Playing Cards with Friends - September 2023

I'm Playing Cards with my friend Richard Breaks today!!  You may know him as Mr. Cardmaker?  Or @rlbreaks on Instagram.  A card maker by any other name has nothing on this guy - what a fun, and fantastic designer he is!

As thrilled as I am that you are back in The Mitten I DO know how unsettling a long-distance move can be, I'm gonna go easy on you!  Here is our assignment:

Use a background stamp to create a emboss/resist panel then create a card [or two] from it!  EASY PEASY, right?  Too easy?  

Make it a Christmas card! and include a sentiment on vellum!

I recently won a wonderful SSS Quilted background stamp on Instagram from Miriam Prantner - thanks again, Miriam!   I stamped, and white heat embossed the image onto a 6x6" piece of watercolor card stock.  Then went in search of a few inks and found some that would mix into each other with a little drama... I think I found the right ones...

I use a little sheet of acetate to add water-y puddles of ink to my embossed

panel - it makes it easier to put the color where you want it!

From this panel, I was able to get two usable pieces - any time I'm making Christmas cards I find SOME way to make more than one, believe me! 

I gold heat embossed a wonderful sentiment from ASD's Angels' Bells set 

onto a 'cummerbund' of vellum for card #1.  

A sprinkling of PF Champagne Glitter Drops couldn't hurt.  

Waffle Flower Crafts' Oversized Friend Print die made it a breeze to 

include vellum on my sentiment shadow layer.  

An old snowflake die - maybe SSS? - looked pretty good cut from vellum but even better with a stroke of Wink of Stella!

Another sentiment from that ASD set stamped in Pigment Craft Co.'s Turmeric ink and my job here is done!   

wait!  I have a bonus!

I couldn't let all that gorgeous ink go to waste...

I did a little 'mop up' with a baby wipe then tucked it into a pretty Poinsettia embossing folder with a panel of bristol paper!  A card will follow, promise!

Okay, Mister Cardmaker, I'm on my way over to see if you've unpacked all of your crafty goodies, or just enough to play today!  Either way, I just know you'll knock my Christmas stockings off!  Thanks so much for Playing Cards, my friend!

Thanks too to all of YOU for stopping by today!

=] Michele

No-stamping with Therese!

That title doesn't quite get my point across but, if you watch the replay of Therese Calvird's [Lost in Paper] LIVE crafty session HERE it will become clear to you!

I had such a fun time this morning CASE-ing Therese's card.  Someone told me recently that when CASE-ing a design, at least *THREE things should be adjusted to make the design your own - thanks, Jen. T!

Ready?  It all started with choosing my papers:

*Where Therese used solid paper mixed with plaid paper for her flowers - I went with ALL patterned.  Since this paper from PTI is very thin, I first adhered four of them to a panel using a double-sided adhesive sheet.

*I didn't use any aqua or green - instead using solid pink and orange for the stems, leaves, and ferns!

*Therese did some very subtle stenciling on her base panel - I did too but went with dots instead of stripes!  Orange ink on this bright pink certainly kept it subtle. SO subtle that I feel a closeup is a good place to start...

After fussing with the placement everything was adhered using thin foam squares or glue then popped up on my card base.

  

Therese, I always have so much fun hanging with you and your friends!  Thanks for showing us how to make 'no stamping' card designs POP!  OH, and I found a little *BIRD that perched perfectly on my card!  

=] Michele

Freshly Made Sketches #604

I happen to LOVE every card Cécile Ribon makes - so when I can, I love to create using her sketches at Freshly Made Sketches...

Looks like square cards are the order of the day.  I had a little freebie tucked inside my Waffle Flower package.  Their sweet little stocking came in handy today - so did these colors:

Also playing: a little wood from WF Nested Domes, a star from MFT's Blueprints 18, another of those Pinkfresh Banner Christmas - altered - and a domed panel found in my packaging that just needed a little trim and splatter!

My tiny stockings were cut from Mixed Media paper and ink blended using grey and greens then hung with care using twine and enamel dots!

Hope you have a fun day planned today!  Thanks for spending a bit of it with me!

=] Michele

Thank you, Deer!

Hello, my friends - so glad you stopped by today!

I have a few more Waffle Flower Crafts Folk Art Deer to share with you!  There is a 12x12 cardstock storage container where I keep all the Christmas patterned papers I've purchased over the years from this place or that ... it's amazing how far one sheet of paper can go!

Take this one from October Afternoon for example ... it was a done deal when I found it years ago - loved BOTH sides of it... and bonus - it has a lovely Nordic feel to it that goes with that deer so well!

A few dies were used in the making: 

Altenew's Ornate Nesting Dies,

an oldie from Winnie & Walter,

and Pinkfresh Studio's Fancy Circles and Lacey Edgers

I spent an hour of my time to stamp, emboss and die cut the 

Pinkfresh Studio: Basic Banners Christmas sentiments.  

Time spent now, for time saved later!

Isn't my Folk Art Deer looking right at home?  I sure wish I could get my hands on more of this Let it Snow design!  I love this last one - especially with those stripe-y pjs I dressed my deer in! 

Now, before I head back to my studio - I have ONE more WF Postage Collage card to share - then I'll stop!  Since I've used all the colors of FALL for my Christmas card, I'm sending it over to D&D at their September Stencil Fun Challenge!

Thanks, my friends, for supporting my enthusiasm over these products!

=] Michele 

Waffle Flower Christmas Postage Collage!

I have about 10 minutes before my dryer starts buzzing - I warned promised to share the next batch of Postage Collage cards with you!  This Christmas Postage Collage stencil set arrived on Saturday - I got to play a little bit yesterday, and once this morning!

Ready. set. here you go...

First in shades of minty green and pinks...

I stamped the details in silver ink - but won't try that again until I get a new ink pad.  After everything was mounted, I went back in with a sparkly Gelli Roll pen... 

there is no easy way to show that sparkle...

Then I went for stenciling on cream card stock - could be my favorite today...

It also has a bit of sparkle...

and warmer ink tones...

Hope you're having a great start to your week - thanks for stopping by!

=]  Michele

Folk Art Reindeer - even one for Color Hues #72

The Color Hues team and guests are honoring a fallen teammate, Lindsey, who lost her battle to ovarian cancer a year ago.  It's such a wonderful experience to find true friendships here in blogland - it's even harder to lose one of them.  

Here are their colors for Challenge #72 in honor of Lindsey who loved these colors as much as anyone!  Something tells me she wouldn't mind a Christmas card.

I purchased a new little die from Waffle Flower recently and think he's just about as cute as he can be ... especially in these fun colors!  

I sure wish I had a purple ink to match the purple paper I found in my stash!

On the other hand, I suppose it is a color HUES challenge, right?

An older frame die from Papertrey Ink created the perfect setting for snowy hillsides

for my duo of deer.  You'll notice I clipped the antlers off of one of them to make her a doe.

Here are a few other 'folk art' color combinations...

Snowy hillside dies from The Greetery.  Altenew's Dotted Starburst Debossing plate.

MFT Snow Globe Greetings

I'm also working on the Christmas Postage Collage stencils I found in my mailbox on Saturday ... hope you are as excited to see them as I am to use them!

=] Michele

Die cut, stamp, and put on repeat!

By now you must know that my heart has been completely captured by my new Waffle Flower Crafts Postage Collage Bundle!  I have found so many sets in my stash [today all of them are Waffle Flower designs] that work beautifully with it, provided me two days of delight, and reminded me why I bought them in the first place - they are so adorable! 

I'll share a few with you today - they really are self-explanatory, so I'll just show my cards.  If you have any questions about how, what, or where just drop me a note in the comments [don't forget your email address] and I'll be happy to respond.

First up, an ode to a wonderful friend in France who I miss dearly - come back, Anita! we all miss you!

Easily you can see that the Postage Collage die was stamped and colored then cut apart. 

here's how simple they make it - one of the stencils makes a 'mask!'

After coloring, I put it under a WF brick wall stencil to add a little selective 'cobblestone' detail:

Cutting my stamp sections apart made it easy to make TWO cards!

It's looking and feeling a little more Fall-like around here - it's time for WF Postage Collage loves Fall!

and a little trick-or-treating!

We all know what comes next - while I don't even want to think about that four-letter word - a little ice skating would be fun...

I'll leave the snowmen to the kids across the street!

Their yard looks just like this after all the snowballs have been rolled

big enough to build their snow people!

Christmas is coming before we know it - here I've used the WF Postage Collage at its best with a little help from Big Bear and Bird...

... and spending Christmas with YOU!

Okay.  I'll leave you alone the rest of the weekend!  BUT there is a set of
Christmas collage stencils on their way to me... don't say I haven't warned you!

=] Michele