Christmas Card Challenge #53 - Anything Goes

I have another "Anything Goes" challenge today.  This one is from the Christmas Card Challenge.

 

I purchased this stamp last year at a stamp show and finally had a chance to use it!  It's so simple to stamp but makes such a statement (in my opinion!).  I stamped it in white pigment ink and embossed it in white embossing powder.  I added some white pearls to the center, bake it with some white cardstock, and adhered it to a red base.  It's a smaller size card (I think 4.25 x 3.75).



I decided to finish the inside, something I don't generally do but really should.

 

You can see more inspiration on the Christmas Card Challenge blog and these blogs.

 

Alanna

Donna

Heather

Karen

Margo

Marsha

Monica

Wendi

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Recipe

Stamps:  Poinsettia (Just For for Fun), Merry Greetings (Mama Elephant)

Paper:  Recollections white, real red

Ink:  Snowcap white, real red

Accessories:  White embossing powder, pearls





Just Us Girls #269 - Anything Goes

OK crafters...Vicki has done it! She's issued an "anything goes" for our Just Us Girls challenge this week!  It's our wild card week and so there you have it.  You can make anything you'd like and enter it in our challenge this week.

 

I just got this quilt cover up plate from MFT because I just loved what I the MFT DT did with it during their release week.  I just had to have it and I'm glad I got it.  I chose three pattern papers from a paper pack to create my pattern.  I went with a light color, a print, and a stripe.  I die cut the plate from those papers as well as from vintage cream.  That served as my outline.  I backed it with some typing paper and covered it with adhesive.  Then I just went about placing pieces into the open spaces.  Then I added the snowflake to the center.  In the center of the snowflake, I added some star dust stickles for some sparkle.  The sentiment was stamped in red on a folded banner and added with dimensionals.  I just love this card!

When I was done, I still had lots of left over pieces, so I cut another outline from vintage cream and created another one!  It's a little different, but still the same.



You can see more from the design team and our guest designer on these blogs.

 

JUGs blog

Cheryl Rowley

Chris Dring

Ina Grehan

Maria Levine

Nancy Leppek

Sharyn Polesel

Sue VanDeVusse

Vicki Dutcher

Tajanna, November Guest Designer

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Recipe

Stamps:  Love Lies Here Holiday (PTI)

Paper:  Vintage cream, riding hood red, Jingle dp (Lilybee Design)

Ink:  Riding hood red

Accessories:  Quilt square coverup plate (MFT), Let it snowflake (MFT), Folded banner (SSS), star dust stickles, dimensionals





Freshly Made Sketches #164

I'm popping in today quickly cause I'm off to lunch with some of my best girl friends.  I've had this stamp on my table for a week or so and I just had to color it up!  I bought it at a stamp show two summers ago.  It's such a beautiful image!  I colored it with copic markers following the picture on the package.  I took the Online Classes Copic Coloring for Card Makers and they provided a list of their favorite color combos.  That has really helped me with my coloring!  I added Wink of Stella shimmer to the halos (hard to see) and the gold panel was embossed because I didn't have any gold paper left!  The sentiment was also gold embossed.  I think this image is going to be colored and used for family cards this Christmas! 

 

I followed the current Freshly Made Sketches for my layout.  Many ways to use this great sketch!

 

I hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving with family and friends!  Thanks for stopping by!

 

Recipe

Stamps:  Stained Glass Nativity (Frog's Whiskers Ink), Nativity Silhouette (PTI)

Paper:  Recollections white

Ink:  Memento tuxedo black, Versamark

Copics:  Background:  Y21, Y19, YR24; Blue:  BG01, BG05, BG09; Red:  RV23, RV25, RV29; Faces: E50, E51, R20; Basket: E00, E21, E23; Halo:  Y11, Y15, Y19

Accessories:  Gold ep, gold ribbon, Wink of Stella



Happy Thanksgiving and The Cutting Edge Challenge #15

Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends in the United States!  I hope you have a great day with family and friends!

 

Today I'm playing in the final Cutting Edge challenge.  I've played in maybe one or two of these challenges before and I'm sorry to see them shut down.  I fell in love with this card.

 

I used a stitched diagonal die to die cut the pattern paper and the red and green papers.  I cut the red and green in half (allowing me to do another card below!).   I stamped the sentiment and the holly and berries in the corner and added some star dust stickles on them.

Since I had the halves of the green and red papers, I made another card.  I thought this design would make nice thank you cards.  I like to have some on hand to give to my students that are sweet enough to give me gifts around the holidays.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Recipe

Stamps:  Merry Greetings (Mama Elephant), Thanks All Ways (PTI)

Paper:  Recollections white, riding hood red, wild wasabi, Christmas Cheer (Lilybee Designs)

Ink:  Wild wasabi, riding hood red

Accessories:  On the Diagonal die (Lil' Inkers), star dust stickles



CAS(E) this Sketch #101 and Color Throwdown #320

Hi friends.  Isn't this a fun sketch from CAS(E) this Sketch?  I had the perfect die for this sketch, so I had to play!

 

I had to make a sympathy card for the father of a co-worker, so I thought this would be a nice design.  I bought this Spellbinder's anchor at a craft show this summer.  I have a thing for anchors...maybe because my dad was in the navy.  Anyway I die cut it and the oval from decorative paper.  The background was stamped with a light blue stripe.  I stamped the sentiment in the same blue ink on a banner die and added the hearts.  The hearts have Wink of Stella shimmer on them too.

On the inside I stamped this sentiment that I always use on sympathy cards.  I just love this saying.  I also added the seagulls in keeping with the theme.

 

I was also happy to see that my colors fit the current Color Throwdown challenge!

 

That's it from me!  Thanks for stopping by!

 

Recipe

Stamps:  Sending You and With Sympathy (PTI), Dockside (WP9), Pinstripe (MFT)

Paper:  Recollections white, riding hood red, Pen Pals (Pink Paislee)

Ink:  Blue brocade

Accessories:  Anchor and oval dies (Spellbinders), Hearts & Stars die (Memory Box), Banner Trio (WP9)

 



Papertrey November Blog Hop Challenge

The Papertrey November Blog Hop Challenge this month is focused on snow.  I've experienced an entire season of snow last week here in Buffalo, NY!  But we love it and believe it or not, it's almost gone!  This is the photo I chose as my inspiration.  It looked so much like Buffalo last week!  Snow can be so pretty!

 

I've been organizing my stamps and dies recently and I've come across some things I didn't realize I had or forgot about!  One of them was this snow drifts die.  I saw a this card done by Kay Miller and I just fell in love with it and it inspired me to create this one.  I die cut it from white cardstock and the little trees from green cardstock.  I pulled out those snow drift pieces and sponged the rest of the piece with distress inks.  Then I put it all together, added the sentiment, the gold star, white snowflakes and star dust stickles.   I wish I would have embossed those snowflakes so they showed up better. 

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Recipe

Stamps:  Stylish Sentiments: Holiday (PTI)

Paper:  Recollections white, garden green

Ink:  Versafine onyx black, tumbled glass and salty ocean distress inks, delicate gold, fresh snow

Accessories:  Snow drifts plate die, star dust stickles





Get Sketchy with MFT #203

Hey there!  I saw this sketch over at My Favorite Things and I really liked it.  I don't remember the last time I played in their challenges (if ever!).

 

I did flip the sketch so my Santa and deer fit better in the design.  I started by using a diagonal stencil and texture paste for the background.  Then I stamped, colored, and die cut the Santa and the deer.  The banner was stamped with a stamp set I just found when I was organizing my stamps.  It fit perfectly on the banner stamping it three times.  I mounted that on red cardstock and then cut the snowflakes from red and white cardstock.  These were layered together.  I added star dust stickles to the white snowflake and also on the Santa and a bit on the deer.   I really like this set...so cute!

 

I'm also entering this into the Less is More challenge.  They want to see Santa, reindeer, or anything Christmassy!  I guess this qualifies!

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Recipe

Stamps:  Jingle All the Way and Sentimental Christmas (MFT)

Paper:  Recollections white, riding hood red

Ink:  Memento tuxedo black, riding hood red, copic markers

Accessories:  Jingle All the Way dies (MFT), Let It Snowflakes (MFT), diagonal stripe stencil (SSS), texture paste, star dust stickles, dimensionals

 





"Snowvember"

Hi everyone!  Since I had so much time on my hands from being off last week due to our blizzard here in Buffalo, NY, I got my craft on!  One of our newscasters dubbed this storm "Snowvember" and I thought I'd make a card to commemorate the occasion!  You can see pictures of my house and all the snow on this post.

 

I wasn't intending to title this card, but as I got to working on it, it seemed fitting!  I colored this adorable snowman with copics.  He is from a set designed by my stamping friend Diane Zechman.  The background was sponged with distress inks and covered with texture paste snowflakes through a stencil.  I stamped the "Snowvember" before I added the paste then that spot below it looked bare.  So I took out the alpha stamp set again and added the date.  I should have made the snow drifts MUCH higher because they were higher in real life!  It was a fun card to make!

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Recipe

Stamps:  Snowman Soup (Sweet 'n Sassy), Fresh Alphabet (PTI)

Paper:  Recollections white, black

Ink:  Memento tuxedo black, copic markers

Accessories:  Stitched snow drifts (MFT), star dust stickles, signo white gel pen, dimensionals





Featured Stamper on SCS - My Friend Cheryl!

Hi everyone!  I have another post today for my Christmas Card Challenge that you can see here. 

 

I hate to post twice in one day, but I found out this morning that my friend Cheryl is the Featured Stamper over at Splitcoast Stampers and I of course had to play and show it off here!

 

The challenge is to find a card from her gallery and case it.  I chose this card because I had it in my hot little hands!  She gave it to me a while ago and I have it displayed in my craft room.  It's so cute!  Another reason I chose this card is because Cheryl gave me this window die and I've never used it!  She does so many amazing things with it and I'm glad I have the chance to use it today!

So here's what I came up with.  I just love the way this came out!  I took elements from Cheryl's card and made it a Christmas card.  

Here's a straight on shot of the card.  I just love that little Santa.  It looks like he's leaving the gift by the tree!

 

Congrats my friend!  It was a long time coming and I'm so happy for you!

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Recipe

Stamps:  Jingle All the Way (MFT)

Paper:  Recollections white, real red, Ski Slope (SU)

Ink:  Memento tuxedo black, copic markers

Accessories:  Jingle All the Way die (MFT), Layered Postmark: Holiday (PTI), Grand Madison Window (MB), MS punches, sequins, bling, star dust stickles, dimensionals

 



Christmas Card Challenge #52 - Photo Inspiration

We have a lovely photo inspiration challenge for you this week over at the Christmas Card Challenge blog.  It's a close-up of a decorated Christmas tree.

Here's a close up of the photo.  Lots of inspiration to take from it!

I chose to use a tree and add lots of gold and green.  I stayed away from the red this time.  I just loved the green and gold together.  I had this gold chevron washi tape on my table that I just picked up last week and decided to add that to the card.  I needed a sentiment that was vertical and found this one from a new Tim Holtz set. I embossed it in gold.  The flags were cut from paper I embossed with the same gold powder so it would match the sentiment.  I added some (well lots really!) of gold and green sequins.  I never know when to stop when using them!  I tried several green inks on this stamp before I settled on this one.  Some looked too dark, almost black.

 

I used the Sweet Sunday sketch from last Sunday as my starting point. 

 

You can see more from the Christmas Card Challenge DT on these blogs.

 

Alanna

Donna

Heather

Karen

Margo

Marsha

Monica

Wendi

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Recipe

Stamps:  Forest of Trees (Flourishes), Deco Christmas (Tim Holtz)

Paper:  Vintage cream, garden green

Ink:  Versamark, garden green

Accessories:  Gold embossing powder, washi tape, sequins, trio banner dies (WP9), dimensionals



Just Us Girls #268 - Photo Week

Hi friends!  My friend Cheryl is hostess at Just Us Girls and she chose a fabulous picture for our photo week challenge!  I just love this photo.

 

Here's a close up so you can see more details.

 

I of course had to pull out my sled stamp and die from PTI for this card!  Then I went looking for a tree (I found out there are many in my stash) and came across this tree that I just adore from PTI as well.  When I looked closely at the photo, I saw that the tree was planted in a copper container.  So I embossed the container with copper embossing powder.  I had space for a sentiment, so I pulled out a word die, cut it out of red cardstock, and added glossy accents on it.  I debated on which way to adhere the word and settled on this way.  The tree and the bough on the sled were covered in star dust stickles.  This card really sparkles...something I love!

 

I used the Freshly Made Sketches for my layout, but it seems I forgot a layer.  I hope I am forgiven!

 

You can see more inspiration from the team and our guest on these blogs.

 

JUGs blog

Cheryl Rowley

Chris Dring

Ina Grehan

Maria Levine

Nancy Leppek

Sharyn Polesel

Sue VanDeVusse

Vicki Dutcher

Tajanna, November Guest Designer

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Recipe

Stamps:  Two Feet Deep and O'Tannebaum (PTI)

Paper:  Recollections white, real red, Handmade Holiday (Simple Stories)

Ink:  Versamark, real red, garden green, kraft (MFT)

Accessories:  Two Feet Deep and Wet Paint Holiday dies (PTI), black and copper embossing powders, glossy accents, wink of stella, star dust stickles, dimensionals



Sequined Christmas Tree

Hi friends!  Well, if you saw my post from Thursday about the snow storm we experienced last week, you know I had lots of time on my hands.  So I decided to get ahead about two weeks for my DT duties, but I also did some fun crafting just for me.  I saw a card Shari Carroll did the other day and I thought I could easily recreate it with this die.  She used a similar die from Simon Says Stamp.  The focus of her video was using sequins.  She added sequins to her tree similar to what I did here.  She had better sequins than I have, but I still think it looks ok.  This is an MFT die and I cut it from white paper and backed it with aqua.  The star was cut from kraft and some Wink of Stella was added to it.  I also added some twin to the base of the tree.  Simple but cute!  It could easily be mass produced quickly.

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Recipe

Paper:  Recollections white, aqua mist, kraft

Accessories:  Christmas tree cutout die (MFT), sequins, twine, dimensionals

http://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/blog/10-ways-to-use-sequins/

Give Thanks



I've been holed up in my house since Tuesday...I'm from Buffalo and I'm sure you've heard about the winter storm we've been under for the last 3 days.  It's still snowing at my house and we've probably gotten about 5-6 FEET of snow...yes FEET!  Here are some pictures of my house.

 

This was taken from my kitchen window.  That is a drift in front of my garage and that is a six foot fence.

This is my patio off my garage.  That is just a mound of snow!  Nothing under there!

 

This is my husband's van.  Can you see the back light?

My husband shoveling the front walk and front steps.

My dog Lizzie is loving this snow and having so much fun in it!  But see my garbage tote behind my hubby?  That thing is huge and it's almost covered!

So I am giving thanks today for all the emergency responders that are working around the clock to get everyone plowed out, getting people to the hospital (our aunt had to be taken by some kind of snow vehicle from her house to the hospital for dialysis), getting food to people (my mom gets Meals on Wheels and they have called her several times to make sure she has enough of her own food to eat), etc.  We've unfortunately lost 10 people to this storm due to cardiac arrest and other issues.  It's really getting serious folks.  We have people coming here from all over New York and Pennsylvania to help.  They have employed an enormous amount of payloaders to remove snow...the plows can't get through and some have gotten stuck.  We haven't seen anything down our street yet, but I know they will get here soon.

 

I made this card for my mom and my in-laws, but at this time of thanksgiving I am sending it out to all of those men and women who are helping us out. 

 

This image is from Northwoods and I just love it!  I colored it with copics and added some star dust stickles.  I then die cut it and while it was still in the die, I sponged some tumbled glass ink around the image.  I added some pattern paper and a twine bow to finish it of.  I made this into an easel card because my MIL always complains that my cards are too heavy and fall over!  The easel card prevents this from happening.  I added a glittered leaf button to keep the card standing open.

 

These are the copics I used to color the image. 

 

Thanks for stopping by friends!  I'm staying home safe and warm for the duration!

 

Recipe

Pumpkin image (Northwoods), sentiment (Mark's Finest Papers)

Paper:  Recollections white, X-Press It Blending Card, Autumn Vine (SU)

Ink:  Memento tuxedo black, tumbled glass distress ink, copic markers

Accessories:  Twine, star dust stickles, labels 16 die, button, dimensionals