The Veggies Are Back!

As promised, I made another card using my friends Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber.  It's funny.  As I was making these cards, family members would come in and immediately recognized these guys.  That really made me feel good.  I always worry that I am going to make a character and no one will know who it is.  This time, I did very well.  Now on to the veggies.

 

Today the guys are ready to celebrate a birthday with you.  The base card is Tangerine Tango.  My first layer is done in Tempting Turquoise.  I took the turquoise and ran it through my big shot using the Stripes impression folder to emboss it.  For the top layer, I used Whisper White.  I started by edging the white with turquoise and tangerine ink.  Then I pulled out the same colors of card stock (turquoise and tangerine) as well as Daffodil Delight.  I used the cupcake builder punch and punched out candles in tangerine and turquoise.  I punched flames from the daffodil.  I scattered them on the white, adhered them down, and ran the white through the big shot using the Houndstooth impression folder.  The birthday hats are the small pennant from the Pennant punch.  I used my glitter glue to add the brim and polka dots to them.  Once dry, I attached them to Bob and Larry.

 

Here is a close up of the guys.  The instructions on how to make them are in yesterday's post if you need them.  They are really simple so give them a try.  

 

The greeting for this card comes from a stamp set available in the Sale-a-bration catalog.  It is called Outlined Occasions.  To get this set you just need to place an order for $50.  The set is then FREE!!  This set just jumped out at me when I saw it.  So when I placed my $50 order, I selected it  as my free set.  Remember for every $50 you spend, you receive a free item of your choice from the Sale-a-bration catalog.  Back to my greeting.  I stamped it using StazOn ink on Whisper White.  Then using my Stampin' Up! markers in turquoise, tangerine, and daffodil, I colored the greeting.  Once it was colored, I cut it out free hand.  I highlighted the edges with turquoise and tangerine ink to stay with my theme.  I think it looks very festive.  

Here we have reached another weekend.  I hope you all have a wonderful one.  Please be safe on New Year's Eve.  I will be back on Monday with another share.  This is the one time I can say see you next year!  Happy New Year!!!!

Do You Like Vegetables?

I think as a child I was pretty typical when it came it eating my vegetables.  I had certain ones I loved like green beans and others that I really did not want to eat like broccoli.  When I became a parent, I expected to have the same struggle my parents did when it came to getting my children to eat their veggies.  Boy was I in for a shock!  Both of my girls love their vegetables.  I think my oldest was eating salad by the time she was 2.  They were completely opposite of most of my friends children.  It made my life a little easier, at least in that area.

What do veggies have to do with my share for today?  Well, I know a couple of veggies that most kids love and wanted to share them with you now.  Are you ready?

 

Meet Larry the Cucumber and Bob the Tomato, the stars of Veggie Tales.  I don't know about your children but mine love these guys.  Yes they are grown up but they still sing the songs from the shows and love to see the shows when they have a chance.  The morals and values taught on these shows were wonderful.  I must admit I too am a huge fan and actually have ringtones on my phone from their silly songs.  But let's get back to the card.  I started with a base card of Marina Mist.  I embossed the front of it using the Framed Tulips impression folder and my big shot.  I then cut a layer of Whisper White to fit inside the frame.  I ran it through the big shot using the perfect polka dots impression folder and attached it with runner adhesive.  My final layer is Basic Black.  I punched out circles in 1", 3/4", and 1/2 using the colors of Marina Mist, Crumb Cake, and Cajun Craze.  I randomly placed them on the black, attached them with runner adhesive, and ran it through the big shot with the Perfect Polka Dots folder.  This embedded the circles into the black which I love the look of.  It was attached to the white with runner adhesive.  Now onto our vegetable friends.  

 

Here is a close up view of our friends.  They are cute and not terrible hard to make.  Here are the instructions:

Bob the Tomato was made using a 1 3/4" circle in Real Red for his body, brushed on the edges with Bravo Burgundy.   His stem is a scrap of Soft Suede I had.  His Garden Green top is one of the flowers from the Boho Blossom punch.  I attached it to the circle and then trimmed off the excess.  Then I attached the stem.  For his eyes, I used the small heart punch.  I cut it in half, rounded the tops, and edged them with Tempting Turquoise ink.  I used a liquid glue to attach them.  His nose is a Real Red 1/4" circle and the black of his eyes is a 1/8" circle.  For the mouth, I punched out a word window and used one end.  I trimmed it to look more like a circle.  After all, Bob is always surprised by what Larry says and does.  

Larry the Cucumber was made a little differently than Bob.  I took a piece of Whisper White card stock and punched out a 1 3/4" circle to represent the size of Bob.  I then free hand drew a cucumber shape beside it.  I just worked with it until it was the shape I wanted.  I then cut it out and used it as my template for Larry.  I traced it on a piece of Garden Green and cut him out.  His eyes are made the exact same way as Bob's.  His nose is also a 1/4" circle in Garden Green.  For his mouth, I used the other end of the word window and trimmed it to be in a smile.  I then took a scrap of white and cut a small piece for his tooth.  Once all his parts were glued down, I used my Garden Green Stampin' Up! marker to draw on his cucumber lines.  

Both figures were attached to the card using dimensionals.  This card could be used just to send a hello to a friend or for birthday wishes.  I am going to make another card with out friends here for tomorrow.  Be sure to cone back to see it.  Thanks for dropping in today.  Until tomorrow, keep stampin'!

Are You Ready For The New Year?

Here we are at Wednesday already.  It seems that time just flies by especially when you get to spend time with loved ones.  Any way, I thought it might be nice to share a card with you that you could send to someone for the new year.

I don't know about you, but I have not made many new year cards over the years.  I usually send Christmas and that's all.  Well for some reason, I was inspired to make a card for after Christmas.  So let's get started so you can make some yourself if you choose. 

 

My base card is Whisper White cut at 4 1/4" x 11", scored at 5 1/2".  I then cut a piece of Basic Black at 4" x 5 1/4" for my front layer.  From the picture, you can see that I wanted this card to sparkle.  So before I attached the black to the white, I sprayed it with my mixture of alcohol and champagne mist shimmer paint.  It sure made it sparkle.  I then used my big shot and my Billboard die to make the letters for the words.  I used Brushed Gold card stock for these.  I then got out my handy Cricut machine and my cartridge titled Stretch Your Imagination.  I cut out 2 sets of glasses:  one in white and one in gold.  I trimmed the ribbons off the gold glasses and layered them on top of the white ones.  I then added a pearl to the center of each ribbon.  I used a flash for this picture so you could see the sparkle but it does not allow a clear view of the glasses.  So let's look at them a little closer.

 

Although it is not the best shot, you can see some of the details to the glasses.  In order to make it appear they had champagne in them to ring in the new year, I took the champagne mist shimmer paint and a paintbrush and painted the area where the liquid would be.  You can kind of see it in this shot.  To enhance the white of the glasses and jazz them up just a little, I added dazzling diamond glitter to the white area.  Of course, I love this card with all the glitz on it!!

I hope your week is going along well.  I will be back tomorrow with another card to share.  Please stop by again.  Thanks for dropping in today.

Birthday Stand Up Card

I will be honest and let you know that my posts this week will be short ones.  I am spending lots of time with family but still want to post.  So my compromise to make them a little shorter.

Last week, I came across a birthday card I made a few months ago.  Now I really like this one because it uses one of my favorite retired pink color of card stock -- Pink Passion.  This card is also unique for the way it will stand up on its own.

 

This is what the card looks like folded ready to go into the envelope.  This card uses the Crazy for Cupcakes stamp set.  This set is a perfect one for birthdays.  I also used the coordinating wheel to roll cupcakes across the card.  I highlighted the sprinkles with white gel pen.  Now let me show you why this card is so special.  

 

The center cupcake stand raises up and the pink portion becomes a stand.  As you can see I also chose to color my cupcakes with all pink markers.  I guess I better send this one to a girl.  I stamped the greeting on Whisper White and punched it out using the large oval punch.  It is layered on a scallop oval.  I would be happy to get you directions on how to make this card.  Simply let me know.

Okay that's it for today.  I am off to see some family.  I hope you are all still enjoying your holiday season.  I will be back tomorrow.  See you then and thanks for stopping by today!

Stocking Builder Punch

Happy day after Christmas.  I hope all of you had a wonderful holiday weekend.  Now we begin moving toward a new year.  For those of us who are Stampin' Up! demonstrators, we are in the final week of the Holiday Mini catalog and are preparing for the launch of the Occasions Mini catalog.  I hope you have received yours in the mail.  If not and you would like one, simply contact me by leaving a comment or email and I will get you one.  I am always sad to see a catalog end.  Many wonderful items disappear forever.  Usually SU! carries any big shot or punch item over making it still available for purchase.  In fact, many times, these products become part of the new Idea Book and Catalog released in July.  However, not this time.

 

This Stocking Builder Punch is part of the holiday mini.  It will not be carried over.  What that means is if you want one of these punches, you have 1 week left to order this delightful punch before it is retired.  I have seen this punch used for Christmas stockings, hobby horses, and baby booties.  So as you can see there are lots of wonderful uses for this one.  Don't miss out on you last chance to get one.  Visit my SU! demonstator site to place an order.  

I appreciate you stopping in today.  Please come back tomorrow.  See you then.

A Tree for All Seasons

"It's the day before the night before Christmas.  And I'm busy busy busy being good"  Does anyone else remember that song?  Well I know my sister does and I also know we will be singing all day long today!!  It is so hard to believe the holiday is upon us.  It is such a wonderful time as we celebrate the birth of the Savior!!  I hope you and your family spend time together this weekend and enjoy lots of special moments that will become special memories.  As you celebrate I also hope you all remember that Jesus is the reason for the season. 

My card for today is another Valentine card.  But the stamp set I used on this one could be used for all seasons.  So let's get started as I can imaging you all may have a lot to do!!

 

This tree is all decorated and ready for Valentine's Day.  My base card is made from Very Vanilla card stock.  The layer on top is Pretty in Pink and has been run through the big shot using an impression folder.  I will show you a close up so you can see the design in a minute.  I then used another piece of Very Vanilla and stamped my tree from the stamp set called Season of Friendship.  I used Chocolate Chip ink to stamp it.  I then used my marker to help with the leaves.  As you can see, I made each set tri-colored so I took my Stampin' Up! markers and grabbed 3 from the pink family and colored each leave before stamping.  The leaves are part of the Season of Friendship set.  I left some of the branches bare so I could add my little hearts.  These were punched using the Small Heart punch and glimmer red paper.  I placed my hearts on the bare branches as well as have a few of them falling.  

 

The impression folder I used in the background for this card is from a Valentine set made by Cuttlebug.  It is full of hearts with all those silly sayings you see on the candy hearts each year at Valentine's Day.  I really liked this background when I saw it.  It was well worth getting in my eyes.  

I want to wish you all a Very Merry Christmas!!  Enjoy this holiday and have lots of fun.  I hope Santa is good to all of you this year.  I will be back next week with more cards.  I will also be previewing some of the new items coming out soon in the Occasions Mini catalog.  See you all Monday and once again --- MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Heart Filled Envelope

It's the day before the day before the night before Christmas.  I remember as a little girl how exciting this time of the year always was, wondering what Santa would bring and being with family.  As an adult, I must admit I still get excited.  We easily can lose that childlike quality that makes life magical if we are not careful.  I certainly hope you still have yours. 

Another thing I know I always dreamed of as a little girl was being a princess and having a handsome prince sweep me off my feet.  Now I do know that life is not always a fairytale, but I am so lucky to have my prince of a husband in my world.  With the new year comes a new Valentine's Day to celebrate and another anniversary in March.  So I wanted to share a card that would work perfectly with these occasions.  I was going through my scrap boxes the other day and came across some dsp that worked really well for what I wanted. 

 

Here is the first sample of my card.  I will be sharing 2 with you.  They are made the same way so I am going to go ahead and put the 2nd one up for you to see.  Then I will tell you how I made it.

 

The only difference on these 2 cards is the dsp I used for the envelopes.  I do not recall the name of this dsp and it is now retired.  But let's begin at the beginning.  The base card for both is Pretty in Pink card stock.  For my layer, I chose to use a piece of Very Vanilla and edged both sides of it with the Scallop Trim Border punch. It is adhered to the card using runner adhesive.  I then took my 12 x 12 dsp and cut it in half.  Using my big shot, I ran the dsp through using the Scallop Envelope die.  The nice thing about this die is it cuts the envelope out and scores the fold line for you so you can easily see where to fold it.  I put the envelope together using sticky strip to be sure it held.  DO NOT fold the top down to close it.  We want it opened.  I then attached it to the vanilla using the sticky strip.  I grabbed a scrap piece of Pretty in Pink, Chocolate Chip, and Riding Hood Red.  I ran each through the big shot using the Perfect Polka Dots impression folder.  Using my Small Heart punch, I punched out lots and lots of hearts from those scraps.  Before attaching the hearts, I stamped my greeting in the corner using Red Riding Hood ink.  The stamp I used is from a set called Well Scripted.  It is a retired one.  I wanted to position the greeting and attach the hearts around it.  Using runner adhesive, I started attaching the hearts.  I hope it gives the appearance of all the hearts spilling out when the envelope was open.  

I hope some of my cards are getting you thinking about what you might make.  Remember, if you ever want to send handmade cards but do not have the time to make them, you can contact me and I will be happy to make them for you to purchase.  Low cost, high quality.  Anyway, thanks for coming by today and please drop by tomorrow for another visit.  See you then!

Love Must Be In The Air

 I seem to be starting a new trend.  It's funny how different occasions pop into my head every now and then.  They stick with me until I actually work on a card or two or more.  Valentine cards keep creeping into my mind.  I seem inspired to make some.  Now I love my husband very much but we are not even through Christmas yet!  Between my husband and myself as well as our girls and their beaus, it really does not surprise me too much that I am already thinking about this.  So I have given in to the love bug and worked on another Valentine card.  So away we go!!

 

This is another card that uses the Valentine Defined stamp set which is retired.  The tree in this set is one of the cutest trees I have ever seen.  What a wonderful idea to make the leaves out of hearts.  If you look carefully, you will notice that the tree is two colors.  I decided to use my Stampin' Up! markers for this card so I could define the trunk and the leaves.  But we will get to that in a moment.  My colors for this card are Old Olive, Elegant Eggplant, Very Vanilla and Basic Black.  The base card is Old Olive.  I then added a layer of Basic Black on top of it.  I cut a piece of Elegant Eggplant for the next layer.  Before attaching it, I watermarked it with a heart stamp using VersaMark ink.  This gave a nice heart border to the card.  I then took a piece of Very Vanilla and stamped the tree on one side.  I colored the trunk with the Olive marker and the hearts with the Eggplant one.  I repeated the use of these markers on the "Love" that is stamped as the greeting.  I then stamped little hearts in Eggplant to accent the tree and greeting.  I then repeated the layers, only smaller this time.  Start with Old Olive, then Basic Black and then Very Vanilla.  On the Vanilla piece, I stamped the definition of Valentine using Eggplant ink.  Voila!  A nice Valentine ready to give to a love one.

Well while this blog may be brief, I hope you enjoyed it.  I will return tomorrow with another card.  Will it be another Valentine?  Tune in tomorrow to find out.  Until then, thanks for dropping in and please come back!!

200 Already!!

Today marks my 200th post.  I can hardly believe it.  Perhaps what is most shocking to me is that I have had enough material to do 200 posts.  I can tell you I have truly enjoyed writing all of them and sharing my projects with you. 

Today's post will be a short one.  I must admit, I have some wrapping to do while everyone is out of the house and today may be my last chance.  So I thought we would move in the direction of an upcoming holiday - Valentine's Day.  I love all the red and pink you see during February.  Hearts, flowers, and candy seem to be in abundance and it is a time to let those you love know how important they are to you. 

 

Aren't they a cute couple?  Mr. and Mrs. Owl out on a wire.   For owls, I am sure this is a good date.  The base card for this one is a piece of Cherry Cobbler card stock.  I scored it and then place the front of the card into the impression folder called Framed Tulips.  It creates just what it say - a frame of tulips around the edges.  I then cut a piece of Basic Black to fit inside and a piece of Very Vanilla to layer on top of that.  Before attaching the vanilla piece, I grabbed a stamp set offered in last years Occasions Mini called Valentine Defined.  This set is retired but I still enjoy using it.  I stamped the wire of hearts onto the card stock using Cherry Cobbler ink.  I then adhered the vanilla to the black.  Then using the owl builder punch, I made my owls.  I wanted to jazz up their date outfits so I used the red glimmer card stock.  To differentiate between the boy and girl, I made Mr. Owl a vanilla heart boutonniere and gave Mrs. Owl a vanilla skirt.  The skirt was made by punching a large oval out of vanilla and then punching a scallop oval around the hole from the large one.  I trimmed off a piece to make the skirt fit.  Once they were made, I attached them using dimensionals.  I took the "love" stamp from the Valentine Defined stamp set and stamped it in between the owls using Cherry Cobbler ink.  Using the Heart to Heart punch, I punched several of the small hearts out of the glimmer paper and sprinkled them all over the scene.  I also made the little girl a bow by using 2 of the hearts from the owl builder punch and a 1/4" circle punch.  They are all dressed up and ready to go.

Believe it or not that's all for today.  I appreciate you dropping in to see my card.  Please come back tomorrow for another project.  See you then.

An Anniversary Card

Well I am pleased to say I have survived and made it to Monday.  I do not know about you but my weekend was full of highs and lows.  We were suppose to have a garage sale Saturday but it fell through because my husband was not feeling well.  So we have postponed it until after Christmas.  Saturday night we finally made it to Zoo lights.  Our oldest daughter and her beau went with us.  The lights were beautiful.  We truly enjoyed walking through the zoo.  There were 2 negatives to our outing though:  The first was there were so many people there that we could not park in the zoo lot.  We had to park about a 1/2 mile away or more and hike into the zoo.  Luckily, the weather was nice and cool.  Second, our youngest daughter and her beau were suppose to go with us too.  Unfortunately, they both had to work and were not able to come.  I think that was the biggest disappointment for me.  Then again, had I known what was coming Sunday morning, I would not have been so upset about anything that night. 

Sunday started off as a pretty okay day.  We got to sleep in a little and were planning on going to church.  Of course all the walking the night before had made me a little sore and I was looking forward to a nice warm shower.  Our water heater had other plans though.  It decided that it did not want to work any more and quit.  After an in depth look into the problem area, it became clear that it was not fixable.  We would need a new one.  We are truly blessed to have family that care and want to help.  What a horrible time of year to have the water heater go out.  I really felt bad about it when our youngest daughter got up to go to work and took an ice cold shower to get ready.  I felt like the worst mother on the planet.  I guess the weekend was just a roller coaster ride for me.  So let's talk about the card I want to share today.  That will make me feel better. 

 

I was inspired to do this card when I saw bells made from punches on a Christmas card.  I thought they would be perfect for an anniversary or wedding.  I started with a base card of Basic Black.  I took a piece of Very Vanilla and ran it through the big shot using the Vintage Wallpaper impression folder.  I then spritzed it using the champagne colored paint mixed with alcohol for a shimmer effect.  In the center of the flowers on the wallpaper, I put teeny tiny black pearls.  I found them in my box of gems and thought they would look perfect.  I hope I can remember where I got them.  I would love to get some more.  Let me tell you how I made the bells.

 

 Here is a close up of the bells.  It also shows the shimmer from the spritz I used nicely.  Anyway, I started with a piece of Brushed Gold card stock.  Using my blossom builder punch, I punch out the largest petal twice.  I trimmed the scallop edge off and attached them together with a little glue at the top.  I added a black and gold small oval (the retired one).  The thin piece of black on the bottom of the bell is just a scrap strip I cut.  I added the small circle from the itty bitty punch pack to this.  Pearls just seemed to fit the theme so I place one on each circle and a line of them on top of the black oval.  A tiny bow make using basic black grosgrain ribbon (1/4") tops it off.  It is attached using a glue dot.  The entire bell is attached to the card using dimensionals.  

 

For the greeting I turned to my Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set.  I tell you I do not know what I would do without it.  I stamped the greeting in VersaMark ink on vanilla and heat embossed it using black embossing powder.  I punch it out with the word window punch and layered it on a black modern label punch.  I added a small pearl to each end and attached the greeting using dimensionals.  Simple and elegant is how I would describe this.  

Well, as this week begins, I can only hope things go better than my weekend.  As Christmas draws near, I would like to simply enjoy my time and have no stress.  (Even I made myself laugh with that statement.)  Thank you so much for reading my ramble and for dropping by today.  I will see you tomorrow with another creation to share. 

Ready for the Weekend

I don't know why but this has been a long week around my house.  Maybe it is because we had some important decisions to make and my husband worked a lot.  Or maybe it is all the baking I did.  We also had a lot of rain this week and our little dog does not like to go out in the rain or when the ground is wet so that added to my frustration.  No matter why it has been a long week, I am so grateful the weekend is finally here.  I am hoping to watch a lot of football and get some rest.  After all, Christmas is only a week away!!

This past year,  I spent time with several brides to be as well as at a wedding.  So for today, I wanted to share a card I made yesterday with you.  The theme is wedding.  It is a card I would give to the happy couple on their special day. 

 

I chose to use the colors of Bashful Blue and Whisper White for this one.  I would try to coordinate it to the couples chosen color scheme for their wedding but since there is no special wedding in mind, I went with the first colors I grabbed.  Anyway, I used those delightful rosettes on this one.  The base card is the white.  I usually use either white or vanilla as the base then add the other colors.  The only layer added to this one is a Bashful Blue layer which had been run through the big shot using the Finial Press impression folder.  I then attached a piece of  Whisper White taffeta ribbon to the blue layer by applying runner adhesive to the ribbon that would go on the back and then bringing it around and making a knot in the front.  Using more runner adhesive, I attached the layer to the base card.  The smaller rosette is a solid blue layered on a 2 3/8" scallop circle in white.  I then added the small flower from the BoHo Blossom punch to the center.  I always use my Tombo liquid glue to attach the rosette to the back piece and the front piece.  I then sit something heavy on it until it dries completely.  I added a light blue rhinestone to the center and it was ready for the card.  It is attached with glue dots.

 

Here is a close up of the larger rosette on this card.  I started the same way with a solid blue strip.  I scored it a 1/4" intervals.  Once scoring was complete, I put it through the Lace Ribbon border punch.  This gives it an elegant look.  It kind of reminds me of a snowflake.  It is layered on a 2 1/2" circle in white.  I then added a flower from the BoHo Blossom punch with a flower from the flower punch in the itty bitty punch pack.  Again, I placed something heavy on it until it dried.  A rhinestone was added and it was attached using glue dots.

 

For the greeting, I turned to the Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set.  If you do not have this set, I highly recommend it.  It works extremely well on so many cards for so many occasions.  It is my go to set.  I stamped the greeting in VersaMark ink and added silver embossing powder to it.  I heat embossed it to give it an shiny, elegant look.  I punched it out using the word window punch and attached it using dimensionals.  While I did not take a picture of the inside, I did heat emboss it with silver embossing powder too.  My card is all done and ready to go.  Now I just need someone to get married so I can send it to them!

As you head out to your weekend, I wish you a lot of fun.  Do something you really want to do and relax a little if you can.  I will return Monday with another card to share.  Until then, thanks for dropping in today. 

One Last Snowman

As I sat working on the card I want to share today, I could not help but think you all must be tired of Christmas Card samples by now.  I think I have shared on every day this month.  So while I will not promise not to make another card with that theme to show you, I will promise to add more cards for different occasions starting tomorrow.  Today, one more snowman for you to see.

 

Isn't he dapper with his fedora on his snowy head?   I saw a similar snowman online and really wanted to make one.  I started with a Basic Black card for the base.  I then took a couple of pieces of Whisper White card stock and ran them through the big shot using the perfect polka dot impression folder.  I punch out 3 circles from one piece - 1 1/4", 1 3/8", and 1 3/4".  These of course were for the snowman's body.   I took my other piece of embossed white and tore strips to make the snow on the card front.  I began assembly by attaching the torn strips of white to the base.  I then built my snowman using the circles.  I left the edges of the middle circle a little loose so I could add the arms.   I then added my dazzling diamond glitter to the edges of the snow.  For the snowman arms, I used the snowflake punch.  I cut off 2 branches of the snowflake and trimmed them to the shape I wanted.  I attached them by adding a little Tombo glue to the end and slipping each one under the edge of the snowman.  The snow falling from the sky was made using a non Stampin' Up! punch I happen to have.  It is an edge punch that makes all those circles so I simply punched the edge of the embossed white pieces and attached the dots to the card around the snowman.  You could use the circle from the owl punch if you wanted.  It does give you 3 sizes and they would look great.

 

For the face of the snowman, I used the sprinkles from the cupcake builder punch for the eyes and the small circles from the owl punch for the mouth.  The nose is actually a leaf from the branch of the bird builder punch.  I added lines to hopefully give it more of a carrot appearance.  The scarf is made from 2 small piece of Real Red grosgrain ribbon.  I added the small circles from the owl builder punch onto it for a design.  The hat is 1/2 of a designer label punch in Real Red.  I used a simple strip of Basic Black for the hat band.   I used the branch leaves from the bird builder punch to make the holly and the sprinkles from the cupcake builder for the berries.  I added green glitter glue dots to the hat and holly and covered the berries with red glitter glue.  I then took my handy white gel pen and added dots to the hat band.  While there are lots of little pieces to this guy, he really is each to make.

Tomorrow, I am moving on to a different theme.  You will just have to come back to see what I do.  Thanks for dropping in today.  See you tomorrow. 

Christmas Greenery

From the title of the blog, I would guess you are thinking this will be about a tree or a wreath or holly or something you normal associate with Christmas that is green.  But you would be wrong.  Today's card is a fun stamp that I found at a local craft store.  When I saw it, I knew I had to have it.  It was just too cute.  So without further ado, let's get on with the card!!

 

Now I would bet you did not think it would be frogs.  Well, it is.  I just thought these guys were too cute to pass by.  My base card for this one is on Garden Green.  It is cut at 8" x 9", scored at 4".  You would need to get a larger envelope for this one.  Since I wanted the focus on the frogs, I chose not to embellish it with much else.  The snowflakes surrounding the frogs is from EK Success.  I punched these out of shimmer white card stock.  By using that, I did not need to add glitter (which of course made me sad).  For the greeting, I could not find one I was happy with.  I looked and looked for one I thought went with the card but found nothing in my vast stamp collection.  I decided to go with my own saying and what is more fitting than "Hoppy Holidays".  I used a Zig pen from EK Success called Painty Twin.  It has gold on one end and silver on the other.  I chose the silver for this card.  It is shiny and stands out.  

 

The first layer on the card is a Poppy Red piece.  I then stamped my wonderful frogs using StazOn ink onto Whisper White card stock.  I cut it out using decorative scissors to give the edges some texture.  Before I go any further,  I wanted to tell you that this stamp is from Penny Black.  I am not sure if it is still available but feel free to Google the site and check to see.  The frogs were colored using colored pencil.  Watercoloring them would be another great option.  For the hats they are wearing, I colored the red part and used Dazzling Diamond glitter on the brim and ball.  (You knew I would work that glitter in somehow!)  I could have colored the hats different colors but for this one I just went with red.

Well I am off to bake yet once again.  Today's delicious creation -- lemon bread!!  My mom made this every year to give away to friend and family.  Of course she always kept some for us too.  It is one of my favorite treats.  I cannot wait to taste it.  My other fun today -- laundry!!  Okay so that one is not much fun but has to be done.  

I hope you all find time to do something you enjoy today.  Thanks for dropping in and I will see you tomorrow.

What Do You Want For Christmas?

IHave you ever been in a post office where there are wanted posters hanging on a bulletin board?  I am not sure if I have but I have seen depictions of this in television shows and movies, especially westerns.  Now I do not watch a lot of westerns but have seen a few.  I am getting off track here.  Well, those posters served as an inspiration for the card I am going to share today.  That may seem a little weird to you.  After all,  the people depicted on these are criminals.  Well I took the basic idea of the poster and made it a little whimsical.  So let's get on with the card.

 

There is no need to fear these posters.  My base card is Garden Green.  I seem to use a lot of that during this time of the year.  I took a set of stamps I received as a gift many years ago and chose 3 of them to use for my posters.  The layer on top of the base card is a cork card stock.  I found it at my local craft store on the same aisle as the other scrapbook paper.   It is easy to cut through so it was simple to cut it to the size I wanted.  Once I stamped the images on white, colored them with colored pencils and cut them out, I attached them to the cork paper using brads.  I simply wrote in my own handwriting the words on the front.  This was my first try at a card like this.  I have a few other stamps that might work for this idea.  I think I may give it another try.  

 

This is the inside of the card.  I stamped the image on Whisper White, colored it with colored pencils, and cut it along its borders.  I layered it on a piece of Real Red card stock and trimmed the edges of the red with decorative scissors.  The peppermint candy is a sticker I happened to have on hand.   I think this is such a cute depiction of these special holiday characters.  Very simple to put this together but well worth it.  

Well I am off to do laundry.  I seem to have accumulated quite a bit over the last week.  It is a never ending job.  Thanks for coming by to see my card today.  Be sure to stop by tomorrow.  See you then.

Baking My Life Away!!

Why is it we always seem to bake so much around the holidays than we do the rest of the year?  I don't really have an answer for that.  It seems to start at Thanksgiving with pies and continue through Christmas.  My daughter and I made M and M cookies and peanut butter chocolate chip cookies the other day.  Then I baked these yummy little tarts that my mom made when I was little.  I still have more to do.  So it is nice to take a break and make cards for awhile. 

Cookies at Christmas always reminds me of gingerbread people.  I guess it is because we build our gingerbread houses and always have people on the outside.  So when I came across this stamp the other day, I really wanted to use it. 

 

This little girl is just so happy she is tumbling all over the paper.  I started this card with a Garden Green base.  I then took a piece of Whisper White I trimmed the edges using a pair of decorative scissors.  I stamped the gingerbread image right-side up and upside down to make her seem to tumble across the paper.  

 

Here is a closer look at my girl.  Sorry she seems a little blurry.  Anyway, I colored her using colored pencils.  If you look at the bow on her head and the bow and buttons on the body, you will see that I alternated using green and red.  Her frosting on her arms and legs were colored in using glitter glue.  After all she needed some dazzle.  

Well I know this is a short post but I do have lots of holiday things to do.  Hopefully I will be done baking soon.  Thank you for stopping by today.  Please come back tomorrow.  See you then.

Santa, Take 2

The other day I shared with you my undying love for Santa.  You know the jolly man with the adorable rosy cheeks?   I wanted to work on another card featuring the same stamp I used on it but with a little different look.  As I made the tree I shared yesterday, an idea formed in my mind of what I wanted to do.  While it is similar to the other one, but different at the same time.  Perhaps I should just show you.

I must have been in a close up mode when taking pictures of this one and the tree from yesterday.  I seem to cut off the base card edges in both of them.  I started this card with a Garden Green base card.  I used a retired stamp of holly leaves from the set Background Basics to decorate the front of it.  I stamped the holly using the VersaMark ink pad.  Then I took some clear embossing powder and sprinkled it all over the card.  It held to the images.  I then shook the excess powder off and heat embossed the images.  Since I did not want them to be a color, clear powder was the perfect choice.  Next I got out my handy big shot machine and the top note die.  Using a piece of Basic Black, I ran it through the machine to get the top note cut out.  Now for this particular card, I did not want the note itself.  Instead I wanted to use the frame it leaves behind.  I placed the frame into the Houndstooth impression folder and ran it through the big shot just to add some texture to the frame.  Turning once again to my Four the Holidays stamp set, I selected the greeting I wanted to use for the front.  It is stamped on Whisper White card stock with VersaMark ink.  I then used an embossing powder called Candy Cane (I got it from a convention) and heat embossed it.  Using my 1" square punch, I created the flag ends you see.  All sides were sponged with Real Red ink.  I curled the greeting a little using a pencil to give it a ripple effect and attached it to the card.

 

Here you see Santa.  I used my big shot and the 3 1/2" circle die to cut out the Whisper White circle.  Once again, I started by stamping him using StazOn ink.  He was then colored using my wonderful colored pencils.  This time, instead of adding glitter to certain areas, I wanted the entire circle to sparkle.  To achieve this look, I applied VersaMark ink directly to the circle by stamping the pad all over the circle.  Next came the embossing powder.  I used Iridescent Ice powder, applied it to the entire circle, shook off the excess and heat embossed it.  In the light, you can see the sparkle.  It is quite dazzling.  He is adhered to the card using Tombo Multi liquid glue.

It seems the weeks pass faster and faster.  Here we are once again at another weekend.  I hope you have a wonderful 2 days full of fun.  Thanks for coming to see my Santa.  I will be back on Monday with another card.  Thanks again for dropping in!!

Oh Christmas Tree!

I always enjoy the twinkling lights at Christmas time.  I wish they made lights for all holidays where our homes could have that warm all year.  I just find them to be so peaceful.  For us, it always begins with the tree and then the rest of the lights slowly get added both inside and outside.  For this year, we are finally finished putting up all the lights.  Now I can sit back and enjoy them.

Last week, I shared a white Christmas tree with you.  It was embossed on red card stock and decorated with glitter glue.  As I said in that posting, it reminded me of the white tree my mother use to put up.  We talked about how you could make this tree in other colors too.  Now I do not know about you, but when I walk into the stores today and see pink and blue and red trees, I just do not associate them with Christmas.  Of course, I do associate them with a Dr. Seuss Christmas.  Anyway, I made another tree the other night, this time in green.  Let's take a look at it.

 

I like how this tree turned out.  I started with a Real Red base card.  I know you cannot see it in the photo.  Guess I was a little too close to the tree.  Anyway, I stamped the tree onto a piece of Whisper White card stock using VersaMark ink.  I sprinkles green embossing powder all over the tree, shook off the excess and heat embossed it using my heat tool.  I added the red dots of Stickles glitter glue as my decoration.  I was going to use rhinestone colored red but ran out of time to get some.  The greeting on this card comes from the Four the Holidays stamp set.  I used my stamp-a-ma-jig to help me line it up exactly where I wanted it and stamped it in Real Red ink.  

 

I tried to take a closer picture of the tree to show the detail of the limbs.  I was also hoping you would be able to see the shine of the embossing powder.  Unfortunately, the shine did not come through in the photo.  Isn't it funny how the top of the photo looks blurry and the bottom looks clear?  How I managed to do that I do not know.  

Well, I am going to go get ready for a baking marathon with my daughter.  I do have a card ready to share tomorrow.  I planned ahead so that baking would not interfere with card making and blogging.  I do appreciate you stopping by today.  Please drop in tomorrow.

We're Stacking Snowmen!

If there is one thing I miss about living where there is snow, it is being able to build snowmen.  No matter where we lived when I was little, there was always snow -- that is until we moved to Phoenix, Arizona.  I can remember building snowmen and having snowball fights with my sister.  It was so much fun.  While we seemed to improve each year on out snowman building skills, we never made one quite like the one I am going to share with you today.  Of course, it is a stamp so no actual building was involved. 

 

I do not think we would have ever succeeded in trying to build a snowman like this.  But let's start at the beginning of this card.  I began with a piece of Whisper White card stock cut at 5 1/2" x 11", scored at 4 1/4".  I used a non-SU! background stamp of snowflakes and stamped them in the retired color Brilliant Blue.  I covered the entire front with them.  I then took a scrap piece of Christmas wrapping paper and used it as my first layer.  It has a foil like quality about it and has snowflakes all over it too.  I set this aside and began work on my snowmen.  The piece of card stock is trimmed out using a pair of decorative scissors I have.  I wanted to do something to the edges instead of just edging them with ink and this seemed to work.  Now for the snowman totem pole.

 

I bought this stamp at a local craft store.  I thought it was the cutest thing I had seen in a long time.  The totem pole was something I had never seen done with snowmen and I thought they would bring a smile to others faces.  I started by stamping them in StazOn ink on a piece of Whisper White card stock, cut it down to the size I wanted using my paper trimmer, and then went ahead and trimmed the edges with decorative scissors.  I used my colored pencils to color the snowmen in.  On this particular card, I went with the purple family.  I liked how it looked against the wrapping paper.  I also made other cards with different scrap wrapping papers in red, green, and light blue.  This is a great way to recycle paper and adds a lot of decoration to your cards.  I add dazzling diamond glitter to the pom pom on the top snowman, the earmuffs of the middle snowman, and the holly leaves on the bottom snowman.  Cute, cute, cute.

I am working on several cards to share in the up coming days.  You will just have to come back tomorrow to see what card I will have ready for you to see.  Thank you so much for stopping by today. 

Must Be Santa

Santa Claus is one of my favorite people (and yes he is real!).  I love his spirit of giving and his jolliness.  The happiness he brings to both children and adults is amazing and reminds me of the joy the birth of Christ brought to the world.  In our home, I have lots of nativities as I have told you.  I also have lots of Santa's.  My favorite one does not actually belong to me.  It was given to my youngest daughter, Kaitlyn, by my brother.  It is a stuffed Santa that sits about 3 feet tall and is so soft you just want to hug it all the time.  He joined out family when Kaitlyn was about 5 years old.  When my brother passed away last year, we were devastated.   I remember unpacking the Christmas decorations and finding the stuffed Santa.  While it did bring tears to my eyes, it was a wonderful memory of my brother.  It happened the same way this year.  Once again, Santa brought happiness.

My love of Santa started for me as a little girl and continues to this day.  So it should come as no surprise to you that I am drawn to Santa stamps in the Stampin' Up! catalog as well as at hobby stores.  I will admit I have bought a few over the years.  Today, the card I want to share with you has one of the best stamps I have come across.  So let's get down to business.

 

I started with a base card of Whisper White.  I chose a piece of Garden Green to be the layer on the card.  I used my Cricut machine to cut out an oval in the center of the green, large enough for the Santa to how through.  I then stamped Santa on the center of the white base card.  I stamped the "Ho Ho Ho" using VersaMark ink and heat embossed it with white embossing powder.  I stamped the little chimney and stocking on a scrap of white card stock, colored then with colored pencils and added glitter.  Once they dried, I cut them out and adhered one to each side of the oval to complete the card front.  While the paper is from SU!, all the stamps, pencils, and glitter are not.  

 

For my Santa, I wanted to keep things simple.  After all, he is so handsome he really does not need a lot of work.  I colored him with colored pencils, as well as his hat and bell.  Now one thing you could do is add an actual jingle bell to the hat if you would like to jazz it up a little.  For the berries on the hat, I put red glitter glue on them to make them sparkle.  The hat brim has the same glitter as the chimney and stocking.  It is called Diamond Dust.  I picked it up at one of the best scrapbook stores in our little city.  Unfortunately, it went out of business a couple of years ago.  The jar of this glitter is quite large so I will be using it for years.  The only change I would make to my Santa is I would add some Dazzling Details glitter glue for SU! to highlight areas of his beard.  Not a lot mind you but enough to really give him some personality.  

I hope you have a Terrific Tuesday ahead of you.  I will be spending some quality time with my washer and dryer as once again it is laundry time.  I want to thank all of you for coming by today to visit.  Please come back tomorrow to see my totem pole!!  See you then.

Rained Out

Happy Monday everyone.  I hope you all had a really nice weekend.  I did not get everything done I wanted to but that always seems to be the case.  As I said on Friday, my family was going to Zoo Lights on Saturday night.  When we left out house, it was not raining.  Even though it had been overcast all day, we really did not expect to get any rain.  As we were driving on the freeway, the rain started, just sprinkles mind you but rain none the less.  Well, by the time we pulled into the parking lot at the zoo, it was pouring.  Car after car headed to the exit.  People were making their way quickly back to their cars to leave.  We thought perhaps the storm would be over soon so we chose to go to Denny's and get something to eat since we had not had dinner.  We had the delusional idea that we would go back to the zoo after eating and see the lights.  Well, we ate out dinner and had a wonderful visit with our youngest daughter and her boyfriend (our oldest had wisely chosen to go home and see the lights another night).  As we were finishing dinner, I noticed the rain water was still coming off the eaves of Denny's and a customer who had just walked in was really wet.  Needless to say, we are rescheduling our zoo visit.  We did go and see houses that were all lit up and very pretty and got ice cream.  All in all it turned out to be a very nice evening.

Sunday found me running an errand and then preparing to go to my husband's charity event.  The event went fairly well and the money raised will certainly go to a good cause.  I would recommend if you are ever in the area of 7th street and Carefree highway, go visit the restaurant called Peaks and Valleys on the southeast corner.  The food is very good and the people are so friendly.  All in all it was a good weekend.

My card for today reminds me of the grid cards I have shared with you before minus the lines.  This one has a winter theme and makes a cute Christmas card.

 

To begin this card, I started with a Whisper White base card.  I added a layer of Garden Green to that with rounded corners and then added another layer of Whisper White with rounded corners.  Before adding the top white layer, I laid out my grid by marking the lines in pencil very lightly.  Then I added a drop of Stickles to each corner alternating green and red.  I let this dry completely before continuing.  Once it was dry I added my little snowmen, one for each box.  This happens to be a set of four snowmen I found at a hobby store.  Once I stamped all of them, I colored then using colored pencils and adhered the layer to the green.  Then be sure to erase your light pencil lines marking the grid.  This can be done now or once the glitter glue is dry. 

 

Here is a closer look at the snowmen.  Aren't they cute?  I could not resist buying this set when I saw it even though it is not a Stampin' Up! set.  As you can see they each have their own personality and are just ready for the snow to keep on falling.  They bring a Christmas wish to each person who receives this card.

Well, I have a busy day ahead and need to get moving.  I am afraid I will not finish all I would like to if I keep talking.  So for now, I wish you all a wonderful day.  Please come by tomorrow to see what I have to share next.  Until then, thanks for dropping in today.

A Winter Scene

Happy Friday everyone.  Once again we have reached the end of a week.  I hope yours was a good one.  I spent most of it decorating my home for the holidays.  Remembering what Christmas is all about is very important in our family.  We always spend time reading the story of the birth of Jesus in the bible and have many children's books that tell the story too.  We also have a collection of nativities that we put out during the holiday season.  We try to add one to our collection each year.  Now before you say where do you put them all, I will tell you that some of them are full sets that do take up shelf space while others are small one piece versions.  Some are small sets and some are ornaments.  So by varying the sized, we can fit more into the house.  We have not add one yet this year but I have a good guess as to which one we will add. 

One of my favorite nativity sets I have is a snowman set.  It was given to me by my in laws one year at Christmas.  I had to set it up so I could enjoy it right away.  Each year when I unpack it, I smile as I think of my family and remember receiving it.  It inspired me a couple of years ago to look for a snowman nativity stamp.  Now Stampin' Up! has some adorable snowmen but no nativity.  So I did a search on the internet and was fortunate enough to find one.  I ordered it from a company called Biblical Impressions.  Today, I want to share a card with you I made using this stamp.

 

We will take a closer look at the holy family in a minute but first let's look at the card.  I started with a base card of Whisper White cut at 7" x 11", scored at 5 1/2" .  This is one of only two pieces of the card made with a SU! product.  For the paper layered on top of it, I used a piece of Christmas wrapping paper.  Yes, instead of throwing away the scraps of paper, why not use them on a card?  The piece is cut slightly smaller than the base card.  Before adhering it, there a couple of things to do first.  I wanted a circle in the middle of the piece of paper.  At the time, I had access to a circle cutter and that is what I used to get the circle.  Then I stamped the nativity scene and cut it out as a circle, larger than the one in the wrapping paper.  It is adhered to the back of the paper so the snowmen show through.  Once that is completed, you can adhere it to the front of the card.  Now we will look at the nativity itself.

 

I started my scene by stamping the image on a piece of white card stock using StazOn ink.  I wanted to add color to it of course, so I chose to use my trusty colored pencils.  (I really do love those!)  Once the scene was all colored, I wanted it to sparkle.  Now for this card, I did not want to just add some glitter.  I wanted the entire image to sparkle.  To achieve this look, I turned to my heat embossing tool for help.  I first applied VersaMark ink to the entire image by directly pouncing the ink onto the paper.   I took my SU! embossing powder called Iridescent Ice and sprinkled it all over the image.  The VersaMark ink will make the powder stick.   The I turned on the heat tool and melted all that pretty powder.  To me, it gave the image a look somewhat similar to a snow globe that has been shaken.  Easy technique, impressive results.  

My weekend is already filled with activities.  Saturday, we are taking both our girls and their significant others to Zoo Lights at the Phoenix Zoo.  I cannot wait to see it!!  Sunday, I am going with my husband to a restaurant up in the area where his fire station is.  I am going strictly as support as he and other fire men will be servers for the night, raising money for charity.   It ought to be interesting.  

I wish you all a wonderful weekend.  I will be back on Monday with another card to share.   Please stop by to see what I come up with.  Thanks for dropping by today!

White Christmas

Happy December everyone.  Can you believe Christmas is almost here?  I am so excited.  When I was growing up, we lived in several places where it snowed.  I have experienced a white Christmas several times.  As a child, it was wonderful.  I do miss the snow.  I also happened to love the movie White Christmas.  My mother loved musicals.  She also happened to have a beautiful singing voice and would sing along to every musical we watched.  This time of year I think of her often, especially when I watch White Christmas.  My youngest daughter also loved the movie and use to sing and dance one of the numbers, although she does not remember doing that. 

The white Christmas I am referring to in my title has to do with the card I am sharing today.  It too is a memory from childhood.  More than once, we lived in tri-level homes.  Due to the size and space, we would have 2 Christmas trees in the house:  one green and one white.  I remember my mom decorating the white tree.  She had these beautiful red, fiber optic lights to use on it and red satin balls to complete the design.  I loved that tree.  It served as the inspiration for this card.

 

Other than the card stock, none of the materials are from Stampin' Up!.  I bought this tree stamp 3 or 4 years ago at a stamp convention.  It appealed to me because it reminded me of a Christmas tree, perfect for Christmas cards.  When I pulled it out to use, I thought of the white tree from my childhood and knew I wanted to make one for this card.  The base card is actually Whisper White.  I then cut Real Red card stock to fit the entire front of the card, hiding the white.  My tree was basically complete when I stamped the greeting on the card.  It was stamped using VersaMark ink and heat embossed using black embossing powder.  Now let's look a little closer at the tree itself.

 

The picture really does not due the tree justice.  It is very pretty up close.  I stamped the tree using VersaMark ink as well as stamped the star on top.  I then heat embossed then using a detailed white embossing powder.  I used a gold paint pen by Marvy to color in the star and add some rays around it.  Last but not least, I decorated my tree.  To do this, I used my handy Stickles glitter glue in green and red.  You could also use rhinestones with color if you wanted to add bling.  Now I know my childhood tree was done in all red, but I really wanted to add some green ornaments too!

I am planning on doing another one of these trees in green.  When I get it finished, I will share it with you too.  Feel free to ask questions or leave comments.  I love to hear from you.  Thanks for dropping by today and I will see you tomorrow. 

Reindeer Face

Hi everyone!  Well we have made it to the middle of the week.  I am busily doing laundry and do not have a lot of time today to be creative.  I decided to turn to a card I made last year and happened to come across a couple of days ago.  It is one of my cards that I would consider versatile because you can use the face on the card as either the card or on a treat box.  It makes it one of the nicer ones since I always have options. 

Anyway, let me show you the card and we will go from there.

 

Isn't he cute!!  He is made using a combination of punches and big shot dies.  The ears were made using the wide oval punch.  It is trimmed to the shape I like.  You could also use the large petal from the blossom builder punch.  The white part of the eyes, the eyelids, and the nose are the 1" punch.  The black of the eyes was made with the 1/2" punch.  I chose to do the nose in Real Red, like the base card, because I love the movie Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.  I can remember watching it since I was little.  Of course to make this guy's nose shine, I added red glitter to it.  The actually head of the reindeer is the wonderful top not die for the big shot.  Now I will tell you I used the retired card stock called Close to Cocoa.  You can use the Soft Suede currently available from SU! to make this.  The head, ears, and eyelids are all edged with the matching ink.  For the antlers, I used a die called tulipe.  This die is exclusive to Stampin' Up!.  I used Chocolate Chip card stock for these.  When you run this die through, it will cut out several pieces.  The piece I used for the antlers is one of them.  It works well if you ask me.  Last but not least, I used a fine tip black marker to draw on his mouth.  Add a nice greeting inside and off the card goes.  

I know this post is short but I have so much laundry and cleaning to do today.  It is a little overwhelming.  So I am off to get everything done so I can play with my stamps later.  Thanks for stopping by today.  See you tomorrow!!