Ho! Ho! Ho!

Hi There:-)

I am already back at work after Christmas, talk about a small break! ha ha
So here I am blogging to lift my spirits and share more of my holiday cards with my lovely blogging friends:-)

My first card was made with some lovely embossed paper I received from sweet Isa (France), you may know her as Batraplume... I have been using all her die cuts and papers carefully so that I can maximize it's use:-)
( also apologizing about the twisted ribbon in the photograph, I was in such a hurry to photograph them before they were sent out, I didn't notice the upturned ribbon!)


The sentiment is from a Hero Arts Christmas stamp set:-)

This second card was a treat to make, I used my Cuttlebug and cut out this fluffy piece of felt to embellish this card:-) It's such a pretty accent... the fuzzy edge looks soo cool to me...

And here's a close up, I have added it with some dimensional adhesive to elevate that layer..

Supplies:

Stamps- all by Hero Arts

Papers- My Minds Eye

Die cutting machine- Cuttlebug

Dies- Spellbinders

Snowflake punch- Martha Stewart

Thanks for taking the time to drop by today:-)

Hugs to all!

Fa la la la la...

Hello Hello,

Hope every ones busy getting on with Christmas festivities:-) I am too... Tomorrow some cherry pies as well as some cookies are due. We just finished putting up our Christmas tree and boy does it look lovely! Nothing brings the Christmassy feel to our home like the pine smell of a fresh
Christmas tree:-)

Onto today's card, I have two actually:-) Both are made using some lovely Theresa Collins paper that I managed to pick from Singapore. The first one uses a lovely Penny Black stamp that I have been dying to use, I coloured it with Copics and die cut it with my Spellbinder Dies to a perfect oval. I love these dies, you can easily add dimension to cards by layering these beautiful die cut shapes:-)
The snow flake dies are by Die-namics, I purchased them from Simon Says Stamp. Here is a Close up:-) As you can see, I have distressed the edges of the die cut with some Ranger distress ink, and added a sentiment from my Hero arts stamp set to a little tag.

The second card is a simpler card, I used the same patterned paper collection and filled the card base, added a sentiment that was stamped, cut out and distressed and embellished with some string and a My Minds Eye brad.

I also stamped the red base with a few gold snow flakes, love how it looks!

So that's my set of cards for today, hope you have a great day!

Much love,

Michelle.

More Christmas cards!

Yes, it's been a busy few days indeed! finishing off my cards to send to all my loved ones did take a few late nights:-) but it's done, at least what needed to be mailed;-)

Here's one of my faves! I love circle cards, and this is a really fun Christmas card, it fits in a 4x4 envelope:-) really quite small.. I used some chipboard and letter stickers as well as a snow flake die. The '&' is from a Valentines Hero Arts set.. I thought a stamped '&' would go best with this card.



I pop dotted one layer for added dimension ( the scalloped layer). all parts of the card were die cut using my Cuttlebug, so it was ready in next to no time at all... That's how cards should be, specially during these busy days:-)

Supplies list:

All paper by My Minds Eye
Sparkly Thickers by American Craft
Letter stickers by Basic Grey( these are so versatile!)
Stamps: Valentine sayings by Hero Arts
Snow fake die by Dienamics
The other dies are by Spellbinders
Pearls: Kaiser Kraft

Another Christmas Critter!

Too cute! That's all I can say about these lovely Penny Black stamps... This little kitty was so fun to colour, love his fluffy coat, perfect for a cosy Christmas wish!

I paired it up with my lovely Hero Arts Magical background stamp and sentiment.

I also used some die cutting to make it extra special..



The kitty has been pop dotted for some added dimension. he looks so cute just sitting on the corner of this card:-)



Thank you for dropping by, will be posting more cards soon as I continue making my Christmas card stack for mailing, it's late I know, but better late than never they say;-)


Supplies list:

Paper by My Minds Eye
Stamps Hero arts and Penny Black
Copics for colouring

Love,
Michelle.

Christmas with Kraft

It feels good getting back to my regular blogging routine:-) and since I have been quiet for so long, I thought I'd share two cards today.. Both with a stamped Kraft background.
And I had to use my little gingerbread baby again:-) Love him!



I used this simple PEACE.LOVE.JOY stamp and stamped a whole background, then die cut a frame and mounted my little gingerbread man that was stamped and inked with my Tea Dye ink. I decorated the little fella with some red Stickles and glossy accents (for the eyes).

.

I also tied some ribbon for added texture:-)

For the second card I used the same stamped background, and used some chipboard snowflakes from the My Minds Eye 'Colourful Christmas' collection as well as patterned paper and dressed it up.

I debated a while as to whether I wanted a sentiment on the card front, but then decided against it since the background was already a sentiment and it looked good as is:-)

And here's a closeup:-) You can see a little bit of Stickles on this card as well, I added it to the blue patterned paper for some extra sparkle..

Supplies:

All papers are from My Minds Eye.

And all stamps by my favourite Hero Arts.

Thanks for dropping by!!! hugs:-)

I am back!!! and a fun card to spread some holiday cheer!

Hi again, been hectic since the store opening and the fashion show.. crafting has been very little, but this weekend I managed to squeeze in some 'Me' time:-)

So here is a fun card that I made.. Hope it makes you smile today:-)

The gingerbread men look like they spent a little too much time in the oven! he he! I got a little too excited and over inked them.. (grin)



Here's a closer look at these jolly little fellas:-) I used some silver Stickles for the buttons, looks more festive don't you think?

Here is the link in case you want to take a look at the fashion show as well as see some of my store pics:-)

http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Michelle-Therese-Atelier/164448186901292

Here's the supplies list:

All stamps are by Hero arts ( Christmas Trio, Get Merry, Monster Fun)
Ranger Stickles in Silver and ink in Tea Dye and Walnut Stain.

Clear embossing powder by American Crafts (Zing)

Ink: Memento Tuxedo black

Glossy Accents

Patterned paper by My Minds Eye, (Colourful Christmas)

Thank you for dropping by today:-)

Lots of love,

Michelle.

Featured!!!

Hi guys,

Wanted to share some fun news with you while I am away from my daily crafting activities:-)
I just got featured in Aussie Scrap Source weekend inspiration!! (*Doing a little happy dance*)

Check out this post, lots of wonderfull layouts featuring Hambly products, you will love this!

http://aussiescrapsource.typepad.com/aussie_scrap_source/2010/11/weekend-inspiration-hambly-screen-prints.html

Have a great day girls,
Hope you had a fantastic Thanks Giving too!

Love,
Michelle.

Hi again...

Hi everyone, I just wanted to make a post to let you know why I have been neglecting my blog lately..

Well, I am a designer.. to be more specific, fashion designer. And finally this year I am showcasing my collection at a private fashion show launching my own label.. I've been preparing for this for the last couple of months now, and this is the final two weeks.. So it's been a bit crazy around here as you may imagine! I have been fretting over the minutest of details aiming to make my show a success.. so I am only hoping it all goes wel:-)

I am so sorry that I might not have the time to comment on your blogs or make posts on mine:-( however, I have been keeping busy with a little bit of stamping which I will share with you tomorrow.. so bare with me till then:-)

Lots of Hugs!!!
Michelle.

Let it snow..

Hello merry people!! Finally got around to making my Christmas cards:-) ahhh I love this season, it's the best time of the year by far...

Todays card features my lovely Hero arts stamps and some gorgeous My Minds Eye patterned paper from their new Christmas collection:-)

I made a cute Christmassy frame with the patterned paper using my spellbinders dies and then got stamping, I stamped the little penguin twice (so that I could paper piece his jacket and hat separately) I have glittered his collar and pom pom on the hat.. although the flash got rid of all traces of it:-)
Trees were also stamped and coloured with my Copics, and then given a little bit of sparkle with some red and silver stickles..
Background was clear embossed and and inked with some Ranger distress ink.

And here is a close up:-)... of my Jolly Penguin!
I also rounded the corners to soften the look of the card a bit..

Supplies List:

Hero Arts stamps: CL366, AR163, CG211

Sentiment stamp: Kelly Panacci 'Christmas' set

Patterned paper : My Minds Eye

Spellbinders die and Cuttlebug

Zing clear embossing powder

Ranger distress ink in Tumbled glass

Thank you so much for dropping by:-)

Happy stamping!

.... the little stuff

Hello crafty friends, seems like I can squeeze in a post on a layout I did recently, it actually took two days:-) not that it was a grand masterpiece.. it's just that crafting time is limited nowadays..
It started with me finding this pic of me taken last year. And I love the view behind me. Plus I love the orange of the scarf!! Lame:-) So I thought its time for another layout..

I picked this Hambly tree rubon to match the orange in the photograph.. I applied it on Kraft paper and coloured in the wood grain in brown Copics so that it doesn't blend in with the background too much.



I added a Hero arts butterfly and stamped in the grid background for some added detail, however the grid is not too visible, if you squint hard and look under the butterfly you might just lightly see it:-) Need to get a better white ink for stamping!

The stamps I used for the title are by Hero arts and Ali Edwards for Technique Tuesday.. The blue butterfly is also by Hero arts.. I placed the little fella over some cork I punched out with a Martha Stewart punch.

And the pretty little frame is by American Crafts! Dont you just love it? I cant wait to add them on more layouts..

I also pulled out my October Afternoon Fly a Kite line pattern paper and used it with some Hambly overlays.. I wanted the overlay to mimic my stamped grid background..

Lastly I added this cute button I found in Singapore and this very pretty rub on by Lily Bee and finished it off:-)

Thank you so much for dropping by,

Hugs,

Michelle.

Happy Halloween!!!!

As promised I am back with a Halloween post:-) Some of you know that last weekend I was in Singapore celebrating my birthday, and as always what I looked forward to was shopping for scrap booking and stamping goodies at Made With Love.

They have a gorgeous shop filled with awesome stuff:-)! prices are about 2 to 3 times more than when I order from the U.S however nothing beats actually seeing the product and touch it while I make my decision.. ( My shopping is always online so I don't get to do that..)
I was like a kid in a candy shop:-)

Luckily though they had this major Halloween sale going on and I manged to get about 25% - 40% off on most stuff.. so the insane prices kind of balanced out and I treated myself to some things I had been wanting to get:-)

While I was browsing around, I found two sheets of awesome Bo Bunny Halloween paper, and I just needed to get them because they were too cute! I never make Halloween cards 'cos we don't really celebrate it in Sri Lanka, but I just HAD TO this time:-)

I dont have Halloween sentiment sets so I used the cute letters stamp set by Hero arts for my sentiments, along with some Thickers I picked up in Singapore, the sparkly silver is from the new Dear Lizzy line.




Can you believe these are made with just two sheets of pattered paper? ( they were double sided too) talk about value for money! I chose carefully and made sure they coordinate well when I purchased them..
And the best part is there is more left to make about another 3 cards!!

These wonderful die cuts are from my sweet friend Isa from France, she was kind enough to send me an awesome package full of die cuts, stamps and embossed papers for my Birthday so I was dying to use them as well...

I used my scallop punch to add some definition along the length of the card..

Oh and if you noticed, the sun came out and added a shadow to my last two photographs and I waited and waited till it went away, and when it didn't I just shot it as is... oh well...

I accented the spider with some silver and red Stickles, another little treat I got which I normally wouldn't get.. but seeing them up close really jolted me to buy them:-)

Don't you love the creepy red eyes? I used it on the bat as well..

So that's my post for you today!! I had so much fun making these:-)

Have a great day and happy stamping!

Hugs!

A simple, quick card

Gone are the days when card making was 'just because'.. with work getting really hectic now my posts are all about cards that were made specially for an occasion that sprung up:-( So here is a card that I made for a loved one who has recently lost a family member..

I kept it clean and simple and used a lavender since it's a calming and soothing colour, I believe sympathy cards should fit that criteria:-) not that I am getting all scientific on you:-)



I stamped my Hydrangea off center and coloured with very copics..a light lavender and a soft grassy green..



Jazzed it up by tying some string for added interest:-) so thats my quick card for you, stay tuned for some quick and simple Halloween cards tomorrow.. I am rushing through some to send my friends before it's too late, will do a post soon:-)

Thank you for dropping by and
Happy Stamping to all of you! Hugs!

'Twas the night before Christmas...

Hi there!!
Making a quick post before I disappear again;-) Today I am going to share with you a Christmas card I made using this gorgeous 'Snowy house' stamp by Hero Arts.. When the holiday catalog came out I just knew I had to have this stamp.. And lucky me I was a winner on the Hero Arts blog and I got it as a prize along with some other great stamps! :-)

I used some yummy My Mind Eye paper on this card, it's from the 'I Believe' collection. Love this line, and so glad I finally got to use it. The die cut and the tiny red paper strip is from that.
(The green stripe is a Dear Lizzy pattern paper.)
Don't you just love it when you could use a non Christmas paper line and make Christmas cards? I love the glitter on green stripe perfect to get into the Christmassy mode..

The background script is a stamp from Art Warehouse, which I have been eagerly waiting to use! I also used some Stickles and glossy accents to jazz up my little house, hope you can see it, it's not too clear:-) So thats my card for you today...

Thank you so much for dropping by:-)
Hugs!

More use from my favourite set..

Was busy the last three days making this card, you can imagine how busy I must have been last week huh? I only got to craft late in the night... Works just drowning me these days.

So as always the trend seems to be, reaching for my 'Sweet wonderful you' set.. As some might know, this is a stamp I won from Hero Arts for one of the monthly challenges.. I love that company I tell ya:-) their stamps ROCK!!

Now last week I got a load of Maya Road Chip board, and I happen to get the Windows chip set.. Awesome for scrap booking.. but when I sat down to craft I thought it would look amazing on a card, so I painted it with some Tim Holtz Picket Fence Crackle paint and got crafting..

Here is what I cam up with!

I used a fab Hero Arts woodblock stamp for the flowers as well as their wood grain stamp. The wood panels are individually pieced for an authentic look. I used Tea Dye distress ink to get a lovely woody finish.. I added some nails to complete the panels, mighty happy with the results:-)

The little curtain is a part of the chipboard window, I covered it with some cutesy pattern paper.. And few punched butterflies were need to jazz things up:-)

The little girl was stamped inside the card along with a pretty red balloon ( slightly visible in the first pic).. I also added some grass on with my Copics to finish it off..

So that's my card for you today! Hope you enjoyed:-)

Supplies:

Designer wood grain stamp, Sweet wonderful you, Monster fun and Pattern Flowers stamps all by Hero Arts

Maya Road Chipboard Windows Chipboard set

Tea dye distress ink and Picket Fence Crackle paint by Ranger

Martha Stewart butterfly punch

My Minds Eye Lush Rhinestones in pink

Copics for colouring

American Crafts Dear Lizzy Patterned paper

A Little Wish:-)

Today I made a card for Jenny who just got married:-) Jenny and Jason, this is specially for you!

I made it in the shape of a Polaroid depicting a happy couple.

I used stamps which Simone sent me for winning her blog candy, I got so many great stamps and could not believe how generous the gift was!!! I used this Hero Arts birds stamp and a pretty sentiment from a clear set both from her. Thank you Simone!

The sentiment was embossed in white embossing powder to make it pop against the black background!

I also used Glossy Accents for the flower centers and on the two hearts. Some My Minds Eye Lush rhinestones were added for some extra wham!

Thanks for dropping by:-)

Just dropping by to say...

Today I am going to share with you a card I sent to a dear friend, it was a get well soon card. I used my favourite Hero arts stamp set 'Sweet wonderful you'. I loved this little cute girl with the bag..

I coloured her with Copics and cut her out, I used glossy accents on her eyes, buttons and shoes.. I stamped the bag and coloured and cut it out, accented the dots with glossy accents too:-) The border was stamped with a few Hero Arts flowers I found in some of my stamp sets and distressed the edges with Ranger distress ink. I like how the flower border turned out :-)

I added the sentiment with the 'Cute letters' set and also stamped the inside of the card with 'get well soon'.. I then added a little butterfly and added a pearl for her hair band and finished off the card.

However after I sent it out, I felt that I should have rounded the corners with my corner chomper.. Oh well:-)

So that's the card for you today, Happy stamping!

Hugs!

Happy World Card Making Day!!!

Happy World Card Making Day everyone!! Hope there is some stamping involved in all of you girls schedules today:-)

I started off with some much needed online purchasing, with all those great CHA lines hitting the stores who could restrain themselves huh? Went crazy today and bought some Pink Paislee and October Afternoon, you really cant get enough when you see these vintage yummy designs! So that's a little peek into whats been happening today... On to card details!

This is a card I made from a brand new Hero Arts stamp I purchased, It's an older design, but I think it's so great for coloring.. While I was at it I also stamped two matching bookmarks with this stamp as well, left it for some Copic colouring later on, when I am free:-)



I love this little butterfly who balances out the design, I glossy accented it! Shocker! ;-)

Used the gorgeous Hero Arts sentiment set "Huge Hugs" .. isn't it pretty:-)

Definitely brightens up a rainy day which today just happens to be! My only wish for the weekend was nice warm weather:-( Oh well, just have to settle for a sunny card I guess!!!

Have a great weekend you guys!!

Doggies day out

Finally a sunny morning, hope the trend continues though out the weekend:-) These are the final shots I got of my layout on the doggies day out layout..

I used my trusty Hero arts stamp set, Circular designs as a jumping off point and stamped all over the right bottom corner with white chalk ink.

I them stamped with some bubble wrap on the top and bottom corners with some white Ranger acrylic ink.. (I used their paint dabblers) I also added some paint splatters too, This is the first time I tried that technique and I must say it's so much fun!!!



I punched out a bunch of butterflies with my Pink Paislee 365 degrees paper and added them all over for a fun element.

Everything was handstitched, I added some pretty pearls on the paint splatters.

Here's a close up of the butterflies I used to embellish my journalling, I stitched them with red crochet thread by Anchor. ( don't you love the distressing on the paper? it came that way..)

Here's a view of a punch out I added for embellishment. it was stamped with a Studio Calico butterfly stamp in London Fog Memento ink.

You can also see the stamping on the layout very clearly in this pic, I love that this stamp set is great for adding a background in a jiffy!

So that's the layout for today! Thanks for dropping by:-) and have a great Friday night!

Sweet wonderful you

Hello, It's finally a sunny day over here! So I plan to photograph all my crafty projects that have been piling up from last week:-) So till I get on that, I thought I would share with a card my made to send a sweet friend on mine.



I used my new Basic Grey Olivia paper pad and my favourite Hero arts set, 'Sweet wonderful you' for this.

I went die cut crazy with this one, have I told you how much I love my Cuttlebug? he he!

I used the Large Scallops and the Large Circles dies for this one.

Coloured in the girl to match the pattern paper and added a little lady bug over the sentiment to add a bit of whimsy! the little fella has been glossy accented, I also added some to her eyes to add a twinkle:-) cant seem to put my Glossy accents away these days:-) ahhhh addictions!

Thanks for dropping by, and thank you for all the sweet comments you leave every time:-) I love reading them!

Happy stamping!

I am back! and news of a giveaway!

Hi Hi,
Hope I haven't missed much:-) Just back from a rainy drippy vacation in the Maldives, it's the monsoon over there these days, however the hotels are all operating on 100% occupancy! can you believe it? Crazy! Had a great time none the less:-)

So to get things started thought I should let you know about a Fab giveaway at Jessica's blog:-) If you want to win some fun MME paper and accessories head over; there is also some fab scrap booking inspiration over there for you to brows through:-)

http://pretty-ladies-scrapbooking.blogspot.com/2010/09/october-my-minds-eye-giveaway.html

The giveaway is open till Oct 29th, so you have time, and make sure you wont miss out on this fab oppertunity :-)

Here is the card I wanted to share with you today, it's a card that I missed while I was doing the OWH post, I made it to send out but forgot to post it on my blog:-) It did get sent along with all the other cards though, so no worries:-)

I sketched a very simple design for this card, but I love the monochromatic look with the pop of a bit of red!
The two hearts have been embossed in red embossing powder and cut out.. I also added a pretty Grosgrain ribbon knot.
All stamps are by Hero arts as usual:-) the two sets are, "Valentine sayings" and "Many Hearts".. Love these!!

Explore the deep blue...

Today I want to share with you a layout I did using some Websters Pages patterned paper:-) I cant tell you how much I love this particular paper.. It's been in my stash waiting for the perfect photograph to come my way to use it up.

I love the vintage detail it has, lovely vines and fish, gorgeous coral.. I mean I could just go on and on about how much I love this paper!! he he

So now I will take you step by step and explain all the supplies I used and techniques I incorporated into this layout, enjoy!



As you may have noticed, the paper was already pretty busy, so I didn't go overboard with the embellishing:-) I used a simple note journalling tag by Pink Paislee's 365 Degrees line, hand stitched on the right corner and was good to go.

I used an American Crafts chipboard alpha and inked it with some Colorbox ink and added glossy accents to get this lovely watery shine... I love how it turned out! (The tiny brown alpha is by Pink Paislee.)

The bubbles were hand drawn and lightly shaded using Copics, I thought it would emphasise the title:-) give a feeling of bubbles coming up from the DEEP!!

The die cut, "Enjoy the journey" is by Pink Paislee, I also used a compass stamp on the top right corner and stamped it in Peeled Paint Distress ink..
I used my trusty Hero arts stamps from the Antique Engravings set to stamp some matching sea shells for my layout:-)
In case you missed it, I have also stamped the La Lettre stamp on the red patterned paper that's peeking just above the photograph.. I didn't have matching patterned paper, so this was my solution!!


I used yet another pretty little bottle on this layout:-) Gosh they are so cute!!! I filled his one with some pearl beads.
The flowers are by Prima, from the Essentials 7 Tropics pack, I used them with some brads by American Crafts and an antique button I received from some wrinkle ribbon I bought online! I recycled this little button and now it has a permanent home on my layout!!


The little loopy strip on the far right is from an old sticker sheet by Bo bunny:-) Finally put it to good use!

So that's my layout for you today!
Click on the photographs to view a close up:-)

I am going to be out of Sri Lanka for the next week, plan to do some more snorkelling:-) , will share some more cool projects when I get back! Have a great week!!