Merry Monday #261 - Ornament

Welcome! Time for another Merry Monday - Challenge #261. This week Kelly asks for an ornament on your Christmas card.

I went for a holiday set from Hero Arts that I bought back in August. I just love their Stamp & Cut sets which come with stamps and dies to match some of the images. This set has two ornaments, a branch, a bow and a hanger (with dies to match all), plus some sentiments. Here's my card:

Supplies: Paper - Core'dinations kraft A2 card, BoBunny Christmas Collage 6x6,

American Crafts Christmas 6x6

Dies - My Favorite Things Die-Namics Blueprints 20 & 21 (both retired)

Hero Arts DI198 Nesting Rectangles Infinity Dies

Stamps - Hero Arts DC215 Holiday Ornaments Stamp & Cut & K5242 Big Pine Bough (retired)

Other - Pine Needles, Hickory Smoke, and Gathered Twigs Distress Ink,

Fired Brick Distress Oxide Ink, Michael's gems, foam tape, Marvy silver pen, Wink of Stella

Instead of the branch that came with the Holiday Ornaments set, I used an old wood mounted fave from 2009 - Big Pine Bough, stamped a couple of times and filled in a bit with a colored pencil in a lighter shade. At the edge of the snowflake paper where the lines didn't connect onto the note paper, I just filled in with a marker. Do you recognize the snowflake paper from last week's card? I had cut two rectangles of different sizes when planning that card. Decided to use the second one for today's card since it worked well with the music paper. After stamping the ornament onto the matching diecut, I trimmed it down so there wasn't as wide a border. The areas on the ornament that appear darker are due to the addition of Wink of Stella - gives a nice shine in real life!

That's it for today. Be sure to stop by Merry Monday and check out the rest of the fabulous inspiration from the Design Team. Thanks for visiting my blog and for your kind comments!!

Merry Monday #260 - Sketch Challenge

Hi all - at Merry Monday this week, Debbie created a sketch for Challenge #260. Yay - I love sketches and had loads of fun with Debbie's! With all the layers, I enjoyed finding the perfect combination of papers!!

Supplies: Paper - Hero Arts PS572 Earth Mix Folded Cards (Latte shade), 

patterns by My Mind's Eye "All is Bright" & American Crafts "Christmas"
Michael's brown, scrap of Neenah Solar White
Dies - Hero Arts DI198 Nesting Rectangles Infinity Dies
My Favorite Things Die-Namics Blueprints 21 (retired)
Gingerbread by former Lifestyle Craft's QuicKutz
Stamps - Hero Arts CL343 Holiday Sayings and CL644 Bring on the Merry (both retired)
Other - Fired Brick Distress Oxide Ink, Gathered Twigs Distress Ink,
Clear Embossing powder, Marvy white gel pen, Copic Markers, foam tape

Instead of the stars I changed the shapes to a pair of gingerbread people, in keeping with my resolution to show love to my stash of never-before-used-stuff (NBUS). Hey - the die's only 5 years old - give me a break LOL... For the bow on the gingerbread girl, I stamped just the bow portion of the candy cane from the Bring on the Merry set, then fussy cut it to remove the tails. I played around with different media for putting "frosting" on the gingerbread people - a bunch of them would never have made the cookie plate, that's for sure! I tried some copper Nuvo drops my friend Betty sent me but I couldn't get my dots small enough, despite several attempts. The white gel pen gave me the best results. I'll save the Nuvo for another project - thanks again, Betty!

Please visit Merry Monday for more Christmas inspiration with this sketch from the wonderful Design Team. Thanks to Debbie for creating a fabulous sketch and thanks to all of you for stopping by!!

Another Christmas Tree

Hey everyone - back with another Christmas card! This week at Merry Monday, Deanne challenges us to make a card with a Christmas tree. For my Design Team member card I used some supplies I found during a crafty clean-up. Today I spotted another pile of stuff including a stamped car with a tree atop and couldn't resist making another card.

Supplies: Paper - Poptone Snow Cone; white watercolor paper, Neenah Classic Crest Solar White

Stamps - Hero Arts car with tree (retired); Lawn Fawn Winter Scripty Sayings, 
Simon Says Stamp Falling Snow

Dies - Lawn Fawn Stitched Hillside Borders

Inks - Tumbled Glass Distress Ink; Memento Tuxedo Black

Other - Distress Markers, Marvy white gel pen, Icy Stickles

I colored and fussy cut the car image, adding glossy accents to the windows & headlight and white gel pen & Stickles to the tree. While digging through my box of Christmas stamps for sentiments, I found a fun Lawn Fawn set that I can't remember using before. I thought one of the scripty messages would be fun as car exhaust. To keep the background simple, I stamped falling snow on the card base, tone on tone, then colored in the dots of snow with a white gel pen. Done - another Christmas card ready for the stash!

Yesterday's MM post was written long before I heard about the horrific events in Las Vegas. My heart goes out to all the victims & their families and to all the kind & sane people in this world who would never dream of inflicting such horror on innocent people! Many of my Sweet Adeline friends are headed to Vegas next week for our International convention & competition and I pray for a wonderful experience for them there, while still grieving the tragic events of Sunday! I'm grateful for all the lovely people I've met singing and card making - those activities bring joy rather than pain to the world!!

Thanks for stopping and thanks for the kind comments! Hope to see your Christmas tree card in the gallery over at Merry Monday!!
 

Merry Monday #259 - Christmas Tree

Hi everyone! Deanne brings us Merry Monday Challenge #259 to add a Christmas Tree to your card.

Wow - love all the lights on the inspiration tree! Here's my take:

Supplies: Paper - DCWV Ms Sparkle A2 green card, Authentique Festive 6x6, 

My Mind's Eye Merry Little Christmas 6x6, scrap of Simon Says Stamp 12/2015 card kit paper

Sticker - Doodlebug Designs 3051 O'Christmas Tree Doodle-pop

Brad - Doodlebug Designs 2039 Gift Wrapped Braddies

Dies - Spellbinders S4-295 Lacy Squares

My Favorite Things Die-namics Blueprints 21 (retired)

I've been determined to use up some of my accumulated crafty stash! This brought me to a Doodlebug Designs scrapbooking kit I've had for ages (copyright 2011 according to the package). Besides some gorgeous papers (12x12 so I'm saving those), the kit contained bunches of yummy stickers and brads. Huh - I can't remember the last time I used a brad! You? Anyway, a cute Doodle-pop Christmas Tree sticker and a present brad became the focal points of my card. The kit's Doodle-pop had gems on it - others I've seen are plain. I spotted a bedazzled tree in a Doodlebug kit at Simon Says Stamp if you want to see it - online stores I checked didn't seem to have single trees in stock.

I decided to show some love to an old set of Spellbinders and cut two lacy squares to layer beneath the tree & present. A stitched rectangle & strip of snowflake paper on a green card, plus a leftover sentiment strip from last week's Merry Monday card - done!

Be sure to check out the fabulous creations from the rest of the Merry Monday Design Team and I hope you have a chance to play along this week! I'd love to hear how you're coming on your Christmas card production - playing at Merry Monday will definitely help you along!!

Thanks for stopping and have a crafty week!

Merry Monday #258 - Penguins!

Merry Monday everyone - it's time for a new challenge! This week Colleen asks for a penguin on your Christmas card! Woo Hoo - love penguins!!

I'm still trying to use some lovely supplies that have never seen any playtime. I found this sweet penguin at a craft expo years ago and couldn't resist him - made by a Minnesota company too - bonus!! Here's my card:

Supplies: Paper - Neenah Classic Crest Solar White and Bright Blue, Heidi Swapp Marquee Love glitter,

Pop-tone Black Licorice & Snow Cone, Stamp-on-it Iridescent vellum,
Lawn Fawn Winter Perfectly Plaid 6x6, December 2015 Simon Says Stamp card kit (red text)
Stamps - Stamps by Judith & Heather F-284-HK Sm Fat Penguin
Hero Arts DC165 Polar Set by Lia (ice floe) and CL368 Create Your Own Snowman (cap - retired)
Dies - Hero Arts DI337 Nesting Oval Infinity Dies;
Lawn Fawn Forest Border and Stitched Hillside Borders (part that didn't get the stitching)
Other - colored pencils, Copic Marker (BG0000), washi by unknown, foam tape

I started by stamping & coloring the darling penguin. He sat there for awhile then I decided to add a winter cap. I actually cut & colored several different ones so there was a bit of a fashion show - LOL. Then I remembered a stamp set with an ice floe - perfect! In my crafty clean up I found this yummy iridescent vellum in the stash (another stamp expo find) - it coordinates much better with the card base in real life. I knew it would make a perfect pond. I created the background and then cut it into an oval and layered onto a black oval mat, then added the blue frame cut from 2 oval dies. I decided to anchor the oval on the side with a paper strip - the hunt was on! I wanted something red and white and I tried many, many different ones before finding an unopened pack of paper. It had no label but I recognized a reindeer on one of the pages and remember making a card with a puffy sticker. Sure enough - found the card made for a 2015 Merry Monday challenge and learned it was paper included in the 12/2015 SSS kit. Oh well, at least it didn't sit around for 2 whole years! A strip of narrow black houndstooth washi finished the right edge of the red & white paper. When thinking about a sentiment, I decided to try a bit of the patterned paper - it cuts perfectly into little sentiments & I tried a few of those too, before picking Happy Holidays. Just love this font!!

Be sure to stop by and check out the rest of the Merry Makers' cards for even more Christmas inspiration! How are you doing on cards for your Christmas list?? I'm totally done and will have plenty of cards to donate to charity - yay!!

Thanks for stopping and thanks for the kind comments! I'm enjoying my stint as Guest Designer at Merry Monday!!

Halloween set - Cards for Hospitalized Kids

Hi all - I've mentioned Cards for Hospitalized Kids in the past - a worthy charity bringing joy to hospitalized kids by sharing handmade cards. Today I have a set of Halloween cards to send this charity. I ordered the Simon Says Stamp Limited Edition Halloween kit (sold-out) and it came in yesterday's mail - Yay!!

*** Warning - photo-heavy post ahead ***

Photo from Simon Says Stamp's site

The kit came with the following:

Exclusive Simon Says Stamp 4x6 Clear stamp set "Creepy Cute"

Exclusive Simon Says Stamp Wafer thin Die "Witch Cat"

Exclusive Seed Beads "Fright Night"

Phrases and Stickers "Bootiful Night"

3 sheets of 6x6 Cardstock in Doublesided Patterns

2 Jars Tonic Mini Glow Drops: Banana Split and Apple Sour

WOW Glow in the dark Embossing Powder

30 Mini Googly Eyes

Doodlebug Tricky Treat Braddies

My Mind's Eye "Trick or Treat" Puffy Stickers

3 zipper close Kraft Stand up Treat pouch goody bags

Large Treat Box with Window

Simon Says Stamp Cardstock in White and Black

1 Package Tim Holtz Halloween Trimmings

12 Thick Tim Holtz Halloween Kraft Papers 8x8

1 Ranger Foil Tape Sheet

What fun I had playing with this wonderful kit today, creating cards for a great cause! I made 20 quick cards using many of the kit's stickers and papers, plus some additions from Michael's & Target's bargain bins. I still have plenty of papers left and haven't even touched half the stuff in the kit! Here are the cards:

Just need to add messages to the insides but I consider this quite an accomplishment for 3 hours work! It helped to use DCWV A2 cards (neutrals) and I die cut the same stitched rectangle from My Favorite Things Blueprints 20 (retired) twice from 10 different papers.The kit's papers were from Tim Holtz's Halloween 8x8 paper pad (black or brown & orange papers on one side/kraft on reverse). The only other background paper I used was from a Michael's Halloween 6x6 pad (the spider web paper), plus some orange & black DCWV card stock. Here and there I also used some black Tim Holtz washi I had in my stash. The puffy pumpkin stickers came from Michael's and the Target $ bin had the fun enamel stars and spiders. I also used Hero Arts DC197 Halloween Trimmings Stamp & Cut for the Happy Halloween on some of the cards.

Although the kit is sold out, many of the items are available singly at Simon Says Stamp so check it out if interested! Thanks for stopping and if you have a spare moment, visit Cards for Hospitalized Kids. You may find yourself sending them cards as I and some of my friends have been doing.

Hope to see you back tomorrow for my latest Merry Monday Guest Designer card. Can you believe it'll be week 4 already?!

Merry Monday #257 - Decorated Tag using texture, bling and die cuts

Merry Monday everyone - it's week 3 of my Guest Designer slot and time for Sue's Challenge #257 to include a decorated tag using texture, bling, and die cuts on your Christmas card.

Oh my - what a fun challenge! I have lots of different tag dies but I combined a couple for my card. I found the perfect paper pad for the tag and background. Then I spotted a fun polar bear Silhouette image I had cut a while back - still stuck to the mat!

Supplies: Paper - Neenah Classic Crest Solar White, Pop-tone Black Licorice,

Studio Calico Magical Collection 6x6, scrap of Basic Grey Juniper & BoBunny dotted

Dies - My Favorite Things Blueprints 2 and 13; Hero Arts DI054 Phrase Bubbles,

My Monthly Hero Kit July 2016 (sold out) - luggage tag (cut in half), and

DI197 Tag Infinity Dies (for the tag's tab & reinforcer)

Silhouette Design ID 69566 A2 Polar Bear Card (just cut the bear with scarf)

Stamps - Hero Arts CL343 Holiday Sayings (retired)

Embossing Folder - Darice Snowflake Swirl

Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black, Hickory Smoke Distress Ink

Other - Michael's gems, 3M glitter washi, Copic Markers, scrap of ribbon

I had one last piece of this blue patterned paper and I embossed it for some texture - actually, it's debossed for the most part - they printed the label on the wrong side so I didn't get the normal raised effect. Since it was my last piece of this paper, I used it anyway! Glittery washi adds both texture and bling to the tag and some gems to my sentiment finish it off nicely.

Funny story - I photographed the card and uploaded it, then when I went to check the Silhouette ID for the polar bear, I realized I'd left off his front legs and scarf - oh no!! So I added them and took a new photo, sigh.... Do you ever do crazy stuff like that? Tell me, please! Here's the card with the front legs & scarf missing - have a good laugh, I actually didn't notice anything was missing until I looked in my Silhouette library!!

Thanks for stopping and be sure to check out all the inspiration from my Merry Monday teamies! Have a crafty week!!