Stamping with Michelle

Matchbox Fun

With our new mini catalog, Stampin Up introduced it's latest addition to the Sizzix collection...the Bigz Matchbox Die!  Here is what this die looks like

The part on the left makes the actual box, and then the long skinny piece makes the top that the box slides into.  Here is what this box looks like put together:

Materials: Thankful Thinking
Cardstock: Riding Hood Red, Pink Pirouette, Medium Window Sheets, Bella Rose DSP
Ink: Pink Pirouette and Riding Hood Red
Accessories: Designer Label Punch, Riding Hood Red Ribbon, Mini Glue Dots

Once you've done one or two, these boxes go together extremely easily and hold there shapes really well. They would make great favors for a wedding or a shower.  They would also be cute packaging for small stocking stuffers at Christmas.

I held a class on the Big Shot on Monday, and here is a fun project that we did with this die:

It is actually really easy to put this cute little chest together.  We made three sets of the matchbox boxes and then put them together with Sticky Strip.  Then we wrapped the whole thing in a long narrow piece of Designer Series Paper.  The lids are what is actually adhered, so the drawers open freely.

Happy Stamping!

Michelle

Flower Brads

Isn't it nice when the flowers start to come up and the weather begins to turn warmer?  I hope you all have wonderful plans that take you outside this weekend.  It promises to be glorious!  To celebrate, I thought I'd share with you a card that we've been making at my workshops and clubs this month.

Materials:  Simply Said and Perfectly Pretty Wheel
Cardstock: Pretty in Pink, So Saffron, Pumpkin Pie and Whisper White
Ink: Pumpkin Pie, So Saffron, Chocolate Chip pads and Pretty in Pink cartridge
Accessories: Large Oval Punch, Scallop Oval punch, Chocolate Chip grosgrain ribbon, Flower brads, 1/16" circle punch, and Stampin' Dimensionals

This card features the relatively new flower brads.  These fun brads really add a touch of whimsy to a card.  I have had lots of people commenting this month that they would never have thought to put these colors together.  I actually took the colors straight out of the container of brads.  The flower brads come in assortment of Chocolate Chip, Pretty in Pink, Pumpkin Pie and So Saffron.  This card also features the new Scallop Oval punch from the Occasions Mini Catalog.  This punch makes a fun addition to your punch collection and layers perfectly with the large oval punch.

Also, don't forget that there is still time to take advantage of the April Occasions Mini Catalog promotion.  When you purchase $40 or host a $150 workshop (or book show), you can select any of the under $10 items from page 208 in the catalog for free!  You can contact me directly to take advantage of this promotion, or you can place the order yourself by going to my website here and clicking on the link for online ordering in the upper right hand corner.

Happy Stamping and enjoy the sunshine this weekend!

Michelle

Simply Sent Card Elements

One of the newer products in our catalog that came out last fall are the Simply Sent Card Elements.  These kits are priced at $15.95 and each kit will make nine cards.  There are stamp sets that coordinate with the kits that you can purchase separately if you choose, but the kits are designed to be stand alone as well.  Each kit contains a sheet of self adhesive die cuts that you can use to embellish your cards.  Here is a card I did last fall from the Flower Power Card Elements kit:

Materials: Simply Sent Card Elements, Wow Flowers Set and Perfect Plum pad

For this card, I did choose to also purchase the coordinating stamp set, and I was able to stamp the Happy Birthday across the top with it.  These kits make fantastic gifts, particularly if the recipient hasn't stamped before.  Everything you need, with the exception of adhesive, is included, and there are instruction for three different designs.

Check out the Simply Sent Card Elements Kits.  I think you may be surprised at what you can create with them!

Happy Stamping!

Michelle

A Few More Hawaii Pictures

I've just got a couple of more Hawaii pictures that I thought you might like to see!

This is a pictures of one of the craters at Volcanoes National Park.  The lava formed a pool that cooled and hardened.  It is, however, still very hot under the surface. Rain gets into the cracks, and that is where you see the steam coming out.

Here's one more:

This is just a picture taken from the road.  Most everywhere you drive, the road has been created by paving over a lava field.

Finally, I leave you with a card sample.  My brother got married over the weekend, and this is the wedding card I made for him.

Materials: Bella's Bloom and Sincere Salutations
Cardstock: Pink Pirouette and Shimmery White
Ink: Pink Pirouette and Apricot Appeal Classic pads and Versamark
Accessories:  Pretties Kit, Aquapainter, Silver Embossing powder, Apricot Appeal grosgrain ribbon, Top Note Die and Big Shot, Mini Glue Dots, Pop Up Glue Dots and Stampin' Dimensionals

Most of the focal point on this card was created using elements from the Pretties Kit.  I added color to the flowers using my aquapainter and by picking up ink from the lids of the ink pads.  I then added pearls and beads to the hat pin and threaded it through the Shimmery White Top Note under the flowers.

Happy Stamping!

Michelle

More Hawaii Pics

Here are a couple more pictures from my Hawaii trip.

On one of the days, we got together with another couple who are friends of ours and we rented a car.  We drove to the other side of the island and visited a botanical garden.  This is a waterfall that was in that garden.

There was often a cool breeze and I get cold very easily.  My sweater wasn't usually too far away!

There were some rocks at the bottom of the botanical garden, and the tide most have been coming in, because the surf was really crashing.  I know that this is something we see here in Maine, too, but I thought this picture was quite spectacular!

OK.....now that you've looked at my vacation pictures, I leave you with a sample:

Materials:  Owl Together Now
Cardstock: Old Olive cardstock and Watercolor paper
Ink: Black Stazon, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin Pie
Accessories: Whisper White Mini Square Envelope, Aquapainters, 5/8" Chocolate Chip Grosgrain, Stampin' Dimensionals

This is a cute little mini 3"x3" notecard.  We actually made this one last year on the cruise, and I never got around to showing it.

Happy Stamping!

Michelle

Back from Hawaii

Hi everyone!

What a great week we had in Hawaii.  It went way too fast!  It was definitely hard to come again, especially with the fifteen hours of travel between Maine and Hawaii.  I've got pictures to show!

Here is a fairly good shot of the resort that we stayed in, the Hilton Waikoloa Village.  I don't even now how many acres this resort covers, but it is HUGE!  There was a tram or a boat that we could take to get to different areas of the resort, although, once you got the lay of the land, it really didn't seem quite so big and walking from place to place was no big deal.  The building on the left was where our room was.

There were waterfalls all over the resort, and it was quite beautiful.  This was the biggest of all of the waterfalls, and one of the walkways actually took you behind it.  Very interesting!

I've got more pictures to show, but I won't bore you with them all at once.  I'll leave you instead with a sample!

Materials:  Fresh Cuts
Cardstock: Pink Pirouette, Riding Hood Red, Kiwi Kiss, Whisper White and Bella Rose DSP
Ink: Pink Pirouette and Riding Hood Red
Accessories: Five Petal Flower Punch, 1/16" circle punch, Fire Rhinestone Brads, Certainly Celery grosgrain ribbon

This was a sample I had done last summer.  I'm not quite sure what it was originally for, but I thought it was a fun springy card!

Happy Stamping!

Michelle