Christmas Mix It Up with Non-Traditional Colors

When we think of Christmas, we think of red, green and sometimes a bit of blue and white.  Frequently around the holidays I like to challenge myself by using other colors than the traditional. 

I’ve put a bit of a vintage twist into this Christmas card by using black and vanilla as my main colors.  If you haven’t purchased the Newsprint Designer Series Paper you are going to want to have that for your paper creations going forward.  It is so lovely and it creates a wonderful background to my Christmas card. 

I got my inspiration for the layout for this card on page 96 of the 2010-2011 Stampin’ UP! Idea Book and Catalog.  I made a slight modification by creating a slit in the background paper and weaving the Very Vanilla strip to the front.  By doing that I created the perfect space for my greeting.  Don’t you just love that greeting?  It comes from the Just Believe stamp set, which by chance isn’t even from a Christmas set, but it is just perfect for this time of year!  I really love how this turned out.  What do you think?

Stamps:   Lovely as a Tree, Just Believe
Papers:  Basic Black, Very Vanilla 
Ink: Versmark, Basic Black
Accessories: Basic Rhinestones, Vintage Brads, Black Stampin’  Emboss Powder,
Tools: Heat Tool, Embossing Buddy, Snail Adhesive, Hobby Blade, Handheld Punch 1/16” Circle
Techniques Used:  Heat Embossing

The finished card size is 4-1/4” x 4- 1/14”.  I like to change up the card size every now and again too…just to mix it up!  I usually mail these in a standard greeting size envelope.

Enjoy!

December Birthdays

I’m sure many of you know someone in your family or a friend that has a December birthday.  I know it is really hard for those people because everyone likes to lump their birthdays in with Christmas.  So, in the spirit of giving I created this fun card for my son’s teacher Mrs. Hardy.  I am so in LOVE with the new bling from the catalog – okay, forgive me for saying NEW, because it is all new to me right now!  7 months of no stamping and I feel like I am on stamping overload! I’m still trying to use as much of my stamping stuff as I can!  LOL! 

A dear friend sent me a picture of a holiday card found over at  Tamara Black’s blog. It was a great starting out place for me and just the inspiration I needed for Mrs. H’s birthday card.  All the “presents” are wrapped/stamped with background stamps.  Don’t you just love those mini background stamps?

Stamps:   A to Z, Dot,Dot,Dot, Solid Stripes, En Francais, Monogram Sweet
Papers:  Pretty in Pink, Basic Black, Whisper White
Ink: Jet Black Stazon
Accessories: Basic Rhinestones, Whisper White Satin Ribbon
Tools: Snail Adhesive, Boho Blossoms Punch, 1-3/8 Square Punch, Paper Snips, Sticky Strip, Needle and Thread, Itty Bitty Bits Punch Pack, Decorative Label Punch, 1-1/4 Circle Punch
Techniques Used:  I gathered the ribbon with needle and thread and secured with Sticky Strip behind the Basic Black layer of cardstock.  

I hope the next time you decide to design a December birthday it doesn’t contain Holly, Christmas trees or wreaths and comes in other colors besides green and red!

Enjoy!

What projects are you creating next?  Should you need any Stampin’ UP! supplies please visit my online store.

Holiday Place Cards

There are only a few short weeks to get together all those wonderful handmade gifts.  I am super excited to have our family in for a visit over the holidays!  Since I rarely get to create a big feast I am going all out and even creating some place cards for the table this year!

Stampin’ Up! offers us demonstrators some great ideas and this place card holder was just an idea that I had to make my own!  I just love the earthy feel of the colors and the papers and it’s always fun to mix and match your stamp sets to create that perfect work of heart! My stamps have been missing me so I had to use them so they would all be happy!

Stamps:  Peaceful Season (Hostess – Holiday Mini), Lovely Letters Alphabet, En Francais, Artistic Etchings
Papers:  Confetti Cream, Cherry Cobbler, Deck the Halls Designer Series Paper
Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Always Artichoke, Chocolate Chip, Early Esspresso, Soft Suede
Accessories: Antique Brads, Hemp Twine
Tools: Snail Adhesive, Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder, Big Shot, 1/16” Handheld Punch, 1-1/4” Circle Punch, 1-3/8” Circle Punch, Two Tags Bigz Die, Paper Snips, Sticky Strip, Sponges
Techniques Used: Stamping Off, Sponging, Dry Embossing, Tearing, Direct to Paper

I just love how this project came to life.  As I look at his project many other ideas pop into my head – wouldn’t it be neat to place a little surprise in the ring?  The tag would make a perfect bookmark or a terrific addition to your Christmas Tree next year!  Please feel free to copy or to use this as a piece of inspiration for your holiday projects! 

Enjoy!

 

Do you need just the right stamps, cardstock and accessories for your projects?  Visit my online store today to get the items you’ll need for your holiday projects.

Back to School

Howdy y’all,

I guess I should start out with some southern lingo, so you know I’m starting to adjust here in the south.  Noah has picked up on some of the word choice already and it sounds strange coming out of him.  ;) 

School started this week.  I’m excited and sad at the same time.  Noah has been so helpful since I broke my elbow and I’ve come to depend on him to help me out.  On the other hand, I’m excited because now I’ll have a bit more time to devote to stamping and getting some stamping activities going again!  To begin, I wanted to share a card that I gave to Noah yesterday to celebrate the start of his 4th grade year!

The summer mini is almost gone so I have to share some of my faves before they disappear and the Holiday mini takes over.  I know I’m behind the times, but better late than never, right?  One of my favorite stamp sets was the rough type alpha in Clear block.  I love that those tiny letters can be lined up to spell almost anything. Can you see the “rocks” in the lower left corner? How cool is that?!  Line up and stamp once! Did you notice that I forgot to stamp “grade”?  I just noticed when I was typing this out.  I guess I am human, huh, although it kinda makes sense even though I forgot part of the words. LOL!

This card uses Noah’s favorite colors, so it is actually a little “bright” for me, but it totally screams “LET’S CELEBRATE”, don’t you think? ;) Don’t you love how colors can emit emotions?  Anyhow, the Extreme Elements stamp set is a great set to create a collage and is perfect for kids to teens to adults!  Noah told me that he likes the splatter stamp because it looks like slime hitting the wall…what else would you expect from a 9 year old?  LOL! The number and letters were created using the Go Go Boots Medium Sizzlets dies for the Big Shot.  Forgive me, but the big red star is from the retired “A Little Somethin’” hostess stamp set. I hope you were lucky enough to earn that level 2 set as a hostess in 2009.  

Enjoy!

Summer is almost here!

If you stopped by for the blog hop, I hoped you enjoyed it! It was fun for me to see some of the great projects using some of the beloved stamp sets on Stampin’ Up!’s Last Chance List. 

I'm creating some cards for a lady I met here in Allen, TX.  She needed some thank you cards for some very special people that are helping her out with a very special occasion – her wedding!  The only direction she gave me was “beach elegance”.  This is what I came up with for her cards.

The main panel was water colored with Watercolor Crayons and an Aqua Painter on beautiful watercolor paper.  It was great to have all the retiring colors because when you’re creating a scene you’ll want various colors at your disposal.  **hint hint you may want to finish getting the retiring watercolor crayon colors before they are gone! I used about 12 different colors for the beach sunrise.  The words are clear embossed with Taken with Teal Craft Ink.  The entire image is spritzed with Champagne shimmer paint and an alcohol mix.

I love the ribbon treatment!  A quick twist of the ribbon, a half pearl from the pretties kit and a vintage tag complete the ensemble.

I’m missing my peanut gallery from back “home”.  They always gave me such great feedback on my creations!  If you have a minute…please let me know what you think!

Enjoy!

Saying Good-bye to Holiday Blitz

Whether you just started here or you came from Holly’s blog I’m so glad you’re here! Holly really did a fabulous job showcasing the Holy Triptych stamp set. Her work is always stunning!

I will be sharing my projects using one of my retiring stamp sets, Holiday Blitz.  It is one of those fun sets because you get 28 stamps that cover all the holidays for the year plus some extra’s that cover all the seasons too!  Small stamps are perfect when making smaller cards, tags, inchies and a host of other creative projects.  So follow me as I share with you three of my newest creations using this great holiday stamp set!

This is a quick project that uses one stamp to create a fun border by using multiple ink colors, and some of those long strips of scraps that I’ve been saving just for these cards. LOL!  These 3 x 3 cards fit in the small box created using two small envelope dies.  This cute project uses Sahara Sand, Regal Rose, and Melon Mambo. These four little cards with envelopes would make a perfect hostess gift this July 4th!

With Father’s Day right around the corner,  Holiday blitz comes to the rescue with two perfect stamps! 1” strips of Designer Series Paper and Very Vanilla cardstock quickly make these “Tie” inchies the perfect image for Dad!  A self-made Designer Series Envelope with clear-embossed “Ties” ties this project together. ;)

  My final project for the hop is a tic tac toe game!  This would be a great little gift as a take home gift from a birthday party.  The Designer Series Paper makes quick work of the cover and the game board. Actual size is 5” x 5” x 1/4” and would fit perfectly in a 5.5” square envelope.

Window sheets were used to adhere the game pieces inside and the temporary adhesive, Dotto, was used to affix the pieces on the game board.  My nine-year-old son had to play as soon as I finished…so I assume it would be a big hit with kids!

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to check out Lisa’s blog next to see her wonderful creations as she says good-bye to Together Forever.

Enjoy!