Christmas Through The Trees

I had a fun weekend stamping with some of my downline at a bed & breakfast this weekend!  We brought stamps and paper and scrapping supplies and stamped and ate and talked!  I was able to stamp some images from a new PTI set called Through the Trees; I saw something similar to this online but didn’t favorite it, but it is probably easy to find.  I am adding this to my Christmas card collection—so far, I have been able to keep on track of at least one a week!

You just can’t get much simpler than this!  I had a scrap of  left over from another project, so I folded it in half for a skinny card.  The sentiment is called Daily Designs Sentiments; cardstocks are Kraft, Real Red and Confetti White; inks are Real Red and Craft White.  Button is SU; thanks for visiting today!  Hopefully this week I can share our projects!!

French Eclectic

If you are looking for my Blog Candy post, you can visit it here! I love the vintagey, eclectic look that some designers do so well, but I struggle with the actual application of it! I was determined a few days ago to use some of the wonderful digi images that are available on the web. I believe I got these from Cathe Holden, but I also get many from The Graphics Fairy. You need to check out BOTH of these wonderful blogs if you’re into vintage! I pulled out some Jennie Bowlin papers, printed off some of the digitals and went to work, piecing and tearing and positioning, and finally came up with this little square card:

There is actually a tiny little bit of stamping along the edges with a cute set called Butterfly Wishes from The Greeting Farm. My embellishments are some itsy-bitsy rhinestones and some bigger bling, along with the Beautiful Wings embosslit from SU, and their new Scallop Trim and Pinking Hearts punches. Everything was sponged with Soft Suede as well, for more of a vintage look. I will probably use this as a birthday card, but I left the inside blank for future use. Cardstocks are Natural Ivory and Ruby Red.

Some of my downline and I are at a stamping retreat this weekend at a cute little B&B called The Teakettle Inn in Manheim, PA. Hopefully I will remember to actually take some pictures to share!!! Hope you are having a fabulous weekend!

Poor Pathetic Project and BLOG CANDY!

This little project is just so sad….so lacking in embellishments, so plain….it makes me cry. It has such potential, but I just am lost!!   The JUGS challenge #17 was to make something with a template.  So I used Lauren’s Cutesy Cover Template, which is really cute, but I had two problems.  #1, I could not come up with some better embellishments for the outside, and #2, I don’t know what to put INSIDE!!!  Take a look:

I love the Cosmo Cricket paper; I love the Crafty Secrets images; I love the corduroy button, the nestie and the grosgrain…..but I feel that it just needs something more!  And for the inside…the outer dimensions are 3”x3.75”, so I need something smaller than that to tuck in this little cutie.  So what do you think?  I need some suggestions!  If you leave me your ideas, and I think they’re super, you could win this:

A new Melanie Muenchinger “Cuddles & Hugs” set!!  Along with some other surprises I’ll round up from my ever-growing stash of goodies!  So get thinkin’---leave me a comment with your ideas by Thursday, February 4 at 11 pm, and Friday morning, I’ll pick my favorite!  PLEASE leave me a way to get in touch with you…..if I can’t contact you, I can’t let you know if you’ve won!!!!!  And sorry, I can only ship to US & Canadian addresses!

Stampin’ Royalty Sketch

I was able to sneak into my stamp room and stamp a little bit this afternoon and make up a thank you card for one of my customers using the Stampin’ Royalty Sketch  Challenge#4:

I had some Sweet Pea scraps already on my table, so I went with them:

and I had the SAB set Happy Moments on my table too, so I used that as well, watercoloring my images.  Really pretty simple, just a few accessories for embellishments!  I did up the inside a little too:

Thanks so much for visiting today!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Stamps:  Happy Moments
• Paper:  Naturals White, Sahara Sand, Sweet Pea DP
• Ink:  Stazon, Rose Red, Old Olive, Pretty in Pink, Taken with Teal
• Acc:  Jumbo Eyelets, 1/2” Circle Punch, 3/4” Circle Punch, Grosgrain Ribbon, Slot Punch, Scallop Trim Punch, Corner Rounder Punch, Twine, Aquapainter, Dimensionals

Sketch Challenge

A real simple easy card today, as my time is limited with family issues!  I liked the Saturday Sketch Challenge #135 from Stampin 411:

and used some Kaleidoscope DP I totally forgot I had along with two new SAB set, Happy Moments and Whimsical Words:

Of course, AFTER I finished the card, I realized I was supposed to put the sentiment at the lower right.  It was 1:00 AM, and I just couldn’t come up with a single idea of what to add there, so I just left it as it was!!!  I did draw the bow & string at the top of the birdcage so it didn’t look as if it was just floating in midair!!!  Thanks for visiting today!

• Stamps:  Happy Moments, Whimsical Words
• Paper:  Apricot Appeal, WW, Tempting Turquoise, Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, Kaleidoscope DP
• Ink:  Stazon
• Acc:  Heart Punch, Nestie Flower Die, 1 3/4” circle punch, markers, Scallop Trim Border punch, Grosgrain Ribbon

Color Throwdown 77

Mmm, just look at these colors that Cathy picked this week!  These are absolutely lovely and I let my designer paper do the talking!  My BG Wisteria paper had all the colors I needed---I just added a flower, sentiment, ribbon, a little scallopy border and some bling!  What do you think?

I was cutting some pieces of this DP to try to make a card and I laid them perpendicular to each other and really liked the effect!  My Baja Breeze panel was scalloped with the new SU scallop punch; the flower is from Enjoy Every Moment and the sentiment is from PTI’s Mixed Messages.  I know I can always use get well cards, so this will go right in my stash!

Remember that you can play along with the CTD colors too!  You can find all the details on the CTD blog.  Post your creation on your blog or an online gallery, then link it back to Mr Linky on the CTD blog.  If you don’t have the exact colors, use something close. And be sure to check out the other designers’ creations this week:

• Broni - Splashes of Watercolor

• Tammy - Stamp Happy

• Cathy - Crafty Thoughts
• Barbara - Paper Pursuits
• Danielle – Wild Dragonfly Designs
• Kristin - Mindless Creativity
• and our guest designer, Deb Horst - Sendable Sentiments

ColourQ#17

Imagine my excitement when Arielle from ColourQ Challenges told me that I was to be a Guest Designer for this week! Her challenges are always fun and I was not disappointed when I saw her inspiration:

Now, I must confess that this has an Asian feel to it and I have never been very good at interpreting that style. Normally I would just take the colors and run with my own thing, but I decided to go “literal” and try to re-create the design….with a few little changes. I started by making a little pizza box…

It’s little….only about two inches square…..decorated with some flowers from Eastern Blossoms, some punched Boho Blossoms filled with microbeads, and a little sentiment from PTI’s Mixed Messages. Inside is this little hand-crafted pin I made:

Here’s another view:

This was made by stamping a square of Bashful Blue cardstock with various images. I then added some mini rhinestones and covered the entire piece with Versamark and Glassy Glaze EP and heated it up. I gave it two more coats of GG, then mounted it on a double backing of Basic Black cardstock cut with a Nestie, and added a pin back.

Now to complete my little gift set, I made a simple card:

Here they are all together:

Each piece has it’s own different feel but together they make an interesting set! I really enjoyed creating each piece.

• Stamps: Eastern Blooms, Mixed Messages & Believe, PTI
• Paper: Bashful Blue, WW, Basic Black, Taken with Teal
• Ink: Palette Noir, Real Red, Taken with Teal
• Acc: Markers, Rhinestones, Boho Blossom Punch, Nesties, Gingham Ribbon, Scallop Trim Border Punch, Glassy Glaze EP, MicroBeads, Circle Punches

Just an update on my dad—he did come home and is staying with my sister for a while until he feels better. That is truly an answer to prayer and thank you ALL who prayed and commented!!!

Happy Hearts

I loved Angie Tieman’s heart flower she made here so much I just had to make one myself! I had an odd-looking scrap of Sweet Pea DP that I thought I would never be able to use, but that sweet little flower fit in there so nicely……

Pretty clean & simple; the leaf was stamped in A to Z Alphabet in white on Old Olive and cut out freehand; since I stamped the “thank you” crooked, that leaf just fit the bill to draw one’s eye away from my booboo!! I used a 1 3/4” circle and the new small heart punch from SU to make my “flower”. Thanks for looking today! And I just found out that this qualifies for the CAS51 challenge (to use DP) at SCS today!

I would also covet your prayers also as my father is not doing well and our family is trying to work out a plan to get him to move from his home, which is a couple hours away, here to PA where he can stay with my sister. I understand the desire to stay in one’ own home, but he really needs our care. I am praying that the Lord will work it out without a fuss.

• Stamps: Short & Sweet, A to Z Alphabet
• Paper: WW, Old Olive, Regal Rose, Sweet Pea DP
• Ink: Craft White, Old Olive
• Acc: 1 3/4” Circle Punch, Small Heart Punch, Dimensionals, Playground Button

Dry Embossed Christmas Card

So far, I have been able to meet my own challenge of making a Christmas card a week!  This week’s is very simple, as I have a busy day ahead.  As I was sitting in church today, the lady in front of me had a pretty sweater on, and on the back was stitched a pine cone and branches within a little square of cross stitches.  I wondered how I could recreate that into a card, so this is what I came up with:

I admit, it is pretty simple….there are a few layers but other than the image itself and the dry embossed panel, it’s a plain Jane!  I embossed the panel by running a piece of thin cardboard through my BigShot with a rectangle Nestie:

If you don’t have a Nestability, just cut a rectangle or square with a craft knife.  I then stamped my entire image in Handsome Hunter, then colored just the pinecone with a Chocolate Chip marker.  I flipped the image over and used Dotto to adhere it to the top of the cardboard, centering the design over the cut-out area.  I was too lazy to pull out my light table, so I just put it up to the window and with my stylus, embossed the areas that had no stamping; I left the stamped areas un-embossed.  I did sponge a little Creamy Caramel ink on the raised area, just to give it some definition. I mounted it on some mats, then on my Very Vanilla card and added my sentiment from Many Merry Messages.  Some frosty glitter, and it was done!  I hope you are inspired to make some cards for your 2010 Christmas stash too!

Altered Mini Purse

First, I have to thank CeeCee (who is one of the MOST talented, creative stampers I’ve seen!) for this cute idea.  You can see her creations here.  When I saw them, I smacked my head—I was  just about to throw away a brad container.  I had been saving it, then thought, oh, it is just cluttering up my desk….and then I read her post.  So  here is my little “rescued” altered brad container:

I just used various DPs, cardstocks, ribbons and embellishments.  I used Tombow Multi glue for adhering the paper and Sticky Strip for the ribbon.  The Crop-a-Dile does a great job of punching a hole for the ribbon “purse strap”.  Want to see what’s inside?

Just make sure the lid is snapped TIGHT before you dangle this little purse from your finger (ask me how I know this).  This will be a little goodie for my niece in her Valentine package!!    This is also for the Pals Paper Arts Challenge 26, to make anything but a card!  And did you know that Stampin’Up! is donating $2 from each sale of this set, I {Heart} Hearts, to Haitian relief?  You can check it out on my website here.  It’s a wonderful chance to get a cute new stamp set and help the victims of the Haiti earthquake.

I have a busy weekend ahead, so I am not sure if I’ll get anything posted…have a great one!

• Stamps:  I {Heart} Hearts
• Paper:  Certainly Celery, Chocolate Chip, Regal Rose, WW, Sweet Pea DP
• Ink:  Chocolate Chip, Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose
• Acc:  Sweet Pea Felt Flowers, Rhinestone Brad, CAD, Boho Blossom Punch, Grosgrain Ribbon, Sticky Strip, Dimensionals, Empty brad container

Wonderful You

I had so much fun with this color combination (see my other card here) that I mass-produced a few cards today using the same combo and layout:

Can you see the sparkly freshly-cut lemon?  Here, I’ll give you a closeup:

I have a few “wonderful you” friends to whom these will be sent!!  Thanks for visiting today…..gonna try to “squeeze” in another post later!

• Stamps:  Tart & Tangy, Warm Words, Define Your Life
• Paper:  Yoyo Yellow, Taken with Teal, WW
• Ink:  Summer Sun, Taken with Teal
• Acc:  Nesties, Crushed Curry Ribbon, DD Glitter, SAMJ

Three One-Layer Cards

The challenge#3 at Stampin’ Royalty today is to make a one-layer card.  That is more difficult than I imagined! I actually did make a set of four one-layer cards yesterday, but I did not photograph them and wanted to do something a little different today.  So I made three!! The first one was not so good, but the second & third were better!  I think it’s because they have ribbon—other than that, they are all pretty clean & simple.  Okay, enough yakking, here ya go:

This is number three.  (I am going backwards here!)  I anchored the ribbon by doing a one-hole bow.  Image is from Holiday Blitz; colors are Real Red, Melon Mambo, Regal Rose and Rose Red; sentiment is from The More the Merrier.

Here’s number two, a REAL simple one:

Card is Pretty in Pink, cut with the Scallop Square BigShot Diecut; again, the image is from Holiday Blitz, stamped in Craft White and embossed with white EP. The little CB cross stitch folder is one I’ve had for a long time!  The sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes and the ribbon is SU’s Satin ---yummeeee!

Finally, this was my first attempt.  I should have stopped stamping while I was ahead:

It just looks BARE, but I do like the white on the BB.  Sets used are Always and Enjoy Every Moment; card and ink are Bermuda Bay, with the bird and sentiment again stamped in Craft White and heat embossed.  A good exercise to get back to basics!  Oh well, you can’t win them all!

Thanks for visiting today!!!  Hey, I am going to put up some blog candy here real soon….keep posted!

Color Throwdown #76

Tammy chose a real winning combination today for the CTD and I had a blast making my card!  Here are her color choices:

I rummaged through my Basic Grey papers and came up with an assortment, then found a lone piece of textured So Saffron, so I decided to use that for my base.  Added some fun embellishments and here it is:

You can play along too!  Check out the CTD blog for details, then create your own masterpiece, post it on your blog or online gallery and link it to Mr Linky right there on the blog.  We'd love to see what you come up with, and if you don't have the exact colors, just use something close!

Here are links to the other CTD artists:

• Broni - Splashes of Watercolor
• Tammy - Stamp Happy
• Cathy - Crafty Thoughts
• Barbara - Paper Pursuits
• Danielle – Wild Dragonfly Designs
• Kristin - Mindless Creativity
• and our guest designer, Deb Horst - Sendable Sentiments

Thanks for visiting today!

• Stamps:  Vintage Picnic Sentiments, PTI
• Paper:  So Saffron Textured, Very Vanilla, BG Lemonade, Urban Prairie, Nook & Pantry
• Ink:  Old Olive, Crushed Curry, Melon Mambo
• Acc:  Sewing Machine, Sweet Pea Felt Flowers, 3-Heart Punch, Birds & Blooms Diecut, Boho Blossom Punch, Beautiful Wings Embosslit, Circle Punch, Brads & Rhinestones