Love is in the Air Valentine

Happy Friday!  Popping in today to share the third and final card for tonight's Valentine's Class!

This card is 4-1/4" square, and features a balloon, clouds, and greeting created with the Lift Me Up clear mount bundle.  The "sky" is embossed with the Falling Petals Textured Impressions Embossing Folder.  I dressed up my balloon using Rhinestone Basic Jewels and Enamel Shapes.  Hard to tell from my photo, but the clouds are cut from Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper, so have a beautiful sparkle in real life!

Thanks so much for visiting my blog!

- Michelle

Jar of Hearts For You, Friend - Valentine's Card

Happy Thursday!  Hope you are having a great day!  It's been a good one so far here.  I was able to do a hike with friends that weather and other meetings have kept us from for over a month!  So, I'm tired, but happy about that.  Also had a bit of excitement with a bird flying in the house!  That got everyone's adrenaline going - and especially Isabella's (the cat) - but did manage to shoe our feathered visitor back outside safely!  

Anyway, on to today's card!!!  This one is a Valentine's card designed to be given to a friend, and has a special removable shaker element (makes this kind of like two cards in one!):

The inspiration for this jar came from Becky Robert's, and you can see her project as well as the instructions for how to create an easel jar card in this blog post.

Supplies Used (click on links to see selected products in my online store):

Stamps:  Jar of Love
Inks:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Flirty Flamingo, Watermelon Wonder, Peekaboo Peach, and Old Olive Classic Ink Pads
Paper: Flirty Flamingo and Whisper White Card Stock; Fruit Stand Designer Series Paper
Accessories: Everyday Jars Framelits, Pearl Basic Jewels, Sprinkles Embellishments. and Gold Metallic Thread

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

- Michelle

Valentine Hero Card

Hi!  Today I have one of the cards from this Friday's Valentine's class to share with you.  

I drew inspiration for this card from a sample on page 49 of the Occasions Catalog, changing some colors and shapes to suit my purposes!  The stamps on this card are from the Everyday Hero set, and it is so fun to use to create your own hero and comic-book like scene.  I used Watercolor Paper and Watercolor Pencils for to create my heart-framed super hero.

Supplies Used:
Stamps:  Everyday Hero set
Ink:  Archival Black, Real Red, Melon Mambo
Paper:  Whisper White (thick), Basic Black, and Watercolor Paper
Accessories:  Sweet and Sassy Framelits, Duet Banner Punch, Watercolor Pencils, Metallics Sequin Assortment

Thanks so much for visiting my blog!

- Michelle

Valentine's Love Banner

Hi!  Happy Tuesday!  A quick post today -- popping in to share this "Love" banner I created for this Friday's Valentine's Class:

I adapted this banner from one I saw on page 50 of the Occasions Catalog . . . I changed the "O" to the heart from the Sunshine Wishes Thinlits, used the Banner Framelits to shape the Falling in Love Designer Paper, and added some hearts cut with the Sweet & Sassy Framelits for a bit more length and sparkle.

I still have a spot, maybe two, in Friday's class if you'd like to join the fun!  Please email me or leave me a comment and let me know.

Thanks so much for visiting my blog!

- Michelle

Hey Chick! Card (Second Make and Take Sneak Peek for Sunday's Occasions and Sale-a-Bration Open House)

Hi!  Today I have the second make and take design for my upcoming Occasions and Sale-a-Bration Open House this Sunday afternoon to share with you.  This make and take features the Sale-a-Bration set Hey Chick (you can click the link to see the Sale-a-Bration brochure and learn more about it, but basically, for every $50 you spend on Stampin' Up! merchandise (before shipping and tax), you get to choose a free item from the brochure!).  I also used the gold ribbon from the Metallic Ribbon Combo Pack (another Sale-a-Bration choice), and the new Hexagons Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder from the Occasions Catalog.  Plus, the circle is cut with the Stitched Shapes Framelits, which are in stock again! Yay!! 

Once again, I made two samples -- one with cleaner lines and one with a bit more going on.  I actually created this one first -- I knew I wanted to try putting the designer series paper at an angle, using the inlaid embossing technique, and I wanted to have three chickens around the focal point circle, almost as though they are peering in at you, and with the funky-hair chicken (my favorite!) peeking in upside down (I'd seen something similar on a rectangular shaped piece probably either on Pinterest or Facebook, but now can't find it!)  Anyway, here's how the card turned out: 

I colored my chicks with Stampin' Write Markers, then used a q-tip dipped in bleach to remove some color, giving spots to the chick on the bottom right, and some highlights to the one on top. The "good luck" is from the Custom Tee Bundle (stamped on the sash die cut) and "from all of us" is from the Very Much Stamp Set (another Sale-a-Bration choice).

Here's the second card, which was inspired in part by this card I saw on Pinterest by Amy O'Neill:

I loved how she had the hen looking at the egg with that greeting, so replicated that here!  I again used a q-tip dipped in bleach to remove some of the color I'd applied with markers (here, I did that on the hen, egg, and the ground below them).

You might realize my red and gold color-scheme is Chinese New Year's inspired -- thanks to a conversation with my friends Joyce and Jean about how funny that this stamp set came out when it is the year of the rooster!

Again, I can't wait to see what everyone does with these ideas at the Open House!  Hope you'll join the fun!

Thanks so much for visiting my blog!

- Michelle

Beautiful You Watercolor Note Card -- Sneak Peek of Open House Make and Take!

I've been good now and finished up both make and take designs for next Sunday's open house!  And, must confess, I had great fun with both designs.  I have the first one to show you today using the new Beautiful You stamp set, which has some gorgeous line art, perfect for coloring with the new Watercolor Pencils.  I actually made two versions of the card -- one with clean lines and one with a bit more carefree feel.  

Here's the first one with clean lines:

This was inspired by Tandra Boyer, who shared a video on a demonstrator Facebook page I belong to about how to mask these images and use watercolor pencils to create a longer skirt for these beautiful ladies.  You can't see from my photo, but in real life, the skirt really sparkles, because I used Wink of Stella all over it!  The lacey line near the greeting is from the Delicate Details stamp set, which is a Sale-a-Bration item you can choose for free when you purchase $50 in merchandise (before shipping & tax).  You can see other choices in the Sale-a-Bration brochure here.

And, here's my more carefree version:

No masking on this one, but used Neutrals Designer Paper for the layer behind the Shimmery White layer with the stamping, and changed the placement of the baker's twine bow (along the spine in the card above, though hard to see because of the photo's dark background).  Also, the Delicate Details stamping along the top is faint (actually a mistake of trying to add the image after I'd used dimensionals to attach the Shimmery White piece to the card -- turns out you only get a good impression near where the dimensionals are!  Ha!  Still, like the vintage-y feel of the partial stamping . . .).

So, which is your favorite version?  Please leave me a comment and let me know.

Can't wait to see what everyone does with these ideas at the Open House!  Hope you'll join the fun!

Thanks so much for visiting!

- Michelle

Succulent Distractions . . .

Happy Saturday!  So, I've been supposed to be creating my make and take samples for next Sunday's Open House, but I kind of got distracted by the Oh So Succulent stamps and Framelits dies (available in a bundle and save 10%!)  I cut a bunch of pieces last night in some of the colors from the Occasions' Succulent Garden Suite -- Mint Macaron, Sweet Sugarplum, Tip Top Taupe -- plus Emerald Envy, Cucumber Crush, Very Vanilla, and I think a scrap of retired Certainly Celery might've snuck it's way into my mix of papers.  I stamped them, and then this morning, woke up and assembled them.  First, I wanted to create a miniature succulent garden in a candy tin.  Here's how that turned out:

I removed the window sheet from the top of the candy tin, filled the candy tin with some (retired, sorry!) Simply Pressed Clay (had thought about dyeing it Tip Top Taupe to look more like soil, but with the bright color of the tin, decided to leave it white and, a little hard to tell from the photos, but I pressed some microbeads into the clay for some extra sparkle).  I added a few Pearl Jewels (colored with Blendabilities) in the center of some of the succulents.  There was some printing around the base of the candy tin, so I covered it with some of the Glitter Washi Tape from last year's Sale-a-Bration to hide that and coordinate with the sparkle in my clay "soil."  

(In case you are curious on size, the tin is 2-1/2" square and about 1/2" deep.  It used to hold green tea mints.  I think it also might be cute to have the garden be contained completely within the tin so that the lid could open to reveal it, but this creation didn't turn out that way.  Maybe next time!).

After I finished my tin, I still had quite a few pieces left, and took some of the 3D pieces and arranged them in a circle.  I die cut some circles with the largest of my Layering Circles Framelits to form a base and used Tombo Multi to attach those flowers to it.  Then, I started layering some flat die cut pieces behind and around the 3D flowers.  I also attached some loops of Linen Thread behind those.  Ultimately, I ended up with this cute little wreath:

Again, I added Pearl Jewels, which I colored to coordinate with the succulents, in the center of some of the plants.  

Which of these projects is your favorite?  Would you be interested in making one or both in a class?  Please leave me a comment and let me know!  I love to hear from you.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

- Michelle

Fabulous Friends Friday: Flashback to Christmas!

Happy Friday!  For today's Fabulous Friends Friday, I thought I'd share a sampling of some of the amazing hand crafted holiday creations I received from my crafty friends last month!   

This adorable "nutty or nice?" Mrs. Claus Curvy Keepsake Favor Box came from my friend Joyce:

Connie M. created this serene sleigh scene with the Santa's Sleigh Thinlits and a star from the Starlight Thinlits Dies:

 This elegant card in Navy and Copper was created by Judy-Ann with the Greetings from Santa stamp set:

Diana created this stunning Joyful Christmas card with the "double-time" stamping technique:

This card, featuring the deer ornament from the Merry Tags Thinlits Dies, came from Anu in Finland:

Linda made her beautiful card using the November 2016 Paper Pumpkin kit:

And, Julie used the supplies from her Paper Pumpkin kit to create an alternate design:

If you would like to learn more about Paper Pumpkin or sign up, be sure to click here to go to my Paper Pumpkin website!

Love all these creations!  Thanks so much for them!

And, thank you for visiting my blog!!!

- Michelle

Up, Up & Away!

Happy 2017!!!  And, yay, it's Sale-a-Bration time!!!  If you haven't had a chance to check out the new Sale-a-Bration brochure and Occasions Catalog, you can do that by clicking on the links either here in the text or in my blog sidebar!

I've been having fun trying out new products, and one of the first things I wanted to try were the Watercolor Pencils!  Here are a few of the first pieces I created with these (and you'll see I have a tin of retired watercolor pencils out in the mix on my desk, too . . . wanted to see how the colors compared!  Turns out the new ones are more true to Stampin' Up!'s colors, and I think they are even smoother, too!  

I decided to use backgrounds I created using a wash of Pacific Point, Tempting Turquoise and Old Olive watercolor pencils, scribbled onto Watercolor Paper and then blended with an Aquapainter, as sky for balloons created with the new Lift Me Up Bundle.

The dies make it so easy to cut out colorful balloons.  Here's the back of my balloon, so you can see all the rainbow pieces (that's Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight, Old Olive, and Rich Razzleberry, layered onto a Pacific Point balloon outline):

And, here are the finished cards:

The clouds were cut using dies from the Up & Away Thinlits.  The greetings are from the Lift Me Up set.  The ovals were created with the Stitched Shapes Framelits (not currently available, but coming back soon . . . ).  Each card also has Bermuda Bay Baker's Twine wrapped around it.

Thanks so much for visiting my blog!

- Michelle