Definitely cute! PBSC October 2024

Since I've already shared the 'spooky' today, hows about a bit of cute?  Marcia had a whole 'shoe box' full of cute to share last time I was there!  This guy stole my heart...

Penny Black: Beaming - to say from 'ear to ear' is an understatement!!

I'm sharing him with the gals at Penny Black Saturday Challenge in

the last minutes of their AG Cute or Spooky challenge!

Here are a few more from her Lili of the Valley collection:

I swear my eldest had this very winter coat...

Thank you, Marcia... can't wait to share some things with you next week!

=] Michele

Just a little spooky for your day...

... from Tom's camera this time!

The Ghost of Cassiopeia Nebula! 1200 light years away!

Tell me, do you see one large, or many ghosts?

And a dew-covered spider's web - too close for comfort.

zoom in to see the amazing droplets on that web!

I don't even want to know where the spider is - geesh!

The August 'Sturgeon' moon...

Happy Halloween, friends!

=] Michele and Tom

Talk to the hand!

Do I hear groaning?  Have I gone too far?  Will you hate me if I use that hand one more time?  [not that I promise to stop there!]

Color Throwdown #817 made me do it...

It won't be long before we hear those sleigh bells!!

Thanks, Lori, for these gorgeous colors!

=] Michele

Give it a hand!

As I work my way through the final stack of Christmas cards for my Seniors, this little hand keeps drawing me back to yet another way to use it!

Here are two more... seems she has a romantic side...

I found just the right dies to create mistletoe among the Concord & 9th Festive Blooms die set.

The cheeky sentiment is from a very old EH 'Tis the Season set.

Love Spun EF by Amy Tangerine is available at Amazon

I don't mean to tell you HOW to vote, but I'm sure hoping you DO vote!  

Thanks everybody!

=] Michele

The Paper Players #713

The Paper Players team honored me with a 'Cut Above' award for my little tag card last week - thanks, team!  What better way to say thank you than with another card?  Ann has a fun Sketch for #713 and I knew just the set I wanted to play with again - it was 'singing my song' so to speak.

First off, here is Ann's sketch:

After looking at the wonderful cards the team has made, I'm quite

certain there should have been TWO panels on the card front.  Well,

by now you know I often forget these details - oy.

I found a way to 'indicate' them with embossed lines - two directions.

See if you can spot them...

PB's Sing Joy was the main ingredient I mentioned - a very sweet friend sent me

the coordinating dies for my birthday - aren't I the luckiest?  Among them were those cute little musical notes!  The treble clef and journal card are from another gift and the 'sheet music' I stamped on the panel is PB's Music Background.  

The sentiment is one of those I'd Betterpress-ed.

Thank you, Ann, for starting my week off on the sweetest notes!

=] Michele

Okay, I THOUGHT I was done...

Done for the week that is ... but when Alex Syberia Designs released their latest on Tuesday, October 22nd, I ordered two items immediately.  I have to tell you their service is unmatched: ordered Tuesday, ASD Garden Blooms [and one other] arrived on Thursday... and here is her premier...

Also features a sentiment from ASD Tulips Treasure

Texture from SU! Subtle Texture

PFS gems

I was sad to read that our card making community has lost another talented maker.  Barbara Anders' Paper Pursuits started in 2008 and her design resume is impressive - I have long been smitten with her work for MFT and all the cards she made as a founding member of Color Throwdown.  

Todays' card uses the colors from Color Throwdown #816.  Do stop by their blog to read the heartfelt words and gorgeous works of art her team have honored her with.  Perhaps you will be inspired to make a card in her honor, too.

Michele

Since this is a stenciled piece - I'm happy to share it with JUGS#750, as well!

Thanks, Bobby!

Freshly Made Sketches #659

Hey there, friends!  Another oldie but cutie came out to play today - Amy's Sketch at Freshly Made Sketches seemed the perfect place for them...

...we'll see if she agrees!

I tipped the Sketch on its side, stamped these sweet Waffle Flower Winter Wishes kids in CP Blackjack ink, and a trio of CP inks for their 

cheeks, hats, earmuffs, or mittens.  

I added a layer of snow for a hill to hide behind 

adding details with SSS Stitched Hills and Slopes dies.

A quick search of my Christmas supplies found a simple 'snowflake' stamp

in a discontinued PFS set which I stamped in Delicata Silver ink.  

That's it for my 'playtime' this week - thanks so much if you stopped by and even more if you left me a little comment!  I appreciate them so much!

I better get this in the FMS659 gallery before I forget!  

=] Michele

Peace on Earth Christmas #74

Another sweet Penny Black set from my Christmas stash came out to play with Peace on Earth Christmas Challenge #74!  Have you SEEN their photo inspiration??  It was tough to choose which photo to be inspired by!

For today, the fox won!

PB Snow much Fun; sentiment strip from HoneyBee's Holiday Cheer paper pad;

SSS Tall Pines EF, and Shimmer Oval die S679.

A quick trip to drop this off at the POE gallery and then it's back to work I go - hi ho, hi ho!

=] Michele

Double D's Pumpkin, pumpkin!

I'm finally ready to start Christmas cards for friends and came up with a design that uses the same set, but each can be different... does that make sense?  Am I the only one who cares that every card is different?  Probably!

Anywho... while searching for a different stencil these pumpkins from The Ton fell out from their packaging... light bulb moment!!  Pause the Christmas cards - it's time for a pumpkin card for Double D's October 2024 Pumpkin, pumpkin challenge!

My neighbor has one of those stacks of pumpkins on her front porch - you know the ones, right?  This little Concord & 9th die set wanted in on that stacking action:

She's much better at it than I am! and it was simple surgery to remove the star

from her fingertips!  I'm already imagining what else she could hold!

Looking at this photo, I wish I had taken the time to fussy-cut those white

edges from my pumpkins... next time!

Supporting products:

W&W Audrey panel cut from that pretty plaid paper from the DD girls - so is her sleeve, and those little LF leaves! 

I found a bit of wood veneer paper for the 'tabletop' and the sentiment

is one from PTI's Just Sentiments: Spooky stamp set.

Today's nails - a rich russet in honor of the season!

lol

Off it goes to the DD gallery - thanks for the wonderful inspiration, Dar & Diane!

=] Michele

Color Hues #97

Another opportunity arose to 'play' while creating today!  Color Hues #97: Olive and Mustard worked beautifully together with my Penny Black friends:

I just couldn't get these Wellies [from PB Christmas Fun] out of my head when I thought Olive!  and a bit of Mustard worked its charm for his little feathered friend.  A gift inside with Christmas wrapping paper that I'd buy in a heartbeat!  I'd bet that candy cane is butterscotch - certainly NOT mustard flavored! ewwww. lol

I found a fitting sentiment among those in the MFT Toasty Greetings set, the postage panel from WF and also that lovely snowflake cover.  It all came together so quickly when I found this big snowflake in my snippets!

Happy that you stopped by!  See you again soon!

=] Michele

Freshly Made Sketches #658

I'm so swamped with things I must do that I have to sneak in a challenge while doing so! Bet you understand!  Here's where my playtime landed today... Narelle's darling sketch #658, that's where!

I don't think she intended her sketch to restrict our creations, so I took

her rectangles as postage die cuts.  I had another MFT set that

also comes out to play each year, too!  A few from the set were the perfect size!

Can you blame me for craving toasted marshmallows now?

=] Michele

Paper Players - #712 Tag it!

Hi, friends!  I know it's been a few days since I've posted - OR made a card!  I'm head-down-tail-up on finishing up those cards for Bringing Smiles to Seniors - making the cards is the easy part - stamping/writing inside sentiments takes much longer!

My friend LeAnne and her Paper Players were the impetus for my card today - these MFT Selfies just have to come out to play every Christmas!  After Copic-coloring, I kept this one CAS and made it a tag!  Hope they don't mind the bow - but it's a tag challenge, right?

A nested postage die set from Waffle Flower Crafts was used to cut the panel.

That fun sentiment is from the MFT set - isn't it perfect?

Thanks, Paper Players!!  Such an honor!

Christmas Kickstart #91

Christmas Kickstart #91 has such a beautiful inspiration photo and color theme!  But don't take my word for it...

Isn't it lovely?  I was first drawn to those snowy branches and bright red reindeer... but then this happened... I remembered that cute little hand from the 

Concord & 9th Tree Topper die set I recently purchased!

My blues are a little more muted - or perhaps it's the gloomy day I'm having here -

but I did manage to bring three shades - two using patterned paper and one pretty glitter-y paper for the star!  

Don't you love her red nails?  After very carefully adding a bit of crimson Copic, I added a bit of Nuvo Crystal Drops to each nail for shine!

I pulled out all those 12x12 Christmas pads that my cousin gifted to me - this on has 15 more card-cousins for those seniors!  I hope to have another day just like it today!

Thanks, Jo and Faith for inspiring my card!

=] Michele

The Flower Challenge #96 Reminder

A gentle reminder that there is still plenty of time to stencil a few more cards for our gallery, my friends!  Come on - you know you have stencils that would love to play!

I've chosen another from my stash from Altenew: Tranquility Rose... it has a vintage look to it IMHO...

I blended a panel of Bristol card using the residual inks from my

blending brushes after stenciling my rose and leaves - it got a spritzing

of Wplus9's Pure Color Shimmer spray.  After THAT dried, I took it

for a spin through my Switch using Altenew's Dotted Swirls debossing plate.

This sweet sentiment is one from HoneyBee's Daisy Layers Bouquet set.

BTW you don't HAVE to stencil your flower/flowers!  Stenciling your background would be just fine with us!

Okay, that's enough from me - run over to The Flower Challenge and be inspired by all the lovely stenciling from my teammates, won't you?  Thanks always!

=] Michele

ONE more Point-settia!

 I knew I was forgetting something!  How could I?  My friend Amy Rohl is hosting the Color Throwdown!

Here's her really fun prompt...

I'm cutting it close... here is my card!

Yes, that's the wonderful Concord & 9th Festive Blooms again!

Off it goes to the CTD#814 gallery!

=] Michele

Poinsettia Parade!

I took full advantage of the size of the Spellbinders' Scenic Poinsettia embossing folder and with only one full sheet of kraft cardstock, I had four more Christmas cards to send!

Here is a look at that fabulous embossing - today I took advantage of the 'debossed' side...

Armed with a handful of inks and my small WF blending brushes I added color just to the florals and other areas that are debossed.  Then, like magic, I swiped my Versa Clair inks [first grey and then black] and all the gorgeous details came to life!

Then, as if that weren't enough, I over-stamped each A2 panel with an older stamp from Wplus9 in Delicata gold and silver!  Here's a closeup of that detail:

I finished all four cards using Concord & 9th's Festive Blooms sentiments.

Two with vellum banners and gold heat embossing:

and two more with kraft banners:

While I had this embossing folder out, it was time I pressed one in white - I used a combination of saltwater taffy ink and Nuvo Aqua Shimmer to add color... isn't it pretty?  

The smallest frame die from Penny Black's Classy Frames was

used to bring one of their Joy & Warmth sentiments into focus!

One more?  I couldn't help but use the FMS657 Sketch again...

This time, I replaced Karren's tag with a Honey Bee Lovely Layered: Poinsettia - but 

managed to add a tiny tag, too!  

It holds another PB sentiment from their Cuddle Up set.

All the pieces were cut from water colored card - some of you may remember

that debossed stitching from MFT - why they ever retired it is beyond me!

Okay, I've ignored that laundry long enough!  See you next time!

=] Michele

Color Hues #96

Julie B. was in my creative brain today when I came across a Betterpress-ed panel in my stash... thanks, Julie!  Your colors at Color Hues #96 were just right!

I hadn't ever blended ink onto the Betterpress paper, so I didn't know what I'd end up with as it has quite a 'soft hand' to it.  I needn't have worried...

I pressed two panels and blended the purple and orange distress inks a little differently on each - since I didn't need more Halloween cards,

I simply used one to cover my card base and popped the other on top.

That purple twine holds a little surprise on the inside:

I have my friend Marcia to thank for this bit of creepy fun - thanks my friend!

I found several googly eyes that fit the bill and a Halloween greeting

from an old 12 Kits packet!  He wouldn't hold still for long... do they ever?

My resident KIA let me know that spiders often have 4 or more eyes and even found evidence of it on the web...

Ruined my night's sleep, but I was happy to oblige - upped the creep factor, right?

Hope you had a happy crafty weekend!

=] Michele