Challenges

I know, I am still gone. I am! Lots of people are, it seems.... But its harder to get stamping done with the holiday break, and we keep visiting family and staying nicely busy. I did, however, get these two challenges done the other day. I spent that day at home catching up on laundry and taking down Christmas. And thought I'd get a little stamping in after dinner....(the photos are not cropped because I am away from home)
This one is from Jen's Saturday Sketch to Try. I totally took the idea from the Stampin' Up! training magazine cover, which had arrived that day. The colors are straight out of the Autumn Vine DP. Super simple, but nice for those general-occasion cards.

Supplies: Stamps: Boho Backgrounds Ink: Sage Shadow, More Mustard, Really Rust, Chocolate Chip Paper: Chocolate Chip, More Mustard & Whisper White card stock Accessories: Scallop Circle Punch, 1 3/8 inch circle punch, EE Brads

The last Christmas gift

So this is one of those I did a few weeks ago but couldn't post. It was a gift and one of the persons receiving would peek! LOL! But this is what we gave our parents for Christmas- homemade photo cubes! After driving alllll over town (and the several surrounding us) looking for photo cubes, I found the template here on SCS. Should have checked that in the first place! But the grandparents were happy, and they turned out cute.

Supplies:

Paper: Sage Shadow card stock, Autumn Vine DP

Adhesive: SNAIL, Mini Glue Dots & Scotch Tape!

I stamped!

(a few days ago...and this didn't post like I thought it would...sorry about there being NOTHING)

And I got 5 sketches/challenges done with three cards!

First is a double, I used Jen's Saturday Sketch to Try and have a little angel boy for the Cinema Saturday Challenge! The Cinema Challenge was Its A Wonderful Life. I do love that movie but I don't really enjoy watching it because I can't stand it when I cry over movies. I start crying when the pharmacist makes the mistake and gets after him... Anyway, pretend that yellow circle has a bell or a word or something. I still can't figure out what to put there. Maybe after I go browse my mom's stamps...

Supplies:

Stamps: Lying Matthew Angel (Whiff of Joy) Ink: Basic Black Craft Paper: Night of Navy, Brocade Blue, So Saffron, white card stocks Accessories: Watercolor Wonder Crayons, Blender Pens, Saffron Poly-Twill ribbon, 1 3/8 inch circle punch

Next is Julee's Mojo Monday sketch, plus her challenge on OCC for a 'lovey' card. This image was used by one of the OCC design team girls, but its the only lovey image I had other than hearts. LOL. I liked the pink and brown theme I went with.

Supplies:

Stamps: Kiss for Chloe (Sarah Kay stamps) Ink: Black Paper: Pretty in Pink, Close to Cocoa, white card stocks, Berry Bliss DP (retired) Accessories: White Taffeta Ribbon, Watercolor Wonder Crayons, Blender Pens

And finally Taylor's Friday Cupcake sketch- AND I used cupcakes!!! This is for a friend of mine who really likes the Bold Brights colors. I wish the sun would come out so these pictures would be brighter, but evidently we are getting our entire "water-year" over this week and last. I shoveled about 5 inches of heavy, wet snow after lunch today and by the time my husband came home you'd never guess it. Don't get me wrong, we need the water, but spreading out the storms would be ok with me.

Supplies: Stamps: Cupcakes Wheel, Its Your Birthday (retired)

Ink: Pixie Pink Paper: Gable Green, Pixie Pink, Whisper White card stocks Accessories: Scallop Edge Punch, buttons

Anyway, it was nice to get some stamping done! LOL!

Christmas Eve

"Santa's Prayer On Christmas Eve"

The sleigh was all packed, the reindeer were fed, But Santa still knelt by the side of the bed. "Dear Father," he prayed "Be with me tonight. There's much work to do and my schedule is tight. I must jump in my sleigh and streak through the sky, Knowing full well that a reindeer can't fly. I will visit each household before the first light, I'll cover the world and all in one night. With sleigh bells a-ringing, I'll land on each roof, Amid the soft clatter of each little hoof. To get in the house is the difficult part, So I'll slide down the chimney of each child's heart. My sack will hold toys to grant all their wishes. The supply will be endless like the loaves and the fishes. I will fill all the stockings and not leave a track. I'll eat every cookie that is left for my snack. I can do all these things Lord, only through You, I just need your blessing, then it's easy to do. All this is to honor the birth of the One, That was sent to redeem us, Your most Holy Son. So to all of my friends, least Your glory I rob, Please Lord, remind them who gave me this job."

By Warren D. Jennings

Another Gift

This Christmas gift is all because of generous people on Wish-RAK. I love this Bella stamp and it totally reminds me of my sister. But how many times can I make her a card using it?? So I asked for it with my very first Wish-RAK. It took two full months to get any, but I am now set for, um, life! She'll out-grow this phase before I ever run out of images! LOL! Therefore I decided to make a fun card "set" FROM her with this cute girl!

Beate has this fabulous box tutorial on Splitcoaststampers so that's where I learned how to make this nice box to hold it all!

And here's what it looks like, all ready to go for Christmas day! I just hope she likes it! LOL! Supplies:

Stamps: Priceless, Best Yet, Ipodabella (Stamping Bella Stamps), Ink: Black, Rose Red, Chocolate Chip, Tempting Turquoise

Paper: Rose Red, Regal Rose, Taken With teal, Tempting Turquoise, Basic Black, Basic Gray, Chocolate Chip card stocks, Friends & Flowers SS kit (retired), Loves Me DP (retired)

Accessories: Flirty Ribbon (retired), Seaside Ribbon (retired), Chocolate Grosgrain, Scallop Edge Punch, Scallop Circle Punch, 1 3/8 inch circle punch, Watercolor Wonder Crayons, Blender Pen

Back to Sketches!

Yep! My kids were in bed early so I got to listen to some great audio training (go Stampin' Up!) and get some stamping done! Woohoo! And none of it is Christmas! Haha! You know, there are birthdays and things coming up that people will need cards for, so back to that we go! LOL!
Jen's Saturday Sketch to Try. I went spring-y here. I had this stamp set sitting here and I really wanted to make bluebells! I went to Alberta, Canada right after my HS graduation and fell in love with the bluebells! Maybe they aren't even actual bluebells, but they were blue flowers that sure looked like bells to us, and they were fabulous. I've only ever seen them again two summers ago in Northern Yellowstone...I wish they grew around here! So anyway, enough chatting, here's my bluebell card!

Supplies: Stamps: Pocket Silhouettes Ink: Ballet Blue, Certainly Celery, Always Artichoke Paper: Certainly Celery, So Saffron, Ballet Blue & Whisper White card stocks, Just Delightful SS kit DP (retired) Accessories: So Saffron Poly-twill ribbon
Finally, Julee's Mojo Monday Sketch! (go check out her blog btw- awesome blog candy!!!) Again with the spring-y colors...and the same DP pkg and the same stamps...hmmmm.... This one to me was so fun! it was a unique idea which I loved and it was easy to do. Can't beat that!

Supplies: Stamps: Pocket Silhouettes Ink: Cameo Coral, Certainly Celery Paper: Cameo Coral & Whisper White card stock, Just Delightful SS kit DP (retired) Accessories: Scallop Edge Punch, Word Window Punch, Certainly Celery Grosgrain Ribbon, Styled Silver Hodgepodge Hardware

Cards are a Gift

Sometimes a stack of cards is a great gift! These are for my son's teachers at church. I have no idea what their style would be, so I chose what I felt were pretty cards with an assortment of uses. I included a thank you note to them, and tried to coordinate the envelopes...but when its borrowed sets or something, that's hard! Note to self- coordinate envelopes when making the card! LOL!

I packaged them like this and had him deliver them! I've done this before and had a good response so I'm sure these wonderful ladies will enjoy them!

Plus it puts more of my cards to good use!

A snow day...

Of course the kids start off a Saturday morning by playing hard and loud with a bouncy ball, laughing their heads off, at 645 this morning. Ugh. The wind was howling and blowing leaves so hard I thought it was rain. It never did rain but it sure snowed! We got at least 4-6 inches, and it came down from about 10 AM til 630 tonight! This was our first significant snow storm all season, which is just CRAZY!

So, while my husband got our daughter to take a long, much-needed nap after such an early morning, I got to entertain our son! Good thing we like crafts! LOL!

He needs to have a gift for a gift-exchange at school and I suggested these candy cane ornaments. He took it a step further- he realized that Daddy and I have one and he has one (I bought the supplies for a church activity when he was a baby), so he also made one for his sister and had me make one for Daddy's own. *wink*

We also got in plenty of reading minutes, watched a lot of Christmas specials and even made the first batch of neighbor goodies! It was a crazy day and a long day, but I think a good day. Merry Christmas!

Christmas Gift Tutorial?!

I know, WHAT?! I can do that?! Guess we'll see...! LOL!

I decided to take pictures of each step (sort of) of creating this gift and thought I'd share, in case you're alter-challenged like me. I think the creations people make are incredible but I just don't find myself thinking that way. I save a lot of "trash" and started collecting these jerky cans this summer and FINALLY came up with a way to use them! So here we go......!

I started by laying the can onto the designer paper and marking where the paper would fit from the top to the bottom of the can, and cutting accordingly. Then, I held the cut paper to the can and rolled it across the big strip, marking where the other side would just cover the seam, (shown below) and cut there.

I used Sticky Strip to adhere this DP to the can itself.

(I haven't had much luck using Sticky Strip sooo I ran out in the middle of this project. HOWEVER, the only things that have held together on this is where there IS Sticky Strip. Here an order coming up? argh...)

Yes, I held the ends of the can between my knees so I could keep the paper going straight around the can!

I made a little belly band with red card stock and I used my Scallop Edge Punch along the bottom. I taped the end that would be covered and used the last bit of Sticky Strip to secure the wrapped around end.

Then I needed a mat for my little poem. I am ...thrifty? and I also thought the card stock would wrap better if there wasn't so much of it, so I trimmed out the center of this rectangle, as shown below....

Then I glued my computer-printed poem to the mat and used SNAIL on the mat to put it on the can. (then I used glue dots to hold it down better once it started coming off...)

Here's the inside of the can...I put some red confetti paper inside to make it look nicer, and festive! Then you add the MnM's bag.... And ta-da! Here's the finished project- a great little gift! I also punched some Old Olive card stock with my scallop circle punch, then layered a 1 3.8 red circle on top of that, and stamped an M using Chocolate Chip ink, for just a little accent (attached with Dimensionals). My son's teacher has quite the MnM collection in her classroom and he wanted to give her a pkg of MnM's for Christmas. I was fine with that, but maybe a little something more.... When I saw THIS post on Patty's blog, I knew what I was going to do! What do you think?

Red & Green!

It is really cold here so even without snow its feeling more like Christmas! So, today I have Three more festive cards!
This first one comes from the OCC Saturday Challenge, which this week was a sketch by Julee! I try to do her sketches every week already, so of course I wanted to play here too. I really liked this one! Supplies: Stamps: Holiday Tag Team (retired) Ink: Basic Black Craft, Real Red, Old Olive, More Mustard Paper: Real Red, Old Olive & Whisper White card stocks, Dashing DP (retired) Accessories: Mat Pack, BB Buttons, Real Red Grosgrain Ribbon, Blender Pens
See, I liked the sketch so much I almost did this one to match! I just didn't come up with anything for the little accent in the lower corner.

Supplies: Stamps: Merry Little Christmas (retired), Holiday Tag Team (retired) Ink: Basic Black, Real Red Paper: Always Artichoke, Real Red, Whisper White card stocks Accessories: Watercolor Pencils, Real Red grosgrain ribbon

Big On Christmas!

Do you have this set? I actually don't. I asked for it on Wish-RAK and got some and I borrowed it from my friend for a class so I've used it quite a bit. I struggled with making it look original, which was silly...its not like the people I was mailing cards to are going to compare and see who's cards look the same...! But, I ended up with a lot of different ideas, so here are some if you're lookign for inspiration! This card below I did a few variations on. Just a green or red base and then green or red stripes! Quick, easy and cute!

How are your cards coming?

More Christmas!

Here are just some more of the Christmas cards I've been working on. I'm not sure if its easier to do a bunch that are completely different or to do a bunch that are the same. It started out a lot of fun designing new cards around all the different challenges and sketches, but now its a little tedious and I'm not done! Hmm....

So, first I have Lauren's Saturday sketch.

Supplies: Stamps: To You & Yours, Holiday Tag Team (retired) Ink: Real Red Paper: Real Red, Old Olive, Dashing? DP (retired) Accessories: All The Trimmings SS Kit (retired)

...Melanie's sketch on PCP...

Supplies: Stamps: Holidays & Wishes, Holiday Tag Team (retired) Ink: Chocolate Chip, Glorious Green Paper: Very Vanilla, Close to Cocoa & Glorious Green card stock Accessories: Vanilla Grosgrain Ribbon, 1 3/8 inch circle punch

...fun cookies to color...

Supplies: Stamps: Merry Little Christmas (retired), Glad Tidings (retired) Ink: Glorious Green, Basic Black, Real Red Paper: Glorious Green & Whisper White card stocks, All The Trimmings SS Kit (retired) Accessories: Watercolor Wonder Crayons, Blender Pens

and toys for the children of a friend!

Supplies: Stamps: Merry Little Christmas (retired), Holidays & Wishes Ink: Basic Black Craft, Pixie Pink, Brilliant Blue, Wild Wasabi (retired), Close to Cocoa, Pumpkin Pie, So Saffron, Real Red Paper: Wild Wasabi (retired) & Pretty in Pink card stocks, Watercolor Paper Accessories: Aquapainter, SS Brads

I am THRILLED to announce I finished making cards yesterday (til my son asked if I would make a card for each of them to "open" on Christmas morning...sheesh... *wink*) and short 6 addresses, but everything else is sent! I've got some cool homemade gifts I'll show in the coming weeks but one is scheduled for the 26th- it has to stay a surprise, you know! LOL!

Edelweiss?

Since the Cinema Challenge was The Sound of Music and my favorite song by far is "Edelweiss", I went with that! Plus...I have flower stamps that I can make white... haha!

I have this music box that plays Edelweiss and I saw plenty engravings of it in Germany and Austria (like this below) but I wasn't sure I'd seen the actual flower. Sooo I googled it! Check it out: Edelweiss

And here's my creation!

Supplies: Stamps: Heartfelt Thanks, Warmest Regards (retired) Ink: whisper White Craft, Versamark, Sage Shadow, Chocolate Chip Paper: Close to Cocoa, Sage Shadow card stocks Accessories: White Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Stamping Sponge