Be Jolly

Hi everyone.  I'm sharing my last card and post for the year.  I used a sweet digital image from Digi Stamp Boutique.  I thought these stockings were so cute and it was fun to color them with Copics.  I added crystal effects on the ornament to make it shine ... and glitter on the cuff of the stocking for some bling.  The sentiment is from Paper Smooches.

Christmas is almost here ... and like most of you, I've been busy getting ready.  The shopping is done, the decorations are up and the presents are wrapped :)  This means I haven't had much time in the studio and have missed playing with my cards and visiting blogs to see other's wonderful creations.  I plan to be back in full swing in the new year.

I wanted to wish all of you a peaceful and joyous Christmas.  Thank you to all who support me all year by visiting my blog and leaving comments - it really means a lot!

Before I go, I wanted to share some wonderful news.  On December 18th, Nikki and Evan (DDIL, DS) had their first child.  Cooper Gordon surprised us by being three weeks early!  He is so beautiful and it was love at first sight for the whole family :)

Here's a picture of Cooper at four days old.  He just waiting for Santa to arrive! :)

Jingle those Bells!

Hi everyone.  Today is the newest challenge from Merry Monday (#88).  I think you're going to have a lot of fun with this challenge ...

I used a sweet digital image from Bugaboo, paper piecing him and adding a couple of jingle bells around this neck.  I just LOVE the expression on his face!  I had a lot of fun making this card and was smiling the whole time :)

Stamps:  Plush Reindeer (Bugaboo); Signature Christmas Sentiments Too (Pink Petticoat)
Paper:  White, Baked Brown Sugar, Early Espresso (SU!)
Ink:  Baked Brown Sugar, Early Espresso, Basic Black (SU!)
Accessories & Tools:  sponges, Maraschino Twine (The Twinery), Jingle bells ($1 Store), glue, adhesives, and dimensionals

I hope you'll join us for this fun challenge.  Pop by Lesley's blog (Always Playing with Paper) to see the amazing cards from the rest of the Design Team.


I'm entering this card into the SCS CAS challenge (CAS251 - bling it up).  The reindeer is all blinged up with his jingle bells and ready for a Christmas party! :)

Merry Christmas Special Friends!

Hi everyone.  Today I'm sharing two special cards that I made for two special friends that I met through Splitcoaststampers.  The first card is for Nancy ... we met while both on the CAS Design Team Winter 2011 and have been on-line friends every since.  We chat on-line most days ... sometimes several times a day! :)  We have A LOT in common - we are kindred spirits!  One of the biggest things we share is the love of making cards ... and we have a similar style - both CAS girls at heart.  I made this special card for Nancy and mailed it several days ago.  I waited to post until she received it, which she now has.  I wish you could see this in real life.  The wreath is made from lots and lots of glittery green pine sprigs, all layered together and then placed over the gold foil background - so shimmery and glittery.  The sentiment is heat embossed in gold to match the paper.

Here's a close-up, followed by an angled shot so that you can see all the dimension of the wreath:

Stamps:  Christmas greetings (SU!)
Paper:  White, Green Glitter (Michael's); Gold Foil (SU!)
Ink:  Gold
Accessories & Tools:  Big Shot, Wreath Strip die (Cheery Lynn), Circle nesties (Spellbinders), 1 1/4" square punch, gold cording, gold embossing powder, glue, adhesives, and dimensionals

I do love this wreath strip die as it cuts out seven sprigs at a time ... a lot easier than punching (or die-cutting) each one separately.  In fact, I love this die so much, that I included it as part of Nancy and Debbie's Christmas gifts (see Debbie's card below).

____________________

Here's the card I made for my special friend, Debbie.  We also met on Splitcoaststampers and have become good friends, chatting most days (and as the same with Nancy, sometimes several times a day).  I love Debbie's outlook on life.  She has the most amazing sense of humor and keeps me laughing.  We also share a passion for card making and have a similar style.  Debbie loves red ... so I wanted to make a beautiful poinsettia card for her.  This one has sponging around the outside of each petal to add depth, then it was shaped with my stylus and the layers were glued together.  I added a gold foil center to match the background paper, which was embossed for added interest.  The same sentiment as the first card, also heat embossed in gold.

Here's a close-up, followed by an angled shot so that you can see all the dimension of the poinsettia:

Stamps:  Christmas greetings (SU!)
Paper:  White; Real Red, Gold Foil (SU!)
Ink:  Real Red (SU!); Gold
Accessories & Tools:  Big Shot, Blooming Poinsettia die (Poppy Stamps), Square nestie (Spellbinders), Musical Flourish embossing folder (Cuttlebug), gold embossing powder, stylus and mat, glue, adhesives, and dimensionals

A very Merry Christmas to my two special friends and their families - love you both!

I'm entering these two cards in the following challenges:

CAS on Sunday (#23 - Christmas)
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge (#154 - make a card for someone special)
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Extra - December
Snippets Playground (Week #102)
ATS&M - #75 - photo inspiration

Warm and Cozy Wishes

Hi everyone.  Time for the latest Merry Monday challenge (#87).  Hope you've had some fun playing along with our challenges this year.  Just a few more weeks to go and then we'll be celebrating Christmas! :)

Today's challenge is a theme ... check it out ...

I don't have any mitten stamps, so I googled digi images and found the one above.  It's a freebie on the Newton Nook Designs site.  I love the fun and whimsical patched mittens and sweet sentiment.  Paper pieced the mittens, adding some sponging around the outside edges to create depth.  Super CAS card that makes me smile ... and hopefully brings a smile to the person receiving as well. :)

Here's a close-up:

Stamps:  Mittens (Newton Nook Designs)
Paper:  White; Seasons of Style DP, Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler (SU!)
Ink:  Black, Crumb Cake (SU!)
Accessories & Tools:  sponge, glue, adhesives and dimensionals

I hope you'll join us for this fun challenge.  Pop by Lesley's blog (Always Playing with Paper) to see the amazing cards from the rest of the Design Team.

Season's Greetings

Hi everyone.  A few days ago, hubby took me to Scrapbook Warehouse in Vancouver.  This was my first time there and I had fun looking around.  They have lots of papers, dies, and lots of beautiful cards made and displayed.  When I picked out this die, I was shown two sample cards made using the same die - so great to be able to see an example of what the die-cut will look like before buying!

Lovely women working there that were so helpful ... already looking forward to going back!

Hubby picked up my Christmas present ... but I'll have to wait until after Christmas to tell you what it is! :)

I had also seen a card made by my friend Pam Sparks on her blog using this die.  She layered different colors and I thought it was so beautiful and wanted to give it a try.  After watching her video instructions, I started cutting.  In the end, I used a different system, but the results are fairly similar.

I kept the card very CAS so that the beauty of the die was the star ... just a simple sentiment was added.

This card is for a very special person.  Some of you may remember that my DSIL Moe, passed away earlier this year.  Moe was originally from Ireland and had many sisters and a brother ... she was especially close to her sister Anne who lives in England.  I know Christmas this year will be very difficult for Anne, so I am sending her this card along with my love and support.

Stamps:  Signature Christmas Sentiments (Pink Petticoat)
Paper:  White, Silver, Pear Pizzazz, Daffodil Delight (SU!)
Accessories & Tools:  Big Shot, Glowing Candles die (Memory Box), red half pearls, glue, adhesives and dimensionals

I think I'll have fun trying out different combinations of colors and patterned papers with the gorgeous die!

I'm entering this card into four challenges:

• SCS Free For All Challenge (F4A198 - Holly Greeting - use holly or greenery on your card)
• ATS&M #74 - CAS
• Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge (154 - make a card for someone special)
• Less Is More (LIM#149 - Metallic element plus one color).  I have two metallic elements (the silver outline and the red pearls with the plus one color being pear).  Hope that's OK! :)

ETA:  will also be entering this for CAS on Sunday (#23 - Christmas).

Snowy Bird

Hi everyone.  Today is the last challenge of the year for Addicted to CAS.  Thanks to all who joined in and helped to make our challenges so successful.  We had a lot of fun this past year and enjoyed all the cards that were entered.

Today's challenge is being run by the very talented Karen B (Serendipity Dragonfly).  She chose the code word which is perfect for this time of year ...

This challenge is being sponsored by

Prize:  5 free digis

(please follow the rules to be eligible to win)

I punched my bird from watercolor paper and randomly sponged with four shades of blue ink.  I then misted with water until the inks started to run into each other.  Once dry, I sponged on a little more dark blue ink along the edges and added a dot for the eye.

The bird is sitting on a partial snowflake border die-cut that has been covered with dazzling diamonds (hopefully you can see the glitter!).  This is mounted over the small circle aperture that is lined with white woodgrain.  I stamped the sentiment in dark blue.

Here's a close-up:

Stamps:  Peace (Anita's)
Paper:  white, watercolor
Ink:  Pool Party, Tempting Turquoise, Bermuda Bay, Island Indigo
Accessories & Tools:  Big Shot, Frosty border (Memory Box), 2-part bird punch (SU!), woodgrain embossing folder (Sizzix), dazzling diamonds, sponges, water mister, Stamp-a-ma-jig, glue, adhesives and dimensionals

I hope you'll join us for this final challenge of the year at ATCAS.  Check out the details for the ATCAS - code word:  Snowflakes challenge and see all the fabulous cards by the rest of the Design Team.  We are taking a break and will be back with the next exciting challenge on Jan. 4, 2014!


ETA:  I'm entering this into the latest challenge at Keep It Simple #28 (thanks Christine!!) :) .. where the word for the challenge is "snow".

Paper Inspiration

Hi everyone.  I was asked to be a Guest Hostess for SCS Inspiration Challenge (IC418) (thanks Audrie!) ... and for this challenge, we head to Hollander's.  There are many, many beautiful papers on this site that are inspirational ... I had a hard time narrowing it down!  I settled on this gorgeous paper:

This is called Pepal Leaves - Kiwi and is found under the Silkscreen & Other Prints section - Indian Floral prints.  It's hard to see from this small photo, so click here and hover your cursor over the picture to see a close-up view.  There are teal, yellow and gold leaves on green paper.  I love this color combination!!

So that was my inspiration.  I randomly sponged Kiwi Kiss, Bermuda Bay and Crushed Curry ink onto Whisper white card stock.  I then splattered the sponging with water, and once dry, splattered again with gold ink (the gold is hard to see in the photo).  I die-cut the leaf from SU's gold card stock, glued it to a leaf of white card stock to give it some thickness, and popped it up over the rectangular cut-out on my card front.  A simple sentiment stamped in metallic gold finishes the card.

Here's a close-up:

Stamps:  Bitty Birthday (SU!)
Paper:  Whisper White, Gold (SU!)
Ink:  Kiwi Kiss, Bermuda Bay, Crushed Curry (SU!), Metallic Gold (Color Box)
Accessories & Tools:  Big Shot, Meadow Leaf die (Poppy Stamps), Rectangle Nestie (Spellbinders), sponge daubers, glue dots, glue, adhesives and dimensionals

I hope you'll check out the site and be inspired to join us for this challenge. :)

Chalkboard Christmas

Hi everyone.  Time for the latest challenge at Merry Monday (#86).  Today Lesley is challenging us to use a technique ...

I used a lot of features from the inspiration photo.  My sign is done on woodgrain designer paper, and I've added lots of greenery and pine cones, similar to the mantel in the picture.

I've never done the chalkboard technique before, so I checked out the tutorial on Splitcoaststampers and gave it a try.  Basically, I stamped my sentiment, heat embossed in white and then rubbed white ink around the words and also randomly on the rest of my panel.

I layered lots of pine sprigs and made two pine cones from card stock.  Then I added some bits of "snow" to finish off my card.

Stamps:  Merry Little Christmas (SU!)
Paper:  White: Crumb Cake, Old Olive, Well Worn DP (SU!)
Ink:  Versamark, Soft Suede, Old Olive, Whisper White (SU!)
Accessories & Tools:  Big Shot, Wreath Strip die (Cheery Lynn), Scalloped circle punch, sponge, white embossing powder, heat tool, Sparkle Texture Effect (Martha Stewart), adhesives, glue, and dimensionals

I hope you'll join in the challenge at Merry Monday.  Drop by Lesley's blog (Always Playing with Paper) to see all the details and check out the fabulous cards by the rest of the design team.

Christmas Packages

Hi everyone.  Here's a CAS card I made a while back, but didn't get a chance to share with you.  It's a quick and easy card using embossing folders to create patterns on the different packages.  I wrapped each one with some twine and added a simple sentiment.

Stamps:  Snowman Sayings (Amy R)
Paper:  White (C.C. Designs)
Ink:  Soft Suede (SU!)
Accessories & Tools:  Big Shot, Snowflakes embossing folder (Cuttlebug), Stripes embossing folder  ... and Adorning Accents embossing strip (Sizzix for SU!), Maraschino twine (The Twinery), Stamp-a-ma-jig, glue, adhesives and dimensionals

Today is the start of a video-advent-calendar by my friend (and fellow Design Team member at Addicted to CAS) Christine (Das Kartenchaos).  Christine is a very talented card maker and I always look forward to seeing her cards.  Not only is she sharing a fabulous card everyday with us ... she also includes lots of great tips that will make your card making easier.

There are also fabulous sponsors, great prizes and lots of inspiration for your Christmas cards.  Click here to check it out!!

Birthday Wishes

Hi everyone.  I've been MIA for a few days ... life has been getting in the way of my card time :)  MIL went into the hospital on Sunday, but thankfully she is feeling better and was released yesterday.  A stressful and hectic time for all of us, especially hubby and I hope now that his mom is feeling better, he will take some time to relax.

I missed getting a chance to wish my American friends a happy Thanksgiving ... so hope you all had a wonderful day and are maybe even having some fun shopping today!  We had our Thanksgiving last month ... and I'm already looking forward to our turkey dinner at Christmas!

Today I made a card just for the fun of it ... not a DT card, not for any challenge ... just for the heck of it!  I thought I'd make something with this beautiful color combo - just love the deep teal and the lime green together.  I do love this fern die from Cheery Lynn and today I've cut it out of fabric.  This lime green fabric was a piece that came wrapped around a pot of flowers I received as a gift ... it's almost like facing material ... quite stiff, but a little transparent.  I glued it onto a piece of white card stock and then die-cut the fern.  Worked beautifully.

I have shown the card in a larger size on the blog in the hopes that you can see more detail.  My concern is that the image will be too large for some computer screens ... and it's important that you can see the card all at once (don't want to have to scroll down to see the bottom of the card).  I would love some feedback so I know if this is better ... or if I should go back to my old size.  Thanks in advance!!! :)

More on the card ... I used a Certainly Celery Stampin' Write marker to draw in the veins of the leaves to give them more definition.  The Bermuda Bay card stock was run through the Big Shot with the woodgrain embossing folder - love it done in this color! ... and this was Jer's suggestion as he was over when I was making this and I originally had a white woodgrain piece with a BBay border - this is so much better - thanks Jer! :)  A simple sentiment finishes the card.

Stamps:  Happiest Birthday Wishes (SU!)
Paper:  White; Bermuda Bay (SU!)
Ink:  Certainly Celery, Bermuda Bay (SU!)
Accessories & Tools:  Big Shot, Green material, Fern die (Cheery Lynn), Woodgrain embossing folder (Sizzix), glue, adhesives, and dimensionals

____________________

Just a quick note to say that I might not be posting as much over the next little while.  Christmas is getting close and I have lots of shopping, baking, etc. to do.  As well, I have dinner parties booked for the next three weekends ... and a bake day with a friend.  So my time in the studio will be limited, but hopefully I'll have some time to play.  There will be the scheduled design team cards as well.

____________________

On to the Card Candy.  Lots of interest in the snowflake die-cuts ... they are so pretty!!  I used the True Random Number Generator to pick the card candy winner:

True Random Number Generator Min: Max: Result: 56 

 ... and the winner is:

Anne (Stamps and Paper)

Congrats Anne!

Let it Snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Hi everyone.  Today I used the snowflake die from Stampin' Up!  I have had a lot of fun working with watercolor paper lately, and I continued with my same technique, randomly sponging a watercolor paper die-cut.  This time I used Baja Breeze and Bermuda Bay inks on the snowflake and then misted with water.  Once dry, the snowflake was covered with lots and lots of Dazzling Diamonds ... LOVE how glittery it turned out.

I took a close-up view of the snowflake on an angle so you can see all the glittery goodness:  :)

I mounted the snowflake onto two more layers of snowflakes cut from white card stock, so the snowflake has lots of thickness and depth.  I also popped it up on the card front with dimensionals.  The sentiment is a digital one from Pink Petticoat.

Stamps:  Traditional Christmas Greetings (Pink Petticoat)
Paper:  White, Watercolor
Ink:  Baja Breeze, Bermuda Bay
Accessories & Tools:  Snowflake die (Sizzix for SU!), sponges, water mister, dazzling diamonds, adhesives, glue and dimensionals.

I'm entering this card into the following challenges:

Festive Friday (Final challenge for 2013) - I chose the snowflake element

Muse #45 - Lucy F

CAS on Sunday (#22) - Winter

Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra - November

White Christmas

Hi everyone.  Time for a new challenge for Merry Monday (#85).  This time it's a color challenge ...

I only used a little brown for the sentiment ... otherwise my card is all white.  I used my favorite watercolor paper (Arches 140 lb. cold press - natural white) to create my card.  I love the thickness of the watercolor paper ... really makes crisp and clean die-cuts.  I used two die-cuts for the my card - the Madera corner which I made two layers thick and glued together; and the Blooming Poinsettia (love this die!) that I shaped with my stylus and mat.  A simple and small sentiment in brown balances out the card.

Here's a close-up:

Stamps:  Short and Sweet (SU!)
Ink:  Soft Suede (SU!)
Paper:  White (card base); watercolor paper
Accessories & Tools:  Big Shot, Madera corner die (Memory Box), Blooming Poinsettia die (Poppy Stamps), stylus, mat, Stamp-a-ma-jig, glue, glue dots, sticky strips and dimensionals

I hope you'll join us for this week's challenge.  Check out Lesley's blog (Always Playing with Paper) to see the rest of the beautiful cards from the Design Team members.

I'm entering this card into the following challenges:

Rudolph Days (November)
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra (November)

Thank You!

Hi everyone.  Today I'm sharing a wine bottle tag that I made yesterday.  We were heading to our friend's Lance and Lili's place for dinner, and instead of taking a card, I made a CAS tag for the wine we took.  This is my first time making a wine bottle tag and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.  The leaves were made the same way I did this card ... so check it out if you want instructions on how I made them. :)

I visit a lot of wonderful blogs ... and always appreciate seeing how other's do things, new techniques, new stamp sets ... and this week I learned a new tip that I want to pass along to you.

I have several sets of clear stamps, but I haven't bought many over the past while, because I often have a problem getting a clean stamp with them ... I end up with either a partial stamp or a very light stamping and end up throwing the card stock away and starting over.  I've started avoiding using those stamps ... which is a shame.  Not any more ... :)

Darlene DeVries (DarleneDesign.com) has a video each week, giving the steps she uses to make her amazing cards.  This week was special, as she shared four cards (and four videos), using a card kit from Simon Says.  In one of the videos, she mentions about how she sometimes doesn't get a clean stamp when she uses clear acrylic stamps.  Here's what she does ... with her clear stamp mounted onto an acrylic block, she inks the stamp and stamps onto her card stock ... before removing the stamp (while it is still on the card stock), she places her Stamp-a-ma-jig in place, removes her stamp, re-inks and stamps again over top.  This way she get a clean, dark stamping that is always lined up ... so easy, and it works so well!!  Thank you for that tip Darlene.  I used it with today's tag, stamping the "thank you" and then re-inking and stamping again using your tip - it worked perfectly!! :)

Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend!

Edited to Add:  Nancy asked for dimensions of the wine tag.  I'm not exactly sure of the size of my panel as I've already given it away :) ... but I believe it was approx. 3" x 7".  Scoring for the fold is 3" from the top and the hole punched for the neck of the bottle is 2" in diameter.  I think I might make it a bit slimmer next time (maybe 2 3/4" or 2 1/2") and try the hole a bit smaller as well.  I also rounded all the corners because I thought it looked better.

Playful Cat

Hi everyone.  Today is the latest challenge at Addicted to CAS (#27).  Our host this week is the mega-talented Vicki (All I Do Is Stamp).  She has chosen this fun code word ...

This challenge is being sponsored by:

Prize:  CAS Perfectionist gets to choose 5 of their wonderful images

(please follow the rules to be eligible to win)

This adorable image is from Bugaboo.  I printed it onto watercolor paper and colored it using the marker layering technique.  I cut it to size and added some fun yellow gingham and raffia.  A simple sentiment finishes the card.

Here's a close-up:

Stamps:  Garden Cat - Pots (Bugaboo); Sweet Summer Sentiments (Amy R)
Paper:  White, Yellow Gingham; Watercolor
Ink:  Black, Smoky Slate, Pumpkin Pie, Tangerine Tango, Cajun Craze, Gumball Green, Garden Green, Daffodil Delight, Real Red, Pink Pirouette, Tempting Turquoise, Soft Sky (SU!)
Accessories & Tools:  Blender Pen, Raffia, Stamp-a-ma-jig, adhesives, and dimensionals

I hope you'll join us for the fun challenge.  Check out the details for the ATCAS - code word:  Pet challenge and see all the fabulous cards by the rest of the Design Team.