A Country Snowman with A Lot of Sparkle

There are so many great snowman stamps out there...

In one way or another...they're all cute, I think.

and sometimes...

some are EXTRA cute.

This Stampendous Country Snowman definitely qualifies as being EXTRA cute.

I colored this image with Spectrum (Alcohol) markers...

and created the background with a Clarity paint brush and ink pad. 

(I didn't want to use traditional colors....so I switched up the color palette a bit, as you can see)

After the image was colored..I die cut it with an MFT scalloped die

Then...I chose some prints...

some metallic card stock ...and a great shade of glitter paper...for matting.

I created a small sentiment piece 

with a tiny sentiment from the Hero Arts Ornament stamp set

and tucked it along the side of the card, under the middle layer.

All of the elements, parts...and pieces came together nicely, I think

I'm so glad that I went with non-traditional winter/Holiday/Christmas colors

I love the turquoise-like colors together with the cocoa brown and hints of white.

The glitter paper is a favorite of mine....

the amount of sparkle is off the charts amazing!

I enjoyed creating this card...a lot...

so while I had everything out on the studio worktable...

I created a few more...

(I'll put them into my ETSY shop....)

BUT...I am going to keep one for myself...

 Thanks for visiting...

Have a great day, my crafty and creative friends...

Michelle.

Another "Vintage" Video...A Quick and (Very) Easy Halloween Goodie Holder

Today I'm sharing another "Vintage" video!

If you need to create some Halloween goodie holders...quickly...

THIS is the video for you!

This tutorial is easy...simple..and will allow you to create a large number

(or just a few) goodie holders in a snap!

(PLEASE NOTE: This video was posted back in the days when I was on a design team 

that no longer exists.

(Which means that the blog address noted in the video is no longer active)

I hope that you enjoy the video...

and are inspired to whip up some Halloween goodie holders of your own

for all of the trick or treaters that will be knocking on your door tomorrow!

Thanks for visiting

and have a wonderful Sunday!

Michelle.

Vintage Me ! ....Video Tutorial: Making an Accordion Fold Halloween Card ~

HI Everyone!

I came across this oldie but goodie...and thought that I'd share it with you today!

It's vintage me !!......(2009)....

and a video tutorial for an accordion fold Halloween card

that will never go out of style...

and....

the best thing is....

once you learn how to create this easy accordion fold...

it can be switched up for any theme or occasion.

The video is from my days on a design team that no longer exists...

So when I say "The measurements are on the blog"...well, there is no longer a blog ;) ) 

But that's really not a huge problem....

because I DO give you some basic measurements to get you started...

NOE: For the orange print paper panels shown in the video..,...you can just measure your panels...

and then cut the orange card stock to 1/4 inch less than the panel itself...

(that's the key measurement that's missing on the video...) 

This was a fun card to create...

and its great to look back at myself and see my significant (and still ongoing) weight loss as well !!

Enjoy!

...and have a great day, my crafty and creative friends!

Michelle.

Christmas Cardinal....A Holiday Bird

I've been kicking up the Holiday Card Making this past week, or so....

and had to include a Holiday bird classic...

a card with a cardinal.

I chose to use the beautiful cardinal and holly image 

from Nicole Tamarin's Holiday Birds stamp set.

I colored the image with Spectrum Noir (Alcohol ) markers

and used a cranberry metallic card stock as the mat layer and under-layer.

The leafy background was die cut using glitter paper.

(Background die by: Reverse Confetti)

For a little bit of extra sparkle..I embellished the card front with a few small rhinestones.

The glitter paper has lots of sparkle...

and looks great against the cranberry metallic card stock

Look at that sparkle!

The silver glitter paper sparkles..

and so does the metallic card stock!

This Nicole Tamarin image has lots of nice detail and shading

which made it fun to color.

The details in the stamped image together with alcohol marker blending are a great combination! 

I've already got a few more of this cardinal colored...and on standby...

ready for some card making.

(Looks like I am FINALLY off of the Autumn card making...

and on to the Holiday card making!)

Thanks for visiting!

Wishing you a wonderfully creative day!

Michelle.

Stopping the Christmas Cards and Going back to Autumn Cards..Just for the Day!

Well...so much for the Christmas card thing.

I HAD to go back to making Autumn cards.

Here's what happened...

I ordered a bunch of the new Catherine Scanlon Stamps.

The order arrived.

I opened the box.

Joy overcame me.

I got so excited...

The stamps were gorgeous!

I took myself out to the studio.

laid everything out on the studio worktable...

sat there...

and just looked at the order ...again.

More joy.

(I was so happy and excited about every stamp that came in this order!)

and then...

I picked a stamp.

Got out my water coloring "stuff"

and

I

had

THE

best

time!

Holy schmoly....

I haven't water colored much lately.

And I haven't used any of my Catherine Scanlon stamps in a while either.

So working on these 3 cards sent me to card making heaven!!

I water colored with Distress ink (pads)

The  colors are off the charts fantastic.

(The photos didn't capture the  intensity of the colors and just how vibrant they really are)

I'll share pics of all 3 cards....

They're similar...but different...

Two  of the cards were matted with bronze metallic card stock...

and...one was matted with orange metallic card stock.

I used fine gold embroidery thread to gussy-up the sentiment piece.

Love Love Love

I LOVE both of the stamps that I used to create today's cards ....the image and the sentiment 

The bronze metallic mat layers add a little bit of shimmer

and are a great complement to the colors that I used to water color.

and...

the distress ink really is fantastic for water coloring...

Card #2...

with orange metallic matting

and...again I have to say...

WOW about the ink...and how the colors dried.

Isn't the sentiment lovely?

I am over the moon crazy about Catherine Scanlon's style..

I love all of her images...and the sentiment font style  that she uses, as well.

You can see the embroidery thread here...in this close-up

I think that  like the leaf colors best, on this card....

I love the others...but this one is kinda my favorite.

Last photo...

Look at those colors!

Wow Wow and Wow.

  

I have to confess....

I could have stayed in the studio for many more hours...

but it was getting late...

so I forced myself to turn off the studio lights 

and allowed my day to wind down a bit...

bringing the day to an end.

Now I am thinking about which Catherine Scanlon stamp I want to use next.

Which makes me wonder...

WILL I ever get going with some Christmas card-making???

(haha)

Thanks for visiting today...

Have a great day my crafty friends.

I hope that you dig into your stamp stash..

and pull out a stamp that excite YOU...

and that YOU have as much fun creating a few cards of your own...

as I did when I created the cards that I've shared with you today.

Michelle.

It's Wednesday! ~ Crafter's Companion Inspiration Design Team Project Day!

I'm in full Holiday card mode...

and so I have a Christmas Card to share with you today...

created with the Holly Jolly Christmas stamp set ...

from the Makey Bake Mice Collection.

I stamped the image onto Spectrum Noir Ultra Smooth card stock

 and then colored it with Spectrum Noir (Alcohol) Markers.

I blended and added color to the background with stencil brushes and ink pads. 

When the image was complete I matted it on Shimmering card stock

and 

The second mat layer was  cut to size with a print from the Festive Wonder  paper pad 

I created the sentiment piece...

and used some fine gold embroidery thread to embellish it.

and...

a close-up...

Thanks for visiting!

and...

I hope that after seeing this card...

that you're feeling  inspired to create a few Holiday cards of your own!

Have a great day, my crafty friends!

Michelle.

SUPPLIES:

Stamps: Makey Bakey Christmas EZMount Stamp Set - Holly Jolly Christmas

Card stock and paper: Ultra Smooth Premium White Cardstock Unscored 8.5" x 11"

Shimmering Cardstock 6" x 6" 20pc package - Candy Red

Signature Collection by Sara Davies - Festive Wonder 12" x 12" Paper Pad

Coloring: Spectrum Noir (Alcohol) Markers DR2, DR2, DR6, DR7, CG1, CG2, GB1, GB11, DG4,

Tb2, TB3, TB4, TN1, TN2, TN3, TN4, FS9, CR2. IG1, IG2, Colorless Blender

MISC: Trimmer, Asst Adhesives. Memento Tuxedo Black ink pad, Fine gold embroidery thread

First Christmas Card of the Season

Today I am off to have my usual 3 month CT scan...

Lucky me: I get to drink 2 BIG bottles of a thick fruity "shake"

that they tell you is "delicious" 

(They lie!)

To tell you the truth, after doing so many scans 

and drinking so many bottles of the "shake"...

I can honestly say...it's not so bad.

As always...I have a little bit of "Scanxiety"...

When you've had 3 different cancers...

you always have that little bit of concern looming in the back of your mind 

until the result come back...and you get word from your oncologists that  everything looks good.

So please keep your fingers...and toes...crossed for me today.

I have been keeping really busy in the studio lately...

(less time to obsess about my scan and oncology appointment)

I've been enjoying lots of stamps that I have "Collected"...

I've been going through stamps that are new...(have never been inked up)...

and have been giving extra attention using them.

I went a little bit berserk with the new release items at The Ton Stamps...

so I've got a little card making  "to-do" list that includes making cards with my most recent Ton order.

Here's some of the "evidence"

It wasn't easy to choose which stamp set to ink up first....

The entire order was wonderful...

(New releases..and some there stamps that I had my eye on for a while at The Ton web site)

But...

I've been making Autumn..Thanksgiving and Halloween cards a lot lately...

So I thought that I'd switch gears and focus on Christmas...

and so...I chose to create a water colored card with

Fresh Cut Poinsettia (Outlines) set...

and the Scripty Holiday Greetings sentiment set.

I wanted a washed out water-colored-look....

and so I use Distress ink (pads) for color
and made sure to use a wet brush...to dilute the ink to get the desired look.

The distress inks reactive qualities were perfect for achieving the sheer look that I wanted.

I also chose to have some white areas showing...

for the random washed--out look that I was going for.

As, I usually do...I kept the card CAS (Clean And Simple)

and matted it with green metallic card stock

*The other option was red metallic...

but green seems to highlight the water coloring better than the red

so...green it was!

I got the washed out water color look that I was going for...
which makes me happy.
(This is not my usual style of water coloring...I usually go darker application of color)

I added a few sequins for some sparkle

and dressed up the poinsettia centers with a little bit of Clear Wink of Stella. 

The Scripty Holiday greetings set worked well with his card...(

(I love this font!)

I'm glad that I chose this stamp set  as the first one to use form my new Ton Order...

It kinda jump started my mojo for Holiday and Christmas card making!

Thanks for visiting today...

have a great day, my crafty friends!

Michelle.

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Vintage Tools

I've been trying to create guy-friendly cards more often...

I had a great new stamp set...Vintage Tools by Forever in Time

and thought that I'd create a birthday card with it.

I created a background by stamping most of the stamps form this stamp set...

covering the card stock with multiple images.

I stamped and cut out a hammer...bolt...and a ruler...to use as embellishments

Then...I chose a sentiment from a miscellaneous stamp set.

I added some color to the tool-covered background...and the embellishment pieces....

Stamped and matted the sentiment..

Matted the tool image piece with black card stock...

and then created a second larger mat with dark brown wood grain-look card stock.

The image layer was positioned with foam dimensionals

along with the hammer and ruler.

Some color highlighting was done on the image piece and the embellishment pieces...

using Clarity Stencil brushes and ink pads.

The wood grain card stock is really really nice...and seems perfect for this group of images.

Here's a close-up...

 I find it a challenge to find stamps that are guy-friendly...

So coming across this stamp set while browsing around on line was a real find!

Now I can add this card to my "guy-cards" stash...

Stash meaning ....3 or 4 cards total...

Which makes me realize that I NEED to create guy-cards more often.

Thanks for visiting, my crafty an creative friends!

Have a wonderful day!

Michelle.

Dog-Gone-it

It's time for a dose of cuteness

and Penny Black's Man's Best Friend stamp set seemed perfect for that dose of cuteness!

I chose one of the sweet dog images that are part of this set...

added two Impression Obsession dies...

A cloud die...and a sun die...

an MFT mini scalloped rectangle die...

some print paper.and coordinating solid card stock..

Spectrum Noir Alcohol Markers

a few ink pads...

and my beloved Clarity Stencil brushes...

and....

this is what I came up with!

Here's a close-up of some BIG TIME cuteness!

I can't help myself...

the cuteness of this card makes me want to share another photo...

Look at those little doggy footprints!

(SO cute!!)

And yes....another card that I can say was fun to create!

Thanks for visiting today...

wishing you a wonderful and creative day!

Michelle.

Live, Love, Laugh

I've got a colorful card to share with you today...

One that was fun to create...

and one that I created around a beautiful Impression Obsession sentiment stamp.

I chose some bright and bold ink colors...

created the background with Clarity stencil brushes...

added the sentiment...

highlighted each letter and the butterfly with Spectrum Noir Sparkle markers...

chose some great mat colors...

and wha-la!

A card!

Here's a close up...

I am loving the possibilities for creating backgrounds 

and adding color with the Clarity brushes.

(Don't know how I ever managed without them)

Thanks for visiting...

Have a wonderful...

and creative day, my crafty friends!

Michelle.

Dorothy Said It

So here's what happened...

I love quote stamps.

I bought an Impression Obsession  quote stamp that quoted Dorothy...from The Wizard of Oz

I had an idea for a card in my crafty little noggin.

But I needed a particular image...to go along with the quote.

I searched.

And searched.

I came close to finding something....but nothing really thrilled me.

The images just weren't "right".

Finally....

last week...

I revisited ETSY...

searching gain...for a stamp. 

A stamp that I was beginning to think might only exist in my own mind...haha 

But....

I FOUND THE IDEAL STAMP!!

and...

I found a second runner up...

a second image that will also work well with the quote!!

so...

I ordered both from a great little ETSY shop called Pink Flamingo 61
You can visit Pink Flamingo 61....HERE
Mary, the shop owner...and designer ...offers lots of terrific stamps that reach beyond the ordinary.
You'll be glad that you visited her shop.

So...
As soon as the 2 stamps arrived in my mailbox..

I headed right out to the studio..

with the stamps in my crafty little hands..

I HAD to make a card!! 

Immediately!!

I gathered up my MISTI...Memento Tuxedo Black ink pad...Spectrum Noir alcohol markers...

black metallic card stock...Clarity stencil brushes and ink pads...

Clear wink of Stella...

trimmer and adhesives...

and this is what I whipped up!

What do you think?

Look at Toto!

(so cute!)

And how about Dorothy's sparkly ruby red slippers!

It was fun to have this quote stamp...

and step up to the challenge of finding a companion stamp to go with it....

that ultimately turned out to be exactly what I envisioned.

I truly enjoyed creating this card...

and I enjoyed seeing something that existed in my creative thoughts...

evolve through the creative process...

to becoming a card!
and...
the bonus is that in the process of searching...
I found all of the wonderful stamps that are offered at the Pink Flamingo 61 ETSY shop!

I was so happy when I sent a text-photo of the card to my daughter...who is away at college...

and she immediately asked me to create a second card...exactly like this one....

for a friend that she would like to give it to.

(I was happy to oblige...especially being that I had all of the materials and supplies out  already.)

Thanks for visiting...

Have a wonderful Friday!

Michelle.

Dancing in the Rain

You probably already know that I LOVE quote stamps...

and am always looking to add to my collection of great quotes.

I also like nice simple clean images that nourish my love of creating CAS (Clean and Simple) cards 

When I found this stamp....

I found this Stampendous stamp call "Rain Dance"....

I knew that it was a stamp that was ideal for both of my "likes"

1. A great simple clean image...

AND

2. A terrific quote

This is one of those stamped images that "needs" a MISTI or other stamp positioning tool.

The solid black parts of the image required multiple re-inkings...and re-stampings 

to get a solid un-spotted stamped image...and the MISTI was perfect for achieving that.

I colored the image with Spectrum Noir Alcohol markers...

created the background with ink pads and Clarity stencil brushes...

added some Clear Wink of Stella to the umbrella...

I matted with red and black metallic card stock..

and...

Wha-la!

A card!

I really love this image and quote...

which by the way are one stamp...not two separate stamps.

Of course a little bit of Clear Wink of Stella was needed on the umbrella...

(aka... a little bit of rain)

Rain on the umbrella... 

(aka Wink of Stella)

I just love this image...

(had to take one more look before ending this blog post)

Thanks for visiting today, my crafty friends...

have a wonderfully creative day!

Michelle.

It's Wednesday! ~ Crafter's Companion Inspiration Design Team Project Day!

It's Wednesday!

and..

That means that it's Crafter's Companion Inspiration Design Team Project Day here at my blog!

This week I've got a "Rockin'" card to share with you!

 I die cut 3 guitars ...using the Rock On die....and Black Pearl Shimmering Card Stock.

Just one pass through the GEMINI die cutting machine and the  guitars were cut AND embossed!

I also cut the flame from the same die set using Candy Red Shimmering Card Stock

The print behind the guitars was chosen from the Just for Men URBAN paper pad

and 

the red print for the sentiment was chosen from the Just for Men BRIGHTS paper pad.

I used Black Pearl Shimmering Card Stock 

and 

a third print (also form the URBAN paper pad) as a background....

I chose sentiments for the Rock Star stamp set and stamped them onto the red print paper....

then matted them with the Black Pearl card stock as well.

The base card is white and was cut, scored & created with Spectrum Noir Ultra Smooth Card Stock

Each guitar  and the sentiment pieces are all positioned using foam dimensionals.

and here's a close up of the sentiment pieces...

and the embossed details on the guitars...

I'm always happy when I create a card for guys...

because my card stash always seems to be dominated by floral cards and a general assortment of cards that don't seem very guy-friendly.

Thanks for visiting!

Wishing you a wonderful 

and very crafty day!

Michelle.

SUPPLIES:

Stamps: Sara's Signature Collection Just For Men Clear Stamp Set - Rock Star

Dies: Sara's Signature Collection Just For Men Metal Dies - Rock On

Paper & Card Stock: Ultra Smooth Premium White Cardstock Unscored 8.5" x 11"

Black Pearl & Candy Red Shimmering Card Stock

Sara's Signature Collection Just For Men 6" x 6" Paper Pad - Urban Collection

Sara's Signature Collection Just For Men 6" x 6" Paper Pad - Brights Collection

Other: GEMINI Die Cutting Machine, trimmer, asst adhesives, 

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The Birds are Back

I had the best time creating the blue bird cards the other day...

This Hero Arts Color Layering Bird & Branch stamp set is sheer enjoyment to create cards with.

(If you missed the blue bird cards...you can see them HERE

After I finished the blue birds...

I immediately thought that I'd like to create a few more in a different color...or colors.

Yellow and brown tones were what I was thinking about....

and I wanted to add the flower image (included with the stamp set) to the cards

(when I created the blue bird cards...I chose to only add leaves to the branch...no flowers.)

and so...

 I'd like to share two more bird cards with you today.

First up...

Yellow....

with the addition the flower image included with the stamp set.

I was happy with the yellow canary-like bird...

but the flowers didn't thrill me.

To my eye...they looked a little bit too "70's...go-go...flower power-ish"

All in all though...I liked the end product..and liked the yellow bird.

I added some highlights to the feathers by using my MISTI stamp positioning tool..stamping with the yellow ink...

then..highlighting certain areas of the stamp with a marker...and re-stamping.

The background was created with my beloved Clarity stencil brushes...and ink pads.

The image is matted on green metallic card stock..

with the underlying mat being a print that coordinates nicely the ink colors that I used.

and a close up....

Like with the blue bird cards...I double stamped the leaves..

Stamping once with full strength ink...

and again after stamping off on a piece of card stock THEN stamping again onto the leaf and branch.

I also wanted to try a brown tone color combo for a bird...

Because I wasn't a fan of the flower (above)...

I decided to use a little flower from an Altenew stamp set called Vintage Flowers.

I was much happier  with this flower (below)

MUCH happier.

I used chocolate brown metallic card stock for the first mat layer...

and a print for the second mat layer.

Again..the background was created with the Clarity brushes and ink pads.

So now...after the blue birds...and these two new birds...

its official!!

I can officially say that I LOVE this Hero Arts stamp set.

(not the flower ...but the bird...leaves..and branch are all on my love-list!)

My next thought is that one day soon...

I'll give another try at a robin....using blue..and a shade of red on the belly of the bird.

* I tried to create a robin the other day...

but none of my red ink pads were the right red for a robin...

When I get the right red...I'll give it another try.

Thanks for visiting my crafty friends...

Have a wonderful Tuesday!

Michelle.

Challenged....by Painted Poppy

I am still keeping my promise to myself to use each and every stamp set that I have...

It's been lots of fun keeping this promise....

and..

it's a great feeling to be using things..

as opposed to just collecting them.

Altenew's Painted Poppy was one of the stamp (and die) sets that were in my little "to-do" pile 

at the end of the studio worktable.

I've found that keeping that little pile works well for me...

It's an unavoidable reminder as to which stamp sets I'd like to create a few cards with....

So here's what happened.

I decided to create a card with Painted Poppy.

I had a card sketch in my crazy crafty little head...

I got out all of the supplies that that I knew that I'd need..

Things were rolling right along.

UNTIL...

I was faced with the challenge of positioning the stamp ...

the flower stem..in particular.

The natural out-of-the -package "shape" of the flower stems

didn't match up with the coordinating dies.

UGH.

I spent so much time trying to get everything aligned.
I wasn't having much luck.
The stem was so thin..had a mind of it's own...
...it just wouldn't stay put...I would position it...and it would want to move to a different curved shape.

Eventually, I took a sharp pencil...

and drew a line ....using the stem part of the die as a stencil-like guideline

onto the card stock that I wanted to stamp the image on.
THEN...with the line...and my MISTI...I was able to get the stem of each image to stay in position.

It worked!

After tossing quite a few die cut Poppies into the trash...

Finally!

I got it right!

Whew.!

Truthfully...I wasn't really sure that I'd wind up with a card.

But...after much trial and error....

I wound up with the card that I had envisioned in my mind.

The flower...the bud..and the leaf were all stamped and then die cut.

I stamped a sentiment , also from the Painted Poppy stamp set, onto a strip of vellum.

I die cut a mini scalloped rectangle 

then aembossed a black mat layer with a We R Memory keeps Next Level 3-D embossing folder.

(About the embossing folder...I have one thing to say....WOW!..That's some GREAT 3-D embossing)

I positioned everything...

I used foam dimensionals and rolled bulge dots when placing the flower, bug and leaf

I used  a few small rhinestones as embellishments 

I love the images..and am happy with the card...

and even though I kinda figured out the stem issue...

I'm not sure that the it wont be a challenge again...

the next time that I want to create a card with this stamp and die set.

Here's a close-up....

Red, black and white is always a nice look for a card, I think...

and..

I like the font used for the sentiment...and am glad that I chose to stamp it onto vellum.

So..

even with the stem "issue" and the challenge of aligning it accurately...

I can say that I'm glad that I stuck with it ...and saw this card through to the end.

This being said...

I still have some ideas for different colors to use 

with the Hero Arts Bird Layering stamp that I posted here yesterday...

maybe that will be next on my card making  "to-do list!

Thanks for visiting my crafty and creative friends...

Have a wonderful Monday!

Michelle.