Just us Girls #771

Hello, friends!  I hope you all enjoyed Easter or Passover and got to celebrate it with the ones you love!  

I have one more bunny who asked to play at Just us Girls #771 and their fun moodboard:

Click on that photo and you'll find my inspirational rainbows in many

forms: balloons, graphics, and eggs!  Since our Easter Sunday was enjoyed

with a gentle rain all day, my bunny  and his buddy had another idea:

MFT: Weather with You stamps and dies; Starburst Sentiment Strips;

and a very old, much-loved Cuttlebug EF.

That's about it for me this morning - my laundry awaits!  Hope your weeks start out with more fun than mine!

=] Michele 

The Paper Players #733 a color challenge!

The Paper Players #733 and Stef's gorgeous colors came in handy when a new set arrived from the latest release from Alex Syberia Designs.  I was the luckiest to have won a gift certificate and I put it to use [and then some] very quickly!

Here are Stef's colors:

The premier outing for ASD's Charming Floral background press plate was pressed into cotton card with NO INK for the first pressing!  I then used inks in Stef's colors to color the florals using the coordinating stencils:

Thanks so much, Stef!

I'm always happy to share my inks and I'll tell you that I used a water brush and TSM's Sea Glass ink to watercolor the background.  Concord & 9th's Just Sayings dies were used for this sweet sentiment for my granddaughter's birthday in May - a smattering of sequins seemed appropriate for the occasion.

I LOved how this turned out so much that I had to make another... you know my rule by now:  why make just one?  I can't wait to press it again as intended with the background inking, too!

Flower: SB Woodland Tales floral die but the floral center is from a different SB die set

to mimic those on the press plate.

Sentiment: PFS Magnolias stamp set

There is just something about these muted colors that make my grey-loving heart happy!

Thanks for all the congratulations on my new design team position!  I'm still in the someone pinch me frame of mind!

=] Michele

Freshly Made Sketches #682

I'm very pleased and honored to announce that I have been invited to join that fabulous team at Freshly Made Sketches!!  I had thought my design team days were coming to an end, but how could I say no to these gals?  It truly has been one of my very favorite challenges for years!

Judy has a really fun Sketch #682 for me to 'cut my DT teeth' on - you'll love it, too:

First, to decide how and what to use for the card panel.  I was so tempted to

use more than one color paper but decided to keep it 'clean' by stenciling a 

tone-on-tone panel, then cutting it in three pieces.  It worked out well with that 'fishnet' look.  When you see my card, you'll understand why...

Have you 'caught' the debossed detail I've added to the cut edges?

This fun set from HoneyBee has seen a lot of action - I'm hoping to see 

a little fishing action in my near future!  Come on warm weather!

Of course, you know I'd be thrilled if you played along, too!  I know a few of my friends already play at Freshly Made Sketches but we'd be so happy to see a few new faces and cards in our gallery!  There is TONS of inspiration at the FMS blog as well as all the details you'll need to enter before 3pm EDT on April 21st.  

Thanks in advance! x

=] Michele

Supplies:

HoneyBee Stamps: Rod & Reel stamps and dies; Hooked on You [sentiment] stamps and dies; Fishnet stencil

Oval of cardboard found in my snippets

The Stamp Market: Sea Glass card stock

Pigment Craft Co. Jade ink for stenciling

Ellen Hutson: Stitching Lines die for stitched detail 

The Flower Challenge #101 Reminder

As I was shopping my stash, I came across this lovely die set - I'm not sure that it was used before storing?  Shame on me!  But they are perfect for our Spring colors this month!  Spellbinders: Sakura Blossoms - the real thing must be blooming in Japan!

I created my own paper with these inks:

I can only imagine how gorgeous they are in real life!

My stash of Betterpress-ed sentiments keeps giving!

You won't believe the beauty of Spring colors from my teammates... let's go...

=] Michele

A little bit of stenciling fun!

Ahhh the dreaded Monday - my sidekick had gone back to work after a fun week off and I got back to business as usual... with a side of laundry!

A little bit of stenciling was just what I needed, and I had a beautiful set from a friend to make my 'work' fun!  Thanks, lovely friend!

First, this wonderful PFS stencil set was treated to some bright colorful inks:

You might not think these would work, but I think the results are wonderful:

This darling little SSS Layered Berry Bird seemed quite happy about it, too.

One more for Easter... you know this happy (Waffle Flower Crafts) bunny has to make an appearance each year!

Here are the inks for this version:

Since I've used pastels, stencils, and florals I'm sending this one

over to my friends at TIME OUT!!

Now, I'd better get those Easter cards in the mail!

=] Michele

Just us Girls #770 Word Week

It's WORD WEEK at Just us Girls #770 and they have chosen YOU as their word.  It's a good one - I always love creating cards for you, and you and I'd never leave YOU out! lol

I thought about those fun dies from SSS that become the focal point - and I had just the sweet little stenciled background at hand!  I love it when Marcia and I stencil together - this one is hers from PTI called Wild Blooms.  It just makes me smile... hope it makes you smile, too...

Thank you, Carol!

A quick little card just for YOU!

=] Michele

Save it for a rainy day?

I have been waiting for a challenge that would allow me to sing this little ditty... thanks Amy!  Freshly Made Sketches #681 is just what I needed:  

Sing along if you know it...

A wonderful friend from Denmark that I met in Canada brought me this darling pocket die... I'm not sure I ever found a source for it here in the US.  I used my fave SU! EF to add 'denim' texture to my cardstock before cutting.  The pocket has a wonderful double-top-stitch detail that I added to the seam using my old faithful EH Stitching Lines.  And finally, the star of the card: that gold star!  It was cut using one die from a nesting set from Ellentina Classic Collection and Scrapbookusaca.com.

This week is flying by and with the weather we've managed to get one good walk in and a few 'I didn't have to cook' meals - that's a vacation, right?

=] Michele