MCT Inspiration Wednesday: Heartbeat Card

As a designer and crafter, I find inspiration all over the place. From nature to color swatches at the paint store - inspiration is everywhere! For this card, I was inspired by my new marathon hoodie that The Hubs bought me a couple weeks ago:

26.2 Heart Beat Hoodie

Over the weekend, I joined the ladies in my family for our semi-annual Scrap Camp retreat. I was able to get SO MUCH done (way more than usual). I wore this hoodie as I was working on my "December Anniversary" card. The Hubs and I celebrate two anniversaries: one in June (wedding) and one in December (when we started dating twelve years ago). 

The ECG (heartbeat) was made using the heart die from Winter Cheer + a lot of hand cutting. I combined two stamp sets for the sentiment: Sit Back & Relax and Alpha Pack.

The Stitched Square Speech Bubbles were used quite a bit this weekend. Did you know that a heartbeat 'says' "lub dub"? I didn't.

That's it for me today. Head over to the MCT blog to see what the other designers were inspired by today.

I hope YOU were inspired!

- Veronica

MCT Whatever Wednesday: Mustachio Valentine

Welcome to another Whatever Wednesday with the My Creative Time Design Team. Today is all about making whatever you want! Woo hoo!

This is the Valentine's Week card I'm giving to The Hubs today. It measures 5.5" square.

I use these aqua colors all the time, but I'm not sure that I've ever paired them with coral. I'm loving the bright, fresh feel the color combo gives this card!

Many MCT products were used on this project:

What's Growing On (mustache die + "I mustache you a question..." sentiment)
Stitched Sweethearts & XOXO Dies (heart die)
100% Sweetness ("Will you be my Valentine?" sentiment)
Stitched 4 x 6 Journal Die (stitched white rounded rectangle layer)

Thanks for stopping by today! Be sure to see what the other designers have for you on the MCT Blog.

I hope you were inspired!

- Veronica

MCT Whatever Wednesday: ...And The Lived Happily Ever After

Hey there! I'm guest-posting today over at My Creative Time. I'd love for you to join me there to see today's project!

- Veronica

MCT Thrifty Thursday: Love You A Latte!

Valentine's Day is right around the corner and I have all of my cards ready and waiting for The Hubs. He'll find a new card waiting for him each day from 2/8 - 2/14. It's just my little way of reminding him how much he means to me.

The Hubs is NOT a coffee drinker - at all! But I love a Starbucks Grande Skinny Vanilla Latte! (I should mention that I also LOVE the Keurig he bought me for our 11 year anniversary last December.)

When I tell the cashier what type of drink I want, he writes my order on my cup as "SKVL" so the barista knows what to make me. At home we call this a "skivvel", so I know that The Hubs will enjoy my little order written on his 4.25" square card.

The original sentiment from You Are Perk-fect says "like you a latte!", but I prefer "love".

Little tidbit: When I was little, my Mom used to scratch out the "from" on Christmas gift tags and write "love" to replace it. I think this just stuck with me.

I borrowed the "LOVE YOU" from Chocolate Greetings. The cup and size stamps are from MCT's Coffee Break stamp set. I also used a few dies: 4x4 Journal Die + More (stitched square) and the layering arrow banners from Fly Away With Me Sentiments.

Thanks for stopping by today! Check out the other designers' creations on Emma's blog.

I hope you were inspired!

- Veronica

MCT 29th Edition Release Blog Hop: Plane & Simple

Release Day is HERE!!! You've probably hopped to my blog from Kim's blog (Hey, Kim!), but if you haven't, don't waste another moment and head over to Emma's blog so you can start this Hop from the beginning. You DO NOT want to miss a thing!

This is honestly my FAVORITE release that MCT has ever done. I'm so excited for the the products we're showing you all today and know you will be, too!

Today I'm showcasing Plane & Simple along with the FREEBIE set, Fun Paper Airplane Die (see how you can get the FREEBIE below).

This sweet little 4.25" square card will be one of The Hubs' Valentine's Week cards. The paper airplane die is SO cute and is great for guys and kids! And have you SEEN all the awesome ways our designers have used that little stitched heart line? It's great for butterflies/bees, a little trail from an envelope, and one of our designers even used it as EXHAUST from a pickup truck - SO clever!

The large square of white along with the modern color combination of navy and pink makes this card such a bold statement. There's not a lot of fuss going on here.

I don't normally fancy-up the insides of my cards, but I had a neat idea for this one.

I wanted it to look like the plane from the front of the card was carrying the inside message, so I folded a piece of paper into an airplane, flattened it out and stamped my sentiment on it. I only put adhesive on the very center of the little piece of paper so that the edges would stick up a bit to call attention to the folding.

***BLOG HOP GIVEAWAY***
For our blog hop giveaway, Emma is giving away a $50 gift card to the My Creative Time store to ONE LUCKY winner! ALL you have to do is leave a comment on each of our blogs! You are NOT required to comment on EVERY SINGLE blog, but the more you comment on, the better chance you have for winning! VERY IMPORTANT: PLEASE leave a way for us to contact you with your comment in case YOU are the lucky winner!
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**EXCITING NEWS**
Since Emma didn't get to celebrate her 3rd year anniversary in December (2013), she decided to celebrate it
this month with an extra special FREEBIE for THIS WEEKEND ONLY! For the first time ever, our freebie includes a stamp AND a die! Every order placed between Friday, 1/17 - Sunday, 1/19 will include this adorable set. If you miss out on this freebie, no worries! It will be available for purchase in the online shop starting Monday, 1/20.
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***SALE ALERT***
Our sale that is starting RIGHT NOW! Use the code:  NEWYEAR2014 to receive 20% off your entire purchase! Sale ends on Sunday, January 24th @ 11:59pm PST!

You have ONE MORE hop to make. Head on over to our Guest Designer, Cheryl's blog for more awesome ideas.

I hope you were inspired!

- Veronica

MCT 29th Edition Sneak Peeks: Lovey Dovey Cards

Hey there! Welcome to Day 2 of Sneaks for My Creative Time's newest release (available this Friday). This has got to be one of my FAVORITE releases so far - there are so many different ways to use these stamps and dies!

If you've read my blog for awhile, you know that I like to celebrate Valentine's Week with The Hubs. We don't exchange gifts for Vday or make a big fuss out of it, but I like to give him little cards and notes for the seven days leading up to Vday to remind him that I'm thinking about him (and that he owes me a dinner out soon *giggle*).

This release is perfect for little love notes! Check out what I did with Puffy Hearts Just For You:

The sentiment and polka dot heart background are from the new set. I stamped one of the classy girls in Keepin' It Classy from the skirt down and Stickled her dress and heels. I also used Fun Stitched Edges for the scallop border.

I also used a couple of sentiments from Puffy Hearts Just For You on this next card:

This Love Mail card features the brand new Mini Stitched Envelope Die. I stamped the mailbox image from All Around Everything Accessories, drew the base and colored it all in (tip: I used a white gel pen to color in the letters inside the mailbox).

The little stitched heart line is from the new FREEBIE for this release: Fun Stitched Paper Airplane (see the "Exciting News" below). I added a few clouds (Fly Away With Me Dies) and some liquid applique snow to finish setting the scene. The tiny heart next to "Be Mine" is from You're Too Cool which some of my fellow DT members 'sneaked' yesterday.

My last card for today is a very simple design with a lot of PUNCH:

This card showcases the large heart die from Stitched Sweethearts & XOXO. I simple cut out a bunch of hearts in a neat color combo, folded them in half, glued them together and pop-dotted them onto my card. I stamped the script background from Script Type Background onto the vanilla heart for some elegance.

The chevron at the bottom (Build a Chevy Background) adds a touch of masculinity to this card, too.

***Sneak Peek Giveaway!***
We will be giving away the sets we are showcasing each day to ONE lucky winner via random.org! Today's winner will be announced in Emma's video tomorrow. To qualify, all you have to do is leave a comment on each of our blogs! You are NOT required to comment on every single blog, but the more you comment on, the better chance you have for winning!

VERY IMPORTANT: Please leave your email address with your comment to be entered to win. We need a way to contact you if you are the winner!

For EXTRA entries, you can spread the word about this release on Facebook, tweet about it OR even Instagram it! #mycreativetime!

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!
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**EXCITING NEWS**
Since Emma didn't get to celebrate her 3rd year anniversary in December (2013), she decided to celebrate it
this month with an extra special FREEBIE for THIS WEEKEND ONLY! For the first time ever, our freebie includes a stamp AND a die! Every order placed between Friday, 1/17 - Sunday, 1/19 will include this adorable set. If you miss out on this freebie, no worries! It will be available for purchase in the online shop starting Monday, 1/20.
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Thanks so much for stopping by for today's Sneak Peeks. I'll see you back here on Friday for the Release Blog Hop.

You can see what the other designers have cooked up for today's Sneaks on Emma's blog.

I hope you were inspired!

- Veronica

MCT 23rd Edition Sneak Peek: Key To My Heart

Love is in the air...

If you're a regular reader of my blog, you know that I'm a big fan of leaving little love notes around for The Hubs to find. Valentine's Day is no different - well, Valentine's WEEK. Every year, my beloved receives a new card/candy/baked good/something special every day for the week leading up to the BIG V-Day.

This little 3x3 card is a small, but sweet way to remind him how much I love him (and also to remind him that Valentine's Day is approaching and he should probably be thinking of something sweet to do for me. Let's face it, ladies: sometimes they need a little memory boost, right? *giggle*).

I used the brand new MCT Stitched Chunky Jar Dies (I used the handle from one of the jars as my 'key ring') and the sentiment and keys from Chunky Jar Accessories. A little patterned paper and bling give this simple card some pizzazz.


Sneak Peek Giveaway Time!
With all of our Sneak Peek weeks, Emma likes to do some FUN giveaways!

 *** This time around we are doing something a little bit different. To enter for the prizes, all you have to do is leave comments on our blogs! You do NOT have to comment on every blog, BUT if you do, you will just have more chances to win! Here's what we are switching up this time: Emma will be picking a winner every night and announcing the winner the next morning! So for today's Sneak Peek, leave your comments here and share on Facebook and Emma will announce the winner (for today) tomorrow morning! That means a winner will be announced every day during Sneaks!

 ***SPREAD THE WORD TO THE WORLD ON FACEBOOK about this release & whatever connections you may have! Let us know on "My Creative Time's" Facebook page that you did so! OR you can just tag Emma in your post!

 GOOD LUCK!

 Log onto to your Facebook now and start spreading word!

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Thanks for stopping by today. Be sure to check out Emma's blog to see the rest of the Design Team's Sneak Peeks! I'll be back on Friday for the Release Blog Hop.

I hope you were inspired!

- Veronica

MCT Designer Challenge: Emboss!

Today, my fellow MCT Designer, Nikki of Scrappin' Navy Wife is challenging us to create a project with embossing: wet, dry or both!

One of the many things I'm looking forward to when The Hubs and I start our family is making little trinkets for our kids to bring to school. While my Other Half is happy to bring baked goodies into work (and his coworkers are more than happy to eat them), I don't think I could convince him to bring Valentines in for all of his fellow Software Engineers. *giggle*

Since we are waiting to have children of our own, I decided to 'borrow' a kid this year for Valentine's Day. My niece, Evelyn, is in Kindergarten and is super excited to bring Valentines in for her classmates. I picked her up from school the other day so we could sit down and make them ourselves.

I originally found this great idea on Pinterest for a fun Valentine and thought it was a great idea for each Valentine to come with a friendship bracelet. Evy thought it was a good idea, too. So off to the store we went to select colors for the bracelets. I reminded Evy that the bracelets had to be for both girls and boys, and she did a great job in picking out colors that worked well for both!

Apparently, I've got a lot of learnin' to do about kids. Teaching a 6-year-old how to braid sounded like a good idea at first.

At first.

She quickly lost interest and asked if I could just braid them. Since I've still not mastered the whole "patience is a virtue" thing, I agreed that it would be a good idea if I braided while she cut out shapes.

Guess what? She got bored of that pretty quickly, too. My dream of crafting with my precious niece while we talked about boys in her class and giggled was quickly slipping down the drain. Oh well.

So now I'm left to make the 24 Valentines on my own. But it's no big deal because I know how excited she'll be when handing them out to her friends. *smile*

For the Valentine, I cut out my base shapes using MCT's XL Label Die & Stitched XL Label Die. I then embossed the Stitched XL Label shape with the Chevron Impressions Folder by Stampin' Up! The saying on the card was printed from my computer (using the Grandma font). I punched the holes with my Crop-a-Dile and slipped the bracelet through and knotted it. I'll have Evelyn sign her name on the back of the card.

Be sure to check out what the other designers have in store for you today on Emma's blog. While you're there, feel free to play along and submit a link to your embossed project!

I hope you were inspired!

- Veronica

MCT 22nd Edition Sneak Peek: Devoted To You

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas! It seems like it comes and goes so quickly. The tree isn't even down and the leftovers aren't finished - but by golly, we're moving on to Valentine's Day! *giggle*

Click photo for larger view

For today's sneak peek, I'm showcasing two new stamp sets that will be released on December 31st by My Creative Time. The Love Collage stamp is a great background stamp that covers the front of an entire A2 (4.25" x 5.5") card. On my card, I used a little leftover Christmas magic to create the sweet little plastic tag that hangs from the bow.

Confession: My Christmas Magic is really just a Shrinky Dink. First, I cut my Shrinky Dink paper with my Tag Dies set. Then I stamped my Love Collage stamp onto the rough side of the tag and heated it up with my heat tool. Be sure to have a tweezers or bone folder nearby to help guide the Shrinky Dink to NOT fold in on itself and stick together. 

The pink heart on the tag was cut using the smallest of the new Stitched Heart Layering Dies. I stamped "Devoted to you" from Lots of Love (due to release on the 31st). The basic layout and color scheme was kept simple to show off the tag and adorable patterned paper from the Echo Park Love Story 6x6 Paper Pad.

Thanks so much for dropping by today. I'll see you back here again on Monday for the Release Blog Hop!

I hope you were inspired!

- Veronica

P.S. Did you notice how clear and pretty my photo came out today? The Hubs bought a new fancy dancy camera for us to take on our cruise a couple of weeks ago and I'm LOVING it for taking pictures of my projects. Thanks, Honey!

MCT 3-D Wednesday: Kickin' Off Valentine's Week

Valentine's Day is right around the corner! As I've mentioned before, I like to have something special for my husband each day for the week leading up to the big V-day. To kick off Valentine's Week 2012, I decided to make something a bit different... a puzzle!

The Hubs and I LOVE puzzles. We're not really Jigsaw Puzzle kind of people. But we love logic puzzles! So to get his Thinker a-movin' and a-groovin', I created this little Puzzle of Love for him to take to work and play with for the day.

I glued together six die (not to worry, I have 6 more in my stash. What? You don't have 12 pink die laying around? *giggle*) into a funky little shape and slipped them into a cello bag. After printing out the instructions (with an added hint at the bottom), I closed the bag up and added my adorable little topper.

The topper base is made out of Stampin' Up!'s red glitter card stock that I cut with MCT's XL Label Die. I cut the Stitched Heart (included in the 100% Sweetness set) out of pink card stock and hand cut a little arrow. After stamping the "Lucky in love" sentiment (I Believe in Leprechauns), I hand cut it into a funky shape and glued it to the topper.

The instructions inside the bag say:

Puzzle of Love
Can you figure out what
this puzzle means? Use
your skills of logic to
decipher the hidden code.
Here's a hint: It's cause for
a celebration... of love!
Don't tell The Hubs: the answer is 6/17/11 - our anniversary! (6   1(5+2)   11)

I hope you were inspired!

-Veronica

MCT Sneak Peek #4

Who doesn't love a little treat now and again? I'm still learning about the whole "little" and "now and again" part... but I sure do love treats!

Today's Sneak Peek features the new Bubblegum Treat Box. This die is PERFECT for whipping up sweet favors for a shower, goodies for your kids' classes or just a little something to show someone you love them. I like to surprise the Hubs with little treats and cards for each day of Valentine's week, so this little box will be one of his goodies.

After cutting out the treat box, I stamped the diagonal lines (from MCT's Build a Banner Kit) using Versamark all over. Then, using my craft knife, I cut out the rectangle on the front (using the dashed lines as guides) to make my window. I adhered a piece of transparency behind the window so the goodies don't fall out.

I closed one of the sides with the red satin ribbon (SU!), filled the box with Hershey Kisses and tissue paper and then closed the other side with the ribbon. The "XOXO" (MCT's 100% Sweetness) is stamped in red on the new layer die from Teeny Tags (available tomorrow). I glued a pink Swarovski crystal to cover the hole on the tag (where you would normally thread ribbon or add a brad/eyelet) and made the faux-stitching with my pink marker.

Easy peasy, lemon squeezy!


Sneak Peek Giveaway Time!

With all of our Sneak Peek weeks, Emma likes to do some FUN giveaways!

***All you have to do is leave comments on our blogs! You do NOT have to comment on every blog, BUT if you do, you will have more chances to win!

***SPREAD THE WORD TO THE WORLD ON FACEBOOK about this release & whatever connections you may have! Let us know on "My Creative Time's" Facebook page  that you did so! OR you can just tag My Creative Time in your post!

Emma will randomly pick & announce all winners on Friday, January 21st during this AWESOME release happening @ 12:01am PST in her video! GOOD LUCK!

Log onto to your Facebook now & let start spreading word!

I hope you were inspired!

-Veronica

MCT: Favorite Stamp of the Month

I can't believe how QUICKLY Valentine's Day is approaching! I remember it being such a BIG day in high school. National Honor Society always capitalized on it and sold carnations with cards that you could have delivered to your recipients' classes. I still have the 12 cards that came with the dozen carnations my (now) husband sent me when I was in 11th grade. They're all stapled together and on the back of the last one, are the lyrics to the first song we danced to at our wedding.

Click for larger view

 Today we were asked to create a project using this month's "Favorite Stamp": You Had Me At Chocolate. This set is perfect for Valentine's Day or just to say "I love you" to someone special. With February 14th being so close, I decided to make my husband's Valentine's Day card.

The sentiment is from You Had Me At Chocolate. I used 100% Sweetness to cut the stitched heart and then stamped the cupid on top. Using the polka dots from Build a Banner Kit I randomly stamped all over the kraft base of the card. I just LOVE the pink frame which was cut using the Elegant Edges Cricut Cartridge. Can you believe the the brown sparkle flourish, glittery frame and BEAUTIFUL brown velvet ruffle ribbon came from a local dollar store?!?!?! If you're in the Metro Detroit area, be SURE to stop by Debby's Dollar at 27/Van Dyke - it's the best!

If you have the You Had Me At Chocolate Stamp Set, mosey on over to Emma's blog to join in on the Linky Party! If not, you might want to take a trip over to the Shop to purchase it - it's on SALE!

I hope you were inspired!

-Veronica