Sneaking in a Last-Minute End of Sale-a-Bration Post

If you are like me, you are kind of wondering where the time went during Sale-a-Bration 2016?  How can we be in the final minutes already?  But, alas we are!  In fact, I think I'm racing the clock to post this before it ends, so better make it quick!  ;)

I wanted to share with you this beautiful card that I received from my sweet and very talented friend Connie M.:

Connie's card features the Flowering Fields stamps and designer paper, which have certainly been favorites for me this Sale-a-Bration (and I still will be using after it officially ends).  The thank you is from Tin of Cards.

Hope you were able to get everything on your wish list during Sale-a-Bration . . . if not, you still might have a minute or two to rush over and do that!  ;)

Thanks for visiting my blog!

- Michelle

More Photos from the Hostess Appreciation Tea

Hi, everyone!  One last post about hostess tea, with a few more photos I wanted to share.  First, here are some of the displays and goodies that were out for everyone to sample:

Some photos of the lovely ladies who joined me for the party:

 I've already shown you one of the make and takes, but here's the second one -- a tea cup tag, with tea cups die cut using the Cups & Kettles Framelit dies, and a selection of stamps to decorate the tea cup.  I used the Flowering Fields Sale-a-Bration set, Timeless Textures, and Nice Cuppa stamp sets to decorate my sample:

And, here is my quickly snapped photo of the beautiful tags that were designed by my friends (apologies that it isn't a better photo!):

In addition to the Curvy Keepsakes Favor Boxes, I also created these scissors charms as favors for my guests.  The charms were inspired by a project I'd seen in our demonstrator magazine (Stampin' Success, which is a wonderful resource, filled with great projects and business training for demonstrators!), and I made the tags to go with them, using the kettle from the  Cups & Kettles Framelit dies, cut out of the Birthday Bouquet Designer Paper.  The stamps are from the February Paper Pumpkin kit and Love You Sew set:

Whew!  Lots of photos and lots of fun!  The hostess appreciation tea is one of my favorite events -- you probably could tell that!  Hope you can join me for the next one!  

Thanks for visiting my blog!

- Michelle

Happy Easter (And, Hostess Appreciation Tea: Bunnies, Chicks, and Butterflies, Oh My!)

Happy Easter!  Hope you are having a wonderful weekend!

Here I am, back again, sharing another of the projects from last weekend's Hostess Appreciation Tea. These are Easter and Spring-themed favor boxes, that I created with the Curvy Keepsakes die (one of my favorites!).  The ideas for these came from boxes I'd seen on Pinterest.

The first is a butterfly box, patterned after these boxes by Erica Cerwin.   She created her gorgeous boxes in a variety of bright colors.  I used Watermelon Wonder for my boxes, and while I love the polka dots on her boxes, I decided to use the beautiful and spring-y flower and butterfly images from the Flowering Fields stamp set (available only for a few more days during Sale-a-Bration):

The butterflies are cut with the Butterflies Thinlits Dies, out of Watermelon Wonder card stock and vellum.

(I loved how they fit in my Perpetual Calendar box!)

I also created these funny bunny boxes, inspired by this bunny box by Wendy Lee.  My bunny's ears are created with the Festive Flower Builder Punch, the circles and heart for his face were punched with the Owl Builder Punch, and his massive paws were made from Oval Punches:

And, last but not least, were these fun chick boxes, inspired by these boxes by Carol Lovenstein:

Here are the boxes as works in progress on my crafting table:

And, here they all are on display at the tea, waiting to be taken home:

It was so much fun to put these together!  Hope they'll inspire you to create some fun goodie boxes of your own!

- Michelle

Hostess Appreciation Tea: Chick Card Make and Take

Hello there!  Sorry to have neglected my blog this last week . . . hostess tea preparations kept me busy, then I've also been busy with trying to finish up pages for my son's elementary school's yearbook, preparing my swap project for this week's SUper Friends meeting (photos coming soon!), and all the usual work that goes along with being a mom of two boys!  So, those are my excuses!  Enough of those!

So, the first project from the tea that I want to show you is a 3 x 3" card using the adorable chick from the Honeycomb Happiness set (it's a Sale-a-Bration goodie, so only available for less than a week now!!!!):

The chick is stamped onto the yellow watercolor pattern from the Artistic Expression Designer Paper (another Sale-a-Bration item), the beak and feet are colored with a Pumpkin Pie Stampin' Write Marker, and then the chick cut out.  The background paper behind the chick is from the Flowering Fields Designer Series Paper (another Sale-a-Bration item), and we also used that to create the eggs. They were made using the Balloon Bouquet Punch, with the little tied end of the balloon snipped off.  The idea to do that came from this post shared by Cindy Schuster on the Stampin' Up! blog.  I added a butterfly stamped with the Papillon Potpourri stamp set and cropped with the Bitty Butterfly Punch.  The little flowers were created from leftover designer paper, using the Tree Builder Punch, and have a little sprig of leaves, cut out of Old Olive scraps using the branch from the Bird Builder punch.

Here's the inside of the card, with another butterfly, another balloon-egg, and a greeting from the Circle of Spring stamp set:

I had different papers from the Artistic Expression package available to turn into envelopes for these sweet little cards, and we used the Envelope Punch Board to do that:

(The eggs on the card in the photo are a little different, they were punched out of some hand-dyed paper, which we also used for the butterflies).

Hope you enjoyed this project!  Thanks so much for visiting my blog!

- Michelle

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  Due to some unexpected turns of events this week (my little guy ended up with a broken arm from his baseball game on Tuesday!), I haven't had a chance to create any special St. Patrick's Day treats myself; however, I did receive a wonderful card and treats from my sweet and talented friend Joyce!  So, am sharing those with you (with apologies to Joyce because my photography really doesn't do justice to her wonderful artwork)!  I love how she used the Work of Art stamp set to create the rainbow on her card and the Scalloped Tag Topper Punch to make the adorable treat holders!  So clever!!!

Thanks so much for visiting my blog!

- Michelle

Just the Nicest

Just a quick post today to share a clean and simple card that I made with the Picture Perfect stamp set:

Just love the hummingbird and roses in that set!!!

Hope you are having a great day!

Thanks for visiting my blog!

- Michelle

Supplies:  
Stamps:  Picture Perfect
Ink:  Bermuda Bay, Island Indigo, Old Olive, and Melon Mambo
Paper:  Whisper White and Melon Mambo

Bringing Birthdays Back Balloon Spin Off Card

Happy Tuesday!  Hope you are having a great day!  I'm enjoying a bit of sunshine and was actually able to hike one of my favorite trails this morning, though it was super-muddy, which made it a bit more of an adventure than planned!

While working on cards for last Sunday's Bringing Birthdays Back Class, I was having so much fun playing with the Balloon Celebration set, that I decided to create this clean and simple card with my own balloon bouquet:

I used Rich Razzleberry, Hello Honey, and Calypso Coral inks, and stamped off to achieve different levels of color and a more transparent look for some of the balloons.  The card stock is Whisper White, Rich Razzleberry, and Hello Honey.  You can see the card I was making for class with this same color combo in this post.  

Thanks so much for visiting my blog!

- Michelle

Oh, and there are new weekly deals up -- you can check those out in my online store here.

Final Card for Bringing Birthdays Back Class

Hi!  Hope you are having a wonderful Saturday!  The boys have baseball today, so I've been over to the fields for picture day, and then will be hopefully taking pictures at their games this afternoon (excited to be able to see my teen umping at his second game!)  Fingers crossed the weather cooperates . . . and the rain holds off until the games are over! 

Anyway, here is a card I whipped up today for tomorrow's Bringing Birthdays Back Class!  Just got my It's My Party Designer Series Paper Stack yesterday, so that's why it took me until now to get the sample created!  It's CASED from the sample in the middle of page 6 of the Occasions Catalog . . . so if it looks familiar, that's why!  

So fast and easy to use the Party Pop-Up Dies to create the inside:
\

And, the box that came yesterday also had my #imbringingbirthdaysback stamp in it!  So, we'll be able to use that at the class, too!  So excited!!!!

Thanks so much for visiting my blog!  Hope you have a great day!

- Michelle

Bringing Birthdays Back Cards . . .

Happy Friday!  Hope you are having a wonderful day!  I've been having a great day of stamping so far!  And, am taking a break from prepping for my Bringing Birthdays Back card class (this Sunday, still have a space or two open . . . ) to pop in here and share four of the five cards we'll be making!  UPS delivered a package just a little bit ago with some papers I needed for the fifth card, so hopefully will be able to share that soon, too!

Here's a card I CASEd, with some color changes, from a card designed by Shannon West (the brilliant mind behind the #Imbringingbirthdaysback movement!)  In fact, if you'd like to read more about why she decided to bring birthdays back in her post here (and see the awesome #imbringingbirthdaysback stamp she created, which is now available here):

The next card is from page 38 of the Occasions Catalog (though I did change up the paper for the star die cut, and the greeting is from the Party Pants stamp set rather than Going Global):

I also designed this card for class, inspired by this card by Julie Davison, and using Balloon Celebration and the Wildflower Fields Designer Series Paper from Sale-a-Bration:

The photo doesn't show it, but the balloons have been painted with Wink of Stella, so they have a fun sparkle in real life!

And, last but not least, we'll be making one of my Embossing Folder Smash cards (such a fun technique, I just had to include it!):

Which is your favorite of these cards?  Leave me a comment and let me know!  

Thanks so much for visiting my blog!

- Michelle

Perpetual Birthday Calendar

I love sending out birthday cards, but decided I need a better way to stay on top of it (Facebook is great for reminding me, but not everyone on my list is on there and even if they are, sometimes . . . okay, usually I don't really notice a birthday until I get the reminder on the actual day, and I'd really rather not keep sending belated birthday cards!)  So, I decided it was time to order and create a Perpetual Birthday Calendar!!  Here's how mine turned out -- a picture as I'm almost finished decorating each month's pages (couldn't resist adding glitter!!!):

And, here are photos of the pages I made for each month:

As you can tell, I went crazy stamping and decorating!  Too much fun!!!  Want to create your own?  You can order your kit in my online store here.  And, don't forget to order the stamp set to go with it (so versatile, you'll be using it to create birthday cards and more, long after you've finished your calendar!)

Also, speaking of birthdays -- Paper Pumpkin turns 3 years old this month, and you don't want to miss out on the special box and kit to celebrate that!  Today's the last day to sign up -- so, if you aren't already a subscriber, what are you waiting for?  Visit my Paper Pumpkin page here and sign up today!

Plus, this Sunday is my Bringing Birthdays Back Card Class!  There are still a couple spaces left if you'd like to join the fun!!!  You can find more info about it here.

Thanks for visiting my blog!

- Michelle

Golden Birthday Blooms For You

Hope you are having a great Monday!  Today's card is one I designed for a Wow swap a bit ago, and had fun embossing images from the Birthday Blooms set (and Papillon Potpourri) to create this:

I used Mint Macaron card stock, Shimmery White, Gold Foil Paper, Birthday Bouquet Designer Paper and Vellum (after embossing "for you" on it, I punched it out with the Large Oval Punch).  The Gold Foil and Shimmery White embossed with the rose were created with the Lots of Labels Framelits.  There's a bit of Mint Macaron Lace Trim and a few Pearl Jewels to dress up the card as well.

Thanks so much for visiting my blog!

- Michelle

Sunshine and Butterflies (More Embossing Folder Smash Cards)

I have some more embossing folder smash cards to show you today (you can see other cards I made using this technique by clicking here).  These cards were made using the Fluttering Textured Impressions Embossing Folder.  For the first card, I used a combination of Brights colors for a rainbow effect (Melon Mambo, Tangerine Tango, Daffodil Delight, Old Olive, and Bermuda Bay):

The greeting is from the Hello Sunshine Paper Pumpkin kit's stamps (February 2016) -- you might have noticed that I've been using these a lot lately!  They are definitely favorites of mine!  And, if you aren't already a Paper Pumpkin subscriber, it is a great time to become one! During Sale-a-Bration, there is a special on the 3-month subscription -- it's only $55, plus you get to choose a free Sale-a-Bration item!!!  If you'd like more information, you can click here to go to my Paper Pumpkin website!  

The label is created with the Rose Wonder Bundle.  And, the little flower is made with the Botanical Builder Framelits dies and that's one of the It's My Party Enamel Dots in the center. 

The next card has similar ingredients, except I smashed Pool Party, Old Olive, and Bermuda Bay inks onto Soft Sky card stock.  (And, there's some of the pretty Pool Party Glitter Ribbon around the card)

For the rest of the cards, I used a combination of Melon Mambo, Tangerine Tango, and Rich Razzleberry on the folder, and smashed those onto Blushing Bride card stock.   

You might also notice some of the new Glimmer Washi Tape on a few of the cards.  This is one of the new Sale-a-Bration choices, and it is such a fun and easy way to add some sparkle!  

Hope you like these!  Thanks so much for visiting my blog!

- Michelle