Monday, December 29, 2014

Twas the Night Before Christmas...

Hi All,

This is the second card we made at my Holiday workshop and boy, it's a doozy!  I saw it and knew immediately it would be a show stopper.  It's a scene right out of a story book.


My card was inspired by this one on Pinterest: Christmas Postcard.  Truly Amazing!  I wish I had the link of the creator, but I couldn't find it :(  If you are she or you know who made this, please do share. Would love to give Kudos!  In the meantime, this card has a portfolio of awesomeness.

Holiday Home is the star of the show.  It's images include: the houses, the lamp post, the stars and Santa.  This stamp set also has Framelits Dies that coordinate to make cutting these houses super easy.  They can be bundled together and if you're getting one, you should definitely get the other. This set is so versatile and can be used for many other holidays or seasons.  It's a Must-Have in my book.  Below are the images you get with this set:

Holiday Home Photopolymer Bundle: Item 137631  $31.95
The background was created using the Post Card stamp and the Sunburst from the Kinda Ececletic stamp set.  The snow was added to the houses with Liquid Applique.  You dab it on and heat set it.  As it heats, it puffs. So perfect for snow and you can find it at any craft store.

Post Card: Clear 130369 $13.95 / Wood 130366 $17.95

Kinda Eclectic: Clear 135350 $19.95 / Wood 135347 $27.95
If you'd like to add any of these products to your collection, pop me an email or click on the 'Order Online' icon in the top right-hand corner.  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Stamps: Holiday Home, Post Card, Kinda Eclectic, Postage Stamp and Priority Mail
Paper: Crumb Cake, Pool Party, Basic Black and Whisper White Cardstock
Ink: Baked Brown Sugar & Pool Party Classic Pads; Black Staz-On; Whisper White Craft Pad
Accessories: Homemade Holiday Framelits Dies, Postage Stamp Punch, Liquid Applique and a Heating Tool

Ornamental Pine

Hi All,

For my last workshop of the year, I held a Holiday workshop at the end of November.  I found quite a few cards on Pinterest this year that spurred me to purchase a few new Holiday stamp sets.  This was one of them that we used at the workshop:  Ornamental Pine

 
I was inspired by this card from Deb over at ARTfelt Impressions.  I loved the rustic feel...and the snow effect was simply amazing.  I just had to recreate!  Although I kept the same basic design, I switched up the finishing touches.  I added some Washi Tape for a pop of color and a simple sentiment.  The Washi Tape was a bit too wide, so I cut it in half lengthwise.  Worked perfectly!

The front panel was cut using Oval Nestabilities and popped up with pop dots.  The pine needles were stamped on the background and the pine cone was cut out and adhered to the branch.  It adds even more dimension to the card.

I love how this turned out and it makes me wish I was holed up in a cabin for the holidays. We don't get snow here in sunny Phoenix, so this is the closest I get unless I'm going north to Flagstaff.  Hope you enjoyed this one as much as I did.  If you'd like to add any of these products to your collection, pop me an email or click on the 'Order Online' icon in the top right-hand corner. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Ornamental Pine: Clear 135107 $18.95 / Wood 135104  $25.95

Stamps: Ornamental Pine & Itty Bitty Backgrounds
Paper: Crumb Cake and Soft Suede Cardstock
Ink: Chocolate Chip (Sentiment) & Early Espresso (Pinecone) Classic Pads; Whisper White Craft Pad
Accessories: Garden Green & Chocolate Chip Markers, Oval Nestabilities, Season of Style Washi Tape, Sponge and Pop Dots/Dimensionals

Sunday, December 28, 2014

Holiday Swap '14

Hi All,

Earlier this month, I got together with the girls and we had our 2nd Annual Holiday Card Swap. Each designed their own card and brought all of the supplies for the rest of us.  I am always amazed at everyone's creativity...and it's so much fun to sit down and actually make cards I haven't designed :)

Below are the cards that my uber talented girls came up with:


This card was a partnership between Gina and Lana.  Gina designed and Lana cut.  {I sure wish I had cutting help each month ;}  I had always wanted to try one of these trees, so I was super excited to see that we were going to be doing one together.  It is surprisingly easy and is just 1/2 of a scalloped circle folded to create the different branches.  Here's a quick tutorial if you'd like to try it out: Folded Tree Techinique.  I also *love* the Lucky Stars Embossing folder used for the background.  Most of these products are in the Holiday Mini and are only available till January 5th.

Trim the Tree DSP Stack: 135824  $6.95

Lucky Stars Textured Embossing Folder: 135817  $7.95

Paper: Garden Green, Cherry Cobbler and Whisper White Cardstock; Trim the Tree DSP Stack
Accessories: Lucky Stars Embossing Folder, Large Scalloped Circle Die, Cherry Cobbler 1" Sheer Linen Ribbon, Old Olive Baker's Twine and 1/8" Mini Brads.


This card was another partnership between Gina and Lana.  Gina designed this beauty of a card.  The first thing I noticed were the beautiful blue hues.  They are just gorgeous.  She used a Masking technique to create  the moon.  This was also something that I hadn't really done before.  I found a great tutorial on Splitcoast Stampers if you'd like to give it a try: Masking Technique.  This focal image is mounted on the Northern Flurry Embossed background, but you could also cut this circle out and place the focal image on the inside of the card so it shows through the front.  Either way, it makes a beautiful card!  

Lovely as a Tree: 127793 Clear $19.95 / 128655 Wood $27.95

Northern Flurry Embossing Folder: 120902  $7.95

Stamp: Lovely as a Tree
Ink: Marina Mist and Not Quite Navy Classic Pads; Black StazOn
Accessories: Sponge, Post-It Notes, Northern Flurry Embossing Folder, Circle Nestabilites, 2-Way Glue Pen, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter


This is yet another card from Gina.  She is a fellow SU! Demonstrator and made these as card fronts for a swap.  She made more than she needed, so she brought them for us.  I believe, all in all, she made 25 of these.  That's a ton of work and many kudos to her!  All we had to do was pick one out and mount it on some cardstock.  All of these products can be found in the Holiday Mini and are only available till January 5th.  White Christmas is a super popular stamp set and these Snowflake Frosted Sequins were a Must-Have for my collection.

All is Calm DSP: 135823  $12.95

Frosted Sequins: 135835  $4.95

White Christmas: 135767  $15.95

Paper & Ink: Lost Lagoon Cardstock & Classic Pad
Accessories: Apothecary Accents Framelits, 2-Way Glue Pen, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, Red & Yellow Markers, Sponge

This cute little card was designed by Mary Beth.  She created a central focal image by embossing the top 1/3 edge of the cardstock and turning to emboss the other 1/3 of the edge of the cardstock.  Such a simple technique with a lot of punch. I adore snowflakes and snowmen, so this card was right up my alley.    


My final card was designed by Linda.  She took this simple tree die cut and blinged it up to create an Easel Card.  Another technique I had not done before.  The card can be mailed flat, but when opened, the gifts at the bottom are 3 Dimensional and act as a base for the tree fold.  She also shared another trick with us.  The punch under the sentiment was cut out twice in two colors: white and green.  Since these are both the same size, she cut the green one in half and adhered each half to the edge of the white sentiment.  This gives the affect of a layer.  So Clever!

We had such a great time and we all came away with such great ideas.  It's so fun to share and I'm so thankful to have these ladies to share with.  Can't wait to create again in 2015! Hopefully you are inspired to try something new as well!


Truly Grateful

Hi All,

I'm a bit behind on my posts...so before I share my Christmas cards, I should definitely get caught up on Thanksgiving.  I'm not sure where the time goes between holidays, but I think it speeds up double time...lol!

This card is straight from the annual catalog (pge 153).


I loved how they used the stamp image from the Truly Grateful stamp set to create the print on the leaf.  So clever...and what a cool effect.  The leaves used on the card are from the Autumn Accents Bigz Die.  It has five leaves of different sizes and shapes.  From there, it's just lots of layers: burlap, lace, DSP and an embossed background. The original card used the Crushed Curry Chevron Ribbon {super cute} instead of the lace, but I mistakenly ordered the Crushed Curry Striped Ribbon and it was a bit too busy to add.  **lesson learned, double check your Items before you confirm your order**  Ha Ha!

There is definitely more going on with this card than I normally would do, but it all works together pretty nicely.  If you have a love of leaves {as I do}, the Autumn Accents Bigz Die is a must have.  If you'd like to add them to your collection, pop me an email or click on the 'Order Online' icon in the top right hand corner.  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Autumn Accents Bigz Die: 127812  $21.95

Truly Grateful: Clear 131733  $19.95 / Wood 131730  $27.95

Stamps: Truly Grateful
Paper: Crushed Curry, Baked Brown Sugar, Old Olive and Very Vanilla Cardstock; Newsprint DSP
Ink: Chocolate Chip & Baked Brown Sugar (Sponged on Edges) Classic Pads
Accessories: Autumn Accents Bigz Die, Ticket Corner Punch, Burlap Ribbon, Victoria Lace, Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder, Antique Brads, Crushed Curry Maker, Sponge, Glue Dots and Pop Dots/Dimensionals