I've Been Scrapbooking!

One of the projects I managed to complete this month was this 12 x 12" Scrapbook page, with photos of my boys, for Valentine's Day. 

 

The base of the page is 12 x 12" Crumb Cake Card Stock, with a strip of the Core'dinations Pool Party Car Stock along the bottom, a strip of Pool Party Ruffled Ribbon above that, and a strip of More Amore Designer Series Paper above that.  The die cut heart, designer paper square underneath the top right corner photo and the two punched hearts are also from the More Amore paper pack.  I used the Letter It stamps, die cut using the Hearts a Flutter Framelits, to create the "LOVE" title.  The ticket embellishments around the page are made with stamps from the That's the Ticket stamp set and coordinating Duo Ticket Builder Punch.  I sponged the Flower Trim on top of the die cut heart using Regal Rose to better coordinate with the designer paper (and the roses my boys are holding).

And, while I'm on a roll, I've just started my next traditional scrapbooking project -- my pages with a collage of the wonderful photos I received from friends and family this past Christmas!  Had fun working on that with a friend yesterday . . . and am looking forward to finishing that soon. 

Thanks for stopping by!

- Michelle

Sweet Friend Card from Marlene

Here is another gorgeous card I received recently from my talented friend Marlene Caravello -- it has so many wonderful details!  Here is the front, which shows off More Amore Designer Paper, a sponged Tea Lace Doily, "Amour" from Artistic Etchings (punched with the Ticket Duo punch), a piece stamped with the Apothecary Art set and die cut with the Labels Collection Framelits, and a sweet embossed heart and rose from the Flower Trim:

The inside is stunning, too!  Feast your eyes:

 This is created with the Pop 'n Cuts Card Base and Dress Form and the All Dressed Up Framelits.  And, here's a close up of the beautiful dress:

I love the embossed vellum overlays and the More Amore paper underneath!  Such a beautiful touch.  I love the mirror, too -- looks like a piece of metallic paper punched out using a circle punch, and then a piece of Primrose Petals punched out with the 7/8" Scallop Circle Punch for the frame.

Thanks so much, Marlene!!!

- Michelle

Change of A Dress Card

Changing it up a bit today -- no Valentine's projects this time!  

This card shows off some dresses I created using the Dress Up Framelits and All Dressed Up Stamp set.  I thought it would be fun to make a card that had three different dresses on the front (they just fit!), and inside is simply stamped with the "change of address" sentiment from the All Dressed Up set (just realized I didn't actually take a photo of the inside -- sorry about that!).  

The card base is Crumb Cake, and the dresses are cut out of Tea for Two Designer Series Paper.  The ribbons for the sashes are all from the Sycamore Street Ribbons & Button pack from Sale-a-Bration.  A Tea Lace Doily apron dresses up the frock on the right.  The dress forms underneath are stamped in Soft Suede Classic Ink.

So easy and fun to create with the All Dressed Up Bundle!!!

- Michelle

Valentine's Goodies from Marlene!

I have a real treat for you today!   Here are a few of the works of art I received recently when swapping with my very talented friend Marlene.  Aren't these wonderful?!   

Here is a gorgeous heart shaped card:  

I love the soft colors Marlene used.  The card base is actually Very Vanilla, sponged with Pink Pirouette.  The flowers are from the Artisan Embellishment kit.  And, the ribbon is Pink Pirouette Taffeta.  The designer paper is from the Tea for Two Designer Series Paper, and is embossed with the Petals a Plenty Textured Impressions Embossing Folder.  My photo does not do this card justice because in real life, it just sparkles.  Marlene added glitter around the designer series paper heart, in the embossed flower centers, and on the butterfly.  The butterfly is punched out of the designer paper with layers from both the Elegant and Petite Butterfly Punches.

The card opens to reveal this beautiful surprise:

Marlene also created these fun candy treats for me (and my lucky boys!) using a fun combination of Heart Framelits die cuts and heart punches:

The arrow shaft is actually a 1 x 8" Cellophane bag filled with candies.  Very clever!  The "Happy Valentine's Day" stamp is from the Wacky Wishes Hostess Set in the 2012-13 Idea Book.

And, here is another clever candy treat that Marlene crafted for me:

She used Brenda Quintana's tutorial, which you can see here.  (I noticed while on Brenda's blogs that she has some other amazing tutorials like this, including this one for a shamrock for St. Patrick's Day, which I'm going to have to try soon!)

Thanks, Marlene, for sharing these wonderful creations!!!!

- Michelle

Better Late than Never? A Couple More Valentine's Projects . . .

Hi!  We've had a good winter break week here . . . took the boys to play in the snow up in Tahoe, and have started the first practices for the boys' baseball teams!  That has meant I haven't had a lot of time for blog posts!!!  However, I still have lots I want to share, so going to start trying to catch up a bit again . . . here goes . . .

First up is a fun little Valentine's thank you note (although actually by changing the color scheme, might make a sweet card for bridal shower thank yous or other occasions as well), made with the Hearts a Flutter stamp set, coordinating framelits, and Pretty Petites Stamp set and coordinating Petite Curly Label Punch:

Next, is a 3D/Gift item I created for my most recent swap with my friend Marlene (stay tuned for more amazing projects from her as well!)  This is a tin mailbox, which I dressed up using the More Amore Specialty Designer Series Paper, Pool Party Ruffled Ribbon, Flower Trim (sponged with Regal Rose and Real Red inks), and images stamped and die cut with the Hearts a Flutter stamps and framelits:

On the mailbox flag, I added an image from the That's the Ticket Stamp Set (punched out with the coordinating Ticket Duo Builder Punch).  I also added a Clear Vintage Faceted Button with a Rhinestone Jewel inside it onto the pivot point of the mailbox flag.

Inside the box, I tucked candies and a special mini note card:

The note card's base is Pool Party.   The die cut ruffled heart is trimmed out of the laser cut page of the More Amore Designer Specialty Paper.  There is also a layer of the More Amore paper, which has been embossed using the Fancy Fan Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, under the ruffled heart.  The Pool Party and Chevron stamped hearts are created with the Hearts a Flutter stamps and framelits.  And, the "for you" image from the Itty Bitty Banners set is stamped on Very Vanilla and die cut with the Bitty Banners Framelits.

Just a few more Valentine's projects to show you tomorrow, which you won't want to miss . . . stay tuned . . .

- Michelle

Valentine's Heart Boxes and Note Cards

I had fun creating these Valentine heart boxes, which I filled with some heart-shaped easel note cards for some special friends last month:

I used the Heart Framelits along with the Hearts a Flutter Framelits to create the shapes.  The paper for the top two is from More Amore, and the bottom is Tea for Two.  The flower trim made quick and easy embellishments for the boxes, and was easy to dye to match (I sponged the roses with Baja Breeze to coordinate with the More Amore paper in the top two samples).  The pleated satin ribbon is retired, but has been available on the Clearance Rack recently.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

- Michelle

SUper Friends February Swap

The SUper Friends have been at it again!  We had a small gathering and swap last week, and here are the beautiful creations I received in the swap:

From Renate, this wonderful, happy, pinwheeled card:

From Nancy, this adorable card featuring the Patterned Occasions Stamp set:

From Motoe, this dreamy Valentine's day card:

And, from Agnes, this hip, chic card featuring Madison Avenue and Sycamore Street Sale-a-Bration goodies:

And, I whipped up some of the cards from the Happy Hello Simply Sent Card Kit from Sale-a-Bration (this one also uses the Vintage Verses Stamp Set):

Hope you enjoyed the inspiration from these cards as well!  Thanks for stopping by!

- Michelle

My Little Valentine's Classroom Valentine's

I'm a little slow on getting our Valentine's projects posted, but figured better late than never!  So, here they are!  Both boys wanted pretty simple designs this year.  

My first grader wanted penguins from the Wild About You stamp set (retired), on some hearts that I had cut out from the More Amore Specialty Designer Series Paper.  We stamped the penguins on Whisper White, then die cut that, as well as the striped Pool Party banner from the Hearts a Flutter Stamp Set, using the coordinating Hearts a Flutter Framelits.

Here's my little guy filling out his Valentine's:

My fourth grader loves airplanes, so I designed some cards for him using My Digital Studio and the special Sent With Love digital download (there are also traditional papercrafting Sent with Love products available for a limited time, which you can see here).  If I'd been planning ahead better, I would have ordered these from Stampin' Up!'s digital print services, but since I must confess to printing them the day before we needed them, I had to make due with our home printer!

The blue, sunburst background on this side of the card is from the Piece of Cake Digital Kit.

- Michelle

Scalloped Oval Shaped Cards

Seems like the last couple of weeks have been a whirl of activity, so I haven't managed to sit and write up  posts, even though  I have been doing a fair amount of stamping and crafting!  Finally have an opportunity to do so today, though, so thought I'd share one of my favorite projects that I've been creating lately -- Scalloped Oval shaped cards, made using the new Ovals Collection Framelits in Stampin' Up!'s Spring Catalog.  The first of these cards also use several Sale-a-Bration products, so qualify for this week's Latenight Stamper's Challenge.  Here they are:

For the card above, I inked up the Bloomin' Marvelous Stamp set (one of my favorites!  I especially love the little butterfly image that fits perfectly with the new Bitty Butterfly punch!)  The designer paper is the Sycamore Street Designer Series Paper (also from Sale-a-Bration), and the ribbon is from the Sycamore Street Ribbon & Button Pack.  There's also a Pool Party button from that pack peeking out from under the butterfly.  I pierced around the designer paper oval using the new Occasions Paper-Piercing Pack (Spring Catalog, p. 27).

For my "happy birthday, cupcake!" card, I used the Patterned Occasions stamp set.  The rest of the ingredients are the same as above.  This time, however, I added some Pool Party Baker's Twine through the button, and used my Rich Razzleberry Stampin' Write Marker to add faux stitching around the card.

For this variation of the card, I printed images from the Stacks of Million Digital Collection Disc and My Digital Studio.  The little "happy b-day" label is from the Pretty Petites Stamp set (another Sale-a-Bration choice) and is punched with the coordinating Petite Curly Label punch (also a Sale-a-Bration choice!).  The little flowers are punched out with the Itty Bitty Punch Trio flowers, and have Rhinestone Jewels in the center.

And, here are a few more variations I made:

Thanks so much for visiting my blog!

- Michelle

All Dressed Up for a Happy Birthday!

I'm really enjoying playing dress up with Stampin' Up!'s new Dress Up Framelits Dies from the Spring Catalog!   I especially like using the dies to cut out beautiful patterned paper dresses, as I did for these two special birthday cards, which feature designs from the Tea for Two Designer Series Paper:

I also accented the outfits with Tangerine Tango ribbon from the Sycamore Street Ribbons & Button Pack and Basic Pearl Jewels.  A flower brooch created with the Itty Bitty Punch Shapes flowers and some Tea for Two paper scraps adorns the dress on the bottom card as well.

Both cards have Pool Party for their bases and another layer of Pool Party, embossed with both the Fancy Fan Folder and the new Borders Scoring Plate for the Simply Scored™ Tool.  The window is cut in the Pool Party layer with one of the Oval Framelits.  A piece of Very Vanilla, embossed with one of the Fancy Frames Folders, and filled with a punched oval of Tea for Two paper, fills the window.  The "happy birthday" is from the Itty Bitty Banners stamp set, stamped in Soft Suede on Crumb Cake, and die cut using the coordinating Bitty Banners Framelits.

Have a beautiful day!

- Michelle

Happy 10th Birthday, Digital-Style!

Just popping in for a quick post today -- we've been hit by the flu, and I have my oldest home sick with me.  He turned double-digits last week!!!  Still can't believe that.  I decided to use My Digital Studio to create this extra-special card for him:

What fun to take the opportunity to look back at his photos and see how he's grown and changed through the years!  So proud of my big guy!

The bright and cheery background on this card is from the Wonderful Whimsies download.  The fun, comic-like "Happy 10th Birthday" is from the Little Milestones Birthdays Designer Kit.  The other words and numbers are from the Lemonade Stand, 2013 Month by Month Calendar, Hoppy Memories, Typewriter Numbers, Schoolbook Serif Numbers, Number It and Circle Circus Alphabet and Numbers.

By the way, you'll want to be sure to check out this week's great new digital downloads.  You can do that by clicking here.  And, while you are visiting the online store, be sure to check out the Content Discs for $1 in the Clearance Rack -- there are still a few left, be sure to grab this great deal before it is gone!

- Michelle

Tea Time Butterflies For You

Happy Monday!  It's a dreary, foggy day here, so I have a bright and cheery card to share with you:

I created this for a Spring Catalog Swap last month, and it features quite a few of my favorite new products, including the Tea Time Designer Series Paper, the Bitty Butterfly punch (used with an image from Papillon Potpourri Stamp set), the Collage Curios Stamp Set, and the Soda Pop Tops.

Here's a close up of the Soda Pop Top and butterfly image:

I smushed (yes, that's the technical term - ha!) the Soda Pop Top in my Big Shot.  To do so, I opened the Multipurpose Platform to Tab 1, then created a "sandwich" on top of that consisting of one standard cutting pad on the bottom, topped by a light cardboard shim (a piece of the white cardboard that backs most Stampin' Up! designer series paper, cut to a size just a little smaller than the cutting pad), next the Soda Pop Top (you can do more than one at a time, leaving space between them so they have room to flatten out), and finally, on top of that, the other standard cutting pad.

My butterfly is stamped in Early Espresso on Very Vanilla.  Then, I sponged on some So Saffron and Calypso Coral.

The big Soda Pop tops and Collage Curios set work perfectly with the 1" Circle Punch.  I stamped the script background from Collage Curios in Early Espresso on Very Vanilla before punching it out.  Then, sponged around the edges with Crumb Cake ink.

The Soda Pop Top is adhered to a 2-3/8" Scallop Circle punched from Lucky Limeade.  The faux stitching was easy to add using the guide from the Essentials Paper Piercing Pack and a Paper Piercing Tool, then connecting the dots with my Crumb Cake Stampin' Write Marker.

There's a Lucky Limeade Bakers' Twine bow peeking out from under the Soda Pop Top.  The Bakers' Twine is easy to adhere using a dot of Tombo Multi Adhesive.

The "For You" banner is created using the Itty Bitty Banners Stamp Set and coordinating Bitty Banners Framelits.  I stamped the image using Early Espresso Ink on Very Vanilla Card Stock.  After die cutting the image, I sponged some Crumb Cake Ink around the edges to give it a more vintage look.

The Tea Time Designer Series Paper banner is cut using a die from the Hearts a Flutter Framelits.

The card base is Lucky Limeade.  The Very Vanilla layer on top of that is stamped in the upper right hand corner with three Early Espresso butterflies.  Those are an image from the Collage Curios stamp set.  And, last but not least, there is a length of Calypso Coral 3/8" Ruffled Ribbon.

Hope this brightens your day!

- Michelle