Thanks so Much for Fall

Can you believe it is now officially fall?  We had some slightly cooler weather over the weekend, and even our first little sprinkle of rain in a while, so it actually felt a little like fall here!  It's supposed to get warm again this week, but I've noticed some leaves are starting to change and it is getting dark earlier . . . and the kids are starting to discuss what they want to dress up as for Halloween.  (I think they're going to use last year's costumes again this year!  That sure makes life easier!)   

Anyway, I hope you are enjoying these first few days of fall, too.  Here's a fall card I made recently for a couple of swaps, using some fun new products from the Stampin' Up! Holiday Mini: 

Here's a close up of the T monogram: 

I made this piece using the Letter It alphabet set, stamped in Soft Suede on Very Vanilla.  I punched it out with the 1-1/4" Circle, so it would layer in one of the new Spice Cake Designer Buttons.   These buttons are probably the biggest I've ever seen -- so, when I saw them, the first thing that came to mind was using them as a frame!  

There is a 1-3/4" Circle of More Mustard underneath the button, and that is layered onto a piece of Soft Suede, which I die cut using the Perfect Pennants Bigz L Die and the Big Shot.

Here's a close up of the leaves:

These were stamped using the new Gently Falling stamp set.  For each leaf, I first stamped the more "solid" image from the set.  I used the rock n roll technique to ink the stamp.  The maple and small leaf were inked first in More Mustard, then rocked around the edges into Cajun Craze.  The oak leaf was first inked with River Rock, then one side was rocked into More Mustard and the other side with Cajun Craze. 

I added a Very Vanilla jewelry tag, stamped with an image from the Tiny Tags stamp set.  I used linen thread to tie a bow through a hole I punched in the tag.

The designer paper is from the Spice Cake Designer Series Paper pack, and I layered that onto Pool Party card stock.  The card is on a River Rock base.

Thanks for stopping by!

- Michelle

Feels like Friday!

My kids finished school for the week today (there's a staff learning day tomorrow), so it feels like a Friday tonight!  I have only a couple minutes as I need to get back to watching a movie with them, but thought I'd pop in and show you the last of the cards from my recent Marvelous Minis class.  Here they are:

The flowers on the cards are made with the Blossom Petals Builder Punch.  I used Calypso Coral for the petals for one card, and Island Indigo on the other.  Each flower center is one of the new Designer Printed Brads.  The leaf is Pear Pizzazz, and the greeting on it is from Teeny Tiny Wishes and is stamped in Lucky Limeade.

I used the Lucky Limeade Ruffled Ribbon around the two top layers.  The top Whisper White layer was embossed using the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder and the Big Shot.  Underneath that is a layer of Pear Pizzazz.

The card base is a 5 x 3.5" Note Card.

Hope you are having a wonderful day -- and can get an early start to your weekend, too! 

Thanks for stopping by!

- Michelle

Just a Little Bit Spooky . . .

Here's a fun little Halloween mini card (3 x 3"), created using the Spooky Bingo Bits stamp set:

 The card base is Pumpkin Pie textured card stock.  I stamped the "spooky" greeting directly on the card stock, and used Basic Black ink for it. 

I used markers to color the rubber before stamping the three images, and then used markers to color in some of the images after stamping as well.  The images are stamped on Whisper White, and punched out with the 1" Circle Punch.  I layered them on a strip of Basic Black, which is in turn layered on a strip of Rich Razzleberry on top, and a piece of Basic Black punched with the Lace Ribbon Border punch and layered over a piece of Old Olive.  

I'll have more Halloween projects to show soon . . . stay tuned!

Thanks for stopping by!

- Michelle

I'm back!!!!

Did you miss me?  I've been taking an unplanned break from blogging because my family needed some extra TLC.  My husband managed to break his right leg and ankle pretty seriously while skimboarding on September 11th . . . he ended up having emergency surgery to patch everything back together, and has been home recovering ever since . . . and will be for a while!  He's doing all right -- each day seems a bit better, and slowly but surely we are getting back to a more normal routine.   And, that means I've actually found a few minutes today to pop in here and share some of my creations with you again. 

But, before we get to the card I want to show you today, a little unfinished business . . . I still have an unclaimed kusudama ball, and while I don't mind having it around, I really intended it to brighten someone else's day, so I've decided to have random.org give me another random number, and we'll try again!  So, drumroll please . . . the random number selected is 6, which if I am counting right means Robin will be receiving the kusudama ball soon! 

Now, on to a card . . . or actually two versions of a card! 

These are both made using Stampin' Up!'s Note Cards as a base.  (The Note Cards are 5 x 3.5" -- a really nice size for a quick thank you note or some birthday wishes!)  I layered some Basic Black on the card base, and then a piece of Whisper White, which I embossed using the new Houndstooth Textured Impressions Embossing Folder and the Big Shot. 

After embossing, I brayered over the raised area with Basic Black Craft Ink.  When you emboss with the Houndstooth folder, there are different raised areas on each side of the paper -- so depending which side you choose to brayer over, you'll get a different look.  That's why the pattern looks different on my two note cards.

I then added some Basic Black 5/8" Satin Ribbon and the greeting/focal piece.  To create the focal piece, I inked up a letter from the new Letter It alphabet with Rich Razzleberry, stamped off once on scratch paper, then stamped on to a piece of Whisper White.  I stamped a word from the Fabulous Phrases stamp set over the letter.  Next, I punched out the letter with the 1-1/4" Circle Punch.  I layered that piece on a piece of Rich Razzleberry card stock, punched out with the 1-3/8" Circle Punch.  Then, that was layered on a piece of Basic Black that had been punched out with the Decorative Label Punch. 

For the finishing touch, I added a flower from the Itty Bitty Bits stamp set, stamped in Rich Razzleberry on Whisper White and punched out with the coordinating punch from the Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack.  There is a black rhinestone in the center, which is from a retired rhinestone package from last year's Holiday Mini, but could be re-created using a Basic Rhinestone Jewel, colored with a black permanent marker.

Hope you like the cards!  Thanks for stopping by! 

- Michelle

The Sky's the Limit!

Here's another of the cards we will be creating in my upcoming mini card class:

This card uses the fun new set Up, Up & Away from the 2011-2012 Idea Book & Catalog.  For the balloon, I stamped the solid balloon image first, then used markers to color the rubber of the striped balloon image, and stamped that on top of the solid balloon. 

A little hard to see in the photo, but the focal image is framed by the rectangular frame from the Designer Frames Textured Impressions Embossing Folders set. 

I created the cloud background by sponging around a cloud mask punched out from the Cupcake Builder Punch.

The greeting banner was cut free hand, the greeting stamped in Early Espresso, then the edges sponged with Real Red Classic Ink, and faux stitching added with Real Red Stampin' Write Marker around the edges.

Wouldn't this be a fun card for a birthday or graduation or congrats on a new job?  Lots of possibilities, I guess! 

Thanks so much for stopping by!

- Michelle

Vintage Rose Video Tutorial!

I'm excited to announce I have a new video tutorial available for you!  You might remember this card, with 3D vintage-y rose blossoms, from this post:

If you'd like to re-create these flowers, here's my video to show you how:

Hope you like the video.   Please let me know if you make these, I'd love to see what you create with this idea!

Thanks for stopping by!

- Michelle

More Marvelous Minis

Here are two more cards that I created for the upcoming Marvelous Minis class.  These use the Tagtastic Hostess set plus a couple of my favorite new items from the Holiday Mini -- the Holly Berry Bouquet Designer Series Paper and the Cherry Cobbler Quilted Satin Ribbon.  The designer paper was cut into scallop strips using the Tasteful Trim die and the Big Shot.  The stamped images were colored with markers.

Here's a close up of the Just for You card:

And, here's the Happy Birthday card:

These are 3 x 3" cards -- so fast, easy, and fun to create!  They are perfect to tuck onto a gift or give as a little surprise to brighten someone's day.

Thanks for stopping by!

- Michelle

Gently Falling Mini Cards

This past week, I was busily creating mini cards for an upcoming class, and here are two cards I designed that use the wonderful new Gently Falling set from the Holiday Mini: 

Here's a closer view of each card (I've been playing around with photographing cards on white versus black . . . not sure which I like best yet.  What do you think?)

These cards are both on More Mustard Textured Card Stock bases (although it looks almost like Pumpkin Pie in the black background photo!)  I used the beautiful new Spice Cake Designer Series Paper as well.  The greetings are stamped in Early Espresso on Pool Party card stock strips, which I folded and trimmed to look like flags. 

Hope you are having a wonderful weekend!  Thanks for stopping by!

- Michelle

The Holiday Mini is Here!!!

Have you seen the Holiday Mini yet?  If not, what are you waiting for?   Click on the photo of it below, and you can browse online to your heart's content (or, if you don't already have a demonstrator, please leave me a comment or send me an email, and I'll be glad to get you a copy of your own!)  

There are so many fun products in here -- I've been having fun playing with the Stocking Die for the Big Shot and the Spice Cake Product Suite and so much more!  You'll be seeing my creations with those here soon!  So, stay tuned!!!

Thanks for stopping by!

- Michelle