Getting Back into the Groove

Hi Everyone!

Hope you are all having a great weekend whereever you may be. Mine has been good so far - I made it into my stampin' space today! Yeah! Twice in about a week now, go me!

Anyway. Do you, or have you ever had a moment when you pull out items that you just had to buy, yet haven't used then in forever, only to get inspired by them again? Well that was me today. I honestly cannot remember the last time I heat embossed anything. Sad I know, but true. That and the beautiful Square Fire Rhinestone Brads that have been sitting with my other embellishments patiently awaiting their turn on one of my creations. So I started off trying to figure out how to use my Patterned Pines stamp set and some of my paper scraps. I have always loved our Certainly Celery color and decided to start there. Since I only had a small piece of it, the Whisper White cardbase was an easy selection. Now I don't know how many of you out there own our Color Coach wheel, but if you don't, you should. I wanted to keep the card fairly simple so I turned to the Color Coach to help choose what other colors would co-ordinate with the Certainly Celery. You simply select your color and then dial the wheel to that color and it gives you co-ordinating color choices and complementary color choices! Awesome! So I chose to go with Old Olive, another of my favs. I began by inking the snowflake from the Patterned Pines set in the Old olive ink and then stamping the image randomly over the front of the Whisper White card front. Next I used the same ink to stamp the 3 pine tree images onto the Certainly Celery card stock. As I stood looking at the image I knew I wanted to add some WOW but in a small dose. The Patterned Pines set also has a small single star image in the set so I chose to use that. And that's when I reached for my gold embossing powder. I started with the little gold star above the middle tree, then I decided that the greeting should be embossed in gold as well. I chose the Christmas Greetings stamp set. I like this set as it has your greeting and sentiment all in one. So I embossed the Merry Christmas under the trees. As I looked at it, I knew I wanted just a little something more. Gold brads? Nope, don't have any. Hmmmm. And then I spotted them! The square fire rhinestone brads! Why hadn't I thought of those before! Because I hadn't used them in forever. They were the perfect extra I was looking for. So they went into each corner and I attached the focal point to the card front and ther it is. Love it. For the inside I kept it simple. I used the sentiment from the Christmas Greetings stamp set and stamped it using the Old Olive ink. Next I used the little "swag" stamp from the Patterned Pines set for the corners. I took my Stampin' Write Markers in Certainly Celery and Real Red and colored directly onto the stamp and then stamped it onto the card. Done!

So that's my card for today! Quick and easy with some rediscovered favorite elements. I'd love to hear what you think, so feel free to leave a comment. Thanks for stopping by!

Until then...

Happy Stampin'

Merry Tuesday!

Hi Everyone!

Time sure flies when you've got company! I was blessed to have my Mom and Dad come and stay with me for the month of October. I truly enjoyed the visit seeing as we live so far apart now and usually only see each other once a year. So instead of stamping (bad me) I hung out with them - quality time.

Now that they are gone (sad me), I've popped back into my stampin' space and tried my hand at an easel card. You can find the tutorial from Splitcoast Stampers HERE. I really like the fact that the card folds down and fits into a standard A2 envelope. For this card I used Kraft, Soft Suede, Real Red and Whisper White card stock. I stamped Dasher using Soft Suede ink. The greeting was also stamped using Soft Suede and is from the Christmas Greetings stamp set. The sentiment is from the same set and I used the Real Red ink for that. I stamped the sentiment onto the Whisper White card stock and then I punched it out with the Wide Oval Punch and then sponged the edges with the Real Red ink for definition. The little snow flakes on the bottom of the card are from the Delightful Decorations stamp set from the Holiday Mini Catalogue and are stamped in Soft Suede. I really like the Soft Suede / Kraft color combo. The strip of designer series paper is from Christmas Cocoa Specialty papers, and I add a little extra detail to the front by simple paper piercing the edges using my piercing tool and the mat pack template. I have to say I like how this one turned out. It's really not that difficult a card to make, and it looks so nice the way it stands up. I hope you give it a try!

So that's my card for tonight. Feel free to leave me a comment and let me know what you think!

Until then,

Happy Stampin'

I LOVE the shimmer paints!

Hi Everybody!

Let me first apologize for being absent for the past month! Between getting the kids back to school, my trip to see U2 in concert and then another trip to Ottawa for a friends wedding - I've barely been home! But now I'm back and sharing a new Christmas card with you.

I love how this card looks like it took lots of time, but how simple it truly was! I used the Rich Razzleberry card stock as the card base - I love this color. I then used the Platinum Shimmer paint on one of the snowflakes from the Serene Snowflakes set and stamped it randomly over the card base. The focal point of the card was created using a piece of 3x3" Whisper White card sock and the Rich Razzleberry ink. The largest snowflake was stamped with the full ink, then I inked up a small snowflake, stamped it off once and then stamped it onto the Whisper White card stock randomly. The greeting is from the Four the Holidays stamp set in the new Holiday Mini and stamped in Basic Black ink. I then mounted it onto a piece of 33/4" square brushed Silver card stock and mounted it onto the card base with some dimensionals. C'est tout! Quick and easy and that's is why this will be one of the cards we will be making at my Christmas Card class on October 24th. So that's it for tonight. Thanks for stopping by, and as always, feel free to leave a comment and let me know what you think!

Until then,

Happy Stampin'

Making Up for Lost Time!

Good Monday Afternoon Everyone!

I'm having too much fun with this new Christmas Cocoa Specialty paper (available Sept.1)! And I'm loving the Soft Suede - Real Red color combo! My card inspiration came from Stamping 411's Saturday Sketch Challenge #113. I really enjoy the sketches the operators over at 411 put together - keep up the great work ladies! Here's the how-to for this card...

• Whisper White card stock cut at 41/4 x 11" and scored at 51/2" for the card base
• Layer 1 is Soft Suede card stock cut to 41/8 x 53/8"
• The bottom part of layer 2 is the striped print from the Christmas Cocoa Specialty paper cut to 4 x 31/4"
• The top part of layer 2 is a piece of Real Red card stock that I first ran through the Big Shot with the new Petals-a-Plenty textured impressions folder (available Sept.1) and then cut to 4 x 2"
• I adhered both pieces to the Soft Suede layer using my SNAIL, and then I wrapped and knotted a piece of Chocolate Chip felt ribbon (retired, sorry) to cover where the 2 pieces meet up
• The main image is Dasher, from the under $12 page at the back of the SU! catalogue - I love him! I colored his antlers using the SU! markers in Soft Suede, Real Red, Always Artichoke and Bashful Blue, and then inked the body with the Basic Brown ink pad and stamped him onto a piece of 21/2 x 23/4" Whisper White card stock
• I used the Ticket Corner Punch on the image layer - pretty much just because I like it :)
• Dasher is layered on a piece of Real Red card stock 25/8 x 2 7/8", and then again on a piece of Soft Suede card stock 2 3/4 x 3", and adhered to the card front using Stampin' Dimensionals
• Noel comes from the Many Merry Messages stamp set. I inked it in Soft Suede, stamped it on Whisper White, punched it out using the Modern Label Punch, and inked around the edges with more of the Soft Suede. I adhered this to the card front using the SNAIL
• The final element on the card are the big shimmery green brads - not from SU!. I found those in my stash and thought it just added that extra little bit. You could substitute these with the Real Red brads from the Bold Brights collection

So that's my card for today. I hope I'm not posting too many Christmas cards already! LOL! Thanks for stopping by and feel free to leave a comment and let me know what you think!

Until then...

Happy Stampin'

Another Christmas Card - Wiper Style

I have to apologize for being away from my blog for so long. My husband's Grandmother passed away a week ago Friday and he had to fly home to Nova Scotia to be with his family, leaving me to fend for myself with the 2 kids and work and not my usual sitter. We survived and he is home with us now, so I seized the opportunity to sneak away to my stampin' space. When I saw the tutorial on Splitcoaststampers this week, I knew I had to try it! I decided to try out some of my new pre-order items from the upcoming Holiday Mini Catalogue from SU! that include the new Christmas ornament punch, Christmas Cocoa Specialty designer paper and the Merry & Bright Rub-ons. The designer paper co-ordinates with Real Red and the new Soft Suede colors. I love how they look together! A nice change from the traditional red and green. The rub-ons come in white and silver and are so fun and easy to use. I especially like the ornament shaped rub-ons; simply rub them onto your piece of card stock and then punch it out with the ornament punch - perfect! That is how I made the Merry Little Christmas one on the card front. For the other ornament I simply punched it out of the Real Red card stock and then used the white Signo gel pen to put the dots around the edge and used a snowflake rub on in the center.

So I'm going to leave you with a link to the tutorial for this card from SCS HERE
I am hoping to try and get more stamping done this weekend, so check back later and see what I've some up with. As always, feel free to leave a comment and let me know what you think!

Until then...

Happy Stampin'

Merry Christmas!

Hi Everyone!
No, I haven't completely lost it! But I have stamped my first Christmas card for this year! :) I stopped by to see what the Operators had posted for the Saturday Sketch Challenge over at Stamping 411, and the layout inspired me to try out a Christmas card! It's not really a traditional color selection, but I really like how they go together! I like how quick and easy this sketch is. Maybe I'll use it to design more of my Christmas cards this year! Here's how I made this one...

• Cut a piece of Certainly Celery card stock to 51/2 x 81/2"; score at 41/4" to make the card base


• Cut a piece of Soft Suede card stock to 51/4 x 4"


• Cut a piece of Certainly Celery designer series paper to 51/8 x 37/8"; use the ticket corner punch, and punch each corner out; adhere the designer paper to the Soft Suede and set aside


• Using the circled snowflake image from Season of Joy (#110384), ink it with Certainly Celery ink and stamp onto a piece of Whisper White card stock (x2); punch out using the 11/4" circle punch (#104403)


• Punch out 2 circles in Soft Suede card stock using the 13/8" circle punch (#104401), and a scalloped circle using the scalloped circle punch (#109043)


• Layer the circled snowflake images onto the Soft Suede circles using the Snail adhesive (#104332) and set aside


• Ink the poinsettia image in Real Red and stamp onto a piece of Whisper White card stock, cut out using paper snips (#103579)


• Sponge the edges of the scalloped circle with Soft Suede ink; adhere the poinsettia to the scalloped circle using Stampin' Dimensionals (#104430) and set aside


• Adhere the Soft Suede/Designer Paper layer to the card front


• Measure out enough Soft Suede 1/2" Polka-Dot grosgrain ribbon to wrap around the card front 1 time, and adhere it to the card front *HINT* I use the mini-glue dots (#103683) to place ribbon - put 3 glue dots onto the ribbon and attach it to the inside of the card front, wrap the ends around to the front and adhere with 2 more glue dots on the end


• Take the 3 layered images for the front and place them on the ribbon so that they are evenly spaced, adhere with Snail adhesive *HINT* the 2 ends of the ribbon are under the center image so that they are hidden


• Stamp greeting from Heard from the Heart (#111644) in Soft Suede ink onto the front


• Inside, stamp a sentiment from Many Merry Messages (#116586) using Soft Suede ink


• The corners are stamped using the flourish from Season of Joy in Certainly Celery Ink, and then the small poinsettia image from the same set, in Always Artichoke ink

And that is the start of my Christmas cards! If I can do 5 of these a month up until the end of November, I should have enough to send out on time this year! LOL! I hope you have enjoyed this card as much as I have. Please feel free to leave a comment and let me know what you think!

Until then...

Happy Stampin'