Christmas Postcard and Gold Accent Ink

I have been dying to share this card with you for a few reasons, but mostly, because it is awesome. I mean, its not that I stamped anything all that original here, but the products are sooo fun to use! So fun in fact, that I made it again, a different way!

I'll tell you what I love:
I love the individual Christmas Postcard stamp. It's a great stamp at a great price, only $9.95!
I love the seam binding ribbon. Great color, great texture and makes really nice bows without all the bulk.
I LOVE the Gold accent ink (pg. 195). Its super easy to put on, and super inexpensive ($4.95) and it looks terrific.
I love everything else too, the designer paper (below) the texture folder, the colors...etc. There is way too much to fuss over right now!

I used:

* Christmas Postcard stamp

* Early Espresso Ink

* Soft Suede, Very Vanilla, and Garden Green Card stock

* Deck the Halls D.S.P.

* Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding Ribbon

* Antique Wallpaper Impressions Folder

* Gold Lame Pearlized Accent Ink

* Blender Pens and Stampin' Pastels

Gratitude Card

I just adore this beautiful stamp set! Everything I make with it turns out lovely! Normally I would think that is because I am such a great stamper, but I actually think its because this stamp set is just so easy to use!
To make this card I did a could of cool things:
* For the medallion on the front, I used markers to ink the stamp and then hand trimmed it and finished it with an awesomely cool antique brad.
* For the funky square shape behind the medallion, I used the top note die...twice. After running it through my Big Shot like normal, I rotated it 90 degrees and then ran it through again and voila! A cool new shape!

Click here to see where I got the idea to make this card!

I used:

* Day of Gratitude Stamp Set

* Cajun Craze, and Early Espresso ink

* Early Espresso, Cajun Craze, Pumpkin Pie and Old Olive markers

* Autumn Spice D.S.P.

* Antique Brads

* Top Note Bigz Die

Friend Gift - Wtercolor Trio

This is the set of cards I gave to the ladies who brought a new friend with them to my last class. Actually they came un assembled, each card in stamped envelope and the whole thing tied with a ribbon. Cards make great gifts. Thanks to all of you who brought a friend and I hope you enjoy your little pack of cards.

I used markers to directly on the rubber stamps to get the multicolored image. This technique takes just a couple of minutes but I thik it really adds a lot to your projects. I love that SU! has so many products in matching colors. It makes life so simple and beautiful!

Theses cards use so many of my favorite things. I LOVE the new Watercolor Trio stamp set. I can't stop using it! Every single stamp in the set is perfect and I used all of them on this set.

I also LOVE my  Top Note Die for my Big Shot. Even if this was the only die I ever used, the Big Shot would still be worth the money! Fortunately, there are lots of great dies and textures and all sort of fun things that I also love.

I LOVE the large oval punch paired with the oval scallop punch. This duo works with tons of sentiments and always adds a touch of class...and its quick!

And of course I LOVE all ribbons but the satin ribbon is just so soft and feminine. Love Love.

I used:

* Watercolor Trio stamp set

* Certinly Celery, Pretty in Pink, Rose Red Markers

* Certainly Celery and Soft Suede Clsasic Stampin Pads

* Certainly Celery, Soft Suede, Pretty in Pink and Whisper White Card Stock
* Pretty in Pink satin ribbon

* Wide Oval, and Scallop Oval Punches

* Top Note Bigz Die

Happy Mother's Day!!!

I like Mother's Day.
Not because I'm a mother but because its a day to celebrate my wonderful Mother. And today as a bonus, I get to actually spend Mother's Day with her and that hasn't happened for years and years. She's awesome. She's amazing. She's beautiful. And after all this time of being my mother, she STILL thinks I'm perfect!
I Love You Mom!

I used:

* Fifth Avenue Floral stamp set (and the greeting from a different, retired set)

*Black StayzOn ink and Real Red Re inker

*Real Red, Old Olive, Kraft and Whisper White card stock

* Aqua Painter, Top Note Bigz Die, Slot Punch, Square Lattice Impressions Folder, 

* Old Olive Satin Ribbon, Real Red 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon

Would you like one of these?

That's right. A Stampin' Up! Gift Card just for you!

(Or for somebody else, if you're in a giving mood)

They can be made in any amount, and you can redeem them with me whenever you'd like. Just leave a comment or email me and I'll get you all set up.

Thanks!

#1 - Wandering Words (Yay!)

This is it, I made it through ten Christmas stamp sets!

I only made one card with this stamp from the Wandering Words set because frankly, I LOVE this card and I'm not sure why anyone would want to make anything else with it. I love the saying, I love the Santa, I love his eight tiny reindeer, I LOVE "The Night Before Christmas" and everything about it. This might be my Christmas card this year. Unless I end up sending out all my one-of originals. We'll see.

I own a few copies of the book, but my favorite is this old one I bought at a used book sale a few years ago. Here's a link to Amzon.com where they are selling it for $6.95. You'll love it!
http://www.amazon.com/Night-Before-Christmas-Clement-Clarke/dp/082340417X#noop
The illustrations are beautiful, (cool and quilty looking) and it has the correct "Happy Christmas" line at the end instead "Merry Christmas" (boooo!) which is what many of the newer additions are coming out with these days. What is wrong with people?

Anywho, here is a picture of the cover and what I tried to copy into card form:

For this card I used:

*Wandering Words and Christmas Punch (for the snow flakes) stamp sets

*Night of Navy and Whisper White card stock

*Night of Navy, Bashful Blue, Crushed Curry, and White Craft inks

*Top Note Bigz die, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, 1 3/8" Circle punch

Tip: I punched out a circle of scrap paper and held it tight to the white die cut sheet while I sponged around with Bashful Blue and then over that with Night of Navy trying to make a graded dark to light look from the top to bottom. Then I took a larger piece of paper with the same sized circle punched out, laid it over my blank moon and added some Crushed Curry to a clean sponge and made it a nice warm yellow.

And here's a shot of the cute inside. When I use a dark color like this for the card base, I try to line the inside with white so it's easier to write in and since its there I figure I might as well stamp it. Right?

PPA 14 - In the Pink

I've stepped way from my Christmas Stamp Set Countdown today to enter my very first challenge.
http://www.palspaperarts.com/
I've been meaning to submit something to the Pals Paper Arts for a while now but this week was so fun and for such a great cause that I couldn't resist any longer. So here they are, my pink, breast cancer cards. Yes, they're still Christmas, and yes, they're pretty similar to some cards I made a few posts ago. What can I say?

You may not be able to tell from the picture but these two cards are covered in glittery embossing...and pink-ness. If I were a princess these would totally be my Christmas cards!
Both cards use the same supplies and techniques, just arranged a little differently on each one. To see a great tutorial on how this technique works , click here:
http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/embossing_resist/

I used:

* Snow Swirled stamp set (and Teeny Tiny Wishes for the little tag)

* Chocolate Chip, Whisper White and Pretty in Pink card stock

* Regal Rose, Versamark, White Craft and Chocolate Chip ink

* Iridescent Ice stampin' emboss, stamping sponges, Top Note Bigz die

Christmas Countdown #6 - Yuletide Christmas

I've been really excited about this post for a while now because I get to show two things that I am totally in love with. The first is this awesome gift card holder. I would go through the step by step but it's already been done in this lovely tutorial I stumbled across.
http://destampincorner.blogspot.com/2009/09/top-note-gift-card-holder-tutorial.html

You may notice that I used a different stamps set to decorate.

I used:

* Yuletide Christmas stamp set

* Real Red, Chocolate Chip and Very Vanilla card stock

* Chocolate Chip ink, Chocolate Chip, Real Red and Old Olive markers

* Top Note Bigz Die

* Wide oval punch, scallop oval punch, antique brass jumbo eyelet, Chocolate Chip 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon, stamping sponges

And the next thing I LOVE is this fun technique I found at splitcoaststampers called Retiform. I don't know what that word means, but if you'd like to see a tutorial, click here:

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/retiform_grid_technique/

As you can see, I followed the tutorial pretty closely (I never used the second color) for the card on the left and then for the other card and the bookmark I just went nuts. It was soooo fun!

I used:

*Yuletide Christmas, Snow Swirled and Many Merry Messages (to add variety to the images) stamp sets

* Very Vanilla, Soft Suede, Real Red card stock and Christmas Cocoa d.s.p

* Soft Suede ink, soft suede, Real Red and Old Olive Markers

* Real Red 5/8" Grosgrain, Linen Thread, Soft Suede 1/2" polka dot Grosgrain Ribbon

* Wide oval punch, scallop oval punch, Jumbo eyelets, stamping sponges

Isn't it fantastic? After I made this card I got to thinking, "hmmm, this is totally flat. I bet it would make a lovely bookmark," so...

Ta Da! Bookmark. Too bad I don't have any time to read anymore because I'm always stamping. Someday I'll use this bookmark. I know it!

These next two cards are pretty fun to make. I measured a piece of very vanilla, stamped the stocking/nutcracker on it, colored it in using blender pens and chalk (Stampin' Pastels) and then wadded it up as much as possible. Once it was sufficiently beat up I chalked the edges with some brown and then slapped the card together. I tried making two versions of the same idea so you can see how versatile this idea is, but as it turns out, I sort of hate one of these, but I'm not telling which one.

I used:

* Yuletide Christmas

* Chocolate Chip, Real Red, Very Vanilla card stock, Christmas Cocoa d.s.p.

* Chocolate Chip ink

* Blender pen, Stampin' Pastels, Real Red 5/8" Grosgrain ribbon, brads

And here is the 5 minute card that I made with this set. So quick and easy! No coloring, cutting, sponging, measuring...etc. Just stamp it, punch it and stick it together. (Ok, I did use markers on the greeting and I inked around the edges of the Vanilla and Olive card stock rectangles, but still, super easy.) Josh hates it, but I think the Nutcrackers are charming. I can just imagine them on the back of my Mother's piano staring out at all the gifts under the tree.

I used:

* Yuletide Christmas stamp set

* Real Red, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip and Very Vanilla card stock

* Chocolate Chip ink

* Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, and Real Red markers

* Wide oval punch, scallop oval punch, Sleigh Bells ribbon

Snow Swirled Continued...

After making all the navy and silver cards for the last post I just had to use this set in a different way. By the way, if you check my "Dasher" post you might notice that I used the snow flake and greeting images from Snow Swirled on almost all of them. Snow Swirled is one of those stamp sets you can just use over and over and over and never get sick of. Trust me, I would be sick of it by now.

For this first card I used the embossing resist technique with iridescent ice embossing powder and Not Quite Navy ink on a sponge. Its a fun technique to try but it does take a couple tries to get it just right. Here's a great tutorial if you'd like more info:
http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/embossing_resist/


I used:
*Snow Swirled stamp set
*Not Quite Navy, Kraft and Whisper White card stock
*Not Quite Navy ink
*Top Note Bigz Die
*Kraft taffeta ribbon, Iridescent Ice embossing powder, stamping sponges

For this next adorable card I used chalk. Yep, no ink at all...Well, except Versamark. For a tutorial on this technique, check this out:
http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/poppin_pastels/
I used:
*Snow Swirled stamp set
*Real Red, Garden Green and Whisper White card Stock
*White satin ribbon, Versamark ink, corner rounder punch, Stampin' Pastels and sponge daubers

Next up...Glitter! (This one's for you Baby!) I was at a craft store the other day and saw the prettiest wreath made of turquoise and brown glittery jingle bells (sorry there's no picture) and I thought, hmmm, I bet that would make a cute card. So here it is. What the picture doesn't show well is that there is glitter on the tree as well.
I used:
*Snow Swirled stamp set
*Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip and Whisper White card stock
*Tempting Turquoise and Versamark ink
*Top Note Bigz die, Tempting Turquoise 1/4" grosgrain ribbon, Tombo liquid glue and Dazzling Diamonds glitter

And last up is a card copied from page 4 of the Holiday Mini catalog except with different stamp set. It measures 6 1/2" x 3 1/4" and fits in a long open end envelope. Its a fun size, especially if you're going to put money inside!
I used:
*Snow Swirled stamp set
*Real Red and Whisper White card stock
*Real Red, Old Olive, and Chocolate Chip ink
*1 1/4"circle punch, rhinestone brads, Old Olive 1/4" grosgrain ribbon

Christmas Stamp Set Countdown, #10...Dasher!

For the next 5 or 6 weeks I'm going to be featuring 10 Christmas stamp sets. In case some of you are still sorting out what you'd like to do for Christmas, I hope this inspires you. For those of you who already have you Christmas sets, wait a while, I bet I'll use it and give you some new ideas.

The first set to be features isn't relly a set at all. Dasher is a stand alone stamp found on the very last page of the catalog for only $8.95. I think the reason he's not sold as a set is because he's just so cool. He'd make Donner and Blitzen look like fools. I can't even imagine how Cupid would look when compared to him.

Here they are, all the cards I could possibly make using the Dasher stamp. Okay, I could have probably made more but I was going a little kooky. As I was working with Dasher, I noticed how well he lends himself to cards rather than tags or other crafty do-dads. I also think he looks great with traditional Christmas colors. I tried him in blue and it just didn't work for me.

You may not see it here but the green card base is textured with the Big Shot Texturz polka dot plate. Trust me, it's cute.

I used:

*Dasher and Many Merry Messages

*Chocolate Chip, Real Red and Old Olive

*Corner rounder and Scallop edge punches

*Big Shot Textures Plate Backgrounds 1

This card has more of a distressed look to it. And between the tearing, wrinkling and ink sponging the edges, I had a LOT of fun making it. Until now I've been a bit iffy about the Soft Suede in-color but paring it with Ruby Red has convinced me its a keeper. Too bad we don't get to keep it huh?

I used:

*Dasher and Snow Swirled

*Ruby Red and Soft Suede

*Stamping sponges, Soft Suede polka dot ribbon

I found inspiration for this card at the following link:

http://www.rubberroomramblings.com/2009/08/dasher-meets-snow-swirled.html

Did I mention I now have a Big Shot? Well I do, and it is BY FAR the best die-cutting system that I've ever used, its just so smooth, light and easy to use. Even if the only die I ever bought was the Top Note die I used for this card, it would still be worth it. That die works with EVERYTHING! Also, you may be noticing I keep using the Snow Swirled set with Dasher? Well, I really think they go well together...I have the feeling that Snow Swirled goes with a lot actually.

I used:

*Dasher and Snow Swirled

*Kraft, Chocolate Chip and Real Red

*Real Red 5/8" Grograin, Slot punch, Top Note bigz die

I found inspiration for this card at the following link:

http://www.instampingmode.com/2009/09/clean-and-simple-meets-christmas.html

Shimmer Paint! Can you see it? Do you LOVE it?

A quick note about using the shimmer paint, its very runnny, stains jeans...and carpet. Use it wisely.

I used two application techniques here, (I mean besides pouring it directly onto my pants) for the snowflakes I used a sponge dauber with paint on it to ink up the stamp then just stamped like normal. This gives a lovely shimmery effect. For Dasher and the little greeting, I first inked my stamp with regular classic ink (Soft Suede) then went over that with a painty dauber. I know it sounds like all the ink would get soaked into the dauber but it works beautifully. You get a nice bold, shimmery image. Perfecto!

Then to add some shimmer to the small peice of Real Red cardstock I used to mat Dasher I simple applied what was left on my dauber to the edges of the paper.

I'd like to also point out how clever I am to use the slit punch closure here. See it?

I used:

*Dasher, Snow Swirled, Teeny Tiny Wishes

*Real Red, Soft Suede, Whisper White

*Christmas Cocoa Specialty Paper

*Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint

*Scallop Punch, Large Oval Punch, Scallop Oval Punch, Slit Punch, White Satin Ribbon, sponge daubers

On this card I used pretty much the exact same shimmer paint applications (see the white on white snowflakes, the shimmery matting of white and the shimmery Dasher?) but on a new card format. This is a fun little trifold. Its finished size is 4 1/4 x 4 1/4" so it still fits in a regular A2 envelope but has a little different charm to it.

To make the card, cut an 8 1/2 x 11" sheet in half longway at 4 1/4", score at 2 1/2" and at 6 3/4" then cut at 9 1/4". Or just do what I do and make it up as you go.
I used:

*Dasher, Snow Swirled

*Real Red and Whisper White

*Frost White Shimmer paint

*Christmas Cocoa Specialty Paper

*Rael Red 5/8" Grograin ribbon, Sponge Daubers

Here's another view.

In case you were dying to see what the paint looks like, or the stamps used...here they are. Sorry I didn't include a pic of my (now) fancy pants.