MDS Hybrid True Friend Card

Today I have a "hybrid" card to share with you.  It's a "hybrid" because I made it using a combination of digital and traditional paper crafting elements. 

I created the layer with the bird and ruler completely in My Digital Studio.  I printed it out on my printer, trimmed it down, and then layered it on a Sahara Sand card base, which I had embossed using the Tulip Frame folder (from the Occasions Mini Catalog).  I added a piece of Very Vanilla Satin Ribbon, attached with Sticky Strip and ruffled for a softer look.  I topped that with a piece of the Victoria Crochet Trim. 

I stamped the True Friend image from the Sale-a-Bration Punch Bunch set, punched that out, and attached it to a piece of Styled Silver Hodgepodge Hardware.  I then added a couple Basic Jewel Pearls on the Hardware to dress it up a little more. 

This was actually a pretty quick and easy card to create!  I really like the results.  What do you think? 

Thanks for stopping by!

- Michelle



Rose-Covered Mini Easter Basket

This little basket is a 3D item I created for a recent swap with my friend Marlene.  I thought it would make a cute Easter basket, and filled it with Smooth & Melty Mints, since those were the closest thing to Easter candies I could find when I made it!   This could also make a cute favor for a spring birthday party or gathering.

You might recognize the bottom of the basket as cut from the same die I used for the cupcakes for my hostess tea.  It is from the Bigz XL Table Setting Die.  This time, though, I used Crumb Cake (kraft) card stock, and after die cutting on the Big Shot, ran the card stock through my crimper.  I would release pressure on the crimper and turn the card stock every so often to keep the lines roughly vertical.

The handle was created by die cutting Crumb Cake card stock with the Tasteful Trim Die (again with the Big Shot).   I glued that into the basket base.  The base of the basket also has a Fancy Flower Fold flower in the base to fill the hole in the bottom -- same as with the cupcake bases.

The roses started as Marina Mist circles that I had punched out, and then trimmed into a spiral.  I twirled them up and then glued them.   The leaves are Old Olive card stock that I die cut using the Little Leaves die. 

I packaged the candy in a Small Cello bag, tied at the top with a piece of Pear Pizzazz Stitched Poly Twill Ribbon.

Don't know about you, but I can't wait for spring!!! 

Thanks for stopping by!

- Michelle VanWiggeren

Marlene's Valentine's Owl Card

Here's another of my talented friend Marlene Caravello's beautiful creations from our swap back in January!  My apologies for not showing you this Valentine's idea sooner!  I think it could easily be adapted though for a fun birthday, wedding or anniversary card.   So, maybe it's not really too late after all?  :)  Anyway, here's the card: 

The owl stamp is from the Sale-a-Bration set Punch Bunch.  It looks like Marlene stamped the image twice, punched out one of the images with the owl punch and then trimmed around just the wing of the other image so she could paper piece that on with the Red Glitter Paper heart.  The little red hearts are also punched out of Red Glitter Paper, using the heart from the owl punch.

The Got Love? stamp is from the Got Treats set in the 2010-2011 Idea Book & Catalog. 

The Pink Pirouette layer was embossed with the Tulip Frame Embossing Folder from the Occasions Mini.  I love that folder -- adds such a great touch to a card!

The inside of this card is fabulous, too.  Marlene lined the top with a piece of paper that she had run through the Big Shot with the Heart Pressed Letterpress Plate, which she'd inked up with Real Red ink.

Great fun!  Thanks again for swapping with me, Marlene!!!

And, thank you for stopping by!

- Michelle

P.S.  Don't forget about my blog candy-- more details here!

Marlene's Chocolate Card

 Doesn't this card look yummy?

Even on the inside!

This is another of the amazing cards I received from my swap with my talented friend Marlene Caravello back in January!!!  This card uses the Eat Chocolate set from the Occasions Mini Catalog, which coordinates beautifully with the Large Oval Punch and Decorative Label Punches.  Marlene also used the Tasteful Trim die and Perfect Polka Dots Textured Embossing Folder for the Big Shot to add some fun details to the card!

I have one more of Marlene's cards from this swap to share with you tomorrow!  Stay tuned.

Thanks for stopping by!

- Michelle

P.S.  Don't forget about my blog candy -- if you haven't left me a comment yet, please hop over here and do that now!

200th Blog Post!!! Guess that calls for some blog candy to celebrate!

Just realized that I'm about to hit a milestone with my blog . . . this is my 200th post!!!   I'm also celebrating my 6th year as an independent Stampin' Up! demonstrator.  So, those are both very good reasons to give away some blog candy!

I've decided to give away one "grand blog candy" including a 6x6" Patterns Pack III and an assembled but unused Country Morning wood mount stamp set (with some great spring images to color!), plus some random ribbons and accessories (not shown)!  Here's a photo so you can see the stamp set:

To enter, please leave a comment on this post by March 1st (if you are viewing on Facebook, please be sure to click through to my actual blog to leave your comment!) To be eligible for this "grand blog candy," you must have a U.S. shipping address.

I've also decided to choose five lucky winners to receive a special card from me!  Again, to enter, please leave a comment on this post by March 1st!  (For this, you can enter even if you don't have a U.S. shipping address.) 

I'll select the winners shortly after the 1st -- watch for a blog post announcing them!

Thanks for stopping by!

- Michelle

Sew Glad to Have this Card from Marlene!

It's a rainy day here, so we're staying warm inside!  This has been the perfect opportunity to catch up on a few projects -- including work on my Christmas photos collage album.  Anyway, I also had a chance to look back through and noticed I had some great cards I've been meaning to share and hadn't yet.  So, here's one of them.  I received this card in a swap with my friend Marlene Caravello back in early January! 

Marlene used the Puns from the Past stamp set on her card.  The "fabric" in the sewing machine is a piece of Blushing Bride 1/2" Stitched-Poly Ribbon.  Clever, huh?! 

The designer paper behind the sewing machine is from the Springtime Vintage paper.  Marlene, please correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the other designer paper (the piece behind the focal image and used for the buttons) is from the Sweet & Sour Designer Series Paper pack.  The buttons are die cut and embossed using the Sweet Buttons Embosslit, which I have been having great fun using, too!  The textured piece is embossed with the Square Lattice folder.

The inside of the card is beautifully finished, too!  Here it is:

It has more buttons created with the Sweet Buttons Embosslit, and some stamped with the coordinating Button, Button stamp set.  Marlene used the Eyelet Border along the piece on the left side, and she added some Rose Red Seam Binding Ribbon on the other side of that piece.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

- Michelle

Michelle VanWiggeren
Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator

Never Ending Ice Cream Parlor Card

So, a while back in this post I had teased you with a sneak peek of a card made with the Sale-a-Bration Ice Cream Parlor Designer Series Paper and Quick Accents.  I wasn't able to show you the whole card then because it was a special project I was creating for my latest swap with Marlene! 

Marlene has now received the card, so I can show you the rest of the photos of this project.  It is actually a Never-Ending card.  When I saw the instructions for this type of card in Stampin' Success (Stampin' Up!'s wonderful monthly magazine for demonstrators!  Ask me how you can get your copy -- I'd love to have you join my team!  . . . but I digress . . .), I knew I had to try it out, and I knew it would be perfect for the swap challenge to make a card that moves.

Here are the photos of the different views of the card:

Kind of amazing that all of those photos are of the same card!  And, it's such a fun card to pick up and interact with -- it's hard to stop flipping it around!

Aside from the Ice Cream Parlor set, I also used Punch Potpourri (a Level 1 Hostess set from the Idea Book) to create some accents, Fabulous Phrases for the greetings, and some Basic Jewel Rhinestones for bling.  The card stock base is Melon Mambo.

We'll be making a Never Ending Card at next month's hostess club -- if you are in the San Jose, CA area and would like to come learn how to make these, please let me know, and I'll get you more information about that class.

Thanks for stopping by!

- Michelle

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!  Hope you have had a great day.  It was a busy one, but good, here.  The boys really enjoyed their classroom Valentine's exchanges -- they came home and spent a good bit of time looking over their "haul" and figuring out which candies to eat first! 

I wanted to share with you what we created for each boy's class.  For my little guy, we used a sweet stamp set called Blowing Kisses.  Here's the card:

The image was stamped in Basic Black ink on watercolor paper, and then I used watercolor pencils and blender pen to color it.  I made the bubbles sparkle by covering them with Crystal Effects and Dazzling Diamonds glitter. 

The watercolor paper was layered onto Bashful Blue card stock, and then onto a Red Riding Hood base, which had been rolled with the Language of Love wheel from the Occasions Mini.  We live in a very international area, and I had to have this wheel when I saw it because it has love in so many different languages, that would be great fun to use on the boys' Valentines.

We had also created a fun sailing ship holder for his Valentines, using a tissue box and an idea from the February issue of Family Fun magazine -- here's a look at that:

The tissue box, er, I mean ship, was covered with Whisper White and Basic Black cardstock strips, and I used rolled up Basic Black strips for the smokestacks.  The ribbon/trim is Riding Hood Red taffeta from a past Holiday Mini.  The portholes are black circles, which Timothy decorated with heart stickers.  And, the water was created using a circle punch along the top of a strip of Marina Mist.

For my second grader's card, we created something a bit more interactive.  He really liked the idea of a spinner card using the new Take a Spin set.  Here's one of his cards:

This card uses a Real Red base, and the wheel was stamped three times -- once in Real Red ink, once in Tangerine Tango, and finally in Rich Razzleberry.  I then cut out the Tangerine and Razzleberry pieces I wanted to add to the spinner and "paper pieced" them on.  There's a circle of the new Red glitter paper in the center, and I added punched pieces of the Red Glitter Paper to the ends of the spinner.  While I was making these, I tried to take a video with my method for attaching the spinner so it will spin smoothly.  Once I figure out how to edit and upload the video, I'll try to post it here.  Fingers crossed I can make it work!

Thanks so much for stopping by! 

- Michelle

Be My Vintage Valentine

Valentine's Day is almost here!  Have you finished all your Valentine's cards yet?  Even though I started making Valentine's last month, I still find myself working down to the wire trying to finish up my boys' cards for their classes!   We're having fun with it though.  I'll be sure to take photos and show you what we've made soon!

In the meantime, I wanted to show you the third of the cards we made at my Vintage Valentine's class a couple weeks ago.  Here it is:

This card is on a Pretty in Pink card stock base, which was stamped with the Teahouse background stamp, inked with Pretty in Pink Classic Ink.  The outside of the card was sponged with Chocolate Chip. 

The Be My Valentine Heart was stamped twice using Chocolate Chip Classic Ink on Whisper White card stock.  Just the greeting was cut out from one.  For the other, the heart was sponged using Pretty in Pink and Regal Rose Classic Inks, and then cut out.  The greeting was attached to the top of the heart with dimensionals, and we added some Basic Pearl Jewels.  Here's a close up:

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For the ruffles on the bottom of the card, I used strips of Pretty in Pink, Whisper White and Chocolate Chip card stock.  Each strip was punched using the Pinking Hearts Border Punch.  I then ran the Pretty in Pink and Whisper White strips through the Big Shot several times, using 2-3 different embossing folders (the Tulip Frame folder from the Occasions Mini, the Vintage Wallpaper, and the Square Lattice folders . . . sponging on either Regal Rose or Chocolate Chip before changing folders).  These strips were applied to the card using strips of Sticky Strip . . . the card stock was folded to look like ruffled ribbon (much easier to do on the two strips that had their fibers broken by repeated embossing than on the plain card stock!)

For the finishing touches, I tied some Whisper White Organza ribbon around the top of the ruffled cardstock, and stamped and punched out some flowers.  The little flowers are from the Punch Potpourri Level 1 Hostess set.  They were stamped in Chocolate Chip, sponged with a little Regal Rose, and the centers were made with Crystal effects and glitter.  Here's a close up of the flowers and ruffled cardstock:

Hope you are having a wonderful weekend!  Thanks for stopping by!

- Michelle

Hostess Party Favors Revealed: Ribbon and Paper Cupcakes!

Sorry to keep you in suspense for so long!  I know you've been patiently waiting to see the favors I was making with the ribbons I showed you in my last post.  Those ribbons had been stitched and gathered into circles to form the tops for ribbon and paper cupcakes I created as favors for my 6th Annual Hostess Appreciation Tea, which was this past Saturday!  (It was a fun time to be able to relax, chat, stamp, and say thanks again to some amazing ladies who have hosted parties/workshops with me this past year!  In fact, it reminded me again that one of my absolute favorite parts of being a demonstrator is the great friends I have met and continue to meet through stamping!!!)

The idea for these cupcakes came from photos I had seen of cupcakes that were on display during Stampin' Up!'s 2010 Convention.  I couldn't find instructions anywhere for making the cupcakes, but could see what the basic ingredients were, and made up my own way of making them based on that.

Now, on to the photos!  The next step to my project after the last photo you saw was to attach the ribbons to some felt flowers I had cut out using the new Fun Flowers Bigz L Die (from the Occasions Mini!) and to sew on a button (I used a variety of Big Designer Buttons . . . some from the Holiday Mini, and some from the Springtime Vintage collection available now in the Occasions Mini).  Here's a photo of the finished cupcake tops:

Then, I made the cupcake bases.  I cut those out of Chocolate Chip card stock using the Bigz XL Table Setting Die and the Big Shot.  Before gluing them into a circle, I ran them through the Big Shot again to emboss them with the Elegant Bouquet Textured Impressions Embossing Folder.  I also cut out a bottom for the cupcake, again using Chocolate Chip card stock, and the Bigz XL Flower Folds Die.  The second largest flower fits nicely in the cup formed by the Table Setting Die cupcake wrapper.  (Found that idea in a tip from the instructions that came with the Table Setting Die!)  Here are some photos of the bases:

all lined up on the tray, waiting to be filled:

and filled with some chocolate heart candies:

Then, it was time to top the cupcakes.  So the ribbon top would fit better into the card stock base, I had stitched two felt flowers underneath the ribbon (actually at the same time I was stitching all of the top layers together.  I suppose if you do not enjoy sewing you could attach the layers together using a glue gun instead.):

And, some photos of the finished cupcakes:

These were great fun to make, and I hope the ladies at the tea enjoyed the surprise, too! 

I'm planning to include these cupcakes in an upcoming class!  Watch for more details coming soon.

Thanks for stopping by!

-- Michelle

Michelle VanWiggeren
Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator

Hostess Party Favor Sneak Peek

Here's a quick sneak peek at some of my work in progress on party favors I am making for this weekend's hostess appreciation tea:

Hmmm . . . can you guess what these are . . . or what I'm making with them?  Stay tuned . . . I'll reveal the finished project next week! 

- Michelle

Happy February!

This week is flying by quickly!  I've been busy preparing some special treats for my 6th annual hostess appreciation tea this weekend -- I can't wait for the ladies to see what I have in store for them!  I'll try to get a sneak peek up here tomorrow, and if you aren't one of the invitees, will show you the goodies and make and take next week!

Today, though, I wanted to share with you the February calendar page I created in My Digital Studio.  This is actually the 8.5 x 11 version of this page I had posted on my blog in December.  Both pages are made using elements from the 2011 Noteable Desktop Calendar Digital Download.  Here's the page:

I also used the Crochet Trim Digital Download and the little rose is from the Vintage Adornments Download.  The layout is fairly simple, but I think it captures the sweetness of the moments my littlest guy and Isabella were sharing as they watched the spring storm together.

Hope you like this!  Thanks for stopping by!

- Michelle