World Of Michael Trent

Good morning everyone.  I hope everyone survived their Thanksgiving (if they celebrated) and their Black Friday shopping (if they did any).  We normally do some sort of Thanksgiving dinner here with friends but this year it was just a pizza with hopes of a turkey dinner with all the fixings soon.   As for Black Friday, you cannot beat the 30% off that Simon Says Stamp gave on Thursday and was able to finally get 1 die and 3 stamp sets that I have had on my wish list. On Friday (at 6am my time) Ellen Hutson had a great sale and I was able to add some Inchie Arts products and 2 WPlus9 sets I have been wanting.  There was plenty more that I wanted but I kept my wallet in check. What bargains or deals did you find?  I'd love to know! Now for today's card.  It seems my parents scheduled the arrival of their children around major holidays.  LOL.  My birthday is Christmas Eve and my brother's is Thanksgiving.  Of course he always got bir...

Hello again everyone.  Yes, two posts in one day and both are coffee related.  I actually started this idea late last night for National Espresso Day and did not think I would have enough time today to finish it.  But, since the car had to be taken to the mechanic, I found the time!  I just love this smiling Lady Liberty holding up her large coffee for the whole city to see. Hope you do too! I started with a piece of white cardstock, 4" x 5.25".  Then I stamped the Liberty Balloon Holder  ( Eureka Stamps ) with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored her with Copic markers.  Next, using a piece of black cardstock and a piece of grey textured cardstock I cut the City Landscape Layers die ( Impression Obsession ) and adhered them to the card front so it looks like Lady Liberty is behind the city. Next I stamped the phrase next to Lady Liberty using Coffee Town by Sweet Stamp Shop  and adhered it to a top folding A2 card base of Kr...

Hello everyone!!  Today, November 23rd, is National Espresso Day so allow me to take a moment to wish everyone a Happy National Espresso Day!!  LOL!!  You can learn more about espresso and this holiday by clicking HERE .   Since I am a huge coffee lover and live in coffee country I love making coffee related projects when I can.  I wanted to share one of those projects with you today - a wall hanging stack of coffee cups.   I started with a "stack of cups" digi image that I found on Carmen's Place , a fun store on Etsy that sells digi images.  You can find the digi image I used  HERE  and another one with several coffee related images HERE .     I sized and printed the digi image on a full A4 sheet of white cardstock. Because I wanted an easy watercolor effect I colored the image with a water brush and several Tombow markers .  You can also use distress inks. I decided that I can get two projects ...

Good morning everyone!  I wanted to share a few cards I made using a digi image called JJ Christmas Cheers by Bugaboo Stamps .  Each card has a different sentiment.  These cards were all made in jest and I hope no one takes offense to them. Also, while working on the card at the top yesterday I saw on Facebook that my friend Karen will be having some surgery. She loves a good martini and is always joking about it.  Karen, even though we don't talk often, I do think about you a lot and am dedicating this card to you with hope for a speedy recovery and that you will be able to kick Harvey out the door!!   It's a very simple card to make.  I started by printing out the digi on white cardstock and colored it in with a few Copic markers.  I then stamped the sentiment called Prozac (244-01) by Rubbernecker Stamps under the image with Onyx Black Versafine ink and then heat dried.  I then cut the image out using the large stitched recta...

Happy Monday everyone.  I hope your weekend was great.  Yesterday we went with our friends Baron and Cris explored a town about 45 minutes from us called Piracicaba .  One of the oldest areas this city is called Monte Alegre and was home to a huge sugarcane plantation (Usina) that closed in 1981.  At its height the area had over 5,000 people.  The area is now being renovated and renewed. I will do a separate blog post on the adventure but here are a few interesting photos. The Usina (or factory) in complete disrepair. Another photo of the Usina. Old windows to be used in a new restaurant opening in a few weeks. Now to share a quick card I made for Day 19 of The Daily Marker's 30 Day Coloring Challenge using  two of Donna Downey 's images from Unity Stamp Co .   I started by stamping the Tangled Leaf Background image with Jet Black Archival Ink (Ranger) on white cardstock.  Then I colored in each part of the image...

Hello everyone!  Hope your weekend has started off well.  I am hoping to work in the garden this morning and make some sense of all the plants that have decided to take root!  They are calling for rain today and I am hoping they are wrong.   Today I wanted to share a card I made yesterday for The Daily Marker 's 30 Day Coloring Challenge.  I used several stamp sets from Clear & Simple Stamps .  I really love their whole Rag Doll line  as they are so unique and different and I will need to add a few new ones to my collection soon.  Every year they send a free gift to everyone that has purchased from them during the year and the phrases on this card was one I got - I think two years ago - and I just love love love this phrase.  It needs to be made into a permanent stamp.   I started with a top folding A2 card of white cardstock.  I adhered a piece of Christmas themed paper to the card front. Then I cut a piece of white...

TGIF everyone!!!  Man, today took forever to get here.  This was a crazy week - filled with more clouds and rain than I ever wanted - and I am shocked I actually got this card done in time.  This week's challenge over at Stamp Ink Paper Challenge is Challenge No. 74 - Clean & Simple Christmas -  To make my card I started with a top folding A2 card base of white cardstock. To the front I adhered a piece of decorative paper with a Christmas feel to it.  Then I cut a piece of red cardstock, 4" x 5.25", which I adhered to the card front. Next I cut a piece of white cardstock 3.75" x 5".  Using the Round Ornaments 2 set by Impression Obsession , I stamped one of the ornaments with Warm Red Chalk ink by ColorBox (my favorite) and then I embossed it with clear embossing powder.  I then stamped the string the ornament hangs on, also in the Warm Red Chalk ink.  Next I stamped the Happy Holidays To You phrase, also by Impression Obsess...

Hello everyone!  Although I have been really busy it seems I cannot get anything done!  Ever have one of those weeks? LOL.  I wanted to share some photos I took last Saturday of a farm Ruy and I went to explore with hopes of taking photos there of the Super Moon.  But it rained both days and it was a total bust.  But it was a fun day trip.   First we got a bit lost on one of the sugarcane plantations.  So I got out to take a panorama photo.      We were in total cow, horse, mule, bull country!! (I know my friend Toniann will like this photo). I also got some other cool photos of textures, etc.  But I am still working on them and will share soon. Now for today's card.  Over at the Retro Rubber Challenge Blog they are having Challenge No. 51 , which is all about Being Grateful with a photo for inspiration -  I started with a beautiful background stamp that I have owned for YEARS! Crazy, I kno...

Hello everyone!!  Happy Election Day!  I do believe that this is going to be a long and very interesting day and, since I am 3 hours ahead of the states, I will probably not know who won until tomorrow morning!   At least the sun is out and it will be a beautiful day.  Gotta think positive...right?  So for Day 6 of The Daily Marker and the 30 Day Coloring Challenge I decided to go in a different direction.  Actually, I kinda veered way off course and used an Art Square by Inchie Arts  to make a simple necklace.  Art Squares are precision cut mattboard, available in many different sizes, and are perfect to use with ANY medium!  To see all the different ways you can use an Art Square check out the Inchie Arts blog HERE .   Now...to make the necklace - I started by placing a 2" Art Square on my work surface with the Crazed stencil ( StencilGirl Products ) on top of the Art Square.  I then traced the design I wanted with a...

Hello everyone!!  Happy Saturday night.  This post was supposed to go live this morning but the day completely got away from me.  We had our friend Daise here this weekend giving classes and pretty much played all day.  LOL.  The above baby card I made this morning.  I don't think there is anything more enjoyable than coloring an image while sitting on the veranda, sipping freshly brewed coffee and eating a piece of freshly baked apple cake.  Okay...enough gloating.  LOL Today's card is for Day 5 of The Daily Marker and The 30 Day Coloring Challenge.  It's also being entered into a new card challenge site I stumbled upon called The Male Room .  I know it sounds like a strip club (LOL) but it's a card challenge site for male only projects.  Their current Challenge #47 is to use the colors Orange, Yellow, and Blue (along with some allowed neturals) - I started by stamping the Baby Zoo Umbrella by Whipper Snapper Designs...