FMS730 Twas the Night Before Christmas

Happy Thursday, everyone!  I haven't made a Christmas card in ages, so I thought I'd better remedy that! I like to make them all year long so I'm not caught short come December!  I used the FMS sketch from Judy:

and a little diecut from a die that I got at Christmas time that had been sitting on my desk, unused!  I pulled out some holiday papers and stamps and went to work:

My papers are from Violet Studio Designs, and the diecut is from Paper Rose, diecut in Real Red cardstock.  The panel behind the stocking is stamped with a stamp from Concord & 9th called Joyful Noel, stamped in Soft Sea Foam, and the sentiment is from another Concord & 9th set called Merry Mantle.  I did add some polka dot embossing to go with the packages on the printed paper!

Another sentiment from the Merry Mantle set went inside, stamped in Evening Evergreen!

It was 80 degrees when I was making this card---not very spring-like, so I was hoping that thinking Christmas would cool me off!  Thanks for popping in today!   Enjoy it and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Merry Mantle, Joyful Noel (both Concord & 9th)
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Real Red, Home for Christmas (Violet Studio Designs)
Ink	Real Red, Evening Evergreen, Soft Sea Foam
Accessories	Dimensionals
Tools	Big Shot, Stylish Shapes Dies, Banner Dies (Pink & Main), Stocking Die (Paper Rose), Perfect Polka Dots EF (ret)

Fusion Trick or Treat

Happy Saturday, all!  I believe this will probably be my last Halloween card of the season, LOL!  The Fusion challenge is a fun one; I only used the sketch only:

This silhouette image of vintage Halloweeners is also one of my favorites that I try to use every year, but I may have missed last year!  So here it is again, along with a plaid banner and some spooky moon-lit skyline paper! I had to flip the sketch so my little trick-or-treaters weren't blocked by the banner:

I believe this image is from `100 Proof Press, I just think it's so cute!  

The plaid stamp is from Concord & 9th; the sentiment is from Recollections, an oldie but goodie.  

Thanks for popping in today!

The family went to the last high school football game of the season; Cassidy immediately made a beeline for her friends, so no pictures of her!  

It was cold and crisp, a perfect night for football!  Enjoy your day and be blessed!

 

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Halloween (Recollections), Halloween Silhouettes (100 Proof Press), Gingham Background (Concord & 9th)
Card stock & Papers	Basic Black, Basic White, Spooky DSP (Echo Park)
Ink	Pumpkin Pie, Versafine Onyx
Accessories	Rhinestones
Tools	Big Shot, Stylish Shapes Dies, Stamparatus, Cajun Craze Blend

AYSI262 Prince of Peace

Happy Friday, stampers!  It's time for a new As You See It challenge....and I love this "Fill in the Blank":

For me, the one thing that sums up Christmas is our ultimate gift: the birth of Jesus, our Saviour!  I used a Nativity die along with several other dies to create my card today:

I used a stitched panel die from the Stockings dies to cut a panel from Crumb Cake, and I stamped a portion of the retired Christmas Collage background stamp on top in Crumb Cake ink, sponging the edges a bit.  I adhered my Early Espresso Nativity scene on top:

My background was a piece of Evening Evergreen, diecut with the Scalloped Contours die, then embossed with the Wintery embossing folder and sponged with white craft ink.  I added a banner for my sentiment and a gold diecut star, along with a few other gold stars scattered around:

I added a sentiment with a little gold Zig Painty pen dot on the inside of my Crumb Cake base:

Finally, for my layout, I used the Make the Cards sketch from their current challenge:

I struggled with the colors on this card, I am thinking I should have done a dark blue background, so maybe I'll try another one again!  Meanwhile...this is it!  So what sums up Christmas for you? I hope you'll check out what the design team members created over at the As You See It blog and share your creation with us as well!

Cassidy's karate club participated in their local Halloween parade last night!  She and her friend Avery were thrilled because they got to carry the GLOW IN THE DARK staffs!  And it was a perfect night for a parade!  Thanks for popping in today--enjoy it and be blessed!

But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid.  I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.  This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." Luke 2:10-12

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Christmas Collage (ret), Prince of Peace (Close to My Heart), Joyful Noel (tiny Merry Christmas), Concord & 9th
Card stock & Papers	Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Evening Evergreen, Gold Glimmer (ret)
Ink	Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Craft White, Evening Evergreen
Accessories	Dimensionals
Tools	Big Shot, Stockings Dies, Scalloped Contour Dies, Nativity Dies (Impression Obsession #355-M), Banner Die (Nestability), Wintery Embossing Folder, Sponge Dauber, Star Die (Verve), Zig Gold Painty Pen

Yet Another Christmas Card

Happy Tuesday, peeps!  I am still making Christmas cards!  This one is for the staff at my bank; they are amazing!  Another friend gave me a slew of stamp sets, since she is moving and downsizing, and I came across this pretty image from a set called Beautiful Season; I stamped it in Stazon ink and watercolored it, then added some Christmas papers and a pretty fussy-cut sentiment:

This little guy looks so festive perched among the holly and berries:

I added a little rhinestone to the "joy" for a wee bit of sparkle!

And since the Christmas Kickstart and Always Fun Challenges both are asking for Christmas cards, I am linking them up there!

And I promised some more cookie pictures from Cassidy:

I am impressed at how well she's doing with that cookie scoop!  More on the finished product soon!  Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Beautiful Season (ret), Joyful Noel (Concord & 9th)
Card stock & Papers	Whisper White, Classic Christmas DSP, Tis the Season DSP
Ink	Stazon, Real Red, Soft Suede, Smoky Slate, Shaded Spruce, Garden Green
Accessories	Red Rhinestone
Tools	Big Shot, Stitched Rectangle Dies, Finishing Touches Dies (ret), Aquapainter, Wink of Stella

RRCB146 Boo! and a DiecutTutorial

 Happy Tuesday, peeps!  It's time for a new Retro Rubber challenge, where we use stamps that are least a year old!  Here's our prompt for this challenge:

What a cute prompt....and here's my take on it:

I diecut three pumpkins from Pumpkin Pie cardstock; the only stamping is the alphabet, which I won several years ago; it's from Concord & 9th, and I don't usually use alphabets, but I hung on to this one and I am glad I did!  Here's a close-up:

My background paper is from SU, from a few years back, and I added some black, orange and white glimmer stars for fun!  And here's the inside, using a CTMH set from 2018:

Now, I want to show you a little trick I came up to make using dies a little easier. I am sure someone may have come up with this before, but it's always good to see it again! These Impression Obsession dies are not open; they are solid, and if you look closely, you can see the ridges on the pumpkins:

Now, if you are just cutting out a plain pumpkin, that would be easy.  But I wanted to stamp a letter on the pumpkin before I diecut it because I knew I would not get a good image stamping over top of those ridges once I diecut it.  But I can't see the letter stamped on the cardstock to center it, because the die is closed.  So, I cut a template from a piece of cardboard (the white piece here) first:

I then stamped my letter on the cardstock, laid it on my Big Shot platform, and laid the template over it, centering it where I wanted it:

I placed the die over top of the template, seating it in the opening; it just sort of fits neatly in there like the last piece of a jigsaw puzzle!

Then I ran it through my diecutting machine, and I had a nicely-centered image!

It works well with open dies too!  Many of SU's newer dies are made to cut very close to the outline of the image and sometimes it's a challenge to get them lined up just right.  Here, I have stamped the berry sprig from the new Poinsettia Petals stamp:

I cut a template from some cardboard (the brown piece), layered it over the stamped image:

This time, since the image was small, I anchored the die with some washi tape before running it through the Big Shot:

And here is the finished product!  SO pretty!

Hopefully you'll find that little tip helpful!  It has saved me lots of diecutting woes!

So, what will inspire you with our cute little inspiration photo this week?  Be sure to use stamps that are at least a year old, and tell us how old they are!  Then share your spooky project with us at Retro Rubber!  Can't wait to see what you come up with! 

A little more Hershey Park adventure!

 Thanks for popping in today--enjoy it and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Hello Pumpkin Cardmaking (Close to My Heart 2018), Bold & Brushy Uppercase Alphabet (at least 5 years old)
Card stock & Papers	Whisper White, Pumpkin Pie, Black, Orange and Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer, Spooky Night DSP (ret)
Ink	Stazon Black
Accessories	Black Mini Dimensionals
Tools	Big Shot, Pumpkin Dies (Impression Obsession), Star Die (Verve)

IB122 Night Night

Happy Thursday, peeps! Hope your week is going by nicely!  After a beautiful day yesterday, we have more RAIN today---what else is new?!  Our Inspired By challenge is up today with this little cute beddy-bye ensemble:

Oh my gosh, how sweet is this?  My mind raced with several different ideas but I finally ended up with this somewhat-Valentine-ish creation:

Not sure, but those two hearts kind of look like eyes, looking at me, LOL!  Anyway, here's the optional sketch that I used as well:

So I started off created a plaid background with Blushing Bride and Riding Hood Red inks, then added a polka dot panel and some diecut hearts.  The pillow on the bed has a little bit of green in it, so I added some flowers and leaves, accented with rhinestones:

I played around with several different sentiments but finally decided on a simple hello, two layers diecut and adhered together:

I think it will make a cheerful "just because" card to send to someone!  I hope you'll play along with our Inspired By challenge this week, and be sure to stop by the blog to see what the other designers created as well!  Thanks for popping in!

The weather is finally getting a little warmer....warm enough to help Wayne with a car wash!

She can come and do mine next!  Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Distressed Dots Background (ret), Gingham Background (Concord +9th)
Card stock & Papers	Whisper White, Blushing Bride, Granny Apple Green, Riding Hood Red (ret), Honey DSP (My Mind's Eye)
Ink	Blushing Bride, Riding Hood Red (ret)
Accessories	Noble Peacock Rhinestones, Dimensionals
Tools	Big Shot, Stitched So Sweetly Dies, Stitched Be Mine Dies, Love Notes Dies (ret), Heart Punch (ret), Stitched Flowers Dies (My Favorite Things)

IB117 Yellow Makes Me Happy

Happy Thursday, peeps!  It's a new Inspired By challenge....one that's sure to make you "happy"!!!

I had just received some goodies in the mail, and I had so much fun with them, and the challenge, that I made two cards!  Here we go:

I had been eyeing the diagonal plaid background stamp from Concord and 9th for a while, and I finally broke down and got it!  I stamped it in Daffodil Delight and added the stitching in Granny Apple Green to make a background for my sweet little diecut tulip:

The die is also from C&9; it actually cuts the tulip and leaves as well as the stitched octagon and the skinny little frame!  I cut a few of them to create this image....I even cut the tulip twice and trimmed it so it would have more of a dimensional look.  (A tip:  I glued the frame and the center to a scrap piece of cardstock, then trimmed it by hand, so that it would be easier to handle.)  The "stem" is from a stitching set by CTMH: 

And can you see my little green lady bug?  I added her just for fun, LOL!  My sentiment comes from a really, really old SU set; I cut it apart and mounted it on some red rubber mount so that I could reposition the words:

In fact, this set is SO OLD that it came mounted on a really thick, hard piece of foam; I remember the first time I bought SU sets, the foam ones were less expensive than wood-mount, so I bought a couple of them....not SU's most shining moment:

They were awkward and cumbersome to use, and you often got that dreaded "halo" around the edge of the image!  Thankfully we've come a long way! Still a really cute set and I love it!  

SO when I cut out my multiples of the die, I had "leftovers", so I put some together with a few pieces of coordinating DSP to create a little birthday notecard:

I used a sentiment from the SAB Sending You Thoughts, and I embossed the bottom portion with the retired Perfect Polka Dots EF.  These colors really do make me happy!!!

I hope that there is something in our inspiration photo that will get your creative juices flowing!  Please be sure to stop by the Inspired By blog to check out the DT's creations and share yours as well!

And Dana recently sent me this picture of some florals from her yard:

My maternal grandfather was a wholesale carnation grower, and he, my uncle and my cousins all took part in running his florist business.  I joke that that particular gene did not come down to me, but it did pass on to Dana!  She's good at arranging!  Thanks for visiting today--enjoy it and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Sending You Thoughts, Diagonal Plaid (Concord and 9th), Hello Spring (ret), Itty Bitties (ret), Stitched Borders (Close to My Heart)
Card stock & Papers	Whisper White, Granny Apple Green, Daffodil Delight, Old Olive Gingham DSP, Bird Ballad DSP, The Bee's Knees DSP (Honey Bee)
Ink	Granny Apple Green
Accessories	Dimensionals, Daffodil Delight Ruffled Ribbon
Tools	Big Shot, Stitched Rectangle Dies, Tulip Label Dies, Perfect Polka Dot EF (ret)