Look Ma, NO cavities!

Since I had a dental cleaning this morning, I decided I didn't want to waste the rest of the day doing laundry - it will be there tomorrow, I'm sure of it! 

Darnell's IDEAS caught my eye, and I even had a new stencil in my mailbox this morning to play along with her and LeAnne's tic tac toe board at The Paper Players, too!  

Has everyone been bitten by the floral bug at Penny Black?  I HAD to have the tulips and their newest 3D Tulips were irresistible, too!  Here are a few peachy-pinks for Darnell:

and a few lavender ones for LeAnne using the left row from top

to bottom: flowers, die cut, lavender:

Both cards were finished with a new PB die and a pretty sentiment

that I stamped at Marcia's from The Greetery.

It really bothers me when the cover color and the ink inside don't come close to

matching up - in this case, it worked to my advantage!  Good thing I swatch

a strip of inked label paper on each of my inks.

In this photo you can see how the tulips look after stenciling.  I then used

the 3D embossing folder for the peachy pinks, and the die before embossing on

these in lavender.  That embossing really brings those tulips to life!

This day really flew by - without having that laundry to do I accomplished TONS of crafting this afternoon - more soon!  I have been making Christmas cards!

=] Michele

Happy weekend eve! JUGS #768

For me, every day is Saturday - but I do look forward to having my working sidekick home on the weekend - but I thought I'd better get one more post in today before the 'games begin!'

It's stencil week over at Just us Girls #768 - wow, it seems like I've shared quite a bit of stenciling lately but I have one more to share today.  In fact, I recently made a card using this stencil - you'll see it HERE... but I splurged and added the Altenew Blossoming Bouquet press plate.  I'm not one bit sorry about it either...

... would you look at that gorgeous line art?  I never could have achieved this

look using those pencils!  I applied the color using the coordinating stencils and

voila!  A beautiful thank you ready to go out the door!

Now, before I go - you KNOW I can't just make one card per session.  Carol M. used a pierced paper for her card - see it HERE.  In fact, Marcia showed me a card she made [hint, hint] using the same paper.  It got me thinking about all the 'pierced' cover plates I have - could I stencil over those to get a similar look?  I think it worked pretty well!

Lil' Inkers: woodgrain plate - sorry it's no longer available.

PTI sentiment: Happy Mail

I often will add texture to these 'one layer' stenciled panels.  I never thought of going over the top of it - that's not to say I won't be adding that pierced paper to 

my yard-long wish list! lol

Okay, my friends.  The boss is home early, and we're going to enjoy our time together and listen to the wonderful Springtime rain we're having - fingers crossed for a little thunder!  Hope you have just the weather you wanted this weekend, too!

=] Michele

A 'long awaited' play day with Marcia!

Between my car issues, the unpredictable Michigan weather, and illness, it took Marcia and I many trips to our calendars to reschedule our first crafty day of 2025 - believe me it is really hard not to see her 'for reals' for this long!  But we finally DID IT!  And I'm here to share what I made when I got home.  Hey, we're having way too much fun to actually MAKE cards while together! lol

Marcia has so many sets that I adore.  I reached for this one: Pretty Blossoms from Pinkfresh Studios that stamps an entire card front which is stenciled and then die cut... hello, gorgeous garden!

A fun stamped, embossed, and die cut hello from Honeybee's Thinking of You Big Time

Backed by an embossed piece from Spellbinders Leafy.

Marcia's generosity blows me away - when I arrived, she had a nice little gift bag of goodies from Penny Black's Brushstroke style red-rubber cling stamps AND a set of Tombow's watercolor markers - they've been on my radar for ages!  

Now, I have a LONG way to go, and lots of practice to do but here are my very first two cards!  [as always, Jill Foster's videos on YouTube really helped - getting the perfect amount of water misted is so hard!]  My husband said this one is a keeper - who am I to argue?  I have just the perfect friend for it, too!  Meet The Sweetest Sound...

Waffle Flower Crafts: Rectangle Frames that I've painted with Tambi gold

Here's another that was inspired by the Double D Bird Challenge and mood board:

Thanks Dar and Diane!

Penny Black: Alight, Loving Friend sentiment, Linked embossing and Frame It frame die!

Between Distress minis and the new markers, I was very happy with this one!

Of course, we had to have one image stamped for us each to have our way with!  This is PFS Heart of Gold - I've turned my lemons into LIMES!

When I went to remove the image, I realized that it hadn't die cut 

properly - oh well.  I rather like the unintended results!

I love this pretty Powder blue card from Concord & 9th - especially embossed

with my old go-to EF from SU: Tasteful Textile.  A few PFS gems and it was complete!

Marcia had a pot of Taco soup brewing for lunch - delish!  The butterscotch cheesecake was pretty delectable, too!  [Wasn't Tom nice to share? LOL of course I let him think I made it for him!]

Getting to spend time with my sweet friend is always worth the wait - however, I hope we don't have to wait that long for the next time, Marcia!  Thanks so much for your wonderful hospitality and friendship!  I am hurrying over to see what you created 'behind my back!'

=] Michele

Seconds for JUGS #767 and a first for Freshly Made Sketches #679

I'm going to make this quick as I have a deadline for second helpings in that JUGS#767 gallery!  and I must thank Karren for her fabulous Freshly Made Sketch #679 - it couldn't have arrived at a better moment!  I think this is the very first time I've been so quick to make a card for FMS!

Let me reacquaint you to Lisa's gorgeous mood board:

Thanks so much for the Shoutout, Lisa!

In particular, that upper right corner where I found my inspiration:

Using Karren's Sketch:

They were a match made in card maker's Heaven, IMHO!

HoneyBee: Cherry Blossoms and My Favorite Flower sentiment;

 PTI Love to Layer: Delightful Brackets; SU Subtle Texture EF for 'ribbon.'

Happy 'hump' day!

=] Michele

oopsy daisy... me again!

I have a card for Just us Girls that I forgot to share with you in my last post!  Sorry to barge into your space again! =\  But I missed last week - or maybe two?  Wait 'til you see Lisa's gorgeous mood board.  You'll understand why I had to play along...

It won't be long before we'll start our seeds sprouting indoors!

I only wish I could grow peas - but they are not on the 'Tom approved veggie list.' 

What?  No peas in the mood board either?  I think that little lamb ate them.

Alright, I know that little lambs eat ivy - a kid'll eat ivy too, wouldn't you?

PS: Green Thumb; Fab Frames and HoneyBee's Over the Rainbow dsp

What's not to love about this old set from Paper Smooches?

=] Michele

SSS Wednesday Challenge - Fun with Stencils: PFS

While I had my blending brushes, inks, and mojo out [more on that tomorrow] I pulled out one of my favorite Pinkfresh Studio stencils: Magnolia Pattern.  SSS Wednesday Challenge is looking for PFS stenciled cards this week!

Now if you look at the next photo, you'll see that the stencil set was designed to leave

lots of line-art left black and white.  I love it.  But...

I found a few Copic markers that were a pretty good match to the inks I used to stencil

this beautiful design.  It didn't take long before all those lovely magnolias were colored!

Another little walk through my supplies and I found just the die-cut-style

of sentiment I wanted to finish it off...

I was so delighted to see the sunshine this morning - and have all that white stuff

completely gone, too!  Okay, I'd better get this into that SSS gallery - I have a

wish list a mile long - fingers crossed!

=] Michele

Freshly Made Sketches #678

I had already made my card for this week's Freshly Made Sketch by Cécile but when I went to add it to her gallery another had also used the same die as I had.  Back to the drawing board and I think I like my second card even better!  I hope Cécile has her sense of humor primed... 

I had the inspiration for my card for breakfast this morning with 

plenty of freshly-ground pepper:

Inside sentiment:

... make any day start sunny side up!"

Are you curious about the other?  Here you go...

A thank you for a very sweet gift from a friend - it's already in the mail! 

Happy Saturday, everyone!

=] Michele

The Paper Players #729

I have to make this quick as I'm packing up a travel bag for a trip to Marcia's tomorrow - we had to delay our playdate for a bit, but it's all systems go this time!  

Joanne has a fun challenge for us over at The Paper Players and I am taking it literally - use ONE stamp and keep it CAS! 

Here's where her challenge took me... hope it's not too buzzy for a CAS card!

Waffle Flower Crafts: Happy Bee Day stamp and die set and cover die/stencil

I may have been inspired by the Butterscotch Cheesecake I baked for our dessert tomorrow!

Okay, back to packing!  Hope you're having a fun week of crafting!

=] Michele

Guest Designer for Color Hues #106

I was so honored to have a win recently at Color Hues!  Even more so to be invited to Guest Design with their fabulous team!  Here's their #106th color combo - could it be more Spring-y?

So many of the first blooms of Spring are yellow with green leaves, aren't they?  What better way to represent those colors.  These would be welcomed to my garden any day...

I don't know how, but this lovely set was found when I did that de-stash = unused!  

I guess I'll just have to share them with Darnell's NBUS, too! wink.

Looks like Jill's water coloring methods work well with any line art!

I have been practicing a LOT and really loving the Distress reinkers - but

this time it was back to smooshing some Mustard Seed onto my palette for the tulips and then mixing that with a bit of Peeled Paint to 'lime it up a bit!'

A very wet mixture of the leftover inks was added to the background.

I used the coordinating die to partially cut it then added a bit of lift with foam squares and interest with the largest of MFT's Wonky Rectangles.

A trio of gems from PFS and a sentiment from the Mondo Tulips set

 and my card is done!

Okay, my friends, now it's YOUR turn... and I'm wondering if you'll go the floral route or maybe lemons and limes?  You'll find tons of inspired designs from the CH team and have plenty of time to play along - a few times!

Thanks for having me, Color Hues!

=] Michele

The Flower Challenge Reminder

We're loving all the circles and florals in our gallery and love that you are celebrating our 100th challenge, too!  Honestly, how could we do it without all of you?  Here's that theme - remember I have a PRIZE for ONE who is playing along!! you can read all about it HERE!  And, since our clocks have sprung ahead, you have one extra hour to get a card made!!

I found TWO more ways to add circles to my reminder card!

The first circle comes from the embossing folder:

SSS Splendid Leaves and Circle Frame to be exact.

Can you see it?  I just love this folder and all its pretty floral details.

The second is a circle frame from Waffle Flower Crafts

that makes the prettiest place to park their sweet Snow Drop!

I can think of a few special occasions that might fall in Spring:

wedding, or perhaps a First Communion?

Alright the countdown in ON - have you made your card yet??  Remember I have a prize, but you need to make a card to win!  Need more inspiration?  You should RUN to The Flower Challenge reminder post right away!

=] Michele

Penny Black Saturday reminder!

Have you played?  Of course I mean the Penny Black Saturday Challenge!  It's 'anything goes' with a bonus of 'On the Farm' and I couldn't help but think about the rascally rabbits that munch away at anything and everything we put in our small garden beds - even my precious tulips!  

Which brings me to my reminder card using PB Special Friends.

I used several of the little stamps from this set to 'plant' a row or two

and you'll see that the bunnies just can't help but help themselves to a few.

I love this wonky debossing plate - an oldie from CUTplorations.

That sweet, scalloped panel from The Greetery just had to come out of my snippets bin 

and makes for a pretty cute fence.

So, what are you waiting for?  Come on and play along - you know you want to get those Penny Black stamps out again!  And who knows, if you add GDT after your name, YOU might be the next Guest Designer!

Thanks again to the PBSC team for inviting me! 

=] Michele

A pretty card and one that's pretty cute!

I have two cards for you today, my friends ... the first on the 'pretty' side for Jen B. at Freshly Made Sketches #677  allowed me to use a bit of DSP from a very old stash of Anna Griffins's Olivia [2013] Collection of papers.  But first here is Jen's sketch...

I reached for my PFS Essential Label dies and instead of three

equal labels, I made three graduating ones!  It's hardly noticeable but I like it!

My friend Bonnie often enables a few of my purchases - this Alstroemeria bloom from SSS is an embossing folder and die combination.  Cut first, then tuck it in place in the folder to emboss all that wonderful detail.  I cut mine from watercolor card and used these inks to 'kind of' match the dsp... how'd I do?

An Altenew: Elegant Sayings sentiment finished my card.

The other day I shared a Shamrock shaped card with you... here's another cute little die from Stamps of Life in lots of pastels for Jaydee at The Paper Players #728!  You'll notice I did NOT forget the lavender this time! wink.  It's a fun die set and I used the 'piecing' die to create a 'template' for all those pieces to fit after blending each with color.

Dad's hammer came out for a bit of texture using an embossing folder

before adding my sentiment from WFC and this panel to a side-folding card.

Off I hop to pop these into the challenges... hope you're looking forward to the weekend!  I'll be back tomorrow with another card for Penny Black Saturday Challenge and a reminder for The Flower Challenge... which reminds me!  Have you played in both??  Some bunny would be very happy if you did!

=] Michele