{Stamp Set Spotlight} Season of Joy: Day 3

Love the swirls in this set and this card shows them off. With a little VersaMark, they add a lot of visual interest and they were a snap to make!

This card was created for a sketch challenge at 365 Cards:

I wanted it to look like we were seeing the Christmas tree through a window... The sentiment is also part of this set. I love the dots beneath the words; there's a lot you can do with rhinestones or paper piercing to add a little more oomph to the sentiment!

The tag is made using the Ticket Corner Punch (on River Rock). I've just tied two knots in the narrow grosgrain and glued them down with Mini Glue Dots.

Stampin' Up! Supplies:

Stamps: Season of Joy

Papers: Cajun Craze, So Saffron, River Rock and Whisper White

Inks: Always Artichoke Classic and VersaMark

Accessories: Ticket Corner Punch, Whisper White Narrow Grosgrain, Mini Glue Dots

Thanks for the visit! Day Four of the Stamp Set Spotlight is coming soon!

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

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!

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

Always pocket card

I've combined two of my favorite things in this card: pocket cards and the Always stamp set. I like both because they're very versatile. I've used the pocket card for a birthday invitation and thank you note (I've still got one thank you note on my desk; maybe I'll post it, too), as well as for note cards like this or occasion cards (birthday, anniversary).

Stampin' Up! Supplies:

Stamp Set: Always

Inks: Perfect and Pale Plum Classic

Papers: Whisper White, Perfect Plum and Pale Plum Card Stock

Accessories: ½-inch circle punch, 1/8-inch punch, Corner Rounder punch, Ticket Corner punch, Word Slot punch, Crop-a-Dile, Stampin’ Dimensional, Whisper White Narrow Grosgrain Ribbon, Sponge, Linen Thread

Thank you so much for looking!