Monday, December 30, 2013

IT HAS BEEN 1O DAYS!!!

 
 
I thought I would place a quick post today.  I'm sorry to say right now I don't have any new cards to show you.  My last post was December 20 and since then it has been very  busy with Christmas preparations and getting cards in the mail.  It all seemed to be a little over-whelming for me this year so  decided something had to give and............it was blogging.
 
Now I am trying to get caught up with everything that got slighted during the last month.  I hope to be back with a new card no later than a week from today.............hopefully sooner.
 
In the meantime, I do hope that all of you have had a wonderful time during the holiday with your family and friends.  I also want to wish a HAPPY, HEALTHY NEW YEAR IN 2014!!!
 
And as they say in the movies...............I'LL BE BACK!

Friday, December 20, 2013

STAMPIN' UP! - JOYFUL CHRISTMAS


 
This is a card I made from one of Ann Schach's  (The Stampin' Schach) lessons of the month.  It isn't a color I would normally use for Christmas, but I absolutely love it!  There will definitely be more made like it for next year.
 
Thank you for stopping by!  Your comments are always welcome and appreciated.

Thursday, December 19, 2013

CHRISTMAS CARD FOR ANN

I became acquainted with Ann Schach (The Stampin' Schach) about 2 1/2 years ago I think when we both took a class from Michelle Zindorf.  We have stayed in touch and recently I signed up with Stampin' Up! with her.  One of the first sets I purchased as a demonstrator was the Joyful Christmas stamp set.  Originally I hadn't planned on getting it, but was seeing a few ideas for it and am really glad it was added to my original order.
 
 
This is the Christmas card I sent to Ann.  I made the flower and leaves by stamping the designs with VersaMark on vellum and then embossed it with white powder.  I sponged the SU Baja Breeze and I think Old Olive inks over the pieces and then trimmed them.  It is really easy to cut out the pieces when they have been heat embossed.  Tiny pearls were added to the center of the poinsettia.  (Ann is a great lover of pearls!)
 
The poinsettia was added to a piece of white card stock which I had spritzed with Baja Breze ink using the SU tool and the marker.  I stamped the sentiment and then mounted this piece onto a Baja Breeze mat.  I chose an embossing folder with random dots to use on the front of the card.  It seemed to tie in the sprited dots on the layer with the flower.  Rather than adding the layer straight on the front of the card, I like the way the layer was angled.
 
 
It's probably a little late for you to order this set to use for this year, but if you would like to consider it for next year, I'll be more than happy to order it for you. 
 
Thank you for stopping by!  Your comments are always welcome and appreciated!

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

EMBOSSING IN WHITE

 
When I attended one of the SU Workshops several months ago, we made a card similar to this.   The stamped design on this is not from Stampin' Up! but is a Stampendous design.  It was on my table and I thought it would be a great one to use for this card.  I stamped the design with VersaMark and embossed with white powder.
 
 
And here is a peek of the inside of the card.  I don't always think to add a little design inside but I did for this one. 
 
One of my favorite things about Stampin' Up! is that the colors are available in cardstock, inks, markers, ribbons and a lot of other embellishments.  This makes card making so much easier. 
 
The Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa and Black cardstock are all from Stampin' Up!.   The off white card stock is from PapertreyInk.  The little sentiment is from the SU Itty Bitty Banners stamp set (Clear Set for $11.95 or Wood Mounted for $15.95). 
 
The cardstock mentioned, the stamp set and VersaMark inks can be ordered through me.  Let me know anytime if you would like to place an order for something you see on my blog from Stampin' Up! that you would like to add to your  collection.
 
Thank you for stopping by!  Your comments are always welcome and appreciated!

 

Monday, December 16, 2013

STAMPIN' UP! - BEAUTIFUL SEASON

I thought I had scheduled posts for last Thursday and Friday but with all that has been going on, I guess that didn't get done.  I have been busy getting our Christmas and Holiday cards out to friends and family.  We also had the funeral of one of my husband's cousins.
 
 
I'm sorry I guess this set is retired.  I bought it last year after Christmas but didn't get around to using it until this year.  Actually I didn't make these cards until after I had more than enough to send for 2013.......so I have a head start on 2014. 

 
 
Intended for December 12: This first card was made using a retired SU embossing folder on the front of the card base.  I then stamped the design on a piece of white card stock and colored it with my Copic markers and SU markers.  The design was cut and embossed with a Spellbinders Classic Oval and then mounted onto a mat which had been cut with the next largest Classic Oval.

 
Intended for December 13:  For this card I stepped it up a bit and added some more layers. The ecru colored card base was embossed with the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder.   I thought this piece of dp that I had in my "stash" went nicely with the stamped design.  This time the stamped design was added to a mat of SU Garden Green card stock.  Using a Spellbinders Labels 28 I cut out the sentiment from the Beautiful Season stamp set and then edged the label with the green ink and lightly sponged additional green ink over the sentiment.

I hope you enjoyed these two cards that did not get posted last week.  Thank you for stopping by.........and please stop by again soon.  Your comments are always welcome and appreciated!

STAMPIN' UP! - SIMPLY SOFT

 
Retired

 
The idea for this card came from one I saw on Pinterest.  I changed the embossing folder for the card base and used a different Martha Stewart punch. 


I wanted to change up the colors and make it a little more my own, so I found this piece of dp in my box of pieces.  The picture makes the dp look a little brighter pink than the stamped design, but the lightest color in the dp layer actualy goes very well with it.
 
My days seem to get so busy that I don't have a lot of time to sit and think about what I would like to make so Pinterest is a wonderful place to get ideas and get the juices flowing. 
 
Thank you for stopping by!  Your comments are always welcome and appreciated!

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

STAMPIN' UP! - Thinlits Labels Die


I really love the new Stampin' Up! Thinlit Dies!!!  They make such an interesting card to send instead of the standard A2 cards that I normally do.  

The left panel and the right panel both open.  I'm going to be making more cards in the future with this die for birthdays etc.  If you are interested in purchasing one for yourself, just let me know.  I'll be happy to help you with one of these or anything from Stampin' Up!

Thank you so much for stopping by!  Your comments are always appreciated!!!

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

MORE THREE CANDLES



Using the same design that was used on yesterday's cards, I mounted the designs onto Stampin' Up! Real Red card stock. 


And for this one I used a "Merry Christmas" stamp from Penny Black.

Thank you for stopping by!

Monday, December 9, 2013

THREE CANDLES


These two examples show how easy it is to make pretty Clean and Simple cards to send.  Because I make between 75 and 100 cards each year, this is one design I used for several cards.  The candles are a DeNami Design and so easy to color.  These are one-layer cards.  I colored them with SU markers so the color wouldn't bleed through the card stock.  The picture doesn't show it very well, but I added Stampendous flat gold metal stickers on the "berries" for some bling.

I almost sold this candle stamp at the Fall Stamp Sale...........sure glad I didn't.  The sentiment on the left is from Hero Arts.  The sentiment on the right is from Paper Inspirations and are stamps I have had in my supplies for several years.

So tell me what you think........Thank you for stopping by!

Friday, December 6, 2013

WHITE ON WHITE - PEACE ON EARTH


To give the card a look of snow I embossed the front of the card with a Cuttlebug folder with random dots  Then I added the two pieces that were cut with Memory Box dies.  I stamped the sentiment and then ran a line of Stickles Crystal Ice Glitter Glue along the base of the tree line for some sparkle.
 
Thanks for stopping by!
 
 

Thursday, December 5, 2013

YESTERDAY'S CARD ONLY IN RED



These dimensional stickers have touches of glitter on them which really make the card even more special.

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

NON-TRADITIONAL CHRISTMAS COLORS


Last year I had already purchased some new items that I wanted to use on Christmas cards for 2013 and that was long before I signed up to sell Stampin' Up! products.  I am trying to use up a lot of those items so I'm sorry this isn't a Stampin' Up! design. 
 
I thought this turned out kind of pretty and wanted to share it.  The package of dimensional Poinsettias that I had from K&Company had two that were perfect shades to put on the Stampin' Up! Pretty In Pink card stock (so I did use SU product here).    The "Season's Greetings" is a stamp that I have had in my supplies.
 
So what do you think?  I'd love to hear from you.  Thanks for stopping by!

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

CASING A CHRISTMAS CARD


Last year I received a Christmas card from my friend, Lynette, that was made like this.  Since I had some of the very same paper which had been in my supplies for a very long time, I decided to make one nearly identical.  The ribbon I attached is different and the way I did my sentiment is different.  I still have more of that paper though so I think I'll probably made a few more like this to use for the people who live in the independent living center where my mother lives.  I think it makes a really neat presentation.

Thanks for stopping by!

Monday, December 2, 2013

STAMPIN' UP! - Of the Earth


Today I'm taking a little break from Christmas cards.  My post for today is later than I had planned but I feel like I'm still catching my breath after a very busy four days of activities.

One of those activities was this past Friday when I went to a craft show with one of our daughters and two granddaughters.  One of the crafters there had a huge selection of her hand made cards using stamps from various companies.  I was pretty sure I had the right stamp set for this card so I bought one of hers to help me remember how I wanted to make one like it.

The card she made used similar colors but the ones I chose are just a little brighter.....Riding Hood Red, Marina Mist and Wild Wasabi.  I stamped the design in each color on white card stock pieces measuring 1 1/4" x 3".  Before adding the pieces to the front of the card with foam dots, I embossed a portion of the card front with the Swiss Dots folder.  Two lines were scored under the floral designs.  The sentiment is one I have in my stamp "stash".

I made two others similar to this using Birthday sentiments and I can see the same thing being made with a variety of other colors and other designs.

Thank you so much for stopping by!

One of the cards made on  this  vi.deo used this stamp from the Flowing Flowers set.  This isn't a two-step design and I wasn't sure...