Blog Candy Alert!

I've got lots of blog candy for you to check out today. Stop by the following blogs and check out their gorgeous creations!

Claire at Crafty C's Crafting Library has some amazing blog candy to celebrate 36,000 hits in one year. You go girl!

Bev at All the Things I Love is offering an adorable Whiff of Joy stamp as part of her Christmas Candy.

Fran at Franmade has 2 Whiff of Joy stamps up for grabs.

Cathrine at Papir Paradiset Mitt is offering an adorable stamp by Stampavie.

Merry Little Christmas...

Debbie at Pink Poppy Craft Box is doing a sketch challenge for a chance to win some wonderful blog candy. You have to make Christmas card using this sketch, tell her what is on your Christmas list, and spread the word to be entered to win.

Well, now that I've got the spread the word part covered, let's see what is on my Christmas list this year. Hmmm... Could it be stamps? Yup, think so! LOL! I am also wishing for some more copic markers to round out my colors, and some of the new Nestabilities.

Now that I've got that covered, let's move on to the card I made for the challenge.


For the main image, I used Carol Singers by Elzybells Art Stamps. I masked off the 3rd caroler and the lamp post as they would have made the image too large to work for this sketch. They were colored in with copic markers and highlighted with a white gel pen. The sentiment it from one of the Studio G holiday clear stamp sets I picked up this year. Can I tell you, I have that song going through my head now, and it just won't go away?!?

The paper is SU Garden Green and Ridinghood Red, and DP from the Be Merry line from My Mind's Eye. I ran the dotted DP through my cuttlebug with the snowflakes embossing folder for a little extra oompfh. Obviously the paper is bigger than the folder, so just line it up carefully and run it through twice to get the whole thing.

The snowflakes are an assortment of Sizzix and Cuttlebug dies and 2 Martha Stewart punches. I layered them with Mono Aqua and pop-dots, and added stickles for some sparkle.

Mothers & Daughters Creations Card Challenge #20

This weeks card challenge at Mothers & Daughters Creations was a color challenge. You needed to use SU Always Artichoke, Sage Shadow, and Ridinghood Red, and then bonus points to anyone who used a gingerbread man on their card. Now I know I have a gingerbread man stamp - that cute one with a row of them that Studio G put out last year - but I'll be darned if I can find it anywhere. So, in the gingerbread spirit, I used this cute Studio G gingerbread house instead.

The image was colored in with copic markers (R27, E31, E33, G21, G94). I added stickles for some sparkle - after all, what's a gingerbread house without the sprinkles?

Happy Birthday, Melissa!

Now then, before you think I am completely vain, let me assure you that the Melissa in question is not me, but actually a co-worker. Would you believe that including me, there are FOUR Melissa's who work in my division (and there aren't THAT many employees!)!!!

The Melissa in question happens to be a good friend of myself and DH, so I had to make her something pretty for her birthday. She is a very exuberant person, so I chose bright, cheerful colors for her card.


I used Partygirlabella for the main image, and colored her in with copic markers. I stamped an extra set of the balloons and popped them up (no pun intended) to make them look like they are actually floating. I went over the balloons with SU Crystal Effects, and I'm pretty happy with how realistic it made them look. Bella needed some bling, (doesn't every girl?) so I added some stickles to her outfit, hat and cupcake.

The sentiment, ribbon, card stock, and designer paper are all SU.

Whiff of Joy Guest Designer Call

Whiff of Joy is having a call for a guest designer, and I decided to enter. For the entry, you need to create a card or scrapbook page based on this sketch provided by Katharina, and using at least one Whiff of Joy stamp. You can find all of the details on the Whiff of Joy group on Paper Craft Planet. What?!? You're not a member yet?!? What are you waiting for? Follow the link here, or the button in my side bar and go join!

I chose Willow with Hot Chocolate for my entry since she is my all time favorite Whiff of Joy stamp. She's just so sweet!


I decided to use some pretty, but retired, SU designer paper that I've been hoarding, and based my color scheme on the paper. I colored Willow with copic markers, highlighted her outfit with a white gel pen, and then highlighted her hair with a Sakura gelly roll pen. I like the shimmer of the Sakura pen better than white highlights on dark hair. It just seems more realistic to me. The mug was covered with SU Crystal Effects to give a ceramic-like finish. It is really nice in real life, trust me on that one!

Willow was layered onto SU card stock in Close to Cocoa and Regal Rose to match the designer paper. I added brown sheer ribbon (found in the $1 bin at Michael's) and Prima flowers with pearl centers to finish off the card.

Don't forget, you can click on any photo to make it larger if you want to see a detail a bit better. Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Mothers & Daughters Creations does a challenge every Monday and Thursday on their blog, and this was my entry for last Monday's challenge. This was an easy challenge for me - all you had to do was make something Fall related. Well, I still needed a Thanksgiving card for an out-of-town friend, so it was the perfect excuse to get busy.

One of my SCS buddies was nice enough to send me some of these fabulous pumpkin images, and unfortunately, I don't remember what company made the stamp. Sorry about that! The image was colored in with copic markers, and then had some white gel pen added for highlights. I added frost to the pumpkin and leaves with a bit of stickles. Around here, we've had snow off and on for the past several weeks, so Thanksgiving pumpkins need a little frost on them. LOL!

Happy Birthday Carly!

Today is my niece's 5th birthday, and of course I had to make her a special card to celebrate. Carly looks a lot like New Year's Tilda, so that determined what image I was going to use for her card.

I wanted something pretty and girly for the background, so I sorted through my paper stash until I found this pretty designer paper by Making Memories called Box Flowers. I colored Tilda in with copic markers, basing my colors on those found in the DP (there is pink in there, honest). When I was finished coloring, Tilda was highlighted with a white gel pen, and carefully cut out with my paper snips.

Tilda needed something birthday related to sit on, but I couldn't come up with any stamps that were the right size, so I drew the cupcake by hand. The wrapper was colored with copic markers to match her outfit, and highlighted with white gel pen. I made the frosting with brown liquid applique, and added several colors of stickles for sprinkles. I then used pop-dots to make Tilda sit on the cupcake.

Do you think she will like it?

Blog candy alert!

Debbie at Passion for Crafts is celebrating 12,000 blog hits with this super generous blog candy.


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Lynsey at Lynsey's Place is offering this drool-worthy blog candy to celebrate 5,000 blog hits.


Be sure to stop by and congratulate them both, and check out their fabulous blogs!

Skating...

I am just loving the stamps that came in the Magnolia Winter Club! This is the first time I've ordered it, and it certainly won't be the last!

For today's card, I used Tilda and Edwin skating. Isn't it just the sweetest image? They were colored in with copic markers and pain-stakingly cut out with my trusty paper snips (and an exacto knife for those tricky little skates!). I used a white gel pen for highlights, and a Sakura gelly roll pen to add some sparkle to the blades on the skates.

The background is "Skate Pond" by The Stampin' Place. I masked off the bottom half of the pond and stamped it onto a piece of SU Soft Sky. I added some color to the town and background skaters with copic markers. I used a Versamarker to color in the pond (expanding it a bit) and embossed it with SU Iridescent Ice EP. I then sponged white craft ink onto the areas where I needed snow, and accented it with some white liquid applique. I finished off the card with a sentiment from the SU hostess set, Best Yet.

Magnolia Winter Club - Tilda with Bell

As promised, here is the first of several cards I have made since my Magnolia Winter Club arrived on Monday. This one actually got a "Wow!" from my husband, which is quite the compliment coming from him! LOL! In person, this card looks like one of those 3-D cards that changes depending on the angle you are holding it at. Kind of hard to capture that in a photo though.


The main image is Tilda with Bell, and was colored in with copic markers. Tilda's outfit was highlighted with a white gel pen. I don't really care for using the white gel pen for highlights in hair, so I decided to try something new, and used my Sakura gelly roll pen to mimic light reflecting off of her hair. I used a bit more on the bell for a nice metallic shimmer.

The background for this card was fun to make. I stamped the row of trees from SU Lovely as a Tree onto a piece of Bordering Blue cs, and then sponged the "ground" with white craft ink. While it was still wet, I embossed it with SU Iridescent Ice EP, and let me tell you, it sparkles like crazy! I then added white liquid applique "snow" to the base and branches of the trees, and added dots of snow to the sky with a white gel pen. This was layered onto Pretty In Pink and Chocolate Chip cs, and Tilda was attached with pop-dots. The sentiment is from a $1 Studio G clear stamp set.

Check back tomorrow for another card made with images from the Magnolia Winter Club.

Simple package...

Ok, I know I'm weird, but I love wrapping Christmas presents! I have a big ol' under-the-bed storage box crammed full of holiday wrap, and buy at least 1 new roll each year to add to my collection. Why do I need so much paper, you ask? Well, I have to admit I am a bit anal about not using the same paper twice for any given person's presents, and I have "special" papers that I use each year to wrap a gift for a certain person, ie. the wrap with the cute baby seals is always used on a gift for my sister, the bear wrap is for a gift for Paul, etc, etc. See, I told you I am weird! LOL! (And, Val, if you are reading this, enjoy your baby seal wrap this year, because it it the very last piece. I made that roll last 16 years, but I'm afraid it has finally reached the end!)

If you've read this far, you deserve a card! And what could be more fitting than one that looks like a gift?
The pretty blue striped DP is by Remember When (I found it at Joann Fabrics). I made the snowflake tag by embossing white cardstock with SU Iridescent Ice EP and then cutting it out with Sizzix Snowflake die #6. I added a few drops of stickles to the snowflake for a little more dimension and sparkle. Pretty and simple.

My Magnolia Winter Club arrived, and I've been a busy girl, so check back later for some not-so-simple cards.

Martha Stewart punch, take 3

I have to say, I have really been getting a lot of use out of the Martha Stewart branch punch. Why did I ever wait so long to buy one? LOL! Any who, here is yet another project that features it.


The ornaments are a cute $2 Studio G stamp I picked up at ACMoore this week. I'm a sucker for ornaments, so it had to come home with me as soon as I saw it. I stamped the ornaments in versamark on pretty gold shimmer paper from Target, and then embossed them with black embossing powder. I repeated this on a piece of white cardstock, and colored that one in with copic markers. (note that I tried the copics on the gold shimmer paper, and it really fades out the ink colors) I cut out the ornaments, used pop-dots to layer them over the original image on the gold shimmer paper, and added a bit of platinum stickles for some added sparkle.

The gold was then layered onto SU Real Red and Wild Wasabi. I used the Wild Wasabi for the branches, and attached them with a dab of Tombo mono aqua on the tip of each branch. It still needed something, so I added some white liquid applique onto the branches for snow. I finished off the card with some faux stitching with a white gel pen.

Blog Candy Alert!

Two of my favorite bloggers are celebrating their blogging anniversaries and are offering some great candy to their readers. Be sure to stop by Pretty Pressings and congratulate Claudia, and Live-Love-Laugh-Create and congratulate Lorie. Happy Anniversary, ladies!

Peaceful holiday

I recently purchased Dream Tree from Unity Stamp Company and had to make a card with it as soon as it arrived.

To me, that tree just cries out for embossing, so I embossed it on a pretty light blue shimmer paper I found in the Christmas card section at Target (thank you, all you enablers on SCS!!!). I added dots of stickles for some ice on the tree (this REALLY sparkles in person!). I layered it on white and silver (yet more of the shimmery paper from Target), and finished it off with some silver cord. This is probably the quickest card I have made in a while, so I might have to whip up a few more for my holiday card stash.

Please note that the shimmer paper from Target is VERY thin, and creases easily, so plan on layering it. It also comes in red and gold (which I, of course, had to have).

easy 3-D star ornament

I promised you an easy-to-make ornament, so here it is! I even included the pattern. How easier could it get?


For my star, I used a 4.25 x 8 sheet of SU Baja Breeze cardstock and stamped on it to make my own designer paper, but you could easily make this with a sturdy double sided designer paper if you didn't feel like stamping. I used the Flurries clear stamp set from Basic Grey to stamp all over both sides of the paper. I used Perfect Plum ink for the swirls, and then stamped the scrolls in white craft and embossed them with iridescent ice embossing powder. I added some lavender stickles to the ends of the swirls for a little more sparkle. Trust me when I say that the photos don't do this ornament justice. It sparkles like crazy in real life!

To make one for yourself, print out the pattern (shrink or enlarge it depending on what size star you want to make) and cut out the star. Trace the star twice onto whatever paper you want to use and cut them out. Cut the indicated line to the middle of each star, and join the stars by threading the lines together until they meet in the middle. Punch a hole in the tip of one of the points, and thread a length of cord through the hole to make your hanger. Easy, huh?

I made a bunch of these at work a few years ago, and hung them from the ceiling of my office. It made the room nice and festive for the holidays, and didn't take that long to do.

If you decide to use my pattern to make some ornaments of your own, leave me a link in the comment section so I can ooh and ahh over your creation. I'd love to see what everyone comes up with!

Exciting news!

My holiday house ornament (see previous post) was chosen as the runner-up for Craft of the week by Susanna Boyd of www.cardoftheweek.com!!! I am so excited! Thank you so much, Susanna! And thank you to everyone who has been to visit and told a friend to check out my ornament! I've had 1000 visits on my blog in just a few days time!

Holiday House

Here is the ornament I have been working on all weekend, as promised. The glue for each section took forever to dry, so this was quite time consuming to make. I'll have to find my hot glue gun and give it a try next time - hopefully the tip will be small enough to get into all the tight spots. If not, my vision of a village of pretty holiday houses will be going up in smoke.


I found the pattern for this ornament on the Better Homes & Gardens website. I was looking for easy holiday ornaments to make at the craft group I run for my clients at my day job once a month. While this one certainly isn't something I would make with them, I knew this was something I wanted to make as soon as I saw the photos. There are patterns for 3 different houses on the site. I used the pattern for the Cottage House. (Be sure to check their website for easier designs too, they had a lot of great stuff!)

The house itself is made out of DP from the My Mind's Eye Be Merry collection. I love this stuff and had to replenished my supply, I've been using it so much! The roof is a no-brand gray textured cardstock I picked up in bulk at AC Moore years ago, and the base is a piece of watercolor paper (picked because it is nice and sturdy). I drew in a pathway from the door and colored it in with copic markers (W1, E00, and E31). I then colored the rest of the watercolor paper with a YG91 copic marker to get an appropriate "ground" color for any that shows through all the "snow".

I punched 2 holes in the base and one in the roof before assembling, and ran a length of gold cord through them for the hanger. I used Elmer's glue to attach the house to the base, waited for it to dry, and then attached the roof the same way.

*note* As I mentioned before, the amount of glue needed to attach everything takes several hours to dry, so plan on working on other things in between steps.

I didn't have any of those nice pipe cleaner trees that they used on the samples on the BH&G website, so I did some brainstorming, and decided to try to make trees with the Martha Stewart branch punch. And it worked! I'm so glad I purchased that punch! You need 5 punches for each tree (I used SU Kiwi Kiss cardstock). I used a dab of 2-way glue pen at the tip of each punch to hold them together. After they were ready, I attached them to the base with yet more Elmer's glue.


I used the punch again for the wreath, but this time I snipped off each little section of the branch for my pine boughs. I used my circle punches to make a base for the wreath, and then glued each bough on with 2-way glue. I added some Christmas Red stickles for the berries.

Once everything was dry, it was time to add the "snow". I used white liquid applique, and applied several layers on the ground to get the depth of snow I wanted. I added more to the roof, and a bit over the door and window.

Once I was finished, it was pretty, but it still needed something. Hmmm... what to add. I know! Glitter! After all, what is prettier than sparkly snow? LOL! So I pulled out a paint brush and painted all of the snow with Angel Wings Shimmerz. I wanted a bit more depth on the trees, so they got painted with a bit of Sage Brush Shimmerz. You should see how this sparkles in real life! Gorgeous, if I do say so myself! (click on the photo to make it larger so you can get a better idea of how sparkly the snow is.)

Well that is all for tonight. Check back later for more holiday cards, and another, less intensive, ornament. :)

All that Scraps Wed. DT Challenge #25

Did you know that the All that Scraps design team has a challenge every Wednesday? This week was a sketch challenge, and I was itching to participate as soon as I saw the great sketch that Amy Rysavy came up with.

You are highly encouraged to use your CC. Designs stamps, so I pulled out Pajama Olivia and the stocking from the Christmas Scenery set. Isn't Olivia just the cutest thing ever?


I based my color scheme on the yummy Be Merry DP by My Mind's Eye, so this card turned out very girly! I used SU's Kiwi Kiss for the base, and then layered on Pink Pirouette. I used the Cuttlebug Christmas Ornament embossing folder on the Baja Breeze piece, and sponged on some Whisper White craft ink for added depth.

Olivia was colored in with copic markers, and then I paper pieced her outfit with one of the DP's. I decided that instead of layering Olivia on top of the Pink Pirouette scalloped circle, I would punch out the center of that piece and pop it up with pop-dots to make a frame around her. You can't really tell in the photo with all those stickles covering it, but the stocking is also a piece of the Be Merry DP and has pretty snowflakes on it that the camera just won't pick up.

The sentiment is from one of the new Holiday Clear Stamps sets that Wal-mart is now carrying. The rest of the set is all ornaments with snowflakes on them, so it was a must-have for me. (I love ornaments, and am a sucker for anything with snowflakes. You'd think they made that set just for me! LOL!)

I've been working on holiday ornaments, and will be ready to post some as soon as the glue dries, so stay tuned!

sledding

One of my favorite wintertime childhood memories is going to my grandparents after the first serious snowfall to go sledding. They had a nice long slope out back, and I used to compete with one of my uncles to see who could go the farthest. I had one of those red plastic disc sleds, and once the snow was nicely packed down, that puppy would fly down the slope!

Any who, the whole point of my rambling is that I knew I had to have the Elzybells Mark and Ela sledding as soon as I saw the stamp. Aren't they just adorable?
I decided to do a no-layer card, and scored lines with my Scor-pal to make a box around the image. I used SU's Brocade Blue and Kiwi Kiss ink pads and an aquapainter to water color the image. Don't you just love the way they look together? I finished off the card with some liquid applique for the trim on her coat, and a bit of stickles for the snow.