November card challenge winners.

We had many wonderful cards in our Thank You" challenge at our Yahoo group.
Check out the beautiful cards in the photo section:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/enjoyMichaelStrongstamps/photos/album/1394919149/pic/list

Congratulations to the winners!

Carole Meisenhelter – Australia
Carole’s entry is charming and cheery. The card is crowned with an exotic double flower of unknown Australian origin with a swarm of friendly dragonflies inside and out. Carole’s excellent coloring and composition won the day. Well done Carole!

Hetty Sanders – Netherlands
Yes, our Hetty has won the challenge with her beautiful and complex card. Sometime excess complexity in design can lead to ruin but not here! Hetty has designed just the right amount of interesting detail and smart color choices to frame her cleverly spelled card. Well done Hetty!

Elizabeth Kondo – Japan
From Japan comes this intriguing entry from Elizabeth. She has made one of those cards that fascinates the viewer as the eye travel around to view all the mysterious and whimsical elements. This card breaks all the rules of composition – in a good way. Well done Elizabeth!

Silver Cranes

 

I commissioned my friend and
silversmith Cheryl Swing to make this set of silver jewelry for Carla's birthday.
Cheryl made them with my Origami Crane stamps and PMC (precious metal clay).
I think she did a fabulous job. Thank you Cheryl!

Double Ring Card steps

 

 

 

 

Double Ring Frame

 

We are all about our daughter's
upcoming wedding around here so a lot of my projects seem to be wedding related lately.
Here's an easy way to create a simple and romantic card using something almost
everyone has around the house.

Supplies:
White cardstock
Glacier White embossing powder
Versamark inkpad (or similar)
Michael Strong Rubber Stamps mini cloisonne heart
Two paper cups of different sizes
Scissors
White glue
Foam mounting tape or pop dots
Thin white ribbon

Steps:

Stamp and emboss two mini hearts and cut them out.
Use your scissors to cut off just the rolled tops
of two paper cups
to make two different size rings.
Carefully tie the two rings together with white ribbon.
Put glue on the back of each ring and place
them in the center of a frame on your card as show.
Place a weight (not too heavy) on top of the rings
until they have adhered to the card. Remove the
weight and tie the ribbon in a bow.
Add the two embossed hearts to the center of the
rings. Tape or glue one flat and the other one
layered on top
using some foam mounting tape.
Finish with Ice White pearl pen
Enjoy!

November Blog Candy!

Make a comment here and win a new Paper Shaper 1 1/2" oval punch.
This is the punch that fits my new alphabet set! After I receive
100 comments, one lucky winner will be chosen at random. Good luck!

Silver Lights

 

We are getting ready for our Daughter
Amanda's wedding early next year so I thought I'd share an idea for
table lights with you.
Amanda's wedding colors are silver and purple. Here's how to make
these simple votive candle holders.
Materials:

Silver metallic cardstock
tape
glue
paper trimmer
ruler
scoring tool

Steps:

Using your paper trimmer, cut ten 2" x 2" squares and
one 11" x 1/4" strip.
Arrange five squares in a cross pattern with a scant 1/16" between
each square as shown.
Tape the squares together making sure to maintain the 1/16" space
between each one.
Glue five more 2" squares on top of the taped ones to hide the tape.
Score the 11" strip at 2 1/4" inch intervals. Fold and glue to make
a shallow frame
measuring 2 1/4" on each side. Fold up the sides of the votive and
place inside the frame as shown.
The sides will lay open at an approximate 30 degree angle on each side.
Insert a candle in a glass holder.
Decorate the sides as you wish. I used my new alphabet stamps to add
monograms for Amanda and Max to each side.
Enjoy!

silver lights