SUper Friends January Swap

Hi there!  Today I have some cards from my SUper Friends group's January swap to share with you.  Here they are in no particular order:

First is Cheryl's super-fun card using a couple great Sale-a-Bration products -- don't you love how she paired the Decorative Dots Textured Impressions Embossing Folder with the See Ya Later stamp set?

Here's Nancy's sweet card, which uses the Sweet Sorbet Sale-a-Bration Designer Paper, the "Love You" from Seasonal Sayings (which fits perfectly in the Decorative Label Punch), and Early Espresso 1/4" Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon:

Jana shows off her love of paper piecing in this fabulous gate-fold card, using the "Love" from the Countless Sayings 1 Photopolymer Set:

Agnes's gorgeous card combines a whopping 4 items from Sale-a-Bration (the Petal Parade Stamp Set, Sweet Sorbet Designer Series Paper, Sweet Sorbet Accessory Pack, and Decorative Dots Embossign Folder!) along with the fun new Scalloped Tag Topper Punch:

Agnes also gave me this beautiful card as a bonus!  Lucky me!  Agnes created this with the Happy Watercolor Stamp Set, Watercolor Wonder Designer Washi Tape, and a combination of Whisper White Card Stock, Gold Encore Ink, Vellum Paper and White Embossing Powder:

Hope you are as inspired by these as I am!

Thanks for visiting!

- Michelle

Ready to Take Flight

A few weeks back we had a "Flight Night" theme at our church's mid-week family dinner.  I had fun using the new Travel & Explore Digital Download and My Digital Studio to create boarding passes for the kids to use as they entered the dinner.  Here's how those turned out:

And, after the night, I created some fun flight themed thank yous to send to our pilot and flight attendants who helped make our "flight" more realistic!

The airline and heart patterned paper is from the Sent with Love Designer Series Paper (retired), but available in the Clearance Rack at an amazingly low price while supplies last.  The tags were cut out of another pattern in the paper, and I used the Wanderlust and Another Thank You photopolymer sets for the stamping on the tags.

Thanks for visiting my blog!

- Michelle

Love Owl-Ways Wedding Card

It's hard to believe it is already almost a week and a half since my brother's wedding!  Both Greg and I were in the wedding party, and we had a wonderful time celebrating with my brother, his beautiful bride, and our family and friends who were able to be there -- even despite the cold and snowy weather (which I should add, my little guys loved)!  

I wanted to create a super-special wedding card for the happy couple, and decided to do something fancy and formal outside and something a little more fun and with some owls on the inside.  I also decided to create a square card, and it was fun to create a matching envelope for it using my Envelope Punch Board (wish I'd taken a better photo of just the envelope!  Sorry about that . . . used some retired Presto Patterns Designer Paper, that had a white pattern embossed on white for it, and really like how that turned out.  So, fun to be able to create just the size envelope you want and use fun papers for it with the Envelope Punch Board!)  

Anyway, I incorporated the wedding colors which were Navy and Purple by using Night of Navy card stock for the base, with a layer of Pale Plum, and then Whisper White card stock (should have used Shimmer White, but didn't think of that until too late!!!)   Here's the front:

I stamped images from the Background Builders stamp set in Silver Encore ink along the bottom.  The "congratulations" is also stamped in Silver Encore and is from the Express Yourself hostess set.  I die cut the heart using the Heart Framelits, and embossed it using the Lacy Brocade Textured Impressions Embossing Folder (in the Clearance Rack right now . . . while supplies last!  Check here to see if it is still available).  The "Mr. & Mrs." piece is from the Label Love set, heat embossed in silver, then punched out with the coordinating Artisan Label Punch.  I added a bit of Silver Ribbon, and a retired ribbon slide, with a Large Rhinestone Jewel attached to the top.

Here's the inside:

I created the owls using the Owl Builder Punch, with some inspiration from other owl wedding cards I found on Pinterest.  The heart shape frame is a piece of vellum that I die cut using the Heart Framelits.  And, the piece on the side says "Happy Big Day" and is from the Chalk Talk stamp set, heat embossed in silver, and die cut with the coordinating Chalk Talk Framelit.

I also wanted to create something special for my new sister-in-law that could be her "something old, something new, . . . something blue," and so stitched up this handkerchief for her:

Here's another one that I made for my mom:

And, of course, had to package it up in one of the awesome Decorative Window Gift Boxes with a bit of Night of Navy Satin Ribbon (retired) around it.

If the red box in the background looks a bit familiar to you, that's because it is a Paper Pumpkin box (I love those -- they're so sturdy and great for safely carrying cards and projects on the go -- so I do save and reuse them as you can see here -- was taking photos in the airport while waiting for our flight!)  And, speaking of Paper Pumpkin, there is a special perk available for members only right now, while supplies last -- some past kits and refills are available to purchase!  You can see which ones here (and if you haven't signed up yet, now's a great time . . . not only will you receive a free set of In Color markers, you'll be eligible to purchase past kits and refills!  Read more about My Paper Pumpkin here.)

Thanks so much for visiting my blog!

Michelle

Even More Merry Moments Cards

Hi, everyone!  Another quick post today!  I've finished my 60+ cards made with the Merry Moments Simply Scrappin' kit, and have some more to share with you.  (If you missed my earlier posts with these, you can see them here and here).

All but the last one of these cards have Pool Party flowers made using the new Petite Petals Bundle.  Other stamp sets used are: "thank you" from Made for You (retired), "Happy Birthday" from Simply Sketched (hostess), and "For You" from the Itty Bitty Banners set.

Which is your favorite?

Thanks for visiting,
Michelle

Burst of Love

Happy Saturday!  I'm enjoying a few quiet moments while my boys are all out playing baseball!  So, thought it would be a great time to sneak over here and post another card!  This card I created for both a Valentine's class and a special technique Valentine swap with my good friend Marlene, but I think this design and technique would be great for a neat wedding or anniversary card as well -- perhaps with a different color scheme.  

Anyway, this card uses the starburst technique, which I did with a stencil and sponging (the idea came from the Nov/Dec Stampin' Success -- love our demonstrator magazine!).  I created the stencil myself on a piece of card stock.  I first traced one of the framelit hearts, then used a ruler to draw the straight lines radiating from that.  I cut out alternating pieces from the burst on my stencil, leaving the slightly-off center heart intact.  

My card is a Strawberry Slush base, with a layer of Pink Pirouette, and then a layer of Whisper White.  I sponged in the negative spaces of my stencil on the Whisper White layer -- first with Pink Pirouette, and then with a hint of Strawberry Slush.  I also stamped images in Strawberry Slush using the Spiral Spins stamp set.  Then, for a hint of glitz, I stamped the dots image from the Gorgeous Grunge stamp set in Encore Gold ink.

After I removed the stencil, I stamped the lines image from Gorgeous Grunge in Encore Gold in the blank spaces.

I added a heart die cut piece of Gold Foil Paper over the blank heart.  On top of that, I layered a piece of Pink Pirouette, stamped with an image from the Everyday Occasions kit in Strawberry Slush.

For the finishing touches on this card, I wrapped a piece of the new Gold Baker's Twine around the Whisper White layer and added some random gold sequins.  (Hint:  I glued these on with tombo multi, which likes to come up through the hole in the center, so I sprinkled on some gold glitter to cover and remove some of the extra stickiness.  Also, during my class, we decided that rather than a knot, the baker's twine looks even better tied in a cute bow).

Thanks for visiting my blog!

- Michelle

Stepping It Up for Valentine's

Happy Valentine's Day!  Hope it has been a sweet one for you.  Sorry to have been so quiet the last couple weeks -- has been busy around here with celebrating a couple of family birthdays and then my brother's wedding -- good times!

Anyway, wanted to pop in today and share a project with you.  This is a Valentine's card I made for my hubby, using instructions from Connie Stewart's video here.  (These cards look amazing, but are actually pretty simple to make using either the Circle Card or Label Card Thinlits Dies.

Supplies Used for my card:

Stamps:  Teeny Tiny Wishes ("Happy Valentine's Day"), Countless Sayings 2, Love You to the Moon, and Banner Blast
Inks:  Encore Gold, Cherry Cobbler Classic Ink
Paper:  Cherry Cobbler, Verry Vanilla, Pink Pirouette, Pool Party and Melon Mambo Card Stock
Accessories:  Label Card Thinlits Die, Heart Framelits, Heart Trio Punch, and Fashionable Hearts Embosslits.

Thanks so much for visiting my blog!

Michelle

Mixing It Up Some More

Happy Saturday!  Here are some more of the cards I've created with the Merry Moments Simply Scrappin' Kit (in case you haven't already, you can see my original post about these here).

The Pool Party flowers on some of these are made with the new Petite Petals Bundle.  Other stamp sets used are: "thank you" from Made for You (retired), Simply Sketched (hostess), and Yippee Skippee (second to last card).  I also added a few rhinestone jewels and candy dots to these cards. 

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

- Michelle