SIP 76 - Embossing

Holy moly... another one of my extended breaks from blogging. I can't believe so much time has past. I have definitely been doing a lot of crafting. It's been a great stress relief through a long, arduous fall work session. The problem has been organizing myself to get things posted here. I've eve got a number of cards photographed.

My life has not been terrible this fall... just busy. We're happily awaiting the birth brother & sister in law's second child, a boy, due any day. His big sister is getting pretty excited & she's happy that her grandma on her mom's side is visiting to help get ready for the baby, and staying to the end of the year to help post-birth.  Our folks will go out in January or so.

I started these cards a while ago & put the finishing touches on them today. They're from a stamp a stack I attended not long ago. We made 24 cards. My friend Joy normally goes to these things with me, but she couldn't make it this time, so we split the cost & divided up the cards. 

On to today's cards.... check out the challenge at Stamp Ink Paper!

Card Details - All Products Stampin Up

Merry and Bright card

Stamps: Cookie Cutter Christmas, Stitched With Cheer (sentiment)

Cardstock: Whisper White, Cherry Cobbler

DSP: Candy Cane Lane

Other: Bow Builder punch

Christmas Day Card

Stamps: Cup of Cheer

Cardstock: Whisper White, Cherry Cobbler

DSP: Presents and Pinecones

Other: Circle framelits, Dazzling Details glitter 

Three challenges...

I am definitely starting to feel some Christmas spirit. Yesterday I did some volunteer work with a local agency in the morning. I got to relax in the afternoon, which was nice. We had TERRIBLE weather yesterday so I got drenched just getting out of my car & into my apartment. I needed the time to dry off and warm up. 

We had our church Christmas dinner last night. Between that, helping at the Christmas Closet last Tuesday, and finishing my tree, I feel ready. I even found my mom's gift - she's the hardest to shop for. 

Today was low key. I've got two versions of one card to share today. I'm entering my version in three challenges, as follows: 

Crazy 4 Challenges C4C315 - Oh Christmas Tree

Watercooler Wednesday Challenge - Jean's Masculine CAS challenge

CASology: Tree

Like my snowflake card from my last post, these were kits my friend put together. The first one I did exactly as she made hers.

Then for the challenge I made some changes. I flipped the patterned paper over, altered the orientation, and as you can see, chose a different sentiment stamp. Were I not aiming for a somewhat masculine feel, I might have added a bit of bling in a few spots on the flowers (by the word little in the greeting).

Card Details - All Products Stampin' Up

Cardstock: Mossy Meadow, Very Vanilla

Ink: Mossy Meadow

DSP: Home for Christmas? 

Stamps: Cozy Christmas

Other: Tree Punch

Christmas card challenge

Wow, the fall has been busy. I've had a lot on my plate professionally. I did manage to get away for a long weekend in Vegas to celebrate my 45th birthday. I took a lot of pictures, which are STILL sitting on my camera. Went old school this time & took the pictures on my Canon, as opposed to my phone.

I also ended up having to replace my monitor. It crashed on me a while ago and one of my wonderful cousins gave me one of her old ones. So even when I was able to make cards, I've not been able to post them. Surprisingly, I've done well at carving out time to do some card making. Self care is too important to ignore, and I find my card making and scrapbooking to be a great stress relief. So I've got lots to share over the next while.

Today's card is for two challenges
 GDP: Christmas
TGIF: Christmas

It's a CASE of a design by a great card maker at a local store. I went in and did it as a make & take. One of the things I love about these events is the freedom we have to change things up. I did my snowflakes differently, and my colours were a bit different for my background. I fell in love with these trees. They remind me of the Wonderland set from Stampin Up, which I didn't purchase, because I have similar stamps. The background is done with Tim Holtz distress inks. The greeting & the trees are embossed in white.

All the products used on this card are Tim Holtz. I can't remember what colours of distress ink I used, or the name of the set.

New Christmas Card Challenge Blog

Just a quick post today: I've found a new Christmas card challenge blog! Check out Completely Christmas - they are only on their second challenge. You can find that challenge here. The theme is Anything Goes. 

I love this card. It was made with the envelope punch board. My friend bought one of these for us to share. We're splitting the cost because while we know we'll use it, we may not use it enough on our own to justify the cost. We also tend to discuss stamp purchases and sometimes if one is getting it the other won't. The stamp set used here, for example, was one I liked, but I decided not to buy it because it was a little too similar to some other things I have.

It's a little on the clean side for me. I have this urge to fill up that white space with some patterned paper or use some cardstcock and stamp some snowflakes or something. I think though, what I really need to do next time is use a different colour for the base and maybe run it through an embossing folder first. Part of the problem I'm having with it is that I generally don't care for Whisper White as a base paper. It's thinner than the other colours.

Card Details
Cardstock: Whisper White, Gumball Green
Ink: Gumball Green
Stamps: Bright Hopes 
Other: Season of Style Washi Tape, Silver Glimmer paper, star punch

Christmas Challenge - March 1/10

Day 27

This day was incredibly quiet. The most exciting things to happen were a clogged drain in the bathroom and a trip to the stamp store. I felt horrible having to call maintenance. I had to use the emergency number because nothing else was working. Luckily, one of the guys actually WAS working today - the switchboard was just not working, and the gentleman who was on doesn't actually have an office anyway, so he wouldn't have gotten the call that way regardless. By the time I got back from the store he had it fixed.

Found a couple cute embossing folders and a stamp set. I have been procrastinating on cleaning my room, but tomorrow I have no choice. I will have to bite the bullet. I have friends coming to have a crafty day on January 2nd, so I have to have things to work on while they're here. 

Here's a quick birthday card for the latest challenge at Seize The Birthday - the theme is Anything Goes. My favourite!

And another Christmas card I sent out this year. It was made another one made at a Stamp A Stack last year. I'm really trying to get all my Christmas cards posted no later than January 6th.  

Card Details - All Products Stampin Up

Birthday Wishes

Cardstock: Soft Suede, Very Vanilla

Stamps: Fresh Vintage, Merry Minis

DSP: Everyday Enchantment

Ink: Soft Suede, Poppy Parade 

Other: brads, embossing folder

Merry Christmas

Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Gumbal Green, More Mustard, Cherry Cobbler

Stamps: Merry Minis

Ink: Gumball Green, More Mustard, Cherry Cobbler 

Day 14 Oh Christmas Tree

I had a lovely, low key day today. I spent it at home until late afternoon, when I went to my parents' house. I thought I was due there at 3pm, but it turns out it was 4pm. The nice thing about that is I had extra time to catch up on the mid season finale of Grey's Anatomy, which Mom recorded for me. Then we finished up wrapping my gifts. Yes, I admit it. My mother helps me wrap. Let's face it, she's very Type A - all I do is choose the paper (I buy my own) and the gift tags (she has a huge stash... but next year I'll be making my own). I am TERRIBLE at cutting the paper. Even if I can measure it correctly, I can't for the life of me cut it even remotely straight. I could do the actual wrapping if she did the cutting for me, but her POV is that if she's going to do the cutting, she may as well do the wrapping, too.

The other reason I was there tonight was because my Uncle (mom's brother) & his wife were visiting from the mainland. It was a very nice visit. I had forgotten how hilarious he is in general, and how amusing the sibling dynamics are (mom invited her sister and brother in law, too - 7 of us in total, with me and dad), as well as the dynamics between the men.

My parents have upset my Christmas vision - they have moved the Christmas tree! The horror! They've had the tree in the same place since the house was built almost 30 years ago. In fact, not only have they changed the location of the tree, they've changed trees. It isn't really a new tree - I won it years ago at our local Festival of Trees (it was a raffle item) - but my brother & sister in law were using it, and when they moved it was tucked away nicely in my old room.  I'm not sure my psyche can take all these changes.. Had I known I was going to get such a shock, I'd have taken my camera with me tonight.

So in honour of this momentous occasion, I have a card for you that I will be entering in the following challenges:

CCEE Stampers - Oh Christmas Tree
Catherine &Cathy Create - Oh Christmas Tree

Card Details - All Products Stampin' Up
Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Gumball Green, Cherry Cobbler
Ink: Basic Black, Gumball Green
DSP: Be of Good Cheer
Other: Modern Label, Word Window & star punches; Framelits, Embossing Folder

Day 11

Editor's Note: You're going to see Day 11 dated as December 12th, because, well... I'm apparently really tired. I thought I'd hit publish when I finished it, but instead I hit save.

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I had a day of cooking today. My ladies' group had our Christmas potluck, and I decided to try something different. I made wings, with a sauce from scratch, for the first time. If I want something like that I usually just go to the grocery store and get it from the freezer section. This year I was feeling more adventurous. They turned out well, but I can't really share the recipe in terms of proportions because I didn't measure. That's one of things I prefer about cooking, as opposed to baking. You can be a little less precise. Basically, I used brown sugar, honey, mustard, soy sauce and a wee bit of barbecue sauce. I ended up adding a wee bit of flour part way through to thicken the sauce, since I didn't dredge the wing prior to putting them in the oven.

I really was a wee bit off all day today; I made devilled eggs for my cousin to take to her work pot luck, as I said I would. And I was going to go to help out at Hamperville, but I had this notion in my head that they called me and told me they were overstaffed, so I didn't need to come in. Turns out they were expecting me and my friend was worried. I feel really bad. I am not always one who is on time for things, but I rarely, if ever, just don't show up. I will make it up to them and go in tomorrow to help. I'm sure there's something they can have me do. Many hands do make light work, especially when it comes to sorting donations.

Now for a card that I have to say I just love. It turned out really, really well, I think.

I am entering it in the following challenges:

Addicted to Stamps & More  - Challenge #75; Photo Inspiration I was inspired by the colours in the photo, as well as the tree. 

Cuttlebug Mania - Anything Goes Christmas I used my Cuttlebug to emboss my cardstock with my SU Woodgrain embossing folder. 

Card Details: All Products Stampin Up

Cardstock: Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso, Very Vanilla

Ink; Gumball Green

Stamps: Snow Swirled

Other: Designer buttons, Gold Glimmer paper, ribbon, Woodgrain Embossing Folder, Scallop punch

Day 6

Today was the last night of floor hockey until the kids come back to school in January. School isn't out yet for two more weeks, but they have their concerts next week, plus the Christmas Closet (details to follow) on Friday. Given all the activities at the school there's just no point in trying to get the games going.

After hockey I went to a local church and attended the 21st Annual Singing Christmas Tree. It's an indoor musical where the choir is set up on risers with lights and such so that it looks like they're singing IN a Christmas tree. It's very cool. The singing is incredible.

Yum!

I whipped up another batch of cookie dough, too. I'll have to bake more in the morning. I'm not happy with how some of the first set of cookies turned out. I'm sure they're fine, but I am just not sure they're as perfect as they should be.  The sizing of the cookies was off.. Also, I didn't mix it by hand at all. I usually do. I usually have to, because I can't quite reach my counter well enough to really get a good look and make sure everything's incorporated. For some reason I didn't with the last batch. I tell ya, maybe it's an old wives' tale, maybe it's my late Nana's influence, but I am a big fan of mixing by hand - be that by a wooden spoon for a cake/brownie batter, or with a bit of actual really using your (super clean) hands, if it's a pie crust or certain cookie dough recipes.  or Here's tomorrow's batch of dough, prior to me wrapping it up and putting it in the fridge to chill.








For some reason, the bags I have for the cookies  are not holding. I packaged up the good ones from the last set, but the stupid bags keep splitting. I'll have to look for something else tomorrow; I'm meeting a friend for coffee & there's a Dollar Store right there.

And now tonight's card. Not super happy with how it turned out, but I can live with it. I forgot to use the Embossing Buddy in some spots and so the snowflakes are a messy. But that said, in some ways this look is more realistic than the more perfect & symmetrical snowflake image. They may look like that under a microscope, but they don't appear that way to the naked eye, especially here, were the snow is often so wet. It comes down in big clumps at times.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it! ;)

I am entering the card in the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamps: Create a Background

SUO Challenges: Non Traditional Christmas

Card Details - All Products SUO

Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Early Espresso

Stamps: Warmth & Wonder

Ink: Early Espresso, Always Artichoke, Cherry Cobbler, Metallic Encore Pad

Other: Clear Embossing Powder, Old Olive Simply Styled Embellishments

December Daily - Day 4

I have made it to day four!

Today I organized my cards. I have a box full of them that need fixing in one way or the other. Luckily, I was only short a couple Christmas cards for the dozen I wanted to give the boys for their Philippines fundraiser tonight. I haven't heard how it went yet. I hope it was a success.

 Here's a shot of all the cards together. Most of them are ones I've blogged before, and you can find close ups here, here, here, and here. The 3 new ones are below. 

 This first one I've had made for a while; I just forgot to blog it. I love the look of the paper piercing, but I hated doing it. Definitely not a technique I'll use often.

This snowflake card is a riff on the Triple Time Stamping technique. I like how it turned out. It's one I brought home to adhere; I did the stamping at a Stamp A Stack.

I'm entering this last card in the latest Addicted to Stamps & More Challenge - Clean & Simple.

Card details - All products Stampin Up!:

Sending Christmas Wishes

Cardstock: Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White

DSP Be of Good Cheer

Stamps: Scentsational Season

Ink: Gumball Green

Merry

Cardstock: Midnight Muse, Very Vanilla

Stamps: Snowflake Soiree

Ink: Marina Mist, Midnight Muse

Other: Pearls

Seasons Greetings
Cardstock: Cherry Cobbler (SU Coredinations) Early Espresso, Naturals Ivory

Stamps: Curly Cute, Joyous Celebrations

Ink: Gumball Green, Early Espresso

Other: punch, ribbon, Vintage Wallpaper (retired) Embossing Folder

December Daily?

I have set out a little challenge for myself. I am going to post 31 cards in December. Now, not all of them will be ones I am making in December. I do have a stash of cards I've made that I never got around to blogging. But there will also be new cards as I try to do at least a challenge a week.

I didn't get a post up yesterday, December 1st, because I was exhausted. It was a long and wonderful day, as I kicked off Advent/the Christmas season by having a little tree trimming party with friends. The kids did the tree trimming. The adults supervised and chatted.

The finished product

I had a lovely, low key day today and put together two challenge cards. It was nice to relax after a busy weekend. I did go to my Youth For Christ Leader Training, where I gave my testimony, and I had to go out and deal with a problem regarding my driver's license. That was actually really funny. I went in at the end of October, a few days before my birthday. Well, I got a letter in the mail last week telling me that I had to come back in due to a problem with the way they inputted my personal information. No clue what was wrong. When I got there, we discovered they had entered my height as 3 centimeters. I know I'm short, but I'm not THAT short!

So that was my afternoon. But in the morning I got some cards made. The first one is for the challenge at Late Night Stampers - Non Traditional Christmas colours (no red or green). It turned out to be much harder than I thought it would be! so many of my kits had at least a little of those colours.

 The second card is for The Paper Players latest challenge:

 

This card looks time consuming, but it really wasn't. I created the mask for the top hill first, so I knew how much sky I wanted. In retrospect, I think I should've made it a little lower, but I still like it overall. After I did the sky I moved the paper I used for the hill shape around to create the different levels, then  added glitter. 

There is still time to participate in both of these challenges!

Card Details - All products Stampin Up!

Ornament Card
Cardstock: Very Vanilla
Stamps: Ornament Keepsakes
Ink: Elegant Eggplant, Soft Suede
Other: Twine, rhinestones, dimensionals, Ornament Keepsakes framelit dies, embossing folder

Winter Scene Card
Cardstock: Whisper White, Night of Navy (I know it looks black, but it isn't, I promise)
Stamps: Lovely as a Tree
Ink: Night of Navy, Wisteria Wonder, Marina Mist
Other: Dazzling Details

I'm sorry I don't have the info regarding which sets contain the sentiments for these cards. I believe they are both retired sets. The embossing folder in the first card is also an SU one that is retired. If I were to make the card again, I'd likely use Beautiful Baroque.

Random Christmas cards

Just a short post tonight because I realized it's been a few weeks.

I have finally got my cards organized; I have two big boxes worth. One box is full of cards I made that I can't sell for various reasons. The other is ones I am going to try to sell for the first time at a craft fair this year. It's held at my complex and I'm sharing a table with a friend. I have no idea how many people will attend or how it will go, but I want to try more seriously in the New Year to sell my cards, so I'm calling this event practice.

Anyway, the process of organizing my cards inspired me to look in my 'cards & layouts' folder and see if there are any cards I've not blogged that I have already sent out. It turns out that the cards in this post were completed and donated to the church. I found a few others I made during that card making stint I never posted. Like the originals, I photographed them before I coloured them or added sentiments so you'll just have to take my word for it that I finished them properly. ;)

These first two were definitely church cards. I just coloured them and added a simple sentiment. I recall in both cases I put the sentiment on the right hand side. On the left card, it was above the image, on the right card, it was on the side.

The Santa card wasn't for church, of course - I sent it to a friend of mine. The middle card had a sentiment added to the left of the image. With the other tree card, I ended up taking it apart and centering the image. I hated the balance issues of the original design.

I didn't have to do as much with the snowmen cards. Just a bit of Stickles for the bodies and the ground, a bit of colouring of scarves and birds, and sentiments. These actually both became birthday cards.

If you're wondering how I can remember all that - no, I my memory isn't that fabulous. I typed up some notes in preparation to posting the finished cards ages ago. I imagine I was waiting for my camera to charge and then by the time I remembered I needed to photograph the cards, I had already sent them out.

Card Details

Stamps: Top - Merry Minstrels, Middle - Jolliest Time of the Year,  Bottom - It's Snow Time (all SU)
Ink: Stazon Jet Black, Certainly Celery
Cardstock: Bazzill, SU
DSP: My Mind's Eye Christmas Stack

Christmas at Sweet Stampin

Well so much for my hopes of getting a blog post up on the 5th! It's the 20th today and I haven't posted all month. Life has been a wee bit of a whirlwind.

The first weekend in October I was in Parksville for Scrapbookin' Adventures 7th Anniversary event. It ws a Friday evening and all day Saturday. My dear mother has been treating me to it since the beginning, as the event is always in early October and my birthday is at the end of the month. The last few (3? or 4?) years the highlight of the event has been that it's a fundraiser to support BC Children's Hospital/BC Crops for Kids, and the fact that we do a really fun, 20 layout, Use Your Own Product workshop. The neat thing about the workshop is it suits a range of scrappers and skill levels. I am at the point where I completely stray from the sketches sometimes. I have layouts done from the event to share as soon as I can decide on a good place to photograph them.

It turns out I'm NOT moving across the hall. My apartment isn't suitable for the new tenant; the one I wanted has certain features that she needs more than me. I am getting laminate to replace my carpeting, though, and they are going to paint my place. It's all good. To be honest, as much as I was looking forward to the outside entrance, I was NOT looking forward to packing up my stuff. Though sadly, since they're painting and ripping out carpet, I suppose I'll still have to do that. Thank goodness I have wonderful friends who will help me.

We had a lovely Thanksgiving dinner on the 13th. Mom made a great turkey and then we played Dominoes. We all lost to the teenager again. She sits so quietly and all the while she's clearly plotting how to get us off our game. ;)

That's enough blathering for today. I'm sure you'd rather see a card! I found the kit for this set of Christmas cards when I was cleaning out my craft drawers and I decided I would work on it first, since it fits Christmas At Sweet Stampin' Challenge - Cards for Men

Card Details - All products SU

Stamps  Season of Joy

Cardstock - Whisper White, Old Olive, Early Espresso

Ink: Early Espresso, Old Olive

DSP: Christmas Lodge?

Other: Brads, seam binding

'Tis The Season

Just a quick post today. Lots to do. My apartment is still a wee bit more (ok, a lot more) messy than I'd like it to be, and I don't want to be up late tonight. So I am going to post this card and then tackle the kitchen mess. Again. I swear. it never ends. In fact, I swear I said this same thing a post or two ago. It's like my own personal Groundhog Day. 

And that reference just shows the power of the internet for transmitting information. I've never seen that movie and have no desire to do so, yet I pretty much know the whole plot due to conversations I've been part of via message boards and such. That's also how I discovered Harry Potter. I knew the entire plot before I'd actually seen a movie. And the really weird part is that being 'spoiled' didn't take away from the enjoyment I got from watching it on screen. I find that for me, knowing what's going to happen doesn't negate wanting to see the 'how' of it all.

Enough of that weird little tangent. Time for today's card. I have about 6 or 8 SU retired stamp sets that are no longer inspire me. I'm using two of them today -  Merry Minstrels and Sweet Serendipity I made six cards with the Merry Minstrels set, but I'm only posting one, as I need to colour and add sentiments to the rest. I'm entering it in two challenges:

• CSAYL Challenge #25 - Non Traditional Colors! and

• Stampin' Sisters In Christ - Use Punches/Dies or shapes of any kind

Card Details:

Cardstock: Pool Party Old Olive, (SU), pink (unknown)

DSP: Eskimo Kisses (Basic Grey)

Stamps: Merry Minstrels, Sweet Serendipity (SU)

Ink: Staz-On Black

Other: Markers, watercolour paper

Wee Memories #80 and Our Creative Corner

Note that if you are looking for my Year in Review Blog Hop post you can find it here.

I needed a few more Christmas cards so I decided to enter a few more challenges. I know Christmas is technically over, but I have an Orthodox branch on my family tree and when my maternal grandparents were alive we always celebrated Jan 6th, too. So that's my current excuse. ;)

For the current Wee Memories Challenge here we have this card:

 I love the Sounding Joy set and it's perfect for church cards.

The second card is for the challenge at Our Creative Corner called "Home for the Holiday", We were to make a card inspired by something in our holiday decor. I love my Christmas tree this year so I was inspired to make this card.

Here is a picture of this year's tree.



Card Details - All Products Stampin' Up

Verse Card

Stamps: The Sounding Joy
DSP: ??

Cardstock: Real Red

Ink: Early Espresso

Tree Card

Stamps: Snow Swirled

Cardstock: Island Indigo, Pool Party, Whisper White
Other: Ribbon, Pewter Embossing Powder, punch

Organizing my space - Part 1

Well, I had a wonderful time scrapbooking on the Oct. 14th weekend. Once I got home and started unpacking I realized I had a wee bit of a mess - to the point that some of the paper I took with me and didn't use woud not actually go back into the paper hoilders. And then I discovered a stack of paper I had bought over the summer and had not yet actually even attempted to put away. So I have decided it's time to finally get my stash organized and purged.

Mid purge... I forgot to snap a pic at the start of the process.

 The stack of paper I am putting aside for the next LSS garage sale.

 My paper holders, nicely labelled and put away in my armoire. All the drawers have clothing in them. The cupboard was empty so a couple years ago I decided to use it for sb related items. I also have my closet split in half this way. Pics of that to follow.

 A close up of my paper holders. I've got my paper organized by manufacturer; it's just how my mind works. I've labelled the holders on the side there so it's easy to see what I have and find the line I'm looking for. As well, the beauty of putting the labels here rather than on the hard plastic dividers is that they seem to come off easier. That will be helpful when I run out of certain company's paper and I know I won't be getting any more (Sniff. I miss you, Scenic Route).

 The bottom shelf... yes, my SU card making cardstock needs to be reorganzed, and possibly moved to a better location. I have more than that and it's NOT all going to fit. I don't actually know what's in that box beside it... I'm afraid to look at this point. :)

And 3 cards I made last week... we had our Stamper's Group last Tuesday. I actually made 6 cards, 3 for me and 3 for a friend who couldn't make the group that night. These are the 3 she chose - I made each version of the card a little different.

Card Details - All products SU!:

Christmas Card

Stamps: Snow Much Fun

DSP: Frostwood Lodge

Cardstock: Early Espresso, Garden Green, Whisper White, Cherry Cobbler

Ink: Early Espresso

Other: Markers, SNAIL adhesive

Birthday card

Stamps: Unknown

Cardstock Whisper White, Basic Grey, Bravo Burgandy

Ink: Old Olive? Possibly Always Artichoke

Other: Embossing folder

Cupcake card

Stamps: Create a Cupcake, Circle Circus

Cardstock: Rich Razzleberry, Tangerine Tango, Old Olive, Basic Black, Whisper White

Ink: Early Espresso, Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive, Tangerine Tango

Other: Cupcake punch, Word Window punch, Round Tab punch

Card Monkey 64 - Christmas in July

Not too much to say tonight as I'm tired and tomorrow is an early day. Made this card for the latest a la Card Monkey challenge. I'm a sucker for any challenge that helps me get ahead on my Christmas cards. In fact, I'll have to sit down one day soon and count up how many I've done as I've gotten behind at posting my cards for the Splitcoast Christmas Card Challenge.

The card came together very quickly because, since I knew I wanted to do this sketch, when I made Wednesday's card, I stamped an extra image and saved my scraps. All I had to do tonight was trim down a few pieces, adhere, and add my ribbon.

Card Details:

Cardstock: Tempting Turqoise, (SU), Bazzill
Patterned Paper: 3 Bugs in a Rug
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Markers: Taken With Teal, Certainly Celery
Misc: ribbon

ESS 138

Tonight's card is for the latest challenge at the Eat Sleep Stamp blog. It's actually one of my favorite sketch blogs. I just never seem to get them done on time... mostly because I get confused re: the due date/time.

My original plan was to use all Stampin' Up products and combine it with a colour challenge. In the end, I realized that I only had an hour to get the card made, so it would be easier to use paper from my scraps. That and a wonderful friend helped me with some organizing yesterday and many scraps were added to my accordian file, which is now stuffed to the gills, as the saying goes. I am DETERMINED to use up a bunch of scraps, so the only time I'm cutting into my SU dsp is when the challenge specifically calls for SU only.

The only non-scrap used was the base, which is 5.75x5.75. None of my scraps are big enough for card bases, and really, I also have so much unused cardstock that I'm good with that. I'm finding more and more that much of the cardstock I bought because it was on sale just isn't working with my pattern paper. So from now on I'm only buying 12x12 cardstock as I need it for projects, with the possible exception of neutrals like white, black and dark brown.

Card details:

Cardstock: Bazzill
Patterned Paper: 3 Bugs in a Rug
Stamp: Sidekick Sayings
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Misc: markers (Tombo), ribbon, (misc), ribbon slide (Maya Road)

Christmas In July - Part 2

Last Wednesday my Stampin' Up demo had a little 'Christmas In July' get together. It was a way for us to play with the new Snow Much Fun set, share our thoughts about the new catalogue, and get start getting in the Christmas spirit, in anticipation of the September release of the Holiday Mini. I can't wait; it's my favorite mini of the year. As much as I look forward to Sale-a-Bration in the New Year, that is more about the concept of the program than the actual mini-catalogue. Christmas is my favorite time of year and I absolutely love getting new stamps for my cards.

As mentioned, we made four cards. The first one, my favorite, is posted here. Of the remaining three, this tree was the one I loved the most. The two new blue hues are gorgeous, and I love how they look with the silver embossed tree. I don't have this set yet, because it is only available in wood mount. Soon I am inevitably going to give in and buy it, as I've wanted it for ages. I really didn't stray at all from the original design of this card, as I loved Jaime's design.

I love the colours of this second card. The Lucky Limemade goes really well with Marina Mist and Riding Hood Red. I wasn't fussy about this latest green, as I had hoped it would be brighter. It's definitely growing on me... what can I say, I'm a sucker for greens and blues. I can take no credit for those bows; Jaimie did them for me, because frankly, I'm just not that coordinated.  I stuck to the basic design of our hostess's original cards, simply adding some glitter to my ornaments to give them a bit of extra pop.

This card was a lift of the one on page 40 of the new IB&C.

This last card turned out far better than I expected. I am normally not great with the schwoopy type flourish stamps. I'm still not super happy with it, but by my standards it could've been worse. When we cut off the top of the Top Note die, one of the other women in attendance got the idea to layer the cut off piece under the bottom, raise it with Stampin' Dimensionals, and sponge it. I think it was me that came up with the idea to add the pearls, because I've become obsessed with bling ;) The card is a CASE of the one on page 43.

Card Details:
Season's Greetings card

Cardstock: Pool Party, Island Indigo, Whisper White, Brushed Silver

Stamps: Snow Swirled

Ink: Island Indigo

Misc: Silver Stampin' Emboss, Stampin' Dimensionals, ribbon

Merry Christmas (ornaments)

Cardstock: Lucky Limeade, Riding Hood Red, Marina Mist

Stamps: Delightful Decorations, Four Frames and unknown SU sentiment

Ink: Marina Mist, Riding Hood Red

Misc: ribbon, Dazzling Diamonds, Ornament/Scallop Trim border/ Decorative Label punch misc ribbon

Merry Christmas (flourish)

Cardstock: Bravo Burgandy

Stamps: Curly Cute, Season of Joy

Ink: Bravo Burgandy, Always Artichoke

Misc:Top Note die, Basic Pearls, misc ribbon

All products listed are SU!

CCC11 - Before

This year, for the first time, I joined the SplitCoast Stampers Christmas Card Challenge. It's been a terrific way to get ready for the holidays. I have many cards to do, because I not only do my own, I do some for the church. Our Children's Ministry Director uses them for the leaders. Often I've gotten so caught up in creating those that I've not done any for myself. While I don't usually send cards to people to whom I give gifts - they just get tags (which I would liek to make this year, too) - I have many family and friends who I don't send gifts to and that I would like to start sending at least a card over the holidays.

I've titled this post before because all of these cards need at least one finishing touch.

 

These first two I am generally happy with - I just need to colour them.If I wanted to, I could in theory get away with NOT colouring them, but I won't be happy about it, so I will do it. The problem is right now my craft area is a slight disaster, and I can't find my pencil crayons.

These two both need colouring, but they also need a sentiment,and in the case of the last one, a finishing touch of ribbon or something. I would prefer NOT to use ribbon since this card will likely go to a man.

PLEASE give me your suggestions on how to finish this card off!

In all cases I also have to look up the sketches I used for the design.

Card Details

Merry Christmas Tree, Square Tree, Racoons

Paper: Soft Sky, Always Artichoke cs (SU)*, misc mat colour (Bazzill); PP  (Provocraft  slab paper)

Stamps: Merry Crittermas

Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)

Accessories: Word Window Punch (SU)

Christmas Trio

Paper: Riding Hood Red, Certainly Celery cs (SU) green cs (Bazzill), PP from a stack (My Mind's Eye)

Stamps: Merry Crittermas

Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)

Accessories: Word Window Punch (SU)

*I could be wrong on those colours....may be Cool Caribbean and Mellow Moss. I am sure it is SU cs, though, because all my SU cs is in the same holder, separate from other companies.

I hope to do the finishing touches on these Thursday and have them posted Thursday night. I'll also include links to the sketches used.