Color Throwdown: Snow Much Love

 I have exactly three more Christmas cards to make - my 21-year old son and my two tween/teen nieces. I have to admit to being somewhat out of ideas for all of them.  For one of my nieces, I wanted to use the Mama Elephant Snow Much Love die but I wasn't sure what to do with it.  They are both too old for cutesy, but too young for serious.  When I saw this week's challenge at the Color Throwdown - specifically the colorful graphic - a light bulb came on.

I did get carried away because the challenge was really only three colors from the graphic - and I kind of used them all.  I probably shouldn't be posting, but this was definitely my inspiration and I always try to give credit!

It's such a terrible time to take photos.  The sun is too low in the sky to hit my craft room window and although I have a decent artificial light, it can wash out the detail.  The sentiment on my card is actually very glittery paper. The glitter and the colors will be just perfect for teen/tween niece!!

I have so many more Christmas stamps and dies to use, but I'm kind of burning out.  It's getting time to relax and enjoy the peace of the season.  I do have a start on a card for my 21-year old and I have a stamp picked out for my other niece so I'm almost there!!  It is fun that Christmas card challenges run all year long so I'm not putting those unused stamps and dies too far away.

SUPPLY LIST

Dies: Mama Elephant Big Snow Much Love, Honey Bee Stamps Layering Snowflakes, Trinity Stamps Wonky Stitched Wilderness

Paper: Stampin' Up Granny Apple Green, Coastal Cabana, Lemon Lime Twist, Mango Melody and Flirty Flaming, Taylored Expressions Toffee and Cupcake, the glitter white is from Michaels

Poppystamps: A Magical Holiday Season

I am on the Poppystamps blog today with a very clean and fresh Christmas card. This card is all about the gorgeous sentiment.  I love the words and I love the fonts!!  It's a big set of sentiments and although I've used a number of them on the inside of my cards, I decided I needed to showcase them!

I added a stitched frame, then decorated with a poinsettia, the little birds and some berry branches. 

All the details are on the Poppystamps blog. Check it out here.

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Poppystamps Joyous Christmas Wishes

Dies: Poppystamps Small Blooming Poinsettia, Whittle Birds, Garden Leaves and Berries, Memory Box Stitched Rectangle Trimmings

Paper: Memory Box Polished Foil

CAS(E) this Sketch: Nordic Stars

 I fell in love with Catherine Pooler's Nordic Stars set - maybe it's my Scandinavian heritage!!  I can cook lefse and krumkake and rosettes - but I won't touch lutefisk.  True to our heritage, my son is actually going to get a Swedish minor to go with his Accounting major??!  

Whether or not it is the "nordic" part, this stamp set is unique.  There are three-sizes of stars with different stamps you can use for the inside include snowflakes.  The set pairs well with Catherine Pooler's All Around Wishes - I love the look of the coordinating die.

A big thanks to CAS(E) this sketch for giving me the layout of my card!  This is their 400th sketches - wow!!  Congratulations!!

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Catherine Pooler Nordic Stars, All Around Wishes

Dies: Catherine Pooler Wishes Word Die

Cardstock: Stampin' Up Poppy Parade, Granny Apple Green, Coastal Cabana

Other: Pretty Pink Posh Holiday Mix and Sea Glass jewels

Freshly Made Sketches: Hey You Be Merry

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! 

Having three men at home, I am always on the lookout for Christmas stamps/dies that will work for them, particularly since the oldest of the "men" is a complete grinch (not about the true meaning of Christmas, but about everything else).  My card started by seeing the Spellbinders rectangle dies in my stash.  The "hey you" and "be merry" fit perfectly on a tag.  The Merry Misfits set by Tim Holtz is a perfect for my guys - it's cute but not cutesy!   There's a reindeer that's my favorite, but Santa fit better.  

I googled sample cards for this set and saw a number adding dots for the eyes (the stamp itself has totally open, kind of glazed-over eyes.)  Although my guys despise bling of any form, once I put the glittery eyes on, I threw caution to the wind and added glitter paper behind the sentiment and a variety of sequins.  I guarantee they will notice there is bling - but tough - I like this card!!

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

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous Merry Misfits

Dies: Spellbinders Even More Sentiments, Taylored Expressions Tag Stacklets 2 and Tag Reinforcements

Paper: Stampin' Up Poppy Parade, Bazzill Basics Licorice 6x6, Red Glitter from Michaels

Other: Doodlebug Beetle Balck Glitter Sprinkles, Hero Arts Snow & Berry sequins

Festive Friday: Winter Solstice

 I love every word on the inspiration list for the current challenge at Festive Friday: Winter Solstice.  Not to mention that I picked up a set of snowmen at a Black Friday sale that I think are amazing!

For the challenge, I used blue, purple, snowflakes, enamel dots and trees.  I used a trio of glittery enamel dots around the sentiment to make it stand out.  My two little snowmen have successfully found their tree from the forest of glittery trees behind them!

The snowmen and the background stamps are from WPlus9.  I hadn't seen them. I popped over to WPlus9 when I saw they were having a great sale and there they were!  I love the detail on them.  I have so many plans for them but this was a quick lunch break card so I was happy.  (My crafting lunch breaks are my favorite part of working from home!) 

You should check out the sample cards at WPlus9 - they are amazing!!  The set comes with the two snowmen and all of their accessories, the little tree, a beautiful little bird and some wonderful sentiments. One I decided to get the Most Wonderful set of snowmen, I had to get the Snow Scenes set for behind them.  I used the ground cover and a couple of the tree stamps but just done with glitter embossing on white.

Thank you to Festive Friday for the inspiration!

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: WPlus9 Most Wonderful, Snow Scenes

Dies: WPlus9 Most Wonderful

Other: WOW Ultra Shimmer Embossing Powder, Your Next Stamp Rainbow Sparkle Enamel Dots

The Greetery: Birthday Blooms

I have been in love with the font in The Greetery's Birthday Blooms set and I finally got the set on their recent sale.  Don't get me wrong - the flowers are gorgeous - but it came home to my stash because of the font!!  I decided to use the entire set on a birthday card for a dear friend.  And I'm quite certain you'll be seeing the sentiments on many future cards!

I have a new camera (more commonly known as a phone!)  For my card photography, I have been using my very old, but very high-quality DSLR camera.  It doesn't even have an automatic focus lens - nor does it automatically transfer photos.  So I'd take a number of pictures (because maybe 1 out of 10 was in focus), pull out the memory card, stick into the SD card attachment of my computer. The computer isn't as old as the camera, but it's not new. It's quite shocking it's still working and actually not too badly except for a few things, like loading photos!!  So after I'd insert the SD card, I'd go shower - or cook dinner - and by the time I was done, the photos were loaded so that I could see if there was at least one clear photo that I liked.  If not, I'd start the whole process over.

Now I have a new phone that I picked specifically for the quality of its camera. Plus the fact that I take the photo and - poof - it's on my computer.  Dealing with the photos on this post didn't lessen my enjoyment of the entire cardmaking process as it had been beginning to prior to the new phone!!!  I still have some playing to do.  I'm sure by setting a few defaults on the phone or adjusting the lighting in my photo area, etc. - it will all get even easier!!

LIFE IS GOOD!!!

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: The Greetery Birthday Blooms

Dies: The Greetery Birthday Blooms, Sentiment Suite: Basics

Paper: Stampin' Up Shaded Spruce, Terracotta Tile

Ink: Stampin' Up Shaded Spruce, Mint Macaron, Terracotta Tile, Calypso Coral

Other: Studio Katia Persimmon Pearls, Stampin' Up Brick & Mortar Embossing Folder.

Freshly Made Sketches: Sending Joy

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!

   

 

The dies in the my little scene are from my most-used set from last Christmas. It's Honey Bee Stamps Winter Bouqet. I hadn't pulled it out yet this year so it was overdue.  The candle is actually taller - I cut it and moved the die to cut again so it was shorter and more in line with the squares of the sketch.  The sentiment is new this year from Honey Bee.

I'm not 100% true to the sketch. My candle should be to the right. I just mis-remembered the sketch as I was adhering things. I was a bit sad when I looked at the sketch again and realized that because I had been fairly thrilled with the way I came up with doing the sentiment.  I remember that it was to the left and I was struggling with that.  Then I saw the stamp and die combo and realized I could put it to the left but have the weight of it under the candle. 

Plaid has been so trendy this year and I really hadn't used any (not that I use a lot of patterned paper anyway!!) I originally was going to doing my usual white and sponge on a golden glow for the candle.  I still like that idea - but I had a paper pack out on my desk from doing this card and the plaid caught my eye.  I love happy accidents (or messy desks!)

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

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Honey Bee Stamps Joy

Dies: Honey Bee Stamps Joy, Winter Bouquet, Simon Says Stamp A2 Thin Frames

Paper: Moda Scrap Sudtirol Origins 12x12, Taylored Expressions Cherry Pop, Mushroom, My Favorite Things Natural