Merry Christmas!

   My oldest 2 daughters are flying home this morning and I am super duper excited! With all 3 girls home I may not be posting much, if at all cause I just like being with them - soaking them right up!

   Earlier in the season my hubby was at the mall waiting for me and saw a tshirt that said, "I am the reason for the season." At first he was put off by the saying and then he thought, "what a great saying" because we are the reason for the season. Without each one of us God would not have had a reason to send Jesus and there would not have been a Christmas. I love that!

   So with that said, remember that You are the reason for the season. Merry Christmas to each of you. May you know the joy and peace found in the One who was born on Christmas Day.

Doing my family a favor for Christmas

   I made this matchbox, and others just like it, to put at each place setting for Christmas dinner. I will put some mints or some such candy in each one.  I just love adding a special touch to special occasions by making a hand crafted gift for each person.

   Since the Matchbox die is on sale I decided to use that for my little favors. After I cut and assembled each box and tag I added detail with a "holly branch" made by die cutting the leaf branch using the Little Leaves Sizzlit and trimming the leaves to look like holly. The button makes a great berry!

   All supplies are Stampin' Up!

• Holiday Best stamp set (Hostess)
• Real Red, Soft Suede and White cardstock
• Christmas Cocoa designer paper (Holiday Mini)
• Real Red, Soft Suede markers
• Wide Oval punch
• Big Shot
• Matchbox die and Little Leaves Sizzlit            
• Real Red button
• Real Red Grosgrain ribbon and Linen thread
• sponge and dimensionals

Thanks for stopping by.

Christmas Cocoa Cardinal

   I needed another Christmas card so I made this one using A Cardinal Christmas stamp set and some Christmas Cocoa designer paper. I need to use up the paper cause the Holiday Mini ends January 4th! And then Sale-A-Bration time begins! But that is another story for another time!

   Once again I turned to watercolor paper and markers. This is, hands down, my favorite way to stamp and color line image stamps. The colors are so vibrant and in this case that is perfect because cardinals are so bright in real life! I played around with the upper left quadrant of the card thinking it needed something. I ended up adding 2 of the tags from the Matchbox die. I just left them blank - not sure I like it 100% but it will do.

   Other details: Spritzer on the cardinal to fill in white space.
                         Distressed the card with sponging and roughing up the edges of the stamped image.

All supplies are Stampin' Up!

• A Cardinal Christmas stamp set
• Soft Suede, Real Red cardstock
• Water color paper
• Christmas Cocoa designer paper
• Soft Suede ink
• markers
• Real Red button
• Linen thread and Soft Suede polka dot ribbon
• Big Shot and Matchbox die (tags)
• sponge

Hope you have a wonderful week.

Butterfly Sympathy

   I made this card for a woman in our church who lost her father to cancer last week. That makes 3 sympathy cards in 3 weeks!
   She is a young woman so I wanted a card that wasn't too "serious" - color and style.

Again I used a sample from our Stampin' Success magazine - I just changed the layout to horizontal. I don't know if you can tell from the photo but the boldest butterfly was cut out and the wings bent a little to add dimension.

All supplies are Stampin' Up!

• Simple Friendship and Thoughts and Prayers stamp set
• Pretty in Pink, Almost Amethyst, Mellow Moss and White cardstock
• Pretty in Pink, Almost Amethyst and Mellow Moss ink
• Mellow Moss designer paper (hostess pack)
• Pretty in Pink button
• Eyelet border punch

 Thanks for stopping by! My youngest daughter is home from college so I am spending as much time with her as possible which means not alot of time for stamping.

Praying for You

Another Sympathy card (sigh)

A dear customer and friend lost a family member last week so I wanted to make an extra special card for her. She is a stamper extraordinaire and a lovely person and I really wanted her to know how much I care.

  I turned to Stampin' Success magazine (a demonstrator perk) and found inspiration in one of their sample cards that I loved. I changed the colors a little and the layout just a tad but for the most part I stuck with their sample. To make the focal point (the bird), I stamped it first and then masked it so I could stamp the filigree background multiple times. The Certainly Celery cardstock was a fun technique. First I sprayed water on the cardstock, then crumpled it tightly, flattened it out and dried it with a heat gun. Some tearing distressed it some more.

All supplies are Stampin' Up!

• Friends 24/7 and Thoughts and Prayers stamp sets
• Perfect Plum, Soft Suede, Certainly Celery and Natural Ivory cardstock
• Perfect Plum, Soft Suede and Apricot Appeal ink
• 3/4" circle punch and Apricot button
• Linen thread
• Blender pen

Thank you for stopping by.

2 tags

Nothing special today - just 2 tags I made using the Two Tags die and my Big Shot both of which are on sale right now! It is all part of the Holiday Extravaganza! To see what else is on sale click here. These tags were quick and easy. I needed tags for some gifts I made so I quickly put these together.

All supplies are Stampin' Up!

• Autumn Days stamp set
• Always Artichoke and Natural Ivory cardstock
• Always Artichoke and Chocolate Chip markers
• Corner rounder, 3/4" circle and 1/8" circle punches
• Big Shot and Two Tags die

Have a Blessed day.

Still Keeping Secrets!

   I made another gift card holder for my daughters. They are in their 20s and still love to hang their stockings! How awesome is that?! So of course we have to fill them and therein lies the problem. The older they get the more expensive it becomes. LOL. Actually they are happy with anything. Ok I am digressing. What was I talking about? Oh yeah - gift cards.

   We like to put a few gift cards in their stockings and of course I have to make a gift card holder! Here is the 2nd gift card holder I made (see previous post for other).

This is the Real Red version.

This is the Rose Red version.

   They are so easy to make. First I ran the cardstock through my Big Shot using the Petals-a-Plenty Textured Impressions Folder. Then I scored it and added a scallop border. A strip of Mellow Moss designer paper and Always Artichoke grosgrain ribbon was added to the front. To make the tag I used my markers (I honestly could not stamp without these things) and the scallop oval punch.

  I just realized I never photographed the inside. Rats! But I can explain it. Just lick the flap and seal a note card sized envelope. Then cut it in half, and trim down to about 2 3/4" inches. The gift card fits perfectly inside.

All supplies are Stampin' Up!

• Christmas Punch (Hostess) stamp set
• Real Red, Rose Red and  White cardstock
• Mellow Moss designer paper (hostess)
• Real Red, Rose Red, Always Artichoke markers
• Scallop Border punch and Scallop Oval punch
• Always Artichoke grosgrain ribbon
• Petals-a-Plenty Impressions Folder and Big Shot

  Hope you are enjoying the weekend!

Shh It's a Secret!

  but I just have to show you!

  Fortunately my daughters don't look at my blog so they won't be seeing these gift card holders until Christmas. Now you may be wondering why in the world they don't look at my blog and truthfully I don't know for sure that they don't but it's a safe bet they haven't and won't. It's just not their thing and that is perfectly ok with me!

   I had so much fun making these (3 in all)! You see I had an unexpected day off yesterday because of the snow we got so I did some laundry, baked some bread and stamped - all while the snow fell. I could say that the snow is what inspired the gift card holders but that would be false. I just really like this stamp set called Cold and Cuddly (Holiday Mini)!

   This is the inside. I saw the idea to use the Word Window punch for the actual gift card over at Stampin' Addicts. I thought it was so clever!  (Excuse the yellow gift card. It totally doesn't match but I didn't have a choice.)

  How did I do it? First I stamped the bear with White Craft ink and then embossed it with white embossing powder and cut it out. The hat, mug, iceberg, and sign are all stamped and cut out separately. It really wasn't that hard. After I adhered those to the card front I added the star.

   To make the star I just punched 2 stars from White cardstock and added a circle punched from the same designer paper and a silver brad. I did use some Tombow Multi purpose glue to hold the 2 stars together. Otherwise they spin and while this could be useful sometime, I just wasn't going for that look right now! lol.

All supplies are Stampin' Up!

• Cold and Cuddly (Holiday Mini) and Christmas Punch (Hostess) stamp sets
• Real Red, Soft Suede and White cardstock
• Christmas Cocoa specialty paper (Holiday Mini)
• Real Red and Soft Suede inks and markers
• White Craft ink
• White Embossing powder
• Word Window, Large Star, 1/2" circle and Wide Oval punches
• Silver Brad and Sponge
• Real Red polka dot ribbon - reverse side
• Tombow multi-purpose adhesive

Have a great day and keep on stampin'

Remembrance

   It is what we want when we lose a loved one. Those memories are so precious. I know.

   I made today's card for a dear lady who lost her father this week. Usually I agonize over sympathy cards because I want it to be meaningful and of course nothing too cutesy. For this card I turned to the stamp set Herb Expressions - specifically the Rosemary stamp. I thought it would be perfect for a sympathy card. Once I chose my stamp set I needed a card layout so I decided to use this sketch from Stamping 411.

It is the kind of sketch I love because it is straightforward with lots of room for creativity! Here is the card I made.

   Details: I used the Final Press Impressions Embossing folder for the background but before running it through the Big Shot I misted it lightly with water. It makes a deeper impression. For the main image I inked up my stamp with Rich Razzleberry ink. Then I took a blender pen and wiped the ink off the words Rosemary and Remembrance. Next I used markers to add color again to the words.  Love those markers! The image was colored in with a blender pen and ink.

  The Ribbon Rose: These are so much fun to make and so easy! First I put down some sticky strip on a piece of white cardstock. Then I just twisted some white taffeta ribbon and wound it in a circle on top of the sticky strip. Once it was the size I wanted I trimmed the cardstock so it can't be seen and added the ribbon leaves. It is the perfect detail for this card.

All supplies are Stampin' Up!

• Herb Expressions and Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp sets
• Orchid Opulence, Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive and White cardstock
• Cottage Wall designer paper
• Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive and Orchid Opulence ink and markers
• Word Window and Modern Label punches
• White Taffeta ribbon
• Sticky Strip
• dimensionals
• Final Press Impressions Embossing Folder and Big Shot

Snow today so the library is closed which means no work today for me! I think I'll do some stamping!

Happy Christmas!

Note: card was at an angle when I took photo. 

  I needed another challenge so I headed over to Paper Pal Arts for some inspiration! After looking at their vintage card, I immediately thought of this stamp from the set Home for Christmas. You know me - I love my watercolor paper and markers so that is what I used to color it.

  I loved the rustic, old fashioned look of their card so I tore some vanilla cardstock and sponged it with Close to Cocoa. The image itself is stamped with Black Stazon on watercolor paper and then colored and blended with various markers.

   Finally I used the "Happy" part of a Happy Graduation stamp found in Teeny Tiny Wishes and the "Christmas" part of the saying that comes in the Home for Christmas stamp set. Markers make this such an easy thing to do! Happy Christmas is not something I would normally say but since this is the saying on the card over at PPA I thought I'd try it. It has such an old fashioned ring to it!

   And then there is the ribbon! I couldn't decide what to do with it so I ended up laying some adhesive down on my cardstock and then began folding the ribbon directly on the adhesive. Mini glue dots keep the folds from popping up. I love this card. It is "so me". I hope you enjoy it too!

All supplies are Stampin' Up!

• Home for Christmas and Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp sets
• Real Red, Creamy Caramel, Vanilla cardstock and Watercolor paper
• Black Stazon ink and markers 
• Real Red Polka dot grosgrain ribbon (reverse side)
• Sponge
• Mini glue dots

Have a great week!

Green Bermuda Passion

How's that for a title?! It is taken from the colors used in this card! I needed a sketch to start me off so I went on over to Mojo Monday Blog for an idea. I found a great sketch and made this card.

I wanted to continue the round theme so I rounded the corners and added some round bling!

This is the sketch I used. If you are ever looking for creative ideas this blog is a great place to find some!

All supplies are Stampin' Up!

• Serene Snowflakes stamp set (Holiday Mini) and Teeny Tiny Wishes 
• Pink Passion, Bermuda Bay, Gable Green, White cardstock
• Pink Passion, Bermuda Bay, Gable Green markers
• Circle Scissors Plus
• dimensionals
• 1" circle punch, 1/2" circle punch and Modern Label punch
• Bermuda Bay grosgrain ribbon
• Ice Round Rhinestone brads

Thanks for stopping by

Branchin' Out again

   I had such big plans yesterday. I had the day off from work so I was gonna stamp, stamp, and stamp. Instead I woke up to no hot water which made for a day of phone calls and a repair man but we now have hot water! Yeah!

   I also ended up doing some errands for work even tho I didn't work yesterday. I have no one but myself to blame for that. And last night we had a dinner party to go to which was nice but I wanted to stamp! Do you ever find yourself listening to conversations and find your mind drifting off to a card or other project you have swirling in your head? If so be very careful when you respond to the conversation, you don't inadvertently respond to the conversation in your head!


  I did make one card  - that's it - one card in between the days events.  I used the sketch from Stampin Addicts. As soon as I saw the sketch I thought of this card.

   The colors: Not Quite Navy, Bashful Blue and Close to Cocoa. This combination is from a color challenge over at Stamping 411. And it was a challenge!

To make the card I stamped the tree from BRANCH OUT (love that set) with Close to Cocoa Craft ink on Glossy White card stock. I then embossed with Clear Embossing powder and used the White Crayon technique to add the snow on the branches. To do this I drew the "snow" on the branches and then sponged Bashful Blue and Not Quite Navy ink over the image. The crayon resists the ink so it then will appear right before your eyes!

The window frame was punched and raised up with dimensionals. Finally I stamped and cut out the little bird and stamped and cut out the cat from C is for Cat stamp set. I had alot of fun making this card!!

All supplies are Stampin' Up!

• Branch Out stamp set - soon to be retired.
• C is for Cat and Thank You Kindly stamp sets
• Bashful Blue, Not Quite Navy, Close to Cocoa, Glossy White, White cardstock
• Bashful Blue, Not Quite Navy, Close to Cocoa ink
• Close to Cocoa Craft ink
• Clear Embossing Powder
• 1 3/8" square punch
• Buttons
• dimensionals and sponges and white crayon (not Stampin up!)

Have a wonderful weekend!

Branch Out

Ok I know autumn is over and trees (at least ours) are bare but I wanted to show this card for a reason. Now you are probably thinking this card looks kind of familiar like you saw it before maybe? Well you did and you didn't! I posted a card similar to this one. That card used the tree from Thoughts and Prayers. This card uses one of my favorite sets, Branch Out.


Branch Out. A versatile stamp set. My kind of stamp set. And now it is retiring and I am sad to see it go.
You see it has been on the dormant list  which means it is not in the catalog but is still available for sale. There are actually 37 stamp sets in all that are dormant.

Item Number	Stamp Set
113407	Back Woods
114492	Beautiful Baby
114486	Birthday Wish
113200	Branch Out
114496	Celebrations
113732	Central Park
113206	Classic Sketches
113226	Classy & Fabulous
114498	Flowers in Silhouette
113405	Font of You
113216	For the Bride
114494	Forever
109425	Friend by Definition
114488	Fun Flowers
113716	Garden Greetings
114490	Glad Friends
111580	Grand Soiree
113242	Hit the Road
113710	Lexicon of Leaves
113236	Man's Best Friend
114423	Ocean Commotion
113728	Playful Petals
109276	Polka Dot
111544	Putt Putt
113240	Quilt Quips
113754	Really Retro
113403	Sip by Sip
113726	Sweet Stems
113250	That's Funny
113688	Wonderful Watercolors
114028	Para la novia
114032	Acuarelas Maravillosas

 Sorry I don't have the catalog in which they appeared or the page numbers or prices. They are mainly from the 2009 Spring Idea Book and Catalog. See something you like? Let me know.

Thanks for stopping by.

More to dye for

 I'm back! Sorry about the lack of posts recently. We were away visiting our extended family for Thanksgiving and a few days after. It was soooo good to see the girls and just hang out with them. As a result of being away, I didn't always have internet access and of course I wasn't stamping!

   Here is a card I pulled out of "storage". It uses retired designer paper (sorry about that) but it shows one of our Pretties flowers dyed Apricot - thus the title of this post! To dye a Pretties flower you just need reinker (ink refill) or a marker and a water spritzer. I love the versatility of our products and how easy it is to create your own matching embellishments using those 2 items!

Not much stamping on this square card.

All supplies are Stampin' Up! Click here to order from me.

• Bordering Blue, Chocolate chip, White cardstock
• Bella Birds designer paper (retired
• Chocolate Chip ink and Apricot Appeal reinker
• Pretties flower
• Basic Jumbo Grommet
• Jumbo Brad
• White Satin Ribbon
• Ticket Corner punch, 1 1/4" circle punch, Large and Small Oval punches, Designer Label punch

Off to work I have to go. Thanks for stopping by!