Reminiscing about MFT

When I joined Splitcoast Stampers 7 months ago, I only had SU! stamps. I only used SU! stamps. The galleries at SCS open your eyes to all the wonderful stamps to be seen (yes, I know this is a cheesy comment.)

I'd also like to state that I am not affiliated with MFT Stamps, what follows is my opinion (as is everything else on my blog.)

Not long after I joined, I kept seeing cards made with these headless women. It was like you were looking at them from a funny angle and something was blocking the rest of them. They were interesting - and they could be colored. I was looking for something to use my SU! markers on. It probably took a month before I figured out that they were My Favorite Things Stamps. I'm a little slow on the uptake sometimes. I found the website and started DROOLING - beautiful stamps.

It took me a while to actually order. I was wandering into uncharted territories for myself: order stamps online, they're CLEAR - I'd only used rubber before, what do I actually need to stamp them? I placed my first order.

Got them, loved the packaging, pulled out my black Stazon ink pad, stuck a stamp to one of my brand new acrylic blocks... and I didn't get a clear image. Hmm... try again - nope. Tried Basic Black because the Stazon looked a little dry - stained the stamp and didn't do much better. I'm frustrated, about to cry, and throw my beautiful brand-new stamps across the room.

Thank heavens for SCS - a lot of the MFT Design team visits over in the forums. Not long after I got my stamps and had unsuccessfully played with them, I actually had a chance to chat with Sherrie Siemens (BC Sherrie on SCS). I practically attacked her with my questions - I knew she was the on the MFT Design Team and if anyone knew how to get these stamps to work, it would be her. She gave me some pointers - which helped a lot. I figured out my table (which is a plastic banquet table) bounces which doesn't help when I'm pushing down on the stamp (solved by having a piece of scrap wood next to the table and stamping on that) and that I needed to get a better black ink - which I got when I went shopping the next time.

I've never had problems with my MFT stamps since then - they're fabulous.

So when I saw that there was going to be a "release party" in the MFT forum on SCS, I decided to see what was being released. I'd already seen sneak peeks through Cammie's blog, but I wanted to see the whole set. They announced last night that MFT is having a contest for who gets to be the Guest Designer next month - create an Artist Trading Card and then put it on a full size card. Deadline: 8:30pm EST Thursday.

These are my cards for that:

It took me 45 minutes to the ATC - by itself. I've never had one take so long. I like how it turned out, but the fact that one 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" card took so long threw me.

I like how the whole card turned out. Because the ATC was the focal point of the card, I didn't have to worry about fluffing up the rest. Can you tell I like polka dots, though? The sketch for this is actually the Stalker's Sketch Challenge 07 - today's challenge.