It's been a while...

It has been a very long while since I've done any water coloring!  After watching Jill Foster do her magic with the new Penny Black Christmas release, I was itching to get my palette of Distress re-inkers out again!  Another item from my big sale-shopping-spree at Alex Syberia Designs recently determined my playtime today!

Enter ASD's Cindy Lou's Poppies... first stamped in Memento Toffee Crunch ink onto a piece of Canson Cold Pressed paper then water colored using aforementioned re-inkers ...

I then stamped two of the other stems directly to my card panel - also

Canson 140# cold pressed paper - and die-cut my painted Poppies.

Before arranging the flower heads, I did a little splattering and

puddling of leftover green and cut it down using an MFT Wonky Rectangle.

Then came the lifted blooms.

I'm quite pleased at how this one turned out - I admit to being a bit rusty!

I'm almost ready to get my PB Christmas stamps out!

I hope you're having a great week - we're nearing the end of August!  Where

has the month gone?  Between picking green beans, raising butterflies,

and staying on top of watering my pots of peppers and herbs it has been a busy but wonderful month.  

Thanks so much for dropping by!

=] Michele

Freshly Made Sketches #751

Hello, friends!  Glad you stopped by today - I am the happy hostess of this week's Freshly Made Sketches #751 and I hope you like it!

When we get close to Autumn my heart is happy to turn to leaves!  In fact, my sketch is taken from a card I made many years ago.  You can find that one HERE - but come back because I have TWO cards to [fingers crossed] pique your playtime!

As promised two lovely golden leaves!  Of course we can't have leaves

without trees, or trees without bark!  I added a deep delicious brown

woodgrain cardstock, my first tipped square of green that was cut using an

old favorite Spellbinders Hemstitched die and then another

kraft woodgrain cardstock before topping them with my leaves - from Lawn Fawn

and perhaps one of my oldest sets from 2015 - and a tiny little linen bow!

My sentiment is from ASD's Spring Garden set.

Ready for the second?  It had to be a Christmas card!

It's pretty self-explanatory - but in case you're wondering,

 the snowflake is from HoneyBee's Lovely Layers: Large Snowflakes dies set - 

cut from sparkly paper from The Stamp Market.

Well?  What do you think?  Are your juices flowing? lol

You have plenty of time to make a card - or two - before the window

closes on Monday, August 26th at 3pm EST!

Okay - let's go see what the team has made, shall we?

=] Michele

The Paper Players #800!

The Paper Players is celebrating its 800th challenge this week, and I couldn't wait to have a play with their original sketch... they say it's been given a facelift, but wouldn't we all need one at 800?? lol

 

I thought I take advantage of all these layers to use some fun Halloween

patterned papers and a die set from HoneyBee: Toil and Trouble.

My  Her broomstick is being a bit evasive but perhaps you can

see it in this closeup?  I love pink with orange, so I took liberties with

the usual black hat and brown broomsticks!

inside sentiment: you don't look a day over 799!

The pumpkin is a stenciled one of a trio from The Ton.  My papers are

from Scrapbook.com's spooky patterned paper collection.  And the sentiment

is an oldie from MFT.  I've given everything a bit of distressing with black soot

ink - not my usual thing.  I'm nearly sorry about it - tell me what you think?

Congratulations to all the members of The Paper Players who woo us into playing along with their fabulous cards each week!  And a special thanks to LeAnne for introducing me to this fun challenge!  I've loved playing cards with you all!

=] Michele

The Paper Players #799

 

Okay, I am looking forward to Fall - but not quite ready to let go of Summer!  The Paper Players is looking for Fall-forward cards this week, and I had one more new embossing folder to share with you - it did the trick!

Spellbinders' Lined Circles EF; Sizzix 665559 dies with Distress Oxide blending

and gold heat-embossed tips!

That's it for me this week - see you next week!

=] Michele

Just us Girls #837

 

I just had to enlarge the gorgeous photo that Lisa has provided for

her Mood Board Week at Just us Girls #837 ... take it in for a moment:

The JUGS team and Betty Keefe their guest designer have really made gorgeous cards.  And I had a new set in my hot little crafty hands to play with... 

no time like the present!  I must say I was really inspired by Betty's card!  

Too bad I forgot the butterflies!

Armed with pretty papers from The Stamp Market and PTI,

I die cut all the pieces then added extra color using the inks above.  This set is the

next in the series of its type from Concord & 9th and goes together

so easily just like a layered puzzle using the debossed base piece

as your guide.  Let's start with her closeup:

I love how it turned out and found an embossed panel in my snippets that worked

perfectly so I used the same cardstock for my card base. 

This sentiment set came with the Autumn Splendor bundle - but is sold separately.

Thanks Betty, and Lisa for inspiring my card session today!

=] Michele

Thanks, Lisa - it's an honor!

Just us Girls #836

Sorry to pop in twice today, but I just couldn't let Bobby's WATER challenge at Just us Girls #836 go by! 

A few shades of ocean blue and a simple sentiment and it was done!

Pink Pink Posh Waves dies and a sentiment from 

Alex Syberia Designs' Sunkissed Memories set!

You can't imagine how badly I wanted to write:

GO JUMP IN THE LAKE!

=] Michele

Freshly Made Sketches #750

 

Cécile has a really wonderful sketch for us this week at

Freshly Made Sketches #750 and I couldn't help but see my new

SB Cocoa Wonderland sitting there on her triangle!

I 'stretched' the size of it by stacking/overlapping two SU! dot-y panels

from Lovely Arrangement's die set.  I didn't spare the whipped cream

topping this time and stuck more trees into it!

I just LOve this guy! So whimsical - and isn't that sentiment pretty?

From Marcia's stash: Opposites Attract Holiday version from The Greetery!

Let's go see how Cecile and my teammates used that fun sketch and

then we invite YOU to play, too!  The gallery is open until Monday, 

August 24th at 3 EST!

=] Michele

Sunday fun day!

I had a little bit of 'free time' today ... you know exactly where I headed: into the fun room!  Playing with a few challenges is a great way to pass time!

First up - my sweet friend Marcia is the host at Color Hues #139 - she picked a color combo perfect for the last blooms of Summer... or maybe a Christmas card?  Challenge taken, Marcia!

One might not agree that these are right for Christmas, but I beg to differ with you...

take a look - I think the colors are perfect for a red-headed Christmas toddler and her friend, Teddy!

Am I right?

I adore this sweetie from Penny Black called Beary Merry!  Stamped in black, clear embossed, and colored with Distress reinkers: Mustard Seed, and Carved Pumpkin.

Next up, I'm heading to Christmas Kickstart Challenge #113: Friends for Life - I have a friendship from Mother Nature & Penny Black's Deck the Halls: 

JOY die from PB. Stitch lines from Concord & 9th and Kristina Werner's 

Finishing Touches dies.

I took this card to the 'masculine side' so I could also play along with those fabulous Jingle Belles: Masculine Merriment challenge! By adding SU Chocolate Chip reinker

to that big, beautiful JOY it seems more masculine to me - show me a guy who doesn't love critters!  My sub-sentiment is from 

PTI's Wonderful Words: JOY!

One more seems right... CAS Mix Up August 2026 has a technique of stenciling over patterned paper.  I just love all the cards their team have made!  Mixed media is not my thing and keeping it CAS makes it even more of a challenge, right?  I've given it my best attempt using a paper from HoneyBee and an image from Altenew: Casual Bouquet that includes a set of stencils.  Be honest... does this work?

The gradient design of this dsp still shows through after stenciling

which I was very happy about.

I used Honeycomb Corners from The Greetery to add those little

hexagons - keeping it pretty CAS.

Okay, the boss is home, so I'd better make it look like I'm doing something besides playing!  Thanks so much for stopping by!

=] Michele

Freshly Made Sketches #749

Jen B. is our designer for Freshly Made Sketches #749!  Just remember, those circles you often see in our sketches can be anything your imagination can make them!

 

I've been doing a little 'homework' using Therese's Color Made Easy email course.  I admit to being a bit color-phobic... today's card really tested me!  I used my color wheel and just pulled out some cardstock - and pulled up my big girl panties!! 

Pink + Orange is my favorite color combo - that might seem strange

to many of you!  Bringing blue, purple, and orange together was really

a stretch for me!  But I trusted the lesson on analogous colors and 

in the end, I like it!

I've used The Stamp Market's simple Bloomin' Cute die and strips of paper found in my snippets for my stripes.  Honestly, I think the orange enamel dots brought the whole thing together!

Okay.  That's where my brain went - where will you take those stripes and circles?  We can't wait to see them pop into our gallery! See you before the window closes at 3EST Monday, August 17th?

=] Michele

The Paper Players - Colors too delicious to resist!

Ready for another 'sale' item?  Stef's PP798 colors were perfect!

I resisted this SB Cocoa Wonderland set long enough for it to go on sale!

A ring of 'tan' [kraft] was used to break up the white - but 

isn't that embossing gorgeous?? It was a bd gift in '23 and I

continue to love it! SB Adorning the Tree. 

The sun is setting so much earlier this week - I hate to see it as it has been

such a fantastic summer!

I'd better get this cuppa in the gallery before the door closes!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

=] Michele

Thanks tons, Stef!

The Paper Players #798 - seconds for JUGS!

Many years ago, Tom bought me several alpha die sets - sadly they've

been dormant for a very long time!  Why I thought of them when I saw

Stef's fabulous color challenge at The Paper Players we'll never know.

BUT I sure did have fun... take a peek...

Why, yes. that is indeed a new embossing folder!  Spellbinders sucked me

into a very good sale recently - besides this Urban Grid, there are two others -

more soon!  The sub-sentiment is C&9th: Picked Posie Greetings.

Here's another alpha card using those Altenew Caps Bold Alphabet dies...

This time I put all my alphas through another Spellbinder EF this one was a

monthly folder from February 2023 so it's been around for a while, but I still love it! And that sweet little Bloomin' Cute blossom from The Stamp Market, too!

I'm betting the ladies at JUGS#835 will appreciate the time it took to

align those alphas!

Can you stand one more?  Just for funsies...

Those cute Thought Bubbles from TSM worked a charm!

Hope you're having a great week!

=] Michele

Just us Girls #835

 

Vicki is asking us to sharpen our die-cutting skills this week

at Just Us Girls #835!

I have had one of Altenew's designer's cards in my inbox for weeks now -

it seemed like the perfect time to take my cue from Aga!

I won't get into detail - it is Aga's use of die-cut leaves and making

them shine on a card that I'm featuring here.  I used several leaf

dies from Altenew's Virginia Rose 3D die set to cut my leaves from white.

I 'scribbled' color on using Copics and Ohuhu markers to create

variegated leaves which were arranged across my panel

of grey-brown card.  Enough telling - more showing!!

The berries come from the same die set and I've used another Betterpress-ed sentiment

from my pre-pressed, ready-to-go stash!

Please do take a gander at the gorgeous card from Aga - I've linked it

above!  I didn't come close to the beauty of hers - but it sure was fun trying!

=] Michele