Fabulous Friends Friday: Judy-Ann's Watercolor Wings Z-Fold

Happy Friday!!!  Hope you are having a wonderful day!  I have a gorgeous card to share with you today from my fabulous friend Judy-Ann!  Inspired by the butterfly z-fold I showed you in this post, she created this work of art:

So pretty!!!  I love the colors!  Judy-Ann used Pink Pirouette for the card base, Sweet Sugarplum for the front part of the z-fold, Wisteria Wonder for the die cut butterflies, Whisper White for the largest (stamped) butterfly and greeting panels, and the Subtles Designer Series Paper Stack.  In addition to Watercolor Wings stamp set, Judy-Ann also stamped with the Love and Affection Stamp Set,  She die cut the butterflies with the Bold Butterfly Framelits.

I believe Judy-Ann may be teaching this card in an upcoming class -- if you are interested in attending that, please let me know, and I will get you in touch with her!

Also, don't forget Bonus Days are going on now until July 31st!  If you haven't done your shopping yet, be sure to head over to my online store!  You'll also earn my Great Stampin' Rewards on your orders!!!  In fact, I've decided to offer double rewards for all orders this month!!!  Don't miss out!

Pop of Paradise Cards

Hi!  Popping in for a few minutes today to share some Pop of Paradise cards with you.  Most of these are CASED or copied from cards in the catalog (page 84, in case you'd like to see the originals), with a few modifications, depending what supplies I had available.   For instance, I didn't have the Pop of Pink Specialty Paper, so used the versatile Work of Art stamp set to create something like it!

Such a fun set -- great for making cards with a tropical, summer-time feel!  Which is your favorite?

Thanks for visiting!

- Michelle

Celebrate Everything Star Favor

Hi Everyone!  Quick post today . . . have been enjoying summer with the boys, including a fun trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium yesterday . . . still need to upload photos from that!  The boys were wanting to catch Pokemon there, but fortunately were distracted from that by the cuteness of the otters, a super-interesting meet and greet with the albatross, the always-amazing color-changing cuttlefish, and well, so much more!  ;)  All part of my grand plan in going, I suppose.  Also helped that T's account wasn't working while we there!  

Anyway, before this turns into a long post . . . here's a fun favor box I created for a swap.  I used a pattern that I found on Pinterest, and you can see here.   

The box is made using a piece of Daffodil Delight paper from the Brights Designer Series Paper Stack.

I used one of the tags from the April Paper Pumpkin kit and some Baker's Twine (from the Occasions Catalog, but could substitute either the new solid Basic Black or Melon Mambo Baker's Twines in its place . . . or twist them together for this look!):

Thanks so much for stopping by!

- Michelle

Jar of Love Swap Card Evolution

Hi!  Thought I'd share with you some photos of admittedly subtle variations on the Jar of Love card I created for our recent SUper Friends swap.  

The first background texture I chose was the new Seaside Textured Impressions Embossing Folder:

While I liked it, I was concerned that maybe the texture was a bit too big with the delicate flowers and doily and small circles on the Serene Scenery Designer Series Paper.  The Softly Falling folder had come up in a conversation with a friend while I was working on this, so I decided to give that a try:

And, liked that even better.  What do you think?

As I was assembling the cards, I also discovered that I actually liked the card with just the larger flowers in Flirty Flamingo and Watermelon Wonder:

But, had already cut the smaller flowers (stamped in Peekaboo Peach and Calypso Coral), so went ahead and added those to my arrangement:

 

I still felt the card needed something when I was done with this, so tried adding some Pearl Jewels:

 Still not quite satisfied, I decided to color my pearls (used a retired Melon Mambo Blendability for the color combination) -- would have been easier to do before the pearls were attached, but sadly hadn't occurred to me in time!

Which do you like best?

I'm looking forward to making some more cards with this stamp set -- while I'm partial to the flowers, there are so many fun possibilities with this versatile set!!!

SUper Friends Thoughtful Branches Sneak Peek Creations

In addition to our swap, we did a bit of stamping at our most recent SUper Friends gathering.  I'd just received my pre-order of the Thoughtful Branches bundle, which will be available for order starting August 2, and we decided to create some clean and simple cards with that.  We decided to create hydrangeas with it, and here's a sampling of the cards that were made:

Colors used were Marina Mist, Watermelon Wonder, Wisteria Wonder, and Flirty Flamingo.  The stems are cut from Old Olive card stock, and we used Thick Whisper White Card Stock for the bases and flowers.

So fun to make these!  I'm looking forward to playing some more with this set and hope to have more samples to share with you soon!

Thanks so much for visiting!

- Michelle

Fabulous Friends Friday -- SUper Friends July Swap Cards!

Greetings!  I have a real treat for you today!  It's Fabulous Friends Friday again, and my SUper Friends demonstrator group just gathered on Wednesday for our July meeting and swap, so that means I can share the amazing creations I received in our swap with you!!!  We didn't have a specific theme this time -- just to create something new with a set from the current catalog.  So, it was a fun surprise to see which set everyone chose!  (And, only Jana and I chose the same set!!!)

So, without further ado, onto the cards!

Here is Judy-Ann's super-sweet creation, which uses the Sweet Cupcake bundle, along with some In Color Designer Series Paper strips and metallic thread:

Margery used the new Love You Lots hostess set for her adorable creation, which also features watercoloring through a heart framelit, a beautiful Flirty Flamingo Ruched Ribbon flower, Sprinkles of Life for the greeting, and Helping Me Grow for the frame around the greeting:

Connie S. created this bright and happy card with the Swirly Bird and Work of Art stamp sets, and a lovely bit of Wink of Stella to make the sun really shine:

Connie M. created this amazing sea scene using the Swirly Scribbles Thinlets, Seaside Shore stamp set (with some amazing fussy-cutting), and the Seaside Textured Impressions Embossing Folder:

Jana also used the Seaside Textured Impressions folder, but with the Jar of Love bundle and Thoughtful Banners bundle, to create this beauty:

Nancy's elegant card is created with the Detailed Floral Thinlets dies and a greeting from Endless Birthday Wishes, heat embossed in white:

Agnes's adorable card is made with the Foxy Friends bundle, Thoughtful Banners Bundle, and Woodland Embossing Folder:

My card also uses the Jar of Love Bundle, along with the Softly Falling Embossing Folder, a strip of paper from the Serene Scenery pack, and one of the new Delicate White Doilies:

Everyone also enjoyed seeing "Delilah" as well:

I love my SUper Friends -- such a great group of amazing, talented ladies -- very thankful for each and every one of them!!!  We'd love to have you join us -- please contact me to find out how!

Thanks so much for visiting!

- Michelle

Fabulous Friends Friday -- Bear Hugs!

Starting something new on the blog today -- hoping that I can regularly do a Fabulous Friends Friday feature (how about that for alliteration!)   And, wanted to kick it off with this super-sweet Baby Bear card I received from my fabulous friend Jana!  With all the craziness in the world right now, I think we can all use a bear hug like this, right?

If I remember right, Jana used Crumb Cake and Chocolate Chip inks to create her bear.  She used Real Red for the bow.  And, of course the card stock on her card uses the same colors, plus Whisper White, for some fabulous coordination!

Hope you have a great weekend!

Stampin' Hugs,
Michelle

Bonus Days -- Earn in July, Spend in August

Whoo Hoo!  Stampin' Up! has just announced an exciting promotion that starts tomorrow (July 7th)!  For every $50 you spend (before shipping and tax) between July 7 and July 31, you'll get a $5 Bonus Days coupon via email that you can use between August 2 and 31 on any product, except for Starter Kits or monthly Paper Pumpkin subscriptions -- you can do prepaid Paper Pumpkin codes with your coupons, though. Because the coupon codes will be sent via email, you will want to be sure to save those and you might want to write your code down somewhere safe, too!)   Plus, your orders will qualify for my Great Stampin' Rewards as well!!!  Contact me today to place your order!

More Z Fold Cards -- Summer Wings and Fins

In my last post, I shared a baseball-themed Z-fold card with you.  Today, I have three more summer-y Z-fold cards to show you!  First up is the first Z-fold card I created:

This card features the Affectionately Yours Specialty Paper on the front panel and across the bottom of the inside panel, and the Affectionately Yours Designer Washi Tape across the front Z strip and on the inside panel.  I love the copper accents in the sheet of paper I used on the front panel and on the washi tape used on the inside!  So pretty!  For the greeting, I used the new Layering Square Framelits to die cut a piece of Whisper White, and stamped a combination of sentiments from Watercolor Wings, which I also used to stamp on the Pool Party Butterfly Die Cut, and the Gift of Love hostess set ("Thank You").  The stamping is done in Night of Navy.  The butterflies were die cut using the coordinating Butterflies Thinlits and Bold Butterfly Framelits.  The die cut flowers were created with the Botanical Builder Framelits Dies.

Next, is this fantastic sea-themed card that Connie M. created:

She used the Seaside Shore stamp set for the fish and greetings -- and did some amazing fussy-cutting on those!!!  The waves on the front Z are made with the Swirly Scribbles Thinlets, and the embossed waves are made with the Seaside Textured Impressions Embossing Folder,  Connie also added a bit of the By the Shore Designer Series Paper.   The scallops even have pearl jewels on them!   Love the textures and fun details in this card!  

And, last but not least is this beautiful double Z-fold card I received in my most recent swap with Marlene:

She also chose the Affectionately Yours Specialty Paper ofor her card.  A little hard to tell in the photos, but if you look closely, you will see that the front z-fold part has pop up butterflies -- a magic effect achieved with the help of small strips of Window Sheet.  The butterflies were die cut using the coordinating Butterflies Thinlits, Bold Butterfly Framelits. Bitty Butterfly Punch, and Elegant Butterfly Punch.  Here flowers were created using the Petite Petals Punch. Marlene used the Kinda Eclectic Stamp Set and Petite Petals set.

Hope you enjoyed these!!!

Thanks,
Michelle

Red, White, and Blue, and Baseball, too!

Happy 4th of July!!  Hope you are having a wonderful day!  we're having a very low-key day so far, but looking forward to celebrating with a special dinner tonight, followed by some baseball and fireworks!

I actually created this card last month for Greg to give to his assistant coaches and team mom for his and Timothy's Little League team (the Red Sox), but haven't had a chance to share it yet, and today seemed like the perfect day.  This is a double z-fold card (thanks to Connie M. for getting me going on these -- I was at her house crafting and she was making one, and when I saw how cool and easy it was to create, I had to give it a try.  Will show you my first double z-fold card soon, plus a super-cool one Connie made for me!)

Anyway, here's the card:

I used Real Red, Night of Navy, and Whisper White card stocks, plus some Gold Foil paper for one of the swirls.  The swirls were cut with the Swirly Scribbles Dies  The "a big Thanks" and "to you" are from the Perfectly Wrapped stamp set.  The baseballs and stars are from retired stamp sets (Great Sport, Just Baseball, and Extreme Elements), and the striped red paper is retired as well, though certainly a current paper such as the Brights Designer Series Pack could be substituted!

Stay tuned for some more double z-fold cards soon!

Thanks for visiting!

- Michelle