Freshly Made Sketches #696

Hello, my friends!  It's time for another Freshly Made Sketches challenge - this time from Jen Mitchell - I really went off the grid this time... this is what happens when you have your Christmas supplies out and find one that just wants to play!  Here is Jen's fun FMS#696...

Let me explain what I mean about going off the grid:

I'm seeing Jen's back panel in the front and the front got pushed back - OY!

These Funky Trees from TH and Sizzix are so fun - and work so well

for 'masculine' Christmas cards which I make sure to add to those delivered

to my area senior centers.

The papers I used are from HoneyBee's Log Cabin collection and

my gold stars were cut using a die from one of the old MFT Blueprints sets.

A simple sentiment - also from MFT - and my card is done!

I'm having so much fun working with the wonderful FMS team -

they don't ever seem to be upset when I 'have my way' with their Sketches.

We want YOU to have your way, too - as long as we can see the Sketch, that is! LOL

Speaking of!  I can't wait to see Jen's card!

Let's go!

=] Michele

The Paper Players #747 - wheels!

all together... the wheels on the truck go round and round... wait!  well, it is Christmas in July after all, and everyone knows it takes a truck and a village of snow people to haul a Christmas tree! 

Thank you, LeAnne, and The Paper Players for this fun CAS challenge!

It was SO hard to attach the sentiment strip...

I know full well that there shouldn't be any extra dimension on a CAS card,

but I had a little die-cutting boo-boo to cover up!  It happens...

This little 'postage stamp' was cut from a pad of DSP and stamped

with a few of the WF Postage Collage stamps.

I had an appointment at the eye doctor this morning... let me tell you

all this white is brutal while my eyes are dilated!

I'm going to get this posted and go take a nap!

=] Michele

In the Mood!

Just us Girls' #784 has a mood board full of the prettiest colors, and images that I couldn't wait to use ... for a Christmas card!

Now you might not see a fox among these images, but perhaps that is

because he is an Artic Fox wearing his Winter colors?  Like mine is!

I know a few of my friends might see butterflies in Winter so I stuck one in!

All the elements were cut from my scraps using HoneyBee's Heart Hugs, and

Lovely Layers: Winter Greenery.  And there is their gorgeous Winter Gems A2 Cover Plate again - I have finally figured out how to get that impression right!

A simple little seasonal sentiment from MFT and a full moon and 

my playtime is complete!  

My DAY is complete if you've stopped by!  Thank you!

=] Michele

Christmas Kickstart #100

Dear Jo, 

Thank you for bringing the joy of Christmas to the card-making world throughout the year... love,

Santa 

p.s. you're definitely on my 'nice' list!

I really should be playing along with you each and every challenge, Jo!  Shame on me!  But I'm thrilled to celebrate you on your 100th Christmas Kickstart Challenge!!

Santa is swinging by to celebrate you, too!

Ride 'em reindeer-boy!

One of the items I found among the goodies given to me by my cousin, were satin foil envelope liners from Anna Griffith... I used one to cut my circle from and added a satin gold hanger.  This old Santa continues to make me smile - from MFT many moons ago!  HoneyBee's Gingham Galore Holiday paper was cut with my favorite old standby cover-die from Winnie & Walter and then it was all 'tied together' with twine.

Congratulations, Jo and elf Gail for encouraging us to think Christmas all year!

=] Michele

Color Hues #114

My sweet friend, Bonnie is our host with the most over at Color Hues #114 and she has such a wonderful color combo for July!  

While I was inspired by the Shasta Daisies growing gangbusters in my front 

garden bed, a few other sets grabbed my attention.. 

I'm going to have one heck of a time choosing between these two today.

I went straight to my stash of colored cardstock and die cut all the bits 

and pieces of each set then blended a little extra color for added punch.

Those lemon leaves reminded me of this SB Leafy embossing folder, 

so, it was an easy decision to use it for my cover panel.

BUT! since yellow roses are so beautiful, how does a girl resist?

I love that texture from the card stock I used - it reminded me of

the background of this old Regency Swirls EF from Crafters Companion.

Be still, my CAS loving heart!  I think you know which card will

be found in the Color Hues gallery - but you should go see for yourself.

AND PLAY ALONG!  There's plenty of time to make even more than two!

=] Michele

Paper Players #746 and Inkspirational #345

I have two cards for two challenges this morning!  The Paper Players has a color challenge this week - and it was very challenging to find their colors in my stash - you may have just the SU! papers for Ann's combo right at your fingertips...

... I made do with a close match:

Altenew's Layered Ornate Frame brought them all together for my floral wreath

and their Masonry Wall EF gives it a place to hang its hat!

This sentiment from The Stamp Market's Kindness Matters set

represents my feelings perfectly!

Thanks, Ann, for pushing my limits with your color combination!

AND for choosing my card as your Headliner, too!

The other day when I posted that trio of penguins, one of the sweet members of the Inkspirational team mentioned they would fit their Three of the Same challenge - thanks Julia - but I was just too lazy to go back to edit that post... it's hot and I'm really feeling it!  Besides that, I had three more little Sandy Toe kids ready for the beach...

We are well known for our gorgeous sand dunes 'round here, so I 

felt the need to doodle a big one for them to run down before they

spalooshed into the water - just as I would have done when I was a kid!

I wouldn't have the energy for it today - but I'd gladly take the 'Nestea Plunge' first thing this morning!  

Hope you're staying cool!

=] Michele

Freshly Made Sketches #695

Hey, there... do you hear the sleigh bells?  Yes, I am making Christmas cards and it is high time I did, or I'll never reach that lofty goal I set for my seniors back in January! 

Jen T. has the perfect Freshly Made Sketch #695 for my Christmas card today... by the way, she's also giving us free reign with that shape!

I jumped into my Waffle Flower stash for lots of scene building supplies

for my card: Winter Skyscape, Tiny Crosses for the sky, Nested Domes,

and the stars of the card from Winter Fun.  Ready? 

The cover panel is also WF: Dashed Snowflake, and it all inspired

my sentiment [MFT Cool Christmas] and couldn't stop myself from

adding 'snow' with Diamond Stickles!

I'm ready for all of the fun shaped focal points you'll add to your cards!  I can't wait to see what Jen T. and the team have used - you'll join me, right?

Thanks for stopping by!

=] Michele

The Flower Challenge #104 Reminder

How were you inspired by these colors?  Have you entered a card in The Flower Challenge #104?  Maybe you have another up your sleeve!  Here's a reminder of those gorgeous colors:

 

Another card made during my playtime with Marcia using her Waffle Flower Crafts Flower Focal die, cut from Bristol Smooth cardstock that I brought home for inking...

I wanted to keep it CAS so I embossed the card panel using watercolor paper and a

SSS Filigree Message Rounded Rectangle die that has been in my 

stash for ages!  You may have seen this sentiment many times over - it's

such a pretty one from Alex Syberia's Spring Garden set.

Okay, enough about my card - let's go see what my teammates have made, shall we?  It's always a treat!  

=] Michele

Color Hues #113 - Red and White!

Tracey McNeely gave me just the kick in the pants I needed to get busy making Christmas cards today!  How can you beat a Red & White color combo for Christmas??

 

Sit back and relax I have four cards for you today!

First:  a CAS pair of cards that took only moments to make a twofer!

This is that lovely Spellbinders Stylish Merry Christmas die from a few years ago - 

still stylish in my humble opinion!  A bright and crisp POPPY paper from C&9th

really make these pop!

Using a little care when making the first cut, one is able to add debossing [Waffle Flower Dashed Snowflakes] or embossing [Spellbinders Ski Lodge] to the negative panel before replacing the Merry Christmas!  

I 'spruced' them up with one of SSS Pretty Bows and an itty-bitty EH tree from my snippets!

I picked a few sets from Spellbinders for the other two made today:  Simon Hurley's Playful Penguins and Santa - always makes me smile!  I made sure I kept all the cardstock, besides red and white, within their rules this time!  Aren't you proud of me?? lol

Your little eye might spy that new Finishing Touches stitching from C&9th and 

Kristina Werner in the background.  

I know I'm going to be using this PTI Skinny Ric Rac a LOT this Christmas!

Thanks so much Tracey!

Last but not least.... heeeeeeeeeeere's Santa!!

Crank these dies back and forth a few extra times in your machine to get all

his wonderful details - like those whiskers and eyebrows!

I still had a few holiday sentiments from 2024 in my stash - always welcomed

for a quick finish!

You'll have to run by Color Hues #113 to see which one made the cut... hey, while you're there, why not play along?

=] Michele

Just us Girls #783

I hope you don't mind, but these Waffle Flower Crafts Sandy Toes guys just HAVE to play when Summer is at her peak!  Perfect time for them to jump into the WATER at Just us Girls #783!

 

You all must know the moral of their story...

A label-maker sentiment always seems the right fit ...

...a bit of heat embossed white and Stickles seafoam in my watercolor-wash-ed ocean!

... is the rotten egg!

This one is already enroute for my dear cousin whose birthday I forgot this year -

I hang my head in shame.  We can have a little fun with belated wishes, I say -

even when the sender does a huge belly flop!

=] Michele

The Paper Players #745

I'm coming in just under the wire with a Christmas card for The Paper Players where Stef is asking for circles... 

If you stack a few and throw in some snowballs - this is what you get...

I find juggling the holidays can be this hard. LOL 

I've dropped the ball and plan for this year's cards for Seniors but hope to remedy that this month!  Simple Copic coloring to the rescue!

This cool dude is one of the minis from Colorado Craft and Anita Jeram.

The snowballs were made using a very old MFT Polka Dot Cover die...

have you heard that MFT have closed their doors??  Such a sad situation.

I thoroughly enjoyed visiting the MFT store years ago with Nancy Leppek, and 

Bobby Hagen!  A very good memory, for sure.

Okay, friends. I'd better get this guy delivered before he melts!

=] Michele

Freshly Made Sketches #694

 Oh, that Judy!  She really gave us a 'zinger' this week... sometimes the simplest of sketches can be the trickiest for me!  But I loved every second using #694, my friend!  Here she is:

See what I mean??  Judy says we can use any old shape our hearts desire!

This silly bird won out... and I found a fun way to represent Judy's circles, too!

My cloud [and catch of the day] is from MFT - the 'sand dune' and wave from SSS

and the Gull is Waffle Flower Crafts Inquisitive Seagull.

There's just something special about an 'all die-cut' card'

Okay, the sentiment and fish were stamped but add just the right

amount of black to my card IMHO.

Okay - ready. set. go!  We can't wait to see how you'll represent those circles!

=] Michele

oopsie daisies!

Sorry my friends - if you have news from FollowIt today, 
come back tomorrow for that FMS post!  
I think the heat has melted my brain... even these guys are confused...

=/ Michele 

The Flower Challenge #104

Hello again, my friends!  It's the fourth of the month and that means it's time for another playtime with The Flower Challenge!  We have a very fun 'inspiration' photo with gorgeous colors and are asking you to draw from those colors when creating your card(s) for our gallery!  Take a look:

I took advantage of the time I spent with my teamie, Marcia, back in March - I knew she would have some fun products to play with, and she never disappoints!

You might recall a few other color variations of this Pinkfresh stamp that

I've shared already.  I couldn't help making another:

Take a close look at that inspiration photo and you will see that there

is even a little bit yellow there.  I added just a smidge to the flowers

and a bit more to that background created by swiping the ink pads 

across my panel of paper to mimic the photo's background.

Here are my inks:

Another of those big sentiments from HoneyBee - I love that

the panel can be the 'star of the card!'

So, tell me... how will YOU be inspired by those gorgeous colors?  We cannot wait to find out!  See you there!  I will be looking for these colors in the fireworks tonight, too!  Happy Fourth of July, my friends!

=] Michele