Dreaming of a white Christmas...

 sadly, I don't think it will happen!  Hi stampers!  I don't normally like snow BUT I always like when it snows on Christmas Eve and Christmas:-)  Although, normally I want to wake up the day after Christmas and have it gone, hehe!  It snowed last year and was so pretty but it stuck around way too long:-)  But it looks like this year will be snow-free.  Guess we'll have to settle for this little guy instead:

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Button buddies, teeny tiny wishes
Paper:  Whisper white, bashful blue, real red
Ink:  Basic black, real red, pumpkin pie markers
Accessories:  Northern flurry embossing folder, neutrals buttons, baker's twine, white taffeta ribbon

I've had this little guy sitting around for a while and I guess it's the perfect time to share!  Button buddies has to be one of the cutest sets ev-ah!  How fun is he?  I love that it works with our buttons and tons of other embellishments like brads and the shaker frames!  The images are also totally cute on their own too!

Are you ready for Christmas?  I'm usually set by now but I feel like I'm playing catch up this year!  I think I've put off a few things since I know it's on Sunday and I'll have Saturday to do a FEW things (but I think I've put TOO much off to cram into a few hours).  I finished wrapping the gifts I have (still need a few more dangit) and made tags for them tonight.  Going to try to finish shopping before work tomorrow and then Saturday I need to fit my workout in AND deep clean the house all while making some cookies with our new cookies stamps and a pumpkin pie cheesecake!  I think I'll try to make the cheesecake Friday night so it has time to chill but we are doing Christmas with my dad that night so we'll see how that goes:-)  Why did I do this to myself????  And we don't even have kids....yeesh...what's it going to be like when we do???  I hope you're doing better than me!  And I hope we can both find some time to stamp over the holidays!!!

Happy stamping!

Fancy Folds!

Hi stampers and happy Tuesday again!  I can't believe another week has come and gone and CHRISTMAS is THIS WEEKEND!  Of course I'm still kind of in the Christmas stamping mode so I have yet another Christmas card, hehe....sometimes I make them even AFTER Christmas!  Anyway, we have a FUN challenge over at Hand Stamped Sentiments.  Click the link to check out the FUN FOLDS!

I'm pretty much a traditionalist when it comes to card making but that's why a challenge like this is great!  It pushes you to do something different!  I'm really liking unique folds now!  So go ahead and check out what the rest of the design team did (they always make A-MAZ-ING stuff) and find a fold you like and play along!

Like I said, I'm still in full on Christmas mode (maybe because I'm STILL not done with my shopping...eek...let alone having anything wrapped and under the tree) so here is my easel card:

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Grateful greetings, many merry messages
Paper:  Very vanilla, lucky limeade, island indigo, calypso coral, pool party, blushing bride, silver glimmer
Ink:  Same as papers, tea stain distress ink
Accessories:  Stocking accents die, circles number 2 die, border punch, elastic cord (retired), fine glitters (retired)

I had some more ornaments laying around from my Shiny Brite inspired card I posted last week so I wanted to use them up...especially since I FOUND some Shiny Brite reproductions while Christmas shopping Saturday AND they were on sale!  I picked up a box for myself (hehe...another thing to collect) and one for my dad and step mom as they have a whole Christopher Radko tree and I think they'll like them!

Easel cards are by far my favorite fold I think!  They are super easy (you can find a tutorial on SCS) and they are cute!  Please excuse my crooked Christmas greetings...I don't know what happened!!!  I embellished my ornaments to look similar to Shiny Brites in fun retro colors using glimmer paper, fine glitters and sticky sheets.  I also added a bit of retired elastic cord.

Now head on over to HSS and play along!

Happy stamping!

Mailable Monday - Tidings of Joy

Hi stampers!  Time for another Mailable Monday card!  I'm preparing my cards to send out today and I sure have to go through them to find ones that I can mail for no extra postage or a padded envelope, ha!  Looks like a lot of people may get hand delivered cards, hehe!  We just have too many fun accessories to pile on cards I guess! 

This card is a simple one I made a while back for a color challenge but I missed the entry date, hate when that happens!

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Tidings of joy
Paper:  Very vanilla, river rock, early espresso, neutrals DSP stack
Ink:  Early espresso
Accessories:  smooch illuminate accent ink

I kept this one way simple!  I love this set but have put off doing much with it since it involves a LOT of coloring!  So, I thought I'd try a different way to use it by leaving it uncolored.  I think it turned out well!  I did cut out the star from river rock and then coated it with the illuminate smooch to make it shimmery.  It should go through the mail nicely:-)

Happy stamping!

Shiny Brite

Hi stampers! I'm feeling a bit nostalgic today.  I used to love putting up the Christmas tree at both of my grandma's houses!  They both had cool old ornaments...you know the ones I'm talking about....shiny brites!  I'm not sure if either one of my parents has any now but I remember them so well and the cool vintage looking boxes too!  My favorites were the ones that had the silver or gold middles that sloped inward and I like the bells too. I guess the ones with the indented parts were called reflectors. Remember these?

I love everything about shiny brites aside from the fact that they remind me of fond memories with my grandparents!  I love the shininess, the shapes, and the bright colors!  I did a little research and found some interesting history about them too (I'm geeky like that).  You can read it HERE.  I'm sure there is more info out there.   Christopher Radko now makes reproductions and I just may have to get some of those.  I should really should ask my parents if they have any as well!

Anyway, sorry for the long trip down memory lane but those ornaments inspired this card:

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Grateful greetings, Tree trimmings, music notes (wheel)
Paper:  Very vanilla, pool party, calypso coral, blushing bride, silver glimmer
Ink:  Pool party, calypso coral, blushing bride, more mustard, versamark, tea stain distressing ink
Accessories:  Stocking accents die, circle punches, blushing bride pleated satin ribbon (occasions mini sneak peek), pewter embossing powder

I used the stocking accents die since the ornament reminded me of the shiny brites.  On the coral ornament I sponged my glimmer paper with more mustard ink to make it gold!  How cool is that?  I also sponged each ornament in it's respective color and then tea stain over that.  I even distressed the ribbon with the tea stain ink.  I thought the muisc wheel would make the background nicely vintage as well.  The card base is also sponged with pool party and tea stain and the vanilla panel is tea stained as well.  I did goof up the spacing of my ornaments and hangers a bit on the blushing bride one but maybe you'd never have noticed if I didn't just tell on myself, no?  Oh well, that's what makes a hand made card one of a kind right? :-)

Shiny brites just may inspire many more cards!!!!  I wished I had thought of this earlier in the Christmas card making season, ha!  I'm off to go look at more pictures of them and reminisce!

Happy stamping!

An Old Fashioned Christmas

Hi stampers!  It's time for another challenge at Hand Stamped Sentiments.  This week the challenge is "An old fashioned Christmas".

I love vintage, especially for Christmas so this was right up my alley.  I did have trouble deciding what to use though!  We have so many great old fashioned sets both current and retired!  I just may have to do a few more projects with this theme!!!!  I finally settled on Bells & Boughs and the Christmas Collage background stamp.

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Bells & Boughs, Christmas collage, grateful greetings
Paper:  Crumb cake, cherry cobbler, watercolor
Ink:  Stazon, versamark, various for watercoloring, crumb cake, river rock, cherry cobbler, tea stain
Accessories:  Gold embossing powder, waffle paper, crochet trim ribbon, circle and designer label punch, cherry cobbler dazzling details (occasions mini sneak peek)

I think the waffle paper looks very old fashioned so I pulled it out to make some ruffles around my main image.  That stuff is really easy to use and mold into about any shape you need.  The card is also sponged with crumb cake ink and then I sponged some river rock over that.  I also rubbed the tea stain ink from the distressing kit over the crochet trim to dirty it up a bit.  Did you know we now carry ink refills for those now?  Yup, we do!  My final detail is another little sneak peek into the occasions mini catalog.  I put some CHERRY COBBLER dazzling details there on the holly berries!

Now, head on over to HSS and check out the challenge and all the other samples from our fabulous design team then play along!  And have a happy old fashioned Christmas!

Happy stamping!

Mailable Monday Mittens

Hi stampers!  Happy Monday!  I'm going to try to start a little theme here on Mondays called "Mailable Monday".  If you know me or follow my blog you know I like to pile lots of embellishments on my cards.  And while it makes them super cute it also makes them a pain in the you know what to mail:-)  And I always have a hard time finding a card I can easily mail when I need one....so, I'm hoping this little feature each week will help me to up my stash of simple and mailable cards...now, if I can just remember to make a few each week, haha! 

This week I have a take on another card I featured last week using the sketch I liked from Freshly Made Sketches.  I've been wanting to pair together real red, pool party, and whisper white for a while.  I love the combo with the bright winter white. 

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Christmas greetings, jolly bingo bits
Paper:  Whisper white, real red, pool party, in color (2011-2012) DSP stack
Ink:  Real red, pool party
Accessories:  circle punches, dazzling details

I just love these mittens, I think they are so cute!  I added a touch of dazzling details to the little star on each one although you can't see it well in the picture.  I also love the greeting from Christmas greetings, it's such a fun font.  I used pool party here but I also think baja breeze would look great.  Sometimes I need cards like this to remind me that less can be more!

Happy stamping!

An early Christmas present....SNEAK PEEK!

Hi stampers!  I have an early Christmas present for you!  A sneak peek from the upcoming Occasions Mini Catalog!  The catalog has some really fabulous stuff in it as they always do!  Now, while it's mainly themed for spring holidays I managed to use some of the goodies I got to crank out another Christmas card!  It just goes to show that you can use just about anything SU offers for whatever occasion you need! 

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Heard from the heart, Bells & Boughs
Paper:  Crumb cake, real red, wild wasabi, pear pizzazz, blushing bride & Holly Berry Bouquet DSP
Ink:  Real red
Accessories:  Pleated satin ribbon, Hearts collection framelits dies, Fashionable hearts embosslit (all sneak peeks), dazzling details, illuminate smooch accent ink

It's hard to see in the photo but I did stamp the poinsettias from bells & boughs on the heart in real red.  I also adhered the new pleated satin ribbon (OMG, it's SO cute) behind the heart with glue dots.  Also hard to see is that I put some accents on the little embossed hearts with dazzling details and smooch accent ink.  I think all this Valentine's stuff made a super cute Christmas card and heard from the heart had the perfect sentiment!

I hope you enjoyed the sneak peeks and Merry Christmas a bit early:-)  There will be more peeks to come!

Happy stamping!

Bright Christmas Favor and a bonus

Hi stampers!  I've been busy in the craft room so there may be lots-o-posts this weekend:-)  I loved the challenge this week over at The Colour Q.  I've been especially into all things fun, funky, and bright for Christmas so this challenge was right up my alley.....

....and then I got to the part where it said that the challenge this week is for something other than a card....say what????  Well, I have to say that cards are my first love BUT I did manage to come up with this cute and simple little treat holder using the pillow box die (which holds three Hershey's miniature candy bars perfectly....although I don't have any to fill it with since my hubby regularly eats my stash, hehe):

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Warmest of wishes (hostess)
Paper:  Crumb cake, pear pizzazz textured, whisper white
Ink:  Poppy parade
Accessories:  Scalloped square and designer label punch, whisper white taffeta & pool party ruffled ribbon, basic pearls, pillow box die

Isn't it cute?  And these could be made up pretty quick if you need a lot of them too!  I may make them for my friends at work!  I did sub pool party for Caribbean (because it's retired of course and I didn't feel like digging it out as I keep them hidden away) and pear pizazz for celery (simply because I like it better, hehe).  BUT since I'm me and I really liked this color combo I HAD to make a card too so you get a bonus project.  I should have made them coordinate but each project kind of took on a life of their own!  And yes, I'm currently obsessed with Polar Party...buy it NOW, you NEEEEED those cute critters and trees!

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Polar party, four the holidays
Paper:  Crumb cake, pear pizzazz, pool party, poppy parade, watercolor
Ink:  Pool party, staz on, various for watercoloring
Accessories:  Stripes embossing folder, scalloped squares duo die, scalloped dotted punch, pool party ruffled ribbon, in color glimmer brads

Isn't it cute?  Now, the line art and cutesy/country style of this stamp is not normally my thing BUT this one really grew on me and I think I'm liking the style more.  It seemed outdated to me at first but you know how things are and what was popular once always comes back around!  I wish I had kept all the leg warmers I'd had as a kid since they are back in now, ha!  Back to crafting my weekend away!

Happy stamping!

The best laid plans

Hi stampers!  Well I'm actually surprised to say that I have something to show you!  As I may have mentioned, I have not been in the mood to stamp much lately and then I took Friday and Monday off to go help my mom with her new house (I will be happy to NEVER hang another curtain rod, lol) so I knew I wouldn't get much stamping in over the weekend.  And then of course things took more time than I had anticipated so I stayed until Monday morning when I was planning on coming home Sunday afternoon.  That's how things go right?  But I have to say the house looks AMAZING!  My mom has finally learned to listen to me about home decorating, lol! NOW, if I could just get them all moved in there which they still are not:-)

So, I sat down last night and vowed I was going to stamp...I even skipped my workout which was not a good thing:-)  I did get one card done (I cased it which I don't normally do but sometimes doing that helps me get back into the groove) but then my mom texted me and was sad because she was with my great aunt in the ER in town (I knew they were coming since my aunts son was out of town and my mom is "next on the list" and of course offered to come but mom said I didn't need to) and said she was sad because it brought back sad memories of all the time she spent with my granny in the hospital:(  Well, I couldn't let her sit there and be sad, especially when I live like less than five minutes from the hospital AND since she moved away I never pass up a chance to see her (even though she'll be in town today through the weekend, hehe).  I spent about two hours there and was glad to be able to support my mom and help explain all the medical mumbo jumbo.  My aunt is ok for the time being, has a blood clot in her arm they are trying to dissolve.  But it just figures that the night I am resolved to stamp that my aunt would fall and her son would be out of town and we'd be on call:-)

So by the time I got home it was late and I "should" have gone to bed but I was kind of keyed up and also worried about my parents driving back to the farm so late.  My step dad gets kind of sleepy since he gets up around 4 am (which is just plain NUTS for a retired person if you ask me, lol).  I wanted to make sure they made it home ok so I stayed up and stamped!  I'm paying for it now (sleepy) but I did get a couple of cards done!

The one I have to show you today combines two challenges again.  I have a bunch that I want to do again this week and am again short on time with working late Friday night and then having a class all day Saturday!  I really wish there was a pause button on the clock and or calendar this time of year!!!!  So, I used the sketch challenge from Mojo Monday this week and the color challenge from The Paper Players.  I have to say that I LOVE both of these challenges and will be used again and again!!!!  I'm in a rush to get to the gym early for once today so I don't have time to post the pics of the challenges but click on the links to hop on over and check them out!

  

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Bright Christmas (retired), distressed dots, music notes wheel
Paper:  Very vanilla, river rock, always artichoke, riding hood red
Ink:  River rock, always artichoke, riding hood red
Accessories:  Neutrals buttons, basic pears & rhinestones, petals-a-plenty embossing folder, northern flurry strip, linen thread

You'll have to forgive my use of another retired stamp but I have SO many that I love so I have to pull them out from time to time and seemed like last year's holiday mini had so many wonderful stamps!  And you all know my love for word stamps:-)  The card is pretty straight forward.  I did do some sponging on the two colored strips.

So, thanks for sticking with me this morning....was a bit chatty wasn't I?  And now you know more about my life than you probably want to:-)  But at least I finally have a card to share!  Happy stamping!