Merry Monday #279 - Poinsettias!

Merry Monday everyone - time for challenge #279! JoAnn asks for a poinsettia on your Christmas card this week. Just love her inspiration photo with the white candle flanked by the beautiful bouquet of poinsettias and mistletoe!!

 

Decided to die cut a poinsettia using a set I bought last year. I added it to a candle along with some mistletoe. Here's my creation:

Supplies: Paper - Neenah Classic Crest Solar White, red and green; 
Basic Grey Juniper Berry; 

Heidi Swapp Christmas; Paper Studio cranberry

Stamps - Hero Arts SB128 Holly Days Stamp & Die Combo, 
CL907 Color Layering Wreath,

CG685 Hand Drawn Snowflakes Bold Prints

Dies - Spellbinders S5-055 Layered Poinsettia; 
My Favorite Things Blueprints 21 (retired);

Sizzix Tim Holtz 662425 Festive Greens

Other - foam tape, Copic Markers, 
Hero Arts PW121 White Puff Embossing Powder

Silhouette Design ID? - Candle

I die cut the poinsettia layers from a salmon red card, then embossed them using the die and a rubber mat. I cut the largest poinsettia layer again in green since the leaf from the die set seemed too big, as did the berries for the center. I cut the berries I used from a soft orange card using the smallest infinity circle die. I inked them all for some dimension. Stamped, die cut and colored the mistletoe, then put a couple pine sprig behind.

Next I cut a candle on the Silhouette in white card, plus a black offset mat - sorry I can't find the design #. I took the interior pieces out, stamped & embossed the candle piece, and colored the flame and outline with Copics. Put all the pieces back together, adhering to the black mat. Added Stickles to parts of the flame. Once dry, I tried the candle on different papers and colors of cardstock. Finally found a fun woodgrain piece from Heidi Swapp with some hanging light strings at the top. I die cut it with a pierce rectangle and added a strip at bottom as a "table" for my candle. Arranged the candle, poinsettia and mistletoe. Stamped the sentiment and adhered the panel to a cranberry colored card. Done!

Thought I'd show a side view so you can see the dimension:

This was definitely not a card for mass production - too many steps - but I had fun with it! Be sure to check out the fabulous creations of the Design Team, challenge details & the link-up for your creation - find it all HERE. Hope you have fun with the poinsettia theme and thanks for stopping!

Columbine Frame Birthday

Happy Tuesday everyone! I always enjoy hearing how we are enabled by our blogging friends to acquire new crafting goodies. Hope you do too but I'll try to keep it brief....

It all started with Bonnie's card using Stick Frames by Poppystamps - thanks Bonnie! Off I went to their website and ordered the die plus, of course, other goodies. Also got on the Memory Box/Poppystamps mailing list. Last weekend I received an email about an exclusive die set from Memory Box for a store in Colorado Springs CO called Simple Pleasures. The die set celebrates the store's 23rd anniversary & includes their state flower, the Colombine. To order, you simply email or call the store. They also offered an exclusive stamp set from Pink & Main with some darling animals. I couldn't resist the stamps, plus a previous year's Memory Box exclusive called Wishing You with lots of word dies. Great customer service from owner, Cathy - I had my order by Friday! Busy weekend but I finally had time yesterday to finish my card:

Supplies: Paper - Lawn Fawn Watercolor 6x6 pad; Neenah Classic Crest Solar White;

Michael's purple; Paper Studio glitter; DCWV A2 card

Dies - My Favorite Things Cloud Stax (retired); 

Memory Box Columbine Frame & Wishing You (both exclusive for Simple Pleasures)

Other - Copic markers; Stickles; Papermania purple gem

I diecut the frame from green watercolor paper and backed it with blue watercolor paper and added to an A2 card. Then I cut just the flower parts of the frame from purple paper. Next I cut the second flower layer from white and added accents with Copics and yellow Stickles to evoke photos of Columbines I found on the web. I cut the sentiment from glitter cardstock - you can sorta see the shimmer in the photo. Decided the sentiment looked skimpy in all the blue space so I put some clouds underneath (edged with Copics for dimension). I'll try the hummingbird on another card - looks like a cutie!

Anyway, I had a fun play with these exclusive products. Really brought back memories of trips to visit family friends who lived in Colorado Springs. It's a ways from Minnesota but I'd love to get back there and maybe fit in a trip to Simple Pleasures!!

Thanks for stopping by and have a crafty week!

Merry Monday #278 - Photo Inspiration

Debbie offers a gorgeous photo to inspire us for Challenge #278 at Merry Monday this week.

Don't know about you but the sweet dog with his red collar really caught my eye! He seems to be looking up the stairs - wonder what he spies? I'm guessing the family cat :) Another thing I spotted is the brick wall out the right windowpane. So I included both of those on my card.... along with a wreath.

Supplies: Paper - Paper Studio red; Poptone Black Licorce; 
Neenah Classic Crest Solar White; Basic Grey Juniper Berry 6x6 pad
Stamps - Hero Arts CM204 Santa's Door Accessories and 
SB120 Wreath Stamp & Die Combo; 
Inky Antics Punny Christmas Pups
Embossing Folder - Taylored Expressions Subway Tiles
Silhouette Design ID #28561 Speech Bubbles by Sarah Hurley
Other - Foam Tape; 3M washi tape; Copic Markers, Wink of Stella (clear)
Ink - Cracked Pistachio, Iced Spruce, Pine Needles Distress Ink; 
Hero Arts Red Royal & Black; Memento Tuxedo Black & Rich Cocoa

Well, I thought I had a brick embossing folder or stencil around here somewhere but couldn't find it. So I used the Taylored Expressions Subway Tiles which worked beautifully. I ran some black ink over top to emphasize the texture. Then I stamped, colored, and fussy cut the little dog. Used the Silhouette to cut a speech bubble and mat for the sentiment. Die cut the wreath then stamped the layers using my MISTI. Stamped and fussy cut the bow, then colored with Copics. It's hard to see but I added Wink of Stella to the dog's hat.

Can't wait to see what inspires you about Debbie's photo! See Merry Monday for all the challenge details, inspiration from the Design Team and the link-up to add your card. Thanks for stopping!!

Twofer Challenge #2 - Hearts!!

This month's Twofer Card Challenge includes my favorite icon - the heart!! For the challenge you create two cards, each for a different occasion using the same stamp or die. The cards should also differ in design.

Busy week for me but I finally had a chance to play along this morning. I need a bunch of thank you cards for birthday gifts so I started there some using Valentine papers & heart dies. Then I used one of the heart dies to create a flower for a friendship card.

Supplies: Paper - Poptone, Stampin' Up, BoBunny, Paper Studio, Pebbles

Dies - Hero Arts DI334 Nesting Hearts Infinity Dies, Spring Branch (retired),  

DI199 Nesting Circle Infinity Dies & January 2018 My Monthly Hero (corner scroll)

My Favorite Things Blueprints 20 (retired); Poppystamps Spectacular Thank You

Stamps - Hero Arts January 2018 My Monthly Hero (sentiment on left)

Other - Nuvo drops

Just loved this challenge - I had such fun creating with hearts!! Thanks to Darnell for offering the Twofer Card Challenge and thanks to you for stopping by!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day - one of my favorite days of the year!! We started celebrating last Saturday with my parents and my brother & sister-in-law. I got a box of delicious chocolate covered strawberries, a pot of flowers, and red velvet cupcakes. Mom and Dad gave me some cash toward craft supplies (already spent LOL!). I'm not doing Singing Valentines as I've done in past years - took a break this time - but I'll have dinner with friends tonight. I didn't photograph all the Valentines I made but here are a few:

Supplies: Paper - Neenah Classic Crest Solar White; Poptone Black Licorice & Bubblegum; 
Paper Studio red; various patterns
Silhouette Designs - ID 245242 Love You Heart Card & ID 37852 11 Hearts
Stamps - CL141 Fanciful Swirl (alphabet used for the MORE - retired but I've seen it at Michael's)
Die - My Favorite Things Blueprints 13 (stitched rectangle); 
Hero Arts DI334 Nesting Hearts Infinity Dies;
scrolly heart from the January 2018 My Monthly Hero Kit (sold out)
Impression Obsession DIE-271 Love
Other - foam tape; Hobby Lobby puffy heart stickers; embossing ink & white powder; doily from Target

I really had fun with the Silhouette file Love You Heart Card which included the scalloped mat. And here's the card I sent to my friend Lynn who shares my birthday:

Supplies: Paper - Neenah Classic Crest Solar White; Poptone Bubblegum; 
Paper Studio red; various patterns
Silhouette Design ID 245242 Love You Heart Card & 28561 Speech Bubbles
Stamps - Hero Arts CL402 Valentine Sayings (retired) & CL661 It's Your Day
Dies - Hero Arts DI337 Nesting Oval Infinity Dies and 
ampersand from the January 2018 My Monthly Hero kit (sold out)
Other - Foam tape; Copic markers (to highlight the ampersand)

Finally, here are some Valentines I donated to Cards for Hospitalized Kids. They like to receive the cards at least two weeks before a given holiday so I popped them in the mail back in January. They also accept general cards with messages like "You Rock" or "You are Awesome" but not "Get Well", etc. relating to health because some kids won't get better.

This year I only sent 10 girly Valentines; I didn't manage to get any boy ones done. Oh well, I hope to get more cards donated throughout the year. I used supplies by EK Success that I saved from the Disney Princess cards made last year. Most of the patterned papers and doilies were from the Target $ bin. 

Thanks for stopping and I hope you have a wonderful Valentine's Day!!

Merry Monday #277 - Stencil it!

Merry Monday everyone! Deanne hosts Challenge #277 this week and she'd like us to use a stencil on a Christmas card.

I have a lovely pile of stencils, many of which have never been used! I decided to give a Tim Holtz layering stencil its first play along with some embossing paste - it really gave some nice texture. Here's my card:

Supplies: Paper - DCWV green A2 card; Neenah Classic Crest Solar White

Stencil - Tim Holtz THS071 Woodland Layering
Die - Lawn Fawn Stitched Hillside Borders; My Favortie Things Blueprints 13
Sentiment stamp - Hero Arts CM122 Mini Christmas
Inks - Tim Holtz Lucky Clover, Pine Needles, Tumbled Glass, and Vintage Photo Distress Inks
Other - Tim Holtz Distress Grit Paste; Marvy White Gel Pen

And here's a close-up of the texture:

After applying ink to the trees, I let them dry thoroughly. Then I put the paste smoothly over the top layer of the stencil one tree at a time, letting it dry in between trees. On the middle tree, I finally got the paste thick enough with some globs so it has a more realistic look of snow. Added Stickles over top for some shimmer and shaded the sky with a bit of Tumbled Glass. I stamped the sentiment, added a couple of white snowbanks and a green mat. Decided to leave it simple and not add any embellishments but I used a white gel pen to add a few snow dots you can barely see in the close-up.

Remember to check Merry Monday for inspiration by the Design Team members, challenge details & the link-up to add your card this week. Can't wait to see what you create!! Thanks for stopping!

Merry Monday #276 - Photo Inspiration

For Challenge #276 at Merry Monday this week, Colleen offers us a photo for inspiration. Use any element of the photo to create a Christmas card - my goodness, there are so many beautiful ones!

I was drawn to the sweet birdies in the lower corner and decided to incorporate the pines from the opposite corner. A little "snow", a sentiment, & some lace - done! Here's my creation:

Supplies: Paper - Poptone Sno-cone, Black Licorice, & Spearmint; 
Neenah Classic Crest Solar White

Stamps - Hero Arts CM100 Christmas Messages; 
Our Daily Bread Snowflake Background;
Lawn Fawn Winter Sparrows
Dies - Lawn Fawn Winter Sparrows Lawn Cuts; Tim Holtz Sizzix Holiday Greens Mini
Other - Copic Markers, foam tape, Picket Fence Distress Spray, 
Hero Arts adhesive lace (retired) & White Puff embossing powder, 
Distress Embossing Ink

I stamped the birdies and colored with Copics, using the matching dies to cut them. I decided to replicate the frosty area of the window by stamping a snowflake background and embossing with puffy white powder - looks like brocade in real life! I was looking for some glitter washi tape to finish off the top of the white panel when I spotted one lonely piece of lace. Tried it and loved the look! Before adhering it, I splattered the top of the card base with some Distress Spray. I couldn't get the sprayer to work so I just took it out of the bottle and flicked it at my panel. Turned out ok I guess.... Die cut a pine branch and shaded it with Copics before adding it to the upper corner. Stamped and embossed a sentiment from one of my current Hero Arts Christmas favorites. Done!

Please visit Merry Monday for all the details, gorgeous cards from the Design Team, and the link-up for you to add your card to the challenge. I can't wait to see what inspires you from Colleen's photo!

Thanks for stopping and have a crafty week!!