Friend to Friend: MFT Sketch Challenge #269

As a recent brand convert, I am thoroughly enjoying all of the new product that I'm finding from these great shops/brands on the internet.  It's like a whole new world that I've been missing out on!  

I was originally introduced to papercrafting, specifically card-making, back in 2000.  I had just moved to a new town for graduate school and hadn't had much of an opportunity to meet people outside of school or work.  My boss invited me to a Stampin' Up party that she had been invited to.  It was fun and right up my alley, but not so much for my boss.  She made a purchase to be nice and I was a poor grad student.  Eventually, her purchase became my new crafting tools.  

For 15 years, most of my supplies have come from Stampin' Up.  I have always loved the broad lines of their stamps and the array of designs.  And, the color coordination they offer in inks and cardstock always made things easy for me.  As I've moved across Texas, I've hopped from demonstrator to demonstrator and participated in multiple stamp camps, classes, and crops.  

I won't go into why I'm no longer a loyal SU customer, as it doesn't really matter.  I still use the products that I have, but I doubt I will make as many purchases from them in the future.  Instead, I want to share my most recent purchases from the other brands!  

Lawn Fawn:  I just adore Lawn Fawn.  Their little critters are adorable and so versatile. These are some of the sets I've purchased recently.  My local scrapbook store, Scrapbook N More, carries some of the Lawn Fawn sets and is where I originally discovered their line.  I purchased Winter Alpaca there.  I purchased the others from ScrapbookPal.com (great customer service and prices).

    





















Simon Says Stamp:  What a great resource!  Not only am I in love with the store, but the multiple blogs definitely keep me on my toes!  I've participated in some of their weekly challenges and am constantly checking out their design team blogs.  These are my 2 SSS purchases.  I'll have to admit that the Circle Loops die really through me for a ... well, a loop.  I couldn't figure out how to pop the die cut out of the die.  Took quite a while to find the holes on the back that you poke to pop out the die cut.  Doh! 

 

WPlus9:  My mom is a birder, so I thought the Happy Birds set from WPlus9 would be a lot of fun!  And this is the set that I used for for my next card.  Yay! 



My Favorite Things (another great brand, but I haven't purchased any of their fun products yet) came out with Sketch Challenge #269 this week.  At first, I wasn't sure if I could come up with any way to use the sketch.  Really stumped.  

After many failed attempts to make my ideas come to life, I ended up with this card. 

Instead of adding a flag to the top, I used a 2nd bird from Happy Birds.  Not sure if it flows as well, but it allowed me to use the "friend to friend" stamp from SU.
And I used the small solid heart stamp from LF's Into the Woods in light pink.  I didn't want something too bright and didn't want to take away from the blue bird and banners that are popped out of the page.  

Thanks for stopping by for a look!