Simple Snowman

Whew! Last card for my adventure tonight. I had another card in mind but it involved punches that were already in use in another card & there's no way I'm going to make a big crowd have to share between tables. So, I came up with something different.

He's super simple, but I do like the set-up. The Northern Flurries folder fits so nicely on the Top Note. It's hard to tell in the photo but the embossed snowflakes are given a little extra pop by the addition of some shimmer mist (small spray bottle of alcohol mixed with a good serving of Shimmer Paint). It really helps them to stand out. I thought about adding some snowflakes to the Razzleberry layer, but in the end simplicity won out. I sure hope the ladies tonight like what I've come up with for them. It's always great fun to meet new stampers!

The Dog Ate My Homework

Wouldn't you know it? I have a big event tomorrow night for which all of the cards were designed & samples ready. However, my dog decided that the Bells & Boughs card I had selected wasn't quite right. Or perhaps she thought it was good enough to eat because that's exactly what she did! Of all things for her to start chewing on, she had to pick cardstock as her new favorite. That means I have to be VERY careful!

Don't tell her, but I'm actually kind of glad I got the chance to redesign this one. For tomorrow's event I'll have about 25 stampers &, since I'm not sure how much experience they'll come with, I wanted to keep the cards simple but with flare. Also, I wanted to feature Bells & Boughs along with the Deck the Halls paper since they are available right now in a bundle for 20%. So I needed to come up with something to fix Maddie's snack attack. I really like the effect created by stamping the holly in Cherry Cobbler on Crumb Cake this time rather than Always Artichoke. It just really pops! And the little bit of Designer Paper means that my remaining page of that pattern will be more than enough for all the stampers. I'm really looking forward to meeting everyone. Now I just need to cut some paper so I can be all ready!

Rejoicing in Christmas Mojo

Another Monday and another lovely sketch from the folks over at Mojo Monday. Thanks again to Sharon for turning me on to that site way back when...it's what helped push me towards creating a blog!

I've been wanting to create something a bit different with the Christmas Blessings set. All I've been able to come up with for it as of late involved big rectangles. The stamp of the Holy Family is great, but super long. So, today I decided to try to fit them into a circle. And I didn't just want to do the normal coloring routine either. I really wanted a stained glass effect. Then I remembered a tutorial I saw forever ago on Splitcost Stampers about using vellum to get the stained glass feel without a ton of extra effort. Perfect.

It's hard to see in this photo, but I also used Smooch Spritz on the Razzleberry paper to provide some context for my brushed gold frame. I never want to put too much sparkle in with a nativity scene, but I think this lends just enough. Hope your week is off to a great start!

A Color Challenge for a Change

It's been quite a while since I tried a color challenge & I was feeling the need to do something other than a Christmas card today. So, I gave PPC a look. Their colors for this week are: Cajun Craze, Basic Gray, Pretty in Pink, & Pear Pizazz.

Once I knew I was going to do a color challenge, I decided to add a little extra challenge by picking out a few toys I haven't used lately to feature in this project. I took out my Movers & Shapers Die, the Hello Again stamp set, & my XL Bird Punch to see where the adventure would take me. I think it may still be missing something, and I'm not wild about the way the stitching around the window kind of disappears when I add texture, but overall it was a fun experiment. What do you think? Leave me a comment and let me know. I would love to hear your input!

Candy Cane Christmas

One of my favorite things about teaching classes is just how much I learn! We were in a bit of an experimental mood at class on Thursday & tried out some things that worked great & others that we won't need to try again. :) These little peppermints are one of the keepers! Laura found that punching the little star/snowflake from Delightful Decorations using the 1/2" Circle Punch creates the most adorable little mints! Once she showed one to me, I knew they needed to be paired up with some of the designer paper from Candy Cane Christmas. Such a match!

I also wanted a sentiment that was food related, so I took out my Tags Til Christmas set & went to work. I don't actually have the Scallop Square punch (GASP! I know...) but the image fits great inside the 1 3/8" Square so all was not lost. :)

The fun with this card makes me want to decorate one of the little houses from the Holiday Mini gingerbread style. Perhaps that's a class in the making for stampers young & a bit less young alike!

Scallop Circle Wreath

This one was so much fun to make! Ever since I saw the idea of making a wreath out of our Scallop Circle Punches I couldn't wait to try it out. My dear upline, Cindy, made a super cute card with the little wreath for her last Stamp-a-Stack class & I really wanted to try my hand at it too. I couldn't decide what I wanted to do though. Then, I took a gander at the Mojo Monday sketch for this week & knew I had my solution. The Christmas Collage background stamp works great. It is like having instant holiday designer paper whenever I need it! Perhaps I could have used a darker ribbon for my wrap around, but supplies are kind of limited in my ribbon drawer at the moment. Of course, I want to use this one in classes this week & next so I didn't want to risk running out of ribbon!

Balloon Invite Take Two

I found it was sort of hard to create a second version of the balloon invite I made earlier. However, I wanted to make sure that my Bride-to-Be had some fairly different options to choose from. There were elements I needed to keep the same, but I made sure not to look back at what I had done the first round before making this one.

It's a totally different card, but includes all of the essential elements. At least this will give her some other ideas of where we could go. Of course, the final option could have bits and pieces of both or be completely different. We'll see! Such fun designing cards for such a specific event. I'm really enjoying this little adventure.