Merry Christmas

Today's card was created for the latest Jingle Belles and Watercooler Wednesday card challenges. To create my card I started by adding some glittery gold washi tape from the American Crafts Make It Happen collection onto some white cardstock. I then cut down a piece of patterned paper from the My Mind's Eye Signature Christmas 6x6 paper pad and die cut a snowflake out it. I adhered the gold washi tape panel to the back of the patterned paper using my Ranger multi-matte medium glue and then mounted it to a piece of early espresso cardstock from Stampin' UP. I stamped the sentiment from Stampabilities Merry Christmas onto the patterned paper using Gina K Design charcoal brown ink. I then wrapped some gold glittery Lawn Fawn lawn trimmings to the card and tied a bow. I added a simple blue button to the center of the snowflake and popped the entire panel up off of my white card base using some inexpensive fun foam from Hobby Lobby. To finish this glittery, fun card off I added some gold Stickles around some of the printed snowflakes on the patterned paper. I hope you like my card. Be sure to subscribe and leave a comment. I appreciate them all!

Thanks A Latte

Gotta love when you find something so fun and so economically priced, right? I was visiting my daughter and granddaughter this weekend and we popped into her local Hobby Lobby. I was too excited when I found this fun coffee stamp set by Stampabilities for the ridiculous price of $2.99!!! I had to snag it and the fun little slab of birch wood that I used for my photograph. I'm still trying to beef up my photography but I'm still not quite there yet. 

Anyway, I created my card by matting some early espresso cardstock by Stampin' UP onto my white card base. I then die cut a piece of Canson cold pressed watercolor paper down using a Gina Marie Design stitched rectangle die. I prepped the paper for embossing with my EK Success powder tool. I stamped the coffee beans from the stamp set all over the background and heat embossed it using Zing embossing powder in chestnut. After that cooled off I added some "coffee stains" to the background using a paintbrush and some Tim Holtz distress ink in walnut stain. I mounted the panel to the card and added another strip of espresso cardstock that I had added some stitched lines to by using a Paper Smooches border die. I stamped the sentiment and the cup onto a pierced oval die panel that I die cut using a My Favorite Things die. I stamped the cup again and colored it using my Copic markers and fussy cut it and mounted it to the panel using Stampin' UP foam dimensionals. A bit of Glossy Accents on the heart of the cup finished my card. I hope you like it and thank you for visiting my blog!

Happy Birthday 2 You

Today's card was created for the latest Watercooler Wednesday challange. To create my card I started by layering some Stampin' UP early espresso cardstock onto my white card base. Then I created a focal panel using some typing paper and gluing hexagon scraps that I created using a Fiskars punch and patterned papers from the Simple Stories Take A Hike 6x6 paper pad. I love using this technique to get rid of those tiny scraps that I accumulate making cards. I went around the edges of each hex shape with Tim Holtz distress ink in tea dye for a nice vintage look. Once the panel was complete and adhered to the card I stamped the sentiment using a Stampabilities stamp that I picked up at Hobby Lobby in Gina K charcoal brown ink. I added a border of early espresso cardstock and set the sentiment at an angle for some added interest. For a finishing touch I created two faux enamel dots using Nuvo Crystal Drops in dark walnut. Love how clean and simple this card is. I hope you like it too!

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

                     

                           

Today's card was created for the latest The Male Room challenge.  I started by layering some patterned papers from the My Mind's Eye Signature Christmas 6x6 paper pad onto my white card base. I love the rich, vintage, and masculine look of this paper pad. I inked around the outer edges of all of the patterned paper with some Tim Holtz distress ink in tea dye for a nice distressed and vintage look.  I then stamped the fun Stampabilities Merry Little Christmas stamp onto some plain white cardstock using Memento cocoa brown ink at the top of the stamp and some Gina K Designs asparagus ink at the bottom for a nice two-tone look. I die cut the image using a My Favorite Things pierced edge oval die and then went around the outer edges with some more distress ink. I popped the oval panel up off of the card using some Stampin' UP foam dimensionals and then added some Nuvo Crystal Drops in dark walnut to the corners and the oval panel for some additional texture and interest. I hope you like it!

Let It Snow

Today's card was created for the latest Less Is More challenge. This week's challenge called for a "recipe" of emboss resist. It's been a while since I used this technique on a card and wanted to play along and challenge myself. I started with a piece of white cardstock and, after prepping the surface with my powder tool, I stamped the two smallest snowflakes from the Stampabilities Winter Wonderland stamp set using Versamark ink and heat set them using Recollections snow white embossing powder. Once dry I inked the panel with Tim Holtz distress ink in broken china and faded jeans, creating a nice ombre effect. I took a tissue and brushed off the excess ink from the snowflakes and then spritzed the panel with both water and frost shimmer spray by Tsukineko. I love using that shimmer spray on snowy scenes because of the beautiful shimmer it gives. While that base panel was drying I stamped Purple Onion's Merry Snowman out onto some Copic-friendly cardstock and colored him in using my alcohol markers. I fussy cut around the image and freehand cut the snowy slopes around him. I edged the image using my dual tipped Memento tuxedo black marker. I then adhered the image directly to the distressed panel. I stamped the sentiment from Amy R's Big Christmas Wishes stamp set and, even though you can't see it in the photo, added some pretty shimmer to the letters using my clear Spica shimmer marker. I love how adorably sweet this card turned out and may have to mass produce this one. Thank you for visiting my blog today and if this card put a smile on your face be sure to leave a comment...I appreciate them all!

Happy Birthday Journey

Today's card was created for my precious little granddaughter Journey for her 7th birthday. She loves all things pink and I usually create something girly for her but I decided to do a fun and whimsical little party monster for her card this year. I started with a white card base and layered a floral piece of patterned paper from Crate Paper's Paper Heart Collection 6x6 paper pad. I then die cut a stitched rectangle of Copic friendly cardstock using a Gina Marie Designs die. I stamped the sentiment from Paper Smooches Sentiment Sampler stamp set using Memento tuxedo black ink. I then stamped the hat from Stampabilities Party Hats stamp. I created a mask for the hat and then stamped the adorable little monster from Paper Smooches Falling For You stamp set and the balloon from The Greeting Farm's Hello Unicorn stamp set. I colored all of the images in using various shades of pink Copic markers. I die cut the banners using a The Cat's Pajama's die and coordinating papers from the same Crate Paper paper pad. I adhered them directly onto the card and added some Clear Wink of Stella glitter pen to the monster and the other elements for some pretty shine and shimmer. I popped the entire focal panel up off of the card using 3M foam tape. Journey loved it as well as her gifts. This year she wanted My Little Pony and mermaid things so I obliged her. She and her mom and dad came to town today and we had a wonderful afternoon playing and eating out...right up until it was time to go. She always gets so sad when she has to leave grandma and it breaks my heart. 

Here she is with mom at Le Bounce. She just loves that place. It's the one place where she can be the little daredevil she truly is and not hurt herself. LOL.

These two are my world! Sorry for how blurry this pic is...I'm not great at taking selfies. 

Cue those big crocodile tears! They get me every time!!!

Happy Birthday

My first card today was created for the latest The Paper Players challenge. I knew as soon as I saw the circle challenge that I had to create something funky and graphic. I started with some patterned papers from Studio Calico's There There 6x6 paper pad and layered them onto my white card base. Using the same patterned papers and some olive green cardstock from Hobby Lobby I die cut some circles using nesting dies from Spellbinders. I cut the centers of the circles smaller and slightly off center to create a funky, cool, and very graphic look. I cut slits into the some of the circles and looped them together and adhered them onto my patterned paper panel, trimming off any excess that extended off of the edge of the paper. I then adhered the panel down onto the card and added a thing strip of the same olive green cardstock. I stamped the sentiment from the Stampabilities Card Phrases stamp set using Versafine onyx black ink. I love this cool and masculine look and hope you do too! I have to apologize for the quality of my photo. My phone died yesterday and my tablet doesn't photograph with the same clarity as my phone did. I hope to remedy that this week. 

Happy Birthday

I was so excited when I saw the new challenge over at Less Is More because I love making masculine cards. I used to struggle so much but I'm lucky enough to have a husband who offers me amazing input and acts as my sounding board on my creative output. I put together a collection of cards that can work for both grown men as well as younger men and teens. My first one is just a simple layout that I found on Pinterest. Using some simple cardstock and patterned papers from Hobby Lobby I stamped out the motorcycle image from Deep Red Stamps using Versafine onyx black ink and layered the panels together, added a few white and black mini brads on either side and slapped it together. The sentiment is from a My Favorite Things stamp set. Love how simple but pulled together this card turned out. This one was so easy it could be mass produced. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Thoughts Coming Your Way

Today's card was designed for the Paper Players Theme Challenge: The Great Outdoors. I started by stamping the Hero Arts Leaf and Floral background onto some 110 lb cardstock from Staples using Tim Holtz Faded Jeans distress ink and then re-inked the stamp using Tim Holtz Broken China and shifted the cardstock over by an 1/8th of an inch to create a sort of blurred two-tone effect. I stamped the chevron from A Creative Journey's I Just Love You stamp set continuously on a 1/2" strip of cardstock and anchored it in the center of the card for a bit of visual interest. Then I stamped the Cherry Blossom Bird image from Stampabilities onto some 110 lb cardstock and colored it in using my Copic markers. The sentiment is from the Avocado Arts Perfectly Perfect Day stamp set and I punched it out using The Modern Label Punch from Stampin' UP. I took a scrap piece of cardstock and inked it all over using the Tim Holtz Faded Jeans again and then punched the Modern Label again as well as two pieces of edging from a Fiskars postage stamp punch and affixed it the trimmed down focal panel. Love the way it turned out!