FS96 Merry Christmas

 

CC196 SC202 Peace on Earth

Oh my gosh, it's been one of those days here at my house. You know the kind where nothing goes right and if you try, you get knocked down anyways. Well, it wasn't so much me, it was our DARN CAT. I was so mad at her. She ripped my back door screen, then she went to the couch, then to the floor. She's lucky to be alive. Anyhow, today at www.splitcoaststampers.com, the Color Challenge, we were to use Taken with Teal, Real Red, Sage Shadow, and Whisper White. I also included SC202 as the sketch challenge too. This is the image from a few cards before this one, but I couldn't think of anything else that would go with colors. I played heck trying to accomplish this challenge today, in spite of our silly cat. It should get better tonight, my son is in a school play and he's got a leading part as a reindeer. I just love these colors together. I started out by stamping the image onto WW c/s with black ink. I colored with Prismacolor pencils, mineral spirits, and blending stumps. Once it was colored, I used 2-way glue for the horn, halos, red part of candy cane, and the wings on the angel with clear embossing powder. I then added a little bit of Diamond Dust to the wings as well. I added liquid appligue to the outline of the snow and used the Diamond Dust for the ground too. I used the CB scallop squares for the white squares and used the CB snowflake folder on these as well. I stamped the sentiment and cut out free hand and mounted. I added gold ribbon to finish along with the gold pearls on the corners. I had fun making this card in the colors that were chosen. Let me know what you think? Have a wonderful evening!

Stamps: Sweet Music (Stampabilities), Walmart Clear (sentiment)
Cardstock: Bazzill Red, Bazzill Teal, SU Whisper White
Ink: Versafine Black
Supplies: Prismacolor pencils, blending stumps, Odorless Mineral Spirits, CB Snowflake folder, CB Scallop Square die cut, clear emboss powder, heat tool, pearls, gold metallic ribbon, liquid applique

IC157 My Poinsettia Pendant

 
It's the night owl again! Again, my husband asked me if I knew what a bed was. It was 4am when he came upstairs. He just left for work. Yes, I stayed up all night again, but its really the only time my imagination comes to life. It's so quiet and I have my easy listening music on. I made this card for the Inspiration Challenge. It didn't take me long to figure out which one inspired me. I chose the Christmas category because that is what I am working on, so far as cards go. Here is the item that inspired me
Images under Glass. I love Poinsettias. Believe me, this isn't my first attempt at trying to make this happen. After I got my first one made, I tried just to see what would happen if I went back over the stamped, colored, and embossed look again but in different areas on the vellum. It didn't look good at all, so I threw that away and started again. By this time, it was going on 2am. I'm so glad that my second one came out because I was nervous about coloring it. If you remember, I stayed up all night the night before. I go through this during this time of year with everything going on like school projects, volunteering my time at my kids schools, household things, and things like that. Anyways here is my story. After seeing my inspiration, I knew I wanted to make it into a stained glass pendant. I had already made a stain glass card before so, I knew about the instructions which was great. I dabbed the vellum with my cornstarch sock only for the ink not to run. I use this because I don't have an embossing buddy. Works great! I started out with a piece of clear vellum and carefully stamped the poinsettia with Versamark ink. I did the same thing with the leaves. I stamped both images separately all at once, so I can pour the embossing powder on them together. Does this make sense? I had a couple of poinsettia stamps, but I figured this poinsettia would work better for the stained glass look. I used white embossing powder and carefully dusted the areas that I didn't want heated. Heat set. I flipped the stamped vellum over for the coloring. See Beate's tutorial for stain glass in the Resources over at www.splitcoaststampers.com. I used my Bic Mark it markers to color the poinsettias and the leaves using the colors that they are. A little time consuming and I thought for sure I was going to mess it up, since I should of been sleeping by now at 2am. I also used the CM corner rounder. Once it was done with the coloring, I started with the ribbon. I remembered a short cut for ribbon tying from Kitty found here rubberneckerstamps. WOW! It works great. I have 2 small glue dots not visible from the outside holding the ribbon on and the stamped vellum is attached with Zip Dry Glue. I tried to make the ribbon look like the chain around the pendant in the inspiration piece by adding silver rhinestones to it. I used the CB mini tag die cuts and stamped the sentiment using a clear stamp from Walmart. I embossed it using red powder. I attached the pendant and tied underneath the bow. I really liked this challenge and I'm looking forward to more in the future. Does it look somewhat like the inspiration picture? When the light hits the card, it looks like I embossed in gold. But I didn't. Sorry for the long post! Thanks for dropping by and have a wonderful weekend!

Stamps: Studio G (Poinsettia) HL Christmas $2 stamp (leaf) Walmart (sentiment)
Cardstock: SU Whisper White, Vellum (clear)
Ink: Versamark
Supplies: DP Impressions white and red embossing powder, heat tool, cornstarch with sock (substitute for embossing buddy), Mark It Colored Markers by Bic, CB mini die cut tag, Zip Dry Glue, glue dots, rhinestones, wired ribbon, silver cording

Christmas Penguins

 
Ok, I am caught up with the current challenges and now I am working on my pen pal cards. This is a card that I cased from Karen found here at www.CardoftheWeek.com Of course, I enhanced it more to fit my needs. I seem to do that when I case a card to make it more personal to me. Anyhow, for my pen pal cards I try to make them flat with little bumps. The less bumps, the less trouble at the post office. I'll do a few different ones so that way each pen pal doesn't get the same card. On to my story: I used the same idea as in Karen's card but I changed a few things like the use of the Cuttlebug. I used the CB Swiss Dots folder on the Night of Navy c/s for the sky. I went over the dots using the white gel pen. I never used Rub-Ons before, so I used them here for the snowflakes. I ripped 2 pieces of white c/s and sponged the rough edge of the paper with the same color ink as the c/s. I stamped the sentiment at this time. I then used the CB Bubbles folder for the snow. I thought about using the liquid applique in some areas of the snow, but that would just add more bumps and more feeling around by the postal clerk. I hate that when that happens. It happens every time I go to the post office. Maybe it's because I get the same clerk. Everytime I do go, I pray that I don't get the same lady to help me. It wouldn't of looked good all smooched. The colored edge appears to the penguins like water. I attached accordingly. I stamped the penguins from a stamp from Stampendous that had 3 of them on it with ice skates. The penguins are stamped onto white c/s using black ink. I colored the scarfs and beak with Prismacolor pencils. I went back over the black part of the penguin using my Bic it Marker. I wanted the penguins to look like they just came out of the water, so I used my versamarker pen, clear emboss powder, and applied the heat tool to set. They appear shiny. I added liquid applique to the hat and earmuffs. I cut all 3 out. I placed the penguins just a little bit underneath the snow with glue. I added sheer ribbon with silver cording to complete the card. I think it turned out cute. What do you think? Thanks for looking and have a wonderful night.

Stamps: Stampendous (Polka Penguins), Studio G (sentiment)
Cardstock: Whisper White, Night of Navy
Ink: Night of Navy
Supplies: CB Swiss Dots and CB Bubbles folders, Prismacolor pencils, clear emboss powder, heat tool, HL rub-ons, rhinestones, CTMH sheer ribbon, silver cording

LSC197 SC126 Wish

 
Oh my goodness sakes! You know what! I have been up all night making this card. I actually was making cards but I wanted to check out the Limited Supplies challenge on SCS before I went to bed. The challenge was to use ONLY snowflakes, no snowmen or anything like that and ONE WORD on the card. My husband came upstairs and says "It's 3:00am", are you going to go to bed soon?" I said probably not, because if I did...I wouldn't wake up for the kids and get them to school. Well, I am learning new things from Picasa about watermarks, cropping, and editing. Way cool. Tonight, I found out how to crop the photo instead of having everything else show in the background. Just playing around is all. I'll see how it turns out once I post this. Anyways, back to the card. I used my Cuttlebug on all the layers for the silver and white c/s. I stamped the snowflake from a HL Collection with versamark. I then used red emboss powder and the heat gun. I cut it out using the Bumble Bee scissors. Very sharp, if you don't already have them...you NEED them. It was still a pain to cut it out. Have you cut out any snowflakes lately? I added a snowflake and a few rhinestones. I placed the ribbon on before the panel was put on and tied. I love wired ribbon. It is so easy to work with. I made my own tag by stamping with a silver marker, cut, and added an eyelet. I added the cording to complete the card. Have a wonderful day, as that I may sneak in a nap.

Stamps: HL Snowflake Collection, SU Small Script
Cardstock: Bazzill Red, SU Whisper White, DCWV Metallic c/s
Ink: Versamark
Supplies: CB Snowflake folder, red emboss powder, heat tool, wired ribbon, silver marker, rhinestones, scissors, glue dots

WT195 Surprise Envelope Card

 
 
 
Hmmm, when I saw the Ways to Use challenge for today on SCS and it was to make an envelope card or have your card containing an envelope in it. I knew what I had in mind. Yes, I browsed the internet to get an idea but this layout of the basic card idea I thought of. Because it reminded me of the day back in 6th grade camp. My mom used to send me and my sister mail with a folded card with a message inside. I still have it after all these years. This is the tutorial I found and I changed a few things to make it my own style. Dawn's Envelope Card. It took me a little time to complete but the outcomes is great, at least I thought it was. My husband thought I did too much on it. After following her tutorial, I gave mine a panel on the top layer, then lined it on the outside with curvy scrapbook borders and scored where needed. I also used the Cuttlebug Houndstooth folder on the Kraft paper. I added velcro to the top inside and the bottom so when the person receiving this is able to open it easy. I used 5 different stamp sets for this card. Did you notice the postage stamp? That is from the SU Vintage Postcard set. This was my very first set I bought from SU. The instructions to make this card is on the tutorial by Dawn but I scored my panel accordingly. She doesn't use a panel. I was trying to find something that would make a perfect fit to go inside the envelope, so my husband suggested a gift card. Money would work but only if you fold it. Since I like to be perfect or at least try to be, the money option didn't work...because you had to fold it. So I stayed with the gift card. All the gingerbread figures and house were stamped on Kraft paper and colored with Prismacolor pencils. They were also embossed with clear powder, heat tool, and cut out. I used the white gel pen for the frosting. I had mounted the gingerbread house with a little tacky tape half way in order for the card to still open as a flap. Who would of ever thought to use a lunch bag in our card making, unreal. But I am glad that I found this. So easy to do, looks hard...but really easy! Thanks for dropping by!

Stamps: SU Vintage Postcard, SU Sweet Holiday, SU Gingerbread House, SU Gingerbread Christmas, and a Studio G stamp (small gingerbread man on inside flap)
Cardstock: Bazzill Red, Kraft, SU Whisper White
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black
Supplies: CB Houndstooth folder, Prismacolor Pencils, clear emboss powder, versamark pen, heat tool, white gel pen, slit punch, circle punch, scissors, glue dots, tacky tape, Scor-pal, paper lunch bag, misc curvy borders

SC195 WT188 Christmas Puppy

 
Like I was mentioning before, I've been busy lately and it has been tough for me to keep up with these challenges at SCS. But I have been doing them, just really late at night, sometimes to wee hours of the morning. They are addicting. Anyways, I combined 2 challenges in this card. The sketch for this challenge is SC195 at www.splitcoaststampers.com and the other one is Ways To Use It for plaids. I couldn't wait to use this stamp by Inkadinkado. When I saw it, I just had to have it. I made this for a particular friend of mine. She loves her puppy. She's always sharing some silly stories about her puppy too. I couldn't help myself, but I had to use the plaid even though I thought of a Scotty dog the whole time I was putting this card together. I used the CB Houndstooth folder on the green and plaids and mounted them. I had these square brads in my stash and thought they would go great here. It's one of them things that I had to have. Don't we all have to have something that we hardly ever use? I stamped the dog with black ink, then shaded him using a soft gray Prismacolor pencil for areas like the chin, below the ears, and legs. I didn't blend them this time with the Goo Gone because I didn't think it really needed it. I used the versamark pen, clear embossing powder, and the heat gun to the color, antlers, and hat. It was a little hard for me to not have to color the dog or use embossing powder. I'm not used to just doing half of something, but I like how it turned out. I added gold pearls to the collar with mini glue dots. I also used the corner punch and added a brad. The image and the corner punch are held on with dimensions to give it a 3D effect. I really hope my friend likes it, because I had fun making it for her. Thanks for dropping by! Have a wonderful night!

Stamps: Inkadinkado
Cardstock: Bazzill Black and Red, SU Old Olive, SU Whisper White, Paper Studio DP
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black
Supplies: CB Houndstooth folder, Prismacolor Pencils, versamark pen, clear emboss powder, heat gun, square brads, satin ribbon, gold pearls, corner punch, glue dots, pop dots, sponge

SC205 Happy Holidays

 
I'm trying to play catch up with my Christmas cards. I have super busy as I mentioned before. I was able to sneak in this sketch challenge on www.splitcoaststampers.com. I just went the easy way today because I have so many cards to make, stamped, and mailed out. I used the MME Glitter stack pack found at Michaels. I cut the strips evenly and attached to the blue metallic c/s. I just love wired ribbon, it is sooooo easy to work with. I just happen to have this type and I thought it would go great on this card. I stamped the snowflake using versamark ink. I embossed 3 times (one with red, clear, and another red). I wanted to get the red just right. I used the Sizzic die cut tags and stamped the sentiment to hang from the bow. Added the look of the ticket corner punch and Christmas color brads to the corners. I added a snowflake and a mini rhinestonet to the center on the red. This was quick and simple to make for my schedule. Thank you and have a great day!


Stamps: Paper Creations, HL Snowflake

A Golden Tree

 
Well, one thing led to another on this card. I was playing around with my MS leaf branch punch and thought maybe I could make a tree out of them. So that's what I did. I first made a stencil of a tall trianagle and cut out. I place the stencil over the cardstock where the tree would be going. I clipped it together with a binder clip to hold in place and I sprayed adhesive on it. I took the stencil off and I quickly laid all 30 branches out for the tree. I added a little more branches as I was putting on the lights. I stamped the lights, embossed them using clear powder heat set, and cut out with my kraft knife. They are on the tree with glue dots. I used a regular size hole punch as the ornaments and added glitter. The tree base is a buckle punch with ribbon through it. This was actually kinda fun to build, but very tidius to do. Just wanted to share. Have a great night!

Cardstock: DCWV gold metallic, Red Bazill, kraft, scraps of green, scrap of yellow glitter (star)
Supplies: rhinestones, MS leaf branch punch, hole punch, ticket corner punch, spray adhesive, pencil, scissors, star punch, clear emboss powder, heat gun, versamark pen, glue dots,CB swiss dots folder, gold metallic pen

TLC197 Midnight Bird

 
I really don't know how all these ladies stamp, work, and get things done with the house. I volunteer twice this week at my kids schools, and I'm finding it hard to do all the things I normally do when I stay home. I am a really busy SAHM too. I volunteer at the schools when needed. I named this card Midnight Bird because it took me up until midnight to complete. I must of did several colors until I got the color and look I was wanted. I chose to use Not Quite Navy as the ink color. It was so rich looking. It's amazing what things you can find around your house for stamping. The technique at www.splitcoaststampers.com was to use Simple Green with a spritzer bottle after you used your brayer on your inked c/s. Of course, it really works better if you have glossy cardstock. After I let it dry, I chose to add flourishes right on the card itself. No layering! I also stamped the bird and the sentiment. All stamped with black ink. You should of seen my fingers, all inky! The technique for this one was to use the cleaning product Simple Green. Who would of ever thought to use these kinds of things for uses on cards. Amazing!
Have a wonderful night!

Stamps: Inkakindado, Autumn Leaves, Studio G
(sentiment)
Cardstock: glossy
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, SU Not Quite Navy
Supplies: Simple Green (household cleaner), spritzer bottle, brayer, ribbon

CC195 Get Well Soon

 
WOW! I really don't know what I'd do if I had to go to work everyday and try to stamp. I've volunteered twice this week at my kids schools and I've been playing catch up on SCS with their challenges. It's been really hectic here around the house too. My husband's mother has been sick and he is down there with her right now in Texas. She is home from the hospital but not able to go out anywhere. Anyways, I made this card for her. She'll get a kick out of it, especially with it being a mouse. She knows about the mice problem awhile ago during the summer season, thank goodness for Pest Controls because I haven't seen one since. Shhh! Better not say that too loud. Here is the story. I'll make this quick, since I have to get boys into their beds. The color challenge today was to use Very Vanilla, Sahara Sand, and Black c/s. Since I didn't have the sandy color, I chose Kraft c/s. I stamped the mouse image with black ink, colored it using my Copics, Prismacolor pencils, blending stump, and goo gone. I wanted the jar of ink to shine, so I added clear emboss powder to it. I used the CB script folder for the background image, as if the mouse was writing to my MIL. I stamped the sentiment from a Studio G dollar stamp. Sometimes, I get amazed how these dollar stamps really stamp. Nice and clean. The mouse image is on with diminsions and I added satin ribbon. I also used a lace corner punch for the corners and added mini rhinestones. I had fun doing this, but I wished I wasn't rushed. Enjoy your visit, see you next time.

Stamps: House Mouse-Amanda Writes by Stampabilities, Studio G
Cardstock: SU Very Vanilla, Bazzil Black, Kraft
Ink: Versafine Onyx black
Supplies: CB Script folder, satin ribbon, Prismacolor pencils, blending stump, goo gone, pop dots, glue dots, Friskars lace corner punch, rhinestones, clear emboss powder, versamark pen, heat gun