World CardMaking Day!

World Card Making Day is Oct. 1st but at StampNation we're

celebrating ALL WEEKEND LONG!

I am honored and thrilled to say that I have been asked to be a guest 

designer for the weekend along with the lovely people you see below.

Debbie Tester, Carol Held, Lydia Evans, Michelle Wallace, Deepti Stephens, Michelle King, Joyce Spears, Amy Kolling, Tristan Dawes, Me, Kevin Devine, Theresa Knopf, Susan White, Dawn Turley & Taheerah Atchia. 

I had so much fun creating my cards. Below are some sneak peeks - to

see the full card you'll have to head on over to StampNation - not a 

member yet - well then, what better time to join than now!

You're definitely going to want to play along with these challenges.

Besides the fact that it's just plain fun, there's approximately $450 worth of prizes that have been donated by the fabulous companies you see below available to win BUT you have to be a member at StampNation. 

Happy Stampin'

and thanks so much for visiting!

Seeing Pink at Merry Monday

I've been trying all week to get into my craft room and finally

did tonight. I've had this card in my mind for the current challenge

at Merry Monday and finally got a chance to make it. I decided to

combine it with the challenge at Freshly Made Sketches. They're

perfect together!

Kristie from Kreative Kristie is the guest designer this week and she chose 

the challenge - she has asked us to make a Christmas card using 

dark & light pink and gray or silver.

 

This was a fun card to make - and easy too! I used a die from a

Stamp of Approval collection - that is soon to be released in

 Catherine Pooler's online store - to make the tag. I sponged it with

3 different pink distress inks from Tim Holtz and then embossed the

poinsettias and the sentiment with silver embossing powder. I added 

a few silver embossed hearts to finish off the tag. 

For the base I used the Falling Snow stencil from Simon Says Stamp

and some embossing paste to create some texture. The silver metallic

thread was an afterthought - not sure how I feel about it but I left it

anyway.

Now it's your turn. Check out the designer's cards and all the

entries at Merry Monday and Freshly Made Sketches- I'm sure you'll 

be inspired to play along.

Update: I just saw that my card for last weeks Merry Monday challenge

was given an Honorable Mention and the card I made for the Freshly Made Sketches challenge was also chosen. Wow! Thanks so much ladies and

congrats to the winners and other Honorable Mentions!

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.

supplies:

from Stampin' Up! unless noted

cardstock: whisper white thick

stamp sets: Joyful Christmas, Bright Baubles (Neat and Tangled)

Tim Holtz distress ink: spun sugar, worn lipstick, picked raspberry

versamark ink

silver embossing powder

embossing paste (Dreamweaver)

silver metallic thread

fun foam (Michaels)

Anything Goes at CCC

Anything goes this week at Christmas Card Challenges and

they are ALWAYS fun! 

I kept my card really CAS - looking at this card would you believe me if I

said that CAS cards and all that white space used to stress me out - a lot!

But now it's what I gravitate to - funny how our styles change.

Has your style changed over the years?

A tip for making the Chunky White Deep Impressions Embossing

Enamel stick is to use a glue pen. Apply glue over the area you want the

enamel. Pour on the enamel and press in with your fingers. Then heat set.

The first time I used this stuff I used versamark - big mistake - the enamel

just flew all over the place when I put the heat gun close to it. 

 

Be sure to check out the Design Team's cards. I hope you'll be

inspired to 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?

Check me out on Pinterest.

supplies:

from Stampin' Up! unless noted

cardstock: whisper white

dsp: retired

stamp set: Christmas Carols (CAS-ual Fridays)

Big shot: christmas tree (Impression Obsession). stitched stackable rectangles (lawn fawn),

               stitched circles (Simon Says Stamp)

chunky white deep impressions embossing enamel (Stampendous)

fun foam: (Michaels)

Happy Birthday Mom

My Mom is a special lady so I knew I had to make a special card

for her birthday. I used the sketch from the current challenge at 

Freshly Made Sketches for my starting point. I also knew I was

going to do the technique where you color on the back of an image 

that was embossed on vellum. I'm sure there's a name for this

technique but I can't remember it.

I love the way the flowers look on vellum when colored this way - so

soft and pretty. And it's so easy to do too - which is another reason

it's a favorite technique. 

Here are the steps for you:

- use an embossing buddy on the vellum

- stamp image with versamark 

- apply and heat set embossing powder

- flip over and color with markers on the back

(warning - the back does not look pretty but the front sure does!)

I used a brick wall embossing folder for the background, a tiny strip 

of glimmer cardstock and a few sequins to add some sparkle. The 'happy' is

from a Christmas die by Neat & Tangled and the 'birthday' was designed 

by CAS-ual Fridays for Catherine Pooler's SOA Young at Heart Collection. It's

a fantastic stamp set - check it out!

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.

supplies:

from Stampin' Up! unless noted

cardstock: whisper white, basic black, vellum, silver glimmer paper 

stamp set: Peony Bouquet (Altenew), Young at Heart (CAS-ual Fridays for SOA)

markers: melon mambo, wild wasabi

ink: versamark, memento tuxedo black

white embossing powder

big shot: brick wall EF,  Happy Holidays (Neat & Tangled), stitched stackable rectangles (lawn fawn)

sequins (Lucy's Cards)

Warm Wishes

The challenge this week at Merry Monday is to make a card using something 

warm. I have this adorable new stamp and punch combo from Stampin' up! that I've

been having so much fun playing with - you'll definitely be seeing more from that set 

over the next few weeks! I also used some great DSP from the current catalogue.

So lots of new things on this card!

This is my favorite color combo to do for Christmas cards - kraft, red and white,

or kraft green and white with a pop of red. Do you have a favorite color combo?

I'm going to head over to the Merry Monday challenge now and

check out what the DT has created and all the cards in the gallery too. 

I'm sure I'll have a few new ideas for cards once I do. Good thing I have 

the day off today! 

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.

supplies

from Stampin' Up! unless noted

cardstock: whisper white, crumb cake, vellum

dsp: serene scenery, this Christmas

stamp set: Jolly Friends, Winter Wishes

ink: cherry cobbler, crumb cake,  memento tuxedo black

punch: Jolly Hat builder punch

big shot: decorative dots EF, stitched stackable rectangles (Lawn Fawn)

fun foam: (Michaels)

Christmas Card Challenge #41

It's hard to believe that we're already at challenge #41 over at 

the Christmas Card Challenge blog. 

I've thoroughly been enjoying every minute of it!

This week we have a color challenge for you. I'll be honest with you - 

I love color challenges - they can take me out of my comfort zone and 

that can be fun - but this one had me stumped! Don't get me wrong - I 

loved the challenge - I was just struggling with this one.  

I was trying to make my colors match the ones in the photo prompt below

but I wasn't feeling it. So I decided to stop trying to make them match and

to use shades of them and then the card just came together (sort of - I did

struggle along the way).

I was recently given thousands and I mean thousands of the paint sample

cards that you get in the stores. I had no idea it was going to be that much

when I said I would take them - it looked like an invasion in my craft room.

I plan on sharing them with a teacher at one of the elementary schools who

is so creative that she'll have no trouble using them in her class.

I used a couple of the samples to die cut some snowflakes and the word joy. They have a great weight to them - you'll be seeing them used a lot over here.

I sponged the background strip using different blue distress inks from

 Tim Holtz. For the sentiment I first stamped in versamark ink, heat 

embossed with white and then cut each word into separate pieces. 

This is where I had a bit more trouble. Trying to figure out the layout.

I originally had more snowflakes in different colors but it was looking way

too bus for me so I changed up the snowflakes to be one color and got rid

of some. Having everything focused around the blue piece, leaving a 

chunk of white on the right and keeping the snowflakes neutral helps to 

balance everything - keeps your eye from wondering what to focus on.

Even though there were a few struggles with this challenge, I had a ton

of fun doing it and am thrilled with how it turned out. 

I hope you're inspired to check out the rest of the DT's cards and to

play along with us.

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.

supplies:

card stock: whisper white, basic black

stamp set: Jolly & Joyful (Lil' Inker)

big shot: joy (Lil' inker), Bring on the Snowflakes dies (CAS-ual Fridays),

             stitched stackable rectangles (Lawn Fawn)

ink: versamark

embossing powder: white

Tim Holtz Distress inks: Salty Ocean, Peacock Feathers, Stormy Sky and Chipped Sapphire

paint samples (local hardware store)

fun foam (Michaels)

Cozy, Warm & Bright

 This week at Christmas Card Challenges we're making cards

with Christmas lights. Who doesn't like to look at Christmas lights?

Some people really go all out and do their whole house and yard

and rooftops and driveways.... they do it all. I'm a fan of

the simple white lights. Some people say 'boring!' but I like

it. My husband prefers the colored lights but lets me have my way

every Christmas. The tree and the house are both done with white.

So this card is for him.

But I just had an idea for another card.....

I used the Sparkle String die from Penny black and painted the lights in

with some really cheap dollar store paints. I was curious how it would

turn out. While there are definitely some better paints out there these

were fun to play with. And with some more practice I think it could look

much better. I think I just challenged myself :) Any excuse to play!

Now it's your turn. Pop on over and check out what the rest of the ladies

on the DT have created to inspire you. I hope to see you in the gallery!

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.

supplies:

from Stampin' Up! unless noted

card stock: whisper white, basic black

stamp set: cl722 (Hero Arts)

big shot: Sparkle String die (Penny Black)

ink: memento tuxedo black

paints (dollar store)

fun foam (Michaels)

Toyshop Helper

If you like coloring as much as I do then you need to check out the most

adorable images created by Mo Manning.  I've been having so much fun 

coloring them recently. They literally put a smile on my face. 

As well as discovering the adorable Mo Manning images I also discovered the

challenge blog and thought I'd play along.

If you haven't seen this blog yet you HAVE to check it out! There are some

incredibly talented ladies creating over there!

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.

supplies:

from Stampin' Up unless noted

card stock: whisper white, black glimmer paper 

dsp: retired

image: Toyshop Helper (Mo Manning)

big shot: stitched stackable rectangles (Lawn Fawn),

           Happy Holidays die (Neat & Tangles)

stamp set: Jolly & Joyful (Lil' Inker)

pencil crayons (Prismacolor)

fun foam (Michaels)

Merry Monday's Are Back!

The first challenge I ever participated in I believe was one of the

fun challenges at Merry Monday Christmas Challenge Blog.

 They took the summer off and are back raring to go with a new 

challenge. They're starting us off with a classic color combo  

of gold, black and white - love it!

This card came about from scraps on my desk. I was cleaning up - 

looking for a missing stamp set from yesterday - when I

saw the poinsettias and the cut out circle piece laying together. 

I decided to color just one of the poinsettias using a gold pencil

crayon from Prismacolor and then use black sparkle embossing

powder from Ranger for the centers. I used a Spectrum Noir

Crystal Clear sparkle pen to add some shine to the gold - you can

see it better in the picture below.  I used the Softly Falling embossing

folder to create the scene in the 'window'.

I made this card before I saw what the design team has posted to 

inspire us but now I'm heading over there to check them all out. Why

don't you join me.

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.

supplies:

from Stampin' Up unless noted

card stock: whisper white

stamp sets: Watercolor Wonder (retired),  CL722 (Hero Arts)

ink: memento tuxedo black

Softly Falling EF

Big Shot: stitched circles (SSS), stitched rectangle stackables (Lawn Fawn)

black sparkle embossing powder (Ranger)

crystal clear sparkle pen (Spectrum Noir)