MCT Beary Special Blog Hop: Boo Bear

Hello there! Thanks for joining the My Creative Time Design team on this Beary Special Blog Hop! If you've traveled here from Tracy's blog, you're on the right track! If not, head on over to Emma's blog to start the hop from the "beary" beginning! *giggle*

Even though it's not quite Halloween, Emma has decided to give you all a "Beary Special Treat"! This treat doesn't cause weight gain, but will cause CUTENESS OVERLOAD! Included in this hop, you will see a "Beary Special" stamp set that was designed by Emma for this special hop!  Also, as an added bonus, we have five VERY TALENTED Guest Designers joining us for this hop.

Speaking of Halloween...

I've always LOVED getting dressed up for Halloween! When I was little, I insisted on being a kitty cat every year. Every. Year.

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For today's project, I wanted my little teddy bear to feel the same pride and adorability (okay, so I totally just made that word up) that I did whenever I was dressed in the feline persuasion.

First, I stamped my teddy bear (MCT's newest stamp set: Beary Special Thoughts) onto white card stock. After adding his costume with a black pen, I colored him with my Copics. To give the illusion that he is sitting on the "Boo", I 'masked' him with a post-it and then stamped the "Boo" (MCT's Treats For My Sweet). I colored the polka dots and spider with my Copics, and glittered the polka dots with Star Dust Stickles.

To get the 'shadow' effect on the edges, I used my Tim Holtz Distressing Tool in black ink and rubbed in circles over the edges.

I also stamped the spider web from Treats For My Sweet in the corner and drew a string of web to the spider and outlined him with my black pen.

After stamping and coloring the jack-o-lantern and ghost (Treats For My Sweet), I cut them out and popped them up onto the bear/boo layer. The sentiment was hand cut from a piece of scrap white card stock.

I used my Scor-Pal to make the diamonds on the card base layer and Stampin' Up!'s Scallop Trim Border & Corner Punches on the purple layer.


**GIVEAWAY ALERT**

Emma has a few GREAT giveaways to give to THREE LUCKY readers!

1st GRAND prize ~ "Teddy Bear Parade" Cricut cartridge AND this newest stamp set "Beary Special Thoughts"
2nd prize ~ "Create a Critter 2" cartridge "Beary Special Thoughts"
3rd prize ~ this newest set "Beary Special Thoughts"

How FUN is this? All you have to do is leave your comments on each designer's blog! The more blogs you comment on, the BETTER your chances are at winning! Random.org will pick all the winners on Tuesday! So you have until Sunday, Sept 30th by midnight to get all of your comments in! AND PLEASE don't forget to include a way for us to contact you just in case YOU are one of the lucky winners! Good Luck!

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What was I thinking? Halloween 1997

So you might be asking yourself: Veronica, do you STILL dress up as a kitty every Halloween? And the answer is no.

Once I saw this yearbook 'action shot' of me at my 6th grade Halloween 'dance', I knew my kitty days were over. What was I thinking? What was I WEARING?!?! I've never in my life, seen a cat with so much makeup on. *giggle* Ahhh...memories...

Nowadays, The Hubs and I like to coordinate for Halloween. In the past we've been Diddy & Candy Kong and BP oil spill workers. Last year was my favorite: I went as a trophy wife and he was my "Hugh Hefner". We've got something really fun planned for this year's costume! Can't wait to reveal!

Thanks for stopping by today. I'm your last stop on the Beary Special Blog Hop.

I hope you were inspired!

- Veronica

MCT 3D Wednesday: Flower Girl Frame

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Personalized frames are a great way to dress up your tables and walls without a large expense or solid commitment. Personally, I get bored with my decor. I'll add a new knick-knack here and there to spruce things up, just to move it or take it down a few weeks later. And let me tell you - the Hubs just LOVES it when I change things around! *giggle*  For me, easy-to-change-out decor is a must.

For today's 3D Wednesday, I'm showcasing a new frame I made for our front foyer table. I purchased this frame from my local Salvation Army for $1.99!!! It even came with the sleek cream-colored matting.

I used a few patterned papers for my background and cut out my picture slots with the My Creative Time XL Label Die. By cutting photo slots instead of die cutting the photos themselves, I'm able to easily change out the photos I use in the frame. Currently, I'm showcasing our three beautiful flower girls from our wedding (our sweet nieces).

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I stamped the typed background from Script Type Backgrounds in Versamark several times across the bottom blue patterned paper and embossed it with clear embossing powder. It's a very subtle accent, but looks great in person (you can click on the closeup photo to get a better glimpse).

I wanted to keep the frame simple to really let the photos pop, so I only added a small piece if ribbon and a poofy flower. (By keeping the glass out of the frame,you're able to really appreciate the 'poof' *giggle*)

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

I hope you were inspired.

- Veronica

MCT 20th Edition Mini Release Blog Hop: Bachelorette Bag & Tag

Welcome to the My Creative Time 20th Edition Mini Release Blog Hop. If you've hopped here from Tracy's blog, you're on the right track! If not, I suggest starting at Emma's blog so you don't miss out on any of the fun!

I have two words for you: Girls' Weekend!

As you read this, I am heading up state to enjoy a weekend away with nine awesome girls to celebrate the upcoming nuptials of a dear friend of mine. On the schedule: mani/pedi, massage, winery tours, snazzy restaurants, and good old fashion GIRL TIME!

Of course, I'll miss the Hubs while I'm away. But to be sure that he doesn't miss me too much, I'm leaving him with a list of things I'd like done by the time I get home on Sunday. *giggle*

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Today I'd like to share with you the gift packaging I created for the Bachelorette's sassy gift. I started with a pink gift bag...

Frugal Tip: SAVE the totally cute bags you get at your favorite stores to use as future gift bags. My project today uses a bag from Bare Escentuals. Other favorites of mine: Coach, Victoria's Secret. Not only are you BEING green by recycling, but you're SAVING green, too!

I covered the "Bare Escentuals" logo with a strip of black card stock that I embossed the little wine glasses from MCT's Keepin' It Classy. I kept the gift tag super simple by stamping one of the adorable ladies from the same set in pink and a lighter pink drink in her hand (which I Stickled). The tags and "To:" & "From:" are from the newest set out today: Just Tags. These tags are so easy to use and quick to put together!

Just Tags

I tied my gift tag onto my bag using some zebra striped ribbon I scored at my local Debbie's Dollar Store. The pink tissue is re-used from past Victoria Secret purchases.


***BLOG HOP GIVEWAY ALERT***

For our Blog hop giveaway, there will be 2 winners chosen from ALL the comments combined!  You will win a "SURPRISE GIFT BAG FULL OF GOODIES"! All you have to do is leave a comment here along wit the rest of the design team's blogs AND also leave a way for us to contact you!  Emma will use random.org to pick the lucky winners!  All you have to do is leave a comment on all blogs in this hop for more chances to win! The deadline is Sunday, September 23rd at midnight! EASY PEASY!!! GOOD LUCK!

Thanks for joining us today on the Blog Hop! I'm your final stop.

I hope you were inspired!

- Veronica

MCT 20th Edition Sneak Peek: Cookie Exchange

It's time to talk Cookies.

The Hubs and I have our differences of opinion on many things:

• He believes that vegetables are nothing but 'rabbit food', while I enjoy a fresh Caesar salad. 
• He believes that a televised sporting event can only be enjoyed to it fullest potential if I'm not talking. And well... I talk.
• He believes ONLY in real Christmas trees. I'm coming around to that one...

But if there's ONE thing we can definitely, without-a-doubt agree on it's this:

There is truly only one kind of cookie: Chocolate Chip.

Of course, I love my Girl Scout Thin Mints. And he's a big fan of Tagalongs. But when it really comes down to it - Chocolate Chip is the way to go for us.

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Today's project would be PERFECT for a Christmas Cookie Exchange with friends and family. Perhaps such an exchange would broaden our 'cookie horizons'... *giggle*

I put six cookies into a 4"x9" treat bag (made by Darice - found at my local Debbie's Dollar Store). The topper base is a 4.25" x 3" piece of kraft card stock that I scored and folded in half. After random stamping the cute chocolate cookie stamp (from MCT's newest set, All Around Goodies - due out on Friday), I paper pierced the top and bottom edges of the front of the base.

The lighter brown strip was stamped with the argyle stamp from MCT's Coffee Break stamp set in dark brown. I cut the edge of a white strip of card stock into a flag and stamped "A Little Chocolate" using only part of one of the sentiment stamps from Do the Cocoa Motion.

After cutting out a white circle and brown scalloped circle (Scallop & Stitched Circle Dies), I stamped the "Cookie Exchange" sentiment from the new All Around Goodies set onto the white stitched circle. The cookie was then stamped on a separate piece of white card stock, colored with my Copics and then punched out with a 3/4" circle punch. I popped it up inside the circle sentiment.

After securing my bag closed (topper in place) with staples, I adhered the circles to the topper base with pop dots.

So the only remaining question is...

Which one of us will open the cookies first?

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 just 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, September 21st during the blog hop release happening @ 12:01am PST in her video! GOOD LUCK!

 Log onto to your Facebook now and let's start spreading word!

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Thanks for stopping by today to preview the 20th Edition of My Creative Time stamps.

I hope you were inspired!

- Veronica

MCT Scrappy Monday: Engagement Layout

When my (now) husband proposed to me in December 2010, I couldn't WAIT to get started on our Engagement photos! Having a photographer for a brother, I've always loved having him come over to do a photo shoot for nothing more than a free meal. *giggle*

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As a graphic designer myself, I was thrilled to be able to create my own Save the Dates using the photos my brother took of us in our home. (Even better is that my Father-in-Law is a printer - so all of our stationery was printed 'on the house'.)

For my Engagement Layout, I started with a white 12 x 12 piece of card stock for the base. Most of the scrapbook pages I create have one or two photos on them and a LOT of embellishment. With this page, I decided to make the photos the star.

The 'word' layer is a full 12 x 12 piece of laser cut card stock. I cut the word "ENGAGEMENT" out of one sheet and popped it up onto the same word on this layer.

I used the Elegant Edges Cricut Cartridge to cut the pretty shape behind the Save the Date and hand set all of the rhinestones into a fun pattern. The fabric flowers (local Debbie's Dollar find) were topped with a brad from the This & That embellishment pack by Echo Park.

Underneath the "ENGAGEMENT" title, I popped up the banner and sentiment from MCT's My One and Only. To finish off the project, I added mini mirrors to the bottom of the page.

Be sure to head on over to Emma's blog to see what she and the rest of the designers created for today's Scrappy Monday.

I hope you were inspired!

- Veronica

MCT Designer Challenge: Recycle It!

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle - the three "R"s. "Being green" is important - but that doesn't mean it can't be cute! For today's MCT Designer Challenge, I'm challenging you to create a fabulous project using at least one recycled item.

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Your recycled item doesn't have to be something that was bound for the trash bin. It just has to be something that you're re-using. Perhaps you re-use part of an old project for a new one. Or maybe use the cellophane from packaging on your project! The possibilities are endless!My recycle project is a birthday card I made for my mother-in-law. I had found this adorable cupcake gift bag at my local Debbie's Dollar store and LOVED the colors and style of the cupcakes. Originally, the plan was to use the MCT Celebrate Good Times cupcake die for the front of the card, but then I noticed that the gift bag had a matching cupcake gift tag hanging on the handle. After un-knotting the ribbon handle, I slide the gift tag off and re-attached the ribbon to the bag.

In my card stock stash, I found a piece of purple card stock that had already been scored and folded into a gate-style card. Perfect! I cut all of my layering pieces from left-over scrap card stock (more recycling!) and adhered/pop-dotted them to the card panels. The top white layers were stamped with the sprinkle stamp from Celebrate Good Times in several fun colors.

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After cutting the large banner from Fly Away With Me Sentiments, I stamped the sentiment using two stamps from Celebrate Good Times ("Birthday", "wishes!"). Since I wanted the layered effect, but the sentiment I was using was too big to stamp onto the smaller banner from that set, I simply cut another large banner in pink and moved it down a tad behind the white banner. You can see that I stamped the "Birthday" sentiment again on the pink layer so that the tail of the "y" wasn't cut off too much.

The sentiment banner was then popped up onto the cupcake tag (along with the cherry cut using the die from Celebrate Good Times). I glittered the candies on the cupcake using Star Dust Stickles (my fave) and popped the cupcake onto the left panel of the card. Hint: Be sure to adhere your focal point to only ONE side of the gate-fold card so it will still open! *giggle*

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On the inside of the card, I used the "Enjoy your special day!" and "XOXO" sentiments from Celebrate Good Times.

This card was a BIG HIT with my mother-in-law!

Want to play along with the MCT Designer Challenge? Head on over to My Creative Time and link up to this post. Deadline for entry is Tuesday, September 18th @ midnight!

Thanks for stopping by today - I can't wait to see what recycled project you come up with for this challenge!

I hope you were inspired!

- Veronica