More Jingle Bells

Last Monday of July - the summer is flying by!! Hope you're enjoying it! I'm back with another card for the Merry Monday Summer Link-up so I can stay on top of my Christmas card production.

Merry Monday

I had another play with a recent stamp set purchase from Your Next Stamp. There are four little postage stamp images in the set and I chose the jingle bells to go with Challenge 240.

Supplies: Paper - Neenah Classic Crest Solar White, Authentique Joyous & Wintery
Dies - My Favorite Things Die-Namics Blueprints 20 and LJD Rectangle Peek-a-Boo Window
Stamp - Your Next Stamp Holiday Postage  with matching die
Sentiment Stamp - Hero Arts - CL803 Family and Friends (retired)
Other - Copic Markers, Black Soot Distress Ink, Michael's gems, Wink of Stella, Marvy white gel pen

I colored the postage stamp with Copic Markers and added Wink of Stella to the bells. After die cutting the stitched rectangle, I cut the peek-a-boo window in it. I added white gel pen to the window stitches to emphasize them, then put the gems at the corners. Another Christmas card done!

That's it for today. I'm off to get my favorite summer Starbucks drink - Iced Coconutmilk Mocha Machiato! Delish!! Thanks for stopping & I hope you have a crafty week!

Wedding Cake and Peace/Hope/Joy

Happy Thursday! Perfect summer day in Minnesota - nice heat and low humidity, blue skies with some fluffy clouds - ahhhh! I spent the early hours making a card for a chorus friend getting married this weekend but I got outside later this morning to enjoy the weather.

Supplies: Paper - Neenah Classic Crest Solar White, Paper Studio glitter, 
Pop-tone Black Licorice, KaiserCraft Provincial 6x6 patterned
Other - Foam Tape, Hero Arts pearls, Sticko heart stickers
Dies - My Favorite Things Die-Namics Blueprints 21, 
Hero Arts DI198 Nesting Rectangles Infinity Dies
Sizzix 661806 Tim Holtz Small Tattered Florals, Lawn Fawn Stitched Scalloped Borders
Stamp & Die - Hero Arts DC184 Ribbon Messages
Stamp - Hero Arts CL360 Best Wishes

I started by stamping, fussy cutting, and coloring the birdie couple. What to do with them?? The stamp set also has a small wedding cake stamp so I was inspired to make a bigger layer cake stamp using rectangle dies. This was after trying to freehand draw one - it went wonky - argh!. After the three layers were cut from patterned paper, I thought like a cake decorator about trims. This sent me to my Lawn Fawn dies for the darling scalloped borders. Hmmm - needed some flowers so I pulled out the mini Tattered Florals - so cute. Instead of a cake plate, I decided to put the cake atop the sentiment banner (it took on a blue cast in the photo but it's white). The birdie couple had a few hearts in the stamped image so, having fussy cut the birdies leaving the hearts behind, I found some puffy heart stickers. Pearls to finish the flowers - done!!

In a rare burst of cleaning, I was going through some old saved Christmas cards. Found a gorgeous Hallmark card that I couldn't resist upcycling. I die cut the card front using a pierced rectangle die and kept the embellishments to a minimum with the stamped tree and snowflake embellishment.

Supplies: Paper - DCWV Navy A2 card, scrap of Lawn Fawn patterned, recycled Hallmark card

Die - My Favorite Things Die-Namics Blueprints 21

Stamp - Hero Arts CL893 Kelly's Noel

Other - Tim Holtz snowflake charm

I will add this to Merry Monday's Summer Link-up, using 2016's Challenge 210 Peace/Joy & or Love as inspiration.

Merry Monday

Thanks for stopping by! I think I'll head out and enjoy some more of this beautiful weather!!

Jingle Bells

Ho, ho, ho - Merry Monday! Back with a Christmas card for Merry Monday's Summer Link-up. It's week 4 of the Merry Makers' summer holiday and plenty of card makers have added wonderful cards to the gallery.

Merry Monday

Today I made a card harking back to Challenge 240 to use bells. Here's my card:

Supplies: Paper - Neenah Classic Crest Solar White and DCWV green A2 card
Stamps - Your Next Stamp Holiday Postage and Mini Star Ink Splatter
Dies - My Favorite Things Die-Namics Blueprints 21
Ink - Distress Inks Lucky Clover and Twisted Citron, Memento Tuxedo Black
Other - Crayola colored pencils, Wink of Stella, Michael's gems, Copic black pen

My friend Lin recently posted a card using some darling mini-splatter stamps from Your Next Stamp. I love hearts so I headed over to their online store to order them. Of course, many more items found their way into my cart, including various splatter stamps and the set I used for this card. I was delighted with the quick service I got from YNS - the package came from Canada in less than a week! I'm still waiting on an order placed the same day from an American company - hmmmm.

I outlined the words "Merry" & "Bright" with a black Copic pen. You can see from the "and" what they would've looked like with just the Lucky Clover stamping. They just didn't seem to stand out enough after I stamped the bells in black. Let me know what you think! I was going to do a one-layer but I started by practicing on a piece of white card. I liked it enough to go ahead and use it. Might still try a one-layer...

Thanks for stopping and I hope you have a crafty week!!

Blue Snow globe

Hi all - back with another card for Merry Monday's Summer Link-up! 

Today's card is the one I actually started for this week before I got diverted by the moose card I posted yesterday. I used a new-to-me Memory Box die I found on Saturday - just love the sweet house & trees!

Supplies: Paper - Neenah Classic Crest Solar White, DCWV Blue A2 card, Foil card, and 
snowflake paper from Everyday Stack, BoBunny Serendipity Collection 6x6 (blue pattern)
Dies - Memory Box Countryside Circle, Hero Arts October 2016 My Monthly Hero Kit (sold out)
My Favorite Things Die-Namics Blueprints 13 and 20
Hero Arts DI199 Circle Infinity Dies
Stamps - Hero Arts October 2016 My Monthly Hero Kit
Other - Copic Markers, Michael's gems, Salty Ocean Distress Ink

I was inspired by Challenge 251 to do monochromatic blue (some neutral allowed so I used white). I cut the Countryside Circle along with a circle die using white cardstock. I put a snowflake patterned paper behind it & layered it onto a blue foil circle. Then I remembered the snow globe base die from a My Monthly Hero kit & decided to try it. I used the sentiment from the same kit and die cut a buck silhouette to add to the scene. I used the same paper I used for the stitched rectangle layer and thought it looked good. Funny thing, the blue patterned paper isn't a Christmas paper but it doesn't scream non-Christmas to me. Hope it works!

Thanks for stopping by! I have a busy week so won't be crafting any more until Saturday when Kim hosts a Scramble over on the Hero Arts Flickr Group. Stop and check it out if you have time!

Merry Moose 3

Hope you're not sick of the moose cards - I've been having fun with them! When I made last week's card for the Merry Monday Summer Link-up, I had a bunch of moose parts left over. So I decided to make a moose peeking out of a window frame. The moose theme was from Challenge 254 a few weeks ago.

Supplies: Paper - Neenah Classic Crest Solar White, American Crafts Christmas
DCVW calendar pack (snowflakes in window)
Silhouette Designs - 12000 Forest Moose by Sarah Bailey & 
69563 A2 Moose Card by Jamie Cripps (Santa hat)
Stamps - Hero Arts Christmas Crystals (retired) for the Merry
Dies - My Favorite Things Die-Namics Blueprints 13 & LJD Rectangle Peek-a-Boo Window,
Hero Arts Speech Bubble Frame-cuts (retired)
Other - Copics, Stickles, foam tape

I'm a great one for not waiting while things dry! Can't tell you how many times I smudged the wet Stickles putting the Santa hat on Mr. Moose!! Then I got some black speckles on his face and had to blend those in - oh well.... I hand wrote the Christmoose on the speech bubble since I didn't have a stamp with it, nor was I energetic enough to build it with an alphabet set.

Merry Monday

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to check out Merry Monday if you need to build your Christmas card stash! I have over 60 cards made already and still going strong!!

Thanks vase

Hi all - I had a chance to do some crafty shopping yesterday at this fun store, CF Stamps, about halfway between my house and my parents' house. I found a couple Sue Wilson dies from Creative Expressions, a sweet elephant die from Impression Obsession and a winter scene die from Memory Box (do you feel a Merry Monday card coming this week?!). I started by whipping up a thank you card for neighbors Therese & Greg who hauled away the tree branches I trimmed last Sunday. They also got some oatmeal fruit bars - I seem to be making them a couple times a week - so yummy!!

Supplies: Paper - Co'redinations Pastel A2 card, Lawn Fawn Rainbow Plaid 6x6
Neenah Classic Crest Solar White, the Paper Studio glitter
Stamps - CM144 Color Layering Poppy

Dies - Sue Wilson Hobnail Vase & Queen Anne's Lace, My Favorite Things Die-Namics Blueprints 20, 
Hero Arts DI356 Color Layering Poppy Framecuts and DC152 Thanks Stamp & Cut

Other - Copic Markers, foam tape, inks from various My Monthly Hero kits by Hero Arts

All links are uncompensated. I linked to 123Stitch for the Queen Anne's Lace and Simon Says Stamp for the vase because it was out of stock at 123Stitch. Creative Expressions is a UK company so I didn't link to them since I'm in the US. 

I often shop at 123Stitch which has nice sale prices and other crafts like cross stitch and fabric. 

Otherwise, where possible, I'll link to the original company's website....

Isn't this a cool vase? After die cutting, you run it through with a rubber pad to emboss it. Same deal with the Queen Anne's Lace - love!! I colored the Queen Anne's Lace with Copics; the poppies are stamped (2 pinks, a red and a black ink). I fired up the MISTI to stamp a bunch of the poppies so I could make two versions of this card - so easy to pop the diecut flowers into the negative and quickly stamp the different layers!!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you're having a crafty weekend!!

Merry Moose 2!

Merry Monday took July and August off but opened a Summer Link-up for those of us trying to keep up our Christmas card production. Just pick a previous challenge and get to work!

MERRY MONDAY

Two weeks ago on Merry Monday, Lori offered a moose challenge. I made a card (see it here) with a sweet moose stamp but I also cut a bunch of moose stuff on the Silhouette using white paper. I didn't get a chance to use them until last night when I colored them with Copics. This morning I stamped and cut out some ornaments to decorate my moose (more on that later). Went to the dentist and came home to put my card together. The moose has a lot of pieces so it wasn't a quick process! Here's my card:

Supplies: Paper - Square card by ?, Neenah Classic Crest Solar White, 
BoBunny Christmas Collage Collection 6x6
Stamps by Hero Arts - CL900 Scandinavian Holiday by Lia, CL803 Family & Friends (retired)
CM100 Christmas Messages
Ink - Black Soot, Candied Apple, Twisted Citron, & Mermaid Lagoon Distress Inks
Die - Lawn Fawn Stitched Scalloped Borders 
Silhouette Images by Sarah Bailey - Design ID 17458 Easter Moose & 12000 Forest Moose
Other - gems from Michaels, Copic Markers, google eyes, foam tape

Isn't he the cutest? I combined two different moose designs from Sarah Bailey, one of which was decorated with Easter eggs! Instead, I stamped and fussy cut some little ornaments of a similar size to the eggs from the design. With the span of the antlers, I decided to use a 5" square card - fortunately I had a few in my stash. I just love the little stitched scalloped borders from Lawn Fawn and find myself using them for snow drifts quite a bit. Anyway, this is another card you probably wouldn't mass produce but was sure fun to make!!

Thanks for stopping and I hope you have a crafty week!!

Couple of Birthday Cards and a Dollar Deal

Hi all - just a quick post of a couple more birthday cards using Graphic 45 papers. The add-ons to these cards, compared to others I've posted with this paper, came from the Dollar Store!! I popped into the local establishment to kill some time before an appointment and found these fabulous lacy stickers. I bought a package to try (there were a bunch of different designs) and will probably get a few more.

Supplies: Paper - Natural A2 cards by Neenah, 
Graphic 45 8x8 Botanical Tea Collection, the Paper Studio glitter 

Dies - My Favorite Things Die-Namics Blueprints 18 and 21, 
Spellbinders Die D-Lites S2-082 Sentiments One
Other - Michaels gem (colored with Copics), Jot stickers, 3M washi tape

The stickers have a plastic-y texture; sort of reminds me of those old fashioned tablecloths. It's not off-putting at all - they look delicate but are sturdy. Definitely not for archival scrapbooking but perfect for cards! That's it for today. This morning I trimmed some branches that dangled too low for the lawn guy to get under. Now I need a nap!

Scandinavian Christmas and Rose Birthday cards

Hi all - I can't let my Christmas card production lag during the summer months! Luckily, Merry Monday has a Summer Link-up! We can use it to upload new cards made for challenges offered earlier in the year.

Merry Monday

Today I'm harking back to Challenge 230 - Noel &/or Scandinavian. Karen LK, a friend from the Hero Arts Flickr group, sent me a darling Scandinavian stamp set a while back and I'm just getting a chance to use it. Perfect for this past Merry Monday challenge!

Supplies: Paper - Neenah Classic Crest Solar White, American Crafts Christmas (from Target Hot Spot)
Stamps by Hero Arts - CL900 Scandinavian Holiday by Lia, CL540 Christmas Reindeer (retired)
Ink - Festive Berries Distress Ink, Ranger Watering Can Archival (Wendy Vecchi)
Other - gems from Michaels

I just love this American Crafts paper I got last fall at Target - a perfect match for the Scandinavian theme. If you want to get a good start on your Christmas cards, be sure to check out Merry Monday! I try to play every week, even during the summer.

Next up, a birthday card for a friend using more lovely Graphic 45 Botanical Tea paper. I also love the marbled BoBunny Serendipity paper behind the rose panel. I bought two 12x12 sheets of it when I bought the 6x6 paper pad from this collection.

Supplies: Paper - A2 card by ?, Graphic 45 8x8 Botanical Tea Collection 
Bo Bunny Serendipity Collection (marbled), scraps of other papers
Dies - My Favorite Things Die-Namics Blueprints 20, 
Hero Arts DI337 Nesting Oval Infinity Dies
Sentiment Stamp from Hero Arts CL661 It's Your Day

That's it for today. I mentioned posting a grad card but unfortunately I got a new phone and all my photos didn't transfer over - bummer. I'll get them off eventually but it's not a priority... Thanks for stopping and enjoy the weekend!!

Some thank you cards on the 4th

Happy Independence Day to my US visitors! Hope you're enjoying the holiday!! Mine is low-key as I took sister Tami to the airport early this morning and have no special plans to celebrate. Probably will watch some fireworks on television - I enjoy the Capitol 4th program on public television. Unfortunately I didn't make a single Independence Day card - meant to create some for Cards for Hospitalized Kids but didn't get there....

Also - Happy Birthday today to my friend Heather's son, Mark! Now that he's an adult, he's spared any more lame teen cards from me - LOL - but later this week I will share the grad card I sent him.

Anyway, today I'm sharing a couple of thank you cards I made for some relatives who gave my sister and me hospitality over the weekend. Tami made her own cards using my supplies :) and we had fun crafting together last night.

Supplies: Paper - Hero Arts Foliage Designer Paper (retired), Lawn Fawn plaid, 
Michael's green, Pop-tone Blue Raspberry, DCWV Ms Sparkle A2 card, 
recycled card (garden image by Lauren Wan), Tim Holtz watercolor paper
Dies - Hero Arts DI080 Thank You Fancy Die, DI334 Nesting Hearts and 
DI345 Nesting Postage Stamp Infinity Dies, Memory Box Little Dragonflies
Other - Hero Arts Foliage gems, watercolor paints, Stickles

For the card on the left, I was inspired by this card by Kelly Rasmussen on the Hero Arts Blog. I used an older thank you die and put it in a window covered with plaid, rather than inside with an acetate covered window like Kelly did. Also, I layered several die cuts, like Jennifer McGuire showed here, including painting the top layer with Wink of Stella. I didn't coat them with Glossy Accents or heat emboss them though - I'm lazy....

On the right I upcycled a printed card I received for a sympathy gift. I just love the delicate flowers and the script on the printed thank you card so I had to reuse it. I die cut the front and layered it on a die cut mat before adhering it to an A2 card base. I added 3 dragonflies that I'd die cut from watercolor paper, watercolored and stickled. I just couldn't resist those dragonflies on a recent trip to my local stamping store - this my my first play with them.

That's it from here. I was still out of town yesterday for Merry Monday but no matter - the Merrymakers are off for July and August. We can use their Summer Link-up to post cards anytime during those months. My first card will probably be another moose card since I cut a bunch of pieces on the Silhouette last week but didn't have a chance to finish that card.

Thanks for stopping and have a crafty week!