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)