Happy Holidays

Here is one last holiday card.  I used an Anna Griffin backgrounder stamped in Platinum Planet onto Papertrey White cardstock.  I stamped the sentiment in Palette Bordeaux ink and tied the ribbon around the card.  Super easy and oh so elegant.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas.  I really enjoyed the time to cater to my family.  I will not be around much this week as I have family coming in to visit.  My brother and his family are coming to celebrate the New Year with us.  It is a tradition we have kept for several years and one we all look forward to.  I will be back after the new year to share some gifts that I made. 

If you notice anything different about this post, it is because I am trying out Windows Live Writer.  I have heard great things about it and decided to give it a try. 

So Happy Holidays to you and may you be truly blessed in this coming year.

A CASED Christmas Card

When I saw Dawn McVey's post about her card on the cover of the new Papercrafts magazine, I was fascinated by her colors of Pure Poppy and Berry Sorbet. I just had to try it, and since I needed Christmas cards I made a Christmas card. I totally cased her card. I didn't have much time to think about layouts and all that, so I just went with hers. I love the way it turned out. I used the pine needles and cones backgrounder from Cornish Heritage Farms as the background stamped in Pure Poppy on Berry Sorbet cardstock.
I had so much fun that I decided I needed to make a more masculine Christmas card with the same layout. I used the colors New Leaf and Smokey Shadow. I stamped the border with Background Basics: Spots and Dots on Kraft in Fresh Snow ink. The same background stamp was used on New Leaf cardstock stamped in Smokey Shadow. The image from 2008 Holiday Tag Collection is stamped in Smokey Shadow and the sentiment in New Leaf. I love how the tag matches the spots and dots border.

Thanks for stopping by!

Quick & Easy Christmas Cards

I needed some quick and easy Christmas cards so this is what I did. I punched some circles from some scraps with a 1 1/2 inch circle punch, then inked the edges with my Colorbox Creamy brown chalk ink. Stamped the large flourish from Fancy Flourishes in Fresh Snow ink onto Kraft cardstock. I adhered the circles in a random pattern then placed a strip of 1/4 inch sticky tape across the center and covered with glitter. The sentiment is from a set I got at Michaels several years ago.
I made several of these in just minutes AND it was a great way to use up those scraps.

I'm busy, busy, busy but feeling the satisfaction of getting things accomplished. Only a few more days to get it done.

Have a wonderfully blessed day!

More Christmas Cards

The image is Pine Bough by Great Impressions. I stamped it onto Rustic Cream and colored it with Copics and Spica Glitter pens. I used long rectangle nesties to cut it and matted it with Ripe Avocado cut with scalloped long rectangles. I used a quickie glue pen around the edges and covered it with glitter. The paper is from the Wassail paper pack by Basic Grey. I inked around the edges with Creamy Brown ink. I punched a strip of Ripe Avocado and used 1/4" sticky tape to add micro beads and then put a strip of 1/8" sticky tape on top of that and added glitter. You really don't notice the micro beads in the picture, it's very subtle but I love the dimension it adds.
This card I played around with my "homemade" flower soft. I started with a card base of Scarlet Jewel. I stamped the Winter Pine Branch from Great Impressions and colored it with Copic Markers and olive Spica glitter pen, then added the snow. The sentiment is from Ornate Christmas by Inkadinkadoo and is stamped in Scarlet Jewel. I used my new Corner Chomper (LOVE this tool) to round my edges.

I am finally getting my cards and some gifts made. I won't be able to post the gifts until after Christmas because there is the possibility that the recipients may read my blog. Don't want to ruin any surprises. I am having so much fun! I love making gifts for other people, I just wish I didn't always wait until the last minute.

Have a blessed day! If it's snowing where you are, enjoy it!

Christmas Cards

I stamped!! I could certainly tell it had been a while, because it took me a little bit to get in the groove. It took me forever to make some pretty simple cards.
I used Enchanted Evening as my base. The blue shimmer paper is some that I found at Target last year at Christmas. It embosses great! I embossed it with the Cuttlebug snow dots folder and then ran my Encore Metallic silver ink pad over it very lightly. I also went around the edges and added some glitter to the centers of some of the snowflakes. The image uses stamps from Vintage Labels, Take a Bough and 2008 Holiday Tag Collection. I used a silver paint pen to go around the edges to give it a matted look.
This was the first card I made. Can you tell? Definitely not my best card! I used Snowflake Serenade in Silver, Fresh Snow and Brilliance Sky Blue. I embossed the sentiment using Silver ink and silver embossing powder. I love the rhinestones I added, it really adds to the card. I also went around the edges with a silver paint pen.

I have more stamping to do today. Hopefully, I will be happier with the end results. That will teach me for not stamping on a regular basis. I really need to learn how to manage my time better so I can get more accomplished in a day...or maybe I just need a longer day...mmm, sleep less...I don't think that is possible. I will just need to learn to make the most of what I have available to me.

Have a blessed day!

A Digital Christmas Card

I haven't done any stamping for weeks, but I have been having a blast playing with Photoshop and working on Christmas cards. I made this one with kits by Leora Sanford--Home for Christmas and Apron Strings. Both of these kits can be found at Little Dreamer Designs.

I am hoping to get some stamping done today and make some Christmas cards from paper. Digital is fun, but I am really itching to get my hands dirty. I want to make some special cards for some very special people in my life. There's no time like Christmas time to let people know how much they mean to you.

Thanks for stopping by!

December Desktop

I finally got around to making the December desktop for our computers. (Thanks to my husband hounding me.) He likes it when I make him a new desktop for his computer every month and enjoy looking at it on mine. The picture is of our family at our church's Christmas dinner. I used the Sepia Tone action for Photoshop from The Pioneer Woman on the photo. Most of the papers and elements are from Wrapped in Christmas by Scrappin' Mint.
Now, I am off to the store. The kids are complaining there is no food in the house, so I need to see what I can do to fix that. The problem is, they eat it as fast as I can buy it. I don't know how to fix that with 5 hungry kids in the house, it's seems impossible.

Have a very blessed day!

Sorry to see you go

This cute little stamp is from the Bugs Life set by Crafty Secrets. I stamped it in Burnt Umber onto Rustic Cream cardstock. I added a strip of paper from Green Tea Leaves and used the Scor-Pal to score three lines under the paper. I tied some Spring Moss grosgrain ribbon around the front to finish it off.

I am sorry I don't have any Christmas cards to show you. Would you believe I still have yet to make one? I plan to make digital Christmas cards from our family this year, but if that is going to happen I had better get a move on it! The days just all seem to blend together lately.

Have a blessed day!

Christmas Gifts

I found some pictures of gifts I made last year for Christmas that I thought I would share since I am not doing very well at gifts this year. I ordered personalized pencils from Oriental Trading (you can order them here) for each of my nieces and nephew. I created a template for the pencil box and personalized them with their names. It was a very quick and easy gift and great on the budget.

Thanks for stopping by!

Another Bloomin' Birthday

Here is another card with the patterned paper I made for the card in the previous post. One thing nice about making a full sheet of paper is that you can really stretch it. I used Scarlet Jewel as my base and stamped the polka dots on the top in Versamark and embossed with Transendence embossing powder. The tag is from Spellbinders Double-ended tags. I used my copics to color the bling to match my ribbon. The sentiment is from Damask Designs and is stamped in Scarlet Jewel. The ribbon is Ripe Avocado satin ribbon.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I hope to get back to a more regular posting schedule. I still have yet to make any Christmas cards. I pulled out all of my Christmas stamps and here they sit. I guess I had better get started, Christmas will be here and gone before I know it.

Have a blessed day!