Shana Gaff
(260)897-3911
stressfreestamping@gmail.com
Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Goodbye 2014!

Wow, it is hard to believe that another year has come and gone.  This is possibly my last blog post for the year.  Hopefully I will have time to participate in some other challenges before the year is up, but it is my last design team challenge for Addicted to Stamps and More! I have had so much fun designing with this team. I will miss it greatly but I feel like I have not been able to put the time into it that it deserves, so I have decided to step down.  I am finishing off my time at ATSM with a great challenge...Anything Goes!  Hopefully you will join us for this last challenge of the year!

For my card, I decided to use this fun sketch from Create with Connie and Mary.  I thought it had such a unique feel to it!
CCMC333
And just look at these wonderful Christmas colors I found at Fab Friday!  I simply could not pass them up!  I haven't done much Christmas card stamping AT ALL, so I am treating myself to some fun with color. :) 
I thought these colors would make a nice little Christmas scene, so I pulled out two of my favorite go-to stamp sets...Lovely as a Tree and Endless Wishes.
My trees are covered in Dazzling Details so they are very sparkly in real life!  I added some rhinestones for even more bling. Bling makes me very happy this time of the year. :)

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope you enjoyed my card!  If you don't hear from me again this year, enjoy the holidays with your loved ones because that is what I will be busy with next. :)  God bless! 

Saturday, December 13, 2014

From our Home to Yours

It's time for a new challenge at Addicted to CAS, and I am your hostess!  For this challenge, I have chosen a word that is important to many of us this time of the year: 

My family has been so supportive of me while I have been working full time again for the last few months. It has been really stressful on me, and they have been a huge help at home!  I am glad that I had a chance to get back into teaching full-time, but I quickly learned that I made the right choice when I quit teaching six years ago. :)  I am much better at being a temporary substitute and I can't wait to go back to doing that! 

For the challenge this week, I started by embossing my houses on Brushed Gold and Brushed Silver cardstock with Black Embossing Powder.  The Glimmer Paper makes perfect snow and when it reflects in the light it has a pink tone to it.  My card base was born from there! :) 
I think the pink ended up being a nice addition. It looks even better in real life when you can move the card to see the pink in the snow.  I might just have to reproduce a few of these to use as Christmas cards!

Thanks for stopping by. Make sure to visit the rest of the Addicted to CAS design team!  The have some beautiful CAS cards for you again this week, as always!

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Little Ink Equals Little Mess!

Only 14 more days of teaching (13 by the time this post goes live!), and it will be Christmas break!  I can't wait!  I was spoiled with a 5-day Thanksgiving Break.  Now I'm just ready for another one. :)  I ran drove home today and got right to work on my card for our new CAS challenge at Addicted to Stamps and More.  I also used the challenges at The Paper Players and Create with Connie and Mary for inspiration.
        CCMC331

I used the first column (tree, patterned paper, and star) from the Tic-Tac-Toe board, and turned the sketch sideways.

I love the pennants, but I didn't know where to put my tree. So I put it right over the top of them!  I really like how it turned out!  I hand cut the tree since I don't have any dies or punches for that, and embossed each part. Then I popped it up on Dimensionals and stamped my sentiment on each side of the star.  Easy peasy!  Thanks for stopping by. Make sure to check out the rest of the design team's wonderful creations!