CAS Christmas July 2026

 

Are you as ready as I am for a little cooling off?

CAS Christmas July 2026 Snowman theme [and the AC at 73] was just

what this crafter needed!

This darling little SSS Snuggle Snowman snow-dude was purchased months ago but was still on top of the stack of Snowmen I had at hand!  

Keeping it completely CAS was simple by keeping all that white

with a simple snowy hill and embossing from Penny Black's Encircle EF.

See you soon and thanks so much for stopping by for a visit!

=] Michele

Freshly Made Sketches #743

It's Summertime and the heat [and just the right amount of rain] are making our gardens look like we might know what we're doing! lol  Don't count on it!  But our gardens put me in a floral mood for Judy's Freshly Made Sketches #743... take a peek...

 

Okay, like you might be, I was a little freaked out over those strips, but then

I remembered that our sketches are only a 'glimpse' of what the shapes

might mean to us!  See what I mean...

Two water-colored florals from Pinkfresh Studios' Beautiful Blooms set.

And when I couldn't find a matching 'periwinkle' blue cardstock in my stash,

I just watercolored a strip the same wilted violet as my 'Delphiniums!'

All of this was popped up on my SU Subtle Texture panel and added

to a side-fold A2 card base.

A little stitching and an embossed circle from my snippets and all

I had left was to top it off with another Betterpress-ed sentiment.

I can't wait to see what my teammates have added to the team page since I was there last.  And just what will YOU make to represent those strips?  I look forward to seeing your cards, too!  You have until Monday July 6 at 3 pm to join in!

=] Michele

Just us Girls #829

It's stencil time over at Just us Girls #829 - thanks, Lisa - for the excuse to sit down to ink one of my biggest stencils of all: Altenew's Rock Trumpet!  It's so big, with a little purposeful trimming, you end up with TWO cards!  Here's number one:

LOTS of layers and details galore - even the sweet sentiment was in that set!

I used Altenew's Exposed Brick and Old Olive paper I bought at LeAnne's yard sale!

and here are the chosen inks...

Of course, I couldn't let the trimmings go unloved... this time, I mounted

it to a panel embossed with SU! Tasteful Texture.

Which card do you think I entered at JUGS #829?  Well, you'll just have to go see for yourself!  There are a few hours left to play if you have a mind to!

=] Michele

Thank you, Lisa! Always appreciated!

The Paper Players #792

Joanne has a marvelous sketch for us over at The Paper Players!  I just happened to have a pair of card panels sitting on my desk from an earlier playtime.  Claire inspired me with her patriotic card to 'make one work' for Joanne's sketch and LeAnne inspired my shopping spree at HoneyBee!  

My large oval [Avery Elle] was cut from one of those aforementioned panels that were created

by stamping this fantastic HoneyBee Land of the Free cover rubber stamp onto

white with red ink, blue with navy ink, and red with dark red ink. 

You might recognize my last sketch - FMS740?  I used that design to cut the panels using an old die from SSS into rolling hills then put them back together using 

one red, one white, one blue.

The white banner is C&9th - star from Ellentina [and my first meetup w/Marcia!] -

and this wonderful sentiment is one of fourteen in the HoneyBee Because of the Brave sentiment set. 

OH, before anyone writes asking me about that embossing - 

it is from Provo Craft for Cuttlebug and purchased in 2010 or before - sorry!

Thanks to all three of the Paper Players for bringing my card to life today!

=] Michele

Freshly Made Sketches #742

 

You might notice right off the bat that I've tipped Amy's Freshly Made Sketch #742 this week to accommodate my elements a bit.  Isn't that the best part of using a sketch as inspiration?  We think so.

Marcia gave me this Harvest Home set from The Greetery and it's perfect for all four

of the season's we enjoy in Michigan.  Right now, it's sum-sum-summertime

and on a windy day you can see so many wonderful sail boats out on the

Big Lake - palm trees on the beach?  Not so much... but I don't miss them.

That poor little boat might be battening down the hatches on the

rough waters I've created with Simon Hurley's Bark embossing folder.

BTW the sailboat, umbrella, palm tree, sun and sentiment are all from 

The Greetery's Destination Summer set of stamps and dies.

I can't wait to see what YOU all create using sketch #FMS742 this week!

=] Michele

Color Hues Second Helpings!

Goodness knows that 'second helpings' don't happen often around here these days, but I just couldn't waste one smidgen of that fun waxed paper panel!  Thanks, Color Hues #135! 

A single SB Sunflower Serenade over a waxed paper panel inked with

yellow and CP Blackjack ink + another SB Better Press-ed sentiments

all framed up in a Waffle Flower Crafts Rectangle Frame.

Have a wonderful weekend my friends!

=] Michele

From the Kitchen to the Craftroom!

Oh, I love sunshine just as much as the next gal but once in a while it's nice to have a rainy day that makes you want to stay indoors and get your craft on!

I spent a bit of time over my morning coffee watching Gina K. use one of my favorite 'kitchen supplies' in her studio.  You can watch it HERE.  It features waxed paper and an iron!  SO much fun!  In fact, go watch it now... I'll be here when you get back!

After dusting off my iron, I created my first panel using a bright yellow ink to blend, then used that panel to die cut that Happy Dancing bird again for Color Hues #135!  

Next, I took a second waxed panel and blended color through a stencil...

I couldn't help but use a sunflower as Gina had...

TCW Mini Joyful Sunflower using residual blue ink to color around the image.

I was blown away when she brought out the 'big guns' and used a 3d embossing folder next!  I had two from Altenew that I THOUGHT had coordinating coloring stencils.  Turns out only one of them did - it's that much-loved Ballerina Magnolia that deserves to be in the spotlight more often than I do.

I hope you're catching sight of the subtle texture/pattern that the

crumpled waxed paper gives!

Okay.  Last card panel - I used Altenew's 3D Hello Beautiful embossing

folder - turns out it doesn't work with the stencils as the images are not the

same size.  Oh well... with a few itsy-bitsy detail blending brushes from Waffle Flower Crafts, I was able to add color... it might be my favorite!

Thanks, Gina K. for the rainy-day inspiration to play! and thank YOU for

stopping by - I'd love to know if you try this technique!

=] Michele