Just us Girls #769 - dies, no flowers!

My card for Just us Girls #769 is ready to hang in their gallery.  The dies 'no flowers' was a tricky move on Sue's part - you know I do love those layered-die-cut-flowers!  

My friend Lisa used a sweet little Purple Onion Owl and frame - so I followed her lead and found myself reaching for these fun Happy Birds from Wplus9 from yesteryear!  

These guys continue to put a big fat smile on my face - that little dude on the left

must be a Brown Creeper as they are the only bird I know of that go upside down and 

backwards when foraging for bugs on the bark of trees!

I just love these Charley Harper-like birds!

That Penny Black frame continues to please - and a new PF stencil [from that most generous friend] found its way into the background!  SO fun!

Read the sentiment again - I mean that sincerely!

=] Michele

The Flower Challenge #101

Does it feel April-y where you live?  Spring often takes its own sweet time in Michigan!  But I have some really pretty springlike flowers for you - thanks to my friend, TK who sent me the most wonderful birthday gift last November!   Don't you think for a minute that I didn't play with it immediately - but I really wanted to feature these Altenew: Flutter and Bloom florals here for The Flower Challenge #101:

I pulled some lovely purple Copics for today's florals - but watch

out for the water-colored and stenciled versions later this year!

I used the coordinating dies to cut them out and

popped them up on top of a gorgeous, embossed panel I found in my stash.

Isn't it a perfect match?  I'm sure the wonderful person who 

sent it to me carefully wrote its name on the BACK before

I stuck it on my card. 

We are looking forward to a gallery FULL of gorgeous Spring-colored flowers - will you be playing along?  Come see all the lovely colors of Spring from my teammates!

=] Michele

SSS Wednesday - happy birthday!

I have a favorite stamp from Simon Says Stamp and you've seen me use this Black-eyed Susan before.  But when the DT at their Wednesday Challenge asked for a birthday card, it was the first stamp I thought of to celebrate their birthday!

I reached for my palette of Distress re-inkers today.  I'm getting

more comfortable all the time with their brilliant pigmentation.

A bit of splatter with the leftover ink and a run through

my die-cutting machine with that old favorite MFT Wonky Rectangle

and it was ready for my card!

I can count on one hand the times I've added a button to a card -

this little ivory button seemed like the perfect thing to attach my birthday wish!  What do you think - too much?

I hope you find too much fun over the weekend and that some of that time is spent getting your craft on!

I'll be back with my April card for The Flower Challenge so stick around - and PLAY!

=] Michele

Two-fer Thursday!

Sorry about intruding into your day again, but I was on a Christmas card making roll yesterday and one was designed with the current Freshly Made Sketches #680 in mind...

Narelle used some lovely, patterned paper for her DT card.  You KNOW I have a bit of it to use up myself...  here is my first play:

This one features some lovely paper from HoneyBee's Log Cabin collection.  I attempted

to capture its colors with ink though I wasn't completely happy with my inking, this cute little bird from the Spellbinders' Christmas Bird Poinsettia was fun to arrange!

In the end, my CAS-loving-heart was just not convinced!  When in doubt, don't throw it out - start again!  [Besides, one of my seniors will love it just as is!]

The base was cut using Waffle Flower Crafts Micro Grid Panel 2 coverplate.

This green panel was the leftover, inner panel of PB's Double Frames - embossed

with Simon Hurley for Spellbinders' Bark EF.

That's more like it!  Just like that I have a second card for the 

Christmas Kickstart Challenge #97  Don't you love this pink Poinsettia?

Have a great day, my friends!

=] Michele

What's a few challenges between friends?

I was very happy to see my friend Bobby is the 'guest elf' over at Christmas Kickstart #97 - she chose Poinsettias as her theme!  It couldn't come at a more perfect time!  Another dear friend sent a whole collection of Pinkfresh Studio products from one of their Create and Connect sessions.  I fell in love with this one called Joy of the Season that included a press plate with POINSETTIAS!  Having said all that, here is my first playtime:

It's a little homage to a photo that Bobby sent me of ORANGE Poinsettias that she

found at her grocery store - ever since, I remember to include orange Poinsettias to the Season!

Here's another more CAS take on that set:

It wasn't one bit hard to use the colors from Jo's challenge logo:

Speaking of orange flowers - I did mention there would be more tulips, right?  Here are a few more orange tulips for Jules over at Color Hues #107  I loved using another new die from Penny Black called Curvature:

My second time using this set.  This time I die cut the tulips, then stenciled,

and finally embossed with the 3D EF.  It did make using the stencil layers

a little easier.

That's all folks - for now!  I hope you made it over the hump without injury or bother!

=] Michele

Color Hues #107

It's the first of the month and I'm always ready and waiting for the Color Hues combo of the month to show up - Jules does NOT disappoint!  Have you seen this?

 

The entire team did a fabulous job of representing Jules' colors, but it was her very own card that inspired my playtime today.  Check it out HERE it is so beautiful!  All of her die cut flowers brought my Concord & 9th Spring Print set to mind.  You might remember that I cut [almost] a million colors:

Although I only found one shade of orange among these cuts, it was nothing that a little ink-blending couldn't remedy.  No teal?  No problem - I found three A2 panels from C&9th in my stash and cut them using the die - then it was just a matter of piecing them to eye-pleasing perfection using my handy embossed jig.  

By golly, I think I did it!

Once I get started using specific colors, I find it hard to stop at one... you might be treated to a few more tulips soon!

Thanks for stopping by - I hope you'll play along, too!

=] Michele

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