Bright Hopes and warm wishes

Another Christmas card and another swap for your viewing pleasure! This one was my Control Freaks swap and my Stampin Addicts swap. I chose the stamp set Bright Hopes again only this time I went with a clean and elegant look.

You can't see from the photo, but the tree is embossed with Wild Wasabi embossing powder. It gives the card a little more elegance which was the look I was going for. I also added a little punched border of Stampin' Up!'s new Silver Glimmer Paper for some more glam! 

Stamps: Bright Hopes (Holiday Mini)

Paper: Whisper White, Wild Wasabi, Silver Glimmer Paper (Holiday Mini)

Ink: Versamark, Wild Wasabi

Accessories: Big Shot, Snow Burst embossing folder (Holiday Mini), Basic Rhinestones, Scallop Trim Border Punch, Itty Bitty Punch pack, Wild Wasabi embossing powder, 1" square punch, 

Wishing you a happy Friday and a wonderful weekend! 

Wreath on a Fence

I totally forgot about this swap card I made for yet another Stampin Addicts swap back in August! It was made for a Holiday Mini swap and you know how I love fences and doors so I went with that theme yet again. Lol. 

For the "fence" I first scalloped the top of a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock. Then I used the new Stripes embossing folder and ran it through my Big Shot. 

The wreath was super easy. I just stamped the wreath image, from the Bright Hopes stamp set, with Wild Wasabi ink, punched it with the Scallop Circle punch and sponged the edges. The card shown here is my original. I added Cherry Cobbler marker to the actual stamp. For my swaps, I just stamped with Wild Wasabi and went over the berries with my Cherry Cobbler marker. This was sooo much easier and still looked the same.

The hardest part of this card? The sentiment. I ended up using a Stamp-a-ma-jig for placement on the tiny strip of cardstock. It worked really well - as opposed to trying to get the image straight by eyeballing it.

Stamps: Bright Hopes (Holiday Mini)

Paper: Very Vanilla, Wild Wasabi, Cherry cobbler

Ink: Wild Wasabi, Cherry Cobbler

Other: Mini Silver Brads, Cherry Cobbler Quilted Ribbon (Holiday Mini), Big Shot, Stripes embossing folder, Scallop Border PUnch, Scallop Circle punch, sponge, dimensionals, Corner Rounder punch, Cherry cobbler brad, Stamp-a-ma-jig

For my brother

My brother just had a birthday last week. He is in Pennsylvania. I am in Massachusetts. I couldn't be there for the celebration :(     so I made him a card, sent my best wishes, and remembered when. 

The family had lots to celebrate too! My brother not only had a birthday - he and his wife got the good news that they are expecting another child! We are very excited of course! 

I debated on the ribbon - after all, ribbon isn't very masculine. lol. But since it is seam binding ribbon, I went with it. 

To make the bird, I stamped the image on watercolor paper with Black Stazon. Then I colored it with Stampin' Up! markers. Who needs Copics?? I used Cajun Craze for the bird's tummy and when it blended out, it looked a little on the "red" side. 

Stamps: Nature Walk, Petite Pairs
Paper: Not Quite Navy, So Saffron, Very Vanilla cardstock, Watercolor paper, Well Worn designer paper
Ink: Black Stazon, SU markers, Soft Suede
Accessories: Button, Linen thread, Vanilla Seam Binding Ribbon, dimensionals, Ticket corner punch, sponge, Oval punch


Thanks for stopping!

Grateful

I had a wonderful weekend in spite of working on Saturday. David and I hosted a pastor from Kenya, Africa in our home and he was such a delight. I even learned how to make tea the Kenya way! I think I will stick to coffee. lol.

I have another Stampin Addict Swap card to show you today. This was supposed to be another "Wow" card. Hope you like it! Note: the sentiment in the bottom right corner didn't make it to the final swaps. This card was my original prototype. Everything else is the same.

I used the Always Thankful stamp set from the Holiday Mini for the main image,coloring it with Stampin' Up! markers. But for the background, I used the new Netting background stamp which is fast becoming my favorite background stamp! 

And did you notice the ribbon? It is a new ribbon from the Holiday Mini and it looks like it is quilted! Very cool. It comes in Cherry Cobbler too which looks wonderful on Christmas cards!

Stamps: Netting Background, Always Thankful (Holiday Mini)

Paper: Early Espress, Cajun Craze, Watercolor Paper, Well Worn Dsp

Ink: Black Stazon, Early Espresso, River Rock

Accessories: Color Spritzer Tool, Oval punch, Circle punch, sponge, Big Shot, Leaves #2 die, Brad, blender pen, Early Espresso Quilted Ribbon (Holiday Mini)

I hope you had a great weekend too! 

Sounding Joy Christmas Card

It' never too early to make Christmas cards so I thought I would give you a sample of one I made for another Stampin Addict swap.

Several things on this card, including the stamp set, are found in the Holiday Mini catalog. 

To make this card I used the new Snow Burst embossing folder for the background. The next layer is stamped with the Sounding Joy stamp set and then overlayed with regular Vellum. Before I attached the vellum with mini brads, I embossed the sentiment using the new Pewter embossing powder. 

Finally, I die cut some stars from the new Silver Glimmer Paper and added them for some extra pizzazz. To do this without wasting Glimmer paper, I cut a small piece of the Glimmer paper and placed it over the bottom 2 stars on the die. Then I ran it through the Big Shot. Save those scraps! I will show you another day what I used them for!

This is an easy card with lots of glam!

Stamps: Sounding Joy (Holiday Mini)

Ink: Versamark, Black Stazon

Paper: Basic Black, Very Vanilla, Vellum, Silver Glimmer Paper (Holiday Mini)

Other: Big Shot, Stars #2 die, Silver Mini Brads, Snow Burst embossing folder (Holiday Mini), Pewter embossing powder (Holiday Mini)

I hope you enjoyed the card and Happy Friday!

Always Thankful Swap

Yesterday was my first day back to work after my Cape Cod vacation. It was a little rough getting back into the groove! I heard that same message from my daughters when they went back to work on Monday. Poor David, my husband. He was inundated with mail, meetings, and messages when he went back to the office. It is all worth it tho!

Speaking of mail. When I got home and collected a weeks worth of mail, I had 2 packages of swaps awaiting me! Woo Hoo! 

Today's card is one of the swaps I made for the Stampin Addicts Wow Holiday Mini Swap. We were asked to make a card that when someone looked at it they would say "wow". It was a fun swap!

I would link you to Stampin Addicts but my computer won't access that particular site right now. I tried different browsers and my husbands PC (I have a Mac) to no avail. It has to be our internet or something because I can access it at work on my computer. Sorry, I digressed.

I used Stampin' Up! markers to color the image. It looked a little nekid when I was done so I punched so little flowers to add to my bouquet.

Stamps: Always Thankful - Holiday Mini

Ink: Black Stazon, SU Markers, Early Espresso

Paper: Well Worn dsp, Early Espresso, So Saffron, Cajun Craze cardstock, Watercolor paper

Other: Itty Bitty Punch pack, Basic Pearls, Hemp Twine, Color Spritzer Tool, dimensionals, sponge, oval punch, Very Vanilla Velvet Ribbon (Holiday Mini)

I will post some more of my swaps eventually. In the meantime, thanks for looking!

Go Red Sox - Stocking Builder Punch

I live in Massachusetts. I live among Boston Red Sox fans - lots of them! 

My husband is a sports fan, especially Philadelphia since he grew up in South Jersey. But he does appreciate the Red Sox and even has a Red Sox t-shirt. The other day, he sat across from me while wearing the aforementioned shirt when it hit me. I could use the new Stocking Builder Punch and create a Red Sox card! How fun!

I don't have the Varsity Alphabet stamp set which would have been so much better. Instead I used the Timeless Type Sizzlit Die and my Big Shot. It was a pretty good substitute!

To make the card I used the Stocking Builder Punch from the Holiday Mini to punch the socks from Real Red cardstock. Then I used the Medium Oval punch to make the cuff part at the top. After that, I just added some lines with the Uni-ball gel pen, some white toes and heels, and a tiny layer of white cardstock behind the left sock.

I created the baseball by using the 3 inch circle die and Whisper White cardstock. To make the stitching I used another 3 inch circle and traced the curved lines with a Night of Navy marker. I added the rest of the stitching on the baseball with a Real Red marker.

The white stitching on the Night of Navy cardstock is real. I added it as an after thought to balance the stitching on the baseball.

Stamps: none

Cardstock: Real Red, Whisper White, Night of Navy

Ink: Real Red, Night of Navy

Accessories: Big Shot, Timeless Type sizzlits, 3" Circle die, dimensionals, sponge, White Uni-ball pen, Medium oval punch, Stocking Builder Punch

Creativity

We just got back from a week at Cape Cod (Massachusetts), one of my favorite places on earth! All 3 daughters were able to join us for part, or all of the time there, which made it even more special. We made lots of memories.

The girls are so creative with their photography - way more than I am! They got the idea to use sidewalk chalk and draw on our cottage's driveway. Then they had me stand on a chair and take their picture. I love it! And yeah. This pretty much sums it all up. lol!

My youngest daughter came up with this idea to use the picture frame. She took this picture of the beach and the ocean in the background (tide is out). I love this too - I just wish I had thought to have them stand in the background. But I love the creativity aspect and I never get tired of the ocean!

I thought you might like to see a card too. It is a simple one again - but will cost me an additional 20 cents to send it because of the ribbon. Lol!

I used Vintage Vogue which I love, but never use much anymore. I also used the Stripes background stamp for the bottom half. A Stamp a ma gig was needed to line it up. I suppose it could be done without one but it would be tough unless you have a really good eye and steady hand which I don't.

All supplies are Stampin' Up!

Stamps: Vintage Vogue, Stripes Background

Ink: Early Espresso

Cardstock: Crumb Cake

Other: Pear Pizzazz ribbon, Stamp-a-ma-gig

No extra postage required

I needed a customer thank you note the other day so I pulled out one of my favorite stamp sets, Creative Elements. 

I have to be honest, I get so annoyed sometimes with our local post office. I may have even posted this before because it is an ongoing issue with me! The postal workers at our post office will literally feel the envelope from top to bottom, end to end. They look for any bump at all. If there is the slightest bump - 20 cents extra. Grrr!

I have tried adding an extra piece of crimped cardstock slipped inside over the front of the card - nope - 20 cents extra.

So sometimes I just stamp a clean and simple card with no embellishments. That can be a challenge, especially for me!

This is the card I made. I was inspired by a wedding invitation we recently received.

I love this design so much, I will be using it again and again!

If you would like to place an order, please visit my online store found by clicking here.

Stamps: Creative Elements, Thank You Kindly

Paper: Very Vanilla

Ink: Perfect Plum

Thanks for stopping by.

Congratulations are in order

Well first - if you are in the United States, Happy Labor Day! Hopefully you are like me and have the day off from labor work! I have big plans for the day!

Now on to today's card. I made it as an adoption congratulations for 2 of my most loyal customers. They recently finalized the adoption of their 7/8 year old daughter! I think it is a wonderful thing they have done and I am so excited for all 3 of them! Therefore, I just had to make, and send a card.

Rather than the traditional Congratulations card I used the saying, and butterflies from the Butterfly Prints stamp set. I thought it was really appropriate!

I am not sure why Wisteria Wonder looks gray on this card (at least on my computer screen).

To make the ruffled edge around the circle, I punched a strip of cardstock with the Eyelet Border punch. Then I crimped it with the Crimper which makes it very pliable. Lastly, I bent it as I wrapped it around the punched circle of dsp.

All supplies are Stampin' Up!

Stamps: Butterfly Prints

Paper: Pretty in Pink, Whisper White, Flirtatious Specialty dsp

Ink: Wisteria Wonder, Pretty in Pink

Accessories: Big Shot,Vintage Wallpaper tief, Wisteria Wonder Ribbon, Glitter Brads, Scallop Oval punch, Eyelet Border Punch, 2 1/2" Circle Punch, Butterfly Punch, Dimensionals, Crimper

Thanks for stopping. Enjoy your day!