Jingle Belles Jolly Old St. Nick challenge

The current challenge at Jingle Belles is all about Jolly Old St. Nick.   I used one of my favorite Santa stamp sets from My Favorite Things for this card.

The background was made with an Alexandra Renke embossing folder. After I dry embossed it, I lightly ran an embossing pad over the raised edges and then sprinkled Nuvo embossing glitter and heat embossed.  It added just a little bit of sparkle to the background.  I stamped a candy cane stripe from a Winnie & Walter set, then die cut the image with a rick rack die from My Favorite Things.  The stamped images were colored with Copics and then I added some stickles for a little sparkle.

We're almost halfway through the year.  Happy that I'm getting a head start on my Christmas cards!

AAA Cards #142

The current challenge at AAA Cards is a one layer card, with the optional twist of using just black and white.  

I used a couple of Simon Says Stamp sets for this black and white card.

Just a simple black and white card, but I think it would be suitable for different occasions, depending on the inside message.  I really like this bicycle stamp - so cute!

Less Is More #397 - color challenge

  The new challenge at Less Is More is a color challenge:

These aren't colors I would normally think about combining, but they really make a pretty trio of colors.  I used some button stamps from PaperTrey Ink and a sentiment from Paper Smooches for my card.

The inks are from GinaK - Plum Punch and Ocean Mist.  That plum color is so pretty!  I added embroidery floss to the button centers and then mounted them with thin foam tape for a little dimension.  I'm going to have to use this color scheme more often!

Paper Smooches June challenge

Here is the inspiration piece for the May challenge @ Paper Smooches:

I don't have any pineapple images in my stamp sets, so I went with the pink and yellow color scheme for my inspiration.

 I used the Paper Smooches cross stitch die, lightly brushed with green and blue inks for a soft background.  The flowers are from the Paper Smooches Garden Blooms Die, diecut from white cardstock and colored with Copics.  I added a light pink puffy sticker for the flower center.

Merry Little Christmas Challenge blog - June challenge

Well, we're almost halfway through the year and just a little more than six months til Christmas!
It's time for our June "anything goes as long as it's Christmas" challenge at Merry Little Christmas Challenge blog.

For this month's project, I made a stamped and diecut piece that was placed in an 8x8 frame.

I used Gina K's Mega Wreath Builder template set to help create the round wreath shape and maintain spacing between the stamped images.  (If you haven't checked out Gina K's wreath builder sets, they are really cool!)  The pine boughs, pinecones and holly are all stamps from The Ton, and the sentiment is a really, really old Stampin' Up stamp.  The bow was cut with my Cricut, and then I used some stitched circle dies from Dare 2b Artzy for the sentiment and frame.  I added some tiny red pearls for the holly berries and some tiny green and gold gem stickers for a little added sparkle.    

These small framed pieces are fun to display at the holidays, either hanging on the wall or placed on the mantel with other decorations.  I try to make some new seasonal pieces every year.

We hope you get a chance to join in the challenge this month at Merry Little Christmas Challenge Blog!   See you there!

AAA Cards - Challenge #141 - and a Happy 5th Birthday!

AAA Cards is celebrating their 5th birthday with a blog hop and lots of great prizes.   Be sure to check out their blog here for all the details!

To go along with the celebration, the current challenge is to create a CAS birthday card.   Here's my card for the challenge.

I used an old Hero Arts stamp set for this one, stamping the birthday definition in gray ink in the center of the card front.  The birthday cake was stamped, colored and cut out and adhered with foam tape over the other image.  I brushed a little bit of yellow ink around the edges to contrast with the white cardbase.

Hope you get a chance to check out the blog hop at AAA Cards!

The Library Challenge #33 - Death on the Nile

Challenge #33 at The Library Challenge is "Death on the Nile" by Agatha Christie.  

I love Agatha Christie books and I'm pretty sure I've read all of them at least once.  I didn't have any Egyptian themed stamps or dies, so I went with Plan B - Egypt + death = Mummies!

The stamps are from Impression Obsession and Tim Holtz.  The images were colored with Copics and the backgrounds done with Distress Oxide inks.  Another Halloween card ready for October!