A Damask package...

My final entry into the 365 Cards Challenges for the week is this little Damask package. I have two lovely damask elements in this card. First, I ran a piece of Whisper White card stock through my Big Shot, using the Damask plate in my Stampin' Up! Backgrounds I Texturz Plates set. It adds a subtle richness that the photo doesn't quite capture. It is also necessary to experience in person the flocking detail that is part of the Christmas Cocoa Specialty Designer Series Paper that I used. This white damask pattern on the red paper is actually raised and flocked, making a rich texture to touch. Finally, to top off the textures of this card, I chose the silky Whisper White Satin Ribbon to tie it up like a Christmas gift. To make it all stand out, I chose Basic Black card stock as the body of the card.

Stampin' Up! Supplies:

Stamps: None!

Papers: Christmas Cocoa Specialty Designer Series Paper, Whisper White and Basic Black card stocks

Inks: None!

Accessories: Big Shot, Stampin' Up! Backgrounds I Texturz Plates, Whisper White Satin Ribbon

I hope your Christmas is wrapped up with lots of special joys! Thanks for your visit!

Tied up in Knots over Christmas

*LOVE* the 365 Cards Challenges! They are always just what I need for inspiration. For this challenge, we were to use knots... Once again, I fed card stock through my Big Shot to add texture. I did this with both the Brushed Silver and Night of Navy pieces.

On Whisper White, I stamped the tree from the Snow Swirled set (inked in Night of Navy). Using Mini Glue Dots, I adhered knots of Night of Navy and Whisper White grosgrain with Silver Elastic Cord threaded through and knotted. The body of the card is Bordering Blue. The sentiment comes from the Sincere Salutations set was inked in Encore Silver and stamped on Whisper White.

Stampin' Up! Supplies:

Stamps: Snow Swirled, Sincere Salutations

Papers: Brushed Silver, Night of Navy, Bordering Blue, and Whisper White card stocks

Inks: Night of Navy Classic and Encore Silver

Accessories: Night of Navy and Whisper White grosgrain, Silver Elastic Cord, Mini Glue Dots, Big Shot, Stampin' Up! Backgrounds I Texturz Plate

Thanks so much for visiting!

Super Sketchy Sunday Entry

Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone! I hope you've all had a lovely weekend and that your travels will be or were safe. I've enjoyed all sorts of family this weekend. My beloved sister and her family are here visiting from out-of-state and so is my husband's brother and his new fiancee! Hooray! Congrats, guys! We've been stuffed to the gills with all sorts of Thanksgiving treats and we're getting ready to gear up for Christmas! Look out, December, here we come!

In that vein, I've gotten to steal away for a few minutes to create some Christmas-themed cards. The first was for the 365 Cards Super Sketchy Sunday challenge. Here's the sketch:

This is the card I designed:

I turned the sketch on its side, as you can see. The ornaments are cut out from the Merry Moments Designer Series Paper. I've just used snips of grosgain for the remaining lengths in the design. To add a little texture, I fed my Very Vanilla piece of card stock through my Big Shot with the Backgrounds I Texturz Plate. I like the subtle background these Texturz Plates afford. The word, "noel" comes from the Many Merry Messages set. It was inked in Chocolate Chip and then Real Red was sponged around the outside. The Ticket Corner Punch adds a little detail to the Very Vanilla and Old Olive pieces for the tag. They're adhered to the body of the card with Stampin' Dimensionals, as are the ornaments. I cut out one too many ornaments, but opted to place my extra inside the card for a fun surprise (you can see a red bit just inside the card)...

Stampin' Up! Supplies:

Stamps: Many Merry Messages

Papers: Merry Moments Designer Series Paper; Very Vanilla, Real Red and Old Olive card stocks

Inks: Chocolate Chip and Real Red Classics

Accessories: Big Shot, Stampin' Up! Backgrounds I Texturz Plate, paper snips, Chocolate Chip wide grosgrain ribbon, Real Red narrow grosgrain, Ticket Corner punch and Stampin' Dimensionals

Soccer Moms Unite!

Whew! Soccer is ov-ah! What a relief!

Don't get me wrong... Soccer has brought my husband and children much joy and good exercise. I will say, though, that it has been a challenge to have him coach the two older kids' teams and have a two-year-old in the mix. Plus we sure had some rainy days this season!

The kids were darling and all commented on how much fun they had this season. We hope to see everyone back next year!

To thank the fellow Soccer Parents who helped order trophies, set up our team party for the end of the season, bake treats for the party, etc, I came up with some simple "Thank You" notes. I love this design, as I can tweak it to use elsewhere...

I made this card in both Bravo Burgundy and Orchid Opulence (for the parents on Jordan's team; their team color was light purple).

Stampin' Up! Supplies:

Stamps: Short and Sweet, I Love Soccer (Retired)

Paper: Bravo Burgundy, Whisper White, Basic Black

Ink: Bravo Burgundy, Going Grey and Basic Black Classics

Accessories: Blender Pens, Basic Black wide grosgrain ribbon, Word Slot Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals

Coloring Page!

The challenge at 365 Cards for which I created this little guy was to color in a line image, using colored pencils or pastels. I used my Blender Pen to color with my Stampin' Pastels...

I had more fun adding little touches to this card. The stamps are from Snow Buddies, which is a Level 2 Hostess Set from the Holiday Mini Catalog. The flourish at the bottom of the card (and on the Bashful Blue oval) is supposed to be wind. I thought it would make fun ice skating tracks! I used my Stamp-a-Ma-Jig to help me place that on both the Crushed Curry and Bashful Blue pieces. I used VersaMark ink on both for a subtle touch.

The snowflake hanging from the "Merry Christmas" is from the Snow Buddies set and I was tickled to discover that it fit the Boho Blossoms Punch perfectly! I added a punch of Bashful Blue to make it pop and adhered the silver elastic cord to each side of the card stock with a Stampin' Dimensional.

I used a Stampin' Up! resource to choose my colors. When the New In Color choices come out each year, Stampin' Up! provides us with a variety of options for other colors to use with them, be they In Color or from the basic Color Families. I use this resource a lot. Contact me if you'd like a copy!

Stampin' Up! Supplies:

Stamps: Snow Buddies and Many Merry Messages sets

Papers: Crushed Curry, Melon Mambo, Soft Suede (see his hat), Bashful Blue, Old Olive, Whisper White

Inks: Basic Black, Bashful Blue, and Old Olive Classics and VersaMark

Accessories: Blender Pen, Stampin' Pastels, Silver Elastic Cord, Boho Blossoms, Ticket Corner and Small Oval punches, Circle Scissor Plus, Hobby Blade, Glass Mat, Paper Snips, Stampin' Dimensionals, Stamp-a-Ma-Jig

I really appreciate the visit! Drop me a line; let me know you were here!

Feeling a Little Blue...

Actually, I'm not, but I *LOVE* blue! The Ad Inspired Challenge this week at 365 Cards was right up my alley. I'm sure I've got this very ad tucked away in my inspiration journal.

As I type that, it sounds really presumptuous, so I'd better explain. Years ago, it was recommended to me that I keep a journal (in my case, a composition book covered in pretty paper) of favorite color combinations, pictures of things that inspire me, quotes that I like, etc. It was excellent advice and I love to add to it! I'm a major fan of tearing things out of magazines and catalogs, so this gives me some license and reason to do it. I have all sorts of things in my journal, from the aforementioned pages to quotes from the Mary Engelbreit calendars that my mom gives me every Christmas. I also use a 1-inch Circle punch to punch circles of card stock in colors I'd like to tinker with (or that I've seen elsewhere). Some day, I'll take a photo of the journal and some of its bits and post them here. Until then, I'll return to the Ad Inspired Challenge.

Here's the ad:

And here's what I came up with:

I love the clean lines of blue with white and so I tried to replicate that using one of my faves, Night of Navy, with Brilliant Blue. I used Whisper White Craft ink on Night of Navy for the circles from the Circle Circus set (and heat-set them so that they'd dry quickly). I punched them out with a 3/4-inch punch and then using a Stampin' Dimensional, adhered them to a 1-inch punch of Whisper White card stock. The circles on the Brilliant Blue piece are also from Circle Circus (I used VersaMark for those). For a high-value, sure-to-be-a-favorite, VersaMark is a must-have for beginner and advanced stampers alike.

"Thanks" from the Thank You Kindly set is simply inked in Brilliant Blue Classic ink and stamped upon Whisper White card stock (and adhered to a bit of Night of Navy). The Brilliant Blue piece is also adhered to the rest of the card using Stampin' Dimensionals.

Stampin' Up! Supplies:

Stamps: Circle Circus and Thank You Kindly

Papers: Night of Navy, Brilliant Blue and Whisper White card stocks

Inks: Whisper White Craft, Brilliant Blue Classic and VersaMark

Accessories: 3/4-inch and 1-inch Circle Punches, Stampin' Dimensionals

Thanks so much for looking!

A Negative Snowflake

It's been a while since I was able to participate in a card recipe challenge, so when this one arose and I had the time to participate, I was really excited!

The recipe was as follows: 4x4 card, red background, snowflakes (pattern, embellishments, any #, and any variety), one ribbon, and one stamped sentiment.

I had fun first embossing the Rose Red card stock using my Texturz Plates (Stampin' Up! Backgrounds 1). Then I used the Jumbo Snowflake Punch on Brushed Silver card stock. I love the color and feel of this card stock, but I also love that the color is throughout, so that a punched design (in this case) is silver through and through. I thought it would be fun to use the negative image, rather than the punch. Simple, simple and twice the fun! Now I've stashed the snowflake to use in another project (or I could adhere it inside this card). Hmmm...

To finish it off, I attached a piece of Basic Black Wide Grosgrain and tied a simple knot. I want it to look like an ornament!

"Very merry" from the Short and Sweet set is the "one stamped sentiment" that I was allowed. The snowflakes I stamped on the envelope are from this set, as well.What a fun, quick and easy card! A pack of four of these would make the perfect gift for a hostess, teacher, hairdresser, mail carrier, etc!

Stampin' Up! Supplies:

Stamps: Short and Sweet

Paper: Rose Red and Brushed Silver card stocks

Ink: Encore Silver

Accessories: Jumbo Snowflake and Horizontal Slot punches, Basic Black Wide Grosgrain Ribbon, Sizzix Big Shot, Stampin' Up! Backgrounds 1 Texturz Plate, Mini Glue Dots


Thanks for the visit!

Christmas Sketch

I've had a lot of fun tinkering with the Merry Moments Designer Series Paper. One of my favorite designs is the evergreen boughs. For the sketch this Sunday, I opted to use my Number One Go-To Set, "Lovely as a Tree" for the focal point. For fun, I chose non-traditional colors (using my Color Coach; you know how bad I am with color!). Finally, I stamped the flourish stamp (it's to signify wind blowing) from the "Snow Buddies" set on the backside of the More Mustard card stock and used that as my guide to pierce the design to the left of the pine tree. I am going to make several of this card, as it will be useful for "Thank You!" notes, cards for the men in my life, etc. Truthfully, it doesn't even have to be for Christmas giving!

Stampin' Up! Supplies:

Stamps: Lovely as a Tree (How do I love thee? Let me count the ways...)

Papers: Elegant Eggplant, More Mustard, Old Olive, Very Vanilla, and Bravo Burgundy card stocks and Merry Moments Designer Series Paper

Inks: Old Olive

Accessories: Paper Piercing Tool (a *steal* at $3.50!), Paper Snips, Natural Hemp Twine, Ticket Corner and 1/16-inch Punches

My Hat's off to You!

This sweet snowman is courtesy of a Hostess set I earned for an order I put together early last month. The name of the set is "Snow Buddies" and it can be found in the Holiday Mini Catalog. The challenge from the 365 Cards folks is to include a hat... Here's my take:

Studio Suggestion: I used the Round Tab Punch to punch the Basic Black card stock and snipped it in half to create the bowler hat for my snowman. The cute hat band is the Merry Moments Designer Series Paper.

Studio Suggestion #2: To make the snow effect on the ground, I tore a piece of Vellum and then dusted it with my Stampin' Pastels (blue).

Stampin' Up! Supplies:

Stamps: Snow Buddies, Fun & Fast Notes

Papers: Bashful Blue, Basic Black, Old Olive and Whisper White card stocks and Merry Moments Designer Series Paper

Inks: Basic Black Classic Ink and VersaMark

Accessories: Round Tab and Word Window Punches, Stampin' Pastels, Blender Pen, Paper Snips

Thanks so much for your visit!

A Patch upon the Knee...

I've thoroughly enjoyed a relatively quiet weekend, which has afforded me some time to catch up on some 365 Cards challenges. This challenge was to create a card that included a patch. I need some gift tags for baby gifts, so I opted for some baby overalls with a flower patch on the knee:




Stampin' Up! Supplies:


Stamps: Short and Sweet

Papers: Apricot Appeal, Pretty in Pink, Almost Amethyst and Whisper White card stocks


Inks: Classic Black and white Uni-ball Signo Gel Pen


Accessories: Trio Flower and Scallop Edge Punches

Studio Suggestion: You can't see it from my photo, but I used the Scallop Edge Punch on the left side of the little piece of Almost Amethyst that greets the recipient on the inside of the tag. It ties together with the scalloped edge of the Apricot Appeal as well as with the scallops of the flower punch patch.

So glad you popped by!

Quick and Easy Christmas Ornament

The folks at 365 Cards have prompted me to consider Christmas ornaments, so here's what I've created. The challenge was to make any type of ornament, and I opted for a quickie:

This simple ornament was created using the Jumbo Snowflake Punch and Night of Navy, Bordering Blue and Brushed Silver card stocks. I adhered it using Two-Way Glue (I like the precision of the tip) and I added a bow and a length of Elastic Silver Cord with which to hang it.

This makes a simple addition to a card, a fun take on a gift tag or an easy stand-alone gift for a hostess, mail carrier (Hi, Aunt Linda!), hairdresser, teacher, etc!

My Digital Studio... Happy Birthday to Me!

For my birthday, my mom gave me "My Digital Studio," the new papercrafting software from Stampin' Up! I am looking forward to do some hybrid scrapping with it (as I'm still very much in love with paper scrapping) as well as design work.

You see, in addition to creating projects in hard copy that you get printed (like scrapbook pages, for example), My Digital Studio can be used to *PLAN* projects! I love the ability to tinker with stamp sets, card stock, ink, ribbon and embellishment colors and sizes. One of my favorite things is to resize stamp images. Do you wish you could make that bird stamp just a little bigger (or smaller)? Done!

I will be taking the above page, which I created with some of my favorite pictures of our dumpling, Anna, and adding a few embellishments to it. Already, I've got photos matted on Apricot Appeal card stock and an accent stamped in Apricot Appeal ink and mounted on Designer Series Paper. I could call it "Complete" at this point... Talk about simple!

Below is another project I completed, in which I needed to fit lots of differently-sized photographs. Doing it as a paper scrapping project was nearly impossible (I tried). With my new software, it was a piece of cake! Now I can get these pages printed and look forward to adding accents and embellishments. The hard work is done!


Stay tuned; tomorrow's Studio Sara article shows a page that I completed, including some fun embellishments and "extras" that My Design Studio offers...


Thanks for visiting! Between starting a new preschool teaching job, kids starting kindergarten and third grade, two kids in soccer (and a daddy who coaches both), and my son's sixth birthday, it's been tricky to find time to spend in the Studio. I'm anxious to share my latest digital projects as well as my paper ones. In the paper realm, I've got George's soccer birthday party invitations and thank-you notes to share... Take care and Happy November!