Christmas Kickstart #56 - Christmas Snippets

Hello friends.  Playing along with the Christmas Kickstart Challenge where Jo and her guest elf Di are looking for Christmas cards made with SNIPPETS.

Are you a saver of all those tiniest pieces of DSP and cardstock?  I'm one of those that do and then hardly use them, but just can't bear to throw them away, just in case...  Well, this is the perfect challenge to use some of those little snippets up, and here's what I came up with using a couple pieces from my SU! stash...

I used a Penny Black die called Ornament Branch to cut my snippets from a piece of Soft Succulent Shimmer Vellum for the branch and a piece of leftover DSP from SU! called Expressions in Ink for the ornament.  I used one of the Spellbinders Hemstitched Rectangle Dies to cut a white layer that I added to a white card base, and then glued my vellum branch and pretty pink and gold ornament to the die cut layer.  I also added a tiny snippet of gold mirror cardstock for the hanger part of the ornament.

I thought about adding a sentiment, but I really loved the CAS look to this card and decided to leave my sentiment for the inside.

Are your Christmas cards done and ready to mail out in the next few weeks?  I am soooo close...just a few more!  If you need to play catch up, check out all the inspiration from Jo and Di and all the beautiful cards already in gallery HERE and then play along.  This challenge is open till the 30th.

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

CAS Christmas Reminder Nov. 2021 - CHRISTMAS CRITTERS

Hello friends.  Just a friendly little reminder that there's still time to play along with us this month at CAS Christmas.  Our hostess this month is Barb, and she would like to see CHRISTMAS CRITTERS on your CAS Christmas cards.

I used an older image from Penny Black (you can always tell it's older when the stamp is mounted on a wood block, right??!! ) that I actually just picked up last year after seeing someone make a card with it and knew I had to have it to add to my critter collection!  Take a look...

 Can you see why I had to have it?!  I think this overdressed duck image is just too CUTE, and I had fun coloring him simply with a few of my Copics, and then matting him with a thin layer of red foil cardstock.  My sentiment was also mounted on a thin piece of red foil cardstock and is from TE's Modern Holiday stamp set.

My background is a new to me embossing folder from SSS called Holiday Greenery, and I think it finished off my simple card rather nicely!

You have until the 24th to enter this challenge, so check out the inspiration from the DT and play along with us right HERE.

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

The Flower Challenge #62 - Add Leaves & Peace On Earth Challenge #3

Hello friends.  Playing along with a couple different challenges today and trying to get some more Christmas cards made.  The Flower Challenge is looking for us to add LEAVES to our cards and the Peace on Earth Christmas Challenge has a wonderful mood board to inspire us!

I had bought Altenew's Poinsettia 3D Die Set last year, and thought since The Flower Challenge was looking for LEAVES and Poinsettia's are technically LEAVES (and not flowers, even though they sure look like flowers!!), they would make a perfect card for this current challenge!  Take a look...

  I started this card with a background using a cover plate from Cutplorations called Circles All Over (thanks Michele!!) and then added a piece of plaid (SU! - Peaceful Place DSP) to the side to add in a bit from the Peace on Earth mood board.  I also added in a little strip of black cs next to the plaid to add a defining line between the background and plaid.  Next I added my beautiful Poinsettia leaves that I die cut using Altenew's Poinsettia 3D Die Set and SU!'s Shimmer Vellum in Soft Succulent...the sparkle in real life is SOOOO PRETTY!  Here's a closer up:

My sentiment is a die cut from The Greetery called Abundant Joy and is one of my favorite new goodies this year!  I want to put it on every card I make this year, but am trying to show some restraint!!  I used Gina K's brushed silver metallic cardstock for the top part of the die cut (and also the center of the Poinsettia), and then some plain black for the bottom layer of the sentiment to make it stand out.  Pretty simple card really, but I'm loving how it turned out with all the shimmer and shine, and also that it fit TWO challenges!!  And actually I'm going to add it to one more challenge...Darnell's NBUS #32 as my Poinsettia dies have never been used since I bought them last Winter (HAD to have them, and then forgot I had them...probably the only one out there who has ever done that, right??!!  Hahaha!!)

Make sure you check out all the FABULOUS cards from the DT's at The Flower Challenge and also the Peace on Earth Christmas Challenge, and then play along if you need to finish up those Christmas cards...it's coming quicker than you think!!

  

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

Inspired By #194 - Welcome Friends

Hello friends.  Had to play along with the gals over at the Inspired By Challenge after seeing the Christmas inspiration photo, as it was right up my alley with it's country charm!

I love the rustic look, the colors, well, everything about this beautiful inspiration photo!  And since I'm trying to finish up the last of my Christmas cards, this seemed like a perfect challenge to participate in this week!  Here's what I came up with...

 I loved the ship lap background in the inspiration photo, so I started there using The Greetery's Ship Lap Builder Dies and after die cutting, added a very light layer of kraft ink to the pieces.  I matted this layer to a piece of kraft cs, and then also die cut my wreath (Reverse Confetti's Wreaths Confetti Cuts) from kraft cs.  I decorated the wreath with a new PTI set called Sprigs & Sprays: Holiday using Ocean Tides (PTI) ink and Poppy ink (C & 9th).

 I die cut the little string wrapped bow from The Greetery's Fit to Be Tied die set and my sentiment from MB's Special Merry Christmas using Poppy cardstock from C & 9th.  A few red gems from Lucy's Little Gems finished off this rustic Christmas card.

You can check out all the fabulous cards from the DT and play along right HERE.

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

CAS Mix Up Nov. 2021 Stencil Challenge

Hello friends.  I'm playing along with the lovely Loll and the CAS Mix Up team for this months challenge, and Loll would like us to use the STENCIL MONOPRINT technique on our cards.

I was SO excited when I saw this challenge as I absolutely LOVE doing this technique!  I pulled out one of my favorite snowflake stencils by Gina K called Snowflake Mandala and came up with this card...

I started by inking up my stencil with Salty Ocean, Salvaged Patina, & Peacock Feathers Distress Inks, and then spritzed quite liberally with water before pressing into my water color cardstock.  I laid a piece of paper towel over the stencil and then set my laptop on top of it and left for 15 minutes!  I always love the big reveal when you lift everything off and see the results, and I may have squealed a bit when I saw how this one turned out!  Haha!!  Once it was dry I cut down a portion of it and mounted it to a piece of white cs that I had die cut using Spellbinders Hemstitch Frame Die.  

  I wanted to put a piece of colored cardstock behind my die cut panel, but couldn't find a blue that matched what I had come up with on my monoprint, so I got my Distress Inks out again and made my own matching colored cardstock...I love the perfect match!  I finished this simple card with a die cut sentiment using MB's Let it Snow Posh Script and die cutting it from vellum for the bottom layer and a holographic cardstock (Recollections) for the top layer.  It really sparkles and shines in real life!!  

Check out what Loll and the DT came up with using this wonderful technique (they also have a couple video links in case you've never tried this technique before), and then play along right HERE.  This challenge is open till the 24th.

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

Color Hues #29 - ORANGE & BROWN

Hello friends.  Playing along with the Color Hues Challenge today and they are looking for ORANGE and BROWN on our cards this time around.

I had saw a card by Dana Kirby using colored strips of cardstock that jumpstarted the idea for my card, and I hope I'm not going too rogue for this challenge by using shades of orange and brown, but here's what I came up with...

I started by cutting different widths of Early Espresso, Baked Brown Sugar, Soft Suede, Cajun Craze, Really Rust, & Pumpkin Pie cardstocks (ALL SU!), and then mounting them diagonally to my card panel.

I mounted my trimmed panel to a top folding white card base, and then added a die cut my sweet friend Birgit sent me from Die-manites (DRU) called Pumpkin Harvest...doesn't it look wonderful left in white against the colored cardstock strips?!!  For my sentiment I added another die cut from an older PTI set called Counting My Blessings Die Collection and also left it white for a white on white look.  I finished this card with a few crystal gemstones and love how CAS it turned out!

This challenge is open till Nov. 14th, and there are oodles of lovely inspiration from the DT using the ORANGE and BROWN color theme, so check it all out right HERE and then play along!

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

CAS Christmas Nov. 2021 - Christmas Critters

Hello friends.  It's time for our last challenge of 2021 here at CAS Christmas, and our hostess Barb would like to see CHRISTMAS CRITTERS on our Christmas cards this month.

The hardest part of this challenge??  Deciding which CRITTER to use on my card of course!!  As much as I love all my flower stamps, I love CRITTER stamps too, so there was definitely no shortage of images to use!  Even though I have no shortage of CRITTER stamps, I tend to circle back around to MFT's Polar Bear Pals every Christmas...those adorable faces get me every time!  Here's what I did with one of the smaller images this year...

Kinda melts your heart, doesn't he?!!  I stamped, colored (with Copics), and die cut the little guy, and then set him aside while I stenciled my wreath using Pinkfresh Studio's Thrill of Hope onto a white panel, and then used The Greetery's Crimped Frame Dies to add a border to my panel.  

Although I couldn't seem to capture it with my camera, my sentiment was foiled with red foil using Pinkfresh Studio's Perfect Sentiments: Holiday foil plate and dies and added to the center of my wreath.  The sweet little bear was pop dotted for some dimension and added to the bottom of the wreath, and then I finished my card by adding a few green gems (also from Pinkfresh Studio).

The DT and our special GD Valerie have some awesome inspiration for you, so check it out and play along with us right HERE.  We'd love to help you get those Christmas cards done in time to send out this year, so play along with us!  This challenge is open till the 24th.

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