Mediterranean Blooms Loaded Pocket Envelope

 I am working on a card and 3D swap to send to a friend.  I came across this Loaded Pocket Envelope by Robin Armbrecht (reallyrobinstamps.com) and decided to create one!  I chose the Mediterranean Blooms Suite to use for my project, and love how it turned out!  This paper is so pretty, and I love that you can cut out the oranges and blossoms from the paper with dies.  

Here's the back:

I'd found a cute set of towels and some teas to fill the pockets!  

This is a really fun way to use up designer paper -- and I know I'm not the only one with an abundance of it!  ;)  

- Michelle

Thoughtful Expressions for the July Stampin' Through the Catalog Guest Designer Challenge

 Here's a card with the Thoughtful Expressions set that I created, inspired by Narelle Farrugia's card as guest designer this month for Stampin' Through the Catalog.  I liked Narelle's card's layout, and copied that pretty closely -- even down to the Very Vanilla layer topped with Garden Green and a piece of the new Season of Green and Gold Designer Series Paper.  I loved the shabby chic style of her card, too.  I couldn't resist adding a few more colors than she used.  

I decided to finish off the inside in the same style:

The new In Colors really make me happy!  Do you like them, too?

SUper Friends Garden of Thanks Make and Take Card

 Today I'm sharing the first project we made on Sunday at our SUper Friends gathering!  If you've been following along with this series of posts, you may remember I mentioned it was the easier of the two cards we made.  The reason for that is we made a card from the Garden of Thanks kit!  

The card bases in this kit are printed on both sides, so I was able to cut apart the bases for 1 design, and we were able to get 6 cards from those 3 bases.  I added Old Olive card stock bases for everyone, and was able to make more of the Petunia Pop banners that go on the card.  The grid-like design printed on the banner matches one of the stamps from the Expressions of Kindness Kit!  

Another secret, there are only 3 "thank you"s in English in the kit, there are also 3 "merci" and 3 "lieben dank", but I wanted a 4th thank you, so I used the negative space to guide me in writing another thank you and then fussy cut it.  It did take me a few times practicing to get it how I liked it, but it was do-able to make more!   Here is the card I created:

Since our gathering, I was able to finish up the rest of the cards in the kit.  They went together really quickly!  And, I'm including photos of the other designs as well.  

Which of these 3 designs is your favorite?

- Michelle

SUper Friends Changing Leaves Make and Take Card

 I'm going in reverse order with showing you the make and takes from yesterday's SUper Friends gathering!  This is actually the second one we did, and is a bit more complicated than the first one, which I'll show you tomorrow!  

For this one, we used some card kits I'd prepared.  These are the original samples I had prepared with the materials and some stamp sets that have since retired:

For our make and takes, I gave everyone a choice between two of the new online exclusive stamp sets to use with these kits -- either the Changing Leaves Bundle (which includes a hybrid embossing folder) or the Frosted Forest Bundle (which includes decorative masks).  

The group unanimously chose the Changing Leaves Bundle!  

For my card, I initially tried inking up the embossng folder, but wasn't happy with how that turned out so decided to flip over and use the white side of the paper.  I used the technique of mixing Pearlized Enamel Effects with some shaded spruce to watercolor my green leaf die cut, then stamped on top of that.  The Berry Burst leaves were stamped and then I added ink with blending brushes.  I finished the card with some splatters of Shaded Spruce (inspired by Margery!) and some gems.  

I hope some of the other friends will share their creations as well -- everyone's card came out so differently, and everyone did an amazing job with this challenge!

- Michelle

A Scenic Pumpkin Patch in the Country Woods!

 Tried out some new stamps for this week's Global Design Project challenge (GDP #454).  I used the Scenic Pumpkin Patch stamp set, which is one of the new online exclusives, along with a greeting and circle die cut from the Spotlight on Nature Bundle. That's a Night of Navy card base, and the rest of the paper on the card front is actually all from the Country Woods Designer Series Paper!   

Did you catch how I used stem stamps to make the flying birds?  

I added some designer series paper strips and stamping to finish the inside of the card as well!  

I'm looking forward to creating more with this stamp set -- should be a lot of fun for making fall cards and more! 

- Michelle

Delicate Wings Paper Pumpkin Kit Finished at Last!

 I must confess I have gotten a bit behind on Paper Pumpkin kits again!  So, while waiting for this month's kit to arrive, I decided to pull out the April Delicate Wings Kit.  I started it last night, and managed to finish it up today!  The kit is designed to make 9 cards (3 each of 3 designs).  I made 3 cards as designed in the kit:

Then, I decided to make more cards with elements from the kit.  I cut apart the card bases that had gold foiled butterflies and used those more as designer paper. I also had fun using the Thanks and Beyond add on dies (still available to Paper Pumpkin subscribers, while supplies last)!  I also added some Metallic Enamel Effects and some ribbon on some of the cards.   I was able to make 12 more cards, adding card bases and a bit of scrap Basic White, Very Vanilla and Moody Mauve card stock:

Please let me know if you have any questions about these!  And, if you are not a Paper Pumpkin subscriber yet, but would like to be, please click here for more info!

- Michelle