Christmas Stampin' All Year Long Challenge

Hello!  It's Friday.  Woohoo!  That means it is time for another CSAYL challenge.  For this weeks challenge, we have a gorgeous inspiration photo for you.  Here is the tag that I made based on the photo...

Supplies

Gingerbread Stamp - Meljen's Designs

Merry Christmas Stamp - Hero Arts

Patterned Paper - Echo Park

And here is the inspiration photo...

The colors were my real inspiration.  I love all of the white and you can see the little pops of bright green in some of the decor and the presents.  

Our sponsor this week is Meljen's Designs...  

Come play along with us this week and you can win a guest designer spot in September.  Be sure to check out the CSAYL blog to see what the rest of the team did!

Happy Stampin',

Michelle

SP and Company Bonus and WOYWW

Happy Wednesday everyone!  Have a couple of things going on here today.  Today is my day over on the SP and Company team blog, and here on my blog I am sharing a bonus SP project with you!

Supplies

Baby Bella Dog - SP and Company

Pure Happiness - SP and Company

Smash Tape - K&Co.

Patterned Papers - Echo Park

I love that Baby Bella stamp, with her big flower on her collar.  I just picked up the Smash Tape at the store the other day.  It's such a quick and easy addition and it doesn't add a lot of bulk.  Love that!  Be sure to stop by the SP & Company Blog to see the project I did over there today.  

Now it is Wednesday, so it's time for WOYWW!

As you can see, it has only gotten worse since last week!  Guess what I get to do today?  Yep.  Cleaning time.  I don't even really have a clean spot to work at this point.  Been too busy making cards and things to clean up.  

If you want to check out more crafty spaces from around the world, head over to see Julia at Stamping Ground.  And if you want to play along, snap a picture of your craft table.  We would love to see it!

One more thing...just a few more days to enter to win my blog candy, if you haven't done so already.  Click here to enter!

Thanks for stopping by,

Michelle

Back in Black with CAS-ual Fridays

Hello!  I decided to play along with this weeks CAS-ual Fridays challenge.  Haven't been able to do one for quite some time.  Happy to be able to play again!  And don't forget, if you missed it, go comment on my Blog Candy post to win some fun treats!

The challenge this week is Back In Black!  A CAS card made with a black card base.  Here is my card for the challenge...

Supplies

Insightful Meadow stamp set - Unity Stamp Company

Beaded Ribbons Embossing Folder - Sizzix

VersaMark Ink - Tsukineko

White Embossing Powder - Tsukineko

Blue Sheer Ribbon - Unknown

Foam Dimensional Dots

Quick and easy, this one!  I dry embossed the card base.  Stamped my flowers on a piece of black cardstock and embossed with white embossing powder.  Cut the panel to go down the center of the card, tied my ribbon around the panel, then attached it with some dimensional foam dots.

Still loving this stamp set!  Something tells me that we will be seeing more of it in the near future.

Thanks for stopping by,

Michelle

Christmas Stamping All Year Long Challenge

Blog Candy Giveaway - Click Here to Enter!

Hi!  It's Friday, so it's time for another Christmas Stamping All Year Round challenge.  This weeks challenge is a sketch challenge.  You can use a sketch from any sketch challenge that you like.

Mine came from one of the sketch challenges we had over on 2Peas, and for the life of me I can't find the actual sketch right now!  I will keep looking and try to add it to the post later.  I chose this one because I really like the vertical layout.

Supplies

Anne with Candy Cane - Limited Runs Digital Stamps

Sentiment Stamp - Hero Arts

Patterned Paper - 12 Days of Christmas (My Mind's Eye)

Border Punch - Martha Stewart

Nestabilities Labels 10 - Spellbinders

Markers - Stampin' Up!

Pick one of your favorite sketches and come play along with us this week!  The winner this week is going to win a prize from our sponsor. Limited Runs Digital Stamps...

Be sure to visit the CSAYL blog to upload your project when you are finished and to see what the rest of the team made this week!

Thanks for stopping by,

Michelle

What's On Your Work-desk Wednesday?

Happy Wednesday everyone!  It's that time again for another WOYWW post and this week it's a real mess!  I think my new craft room and I are past the honeymoon phase already.  I am just happy to have been able to spend a lot of time in there over the past week.

The card that I have to share today is one that I am entering in two different challenges.  I am entering it in the current Lawnscaping challenge, and also the new Card Cupids challenge.  Going to get this one in an envelope along with the one I made last week and send them off to Card Cupids.

The Lawnscaping challenge is to use the photo below as inspiration, and Card Cupids has a "wings" theme this week.

The bright colors from the inspiration photo combined with these fun little owls makes a really cute kids card!  The owls are from Lawn Fawn and the sentiment is from SP & Company.

OK, now brace yourself....here is the mess that my craft table has become over the last week...

It is noticeably more sloppy than last week!  Going to have to do some tidying up before I can do much more.  My actual work space has been shrinking and shrinking as I go on.  Pretty soon I will be working on top of piles again!

In case you missed my post from the other day, I have posted some blog candy that I will be giving away!  Also, don't forget to go visit Julia over at Stamping Ground and visit other crafty spaces all around the world.

Thanks for stopping by,

Michelle

May All Your Dreams Come True

Click Here to Enter My Blog Candy Giveaway!!

Hi everyone!  Today is my day over on the SP & Co. blog and it is monochromatic week over there.  I think the coolest thing about monochromatic projects is that it just takes the guess work out.  No big worries about things matching up if you are sticking to the same color, right?

For my card today, I used the brand new Boutique Sign Mini stamp set.  The hanger and the sign are actually two separate stamps, so they can be used independently.  Looking at the actual sign stamp, I couldn't help but picture it as a big, puffy cloud!  I stamped it several times on the white layer with some embossing ink, and embossed it with some aqua embossing powder to make my clouds.  With some black ink, I stamped the sentiment from Bold Sentiments III: Birthdays, in one of the clouds.  To finish it all off, I tied a little bow around the top with some Aqua Divine Twine, and mounted it onto an aqua card base.

Be sure to check things out over there the rest of the week for some fun, monochromatic inspiration!

Thanks for stopping by,

Michelle

Blog Candy Giveaway - Time to Celebrate!

Hello everyone!  As you may know by now, we have just made a very big move.  If you don't know, we went from CA to FL last month.  It was a long and grueling process that I don't want to repeat again, anytime soon!  The new house is coming along nicely, my new craft room is completely unpacked and mostly put away, so why not celebrate a little?  I have put together a few rubber stamps, a pack of clear stamps and a really cute pack of metal signs for someone to win!

To win, all you have to do is be a follower of this blog, and leave a comment on this post.  Easy peasy!  You can enter up to two more times, by following me on Facebook or Twitter - links are at the top of my blog and on the side.  Be sure to leave a second and third comment so you get entered again!  I will draw for a winner on Monday July, 30th.  Good luck!

Michelle

Skipping Stones Design Inspiration Challenge

Hello!  Popping in today with a card that I made for the Skipping Stones Design color challenge.  Here is the card I made...

Supplies

Stamps - Insightful Meadow (Unity Stamp Company)

Gray Cardstock (DCWV)

Yellow Citrus Chalk Ink (Colorbox)

Ribbon (Stampin' Up!)

And here is the inspiration photo...

I just love the colors, and the soft look of the fabric in this photo!  It also has a very clean and simple look to it.  So pretty!  That is what I tried to take to my card and was really happy with the way it turned out.  Definitely have to file this color combo away in my brain and remember to use it again.  Going to have to get some more gray cardstock too, since I used my very last bit making this card!

Hope you all are enjoying your weekend and thanks for stopping by!

Michelle

CSAYL - No Inky Yet Challenge

Hello!  It's Friday and that means it time for a Margarita!!!  OK, maybe not yet, but it IS time for this weeks CSAYL challenge.

This weeks challenge is "No Inky Yet".  If you are a stamp hoarder, like me, you probably have some stamps in your collection that have hardly ever seen any ink.  Or maybe no ink at all?  Yeah...me too ;)  Not to worry, this weeks challenge is going to get those stamps the love they deserve.  Pull out some Christmas stamps that you have hardly ever/never used and make a card, tag, gift bag or whatever you feel like!

I happened to have some stamps that had never seen ink, and used them to make this card.

The tree and sentiment stamps are from a set called Christmas Wishes (Unity Stamp Company).  The snow background is an old Stampin' Up stamp.  The background was stamped with white Brilliance ink.  I stamped the trees on some patterned paper, trimmed them out, and attached them with some foam dimensional dots.  All three patterned papers are from the Holly Jolly 6x6 pad (Echo Park).  The sentiment is stamped in black ink (Memento).

Make sure you head over to the challenge blog to see what the rest of the team has to share with you today! And if you get those stamps inky, post your project over there.  Someone is going to win a guest designer spot for a week in August!

Happy Stampin',

Michelle

For the Super Kid - Card Cupids

Guten Tag!  Thought I would go with the German that I am trying to learn to say "hello" this morning, haha! No joke there, I am really trying to learn German.  Slowly.  But surely.  That's what I keep telling myself anyway.  Ok, on to the stamping...

If you have been around before, you might remember me doing a couple of cards for Card Cupids.  They do challenges each month, and collect cards to give to kids along with a lot of other things in times when they can use a real pick-me-up.  I love making cards for kids, so it gives me a really good excuse to play and I have a great place to send my cards.  Now that the move is over, I can finally play along again!

The current challenge is to use ribbon, twine, or washi tape.  I went with twine on this one...

SUPPLIES

Jelly Beans stamp set - My Cute Stamps

Mix n' Match Kids stamp set - SP & Company

Background Stamp - TAC (retired)

Markers - Stampin' Up

Nestabilities Labels 22 - Spellbinders

Divine Twine - SP & Company

VersaMark Ink

When I was thinking about a background for these little birds, I immediately thought of the wood grain stamps that are so popular right now...which I don't actually have.  Started looking through what I do have and came across this old background from TAC.  While it is not actually supposed to be wood grain, the look is very similar and it saves me from buying one.  Lesson learned....don't forget to check your stash and see what you have before buying new!

Happy Stampin',

Michelle

WOYWW #163 - Having Fun With Unity!

Good morning!!!  It's Wednesday and that is something to be happy about.  Not only is it mid-week which means Friday is growing closer, but that also means it is time for WOYWW (What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday)!

I have not done a WOYWW post in many, many weeks.  For those of you who do not know, we just made a major move.  From California to Florida!  With the exception of the time we moved to England when my hubby was in the AF, this is the biggest  move we have made.  I can now say we have literally moved from coast to coast!  Have to say I don't want to do that again, anytime soon.  Moving is such a pain in the caboose!

Recently I rewarded myself with some new stamps to ease the moving pains.  Hee hee :)  I actually sat down and played with them last night and made this card.

Both stamps are from a set called Insightful Meadows (Unity Stamp Company).  I am in love with this set!  Actually, the hubby actually likes them too!  Can you believe that?  They were sitting on the kitchen counter, he picked them up and proclaimed them to be "very pretty".  I told him I am going to get a stamp made that says "These stamps have been husband approved."!

You can't really see it in this picture, but the flowers are all sparkly.  I stamped them in black, then stamped over them again with some VersaMark ink and embossed them with some glitter embossing powder.  In person they *dazzle*!

OK, on to the desk...

Not too terribly much going on, since we just moved and I am still working on getting everything unpacked, sorted and put away.  The movers were not so great at keeping things together.  I swear, some of the boxes looked like they had taken my stuff off of the shelves, mixed it all around on the floor, THEN picked it back up and put it in boxes.  Stuff was THAT jumbled in the boxes.  Ugh.

Yoshi has already reclaimed his throne, back up on top of my lamp there and you can see some of the new stamps I ordered there.  I am looking forward to getting all of the organizing done and spending lots of quality time with my new craft room.  Loving it so far and will share more pictures next week!

Pop over to see Julia at Stamping-Ground and visit more craft spaces all over the world!

Thanks for stopping by,

Michelle

SP & Company - July Blog Hop!

This month's color is Royal Blue! After you're done hopping around today, make sure you play along with this month's Royal Blue challenge (click here for details) for a chance to win some amazing SP and Company prizes!

Are you itching to win some stuff???!!! Then don't forget that the random prize patrol is watching! Leave a comment on every blog to be eligible for the prizes!! The more blogs you comment on, the better your chances are of winning something fun!


So am I the only one who instantly thinks of the Jim Carrey movie "Liar Liar" when I hear Royal Blue?  You know that scene where he is trying to lie and say "the pen is red" and he ends up saying "the pen is ROOOOOYAL BLUUUUUUUE!!".  Hee hee....I love that movie.  Anyway, back to the stamping!

This month I get to show you a new project made with the brand new stamp Even Bolder Sentiments: Time to Celebrate.

This is another of those fantastic sentiment stamps that I LOVE!  The size is fantastic for cards.  This sentiment isn't going to get lost on the front of your card.  It is big enough to be the real focal point, which is what I did with mine today.

Sami sent me these awesome papers from the Playground Collection - Kick the Can (Echo Park).  I used the blue side for the main part of my card front, then cut a few of the arrows out of the flip side to point to the sentiment.  Are those arrows fun or what?

Make sure you check out the SP Blog to see what Samantha did with the new stamps! And don't forget to hop around to each Design Team Member's blog - there are brand new projects with the stamps that came out TODAY to inspire you!

Here is the list of designers that will inspire you today:

Chrissie
Vicki 
Kelli
Michelle --You are here!
Amber
Vera

Thanks for stopping by,

Michelle

Happy Surfday!

Happy Sunday, everyone!  Hope you all are enjoying your weekend.  Still deep in the unpacking mode around here, so no major weekend happenings except getting rid of more boxes.  Yuck!  I did manage to sneak some stamping time though.  Gotta have a sanity break, right?

During the summer it seems like we are always getting invited to birthday parties with luau or beach themes.  I have already told you how much I LOVE the Paradise Beach paper from Echo park, so I decided to make a beachy (making up words now) cake with it!

To make the cake, I just cut three rectangles from the patterned paper that I chose.  No exact science here, you can make your cake as big or small as you would like.  Just start with your biggest layer on the bottom and work your way up to the top, getting smaller as you go.  Easy peasy!  Now you can make a cake from any papers you like.

I rounded the corners of the tops of my layers with a corner rounder.  Instead of candles on top I cut three of the little surf boards from the patterned paper and glued them on top.  Once those little surfboards hit the top, this was dubbed a "Surfday" card.  Ha!

The sentiment is from Bold Sentiments III: Birthdays (SP & Co.).  It is stamped on cream colored cardstock in brown ink.  I trimmed then end to make the banner and mounted it where it hangs off the side.

Whatever you are doing this weekend, try to stay cool!

Thanks for stopping by,

Michelle

CSAYL - Vellum Challenge

Did you realize that we are more than half way to Christmas already???  Doesn't really seem possible, does it?  Time just flies.  Get a jump start on your Christmas projects and come play along with us over at the CSAYL blog!

This weeks challenge is Vellum.  Vellum is awesome for Christmas projects!  The whiter vellum papers go perfectly with all of those snowy/wintry scenes. This week I have made a tag for my challenge project.

I started out with a piece of patterned paper that I cut using my Nestabilities Labels 22 (Spellbinders) die.  I cut a strip of vellum to go across the middle.  The bottom edge is ripped, just to make it look a little more interesting.  "Ho, Ho, Ho" (Hero Arts) is stamped directly on the vellum. 

 For the tree image (Lawn Fawn), I stamped it on two different patterned papers (Echo Park), trimmed them out, then pieced them back together.  The very top and left side actually hang over the edge of the tag.

Now, I love Lawn Fawn, so I am very happy to finally get to play along with a Lawnscaping challenge again, too!  The current challenge is...

One of my favorite ways to add dimension is with Liquid Applique!  I added some white Liquid Applique along the edges of the tree, and under the stump to give it a cool, snowy effect.  Just hit it with your heat gun and watch it puff right up off the paper.  So cool.

Now it is your turn.  Go dig that vellum out of your stash, or go add some to your collection!  Be sure to visit the CSAYL challenge blog and link to your project for a chance to win this weeks prize!

Thanks for stopping by,

Michelle

Getting Settled In the New Craft Room

Hello!  I know it has been pretty quiet around here for quite some time and that is because we have just moved across the country.  Literally from one end to the other...CA to FL!  It has been a very long process of getting everything ready to move on one end, getting a place to move to on the other, and now the settling process has finally started.

We have moved many times, including an overseas move, and we have never had as many problems with the moving company as we did this time.  Our household goods were split into two shipments, the first truck got here on time, but the second did not.  Long story short, they kept giving us the runaround, changing the delivery date, and were horrible to deal with!  Finally got our second shipment though, so that is finally OVER!

And what was in that second shipment? Why...my entire craft room, of course!

My table is so clean right now.  The normal heaps of papers haven't formed yet.  Shouldn't be too long though and I will be right back to having to unearth my table before I can work on anything.  Yoshi is already perched back up there on my lamp where he belongs.

I believe that is the LAST box of craft stuff to be unpacked that you see sitting there.  Never know though, until all of the boxes are gone, one could show up anywhere.  A kitchen box ended up in our bedroom, so anything is possible, LOL!

Still have a lot of sorting and organizing to do, but I can actually use my stuff again, so I am happy!  With everything going on, there were several projects that I made that didn't get blogged.  Here is one that I did for the SP & Company team blog.

I love the black, white and red color combo!  Definitely one of my favorites.  The hat stamp is from Father's Day Fun (SP & Co.), and the sentiment is from Mix n Match Kids (SP & Co.).  The hat is paper pieced with a couple of really fun patterns.

In this second picture you can see the sentiment is overlapped a little and stamped in two different colors.  I tied a little bit of black twine around the middle and topped it off with a bit of black ribbon.

Definitely won't be as long between posts now that we are finally getting settled!

Happy Stampin',

Michelle

Make Your Chalk Pop!

Good morning everyone!  Today is my day over on the SP & Company team blog, and I have put together a little tutorial for a really cool coloring technique you can do with your chalks!


With this technique, you are going to use your chalks to give your stamped image a fantastic POP of color, like the sentiment in this card that I have made.

For this card, I have used a plain white card.  I stamped the hat and mustache from Fathers Day Fun in black ink.  I then stamped my sentiment that I put together with Mix n Match Kids, using VersaMark watermark ink.

You can see the sentiment after it has been stamped in this picture.  There is no color to it, just a watermark image.

Now for the fun part!  These are the chalks that I have used for my project.

Next, you can see where I have started to add the chalk to my project.  You can use whatever applicator comes with your chalks, q-tips, cotton balls, whatever you choose to apply your chalks.  Pick up the color you want on your project and start rubbing it in a circular motion over the image you stamped with the VersaMark.

You can see that the VersaMark ink is picking up more color than the paper around it.  This makes your image POP!  Just keep picking up more chalk as needed and gradually build up the color until you are happy with it.

Here is a close up shot of my sentiment after I finished with the chalk.  The words are nice and bold, with a halo of chalk around it.  Very pretty with the shimmer chalks!

This is such a fun coloring technique.  You can do single images, sentiments or entire backgrounds.  You can also play around with using multiple colors for some great effects!


Happy Stampin',

Michelle