Christmas in February?

Hi Everyone,

I hope you all had an absolutely fabulous weekend!

I have been thinking about getting a start on my Christmas Cards for some time now and have been looking at various Christmas Blog Challenges but have been having a hard time getting into the mindset of going for it.  I want winter to be over so the thought of creating a Christmas Card was kind of scary...  But today, I decided to go for it, even though I didn't use a Christmas Challenge Blog to do it! lol

I decided to use the colour theme from Colour Me...! this week.  I thought Rich Razzleberry and Pool Party would make for a very non-traditional colour combination for a Christmas card.

I also drew inspiration from this week's Freshly Made Sketches fun sketch.  

And here is my card:

At first, for the circles, I had thought about stamping and punching out particular shapes but then I decided to stamp a bunch of snowflakes in Coastal Cabana (I did not have Pool Party ink so that was as close as I could get and it matches really well) and Rich Razzleberry on Whisper White card stock.  This created my own DSP, if you will.  I then took my 1" Circle Punch and randomly punched out circles from the generated DSP.  It turned out much better than my first attempt and created a much more fun look on the card.

Card Recipe:

Card Stock:

Rich Razzleberry, Pool Party, Whisper White

Ink:

Rich Razzleberry, Coastal Cabana (I did not have Pool Part Ink so this was as close as I could get)

Stamp Sets:

Endless Wishes

Tools/Techniques:

1" Circle Punch, Rich Razzleberry 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon

Thanks for dropping by!

Steph

You Make Me Happy!

Just a quick blog post before Hubby and I head out on our Valentines date.

I wanted to share with you the card I made for Hubby for this special love day:

This card was inspired by the sketch over at Seize the Sketch:

And the colours I used (red and black) were the exact colours we used for our wedding day - I love using them as it reminds me of that special day.

Card Recipe:

Card Stock:

Basic Black, Real Red, Whisper White, Fresh Prints DSP Stack, Red Glimmer Paper

Ink:

Basic Black, Real Red, Versamark

Stamp Sets:

Perfect Pennants, Hearts a Flutter, Banner Blast

Tools/Techniques:

Big Shot, Starburst Framelits, Banners Framelits, White Embossing Powder, Small Heart Punch, Heat Tool.

Thanks for dropping by!  Enjoy your Valentines Day however you choose to celebrate it!

Steph

Sending Good Thoughts Your Way!

Hi Everyone!

First, I just want to say thanks to everyone for the Blog Love today.  I especially want to say thanks to Darnell over at djkardkreations for featuring me on her blog today.  I also want to say thanks to the ladies over at Colour Me...!, I received an honourable mention for my Thank you card posted earlier this week.

If you would like to have a look at that card, please check it out HERE!

So I just want to do a quick post before I head to bed (code word for watch Olympic Curling till I pass out!  Go Canada!).  Tonight is Hubby's pool night with the guys so I took some time to pull together a really quick card for a few challenges.

First, I took my inspiration from the Week 3 Spring Sketch on Create with Connie & Mary.  I am in love with banners so I thought this was an absolutely fabulous sketch.

I then thought about the Late Night Stampers Challenge Blog which runs a two week challenge and the newest one is to use either wet or dry embossing on your project.  This was right up my alley.  I love how white embossing powder looks on black so I decided that this would be my feature banner and would also contain my sentiment.

Finally, I was intrigued by the CASology Cue Card:

I love the BOLD patterns in the newest Kaleidoscope DSP from Stampin' Up!.  I'm not really sure if this will qualify as a CAS card but it was super quick and easy to make and from my point of view, there is a lot of "white space" as a lot of the DSP is being shown.

All that to say, here is my card for the evening:

Card Recipe:

Card Stock:

Basic Black, Strawberry Slush, Whisper White, Kaleidoscope DSP

Ink:

Bermuda Bay, Versamark

Stamp Sets:

Perfect Pennants

Tools/Techniques:

Banner Framelits Dies, White Embossing Powder, Embossing Buddy, Stampin' Dimensionals

Thanks for dropping by!!

Steph

Looking for Spring...

Hi again everyone,

I spent some more time in my craft room this afternoon looking for Spring...it didn't really happen as all I see is SNOW when I look out my window but crafting did help!

I really thought that the colors over at the Color Throwdown were screaming Spring this week so I decided to play along with their challenge this afternoon.  

Over at Create with Connie and Mary, Mary had a great sketch (and she's also completely done with Winter and ready for Spring!) which I used for my inspiration.

Combining the two challenges, this is what I came up with:

I decided that I would do a little coloring today and stamped the flower image from the Secret Garden Stamp Set (Stampin' Up!) in Basic Black ink.  I then colored the flower petals using Pink Pirouette and Real Red markers and traced the image again with a Basic Black marker.  I really like how it came out. I also decided to use Hemp Twine for the first time on a card - it was a bit harder to work with than I had initially planed but I like the effect it gives - kind of like a vine.

Here is the card recipe:

Card Stock:

Whisper White, Pistachio Pudding, Fresh Prints Designer Series Paper Stack

Ink:

Basic Black, Pistachio Pudding, Real Red, Pink Pirouette

Stamp Set:

Secret Garden

Tools/Techniques:

Secret Garden Framelits, Basic Jewels - Pearls, Hemp Twine, Stampin' Dimensionals

So what do you think?  Will this do as a little Spring cheer till the real thing arrives?

Thanks for dropping by!

Steph

Thanks!

Good Monday Morning Everyone!

Hope you all enjoyed your weekend.  Last night I went to see August: Osage County with a very special friend.  Wow! The acting in that movie was absolutely spectacular!  I can see where the Oscar and Golden Globe nominations are coming from in that one.  But, it certainly made me thankful for my own family and friends.  So today, I decided that I needed to create a thank you card to say thanks to all of those wonderful people - you know who you are. :)

I've decided to enter this card in the following challenges:

1. Color Me...!

This week's challenge is monochromatic using Wisteria Wonder.   To be honest, this is the second card I created as I was far from happy with the first!  Even Hubby said "it's a little mute" - his way of saying "try again" - lol.

2. CAS(E) This Sketch

Here is the recipe for this project:

Card Stock:

Whisper White, Wisteria Wonder

Ink:

Wisteria Wonder, Basic Black, Crumb Cake

Stamp Sets:

For Everything

Tools/Techniques:

Basic Jewels - Pearls, Stampin' Dimensionals, Envelope Punch Board (to create rounded edges on my card)

Thanks for dropping by!!

Steph

"You & Me"

Hi everyone!

One more quick post for tonight before I head off to bed.

Yesterday I pulled together a quick card to enter into two great challenges...

First off, here is my card:

I absolutely love heat embossing - the texture, depth and dimension it adds to a CAS card is just wonderful.

And, I will be linking this card to the following challenges:

1. CAS-ology

2. Pals Paper Arts

Aren't these colors just stunning???  I just love them.  

This is the first time I am playing along with these challenges and I am so glad I did!

Here is the recipe for my card:

Card Stock:

Whisper White

Ink:

Rose Red, Blushing Bride, Versamark

Stamp Set:

Perfect Pennants

Tools/Techniques:

Smoky Slate (I did not have Basic Gray) Embossing Powder, Heating Tool

Thanks for dropping by!

Steph

Oh Happy Day!

Hi Everyone!

Hope you are enjoying your weekend.  I am in a full Olympic coma here and absolutely loving it - Go Canada!

I wanted to take a few minutes to share a card with you that I created while stamping with a friend yesterday.  I have been dying to use this DSP and thought the sketch provided over at Freshly Made Sketches would be the prefect way to display it.

And here is my card:

Here is the recipe for this card:

Card Stock:

Very Vanilla, Coastal Cabana, Retro Fresh DSP

Ink:

Coastal Cabana, Tangerine Tango

Stamp Set:

Starburst Sayings

Tools/Techniques:

Starburst Framelits, Essentials Wooden Elements, Tangerine Tango Candy Dots (Brights Collection)

Thanks for dropping by!

Steph