Merry Little Christmas...in August!

In honor of the Holiday Catalog release I want to share a card with you that has me humming Christmas carols!

The inspiration for this card came from a delightful sketch over at The Paper Players. I just love clean and simple so this spoke to me immediately! I also decided to play along with the Merry Monday "Month Long-Anything Goes Christmas" Challenge.

My goal this year is to create my Christmas cards beginning NOW and continuing through the fall with the goal of having them complete and ready to mail by Halloween...I will keep you posted on my progress:)

The Designer Series Paper I have used here can be found in the "Season of Style" Designer Series Paper pack. The colors featured here are classic Christmas all the way...Old Olive and Cherry Cobbler! The stamp set is called "Merry Little Christmas" and has three stamps that coordinate beautifully. I have stamped off on another piece of Whisper White card stock in Old Olive to add a little banner for contrast. Three Candy Dots in Old Olive add the perfect finishing touch. Candy Dots have become a staple around my crafting table!

I featured the Envelope Liners Framelits Die again today. I can't tell you enough how easy it is to add a HUGE touch of elegance to a card with this simple tool. It is so easy to use and not only is it beautiful to look at, it also adds a heft to the envelope that just screams "style"!

So...one Christmas card down and a stack to go...who's with me to get started and finished and enjoy a more stress-free holiday this year?

Stampin Supplies:

Stamps: Merry Little Christmas (131829)

Paper: Whisper White (101730), Old Olive (100702) Cardstock; Season of Style (132340) Designer Series Paper

Ink: Cherry Cobbler (126966), Old Olive (126953) Classic Stampin' Pad

Tools: Big Shot (113439), Envelope Liners Framelits Dies (132172), Stampin' Trimmer (126889), Stamp-A-Ma-Jig (101049)

Embellishments: Brights Candy Dots (130931)

Thanks for stopping by! 

Sweet Baby - Freshly Made Sketches #97

Happy Wednesday to you! Do you know why I love Wednesdays? Because there's a new sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches to play along with!!

What a fun, clean sketch today by Jen Timko, who by the way I had the pleasure of meeting at Convention :-) I have been a fan of hers since starting to play along at Freshly Made Sketches so I was like WOW!! It's JEN TIMKO!! lol, it was fun to meet her in person and she was a delight to chat with! And with that, here's the card that I created with her sketch:

Doesn't this little guy just make you say "Awwww", yep, he's a keeper! He's from the set "Zoo Babies". I have been dying to ink up this set and this sketch was perfect for it! Do you recognize the Designer Series Paper? No? That's because it is in the Holiday Catalog which goes live tomorrow...yay! It's called "Sweater Weather" and is a wonderful trendy fall-themed paper. But if you have followed me for any time you will know that I delight in taking things outside the box. Fall-themed paper for a baby card? Sure, why not! This paper can be used year round :)

I stamped the giraffe onto my Very Vanilla layer and then stamped it again on another piece and fussy cut him out. The sentiment is from Itty Bitty Banners and I inked it up with Sahara Sand and Crushed Curry markers and then used the Bitty Banners Framelits and my Big Shot to quickly die cut it out. I followd the sketch closely this week so I added a few banners to the top, one in Sahara Sand and the other in Soft Sky. A little bling seemed in order with some Candy Dots in Soft Sky and one Vintage Faceted Designer Button tied up with a bit of Whisper White Baker's Twine finish this card off nicely.

Most of the time I don't like to take the time to fussy cut, but I will when the card calls for it. How about you? I think some people enjoy the process, are you one of them? Won't you leave me a comment and lt me know? Thanks and have a creative day!

Stampin Supplies:

Stamps: Zoo Babies (130456), Itty Bitty Banners (126257)

Paper: Sahara Sand (121043), Very Vanilla (101650) Cardstock; Sweather Weather (132184) Designer Series Paper; Neutrals (130132), Subtles (130135) Designer Series Paper Stacks

Ink: Crushed Curry (131173) Classic Stampin' Pad; Brights (131262), Neutrals (131261) Stampin' Write Markers

Tools: Big Shot (113439), Bitty Banners Framelits (129267), Stampin' Trimmer (126889), Stampin' Dimensionals (104430)

Embellishments: Vintage Faceted Designer Buttons (127555), Subtles (130933) Candy Cots

Thanks for stopping by! 

Pistachio Pudding Love - PPA165 Sketch Challenge

It is so nice to be back creating with the wonderful Pals Paper Arts Design Team! Nicole Watt has turned out a delightful sketch this week which made this card come together very easily...

And here is my interpretation of this sketch:

Do you like it? I really love how the colors and textures came together for a soft, feminine card. There are lots of details so let's start with paper (I just lovveee paper!)...

I love clean and simple but I also love, love layers of detail. Subtle detail. And that's what we have here. I layered Pistachio Pudding Core'dinations cardstock on top of a Very Vanilla base. The Core'dinations cardstock is white in the core so that it can be sanded down and the white core exposed, which makes for wonderful texture. But...for this card, I am very happy with just the texture of the cardstock itself.

Next I used the wonderful patterns of the Venetian Romance Designer Series Paper to add a bit of softness and visual interest. I wanted the pattern of the butterfly to be the focus so I kept the other papers muted. I used my bone folder to flip the edges of the banners up a bit for more interest. Next comes the butterfly...isn't it just adorable? I used the Beautiful Butterflies Bigz Die to die cut the butterfly out of this AMAZING patterned paper. Once the butterfly was die cut, I realized that just layering it on top of all that Pistachio Pudding cardstock would just wash the butterfly out so I sponged the edges with Baked Brown Sugar ink. Well, I actually sponged it with Pistachio Pudding but it was too...green, so then I sponged it with Soft Suede and it was too...brown, so I finally sponged it with Baked Brown Sugar...just right! Whew!

I layered the butterfly onto a circle punched out with my 2 1/2" circle punch and run through the Big Shot with the new Stylish Stripes Embossing Folder which will be available in the 2013 Holiday Catalog, available August 1st. I sponged the edges of the circle with Pistachio Pudding ink to add some contrast.

Next...the jewelry! One Very Vintage Designer button with a Linen Thread bow in the center is the perfect finishing touch...at least in my humble opinion.

I left the sentiment until the end. Once the card came together I decided it would be perfect to send to my mother to let her know I am thinking about her :)

I would love it if you left me a comment with your thoughts on my card today!

Stampin Supplies:

Stamps: Express Yourself (130339-Hostess)

Paper: Very Vanilla (101650) Cardstock; Pistachio Pudding (130136) Core'dinations Cardstock; Venetian Romance (130144) Designer Series Paper

Ink: Baked Brown Sugar (131174) Classic Stampin' Pad

Tools: Big Shot (113439), Beautiful Butterflies Bigz Die (114507), 2 1/2" Circle Punch (120906), Stampin' Trimmer (126889)

Embellishments: Very Vintage Designer Buttons (129327), Linen Thread (104199)

Thanks for stopping by! 

Happy Birthday Jacob Mockbee!

Today a fellow Pal shared a link on Facebook to a wonderful story about a local (to her) Tucson young man, Jacob Mockbee, who will be celebrating a sixteenth birthday that some doctors said he would never see. His family has started a campaign to collect 1600 birthday cards for Jacob for his birthday this Sunday. See the complete story here.

I was inspired to create a special card just for Jacob and used the Mojo Monday 297 sketch as my jumping off point:

The funny thing is, I tried VERY HARD to create a card using this sketch last night and my efforts ended up in the trash. I am a firm believer that things happen for a reason and now I know the reason I failed to create a card last night...I was meant to make THIS card, I just didn't know it yet! What a super feeling when you realize you are on the path that was meant to be in the moment!

Back to the card...I found this patterned paper in the Subway Soho Designer Series Paper pack and built the card around it. I pulled the color combination from My Digital Studio (MDS). It has a wonderful feature in the color palette that allows you to pick a color and request a color combination! How cool is that! I chose Island Indigo and the program suggested Sahara Sand, Basic Gray, and Summer Starfruit to compliment Island Indigo and I thought those colors would be "okay" for a sixteen year old young man!

How do you like the candles? I am very pleased with how they turned out! I used the wonderful new jumbo Stampin' Around Wheel, Birthday Candles. I knew I just HAD to have those candles...the possibilities are endless! So...I unmounted the stamp from the wheel and then, using our Clear-Mount Cling Foam, re-mounted the stamp onto the cling foam, essentially turning the wheel into a flat stamp. Why ever would I do that? I personally have a great deal of trouble rolling the Stampn' Wheel straight and I seem to rock it which results in poor image quality. I get much better results from a flat stamp and for this card I inked up just three candles using Basic Gray and Summer Starfruit Stampin' Markers. Isn't that just too fun? I sure thought so!

I used Stampin' Up!'s Typeset Alphabet Bigz Die to create the numbers for his big day and a cute little banner from one of our hostess sets, appropriately named Banner Greetings, to round this card off. Of course for this special card, I added a bit to the inside (which I don't normally do):

I am off to put this card in the mail to this remarkable young man...if you are so inclined, please drop one in the mail yourself, the address is here and I'm sure both Jacob and his family would appreciate the love!

Stampin Supplies:

Stamps: Birthday Candles Stampin' Wheel (130111), Banner Greetings (Hostess), Remembering Your Birthday (131350)

Paper: Sahara Sand (121043), Basic Grey (121044), Summer Starfruit (126839), Very Vanilla (101650) Cardstock; Soho Subway Designer Series Paper (130140)

Ink: Summer Starfruit (126991) Classic Stampin' Pad; Basic Gray and Summer Starfruit Stampn' Writers (not sold individually)

Tools: Big Shot (113439), Finishing Touch Edgelits (127010), Typeset Alphabet Bigz Dies (127553), Chevron Embossing Folder (127749), Stampin' Trimmer (126889), 1-3/8" Circle Punch (119860), Stampin' Dimensionals (104430)

Embellishments:  None

Thanks for stopping by!

Sketched Thanks - PPA160 Color Challenge

I am so excited to see each new color challenge created by the wonderful Pals Paper Arts Design team - each color combination is one I really love but probably would not think to have put together on my own. This new challenge is no exception!

Isn't this combination cheerful? Love it! I have to tell you, this card popped into my head (complete) in the wee hours of the morning and the image was so strong that I had to pop out of bed to create it! Luckily, it was a weekend! So without further ado, here it is!

What do you think?!?! I am in LOVE with the beautiful window sheet from the new Quatrefancy Specialty Designer Series Paper line and was determined to fit it onto a card...why not make it the whole card? lol

I adhered a layer of Gumball Green, Primrose Petals and Whisper White cardstock to the inside of the card base and used the AWESOME new ABC-123 Sketch Alphabet & Numbers Stamp Set to quickly add my sentiment. The card seemed to need a bit of 'something' so I used my Essentials Paper-Piercing template to quickly pierce an outline around the edge of the Whisper White card stock. I left lots of room for a personalized message.

Using a window sheet for your card base can be a bit tricky as you have to plan both the outside and inside of the card simultaneously. I chose to add just a bit of the 3/8" Stitched Satin Ribbon in Gumball Green and a simple daisy from the Secret Garden stamp set. I chose this stamp set because it has matching framelits and is a cinch to cut out! One little Dahlia in Gumball Green is the perfect final touch don't you think?

Another reason that using window wheets can be tricky is that whatever you use to adhere the layers together is going to be visible. I chose to use just one glue dot on each corner of the Gumball Green layer of cardstock to adhere it to the window sheet base and just one more dot to adhere the daisy to the top layer. I am also willing to pass on valuable information I gather during the creative process and my tip for today is to be 100% sure before you adhere anything to the window sheets with a glue dot...they stick like concrete so you will only get one shot at it!!

Thank you for stopping by and please leave me a comment, I love to hear what you think!

Stampin Supplies:

Stamps: ABC-123 Sketch Alphabet & Number (130565), Secret Garden (129144)

Paper: Gumball Green (126840), Primrose Petals (126841), Whisper White (100730) Cardstock; Quatrefancy Specialty Designer Series Paper (130141)

Ink: Gumball Green (126861), Primrose Petals (126858) Classic Stampin' Pad

Tools: Big Shot (113439), Secret Garden Framelits (129372), Essentials Paper-Piercing Pack (126187), Paper-Piercing Tool (126189), Stampin' Pierce Mat (126199),

Embellishments: 2012-2014 In Color Dahlias (127556), 3/8" Stitched Satin Ribbon in Gumball Green (126848)

Thanks for stopping by!