Monday, October 5, 2015

Working with Stamps of Approval Kit #1

Greetings to all my fellow crafties!  During this weekend's World Card Making Day (weekend for me), I had the chance to relax and explore the beautiful stamps and stencils on the Stamps of Approval First Editions Kit.  I normally shy away from the more feminine orientated stamps with 'girlfriend' type sentiments, but with the holidays approaching soon and requests for some card sets, I realized this set is a blessing in disguise and will be perfect for the recipient to use.  Focusing on Eva's Favorite Flowers and the awesome circle stencil, here are some of my creations.  For those who have interest, the Second Edition Kit will be offered very soon.  You can visit here to be notified of the next kit.









The possibilities of these stamps are unlimited.  I will be using these for many projects.  Thank you Catherine Pooler for such an awesome kit!

Have a great day everyone and thanks for visiting!

Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Winners for Laura's Shop and Hop

Good morning fellow craftys!  Today is the announcement of the winners for last week's Laura's Shop and Hop blog contest.
Please visit Laura at noon eastern time today to claim your prize.

1st prize winner is Sara Schumann.
2nd prize winner is Mary Borg.
Thank you.
Sponsored by http://www.lauralscott.com/

My card for the day is below:

The card was made with Spectrum Noir alcohol markers. I used Stampin' Up card stock. Hope you enjoy it.

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Laura's Shop and Hop

Welcome to today's post in honor of Laura's Shop & Hop!


Today I am hopping with Laura over at Laura's Loft for the Grand Opening of her shop and First Blog Hop. We have some wonderful talent gathered today and I am sure you will love what they have created.

There will be prizes awarded and I will have that information below.

In honor of today's hop, I made a very simple card using the new Fuse Tool available at Laura's shop.  I created a background using some wonderful ColorBursts and let them dry.  I took a balloon die and die cut it from some printed card stock.  I then took a sheet protector (very inexpensive) and laid the balloon die on it. After ensuring the Fuse Tool was hot, I slowly moved the tool outside the die leaving the top uncompleted. I filled in a multitude of sequins and beads to match the card stock and background and then placed the die back on top and finished sealing the sheet protector.  I did a careful cut around the perimeter of the sheet and then using glue sealed it inside the front cardstock.  Then I sealed that to the background page and then placed that on an A2 card stock cut out of Neenah 110 lb. card stock.  The Fuse Tool is amazing and I look forward to creating many cards with it.  It is available at Laura's.







First Prize:  $30 Gift Certificate at Laura's Shop
To Enter
  1. Hoppers must Follow Laura's blog and/or subscribe to her mailing list
  2. Follow Laura on Instagram
  3. Comment on Laura's blog

Second and Smaller Prize
$10 Gift Certificate to Laura's shop
To Enter:
Follow the hop and comment on each stop.


To Choose the winner, Laura will be using Random.org and verify the winner has visited and commented on each of the blogs


Prizes will be drawn on Wednesday the 30th. 

Please visit our members below:
Mike Bakeler-You are here

Thank you for looking and have fun!
Mike


Saturday, September 12, 2015

LawnFawn Oh Snap!

It is that time of new stamps and even fresher ideas.  I received the awesome Lawn Fawn Oh Snap stamps and dies last week.  Last evening, while resting after a long day at work, a light bulb popped off in my head on how to use the stamp set.  Below is the result of that light bulb.


I used the Lawn Fawn Sweet Christmas stamp and die set.  I stamped out two houses and eight candy canes.  I colored the house with Spectrum Noir markers to match my own house on one set and only the rafters from the second set and die cut them.  I then fussy cut the second set that resemble lights. I attached the half of lights over the house and then let the second half hang as if dropped.  I then used the candy canes to create a ladder.  I then used the Lawn Fawn Oh Snap stamp and die set and stamped with Versamark on brown kraft paper and used Hero Arts white embossing powder.  I used the matching dies to cut out the pieces.  I used distress inks (Broken China and Mowed Lawn) on a piece of card stock to prepare for the background and then die cut it and the kraft brown card stock using Lawn Fawn Stitched Rectangle dies.  I die cut some grass and a rolling hill and assembled the card.   I stamped the sentiments using the Oh Snap stamp and the Get Well Soon stamp from the Lawn Fawn Get Well Soon stamp set,  I finished up with a few sequins to givee the allusion of snow flurries.  It may be wrong but I just had to do it.
Have a great day!

Thursday, September 10, 2015

Lawn Fawn Day

Greetings to all.  While waiting for my special Stamptember Lawn Fawn stamps, I wanted to show a couple cards I made using stamps from previous collections.  Many will think they are cute but are for kids, like Trix, but in reality, that is not the case.  When I have a few Lawn Fawn stamp cards at work, they disappear out of my hand faster than you can say 'Jimmy crack corn'!  LOL

I hope you enjoy these two cards.  The first card was done with watercolors for the background and castle and Spectrum Noir pens for the rainbow and unicorn.


This second card was made for a hurt colleague.  It was kept very simple and clean and colored with Spectrum Noir pens.


That's it for today.  I want to wish you a great day.  I am going to work on some fall and Halloween cards and look forward to sharing with you.

Monday, September 7, 2015

Fall is in the air..somewhere

Greetings to you. We had a low of 74 yesterday so that is the signal that fall will soon be upon us in the Sunshine State.  In honor of the seasonal trigger, I have created some fall cards with new stamps from Penny Black and Whipper Snapper.   Here is the fall stamp from Penny Black.


I did a watercolor of the above stamp.  I then did a second stamping using Momento Tuxedo Black and used Spectrum Noir alcohol ink markers to color it.


The sentiments for both of these cards are from Virginia Turtle Stamps (Crafter's Essentials) and I really cannot say enough how cleanly they stamp.

I then stamped my new Whipper Snapper stamp in Memento Tuxedo Black and colored with Spectrum Noir markers.  Hope you like them.




Simon Says Stamp 2015 September Stamp Set

I hope you had a great Labor Day (Labour Day for those in the great white north!).  This weekend, I watched a video by Laurel Beard  and was inspired to try the alcohol ink method she discussed based on a video from Gina K.  I used the Simple Simon Says September stamp set for the first two cards.
 Above,  I did the angled vertical stripes.  On the card below, I tried to create a plaid using blue, red, and purple.

Next, I found a leaf stamp and did a card using purple, and orange.  The intersections created a really neat brown tone. I also did an inlaid die-cutting technique I learned from a Catherine Pooler video and used a very small acorn stamp for accents.


Then I wanted to use the SSS stamp set a bit more and created the two below birthday cards using the Balloon dies from SSS and the current stamp set.  The first one was done on water color paper.


This next card was created using Versamagic pigment inks (first time using them and I was pleasantly surprised at the coverage on the solid clear stamp).


I realize I need to work on my emblellishments but I had a lot of fun making these card.
Have a great day!




Monday, August 24, 2015

Another Birthday Card

Good day to you.  This weekend, I played with my new Sizzix Tim Holtz Mixed Media Dies.  Below is the first card that I created.  For the sentiment, I used the Simon Says Stamps Big Scripty Sayings stampset (it is becoming one of my favorites) and I used distress inks on Ranger Distress watercolor paper for the background.  Flowers were made using stamps and dies from The Ton.

I hope you enjoy it.


Friday, August 21, 2015

Honey Goes North! A composition in white.

Greeting fellow crafty friends.  Today, I present to you my latest brainstorm- "Honey goes north!".

Using The Elizabeth Craft Design (ECD) die Ring Accordion, I cut four rings.  I cut out the center from two and set them aside.  I then glued the second ring to the first to create a more stable ring.  I attached the two rings together.  Since this was a white on white challenge to myself, I needed to focus on textures and embellishments to help me.  I used Stickles in Icicle on the rings and let that dry(I hope this is not cheating since there is a slight pinkish tinge to the Stickles).  Using the ECD  All Seasons Tree snowflakes, I cut out many snowflakes.  Once the Stickles was dry, I glued the snowflakes on the ring for a wintery frame.

Next, I wanted to find the perfect white buddy for the card.  North, white, a fox maybe?  No, a polar bear!  I used the Honey the Bear die from ECD and cut him out in white.  I used a bit of Wink of Stella on the body for a highlight and to deal with the eyes, I cut out a pair of glasses from the Props 1 set using white glitter paper.  I cut another pair in regular white cardstock and covered the lenses with Glossy Accents.  Once all was dry, I assembled Honey the White and had him hold a snowflake that I cut out using the ECD Snowflakes set.

Now I took the two leftover circles and embossed them with a snowflake embossing folder from Crafter's Companion.  I glued the circles on the card and added Honey on the left side.  Lastly, I die cut Season's Greetings three times (once in Glitter White and twice in white cardstock) and glue them together for depth and mounted the sentiment on the right circle.  I attached the inner circles together and the card was completed.  I hope you enjoy it.

The closed card.


The open card.



Have a great day and keep on crafting.

Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Happy Birthday Sizzix Flourish Set

Good day to you.  I hope you are doing well.  Last evening, I needed to create a quick birthday card.  I recently acquired the Sizzix Textured Impressions Embossing Folder with Stamp - Flourish Set and wanted to use it for the first time after being inspired by a Catherine Pooler video (love her videos!).  Using y Misti, I took out the foam and inserted the background stamp.  For the first card, I used Ranger Watercolor cardstock.  I used various Distress Ink colors randomly on the stamp and lightly sprayed the stamp with water and pressed it into the watercolor paper.  I thought the results were beautiful.

I repeated the process using regular Darice 110 lb Note paper.  This was beautiful also.  I embossed both pieces using the included embossing folder through my Sizzix Big Shot.  I trimmed a piece of vellum and stamped it using the Happy Birthday script stamp from Lawn Fawn with Versamark and then applied SSS White ultrafine Embossing Powder.   For the other card, I then cut out a Happy Birthday using the Elizabeth Craft Die set and black glitter paper.  I used a Distress Inkpad and colored the edges of the card stock and mounted the completed embossed piece.  I finished off with a couple strands of embroidery thread.  I hope you like the finished pieces.  I tried to keep the cards simple due to all the colors of the background.



Have a great day.
Mike

Sunday, August 9, 2015

Crazy Birds Part Deux

The Sizzix Tim Holtz Bird Crazy love is still continuing.  I stamped and die cut the other five birds from the set and watercolored these ( I used Neenah paper which was not made for watercoloring).  To ensure I did not ruin the paper when I used the Akashiya Sai Watercolor Brush Pen set,  I placed a bit of the ink on an acrylic block and using an aquabrush, colored the stamp.  I used various sentiments and finished the eyes of each bird with Ranger Glossy Accents.  I am pleased with the blending from the Akashiya Sai pens.  Thank you.






Thanks.
Mike


Newton's Naptime Card

Happy Sunday crafty friends.  Today, I created a card using Newton Nook Stamps "Newton's Naptime".  I stamped with Momento Tuxedo Black ink and they used Spectrum Noir pens to color this awesome stamp.  I used the corresponding die set to cut out the stamp and cut out the thought balloon and stamped the dream sentiment. I really like that this card can be a birthday card, or a congratulations card by changing the sentiment inside.  I did finish up the kitty with Zig Wink of Stella clear and a couple sequins.  I hope you like it.

Have a great day.
Mike

Friday, August 7, 2015

Farewell Dear Friend

One of my work buddies is leaving for other pastures and I wanted to say good bye to her.  I used the Friggin Awesome stamps from The Ton Stamps for the greeting and the flowers are from Simple Florals also from The Ton.  Hope you enjoy.



Have a great Friday.
Mike

Happy Birthday to you!

Good morning to you.  I have a friend at work who has a birthday this weekend so I created the below card.  I used the large Butterfly Die from the Stampin Up butterfly die set and the Lawn Fawn Scripty Sayings stamp.  The butterfly was water colored using distress ink and an aqua brush.


Have a nice day!
Mike

Monday, August 3, 2015

The Ton Simple Florals and Sentiment Shaker Card

Good afternoon to all.

Shaker cards.  You love them or hate them.  Combined with these gorgeous watercolor floral cards that I see, I realized I have a steep learning curve to get to the level of my favorite card designers. So, as an intermediary step while learning to watercolor, I experimented with 'smooshing' the color onto Tim Holtz Ranger Watercolor Paper and let the cardstock dry.  I then selected a few stamps from The Ton's Simple Florals set, stamped using Versamark Clear and embossed using SSS Ultra Fine White Embossing Powder.  After drying, I used the dies from The Ton for the stamp set and cut them out.  I felt like a star and consequently cut one out of a piece of Stampin' Up Crisp Canteloupe cardstock.  I stamped and embossed a sentiment from the awesome Friggin' Fabulous stamp set and finished the card with seed beads and some uber cool flowers and leaves.



I hope you enjoy.
Mike

Lawn Fawn Get Well

I have a friend in Texas that has had better days and really needs cheering up so I whipped up this little old card using the Lawn Fawns Get Well stamp set.



Have a dry day.  LOL
Mike

Lawn Fawn Critters Ever After

Good morning to all.  This weekend, I had a lot of fun coloring and diecutting from the Lawn Fawn Critters Ever After collection and new Rainbow.  To save paper and time, I cut the rainbow on Neenah white and used my Spectrum Noir pens to color the separate bands.  Overall I am happy with the results (and saving paper).  I hope you enjoy.



Have a great day and 'may all your dreams come true".
Mike

Monday, July 27, 2015

Lilies from The Ton

Good evening to all.  This evening, I used the new dies for The Ton Simple Floral stamp set to cut out lilies and leaves I had stamped and colored.  Growing up in Ohio, we had lots of orange lilies with brown speckles and some yellow ones and I wanted to portray them with a touch of whimsey (orange speckles).  I arranged the lilies on a brown cardstock and then used the "You're Amazing" sentiment from the Friggin' Fabulous stamp collection.  I placed a touch of orange on the brown card stock and then shaded Spiced Marmalade on the edges of the white Neenah card stock.  I finished the card front with orange/copper and gold sequins. I hope you like it.


Have a wonderful evening.  Mike

Saturday, July 25, 2015

Christmas Candy Shop Girl

Last night, as I started to drift off to sleep, I thought how candy and Christmas go together.  It is Christmas in July so another idea was born.  I tool the Lollipop Girl from the Candy Shop Girls stamp set and created a Christmas card.  The sentiment was from a Lawn Fawn set and it fit perfectly!  I made the background stamping in Distress Ink Festive Berry and Mowed Lawn.  Enjoy.


Friday, July 24, 2015

Candy Shop Girl- Virginia Turtle Stamps

Good evening to all.  This evening I had the opportunity to use the new Candy Shop Girls stamp set from Virginia Turtle Stamp Company.  I used 'Kimono Cupcake Girl' and the cupcake stamp.  Using the cupcake stamp, I created a background on the pink cardstock with VersaMark ink and clear embossing powder. I then stamped the cupcake girl with Momento Ink and used Spectrum Noir pens to color.  I stamped the sentiment on vellum and cut it in a banner shape.  I finished the card up with sequins, pink hemp twine, and a little Wink of Stella on the cupcake and kimono.  I hope you like the finished product.


Have a wonderful weekend!  Mike

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Sizzix Tim Holtz Crazy Bird Frenzy

Greetings to all!  Most of you are aware of the current Crazy Bird frenzy that is gripping the stamping and card making community.  They are so darn cute, that sooner or later, you will succumb.  Alas, I did and I have no regrets.  Here is my first attempt at a crazy bird.  There is some spacing problems with the sentiment that I will work hard to resolve on the next card.  Please let me know what you think!



and the inside:


Have a wonderful day and be enabled!  Mike

Sunday, July 12, 2015

Lawn Fawn You're a Star with Caulk Background

Good afternoon.  I finally completed my first caulk background card.  I used DAP caulk with Distress Mermaid Blue ink. When it was almost dry, using the round blending tool, I dabbed on Mustard Seed, Peacock Feathers, Seedless Preserves, and Worn Lipstick.  I then spritzed the card with plain water.  It was a treat to watch the colors move on the card background.  Once dry, I cut off 1/4" off the top and right sides to allow it to mat to a standard A2 card.  I created a frame to top the created background, and then placed two jellyfish and starfish from Lawn Fawn.  I used a few iridescent sequins for air bubbles for the jellyfish.  I hope you like it.


Keep inspiring each other!

Mike

To Caulk, or Not to Caulk

Yesterday, I found a video from Zed Squared Crafts entitled Hogs and Kisses... (blog located here https://zedsquaredcrafts.wordpress.com/ ) and in the video Julia used Caulk instead of Embossing Paste.  After watching the video, I had to go to my local Lowes and get some.  Here is the first card I completed using DAP caulk (the entire tube was $2.79).  I hope you like it.


Here is the first background I started.  I hope to have the card finished today.  It is for a very special young lady that might be celebrating her last birthday so I want it to be extra special.  :-)


Thanks and have a great day!  Be enabled!  
Mike

Saturday, July 11, 2015

Altenew Stamps and Dies

Hello everyone. I hope you had a great 4th of July weekend.  I am back on track and just created some great (hope you think) cards using the Altenew Vintage Rose stamps and Dies and the new Altenew Wood background stamp.

The above card was done with the new Hickory Smoke Distress ink on the background stamp.  All other inks are from Altenew.

This was my 'Blue Period' card.  LOL.  I used the Mermaid Blue Distress ink for the background stamp.  All other inks are Altenew.


This is my Pink/Red Design card.  The background ink was Spun Sugar Distress ink. All other inks are from Altenew.

Last but not least I used a new tool I picked up at the Stampfest two weeks ago called Perfect Layers.  I got a bit carried away but really like it!



Have a great weekend and keep inspiring and being inspired.

Mike the Enabler.  :-)