Mama Elephant November Sneak Peek!

Yay! It's Saturday. And it's also time for a sneak peek at Mama Elephant's November release. Better get on over to Mama Elephant's blog! Oh and don't forget to keep coming back everyday this week to be inspired by all of the highlights and enter giveaways!

Here are last month's releases just in case you missed how Mama Elephant designs are amazing for all kinds of projects!

Thanks for stopping by!
- KRAFTY pearl

Spotlight on SEI: Birds of a Feather

Happy Monday! Here today with a colorful spotlight on SEI's Entrada collection and vibrant feathers. Read all of the details here.

Materials used: SEI Entrada, Field Notes, feathers, alpha stickers

Make sure you stop by the SEI blog this week to check out their giveaways and the rest of the design team's projects!

Thanks for stopping by!
- KRAFTY pearl

Wedding Wednesday: Venue Vetting

In the north east, we continue to recover from Hurricane Sandy. My thoughts and prayers are with those affected by the storm. It was scary when Sandy made landfall on Monday night, but luckily, I am ok and my building is intact. So, as promised... I'm back this week with Wedding Wednesday.

We were last thinking about the venue and painting a vision for the ideal venue. The next step is to make a decision, so you can also set a date. Once you have a date, everything else is set towards the goal of that date, including all of your vendor interactions. So it's really important to vet through your venue options by asking the right questions.

• Ask every question you can think of about the numbers... How much does it cost? What is the per person rate? What is maximum capacity? What is the minimum guarantee? What's included in cost? What are all the extras and how much? How much are gratuities or taxes? How many hours for set-up, photography, ceremony, cocktail, reception, post-reception/pack-up? How many chairs and tables? How many staff members? How many weddings are held at the same time? How many menu selections are included?
• Ask for a full tour and walk through of the wedding flow to see if it's in line with your vision. Ask about the bridal suite and the behind-the-scenes areas. Ask about alternative ceremony and reception locations within the facility if you have any part of your day outdoors.
• Ask about the wedding agenda and make sure it's in line with your plan for the day.
• Ask about the payment plan and all of their policies. Make sure you walk away with a clear understanding of how much and when payments are due and don't forget to cover all policies include vendor restrictions, if any.

Come back next week for another installment of Wedding Wednesday.

Thanks for stopping by today and stay safe!
- KRAFTY pearl

Spotlight on SEI: Hooray & Anticipation

Hi there! While we are bracing for a hurricane here, in NYC, let me share some cheeriness here on my blog. Today, I'm over at the SEI blog to share a card for a super duper special little boy who recently turned one.

Materials used: SEI Field Notes, Vanilla Sunshine, cardboard elements stickers; foam squares

I absolutely love the stickers from the SEI Vanilla Sunshine collection. You can use them for any kind of card, especially when you couple them with some SEI cardboard elements stickers to give it some texture. Check out how I made the card on the SEI blog.

Another project I shared on the SEI blog a couple of weeks ago is this "Anticipation" layout. This layout is pretty special to me because it documents just moments before my husband and I got married. Have a look at all the details here.

Materials used: SEI Vanilla Sunshine, Field Notes, alphabet stickers

Hope you've enjoyed this card and layout. Don't forget to check out the SEI blog for more inspiration!

Thanks for stopping by!

- KRAFTY pearl

SEI + My Etsy = A Collected Look

Hiya! Here to quickly share a long overdue SEI layout. You often see me mixing various collections together for a collected, eclectic feel. The beauty of SEI designs is that it's so easy to mix and match colors and patterns!

Materials Used: SEI Desert Spring, SEI Field Notes, SEI Promise Me, tissue paper, Singer 160 sewing machine

Thanks for stopping by!
- KRAFTY pearl

Mama Elephant Highlight: Basic Borders

Wedding Wednesday will return next week!

Today, let's take a close look at Mama Elephant's Basic Borders set.

This set is a must-have. I love the polka dots and and diagonal stripes. You can make your own washi tape, borders, background, and ribbon with this set. Here I made ombre stripes to look like washi tape:

Materials used: Mama Elephant Basic Borders, Polar Pals; SEI Field Notes pattern paper, Bazzill cardstock, ColorBox Cat's Eye Inkpads, Copic Markers, Memento Ink in Tuxedo Black

A closer look: I love the variation you create with these Basic Border stamps. Combine with different colors from ColorBox Cat's Eye Inkpads to design an ombre look. I created a greenish neon lights look which compliments the sentiment, "merry and bright", perfectly.

Hope you've enjoyed Mama Elephant's first release! Don't forget to check out the projects from the other Mama Elephant design team members here:

• JJ Bolton
• Cheiron Brandon
• Mariana Grigsby
• Savannah O'Gwynn
• Alice Wertz

Thanks for stopping by!
- KRAFTY pearl

Mama Elephant Highlight: Trifecta

On this terrific Tuesday, we continue to highlight Mama Elephant stamps. One of my favorite Mama Elephant stamp sets is Trifecta!

This set is seriously the most versatile stamp set I've ever seen. You can do so much with the triangles as a background, as pennants, as arrow heads, as little trees, and even little roof tops!

Materials used: Mama Elephant Trifecta, We Click; CTMH Inks, SEI Tumble Dye spray, Memento Ink in Tuxedo Black

A closer look: Inspired by Van Gogh's impressionist paintings, I created a sun-drenched sky with funky roof tops and a masked cloud. I then framed my little work of art using the faux Instax stamped on wood grain pattern paper.

And just in case you didn't see some of my other ideas for this set, here's a look at some of my other projects. Click on the picture to see the original post.

Triangle pattern as a background and for masking shapes.

Triangles turned upside down to create mini trees.

Hope you've enjoyed these projects and don't forget to check out the projects from the other Mama Elephant design team members here:

• JJ Bolton
• Cheiron Brandon
• Mariana Grigsby
• Savannah O'Gwynn
• Alice Wertz

Thanks for stopping by!
- KRAFTY pearl

Mama Elephant Highlight: Polar Pals

Good morning! On this brisk (NY) Monday morning, I'm sharing a project made with Mama Elephant's Polar Pals.

Tell me these little creatures are not the cutest stamps ever. Best of all, they fit really well with the snow globe from the Mama Elephant Believe in Magic set. Give that a try, or use the cute banners to create a garland look like this card I made here. You'd think this set is just for winter or holiday-themed cards, but you can also very easily create a birthday card too.

 

Materials used: Mama Elephant's Polar Pals; SEI pattern paper, Martha Stewart medium balloon punch, Copic Markers, Memento Ink in Tuxedo Black

A closer look: Create a festive garland look using any of the banners for a cute birthday card. The possibilities are actually endless given the star and heart banners and all the different words too!

Hope you've enjoyed this technique and don't forget to check out the projects from the other Mama Elephant design team members here:

• JJ Bolton
• Cheiron Brandon
• Mariana Grigsby
• Savannah O'Gwynn
• Alice Wertz

Thanks for stopping by!
- KRAFTY pearl

Mama Elephant Highlight: Good Times

TGIF! It's been a long work at my day job, but I've been able to complete all my highlights and posts as soon as I get home every night. We end this week with a look at Mama Elephant's Good Times set.

Mama Elephant's Good Times is truly one of the most versatile sets I have ever seen. From the cool and current sentiments to the three perfect balloons and cute icons, this set is a must have!

Materials used: Mama Elephant Good Times, Believe in Magic; Tsukineko Delicata Ink in Golden Glitz, Singer 160 Limited Edition sewing machine

A closer look: When I say versatile, I really mean it. The balloons when turned upside down make perfect ornaments! I used the ribbon stamp from the Good Times set. I also used the reindeer and stars stamp from the Believe in Magic set which fits so well into these balloons/ornaments. I added some stitches to the card to finish off the ornament card.

Don't forget to check out the projects from the other Mama Elephant design team members here:

• JJ Bolton
• Cheiron Brandon
• Mariana Grigsby
• Savannah O'Gwynn
• Alice Wertz

Thanks for stopping by!
- KRAFTY pearl

Mama Elephant Highlight: Geotagged

I hope you're enjoying all the Mama Elephant highlights so far. We're taking a look at the Geotagged set today.

Like all of the other sets, this is perfect for cards and layouts alike. The map of the United States is pretty darn awesome! I adore the suitcase with polka dot print and the super cute and detailed luggage stickers.

Materials used: Mama Elephant Geotagged, Basic Borders; CTMH pattern paper, Martha Stewart medium balloon punch, CTMH Inks, Tsukineko Delicata Ink in Golden Glitz, Memento Ink in Tuxedo Black

A closer look: I created a clustered embellishment from the suitcase and polka dot pattern stamps. I matched the colors to the houses in a photo I have on the layout. That's one of my favorite things about stamping -- being able to pull colors from photos into stamped embellishments.

To add just a bit more variation to the layout, I used the suitcase stamp and polka dot pattern and masked it under a balloon wood grain pattern negative. Give this stamped embellishment technique a try!

Don't forget to check out the projects from the other Mama Elephant design team members here:

• JJ Bolton
• Cheiron Brandon
• Mariana Grigsby
• Savannah O'Gwynn
• Alice Wertz

Thanks for stopping by!

- KRAFTY pearl