Time for a New Perfect Pair - Believe or Wonderland!

It's time for a new Perfect Pair during this month's special!  When you place your online order of $75 or more today through July 31st, you can choose one of two items free:

• Believe Paper Packet and matching Holiday Pockets or
• Wonderland Paper Packet with matching stickease

Here's a little Christmas in July artwork to inspire you!

Thank You Card

I have the coolest box in my craft room.  It's one of those 13x13 clear scrapbook boxes, and I use it for card scraps.  I like it because when I have a few minutes, I don't have to go to my paper shelf, but I can grab this box and create.  I never know what treasure-filled scrap I might pull out - just that I am always on a mission to use all that I possibly can.  Tonight I saw a sketch at Mojo Monday that I liked, so I got a start on my thank you cards for January.

I love this chocolate striped grosgrain ribbon.  It may cost a little more to mail, but it is so worth it!  This card is very clean and simple, but the ribbon paired with Wonderland paper adds a lot of punch.

How are your preparations going for Christmas?  It is a crazy busy time, isn't it?  I wrapped the last of my packages today, so now it's just a matter of making food.  I think we can enjoy the rest of the week!

Let it Snow

I came to my craft room this morning with the desire to just sit down and create.  I really wanted to sit down and play with my papers and ink.  I found a sketch that I liked from Sketchbook Saturday 

and combined it with the "Let it Snow" challenge at the Kraft Journal.

I so love combining these blues with kraft paper.  It's just so soft and reminds me of a gentle snowfall.  I painted the snowflake with pearl paint and then poured prisma glitter on it.  After all the glittering I've been doing this month, I think my carpeting is will shimmer for a long time!  I sponged all the edges with white pigment ink.

Items used on this card that can be found on my website:

• Z1375 Kraft Cardstock
• X7146B Wonderland Paper
• Z2163 White Daisy Pigment Ink
• Z1225 Flurry Dimensional Elements
• Z1385 Blue Designer Ribbon
• Z1327 Blue Sparkles
• Z1039 Create a Shade Pearl Paint
• Z134 Prisma Glitter

Snowflakes

I put together a quick and shiny winter card this afternoon:

I purposefully left the sentiment off so that this card could be used for any reason.  Items I've used for this card that can be found on my website are:

• Z1686 Art Philosophy Collection (card base, layer, and snowflakes)
• X7146B Wonderland Paper
• 1385 White Daisy cardstock
• Z1385 Blue Designer Ribbon
• Z1466 Bling Assortment
• Z1313 Stardust Glitter Gel

Peace on Earth

I've finished the second layout for club, so I thought I'd share.  If you are a club member, you'll find both layouts for December under my classes tab.

I made my club members work so hard last month, so I decided we'd do a few things that are a little easier in December.  Lots of sponging on the two layouts along with loads of glitter gel.  Gotta love sparkle and the "snowy" look in December!

Items used on layout that can be found on my website:

• X7146B Wonderland Level 2 Paper
• 1385 White Daisy Cardstock
• D1480 Snowflakes Stamp Set
• D1384 Snow Flurries Stamp Set
• C1469 December 25th Stamp Set
• Z2163 White Daisy Pigment Ink
• Z2111 Chocolate Ink
• Z2160 Twilight Ink
• Z1686 Art Philosophy Collection
• Z1225 Flurry Dimensional Elements
• Z1313 Stardust Glitter Gel
• Z1617 Dark Chocolate Striped Ribbon
• Z1247 Crystal Blue Waxy Flax
• X1466 Bling Buttons
• Z1104 Clear Sparkles

Peace on Earth

I saw this tutorial by Beate Johns on Splitcoast Stampers this week and wanted to give it a whirl.  It is called a Double Z-Fold card, and I used the CTMH Kraft Die-Cut 6x6 cards to make it.  I have had a package of them sitting near my desk, and I thought this was the perfect time to put them to use!

With the double z-fold, a 6x6 card is folded down to 4".  I used Wonderland paper on the folds. The snowflakes on the blue flap have been stamped and embossed with white powder (mixed with a little prisma, of course!).  I wanted this card to remain simple on the outside because of the sentiment on the inside:



Inside I embossed Peace on Earth and a snow swirl.  The stamp set I used for this card is Snow Flurries.  What a gorgeous set for the holidays and for general winter cards!

I used a little chocolate striped grosgrain to tie around the card, and I left it just loose enough to be able to slide it over the card.  That allowed me to die-cut a layered snowflake from the Art Philosophy cartridge and adhere it over the knot.  That flower button from the blue button assortment is so sweet and works perfectly in the middle of the snowflake!

I saw a couple of challenges that I will enter this card into - Bah!Humbug! (glitz and glitter) and Just Add Ink (die-cuts).

Faith is Knowledge Within the Heart

There is a beautiful new paper from Close To My Heart called Wonderland.  It is primarily a winter paper, but as you know, I like to see what I can do that makes a paper useful all year round. 

It's so soft and subtle, don't you think?  I love this paper!  I used the Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge to make the 3-D flowers and the card base.  The sentiment is from this month's special, Pair-a-Phrase, which you can get your hands on free!  Click HERE for more information.  I love all the sweet sentiments in this double stamp set!  The chocolate ribbon and ribbon slide are both available in the "while supplies last" section on my website, and you can get them now for a steal!

I am entering this card in two challenges.  Stampin' Sisters in Christ is looking for a card that uses quiet colors.  The Cricut Cardz challenge would like to see a card base cut from any cartridge.

Lasting Memories Reveal

It's time for a new challenge over at Lasting Memories, and this week we are challenging you to step out of your comfort zone and try something new.  I have a very hard time with white space.  I create a layout and can never quite leave it alone.  For this challenge I decided to work on that and found the perfect sketch at The Scrappiest.

Although I didn't leave as much space as I see on some layouts, this was a HUGE challenge for me.  This was kind of a double challenge for me because of the colors, too.  In the end, I like the mixture of colors having taken paper from Believe and Wonderland.  I used the Art Philosophy cricut cartridge and stamps for the trees, flowers, sentiment, circle, letters and numbers. 
There is some great inspiration for you from the Design Team!  I hope you'll stop by and play along!
I also wanted you to know that my wine box was named in the Top 3 at Shopping Our Stash!  Yippee!!  How fun is that?!!