Festive Christmas Card Blog Hop!

I recently made this card at a craft event. My friend Jaimie taught us the technique which looks more involved than it is!

Supplies needed:

Clear acetate or thin plastic packaging, assorted alcohol inks and applicators, craft mat to work on, embossing folder and sizzix or cuttle bug, ribbon, trim, stamped greeting, embellishments and cardstock.

Basically you run the clear plastic through your machine in the embossing folder. Then you color it with assorted inks till your get the desired effect. While drying, you can stamp your greetings or images, add your special touches to them as you see fit. Then use double stick tape to adhere the plastic, painted side down onto dark cardstock. Add embellishments to the outside with clear glue dots, place your stamped design and you are done. So much fun!

Please head on over to Debra Bucklands blog for more Christmas Card inspiration!

Then when you land on The Robins Nest blog, you'll see my Iris Folded card. :)

Thanks for coming by my blog, I hope I'll see you again soon!

~ Michelle Frae Cummings

Cold winter rainy day

Yesterday before it started to drizzle, I came upon a family of quail.



This is "Puff", my uncle's cat who thinks he's a dog....and even runs like one!


Today it's rainy. They call it Humboldt fog because it's a thick steady light down pour. So glad we went mushroom hunting, yesterday. :)


I plan to stay in today to help my Aunt Kathy prepare the menu for Thanksgiving and to also work on some art projects for Thursday.
~ Michelle Cummings

Morning mushroom hunting

Hunting for chanterelle mushrooms this time of year is my favorite thing to do besides eating them!










~ Michelle Cummings

Higher and Higher

Seems like only yesterday he was begging me to come push him. Now he swings so high, that the chains make a clunking sound when they hit the top of the swing set! :)

~ Michelle Cummings

Turkey Elegance

Here is a layout I made using amazing product from The Robins Nest!

If you like what you see, please pop on over to their blog to check out how I created this beautiful page. :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Some Fall Cards to Inspire You

 The card above was made by my friend Jaime.

This is a "Gate Fold" card. See how to make one like this  here.

 The above card was made by Me. It's my first "Iris Folding", and I must say I'm addicted!

 I also made the above card with a few floral silk fall leaves and strong glue.

Lastly, this card was made by friend, Shirley.

I love how she incorporated a pretty wide ribbon in to the design. 

Just a little Something...

Click photo for close up...please

~ Michelle Cummings

Festive Christmas Card Blog Hop!

Thank you for coming by for this Christmas Card Blog Hop! For this card I decided to keep it simple. I wanted to make something that would be easy to duplicate for future Holiday cards. I stamped some watercolor paper with a vintage star stamp and water colored them in with yellow ink. Then I filled in the background with shades of red ink. Once dry, I added yellow glitter glue to the stars and made outlines/swirls with a fine tip black pen. The "Happy Holidays" was made using a photo shop program. Now my card is ready to grace my blog, be sent via e-mail or printed as a photo and mounted to a card, then mailed to family and friends. So easy!

Please continue onto Debra Buckland for some more Christmas Card inspiration!

~ Michelle Frae Cummings

Designer Crafts Connection Blog Hop - "Fall Leaves"

 This month the theme is Fall and Thanksgiving. So I took it as a opportunity to show off my crafting obsession which is coloring in stamped images. I love to play with watercolors and I was happy these leaves turned out so well. I hope you will enjoy my tutorial. :)

 I stamped some broad shaped leaf designs (Martha Stewart) with walnut distress ink onto manila folders. I chose the folders because they are thicker than card stock and can with stand the layering I would be doing.

 Next I dabbed the colors needed for painting on to a craft sheet. I used both Distress stains and full strength re-inkers. I spritzed those colors with water before I began painting. This would help the colors blend on the leaves.

 I used a paint brush with a built in water well for the painting. But you can also use a standard brush and a cup of water. I picked up color from the craft mat and painted the leaves as I imagined they might look in the fall. I live in Southern California where winters are never cold enough to turn our leaves.

 I used some of the distress stains full strength to added details of veins and color that needed to pop. When the leaves begin to dry on the manila folder, the diluted colors may fade a bit. Don't stress about that as you still have two more steps to make the leave come alive.

 I accented the maple leaves veins cinnamon stickles. Then outlined the edges with  stickles that matched the painted colors.

 I set the leaves out to dry, making sure the glitter glue has set. I refrained from using a heat tool as this would cause the painted leaves to fade even more.

 See the difference between the stickled and non stickled leaves, Almost done!

 With a fine tip I added diamond glaze to each leaf and and used my finger to spread it evenly, in between the veins, over the color and even past the outline. I set this out to completely dry. Then I carefully cut out each leaf with precision scissors. The tags below, don't do justice as these leaves are more breathtaking in person.

I enjoyed making these leaves and have added them to a layout, and thankful cards to be given to friends and family members for Thanksgiving.

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Stains and inks used:

Maple leaf - Barn door and Rusty hinge stain, Mustard, Vintage photo and Marmalade re-inker.

Aspen leaf- Barn door and Forest moss stain, Mustard, Shabby shutters and Peeled paint re-inker.

Other leaf - Forest moss stain, Mustard, Shabby shutters, and Peeled paint re-inker.

I used an assortment of stickles and other craft glitter glues.

"Thanks Giving" Paper Bag Mini Album

Here is a paper bag mini book I made using product from The Robins Nest.

To see how I made this, please go here.

Have a great weekend!

~ Michelle Frae Cummings

Sizzix Fresh Vintage - Petal Power Flower Die

Sizzix Fresh Vintage

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Welcome! I'm so happy you can be here!

Sizzix recently sent me a new Vintage Fresh Die, Petal Flower Power- designed by Eileen Hull.

It's the ultimate flower die. Not just because you can make any shape or sized flower you want, but you can also make other things like,Owl. :)

Please besure to click the hop forward button above or at the bottom of this post to see all the projects on this hop!

To make Mr. Owl, I used the following supplies:

Sizzix Bigz Die- Flower, Petal Power

Assorted shades of felt and quilted fabric

One blank tote

Fabric glue

Sewing Scissors

Fringe scissors

Wax paper

Cotton stuffing

First cut a basic shape of a owl from your quilted or patterned fabric. Then with your fabric glue, adhere all of the outline of the Owl and face, with the exception of the bottom to the tote. Make sure you have a sheet of wax paper inside the tote in case the glue seeps through. Press the glued sides firm until you are sure the glue has set. Add a bit of the cotton fluff into the bottom, enough to fill out the Owl, but not too much so you can still glue the bottom shut.

Next cut a basic figure eight shape from felt. Trim as needed to fit inside the owls face. Cut larger circles, then use the die to make the scalloped circles and proceed on making the insides of the eye. Glue everything together and add to Owl.

For the feathers, I was able to layer at least 3 rectangles of felt at a time on each petal size. I made 14 small petals and 14 large petals. I used the fringe scissors to create a feathery look. I glued each smaller feather to each larger feather and then adhered to the Owl row by row, starting from the bottom, going up.

The Owls beak was created with a simple triangle of leftover felt. I placed a line of glue on the owl and pinched the beak in place until I was sure the glue had set.

I like how the body of Owl is plump and his feathers look ruffled as if he's ready to take flight!

Be sure to visit the Oh My Crafts blog for a chance to win a Flowers, Layers #9 die!

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Besides being able to work with this fabulous die, I was also fortunate to play with

some Templates from The Crafters Workshop!

To make the collaged journal below, I used the following templates:

Love Beads, & Screen.

The templates -Ava, Summer, Edith & Maude, Herringbone, Chevron, Circles in Square, Triangle,

and Triangle plaid were  designed by Julie Fei-Fan Balzer!

I collaged the book inside and out with  torn bits of scrap paper. I used colored permanent markers with the templates right onto the pages. I accented with doodles, more petals and glitter glue.

I left spaces to add some creative thoughts and dreams.

And for the cover I used the Petal Power Flower die!

So what do you think? Do you like my projects? What would you use this die for? I'm thinking, bunny ears, ruffle for a apron, fall leaves, shingles for a kids playhouse, scales for a dragon or fish costume,...the list is endless! Thanks for coming by, now please take the time to hop along and visit the rest of the creations. :)

Sizzix Fresh Vintage

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The Robins Nest - Design Team Call!

The Robin’s Nest is looking for a few awesome Papercraft Artist that can showcase The Robin’s Nest products!! If you LOVE Paper crafts and lots of bling and use it on layouts, cards & projects then show us what you love to do!! 
We are looking for talented artists who inspire others to create.
What’s expected of a Robin’s Nest Design Team Member?

... * The ability to showcase our products!

* Take good photos or scans of projects

* Interact with our members on facebook and our blog

The Details –