I created a wedding card and coordinating pillow box for an associate at my office who was getting married. I created a monotone gold card using Gold Foil sheets and retired DSP Gold Soiree.
The card was embellished with Gold Satin Ribbon and a flower created with the Pansy punch and the Petite Petals Punch.
The sentiment and flower were heat embossed in Gold. The flower is from the retired stamp set called Bordering Blooms. This was the first Stampin' Up! stamp set I ever purchased. I still love it and cannot part with it.
The pillow box contained a photo of a customized ornament from Paloma's Nest I ordered for the couple. I love this as a wedding gift. You can check it out here. I always add the gold leaf to the ornament. They are just stunning.
I have one more piece of news. Next week October 19 - Oct 23 Stampin' Up! is offering 15% off on ALL stamp sets* from the Annual and Holiday catalog. So if there are stamp sets you have been eyeing then I think next week is your week to hit that "Add to my cart" button! Remember you can shop 24/7 at the StampinMojo store by just clicking here.
The possibilities are endless with this great sketch. It is a keeper for inspiration when I need it!
My card earlier this week used the same stamp set - Be the Star. I have been surprised that this stamp set has not been more popular. It is one of my favorites. And this week the Star Framelit Collection is on sale through the Weekly Deals.
I used deep rich colors - Blackberry Bliss and Delightful Dijon. I think they compliment each other very nicely and result in a great masculine card. I am going to send this one off to my best friend's son who will be starting his Freshman year of high school.
It is difficult to photograph the dimension in this card.
The Very Vanilla, Delightful Dijon framed layer is mounted on Stamping' Dimensionals.
The largest star is mounted directly on the Very Vanilla background.
The middle star is mounted on Stampin' Dimensionals.
The smallest star is mounted on two Stamping' Dimensionals to create the feeling of rising stars.
Let's talk about the sentiment. Sometimes I get so excited as a card is coming together that I begin adhering all the elements. That is what I did with this card. Then I said, it needs a sentiment. I tried to stamp the sentiment directly on the Very Vanilla but it was not crisp and I got an extra bit of ink next to the sentiment. UGH. So I simply stamped the sentiment on another piece of Very Vanilla, punched it out with my Circle Punch. It needed a frame to stand out so I punched out a Blackberry Bliss circle. Viola! my mistake turned into the perfect finishing touch.
I love how creatively helps us turn mistakes into beautiful results. Imagine the possibilities in real life!
I am excited to share this card with you today. It is a fun shaker card to celebrate someone special. There are several dear friends and family members who have birthday's in July. My cousin and my dad share a birthday (July 3rd) and my dad's brother's birthday is July 4th. Growing up we would all gather and celebrate their birthdays together. The cakes would have sparklers for candles leaving the top of the cake filled with dark ashes. We didn't care, we were kids and it was so cool.
I created this card for my dear uncle. He is one of the most spirited, fun and loving individuals I have ever known. Although he his younger than my dad he has taken on the patriarchal role for the family that continues to bind us all together. So I wanted his card to be extra special.
Onto the card...
This card was inspired by Joanne James an amazing crafter. The confetti was created using the stars border punch. I punched real red, night of navy and glimmer paper. You can see I was not shy with the confetti. Oh it looked so good.
The stamps come from Be The Star. And the Star Framelits made cutting them out a cinch. (This week the Star Framelits are only $20.25 as part of the Weekly Deals. Click Here to see ALL the weekly deals.) They are great for the holidays!
My Square Framelits helped create the square opening in the Night of Navy card base. Then using tow Square Framelits I created the outer frame in Real Red. A piece of window sheet created the shaker window.
The sentiment is from Birthday Blossoms in the annual catalog and was stamped in Night of Navy on Whisper White card stock. Tthen using the outside edges of my Stamping Dimensions I created the box to hold the confetti. (I realize now I should have taken photos as I created this for you.) I added the confetti then overlaid the window onto the Stamping Dimensional "box"holding the confetti.
I hope you can see the Star embossing on the outside of the envelope flap. Another finishing touch before it went in the mail.
It is Thursday and that means we have another PPA Challenge. This week is a Sketch Challenge.
This challenge is a little different and rather than fuss and rack my brain I simply went with the sketch and had some fun. There was no grand plan. I grabbed a couple of colors (Pacific Point and Cucumber Crush) I don't normally use, my Circle Collection Framelits and a new stamp set.
I used the I Think You're Great Stamp Set. The flower/splash stamp is actually a rectangle so I centered the circle framelit on the stamped image and cut what I wanted. Then I cut another circle from a piece of Brushed Silver card stock.
The sentiment is a negative imagine which means the lettering is the color of the card stock - Whisper White. I did not realize at first that this stamp is not a perfect circle. I cut it out with a circle framelit and then using my Pacific Point Marker I filled in where any white space showed up. You can't stop this type A from getting the perfect circle!
I cut the banner strip and then ran it through my Big Shot with the Boho Chic Textured Emboss Folder. A few Large Rhinestones add some bling and pizazz.
Fun and simple card by just letting go and having some fun.
I hope you will play along with the Pals this week. I can't wait to see what you do with this sketch.
Michelle
Stampin' Up! Products Used to create this project:
Welcome to the Pals Blog Hop for May where we are preparing for the retirement of some Stampin' Up! products. Though it may be goodbye to some very loved supplies, it will make room for the much anticipated new catalog products. We hope you enjoy the Pals' creative projects.
You may just be starting the blog hop or may have come from Dawn Tidd at Tiddbits from Dawn, number 23 on the Pals Hop. If you get off track at any time, the full lineup below will help you move along from blog to blog so you see all the projects.
I combined a few retiring elements to create my card. First the Beautifully Baroque Textured Embossing folder gives the base of the card a beautiful backdrop. Then I used the Chalk Talk stamp set and coordinating framelits on Night of Navy card stock. I stamped the image with Versamark and used White Stamping' Emboss Powder. Oh, how I love White Embossing on Navy or Black card stock. Then I took one of the stamps from the Lovely Romance stamp set and stamped and embossed it on Navy card stock. I punched it out with the 1" Circle Punch. I then layered this on Whisper White circle using the 1 1/4" Circle Punch. A small pearl was placed on the center of the image. The Night of Navy Seam Binding Ribbon was the finishing touch.
Another stamp from Lovely Romance provides a stunning border inside the card.
The next stop is Sherrie Gross at Stampin' Sunshine, number 25 on the Pals Blog Hop! Thanks for visiting; I hope to see you on next month’s Pals Hop!
While some of these items are retiring there is still time to order and add them to your stamping collection. Here are the products used for today's card, click on any item to begin shopping!
Today's card was made for a special lady whom I do not know - Joyce Bierman. Joyce turned 90 years young yesterday. How do I know that Joyce is a special lady? Because I have had the pleasure of meeting and getting to know her daughter Linda Callahan, a fellow Pal. A few weeks ago Linda told us that her mom was turning 90 and she would love to have her mom receive 90 handmade cards in the mail for her birthday. How fun is that! So here is the card I sent to Joyce.
I enjoyed using the colors Hello Honey and Coastal Cabana for the Pals Color Challenge yesterday so I kept on with the palette. I think it looks fresh and fun.
The flowers are from the hostess set Bloom with Hope (I am not giving this set up for a while). The sentiment is from the Project Life Remember This stamp set. A very versatile set for card making and memory keeping.
When celebrating your 90th birthday you should feel life is good. Happy Birthday Joyce I hope it was a wonderful birthday!
Today our younger son turns 19. It is always fun to celebrate birthdays however this is the first birthday we will celebrate without the birthday boy being here.
We are fortunate that two of the four people in our family celebrate their birthday on holidays (Conor our oldest is on Christmas Eve and John my husband is on New Year's Day). So although Conor went off to school first we have never had to celebrate his birthday without him. A little tough on this mama bear.
I wanted to get the box off to Pierce and forgot to take photos of his cards. He took these photos and texted them to me. We opened presents together on Sunday via Facebook video chat which was better than simply hearing him open the presents!
The card above was created using the Balloon framelit in a variety of colors. This was inspired by a card I found on Pinterest.
And this is the card I made for his brother to send him.
We could not be more proud of the young man he has become. Thanks for sharing this birthday with me.
Regardless of how old we are we still love to get surprises in the mail. Our sons are off at school and will not be with us for Easter. So last weekend I purchased goodies to ship off to them. As a Stampin' Up! demonstrator and someone who loves to create beautifully wrapped packages. I jazzed up a few of the items in the their Box-Baskets.
Let's take a closer look at some of the items I put in their boxes.
Protein bars dressed up with a belly band of the Sale-a-Bration DSP and adorned with the Petal Potpourri and Flower Medallion Punch (15% when purchased as a bundle!).
Always great to have HandyWipes decorated with another band of DSP, retired Baked Brown Sugar ribbon, and a tag using From the Garden stamp set and coordinating Handpicked Framelits Dies (also 15% discount when purchased together!).
Did you see the "love you're than Chocolate" tag attached to their chocolate bunny? This sentiment is part of the Lovely Amazing You Photopolymer Stamp Set. One of my favorite stamp set this Spring.
Well Stampin' Up! has an Easter give for all of us as well.
Starting Monday April 6th and through Friday April 10th all orders ship for FREE. Yes that is right FREE SHIPPING! So today I am going through my supplies to see what I need (card stock colors I am low on) and perhaps items I might want. This is a GREAT time to stock up and save.
And don't forget the weekly deals will be available through the end of day Monday. This weeks weekly deals are fantastic and you can get them shipped FREE on Monday. So don't miss out on this special sales event.
If I can help you with your order or deciding what to purchase just send me an email.
As a design team member for Pals Paper Arts I strive to create special cards to inspire the blog followers. There are times I create a card and then decide I must go back to the drawing board. Many times the first card inspires the ultimate result.
With St Patricks Day around the corner I wanted to get this post in to show you my first PPA card design.
Click here for the card I submitted for the PPA challenge. It is the same color palette yet this version feels much more masculine. This design made me step back and say what if the shamrock was simply the focal point and the colors were brought in by the framing and finishing touches. This is why we enjoy creating so much. With a few tweaks the same elements transform into something entirely different.
Don't miss the Pals Blog Hop on Wednesday! See you then.
Michelle
All the materials used to create this card are below and can be purchased by clicking on an item and going to StampinMojo's 24/7 online store. Shop Now!
A clean and simple design that packs some punch. The Real Red Butterfly takes center stage against the warm early tones of Crumb Cake and Soft Suede.
The card base is 4 1/2" square. The sentiment panel base which is popped up on Stampin' Dimensionals is 2 x 3 3/4" and the next layer is 1/8" smaller all around. The honeycomb design (from the Butterfly Basics Stamp Set) was created by stamping the image in Crumb Cake ink onto the Crumb Cake card stock. The Butterfly was glued onto the sentiment panel so it floats on the card.
And the three accents at the top of the card are Pearl Basic Jewels that were colored with the medium Cherry Cobbler Blendability.
The Butterfly Basics Bundle is a must have. The images in the stamp set are fabulous and very versatile and the Butterflies Thinlits Dies are over the top. Stampers Note: I use wax paper between the die and my card stock when I run it through my Big Shot. The butterfly comes out very cleanly.
I hope you are having a great week. I would love to see what you would do with this colors. Join me and link up your creation at the Pals Paper Arts site. Thanks for stopping by.
A woman in our office got married this past weekend. This card was inspired by a card I saw on Pinterest. The card was easy to create and the Red Glimmer Paper made it sparkle with love.
The card base is Whisper White. Then I cut another piece of Whisper White 1/4" smaller all around and embossed the top portion.
The hearts were cut out using the smallest heart in the Heart Framelits Collection and the heart with the Circle Card Thinlit. The sentiment stamp is retired. The For the New Two stamp set in the Occasions Catalog has wonderful sentiments for weddings and anniversaries.
I used Fancy Foil Designer Vellum to line the envelope. Simply perfect.
All the products used to create this card are listed below. You can click on any item and go to StampinMojo's store to purchase it.
As I write this blog post I just said goodbye to Conor who is heading back to Gainesville. Yesterday I took Pierce to the airport at the crack of dawn to head back to Chicago. You might think this gets easier rather it seemed even harder. Yep, I broke into ugly cries. We had three great weeks together - we celebrated two birthday's (Christmas Even and New Year's Day) as well as Christmas and New Year's.
I really wanted to be fully present while they were home. As a result, I did not capture as many photos as I would have liked. I did capture important pieces and have been working on my Project Life - Hello December album.
I love this smaller album (6 x 8) and the Variety Pack Photo Pocket Pages provided a nice assortment of layouts. If you have not tried Project Life it is the perfect time to start. The concept is to document not just those special occasions rather all the everyday moments that create our lives. I love that concept.
While I am still working on journaling and adding embellishments to the pages I wanted to give you a bit of inspiration to get YOUR Project Life album going.
I began my album with Thanksgiving - isn't that when the holiday season begins? I will add photos from our holiday parties as well.
Below I captured Conor's 21st birthday. It was a fun evening.
Now for a few Christmas morning pages...
The process of capturing these memories reminds me of my many blessings. While we each go back to our individual lives I have these memories to look back on again and again.
January is the perfect time to begin using Project Life by StampinUp (PLxSU) to capture the everyday. I am pledging to make more of an effort to capture the everyday in 2015. Won't you join me?
Michelle
Don't forget to stop by tomorrow for the launch of the Occasions Catalog and Sale-A-Bration event.
When I saw the Holiday Supplement I couldn't wait to get the Many Merry Stars Simply Created Kit. Then I went to Atlanta for World Card Making Day and saw the stars in person. I immediately thought, " I will make a couple of sets of these and have a Many Merry Stars Christmas Tree!" When the time came, I ordered three sets of stars. Putting the stars together takes some time. And due to the humid climate I live in I had to augment each star with more adhesive. SO I decided to postpone making ALLthe stars and created a wreath rather than a tree. (Now I have until next year to complete the stars for the tree.)
I cannot take credit for the idea of the wreath. The very talented fStampin Up Artisan Design Team Member Erica Cerwin at Pink Buckaroo Designs inspired me. She is uber talented and comes up with extraordinary 3D projects.
The base of the wreath is a flat wire wreath from Hobby Lobby ($1.99) that I wrapped with Burlap Ribbon. Then with my hot glue in hand I arranged my stars and glued them to the wreath. That was the very easy part.
I can't wait to hang this on the door to my office at work.
One more thing to share. Yesterday was my 30th Wedding Anniversary. I don't feel old enough to be saying that but I guess I am. I thought you might find this fun...then and now.
The time has flown by. The inside of my card to John used the stamp "Life doesn't have to be Perfect to be Wonderful". Over 30 years, life definitely had days that were less than perfect but our life together has been wonderful.
We have company arriving today for the holiday weekend. I am looking forward to having the house filled with love and laughter. I hope your holiday is filled with the same.
Stampin Hugs,
Michelle
Stampin' Up Supplies Used: Please click on images below for more details or easy, on-line shopping 24/7!
In today's world it is easy to fall into the habit of seeing what you don't have or what you wish you had rather than being grateful for what you do have. I know I have been guilty of that and I am working to change my attitude to one of gratitude! It is amazing how your entire outlook changes.
When I saw the Gratitude for Days Simply Created Kit in the Holiday catalog I knew it was for me. I added it to my demonstrator order along with most of the rest of the catty (it just seemed that way). I ended up making the kit as a gift for someone very dear to me who had a birthday this month. She LOVED it.
This picture shows you a whole week of Gratitude cards and envelopes that hang on thick Baker's Twine.
And this is a close up of the same group of cards. I followed the photo in catalog closely in making this kit. The Stampin' Up designers are so good at what they do why stray!
I just ordered and received another Gratitude for Days Simply Created Kitwhich I will make for my family. My dad is coming in from Phoenix for a week at Thanksgiving and our oldest will be home for Thanksgiving weekend. I intend on getting them to particiate as well.
Don't you think it would be a great family project for the month of November - to focus on what we have to be grateful for?
This is a fun kit to put together and it looks great. I will hang our project on our pantry door - then I will be sure to not miss a day!
I remember when our boys were young, I would pick them up from school or even over dinner they wanted to tell us about every wrong that happened that day. We would tell them they could tell us all their woes after they told us three positive things. An interesting thing happened. Once they told us their three positives they forgot about the "bad" stuff that happened.
Last weekend I attended a bridal shower. I have not been to a bridal shower in quite sometime. As I pondered ideas for the bride and groom to be I wanted something different. I always think about some of my favorite gifts from our wedding. John and I will be married 30 years next month (hard to believe) and each Christmas I look forward to finding a special ornament that was given to us as a wedding gift from one of my dad's co-workers. It is a hand-painted egg with a scene of Chicago at Christmas. Little did we know at the time that we would only have two Christmas' in Chicago before being transferred to Southwest Florida. This is a treasured gift for so many reasons. So I decided to give a handcrafted Christmas ornament, you can see it here. I added gold inlay as well.
While I did not have the ornament for the shower I did print the photo and mounted it on card stock. So the gift would really be in the wrapping.
If you are like me I love to give and get beautifully wrapped gifts. I am not a fan of gift bags unless the gift is such an unusual shape that the best solution is a gift bag to wrap it.
I knew the bride's colors were pale pinks and corals so my color palette was Blushing Bride (how appropriate), Calypso Coral, and Very Vanilla. I used a Tag A Bag Gift Box. These are perfect because the Acetate sleeve can be decorated and then slide off to reveal the gift without needing to "undo" the wrapping. I was inspired by a similar design by Kirsty Brown.
The flowers were made with the Spiral Flower Originals Die. I am still working on perfecting my spiral flowers.
So while the ornament is being hand-crafted the bride-to-be still had something pretty to open. I thought it could hold some special notes or other trinkets from her day for years to come.
Thought to start the week:
"It's not happiness that brings us gratitude, it's gratitude that brings us happiness."
I am grateful you stopped by today! I hope I got YOUR StampinMojo going.
Michelle
Stampin' Up Supplies Used: Please click on images below for more details or easy, on-line shopping 24/7!
Do you love Saturday's as much as I do? This morning was even better because of the cool air we awoke to...could Fall finally be here? I love being able to enjoy my morning coffee and plan on the things I need to accomplish over the weekend.
We have work men around our home this morning. The semi-annual maintenance on our HVAC system and the carpet cleaners. I find it ironic that when I am waiting for a service person during the week and need to get to work they arrive hours late. However on a Saturday morning when they are scheduled to arrive between 8 and 8:30 they all arrived early. Go figure.
Today I have four cards to share. I created all four on Thursday evening for associates in our organization who have achieved promotions or designations important in our industry. Unfortunately I never found time on Friday to write my personal notes and give them the cards. I guess it will be a fun way to start their Monday. So here they are:
This card uses the new Crumb Card Note Card and Envelope set. The flowers were in my stash of images I stamped and punched but never used. I always save these pieces you never know when they will be the perfect accoutrement.
I love this stamp in the Big News stamp set. It is perfect for the recipient of this card. I really don't know how she does all that she does. Color combination: Island Indigo and Crushed Curry
This card was inspired by a card Mary Fish did last Spring as the new 2014-2016 Colors were announced. I did not use Lost Lagoon but all the other colors in the collection are presented. I hope Lost Lagoon doesn't feel left out...
And finally this clean and simple card uses a stamp set from the Spring Occasions Catalog. It is a two step stamp process and so fun to use to create some whimsy. The colors are Smoky Slate, Melon Mambo, and Blackberry Bliss. I have to thank my Color Coach for the color palette!
Thanks for stopping by. Don't forget the StampinMojo store is always open just click the Shop Now button.
Today I want to share a card I made for my sisters-in-law. My husband's sister and long time partner married in August. It was a small intimate gathering of some family and friends. We were not at the ceremony however I wanted to convey our love and congratulations with a beautiful handmade card.
The card is monochromatic in Very Vanilla with a touch of gold. I absolutely love the result.
The texture was created with a retired Pretty Print Textured Impressions Embossing Folder. I don't like to show you retired items unless I have an alternative to offer you. I think the Fancy Fan Textured Embossing Folder would be a nice substitute.
The flower was created using the the Daydreams Medallion Stamp Set and cut out with the Floral Frames Collection Framelits. I stamped the image on Very Vanilla card stock with Versamark and then heat embossed Clear Embossing Powder. It added a subtle texture and shimmer. The rosette is from retired ribbon. The gold accent is Gold 5/8" Satin Ribbon, simply beautiful ribbon.
And here is a picture of the inside sentiment from the Big News Stamp Set that was heat embossed with Gold Emboss Powder. And I added the hearts on the outside of the envelope.
Thanks for stopping by and if you have any questions, just email me!
Michelle
Stampin' Up Supplies Used: Please click on images below for more details or easy, on-line shopping 24/7!
You may not know but today is World Card Making Day. I am celebrating this event with other Stampin' Up demonstrators in Atlanta GA.
When demonstrators gather we often have card swaps. This is where we make multiple copies of the same card to exchange with the other demonstrators. I did this for the first time when I attended my first Stampin' Up convention in July 2013. I fretted over the design of my card knowing I was swapping with some of my favorite demonstrators whose blogs I follow every day. It was so gratifying as I handed each demonstrator my card and they woo'd and ahh'd. And of course I was over the top impressed with all the cards I received as well.
So today at our gathering in Atlanta we will begin with a card swap. I want to share that card with you.
While this card looks simple it was a lot of work to make 45 of them! The card base is cut from the Label Thinlit die however I extended the right side of the paper so that it was 8 1/2" long and allowed for an extra 2 1/2" to fold back and provide space to write. You can see this demonstrated on my blog post here.
The wood look was created by stamping the Hardwood Background stamp in Early Espresso on the Early Espresso base that had already been cut. I used my Stamp-a-ma-jig to ensure the wood-grain was straight and provided a consistent look. This was a two-step process to stamp the left side then the right side. I folded a post it note and covered the "label" cut out area so it would not get stamped.
Then I created the labels by stamping the leaf from the For All Things stamp set in Crushed Curry followed by stamping the sentiment from Mingle All the Way in Cajun Craze. I love how this turned out. Then another run through the Big Shot to get the label cut perfectly to fit the cut out frame of the card.
The embellishment in the lower right corner is a piece from Autumn Wooden Elements and tied with Metallic Gold Baker's Twine. These were anchored with Glue Dots.
I did add a Very Vanilla panel on the inside far right panel to write a note to the recipient.
So I hope you find time to create a card for someone special today.
Here we are back to the beginning of another week. Weekends go by way too fast for me. I did get a bit of time in my craft room. I am thrilled with the result of this card. I love shades of purple and green together.
The card base is from the note card and envelope set. It is a perfect size note card at 3 1/2 x 5 and a bargain at only $5.95 for 20 cards and envelopes. The card stock is heavier than our standard Whisper White card stock which makes it the perfect staple to my stampin' supplies.
The dots were created with Blackberry Bliss ink and the Dotty Angles Photopolymer set. The silver star was cut from Stampin' Up's Brushed Silver paper using my Star Framelits. And the small stars were punched out with the Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack.
The sentiment came from the Bravo Photopolymer set and was heat embossed with Silver Emboss Powder. It looks so crisp on the Blackberry Bliss card stock which is framed with Pear Pizazzz.
Here I used the star that resulted from cutting out the star frame for the front of the card.
I hope your Monday goes well. Thanks for stopping by!
Michelle
Stampin' Up Supplies Used: Please click on images below for more details or easy, on-line shopping 24/7!
If you are a regular blog reader then you know I began subscribing to Paper Pumpkin ijust a few months ago during one of the special promotions. I totally underestimated the fun and excitement I would feel when I open the mailbox to find that wonderful orange box filled with a new project. Pure Joy!
This month's project is filled with great elements; stamps, sequins, heavy weight DSP card stock, pre-cut sentiments, banner flags, ink and fun envelopes. The card stock if cut in half will allow you to double the number of cards. Let's see what I made with a couple of the elements of my Paper Pumpkin this month.
The white card stock with the negative cut out sentiment and the Hello Honey Yellow envelope is part of this month's Paper Pumpkin kit. I used a piece of Confetti Celebration DSP to put behind the sentiment and then punched out arrows from the What's Up punch to coordinate and add interest to the envelope. A super fun card to send to our oldest who headed back to school today. It is hard to believe he is already a junior!
Here are a couple of cards I made from my Paper Pumpkin kit for two colleagues that just passed a professional exam.
How cute are those! Super cute and super easy. The sentiment is from the Photopolymer stamp set called Bravo! one of my new favorite sets.
So perhaps you are like me and thought you could do without Paper Pumpkin. Well, think again and especially right now when you can join and get the first two months at 50% off!
Go ahead and give it a try like I did. If you don't enjoy your first two months then you can cancel the subscription. Joint today by clicking here. Remember to put Michelle Gleeson as your demonstrator when you subscribe.
I do hope I inspired you today! Happy stampin,
Michelle
Stampin' Up Supplies Used: Please click on images below for more details or easy, on-line shopping 24/7!
This week we will celebrate being in our house for eight years. It seems to have gone by so amazingly fast. About six months after we moved in another family moved in with a son the same age as our youngest. Now these two young men are heading off to college. Josh leaves this week while Pierce does not leave until next month. I wanted to send him off with an appropriate card and gift.
The card was created using the school colors for the university Josh will be attending - (Garden) Green and Gold. And the layout inspiration came from the Pals Paper Arts Sketch Challenge #216 this week! Check it out.
I am quite pleased with the result. The gold paper is difficult to photograph here is another angle.
We got him a couple of gift cards for local eateries for when he wants to escape the dining hall experience. I know our oldest always appreciates gift cards. Using the envelope punch board I made an envelope to house the gift cards.
The sentiment inside the card is from the retired stamp set Word Play that is available in MDS digital format.
I hope I inspired you to paly along with the Pals this week. Thanks for stopping by!
Michelle
Stampin' Up Supplies Used: Please click on images below for more details or easy, on-line shopping 24/7!
My card was inspired by this week's PPA Color Challenge, here are the colors.
When I saw the colors I immediately felt I was going to need a DSP to help me bring it all together. I grab the All Abloom DSP Paper Stack and flipped through it for a possible DSP. And there it was a small patterned Strawberry Slush DSP - perfect.
Then I thought about using a shape that would compliment the pattern in the DSP and grabbed the Artisan Love Punch. I punched a few labels in Pear Pizzazz and I liked the how the scallops on the label complimented the DSP pattern.
I used three different stamp sets to "decorate" the labels. I stamped each stamp with Pear Pizzazz ink and then heat embossed clear emboss powder.
While these two colors go nicely together they are a bit preppy. Adding the black behind the DSP and the labels anchored each element and I feel pulled the card together.
The black and silver ribbon was the finishing touch.
I would love to hear what you think of these bright colors together. And don't forget to play along with the Pals Challenge yourself.
Michelle
Stampin' Up Supplies Used: Please click on images below for more details or easy, on-line shopping 24/7!
Inspired by the new Beach House Washi Tape in the Annual Catalog I created this fun and easy card today.
I started with one of the Stampin' Up! Note card and envelope and then added a piece of Whisper White card stock 1/4" smaller. Then I added the Beach House Washi Tape.
The sentiment comes from the Amazing Birthday Stamp Set. I too the stamp and using my Stampin Write Markers, inked up each section with a different color marker. Colors used: Real Red, Crushed Curry, and Pool Party. Once the image was stamped I cropped and framed it with Basic Black card stock.
A few Stampin' Dimensionals gave the sentiment layer the depth I wanted.
Quick, easy and fun to create.
What are you creating today?
Michelle
Stampin' Up Supplies Used: Please click on images below for more details or easy, on-line shopping 24/7!
After a small break the Pals Paper Arts Team is back to kick off the month of August with a Color Challenge. I chose a very clean and simple approach to this color challenge.
Here is the badge for the challenge
Island Indigo and Wild Wasabi are two of my favorite Stampin' Up colors. As I have said before I am not a pastel kind of gal yet Crisp Cantaloupe with these two colors is perfect.
The square base is 3 x 3 and the polka dot DSP from the Regal DSP pack is 1/4" smaller. Of course the Mixed Bunch Stamp Set paired with the Blossom Punch is a staple in the Stampin' Up lineup and always delivers a classic look. The Wild Wasabi leaves were punched out with the Blossom Petals Builder Punch (retired). You could probably use the wing from the Bird Builder Punch as well.
I love the font on this sentiment from the Sumthin' Smithin' Stamp Set. The "celebrate" is fun yet elegant.
I do hope you join in the fun and play with the Pals this week.
Michelle
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Paper Pumpkin Subscription - First 2 months half price! Don't forget to put Michelle Gleeson as your demonstrator and use the Promo code: HALFOFF2
I took advantage of the recent DSP promotion and ordered the Flowerpot DSP. This was not one of those had to have DSP packs however with the promotion I decided to give it a whirl and I am thrilled I did. While the floral designs might not be my first choice I love the small designs on the other side of many of the papers. This card was created around one of the Flowerpot DSP papers. The colors are Lost Lagoon and Night of Navy and I love the small polka dots.
I wanted to go outside the box and chose another shape for my card. The colors led me to use Stars as my theme and the sentiment from Pictogram Punches was the perfect choice. The sentiment was embossed in Iridescent Ice to give the sentiment some glimmer.
Using fellow pal Brian King's patented squint methodology for balance on my card (now I owe him a nickel) I decided to add the three Candy Dots. If you are not familiar with this technique and you want to put a smile on your face then watch Brian's video by clicking here. The problem was I did not have any more Night of Navy Candy Dots. Have no fear! I had white candy dots and simply colored them with my new Night of Navy Blendablities pen.
I love how this card turned out. I am always looking for masculine cards and I believe this fits the bill even with the bit of glimmer in the sentiment. What do you think?
Thanks for stopping by today!
Michelle
Stampin' Up Supplies Used: Please click on images below for more details or easy, on-line shopping 24/7!
This card will be heading to a colleague and her husband as they just moved into a new house. They are a wonderful couple and have the most adorable 2+ year old daughter named Matilida. They call her Tilly.
This card features another GREAT hostess set called Life's Adventures. The stamp set has a house which says "welcome" underneath the house. I cut off the welcome and proceeded to stamp five houses in a row using my Stamp-a-ma-jig and masking off the tree on the side with tape for four of the houses. I know it may seem sacrilegious to cut a stamp, yet I know I will get more use out of it without the sentiment attached.
[PSST, after cutting off the sentiment the holiday catalog was revealed to demos and there is a stamp set with houses! Oh well, no regrets. I have more flexibility with this particular stamp set now.]
To center the houses I marked the center of the card and then stamped the center house first. Then I stamped the rest of the houses first to the left then to the right.
The houses were stamped with the Momento Black Ink. This allowed me to use the new Blendabilities Markers to color the houses. I am pretty pleased. I did make a smudge on one of the hearts coming out of the chimney. I guess that is what makes it handmade.
Note - when you use the Blendabilities Markers, the color bleeds through even the heavy white Note Cards card stock. I forgot about this myself and when I opened the card I saw the bleed through. No worries though, I cropped the card front and added it to another Note Card with Stampin Dimensionals. I think it looks better this way!
On the inside I used the smaller "congratulations" sentiment from the Bravo stamp set. This is a keeper!
I fly out today to Madison Wisconsin for a speech I am giving tomorrow in the Wisconsin Dells. I have been preparing the presentation for weeks in my spare time. It is a 4-hour presentation - Yikes. Wish me luck!
Don't worry I have a post ready for you for Friday!
Michelle
Stampin' Up Supplies Used: Please click on images below for more details or easy, on-line shopping 24/7!
I am not getting a lot of time in my craft room right now as I prepare for a 4 Hour presentation as a Key Note speaker at a conference in less than 2 weeks. In the meantime here is a quick card I created for this week's Freshly Made Sketch.
With two sons I am always striving to create masculine cards to have in my stash. Our oldest is taking two (college course) classes this summer. Due to the accelerated pace of the summer classes it is a lot of work. He is rockin' the classes and has two tests this week. I am anticipating wanting a card to help him celebrate and acknowledge the hard work to reach his goals.
Here is the badge for the sketch:
There is still time to play along wtih FMS yourself. Are you inspired to give it a try?
Michelle
Stampin' Up Supplies Used: Please click on images below for more details or easy, on-line shopping 24/7!
This week's Pals Paper Arts Color Challenge includes colors that remind me of cool tropical waters...let's check out the colors.
I struggled with this color challenge. I love the colors together yet I could not get my StampinMojo going. When that happens I go to my favorite inspiration ... nature, catalogs, and Pinterest. This week my inspiration came from Michele Rey another Stampin Up demonstrator using the Postage Due stamp set on Pinterest.
The stamps are embossed with Pool Party Emboss Powder and punched out with the Postage Stamp punch. Each postage stamp is layered onto a square that was cut using the second smallest square of the Square Collection Framelits.
The DSP is from the Moonlight Paper Stack and the sentiment is from the Itty Bitty Banners and coordinating framelits. I thought the Basic Metal Button with Basic Gray Bakers Twine was the perfect finishing touch to this card.
Check out what the other Design Team members came up with here and give this week's Pals Paper Arts Color Challenge a try.
At this stage of my life I don't have the need to make many Wedding cards. Due to the upcoming nuptials of two colleagues (not to each other) I have made a couple of cards to mark their special occasion. Today I will show you one of the cards.
The base of the card is Whisper White card stock. The next layer is vellum that has been embossed with the retired embossing folder Vintage Wallpaper. You can easily substitute the Beautifully Baroque Textured Impressions folder. Then I heat embossed the retired Mr & Mrs stamp set with Silver Emboss Powder. I love the font and detail of this stamp and will not give it up just because it is retired.
I cut it out with one of the Apothecary Framelits and I added to the card with Stampin' Dimensionals. The butterflies are from the Papillon Potpourri stamp set. I stamped Versamark on Vellum and then heat embossed with White Emboss Powder. I used Glue Dots to mount the butterflies.
This is a close up of the embossed sentiment and butterflies. Sometimes it is difficult to capture the texture and depth of these features with my camera.
The inside of the card is also embossed with Silver Emboss Powder. I used one of the new stamp sets Big News - I think this stamp set should be on everyone's wish list. The fonts and sentiments are perfect for many occasions.
The envelope is lined with Silver Vellum Paper.
So while wedding cards are not in my usually repertoire I am pleased with the result. White on white cards are difficult.
Remember only a one more day to Join Stampin' Up! for only $50 and get to select $55 worth of product! There is no long term commitment no strings attached. Join my team and become part of the Pals team as well. A fun, creative, and supportive group of men and women.
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This week Linda Callahan created a clean and simple design sketch for Freshly Made Sketches.When I saw the sketch I knew I wanted to use the new Sweet Sadie Washi Tape to create the diagonals. There are two women in our office who graduated last weekend one obtained her BA in Management and the other an MA in Legal Studies. Each degree is quite an achievement on its own however both women have been working full time while pursuing their degrees! So I am making congratulations cards for these two remarkable women.
The sentiment and focal point was created wit the new Tag Talk stamp set that coordinates with the Bracket Label Punch and 1" Square Punch. Then I cropped the star in Pistachio Pudding with the new Star Framelits (love these framelits). All the elements were added to the card with Stampin' Dimensionals.
Don't you love the crisp image you get with a Stampin' Up! stamp. I do and it is why I became a demonstrator. The quality of the products is second to none. Remember unti the end of the month you too can become a demonstrator for only $50! Check out my post on this special promotion here.
Back to the card...I carried the theme of my card to the inside as well.
I think this turned out so cute. While I am not usually attracted to a pastel color palette I do like the Sweet Sadie Washi Tape and it helped me create a very sepcial card that is clean and crisp.
Thanks so much for stopping by. Stop back tomorrow for another fun challenge entry card I created.
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