Merry Monday #85 - Magical Wonder

Hello again!  My 2nd post today...woohoo!  Actually wanted to get this post in today for the Merry Monday challenge this week, so I could devote the rest of my week to Thanksgiving and then decorating the house for Christmas.  Anyway, the challenge this week was to create an all white or cream colored Christmas card with touches of kraft for the sentiment or accents.  I ended up using only white and used glitter to define the snowbanks and tree.  Take a look:

Heard a bunch of the players comment how hard it is to photograph an all white card, and I must say I totally agree!  This was the best of the rather large amount of pictures I took, so I hope it looks ok!  You can enlarge the picture to be able to see a bit more of the sparkle.  Because of the card being all white, I kept it VERY simple.  I used PTI's "In the Meadow" die set for the tree and horse and sleigh, and free hand cut my snow banks.  I used clear embossing powder and Dazzling Diamonds glitter mixed together to emboss the snowbanks and tree, and also the little snowflakes in the background (SU!'s "Snow Day" stamp set).  I also added some diamond bling to the centers of each snowflake to make them stand out a little more.  And that was it!  VERY simple!

Make sure you check out all the other cards here...there are some real beauties this week! :0)  Thanks again for stopping by and I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your families and friends! :0) 
  

Final Challenge 2013 at Festive Fridays

Good morning friends.  The gals over at Festive Fridays have given us one last challenge for 2013, and that is to go back through all 21 of the different challenges and create a new card for our favorite challenge.  I had thought this would be hard, as I loved just about every one of them, (just a Christmas girl at heart...what can I say?!!!) but actually it wasn't that hard at all as I just LOVE the "vintage" style!  I look at Melissa Phillip's style as vintage (or shabby chic), and it was my love of her blog and card style that brought me to Festive Fridays, so I thought a vintage card would be very fitting for my final (Festive Friday) card of 2013!  And since I am so in LOVE with this Flourish Santa stamp, I also decided he would be my focal point for this vintage card.  Take a look:

 
How can you not love that face...it just makes me smile from ear to ear! :0)  Make sure to click to enlarge the picture so you can see ALL the detail I put into this card!  I started with a kraft cardstock base, and then embossed the upper half with a holly ef. (The Paper Studio)  I sponged over the holly leaves and edges of the card base with Soft Suede (SU!) ink to give more of the aged "vintage" look.  Next I added a couple pieces of design paper (from my scrap basket) and also sponged those with the Soft Suede ink.  I also embossed the sentiment "Believe" in gold on the lower left hand of the card...it's a little hard to see in the photo, but I love the look it adds to the card.  Next I made a tag from kraft cardstock (using my SU! envelope board...I LOVE the edges this tool makes for tags!!) and stamped my Santa also using Soft Suede ink.  I added a strip of design paper to the left hand side of the tag and then used a piece of vanilla seam binding ribbon (The Craft Spot), a couple gold jingle bells, and some gold cording to finish off the tag.  Before adhering the tag to the card, I added a holly flourish (Cheery Lynn die) cut out of gold glitter paper.  My last touch was to add the "25" (Tim Holtz die) to the bottom right of the card.  I really love how this card turned out and think I am going to have a hard time giving it away...know that I will though, as that is what the spirit of Christmas is all about...GIVING!

Thank you for stopping by today and a BIG thank you to Meredith and all the gals over at Festive Friday's for all the time and love they put into the challenge blog.  You got me started early and I enjoyed every minute of it...thank you, thank you, thank you!! :0)

Have a wonderful Wednesday friends and I wish each and every one of you a blessed Thanksgiving!

   

Papertrey Ink November Blog Hop - Paper House

Hello friends.  Time once again for Papertrey Ink's monthly challenge, and this month we were challenged to make a paper house.  Papertrey provided the template for the house, and we provided the designs!  Fun, fun challenge!  A little time consuming, but still had lots of fun doing this one.  Originally I had planned on making a whole little village, and even printed out the templates on a bunch of different colored cardstock.  Needless to say, after making just one house, I figured a village was just out of the question.  Oh well, maybe another day!  But anyway, here is the house I did finish:

I apologize for my picture quality, but there just isn't a lot of sunshine in Michigan during the winter months!  If you click on the picture to enlarge it, you will be able to see a lot more of the detail.  Here's another shot, so you can see my roof a little better:

It's hard to see in either photo, but I started by running the template through my Cuttlebug with PTI's Herringbone Impression Plate...it gave my house a bit of the rustic look I was going for!  My roof I made by punching out 3/4" circles and sponging them with Soft Suede ink before layering them down.  This probably took the longest, but I really like the look it gives the little house! :0)  I had fun adding the Christmas lights (Impression Obsession) to the roof line and all the little evergreen branches too (MS punch).  My 2 trees in the front are from PTI's "Winter Hill's" stamp set.  I used another MS punch for the white picket fence, and then added some snow (cotton balls) and candy canes (Hobby Lobby) to finish decorating my little house.  Again, a lot of time went into just this one little house, but I had Christmas music playing on my ipod, and I was a happy camper while playing! :0)

Make sure you check out all the other entries over at Nichole's blog here

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

Happy Birthday Sue

Good morning friends.  No, my title is not a typo!  I mentioned before that I have a lot of birthdays in November, and earlier in the month was my cousin Sue's, and today it's my good friend Sue's birthday!  We started celebrating early this past Friday with a homemade lunch, and of course, making a card!  I'll show that one to you later, but today I'd like to share the birthday card I made using Gina K's "Fall Foliage" stamp set.  Take a look:

I love this stamp set as it makes the leaves look watercolored!  I used Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie, Certainly Celery and Early Espresso (SU!) inks for the leaves, and Early Espresso, Pumpkin Pie, and Certainly Celery cardstock for the layering and die cuts (PTI).  A little bit of dark brown grosgrain ribbon finished off the card.  Easy but very elegant!  And here's the gift card holder I made to match it:

 

I am finally starting to get some use out of PTI's Quick Stitch Sentiments, and still can't believe I waited SO long to use these dies!  Don't they just add such a nice touch to a simple gift card holder?!  I think this "Wish" one would be great to use for Christmas gift card holders too!

Happy, happy birthday Sue!  Hope your day is special and full of nice surprises! :0)

That's all for this post friends, but I'll be back shortly with another post for PTI's November Blog Hop.  Thanks so much for stopping by today and have a wonderful Monday! :0)

merry

Good morning friends.  Just a quick post and quick card today!  Still had all kinds of paper and trees out on my desk from the Merry Monday and Make it Monday challenges, and this background paper and tree just kind of popped out at me.  VERY simple design, but I really kind of like how it turned out.  Take a look:

Isn't this background paper SO cute?!  I love the simplicity and brightness of it!  (Sassy Tress on White by Canvas Corp.)  I matched it up with some Real Red and Gumball Green cardstock, a couple of PTI dies (the tree and "merry")  and a little green clip that I've had for like forever.  This could truly be a 10 minute card (or less) and should be an inspiration for those of you out there that say they aren't crafty and can't do things like this!  And how bright and cheery would receiving a card like this make someone feel? :0)

That's all for today friends.  Hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and I'll be back Monday with hopefully 2 posts....a birthday card for my good friend Sue and the Papertrey Ink monthly blog hop.  Thanks so much for stopping by...I love it when you do! :0)

Make it Monday #141 & Merry Monday #84

Good morning friends.  Had some time to "play" last night and made a card that I could use for both this weeks Make it Monday challenge (Adding Glitter with Heat and Stick Embossing Powder) and Merry Monday's (Trees with Bling).  I hadn't used Papertrey's "Merry & Bright" die in quite a while and so dug it out to use for these challenges.  I love the simple lines of these trees, and "blinging" them up with the glitter really made them stand out!  Take a look:

If you click on the picture to enlarge it, you'll be able to see the glitter a lot better!  I started with a kraft cardstock base, then added a Cherry Cobbler layer, and then dp from SU!'s Season of Style Designer Pack.  I also used scraps of coordinating dp and newsprint for the different layers on the trees before I embossed them.  I had to improvise a little with the embossed glitter, as when I opened my container of Heat n Stick embossing powder, it was not powder any longer, but a solid lump!  I think it's probably somewhere in the 8 - 10 year old stage and was rock hard!  So anyway, I improvised by mixing some clear embossing powder and Dazzling Diamonds glitter, and it worked out just fine! :0)  I mounted my 3 trees on banners that I embossed with a Cuttlebug large dot folder (to keep the dot theme going!!), and then added a few finishing touches with the ribbon, star tag (PTI "Tiny Tags" stamp & die), twine, and some diamond bling for the tree stars.  IRL it really sparkles and I love the way it turned out! :0)

Make sure you check out all the other "blinged" out trees over at Merry Mondays and all the glittery cards over at the Make it Monday site on Nichole's blog.  LOTS of fun inspiration on both sites!  Thanks so much for stopping by today and have a wonderful Wednesday.

 

Wonderful Blessing

Good morning friends.  Hope you all had a great weekend and survived all the wild weather if you live in my "neck of the woods". 

I've been pretty busy working on some card orders and knitting gifts for Christmas, so just wanted to warn you that I might not be posting as regularly as I have been.  I'll still be around though, and hope to be able to post a few times a week.  Although who knows though...sometimes I do my best work under pressure!  We'll just have to see.......

The card I'm sharing today was a card inspired by Jan Tink and you can check out her fabulous cards here .  The image on my card is from a single SU! stamp that I never even took a second look at until I saw Jan's card.  Here's my version:

Definitely click on this photo to enlarge it so you can see more of the detail of this image.  I started with a Spellbinders circle and glossy white cs, and then embossed with clear embossing powder.  I then sponged with Pool Party, Midnight Muse, & Raspberry Ripple inks.  I layered my circle on a doily and then layered that onto a square  (4 1/4 X 4 1/4) white card base and 2 layers of Pool Party and a navy blue speckled cardstock. I finished with a white and silver ribbon (Michael's).  I'm SO glad I saw Jan's card and took another look at this stamp as I think it made an absolutely beautiful card!

That's all for today friends.  Have a wonderful Monday and thanks for stopping by...I love it when you do. :0)

Merry Monday #83

Good morning friends.  Playing along with Merry Monday's this week and the challenge is to use stripes, red, chocolate, and stars or hearts.  Once again the chocolate throws me for a loop, as I don't really think of browns being a Christmas color.  However, I have to admit that it is growing on me a little after seeing some of the fabulous cards by the designers and other bloggers.  You can take a look at them here.  So after mulling it over for awhile, I decided to use SU!'s "Heart of Christmas" stamp in Soft Suede (milk chocolate!) to get me started and this is what I came up with:

I apologize for the picture quality, but IRL the card is quite shimmery between the gold cs stars and the iridescent gold Glimmer Mist.  (enlarging the picture helps a little bit!)  I used a Darice embossing folder with Cherry Cobbler cs for my stripes and the trees are from SU!'s "Lovely as a Tree" stamp set.  I added a small seam binding ribbon (milk chocolate) from The Craft Spot and a little star tag from PTI.  The little stars on the trees are also a PTI die (Star Gazer). 




Thanks so much for stopping by today and I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! :0)

Country Star

Good morning friends.  Just a quick post today.  Here's a card I made a few weeks back when I was making all kinds of "star" Christmas cards and had one large star left that I "needed" to do something with:

I stamped the star twice with the largest flourish from SU!'s "Priceless" stamp set in Cherry Cobbler ink and then scored the star to make it 3D.  Attached the star to a layer I embossed with a Quickutz embossing folder (and sponged with Baked Brown Sugar ink to make the words "pop") and added a Cherry Cobbler seam binding ribbon to finish it.  Quick and easy peasy! :0)

Have a wonderful Thursday and thanks so much for stopping by! :0)

Festive Friday Challenge #21 - Color Challenge

Good morning friends.  Playing along with the last Festive Friday challenge for the year, and it's a color challenge that I am in LOVE with!!

My card is a very CAS one, and very happy with the way it turned out.  Take a look:

I used SU!'s "Warmth and Wonder" stamp set for the tree and embossed it with white embossing powder so it would stand out again the Pool Party background.  I added red Stickles for the ornaments (click on the picture to enlarge it and you can see the sparkle a lot better!).  I used a Quickutz embossing folder for my white layer to add some visual interest, and then finished with a red with white polka dot grosgrain ribbon (the ribbon is a much deeper red IRL, but photographed very bright...grrrrr!!).  This would be a quick and easy card to mass produce. 

A BIG thank you to all the gals at Festive Fridays for inspiring me to get started on my Christmas cards early this year...I am thrilled to say I have more than enough to send out already!  (Now the big question is though, will I get them mailed out in time?!!)

Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I hope you have a wonderful Wednesday! :0)

Merry & BRIGHT!

Good morning friends.  Hope you all had a great weekend.  Busy one here, but I do have a card to share!  A BRIGHT and busy card, but I still really like the way it turned out.  My background paper is what inspired this card, so take a look:

I loved all the bright colors of the village houses in this background paper, and used those same colors to die cut the pieces from PTI's "Polka Dot Parade #9" to make my Christmas tree.  I used a Spellbinders label die cut out with a speckled off white cardstock to adhere my tree to so it would stand out and not get lost in the background paper.  If you click to enlarge the photo, you can also see that I added a vellum snowflake (PTI die) behind the tree layer, and then a turquoise blue banner behind the snowflake.  A red sheer ribbon and a couple silver nailheads (Gina K) finish off the card.  It is a busy card, but again, I really like how cheery and bright it turned out!

That's all for today friends.  Have a wonderful Monday and thanks so much for stopping by...I love it when you do!! :0)

Happy Birthday Sue!

Good morning friends.  Yes, it's ANOTHER birthday here on my blog, but not just any birthday!  This is a BIG birthday!  As in a 60th birthday!  And NO birthday should ever be celebrated without life's most sustaining (and amazing!!!) food, so a very, very HAPPY Birthday to you Sue!

I LOVE making these chocolate nugget cakes...they are as addicting as the chocolate itself!  And what better way to celebrate a big milestone birthday than with LOTS of chocolate?!  They really are very easy to make using 1" x 3" strips of design paper (The Paper Studio) or even address labels that you've stamped on.  I chose this design paper because it was black and that was the color theme I was going for, but it was also pretty and that was important as I didn't want to be too mean by making a solid black cake! :0)  The first nugget cake I made for my husband, I used a hot glue gun to attach the nuggets to the Styrofoam bases.  I didn't do that for this cake, as we discovered with my husbands cake that the heat from the hot glue gun discolored the chocolate!  I used sticky strip for this cake and it seemed to work just fine!  I also made a matching card and gift holder:

I had to take a close up of the gift card holder, as I FINALLY used the "Stitched Words" die that I bought months and months ago and had never used! (PTI)  The "wish" fit perfectly on the flap portion of the holder, and it basically just punches out the stitching holes for you to follow with your embroidery floss...very easy and a great finishing touch! 

So anyway, I hope you have a wonderful 60th birthday Sue, and that your kids all spoil you rotten!  You deserve it!  And I promise I won't eat your cake before I get it to you!  (it will be hard, but I'll be on my best behavior!!) :0)

That's all for today friends.  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and if you're in my "neck of the woods, don't forget to check out the Craft Show & Sell tomorrow from 10AM to 5PM at Scrap, Scribble, 'n' Stick...will be a great place to get started on your holiday shopping! :0)     

Merry Monday #82

Good morning friends.  Playing along with Merry Monday today and it's a color challenge with a twist:

I  love this color combo, but for some reason putting a circle into the equation really threw me for a loop this time!  My card idea came quickly, but trying to incorporate more circles into it had me throwing away quite a few trees into the circular file!  Maybe I'd better show you the card so you know what I'm talking about....take a look:

My first idea was to sponge the aqua color for the sky and using a circle mask for the moon (I was trying to create early morning before the sun comes up).  Then I made my snow banks and trees, and that's where my struggles started!  I tried embossing my trees with a large dotted embossing folder, but they just looked strange!  So then I thought maybe I needed to add a few circular ornaments...tried red sequins, and a couple different small stamped ornaments...but they all ended up taking away from the peaceful scene I was trying to create.  So I guess I'm just going to leave it as a CAS card and say it is what it is! :0)   (trees, birds, and sentiment are all PTI)

Thanks for stopping by today and make sure you check out all the other great cards here.  Have a great Thursday and I'll be back tomorrow with a special birthday surprise for my cousin Sue's 60th! (it's coming whether you want it to or not Sue!!)

MIM #139 - Stamped Square Frames

Hello friends.  Just a quick post this evening to show a card I made for Papertrey Ink's Make it Monday challenge.  Dawn McVey shows how to get more mileage out of your stamps by using some of them to create a frame to surround your stamped image.  This was a fun challenge, but I have to admit that I'm not too great at lining up edges.  Oh well, at least I've been stamping long enough that I know a few tricks to cover up oh ohs! :0)  Anyway, here's what I came up with:

Even though my ends don't totally match up, (I used a sequin to cover up the worst one!) I still like the way this card turned out.  I used PTI's "Boutique Borders: Baby" to make my frame, and then used "Mum's the Word" for my flowers and sentiment.  I used my Aqua Painter, Pumpkin Pie, Cherry Cobbler, and Old Olive ink for my flowers and leaves, giving them a bit of a water colored effect.  (It's easier to see this if you click on the picture to enlarge)  I pop dotted the flowers and also the layer that I stamped on to give a little more dimension.  Adding a few sequins for a little "bling" finished off the card.

There's a lot of great cards entered in this challenge, and you can see them all here .  That's all for me tonight, but I'll be back in the morning with a Christmas card for the Merry Monday challenge.  Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your evening! :0)   

Happy Birthday Stephanie!

Good morning friends.  It's another birthday post today...surprise, surprise!  (I told you there are LOTS of birthday's in Nov. for family and friends!)  Today is my SU! demonstrator's birthday, so of course I had to share the card I made for her!  Remember the card I shared with you yesterday that had scraps of design paper for the background?  The reason there were just scraps left was because I used that same design paper for Stephanie's card, and then liked it so well that I made a couple more cards exactly like it, and used up all but some scraps of that paper! (that is definitely getting my money's worth out of a sheet of design paper!!)  So here's today's card:

Have I mentioned that I LOVE this flower stamp from SU! before?!!  This is the "Blooming with Kindness" stamp and it is a definite "go to" stamp for me when I want a "pretty" card!  I used a Soft Suede card base, and then the design paper.  I stamped my flower image on SU!'s Shimmery White cs (hard to see in picture, but IRL it sparkles!) with Cherry Cobbler ink (and a bit of Old Olive for the stem).  If you click to enlarge the picture you can also see that I embossed with clear embossing powder over the flower image to make it shiny and pop out a bit more.  I added my sentiment (PTI) and then tied a Cherry Cobbler seam binding ribbon (SU!) to finish the card.  An easy but very pretty and elegant card!

So happy, happy birthday Stephanie, and I hope your day is fabulous! (even though it's awfully rainy here!!) 

That's all for today friends.  Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday! :0)

Sunflower Birthday

Good morning friends.  Besides Christmas cards this month, you will be seeing lots of birthday cards too!  This is a busy month between family and friends, so hopefully I'll leave you with some inspiration for more than just Christmas! :0) 

After having a bunch of scraps of design paper on my desk from another birthday card, and idea struck for using up those pieces for this card.  Take a look:

I didn't have any pieces of this design paper big enough to cover the whole card base, so I pieced it for the background (and matted with Early Espresso cs).  Because this is a busier background, I wanted just one image for the focal point and what better than the large Sunflower stamp from SU!  I inked it up using Daffodil Delight and Early Espresso (which I stamped off on first so it wasn't quite so dark) and then just stamped half of it onto my piece of white cs.  I stamped it again using VersaMark and then used clear embossing powder to make it really shine! (it was hard to capture the shine in the photograph, but if you click on the picture to enlarge it, you'll be able to see it a little bit better)  I added a small banner with my birthday sentiment (PTI) and a button and easy, peasy, done!  I LOVE this stamp and just know I'm going to get a lot of mileage out of it! :0)

That's all for today, but I'll be back with another birthday card tomorrow where you'll see where I used the same design paper as this card.  Thanks so much for stopping by today and have a great Tuesday! :0)

Fall Sympathy

Good morning friends.  Just a quick post this morning, but wanted to share a card I made this weekend.  Generally don't like making sympathy cards, but needed 2 of them and both for guys, so thought I would try a technique my girlfriend Sue showed me along with fall colored leaves.  Really like how it turned out - take a look:

This technique uses one (or 2) strips of torn cardstock that is placed against your card base, and then you do your stamping (a small maple leaf and Tim Holtz distress inks) and then sponge around your stamped images and also the torn edge.  When you pull away the strip of torn cardstock, you have the look of a torn edge, but no extra layer of cardstock!  I used a bit larger maple leaf stamp for the focal point, and after inking up, misted with some water to give the leaf more of a watercolored look.  Added my sentiment and was done...quick and easy! 

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a wonderful Monday!  Have a busy week with birthdays and trying to get ready for a craft show & sell that I'm participating in this weekend, but will definitely be popping in to share cards with you along the way! :0)

Merry Monday #81 - Santa

Good morning friends.  Did you have a good Halloween?  Because of the rain, we only had 19 brave little souls come to our door!  Oh well, still fun to see the little ones! :0)  Now with Halloween over, I can put out one of my favorite decorations, which is a turkey that I had made years ago and still am in love with!  I'll have to take a picture and post it for you...he's seriously too cute!!  Anyway, on to my card for this week's Merry Monday challenge...to use a Santa on your card.

  I kept this one very simple and vintage like.  Take a look:

Started with a Soft Suede card base, and then a layer of kraft cs that I ran through my Cuttlebug with an embossing folder by Quickutz.  To make the words pop a little more, I sponged them with some Soft Suede ink.  Then I stamped a small Santa from Paper Inspirations onto white cardstock with Soft Suede ink and layered with cs and gold glitter paper.  I finished with a gold glitter snowflake (Provocraft die) and some cream colored seam binding ribbon.  I also added a couple gold jingle bells and red/cream twine to the bow, and a little star tag (PTI's Tiny Tags die).  Another card that would be easy to mass produce, but not very mailable with the bells on it.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend and thanks so much for stopping by! :0)