Tuscan Rise

You know when you see someone's outfit and you think to yourself "Those colors do not go together at all!"?  That is exactly how I felt when I saw the challenge for Color Me Beautiful this week! 

 

I looked at the colors and was totally stumped!  I tried to brayer a desert scene (twice!), but it was just not happening!  I was so worried that I wasn't going to be able to come up with something for the design team!  Finally I said to Brett "I need to just stop worrying about this and do what I do!"  Clean and simple is what I enjoy doing the best, so that is what I decided to do!

 

 

 

For the butterflies, I used the rock-n-roll technique.  I stamped the one on the left in More Mustard and then rolled the sides of it in Cajun Craze.  The one on the right was first stamped in Basic Gray and then rolled in Perfect Plum.  The large circle is sponged with More Mustard ink to give it a little bit of dimension.  I love the large flower stamp from My Friend.  It looks great with butterflies.  The stamp wasn't quite big enough to cover the entire bottom of the card like I wanted, so I stamped the top of it a few extra times. 

 

This card goes to show that sometimes you have to just stick to what you are best at and not try to do a bunch of fancy techniques!

 

Stamp Sets: My Friend, Papillon Potpourri, Trust God

Cardstock: More Mustard, Very Vanilla

Ink: Basic Gray, Cajun Craze, Perfect Plum, More Mustard

Tools: Elegant Butterfly Punch, 2 3/8" Circle Punch, Sponge

Accessories: Dimensionals



Dreary, dreary morning

It was so stormy and dreary here this morning, which made me so sleepy!  I wanted to craft, but I didn't want to have to think about it. I wanted it to be simple!  I headed over to Less is More since they have clean and simple challenges, and this week's challenge is to incorporate an oval into your project.  My first thought was balloons!

I sponged the edges of the balloons to give them some dimension and added a little reflection mark on each one with my white gel pen.  I decided to have them go off of the edge of the card to make them look like they were floating away.  I wrapped the baker's twine around a pencil to give it some shape and adhered it with a little bit of Tombow Multi glue in spots and the hidden Dimensionals on the ends.  I didn't want three strings to be fighting with each other so I poked holes with my paper piercer to give the illusion of the other two strings.  So easy-my kind of crafting!

Stamp Set: Up, Up & Away
Cardstock: Daffodil Delight, Pacific Point, Real Red, Whisper White
Ink: Daffodil Delight, Pacific Point, Real Red
Tools: Wide Oval Punch, 1" Circle Punch, Paper Piercer and mat
Accessories: Baker's twine, white gel pen, Dimensionals

I was a part of the ShowCASe at Less is More this week!

Classic Sets

There is another great challenge at retro sketches this week and I couldn't wait to start on this one!  The sketch challenges are always my favorite because I have such a hard time coming up with layouts that are different!  There are so many possibilities with this one and I know I will be using it again to make a window card!

 

I have been doing all of these fall cards and can you believe that I haven't pulled out Lovely as a Tree ONCE?!  I have been having so much fun with all of my new stuff that I have neglected my poor, classic stamp sets!  This set is so great because you can use it for any time of the year and it is great for masculine cards as well.  

For the trees, I adhered a strip of Crumb Cake that is 2 1/4" x 5 1/2" with a temporary adhesive onto the Crumb Cake card base.  Then I colored the trees with my markers and stamped them several times.  When I pulled up the smaller piece of cardstock there was a space where the ink didn't hit the card base, but it is okay because it is completely covered by the strip of Early Espresso Core'dinations Cardstock!  I had a lot of fun coloring the leaves and cutting them out. They are stamped with Early Espresso ink on Watercolor Paper and colored in with More Mustard and Cajun Craze using my blender pen.  I then curled them a little bit before I adhered them to the 1" squares (which are popped up on Dimensionals).  Little things like that add so much to a card!

Stamp Sets: Lovely as a Tree, Petite Pairs
Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Early Espresso Core'dinations, Watercolor Paper
Ink: Always Artichoke, Cajun Craze, Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso, More Mustard
Tools: Blender Pen, Sanding Block, Woodgrain Embossing Folder
Accessories: Natural Linen Thread, Naturals Designer Buttons, Dimensionals

Just in time!

So I was perusing my dear friend Aimee Cretsinger's blog and I see that she found a new challenge blog, Black Tie Friday.  It looks like fun and it is their very first challenge, so I decided to play along.  Then I scrolled down and I see that the challenge ends in ONE HOUR!  Holy moly...I gotta get to work!

  

 

I have been wanting to use my lattice die for a long time and keep forgetting about it, so I pulled it out first, thinking it would be great with butterflies.

 

 

 

I liked the white on white with the colored butterflies but thought it needed something extra so I added the flowers from the Boho Blossoms punch.  For the butterflies I put drops of reinker on a small stack of baby wipes and used that for my ink pad.  I love that multicolored effect, especially for butterflies and flowers!  The hardest part for me was the ribbon.  This was the only black ribbon I had. I must have tried 10 different things with it, but decided that I liked the way it looked like the sentiment was on the ribbon banner.  This was a really fun challenge.  I can't wait to play again next week!

 

Stamp Sets: Lacy & Lovely, Papillon Potpourri

Cardstock: Basic Black, Whisper White

Ink: Black StazOn, Daffodil Delight, Old Olive, Pacific Point, Real Red, Rich Razzleberry, Tangerine Tango

Tools: Lattice Bigz Die, Elegant Butterfly Punch, Boho Blossoms Punch

Accessories: Basic Black Scalloped Ribbon, Dimensionals

 

Phew!  20 minutes to spare! :)

 



 

 

Yay!  I was the winner of the Best Dressed Award for the first challenge at Black Tie Friday's!

No need to buy more!

Since I have started doing all of these challenges, I was thinking I needed to order some new stamp sets.  I felt like I had used everything I owned and wanted something different.  Then I started to think about how fun it has been for me to come up with different ideas for the stamp sets I have.  For instance, I have been using Googly Ghouls a TON!  It really makes me feel like I have gotten my money's worth for it!  There really is no need for me to buy more when there are so many amazing things I can still do with what I have.  Don't tell Brett I said that though, just in case. :) HA!

Over at Dynamic Duos it is Black Tie Week.  The color combination is Lucky Limeade and Basic Black with a Dessert Option of Halloween Theme. That sounds like fun!  I decided to pair it with the sketch from The Friday Mashup.

 

 

 

I have never tried the starburst technique and had a lot of fun with it!  I made mine monochromatic, which I think ended up looking really cool!  The edges are all sponged with Basic Black ink to make them look kind of spooky. 

 

 

I used a lot of techniques on this card!  I didn't have any ribbon that I thought went with the whole halloween theme, so I decided to color my own.  I have never done this before but it was really easy!  I just sponged Lucky Limeade over the entire thing and then added Basic Black to the edges and slightly to the middle.  For the bow, you need to do both sides so you don't have to have any blank spots when you tie it.  I had to use Crystal Effects to attach the bow...I couldn't get glue dots or TomBow multi-glue to stick at all, I think because of the ink on it. 

 

For the bottom part of the card I used emboss resist.  I sponged a piece of Whisper White cardstock and then clear embossed the images.  After that I brayered on Basic Black ink and wiped the excess off of the images with a tissue.  Then I spritzed it with Basic Black ink.  The whole thing has a kind of eerie effect in person! 

 

The medallions are actually made from Scallop Circle punches.  Punch your scallop and then put it back in, rotate it and punch again.  I put a temporary "handle" on the scallop to easily insert it back into the punch by adhering a scrap of cardstock to it.  These were then layered with circles of DSP. 

 

Phew!  That is the most work I have ever put into a halloween card, but it was so much fun!  I hope that you will try something new with what you already have and get your money's worth too!

 

 

Stamp Set: Googly Ghouls

Cardstock: Basic Black, Lucky Limeade, Whisper White

Ink: Basic Black, Black StazOn Lucky Limeade, VersaMark

Tools: Clear Embossing Powder, Embossing Buddy, Heat Tool, Brayer, Sponges, 1 3/8" and 1 3/4" Circle Punches, 1 3/4" and 2 3/8" Scallop Circle Punches

Accessories: 3/8" Whisper White Taffeta Ribbon, Googlies, Neutrals DSP stack, Dimensionals, Crystal Effects



Fall is Almost Here!

I can't believe that summer is almost over and fall is just around the corner. We closed our pool and I ALMOST turned on the heat last night!  It is supposed to be really cold here tomorrow and I told the kids they have to wear long pants to school.  They were NOT happy with me!  I have really been in the fall mood lately and chose this color combo from Create with Connie and Mary for another fall card:

 

I have been using these colors, or similar colors for a lot of my halloween cards using Googly Ghouls so I decided to try using them for leaves this time. I don't know if I've ever actually seen a purple leaf, but it looked good on the card! :)

 

 

Since the leaf was so unique, I thought the phrase "Each one of us is God's special work of art" was the perfect sentiment.  For the background, I die cut the leaves from the Autumn Accents Bigz die and used the negative for a stencil, which I then sponged Rich Razzleberry ink in.  I then ran it through the Big Shot with my new favorite embossing folder, Lacy Brocade.  The new embossing folders are tricky for whole card backgrounds since they are too wide to put through sideways.  I put the front of the card in the embossing folder and wrapped the back of it around the back of the embossing folder.  I put a shim in between the back of the card and the clear cutting pad so it doesn't leave scratch marks from the cutting pad.  For an extra touch to the leaves I crumpled them and sponged them with Crumb Cake ink. It makes them look a little more realistic...even if there is no such thing as a purple leaf! :)

 

Stamp Sets: En Francais Background, Trust God, Wonderfall

Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Rich Razzleberry, Very Vanilla

Ink: Crumb Cake, Lucky Limeade, Rich Razzleberry, Tangerine Tango

Tools: Autumn Accents Bigz Die, Lacy Brocade Embossing Folder, XL Oval Punch, Sponges

Accessories: Naturals Designer Buttons, Natural Linen Thread, Dimensionals



It's All in the Details

As you probably know, I mostly like to make simple, easily-reproducible cards.  Lately I have been having fun doing more-detailed cards though!  I should be getting ready for my card camp and scrap camp that are Friday, but I cannot resist a good challenge!  I found two that paired together really nicely.  Stampin' Royalty  had a great picture inspiration and Try Stampin' On Tuesday had a nice layout that worked perfectly with the idea I had in mind!

 

I fell in love with the newspaper print, hearts, colors and banners and thought the combination would make great banners on the diagonal lines of the sketch.  I had so much fun embellishing this card! 

 

 

It looks really busy but it is actually two parts.  I wanted the recipient of the card to be able to see all of the banners, so the ribbon with the heart slides off for the card to be opened. 

 

Here are the two parts to the card:

 

 

 

I had a lot of fun stamping and punching all of the little details on this card.  Then I went back and added some pearls and rhinestones. I'm not used to doing all of this detailed embellishment so it was fun for a change.  I wouldn't want to do it all of the time though.  I love me some stress-free stamping!

 

This card also fits the challenge of banners over at The Paper Players.  Yeah, I've got a few banners on there! LOL! 

 

Stamp Sets: Itty Bitty Bits, Tiny Tags, Trust God

Cardstock: Pink Pirouette, Pretty in Pink, Primrose Petals, Very Vanilla

Ink: Early Espresso, Pink Pirouette, Pretty in Pink, Primrose Petals

Tools: Itty Bitty Shapes, Jewelry Tag and Petite Pennants Builder punches, Hearts Framelits

Accessories: Chocolate Chip Scallop Dots Ribbon, Early Espresso Baker's Twine, First Edition Specialty DSP, Basic Rhinestones and Pearls, Dimensionals

 



I've got the Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy

Down in my heart! Where? Down in my heart! Where?  Down in my heart!

Does anyone remember that song from church when you were a kid?  We used to sing that all of the time in Children's Church.  I miss old songs like that. I think we're getting away from the simple little tunes like that and singing songs that are much more deep.  I still sing those songs with my kids though because they are simple for them to understand!  The card that I made today reminded me of that little song.  I used the sketch from Freshly Made, the theme from Hand Stamped Sentiments and the colors from Just Add Ink. 

 

 

At Freshly Made you could use any of their past sketches, but I wanted the words to really stick out in the card I had in mind so I stuck with a fairly simple sketch. 

 

 

I am thinking this will have to be one of the cards for my upcoming Christmas Stamp-a-Stack.  It was so easy to create using the Stamp-a-ma-jig.  I used my grid paper to get the first "Joy" on each line centered then stamped around it from there. I love the little bows added on top to make them look like they are hanging.  The red Dazzling Details was just perfect to add a little bit of bling in the center of each bow.  This makes a great Christmas card because it is mailable but still has a little bit of texture and embellishment to it. 

 

Stamp Set: Joyous Celebrations

Cardstock: Old Olive, Pink Pirouette, Real Red, Whisper White

Ink: Old Olive, Real Red

Tools: Petal-a-Plenty Embossing Folder, Stamp-a-ma-jig

Accessories: Cherry Cobbler Dazzling Details 



Crafting in my Head

I mentioned yesterday that this was going to be a busy weekend, and boy has it ever been!  I got up at 4:45 to go to a children's clothing resale, went to the Johnny Appleseed Festival from there, stopped at a garage sale for the 2nd time in as many days and spent the whole afternoon working and cleaning up the garage sale at Wildman Business Group for our trip to the DR!  I am exhausted.  The worst part was, I forgot my Stampin' Up! catalog at home and had nothing to look at during the slow times at the garage sale!  I did remember my sketch book and list of challenges that I want to participate in for the week, so I spent much of my afternoon working on ideas.  That is not how I usually work, but it ended up working pretty good!  I knew I wanted to use the sketch from Mojo Monday with the colors from colourQ this week. 



I love the sketches at Mojo Monday because they tend to be a bit more detailed than what I usually do with my cards, so it allows me to step out of my box a little bit.  The colors at colourQ were a little challenging because they are all colors I don't really use that often.  I typically only use Bravo Burgundy for fall and Christmas cards, so it was fun using it on a different type of card!

 

I had seen a sample or two in the Annual Catalog that had Glimmer Brads inside the Vintage Faceted Designer Buttons and I just loved that!  I used the gold Glimmer Brad from the neutrals set and it really coordinated well with the Summer Starfruit ink.  The button is glued down with Crystal Effects.  It dries clear so you can't even see it! 



I finished my card and thought it needed a little somethin', somethin' so I went back and added in the four loops of Baker's Twine AFTER I had already taken pictures of my card.  Then I had to set up my picture-takin' area AGAIN and redo it. :)  I think it really changed the card for the better though, so it was worth it in the end!  What's another 10 minutes of sleep anyway? ;)

Stamp Sets: Lacy & Lovely, Mixed Bunch
Cardstock: Bravo Burgundy, So Saffron, Whisper White
Ink: Bravo Burgundy, Calypso Coral, Summer Starfruit
Tools: Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder, Simply Scored, 1 1/4" Scallop Circle Punch, Blossom Punch
Accessories: Crystal Effects, Dimensionals, Regals DSP stack, First Edition Specialty DSP, Neutral Glimmer Brads, Vintage Faceted Designer Buttons, Baker's Twine

I made the Colour Queen Courtier this week!

Busy, Busy, Busy!

Things have been crazy around here and I only got to work in my stamp room for about 10 minutes this morning while I was waiting for the kids to go to school!  Lucky for me, that was long enough to make a card for the challenge at CASology this week.

 

A lot of things come to mind when I hear the word sky, but I am so in love with For the Birds, so I picked an image that was actually IN the sky. :)  I haven't used this stamp yet, so it was fun to finally ink it up!  I can't tell you how many times I have sold a stamp set once it has retired and realized there were stamps within the set that haven't seen ink.  Whoops!  I have set two goals for myself this catalog year.  1. Use all of my stamp sets before they retire and 2. Use every image in every stamp set before they retire.  I am pretty sure I have already completed 1.  It is 2. that is the hard one!

 

 

This was truly a 10-minute card...my favorite!  For the clouds I punched out an oval scallop punch and one of the adorable 1 1/4" scallop circle punches from the Holiday Catalog and glued them together.  I used this as a mask and sponged Bashful Blue ink around them.  I did a separate square for the birds to make them stand out a little bit, sponged the clouds on, colored the birds in with the thin part of my markers since some of the areas were slightly small, and popped them up on Dimensionals.  The last thing I did was to score at the top and bottom of the clouds.  An easy card to start a busy day! 

 

Stamp Set: For the Birds

Cardstock: Whisper White

Ink: Bashful Blue, Black StazOn, Pacific Point, Real Red, Tangerine Tango

Tools: Simply Scored, Scallop Circle and Oval Punches

Accessories: Dimensionals





Aubergine Dream

I love working with the colors from Stampin' Up! because I can get all kinds of things that coordinate perfectly...cardstock, ink, designer paper, buttons, brads, ribbon, embossing powder...the list goes on and on!  Now that I have been designing for Color Me Beautiful, I have been having a ball combining colors I never would have put together.  Just look at what we had to work with this week!

 

Aren't these just gorgeous?!  I was really excited when I saw this palette.  I haven't used Basic Gray in a while, so I wanted that to be the base of my card.  Then I saw a challenge at SUO Challenges to make a box or a bag.  I have been in a rut of making cards, so I decided to do something different for a change! 

 

 

 Here is a close-up shot of the little rosettes:

 

 

 

And the paper swirls inside the box:

 

 

These little boxes are so easy to decorate because you can easily use your scraps of designer paper to embellish them.  For my rosettes, I used thin strips of leftover designer paper in different lengths.  The longer the paper the smaller I could get the rosette wound.  The paper swirls inside the box are so much fun.  I just took thin slivers of scraps and wrapped them around a pen to give them a spiral look.  I think this would be the cutest box to give someone a gift (like jewelery, Brett...hint, hint) in!

Stamp Sets: Delicate Doilies, Word Play
Cardstock: Basic Gray, Lucky Limeade, Whisper White
Ink: Basic Gray, Lucky Limeade, Rich Razzleberry, Tempting Turquoise
Tools: Fancy Favor Bigz XL Die, Simply Scored, Decorative Label Punch, 3/4" Circle Punch
Accessories: Brights Glimmer Brads, Brights Paper Stack, Orchard Harvest DSP (for the Limeade DSP), Lucky Limeade Ruffled Ribbon, Dimensionals

A New Challenge!

One of my FAVORITE designers, Mindy Backes, has started a new challenge site, FabFriday!  This site is right up my alley because it is Stampin' Up! only!  If you love SU! as much as I do, this will be a great place for inspiration for you.  The very first challenge was a sketch challenge.  I paired this with a color challenge at Pals Paper Arts.

 

 

This is such a versatile sketch and one that I know I will be able to use frequently.  The basic sketch doesn't require a lot of supplies but you could always step it up a notch and embellish away!  For my card, I decided to keep it simple.  I was also excited to use this color combination.  I have used similar colors on halloween cards and wanted to do something different.  I decided to go back to my roots...flowers!

 

 

My Mother-in-law's birthday is coming up, so I made this for her.  She is always so appreciative of my handmade cards, and I know she will love it and save it.  Just Believe is one of my favorite stamp sets for florals, especially this image.  It is such a nice size and can easily be the focal image of any card without adding too many other embellishments. I love the white space on this card.  It really draws your eye to the flowers, I think! 

 

Stamp Sets: Itty Bitty Banners, Just Believe

Cardstock: Elegant Eggplant, Lucky Limeade, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White

Ink: Elegant Eggplant, Lucky Limeade, Pumpkin Pie

Tools: Bitty Banners Framelits, Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border Punch

Accessories: Brights Buttons





Clean and Simple

I just love sites like Clean and Simple.  They do such a wonderful job of giving me sketches that don't require many supplies or a lot of thought.  If you have never tried a stamping challenge before, start with this site.  You will not feel overwhelmed at all!  This week's sketch is so simple and beautiful.  I will probably be making a card that looks exactly like the sketch in the near future!

 

 

I wanted my card for the challenge to look a little different than the sample though. :) 

 

 

 

The swirls from Everything Eleanor make perfect vines for flowers.  I love the whole stamp set, but I honestly bought it for just that one stamp alone!  I love it!  To give my flower a little bit of dimension I folded the petals down.  Usually I fold them up, so I thought this gave it a different look than what I am used to.  Then I popped it up on some Dimensionals and added some pearls.  I scored the card from the inside all the way around the card, 3/8" in (yes, I have a degree in math :).  This is something else I don't usually do, so it IS possible to do a new technique on a clean and simple card!

 

Stamp Sets: Everything Eleanor, Mixed Bunch, Perfectly Penned

Cardstock: So Saffron

Ink: Gumball Green, Melon Mambo, So Saffron

Tools: Blossom Punch, Simply Scored

Accessories: Basic Pearls, Dimensionals



School is in Session!

Now that two of my three kids are in school, I am starting to feel OLD!  I was very much into school and getting good grades.  Okay, I was a bit of a dork. :)  Brett loves telling the story of me and my best friend Arin in college.  As he tells it, we would run back to our dorm after our last class of the afternoon and get all of our homework done right away so we could go to bed at 7:00. Actually, the truth is, we loved watching movies together and wanted to get everything done early so we could watch our movies! Arin moved to Ohio a few years ago and I haven't seen her in a while.  I miss my best friend so much!  We need to get together sometime soon! 

I am probably harder on my kids than I should be.  After all, they are only in 1st and 3rd grade.  I want them to excel and love school though!  However, I do want them to follow their dreams and want them to know that.  The challenge at The Friday Mashup! allowed me to make them a card that shows them just this!  The theme this week was "Back to School" and mash it up with sewing.  Most everyone knows that I do not sew, so I knew right away that it would have to be faux sewing for me. :)  I combined this challenge with a sketch at retrosketches.

Do you see those little x's at the bottom of the rectangular panel?  Looked like a great opportunity for faux stitching for me!  HA!

I had a lot of fun embellishing this card. I chose red, blue and yellow because the primary colors remind me of being in elementary school.  I love this sentiment from Word Play.  It is just so full of encouragement.  The arrow pointing up, the sky with birds and the hot air balloons just seem to all connect the whole theme together.  I am so happy with this card that I will definitely have to duplicate it for my second child!

Stamp Sets: Up, Up & Away, Word Play
Cardstock: Daffodil Delight, Pacific Point, Real Red, Whisper White
Ink: Baja Breeze, Black StaZon, Daffodil Delight, Pacific Point, Real Red
Tools: Stripes Embossing Folder, Chevron Embossing Folder, Scallop Circle Punches, Piercing Tool, Essentials Piercing Pack, Piercing Mat
Accessories: Daffodil Delight Seam Binding Ribbon, Basic Rhinestones, Dimensionals

The Joy of Simplicity

You know how much I love being able to crank out a card in 10 minutes.  This particular card took me less than 5 minutes AND it meets the qualifications of THREE challenges!  Whoa!  The colors come from Dynamic Duos, the layout is from Clean&Simple and the theme of a one-layer card with foliage comes from Less is More!

 

 

 

Hard to believe that such a simple card can meet so many criteria, but I did it! 

 

 

I first took a scrap piece of cardstock and punched three evenly-spaced ovals with the XL Oval punch.  I used that as a mat and sponged Cajun Craze ink inside.  I tried to make it darker along the left hand side of each oval for a shaded effect.  Then I stamped the leaves from Betsy's Blossoms and the sentiment in Always Artichoke and called it a day!  You don't know how badly I wanted to grab my Simply Scored Score Board and add some scoring, but I resisted.  Sometimes simplicity is best!

 

Stamps: Betsy's Blossoms, Blessings from Heaven

Cardstock: Crumb Cake

Ink: Always Artichoke, Cajun Craze

Tools: XL Oval Punch, Sponge





Oh the weather outside is...

Changing!  I don't know how the weather has been where YOU live, but we have had the hottest, driest summer here in Northeastern Indiana.  It has been near 100 degrees all summer, but is now cooling down FAST.  For the past couple of days it has been in the 70s, getting down to the 50s at night!  Those of you who know me well know that I am ALWAYS cold, so I am not enjoying waking up and having to put on sweats and a sweatshirt when I get out of bed.  I was happy with 100 degrees, really!  We still have a few more weeks left of summer, and I want it to FEEL like summer. :(

The upside to this cooling weather is that it has put me in the mood to make some Christmas cards!  I found a great color combination for snowy weather at Paper Players and decided to pair it with an awesome sketch I found at Create with Connie and Mary. 

 

At first glance the colors seem to be kind of dreary, which was okay with me for a Christmas card because that is exactly how I would describe winter weather!  I am not a fan of winter at all and it seems to hang around FOREVER here in Indiana!  I always ask myself why a coldblooded person like me would live in a state where it is always cold.  I haven't figured out why yet because I am always complaining about the weather!  I even take a blanket in to church with me EVERY Sunday because the air conditioning is always blowing right down at me, and even under the pew at my feet.  I just can't win, no matter the season. :)  Whoa, I am WAY off track here!  Here is my card:

 

 

I really like the way it turned out and don't think the colors look gloomy at all.  The Brushed Silver Cardstock along the bottom and the rhinestones give it a little extra oomph.  I really would have liked to add another layer of trees with the Illuminate Glimmer Watermark Stampin' Pad that we now offer in the Holiday Catalog, but I don't have it yet!  I think I will have to go back and add that in when I get it, just to see how it works. 

 

Stamp Sets: Lovely as a Tree, Take Care

Cardstock: Baja Breeze, Shimmer White, Brushed Silver

Ink: Going Gray, Black StazOn, Baja Breeze

Tools: Finishing Touches Edgelits, Stripes Embossing Folder, Sponge Dauber

Accessories: Basic Rhinestones, Basic Black Scallop Dots Ribbon, Neutrals DSP stack