JOY

                                                 Joyfully Announcing the Birth of a Son

                                                                 Born in: Bethlehem

                                                                 Born to:  All the World

                                                       From the home of:  Mary & Joseph

                                                       From the heart of:  God the Father

                                                          His name shall be called:  Jesus

Wishing all of you a most blessed Christmas Day.

 

Thanks for stopping by today ... I love it when you do!

Sweet Nordic Snowman

Hello friends.  Are you ready for Christmas? We had our big family Christmas with all the girls and the grandkids yesterday, so today I get to relax and just enjoy the rest of the week! We'll bring dinner over to my mom on Christmas day, but it will just be hubby and I and my mom, so real low key but fun none the less!

I have a card to share with you today that is a combination of 2 gifts I received.  My background panel was a piece of really shimmery white cs that my sweet friend Leslie sent to protect the Christmas card she mailed me and I embossed it and used it for my card.  The 2nd gift I received was the darling little Sweet Nordic Snowman die that my friend Jeanne sent me in her Christmas card.  I combined the two and came up with this...

 Isn't he just the cutest little snowman with his coat, scarf & hat?!  The die for this Sweet Nordic Snowman (Poppystamps) is all one piece, so I cut it from white and then used my Copics to color in the hat, coat & scarf (B91, B93, B95). I did add glitter to the pompom on his hat and on the pompoms at the ends of his hat to add a little more sparkle.  The background that I embossed (SSS's Snowflake Visions) is so shimmery too, so lots of sparkle going on with this card!

I used PB's posted stamp and die to place over my embossed background, and then used a small piece of PTI's Bitty Big Blueberry Sky DSP in the center of the postage die cut.  I added the little snowman to the dsp with foam tape for some dimension, and then added the 2 strips of cs for my sentiment (SSS's Tiny Words Christmas).  I finished with a few Iridescent Clear Drops from PFS.

I followed the sketch from the Freshly Made Sketches Challenge and will be adding this to their gallery, along with also the Double D Challenge where they are looking for Santa and/or Snowman on our cards.

Thanks for stopping by today ... I love it when you do!

The Birthday Girl Turns 1

Hello friends.  Our youngest granddaughter turned the BIG 1 yesterday, and I thought I'd share the birthday card I made for her...something other than a Christmas card for a little break!!

I used one of my favorite Penny Black stamp sets called critter celebration and inked up one of the 5 images included in the set. I colored the little mouse in with my Copics and then used The Greetery's Crimped Circle Dies to cut out the image, with enough room left for the No. 1 and the birthday sentiment.

For the background, I ink blended a light pink at the top of the card base and gradually worked down to just the plain white of the cs. I used The Greetery's Delightful Digits Die over the card base and then added the circle with the image over top of that.  Very simple, but I was tickled with the way it came out.

Here's a couple pictures of the birthday girl and her cupcake...she wasn't too interested, although her 2 year old brother thought the cupcakes were GREAT!  Haha!!

I thought for sure she'd dive right in and be a mess...she poked one finger in, looked at her finger and then just barely touched it to her lips. Not sure how she can be a granddaughter of mine and not like frosting, but she's young yet...we'll train her right!  Haha!!

I'm going to add my card to the Penny Black Saturday Challenge where it's a "Anything Goes" Challenge, with the option of SNOW/SNOWMEN, which I didn't use.  This challenge is open till the end of the month.

 

Thanks for stopping by today ... I love it when you do!

Christmas Kickstart Challenge #105

Hello friends.  My Christmas cards are all done and sent out last week, but I'm still loving making new ones that I can use for next year.  The Christmas Kickstart Challenge is looking for anything "Christmassy" and I think my 2 cards and tags will definitely fit in here!

I've been having so much FUN using new product from The Greetery...I don't think you could make an ugly card with all the new products if you tried!  Here's my first card...

OK, I know this one isn't a Christmas card, but people do have birthdays either on Christmas day or around Christmas.  I used the Capsule Basics die for the scalloped piece, and then the Capsule Filigree Borders die around the edge of another Capsule Basic die that I stamped with an older SU! background stamp called Print Pattern.  I used that same background stamp on the Cherry Cobbler panel too, although it's harder to see in my photos.  The die cut Holly is also from The Greetery (Bigger Holiday Botanicals Holly No. 1) and was inked with DOX inks and then splattered with water.

I stamped my sentiment (PTI's Think Big Favorites: #22) in Versamark ink and heat embossed in gold on a strip of vellum and wrapped it around the front and Cherry Cobbler layer before adherring it all to a card base.  The gold bow is also from The Greetery (Regency Bow No. 1) and was added to the top along with a few gold gems to finish off the card.

This card was done basically the same as the first except that I used a different background stamp (SU!'s En Francais) and also used The Greetery's Bigger Holiday Botanicals: Poinsettia die.  

I just love the filigree border and bow in the matte gold cs...makes these cards so elegant.  Also finished this one off with a few gold gems.

And last but not least, using the same supplies PLUS the Capsule Quick Tags stamp set to make a few tags for some of my gifts this year.  It's hard to tell in my photo, but the berries under the To: and the From: have red glitter Stickles on them for just a POP of color.

Jo is running solo this month (no guest elf), but there is still oodles and oodles of inspiration from Jo and all the entries in the gallery...check it out right HERE.  This challenge does run till the end of the month, so still lots of time to post a card or two to the gallery.

Thanks for stopping by today ... I love it when you do!

The Flower Challenge #109 - USE CHRISTMAS FLORALS

Hello friends. Just a friendly reminder that there's still time to play with us at The Flower Challenge this month, and it's an easy one as we're all making Christmas cards right now...RIGHT??  And what's easier than Christmas florals?

I have a pretty simple card to share with you today using one of my favorite Poinsettia stamps from Gina K called Precious Poinsettia.  Take a look...

I heat embossed the main image in white on Pale Peony cs (PTI) and then used the coordinating stamps to fill in the color with Flirty Flamingo & Old Olive (SU!). 

I die cut my image out and used foam tape to add it to my background which was embossed with the Timeworn Type ef (SU!) and then stamped my simple joy sentiment.  

We have lots of inspiration for you to get you motivated to make those last few Christmas cards, and you can find it all right HERE.  We would love to see YOU in our gallery filled with lovely Christmas Florals!  This challenge is open till Thursday, Dec. 25th @ 5:00PM. 

Thanks for stopping by today ... I love it when you do!

Freshly Made Sketches #716

Hello friends.  Playing along with the new Freshly Made Sketches Challenge where my sweet friend Michele is hosting with this wonderful sketch to follow...

And here's what I came up with using a couple of oldies but favorites from my stash...

I started by die cutting the Cardinal from Honey Bee's Lovely Layers: Winter Birds from Real Red, Cherry Cobbler & Merry Merlot cs (SU!) and also added a bit of ink blending with black ink to show a little depth.  Next came the wreath from The Greetery (Magnolia Wreath) which I also added some black ink blending to.  For my background I used The Greetery's Herringbone Parquet Die.

 A closer up so you can see some of the detail on the bird, wreath and background.  I finished with the flag sentiment (die cut from Gina K's ML #5 and embossed with a really old SU! wooden block stamp Be Very Merry) and a few ruby gems from PFS.

Lots of great ideas of what you can use for the circle in the sketch from the talented DT, so check it all out right HERE and then play along.  This challenge is open till Monday, Dec. 15th @ 3:00PM.

Thanks for stopping by today ... I love it when you do!

Double D Challenge - Christmas Wrappings

Hello friends.  Playing along with the gals over at the Double D Challenge where they have a wonderful mood board depicting all kinds of fun WRAPPINGS!

I went with bows and tags and have a card and a tag to share with you featuring a new stamp from Unity called A Little Ho Ho Ho.  They were offering pre-black Friday sales and I just couldn't resist this little guy!  Take a look...

Doesn't he kinda melt your heart?!  He sure did mine!!  I stamped him in black and then Copic colored him before adding a PTI Bold Borders: Polka Dot Die in Real Red cs to frame him out.

I've been in love with The Greetery's Regency Bow No. 1 die and have been putting bows on everything!!  I used silver mirror cs for this bow and I think it frames my little Santa dude perfectly!!  The card is busy enough with all the polka dots, so I left the greeting off the front and saved it for the inside.

When I stamp something I'm going to color, I always stamp 2 in case I mess one up. If I don't mess up, then I have an extra for something else, which in this case was super easy to make a tag out of for one of the grands Christmas gifts.  I used an older Casual Fridays tag die  and simply tied a piece of bakers twine through the tag hole. Easy peasy and done.

The DT has some awesome inspiration for you using wrapping ideas on cards and you can check them all out right HERE.  This challenge is open till Sunday, Dec. 14th @ 8:00PM.

Thanks for stopping by today ... I love it when you do!