Freshly Made Snowy Flashback

It's another Flashback Friday!  And I have a confession...of all the paper I don't use in time, the worst offender is anything from the Holiday Catalog.  I always love everything and try to use restraint, but by the time the catalog ends, I've seen so many great ideas and have so many more of my own that I've gone overboard, AGAIN, even though I still have a stash of stamps and paper that I didn't use from last year.

And so here we are.  I love the Festive Flurry stamp set and matching framelits, even though I've barely used them.  So when I saw this week's sketch on Freshly Made Sketches, all I could see was snowflakes, and it gave me an excuse to bust out the nearly full pack of last year's Winter Frost DSP.  I'm a sucker for bold geometric patterns, and surprised I didn't use more of that pattern last year...though maybe it's because I was so behind that I didn't get all my Christmas cards sent!

I'm trying hard not to repeat that lapse this year, and pleased with this sparkly creation.  It's mailable!
Cheers!
~Melanie

Stamps: Festive Flurry
Ink: Silver Encore
Paper: Bermuda Bay, Island Indigo, Winter Frost DSP, Silver Glimmer
Extras: Banner framelits, Festive Flurry framelits, Northern Frost decorative strip die

Haunted Houses

Though I've been stamping for years, I've never made a Halloween card.  So this is my first, and I rather love it.  The Holiday Home stamp set is primed for every holiday, and was so much fun to play with.  I wasn't planning to make a Halloween card, but once I got done coloring and cutting out my houses, I really wanted to use that ghost to pop out of the chimney...and things just went from there.

Some of my favorite things here are how bright the houses are--thanks to Blendabilities!  I didn't do much shading, since the spaces are so small, but these markers are also fantastic for loading up with vivid color.  They remind me of cartoon houses.

I'm also in love with the little details: the spider on the door of the middle house (yuck!), the bats winging back and forth, and that perfect little jack-o-lantern that shows on the inside of the card as well.  Too cute!

So, I hope you're ready for Halloween and that, even if things are spooky, they are also so much fun.
Cheers!
~Melanie

Stamps: Holiday Home
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Basic Grey, Early Espresso, Pumpkin Pie, Blendabilities in Calypso Coral, Rich Razzleberry, Cherry Cobbler, Coastal Cabana, White Stampin' Chalk Marker
Paper: Whisper White, Smoky Slate
Extras: Homemade Holiday framelits

A Sneak Peek

...at what's in progress. Stay tuned!

Cheers!

~Melanie

Baby Smiles

Of course, I had to make a baby card to go along with the library starter pack I shared on Wednesday. But, since I don't have kids or many baby stamps, I wasn't sure what I would have to work with.  A quick look at my stamp shelves and I knew I was in luck, thanks to one of Stampin' Up!'s many all-purpose stamp sets.  This little ducky is from Embellished Events, and it was fun to ink up with my markers for a bright image.

I also love the sentiment, which isn't a traditional baby sentiment but fits just perfectly: "So many smiles...begin with you."  How true!  Once I found that couplet in Petite Pairs, this card came together really quickly and I got my package out on time.  That's a personal win-win.

This card also fits my "flashback friday" goal, since I used some retired DSP for the front, inside and coordinating envelope.  I just love how quick it is to make a "fancy" envelope with the Envelope Punch Board.  If you don't have one...well, what are you waiting for?

Wishing you a wonderful weekend, full of smiles!
~Melanie

Stamps: Embellished Events, Petite Pairs
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Marvelous Markers in Daffodil Delight, Tangerine Tango, Real Red, and Pacific Point
Paper: Pacific Point, Polka Dot Parade, Tangelo Twist, Gumball Green, Whisper White
Extras: Chalk Talk framelits, Bitty Banners framelits, Envelope Punch Board

Library Starter Kit

All of a sudden, it seems like everyone--but me--is having babies.  And I'm just fine with that, but since I lack firsthand experience, I've been at a bit of a loss when it comes to baby gifts.  I don't know what you really need, and I'm terrible at shopping off a registry (which I realize is silly, since registries make things easier).  The problem is, I want to give something that's personal.

I love to read, and I think it's pretty important for kids.  Books almost never appear on baby registries, but I always pick up board books for gifts.  So when I found this poem by Jane Yolen, one of my favorite authors from growing up, I had an AHA! moment.  From now on, I'm giving all new babies a library starter kit.

This one goes in the mail tomorrow, and hopefully my friend will be too busy with her new baby to check out my blog before she opens the gift.  I used the Storytime Kit for My Digital Studio to illustrate the poem, and have it all packaged up with a stack of books so that parents and their wee one can spend some time bonding and expanding their imaginations.  I hope it's a gift that will grow as they do.

Cheers!
~Melanie

My Digital Studio: Storytime Ensemble

Hello Fall

Fall is definitely in full bloom here in MA, and the colors are just fantastic!  I've seen lots of fall wreaths using the Wondrous Wreath stamps and matching framelits, and inspired by more cards than I can count, I decided to make this one.  Actually, I made multiples of this one because I love it so.

Photopolymer stamps make two-step stamping soooo easy, and the addition of tabs for lining up everything--from your stamps to your framelits--makes this card a snap to make.  Honestly, the hardest part was choosing my colors.

Because I wanted to use that bold Blackberry Bliss as the card base, I decided to add some Crushed Curry embossing for a sentiment that pops.  I hope you love it as much as I do.

Happy fall, y'all!
~Melanie

Stamps: Wondrous Wreath, For All Things
Ink: Hello Honey, Tangelo Twist, Perfect Plum, Versamark
Paper: Blackberry Bliss, Mossy Meadow, Whisper White, Tangelo Twist
Extras: Crushed Curry embossing powder, Woodgrain embossing folder, Wonderful Wreath framelits

Hello Polka Dots

After making and falling in love with Wednesday's card, I wondered what else I could create using the same techniques.  So I started with the Dots decorative mask, a sponge dauber, and Island Indigo ink.  When I pulled the mask away, I was in awe of the lovely watercolor look that I had created by not inking each circle fully...and I didn't want to cover that up!

So I flipped through my framelits, and found this script hi in the Circle Card set.  I cut that out of Silver Glimmer paper--with adhesive sheets underneath it, of course, for easy glueing and cropped a word bubble from Calypso Coral using the Word Bubbles framelits.

I think this makes a great anytime card, and I'm going to have to make a lot more because I don't think I can bear to part with this one!

Cheers!
~Melanie

Ink: Island Indigo
Paper: Whisper White, Calypso Coral, Silver Glimmer Paper
Extras: Dots and Stripes Decorative Masks, Word Bubbles framelits, Circle Card framelits, sponge daubers, dimensionals

Golden Joy

Another from my long crafting weekend.  I first saw this technique and this card on Mary Fish's blog, and I immediately knew I had to make it for myself.

First of all, I thought layering and building up the "Joy" cut out was genius, and I love how it gives the card easy dimension as well as instant interest--in person, you can see that the layers below the gold foil are Island Indigo.

Secondly, while I might have used the Stripes decorative mask diagonally, I would have never thought to use only partially color it in.  I also love how the smears of ink give the card a clean and abstract look.

It's so simple, and so pretty!  If you want to make one of these yourself--and you should--check out Mary Fish's video on how to use Adhesive Sheets before you use your framelits.  It makes this gorgeous card much easier than it looks.


Cheers!
~Melanie

Stamps: Endless Birthday Wishes
Ink: Blackberry Bliss, Island Indigo
Paper: Gold Foil, Island Indigo, Whisper White
Extras: Wonderful Wreath framelits, Dots and Stripes Decorative Masks, Sponge Daubers

All In on Blendabilities

I hope you had a lovely long weekend!  Mine was great--it was the first time in quite a few weeks that we stayed at home, which meant that I had lots of time to play with my newest Stampin' Up! goodies, as well as some old favorites.  Creating is relaxing and so much fun!

I'm sharing this card first because I think that Blendabilities are my new favorite thing.  Blendabilities are alcohol markers that come in sets of three shades of the same color, so you can shade and blend (hence the name) to give your coloring dimension.  Stampin' Up! first introduced them over the summer, and I wasn't sure that they would be for me.  I thought they'd be too fussy and, as much as I love the SU's regular markers, I rarely color with them.  (I use them to ink parts of stamps.)

After playing with Blendabilities for the first time on Sunday, I can say that I was wrong and these are definitely for me and for everyone else!  You start with the darkest shade and overlap the medium and then the lightest, which gave an old favorite--Pleasant Poppies--a whole new way to pop off the card stock.  I just love how much these look like real flowers or printed paper, and can't wait to get more colors in Blendabilities and try them on everything.

This was super easy, lots of fun, and is just gorgeous.  I can't wait to get this card in the mail.

Cheers!
~Melanie

Stamps: Pleasant Poppies
Ink: Memento Black, Pear Pizzazz
Paper: Whisper White, Canteloupe Crisp
Blendabilities: Cherry Cobber, Pumpkin Pie, Coastal Cabana, Rich Razzleberry, Calypso Coral

Flashback Friday

Time to use my scraps!  I love designer series paper, but never use it up before I fall in love with the new patterns. So I've challenged myself to use up what I have on hand...and I have a LOT on hand, so this might be a regular feature. 

First up is Orchard Harvest from last year's holiday catalog.  I did a quick search on Pinterest for some inspiration, and found this great card that Mary Fish made.  I just love the layout, and am likely to use it again many times.

But I don't have the Autumn Accents Bigz die. I was disappointed...until I realized that I had the digital files in My Digital Studio, and I could use them with my ecutter.  Score!

And then I had lots of pretty patterned leaves, so I also made these cards. Not bad for forcing myself to use my stash, right?

What will you do with your paper stash?  Have some fun and enjoy autumn this weekend!

Cheers!

~Melanie

Stamps: Four You

Ink: Early Espresso, Island Indigo

Paper: Orchard Harvest DSP (retired), Island Indigo, Very Vanilla, Early Espresso, Raspberry Ripple (retired)

Extras: My Digital Studio

Making the Most of My Paper Pumpkin

This is the year, I swear, when my holiday packages will look fabulous as they go through the mail!  And by fabulous, I mean home crafted and personalized.

When we were moving, I loved the boxes from My Paper Pumpkin for corralling lots of little odds and ends.  They're a fabulous size and so useful.  And then, when we got here, I recycled them.  I wish I hadn't!

After making my birthday cards from Monday's post, I had a major aha! moment--and one that I got a little to excited about, I'm sure.  You can turn the Paper Pumpkin boxes inside out, and they're a great stamping surface!  Inside out, you have a kraft box, which seems to be quite trendy right now, just waiting for you to ink it up.

I used regular ink and the Festival of Trees stamp set for the first box, and then embossed the second with the retired Festive Flurry stamps.  I think the embossing will be even better than stamping for the mail, since the images won't run or blur if the mailman gets caught in the rain.

I can't believe I recycled all those other boxes!  This is such a fabulous idea, if I do say so myself, and sure to be fun even before the package gets opened.  I also discovered that I can do this with some shoeboxes too--if they aren't glued together, they're really easy to turn inside out and offer lots of stamping space, as well as room for bigger gifts.  Depending on your shoe size that is!

I'm still giddy about this project and I just love how these gift boxes turned out.  Plus I found a way to take My Paper Pumpkin goodies even further.  That's a win in my book!

Cheers!

~Melanie

My Paper Pumpkin
Stamps: Festival of Trees; Festive Flurry (retired)
Ink: Garden Green, Cherry Cobbler, Pacific Point, Going Gray, Tangelo Twist; Versamark
Extras: White, Pool Party and Tempting Turquoise embossing powders