Merry Monday Challenge

Christmas cards are definitely my favourite to make - I love using all my Christmas card supplies - the products are so great, and just when you think that you have everything that you could possibly need, there is a new release!!! I also love that it is a time where you can use crazy amounts of glitter and bling on your cards without them seeming OTT - and that is exactly what I did for the card that I made for the Merry Monday Challenge:

I started with a kraft base but I wanted to give the illusion of some snow so I fingerpainted using some Picket Fence paint around the edges. I liked it but I decided that it wasn't enough so I pressed the edges into my versamark pad and used a Snowflake Tinsel embossing powder to give it a little bit more impact ('tis the season for glitter after all!). The stockings were fussy cut from a piece of 12x12 patterned paper and coated with a generous layer of Icicle Stickles (more glitter!). I added some Lawn Fawn twine which I shaped using some Multi Medium and a pencil, and I finished off the card with a die cut sentiment cut from some DCWV shimmer cardstock (you can't see the shimmer in the photo but it is there in real life).

I think that this card checks almost every box on the bingo card (sorry - no punch or buttons) so I will link it up to the Merry Monday challenge.

Supplies:
Patterned Paper: Fancy Pants - St. Nick
Die: Simon Says Stamp - Merry Christmas
Twine: Lawn Fawn
Embossing Powder: Ranger - Snowflake Tinsel
Other: Stickles - Icicle; Distress Paint - Picket Fence; Ranger - Multi-Medium

Thanks for stopping by!

CASE Study - Merry

I couldn't have been both more surprised and more flattered when I received CASE Study Top 3 mention for my card last week. The cards in the gallery are always so impressive and inspiring that I am just happy to be a part of it.

This week's card is just as amazing as last week's so I had to play along:

I love everything Debby Hughes does but I am particularly fond of how she makes white on white work so well. I also love the colour combination of this card - so beautiful and wintery - I wanted to use the same colours. All in all, my card did not stray too far from the inspiration... 

 I started with the die cut using a Cheery Lynn die that I have had in my stash for quite a while but never actually used. I cut it apart into a couple of different branches and then coloured the branches and the holly leaves with Copics - I also brushed some Wink of Stella on the holly leaves. I used an embossing pen and some gold embossing powder to create the gold leaves. I mounted the die cuts on an embossed white panel, wrapped with some twine and a small tag for a greeting. I made the little glitter berries using some drops of Glossy Accents and some red glitter on my craft mat

I will link this card to the Case Study challenge and also to the Merry Monday challenge (it features sparkle, die cuts, red).

Supplies:

Dies: Cheery Lynn - Mega Holly Flourish; Tim Holtz/Sizzix - Tag Framelits

Embossing Folder: Tim Holtz/Sizzix - Holly Pattern

Stamp: My Favorite Things - LJD Stitched Stockings

Embossing Powder: Stampendous - Detail Gold

Thanks for stopping by!!!

Manolo Blahnik - Part Two

This week, I have been cleaning up my craft supplies and during the cleaning process I found the adhesive-backed cork paper that I had been looking for earlier. There was still enough time to squeeze in another Runway Inspired Challenge card so I decided it was meant to be. Here is the card:

I die cut the cork paper using a Tim Holtz die and then lightened it up using some Picket Fence paint. I also die cut a few pieces of patterned paper pieces and then put it all together. I stamped a greeting and added a little canvas butterfly (also dabbed with paint) to finish it off.

I will link this card to the Runway Inspired Challenge - just under the wire. 

Supplies:
Die: Tim Holtz/Sizzix - Chevron Frameworks
Patterned Paper: Pink Paislee
Cork Paper: DCWV
Stamp: Clearly Besotted - Say It In Style
Butterfly: Little Yellow Bicycle

Thanks for stopping by!!!

Manolo Blahnik

I confess that I am a shoe-lover - I do have shelves in my closet dedicated to my footwear - front and centre of course! When I saw that the inspiration for Runway Inspired Challenge was a shoe by Manolo Blahnik - I knew that I was in. Here is the card that I came up with:

I think that my favourite part of the shoes was the cork texture but unfortunately, I couldn't find any cork-paper so I had to use some kraft instead. I stamped the diamond pattern using some pigment inks so the colours would stay true against the background. I then cut the panel and popped it up over the card base which I had inked white and stamped the greeting.I will link this card to the Runway Inspired Challenge.

Supplies:
Stamps: Cocoa Daisy - diamonds; Winnie & Walter - The Big, The Bold & You
Ink: ColorBox

Celebrating Stamptember

The Stamptember release from Simon Says Stamp is so amazing that I went on a little bit of a shopping spree... so now I have all these new toys to play with...

Simon Says Stamp has also launched a challenge on Flickr that I thought I would try - the theme is tic-tac-toe - super-fun! 

Here is the first card that I came up with - using the diagonal die cut-Autumn-glitter combination:

The card features the new stamp set "Leaves and Scribbles"; it is a great set because each leaf has two stamps that can be layered in different colours to give the image some dimension. I stamped each leaf in two different colours of Simon Says Stamp ink (I also picked up the 6 new colours released for Stamptember!). I wanted to keep the card simple so I used a piece of BeCreative tape across the bottom and covered it with some Glitter Ritz glitter (Bronze). I added a very simple die cut greeting to finish it off.

I will also link this card to the Simon Says Stamp Work-It-Wednesday challenge.

Supplies:

Stamps: Simon Says Stamp - Leaves and Scribbles

Ink: Simon Says Stamp

Glitter: Glitter Ritz - Bronze

Die: Studio Calico

Thanks so much for stopping by!!!

Merry and Bright

I have been struggling with creativity (or lack thereof!) this weekend. I often find the best way to get going is to visit the challenge blogs to see some amazing creations - so that is what I did. The CASE Study Challenge Blog is featuring the amazing Debby Hughes this month, and as always, this week's card is both spectacular and inspirational.

There are so many inspirational things about this card that it is hard to know where to start but mostly I love the neutral colours and the effect of white on kraft. I have recently started making holiday cards so immediately thought of doing a white wreath on a kraft background. This is what I came up with:

I started by die cutting and embossing the wreath and bow using the Tim Holtz Holiday Wreath die and matching embossing folder. I decided that the white paper was a little bit too plain so I pressed it into some Versamark and then heat embossed with some Sticky embossing powder and coated with some Rock Candy Distress glitter for some subtle shine (by far my favourite glitter because it is not too shiny). This die is great because it cuts little leaves that can be popped up with some foam tape (which is exactly what I did). The bow is supposed to be mounted at the top of the wreath but I flipped it around to put it at the bottom. I embossed a white greeting on some vellum but I didn't want to cover the wreath so I wrapped it around the card at the bottom. I finished the card with some gold flecked twine and sequins. I will link this card to the CASE Study Challenge Blog.

Supplies:

Stamps: My Favorite Things - Cheerful Christmas

Die & Embossing Folder: Sizzix (Tim Holtz) - Holiday Wreath

Sequins: Pretty Pink Posh - Nature Mix

Twine: The Twinery 

Embossing Powder: Ranger - Sticky; Stampendous - Detail White

Glitter: Distress - Rock Candy

Thank you so much for stopping by!

Jill

TIME OUT Inspiration

What a happy morning it was today when I woke up and checked my email and found out that I was Honourably Mentioned in the last Time Out Challenge. I am so honoured that my card was chosen...

Time Out is a great challenge blog with an amazing Design Team and I really enjoy the challenges so of course I needed to join in the current challenge - based on this inspiration photo:

There are so many inspirational things about this photo: the wood, the tags, the natural fibers and the inspirational massages. I also love the dark brown and white combination (one of my favourites). I recently bought the Stamplorations Subway Art Builder "Dare" stamp and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to use it. Here is the card I came up with:

I stamped the sentiments in a variety of Hero Arts and Simon Says Stamp inks, then die cut the tag using the Tim Holtz Framelits die. I mounted the tag onto some MME patterned paper, added a few Studio Calico wood veneer butterflies (love these!), and added some Tim Holtz linen ribbon to the top.

I will definitely link this card back to the TIME OUT Challenge and also to the Simon Says Wednesday Challenge that features tags (check) and Tim Holtz (check).

Thanks for visiting!!!

Patterned Paper

I have to  admit that I have a love-hate relationship with patterned paper. I love it so I end up buying it but then I never use it, and it accumulates so I end up hating it! (OK - hate is a strong word - maybe resenting it!). One of my New Year's resolutions this year was to stop buying patterned paper, and I am proud to say that I have generally adhered to this (except one 6x6 pad - but it was really cute AND on sale!!!)... the issue is that I still subscribe to two monthly card kits that come with patterned paper so my collection is continuing to grow....

When I saw Virginia's View Challenge to use patterned paper, I immediately thought of my growing collection and knew that I needed to do something. I also needed to make a card for my dinosaur-loving nephew - and I had bought this stamp set from Clearly Besotted for the occasion - so patterned paper piecing seemed to be the way to go...

For my card, I used some Basic Grey Serenade patterned paper from an old Simon Says Stamp card kit - I used one fairly neutral piece for the background and a striped piece down the side for balance. I then stamped the dinosaurs on a few different pieces of more patterned paper and started fussy cutting (a LOT of fussy cutting!!!). Everything was glued down and the eyes were highlighted with some Glossy Accents... and I shaded the ground with a pencil crayon. 

A final part of the card that I want to highlight is the greeting. I used the Stampendous Aged Copper Embossing Enamel and this stuff is amazing!! It has large chunks of copper and smaller pieces of blue-green powder that combine for an aged look. It is very similar to the Ranger Verdigris but slightly more blue and with the copper chunks. I highly recommend this embossing powder - here is the close-up of the "aged" greeting - but the photo really doesn't do it justice:

The end result of this patterned paper experiment is one that I absolutely LOVE!!! I put this card my shelf with my other finished cards and my eye keeps getting drawn to it. Maybe I should take out my patterned paper more often LOL!!!! I will definitely link this card up to Virginia's Challenge with many thanks for making get out my patterned paper!!!

Supplies:
Stamps: Clearly Besotted - Dino-Mite
Patterned Paper - Basic Grey Sweet Serenade (via Simon Says Stamp card kit)
Embossing Powder - Stampendous - Aged Copper


Thanks for stopping by!!!

Creating Backgrounds

For this card, I decided to step outside of my comfort zone a little bit and do something very different from what I normally do. I am always inspired by the amazing (and fellow Canuck) Stephanie Klauck and I thought that I would attempt a background like she did in Stretch Your Stamps 2 (Online Card Classes).

The card is for my nephew who is turning 5 (hence the 5 on the train). I created the background using the Simon Says Stamp Make A Scene Stencil and a stencil I made using the MFT Tree Lines die. I used a few different colours of Distress Inks with the round applicator through the stencil - and then masked off the area before moving to the next colour. The train was stamped and die-cut using the Clearly Besotted Full Steam Ahead stamps and matching dies. These were mounted using foam tape The banner was die-cut using a SSS die and stamped using the CB greeting from the set.
I think that it was a fun first attempt but in hindsight,I would have stamped the train and carriage in black - I wanted lots of colour but I think that I went overboard this time :) 
I will link up this card to the current Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge to create your own background. 

Supplies:
Dies: Simon Says Stamp - Tilted Banner; My Favorite Things - Tree Lines; Clearly Besotted - Full Steam Ahead
Stamps: Clearly Besotted - Full Steam Ahead
Stencil: Simon Says Stamp - Make A Scene
Ink: Distress; Simon Says Stamp

Thanks for stopping by!!

Merry... part 2

So today, I continued in my quest to organize my craft room/my husband's office. As relative newlyweds, we are still trying to fit our lives together... and well, he is struggling with the chaos of my work area that I have always labeled as "creativity". I am trying to compromise and figure out what I need to be able to organize things a little bit better... so today was the second trip to Ikea in as many weeks. This time to pick up another Alex storage unit ( I already have one for random bits and bobs) to organize my inks...

I did manage to get in a card before I got sucked into the organization process. 

And onto the card:
(Ironically enough, this card came about because I had left my Hero Arts inks out on my desk from yesterday....)

I really liked the "Merry" card I did yesterday but it was not very "mail-friendly" with all the foam tape so I decided to redo it in a one layer version. I also decided to play along with the current CAS-ology challenge that uses the inspiration word "THREE".

I used the same stamps and inks as the Merry card but this time, I stamped the reverse snowflakes through a mask that I created using the Simon Says Stamp "Tri Square Craft Die" and some paper. I liked the effect of the white panel on the white background of the Merry card but because I wanted to keep this one layer, I decided to draw on the outline using an embossing marker (and my ruler!) and emboss with silver embossing powder. I did the same thing to create the horizontal lines to mimic the twine from the card. The greeting is also by Hero Arts and embossed in silver. So here is how I embraced the concept of three:

• Three different reverse snowflake stamps
• Three different colours of ink
• Three squares (that each measure 3cm x 3cm)!!!
• Three horizontal lines
• Three clusters of sequins
• A three word greeting

So all that being said, I will link up my card with the CAS-ology challenge.

Supplies:
Die: Simon Says Stamp - Tri Square

Stamps: Hero Arts - Four Frame Snowflakes; Hero Arts - Holiday Sayings
Ink: Hero Arts - Soft Blossom, Soft Purple, Soft Pool; Versamark; Ranger Embossing Pen
Embossing Powder: Stampendous - Silver Detail
Sequins: Studio Calico

Thanks for stopping by!!!

Merry...

So I guess that I'm starting to really think Christmas cards now..

This card started with inspiration from the products themselves - I recently put in an order with Pretty Pink Posh and I absolutely love the stitched filmstrip die! The little windows reminded me of the Four Framed Snowflakes stamp by Hero Arts (I think that this one may have been discontinued) so I decided to combine them.

So the card came together quite easily. I just die cut the fame and then stamp the three inside squares with three different snowflakes in three different ink colours. I finished off with some silver-stranded twine, some sequins, and a die-cut greeting that I embossed with silver powder - oh and lots of foam tape for dimension!

Supplies:
Dies: Pretty Pink Posh - Stitched Filmstrip; Penny Black - Merry
Ink: Hero Arts - Soft Blossom, Soft Purple, Soft Pool; Versamark
Twine: Lawn Fawn
Sequins: Studio Calico

Thanks for looking!

More Colourful Music

It has been a few days since I have posted - the last few days at work have been quite long so I haven't had much time in the evening for any crafty-fun. Even today, I spent a lot of time in my craft room but it was mostly focused on putting up shelves, magnet boards., etc.. and organizing my stuff.... all lots of fun but no cards came out of the process.

This card was made from the negative of the watercoloured piece that I shared in my last post. I die-cut some black cardstock using the Memory Box Musicality Collage die and pieced everything back together. I then die-cut that piece using the wonky rectangle die from MFT. I used an extra bit of black cardstock along the side and then coloured that bit and all the notes with a black Wink of Stella pen. The greeting is from a Simon Says Stamp card kit.

Supplies:

Dies: Memory Box - Musicality Collage; My Favorite Things - Blueprints 15

Stamp Set: Simon Says Stamp - Just a Note (from Just a Note card kit)

Distress Inks: Mustard Seed, Festive Berries, Seedless Preserves, Spiced Marmalade, Salty Ocean

Glitter: Wink of Stella - Black

I am going to link this card to the Time Out Challenge Blog again - I really do enjoy their challenges!!! I was very surprised and incredibly honoured that one of my cards from last challenge received a mention....

 

Thanks for stopping by!

Colourful Music

The other card that I worked on yesterday was one inspired by the TIME OUT Challenge Blog. I am really loving this challenge blog - I am finding a lot of inspiration there. This week the inspiration is a quote from Twelfth Night:

'If music be the food of love play on'

I decided to use my Memory Box Musicality Collage die but wanted to add some colour. I started with a piece of watercolour which I watered down and added some concentrated drops of Distress Ink from the re-inkers. The colours were so bright and they flowed nicely into each other when it dried. I then die cut the watercoloured piece and a piece of white cardstock - and began the process of piecing it all back together. Even though this is a fairly labourious process, I am loving the inlaid die-cut look on cards lately and I find myself doing it a lot.

I finished off with a stamped sentiment from a SSS card kit, some Wink of Stella on the notes, and some Freckled Fawn wood veneers that were inked with Onyx Versafine and embossed with Stardust powder for sparkle. Here is a close up of the music to show the glitter and Wink of Stella:

Supplies:

Die: Memory Box - Musicality Collage

Stamp Set: Simon Says Stamp - Color and Sunshine

Distress Inks: Mustard Seed, Festive Berries, Seedless Preserves, Spiced Marmalade, Salty Ocean

Wood Veneer: Freckled Fawn

Embossing Powder: Stampendous - Stardust

I kept the negative of the watercolour diecut so I'm off to try something with that but for now, I will link this card to the TIME OUT Challenge and also to Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge featuring Memory Box.

Thanks for stopping by!

Love, Love, Love....

Oh wow - I really can't believe that it has been a whole week since I last posted - it really doesn't seem that long... My husband and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary this weekend - we went away to Niagara-on-the-Lake for the long weekend - such a beautiful place - and great wineries too! My weekend away explains why I have spent almost no time in my craft room lately and maybe why I made a love themed card when I finally did!

The inspiration for the card came from this photo on the Addicted to Stamps Challenge Blog:



I have to admit that I love the woodgrain backgound contrasted with the soft flowery skirt. I would have really like to have created a gray and white coloured card but I'm not that brave (yet) so I added some pink for contrast. 

The woodgrain background was stamped and inked using SSS Slate ink; the pink rectangle was die cut using the SSS Frames dies and inlaid into the card. The flower was stamped and white embossed on vellum and on pink shimmer cardstock (DCVW) using the Hero Arts Newspaper Flower - both were fussy cut and layered. Finally, the Love was also die cut using a Penny Black die, and some random gems and sequins were added. Anyway - I finally finished the card today so too late to enter the challenge but I thought that I would share it nonetheless. 
Supplies Used:
Stamps: Hero Arts - Newspaper Flower;Impression Obsession - Cling Stamp Woodgrain
Dies: Simon Says Stamp - Frames; Penny Black - Love
Ink: Simon Says Stamp - Slate; Versamark
Bling: Studio Calico - sequins; Zva Creative - gems
Embossing Powder: Stampendous - detail white

Even though I missed the deadline for the Addicted to Stamps Challenge, I will link to the Simon Says Stamp Work It Wednesday Challenge which highlights stamping in celebration of Stamptember!
Thanks for stopping by!