More December Birthday Cards

Happy Monday evening all,
I hope everyone had a happy start to the week. Hopefully it will be a light work week for you. I will be finished with work after Wednesday until after the new year. I will be traveling to see my sister and her family in Portland, OR, along with our mom and brother too. It will be a fun, family filled Christmas.

As I mentioned in my last post, I have several family and friends with birthdays during Christmas week. I have two more cards to share with you tonight.

First up is a card for my good friend Martin. He will be a very young 70 something on Christmas day. He is a really fun guy with a great sense of humor, and into racing Porsche cars. I think he'll love this Bugaboo Digi Gus card. I used Karen's SSSC #147 again. Love it! I dropped some Glossy Accents over Gus' glasses to give him that big eyed effect.

The inside:

The second card is for a slightly younger guy. I used the very appropriate TE Moka Justin stamp and Jen's Deconstructed Sketch # 31 for the layout. Two of the border dies were cut, and the black layered under the red to give it a shadowed look.

Supplies
Card 1
Stamps: Bugaboo Digi Gus WTF
Papers: TE dark blue, medium blue and choice buttercream CS, My Minds Eye Stella Rose Hattie PP
Ink: Copics
Other: Screw brads and metal sheet from a very old TE father's day project pantry kit, Glossy Accents, and dimensionals

Card 2
Stamps: Moka Justin by Taylored Expressions
Papers: TE red and black CS and My Minds Eye Lime Twist - Out of the Blue PP
Ink: Memento tuxedo black and Copics
Other: Seeing spots EF, Die-namics border die, TE large round brads and peace sign brad, and dimensionals

I am so stoked that I have a spot in an upcoming Copic certification class. I'm looking forward to learning more about using these markers.

That's it for tonight. Thanks for looking in today all,
Colleen

December Birthdays

Good evening all,

I finally have all my Christmas cards in the mail. Now I need to start on cards for my family and friends who have birthdays the last week of December. Believe it or not, I need to make six birthday cards for Christmas week. Here's the first of the cards. This one uses Karen's Sweet Sunday Sketch #147 and Taylored Expressions Moka Kristie.

Supplies
Stamps: Moka Kristie set from Taylored Expressions
Paper: TE teal, pink, red and choice buttercream card stock and My Minds Eye patterned paper
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, Copics and SU cherry cobbler
Other: Kaiser rhinestones, Stickles, TE ribbon, paper flower, sewing machine and dimensionals

Thanks for looking in today,
Colleen

Snow Much Fun for DS29

Happy Wednesday everyone,

I made this card last weekend to add to my growing Christmas card pile. I used Jen's Deconstructed Sketch # 29 for the layout. As I've said before, this SU set is my favorite Holiday set this year and I've used it for many of my Christmas cards.

Supplies
Stamps: Snow Much Fun set by Stampin' Up
Paper: Taylored Expressions card stock and My Minds Eye 12 Days of Christmas PP
Ink: Memento tuxedo black and Copics
Other: SU snow burst embossing folder, Labels 9 Nesties, Die-namics border die, Kaiser rhinestones, TE ribbon, crystal Stickles, SU corner rounder punch, SU snow flake die, the Big Shot and dimensionals

That's all for today. Thanks all for stopping in,
Colleen

Sending You A Little Christmas and SFYTT

Happy Saint Nicholas Day to all.

Here's my version of December's Sketch For You To Try. Of course, I made another Christmas card. I finally finished them all last night. I'm happy to say, I made them all different with the exception of two designs, and I made six of each of those. In the past, I usually made about 15 - 20 of four different designs, but this year I wanted to be more creative and do them all different. In the end however, I did make the two sets of six for time's sake. Now, I need to sit down and get them addressed.

On to my SFYTT card. 

As you can see, I have another cutie PI girl. Her coat, hat and scarf are paper pieced. The rest is colored with Copics.

Supplies:

Stamps: Pure Innocence Sending You A Little Christmas set by My Favorite Things

Paper: Taylored Expressions red, green and choice buttercream CS and My Minds Eye 12 Days of Christmas PP

Ink: Memento tuxedo black, SU glorious green and Copics

Other: SU and Cuttlebug embossing folders, Die-namics die, Taylor's Tiny Twinkles in red, Viva Decor Pearl Pen in Cream, Kaiser large red rhinestones, SU red and green brads, sewing machine, the Big Shot, and dimensionals

That's all for this evening. Thanks so much for looking in.

Colleen

Warm Winter Wishes

Hey all and happy Monday,

I didn't have time to get any blogging done last week between work, trying to get more Christmas cards done in the evenings and most importantly, not feeling too well. The dreaded winter cold caught up with me, but I'm feeling better today. I took today as a PTO day (vacation day) and my first order of business this morning was to get some pictures taken of the cards that I made over the weekend so I could post something. After that, I plan to make a few more Christmas cards then put up my Christmas tree.

Today's card I made using Karen's Sweet Sunday Sketch 146 from yesterday. Another fun sketch again this week (I pretty much feel that way about all of them. lol) Although I didn't post any, I actually made several cards using last week's sketch. I may get pictures taken of them later in the week and post. Anywhoo, here's today's card:

I stamped the image four times so that I could paper piece the sweater, scarf, gloves and cup, and I really like the way it turned out.

Supplies:
Stamps: Who's That Girl Gets Cozy With Cocoa by My Favorite Things
Papers: SU crumb cake and TE pink, light blue, and choice buttercream CS, My Minds Eye 12 Days of Christmas PP
Ink: Memento tuxedo black and Copics to color the mug of cocoa and do some shading on the scarf and gloves
(RV09, RV29, E11, E81)
Other: classic circle and scalloped circle Nesties, SU houndstooth EF, Die-namics die, TE pink button, sewing machine, hot glue gun, TE ribbon, the Big Shot and dimensionals

Have a wonderful week all, and thanks for looking in today,
Colleen

Wishing You. . .

This week's Sweet Stop Sketch 135 looked like a fun one so I decided to play along. Since I had SU's Letters From Santa DSP on my table, I used it again. Love the look of this one.

Supplies:

Stamps: Button Buddies set by Stampin' Up

Paper: SU ridding hood red, old olive and whisper white card stock and Letters From Santa DSP

Ink: Memento tuxedo black and SU bashful blue

Other: light blue button, SU linen thread, Wonky Rectangles Nesties, TE medium scalloped border die, SU embossing folder, SU ridding hood red ribbon, red liquid pearls, sewing machine, the Big Shot, and dimensionals

Thanks all,

Colleen

Hope Your Christmas Is. . .

Snow Much Fun! Can I just say, I love this SU stamp set!!

Today's cards both use this set. I've used Jen's Deconstructed Sketch 28 for the layouts.

Supplies:
Stamps: Snow Much Fun by Stampin' Up
Paper: SU wild wasabi and real red card stock, SU glimmer paper in red and silver, SU water color paper, and SU Holly Berry Bouquet DSP
Ink: SU wild wasabi, bashful blue, soft suede, rose red, old olive, marina mist, tangerine tango, and basic black, Memento tuxedo black
Other: TE small scalloped border die, Die-namics large scalloped border die, SU corner rounder punch, SU felt holly, Diamond Stickles, Kaiser red pearls, TE red ribbon, aqua painter, the Big Shot, and dimensionals

Thanks for looking in today,
Colleen

Fa-la-la-la-la

Here's my card for MFTWSC 46. I've used another of my recent PI purchases, Christmas Caroler. Her dress is paper pieced. The rest of her is colored with Copics. The top of her boots are crystal Stickles.

Supplies:
Stamps: Christmas Caroler by My Favorite Things
Paper: SU blushing bride, early expresso and whisper white card stock. SU Letters From Santa DSP
Ink: Memento tuxedo black and Copics
Other: Die-namics die, SU punch, SU ribbon, SU felt holly, sewing machine, Kaiser red rhinestones, crystal Stickles, Spica gold glitter pen, the Big Shot, and dimensionals

Thanks all,
Colleen

Happy Winter

Another rainy weekend here in San Diego. Perfect weather to continue my Christmas card making, and I got another 6 completed today. Whoohoo!

Today's post uses Karen's Sweet Sunday sketch #144 layout. I combined it with TE's Woodland Winter stamp set. I just love these adorable little animals all dressed up for Christmas. Isn't this little raccoon just the sweetest thing ever? His sled is blinged out with copper Stickles. He's colored with Copics.

This color scheme comes from the current CR84FN 43 challenge.

Supplies:
Stamps: Woodland Winter set by Taylored Expressions
Paper: SU early expresso, old olive and crumb cake card stock,
SU Letters From Santa DSP
Ink: SU old olive and early expresso, Memento tuxedo black, Copics
Other: classic oval and scalloped oval Nesties, copper Stickles, Spica glitter pens in silver and black, Cuttlebug snowflake EF, sewing machine, plastic white snowflakes, olive green candy dots, SU old olive ribbon, white gel pen, the Big Shot, and dimensionals

Have a great week all. It's a short work one.
Thanks for looking,
Colleen

Don't Open Until. . .

It's Thursday. Only two more days of work to go this week. I'm actually in Las Vegas this week for my company's national sales meeting. We started on Monday and today's the final day. I drive back to San Diego tomorrow.

Here's another card that I made last weekend. It's another Christmas card and this one follows November's SFYTT layout.

Supplies:
Stamps: Pure Innocence Don't Open Until by My Favorite Things
Card stock: TE red, green and choice snow white
Patterned papers: 12 Days of Christmas by My Favorite Things
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, Copics, SU real red
Other: Cuttlebug snow EF, TE red ribbon, TE green buttons, red floss, red Stickles, SU twine, the Big Shot, and dimensionals

Have a great Friday tomorrow and thanks for looking in,
Colleen

Merry

First today, I want to congratulate Taylor on reaching 150 sketches. Her Friday sketch challenges are one of my very favorite to participate in, and  TESC150 is no exception. Here's my card: (warning, you might want to put on sunglasses before viewing)

Supplies:
Stamps: Merry Little Cocktail by Taylored Expressiosn
Card stock: TE bright pink, green and choice snow white
Patterned paper: 12 Days of Christmas by My Minds Eye
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, Copics and SU Pink Passion
Other: TE Musical Swirls Impression plate, classic circle Nesties,
TE ribbon, TE small and medium scalloped border dies, SU oval punches, Spica glitter pens in green, blue and clear, Glossy Accents, the Big Shot, and dimensionals

Thanks for stopping by today,
Colleen

Got Powder?

Happy Tuesday fellow stampers,

One of the cards I made on Sunday uses this week's MFTWSC45. I'm using another new Pure Innocence set called Snowboard Boy.

I can't believe, in all my stamping supplies, I don't have a tag die. I hand made this one.

Supplies:
Stamps: Pure Innocence Snowboard Boy by My Favorite Things
Card stock: SU Buckaroo Blue, Cranberry Crisp and TE choice snow white
Patterned papers: Wintertime by Echo Park
Ink: Memento tuxedo black and Copics
Other: sewing machine, Cuttlebug snow EF, Die-namics border die, SU Cranberry Crisp stitched ribbon, SU snowflake punch, SU blue button and twine, silver Stickles, Sakura glitter pen, Glossy Accents, the Big Shot, and dimensionals

Thanks for looking in,
Colleen

Happy, Happy, Happy Holidays

I love Karen's Sweet Sunday sketch this week, and it worked perfectly for one of Taylored Expressions' new Christmas sets. I hadn't had the chance to ink up this cute little deer yet. I love him and I love how this card turned out.

Supplies:
Stamps: Woodland Winter by Taylored Expressions
Card stock: SU bravo burgundy, kraft, naturals confetti, pool party and TE choice buttercream
Patterned paper: Basic Gray Eskimo Kisses
Ink: Memento rich cocoa and tuxedo black, Copics, SU bravo burgundy
Other: SU snow burst EF, classic square and large scalloped square Nesties, SU ribbons, Sakura glitter pen, SU round punches, the Big Shot, and dimensionals

Have a great week all and thanks for looking in today,
Colleen

Cozy Christmas Wishes

I had a great weekend stamping and got some more Christmas cards made. Although I still have a ways to go, I am making progress.
Today's card is made using Jen's Deconstructed Sketch #27 and one the newer Pure Innocence sets.

I'm entering this card in Linda's Catered Crop, FTR25 challenge as well. My ingredients for this challenge are:

Colors: cream, red, and green
Images: winter scene, hollies and berries, Christmas
Tools: die cuts, scallop edges
Miscellaneous: ribbon, pearls
Techniques: layers and layers

Supplies
Stamps: Pure Innocence Stocking Girl by My Favorite Things
Card stock: Taylored Expressions green, red and choice buttercream
Patterned papers: Wonder collection by Authentique
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, Copics, SU cherry cobler
Other: Christmas baker's twine, SU felt holly, Kaiser red pearls, red heart rhinestone, red Stickles, classic square and scalloped square Nesties, sewing machine, corner rounder punch, the Big Shot, and dimensionals

Thanks for looking in,
Colleen

Angel Wings

Yea! Another Christmas card made. Karen's Sweet Sunday Sketch #142 and Taylored Expressions stamps and papers from Taylor's Angel Kisses Card Kit make up this one.

The angel's dress is paper pieced as you can see. Her face and hair are colored with Copics and her wings and halo are colored with a gold Spica glitter pen. I sponged white craft ink, SU, onto the cloud dies and on the patterned paper behind the angel. I wanted a kind of hazy look. Not really sure if it worked, though. lol. The small clouds are layered around the angel using dimensionals.

Supplies
Stamps: Joy To the World set by Taylored Expressions
Card stock: TE cranberry, pink and choice buttercream
Patterned papers: Eskimo Kisses by Basic Gray
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, Copics, Colorbox Chalk bright pink and SU craft whisper white
Other: TE clouds and cloud border dies, sewing machine, Want 2 Scrap pearls, the Big Shot, and dimensionals

I hope you all have a great week and thanks for stoping,
Colleen

Thank You

It's a rainy Sunday here in San Diego and the perfect day to catch up on some sketch challenges. I've been away from my stamping again for a little while, so I planned to do nothing else today.

We took a mini-vacation to Chicago last week and had an absolute BLAST. We stayed with good friends for 2 nights out in the burbs, then spent 3 nights in a fab hotel right in the heart of the "magnificent mile" area. Along with our friends, we did all things tourists in Chicago should do: A taste of Chicago walking tour, the Chicago river architecture tour, the Frank Lloyd Wright home tour in Oak Park, visited the Adler Planetarium, shopped up and down Michigan Ave, ate Italian beef, Chicago dogs, frozen custard, Garretts carmel corn, had dinner at Frontera Grill, one of Rick Bayless' wonderful restaurants and lunch and drinks on the 96th floor of the John Handcock building. It couldn't have been a better time!

So, today's card is a Thank You card for our friends that we stayed with and who showed us such a great time. I've used Jen's DS26 sketch and Claire Keay's "Frosty Fun" ice skater. Our friend's little girl, Jenny, is a very accomplished ice skater, so I thought this stamp would be a fun one to use.

Her stocking hat is pieced with MFT felt and her skates are colored with a white gel pen and a glaze pen for a shinny look.

Supplies
Stamps:  Frosty Fun set by Claire Keay and Homespun Birdhouse set both from My Favorite Things stamps
Card stock: pomegranate, flamingo and choice snow white by Taylored Expressions
Patterned papers: Life of the Party by My Minds Eye
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, Copics and SU cherry cobbler
Other: classic oval and classic scalloped oval Nesties, labels 3 Nesties, Die-namics loopy flower die, MFT felt, TE ribbon, TE buttons, Kaiser pink rhinestones, Spica silver glitter pen, white gel pen, glaze pen, pink floss, the Big Shot, mini-glue dots, double sided sticky tape 1/4", and dimensionals

Now that this one is done, I'm off to work on this week's Sweet Sunday sketch. I think it's time to get more Christmas cards done.

Thanks for looking in today,
Colleen

Merry Christmas

I love the "center step" cards that I see around blog land, but I have never tried making one. . .until this weekend. I looked up the instructions on Splitcoast and gave it a try. Not hard at all with the right kind of trimmer to make the slits.

Here is my version using one of my favorite Christmas sets, Snow Much Fun. The image is stamped on watercolor paper and colored with my aqua painter.

I participate in a craft group and we meet once a month as time allows for everyone. We had a get together on Saturday and I showed everyone how to make one. A good time was had by all.

Supplies
Stamps: Snow Much Fun set by Stampin' Up
Card stock: SU watercolor paper, SU old olive, early expresso and whisper white
Patterned paper: SU Letters From Santa DSP
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, SU old olive, marina mist, ridding hood red, bashful blue, pumpkin pie and basic black
Other: classic and scalloped oval Nesties, Kaiser red pearls, SU stitched felt snowflake and mitten, SU rhinestone, SU aqua painter, Stickles, the Big Shot and dimensionals

Thanks for looking in today,
Colleen

Good Friendships

It's late Sunday evening and the end of another weekend. I hope you all had a good one. Today, I had the chance to make a couple cards. The one I'm showing you in this post I made using Jen's Deconstructed Sketch #24 and a new stamp that the mail man brought me this past week with my latest MFT order.

I pulled out my October Key Ingredients kit from Taylored Expressions for most of the papers and embellishments. I was looking for fall colors to use and these papers work well. The paper on the top part of the card is the reverse side of the paper on the bottom.  I inked the recessed side of an embossing folder with some red Color Box chalk ink before running through my Big Shot. For the oval with the image, I inked the raised side with rust Color Box chalk ink before running through. Such a fun look and a great way to add more dimension to the project. The heart is paper pieced, as you can see.

I've missed a few FTR challenges over at Linda's Catered Crop blog. I checked out the recipe, and the fall colors "ingredient" is what I started with when planning this card. Additional added "ingredients," patterned papers, Copic markers, thread, ribbon, paper piecing, sewing, die cuts, Autumn/Fall theme, and I'm ready to play along.

Here's wishing you all a wonderful week ahead. Thanks for looking in,

Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Heart Felt by Claire Keay/My Favorite Things
Card stock: Hillary and choice buttercream from Taylored Expressions
Patterned paper: Farmhouse by Crate Paper
Ink: Memento rich cocoa, Color Box chalk in red and rust, Copics
Other: Flowers EF, classic and scalloped oval Nesties, mum flower and flower brad from October KI kit, sewing machine, the Big Shot, and dimensionals

More Halloween Cards - More Sketch Challenges

Happy Thursday evening all,

One more day of the work week. It's been a busy one for me and I'm looking forward to getting together with my monthly craft group on Saturday for some crafty fun and good food. In the mean time. . .

I have a couple more Halloween cards to share tonight. The first one uses October's SFYTT layout. The stamps are from Taylored Expressions, one of the new Halloween sets released this year. I love this old Victorian mansion stamp. I made the windows bright and shinny with yellow Stickles. I suppose a rockin' party is going on inside.

Supplies
Stamps: Fangtastic set by Taylored Expressions
Card stock: light and dark purple, green, black and choice snow white from Taylored Expressions
Patterned papers: Happy Halloween by Echo Park
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, Copics, SU gray, sahara sand and craft white (sponged on the clouds)
Other: spider web ribbon by TE, TE cloud die, SU punch, yellow Stickles, the Big Shot, and dimensionals

Card number two is for Karen's Sweet Sunday Sketch # 139.

Supplies
Stamps: Fangtastic set by Taylored Expressions
Card stock: TE light purple
Patterned papers: Eerie collection by Basic Gray
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, Copics, Spica black glitter pen
Other: TE pennant die, TE small and medium scalloped border dies, Kaiser green and purple rhinestones, SU circle punch, TE sparkly green ribbon, the Big Shot, and dimensionals

Thanks for looking in,
Colleen

Witching You . . .

A Happy Halloween.

Sorry for my absence these past few weeks. I was away from home for a few weekends in a row, so no stamping time. However, this past weekend, I did get to indulge and got quite a few Halloween cards made.

This card uses a new TE set called Moka Tabitha, along with a few stamps from the TE set called Celebrate Life. The papers and most supplies are from the September Key Ingredients kit. The sketch is the current DS23 sketch.

Supplies
Stamps: Moka Tabitha set and Celebrate Life set by Taylored Expressions
Cardstock: TE saltillo, beeswax and choice buttercream
Patterned papers: Campfire by October Afternoon
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, Copics, and SU Cajun Craze and More Mustard
Other: ribbon, ric-rak, and buttons from TE September KI kit, Spica clear glitter pen, Die-namics faux crochet border die, the Big Shot, and dimensionals

Thanks so much for looking,
Colleen

From Santa

Another Christmas card today. I'm making some progress in getting a head start on Christmas cards this year. Usually, I'm mass producing the first week of December. I'll probably still have some to finish then, but, not as many as I usually do.

Today's card uses the layout from the FTL158. The colors, Pacific Point, Cherry Cobbler and Black are from a previous Color Throwdown challenge. 

Supplies

Stamps: "From Santa" a la carte stamp from Stampin' Up

Card stock: SU pacific point, cherry cobbler, black and very vanilla

Patterned papers: SU "Well Worn" DSP

Ink: SU basic black, cherry cobbler, blushing bride and craft whisper white

Other: SU corner rounder punch, SU snow burst embossing folder, SU ribbon, aqua painter, the Big Shot, and dimensionals

Thanks for looking in,

Colleen

Snow Much Fun . . . and Inkspirations #87

For my second post this afternoon, I have a Christmas card made for this week's Inkspiration #87 challenge. This week the challenge is a sketch challenge and I had lots of fun with this one. Bling really makes this one shine. All stamps and papers are from Stampin' Up.

Supplies
Stamps: Snow Much Fun and Sweets For the Sweet sets by Stampin' UP
Card stock: SU silver Glimmer, old olive and confetti white
Patterned paper: SU Big Top Birthday
Ink: SU real red, basic black, old olive and chocolate chip
Other: SU old olive satin ribbon, classic circle and large scalloped circle Nesties, SU large gold glitter, Kaiser red rhinestones, SU and Fiskars corner rounder punches, SU 1" circle punch, the Big Shot, and dimensionals

Have a great week ahead and thanks for looking in,
Colleen

Happy Birthday, Cupcake

I'm continuing my weekend of stamping today and the first card that I made this morning is a birthday card for a good friend whose birthday is coming up in a few weeks. I started with today's Sweet Sunday Sketch #135 layout. Karen has another fun and fabulous sketch for us. I love that she is giving us a head start by posting them on Facebook Saturday evenings.

For my card, I used mostly all newly released Taylored Expressions stamps and dies. Also fun and fabulous! I do love how this one turned out too.

Edited to add: I forgot that I wanted to add this card to the RCC20 challenge. (silly, forgetful me!). This week's challenge is to make a "punny" card.

Supplies
Stamps: Build A Treat set by Taylored Expressions
Card stock: SU kraft, chocolate chip, taken with teal, cherry cobbler and regal rose. TE choice buttercream
Patterned papers: My Minds Eye Lime Twist "Life Of the Party"
Ink: Colorbox Chalk teal and dark red
Other: TE Scallops and Petals impression plate, TE Build A Treat Tops and Bottoms and Tiny Toppers dies, Eyelet Circle and Classic Circle Nesties, Kaiser teal, pink and red rhinestones, TE pink, red and teal glitter, Quickie glue pen, sewing machine, the Big Shot, and dimensionals

Thanks for looking in today,
Colleen