Christmas Joy. . . .

I have a lot of "Joy" stamps.  In fact, I have a four shelf unit that is full of them.  And, now there are several more clear/cling sets that include them. 

I decided to use this beautiful Penny Black stamp for a few Christmas cards, paired with the sentiment from Hero Arts.  I also used some patterned paper from the 6x6 MME Merry Little Christmas pad.  It has some very pretty pastel prints in it.  The scalloped die is from PTI.  I colored the image with Prismacolor pencils and  added some Stickles glitter.  The red and white baker's twine and tiny red gems were all the embellishment it needed.  I knotted the ends of the twine - a trick I've seen Julie Ebersole use several times.  (love that gal!)

Sending this over to Simon Says Stamp for their anything goes challenge.

Have a great weekend!

one more fall card. . . .

for the November challenge at Magenta, which had totally slipped my mind. 

The leaf spray is a Magenta stamp that I have had since 2001.  It is actually signed by Nathalie!  I took a class from her and she signed any stamps that we bought that day. :)

I heat embossed the leaves and applied distress inks over the panel.  The die is a Labels 14 nestie.  The sentiment is from Impression Obsession - one of my favorites.  The colors of the card in real life are much deeper and more vibrant that this photo shows.  So frustrating.

Once again, Happy Thanksgiving to all who observe the holiday.  So thankful for so many blessings - my cup runneth over!

my local stamp club. . . .

meets on the last Monday of each month.  We take turns making card kits for the members to make at the meeting.  Yesterday was my turn:

This is similar to another card I posted a couple of weeks ago.  The gals liked the card and it was not hard to make; just a lot of steps.

Now I have just one more ATC to make for a swap and then I can really get busy making the rest of my own Christmas cards.

I hope all of my USA friends have a wonderful Thanksgiving with their loved ones this week - I can't wait to get that turkey in the oven!!

a fun folded card. . . .

inspired by Dawn at Dawn's Stamping Thoughts.  I rarely try anything too involved when making a card for fear of making a mess of it.  However this one turned out pretty nicely and I may make a few more for Christmas:

Here is the first opening:

And, here is the inside of the card:

I had some patterned paper left over from my stamp club project for this month and decided to use it for this card.  The Joy stamp is a very old one from a company called Westwater Enterprises.  I purchased it in 1998!  But it did fit in the opening and had holly to match the paper, so it was definitely the one to use.  The inside greeting is from Hero Arts.  I used some Stickles on the outside frame to jazz it up a little. 

I've been busy this week working on some swaps that are due by the end of the month, so haven't had time to make more cards.  Still working on the last swap; then it's full speed ahead on my Christmas cards!

Thanks for stopping by. 

my first attempt. . . .

at creating a sunburst card.  I have never tried this, but am happy with the results.

Since I will need another masculine birthday card soon, I think this will be appropriate.  It can easily be made more feminine with different papers/colors. These papers are from the MME The Station 6 x 6 pad.  I love the shape of this Spellbinders Nestabilities die.  I tried making a frame by using the next size die, but it was much too wide for my liking.  So, I just used the same size die and cut it in half to add a bit of contrast on each end of the sentiment piece.

The only challenge I know to send this to is Word Art Wednesday. 

edit:  will submit this to the Seize the Birthday with texture challenge, too.  Thanks, Theresa!

Have a wonderful weekend!

just wondering. . . .

if this card is clean and simple enough for the CAS(e) this Sketch challenge?

I always get confused when I use patterned paper and there isn't much white space.  But, I will submit it anyway and leave it to the powers that be to accept or reject it.  :-)  Anyway, here is my card:

A very loose interpretation of the sketch, but it is still close enough I think.  Patterned paper is from Bo Bunny and the sentiment is from Hero Arts. 

And, of course I will be sending this over to Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge and Word Art Wednesday, too.

Hope your day is a good one!

a birthday card for a friend. . . .

which I will also submit to the Word Art Wednesday challenge which is always anything goes:

Several patterned papers, some flower trim, a butterfly punch and one Penny Black stamp were used for this card.  I also added some enamel dots for a bit of embellishment.  Something I used to do a lot and am now trying to do more often is line the envelope to match the card when possible.  Thought I would show it here.

Thanks for visiting.

blue, white and kraft. . . .

are the colors in this inspiration photo for the  City Crafter's current challenge:

I love these colors, so wanted to find time to get a card made before the deadline:

The flower is a premade one from a pack I got at Michael's - maybe from Recollections, however I can't be sure.  Memory Box leaf sprig die and the sentiment is Hero Arts and was white heat embossed with Hero Arts embossing powder.

Once again, I will send this over to the Simon Says Wednesday challenge for clean and simple.  Doesn't hurt to try, does it?  LOL

Thanks to everyone who visits my blog and for your sweet comments on my feeble attempts at these challenges! 

brown. . . .

is the challenge at Casology this week.

Here is my card:

I used three brown distress inks to color Tim's tattered leaves which were die cut from white cardstock and placed on a kraft card.  The rest is pretty self explanatory.  Sentiment is from Hero Arts.

Sending this over to Simon Says Stamp Wednesday, too!

Have a good weekend.

a Thanksgiving card. . .

to be added to the few I have made for this year.  I do send about a dozen cards for Thanksgiving, so I have to make a couple more. 

The leaves and sentiment are Hero Arts stamps.  The crackle stamp around the edges is from Magenta.  I colored the leaves with Prismacolor pencils (my go-to for coloring images).  There is a tiny bit of Stickles glitter here and there which is hard to detect in the photo.

Sending this over to Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge which is clean and simple.

 

 

 

Have a wonderful weekend - we are in for a chilly one!

 

 

another masculine birthday card. . . .

for a friend:

The tree panel was created with an Art Impressions stamp which is just a single tree.  I used markers to add color to the stamp and stamped it three times.  Then I went back and inked it with just a brown marker and stamped it twice in between the others.  Sponged some wild honey over the trees and added a few dots with the markers here and there.  This is mounted on a nice gold-colored card, but it   looks very washed out in the photo. ( I should have remembered that from the last time.)

I'm sending this over to the Simons Says Stamp Wednesday challenge, the Seize the Birthday challenge and Word Art Wednesday challenge.

Hope your weekend is a good one!