Doodlebugs Friday!

 

We've all heard that without rain there would not be rainbows, right?  I'm adding a twist to those rainy thoughts today over at the Doodlebugs Blog!  

It's the last day of the month already! Hopefully March is going out like a lamb in your neck o' the woods!

=] Michele

Freshly Made Sketches #579

Jen Timko is our host over at Freshly Made Sketches this week - she has given us such a fun Sketch for inspiration!

 

I hadn't played with my favorite bear in an age - he was out on my desk for another challenge but fit so well in Jen's oval!

I have a few friends with April birthdays - bee-day should count!

As crafty time often goes around here, another bear appeared...

and another!!

You'll notice another of those darling blooms from my class at

The Stamp Market!  

You'll have to head over to Freshly Made Sketches to see which bear makes his appearance there ... btw why not play with Jen's Sketch and add a bear card of your own while you're there!

=] Michele

Sugar Pea: Hey Honey!

variety of patterned papers from HoneyBee

Pinkfresh hot foil rectangles using black foil 

MFT Wonky ovals

SSS Cosmos Stem

Backgrounds brought to the forefront!

Hello again, my friends!  I have one last piece of that fabulous Pinkfresh prize to share with you today ... the first time stenciling I used those same colors from The Stamp Market that I used while stamping with Marcia:

Pinkfresh has some gorgeous cling stamps!  This one is called Mixed Blooms:

It really is a background stamp that deserves the mainstage!

After all the inking was done [5 layers] I brought out my old favorite scalloped die from Winnie & Walter to cut my panel and found a few more snippets to plant in this garden!

TEN inks were used for my next panel!!

Since it's a bit brighter than I'm comfortable with I added a smaller scalloped slip of vellum to calm it down a bit and provide a spot for another snippet bloom!

I just love those eyelet edge pieces - also PF from the very first release I won about 6 years ago!  This sentiment can be found in the PF Detailed Leaf set.

Speaking of prizes, and backgrounds - I fell in love with another PF cling stamp that I borrowed from Marcia... called Magnolia Pattern.  I stamped two and stenciled one while at her house.  after coloring them and making into cards, I decided that this set just had to come home to mama!  So I went in search: out of stock at PF, not yet available at Doodlebugs, I began to think I wouldn't find it.  Aha!  Simon had it - but by then I thought do I really need it?  [Waffling while shopping is an art form around here even Tom is a pro!]  So, I put it in my cart, then promptly took it out again.  Here is the most surprising ending to this story:  WITHIN SECONDS OF CLOSING THAT CART A NEW EMAIL ARRIVED!!!  I had WON a $25 gift card from SSS from a recent release hop ... tell me this isn't KISMET!!  Guess who got her background stamp AND the stencils in the mail yesterday?  

Here are the cards I made using those I stamped at Marcia's...

This first one is stamped in black and stenciled with that set of inks from 

The Stamp Market above.

Yes, this is all the set of stencils colors and I LOVE all the white space left!

But! THIS is the reason I had to make this stamp my own...

Stamped in black and PENCIL colored!  May I just tell you it took six hours?

I could barely lift my arm by the time it was complete!

Someone on Instagram told me I have 'too much time at hand.'  

To that I say: I use my time to keep my heart and mind happy - this did the trick.

If you've stayed with me all this time, I thank you and appreciate you more than I can even put into words!  Who do you think puts this smile on my blog?

=] Michele

A Playdate with Marcia!

A day spent with my friend Marcia is always a treat - even better this time since it had been 4 months since we had gotten together!  Need I say it? we had a blast!  

I brought along a few sets to share and spent some time cutting and stamping some things from Marcia's stash - that's like the best no-cost shopping spree ever!  Here is another card I made using her Morning Glories from The Greetery:

Take notice of the gorgeous embossing on my cards front -

I almost broke Marcia's machine using it - sorry again about that folder, my friend! =[

We always choose one set to play with together - enter this Blooming Peony cling stamp and stencil set from that awesome Pinkfresh Studio prize I won in January!   Marcia's studio is set up with two desks - so we craft back-to-back when I'm there... made for such a fun reveal as we shared the stencils in order, but we didn't share our inks!  I adored Marcia's results .... ready for mine?

This card is a recreation of one I recently mailed to my granddaughter Lola who is a senior in high school this year - she can be very proud of her hard work as it has really paid off! 

Marcia, thank you so much for your hospitality - and your friendship!  I can't wait to do it again - sooner!

Okay.  Now is the time when I thank you very much for stopping by, but now invite you to join me as I dash over to Marcia's blog to see how she finished her lovely panel!  Let's go!

=] Michele

My panel was cut with MFT Wonky Rectangle die.

Sentiments are from PF Detailed Leaf set, cut with the Altenew Featured Sentiments die set.

Some Bunnies love you!

I'll tell you, a trip to Marcia's is like a trip to Stamp-Disney - and it's ALL darling!  Take these Happy Bunnies for instance ... they hadn't even crossed my radar when they were released at Papertrey Ink, and yet they are styled so much like those snowmen that I HAD TO have!  

Hope you like them ... I'm convinced it is the Cadbury-Mini's-look of those eggs that I love most!

Stamped and fussy cut first, I then tucked my bunny and his basket of eggs into a little egg cup made with a Waffle Flower Nesting Eggs die that I cut from some HoneyBee paper.  My back panel is from the same paper pad but debossed with a Wplus9 Stitched Ironworks background die. I found the perfect speckles for my big egg in another Wplus9 set: Flora and Fauna 3!

The Easter Blessings sentiment is also Waffle Flower - from their Rejoice Rabbit set.

My next card features the PTI Wild Blooms stencil set - just the prettiest place for an egg hunt that I've ever seen!  

I better hop to it or that laundry isn't going to get done this week either!  Marcia and I are sharing more with you tomorrow!  Hope to see you then!

=] Michele

Freshly Made Sketches and Peace on Earth Christmas

 I had a bit of time in my studio today so I thought I would play in a few of my favorite challenges!  

First up -  Jacquie's Freshly Made Sketches #536:

Made entirely from snippets!  

Someone recently asked about the 'string' I use for my tags:

simple quilting thread I keep black, white, and tan on hand!

Edited to add that my card was chosen among the Princess picks today at FMS!

Thanks, Jen B.!

Next, a card for Peace on Earth Christmas #36 using two of the cutest snowmen from Tim Holtz [and Marcia's stash]:

I've added a few TH trees, rolling SSS snowy hills and c. 2013 Falling Stars cut from navy cardstock, and OF COURSE there had to be stickles:

Sorry they don't appear to show up very well!  I love that Stumpy and Stretch are reaching

out to each other for great big holiday hugs!  [hope I got those names right!]

edited to add BIG thanks from me and the dudes to the POE team

for choosing us as their winner this month!! 

I was drawn to the starry sky in the bottom left corner with its scarf-wrapped bear, and the whimsy of the lettering in bottom right.  Can you see it?

I'll be back tomorrow between all my loads of fun!

=] Michele

Just us Girls #672 Clean and Simple

It's my final week as guest designer for Just us Girls - it has been such fun being one of the JUGS!  Week 4 is a Clean and Simple challenge - only 1/3 of the card can be used ... hope you have a ton of fun with that little bit of real estate!

Want to add interest without messing around with that white space too much?

Enter this MFT Stitching die - I've used it a few times recently, and there was a time that it could be found on almost every other card - ha!

Of course, these tropical leaves from Waffle Flower [Greenery] are the stars of the card!

Today I just cut a few from smooshed panel I had on hand - and 

one using cardstock.  

If you don't look closely, you'll miss that sentiment!  

I should have looked for an aloha stamp, right?!

Okay, I don't think anyone is going to insist you measure for accuracy here but do be aware that CAS design is a must this week!  Now let's go see what our hostess Sue and the rest of the JUGS team made - thanks ladies for being such gracious hostesses!  I have been so honored to be your guest this month!

=] Michele

Doodlebugs Friday!

 

Hello friends!  I'm not going to blah, blah, blah on my blog today!  It's weekend eve, and I really can't wait to show you how I brought a Christmas stamp out to play with a new wreath in the first week of Spring!   Here's your peek...

Come see the entire card at the Doodlebugs blog today!

=] Michele

Triple B Challenge March 2023

ahhhhh yes! another gorgeous moodboard to craft to, and another fun challenge from our friends Diane, and Darlene!  Triple B: birds, butterflies, or blooms - seems like a no-brainer to me!  You can always find one of these around here!

Congratulations, Darlene & Diane!

This little birdy from PTI is one I always borrow from Marcia when we gather - but I just had to make room for him in my home permanently!   I went a little brighter with the colors, but surely you can spot my inspiration in that moodboard?

I wanted a little bit of texture to break up the white space - is anybody else reminded of broken eggs?  Just an added little aqua twine for his perch, and a fussy-cut sentiment from an Altenew set which seemed made for this guy! 

I spent the best part of my day with Marcia yesterday - such fun, I'll share more about that soon!  I'd better perch this one-of-a-kind bird in that Triple B gallery!

Thank you for stopping by!  Hope you have a wonderful day!

=] Michele

Thirds, anyone?

My sweet friend Marcia has brought my relationship with blue a little closer - perhaps it's the fact that we're to combine it with turquoise?  It worked beautifully for a stencil from Altenew... and gave me just the right time to bring out that gorgeous Alex Syberia Designs Spring Garden set again...

I don't mind paying a little more for a set of dies that cuts every. single. sentiment in the set!

I found all of the components of this set at a Michigan store - Paper & I 

Altenew: Impressionist Bouquet stencil and dies is half-off at Doodlebugs right now!

Okay, I think I've hit my limit for this challenge - but you should definitely play along!!  Marcia and her teammates have oodles of inspiration for you HERE!

=] Michele

Color Hues #60 Second Helpings

 It has been a wonderful day: sunshine, butterflies, and lunch out at a fantastic Greek restaurant - who could ask for more??  Well, as a matter of fact I have second helpings for my friends at Color Hues #60 - my day is complete!

A gorgeous new set from Alex Syberia Designs: 

Spring Garden + dies + stencils + a new cover die!!  

Off to cook dinner for my hubby - laundry can wait until tomorrow!  But my thanks to you cannot! Thank you!

=] Michele

Class dismissed!

I spent the entire weekend with The Stamp Market's Fun & Floral-y* class - I shared cards 1 & 2 with you yesterday but just in case you missed it I'll share the whole shebang here today!

It's enough that you are here - so please don't feel as if you must comment on each card, or at all really - just sharing my work!  Ready set go:

When Amy said there would be 'lots' of die-cutting, she wasn't kidding - time well spent in my humble opinion!

There was one of those one-pass-cuts-a-million-bits of confetti dies in the kit - 

surely they were meant to be shaken, not stirred...

Next up, a little repetitive stamping with another little blossom...

isn't that little curved sentiment the cutest grassy knoll?

Amy shared a terrific tip on how to make our own infinity shaker pocket -

don't tell on me, but I used one of my handy Waffle Flower pockets!

My bits got a little jammed up, but I was able to correct the situation...

Then a sweet little set of note cards using a fun stripe-y stamping technique on vellum.  You all know me by now - I couldn't throw those negatives away!

Now you know where the confetti came from...

Here they are all wrapped up with their tiny little envelopes and a tag

 ready for gift-giving.

For this assignment, we were supposed to cut more of those sweet little blooms - but I'm telling you my shoulder really got a workout this weekend and I had all of these leftovers from that shaker-bloom!  So why not

a quick-n-easy sunny-side-up card - be sure to read my inside sentiment...

Inside:

I heard you are egg-specting! Congratulations!!

Then a session of stacking strips of paper, die-cutting one bloom, and making a bonus tag or bookmark!

I even snuck in an extra snippet - remember that connected heart panel?

with one pass you end up with about 50 of these little hearts - see if you can find it...

On Saturday, Amy used this darling stencil to create a pop-up

inside her 1st card - my pop-ups always end up being really thick and hard to mail - but I did want to use the stencil...

ONE MORE - and if you stuck around this long, I sure appreciate it -

that little striped stamping on vellum made a pretty cute background

for this last bloom cut from another confetti snippet!

My trip to see the butterflies blooming was rescheduled for tomorrow - it's supposed to be clear and sunny all day so I'm putting off my laundry until Tuesday!  Hope your week gets off to a good start!

=] Michele

ps. We were told these products will be available soon!

Class is in session at The Stamp Market!

I'm enjoying the class I'm taking at The Stamp Market today ... here to show and share my work on card #1 and #2!

Card #1 is made pretty much following Amy's awesome instruction. For card #2 on right Amy had a cute pop up inside the card - but I thought there was just enough dimension on the front so I just went my own way on the front - aren't they cute?  We were told that these supplies will be available to everyone soon! 

Okay - back to work after a little break for dinner!

=] Michele