One More Swap Card and a Christmas Tag

I realized after I posted the cards from our last SUper Friends swap that I inadvertently missed one.  So, here's Charlene's beautiful card from our last swap (sorry about that!): 

I love how she pleated the card stock around the focal image.  Such a neat touch!

I also have a Christmas tag to share with you.  Here's the front:

and here's the back:

I used the Perfect Pennants Die to create the scallop circle base out of Cherry Cobbler for the tag.  On the front, I layered on a circle of Brushed Gold Card Stock.  On top of that, I placed a piece of Watercolor Paper with the Poinsettia image from the Bells & Boughs stamp set.   I stamped the image with Jet Black StazOn ink, then watercolored using classic ink for the leaves (Cherry Cobbler and Old Olive).  I used Gold Lame Smooch for the centers. 

On the back of the tag, I simply attached a piece of Whisper White as a place to write a little note. 

For the finishing touch, I added a piece of the Quilted Cherry Cobbler ribbon from the Holiday Mini.

Can you believe December is almost here?!  (Or maybe already by the time you are reading this!)  My boys are so excited to start opening their advent calendars tomorrow . . . they've been counting the days until Dec. 1st, as well as to Christmas, ever since Thanksgiving!)

Thanks for stopping by!  Be sure to check back soon to see some fun Christmas cards and projects, and hopefully I can get some photos taken tomorrow to show you the most recent swaps from my SUper Friends as well as what I just received back from the My Digital Studio printers!

- Michelle

SUper Friends Swapping Again!

I had a fun meeting with my SUper Friends group today!  We had a terrific card swap, and that made me realize that I hadn't yet shown off the beautiful cards I received in our swap last month . . . so here those are:

Aren't they wonderful?!!!  It's always so fun to see what everyone comes up with for her card! 

We also made a fun Christmas tag project today . . . I'll try to get photos of that and our swaps taken soon so I can share here, too!

Thanks for stopping by!

- Michelle

P.S.  If you haven't checked out Stampin' Up!'s Online Extravaganza yet . . . well, what are you waiting for?  Head on over to my online store now and check it out!

Thanksgiving Fun!

Happy day-after Thanksgiving!  We had a fun day yesterday -- we had friends over for dinner with us, and it was great to share a meal with them, and our boys had a wonderful time playing with their friends, too. 

My boys woke up this morning ready to start decorating for Christmas, so we're in the process of that!  The lights are up outside, and the tree is up and my oldest has almost put all the ornaments on . . . still a few more to do later this afternoon.  Before we completely move along to Christmas, though, I wanted to stop and post a few fun Thanksgiving projects . . . have been meaning to do this all week, but this is the first chance I've had! 

The first is a beautiful waterfall technique card I received in a swap with my talented friend Marlene Caravello a while back:

Isn't it wonderful!?!! 

The next set of projects are some fun turkey cards that my boys made with me:

We used the Owl Builder Punch with the ears trimmed off to make each turkey's body, then random ribbons from my ribbon jar for the tail feathers.  The beak is a trimmed off pennant punch, and the waddle is a small heart from the Owl Punch.  These turkeys were inspired by this wonderful card by Sandie Conner, which I first spotted when it was chosen as the Super Hero of the Ka-Pow Kreative Challenge 04 (KKC04).   These turkeys are just too much fun to make! 

Well, I'd better get back to helping the boys with the Christmas decorating! 

Thanks for stopping by!

- Michelle

My Digital Studio -- Caught Fishin' Page

I've been doing a good bit of digital scrapbooking again lately, and wanted to share with you a page I made last month as part of my entry into the most recent contest Stampin' Up! had for My Digital Studio creations. 

I thought this was a fun photo of my boys being boys!  They were so proud of their catches that day . . . and they were actually amazed to catch anything since the last time we'd been to that lake, they didn't have any luck. 

Anyway, I used a picture of the lake in the background, but toned down the color in it so it wouldn't compete with the bright colors of the photo.  There are a few swatches of various digital papers on the side, and I had fun adding both zig zag and straight stitches on the page.  To create the "caught" title, I used the digital Rough Type Stamp Set, and used the color picker to match the color to some of the darker earth tones in the photo.  The fish are from the Cute Cats stamp set, and again, I used the color picker, this time to match them to the colors of the fish in the photo.

(In case you are curious, I didn't win with this page.   The Finalists had some amazingly wonderful entries!  You really should check them out when you have a chance . . . here's the link.)

And, if you'd like to see the latest downloads available for My Digital Studio, click here.

Hello, Glimmer Snowflakes!

I had great fun putting this card together for a swap with my awesome and talented friend Marlene!  The challenge for this one was to make a Christmas card, but I decided I wanted to use non-traditional colors, make it a shaker card using the cool Mica Flakes and Shaker Frames from the Holiday Mini, and play with some Silver Glimmer Paper!  This card also qualifies for this week's challenge over at Late Night Stampers, which is to make a project with snow.  It's snow much fun, you should play along, too!  (Sorry about the pun, couldn't resist!)  Here is my card:

Do you like the soft colors?  I used Baja Breeze for the base and for the layer that is embossed with the new Snow Burst Embossing Folder (a little hard to tell, but I sponged over the embossing with Whisper White Craft ink to give it an even softer, more snow-like look).  The pink accents are Pretty in Pink pieces, die cut with the Tasteful Trim die.

Here's a closer view of the stamped image in the shaker frame:

This is the little girl from the Gift Givers stamp set.  I colored her in using Watercolor Wonder Crayons.  Hard to tell from the photo, but I also went over the snowbank in the background and the falling snowflakes with a Versamarker, then applied Irridescent Ice Embossing Powder, and heat set it.  So, between that and the Mica Flakes, there's plenty of snowy sparkle in there!

The snowflake accents along the left side of the card were created using Silver Glimmer Paper and the Northern Frost die.  I had read in a discussion on Late Night Stampers that it is easier to die cut the Glimmer Paper if you remove the white paper backing first, and that definitely worked for me.  I also colored one of the snowflakes by pushing it into a Regal Rose ink pad . . . it is a very subtle effect, but I was pleased to find out it worked.  I've since seen a great technique (from a fellow member of Late Night Stampers) to achieve a brighter look . . . you can check it out on Sharon's blog here.

I finished off my snowflakes with a Rhinestone Jewel in the center of each.  I also couldn't resist adding some Whisper White Organza to the card. 

Thanks for stopping by!

- Michelle

Stocking from Santa Card

The Holiday Stocking Bigz Die is so much fun -- here's another project I made with it.  Here I used it just to decorate the card front . . . although, you could make the stocking so it would hold a treat onto the front of the card, and that would be a fun way to give a little treat, too.

The card base is Basic Black, with a layer of Whisper White and then the Pink Pirouette layer on top of that.  I embossed the Pink Pirouette Layer using the Tulip Frame Embossing Folder. 

I cut the stocking out of Cherry Cobbler.  I attached the heel and toe, which are cut out of the beautiful Holly Berry Bouquet Designer Series Paper.  Then, I embossed the stocking with the Petals-a-Plenty Embossing Folder.  I wanted only a soft, quilted look, though, so after I embossed the stocking, I ran it through the Big Shot again, with no embossing folder, just between the plates, to smooth the embossing down a bit.  I used the same technique on the stocking topper, then attached that and the stocking to the card using Stampin' Dimensionals. 

I used the Cherry Cobbler 3/8" Quilted Satin Ribbon to make the loop and bow. 

To make the "from Santa" tag, I die cut an Oval, then embossed it using the oval frame from the Designer Frames Embossing Folders set.  I punched out an oval to fit inside that, and stamped the words on there (I used a Cherry Cobbler Stampin' Write Marker to ink up only the words I wanted from the words in the Dear Santa stamp set).  Then I sponged around the edges using Pink Pirouette ink before attaching to the tag.

For a recent swap with my SUper Friends group, I decided it would be fun to jazz this card up a bit more and add some of the fun Mini Jingle Bells, too.   Here's how that turned out:

Here's a close up of the jingle bells.  I attached them to the quilted ribbon and Bakers Twine using Tombo Multi.

Thanks for stopping by!

- Michelle

Not too Hard to Resist . . .

Happy Wednesday!  Today's been pretty productive so far for me . . . although my to-do list still feels way too long!  I've been in serious digital scrapbooking mode right now . . . I'm working on pages for the boys' elementary school's yearbook.  I also had fun yesterday creating and ordering some cards from My Digital Studio . . . will show you at least one of those very soon.  While on the topic of My Digital Studio, I should mention that there's a free digital download available . . . over the weekend, Stampin' Up! gave away four downloads as part of a Digital Scrapbooking Celebration, and enough people participated that Stampin' Up! decided to give everyone a fifth free download.  Isn't that wonderful?!  You can read more about that over at mydigitalstudio.net by clicking here.

Now, on to the cards I have to show you today!  The first of these I created as part of a card class for a wonderful new group of stamping friends I have been getting to know.  They wanted to see some fun uses for the Hello Doily! background stamp and the Delicate Doilies stamp set, and while looking for ideas on Stampin' Connection (a special site Stampin' Up! has created for demonstrators, where we can share samples, ideas, and more with each other), I came across a gorgeous emboss-resist card with these two stamp sets by Brenda Keenan (who in turn was inspired by a card by Lyssa Griffin Zwolanek).  I totally copied Brenda's color scheme . . . I love the Pool Party and Crumb Cake combination with this technique . . . so soft and pretty!  Here's my version:

To create this, I first stamped Hello Doily in Versamark Ink onto white card stock.  I used clear embossing powder, and heat embossed.  Then, I sponged on Crumb Cake and Pool Party classic ink, and stamped images from the Delicate Doilies set in those two colors as well.  To finish off the card, we added the greeting (this one is from the Petite Pairs stamp set), and embellished with Pool Party Seam Binding Ribbon and an Antique Brad.

After creating this card, I decided to use the same technique with a different stamp set to create another card, and inspired by one of the friends in my class, to use a bit more Pool Party sponged on first (in the card above, I used a bit more Crumb Cake).  Here's how my second card turned out:

The embossed daisies in this one are from the Upsy Daisy Stamp Set.  The greeting is from the Fabulous Phrases.  Instead of an antique brad, I added some punched out flowers, and added Pearl Jewels in their centers. 

This technique is great fun . . . lots of possibilities with it!  Hope you'll try it.  If you do, please add a comment and let me know -- would love to see what you make!

Thanks for stopping by!

- Michelle

Spice Cake Medallion Wreath -- Finished!

Last month, I started working on a wreath made of pleated paper medallions (these seem to go by many names . . . I know they are also called lollipop flowers, rosettes, accordion fold flowers . . . the list goes on and on!)  My wreath was inspired by the beautiful sample on page 6 of the Holiday Mini.  I decided to create mine using only the Spice Cake Designer Series Paper, which I think may have made mine turn out a bit too "busy"-looking for my liking.  Lesson learned -- when I make another one, I will be sure to add more solid color card stock medallions to the mix as well! 

Here's the first layer of my wreath in progress:

For the back, I just cut out a piece of the heavy backing paper that comes in Stampin' Up!'s Designer Series Paper Packages.  I didn't worry about making it perfectly circular, since I figured it would be hidden by the medallions.

And, here's my finished wreath:

I had fun using the Spice Cake Designer Buttons, Antique Brads, and Neutrals Designer Buttons to embellish the medallions.  The ribbon is retired Chocolate Chip Satin Ribbon -- I wanted to use 1-1/4" Striped Grosgrain, as in the sample from the Holiday Mini, but discovered that I didn't have any colors that would work!  There will definitely be some Soft Suede Striped Grosgrain on my next order! 

What do you think?  You should give these a try -- and if you are in the San Jose area, I'm having a class on these soon -- would love to have you come make one with me!  (Be sure to check my upcoming classes page for more info!)

- Michelle

Thankful!

Whew!  I apologize, it has been a while since I've had time to post!  Last week was a bit of a whirlwind around here . . . maybe it was for you, too?!  It was a fun week -- we celebrated two birthdays in our family, and had a fun Halloween in between.  I'm very thankful for the fun times with our family and friends! 

Today's card is a special card I created a while back to say thank you to some special friends who were a big help to us when my husband dislocated and broke his ankle almost two months back.  Not sure how we'd have managed without their help and support!  (By the way, my husband's recovering well.  He's still on crutches . . . and we're hoping he'll be able to put some weight on his ankle and maybe even start walking on it again soon.  Amazing how long the recovery for this type of thing is, but we're very thankful that he's been making good progress each week since the accident happened).  So, without further ado, here's the card:

The card base is Pool Party Card Stock.  The designer paper is Spice Cake, framed with Soft Suede.  I cut out an oval for the greeting, using the Sizzix Ovals die, then embossed that using the oval Designer Frames Embossing Folder.  The "Thank You" is from the Perfectly Penned stamp set, and was stamped in Soft Suede Classic Ink.  I sponged around the edges of the oval with Pool Party and Soft Suede ink.  The leaves are from the Gently Falling stamp set.  The more solid image was stamped in More Mustard, and the outline in Soft Suede Classic Ink.  There's also a small strip of Soft Suede paper behind the focal images, and I pleated that on one side to add more dimension and interest. 

Thank you so much for reading my blog!  Hope you'll stop back again soon!

- Michelle