Inspired By #198C - Winter Love

 

ahhhhh Winter Love - even if only for the love of cocoa, I sure hope you'll be inspired to play along!

Here's my card:

Pigment Craft Co. These Hands*, and companion dies; a very old, much-loved embossing folder that I'm sure is no longer available!

Yes, I do like my liquids steamy, and pinks pale, like this pale rose one from Bazzill! 

and here are my inks:

There is another Holiday photo inspiration, and a Sketch that might tickle your fancy, too!  Stop by Inspired By today to see them, and the wonderful cards from our team!

=]  Michele

*Also available at SSS!

Color Hues #31 Guest Designer!

I loved receiving the invitation to play cards with the fabulous

Color Hues team for Challenge #31!

Thanks, Nancy - and thanks to our Hostess, Cindy!

Here are Cindy's very appropriate final color picks for December 2021!

That's right - this challenge will run from now until December 29th!  Lots of time to play, and tons of inspiration from their designers!  Ready for my card?  You can see all the inspiration I needed to make my Red and Green choices right outside my studio window!  I'm having lots of feathered friends visiting daily!

A wonderful Berry Sprig set from Pigment Craft Co.*, stamped three times, and their sentiment, too!

Since the coordinating dies cuts the 'you' separately, why not use the CH31 colors there, too?

These are the inks I've used today.

Now, may I dedicate this one to each and every kind person who takes the time in their busy days to stop by my lowly little blog for a visit?  You can't know the joy it brings me throughout the year!

Okay.  Now it's YOUR turn!  Lots of ways to use Red and Green at this time of year!  We'll be ready for you in the Color Hues gallery!

Ho, Ho, HO!!  

<=]>  Michele

* Pigment Craft Co. products can be purchased at Simon Says Stamp!

Inspired By #197 - a color challenge!

 

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my American friends!

While we're all enjoying lots of yummy leftovers this week, the team at Inspired By is shaking things up a bit: a COLOR challenge!  Read all about it here, then pick and choose the colors you're inspired to use for your cards!

There is an abundance of beauty in this #IB197 photo!  I had an unused, brand spankin' new group of wonderful Wplus9 products that, in my humble opinion, were meant for this week!  You'll let me know if I'm wrong, right?

I was drawn to the dishes in delft blue, the gold in the table runner, and those gorgeous flowers [and wine] in Merlot!  The perfect colors to choose for this 

Wplus9 Flora & Fauna 3 set - I was lucky enough to grab a special bundle @dawnwplus9 offered when these products released!  OH do I love it when a company includes a die for their main sentiment, too.  You'll find the blue and gold repeated in the Scripted Backgrounds.

So!  Which colors will you be inspired by?  Believe me, if I [the color challenged one] can do it, anyone can!  My teamies have offered even more inspiration on our Inspired By blog!  Always a fun read - you know, over that second piece of pie! 

=] Michele

Playing Cards with Friends November 2021 - giving thanks!

Hello my friends!  It's time for me to Play Cards with another wonderful friend!  I'm so thankful my guest for November is Lindsey Larsen - perhaps you'll know her better by her blogging name Occasional Crafting.  Lindsey can be found guest designing for many companies, and challenges, and is also a member of the Pretty Pink Posh design team - but seriously, her cards are really gorgeous no matter whose supplies she puts her beautiful heart into!

Lindsey and I were on the 12 Kits of Occasions team together for years.  I was so happy to meet her on one of our wonderful road trips - my gosh, it's been years ago, but those hugs remain imbedded in my memory, my friend!  

Here are the parameters I chose for us... it is the month of giving thanks.  Lindsey and I share a love of leaves, so this was an easy assignment:

• Leaves in any color
• a thank you, or Thanksgiving card   

I have an abundance of leafy sets to choose from, but this one, called Grateful Autumn* from Memory Box, called my name - or maybe it was the sentiments?

This gorgeous image was stamped in WOW embossing ink, and heat embossed with Altenew's Rose Gold embossing powder.   I used just the slightest bit of water as it is stamped onto Neenah #110 card, and a few Altenew dye inks for water coloring.  I didn't want to lose a bit of the image so I used a double-stitched rectangle from Wplus9 for cutting, and the littlest of all the rounded rectangles from Altenew for my sentiment.

Please join me as I dash over to Lindsey's?  I cannot wait to see which of her leaves she used today!

I'm so thankful that you accepted my invitation, Lindsey!  and thankful to all of you fellow card makers for stopping by today!  BTW  I've already started on my 2022 calendar - hint, wink!

=]  Michele

*I know someone will be curious about this older stamp - here it is!  Grateful Autumn xx

Inspired By #196

I just couldn't resist the #IB196C inspiration at Inspired By this week!  Isn't that the sweetest Advent Calendar ever made?  I brought out lots of old sets this week, and though the name here is 'Neighbor Tag' I did resist making a tag!  But! I couldn't resist making TWO cards!  There is so much to be inspired by in this photo - see if you can find what caught my eye...

All of you seasoned card makers will recognize my old SSS Village Dies c. 2014 - today I paired them with a set from PTI's c. 2015  Warmest Wishes for the mountains, and trees.  Each was stamped in Versafine black, clear embossed, and simply water-colored.

Trying to keep my layers to a minimum for mailing.  You can see that the mountains, and glittery stars, have been inlaid - the rest are lifted just a bit with a scrap of card stock.

The same supplies were used for this next one...

Popping out those teensy window bits and swapping them between the white and kraft houses was a feat, but well worth the fiddling, don't you think?

November will bring you two Holiday themed inspirations, and a Sketch - we know you all have very long card lists - how about playing along while making?  We love having you!  Lots of lovely cards from our IB team this week - see you there!

=]  Michele 

Color Hues #30 Silver and Gold

Hello, my friends!  I was delighted by the happy news from a friend telling me I'd had a win over at Color Hues with my orange and brown card!  I couldn't have made that card without a little corny help from another friend - thank you, Michelle!

So with joy in my heart, I sat right down to make another entry!  Carol gave us the most Seasonally appropriate color scheme this time:  

I took those colors down a different path...

... armed with these Copics:

I gave this gorgeous Penny Black character a gold hat and scarf, 

and gloves with a silvery grey coat!  [which I'd totally wear!]

First, it was stamped in Copic friendly ink, of course, then I gave her a bit

of a gloomy snowy day - and added a bit of cross-hatching for interest with a grey Prismacolor pencil.  I'm getting quite daring adding those little bits of script, right?

All restamped with WOW embossing ink, and heat embossed with Ranger fine detail silver, and gold embossing powder.

Okay.  It was not complete without one silver, and one gold, snowflake!  This may be my favorite of all the Christmas cards I've made this year!  Thanks, Carol!

=]  Michele

Penny Black: Christmas Wishes c. 2018; Wplus9 4 Bar Stitched Rectangles; The Greetery Pretty Postmarks

The Paper Players

The Paper Players, and my friend Joanne, have the most beautiful color challenge this week - once again, I ask you: how could I resist?

 

I received a few wonderful little Alexandra Renke die cuts tucked inside a pretty birthday card - perfect time to use them!

Goodness, between the gloomy day, and that elusive silver, this was a photo nightmare!  Here are a few closeups.  I added a bit of Gansai Tambi white gold water color pigment to my wreath, and splattered it onto my patterned paper, too. 

Another fun sentiment from The Stamp Market - and a VERY old bow die from MFT?

Thanks, Joanne, for choosing all my favorite colors, and to your entire team for the gorgeous inspiration!

=]  Michele