Altenew Inks & Build-a-Flower Gardenia

Hello friends!
In today’s short post I am sharing the results of my playtime with some ink family sets from Altenew. I wanted to see these colors on the new Gardenia stamp set from the Build-a-Flower line. Altenew is one of my favorite companies for floral and layered stamps as well as for inks. I LOVE their inks! Take a look at this rainbow-colored arrangement:

This floral stamp is a four-layer set, which is perfect for using the Altenew mini ink cube sets that come in a family of four colors each. The darkest color ink in each set was used as the outline in the floral images.  Listed below are the ink sets used from left to right above:

Red Sunset: Blush Pink, Rouge, Crimson, Velvet
Red Cosmos: Frosty Pink, Coral Berry, Ruby Red, Grapevine
Cherry Blossom: Pink Diamond, Pinkalicious, Rubellite, Razzleberry
Rose Petal: Rose Quartz, Puffy Heart, Purple Wine, Cosmic Berry
Warm & Cozy: Sunkist, Orange Cream, Autumn Blaze, Firebrick
Pocketful of Sunshine: Citrus Burst, Fresh Lemon, Maple Yellow, Honey Drizzle
Tropical Forest: Parrot, Bamboo, Olive, Moss
Green Fields: Frayed Leaf, Forest Glades, Evergreen, Jet Black
Sea Shore: Mountain Mist, Volcano Lake, Lagoon, Emerald
Cool Summer Night: Sea Glass, Caribbean Sky, Dusk, Desert Night
Deep Blue Seas: Sea Breeze, Turquoise, Tide Blue, Starlight
Glacier Caves: Arctic, Ocean Waves, Persian Blue, Sapphire
Shades of Purple: Soft Lilac, Lavender Fields, Deep Iris, Midnight Violet

Center neutrals:
Coffee Break: Sandy Dunes, Rocky Shore, Mocha, Espresso
Warm Gray: Morning Frost, Evening Gray, Moon Rock, Lava Rock
Rock Collection: Limestone, Silver Stone, Industrial Diamond, Pure Graphite

Well that’s all for me, we have nine days left to get Christmas shopping done! Hope your holidays are blessed!
Thank you for stopping by. ~Michelle

Honey Bee-Hello Gorgeous Christmas

Hi crafty friends! Sharing a few cards using Honey Bee Hello Gorgeous stamp and die sets. I saw these florals and was inspired to try and mimic some of the beautiful Christmas arrangements I see everywhere.
I initially embossed the image using four different embossing powders and cardstock, however in the end I only used three. From left to right in this first picture show the following powders: The Ton Rose Gold, Ranger Princess Gold, Wow! Gold Rich Pale, Brutus Monroe Alabaster.

I used my Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolors on Canson XL watercolor paper to color the images. After completely dry, I die cut the images. Then it was just a matter of getting my layout together; I paired the gold rich pale with red card, the princess gold with green card, and the rose gold with cream card.

For some added interest I used gold thread to hang an ornament from the branch by wrapping the thread several times around the branch, piercing a hole through the top of the ornament and taping behind the panel. 

I used The Ton Stamps stitched rectangle dies for the red card insetting the main panel and popping up its frame on foam tape. The green card is adhered flat and I used MFT Wonky stitched rectangle dies, finally the cream card I used the Lil Inker Designs Silly Stitched die set.

That’s all for me today, I hope you are enjoying your holidays.
Thank you for stopping by! Michelle

Christmas is on it's way! Heffy Doodle Elfish Antics

Hello, crafty friends! Michelle here with you again to share a couple of cards using the Elfish Antics (HFD | SSS) stamp set by Heffy Doodle. This versatile set allows for so many different scenes, I am sharing two with you today but your imagination is the limit. 
The first is this adorable train full of gifts!  My final card measures 4 x 9 inches, which fits in to a standard A10 envelope. Seriously, how cute are these images?

I used Distress Oxide inks for the sky and zig markers to color the train elements (all on Bristol Smooth card). The snowbank was free handed and cut; I covered this piece with double sided tape and then burnished Elizabeth Craft silk microfine diamond glitter on top. These pictures do not really capture the beautiful shine, it looks like real snow!

For the gifts I did some masking to layer the contents into the carts and atop one another. My card base is also Bristol Smooth card cut to 8 x 9 and scored at 4 inches. Finally, Stickles provided a little falling snow. Inside reads: "Sending holiday smiles across the miles"😄 This stamp set has so many great sentiments.For my second card, I used the coordinating dies (HFD | SSS) from this same set to cut out presents, she's a busy little elf:I used Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers and a white gel pen to "wrap" the gifts. And what is a cute she-elf without some glitz? I used black diamond Stickles to accent her festive outfit; Nuvo drops added interest to the train. Inside reads: "Wishing you holiday cheer"Here's hoping Santa's train of goodies stops by your place!I hope you will stop by the Heffy Doodle blog for more loads of inspiration. 

Thank you for stopping by! Michelle

Happy “DieCember”!!!

Well here we are, the last month of 2017! That means the beginning of Simon Says Stamp's DieCember event! So many new, gorgeous dies and other products are now available in the shop 😍. I created three cards with the Oh Hello There die. The first two are the same but different. A wonky striped background, frames and flowers (1st | 2nd) adorn this friendly sentiment, I can't decide which color combination I like best.

For my third project I made a shaker card using those cute birds from SSS Stacking Animal stamp set and designer paper from my local craft store.

Simon Says Stamp will be hosting blogshops with goo-gobs of inspiration, read all about it here.
Other supplies used:
Altenew inks
Watercolor Background (striped)
Watercolored Anemones and dies
Watercolor Wonders
Ornate Frame

Thank you for stopping by! Michelle