HOLLY MERRY CHRISTMAS

Today is "Black Friday" but you won't find me out in the rush of people pushing and shoving for the best deals.  I'll gladly do my shopping at a more relaxed time.......although from now until Christmas the traffic and people are just going to be there.

If I'm not mistaken, I believe this is a CASE of a card my friend Lynette made at one time.  The die cut the holly design on a piece of cream card stock, and then I mounted it on a Garden Green card base.  Red Stickles was added to each of the berries which also added sparkle to the design.  I believe the "A Merry Christmas" is from a Stampin' Up! set.

Thank you for coming by today!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

WREATH using 2 SU Die sets

The Soft Suede circle was made using a die from "Swirly Scribbles Thinlits". The bow, pine and red piece were cut from the "Pretty Pines Thinlits".

I actually took the picture of this card quite awhile ago but since then I did add a red "Peace" die cut at the bottom.

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STAMPIN' UP! - Ornamental Pine

We made 42 of these cards for the independent living center where my mother lives.  Mat and pine are SU Garden Green.  The pine cone was inked with  Memento Rich Cocoa.  After adding the pine cone, I used an Ink of Stella Gold marker to fill in the cone which added some great sparkle.

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HAPPY LITTLE TREE

Last Friday my friends joined me to make the 100 cards for Christmas.  We made 60 of these for the nursing home.  Actually this one has one more added addition.  When I was coloring the trees, I accidentally touched the tip of the marker in a spot to the left of the tree.........therefore, this card has a little added Cardinal. It worked perfectly!

The stamp is from Impression Obsession and the sentiment is from the Stampin' Up! Ornamental Pine stamp set.  Tomorrow you will see a card using the SU set.

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STAMPIN' UP! - Thoughtful Branches

At one of our group gatherings in Des Moines, I stamped off some pieces from the SU Thoughtful Branches stamp set that belonged to a friend.  For this card I had stamped the tree and the two little birds.  I had temporarily attached the one little bird off to the side so I could finish the card when I got home.  Well, the pieces got put off to the side and forgotten.  That was at least a year and a half ago. 

To make a long story shorter, this is what I ended up with.  I am OK with it other than the streak of "snow" that I made across the trunk of the tree. That was poor planning, but at least the two cards have been finished.

Tomorrow my two friends are coming and we're going to be making the 100 Christmas cards. I also have a quick little project for them to each make a gift card holder.  Thank you for coming by today.

MAKING A "BENDY CARD"

I had never seen one of these cards let alone tried to make one.  When I saw one on someone's blog, I knew it was going to be the next challenge to myself.  I pretty much CASED the card I saw but on a second one made some minor changes in how I did it.  And if I do another one, I have another change I'm going to make.

I used Stampin' Up! supplies for this card:  Marina Mist card stock, Night of Navy ink, Happy Scenes stamp set and Sleigh Ride dies 

The pieces with the sleigh ride and three trees are able to lay flat for mailing.  It would be difficult to explain the process of making one. Here is a link to the video I followed:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1XC_I8LUpc&list=WL&index=46&t=0s

If the link doesn't work for you go go YouTube.com and do a search for Sleigh Ride Bendy Card.

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PEACE

This was actually a card I made last year.  I have so many dies and supplies for Christmas cards that when I start making them in November it's hard to stop.   The green card stock and designer paper are from Stampin' Up!  I cut the white and green mats with stitched ovals.  I think the die is from Spellbinders.

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IMPRESSION OBSESSION - Holly Joy

This was a pretty quick and easy card to finish off the week.  I stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored with Copic markers (R27 and G05).  I matted it first with red and then white before adding it to the red card base.  A piece of 4" x 5 1/4" white card stock was added to the inside for a sentiment to be added.

Thank you for coming by today!  Hope you have a great weekend!

TRADITIONAL COLOR vs NON-TRADITIONAL - 2 cards

Sometimes I like to use non-traditional colors on Christmas cards.  I have a few of the new blender markers from Stampin' Up!.  I wanted to use the new Balmy Blue card stock so I picked out three colors that worked pretty well together.  The stamp is from Impression Obsession and I found a name for this one....."Patterned Trees".  

I wanted to make several of these so I used my MISTI to stamp them on the lower half of a 3 3/4" x 5" piece of card stock.  The trees were colored with Highland Heather, Balmy Blue and Old Olive & a Copic E31 for the trunks of the trees.  I added the gold metal pieces to the top of each tree and added the no brand Merry Christmas die cut.

I like the first card really well, but this one is my favorite.  I used the light and dark Old Olive blenders for this one and the Copic E31 for the trunks.

So which one is your favorite?  Thank you for coming by today!

IMPRESSION OBSESSION - Merry Christmas

Last spring I was able to make an unscheduled stop at Memory Bound in Ankeny, Iowa.  Naturally I found some things that I really "needed", but I also was pleased to find some Impression Obsession Christmas stamps that were marked way down.  I bought four different designs. Two more are scheduled for this week.  The fourth one is one we will be using to make the cards for the living center and care center.

Impression Obsession only put F21136 on the package - no name of the stamp.  I stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black ink and then colored with Copics (R27, G05 and G17).  A red mat was added.

I was going to just add it to the white card base but it looked a little plain so I used a 4" x 5 1/4" piece of embossed card stock and added it to the card base first.  The matted design was added with foam squares.

Below is a second card with the same colors and layout.  On the first card I was wishing the "Merry Christmas" could have been  heat embossed in gold.  I stamped the design again with VersaMark and heat embossed it with Egyptian Gold powder.  I like the "Merry Christmas" but I don't like the rest of it.  It didn't color as nicely as the first one.  I won't be doing it again like the second card.

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STAMPIN' UP! - Another Feels Like Frost card

The Frosted Frame die frames part of the designer paper perfectly.  I am loving the cards that these papers make so much that I'm going to have a hard time parting with them. (This card is 5" x 6 1/2")

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STAMPIN' UP! - Feels Like Frost & Sleigh Ride

The beautiful designer paper would have made a beautiful card all by itself, but I thought it would be fun to add a die cut from the "Sleigh Ride" die set.  It just seemed to fit.  The card is 6" x 5 1/2" to take full advantage of the designer paper.

This scene is particularly appropriate for us today.  We received our second snowfall over night and it was enough that they cancelled school for the day.  Winter has arrived early and it's way too soon to be having "snow days" for school kids!

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STAMPIN' UP! - Feels Like Frost

I've said it before, but these papers are just so pretty!  I trimmed very little of the dp from all sides and matted it with SU Blushing Bride card stock.  The piece was then added to a white 5" x 6 1/2" card.

While the card was still laying on my craft table, I decided to add some Clear Wink of Stella to the trees and snowy ground.....sorry it doesn't show up in the picture.  Later I thought it would be fun to add a couple of little white bunnies who look like they might be wanting to play.

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100 THANKSGIVING CARDS

I have to give credit to my friend, Kris, who sent me a card very similar to this last year for Thanksgiving.  It was a great idea for me to use this year.

This post is a replica of a card that we made for a care center and an independent living center.  This was a sample that I had made up ahead of time but the ones we made actually used white card stock for the base since I didn't have enough of this paper.  The dp used was very economical since I was able to get it at Hobby Lobby for 4/$1.00. 

Leaves used on the cards were Maple and Oak leaves.  The large leaves were all cut from a discontinued SU card stock that matched perfect to the dp.  I think that was Ruby Red but not sure.  I had gold paper that made a nice accent leaf.  Fortunately since I needed so many leaves for that many cards I was able to cut multiple leaves at one time.

The sentiment is from Stampabilities.  Thank you for stopping by today!

STAMPIN' UP! - Daisy Lane

I used the Highland Heather card stock for the base and matching gingham dp. The daisy was stamped twice and punched out.  The leaves are from a Tim Holtz die set of leaves.

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STAMPIN' UP! - Feels Like Frost DP

These papers from the Feels Like Frost pack are just gorgeous!  I cut this piece to 4" x 5 1/4" and added it to a piece of 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" silver card stock and then attached it to a white card base. 

I taped two sizes of rectangle dies together and cut the frames for the card above and the one below.

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SOMETIMES SIMPLE IS BEST

I die cut the piece in white but then took some time trying to decide how I wanted to use it.  I still have several sheets of Yupo paper that were done in alcohol inks and chose this one.  I liked that there was gold that showed through,

Using a Spellbinders circle die I cut a circle of the Yupo paper slightly smaller than the white design and added it to the shiny gold circle which was larger than the white designs.  I wanted some dimension so I added the white layer on the other two circles using small foam squares.

Now I had this pretty design but was having a hard time finding the right way to use it.  None of my Stampin' Up! papers were the right color but I found a piece in a pad of Tim Holtz Core'dinations papers.  I debated about embossing the paper from the pad, but left it plain and decided that sometimes "simple is best"...........letting the circle speak for itself on the card with no further embellishment.

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THANKSGIVING CARD

It is so hard to believe that we are now in the month of November.  While I always look forward to the Thanksgiving meal, the year has slipped by entirely too fast!

This is one of the cards I'll be making for Thanksgiving.  The die cut words are from Penny Black.  I cut them using card stock that had been added to "Stick-It" adhesive.  It made it a little easier to add them to the card since they are so delicate  I believe the wheat die cut is from Impression Obsessions.

Thank you for coming by today.