Beautiful fireplace card tops at Card Contest

Karen (aka Puddin') won my Merry Winter Spectacular Card Contest with this fabulous fireplace card and the Stitched Stockings stamp set. She used the Simply Scored tool to make the brick look on the Cherry Cobbler fireplace, made the flames from the Bold Blossom Punch, and the logs from the Word Window Punch. The stockings are also punched, and sport sparkly rhinestones and Cherry Cobbler/Whisper White Baker's Twice. Karen gold-embossed "Season's Greetings" on the woodgrain strip (the mantle), and used the Eyelet Border Punch for trim.

Five Merry Winter Spectacular projects

I planned a Merry Winter Spectacular around the Merry Winter stamp set, and 20 people signed up to attend the Sunday event. I send out a list of supplies for everything to bring, trying to keep it as short as possible. I pre-punched and ran as much through the Big Shot as possible. Everyone was able to complete everything in just two hours. The card above uses the 1-3/4" circle punch, Frostwood Lodge dsp, and the Pennants die and Petal Cone die for the Big Shot.

I host a Card Contest with prizes for the Top 3. Everyone present votes on their favorites. I'll post all of the contest entries in the next day or so. This card uses Hollyberry Bouquet dsp (the glittery red stripes are on 2 sheets in the pack), the 2" circle punch, little heart punch and 3/4" and 1" circle punches.

There's swapping at the event, along with lunch. The card above uses designer paper from the Christmas Scrappin' Kit in the Holiday Mini, along with the Pennant die (for the scallop circle), and 1-3/4" circle punch.

I love looking around and seeing so many women crafting. There's a nice buzz in the room that just makes me happy! I used the Pocket Pieces die for the Big Shot to make the gift card holder above. Everyone could select the embossing folder of their choice. The quilted Cherry Cobbler ribbon acts as a belly band. You slide it down, insert the gift card and slide it back up.

And what would a Christmas event be without a stocking? Again, everyone could select whichever embossing folder they liked. I love the stitched felt pieces. We used every single stamp in the Merry Winter set to make all of these projects. And many women received a door prize too! It was a great day. Thanks again to everyone who attended!

Stamps: Merry Winter;

Ink: Basic Black pad and marker, Real Red pad and marker, Cherry Cobbler, Garden Green, and Lucky Limeade, Pumpkin Pie marker;

Paper: Whisper White, Very Vanilla, Real Red, Cherry Cobbler, Garden Green, Lucky Limeade, Soft Suede, Glimmer Red, Hollyberry Bouquet, Frostwood Lodge, Christmas Simply Scrappin' Kit.

Accessories:  3/4" circle punch, 1" circle punch, 1-3/4" circle punch, 2" circle punch, variety of embossing folders, Pennants die, Petal Cone die, Stocking die, Pocket Pieces die, heart punch, ruffled Lucky Limeade ribbon, quilted Cherry Cobbler ribbon, stitched felt, sponge dauber, dimensionals.

Snow Much Fun Christmas card with Frostwood Lodge dsp

This Snow Much Fun card was one of my recent 10-card class projects. The snowman is stamped on a 2" circle I punched. The Christmas banner comes from the Pines & Poinsettias stamp set. We cut off some detail above the word. I pulled the Marina Mist and Cherry Cobbler colors from the Frostwood Lodge dsp, adding scallop dotted Marina Mist ribbon too. After coloring the image and putting the card together, I added Dazzling Details. I'm really diggin' that stuff. Squirt it exactly where you want it and let it dry for about 15 minutes and it adds glitter and dimension! Love it!!!

I want to say "Hi" to all the terrific people I met yesterday at the Eagles Holiday Bazaar. Hopefully some of you will be finding your way to my classes sometime soon! Have a wonderful Sunday. I'll be at the studio this afternoon for my Merry Winter Spectacular. I'm expecting a lot of people, so it should be fun!

Plant Hope thank-you card for Monkey Challenge #81

Fall is officially here! I love it. And the colors in the Spice Cake dsp remind me of the season, which is why I picked that paper to use with the Plant Hope bonsai plant. I used Pool Party ruffled ribbon with a designer brad to hold the extended Word Window for the sentiment. I ran a strip of Early Espresso card stock through the Tasteful Trim die for the big scallop, and added a few pearls. The plant was inked with markers, then I used an aqua painter and More Mustard pad to color the pot.

Tutorial: How to Extend the Word Window Punch

In just a few easy steps, I can show you how you can use the same punch to make an extended length tag. Here, I folded a strip of Very Vanilla card stock.

Insert the folded card stock into the punch, but not all the way.

This is what you end up with. Just straighten out the tag and stamp on it.

Here's the difference. I needed a longer Word Window for "A Note of Thanks," so this worked out perfectly!

Tidings of Joy watercolored card

Believe it or not, this was one of the cards for my last 10-card class. It has a lot of coloring! That's not normal for a "quick" card. In hindsight, I should've done the Spotlighting with a Punch technique, so only a small circle of the image would need colored. This was also the first card I made, so I was trying out different colors on the main Tidings of Joy image. I liked my coloring job on the second card, but it's on a display board at my studio. I hope you enjoy your Friday!

Easy Events mistletoe fun

Here's another card from my latest 10-card class. It uses one stamp - the mistletoe witih "merry christmas" from the Easy Events set. I CASE'd the design from A New Ink on Life blog, changing the colors and adding designer paper.

The Sounding Joy with silver glimmer

I love this card! It uses The Sounding Joy stamp set (in the Holiday Mini), along with Cherry Cobbler, silver glimmer paper, and Crumb Cake card stock and ribbon. I CASE'd it from Jen Sannes at http://www.simpleandsincere.com/. Isn't it lovely? My customers got to make two of this card at my latest stamp-a-stack, and I have Red Hat Ladies coming to the studio tomorrow morning to make it.

Halloween fun! No stamping here...

I've had a fun couple last days... not only preparing for Halloween, but enjoying the festivities that surround the holiday. Above, my boy works on his detailed pumpkin design. He was happy to enjoy the roasted pumpkin seeds I made.

When we were shopping for Halloween costumes Saturday, I picked up this Ollie the Ostrich outfit. It has a cooling fan that runs on AA batteries and keeps the ostrich inflated. It's so cute! My girl was a pirate at two different Halloween parties, and went out last night in our neighborhood with her dad's cowboy hat and Ollie.

No black cat for Halloween. This is our orange tabby kitty, Frito. Doesn't he look cute (and innocent)? He's only 8 months old.

Three more quick and easy cards for Christmas

I CASE'd this pretty card, though I can't recall from where. It's Very Vanilla with the mistletoe stamp from Easy Events (I mounted the image on the wood block separately from the sentiment). The greeting is from Four the Holidays. New products on this card from the Holiday Mini are the stitched vanilla velvet ribbon, and the Snow Burst embossing folder (on a separate piece of vanilla card stock).

I CASE'd this card from Lisa Young, simplifying it by leaving off a layer or two. It uses the Bright Hopes stamp set in the Holiday Mini, along with the Postage Stamp Punch, Decorative Label Punch and basic rhinestones.

This Rich Razzleberry card features the Stitched Stockings stamp set, along with the Stocking Builder Punch and a tag sentiment from Grateful Greetings. I used all of the bigger patterned pieces for my customers, so my card is pieced together with a couple of patterned scraps. There's Dazzling Diamonds glitter on the card too.

It's taken me awhile to post all five of the cards from my last 10-card class. I still have club cards to show you!

Origami diamond fold card with Ain't Love Grand stamp

My club members got to make this origami diamond fold card, which uses Cheery Treat dsp and the Up, Up & Away and Ain't Love Grand stamp sets. The paper and second stamp set are hostess items anyone may select with a $150 order! The new scoring tool (in the Holiday Mini) makes this card so simple. The top flap inserts into the front diamond shape, and the Concord Crush knot of ribbon holds the whole card closed.

Here's the inside of the card. We stamped the hot air balloon in Basic Gray ink, and punched a circle out of patterned paper in the same Cheery Treat dsp pack for added interest. I colored the hearts with a Melon Mambo marker.

This is a closer view of the inside. This card uses an 11" x 11" piece of patterned paper, folded in half and then scored. Here's a video so you can see it being made: http://wickedlywonderfulcreations.blogspot.com/2011/08/dare-to-get-dirty-origami-diamond-fold.html

Lots of little Jolly Bingo Bits for Monkey Challenge #80

I'm pretty happy with the way this card turned out. I started with Just Eat Cake dsp layered on a Baja Breeze card, then, using the A La Card Monkey Sketch Challenge #80, I stamped nine of the images from Jolly Bingo Bits and layered them on a 3-3/8" square of Poppy Parade card stock. They're so cute! The sentiment is from Beautiful Season.

In addition to Dazzling Diamond glitter, I used a red Sharpie to color these small rhinestones for berries on the holly. What do you think?

 

Stamps: Jolly Bingo Bits, Beautiful Season;

Ink: Poppy Parade, Wild Wasabi, Baja Breeze;

Paper: Whisper White, Poppy Parade, Baja Breeze, Just Eat Cake dsp;

Accessories: Poppy Parade ribbon, basic rhinestones, red Sharpie, 2-way glue pen, Dazzling Diamonds glitter, 1-inch square punch, large oval punch, dimensionals.

Pines & Poinsettias snowflake embossed card

I'm always looking for simple and striking card ideas, so when I saw a card like this Pines and Poinsettias one by Becky Johnson, I had to CASE it (Copy and Share Everything). The body is Early Espresso, and it's been run through the Northern Flurry embossing folder in the Big Shot. I used a strip of the quilted Cherry Cobbler ribbon, as well one stamp from the Pines and Poinsettias stamp set. Both items are in the Holiday Mini. The greeting is from the Petite Pairs stamp set. This was another 10-card class project.

Tags til Christmas card for 10-card class

I came across this card design by Meghan Nishi, I used Not Quite Navy and Cajun Craze pads, as well as 1/8" Early Espresso taffeta and a different greeting - mine is from Grateful Greetings. The ornaments are from the Tags til Christmas stamp set. I love the musical notes wheeled for the background!

Jolly Bingo Bits for Monkey Challenge 79: Holiday Cheer

I'm back to making holiday cards at A La Card Monkey with Challenge #79: Holiday Cheer + Sketch. I turned to my Jolly Bingo Bits stamp set, as well as Tiny Tags. The designer paper is from the Holly Berry Bouquet pack in the Holiday Mini. I used the Postage Stamp Punch and the Square Scallop Punch for the squares, primarily because my regular 1-1/4" and 1-3/8" square punches are at the studio for another project.

All dots for Scaredy Cat card

I brought this Scaredy Cat card as a make & take to a Halloween event last weekend. I like the simplicity of the card. It uses a couple pieces of Frightful Sight dsp, along with a couple of circle punches, a sentiment from Wicked Cool, black ink and 1/4" grosgrain ribbon, and a Brights glimmer brad.

Kim's Out on a Limb "eeek!" card

Kim stamped this cute Out on a Limb card, using Spooky Bingo Bits for the little spider web and the "eeek!" I love the simple layout - it's one you could use for any occasion.

Teresa's Petal Cone die Halloween treat

One of my club members came up with this cute Halloween treat for a recent Halloween event. Teresa used the Petal Cone die for the Big Shot, cutting off the tip. We stamped the spider from the Piece of Poison all over the box, added candy and closed the top. I love the addition of the plastic spider. The "Trick or Treat" stamps is also from Piece of Poison.

Dark & Dreary for Monkey Challenge 78: Spooky Cute!

My card for this week's A La Card Monkey Challenge 78: Spooky Cute + Sketch starts with Mocha Morning Specialty Paper (this piece is flocked and sooo soft) and the raven from the Dark and Dreary stamp set. I figured since I was going with flocking I should also bling it up a bit with some chunky champagne glitter. The monkey sketch also showed a tab with an embellishment, so I heat embossed words from Wicked Cool and added a glimmer brad from the basics container - champagne colored also.

Autumn and Christmas cards, and a birthday swap

Barb's Gently Falling swap

These cards round out the rest of our American Ink team swaps for the month of October. We have fun swapping card and 3d ideas, sharing business tips, stamping techniques, and stamping cards! The $100 in FREE product special runs through October 31 and you can sign up online through my Stampin' Up! website here  - http://therubberroom.stampinup/. You get to customize your $175 kit with whatever stamp sets and colors you prefer! Please contact me if you need more information or assistance. That's why I'm here!



Kim's Leaves of a Tree

The Sounding Joy stamp set

Kathie's Christmas Lodge swap

Ginette's Sincere Salutations and Fun Flowers swap