A Christmas card...

Hey there!  Yes, I have a Christmas card to share today!  A very simple Christmas card, lol!  I have been working on lots of other projects and decided that I wanted to change things up a bit so I decided to make a Christmas card using the current Merry Monday theme and the MFT sketch.  I used some papers from the Echo Park Twas the Night Before Christmas 6x6 pad and a MFT stars die along with the MFT Merry Christmas dies.   I die cut the stars from some MFT gold glitter cardstock and the words from some of the patterned paper.  I also cut the words from cardstock in order to beef them up a bit.  Once I had all the die cutting done I layered up the patterned papers and cardstock on the card base and then added the stars.  Super simple, but now I have another Christmas card done and ready to go!

Have a wonderful day!

Supplies:  Cardstock: PTI Fine Linen, MFT gold glitter; Patterned Paper:  Echo Park; Dies:  My Favorite Things

Season's Greeting...

Hello there!!  I have a Christmas card to share today.  When I saw the challenge at Merry Monday to create a card using poinsettias I just had to play along!  I just love poinsettias and have a number of poinsettia stamps.  Some of my favorites are from Penny Black and are part of their brushstroke stamp line.  I used one called Red Star.  I used a variation of a technique that I used on a couple of cards I made last week.  The technique was one shared by the super talented Jill Foster a few weeks ago.  I used Ranger Distress markers in Candied Apple and Abandoned Coral to color the main flower and Forest Moss to color the greenery.  I started by coloring the petals with Abandoned Coral and then stamping on watercolor paper.  I blended it out a bit with a tiny bit of water and then added more Abandoned Coral and repeated the steps.  When I had the color I wanted I added in the Candied Apple to get some depth of color to the leaves.  I finished up with the greenery and then added the centers using a Wild Honey distress marker.  I used the layout from Freshly Made Sketches so I will post it there. I trimmed down the panel and then added a little strip of patterned paper per the sketch.  Because I didn't want to completely cover up the poinsettia I stamped the sentiment (also from Penny Black) on vellum in gold embossing powder and then adhered it to my panel.   Since this week the challenge at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge is anything goes I will be adding this there, as well.

Hope you have a wonderful day!!

Supplies:  Cardstock:  SU! Real Red, PTI vellum, Arches Hot Press watercolor; Patterned paper:  Echo Park; Stamps:  Penny Black; Inks:  Ranger Distress markers, VersaMark watermark ink; Embossing powder:  Ranger Ultrafine Gold

yuletide greetings...

Hey there!!  Happy weekend!!  I have a card for the current Merry Monday Christmas challenge.  I also going to enter into the current Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge to add die cut.  The last time I played along with Merry Monday the sweet gals there were kind enough to pick my card as the top card!  That really made my day so thank you ladies!!!  This week the challenge is to use a stencil and at first I didn't think I would play along, but then I remembered the Pine Bough stencil that came in the Simon Says Stamp Limited Edition holiday card kit.  I pulled it out and stenciled the image using Ranger Distress Oxide ink in Iced Spruce.  I cleaned off the stencil and then placed it back on slight off set and applied some Doodlebug glitter paste in silver to some of the image.  I let it dry and the trimmed it down.  The pine cones are dies from A Jillian Vance Design.  After cutting them I applied some more of the silver glitter paste.  The sentiment was stamped in VersaFine Smoky Gray.  The pine cones were adhered with Multi Medium Matte and then the panel was adhered to a kraft cardstock base. Super simple, but I have one more Christmas card made!!

Have a wonderful day!!

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI kraft, MFT white; Stamps:  SSS Yuletide Holiday; Stencil:  SSS; Inks:  Ranger and VersaFine; Glitter paste:  Doodlebug; Dies:  A Jillian Vance Design

Christmas Greetings...

Hello!!  Hope you are having a wonderful weekend!!  This morning I put together this card for the current Merry Monday Christmas challenge that is closing is just a few hours!  I'm also adding this to the current MFT sketch challenge and the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge of layering.  When I saw the MFT sketch this idea started rolling around to create a snowflake wreath.  So when I got up early I decided to give it a try.  After die cutting all the snowflakes using the MFT Snowflake Splendor stand alone dies I spent sometime determining which ones would work for the wreath and then how to lay them out.  I decided that layering the die cuts was the best way to go.  The base of the wreath was die cut from MFT silver glitter cardstock using to AJVD Polka Dot circle dies and then adhered to light gray cardstock die cut with an AJVD Stitched Dot rectangle die.  Then I got to work adding all the snowflakes using Multi Medium Matte.   The sentiment from the MFT Snow Globe Sentiments was stamped in gray and then die cut with an MFT Slanted Sentiment Label die.   I adhered the sentiment and then finished with Pretty Pink Posh sparkling clear sequins.    I hope my "snow" works for the gals at MM!

Thanks for stopping by today... have a good one!!

Supplies:  Cardstock: MFT white, silver glitter, SSS fog, SU! Pool Party; Stamps:  MFT; Dies:  MFT and AJVD; Ink:  VersaFine Smoky Gray; Sequins:  Pretty Pink Posh

tis the season...

Hello!!  Wow... November is almost history and now the Christmas crunch is on!  I still need a few more Christmas cards and so I used the current Merry Monday Christmas challenge, as well as the current WCMC9 challenge of Christmas.  I used the lovely Magnolia Wreath, again, along with the dies from the Season of Cheer die set.  I stamped the full wreath in the light green and then overstamped with VersaMark watermark ink, applied sparkle embossing powder and heat embossed.  I did not repeat that step with the rest of the stamping as I just wanted the main wreath to stand out a bit more.  The word season was die cut from blue glitter cardstock along with two more from scrap cardstock and adhered together.   Die cut the other pieces from white and silver cardstock and then get to work putting together the card.  Took a bit of arranging, but I got everything placed to my satisfaction.  I'm including a close up of the wreath so that you can see the sparkle.

Hope you have a wonderful day!!

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white, MFT blue glitter and brushed silver; Stamps:  Concord & 9th; Dies:  Concord & 9th and AJVD; Embossing Powder:  Stampin Up! iridescent ice; Inks:  VersaMark, Stampin Up! Pear Pizzazz

Christmas cards!!

Hey!!   Hope your week is going well.  I have two Christmas cards to share that use lots of fun AJVD products.  First up is a card for the current Merry Monday Christmas challenge and Freshly Made Sketches.   The challenge at Merry Monday is to use kraft and red.  I used red glitter cardstock and red foil cardstock to create my poinsettia using AJVD Poinsettia dies.  I brought in the kraft part of the challenge by die cutting a panel of kraft cardstock with an AJVD Stitched Dot rectangle die and then die cutting one corner using an Elegant Stitched Dot border die.  The panel was then stamped with kraft ink using the AJVD Dainty Dot Background stamp.   I die cut the word greetings from the Poinsettia Greetings die set and adhered that to the panel.   Now here is where I made a mistake.  I attached my panel to the cardstock base per the sketch (which I flipped on it's side and turned into a rectangle) and then added my poinsettia.  At that point I realized I had not stamped the word season's... YIKES!!  Thankfully I had put enough foam dimensionals on the back to make it sturdy enough to stamp the word!!

The second card is for the current Inspired by All the Little Things challenge.  I have been trying to play along with their challenges over the last few weeks, but always run out of time.  I was determined that I would get something made for this week's challenge as I absolutely loved the inspiration photo.  I die cut my pine branches using a newly released AJVD die set from a dark green cardstock and layered them on a black cardstock base.  The sentiment was stamped in white ink.  I stamped the Christmas stocking in VersaFine Onyx Black ink and then colored it with Kuretake Gansi Tambi watercolors.  Once it was dry I trimmed it out.  A snowflake was die cut and adhered to the pine branches along with the stocking.  Love how this one turned out and now I have two more Christmas cards made!!


Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI Pinefeather, True Black and kraft; Stampin Up! Real Red; Ranger watercolor paper, Stampin Up! red glitter; red foil; Stamps and dies:  A Jillian Vance Design; Inks:  VersaFine, Simon Says Stamp white pigment, Stampin Up! Crumb Cake and Real Red; Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolors

three ornaments...

Hello!!!  Popping in with a card for the current Merry Monday Christmas challenge, as well as for the  Reverse Confetti October Sketch for You to Try.  The Merry Monday challenge is to use ornaments on your card.   I decided to go with a traditional red and green color scheme with a little silver sparkle thrown in for good measure.  The stamps and dies are from Reverse Confetti... Vintage Ornaments set.  Originally I only had two ornaments... one is red and one in green, but as I put the card together things just didn't look right so I stamped and cut another red ornament.  I used Stampin Up!'s Emerald Envy and Cherry Cobbler inks along with the matching cardstock.  I embossed both pieces with a SU! birch tree embossing folder.  The RC Pretty Panels garland die was cut from white cardstock three times and adhered together.  The little banner is also from Reverse Confetti and cut from silver glitter cardstock as well as the ornament tops.

Have a wonderful day!!

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white, SU!; Stamps and dies:  Reverse Confetti; Inks:  Stampin Up!; Glitter paper:  MFT; Embossing folder:  Stampin Up!

joyful holiday greetings...

Hello!!!  Hope you are having a wonderful weekend!  Stopping in with a card I put together this morning for the current Merry Monday Christmas challenge.  They have a lovely sketch this week.   I have been in a bit of a creative funk, again, so I thought using the sketch would help.  I have lots of fun new stamps and dies, but just can't seem to get anything going... maybe I have too much stuff???!!! Anyway... I thought making something simple might help so I turned to Merry Monday since I need to get started on some Christmas cards.  I have never used my Make It Market Mini Kit:  Holiday Folk and since it comes with a sheet of images you can die cut and use I thought that would make things easy, but it turned out I was wrong, lol!  I still struggled to get something made!   I was going to use some of the patterned papers that come in the kit, but decided that none would work for the top panel so I inked up some PTI Fresh Snow linen cardstock with Broken China distress oxide ink and then flicked on water to create a look of snow falling.  That panel and a piece of the patterned paper from the kit were die cut along with the images.  I laid out where I wanted the die cuts and then stamped the sentiment.  Layered everything up and finally... I had a card made!!!   Here's to hoping I can get something else made, lol!!

Have a wonderful day...

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PaperTrey Ink; Stamps:  PaperTrey Ink; Dies:  PaperTrey Ink and AJVD; Ink:  VersaFine Onyx Black and Ranger Distress Oxide

two cards to share...

Hello!!   As my blog title says... I have two cards to share today.   First up is a card for a couple of challenges:  Color Throwdown and CAS(E) this Sketch.  I recently got a new stamp and die bundle from Stampin Up! and have been wanting to use them.   I thought the CTS was perfect way to give them some love!  The die set comes with this really cool die that you see behind the two leafy stems.  I centered the die on my white cardstock and then die cut the piece.  Some red cardstock was die cut with the same die.  covered the back side of the white panel with washi tape and then inserted all the little red pieces.  The leaves were stamped in blue and yellow and then adhered to the panel.  The sentiment is from the AJVD Happy Birthday stamp set and was heat embossed in white on black cardstock.  The sentiment was trimmed down and adhered along with a little white twine blow.  Mounted the panel on a light gray card base and I was done.

Second card is for the current PTI MIM challenge of combining stenciling and masking.  I usually take a look at the MIM challenges and often think that I will play along, but most of the time don't ever get anything done.  But I had some time today and decided to give the technique a try.  Early this year I finally was able to buy the PTI set Deck the Halls and thought I would use it for the challenge.  I created my rectangle stencil using the middle die from the Double Up die set and obviously the wreath using the wreath die from Deck the Halls.  The panel was inked with Ranger Distress Oxide ink in Fired Brick and then splattered with water.  I stamped the wreath using olive and artichoke colored inks and the sentiment in black.  I then die cut the panel down with the largest die in the Double Up die set.  The bow was die cut and then stamped with a ruby red ink and then adhered with a little piece of foam dimensional.  The panel was then adhered to a kraft cardstock base.  I'm going to add this to the Merry Monday summer link up.   They had a previous challenge to use a wreath on your card.

Have a wonderful day!

Supplies:  Cardstock:  white, kraft, light gray; Stamps:  Stampin Up!, AJVD and PTI; Dies:  Stampin Up! and PTI; Inks:  Ranger Distress Oxide; VersaFine Onyx Black, SU! Old Olive, Always Artichoke, Ruby Red, Memento Blue Danube and Dandelion; SU! white baker's twine; Hero Arts white embossing powder

Christmas Holly...

Hello!!  Stopping in with a Christmas card for the current Merry Monday Christmas challenge to create a clean and simple card.  I paired the MM challenge with the current Freshly Made Sketches layout to create my card.  The other day I decided to play around with watercoloring with the one package of Distress Crayons that I own and decided to use an older Hero Arts Holly cling stamp.  I don't recall the name of the stamp because I threw the packaging away so if someone out there does... please let me know.  I haven't played along with Merry Monday since early December because I needed a break from Christmas cards, but when my sweet bloggy friend, Linda, gave me a lovely shout out on her blog I just had to play along!  Please make sure you head to Linda's blog to check out her amazing CAS Christmas card!!  I stamped the holly on some watercolor paper with VersaFine Onyx Black ink and then colored it up with Peeled Paint and Festive Berries distress crayons.  When the panel was dry I die cut it down with an AJVD Stitched Dot rectangle die, added some additional Peel Paint crayon and then applied Nuvo Glitter Drops White Blizzard to the berries.   Because the panel is rather small I needed a small sentiment and found that in the PTI stamp set Merry Little Christmas.  To add a little something to the light gray card base I stamped it with the holly image twice using a light gray ink.  the panel was matted with red cardstock and adhered using foam dots.  To little buttons in a shade similar to the holly leaves finished off the card.

Hope you have a wonderful day...

Supplies:  Cardstock:  SSS fog and dark red, Ranger watercolor paper; Stamps:  Hero Arts and PaperTrey Ink; Ink:  VersaFine Onyx Black; Watercolor medium:  Ranger Distress crayons; Nuvo Glitter Drops; PTI green buttons

wishing you...

Hello!!!  Popping in with a card that I made for a few challenges... Freshly Made Sketches and Merry Monday Christmas challenge.  The current Merry Monday challenge is to make a masculine Christmas card and yes... I went with a image of stag!  I pulled out my Essentials by Ellen Prize Stag die and cut him from some beautiful shimmery copper cardstock.   The plaid paper is from a Tim Holtz 8x8 pad of paper I purchased last year (and never used!!) called Yuletide and was die cut with a Reverse Confetti die.  The papers in this pad are gorgeous and I really must use them again and soon!!  I stamped the starburst image from the Essentials by Ellen Merry & Bright set in olive ink on the paper.  I die cut a thin fishtail banner using an MFT die and then stamped it with a sentiment from Merry &  Bright using a dark brown ink.  The other end was then fishtailed using the same die.  I adhered the plaid piece to my kraft cardstock panel, added the stag and the banner and then stamped Christmas below using the same dark brown ink. A nice simple card perfect for a guy!   I'm also going to add this to the current Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge of anything goes. 

Hope you have a wonderful day...

Supplies:  Cardstock:  SU! River Rock, PTI kraft; Tim Holtz patterned paper; Stamps:  Essentials by Ellen, Reverse Confetti, MFT and AJVD; Inks:  SU!

peace on earth...

Hello... stopping in with a simple card for a couple of challenges:  Merry Monday Christmas challenge (used red, grey and white) and November Viva La Verve sketch #1.  I have been wanting to play along with the Viva La Verve sketches for ages and to use my long neglected Verve stamps and the Merry Monday challenge gave me the opportunity.   I used two Verve sets:  Unto Us and Peace on Earth and one of the dies that matches the Unto Us stamp set.  I used some papers from the Pink Paislee Yuletide pad... just trying to put a little dent in my huge stash of 6x6 pads, lol!!   The inks are Stampin Up! Cherry Cobbler and VersaFine Smoky Gray.  After cutting all the pieces of patterned paper I roughed up the edges a bit.  I decided to go a bit old school and I did not use much die cutting except for the reindeer.  I even hand cut the fishtail banner!  Stamped the sentiment, layered everything up on a light grey cardstock base.  I'm also going to add this to the current Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge of Christmas critters since my card has reindeer on it.

Hope you have a wonderful day...

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI Soft Stone; Patterned paper:  Pink Paislee; Stamps and dies:  Verve; Inks:  Stampin Up and VersaFine Smoky Gray

Christmas wreath...

Hello!!  Got some time yesterday to make another Christmas card.  This one is for the current Merry Monday Christmas challenge of how will you decorate your door, as well as the Hero Arts holiday card challenge.   I was on a mission to use my September My Monthly Hero card kit and when I saw the Merry Monday challenge I knew the inspiration I needed.  I started by created my wreath using one of the wreath dies from the kit as well as a branch die that comes in the kit.  I die cut the wreath from a brownish cardstock and the branch from hunter green.  I then layered them together.  Some little berries were die cut using a die from the add-on Hero Arts stamp and die set called Christmas Trimmings.  Once I had the wreath done I got started on my door.  I die cut the rectangles using a small Spellbinders rectangle die and a small Spellbinders long rectangle die.  The pieces were then adhered to a piece of white cardstock that was trimmed down to create the door.  I added a little brushed metal brad for my door knob.  I adhered the door to a red cardstock base and then added my wreath.  My wreath is kinda oversized for my door, but I have seen doors with oversized wreaths on them!  For some sparkle I added some Crystal Stickles to some of the greenery and the little berries.  The twine bow was adhered and then finished things off by stamping the sentiment from Christmas Trimmings, die cutting it with the matching dies and adhering it to the wreath.  So there you have it... that is how I will decorate this door, lol!! 

Hope you have a wonderful day...

Supplies:  Cardstock: white; SU! Soft Suede, Hunter and Real Red; Stamps:  Hero Arts; Dies:  Hero Arts and Spellbinders; Ink:  SU! Real Red; brushed metal brad

two more cards...

Hello!!  A weekend full of rain, rain and more rain plus some strong winds led to lots of time to make cards!!   I think I made about 6 cards over the last few days!  I haven't made that many cards in a very long time, lol!!  Have two more to share today.  First up is a card for the current MFT Wednesday Sketch challenge, as well as the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge to use a resist technique (I used emboss/resist) and I'm also going to add this to the Color Throwdown as I used that color combo again.  I started by stamping one of the snowflakes from the MFT Snowflake Sparkle card kit on some of the smooth white cardstock included in the kit using VersaMark ink, applying white embossing powder and then heat setting.  I then inked up the corner where the snowflake is using the MFT Blue Breeze ink pad included in the kit and an ink distressing tool.  Once that was done I die cut the words Merry Christmas from the Sour Apple glitter paper from the kit, as well as white cardstock.  All the words were adhered together and then adhered to the card front.  I also added some of the little dot clusters from the snowflakes stamp set around the panel using light grey ink.  Dotted around some Diamond Stickles for a bit of sparkle and I was done.

The second card is for the Reverse Confetti October Sketch for You to Try.  I recently got some new Reverse Confetti stamps and dies (Vintage Ornaments), as well as their new Christmas patterned paper pad (Very Merry)and so I used some of those items to make my card.  I inked up one of the ornaments with SU!'s Real Red and then die cut it with the ornament die.  The little ornament topper was die cut from matte silver cardstock and the bow was stamped in green and then die cut.  I adhered all the pieces together and let it dry.  I pulled out four different patterns from the Very Merry pad to create the different components of the layout.  A few more RC dies (banner from Tag Me and small wreath from the Wreaths die set) were used to cut several pieces.  Layered everything up and I was done.  This works for the new Merry Monday challenge so I will be including my card in the challenge.

Hope you have a wonderful day...
Supplies:  Snowflake card:  Stamps, dies, ink and cardstock:  My Favorite Things; VersaMark watermark ink and Filigree white embossing powder
Ornament card:  Stamps, dies and patterned paper:  Reverse Confetti; Inks:  Stampin Up!

a wish for peace...

Hello!!  After a crazy weekend of wet and windy weather here in the Pacific Northwest we are back to beautiful sunny days.  It is a bit chilly, but I will take gorgeous blue skies and chilly over wet, windy and chilly any day!!  I recently purchased another one of Penny Black's beautiful brushstroke stamps called la fleur rouge and I have wanted to try out a technique I used on this card with my new stamp.  It took me several tries and a review of Jill Foster's video on the technique before I ended up with my finished card.  I absolutely LOVE how it turned out!  To color the poinsettias I used distress markers in Fired Brick and Barn Door.  I colored directly onto the stamp and then using my mini MISTI repeatedly stamped and blended the colors with clean water.  The same thing was done with the leaves and the stems.  I then scribbled some Wild Honey distress ink on to my craft sheet, added water and painted it around the image.  Once the panel was finished and dry I over stamped it using the Penny Black background stamp called Christmas Story using Old Paper Distress ink for portions of the panel and Tea Dye for another portion.  I trimmed down the panel, distressed the edges with more Old Paper and then added the strip of red mirror cardstock.  The sentiment from another Penny Black stamp set was stamped using VersaFine Onyx Black.  The panel was mounted on a light grey cardstock base and then I added the red burlap twine.  Since my card has a vintage feel to it and it is a Christmas card I'm going to add it to the Merry Monday Christmas challenge, as well as the newly launched Flower challenge with a theme of anything goes.  I found out about this challenge through the super talented Viv as she is on the team (if you check out her blog you will see why!) and since I love flowers I thought this is a challenge I must play along with!!!

Hope you have a wonderful day...

Supplies:  Cardstock:  light grey, red mirror and watercolor paper; Stamps:  Penny Black; Ink:  VersaMark Onyx Black, Ranger Old Paper and Tea Dye; Markers:  Ranger Distress Markers; red burlap twine

little elf finn...

Hello!!  Hope your week is going well.  We are back to our typical western Washington weather (say that three times fast, lol!) of wind and rain.  Can't complain too much though... we had a great summer and early fall!  I have a card that I made for the current Merry Monday Christmas challenge to put an elf on your Christmas card.  At first I didn't think I would be able to play along and then I remembered the super cute Penny Black slapstick cling stamp called Little Elf Finn that I purchased several years ago.  I love the stamp, but I had never inked it up because I was didn't have a lot of confidence in my coloring skills.  I decided that I could no longer let that stop me from using the stamp and so last night I colored Finn up with my ZIG clean color markers and I must say that I am rather pleased with how he turned out! I did learn one thing... I definitely need more ZIGs, lol!! I kept things simple and just die cut my finished piece and then amounted it on a green cardstock base.  The sentiment is also from Penny Black (Christmas Wishes) and I thought it perfect for my little elf as he does look quite jolly doesn't he???  I think I will also add this to the current Simon Says Stamp challenge of anything goes.

Hope you have a wonderful day...


Supplies:  Cardstock:  Stampin Up! and Ranger; Inks:  VersaFine Smoky Gray and Onyx Black; Stamps:  Penny Black; Dies:  AJVD; Coloring medium:  ZIG clean color markers