Mitten Gift Card Holder

I never thought I’d utter these four words…I miss the snow. It’s crazy to think I’m missing the snow right now as it just doesn’t seem like Christmas, much less December, without the snow!

Add to that craziness, the last two weeks have been ridiculously busy and go-go-go. All last week I battled migraines, headaches and nausea which left me feeling tired and grumpy. Not a happy crafter and not productive at all. This week has been non-stop with wrapping up some work projects before taking off to spend Christmas with my family. I have been grateful for the busyness though as it’s made the week go by quickly as I count down the days in anticipation of getting to hug my mom and dad! :)

So tonight, I’m sharing a project that was made quite awhile ago since I haven’t had time to play, and is reminiscent of the days when we will finally get snow that stays longer than 24 hours in the valley.

 

This little mitten gift card holder is a Silhouette cut file and is super simple to put together! Although the actual ribbon trim and paper I used is no longer available, you can definitely substitute with other colors to create your own cute gift card holder!

I’m hoping I can squeeze some play time in among my lengthy to do list! Wish me luck!

Sparkly Christmas

 

Sharing a super quick card today. This Be Jolly set from Technique Tuesday was another I had previously won and finally inked it up. I love this tree shape with the fillable ornaments and thought it would be perfect for the color challenge at Just Add Ink.  A simple star and bakers twine topped off the card, but it’s the bright and festive colors that make it fun.

Although hard to tell in the photo, I added dazzling diamonds to the garland across the tree.

Heartfelt Thanks

Do you keep the little pieces or bits from past projects that you didn’t quite use? I admit to hanging onto those random bits with the thought or idea that one day they might come in handy and I’ll use them on a future project. While it doesn’t always happen, today was one of those days and my hoarder tendencies  became useful. 

It all started with this gold square that I’d used to die cut a heart, and saved the cut-out thinking I’d use the gold piece later. It’s fun to be able to use the negative of die cuts! I used the color combo from Crazy 4 Challenge and the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches to pull everything together.

I stamped the dots from Gorgeous Grunge in Lost Lagoon ink onto a Very Vanilla card base, and then layered on the gold square which had a little piece of Crisp Cantaloupe cardstock behind the heart. The sentiment strip also in Lost Lagoon, was embossed in gold and then a mini Strawberry Slush heart and gold sequins accent the main panel.

 

Happy BDAY

I’m always in need of birthday cards. I like to keep a stack on hand for when the kids are heading to a friends birthday party, but am not the best about giving them out myself! New goal  for next year.

 

Manly and boy cards can be tricky. Not a lot of bling or embellishments and neutral colors are generally safe bets, but can be kind of boring, right?  I loved the color combo from Nacho Average Challenge of Smoky Slate, Soft Sky and Pistachio Pudding, and thought it would be perfect to use to whip up some birthday cards for my stash.

I started with a Soft Sky card base, and stamped the letters from the What’s Your Type set to spell out BDAY onto Whisper White cardstock. The “happy” came from a past Paper Pumpkin kit. After the stamped image panel was adhered to the card base I added some Pistachio star sequins to the card front.

Super CAS (clean and simple), a little graphic and easy/fun to create – totally my kind of card! The colors can also be changed to match a recipients favorite colors.

Also linking up to Seize the Birthday for their anything goes birthday challenge, and to Addicted to Stamps for their CAS challenge.

 

Noel

I love making Christmas cards. You can go traditional in red and green colors or go snowy with blues - either works!  This card wasn’t my favorite but some friends said it was their favorite out of a bunch we had at my Christmas Card Class. You never know what people are going to love!

Lovely as a Tree has been one of those stamps that I’ve had for years but it’s still in the catalog! It must still be super popular since it’s still around! I have my wood mount stamp set (really need to take the time to convert my favorites to clear right?!) and used the lone pine tree for this card.

Stamp in a lighter color and then slightly stamp off in a darker color to create a shadow of your image. I used Smoky Slate and Night of Navy here, and used those same colors throughout the card. The card base was embossed with the Northern Flurries embossing folder.

Linking up today to The Card Concept for their snow/tag on a card challenge (using the Clean and Layered Style) and the Paper Players for the  tic-tac-toe challenge using the tree, embossing and glitter row, or you could say the star, die cut and glitter row works as well. ;)

 

  

Santa’s List

  

He’s making a list and checking it twice. Are you naughty or nice? Pretty sure I’m on the nice list this year. At least I hope so.

Super simple and quick card today for the Freshly Made Sketches sketch challenge.

 

The patterned paper background (Moonlight DSP) adds a fun twist as it looks like graph paper for lists and makes a pop. Fun tip – stamp directly onto your DSP, you might be surprised! This Santa is retired from last year but I loved him so much and wanted to pull him back out.

Washi tape and twine from the November Paper Pumpkin kit (washi tape also available from the holiday catalog) anchor the main image panel and tie in the gray color from the patterned paper.

I’d say I’m about 85% done with my Christmas shopping, but still have a few more things on my list!

Holiday Calories Don’t Count

I wish that were true. I would have eaten more pie this year.

Speaking of pie, how about a card with a pie where the calories really don’t count?

This cutie little pie is the free shape of the week at the Silhouette Store.  I removed the “give thanks” and resized the pie pieces to fit on the front of a card. Sentiment from the October My Paper Pumpkin kit stamped in Momento Black. 

I struggled to come up with an idea for the EAT cue card at CASology until I remembered this free shape and the sentiment. It all came together so easily after! One of those moments I wanted to smack my forehead, ha. Using the sketch at Case This Sketch again because it was perfect for this concept.

Also linking up to My Pumpkin Challenge. If you’re delivering an extra pie or some Thanksgiving leftovers this would be the perfect accessory to your pie, right? ;)

 

Celebrate the Season

Brr, it’s cold in here…there must be some Torro’s in the atmosphere!

(Name that movie. I love you forever.)

I am not one made for cold weather. The fact that I’ve lived in Utah, aka the Greatest Snow on Earth, for going on 13 years should be testament enough that I love my family, friends and job because otherwise there’s no way I would live here, ha! We’re retiring to Florida with my family. For reals. I’ve decided. But to be fair, we’ll probably be Boston “snowbirds” so hubby can fulfill his retirement dreams to watch the Red Sox home games during baseball season.  I’m all about compromise. ;)

Since I’m not a cold weather fan, the closest I come is the occasional ski day and making cards with winter elements. I’m a trooper. ;)

 

Today’s card was inspired by  the Friday Mashup to create a weather inspired project with the mashup of a metal embellishment and the challenge at Inkspirational to create a Christmas card with the twist or no red of green. I used lots of my favorites on this card!

I started with a Whisper White card base, and then layered on some Pool Party cardstock that had been embossed with the On Point embossing folder. The white rectangle was stamped with the snowflakes and sentiment from the Endless Wishes stamp set in Island Indigo, Pool Party and Smoky Slate. My metal embellishment came in the form of staples securing the glitter strip and Lost Lagoon ribbon, and then topped off with a strip of washi tape. The bottom edge was torn and a few sequins and snowflake were clustered in the corner.

We’ll be celebrating Christmas this year in Florida and while that will be a change (no snow!) I’m SO looking forward to spending time with my family! As much as I don’t like the cooler weather I have to admit I love these frosty colors, and how beautifully the snow blankets everything in pristine white and glitter. Hopefully I captured a little bit of that magic in this card!

Happy Wonderful Christmas

I’m not a Black Friday shopper, but I am heading out to meet up with some friends for lunch and to make a few purchases.

Posting a quick card before I head out the door!

Playing along in more challenges today! Sketch from The Paper Players and color combo from Color Throwdown to use Kraft, Red, Aqua and Silver. Pretty straightforward card, but I did paper piece the ornament to give it a different look instead of coloring it in.

Happy Black Friday to anyone out shopping today!

 

Stitched Leaves Hi

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today I have a simple but cute little card to share.

Although fall leaves are quickly disappearing I wanted to do one final fall card on Thanksgiving before winter is fully upon us!

I drew little leaves and the sentiment on Crumb Cake cardstock with a pencil, and then poked holes to stitch through with embroidery floss. After stitching I mounted the panel to the card base with dimensionals. Stitching can be time consuming but oh so worth it to add a homespun touch to your projects!

I’m linking up my card to the All Sorts Challenge for no decorative/design paper and to  Crazy 4 Challenges to create a card that says hello. “Hi” totally works, right? ;)

Hope your day is full of fun, food and family!

Merry & Bright

Sometimes you get a crazy idea.

And then sometimes you actually act on that crazy idea.

After seeing the photo inspiration at Just Us Girls I had the crazy idea that I wanted to make a snowy and frosty wreath like the one in the photo. Queue the Time Out Challenge  for embossing with the optional twist of sparkle and pull in the sketch from Case This Sketch and your crazy idea just might work. Maybe.

Now, if I’m being honest this maybe doesn’t quite fit the CAS part of CASe this Sketch with all the sequins on the sparkly wreath, but overall it’s still pretty simple in design, right? ;)

I started with a Smoky Slate base and stamped the sequins from Hello Darling. I absolutely cannot put my wreath framelits down and die cut two wreaths in Whisper White, embossed both with Dazzling Diamonds and then layered them together with dimensionals. After adhering to the card base I began adding the sequins along with a die cut bow in glimmer paper. The sentiment from Endless Wishes was stamped and embossed in silver.

Super crazy, but I think I kinda love it. ;)

Ornament Bauble

I hosted a Christmas Card Workshop for my friends this past weekend and we had a blast!

One of the cards we made used the new Christmas Bauble stamp. It’s a single wood-mount stamp, but makes such a big impact on your card!

To color this in I used an “oldie” but a goodie – blender pens! I forgot how much I loved using these pens with my ink pads to color in images. It takes a little longer but I love the messy look you can get by scribbling in the lines which is exactly the look I was going for.

I embossed the Real Red card base with the Stylish Stripes embossing folder and then layered on a doily. The main image piece got a little depth with the center being punched out on a separate piece of cardstock and then lifted with a dimensional. Washi tape, dazzling details in cherry cobbler and the sentiment from Endless Wishes all brought the main image panel together.

Although a blender pen is technically not a “marker” I’m linking this up with SUO Challenges for their marker fun challenge, and to Merry Monday for their Red, Green and White challenge! We’ll count the gray as my neutral right? ;)

One Layer Thanks

I feel like you might be getting holiday whiplash on my blog this week from the Christmas and Fall/Thanks(giving) cards lately. Also add to the fact that I’m posting twice in one day. It’s like a Christmas miracle, but prepare yourself for one more fallish card. Not making any promises this feather set won’t pop up again before I fully launch into winter and other holiday cards. ;)

One layer cards are seemingly the easiest cards to make since you’re limiting yourself, but really there is a fair amount of restraint in not adding anything extra and making that one layer shine! There’s a  timed one  layer challenge over at Mod Squad and paired with this gorgeous color combo of Blackberry Bliss, Tangelo Twist and Hello Honey at Create with Connie and Mary this came together in less than two minutes! Pretty sure I spent more time debating the placement than it took to actually stamp! The overall Thankful for Fall theme at Catherine and Cathy Create tied it all together. The Very Vanilla base and gold sequins add a warm vibe vs. using a stark white card base.

We’re in for some snow tonight and tomorrow so seeing these pretty fall colors together keeps the winter chills at bay for a little longer…right? :)

Merry Christmas Wreath

Posting this quickly as we’re getting ready to head out and watch The Hunger Games (Mockingjay Part 1)!

Here’s a super simple and easy Christmas card using the Wondrous Wreath stamp set and matching framelits. There is quite a bit of texture and dimension to this card though to give it a little more pop.

I used the sketch from Pals Paper Arts and the color combo from Nacho Average Challenge to pull this together. The base is Early Espresso and the first layer is a Very Vanilla which was embossed with the Stylish Stripes embossing folder. To give the wreath added dimension, I die cut the lower layer and then stamped and die cut the top layer in Garden Green. Dimensionals adhere the two pieces together and I slightly rotated the top layer to make the wreath look fuller. I did the same treatment to the bow to lift it off the wreath. The sentiment from Endless Wishes was heat embossed with gold embossing powder on the Cherry Cobbler strip, and a Very Vintage vanilla button completed the card.

 

Thankful for You

I can’t believe it’s almost Thanksgiving! I love creating cards or scrapbook pages during the season, it just seems to get me in the holiday spirit, no matter what the holiday is.

Today’s card was inspired by  The Paper Players Clean and Simple Thank You challenge, and the Pals Paper Arts color challenge to use Old Olive, Crushed Curry and Pumpkin Pie.

Couldn’t be more clean and simple than a one-layer card! I used Naturals White for the card base and stamped the feather in curry, followed by the sentiment over top in olive, and two pumpkin candy dots finished off the card.

I’m looking forward to trying this same overlapping technique soon with other stamps and colors!

 

Being Thankful

 

I’m not sure if it’s because I organized my studio last weekend (still in progress, ha!), or that I’ve offloaded some work responsibilities so feel a little less stressed in general, or that my house was cleaned before Sunday, but I found some time this weekend to play. I looked to some challenge blogs that I haven’t been able to join in quite awhile.

This card was inspired by the Stampin’ Royalty Being Thankful challenge and the Just Add Ink Texture challenge.

I recently got the Four Feathers stamps and framelits and couldn’t wait to use them! I started with a Crumb Cake base, stamped the feathers in Blackberry Bliss and then layered on a Blackberry Bliss cardstock piece cut into a pennant shape. The sentiment was heat embossed in gold, then layered beneath the sentiment a doily, strip of gold foil paper, gold sequin trim and then accented with die cut feathers, two with embossed gold tips.

Thanks for stopping by!

Paper Crafts & Scrapbooking

Change is hard.

Sometimes the change is good and the resulting outcome is even better than the way things were. Other times change seems like the worst possible outcome and you wish things could go back to the way it always had been.

The craft world reeled at the news last week that Paper Crafts & Scrapbooking Magazine would be ceasing publication after the February 2015 issue. While I had taken a crafty backseat in submitting the last few months, I like many others had come to find friendships through PCS and was always inspired by blog posts, Go-to-Gals and the monthly magazine and special issues. Now, all of that is going away. My heart aches for the talented editorial team as they search for new jobs and finish out the next couple weeks wrapping up and saying good-bye to the crafting community that lovingly embraced them.

Rather than dwelling on the sadness, I wanted to spend some time remembering the magazine that pushed me to become a better card maker and challenged me to try new and different things with each publication call. I was always impressed with the content of each magazine and felt incredibly fortunate to have my cards grace those glossy pages (and one COVER!), and sit alongside some of the best crafters in the industry.

I hadn’t shared the recent projects and cards I’d had published as I took a blog hiatus during the busy fall months, but thought I’d share those today. Previously shared published cards here.

The Holiday Cards & More, Vol. 9 came out in August (I saw it in Michael’s recently!) and I had 5 projects in this issue.

You can also view my cupcake wrapper on this post at the Paper Crafts Connection Blog.

I loved this pillow box made with my Silhouette Cameo! Stamp, ink and cardstock from Stampin’ Up!

This goes a little out of order ;) but I had four projects in the October 2014 issue with one of those being featured on the cover!

The cute “treats” container is my little project! I used my Cameo for every card in this issue! I LOVE crafting with it and it’s been by far my favorite Christmas present EVER! Thanks mom and dad! ;)

Here’s one other card I had in the issue, a tombstone card! I sponged the cardstock with ink to give it a weathered look. Literally took all of 5 minutes to create with cutting, sponging and adhering together. I love fast and cute cards!

Here’s to PCS! I wish the team the best of luck in their future endeavors and may they find the winds of change to be in their favor.

Thanks Card Set

While I had a bunch of inks and the  What’s Your Type stamp set out making this scrapbook page the other night I decided to make a quick set of cards inspired by the color combo at The Paper Players since I was already using some of the same colors.

 

My Basic Gray ink pad needs to be replaced, so I substituted Smoky Slate for Basic Gray instead. :) I didn’t have a specific idea going in on placement of the images, I just wanted to play around and kind of like the end result and quirkiness of the design.

No embellishments and a one layer card made these super quick. These would be perfect to mail and mass produce!

Tomorrow I’m doing a super fun activity with some of my co-workers and I’ll be sure to try and take a few pictures to share next week!