Michael Strong Black & White Blog Hop

Hello friends and welcome to the Michael Strong Black & White Blog Hop.
I hope you came hear after visiting Jill's beautiful artwork on her blog, Jill P's Place.

Today's card features Michael Strong's sweet Penguin Pals stamp set.
I think these 2 penguins are perfect for a Black & White themed card.
You can see Mike's penguin set and all of his wonderful stamps in his online catalog HERE. 

Be sure to visit Michael Strong's blog and leave a comment for a chance to win some Blog Candy!

Back to my torn paper pocket card...
I stamped Mike's penguins on white cardstock using Versafine black onyx ink,
 heat embossed with clear embossing powder and fussy cut.
I cut 2 pieces of white cardstock 5-1/4 inches wide. 
Then I cut them long enough to fit in the dry embossing folder 
that came with Tim Holtz's Bird Talk 2 stamp set,
dry embossed them and tore them into 3 pieces as shown.
With a tiny amount of white glue, I attached the torn pieces on the sides and bottom,
to keep them together. 
Then I placed this on the card base and punched 6 small holes 
and added black mini brads to secure the pockets to the card as shown. 

The penguin on the left is slipped into the pocket and can be removed.
The penguin on the right is attached with dimensional foam adhesive.
I wrote my own sentiment with a Jane Davenport "Inkredible" cartridge fountain pen
that has wonderful dark black ink and writes like a charm.
Added a few clear plastic sequins with white glue for some bling.

I have 2 other torn paper cards posted here and here 
which show variations of this torn paper card idea. 
My friend, Lynette, introduced me to this technique.
She saw Beth Cote demo it on the Carol Duvall Show some years ago! 

Now for more fun and creative ideas,
please hop on over to Shelly's Creative Rumblings blog.
Enjoy her beautiful artwork and be sure to leave some blog love/comments!

If you landed here in the middle of the blog hop and don't want to miss any of the fun,
you can visit Hetty's Craft Chaos blog to see the entire list of the participants. 

Remember, be sure to leave a comment on Michael Strong's blog
for the chance of winning some blog candy!

Thanks so much for visiting!

Michael Strong Halloween Blog Hop 2015

Welcome to the Michael Strong Halloween Blog Hop for 2015!

Hope you came here from Shelly's Creative Rumblings blog.

My first card features Mike's Alphabet stamps

along with the bat and spider from his Halloween Confetti Die set.

Added white ink directly to the raised trees after embossing with Sizzix Birch trees.

 Drew accent lines with brown marker.

Spider web is made with a piece of dryer sheet.

I got carried away with making the following cards.
While they may not be specifically Halloween, I think they could work.
What do you think?

I also have to mention that I created these cards with my stamping friend, Lynette.
We always have so much fun at our Stampfests!

Mike's leaf Cloisonne Cameo is featured in the next three cards.
Used distress markers to color the cameo stamp
then it was spritzed with a fine spray of water before stamping.

Before stamping these cameos, I added color to my paper.

Scribbled with distress markers directly onto my craft sheet, 

spritzed with water and then placed paper directly on the craft sheet.

When dry, stamped cameos with black ink.

Here is a Halloween Birthday card for a special friend who was born on Halloween!

The background was made with tea dye distress ink 

swiped directly onto the logo side of Woodgrain embossing folder.

Pressed embossing folder together with hands.

No need to use embossing machine for this simple technique.

For these cameos, I sponged distress mowed lawn on some areas, 

after background was created (as noted above).

The small leaf was cut from Mike's cameo. The other leaf is from Lynette's stamp stash.

I'm so glad you came to visit the blog hop!

You have a chance to win Mike's new Pumpkin Harvest stamp set
if you leave a comment
on all the participating blogs in Mike's Halloween Blog Hop 2015.

Please visit the next stop at  Herma's blog.

Thank you very much for visiting!

Addendum:
I wanted to save the permanent URLs to each of the blog hop posts:
Michael Strong
Hetty
Heidi
Peg
Shelly
Laura
Herma
Rosie

Michael Strong Group Spring 2015 Blog Hop

To celebrate Spring 2015 the Michael Strong Group is having a BLOG HOP

I hope you take a break to stop by all the blogs!

If you are following the hop, you have come from

Heidi Wegman's blog

BTW, there is a list of all the blog stops at the end of this post.

Below are the pages inside my little booklet, plus a tutorial.

I used Mike's alphabet, mini cloisonne butterfly and dragonfly stamps on the front.

The background was made with Distress stains, dabbed onto my craft sheet and spritzed with water.

Used fibers from my stash to join the pages.

I added a little bit of stamping on the inside pages

leaving plenty of room to write some heartfelt wishes or  journal entries.

Used some bird/nesting stamps and sentiment from PrintWorks.

Michael Strong's mini cloisonne dragonfly and butterfly.

 Stamped Mike's mini flower, and drew the stem and leaves with a marker.

Mike's mini cloisonne shapes.

 Mike's mini heart.

For the "button and string closure...
cut a piece of 8.5 x 11 inch cardstock in half lengthwise.
This gives a 4.25 x 11 inch strip of  paper.
Fold that in half for a 4.25 x 5.5 inch tag booklet.
To get the tag shape, trim the ends as shown.
For the closure punch two 5/8 inch circles (for front and back)
from cardstock or sturdy printed paper.

In the center of the circles, punch a 1/8 inch hole in each circle.

Place the circle on the back part of the tag booklet.
Mark where the hole should be and punch it in the tag.
Layer the string as shown.

Turn booklet over.
The above picture shows inside view of the back part of tag booklet.

Set your eyelet, and voilà!...string is attached.

Here is the outside back view.
The front side does not have the string, just the circle attached with an eyelet.

For the inside pages cut 2 pieces of paper
4 x 8 inches each and score each page in half.

Punch two 1/8 inch holes along the center fold as shown.
Punch 1/8 inch holes in your mini booklet to match
using a pencil to mark the spot.
Thread fibers or twine to join the pages into a booklet.
Thanks for visiting!

Your next Blog Hop stop is

Joanna Mackintosh's Blog

Here are links to all the stops on the hop!

Michael Strong

Hetty Sanders

Heidi Wegman
You are here: Laura Holm

Joanna Mackintosh

Peg Klitch

Michael Strong 6th Anniversary Blog Hop

Happy 6th Anniversary 

to the Enjoy Michael Strong Stamps Yahoo Group!

A celebration Blog Hop has been organized by Hetty. 
I hope you enjoy the artwork along the way.
If you leave a comment on every one of the blogs in the 6th Anniversary Hop
you have a chance to win a give away.

To commemorate this 6th Anniversary we are supposed to share
our first Michael Strong stamp

and

the card or art project that we made with it.

Well, due to old age, I can't remember!

I think my first Michael Strong stamp set was the Mini Cloisonne Shapes.

(Click image for larger view.)
To celebrate, I made this pocket card 
using the mini flower and the mini fan from Mike's Mini Cloisonne Shapes.

This stamp set is so versatile! The possibilities are endless!
I used off-white cardstock (with flecks) cut to 4-1/4 x 11 inches 
and scored at 5-1/2 and 9-1/2 inches.
I folded on the scored lines, used a corner rounder punch
then added distress ink to the edges.
Stapled sides with mini staples to create the pocket.
 
My tag layers measured:
3-3/4 x 5 inches
3-3/8 x 4-5/8 inches
3 x 4 inches
You can make the tag  however you wish.
Just be sure it will slide into the pocket!
I punched a hole in the top right side of the finished tag
and used a strip of tulle for a bow.
Used tiny circle stickers for a little glitz.

Materials:
Stamps-Michael Strong Mini Cloisonne Shapes.
Also used Hero Arts, Printworks, Stampablities Stampin' Up!

Inks-wild honey, scattered straw, ripe persimmon, dried marigold
chocolate chip, old olive, mellow moss

THANKS SO MUCH for stopping by!
If you are following the hop, you have come from Jill P's Place 
Now it's time to proceed to Hetty's Craft Chaos blog
 where you will find a complete list of all the blogs in the 6th Anniversary Blog Hop!

Since we are an international group, we span various time zones.
If a blog has not been posted yet, please re-visit it later.

Thanks so much for visiting!
I hope you are inspired by all the creativity on the 6th Anniversary Blog Hop!