Embossed Snowflakes Cards

I've been enjoying using heat embossing in my stamping recently. It's fun to revisit techniques you learned and kind of moved away from. When I saw this beauty of a card on Wizard's Hangout, I knew I wanted to play, too! I liked it in blue and decided it was so much fun, I wanted to try in pinks, too.

Oh, Wow!

I think these are about my most favorite cards so far this season. 

I'm so glad I saw the idea and was able to play.

Please follow the link above for great steps on how to create this look for yourself.

Stamps Used:

Merry and Bright

Frosted set from the workshop in the CTMH 2013 Fall/Winter Idea Book

Inks:

Outdoor Denim, Sky, Twilight,

Vineyard Berry, Hollyhock, Blush

Thanks so much for stopping by.

I hope you have a lovely day.

Jeanne

Hexagon Christmas Tree

When I saw this card I just loved the idea of using hexagon shapes to make a tree. I thought it would be super fun to use Doodlebug paper, too. I have to admit it took a little arranging and rearranging to get them lined up in a pleasing way.  Edited to add a direct link to specific card

*Ü*

I've not jumped on board the sequin bandwagon really. I like the look but am not sure it's for me. I found these neat looking flat sequins at Hobby Lobby and thought I'd give them a try. The package was 75 cents on sale...not a huge out of pocket expense to try it. I picked them up with the goober stick (not the official name) from Lifestyle Crafts and it left a residue. Sigh. 

Sentiment is from Paper Smooches Christmas Sampler. Also used Doodlebug Twine for the bow.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Hope you have a happy day!

Colorful Trees

I saw this idea on the web somewhere, but didn't note or save where. I've been trying to find the inspiration link for a few days and I'm just not having any luck. I want to say it was Jennifer McGuire, but I can't find it on her blog. If you've seen this idea, send me the link and I'll give proper credit.

It's super easy really. You stamp your image(Warm Hearts, Paper Smooches), color it in with markers (I chose Sharpies), then cover the trees with Liquid Glass (CTMH) or Glossy Accents. My Liquid Glass had some bubbles in it, so it's not quite as smooth as I had hoped. Then I decided to use a technique I've seen my friend, Alanna, use to add score lines. I like how it set off the trees. Add your sentiment (Merry & Bright, CTMH) and you are good to go. 

Not my usual style, but fun nonetheless.

Thanks for stopping by!

I hope you have a great start to your weekend. 

Stay warm!

Whipper Snapper Penguin Ike Card

I've discovered a new to me, kind of local, scrapbook store recently. In addition to lots of scrapbooking goodies, they sell stamps (like Lawn Fawn and Paper Smooches as well as others). On a visit a few weekends ago, I got to chatting with the very nice clerk. She pointed out some new Whipper Snapper rubber mounted stamps they had just gotten in. Okay, I love Whipper Snapper images. My friend, Kathi, used to create super cute cards with them a few years ago (when she was still creating and blogging...miss your posts, Kathi!). It was hard to choose an image, but the clerk told me what she did with this Ike Penguin stamp and I decided to get it and play, too. *Ü*

Isn't he just adorable?!

The clerk at the store told me she uses chalks to color her images and what sounded like a blender pen. I have chalks and a blender pen that I haven't used in forever, so I dusted them off and got to work! It was fun, but I do think I like coloring with pencils a little bit more. ;)

Another item I picked up on this trip to the store is a Wink Of Stella pen (link added to show you what it looks like) in clear. I have heard others rave about the pen. How it adds just the right amount of shimmer with its brush tip. I put it on the ear muffs, the band connecting the muffs and his tummy. Unfortunately, the camera didn't pick it up very well. But it looks great in person. *Ü*

I used a Cuttlebug embossing folder, circle Nestabilities, a snowflake (Winter's Butterfly) stamp in Sky ink(CTMH) and some pattern paper from DCWV. 

Thanks so much for stopping by!

We are bracing for an Arctic blast, if the weatherfolk can be trusted. It's been in the 60s and sunny for several days, but with this system tomorrow the high is supposed to be 10! On Thursday, a high of 7 is forecast. Anywhere from 4-8 inches of snow is also predicted. 

Brrrrrrr!

Guess we've been spoiled a little too long. 

KWerner Card Case-Snowman

I've been reading KWerner's blog again the past few weeks. I used to read a lot of stamping blogs, but cut down when my mojo took a major hit. Lately the mojo seems to be in overdrive and it's been a lot of fun watching stamping videos and playing. So anyway, she is doing a video series on holiday cards and I really liked this one and decided to CASE it.

I'm pretty happy with the final result. I colored in the snowman with pencils and odorless mineral spirits. I picked up an Impression Obsession snowflake die set that cuts all those snowflakes in one pass if you want. Then I covered them with Rock Candy Distress Glitter. I tried the Tim Holtz embossing diffusers found at my local Archiver's. I thought it was really neat that you could put the circle template down and it would only emboss that part of the folder. You can also emboss the background and leave the circle unembossed (is that a word? Maybe keep it smooth sounds better). I rubbed some distress ink over the embossed part. 

As I said, it's a CASE of the card she shares in her video, so if you wanted to see how to create it(or the supply list) you can check it out in the link above. Very fun!

Thanks so much for stopping by.

I hope you have a great week! 

Snowflake Card

I saw some really neat snowflake cards on Wizard's Hangout, here. I thought they were very striking. I don't own the same sets as the ones Vicky uses however. So after much trial and error (and borrowing the Merry & Bright set from my friend, Becky (thanks!), here is what I came up with.

I liked the Gypsy and Whisper color combination. And I really like the linear look of the single snowflake stamp sold in the Autumn/Winter 2013 CTMH catalog(it's an M stamp). I had a hard time finding a small snowflake that looked right. I made this several days ago and didn't note the set I got that stamp from. Shoot. You'd think I'd remember, but I own a lot of snowflake sets. LOL The sentiment is from Merry and Bright. I added the gems from my stash.  A lot of cardstock ended up in the wastebasket, but I'm glad I persevered.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Floral Birthday Using Art Philosophy

Hello! Hope you have had a wonderful weekend so far. Happy Thanksgiving weekend to those of you who read my blog in the US. We had a neat day. The Denver Museum of Nature and Science is hosting a Mythbusters Exhibition until January. We have wanted to go, but had to do so when Steve was available. Knowing the museum was open on Thanksgiving and that we eat at our normal supper time(no family in town), we decided to go Thursday morning. It was a great time as it wasn't too busy. 

Here are a few sort of decent photos I managed to capture with my phone camera and a bit of enhancing in PSE.

 Steve even got in on the hands on activities. This one was about building a structure that could withstand wind ala The Three Pigs. 

Jessica loved creating all kinds of structures with the different blocks available.

I'm so happy to have this picture turn out okay. This was a highlight of the exhibit. The question to answer was do you get wetter walking or running in the rain. You could do either through a walkway that mimicked rainfall. Then you could look at yourself in a mirror with a blacklight above it. You could then see how many waterdrops you got. Of course the girls went through several times, so the results are not really scientifically accurate. ;) Neat result nonetheless.

And onto the card I created. I saw the original here on Courtney Lane Designs. I thought the cluster of flowers and leaves were just so pretty. I don't own the Art Philosophy cartridge(for the flowers and leaves), but I have a friend who does (Hi Becky) and who is nice enough to let me borrow it. *Ü*

Here is my version of the card:

It's pretty much a copy and steal everything. I used CTMH cardstock and inks: Baby Pink, Buttercup, Pear, Sunflower and Cotton Candy. I used pattern paper from the Chantilly paper pack. The centers of the flowers are punched with circle punches.The focal piece is a cut from the Artiste cartridge (p. 33). The Happy Birthday sentiment is from Papertrey Ink's Birthday Basics set. I embossed the background with a Darice embossing folder. I meant to use it the other way, but didn't realize I had it "backwards" until after I  adhered the flowers. Oh well. I kind of like the detail of the debossed look. So, happy accident there! Oh the sparkly looking gems are from CTMH as well. 

Thanks so much for stopping by. 

I just love it when the creative mojo is flowing!

Merry Christmas Dotty Tree

I just started following KWernerDesign's blog again recently and perked right up when I saw this card. I know how to do that technique. *Ü*

Yay! How fun, right? 

I have a triangle punch that I used and it fit on a post-it. I taped that down on my cardstock, found some dot stamps in my stash and pulled out CTMH colors: Pear, Topiary, Ponderosa Pine and Holiday Red. The star is from a Hero Arts stamp set and the Merry Christmas is a Paper Smooches Christmas Sampler sentiment. The twine is Doodlebug. I used an older border punch along the bottom edge. I believe it's from EK Success. I've had it for several years. Oh the embossing folder is a Darice one that I picked up at Joann's. 

Thanks so much for stopping by.

I hope you have an awesome weekend.

Glittery Stripes Happy Holidays Card

I honestly can't decide if this card is a good one or not. Something seems off to me. Probably the size of the focal point versus the background. I saw this card on the Lawn Fawn blog (actually it's the second card featured on the blog post) and thought it looked really, really cool. I wanted to try my hand at it. I found some of that glitter(Rock Candy distress glitter), and had the super sticky tape. I don't have those stamps sets used, but I made do with what I do have. Here's the final result.

The more I look at it the more I don't really care for it, to be honest. 

I'm glad I tried it, but I will probably have to go back to the drawing board.

I found the banner on CTMH's Artiste Cricut Cartridge. It's two pieces layered on top of each other. I ran the outline piece through my Xyron sticker maker and added silver glitter. Mainly because I don't own any silver embossing powder I've discovered. (egads, and I call myself a crafter? LOL). The "holly" is a Martha Stewart branch punch with some small red gems and a bit of Doodle twine. The happy holidays is from a retired CTMH stamp set called Seasonal Thoughts and is the only sentiment that would really fit in that space. 

All in all, a good idea, in theory but not as good as I'd hoped in execution. 

Oh well, can't win 'em all!

Now the next card I share...that one I do like!

*Ü*

Doodlebug Tree Card

 This is my version of a CAS card that I saw here. Not much to tell as what you see is what you get.

I've actually had this done for awhile, but I kept forgetting to take a picture of it. I really liked the tree on the sticker sheet I bought, but I didn't know what to do with it really, until I saw the picture I linked. Adding the Gelly Stardust Glitter pen line really helps to set it off, doesn't it?

Thanks so much for stopping by!

I have a couple of holiday cards to share so come back soon.

*Ü*

My Bokeh Stamping Attempt

I saw this very pretty card and loved the effect the stamper was able to achieve. While I don't own the daubers the gal used, I do have circle stamps. Here is the end result of my effort to "bokeh" stamp.

I used Lagoon and Pear inks and a circle stamp from Papertrey Ink's Floral Frenzy set. Basically, I just started with full ink and kept stamping until it wore off. Then I went back and added Icicle Stickles to some of the circles. The sentiment is from Taylored Expressions Sparkle and Cheer set. I also used a Spellbinders Label One die and gems from my stash. 

Kind of a neat look, I think.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Have a happy day.

Snowflake Cards

I saw some really nice cards showcasing snowflakes while blog reading (here and here-you will have to scroll down to find the cards I saw...the kraft one was the inside of a card) and tried my hand at creating them for myself using a Hero Arts Winter's Butterfly set

These were stamped in Versamark ink and heat embossed with white embossing powder. The blue is Ocean from CTMH. The Merry Christmas sentiment is from Sparkle and Cheer by Taylored Expressions.

There is something really appealing to me with white ink on kraft cardstock. I used CTMH's pigment white and Desert Sand ink 

We haven't seen too many snowflakes around here just yet. I know they will be coming sooner or later though.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Hope your week is off to a great start.

Joy Card

When I saw this card I was totally inspired. For the first time in a long time, I immediately knew what I wanted to do to make my own version of the card(quite the feat for this copier of cards). I had a lot of fun putting this one together and I am happy with the end result.

I have had this Darice Snowflake Background embossing folder for a while and just hadn't had the right inspiration to put it to use. I love the swirly feel of it and the leaf one I shared before. The technique is easy enough. Rub your ink color over the raised part of the embossing folder. You might want to be careful to not get ink on the non raised parts as that will transfer onto your paper when you run it through your embossing machine. In my case, I trimmed off any "oops" ink. Don't forget to rinse off your folder when you are done with the ink.

I wanted my letters to pop a bit, but don't have that same stamp set. I used my Cricut and letters from Plantin Schoolbook. I cut 5 of each to glue together to mimic chipboard height. I've seen that tip around blogland and am happy to have remembered it to actually use it!

I like how the glitter paper really sparkles. 

I thought I had the letters lined up in the middle of the card, but once I glued them down (with liquid glue, darn) I realized I was off just a tad. I could have started over, but I didn't want to, so I pulled out a metal snowflake sticker from Momenta (found at Joann's) to help offset my oops. 

I used Heavenly Blue ink and cardstock and glitter cardstock from CTMH. 

Thanks so much for stopping by! 

Hope you have a happy day.

Follow My Blog Feedly Button

This is a little housekeeping post. I never really said anything earlier this year when Google Reader disappeared. I just started following the blogs I read in Feedly. The transition was easy and I just never thought any more about it. Recently I've been wondering if people know how to follow me if they come across my blog. I know to copy and paste the blog's url into Feedly(or Reader when it was available) to add the blog to my list, but maybe others don't know.

So, if you are using Feedly or are looking for a service to house and keep track of all the blogs you follow, I recommend Feedly. I've added a button to the sidebar for one click access to follow my blog there.

If you want to add the same button to your blog, I recommend going to this post for the code. I tried and tried to copy the correct information at the Feedly Button Factory and couldn't get it right. The blog post I linked has the correct code and all you do is insert your blog address where indicated.

If I just totally confused you, I'm sorry. Just move along to my next post. *Ü*

A Couple of Fall Themed Cards

Boy did I have fun today. My creative mojo was in full force today and I took full advantage of that and made several cards. I won't bombard you with all of them at once, but here are a couple.

This first one is actually a second version of one I made today. The other one isn't fall themed, but I took the idea on that card and used it here. 

This uses a Darice embossing folder called Fall Leaves Background. To get the color, I rubbed ink(CTMH's Autumn Terracotta) over the raised part of the folder before running it through my Cuttlebug. Love how that turned out. I took the sentiment from a Hero Arts set that I have labeled as Happy Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, I cannot find a link for the set on the Hero Arts website, nor on the Archiver's website. I bought the set at Archiver's a year ago at least. It could have been one that was exclusive to Archivers, but I no longer have the packaging to say for sure. 

This next card was inspired by this one. So pretty.

I used an old, retired CTMH set called Fall Leaves and the same Hero Arts Happy Thanksgiving set for the sentiment and the smallest leaf images. 

Colors are Autumn Terracotta, Goldrush, Honey, Chocolate and Cocoa(sentiment)

It sure was fun getting inky today.

*Ü*

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Hope you have a happy day!

Crocheted Owl Gifts

I recently completed a couple of crocheted items that were birthday gifts for my friend, Becky. She really likes owls. I try to find something unique and/or fun that has an owl theme for her. She liked them (yay!) and I thought you might like to see what I made. It was fun getting back into crocheting again.

This first project is called, It's a Hoot!

I found it via Pinterest. Here is one of the pins you can find on Pinterest. A unique feature is the fact that the buttons are crocheted in place as you complete the round of stitching. This is opposed to stitching them in place after you are done with the project. I thought that was pretty neat. And I liked the cable look of the owls themselves. The yarn I used is Red Heart Shimmer. You may not be able to see it, but there is an iridescent thread running through the yarn that adds a wonderful, well, shimmer. I can attest that the pattern was easy to follow and worked up rather quickly.

Next up is an owl doll/pillow/decor item. 

The pattern calls her Maggie the Owl and I was immediately smitten with the geometric shapes and the African Flower design. (Becky is also a fan of anything geometric) How cool to piece the motifs together to create and animal. Here is the pin that sucked me in...lol

Here is the finished project.

I have to share that I originally crocheted all the motifs using regular worsted weight yarn as specified in the pattern. I freely admit that I have difficulty visualizing what a finished project will look like in terms of sizing. And it wasn't until I started putting the owl together that I realized just how big it was going to become. Too big for me to feel comfortable with. I took a picture of the one I completed and the front part of the original version. 

Yikes, huh?

I was bummed at first when I realized how large it was going to become, thinking I wouldn't be able to make the owl after all. Then I got the idea to try again, only using a smaller yarn. So I ended up using what is called crochet thread. It is bedspread weight cotton thread. I'm thrilled at how well it worked! I took these pictures on my bed so as to give you an idea of the size of the owl against the standard size decor pillows that are on the bed. Plus I thought the colors worked well together. 

*Ü*

Thanks so much for stopping by.

I hope you have a happy weekend!

Check back soon as I made some cards today. 

Yay!

SVG Cuts-Cute Scarecrow

 Sometimes I just feel like playing with paper and, when there are cute cutting files like this scarecrow from a set called Leaves are Falling at SVG Cuts, playing with paper can result in something really neat. Thanks to some extra time due to Jessica signing up for a few after school activities, I was able to make this fun scarecrow. There are other projects included, but I've not gotten to those yet.

I cut the files using Make The Cut software and my cutting machine. The paper is a DCWV stack from last year called Amber Autumn.  I also used some scraps from my stash. 

Putting it together isn't hard, but it does take some time and patience(and maybe a peek or two at the assembly video on the SVG Cuts website). 

I'm pretty dang happy with how this project came out. 

*Ü*

Thanks so much for stopping by!

I hope you have a happy weekend.

Sparkly Reindeer Card

It is great when your creative mojo coincides with having some time to act upon that creative urge! I have one more card to share with you.

Recently Jessica celebrated her 11th (sniff) birthday and she received just about the most perfect gift for a bibliophile, a gift card to Barnes and Noble! While there so she could shop to her heart's content,  I came across a magazine published in the UK. I've never bought any of these types of magazines, but this one had some stamp set freebies I couldn't resist. It's called Make Christmas Cards Bumper Pack. I tried finding it online, but I was unsuccessful. Anyway, I thought some of the stamps were adorable and sat down this weekend to use one stamp in particular. The magazine also came with a packet of papers, both for making cards, decoupage and even coloring.

The magazine had a step by step on how to create this card, although it isn't difficult. It came with the pattern paper, but I had the cardstock, snowflake punch, ribbon and gems. I also colored him and his little friend with colored pencils and odorless mineral spirits. I added the sparkle using Stickles. Had a little issue with globbing on the one side, but after it dried it didn't look too bad, so I didn't have to start over. 

Isn't he just so cute?

That's it from me today.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Hope to see you again soon.

Advent Calendar Cubby and Warm Winter Wishes Card

As I was starting to write this post, I realized I have neglected to share a project I made last month. My friend, Becky, became a Close To My Heart consultant this year. Over the summer she came up with a workshop idea to create an advent calendar cubby using a My Creations Cubby and box cuts from the Artiste Cricut cartridge. . One day last month a group of us got together made our cubby. I just realized I never shared mine!

The paper I chose to use is a special paper pack in the Holidays from the Heart Gift Guide released recently. It's called Sparkle and Shine. We used the Magical Days set for the numbers and my version uses Ruby, Slate and Twilight ink. While not a difficult project to create, it did take time. But it was well worth the effort!

Thanks for putting this together Becky!

It's hard to tell in these photos, but one of the circles on each row of boxes is popped up to add a little dimension. Not too long after the workshop, Becky got the bright idea to decorate the back side of the cubby with different paper, thus you could alternate the cubbies each year. I think that is a great idea!

In the Autumn/Winter 2013 catalog, on page 69 you'll see a Workshops on the Go Frosted Cardmaking Kit. It comes with its own stamp set. You can also see samples of the cards you can make using the kit. I chose to use some leftover Sparkle and Shine paper, Ponderosa Pine, Ruby and Heavenly Blue ink along with a little cardstock and clear embossing powder as well as a rhinestone and a scrap of white ribbon to pull the card together. I stamped the tree image with full strength ink, then stamped it again (what CTMH calls second generation stamping). I used the same technique that I used on the Season's Greetings Snowflakes card on the snowflake image. This pattern paper is reminiscent of snow falling to me.

Getting ready to post this card reminded me that I hadn't posted the cubby project. 

Now I have posted both.

Thanks for stopping by. 

I hope you are having a happy day.