Christmas at Home - Stampin' Up! At Home With You

  I'm working on getting my Christmas cards in order to mail out as soon as I can get a decent picture of my children to include in them.  I swear there is some genetic mutation in my kids that prevents them both from smiling nicely at the same time for a photo.  If one is smiling and looking at the camera the other one has his eyes closed and is smiling like it's the most painful thing in the world.  If the one is smiling with his eyes open the other is tilting his head in a way that makes him look like a complete stranger and not my child all the while stretching his smile so big I can see the back of his mouth.  I might have to resort to some photoshopping.  I believe this is one of the reasons the holiday season can be so stressful lol!

  When I received my holiday catalog preorder and I was looking through the Festive Farmhouse DSP checking out all the designs I thought the one white woodgrain one kind of looked like house siding.  That idea stuck so I went with it and pulled out my long neglected At Home With You stamp set and At Home framelits.

  I couldn't decide initally which color cardstock would make the better base so I ended up making the same card twice varying the base and door color.  Which do you like better?

Gray Granite

Smoky Slate

 It was fun using my Stampin' Blends to do the coloring since the color is so rich it really pops against the neutrals.

  I used the die to cut the door so that it would pop open but for the pictures I used some repositionable adhesive to close them.  On the inside of the door I stamped Merry Christmas.

  The porch accessories are all popped on dimensionals except for the door mat and I added red rhinestones to the potted bushes for a little sparkle.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: At Home With You

Ink: Memento Black

Blends: Crumb Cake, Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler, Black, Smoky Slate, Daffodil Delight

Paper: Gray Granite, Smoky Slate, Festive Farmhouse DSP, Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White

Accessories: At Home framelits, dimensionals, red rhinestones

Copper Christmas Tree - Stampin' Up! Snow is Glistening

  It's a week after Thanksgiving and I'm still trying to get organized!  How does going away for just a few days mess me up with my "to do" list?  I definitely have projects to share I just need to make time to sit down and write up the blog posts!

  Here is a card I made when I was playing around with the Snow is Glistening stamp set which is only available until November 30.  Don't wait to order it or the coordinating framelits dies.

  I love the snowflake tree in this set.  It's so elegant and when it's embossed it's even better!

  The Joyous Noel Glimmer paper and the Joyous Noel DSP have made their way onto many of my Christmas designs so far.  I was disappointed that the DSP sold out but a few of my stampers were lucky enough to snag a pack.  Every design is gorgeous!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Snow is Glistening

Ink: Versamark, Gray Granite, Merry Merlot

Paper: Gray Granite, Tranquil Tide, Whisper White, Merry Merlot, Joyous Noel Glimmer paper, Joyous Noel DSP

Accessories: copper embossing powder, Softly Falling embossing folder, Stitched Shapes framelits, dimensionals, ruffled ribbon

  

Joyful Copper Snowflakes - Stampin' Up! Snow is Glistening - Fab Friday 151

We're back with another fantastic Fab Friday stamping challenge to get your creativity flowing!  I know you want to take some time this weekend to work on some Christmas cards so take a look at our fun sketch and see what you can make with it!

  I am still mourning the fact that the Joyful Noel DSP is all sold out and no longer available.  I had a few more projects I wanted to show to my stampers but at least I can enjoy these designs with my personal stamping.  I think there will be a lot of copper getting mailed from my house this Christmas season!

  I combined the Snow is Glistening stamp set, the Snowfall thinlets and the Joyous Noel paper for an elegant snowflake card.

  My whole card was built up around this beautiful copper foil and neutral paper.  I simply added a banner and then put my layered snowflake on with a dimensional.   The Joy is embossed in copper to stick with the theme and then a simple narrow organdy ribbon is used at the top to anchor the banner.

  The snowflake layers are from the bottom up Copper Glimmer paper from the Joyous Noel Glimmer paper pack, Gray Granitem Whisper White and then the itty bitty little copper glimmer paper star that is from the center of the big snowflake.

  I hope you'll check out the rest of the Fab Friday Design Team and then play along with us!  

Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Snow is Glistening

Ink: Versamark

Paper: Whisper White thick, Joyful Noel DSP, Whisper White, copper glimmer, Gray Granite

Accessories: copper embossing powder, Snowfall Thinlets, dimensionals, narrow organdy ribbon

More Snowflakes - Stampin' Up! Snow is Glistening

 I'm having a great time creating Christmas cards with the Snowflake Showcase suite.  I'm kind of sad this wasn't included in the Holiday catalog since it's such a great set I feel that I won't have enough time with it before it's gone.  The products in this suite are limited time only and few items have already sold out so don't wait if this is on your list!

  It's fun to play around with different color combinations at Christmas.  I've mostly shared only the standard red/green looks so far but this is a bit more playful and I think kind of retro.  It doesn't translate in the photo but it is sparkly too.  

  The card base is Flirty Flamingo and the white layer is Shimmery White with the corners rounded.  I stamped a small sprinkling of snow flakes in Pool Party diagonally on the Shimmery white.

  Using the Snowfall Thinlets dies I cut a variety of snowflakes in Pool Party, Flirty Flamingo and Soft Sea Foam.  Before adhering them to the card front I colored them with my Clear Wink of Stella for sparkle. 

  The tree is Soft Sea Foam stamped in Soft Sea Foam ink and cut out.  I popped it on dimensionals over a length of retired Flirty Flamingo ribbon.  The tree base is stamped in Flirty Flamingo.

  Joy is stamped in Pool Party and punched out with an oval punch and a few of the snowflakes are embellished with a rhinestone in the center. 

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Snow is Glistening

Ink: Soft Sea Foam, Pool Party, Flirty Flamingo

Paper: Flirty Flamingo, Soft Sea Foam, Pool Party, Shimmery White

Accessories: Snowfall Thinlets, rhinestones, dimensionals, Wink of Stella, Flirty Flamingo ribbon (retired)

From Santa - Stampin' Up! Sincerely Santa

  This is one of the easiest Christmas cards ever!  Do you have a lot of DSP?  And ribbon?  So get to stamping and making your Christmas cards!  You can mix and match all your paper and ribbon and create some cute tags to make this easy design!

  I took my inspiration from the Sincerely Santa tag kit and decided to make a cardfront look like a present and make a fancy tag to go with.  I pulled my colors from the current Card Concept Challenge theme/inspiration picture "Homespun Holidays".  I liked the greenery of the tree and the pops of the red.

  The card base is Real Red, then a layer of Festive Farmhouse DSP.  I tied some Real Red mixed satin ribbon around the DSP layer to mimic a bow tied around a gift.

  The tag is stamped in Mossy Meadow and punched out with a circle punch (you can use circle framelits also) and then I jazzed it up with some of the smaller die cuts from the Snowfall Thinlets set. Each of the snowflakes has a red rhinestone in it's center.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Sincerely Santa

Ink: Mossy Meadow

Paper: Real Red, Whisper White, Festive Farmhouse DSP, Mossy Meadow

Accessories: Real Red mixed satin ribbon, circle punch, Snowfall Thinlets, red rhinestones, dimensionals

So Many Snowflakes - Stampin' Up! Snow is Glistening

  Well today's card is appropriate for much of the Northeast!  While it was just rainy here in Central VA yesterday a bit further north and they were seeing the white stuff!  Maybe some even have a snow day today?  It's nice and sunny though cold here.  It felt good to walk Alex to school this morning and have the sunshine on our faces.

  I've been having a lot of fun with the Snow is Glistening stamp set and coordinating Snowfall Thinlets dies.  I love a classic snowflake set for not only Christmas card but Christmas thank yous as well as all purpose winter cards.  It's a limited time only suite of products so be sure to order sooner rather than later.

  With all the gray rainy weather we've been having my photographs have suffered somewhat and even editing doesn't help too much so bear with me!  I designed this card for the CAS-ual Fridays challenge.  The sketch seemed like it was made for snowflakes! 

  The card base is Crumb Cake then a layer of Real Red and then a layer of Festive Farmhouse DSP.

  The center strip is Real Red with the sentiment embossed in white.  I tied a bit of retired Pool Party baker's twine around for a little detail.  My retired ribbon/twine collection is getting out of hand!

  The smaller snowflakes are Pool Party and the larger ones are the now discontinued White Velvet paper.  Demonstrators must have gone nuts because it sold out very quickly.  It's a nice kind of flocked texture but really on this design Whisper White snowflakes would look the same so this is easy enough to re-create without the Velvet paper.

  I popped the larger snowflakes with mini dimensionals and put a Pearl White basic sequin in the center.  I used my Dark Pool Party Blends marker and colored a few rhinestones to add a bit of sparkle.  I love that the Blends can be used on a lot of the accessories to make customized details.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Snow is Glistening

Ink: Versamark

Paper: Crumb Cake, Real Red, Pool Party, White Velvet (retired), Festive Farmhouse DSP

Accessories: Snowfall Thinlets, white embossing powder, baker's twine (retired), sequins, rhinestones, dimensionals

Colorful Leaves - Stampin' Up! Colorful Seasons - Fab Friday 150

 Wow!  Can you believe we are on our 150th Fab Friday Stampin' Challenge??  That's pretty impressive I think!  It's been a fun ride with the fabulous Design Team we have at Fab Friday!  I hope you'll be able to join us in this great color challenge.

  I tried to get really creative and use these colors to make a Christmas card.  That's a BIG NOPE!  I just couldn't get any of my "good" ideas to pan out.  That Cajun Craze just wasn't doing it for me even in super small doses.  So I went with some classic autumn maple leaves and broke out the Stamp-a-ratus for my alignment.  This card would be near impossible without the Stamp-a-ratus.  I first used some scrap copy paper to get my alignment just right then stamped the card front in one go without a goof up!  I was actually kind of proud of myself!  It's the little things right?

  The Colorful Seasons stamp set might be getting overlooked for Holiday Catalog items right now but there are so many great images for all year round so be sure to not let your set get dusty on the shelf!  

  The Thank You sentiment is from Another Wonderful Year and is embossed in Copper on Tranquil Tide cardstock.  I used some linen thread across the card front to soften the lines a bit.  The whole leaf panel is popped on dimensionals.

  I think this card will be perfect for thanking our Thanksgiving dinner hosts!  Make sure you get a card stamped for your hosts if you're going some place for Thanksgiving.  It's always nice to say thank you!

  I can't wait to see what you all do with this wonderful set of colors!  Check out the rest of the Design Team and play along to celebrate 150 challenges!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Colorful Seasons, Another Wonderful Year

Ink: Mint Macaron, Cajun Craze, Blackberry Bliss, Versamark

Paper: Whisper White thick, Whisper White, Tranquil Tide

Accessories: copper embossing powder, linen thread, dimensionals

  

Joyous Christmas - Stampin' Up! Merry Christmas To All

  I fell in love with the Joyous Noel Specialty paper when I saw the Holiday catalog back in the summer and I'm still loving it.  I was really disppointed last week when I featured it on a card at class and then saw that it had moved to the backorder list!  I guess me and a zillion other people are loving it too. Several of my stampers loved it too and didn't care if they had to wait on it!

  Every page is lovely with a copper accent on one side so you don't have to be choosy when you want cut into all the sheets.  I designed this card to show off the different patterns and to show a card where the stamping isn't the centerpiece.

This card is a little bit of a fancy fold with the Merry Merlot card base cut shorter and the Whisper White cardstock insert is cut long to fit on the inside so the stamped sentiment shows at the bottom.    It's a nice little something different for a Christmas card.  The front flap of the card is also embossed with Tufted embossing folder.

  I'm also really enjoying the Merry Christmas To All stamp set so that I can mix and match the sentiment to fit the card I'm making.  I had a bunch of stamp sets carry over from last Christmas so it's nice to be able to continue using them but changing up the sentiments to keep things fresh.

  The Joyous Noel paper is backed by Sahara Sand squares and popped up on the card front with dimensionals.   The Tranquil Tide ruffled ribbon is across the front and tied in a knot.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Merry Christmas To All

Ink: Tranquil Tide

Paper: Merry Merlot, Sahara Sand, Whisper White, Joyous Noel Specialty DSP

Accessories: Tufted embossing folder, ruffled ribbon, dimensionals

Thankful for Autumn - Stampin' Up! Falling for Leaves

 Thankful for the weekend too! Our family has a weekend full of soccer and the weather looks like it will cooperate so fingers crossed for no rainouts!  Even if a rainout would mean more stamping time I'm ready to be outside in the cool fall sunshine!  And don't forget to turn your clocks back on Saturday night!

  Today's card is one that I designed for my October stamp club.  There were lots of pieces and parts but nothing too hard and my stampers rocked it.  The delicate leaves are beautiful and I really like the slightly non-traditional fall colors.

  The card base is Balmy Blue and then a layer of Very Vanilla embossed with the Tin Tile embossing folder and then sponged with Crumb Cake ink.

  The stamped layer is lightly sponged with Crushed Curry ink and the the images from Falling for Leaves are stamped right over the top to make some custom DSP.  We used Crushed Curry, Balmy Blue and Soft Suede inks.

  The leaves are cut out from the same 3 colors and layered behind a punched circle with the sentiment and a stamped off once Balmy Blue leaf.

  A Very Vanilla baker's twine bow finishes off the last detail for this card.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Falling for Leaves

Ink: Crushed Curry, Balmy Blue, Soft Suede, Crumb Cake

Paper: Crushed Curry, Balmy Blue, Soft Suede, Very Vanilla

Accessories: Detailed Leaves thinlets, Tin Tile embossing folder, circle punch, Very Vanilla baker's twine, dimensionals