Father's Day Inspiration + Upcoming Events

The Design Team, here at Mountain Plains Crafters, has created some projects to inspire you for Father's Day.  We are happy to celebrate the special men in our lives; husbands, sons, fathers, teachers, soldiers.....the list goes on. 

How do you celebrate the men in your life on this special day?  We'd love for you to share a special memory that stands out.  In the meantime, check out the creations below, and visit the DT's links to get all the details on their projects.  Then, check back on June 25th for a new challenge and giveaway.  The theme?  Nautical or Patriotic.  Prize sponsored by May Arts Ribbon.

While you're at it, be sure you like/follow us on Twitter and our Facebook Community Page to keep up with all the happenings.  

Paula

Terri

 Debra

MariLynn

#cre8time #fathersday #military #armedforces #mayartsribbon #tombow

Springtime Flowers Appreciation Creation

Happy April and end of tax season! 

Do you ever need to thank so many people you seem to lose count? Has somebody done something nice for you and you are past due thanking them? Past due showing your appreciation?

We are challenging our designers this week to make a card with Springtime flowers showing their appreciation to someone. The kicker...telling us the recipient and why they appreciate that person and lastly, PUTTING IT IN THE MAIL TO SAID PERSON.

So, to participate, share your appreciation creations on our Mountain Plains Crafters FB page here. You have until Thursday, April 23rd, at noon EST to upload your creations there. The winner will be picked at random and will receive a Unity Itty Bitty~Undies in a Bundle and one other little surprise.

A friend of mine who also happens to be my boss will be retiring next month. She is an amazing person and has helped us implement many positive changes in our department. Penny goes above and beyond to be fair and kind to everyone.She is looking forward to spending much more time with her family. And although I will miss her, I wish her all the best... I used a Sizzix Alterations "On the Edge" die by Tim Holtz for the border and a Spellbinders "Laurel and Bee" D-Lites die. The floral and woodgrain papers are from the My Mind's Eye "Howdy Doody" collection. I finished the card with a sentiment from the Stampin' Up "Pursuit of Happiness" set after sponging the edges of the stamped image with Color Box Turquoise ink. I will be sending this card to Penny to tell her how much I appreciate all that she has done for us in our department.

dEb

Trying to decide who to send my card to?  A tough decision.  But, I finally chose a friend and her family who are dealing with the medical needs of their sweet child on a daily basis and recently found out that on top of everything else, this precious 2 year old girl was just diagnosed with cancer, as well.  I appreciate all the loving mothers and fathers in this world who are granted the task of raising up the children that the good Lord has given us.  I especially want my friend to know how appreciated and loved she is for being such a wonderful mother in spite of the circumstances that have been handed to her.  We can take nothing for granted in this one life that we are given.  I've created my bracket display card using Graphic 45 papers and my Cricut Explore.  You can see all the details with additional photos, plus a link to my file to create your own bracket shaped card, which is FREE (to Cricut Design Space Subscription users) or a nominal fee for non-subscription Cricut Design Space users.  Click on my name to visit my blog with details.

Terri

I have several thank you cards that need to go out. This one will be given to my best friend's daughter. She watched our pooches while we were out of town. I need to make one for my gf, too. She stayed the night one night. Our Nike is afraid of coughing and Jayme was coughing like crazy. So silly. I used Unity KOTM from January 2014 for my flowers. To see more detail, click on my name below and it will take you to my blog. 

Pam

Quilling takes a long time and therefore this card will go to someone truly special in my life, my Aunt.  She has filled the void of the loss of my mom and I don't know what I'd do without her.  She gave me advice that, at the time I thought was wrong, I have learned to appreciate and accept and understand...I and told her that she was right all along.  I love you Auntie Pat.

Sheryl



 I'm not mailing my card! Nope, I'm gonna drive 2 hours to see one of my best friends and hand deliver this to her. You see I was planning on driving up there to teach a Fund Raising Art Class (money goes to my son's trip to Italy) and she is the hostess serving light snacks & wine! Now doesn't that sound like the best fund raising plan you've ever heard? So she truly does deserve this Appreciation Card! You can go check out my Blog (trust me you REALLY want to do that)

Paula

I made this card for my friend Brenda. She is an amazing lady who always brings a smile to my face. Like Paula, I am not putting mine in the mail, but I am planning on giving it to her at church on
Sunday. This isn't for any specific reason, Just because she is my friend kinda card. You can read more about my card on my blog.

MariLynn

With spring finally happening around here, I'm on a flower kick! I pulled out these gorgeous Altenew stamps to make a CAS card for my Gram simply because she is awesome. Even though she lives close by I'm going to mail it, because who doesn't love happy mail?? You can see closeups on my blog!
Jennifer

Glitter Is Stronger Than Blood

Glitter is stronger than blood! That's what our Design Team says. And with that saying goes this "just for fun" challenge: make a card or project that uses glitter in honor of our craft sisters. Now doesn't that sound like a great challenge here at the holidays?

Debra

Paula

Terri

MariLynn

Jennifer

Pam

M & M Christmas Poem Tags and Gift Box

My sister drafted me into doing a crafty project for her.  She found this printable Christmas poem and wanted them made into tags for gifting M & M candies.  I found this printable at ucreate.com.  Go here to find the pdf file to print: http://www.u-createcrafts.com/m-christmas-poem-free-printable/

Afer printing, I adhered to heavy white cardstock and trimmed.

Next, I used a hole punch in the corner and added some twine.  Of course, no project is complete 

without a little glitter!  I traced over the M & M title with my clear Wink of Stella glitter brush.

One more thing......scroll down......

Before I give these to my sister, I decided to create a cute little gift box.

I used my We R Memory Keepers score board/trimmer and just pulled

it all out of my head.  A score here and there, hole punches, some washi

tape on the inside seam.....before you know it, I had a pretty cute little

gift box.  I usually experiment, rather than go by a template or guide.  

I'm kind of stubborn that way.  And yes, I know you've heard me say that before!

Terri

Additional Supplies: May Arts Ribbon, American Crafts adhesive glitter tape, K & Company Mod Holiday designer paper, Tombow Xtreme adhesive runner, craft flowers from Michaels, Target washi tape

#cre8time #tombowusa #mayartsribbbon #wrmk #M&M

Winner of the MPC November blog hop!

Thanks to everyone who entered our hop sponsored by Tombow Adhesives and

The Unity Stamp Co. 

The random winner of our Rafflecopter giveaway is:

MARY LOU HOLSHOUSER

We've emailed you Mary. You have 7 days to claim your prize.  Congratulations! 

 Thanks again to our sponsors and our guest designer, Angeline Choo from Scrappy Scrappy, for hopping along with us.

The team at MPC

Draw yer sword matey.....it's International Talk Like a Pirate Day!

Ahoy, Matey!  Who doesn't love a good pirate?  And, there's an actual day designated to celebrate talking like one?  Well this design team is ALL over that.  We love a good excuse to get inky so here's a few projects from the girls, just for you.  But first......what would a pirate celebration be without some buried treasure?  Some of the girls have blog candy to give away so be sure and follow the link to their site and follow the instructions to get your hands on the treasure!

I rummaged around my son's room, looking for this old Disney map.  Back in the day, my son was all about pirates.  I was able to salvage the part of the map that didn't have scribble all over it!  Some distressing, drawing and a great sentiment from Unity Stamps, and we're ready to hunt for buried treasure.  Follow my link here:  Wavingmywand for some blog candy......

Terri

Last year for our church Halloween party, I just happened to go as a pirate! It was a last minute decision to dress up, so I dug out my kiddo's old pirate hat, eye patch & plastic hook but no parrot could be found. What's a pirate to do? Why an Iguana will work in a pinch, I even made him his own eye patch.

My Family is my Treasure!

Paula

Arrr mateys! Thar be a pirate ship on the horizon, coming to steal our treasure! Good thing I've hidden it over at Caffeinated Papercuts... ;) I had some serious (and messy!) fun with Distress Inks, Spectrum Noir markers, Tombow Adhesive and Sweet Stamp Shop stamps to make this cool pirate scene. And if ye don't like it, ye can walk the plank! Arrrrr!

At first, I was at a loss... Pirates ?? Do I even have any pirate stamps, stickers, die cuts ?? Then I remembered the DCWV  "Hey Sailor" stack and my card was born !! Add a tattered flower from Jolee's & a bit of Little B Starry Night washi to a printed background map and I have just "worked like a captain and played like a pirate" all at the same time !! I am the Captain of my Crafty ship !! Head on over to my blog  for a chance to win some pirate booty.. Follow the link here to Meticulosity. Think Pirate Gold ......

dEb

Better late then never... This card turned out to be a lot more involved than I had planned. I had my card already to post then I decided to add gold doubloons. I used Mark's Finest Papers set called BURIED TREASURE. 

I have more details on my card on my blog, where I you can have a chance to win some treasure of your own. Check it out HERE.

MariLynn

Hi ladies!  Pam, here. I had a lot of fun and used the same set MariLynn did from MFP called Buried Treasure. You can link to it from MariLynn's post above. Inside this says, "Find your treasure".

Argh....I need to go take care of my mateys!

Pam

Animals Everywhere!

We're going critter crazy today at Mountain Plains Crafters!
Everyone loves a cute little bunny, a fuzzy kitten, a silky fox

and this Design Team is no exception!

Look...Squirrel!

Paula

I think my owl needs a name.  How about....Harvey?  Works for me.  He's just hanging out on a snowy branch, chillin' and shivering 'cause there's a nip in the air!

Terri

, 

I was going to make a card with a deer on it. I really was but when I was going through my stamps, this wolf stamp started howling my name. I have had him for months, but I hadn't inked him up yet. He spoke to my twisted sense of humor as well. I knew that everyone else on the design team was going to bring "cute" critters. They would just provide a buffet for my wolf. Either that or he ate the deer I was going to stamp, and he is full now.

MariLynn

I have had kitties my entire life; right now, my furry friend's name is Salem...and I'm terribly allergic to him! Right before I made this card, I touched him with one hand to get him off the couch, hoping not to trigger an allergy attack. I guess one touch was too much, because I ended up with itchy eyes, nose and throat and the sneezes! Oh, well I still love him and I love this watercolored kitty card, too! >^.^<

 Christina

I fell in love with this ribbon when I saw it in the clearance bin and bought it to use with some mushroom stamps.Then I spotted this cute hedgehog stamp and my card went in a totally different direction. Used my Inktense & Metallic watercolor pencils and a blender pen to color the little guys. Popped up the banner with some dimensionals and my 2 cute critters are ready to go !!

Debra

BUNNIES!! I love all things cute and cuddly and when Lawn Fawn came out with these sweet little hippity-hops, I was done. I used my Spectrum Noir markers to color them in, and since I splurged & got the matching dies as well cutting them out was a breeze! Some Tombow adhesive to hold some bits down, foam tape to pop the rest, add the heat embossed vellum sentiment and done! Now keep your wolf away from them, MariLynn! :P
Jennifer

Thanks for joining us today.  We had fun making these critter cards.  Have you got a critter card?  Head on over to our Facebook page and show us what you've got.  We'd love to see!

New challenge at MPC ....link up your themed project for a fab prize!

Welcome to another fun challenge from Mountain Plains Crafters!  Remember that old song from The Byrds, "Turn, Turn, Turn"?  To everything turn, turn, turn...there is a season, turn, turn, turn..and a time for every purpose under Heaven. 

Depending on what part of the country you live in, the dog days of summer are hanging on by a thread or you're starting to have cooler days.  So with cooler days in mind, our theme is Leaves/Autumn.  You can go with a leaf theme or Autumn or both.  Link your new project using this theme for a super nice prize from our sponsor Pan Pastel, a Donna Downey Mixed Media Paint kit!  (Colors may vary)

Want to see how to use Pan Pastel paints?  Go here: techniques or check out their video gallery and while you're at, go visit their Facebook page and tell them Mountain Plains Crafters sent you!

This challenge will run for a month to give you lots of time to strategize for your project.  We ask that you link no more than 2 projects to the Inlinkz link below which does require that you use a blog or photo hosting site such as Flickr.  This contest begins Aug. 27, 2014 and ends 9/24/14 at 9:00 am ET, with a winner picked on Monday, 9/29/14 via Random.org.

So without further ado, here are some fabulous creations from our design team to get your crafty juices flowing!

Pam

Christina

Fall is my absolute favorite season!  Summer is just too hot here in Texas and I always anxiously wait it out until autumn arrives with it's cooler temperatures, blustery days and crunchy leaves. I love seeing the leaves change colors; I've always been fascinated how they start green and end up vibrant shades of red and gold, which is what inspired this card. I can't wait for fall!

Terri

Paula

Fall is my busiest time of the year and my very favorite! Enjoying the marching band at football games, cheering on the Cross Country team, and soon the pumpkin patch at the church. The ground gets completely covered by the leaves abandoning their trees & covering the floor of the woods.

All this plus cooler temps on their way, well sign me up!

Debra

Fall for me is everything pumpkin.. Pumpkin bread & pies shared with friends. Pumpkin lattes at the local coffee shops, that are so good  on chilly autumn evenings. The color - pumpkin - in my favorite Graphic 45 paper, "Steampunk Spells".  My favorite autumn glitter that is perfect to use on pumpkins. Falling leaves, sweater weather- Grateful for so much  this time of year !!

MariLynn

I love fall with the little bit of chill in the air. Fall to me is trips to the apple orchard and hot apple cider. It is high school football games on Friday night. It is marching band competitions. It is a time when God goes crazy with the colors of the leaves. It is probably my favorite time of year.( I used multiple sentiments from multiple Mark's Finest Papers sets. )

Jennifer

While summer will forever be my favorite season, there is a lot to love about fall. Pumpkin spice lattes come to mind, as does the beautiful color display Mother Nature gives us in the changing leaves. It's also the time of year to start thinking of all the things we're thankful for, especially my dear friends!

 Enter your link below:

An InLinkz Link-up