CSAYL Friday!

Hello!  It's Friday, so that means it is time for another CSAYL challenge!  This weeks challenge is to make a card using non-traditional Christmas colors.  This is always a fun challenge and it's nice to get away from the typical reds, greens, etc., for Christmas.  Play along with us this week and you can win 4 images from this weeks sponsor, Meljen's Designs!  You don't want to miss this one.  Meljen's has some of the most adorable images, like this little owl....

He's so cute!!!  I went with more of a note card style for this card and didn't stamp a sentiment on the outside.  I really like doing cards this way, because I can send them whenever I want.  This could be used for Christmas, a seasonal winter note card, etc.

Be sure to upload your project using non-traditional Christmas colors to the challenge blog and go check out Meljen's Designs to see what you can win!

Have a great weekend!

Michelle

There's Something Fishy Around Here!

Hello everyone!  I have a really fun card to share with you today.  It's no secret that I have loved the Father's Day Fun (SP & Company) stamp set, ever since it came out.  If you've been hanging out here for awhile, you have probably seen me use it a few times!  Well, I have found another awesome way to use these stamps.  Fish!!

That's right...turn those little neckties on their sides and you have cute little fish!  I stamped them on a mix of patterned papers from Splash (Echo Park) and Paradise Beach (Echo Park), and trimmed them out.   For the eyes, I used some little, black pearl accents.  The sentiment, from Bold Sentiments III: Birthdays (SP & Company) is stamped in black ink.

Are these guys fun, or what???  Don't be surprised if you see these little fishies making another appearance around here.  Love, love, love them!

I am entering this one into the CAS-ual Fridays challenge this week.  The theme this week is...

Happy stampin',


Michelle

Hello, Stud Muffin!

Hello there!  How is everyone's Summer winding down?  Our kids don't go back until next week, but I know some people have already started going back.  Going to be busy this week getting all the last minute shopping done, haircuts, etc.  Hard to believe Alex is a Sophomore this year, and Emma is going into third grade?!?

Have still been managing to find some stamping time among all the craziness.  Which is good....it keeps me sane!  Spent some time playing with the new Lawn Fawn stamps that I ordered a couple of weeks ago and made this little cutie.

This one is an itty bitty.  It is only about 3" x 3".  Perfect size to drop a little note in the hubbies bag when he takes a trip or something.  All of the images, including the paper lines, are from Lawn Fawn.  I punched the left edge with a punch I got from EK Success.  Love the look of the notebook paper!

And, I am entering this one over on the CAS-ual Fridays blog for the square card challenge.  Even though my card has taken on a slightly rectangular look in this picture?  Not sure how that little trick happened.  Of course, it could just be my eyes!  I have an appointment for that this week, too, haha!

Have a great day!

Michelle

Christmas Stampin' Anything Goes Challenge

Hello friends!  Busy day around here today.  I have two posts for you, so be sure to scroll down and check out the SP & Co. blog hop post too!

Can you believe Summer is almost over?  We have about one more week here and the kids will be back in school already.  Hard to believe.  It's not all bad though.  It means the holidays are right around the corner, and that makes me happy!

So are you ready for another Christmas Stampin' All Year Long challenge?  This weeks theme is Anything Goes, so you are free to do whatever you want.  Our winner this week is going to win some cool 6x6 papers and some ribbon!

This card was cut with the Nestabilities Labels 22 dies.  I embossed the front with Swiss Dots from Cuttlebug.  All of the patterned papers are from Echo Park, and the stamps are from the "Christmas Wishes" set by Unity Stamp Company.

Is that little penguin not the cutest thing, ever???  Just looking at him makes me smile!  If you love Unity stamps like I do, you might also know that today is the day for Friends With Flair, so I am linking this little guy up over there as well!

Happy stampin' and have a great weekend,

Michelle

SP & Company New Release Blog Hop!

Hello, it's time for the August release party over at SP & Company!  We have some great new stamps to show you and tons of fun, new projects for you to check out along the way.

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

Have you ever wanted to be a Guest Designer on the SP & Company Design Team? Well, this month is your chance to show us what you've got! Play along with our Yellow Challenge and link up your project.  We will pick a Guest Designer that will work with us for an ENTIRE month! For specific details, check out Sami's blog and Good Luck!!!

This month I get to show you the brand new stamp set, Poppy Field Summer.  I fell in love with this set as soon as I saw it and was so happy when it showed up for me to play with for this hop!  There are a few different floral silhouette stamps along with a couple of sentiments in this set.  Love, love, love the silhouette stamps!

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!

Celebrate the Beautiful Moments

Hello friends!  Today is my day over on the SP & Company blog and I have a card for you that I made with the Sympathy and Care stamp set.

I used several patterned papers from the For the Record (Echo Park) 6x6 paper pack to make this one.  The flowers were cut with the Dahlia Nestabilities dies, and I used a large pearl brad in the center of the largest one to really make it stand out from the smaller two.  I stamped the sentiment directly on the hexagon paper with black ink.  Still loving those hexagons!

I really like it when you can stamp your sentiments directly on your patterned papers.  The sentiments in this stamp set work really well for that because they are large and fairly bold, so they really stand out without having to create a separate layer on your project!

Happy Stampin',

Michelle

My Halloween Card is Playing Tricks on Me

You ever have one of those projects that just won't photograph well, no matter how many times, positions, and lighting conditions you try???  Well that is what is happening to me with this one and I am sharing it anyway...

I actually love this card, and you will just have to trust me that it looks MUCH better in real life!  I have been having fun playing with creating scenes lately.  The cat stamp is from Unity Stamp Co., the fence is Martha Stewart, and the bats are Spellbinders.

I know, it might seem early for Halloween, but I love making Halloween projects, so you are probably going to start seeing a sprinkling of them around here.  Can't help myself!  I was at AC Moore and JoAnn's today and both have Halloween stuff out, so I will just follow their lead, lol!

Thanks for stopping by,

Michelle

Cute Critters and a Winner!

Good morning everyone!  I hope you are enjoying your weekend.  It's been nice around here.  Not too much going on this weekend, so I have had some time to stamp!

I made this card for the current Card Cupids challenge.  The challenge is to make a birthday card or use any shade of blue on a kids card.

This one is a combination of stamps from Lawn Fawn and My Cute Stamps.  All of the images are stamped in black to create the scene, then I just outlined them with my Prismacolor pencils.  This is a really fun coloring technique.  The outlines make the images pop, and it just looks cool!

OK, now the winner of my blog candy giveaway is.....

SONYA!

Sonya, send me an email with your mailing info and I will get your prize out to you!  Thanks to everyone who entered.  Be sure to check back soon for another chance to win.  I have another fun giveaway coming soon!

Happy Stampin',

Michelle

It's a Candy Basket....Literally!

Hello everyone!  I have a super sweet Saturday post for you today.  And by "sweet", I don't mean just in the nice way.  I mean in the sugary, yummy way!  I was really excited to give this project a try because I have seen pictures of them before, seen them given as gifts, and have always wanted to make one myself.  This was so much fun to make and I think you are going to enjoy it too!

Here is what you will need to get started.  You will need 4 boxes of candy.  These are the movie theater style boxes that you can pick up at Dollar Tree.  You can use any type of candy you want, you just want all 4 boxes to be the same size.  The other thing you need is some Dry Floral Foam, which conveniently, you can also get at Dollar Tree.  Convenient, and inexpensive!  Not pictured are the bamboo skewers that were still hiding in my kitchen drawer when I snapped this picture, and some paper Easter grass.

The piece of foam I had was far too big for what I needed, so I cut it down to size.  No real math involved here, it just needs to be big enough for the boxes to attach to, and thick enough to poke some skewers into for decoration.  I cut through mine with a kitchen knife.

Once it is cut, you can hold the boxes up around it to make sure you have a good fit and trim any excess off, if needed.  When you are happy with the foam, attach the candy boxes to the foam with some hot glue.  I applied glue where the box would stick to the foam, and also put a couple of dots where the sides of the boxes would meet to help hold them together.

Now all that's left is the decoration!  I made a couple of brightly colored rosettes out of some orange and yellow cardstock.  I punched a couple of circles for the centers of the rosettes from a sheet in the Splash (Echo Park) 6x6 pad, then just added buttons.  The "Happy Birthday" sign is stamped using Boutique Sign and Bold Sentiments III: Birthdays.  The sign and rosettes are glued to bamboo skewers and poked into the foam at the bottom.  To fill in the top, I put in a little bit of paper Easter grass.

It just doesn't get much more fun than this.  I see many of these in my future.  I already have holiday ideas running through my head!

Thanks for stopping by,

Michelle

Sweet Treats!

Hello again!  It's been a slow week here, this week.  Been working on several things that I can't post yet!  It has been busy in the craft room though, and if you could see my table, you might run away screaming.  Yep.  It's bad.

Here is one card that I have been working on.  This one is for the Skipping Stones Inspiration Challenge.  These twine lollipops make me happy!

And here is the inspiration photo...

Love, love, love all the bright colors and the sweet treats!  Happy birthday, indeed.  If you haven't had a sweet overload yet (is that possible?), be sure to stop by tomorrow for an even sweeter birthday treat!

Happy Stampin',

Michelle

CSAYL Friday!

Hello!  It's Friday and that means it is time for another CSAYL challenge.  This weeks challenge is A Pair of 3.  The idea is to use three of everything, like 3 papers, 3 ribbons, 3 brads, etc.

Now, mine might not be so obvious.  Obviously I have used 3 different papers, but my other 3 are not so obvious.  Instead of coloring this image with markers or pencils, I chose to use chalk.  I have blended 3 different colors of chalk and then printed the digital image over it.  Is that cheating??? Naaaaah!

The way I have this standing, it looks like a card, but it is actually a post-it note cover.  This lovely little image is from Digi Doodle Shop who is sponsoring our challenge this week.

Be sure to check out the challenge blog to see what the rest of the team did, and come play along with us.  Three winners will each win free Digi Stamps from Digi Doodle Shop this week!

Thanks for stopping by,

Michelle