December 10, 2010

I just can't seem to get enough of snowmen lately, maybe it has something to do with the snow that we've receive here so far. It hasn't been a lot, but enough to keep the ground so pretty and white.

My card is also for today's free for all challenge on splitcoast in which we were to create a holiday card in 15 minutes or less.  This was a real easy challenge for me because honestly with three kids I really don't have a lot of time to spend making my cards.  Aside of my coloring the rest of my card was easy and quick to makek.

This snowmen image is from one of my very first stamp sets I ever purchases. It's from an older SU stamp set called Best Borders. This set was perfect for one of my first sets because back then I didn't have a lot of tool or supplies so basically all I needed was to color in the snowmen, which is what I did here. I colored in their scarves and hats and then I added a little bit of glitter along the ground beneath them.

My background was embossed using my cuttlebug snow dots embossing folder- I don't use this folder nearly enough! My snowflake border punch is another item that I've hardly used and I thought it would be a perfect addition on my card. I punched some white card stock using the snowflake punch and then I layered it over my decorative paper. Next, I placed my finished image (layered onto the light blue card stock) over top of my white snowflake border card stock.

All I needed to do next was to add my silver elastic cording and my card was complete.  I'm sorry that my photo didn't turn out as nicely as I would have liked, for some reason the snowmen seemed a bit blurry, but you get the idea of my card (I hope).

Well, I have to run.  My son turns 6 years old today and I have to make him his birthday cake and get ready for his party!  I'll be sure to share a photo of him with you next week!  Have a great weekend! 

Stamps: Best Borders
Card Stock: White, Light Blue- (not sure where this card stock came from, sorry), DP is from DCWV Sweet Glitter Stack
Ink: Black Stazon
Supplies: Silver Elastic Cording, Cuttlebug, Snowflake Dots Cuttlebug Embossing Folder, 2 Way Glue Pen, DD Glitter, SU Markers, EK Success Snowflake Border Punch, Glue Dots
Technique: Dry Embossing

December 9, 2010

I keep seeing several threads where people are commenting about the stamp sets that they hardly ever use or sets that they've never used, and so that got me to thinking that I should start inking up my unloved stamps as well.

This snowman image is from an older SU stamp set called Stitched Santa.  I'm glad I kept this set because I was going to trade it on one of the PIF (pay it forward) threads a few years ago, but then I didn't.

I stamped my image using black stazon ink and then I colored it using my SU markers. It was my daughter's idea to make the birds red and I think she was right.  It really gives my card that sort of 'pop' that it needed.

My background was embossed using my cuttlebug snowflakes embossing folder (from the Winter Wonderland set).  I decided to add some SU light blue decorative paper that I found in my scrap bin and then I finished my card off with some sliver cording along the top and a little bit of glitter just along the bottom of the snowman.

Tomorrow I plan on sharing another snowman card I made from an even older SU stamp set that I have so be sure to stop on by!  Make it a great day!

Stamps: Stitched Snowman
Card Stock: White, Bashful Blue, Brocade Blue, SU DP
Ink: Black Stazon
Supplies: Silver Cording, Cuttlebug, Snowflakes Cuttlebug Embossing Folder, 2 Way Glue Pen, DD Glitter, SU Markers
Technique: Dry Embossing

December 8, 2010

I haven't played along with a splitcoast sketch challenge in a long time, so today I decided that's what I would do. I needed to make a thank you card and this is a new stamp set that I haven't used yet.

Like I normally do, I try to keep my cards clean and simple. After stamping the image I simply colored it using my SU markers and then in the centers of the flowers I added white dots using my white gel pen. After I finished coloring my image I decided to add a bit of glitter using my 2 way glue pen and SU's DD glitter. Glitter is such a quick and easy way to add that bit of pizzazz!

My background card stock is dry embossed using my SU Square Lattice embossing folder. Following the posted sketch I needed to add three smaller type additions to my card, so I decided to use the small flower that comes along with this set. I stamped the flowers, colored them, and punched them using my circle punches.

My sentiment was also stamped and then punched using my SU punches. Then just along the bottom of my card I added two rows of paper piercing- it seems as though I'm always adding some sort of paper piercing to my cards, but I really like that little bit of 'extra' on my cards without going overboard.

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great rest of the day!

Stamps: Because I Care
Card Stock: White, Bashful Blue, Brocade Blue
Ink: Black Stazon
Supplies: Ribbon, Cuttlebug, Square Lattice Embossing Folder, 2 Way Glue Pen, DD Glitter, SU Markers, Scallop Oval Punch, Large Oval Punch, Small Oval Punch, 1/2" & 3/4" Circle Punches, SU Mat Pack, Paper Piercing Tool
Technique: Dry Embossing, Paper Piercing

December 6, 2010

Hi everyone!  What a busy weekend I had, but I did manage to set aside some time and make this card for this week's Designed2Delight progressive digi image challenge.

I also made my card for this week's Double Delight Challenge which is a 2-2-2 recipe challenge.  We were to use 2 card stocks, 2 designer papers, and 2 embellishments.  My 2 card stock colors are real red and old olive.  I have 2 designer papers on my card- one is from SU and the other is from the dollar spot at Target, and my 2 embellishements are:  the brads in the center of the poinsettia and my gold elastic cording.  This was a challenge for me because I rarely ever use two designer papers on my card, but I like the way it turned out.

After printing the digi image I colored it using my SU markers and then I cut the poinsettia image and my real red card stock layer using my circle nesties and scallop circle nesties.  I decided that I wanted the center of the poinsettia to be gold and I figured a few gold brads would do the trick.  I used my paper piercing tool to punch the holes through the center of the poinsettia for my brads and once my image was complete I used dimensionals to place it on my card.

My sentiment was stamped and layered onto old olive and real red card stock using my circle punches.  My gold elastic cording is from Offray.  And finally, I decided to use my EK Success Fleur De Lis border punch along the bottom of my real red and old olive card stock.  I first punched along the edge of my card stock pieces and then I staggered them and placed the old olive layer on top of my red layer (then I trimmed the edges- I just use my paper snips for this).  I love the look you can achieve from staggering border punches.  I often do this using my scallop border punch, but this is the first time I've done it using this border punch.

Well, I'm off to bed!  Thanks so much for visiting and have a great day!

Stamps:  Designed2Delight Digi Image Poinsettia, SU's To You & Yours- for my sentiment
Card Stock: White, Real Red, Old Olive, SU DP, and my other DP is from the $ spot at Target
Ink: Black Stazon
Supplies: Gold Elastic Cording, Scallop Nesties, Circle Nesties, EK Success Fleur De Lis Border Punch, SU Markers, Paper Piercing Tool, Gold Brads, 1", 1 1/4", and 1 3/8" Circle Punches, Dimensionals

December 3, 2010

I happened to see a thread on splitcoast about what cute reindeer stamps were available and of course right away I thought of my Dasher stamp that has hardly seen ink.  So that was the inspiration for my card.

I stamped my dasher image using chocolate chip ink and then I cut it in a circle shape using my nesties.  Here's a tip for getting the stamp to stamp a solid and 'not so blotchy' image.  I inked up my stamp really well using my SU chocolate chip ink pad and then using my SU chocolate chip marker I color over it again.  This helps to sort of spread around the ink a little better and I always get a nicely stamped image when I do this.  Don't forget to 'huff' on the stamp before stamping onto your card stock.  You can also stamp over the image twice (using your stamp-a-ma-jig of course, but that technique didn't work very well with this image because of the antlers).

My background is embossed using the swirly embossing folder from the Cuttlebug winter wonderland set.  The bottom edge of my chocolate chip layer was punched using my EK Success wavy border punch.

And finally, I decided to add a bit of glitter on dasher's antlers.  The glitter is there, but it's just hard to see it in my photo- one day I'm going to learn how to photograph glitter although I did start making my photos larger, did anyone notice?  I'm hoping it's better this way.

Well, that's about it for today.  Thanks so much for stopping by and have a great weekend!

Stamps: Dasher, To You & Yours- for my sentiment
Card Stock: White, Real Red, Chocolate Chip
Ink: Chocolate Chip
Supplies: Ribbon, Cuttlebug, Winter Wonderland Embossing Folder, Scallop Nesties, Circle Nesties, 2 Way Glue Pen, DD Glitter, Stamp-a-ma-jig, EK Success Wavy Border Punch, SU Marker- for the dots
Technique:  Dry Embossing

December 2, 2010

This is a stamp set that I don't use very often, but I think it's so cute.  I'd really love to find the other SU polar bear stamp set, Polar Express, but I know that's a more rare set.  Someday I'll find one at a good price.  I haven't really been looking lately with Christmas being just around the corner.

Anyway, today's card is another clean & simple card.  I stamped my image and colored the scarves using my SU markers.  I added a few white dots on the turquoise scarf using my white gel pen in hopes that it would match my turquoise decorative paper.

The star that the polar bears are looking at is actually the negative part I got from punching my so saffron card stock using my EK Success snowflake border punch.  I placed the two snowflakes on top of each other and then on my card using a SU 2 way glue pen.

My certainly celery layer is punched using my scallop trim border punch.  My scallop oval punch and large oval punches were used for my sentiment and my ribbon is from Offray.

Once my card was finished I decided that it still needed a little something and so I decided to add a little bit of doodling using my black SU marker.  It turned out to be just the right touch and I really like the way this card turned out.

I hope you had a great day and you are staying warm.  Here in PA we are starting to receive our cold winter weather, which I'm so not ready for!

Stamps: Polar Bears, To You & Yours- for my sentiment
Card Stock: White, Tempting Turquoise, Certainly Celery, So Saffron, DP- from DCWV Christmas Paper Stack
Ink: Black Stazon
Supplies: Ribbon, EK Success Snowflake Border Punch, Scallop Oval Punch, Large Oval Punch, Scallop Trim Border Punch, SU Markers

December 1, 2010

It was snowing here earlier today and I thought it might be a good time to change my blog a little bit.  I've been in the wintery mood lately especially with making lots of Christmas cards lately and so today I have yet another Christmas card.  I didn't realize how many Christmas stamps I had!

I had this layout in my mind and I thought this snowman stamp would be perfect.  I simply stamped the snowmen and colored the hats and scarves using my SU markers.  I decided to add a little bit of glitter to the scarves - well it was my daughter's idea.

The snowmen are layered onto real red and glorious green card stock- this is a great way to use up some scraps!  My dp is from a DCWV Christmas paper stack that I picked up from Joann's last year.

Just along the bottom of my card I added two rows of paper piercing, I love paper piercing, can you tell?

Have a great day and I'll be back again tomorrow with yet another Christmas card!

Stamps: Merry & Bright
Card Stock: White, Real Red, Glorious Green, DP- from DCWV Christmas Paper Stack
Ink: Black Stazon
Supplies: Ribbon, SU Markers, 2 Way Glue Pen, DD Glitter, 1", 1 1/4", and 1 3/8" Circle Punches, Scalloped Border Punch, SU Mat Pack, Paper Piercing Tool
Technique:  Paper Piercing

November 30, 2010

Since I'm currently hosting a CAS CASE card swap, I decided to case another card from the SU 2010/2011 catalog.  The card I cased can be found on page 121 of the catalog. 

I kept the same layout, but I changed the ink up a little bit, I used different decorative paper, I omitted the button embellishment, I used a different color ribbon, and I decided not to add a sentiment.  I almost forgot to mention that I used my ticket corner punch on the upper two corners, sometimes I forget about that little punch and it adds so much to a card.

There's no special technique to making this card.  All you need to do is to be sure to use your stamp-a-ma-jig to help you align the images.  I love using this stamp set because it's so versatile and so easy to use.

Until just the other day, I've never cased any cards out of the SU catalog and I'm finding that it's so fun to look through at the examples and see what I can make.  I have all of the SU catalogs all the way back to 1995 and I'll have to start looking through them more often. 

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

Stamps: Aviary
Card Stock: Certainly Celery, White, SU DP
Ink: Certainly Celery, Apricot Appeal, Bashful Blue, Pixie Pink
Supplies: Ribbon, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Ticket Corner Punch
Technique: 2 Step Stampin'

November 29, 2010

I've been busy making Christmas cards lately and this one was inspired by my Christmas tree.  Yep, I have a purple Christmas tree! 

I first stamped the ornaments using perfect plum, pale plum and silver encore ink and then I stamped the ornament hangers using my stamp-a-ma-jig.  Once the ink was dried I stamped over the ornaments again using VersaMark ink and then I quickly sprinkled SU's dazzling diamonds glitter over them.  My next step was to heat emboss the glitter.  It looks so pretty in person!

Just below my stamped/embossed ornaments I scored two lines using my score-pal and then I decided to add some silver cording over top of my dry embossed lines.  And finally, I sponged along the edges of my white card stock using perfect plum ink and then stamped my sentiment just below my score lines (and to the right).

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you all had a great holiday weekend.  My weekend was great and I was able to get some shopping done.  See you tomorrow!

Stamps: Tree Trimmings, Christmas Greetings
Card Stock: Pale Plum, Perfect Plum, White
Ink: Pale Plum, Perfect Plum, Silver Encore, VersaMark
Supplies: Silver Cording, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Heat Gun, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, Score-pal, Sponge
Technique: Heat Embossing, Dry Embossing, 2 Step Stampin', Sponging

November 26, 2010

Hi everyone and if you are brave enough to do some shopping today I hope you have a great time.  I just got home a few minutes ago from Walmart.  I wanted to purchase some of the 12 midnight deals and it was a mad house there.  People were so rude and cutting in line, but I was nice and polite and I got all of the items I wanted.

I wanted to mention that I am again hosting a CAS card swap.  This time it's a CASE, CAS swap.  Meaning that all you need to do is to find any CAS (clean & simple) card in the gallery on splitcoast stampers and CASE (copy and share everything) it.  Generally speaking to CASE a card means that you would find a card you like and change two things about it- it could be the layout, color of cardstock used, the stamps, etc.  You get the idea, right?  You will find more information about my card swap here, please feel free to join us and ask me if you have any questions.  I'm always happy to help.  The cards for this swap aren't due until Feb 1st, so there's lots of time to make your cards.  I figured it would be best for everyone if I wanted until after the holidays are over to swap the cards.

So that brings me to my card for today and although I didn't case it directly from the splitcoast gallery I did case this card.  I found this card on page 41 in the current 2010/2011 SU catalog.  I changed the layout just a tiny bit, I used a different Christmas tree image, I used different ribbon, and I used cardstock for my certainly celery scalloped border instead of chip board as show in the example. 

I stamped my image and colored it using my SU markers and my gold zig painty pen for the gold Christmas tree garland.  I didn't need to stamp a sentiment since it was already with my image and so the rest of my card was real easy to put together. 

My certainly celery layer was punched using my scallop border punch and I did some faux stitching along the upper part of my old olive layer.  I decided to go with a red and white checked ribbon which I purchased from Offray.

Well, that's about it for today.  My family and I will be decorating and putting up our Christmas tree today and I'll be busy in the kitchen making turkey soup.  Have a great day and I'll see you on Monday!

Stamps: Fun and Fast Notes
Card Stock: Real Red, Barely Banana, Certainly Celery, Old Olive, White
Ink: Black Stazon
Supplies: Ribbon, Corner Rounder Punch, SU Markers, Gold Zig Painty Pen, White Gel Pen, SU Mat Pack, Paper Piercing Tool, Scalloped Border Punch
Technique: Faux Stitching

November 25, 2010

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!  I spent some time at my mother in law's house and we had a really nice dinner.  Tonight my teenage daughter and I will be doing our midnight shopping like we do every year although this year there really isn't anything that we need, but it will be nice to just go out and spend some time together. 

I do not have a card to share with you today, but I do have a few pictures that I wanted to post a few weeks ago, but I just never got around to it.  The two pictures below are of my back yard when the leaves were at their peak fall color.  Of course the leaves are now all off the trees and we even have some snow on the ground.  I just had to take a picture of how pretty the leaves, my husband said it was a 'blog worthy' photo.

The next picture of my children on Halloween.  I took this picture right before they went trick or treating.  My older daughter stayed home and gave out candy to the children who came to our home and my husband and I took our smaller children around the neighborhood.  The baby was Dorothy from The Wizard of OZ and my son was a fire fighter again this year.  That is all my son wants to be for Halloween, he was a fire fighter last year too! 

This is one of the nicest photos I have of my three children together and of course did you notice the pumpkin I carved!?   I know it's hard to see in my photo, but it's a carving of a haunted house.

Well, that's all I have for today.  I'm off to get ready for some shopping.  I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and I'll try to post again tomorrow.  I'm not sure yet if I will have time because I will be spending the day putting up our Christmas tree and making turkey soup.  I do this every year on black Friday- it's sort of my tradition.

November 24, 2010

Hi everyone!  This is the card I made for this week's designed2delight's progressive challenge.  Isn't this skater penguin just the cutest!?  I also made my card for the double delight challenge in which we were to use this image along with some type of snowflakes.

The snowflakes I used on my card are my embossed cuttlebug background and a few punched snowflakes I made from the negative part of my EK Success snowflake border punch.

To create the image part of my card, I first printed it out, heat set it using my heat gun, and then I colored it using my SU markers.  Next, I decided to color in some of the area below the penguin using my bashful blue marker and then I put some crystal effects over top of that.  While the crystal effects product was still wet I sprinkled some dazzling diamonds glitter over top of it and then I let it dry. 

Once my image dried (it took a few hours) I began assembling my card.  I used my nesties to cut out my image and card stock layers and then I decided to use my white gel pen for a little bit of an accent along my red and bashful blue layers.

Thank you so much for stopping by and I hope you liked my card.  I wasn't quite sure about the color combination I used, but I think I made it work.  Have a great rest of the day!

Stamps: Skater Penguin- Designed2Delight digi image, SU's Snow Swirled- sentiment
Card Stock: White, Bashful Blue, Real Red, Certainly Celery
Ink: Black Stazon
Supplies: Ribbon, White Gel Pen, Square Nesties, Scallop Square Nesties, Stamp-a-ma-jig, SU Markers, Crystal Effects, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter
Technique:  Dry Embossing

November 23, 2010

Hi everyone!  Today I have a real easy Christmas card to share with you.  I've been in such a Christmas mood lately I can't seem to get enough Christmas cards lately, good thing too because Christmas is only 31 days away!

I love this layout and I know I use it a lot, but it's perfect for so many images.  I received this image through an image swap on splitcoast stampers.  This image is from Great Impressions and it's called Pepperment and Holly Border.

I simply colored in the image using my SU markers and then I decided to add some glitter on the berries of my image.  I also added a wavy border (using my SU marker) along the top and bottom edge of my image. 

My certainly celery layer was punched using my scallop trim border punch and then I added a ribbon at the top of my card.  I decided to use white ribbon and then I tied scraps of certainly celery and old olive ribbon which I colored using my SU markers- that's a great idea if you don't have exactly the ribbon color that you need.

Have a great rest of the day, I have some house work to get caught up on and my husband's grandmother is coming over to spend some time with the children. 

Stamps:  Pepperment and Holly Border- Great Impressions
Card Stock: White. Real Red, Certainly Celery
Ink: Black Stazon
Supplies: Ribbon, SU Markers, SU Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, 2 Way Glue Pen, Scallop Trim Border Punch

November 22, 2010

There's a cute little story behind the card I'm sharing with you today.  My teenage daughter has had a substitute English teacher for the first part of this year and her last day was this past Friday.  The students grew to love her and they didn't want to see her go.

Anyway, one day she was telling the kids a few jokes and one in particular they thought was really cute.  If I can remember correctly the joke went like this:  What is black and white, and black and white, and black and white?  Answer- a penguin rolling down a hill.  (next part of the joke)  What's black and white and laughing?  Answer- the penguin that pushed him.  So that's the story behind this card. 

On the teacher's last day my daughter wanted to give her teacher a card with a penguin on it and my daughter said she wanted it to be rolling down the hill.  This card was my daughter's idea; however as she was looking through the card gallery on splitcoast stampers and she spotted this card that she really liked and so we decided to make the penguins out of punches like blindstamper did.

We already knew that we were going to create a hill and emboss the background with snowflakes and the snow using a swirly folder.  Both of these folders are from my Cuttlebug Winter Wonderland set.

First, I embossed the blue background and then I tore a piece of white card stock and then I ran that through my cuttlebug.  I adhered them both to my card and then I added the glitter along the edges. 

My next step was to create the penguins.  My daughter helped making these and we started punching the body, then the head and lastly the feet and wings.  We used glue dots to place everything together (I love using my glue dots and they always seem to stick so well when I making projects like this).

These are the punches that we used to create the penguins:

Large Oval Punch- body

Small Oval Punch- white part of body and wing

1" Circle Punch- head

1/4" Circle Punch- white part of the eyes, bubbles for the caption

Small Circle Hole Punch- black part of the eyes, bubbles for the caption

Spring Bouquet Flower Punch- feet and nose (I cut off some of the petals)

Scallop Oval Punch- message bubble

My daughter decided to write in the caption using my SU black marker.  She wanted that penguin to be laughing and so that's why she decided to just write ha...ha...ha...!

The teacher absolutely loved this card and she knew right away that it was handmade.  She even asked if we had a cuttlebug, so she must have been into stamping/card making herself.  She told my daughter that she didn't have the folders we used and that she loved them.  It's nice giving a card when you know that the person who received it loves it!  Plus her classmates were really impressed and they asked her if she made the card, they almost didn't believe her.

Stamps: None

Card Stock: White. Bashful Blue, Black, Only Orange
Ink: None
Supplies: Cuttlebug, Cuttlebug Embossing Folder Winter Wonderland, SU Black Marker, SU Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, 2 Way Glue Pen, Glue Dots, Large Oval Punch, Small Oval Punch, 1" Circle Punch, 1/4" Circle Punch, Hole Punch, Scallop Oval Punch, Spring Bouquet Flower Punch
Technique: Dry Embossing, Paper Tearing, Punch Art

November 17, 2010

Hi everyone!  I can't believe it's Wednesday already!  Where does the time go?  Christmas will be here before you know it and in keeping with that theme I have another Christmas card to share with you. 

As many of you know I love making white cards with lots of white space and I saw a card in the gallery on splitcoast yesterday and in the card description I read that there was a challenge to create a card using lots of white space.  I'm not really familiar with what the challenge was or what was for, but anyway, I decided to make a card of my own using lots of white space.

I just recently got this image through the pay it forward images thread on splitcoast.  It's made by Stampavie and it's called Star Gazing, isn't it cute?

This image doesn't really need a whole lot of coloring.  I only needed to color in the trees, holly, and the star.  The road is water colored using my water color crayon and blender pen- I water colored this part of my image because I didn't want it to stand out and be too dark.

Just below my image I created two embossed lines using my score-pal and then below that I stamped my sentiment.

My background is embossed using the snowflake embossing folder from the Winter Wonderland Cuttlebug embossing folder set and then I added a piece of silver elastic cording instead of ribbon.

To finish off my card I decided to add some SU dazzling diamond glitter along the ground where the polar bears are sitting and on the snowy area of the tree.

Thanks for stopping by, have a great rest of the day!

Stamps: Stampavie Star Gazing, SU Christmas Greetings- for my sentiment
Card Stock: White
Ink: Black Stazon
Supplies: Silver Elastic Cording, Cuttlebug, Cuttlebug Embossing Folder Winter Wonderland, Score-pal, SU Markers, SU Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, 2 Way Glue Pen, Water Color Crayons, Blender Pen, Stamp-a-ma-jig
Technique: Dry Embossing, Water Coloring

November 16, 2010

This is my card for this week's Designed2Delight challenge and also for the Double Delight challenge found  this digi image along with adding some sparkle.

After I printed the digi image, I set the ink using my heat gun and then I colored it using my SU markers.  I added a few dots on her shirt using my white gel pen and her face was water colored using my SU crayons and blender pen.  I didn't use my marker on her face because SU markers tend to be a bit rich/deeper color for skin tone.

The wings are really glittery in person.  I colored them first with my SU markers and then I went over that with my VersaMarker and I lightly dusted SU's Iridescent Ice Embossing Powder, and set that using my heat gun.  I actually did this step twice and it's super glittery.  If you click on my photo it will enlarge my photo and you might be able to see it a little better.

My background is embossed using my cuttlebug embossing folder that I got from the Winter Wonderland package (it's a set of 6 embossing folders).  I actually embossed my background the first time and then I turned the folder around and embossed it again so that my entire background would become embossed.  I had to do this because this particular embossing folder only has a design on part of it.

For the lower portion of my card I used a small scrap of SU dp that I found in my scrap bin and on top of that I've added my white ribbon.  Just along the bottom of my card I decided to add three rows of paper piercing. 

I hope you like my card and thanks for taking the time to stop on by! See you tomorrow!

Stamps: Designed2Delight Kaela Digi Image

Card Stock: White, Bashful Blue, DP is SU
Ink: VersaMark
Supplies: Ribbon, Cuttlebug, Cuttlebug Embossing Folder Winter Wonderland, SU Mat Pack, Paper Piercing Tool, White Gel Pen, SU Markers, SU Iridescent Ice Embossing Powder, Heat Gun, Water Color Crayons, Blender Pen
Technique: Dry Embossing, Paper Piercing, Heat Embossing, Water Coloring

November 15, 2010

Hey everyone!  I hope you all had a great weekend!  It was beautiful here and we spent Saturday raking leaves and Sunday the family went out to do some early Christmas shopping.  The weather was beautiful and we all had a great time.  I wish we could have more weekends in November with 60 degree weather!

The card I made for today is another CAS Christmas card.  I was looking through my bin of images and I found this really cute Santa image and I thought it would be perfect for a previous sketch challenge I saw on the clean & simple stamping blog. 

I simply colored in the Santa images and then I decided to cut them and place them on my real red layer of card stock.  I arranged the Santa images in a different order than they were.  I didn't like that the ball of the middle Santa's hat would have been hanging off of the edge of my card.

Then I punched my certainly celery card stock layer using my EK Success wavy border punch, I added my ribbon, and lastly my sentiment.  And that's about it, real quick and easy!

Well, that's all for now, it's late and I'd better get some sleep.  Hope you had a great day and thanks for stopping by!

Stamps:  High Hopes Three Pane Santa, Sentiment is SU's Christmas Greetings 
Card Stock: White, Real Red, Certainly Celery
Ink: Black Stazon
Supplies: Ribbon, Markers, Stamp-a-ma-jig, EK Success Wavy Border Punch, Scissors for cutting out the Santa faces

November 11, 2010

Today I decided to step away from my Christmas cards for awhile and I decided to make a fall themed card using this basket harvest digi image from designed2delight.  I also made this card for the double delight and that challenge was to create a clean & simple card.

After printing the digi image I heat set it using my heat gun and then I began to color.  I wasn't quite sure which colors I wanted to go with, but in the end I think it turned out okay.  I really like that I ended up making the basket a ruby red color.

After coloring my image I cut it out using my circle nesties and then I layered it onto my scalloped ruby red card stock.  Next, I embossed the background of my card and then I began putting it all together.

My pumpkin pie card stock layer has faux stitching along the top and bottom portion and then I simply tied my certainly celery ribbon in the middle.

My sentiment is from SU's Give Thanks stamp set (I used my marker to color only the words I wanted tfomr that sentiment stamp) and then I punched it using my SU word window punch.

I used my scallop border punch on the tiny strip of pumpkin pie card stock at the bottom of my card.

And that's about it for today, thanks for stopping by and I hope you had a great day!

Stamps: Designed2Delight Harvest Pumkpin Digi Image, SU Give Thanks (for my sentiment)
Card Stock: White, Pumpkin Pie, Ruby Red, DP from Target's Dollar Spot
Ink: Black Marker to color part of the sentiment stamp
Supplies: Ribbon, Cuttlebug, Cuttlebug Embossing Folder Pumpkin Harvest, Scallop Circle and Circle Nesties, SU Scallop Border Punch, SU Mat Pack, Paper Piercing Tool, Glue Dots, White Gel Pen
Technique: Dry Embossing, Faux Stitching

November 10, 2010

Hi everyone!  Today I'm posting the last of the three CAS Christmas cards that I made for my CAS Christmas card swap. 

I started making my card by first running my card front through my cuttlebug machine.  Next, I wanted to focus on the main part of my card (the ornaments) and I ended up embossing glitter over them.  I colored over the ornaments using my VersaMarker and then I sprinkled SU's Iridescent Ice embossing powder over it.  Then all I needed to do was to heat emboss my glitter.  It's hard to see the glitter on my card, but if you click on my photo the picture will enlarge and you might be able to see it a little better.

My last step was to add my ribbon and stamp my Merry Christmas sentiment.  Although my card does include heat embossing, it's still clean and simple.  I had six of these cards made in about 1/2 hour!

One more thing before I go, I started a new CAS card swap and I would love to have you join me.  You can find my card swap thread here.

Thanks for taking the time to stop on by!  I'm back to my regular postings so be sure to come back tomorrow.   Make it a great day!

Stamps: Christmas Greetings
Card Stock: White
Ink: Black Stazon
Supplies: Ribbon, Cuttlebug, Cuttlebug Winter Wonder Embossing Folder Set, SU Iridescent Ice Embossing Powder, Heat Gun, VersaMark Marker, Stamp-a-ma-jig
Technique: Dry Embossing, Heat Embossing

November 9, 2010

I hope you are all having a wonderful Tuesday so far!  It's very windy here today so it's a great chance to catch up with my blogging.

The card I'm sharing with you today is another CAS Christmas card that I made for my card swap that just finished up.

I realize that I've made similar cards like this before, but this time I've decided to turn my card vertical and I've added a moon in the upper right hand corner.  And talk about easy, this card is about as easy as it gets and it just goes to prove that you don't need the newest, fanciest tools to create an amazing look.

The first thing I did to create my card was stamp my tree images and I did this by first inking my stamp using old olive ink and then using my garden green I sort of tapped the end of my ink pad right over top of it.  This is what gave me the two toned green look on my trees.  Next, I wiped the green ink off the bird part of the image and then I colored it using my real red marker and stamped it onto my white card stock.

My next step was to create a mask for the moon by punching out a 1" circle and applying it to the upper right hand corner.  I removed this mask once I was finished sponging my background.

To sponge my background I did not do any masking, I simply inked up my sponge and starting with barely banana I sponged behind the trees.  Next, I started sponging the blue part of my sky and I started with the lighter blue and then I worked outward going onto the darker blue.

And to finish off my card I simply stamped my Season's Greetings sentiment.  I decided not to add any ribbon or any other embellishments on my card because I felt that this way it would be good for mailing.

Thanks so much for stopping by and tomorrow I will be posting the last of three CAS Christmas cards that I made for my CAS Christmas card swap.  Have a great rest of the day!

Stamps: Scenic Season
Card Stock: White
Ink: Real Red, Barely Banana, Bashful Blue, Brilliant Blue, Old Olive, Garden Green
Supplies: Sponges, 1" Circle Punch, Real Red SU Marker, Stamp-a-ma-jig
Technique: Sponging, Masking

November 8, 2010

Hey everyone!  As many of you may know I have just finished up my Clean & Simple Christmas card swap.  I usually try to make it a point to make a few cards for the swaps that I host and today I will be sharing one of the cards I made.

I haven't used these tag punches in a long time and so I thought they would be perfect (along with the image I chose) to make a CAS Christmas card. 

First, I stamped my images and then I punched them out using my small tag punch.  The images are layered on coordinating card stock which I punched out using my large SU tag punch.  Along the bottom of my card I punched the real red border using my MS border punch called Cornice.  My son picked out this punch for me and so I had to use it.

I decided to go with some gold elastic cording for my embellishment.  I have no idea why, but I seem to think that gold goes nicely with red and green rather than silver.

Well that's about it for today.  I have two more CAS Christmas cards to share and I will be posting another one tomorrow.  Make it a great day!

Stamps: Tags So Much
Card Stock: White, Real Red, DP- from DCWV Paper Stack
Ink: Real Red, Glorious Green
Supplies: Gold Elastic Cording, Large & Small SU Tag Punches, Martha Stewart Punch Cornice

November 1, 2010

Hey everyone!  I'm still alive...LOL  I'm here, but so much as been going on lately and I'm hoping to get back into my regular posting this week.

I'm just finishing up my CAS Christmas card swap, which was a huge success.  If anyone would like to see the cards that I have received from this swap you can see them here.  Only the cards posted towards the top of this album and dated 2010 are from my latest swap.  The rest of the cards in the link I posted are from my CAS Christmas swap I hosted last year. 

I'm also hosting a round robin image swap on splitcoast stampers.  I still have a few openings left in the second group and you are all welcome to come check it out.  Once my second group is full I will be closing the swap.  You can find more information about that swap here.

Have a great day!

October 11, 2010

Happy Monday!  I've been seeing so many Halloween cards lately and so I thought it was time for me to make a fall themed card.  My mother in law found me a box full of rubber stamps at a yard sale this past summer and this stamp was inside the box.  Isn't it cute?  It's called Country Scarecrow and it's made my Stampede.  Below is a photo of my image after I was finished coloring it.  I tried to make it similar to the stamp's index sheet.

Here is a photo of the markers I used to color my image.  It really took me a long while to figure out how to color nicely with my SU markers.  They aren't like copic markers, but they work pretty well.  I used the following colors for my image:  Blush Blossom, Pretty in Pink, So Saffron, Pumpkin Pie, Ruby Red, Certainly Celery, Old Olive, Brocade Blue, Creamy Caramel, and Chocolate Chip.  One of these days I will show a tutorial on how I do my coloring (I couldn't do it today because the kids were home from school today due to Columbus Day).

And here is a picture of my finished card.  My background is embossed using my pumpkin harvest embossing folder.  My ruby red card stock was crimped using my paper crimper.  I added dots along the border of my pumpkin pie card stock and of course my image was stamped using black stazon and colored using my SU markers.  My sentiment is from SU's Happy Fall Y'all.

Thanks for stopping by!  I have to run and finish up some laundry.  It seems as though I'm always doing laundry especially with a teenager in the house!  See you tomorrow!

Stamps: Country Scarecrow- Rubber Stampede, & SU's Happy Fall Y'all
Card Stock: White, Pumpkin Pie, Ruby Red, Brocade Blue
Ink: Black Stazon
Supplies: Ribbon, Spiral Clip, Cuttlebug, Pumpkin Harvest Cuttlebug Embossing Folder, Scalloped Oval Punch, Large Oval Punch, Glue Dots, White Gel Pen, Paper Crimper
Technique: Dry Embossing

October 8, 2010

Happy Friday!  My husband's grandmother is on her way over so this needed to be a real quick card today.  I made this card in just 10 minutes, yep...honest I did.  It's taking me longer to post this then it did to create my card....LOL

I was looking for a stamp that I didn't need to color in and I found this image in an older SU stamp set that my mother-in-law found for me at a yard sale this past summer.  She found lots of stamps for me this year!

I simply stamped the haunted house image, layered onto my black card stock and then I started working on the rest of my card.

My background is embossed using my cuttlebug and cuttlebug spider web embossing folder.  My dp is some that I picked up this past Monday in Target's $1 spot.  It's hard to see in my photo, but the pattern paper is glittery paper.

For my ribbon treatment I decided to use a spiral clip and a small piece of orange ribbon.  Once my card was finished I decided to add a few punched out bats using my EK Success bat punch.  I'm loving that punch lately- it adds just the right touch of Halloween!

My sentiment is layered using my scalloped oval and wide oval punch and my ribbon is from Offray.

Thanks for checking in today and make it a great day!  I think I'll be busy catching up on some of my house work and maybe even some yard work because it looks like the weather here today is going to be great- we've had so much rain this past week, it's nice to see the sun out again.

Stamps: Haunted House
Card Stock: White, Only Orange, Black, DP- from Target's $1 bin
Ink: Black Stazon
Supplies: Ribbon, Cuttlebug, Spider Web Cuttlebug Embossing Folder, Scalloped Oval Punch, Wide Oval Punch, EK Success Bat Punch, 2 Way Glue Pen, Spiral Clip, Glue Dots
Technique: Dry Embossing

October 7, 2010

Hey everyone!  As I promised on Tuesday, I'm posting the card I made using a $2 stamp I found at AC Moore in the clearance bin; don't you just love clearance items?! 

I'd like to give a very special thank you to those of you who sent your well wishes for my little girl.  She's doing much better now.  She's still not eating, but at least she's drinking and playing with her brother, so I know she's okay now.

I just have to mention that I went to Target on Monday and they had their 12" x 12" scrapbooking dp back in stock (located in the $ spot section).  They had some Halloween, fall, school, and sports related designs.  I'll be keeping my eyes open for some Christmas dp in their $ spot.  I don't have a big selection of Christmas decorative paper and I need some.

One more note, I'm currently hosting a CAS (clean & simple) Christmas card swap through splitcoast stampers.  If anyone is interested in joining my swap feel free to post a message for me in my swap thread found here (you must be a splitcoast member and you have to be an approved swap member).  I only have 9 spots left.  Your cards will be returned to you in plenty of time to use them this holiday season.  Feel free to send me an email if you have any questions about my card swap.  You will find my email in the contact section under my profile page.

Now onto my card.....I stamped my image using black stazon ink and then I colored it using my SU markers.  This image was so quick and easy to color, I could easily see myself stampin and coloring several of these at once.

My background is embossed using my cuttlebug and my 'boo to you' embossing folder.  I sort of liked how the boo in the bottom circle of my background matched my image.

The bats were punched using my EK Success bat punch and my ribbon is from Offray.  Thank you so much for stopping by and I'll see you tomorrow!

Stamps: $2 Ghost stamp- from the clearance bin at AC Moore
Card Stock: White, Only Orange, Green Galore, Black DP- from Target's $1 bin
Ink: Black Stazon
Supplies: SU Markers, Ribbon, Cuttlebug, Boo To You Cuttlebug Embossing Folder, Scalloped Border Punch, EK Success Bat Punch, 2 Way Glue Pen
Technique:  Dry Embossing

October 6, 2010

Hey everyone!  I have a card all ready to go for today, but my little girl was sick today.  Please bear with me and I will update as soon as I can.  Thanks for understanding and have a great day!

October 5, 2010

Hey everyone!  I know, it's been a few days since I've updated *bad girl*, but I'm back and today I'm going to share four cards with you, how exciting, right?!  Well, maybe not, but here goes:

I decided to make someone sheet wonder cards.  I only ended up making four cards instead of the traditional six cards.  Just in case you have no idea what I'm talking about, one sheet wonder cards (or OSW cards) are cards that are made using patterned paper that you create by randomly stamping stamps all over an entire sheet of card stock.  You can then color in your images or if you are using solid images you can stamp using different color ink pads.  I made my OSW paper by randomly stamping several of the snowflake stamps using different colors inks.  (I have my supply list posted at the bottom of this blog post). 

Below is a group photo of the four cards I made using my OSW paper.

The card I posted below uses my OSW paper for my background and I then stamped a larger snowflake and layered it onto my brocade blue card stock.  I punched all along the edges of my brocade blue card stock using my scallop trim border punch and my scallop trim corner punch.  I used this tutorial I found on Gretchen's blog to help me figure out how to use these two punches to create my punched border.

I know it's hard to see in my photo, but I did want to mention that I added two rows of paper piercing along the bottom of my card.  I also added a few brads in the center of the snowflakes in my OSW card stock of my background.  My main snowflake had a raised up center that I stamped, cut out, and placed over top of my main snowflake using a dimensional.

 

This card I have posted below also uses the same scallop trim border and corner punches for my brocade blue layers.  Again, I stamped my main snowflake image and then I placed a sliver brad in the center.  I have added silver cording onto this card and just along the right hand side I have three score lines using my score-pal (you might not be able to see this in my photo).

I really like the layout of my next card and I tend to use this layout quite often.  Again, I used the same basic concept using my scallop trim punches and on this card I also added silver cording and two rows of paper piercing just along the bottom of my card.  I stamped my main snowflake image and then I stamped it again so that I could just cut the center, add a sliver brad, and place it on top using a dimensional. 

And last, but not least I have one final card using my OSW card stock.  This one was really easy to make and I decided not to add another snowflake for my main image- I just used my pattern paper as my focal point on this card.  Again, I decided to add some silver cording and I have added three rows of dry embossing using my score-pal.  I should have added a sentiment along the bottom of this card, but it slipped my mind.

Well, that's about it for today!  Tomorrow I'll be posting a Halloween card I made using a $2 stamp I found in the clearance bin at AC Moore so be sure to check back tomorrow!  Have a great rest of the day!

Stamps: Serene Snowflakes
Card Stock: White, Brocade Blue
Ink: Silver Encore, Brocade Blue, Bashful Blue, Brilliant Blue, Bordering Blue

Supplies: Silver Cording, Score-Pal, SU Mat Pack, Paper Piercing Tool, Scallop Trim Border Punch, Scallop Trim Corner Punch, Scallop Border Punch, Silver Brads, 1/16" Hole Punch, Dimensionals, Scissors

Technique: Paper Piercing, Dry Embossing, OSW- One Sheet Wonder

September 29, 2010

Today I have a real quick and easy Christmas card to share with you. My mother-in-law found this stamp set for me at a yard sale this past summer and I thought this image would be really cute for some Christmas cards.

I stamped the image and then I colored it using my SU markers. I wanted to make my card look more Christmasy so I layered my image onto a piece of real red card stock.

I didn't want the rest of my card too look busy, so I decided for my background I would just addd a few score lines using my score-pal and along the very bottom of my card I added two rows of paper piercing. I love the added interest that paper piercing gives to my cards without it being an involved technique; and it's so quick and easy to do.
I hope you all have a great rest of the day; I'm off to put supper on the table. We are having spaghetti and meatballs tonight; one of my favorites. Tomorrow looks like a great crafting day for me because it's supposed to rain all day long and I won't be taking the kids outside to play.

Stamps: Penguin Pals
Card Stock: White, Real Red
Ink: Black Stazon
Supplies: Ribbon, SU Mat Pack, Paper Piercing Tool, SU Markers, Score-pal
Technique: Paper Piercing, Dry Embossing

September 28, 2010

I made this card some time ago and I wasn't sure if I wanted to upload it or not. I'm not that crazy about how it turned out, but it took me so long to make I just couldn't throw it away. I originally made this card for my daughter to send to her cousin who just happens to love frogs.

My cloud background was created using a punched scallop circle and a blue inked sponge. I simple sponged around the scalloped part and then moving the scallop circle I sponged again.

My grassy area was also sponged using old olive ink.  I simply inked up the sponge and randomly sponged all over the lower part of my card base (I didn't use the punched scallop circle for this part).

Just about everything else was stamped, cut out, and then I placed it onto my card. The cutting was the most time consuming part of my card. I stamped the flies directly on my card and then I stamped and cut out another fly. I placed the cut out fly right on top of the one that I had stamped on my card base (except for the wings). I left them unattached to my card base so that I could pick up the wings a bit. Then I placed some DD glitter onto each of the fly's wings.

The lily pad was stamped twice, but I cut off the cattails on one of the images. I used my chocolate chip marker to color in the two cattails.  The logs were just stamped and cut out as well as the frogs. The sentiment reads- time's fun when you're having flies.

Thanks for stopping by! I'll be posting a CAS Christmas card tomorrow, have a wonderful day!

Stamps: Hoppy For You
Card Stock: White
Ink: Black Stazon, Brown Stazon, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Bashful Blue
Supplies: Scallop Circle Punch, Sponge, Scissors, DD glitter, 2 Way Glue Pen, Stamp-a-ma-jig, SU Markers, Glue Dots
Technique: Paper Piecing, Sponging

September 23, 2010

I made this thinking of you card for my sister. She loves cats and I thought this image would be perfect for her.

My sister isn't in a good living situation right now and there's really no way that I am able to help her. I think of her often and I hope something will work out for her someday and until then all I can do is to let her know that I care and that I'm thinking about her.

My image was colored using my SU markers and I have to say that this image was a challenge for me. It really took some shading to help cover up the streak marks that you get from the SU markers. Sometimes I'll use my white gel pen for dots to help cover up the streakiness.

I really like the results I got from my decorative scoring and paper piercing dots combination that I have just below my image. First I scored the four score lines and then using my SU mat pack I aligned up the two paper pierced rows.

I decided to use a button with ribbon tied in the center and two certainly celery ribbon tabs in the upper right corner for my embellishments. Buttons aren't something that I usually use, but I like it on this card.

I'm posting early today because I have a ton of house work, so I'd better get busy! Have a great day!

Stamps:  Peace Within, Warmest Regards
Card Stock: White, Creamy Caramel
Ink: Black Stazon
Supplies: Ribbon, SU Markers, SU Mat Pack, Paper Piercing Tool, Glue Dots, White Gel Pen, Score-pal, Button
Technique: Dry Embossing, Paper Piercing

September 22, 2010

Hi everyone! I haven't been able to post the past few days, but I'm here now!  And today being the first day of fall I thought it would be appropriate to post a fall card.

I stamped my image using my black stazon ink and then I colored it using my SU markers. Sometimes is takes me a little bit of coloring to get my image just the way I want it using my SU markers. I so want to try coloring with copic markers, but for now this is what I have to work with.

My pumpkin pie layer is embossed using my pumpkin harvest embossing folder and my ribbon is from Offray. I didn't have any creamy caramel ribbon so I used a small piece of white ribbon and I colored it using my SU markers.

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to check back tomorrow. I have a card that I made for my sister and I wanted to post it before I sent it to her. Have a great rest of the day!

Stamps: Costume Bears
Card Stock: White, Creamy Caramel, Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, DP from Target's Dollar Spot
Ink: Black Stazon
Supplies: Ribbon, SU Markers, Cuttlebug, Cuttlebug Embossing Folder Pumpkin Harvest
Technique: Dry Embossing

September 17, 2010

Here's my card using this week's digi image from designed2delight.  This is a really cute Halloween image and I couldn't wait to print it out and use it.  I also made this card for today's Free For All Splitcoast challenge.  This week's challenge was to create a card using a punny saying.

I colored the image using my SU markers and I wanted to add a few lighter spots so I decided to use my white gel pen and then color over it again using my gray marker.  (I had a cat that looked like this when I was a kid).

My background is embossed using my cuttlebug and cuttlebug Spiderweb embossing folder. 

I also decided to try something new and I wanted to use more than one design of my pattern paper.  I ended up using three different pieces and I think I like it.

I found a spider punch at AC Moore last week on clearance and I thought the spider might be a nice touch on this card.

My sentiment is computer generated and my ribbon is from Offray.

I'm so glad you were able to stop by.  Have a great weekend and I'll be back on Monday!

Stamps: Designed2Delight Digi Image- Scaredy Cat, Sentiment is computer generated
Card Stock: White, Black, DP from Target's Dollar Spot
Ink: Black Stazon
Supplies: Ribbon, SU Markers, Cuttlebug, Cuttlebug Embossing Folder Spiderweb, Circle and Scallop Circle Nesties, 1 3/8" and 1 1/4" Circle Punches, SU Mat Pack, Paper Piercing Tool, Glue Dots, White Gel Pen, EK Success Spider Punch, 2 Way Glue Pen
Technique: Dry Embossing, Paper Piercing