In La-La Land . . .

Hi!  Hope you had a wonderful weekend!  I enjoyed taking some time crafting with friends at my Big Shot Class, and making some cards and other projects this weekend!

If you haven't had a chance, please be sure to check out my blog candy post and enter to win it!

Anyway, one of the cards I had great fun making this weekend was for La-La Land Crafts Challenge #2, which was to stitch on a card.  My sewing machine has been under some papers on my desk, so I brought it out and was glad to put it to good use! 

Supplies Used:
Stamps:  Rosie with Cat from La La Land Crafts
Ink:  Basic Black Classic Ink
Paper: So Saffron, Bashful Blue, Pretty in Pink, and Whisper White Card Stock; Pawsitively Prints Designer Series Cardstock (from the new Stampin' Up! Build a Bear line in the Holiday Mini Catalog, available starting Sept. 1st!) 
Accessories:  Watercolor Pencils, Blender Pens, Butterfly Punch, Stampin' Up!'s Scallop Edge and Photo Corners, and flower trim from a fabric store (has been in my stash for a while, can't remember exactly where it is from).

Be sure to check out my good friend Irina's blog candy, too!

Big Shot Basics and Beyond! -- Cards

Two more samples from the Big Shot Basics and Beyond class -- these are the cards we will be making.  The first one uses the new Storybook Specialty Designer Paper.  This paper is textured, and has fun images to watercolor on one side, and beautiful patterns on the other.  I embossed the paper using the Elegant Bouquet embossing folder, then sanded away part of the embossed image to reveal the white core of the paper.  That was layered on a piece of whisper white cardstock, then onto the Ruby Red card base.  The greeting is from the new Teeny Tiny Wishes set.  Chocolate chip ribbon bow added to dress up the card a bit.  

The second card is also on the clean and simple side.  The base is a piece of whisper white cardstock, shaped using the scallop square clear die, then embossed with the dots plate.  

The butterly is cut using both pale plum cardstock and the Flower Fantasy printed window sheets.

Greeting is in certainly celery on a "flag" cut out of certainly celery cardstock.  If I were doing this over, I probably would have stamped in either Perfect Plum or Rich Razzleberry ink instead so the greeting would show up better.  What do you think?

Hope you have a great weekend!  I'll be back next week with more fun projects to share!

- Michelle

Big Shot Basics and Beyond! -- Fancy Favor Bag

Here's another project from this weekend's Big Shot Basics and Beyond class -- a bag cut with the Fancy Favor die.  This one is cut from the Razzleberry Lemonade Designer Paper.  The handle is cut from Crushed Curry cardstock, and held onto the box with pumpkin pie flower brads.

The die cut embosses score lines into the favor box, so you actually can fold it together and close it at the top, too.  Really versatile!!!

Thanks for stopping by!

-Michelle

Time for Blog Candy!!!

To welcome everyone to my blog and thank you for visiting, I am offering some blog candy!  To enter, simply leave a comment in this post, and if you'd like, make a suggestion for projects you would like to see here on the blog or classes you'd like me to offer.   Please leave your comment before midnight on September 3, 2009.  (And please feel free to spread the word about the blog candy!)  I'll randomly select a winner from those who leave comments.  I will announce the winner in a blog post on September 4th.

The goodies I have for you include the Darling Dots hostess set from the Spring-Summer 2009 Idea Book (already assembled, but otherwise brand new), and some wonderful new Stampin' Up! ribbon from the current Idea Book & Catalog!

- Michelle

ETA:  You can also enter by becoming a Fan of my business on Facebook and leaving a comment under this post there.   

Big Shot Basics and Beyond! -- Mini Scrapbook Project

Greetings! Wanted to share a project with you from my upcoming Big Shot Basics and Beyond! class.  The class is this Sunday afternoon -- and still have a couple spaces left, if you'd like to join in the fun!  (You can email me using the link on the side bar.)

This book is created using chipboard, designer paper (Christmas Cocoa Specialty, from the upcoming Holiday Mini.  One of the coolest things about this designer paper -- aside from the fact that it is gorgeous, of course -- is the flocking on some of the designs!  Really adds a neat texture to projects . . . but I digress!), and whisper white card stock for the pages.   The pieces for the book are cut with the Scallop Square Clear Die.   Used some of my favorite white Organza Ribbon to embellish the binding clip.  And, added a filigree brad with a Circle Fire rhinestone and some old olive ribbon to embellish the title box on the cover.

Thought this book would be great fun to use for holiday photos or maybe as a favorite cookie recipe book (could be a fun favor for a cookie exchange party!).  Change the designer paper, and you could easily make books for Halloween, Thanksgiving, or pretty much any other holiday!  You could also use a different shaped die -- like the scallop circle or Top Note die -- lots of possibilities!!!

- Michelle

Mambo Combo Card

Melon Mambo is one of my favorite of the new In Colors (maybe second only to Rich Razzleberry!) Anyway, I really like the Melon Mambo, Crushed Curry and Old Olive color combination -- so used it in this card. Thanks to my good friend Jane, who was kind enough to let me stamp this image with her new Asian Artistry set (one of the fabulous new Level 2 hostess sets!).

I stamped the flower image in Soft Suede ink on whisper white card stock, and colored it using blender pens and ink squeezed to the lid of my ink pads. Also used the Circle Circus stamp set and Melon Mambo ink to stamp the background images on the card.

Thanks for looking! Have some more fun projects to share with you soon.

Michelle

Summer Fun Scrapbook

Stampin' Up!'s new Cool Kids Simply Scrappin' Kit is so much fun, I couldn't resist making a 6 x 6 scrapbook using it! I decided to make a "Summer Fun" book, to fill with highlights of my boys' favorite activities and trips this summer.

Here's the cover:
















I used crushed curry ribbon and pewter jumbo eyelets to bind the book together. The title box is cut with the Top Note Big Shot die, and letters are cut from whisper white cardstock, also using the Big Shot.

Inside the book are eight of the 6 x 6 page protectors, so there are 16 pages total (front and back).

Here are some of my favorite pages:






















These materials would also make a fun "Back to School" or "All About Me" album.

If you'd like to make your own book like this, please email me for information about my Cool Kids Summer Fun class and class kits!

- Michelle

Hello, Everybody!

I am very excited to start posting to this blog at last!!! Friends have been encouraging me to do this for a while, so here goes . . . Thanks so much for stopping by to share in my adventures in paper crafting!

The first card I'd like to share with you is one that I created using Decor Elements. The Decor Elements are great not only for home decorating, but also paper crafting! Friends who came to my Stampin' Up! new catalog open house last month were able to make one of these cards, and everyone liked how quick and easy the card was to put together.

Supplies used: White Upsy Daisy Decor Elements, Rich Razzleberry & Whisper White cardstock, Rich Razzleberry Polka Dot Ribbon, Rich Razzleberry Ink, Scallop Oval Punch, and Upsy Daisy Stamp Set.

I'll be back again soon with a fun scrapbooking project!

- Michelle