Soft Suede Christmas

It's snowing (finally)!!!!  We've had so much rain the past few days and it's finally decided to snow!  YAY!!!!!  Can't wait to go and out and play in it tomorrow morning with my son : )

I stayed inside this evening, however, and created a card for a couple of challenges:  Stamping 411's SSC 232 and the Paper Players Challenge 75.  I really liked the sketch on Stamping 411 and the idea of using non-traditional holiday colours for it.

Here is the sketch:

And here is what I decided to do with it:

Soft Suede holiday card

 The non-traditional holiday colour scheme I chose is Soft Suede, Early Espresso and Very Vanilla.  The only stamp set I used on the front was for the sentiment.  It is from Teeny Tiny Wishes.  This is a really simple card to make actually.  The Very Vanilla card stock is embossed using the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder and then sponged with Soft Suede ink.  I used the Modern Label and Decorative Label punches for the sentiment and then embellished with basic pearls and Early Espresso quilted ribbon.

Circle Circus interior

 For the interior of the card I used one of the stamps from the Circle Circus sets and again lightly sponged the edges with Soft Suede ink.  Super simple but elegant nonetheless.

Happy Stamping!

The Stockings Were Hung...

I'm just loving the new "Stitched Stockings" stamp set and builder punch.  Here's a card I did for my SAS a couple of weeks ago.

I used Wild Wasabi and Real Red for this one.  To create the "quilted" or "tile" pattern I used my Simply Scored tool.  I place the paper on an angle with one corner at 2 1/2" and scored every 1/2".  Then I turned the paper 90 degrees (with the same corner now at 4") and scored again every 1/2".   While it's hard to see here, I also sponged the card stock with ink to give it some more texture.

I used "Stitched Stockings" and "Four the Holidays" stamps sets.  The puncehs used are the Stocking Builder Punch (from the Holiday Mini) and the Dotted Scallop Ribbon edge punch.

It's a little time consuming but not too bad and I really like the overall look.

Happy Stamping!

Serene Snowflakes for Monkey Challenge 80

Well with Halloween behind us, now I'm in full-on Christmas mode.  I know I complained about Christmas marketing starting too early in an earlier post, but it seems that this year all I can think about is Christmas cards.  Maybe that's because my calendar has quickly filled up with Christmas workshops!

So, with weeks of wanting to do the A la Card Monkey challenge but just never getting around to it in time....here's another entry.  I actually made this card a few days ago, but this is the first time I've had the energy and time to sit down and do a blog post.  It's been hectic around here lately as I am getting a "new" home for my stamping corner in what was the spare bedroom....lots of moving around going on in my house to make room for our new arrival in March : )

Without further ado (and rambling) here is this week's Monkey sketch:

Monkey Challenge 80

Here is my take on it:


Serene Snowflakes with a Snow Burst backing

 I knew immediately when I saw this week's sketch that I wanted to do something with the "Serene Snowflakes" set and creating a  "broken" image.  Thanks to Leena over at A la Cards for the colour inspiration (I've been using it a lot lately) of Rich Razzleberry, Lucky Limeade and Marina Mist.  It is a really simple concept but takes some concentration to pull off.  I began with a 3 3/4" square of Whisper White card stock which I stamped randomly using the "Serene Snowflakes" and chosen colours.  Then I cut that square into 9 smaller 1 1/4" squares....and here's the tricky part....keeping them in order and adhering them onto a Lucky Limeade matte.  I had a lady on Tuesday evening mix up her pieces (she had stamped on both sides to boot).  It was like putting a puzzle back together with no guide : )

The Marina Mist matte was run through the Big Shot using the Snow Burst embossing folder.  I think it would look just as nice unembossed though. 

Merry Christmas sparkle

I used Lucky Limeade 3/8" ruffled ribbon taped behind this time rather than tying a knot.  The sentiment comes from "Teeny Tiny Wishes".  I have been coveting this set for a couple of years now and finally got it.  It's great because this card can be made into a birthday card or thank you (Happy Mother's day...) whatever you want : )  I finished the sentiment and snowflakes with Dazzling Details....I really can't resist this stuff, it's fantastic (and cheap)!!!!

More cards to come soon.  Happy Stamping!

I'm ba-ack...

...for a short time at least.  I've just enjoyed 10 days away with my family, camping in Quebec.  What a fabulous province!  This is the second summer that we've spent vacationing there and we've loved both experiences.  The province itself is absolutely GORGEOUS and there is so much diversity in the landscape.  The people are friendly and the food amazing!  It was so nice to get out canoeing again this year.  It was my son's first time in a canoe and I have to admit, he did pretty well.  Our first outing was only about 1/2 hour but the second was 3 hours!  Not bad for a 2 year old....the key is to bring lots of snacks and a bag of rocks : )

We ended our trip at my sister-in-law's place for my father-in-law's 60th birthday.  We spent a lovely day canoeing the Saugeen River near Walkerton and then had a nice family dinner at a local restaurant.  All-in-all a great day for a great dad!

We began our trip at my cousin's wedding and I'd like to share the card that I made for her and her new husband.  I had a lot of fun with my new "Occasions Alphabet" stamp set for this one!



Summer Wedding

 
I chose to stick with a relatively simple colour palette that was similar to the bride's colours for the day; Old Olive, Rich Razzleberry and Very Vanilla.  I wanted to incorporate butterflies somehow and I really like how they look against the flowers from the "Just Believe" set.  The largest butterfly has had it's wings brushed with Rich Razzleberry to give them a little more depth (thanks to S.M. from TheMuseum for the idea!).

Monogram using Occasions Alphabet

For the monogram I simply coloured just the letter from the "Occasions Alphabet" stamp and framed it using one of the frames from "Four Frames".  The "bling" on the monogram and butterfly are rhinestones.

For the Newlyweds

 Finally, for the inside of the card, I wanted to say something about being "Newlywed".  I framed the sentiment again with a frame from "Four Frames"...the one with the bird, but coloured to omit the bird.

Best Wishes

Yesterday I hosted a bridal shower for my cousin who is getting married next month.  It was so nice to get together with the ladies of my family again.  We always have so much fun together, especially when we're showering someone with gifts : )

I decided to use the Stamping 411 challenge sketch as part of my inspiration for my card to her.  I also used her wedding invitations and the cards I made for her shower invitations as a jumping off point.  The bride-to-be's wedding invitations include colours similar to Very Vanilla, Old Olive, Rich Razzleberry, Tangerine Tango and So Saffron.  These are the colours I used throughout the following projects.

Best Wishes to the Bride-to-be

For her shower card I decided to lots of layers using the Scallop, Blossom Bouquet Triple Layer and 1/2" circle punches.  The centre of the "flower" is using a stamp from the "Bold Blossom " stamp set from the current summer mini with an Old Olive brad in the centre.  I used the "Four Frames" stamp that has the bird on it but just coloured the edges instead to create the border for the sentiment from "Sincere Salutations".   I just had to use some "Play Date" DSP again and loved the pattern on this piece for this card.  Finally it's finished with some Very Vanilla satin ribbon.

I took the flower from the outside and toned it down a little for the inside of the card.

An inside look



Some advice from the rest of us!

As a keepsake, each lady wrote a little piece of marriage advice on a "Top Note" and then I bound them together using some more of the Very Vanilla satin ribbon.  The covers to this "book" again use Old Olive card stock, "Play Date" DSP and the same flower and sentiment from the card.  I punched through all the layers with my Crop-a-dile and used some jumbo eyelets on the covers to finish the look.