Christmas Poinsettas

Yesterday, I had a 12-hour crop for my customers.  This is the first time I've had less than a full house, so it gave me the opportunity to talk with everyone, look at their work, and get some things done myself.  All in all, it was a great day!  I managed to get five cards made as I was really, really putzy and just took my time.   I managed to make two cards without flowers (which I will show you in the days ahead), but then I saw the Sketchbook Saturday sketch:

Don't you agree that this screamed for flowers?

So I pulled out my Pear & Partridge and went to work making some poinsettas with the Artiste cartridge and Almond glitz gel.  This paper and card are also perfect for the Moxie Fab Christmas Card Challenge!

If you look at this card closely, you will see that I used that grid stamp from Universal Backgrounds to stamp the background of the colonial white place on the card and the tag.  

Isn't that sentiment just wonderful?  It is from the October Stamp of the Month, Very Merry Christmas.  That set is available this month only for $5.00 with a $50 purchase from my website.  In my opinion, there are just never enough Christmas stamps!!  As far as the poinsetta goes, there are six diecuts used to make this flower.  I cut three at 2-1/2" and three at 1-1/2".  Then I outlined them with almond glitz gel.  It only take about 15 minutes to dry, and then you can stack them together.  The antiqued gold mini medley flourishes and button finished off this card nicely.

I will also be entering this card into the following challenges:

• Created with Love - Christmas
• Holly Jolly Christmas - Glitter and Bling
• Christmas Stampin' All Year Long - tag
• Pile it On - Vintage or Shabby Chic

Gratitude

I was in the mood to just sit and play in my craft room this evening.  I love when I have the time to do that! So I grabbed my Flirty paper and got busy!

I sponged all the pieces of the card with bamboo ink.  Naturally when I have the time I make flowers. (Does that surprise you?)  For this card, I made a yo-yo and a rolled flower, and both were cut with the Cricut Artiste cartridge.  In order the match the color ready ribbon to the card base, I sponged it with goldrush ink.  (One of my favorite techniques!)  The sentiment is from a beautiful Thanksgiving set called Abundance.

I'll be entering this card into three challenges:

•  Mojo Monday sketch 
• {PIN}spirational inspiration photo
• Moxie Fab Hello/Thinking of You challenge

Holiday Magic

Today I am bringing you another example using the October Stamp of the Month. Holiday Magic is one of my favorite sets as I think the images are just so veratile. I was reading blogs this morning and was completely inspired two things - a sketch at There She Goes

and the Tuesday Trigger at Moxie Fab

I couldn't wait to use Holiday Magic to create this card!

I have used only cardstock for this card - White Daisy, Grey Flannel, and Lagoon. These are not traditional colors by any means, but oh, so pretty together! Thanks Cath, for giving me the inspiration to use them in the Tuesday Trigger!

The background on the paper is actually the trees from the stamp set. I stamped them with Lagoon ink to create a frilly background. When you get a stamp set, always think outside the box to create with it. A triangular tree can be so many things! The banner is also stamped with Lagoon ink and that is the very tip of the other tree in the set. I stamped the stocking fur with Grey Wool, and the stocking with Lagoon on White Daisy paper. I cut them out leaving about 1/8th of an inch of white showing and then matted them on Grey Flannel paper. A simple sentiment from the set along with some Lagoon embellishments and Licorice gems, finished off the card perfectly!

Simple Pleasures

As long as I had my Sonoma papers out, I thought I would try this sketch from Moxie Fab.  I love when Cath does special weeks like this to celebrate a new special issue.  It's always so much fun to play!

The simplicity of the sketch allows a lot of room for interpretation.

These are my very favorite flowers from the Art Philosophy cartridge.  They remind me of a water lily, and Jerry picks those from the lake for me every year.  Here's an up close:

Isn't it fun that there are also these nice card bases on the cartridge?  I love it!

Other items used are the Love Life stamp set, Bling Assortment, and Pewter Mini Medleys.  Now I've got more crafting to do before Jerry gets home from his fishing trip!

Love to Love You

I saw this sketch challenge over at Moxie Fab, and I really wanted to play along.  It's just such a fun sketch by Nina Brackett, and I love the idea of a shaped card!

Here's what I came up with:

Of course, I used the new Art Philosophy cartridge to make the card base from Sonoma paper.  What a fast and easy way to make a shaped card!  For the center, I followed the pattern from the how-to book Magic to make a 3-D spinner.  However, I didn't want this to spin, but rather just take advantage of the unique dimension.  The stamp set I used is the December stamp of the month.  I know I should be waiting until December to show off this set, but I can't seem to keep my hands off this set!  I think that would be makings of a favorite stamp set - what do you think?  Other items used are the Bling Assortment, Bamboo Waxy Flax, and Opaque Pearl Gems.

Moxie Fab is doing three more sketch challenges this week, so I am anxious to see what they are.  I always love the special issues, and Card Ideas for Paper Crafters is no exception!

Little Gift

I must be in the mood for creating little gifts today.  I put this little one together to give as a hostess gift for when we go visiting.

I made the box with Graphix acetate.  It works really nicely when you want to show what is in the container.  Other than that, I used all CTMH products.  This is going in the Moxie Fab Food Wrap Challenge.  I had a hard time deciding to enter it in that one because it would have worked for the Little Gifts Challenge, too, at Moxie Fab.  Well, that will just give me the opportunity to make another little gift!!

I'm off to run some errands now.  Hope your Saturday is going well!!

Soar Like Never Before

I have been wanting to participate in the In My Beautiful Balloon Challenge in the Moxie Fab World, and I couldn't believe that Regina at The Cutting Cafe read my mind!  She created two new sets of printable stamps that were perfect for this challenge!  Cherie released a new sketch today at Sassy Lil Card Sketches, so it all just fell together perfectly for me this morning.

Truly this card took me about 15 minutes to create.  That is the beauty of having a great sketch (be sure to go HERE so you can see the monthly prizes) and fabulous printable stamps!  I used Up in the Sky Wishes (over 120 images for $8.99) and Cloud Background (10 backgrounds for $2.25).  What a great graduation card this would be!  Or if you made just the card front, it would be a great page element.

Other items used: Recollections white cs, Really Reasonable Ribbon twine, and Nestabilities Scalloped and Plain Circles

For Your Inspiration

What a great photo this is!  It reminds me so much of Malta - a port on the Mediterranean Cruise.  I put together a note card box and cards for this challenge.  This also works for the Moxie Fab card sets challenge.

Other than the blue flower on the card, all supplies are CTMH.  This is the Passage paper packet and Live Inspired stamp set.

Be sure to hop on over and see what the rest of the design team did with this photo at For Your Inspiration.   Then play along for your chance to win the Lovely Lotus award!  I'd love to see what you can do with this photo!

Happy 5

I have been outside quite a bit, so I only managed to squeeze in one card today.  It's not really that warm yet (50's), but that feels fabulous after such a long winter!  I saw a challenge to create a gift card holder at Moxie Fab.  I turned to my favorite pattern for this - Scalloped Money Holder - from Jeanette Lynton's Originals Card Confidence Program (CTMH).  The templates for this card is on CD that comes with the book.  It made this bright and cheery card very easy to put together.

I've used Echo Park's Little Boy paper, but this could easily be used for a boy or a girl.  The ribbon and button are CTMH, and the stickers are Echo Park.

I walked in the woods with Miss Chanel this afternoon.  Wish I'd have been quick enough to get the picture of her with her head up a hollow tree!  I am quite certain that there is something living in there and her beagle nose sniffed it right out.  There are possums in the wood pile and woodchucks under the shed.  You know, that's why we leave our yard to nature.  So fun to see all those critters!  But this is the best discovery of all.  When the lilies peek out of the ground, then I know spring is here and summer is coming!

Friend

I just got this paper, and I absolutely could not wait to play with it!  It is the Mayberry collection from Close To My Heart, and it's just lovely!  Bright spring colors that have a lot of warmth and depth.  I grabbed the sketch from Get Sketchy, and the colors also fit the lovely Tuesday Trigger at Moxie Fab World.

This is a simple card, and I liked keeping it that way.  It is Mayberry, after all! ;)  I used foam dots to add the three flowers I cut form the paper.  That baker's twine added a nice finishing touch.

Valentine's Cards

Third post for the day - I've been a busy little crafter today!

I am continuing to work on  my Valentine's Day cards.  It's been so much fun to put energy into these!  For the first card I combined Cherie's sketch from Sassy Lil Sketches and Moxie Fab's Color Inspiration  Challenge using metallic colors.

The next two cards are also for Moxie Fab Color Inspiration challenges.

Pretty Pastels Challenge:

Bright and Bold Challenge:

I've so enjoyed the color inspiration challenges!  They make me step out of my confort zone and do something just a little bit different.  I especially had a hard time with Bright and Bold as I tend to lean toward warmer colors.  But it was fun to see what I could make happen with those colors!

Supplies used: CTMH Black, Hollyhock, White Daisy, Petal, Amethyst, Baby Pink, and Desert Sand cardstock; CTMH Promise of Spring, Priceless Love, and Key to my Heart stamps sets; CTMH, Prima, and Bo Bunny flowers; CTMH and Making Memories trinket pins; CTMH, SU!, and American Crafts ribbon; American Crafts brad and badge; Tim Holtz Tattered Flowers die; Recollections pearls; CTMH White embossing powder; Fiskars border punch

Snowflakes

Second post for today!  With this one, I think I'll show you the card before I get on to explaining the details:

I diecut my snowflakes for this card with my Slice FaLaLa card.  They are just so yummy when they are layered like that! 

This card was actually inspired by a several challenges:

1. Wee Memories - ribbon
2. Sentimental Sunday - winter themed card and a sentiment
3. Moxie Fab - Neutral Challenge for Color Inspiration Week
4. Our Creative Corner - Dressing Up this sketch

It has been a lovely Sunday - I hope you are having the same!  I slept late, my husband made brunch (and cleaned up!), did a little catching up on  blog reading, took a nap (yes, I've needed some sleep!), made some cards and projects (some I can show you now - some have to wait till reveal dates), and now I'm heading into the kitchen to make a blended coffee before I craft some more.  You just can't ask for a better Sunday than that!

With All My Love

It is snowy and cold here.  Well, I should say that it's almost 20 degrees today, so it does feel a little bit warmer.  But last night we got another 2-1/2 inches of snow.  It just keeps coming, and I dare say I am not the only person tired of it!

So it's fun to pull out some bright colors to work with.  Moxie Fab has a monochromatic color challenge using three shade of pink.  I brought that together with the sketch at Card Patterns and the heart themed challenge at Really Reasonable Ribbon.

I stamped the hearts in three different inks before stacking them together - CTMH Baby Pink, Blush, and Hollyhock.  It's very easy to do this with clear stamps, and I am going to point you to Jeanette Lynton's blog to teach you how to do this.  She has new stamping techniques every week, and you will love what you learn from this extremely kind founder of CTMH.

Supplies used: CTMH Hollyhock and Baby Pink cardstock; CTMH Soul Mates and Birthday Script stamp sets; Petaloo flowers; Recollections pearls; SU Whisper White ribbon; Nestabilities Circle and Scalloped Circle; WRMK Corner Chomper rounder

Fun Times

I changed my blog to fall colors today.  I guess it's time to let go of summer!  I have to admit that this is my favorite time of the year - my husband's, too.  We love the cooler days and even cooler nights.  The crunch of the leaves is one of my favorite sounds!

I am using a sketch today from Just Inspirational:

And how inspiring is the Tuesday Trigger from Moxie Fab?

My fall card also fulfills the challenges at CARDS (leaves), 4 Crafty Chicks (fall), Sarah Hurley (fall), and Paper Sundaes (fall).

Fall colors are just the most beautiful colors to me.  It is truly a pleasure to pull out these papers and work with them!  This is a 6x6 card using the Maple Grove collection from We R Memory Keepers.  Other items used are CTMH Ivory Ribbon; Imaginisce Hot Rocks and i-Rock tool; TPC Studios brad; Bazzill leaves; MM trinket pin.

A Card, a Page, and an Altered Gift

I have some quick artwork to show you this morning.  Do you remember that it is National Scrapbooking Day tomorrow?  We are celebrating the whole weekend at Archiver's, so I am on my way to work.  Lots of fun things going on in a lot of places for NSD!

The first project I am showing you fits into two challenges - Tuesday Trigger at Moxie Fab (the picture below) and the Heart 2 Heart challenge which is using two ribbons.

I have used all CTMH products for this card:

This next project is an altered canvas.  You can pick them up at our local craft stores in a variety of sizes.  I needed a gift, and I thought this would be lovely.  First I sprayed the canvas with wheatfields glimmer mist.  It's such a nice base for additional work.  From there, I used a glimmer screen and sprayed again with moonlight glimmer mist.  I did the same with the flowers - two coats of glimmer mist.  The letter was cut with my Slice, and I covered it with glossy accents for extra shine.

Finally, I put together a page with some photos we toook of Chanel last week.  What a cutie!!  I've used Bo Bunny papers for this, AC Thickers, CTMH ribbon, and some random accessories.  You have to admit this is a way cute picture of our beagle sleeping with her favorite toy!!

I'll be back later this evening to check out what everyone is up to today!!

One More for the Day

I foudn this digi image over at Fred, She Said.  I thought it was a great image for use all year round, but I especially liked it for Easter.  I used the colors (CTMH markers and copics) from the Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger challenge.  This will also fit the Papertake Weekly Challenge which is to make a spring card.

The stamp is CTMH, the flower is Prima, and the ribbon is from Michael's:

Now, I think I'll head outside to do some raking in my flower beds.  It is wonderful to have such warm temperatures!!

Cards, Cards, and More Cards

I have a day off today, so I spent some time making cards. I had a blast trying different techniques, working with sketches, and trying new colors. When it's rainy and chilly, there's not much else to do!

I was playing with alcohol inks again. Today I used butterscotch, lettuce, and stream. I thought it would be perfect for this masculine card. Items used with the inks are Bazzill fudge CS, CTMH glossy paper, Karen Foster charm, Northwoods and CTMH stamps, and random hemp.

I also made a 3x3 card with the same inks. It will fit perfectly into the Cards challenge this week. All products used for this little gift card are CTMH. If you'd like to see another 3x3 card I finished with alcohol inks a couple weeks ago, click here.

I used a sketch and color challenge to complete my next card. The sketch is from CPS:

And the color challenge is from Colour Q:

For this card, I went back into my Cosmo Cricket Material Girl papers. These are so yummy!! I added some hand-stitching, Prima Flowers, and CTMH buttons and edge anchors. The stamp is also CTMH.

This next sketch from Papertake allows for a lot of possibilities:

When I left work yesterday, I picked up some of the new Basic Grey Kioshi paper. If you are looking for a beautiful spring line, check out this set of papers. I really like the mixture of colors. I added Bazzill and Prima flowers, a Stampendous stamp, and some random ribbon. Makes for a good spring card.

The Tuesday Trigger this week over at Moxie Fab, is so pretty! I am quite certain I will make more cards in these colors - they are just lovely!

I used CTMH White Daisy CS, Garden Green CS, Veranda paper, stamp set, and Prima flowers.

In the next card, I mixed a couple of challenges again. The sketch is from ICS:

The color challenge is from Picture Perfect:

This is a very elegant card using a Recollections flourish stamp set. The sentiment is from CTMH. The flowers are Prima and the gems are random (and where I have snuck in the blue).

Yes, I do know I blasted you with a lot of cards in this one post! I thought it might be easier than showing them in separate posts. You can always skip the words and just look at the artwork. My hope is that when you look through my blog posts, you are seeing even just one tiny thing that will inspire you to create!

I am finding it hard to stay away form my craft room right now (and my poor neglected house proves that point!). It helps me cope with this terrible spring fever I've got! Do you know that our first snow fall was October 12th? We've been having snow and cold and winter for 5 months now. The rain this week is really shrinking the snow, so it won't be too long until we hit spring and I can garden again!!

Hope you're having a great day!

Basic Grey Origins

All three of the cards I have to show you today are done using the Basic Origins line. I looked and looked at this paper, not knowing if it was one that I'd use, but my friend Laurel convinced me in some of her posts that it is a definite must have paper! Because of the colors and addition of Buttercup CS (CTMH), all three of the cards also fit into the Tuesday Trigger over at Moxie Fab. My kitchen is painted the warm yellow of sunflowers, and I just love waking up to that!

Ok, so here's the Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger picture:

The additions to the sketch from Inspirational Card Sketches are few. A little black twill ribbon and a sentiment complete the card.

My take on the Inspirational Card Sketch #55:

The next card was fun to do because I incorporated two sketches into one card. As you'll notice, the sketches are almost mirror images. This first sketch is from Papertake: This sketch is from OCC Sketch Blog:

Here is my take on the two sketches making one card. I used a little black twill again, and I added some felt embellishments, sparkles, and rub-ons from CTMH. The flower is Bazzill.

Finally, here is my last card that I just made because I wanted to. I fell in love with this rich paper by this time and just had to make one more!! Twill ribbon and CTMH rub-ons completed the card.

I save some of my cards for birthdays, anniversaries, etc., but most of my cards go to Operation Write Home, Share-a-Card, or another place that can use the cards. No one could possibly use all the cards that I thoroughly enjoy making, so I simply give them away. Card Maker magazine has a column called Readers Reach Out and in every issue they let us know who is looking for cards. What a blessing to be able to send cards off to places that are truly in need!!

Hope you're having a wonderful paper crafting day!!