Modern Whimsy Birthday

Good morning friends and Happy New Year's Eve to you!  Do you celebrate big on New Year's Eve?  I'm so ready to lay low at this point that we usually don't do much, but we are going to go see a movie (The Secret Life of Walter Mitty) tonight.  Love Ben Stiller, so I'm looking forward to tonight!  Our youngest took me to see a great movie last night...Saving Mr. Banks.  If you're from the Mary Poppins generation (like me!) you will love this movie!  Didn't get great reviews and I don't understand why, as I thought it was SO good!  Anyway, whatever you end up doing tonight to celebrate, stay safe and enjoy! :0)

My niece is celebrating a birthday today, and for her card I used a style that Danielle Flanders introduced to us several weeks ago called Modern Whimsy.  I have to admit most times I'm not a very "modern" person, but I really do like this style of card making.  Take a look:

My niece is not a pink and flowery type person, so I thought this style (and colors) might work well for her.  This style is basically adding lots of layers and different elements.  I started with a kraft cs base and a 2" strip of vellum that I embossed the bottom edge of with PTI's "Boutique Borders: Thanks" die and stamp set.  I also die cut the word birthday out of the center of the vellum strip and then inset it with the same die cut using a swiss dot turquoise blue cs.  I added a couple more design paper banner strips behind the vellum strip, and then attached a red wreath die cut (PTI's Rustic Wreath) over the top of the banner strips.  When I trimmed down the width of the black and white flowered banner, the backside of the paper made a cool striped design, so I added a piece to both the bottom and the top of the card.  The "happy" is from PTI's "Embroidered Blooms" stamp set.  The flower at the top is also a PTI die and helped to balance out the card.  Here's a closer up view:

These are really fun cards to put together and I think I will be using more of this style...already have a few more ideas rolling around in my head! :0)  Well, that's all for today friends, but I will be back later this week with a card I'm working on for the newest Make it Monday challenge.  Until then, I'd like to wish each of you a very happy and blessed new year!  Thanks for stopping by! :0) 

Bright & Flowery Again!

Good morning friends.  Hope you all had a wonderful weekend.  It was nice to have a slower paced one here again, and the sunshine and temps in the upper 30's didn't hurt either!  Still haven't taken any Christmas decorations down yet, but probably will New Years day...ready for the house to be back to it's simpler state! :0)

Made a couple birthday cards this weekend, and it was nice to use bright and cheery colors again.  Maybe I shouldn't say "bright" colors, as this card is more pastel, but it isn't red & green! :0)  (Don't get me wrong as Christmas cards are a real favorite for me to make, but I'm glad to be making something else for awhile!)  Anyway, take a look at this pretty and pastel birthday card:

 
Of course the sunshine was on Saturday and I didn't finish this card til yesterday when there was no more sunshine, so the lighting isn't the best, but click on the picture to make it larger and you'll be able to see more of it.  I used a Darice ef and Pool Party cs on a white card base, and then used a Spellbinders Floral Oval die and white cs to build my card on.  I embossed the leaves in white with PTI's "Embroidered Blooms" stamp set, and then sponged around them with Pool Party ink.  I fussy cut out my flowers from the same set, using Pool Party, Wisteria Wonder, Lovely Lilac, and Almost Amethyst inks.  Here's a closer up view:

I also used some tiny white pearls to add to the centers of the smaller flowers.  I dyed a piece of seam binding ribbon with a Pool Party re-inker and then added a tag from PTI's "Tiny Tags" die and stamp set.  This card took a bit of time to make, but think it was well worth the effort, and that someone will enjoy receiving this on their special day! :0)

That's it for today, but I do have another birthday card to share with you tomorrow for my niece.  Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a wonderful Monday!

Papertrey Ink's December 2013 Blog Hop

Hello friends.  Made some Christmas thank you cards today and just realized I could use this particular card for Papertrey Ink's December Blog Hop...to use string on your card.  I know my use isn't the most original, but I really like the CAS look of this card, so I'm adding it to all the other amazing (and more original) entries out there!  Take a look:

A simple white card base with a strip of kraft cs embossed with a woodgrain ef, and then a die cut Christmas tree (PTI) from musical paper (The Paper Studio).  I sponged the edges of the tree to give it a bit more definition and then attached a hemp string bow with a mini glue dot.  My "thank you" sentiment is from PTI's "Year of Flowers: Lily of the Valley".  I added 3 gold sequins to add a little bling and called it good. 

Thanks for stopping by...love it when you do! :0)

The Sounding Joy

Good morning friends.  Hope you all had a great weekend and are winding down with all your preparations and just enjoying all the wonderful moments of the season with your families and friends.  We had a great time with my husbands side of the family on Saturday evening, and will see my side unfortunately today for a funeral.  A hard time of year to lose someone, but my aunt lived a good life and we know she's celebrating Christmas with Jesus this year! 

Wanted to share a card I made for an order for my girlfriend using SU!'s set from a few years ago called "The Sounding Joy".  This is a tri-fold card, so a little bit different from your regular A-2 card.  Take a look:

A bit hard to photograph a card folded this way, but hopefully you can get the idea.  When the card lays flat and folded, the star covers the inside message.  I used Cranberry Crisp cs for the base, a cream colored cs (LSS) for the inside star and inside sentiment, and a gold cs (LSS) to layer the star, sentiment, and the right hand edge strip that I embossed with a holly embossing folder.  I used the largest stamp from SU!s "Flowering Flourishes" for the background of the inside.  If you click to enlarge the picture you'll be able to see a lot more of the design.  The card looks pretty simple at first glance, but there really are a lot of different elements that went into this card that make it special and I love how it turned out! :0)  (my girlfriend did too!)

Well time for me to get motating, so that's all for today.  Have a wonderful Monday and thanks so much for stopping by...love it when you do! 

Another Wonderful Blessing Card

Good morning friends.  Another quick post today (VERY behind!!), but wanted to share another card I made with SU!'s "Wonderful Blessing" stamp for all the ladies in my bible study group.  Take a look:

Make sure you click to enlarge the photo so you can see all the beautiful detail in this stamp.  I used SU!'s Night of Navy ink to stamp the image, and then cut out with a Spellbinders circle die and a scalloped circle die.  It's really hard to see in the photo, but I used a sparkly gel pen on some of the stars in the image and also gave it an overall spray of iridescent glimmer mist...IRL it really shimmers!  Here's a look at the inside:

 
I've had these doilies for forever and hardly ever use them, but they were sitting out for some reason, and it just hit me that it would make for a great inside with a sentiment stamped on it.  I used PTI's "Christmas Blessings" stamp set for the sentiment and think it fits just perfectly for the inside of this card! :0)

Thanks so much for stopping by today, and hope you all have a wonderful Friday and weekend!

Christmas Treat Box

Good morning friends.  Just a quick post today to share with you a little treat I made for my girlfriends for our get together last Friday.  I mean what is a party if you don't have chocolate and something pretty to wrap it up in?!!!  Take look:

I started with kraft cardstock and PTI's Pillow Box die and then decorated with scraps of design paper.  The top strip of design paper I used a MS bitty heart punch (enlarge picture to see better) that I thought added a nice element to the box.  I also used PTI's Fancy Flakes die to cut out my snowflake and tied a piece of cream colored seam binding ribbon through it to attach.  I finished with a little tag (SU!) with the sentiment from SU!, the background flourish from SU!'s "Priceless" stamp set, and a small holly from PTI's "Holly Jolly" die. 

These really went together quite quickly once I picked out my design paper and made a pretty presentation on my Christmas plates/table.  And like I said earlier, the best part is they contained chocolate! :0)

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

More Tags

Good morning friends.  Hope you all had a great weekend?  I had a wonderful weekend with 2 Christmas get togethers...one with 3 of my girlfriends where we exchange ornaments and yesterday with my mom's side of the family and both were great times! :0)  Today, 2 of my daughters and I are going to finish up our Christmas shopping, so as long as the next round of snow holds off till later this afternoon, this will be another fun day! :0)

Today I'd like to share a few more quick and easy tags to dress up your Christmas packages.  Take a look:

The first two tags use PTI's Tag Sale #8 die, and the third tag is made using SU!'s Envelope Punch Board.  I stamped the first tag with SU!'s "Beautiful Season" in black ink and then just colored the berries with an R29 Copic marker...very CAS and elegant!  The second tag was a quick and easy one too, using PTI's smallest Fancy Flake die with silver holographic paper...really sparkles IRL!  The third tag also a quick and simple one using just two PTI dies...the "merry" from "Wonderful Words: Christmas" and the Christmas tree die.  So don't spend money on store bought tags friends....all you need are scraps and a little bit of time to make beautiful handmade ones that gift recipients will love! :0)

I'm not sure how much I'll be posting over the next week and a half, but you just never know...I could surprise myself (and you!) and get more accomplished than I think I can!  Have a wonderful Monday friends and thanks so much for stopping by to visit! :0) 

Make it Monday #144 - Heat Embossing Vellum

Hello friends.  Was going through card withdrawl this week and needed a couple winter birthday cards, so decided to play along with this weeks Make it Monday over at Papertrey Ink.  Melissa Phillips did a fantastic job with her tutorial and card, and I learned some great tips!  I never thought about putting a simple design paper behind my vellum to add some more visual interest and how to add glue behind more solid stamped images when attaching your vellum!  Anyway, here's what I came up with for my card:

I used PTI's "Winter Hills" stamp set and because I don't own any colored embossing powders, I colored my image with some of my Copics, and then embossed the same image on vellum with white embossing powder and layered that over my stamped image.  Here's a closer up view:

I used Melissa's tip and put glue behind the farmhouse, the barn, and the tree's to attach the vellum to the stamped image and it worked perfectly...NO glue spots showing through!! :0)  I also added a layer of vellum over my design paper (flip side of Eskimo Kisses) and embossed the birthday sentiment in silver.  I added a couple strips of scrap design paper on the side and was able to use my adhesive behind these to attach the vellum without the dreaded show through glue spots here too!  I finished off the card by adding a Fancy Flakes snowflake (PTI) and a snowflake embellishment from SU!, and lastly a seam binding ribbon in Real Red.

Hope you're enjoying your weekend...we're digging out again from more snow! Have a wonderful rest of your weekend! :0)  

Gift Card/Tag Week - #5

Good morning friends.  Woke up this morning to it NOT snowing...that's a first in like over a week now!  It's very pretty but it already looks like Christmas, so it can stop for awhile now!  Hope you are all getting things accomplished without too much stress and are enjoying the season!  The first of my get togethers starts tonight with 3 of my good friends...I think this is our 7th annual ornament exchange party!  It will be good just to sit and catch up and laugh together...and snack and get a new ornament for the tree! :0)

Finally started wrapping some gifts to put under the tree this week, and one of the best parts was adding my homemade gift tags to them.  The 3 tags I'd like to share with you today are all made from kraft cardstock, and I love the rustic look it gives them.  Take a look:

If you click on the picture to enlarge it, you'll be able to see more of the detail.  For this size tag, you can get 8 of them out of an 8 1/2 x 11 piece of cardstock.  And once again I am loving using my SU! Envelope Board to make the tab corners on the top and the rounded corners on the bottom...SO easy!  The 1st tag uses SU!'s "Snow Day" stamp set and I stamped the snowman in kraft white ink.  The 2nd tag uses Flourishes "Santa" stamp set and the 3rd tag PTI's "Wreath for All Seasons" stamp set.  The size of these tags makes it great if you want to write a little message on the back too.  Making your own tags is also a great way to use up those little bits of ribbon that aren't big enough to do much with, but that you can't bring yourself to throw away...I know, I know...I'm such a pack rat in my craft room! :0) 

That's all for today friends.  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and I'll be back next week with some more tags and other inspiration ideas.  Thanks so much for stopping by...I love it when you do!

Gift Card/Tag Week - #4

Good morning friends.  Just a quick post today as it's a busy one for me with bringing my youngest home from college for the holidays, knitting/bible study group, and LOTS of errands if the weather cooperates!  So on to my last of the gift card holders for this week - take a look:

I started with a piece of design paper cut at 11" x 4 1/4", and then scored at 3 1/2", 5 1/2", & 7 1/2".  Fold in half right sides together and use the end of SU!'s Top Notch die, and then  place the folded end of the design paper on that end of the die and cut (hope that makes sense?).  Finish folding on the other 2 score lines and then use 1/8th" score tape just on the bottom of the 3 1/2" score line and the edges of the 2 sides (do this on the printed side).  You need to keep the part of the holder cut by the Top Notch die open so that you can insert your gift card.  Once you're finished with this, you can make a simple belly band (1" x 7 1/2") to keep the gift card holder closed and then decorate as desired.  I kept both of these very simple letting the design paper do most of the work.

Thanks so much for stopping by today and I'll be back tomorrow with some gift tags for you. :0)

Gift Card/Tag Week - #3

Good morning friends.  It's beginning to look a LOT like Christmas in my "neck of the woods"!  Looks like another day staying at home and off the roads, but that's ok as it's forcing me to get a lot accomplished that I've been procrastinating about!  How about you...are you ready for 2 weeks from today? :0) 

Today I'd like to share a few more gift card holders with you.  This idea came from my SU! demonstrator Stephanie (thanks Steph!!), and uses a piece of 8" x 3 1/4" cardstock, scored at 1 3/4" and 2 1/2".  You can then decorate it any way you like.  Take a look:

 

 

I basically just used scraps of designer paper, ribbon, dies, and punches to decorate all of these holders, and what a fun way to present a gift card!  (makes it seem a little more personal if you know what I mean! :0)  I won't go into specifics of everything I used on these, but if you have any questions about how I did something or what products I used, just contact me!

 

Tomorrow I'll be back with one more gift card holder idea for you, and then I have a couple days of gift tag ideas to share with you.  Hopefully I'm inspiring you to be at least a little bit crafty this year! :0)  Have a wonderful Wednesday and thanks so much for stopping by...I love it when you do! :0) 



Gift Card/Tag Week - #2

Good morning friends.  Back with day 2 of my gift cards and tags week, and today I'd like to share with you a few gift card holders I made using the file folder technique.  If you remember back around Halloween time, I made several cards using this technique, and these gift card holders are basically the same, just smaller to fit a gift card.  Take a look:

If you click on both images to enlarge them, you'll be able to see the details better...not much sun for the next few months, so it makes it hard for photographing - grrrrrrr!!  Anyway, the first 2 holders use Cranberry Crisp cardstock and design paper from Little Yellow Bicycle, Inc. (Once Upon a Christmas).  I started with a 4 x 6 1/2 piece of cardstock and then scored at 3".  I used SU!'s Envelope Board to make the tabs, and you can basically make the tabs wherever you want (you'll notice that all 3 of mine are different).  The first 2 I just cut apart my design paper to get the images I wanted and then added the "merry & bright" sentiment (PTI's "Fillable Frames" stamp set) to the tab of the one holder.  I added a few diamonds to both holders to finish them up.  The 3rd holder uses Real Red cardstock and a bit of Soft Suede behind my Santa image (Paper Inspiration), and the design paper is from SU!'s Season of Style pad.  I added a little holly die cut (PTI - Holly Jolly),  red and white grosgrain ribbon, and the Merry Christmas sentiment from PTI's "Wreath For All Seasons" stamp set.  All 3 super quick and easy to make and something a little different to put your gift cards in for those hard to buy for people on your list! :0)

Well I'm off to start some of my holiday baking (supposed to be another cold and snowy day here in my neck of the woods, so a good day to stay home and bake!! ).  I'll be back again tomorrow with day #3 of my gift card/tag week, and show you what I came up with for vertical gift card holders.   Thanks so much for stopping by today and have a wonderful and warm Tuesday! :0)

Gift Card/Tag Week - #1

Good morning friends.  Today my world is blanketed by snow, and while most of you who know me know I don't care for cold and snow, I must admit today it is very pretty and peaceful looking.  Reminded me to be still for just a while longer this morning, and reflect on this blessed season of CHRISTmas.  I am right there in the middle of all this "busyness" with the rest of you, and totally wondering how I am ever going to finish everything up on time, but it's good to slow down a little and take time to reflect...recharges the brain and makes me ready to conquer another day!  (especially after not sleeping much over the weekend because of a mouse in the house!!  I know it's little, but it still creeps me out, and I just wish it would find it's way back outside!!)

This week I would like to share with you some ideas for gift cards and tags.  Todays gift card holders were quick and fun just using design paper!  Take a look:

I used PTI's gift card holder die to cut these out, so that takes most of the work out of these holders.  Once they're cut out, you simply fold on the score lines and you're good to go.  I added a little bit of embellishment to each one, but depending on the paper you use, these could be left plain and still look great.  The holder on the left uses paper from TPC Solutions, and then I added a Cherry Cobbler seam binding bow and a little tag (PTI's Tiny Tags die & stamp set) and gold cord.  Still very simple with just a little bit of dressing.  The holder on the right would be great for the hunters in your life!  The paper is from The Paper Studio, and then I simply added a deer from PTI's "In the Meadow" die set. 

Tomorrow I'll be back with a few more gift card holders that I made like a file folder, using SU!'s Envelope Punch Board.  Thanks so much for stopping by today and have a wonderful and mouseless Monday! :0)  

PTI Make it Monday #143 - Modern Whimsy Style

Good morning friends.  Playing along with PTI's Make it Monday challenge today, and I have to say I really like this style that Danielle Flanders introduced to us...a LOT of fun!  What I took from Danielle's video was that this is a light and airy style with lots of layers...and I like layers!! :0)  So anyway, here's my take on it:

I started with a kraft cardstock base, and then started adding my layers.  First up was the largest of the 3 Fancy Flake snowflakes (PTI) that I cut out with vellum.  Then I made 3 banners: 2 from design paper scraps, and the third from vellum.  The vellum banner I die cut and embossed the end with PTI's "Boutique Borders: Christmas Stamp Set" and white embossing powder, and then cut out the word "peace" from PTI's "Wonderful Words: Holiday Die Collection".  I cut the word "peace" again from some Cherry Cobbler cardstock and inset it into the negative space that I cut out from the banner.  I also used PTI's "Wonderful Words: Joy" to die cut and stamp the word Joy for the bottom of the card, and then started adding all the rest of the layers to the card.  I added a couple of gold stars and pearls, and a smaller Fancy Flake tied with red/white bakers twine to finish off the card.  Oh, and there was a scrap of the reverse side of one of my banners that I added to the very top of the card...my SU! demonstrator would be very proud of me for making good use of my scraps! :0)  Make sure you check out all the other entries here as there are some amazing cards made with this style!

That's all for today friends, but I hope to be back next week with some ideas for you for gift card holders...just need to get some pictures taken!  Hope you all have a wonderful weekend and remember to slow down enough to remember what this blessed season is really all about...me included!!  Thanks so much for stopping by...I love it when you do and comments just really make my day! :0) 

Sock Snowmen

Good morning friends.  This morning I'd like to share a little craft with you rather than a card.  Most of you know I am a BIG fan of snowmen, and when I saw this cute idea on Suzanne Dean's blog here, I fell in LOVE!!  These were so much fun to make and really quick and easy too.  You simply start with the leg portion of a guys tube sock and fill it with rice and secure with rubber bands.  Suzanne has a great tutorial on her blog, so make sure you check it out.  I don't think I spent much more than an hour on the 4 that I made, and they're pretty economical to make too.  I used my husbands socks that had holes in the bottom, and the only thing I purchased was Christmas socks that were BOGO to make their stocking caps.  Take a look:

Aren't they cute?!!  I kept mine rather simple, but you can dress them up as much or as little as you want.  For the scarves on mine, I used the foot part of the sock and cut off the toe and heel sections, made a cut to make a rectangle shape, fringed each end, and then tied around their necks.  For the eyes and nose I used sticky back pearls that I colored with sharpies.  The heart buttons were in my stash and dressed them up a little with some red and white twine.  Quick, easy, and oh SO cute!

I sent all 4 off to school with my youngest for her and her friends to decorate their dorms for the holidays...they all loved them! (along with all the treats I sent along too, I'm sure!!)  Now that they're gone though, I kinda miss them and am thinking I might need to make a few more! :0)

Thanks so much for stopping by today and have a wonderful Tuesday! :0)

Snow Tree

Good morning friends.  Feels like it's been awhile!  Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  Our oldest daughter and son in law hosted a fabulous dinner for our family, and I must say that she did an awesome job for her first time!  (I must have taught her right!!)  Then spent the rest of the weekend quietly at home decorating (so NOT a big Friday shopper!!) and now our house is ready for Christmas.  And in that spirit, here's another Christmas card:

I really like the quiet beauty of this card.  I used SU!'s "Branch Out" stamp set with Smokey Slate ink for the tree, and Bashful Blue, Marina Mist, and Night of Navy inks for the snow on the tree. To add just a little pop of color I added the bird in Real Red.  After stamping I ran the image through my Cuttlebug with a Quickutz embossing folder, and then layered with Night of Navy cardstock and a white card base.  If you click on the photo, you'll be able to better see that I also added some Dazzling Diamonds glitter on the snow in the tree.  A pretty quick and easy card, and again, I really like how it turned out! :0)

That's all for today, but I'll be back with a little "non-card" Christmas craft for you tomorrow.  Thanks for stopping in and have a wonderful Monday!

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)