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 

Just us Girls #759

It's stencil time over at Just us Girls and I recently added some pinks to my ink stash - a perfect time to get out a favorite stencil set from Altenew: Stencil Art: Charming Delight! Here are the inks - btw don't give me credit for the choices!  I followed those in the packaging precisely!

After about 14 stenciled layers, here are the results:

I couldn't help but add texture as I have in the past using

my SU! Timeworn Type embossing folder.

I SAW THE SUN AND BLUE SKIES TODAY!!!  yay!  Hope you did, too!

=] Michele

Penny Black Sketch #4 and #5

I ran out of daylight yesterday for photographing the second card I made using the PB&J Sketch #4 using those gorgeous Classy Frames.  I really dug deeply into my Penny Black stash and found very few of their floral stamps - something to remedy in 2025!  Have you been watching Jill's videos?  Her Sketches are easily adjusted to make every one of their darling stamp sets work for you.  Watch to see how she takes those Sketches in three directions!  Here is another one from me...

PB Bouquet Ballet c. 2019 - PB Classy Frames - Spellbinder EOM March 2023 

and Betterpress sentiment

Sketch #5: Border Designs, arrived in my inbox and this one really speaks 'anything goes!'  It is a wonderful time to use those stamps that you don't have the coordinating dies for!

For instance, this darling Tulips for You from my stash... and I even found a way to make what I have work for the die cuts in her border!

Those banner hearts are from an old favorite company Lil' Inkers!  I decided

to leave the border color untouched for this one.  Another Betterpress-ed sentiment

and it was done!

I found an even OLDER floral in my stash - no dies for this one either... I have no clue whatsoever how long this MFT Jumbo Ric Rac has been in my stash, but I couldn't find one single vertical die to mimic that cutie Jill used!

PB Dahlia - MFT Dienamics Jumbo Ric Rac

We had even more snow overnight - I don't even want to know how much.  Though the temps have risen to a balmy 21 F.!  I will just stay in my cozy craft space until Spring!  Thanks for stopping by - your visits always help!

=] Michele

Penny Black Sketches #3 and #4!

There is something really soothing about water coloring Penny Black images - and having a guide like Jill Foster can't hurt!  It truly took my mind off of the weather - don't ask!

Here are two cards for her Sketch #3 using Big Bold Sentiments as the 'stage' for a few more of those darling PB kids...

My list is growing very long indeed - but I just can't get enough of

these sweet PB Little Guys!

Here I've used an alpha set from The Cat's Pajamas to cut the

word AHOY then added a little fun wavy texture using my die cut machine and a cover plate from Alex Syberia Designs called Mermaid's Melody.

The other Little Guy in that PB set is fishing - for a Valentine in this case! lol

The XOXO die from Lawn Fawn was cut using cardboard, and I added the rectangle of color to the card base using PB's Background Basics Stencils set and a few CP inks.

Last one... for Sketch #4 using PB's Classy Frames:

If you have treated yourself to those videos, you will see that Jill uses the Sketch in several different ways using an embossed panel, the Classy Frames background cut, and either characters or florals.  This little frog-kisser was begging to play!  I obliged and this time used my Copics to color while watching 'IF' on Prime... a must-watch, my friends!

An old Cuttle Bug embossing folder an ink blended background and 

a 'stickled' little heart sealed the deal!  I'll keep the sentiment for the inside.

I'd bet money she found her Prince!

Just like that, I have a new video and Sketch #5 waiting for me in the wings!  Tell me if you're playing along, too - and if you have a favorite today!  Thanks so much for stopping by!

=] Michele