Clean and Simple Saturday - Festive Christmas

Okay, I know what you're thinking..."A RED snowflake???" Yep. Who says snowflakes can't be red? Is that written down anywhere? Nope, okay then, a very chipper and RED snowflake it is! lol

A funny story about this snowflake....I had this card all designed in my head. I was going to mix Cherry Cobbler Emobssing Powder with Dazzling Diamonds Glitter to make my RED snowflake shimmer but when I reached for my Cherry Cobbler Embossing Powder it was no where to be found! WHAT?! I was sure I had ordered it...it turns out it is one of only two I don't own. Figures! So, I improvised! I stamped the image in Cherry Cobbler Classic Ink, then again in Versamark Ink. Then I sprinkled Heat & Stick Powder over it, heat set it with my Heat Tool, and then added some Dazzling Diamonds Stampin' Glitter and set it again. A little more work than I had anticipated but it sure came out nice and sparkly!

I also heat embossed the sentiment with White Embossing Powder to make sure it popped of the card. I know it isn't fair to have favorites, but...I think this one IS my favorite!

I popped my snowflake up with Stampin' Dimensionals to give it a bit more wow...and of course the Large Rhinestone jewel is the crowning touch :)

I realize that while I do stamp frequently on the inside of the card, I am terrible about taking pictures of them...both the outside and inside sentiments are from the More Merry Messages stamp set. I highly recommend this stamp set, it is very versatile! This set is actually a carry over from last year so it can only be seen online.

The snowflake is from the Snow Day stamp set, I just thought it added a little 'something'.

Thanks for stopping by...please let me know what you think about my RED snowflake (!) and enjoy your Saturday, I intend to spend mine decorating for Christmas!

Stampin Supplies: 

Stamps: Festive Flurry (131781), More Merry Messages (126402), Snow Day (131892)

Paper: Whisper White (100730), Cherry Cobbler (119685) Cardstock; Seasons of Style (132181) Designer Series Paper Stack (for envelope)

Ink: Cherry Cobbler (126966) Classic Stampin' Pad

Tools:  Big Shot (113439); Festive Flurry Framelits (132193); Heat Tool (129053); White Embossing Powder (109132), Heat & Stick Powder (100625); Dazzling Diamonds Stampin' Glitter (102023); Embossing Buddy (103083); Stampin' Trimmer (126889); Stamp-A-Ma-Jig (101049); Stampin' Dimensionals (104430)

Embellishments: Large Rhinestone Basic Jewels (119246)

Dear Santa - PPA181 Sketch Challenge

Happy Thanksgiving Stampers! I celebrated yesterday with my family and today I am in full Christmas mode! My card today is based on the Pals Paper Arts Sketch for this week:

I have been itching to use the Santa's List stamp set from the Holiday Catalog. I am so glad I purchased this set...so easy to use and just a darling rendering of Santa!

This card is pretty straightforward but one thing I did want to point out is the chevrons. I do not own the new chevron punch yet so I improvised by using the Hexagon Punch! I simply punch a hexagon out and then using a post it note, ran it through the punch again to create the chevron shape! 

Necessity is the mother of invention!

I hope you have a wonderful holiday doing what you love best!

Stampin Supplies: 

Stamps: Santa's List (131811), More Merry Messages (126402),

Paper: Whisper White (124302) Cardstock; Cherry Cobbler (129955) Core'dinations Cardstock; Seasons of Style (132340) Designer Series Paper

Ink: Cherry Cobbler (126996) Classic Stampin' Pad

Tools:  Hexagon Punch (130919); Stampin' Trimmer (126889); Stamp-A-Ma-Jig (101049); Stampin' Dimensionals (104430)

Embellishments: Regals (130932) Candy Dots 

Sweater Weather Sympathy

Living in Southern California, I don't make many fall cards. I enjoy fall and see wonderful pictures of the beautiful colors, but we just don't get much of that here! That being the case, I challenged myself to find other uses for the Sweater Weather Designer Series Paper.

This one came easily as Sahara Sand is a favorite nuetral color of mine. Here I paired it up with Strawberry Slush for just a pop of color. I just love this stamp set and it is framed beautifully by the Deco Labels Collection Framelits. It is a sympathy card but I don't feel that the bright color is out of place here at all. The bow is the perfect finishing touch!

Thank you for stopping by, I will be back on Thursday with my Pals Paper Arts challenge card!

Stampin Supplies: 

Stamps: Love & Sympathy (122797)

Paper: Whisper White (124302), Strawberry Slush (131295) Cardstock; Sweather Weather (132184) Designer Series Paper

Ink: Sahara Sand (126976), Strawberry Slush (131178) Classic Stampin' Pad

Tools:  Big Shot (113439); Deco Labels Collection Framelits (130102); Stampin' Trimmer (126889); Stamp-A-Ma-Jig (101049); Stampin' Dimensionals (104430)

Embellishments: 5/8" Organza Ribbon (114319) 

Clean and Simple Saturday - Best of Snow

I am just loving the new Best of Snow stamp set! This little snowman is just too ca-yoot!! I tried my hand at coloring, with a blender pen, which I don't do very often so please don't judge! 

I just love that Stampin' Up! makes Stampin' Write Markers in every color so you can quickly color coordinate your projects. For this project I just scribbled a bit of each color onto a clean Clear Mount Block and then used a blender pen to pick up and apply as much (or as little) color as I felt was needed to the snowman. And I felt that the sentiment "Happy Christmas" from the More Merry Messages Stamp Set was very fitting for this jolly snowman. I used Cherry Cobbler ink to match and to accentuate the Cherry Cobbler in his scarf...EZ Peasy!

Three little rhinestones finish the card off nicely and, I think, do a pretty good representation of glistening snowflakes!

A super simple card today...short on creation time but long on cuteness! Love this guy!

Have a wonderful weekend and thank you so much for stopping by!!

Stampin Supplies: 

Stamps: Best of Snow (134387), More Merry Messages (126402),

Paper: Whisper White (124302), Cardstock

Ink: Cherry Cobbler (126996) Classic Stampin' Pad; Assorted Stampin' Write Markers

Tools:  Stampin' Trimmer (126889); Stamp-A-Ma-Jig (101049); Stampin' Dimensionals (104430)

Embellishments: Rhinestones Basic Jewels (119246) 

A Simple Thank You - PPA180 Sketch Challenge

When I saw the Pals Paper Arts sketch this week, I threw in the towel. Really. There was just no way possible that I could work with a sketch with that many layers! So I put it out of my mind. But it kept sneaking back in because I hate to admit defeat. So I went back to look at it again and decided I really couldn't do it. Not a chance. But that sketch just wouldn't leave me alone! I finally realized that the only way for me to cope with all the layers was to simplify.  I chose to make a monochromatic card with a bright cheerful color and so pulled out Crisp Cantaloupe and set to work.

And here is the sketch that caused me so much angst:

Oh! And I forgot to mention that I do not like to make square cards! Really, this sketch had me frazzled! I took a deep breathe and reminded myself "simplify". With that in mind, I chose a soft pattern from the 2013-2015 In-Color Designer Series Paper Stacks in Crisp Cataloupe for Layer 1. I thought about adding an embossing folder for Layer 2 but reminded myself "simplify". Okay, leave the white space alone, got it! But I don't usually leave the space where two different papers meet showing so I decided that the 3/8" Ruffle Stretch Trim would work in that space perfectly.

Layers 3 and 4 were killing me. In the spirit of simplifying, I just could NOT add two more patterns to my card! They were going to have to be plain cardstock. But not too plain...I chose to use the Core'dinations cardstock to add a bit of texture. When I added them to my card, they were still too plain. I browsed through my stamp collection and decided that this whimsical little butterfly from the Best of Butterflies Stamp Set would work perfectly!

I had already cut the two pieces of cardstock out so I lined them up side by side on my work surface and adhered them down with a bit of SNAIL and then set to work covering both pieces with butterflies stamped in Crisp Cantaloupe. Once stamped, I adhered them to my card with Stampin' Dimensionals. They made a very soft background. Perfect for my simple card!

Next came Layer 5, the simple banner with a sentiment...but which sentiment? Hmmm...I reached for the Lots of Thanks Stamp Set (after all you can never have too many of those, right?) and saw this sentiment, perfect for the size of my banner and in a soft, whimsical font, very well suited for the color and the butterflies. And done! Well, almost. The card still needed something but I had no idea WHAT.

So I did what I always do when in this predicament. I walked away and went to bed. Came back and pondered the card again in the morning and walked away again. Then in the middle of doing something completely different it hit me! I jumped up and ran into my craft room again. Browsed briefly through my stamp collection again and came across the stamp set A Round Array. It has a medallion stamp that would be perfect! So I stamped the image onto the Core-dinations Cardstock in VersaMark Ink and then used my Heat Tool to heat emboss the image with White Embossing Powder and punched it out using the coordinating 7/8" Scallop Circle Punch. Popped it onto a Stampin' Dimensional and added a Basic Pearl for the final touch. Whew! And there you have it. How a card is born!

I actually wasn't quite done. Since I decided to go with the flow and make a square card, I now needed to make a matching envelope. The Envelope Punch Board make easy work of that. It really is a very versatile tool!

Some cards pop into my head complete, others are born kicking and screaming. This was a hard one but I am so, so very happy with how it turned out. Please let me know what you think and thanks for sticking with me through the story of how this card was born!

Stampin Supplies: 

Stamps: Best of Butterfies (133345), Lots of Thanks (129690), A Round Array (129090)

Paper: Whisper White (124302), Cardstock; 2013-2015 In-Color Core'dinations Cardstock (129958); 2013-2015 In Color (1130136) Designer Series Paper Stacks

Ink: Crisp Cantaloupe (131176) Classic Stampin' Pad; VersaMark Pad (102283)

Tools:  Heat Tool (129053); White Embossing Powder (109132), Embossing Buddy (103083); 7/8" Scallop Circle Punch (129404); Envelope Punch Board (133774); Stampin' Trimmer (126889); Stamp-A-Ma-Jig (101049); Stampin' Dimensionals (104430)

Embellishments: Crisp Cantaloupe 3/8" Ruffle Stretch Trim (130021); Pearls Basic Jewels (119247)