Busy Hands Crafting Blog

This card didn't exactly go as plan, but it was just a last minute one to house a photo, so no biggy. I know the recipients will still like it. =) Anyone else a huge Newton fan?! Products Used: Newton's Nook Newton's Happy Mail Hero Arts Many Everyday Messages MFT Birthday Blowout 6x6 Paper Pack MFT Extreme Black Ink VersaFine Ink Copic Sketch Markers Double Sided Foam Tape Xyron Mega Tape Runner

I think of all the cards I made this weekend (five in total), this one has to be my favorite. When I saw this adorable set, with the lovely flowers you could put in a tea cup, I just had to get it. I had so much fun coloring these images and putting them together. Makes for a sweet, simple card. Swoon! Products Used: WPlus9 Hello & Thanks Hero Arts Many Everyday Messages Spellbinders Fancy Edged Rectangles Neenah Solar White Card Stock MFT Extreme Black Ink VersaFine Ink Copic Sketch Markers SSS Craft Tacky Glue Double Sided Foam Tape

Birthday cards for guys are so hard! Why?!?! *cries* I made this birthday card for my father-in-law with mostly die cuts from MFT. Sometimes, I just love the simplicity and ease of a good die cut card. Makes my life a little easier -- especially when it comes to making man cards! I even used my left over balloons to decorate the inside. Bonus points! =) Products Used: MFT Die-namics Happy Birthday Script MFT Die-namics Birthday Balloon MFT Prestige Card Stock Neenah Solar White Card Stock SSS Craft Tacky Glue Double Sided Foam Squares

Oh, these pooches stole my heart! It took me awhile to color them and create the scene behind them, but it was so worth it. I just love them so much! SO sending this card to my dog-lovin' mama! Products Used: MFT Puppy Kisses MFT Puppy Kisses Die-namics MFT Spring Scene Builder Die-namics MFT Trail Mix 6x6 Paper Pack MFT Prestige Card Stock MFT Extreme Black Ink VersaFine Ink Copic Sketch Markers SSS Craft Tacky Glue Double Sided Foam Tape Xyron Mega Tape Runner

Today I made a thank you card for Rob's soccer coach, since their last game is on Tuesday. I plan on slipping a gift card in there for him and his fiancée. I have mixed feelings about soccer being over. While I'm glad to remove one thing from my full plate, it's been a fun experience for all of us. I have definitely enjoyed cheering for them on the sidelines of their games! Products Used: Sunny Studio Team Player WPlus9 Hello & Thanks Hero Arts Many Everyday Messages MFT Gift Card Greetings MFT Die-namics Gift Card Grooves Cottage Cutz Basic Circle Dies MFT Blueprints 15 (retired) MFT Prestige Card Stock MFT Extreme Black Ink VersaFine Ink VersaMark Ink Copic Sketch Markers SSS Craft Tacky Glue Double Sided Foam Tape Xyron Mega Tape Runner

Made these baby beanies to donate to a local pregnancy crisis center. Pattern: Sweet and Simple Baby Hat  by Debbie Bodmer Needle Size:  US 4 - 3.5 mm Yarn:  Bernat Softee Baby

After making (and remaking) so many cards this weekend, I opted to make things easier on myself and combine the two challenges together. I really love the colors, which definitely had a wintery feel to them, and this adorable snowman and his feathered friend are just too cute. Products Used: MFT Cooler with You (retired) MFT Blueprints 15 (retired) MFT Rectangle Flop Die-namics (retired) MFT Drifts & Hills Stencil Hero Arts Hand Drawn Snowflakes Background MFT Prestige Card Stock Neenah Solar White Card Stock Copic Sketch Markers MFT Extreme Black Ink VersaMark Ink WOW Embossing Powder Momento Black Dual Marker Nuvo Aqua Shimmer Pen Double Sided Foam Tape Ranger Multi Matte Medium Xyron Mega Tape Runner

Finished this blanket just in time, as the baby it's for was born just days after! Talk about timing. I really love this pattern! It looks like a complicated, heirloom blanket, but the pattern is super easy to remember and works up quickly. If you don't get distracted by a million different things, that is. I made a card to go with it. Pattern: Petits Pins Yarn: Knit Picks Brava Worsted Colorway: Cornflower

Our church family welcomed a new member this weekend. I finished my gift just in time, but I needed a cute card to go with it. I love these pudgy little critters! Products Used: SSS Baby Party Animals Little B Tag Dies MFT Trail Mix 6x6 Paper Pack MFT Extreme Black Ink Copic Sketch Markers Double Sided Foam Tape Xyron Mega Tape Runner

For my "innovative" card, I decided to shop my supplies and use something in a different manner than it was intended. I knew I wanted to make a music themed card for my son's piano teacher, so I set out to find a way to make piano keys. I thought about just cutting strips of paper, but I really wanted the corners to be rounded, just like real keys. Finally, it clicked while I was looking at MFT's Speech Bubble Die-namics. Just cut the little "arrow" part off and boom -- piano keys! They were too perfect! I first stamped my background for the top portion of my card using a light gray ink. Then I die cut out all the keys using black and light gray card stock. I carefully adhered all the white keys to a black strip of card stock, making it look like bottom of the keyboard itself. Then I popped up the back keys using foam tape accordingly. (I double checked with my son, who says I laid them out correctly. =) ) I then die cut the "thank you" sen

For this card, I played to my strengths and used Prismacolor Colored Pencils on kraft card stock. I really love the smooth blends I can get with the beautiful pop of color. I decided to have a little fun with the tree -- it almost looks tie dyed! First I stamped and embossed the images to keep my lines nice and crisp black. I used two shades, a dark and a light, to color each of the images, minus the tree and leaves, which have three or four. After all my coloring was done, I cut down my colored panel and matted it with a dark red card stock, which I popped up with foam tape and adhered to my standard sized kraft card base. I finished it off with a simple sentiment that didn't distract from the colored images. Products Used: MFT Fall Friends (retired) MFT Rain or Shine MFT Tweet Wishes (retired) MFT Drifts & Hills Stencil MFT Prestige Card Stock Neenah Desert Storm Card Stock Prismacolor Colored Pencils VersaFine Ink WOW Embossing Powder Ranger Mu

Let me first say that I had to remake this card four times. FOUR TIMES. My first version of this card, I hated. The second I realized too late that I had used a non-MFT embossing folder (use of non-MFT products is an immediate disqualification). The third was my attempt at trying to fix the second one. The fourth and final one is the one I am entering. Ugh! I'm pretty happy with my end results, however, and I'm glad that I went back and remade it. For this card, I ink blended fall-ish colors onto a piece of Bristol Smooth Card Stock and then die cut out my leaves. I then cut out strips of both foil card stock and dark brown card stock, which I die cut the leaves again. Then I carefully adhered the brown strip to the foil and then popped up the leaves in place. The whole thing was adhered to a standard kraft card base, where I stamped my sentiment in a dark brown ink. Products Used: MFT Falling Leaves Die-namics MFT Coffee Break MFT Premium Dye Ink Ranger Di

I had originally made a totally different card for this week's Sketch Challenge , but I ended up totally falling in love with this one -- and I didn't even plan on making it! I had finished making the two cards that I was initially planning on doing for the day when I decided to stamp these stinkin' cute cacti I got as a freebie in my last MFT order. I'm just enamored with them for some reason! They really STUCK with me, you might say! ;) Okay, cheesy jokes aside, I really just wanted to stamp them out and maybe turn them into a card at a later time. But then this card just kind of...happened. And I love it! So simple, but so cute! Stamped the images using different hues of green and a "terracotta" red, die cut them with a rounded rectangle die, die cut a larger rounded rectangle from some coordinating patterned paper, stamped and heat embossed the sentiment (which is totally fitting for me), adhered the two panels onto a green card base, popped up my

I'm sure I've mentioned this a few (thousand) times, but I REALLY struggle with masculine cards and clean and simple cards. This card ticks off both boxes. But I was pretty pleased with the way it came out, surprisingly. Fall is totally my jam, so maybe that helps. I'll go with it. I die cut the leaves from fall-ish colored card stock, adhered them to a white panel, heat embossed one side of a white card base with gold embossing powder, popped up my leaf panel with foam tape, and then added the sentiment and some dots with a gold gel pen. Hopefully my soon-to-be 85-year-old grandfather approves. Products Used: MFT Falling Leaves Die-namics Hero Arts Many Everyday Messages VersaFine Ink VersaMark Ink WOW Embossing Powder Ranger Multi Medium Matte Glue Double Sided Foam Tape

I had originally made this card for this week's Sketch Challenge , but then I ended up making a better card. I still like it, though. It took awhile due to all the masking I had to do. I was super eager to finally make some fall cards, so this one was very satisfying. Love that cute scarecrow! Stamped all my images and masked them, inked the background with Distress Inks, and then colored my images with Copics. Did some subtle stamping on the frame with the leaf images in the same set. Fairly straightforward and very seasonal. Products Used: MFT Fall Friends Spellbinders Fancy Edged Rectangles Distress Inks Copic Sketch Markers MFT Extreme Black Ink MFT Premium Dye Ink VersaFine Ink Neenah Desert Storm Card Stock Xyron Mega Tape Runner