25 Days of Christmas Cards: Day 3

Hi Everyone!

This card for Day 3 was a lot of fun to make and I was so pleased with the final result. This card was all about distress inks. Distress inks really allow you the opportunity to create some beautiful backgrounds and the best part is that there really is no right or wrong way to do it. I could have used a different variety of colors for this background and the result would have been just as stunning

I chose the following colors for my background: Antique Linen, Victorian Velvet, Seedless Preserves, Faded Jean and Black Soot. I used my ink blending tool and blended from the bottom up, using the Antique Linen first and then moved to the darker colors ending with the the black soot at top. I think this color combination gives a beautiful sunset into night time sky. 

The trees are from Stampin Up "Lovely as a Tree" set stamped in black ink. The sentiment is from Verve's "Unto Us" set. I stamped it in versa mark ink and embossed with white powder. I also embossed to small snowflakes from inkandinkado in white as well. I used a white jelly roll pen to add some other little snowflake/stars to the sky. 

Finally for a last little bit of embellishment, I put some Tombow liquid glue at the bottom of the trees and then sprinkled some white Crafty Fluff for snow on the ground. I trimmed the panel and then adhered it to a piece of Neenah Solar White 110lb card stock. 

Here are the two cards side by side. I think this card is one of my favorites in the series. I think it's one of the best interpretations I was able to do as well. 

Thanks for visiting with me again today, everyone! I'll be back tomorrow with Day 4!

Challenges: 

1. Hiding in My Craft Room: Freestyle

2. Inkspirational: Christmas (with optional no red or green twist)

3. Paper Creator's Craft: All About Christmas

4. Crafty Mess:  Anything Goes

5. Brown Sugar Challenges: Anything Goes

25 Days of Christmas Cards:Day 2

Hi Everyone!

Back with Day 2 of my 25 Days of Christmas Card Series. For this card, I wanted to create a window in the front of the card that showed the reindeer on the inside of the card. I cut a piece of kraft card stock to a standard size card and cut a 2 11/16 ciircle out of the front. Then I  cut a piece of patterned paper a little less than the size of the front of the card and cut a circle that was slightly smaller than the one I cut from the card base. I cut a circle frame of red polka dot paper and laid that on the INSIDE of the card against the back of the patterned paper circle which showed through the base. This is why you cut the circle a little smaller.
Finally, I cut a piece of acetate into a circle larger than card base circle and I adhered it to the inside of the card over the other circles. This is what makes your window.

I covered the inside of the card with a piece of Vintage Cream card stock and then stamped the reindeer from Verve stamps, "Santa's little Helper" set and colored him in with Copic Markers. I added glossy accents to his hat, and red stickles to his nose and the poinsettia on his hat. 

I white embossed the sentiment onto a piece of green card stock and then finished the front of the card with some sequins in the snowflakes which I adhered using Ranger Multi Medium Matte. 

Here are the two cards side by side. Kristina used an "outside looking in" reindeer image; but I didn't have this one; but I think the one I chose made a good substitute.

Have a great day! Thanks for stopping by and visiting with me, I'll see you tomorrow for Day 3

25 Days of Christmas Cards: Day 1

Hi Everyone!!

I am SO EXCITED to finally be able to share this project series with you. I have been working on this for the last couple of months which is why my blog updating has been so hit and miss lately.
If you are a paper crafter, chances are you probably follow Kristina Werner and you know that each year she does her "Holiday Card Series" which is a series of videos showing her creation of 25 Holiday Cards.
I have tried for a couple of years now to play along with her and create my own version of each of her cards. Usually I give up around day 15, sadly. Not this year!!! This year, I made all 25 cards! WHOO HOO!!

Sometimes, I got a little stumped with images and coloring especially if it was a stamp or an image I didn't have. I did purchase a few items to complete a couple of projects; but for the most part I tried to use what I already had. I also relied heavily on some digital images for a few projects as well.

Each day, I will share two photos. One of the card I created and then a side by side shot of Kristina's card and my card, so you can see them together.

So, here we go with the first card: For this card, I used the Snowflake Embossing Folder on Simon Says Stamp Fog card stock. I sponged some white craft ink around the embossed images. I embossed the sentiment from Simon Says Stamp "Big Holiday Wishes" with versamark and silver embossing powder. I added some Little B tape and silver elastic cord as well.

Here are the two cards side by side. I tried to keep the elements as similar as I could. In the end, I think I came up with a relatively similar creation.

Thanks so much for visiting with me today. Be sure to come back tomorrow for Day 2!

Challenges:

1. Aud Sentiments: Any sentiment appropriate for December Holiday.

2. DL Art Thankful Thursday:  Any Winter Holiday

3. Time Out Challenges: Embossing

Maternal Reflections: WHY are you Thankful for Your Children?

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

It has been quite a while since I've posted about my wonderful children and so I thought today would be the perfect day to reflect on how grateful I am for each of them. As parents, it is easy for us to automatically say we are grateful for our children; it's usually the first thing a parent will say if you ask them. However, I wonder at times if, in our haste to quickly express our thanks and gratitude about the presence of our children in our lives, if we can really say WHY we are grateful for our children. Can you individualize each of your children and name specific things about them for which you are thankful? This is the question I asked myself in preparation for writing this; and later today when we share the traditional "what are you thankful for" at dinner, this is what I will say to each of them.

To my beautiful daughter Reagan, I am thankful for your beautiful spirit that shines through your kindness in everything you do. I am thankful for your love of life and your generous heart. I am grateful for everyday I get to see your beautiful smile and watch you grow into a young woman I am so very proud of. I am thankful for the light you bring to every single day of my life.

To my dear son Tyler, I am thankful for your quiet and calm spirit that reminds me of the beauty that peace and stillness can bring to life. I am thankful for the kindness and friendship you share with your little brother every day. I am grateful for those moments I can look into your eyes and see straight to your beautiful soul. I am grateful for your determination, and your patience and your desire to always be the best person you can be.

Finally, to my littlest man, Jonathan. Jon-Jon, I am thankful that you make me laugh every day! Your carefree, fun approach to life brings me such happiness. I am grateful for the love you show in every hug and kiss. I am thankful for your strength and courage and acceptance of things that sometimes make your life a little more difficult than others. I am grateful for your sweet and tender caring of everyone in our family.


Have a wonderful day, everyone! Take some time to tell your children and your loved ones just exactly why you're thankful for them. I'll be back tomorrow with Day 1 of 25 days of Christmas Cards!

Falling Snow, Candy Stripe Merry Christmas

Hi Everyone!

I hope you've all been doing well. I don't have a recipe to share this week; but I do have a card! This card was made using the November Card Kit from Simon Says Stamp. I also used the falling snow stencil with some texture paste on some Neenah Solar White card stock. I created the candy stripe border with a stamp from the set with Simon Says Stamp Schoolhouse Red ink. 

I stamped the the larger tree on to another piece of Neenah card stock and then stamped the smaller one and cut it out and layered it against the larger one with dimensional adhesive.

Very fun card to create and I like the crisp clean lines of the final product. 

Have a great day and I'll see you all again soon!

Plaid Stamping: Tidings of Joy

Hi Everyone!

I am here on my birthday morning to share a fun card with you for the holiday season. I first saw this plaid stamping technique on Jennifer McGuire's blog and I just LOVED it! I think it's such a fun and versatile way to make an awesome background. You can change how many "rows" of each color you do to whatever makes you happy.

For my card, I chose to do 3 rows of SSS Teal ink and then bordered each of those 3 rows with one row of Hero Arts Wet Cement Shadow Ink.

The center of the card can be a little trickier to do because you don't want to hide the background; but you also need to have something that will stand up the background as well. I made a different card using this technique; but ended up scrapping it because the sentiment used in the middle was just too small.

For this version, I chose the "Unto Us" set from Verve and stamped the outer image using the Wet Cement ink and then the sentiment itself in Teal. I layered it on a piece of Aqua Mist from PTI and then put some platinum liquid pearls around the border for some embellishment.


That is all for me today. I hope you are inspired to create something using this fun techique. Have a great day, everyone and I will see you again soon!

A few challenges:

1. Stamping Sensation: Simply Christmas

2. That Craft Place: Anything Goes

3.Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas: Christmas (Go Green)

4. Treasured Times: Anything Goes

5. We Do Doobadoo: Anything Goes

What's for Dinner Monday? Chili

A quick recipe to share for the cold winter days that are coming! This chili has just the right amount of spice to warm you inside and uses easy to find ingredients. 

Printable Recipe

Have a great day and thank you for visiting with me today. 

Season's Greetings

Hi Everyone!

I have another Christmas card using the Simon Says Stamp November Card Kit. I wanted to use my Circle Card Border die as well with this card. I kept the images simple with the two Christmas trees. One from the stamp set in the kit and the other from the Merry Trees set.

Not a whole lot else to say about this one, so I'm going to leave it at that and get back to doing some more creating.

I decided to find a few challenges to link the card to as well:

1. Addicted to Stamps and More: Anything Goes

2. Inspiration Destination: Anything Goes

3. C.R.A.F.T Challenge:  Christmas

Simon Says Stamp November Card Kit: Holiday Cards

Hi Everyone!!

I'm baaaack!! I know I have been so remiss in blogging lately. I guess I should explain a little bit. I am one of those people who really really dislikes anything related to Christmas prior to November. If given my choice, I would keep everything related to Christmas away until the day after Thanksgiving. Alas, I have come to realize that's not always practical.
I have been working on my holiday cards. A LOT to be honest! So far I have 35 cards created, all of which I hope to start sharing with you. I just didn't want to share them too early.
I promise to also get back to sharing recipes and goings on with the kiddo's and parenting life as well.

Today, I have two cards to share with you using the Simon Says Stamp November Card Kit. This kit has been a lot of fun to play with especially using the pattern papers. With these two cards, I focused on the pattern papers and kept the rest of the card simple.

For the second card, I used a technique for a pattern paper pinwheel that I found on Pinterest. This was a technique that looked easy; but was a little trickier than I thought. I would definitely do it again, however, because I liked the final result so much! Again, I kept the rest of the card simple by just adding some baker's twine and the sentiment.

I hope you like what I've shared with you today. I am looking forward to sharing more with you in the next coming days and weeks!