PB Sketch #10

I have two pretty cards using Jill's Sketch #10 over on their PB&J YouTube channel!  If you're watching too, you'll know Sketch #11 hit today - I better get busy!  

Jill has used wreathes for her sketch and after I shopped my stash and found only one wreath die, and not one wreath stamp - but that's okay I had a work-around for that using one of those tiny little stamps from an Altenew set.  There were lots that don't get much attention.  First - here's that Sketch:

I'll share my stamped wreath first... 

While I couldn't find a wreath stamp, I did find an oval shaped die to 

use as a guide.  A very light pencil tracing made free style stamping quite easy!

Altenew Eclectic Bouquet and PF Oval Foliage stamps worked their charm,

and I love the Altenew Misty Moor ink for these.

This wonderful Altenew Rustic Rose was added to my stash during the Christmas sales.

They had me at that bow!  And I just couldn't bring myself to cut that off that leaf

so I just moved my panel down to the lower left corner and skipped Jill's detail

around the edge of the panel.

Pinkfresh Studios Layered Wreath, Spellbinders' Christmas Bird Poinsettia die set,

and a beautiful sentiment from Penny Black's Joy & Warmth came together

beautifully for my die cut wreath card - a wee bit less CAS than Jill's example, but 

I couldn't help myself - I doubled the wreath and added more dimension with the

added foliage and pretty Poinsettia! 

          If you have this wreath die you might wonder where that detail comes from?  While

it was still wet I flipped it over and used a stylus on a mouse pad to add it.

The wonderful die that Jill uses to add a little interest to her card panel is another

on my very long wish list - this 'old thing' from Lil' Inkers worked just fine.

You've all been so kind with your comments - will you be as sad as I when this series comes to an end?  Only two more to go!

=] Michele

The Flower Challenge #99

We're baaaack!  I hope you are enjoying a most Happy New Year - are you ready to get The Flower Challenge party started?  We can't wait to see all the gorgeous floral cards you will share with us in 2025!

Without further ado, here is our 99th challenge:

I have a new and larger commitment to my Seniors for 2025 - I'd like to deliver to all of them in my area: 380 at the time of this writing!!  YIKES!  SO, on occasion, I'm going to make one of my cards for this challenge into a Christmas card - using the challenge parameters, of course!  Ready?

I used two shades of fuchsia pink cardstocks from Concord & 9th for the main

Poinsettia from HoneyBee and curry card for my SB Poinsettia Corner 

Better-pressed panel and leaves! 

I STILL have plenty of those premade Christmas sentiments - this one

from The Ton.

Honestly this is my favorite shade of pink - isn't it lovely with that curry color?  

Okay, we really love ALL the pink flowers so use what you love, and we'll love it, too!

Let's go see what my talented teammates have created shall we?  

=] Michele

Can we ever have too many florals?

I certainly don't think there can ever be enough florals in my stash!  I've added one from Penny Black - I know, I know... you are thinking that resolution was short lived, right?  But this one is gorgeous, and I had to play along with Jill's PB&J Sketch #9! 

Anything peek-a-booing from the edge of that sweet little curve

would be perfect, right?  As is usual, Jill shares three ways in her video.

Here's where I found the resolve to 'make do' this time - I simply cut a curve

and when one was a bit boring, I doubled it!

Adding a bit of texture to the base couldn't hurt either!

There is another gorgeous bouquet in the PB Enchantingly set.  Painted as red roses my first go around - perfect for The Paper Players and Ann's theme: Love is in the Air!

See if you can find my inspiration:

Pretty obvious, right?

PB Enchantingly; Sugar Pea Designs: Handwritten Letter; Betterpress sentiment.

Okay, my friends.  It's Monday.  You know the drill.  But GOOD NEWS tomorrow The Flower Challenge is returning!!  YAY - I hope you'll all dust off your florals and play along!

=] Michele

Lots of love all around with PINK and RED!

The second image from Penny Black's Endearment set seemed just the ticket for several challenges that are asking for pink and red - 'tis the season for LOve after all!  

Color Hues and Inkspirational challenges have teamed up making it double the fun!

  

Here is where my heart and that PB set took those lovely colors...

It isn't Valentine's Day without bringing out my old Amy Tangerine 

Love Spun embossing folder - I just love those 'cross-stitched' hearts!

Top it off with an old MFT Stitched Heart and this darling couple -

well, it all makes me happy!

And just like that I have made this card eligible for Time Out #281!

Using THREE of their categories:

Layer, stitch, and heart!

and I've used PB so I can send this one over to my friends at

Penny Black Saturday Challenge using their option of HEARTS!

This has to be some kind of record for me to find FOUR challenges in one card!

=] Michele

Freshly Made Sketches and Just us Girls

I always enjoy seeing January come to its end.  February is short [okay I know it's only a few days] and seems to just fly by - or maybe that's just me?

I have two cards for two challenges today.  It's CASE the Designer time at Just us Girls #760 - Sue's darling card was my inspiration - you know I still had all those Penny Black goodies out - when I went in search for a branch die from their Stocking Stuffers set, a light bulb went off... here's the result:

I had the sweetest little thing to hang from that branch!

PB Endearment [which I fussy-cut] and a sweet little moon from PB Moon and Back.

I watched Jill's Sketch #9 this morning and used her 'peek-a-boo' method

of 'tucking' my branch but left that darling moon perched on the frame.  My frame is a little more ornate [PB Frame It] than Sue's but seems so perfect for this scene.  Of course, you'll find the 'Love you to the Moon and Back' sentiment inside.  You know there are stars - here's a closeup:

and here are the inks, and gelli-roll pen I used to add the stars.

 

One more card - for Freshly Made Sketches #671 from Judy.  After plenty of thinking I decided that grass was perfect for the layers in Judy's Sketch... I hope she doesn't mind that I gave that circle a nudge...

 

PB Moon and Back; EH Landscapes; SSS Circle on a Line die;

PB Loving Friend sentiment.

It's time to reorganize/cleanup/clear the decks!  It could take a while - wink.  Thanks for putting up with my crazy crafty energy lately - it means the world to me!

=] Michele

The SHAPE of things to come! Penny Black Sketch #8

The latest Sketch #8 from Jill over at PB&J is spectacular - aren't they ALL?  

As is usual, Jill shares 3 ways to use her Sketch but all of them

starts with a shaped die-cut - lucky me! I had just the shape she used!

Mine is from PTI called Love to Layer: Torn Edges.

My latest shopping spree included an adorable image from 

Mo Manning called Gift of Love from 2012!!  What I love most about

Penny Black's images is that they are totally timeless!

I couldn't wait to bring her out to play - I always follow the wonderful

images that PB gives us on their packaging but picked my colors from my

own collection of Distress inks:

Okay.  I can't wait another moment:

Isn't she just lovely?  I made sure to make her little friend a Bluebird!

This is a slapstick/cling red rubber stamp I picked up over at 1-2-3 Stamp... since it's new to me, I'm going to send it over to my friends at Penny Black Saturday Challenge! 

Would you believe another order [this time, directly from Penny Black] just arrived?  OH, the crafty fun that awaits me!

=] Michele

A whole lotta toe-tapping goin' on!

My mail delivery person is taking her own sweet time today - and I am losing patience!  You see, I have an order being delivered with a handful of new-to-me Penny Black goodies!  I can hardly wait to get them inky!  SO, while I wait, I took a look at Jill's Sketch #7 over at PB&J and came up with a very pretty substitute or two.

First up - the fun Sketch:

I have to admit to not having anything even remotely like the darling

frame die Jill used here.  But I found an old Paper Smooches die

that had circles and scallops - it made me happy.

As far as the floral goes - it always makes me happy to use these

Waffle Flower Tulips!

The 'extra' greenery comes from The Stamp Market: Boho Botanical

My chosen inks for these pretty red tulips:

Now you know there's another, right?  TOTALLY different:

Yellow tulips - Altenew Leaf Frame and a few more pearls!

It was a gorgeous sunny blue-sky day today and this one really reflects my mood because of it!  Hope you had a great day, too!

And just like that, my package has hit the front porch - see you again soon!

=] Michele

Altenew Inspiration Challenge January 2025

Sadly, it has been so long since I've created a card for Altenew's Inspiration Challenge.  But Aditi's prompt is so gorgeous, I just had to find a way to turn her pillow into a card.  See it for yourself:

 Here's a closeup of that pillow cover:

I did a deep dive into my Altenew stash and found a few sets that would do nicely:

   

    Stunning Cosmos - for the main blooms

    Lavender Bud - for the filler blooms

    Embroidered Foliage - to represent the stitching

    Elegant Sayings - for my sentiment

Ready to see them all together?

My panel started with a panel of Natural card stock from MFT - I sure wish they still offered it - it has lovely natural fibers running through it which I see in the cloth Aditi's pillow cover.  

The natural color played with the inks just the way I'd hoped they would.  

Here are the inks I layered:

Hope they like it - hope you do, too!

=] Michele

Color Throwdown and Freshly Made Sketches

I needed a 'feel better' card for a sweet friend and couldn't help but use the Freshly Made Sketch #670 and colors from Color Throwdown #825.  

I think her pink 'do' will give my friend a smile:

A plaid stencil set and scalloped die from PTI allowed me to create a custom-colored cardstock for the base panel and a pretty Large Scallops die from The Greetery gave a little extra pretty for the landscape panel... it might be nice of me to show you Amy's Sketch! duh!

I sure wish I could deliver those hugs IRL!  AND spend the weekend in

this fabulous room...

Hope your week is off to a wonderful start!

=] Michele

The Paper Players #722

The Paper Players are working with a sketch from Joanne this week - I just happened to have an extra PB kid on my desktop!  

I hear Joanne is okay with artistic license... fingers crossed! My center panel needed to be just a little bit bigger to contain this sweet little Penny Black Fairy Love 'bee.'

Thanks, Joanne and The Paper Players for bringing the fun into my Sunday!

=] Michele

Thank you, Joanne!

Additional supplies:

Waffle Flower Crafts: Outlined Hello

Sub sentiments - The Stamps of Life: Sayings4 Basket

MFT: Wonky Stitched Rectangles

Penny Black Sketch #6 and my crafty New Year's resolution!

Happy Saturday, my friends!  I thought I'd get a jump on Jill's latest Sketch on their PB&J YouTube channel!  We're halfway through the series already - and I'll be so sad to see it end.

There was only one problem... I didn't own one. single. PB EDGER die!  Of course, I had to find a work-around and I'm happy to report I DID IT!!  [Please, don't think that I wouldn't rather use those edger dies - in fact, there is one on its way to me and I'm very excited about it!]

I pulled out a few word dies from Winnie & Walter.  Their font is quite 'box-y' and ones that my limited fussy-cutting skills could work with.  I laid it at an angle on a panel of Bristol card and used a light pencil to trace its edge.  Here's what that looks like:

Before cutting, I used a straight edge to finish the cut line halfway through the word and edge to edge.  After fussy-cutting it was very easy to erase the drawn line, flip it over and use my bone folder to flatten the edges and Bob's your uncle it worked!!  I then cut two of the words from Bristol, blending brown on one and adhering it to the second for a little dimension.  

Ready for a look?  Here is a closeup...

BTW you do realize that mistletoe isn't just for Christmas - nor is this

darling PB Mistletoe stamp - thanks again, Marcia!

OH!  I forgot to link Jill's Sketch:

A few more of those leftover die-cut hearts were perfect substitutes 

for Jill's butterflies don't you think?

I was so pleased with the results that YEPPERS there is another!

This time using the lovely PB Heartsong clear stamp set.

Instead of butterflies or hearts I opted to do a bit more stamping on the

upper edge of the card front.  In both cases I used scraps of thick card

to give the lower panel a little lift without requiring extra postage.

The team at As you See It Challenge were kind enough to choose

my very first entry as one of their favorites - thanks, ladies!  And to thank them,

it's only right to play in their current challenge #340: Pesky Resolutions!

You may have guessed my resolution:

This year, my crafting resolution is 

to find a way to use what I have

in my stash to try to 'work around' having to buy more!

You'll have to go to their website to see which of these cards will be playing along - hey!  While you're there why not share your resolution in card form!

Have lots of crafty fun this weekend - thanks so much for stopping by!

=] Michele