Last Minute Christmas

I know I'm not the only one that has a husband that remembers at the last possible second that he forgot he needs another card. It happens every year. I should just make him one or two extras, but I always forget that this happens until it does!

Thank goodness for my Misti and some silver embossing powder! This simple card was created within 5 minutes. I just stamped the beautiful bow from The Ton's Holiday Bows set and then heat embossed the sentiment from Mama Elephant's Christmas Spirit right over the top of it. Add some sequins and you're done!

It's tough to get a good picture of all that sparkle and the dimension of the stamp set, but I think this angle does it pretty well. At least this one is easy to produce if he comes up with another name he forgot!

I'm going to enter this card into the CASology challenge. This week's cue is Merry and I didn't think I was going to participate, but it turns out I had one more card left in me before the holiday!

Supplies:
Stamps: Holiday Bows (The Ton Stamps), Christmas Spirit (Mama Elephant)
Dies: Stitched Rectangles (Simon Says Stamp)
Paper: Neenah Solar White, Smoky Slate
Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Real Red, Versamark
Other: Silver embossing powder, 4mm and 6mm Silver sequins (Pretty Pink Posh)

Homespun

This card was created for the Less Is More Challenge. This week's theme is "homespun". This challenge actually brings up memories of my grandmother sewing for me when I was a kid. She was amazing! She had to quit a few years ago when her arthritis got so bad that she just couldn't finish her projects. I have so many beautiful things that she's made for me though!

I actually won this stamp set from Sweet Stamp Shop a few weeks ago in an Instagram giveaway and it felt like the perfect fit for this challenge. I love the stitched sentiments! I did a bit of simple masking to put the sewing machine image behind the spool of thread, but the rest was simply colored with my copics. I love the simplicity of this card and how clean it looks.

Supplies:
Stamps: Quilt Stitch (Sweet Stamp Shop - retired)
Dies: Stitched Rectangles (Simon Says Stamp)
Paper: Neenah Solar White, Crumb Cake
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Memento Rich Cocoa, Copics
Other: Clear Wink of Stella

Sending Warm Hugs....and a Little Failure

I sat down to create a thank you card for the present my grandparents sent me. I knew I wanted to create a winter scene and I thought I'd try my hand at the Northern Lights style background that has been trending recently. But we'll get to that later in the post...

This is the finished card. The one that I actually sent to my grandparents. Let's just say I had a little failure with my original concept. I went back to my trusty distress inks and created a blended sky for this one! I'm still loving these Arctic Animals from Clearly Besotted. They're just so cute!

Supplies:
Stamps: Arctic Animals (Clearly Besotted)
Dies: Stitched Rectangles (Simon Says Stamp)
Paper: Neenah Solar White
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copics, Distress Inks (Tumbled Glass, Mermaid Lagoon, Blueprint Sketch)
Other: Masking Paper, Clear Wink of Stella

I'm entering this final card into the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge (Winter Wonderland). I think these critters are absolutely adorable with their frosty background!

Okay, now for the failure. I'm posting this as proof that we all fail sometimes. We try something new and we just stink at it the first time or the concept we have in our head just won't come out on paper. And that's okay! It's our failures that really help teach us something new! Besides, what I see as a failure, someone else might see as beautiful. It's all in the eye of the beholder. Now that I've let this failure sit for a few days, I'm actually liking it a little more. Just remember before you scrap something that you don't think is perfect, it may look better in a few days, or a week, or a month. Don't be too hard on yourself!

The background is supposed to look streaky, but the darkest color just wouldn't blend into the rest. No matter how hard I tried, it just stayed there, looking all dark and harsh. But it taught me something about my markers and choosing colors! I won't be throwing this panel away. Instead, it sits in a place on my desk to remind me to never be afraid to try something new. In this case, a copic background! I'll try again later and maybe it'll look better since practice does make perfect!

Gender Neutral Baby Card

This week's CASology cue is the word toy. I currently have baby on the brain because my cousin just announced her pregnancy, but it's still too early for her to know the gender. I thought this cute little card would be perfect for her and for the challenge!

I used my copics to color the toy giraffe in a life-like pattern and then used yellow and green for the ball. I wanted to avoid the typical pink and blue combinations. I've had this set from Mama Elephant for a while, but no one in my family has given me a chance to use it until now! I really like the idea of making gender neutral cards like this one. Some parents still choose to be surprised at the birth and sometimes you just want to send a card before you really know! This is my solution!

Supplies:
Stamps: Nursery Deco (Mama Elephant)
Dies: Stitched Rectangles (Simon Says Stamp)
Paper: Neenah Solar White, Crumb Cake
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Assorted Copics
Other: Clear Wink of Stella (used it on the star on the ball)

Heart of Roses

I can't get enough of this die from Simon Says Stamp! It's just gorgeous and it works for any love-related occasion. This time I used it to make a beautiful wedding card (with no stamping at all!).

I love, love, love this die! I created a soft watercolor background using my Gansai Tambi Watercolor paint set and then layered the die cut right on top using a strong adhesive. I cut the Congratulations die from metallic silver cardstock and then added just a sprinkling of sequins. It was super easy to create, but it really packs a punch!

I'm entering this card into two separate challenges. The Simon Says Stamp Flickr Challenge and the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge. Both challenges are to feature die cuts, so this card is perfect for them both!

Supplies:
Dies: Heart of Roses, Congratulations, Stitched Rectangles (Simon Says Stamp)
Paper: Neenah Solar White, Silver Metallic, Strathmore Watercolor
Ink: Gansai Tambi Watercolors
Other: Cornflower, Aqua, Fresh Mint, Marshmallow sequins (Pretty Pink Posh)

Anniversary and Another Birthday!

I have two cards to share with you today. Both are going to members of my family and both for an event on the 22nd!

First up is a card for my Aunt and Uncle for their 25th Anniversary! I just love the Heart of Roses die from Simon Says Stamp and I think it's the perfect piece for an anniversary card. It's just gorgeous! I added the sentiment in silver since it's their silver anniversary! I also sprinkled a few silver sequins across the card for embellishment. To create the stained glass look behind the die cut, I cut out a larger heart using vellum and then attached the two. I used my Copics to color on the back of the vellum so that it would show through the front of the die cut.

I'm going to add this card to not only the Simon Says Stamp Flickr Challenge (using die cuts), but also to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge (just a pinch). I used just a pinch of sequins on this card for a bit of silver embellishment!

Supplies:
Stamps: Happy Everything (Mama Elephant)
Dies: Heart of Roses and Stitched Rectangles (Simon Says Stamp), Happy Script (Mama Elephant)
Paper: Neenah Solar White, Vellum, Smoky Slate, Basic Black, Silver Metallic
Ink: Versamark, R22, YG17, B01 (Copics)
Other: Silver embossing powder, Silver 4mm and 6mm Sequins (Pretty Pink Posh)

Next up is a card I made for another Aunt, this time for a birthday.

My Aunt just recently got a new puppy, so I used the Playful Pups set which had a dog that looked a lot like hers. I colored him to look like her new puppy, too! I used the All Prettied Up die set from Mama Elephant for the front card panel and the box to put the puppy in. The background was sponged using Distress Inks and attached behind the panel to the card base.

Supplies:
Stamps: Playful Pups (Mama Elephant)
Dies: All Prettied Up and Playful Pups (Mama Elephant), Stitched Borders 3 (Pretty Pink Posh)
Paper: Neenah Solar White, Basic Black, Baked Brown Sugar
Ink: Abandoned Coral and Spun Sugar (Distress Ink), Memento Tuxedo Black, Versamark, Assorted Copics
Other: White embossing powder, Sparkling Clear Sequins (Pretty Pink Posh)

Joy To You

I decided to challenge myself to create a Christmas card using pastels. When I'm coloring, I tend to grab bright or dark colors and never try to do anything light and airy. This is what I came up with!

I have to say I love it! However, I realized that my Copic collection doesn't contain many light colors! I guess I may have to add to my wishlist for future purchases... (Hubby is going to kill me. The wishlist keeps growing!) This is the first project I've created with my new Brother Scan 'n' Cut 2 and I love that machine! Holy cow! I'm not going to have to purchase any more matching dies and that will definitely help the craft budget! If you haven't seen this machine, look into it. It's pricey, but the investment is definitely worth it to me. Especially if you find yourself buying a lot of matching dies for stamped images!

On to how this was made...

I used all Mama Elephant products for this card. I cut the mountains with the Snow-capped Mountains die and the snow banks with the Landscape Trio Dies. (Alas, the Scan 'N' Cut won't do that type of thing for me...at least that I know of!) I blended ink into the base of the card to create the sky and then blended more ink into the die cut mountains before attaching the snow caps. The sentiment is heat embossed on a tag cut with the Mini Tag dies and placed on top of another tag cut from vellum. The images were stamped and cut with my new machine and then colored with Copics.

Supplies:
Stamps: Christmas Spirit, Mini Messages (Mama Elephant)
Dies: Snow-Capped Mountains, Landscape Trio, Mini Tags (Mama Elephant)
Paper: Neenah Solar White, Vellum
Ink: For ink-blending - Winter, Rainwater, Sweet Lilac (Mama Elephant), Versamark, Memento Tuxedo Black, Assorted Copics
Other: Gold thread, Gold embossing powder, Sparkling Clear Sequins (Pretty Pink Posh)

Cards for Safyre

Today I'm sharing a card I made for a special little girl who lives in New York. She's the survivor of a horrible fire where she was burned over 75% of her body. She lost her family in the fire and her father died protecting her in his arms. All she wants this year for Christmas is to get enough cards to fill her card tree. I'm sure you know she's already surpassed that goal, but I wanted to send a card of my own! Go visit this link and check out her story. If you have an extra card this year or just want to participate, please do!

I loved my little tag from yesterday so much that I redid it and made it into a full size card! The process was the same except that I used a stencil and texture paste for the snow on the card. I also heat embossed the sentiment in silver.

Please take a little time to send a card to Safyre this year. It'll make her day and she's very much deserving of a little love this Christmas.

 

You can send cards to:

Safyre
P.O. Box 6126
Schenectady NY 12306

While I'm at it, I'm also going to enter this into the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge. This week is to create a Christmas card. Hopefully, others will see this post and want to send their own card!

Supplies:
Stamps: Toboggan Together (Lawn Fawn), Jingle Greetings (Mama Elephant)
Dies: Forest Border (Lawn Fawn)
Paper: Neenah Solar White
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Versamark, Assorted Copics, Faded Jeans, Chipped Sapphire, Seedless Preserves (Distress Ink)
Other: Silver embossing powder, Snowfall stencil (My Favorite Things), Ranger White texture paste

Lawnscaping and Another Birthday

Today's first project is for the Lawnscaping Challenge.

This challenge was to create a tag. I used a Simon Says Stamp tag die to create the base because I just don't have one from Lawn Fawn. That's technically the only thing on this project that isn't from Lawn Fawn. I cut another tag and then used the Forest Border die to create the bottom of the tag. The original base was heat embossed with the snowflakes and then I used Distress Ink to blend in the blue color. The deer image was simply stamped and colored with Copics. I stamped the sentiment at the bottom of the tag with Memento Tuxedo Black. That's all!

I'm also going to enter this tag into the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge because it just happens to be to create a tag this week!

    

Supplies
Stamps: Toboggan Together (Lawn Fawn)
Dies: Toboggan Together (Lawn Fawn), Stitched Dress Up Tags (Simon Says stamp), Forest Border (Lawn Fawn)
Paper: Neenah Solar White
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Versamark, Assorted Copics, Faded Jeans and Chipped Sapphire (Distress Ink)
Other: White embossing powder, red and white baker's twine

My next project is a birthday card I created for my uncle.

I wanted something more masculine, so I stamped my card base with the Woodgrain Background stamp. I cut the panel using a Stitched Oval die and then stamped the bear onto the panel. I used my Copics to color the bear and add a "floor" and a halo of light blue (which you really can't see in the picture). The sentiment was gold heat embossed on vellum and attached around the oval. I didn't use foam adhesive for this one since it has to go through the mail and I didn't want it to get squished!

Supplies:
Stamps: Birthday Bears (My Favorite Things), Woodgrain Background (My Favorite Things)
Dies: Stitched Ovals (Simon Says Stamp)
Paper: Crumb Cake, Neenah Solar White, Vellum
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Versamark, Assorted Copics, Crumb Cake
Other: Gold embossing powder

Let It Snow

Today I have a super simple stamped Christmas card that I made to get back into the swing of things after a visit from my parents. I hadn't seen my parents in almost 2 years, so I decided to take a complete break from all things crafty until they had returned home. Man, it's seriously hard to get my crafty mojo back after being on a break!

I took it easy with this one and cut out a panel using the Stitched Rectangle dies. Then I randomly stamped the snowflakes from Circle Sayings Holiday on the panel using 3 different blue inks. when I was finished, I heat embossed the sentiment in silver and added a few sequins. Easy, but effective. I really like the look of the blues on this card.

I'm going to enter this into 3 separate challenges. The Simon Says Stamp Flickr Challenge (Christmas), Simon Monday Challenge (Christmas), and Simon Wednesday Challenge (Let It Snow). It fits all 3 challenges quite nicely!

   

Supplies:
Stamps: Circle Sayings Holiday, Big Scripty Holiday Greetings (Simon Says Stamp)
Dies: Stitched Rectangles (Simon Says Stamp)
Paper: Bermuda Bay, Neenah Solar White
Ink: Versamark, Maliblue, Sea Glass, Audrey Blue (Simon Says Stamp)
Other: Silver embossing powder, Aqua sequins in 4mm and 6mm (Pretty Pink Posh)

Smiles and Birthdays

I'm starting today's post by sharing a card I made for Ka from Stamping Smiles Designs. She was in a pretty terrible accident recently (hit by a drunk driver) and had to have several surgeries. She's in the hospital and recovering, but she could use some cheering up. Heidi from Crafty Time 4 U and several other friends are compiling some cards to send to Ka to help get her through her recovery. If you'd like to participate, you can contact Heidi through her Instagram account, also craftytime4u.

I created this card because when I'm in need of cheering up, puppies (or kitties) will always do the trick! I mounted all the puppy stamps from the Playful Pooches set by Clearly Besotted on my Fiskars Stamp Press and then inked them up and stamped them all at once. I was able to stamp the whole thing twice and it only left a couple of empty spaces. I filled those spaces by manually stamping a couple of puppies separately. I colored all of the images with my Copics and then heat embossed the sentiment in white on black. That's it! Super simple, but it did take some time. I just love how it turned out though. Definitely worth the time I put into it. I hope it'll put a smile on Ka's face!

Supplies:
Stamps: Playful Pooches (Clearly Besotted), Up & Away (Mama Elephant - sentiment)
Paper: Neenah Solar White, Basic Black
Ink: Versamark, Assorted Copics, Memento Tuxedo Black
Other: White embossing powder

My next two cards are for upcoming birthdays. December is always incredibly busy for me because not only am I making Christmas cards, but December is packed with birthdays!

This card is for my Grandpa. I cut the panel using Mama Elephant's All Prettied Up die set. I cut a smaller panel to go behind it and heat embossed the sentiment in white so that it would show through the window. Then I used an ink blending tool to blend Mowed Lawn and Mermaid Lagoon Distress Inks over the top. I finished it by splattering a few water drops on top and sopping them up with a paper towel. The bears and present were colored with Copics and then I just fussy cut around them so they wouldn't have a white edge. I just think it looks a little cleaner for this particular card. I finished it off by adhering the whole thing to a Crumb Cake card panel and adding a few Sparkling Clear Sequins.

Supplies:
Stamps: Birthday Bears (My Favorite Things)
Dies: All Prettied Up (Mama Elephant)
Paper: Neenah Solar White, Crumb Cake
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Assorted Copics, Versamark, Mowed Lawn & Mermaid Lagoon (Distress Ink)
Other: White embossing powder, 4mm and 6mm Sparkling Clear sequins (Pretty Pink Posh)

Next up is a card that I actually ended up duplicating to give to 2 different people.

I originally made this card with one of my friends in mind, but after I finished it, I loved it so much that I duplicated it to send to my husband's aunt as well. I just loved how this design turned out and it's absolutely beautiful in real life. A picture just doesn't capture the amazing dimension that these stamps from The Ton give you. I simply created a tall panel and then silver heat embossed the sentiment. I used the layering stamps from Heart Diamonds to create the beautiful images you see. They're so easy to use and they look just gorgeous! I finished it off with a few Cobalt sequins from Pretty Pink Posh.

Supplies:
Stamps: Heart Diamonds (The Ton)
Paper: Neenah Solar White, Smoky Slate
Ink: Versamark; Stargazer, Ocean, and Rainwater (Mama Elephant)
Other: Silver embossing powder, 4mm and 6mm Cobalt sequins (Pretty Pink Posh)