Oh, Happy Day!

We are celebrating a couple of birthdays in our family this week, and here is a card that I actually originally created for a swap but then decided would be fun to give to my son for his birthday as well:

This card is made with several new items from the Occasions 2014 catalog -- can you spot them?

The stamped images are from Starburst Sayings and die cut with the coordinating Starburst Framelits Dies (available bundled together for a 15% savings!)  The "oh, Happy Day" is embossed with white embossing powder on Whisper White Card Stock, and then I sponged on Island Indigo Ink.  The "celebrate" starburst circle, I stamped in both Tangerine Tango and Island Indigo Ink on Daffodil Delight Card Stock, then I fussy cut the Island Indigo "celebrate" banner and added it on top of the starburst die cut Tangerine Tango one.

The fun, bubbly designer paper in the background is a pattern from the Watercolor Wonder Designer Series Paper, and is layered onto a piece of Island Indigo Card Stock.  There's a piece of the Watercolor Wonder Designer Washi Tape on it, and then a strand of the Gold Sequin Trim on top of that.  I also added three sequins around the card for some more random sparkle.

The card base is Smoky Slate, and the card is a standard A2 size.

Hope you are having a happy day, too!

Thanks for stopping by!

- Michelle

Sale-a-Bration Gold!

Sale-a-Bration is here!!!!  This is one of my favorite Stampin' Up! promotions -- where you can choose from a selection of exclusive products, and get one FREE with each $50 purchase.   And, this year, Stampin' Up! has made it even easier by creating six bundles (with some variations that actually result in about 17 different choices if you look at them in the online store), each priced just over $50, that you can choose and earn a Sale-a-Bration gift.  Or, you can still order $50 of whichever products you want and earn a gift.  Lots of great ways to sale-a-brate this year!!!  You can see the exclusive Sale-a-Bration products in the online brochure here (or if you'd like your own hard copy, please let me know).

Anyway, to kick off Sale-a-Bration here on my blog, I have some samples I created with the Good as Gold Card kit (you can see it on page 12 of the Sale-a-Bration brochure).  The kit is designed to create 8 cards (3-1/2" x 5").  I created a few cards based on the samples shown with the kit.  Here are a couple of those:

Then, I decided to play around ever so slightly with the design.  The kit comes with quite a few printed die cut tags, and I thought it would be fun to layer them on one of my cards.  I also omitted the Gold Foil Tag here, and just used the star from one of the others:

Then, for this one, I just flipped around some of the tags for a little different layout and added some more stars to the printed tag:

For the rest of my cards, I cut apart the card bases, and used the printed pattern like designer paper.  I added that to some Crumb Cake and Whisper White card bases I cut (I stayed with 3-1/2" x 5" for most of these, but there is one 4-1/4 x 5-1/2" card in the bunch, too).

One of the things I love about this kit is that the tags are printed in 3 different languages!  I showed that off on this card:

On the next card, I added a bit of Watercolor Wonder Designer Washi Tape (from the Occasions 2014 Catalog):

 This is my standard A2 size card:

For the next two, I added the "just for you" image from the Label Love stamp set, punched out with the coordinating Artisan Label Punch (available together in the Label Love bundle).  The image is stamped in Bermuda Bay ink on Whisper White card stock.

And, last but not least, for this card, I added an image from the Banner Greetings hostess set.  Again, I stamped the image in Bermuda Bay ink on Whisper White Card Stock.  I trimmed the banner by hand, but it occurs to me that I really should have used one of the new banner framelits instead!  (Next time!)

Here's a photo of all of my cards together (with the exception of one that I sent out before taking photos!) 

And, I thought it was funny, while I was trying to photograph these, my little furry photobomber decided to poke her nose in and make an appearance (she can't let the cards have all the attention!!!):

 Can you believe that I still have some pieces left from the Good as Gold kit after making all these cards?  Those will soon find their way onto other cards, I'm sure.  Can you also tell how much fun I had with this kit?  Such a great value!!!  Hope you are inspired to try it out for yourself!

Thanks for visiting my blog.

- Michelle

More Mixing It Up!

I've managed to finish some more of my cards made with the Merry Moments Simply Scrappin' Kit (in case you haven't already, you can see my original post about these here).  Here they are:

The Pool Party flowers on these are made with the new Petite Petals Bundle.  Other stamp sets used are: Oh, Hello on the top card, Starburst Sayings on the second card, the next two cards use the "thank you" from Made for You (retired), and Simply Sketched (hostess) for the last card.  I also added a few rhinestone jewels to each of these cards.

I love that these cards don't look like holiday cards even though they were made with a Simply Scrappin' kit designed for the holidays!  What do you think?

- Michelle

Birthday Sprinkles and Sparkles

Happy Saturday!  Hope you're having a great weekend.  It was a pretty relaxed day around here . . . we were able to sleep in a bit (although not particularly peacefully as both the boys and the cat woke reasonably early and were anxious for us to join them), ran a few errands (including a successful trip to find some new magnetic sheets for holding my framelits in place!!!), spent some time playing outside (gotta love California weather!), and managed to sneak in a bit of crafting (some pretty random projects . . . working with decoupage glue and primer today, though not at the same time and not for the same project).

Anyway, thought I'd pop in and share a birthday card I created a little earlier this month.   It uses some fun new stamps and products from the Occasions catalog:

The card base is one of the new Watercolor Wonder Designer Note Cards & Envelopes.  I stamped the "Happy Birthday to You" directly on it, using Strawberry Slush ink, and coloring in the "Happy" and "To You" with a Crisp Cantaloupe Stampin' Write Marker.  The greeting and the cupcake stamp are both from the new Another Great Year stamp set.  I inked the cupcake image with markers, stamped it, and colored it in again with markers, and added some Dazzling Details as a bit of 3D "frosting."  I punched out the cupcake image using the 1" Circle Punch and layered it on a piece of Champagne Glimmer Paper punched out with the 1-1/4" Scallop Circle Punch.  Then, I sprinkled some gold sequins around (these are taken from the new Gold Sequin Trim).

Here's how I finished the inside of the card:

And, here's a bit of spring sunshine from my garden:

Thanks for stopping by!

- Michelle

SUper Friends Super Ornament Swap

Tomorrow is another SUper Friends gathering, and we're planning to have one of our wonderful swaps again, which made me remember, I haven't shared last month's swaps yet!!!  Last month, we swapped ornaments . . . which has become something of a tradition for our group . . . I think we've done that for the past 3 or 4 years now!

Nancy created this amazing accordion ball, made of designer series paper circles joined together:

Jana transformed a box from a past Holiday Mini into something fresh and new with a tag from the Tags 4 You set, punched out with the Label Bracket Punch:

I swapped some of my embossed porcelain ornaments:

And, Agnes created an intricate ornament, which I can't show you yet, but I can show you the amazing, also intricate, beaded ornament she created for the previous swap:

Last, but not least, during our meeting, we decided to create our own versions of the paper bow angels we'd be seeing around the blogosphere.  Here's how one of those turned out:

A little hard to tell from the photo, which came out a little too yellow-y (apologies for that!), but we used Brushed Gold Card Stock for the dress and "wings,"  Blushing Bride Card Stock for the angel's face, and Silver Glimmer Paper for her halo and the scalloped circle on her dress.  The hanger is the new Gold Baker's Twine.

Pretty fun, huh?!  Looking forward to seeing what everyone has created for tomorrow!!!  How about you?

Thanks,
Michelle

Stepped Up Sweet Sayings Card and Stampin' Up! Weekly News

Here's a second card from my Valentine's class this weekend . . . a stepped up version of one of the samples from the "A Whole Lot of Love" products, which are available now through January 27th (or while supplies last).  

For this card, I stamped the images from the Follow My Heart stamp set in Pool Party and Real Red onto a Sweet Sayings card base, as in Stampin' Up!'s sample.  Then, I added a piece of Pool Party Baker's Twine around the top of the card, and tied it in a bow.  I also added a pennant, stamped with the pennant image from the Follow My Heart set, and punched out with a Banner Punch (which will be available as one of the free products you can choose during Sale-a-Bration, coming January 28th!).  

I stamped the back of the card with this great image from the Love You More stamp set:

Now, on to this week's Stampin' Up! news -- short and sweet: here's a link to this week's deals and to this week's digital downloads.  I especially like the Travel & Explore download -- lots of fun possibilities with that!  What are your favorites?

- Michelle  

Monster Hugs Valentines

My Sweet and Easy Valentine's Class was yesterday, and one of the projects we made were Valentine's using the adorable Monster Hugs Boy and Girl kits.  These sweet little monsters are sure to make your Valentine crack a smile -- especially when your Valentine flips the card over and sees the monster's cute little bum!  ha ha!

Here are how my samples turned out -- the kits come with 18 eyes (one eye per monster), but I couldn't resist creating a two-eyed blue monster with the same size googly eyes from my stash.  We also added some candy to these in class:

Want to make your own Monster Hugs?  Be sure to check out those and the rest of the Whole Lot of Love products before it's too late!  (These are only available until Jan. 27th, or while supplies last!)

Thanks for stopping by!

- Michelle

Mixing It Up

One project I'm working on currently is taking a Scrappin' Kit that I received in a goody bag from Stampin' Up! right before Christmas (the Merry Moments Simply Scrappin' Kit from the 2012 Holiday Catalog, to be precise -- I believe it has also appeared recently on the Clearance Rack, though I don't think it is there at the moment), and creating at least 60 cards from it.  I've done classes like this before (like when we made these in a class a few years ago).  Basically, we cut the papers from the kit into as many 4 x 5-1/4" pieces as we can get, and then attach those to a card base . . . in this case, I decided to use Very Vanilla for my bases.  Then, you add leftover pieces of designer paper and card stock as well as the die cut adhesives included in the kits to the cards.  I also like to add other embellishments and stamped greetings.

For this kit, which is rather Christmas-y, I've been challenging myself to create cards that are good for most any occasion . . . not necessarily just the holidays.  

As I finish the cards, it has been fun to add some new elements as well as some older products from my stash (found in New Year's cleaning!) -- particularly the Petite Petals stamp set and punch (new in the Occasions 2014 Catalog!) -- but you'll see other current stamps, punches and framelits used as well.  Here are the first four I have completely finished:

What do you think?  Would you like to receive one of these?

Thanks for stopping by!

- Michelle

Angel Thank Yous

This year, I am co-directing a mid-week children's ministry program at our church, and my co-director and I wanted to come up with some very special thank yous to give our special volunteers at Christmas.  We brainstormed a bit, and ultimately were inspired by these paper angels we saw on Patty Bennett's blog to create some paper angels for our angelic volunteers!  

Here's how our version turned out:

 

Supplies used:  Pool Party Textured Card Stock, Silver Foil Sheets, Silver Glimmer Paper, Circles Collection Framelits, 2-3/8" Scallop Circle Punch, 7/8" Scallop Circle Punch, Victoria Crochet Trim, and the Holiday Frame Textured Impressions Embossing Folder (on the Clearance Rack right now for only $2.39!!! If you don't have this yet, be sure to head over there and pick it up before it's gone!!!).  We also used beads from my stash and ornament hooks.

I took a few photos of the angels as works in progress.  Here are the dresses and sleeves waiting to be assembled:

Angels together except for their halos:

Angels in process of receiving their halos, plus a tag on the inside that read "LOGOS Angel 2013":

And, the angels all packaged up in a cello bag with ribbon tie, and then packed into a pretty box and ready to deliver:

Hope you enjoyed this idea!!  Thanks for stopping by!

- Michelle

Everyday Thank You Notes with a Little Sparkle!

Happy Monday!  Hope you had a great weekend!  

Today's cards are some thank you notes with a touch of sparkle and shine.  For these, I used the "thank you" stamp from the Everyday Occasions kit (the stamp artwork from this kit is so great -- definitely something you'll want use again and again!).  I also used a neutral color along with some of Stampin' Up!'s awesome Brushed Silver and Brushed Gold Cardstock: 

This first card has a Smoky Slate base, topped with a strip of Champagne Glimmer Paper, a Brushed Silver Deco Labels Collection die cut, and a piece of Very Vanilla die cut with one of the Chalk Talk framelits.  The thank you is stamped using the Gold Encore Metallic Ink Pad.


The next cards, I created in sets (all neatly packaged and tied up with a bit of Smoky Slate Chevron Ribbon).  I used Very Vanilla for the bases and top layer, with either a Brushed Gold or Brushed Silver layer in the middle.  The Christmas Star (single stamp from the Holiday Collection) and thank you are stamped in either Gold Encore Metallic Ink or Silver Encore Metallic Ink.  A Large Rhinestone Basic Jewel in the center of the star adds even more sparkle.

Hope these brightened your day!

Thanks,
Michelle

Flashback Friday: Holiday Craft Faire Cards, Ornaments, and Bows, Oh My!

Happy Friday!  Last month, I shared some of the snowflake and rolled paper ornaments I'd created for a Holiday Craft Faire.  Well, it's about time I shared with you some photos of the other projects my friend Jana and I created for the faire!

Jana had the brilliant idea to make bundles of clean and simple thank you notes, and hers turned out beautifully (though pardon the photos, which were taken late at night before the faire).  She used a Whisper White card base, a layer of either Pacific Point or Cherry Cobbler, and a final layer of Whisper White, which she embossed with a Textured Impressions Embossing Folder.  Hard to see from my photos, but Jana added some Dazzling Details to the embossing for some extra sparkle.  Jana also stamped a greeting from the Another Thank You Photopolymer Stamp Set, and then tied each bundle with some of Stampin' Up!'s beautiful ribbon (Pacific Point 1/4" stitched ribbon and Cherry Cobbler 3/4" Chevron Ribbon, to be exact):

We packaged the bundles up in empty Paper Pumpkin boxes I had saved, and they were perfect for safely transporting the cards.

Following Jana's example, I created some clean and simple thank you notes in Gumball Green, using one of the Delicate Designs embossing folders.  I also created similar cards using the Delicate Designs embossing folders and the Wonderful Blessing Single Stamp, embossed in gold powder on Very Vanilla paper and die cut using one of the Circle Collection Framelits:

I created a couple other card designs as well:

I also had a card and tag for make and take projects.  Here are my samples for those:

The stamped images are from the Best of Snow set.  The Whisper White tags were die cut using the Chalk Talk Framelits, and I cut the notches on the pennants using a die from the Square Collections Framelits.

I also created some porcelain ornaments, using images from the Wonderful Blessing Single Stamp, Santa's List stamp set, and the Christmas Star Single Stamp.  I used Versamark to stamp the images on the porcelain, then heat embossed with gold embossing powder.

For the star, after embossing the image in gold, I smooshed (technical term!) Versamark all over the image and star, then heat embossed with Iridescent Ice for added sparkle:

 Perhaps my favorite projects for the faire, though, were our wearable art projects!  I created earrings using Frosted Finishes and some rose embellishments (simply used a strong bonding glue to attach posts I had purchased), and then had great fun creating packaging for the earrings:

 For the roses, I used Floral Frames Framelits to die cut flowers out of Pistachio Pudding card stock, which I had stamped using the Daydream Medallions Stamp Set.  On the back, I used the Angel Policy stamp from the awesome Everyday Occasions Cardmaking Kit (more on that coming soon!!!).

 For the Frosted Finishes earrings, I used the Apothecary Labels Framelits and die cut a piece of Soft Sky.  I stamped that using Festive Flurry Stamp set (still available!)

I nestled the earrings and card into a Cello Bag and used Coastal Cabana Ruffled Ribbon to tie it off.  Then, that could be tucked into one of the designer gift boxes from the Holiday Catalog:

Here's an idea I came up with for a coordinating tag as well (using a combination of Chalk Talk Framelits and Stamps, Festive Flurry stamp set and Framelits, and a hint of Gorgeous Grunge and Background Builders; the ribbon is Soft Sky Seam Binding):

And, last but definitely not least, were the beautiful wool felt hair clips that Jana die cut and stitched using the Bow Die from the holiday catalog:

Hope you enjoyed and are inspired by these projects!

Thanks for visiting!

Michelle