National Ice Cream Month!

 Those ladies of the Day of the Month Card Club really know the way to my heart... ice cream?  Yes, in any flavor, in a waffle-cone, please!  I even made a card that allows the recipient to choose their own flavor!  Can you guess those I've dipped today?

 

Armed with a very old MFT die-namics set called Lead the Way, and one of their Starburst Sentiment Strips dies, I created a channel, added a 'slider' that will allow that little arrow to slide along unimpeded! 

 

 

 From the top:  Peach Cobbler, Mint Chocolate Chip, and Blueberry Cheesecake!

 

Have a nice evening … maybe a trip to an ice cream shop near you?

 

=]  Michele

CAS[E] this Sketch #383

I sent virtual squeezes to my IB team earlier … but I could kiss Donna Mikasa for giving me the opportunity to talk about Comet Neowise today!  But first, my card, using Donna's awesome Sketch #383...

Inside:  Even though we're a world apart, it's nice to think we're looking up

at the same sky, and seeing the same stars!

 

Stargazing, meteor showers, and keeping up with the latest satellites launched by Elon Musk [Starlink]  have kept us looking up through this lockdown.  I've shared a few of Tom's photos of comet Neowise on my Instagram pages -

you can see them here and if you'd like to check out when YOU TOO will be able to see it, check here.

 

Of course its tail will be much more outstanding than my Wink of Stella attempt on this nearly-glossy Altenew designer paper... would you believe I bought their Sweet Moments 6x6 collection just for this paper?

Now I must go see what inspired Donna to create this Sketch... join me, won't you?  and join us in the CTS#383 gallery, too!

=]  Michele

EBE Up in the Air by Brandi stamps, and dies
MFT Blueprint #18 provided the stars - sadly no longer available

Inspired By #135... fruity sentiments!

YAY!!!  I couldn't wait to play with Inspired By #135... if you know me at all, you know I do love a pun... and don't think you have to use lemons...

 

and this card gave me the first opportunity to  use

my newest addition to my

VERY large embossing folder collection! 

Tasteful Textile from SU... it did a pretty good job

of representing the cotton from those linens, right?

 

I haven't given the EBE Squeeze the Day stamps, or dies, near enough love - it's so much fun to color … and Julie E. just gets my pun-y side - I could just squeeze her!  I'd love to squeeze all the IB design team members, too … we'll have to be satisfied by a visit... join me?  over at IB#135?  Thanks!

=]  Michele

A day with Altenew!

No... in my dreams I could go to the actual Altenew shop - one day I will!  Until then, I have tons of Altenew products in my stash to play with.  Here are a few:

Altenew's Focus on You proved to be a good choice to create my sweet swag in the 'window' for the July Inspiration Challenge this month:

I think it adds just the right touch of country farmhouse style to my card:

I was very fortunate to have a win recently - I couldn't wait to spend that Altenew gift card on their newest layering die set:

 

I have to credit two gals for their help in the creation of this card: first Erum Tasneem for her tutorial on water coloring paper for the layers.  Second:  Coni Longley for showing me how to arrange them!   Thanks, ladies!

Thank YOU all who are kind enough to stop by, and even more for leaving a little love!  If you have questions, leave them in the comments below - but be sure to also leave your email address, please.

=]  Michele

The embossed panel of orange is a die from Wplus9, called Stitched Ironworks background.

EBE July Release Hop designs by Julie Ebersole

Here we are, back with the FOURTH and final EBE July Release - and today, we're showcasing the darling new designs by Julie Ebersole!   I know you can't wait, so I'll keep the chatter to a minimum!

 

May I introduce you to the latest and greatest of

the Voices in my Head series?

 

Mini Voices in my Head

Voices in my Head Vol. 3 - all the sentiment fun!

and

Voices in my Head Accessories!

 

Aren't they fun??  So fun to Copic-customize these

Zooming gal-pals!

[oh that would be me top-left - with my Covid-do!]

I would enjoy a cocktail hour or two with

friends during a video chat! 

Or how about just one friend at a time?

 

My next card combines one of the Voices Accessories

with an altered sentiment from the original Voices!

 



 

 

Here's another old+new mash-up with the original Voices, and her fun accessories:

 Customizing the cocktail is fun, too!  I've made my martini extra dirty!

 

Since I know there are MANY of you who want the whole-shebang, I'm happy to say EH has a combo pack of ALL three of the new Voices, too!  You'll find them all HERE!

Now it wouldn't be much of a HOP if I didn't send you hopping, would it?  Guess what else makes a Hop fun?  We’ve got a super fun prize!!! One random & lucky commenter will win $25 to the EH shop!!! To enter for a chance to win, make sure to leave comments at each stop along the hop! And don’t forget to comment here too for a bonus entry! Comment before Saturday, August 1st at 11:59pm PDT. The winner will be notified by email. Next up: Therese!  Thanks for hopping in! =]  Michele

EH Blog

Carissa

Ardyth

Laurel

Sandy

Lisa

Michele - you are here

Therese 

Jessica

Julie

Mini Voices in my Head:

Voices in my Head Vol. 3

 

Voices in my Head Accessories:

Smile-making crafty time with a friend!

My friend Cat Craig invited me to play cards this past Friday... I accepted the invitation, of course! 

We were both pretty stoked to try out the Split 4 technique of making 4 card panels at once!  Cat even had the stamps used in the video we channeled through our friend Marcia.  Lucky her!  But I had a really perfect set from Altenew:  Wildflower Garden which worked their charm perfectly, too.

Since Cat and I were having so much fun, and 'gabbing away' ... we both forgot to take a photo of our completed 8 x 10.5" panel!  SO I took a photo of all four of my cards together as the panel would have been!

You get the picture, right?  Here are my finished cards:

 

 

 

I'll add sentiments as needed, or save them as a gift set!  

Thanks so much, Cat, for a fun day of making isolation so much fun!  Thank Vic for saying hello - he seems like such a fun guy - or as you would say 'he's da bomb!'

=]  Michele

Just in case, here are the Distress Oxide inks I used:

Fusion - Summer

Just a quick minute of your Saturday to share a little friend of mine - you may spot him in this Fusion Summer photo, and pay particular attention to his pottery... I found the perfect Waffle Flower Craft Cutaway alphas for my RAE DUNN lettering...

 

Looks like he's hiding his popsicle.  Maybe he just doesn't want to share?

 

Inside: 

Summer not.

 

BTW Strathmore Bristol paper is the perfect Rae Dunn white!

I'm so sad to see my friend Barb Ghigliotty leaving the Fusion team … thanks for all the inspiration you've provided, Barb!

 

I may be back tomorrow!  It's amazing how much I get done between butterflies!

 

=]  Michele



CAS[E] this Sketch #382

Isn't it a wonderful coincidence that I happen to have a Toucan in my stash?

Of course, I think N@ Ali didn't mean that you couldn't substitute any bird, or critter for her bird!






For CTS#382 … I give you my bird -  pun intended! lol

Isn't she the cutest? 

I created a little jungle greenery using a Carta Bella stencil.

 



 

The pun-y sentiments in this Reverse Confetti set

just make me smile big time! This time I saved

all the fun for the inside of the card.

It might be a great time to say Toucan play at this game!!  and we sure do hope you will!  Let's go see all the DT cards at CTS#382... and thanks so much for stopping by!

=]  Michele

Inspired By #134 ... beach life!

 

Oh don't you love it when we give you these photos full of inspiration … what?  Tell me you can't find at least five ways to interpret this photo!  I'll show you mine for IB#134 - see if you can find them without me pointing them out...

 

 

 

Did you find them?  We can't wait to find YOURS!  in the IB134 beach life gallery...

 

=]  Michele

 

MFT Sunny Vibes stamps, and dies

MFT Ocean Motion stencil for waves, and clouds!

Waffle Flower Sandy Toes - for the inside sentiment, and sandy details



A Bear in the Blackberry Patch!

I suppose one would think I'd be tired of this Hey, Honey! bear... but you'd be wrong!  Here he is, again, for the Sugar Pea Mix it Up Challenge #69:

 

 

Just a quick stamp in Versafine Smoky Gray ink, and a bit of messy water-coloring with Catherine Pooler inks.  You wouldn't believe where those berries came from - to prove it I've shared a photo of the sets I used to create my Blackberry Bear's berry patch.  I always look for unusual ways to use my stamps, when possible.

 

Now, who wants blackberry pie? jam? to join him?

 

=]  Michele

 

 



EBE Summer of Stamping - Avery Elle Collaboration

There's another Hop over at Ellen Hutson's blog … celebrating the newest collaboration between EH and Avery Elle!  Be sure to check it out and comment over there before July 25th for a chance to WIN!

My special guy and I can't think of a better place to be than in our 14' canoe, fishing/catching - what a perfect way to canoe-dle a day away!  This is Us:

The latest Avery Elle Peekaboo: Camp Wanna Stamp and die combo*

exclusive to Ellen Hutson, LLC!

Fish - check
Canoe - check
Sunset - check
Fireflies - check - double check that clever sentiment! 

Now if I could just give our canoe a coat of plaid - tee hee!
=]  Michele

* the stamps will be offered as a stand-alone, but the only way to get the coordinating dies is to buy it as a combo - and why wouldn't we? lol

The Flower Challenge #46

I have WAY more than 10 minutes a day to color and play in my craft room … what I forget to do is to share my play time with Kathy Racoosin and her wonderful 30 Day Coloring Challenge!   I'm so happy I can also share my Summertime pond with the gang at The Flower Challenge!

 

 My intentions started by stamping with the palest lavender ink … no-line coloring is not my forte, it turns out.  As I'd left my Altenew Lotus in my MISTI it was easy to darken it, and darken it more! 

 

I loved the deepest purple in the end... here is my bloom floating in a pond of smashed Copic coloring - you'll have to visit Kathy's blog to learn more about that technique.

I hadn't intended to take this all the way to a completed card, only just to do a bit of coloring.  But a friend in need put me to work to do just that... here's where she took me...

 

I created a panel 1" larger than my Copic colored piece,

scoring at 1/2" from each side, and folding.

The front panel is the same size … of course the

die-cutting is done next.  Then it is mounted

together with Score-tape for a strong hold. 

It flattened to mail in an A7 [5x7"] envelope. 

Of course when you make a shadow-box card, it can't be opened - a little sentiment on the back [and a personal note] did the trick.



 

I promise to leave you be for the weekend!  Hope you have a lovely one … and I'll be seeing you next week, I hope!

=]  Michele