Fa La La Duo

Here are my last two cards for this year!

My oldest son and his girlfriend recently got a cat.  The cat is a "teenager" and came from the streets. He seems to be a loving little guy but also feisty. With the new addition, I wanted a card specifically for him so I got the Stocking Cat die from Simon Says Stamp. Then there was a nice Concord & 9th sale and one of the things I picked up was the Fa La La Inlay die. I thought I was going to be able to walk by this die, but then I saw this card by Amy Tsuruta that only filled in the Fa La La in the upper right corner and I knew I needed it.  It's such a fun and quirky look! With both the cat and the Fa La La on my desk, it was meant to be. (FYI: The bow did not come with the cat set; I just wanted to add a bit more green.)  

It was such a fun look that I decided to use the same idea for a card for my youngest son. (We will all be multiple states apart this Christmas, so he'll never know his idea was copied - although totally different!)  His card centered around the inside sentiment that was just too perfect for us given this December has been all about "when are we getting to Total Wine again (known as Liquor World in my house!) for more bourbon cream....or Wrexham lager...or their #1 wine of the year Harvester Paso Robles"!  He's the beer; I'm the wine, but we're both thrilled by a good bourbon or whiskey!

A lot of thought went into these drinks.  First, there should be a mug of beer on them but I didn't have anything in my collection that was big enough...not that I'm against shopping for more. I did have an old fashioned glass in the Halloween set - Trinity Stamps Creepy Cocktail - and just used it without the creepy parts!  (Hey Trinity Stamps, what about add-ons for this set for other holidays? It's a fantastic set!) I added a big round ice cube which apparently is the way to do it, but I hate them. My son gives me no end of grief that I just use ice from the ice maker.  And, of course, the most important part is the Luxardo cherry! If those small containers of cherries weren't $25, I'd eat the whole thing! (The biggest thrill this season was finding a two-pack at Costco!)  Then the yellow holly berries did start as artistic license but I looked it up as I was writing this and they exist!

I am done and can relax! Merry Christmas to all!!!

SUPPLY LIST

Dies: Concord & 9th Fa La La Inlay

Dies for Cat: Simon Says Stamp Stocking Cat

Dies for Beverages: Trinity Stamps Creepy Cocktails, miscellaneous holly and berries

Cardstock: Stampin' Up Pretty Peacock, Lost Lagoon, Poppy Parade, Granny Apple Green, Crushed Curry, Gray Granite

Freshly Made Sketches: Noel Ornaments

It's time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches! Today we have a sketch by Jen Brum and here’s what I did with it!

I was inspired by the sketch but used ornaments instead of circles. I was also inspired by my teammate Jacquie and her card from last week's sketch. She added the five letters from "HAPPY" on top of the five stripes and I loved it! So four ornaments and happily there is a Christmas word with four letters!

This is an older set of ornaments from My Favorite Things but they are exactly what I needed. Fairly small and not decorative so the letters fit perfectly. I picked bright and cheerful colors. Then to add to the fun, I added one of my favorite embossing folders directly behind them - Spellbinders Scattered Christmas. (It was a club embossing folder at Spellbinders and I joined a club just so I could have access to it!)  I tried a number of patterned dsp for the bottom green layer - but so typical for me, I ended up just embossing it with diagonal stripes.

This is our last sketch of the year but we'll be back with more starting on January 1st!  Enjoy the sketch and, if you celebrate, enjoy the holidays!

SUPPLY LIST

Dies: My Favorite Things Christmas Ornaments (old!), Lawn Fawn Cole's ABCs 

Cardstock: Stampin' Up Granny Apple Green, Poppy Parade, Balmy Blue, Flirty Flamingo

Other: Spellbinders Diagonal Stripes Slimline embossing folder and Scattered Christmas embossing folder, Studio Katia Silver Foil pearls

Freshly Made Sketches: The Jolly Season

It's time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches! Today we have a sketch by me and here’s what I did with it!

 

I'm always fairly selfish when I'm creating the FMS sketch for the week.  In this case, I had multiple big and fun sentiments in my not-yet-used stash and I thought a quirky background would work for any of them. Doing this sketch forced me into the background and the sentiment!

I pulled out some of the brightest and quirkiest Christmas paper that I had and made the stripes. Then I settled on the "jolly" sentiment from Photo Play. The biggest struggle I had was colors for the sentiment and mini strip on top of it. I can hardly tell you how many backgrounds and jolly's that I cut.  (Sadly, I have to see something in real life to know whether it does or doesn't work.) I really wanted to pull the dark blue from the paper into some element of it, but it just didn't look Christmasy enough. So the paper and strips took about 5 minutes, then that battle of the colors took another hour.  Thank goodness I like the process, because my process is ridiculously long!

I hope to see you play along with us this week at Freshly Made Sketches.

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Photo Play Jolly

Dies: Photo Play Jolly Word/Shadow, Sentiment Strips

Paper: Bella Blvd Holly Jolly Christmas

Other: Buttons Galore Caribbean Sea Doo Dadz

Nordic Noel: Elegant

I posted a Nordic Noel card on Saturday and mentioned that I wanted to do a couple more things with this die set before I moved it out of my not-yet-used stash. Today's card came together quickly and easily so I already have one more done. I think with the stitching and the beautiful cut-outs, the die can stand alone.

While I said it could stand alone, it felt like just the 'noel' on the paper seemed a little flat. I browsed other cards with this set and saw that many have added a smaller sentiment strip. So I browsed my Concord & 9th set and found this small "merry christmas" that seemed to fit perfectly.  The backer is a metallic silver but not super sparkly or bright because I wanted to be sure the white "noel" stood out.  To give it a bit of sparkle, I sprinkled on a few glittery stars.

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Concord & 9th Big on Christmas stamp set

Dies: Concord & 9th Nordic Noel

Paper: Stampin' Up Whimsy & Wonder, Misty Moonlight CS, the silver is a scrap so unknown

Other: The Stamp Market Silver Glitter STars

Nordic Noel: Bright and Cheerful

This die set along with the coordinating enamel stickers has been in my not-yet-used stash for a couple years.  I don't know why it sat so long because I love anything Nordic! My first card leans into the enamel shapes.

There are four flower colors in the enamel shapes (plus white) so I found coordinating dsp and blocked the front of the card. I didn't want to add any other colors so I simply cut the "noel" in white and mounted on vellum. 

There are two more things I want to do with this die set before I can move it out of my not-yet-used stash. (I think I need a new name for that stash now that I've decided to leave things there until I've done all that I want to do with them - maybe my not-yet-done-with stash?!)  I think the die could stand alone, so I want to use it without filling in the details. Then the die set also comes with little dies that cut multiples of the leaves, flowers and dots so I want to do it on the paper and in the colors that I want (vs. the pre-defined enamel shapes.)  I like that there are options with a die set!

SUPPLY LIST

Dies: Concoard & 9th Nordic Noel

Paper: Dsp by Stampin' Up in Poppy Parade, Coastal Cabana, Crushed Curry and Flirty Flamingo

Other: Concord & 9th Nordic Noel enamel shapes

Reindeer Fun

Earlier this week, I used my Reindeer Fun dies by Stampin' Up on this card but it was an all red/green card and I indicated that this Christmas lover actually doesn't like the classic Christmas red and green together! So I had to give my little reindeer another try with lighter and fresher colors and this is what I came up with.

I got this entire die set just for his eyes!  I love how they created him so the eyes just happen with the layers. I surrounded him with other dies from the set in bright and cheerful colors. Then I found a simple sentiment from an older retired set and put it all on fresh white.

I took this entire week off work and I'm not entirely certain where the week went because there's a just few more days. Sadly, I don't have many cards to show for it. I did get one knitting project off the needles and another started. I have finished a book...or two...or three! There's been a few Hallmark movies and some football. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving meal yesterday and the day before we had an amazing charcuterie tray for dinner and all of that took time. There's been some shopping along the way...SO many craft sales! Today, we'll haul out Christmas decorations if my guys aren't still in a food stupor. It's been a very relaxing week!  Funny story - I have a jury summons for Monday so we'll see if I have even more time off of work! 

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Stampin' Up Brightest Glow

Dies: Stampin' Up Reindeer Fun, Spotlight on Nature, Tasteful Labels (retired)

Cardstock: Stampin' Up Pool Party, Lemon Lime Twist, Granny Apple Green, Daffodil Delight, Mango Melody, Flirty Flamingo, Poppy Parade, Early Espresso, Basic Beige, Crumb Cake

Other: Stampin' Up Stylish Stripes Embossing Folder (retired)

Freshly Made Sketches: Shimmer Lights

It's time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches! Today we have a sketch by Linda and here’s what I did with it!

I just got the Shimmer Lights Cover Plate by Mama Elephant and I feel like I want to use it on every single festive Christmas card!!  Then I remembered that I had these Spruced Up Outline dies which is a retired set from Stampin' Up so I figured for this first use of the Shimmer Lights, I'd keep the trees open and show off even more of it.

I'm writing this early this Wednesday morning before the challenge posts. I have taken the entire week off of work just because.  We aren't going anywhere or doing anything and it's wonderful. I love making cards and reading books and knitting and today will be making desserts for Thanksgiving. BUT my husband and son are also home so the one "flaw" is that any Hallmark Christmas movies have to happen before they are up. It's not that they wouldn't let me watch later in the day, but if I did, I'd spend the entire movie feeling like I had to apologize to them. Let's face it - some/many/most of those movies are truly bad! In fact, this is the first year that I've watched in quite a few years after one of them made me angry. (Man and woman start toy company. Man doesn't feel like dealing with the overwhelming workload of the business side of the company - so woman does. Man then accuses her of losing her love of toys so he leaves.  Then to compound my anger, when they meet up years later - he teaches her to love toys again and all is well.  But the opposite isn't true. He doesn't learn to adult, accept all of those responsibilities that aren't fun, and take some of the load off of her.  Wow - I'm still angry.)  Having said that all of that - since I have an entire lazy week - I've been looking forward to my morning coffee with a Hallmark movie. (But I turn them off early if I get any vibes like the one I just described!)

And now I've taken too much time writing this - I'm off to watch my movie - and I hope you play along with this week's sketch!

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Stampin' Up Brightest Glow

Dies: Stampin' Up Spruced Up Outline dies, Mama Elephant Shimmer Lights Cover Plate

Cardstock: Stampin' Up Granny Apple Green, Flirty Flamingo and Coastal Cabana, My Favorite Things Pineapple, shimmer white behind the cover plate is from Michaels

The Paper Players Reindeer Fun

 The Paper Players have a sketch this week that worked perfectly for an idea that I've had in my head for two loving reindeer.

The is about the most red and green you will ever see on one of my cards!  I am not sure how someone who adores Christmas is just not a fan of green and red together, but I'm not. Or at least for now.  (I've noticed that my color tastes have changed over the years, from rich and regal to light and fresh. Who knows that I'll like next year!?) But this is going out to my son and girlfriend and since I sent them a pink Halloween card, I went more classic for this one!

The reindeer was an unexpected purchase from Stampin' Up. My demonstrator threw a party and we made Christmas ornaments using this guy peeking out of the wreath. I didn't need anything else in the die set but in the end the eyes on this guy plus the easy way the dies layered to create those eyes and the cute nose won out. (I have a love/hate relationship with Stampin' Up and their die sets because I often only want the stand-alone dies and not the rest that coordinate with stamps!)  The paper is long retired as is the sentiment. The sentiment is exactly what I wanted to say on their card so I had to play around for awhile to make it work since it wasn't quite big enough to stand alone. I added yet more red and put it on a banner which gave it the weight that I needed. 

Thanks to The Paper Players for the inspiration for my card!

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Christmas Messages

Dies: Stampin' Up Reindeer Fun and Scalloped Contours dies

Cardstock: Male Deer: Early Espresso, Basic Beige, Pecan Pie; Female Deer Early Espresso, Naturals White, Crumb Cake; Garden Green and Real Red, patterned paper both retired Stampin' Up: Peaceful Prints 12x12 and the original Garden Green dsp

Happy Birthday Creative Worship Stamps!

Creative Worship Stamps (formerly Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps) is celebrating their 17th birthday!!  They are having a big Instagram hop starting @creativeworshipstamps with big prizes at the end of the hop so check it all out over there!  Also big sales that you can't miss! I'm in the hop but I wanted to show off their products here too.

I had the honor of serving on their design team in their early days so I was asked to be part of the big birthday celebration.  Absolutely!  It didn't take me long to figure out what I wanted to make.  I have two stamp sets from those early days (but both are still available) that are the most used stamps in my entire collection and it's not even close.  They are sentiment sets named Be Encouraged and Be Encouraged 2. Here's one example.

This card is the perfect example of why I love these sets.  The sentiments are so meaningful and truly perfect for those quick cards we so often need to support and encourage the people around us. I love the mixed font on them because they are eye-catching in and of themselves so lend themselves perfectly to clean and simple cards. 

For this card, I paired it with a newer set Happiness Blooms. I simply white embossed the flowers and applied glittery dots for their centers.  It really doesn't get much easier than this.

What about masculine cards? The sentiments work for those too. This card uses the Foliage Die set.

They can even go seasonal! This card uses the Sparkle Snowflake Die set.

The point is they work at any time and any season.  Of course, everything I've shown you is clean and simple, but these stamps work perfectly on any style of card.  Check out the samples on their site; here for Be Encouraged and here for Be Encouraged 2; they are all truly works of art!

If you're on Instagram be sure to head over there for the full hop (linked above) and a chance to win big prizes. Then don't miss the sale starting today!

CREATIVE WORSHIP STAMPS SUPPLY LIST

Floral card: Be Encouraged 2 and Happiness Blooms stamps

Masculine card: Be Encouraged stamps, Foliage Die set

Snowflake card: Be Encouraged 2 stamps, Sparkle Snowflake die set

Freshly Made Sketches: Joyful

It's time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches! Today we have a sketch by Jen Mitchell and here’s what I did with it!

I've had this Joyful Frame forever and it's still in my not-yet-used stash so when I saw the square in the sketch, I knew I'd pull it out.  Then I saw that I also had this Berry Stem die in the stash.  Both are from Simon Says so it made sense to use them together. I started laying out some floral background paper with berries to coordinate it all, but I quickly realized that I wanted a more clean and modern look simply because of the classic font of the die. So I went two simple embossing folders in the background then I put all of the focus on the sentiment and the berry sprig. The Berry Stems die set did have berries that I could have cut out, but since the rest of the card was so simple I decided to use glittery enamel dots to make it pop.

I hope to see you playing along with us at Freshly Made Sketches.

SUPPLY LIST

Dies: Simon Says Stamp Joyful Frame and Berry Stems

Cardstock: Taylored Expressions Granny Apple Green, Peapod and Cherry Pop

Embossing Folders: Concord & 9th Berries & Boughs, Taylored Expressions Diagonal Stripe

Other: Stampin' Up Toile Tidings Glitter Enamel Dots

Autumn Greetings

I have one more new-to-me stencil to try and I want to live in fall for just a bit longer (even though we got 30" of snow last week!)

If you've followed my blog the last few weeks with my attempts at stenciling, you will be surprised when I say I thoroughly enjoyed working on this card! I was in such a good "mental" place that when I got the stenciling done, I actually was comfortable stamping the postage stamps onto it.  That's a big deal because I find stenciling so stressful worrying about making a mistake after multiple layers. I always froze and could not handle the risk of adding a stamp to it.  It might smear or it might only partially stamps.  I know I could get out the stamp positioner, but I took the risk without it!

I decided my enjoyment might be because all the spaces are small. When I do big spaces, I typically get some sort of darker spot in the shape of a brush.  I understand that's part of the unique beauty of brushing on color but I prefer having control!  (It's the same reason that I don't love watercoloring.)  The small spaces on these postage collage stencils are easy to use and might be the turning point for me on using stencils.

BTW - this is Waffle Flower's older fall stencil; they have a newer one for this year named Harvest. I do love fall colors and I'm thinking it might need to come into my stash so I can mix and match the little scenes from the two sets.

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Waffle Flower Postage Collage for Fall Stamp Set

Dies: Waffle Flower Postage Collage die, The Greetery Let's Have a Word Autumn

Other: Stampin' Up Subtles embossing folder

Freshly Made Sketches: Peace Love & Joy

It's time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches! Today we have a sketch by Jen Timko and here’s what I did with it!

 

I've had these trees for a very long time. So long, in fact, that the company has closed. But I've never done what I actually got them for - and that is cutting them in a variety of prints. So I created a little forest using some paper that I've had forever.  Then I had a lot of open space left so I found a big sentiment that the look that I wanted with the added benefit of a fun shape that complemented the trees!!  I was thrilled...until I looked at the sketch again and realized that it specified that the sentiment be at the bottom right of the card. But I have so many add-on type sentiments, I just flipped through my stash until I found "to you and yours". Problem solved!

So I don't know about where you are, but since my last post, winter settled in. My little town had 30" of snow and that wasn't even the worst in Colorado. It skipped the moutains but there were areas on the flat plains east and south that had over 50".  Sadly, we totally missed my favorite season - fall.  We had record setting heat (like 90+ in October) until the moment we had 30" of snow.  But I was definitely in winter mood when I created this card because after I got the trees laid out, I found glitter paper for the sentiment and then added some sparkly stars.

I hope to see you playing along with us at Freshly Made Sketches.

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Photoplay Peace & Joy for the "to you and yours"

Dies: Neat & Tangled Scandinavian Print Christmas, Paper Rose Peace Love & Joy Layered die

Paper: Simple Stories Winter Wonderland, Stampin' Up Soft Shimmer 12x12 dsp, vellum

Other: The Stamp Market White Glitter Stars

Freshly Made Sketches: Birthday Bow

It's time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches! Today we have a sketch by Jacquie and here’s what I did with it!

As I was figuring out who I needed birthday cards for this month, I noticed that there's a guy at work on the list. I hardly know him - I don't know hobbies or interest or colors - so I needed something really basic.  This sketch was incredibly helpful because I also just got this Gift Bows dies from Concord and 9th/Kristina Werner so I immediately saw the sketch as a present!

I went with blues and greens - they seemed cheerful yet still masculine. I added patterned paper for a couple of the panels just for interest. The only thing left was finding a sentiment that fit. Very few do because "birthday" is a long word but happily Honey Bee Stamps had Big Birthday and it was perfect!

I hope to see you playing along with us this week at Freshly Made Sketches.

SUPPLY LIST

Dies: Concord and 9th (Kristina Werner) Gift Bows Dies, Honey Bee Stamps Big Birthday

Paper: Taylored Expressions Granny Smith and Peapod, Stampin' Up Pretty Peacock from 2019-21 dsp, polka dot is a scrap

Tis the Season for Nordic Bells

 I just got the Nordic Bell from Poppystamps and then this week's sketch from The Paper Players came out and it was all meant to be!

I am such a fan of all of the Nordic products coming out from Poppystamps.  Check out the fabulous Nordic leaves here or the butterfly here or the flowers and pots here.)  The Nordic Bell set along with the Little Bow and String set might be some of my favorites. (Although the Nordic penguin I have that hasn't come out to play yet will give them all a run for their money!)

For the sketch, I also needed a bold sentiment and I saw that I hadn't used the the Bold Text, Christmas set by Sizzix/Tim Holtz. There are so many choices in that set but the sentiments that were three lines crowded the bell and the sentiments with one line left too much open space - so that narrowed my choices down.  The paper is from Photoplay It's a Wonderful Christmas picked mainly because of the colors. I like that it has a hint of almost curry color in it to tie it all together.

This was a very quick card but a great sketch (thanks to The Paper Players) and a fabulous die make it all so easy!

SUPPLY LIST

Dies: Poppystamps Nordic Bell, Little Bow and String; Sizzix/Tim Holtz Bold Text Christmas

Paper: Photoplay It's a Wonderful Christmas, Stampin' Up Lost Lagoon, Crushed Curry, and Poppy Parade

Freshly Made Sketches: A Tree in the Window

It's time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches! Today we have a sketch by Judy and here’s what I did with it!

 

I love to walk around my neighborhood. Every season has its beauty (loving the squirrels playing in the crunchy leaves right now) but I am most fond of walks before Christmas just as it is getting dark. It's cold and snowy outside but people still have their curtains open and with their Christmas trees and other decorations, their windows just glow. That's what I was trying to create here.

I'm using Stampin' Up's Decorative Tree dies. I love the variety of layered trees there are in this set. I embossed snowflakes and added a shimmery white pine branch on the ouside of the window. The inside is a sparkly tree and a warm yellow glow. The sentiment is a very old single sold by Stampin' Up but it is such a fun look and the perfect size for so many cards, it will always stay in my collection.

I hope to see you playing along with us at Freshly Made Sketches.

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Stampin' Up Be Very Merry (a long ago single)

Dies: Stampin' Up Decorative Trees, Decorative Pines and Stylish Shapes, Essentials by Ellen Essential Arches

Paper: Stampin' Up Gold Foil Sheets, Old Olive Glimmer (from Berry Burst, Old Olive & White 12 x 12 Glimmer Specialty Paper), Cherry Cobbler Glimmer (from Festive 12 x 12 Glimmer paper), Playing with Patterns dsp, cardstock in Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler and Crushed Curry

Other: Stampin' Up Winter Snow embossing folder

Thanksgiving with Nordic Leaves

I got this big Thanksgiving die by Photoplay but hadn't found a way to use it. I generally like big sentiments because they can look so good on a great piece of dsp or an embossed background - and it's so easy. But so far I hadn't found the right way to use this one. Then Poppystamps added leaves to their Nordic collection and I knew what I needed to do! (BTW - with a last name like Singdahlsen and my mom's maiden name being Gustafson - I definitely have an affinity for anything Nordic!)

You gotta love the pink tone to all of my fall cards. All of my pictures are natural light - I've never invested in any kind of photo set up. But there's a massive and absolutely gorgeous red maple outside my craft room window so the light that filters in is pink! I do color correct the photo but I can only go so far before all the other colors start changing.  Here's how it started!

This will be the last of my daily posts. I made a great dent on the pile of products that I wanted to remember to use, reuse or destash. The pile isn't gone but it is manageable. I made multiple cards for upcoming holidays. I made decisions about destashing. And it was great because for a week, I didn't have time to cook dinner, clean house or pay bills!! (Although I did manage to get to work every day, so no one can say I'm totally obsessed.) For sure, I'll still be here every Wednesday for Freshly Made Sketches and also whenever another card or challenge calls my name.

SUPPLY LIST

Dies: Photoplay Happy Thanksgiving, Poppystamps Nordic Oak Leaves and Nordic Maple Leaves

Paper: Stampin' Up Pumpkin Pie, Peach Pie, Crushed Curry, Daffodil Delight, Lemon Lolly, Granny Apple Green, Lemon Lime Twist, Pecan Pie and Lost Lagoon, Taylored Expressions Granny Smith and Candy Corn

Other: Stampin' Up Subtle Embossing Folder, Paper Rose Ben's Plaid Embossing Folder

Waffle Flower Postage Collage Snowman

Last week I posted a card with a stenciled leaf wreath but said I was thinking of destashing my stencils because I don't use them. It seems that, while many of you love using stencils, you've given me "permission" to destash!! The general view being that there are just too many great crafty products out there so why use something that I don't enjoy. I had totally decided to do that and what shows up in my mailbox? New stencil sets. (I think I have a problem!) 

I absolutely love the series of postage collage stencils, dies, stamps, etc from Waffle Flower so I had to try them before cutting stencils out of my crafting life.

If any of you have this stencil set, you might be looking at my card like there's something wrong.  There is.  I got it all finished and pulled out the postage stamp die, tried to line it up, and cursed multiple times...loudly. My family came running - I don't typically curse, let alone at the top of my lungs.  But guess what?  I had done the whole thing backwards so it didn't line up with the die.  It was a horrible moment.  Obviously I got the job done - I die cut from the backside so the edges aren't crisp and clean. But I was not wasting my entire inky morning!

It hasn't changed my decision on stencils - in fact the panicked moment at the end just solidified my move away from stencils. It's really a shame and a loss on my part, because these postal collage stencils are amazing!  (And yes, I ordered two different sets so I have one more to play with!)  And then I'll destash!

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Waffle Flower Elegant Christmas Sentiments (and dies)

Dies: Waffle Flower Postage Collage Die

Ink: Stampin' Up Balmy Blue, Pecan Pie, Mango Melody, Flirty Flamingo, Daffodil Delight, Coastal Cabana, Fresh Freesia and Lemon Lime Twist

Other: Waffle Flower Postage Collage Snowman stencil, Frost Shimmer Spray

Christmas Lights Inlay

I've posted every day this week and "blaming" my friend Carol (or giving her credit for motivating me!) but truth be told, I needed the productivity of this week.  I have three areas for my stash.  The corner of my desk is for those products that absolutely must be used. It might be because I've used it once but it deserves to be used again, or maybe it's a product that needs "testing" (like a few days ago when I stenciled something to decide whether I was destashing my stencils) or quite frankly, maybe it cost more than I usually spend.  The corner was overflowing and getting in the way of my regular crafting. I should have taken a before picture, but after crafting all week (I only posted a small portion of what I did) - my desk is looking fantastic!!  Thanks to Carol! 

In case you are curious, the second area of my stash is a rolling cart with boxes for products that I haven't used but someday I will...at least I hope I will!  (Some of my stash has been there for years - literally purchased new but now retired.) Then there's actual storage for products that I've used. I keep stamps and dies by theme and/or company. I used the white mesh Elfa drawer system.  We won't talk about how many drawers that I have.  Unfortunately, many products tend to go there to just disappear. Frankly, I couldn't make enough cards to use all of it. But I know you all understand that collecting is as much fun as crafting!

Enough chatter - the cover die for today's card came from the corner of my desk and falls into the "cost-a-lot" category. Although in fairness, Concord and 9ths cover plate dies are very reasonably priced compared to other companies so I think I over-reacted by putting it on my corner. But being there got it used so it's all good!! (The sentiment came out of the second area of my stash.)

The colors were on my desk from yesterday's card so easy choice there. I went with the orange sentiment just to be different but I think I'm regretting it - I'm not sure it's a "strong" enough color. Of course, Christmas lights need tinsel so I added just a bit along the edge.

SUPPLY LIST

Dies: Concord & 9th Christmas Lights Inlay die, Simon Says Stamp Fancy Happy Holidays

Paper: Stampin' Up Granny Apple Green, Flirty Flamingo, Daffodil Delight, Pretty in Pink, Mango Melody, and Poppy Parade, Papertrey Ink Aqua Mist, Taylored Expressions Cilantro

Other: Stampin' Up Trim Tinsel Clear

Striped Decorative Tree

I've had this card in my head since I got the die set. The card isn't unique, in fact, for a while it seemed like every other card out there had stripes...and I loved them all!! 

These tree dies were going to be my go-to this year but I've only used them once.  Not only that, but I didn't even love the one card that I posted here. But I do like this one! It's bright and cheerful with some sparkle in the star and the tree branches. The Decorative Trees set by Stampin' Up has multiple detailed dies. You could make any look or style with them. I guess I need to get busy using the rest!

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Stampin' Up Brightest Glow

Dies: Stampin' Up Decorative Trees, Stylish Shapes (cut down to be a bit shorter)

Cardstock: Stampin' Up Pretty in Pink, Flirty Flamingo, Poppy Parade, Daffodil Delight, Mango Melody Coastal Cabana, Granny Apple Green, white glimmer paper (from a pack with Berry Burst, Old Olive and white)

Poinsettia Joy

 A few weeks ago, I was thrilled to be a guest at the Flower challenge at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown with this card. But I actually made a different card first...

I like this card, but I just wasn't feeling it for the challenge.  I think mainly because it was record-setting heat outside my window and these rich and classic colors just weren't calling my name. (The card I posted had a lot of white and softer colors.)  I've mentioned my friend Carol a few times this week - that she was worried she wasn't getting emails with my posts but in reality, I just hadn't been posting - so just for her, I decided I should post this card this week!

The "JOY" comes from The Stamp Market. I replaced the "O" with a poinsettia from Holiday Blooms by Spellbinders. There are so many more flowers in the set, but I like just this simple arrangement to mirror the paper in the background.

Thanks to Carol for my inspiration to post it!

SUPPLY LIST

Dies: The Stamp Market Joy, Spellbinders Holiday Blooms

Paper: Stampin' Up Garden Walk dsp, cardstock in Poppy Parade, Garden Green, Wild Wheat and Pretty Peacock

Other: Stampin' Up 2023-2025 In Color Dots, Petal Pink & Pretty Peacock Foiled Gems

Freshly Made Sketches: Ghostly Cats 2

It's time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches! Today we have a sketch by Amy and here’s what I did with it!

I have a work friend who is having a tough recovery from surgery. I've been sending her "feel better" type cards but she is a huge fan of Halloween and of cats - so even though I've stated I'm not a big Halloween card person, she needs one!

I used the same Poppystamps Ghostly Cats that I used here then surrounded them with a variety of older Halloween/autumns dies. I'm normally all about the fresh white card but the ghosts and colorful pumpkins and leaves needed to pop so I pulled out some Pebbled Path dsp and Lost Lagoon for a nighttime scene.

I know I've stated that I don't do Halloween cards but they are truly fun to do.  I need to find some new friends (or family!) that actually celebrate Halloween simply so I have a reason to make the cards! I hope to see you playing along with us at Freshly Made Sketches. 

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Taylored Expressions All Tucked In Halloween

Dies:Poppystamps Ghostly Cats, Haunting Pumpkins (retired) and Snowman and Trees (the tree - retired), Memory Box Swooping Bats (retired) and Wrapped Stitch Rectangles, Honey Bee Stamps Itty Bitty Leaves, Altenew Featured Sentiments (for the sentiment)

Paper: Stampin' Up Tartan Foil, cardstock in Lost Lagoon, Pumpkin Pi, Crushed Currey and Pebbled Path

Other: Pretty Pink Posh Graphite Gems

Harvest Blessings

 I am very late to the world of stencils. Actually that's not quite true. I bought dozens and dozens of them when they first started coming out and then I stenciled once or twice but just didn't enjoy it. I think it's a little bit like cooking dinner - I say I don't enjoy cooking but what I really dislike is cleaning up.  Ditto with stencils. I get ink everywhere and then there are the brushes to clean and don't get me started on how much the permanent stains made by red ink stress me out.

But the newer generations of stencils are absolutely amazing and they create works of art.  I feel like I'm missing all the fun of stencils. I went through my current stash of stencils - most of which are the simple background stencils that came out with the first generation of stencils- but I found this two layer Leaves Wreath by Simon Says and thought I'd give it a try.  

You can see I'm very simplistic although I'm quite proud that there are actually 7 colors on this card all blended together - two oranges, two yellows, two greens and the brown. I definitely groaned heavily when it was time to clean up so I'm fairly sure that stencils still won't be my thing but I like the results and I just might be able to justify bringing a few of the newer amazing artistic stencils into my stash.

The sentiment was done on a banner simply because I refused to stamp directly on my stenciled background with the potential to mess it up!

(Hey Carol - this is the second card this week and I already have #3 ready to go! You are a good motivator!!)

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Right at Home Be Thankful

Stencil: Simon Says Stamp Leaves Wreath

Ink: Stampin' Up Pumpkin Pie, Peach Pie, Pecan Pie (hungry yet?!), Crushed Curry, Daffodil Delight, Granny Apple Green, Lemon Lime Twist

Other: Stampin' Up Subtle embossing folder, Pinkfresh Gold Glitter Drops

Fa La La

 I had lunch with a dear friend over the weekend and it turns out she was worried that she had stopped getting email notices from my blog.  It had nothing to do with email - I just hadn't posted in a while!  So this week's for you Carol!! (And I'm sorry that lunch was so bad!)

Here's a card that I had made on a Christmas card binge about a month ago but never got it posted.

This is Stamp Market's Fa La La cover Plate. (I am fairly certain that when I made this card and checked their website it was there, but I don't see it now.) 

I cut the Fa La La out of a white panel, then I cut a panel of green slightly smaller than the white panel and cut the Fa La La out of that too.  I cut it slightly smaller so that I could move it around until just a shadow of the green shows at the edge of each letter. I picked a bold Christmas dsp that I love - it's LDRS Creative Peace and Joy and then I cut pieces to fit behind the letters. The tall "Fa" is 1 7/8" x 5", the upper right "La" is 1 3/4 x 2 3/8, and the lower right is 1 7/8 x 2 3/4.  Then there was a little too much white so I added a sprig of holly with some glitter dots as the berries. 

It wsa a quick and easy card once I got the measurements figured out!

SUPPLY LIST

Dies: The Stamp Market Fa La La Cover, Holly & Berries

Paper: LDRS Creative peace and Joy, Taylored Expressions Cilantro and Peapod cardstock

Other" Stampin' Up Toile Tidings Glitter Enamel dots

Freshly Made Sketches: Ghostly Cats

It's time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches! Today we have a sketch by Karren and here’s what I did with it!

 

I swore I was done with ever making Halloween cards.  There is really no one in my life to send to. My adult sons just roll their eyes, my teenage nieces never really did Halloween and I don't have any obsessive friends.  And that was OK with me - I could just keep focusing on Thanksgiving and Christmas.  But now my oldest son has a serious girlfriend and she deeply appreciates anything that I send. Plus they just got a cat, plus the Ghostly Cats die from Poppystamps just came out. All of that was telling me that I wasn't done with Halloween cards after all!!

I was thrilled when I realized I had a pumpkin die in my stash that mimicked the tag in the sketch. Then I found some fun and feminine Halloween paper and plopped the pumpkin in a field of flowers. (I'll address it to both my son and the girlfriend but we all know the girlfriend trumps the son when I design a card for both of them.)  I am very limited in Halloween sentiment dies. I had wanted to put a longer sentiment on the diagonal but just couldn't fit what I had. I like how it ended up though when the "trick or trick" fit into the open space. 

I hope to see you playing along with us at Freshly Made Sketches.

SUPPLY LIST

Dies: Poppystamps Ghostly Cats, Papertrey Ink Tricky Trio (retired), Picket Fence Layering Flora: Pretty Pumpkin Die

Paper: The Stamp Market (retired), Stampin' Up Wild Wheat, Pumpkin Pie (background of the pumpkin)

Freshly Made Sketches: Happy Thanksgiving

It's time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches! Today we have a sketch by Cécile and here’s what I did with it!

 

I'm on a roll the last few weeks with richly-colored Thanksgiving cards! Perhaps it's because I spent the end of last week leaf-peeping up in the mountains and am very much in the mood. Thank goodness we took a couple of days off and went up during the week because when we came home on Saturday, I think the entire city of Denver was heading the other way up into the mountains to see the leaves given the miles-long traffic backups. What makes that worse is that Colorado hardly has autumn leaves - just aspen trees tucked into the pines. I don't have any great stories about this trip as I did last week but that's expected. We were in a very touristy part of the state and it was crowded so, although we had a lot of fun, it just a different kind of trip.

With the weekend in mind, I added some colorful fall leaves to my card - along with a big pumpkin. I found some older patterned paper with the colors that I liked and mirrored those in the die cuts. The sentiment is from a set of three by Photo Play. I liked the unique look of it and it fit perfectly into the rectangle on the sketch. 

I hope to see you playing along with us at Freshly Made Sketches!

SUPPLY LIST

Dies: Photo Play Autumn Word Trio, Taylored Expressions Layered Pumpkins, The Stamp Market Mini Autumn Leaves, Honey Bee Itty Bitty Fall Flowers, Stampin' Up Stitched Rectangles

Paper: Doodlebug Design Flea Market, Stampin' Up Daffodil Delight, Crushed Curry, Lemon Lime Twist, Granny Apple Green, Pecan Pie, Peach Pie, Pumpkin Pie, Coastal Cabana, Taken with Teal

Freshly Made Sketches: Thankful

It's time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches! Today we have a sketch by Jen Brum and here’s what I did with it!

It looks like Honey Bee Stamps has four sets of dies with Itty Bitty in the name and I have three of them. (The fourth just went on my wishlist since I clearly missed it!)  All three are on the above card. When I saw the sketch I imagined a row of pumpkins but when I saw the Itty Bitty Pumpkins, I realized I could change it up and use the Itty Bitty Leaves and the Itty Bitty Fall Flowers. I really love fall elements and colors so this was a fun series of 7 elements to make!

Then I got a little stuck at finding a sentiment that filled the space so I cheated a bit and made the card a mini slim so a single "thankful" would fill the middle. Since the "thankful" was a die, it gave a chance to add plaid to the background which always feels like fall to me. (This particular plaid also helped me line up my 7 fall elements.)

After this post, my family is running away to the mountains for our last mini-trip.  We've had a lot of problems getting away this summer between the work schedule for my husband and I, the interview schedule for my son, and an elderly cat - so we decided to do one-day mini-trips.  It's been quite successful.  The highlights have been the best pizza I've ever had at Pizza Rio in Salida, CO plus it's on a deck overlooking the beautiful Arkansas River. We went during the Salida Fiber Festival so I have a few (or maybe more than a few) new balls of yarn to use over the winter. Last week we discovered Howlin Wind Brewery and Blending in Rollinsville - a town of just 189 people but it has the brewery, a distillery, a wood-fired pizza place and a food truck (with amazing fried oyster mushrooms!) The entire front of the brewery was garage doors - all thrown open to the colors and smell of fall. And it was as friendly as it gets with the locals bringing even us city folks into conversations (horror movies and tattoos). I think the horror movies were because the locals are converting a defunct restaurant into a haunted house and based on the conversation, it would definitely be too much for me. The trip this week is actually going to stretch 2 days and we're going back to Summit County which was our stomping ground while the kids were growing up.  So probably nothing new, just a lot of fabulous memories!

Enough chatter - you have a card to make! I hope to see you playing along with us at Freshly Made Sketches.

SUPPLY LIST

Dies: Trinity Stamps Scripty Thanks; Honey Bee Stamps Itty Bitty Leaves, Itty Bitty Pumpkins and Itty Bitty Fall Flowers

Paper: Stampin' Up Balmy Blue, Lemon Lime Twist, Peach Pie, Pecan Pie, Daffodil Delight, Moody Mauve and the long-retired Confetti Tan

Other: Paper Rose Winter Plaid Embossing Folder, Pink & Main Thankful Enamel Glitter Dots

52 Christmas Card Throwdown: Holiday Flowers

I am honored to be the guest designer this week at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown! It's a fabulous "throwdown" with a wide variety of challenges that helps keep me up on my Christmas card stash throughout the year.  The challenge for this week is flowers and/or flourishes.

I tried to get a flower and a flourish onto my card but other things called my name.  This is actually the third card that I made for the challenge.  I liked the first two and if I get photos taken, they might be worth showing on my blog. One even had a flourish. But they used dark and rich colors and with the warm weather still outside my window, I just decided I preferred light and bright. So I pulled out this fun little poinsettia and a "happy holidays" and created my light and bright Christmas card!

I have a number of poinsettias in my stash, some are truly glorious. Somehow though, I often come back to this fun little die from Flora & Fauna. The sentiment is new-to-me from scrapbook.com. I love sentiments that include two different fonts and especially those that allow me to add multiple colors. 

I picked five bright and cheerful colors and cut the flowers and the "happy" then I added gold sparkle paper and some gold enamel dots to keep it festive. I wanted just a little hint of pattern in the background so cut with the Concord & 9th Stitched Stripe Card Front.

Thank you to the group at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown - your challenges are always an inspiration!

SUPPLY LIST

Dies: Scrapbook.com Happy Holidays, Flora & Fauna Poinsettia, Concord & 9th Stitched Stripe Card Front

Paper: Stampin' Up Poppy Parade, Lemon Lime Twist, Flirty Flamingo, Coastal Cabana and Granny Apple Green

Other: Stampin' Up Gold Glitter Enamel Dots

Freshly Made Sketches: Decorative Trees

It's time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches! Today we have a sketch by Jen Mitchell and here’s what I did with it!

Even though I immediately envisioned trees when I saw the sketch, I planned to challenge myself to do something else. But then my Stampin' Up order with these new dies showed up on my doorstep the day before I was making cards, so what choice did I have?!  I adore these trees.  They will definitely be my go-to for this year's Christmas stash.

I didn't like the full picture that I got above but I hadn't looked at it before nighttime and I rely on natural light so I was stuck with it. Now I look at the picture and the white tree gets lost so the whole card seems out of balance.  I don't feel like it's that bad in real life so I took the close-up below (then had to edit out of all my yellow room light since there was no natural light!) It's a little closer to what I think the card looks like. (I guess I should have taken the full picture in the yellow room light because the close-up doesn't look half bad - but I didn't think of that until this moment.  It's hard getting older!) The white tree is probably still not quite right but I just had to use my favorite dies from the set right away.

I think they assume you'll do gem/pearl berries because there's even a set available in trios like these berries but I don't have those. I just found a small hole punch and punched my berries.

I hope to see you playing along with us this week at Freshly Made Sketches.  I wonder how many cards will show up without trees?!

SUPPLY LIST

Dies: Stampin' Up Decorative Tree Dies

Paper: Stampin' Autumn to Remember Two-Tone cardstock (the light side of the olive piece), Old Olive Glimmer Paper (along with Berry Burst and White), Gingerbread and Peppermint dsp (retired)