Just for You - Cards and More

Happy April 1 - no post for today - just popping in to say hi! 

HA ha - *NOT* -  April Fools!  I have a LONG post for you today because today is the day that you can finally buy all the new goodies from My Time Made Easy!! So without further ado let's get started. Lauren Meader (owner of MTME) challenged each of the DT girls to start our release day kick off with... NO...  NOT a template but instead... a set of cards! WOO HOO. While we usually make a tag or card to go along with each of the templates that we share we don't necessarily FOCUS on cards. That's all changed for today and I have a set of cards to share. I just HAD to use some of the gorgeous new digital papers (designed by the very talented Kristin Bueter) and my new favorite MTME Pretty Impressions stamp set called Just for You. This is a mega set with 38 - yes THIRTY EIGHT images and everyday sentiments that are FABULOUS.

Here's my set of six cards - I kept the layout the same - used Mojo Monday sketch #122 and varied my papers and my sentiments.

I had one heck of a time getting all six cards photographed standing up so I laid them out and photographed them this way instead. I'll show each one individually in just a bit, BUT first... well... I just HAD to have a "box" to put them in because these will be a gift for one of my gals for Administrative Assistant's Day (coming this month! Perfect timing!) So here's my set of cards all boxed up:

Now - if you were paying attention in March you know that Lauren designed and released a new template called Card Catch All and while it can hold other gift items as well it's perfect for a set of cards. HOWEVER, the original template is designed to hold horizontal cards - not vertical like mine. SO I got to messing around with the Card Catch All template in my SCAL software and made some dimension adjustments to turn this into a VERTICAL card box! I did not "keep proportions" or I would have merely resized the template - It worked out better than I hoped! The only thing different is that the top is now an oval instead of a circle but that worked out great for this cute little label at the top of the box:

I kept the box simple - and let the beautifully textured Couture Cardstock speak for itself. I added a simple satin ribbon and a couple of Prima flowers plus some fabulous new leaves from the new MTME Pretty Pieces cut file called Petal Perfections.  You can see the flowers, leaves and the beautiful CS texture in this close up.

Now - as promised - here are the cards I made  so you can see the papers and the sentiments up close. Each card features my new favorite Pretty Printables digi paper called Fresh Fabric - it will come in three different collections with six colors in each collection for a total of eighteen scrumptious colors. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the new digi papers this month.

This card features new Fresh Fronds digi paper in Coral from the Fresh Flowers collection, along with Indian Summer from Fresh Fabric Collection #3. I matted the coral papers with Couture Cardstock's Whale Watching to pull out the lovely blue accents in the frond paper. I used CB embossing folders on the Fresh Fabric paper - Nesties Petite Ovals to frame the sentiments. I also discovered I could color my pearls with Copics and make them match any color!! YIPEE. A simply bow for the finishing touch.

Ok - card #2

The small section is from Fun Flowers in Nomad and the BG is Nomad Fresh Fabric from Collection #2. I used a CB embossing folder on this one,  matted with some Spring Moss CS - dyed my pearls to match and added my bow.

Card #3

This one features the beautiful Fun Flowers in Brandenburg - and the Brandenburg Fresh Fabric also from Collection #2. Matted with Spring Moss CS (it matches the green in the flowers almost perfectly) - colored my pearls and added some ribbon. I JUST LOVE the Fresh Fabric collections - I could have made these cards in every single color - it's a PERFECT background paper that offers a soft, subtle pattern. I did not emboss this one with the CB.

Card #4

This is the only card where I repeated a sentiment so there are two birthday cards in my set but with the Cutesy Cupcake (from Just Perfect collection) paper I just couldn't resist. It's coordinated with the Acorn Squash Fresh Fabric (from Collection #2) plaid. You can't see it too well but I embossed the plaid layer with a fun polka dot embosser. Again - pearls to match and a satin bow!

Card #5

I reversed my patterns on this sympathy card and used the plaid paper as the smaller segment. It's called Mugwart from Fresh Fabric Collection #1. It makes a great BG for those masculine cards, too and was soft and subtle for this Sympathy card. The leaves are called Tartan Leaves and they come from a new FREE pack of digital paper called Freestyle Florals so you can try it before you buy it! I used some Ranger Vintage Photo ink for my sponging and stamping on this one. I still added pearls to this sympathy card but used a flat bow instead.

Card #6 - last one!

This card allowed me to play around with "tweaking" the colors a little bit in my photo editing software. I used the Fresh Fabric paper called Seafoam from Collection #3 - printed up a slightly more aqua variation of it on my printer then tweaked the Fun Florals paper to match.  There is SO much you can do with Digital Paper - you really must try it if you have not yet. It's cost effective to print - there's no waste - you print only the patterns or colors you want and you print as MANY as you want. I use Hammermill's Color Copy paper - it's 32 lb and 100 brightness. It prints up beautifully!!!

Finally - I hope you are totally in love with these beautiful sentiments. They are generously sized and feature a lovely scripty font. Remember there are LOTS more images and other sentiments in this Just For You stamp set but I focused on the sentiments this time. I did use some of the longer sentiments on the inside of the cards but I totally forgot to photograph them (sorry).

Whew - that was a lot - sorry for the long post - hopefully you got a taste of how versatile and wonderful this month's paper and stamp sets are. I have been just delighted that I've been able to work on some gifts for Admin Asst's Day!! By now I'm sure you've also seen the sneak peeks for the new templates as well.  I have a post here for the Pick of the Petals template and a post here for the new Slip Cover template. You'll see more from me this week as well. :-)

This month Lauren is releasing three templates, eight digi paper collections, three new stamp sets and three new cut files. Be sure to point your browser to the My Time Made Easy store and check out what's new. For further inspiration please stop by and see the rest of the Design Team - they will all have some great new samples and ideas for you as well. Remember, one of the team will be showing something every day for the next eight days so come back often!

♥♥♥♥♥

My Time Made Easy Design Team:

Lauren Meader (owner)

Mona Pendelton

Katie Shawger Cotton

Tracey Cuccia
Stephanie Kraft
Geny Cassady
and
Kristin Bueter (our awesome digi paper designer)

The Details:

Pretty Impressions © Stamps:  Just For You

Pretty Packaging © Template:  Card Catch All

Pretty Printables © Digital Paper:  Fresh Fabrics (collections 1,2,3);  Fresh Flowers, Fun Flowers, Just Perfect, and Freestyle Florals

Pretty Pieces © Cut Files:  Petal Perfections

Hugs n smiles and thanks for for all the wonderful comments and encouragement. They mean a great deal to me and I appreciate your time in leaving me a sweet note.