Friday, October 18, 2013

York Convention

We had a great time seeing customers at the York convention this past weekend.  Despite the 9 1/2" of rain they had received the past two days, the customers arrived anxious for the show.  How cute is this photo of two sisters who shopped our booth?



Stamps to make this cute card were at the top of the best-sellers list.



Stamps used were E149 Snowman face and H128 Snowflakes from Heaven.  A Memory Box branch die made the arms quick and easy.

Thanks to everyone for a fun weekend.

Happy stamping!

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Pumpkins x 3

I'm always excited to get out my fall decorations and some of my favorites are these pumpkins I made years before repurposing was trendy.  These are so easy to make...simply turn a paper grocery sack inside out to hide the printing, fill with crumpled newspaper and wire securely shut.  Twist the top to form a stem and trim off excess.  Apply flat orange spray paint to all but the stem.  When dry embellish with leaves, etc.



Now I'm making rubber stamp pumpkins and this card was easy to create.  I used the Copic orange to dye seam binding to match.  Stamps used were G140 Tall Pumpkin, G142 Pumpkin and H127 Abundantly Blessed.



Happy fall to you!

Sunday, September 22, 2013

Snowman Candy Tube

Here's the snowman candy tube that made it's debut at the Wisconsin Rubber Stamp Convention yesterday.  The snowman faces are selling fast!  Scroll down to the post of September 17 for the instructions to make the box.


The white cardstock behind the tube and on each side of the box was embossed with a snowflake
embossing folder.  The tiny marshmallows were from a little Amish grocery in central Missouri. 

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Pumpkins & Fall Trees

I purchased my first pumpkins of the season today.  Not the large ones for outside, but tiny ones for my kitchen island.  Several years ago I shopped a glorious craft sale in Del Mar, California while we were vendors at the stamp convention at the same fairgrounds.  I purchased parts to create a Pilgrim boy and girl using the small pumpkins.  I'll have to share a photo once they come out of storage.  Anyhow, one more sign that fall is here. 

Here's a card inspired by a customer who was kind enough to send me a sweet thank-you note.  The tree is stamped in black and embossed with clear embossing powder.  Punch the holes with a 1/8" hole punch and attach a white paper behind the tree and use a fine-tip black pen to make the eyes. E66 Dot Halloween completes the card. How cute is that!  The remainder of the design...colors and embellishments were from my customer.  I love the finished card.

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Fall Is In The Air - Candy Tube Box

Today our high was only in the low 60's which meant my hubby found a bit of wood to make the first fire in our fireplace.  I felt the urge to bake a batch of cookies.  So, our home smells pretty much like fall tonight.  It was cool enough yesterday to prompt me to create this little Halloween favor. 

 
 
 
 

I really love the candy tubes and making a cute little box to hold them was really fun. 

Box Instructions:

Cut cardstock to 4 1/2" x 11".  Score lengthwise 1 1/2" in from each side.
Score crosswise at:  1/2", 2", 4", 5 1/2", 7 1/2"


Cut on the scored lines as shown below (I cut exactly on the scored line and then tapered the flaps that fold so they lay nicer).  Punch a 1 1/4" circle for the tube as shown.


I stamped and cut the orange cardstock and attached to the box prior to folding. The stamps I used were:  A86 Spider; A79 Trick or Treat; E121 Dot Circle

The pumpkin face was made using a Tim Holtz Sizzlits Decorative Strip Die "Mini Paper Rosettes". I used the large one (the die cuts two sizes at once).  The pumpkin face was freehanded out of black cardstock.  The pumpkin was attached to the box after it was folded and glued.

Happy Stamping!


Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Novi, MI Convention

The Novi, Michigan convention was this past weekend and one of the things we enjoy most is visiting with our previous customers.  These sweet ladies have been our customers for years and graciously allowed me to share their photo with you.  These ladies are not only sisters, but are twins that are 87 years young!  They had visited our new website and came to our booth with their shopping lists.  I want to be like them when I grow up.


Our best selling design this weekend was our new Melting Snowman featured on these cards.

 
 






Wednesday, July 10, 2013

More White Christmas

Here's another new card...love these new words used with existing images.  Another easy, elegant card.

 
The white seam binding is one of the first "ribbons" that is actually white enough to be perfect on an all-white card.


Blessings!

Monday, July 8, 2013

White Christmas

I really love simple, elegant Christmas cards and this one certainly qualifies.  Love it!  So easy to make using an Encore silver ink pad so no heat embossing is necessary. I added a gem to the star and rounded the corners of the bottom layer and then again with the top layer (with my new 1/8" corner chomper that I also LOVE!).



How many of these can you crank out this summer and be ready in December?

Happy stamping!



Sunday, July 7, 2013

A Little Christmas HO HO HO

This card features four new designs and how fun is it!  Not our traditional Christmas greeting.



The hat and mittens were cut out and added over the stamped HO.  The boots were stamped on the card and all were embellished with glitter.

Friday, July 5, 2013

Easy Halloween Candy Card

The 4th is past and I noticed the craft store today was starting their fall display.  Here's our last new design for fall, we will be adding Christmas ones tomorrow.

This cute candy card is quick and easy.  A Cuttlebug Swiss Dot strip fit nicely with the new stamp design.

Thursday, July 4, 2013

July 4, 2013

On our way to a show this spring we found the prettiest patriotic flower flats.  I couldn't resist snapping a photo to share.  Hope your day was filled with blessings!

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

It's Warming Up

Temperatures are rising and the air conditioning came back on today.  Today's card really isn't about the heat, but sometimes being too hot can cause a meltdown.



The card features our new melting snowman in full size and a cute new sentiment.  I was lucky enough to have an embossing folder that just fit these images (Winter Wonderland Set by Cuttlebug).  Make this cute card to perk up someone's day!

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Hug in a Cup

This morning I have to take my oldest daughter in for a tonsillectomy.  It just seems wrong to take in a healthy person in and bring out a sick one!  Today's card is for her as she will be on liquids for quite some time.

 
 


The tea definition will be released next week; all the other designs are in our current line.  I simply cut a line to insert the tea bag into the cup and added a cover layer on the inside of the card.

Monday, July 1, 2013

Fall in July

We enjoyed another mild day so here is another Thanksgiving card.  It was inspired from a set of wooden blocks for home décor.


The leaf border was done with a Fiskars border punch and a pumpkin embossing folder added to the fall theme.

Sunday, June 30, 2013

Feels Like Fall

We are currently enjoying a break in our summer heat for a few days and it was in the 50's overnight.  So today's card is a new Thanksgiving design as it will be here along with cooler weather before we know it!


The ribbon is white seam binding colored with the same Copic orange I used on the pumpkins.

Saturday, June 29, 2013

Hot, hot, hot!

Yes, it was hot here the day I stamped this new snowman card.  Here was the temperature in our car.



Luckily this candy card's sentiment was cool and refreshing!


Reminder...these new designs will be released on the website the second week of July. 

Friday, June 28, 2013

Stamping Day at MorningStar

Whenever I have new designs and need to make sample cards, I invite my stamping friend to come and join me for stamping day.  Generally I furnish lunch and she brings something yummy for dessert.  I think we're usually as excited over the good eats as we are the chance to stamp and visit.  Crispy Chicken Tortilla Rollups and Pig Lickin' Cake made for a great lunch.


Recipes for these can be found on Pinterest.  So, back to the stamping.  I now have completed 19 new samples and will be sharing one a day so check back often!

My daughter made me a cute wooden baby Jesus with Mary and Joseph she found on Pinterest.  I love it!  I made a rubber stamp version which will be released in July.  Here's the cute card.



Blessings!

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

My Gardening


Stamping a cute card using our gardening girl, flowers and sentiment is as near as I get to real gardening.  I have two sisters-in-law who are busy picking strawberries and lettuce -- but not me.  If we have any gardening at our home it is done by my husband.  This year he only planted tomatoes and peppers as we have to fight the deer to harvest our crop before they eat it.  Maybe it has something to do with the fact that he feeds the deer right on our patio every night.  They actually stand and watch him fill their dish with corn and often come back for seconds if they hear him refill it.

Back to the card, I added tiny yellow pearls for flower centers and the cute tools are a Memory Box die and coloring was with Copics.

Happy gardening to you...whether real or the stamping kind!

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Christmas in May?

It has felt like Christmas in my office this week as I've been putting the final touches on our fall 2013 designs and listening to Christmas music while working.  Since I'm in the Christmas mood, I decided to share one of my newest creations using our snowman face stamp.

How cute is this little snowman cup?  What a fun way to package holiday treats!


 I stamped the face using StazOn ink, and after it dried used an orange Copic marker to complete the design.  A torn strip of flannel was glued to the bottom for his scarf.

The cup is a Dart  #6SJ12 6 oz. white foam bowl.  The hat is a Solo Traveler Lid  #TLB316.

So, when you have a hot day this summer, crank down the a/c, put on some Christmas music and stamp a bunch of snowman cups to have ready to fill in December with your favorite holiday treat.

Blessings!




Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Trying Something New

Today's card was made using our thanks stamp which I gave a new look by decorating with little punched flowers.  The Swiss Dot folder and scallop border punch made a cute layer over dotted cardstock.  A satin ribbon completed the design.




I really like the 'springy' look even though we had sleet hitting our windows this morning.  It was a good day to stay inside and pack our bins for the Akron show this weekend. 

If anyone tries something new with their "thanks" stamp, feel free to post it to our Pinterest board for customers.

Blessings!

Saturday, April 13, 2013

Birthday Week

There are four people in our family and three of them have birthdays in the same week (myself not included).  That's a lot of shopping, wrapping and baking.  As the girls are now adults, we generally celebrate with one 'party'.  Today was my day to gift wrap and I even had to pull out my Sizzix to make cute tags for some gift bags.

Thinking about birthdays coming up, I decided to try something new with our Happy stamp and decorated it with little punch flowers I made.  Now I think I need more little flower punches.


I'm playing with our Thanks stamp and will post it's new look when I get it finished.  In the meantime, we'll be eating birthday dessert and starting to pack for our show in Akron.  We look forward to seeing so many of our favorite customers again!

Blessings,
Pam

Saturday, April 6, 2013

We've been busy!

It's been a busy few weeks here pressing rubber and making stamps for our upcoming shows.  We added the West Springfield, MA convention in June and the York, PA convention in October to our schedule and we are excited to return to these two shows this year.   

The new spring 2013 sample cards have been added to our card gallery.  You can see those and our convention schedule on our website. 

Friday, March 8, 2013

Stamp Convention Fun

Welcome to MorningStar's blog. I'm Pam Michaelis, MorningStar's owner.  I started MorningStar in 1998 and since then my husband and I have been vendors at over 238 stamp conventions in the US and Europe.  My first blog photo is from our convention this past weekend in Indianapolis.  The convention attendees in the photo below took convention lunch to a new level.  Check out their table settings - no foam plates and plastic silverware for these ladies, they brought real dinnerware complete with stemmed glassware and tablecloth.  Their lunch looks equally inviting! 


This was our first show for 2013 and our new spring designs were introduced.  The sample cards for those will be in our card gallery in the next day or two.  Thanks to all of our faithful customers for visiting our booth this past weekend.