A day of play with Marcia - foiled again, and again!

My friend Marcia had a big win with a fabulous full-release giveaway recently - it caused us both to take another look at the foiling craze!  Lucky for me, I found a deep discount on the Glimmer Hot Foil machine at Hobby Lobby - then came the learning curve!  We set a date to conquer our fears - I should have known Marcia would have it DOWN by the time she arrived at my door!

Thanks, my sweet generous friend for holding my hand as I got the hang of it, and for bringing all your Pinkfresh goodies to play with!!  Here are the cards I was able to make - and believe me when I say there is a plethora of butterflies still to be used!!

I couldn't wait to get my hands on the gorgeous Pinkfresh Studio Butterflies - you know how I feel about those little wonders, right?  This time, foiled in silver.

I found a beautiful place for this one to land - on the PFS

Miss Your Smile set!  I white heat embossed it on lavender card,

then using just a few of the layers from their coordinating stencil set.  All that to coordinate with the inks I added to this gorgeous Big Butterfly!

inks: Catherine Pooler [CP] Mint to Be, Sweet Sixteen, and Bellini

Pastels are usually not my bag, but I love the ethereal feel of this one!

Next up:  I cut a PFS Braided tag, then sliced it in two, top to bottom,

using one of their curved Classic Edgers... voila, a perfect

place for these Small Butterflies to hang out!  and a sweet 

sentiment for a recipient who won't even care if a bit 

if my stamping [PFS Lush Greenery sentiments] went askew!  

Don't you love them foiled in gold?  and stenciled in my favorite color combo!

CP Rouge, Party Dress, Orange Peel, and Tiki Torch

I backed my tag in a raspberry paper, added a few gold pearls, and POW!

Next card, same mix of colors, placed on the round using PFS Braided Circles dies, and a bit of stenciling on the inner circle says floral to me!

A wonderful sentiment from the Small Butterflies set - it says it all!

We were sad to say goodbye to our last little friend this week!  Our numbers

were down this year - only 125!

Then, I had just one little pink and orange butterfly left - found the perfect spot for 

her among a few Lawn Fawn leaves cut from such pretty paper

 [Woodblock Prints PTI], she was fooled into thinking they were flowers!

Pigment Craft Co.'s Hello Autumn  MFT Wonky Stitched Rectangles

One Last butterfly - I started this lengthy post with a BIG butterfly, 

so I'll end with another:

This time I went a bit more dramatic with my color palette:

CP Sangria, Orange Twist, Tutti Frutti, and Limoncello!   

A stenciled sunflower for her to rest upon.

The foiling is gold, but the Sweet  part is foiled in copper!

This was my successful first go at foiling onto a cut panel [W&W] - so easy!

A little tape is all you need to remember - thanks Yana!

That was a long one, I know.  Thanks, so very much, if you made it through!!

Thanks again, Marcia - it was a blast foiling with you!  Can't wait for our longer play-days, and to see your cards! xo

=]  Michele

The Flower Challenge #60

 

Hello my friends - thanks for dropping by!

It may be generally known that I'm not a fan of the color blue - but the blue-green family is quite pleasing to my eye!  Turquoise is such a gorgeous color, it deserves to be celebrated for our 60th at The Flower Challenge!

I started by Googling turquoise, and was brought to a gorgeous photo of the actual stone in its natural state which showed the many depths of its color.  Which is what I've attempted to capture in my Copic coloring today, using a few of  the BG family of Copics.

Pinkfresh Studio: Miss Your Smile - stamped in CP Twilight ink; fussy cut

Embellished with PF Jewels

Adhered to a panel embossed with my Stampin' Up Subtle Texture

There are so many ways to use the featured color: water coloring, card stock, pencil coloring - the list is endless!  Just be sure it is a flower you're featuring on your card!  Let's go see all the beautiful examples at The Flower Challenge blog - my teammates always make such gorgeous samples!  Bonus to have a wonderful guest, Kailash!  @kailashcrafts on IG!  You won't want to miss a single one of her fabulous creations!  See you in the gallery?  

=]  Michele

One year Anniversary!

 
Time sure does fly when we're having fun!!  Speaking of - CONGRATULATIONS to Nancy and her wonderful team at Color Hues!!  There's even a new kid on the block!  Welcome aboard, Tracey!  I couldn't help but reach for some leaves - you'll remember why, I'm sure of it! [although you'll have to wait a few days for my favorite Lawn Fawn ones - wink!]

Here's my card in all the shades of Yellow and Orange I could muster 

on these tiny little leaves!

A gift from a sweet friend, this frame is one piece: two frames, and all of these wonderful tiny leaves!

It even adds the embossed decorative edge - BONUS it also includes a stencil to color it!

I've set it atop one of my 'mop up' backgrounds made with another stencil in my stash.

Autumn Leave Sidekick Frame and Stencil set

Thanks for stopping by! 

=]  Michele

Inspired By #185

 

I have a bounty of scraps, snippets, and 'almost used' bits and bobs in my crafty stash - and I'd bet YOU do, too!  I couldn't help but choose our Inspired By IB185 for my card - BUT you'll never guess!  I made it a Christmas card!  

You'll immediately see my card was inspired by the brown paper grocery bags, this sweet saver's blouse, and even that pop of red - but can you also see I've made a little corrugated card, and tied it all with string, too?

Shirley B's fun Holly and even this sentiment strip was found in the set packaging!  

I distressed  all layers with a little Tim Holtz tool I haven't used in years!

I'm paying tribute to the gals at Freshly Made Sketches today using Linda's 500th Sketch as a jumping off point for my card.   Congratulations to their entire team for 10 years of amazing cards made from amazing sketches!  Cheers to 10 or more years!

Speaking of amazing teams ... let's go see what the IB team has in store for us this week, shall we?  Then I hope you'll look through your snippets bin for a bit of inspiration to play along!  We love it when you do!

=]  Michele

Second Helpings!

 Just a quick little card, because I just couldn't resist this darling guy after all!!

For IB184 Penguin Love - second helpings!

This sweet MFT gift-giver was the perfect choice for that sweet tummy tattoo! 

This older SU embossing folder worked its charm for my snowy background.

All I had to do was emboss, swipe with my Versamark ink, and emboss in white!

We have plenty of room in our IB184 gallery - and we're saving a spot

just for YOU!!!

=]  Michele

Something to celebrate!

 Of course I'm talking about the milestone celebration at Freshly Made Sketches!!  500 SKETCHES!!!  Congratulations on ten fabulous years, my FMS friends!

Speaking of friends - I've followed Linda Callahan for years and am delighted each week with every one of her brilliant FMS makes!   AND she designed this fun FMS#500 for us, too!

Linda shares my silly sense of humor, 

and happens to love this guy as much as I do...

As much as I love this big bear, I love another guy even more - today is my husband Tom's birthday!!  So OF COURSE I invited him to help make this card for FMS - he did the coloring today!!  [don't you love his shading?]

I'm off to celebrate the rest of his special day with him ... lots of cheers to ten more years of fun at Freshly Made Sketches!!

=]  Michele

Sugar Pea: Hey Honey, The Stamp Market's card stock, Stemmed Leaves, and All Lined Up sentiment. a very old Lifestyle Craft embossing folder.

Inspired By #184C - Penguin Holiday!

 

You cannot even imagine how hard it was not to use IB184, instead of this IB184C - our Christmas option - today!!  But these guys are so fun, aren't they?  

I was totally inspired to try a background blend of these fabulous reds:

It turned out better than any I've ever done - I think using Oxide inks always makes blending easier, don't you?  Ready to see it?  Here you go...

These little penguin friends are from MFT's Sweet Holiday Penguins.  The snowy hills are ages-old dies from SSS.  After adhering the hills, to the background, I sent it through my Platinum 6 with a Pinkfresh Studios' Stitched Rectangle die... their stitching perfectly matched those on the hills!  A few gold heat-embossed stars, and a bit of snow, and my card is complete!

My only question for you is this: which will you be Inspired By?  This Christmas version? or the ADORABLE IB184??  Join me at the Inspired By #184 post to make your choice, and to see which photo my teammates chose to use!

=]  Michele