World Of Michael Trent

  Hello everyone.  Today is Juneteenth and I wanted to make a card to show my support for this relatively unknown holiday.  I know I am already getting eye rolls from some people and, if the subject of racism or people of color upsets you, you can move on.  But I hope you will read thru to the end and try to have a little empathy today. Juneteenth celebrates the end of slavery in the United States. It is also known as Emancipation Day, Freedom Day, Jubilee Day, Juneteenth Independence Day, and Black Independence Day. On June 19, 1865, Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, TX, and announced the end of the civil war and the end of slavery. Although the Emancipation Proclamation came 2½ years earlier on January 1, 1863, many enslavers continued to hold enslaved Black people captive after the announcement, and Juneteenth became a symbolic date representing African-American freedom. Why am I posting a card?  This gay, Jewish, white guy?  Because I w...

Hello crafty friends and innocent bystanders!!  I apologize for not having this blog post ready for when I promised but we got so busy here that I just could not find time to write this up.   Without further ado (LOL) - Welcome to Part 2 of "Quick and Easy Easter Cards" using stamps from Anthony's Paper Craft.  The other day I showed the first four cards with simple step by step directions.  If you missed that post you can check it out { HERE }.  Today I am giving easy tutorials for Cards 5 thru 8.  Hope you like them! Card 5 I started with a top folding A2 card base of white cardstock.  I adhered a piece of Easter themed paper to the front.  Then I cut a piece of white cardstock, 3" x 4", and stamped the Chocolate Bunny  and the "Happy Easter" sentiment from Easter Set 1 both with Walnut Stain Distress Ink (Ranger) .   Next, I adhered the white cardstock to a piece of dark brown cardstock, 3.25" x 4.25", adh...

Hello all.  Well, Mother Nature is certainly pissed off at the world lately.  This has kept me up at night since I have friends and relatives in the Houston and Miami areas.  But everyone survived with minor damage.  I hope all my readers also got through this unscathed.   Today I am happy to announce that I am the guest designer with the amazing team over at the  Retro Rubber Challenge Blog  for their current Challenge No. 71 - Anything Goes . I had a hard time deciding which theme to go with - Halloween, Christmas, Thanksgiving...but I settled on Halloween.  I went through my stash and pulled out a few stamps to use - all over a year old.  Probably over 5 years old.  But hardly ever used.   I started by making a top folding A2 card base out of black cardstock.  I then cut 2 pieces of white cardstock using the large stitched rectangle die from the Bundle of Stitched Shapes set ( Simon Says Stamp ). ...

Hello everyone and Happy Thursday!  I hope everyone is well.  It's been a crazy week here.  Ruy and I had a photo exhibition last weekend at the Belle Epoque Cultural Center here in town, which we did as a benefit for a charity.  It was nicely received and was a great feeling to see everyone's reactions to our photos.  I will try to get a post done this weekend about the show.  Of course afterward, I got sick for a few days, but am finally back up and running.  Today is Brasil's Independence Day so everything is closed and I finally found some time to do a new blog post.   Yes, 2nd post about "back to school".  This time for the Retro Rubber Challenge Blog  -  I started with a piece of white cardstock.  Using some washi tape I taped down the "Numerals" stencil (TCW200S) by The Crafter's Workshop .  Next, using a mini blending tool (Ranger) with some inks from Reverse Confetti ( Piggy Bank, Salsa , an...

Good morning everyone!!  I want to wish a very Happy 4th of July to all of my American friends and family, in the USA and abroad.  Yes, Laurey, this means you in Canada also (LOL)!  I would also like to wish the U.S.A. a very Happy 241st Birthday! Although today is just regular day here we are going to try and make a BBQ for lunch.  I am also making chocolate chip cookies for a "July 4th" party we are going to tonight over at CNA, one of the English schools here. Can't get more American than chocolate chip cookies.   Before I get to today's card I just want to tell you guys that I was a winner on last week's sketch challenge on the Retro Rubber Challenge Blog !  Yay!  I'll be a guest designer on a future challenge.   If you wish to check out the winning card just click HERE !  This week they are having a wedding card challenge, which you can check out HERE ! Today I have a fun July 4th/Independence Day/Happy Birthday to...

Hello everyone.  Today is Tuesday which means a new challenge over at the Stamp Ink Paper Challenge blog.  Today is Challenge No. 58 and it's a sketch challenge -  And, since I made this as a "summertime" theme, I am also adding it to the Retro Rubber Challenge No. 43 - Summertime!   Although I personally love to eat ice cream ALL year round, it really is a "Summertime" treat!  And it's nice to be using stamps and dies I had sitting around for over a year now!!  Time to dust these babies off! Because the sketch shows two separate areas on the front of the card, I wanted to go with something a bit different - a different type of border.  So I grabbed an OLD set from QuicKutz called Nesting Scallop Paisley (you can try this with any of your nesting dies).  I cut a piece of fun foam, slipped it under the top of the die and positioned the scallop edge at the bottom of the fun foam and die cut it with my Big Shot.   Using you...

Hello everyone.  It seems my mojo is certainly flowing this week!  I think it's because it's so cold here this week!  Woke up to 40F (7C).  I'm not happy but it is supposed to get warmer this weekend.   Today I am sharing {what I think is a really adorable card}, that I made for the Retro Rubber Challenge Blog and their Challenge 40 - Kind of Sketchy challenge -    I've had a few sets from Reverse Confetti sitting around for over a year that I have been wanting to get dirty.  As soon as I saw this sketch, this card idea popped into my head.   I started with a top folding A2 white card base.  To the front of the card I adhered a piece of scrapbook paper, 4 1/4" x 5 1/2", from the Hootenanny Six By Six pad by My Mind's Eye .  I loved the reverse side and had enough left from the same sheet to cut the strip, 1 1/2" x 4 1/4", which I adhered across the card front.  Then I stamped the phrase from Later Alliga...