Hello with Spruce and Sprigs

Hello, how are you today?

I'm doing pretty well, I have a card to share with you! 

I got inspired by the Make It Monday Challenge at Papertrey Ink to use ribbon and twine on a card. Sounds simple, right? That's what I thought! NOT. 
Here's the beautiful card by Stephanie Gold. 

It took way too long to make my card. I was bent on weaving twine through the holes of the die cut panel. Unfortunately I had to stamp the random background and die cut the panel three times until I was happy with it. That's a LOT of tiny little holes to poke out. 

After completing the panel with images from the Spruce and Sprigs set, I did weave Linen Thread onto the top left corner of the card and topped it with a bow. Underneath the sentiment banner I added a green ribbon. I tucked the die cut berries in as a focal point, covering them with clear Nuvo Gloss Drops. 

I ended up with a warm country feel to my card that I really like. Hope you do too. 

Thanks for visiting!

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Supplies used:

Stamps: Papertrey Ink - Spruce and Sprigs stamps and dies, Scripted

Paper and Inks: PTI - Berry Sorbet, Green Parakeet

Accessories: PTI - Mix and Mat Flourishes Die, Banners Die; SU - ribbon, Linen Thread

I'm linking this card to the Tic Tac Toe Challenge where I decided to go with the middle row across; pink, free, ribbon.

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Fa La La La La

Good morning! It's a delightfully chilly day here so I feel like  jumping in with another fun card for Christmas. I'm using the very new set from Papertrey Ink called Sing A Song of Christmas. The images contain the words to several carols. I love Christmas music so much! In fact I keep the snowman clock on the wall all year long in my craft room, and it plays a carol every hour on the hour. 

Fa La La La La. 

I'm playing along with CAS(E) This Sketch today. I love the way their sketches kick off my mojo, so I've made up my mind to participate every week. 

I was so happy to be chosen as a CTS Favorite with this card. 

Hope your day is wonderful and that you have a song in your heart. I am so glad to have you stop by! 

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Supplies 

Stamps: PTI- Songs of Christmas

Accessories: SU - holly leaves and berries, SSS - snowflakes

Autumn Elegance

Good morning! Are you ready for a new week? 

I'm taking a break from making kid's cards for a little while. The last few posts when I've made holiday cards have given me a chance to remember some of my favorite styles besides whimsical and CAS. 

For today's autumn card I wanted to go for layers and elegance. I began by getting inky creating with Distress Oxide Inks. 

Using watercolor paper, I loosely painted these three colors onto a panel. I dried it and repeated this process until I got the look I wanted, ending by flicking some of the colors onto the paper and also flicking a few spatters of water onto the design. 

I stamped the leaf outlines over this background in Fired Brick and Peeled Paint Oxide Inks and then die cut the leaves. The photo above shows the leaves close up and is closest in color to how they really look. All the images came from the same sheet of paper that I colored even though they look like they are different colors.

After die cutting the images I used my Copic markers to add details and shading. 

Having texture and details in the images, I wanted to add more layers and texture to the card. I embossed Very Vanilla card stock with a leafy design and layered it onto a card base with a layer of fun foam behind it. The tag was stamped, and heat embossed in gold. A few flicks of spattered gold paint tie in that element. 

Finally, I wrapped it all up with a Kraft silky Seam Binding bow. 

Here's a look at the markers I got out, although I didn't use them all . 

Hope you've enjoyed my card today! 

Be yourself

Delight in your craft 

Make something beautiful!

Supplies used:

Stamps:  WPlus9 - Autumn Leaves stamps and dies, Bold Banner Greetings

Accessories: SU - ribbon, Darice - embossing folder

I was inspired by the elegant tone on tone layers on the cake and the leaf colors. 

I'm playing along with challenges at The Card Concept and Simon Says.

A New Sketch A New Day

Hi and happy Saturday! 
Hope you are out enjoying some time in the sun. My husband just returned from a beautiful time on the lake in his kayak. 

My pain is up and my energy is very low today so Josie and I kept company here at the house. It's days like this that make me especially grateful I can stamp because making a card gives me a feeling of accomplishment in spite of having a rare disease that is sometimes chronic. 
So does having pot roast in the crockpot. Alas, I digress. 

When I first saw the sketch I was puzzled about how to make a card that didn't look a bit off balance or as if it was contrived to work with the layout. When I found this scrap with the sentiment in my stash I decided it had to be used and today was the day. 

Keep your face towards the sunlight. Encouraging advice that I needed to hear today. 

I'm pretty happy with the way this turned out. It was quick to make using supplies from past card kits. No stamping. 

That's it from me for today. Glad you came by!

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Happy to be playing along this week

Happy to have been a favorite for CTS#242!

Blessed Christmas with Non Holiday Stamps

Good morning! 

Today is the last day to post cards to the Merry Making gallery for those taking this Online Card Class. I wanted to try a couple more of the techniques in time to link them there so I've got one to share with you today.

The card inspiring us from May Park used tone on tone stamping, gold embossing and white gel pen dots. The lesson involved using non-holiday stamps for your card. 

I tried this first using solid floral stamps but finally decided to use the beautiful line art floral spray. I embossed it in gold and created the tone on tone effect by coloring inside the embossing using a Versamarker. 

Adding the white dots is not usually my style, but in keeping with the lesson I gave it a try! I'm not sure they don't make it too busy but I will be making this card again to send in the mail so I can experiment. I did add them in a way to draw your eye across the card from left to right. 

Thanks for coming by to visit my blog today. 

Be yourself

Delight in your craft 

Make something beautiful!

Supplies used:

Stamps:  Simon Says Stamp - Bouquet of Thanks, Holiday Hellos

Repeated Shapes for Christmas

Good morning! 
It's another card inspired by the Online Card Class Merry Making. I love a challenge and this class has given me some chances to try new ideas and make them my own. While doing it, my Christmas card stash is growing every day! 

I love that result. Todays' card uses a simple idea of repeating shapes in non-traditional Christmas colors.

 I "kissed" the stamp with ink to get the stripes and trees patterns and made it more festive with gold embossing and sequins in shades of pink.

I'm so glad you could join me today. 

 

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Supplies used

Stamps:  Stampin' Up! Your Presents

Ink:  Veramark, SU - Cool Caribbean, Tempting Turquoise, WPLUS9 - Little Piggy, Cockleshell

Accessories:   Princess Gold embossing powder

Christmas Blessings

Hello there!

I'm posting another Christmas card today. This technique, presented by Jennifer McGuire at class, incorporates scoring into your stamped design.  I couldn't wait to try this one out. 

It's perfect for a bold, detailed image, and for creating a classic card that's flat for mailing. 

Several of my images were masked for this design. This would be a great choice for mass producing with my MISTI. 

Although tempted, I refrained from adding glitter, gold, or sparkles in any form. Just letting the clean design speak. I've listed my supplies below. 

Thanks for coming by to take a peek! 

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Supplies used

Stamps: Papertrey Ink - Spruce & Sprigs, Christmas Cheer

Ink: PTI - New Leaf, Olive Twist, Pure Poppy, Autumn Rose 

Accessories: Score board

CAS(E) This Sketch 243

Hi everyone, 
I hope you're at the beginning of a very good week! 

It's a rainy day here but that means cooler weather which will be wonderful tomorrow when the sun is expected to return. 

We spent a wonderful day with family yesterday so I'm happy to be having a catch up day today.

Posting a card I made over the weekend to play along with the gang at CAS(E) This Sketch 243. 

I thought the Happy Pandas stamp from MFT would be perfect for this sketch design. The sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp Uplifting Thoughts. 

I'm honored that my card from last week was posted as a CTS Favorite and you can see it HERE. 

Hopefully this card will spread some smiles to the child who receives it. 

I'm so glad you stopped by today! 

Dashing through the Snow Flurries

The last technique I'm trying from day one of the Online Card Class Merry Making was taught by Jennifer McGuire, who makes such beautiful cards! She taught us several ways to add the look of snow to our backgrounds and I tried using white embossing powder two different ways on my card to look like snow. 

My catchy title to this post may have misled you. I did not dash through snow or ANYTHING else while making this card. It took  a L-O-N-G time and a couple of attempts that ended up in the trash until I got a sample I could post. Still in the learning curve on this one but I will try it again.
I began with white card stock which I did double emboss. First in gold, then in green to add the holly leaves. For the berries, I used Nuvo Crystal Drops in Red Berry Gloss .  

I  sure am glad that the weekend is finally here and I will be having more time to stamp. I look forward to playing with the ideas from day 2 and onward! Happy stamping to you.

Be yourself

Delight in your craft 

Make something beautiful!

Double Embossed Background

Believe it or not, I'm still working from the ideas given on Day 1 of the Merry Making class! 
I am captivated by the techniques and I just have to give them at least one try so I'm back again to share with you.

For today's card, I used the double embossing technique. I embossed my white card panel in gold, and then embossed over it again using a background stamp. LOVE this vintage look for a classic holiday card. 

I embossed the sentiment in white on a die cut oval of vellum, and finished with the name Jesus die cut from gold foil card stock. A soft bow and a gold sequin complete the festive look. 

The sentiment and Jesus die are by Papertrey Ink . 
The background stamp is by MFT. 

I appreciate your visit today!

Be yourself

Delight in your craft 

Make something beautiful!

More Holiday Backgrounds

It's been a long time since I made three cards in one day . The inspiration and teaching at the Online Card Class  called Merry Making has been wonderful and I'm loving every minute. If you've never signed up for these classes offered by Jennifer McGuire and Kristina Werner you will find them to be excellent resources and loads of fun. 

I'm continuing with another background as shown in Day 1. This one is supposed to use cover plates, but this time I made my own by die cutting a trio of snowflakes from white card stock over and over again. I combined three shades of blue card stock for a bright background. 

Since my background is quite busy and I didn't want to cover it up, I kept the focal point small and simple.

I hope you're enjoying this preview of my winter/holiday cards. 
Happy stamping to you!

Be yourself

Delight in your craft 

Make something beautiful!

Supplies used:  

Stamps:   Avery Elle - Let it Snow

Accessories: Dies - Elizabeth Craft Designs - Reindeer (snowflakes); Impression Obsession Birch Trees

Holiday Backgrounds - Cover Plate Dies

I'm back again with another card inspired by the lessons at MerryMaking. 

This time we were encouraged to combine a Cover Plate Die 
and a sponged background for an easy and quick card. 

I had the brand new unused Reverse Confetti Big Stripes Cover Die just waiting to add some pizzazz to today's card. 

I sponged Distress Inks for the background and added images from the Friends for all Seasons Winter stamps from W Plus9. Distress Markers and Wink of Stella provided the color and sparkle for these images.

I added stamped snowflakes to the balloon, and die cut flakes for embellishments. 

That's it for me today! Thanks so much for stopping by! 

Be yourself

Delight in your craft 

Make something beautiful!

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