SUper Friends November and December Swaps

Merry Christmas Eve!   I have a real treat for you today -- the projects from my SUper Friends group's November and December swaps!

In November, we did a choice-of-Thanksgiving-or-Christmas projects shoebox swap.  So, we each prepared a sample, and then all the components needed for each person in the swap to create the project when we met.  Very fun!

Cheryl created this festive Thanksgiving favor using some elements from My Digital Studio:

Nancy designed this beautiful card for us using the Snowflake Card Thinlits Die, coordinating Letterpress Winter stamp set (part of the Year End Clearance right now, while supplies last!), and the All is Calm Washi Tape:

 Agnes designed this gorgeous, shaped card using the Top Note die, All is Calm specialty paper, Tree Punch, and Good Greetings stamp set:

 Jana designed this jolly Santa card with the Santa Stache stamp set, Windows Collection Framelits dies, Nordic Noel Paper, and Nordic Designer Buttons:

Connie designed this elegant card with the Ornamental Pine stamp set, and one of my favorite parts is the double bow on the ornament (learned that you can tie it by just doubling up the twine! Very clever!):

And, my card was this CASE from page 9 of the Holiday catalog (using the Wondrous Wreath stamp set and Framelits):

Then, for our December swap, we all created Christmas ornaments to exchange.  Here are all of them together:

Nancy's fancy star (such a delicate size!):

Agnes's beautiful star with the Many Merry Stars kit (now part of the Year End Clearance!):

Jana's gorgeous crocheted snowflake:

Connie's fabulous ornament with the Curvy Keepsake Box Thinlits die:

Don't you love how she colored the All is Calm Embellishment with Blendabilities to make it gold!?!!

And, my ornament, which uses the Get Your Santa On stamp set:

 And, my lovely group of SUper Friends!  So thankful for all of you!!!

Merry Christmas!!!!  Thanks so much for stopping by!!

- Michelle

Clay Christmas Ornaments

 Hi!  Happy holidays to you!  The past few weeks have been very busy here with lots of Christmas projects and preparations, but we are just about finished with everything and that means I finally have a few minutes to sit down and write a blog post!  Yippee!

When I first saw the Stampin' Up! Holiday catalog, one of my favorite projects in it was the Simply Pressed Clay ornament on page 14.   And, there's even a great video by Stampin' Up! with tips and tricks for how to make these.  You can see it here.   So, I had to try creating some!  I started with some circles as in the catalog (didn't have a circle cutter in the size I wanted, so just used a glass with the right size circle opening).  I also tried mixing some Gold Glitter into the clay, which is hard to see in the photos, but lends a subtle sparkle.

This ornament has snowflakes from Endless Wishes stamped into the clay, and the "joy" from Endless Wishes is stamped in Encore Gold.  I also added some Rhinestone Jewels:

A few others I made (though just shaping the ornaments by hand, so that's why they are not perfectly round):

For the next ornament design, I decided to step things up a notch with more layers.  I used the starburst stamp from Kinda Eclectic, stamped in Gold Encore for a background, then stamped one of the stars from Bright and Beautiful, again with Gold ink, onto another piece of clay, and used my snips to cut it out.  I have to say, I was surprised how easy (and fun) it is to cut the Simply Pressed clay.  I did that again for the three stars along the top, which are from the Get Your Santa On stamp set.   And, again, I added some Rhinestone Jewels.

Here's a close up so you can see the "joy" better (and also the glitter specks):

And, a close up of the star:

Then, I was having so much fun with trimming the clay, I decided to stamp one of the Bright and Beautiful stars and cut it out.  I added a bunch of Pearl Jewels as well.  Here's how that turned out:

I packaged a couple of ornaments up to send to my friend Marlene as part of a swap we did, and had great fun creating a special box using the Gift Box Punch Board and lovely Under the Tree Designer Specialty Paper (which I notice is on the Year End Clearance, so if you haven't gotten any yet, you'll want to be sure to do that before it sells out!   I'm almost out, so may have to take advantage of that great deal as well!!!)

And, all wrapped up with Cherry Cobbler 1" Sheer Linen Ribbon and a fun tag from the Letterpress Winter stamp set (also part of the year end clearance):

And, Izzy making sure everything is just right (and wondering why I didn't bother to add any catnip to the package?!):

Thanks so much for visiting!!!  I'll try to be back soon with more Christmas projects!

- Michelle

Merry Christmas Scene

Hi!  Happy December!  Can you believe there are only about 17 more days until Christmas?!  This year has really flown by!  Anyway, you might remember back in October, I made this Halloween card, and told you I'd come up with a Christmas version . . . well, here it is at last! 

 

 

Supplies used:

 

Stamps:  Holiday Home

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Basic Gray and Old Olive Classic Ink, Real Red Stampin' Write Marker

Paper:  Smoky Slate, So Saffron, Soft Sky, and Whisper White Card Stock; Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper

Accessories:  Homemade Holiday and Bitty Banner Framelits; 1-3/4" Circle Punch, Confetti Stars Punch, Oval Framelits, Nordic Designer Buttons, and Stampin' Blendabilities (Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler, Coastal Cabana, and Crumb Cake assortments)

 

Thanks so much for visiting!

 

- Michelle

Turkey Leftovers . . .

Hi!  Quick post today, and I know this is quite after the fact, but couldn't resist sharing with you this cute little turkey favors I made for my kids and their friends who were here for Thanksgiving dinner.

I was inspired by some cute turkeys I saw on Pinterest using the Curvy Keepsake Box die and Four Feathers framelits.  Here are my turkeys under construction:

And, here they are finished:

Supplies used:

Stamps:  Four Feathers (Bundled with Feathers Framelits dies)
Paper:  Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight, Real Red, and Whisper White
Accessories:  Curvy Keepsakes Die, Feathers Framelits,1-3/8" Circle (head), Petite Pennants Punch (beak), Owl Punch (eyes), Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack (4 petal flower for wattle), and Neutrals Candy Dots (eyes)

Thanks for visiting!

- Michelle

Thankful for You!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration on Thursday, joined by some friends, and in this season of giving thanks, stamping, and especially my stamping friends, are high on my list of things for which I am thankful!  So, please know I am very thankful for you!!!

I also have some special thank you cards to share with you!  First is a clean and simple card, made with "thanks" from the Seasonally Scattered stamp set in Mossy Meadow ink, and dressed up with the Filigree Frame Textured Impressions Embossing folder:

The next card takes things up a couple notches . . . I again used the "thanks" from Seasonally Scattered, but this time, embossed it with Early Espresso Embossing Powder, then watercolored the letters using my Aquapainter and Mossy Meadow ink.  However, before all that, I used the Hardwood stamp and stamped that in Crumb Cake ink on Crumb Cake Card Stock.  I added a strip of Color Me Autumn Designer Washi Tape, plus Pear Pizzazz and Blackberry Bliss banners, and a Naturals Button (retired) with a bit of Old Olive Baker's Twine:

My next card again uses the Hardwood background stamp, but this time in Baked Brown Sugar on Baked Brown Sugar Card stock.  The leaf in the background is from the Kind of Eclectic Stamp set, stamped in Mossy Meadow.  I stamped the images from White Christmas on to watercolor paper in Brown Stazon ink, then colored using Baked Brown Sugar, Mossy Meadow, Lost Lagoon, Crushed Curry, Tangelo Twist, and Cherry Cobbler inks.  Lost Lagoon Silky Taffeta Ribbon adds a pop of color.  The "give thanks" is from Really Good Greetings.  This card was inspired by this card by Nicole Tugrul.

And, here's another card, using the Wondrous Wreath set, with fall colors (love the versatility of this stamp set!)  The card base is Crushed Curry, with a layer of Blackberry Bliss card stock, topped with Crumb Cake card stock stamped with the Hardwood background in Crumb Cake (my hardwood stamp got a pretty good workout this fall!).  The colors on the wreath are Crushed Curry, Tangelo Twist, and Blackberry Bliss.

Hope you enjoyed these!  Thanks for visiting!

- Michelle

P.S.  Don't forget about the Online Extravaganza going on for a couple more days!

Very Vanilla 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

$8.50

Crumb Cake 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

$6.95

Early Espresso 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

$6.95

Blackberry Bliss 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

$6.95

Baked Brown Sugar 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

$6.95

Mossy Meadow 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

$6.95

Crushed Curry 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

$6.95

Mossy Meadow Classic Stampin' Pad

$5.95

Blackberry Bliss Classic Stampin' Pad

$5.95

Tangelo Twist Classic Stampin' Pad

$5.95

Baked Brown Sugar Classic Stampin' Pad

$5.95

Cajun Craze Classic Stampin' Pad

$5.95

Cherry Cobbler Classic Stampin' Pad

$5.95

Crushed Curry Classic Stampin' Pad

$5.95

Crumb Cake Classic Stampin' Pad

$5.95

Watercolor Paper

$4.95

Old Olive Baker's Twine

$2.95

Aqua Painters

$16.95

Versamark Pad

$7.50

Early Espresso Stampin' Emboss Powder

$4.95

Heat Tool

$29.95

Labels Collection Framelits Die

$26.95

Wondrous Wreath Photopolymer Stamp Set

$25.95

Wonderful Wreath Framelits Dies

$24.95

Wonderous Wreath Photopolymer Bundle

$43.25

Filigree Frame Textured Impressions Embossing Folders

$7.95

Lost Lagoon 3/8" Silky Taffeta Ribbon

$5.95

White Christmas Photopolymer Stamp Set

$15.95

Color Me Autumn Designer Washi Tape

$4.95

Seasonally Scattered Clear-Mount Stamp Set

$17.95

Table by StampinBuddy. Try it FREE.