Newsflash!

I'm SO excited! (I just can't hide it...!)

PS Cards N Things 2009 :)

Pretty Place Holders

Here's a little gift idea using a "one sheet wonder" sheet I stamped with Gina K's Summer Harvest, August's Free with Three Set. I put three bookmarks, (1 3/4" x 10.5 " strips of Pink Passion , scored at 5 1/4" and folded in half) in a clear CD case. These are a little different from traditional bookmarks because they hold not only your page, but your place, as I will show below! Packaged together with these binder clips clipped to the spine, they are not only decorative but can be attached to the folded end of the bookmark or used separately for papers and photos. (and the recipient can also repurpose the case...)



These clips were the inspiration for my color scheme, (I have such a hard time getting away from my favorite Red unless I'm smacked over the head with something else!) I was at my favorite Target Dollar Spot a few weeks ago and thought these light and hot pink and peachy berries and cherries were so summery and festive and perfect to go with the "Summer Harvest" stamps!
The narrow grosgrains I tied on are SU! Apple, Apricot, and Rose, and that crazy spotty dotty one I had completely forgotten I had (Ribbon FX from Hobby Lobby $1.99) I picked it up a few months ago planning to use it with my circus animals! :) Could the colors be any more perfect? (now that I know I have it again, expect to see it with another little animal from this past release, coming soon!)

I stamped the cherries and berries all over my CS (4 1/2" x 5") in Palette Noir, turning the stamps as I went , going back and filling in ares as needed. I colored them with my Copics (minus shading to match the bold, solid look of the fruit on my clips) and added some white dots for a cheery highlight and berry seeds with my Signo gel pen (which is dying by the way, I think it's time I go try the Inkssentials pen, do you have one...?)

I cut that one piece into 1 1/2" strips and adhered them to my folded bookmarks. I went and ahead and attached the clip at the folded end after taking it out of the case (isn't that cute?) I like that it is multipurpose, and you can take off the clip (instead of just having ribbon permanently attached) if you need it for something else. I made one of these for the Dirty Dozen gallery years ago (a more masculine one, very different looking from this!), I'd seen this snap on type of bookmark at a bookstore, and thought it was so clever, and necessary for some like me, who aways seems to reread an entire page before figuring out where I left off the night before, do you do that?? Here you just slide it on and snap it shut at the line you left off....


I wanted to use two short pieces of a long roll of adhesive magnetic tape on the insides, but of course I couldn't find it today so I had to use some of these larger magnets (not necessary to have such strong magnets for this project though) I toyed with the idea for a minute of using the Basic Grey snaps I bought last month, but decided against it because I really want to save them for things I want a more professional looking closure on, mini album, purse card, KWIM? (But they would have worked!) :)
TIP: Here you see if you decorate the back also (either with more stamping, DP, or maybe a verse or your own handwritten message, the bookmark looks nice facing either direction (here I have the same bookmark, snapped onto the right hand page...)

You might not think someone needs three bookmarks from you, but if they're like me (or at least like me back when I had time to read LOL!) I often have several books I'm into at once (which makes it extra hard to remember your spot!) ;)
EDITED TO ADD: This finished bookmark measures 1 3/4" x 5 1/4". (which means they are short enough to tuck into an A2 card if you want to send one per person in the mail. See above for additional measurements for each piece.) :)

I have to confess I'm not really reading Jane Eyre right now, just had to find something off the bookshelf that wouldn't look silly in my pic) :) Something I did read recently and highly recommend for the beach, plane ride etc: "No, I Don't Want to Join a Book Club!" by Virginia Ironside. It's been several months now since I checked it out and read it, but I think I'm going to go ahead and buy it, it was one of the funniest things ever, ( lots of insight and tender moments, too), kind of a Bridget Jones diary if Bridget were 60!! ) Warning, this woman can be very naughty, but she is a hoot!

Have a great day! (BTW, how do you like this new formatting...? never mind it looks like it did the wrap around in some places and not others...?)

Tees to Go!

Did you know if you roll/wad it up just so, a t-shirt will fit in a takeout container??

I got this cute plastic one from the Target Dollar Spot, the flowers it was already decorated with were so fun and colorful, I decided to make a tee tag to match the container. First I stamped my tee on PT white and added Asela's daisy (only a few more weeks left in August to have part of the purchase price of Flowers for Daisy go to the American Cancer Society, so be sure to get yours soon!), then colored with red and orange Copics to match the big flower. Next I made a dotted outline with my purple Copic atyou Spica pen. Doesn't this daisy image look so different in these bright colors? Fun stuff!
To make spots on the petals, I pressed the tip of my Colorless Blender Copic to the red petals until the color began to move out(as Marianne instructed me at CHA, you're not taking color away when you apply the blender, you're pushing it, which is why the spots have that kind of cool darker ring around the edge...)

I went back in with a light green Copic on the spots to match the flower on the container (see top pic) I should have gotten the spots lighter to make the green brighter, but, I got impatient (you know me) Last I added a snaky turquoise stem with my marker, stamped "birthday", punched a hole, and threaded some turquoise SU! grosgrain through and around the handle, leaving the ends trailing like those funky stems, you like?? (I'll probably add a few more ribbons later, but I was in a hurry to take the pic!) Now I wanna give everyone t shirts as gifts just so I can make matching gift containers and things with my tees LOL!

TIP: I could have made a score across the top of my tee, and folded the CS in half (if I'd used a larger piece of CS) before cutting to make a super cute gift card that opened instead of a tag, try it at home! :)

I'll be back with some ways you can decorate a plain shirt as gift and make a tag to match. Have a great day!

Here She is...

It's Miss A-mer-i-ca!!! I had this idea for that "Diva" stamp in the "Little Tees" set to make a little beauty contest sash by stamping my tee on white by stamping DIVA at a diagonal and then drawing a few parallel diagonal lines around it across the shirt then cutting it and adhering it to my pieced tee for the stash. (I could have gone a step further and altered my tee into a one-piece bathing suit, but, I didn't) Scalloped mat and shirt use the DCWV All Dressed Up Glitter Stack. I traced my stamped tiara with my silver Copic Spica to match my glittered DP. Large Scalloped Oval and Rectangle Nestabilities for the diecuts. This was a really easy card, simple sketch, no ribbon...

thanks for stopping in!

T-Shorts!

This card was inspired by self-proclaimed "prepster" friend Joanne (I'm not telling her to relax, I just really like this sentiment with the 'flops!) Although I didn't give the tee a polo collar, I made her a little outfit with some skimmer shorts (stamp tee on DP, draw a line up the middle for legs, add some horizontal lines in the middle for cuffs, cut out and turn upside down (to make hips that will line up with shirt bottom and tapered leg)



The pieced flip flops on the shirt and sentiments are from Gina K's "You are My Sunshine". I added some little jewel stickers from Stampendous to the flip flops, to make little buttons on the shorts cuffs, and to accentuate the swirls on the paper.



This card uses FOUR different papers (two solids, two patterns) from just one Basic Gray Pack "Two Scoops" , can you believe!! (Green textured CS is DCVW.) I made a little faux bow using a left over plaid strip I had after making the shorts and flops, (make one loop, and then loop a smaller one around that and attach. To make the large background mat I die cut two Scalloped Rectangles, and then overlapped the bottom one with the other. TIP: I forgot to add the pic, but with the DP being a lighter weight than CS, you can cut through 2 different prints at the same time when you run the paper and die through your machine, I like that time saver! Last I added a couple big white brads in the scallops at the top.

Have a fabulous day! Relax... :)

Window Shopping, Round 2! Another Tri-Fold...

So for my "more is more" card, behind my acetate window, I have my lady from this card, but with the applique purse and shoes on the front, it looks like she is peering into the shop (with Sultry "wallpaper"!)...

you open to see her...
and then finally you see all three sections: more Sultry layers, a perfume bottle iron-on and "birthday diva"(also from "Little Tees", stamped in Burnt Umber) plus a spot to hold a gift card. The large pink mat has slits at the top and bottom (SU! Slit punch) to hold the GC or birthday money, each of the little slit tabs is accented with a pale green Gina K Bling & Dazzle adhesive rhinestone. Time to shop!

You can see how to construct a tri-fold card in this post, (and if you have 12x12 CS , you can use you Scor-pal and score at 4" and 8" to make the three sections without having to layer two cards together.) I actually used my Scor-Mat for this card also!! I'd tried to cut through both the DP and card base with my Rectangle Nestabilitie so the window would line up exactly, and after rolling it through several times, it went through almost all the way around, but I had one corner that wasn't cutting all the way, so I was able to take my craft knife and slice through the groove, with the mat underneath to protect my desk. Hope you liked this "more is more" version!

So who won the blog candy mat anyway? Stampmouse! Congrats, be sure to send me your addy so I can get your mat in the mail! :) Now the rest of you are free to go order it, you know you want to! ;)

And, I decided to draw one more name since I mentioned the "Jumping for Joy" set, I may as well give it away now. Pamela Smerker, you win the stamps! I need your addy, too!

Have a great weekend!! :)

My Guest Designer, Week 2: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!

It's Thursday, time for more creative cards from Cat! When I opened this card of Cathy's, my mind was flooded with memories of all things 80's: neon, elastic bracelets, cheesy MTV videos, "hair bands", etc (but in a good way, LOL!!) ;)

These colors and the pink tied hemp, and that wrap of day-glo zebra around the shirt and (new!) wave (hee!) of it across the card (along with the custom brads she made to match (Gina K Zoo brads colored with pink marker), rounded and 90 degree corners, it's just a trip! And makes me wanna grab my hairbrush and sing into the mirror (especially pairing this "wild thing" tee with the "you make my heart sing" from my "Cuddles and Hugs", a set with more than one song lyric, power ballads anyone?!) I'm sure the card's recipient would wanna do the same :)

Hope this card brightened your day, tickled your side (and if you're too young to remember all that 80's stuff, well, it's coming back! (Anyone seen the "new" "Breakfast Club" commercials???)

Today is the LAST day to enter a comment on my blog candy post for the Scor-Pal mat! Be sure to leave a comment THERE if you haven't already! (and if you have, but want an extra chance you can link my tip sheet on your blog (again, if you haven't already linked it, let me know on the blog candy post if you do! BTW, did you know Gina K sells the Scor-Pal?? Just thought you might want to know if you already had a certain stamp set or two in your cart(or on your wish list!), you'll get free shipping on whatever that order adds up to for sure! :)

Finally, I've already seen the card she chose for her blog and it will have you slapping your knee, another great card, you'll want to go make one, I know it! (AND, it uses an idea I had thought about (similar, at least) but FORGOT to put on the tip sheet, I told you I left some things out! Go see!

Weird things are up with my blogspot...!

I had to go in tonight to finish a post for later in the week and saw something odd, two "Quickly" posts with the Scor-Pal mat pics, when before there had been only one. One had all the comments (86) I'd been seeing the last 24 hours, the one below that had just appeared had none. (I checked to see if my kids had changed the time and somehow posted it again, nope they showed the same time.) So I went in and saw the two posts in my history and made sure to click on the post with no comments and deleted it(hesitating for a moment thinking it might delete them both) But, it only deleted one, you guessed it, the one with all the comments. wah, wah wahhhhhhhhhh! I do still have all the notifications in my email but just wanted to make you aware of it, also to say that comments for the blog candy drawing are supposed to be on my tip sheet post. SO if the comment you left was for the blog candy and now it's gone, it wasn't in the right spot anyway (was supposed to be on the one below it, with my tip sheet) and you have another chance to leave it again on this post <----(click that spot and leave a comment on that one, please!) and don't worry about typing out the same comment as before, I already read and enjoyed them though email, thanks! :)

Anybody had this happen to them tonight (or ever before?)

PS now when I click on the post whcihc is still showing up in the history, it says post not found, but ti's still showing up on my site when I scroll down!! (the one with no coments) whaaa?? can you see it, too?

Born to Shop!

Can you believe how well these iron-on appliques go with my tee shirt???

I saw them at Hobby Lobby for 1.99 each while out looking for different ideas to share here for embellishing the tees with things other than ink, and thought real iron-ons would be fun! (1.99 for five when each piece would be about all my card needed I thought was a pretty good price!) I intended to put a separate lipstick or purse as the featured design on each tee sample (which I will still do, of course), but when I got it home, I realized the bust looked like her long last head-BWAHHHH! a perfect fit!! (how ya like that faux fur collar??) Looking around a bit since then I've been finding other things that are a really good scale fit for the tee, happy dance! For fun, add a cut out pic of you or your favorite shopper's face ;) The fab paper is from the "Sultry" Basic Grey pack, looks gorgeous with these bright pinks and chartreuse! I stamped the ringer tee on the back side of the paper, cut out and flipped it to have a chic, solid houndstooth top! I stamped the "Born to Shop" on the shirt, then adhered all the iron-ons with Mono multi, kind of hiding her "hands"(non hands LOL!) like she's holding the items, or perusing a counter display. Even if you can't find similar applique, it would be really fun to use fibers to make your own furry collar with this stamp. :)

This is the simple one layer version of this card, the bling and silky embroidered detail on the applique I thought was perfect for the simple design. To add a little more "oomph" emboss a rectangle under her or an oval to make her look like she's framed in a miror. But because I also wanna go even "bigger", check back later for the kicked-up version card!!! Any guesses? (you can use a Scor-pal (and even the Scor-Mat...!) (hope it's not a let down!) :)

Tomorrow, Cathy's guest designer spot (and last day to enter for my blog candy!!) Also, look forward to some awards I'm behind on, and a few fun sightings/recommends for you to check out!

More later, hugs!

Quickly:

Maybe I wasn't clear...

My blog candy giveaway is a gorgeous new Scor-Pal mat!!! (valued at $15.00, shown here, but minus the Scor-Pal and scoring tool, those are not inclued in the giveaway, just to show how it works with the mat). I usually have over 200 people leaving comments vying for the blog candy, (and if there aren't as many now because you prefer getting my stamps for free, I'm really flattered!!) but I haven't had as many this time so I just wanted to be sure you all knew what exactly the mat is and why you want it/ need it, even if you don't have the Scor-Pal!

The pic below was my set up before (please excuse the mess, I had to push everything back to take this pic, I cannot expose you to the horrors that are beyond the boundaries of this photo!!) , when you have a Scor-Pal and a mat (SU!) to stamp on a protect your surface, you need a really long table (plus adding your cutter, etc) Some people even have a separate table to put their Scor-Pal on. The two pushed up to each other are almost 3 feet long.
Now that I have a Scor-mat, I can multitask in this smaller area, only 13 inches wide! The mat which is still large enough to go under a 12x12 page, fits right into the Scor-Pal tray. I can cut on it with ym hobby blade(it's self-healing, protects your desk), do my stamping on top of it (smooth surface, wipe it clean), etc, and when I need to score something I just lift it off or slide it down. So neat and compact (and more portable, fits in the Scor-pal tote, and easier to store than the longer mats. I also like the diagonal guides (and the color, hee!)
Just a reminder to leave a comment on the post below if you would like to enter the drawing, ending Thursday!! (AND, if you haven't entered because you already have the whole Scor-pal shebang(or still don't think you need the mat), I'll give the winner their choice of the mat OR Jumping for Joy! How's that, free stamps, anyone? :) (and if you have both of these already, I bet you know someone who would be your best friend if you gave your prize to them! ;)

Please check back later for a card, I think blogger is about to go down for scheduled maintenance!

PS FYI If you win, the mat you will receive is brand new, in the packaging, the one in the pics is of my beloved mat, Diana gave me two! :)

Little Tees Tip Sheet!! (and candy!)

Attention: there is a blog candy offering at the end of his post (it's long, but worth reading) :)
365 days, 365 ways!! Actually, I don't think I could ever run out of ways to customize these "Little Tees"...feel free to copy and paste/print, link these tips :)

Your outlined tee is a blank canvas and will soon become the most versatile stamp in your collection! The classic tee will never go out of style, and you can make them look completely "old school" or up to the minute in fashion. Stamp it on Dp and you've got an easy to cut paper piece patterned tee!

All stamps in this set will fit on all three shirts, and most stamps in the rest of your collection are likely to fit in the center (Sample above uses my outlined tee and Gina K's juicy cherries from the the new "Free with Three" set "Summer Harvest"). Your stamps that are larger than the tee look stunning on it when masked, like a real screen printed tee, see this sample.

Use the short sleeved shirts separately or together for some unique fun looks! When two step stamping the line and bold t-shirt images, a stampamajig will ensure perfect placement, but if you want to "eyeball", stamp your outline image, then ink your bold image and peek under lining up the points of each side of the COLLAR and then lower onto paper. (Lining it up from the bottom or either side at the sleeve can wind too high or low, at least for me!!)

Techniques with the bold tee:
Faux shaving cream (will show sample on my blog)

"tie dye" with markers, spectrum pads or ink spots
Rock N roll for shading
Ink up with spectrum pads to have blending colors or use ink spot to make the top one color and the bottom another.
Kiss stamps from the set or others in collection for a screen print tee without needing to mask or backgrounds.
Kiss on backgrounds for a patterned tee.
Ink up stamp and kiss on uninked background pattern or image to take ink away before stamping.
Use your markers direct to stamp to doodle on designs, spots make stripes etc and stamps in the perfect image of a tee!

A dark or black bold tee look terrific with greetings and images embossed on them in lighter colors.

The ringer tee is great for:

athletic shirts (use your team's color on the sleeves)

masculine

cold weather cards.
Layer it under the short sleeved tees for a trendy look!

Make a tunic or solid tee by stamping the ringer on the backside of DP or colored CS, cutting, and then flipping over for a solid print.

Cut the ringer tee in half to make a jacket or just the bottom for a pencil skirt. (Cathy Tidwell's "Cleverness")

Accent your tees with the following embellishments:
embossing powders
flocking
adhesive rhinestones
punched decals
liquid appliqué
Versamark with Spicas
Stickle accents
stickers
appliqué (embroidered) iron ons

brads

eyelets

halfback pearls

Primas and silk flowers

rub ons etc!

(your favorite embellishment here!)

Ideas for the smaller images:
Paper piece the cause ribbon or cut out ribbon for accent.
"Hang" glasses on shirt collar
Use glasses, flowers and tiara to accessorize your happy face.

Use the glasses on other people or animal stamped images (yes, they fit several of my designs!)
Use your favorite images or greetings on the shirts (this will give a "fresh feel" to an old favorite image in your stamp collection)!
Stamp the stars, flowers or "tiara" like flourish above and/or below your greetings or into the corners of your mats.

Use them to decorate tiny die cut or punched tags for your projects.

Stamp your favorite image below the "I heart".

Write in a name or stamp the letters of your beloved or (things you love) under the "I heart"

Use the lightning bolt with all your "supers" ("Shazam!")
Make custom DP.
Use images or greetings without the tee shirts (fun accents)
Check out this amazing list of cause ribbon colors to go with the looped ribbon image, if there's a cause it HAS a color!! you can hit Ctrl F to search for your cause :)
http://www.craftsnscraps.com/jewelry/ribbons.html
http://www.productsforthecure.com/pages/ribbons.html

Alter your tee by:
Draw in a few lines to make new silhouette on your basic tee and cut out: this basic shape with a little ink and thought can become a bathing suit, bra, nighty, apron (for your crafty friend or "domestic goddess") asymmetrical top, tube top, halter etc, the sky's the limit!! Enjoy being your own designer!
Cut off the collar cuff to make a dressier scoop-necked tee.
Trim or rip the bottom or neck for distressed tee.
Make a ringer out of the short sleeved tee by coloring in the collar and sleeves (or cut off the sleeves of the ringer).
Mask or cut another bottom of the shirt below the full image to look like a shirt and skirt.
Belt it or give it a high waist (think maternity!) with a ribbon for a trendy look or to create a mini dress.
Make pants or jammy bottoms by stamping the tee again, drawing a line in the middle and cutting off the sleeves.
Make a full skirt by cutting off the sleeves and attaching underneath the tee.
Make a straight skirt or skimmer shorts by stamping a second tee, inverting the image and cutting at the waist (dived with a line in the middle for shorts)
Stamp on magazine pic or photo of folded fabric to get a pieced tee with realistic folds (Gina K's "Genius")

Shade in strategic spots to make your tee curvier, with child etc or trim to make more masculine/"boxy"!

Use the "Let's hang out!" with your hanger and try:
tying ribbons on the hanger

add mini clothespins to it
emboss your hangers with metallic EPs
mask the tees onto the hanger
"hang" the hanger on a brad, rhinestone
make a clothesline with string, hemp, or wire, or a fashionable clothing rod made from a hatpin

Other fun stuff:
Cut out and link ringer t-shirt arms together
Group your tees together, overlapping by masking
Paper piecing on solid or DP for quick, no-coloring tees.
Make a reverse mask (by cutting out outline and saving the "outside")and stamps large backgrounds or collage stamps/small images for a patterned tee.
Many punched shapes tags fit on the tee! Think circles, stars, flowers, etc
The happy face fits in a 3/4 " circle punch!
Print out your favorite saying or even a small favorite photo on the computer and then stamp the tee outline around it.

Some fun phrase combos using just the greetings in this set (to put on a tee or by itself!):
sports girl

sports mom
supergirl
supermom
diva mom
birthday girl
birthday diva
chocolate diva
U go girl

mom U ROCK
go girl
rock star
super star
have a super day
super baby on board
miss U
love U
super U
diva U
U rock
have a super birthday
I heart sports
I heart chocolate
I heart mom
I love to shop

I Heart ROCK

I MISS (all of the above!)

anything I missed...?

Gift ideas:
Create a smaller version of your friend or child's favorite tee with the stamps.

Create "dolls" using your photos with the people cut out, sized to wear the tees. Make one for every family member to have the whole gang to play with!
Personalize one to make a tag for your luggage or gym bag.
Make ATCs or tin trading cards (see our Gina K swap, closed now, but still fun!) with the tees.
Make a card to slide a necklace through for an elegant gift presentation.
stamp on a laundry bag or pillow case for dirty clothes or a sleepover.
Make charms with Polyshrink out of the tees for:

bracelets
fun magnets
earrings,
necklaces,

cause ribbon pins,
key rings etc for all your supermoms, friends etc!
Let kids and teens go to town expressing themselves creating the shirts of their dreams!
Decorate back to school items for teens and tweens: pencils, covers, locker mirrors etc.

Make a tee tag or card to coordinate with a real personalized t-shirt gift.

Favors for party goody bags or sports events.

Make mini place cards tees with guest names on them for the table, fun for dinner or a party.

Personalize kid's stuff with a stamped tee and his or her name on it.

Make fun invitations with the tees customizing to the theme or required attire for your party.

Make a his and her tees card for a new couple or anniversary.

Stamp on fabric to make an iron on tee for a tee!

Make custom stamped wrapping paper tissue, and gift tags with the tees when gifting clothing.

Accent scrapbook pages with tees that have captions dates of the event you're scrapping , or a tee to match the ones in your photos!

For inspiration:

fashion magazines

the mall

a real T-shirt shop!

T-shirt websites

your closet!

this blog! melaniemuenchinger.blogspot.com

I know I've left things out, and I'm not done yet, just getting started!! (Can you tell this is a fun, "anything goes" set yet?) Come back and check the blog, I'll eventualy have sample showing every suggestion here LOL!

Please enjoy!! And email me with YOUR best suggestions and project ideas, I'd love to see!!

I'm about to celebrate 150, 000 hits so leave a comment here (and for an EXTRA chance link this tip sheet post to your blog ! say that you're "linking" on this post,) and be entered for a chance to win a new Scor-Pal mat, which fits in the recessed area of your Scor-Pal, courtesy of Diana Crick (she gave me an extra and it is a must have, great work surface/self healing mat even if you don't have a Scor-Pal, so play anyway! (but if you don't, what are you waiting for? Scor-pal rocks!) Deadline for the drawing is Thursday, August 8, 11PM CST! I will announce one winner on Friday 8/9 on my blog! :)

"Basic Grey" Tee: 2-Step Stamping Tips

You did know the "Little Tees" short sleeved images were 2-step, right? If you haven't seen anyone use them that way in a sample yet, I wanted to show a couple techniques you can do with the bold tee and outlined tee on the same card...

In these next pics I'll show you how I made my own tee to coordinate with my DP on the card. I stamped the outline tee first. (not pictured) Then I inked the bold tee in Blush Blossom (this ink looks terrific with the Sugared paper, but you can't really see it in the photo on this red rubber). The way you ink a bold stamp, either tapping on your pad, swiping, or "swirling" it around will change the "texture" of your tee when you stamp it, enjoy experimenting with that) Next I rolled the edges on my Burnt Umber pad...

and "kissed" on Asela's daisy with the same ink.

Now the trick to 2 step tee stamping: Peek under and line up the collar "tips" (each corner) with your stamped line art tee collar tips at the top, then lay it down gently toward you, still peeking til you get to the bottom of the tee. (normally I would hold the block with both hands but I had to take the pic!)
If you are careful and self correct as you finish it at the bottom(meaning wiggle it slightly left or right as you come down to line up, it's easy to see this edge that's closest to you), you should get a perfect match without a stampamajig, ta da!! Doesn't that look cool?! A colored, shaded tee with a design on it in that one step without needing to mask, I love it!! Just for fun I went in later and added a tiny bit of More Mustard ink with my Aquapainter to my daisy before stamping "birthday girl" over it. Don't I have a great-looking artsy, vintage tee now, a terrific match for that weathered looking Sugared Basic Grey paper? (I'd wear that!...actually, I think I have one that looks a little like this!)
Try it when you're paper piecing, too! With this shading, now your pieced shirts won't look as "flat". (You could cut the shirt out and just sponge the edges, too, but the effect will be different from rolling) If you try stamping the bold tee first I will tell you in my experience, getting the two to line up the two is very difficult, I won't say impossible, but I have yet to get it right doing that way, so please save yourself some frustration!! You can see a side by side comparison here of me switching the order...
SO, outline first, bold second (an easy way to remember this, just like when you stamp and image and then color, you need an outline before you can shade :)

More card details: I added the "Sugared" glazed brads to the punched out SU! Photo corners after stamping them and my DP layer with this Kelly Panacci stitching (it's on the corners too but I don't know if you can tell from the pic). (Added a little sponging with the Burnt Umber on the white mat, too, so it wouldn't be so bright) One other thing I did here was cut my DP on the bias so I could have my print going diagonally, rather than the flowers just going up and down, just to be different, a way to change the look of you pattern. Simply turn your DP in the cutter and slice off a side, then turn so that cut side is lined up with the bottom of your cutter and cut the second side at a right angle, repeat til you have a square mat. (You will have some excess, but these scraps are great for tags, punches etc so go for it!! I've learned life is too short to hoard LOL!!)

Hey, please tell me what you think: do you prefer seeing the finished card at the top of the post so you can skip all the yadayada after it if you want, or see each step and then BAM! surprise! here's the card!! hmmm....

PS Yes, I know my stamps and blocks are terrifically inky/dirty. Don't you know cleaning them only when it's absolutely necessary* frees up oodles of time to stamp?? (Carolyn and I agreed on this point at CHA: if you're going to use a color, clean your stamp, otherwise "just leave 'em black..."**)

* Cleaning them to take nice looking photos for your blog is not considered absolutely necessary. You know what a clean block looks like already, don't you? :)

**I know half of you are shuddering at the thought, but the other half are saying "right on!!!" ;)

I Like a Tight Fitting Tee! :)

LOL! I found a thread on Splitcoast of a fun swap arranged for the tees!( naughty group, funny group, etc I love it!!) and I noticed several comments from stampers trying to decide how to cut up their sets that just arrived! Thought I should come post a pic of how I did mine along with some tips and the why behind some of my choices, there are other ways to do this, of course...

I just can't seem to make a set without giving you as many images as I'm able!! (We play around with the images lot before plating to figure out how I can cram more ideas in, cost per stamp just keeps going down that way! ;)) I was able to get the whole set done with my Tonic scissors, but if there is an area you're nervous to cut, grab a hobby blade to make a precise incision directly between the stamps. Like in most of my unmounted Gina K sets, I find lots of opportunities to cut a single greeting into parts where it makes sense to do so, to allow for different stacking configurations, using just part of the greetings instead of omitting, or substituting another word from the set to make new greetings. For example: "have a nice day" can become "have a "super" day", or "have a super birthday", etc... *(see pic below)
Also notice the I heart are trimmed apart (because I love using the heart by itself!) but I left a straight line at the top left between the two so that when I want to use them together i just line them back up and it's straight and spaced correctly...

The MISS U ROCK have all been trimmed apart, but instead of making as close a trim around each as I could, just one snip in between each word allows me to stack it so they line up exactly, perfectly straight. in the pic below, there is no space between
and here you can see I peeled them off separately. I also took off a few to show I have a whole stamped image sheet to keep me from losing any rubber, inking up the whole uncut sheet before you trim and smacking it to the sheet is the easiest, but of course you can do it later. (Doing it before you only ink one time, ensures everything fits, and that it matches your image sheet on the front packaging.) Since I started doing this I am pleased to report I've never lost an unmounted stamp yet! It also keeps me really organized/my desk cleaner because I tend to use lots of different images at once, (work on several projects at once!), and before when I just stuck them to a blank cling sheet, I would end up with all my stamps on the desk and wouldn't even realized if something was unaccounted for! Now that every image "has a place" I tend to put them back on right away...)

* have a chocolate day! :) I really WILL be posting my tip sheet soon!!

Miss U

I missed you, did you miss me? For a few hours at least?! You may not have even know I was "gone" but this will be a quickie post as I couldn't access my blog last night to set up my post! If you are having issues with yours, Jessica Rone gave me a heads up that sitemeter crashed and has to be removed from your blog if you have it. how frustrating!! Go to blogspot.com to log into your dashboard and remove the code, that should clear it up...

I made this card for my brother who lives across the country from me, so here is a more masculine looking shirt, stamped in black on SU! Basic Gray CS. I filled in the letters with white and then went over them with my Sakura Glaze Pen. The mesh underneath is some of that plastic canvas stuff I used for a piercing template before Gina started carrying the template packs in her store! I just cut it to fit like a piece of magic Mesh and adhered with Mono Multi. It's kind of sporty looking in my opinion, like a net or something. Very clean lines and a few silver brads make this a not too fussy "guy card", I hope he likes it.

Back soon, but have you seen Gina's new guest designer call?? Go check it out!! I want to see as many of you as possible trying out! Mark you calendars for the 15th!!

Edited to Add: So! I've been doing a little work on my blog and I went to check out my sitemeter to see where hits from the last hour have come from...ack, I forgot it's not there, I miss it already! (How will I know you've been here now unless you leave a comment?!) :(

I HEART U!!!!!!!!

I really hope you're not getting tired of RED!! (if so, adjust your monitor or squint for a minute!) The background paper is made from the "I", heart and "U" images in my "Little Tees" set. Instead of cutting out the shirt this time, I made a mask to cover the collar of my stamped shirt, and then stamped the hanger over it.

To make the paper I lined all three images up together on the block, then removed the heart so I knew I'd have enough space to add it back in. That allowed me to ink up both the I and U together each time and stamp them across the paper diagonally, offsetting each row. Then I went back in with just my heart inked up in Real Red. Before finishing the card, I added some Christmas Red Stickles to some of the hearstthe heart and filled in a few (but not all )of the "U"s with my red marker. I was just thrilled with the way it turned out!
I also added one heart to the corner of the card and more Stickles. I really like this layout, I didn't want the scallops covered the custom DP I slaved over for 3 whole minutes (LOL!) and I think it's interesting not to see them all the way around, peekaboo! Like with the short sleeved shirt, the circle Nesties frame this long sleeved tee really well, too.


Have a great weekend, thanks for peeking in, I HEART U! Check back for my long, long tee tip sheet!!! (I admit I'm kind of putting of posting it because I keep adding more to it LOL (Cathy's suit? hel-lo!!!)