500th Blog Post! and Simply Sketched Sneak Peek

Wow!  This is my 500th blog post!!!  Kind of snuck up on me, but I think that calls for a celebration . . . perhaps a challenge with a prize?   What do you think?

While I get that figured out, I wanted to share a sneak peek of a new hostess stamp set called Simply Sketched.  Here it is:

After I stamped the image for this card, I thought it would be fun to try spritzing the paper with Vanilla Smooch Spritz before I stamped, to get more of a watercolor look to the image.  Here's how that turned out:

And, here are close-ups of the stamped images so you can see the difference better:

Supplies Used:

Stamps:  Simply Sketched (hostess sneak peek)
Ink:  Island Indigo, Lucky Limeade (retiring), and Calypso Coral Stampin' Write Markers
Paper:  Lucky Limeade (retiring), Very Vanilla, Naturals Ivory Card Stock; Tea for Two Designer Series Paper (Spring Catalog)
Accessories:  Ovals Collection Framelits, Certainly Celery Taffeta Ribbon (retiring), Very Vintage Designer Buttons (sneak peek), Whisper White Baker's Twine

Thanks for stopping by!

- Michelle

Amazing Mother, Friend Cards and a Little Sneak Peek . . .

A little over a week ago, on National Scrapbooking Day, I co-hosted a Pre-Mother's Day Craft and Jewelry party with a friend, and it was great fun!  I designed a special card for a make and take that could be used either as a card for a special friend or as a Mother's Day card.  Here is the sample I created:

The card is a mix of retiring and continuing products (and one of the inks is actually a sneak peek).  Here are the supplies used:

Stamps:  Amazing Family, French Foliage, Best of Flowers

Ink:  Lucky Limeade, Certainly Celery, Pretty in Pink, and Smoky Slate (the sneak peek color!)

Paper:  Shimmery White, Certainly Celery, Pretty in Pink and Regal Rose Card Stock; Fan Fair Designer Series Paper

Accessories:  Pearl Jewels, Apothecary Accents Framelits, Elegant and Bitty Butterfly Punches, Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack, Pretty in Pink Scalloped Polka Dot Ribbon, Basic Pearl Jewels.

I also made a stepped up version of the card, featuring a couple other sneak peek items for my own amazing mom:

The sneak peek items on this are the Modern Mosaic Embossing Folder and the roses, made using the new Simply Pressed Clay and Buttons & Blossoms Simply Pressed Clay Molds!  I spritzed these roses with Gold Smooch Spritz (retiring) for a fun effect.  Here's a closer view of one of the roses:

They were easy to attach to the card with a dot of Tombo Multipurpose Glue.  I'm having so much fun playing with the clay and molds -- will have more to show you with those, hopefully  soon!  Just need to take some photos!

And, I also wanted to share a beautiful little post-Mother's Day treat -- I have a couple African violet plants that I keep in memory of my grandma, who used to have the most amazing and beautiful collection of violets I've ever seen.  Anyway, my violets have burst into bloom right now, and looking at these makes me so happy, just had to share:

 Thank so much for visiting my blog!

- Michelle

SUper Friends April Swap Cards

At our last gathering, my SUper Friends group of demonstrators and I had a fun time discussing the new catalog and swapping!  I gave everyone who swapped one of my Mojo Butterfly cards from this post.  Here are the amazing creations I received in return:

First up, is a beautiful My Digital Studio hybrid card by Wendy for Mother's Day: 

 and here's the inside, which coordinates beautifully with the printed piece on the outside (My Digital Studio makes it so fun and easy!):

Next is Nancy's layered wedding cake card (don't you love the rolled roses on top of the cake?!):

Nancy also finished the inside of her card, using Whisper White and pieces of the Cherry Cobbler, to coordinate perfectly with the icing on the cake:

And, here's another amazing creation by Renate (you can see more of her creations on her blog, Just Give Me One More Card):

Here's a closer view of the blossoms on the tree, which Renate colored and then used Crystal Effects on for a more dimensional effect:

Hope you are inspired by these beautiful works of art!

- Michelle

Diana's Dressed Up Mother's Day Card

One of my stamping friends shared a photo of her gorgeous Mother's Day card with me, and I loved it so much, I asked her if I could share it with you.  Luckily for you, she said yes!   Here is Diana Brown's beautiful creation, using the Dress Up Framelits dies:

I love all the details Diana added -- the adorable printed sweater with pearl buttons, pearl necklace, ribbon belt and buckle, and pearl trim around the hem of the dress!  Perfect!!!

 Thanks, Diana, for letting me share your wonderful creation!  

And, thank you for visiting my blog!

- Michelle

Afternoon Daydreamin'

I've been quiet the past week because I've been hard at work finishing up a big project (well, and preparing for a fun event I had this weekend . . . but, more on that in an upcoming post!)  I recently created 40 cards using half of an Afternoon Daydream Simply Scrappin' Kit (it's on the retiring list, so only available while supplies last now).  Here are the cards I made, in sets of 10:

And, here are some close ups of some of my favorite cards:

Stamp sets used:  Everything Eleanor, Perfectly Penned, Oh Hello, Made for You, Papaya Collage, and Apothecary Accents

Paper:  Afternoon Daydream Simply Scrappin' Kit, Whisper White Card Stock

Ink:  Basic Gray, More Mustard, Pool Party, and Primrose Petals Classic Ink

Accessories:  Labels Framelits, Floral Frames Framelits, Ovals Collection Framelits, Curly Label Punch, Elegant Butterfly Punch, Bitty Butterfly Punch, Basic Rhinestone Jewels

If you'd like to create some of these, I have a limited number of kits available (for U.S. only, and stamped images not included).  Please contact me for more information.

- Michelle

More of Marlene's Marvelous Cards

Happy Monday to you!  Hope you had a wonderful weekend.  We had a great weekend -- mostly spent outdoors at my boys' various baseball events!  

I have a treat for you today!  I have some cards from my super-talented friend Marlene Caravello to share with you!!!

This first one uses the wonderful Swallowtail and Oh, Hello stamp sets along with the Cloudy Day embossing folder, all from the Spring Catalog:

I love how Marlene does a beautiful job of finishing her cards inside and out!!!

Next up is this lovely card, featuring the Hexagon Embossing Folder, Dress Up Framelits, and More Amore Specialty Designer Series Paper from the Spring Mini, as well as the Occasions Alphabet Set from the 2012-2013 Catalog:

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The inside is stamped with a Flourish from Everything Eleanor, and "Happy Birthday" from Bring on the Cake:

Here's a great masculine birthday card, which with a change of sentiment stamps, would also make a fabulous Father's Day card:

The bow tie and shoe stamps are from the Dapper Dad stamp set in the Spring Catalog.

And, last but not least, is this gorgeous card, combining the Oh, Hello and Secret Garden stamp sets, along with the Tea for Two Designer Series Paper from the Spring Catalog:

To create the vase, Marlene used gold embossing powder to emboss the oval stamp from the Oh, Hello Stamp set on a piece of Early Espresso card stock, and die cut that with the coordinating oval framelits.  That along with the die (and fussy) cut Secret Garden flower and stem, adds such great texture and dimension to the card!

These are all so marvelous!!  I feel so blessed to have received them and to get to share them with you!

Thanks for stopping by!

- Michelle

Seriously, My April Paper Pumpkin Kit and Alternate Ideas!

This month's Paper Pumpkin kit featured some sassy stamps (the greetings, as you will see are "Seriously," "you kick booty," and "love your guts"), a cool color combo (Night of Navy, Baja Breeze, Old Olive, More Mustard, and Cherry Cobbler), a generous amount of natural Linen Thread, and the awesome Silver Designer Buttons (from the Spring Catalog).  This kit lends itself well to creating some great masculine cards, which can be challenging!  However, it is also versatile enough that you could create a card for most anyone with it!

Using just the supplies and instruction that come with the kit, you can create 4 cards.  However, as with the Welcome Kit, I decided to add just a couple more sheets of paper (one Night of Navy and one Baja Breeze 8-1/2 x 11" piece of card stock), and some scraps of Very Vanilla, and with those simple additions, I had enough material to create these eight cards:

Here is the first card I created, following the design and instructions that Stampin' Up! included with the kit:

For the next card I made, I decided to follow the provided instructions again, and use the "love your guts" stamp, but  omit the "guts" part.  I took a Cherry Cobbler Stampin' Write Marker, inked up just the "love you" part of the stamp, stamped that on a long scrap of Very Vanilla card stock, reinked and stamped again in Cherry Cobbler.  Then, for the third time, I cleaned the stamp, reinked it using a Baja Breeze marker, and stamped:

Time for a confession -- I had a bit of trouble when I inked up my "seriously" using my Cherry Cobbler ink pad, which needs to be reinked (would have had better results if I'd used the Stampin' Spot included with the kit!!).  I had a moment of panic when I lifted my stamp up from the paper and saw an incomplete image on one of the precious die cut adhesives from kit, but then, a simple solution came to me -- stamp on Very Vanilla paper and adhere that over the bad image.  And, that worked pretty well:

 

Phew!!!!


On my third card, I changed things up a bit more.  I had seen some samples created by Marti Crapo, and liked her idea of using stamps from the two other Paper Pumpkin kits in combination with this month's kit.  So, I used the "hey there" and splash stamps from the Welcome Kit, along with the dots stamp from the Try It kit on this card.  I also decided to create a landscape card this time:

Another idea I wanted to try was to stamp "seriously" along with the "fabulous" stamp from Fabulous Phrases.  For this card, I used a Not Quite Navy base, and had cut one of the Not Quite Navy Designer card bases from the kit, to use as a designer paper layer.  I again used the splash stamp from the Welcom Kit and the dots from the Try It kit:

Here's another photo, which shows the "fabulous" a little better (in retrospect, I should probably have stamped it in a more contrasting color like Cherry Cobbler or even More Mustard -- guess I should just re-stamp it on a piece of Very Vanilla and attach over where I stamped it on the card again here!):

Here's another card, again with a Not Quite Navy base, and using the "hey there, friend" stamp from the Paper Pumpkin Welcome kit in Not Quite Navy ink.  This time I added a strip of the Epic Day This and That Washi Tape as well:

This card uses a Baja Breeze base, along with a flag created from a piece of one of the designer card bases included with the kit.  I stamped the dots from the Try It kit in Baja Breeze under the speech bubble.  I also used my Baja Breeze marker again to add just the "love you" from the "love your guts" stamp.  And, you might notice there is also a clip on this one from the Elements Cute Clips (Spring Catalog):

For the final card, I decided to create something a bit more elaborate.  I die cut a piece of Very Vanilla using  the largest of the Apothecary Accents Framelits.  I used the "seriously" stamp and Try It kit dots in Crumb Cake; stamps from Amazing Family in Not Quite Navy, Basic Gray ("Father"), and Baja Breeze (decorative image); and the ship from The Open Sea in Baja Breeze.  The card base is Baja Breeze, and I layered a piece trimmed from one of the kit's card bases on top of that.  I'd stamped that with the splash image from the Welcome Kit.  There's also a strip of Epic Day Washi Tape, with linen thread wrapped around it, and a small button from my stash of Silver Designer Buttons (not included with the Paper Pumpkin kit):

Hope you enjoyed these ideas!  If you haven't signed up for My Paper Pumpkin yet, what are you waiting for?!  It's so much fun to get a kit filled with wonderful, surprise crafting goodies in your mailbox!

- Michelle