Happy Stamper

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-26T10:07:00.000-08:00

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas! I have been knee deep in getting ready for the big day, so sorry about the silent treatment you have been getting from my blog ;-) Hope you are all having merry days and enjoying yourselves.

Thank you to all of you who drop by my blog to leave wonderful comments, I love hearing your thoughts and your encouragement make my day! I love posting my crafty cards for you, hope you enjoy seeing them as much as I love making them.

Hope this season brings you all you have hoped for!

Just a little Christmas wish from me..

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas:-)

2011-12-20T09:10:00.000-08:00

How has Christmas been treating you so far? Well I am being pulled in all directions trying to get all my shopping and decor ready:-) It's not easy being a wife during Christmas, and I can tell you now, I have immense respect for those who are also mothers! Yikes!

Anyways, here are a few cards I made to send to my extended family, had to get them sent through UPS cos, well I took forever to make these since I was buried in work. Sigh.

Anyways, I do have to make a few more cards, possibly around 5 more, these are the ones I will be hand delivering during Christmas lunches and dinners.. So yes. I do tend to let things accumulate when I get busy..

Now on to the cards!

What inspired me to make this set was this pretty Hero Arts Silly scape stamp. I was thinking of ways to incorporate this stamp into a festive card design, and I thought, why not highlight a single house in red and green!!

So I chose this gorgeous paper by SEI ( which I totally picked up by accident while shopping at an awesome sale of scrap goodies in Singapore! , I seem to love stripes for holiday cards..) and I also pulled out some of my punches for this and got cracking.

This first card is my favourite, looks so pretty in person with the glittery stickles snow, and the blue distressing I used to create the sky:-) I also love the bright red sentiment, so cheery dont you think?

This little square card uses this fabulous silver tinsel trim I found at a craft store near my home.. Love this stuff, planning to use it everywhere.. as part of decor, scrapping my Christmas journal and cards of course:-)

Lastly this longer card, I used some powder blue cardstock to create a very soft central panel. And used my tinsel again:-)

Hope you enjoyed today's post, and thank you for dropping by:-)

Have a great week!

Supplies-

Stamps- all by Hero arts

Paper- SEI

Stickles by Ranger

Distress inks by Ranger

Punches- Fiskars

Large scallop die - Die-Namics

December journal share

2011-12-04T21:50:00.000-08:00

My first post for December! I am busy, busy, busy all the time! Managed to get my act together and finally start on my first page of my December Journal:-) Super pleased that at least now it's going to be less of a worry, the pressure is high when you are far behind and others have already got all their pages sorted.. (Not that my pages are cut yet:-)) I am planning to take a day to day approach, cut the pattern paper as I go, so that it matches my photographs...

Anyhooo, firstly I have to share with you some crazy exciting news,.. remember the wreath card from my last post? It won one of the Fab 5 awards by Hero Arts!!! It was the best start for December. I was super excited and could not believe my luck!

If you want to see the complete winners list, follow this link-

Hero Arts blog

One more thing before my December Daily post,

I took a quick photograph of the cards I have ready to send out.. tiny little bunch I know, but I do have a few more to get done, till then I am going to send these out first so that they have plenty of time to make it to the recipients before Christmas.

Now on to todays post,

Following Shimelle, my first page was going to be the manifesto for the journal. It's the 4th of December, so high time I got to it!

Here are some of the images I captured :-)

You can click the photographs to see them bigger:-)

I used some Studio Calico letter stickers, Hero arts stamps and my trusty Peppermint collection by Crate paper, which I would be using throughout my journal.

I also added a bit of distressing and white paint to give it a more finished look.

Here I tied some bakers twine in this pretty red, and added a Maya Road star pin, layered on a snowflake die cut made from some powder blue card stock.

I then incorporated a sentiment stamp as part of my journalling to make it extra special.

Hope you liked todays post, a bit lengthy I know, but next time I can promise you there wont be so much stuff to share in a single post:-)

Thanks for dropping by today:-)

Hope you have a wonderful week! And stay tuned for more December Daily shares.

The Magic of Christmas

2011-11-26T01:27:00.001-08:00

I wanted to capture a magical and warm feeling on my card, what better way than to create a wreath of snowflakes! There is something so wonderfully magical about snowflakes dont you think?

So I pulled out all the snowflake punches, dies and chipboard I had.

I started out with the chipboard since they would take most of the prep. I sprayed them with Studio Calico white ink and then added a coat of Stickles.. Then I cut out some pink felt snowflakes with my dies. And finally cut out a few random vellum and card stock snowflakes.

For the card base I first masked out a circle and then stamped the base with my Hero Arts magical background stamp with some Versamark ink (yep I wanted it to be magical and I was gonna get magical!!) ha ha:-).

Then I took off the circle mask and used my Calico white spray and randomly spritzed my base to create a snowy feel, just like Lucy Abrams did in this video..

Now it's time for embellishing. I laid down all the elements to see how I could position them and then carefully stuck them down with glossy accents. (This was the only adhesive I rely on when I need something to stay put)

As you can see, I filled in the gaps with buttons and pearls. I love the way it looks now!

Oh, btw.. Those silver glitter stars are made by printing a couple of stars on white card stock, cutting them out and applying a coat of Silver Stickles on them:-)

Then I wrapped a strip of vellum on the base, and then topped with some twill tape( because it goes so perfectly with Kraft) and finally layered the stamped sentiment.

With a final bit of'stitching' and a ribbon bow, my card was done!

Thanks for dropping by today, hope you have a crafty and fun weekend!

Happy Stamping!

Supplies list:

Hero Arts stamps- Joy to all( clear sentiment stamp set) and the Magical Background cling stamp

Snowflake dies by Die-namics

Snowflake punch by Martha Stewart

Chipboard snowflakes by Maya Road

Felt from craft supplies shop on Etsy

Pearls- Hero Arts and Keiser craft

Buttons- Basic Grey

Ink- Studio Calico

Stickles by Ranger

Glossy Accents used as adhesive

White Gel pen

A sweet treat

2011-11-25T21:00:00.000-08:00

One more, yes, you guessed it:-) Gingerbread men!!

I just could not resist making this square card with him.. I used a bit of patterned paper and a pink snowflake to change things up a bit:-) Again, using more My Minds Eye paper from last years 'I Believe' paper collection. I love the little Christmas tree and the red polka dot paper, I made a very simple grid background as a setting for my sweet little gingerbread cutie;-)

I'm keeping the post short so that I can go make more cards with my free time this weekend!

Hope you have a good weekend too!

Hugs:-)

Ginger treats and Candy canes

2011-11-18T20:05:00.001-08:00

Hi there!

More Christmas cards are being made.. and I am also getting together my 'Journal your Christmas' project goodies ready. Last year I signed up, but never completed. So this year I am going to make an actual effort to get this done! You should do it too.. Hop over to Shimelle's blog to find out the details:-)

So now onto the card...

I love this My Minds Eye paper from last year (I believe) still got loads left over. I used my gingerbread men and this perfect Penny Black sentiment to create this. The stripy patterned paper is my candy cane element:-), kept the design real simple and also added a hand drawn garland to decorate it up.

I just cant seem to get enough of this gingerbread stamp by Hero Arts!

Thanks for looking:-)

Supplies-

Stamps- Hero arts and Penny Black

Ink- Ranger distress ink

Patterned paper- My Minds Eye

Warm Cocoa Moments

2011-11-15T18:12:00.000-08:00

How has your November been going so far? The weather seems to be changing over here in the tropics:-) I do declare I get the cool Christmassy breeze, Finally! Yay! It's here!

Here is a card, simple by design.. But truly captures what is important during the holidays.. warm cosy moments. I made this card for my husband because he generally likes very CAS designs:-) I had to photograph this on the sly so he wouldn't see this! he he

I stamped some faint snow flakes in a powder blue to decorate the white space.. I also added some Stickles here and there..

Here is a close up of the little mug of coffee.. I 'wrapped' my candy cane around it and also added Glossy accents to make the chocolate look liquid! It turned out real nice! ( I then added a grey shadow with my Copics under the mug, you cant see it in this pic but if you scroll back up, you will see it quite well in my first photograph)

Hope all your preparations and planning for Christmas is well underway:-) so far I am really enjoying getting my cards ready one by one:-)

Supplies list:

Stamps- Cosy Moments, Decorate You both by Hero arts

Colour medium- Copics

Accents- Stickles Glitter, Glossy Accents both by Ranger

Thanks for looking and have a wonderful day!

Peace.Love.Joy

2011-11-14T05:13:00.001-08:00

Hi there, sharing a quick post on another entry for this months HA challenge:-) I used my brand new clear set with this pretty little angel, adorable isn't she? I love an image that can be coloured or paper pieced! How fun!

If you are wondering about the two sets of images,.. it has to do with the fact that the first time I shot this card, colours didn't really come out well and looked a bit faded, so I thought I'd take another shot at properly photographing it:-) Which photograph do you like better? The one with the white background or the one with the teal background?

Here's a close up of the layered snowflake embellishment I created. I used a snowflake die and cut out a blue felt snowflake, layered it with a painted, glittered Maya road snowflake and adhered with some twine:-) I also used a Christmas tree pin to dress it up further..

Supplies:

Stamps- Holiday sayings, Sprinkle your holiday clear acrylic stamps by Hero arts.

Chipboard- Maya Road

Patterned paper- My Minds Eye ( Lush Collection)

Cardstock- Bazzil

Stick pin- Maya Road

Hope you have a wonderful week!

Hugs,

Michelle.

Peek-a-boo tag

2011-11-12T19:20:00.000-08:00

Hi again! I have been wanting to add a tag as an entry to this months HA challenge, finally got it done with some leftover little gingerbread men I had made for another card (which I would post soon).

I love manila tags, I have a whole heap I plan to use to recreate this design in bulk, that's why I kept the design a little less fussy:-) And with all the stamping, it's cost effective and easy on the budget, since during Christmas expenses go through the roof!

Let's take a look at this little cheeky tag:-)

I used some red ink to get all the snowflakes stamped added the sentiment and then adhered the little gingerbread men with foam adhesive.

I left one little guy peeking from the side!!!

Here is a closer look...

I also decorated the back.. This is where I plan to write a personal message and the 'to and from'..

Hope you liked this post:-)

It sure was fun creating it!

Supplies-

Stamps- Christmas Trio, Joy to all, Holiday sayings, Get Merry ( all by Hero Arts)

Merry Trio

2011-11-11T17:15:00.000-08:00

Happy Saturday everyone!! Are you excited to get crafting today? Here is a little something I created to add to my batch of Christmas cards this year:-)

I used the same basic sketch for all three cards. And used matching patterned paper and ribbon to create a set. Take a look:-)

I used my favourite Lawn Fawn stamp set to get the Polaroid element on my card. I love how it created the backdrop for a perfect little holiday scene!

The first card features the Fluffles stamp by Stampendous. I also used a Hero Arts stocking stamp and a little pine bough to dress this card up. A little stickles was added to the stocking rim as well as the felt on the Santa's hat:-)

Can you see the glitter on the stockings and the hat?

For this card I wanted to use some ornaments, again I used my pine bough from the CL366 set

(Decorate you) and added a branch to house my ornaments.

I stamped and coloured my ornaments and added a clear coat of Glossy Accents to give them an authentic look. I also placed a feline friend from the same set too, and gave him a cosy paper pieced scarf!

I really love how those ornaments look so 'glassy' and dont you adore the cute tiny attacher used to hold the ribbon in place? I love that it gives a home made look!

For my last card I used the pine bough from the same 'Decorate you' stamp set and stamped a whole Christmas tree, inking it in two shades of Chalk ink. I tested it out on a piece of scrap paper just to get a feel of it.

I like how it turned out, all I had to do then was dress it up with some HA pearls and red Stickles. I also added a chubby penguin that I coloured and paper pieced and also a few snowflakes!

Here is a close up:-) Dont forget to click the photographs to see them close up!

Hope you liked them:-) Sorry bout the long post though!

Supplies used:

Stamps- Decorate you, Sprinkle your holidays, Holiday sayings all by Hero Arts

Say Cheese by Lawn Fawn

Copics for Colouring

Patterned paper by Basic Grey , SEI

Ink- Memento black ink, Colorbox Chalk ink

Have a great weekend!

Merry little gingerbread

2011-11-10T18:22:00.000-08:00

Hope you have been feeling the Christmas breeze these days, I am yet to experience it:-( Anyways, to get me in the spirit I have been crafting up a storm! This is one of my little creations from last morning.

Tonnes of paper piecing, just the way I like it. A little note though.. You might want to distress the background before you start piecing the image:-) That way you wont get any ink on the buildings.. Luckily I remembered that!

For this card I used some Basic Grey Oliver patterned paper. It's patterns are surprisingly perfect for Christmas! ( The red stripe is by Kaiser Craft)

I curved my sentiment on my stamping block before I stamped it, it was initially straight.. That's the beauty of using clear stamps, so many possibilities:-) The reason behind it was that, my whole card was looking rather linear with the buildings and background paper and I wanted to make it a bit more lighter and fun.

Supplies-

Stamps- Silly Scape, Christmas Trio, Joy to all, Decorate you ( All by Hero Arts)

Patterned paper- Basic Grey, Kaiser Craft

Distress inks- Tumbled Glass, Tea Dye (By Ranger)

White embossing powder- American Crafts

Thanks for looking, hope you have a wonderfully 'Crafty' weekend!

The very first!!!

2011-10-29T02:56:00.000-07:00

Yes, I finally did it, got myself to make my very first Christmas card for the season:-) Feeling mighty pleased with myself.. Now that the first step has been taken, I am hoping the others will flow quite easily:-)

I wanted this card to be a texturally heavy, and decided to use some foliage on it.. so I went about embossed the leaves in Silver tinsel embossing powder and cutting them out. I then stamped the doily and highlighted a few areas with a red Copic marker and a silver pen.

I Stamped the sentiment and assembled it all together with a touch of ribbon and a pretty button. I also used some faux stitching to 'lift' the card from the base.

How have your holiday cards been coming along? Have you started yet? If you have, well you should be pretty pleased:-) I know I am..

Have a wonderful weekend!

Supplies used-

Holiday Cheer stamp, Circle design cling stamp and Speckled ornaments stamp set : All by Hero arts.

Copic Markers

Button by Basic Grey

Happiness is right here..

2011-10-15T22:59:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone, here to share a really new layout.. I made it last night. Been experimenting with my photography, trying to find my perfect settings, but still far from it.. So please excuse the bad quality:-)

Today's layout features a lot of embellishing and a basically playing with patterns. I used mostly American Crafts on this page, with a tinsy bit of Fancy Pants and Crate paper..

I love having a lot of white on my layouts.. They let the eyes rest on the important bits, without getting all confused. I went for a colourful embellishments to compensate for the lack of colour in my photographs.. I think it balances out the page quite well and stops it from being boring.

My focus points were the chipboard frame and the banner, I really wanted to add a banner cos the photo strip was quite wide and the banner would brake it down a bit. Everything else was pretty much spur of the moment embellishing:-)

I used some Dear Lizzy (buttery yellow) "bee" paper to add a fun whimsical touch. I have had that paper for quite some time, and it was a relief I found the perfect place to use it. The banner was made of Fabric paper, and it adds some nice texture to the layout. I also added a chipboard heart on the banner, just for a shot of cuteness!

And lastly the title was added with some Crate Paper wood grain alphas, some American Crafts Amy Tangerine Thickers and some older Pink Paislee alpha stickers.

Supplies List-

Chipboard- Maya road

Patterned paper- American Crafts Dear Lizzy

Flowers- Prima, Basic Grey

Rubons- Fancy Pants, Lilly Bee and Studio Calico

Vintage buttons- Websters Pages

Stickers- Crate Paper, Pink Paislee

Mist- Tattered Angels

Thank you for dropping by,

Have a wonderful Sunday!

Hugs!

Hello Halloween!!

2011-10-13T01:02:00.000-07:00

What do you do when you don't own any Halloween stamp sets? You improvise:-)

I am still using the four sheets of patterned paper from last years Bo Bunny Halloween release.. Lame, but you know, the reason I didn't buy any new supplies this year was because we don't celebrate Halloween in this part of the world. But every year I do make Halloween cards to send to my friends over in the U.S and other places where they do celebrate..

This is just one of the cards I made this year.. Super pleased with the finished card!

So my cheat was, to use mostly Thickers and use other stamp sets that have sweets and monsters etc.. Like the Life of the Party Birthday stamps set or the Monster Fun stamps set by Hero Arts. Their stamps are versatile like that:-)

For this card I paper pieced this really cute candy in orange and green to fit the Halloween theme. And the rest was just faux stitching and patterned paper. Don't you think the row of sweets are just adorable:-) Super excited to sent this card to someone!

Supplies:

Stamps- Life of the party Birthday CL514

Patterned paper- Bo Bunny

Cardstock- Bazzil

Letter Stickers- American Crafts

Chipboard shape- Bella Blvd.

Thanks for looking!

Happy stamping:-)

Ready or not....

2011-10-08T23:00:00.000-07:00

Hi all, it's been ages I know, but there are some serious changes happening at home.. Good changes:-) So crafting time has been rather low. I did make a few layouts here and there but they have not been photographed yet, so till then, no sharing:-(

However, here are some very new creations of mine, the layout that I just completed and a card I made a few days ago.

I have been waiting for the perfect card to use this sentiment. Love this set by Hero arts...

A couple of scraps of patterned paper and some pretty butterflies later.... my card was done!

The polka dots and the teal stripe paper is from my current favourite paper pad by Echo Park. The Dots and Stripes 6x6 pad. There are some great Polka dot and stripe patterns in there. I see myself making some Christmas cards with it too!

Next up, my puppy layout!

As usual, I was going to make full use of my scraps. everything on here are scraps leftover from other projects. The grey paper was a leftover bit from the card you just saw. And the little scrap of yellow flowers paper I tucked behind the photograph (by October Afternoon) was also a scrap! yes, I even save those tiny bits!

This blue butterfly is a leftover from an older project, and notice the pink little frame of a butterfly I layered it on? That's me trimming around the negative of a punched butterfly I used for my card:-) Cute huh? I love how it adds a bit of punch to the photograph.

I also used some vellum to layer under the photograph before I added the pink matting.

The main focus of the layout was going to be my punched pink matting. It was a piece that I tested out my new Martha Stewart punch on. I picked it up in Singapore last week. I also added a bit of paint splattering, this is by October Afternoon. I absolutely love Grey. So this was definitely a great addition to my collection of spray inks. And it will take the heat off my White Mr Huey ink for a while! he he

Hope you enjoyed this post!

Hugs!

Supplies:

Echo Park - Dots and Stripes Metropolitan paper pad.

Hero Arts - Thoughtful Messages clear stamps.

Martha Stewart - Butterfly punch and Border punch.

October Afternoon - Paper, Spray paint, Kraft letter stickers.

We are Memory Keepers - Typewriter stamps set

American Craft - Thickers ( light blue and the 'or')

Basic Grey - White chip board letters

A Rockin Birthday

2011-09-04T19:30:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I finally managed to get crafting. And the agenda was to create a Birthday card for a very special friend. I started out with a a few die cut pieces of base card stock, Kraft and Purple and I decided to use this fun Hero Arts stamp, It was perfect for a girly card!

I did a bit of Copic colouring and cut this stamped image out. I used some Glossy Accents to add some dimension to the i-pod and ear phones. I then went about stamping my sentiment, I obviously used my go to set of letters by Hero Arts- Cute letters, perfectly sized for this kind of job! It's always more fun adding a custom sentiment:-) To add some extra zing, I went over the stamped letters with a glitter pen.

I finally put the card together using some dimensional adhesive and finished it off with some pink Hero Arts pearls and some faux stitching with a black pen. Viola!

Supplies:

Stamps- You Rock by Hero arts, Cute Letters by Hero arts too.

Cardstock- Bazzil

Pearls- Hero arts

Hello!! Back after ages and a card to share.

2011-08-28T18:49:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! I know I've been missing for a while, but I have been doing a slight bit of travelling, finishing my new collection for the Atelier and just after our second year anniversary.

so I am going to share with you the card I gave my husband for our anniversary. I made it very plain and simple using this wonderful robot trio stamp I received from Hero arts for a monthly challenge win! Hero arts has certainly been so good to me, and they make the best quality stamps:-)

This particular stamp was chosen because of the cute heart it had on it's chest (and the other two robots from this set were ideal for birthdays, which I would be using for baby boy cards).

The paper I used was from the 6x6 paper pad by Echo park called Dots and stripes. This paper pad's filled with all shades of polka dot paper (and stripy paper of course). I love anything with polka dots, so glad I picked this one up! I used a lovely navy polka dot on this card to make it a bit more masculine.

Anyways, hope you guys enjoyed today's post:-) Will be back soon with more layouts I created while I was missing, quite a few to share, need to photograph them as soon as I get the chance:-)

Supplies:

Hero arts stamps- Cl 342( Everyday sayings) LP 197 (Robot Trio)

Echo Park paper pad ( Dots and Stripes)

Bikers!

2011-07-06T22:57:00.000-07:00

Hi there, a fabulous Thursday to you all! Today I like to share a layout I created with some photographs from Santorini. It was about our little bike ride around the island by which we explored Santorini, in and out.

For this layout I used mostly patterned paper and a few rubons, stickers and stamps. The banners are by Studio Calico. I love how they added a bit of whimsy on the layout:-)

Using a Die-Namics die, I cut out these little clouds with some pretty Basic Grey paper. I also used some card stock to punch out a postage stamp matting for my photograph and a circle to add the date. The reason I used red as a matting was so that the blue in the photograph would stand out more and I also used some yellows and muted blues to bind it all together and add a bit of colour.

I used a few October Afternoon word stickers to add sub titles around my main title 'Bad ass quad bikers'. The yellow really stands out against the blue Pink Paislee patterned paper.

This tag is home made with some My minds eye paper and a Fancy pants rubons, I nestled it over a cute Crate paper sticker for some added intrest:-)

I completed this layout with a bit of twine and journaling.

Thank you for dropping by today, and have a wonderful weekend:-)

My first doodled layout!

2011-07-02T22:16:00.001-07:00

Hello lovely blog friends!

Thank you for dropping by:-) Today I want to share with you the final layout of my puppy I created with the doodled accent I shared with you in one of my older posts. As you can see I added another doodle of vines on the right side of my layout as well to balance it out.

I did most of the colouring with my trusty Copics, and some with my Faber Castell markers. (this butterfly stamp is my favorite Hero arts butterfly wood block stamp, I doodled around it:-) )

I wanted my layout to have lots of colour to make it look playful and suitable to portray a puppy. I also used lots of fun accents as well as paint splatters here and there.

I love these sunny foam alpha stickers, they are by Pink Paislee and come in several colours. Needless to say, the yellow ones have been used the most:-) I love combining several different alphas to create a easy going layout.

The stamped 'pet statistics' journal spot is from a Unity stamps mini stamp. I picked it specially for this layout:-) I also used a piece of a punched out picket fence I had leftover from a previous project. Love how it adds a homely feel... ( the chipboard house too was used for the same reason)

This cute vintage button is something I picked up at Made with Love Singapore. I love shopping there.. I feel so happy spending hours and hours browsing through the aisles! he he

The transparency too is something I picked up in Singapore from a discount bin:-)

As you can see the layout is full of little bits and pieces. I tend to save up even the tiniest scraps of patterned paper, so this is a good way to utilise them:-)

Supplies:

Patterned paper- Sassafras, Basic Grey

Stamps- Hero arts, Unity stamps

Brads- Sassafras

Chipboard- Maya Road

Alphas- Cosmo Cricket, Pink Paislee, Little yellow bicycle

Glimmer mist

Martha Stewart butterfly punch

Have a great day!

I am back!

2011-07-02T19:29:00.001-07:00

Hi there,

Yes, it's been a month since my last post. It's not that I haven't been crafting, it's just that I haven't had much free time during the day and been crafting late at night and therefore unable to photograph my projects:-(

So today, since it's Sunday, I am going to try my best to photograph as many of my layouts and cards as possible.

And now I am going to share a card I made for a little girls birthday!

I used my Basic Grey mini deck from the Olivia collection and stamped out this candy floss stamp from Hero arts. I love that the pink paper has a slight texture to it:-) Makes the candy floss look more authentic!

I then cut out two frames, one in this dot pattern and one in a dark solid pink. I used a white base card stock and stamped the sentiment and background in black and leafy green ink. After assembling the layers I took some twine and added a bow, and also highlighted parts of the candy floss with my trusty stickles:-)

That's my card for the day, hope you enjoyed!

Hugs!

Sweet treats

2011-06-07T20:59:00.000-07:00

I am here to share with you a little treat I made for my husband, not the main gift but just a little something extra I made to surprise him when he got to work in the morning, left it on the desk at night!

Been putting off posting this little project since It's been quite a bummer editing photographs with my new software.. As you can see, white balancing has not been very easy. So today I am posting some photographs of my new little gift tag, who cares about white balance right:-)

You couldn't really call it a gift tag, not sure what the right word is.. let's just call it a decorating thingy! I used a stick that comes in rub-on packages, I love rub-ons, so I have quite a few of these.. high time I used one for a crafty project:-)

I used a die cut machine and cut out the main scallops with Basic Greys Sugar Rush paper, then I used some white ledger paper from the Basics collection for the centre. After a bit of stamping and colouring, here is the finished project.

The white circle was mounted with pop dots for added dimension.

And the pretty candy stamps are by Hero arts (Valentines sayings), so is the sentiment. I had to perform a bit stamp surgery to get it just the way I like it.

So thats my post for today, hope ya'll have a great day, and will be back to share some layouts I made, as soon as the sun comes out and I can photograph.. It's been a rainy bunch of days so far:-(

Enjoy every moment!

2011-05-22T00:30:00.000-07:00

Happy Sunday all:-) Finally a card, been making so many layouts lately and I feel like I have been neglecting those of you who actually follow my blog for cards!

The thing was, I don't like to make a card unless I do have a good idea worth sharing, and inspiration was running low... I decided to make a card with this cute butterfly, and I wanted to incorporate a frame. So this was what I came up with.

I used the rain dots background, one of my favourites. I love how cute and tiny they are, perfect for adding that something extra to plain card stock.

I first stamped the butterfly and then marked out the frame, so that the butterfly could be part of the frame (a single layer) . I cut the frame out making sure I didn't snip off bits of my butterfly! Coloured with Copics and sponged in a pink ink onto my frame for a little bit of colour, and I mounted it on this tiny green dot background I stamped:-)

And there is the close up:-)

All Stamps are by Hero Arts ( Traditional butterfly, Rain dots background, Thoughtful messages)

Spun Sugar distress ink

Tuxedo black Memento ink

Green ink is VersaMagic

My first attempt at doodling!

2011-05-18T00:04:00.000-07:00

Hi there:-) I am still enjoying my long weekend, another long holiday over here in our little country;-)

While I was trying my best to fit three photographs onto a single layout I thought I'd try my hand at art journalling/ for now doodling that is:-) I was desperate to use my new Faber-Castell India ink brush markers. What I soon realised was, that they were not meant to be used for images which required heavy shading. As I learnt after I coloured in my butterfly! Sigh.

Immediately switched to my Copics and finished off the colouring:-) What do you think?

I will be saving my Faber-Castell lovelies for actual Art journalling.. I might show you what I get up to soon!

Here is a little peek from my layout..

( P.S: sorry about the poor quality photograph, the butterfly is far more vivid in real life)

Supplies:

Copics

Hero Arts Butterfly

Faber-Castell Black marker assortment

Thank you for dropping by:-)

Hugs!

Christmas traditions and 'Bestie'

2011-05-16T03:19:00.000-07:00

Hi there:-)

Been dealing with a few computer problems as of late and finally was able to download a new photo editing software.. The transition to Mac from my HP has been a bit of a pain really. The minute I inserted my camera memory card, this little Mac has been fussy and switching off and not coming on.. So I had to get someone to reinstall everything, but still my computer starts racing from time to time:-(

Here are the first few photographs that I cropped and managed to prep for my blog using my new software :-)

Both layouts were done about a week back when I got back from vacation...

I love this photograph, the best buds sitting on the balcony:-) called for a lovely sunny and happy layout... and that's what I did literally. I let the chipboard alpha take center stage and kept everything else simple. I used some vellum as the base of my stamped journalling.

I also used some Maya Road chipboard houses and stamped it with the Friendship background cling stamp by Hero arts to re enforce the 'Friendship' theme here, and added a tiny punched heart.

The next layout is a documentation of Christmas 2010. Finally, (I know you were thinking it:-)) Yes, it does take me that long! The main idea was to showcase as many photographs as possible on a single layout. So I went for a very few embellishments and a smaller photo size.

Not all the photographs were perfect, some were out of focus, but when you make layouts like this with multiple photographs it really doesn't matter. It's all about telling a story, so hang on to your not so perfect photographs.. you never know when you might want to use them!

I used a glittery chipboard letter that was by Making Memories, and I hate it when the glitter starts 'shedding'. So my trick is to use glossy accents and 'seal' the glitter in. So if you have the same problem, give it a go:-) You still get to enjoy the glitter without the mess.

I used some punched borders and added some light embellishing with little strips of paper.

Here I layered a Prima flower with a die cut snowflake and a little Websters pages button to create this embellishment. I also added a Maya road pin too, just because!

A closer look at my border strips, held together with a Tim Holtz tiny attacher staple pin. Perfect for thick layering. No chance of that border budging!

In the last photograph you might see that I used the negative of a punched scallop border to add some interest to the left had side of my layout.. The graphic black and white strip is the perfect accent to balance out the colours of the page! And my layouts complete:-)

List of supplies:

Card stock - Bazzil

Stamps- Hero arts

Patterned paper - Teresa Collins, Sassafras and Basic grey

Punches- Scallop and postage stamp punch by Fiskars and EK success

Chipboard alpha- Basic Grey June Bug collection and Making memories

Chipboard embellishments- Maya Road ( House and Sun)

Snowflake and cloud dies- Die Namics

Thank you for dropping by, have a great day!!!

A winner!!!

2011-05-08T22:39:00.000-07:00

I finally rolled up all the names and got my assistant Diana to pick a winner from a little bag:-)

And the lucky winner is- Yvette!!!

Yvette- "Hi Michelle, glad to hear you had a wonderful time. That photo is so cute! Congratulations on your win! And thank you for sharing it with us by this giveaway!
There're many stamps on my list :), but one I realy would love is : CG288 Leaf Clusters."

Yvette, please get in touch with me so that I can get your details.. I will send you your stamp as soon as my goodie bag arrives:-)

Have a great day!

A special surprise!!!! ( giveaway closed)

2011-04-30T21:52:00.000-07:00

Hi all!!! Me finally back from a great vacation, how've you been while I was away? hope your days filled with Crafty goodness:-)

So here is the surprise, like I promised :-) As you already know, I was lucky enough to win last months Hero arts challenge...

http://heroarts.com/blogs/club/2011/04/21/april-winners-round-1

and I thought it would be even better if I could share some with you too!! Yes you:-) All my lovely blog readers...

Here's how it works, pick your favourite stamp from the Hero Arts catalog and leave a comment stating what it is by next Sunday the 8th of May. I will randomly pick a comment, and that person will receive whichever stamp she picked:-)

Now doesn't that sound fun? I am sure there is one stamp that you have been dying to get your hands on, so go ahead and leave a comment... its as simple as that. And no, you don't have to be a follower, if you genuinely like my blog you can follow me, although it's not compulsory that you do.

Good Luck!!!

Hi all

2011-04-24T19:48:00.000-07:00

Hello there:-) and Happy Easter! Hope you are having a great day, it's been a wonderful Easter.. Warm weather and absolutely fun fun fun... Well I am on vacation! So that's why I have been missing in action really:-)

Yesterday was the first day that I checked my mail in about 10 days.. And I found out that my last card had won this months Hero Arts challenge!! Yay, actually a super YAY! And to think, I was pretty much the last to know.. I was greeted with a bag full of sweet comments on Flickr.. Thanks you guys, you always make my days sweeter.

In celebration I have tiny little surprise ready for you when I get home.. believe me it will be good:-) Lets just say that, a wish will be granted. (wink, wink)

So catch you Thursday, till then, Happy Stamping!!!

Sending sunshine and laughter (Hero Arts Submission for April)

2011-04-06T09:31:00.000-07:00

Hello all! A happy wednesday to you:-) this months Hero arts challenge includes a sketch option, and boy do I love them, here is what I created.. And here is the link to see the challenge details, join in the fun! http://heroarts.com/blogs/club/april-2011-contest-details/

This was a delightfully simple but effective card, a bit of masking and playing with ink:-) apart from paper piecing, this would be my second favourite type of card to make... I dressed up the card with some glossy stamped hearts floating away from the Eiffel tower, and some red bakers twine! cute huh?

Hope you enjoyed todays card:-) And thank you for dropping by...

Hugs! Michelle.

Let's plan for Easter then..

2011-03-30T05:06:00.000-07:00

Dont you just love the colours we use for easter? Pastel heaven I say! I whipped up a little card using this cutie from my very first Hero Arts stamp set. I started stamping last year this time, and my love for stamps have grown. I haven't got much use off this stamps set so I though I would finally make a bunch of Easter cards.. I will post them as I go:-)

I didn't have an easter sentiment stamp, so I used this Hero arts letters stamp set and created my own sentiment. Since it was a cute font it went really well with my bunny and egg stamps.. I added a pop of colour with a bright red set of buttons and a collar for my bunny's shirt. I also added a grey nose and in my opinion kinda ruined the overall bunny. But I still cant help but smile at this little happy card!

Supplies: Stamps by Hero Arts ( CL305) Coloured with Copic markers Thanks for dropping by:-) Happy Stamping!

A layout long due.

2011-03-28T21:44:00.000-07:00

Sometimes we are too busy documenting our loved ones in our layouts we forget to dedicate one all to ourselves. I have been putting off scrapbooking this photograph for a long long time now.. Mostly because I didn't have the 'perfect paper' the 'perfect embellishments' etc... These are the excuses we make to put things off..

But here it is, finally a page about me:-) I didn't add a title as I wanted the photograph to do the talking, this is by far the most favourite photograph of me.. I made sure I mentioned that in the journalling! It's not always I find myself in a photograph looking or feeling pretty. And here I really feel pretty, feminine and all other lovely things that goes with being a girl!

I love the Pink Paislee papers I used here, the roses and the pretty hydrangea give out a carefree vibe.. I also used some My Minds Eye and a couple of Girls Paperie die cuts.

I included this pretty wood birdcage by Kaiser Kraft! Simply loving it:-)

To add some texture I embossed a Hero Arts Dot background stamp in Gold! Love how it turned out.. I used a Versamark pen and made it look patchy:-)

Thank you for visiting me today!

Hope you have a great week!

The shortest post ever and news of a sweet friends bloggerversary

2011-03-27T10:38:00.000-07:00

Hello all:-) In case you are wondering what this post is all about.. it's not a card or a layout.. I just wanted to let you know about a sweet friends blogaversary! She is celebrating her 2 year blogaversary and there is some incredible blog candy up for grabs:-)

I managed to win last years blog candy and I must say she knows how to pull together a mean gift! Head over to Simones blog to check it out, it's going to be open for one whole month.. So dont worry if you see this a bit later...

Here is the link: http://designsbysimone.blogspot.com/2011/03/blogaversary-blog-candy-giveaway.html

P.S : I will post a layout I made last night tomorrow, didn't have time to photograph it today, just been too busy this Sunday:-( Have a great week guys!!!

Hello Sunshine!

2011-03-21T21:57:00.000-07:00

It's scorching hot over here, and time to pull out those pretty little dresses and sandals. I thought I should make a card to celebrate the weather and welcome the warmer days... Plus it's for some one special I had in mind, hope the weather around her part of the world is the same too!

I used this fun set that was released by Hero Arts last year, it's been lying in my stamp storage box all this time and has never been used. I broke out my new black Hero hues too.. Must say that it's the best dye ink I have used so far and does'nt bleed!

The clouds are die cut from the Die-Namics clound dies. And the birds were paper pieced using my Crate paper 6x6 Christmas paper pad. I love thier pretty bright colours:-) Added some glossy accents to make them a little bit more special...

Sorry about the short post, but will be back soon with another hopefully tomorrow:-)

Hello 2011 Hero Arts stamps!

2011-03-05T22:37:00.000-08:00

Finally used my gorgeous Dictionary Greetings stamp set by Hero Arts... One of my faves from the 2011 catalog for sure! I used a plain Kraft 4x4 card and came up with this fun design:-) Super pleased how it turned out.
This was actually my second attempt. The dictionary stamp didn't leave an even impression on the first card I made, so I had to start over.. Never the less was worth the effort:-)

I masked out the cupcake and stamped the little party hat, and coloured it with Copics... Didn't spend too much time blending since I wanted it to keep it looking rustic.

The streamers were the last to stamp, I coloured them lightly with a green Copic and accented with my white gel pen. I also highlighted the window with some stitching and also added a few detailing on the cupcake and the party hat.

Hope you have a wonderful Sunday!

Hugs!

Stamps: Celebrate all and Dictionary greetings by Hero Arts

Copics for colouring

Tuxedo Black Ink

Uniball signo White gel pen.

Remember...

2011-02-27T04:10:00.000-08:00

Hello hello and a happy Sunday to you! Hope you are ready for another post:-)
I know I have been posting many layouts lately but I just seem to really enjoy creating these little pages of everything that matters to me in my life. So here is another.

Again I used the gorgeous Pink Paislee paper I received from Two Peas for taking part in one of their CHA challenges. I have used this paper on layouts more than any other that I have purchased myself! Two Peas, I just love them!

The photographs are some we took in Oia-Santorini. Gorgeous place to visit. I think the vivid blues of the photographs are highlighted with the little bits of oranges and green paper I used here.
The title 'Remember' is a felt word I picked up when I was in Singapore last year. I have several of these and never managed to use them so far, so here it is finally on a page:-)

I used a little row of punched hearts as an accent. And the very cute rubons are by Lily Bee.

I also used some Girls Paperie die cuts and some punched butterflies. And the journal spot is made using my Hero arts ledger background stamp. I distressed it a bit:-)

Here's more close-ups:-) The cork accent is home made with a punch and some stamping...
Isn't it fun making your own embellishments? I love having something unique on my page...

Thank you so much for dropping by today!

Have a wonderful weekend:-)

Love,

Michelle.

Captured

2011-02-19T00:55:00.000-08:00

Hi again, todays project features an eclectic mix of embellishing techniques. I used rubons, stamping, metal detailing and flowers.
And I finally got a chance to use my Basic Grey Capella paper, yay! And I was starting to worry that I would never use it. It mimics the grey blue of the sea during sunset.

I chose a horizontal paper strip so that it depicts the horizon. I also love the soft text and distressing.. adds so much to this page!

I love this gold rubon by Hambly, it was the perfect frame for this gorgeous butterfly stamp by Hero Arts. The coffee coloured tab was stamped with the Hero arts Graph background. Love how stamps can add so much to some plain paper!

The lovely brown floral border is by Bo Bunny. I have used most of this rubon sheet already. And I love the rich brown in it.

The strip of houndstooth is a leftover scrap from a Pink Paislee sheet. And yes,I did save this tiny bit from a previous project. he he

I added this 'Photographer' button by Jenni Bowlin. I just love her Chipboard Buttons. They are so perfect to add a vintage touch to almost any project. I combined it with a Tim Holtz pin for some extra detailing. And finished off with a bunch of Prima flowers and some American Crafts brads.

Thank you for dropping by,

Have a great weekend!

With the arrival of new stamps....

2011-02-17T03:21:00.000-08:00

Ah new stamps how I love thee:-) Nothing beats the smell of fresh stamps to get the creativity flowing, I managed to get my hands on some gorgeous Hero arts goodies. Most of them from the new catalog, mmmmm:-)

Also sharing some good news while I have your attention, I was one of the lucky winners of the Hero Arts January Challenge.
http://heroarts.com/blogs/club/2011/02/03/more-january-winners/
And I plan to get a few of the new stamps with my prize;-) yay!! So many gorgeous stamps to pick from... But I have finally narrowed it down to a small list of faves. Will share them with you as soon as they arrive!

For now though, here's a few that I purchased:-)

I adore this pretty flower and bees stamp set, been wanting it for quite a while, and I finally have it.. So I was pretty excited to get busy stamping..
I stamped the wood grain on the entire front of the card, the window was cut out and the cloud background was adhered behind it. I doodled along the edges for a better defined look.

Everything else was then stamped, coloured and cut out and finally, adhered to the card front.

Here is a side view that shows the depth that was created using dimensional adhesive..

Supplies:

Hero Arts Wood grain, Clouds background stamps and the Be Happy, All Occasions Messages Clear stamps set.

Brads by Basic Grey

Copics for colouring

Ink in Soft pool and Tea Dye.

Rome Sweet Rome...

2011-01-29T10:13:00.000-08:00

Hi There! Today I am here to share a layout I created using some of my photographs taken in Rome. I have been putting off scraping these because I have been waiting to get the perfect pattern paper for the job.

And here it is:-)....

I picked the photographs and a ticket that I had saved from this particular trip, and chose the paper to match the tones of the photograph and certain elements in it. (Note the cream colour used here is matched with my cream colour hat; I chose a tag and the alpha stickers in the same colour)

The tag was a regular manila tag that was stamped with a 7gypsies travel stamp set and then stamped with my bicycle stamp and some Ali Edwards sentiments. I stamped the sentiment in multiples in light red ink. Love how it adds a little something without crowding my tag:-)

The gorgeous patterned paper is from Studio Calico (as well as that cute little bicycle stamp:-) Too cute!!!).

I love collecting Basic Grey Tiny Type alpha stickers, they always come handy when adding little bits of journaling or titles for layouts.. Here I used a mix of capitals and simples for some added interest to my otherwise not so original title;-)

I also used some elements off an October Afternoon paper, I cut them out in circles and adhered them with Pop Dots:-) I love how they add some dimension to this layout as well as tie in the travel theme together..

Hope you enjoyed my layout for today, there is another one coming up soon..

So till then, Happy Stamping!

Have a special day

2011-01-23T21:45:00.000-08:00

Hello again! I know you must be really surprised that I am so busy with my crafting activities. I just happened to maximise my day off since I have nothing much else to do! he he Love the feeling I must say.

So anyways, this card too features another Vellum butterfly that was embossed in gold and coloured in with Copics.. I like the whole stained glass effect it has. Will be using this technique more often;-) Please note that all the stamps are by Hero Arts.

The center panel was cut using my Cuttlebug and then stamped with the 'Woodgrain' background stamp. I also used another smaller circle to die cut the hole in the middle.

I then used a Stampa-ma-jig and added the sentiment right onto the center of the second die cut. I mounted one on top of the other using dimensional adhesive and added the Hero arts gems.

This whole panel I adhered to a blue textured cardstock that was stamped with the 'Dot flourishes' stamp set from Hero arts in white ink. Love how it adds to the card without overpowering it.

I masked out a area in the middle with the 3x3 piece of paper and stamped the 'Friendship' background stamp and then added a final butterfly:-)

Thank you for dropping by today:-)

Happy stamping, and a happy monday to you all!

Share your heart

2011-01-23T01:46:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone, finally back with another post:-) Today's my day off and finally relaxing at home. I have a special card to share with you today. It's on the theme of Love since Valentines day is fast approaching. I used a few new supplies I had purchased A while back, but didn't get to use on any projects.

So without any delay, here's my little card.

I stuck to the colour combo of pink, white and cream. I didn't feel like the usual red shades which are normally associated with Valentines day.

I also broke out my Enamel Accents by Ranger and added a delicate white border for some texture:-)

I embossed this pretty little butterfly with Silver Tinsel embossing powder by Stampendous.
I actually wanted it for Christmas cards, but purchased it too late, so here I am using it for Valentines day! he he

And on to the FUN PART!!!

Here is the inside:-) I wanted to enter a card to this months Hero arts Challenge, so I decided to decorate the inside of the card with little suspended hearts! I love how it turned out:-) My DH is going to be pleasantly surprised when he opens up this baby.

In case you were wondering, the hearts are mounted on a little spiral I cut out from acetate;-)

Thanks for looking:-) Hope you have a great weekend!

Back again with some Studio Calico goodness!

2011-01-11T20:18:00.000-08:00

Hi, back to share a layout I did over my one and only proper day off:-) I really needed some scrap booking therapy since I haven't done much since November! So to quench my thirst for some inking and trimming, I broke open some of my Studio Calico paper packs and got cracking.

My approach to scrap booking starts by picking the photographs that I like to scrap book rather than picking the papers first and then seeing what images go with the tones of the papers.

I love these pics that we took in Greece. The Blues are so calming and reminds me of a very happy care free time in my life. And since I am really busy with work these days, I pretended I was on a happy little vacation while I made this page :-)

I also chose a happy title to go with my page from one of my favourite paper companies Lily Bee.

To add some colour and interest I added this Prima rub on with the pretty floral vine; the colour matched the red in the scarf I am wearing and adds some much needed embellishment to this side of the page. I then stamped a few butterflies from a tiny Prima stamp set:-)

The title is a Lily Bee rubon from the Catching Fall line, I happen to be a big fan of this typewriter font!

I also added a stamped saying, it's tiny and is under the photograph of me. it reads - 'this moment. this story. this day. this experience. this life' (by Ali Edwars- where all good quotes come from:-) he he)

The banner is by The Girls Paperie, they have a full sheet of banners that can be cut out! ( I have been dying to use a banner on my layouts and finally I got to do it:-) Yay!) the banner on the left has been popped up with some dimentional adhesive, the part that comes out from the top I left as is...
I think it adds the 'Happy' to my layout... along with the yellow splatters which I think are quite 'Happy' too:-)

This is a close-up of the little die cut element I used which is by Pink Paislee.. I love that the blue coordinated with the blues in the photographs and the little scroll detail adds a nice look:-)

So that's my layout... Hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed making it:-)

A yummy day!

2011-01-04T09:28:00.000-08:00

Who says my blog is all about crafting? I am about to change that right this instant!
Thought I would share another passion, baking! I love it! This is what I have been wanting to do throughout Christmas, with no luck until now:-) Finally work's less hectic so I woke up early this morning to bake a fresh batch of cherry pies!

They are a special treat since cherries are never available in Sri Lanka except during Christmas.. So I did a bit of 'cherry picking' from the local store that stocks them. I just love how these babies turned out,... bubbling and dripping over my little ceramic cases! yum!

I took this particular pic for a special scrap book layout I had in mind, cant wait to get these developed and get cracking. (obviously I am not the best photographer in the world but this would do, just to record a happy memory:-) )

Bye for now, and have a great day!

Happy stamping:-)

Ho! Ho! Ho!

2010-12-26T00:44:00.000-08:00

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...

2010-12-22T18:57:00.000-08:00

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!

2010-12-22T04:12:00.001-08:00

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!

2010-12-19T07:42:00.000-08:00

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

2010-12-16T07:03:00.000-08:00

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!

2010-12-13T03:26:00.000-08:00

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!!!

2010-11-26T05:39:00.000-08:00

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...

2010-11-20T08:51:00.000-08:00

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..

2010-11-07T23:49:00.000-08:00

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

2010-11-03T22:34:00.000-07:00

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!!!!

2010-10-30T20:32:00.000-07:00

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

2010-10-29T01:43:00.000-07:00

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...

2010-10-20T08:15:00.000-07:00

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..

2010-10-14T08:51:00.000-07:00

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:-)

2010-10-10T00:03:00.000-07:00

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...

2010-10-06T06:10:00.000-07:00

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!!!

2010-10-02T04:35:00.000-07:00

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

2010-10-01T00:46:00.000-07:00

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

2010-09-29T20:26:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-09-24T20:18:00.000-07:00

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...

2010-09-20T01:44:00.000-07:00

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!!

The whole lot!!!

2010-09-15T22:54:00.000-07:00

Here's what I was up to all weekend:-) Forced in some crafting time into my weekend just to make these cards for OWH hosted by Hero arts.. Everyone had so much fun, on a complete Adrenalin high! You can see all cards on the Flickr site.. over 600 cards were produced for the challenge! Talk about a great team effort:-)

This is a photograph I took yesterday of all the cards that were packed and ready to go.. I sent them by Express mail and it would get there with enough time to spare:-)

My very first Christmas card for the season!
I love this snowflake, its so pretty.. This card was a submission for Tami's simple sketch challenge:-)

I used the same set by Little Yellow Bicycle for this..

All sentiments are by Hero arts..

Another fave of mine:-)

This is a Hero arts set too, (both Bird and Sentiment are by HA)

I made a set of Birthday cards for little girls...

Here's another,

And one more!!

Boys cards..

That's the whole lot!! I made it a very short simple post where the pictures do the talking ...

Hope
you have a great day!

Thinking of you (OWHbash)

2010-09-11T19:56:00.000-07:00

Hi again, second post for the weekend.. you could expect more posts since I was up till 12.30 last night making sets of cards to send out for OWH, I had to make this second card similar to the first one simply because I don't like to send just one odd card amongst others.. When you see the other posts you will know what I mean;-)

So here is the next Shabby Chic card I made..

Did a bit of embossing and colouring to make this one:-) I used a sheet of butterflies I had printed out about two months ago.. When working with Digi kits I thought this would be a good way to save paper, fill a page up with the images and print it all out in several sizes at once:-) Its my way of being green!

The paper is from an older collection by Basic Grey, totally in love with the papers, this was my favourite really with the birdcages and all.. Finally a chance to use it! So there, simple and yet Shabby Chic!

Supplies:

Starburst Lace stamp and Flutterbies digi kit by Hero Arts
Crinkle ribbon from: http://www.etsy.com/shop/PrairieBirdBoutique
Other stamps: Inkadinkadoo (sentiment)
Dies: Spellbinders
Cuttlebug
Antique Linen Distress ink to ink up the edges:-)

OWH/ Virtual Cardmaking party submission!!!

2010-09-10T22:05:00.000-07:00

All weekend long Hero Arts is sponsoring a card drive to collect 500 cards to send to the troops, so here's the first one I made:-) and here is the link to join this great cause,

http://www.flickr.com/groups/heroarts/discuss/72157624798847357/#comment72157624804629311
The cards could be pretty much any theme, Miss you, Congratulations etc.. basically these cards are for the troops to send home to their loved ones who miss them while they are away:-)

So get cracking and join the fun,.. so many challenges to join..

I first created the tag, for this I used Sticky Back Canvas and some Basic Grey paper..

To make the tag:

Paste the pattern paper on the Sticky Back Canvas, (pattern side facing the sticky side) then you lightly score a few marks on the back of the paper and spray with water.. once its a bit soggy you can roll off the paper and at the end you are left with the gorgeous pattern on the Canvas..

So once the tag was dry all I had to do was stamp away!! I did a collage style tag attached it to my prepared card:-)

Stamps used here are:

Antique Engravings , Friend Definition, Starburst Lace and Everyday sayings by Hero arts

And also their Flutterbies Digi Kit..

I also used a Tim Holts stamp ( the tall grass)

Patterned paper was by Basic Grey, the Porcelain Collection.

Ribbon:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/PrairieBirdBoutique

So that's the first post for the day!! Have a good one:-)

BIG huge hugs!!!

2010-09-10T02:57:00.000-07:00

Hi sharing a cute card I made with some super fast stamping!!!

I used two Hero Arts stamp sets for this, the Adorable baby girl set and Huge hugs set.

As you can see the close up of the elephant shows a better view than the actual full sized photograph since the stripes of the elephant has created a slight optical illusion:-)

Its always a cool to make a background using a sentiment stamp, specially when it's difficult to find a place for a sentiment.. (In this case, I had a bit of an issue finding a correct placement once the row of elephants were stamped.)

All inks I used were Memento and the colouring is done using Copic markers:-)

That was my bit of crafting for Friday, hope you girls have a great weekend!!!

Happy stamping!!

Paris Tag

2010-09-06T05:28:00.000-07:00

Hi Again, yet another crafty day for me, been busy preparing a very special card for someone dear:-) cant share it with you till she gets it though...,
So for the time being, I'd like to share a little tag with you:-) some random stamping I did with my Paris stamp set( by Hero Arts).

I first stamped the Ledger background stamp on white CS with some Antique Linen distress ink and the stamped the Star Burst Lace stamp with a mixture of Shabby Shutters and Tumbled Glass distressed ink.

I then went over the left lower corner stamping the 'Fleur de lis' in rows.. I added the Eiffel Tower, the flowers and the Paris banner with Black Memento ink. I also used a postal mark stamp and a 'Carte Postale' stamp (on the right edge) as well.

Finally I used more Antique Linen Ink and Walnut stain and started distressing the edges...

then I added some light strokes of Chipped Sapphire to finish off the tag:-)

So have a great day and Happy stamping!!

Sketchy Project!!

2010-09-02T20:59:00.000-07:00

Hello Hello, gosh it's been ages!!! Sorry for the random posts.. just cant find time these days :-(
Lets start this month with some happy news, I just came to know I got into the fab 5 at Hero Arts in last months challenge:-) it was for the red balloon card, I am doing one crazy happy dance right now.. ha ha
Love Hero arts stamps, they truely are the best out there...

On to some more exciting stuff..., I have something really special to share with you today!! Been so excited to get this layout photographed and ready to go.

Below is the sketch that got it started, it was a sketch for my dear friend Nancy (another great friend from the Hero Arts group). She wanted to do a layout featuring her cute little angel Bruno (bless his soul) who in Nancy's words "crossed over the rainbow bridge".

You can drop in here to see what Nancy did with this sketch, too cute!!! :

http://happyheart-nancyljk.blogspot.com

I have used only the first page of the sketch:-) ( just realised I cropped the page too close since its a white layout!! Sigh.. )

This is a page about our trip to Santorini in 2009, we did a road trip by quad bike on the last day, visited a couple of beaches and a light house... We also stopped by this very colourful little roadside store where they sell home made preserves and wine! yum!!

Close up of a few embellishments:-)

Here I used one of my favourite stamps by Hero Arts.. Love this one, I wanted to depict the 'journey' and thought this bicycle (with the happy little flower basket) would be perfect for that! I love to stamp on my pages to add interest:-)

Hope you liked today's layout, this is the first time I am using so many pics on one page.. and I liked how it turned out:-)

Thank you Nancy for making this such a fun project!! Hugs:-)

Supplies List:

Patterned paper : Basic Grey June bug collection

Chip board: Bella Blvd and Basic grey June bug( from the alphabet chip sticker set), American Crafts Thickers ( which were coloured using chalk ink)

Stamp: Hero arts, Technique Tuesday stamps for the journalling, and also a 7 gypsies stamp for the journalling in the center)

Copics for colouring the stamped image.

Brads: Basic Grey Eerie collection

Navy blue twine: May arts

Happy Birthday!

2010-08-25T02:08:00.000-07:00

Hi,

Sharing a little card I made for a friends birthday today:-) So many occasions to make cards for these days, just finished making cards for two birthdays and an anniversary!

I did a little clear strip on this card so that I could stamp some balloons flying off...(yet again!! he he)
And I used some Doodlebug chunky glitter and filled in the centers for a festive look.

I did this by filling in the balloon with Glossy accents and sprinkling glitter.. once it was dry I did another coat of glossy accents to seal it up, so that glitter wont keep coming off...

I also stamped a monster from the same kit ( Monster Fun by Hero arts) and paper pieced it with Basic Grey Lime Rickey paper. The other patterned paper I used was by Lilly Bee.

To finish off the card I used some Hero arts Jewels and added some stitching with a black pen on my orange punched border.

Thanks for dropping by,

Hugs!!!

Velavaru

2010-08-19T23:02:00.000-07:00

I am on a Scrap booking roll these days, frantically trying to use up my old pattern paper:-) Here is a layout I did yesterday on a MME die cut sheet.. this sheet is so adorable! I love the dotty background and the colours go so perfectly with these pictures..

This page is all about our trip to the Angsana Resort Velavaru in Maldives. I love love love the Maldives, and this place is actually built on stilts offshore.. Basically its on the middle of the ocean.. So beautiful! , you can climb right down to the sea from your deck!! That's a pic of my DH just about to go snorkelling:-)

* in case you are wondering why one pic is covered up, its because I didn't want to put a pic of me in my bikini on the net 'cos I am paranoid some wierdo would copy it:-) I know I know what you are thinking, but you can never be too careful about these things..

If you look closely you could see the strings of the bikini around my neck:-)

Back to the details...

I used tonnes of my Pink Paislee Artisan tape to make the embellishments for this page,the orange part was folded concertina, you probably know how to make these flowers, but I have to mention that the stickiness of the tape has to be removed first, I did this by taking some corn flour and dusting it all over the back.

The little purple buttons were made by punching out circles, piercing two holes and passing some string:-)

The blue arrows were cut out of an Art warehouse travel paper sheet, which I arranged around the photographs to create an interesting background..

The title was stamped with a Heidi Swapp Alpha stamp set. I love this font for this page.
One last note:
I added the journalling to sound like an advert for Velawaru. Click on the picture to see the journalling clearly:-)

Hope you have a great day!
Hugs!

Happy balloon card:-)

2010-08-17T23:42:00.001-07:00

This week I thought I should sort out my clear stamp collection since it was just all over the place, I started out with my HA stamps of course:-) Here is the pile that I had to sort out, all 38 of them!!! I didn't realise I had so many,.. and to think that I accumulated this many stamps in only about 8 months!! Gosh!

Feeling rather guilty for purchasing so many, I though I would separate them by type: the sentiment stamps in one lot, holiday stamps in one lot etc.. I was pretty glad I did that since now I can buy stamps which I don't have much of, namely Holiday stamps!! I only have two sets! (sneaky way to justify it huh? with the new HA Holiday catalog being released.. ha ha)

So after I cleaned my stamps, I decide to use the stamp packs that were yet unopened, yes I have some!! crazy, I know!!

This is actually an idea I had two weeks ago, just didn't get around to make it:-) I use the balloon from the 'monster fun' stamp, love love love this set..

Here is a close-up of the dimension I achieved using pop dots...

Totally satisfied with the finished card:-)

Although I wish I could learn to colour balloons better:-(

Supplies:

Hero Arts set: Monster fun, Everyday sayings

Distress Ink by Ranger: Tumbled glass

Memento Tuxedo black ink

Copics for colouring

Have a great day:-)

Hugs!!

Not your average girl

2010-08-17T00:34:00.000-07:00

Hi there,

Back again to share the second layout I made over the weekend:-) This one is all about Cookie my little golden retriever.. She is the most athletic dog I have ever seen.. These are some of the pics my husband took of her about six months ago:-)

The paper for this layout was Bo Bunny dots paper (grey and brown) and some Earth love paper by Cosmo Cricket.
I know it looks rather simple compared to all my usual layered and heavily detailed layouts, but I wanted this to be clean, so that the pictures show well..

Used some orange card stock and punched out a row of butterflies and set it over my other papers so that the different patterns would show through:-)

I have tied the string using a technique that I saw used on Kims blog, she is so talented.. Love her layouts :-) This is the link you can find her at...
http://www.kimarnold.typepad.com/

The title was first written by pencil and then traced over with a black pen.. I love the grungy outcome! I used a Basic grey rub on as well (No.1), this is from their Basics line.

Just below my journalling strips I added an American Crafts Flair Badge to match the yellow-grey colour scheme. (The orange paper and brown dot paper was added so that the photograph tones were matched..)

To balance the page I added a punched scallop strip from some more Earth love paper and added some layered punched circles as well..

P.S: To view all photographs full size, just click on them:-) you can catch all the details ( and mistakes!!) he he

Have a great day everyone!!

2010-08-15T22:10:00.000-07:00

Happy Monday everyone!! Hope you had a fantastic weekend:-)
This weekend I finally managed to do a lot of scrap booking, here is the first layout I did on Saturday night:-) just finished it before midnight..

The starting point for this layout was a gorgeous page done by the super talented Elizabeth Karchner.. She had done a great layout with a stitched title 'love'.. I was dying to do a stitched title so I scrapped these two photographs I had of me and my husband before we were married..
It was taken when we were on a trip to the beach down south where we spent all weekend lounging in bed:-)

So I wanted to capture this with a title that said 'Love hanging out and just chilling together'.

The main design element was the rose frame that I cut out.. It's actually a larger scaled version of a Hero arts stamp set I have of various frames, I drew it on a scratch piece of paper and used it as a stencil and then went over it with a black fine tip pen. I love the fact that it looked doodled!
So to match that, I created some doodled leaves for the flower embellishment( which is a paper from the Dear Lizzy Line) from some blue dotty paper..

(The flowers were cut out and layered to add dimension, and I also added a bit of glossy accents on their spotty centers)

The blue strip with the brown flowers is a paper strip I cut out from an American Crafts Letterbox collection paper. I used it to tuck my angled frame in so that the cut edge doesn't show and to divide the page so that I can add the rest of the title in white paper strips..

I hand stitched the word love in red thread. I also used a fabric Thicker bracket to finish off the title..

I added a clip from the Olivia collection by Basic grey and added a Heidi grace epoxy sticker that says big smiles.

I completed the layout with some punched butterflies and some Hero arts jewels as well as a couple of buttons:-)

Thanks for dropping by, and hope you have a fab week..

P.S: will share the other layout as soon as I get some time to photograph it :-)

Happy anniversary card

2010-08-12T23:52:00.000-07:00

Been having the worst imaginable week, and look what came in the mail to brighten my day!! A stash full of Hero Arts goodness:-) This is for my Fresh Face win from the previous Hero arts monthly challenge. I am totally in love with these stamps, and today's card is made with both the woodblock stamps I received..
I was a pleasantly surprised with extra catalog that was included, now I can look at all the stamps and drool whenever I have some free time:-) tee hee

This card was made for my husbands parents anniversary:-) Don't you think the stamps arrived just at the right moment?.... perfect for this card.

I first stamped the wood grain on some white card stock, then ran it through the Cuttlebug, I then took a brown piece of card stock and ran it again using a larger die.

I stamped the owl on more scratch white card stock coloured with Copics and then cut them out.
The little flower has been glittered in the center and petals coloured in with a bright magenta:-)
I also added a little shadow beneath the owls to stop them looking like they were just floating on the wood grain!

I then used the Label die 6 and cut out the card base and assembled the card using some demensional adhesive sandwitching the ribbon.

Here's a closer view :-) The hearts and the beak have been embellished with Glossy accents for some added interest.

Supplies:

Die cut machine: Cuttlebug and spellbinder dies

Stamps: Hero arts- Wood grain, Heart owls

Ink: Tuxedo black by Memento and Antique Linen by Ranger

Ribbon by Memriemare

Copics for colouring

Have a great Weekend!!

A message in a bottle!!

2010-08-09T09:36:00.000-07:00

Need to share news of a cool giveaway, as you know I love my Hero arts stamps... Here's a chance to win a few of your own, so much good stuff included in the gift! check it out at Lucy's blog, good luck to you!!! :

http://hedgehogsandladybirds.blogspot.com/2010/08/giveaway.html

Now on to todays card!!! This is one of the most fun cards I have ever made:-) talk about getting the perfect embellishment.. he he, So excited to share this with you:-)

I stamped some plain white card stock with the Ledger Cling stamp and added the sentiment from the Essential messages stamp set by Hero arts.. It's one of my newer sets.. the sentiment was actually "just a note filled with many thanks" so I edited it!!

All the shells were stamped in Colorbox inks ( Silks and Satins & Chocolates and Blueberries) and then cut out, I used dimensional adhesive and layered them to look like they have been washed ashore, I added the little bottle with the message and the beads and a few pearls in it..

Background was done using the watercolour technique as that Joy did on one of her cards.. Loved this one, fantastic card!!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tulip1312/4630854637/

I used the Starburst lace stamp inked it lighty and sprayed with water, then stamped randomly all over, thats how I got the speckled effect. After that I used Chipped sapphire distress ink and distressed the edges and then sprinkled a few drops of water as a final touch.

One more view of it:-) I love the dimension the pearls bring to an otherwise plain background..

This is the link to the little shop where I got the bottles on Etsy:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/ByJuliet Love the stuff here:-)

Thanks for looking!! Have a great day:-)

A happy hello!!

2010-08-03T03:01:00.000-07:00

Happy Tuesday!! Finally managed to squeeze in some time to make a card.. I used my Spellbinders Scallop circles for this, been waiting to find time to break it out:-)

The challenge theme at the Hero Arts blog this month is Note cards.. So this is my take on it.

I used this cute 'You are the best' set and the 'Monster Fun' set for all the images, and coloured it in with Copic markers.. The green balloon didn't turn out as great as I'd hoped, however I am mighty pleased with her hair!! This is the first time I am colouring hair, and it wasn't too hard really..

I cut out the base card from some Basic Grey Lime Rickey paper and adhered the white circle that I pre inked after masking. Added all the coloured and cut images to find the correct placement and stamped in the sentiment...

After the sentiment was done I added the balloons and attached the string with some Glossy Accents. Adhered the girl with dimensional adhesive dots and added a small pearl to the flower on her hair!

I assumed I was done with the card till I realised it looked pretty bare, so not wanting to compromise cluttering the card I decided to add some stitching with my trusty grey pen..

Hope you liked my post, and hope it was worth the loooong wait:-)

Supplies used:

Hero Arts stamps- Cute Letters, Monster Fun, You're the Best

Lime Rickey patterned paper

Ranger distress ink in green

Copic Markers

Cuttlebug

Spellbinder dies, Scallop and Circle

String

Hugs!!

Michelle.

Food for thought...

2010-07-28T22:04:00.000-07:00

Today's post is mainly about this page I created about all the great food we had in Thailand on our last trip, anyways in case you are wondering what the big deal about the pop corn and the coke is, I will get back to that later;-)

First I wanted to talk about all the new releases at CHA.. I know you all have your favourites:-) Here's mine:

Hero Arts has a whole new catalog on Christmas!!! my favourite time of the year, perfect excuse to make cards all day.. I totally love their postage stamp trio, the one with the little snowman and the cling stamp with the ornaments.. So many possibilities:-)

http://www.stampingonline.com/home/hero-arts-winter-2010

I have been in love with all the new stuff that Pink Paislee came out with.. Have you seen the Resist paper? to die for!!! OMG .. You need to drop by at the PP blog!!

http://pinkpaislee.com/

Next is Maya Road.. Love their new Pennant chipboard album! too cute:-) I don't do mini albums but I want to get this one just to hoard it for a while..

http://mayaroad.typepad.com/mayaroad/2010/07/maya-r.html

Studio Calico also has a good collection.. Some very pretty Wood alphas that need to be checked out.

http://studiocalico.blogspot.com/2010/07/wood-veneer-notions-and-mistsoh-my.html

Jillibean soup also has some fancy alpha stickers.. really unique prints.. Think they even blend in well with some of the Pink Paisley papers from last seasons releases. And have you seen the Christmas themed journalling sprouts? Its at the top of my list.. they are a favourite, you could tell from today's layout that I love my sprouts:-)

http://jillibeansoup.typepad.com/my_weblog/2010/07/cha-summer-10-sneak-peek-6christmas-chestnut-soup.html

So that's what caught my eye so far.. Let me know what's in your shopping cart this season:-) I'd love to check them out!!

Getting back to the page, the main focus was the lovely grill house at Esplanade in Thailand.. They have the best juiciest most amazing beef there... Never ever ever in my life have I tasted beef that good.. I have no idea what was in the marinade, but I would love to have one in Sri lanka, I would go there all the time!!

The best part is that you get to cook everything right at the table, I included a photograph of my husband getting some good old grill action:-) So fun!!

This little cup holds little ice-cream scoops that wrapped in a little case of Rice paper, it has the coolest texture, not something you would expect eating ice-cream.. They serve it with a tiny pick! how cute!! the best part is, it keeps the ice-cream from melting for longer.. I love the selection too, check out the freezer box in the background!!

So now finally to the Pop corn, I had to feature it simply because it was so huge!! Don't let the picture fool you, trust me, there's enough popcorn in there to FILL up four people. Or for two REALLY GREEDY people:-) ha ha

And the coke? I never even got to the quarter mark!

Supplies were:

Basic Grey Sugar Rush papers and one American crafts paper ( the cherry print)

Hero arts Stamps 'whats cooking?', Ledger cling stamp, Kanji Poem wood block stamp, tickets stamp set (for the enjoy enjoy enjoy caption under the popcorn)

Jillibean soup sprouts

Basic grey alpha stickers and brad

Happy stamping!!

Coffee date?

2010-07-27T21:30:00.000-07:00

Hi, hope you guys are online frolicking among all the CHA peeks and competitions today:-) I was up until 1 a.m last night doing just that!! ( it's the time difference that's a killer!!)

So I woke up early morning to make this card just before I get to my other activities for the day..

I am submitting this card to the Hero Arts July challenge since its to do with food.. I used their 'Have a Donut' set, I love this set but never gets used as often as I would like.. Time to put an end to that right away!

So here goes..

Today I took the picture outside since my light which I photograph with is broken:-(

Here's the close-up of the window, I stamped the inside of the card with the donuts and the ledger stamp,

As you can see, my Cuttlebug makes a guest appearance on all my new projects these days, here I used it to create a little window and cut out the slightly larger acetate circle that I adhered inside with some glossy accents.. (nothing like a good smear of glossy accents to adhere transparencies and acetate since its hardly noticeable..)

Supplies:

Hero arts stamp: Have a Donut, Ledger Cling stamp

Stampendous sentiment stamp

Distress ink Mustard seed, Wild honey and Barn door also used a bit of Shabby shutters for the card base

Clear embossing powder

Memento Ink in London fog and Tuxedo black

Basic grey Lime rickey paper

Acetate sheet

Cuttlebug

Permanent marker in black

Thanks for dropping by today:-)

Thank you card with another Happy tree!!

2010-07-23T01:44:00.001-07:00

Here's the second card I made with the same stamp, I used only the bark of the tree..Then filled the top with little punched butterflies:-) doesn't it look really spring and fun!!

I love this tree stamp! I added a small sentiment from the Thank you stamp set (CL341), and a little lady bird from the Adorable baby girl stamp set (CL265).

All papers are from American Crafts (Dear Lizzy) , grass is drawn in with Copics.

Hope you had fun seeing two very different options with the same tree stamp :-)

Hugs,

Michelle.

Take care, and a happy hello:-)

2010-07-22T22:25:00.001-07:00

Hi!! Have a pretty little happy card to share today! I got this stamp last month and I left it in a drawer and completely forgot about it, once I 'discovered' it again;-) I decided to put it to use immediately!

I am planning to make another card with it today which I will post later.. have to find the perfect patterned paper for that:-) hmmm, keep you guessing what I am planning.. he he

All stamps are by Hero Arts! the tree is from a set called: Say Hello (CL378)
The sentiment is from a set called : Dot Flourish (CL285)

I drew a line right down the center of the card so that I could get the placement just right, and stamped the image with Memento ink, this is because I had to colour everything in Copics and Memento ink is great for that :-)

I stamped the sentiment and then added the decorative line in a silver gel pen!

Viola! Simple but pretty!

Thanks for dropping by, and Happy Stamping ;-)

In full bloom

2010-07-21T22:19:00.000-07:00

Love Love Love scrap booking! Been making a series of pages with some pretty photographs to frame and hang on the wall of my craft room.. Here's one with lots of flowers and other small embellishments:-)
I love adding loads of embellishments because its plain fun looking at all the details!

This page is all about spring blooms in Nuwara-Eliya, its the hill countryside in Sri Lanka, April is the best time to go there since its not too cold.. (This is the only cold region in our country), so during April all of Colombo basically holidays there!

These pics are of me sitting in the Garden and enjoying the flowers, Happy day! :-)

I used loads of Basic Grey Papers for this, the flower die cut and the navy blue letters are also by Basic Grey...
Yellow foam alpha is by American Crafts Thickers.

I used some Washi tape to make the little brown lace border around the focus area.. the patterned paper was punched with the Fiskars edge punch.

The butterflies are by Hero arts (AR179), I added it to break down the flat colour of the back of my chair .. Also whats the point of flowers without butterflies? he he

Flowers are by Prima, I added a few Hero arts Jewels to the centers:-)
The little tag was made by stamping a Hero arts birthday sentiment ( CL139) on some BG paper and using glossy accents to adhere it to the back of a Tim Holtz Fragment.. loved how it turned out.
...

The scroll is by Bo Bunny, I used their sticker sheet..

Photo corner is part of the Basic Grey floral die cut.

I added some Navy May arts twine and some brown lace strips for added interest, I stitched a strip of orange paper over it and layered with another border I cut out from some patterned paper..

The little circle die cut is a journal sticker by Basic Grey for their Basics Kraft line..
The dotty rub on is by Bo Bunny.. it's called Bohemian Borders:-)

Thanks for dropping by today, I would love to hear your comments and suggestions:-)

Have a great day!
Michelle.

Merci

2010-07-17T23:26:00.001-07:00

Hi Again, as promised here is my second post.. It's actually an idea I've had in mind for quite some time now:-)

Which was to use some old script strips that I got from Memriemare on Etsy while buying my ribbon.. these strips are actually part of the packaging, and I wanted to recycle them since they were so pretty:-)

I am not sure which language they are though.. hmmm

Firstly I used a page from my Basic Grey Manilla paper pad and die cut the base shape where I wanted the images to sit.. Then I randomly tore some of the strips of paper and adhered them as seen, I used the Dogwood flower wood stamp which I have never used so far and stamped on the script paper with Charcoal ink. After that I distressed the edges in Tattered rose Ranger ink.

I then used my Dusty Concord and Peeled Paint distress ink and coloured the flowers and leaves and made it quite shabby:-) I then added the sentiment and the extra bees and butterflies...

Finally I mounted it on some Basic Grey Cappella paper and Viola!!

Supplies:

Dogwood stamp and sentiment by Hero arts. (CL325, S5362)

Bees and butterflies stamp by Prima, not sure what its called but its a tiny stamp set (3x3)

Distress ink: Tattered Rose and Dusty Concord

Paper: Cappella, Basics Manilla by Basic Grey

Label Die 8 by Spellbinders

Hope you liked today second card!!

Hugs,

Michelle.

Circle card

2010-07-17T01:05:00.000-07:00

It's been forever since my last blog post, I promise to make my post a little bit more regular in future :-) So as a peace offering I thought I should do two posts today, here is the first!

Some of you may know, I got a Cuttlebug ; but silly me didn't order the dies to go with it and had to wait till they finally arrived after I ordered them a week after I purchased the Cuttlebug. I have also been really busy travelling and catching up with some designing and well you know how it goes... So finally its the weekend and I got time to make a card with my new Spellbinders circle dies! I love these circle cards, so much more fun than regular sized ones..

For this card I used the 'Mi Casa' stamp set by Hero Arts. I love the pretty sentiments that come with this set, they fit so beautifully on circle cards. Totally plan to make some more cards with it soon..

I started off by cutting a circle card with the biggest circle in the pack and cut another nesting smaller circle to do my stamping on. I used the Lime Rickey 6x6 pad (Basic Grey) to cut out a background paper for the card the same size as the card base to cover the front completely.

I used my Ranger distress inks and gave a small border to the nesting circle to add definition to the edge and stamped all the images on white card stock and coloured with Copics. I coloured them in cut them out and paper pieced the card and added my sentiment.

Finally I used a piece of yarn and made the hanging bit of the birdcage:-)

Here's a close up of the card, the little bird house stamp is by Penny Black goes so well with the birds from the Mi Casa set..

Hope you enjoyed this fun card, I had so much fun making it:-)

Also stay tuned for the next post later today...

Till then, Happy Stamping!

Happy birthday Collage card

2010-07-07T10:01:00.001-07:00

Hi there, finally back with another post:-)
Today I was testing out a new product! And boy was it fun! I have just discovered alcohol inks:-) I love them, so many different possibilities..

This is the first set I broke out.. It's the Cottage Path Alcohol ink set by Ranger. I used two colours and created this fab background! not my usual style but I think its rather pretty.

I decided to make a Birthday card, it's for my Aunt. She is the sweetest, and I thought this gorgeous hydrangea stamp would help make a fab card for her.. I also tested out my new Friend Definition stamp for this, totally love the dictionary print. I filled out the background with the ledger stamp so that the hydrangea had a nice backdrop.

Here's a close up, The pin is one of my new fun stamps! super cool touch huh? works great with the Hero Arts Ledger stamp. (Everything but the Engraved circle, lace stamp and the pin is by Hero arts)

I used distress ink Milled Lavender mixed with a bit of Antique Linen to finish the edges to look aged. love the muted tones:-)

Butterfly from the Antique Engravings set

Sentiment from the Birthday Massages set

Cling stamps: Friend definition and Ledger stamp

and the Hydrangea Wood block stamp

Hope you liked todays card! and would love to hear your comments on the Alcohol ink background, and if you use them I'd like to know what your favourite colour/set is:-)

Happy stamping girls!

Tropical adventure

2010-07-02T21:24:00.000-07:00

Hi!! Finally managed to create a layout this week; I tend to get so indecisive about all the elements and design; it takes me a decade to finish:-) I hate having something on my desk incomplete for so long.. however that said, I do enjoy layouts since they allow for a lot of mixing and matching..

Here is a layout done with a photograph of me on my way to kayak in Krabi Thailand.

The main background paper for this layout is by Art Warehouse from Two Peas.. Some of the embellishments for this line has already sold out, but I managed to snatch a few papers! Love the nautical theme:-) Other pattered papers are by Basic Grey and Websters Pages.

The journal spot is a page from the Fancy Pants Summer Soiree notebook journal, goes really well with the patterned paper and the pops of orange I added for colour..

I also added this funky little palm tree from my Hero arts set 'Lets Chill' ( my favourite these days!!)

Then added a few orange embossed butterflies from the Antique Engraving sets as well
for some extra colour..

The wood letters, Canvas tag and the Epoxy/metal clips are by Making Memories, an older line, but they had the whole collection available when I went to Made with Love in Singapore.. So I bought the embellishments since I already had some of the papers.

I used a little vintage compass from one of my old Making Memories ephemera packs (the little ticket and the 'wonderful memories' words and the arrow circle are also from the same pack).

The red scroll rub on is by My Minds Eye ..

Flowers are by Prima, I added them on top of a white embossed Starburst lace stamp by Hero arts.

I used a strip of green patterned paper ( Websters Pages) with the word happiness on it just below the photograph for some interest. I also added some Basic Grey brads to complete that strip.

Here is a close up of the compass and the little arrow circle,

Thanks for dropping by,

Hugs,

Michelle.

Two new cards and the deets

2010-06-29T20:46:00.000-07:00

Hey there, feels like its been forever since my last post.. the reason behind it was that I haven't been at home:-) Some of you might already know, I was out in Singapore for the weekend with my DH..
When I heard that we were going there the first thing I did was find out what scrap booking stores were around! It was a treat for me since I have never ever ever been to a scrap booking store as I buy everything online..

I finally managed to get something I have wanted for a couple of months now.. A CUTTLEBUG!!! Finally finally:-) yay!
Whats sad was that I couldn't do much shopping since prices there are through the roof and everything is over double the actual price I pay online! SO I used the oppertunity to buy stuff that I cant buy online (due to the weight and shipping cost), like my Cuttlebug and a new trimmer by Cutterbee ( EK success).

Anyways getting back to my cards for the day...

There was actually a reason I decided to make these cards, It's to show you some wonderful stamps I got from my favourite Copic Marker seller on Etsy; Shiela. I bought my very first markers from her, and they are the cheapest that I have found online!
What's great about her shop is that she designs her own stamps and is super talented, so I had to feature them here today..

This is the link to her shop, drop by to see some gorgeous unique stamps:-)

my favourites right now? the '1740's world map' and the 'Not so creepy crawlers' set!
http://www.etsy.com/shop/SheilaOx

Now these stamps are what I won from her blog candy! I love them, and I also got a load of other cool stuff along with it and I put it to good use today:-) So here's the cards..

....and a close up, these two sets look incredible when embossed in gold..

Here is the other card, two different versions basically.. this ones more arty and grungy:-)

The trick is to dust off some embossing powder from your image before heat setting, that way you get a shabby aged patchy image:-)

....and a close-up,

So that's the two cards for today! well the second is actually to frame and not really a card:-)

Be sure to drop by Sheilas shop, she adds new stuff all the time, in fact I just discovered some stuff I may need to buy!

Supplies list,

Stamps: by Sheila, 'The keys to my heart' & Locked in love
Tim Holtz stamp- Flights of Fancy
Sentiment stamp (this is why I love you) by Ali Edwards for Technique Tuesday
and a zig-zag stitch stamp I picked from Singapore

Ink: Distress ink s in Walnut, Shipped Sapphire, Black soot, Antique Linen and Tea dye and Black Stazon
Embossing powder: gold
Patterned paper: Cappella collection by Basic Grey
Metal Key hole: Tim Holtz Idea-ology
Ribbon by Memrie Mare: http://www.etsy.com/shop/MemrieMare
Navy and Natural Twine from my stash

Thanks for dropping by today! hugs!

Annes Itty bitty challenge:-)

2010-06-20T22:40:00.000-07:00

Fine I admit, it was the challenge name that made me enter.. plus the fun of trying to figure out what I could do with my tiny stamps:-) I am new to the challenge at "Gaal Creative", I enjoyed it so much I think I will make time to play next time too...

Here's the link if you want to enter, not much time left so you would have to hurry:-)

http://www.gaalcreative.com/2010/06/02/junes-challenge-itty-bitty-stamps/

So here's what I came up with, I think the whole idea of summer is really making a mark on all the cards I create lately! For this one I used the Tic Tac Toe grid:-)

Close-up,

How's that for a simple quick card? I think the most time was spent preparing the perfect sized grid for these stamps!! he he

The supplies used:

Hero arts stamp sets: Cute Letters, Bugs and Kisses
Copics
Memento Tuxedo Black ink

Summer Fun!

2010-06-20T01:42:00.000-07:00

So excited to share today's card with you!! Been very busy with it all morning:-)

I had this idea to create a concertina card which displays different elements in a interesting 3D format.
So I designed the fold on a scratch paper and then used my card stock to replicate it.

I stamped out all the images and coloured in with Copic markers, the palm tree was stamped twice and coloured since I needed another extra branch to make it look fuller..

I used masks to create the waves and the sun, I also added an extra layer of waves so that I could tuck the fish behind it to give it more dimension:-)
( Hero Arts blog has a great video on this technique which I came across, the sweet Lisa Spangler demonstrates it:-), check it out! )

http://www.heroarts.com/learning/technique.cfm?techID=148

The sand is a little vial of white sand from Maldives I picked up from a gift shop from my last trip there, it also has little bits of coloured particles in it to add some interest. I used my Tombow mono multi glue and glued it down in a nice layer.. This is the first time I am using this particular glue, it's really good! Holds down the sand real well.

Here are the close ups,

The main image doesn't show the fish very clearly as my smart camera didn't like to focus on it!!
If anyone knows how to photograph it in a nicer way focusing on all the images please drop me a comment, I would be eternally grateful :-)

Supplies Used:

Hero arts stamp: Lets Chill
Distress Ink: Tumbled glass, Chipped Sapphire, Mustard Seed
Copics

Would love to hear your comments and tips on photographing a card like this.

Happy stamping!

Sending smiles

2010-06-17T22:55:00.000-07:00

I love this tiny bicycle by Hero arts, it's the most happy little bicycle I've seen! Perfect for the Moxie Fab challenge. I was so inspired by all the cute bicycle images they had in the post and decided to go for a clean card.

If you want to play as well:

http://www.moxiefabworld.com/2010/06/moxie-fab-world-challenge-i-want-to.html

I wanted to keep the bicycle as the main focus, so I made sure all other elements are as neutral as possible. That's why the ribbon is left black, it also frames the proportions of the card well.

I picked this sentiment because this bicycle makes me smile how could I not smile with that cute basket of fresh flowers?

Anyways, after I made the card I realised this card perfectly fits the PDCC as well ( this time it was to make a card with black white and a bit of blue), I was planning to make another card to enter that but since this matched well I guess I will enter it there as well:-)

Here's the link if you would like to play:

http://theplaydatecafe.blogspot.com/

The background is a Hero arts cling stamp which I stamped and cut out.

( I inked it up sprayed water and stamped it. It comes out a bit blurry and patchy when you do this and gives the background a lovely rustic feel:-) ) I pre stamped the bicycle on my card base before hand since I wanted the wheels to hang out of the scallop circle.

So that's my quick post for the day!

Here's the Supplies list:

Hero arts stamps: Bicycle, Take good care greetings, Striped circle, sending happy thoughts set ( the leaves below the bicycle are from this set)

Ink: Tumbled glass distress ink, Memento Tuxedo Black ink

Copics

A perfect day

2010-06-16T03:11:00.000-07:00

I have decided to finally put all my new stamps to good use starting today, have you ever sat down and thought 'boy do I have too many unopened stamp sets'? It hit me yesterday that I have been so busy buying the latest and the greatest, I just didn't have time to make something with them!!
Completely bugged by the pile of stamps (which were mocking me in their fresh packaging), I broke open my new house cling stamp. My first card was going to be for the Hero arts June challenge:-)

I picked a few other Hero arts stamps which have been neglected and started stamping away.. First I got a heap of my Dear Lizzy paper by American crafts and stamped the house on a yellow sheet and a red sheet. I stamped it again on a white scratch cardstock piece as well (this was to cut out the roof and the windows..). I then used my Copics and coloured the window blinds in light blue, and faintly coloured the glass in grey so that it looks like the lights reflecting off the glass.
I also coloured the strip on the roof in light blue as well. Used a red Copic and coloured in the window in a red that matched the door which I cut out from the house which was stamped on red paper. ( gosh that's a long sentence:-))

I stamped the little tree on the green patterned paper and on Kraft Card stock. Cut those out too. The hearts were cut out from a pink sheet.
Finally got to the sun which had a lot of detailed cutting! I stamped it on a bright orange sheet of Dear Lizzy paper. the tiny scallop took so long to cut! I had to use an exacto knife to get as close to the image as I possibly can,and selected a yellow button to go with it..

I also cut out some flags from the Dear Lizzy paper and made my little banner thingy..

The picket fence and grass is from a Dear Lizzy fabric paper sheet, it looks so cute when paired with the house stamp!

Here's the card! As you can see I did a bit of distressing in Tumbled glass so that the top looks like the sky..

Here's a close-up of the details, I also added some hand drawn butterflies to finish up the card:-)

Supplies used:

All stamps from Hero arts- 2 houses cling stamp, Circular Designs, Adorable baby girl, Sending happy thoughts.

All patterned paper and solid papers are from the Dear Lizzy collection

Ink, Color box chestnut ink, Tumbled Glass Ranger ink.

Thanks for dropping by:-)

Hugs,

Michelle.

PDCC 33 entry

2010-06-12T23:35:00.000-07:00

Hey there , Hope you are having a great weekend:-)

Today I gave a go at making a shabby chic card, I have never attempted one before.. I think it has to do with finding the perfect ribbon or shabby embellishment to help it get there!

I used my Cabbage rose ribbon to achieve this look. I added some of these to my last giveaway hope my winner Isa has fun trying it out like I did:-) Need to get a few more colours, I dont have green..

So here is the colour scheme for the challenge, delicious as always!! had to try it out:-)
I missed playing the last two challenges but this week managed to squeeze in some time to submit an entry..

Why don't you hop over there and play along too!

http://theplaydatecafe.blogspot.com/

I started off the card with Kraft, I adhered a piece of patterned paper and stamped two white Lacey borders and white embossed it. I then look the Hero Arts Starburst Lace stamp and stamped it in Antique Linen Distress ink since its a colour very close to Kraft and wont stray too far from the challenge colours. I cut the stamped image so that it looks like a doily and set aside.

I then stamped the sentiment in 'Raspberry' and distressed the edges with Antique Linen.

Since the card base I prepared looked a bit bare I used a Fleur-de-lis and stamped out a row and clear embossed it. I layered on the home made doily and used dimensional adhesive to adhere the sentiment. I then look a length of my crinkly ribbon made a few loops and secured it from the middle with a piece of string, then fluffed it out to make a flower.

I covered the string with an antique button and added some Hero Arts Pearls ( they are barely visible with the busy aqua patterned paper )to finish off my card!

Here is a close up:

Supplies used:

Stamps: Star Burst Lace stamp by Hero arts, Christmas stamp by Kelly Panacci, Damask by Kelly Panacci, sentiment -Celebrate life by Penny Black

Ink: Magenta ink by Colorbox, and Antique Linen by Ranger.

Patterned paper by Pink Paislee 365 degrees collection paper.

Embossing powder by American Crafts.

Thanks for looking!

BTW, what do you think of my photography this time around? I kind of tilted it while taking it cos it looked very flat while shooting it straight, I like to hear your comments on that..

Hero arts challenge card, Summer theme

2010-06-10T10:07:00.001-07:00

Hi, I made a card for the Hero Arts June challenge, I chose the summer theme:-) I love using birds and butterflies with my flower stamps, so I paired two great stamps by Hero arts and added a little green butterfly I punched out with my Martha Stewart punch.

First I stamped the Lace stamp on my base card stock and the circle stamp on a scratch piece. I coloured the flowers in with Copics and the little rim in silver to give it a metal feel.I them cut the circle out with a craft knife.. (which took forever!) I then stamped the circle again and cut out more flowers to pop up with dimensional adhesive and make my image a bit more fuller with flowers.

I cut out a circle in the middle of the lace stamp and adhered the flower circle on top framing it. I added some acetate behind so that the window looks nice and I can then add my butterfly on top to make it look like its floating:-)

I stamped the butterfly with a musical notes stamp by prima and coloured the butterfly in a light green Copic marker. I also added two gems to make it shine.

Lastly I added my new favourite sentiment stamp which is by Hero arts and Voila!

Here's the close-ups,

And another close-up,

Supplies:

Stamps- Starburst Lace, Little flower circle, Take good care greeting ( all by Hero arts)

Prima stamp- Song bird

Ink- Tattered Rose and Rich Cocoa Memento ink

Martha Stewart Punch

Copics

Hope you enjoyed my card,

It has to be one of my favourites:-) Love the new stamps Hero arts came out with this summer, I have stocked up, so get ready to see more cool stamps in the next few cards...

Hugs!!

Check out this blog candy!!

2010-06-09T06:00:00.000-07:00

Great stuff at AniKraft!! Check out the blog candy, pretty simple to enter!

You only have to be a follower and post about it on your blog:-)
I personally love the Kraft note book ! great for altering. And the cork sheets, I really want them! Fingers crossed:-)

Here's the link:

http://anikraft.blogspot.com/2010/06/1st-anikraft-blog-candy-and-another.html

Good Luck!

P.S : blog about it and spread the word around, her goal is 50 followers, so lets try do it!

Imagination

2010-06-09T04:06:00.001-07:00

I love the new colour Chipped Sapphire, the rich tones were perfect for this card:-) I used a few Tim Holtz and Hero arts stamps to make this .. and a load of distressing and embossing.

First I used Broken China and applied lots of ink to the right side stretching down to the bottom, I used some Chipped Sapphire on the lower right corner and made it dark as possible. Used a bit of Black Soot on the lower left corner and covered the rest with Walnut Stain. I then used a mini mister and sprayed a load of water so that all colours combine and run in together:-)

I used my heat gun and dried it well. Used the Cling dots stamp and embossed in gold, then I used the Ledger stamp and stamped over top. I also used my Versamark pen and drew on some distressed lines on the lower right corner and embossed that with gold as well.

Finally I used a few Tim Holtz stamps and created a collage using the same Distress ink pads.

Here's a close-up,

Supplies used:

Distress inks- Chipped sapphire, Broken China, Walnut Stain, Black Soot

Hero Arts Stamps- Ledger and Cling Dots

Tim Holtz stamps- Flights of Fancy and French Market

Versamark ink pad and pen

Gold embossing powder from stash

Tombow glue

Kraft paper

Hope you liked my quick post:-)

Have a great Wednesday!

Sending smiles!

2010-06-08T06:35:00.000-07:00

Hope you are having a fab day! I finally managed to make a card today:-) yay!! talk about an achievement;-) took me quite a while to get this right as I was just not inspired all these days..
Sigh... Btw this is the second time I am posting this, used the wrong photograph the last time! he he, Sorry if anyone saw it and is now confused:-)

Used some fab paper I bought a while back, some of you might be familiar with it, its Japanese Washi paper. I love this stuff, almost like mulberry paper but with gorgeous prints.

Here's where to get them: http://www.etsy.com/shop/AnnieHowes

I also used Washi tape for this (the brown stripy background) they are very easy to use and also can be used for masking as they are removable..

This is where to check them out: http://www.etsy.com/shop/littlehappythings1

So here's the card:-)

The background is made with a Hero arts stamp (Asian fan border), I stamped all the fans with Tattered rose ink and then added more distress ink on the paper with my ink applicator to get the tone on tone look.

I then cut out a piece of white card stock and added strips of tape to form a continuous stripe and mounted it in the center.

Used the 'Four dolls' stamp also by H.A and stamped on my Washi paper and a piece of White card stock. I cut out the dress and coloured in my stamped doll with Copics and assembled. Since her hair was lacking embellishments, I gave her a little flower from the same stamp set and decorated it with a single pink jewel.

I adhered her with dimensional adhesive onto a little round scallop so that she stands out.

I used a new Hero arts sentiment set called 'Take good care' which I got recently from Ebay and stamped with Chestnut Roan ink by Colorbox. Been waiting to use this, and when my stamp-a-majig came, I finally did!! Love my stamp-a-majig to bits:-) If you use rubber stamps, YOU MUST GET ONE :-) trust me.

And that's it! hope you like my card:-)
Hugs!!
Michelle.

Winner!! or shall I say winners..

2010-06-06T12:03:00.000-07:00

I have been very busy preparing my husband a special birthday dinner, most of the evening was spent in the kitchen. So now's my time to blog and check out other blogs and Flickr.

I know you are all excited to see who won the loot:-)

As you know I promised to post a winner by Monday so I got busy cutting out the names and picked a winner from my lucky Barret!

The lucky winner is Isa!!!!

I think Isa is new to the blog, and its always nice to see new faces here in my little corner of the world:-) So Isa please mail me as soon as you see this message!!

I was having so much fun picking a winner, I thought I should pick another one for some other extra stuff I had in my craft room, its some flowers and some ribbon, I will also include a few other embellishments too:-)

so the other winner is, Dawn!!

Dawn visited my blog through Barbs blog:-) I think she is new too, as I said before, I love getting new visitors! So Dawn please mail me your details too:-)

And if the prizes are not claimed by Wednesday midnight, I will have to pick another winner for the goodies:-)

Happy Monday guys!!

Fun with Brads!

2010-06-05T03:43:00.000-07:00

Today is my darling husbands Birthday, here is the card I made for him:-) The metal brads were bought specially for this card a couple of months ago, when I saw them on sale at Two Peas I knew exactly what sort of a card I planned to use them on!

I love circle cards, I think they are the coolest; simply because they are not your average card shape; if you go to a card shop, you don't find tonnes of circle cards now do you? :-) That's what makes them special I guess ;-)

I made the base of this card with blue and green paper by Basic Grey ( Sugar Rush) to stop it from looking like a valentines day card since I was planning to use lots of hearts on it. The green paper also has a fun print of dots that looks like confetti, so it was perfect.

I used the 'Many hearts' stamp set and the 'Valentines sayings' stamp set by Hero arts and got busy stamping the patterned hearts in Magenta and Red Colorbox ink and then Clear embossed them.

Since some of the patterned hearts were too big for this card I took the patterned heart that I had stamped and pre cut, flipped it over, used a smaller heart and stamped on it and cut it out. This way I got patterned small hearts!!

Thats a fun little trick to get the most out of your stamps:-) So if you need smaller hearts in those fab patterns you can try this out..

The banner was drawn free hand and the sentiment was stamped using the fun small letters in the Hero arts 'Cute letters' stamp set, they are great for a card like this!

I then assembled the card by adding the Big Metal number brads by Around the block to finish it off :-)

Hope you enjoyed my card, sorry I have not been able to post much as hubby has been ill these days.. Will be back with the winner for the give away and hopefully another card by Monday!

Please feel free to leave some comments or questions about the card as I love reading them:-)