Christmas Family

This fortnight's code word at the Addicted to Clean and Simple challenge is "family." This challenge is hosted by my pal Shana Goff!! She has three sweet kiddos who I had the pleasure of meeting briefly in Salt Lake City a couple of summers ago. I know family is very important to her--and it's important to most of us.

I thought the Nordic Noel DSP with houses would be a good way to say "from our family to yours." I just love this DSP! I also like the way the dots in the Decorative Dots Embossing Folder look like the snowflakes on the DSP. Pretty coolio! I was happy to add a little Real Red 1/4" Cotton Ribbon--I just love that stuff. It's so easy to work with!

(Stamp Set: Project Life Holiday Cheer; Ink: Real Red; Card Stock: Soft Sky, Real Red, Whisper White; DSP: Nordic Noel; Accessories: Oval Punch, Real Red 1/4" Cotton Ribbon, Decorative Dots Embossing Folder, Basic Rhinestones)

And with that, I'm going to say Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to you all. I've met my goal to post every week day this year and now I'm going to take a couple of weeks off to celebrate the holidays with my family. I hope you and yours have a wonderful holiday and a very happy new year! See you in January 2015!

Retro Wreath

Today's card is an entry in this week's Retro Sketch challenge. I decided to use the Wondrous Wreath set on this card. (Say that three times, fast: Retro Wondrous Wreath!)



I liked the Smoky Gray, Basic Gray, and Blackberry Bliss color combination I used on another wreath, so I decided to use it again here. I think it turned out really pretty. What do you think?

(Stamp Set: Wondrous Wreath; Inks: Smoky Slate, Basic Gray, Blackberry Bliss; Card Stock: Smoky Slate, Basic Gray, Blackberry Bliss: Accessories: Wonderful Wreath and Apothecary Accents Framelits Collections, Elegant Stripes Embossing Folder)

Another Retirement

I guess I must be at that time in life when my co-workers are starting to retire. I shouldn't be too suprised: I've worked the same job for almost 30 years myself!

My co-worker, Gwen, is going to retire at the end of the year. She's been a great inspiration to me and a wonderful friend. Someone said that she was full of grace and she is! I'm going to miss Gwen!

I made this card for her retirement. It's an exciting time and a new adventure. Someday I'll be able to join Gwen in the retiree ranks--but not quite yet!

(Stamp Set: Really Good Greetings; Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black; Card Stock: Elegant Eggplant, Basic Black, Whisper White; DSP: Back to Black; Accessories: 2" Circle, 1-3/4" Circle, and 1" Circle Punches, Hexagon Punch to flag banner, Basic Rhinestone)

My card is a CASE of this beautiful card by the fabulous Mary Fish. I changed up the colors because Gwen likes the Baltimore Ravens and their colors are black, white, and purple!!

Nordic Christmas

The sketch over at the Create with Connie & Mary challenge this week is a bit deceptive. It looks straight-forward, but the main image isn't easy to cut or replicate. But when I put everything together, I was pleased with my card.



I started with a Nordic Noel panel--it's so beautiful, so I wanted it to be the focal point of the card. That meant that a smaller greeting would be needed. I used the "be joyful" sentiment from the Project Life Holiday Cheer set. I added a strip from another piece of Nordic Noel--the one that reminds me of candy canes. I was almost finished, but I thought the card needed a little sumthin'-sumthin' so I added a few pearls.

(Stamp Set: Project Life Holiday Cheer: Ink: Real Red; Card Stock: Real Red, Whisper White; DSP: Nordic Noel; Accessories: Oval Punch, Basic Pearls)

Fresh and Vintage Christmas Card

I'm posting a little bit early because I'm playing along in this week's Freshly Made Sketches challenge and our creations are due by noon on Monday. Last week I made a card and I posted it early enough--but I forgot to link it up to the challenge. Doh! I'm taking care of that this week.



I went with a kind of vintage design (again) this time. I'm still making Christmas cards--even for the challenges. And, why not? It's still a few weeks until Christmas!

I started with a card base in Chocolate Chip--I haven't used Chocolate Chip in such a long time! I added a panel of Crumb Cake, embossed with the On Point Folder. I used a new-to-me tree, stamped in Cherry Cobbler, because I thought the card needed a pop of color.

(Stamp Set: Festival of Trees; Inks: Cherry Cobbler, Chocolate Chip; Card Stock: Chocolate Chip, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla; Accessories: Cherry Cobbler Bakers Twine, Stylish Stripes, Embossing Folder, On Point Embossing Folder, Scallop Border Punch, Tree Punch)

Cards by PLxSU

The cards in the Seasonal Snapshot Project Life by Stampin' Up set are so adorable. I especially liked the two that said "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas." I thought they were totes adorbs and could be the basis of a quick and easy card.

I started with an Old Olive card base and added a Very Vanilla Mat that I embossed with the Filligree Frame Embossing Folder. I made a Real Red mat for the Project Life cards and rounded the corners for both. I mounted the PL card and mat with Stampin' Dimensionals for a beautiful, quick and easy card!! Project Life by Stampin' Up is versatile--not just for memory keeping!

(Accessories: Project Life by Stampin' Up Seasonal Snapshot Card Collection, Filligree Frame Embossing Folder, Corner Rounder Punch)

Fab Letterpress Winter

This week's challenge on the Fab Friday challenge blog is a color challenge.



I usually shy away from color challenges that have more than 3 colors. I'm always afraid that my design will be too much of a good bad thing. But I thought the Letterpress Winter snowflakes in Old Olive, Coastal Cabana, and Bermuda Bay would be kinda cool with Cherry Cobbler accents.

(Stamp Sets: Letterpress Winter, And Many More; Inks: Coastal Cabana, Bermuda Bay, Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler; Card Stock: Crumb Cake, Old Olive, Whisper White, Cherry Cobbler; Accessories: Modern Label and Word Window Punches, Cherry Cobbler Bakers Twine)

Simple Holiday Cheer

I'm playing along with a new challenge: Clean&Simple Stamping. Here's the sweet sketch.



I haven't used the Holiday Cheer sentiment from "Mingle All the Way" so I thought it was time to ink it up! I used Memento Tuxedo Black and colored it with Stampin' Write Markers. I cut it and its mat with the Ovals Framlits Collection. I embossed a mat of Whisper White card stock with the Stylish Stripes Embossing Folder and mounted it onto a Real Red card base. Finally, I added a thin strip of Nordic Noel designer series paper (that reminds me of a candy cane).

(Stamp Set: Mingle All The Way; Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black; Card Stock: Real Red, Whisper White; DSP: Nordic Noel; Accessories: Elegant Stripe Embossing Folder, Ovals Framelits Collection, Real Red and Old Olive Stampin' Write Markers)

Natural Christmas

Sometimes when I'm creating I have a spark of inspiration and I just go with it. Other times, I'm kinda of throwing things together and hoping for the best. 

The card I made for this week's Paper Craft Crew Challenge took on a life of its own. I stared at the sketch for a long time. I looked at the design team's cards. Everything I came up with looked too much like I was just copying someone else's work. I was kind of stumped for a while...and when I'm stumped, I just start working and see what happens.



I started with a Crumb Cake card base. When I stamped some Early Espresso splotches from the  Gorgeous Grunge set onto the Crumb Cake card base, I was a little nervous. I thought the card would just be too plain...but I kept going. I decided to use the Window Frames Framelits with some paper piercing. I used Early Espresso as the mat and pierced it and Naturals as the focal point. I was really hoping that adding a couple of punched trees from the Festival of Trees set would pull everything together.

When I started putting all the elements together--including a strip of DSP from the Under the Tree pack, I was amazed! I added a sentiment and some punch gold stars and, oh my goodness!! The card turned out beautifully (if I do say so myself, and I do). IMHO it's real WOW! What do you think?

(Stamp Sets: Festival of Trees, Teeny Tiny Wishes; Inks: Garden Green, Early Espresso; Card Stock: Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Natural Ivory; DSP: Under The Tree; Gold Foil Specialty Paper; Accessories: Window Frames Framelits Collection, Festive Piercing Pack, Tree Punch, Itty Bitty Accent Punches, Banner from Circle Card Framelit)

Fresh and Blissful Star

I'm coming into the home stretch in getting my Christmas cards made. I make 80-90 cards to send and to give at work.  I'm about halfway finished. I have "card parts" left over from my Christmas card-making class that I'll be putting together in the next few days.

In the meantime, my blog goes on and I'm still on track to post something every week day for a year. So as I'm playing along with challenge blogs, I'll be creating Christmas cards to add to my stock of cards to send.

This week's sketch at the Freshly Made Sketches challenge suggested the starts from the Bright & Beautiful set. I thought I could combine Blackberry Bliss and Encore Gold and make a cool holiday card.  Here's the sketch.


 

(Stamp Sets: Bright & Beautiful, Teeny Tiny Wishes; Inks: Blackberry Bliss, Encore Gold; Card Stock: Whisper White, Blackberry Bliss; Accessories: Stars Framelits Collection, Banner Framelit from the Circle Card Framelit; Basic Pearls)

I think these colors are elegant--and adding a few Basic Pearls is the perfect finishing touch.

Creation Station: PLxSU Christmas Planner

This time at Creation Station we're featuring Project Life by Stampin' Up! the wonderful memory keeping system and accessories. We've been challenged to use PLxSU in a different way that simply a scrapbook page.

I decided that I needed a Christmas planner to keep track of gifts to buy, recipes to try, and, of course cards to send!!

I started with two sheets of Nordic Noel designer series paper and cut them to size. I adhered the DSP to a composition book with a Stampin' Glue Stick. I laid a length of Real Red 1/4" Cotton Ribbon at the seam between the two DSP pieces and adhered piece of Real Red card stock to the spine, with the ribbon underneath. This keeps the ribbon attached to the planner.

The Project Life Snapshot Card Collection had just right the cards I needed to make the labels for my planner. I also used the self-stick letters in the Project Life Snapshot Accessory Pack to spell out "planner" on the front of my journal. I added another self-stick banner along the ribbon, just for fun!

(Stamp Set: Watercolor Winter Too; Ink: Real Red; Card Stock: Real Red; DSP: Nordic Noel: Accessories: Seasonal Snapshot Project Life Card Collection and Accessory Pack; Project Life Corner Rounder Punch; Real Red 1/4" Cotton Ribbon)

(DSP: Nordic Noel: Accessories: Seasonal Snapshot Project Life Card Collection; Project Life Corner Rounder Punch; Real Red 1/4" Cotton Ribbon)

There are only a couple of us playing along this week on Creation Station--the rest of the design team is taking a much deserved break for the holidays. We'll be back in January with some more great creations to share with you. Until then 

HAPPY HOLIDAYS & A PEACEFUL NEW YEAR TO ALL!

A Dotty Sumthin' Sumthin'

I haven't used the "Dotty Angles" stamp set in a while, so when I saw this fortnight's Addicted to Clean and Simple challenge codeword is "DOTS," I knew I had to pull it out.



I looked at some samples using this set over on Splitcoaststampers. I needed a bit of inspiration. I saw a few cards that I really liked and then had to try hard not to completely copy them--but use them just for inspiration.

The dots on this stamp remind me of confetti so, I thought I'd make them fall from the top of the card. I used Encore Gold ink for the dotty confetti. I matted a the Whisper White Panel onto Champagne Glimmer Paper and then onto a Basic Black card base. I used my fave stamp from the "Sumthin' Sumthin'" stamp set, the one that says, "Let's Celebrate! I think this is an elegant card that would be great for an anniversary.

(Stamp Sets: Dotty Angles, Sumthin' Sumthin'; Inks: Encore Gold, Tuxedo Black; Card Stock: Basic Black, Whisper White; Specialty Series Paper: Champagne Glimmer Paper)

Bright & Beautiful St. Agnes Make & Takes

A good friend of mine volunteers at the St. Agnes Breast Cancer Center in Baltimore, Maryland.  Last year she asked a bunch of her craft friends--myself included--to come up with some crafts for the patients to make and take and then give to their families. I had a great time last year--and we were asked to do it again.

This time I'm stealing a fabulous hot chocolate pouch that my Creation Station friend, Jen Arkfeld, made. Take a look at this gorgeous project!!

Here's my take on Jen's great project. I used the "Bright & Beautiful" stamp set because the St. Agnes project needs to be quick and easy. The pouch is the wonderful pre-cut, pre-scored Gift Card Enclosures. These are so inexpensive and make great projects, as you can see!

(Stamp Set: Bright & Beautiful; Ink: Cherry Cobbler; Card Stock: Garden Green, Whisper White; DSP: Under The Tree; Accessories: Gift Card Enclosure, Cherry Cobbler Linen Ribbon)

Retro Wreath

Wow! I really went "retro" for this week's Retro Sketch Challenge. I used some more Under The Tree Designer Series Paper and let that choose my color scheme. Since I already had the "Wondrous Wreath" stamp set out, I thought I'd use the same colors on the wreath that I used for the card.

Here's the sketch.



Once I put all the pieces together, I realized the card had a real vintage, retro feel to it.

(Stamp Set: Wondrous Wreath, And Many More; Inks: Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Cherry Cobbler; Card Stock: Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Whisper White; DSP: Under The Tree; Accessories: Wonderful Wreath and Banners Framelits Collections)

Wonderful, Blissful Wreath

I've seen some interesting color combinations used with the "Wondrous Wreath" set. There have been some great fall colors and great Christmas colors. I've also seen some unusual colors that have just been WOW! Believe it or not, I really like Basic Gray and Smoky Slate--especially when paired together with another color that makes them pop. For this card, my POP is Blackberry Bliss.

The sketch for this week's CAS(e) This Sketch is simplicity itself--yeah, it's clean and simple. And that can be hard to imagine--or not to actually steal someone's idea. So, I used a number of ideas that I have seen around the stamping blog-o-sphere to create this card. That's what I love about our stamping community--it's a community and we inspire each other!!

Here's the sketch that I've copied and stolen for my card.



Along with this interesting color combination, I wanted to use one of the word Framelits as the sentiment on the card. I think this makes the card elegant. I added two embossed stripes at the bottom, but they're had to see in the photo--so you'll have to trust me ;-)

(Stamp Set: Wondrous Wreath; Inks: Smoky Slate, Basic Gray, Blackberry Bliss; Card Stock: Smoky Slate, Blackberry Bliss, Basic Gray, Whisper White; Accessories: Wonderful Wreath Framelits Collection, Simply Scored Score Board)

Sweet Taffy Birthday

The sketch at the Create with Connie & Mary challenge blog reminded me of birthday streamers, so I pulled out some scraps of Sweet Taffy Designer Series Paper and decided to make a cheery birthday card.



I love these colors on the Sweet Daffy DSP. I think they're great all year round for birthdays. I cut 3 1"-inch strips of DSP and flagged them using the Hexagon punch. I adhered the banners to a Whisper White mat and layered it on bright Daffodil Delight and onto a Melon Mambo card base. I stamped a sentiment from the "And Many More" set and finished the card by adding a 1/4" Melon Mambo Cotton Ribbon. Sweet!

(Stamp Set: And Many More; Ink: Tempting Turquoise; Card Stock: Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight, Whisper White; DSP: Sweet Taffy; Accessories: 1/4" Melon Mambo Cotton Ribbon, Hexagon Punch)