Time To Celebrate Card

Hello everyone!  I hope everyone is making time this weekend to do some fun things. Have you guys started to shop for the holidays yet or are you waiting for the big Black Friday deals?  Yesterday was fun.  We had our friend Elaine in the store teaching a Christmas mini album and box class.  We did this last weekend and will have the same class next weekend again.  Everyone had a great time.

Here is Elaine, the red velvet cupcakes she baked for the class, and her students with their projects -

While she was teaching her class I was working on today's card, which I am making for my brother's birthday.  I've had this clock stamp set (It's About Time) and the matching die (Pocket Watch) both from Impression Obsession for a few months and finally got to use it.  I started with a piece of patterned paper, which I trimmed to 4" x 5.25".  I placed a stencil with numbers on top of the paper, secured it with painter's tape, and applied some transparent embossing paste over the stencil.  When you lift the stencil the paste will look white but will dry clear.  This gives a nice transparent but raised effect on your plain papers.

I made several pieces at the same time and decided to use the piece with the diamond sections on it.

After the paste dried I stamped some of the clock faces on the lower right part of the paper.  To make the watch part, I die the pocket watch out of gold cardstock and then out of black.  Then I embossed the black center of the watch with the Chevron embossing folder (Darice).  I stamped once of the clock faces again and cut that out with a circle punch, which I then distressed a bit with Vintage Photo distress ink.   Glued these pieces to the card front and stuck a gold brad through the center of the watch.  I made an A2 top folding card out of white cardstock, adhered a piece of black cardstock to the card front, then adhered this pattered paper with the clocks to the black cardstock.  Finally, I stamped the phrase, die cut it with a label die, distressed it, applied pop dots under the label and adhered this to the card front.  

Here is a close up of the clock showing all the different elements - the transparent paste, the clock pieces, the embossing folder, etc. 

Well I hope you liked this card.  A bit different for me but was fun to make and I hope my bro likes it.  I am off to make the most of my "time" today and start to clear up boxes of "stuff".  It is time to purge!!  LOL

Have a great rest of the weekend.  Until next time...

Hugs from Brasil -

- Michael

Snowflake Sparkle Card & Happy Mail

Hello everyone!!  Yesterday was a great day.  My friend Sue shipped a box here and it got here rather quickly.  Inside the box was some "happy mail" from my friend Justin and some goodies that I ordered for me!  The "happy mail" was a stamping magazine from the UK and a bar of chocolate with Oreo pieces, also from the UK.  Justin went there back in September and got these goodies for me.  I cannot wait to get some of these images down on paper to color!!  Love these birds and feathers.  

On a side note, if you have not been to Justin's blog...you should.  Extremely talented guy and he blogs EVERY DAY!!  Just click on his name.

  

Then, in the box, were some cute stamp sets from Stamping Bella and my Crazy Bird Accessory stamps and the matching dies.  Finally!!  Cannot wait to make my nieces Hanukkah cards.  In the afternoon we went to the mall and I found this neat 60 piece colored pencil set from Faber Castell that was calling my name.  LOL.  Hey, I can use them to color in the stamps I got.  Right?

For today's card I have another really simple holiday card.  It's one stamp, 2 Copic markers, and some crystals.  Easy Peasy.  It's funny...I did this card for Day 21 of The Daily Marker 30 Day Coloring Challenge and this card really has the least amount of coloring yet it got the most likes on Instagram.  Sometimes less is better.

I started with a side folding A2 card base of white cardstock.  I found some very light blue paper with a nice subtle pattern, cut a piece 4.25" x 5.5", and adhered it to the card front. Then I cut a piece of navy blue cardstock, 3 7/8" x 5 1/8", and adhered that to the patterned paper.  Next, cut a piece of white cardstock, 3.75" x 5", and stamp some snowflakes (I used Serene Snowflakes, 115438, from Stampin Up!).  I picked the 2nd largest snowflake in the set because it had little dots to adhere some crystals to and I stamped the first flake on the left, in the center.  Then I stamped the phrase "Sparkle" (Warm Words, Stampin Up!) next to it.  Then I was able to go back and stamp additional snowflakes on the rest of the card front.  I colored them in with 2 Copic markers, BG01 and BG05.  Then I adhered this piece to the cardfront, adhered some crystals around all the snowflakes and in the center of each one.  

I think it's a really simple and classy card.  Well, I hope you guys have a great day and enjoyed this card.  Until next time....

Hugs from Brasil -

- Michael  

String Of Lights Christmas Card with Your Next Stamp

Hello everyone!!  WOW!  I got some great feedback on yesterday's card.  Many thanks to everyone that commented here, on Facebook, or Instagram.  I really appreciate it!  

Well...yesterday was another scorcher.  And we are still in Spring!!  Looks like this is going to be one hot summer here.  To mentally cool off, today I have a Christmas card that I started back on October 4th for Day 4 of The Daily Marker's 30 Day Coloring Challenge.  I actually started it while sitting by the pool.   And recently finished it.

This is another very quick and easy card to make.  I started with an A2 top folding card base and adhered a piece of patterned Christmas paper to the front.  Cut a piece of red cardstock 5 3/8" x 4 1/8" and adhered that to the patterned paper.  Cut a piece of watercolor paper 4" x 5.25", stamped the string of lights from the Light Up The Holidays set from Your Next Stamp in Jet Black Archival Ink.  Colored the glass bulb with a different color with my SAI Watercolor Brush markers and used a Silver Wink of Stella Brush marker on the top of each bulb.  Then I stamped the phrase "Merry Christmas" from the Santa Express set from Your Next Stamp. I then adhered this to the red cardstock and, finally, applied some glossy accents over each of the bulbs to give it some shine.  Allow to dry and then you are DONE!

Here is a close up of the glossy accents on the lightbulbs.  Love how it looks.

This is a great card to make a bunch at a time.  Well, I hope you liked this card.  Thanks for stopping by.  Until next time.....

Hugs from Brasil -

-Michael

Miss You Card with Unity Stamps

Good morning everyone!!  Yesterday was the first day in over a week that the sun decided to show her face and it got so hot here.  Of course I decided that it would be fun to bake an apple/peach/plum pie and the kitchen turned into an inferno!  But the pie turned out great.  LOL.  Today's card I made for Day 15 of The Daily Marker 30 Day Coloring Challenge last month. I love Unity Stamps - especially their flower images.  This card is very easy to make and is perfect for so many occasions.  Just keep a few on hand with different sentiments and you are ready to send one out quickly!

I started with an A2, top folding, pink card base.  Cut a piece of white cardstock 4" x 5.25".   Then I stamped the bouquet from the Big Summertime Bouquet set at the top of the cardstock.  Then I turned the cardstock around and stamped the image again.  I colored the flowers in with various copic markers.  Then I die cut the label die from the Custom Panels Elle-ments Die set and stamped the phrase "Miss You, Friend" from the Sunflower set.  Adhered the label with two small brads.  Then I adhered the cardstock to the front of the card with double sided tape and applied some Yellow Stickles to the centers of the flowers and some pink sequins with glossy accents.  Done!!

A little side note here - if you are not familiar with Unity Stamps, I highly recommend you check them out.  Their stamps are deeply etched red rubber of great quality.  They love to offer sales and deep discounts on a weekly basis and sometimes you can get stamps you like for over 60% off the retail price.  I also love the fact that you can click on your wishlist and see exactly what is on sale.  (I do not work for Unity and do not receive anything in return for this review.  I just love to share with my readers when I find a great company to buy from).  Now, since I see a few things on sale from my wishlist, I am off to make a purchase.  LOL

Well, I hope you liked this card.  Glad you stopped by!!  Until the next post....

Hugs from Brasil - 

-Michael

Supplies Used:

Big Summertime Bouquet - Unity Stamp Co.

Sunflower/Miss You Friend - Unity Stamp Co.

Custom Panels Elle-ments Die - Avery Elle

Memento Tuxedo Black Ink

Copic Markers

Sequins

Glossy Accents

2 Small Brads

Yellow Stickles

A Fat Snowman Christmas Card

Hey everyone.  Hope you guys had a good Monday.  After I did my blog post I cleaned up the store a bit and tried to organize.  HA!  Then I called my dad to wish him a Happy 79th Birthday.  It's hard to be so far away from family and friends for birthdays and holidays. At least I have a VOIP phone and Skype!  Much easier to stay in touch from 5,000 miles away.

Today's card has an adorable fat snowman made by Morning Star Stamps.  He's so fat that I call him The Snowman That Ate Christmas!  LOL.  I've had this guy for at least 2 years and was always reluctant to use him because I did not feel like fussy cutting his arms.  But two weeks ago we bought a Brother Scan N Cut and I wondered if it would cut his arms or not.  And....it did.  I was blown away at how easy it was for the Scan N Cut to scan and cut the image in about 1 minute.  No more fussy cutting for me!!  LOL

Look how cool this stamp looks right after the Scan N Cut cut it - 

For this card I started with a piece of white cardstock cut 4" x 5.25" on which I stamped the two trees from the 3 Cheers For Art set and Lovely As A Tree sets.  I used Mowed Lawn and Peeled Paint Distress Inks on the trees.  After this I placed a cloud stencil over the white area around the trees and, with an applicator, applied some Tumbled Glass Distress Ink around the edges (OK...I admit that I need to work on my clouds).   Then I colored in the snowman that I had cut out using my Copics. Then I applied some pop dots to the back of him and applied him to the front of the card.  Finally it was some Crystal Stickles on the trees and the snowman and some Xmas Red Stickles on the berries on his head and in the wreath, and some glossy accents on his buttons and the heart!

Done!!  

I hope you love this snowman as much as I do.  Thanks for stopping by!!

Hugs from Brasil - 

-Michael

Supplies Used:

Cloud Stencil

Fat Snowman Stamp - Morning Star Stamps

3 Cheers For Art by Wendy Vecchi - Stampers Anonymous

Lovely As A Tree - Stampin Up

Ranger Distress Inks - Tumbled Glass, Peeled Paint, Mowed Lawn and an applicator

Copics 

Glossy Accents

Xmas Red and Crystal Stickles

Pop Dots

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge No. 211

Hello everyone.  Today I have a card that I am entering in the Freshly Made Sketches Challenge No. 211.  I'm finding that doing these sketches, which I used to hate, pushes me to think outside the box and try to do something different.  For today's card I used a few stamps and dies from Reverse Confetti and a funky stamp set made by Kasia Krzyminska for The Scrapbook Diaries.  Links to everything in my supply list below. 

1.  Grab a piece of white cardstock and some different colors of ink pads and, using the Love Blooms stamp set, stamp the solid flower part in a color and then go back and stamp the outline in black. There are 3 different sizes of flowers in this set.  Then place the matching die from the Love Blooms Confetti Cuts die set over the flowers and cut out using your die cut machine.  You will only need 3 or 4 flowers but I stamped a bunch to make this card a few times. 

2.  Grab the Artist paper pad - find the coolest piece of paper in the pad - and, using the Circles n' Scallops Confetti Cuts die set, die cut the largest of the scallop dies.  I had to lay the flowers on different pages to see which page in the pad would match the best.

3.  Stamp the largest of the circle stamps in the center of the scallop and adhere it to the right side of the card.  Allow a tiny bit to hang off and trim this part off the card with a sharp knife or scissor. 

4.  Now adhere some of the flowers and leaves to the left side of the scallop.  Stamp the image with the lines from the Beauty & Grunge set under the scallop.  Then stamp the "hello" from the Shine Bright stamp set and cut it out (I used my Scan N Cut) and apply some pop dots under the "hello" and adhere under the scallop.  Then apply some sequins in a few places on the card front.  

You're done!!

I hope you enjoyed this card.  Thanks for stopping by!!  

Hugs from Brasil - 

- Michael

Supplies Used:

Love Blooms - Reverse Confetti

Love Blooms Confetti Cuts - Reverse Confetti

Shine Bright - Reverse Confetti

Circles N' Scallops Confetti Cuts - Reverse Confetti

Beauty & Grunge Stamp Set (Nov. 2014 Kit) - The Scrapbook Diaries

Artist 6x6 Paper Pad (PP-0612) - Paper House

Flower Sequins