Christmas in February

I am trying to make Christmas cards throughout the year so I have enough in December to mail out to everyone.  I have even decided to do some multiples of cards.  This is a card that will have 6 made just like it.

I like to buy gift tags at the end of the holiday season  to use on cards.  I have many that have not been used yet but this particular gift tag was just bought this year at Tuesday Morning.  I believe there were 12 in the packet so I will get my money's worth out of my 99 cent investment.

The paper is from a new American Crafts 6 x 6 I bought when I was in South Carolina.  I only bought three 6 x 6 pads while I was there.  It was my first time in AC Moore and they had quite a few but I only got one there.  The two Christmas ones were bought at a scrapbook store in Seneca, South Carolina.

I am playing along with the challenge at Merry Monday Christmas Challenge.  The challenge is to use Santa on a card.

Isn't he the sweetest looking Santa?  The cord I used on the card is the cord for the gift tag.  It matched perfectly so use it.  The sentiment is from Hero Arts.  The card is also fairly flat so should only cost me the extra for being nonmachinable.  I have 5 more cards to make just like one.  I also have all the insides ready.  I am going to be "somewhat" prepared for sending my Christmas cards in December.  Maybe I will even get them addressed in November.  Wouldn't that be a novel idea.

Have a wonderful day.  I am recovering from my vacation in South Carolina.  I am having lunch with a friend today.  I am looking forward to that.

Hi - Merry Christmas

I am joining the challenge on Merry Monday  -  a weekly Christmas card challenge - I am joining a little late into the year but hopefully will have a few more made when it comes to mail my holiday cards.

Their challenge is to focus on the sentiment.

I used three different sentiments on my card front.  The top one is a $1 stamp from somewhere.  The Merry Christmas is from Paper Smooches and the bottom sentiment is from a very old Hero Arts set.  They were embossed with white embossing powder.  The top sentiment is matted in red and pop dotted.  The snowflakes are from an old Quickutz die.  They worked perfectly for this card.  I splattered some white paint on the card front, tied a red twine bow and added some red enamel dots.  I really like how the white pops on this wood look paper.

Thanks for the challenge.

Holly - Season's Greetings Card

Time to get in gear to get some Christmas cards made.  Now that I am retired maybe I will be able to play along with the challenges for making a holiday card each week.  Plus I have to stay home and have time to create.  This maybe more of a problem - but oh the wonderful freedom to do whatever I want when I want to do it.

I decided to play along with the challenge at Merry Monday which is to use holly.

I found a stamp in a drawer that had holly on it so I decided to play.  After that I found a coordinating stamp and stencil of holly.  Maybe there will be another holly card created this week.

This is smaller than an A2 card and opens from the short side.  I stamped the image in black ink on water color paper and then water colored with water color pencils.  I attempted to get a little shading on the leaves and berries.  The berries also have been brushed with a clear Wink of Stella.  I embossed a piece of white.  Both pieces are matted with a dark gray.  You did know that gray is the new black.  The sticker was found in some things I was going through and fit perfectly in that corner.  The bow is a favorite Offray ribbon.  I added the gold medallion in the corner for a little more interest.

Thanks for stopping by.

Non Traditional Christmas in August

In a private facebook group of cardmakers, the challenge was to make something with pink and purple.  I knew I had two of Tim Holtz's crazy birds colored with pink.  I did not know it would lead me down the road to a Christmas card.  It was not going to be a Christmas card but once I stamped the branch on the card front to ground the bird, it became and Christmas card.  Probably because it is a stamp from a very old Hero Arts set.

This is a square card approximately 4.25 inches.  The base is mixed media paper.  I scribbled a purple gelato on the front and used a baby wipe to blend it.  I placed a stencil over the top and rubbed out some of the color because I thought it was too dark.  You can see the faint circle in the background.  This did not lighten it enough for me so I watered down some gesso and swiped it across the front.  I finally got a soft lavender for my color.  (I know it looks darker in the picture - let's say I am not a good photographer.)  The bird was stamped on gessoed dictionary pages and colored with distress paints.  It was fussy cut.  I adhered the bird to the card front with glue and he was floating so the branch was added.  Now he is grounded.  I clear embossed both the sentiment and the branch.  I splattered watered down gesso across the front of the card.  White string was colored and tied around the top of the card.  The front is mounted with foam tape.  I even finished the inside of the card so it is ready to be mailed.

I am entering this card in two different challenges.

The Paper Players challenge is Hip To be Square.  The card is square.

The other challenge is Merry Monday Christmas where the challenge is to use pastels.

Thanks for stopping by.  I did enjoy the journey my crazy pink bird took me on yesterday thanks to Cora's color challenge.  Come back tomorrow to see my snarky, texty card.

Merry Monday on Sunday

Just getting in under the wire for the deadline for the Merry Monday Sketch challenge.  Whew - if you look through my blog - you can see I have been using this die cut snowman lots lately - he is so fun - I just wish his scarf was designed so you could do more with coloring or paper piecing.  This die cut/stamp combination is from Hero Arts for Archiever's.  The sentiment is from Stampendous.  This card will have to go into a little bigger envelope since the sentiment is hanging off the edge.  The paper is from Basic Grey.

Here is the sketch from Merry Monday.

One more Christmas card done - thank you Merry Monday - now I need to work on my Oldie Moldie Monday card - since it is Christmas paper - I wish I knew today what the sketch was for Merry Monday for tomorrow.  Enjoy your Sunday - it is raining here - lots of rain - but that is good - we need rain - glad it is not snow.

Oldie Moldie Merry Monday and Hero Arts

I bet everyone thought I had forgotten to make an oldie moldie Monday card - did not forget - just did not get it done until tonight.  I have been busy with Operation Write Home's September birthday activities.  We had lots of fun.  Played with different product and shared lots of creativity.

My card tonight uses paper from 2010 from Cosmo Cricket - I love the colors in it.  I wonder if the snowman should have been cream but who sees a cream colored snowman.  The stamp is a new stamp/die cut from Hero Arts and Archiver's.  I am going to experiment with the scarf a little - I don't know if I like that much black on my scarf.

The card layout is based on the sketch at Merry Monday.

Part of the challenges at the Hero Arts blog for the month of October is to use your die cuts.

Hope you enjoyed my Oldie Moldie Merry Monday card.

Sparkle With Joy - Or Something Like That

Simon Says "I Love Sparkle" - I do not use too much sparkle or glitter because the majority of my cards are for Operation Write Home and glitter is a big no no - if you want to know why - stop by the Operation Write Home blog to find out.

The challenge for the month at Oozak is also sparkle.

This is a card for my own holiday collection.  I used the sketch from Merry Merry - I somewhat stretched the image from the sketch.  My card is 5 x 3.25.

The image is a Penny Black Sticker - unfortunately with my lousy photo skills - I was unable to pick up the sparkle on the card.  I added Stickles to many dots on the tree.  The Joy was outline with my stardust pen.  The background is embossed with a snowflake embossing folder.  I did use some Bazzill Bling to add color to the card.  A May Arts bow completes the card.

Have a lovely evening and week end.

Embossing and Christmas

It is time to start working on your holiday cards - I gathered together some challenges and set to work.

Lots of places have an embossing challenge.

Stampendous's September challenge is to use embossing.  

Simon Says Stamp Challenge is also embossing

Shopping our Stash Challenge - embossing

And the weekly sketch from Merry Monday.

The paper grouping is a very old grouping from Cosmo Cricket.  The santa stamp is from Stampendous - stamped with VersaMark ink and embossed with Zing brown embossing powder.  I distressed the edges of all the paper.  The sentiment is also from Cosmo Cricket.  The card size is 5 x 7.

Everyone enjoy the remainder of your evening.

Anything Goes

Good morning - it is Friday - it is a 3 day week end - yeah.  A quick post to share a holiday card I made.  I made the card from a  sketch from Merry Monday.  The paper is an old collection from Cosmo Cricket - but it has the traditional holiday colors and designs.  I think I will just use this grouping of paper over the week end and make some more cards for my Operation Write Home box.  I kept the card flat for easier mailing.  The greeting is pop dotted so there is just a little dimension.  Here is the sketch.

Simon Says Stamp blog also has a challenge "anything goes" so my card is going over there also.

Thanks for stopping by for a visit.

Webster's Pages and Merry Monday Challenge

I really think this should be an Oldie Moldie Monday post because I have had this paper for a year or two - but it is not.  It is a card for the Merry Monday challenge on Always Playing With Paper - a sketch challenge for making Christmas cards.

These are quite funky colors - I will have to pick who gets this Christmas card - some people may not appreciate non traditional cards.  The paper is a 6 x 6 pad from Webster's Pages - I have used some of this paper for non Christmas cards also.  The sentiment is a Hero Arts stamp that I heat embossed in white.  The card base and other pink is a bling paper.  I don't think it is the Bazzill because it does not have any texture to it.  The gold is Bo Bunny.

Enjoy your day - party in the neighborhood and I need to go dig out some supplies for Amy.

Hero Arts, Imaginisce, and Merry Monday

I started this card last night working on the flower.  It is a clear stamp from Imaginisce - it also has the little holiday sentiment I used on last week's holiday card.  I stamped it on watercolor paper and embossed with brown embossing powder.  I then grabbed my distress inks and perfect pearls mist.  Swiped the inks on my mat, spritzed on some perfect pearls and started painting the poinsettia.  I just kept adding layers.  I wanted it to look very vintage.  The perfect pearls adds such a nice shimmer.  Each layer of the poinsettia was pop dotted on the card front.  I added the brownish pearl to the center.  The paper is an old collection from Cosmo Cricket - but it has some great papers in it.  The sentiment is by Hero Arts - three sentiments in the set - I think it will be one of my better purchases - I will get lots of use out of it for holiday cards for Operation Write Home.

The card is based on the Merry Monday Sketch Challenge on Always Playing With Paper.

Have a wonderful day - we will see if I can get the card that is in my head out onto the drawing board tonight.

Warm Winter Wishes - no - Warm Spring Wishes

Close up of snoflake embellishment



Good morning - my first personal Christmas card for 2012.  I made this card for the Merry Monday sketch challenge. 

I am taking an Online Class about using your diecuts and Silhouette Machine.  The classes have been fun - the first lesson -part of it - was making your own embellishments using diecuts.  I posted a closeup of the snowflake one I made.  This is from a Spellbinders die cutting set. 

The paper is from Collage Press.  The penguin is from Whipper Snapper Stamps - a Wisconsin stamp company.  The sentiment is from Fiskars - another Wisconsin company.  The ribbon is from May Art - I just added a touch of red to the pink/blue card.  I even used some Stickles on the snowflake - when you make cards for Operation Write Home - the glitter goes away.

Enjoy your day.  

Happy Holidays/Merry Monday

I got a chance to make a card for the Merry Monday challenge - It will be going in my Operation Write Home box when it comes time to send Christmas cards - which really is not that far away - right now we are working on Father's Day cards.  This card could qualify for Oldie Moldie Monday - it uses paper from a 6 x 6 pad for Kaiser Scrapbooking.  The Santa was on the corner of one of the pieces of paper.  The Happy Holidays stamp is another $1 stamp I have - you can not beat the price for the use you will get out of such a versatile stamp.

Enjoy your Friday - I am attending a workshop at work today so that will be a nice break from the normal work day.

Christmas Card in March

Yes a Christmas card in March - actually I have made two Christmas cards in March - I promise - I will not mow my lawn in March (especially in Wisconsin).  I know - I went off on a tangent there.

The card design is based on the sketch challenge Merry Monday.  I used the same paper I used last week - I like the colors and so you may see it for awhile - I should do some kits with the paper with the two cards I have already made.  The paper is a collection for Oriental Trader.  The sentiment is a Stampabilities stamp and the snowman is from Inkadinkado - he is so cute.  I colored him with Copics.  The snowflake is made from one of the snowflake Spellbinder dies.

I do hope not to see any more snow in Wisconsin this year.  I figure - it has been so beautiful - that on Easter - we will probably have a blizzard.

Have a wonderful day.

First Merry Monday Challenge

This is the first time I have played along on the Merry Monday challenge - you need to make holiday cards with the sketch - I thought if I started making some Christmas cards - I would have some done for me and also some ideas for Operation Write Home Cards.

This paper (snowman and trees) are on patterned paper.  I got this paper grouping from Oriental Trading - it also has some chipboard with the grouping.  I cut the scallop with my Silhouette - love the different sizes of scallops - the sentiment stamp is Papertrey Ink.

Well off to clean my house - I have some company coming tomorrow.