Sale-a-Bration Makes My Day!!!

Stampin' Up! made an exciting announcement today, which I'll share with you momentarily, but first I have a card to share with you, which kind of goes along with the occasion.  I created this card using two of the current Sale-a-Bration products -- the Best Day Ever Stamp Set and the Best Year Ever Designer Series Paper: 

I love the "You Made My Day" greeting from the set, so had to use that.  It's stamped in Coastal Cabana.  The tag it is stamped on was die cut using one of the Chalk Talk Framelits, and I dressed that up with more images from the Best Day Ever set, stamped in Calypso Coral, Coastal Cabana and Hello Honey.  The Crisp Cantaloupe flower and its Calypso Coral piece (not quite sure what to call that!) were die cut using the Bouquet Bigz L die from the Occasions Catalog, as were the Bermuda Bay leaves.  The flower center is a pompom from the Calypso Coral Pom Pom Trim (also from the Occasions Catalog).  The card base is Bermuda Bay. 

Hope you like the card, now on to the exciting news . . . Stampin' Up! has just announced that four new Sale-a-Bration items will be available to earn for free in March, in addition to the current selections!!!!  Click under the photo below to see the complete flyer with the new items:



Click here to see flyer

Yippee!!!  Which of the new bonus items is your favorite?  I can't wait to get my hands on the Nature's Perfection Stamp Set and coordinating Sheer Vellum! 

Thanks for visiting my blog!

- Michelle

Jana's Four Seasons Sheltering Tree Cards

Hi, everyone!  Hope you are having a great weekend!  I have a great set of cards to share with you today, made by my very talented friend Jana Weaver.  She created these for me for a workshop a couple weeks back, and everyone there enjoyed seeing Jana's creations, as I'm sure you will.  I love how they show off the versatility of the Sheltering Tree stamp set -- it's literally a set for all seasons!  So, without further ado, here all the cards are together:

And, individually (with apologies for my photography skills or lack thereof!), starting with Spring:

Summer:

Fall: 

And, winter:

and, a closeup so you can see the snow on the branches (Dazzling Details):

What do you think?  Aren't these terrific?!

Thanks so much for visiting!

- Michelle

A Little Kindness, and a Lot of Layers!

Today's card is another one created for a Wow Swap, though back in November/December 2014, and that time was a technique swap -- just discovered the photos again today and realized I hadn't shared them here yet.  Here's how my card turned out:

 

 

 

There are not only quite a few layers but also quite a few techniques on this card!  I actually took photos while I was assembling it, so you could see what the different stages looked like.  I started with a Pink Pirouette card base, then added a layer of Very Vanilla, stamped with a collage of various images from the Kinda Eclectic stamp set:

 

The sunburst image is "rock n rolled" . . . inked first with So Saffron, and then rolled around the rays in Pink Pirouette ink.  Hard to tell from the photo, but the rest of the images are actually stamped in Encore Gold ink. 

On top of this, I added two split panel layers -- on bottom, Early Espresso, and on top of that, pieces of Very Vanilla, which I had embossed using the Modern Mosaic Folder, inked with Pink Pirouette, and then very carefully stamped with the Dictionary Background stamp, inked with Early Espresso.  I left the stamp face up on the table, then carefully placed the card stock on it, and ran a wide stylus gently over the embossed areas (you can see my results are not perfect, but it's still a neat effect!):

Here's how the card looks with only one panel and the greeting on it (sorry about the strange colors on these photos -- lighting in my house isn't great.  That's why I usually try to do photos out in natural light when I can!):

And, here's another one of the finished card:

I used one of the Apothecary Accents framelits to die cut the Very Vanilla piece for the greeting, and sponged Gold Encore Ink around it, after stamping the greeting in Early Espresso ink.  The pink Pirouette flower is punched using the flower from the Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack.  There's a Soft Subtle Candy Dot in the center.  I fussy cut the gold-stamped leaf that peeks out from under the flower.  The butterfly is created using stamps from the Kinda Eclectic set, punched out with the coordinating Elegant and Bitty Butterfly Punches.  A line of Pearl Jewels creates the body. 

The ribbon on the card in the bottom photo is a little lighter than on the top card because I dyed this one myself -- it's Very Vanilla Seam Binding colored with Pink Pirouette ink refill, whereas the card in the very first photo has Pink Pirouette Seam Binding ribbon.  Both cards have a bit of the Venetian Crochet Trim peeking out from under the right side panel.

How do you like this card?  Which is your favorite of the techniques I used?  Hope I inspired you to give at least one of them a try on your next card!

Thanks so much for visiting my blog!

- Michelle

Black and White Amazingly Amazing Butterfly Card

Hi!  Happy Wednesday!  Today's card was created for a Black & White Wow Card Swap I participated in recently.  I knew I wanted to create a card using the Butterflies Thinlits Dies, and challenged myself to figure out how to use the die cut to get the shape of the butterfly without cutting out all the pieces inside, so I could create butterflies that look like this without fussy cutting the bottom white layer:

The solution that I came up with was to use my Multipurpose Platform (no tabs removed), with some old (well loved) plates, and wax paper (but no dryer sheets underneath the card stock . . . that's great for when you want to remove the small pieces, not good if you don't!).  Then, I carefully moved my white butterflies to a piece of waxed paper, and covered them with a layer of Crystal Effects, to help make sure that those little pieces didn't fall out.  The Crystal Effects also provided a great opportunity to add some sparkle -- I sprinkled a bit of Dazzling Diamonds over it!  Then, I added the die cut Basic Black butterflies on the top.

So, with butterflies done, it was time to figure out the rest of the card!  I decided to cut a "window" in a layer of Whisper White and a layer of Basic Black.   I embossed the Whisper White layer using the Spring Flowers Textured Impressions Embossing Folder.  I brayered Basic Black classic ink over the embossed image.

The background flowers and "Amazingly Amazing" greeting from the Painted Petals stamp set were stamped using Basic Black ink on a piece of Whisper White under that:

I added one of the Something Borrowed Embellishments to the butterfly's body as a finishing touch.

Here's a close up of the finished butterfly:

Supplies Used (click links to see the products listed in Stampin' Up!'s online store):

Stamps:  Painted Petals Photopolymer set (also available in clear and wood mount)
Ink:  Basic Black Classic Ink
Paper:  Whisper White and Basic Black Card Stock
Accessories:  Butterfly Thinlits Die, Spring Flowers Folder, Something Borrowed Embellishments, Oval Framelits, Crystal Effects, and Dazzling Diamonds

Thanks so much for visiting my blog!

- Michelle

Friendship is a Sheltering Tree

Happy Tuesday!  Hope you are having a great day!  It's been a great day here . . . we are having some nice sunshine, after our much-needed rain.  Even was able to get in a walk with a friend this morning, and another friend stopped by and dropped off sweet Valentine treats this afternoon!  I also have some stamping projects I really need to finish up, so working on those as well as other things . . . and wanted to pop in here and share a card I created recently with the Sheltering Tree stamp set (have more to share with this set coming soon, too . . . stay tuned!)  

Supplies used:

Stamps:  Sheltering Tree
Ink:  Tuxedo Memento Black (sentiment), Coastal Cabana, Mossy Meadow, Hello Honey, Blackberry Bliss, Baked Brown Sugar, and Chocolate Chip Classic Inks
Paper:  Pear Pizzazz, Mossy Meadow, and Whisper White
Accessories:  Sale-a-Bration Best Year Ever Accessory Pack (Coastal Cabana Button), Crushed Curry Baker's Twine


Thanks for stopping by!!!

- Michelle

Flashback Friday: Watercolor Winter Simply Created Kit

Back in November, I showed you the first couple cards I made with the Watercolor Winter Simply Created kit in this post.  For Flashback Friday today, I have more cards made with the kit, which is still available on Stampin' Up!'s Clearance Rack (for an amazing price -- it makes 20 cards, so that's only about 50 cents per card right now!), but only while supplies last . . . so don't miss your chance to make these great cards for a steal!

Here are my cards:

 

The first four cards are made pretty much as the instructions show in the kit; however, this card is one of my own design:

The card is clean and simple -- I used one of the die cut snowflakes from the kit, and sponged Bermuda Bay ink over it.  Then, I added some of the sequins from the kit, and stamped "merry christmas" from the Really Good Greetings stamp set.  Quick, easy, and I think very pretty!

Which is your favorite of these cards?

Thanks for stopping by!

- Michelle

Oh, Happy Day!

This card has the perfect sentiment for today -- it's a happy day indeed here as I just finished jury duty!  (I had thought I might be serving all month on what sounded like a tough case, but the case ended up settling.  I was really impressed with the way the judge handled the case . . . and have to confess it did make me miss my practicing attorney days a little bit!)  

Anyway, here's my happy card:

The stamps used are from the Build a Bouquet stamp set.  Pretty neat how you can use these for more than just making the pretty flowers that come in the Build a Bouquet set, right?!  The bright and happy paper along the side of the card is from the Painted Blooms Designer Series Paper.  So many beautiful designs on that; definitely one of my favorites from the Occasions Catalog!

Supplies Used:

Painted Blooms Designer Series Paper

$10.95

Build A Bouquet Photopolymer Stamp Set

$33.95

Daffodil Delight 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

$6.95

Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

$8.50

Daffodil Delight Classic Stampin' Pad

$5.95

Melon Mambo Classic Stampin' Pad

$5.95

Rich Razzleberry Stampin' Write Marker

$3.50

Rhinestone Basic Jewels Embellishments

$4.95

Tea Lace Paper Doilies

$2.95

Rich Razzlebberry Classic Stampin' Pad

$5.95

Table by StampinBuddy. Try it FREE.

Hope you are having a happy day, too!  Thanks for stopping by!

- Michelle

This Day Project Life Cards

Happy Monday!  Just a quick post today to show off some clean and simple cards I was able to put together really quickly with the help of the This Day Project Life Mini Card Collection and the Best Year Ever Accessory Pack! 

The "you're the best!" and "Thanks So Very Much" greetings are from the Simply Wonderful Stamp set, another Sale-a-Bration item you can choose for free with a $50 purchase.  Lots of great choices this year!  What are your favorites?

Thanks so much for stopping by!

- Michelle