Stampin' With Michelle

First things first, Yes it's still me. I've just given my blog a facelift. I found the Scrappin' Blogs site and thought to myself "Self, I think it is time your blog had a fun new look". So that's what I did. It hasn't quite grown on me yet but I'm sure it will cause it has some serious blog bling.

A new Stampin' Up! catalogue is soon upon us and I love getting new toys to play with. However, there is one item that retired that I don't think I can live without and that would be my Creamy Caramel ink. To me, it is the perfect color for giving that distressed, worn paper look. I bought 2 of the reinker just in case. It has to be the ink I use the most.

Well, my sister and her family will be here on Sunday. I am so excited but I am going to be quite busy. I am definitely not going to be able to post to my blog everyday. I will still be posting cards, when I have time to make them, though.

Posted by Michelle Singer at 12:30 AM 4 comments  

Labels: cards, fabulous friday, stampin' up

I tried my hand at making the hydrangea in this stamp set Pink. My card on Monday used 2 two colors on the flowers, this one uses three colors. I really like the depth it gives. I didn't cut this one out so I created a shadow around the image. To do this, I used my blender pen and my Going Gray ink pad to trace an outline around the flower.

For Try It Thursday I figured I would try to putting some lacing on my card. I figured I'd start simple and do it sneaker style (no sure if that's really a style, lol) but I might make another one where I kinda rip a V shape in my paper, distress it and put this lacing in it to look like a corset. We'll see if I have time for that.

I had to whip out my tool kit for this card cause the first row of eyelets was too far into the cardstock for my crop-a-dile to reach. I forgot how much of a pain in the butt eyelets were before I got my beloved Crop-a-dile. I mentioned yesterday that I stamp when my little boy naps. Have you ever tried to hammer quietly? Take it from me, it does work!!! I ended up in my back yard. LMBO.

Posted by Michelle Singer at 7:06 AM 1 comments  

Labels: cards, stampin' up, try it thursday

Sorry for not posting yesterday. Things have been crazy busy. What with Father's Day and my computer issues. Then my little guy decided he didn't need a nap yesterday afternoon and I usually power stamp while he sleeps. Ahh.... summer is coming.

For this card, although the camera didn't pick it up very well, I made score lines on three sides of the Whisper White cardstock and wheelied in between those score lines. I used the brads to cover over the areas where the wheeled image overlapped. The butterfly is a perfect example for why you shouldn't throw anything out. I colored and cut out this butterfly about a month ago but decided to use a different color on that card. Well, I needed an embelly for this card and this butterfly caught my eye. :) Waste not, want not I guess.

Posted by Michelle Singer at 3:57 PM 4 comments  

Labels: cards, stampin' up, wheel it wednesday

I am having some serious Microsoft Word issues today. I typed up the tutorial for this card and now everytime I try and open or upload it, I get an error message. So I decided to post the card and details and I will post the tutorial once I have the bugs worked out, or give up and retype it. (whichever comes first)

So Purple Rain was the first song that started to play when I turned on my IPod when I made this card. Can you tell? lol I hadn't planned on cutting out this hydrangea image (which btw was a serious pain in the butt) but I made way too many boo-boos outside the lines. I think it worked out OK in the end, though. Well, I'm off to try and salvage my tutorial. Hopefully, I'll be back later today.


Hydrangea Card

Posted by Michelle Singer at 3:02 PM 8 comments  

Labels: cards, make it monday, stampin' up, tutorial

I made this card to go with a gift I have for a friend. The gift is a book is I thought this card would go really nice with it. I think I'll make a matching bookmark to go inside the card from two Tags die before I give it away, though.

Well, the weekend is soon upon us and I've got a busy one. Isn't that always the case? Have a great weekend everyone!!!!!

Posted by Michelle Singer at 6:34 AM 2 comments  

Labels: cards, fabulous friday, stampin' up

For Try It Thursday, I whipped out a tool that I don't this think has seen the light of day in many a year, My Crimper. With my new found love of Kraft cardstock I should be using my crimper more often. I love that corregated look.

So last night I started the big purge of my craft room. Trying to get everything ready for the new Color Renovation. Man, it is a lot of work. Usually it only takes about a couple of hours for me to get my things straightened away when a new catalogue comes out. Not this year. It looks like it might drag into days before I am squared away. Lots of new stuff to play with, too!!! WooHoo :)

Posted by Michelle Singer at 7:15 AM 1 comments  

Labels: cards, stampin' up, try it thursday

This set of cards uses some brand spanking new products from Stampin' Up! that will be available in the new catalogue coming out July 1. Did you notice the 1/8" ribbon? You should feel it. I've always shied away from skinny ribbon just cause it's usually so flimsy. Let me tell ya, this ribbon is nice and stiff and can hold it's own. Did you know the sentiment? It's also new from the Level III hostess called Occasional Quotes. So ladies, pull together everyone you know cause you're definitely going to want to host a workshop and hit that Level III benefits mark. There are some awesome sayings in this set. And last but not least, did you notice the new colors? Early Expresso and Daffodil Delight are 2 of the new core colors that Stampin' Up! is introducing in July. I gotta say, I'm really loving the Early Expresso.

Posted by Michelle Singer at 5:59 AM 5 comments  

Labels: cards, stampin' up, wheel it wednesday

I'm so excited. Yesterday, my sister sent me an email with her flight itinerary. Her and her family are coming to visit in less than 2 weeks. They live on the other side of the country so I don't get to see them very often. Lots of planning to do now. :)

This card is part of Take It Tuesday. If you leave a comment on this blog post (click here to go to my blog if you are reading this from Facebook), you will be entered to win a free card kit with enough supplies to make 5 copies of this card (minus the adhesive and stamped images). You have until midnight June 16/10. I will pick a winner on Thursday.

Posted by Michelle Singer at 4:03 PM 7 comments  

Labels: cards, stampin' up, take it tuesday, win a free card kit

I accidently made this card. Weird, I know. I was running a piece of Creamy Caramel Cardstock through the Big Shot and a small piece of cardstock was stuck to the bottom. When it came out there was a raised area and I thought it looked a lot like a Band Aid. Some I redid it with a little more cardstock underneath and a little more centered and Voila, this card came to life.

Scroll to the bottom of this post for a short tutorial on how to make this card.

Bandaid Card s

Posted by Michelle Singer at 6:47 PM 3 comments  

Labels: cards, make it monday, stampin' up, tutorial

I guess there really isn't anything super Fabulous about this card. Not a lot of layers, no super fancy techniques or crazy embellishments. But....I really love this card. If you can't tell, I've kinda been on a monochromatic kick as of late. This card uses all shades of gray. I colored the images with my markers and used sponge daubers and ink pads to color the Presto Patterns DSP. I embossed to sentiment cause it was looking a little fuzzy on the DSP. Lucky for me, the classic ink stay wet for a little longer on this paper and I didn't have to start over again.

Well, I am off to read Breaking Dawn from the Twilight Series........AGAIN. I got pre-sale tickets for me and my friend, Mandy, last week (I'm so excited I could scream) and started reading Eclipse this week. Well, I finished it yesterday and I can't resist reading the last one. The book is calling me, can't you hear it? LMBO Anyway, have a great weekend everyone.

Posted by Michelle Singer at 6:07 AM 2 comments  

Labels: cards, fabulous friday, stampin' up

When I went to my craft room to make this card, I had the urge to use green. Once the card was finished, though, I didn't like it too much. I felt like the color needed to look more rustic so I redid it in the colors above. Here is the green one just in case you wanted to see it.



I like the rustic-y one better. Try it Thursday is using the negative image of a punch. For this card I punched the star image on Whisper White, then used the scallop square punch to out the star. After that, used a blender pen and Going Gray ink to trace around the star to make it pop and then popped it up on dimensionals.

Posted by Michelle Singer at 12:30 AM 2 comments  

Labels: cards, stampin' up, try it thursday

Last week I decided that I was smarter than the sewing machine. Well, my sewing machine had different ideas. After struggling with thread breaking, the bobbin, rethreading the machine and tension I finally thought I had concurred the beast. Just take a closer look at the image below. Do you see all the little foot markers on the left side of the stitch line? I think the wrong foot is on there. I'm just going to wait until my mother-in-law comes next month to fix it cause this silly machine is about 2 seconds from being thrown out on the back lawn and buried. lol

Posted by Michelle Singer at 9:10 AM 4 comments  

Labels: cards, stampin' up, wheel it wednesday

So, my ode to Prince is because that song has been stuck in my head all day. So much so that I had to download it to my IPod and listen to it 15 times in a row. So I guess this card was inspired by the amazingly talented and slightly crazy Prince (or should I say Artist formerly known as Prince).

Anyhoo, today is my birthday (yay, Happy Birthday to me). I actually had to think about how old I was. I had to do that math. Crazy isn't it? Not like when I was younger and I knew I was turning 18 or I knew I was turning 21. I guess there are no more milestones so the number isn't all that important anymore. We are going out for supper tonight to celebrate, then on Saturday I'm goin' shoppin'. Wish me luck cause the West Edmonton Mall is insane busy on the weekends but I will have all day to myself. My boys are going to have a Boys' Day.


This card is part of Take It Tuesday. If you leave a comment on this blog post (click here to go to my blog if you are reading this from Facebook), you will be entered to win a free card kit with enough supplies to make 5 copies of this card (minus the adhesive and stamped images). You have until midnight May 09/10. I will pick a winner on Thursday.

Posted by Michelle Singer at 12:30 AM 21 comments  

Labels: cards, stampin' up, take it tuesday, win a free card kit

Ok, look out world, I have officially opened my jar of Dazzling Diamonds again. I am a glitter fanatic (must be the magpie in me). About 4 months ago I had to force myself not to glitter-ify everything I made. Everything I touched had glitter on it including the dog, my child and my husband. I started my self imposed glitter ban when my hubby came home and told me that they were starting to make fun of him at work because of all the glitter. lol.

Scroll to the bottom of this post for a tutorial on how to make this card.

Dazzling Butterfly

Posted by Michelle Singer at 1:21 PM 1 comments  

Labels: cards, make it monday, stampin' up, tutorial

It's Fabulous Friday!!! Here is my last Father's Day card. OMG!!! Do I ever love this stamp set. This image is big enough that it holds its' own on a square layout plus, I love to color so this one is perfect for that. I colored this time with a combination of markers and blender pen & ink. I might try some watercoloring with it next.

Have a great weekend everyone. :)

Posted by Michelle Singer at 12:30 AM 1 comments  

Labels: cards, fabulous friday, stampin' up

A friend of mine (Hi Nadine - waving franticly) needed someone to watch her little girl, who is the same age as my Cole, last night. So Cole had a friend to play with. I wanted to send her home with something so I had them color the Build-a-bear images and then made these cute little baskets.

I've made this baskets before but got the inspiration to make these from Stamp TV the other week. I colored one myself and the other 2 were colored by the munchkins. I also put a bookmark in there. I know they are a little young, but I know I sometimes need a bookmark to remember where we are in a book and they are just too cute!!!

So for Try It Thursday, why don't you make a basket. They are super cute and people love little gifts. I'll bet you make someone's day. :)

Posted by Michelle Singer at 12:30 AM 2 comments  

Labels: 3D, stampin' up, try it thursday

I'm still not feeling 100%. It's been 5 days now so I'm wondering if I have a stomach bug or if my ulcer is acting up again. Yes, I was a worry wort in Grade 9 (I know, was I a geek or what?) and gave myself an ulcer. Anywho, creative juices don't seem to flow as freely as stomach juices lately. This is the best I can do for a card to share today. Hopefully tomorrow I can come up with something a little more inspiring.

Posted by Michelle Singer at 12:30 AM 0 comments  

Labels: cards, stampin' up, wheel it wednesday

The day has arrived for the Stampin' Up! Last Chance Lists. (Click here to order!!!! Click Here to order!!!!) If there is anything you see on these lists that you absolutely love, my advice would be to but it now. All the stamps sets will be available until June 30 and the retiring accessories will only be available while supplies last!!! After which time, they fall into the Black Hole of Stampin' Up!-ness and will never be seen again. lol Naw, just kidding, but we will probably see it on EBay for twice the price.

Posted by Michelle Singer at 7:04 AM 0 comments  

Labels: stampin' up

Today's card isn't too complicated. I haven't been feeling the greatest. I think I have a stomach bug. And me, being the dingbat that I am, impaled myself on my paper piercing tool. I swear it hit the bone. So if ya see blood stains on my card, that's why.

Scroll to the bottom of this post for a simple tutorial on how to make this card.

Posted by Michelle Singer at 12:30 AM 1 comments  

Labels: cards, make it monday, stampin' up, tutorial

Ok, one more card with the Razzleberry Lemonade DSP. This time, I stopped by Patty Bennett's Blog (Thanks Patty, You Rock!!!) for her double embossing technique. I really liked how it turned out. Using the gold embossing powder gets it a little somethin' extra. Oh, and I figured out something else to do with the DSP, stamp on it. I stamped my butterfly on DSP and cut it out. I've officially used half of the pack of paper in a week. Woohooo, I never thought I'd say that.

Posted by Michelle Singer at 12:30 AM 4 comments  

Labels: cards, fabulous friday, stampin' up

This is the birthday invitations I made for my little boy's friend, Leah. She will be 2 in a few weeks. We went camping with Leah's family this past weekend. You should have seen to two of them. They were laying on the bed watching Franklin and Cole leans over and gives Leah a kiss and half the time they were together, they were holding hands. They are starting young. lol Ahhhh...soon enough they will think the other has cooties. The picture below shows the insert for the party info.
So, for Try It Thursday, let's give a pocket fold card a try. It is easy peasy to make. Just cut your cardstock to 4 1/4" x 11" and score at 1 1/2" and 5 1/2". Fold, tape and decorate. And look, I managed to use up 2 sheets of the Razzleberry Lemonade DSP and the card doesn't look too bad.

ETA: the winner of this weeks' card kit from Random.org is.........

Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment. I will email you for your info.

Posted by Michelle Singer at 12:30 AM 1 comments  

Labels: cards, stampin' up, try it thursday

Are these little owls just the cutest? This is #3 of the 4 Father's Day cards I need. This only will probably be from Cole cause I think it's little boy cute. (I know, I'm a dork)

To cover the chipboard I just traces the outline of my owl onto the wrong side of my DSP and cut it out. I then used the fat end of my Tombow Adhesive to apply a thin coat to the chip and adhered the DSP. Then, I used my sanding block to sand off the excess DSP and sponged the edges with Chocolate Chip ink to give it that finished look. There are other ways to apply DSP to Chipboard but this is how get the best result.

Posted by Michelle Singer at 12:30 AM 4 comments  

Labels: cards, stampin' up, wheel it wednesday

So here is a card using the DSP I hate so much, Razzleberry Lemonade. I've come to the realization that not only do I hate it, but it sucks that creative life out of me. This is the 4th attempt at making a card with this paper and I can't stand this card either but it is better than my first 3 attempts (don't even ask). The number 1 suggestion I had to use up this paper was to give it as prizes/gifts. So here we go. It is part of my tuesday give away. I hope some of my fellow papercrafters like this paper enough to leave me a comment. On the plus side, I used up 2 full sheets coming up with this card. 2 sheets down, 10 to go. LOL

This card is part of Take It Tuesday. If you leave a comment on this blog post (click here to go to my blog if you are reading this from Facebook), you will be entered to win a free card kit with enough supplies to make 5 copies of this card (minus the adhesive and stamped images). You have until midnight May 26/10. I will pick a winner on Thursday.

Posted by Michelle Singer at 12:30 AM 21 comments  

Labels: cards, stampin' up, take it tuesday, win a free card kit

I hope everyone had a great weekend. We went camping this weekend and while it didn't snow, like last year, it was raining and windy and cold. Ahhhh..... the joys of the May Long weekend. I vote to change the May Long Weekend to the last weekend in May cause the weather is always nice then. Who is with me? But all in all we had lots of fun.

Today's card / tea light is something I saw while Blog Hopping. The original, while absolutely beautiful, was in metric, not in English, and held 4 tea lights. So little ole me, sat down with my 3 tea lights and a ruler and figured out the measurements to make a 3 tea light card. And yes, it's metric and in English (hee hee) Although I might had been able to put together something in not so understandable French (it's been a while since I used it) lol. The original came from Anneth @ ScrapGalen.

Scroll to the bottom of this post where I posted a tutorial on how to make this project. This is my first attempt at making a tutorial this complicated so let me know if there is any problems with it.

Posted by Michelle Singer at 8:46 AM 3 comments  

Labels: 3D, cards, make it monday, stampin' up, tutorial

I made this card earlier this week but it's been killing me to wait until today to share it. I love, Love, LOVE how it turned out. There isn't a whole lot to this card but I think it has such a dramatic effect with the black and white.

Posted by Michelle Singer at 12:30 AM 6 comments  

Labels: cards, fabulous friday, stampin' up

ETA: The winner of yesterday's card Kit from Random.org is.....drumroll.....

Please email me at stampinwithmichelle@shaw.ca with your contact info so I can send you your card kit.

For Try It Thursday, I thought I'd do a Gatefold card. They create such a pretty card and I definitely don't make them enough. And did you notice? I used Christmas DSP this time. I know, crazy girl. The snow has bearly melted, the sun is splitting the rocks and she is using Christmas paper. LMBO

Anyhoo, today I made a sympathy card but it isn't anyone in particular. I don't like making sympathy cards, especially when I know what it is for, so I try to always have a few on hand. It's easier to pick a card then to sit and make a card with a heavy heart.

I'll be back later to post who won this week's card kit.

Posted by Michelle Singer at 12:30 AM 5 comments  

Labels: cards, stampin' up, try it thursday

When I first saw the sheet of Travel Journal DSP with the map on it, all that came to mind was this wheel and the Loads of Love Stamp Set. I haven't had time to play with the stamp set but this was my first attempt at using the wheel with this paper. I can't say that I am entirely happy with it so I might still play around with it. I knew I wouldn't be able to stay away from this paper for long. Now if I start using this DSP with the Elements of Style Stamp Set I think the world is in trouble LOL

Posted by Michelle Singer at 12:30 AM 0 comments  

Labels: cards, stampin' up, wheel it wednesday

This weekend I was asked by my church to present at a Woman's Retreat. I made a simple card cause most of the ladies there were brand new to stamping. I love teaching people how to stamp and seeing all the creativity that comes from that. The above card (inside and out)is the one I made after the retreat using some of the wonderful ideas I got from the ladies.
The card below was my original card.

This card is part of Take It Tuesday. If you leave a comment on this blog post (click here to go to my blog if you are reading this from Facebook), you will be entered to win a free card kit with enough supplies to make 5 copies of this card (minus the adhesive and stamped images). You have until midnight May 19/10. I will pick a winner on Thursday because I am late posting today.

Posted by Michelle Singer at 4:14 PM 18 comments  

Labels: cards, stampin' up, take it tuesday, win a free card kit

I really need help to not use this stamp set. I sat down to make this card and when I opened up the case to take out the stamps, it was empty. I hadn't taken them off the block since the last time I used them. I've been waiting a long time for an image like this and now that I have it I guess I'ma gonna use it.
My favorite color rose is white. I wasn't sure how well coloring with my white gel pen was going to work cause it covers all the image but I made sure to let some of the Basic Brown ink show through and ended up with the effect I was looking for.

Scroll to the bottom of this post for a step by step tutorial on how to make this card.

White Roses Card

Posted by Michelle Singer at 4:54 PM 6 comments  

Labels: cards, make it monday, stampin' up, tutorial

It's Fabulous Friday!!!

Today's card is supposed to look like a foggy day. I'm not sure if I succeeded with that effect but I thought the card looked pretty in the end. It was easy peasy to make this card. I just stamped some background trees in Perfect Plum ink (the camera didn't pick that up very well) and my main tree image in Elegant Eggplant ink. When it dried I used my sponge dauber and covered the cardstock in Whisper White ink.

I hope everyone has a super weekend.

Posted by Michelle Singer at 8:38 AM 3 comments  

Labels: cards, fabulous friday, stampin' up

Okay, I just couldn't stay away from the Elements of Style stamp set. A few years back I went to ScrapFest and one of the layouts had a picture on it that had clear microbeads glued to a picture. I remember thinking that I had to try it. Well, 2 and a half years later, here you go. I don't know if this technique has a name. If it does, please leave a comment as I would love to know. To do this technique, I stamped and colored my image and sponged the edges with Creamy Caramel ink. I then put a generous coat of Crystal Effects over the entire images, spreading it with an old paintbrush, and put it in a Powder Pal. I poured the microbeads over top and patted with my fingers to make sure the beads stuck well. To put the Rhinestone Brad on the ribbon I separated the prings and wrapped in around the bow.
I like how this image turned out but let me tell ya, what a mess. I thought Dazzling Diamonds was messing. I have these silly little beads from one end of my craft room to the other.

Posted by Michelle Singer at 12:30 AM 4 comments  

Labels: cards, stampin' up, try it thursday

I normally don't post cards with images that are not Stampin' Up! on my blog but this stamp I bought this weekend when I rode on Thomas the Train. Everything else on the card is Stampin' Up!, though. I'm probably going to use this set to make Cole's birthday invitations.
Let me tell ya, I have a new appreciation for the quality of SU rubber. This stamp wasn't die cut, you know where the rubber is the same same as the wooden block. No matter how I tried to ink it up, I always got ink on the corners. So, me being me, I peeled the stamp off the wood, cut around the image and stuck it back on with Crystal Effects. I still didn't get a crisp image and had to fill in some areas with my Basic Black marker. But all in all, my little boy loves it and Toots, Toots! when he sees it. :)

ETA: The winner of yesterday's card Kit from Random.org is.....drumroll.....

kathy brown said...

I LOVE this card! It is TOO cute!!! TFS!!

kathy

Kathy, I will email you for your contact info so I can send you your card kit.

Posted by Michelle Singer at 12:30 AM 1 comments  

Labels: cards, stampin' up, wheel it wednesday

I really love the NEW Travel Journal DSP from the Stampin' Up! Summer Mini Catalogue. I've had it for over a month now and I've purposely not opened the package cause I knew I would want to use this paper every time I made something. Well, I broke the seal and can't be held responsible for the amount of times I use it. I just love the Pumpkin Pie and Night of Navy combo. Oh, and the fact that Kraft cardstock (my new go-to color) coordinates with it, will not make it any easier to stay away from.

This card is part of Take It Tuesday. If you leave a comment on this blog post (click here to go to my blog if you are reading this from Facebook), you will be entered to win a free card kit with enough supplies to make 5 copies of this card (minus the adhesive and stamped images). You have until midnight May 11/10. I will pick a winner on Wednesday.

Posted by Michelle Singer at 12:30 AM 20 comments  

Labels: cards, stampin' up, take it tuesday, win a free card kit