A Birdie Birthday

Another year has started which means another round of Birthday Cards for the men in my life.  In the last 2 years, i've done the whole "sailing" and "boat" theme to death - you can see some of those cards here, here, here and here.  So, I needed some new mojo that didn't involve boats or maps.

Michey's Note:  I've decided to enter this into Our Creative Corner's "Over the Edge" challenge.  I originally wanted to go a bit more outside the lines than I did, but I have to mail this card, so I had to keep it envelope friendly.  I hope this still counts >.<

Yeah, it's got a bird, but it's a boy bird for sure!  I'm still smitten with the Weathered Wood technique I first blogged about last week, so I set off to come up with another combination.  This one uses Sahara Sand, River Rock and Always Artichoke.  I splattered on some Bravo Burgundy and Soft Suede with my Color Spritzer tool... I seriously can't get enough of my color spritzer - I practically use it on EVERY CARD these days... you'll see ;-)

The birdy is one of our A La Carte stamps - Young Vermillion. Isn't he a handsome little fella?  He's stamped in Soft Suede and has some pool party colored in on his chest using a blender pen. This panel was then sponged and splattered with soft suede and matted on a piece of Bravo Burgundy.

The "Happy Birthday" sentiment is from Perfectly Penned, stamped in Soft Suede and similarly distressed.

Everything is mounted a tad bit askew on an Always Artichoke panel that's been embossed using the Houndstooth Embossing Folder.  It's then tied with some Linen Thread and I added some tags to finish it off.

So, what do you think?  Did I pull off a boy-ish card without using any images of vehicles, powertools, or sports?

Thanks for taking a peek!
Michele

DETAILS - Products are available for purchase from me  at Stampin' Up

Stamps: Young Vermillion, Perfectly Penned, Tiny Tags
Paper: River Rock, Soft Suede, Always Artichoke, Very Vanilla
Ink: River Rock, Soft Suede, Sahara Sand, Always Artichoke, Bravo Burgundy, Pool Party
Accessories: Big Shot, Houndstooth Embossing Folder, Jewelry Tag Punch, Simply Scored Scoring Tool, Linen Thread, Color Spritzer Tool, Blender Pen, Distressing Essentials Kit

{Heart} Attack!

As Valentine's day approached this year, I started to psyche myself out -- overthinking the card I would give to my special someone, worried that it wouldn't measure up.  Of course, this anxiety is all in my head, but at the time, it was giving me a very real creative block!

At the 11th hour, I was inspired by this Weathered Wood tutorial by Wanda Cullen and out popped this masculine-ish masterpiece.

I started out with Very Vanilla Cardstock, scored at every inch on my Simply Scored Scoring Tool. Then I just smeared different inkpads directly to the paper. I used Sahara Sand, a little bit of crumb cake, and an even littler bit of Always Artichoke.  The beauty of the score lines is they don't collect ink because they are depressed, but in a good way!  ;-)

I added in some of my background stamps (Wonderfully Worn in Real Red, and (retired) Sanded Background in Sahara Sand).  I {heart} my chunky background stamps sooooooo much!  I then tore and sponged the seams and edges with Sahara Sand and Always Artichoke.

It's hard to tell on the background, but I've stamped the swirl from Creative Elements, and then dabbed Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint over top to add a bit of glitz.  Then I hit the whole thing with my Color Spritzer tool using a Sahara Sand marker.

Once I had those two elements figured out, everything else was easy --  hearts, hearts, hearts! I used a mix of embosslits and punches to create the heart vignette, then tied it all up with some Linen Thread, and finished with some little tags.

This was the first card I made in a LOOOOONG time that wasn't slated for a class demonstation, so I used more products and techniques than usual.  It was incredibly freeing to be able to "go shopping" in my craft room and use whatever I felt like, lol!

I need to get inky like this more often ;-)

Thanks for taking a peek!
Michey

DETAILS - Products are available for purchase from me  at Stampin' Up

Stamps: Creative Elements, Tiny Tags, Wonderfully Worn, Sanded (retired)
Paper: Very Vanilla, Real Red, Always Artichoke, Sahara Sand
Ink: Real Red, Always Artichoke, Sahara Sand
Accessories: Simply Scored Scoring Tool, Big Shot, Fashionable Hearts Embosslit, Scalloped Heart of Hearts Embosslit, Adorning Accents Edgelits Die and Embossing Folder, Linen thread, Full Heart Punch, Small Heart Punch, Jewelry Tag Punch

Pines and Poinsettias Class set

Hi stampy peeps!  I wanted to take a moment to share with you some class projects I've designed using the Pines and Poinsettias stamp set.

This first card uses a sentiment from Four the Holidays and a hand assembled poinsettia using the 5 petal flower punch and a boho blossoms center.

This next one uses the sentiment and background scrolly piece from Pines and Poinsettias, combined with Dasher.  Isn't he just so adorable with the jingle bell and bakers twine?  (and yes, he actually jingles ;-)

This last one uses the pinecone stamp (colored directly onto the stamp with markers, and the little holly stamp as a random background.  See how well the stamp pairs with the Holly Berry Bouquet Designer paper?

With these three cards, I was able to use EVERY SINGLE STAMP in the set (which is actually a first for me, lol).  I'm quite tickled with the way all of them turned out, do you have a favorite?

DETAILS - Products are available for purchase from me  at Stampin' Up

Stamps: Dasher, Pines and Poinsettias
Paper: Very Vanilla, Rich Razzleberry, Wild Wasabi, Real Red, Early Espresso, Lucky Limeade, Cherry Cobbler, Naturals White, Whisper White
Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Lucky Limeade, Rich Razzleberry, Real Red, Wild Wasabi, Early Espresso
Accessories: Mini Jingle Bells, Bakers Twine, Scallop Ribbon Border Punch, 2 3/8 Scallop Circle Punch, 1 3/4 Circle Punch, 5 petal flower punch, Boho Blossoms, Scallop Trim Border punch, brads, Petals-a-plenty embossing folder

Handstamped Coasters

Hey there, Stampy peeps!  I wanted to take a quick reprieve from the Halloweening to show you some prototypes that I'm working on in preparation for some holiday sales.

These handstamped tile coasters will protect your furniture from cold and hot things (i've tested them out with sweaty drink glasses and hot mugs) and they are super simple to make!  All it takes is some 4x4 Travertine tiles, Staz-On ink in your favorite colors, Cork Sheets and your favorite stamp sets!  

Michey's Note:  These tiles are unglazed 4x4 Travertine from the tile aisle of Home Depot. They are grounded smooth on one side, but they are rough on the other (which is why i've covered the back with cork sheeting). My advice is to open up the box and go through each tile to make sure it meets your standards, sometimes you'll come across a tile with a pit on the top or a damaged edge.  In my area, a box of 9 of these tiles sells for just over $5.

The best part is that you don't even need to seal these - the Staz-On ink is impervious to whatever I decide to throw at it! I advise you to wash your tiles when you first get them home - that's to get rid of any lingering stone dust - and also make sure you let your tiles dry completely - overnight if you have to.  Any trace of water on them and your image will be hopelessly blurry (ask me how I know >.<)

Some of the sets i've used on these include Creative Elements, Field Flowers, Inspired by Nature, and My Friend. 

The cork sheets are cut down to size (you can just use regular scissors, your big shot,  or a sharp blade) and glued to the back of the tiles using Crystal Effects.

A project like this really shines with larger scaled stamps.  I've even pulled some of my favorite stamps out of retirement to come up with a few different designs. what do you think?

Thanks for taking a peek!

Michey

Falling for French Foliage

Here in Maryland, the leaves are starting to turn and there's a clean crispness in the air that just begs to be captured on paper. (Of course, this statement is on the heels of the nearly unheard of "Snow-tober" event we experienced yesterday... but we won't talk about that ;-)

Anywho, back to todays card! It uses the French Foliage stamp set in some deliciously yummy fall colors. The larger leaf was Rock 'n Rolled in Peach Parfait and Cherry Cobbler, while the smaller leaf was stamped in So Saffron (For more about the Rock and Roll technique, check out this card project from earlier this year). Sahara Sand was used to darken the edges, add waterspots and to accent with some collage script. Finally, Champagne Shimmer Paint was dabbed on using crumpled cellophane to add a network of shimmery veins across the whole panel.

A simple sentiment panel is brought to you by Thank you Kindly and a die-cut from Lots of Tags, again with some sahara sand distressing.

I wrestled with possibly adding some kind of ribbon or twine to this piece, but in the end, decided I wanted the beautiful leaves to take center stage... what do you think?

Thanks for taking a peek!

Michey

Michey's Note:  I am playing along with the Paper Players Challenge #70.  Their design team ALWAYS rocks my socks, so be sure to pay them a visit when you get the chance ;-)

DETAILS - Products are available for purchase from me at Stampin' Up

Stamps: French Foliage, Thank You Kindly
Paper: Cherry Cobbler, Naturals White
Ink: Peach Parfait, Cherry Cobbler, So Saffron, Sahara Sand
Accessories: Lots of Tags Sizzlet, Big Shot, Champagne Shimmer Paint, Edge Distresser (from the Cutting Kit).

A Halloweeny Treat!

Hi Stampers!  I've been a flurry of activity for the last few months, although my blog doesn't *quite* show it... but I have TONS of creative stuff to show you, hopefully you'll find some sort of inspiration from it.

This first card is one of four from my October class series. Full disclosure here, I'm not much for Halloween.  It's not that I don't like the holiday itself - I do!  But, combine the fact that I don't have alot of "spooky" stamp sets with the fact that I don't usually do the whole treat bag or Halloween card thing,  and I was in a pickle!

Despite that, I still managed to squeeze out a Halloween card this year:

I have a heck of a time trying to come up with something that's cutesy, so my creative direction for this card was "gothic sophistication".  The Candelabra and sentiment are from the Dark and Dreary set, with an embossed, versamarked, and iridescent iced spiderweb textured accent.

Finally, the background is "prettied" up with my favorite-est flourish from the creative elements set.  (I seriously can't put this flourish back in its box... it's got a permanent place of honor on my stamping table) and then "dirtied" up with the Wonderfully Worn background stamp.

And so, with this card, I feel as if I've been promoted from Hallow-weeny to Hallow-queeny!  What do you think?

Thanks for taking a peek!

Michey

DETAILS - Products are available for purchase from me  at Stampin' Up

Stamps: Dark and Dreary, Wonderfully Worn, Creative Elements
Paper: Whisper White, Peach Parfait, Wisteria Wonder, Basic Black
Ink: Wisteria Wonder, Basic Black & Pumpkin Pie Markers, Versamark
Accessories: Pumpkin Pie 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon, Iridescent ice Embossing Powder, Decorative Label Punch, Spiderweb Embossing Folder, Big Shot

Buy 3 Get 1 Free - Patterned Paper Extravaganza!

I'm a self-proclaimed patterned paper junkie.  I have TONS already, but it never seems to be enough, lol.  Thankfully, for the entire month of August, when you buy 3 packs of Designer Series Paper, you'll get a 4th pack ABSOLUTELY FREE!  Mix and match for the combination that suits your fancy!

So, what will I be getting this month?  I've had my eye on quite a few DSP packs, but some of my favorites are Beau Chateau, Well Worn, Timeless Portrait, and Nautical Expedition (which goes away with the Summer Mini on August 31, so there's no better time to get it!)

Click here to see all the DSP packs that are eligible for this promotion, and happy shopping!

Michey