Just us Girls #826

 

Carol has a fun theme for Die Week at Just us Girls #826: Butterfly!

I found a butterfly die recently that hadn't been used - I know!  How is 

that possible?  It's a good time to remedy that!

Flying Butterfly from Picket Fence was cut from a panel

of black and layered over a bright purple-ish blue from Scrapbook.com's Joyful cardstock - said cardstock was edged with one of my PF Fancy Edgers.  

I added a bit of Twinkle Stickles over its body and love the effect!

A birthday sentiment and my playtime was complete!

The JUGS team have outdone themselves and their butterfly cards are outstanding!

Be sure to check them out - and play along!

Hope you have something fun planned for the weekend.

We are having some much-needed rain, and the gardens/pots are

loving it as much as I am!

=] Michele

The Paper Players #788

Joanne has a wonderful tic-tac-toe design board to play cards with this week at The Paper Players #788!  I was determined to play along! Check it out...

I had a new set to break in and that top row across fit the bill!

Circles: from SU! Lovely Arrangement dies [I doubled the fun with a shadow layer]

Flower: Altenew's Tropical Vibes Project Kit

Die cut: Betterpress sentiment, circles, and flowers!

ALL came together over an embossed panel from that same

Altenew Tropical kit!

That's it from me for today!  It's been really nice getting back in the

studio and hanging out with my fellow card makers!  Thanks for stopping by!

=] Michele

Thanks so much, Joanne!

CAS Christmas Challenge - it's BAAAACK

 

start spreading the news.... CAS Christmas Challenge is BACK!

I had just the cutest little bird ready to play!

This little cutie is from SSS called Fun Birdie sitting on a SSS pine bough, all perched atop a fabulous HoneyBee Snowflakes embossed panel of vellum.

This joy is an oldie found in its packaging from PFS - and a splash of white metallic paint from my Kuretake Gansai Tambi metals watercolor palette.

I can't wait to see all the Christmas birds perched in their gallery - 

will I see YOURS there?

=] Michele

Freshly Made Sketches #739

I could hardly wait for this week's sketch to go public!  Karren, you've played right into my hand!  I'm still having fun with Donna's rooster!  

Who says guys can't dance?  These cockle-doodle-dudes can-can!

PTI Country Rooster [with a little leg surgery] and a trio of the coordinating stenciled patterns!

I added a field of grass using a SU! Gathering Leaves EF and

found just the right words from and old EH set.

Gosh, now I can't wait to see what Karren and the team have done -

shall we head to the Freshly Made Sketches #739 post?  I

think we ought to!  Thanks for 'chicken in!'

=] Michele

Stand-alone stencils and a new way to use them!

When working with those stencils in my stash that don't have coordinating stamps or dies, they can sometimes fall flat.  Adding dramatic colors can really correct that, but today I want to share another way to add detail - with a pen!

Here is the first card I made using the Waffle Flower Crafts: NPC Peony Stencil set...

Quite pretty with those deep tones of orange and brown

but without the pop of white and fun framing you can

imagine it could 'fall flat', right?

Working with Bonnie's wonderful colors at Color Hues #134 

I went back in with those gorgeous Peonies in bright pinks for

the blooms and turquoise for the 'sky' - then the switch was turned on using

a Copic fine multi-liner and stencils 1-4 in the set to 'outline' and

give details to the flowers and leaves.  

Perhaps it's better to show, than to tell!

I even added intentional 'splatters' for interest.  Then it was time

to finish the piece using a black mat, one of Penny Black's Double Frames,

and a lovely Better Press-ed sentiment from Spellbinders' Bouquet of Hugs sentiment sets.  Here are the inks blended for my stenciling...

I'll also share my stenciled card with my friends at JUGS#825! [thanks Donna!]

I know there will be a ton of cards in Bonnie's gallery - and have you seen her card??  FABulous!  Hurry to TCH#134 to see it and all the other wonderful team makes!

=] Michele

Freshly Made Sketches #738

 

Will you be at all surprised when I tell you that our sketch artist

this week is Cecile?  I can see her CAS organic style all over it!

What to do?  I tipped her sketch on its side to accommodate one of

my favorite birds from Wplus9 - sorry that it's no longer available.

The 'stitching' was the first element to happen.  I used one of 

Kristina's Finishing Touches dies from Concord & 9th stopping

short of the edge of my card.  Two branches were cut from the same

Bristol card as my panel for the perch and the bird 

[from Wplus9's Vintage Ephemera] stamped in Distress Blueprint Sketch

and a bit of grey for his beak.  The eye was carefully colored with a 

black Sharpie and given shine with a drop of Nuvo Crystal.

Isn't that sentiment just the ticket?  [W+9 Just Breathe] 

He sure looks as if he's thinking of someone special - maybe Cecile?

Hope to see you in our Freshly Made Sketches #738 gallery this week!

=] Michele

Freshly Made Sketches #737

 

Isn't this a fantastic sketch?  Jen B. is our sketch artist this week and

I immediately thought of that wonderful embossing folder from 

Spellbinders: Molded Frame!

This card nearly made itself, honestly.  A simple pale 4x5.25" grey panel was

embossed with said EF then topped with a pair of SSS die-cut flowers:

Poppy Stem - the one on the right and Cosmos Stem on the left.

Both cut from Neenah 110# card and doubled up for mail-ability.

A sweet little sentiment that will have you singing along - all day! - and

my card for Freshly Made Sketches #737 is complete!

I can't wait to see what my team has made - and what YOU will make, too!

=] Michele

Color Hues #133

 

My sweet friend Tracey is hosting The Color Hues Challenge #133 and loved all of the cards the team made using these fun colors.  So I reached for my Distress Wilted Violet and got to work using that sweet little C&9th Just Picked Dies - particularly that clover again!  

I love the first card I made using it so why recreate the wheel?  Here is my CASE of that one...

A little bit of gingham on any card makes me smile!  The vase die

was used to cut a piece of embossed paper from a friend, and another

Better-pressed sentiment finishes it well.

Off I go to deliver this one to Tracey's gallery at TCH#133!

=] Michele

Thank you, Tracey!

Just us Girls #823

Lisa is our host for Just us Girls #823 and she has chosen a wonderful noun for their Word Week: Flowers!  I just so happened to have a brand-spankin'-new Altenew Flourished Flora in my hot little hands!  Thanks, Lisa!  Now let's hope I remember to link and share!

This is a 6-stencil set that took a little bit of shifting and planning to bring together but

in the end, I couldn't love it more!  You might notice that I did a 'no-line' look in the photo

above but soon decided that stamping those lines would really bring out some of the

fantastic details on this stamp.  Here are the [many] inks used - I over-stamped the

outline using the darkest of the blues from the Altenew Tranquility set: Dark Night.

I treated myself to the coordinating dies and after cutting discovered just how huge this image is!  A wee bit of surgery was required to make it fit on a 5 x 7" card!!

Isn't that wavy embossing great?  Spellbinders: Summertime Waves.

It was a great time pulling together all those colors!

Okay... I'm going right now to get this one in the JUGS#823 gallery!

Thanks for spending a bit of your weekend at my place!

=] Michele

Color Hues #132

I was delighted to know that someone was missing me here in blogland!  It isn't because I've stopped enjoying my crafty time, believe me!  Here is a little something I cooked up just for the gals at Color Hues #132 - thanks to a generous share from a friend, it came out so cute IMHO!

I was delighted to play with Donna's PTI Chicken - thanks so much my friend!

I did find a way to 'make her my own!'  PTI even makes these fun papers but the cloud and sentiment are ancient EH products!

Are you ready for the inside?

Can anyone relate? lol

I'd better get this one delivered before it's too late!

=] Michele

Freshly Made Sketches #736

My wonderful teammate Verena has a gorgeous CAS style about her cards - perfect for Freshly Made Sketches #736 and her happy sketch this week ...

I've also found it perfect for a fun 21st birthday card for my granddaughter!

Where have the years gone?  I'm sure she's thrilled about this milestone

birthday - but this grammy really wishes she was still 5!

These 'old birds' are from Ellen Hutson, designed by Brandi Kincaid, 

and go way back to 2019!  But I still love them!

Three of five 'chicks' found their way onto Verena's circles - though

I can't say they are in 'pecking order!'  Another oldie but goodie from 

MFT: Jumbo Ric Rac brought more fun as does the burlap texture from

HoneyBee's embossing folder.

I'll save the inside sentiment just for Lola!

Hope this and all the wonderful inspiration from my teamies get

your creative juices flowing - come play!

=] Michele

Freshly Made Sketches #735

Kim is our sketch artist this week and I think she was a little tired of seeing circles?  But I may be wrong! lol  Take a look at Freshly Made Sketches #735 ... 

Even though I'm seeing squares, I thought hexagons might work 

great for her layout!

Check it out...

An older honeycomb embossing folder set the stage for the larger

honey-colored hexagons [The Stamp Market.]  Looks like those honeybees [Happy Bee from Waffle Flower Crafts] are happy!

I can't believe I made another square card... just in case you're wondering if

they would work on an A2 card...

 I think they work just fine and dandy - using a hex die from Altenew 

as my alternative and lots of little scraps of cardstock found among my snippets.

So, do you have an idea brewing yet?  Oh, let me tell you my FMS teammates

will have you playing cards with us before you know it - we hope!

=] Michele

The Paper Players #783

I have really cut it close with this card for The Paper Players #783!  I had a couple of Shipmates floating around my desk.  One is just right for Stef's fun Sketch...

Yes. That fun set I borrowed from Marcia did end up living among the many!  I found an old EH die for my lifesaver, and a fun sentiment from 

Altenew's Speech Bubbles.

[psst you might be seeing more of those soon!]

 Of course, I had to make an addition to my EF stash while taking 

advantage of the SB sale.  All Wrapped Up seemed perfect for the

nautical theme here today.  Here is the 'captain' of the sea ready

for the catch just in case his shipmate loses his grip!

I'd better set sail for that PP783 gallery, or I'll have to walk the plank!

=] Michele

Freshly Made Sketches #734

Before I introduce our next Freshly Made Sketch, let me say that I'm sorry I haven't been around much.  I have had a busy Spring that has taken me out of the house WAY more than normal - I'm a homebody, for sure!  

Okay. Now for the fun part!  Jen Mitchell is one of the founding members of FMS and her busy career keeps her from playing cards with us as often as I'm sure she'd love to.  Good news: Jen is our Freshly Made Sketch #734 designer this week! YAY!  Here it is... 

I normally steer clear of square cards - let's face it 'extra postage' isn't something we need these days with the already pricey stamps!  But my card design and elements worked so well with Jen's square - IMHO!  Ready for it?

The lovely crane was a gift that just keeps giving and fits so beautifully

with the elements from the March 2024 Hero Arts Classic kit that I HAD TO HAVE

after watching Channin Pelletier do her magic!

Today I paired the kit's large cut/emboss panel die with Spellbinders' Essential Four Petal Labels to create the largest of the two main pieces of Jen's sketch.  Another smaller one was stamped to create the watery scene for my Crane.  There was a sheet of rub-ons included in the kit, too - not sure what this strip says, but it worked its

charm, I think, and allows me to use this for any occasion!

So, what do you think?  Did I pull off that square design?  I know YOU will - or you can make it any shape you want as long as we can see our sketch in your design!

Come play!

=] Michele 

JUGS #820 Color Hues #131

I had just enough time to make a card today - shhh it's for my husband!  AND Just us Girls #820 and Color Hues #131, too!

Our anniversary is coming up in May, and this sentiment just says everything about 

his sense of humor!  Thanks, D for sending me this one! xx

 Just us Girls is looking for stenciling this week - I adore this set from Pinkfresh Studios... and tulips are always my go to for our anniversary!  Why not make a few in Color Hues' colors? 

Oh, oh!  Just heard the garage open... off to share!

=] Michele

Freshly Made Sketches #733

Jen T. is our sketch artist this week and it couldn't have come at a better time - I have a NEW die in the house!  Hang on - I'll let it do all the talking in a second - you'll want to see our Freshly Made Sketch #733 first...

 

There are SO many possibilities for that main circle - ready for a giggle?

Truth in those words! Now maybe only old people will remember these wacky windup chattering teeth that hopped around?  So, I'm definitely dating myself here.

My choppers are mounted onto a fun little fidget gizmo that makes

him spin like a champ - I'll try posting a video on IG soon!

This gem is from Spellbinders' their Aged to Perfection bundle which I was TOTALLY influenced to buy by my friend Therese!  She used in her most recent LIVE and honestly, I could not get it into a cart fast enough!

Here's my 'personal' touch...

My youngest had surgery last week and like a good mama, I

brought her soup and a helping hand for the day... I can still see her spinning

this guy until ... well, his teeth almost fell out!

Okay.  Enough chatter - you're going to love all the designs from my teammates, and we cannot wait to see what YOU will use as your centerpiece to Jen's fun sketch!  Come play!  

=] Michele