So many snowmen

Hi there!

I have a just-for-fun card to share with you today, for the love of snowmen:

I rarely find the time to craft outside of my design team assignments, but I picked up the Mama Elephant Little Snowman Agenda stamp set and thought it would be a cute addition to the kid-in-snowman costume that I illustrated (from Christmas Pageant.)

I love him holding the hands of his teeny snowman friends, and they are all dressed up in their red scarves and winter hats. Can we talk about his skin color? I just think it's so striking to see a darker skin in contrast to the white of the snowman costume. Like a darker skinned bride in a glorious white dress. So beautiful! As opposed to how pasty I looked on my wedding day, haha. I need to make more of an effort to show more diversity in my coloring, and I will make a point of being more conscious of it. My husband is Indian, and my own kids have darker skin. Every single time I color an image to "look like them" they comment on how cute it is.

That being said, I do find it harder to find a good copic combination for darker skin. If you color, can you share your faves? I used E55, E57 and E59 here and I think it's perfect.



I added some green trees (from Bunny Slopes) and a few stamped snowflakes to the background, and then popped everything onto a green plaid background. It's my favorite card of the season so far!

Thanks for stopping by!

♥.

SSS blog feature

Hi!

I'm on the SSS blog this morning, with a set of Christmas tags (because if you're still making cards, you're in trouble.)

I used images and dies from both Lawn Fawn and Mama Elephant to create my tags.  Visit their blog to see the full set and the project description!

♥.

Joy to the World

Hi there!

I'm winding down the Christmas card making, but I was disappointed to realize my stash was all Santas and reindeer and elves. Enter the Neat and Tangled beauty, Little Angel.

She's practically perfect in every way (I just watched Mary Poppins last night, forgive me, but I am crushing on this new N&T illustrator.)

I colored and die-cut her, and propped her up onto a piece of white cardstock that I treated to a quick, freehanded water-colored circle. And some splatter.

Then, I added the sentiment (one of my faves) from Mama Elephant's Season's Greetings. To balance out the crisp, black sentiment, I added some black and white polka dot paper at the bottom.

I hope you like it!

♥.

lunar animals {mama elephant designer spotlight}

Hi there, I'm here with what will be my last post as part of the Mama Elephant design team. sniff!

I crafted a more boyish birthday card, using the adorable dog from Lunar Animals:

I created a window for my focal scene using the new die set, All Prettied Up. I love the scallop frame! By not snipping the circle away from the larger rectangular die, I could cut out the circle and have it be perfectly centered.

The dog is so cute. I stamped the little party hat (also included in the set) onto his head, and used the balloon from Carnival Toppers to make sure he's party-ready. The sentiment is from the exclusive set that Mama Elephant created for Simon Say Stamp, called Skater Kids. It's still available in the Simon Says shop - click!

I used a copic marker to color in the scallops of the circle frame, to make sure it stood out. I then flicked some white paint over the card-front before adhering everything together. Simple, but cute! And perfect for a little boy's birthday.

I hope you like it, and a huge thanks to Kryssi and Angela for the time I spent on their design team. Keep on making all the cute things!

♥.

A gift for you {mama elephant stamp highlight}

It's the last day of Mama Elephant stamp highlights, and I told you I was gonna use my illustrations to round out my time with this wonderful company.

I created a little woodland scene using my animals from Woodland Gifts. The bear looks a teeny bit less stunned, with a candy cane stuffed under his arm and a winter hat on his noggin'.

The bunny and mouse have a little something for him, (the stocking from here and the present from here) which pairs so perfectly with the sentiment from Mini Messages.



I stamped them all onto grid cardstock (it was by Papertrey Ink, but I don't see it in their store anymore) and added texture above them by way of a snowy stencil and white embossing paste. It's subtle, but I love it in real life.

I hope you like it! I have one last ME card to show off on Monday, and you can check out their blog this morning for more Mini Messages inspiration.

♥.

i like you {mama elephant stamp highlight}

Hey there! Today, the Mama Elephant design team is showing off the new set, I Like You.

It's full of fun sentiments for Valentine's day, and other lovey occasions.

I won't lie. Since I'm leaving the ME team, I decide to on-purpose-use some of the images I illustrated for them on today's and tomorrow's cards. It makes me sound like a brat, but I'm all for full disclosure.

The wreath and banner from Charmed worked perfectly to show off the images from Lunar Animals. The cat and the mouse aren't chasing each other anymore! It's love, I think. Or like, at least. I did some creative inking on the sentiment from I Like You to have it all fit into my banner.



I used a polka dot stencil for the background, in a soft grey that matched the little mouse. He's my absolute fave. I'm not over the mouse trend that seems to have taken over the stamp world. Not when the mice are that cute!

(But at the same time, flashback to the time I was 12 and my mom stepped out to get the morning newspaper and stepped on something....not as cute. In the words of my 2 year old niece: ew! misgusting!)

And with that, I leave you. Check out the Mama Elephant blog for more inspiration today - click!

♥.

lunar extras {mama elephant stamp highlight}

hi there!

It's Mama Elephant's stamp highlight week, and today we're showing off the new set, Lunar Extras.

Perfect for making cards to celebrate the chinese new year, or...

combine it with a sweet sentiment from I Like You for a fuss-free love note.  I stamped, colored, and cut out the cherry blossom branch, and popped it up using foam squares. I stamped the sentiment underneath, and the falling flowers to create movement on the card. To frame out the images, I used a soft blue marker around the edges of the rectangular mat, and adhered everything to a scallop rectangle card-base.

Are you humming John Legend yet?

I hope you like it!

♥.

mama elephant November stampede!

Welcome to the November Mama Elephant Release Design Team blog hop!

The newest release is now live and available for purchase in the store:

www.mamaelephant.com

I used the adorable reindeer from last month's release, along with Mini Messages and the new Lucky Envelope die to create an extra special card + gift combo.

I colored and cut out (yep, by hand!) 2 of the reindeer, and set them up to flank the sentiment on either side. And nothing brings on more joy than a shopping spree (I'm kidding, but also it's a little bit true.)



I love the idea of having the gift card tucked away on the top of the card! It leaves the entire inside free for an extra long message. I'm thinking teacher gifts here!

To celebrate the new release, Mama Elephant is picking 3 winners to win their choice of stamp set! Winners will be chosen at random from the collective blogs in the Stampede. You have up to 4 chances to qualify to win!

» 1. Leave a comment on this blog post «

» 2. Like/share us on Facebook: facebook.com/mamaelephant «

» 3. Follow/tweet us on Twitter: twitter.com/heymamaelephant «
» 4. Follow/tweet us on Instagram: instagram.com/heymamaelephant «

Each action qualifies for one entry, max 4 entries per stampeder please!

Now let's get on with the Stampede: Elena (that's me!), Melania, Vera, Pamela, Nichol, Laura

Before you go, and on a personal Mama Elephant-related note: this will be my last stampede with the team. I am so excited to show you the projects I crafted with this amazing release, and then I will be leaving Mama Elephant. It's bittersweet, because I know there are great things ahead, but I have much love and respect for Kryssi and Angela, and the rest of the girls.  Looks like I'll be buying all of my cute ME critters from now on, hee hee!

♥.

mama elephant designer series

Hi there!  I'm here and on the ME blog this morning, for my turn in the designer spotlight series. Mama Elephant had such a large and fantastic release, that I couldn't help but make 2 cards for today.

My first card is decked out in traditional red and green. I used the new Christmas Spirit elf with the big smile. He's standing next to the tree from Christmas Scene, and shouting "ho ho ho" from the new Mini Messages set.  The heat-embossed sentiment below is from an older Christmas set, Toy Shop.

My second card uses the new set, Blogging Buddies. I couldn't help but make it a little more seasonal by stamping the tiny penguin from Christmas Spirit onto the computer screen. Isn't he adorable? I colored the screen background in a light blue and added snowflakes using a white gel pen. You can turn any set into a winter/christmas themed card by just adding one little winter image!

I hope you like the two cards I created for today! Thanks for stopping by!

♥.

can't wait to hug you! {mama elephant}

It's the last day of this month's Mama Elephant stamp highlights. I hope you've enjoyed it so far! Today, we're showing off Blogging Buddies.

I've made some wonderful friends online, and have been lucky enough to meet some of them. This set is perfect for sending cards to those faraway friends.

It also has a great mix of sentiments that can be used without the computer/laptop images.

I used the adorable hugging bears from Bear Hugs, and paired them with 2 sentiments from Blogging Buddies.

This one's dedicated to the blogging buddies I got to spend a weekend with this past month:

It's not the best picture, but it makes me smile! Can you name all the bloggers in this photo? They are a kind and generous and funny bunch!

I hope you like it! There's more to see on the ME blog this morning - click!

♥.

christmas scene {mama elephant}

Welcome back to another day of Mama Elephant inspiration! Today, we're showing off the new set, Christmas Scene. It is the companion set to Christmas Spirit, which we highlighted yesterday.



This is the embodiment of jingle all the way. My little elf has a ways to go to get home.  I cut a path for her using the arched die from the Borderline Trio die set.  Then, I cut wavy snowbanks using the Landscape Trio die set.

Once the scene was set, I blended ink to create a night sky and added snow using a stencil and some embossing paste.  The heat-embossed sentiment becomes part of the snowy scene.

I hope you like it! There's more to see on the ME blog this morning - click!

♥.

christmas spirit {mama elephant}

Hi there!

It's Mama Elephant stamp highlight week, and today the design team is showing off the new set Christmas Spirit.

My scene is pretty simplistic and easy to reproduce for holiday cards. I used the new snow capped mountains die to provide a backdrop for the elf, and the only greeting is the new Merry die-cut.



I used Lawn Fawn's yeti ink to add interest to the grey mountains, and liquid appliqué to puff up the snow-caps. I also flicked some white ink onto the sky-blue background layer.  But those are extras that can be easily skipped if you are mass-producing this card.

I hope you like it! There's more to see on the Mama Elephant blog this morning - click!

thanks for being sweet {mama elephant}

Hi there! I'm joining the Mama Elephant design team to show off the newly-released set, Little Edibles.

When my girls saw it come in the mail, they were beside themselves because, "mom! they made a shopkins stamp set!"

ha.



I found all the dessert and sweet fruit images in the set and stamped them to cover my die-cut panel.  Coloring the tiny images was so fun, especially since my 2 girls were doing the same thing beside me.

Once they were all colored, I lightly sponged over everything with a light brown ink. It gave the look of a sepia filter over the images and helped to soften and unify the images.

I then stamped and die-cut the thanks sentiment, and added "sweet thing" (from Cross my Heart) to tie into all the images. It makes me happy when the sentiment makes sense with the images.

I hope you like it! There's more to see on the Mama Elephant blog this morning - click!

♥.

stretch your stamps {SSS blog feature}

**If you are looking for my newest Lawn Fawn project, scroll down or click HERE**

Hi there! I'm a day late, but I wanted to make sure you saw the tags I made for a special Simon Says Stamp blog feature.

I showed how to stretch your new Mama Elephant stamps, giving the elves new faces.  I hope you visit the blog and leave them a comment for a chance at some fun blog candy!

♥.

Mama Elephant October Stampede!

Hi there, and welcome to day 3 of the Mama Elephant October Stampede! The new release is live and available for purchase in the shop right now! What's your favorite new stamp set? I'm guessing it features these little guys!

Today, I am showing off the new set, Christmas Scene. It features different styles of houses, and some trees and holiday ornaments. Perfect for making snowy christmas scenes! I made a soft pastel card, in non-traditional holiday colors:



I curved the sentiment over the circle cut-out, used embossing paste to show a snow fall in the background, and liquid appliqué to add snowy accents on the trees and house.



Minty green and pink tree trunks! I kept to a tight color scheme to make sure it had a cohesive and stylized feel.

I hope you like it!

GIVEAWAY:  Mama Elephant is also giving away three $25 gift certificates over the 3 Stampede days (today is the last day.) To qualify to win, just leave a comment on this blog post.  Winners will be selected and announced on the ME blog on Monday, October 19th.

Visit the participating blogs today:

Mama Elephant ♥ Nichol ♥ Lisa ♥ Elena (that's me) ♥ Debby ♥ Joy ♥ Sandy 

merci {mama elephant}

Hi there! It's been a long while since I've had the energy to post anything to the blog. There have been germs and coughs and gastros and pneumonias running rampart. ugh.

I did manage to pick myself off the floor to teach a card-making class a few weeks ago. I thought it would be fun to share a card I made with the class.

I couldn't help but use the little owl that I drew for Mama Elephant, part of the Charmed set.

I colored and die-cut the owl and his branch, as well as the "merci" sentiment, and propped all the pieces onto a minty green striped background.



A bit of ink splatter and a wooden heart were all we needed to take the card from basic to wow.  For most of the girls, it was their first time using copic markers and I think they were hooked.

Thanks for stopping by! There will be lots of activity on the blog in the next few weeks!

♥.

you remind me of...me! {mama elephant}

Hi there! I'm popping in with a little almost-one-layer card today, using the Mama Elephant Birthday Wishes set.

I paired it with the critters from Woodland Gifts. The bear's blank expression says it all. What'd you say to me? haha.

The bunny and the mouse are being a little cheeky, stacked to hand him the extra large candle. I stamped the solid candle with a black ink, and then added polka dots by way of a white gel pen to match the patterned paper flag.

Once the critters were colored, I masked them and splattered blue ink like confetti onto the card front.

I hope you like it!

♥.

merci beaucoup {mama elephant}

** this is my second post of the day. If you're looking for lawn fawn ghosts, click HERE or scroll down**



Welcome back to the last day of Mama Elephant stamp highlights for this month! We're showing off the new sentiment set, Heartfelt Wishes.

I am beyond thrilled to have a gorgeous brush script "merci" stamp - I needed it like crazy, living in Montreal and making all of those teacher thank you cards!

I stamped and die-cut the greeting, and found that it worked beautifully with my wreath (from Charmed.)

I popped the wreath onto a circle die-cut, stamped the smaller greeting inside, and adhered the bigger script sentiment to it. That alone would make for a beautiful tag!

For the card base, I used the new striped cover plate as a stencil to watercolor blue stripes onto a piece of watercolor paper.  I love that the stripes look freehanded, but they are perfectly spaced out. I will definitely be doing this again!

I hope you like it! There's more to see on the Mama Elephant blog today - click!

birthday wishes {mama elephant}

this card is a total lie. I know my way around an oven.

if i'm being honest, though, this isn't the first time i've tried to play off laziness by pretending to be cute/dumb.

who, me? i have no idea how to do that. ask someone else.

The Mama Elephant design team is showing off the new set, Birthday Wishes. It comes with the big, bold happy birthday script you see above, and so many quirky subtext sentiments.  I love that giant script, and how it fills up the front of the card!



The second sentiment was cut up (and by cut up, I mean, cut up. every line.) and stamped into the critters' message boards. They are from the Three Amigos set.  I love that they look almost sheepish about it.

Who, me? Dunno how. Ask someone else. But happy birthday!

I hope you like it! There's more to see on the ME blog this morning - click!

♥.

meowlloween extras {mama elephant}

Hi there, and welcome back to another day of Mama Elephant stamp highlights! Today, we're showing off the companion set to Meowlloween, called Meowlloween Extras.

They made it easy for you to know that the 2 go together - wink.

There is a ghost kitty, and a toilet-papered kitty in the set, but I went straight for the mouse.

I stamped, colored and cut out my favorite of the 3 mice, and propped him in front of a row of pumpkins. The pumpkins were borrowed from the original Meowlloween set, complete with the little faces and that kitty skeleton.

This is definitely a no-kitty-zone!

I colored everything in halloween orange, and used the new striped cover plate to feature classic black and white stripes in the background.

I hope you like it! There's more to see on the ME blog this morning - click!

♥.