Just us Girls #815

The fabulous Ms. Carol M. has chosen a fabulous image for Just us Girls: Mood Board week...

 

I had this set from Concord & 9th on my desk for something else and

saw in an instant the 'fun and funky' florals painted on those stone 'eggs'

in Carol's photo inspiration!  I hope I've done them justice - and also

remember to add my card to their gallery this time OY!

My floral pieces from the C&9th Paper Posies die set were cut from scraps.

Some were embossed with the coordinating EF.

I also used another EF from JoAnn's Parklane to add

interest to the black card base.  Lastly, a sentiment from

Pinkfresh Studio's With Sympathy set and a rounded upper corner

to mimic the rounded shape of the stones! 

I'll wish you a happy weekend a bit early as I'll be prepping for company

for dinner tomorrow evening and a card game!  

Thanks for dropping by!

=] Michele

Freshly Made Sketches #728

Narelle is our sketch designer this week at Freshly Made Sketches #728 - her cards are always so cool, so I really wanted to push myself this week.  

This design came to me in the moments after waking up one morning!  I'll start with my closeup so you can see that I've used my VERY OLD DCWV Adhesive Fabric for the card panel and sentiment strip... sorry Susan - it seems that it is no longer available.

... plus a little more 'unraveled' twine!  The circles were cut with various sizes

from a few of the many embossed panels I have in my stash.  Some sent to me

from friends, some brought home from Marcia's - please don't ask me for

the folder names as I wouldn't have a clue!

Let's head over to the Freshly Made Sketches challenge post, shall we?  I can't wait to see Narelle's card and how the rest of the team have interpreted FMS#728!

=] Michele

Color Hues #129

My friend Marcia is the host at Color Hues #129, and she picked a wonderful color combo for us to play cards with...

Once again, I reached for my watercolors - this time my Distress reinkers, and a gorgeous SU! 3D Sunflower embossing folder!  It turned out just like I wanted it to with lots of dimension because I used watercolor paper!

I added just a touch of grey to the 'greenery' to stay within their rules.

Finishing it off with a sweet HELLO from The Stamp Market

tied with a little piece of linen thread from my friend LeAnne.

Thanks, Marcia for these pretty colors - I used Wilted Violet, Villainous Potion, and Dried Marigold inks.

Tom and I finally finished up the little renovation/update to my tiny little laundry room and I have to say it makes me a little bit happier to do that chore... what can I say - I'm a cheap date! lol

=] Michele

Time Out #308 and JUGS #814

I made a card!!  Ha!  Yes, I have been busy elsewhere these days but today the mood for crafting struck - you know what that means... look for inspiration from some of my favorite challenges!

Time Out is CASEing the marvelous Stef Perry and her lovely card - AND celebrating their 12th birthday, too!  Stef's featuring her wonderful Copic-coloring skills which I love so much.  I chose to watercolor, so out came my Altenew watercolor palette and their Craft your Life: Hello Beautiful set!  Please take a look at Stef's card:

 

You'll see I've CASE'd Stef's use of gold heat embossing, dry embossing too! which was swiped with a small gold ink pad as she had done.

Speaking of EMBOSSING - my friend Bobby is the host over at Just Us Girls word

challenge and her word is EMBOSS!  I think I've got that covered - in gold!

Thanks so much for stopping by today - have a wonderful, crafty weekend!

=] Michele

Freshly Made Sketches #727

Hello, friends!  It's once again that time of the week when we share our Freshly Made Sketch... #727 to be exact and I am your designer this week!  I hope you'll have fun with it!

It's a tiny bit early for Easter cards, but the way our USPS has been

these days I think it's safe to say: we'd better HOP to it!

I was so lucky to have a win at Time Out before Christmas that included a prize from

Poppy Stamps - it only took a heartbeat to put this darling Nordic Happy Bunny into my cart!

A frame from Penny Black, background paper from Scrapbook.com's

Noel Christmas paper - yeah, I know - CHRISTMAS never

looked so spring-like to me!

If you look behind the Altenew Dainty Leaves, you'll see that she's perched 

on top of a WF Nesting Egg die.

All finished up with a sweet sentiment from WF's Rejoice Rabbit set.

[I couldn't help but stage her with that natural cotton]

I just know my teammates will have lots more fun inspiration for you over at the Freshly Made Sketches blog ... I can't wait to see my sketch through YOUR eyes!  

=] Michele

Freshly Made Sketches #726

Ready for the next Freshly Made Sketch installment?  Karren is our designer this week and I was ready for a touch of Spring... how about you?  Take a peek...

I'm not one who angles much of anything on a card but found a way to

find 'balance.'  Tell me if you think it worked...

While tilting my tag a teensy bit to the left, one of my crocuses leaned right

as does my secondary sentiment tag.  It made me happy... hope you

like it, too and will play along with Karren's Sketch #726!

Who's ready for Crocus season? ME!

=] Michele

Penny Black on Saturday Challenge - February 2026

My husband and I didn't even exchange Valentines this year - but don't think for a minute we didn't enjoy our dinner out!  Romance lives!

I do want to share a card I made [in the likeness of FMS725] the sentiment is fitting for a romantic card which immediately made me think of Penny Black on Saturday!  Enough small talk...

Penny Black: Love Blooms and Encircle EF

It must be close to the deadline for entry - I'd better get this one delivered!

Happy Friday, my friends!

=] Michele

Just us Girls #812 - Stencil Week

It's Stencil Week at Just us Girls and I've been itching to get inky with those gorgeous Field Florals from Pinkfresh Studios again! 

They sure look like tulips to me...

Pink and orange?  YES, please!

After stenciling with those inks, I cut them with the coordinating die and

mounted them over top of a debossed [lil' inkers - you know that sad story] cover 

panel then splattered lots of 'snow' - you know it wouldn't surprise any

Michigander to have their tulips covered with snow!

Thanks, JUGS for the timely opportunity to stencil this one again!

=] Michele

Freshly Made Sketches #725

Cecile is our designer this week for Freshly Made Sketches #725 and I know you will agree it is a beauty...

I wanted to keep it as organic as possible and found another lovely layering set from HoneyBee Stamps in my stash to do my work for me!

I found another SU! embossed panel that I cut down to size

using a PTI Torn Edges die.  That provided a great spot for my HB Plumeria!

HoneyBee's My Favorite Flower stamp and die set provided my sentiment.

I can't wait to see how your imagination plays with Cecile's Sketch this week!

=] Michele

The Paper Players #774

By now you all know how inspired I am by a sketch - Jan at The Paper Players has a lovely sketch for us this week...

I had the Fun & Flowers set from The Stamp Market still out on my desk.  It worked its charm for Jan's sketch IMHO, using some papers from the same company - would you believe this was a Halloween collection?

My newest frame from Waffle Flower Craft set the stage for my little flower.  Here's a closeup so you can see I followed LeAnne's lead on my horizontal strip of paper with that MFT stitching detail we both love so much...

Happy Tuesday, my friends!

=] Michele

Just us Girls #811

It took a New York minute for me to choose my supplies for Lisa's gorgeous mood board at Just us Girls #811!  

Get ready to swoon...

For once, I shushed that sweet tooth and focused on those Cherry Blossoms!

HoneyBee' Lovely Layers: Cherry Blossoms made it so easy...

Here are my inks used to add color to my white die cuts:

Lisa, I'd love to see your Cherry blossoms one day!

It feels really wonderful to be back in my studio for a bit this week - and

to hear from you, friends!  Thanks so much!

=] Michele

A shout out! Thanks tons JUGS!

TWO challenges, one card!

Hello again!

I haven't had much time for making cards - several 'springtime' projects going on in the Ferguson household - one that has been on tap for nearly 10 years!  SO happy to finally have shelves that pull out of a big cabinet in my kitchen.  Now, to do something about my laundry 'room' that can hardly be called that... while I wait for my new cabinet to arrive, there is time to play cards! yay!

I seldom can find a time when I make a card that fits more than one challenge - nor do I set out with a plan for that... except today, I did!  Here are the challenges I'm entering: Color Hues #127 and The Paper Players #773.

and...

 Once again, my sweet tooth got the best of me... inspired by 

that wonderful little cake, the peachy polka dotted balloon and

candles - I 'baked' my own cupcake using the colors from Color Hues!

An old Sizzix EF inked on the debossed side; Candles and sentiment from 

C&9th's Let it Shine - I added the little snips of white to mimic those

in the photo inspiration from the Paper Players;

frosting created with Pretty Pink Posh's Shoreline Borders; and 

cupcake paper made using a SU! Crimped EF!

And voila! One card - two challenges!  and I even used ribbon which I seldom do!

=] Michele

Thanks, Color Hues and The Paper Players for the shoutouts!

Guest Designing at Time Out #307

I was thrilled to have a win and to be invited to guest design with those wonderful gals at Time Out!  It is photo inspiration time and here is the lovely little hand-sewn bag from Kim Heggins - a former team member at Time Out with sewing skills extraordinaire!

The Challenge winner, as chosen by the Design Team, will receive the handmade bag shown on the Challenge Badge. Winner will also receive an invitation to join them as Guest Designer for a future challenge.

Of all the patterned papers I have on hand, I couldn't find one pastel as 

Kim used - but I did find some really fun dots and stripes from Honey Bee's Over the Rainbow collection of prints!  Adding some fun 'stitched' details to the

dotted purple might make you think of a fun pair of jeans - with just

the cutest little pocket to stow a daisy!  This little pocket die comes out to play 

at least once a year and was a gift from my friend Anne-Mette from Denmark many years ago.  I love that the zipper had the perfect spot for that pearl, and the

little tag holds x's and o's!  

Please head over to the Time Out Challenge blog for all the details

for challenge #307, a closeup of Kim's darling bag, and so much inspiration

from the TO team of designers!

Thanks for inviting me to play cards with you, ladies!

=] Michele

Freshly Made Sketches #724

Hello my friends!  It's that time of the week to introduce you to another of our Freshly Made Sketches!  This week, Jen B. designed Sketch #724 for our card-making pleasure...

The possibilities for those prime circles are endless! But I saw a die used

by another card maker recently and quickly brought it to my desktop

so I wouldn't forget to incorporate it into my design!

I hope you think it works!

My Anemone is from Spellbinders, and the hand die is from 

Ellen Hutson many, many years ago - sorry it's no longer available.

That debossed panel came to fruition using a SU! Gathering Leaves EF that

was inked on the raised side before running it through my Switch.

Are the ideas brewing in your creative brains?  We sure hope so

as we sure love seeing all those ideas come to fruition!

You have plenty of time - maybe even for second helpings -

until Monday, February 23rd at 3pm EST.

=] Michele

Freshly Made Sketches #723

 

Verena has a REALLY fun Sketch for Freshly Made Sketches #723!

At first glance, I saw a stage with a spotlight... then my sweet tooth took over

and there appeared a cupcake... but while 'cooking up' that cupcake,

I thought of another item that might have just that top!

A hatbox!

I found just the right die in my stash to cut that ellipse from 

SSS's Pop-Up Card Holder!  Then it was quite simple to cut the bottom and 

box-band using the edge of the die cut.  

I know.  It might be difficult to see

it but I couldn't help but decorate it with another of those Rosa Gallicas

from Altenew that I had out the other day.  This time I clear embossed

the outline stamp and water colored it using a few Altenew watercolor pigments.

I'll keep the sentiment on the inside of this one!

Now, what do YOU see in Verena's sketch?  We can't wait to see your 

creations at FMS before February 16th at 3pm!

=] Michele