Magical Christmas Trees

Hi everyone,

The sample snowman card I made for OWH's VCMP was made from s.e.i.'s Kris Kringle line from a few years ago.  After "rediscovering" this paper -- and its coordinating embellishments -- to make the sample card, I couldn't help but make a few other cards from it.

And, I loved one of last night's creations so much, I just had to share it with you.  :)

s.e.i. Kris Kringle, Cardstock Warehouse Paper Co. black cardstock; Queen & Co. rhinestones

I wish the scan captured the beauty of this paper. (The trees have shiny, glossy accents and the striped paper includes gold foil stripes.) I had just two tiny strips of the tree paper left. The trees were too pretty to not use, but so small I feared they would get lost on a card. I also had just a few sheets of the striped paper. For some reason, I was inspired to put them together, grounding them with the black cardstock. And, voila, magic! 

I think I'm going to use my last strip of trees and green striped paper to make a similar card for a dear, dear friend.


That's it -- just one very pretty card to share.

Thanks for stopping by and happy scrappin'!

CFC 68: A Back to School Card

Hi everyone,

Wow!  What a fun weekend making cards for OWH's Birthday Bash!  It's been really overcast here this weekend.  Normally, that would bum me out.  But, it was a great excuse to make cards for some fun challenges for a wonderful cause. :)

CFC 68: A Back to School Card

It's been awhile since I've made a card for CAS-ual Fridays.  It was good having a chance to do that this 3-day weekend.

Since OWH doesn't have much of a demand for back-to-school -- and that deadline has passed, I went for something more generic.  The following card isn't nearly as fancy or creative as the sample cards posted for this challenge.  But, I wanted to create a colorful, fun card a hero could send back home to a little one.  With that in mind, I think this little card is a success.

red cardstock: AC Christmas; all other paper: a garage-sale find of unknown origin; stash letter stickers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Parting Thoughts

Thanks to everyone for a wonderful VCMP. Your Christmas challenge cards are amazing. Your comments, visits, and support are most appreciated. Stay tuned for the blog candy winner -- and for information on my sample cards.

Hoping for a calmer week at work to be able to make cards in the evening.

Have a great week!  Thanks for visiting and happy scrappin'!

OWH VCMP: Day 2 -- UPDATED

Hi everyone,

I have so loved this year's challenges. They've inspired me to get out papers and tools that have been sitting around for awhile. :)

Challenge 6: Sunday Sketch and Use a Punch Combo Challenge

This challenge was a great excuse to use more of that yummy Moxxie paper!

Moxxie and stash cardstock; snowflake punch; Stickles; ribbon

Challenge 8: A Sports-Related Card

Hubby used to coach high school basketball. And, I had high hopes of making a wonderful scrapbook of his seasons. A decade later, those papers and die-cuts still sit idle in the closet. Sounds like its time to put them to another good use -- especially that amazing basketball leather-like "paper".   :)

BTW  Hubby suggested the sentiment at the bottom of the card.

The Paper Company, ???, stash carsdstock; Creative Letters (Chunky); border punch; computer-generated font

Challenge 9: Putting a Neglected Tool to Use

In this case, the snowman punch was purchased at a garage sale. A set of oval punches were ordered from a Stampin' Up! rep. Neither the snowman or oval had yet to be used. So glad that this challenge changed that!

Still not completely satisfied with the card below. I feel like it needs something else. Just not sure what that it is... And, I might need to go back and "fix" the little hats...

Jillibean Christmas Eve Chowder; AC Christmas; border, oval, and snowman punches; ric-rac; hand-drawn embellishments

Added a few gems since the first publishing the post. What do you think?  Better, or does it still need something?

Challenge 10: A Card Representing Your State

What an interesting idea!  I'm a born-and-raised a Buckeye. I've lived in Central Ohio my entire life. 

So, what does Ohio mean to me? At first, two thoughts came to mind:

• OH-IO: It is football season, after all!  But, I've never been a full-time OSU student.
• "Hi" and "Hello": Say what you will about our great state, it is one friendly place to live. But, this wouldn't be unique to just Ohio.

Then an old advertising slogan/campaign to me: "Ohio: The Heart of It All". Naturally, I had to go with scarlet and gray colors, non-OSU grad or not. :)

Reminisce Be Mine, shiny gray stash cardstock from ???, Cardstock Warehouse Paper black cardstock (a Tuesday Morning bargain); ek punch; Queen & Co rhinestones; computer-generated font; crimping tool

Ohio is definitely the heart of my world: hubby, home, family, friends. Yet, this would make for a wonderful love note from a hero to the heart of his/her world back home. :)

Parting Thoughts

Thanks to Allison for organizing this wonderful party. Thanks to our hostesses for some great challenges that really got those creative juices flowing.

And, thanks to everyone who played along with the Christmas is for Kids challenge. I'll announce the winner of my blog candy next Sunday.

As always, thanks for stopping by and happy scrappin'!

OWH VCMP: Christmas is for Kids

Welcome party-goers! Happy Birthday, OWH!

Please click here to return to the Master Thread.

Snowmen and Christmas trees...   It must be time to make holiday cards!

The theme of this stop is "Christmas is for Kids -- Big and Small". The challenge is to make two Christmas cards -- an Any Hero Christmas card and a Christmas card for one of our heroes to send to a child.

So, I have two cards to share with you. While the cards are very different, they have a couple of things in common. Each card was inspired by a fellow card-maker/designer. Each card was made from stash 6-by-6 designer paper that I've had for awhile. And, each card was made using one of my favorite techniques, heat embossing with clear powder.

For a Child: Frosty's Lil Friend

Frosty's Lil Friend was inspired by Kathryn's adorable Santa card and by the all of the cute "shape" cards in one of my favorite craft books of all time. Thanks, Kathryn, and thanks, Leisure Arts!

Paper: s.e.i. Kris Kringle collection; AC Christmas collection cardstock; garage sale fiber, buttons "dressed" with DMC floss

For a Hero: Three Times the Greenery

Three Times the Pine was inspired by Ashley's September scrapbook layout design. Thanks, Ashley! 

Bo Bunny Father Christmas collection, stash cardstock; Hampton Arts stamp; heat embossing with clear powder; various "cutting" tools

Blog Candy

By Stampendous!

Is there blog candy you ask? Yes, there is!

I stopped by to see Terri at Scrapbook Art in Lewis Center, OH. I was hoping to find some cute kid-Christmas-card-related item to offer and picked up the stamp set shown at the right. Bet one lucky card maker is gonna make some adorable kid cards with this stamp set!

 To qualify for the random drawing, link at least one Christmas card for a hero or a child by 11:00 A.M. EST, Sunday, September 9. Followers who link a card will receive an extra e-ticket in this raffle.

Parting Thoughts

Can't wait to see all the holiday cards for our heroes and the little ones in their lives. :)  In a couple of days, I'll post details (techniques used, decisions made) about the cards shown above.

Special thanks to Allison for organizing this year's Birthday Bash VCMP!

Finally, merry card-makin' to all and to all a good time!

OWH VCMP: Day 1

Hi everyone,

Isn't OWH's card-making party great fun?!  Thanks to our hostesses for such creative challenges and such nice sample cards.

Here are cards for the first 3 challenges:

Challenge 1: A Card with a Scripture Verse or an Inspirational Message

Bo Bunny Snowfall; computer-generated font; border punch and circle templates; Stickles

This challenge was brought to us by the wonderful folks at ODBD.  :)

Challenge 2: A Recipe Card

In this case, the recipe was to make a card with 1 image, 2 papers, and 3 words. 

Jillibean Dutch Mustard Soup, Distress Ink Core Paper; sentiment from Whipper Snapper Designs, stamped and heat embossed with  Distress Ink Dusty Concord; border punch; s.e.i Happy Day die-cut adhered with pop dots

Hope I didn't cheat using the solid color cardstock. Oh, well, it's the thought that counts -- right?

The scan seems to have distorted the color of the cupcake. It actually goes really well with the paper -- much better than it appears here.

Challenge 3: Make a non-Christmas Snowflake Card

Moxxie Winterland, stash cardstock; snowflake punches, border punch; Stickles

I was so happy when I saw this challenge because I picked up luxurious paper at Scrapbook Art this week and have been really excited to use it. Went with another one of the little pocket cards I love so much. (They come together so quickly and look so darned cute!)

Wish the scan would've shown the stickling on the snowflakes. It really helps pop the flakes.

Think I'll use a little darker cardstock for the top for my next batch of Moxxie Winterland cards.

Challenge 4: Triple Stamping Techniques

stash cardstock; Hero Arts stamp in Stampin' Up Bordering Blue and Classic Navy; tulle; Midnight Blue Stickles

This technique was too pretty to not try. But, I changed it up just a bit. I decided to actually stamp three times -- applying the ghosting (first generation, second generation, third generation) technique in last week's Tuesday Tutorial.  The center of the snowflake in the bottom left corner was stamped in a darker blue, popped using several layers of cardstock, and stickled in the middle. I'm toying with adding some Icicle Stickles -- either to just the bottom left snowflake or to a few other snowflakes as well. 

What a cool effect. And, definitely something I would never have come up with on my own. Very cool, indeed!

 

Parting Thoughts

My how my stack for OWH has grown!  :)

Can't wait to see what Day 2 holds!

Until then, happy scrappin'!

OWH Midweek Throwdown

Hi everyone,

Hope the week is going well.

I have two cards to share. [Well, maybe 1.5 cards would be more accurate. :( ]

A Masculine Card: All Buttoned Up

The first card is for this week's OWH Midweek Throwdown. This week's challenge is to make a masculine card.

Kaiser Up, Up and Away; ek border punch, Martha Stewart button punch; ribbon, DMC floss

I've been making quite a few pocket cards based on a sketch from that wonderful Leisure Arts book. I added dimension to the buttons using several different inks. Wish I remembered which ones I grabbed when finishing this card. :)

An Unfinished Card: Not Ready for Prime Time

This little card was inspired by a cute patriotic door plaque I found at a flea market.

Core paper; hand-drawn stitching

 My two concerns:

• It feels like it still needs something -- I just don't know what. Maybe some Baker's twine?
• The top third is taped down, with the fold in the middle tan section. The problem with this is that there is not nearly as much space to write as I thought there would be.

Is it worth sending to OWH? If yes, any suggestions, ideas for making it better?

Parting Thoughts

Loved yesterday's OWH tutorial on 6 by 6 pads!  If you haven't yet seen it, it's definitely worth checking out.

Really excited about this weekend's VCMP!

Until then, happy scrappin'!

OWH Pizzazz Blog Skip

Hi everyone,

There's a great little blog skip going on today at Stars and Stamps -- with lots of fun ideas for pizzazz-ing up our cards. I can't wait to get hold of some of that pearl stuff -- and to try out that cool watercolor marker spritzing technique!

So, here's a little card that's been pizzazz-ed up for one of hero's little girls. Wish the scanned image did the card more justice. Nonetheless, I think there's a little girl who's going to be happy to get this from her mommy or daddy. :)

DCWV Sweet Matstack; Distress Ink (scattered straw); gems

So, how was this little card pizzazzed-up? Let's count the ways. :)

• This DCWV stack has some baked-in-glitter papers. Two of these were used on the card -- for the top of the pocket and for the thin strip at the very bottom of the card. (OWH asks that glitter not be used on cards to our heroes. However, there are some papers with baked-in glitter that are okay to use. DCWV carries quite a few of these glittery types of papers. For the safety of our heroes, please always check that the glitter doesn't rub or scrape off.)
• I used 6 different papers from the stack.
• The flowers were heat embossed and cut out of several papers.
• To add dimension, pop up dots were used for the bottom of the pocket and flowers are multi-layered.
• Finally, gems were added to add a little bit of bling from top right to bottom left.

Parting Thoughts

Thanks again to those who left comments about the cards and technique featured in this week's Tuesday Tutorial. To give credit where credit's due, the first two cards were mine. But, the butterfly and motorcycle were all Nancy. Thanks again, Nancy, for taking a nice little technique to a whole new level!

Hoping to have a shape card to share -- for tomorrow!?

Again, be sure to check out the blog skip if you're looking for OWH-endorsed ways to spice up your cards. Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

Tuesday Tutorial

Hi everyone,

If you've come from OWH's Tuesday Tutorial, welcome!

Nancy's Weekly Tutorials 

A couple of weeks ago, Nancy contacted me about featuring a couple of my cards on OWH's weekly tutorial. Frankly, I was stunned. Week after week, Nancy's tutorials feature great techniques, like this tutorial on Kathryn's adorable Santa card, that produce fabulous cards. My little technique seems to pale by comparison. 

The Featured Cards

Nonetheless, I was really pleased by the way these two cards turned out. If you're interested in details about the making of these cards, please click here to view the cards' original post. As mentioned in the earlier post, both cards were inspired by one of OWH's weekly sketches.

It turns out that Close to My Heart calls the technique used "first, second, and third generation stamping". That sounds so much more official than my "ghost images" reference!

Parting Thoughts

As always, thanks for stopping by. And thanks, Nancy, for the invitation to feature these cards on the Stars and Stamp blog.

Happy scrappin' to all!

OWH Midweek Throwdown: Kraft plus color

Hi everyone,

This week's challenge is to create a card using kraft cardstock and at least one other color. I'm so excited about the card I have to share. The card itself is cute, but the story behind it is even better!

 Pizazz It!

Those of you who have read past posts know how much I loved Pizazz It!  Pizazz It! was a wonderful LSS right in my own hometown. One of my favorite things was the monthly card club, taught by Karla during the day and Tiffany in the evening.

Sadly, Pizazz It! is no longer a brick-and-mortar store. But, it has maintained an online presence. Moreover, Tiffany has found a wonderful way to continue card club.  She has put together kits containing everything you need to make a set of 8 really cute cards (6-by-6 pad of paper, directions for all 8 cards, card bases, embellishments, and color sentiments printed on heavy duty cardstock).

Today's Card

All of this month's cards are from Jillibean's Dutch Mustard Soup collection. :)

Two things to note:

1) I'm counting the corrugated heart as my kraft portion of the challenge. That'll be our little secret. :)
2) I moved the sentiment up a little from Tiffany's directions -- and kind of wishing I hadn't.

If you're looking for a nice autumn card kit, check out Pizazz It!'s Dutch Mustard kit. The paper is lovely and Tiffany's cards are so cute!

Parting Thought

Have a great week. Thanks for stopping by and happy scrappin'!

Three's the Charm

Hi everyone,

Hope it's been a good weekend. I have three cards to share.

Before that, I'm happy to say that sandybear76 is the winner of the $25 gift card. Congrats, Sandy! Please e-mail me about which card you'd prefer. (Actually, if you'd like a gift certificate from Scrapbook Art instead, I think we can work something out. :)

Card 1: OWH Sketch #133

Paper: We R Memory Keepers (Red, White and Blue), Creative Memories?, stash cardstock; gems; star punches

What a great sketch!  This was an Any Hero card that came together pretty quickly.

 

Card 2: OWH Midweek Throwdown -- Cards for Kids

My Momenta  gel stickers, which were a great garage sale find

I almost feel guilty about posting this one because these stickers are just so darn cute that the card practically made itself. This week's challenge asked for a card for a child. I found these great gel stickers at a scrapbook garage sale and had been waiting for the perfect opportunity to use some of them. :)  To bring them together on the card -- and to pop them off the cardstock -- I matted them on white cardstock. Finally, I added a white liner on the inside.

Card 3: CFC65 -- Square Cards

Paper: Bo Bunny Liberty and stash cardstock; Paper Inspirations Hero stamp, embossed in Distress Ink Vintage Photo; Cuttlebug embossing folder; garage sale brads; Stickles

This week's CAS-ual Friday challenge was to make a square card. I almost passed since OWH asks for A2 cards. Then, I remembered Sandy saying that square cards could make wonderful Any Hero cards. And, I finally had a chance to use my newest stamp. :)

Parting Thoughts

 Chances are I'll be publishing a few Stars and Stamps post in the next month or so. Other than that, I'm not sure how much blogging I'll have a chance to do. Sounds like work's going to be even crazier the next few months -- and I didn't think that was even possible.

So, I'll still be checking challenges and making cards, but I'm sad to say my blogging and posting opportunities are going to be rather limited.

As always, thanks for stopping by. Have a great week and happy scrappin'!