I'd rather be blue...

... thinking of you, I'd rather be blue over you... than be happy ... with somebody else!  Such a great song lyric and the lead-in to my playtime today! 

That sweet Marcia left behind her Pinkfresh class kit for me to have a crack at it.  I was delighted to press a few of their plates!

This Honeysuckle - oh, I know they aren't blue - but give a girl [who doesn't like blue on an ordinary day] the chance to play with that new Cerulean Blue from The Stamp Market, okay!

The honeysuckles were pressed using Betterpress black ink and water colored then cut with the coordinating die.  I added a Pinkfresh pressed Framed Floral Arch - created the same way and cut with the PF coordinating Framed Floral Arch die.  You'll see that I couldn't help but add that texture with my SU Subtle Texture EF to the leftover inner portion. 

Here's another - a bit more CAS ...

My last card uses the Cerulean blue cardstock, a press plate [called Splendid Florals] and that pretty posie from my last playtime planted upon a PTI frame.

Thanks, Marcia, for sharing your goodies! I had a great day - hope you did, too!

=] Michele

Congratulations to Paper Players!

TWO special events today: the Paper Players are celebrating their 700th challenge, and one of their design team members is celebrating her birthday... how do I help but to play along??

LeAnne's the birthday girl and her Sketch is such a fun one... 

A one-layer stencil and a whole lot of inks went into the making of this card...

... but I think they add lots of depth to those otherwise flat flowers!

Once again, I added a textile look to my panel using SU Tasteful Textile EF.

BONUS since I had my stencils out, this one will also be shared with my friends at Just us Girls!  Thanks, Elizabeth - who is also a DT at PP!

That's it for me - off to make Sunday dinner!  Happy birthday, LeAnne!

=] Michele

Color Throwdown #803

Sorry to barge into your weekend again... a quick post as I just needed to bring back Summer after all those Christmas cards ... what better way to do that than with a fun trio of color?  Color Throwdown #803 style...

The Stamp Market once again inspired my design ... still telling myself I don't NEED that Kit! lol

Here is another:

Armed with a bit of colored card stock, it's really amazing how 

new some of our old supplies can feel, right?

Enjoy your weekend, my friends!

=] Michele

Hey, do you hear sleigh bells?

No?  Maybe you will after these... my final Christmas in July cards made with more of those fun, but fiddly Sizzix sets I bought!  Hope you like them!

Sizzix: Bow Tied over Altenew: Dotted Geo debossed Craft Consortium paper

Sizzix: Deck the Halls over Betterpress Pine Branches

Sizzix: Delightful Deer - The Stamp Market cover and PTI frame

decorated with a few Spellbinders Holiday flowers

Sizzix: Funky Trees - I added the snow using scraps of white paper!

 Sizzix: Big Tidings! over some old design papers.

Here is my favorite of all...

Sizzix: Road Trip!  Over a SSS Forest Border... I found the grey frame in my snippets bin 'cuz you know I couldn't throw that baby away!   Isn't that fun?

I think you can tell that it was a fun few days of Christmas in July!  

Thanks for stopping by!

=] Michele

Freshly Made Sketches #646

The amazing Cecile has an extraordinarily darling Sketch for FMS#646!  She brought it to life in her very special way - me?  I'll just cross my fingers that she'll see her Sketch somewhere in my card! lol

My first mistake?  Not using a square card!  But I'm quite sure she won't be one bit mad about it!  

I had a new blue [Cerulean to be exact] from The Stamp Market and their previews of the September kit provided the inspiration for my card today...

have you seen it?  Be still my heart...

If our property tax bill wasn't staring me in the face, I'd be ALL over this kit!  But their little Bloomin' Cute dies did the trick IMHO!

I'm off to plant these posies in the gallery at Freshly Made Sketches - hope you're having a great day!

=] Michele

Christmas in July with Marcia!

Merry July 25th, my friends!  My idea of making Christmas cards with Marcia for our July gathering was a good one.  I may have had ulterior motives as my quest to get help with all the fiddly sets by Tim Holtz I recently bought from Sizzix's sale ... they are cute, but OY are they time consuming.   But who am I kidding... Marcia and I never let anything get in the way of our fun! 

We spent lots of time cutting out the pieces with white card stock intending on adding color where needed on our own time.  With this Santa it wasn't quite as easy as it sounds!  My first card features that process...

Then on my own time I cut another using colored cardstock...

there really isn't much difference, right?  Don't you love that embossing

in the background?  Marcia brought her latest from the SB embossing folder Club.

AND a darling Merry Christmas die set from Waffle Flower.

The letters for my HO HO HO come with this Sizzix set aptly called

Santa Greetings.  Merry Christmas is from an old MFT stamp set

and the snowy hill is one of the very first dies I bought from SSS.

My next card uses Sizzix Delightful Deer - they were cut from kraft and white

and some additional shading was ink-dauber-ed on... aren't they so 

elegant?  Some snow and stars in the sky and a 'leftover' from cutting

a die made a wonderful frame and place to tack the leaves and acorns.

I left it sentiment-free as I think it would make a wonderful 

masculine birthday card, too!

I'm sending this one over to our friends at BYSH Cardmakers Christmas in July!

If you follow my friend Marcia, you will have already been treated to her

magical Snowmen cards this week!  She brought that stencil with her

to share and I couldn't help but start with PINK!

The trouble with finishing our cards while on our own is we have to

improvise on occasion ... like these postage fees and backgrounds - all

from WF's original postage collage set!  It all worked out beautifully!

Marcia was the lucky winner of one of Waffle Flowers' Sneak Peek Kits!

This sweet, stenciled/die cut Christmas tree was in there!

I decorated mine with sparkly red glitter stars [MFT] on twine and placed it in

front of my Mama Elephant window frame with a pretty SSS starry night outside, and a Betterpress-ed sentiment!

Then there was FOOD!  I made my yummy Shanghai Eggrolls and Marcia brought a marvelous blueberry-topped cheesecake - and an extra for Tom who asked if she had another piece thinking it was well worth the hour to drive down for it!  LOL

I have many more of those Sizzix sets and cards made from them to share soon - until then, I'm dashing over to Marcia's post to see how her coloring/piecing session went with only PHOTOS of the sets to follow!  Sorry my friend - I promise not to do that again! 

=] Michele

Schoolhouse Rocks

Do you know what's quick and fun to do between loads?  Die cutting flowers!  Here are a few using some simple 'schoolhouse colors' ... let's start with a closeup - I thought that flower center was a great place to add a little love... you might recognize it from an old favorite Amy Tan embossing folder of mine!

This set of dies was included in a class I took from The Stamp Market

called Fun and Floral-y... not sure if they ever released the dies separately,

but I think ANY flower die would do the trick!

A postage theme seems right on trend!

Thanks so much for your visit today!

=] Michele

White Cap Peonies!

Just a quick post between friends ... lots of photos between loads!  A new stencil arrived and as is my usual habit I 'had a play' right away!

Have you seen this gorgeous number from Altenew?  White Capped Peonies!  Yes, please!  First in warm colors... using the suggested inks from the set...

The look of fabric comes from SU's Subtle Texture.

Then stenciled again in bright playful reds - I see the FMS#635 sketch here... do you?

Do you see seersucker, too?  It's that Altenew Organic Linen embossing that does it!

A little tag holds my sentiment from The Stamp Market's 

class that I took a few years back. 

My next project was inspired by a sweet gal from Texas who visits her family in Michigan each Summer - I'm always grateful when I get a call saying, 'have you got time for me to come look at your cards?'  YES! is always my answer - even when the power is out!  THANKS, KAREN and NANCY!  And also, to my sister-in-law who always says, 'you should frame these!'  

These gorgeous Peonies [die cut] deserved a frame:

It's an 8x8 that I picked up at Home Goods!  I added an embossed piece of

MFT Grout grey and another of Cement grey.  The Peonies are popped up

for dimension and they still fit inside this shadow box frame!

The hardest part was photographing it without my reflection in the glass -

nobody wants to see that!

Okay, back to other SORTS of fun... have a great Monday!

=] Michele

Freshly Made Sketches #645

It has been a very lazy weekend!  But lazy days always include getting my craft on!  Here is my first entry for Freshly Made Sketches #645 - I nearly missed it again!

This press plate is one from Pinkfresh Studios called Beautiful Branch!

I had used this one for a little 'loose' water coloring session with my

second wonderful visitor this year... can you put up with a few more?

Last one includes their Twist Pattern press plate!

What's black and white and red all over?

Now I'd better get that card in the FMS gallery before I forget!  But what I won't forget is having such fun with my best Jersey girl - I'm so happy you got TIME OUT for JUST US GIRLS... I think this was the best of the FOUR SEASONS to come to Michigan!  okay enough hints!  Can you guess who it is?

=] Michele

Color Hues #91

Hey you guys!!  Have you had a good week?  It's been a true 'head down-tail up' week of Christmas card making for me this week!  Today, I spent WAY too much time working with this darling set called Over the Rooftops from Concord & 9th today ... 4 hours to be exact! OY!  But I was determined to make it mine!

What better time to give it a first run using lots of Greens and Reds for Color Hues #91?  BTW - even the snowy sky is Eucalyptus green in case you're wondering if I've gone off the rails!

Most of the cardstock comes from Concord & 9th's sampler pack - with

the exception of that eucalyptus which is a Stampin' Up paper.

I'm telling you the car was the FIRST item to be cut - I have such wonderful

memories of my dad and his Ford Country Estate wagon!  We kids knew if

he said get your pillows and blankets we were hitting the road!

I thank you for stopping by!

Have a great weekend!

=] Michele

The Flower Challenge #93 Reminder

Hey there! Just little old me, reminding you that you still have plenty of time to create those floral birthday cards for The Flower Challenge #93!  Here's my [same] floral of a different color, and arrangement:

Inside: 

Hmmm.  At our age 'special' means every day, doesn't it?? Enjoy your birthday, my friend!

Once again, I have not used 'happy birthday' on the outside of my card.

If you've made one already, go ahead - make our day with another - before the 25th that is!

=] Michele

I.D.E.A.S. WORD Power and Can YOU Handle the Pressure!

I had a little look-see into my stencil stash yesterday as I prepped for a Fall DT card and came across one that didn't include flowers but seemed perfect for a little aimless inking - and that was just what I needed on a hot Sunday afternoon!  

Darnell's I.D.E.A.S. is on week three: embossing. So, after stenciling I embossed... see what you think...

HoneyBee's Burlap adds such a lovely textile touch to my panel inked with 

Berry Branches stencil from Papertrey Ink.

This sentiment is an oldie from a company I used to represent

called The Cat's Pajamas... I think Alma is now a digital company but

don't take my word for that... speaking of words.   

I think the gals at WORD POWER #7 will love that sentiment!

and if not - how about Can you Handle the Pressure? They have an

option of stripes or checks - not sure if this fits the bill, but it is

always an 'anything goes' challenge! 

WAIT maybe Stencil Fun??  Those gals make it too easy and FUN!

I see those 'berries' as grapes - ready for Lucy Ricardo to stomp!

I'm off to stomp out my dirty laundry - happy Monday friends!

=] Michele

A few more Christmas cards!

Good morning, my friends!  I got so caught up in water coloring that I forgot to share the second helpings I made for Color Hues using their fun and simple color combo: aqua and white!  They sure made beautiful Christmas cards using those Day and Night Betterpress plates from Spellbinders...

After enjoying Marcia's Pinkfresh inks all these years I finally

added a few to my stash... their pads work very well for

inking up those press plates!

My ornaments were cut with Hero Arts Fancy Oranments Infinity dies then

embossed with my newest embossing folder from Penny Black.  

The Season's Greetings sentiments are also Betterpress-ed from Spellbinders. 

I'm so sorry I missed the deadline for Color Hues, but not one bit sorry to use Nancy's pretty color combo for Christmas!

Hope you're having a fun weekend of crafting or what makes YOU happiest!

=] Michele