RIC#27 and CTS#10 - Cacharel inspired birthday

Hello!

It is so HOT here! I'm about to expire! I think we have hit 36c (98.6F) here today and the humidity is not doing any favours either. Once I have this post up, I'm diving straight back into the pool.

I took a break from the pool to create this lovely card. The photo is a bit blurry, sorry!

I used PTI Botanical Silhouettes. Colours are SU! Brilliant Blue, Pool Party, and Early Espresso. Card is PTI Vintage Cream.

It's in response to two challenges. The first is Runway Inspired challenge #27, which brings us this lovely image as inspiration.

The second was CAS(E) this Sketch #10. I love this sketch for its simplicity.

Thanks for dropping by. Those of you with a bit of snow laying around, would you please send it my way? I'll swap you some sunshine and HOT air. ;-)

Michelle
xxx

One Layer Wednesday #99

Hello!

It's been a while since I've played along with One Layer Wednesday. I got a bit confused there for a while and kept missing it! This week, I couldn't resist. Not only is it challenge number #99 (just one more before #100, which I like), but we get to choose our inspiration from Susan's Pinterest Pure Inspiration Board.

This is my card.

I used PTI Botanical Silhouettes. I masked the card front and sponged SU! Bashful Blue and Pool Party. Then I stamped the stems in Certainly Celery, white embossed the flowers, and finished with the sentiment.

This was my inspiration.

As soon as I saw it, I knew what I wanted to create.

I hope you like it, I do!

Thanks for dropping by!

Michelle
xxx

ColourQ 138

Hello!

As soon as I saw the ColourQ colours this week, I knew I had to make a card using them. It is a wonderful colour combo. Take a look:

I would LOVE a pair of shoes like that! (And I'm not a "shoe" person).

The card I made was for a young friend's baptism today. I wanted it to be pretty and special. This is what I came up with.

My eldest daughter was raving about this card even before I finished it. THEN she realised it was the card for her friend and she was jumping with joy. Later today she lamented that the cards we really like, we give away, LOL!

I used PTI Basic White card. SU! ink in Crumb Cake, Pure Poppy, More Mustard, and Pool Party. Stamps are PTI Botanical Silhouettes, Tiny Tags II, and Hero Arts Say It All. The ribbon is Pool Party seam binding. This is the first time I've used seam binding, and I'm hooked. It's so soft and makes a BEAUTIFUL bow. 

Thanks for dropping by!

Michelle
xxx

Edited to add: I'm a colourQ Colour Queen! So excited! Thanks everyone for your lovely messages!

Yellow for LIM66

Hello!

I was sitting surrounded by paper and ink and totally stuck. I am working on presents for Mothers' Day, and I have come to a halt.  So what do you do when creatively stuck? Do something else completely!

The challenge over at Less Is More this week for Challenge 66 is to use YELLOW. I love yellow, it's such a happy colour for me. To be honest what is in my head for this challenge is not what I created. But this card was waiting in the sidelines of my mind and jumped the queue. :-)

Just looking at it makes me smile.

I used PTI Rosie Posie (image) and Botanical Silhouettes (sentiment). Memento Tuxedo Black and SU! Daffodil Delight. Card base is PTI basic white and panel is SU! Whisper White.

Such a quick card to make. I might make a set.

Thanks for dropping by!

Michelle
xxx

OLW79, LIM55, and Jay Gee's #16 - Colourful flowers

Hello!

I have told you before how much I love rainbow colours, haven't I? :-)  This months challenge inspiration over at Jay Gee's Nook uses so many bright and happy colours, it's irresistible. As is usual for me, I've been pondering this card for ages. The original concept for the card I've made today came from Amber over at Damask Love. For some reason I can't find the card that inspired me, but if you've seen Ambers cards and calendars, you'll recognise the inspiration (Amber does it so much better than me). The layout and design for the card is a very direct CASE from Michelle at Pigment of My Imagination. When I saw Michelle's card, I knew I just had to bring my ideas to reality, right now! Again, Michelle has done it so well, I'm not sure why I am even considering doing it within the same challenge that her card is in (that would be One Layer Wednesday), LOL! I also made this card for Less Is More Week #55 (theme punches or dies), because it has been too long since I visited and had a play there, and I miss it. :-)

Here is my card:

I had to hold it together so that you could see it more clearly:

And here is the colour inspiration collage from Jay Gee's Nook Challenge #16:

Gorgeous, isn't it?

For my card, I used Stampin' Up! inks in a variety of bright colours. I used PTI Fillable Frames #5. I used PTI Rosie Posie, PTI Turning a New Leaf, and PTI Botanical Silhouettes stamps - 8 stamps in total.

I really like this card. It's exactly what I wanted to create. I just love it when a card turns out as I imagined. 

Thanks for visiting. I love having visitors, and hearing what you have to say. :-)

Michelle

xxx

For Your Inspiration #22 - watercolour flowers

Hello!

This week at For Your Inspiration Challenges we have another beautiful photograph to inspire you.

Remember, the Design Team Call is still open until January 31st, so if you'd like to join our team, please check out the details at the For Your Inspiration DT Call post.

Without further ado, here is the inspiration photo:

Isn't it restful? And all that colour, yum!

My take on it was to create a watercolour-style image, using the same colours.  I inked up my stamps, then I sprayed them with my shimmer mist liberally, and then stamped onto watercolour paper. This caused the images to run slightly and cause a much softer effect than just straight stamping with ink.

I used Soft Suede cardstock, Old Olive panel, and watercolour paper for the image panel. Inks were Old Olive, Certainly Celery, Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight, Early Espresso (sentiment). Twine is Buttercup from the Twinery. The flowers are PTI Botanical Silhouettes.

I'd love it if you would join in the fun with us at For Your Inspiration.  And please do take some time to take a look at what the rest of the Design Team has come up with. They have done some amazing work, as always.

Debbie

Debby

Peggy

Rochelle

Sara

Steph

Vicki

I'm looking forward to seeing you over at FYI very soon!

Michelle
xxx

Clean and Simple Day 1 - Part 2

Hello!

Here is my second card for the Day 1 Clean and Simple Card Making class.

This one is based on a card by Maile Belles. I can't tell you how much I like Maile's cards, they're CAS-perfect!

Here is my card:

It's a bit BRIGHT isn't it? :-)

Here is a close-up of the flower die-cut:

I used PTI White card, SU! Only Orange and Yoyo Yellow (both retired), Twinery twine, and a SU! flower brad. The sentiment is PTI Botanical Silhouettes. The die is MFT, I forget it's name. I slipped the orange flower into the space left by the die-cut in the yellow panel.

I'll be back later with Day 2.  I have to go visit my 10 month old niece first! Definitely a pleasure worth skipping a bit of blogging for. :-)

Michelle
xxx

RIC#3 - Black and White Love

Hello!

I've been pondering Runway Inspired Challenge #3 for a little while now, trying to think how I would use those black and white stripes. Today the idea came to me, so I sat down in this 36 degree heat (96.8F) and whipped up a little card quickly before I go for a swim. :-)

Here is the inspiration:

Black and white isn't my forte in card-making. Neither are stripes, really, but I like them!

I went for a black and white heart, and I picked up the circles off the runway floor.

Here is my card:

PTI Heart dies, PTI Background Basics: Circles, PTI Botannical Silhouettes (sentiment). A really easy card, and I really like it.

Now, I'm going to try to beat the afternoon thunderstorm to the pool.  It was a clear blue day 30 minutes ago, now we're looking at this:

It doesn't look much, but it won't be long until the sky is dark grey with lightning and thunder - that's my prediction anyway. It's rare for us to have this heat, and high humidity all day without an afternoon thunderstorm. We can't swim in a storm, so it is a matter of getting there before the thunder starts growling.

Michelle
xxx

OLW#68 and CR84FN#40

Hello!

I'm rushing out the door, so creative blog titles elude me! LOL.  I whipped up a couple of cards this morning to share with you.  The first is a response to One Layer Wednesday #68 and CR84FN Color Challenge #40.

Susan's challenge for OLW this week is to use triangles.  I think you can actually SEE the triangle in this one-layer card, yippee.  This time I created the stamping on a scrap piece of paper BEFORE stamping the card, just to make sure I could create the triangle that I had in my imagination.  I'm thinking of adding a couple of blingy bits to this card later. I like it as it is, but I also like a little bling.

The colours came from CR84FN:

I couldn't resist. I might come back and make some more cards in response to this colour challenge. I love them!

I used SU! Real Red, Soft Suede, and Crumb Cake. The stamp set is PTI Botanical Silhouettes.

My other card I made in response to a beautiful card I found on Pinterest and tracked down to Ingrid Danvers' blog.  Ingrid's card is this one:
                               
I wanted to make a one-layer card pretty much the same.  BUT I had a masking accident and my beautiful white space I had created was RUINED, so I added a green strip instead of the twine and white I'd planned.  Here is my card:

I still like it, but I'll try again to make what I have imagined.

Must rush off - it is gymnastics day for the little one.

What do you think of my cards today?   I'm looking forward to hearing your feedback.

Michelle
xxx

One Layer Monochrome

For my For Your Inspiration post, please scroll down, or click HERE

Hello!

Over at One Layer Wednesday this week, the idea is to let the sentiment take centre stage, or at least have equal billing with the images. I'm not sure I've achieved this here. I did discover that I am very short on sentiments in my stamp collection.

For CAS-ual Fridays Challenge 21, we are being asked to use three shades of one colour and to add brown.  With this challenge, I discovered I need more colours!  I did find that I have quite a few greens in my collection.

With eight hours to go over at "Less Is More", I thought I'd throw in another card for their Anything CAS Goes challenge, where they are hoping for 1000 entries this week. They might make it, if Mr Linky doesn't succumb under the pressure of all those entries!

So with those instructions, this is what I came up with:

I don't usually embellish my one layer cards, but this card needed something extra, so my new twine came to the rescue.

What I used:
Stamps: PTI Take Three: Summer, and PTI Botanical Silhouettes (sentiment)
Ink: SU! Certainly Celery, Old Olive, Mellow Moss, Chocolate Chip

Now, I'm a little weary, so I might toddle off to bed. Tomorrow I go to visit my new nephew, who will be around 24 hours old by the time I get to him. I'm smiling already.

Michelle
xxx

LIM22 - Shades of Blue

Hello!

This is my entry for Less is More Week 22 challenge - Shades of Blue.  I chose to use a recent layout from the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge, which I had wanted to enter, but ran out of time. Lucky for me, I hadn't even started stamping it, so I could choose to use blue!

My original idea was to use the Night of Navy cardstock as the card base, but then I wondered if navy blue counts as "White Space"?  I decided it wouldn't really look like white space with such a deep colour. So back to white card stock. I hope I have left enough feeling of white space on this card to meet the LIM requirements, I really worked hard to do so, and to keep it simple and "open" feeling.

What I used:
Stamps: PTI Botanical Silhouettes
Paper: (all SU) Whisper White, Night of Navy, Washington Apple
Ink: Night of Navy, Bashful Blue
Other: Silver embossing, rhinestones

I hope you like it. What do you think?

On another note, yesterday I received a blogger award from Sylvie (Gibmiss). Thank-you, Sylvie! It was a lovely surprise!

The 'rules' for accepting the award are to mention the blogger who gave you the award and link it back to their blog and pay it forward to 5 bloggers. So I have chosen the following 5 people:
Manda
Cassandra
Susan
Gay
Jenny

And now I'm off to see if I can squeeze in one or two more cards before the end of the day (depending on how much longer the kids can amuse themselves and I can fend off that vacuuming that desperately needs doing).

Michelle
xxx

Gratitude

Hello!

Second post of the day, and I dedicate this post to GRATITUDE.  My points of gratitude are not in any order of importance, just as I have thought of them.

1. This post is a submission for One Layer Wednesday #60, which is over on Simplicity this week.  Which is my first area of gratitude.  Susan Raihala over at Simplicity continues to inspire me with her creations.  And she shares so much with the rest of us.  I truly love reading her posts and seeing what she has come up with each time she shares.  As well as telling me all about design, colour, texture, simplicity . . . she also shares little tidbits from her life, and I love that too!

2. I am grateful for all my visitors who take the time to look at my creations and then take more of their valuable time to give me some feedback via a comment. Thank-you all!

3. I am grateful for my followers. That you have placed me on your list of people you like to receive regular updates from is humbling.  Each new person who shows up brings me a smile and amazes me all over again that you would want to see what I have created or perhaps hear what I have to say.

4. I am grateful for my real-life stamping friends, Manda and Cassie, who both inspire me constantly with their creativity and their generosity.  About three years ago, Manda introduced me to Stampin' Up! products via a workshop.  Along with an instant addiction to all things paper and stamping, I also gained some wonderful friendships, and then a further addiction to blogging!

5. I am grateful for all those talented artists out there in blog-land who share their ideas and creations with me via their blogs.  I am constantly amazed at the beauty of all that creative work out there.

6. I have so many other things in my life that I am grateful for, but since this post is about stamping, I'll restrict myself to the theme of stamping in my items of gratitude. . . for today. . . LOL.  I just thought of more stamping-related things to be thankful for. . . I think I could go all day!

So on to my entry. . . Susan REALLY inspired me this week.  The rules: Make a card that layers ink. USE ONLY STAMPED IMAGES AND/OR SENTIMENTS. No masking, no sponging, no embellishments of any kind!

Wow! Seriously?  So off I went to experiment with this "quick and easy" style. . . and discovered that quick and easy is exciting!  I couldn't stop.  Added to the excitement of quick and easy was my new stamp set (thank-you Cassie!) from PTI - Botanical Silhouettes, awesome! The only thing that stopped me was that I had an appointment to get to. But I think I might get back to it tonight for some more fun!
My challenge entry is this one, mainly because it has more layering in the stamping (and here I say thank-you again to Manda who enlightened me recently about using acrylic blocks by themselves to stamp, I love the effect).

Colours used: Barely Banana, Pumpkin Pie, Really Rust, Certainly Celery

And now for my other work from today, this was my first one (colours Certainly Celery, Almost Amethyst, Night of Navy):

Then came this one (using SU Organic Grace, and colours Daffodil Delight, Certainly Celery, Creamy Caramel, and Chocolate Chip):

And my other one (using Ruby Red, Certainly Celery, and Chocolate Chip):

While I was working on the first card, my 8 year old daughter was working alongside me.  The whole reason we pulled out the stamps was to make Grandma a ThankYou card.  She asked me to share her card here with mine, so here is her lovley effort:

She's pretty clever, isn't she?

So what do you think of my flurry of one-layer cards?  Isn't Botanical Silhouettes an awesome stamp set?  I'm in love. I'll be heading over to PTI to order more of their fabulous sets sometime in the near future. So easy to use and gorgeous images.

See you again soon!

Michelle
xxx