CAS Christmas

The precious metals challenge at CAS-ual Fridays and the

dimension challenge at Addicted to CAS are prefect together. 

Unfortunately the silver embossing doesn't show as well in the

photo as it looks in reality.

To give the snowflake dimension I die cut it from red, backed it with 

white and added a rhinestone to the center. I used fun foam to raise

the tag and add even more dimension.

The sentiment is embossed with silver and the tag is tied with

silver metallic thread.

Happy Stampin'

and thanks so much for visiting!

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edit: I just realized I'm too late for the CAS-ual Fridays challenge :(

  

Merry & Bright

What do you do when you wake up at 4am and can't sleep? I head to
my craft room and play. I combined the Merry Monday color challenge
with the Can You Case It sketch challenge.

I water-colored the background with some Tim Holtz distress ink and

die cut the snow flakes from CASual Fridays out of corrugated paper 

for some texture. The greeting is from Neat and Tangled. I was planning

on stopping here but decided I wanted to add some black and I liked 

that the arrows on the dsp look like Christmas trees. Not sure if you can

tell but the all black strip is black glitter paper - much more sparkly in

person. 

I'm also playing along with the following challenges:

 Christmas Card Challenges - anything goes

AAA Cards - anything goes

Ooh-la-la creations - let it snow

Happy Stampin'

and thanks so much for visiting!

visit my online store to purchase Stampin' Up! products

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supplies:

from Stampin' Up! unless noted

card stock: whisper white, basic black, watercolor

dsp: corrugated, everyday chic

stamp set: Bright Baubles (Neat & Tangle)

Tim Holtz ink: peacock feathers, salty ocean, chipped sapphire

ink: versafine onyx black

big shot: snowflakes (CASual Fridays), lg stitched stackable rectangles (lawn fawn)

basic black bakers twine

sequins 

A Foxy Christmas

I bought the Lawn Fawn Joy To The Woods stamp and die set over a

year ago and used it for the first time yesterday. When I saw the 

challenge at Curtain Call was to use a fox on your card I decided it

was time to put this set to use.

When I showed my card to my husband he said 'how does the fox make 

it a Christmas card?' I said 'how does it not?'  He just smiled.

Make sure you pop over to the Curtain Call blog and check out all the 

cards - there are some really cute ones! Actually, they're all pretty cute!

Happy Stampin'

and thanks so much for visiting!

visit my online store to purchase Stampin' Up! products

Have you checked out my facebook page?

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supplies:

from Stampin' Up! unless noted

card stock: whisper white, basic black

dsp: Sweet Li'l Things

stamp set: Joy To The Woods (Lawn Fawn)

ink: versamark, real red, smoky slate for sponging

Big shot: Joy To The Woods (Lawn Fawn), Stitched Hillside Borders (Lawn Fawn)

embossing powder: whisper white

blendabilities

fun foam

Oh Deer!

Oh deer, what fun I had today!

I combined a few challenges for this CAS Christmas card.

I used one of my favorite Christmas stamp/die sets from 

My Creative Time - it's called Oh Deer and it's adorable!

I used the bubble stencil from Tim Holtz and some embossing

paste to create some falling snow. The card was almost finished

when I decided it needed something fun added to it. I decided

to add the santa hat from the Christmas Doggy stamp set from 

My Creative Time. I think this might be my favorite card yet.

I'm entering this into the following challenges:

Inkspirational - photo inspiration

Merry Monday - use a deer

Uniko Studio - Christmas CAS

The Sisterhood of Crafters - It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

CASology  - pretty

Happy Stampin'

and thanks so much for visiting!

visit my online store to purchase Stampin' Up! products

Have you checked out my facebook page?

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supplies:

all from Stampin' Up! unless noted

card stock: whisper white, early espresso, real red

stamp set: Oh Deer (My Creative Time), Christmas Doggy (My Creative Time), Snow Place

ink: real red

Bubble stencil (Tim Holtz)

embossing paste (Dreamweaver)

big shot: stitched hillside borders (Lawn Fawn)

fun foam

Welcome Baby

There's a fantastic color challenge at Fab Friday right now. I love

challenges that take me out of my comfort zone and this one did just
that.

I took a little bit of liberty with the challenge by using shades of the 
colors listed and adding some green and neutrals. I wasn't loving how
this was turning out, it wasn't really looking like a baby card to me until 
I used a white chalk pen to add some little dots to the blanket. Once I 
did that I felt like it was finished.

Happy Stampin'

and thanks so much for visiting!

visit my online store to purchase Stampin' Up! products

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digital image: Anne Bodil

lawn fawn: lg & sm stitched rectangle stackables

sequins: dollar store

blendabilites: Stampin' Up! (not available)

fun foam: dollar store

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<

Silent Night

When I saw this weeks challenge at Merry Monday this morning I knew
I was going to use the antlers from the Wonderland stamp set from
Stampin' Up! It came in the mail a couple of weeks ago but has been
sitting on my desk. I couldn't wait for work to finish today so I could 
come home and play!

I kept the card really simple, first because I like things simple and 

second because I'm going to use this card design in my Christmas Card

stack class this week. I really love the antlers in this set - it's the main

reason I ordered it. It's not because I'm a hunter - because I'm not, it's

not because I have antlers in my home - because I don't - I have no idea

why I like it - I just do :) And with the pearls on the tips, well that just

made me like it even more :)

I used some kraft corrugated paper from Stampin' Up! It also comes 

with white corrugated paper in the pack too - love this stuff!

So that's it - super clean and super simple. This is one design that could

easily be stepped up a bit too. I have some ideas to do just that.....

Make sure you head on over to the Merry Monday blog and check out 

all the cards. While you're at it, why don't you join us and play along!

Happy Stampin'

and thanks so much for visiting!

visit my online store to purchase Stampin' Up! products

Have you checked out my facebook page?

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Stampin' Up Product List

Interested in purchasing a product you see?

Click on any item below and it will take you to my online store

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask

Thank you!

Merry Monday Fun

I saw the email yesterday morning from Merry Monday  and wanted to 
dive right in. Deanne is the host this week and she chose to challenge us 
with using pink, green and white on our cards. 

I knew exactly what I wanted to do - I love it when that happens. I went straight to my stamp table to create the image in my head. Well, let's
just say that this is not the image I had in my head. I had made a tag 
with some inlaid die-cutting and lots of embossing to make the whole
piece look like glitter paper. I decided to do some more inlaid die-cutting
to the tag and add the happy word that you see above. Well, I die cut it
upside down??!!??!?! I was so frustrated. Time to take a break. 
I went back to my stamp table a little while later, saved the word happy 
from the tag and started over.
This time I kept it simple. I did the inlaid die-cutting technique for the 
tree and the happy holidays (I  really LOVE that technique!). I added a
few pearls to the tree and a star on top and then thought it needed a 
little something else so I added the snowflake and pearl. 
I used another favorite tool - the Wink of Stella glitter pen - to add some
sparkle to the greeting. 
I need to work on getting better pictures. Ever since I moved my craft 
room upstairs it's been harder to get a good picture unless I go outside.

Now I'm off to check out the DT's cards and the entries.  Have a great day!

Happy Stampin'

and thanks so much for visiting!

visit my online store to purchase Stampin' Up! products

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Merry Monday Red & Gold

I woke up early to make this card for the Merry Monday Christmas 
card challenge. This week the theme is to use red and gold on your 
project. I've had the idea for this card in my head all week and am 
thrilled with how it turned out. 

I knew I was going to watercolor a poinsettia but I wasn't sure if it was

going to be this bigger one or a few smaller ones. I tried both but as you

can see I went with the bigger one. 

After I put the card together I went looking for my gold sequins and

wouldn't you know it - I couldn't find them anywhere! But I remembered

that I have a confetti die from Mama Elephant that has sequins on it. 

I embossed some gold onto some card stock and then ran it through 

my big shot with the die and voila - gold sequins - YAY!

Now I'm off to check out the DT's cards and all the entries. Whenever

there's a new challenge and I instantly have an idea - I try not to look

at anyone's cards until after I make mine.  

Happy Stampin'

and thanks so much for visiting!

visit my online store to purchase Stampin' Up! products

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Stampin' Up Product List

Interested in purchasing a product you see?

Click on any item below and it will take you to my online store

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask

Thank you!

Watercolor 1,2,3

I've been wanting to share some cards from a Watercoloring class I
held recently. Unfortunately I've been sick and have only had enough
energy to get through my work day and then come home and crash.
Fun times! But, today I finally am feeling like I can accomplish 
something - which is a good thing because it is my husband's 50th 
birthday today and our daughter is coming home  for the weekend. YAY!

Okay, enough jibber jabber - here are the cards. 
For the first one I chose an image that is just an outline. We stamped it 
in versamark, added some black embossing powder and then heat set 
that.
If you've never water-colored before this is a great way to try first as the embossed lines prevent the ink from going into other areas. Plus, 
for me, I love the outlined look - when I was younger and coloring with 
crayons I outlined everything in black. I used one color ink and built the 
color up by starting light and then adding more at the base of the petals.
After it dries a little you can add more color for even more depth. 
Just keep adding until you're happy with the result. 

For the second card I demonstrated how to just get 'messy' with the ink

and use it for a background. It's the perfect backdrop for a solid image. 

What's cool about it too is that you can do the same steps with the same 

colors and you get a different look every time. 

My favorite thing to do is to heat set the ink because you can get some 

really cool looking water lines in the image.

And lastly, I showed how you can stamp an image - (I used the same

one from the card above) - but by stamping off before stamping on my

watercolor paper and then using my watercolor brush to add ink to

the image you are able to achieve a watercolor look. This is a little 

more fussy as you don't have the embossed edges to keep the color 

from running - just be careful with how much water you use and you 

should be fine.

I hope these three different ways to watercolor have encouraged you to 

give it a try. You don't need a lot to start out with this technique - you

can start pretty simply with just some watercolor paper and a watercolor

brush. This way you can use inks that you already have. There are all

kinds of watercolor paints out there but I haven't ventured that far into

it....yet!

Happy Stampin'

and thanks so much for visiting!

visit my online store to purchase Stampin' Up! products

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shopping list - all from Stampin' Up! you can visit

my online store to purchase any of the items listed.

1st card

card stock, whisper white, watercolor paper

stamp sets: Blended Bloom, Celebrate Today, Kinda Eclectic

ink: hello honey, mint macaroon, watermelon wonder, memento tuxedo black

        versamark

black embossing powder, dimensionals, aqua painter

2nd card:

card stock: whisper white, basic black, watercolor paper

stamp sets: Words of Truth, Summer Silhouettes

ink: blackberry bliss, mossy meadow, lost lagoon, memento tuxedo black

        versamark

white embossing powder, aqua painter

3rd card

card stock: watercolor paper, basic black

stamp set: Summer Silhouettes

ink: mossy meadow, memento tuxedo black

fine tip black marker, aqua painter

Paper Piecing

There's a paper piecing challenge at Less is More that I couldn't wait to play along with. The pink and black pieces I CASE'd from this card by Maureen Merritt of Mama Mo Stamps. I love her card!

I used this stamp set by Art Impressions - I absolutely love this company. I think the stamp set is called Wine Diva.

I paper pieced the chair, dress, hairband and earrings. The rest I used my blendabilities to color. I fussy cut the image and then popped it up on dimensionals. A quick sentiment from the same set and it's done.

Make sure you head over to the Less is More blog and check out all the amazing cards! 

Happy Stampin'

and thanks so much for visiting!

visit my online store to purchase Stampin' Up! products

Have you checked out my facebook page?

Check me out on Pinterest.