My Stamping Pad

More Holiday Treats

2012-12-07T23:00:00.000-06:00

Hello! So is everyone still pinning things on Pinterest like crazy? I have been! Thanks to Pinterest we have had four new meals this week and I have a ton of other recipes saved to try out. And crafting? TONS of inspiration going on over there, which is where I got the idea for this simple treat bag.

There have been several of these types of bags being pinned. Totally clean and simple and the sort of thing you can get done even if you are pressed for time.

All you have to do is punch top of your paper bag with a decorative edge punch, then fold the top over. In this version, you can see the string wraps all the way around the bag and actually ties the tag in place. I used the sentiment from AppleDapples Collection: Filled with Cheer Emma Stamp Set, stamped it in black and embellished with some stick-on pearls.

You don't have to do the string this way, if you don't want to. I have seen some that are using mini clothes pins, shaped paper clips, etc., to attach the tag at the top of the fold. Just as simple, and still cute!

Happy Holidays,

Michelle

Magnetic Bookmark

2012-11-30T23:00:00.000-06:00

Hi there! I have taken a little break from my holiday crafting and have made this cute little magnetic bookmark to share with you today. My daughter has been reading a TON lately so I decided to make a little something fun for her and came up with this...

This is SUPER simple to make and cute, cute, cute! I cut a piece of patterned paper to about 2 1/4" by 6", and folded it in half to make the bookmark. I decorated the front with a couple of stamps from Vintage October: Winter Pocket Fillers Stamp Set (SP & Company). The sentiment is stamped in black, directly on the bookmark. The heart is stamped on a separate piece of patterned paper that I cut out and glued on. Originally I was going to go with a 3 heart design, but I liked the CAS look of the single heart.

I didn't add any dimension to this at all, because it has to fit in a book. So, keep that in mind when you make them.

Here is a shot of the inside...

I cut two small strips of magnet from some of those business card magnets that you can pick up at the store. They have a sticky back, so all you do is peel it and stick it. Easy peasy! The bookmark will slide over the page of the book, and the magnets just help hold it in place.

OK, so maybe not a complete holiday break...these would make great gifts for the readers you know!

Happy holidays!

Michelle

Holiday Treat Bag

2012-11-25T10:28:00.003-06:00

Hello everyone! Have you started your holiday baking yet? I haven't, but I am planning on it soon, so I have started coming up with some ideas for how to present some of the baked goodies I have planned on making. Today I am sharing one of the goodie bags I have put together.

This is a brown paper lunch bag that I have folded the top over, and tied shut with some pretty ribbon. I used the candy canes from Vintage October: Winter Pocket Fillers Stamp Set and the label from Handmade Holiday Gift Tags Stamp Set to decorate the front. The bag is big enough that you can fit in a few homemade cookies, or maybe some peppermint bark, etc.

I was thinking these would make cool party favors too. You can have all your bags ready to go and fill a basket with them. Then pass them out to your guests as they are leaving. Your guests will get a nice treat, and you will have a pretty basket full of favors too!

Happy Stamping,

Michelle

Sweets For a Sweetie Pie

2012-11-17T10:05:00.002-06:00

Hello! Today I have a cute little tag to share with you for the holidays. Each year we usually make and give lots of baked goodies to friends and neighbors, so I am getting started on making some gift tags to go with them.

For this one I used a die cut tag that I got from a pack at the store. I stamped the snowflakes in VersaMark ink, then rubbed some blue sparkle chalk over the whole thing to make the snowflakes pop with color. The sentiment is stamped directly over top with black ink. I stamped the cookie tray on some white cardstock, colored it with my Prismacolor pencils, trimmed it, and mounted it with a pop dot. Finish it off with some pretty ribbon, and you are ready to go!

The stamps I used are from two different SP & Company stamp sets. They are In Love Emma (AppleDapples Collection) and Handmade Holiday Gift Tags.

I hope you are all getting geared up for the holidays. Personally, I am looking forward to spending Thanksgiving with family next week and starting my Christmas shopping!

Thanks for stopping by,

Michelle

SP & Company Teal Hop!

2012-11-09T23:00:00.000-06:00

HTML:
We are shaking things up a bit with the holidays on the horizon and combining the November and December stamp release into one big party! That means extra projects for you today! All of these gorgeous stamps are available now! We will not have a December release party so that everyone can concentrate on family & friends.

This month's color is Teal! After you're done hopping around today, make sure you play along with this month's Teal challenge (click here for details) for a chance to win some amazing SP and Company prizes!

Do you want to win some amazing SP & Company Products? Then don't forget that the Prize Patrol is always watching! Leave a comment on every single blog to be eligible for the prizes!! The more blogs you comment on, the better your chances are of winning something fabulous!

Make sure you check out the SP Blog to see what Samantha did with the new stamps! And don't forget to hop around to each Design Team Member's blog - there are brand new projects that will inspire you!

This is also the first blog hop with our NEW Design Team Members, so make sure you stop by each and every blog to check out the amazing projects!!! We also have a fabulous guest designer joining us today!

Chrissie
Kelli
Michelle
Evgenia
Amber
Jenn
Vicki
Guest DT - Roxanne

CSAYL Anything Goes Challenge with Bugaboo Stamps

2012-10-12T10:59:00.001-05:00

Happy Friday, all! It's time for a new CSAYL challenge, and this week it's Anything Goes. My project this week is this cute little wine tag...

This adorable little snowman is from our sponsor this week, Bugaboo Stamps Play along with us this week and you can win 7 free digi stamps from Bugaboo Stamps! Be sure to upload your Christmas project over on the CSAYL Challenge Blog and also check out all of the other fabulous projects from the team this week.

Thank you so much to Bugaboo Stamps for such a wonderful prize package! Pop on over to their site and check out what you can win. You will not want to miss out on the chance to get some of their wonderful images!

Can't wait to see what you all make this week!

Michelle

SP & Company October Blog Hop!

2012-10-10T00:00:00.000-05:00

This month's color is Black! After you're done hopping around today, make sure you play along with this month's Black challenge (click here for details) for a chance to win some amazing SP and Company prizes!

OK, so you may have noticed that my card base is brown and not black. Yep. I know. Funny story...I got way wrapped up in this new Christmas Day Carta Bella paper. That is what all of these patterned papers are from and they are beautiful! Love, love, love them. Anywho, I got my layout all done, pulled out a piece of black cardstock, thinking I would just mount it on a black card and....no...it totally didn't work. So, it became brown....

Now, TECHNICALLY, I have still used black, since my image and sentiment are both stamped in black, lol! I have used a mix of images from two of October's brand new releases Glam Girl Emma and Handmade Holiday Gift Tags. These sets are just AWESOME and go together so well! I colored Emma with a combination of colored pencils, markers and used some of those patterned papers to paper piece her clothes. The papers were just perfect. I love how her skirt turned out with the chevron stripe. So cool!

Do you want to win some amazing SP & Company Product? Then don't forget that the random prize patrol is watching! Leave a comment on every blog to be eligible for the prizes!! The more blogs you comment on, the better your chances are of winning something fabulous!

Make sure you check out the SP Blog to see what Samantha did with the new stamps! And don't forget to hop around to each Design Team Member's blog - there are brand new projects with the stamps that came out TODAY to inspire you!

Here is the list of designers that will inspire you today:

Chrissie
Kelli
Michelle
Amber
Vicki
Guest DT - Sonya

A Merry Little Christmas

2012-10-05T13:15:00.000-05:00

Have you checked out Christmas week over on the SP & Company blog yet? Lots and lots of great holiday projects for you, if you haven't seen them yet!

Today I have a Christmas card to share with you that I made using the new set Filled With Cheer Emma. I have to say...this might be my favorite SP&Co stamp set EVER!!! Little Emma is so cute, and there are so many fun stamps in this set.

For my card, I stamped Emma and colored her in with a combination of markers and colored pencils. I used the little candy cane stamp in the set to stamp a background on the white strip and stamped the sentiment in black. Emma is popped up on some dimensional foam dots. The patterned paper is from Happy Holidays Journaling Paper by Echo Park.

I can't wait to play with this set some more! Lots and lots of ideas for this one.

Happy Christmas Week,

Michelle

CSAYL Friday with Fred She Said

2012-09-21T08:59:00.002-05:00

Hello! It's Friday and there is a new Christmas Stampin' All Year Long challenge up for you. This week is being sponsored by...

Fred She Said has some adorable digi stamps and this weeks winner is going to win a $15 gift certificate to use in their store! Awesome, right?

OK, so this weeks challenge is All Sewn Up. So do something that involves some stitching on your project. This can done on your sewing machine, stamped stitches, done with a pen, etc. However you choose.

Now don't laugh, but you might notice that my stitches are not showing up in this picture. Why is that, you ask? Because I got ahead of myself and snapped this picture before adding them. So I ripped my card apart (yes, literally), added some stitching and then it was too dark to get a good picture! So. When the sun comes up tomorrow - or today as you will be reading this on Friday - I will snap a new picture and update it. It's just been that kind of week, lol!

Be sure to pop over to the CSAYL Blog to see all of the other projects this week!

Happy Friday,

Michelle

Spooky Treats for School

2012-09-18T08:26:00.000-05:00

Hello again! Is everyone else enjoying the Fall weather that is starting to set in? It's still getting pretty hot here during the day, but the nights are cooling down. I love Fall! Of course, that means I do a lot of crafting for the Fall holidays, too. So today I am sharing a sweet little treat for Halloween! I like to make lots of little things for the kids to take to school for the holidays and this is one of my goodies going to Emma's class.

I used a small cellophane bag and filled it with some candy corn. Using some patterned papers, I have made a little bag topper for decoration. I wanted to personalize them, so I made a little nameplate using one of the journaling stamps from the Scallops and Lines stamp set. For this one, the letters are die cuts, but with long names I will probably just hand write them.

Here is a close-up of the topper, so you can see the little bats. Had to add some Stickles to the bats for a little extra fun!

Honestly, the hardest thing about these is not eating all of the candy corn!

Happy Stampin',

Michelle

Laugh Until Your Face Hurts!

2012-09-12T13:35:00.001-05:00

Hello everyone, today I have a card to share with you that is sure to spread some laughter and happiness! We can all use a little more of that, right?

For this card I started out by stamping my background with some of the happy faces from the Cutest Gingerbread Man set.

I lined up 4 of them on my acrylic block and inked them up on my Kaleidacolor pad. These faces are actually small enough that you can ink them with just one color from the pad, which is what I did here.

Those faces make for a whole lotta happy! The words are from the Pure Happiness set. I have cut my stamp that says "Pure Happiness Is" apart so I can stamp each word individually, and I just added the "..." after "is" with a marker.

On the inside of the card I stamped the sentiment with one of the not-so-happy faces. That little frowny face just cracks me up. That's about how you start to look when you DO laugh so hard your face hurts! Which is something I happen to do a lot, and hope you do too!

Happy stampin',

Michelle

Halloween Pencil Toppers

2012-09-04T00:00:00.000-05:00

Hi! It's September now, so Halloween is totally fair game now. Woohoo! In fact, it is Halloween Week over on the SP & Company Team Blog, so check in over there each day this week for some fun, Halloween treats!

Today is actually my day over on the blog, and I have a bonus project for you here as well. I always like to make treats for the the kids to take in to their classes for the holidays. A really fun one to do is a holiday themed pencil with a fun topper.

Now, my number one rule for making things for the kids is...KEEP IT SIMPLE! As much as the kids will love whatever you make for them, the simple fact is that they will tear it to shreds in front of your crying eyes! Trust me. You don't want to put too much labor into these sorts of things. Keep it simple and you can save yourself from flipping out when the shreds hit the floor, LOL!

I used the Nested Bats dies from Spellbinders to cut out the bat from some black paper. The edge is inked with some white ink. Had to add some googly eyes, because let's face it...they make everything better! I wanted it to say something, but wanted to keep it pretty general, so I chose these stamps from Mix 'n Match Sentiments: Kids. With this particular pencil it becomes "For the scary kiddo". Hee hee! Because kids are pretty darn scary, right?

You can whip a bunch of these out in no time. Emma's class only has 16 kids this year so I am very lucky! But with some classes pushing 30 kids, something like this would still be simple to pull off.

Pop over to the Team Blog and see the other project that I made for Halloween week. Ever wish that candy grew on trees? Here's a little sneak peek...

Happy Halloween Week!

Michelle

CSAYL Friday!

2012-08-24T07:41:00.002-05:00

Hello! It's Friday, so that means it is time for another CSAYL challenge! This weeks challenge is to make a card using non-traditional Christmas colors. This is always a fun challenge and it's nice to get away from the typical reds, greens, etc., for Christmas. Play along with us this week and you can win 4 images from this weeks sponsor, Meljen's Designs! You don't want to miss this one. Meljen's has some of the most adorable images, like this little owl....

He's so cute!!! I went with more of a note card style for this card and didn't stamp a sentiment on the outside. I really like doing cards this way, because I can send them whenever I want. This could be used for Christmas, a seasonal winter note card, etc.

Be sure to upload your project using non-traditional Christmas colors to the challenge blog and go check out Meljen's Designs to see what you can win!

Have a great weekend!

Michelle

There's Something Fishy Around Here!

2012-08-20T09:36:00.001-05:00

Hello everyone! I have a really fun card to share with you today. It's no secret that I have loved the Father's Day Fun (SP & Company) stamp set, ever since it came out. If you've been hanging out here for awhile, you have probably seen me use it a few times! Well, I have found another awesome way to use these stamps. Fish!!

That's right...turn those little neckties on their sides and you have cute little fish! I stamped them on a mix of patterned papers from Splash (Echo Park) and Paradise Beach (Echo Park), and trimmed them out. For the eyes, I used some little, black pearl accents. The sentiment, from Bold Sentiments III: Birthdays (SP & Company) is stamped in black ink.

Are these guys fun, or what??? Don't be surprised if you see these little fishies making another appearance around here. Love, love, love them!

I am entering this one into the CAS-ual Fridays challenge this week. The theme this week is...

Happy stampin',

Michelle

Hello, Stud Muffin!

2012-08-14T07:54:00.002-05:00

Hello there! How is everyone's Summer winding down? Our kids don't go back until next week, but I know some people have already started going back. Going to be busy this week getting all the last minute shopping done, haircuts, etc. Hard to believe Alex is a Sophomore this year, and Emma is going into third grade?!?

Have still been managing to find some stamping time among all the craziness. Which is good....it keeps me sane! Spent some time playing with the new Lawn Fawn stamps that I ordered a couple of weeks ago and made this little cutie.

This one is an itty bitty. It is only about 3" x 3". Perfect size to drop a little note in the hubbies bag when he takes a trip or something. All of the images, including the paper lines, are from Lawn Fawn. I punched the left edge with a punch I got from EK Success. Love the look of the notebook paper!

And, I am entering this one over on the CAS-ual Fridays blog for the square card challenge. Even though my card has taken on a slightly rectangular look in this picture? Not sure how that little trick happened. Of course, it could just be my eyes! I have an appointment for that this week, too, haha!

Have a great day!

Michelle

Christmas Stampin' Anything Goes Challenge

2012-08-10T09:00:00.000-05:00

Hello friends! Busy day around here today. I have two posts for you, so be sure to scroll down and check out the SP & Co. blog hop post too!

Can you believe Summer is almost over? We have about one more week here and the kids will be back in school already. Hard to believe. It's not all bad though. It means the holidays are right around the corner, and that makes me happy!

So are you ready for another Christmas Stampin' All Year Long challenge? This weeks theme is Anything Goes, so you are free to do whatever you want. Our winner this week is going to win some cool 6x6 papers and some ribbon!

This card was cut with the Nestabilities Labels 22 dies. I embossed the front with Swiss Dots from Cuttlebug. All of the patterned papers are from Echo Park, and the stamps are from the "Christmas Wishes" set by Unity Stamp Company.

Is that little penguin not the cutest thing, ever??? Just looking at him makes me smile! If you love Unity stamps like I do, you might also know that today is the day for Friends With Flair, so I am linking this little guy up over there as well!

Happy stampin' and have a great weekend,

Michelle

SP & Company New Release Blog Hop!

2012-08-09T23:00:00.000-05:00

Hello, it's time for the August release party over at SP & Company! We have some great new stamps to show you and tons of fun, new projects for you to check out along the way.

This month's color is Yellow! After you're done hopping around today, make sure you play along with this month's Yellow challenge (click here for details) for a chance to win some amazing SP and Company prizes!

Have you ever wanted to be a Guest Designer on the SP & Company Design Team? Well, this month is your chance to show us what you've got! Play along with our Yellow Challenge and link up your project. We will pick a Guest Designer that will work with us for an ENTIRE month! For specific details, check out Sami's blog and Good Luck!!!

This month I get to show you the brand new stamp set, Poppy Field Summer. I fell in love with this set as soon as I saw it and was so happy when it showed up for me to play with for this hop! There are a few different floral silhouette stamps along with a couple of sentiments in this set. Love, love, love the silhouette stamps!

Celebrate the Beautiful Moments

2012-08-09T07:22:00.000-05:00

Hello friends! Today is my day over on the SP & Company blog and I have a card for you that I made with the Sympathy and Care stamp set.

I used several patterned papers from the For the Record (Echo Park) 6x6 paper pack to make this one. The flowers were cut with the Dahlia Nestabilities dies, and I used a large pearl brad in the center of the largest one to really make it stand out from the smaller two. I stamped the sentiment directly on the hexagon paper with black ink. Still loving those hexagons!

I really like it when you can stamp your sentiments directly on your patterned papers. The sentiments in this stamp set work really well for that because they are large and fairly bold, so they really stand out without having to create a separate layer on your project!

Happy Stampin',

Michelle

My Halloween Card is Playing Tricks on Me

2012-08-07T15:40:00.001-05:00

You ever have one of those projects that just won't photograph well, no matter how many times, positions, and lighting conditions you try??? Well that is what is happening to me with this one and I am sharing it anyway...

I actually love this card, and you will just have to trust me that it looks MUCH better in real life! I have been having fun playing with creating scenes lately. The cat stamp is from Unity Stamp Co., the fence is Martha Stewart, and the bats are Spellbinders.

I know, it might seem early for Halloween, but I love making Halloween projects, so you are probably going to start seeing a sprinkling of them around here. Can't help myself! I was at AC Moore and JoAnn's today and both have Halloween stuff out, so I will just follow their lead, lol!

Thanks for stopping by,

Michelle

Cute Critters and a Winner!

2012-08-05T08:43:00.000-05:00

Good morning everyone! I hope you are enjoying your weekend. It's been nice around here. Not too much going on this weekend, so I have had some time to stamp!

I made this card for the current Card Cupids challenge. The challenge is to make a birthday card or use any shade of blue on a kids card.

This one is a combination of stamps from Lawn Fawn and My Cute Stamps. All of the images are stamped in black to create the scene, then I just outlined them with my Prismacolor pencils. This is a really fun coloring technique. The outlines make the images pop, and it just looks cool!

OK, now the winner of my blog candy giveaway is.....

SONYA!

Sonya, send me an email with your mailing info and I will get your prize out to you! Thanks to everyone who entered. Be sure to check back soon for another chance to win. I have another fun giveaway coming soon!

Happy Stampin',

Michelle

It's a Candy Basket....Literally!

2012-08-04T00:00:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone! I have a super sweet Saturday post for you today. And by "sweet", I don't mean just in the nice way. I mean in the sugary, yummy way! I was really excited to give this project a try because I have seen pictures of them before, seen them given as gifts, and have always wanted to make one myself. This was so much fun to make and I think you are going to enjoy it too!

Here is what you will need to get started. You will need 4 boxes of candy. These are the movie theater style boxes that you can pick up at Dollar Tree. You can use any type of candy you want, you just want all 4 boxes to be the same size. The other thing you need is some Dry Floral Foam, which conveniently, you can also get at Dollar Tree. Convenient, and inexpensive! Not pictured are the bamboo skewers that were still hiding in my kitchen drawer when I snapped this picture, and some paper Easter grass.

The piece of foam I had was far too big for what I needed, so I cut it down to size. No real math involved here, it just needs to be big enough for the boxes to attach to, and thick enough to poke some skewers into for decoration. I cut through mine with a kitchen knife.

Once it is cut, you can hold the boxes up around it to make sure you have a good fit and trim any excess off, if needed. When you are happy with the foam, attach the candy boxes to the foam with some hot glue. I applied glue where the box would stick to the foam, and also put a couple of dots where the sides of the boxes would meet to help hold them together.

Now all that's left is the decoration! I made a couple of brightly colored rosettes out of some orange and yellow cardstock. I punched a couple of circles for the centers of the rosettes from a sheet in the Splash (Echo Park) 6x6 pad, then just added buttons. The "Happy Birthday" sign is stamped using Boutique Sign and Bold Sentiments III: Birthdays. The sign and rosettes are glued to bamboo skewers and poked into the foam at the bottom. To fill in the top, I put in a little bit of paper Easter grass.

It just doesn't get much more fun than this. I see many of these in my future. I already have holiday ideas running through my head!

Thanks for stopping by,

Michelle

Sweet Treats!

2012-08-03T09:40:00.000-05:00

Hello again! It's been a slow week here, this week. Been working on several things that I can't post yet! It has been busy in the craft room though, and if you could see my table, you might run away screaming. Yep. It's bad.

Here is one card that I have been working on. This one is for the Skipping Stones Inspiration Challenge. These twine lollipops make me happy!

And here is the inspiration photo...

Love, love, love all the bright colors and the sweet treats! Happy birthday, indeed. If you haven't had a sweet overload yet (is that possible?), be sure to stop by tomorrow for an even sweeter birthday treat!

Happy Stampin',

Michelle

CSAYL Friday!

2012-08-03T09:17:00.000-05:00

Hello! It's Friday and that means it is time for another CSAYL challenge. This weeks challenge is A Pair of 3. The idea is to use three of everything, like 3 papers, 3 ribbons, 3 brads, etc.

Now, mine might not be so obvious. Obviously I have used 3 different papers, but my other 3 are not so obvious. Instead of coloring this image with markers or pencils, I chose to use chalk. I have blended 3 different colors of chalk and then printed the digital image over it. Is that cheating??? Naaaaah!

The way I have this standing, it looks like a card, but it is actually a post-it note cover. This lovely little image is from Digi Doodle Shop who is sponsoring our challenge this week.

Be sure to check out the challenge blog to see what the rest of the team did, and come play along with us. Three winners will each win free Digi Stamps from Digi Doodle Shop this week!

Thanks for stopping by,

Michelle

Christmas Stampin' All Year Long Challenge

2012-07-27T08:23:00.000-05:00

Hello! It's Friday. Woohoo! That means it is time for another CSAYL challenge. For this weeks challenge, we have a gorgeous inspiration photo for you. Here is the tag that I made based on the photo...

Supplies

Gingerbread Stamp - Meljen's Designs

Merry Christmas Stamp - Hero Arts

Patterned Paper - Echo Park

And here is the inspiration photo...

The colors were my real inspiration. I love all of the white and you can see the little pops of bright green in some of the decor and the presents.

Our sponsor this week is Meljen's Designs...

Come play along with us this week and you can win a guest designer spot in September. Be sure to check out the CSAYL blog to see what the rest of the team did!

Happy Stampin',

Michelle

SP and Company Bonus and WOYWW

2012-07-25T09:14:00.000-05:00

Happy Wednesday everyone! Have a couple of things going on here today. Today is my day over on the SP and Company team blog, and here on my blog I am sharing a bonus SP project with you!

Supplies

Baby Bella Dog - SP and Company

Pure Happiness - SP and Company

Smash Tape - K&Co.

Patterned Papers - Echo Park

I love that Baby Bella stamp, with her big flower on her collar. I just picked up the Smash Tape at the store the other day. It's such a quick and easy addition and it doesn't add a lot of bulk. Love that! Be sure to stop by the SP & Company Blog to see the project I did over there today.

Now it is Wednesday, so it's time for WOYWW!

As you can see, it has only gotten worse since last week! Guess what I get to do today? Yep. Cleaning time. I don't even really have a clean spot to work at this point. Been too busy making cards and things to clean up.

If you want to check out more crafty spaces from around the world, head over to see Julia at Stamping Ground. And if you want to play along, snap a picture of your craft table. We would love to see it!

One more thing...just a few more days to enter to win my blog candy, if you haven't done so already. Click here to enter!

Thanks for stopping by,

Michelle