembled and the frame was stamped and glued to the card base, I used foam tape to give the teapot some dimension.

I'm really going to miss the Short & Sweet stamp set. Those tiny sentiments are perfect for all sorts of occasions.

Here's the supply list (* indicates retiring at the end of the month):
*Documented Workshop Your Way (includes stickers and gems)
Linen Paper
Eggplant ink
Pebble ink
Flower Market Cricut Cartridge ("Laughter" sentiment and dotted background stamps are part of this collection)
*Short and Sweet stamp set
3D Foam tape

I liked this card so well, I made two more of them. For the ones below, I used a combination of CTMH products and MFT products.

This card also uses the Documented Paper Pack but the background frame is in Pebble paper. I hand cut the paper at the top of the tea pot and used a Copic marker to color the knob in a cool gray. The steam coming out of the teapot is from a retired CTMH stamp set called "Wonderland." I love it when those sets I've been hanging onto for years come in handy. It justifies my inability to part with them.

The sentiments on this card and the one below come from MFT. The set is called "Get Well Wishes." I also used MFT's "Inside and Outside" stitched frames to create the background frame.

For this card, it was back to Linen cardstock and retired Gimme Some Sugar paper. I created the shading with Copic markers and added my sentiment with a banner made using MFTs Stitched Fishtail dies.

I know...lots of the same design, but one can never have too many get well cards!

In writing news, I had a couple good days and a couple unproductive ones. I'm not sure why, but the final book in this series is killing me. Oh...I do know why. Because we have to say good-bye to these characters we've come to love. **Sigh**

Until next time,
Becca

Another New Home Card with CTMH Central Park-Cardmaking

As promised yesterday, here's another card using Central Park-Cardmaking for a new home card. This one also uses the Artistry cartridge, which is my all-time favorite, and yet I sometimes forget about how many great images are on these cartridges because I'm having too much fun with stamped images.

My friend moved into a townhome, so I wanted to give the card a city feel. I sized the row of houses to 5.5" wide and then started messing with it. The image comes with two cut out hearts, but I only wanted one...and not on either of the houses pre-programed into the image. I selected the image, clicked on the Contour button, and filled in the hearts. I then copied and pasted the image twice, using the Flip button on one of them. After selecting the Shapes feature, I added a heart, sized it, and sliced it into the townhome shaped image on the right. After I cut the rows from three different papers (patterned ones from Central Park Paper), I backed the cut-out heart with Red Glitter Paper. Of course, once I was done fussing with all of that, I realized I could have just cut a heart from the glitter paper and glued it on top.

Yeah, sometimes I over-complicate things.

Anyway...I then die-cut the sunny yellow background (also from Central Park Paper) using MFT stitched frames. I backed the yellow with Pacifica cardstock cut 1/8 inch larger than the yellow then glued my three rows of houses down. The final step was stamping the half-circle sentiment from Central Park-Cardmaking in Pacifica ink. I then glued all of it to my card base.

To finish it off, I stamped "New HOME" on the inside using Pacifica ink.

Here's the supply list (with embedded shopping links):

• Artistry Cricut Cartridge
• Central Park-Cardmaking (without coordinating thin cuts)
• Central Park-Cardmaking (with coordinating thin cuts)
• Central Park Paper
• Pacifica cardstock
• Pacifica ink
• MFT Stitched Frames STAX

Isn't that just so bright and cheerful?  I think my friend will get a smile out of it.

Off to do more writing. My morning was nuts with doctor appointments. Nothing serious, just that routine stuff we women have to put up with annually. Yeah...

Until next time,
Becca

Anniversary Card Using "Highlight Reel" - July Stamp of the Month

I've been having fun with this month's exclusive stamp set, Highlight Reel, from CTMH. Although designed more for scrapbooking than cardmaking, I love to stretch my stamps for both. Here's an anniversary card I made using this set:

This card went to my daughter and son-in-law. My daughter loved the movie UP, and she sent a text to say how much she liked this card when it arrived.

A number of products will be retiring soon, which also means they won't be available if supplies run out before September 1 when the current Seasonal and Annual catalogs expire. I've noted these products with an asterisks (*) in the supply list below.

Let me plug one in particular: this year's color of the year, Bashful (used on the lines of hearts above). I've seen next year's catalog already and the new color of the years is another pink called Sugar Plum. It's very pretty. I'll certainly purchase it. But it's not Bashful which, in my opinion. is the prettiest pink CTMH has come out with in the twenty-five plus years I've been either a customer or consultant. I was very much hoping they would add it to the regular line but it didn't happen. **Sadness** I'm stocking up on paper, re-inker, and glitter paper so I never run out!! Here are the other colors which will be retiring in case you need to stock up on them:

While we're on the subject of the new catalog, here's some more important news: Prices are going up. Not much - only a dollar on most items - and not unexpectedly after the number of years prices have held firm.

While you are stocking up on those items, be sure to take advantage of Stampaganza! This promotion is a buy two, get one of equal or lesser value free on stamp sets. Any stamp set! But it also includes the alphabet and number "Solo" sets which retired a number of years ago and have been brought back for this month only.

Okay...that's enough news for the day. I need to get up to my office and return to writing book three of the Montana Brides series. I think I finally - FINALLY - figured out the beginning.

Until next time,
Becca

Shopping List:
July SOM: Highlight Reel
Happiness Lives Here - retired (no shopping link)
*Momento Black Ink
Charcoal Ink
*Adventure Fundamental Paper
MFT Wonky Stitch die cuts
Various Copic Markers (no shopping link)

 

MFT Stitched Blooms Thank You Card

I love my husband. I love my husband. I love my...well, at least most of the time. I'm not particularly fond of him this morning, however. He woke me up around 2am with a couple of kicks and some loud grunts. I tried going back to sleep but gave up around 5am my time. **Sigh**

I thought I might as well come down to the craft area and play. With leftovers from this card still on my table, I used a combination of My Favorite Things (MFT) and Close To My Heart (CTMH) products, both current and retired. (Note: links to current products provided).

I cut three flowers plus several leaves from MFTs Stitched Blooms die cuts. I colored the flowers with Copic markers then highlighted with a white gel pen. I used CTMH Blossom cardstock and MFT Stitched Traditional Tag STAX (die cut) for the tag. I also ran the tag through an arrow embossing folder, but the texture doesn't show up well in the picture. My final die cut was the sentiment, retired from CTMH but one of my favorites.

I glued a strip of 2x5.5 Sunkiss paper to the card base then layered the tag, flowers, and sentiment over the top. The final touch was a white satin bow.

I love these flowers. I love these flowers. I love these flowers...right now mostly because they don't kick me awake in the middle of the night.

Until next time,
Becca

Birthday Card with MFT

I'm gearing up for a summer full of birthdays. This card uses My Favorite Things products. I might make about five more with different colors.

I love that circular sentiment! I have the Happy Birthday and Merry Christmas ones, but they also have Thank You and Congratulations.  The balloons come from the Happy Hippo stamp set. I colored them with Copic markers and used a white gel pen to create the highlights. Quick and easy!

Until next time,
Becca

I Love You Rain or Shine

My writing partner and I have recently gone through a creative disagreement. I wanted to let her know that our friendship will survive. I used the new "Rain or Shine" set from My Favorite Things and loosely interpreted their Sketch Challenge for this card...

I'm crazy in love with this stamp set.  It's the first one I've bought as soon as it released. I combined it with a couple MFT die cuts to create the background. You can't see it well, but I added some Liquid Glass (aka Glossy Accents) to the puddle so it's shiny.

I can't stop smiling at this card. I hope it has the same affect on Gina.

Until next time,
Becca

Rose Bouquet with CTMH Hello USA Cricut Cartridge

Can we talk a minute about the wonders of White Daisy Ink? It's probably the most versatile and under-utilized ink pad in my stash. And can we also talk about the wonders of Cricut Design Space which allowed me to ungroup, resize, and mess until I created this beautiful floral bouquet from the flowers included in CTMH's Hello USA Cricut Cartridge?

Yep...the ungroup feature! These flowers are from New York, Oklahoma, USA, New Mexico, and Alaska. I cut them in Cranberry, Smoothie, Sweet Leaf, Mink, and White Daisy then sponged the White Daisy and Mink flowers with Blush ink and the leaves with Willow ink. Before gluing the roses together, I stamped layers from the Beautiful You stamp set in White Daisy ink on both the flowers and leaves.

The white lilac-ish flowers (New Mexico) cut with a long stem before you get to the frond leaves. I simply cut the stem holding the flower, re-glued it to the frond leaves, and then tucked the whole flower under the edge of the roses to hide the cut. The only extra thing I did was to use a round hole punch to create the centers of the Mink flowers. I don't know if I deleted the layer that would have given me a back or if they come open, but it saves paper and doesn't take much time to punch the holes and glue them on the back side.

The scallop edge background is Basic Fundamentals Charcoal paper cut with a die from My Favorite Things.

If you have the USA Cricut Cartridge from CTMH, here's the Design Space file you can use to recreate this. If you don't have it, click on the colored link above to order.

Here's the supply list with embedded links for your shopping convenience:

• Hello USA Cricut Cartridge
• Beautiful You Stamp Set (link goes to set with coordinating thin cuts which is on sale this month)
• White Daisy Ink
• Willow Ink
• Bashful Ink
• Cranberry Cardstock
• Smoothie Cardstock
• Sweet Leaf Cardstock
• White Daisy Cardstock
• Mink Cardstock (I used the light side)
• Basic Fundamentals Paper
• Sponge Daubers
• Glue Pen
• 3-D Foam Tape

This is going out to my mother for her birthday, but I can easily see it as a mother's day card. The Beautiful You stamp set includes "Mother" as a sentiment. I was planning to use a folding banner thin cut (which is also on sale), but in the end, I couldn't bring myself to cover up any of the flowers.

Until next time,
Becca

Spring Card with CTMH Flower Market

I've been having fun with my Cricut and the Flower Market cartridge. My upline, Shannon Baker, runs a color challenge weekly, and this time it was Almond, Tangerine, and Poppy. I loved the boot card I  made for winning the Spur Award (link HERE) and the tulip one I made where I highlighted with white gel pen (link HERE), so I combined them for this card:

For the rubber boots, I used a combination of the Basic Fundamental Paper and Basics Cardstock Combo. Both of these were on sale a couple months ago, so I stocked up. I love that subtle pattern on the boots. I filled in a few of the cuts just because I liked the solid look better. I could have used the Hide Contour feature while I was in Design Space to fill them in, but I actually like the bit of outline you get with the cut.

After cutting the flowers in cardstock, I sponged the edges with their coordinating Tangerine and Poppy ink colors with Sponge Daubers. I also sponged Poppy ink along the edges of the Almond cardstock used as a matte. Both the Almond matte and the White Daisy matte were cut using rectangular stitched dies from My Favorite Things. The banner, which was stamped using a coordinating stamp set in the Flower Market Cricut Bundle, is also a stitched die from My Favorite Things.

Once the flowers were sponged and glued together using alternate sides of the two-tone Tangerine and Poppy cardstock (which doesn't show up well in this photo but adds subtle interest), I highlighted them with a combination of white gel pen and some black dots from a micro-tip pen. The flower image in Flower Market comes with a center, but I decided I wanted the pen dots instead.

What a fun card to brighten someone's day.

Before I go, don't forget the Die-namite special CTMH is running. It took me a while to get on the die cutting band wagon, but - OH! - I'm loving it now. For some more examples of projects I've made using these die cuts, please link to the following:
Block Letters
Thankful for You

Until next time,
Becca

2018 Spur Award - Best Western Romance Novel

Friday evening, I got an email from the publisher of The Promise Bride congratulating Gina and me on winning the 2018 Spur Award from the Western Writers of America for "Best Western Romance Novel."

Uh...I didn't even know we entered.

I'll spare you the details (although if you want to read about them, you can visit my author blog post here) and say only that these past few months I've contemplated giving up writing pretty much every day. I can't express how much I needed some good news.

To celebrate, I made two identical cards - one for my writing partner and one for our editor - using a free Cricut cut, some CTMH paper and stamp (both current and retired), and an MFT die cut.

I searched "My Images" in Cricut Design Space for a boot, and this one came up as free. Sweet!! It didn't have the spur, so I created that by altering a square, circle, and star from the shapes button. The spur itself is a star that I copied, pasted, and then rotated one 45 degrees before welding both together. I cut everything with CTMH cardstock in Peacock, Linen (both current), Saddle, and Barn Red (both retired).

The scallop and stitched frame is from My Favorite Things. I tried it in plain white, but I liked the card much better with the added oomph of the Peacock cardstock frame.

The sentiment is from a retired CTMH Cricut bundle called Artiste. Technically, the sentiment should be "Brava" since the recipients of the cards are both women, but I didn't have that stamp. I had this one. Close enough. I stamped it in Peacock ink.

Part of what makes this win so remarkable is that The Promise Bride is an Inspirational story, meaning it comes from a Christian worldview and doesn't include any descriptions that would make my mother blush. That's atypical for a "Romance Novel." The coolest thing, though, is that I can now call myself an award-winning author. You might see some of my social media accounts begin to reflect that. **Big cheesy grin**

Until next time,
Becca

Happy Birthday Earthling

My brother-in-law is celebrating a birthday soon. His name is Marvin and he loves Marvin the Martian, so every few years I send him a card featuring that cartoon character. This year, I combined Marvin the Martian with some MFT products for this fun shaker card.

I love how MFT products make me look like a genius in under ten minutes!

I used the shaker circle pouches which fit perfectly inside the Happy Birthday circle die which I cut from white paper and colored with the same Copic markers I used for Marvin. I colored with the green first then came back and highlighted the ends with yellow. The black check paper is long retired from CTMH and the small stripe of green is from a trimming that I colored with the green Copic and glued very carefully against the edge of the black paper.

He is so stinkin' CUTE!! I can't wait for the real Marvin to get his card.

Now it's off to my day job. Final edits came back for To Catch a Bride which is available for pre-order now. Once they are done, it's time to write the final two stories in this series. Wow! Can't believe Gina and I are almost done writing these stories.

Until next time,
Becca