Just us Girls #834

 

Carol Mc is the host at JUGS #834 and she's invited us to CASE a card that a 

member of their fabulous design team has made this week!  They are ALL fabulous

every. single. week!  But it's Carol's own citrus-y card that I'll be CASEing today!

I dug really deep into my Ellen Hutson supplies - sorry none of them are

available any longer.  Here's how I brought my card together:

Carol used die cut lemons - mine are stamped, colored then die cut.

Carol's stripes were stencil-blended in blue - my stripes are stamped in wet Blueprint Sketch ink!

Carol embossed a pattern over her stripes while I cut mine down using a pierced rectangle die.

Her sentiment was sweet and small - I went bold and stamped it on a rectangle, then added my striped panel to a base with die cut dots [Alex Syberia Desigsns].

Ready to see my [shaker-less] CASE?

I love how it turned out and hope Carol will, too!  Thanks for the gorgeous

inspiration, Carol!

Have a fun weekend my friends!

=] Michele

Freshly Made Sketches #747

 

Kim has a fabulous sketch for us this week!  I thought of a dozen different elements that could represent her circles!  In the end, I really wanted to play with those fun Concord & 9th Cherries again!

Adding the washed-denim color of this gingham from HoneyBee was 

a natural choice today.

My FMS team has had lots of fun, too! What will you add to your card?

 We sure do look forward to all the delightful cards you add to our 

gallery each week! 

=] Michele

The Paper Players #795

 

As much as I think LeAnne might have expected THIS guy for her

Going to the Beach challenge at The Paper Players this week,

another flip-per caught my attention!

WAY back, when my Glimmer machine and I got along, I created

a few of these foiled backgrounds [Alex Syberia Designs - Tiny Hearts hot foil plate] and I think it is totally CAS acceptable - hope the PP team agrees!

Alex Syberia Designs: Underwater Wonders and Sunkissed Memories

I'll SEA you all again soon!

=] Michele

D's I.D.E.A.S!

 

Three talented card makers/friends lived in my brain today.  Believe me,

there's plenty of room up there! lol

Hilary, and Leslie spurred the creation of vellum-covered cardstock which is

bonded together with double-sided tape then dry-embossed! 

Darnell enabled me to finally make a card - it is embossing week on 

her fun I.D.E.A.S Calendar after all!

I searched for this SB Mandala embossing folder high and low and found one on Amazon. It has the most amazing detail... check it out...

Spellbinders' Mandala Blooms embossing folder and Sunflower Serenade dies.

Yana's Bouquet of Hugs Betterpress-ed sentiment

Would you believe me if I told you that the vellum was adhered to

the same curry cardstock as the sunflower?  It really toned it down - maybe

my vellum was too heavy?  At any rate, I love it and hope my

granddaughter does too - she requested a thank you note for a professor

she interned with this summer.  The sentiment is perfect don't you think?

I hope you get over the hump [day] without a bump!

=] Michele

Freshly Made Sketches #746

 

Jen Mitchell has a really fun design for Freshly Made Sketches #746!

It brewed in my brain for a bit and since I needed a little cooling off, I thought

a Christmas card might do the trick!

Another fabulous holiday set from HoneyBee Stamps and a scalloped

arch die set from SSS worked beautifully IMHO!

I liked the scallops so much that I used the largest in the set

to cut my 4.25 square card base - what do you think?  I love these

gorgeous SU! greens:  Evening Evergreen and Soft Succulent.

Lots of bits and pieces from my snippets bin worked beautifully

to cut the HB Lovely Layers: Mini Holiday Florals.

And just like that, I have my first pink Poinsettia card done!

I look forward to seeing what you all will add to Jen's sketch this week -

there's plenty of time until the gallery closes on Monday, July 27 at 3pm EST!

=] Michele

MORE second helpings!

Hey there!  I'm so glad you stopped by!  

While searching through my Christmas supplies, I happened upon this fun Stampers Anonymous rubber stamp set - looks clean as a whistle... is it possible that it never saw ink until today?  Totally!  But this design from Stamptember 2022 is still fabulous in those Color Hues #137 colors!

Tell me if you agree...

I believe!

This guy is also heading over to my friend Darnell's NBUS challenge!

Have a great Monday!

=] Michele

Just us Girls #832

There's a new mood board in town, and since I had Poppies on my mind, this upper left corner drew me in...

 

Can't quite see it?  Here's the closeup:

I just happened to have a panel of watercolor card on my desk from

another project.  With a little smooshing, blending, and embossing it

became useable for my water-y background and these lovely Poppies.

What's that?  You don't recognize these blooms from SSS?  Well, I added

a rather bold floral center from Altenew's Sulfur Cosmos and all of a sudden

you see Poppies - at least I did! lol

Another sentiment from Yana's SB Bouquet of Hugs and playtime was complete!

The team over at Just us Girls #832 have really lovely cards inspired

by Bobby's mood board - why not take a peek and play along?

=] Michele

Color Hues #137

Nancy is filling in for Jules who chose the colors for Color Hues #137:

Like a few of the CH designers, I immediately thought of Poppies and this

very old, much loved, cover stamp from MFT: 

I stamped the images in Altenew's Obsidian ink and clear heat embossed them.  Water coloring these Poppies is really simple leaving a bit of white for highlights always makes me happy. I was wise enough to buy the coordinating dies!  

My card was finished off with a SB Betterpress-ed sentiment from Yana's

Bouquet of Hugs sentiment set and popped up with the addition of

a few SB Onyx Color Essentials Gems.

Honestly, I might not have remembered this lovely cover stamp if my friend

TK hadn't used another of my favorite cover stamps from MFT recently!

Thanks, TK!

=] Michele

Freshly Made Sketches #745

 

Jen T. is our designer this week at Freshly Made Sketches #745 and she's featuring a square card!  

I don't normally make them but last week I finally got around to hanging a frame on the wall containing one of my watercolored florals - it only took me 10 years - and it inspired my card!

I cut a piece of woodgrain cardstock 4 x 4 inches and then opened the

window using an MFT Wonky Square die.  You might better tell why I added the 

slim strips around the opening when you see the actual frame...

After creating the frame, it was then the question of what to 'fill' it

with... HoneyBee to the rescue where I found just the right bloom to fit

from their Plumeria die cut background set.

After blending a bit of ink for contrast to the blooms and leaves

and mounting my sentiment, it seemed a bit bland.  I often find

inspiration from friends - Lisa, you gave me just the trick to finish

my card with one of these little postage marks!  

My postmark - and sentiments, too - comes from 

The Greetery's Pretty Postmarks set.

SO! There you go!  Now let's go see what inspired Jen's sketch, shall we?

=] Michele

The Paper Players #794 Second helpings!

Second helpings today!  Jaydee's colors at PP794 were very muted on my

first card.  Today's card is so bright you may need sunglasses!

Spellbinders' Fresh Picked Anemones were the perfect pick!

Hey, look! A new butterfly in my stash - thanks, Marcia for enabling

inspiring this purchase! from SSS: Whirl Butterflies in a bright sunny yellow!

Be back soon with FMS!

=] Michele

The Paper Players #794

 

Jaydee has a fabulous color combo for The Paper Players #794!

I did a little 'sale' shopping over at Alex Syberia Designs - I was lucky enough to get a few coordinating die sets AND to use shades of Jaydee's colors for their maiden voyage!

Muted greens, pinks and corals, with a few bright pops of yellow!

Some ASD Create Your Own Happy images stamped right on my PTI Torn Edges white panel, some blooms stamped and die cut to add a bit of dimension.  

What do you think of the Torn Edge card base?  It might be a bugger to get

into the envelope, but I sure like it!

I have to give ASD all the credit for my design as the packaging had

the most wonderful inspiration... 

Hope you've had a great start to your week!

=] Michele

Freshly Made Sketches #744

Donna is our design artist this week at Freshly Made Sketches #744!  She's brought back a favorite shape in our crafty world: the Polaroid!  I knew in a heartbeat just the image I'd add... check out her sketch...

 

Are you ready??  Did YOU think of this set, too?

Popping him up on a panel [PTI Stitched Snowflake cover plate] I brought home from a Marcia-playdate seemed like a no-brainer!

This guy might be my favorite from this old MFT set but there are 

FIVE more in the set that are just as cute!  Here's another:

Let's go see all the creations from the FMS team and our fab sketch artist, shall we? We look forward to your renditions before July 15th at 3pm! 

=] Michele

One card THREE challenges!

After a little lull in the crafty department, I knew I had to kick start my creativity again!  What better way to start than to check out a few challenges?  Lucky for me the card I made fit perfectly for TWO of my favorites!

Ina at Just us Girls #830 is asking us to use an 'old favorite' die from our stash - I found two that worked nicely together and used Julie's wonderful colors from Color Hues #136!

 

It just so happens that I need a wedding card in September - thanks Ina, and Julie!

Here is my closeup so you can see that I used glassine in my frame - it's such

a dreamy creamy color! 

 

This cover plate is Fancy Floral 1 from PFS and cut from PTI Ivory cardstock.  My card base was topped with a gorgeous matte gold foil paper. 

  

The 'frame' was actually created using two label dies - also from PFS.

Next comes this all-time favorite love die from Paper Smooches!  I just

love its MOD font, don't you? 

Hey!  The Paper Players are looking for love in all our crafty spaces!

LIGHT BULB MOMENT!  Hope it's summer-y enough!

 

Hope you have a great week and thanks for stopping by!

=] Michele

Home of the brave, land of the free!

Happy 4th of July - our Independence Day! 

You may remember this design from my sketch FMS#740 a few weeks back.

This was my alternate card, and I decided to share it with you today instead. And just in case you aren't able to attend any parades today, here is a little something for your listening pleasure!  A little John Phillips Sousa can make anyone feel a bit more patriotic!  

Be safe and let freedom ring!

=] Michele

CAS Mix Up Challenge July 2026

I'm very happy to be invited to guest design over at CAS Mix Up - even happier that Loll has brought her CAS challenges back!  Here is the July challenge:

I did a deep dive into Eclipse techniques, including those that Loll

has included in their post. I recently watched one of my favorite crafters

who loves tags and used one to create a gorgeous eclipse card using some

of her favorite florals from Altenew - I have a few of my own! That is how

my CAS Mix Up Eclipse card began [Thanks Michelle Short!]  armed with

these inks and Altenew's Rose Gallica stamp and stencils.

I admit that it is a bit CAS for Mixed Media - but it is a CAS challenge after all!

You'll no doubt remember this gorgeous Nesting Slimline Labels set if

you've been visiting me at all.  I used to use it quite a bit and it was nice

to bring it to the table again.  I've added a sprinkling of SB Aura AB gems -

I challenge you to find them.

Now then, why don't you join us in celebrating the return of another of

Loll's CAS challenges?  You have the entire month and all the fine details along with the team's gorgeous cards can be found at the CAS Mix Up Challenge!

Thanks, Loll for inviting me!

=] Michele