Monthly Archives: February 2022

Can you sponge your Dino?

The new challenge of the month over at H2H is all about sponge techniques! This one was fun! Because, I don’t know about you, but I like to channel my inner Tim Holtz every now and again! I saw him do this technique years ago, on a video, that was probably years old! LOL!! Basically he used a Misti tool to make a rainbow of colors on a stamp, by sponging colors onto the stamp and overlapping them.

So, before you leave, I would love for you to leave me a note and let me know which is YOUR favorite card, and let me know if you have tried this technique!

Mine didn’t ALL overlap, but some of them did! I just think the whole thing turned out great!

I also channeled my inner Jennifer McGuire, and made TWO dinos when I was stamping, to make two cards. However, I couldn’t decide which background I wanted, so I just went ahead and did two!

Before I swap over to the other card, I wanted to show something. I managed to blow a fuze when I was making this card. (literally, had to go and flip the breaker!) So, one of my pieces didn’t cut all the way. So, I decided to do something fun with the inside, and use that piece that hadn’t cut all the way.

I tore it into a ‘sloped’ shape, and then distressed it, and glued it to the inside of the card. I think it turned out great!

Ok, let’s see the other card, shall we?

This is the other dino! Isn’t he cute, too? I created a background with one of the images on the Artbooking cartridge. Then I cut it four times, to give it some depth

It was fun to do two different cards! It would have been much faster if I had done two of the same, but that’s ok too!

Last week, you saw that I was inspired by a friend’s son, and this week is the same! Just, a different friend! (actually, both friends’ sons like dinos!)

Like I said earlier, I hope that you will let me know which card is YOUR favorite! Also, if you might want to try this whole sponging thing, join us over at H2H for some fun challenges, and put YOUR artwork into the hat!

Thanks so much for joining me!

Have you been afraid to use Stencils?

Have you been scared to try stencils, because they might be hard? Well, you shouldn’t be! And with this Technique hop, we will give you more than a few reasons why you need to try them!

You should have arrived here from Danielle’s blog, (if you didn’t start here!) and she always has great ideas! If you started here, no worries! You will get back around to her blog, as it’s a giant circle!

So, let’s get started on what I have to show you, shall we?

Isn’t this just an adorable card!?!? (I hope you leave a comment below to let me know what you think!!) I loved coloring this little guy! I used my friend’s son as my model for coloring! (I’m not the best at it, but I think he’s cute!)

Now, the stenciling part. I started with his hoodie! I masked his hoodie first, so that I could get an ombre effect on it (which I looooove how that turned out!) and then masked off his arms and pocket, so I could add stripes from the stencil. I used the card front 3 bundle for the stripes. (these are all done in bluebird ink.)

Then I decided I needed to make it a bit more! So, I grabbed the thanks stencil from the card stencil pack 1, picked the upper case A, masked off around it, and used texture paste and silver embossing powder to make an A on the front. (my model’s first name starts with an A). I let the paste dry, then heat embossed the A, it gives it some extra dimension!

I took some white daisy cardstock, and stamped the headphones, pizza, cup, donut, TV, and laptop in linen ink to make the background less boring! I stamped and cut the headphones and cup with their thin cuts, and the pizza I fussy cut (no thin cut for that one!) I popped up my model, and he is super cute!

I decided I needed a bit more blue, and a bit more silver, as well, so I grabbed a strip to heat emboss the word Awesome in the silver embossing powder, and then the ‘you are’ in sapphire ink just above it!

I used most of the guys stamps, because they are so easy to mix and match! I even used one of the girls!

To finish off the card, I used the same stencil and same ink (bluebird) to create the stencils on the card base. I think it ties everything in perfectly! Now, after you leave a quick comment, head on over to Lauren’s blog! She has some great stuff!

Remember to leave a little love on everyone’s post! We all love crafting, and we love to know that what we show you is appreciated!

Thanks! And see you next time!

~Michelle

SWAK isn’t what you think it means!

We grew up thinking this was Sealed with a Kiss, right? Well, you could technically do that with what I have for you today, but today I have a different meaning for you!

Today we are STAMPING with a KISS! Have you heard about the Kiss Technique? Well, it is where you ink up one stamp, stamp it onto another stamp that has a design, and then stamp the remaining ink onto your project. Sounds pretty cool, right? Well, let’s see what I made to show you!

Isn’t this sentiment just so cute?? I bet you couldn’t guess which stamp I used to kiss the letters onto! Would you believe it was an ice cream cone stamp? Well, it was! I just thought the texture was so fun, and would work so well with the PML card that I used for the top of the card!

The ice cream cone is in the same set as the coffee card, and we already know that I love me some coffee cards! So, it just worked out so perfectly!

I know my friend Lynn loves that there can be more uses for dies than what they are specifically designed for, so hopefully this card will make her smile!

The white frame on this card is the Oval Frame Thin Cut! I paired it with the Circles Thin Cuts, and you wouldn’t know that it’s supposed to be an oval inside!

I just wanted to show off the gold embossing on the bottom of the letters! It just makes them pop! (well, that and a few layers of cardstock!)

I used no foam tape on this card, no coloring, I just wanted a nice ‘simple’ card! (ok, maybe not ‘simple’ . . . )

I hope that you like the card, and leave a message below letting me know your thoughts! If you try the Kiss technique, go and show off your project at the H2H blog! The would LOVE to see your craftiness, too!

~Michelle

CTMH Supplies Used: