CAS Christmas

Here it is....my first Christmas card of the year!  I'm really liking Stampin' Up's new Winter Frost Speciality DSP.  I figure that I can use some of it for Christmas cards and whatever is left will be great for winter birthday, thank you and other cards.  Gotta love versatility!

I used the  CAS -Colours and Sketches Challenge #42 sketch for this card.  I really like the simplicity of the clean lines in this sketch. 

Here's what I did with it:

 

 

Love, LOVE, LOVE, Island Indigo and Pool Party together!  I'm so happy that Stampin' Up kept those two colours and used them in this DSP.  So great!

 

 

I used one of my favourite, easy techniques -- "thumping" -- to create the look on the ornament.  The "Ornament Keepsakes" stamp set is still available by the way.  Here is a close up of the ornament:

 

While you can't see it here, I also stamped it again using the Illuminate ink to give it a bit of a shimmer.  To finish it off I used a little bit of Silver 1/8" Ribbon.

Happy Stamping!

Sweater Weather

It certainly was sweater weather in my corner of the world this morning.  When we left for school it was about 3 C  and I had to dig out the mitts!  Stampin' Up! nailed the sweater "feeling" with their new DSP "Sweater Weather"!  It started working on this card last night and, honestly, just looking at the paper makes me feel warm and cozy.  Really!  I know that sounds weird but it does!

My friend, Leena, has got a fantastic blog and "Monthly Sketch Inspiration".  She does a great job of creating sketches that lend themselves to so many variations!  I used this month's sketch inspiration for this card.

I just HAD to put buttons on this card.  I keep thinking of a big, warm sweater with great buttons on it when I look at this Designer Series Paper.  The problem is, I didn't have any real buttons that looked quite right.  I opened my little stash of Simply Pressed Clay buttons up and chose two that I then coloured with my Chocolate Chip and Soft Sky Stampin' Write Markers.  Perfect!  That's the great thing about Simply Pressed Clay....you make your buttons or flowers ANY colour you want.

I used a sentiment from the "Six-Sided Sampler" stamp set again and used a little piece of Natural Trim ribbon to finish it off.

I'm pretty happy with the result.  Simple and gender neutral!

Happy Stamping!

Subtle Grunge for DD#70 and TSOT #135

It's been a while since I've participated in a blog challenge but tonight I've created a card to enter into both Dynamic Duos #70 and Try Stampin' On Tuesday #135 .  I've been following both of the challenge blogs for some time and I really like both of them.  Be sure to check them out for weekly inspiration!

This week's Dynamic Duo colour choice is So Saffron and Pistachio Pudding. 

I'll have to admit that at first I was leaning towards a "girly" card with this combo.  But I've been itching to use my brand new "Gorgeous Grunge" stamp set and just had to ink it up!  I used the template from Try Stampin' On Tuesday to set this one up. 

Check it out:

So much fun!  I LOVE this set!!!!!  I really like the effect that can be achieved using this set.....like I just spilled or threw ink all over my paper.  Honestly, I was surprised at how much I liked this colour combination for this card.   I made this card to give to my neighbours who took care of our house while we were on vacation this summer and I wanted something gender neutral and I like how this card does that.

I finished the card off with a sentiment from the "Six-Sided Sampler" stamp set, linen thread and Natural Trim ribbon.

Stay tuned for more Gorgeous Grunge in the near future.

Happy Stampin!

Soft Chalk Talk

Today's card was another one I prepared as a sample for a possible bridal shower invitation for my cousin.  Her wedding colours are pale pink and gray so I went to Pink Pirouette and Basic Gray for my colours.

The stamp set is the new "Chalk Talk" set with matching framelits.  So fun!  I embossed the Pink Pirouette with clear embossing powder to give it a bit more texture and also brushed the Basic Gray with Illuminate ink after running it through the Lacy Brocade TIEF.  Take a look:

I finished it off with some silver ribbon from Stampin' Up's current Holiday Catalogue (check out the link on the side to see what the catalogue has to offer).

Happy Stamping!

Festive Flurry for Shower Invites

I have been working on some ideas for my cousin's bridal shower invitation.  She lives in the west and is having her wedding on our "Family Day" long weekend in February.  We are SO excited to see the mountains in the winter and, of course, excited to celebrate with her.  In anticipation of that, her sisters are hosting a shower in December and wanted to play up the winter theme.  When her mom suggested using a "lacy snowflake" on the front of the invite I thought, "Awesome!  Now I have a great excuse to purchase Stampin' Up's new 'Festive Flurry' stamp set and framelits!!!"  So I did : )

I LOVE how this stamp set can be used for something other than Christmas!  Here are the first 2 ideas that I came up with:

I really like this combination of colours and had fun with the Illuminate ink pad (I'm wondering why I didn't buy it last year!!!!).  I sent these two ideas away to my cousins and aunt and asked for their feedback.

Between them they agreed that they likes the Bermuda Bay strip but preferred the coloured snowflakes.  Here's the result!

I love how many variations on a theme one can get when stamping!  These are just 3 variations and there are so many more.  I'm looking forward to creating more with the "Festive Flurry" stamp set.

Happy Stamping!