Believe In the Magic

Hi to all,

I'm squeaking in my card for this week's Paper Player's Challenge, almost at the last minute because I've been working in Colorado since Monday. I got home late last evening and had a ton of work to complete during the day today, but I made time just before dinner to get a card made.

It's a great sketch challenge this week with Sandy as hostess. I pulled out some older holiday papers from SU and used a super cute set from Avery Elle to make my card.

I stamped this little snow fella using Memento tuxedo black ink and then using the masking technique, stamped the light post behind him. After coloring the images with Copics, they were cut out with a Die-namics Stitched Oval die. A few light blue enamel dots make up embellishments. (you know I have to, LOL.)

I added the third image from the set to make the inside of the card.

Quick and cute to go along with a great sketch from Sandy.

It's finally Friday tomorrow. I have my Craft group on Saturday, then back on the road for work Monday through Wednesday again. This time to San Francisco.

Wishing everyone a good Friday. Thanks for looking in,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Christmas Magic set by Avery Elle
Paper: SU Smoky Slate and X-Press It Blending card stocks, SU All Is Calm DSP
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, Copics, SU Smoky Slate
Other: Die-namics Stitched Oval die, Gemini  Jr, enamel dots, dimensionals

let's be merry

Happy Day after Thanksgiving all,

We had fun and very yummy Thanksgiving dinner, and I hope you all did as well. We went to our friend's house late in the afternoon for the feast. All traditional foods, turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, cranberry (canned and homemade relish), brussels sprouts, carrots, popovers and lots of wine. Pecan-carmel chessecake and pumpkin roll for desserts. I was quite stuffed!

Today was also a work holiday for me. I spent it mostly reading and then a little stamping late in the afternoon. I was able to add to my Holiday card stash using this week's Freshly Made Sketch. I pulled out some older stamp sets by MFT and Paper Smooches and patterned papers from American Crafts 6x6 pad called Holiday.

The images are stamped with Memento tuxedo black and colored with Copics and cut out using the set dies. I used a Nuvo clear glitter pen to brush on some sparkle to the Santa hat and holly leaf. Additional embellishments are SU enamel dots and snowflakes.

Here is a look at the inside of the card:

That's all from me tonight. Have a very nice holiday weekend. Thanks for looking in,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Christmas Cuteness set by My Favorite Things and Christmas Sampler set by Paper Smooches (sentiments)
Paper: SU Heavy Whisper White and Bermuda Bay,  X-Press It Blending card stocks, American Crafts Holiday patterned paper
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, SU Real Red and Bermuda Bay, Copics
Other: Die-namics Stitched Square and Christmas Cuteness dies, Lawn Fawn Banner die, Gemini Jr, SU enamel shapes, dimensionals

No Place Like Home

Hi all,

I hope  you had a relaxing weekend. As usual, mine went by way too fast. I think it's because of the travel the week before. I'll be on the road again today, but just for a day trip out to Palm Springs to visit a customer and tweak some settings on their newly installed system.

I got a little stamping in yesterday afternoon and made my card for this week's Paper Players challenge. LeAnne is our hostess with a clean & simple theme challenge.

As the graphic is also holiday themed, that is the direction that I took when looking through my stamps. As I flipped through I came across a new greeting set from Avery Elle that is made for stamping the greeting in the corner of a card. A few more flips and I found a set with a pie stamp and my mind went to "home and pies," perfect for LeAnne's theme, and perfect for me.

We had lots of pie growing up, especially around the holidays. Both of my Grandmothers made pies and they really were incredible pie bakers, but as good as they were, my mom's pies were even better. She'd never, ever admit to that, even now. If there is a master chef in pie making, my mom is one! So, this card is dedicated to my mom.

If you've seen some of my recent blog posts, you know that I've been looking for some fun card designs for my craft group in Dec. My last Paper Players card was done using the Double Z Fold from Jennifer McGuire. This card is another of her folds, called Gate Fold using border dies to cut the opening. This is the link to Jennifer's blog post with the instructions.

Per the CAS theme for today, I just stamped the Avery Elle greeting on the bottom section using SU Call Me Clover and Real Red inks and stamped the pie three times using the masking technique on the top section, and colored them with Copics. I add just three little SU enamel dots in red and green and that's it. Super fun and very easy to do with the border dies. The border dies that I used are from Concord & 9th.

Here is a picture with the fold open and a picture of the inside of the card.

I'm off to work. I hope everyone has a great Monday and a great week. It's a short work week and we love those!

Thanks for looking in,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Corner Sentiments Holiday set and Punny Pantry set both by Avery Elle, SU More Merry Messages set and Lawn Fawn Love You a Latte set
Paper: SU Heavy Whisper White card stock
Ink: SU Call Me Clover, Real Red, Memento tuxedo black, Copics
Other: Select a Size Border dies by Concord & 9th, SU enamel dots, the Big Shot

Merry and Bright

Hi all,

One more post today. Since I'll be gone Monday through Friday this week, I wanted to get a card made for the new Paper Players challenge. Laurie is hostess with a bright, and interesting, color combination. So Saffron, Poppy Parade and Smoky Slate. I'm not sure this is a color combination that I would have used on my own, however, once the cards were made, they look pretty darn good.

While these are not traditional holiday colors, that is exactly how I used them. Also, I've been trying to come up with something different to present for make & takes at my craft group meeting coming up on Dec. 1. I was cruising Jennifer McGuire's blog and came across this Double Z-Fold technique and decided to give it a try. I pulled out some Concord & 9th holiday sets and got busy. These are NOT quick cards to make, LOL.

I started with a Whisper White card base per the dimensions in Jennifer's video. Using the Stripes & Sayings set, I stamped the stripes using So Saffron. The ornament die is cut from Smoky Slate using the outline die, then embossed with the inside dies. I also cut a the inside die from Poppy Parade card stock and used the tiny pieces to glue onto the Smoky Slate ornament. The top of the ornament is cut from silver glimmer paper.

On the white Z fold piece, I stamped the Deck the Halls Turnabout stamp using Smoky Slate ink on the top portion and some greetings on the inside folded pieces. Here's what that looks like.

Merry & Bright is stamped using SU Poppy Parade ink. Unfortunately, the stamp pad has "oxidized" and it's pretty funky. I definitely need to order a replacement. Because it looked so bad, I stamped over the Poppy ink with VersaMark and heat embossed it with clear EP to smooth it out some.

So, because I had cut the second ornament to use the little pieces, I decided to make a second double Z card. I cut the outline of the ornament from silver glimmer paper to place behind the Poppy piece. The card base is Whisper White, again stamped using the same Turnabout stamp, stamping two turns in So Saffron and two in Smoky Slate. The white Z piece is stamped with images from the ornament die stamp set using Memento tuxedo black, and Smoky Slate. The open images are colored with yellow, gray and red Copics.

Here is the inside of this one:

Here's a side view showing the Z folds. Check out Jennifer's video linked above for the best views.

Those are the details. They are really fun to make, but do take time. Jennifer also has instructions for a single Z fold card in another video. Those may be what I end up with for my craft group. I'm still deciding.

Thanks again all,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: All Concord & 9th
Deck the Hall Turnabout, Stripes & Sayings set, Ornamental set, Merry & Bright set, Cozy Christmas set
Paper: SU Whisper White, So Saffron, Poppy Parade, Smoky Slate, SU Silver Glimmer Paper
Ink: SU So Saffron, Smoky Slate, Poppy Parade, VersaMark, Memento tuxedo black, Copics
Other: Ornamental, Concord & 9th dies, Misti, Gemini Jr, liquid glue, foam tape, SU mini glue dots, gray Baker's twine

Merry Christmas

Happy Sunday morning,

It's a fairly lazy Sunday morning for me, but a little later I'll be packing my suitcase and work stuff. I am working this coming week in Denver, CO. The weather app says it will be cold! That will be a change since we've been having these late season "Santa Ana" winds with temps in the high 70s to mid-80s. Time to pull out my boots!

I ordered some new stamps and supplies from Gina K and in my box was a free stamp set called Winter Flower. It's a sweet little poinsettia and leaves and I couldn't wait to ink it up. Using Julie's Mojo Monday 502 sketch, I made three cards. Clearly, I love this sketch!

The flower is stamped on water color paper using MFT Hybrid black ink and watercolored using Zig Real Brush water color markers. Once they dried, I fussy cut them out. On the card above, I used some really old SU DSP (so old I have no idea of the name), chocolate chip and Groovy Guava card stock. The circle layers are Spellbinders Scalloped and Die-namics Cross Stitched dies. The scalloped borders are TE and the snowflake embellishments are SU.

I made two others with totally different papers and colors.

On the pink card, the backgrounds are made with a background stamp and matching embossing folder both from Taylored Expressions. Both the flower and background are water colored with Zig markers.

The white flower card is made using more retired SU DSP and the card base is embossed with the SU large dots embossing folder. The flower is water colored with Tim Holtz distress inks and an aqua painter.

I love the look of all three. They started with such a great sketch.

I hope you all have a good week ahead and thanks for looking in,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Winter Flower by Gina K, Taylored Expressions Circles Background
Paper: SU Whisper White heavy weight and regular, Pretty In Pink, Smoky Slate, Groovy Guava, and Chocolate Chip card stock, various older SU DSP
Ink: SU Chocolate Chip, Real Red, MFT Hybrid Black
Other: Taylored Expressions Scalloped Border die, Die-namics Cross Stitched circle, Spellbinders Scalloped Circle and basic circle, Mama Elephant Inside Scalloped circle dies, Taylored Expressions Circles Embossing plate, SU Large Dots Embossing Folder, gold Stickles, SU and My Minds Eye enamel shapes, aqua painter brush, Misti, Gemini Jr

Two Glasses of Wine

Hi all,

Another challenge card today. This is for the new Fusion Card Challenge. I couldn't pass it up when the theme is Wine O'clock! I need a birthday card for a friend next week who like me, loves a glass (or two) of wine, so I made this into her birthday card.

I used both the theme and the sketch for the challenge.

I used some pretty SU DSP and Taylored Expressions stamps and dies and of course, some enamel dots for embellishment. I also popped up part of the top panels using fun foam.

For the inside greeting, I've used some Avery Elle stamps.

I'm in my office/craft room this morning with the TV on monitoring the news of fires throughout the state. They are again, very devastating! None are close to us, but I have co-workers who are evacuating up in Ventura County, and I've been to the small town of Paradise in Northern CA that has totally be destroyed. Seems every year the fire danger gets worse and worse and the actual fires are bigger and faster.

I hope your Friday is a good one. Thanks for looking in,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Wine A Little and Witty Wine Quotes by Taylored Expressions and Bunting set by Avery Elle (inside greetings)
Paper: SU Whisper White and Blushing Bride card stock, SU Tropical Escape DSP
Ink: Gina K Dusty Rose and Plum Punch cubes
Other: TE Wine A Little dies, Die-namics circle and rectangle dies, enamel shapes, Gemini Jr, fun foam

Crafty Friends

Hey there crafty friends,

I hope your Thursday is going well. One more day, then the weekend.  Not that I'm having a very busy work week this week, but weekends are the best.

Last night after dinner I had some stamping time so I decided to see what the Freshly Made Sketches team had for this week's sketch. Linda is our hostess this week and she has a fun circle element in her sketch design. Last week I ordered more Turnabout sets from Concord & 9th and my mind went right to an idea. One of my new sets is the Crafty Turnabout stamp set, with some awesome dies to match. I put them to use on Linda's sketch.

The turnabout stamp is stamped per the instructions using four SU inks from the SU Subtle color group. After stamping, I cut the circle using the Die-namics Zig Zag Circle die and glued it down on a So Saffron card base. Instead of adding another layer, I decided to use the cross-stitch stamp in the set and go around the perimeter of the card. The scissor die is cut from Pool Party and Orchid Opulence card stock and mounted on the circle using mini dimensionals. I added a thick layer of Glossy Accents to the handle and a light coating of sparkle from a Nuvo glitter pen to the blades. The greeting is stamped in Memento tuxedo black ink.

Since I can't help myself when it comes to more embellishments, I used the SEW stamp with a couple of button dies in the lower corner.

I love it. Simple but so sweet! If you haven't tried the Turnabout stamps, I highly recommend them. I'm getting quite the collection. They are really fun to play with, and you can get really different looks depending on the ink combination used.

Since I didn't really have a recipient in mind for this card, I played with more of the other images and dies on the inside. (I do have a few Crafty Friends that I can send this to, LOL)

Thanks for checking in. Have a fab Friday!
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Crafty Turnabout set and dies from Concord & 9th
Paper: SU So Saffron, Whisper White, Orchid Opulence, Pool Party, Pretty In Pink card stocks
Ink: SU So Saffron, Orchid Opulence, Pool Party, Pretty In Pink, Memento Tuxedo Black inks
Other: Die-namics circle die, Concord & 9th Crafty dies, Gemini Jr, mini dimensionals, Glossy Accents, Nuvo clear glitter pen, Misti

Brrr... A Retro Rubber Guest Designer Post

Hello all,

I'm thrilled as can be! The ladies at Retro Rubber have invited me to be the Guest Designer for challenge #99 today. I really enjoy playing along with this challenge. It's so fun to look through all those "old" stamps each week. Especially when I decided to go out to the garage where I have a couple of bookcases filled with my "really old" SU wood mounted sets.

That is where I went "shopping" for the stamp set to make my guest designer card today. This SU set called Bundle Up it is from 2004!

To make my card, I unmounted the stamps from their wood blocks so I could use them in my Misti. Using SU markers, I colored directly on the rubber and then stamped. The center greeting is stamped in Memento tuxedo black with snowflakes stamped around it using Pool Party ink.

The stamped panel is layered on a panel of Lovely Lipstick paper and both are mounted to a Watermelon Wonder card base using fun foam to float the stamped image above the card base.

Here is the inside. The greetings are from two additional SU sets, one from 1998 and the other I'm pretty sure is over 5 years old.

I hope you have a chance to play along with us this week. It's so fun to look though those older stamps and give them some love.

Thanks so much for looking in, and big thanks to the ladies at Retro Rubber for the GD invitation this week,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: All Stampin' Up sets
              Bundle Up, 2004
              Warm Wishes 1998
              More Merry Messages, ??? but older than 1 yr
Paper: SU Watermelon Wonder, Lovely Lipstick and X-Press It Blending card stock
Ink: SU markers in Bermuda Bay, Island Indigo, Granny Apple Green, Watermelon Wonder, Lovely Lipstick and Peach Parfait. Memento tuxedo black, Lovely Lipstick and SU Pool Party ink pads
Other: Misti, SU sequins

So thankful for each moment with you

Hi all,

It's yet another gloomy day here on the San Diego coast. Lots and lots of fog, and it's damp and chilly. It's a good day to be inside stamping. Also, we are headed out to a party a little later in the afternoon. We'll have some good conversation, good wine, and good fun.

Today is Sunday and the new Paper Players Challenge is out. Since I missed making a card for last week's challenge due to a busy work week, I thought I'd get this week's done and posted today. Claire is our hostess with a fun theme challenge - Thankful. Since it is November, I played along with the obvious Thanksgiving theme.

I put all of the stamps and dies from this Lawn Fawn holiday set to use. In fact all of the stamps, dies and patterned papers used on this card are from Lawn Fawn. Clearly, this isn't a Clean and Simple card, and luckily Claire's challenge is not CAS, LOL.

All of the images were stamped on X-Press It Blending card stock and colored with Copics. I stamped, colored, then cut everything out before assembling my background and card. My assembly process is once I have an arrangement that I like, I'll take a quick photo with my phone so I can remember the layout if I stray too much. For this card, the trees and houses were the part that I kept playing with for some reason. I finally got them how I thought they look best. The foreground was fairly easy to arrange, but I did waffle between having Mr. Squirrel and Mr. Hedgehog holding their cups or having them on the table. I finally decided holding the cups looked pretty cute.

For the inside, I used some additional LF dies to make some fall leaves. The sentiments are from the same stamp set.

That's it from me for now. I'm still working on examples to take for my next Craft Day with my girls. I want to do some fun folds or interactive cards, so I've been looking to see what Jennifer McGuire has in her videos. I'm thinking maybe using a turnabout set from Concord & 9th as well.  We'll see.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great work week!
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Forrest Feast by Lawn Fawn
Paper: TE kraft and brown card stock, X-Press It Blending card tock, SU Hello Honey and Cajun Craze card stock, various Lawn Fawn plaid pattern papers
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, Copics, Gina K brown and orange cubes
Other: Various Lawn Fawn dies, the Big Shot, dimensionals

Friends Make the Season Shine

Hello,

The past week was pretty busy work wise for me, with not much time to spend in my craft room. (Or maybe the case was I actually wasn't feeling very creative.) In either case, it's been a week since I made a card and posted to my blog.

Yesterday, I finished up early in the afternoon and then sat down to look through some of my favorite blogs. I came across the new sketch at CAS(E) this Sketch! and an idea immediately popped into my brain.

This is one simple and quick card! The light strings and greeting are stamped in Memento tuxedo black onto SU Shimmery White card stock, then colored with Stampin' Blends markers. Using the largest Die-namics Wonky Stitched Rectangle die, I trimmed it down, layered it with SU Shaded Spruce card stock and a card base of real red. The light bulbs are painted over using a Nuvo clear glitter brush. Three red rhinestones make up the embellishments.

The inside of the card uses more stamps from the same SU set.

My little craft group is getting together in a few weeks and I'm thinking of doing some cards with different folds, so for the afternoon, I'm researching some ideas to use.

I hope whatever you have planned, it's fun and relaxing too.
Thanks for stopping by,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Making Christmas Bright set by Stampin' Up
Paper: SU Shimmery White, Shaded Spruce and Real Red card stock
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, Stampin' Blends, SU Shaded Spruce, Granny Apple Green, Real Red and Pineapple Punch ink pads
Other: Die-namics Wonky Stitched Rectangle die, Nuvo clear glitter pen, red rhinestones, Gemini Jr, Misti