Sweet CAS

Challenge #3 at Addicted to CAS is SWEETS!  Yummy!  This is a great time of year for sweets, don'tcha think? :) 

This week's challenge is sponsored by Inspired by Stamping.

The winner will receive a $20 gift voucher for their site!  How exciting!  My card this week is SUPER simple.  I love Sweets for the Sweet but don't really use it all that much.  I love putting the little candies in jars though, and I thought it would look cute if they were exploding out of the jar, like they just couldn't contain themselves any longer!  I feel like I am talking about them like they are people, kind of like the way my kids refer to their blankies as "him" and "her." :)

It's so hard to see in the picture, but I used Dazzling Details on each of the green candies.  For the sentiment, I punched "sweets for the sweet" out of Vellum Cardstock with my 1" Circle Punch and adhered it to the green candy with Crystal Effects.  This card is so simple my kids (4, 6 and 8) could make them for their friends for Christmas!  And look at this short supply list!  Love it when I don't have to drag out a ton of supplies!

 

Stamp Sets: Perfectly Preserved, Sweets for the Sweet

Cardstock: Whisper White, Vellum

Ink: Gumball Green, Raspberry Ripple

Tools: Cannery Framelits, 1" Circle Punch

Accessories: Dazzling Details, Dimensionals



My Little E

I loved the sketch at retro sketches this week and decided I wanted to make a card for my little Easton Wayne. 

Well, he's four now, and not so little anymore, but he'll always be my youngest and my little guy.  I loved the colors in this picture of him and they coordinated perfectly with some of my favorite Stampin' Up! colors.

Isn't he such a cutie!  I didn't have to do much work on this card to make it look good, with that chubby little grin and all. :)  I wanted to use the Blue Ribbon stamp, but it was too big for my card so I just stamped the bottom of the ribbon on Midnight Muse cardstock and cut that part off to adhere to my scallop circle, which is much smaller than the one in the stamp set. It worked really well as a guide!  I thought it needed a little bit of embellishment, so I was able to use some Gumball Green Stitched Satin Ribbon scraps for a little bit more detail.

 

Stamp Set: Blue Ribbon

Cardstock: Gumball Green, Midnight Muse, Whisper White

Ink: Midnight Muse, Tangerine Tango

Tools: Scallop Circle Punch, 1 3/8" Circle Punch

Accessories: Brights DSP Stack, Gumball Green Stitched Satin Ribbon, Dimensionals

A Gift for You

The theme at CASology this week is gift, so I wanted to make a little 4 1/4" square card that looks like a gift!  The theme at Just Add Ink and Stampin' Royalty is Christmas, so this works for those challenges too!

I love making square cards, and 4 1/4" is perfect because it will still fit in a standard-sized envelope.  This one has a bow and a brad though, so you would want to make sure to add some padding in your envelope if you are mailing it so it doesn't get damaged in transit!

This card came together so quickly, which was good because I have a terrible migraine and do not have much patience right now! I started by cutting a 4" square of Festival of Prints DSP.  The ribbon I chose is the reverse side of the Cherry Cobbler Polka Dot Scalloped Ribbon.  I love that one side is plain and one is polka dot.  Makes it so versatile!  For the bow, I just looped some of the ribbon and adhered it with Sticky Strip before poking a hole in the middle for the brad.  I stamped some extra tags the other day for snowman card, so I didn't even have to get out any stamps or ink for this one!

Stamp Set: Tiny Tags

Cardstock: Crumb Cake

Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Lucky Limeade

Tools: Paper Piercing Tool and Mat, Jewelry Tag Punch

Accessories: Cherry Cobbler Polka Dot Scalloped Ribbon, Festival of Prints DSP, In Color Brad, Sticky Strip, Dimensional



Ornaments in a Row

The challenge at Less is More this week is to make a one-layer card with something in a row!  I chose the colors from The Paper Players to go with the ornaments that I hung in a row.

 

I chose Crumb Cake as my neutral. It is my absolute favorite neutral!  I did use Whisper White as my card base. I find that most of the time I do a one-layer card, I use Whisper White or Very Vanilla as my base.  I guess because it is easy to stamp on!

I started by scoring three lines about an inch from the top. This helped me to get my ornaments lined up straight when I stamped them.  It was also a nice guide for placing my Baker's Twine!  I used Pool Party and Cherry Cobbler to make a double bow.  I added some spritzed ink to the bottom left of the card, and jazzed up the ornaments with my sentiment, rhinestone and Red Dazzling Details. Very simple but still fun!

 

Stamp Sets: Joyous Celebrations, Ornament Keepsakes

Cardstock: Whisper White

Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake, Pool Party

Tools: Simply Scored, Color Spritzer

Accessories: Red Dazzling Details, Basic Rhinestone, Cherry Cobbler and Pool Party Baker's Twine



Simple Christmas

I have a very simple Christmas card to share with you today!  I used the color combination from Pals Paper Arts and the sketch and bling challenge from The Friday Mashup!

 

I started with a piece of DSP from the Festival of Prints DSP stack.  This paper is so fun to use and lasts forever!  I love that it is a smaller size so I don't feel bad about cutting into it like I do my 12x12.  It's also a lot easier to store!  I rarely use a piece of DSP that is larger than 4 1/2 x 6 1/2 anyway, so this works great for me.  I would love to see more of these packs in the next annual catalog!

I am in love with covering things with Dazzling Diamonds as of late, so I added it to my ornament for my bling.  That was probably the most difficult thing on this card!  I told you it was simple! :)

 

Stamp Sets: More Merry Messages, Ornament Keepsakes

Cardstock: Always Artichoke, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla

Ink: Always Artichoke, Cherry Cobbler

Tools: Apothecary Accents Framelits, Holiday Ornaments Framelits, Argyle Embossing Folder, sponge

Accessories: Dazzling Diamonds, Adhesive Sheets, Festive Prints DSP stack



Bingo Challenge #5

It's another Bingo Challenge at Addicted to Stamps & More! this week! These are my favorite types of challenges because there is a starting point but there is still room for me to decide what I want to do.  I like to save them and then go back and use different combinations on cards I make later on too!

I used the top row for my card: red, dies and green.  It was an obvious choice for a Christmas card, I know!  I just realized today though that I won't have much longer to make Christmas cards, so I better make them while I can. :)

I used one of the dies from the Apothecary Accents Framelits to do the corners of the DSP all fancy-like.  The pearls are covered with Mod Podge and then colored with my Lucky Limeade marker.  For the sentiment, I picked up ink from the lid of my ink pads with my blender pen and used it to color directly on the stamp.  I love this technique!  You can use your markers, but doing it this way prevents you from getting the colors mixed together on your markers!  The star is die-cut in Brushed Gold cardstock and then covered with my favorite holiday accent, Dazzling Details. 

Stamp Set: More Merry Messages
Cardstock: Brushed Gold, Lucky Limeade, Very Vanilla
Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Lucky Limeade
Tools: Apothecary Accents Framelits, 1" Square Punch, Holiday Collection Framelits, Blender Pen, sponge, Lacy Brocade Embossing Folder
Accessories: Basic Pearls, Dimensionals, Festival of Prints DSP Stack

Ten-Minute Tuesday

I have this problem with cutting up Designer Series Paper when it has big designs on it. I never know how to use it on a card, or I don't want to "damage" the image.  Well, I found the perfect sketch at Try Stampin' On Tuesday to help solve this problem!

See all of that white space just begging for some designer paper?  I was really excited to finally be able to use this paper I have been hoarding since I got it!

Since my main image is DSP, this card was SOOOO simple to put together.  It really is a 10-minute card!  All I had to do was add the sentiment banner and a linen thread bow with brad and wah-lah!  Doesn't get much easier than that!

 

Stamp Set: Friendly Phrases

Cardstock: Lucky Limeade

Ink: Calypso Coral

Accessories: Everyday Enchantment Brad (retired from 2012 SAB), linen thread, Floral District DSP, Dimensionals

 

Take Two!

Have you made a card that you absolutely hated and had to start completely over?  That happened to me today!  I had three challenges I wanted to use on my card today: Color Throwdown, Black Tie Fridays and Create with Connie and Mary. 



I don't have too many bird sets to work with, so I started with Betsy's Blossoms, which I haven't used in quite a while.  I thought it might make a different Christmas card.  Different it is!  I will show it to you, even though I don't much care for it!  It's pretty simple, which I like, but just doesn't work for me. :)



Stamp Sets: Betsy's Blossoms, More Merry Messages
Cardstock: Basic Black, Crumb Cake, Whisper White
Ink: Gumball Green, Black StazOn, Riding Hood Red
Tools: 2 3/4" Scallop Circle Punch, Elegant Bouquet Embossing Folder

Accessories: Regals DSP Stack, Dimensionals

 

Soooo, I took another look through my stash and decided that these colors would work nicely with Snow Much Fun, and there are some birds in that set too!  I am much happier with the results of this card!

 

 

I colored the snowman by picking up the color from the end of Watercolor Wonder Crayons with my Aqua Painter. There is not a crayon in Gumball Green, so I used Garden Green and it is a very close match to the Gumball Green ribbon!  I used some Dazzling Details to add some snow on the ground and around the snowman and birds.  I wasn't sure where to put my sentiment, so I put it on the little tag for the snowman to hold.  I thought it looked pretty cute there!

 

Stamp Sets: Snow Much Fun, Tiny Tags

Cardstock: Basic Black, Crumb Cake, Riding Hood Red, Whisper White

Ink: Black Staz-On, Gumball Green, Riding Hood Red

Tools: Watercolor Wonder Crayons, Jewelry Tag Punch, Petals-a-Plenty Embossing Folder, Corner Rounder, Aqua Painter

Accessories: Black Polka Dot Scalloped Ribbon, Stitched Satin Gumball Green Ribbon, Basic Rhinestones, Dazzling Details



December Love

I just got the stamp set You Are Loved for 50% off during Stampin' Up!'s amazing Online Extravaganza, and the color combination at Dynamic Duos this was just perfect for it! 

I decided to pair it with this lovely sketch from Freshly Made Sketches. 

I thought the heart would look perfect where the scalloped circle is so I dropped Pretty in Pink and Rose Red reinkers on a baby-wipe to get a two-toned ink pad.

I  know it's nearly impossible to tell from the picture, but I stamped the single flower image in Pretty in Pink on the striped DSP. It gives a nice tone-on-tone look in person.  I also sponged Illuminate Watermark Ink over the heart so it glistens.  I didn't have any pink ribbon, so I sponged Pretty in Pink ink on my Whisper White Taffeta.  I find myself doing this a lot because I never have the color I need.  It really is a great way to save money, which I REALLY need to be doing this time of year! 

 

Stamp Sets: Seasonal Sayings, You Are Loved

Cardstock: Rose Red, Shimmer White

Ink: Pretty in Pink, Rose Red, Illuminate Watermark

Tools: Hearts Framelits, Adorning Accents Embossing Folder, Corner Rounder, sponge, baby wipes

Accessories: Whisper White Taffeta Ribbon, Subtles DSP Stack, Basic Rhinestones, Sticky Strip, Dimensionals 

Believe

I know I just posted a card yesterday with this same sentiment, but I just love it!  For me, this holiday season is all about believing...in a God that loves me and sent a son to this world so that He would die to save us from our sins!  What an amazing miracle. 

For my card today, I chose the sketch from Mojo Monday and paired it with challenges from Hand Stamped Sentiments and colourQ.

 

I used a reinker technique that Aimee Cretsinger demonstrated at my Downline & Hostess Christmas Party last night!  Thanks, Aimee!  I had so much fun with this technique, but I sure did make a mess!

First start with a piece of Shimmery White Cardstock. Spritz the cardstock with water.  I read somewhere that if you spritz both sides with water the paper will not curl...it worked!  Pick up the lightest color of reinker with your Aqua Painter and touch it to the paper.  Repeat with your other colors of reinker.  Spritz it with more water until you get the look you are going for. I wanted mine to kind of look like the ocean and land so I used a lot of reinker.  I think it kind of looks like a globe!  Perfect to go with my "Believe" sentiment.  I also used reinkers on the Silver Glimmer Paper to give it a blue undertone. 

 

Stamp Set: Snowflake Soiree

Cardstock: Midnight Muse, Pool Party, Tempting Turquoise, Shimmery White

Ink: Midnight Muse, Pacific Point, Pool Party, Tempting Turquoise

Tools: Apothecary Accents Framelits, 1 3/4" Circle Punch, Tasteful Trim Bigz Die, Snow Flurry Bigz Die, Color Spritzer, Aqua Painter

Accessories: Basic Rhinestones, Silver Glimmer Paper, Dimensionals

Sparkle, Sparkle

I just love making snowflake cards.  They are so easy to add a little sparkle to, which adds so much oomph to a card!  This was the theme at CASology this week and I paired it with the sketch from Nacho Average Challenge and the color combo from The Play Date Cafe. 

Aren't those pretty colors for a snowflake card?  I rotated the sketch for my card.

I added Dazzling Details to the Not Quite Navy cardstock border around my sentiment as well as the snowflakes on the embossed panel in the background. The jingle bells are retired, but I couldn't help adding them for a little added somethin', somethin'. :)  They are so cute!

 

Stamp Set: Snowflake Soiree

Cardstock: Not Quite Navy, Sahara Sand, Whisper White

Ink: Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy

Tools:Northern Flurry Embossing Folder

Accessories: White Baker's Twine, Retired Jingle Bells, Dazzling Details

Keep Calm and Eat a Cupcake

I have this problem of sometimes overreacting for no particular reason.  I don't know if it is the girl in me, hormones, or what, but I sometimes just explode instead of talking things through rationally!  Starting today, I am going to try to remain calm when I am upset instead of acting out in a fit of rage.  Now, I have said this to myself many times before, but never to the world, so I figured if I blogged about it and made a card to remind myself of it, it might actually work! :) 

I used this week's sketch at retro sketches to begin my card for my first personal therapy session. lol

I could think of only one stamp set that I wanted to use on my card.  The fabulous Hostess set, Carry On, of course!

Food solves all a woman's problems, right? ;)  So the next time I feel an overreaction coming on, I will eat a cupcake!  I rather like that challenge...until my hips start to grow probably!  I was talking to my dear friend and fellow demonstrator, Aimee Cretsinger, and she shared with me another way to use Dazzling Diamonds to cover an entire image...adhesive sheets!  I stamped my sentiment and die cut it with the Window Frames Collection Framelits.  I then put it inside an adhesive sheet and used my bone folder to rub the adhesive onto the image.  Then all I had to do was pour the Dazzling Diamonds onto the cardstock and shake it off to get rid of the excess.  This was so much easier than using Heat & Stick Powder!  Thanks for the tip, Aimee!

 

Stamp Set: Carry On (Hostess)

Cardstock: Baja Breeze, Basic Gray, Certainly Celery, Pink Pirouette, Riding Hood Red

Ink: Basic Gray, Riding Hood Red

Tools: Window Frames Collection Framelits, Chevron, Perfect Polka Dot and Fancy Fan Embossing Folders, Cupcake Builder Punch, Paper Piercing tool and mat, Festive Paper Piercing Pack, sponges

Accessories: Dazzling Details, Twitterpated DSP, Dazzling Diamonds, Adhesive Sheets, Dimensionals



Boxes Galore

The challenge at The Friday Mashup! this week is to create a project for a gift using this inspiration photo:

I thought I had some retired boxes that I ordered from the Clearance Rack ages ago, so I started digging through my cupboard.  I found FIVE packs of boxes!  Oops!  Well, they are perfect for this challenge and I may even use them at my Downline & Hostess Christmas Party now that I know I have them. ;)

I tied the bow using the Early Espresso Scalloped Tulle out of the Holiday Catalog.  This stuff is gorgeous and there is a TON in one pack.  I tied it onto the box using some Baker's Twine.  The snowflake and tag are attached to the box using Dimensionals.  This way the box can still be easily opened and the tag isn't swinging around on the package.

 

Stamp Set: Joyous Celebrations

Cardstock: Brushed Silver, Whisper White

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Real Red

Tools: Designer Frames Embossing Folder, Wide Oval Punch, Snow Flurry Bigz Die, Hole Punch

Accessories: Red Dazzling Details, Red and Silver Glimmer Paper, Early Espresso Scalloped Tulle, Early Espresso Baker's Twine, Glimmer Basics Brad, Dimensional, retired box



Weaving!

Oooh, that is the challenge at Black Tie Friday's this week!  Fun! I paired it with the color challenge at The Play Date Cafe (which I missed the deadline for! Rats!) to make a card for my hubby.  


I was planning on going to visit him for lunch today, but decided not to and he is sad. :( 'Tis the time of year when things start breaking down though (heat in the car AND the house!) and we have spent way too much money on those things, so we have to be smart where we spend our pennies.  His work is a good 45 minutes away from home, so with gas prices the way they are, it just doesn't make sense for me to drive all the way there to spend 30 minutes with him!  SOOO, he gets one of my lovely creations instead. :)  I hope it brightens his day a little bit!

Stamp Sets: NONE!
Cardstock: Whisper White
Tools: Hearts Collection Framelits, Typset Alphabet Bigz Die
Accessories: Neutrals DSP Stack, Red Glimmer Paper, Dimensionals



Make Your Mark!

It's time for another marker challenge at Addicted to Stamps and More!  The challenge is quite simple...just pull out your markers and use them on your project!  I used the color combination from Just Add Ink and the sketch from Fab Friday for my card.

I was excited to use these colors for a baby card because I am tired of doing Christmas cards! 

I used my markers to color the dots on the background stamp, as well as the bears inside the jar and the sentiment.  I masked the bears so they could fill the jar.  I love finding new things to put in these jars and I think they look so cute in there! 

 

Stamp Sets: Distressed Dots Background Stamp, Perfectly Preserved, Every Little Bit, Seasonal Sayings

Cardstock: Pool Party, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Crumb Cake, Pool Party, Pretty in Pink

Tools: Cannery Framelits

Accessories: Pool Party Baker's Twine, Dimensionals





Ten-Minute Tuesday

For today's Ten-Minute Tuesday, I took my sketch from CAS(E) this Sketch! and the color combination from Dynamic Duos. 

This is a great Clean and Simple site for making quick cards.  It also helps to stick to just a few colors if you want to keep your card simple.  These are great Christmas colors but I wanted to do something a little bit different.  I actually think my card could be sent as a "thank you" for Christmas present.

I started with a piece of Whisper White that was 4 1/4" x 2 1/4".  I stamped the sentiment then covered it with a scrap oval so it wouldn't get stamped over.  I then used my markers to color the flourish stamp and stamped it two times to get the white mostly covered. I then cut two 3/4" strips off of the bottom to copy the sketch.  The circles and flowers are from the Itty Bitty Punch Pack.  The flowers are folded up with some rhinestones added in the centers.  Easy peasy!

 

Stamp Sets: Flowering Flourishes, Lacy & Lovely

Cardstock: Certainly Celery, Real Red, Whisper White

Ink: Certainly Celery, Read Red

Tools: Itty Bitty Punch Pack

Accessories: Basic Rhinestones



Snow Much Fun

I got this stamp set during Stampin' Up!'s amazing Online Extravaganza and couldn't wait to ink it upfor the snowman challenge at The Paper Players!

I decided to do a cute little tag for the tag challenge at Stampin' Royalty and use the color combination from colourQ. 

I didn't have Glorious Green and Cool Caribbean so I changed those out for Gumball Green and Pool Party.  I thought they were a pretty close match!

I just love the images in this set!  I used my blender pen to do the coloring on the snowman and tore some cardstock and used it as a mask to sponge the snow image at the bottom.  I then went back and added some snow detail with my Dazzling Details.  Love that stuff!  Here is a closer look:





 

Stamp Sets: Fabulous Phrases, Snow Much Fun

Cardstock: Real Red, Whisper White

Ink: Gumball Green, Pool Party, Real Red, Regal Rose, Black StazOn

Tools: Crop-a-dile (retired), blender pen

Accessories: Gumball Green Stitched Satin Ribbon, Antique Brass Jumbo Eyelets (retired), Dazzling Details