Illustration Friday - STRETCH

 This week's theme for Illustration Friday is STRETCH.  This girl has a stretched neck and a cool quote too - 

"Reading is a means of thinking with another person's mind; it forces you to STRETCH your own."

Stamped the quote onto her hat - stamping backwards is the technique that seems to work the best for me to get the words to fit in correctly.

 Got these stamps way back in the day at Hobby Lobby and this is my favorite ink - a true black.  So often black ink seems to be more like a dark purple.  One word of warning - if you stamp on top of paint it can take some time for this ink to dry.  I usually hit it with my heatgun to avoid smearing. 

Linking to Creative Every Day.

GS43 - Pink Thanks

Did you know that today is National Pink Day? Neither did I until I read it on the Paper Crafts Connection blog - As a kid, I loved pink!! As an adult my passion for pink has definitely cooled and I use pink in very small doses - I am more of a brown/green kinda gal now! Nothing like a great shade of brown/beige/tan to knock my socks off!! Hence my love of kraft paper that shows up quite frequently on this blog.

This card, based on Get Sketchy - GS43 sketch, is a PINK card to me although the pink is limited to the buttons and and some patterned paper (these patterned papers are My Mind's Eye and The Paper Studio that I picked up at Hobby Lobby). The buttons and silk ribbon come from PTI. Sentiment and Pink Juliette background paper are from A Muse. What is your favorite color? I don't just love brown and green - I also have a thing for black too! (I'm quite the exciting individual!!)

BTW - I made Top 5 at Get Sketchy last week! WHOO HOO!

Fifth Avenue thanks - ftl78

These two cards were made for the Clean & Simple FLT78 - I am having so much fun with these weekly layouts - wish I'd stumbled across them sooner. Layouts seem to be my biggest weakness so a jumpstart in that area really gets my "craft" on! ;)

The paper comes from my new La Creme matstack from Hobby Lobby. See all the lovely black brocade on the patterned paper - that is flocking!! Makes it pretty to see and fun to touch!

The flowers are from the SU! Fifth Avenue Florals stamp set. I did some coloring with my copics and then to add texture to the medallions a Sakura Glaze pen was run over all the edges. Adds a subtle sheen and a fun "wow" factor.

Of course when your card is made of black cardstock you need to add a writing area to the inside. Another piece of flocked paper snazzes it up a bit. The Big Thanks (9-8616C) sentiment from A Muse is the perfect finishing touch.

If you haven't already be sure and check out Clean & Simple stamping. Tell them I sent ya - Not that it would made any difference but it might be fun, right? - "eh, Michelle who??!!"

Beautiful Birds -

Here is a closer look at two of the cards we will be making in the Beautiful Birds Tote Bag with Cards class next week. This particular card seems to be the favorite of most people who see the set -
The following card is my favorite! I love the ribbon (came from the fabric department of Hobby Lobby and it is elastic - go figure), the texture from the Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folder and the staples (Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher).

There is still room in class - just send me an e-mail to register - msmathey@gmail.com

Beautiful Birds Tote Bag with Cards

Here is a sneak peek of the tote bag with cards that we will be making at the Owensboro Hobby Lobby in February. The four cards/envelopes all fit in the little bag - so fun to use or to give as a gift! To register just send me an e-mail at msmathey@gmail.com
Hope to see you then - the details are on the sidebar to the left.