Hello . . .and Goodbye . . .

This afternoon I had my Retiring Stamps Farewell and New Catalog Open House.  A fun group of friends came by to see new products, create a make and take, and just enjoy some time together!  

Here is my sample for the make and take, created using probably my favorite new stamp set Sprinkles of Life (this year's set benefiting the Ronald McDonald House Charities!):

Here's a close up of my flower-topped cupcake (which also allows you to see the gorgeous new Watermelon Wonder Lace Trim).  

This card has all of the new In Colors on it (Watermelon Wonder for the largest layer on the Crumb Cake note card, flowers, lace, and new In Color Envelope Paper in the striped pattern; Tip Top Taupe for the cupcake wrapper; Mint Macaron long, thin banner and dots on cupcake, Cucumber Crush leaves on the cupcake flowers; and Delightful Dijon flower centers).  Both the envelope paper and thin Mint Macaron banner were trimmed using the new Triple Banner punch.

The sketch for the card came from Mojo Monday #399.  I had some different color combos available for the make and takes, and created one of those during the open house, so will show you that card soon.  Stay tuned!

In addition to the make and take, I also had displays of cards made with stamps in the New Catalog:

And, a display with Paper Pumpkin cards and cards featuring retiring products.

For snacks, I served a taste of the new In Colors:

The cucumber and watermelon were easy.  And, while I didn't find Mint Macarons, I did have some chocolate and vanilla:

I decided to skip the Delightful Dijon this time.  Maybe could have been a dip for the cucumbers?  But, that just seemed to be taking it a bit too far!  ;)

Retiring stamps and accessories are only available while supplies last or through June 2nd (same for Occasions Catalog items not carrying into the new catalog).  You can see what's currently still available from the retiring products here in my online store.

The new catalog starts June 2nd!  Have you seen it yet?  Please let me know if you'd like your own copy!

Thanks for visiting!
Michelle

Classic Father's Day

A quick post today to share a Father's Day card.  This one is a pop out swing card (inspired by this card I saw on Becky Roberts blog and made following Julie Davison's directions here), using the Guy Greetings stamp set:

The star border on the inside was created using some of the bonus dies that come with the Mini Treat Bag Thinlits set.  Card stock and ink colors are Baked Brown Sugar, Early Espresso, Pacific Point, Whisper White, and Pear Pizzazz.

Thanks for visiting!

- Michelle

Dreamy Painted Petals Watercolored Cards

I had so much fun making these cards with the Painted Petals stamp set, a bit of paint splattering, and a bit of very simple watercoloring!  They were inspired by these two amazingly beautiful and dreamy cards by Stampin' Up! Artisan Award Winners Mercedes Weber and Krista Frattin (be sure to click through and check them out!!).  I decided to add a simple embossed line border around my top layer, which was inspired by Connie Snowberger's beautiful card, which you can see here (her gorgeous card is in the fifth photo in the post).  I actually came up with quite a few variations, here are some of them:

 



The ink colors used to create these were Strawberry Slush, Pear Pizzazz, Bermuda Bay, and a little bit of Crisp Cantaloupe.  The gold butterflies were made using the Butterflies Thinlets die and Gold Foil sheets.

The Painted Petals stamp set is available through June 2nd as part of the Occasions Catalog.  If you haven't gotten yours yet, what are you waiting for?  You can click here to order it and other supplies to make your own cards like these in my online store.

Thanks so much for visiting my blog!

- Michelle

Hello Darling, Mother's Day Cards

Hi!  Today I have some special Mother's Day cards to share with you.  These were inspired by a gorgeous card from Shelli Gardner's blog (you can see the card in this post, it's the last card featured), and when I saw it, I just had to CASE it!!!  Here's how my versions turned out:

Rather than watercoloring, I decided to sponge to create the emboss resist effect (must confess, I was so excited to get going on these cards, I embossed on Whisper White without thinking, rather than Watercolor Paper, which would've created the beautiful effect in Shelli's card . . . still, I am pleased with how the sponging turned out, too!)  I used Perfect Plum, Elegant Eggplant, and Pear Pizzazz for the sponging.  Then flicked on some ink splatters by tapping my Aquapainter -- I used Blackberry Bliss and Pear Pizzazz for those.  The flower stamps are from the Hello Darling stamp set (retiring, so be sure to order yours before it is too late!!!), the greeting is from the Crazy About You stamp set (so many great possibilities with that, and especially bundled with the Hello You thinlits!), and the butterfly is from Papillon Potpourri, cut with the Elegant Butterfly Punch.  I created the bow with the Wild Wasabi Painted Blooms Cotton Twine, and added a length of Pistachio Pudding Pleated Ribbon (retired).

For the next card, I decided to change up the color scheme slightly, and went with Strawberry Slush, Crisp Cantaloupe, and Pear Pizzazz:

I added a dimensional rose, created with multiple layers of Crisp Cantaloupe cut with the Pansy Punch and a center created out of Daffodil Delight cut with the Bouquet Bigz L Die.  There's also a Petite Petal punched flower and an Itty Bitty Accents flower (centers in those were stamped with an image from Summer Silhouettes).  I created a bow out of the Venetian  Crochet Trim (dyed with Pistachio Pudding ink refill).

What do you think?  Which color combination is your favorite?  Please leave me a comment and let me know.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

- Michelle

Paper Pumpkin and New Catalog Excitement!

Hi Everyone!  Happy Saturday!  Yesterday, I watched the Paper Pumpkin Live Stream, and it was so exciting for several reasons.  First, they gave us a sneak peek of this month's kit!!!!  Then, they announced this deal (which actually has only a very short time left now):

And, probably the most thrilling for me, was that I was one of the doorprize winners!!!  Whooo  Hoo!!!  If you missed the Live Stream and want to check out the sneak peek of this month's kit and the awesome ideas for projects you can make with it, here it is:

The other excitement around here is that this showed up on my doorstep yesterday:

The top package contained this:

Such a thrill!!!  An autographed Project Life Happiness Is Collection!!!  I won it as part of last week's National Scrapbook Day challenge from Stampin' Up! and Project Life.  (If you want to check out my projects, you can see them in this post).

The middle package holds some new catalogs . . . want one?  Please let me know or come to my new catalog open house later this month.

And, in the bottom package, sneak peek goodies I was able to order (one of the great perks of being a demonstrator!!!  Interested in learning more, please contact me or check out the info on this page of my demonstrator website):

Now, off to create!!!  :)

Thanks for letting me share the happiness and excitement with you!!!  Hope you are having a great weekend and finding some time to get crafty, too!

- Michelle

Happy Birthday from the Herd!

This week, demonstrators were able to preorder the new catalog and some sneak peek items (one of the many fun perks of being a demonstrator!!!), and I can't wait to get my hands on the new catalog, actually today, and some preorder items tomorrow!!!  In the meantime, I wanted to share this card with you:

 





My friend Jana let me borrow her From the Herd stamp set from the Occasions Catalog, and I stamped it in Memento Tuxedo Black, and had so much fun coloring it!  I mostly used the Blendabilities, but also did a bit of watercoloring for the sky.  The "Happy Birthday" (don't you love the font of it?!) is from Butterfly Basics and is stamped right onto the designer paper, which is the Best Year Ever paper (from Sale-a-Bration, but if you weren't fortunate enough to pick a pack up while it was available, a similar look could be achieved by watercoloring the lines on paper or stamping them with a fun set like Work of Art or Painted Petals).  The coordinating buttons were from the Best Year Ever Accessory Pack.  I used a bit of Crushed Curry Baker's twine through them, and tied a bow and glued that on to the balloon.

Here's a close up of the colored image so you can see the details better:

Thanks so much for visiting!

- Michelle

SUper Friends April Swap Cards

Hi!  Happy Wednesday!  Today I have a treat for you -- the swap cards we exchanged at the most recent gathering of my SUper Friends demonstrator group!  Our theme was "fast and fabulous," and it was fun to see how everyone interpreted that.

Here's Jana's beautiful card, which features the Sheltering Tree set:  

That wonderful texture in the background is the Fancy Fan Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, which is on the retiring list and available at a discount right now -- while supplies last or until June 2nd!

Nancy created this clean and simple beauty using the Another Thank You stamp set and Papillon Potpourri set and coordinating Elegant Butterfly punch:

The speckled background was created using a stamp from Gorgeous Grunge.

Cheryl created this stunning and timely Mother's Day Card, using My Digital Studio (also on the retiring list -- I'm sad to see that, but will keep using it as long as I can!!!) and the Petite Petals stamp set and punch:

Inside, Cheryl shared a special and touching poem written by a friend of hers.  And, Cheryl dressed up the envelope as well, using the Envelope Liners Framelits:

Connie created this perfectly detailed note card (-- making me realize I'd totally missed that Stampin' Up! has been offering Crumb Cake note cards as well as Whisper White -- not sure how that happened, but I'll be getting some of my own soon!!!):

She used Bordering Blooms and Pictogram Punches to create the floral border.  Another beautiful detail on the card front are the lines Connie embossed around the edges of the card.  I'm guessing she did that with the Scoring Tool.

Connie finished the inside of her card using the same embossing technique and one of the flowers from the front, plus a coordinating greeting, also punched with the Word Window Punch:

Her envelope also was dressed up beautifully:

Agnes created this sweet and fun Mother's Day card using the Sweet Laughter stamp set from the Occasions Catalog and the retiring Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder and Beautiful Wings Embosslits Die:

For my card, I started with the Something Borrowed Designer Series Paper, but discovered I didn't have Sahara Sand for a card base (have since fixed that!).  Anyway, I decided to use that for a butterfly embellishment on the card (top layer of the butterfly), and use Cantaloupe Crisp for the card base instead.  I sponged the designer paper with the Cantaloupe, and stamped on it with the beautiful foliage from the Butterfly Basics Stamp set.  The butterfly embellishment is multiple layers -- the Sahara Sand die cut; under that a Cantaloupe piece, stamped with Early Espresso and die cut with the smallest of the Butterfly Framelits; and on the bottom a piece of wax paper, cut at the same time as the Sahara Sand piece as part of the "sandwich" I use to make the butterfly easy to separate from the little die cut pieces -- that sandwich, from bottom, is multipurpose platform, cutting plate, unscented dryer sheet, card stock, wax paper, cutting plate.  The finishing touch on top of the butterfly are the large pearls, which are from the Artisan Embellishment kit.  The "thanks" is from the Hello You stamp set, on a strip of Whisper White, which I punched just on one end using the banner punch.

After I finished the card, I decided I wanted to dress it up a bit more, so I used Crystal Effects to adhere some Crisp Cantaloupe Sequins:

Here's another version, using a different grouping of pearls:

To dress the card up more if I were creating it again, I think I would add a layer of Whisper White in between the card base and designer series paper.

Hope you enjoyed these fast and fabulous cards!

Thanks for visiting!

- Michelle

Up, Up and Away . . . Birthday

Hi Everyone!  Hope you had a wonderful weekend!  It was a busy one here, with lots of activities for the boys.  We divided our time yesterday between a San Francisco Giants game and the boys' piano recital -- both great events, I'm glad I had the privilege of attending!  The weather here yesterday and even today was surprisingly cool and windy, so decided to pick this card to share with you:

I used the Celebrate Today stamp set and Balloon Framelits dies to create this card.  The background paper is from the Best Year Ever Pack (from Sale-a-Bration), though it could be fun to use the bokeh technique to create a similar look!  The balloon is Crisp Cantaloupe card stock, stamped with Calypso Coral, and with a Crisp Cantaloupe bow and Hello Honey banners.  The same colors were using in the greeting banner.  The balloon's basket and strings are stamped in Basic Gray.  Card base is Coastal Cabana, and there's also a layer of Whisper White peeking out between the designer paper layer and card base.

Hope this cheerful card brightens your day!  Thanks for stopping by!

- Michelle

Happy National Scrapbooking Day!

Happy National Scrapbooking Day!  I've actually managed to finish a few pages already today!!!  (With thanks to Project Life for making it so easy!  Have to admit I wasn't sure I'd like it at first, but it really makes getting pages done a snap, and there's plenty of opportunity to be creative and dress up your pages . . . or just keep them clean and simple!)  These first pages are from our trip to Arizona at Christmas time, and I used the Season of Style Journaling Tags (which I just checked, and they are still available here in the Clearance Rack for a super-great price, while supplies last!).  The pages are 8 x 8".   (Apologies for the glare, couldn't figure out how to remove that other than removing the photos and cards from the pockets, which I finally did on the last pages I photographed!):

Here's another layout, this time a 12 x 12" divided page, using the Everyday Adventure Project Life Collection (retiring soon, and currently available here for half off, again while supplies last):

I layered cards from the collection on this element, then added some Itty Bitty Accents flowers, stamped with a flower center from Summer Silhouettes.

Here's the other side:

I again layered cards here, and added "love this" from the Project Life Remember This stamp set, and some butterflies from the Perpetual Birthday Calendar set (perfect with the kit, but also really great for scrapbooking!!).

The journaling on my pages is done mostly with the Project Life Journaling Pens, but I did use a Bermuda Bay Stampin' Write Marker on my sea otter page as well.

Hope you like these, and hope you have fun celebrating National Scrapbooking Day!

Thanks for visiting!

- Michelle

Flowers for Friday!

Happy Friday!  Hope you are having a wonderful day!  Thought I'd pop in and share a few flowery spring cards!  These both use the bokeh technique, with different color combos:

The colors on this are Bermuda Bay, Pacific Point, Pool Party, and Pear Pizzazz.  Stamps used are Summer Silhouettes and the Because You Care hostess set.  The 3D flowers were created using the Pansy Punch, Petite Petals Punch, and four petal flower from the Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack.  The pearls in the flower centers were colored using Coastal Cabana Blendabilities.

For this card, I used Crisp Cantaloupe, Calypso Coral, and Blackberry Bliss.  The greeting is from the Flower Patch stamp set.  The 3D flowers were created using the same punches as the first card.  The pearls in the flower centers were colored using Calypso Coral Blendabilities.  I'm going to miss Crisp Cantaloupe when it retires, and I'm glad we've got at least another year with Blackberry Bliss!  How about you?  Which of the retiring In Colors will you miss most?

Thanks for visiting!

- Michelle