Merry Monday #231 - Reindeer

Hello friends.  Colleen is our hostess this week at Merry Monday and she would like to see a Reindeer on your Christmas cards this week.

I have a brand new stamp from Stampingbella - Rudolph the Skating Reindeer - that I had to try out for this challenge!

Isn't he a cutie?!!  I colored him with my Copics and then die cut (Gina Marie Designs) and layered him with Real Red cs and DSP from Echo Park's I Love Winter paper pad.  And because he was so cute, I just had to stamp a 2nd one:

The DSP on this one is SU!'s Warmth & Cheer paper pad.

There are SO many wonderful Reindeer stamps out there!  Hope you'll go digging through your stash and then play along with us!  You can check out all the great inspiration from my teammates and then add your card right HERE.

Thanks so much for stopping by today...I love it when you do!  :0)

CAS Watercolour Jan. 2017 - Snowflake

Hello friends.  Playing along with the ladies over at the CAS Watercolour Challenge today, where the focus is on Snowflakes.

Having lived in Michigan all my life, I've seen plenty of snowflakes!  I really do love the look of them, and I like the snow when it first falls and is very clean and white, however my love of it ends right about there!  Now making a card with snowflakes...totally different matter!  I hadn't used my Quilted: Winter set (PTI) in quite awhile, and I love the simple lines of the die cut snowflake...made a perfect overlay for my watercoloured background! 

 

I used Deep Blue and Sky Blue Peerless watercolours first, and when that dried, I added just a touch of Cobalt Blue and Purple Brusho's.  I added a little bit of water splattering, and I really like how it looked when I added the white die cut quilt block over it!  I also added a embossed layer using SU!'s Northern Flurry ef onto my card base, and then added the watercolour and die cut layer on top (with a few dimensionals).  My sentiment also came from the Quilted: Winter set.  Here's a closer up view of the watercolouring:

Lots of FABULOUS cards from the DT and in the gallery to inspire you, so if you love watercolouring and snowflakes, then come join the fun!  This challenge is open till the 24th, and you can find all the info you need to play along right HERE.

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

Make It Monday #271 - A La Carte

Hello friends.  For this weeks Make It Monday challenge, Papertrey Ink is inviting us to pick one of the challenges from this past year (2016) that we might not have had a chance to play in.  Up until right before Christmas, I had played in every challenge, but then ran out of time!  I would have loved to play in Ashley's picture challenge, but we just don't print pictures anymore...they are all on my phone or online.  Grrrr!  So anyway, I went back through all the challenges, and one that I really liked was from Dawn McVey, who showed us how to achieve more depth to our single stamps with sponging, and it's a technique I find myself using a LOT now!  You can check out Dawn's video HERE.  I was a little late to the party with the Christmas Critters set, but after seeing all the cute cards made with it, I just had to order it...and then of course ran out of time to use it before Christmas.  So I got to thinking...could I make it into a Valentine's card?  What do you think??

I used Dawn's sponging technique on the background circle with Lovely Lady, Hibiscus Burst, & Raspberry Fizz inks, and also on the die cut LOVE from Wonderful Words: Love.  For the mouse's sweater and cup, I used the same technique with Hawaiian Shores & Tropical Teal inks.  Doesn't look anything like Christmas to me and I think it makes a fabulous Valentine's Day card...love it!  :0)

As Darnell would say, I have a "twofer" for you today.  Another set that I just never got a chance to play with before Christmas was the Tiny Town: Gingerbread house.  Spent a few days working on it and just had FUN!  Take a look:

 

I even made a platform for it like my dear friend Birgit did for her Tiny Town buildings.  I wanted to have something to set the fences and tree's on, so the platform worked great!  I just cut a 6" square piece of cardstock and scored at 1/2" on all four sides...so easy to do and then I cut strips of DSP (1/2" X 5") for  all four sides to dress up the platform a bit.  I also used a Darice brick embossing folder for the outside of my house, but instead of actually embossing it, I inked up the inside of the folder and then pressed my two house pieces (one at a time) in it to give the inked look of bricks.  Betsy did such a fabulous job of adding all the little details to this set...the only thing I had to get from another set was the red bows for the fence (Catherine Pooler's Hip Holiday).  Like I said, it took me a few days to make it, working on it here and there, but it was so much fun and I love how it turned out.  I even put a little battery powered tea light in it, and it looks so warm and cozy when lit up!  :0)

Thanks so much for stopping by today, and make sure you check out what everyone else is adding to the gallery for this weeks challenge right HERE.

CAS Mix Up - January 2017

Hello friends.  Playing along with the January CAS Mix Up, where this month the challenge is to use something liquid.

I chose to work with Alcohol Inks as my liquid, and here's what I came up with:

I love pinks and reds together, and used Raspberry, Watermelon, & Red Pepper Alcohol inks on Yupo paper to create my liquid color piece.  I added a Fuchsia die cut (Memory Box) and left it white so it would pop against the colorful background.   I used a SSS Stacked Hearts die cut in white to keep my background CAS but yet still adding some dimension and interest.  For my sentiment I die cut the word Love from PTI's Inspired: Love set in black and then stamped the "you" in black at the bottom of the card. 

Lots of beautiful cards from the DT and in the gallery for inspiration in this months challenge...you can check it all out HERE.

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

 

Merry Monday #230 - Noel

Hello friends.  So happy to be your hostess this week at Merry Monday!  I have a little bit of a Scandinavian blood in me from my maternal grandfather, and have always LOVED the Christmas designs and patterns they use in their decorating and also the word "Noel"!  (My mom had ceramic letters that spelled out "Noel" that she put out at Christmas, and my little brother always used to rearrange them to spell "Leon"... it was fun to see how long it would take before my mom noticed!)  So all that being said, I would love to see you use the word "Noel" and/or decorate your card with a Scandinavian feel.

 

I kept my card very simple with a kraft and white color theme.  I used a new to me embossing folder by RG - Lumberjack Days Collection - Knitted Pattern for my background on a piece of kraft cardstock, and lightly sponged on some kraft ink to make it pop a bit more.  I used a little Winter scene from PTI's Winter Hills for my main image and also the word "Noel" from Catherine Pooler's Hip Holiday stamp set embossed in white.  I also added a few stitched die cut stars (Gina Marie Designs) and a few wooden stars from PTI.  A little bit of Dazzling Diamonds glitter finished off my card!

 

The DT really made some awesome cards for inspiration this week, so check them out and play along with us...can't wait to see what you come up with!  All the info you need to play along can be found right HERE.

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

Snow Much Thanks

Hello friends.  Did you get lots of new crafty goodies for Christmas?  One of my gifts was the new Simon Says Stamp Snow Much Thanks kit...LOVE it!  And the SSS Wednesday challenge this week is to use something "new", so it couldn't have worked out anymore perfect that I had just finished this card using my new Snow Much Thanks kit:

OK, my sentiment is not a "Thank You", but I needed a birthday card...everything else though is from this new kit!  Well, almost everything!  I stamped my top layer with the Delicata White Shimmer pigment ink that came with the kit, using a bunch of the different snowflakes (Frozen Fractals) that also come with the kit.  I added some clear embossing powder and then heat set so I could blend my inks over them (Lovely Lilac & Pool Party - SU!).  I used PTI's Noted: Scalloped A2 Vertical Die set to cut my top layer and the scalloped base layer.  The top layer I added to a layer of Cornflower Blue cs that came with the kit.  I used a piece of the Blue Gray parchment paper that also came with the kit to die cut a banner and embossed that with the Delicata White Shimmer ink and a sentiment from PTI's Winter Hills set and a few more of the tiny snowflakes that came with the kit.  I tied some white twine around the top two layers and then added a few of the iridescent sequins that were also a part of the kit.  This kit is out of stock right now, but there is a link to be notified when it comes back in stock right HERE.  This kit is jam packed with goodies, and if you're a snowflake lover like me, you'll really want to check this kit out!

You can check out what everyone else is doing with all their "NEW" stuff and play along right HERE.

Thanks so much for stopping by today...I love it when you do!  :0)

Merry Monday #229 - Angels

Hello friends.  Happy New Year and welcome back to Merry Monday where we'd love to help you complete all your Christmas cards by next December!  Sue is our hostess this week, and she'd love to see an Angel on your card.

I only have a few Angel stamps and dies, but this Impression Obsession Angel die is one of my favorites!

I still had a piece of leftover ink blended cardstock that I used for my background (Faded Jeans, Salty Ocean, Picked Raspberry, & Dusty Concord Distress Inks blended and then added water splatters and white acrylic paint splatters) and used a stitched oval die to cut it out.  I added the die cut Angel in black and then added the Penny Black Rejoice die cut in gold cardstock.  I used MFT's Blueprints #27 dies to cut my black scalloped rectangle and the white stitched rectangle is from Lil Inkers.  Because of the blended background piece already being done, this card was pretty QAS to put together and I have to admit I really like how it turned out!  Don't you just love it when a card comes together so quickly?!!

Please check out all the other Design Team members cards for inspiration, and then play along with us!  You will absolutely LOVE having all your cards done by early December if you start now, so hang out with us each week and we'll help you get there!  You can find all the info you need to play along right HERE.

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