Gingham and holly Christmas card

I ordered a few of the new Tim Holtz Christmas stamps and mini stencils a couple of weeks ago and got to try a couple out on this card.  The background was stamped with Hero Arts shadow ink.  I mixed some embossing paste with sage green perfect pearls and used that with the embossing stencil over the stamped background. 

I added the kraft and white ribbon and a small stamped tag with twine.  This is a more muted color scheme than I normally use for Christmas cards, but I kinda like it.  Love that background stamp and think it will be very versatile! 

Jingle Belles ombre challenge - card #2

Back with another card for the Jingle Belles ombre challenge.  This time I used a candy cane stripe stamp and three red Distress Inks:  Worn Lipstick, Festive Berries and Fired Brick. 

After stamping the background and adding the sentiment, the card still needed something, so I added the stamped and diecut penguins, with their tree and gifts.  Just to get more in the spirit of things, I had I Heart Radio's "Christmas in July" station playing.....glad I was home alone so my family couldn't roll their eyes at me!

Jingle Belles ombre challenge

The current challenge @ Jingle Belles is to create a card with ombre coloration.  I don't know why, but this turned out unexpectedly difficult for me, which just made me more determined to get a card made, LOL!

This card was made with the Hero Arts Tide Pool to Navy ombre ink pad, along with the Tumbled Glass Distress Ink.  I added some mats from silver glitter paper and a few crystals to add a little sparkle.

Jingle Belles "bling on the holiday" challenge

The current challenge @ Jingle Belles is to add some bling to your holiday card.   For my card, I stamped the image with Versamark ink, then heat embossed it with gold glitter embossing powder for a lot of sparkle.   I added a little color with watercolor paint, and then added some red gemstone holly berries.  It doesn't show up so well in the picture, but it's very sparkly in real life. 

 

 

First Christmas card of 2016!

Yes, I know it might be a bit early to start next year's Christmas cards, but I couldn't resist the new challenge @ Jingle Belles!  The challenge is to use something brand new, along with something older from your stash, to create a Christmas card.  I used my new crazy bird and accessories stamps (a Christmas gift from my parents) and some older patterned paper and snowflake sequins from my stash.  Everything was colored with Copic markers, then I added some Wink of Stella glitter pen and some frosty Stickles to add a little shine.

 

 

 

Hope you join in the challenges at Jingle Belles this year; it's a great way to head into the holiday with a stash of cards ready to go!

It's a cardstock Christmas @ Jingle Belles

The current challenge at Jingle Belles is to use only cardstock, no patterned paper at all, on your Christmas card.  I used a stamp, diecuts and some glitter and embossing powder to come up with this card.

The snowflake diecut is from the Cricut Edge to Edge cartridge and the stamp is from Avery Elle's Joy to the World set.  I stamped the sentiment in silver, then embossed with clear embossing powder.  The snowflake diecut was sprayed with adhesive and then sprinkled with clear and light blue glitter.

We're halfway to Christmas 2015, so it's not too early to start working on those Christmas cards!  Check out the Jingle Belles blog for some great inspiration!

Challenge #39 - Love to Scrap - Rubber/Clear stamps only!

It's time for our first October challenge @ Love to Scrap!  This time it's an "anything goes" challenge, but with one exception:  you must use either a rubber, clear, or cling stamp on your project.  No digi stamps allowed. 

Our sponsor for this challenge is Taylored Expressions.  If you're not familiar with their products, they have fabulous cling stamps and some awesome dies, too!  I used their Poinsettia Bouquet stamp set for this card. 

 

The poinsettia bouquet was colored with Copic markers, then I added a little bit of shimmer with some gold and clear Wink of Stella markers.  This stamp set has several great Christmas greetings along with the floral image, and I used one to make the little tag.  I added a real bow to the poinsettia pot so I could tuck the greeting tag underneath it.  The diecut scallop frame is coated with rock candy distress stickles for more shimmer. 

Link up your project to the Love to Scrap blog for your chance to win a petite stamp set of your choice from Taylored Expressions.

Warm holiday wishes

I made this card as part of the "homecoming" celebration going on at Catherine Pooler's blog.  Catherine is the owner of StampNation, a SU representative and pretty much an expert on rubber stamping!  She just gave her blog a completely new look, and to celebrate, she is hosting a challenge to create a card with a "home" theme. 

The stamps used on this card are from Hero Arts (house and tree) and Mama Elephant (sentiment).  The house was stamped, then masked off so the trees could be stamped behind the house a little bit.  The image was colored with Copic markers and then I added some Stickles for a little bit of snowy shimmer.

 

Check out Catherine's blog and join in the challenge for your chance to win some fabulous prizes!

Red & white for Christmas!

The current challenge @ Sparkles is to use a favorite color combination on a Christmas card. I love the look of red and white for Christmas cards (reminds of candy canes!)   I used a curved die from Avery Elle to cut the red cardstock hat, and then added some sparkly white chenille trim.  The "ho ho ho" was stamped with a Paper Smooches alphabet set, and then I added some small gem stickers.  This is a little different style for me, as I normally do more stamping on my Christmas cards, but I think it's kinda cute.

It's a red and green challenge @ Jingle Belles

This week's challenge @ Jingle Belles is to use red and green on your Christmas card.  I love the traditional red and green Christmas colors, so I was excited to join in this challenge. 

 

I used a new stamp set from Technique Tuesdays on this one, embossing part of the sentiment with red embossing powder, and stamping the rest of the sentiment in green.  Only 196 days til Christmas!

Only 206 days til Christmas!

Time to get started on those Christmas cards!   I made this card for the Merry Monday challenge #110, to include Christmas food on a card. The cute little gingerbread men (and all the other stamped images) are from Paper Smooches FOLKal Points stamp set. 

 

I really like the little blanket stitch stamp in this set - definitely much easier than doing a real blanket stitch!  I'm also entering this card into the Paper Smooches Sparks "anything goes" challenge.

 

It's a sketch challenge at Love to Scrap

It's time for a new challenge at Love to Scrap, and this is one of my favorite types - a sketch!

Here is the sketch, from Starry Nights Studio.  (check out all the freebies offered at her blog - very cool!)

 

And here is my card from the sketch:

PP:  Teresa Collins "Santa's List" collection

 

I used the "Winter Set of Four" digital stamps from our sponsor this week, Eureka Stamps.  The digi stamp included four square images, but I only used three for this card.  The images were colored with Copic markers, and then I added some sparkle with touches of glitter pens.

 

Link up your project from the sketch for the Love to Scrap blog for a chance to win five digi images of your choice from Eureka Stamps.  (Trust me, you'll have a hard time choosing just five!)

It's a Silver & Gold challenge @ Frosted Designs.

It's my turn to host the Fabulous Friday challenge on the Frosted Designs blog. 

In keeping with this festive time of year (only 19 more days til Christmas, you know!) my challenge to you is to use both silver and gold on your project.  This could be ribbon, brads, glitter, or anything else you like.  I chose to do a Christmas card, but your project does not have to be holiday themed.

 

 BoBunny "Elf Magic" collection and UmWow chipboard stars from the Frosted Designs store. 

 

I covered the chipboard stars with silver and gold Stickles, and also added silver, gold, green and blue dots of Stickles to the tree.  The card front is actually a shaped 6x6 piece cut from one of the BoBunny "Elf Magic" papers, then I traced it onto a folded piece of cardstock and cut a matching shape for the card base.  I used alphabet stickers from the collection pack for the greeting.

 

Our sponsor for this challenge is Quick Quotes Scrapbooking (love their chalk inks!)  Link up your silver & gold project to the Frosted Designs blog for a chance to win a fabulous prize from Quick Quotes

Love to Scrap Challenge #19 - make a shaped card

Our challenge this week at Love to Scrap is to make a shaped card - any shape except a square or rectangle.   Lacy Sunshine Stamps is our sponsor for this challenge, and they provided some wonderful images for the DT to work with.  I used the "Eleanor and Pickles Snow Day Fun" image for my card.

 

 

I colored the image with Copic markers, and then added a little sparkle with some glitter markers on various elements of the image.  I added a punched snowflake to the snowman's hat, and a sentiment stamp from Hero Arts.  The card was cut with my Cricut and the Artbooking cartridge (one of my favorite cartridges ever!).  I used Salty Ocean Distress Ink around the edges and added some clear gems for a little bling. 

 

Link up your shaped card to the Love to Scrap blog for a chance to win five digi images of your choice from Lacy Sunshine Stamps.

It's a border challenge @ Love to Scrap!

The theme for our new challenge at Love to Scrap is "run for the border" - we want to see your project using a fancy border.  It can be stamped, punched, diecut, etc.

Our sponsor this week is The Paper Nest.  They graciously supplied some digi images for the DT to work with.  I chose the "Caroling Snowmen" image for this Christmas card. 

 

I colored the snowpeople with Copic markers, and then added Stickles for some shimmer and some snowflake sequins.  I used a Fiskars holly border punch and added some tiny red gems for the holly berries.

 

You have two weeks to play along and link up your project to the Love to Scrap blog for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate from The Paper Nest!   Don't forget to add "GDT" to your name on the linky if you'd like to be considered for a guest designer spot with Love to Scrap!

A 10 minute card challenge

Lawn Fawn stamps sponsored  a 10-minute card challenge at Pretty Pink Posh this month, and since I had just purchased three of their stamp sets, I decided to join in the challenge.  Now I have never completed a card in 10 minutes before, so I had no idea if it was even possible.  But, according to the stopwatch app on my phone this card took me 8 minutes and 38 seconds.  Whew!

 

I used two different sets for this card:  Summertime Charm for the jar (and the die for this set, also) and Sweet Christmas for the sentiment and the peppermint candies.  I colored the jar lid with Copics and colored the peppermint candies with Spica glitter markers.  The finishing touches were a twine bow and some outlining with a fine tip black pen. 

Today @ Practical Scrappers - we're using our die cut machines!

Today at Practical Scrappers, we're showcasing different ways to use your electronic die cutting machines.

For my project, I used my Cricut Expression and the Ribbons & Rosettes cartridge to cut the Christmas tree border for this card.

There are a ton of borders on the Ribbons & Rosettes cartridge, sized for cards or scrapbook pages.  This one was cut at 1" x 6" long and then slightly trimmed at the ends to fit the card.  I added a rub-on sentiment and some tiny gems (colored w/green Copic marker) and a red ribbon and bow.

Hope you check out Practical Scrappers for more ideas on using those die cut machines!

a couple of Christmas projects

Getting in the Christmas spirit this month by taking a couple of on-line classes at My Creative Classroom as part of their Christmas in July celebration.

This countdown calendar is the first project (taught by Donna Salazar) from the "All About Christmas" class.  It's a mix of glitz and grunge, and was a lot of fun to make (if you don't mind getting very inky fingers, LOL!)  It looks better in person, because it's hard to see the distress stickles and rock candy crackle paint in the photo.

This card is the first in the "Magic of Christmas" card class taught by Catherine Scanlon.  This is a tri-fold tent card, so it can be displayed easily, and there's plenty of room for a photo and sentiment or holiday letter inside.

I can't wait for the next lessons in each class!