O Christmas Tree

Hi everyone.  Today's card is for the Sparkle Christmas Challenge (#12 - trees).  This is a die that I borrowed from my friend Susan.  It has five layers, but I opted to use just the three biggest for today's tree, sponging around the edges with a darker green to give it dimension.  I love the flourish pattern on the designer paper - and I wanted it to be the star, so left everything else white to show it off.  To give the tree even more dimension, I added foam tape at the bottom of each of the pieces ... and glued the peak of the middle and bottom layers to the card front.  The top piece is popped up at both the peak (with the star) and along the bottom.

I printed the sentiment at the bottom of a piece of white card stock (it's a digital sentiment), and then tore the edge.  I layered it on top of another, larger piece of torn card stock and then mounted those two pieces to my card front.  I added dazzling diamonds along the torn edges of the "snow", and once dry, mounted the tree in place.

I haven't mentioned this for a while, but when I use designer paper on my card, I usually add a strip (about 1 1/8" wide) to the inside bottom of the card for interest.  You can see just a peak of the inside in the photo above.

I made a second card exactly the same to donate and will keep one for my Christmas stash, which is already growing!  :)

Stamps:  Traditional Christmas Greetings (Pink Petticoat)
Paper:  White; 'Tis the Season Designer Paper (My Mind's Eye)
Ink:  Garden Green (SU!) - for sponging around the edges of the tree die-cuts
Accessories & Tools:  Big Shot, 5 part pine tree die (Elizabeth Craft Designs), star die (Simon Says), dazzling diamonds

Challenges:
Sparkle #12 - trees

Pure Sunshine

Hi everyone.  Another quiet week for me :) ... so that means I'll have some time in my studio to play and I'm also hoping to get more organizing done (I started out with good intentions in January, but life got in the way so still have lots to do).  Had a wonderful weekend ... as I mentioned yesterday, my friend Susan came by on Saturday for some fun crafting time, and yesterday my family all met at my mom's house for a belated birthday celebration - mom turned 85 a week ago!  So wonderful to spend the evening together - lots of fun!

Today's card is for a couple of things.  First of all, I saw this beautiful card made by my good friend Bonnie a while back ... and fell in love with the image.  Here's my first card using this beautiful stamp set.  I just love the watercolored look of the images.  I stamped the stems in Kiwi Kiss ink, then the blooms were stamped twice each, the larger background is Daffodil Delight ink, and the smaller second stamping is done in Crushed Curry.  I used some pretty designer paper for the strip at the side and added a knot and double string of Honeydew twine which matches the Kiwi ink perfectly.  (I have to admit that this is the second time I made the card ... first time I used Pear Pizzazz ink - gorgeous green ... but when I added the twine (an after-thought), the colors didn't match up so I stamped a new card front).  :)

This card is for a couple of challenges.  First, the LoveFest 2014 challenge at SCS - this is for challenge B - Lovey Dovey Spring - hosted by Stamping Bella.  And this is also for last Friday's Free For All Challenge at SCS - #208 - sunshine.

Hope to be back again soon with more cards.

Stamps:  Too Kind (SU!); Sunny Sentiments (Amy R)
Paper:  White; Sweater Weather DP (SU!)
Ink:  Kiwi Kiss, Daffodil Delight; Crushed Curry (SU!)
Accessories & Tools:  Honeydew twine (The Twinery)

Challenges:
LoveFest2014B
F4A208 - sunshine

Furry Christmas

Hi everyone.  Back with another animal Christmas card ... this one is for the LoveFest Challenge at SCS - Challenge A - Puppy Love.  There is an eleven day event with lots of challenges and prizes ... all being sponsored by SCS (Splitcoaststampers) member companies.  I'm hoping (finger's crossed) to complete all of the challenges - this is for first challenge.

I received this cute stamp set for Christmas from my good friend Darnell, who I call Dolly.  Thanks Dolly!! :)

I'm sure most of you know Darnell, but in case you don't, check out her blog djkardkreations.  She is fun and funny and very creative!

I colored this sweet image with my Copics and added some fun details with a white gel pen, dazzling diamonds and crystal effects.  This was my second go at this image ... the first one turned out too dark (the big dog was dark brown), so I changed up the large dog to make him a dalmatian ... at least I hope that's what he looks like and not a weird shaped cow :)  It made such a difference to have more white in the image and I'm happy with how it turned out.

____________________

Yesterday, my stamping buddy Susan came by for an afternoon of fun in my studio.  She brought along several of her embossing folders, stamps, and dies that I have admired on her cards, but I don't own.  And Susan spent time stamping, embossing and die-cutting from my supplies that were new to her.  SO MUCH FUN!!  It's great to be able to spend time with someone that has the same passion ... and it's great to be able to share our supplies - I was like a big kid in a candy store :)

Thanks Susan for being here yesterday ... can't wait until we can do it again!!  After you left, I spent about an hour just looking at all the fun stamped images and embellishments and organizing them into little bags.  Last night I couldn't sleep ... I had cards whirling around in my head :)  FYI, the cookies you brought are all gone - totally delicious!

Edited to Add:  Just saw that the challenge this week at Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge is #164 - Christmas Love, so I'm entering this card.

Stamps:  Furry Christmas (Simon Says)
Paper:  White
Ink:  Copics
Accessories & Tools:  dazzling diamonds, crystal effects, maraschino and pea pod twines (the twinery), white gel pen

Challenges:
LOVEFEST2014A
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge #164 - Christmas Love

Java Great Day!

Hi everyone.  Time for the latest challenge at Addicted to CAS.  This challenge is being hosted by the very creative Deepti (Dee's Art Utopia) ... and she choose this fun word ...

This challenge's sponsor is

Prize:  7 free digis
(please follow the rules to be eligible to win)

____________________

I have to say that Bugaboo has an incredible selection of fun digital images.  It is one of my favorite places to look for digital stamps and I have several that I have used over the past few years.  I have three of their "coffee" stamps.  This one is call Java Great Day ... don't you love it??!! :)  I used the image of the coffee cup, but didn't use their sentiment, instead I used the same words, but printed it in a fun font that I downloaded called Celebration Time.  Having fun experimenting with the different fonts that are available for free on the internet :)

I used a layout that I have seen several times over the past few months ... a partial die-cut circle surrounding the focal image - it's a great way to highlight your image.  I added a line of stitching to give it even more impact.  Simple paper pieced image ... I had so much fun making this Clean and Simple card.  FYI, I printed off the "foam" onto white card stock, smeared it with dazzling diamonds glitter and once dry cut it out.  I gave it a little shape using my stylus and mat so that it has a bit of dimension - not sure if that comes across in the photo, but it was a small effort to give it a bit more oomph!

Just a reminder that the ATCAS challenge (#32 - code word:  Coffee) runs for a full two weeks, so there's lots of time to enter.  Come join in the fun ... and check out the inspiring cards from the rest of the Design Team!

Stamps:  Coffee Time - Java Great Day (Bugaboo)
Paper:  White, Snap Life (Simple Stories)

Ink:  Real Red

Accessories & Tools:  Big Shot, Circle Nestability (Spellbinders), dazzling diamonds