Busy Hands Crafting Blog

I just love these sweet little bunnies! When I saw this set on sale, I just had to buy it. They are just too cute! Did some simple coloring with Copics, cut a strip of patterned paper, and added the sentiment and embellishments. Very quick, easy card. Products Used: MFT Bubble over with Joy Cottage Cutz Basics Circle Dies MFT Watercolor Wash Brights 6x6 Paper Pack MFT Extreme Black Ink Copic Sketch Markers   Prestige Card Stock Pinkfresh Studio Enamel Dots Double Sided Foam Tape Ranger Multi Medium Matte Glue Xyron Mega Runner

This card has been rolling around in my head for awhile, now. Thankfully, the current Color Challenge gave me a reason to make it! I love, love, love the Pure Innocence girls. They are always fun to color. This one makes me yearn for the beach, for sure! I stamped and colored her and then stenciled a simple beach background. Pretty tickled with the way it came out. Products Used: MFT Beach Cutie Spellbinders Fancy Edged Ovals MFT Drifts & Hills Stencil MFT Make Waves Stencil MFT Mini Cloud Edges Stencil MFT Extreme Black Ink MFT Premium Dye Ink Cubes Distress Inks Copic Sketch Markers Bristol Smooth Card Stock Double Sided Foam Tape Xyron Mega Runner

For those of you who don't know, CAS stands for "clean and simple". I'm not good at "clean and simple". I love other people's CAS cards, but I always feel like mine are novice and unfinished looking. So, when I saw that this month's Birthday Project was for CAS, I almost skipped it. Almost.  But I didn't. I decided to play with my new Love Buds set and at least enjoy some coloring. While I don't completely hate this card, I don't completely love it, either. It is was it is. Products Used: MFT Love Buds Die-namics Blueprints 5 (retired) MFT Extreme Black Ink VersaMark Ink Wow Embossing Powder Nuvo Aqua Shimmer Pen Copic Sketch Markers MFT Prestige Card Stock Neenah Classic Crest 80lb Solar White Double Sided Foam Tape Roll Xyron Mega Runner

I finally got my hands on one of these fun turnabout stamps from Concord & 9th! I opted for the Dahlia because it was just too pretty. I plan on making card sets with this stamp set for Christmas, if I have time. The color possibilities are endless! I stamped the image using MFT inks and embellished it with pink gems. I used the "friend" stamp from the turnabout set, but used the "hello" die from the Spellbinders die set. Products Used: Concord & 9th Dahlia Turnabout Stamp Set Spellbinders Shapeabilities Hello Geo Heart MFT Blueprints 15 (retired) Studio Katia Cupid's Kiss Crystals MFT Extreme Black Ink MFT Premium Dye Ink Cubes VersaMark Ink   Prestige Card Stock Ranger Multi Medium Matte Glue Xyron Mega Runner

I fell in love with these flamingos the moment I saw them. I was even more thrilled when I saw them on sale! They're just too stinkin' adorable! The background is light pink (Pink Lemonade), but in the picture, it looks gray. Still looks good either way, I think. I had a lot of fun with this card! Products Used: MFT Let's Flamingle MFT Let's Flamingle Die-namics MFT Blueprints 15 (retired) MFT Itsy Bitsy Polka Dots Background MFT Black & White Stripes 6x6 Paper Pack MFT Extreme Black Ink MFT Premium Dye Ink Cubes VersaMark Ink Wow Embossing Powder Copic Sketch Markers   Prestige Card Stock Double Sided Foam Tape Ranger Multi Medium Matte Glue Xyron Mega Runner

I stayed up late to make this sympathy card for my mother-in-law, who lost her aunt this week. I really liked the softness and simplicity of it. Just heat embossed the image with white embossing powder and did some simple watercoloring with markers and a water brush. I couldn't figure out the best placement for a sentiment, so I opted to put one inside the card instead. Products Used: Studio Katia Floral Cross VersaMark Ink Wow Embossing Powder Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers Hero Arts Water Flow Brush   Prestige Card Stock Double Sided Foam Tape Xyron Mega Runner

It's been a LOOOOOOOOOONG week and it's not even remotely over, yet. Hubby took the boys to swim lessons, so I snuck off to my beloved craft space.  Sigh.  We're in the process of cleaning like mad people, because my folks are coming to visit on Saturday. But instead of doing what I was supposed to be doing, I decided to run away and play with new Copics. Because priorities. My collection is nearly complete. Or at least my stuffed marker cubbie, crying pocketbook, and judgmental husband say so. Okay, so he's not judgmental. But he always gives me that look when I say I've bought more markers. Like, "Seriously?" I love them, man! They're the best! And coloring is so therapeutic. I love making pretty things with vibrant colors and just forgetting sucky adult life for a moment. That in itself is definitely worth the cost of a Copic marker -- or eight -- which is still cheaper than a shrink, I might add. Just barely. While I was back there,...

HOLY COW! I can't tell you just how much of a huge honor this is! My Color Challenge card was " spotted " this week! Basically, if MFT likes a card that you've made using their products, they'll showcase your card. I've never been chosen before (probably because all my stuff is old/retired), so it's a big deal to me! This comes on the shirt tails of being randomly chosen for a contest and winning a $50 credit from Spellbinders this week, too! I'll have to show you guys what I ordered when it comes in. I was totally shocked -- I never win ANYTHING! So, despite this crappy week, there have been some gems, thankfully. Exciting!

Ever have those projects that start out one thing, but then go sideways? Yeah. Totally happened here. I finally got around to trying to make a card using my MFT Rectangle Flop Card Die-namics, but it didn't turn out and I ended up cutting off part of the front. It actually worked out fairly well. Sometimes you just have to yell "plot twist!!" and make the best of it, right? At any rate, how cute are these coffee themed dies from Spellbinders?! The sprinkles weren't as pronounced as I was hoping they would be (I was running out of mojo at that point), so I colored over them with a RV Copic Marker and then brushed on some Nuvo Aqua Shimmer. I'm pretty sure my cousin, who's a coffee fiend, will like this card. Hopefully. Products Used: Spellbinder's Coffee Time Die Birdie Brown Sweet Birthday Wishes (retired) MFT Rectangle Flop Card Die-namics (retired) MFT Party Patterns 6x6 Paper Pack Nuvo Aqua Shimmer Pen Copic Markers Di...

As soon as I saw this week's Color Challenge , I instantly thought of coffee. Maybe because Latte was one of the colors. *shrugs* I wanted to go for a more modern look, since the stamps are kind of that way. I added Coral Crush Ink for more contrast. I had to cut my sentiment stamp (oh, scary!) in half so it would fit. I also used my crafty friend's coffee bean stamp for the background in Latte. I finished it off with some twine and called it good. Products Used: MFT Coffee Date Stamp Set Die-namics Coffee Date MFT Coffee Break Handmade Coffee Bean Stamp by Hoffee and a Nuffin Cottage Cutz Basics Stitched Square MFT Blueprints 15 (retired) MFT Premium Dye Ink Cubes   Prestige Card Stock Double Sided Foam Tape Ranger Multi Medium Matte Glue Xyron Mega Runner

Final four sets of mini ink cubes and my collection is complete! I love this ink!

Sock 3.0 is a success! I'm so thrilled -- I finally figured out how to defeat laddering!!! A shout out to Alpaca Direct for having awesome sock blockers. Plus, they're located in my hometown AND on the street I grew up on! Small world, right? Read about socks 1.0 and 2.0 here .

I think this is the fastest I've ever started and finished with a challenge ! I really had fun making this card. I didn't have the Blueprints Die-namics set they used, so I improvised, which wasn't too difficult. As soon as I saw it, I immediately thought it either looked like a camera or a porthole. Since I had some cute underwater stamps, I decided to go with a porthole. I used my colored pencils to color in the characters and lightly sponged on some white pigment ink to make the rays coming down from the surface. The crab was an after thought, but he was too cute not to add. I find coloring with colored pencils very therapeutic. I finished it off with some Glossy Accents over the bubbles and Black Glaze Pen in the critters' eyes to make them stand out a bit more. Products Used: Cottage Cutz Basics Stitched Circle Set MFT Soak up the Fun (retired) MFT More Essential Sentiments MFT Sunrise Radiating Rays Stencil Prismacolor Colored Pencils MF...

We had such a crazy fun weekend, I had very little brain cells to think up this Sketch card. But I think I did okay. For some reason, stencils freak me out. I'm really not sure why, but I decided to break out the cloud one just for this project. I'm hooked! I'll be sending this to a friend for her birthday.  Products Used: MFT Mini Cloud Edges MFT More Essential Sentiments MFT Die-namics Stitched Rectangle STAX MFT Birds of a Feather Die-namics MFT Birdhouse Die-namics SSS Grid Frame Wafer Dies Ranger Enamel Accents VersaMark Ink Distress Ink Neenah Desert Storm Card Stock   Prestige Card Stock Double Sided Foam Tape Ranger Multi Medium Matte Glue Xyron Mega Runner

So, here's a little story about knitting my first pair of socks...as told through memes. If you're a knitter, you'll understand. I used to be terrified of attempting socks, but I really, really wanted to make some for gifts. So, I found a good, easy pattern and went to town. My first pair, I worked on DPNs (double pointed needles). And then I remembered how much I HATE DPNs. But I persisted. It took me a few days, and it was a little hairy in a few places, but I finally finished my very first sock! But then I noticed it. The bane of my knitting existence. No matter how hard I tried to prevent it... And the cast on row was way too tight. My tried-and-true Long Tail Cast On had failed me. I was super bummed. I was determined to not give up. I tried again with the second sock, with a  new cast on  and with a  new method . Can I just say right here and now -- I love Magic Loop. Game changer. I finished my second sock in no ti...