SUper Friends March Clean and Simple Swap Cards

 Happy Sunday!  For our swap last month, the SUper Friends decided to exchange clean and simple cards.   

Jane's elegant creation uses the Softly Sophisticated Bundle.  I love how she embossed the outside of the card, and added a stamped layer inside with the greeting and for a handwritten message.  The coordinating envelope she created is beautiful, too: 

For her stunning card, Jaya chose the Stippled Roses Bundle. with a sophisticated Gray Granite and white color scheme.  The greeting is heat embossed and Jaya added some dry embossed lines for a beautiful effect.  She also added a coordinating stamp inside the card and on the envelope:

Margery's fun card cleverly features the new 2024-2026 In Colors, plus I think the top right square is Lemon Lime Twist!  I love the layout and how she embossed the squares with the Zinnias 3D embossing folder.  The greeting is also from the Simply Zinnia stamp set: 

Cathy's wonderful card is made with Sea of Textures stamps and dies.  I love how Cathy created this ocean scene and added the touches of sparkle in and around it:

Judy's gorgeous card pairs the Quiet Reflection stamp set with the Thoughtful Expressions Dies.  She created a window layer peeking through to the Quiet Reflection image, also has some elegant dry embossed lines, and some sparkly embellishments:  

Kallien's chic card shows off several designs from the Forever Love Specialty Designer Series Paper, including three pieces cut with the Hexagon Punch.  Kallien created her greeting using the Wonderful Thoughts Bundle.  I love the faceted gems she added, too:

I created my card with the Excellent Eggs Bundle, some coloring with Stampin' Blends, plus the Fun Patterns Embossing Folder, Natural Polka Dot Trim, Brushed Brass Butterflies, and Adhesive Backed Hearts and Flowers:

Thanks so much to the SUper Friends for another terrific swap!!!

And, thank you for visiting my blog!  Please let me know if you have any questions about any of these cards or the products used!

- Michelle

Playful Carousel Hexagon Box

Happy Tuesday!  Today I have a project to share with you that I created for my most recent swap with my friend Marlene!  After seeing photos of this gorgeous box by Claire Napper on Pinterest, I wanted to find a way to create my own!  It took some research into how to create hexagon boxes with this style of top (came across some other cool origami ideas along the way that I'd still like to try, too . . .).  But, I did it!  Here's how my version turned out:

I used So Saffron for my base, and stamped the circles on the top using the Playful Backgrounds stamp set and Peekaboo Peach ink.  For the side panels, I placed a piece of the Cupcakes & Carousels Designer Series Paper onto a layer of Peekaboo Peach card stock.  For the carousel horse, I stamped the image from the Carousel Birthday stamp set in Bermuda Bay ink, colored carefully with the Watercolor Pencils, then went over the coloring with either Clear or Gold Wink of Stella, before fussy cutting the image.

Here's a view of the top, which is held closed with a bit of Bermuda Bay Baker's twine.

A fun box to fill with candy and send off to a friend!  It would also be an amazing party favor, don't you think?!  

Please let me know if you'd be interested in learning how to make this box!

Thanks for visiting!

Michelle

SUper Friends March Swaps

Hi Everyone!  Today I have projects to share with you from the March gathering of my SUper Friends demonstrator group.  The theme for our March swap was clean and simple, and I love what everyone created -- I think you will, too.  So, without further adieu, here goes . . .

Cheryl created these adorable Easter treat holders, using a strip of paper, the Scalloped Tag Topper Punch, the Designer Frames Impressions folder (retired), and Oval punch or framelits:

A bit of ribbon, Easter grass, and the cute chick chocolate (held in with a glue dot), and you have a fun Easter treat!

Nancy created this beautiful card, where she fussy-cut around butterflies from the Papillon Potpourri stamp set:

I love the calm, soothing colors she used!

For her elegant card, Agnes combined images from the Indescribable Gift set, Gorgeous Grunge for the background dots, and the leaf pattern Simply Irresistible (from Sale-a-Bration, sponged Real Red):

The circle layout is so much fun -- and the arrow clip (from Everyday Occasions Cardmaking Kit) is just the perfect touch.

Connie's fresh and flowery creation features hexagon-punched designer series paper and the Petite Pairs stamp set:

And, the perfectly coordinated and finished inside:

It reminds me of a gorgeous spring quilt!

Jana created her bright and happy card using the sunburst from Kinda Eclectic and the Crazy About You bundle:

She also beautifully finished the inside of her card, using an image from the One Tag Fits All set:

For my card, I also used the Hello You Thinlits Dies (part of the Crazy About You bundle), but used the reverse of the die cut:

There's a strip of Sheer Perfection Vellum along the side, and the butterfly from the Nature's Perfection stamp set is stamped in Basic Grey on Strawberry Slush paper and cut with the Elegant Butterfly punch.

Wasn't this a great swap?!  I love everyone's take on Clean and Simple.  Thanks for the inspiration, SUper Friends!!!

And, thanks for visiting my blog!

- Michelle

P.S.  Don't forget that Free Shipping ends tomorrow, April 10th!!!  So, if you want to take advantage of that deal, please head over to my online store now for more information or to shop!

Laughter Mosaic Card

Happy Thursday!  I had a wonderful time this afternoon helping a dear friend with a special card- making project!  It's been a while since we've gotten to stamp together, and I sure have missed that!  Always more fun to stamp with friends!!!

In fact, part of what makes stamping with friends so fun is because there's usually some laughter involved.  And, that's part of the reason I love the sentiment on this card:

The sentiment is from the Feel Goods stamp set.  I inked it up using Stampin' Write Markers (Strawberry Slush and Island Indigo).  The sentiment is die cut using the Labels Collection Framelits, and layered onto a die cut piece of Night of Navy.  I added a couple of rhinestone jewels for a bit of sparkle, and used the Hexagon Punch to shape a strip of Pool Party into the banners under the sentiment.

To create the mosaic background piece, I started with a piece of Whisper White and embossed that using the Modern Mosaic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder.  Then, I stamped images from the Modern Mosaic stamp set inside the embossed areas.  The images are stamped in Melon Mambo, Island Indigo and Night of Navy.

Thanks for visiting!

- Michelle

Hello to You -- June Paper Pumpkin Creations!

Hope you had a happy 4th of July!  We had a great day -- did a bit of kayaking and swimming before our traditional BBQ-ed dinner and fireworks-watching!  

Last month's Paper Pumpkin kit came with 4 pre-printed and die cut notecards, and was a breeze to use to quickly whip up some fun cards!  I made one following the kits' directions, then tried some different ideas for the rest.  Here are the 4 cards I created all together:

 Here's the card I made following the sample and instructions in the kit:

  

And, actually there is an online video from Stampin' Up! about this kit, too.  Here it is in case you'd like to check it out:

 

(I notice in the video that the crafter uses adhesive to secure the patterned hexagons; however, these actually already have adhesive on them -- you can just peel and stick, if you prefer.)

Here's my first variation on the design:

The only thing I changed for this one was to substitute the "hey there friend" greeting from the Paper Pumpkin welcome kit for the "Hello to you."

For my next variation, I decided to turn the card to portrait orientation, and I stamped "Hello to You" on a scrap of Daffodil Delight Card Stock, which I shaped into a flag and adhered:

For the last card, I went a little crazy:

I stamped the splatter image from the Welcome Kit outside and inside the card using Daffodil Delight Classic Ink.  Then, added the "hey there friend" greeting from the Welcome Kit again.  And, decided to add not just the Soft Suede hearts but also some Primrose Petal kissed hearts all around.  To create the kissed hearts, I 

inked the heart image up with Primrose Petals, stamped off once, then inked up the June kit's small chevron background stamp with Primrose Petals and "kissed" the heart to the chevron stamp before stamping the heart on Whisper White card stock.  I fussy cut the hearts then attached them to the card with Stampin' Dimensionals.

I have quite a few hexagon pieces leftover from this kit, and am looking forward to seeing what else I can make with them and with the great stamps!

Want to learn more about Paper Pumpkin and how you can join the fun?  Be sure to click here and visit my Paper Pumpkin page!

Thanks!

Michelle 

Dino-Chalk Talk Thank Yous

Here are the last of my projects from vbs week!  These are thank you notes I created for my co-teachers and our great youth helpers!  I kept with the Pumpkin Pie, YoYo Yellow, Basic Gray, and Basic Black color scheme for these, and had fun using some new products along with the now-retired Dinoroar stamp set:

Supplies used:
Stamps:  Dinoroar (retired), Six-Sided Sampler, Chalk Talk
Ink:  Basic Black
Paper:  Pumpkin Pie, YoYo Yellow, Basic Gray, Whisper White
Accessories:  Epic Day This and That Washi Tape, Hexagon Punch, Chalk Talk Framelits

Thanks for stopping by!

- Michelle

Easter Egg Box

Hope you are having a wonderful weekend!  We're having a day of Little League baseball and some Easter fun (have the eggs hard-boiled, just need to find time to dye them, and am working on our traditional bunny cake!)   So, only time to share quickly today, but did want to get this Easter box posted before Easter (was hoping to have a tutorial done for it, but afraid that will have to wait a bit):

I used the new Ovals Framelits to create the top and bottom of the box, as well as the oval layered pieces for the top and some liners for inside (just realized I forgot to photograph that . . . sorry!  Will definitely include that with the tutorial, coming soon!).

The card stock for the box is Pool Party, with a Very Vanilla layer on top of the box and on top of that Pool Party Core'dinations, which I embossed with the Hexagon Textured Impressions Embossing Folder.  I embossed some Tea Time Designer Series Paper, cut that out inside the embossed lines, and added that to decorate the box, along with some flowers punched out of the designer paper with the Itty Bitty Punch Trio.

The flower on top of the box is created out of Creped Filter Paper, which I die cut using one of the Flower Framelits, and sponged heavily with Calypso Coral ink.  I added a Designer Builder Brad in the center, which has a small flower punched out of Tea Time Designer Paper in the center.  The leaves are Lucky Limeade card stock, and created using the Blossom Petals Builder Punch.

The "Happy Easter" is from the Everybunny stamp set.  It is stamped in Soft Suede on a piece of Very Vanilla, shaped using the Word Window Punch.  I sponged around the edges of the punched piece with Pool Party ink.

The side of the box is wrapped with Natural 7/16" Trim Ribbon, which I dyed by spritzing it with a solution of a couple drops of Tempting Turquoise ink refill in Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz.  I wrapped that with Victoria Crochet Trim.

Better run!  Thanks so much for stopping by!

- Michelle

More Amore Spring Gift Box

Here is a fun project I demonstrated at a workshop not too long ago.  It was inspired by the beautiful flower -topped gift box shown on page 6 of Stampin' Up!'s Spring Catalog.   Stampin' Up! has a video on how to make the flower, and I followed that technique.  However, I used one of the beautiful new Designer Builder Brads in the center of my flower:

Here's a side view of my box:

The box is one of Stampin' Up!'s Kraft Gift Boxes.  I added a Cherry Cobbler "belly band" around it.  The belly band is embossed with the Hexagon Textured Impressions Embossing Folder.  I also embossed a piece of More Amore Specialty Designer Series Paper with that folder, and cut out some of the hexagons from that to decorate the belly band a bit more.

The heart and flag decorations are made with the Hearts a Flutter Stamp Set and Framelits.

Here's another side view of the box:

You can see a little bit of the stamping on the box in this photo -- subtle, but I used one of the heart images from Hearts a Flutter and stamped all over the box using Pool Party ink.

I think this would be a great way to dress up a gift for Valentine's, a bridal shower or wedding, a birthday . . . lots of possibilities!

Thanks so much for visiting my blog!

- Michelle