Stamps, Paper, and Ink

More Christmas Punch

I has so much fun with the Christmas Punch set and the color challenge from Tuesday that I played with a few scraps and put them into a card for you today!  Here's the status ~ the home improvements are still going on - picture three crews here today - the good news is that they are wrapping things up! 

Now picture me very early in the morning at my craft table in my PJ's, dabbing away with my stipple brush. If ever I needed some stamping therapy, this is it, LOL! Truly, I felt like a kid playing!  Enough rambling, here's today's card. 

 

A bit more info~

I LOVE the way this image can be punched with the square punch and then matted perfectly with the scallop punch to look just like a postage stamp! This set is the Best!

• I stippled the Bravo Burgundy card stock in Bravo Burgundy ink to add a texture that's almost similar to felt, I love it!
• I randomly stamped the snowflake image from the Christmas Punch set on top of the stippling. This made it so easy to create my own background pattern like designer paper.
• The Santa image was sponged lightly with Close to Cocoa ink. I prefer to keep my cards focused on the real meaning of Christmas, but couldn't resist playing with this cute stamp.
• Tool of the day? The needle for threading the taffeta ribbon through the button. I tied linen thread through the small button, and wrapped an extra strand behind. Didn't want to throw that bit away!

I hear there is BIG news from Stampin' Up! and I'm off to check it out!  I'll be back later today with a special announcement of my own. Happy creating with your stamps, paper, and ink!

Supplies~  all supplies by Stampin' Up!
Stamps: Christmas Punch
Paper: Bravo Burgundy, Kraft, Very Vanilla, Whisper White
and Ink: Bravo Burgundy, Craft White, Close to Cocoa

Accessories:Vanilla Grosgrain, Button Latte Designer Buttons, Linen thread, 1-1/4" square and Scallop Square punches, Jumbo Snowflake Punch

Order from me online anytime HERE or e-mail me HERE with any questions you have!

Cold & Cuddly Buddies

I promised I'd be back to share about these Cold & Cuddly best buds. This card is a Twice is Nice entry   (it's a category in my sidebar) because it uses the same layout as THIS card that so many of you liked! I love showing with this feature how different two cards can look even though they have an element or layout in common.

Here's a bit more to note~

• I cut the circle four times - once with sahara sand card stock and three times with whisper white. I tore the white pieces and layered them to look like snow drifts.
• a mix of chunky and fine glitter makes the snow sparkle!
• brads embellish the lines of the circle, followed by a heart to tie in the sentiment
• The ribbon treatment was done by overlapping the ribbon ends and securing with a glue dot. Then I wrapped it up with cord threaded through the button.

Keeping this short today, so I can be on my way! Hope you have a great weekend!

Supplies~  all supplies by Stampin' Up!
Stamps: Cold & Cuddly
Paper: Thoroughly Modern Designer Series Paper, whisper white, sahara sand, rose red, bermuda bay
and Ink: bermuda bay, soft suede, rose red

Accessories: Stampin' Write markers, Polka Dot ribbon, Rich Regals brads, Dazzling Diamonds and Chunky Essentials glitter, Lots of Tags die, silver cord, Fresh Favorites II buttons

Order from me online anytime HERE or e-mail me HERE with any questions you have! I'd love to help you with your crafting questions.

Serene Winter Post

One of my favorite things to do at this time of year is to pull out all the loved Christmas sets I've collected in the past 5 years that I've been with Stampin' Up! ( there's lots of them!) and design some special Christmas cards. Last night I pulled out the Winter Post set which I used and used some more last year. Lo and behold, it's a thrill to get it out this year again and do something entirely different with it. I LOVE stamping!

The challenge was to use neutrals and a pop of color but here's the twist - the pop of color had to be with a stamped image or embellishment, NOT with card stock. Here's what I did~

 

The soft monochromatic colors add to the serenity of this scene. The very vanilla panel is embossed with the Petals A Plenty embossing folder. Believe me, I will be using this all year, not just for Christmas!

• I added a bit of depth by sponging around the oval
• grounded my skaters with a line of pastel in close to cocoa
• RED mistletoe berries are totally for artistic effect - I needed a POP of color, you see! I stamped the mistletoe branches on white card stock - purposefully adding one more neutral to the mix.
• A puffed layer of crystal effects covers the berries. This image is from the set, A Cardinal Christmas

I wrapped several layers of the ribbon and tied it up with a bow of gold cord. This wraps up my post for today! Thanks for coming by, hope you've been inspired to pull out your own long-time favorite today and stamp!

Supplies~  all supplies by Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted *
Stamps: Winter Post, A Cardinal Christmas, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Paper: very vanilla, kraft
and Ink: real red, close to cocoa, certainly celery

Accessories: markers, crystal effects, Petals A Plenty embossing folder,  Mistletoe ribbon, Modern Label punch, rhinestone brads ( square), gold metallic cord, Nestabilities*

Order from me online anytime HERE or e-mail me HERE with any questions you have!

Inspired by purple...

Today's card is a fun mix of old and new. Clean and simple.

I was inspired to use purple - something I am usually reluctant to do - by Julia's Ways to Use It challenge at SCS.  Paper plates figured in there too - don't you sometimes just get SO inspired by plates and napkins? I even saved one of these so you could see it~

 
My card base is kraft card stock which I embossed with large dots.

• The fruit image is from one of my retired Stampin' Up! sets called Thanksgiving Blessings. I usually watercolor this image, but I love the effect of just stamping with Rich Razzleberry ink. The details are boldly visible.
• Did you notice that I machine stitched this card? I don't often want to bother, but what a difference it makes!
• For my bow treatment, I wrapped a length of ribbon around the card, overlapped it slightly, and secured it with a glue dot. Then I added the shorter ribbon piece on top, and put the button over both layers.

I love being stretched by challenges, hope you've been inspired today!

Supplies~  all supplies by Stampin' Up!
Stamps: Thanksgiving Blessings, Autumn Blessings ( both retired)
Paper: kraft, whisper white, Razzleberry Lemonade
and Ink: Rich Razzleberry

Accessories: Polka Dot Grosgrain ribbon, small oval punch, corduroy button, Texturz Backgrounds 1

Order your own stamps, paper and ink (plus so much more!) from my online store  HERE or e-mail me HERE with any questions you have!

You Pick

OK, another challenge (SCS sketch challenge), and a new card made just this morning!

Now YOU get to pick - yesterday's card was the whimsical one and today's is classic Christmas. Which do you like better?

HeHe, some of you may be wondering which one I like better! LOL I don't want to tell you which one is my favorite until I hear from you, but you can make a guess about that if you want to!I'll be back tomorrow to tell you,so check back.

Here's what I can tell you about~

• The red panels are textured card stock embossed with the Petals A Plenty folder. I could use this folder on everything, I like it so well!
• The Christmas Cocoa Specialty Paper is flocked, so this card is elegantly touchable.
• For the image,I used a window sheet and the Ornament punch to make a stencil, sponging inside with sahara sand ink. Then I stamped over it.
• Notice the wonderful shading effect you can get with the stencil technique.

I guess you can notice that my Pretties Kit is still something I love to use too. (Those of you who have visited me for a long while know how fond I am of the pretties, and look how long they have lasted! ) I like my Pretties Kit so well that it's got it's own category on my sidebar.

Thanks for commenting to tell me what you think - I think you're the best!

Supplies~  all supplies by Stampin' Up!
Stamps: Holiday Best, Christmas Cardinal (retired)
Paper: Christmas Cocoa Specialty Designer Paper, whisper white, always artichoke, sahara sand, real red textured
and Ink: always artichoke, sahara sand

Accessories: satin ribbon, Pretties Kit, marker, Petals A Plenty embossing folder, slot and ornament punches, window sheet, sponges.

If you'd like more information about how to make this beautiful card, or any other on my blog, feel free to contact me.

Pining

Well, this morning I was just wishing for a chance to create just for the fun of it. When I saw the SCS Color Challenge I decided to take a breather from the 'to do' list and here's the result, hot off my inky fingers! From me to you. <big smile>  First time to use my Patterned with Pines stamp set too, isn't it cute?

Now you know why I had to make this today - Melon Mambo!  I had something else ready to post too, but it so much fun doing and posting a challenge on the DAY OF, KWIM?

I love melon mambo all the time, but paired with kraft and black - that's the best! Hope you like my un-traditional Christmas card. I think this would also work well for just a winter note to a friend.Since I took the picture I've played with adding a thing or two to tweak it. Tell me I am NOT the only one who finishes a card and then just wants to add one more thing...do you do this too?

Have a great day!

Supplies~  all supplies by Stampin' Up!
Stamps: Patterned Pines, Short & Sweet
Paper: kraft, melon mambo, whisper white, Night & Day specialty paper
and Ink: melon mambo, basic black

Accessories: dotted grosgrain, tag and small tag punches, markers, Button Latte, hemp twine, piercing tool and mat

Order from me online anytime HERE or e-mail me HERE with any questions you have!

White Christmas

Happy, happy Monday to you! We're having a rainy day here and it's cozy because I can settle in - don't have to go anywhere today! I had been on such a good roll of posting several days a week for a little while - hope to start posting more often again this week.

I've been working on some cards for my class tomorrow and playing with My Digital Studio. I'll be posting here to share with you! Just wanted you to know what I've been up to.

My White Christmas card features the Finial Press embossing folder with a twist. If you look closely, you'll see that there is a rectangular area inside that is NOT embossed. This idea is not original with me, but I tweaked it and used a chipboard rectangle and cut out a smaller rectangle with my hobby blade.

I had trouble getting a photo that shows how elegant this card really is IRL. You'll just have to trust me!

The texture of the Finial Press embossing folder makes this card so touchable! The sentiment was done using the Holiday Best hostess set and Stampin' Write markers.

I also made a shimmer mist with Frost White Shimmer Paint and added it to the embossed white panel. I have to say Shimmer Paint is one of my favorite new products - there's so much that you can do with it! Here's a glimpse of the detail for you. If you click to enlarge the photo, you'll see that shimmer!

Hope you're glad that you hopped by - I  sure am! See you tomorrow -

 

Supplies~  all supplies by Stampin' Up!
Stamps: Delightful Decorations, Holiday Best
Paper: whisper white, real red
and Ink: real red

Accessories: Stampin' Write markers, silver elastic cord, Finial Press embossing folder, Square rhinestone brads 

To order any supplies click HERE  to begin shopping.

Give thanks

Gobble! Gobble! The turkey from the Gifts of the Earth set in the Holiday Mini is quite a realistic image. I found it hard to use at first, but was determined to make him look good enough for this terrific layout from the Sweet Sunday sketch. I tried different ways to color the image but decided that the details show up best with inking up the whole image using the stamp pad. I added the touch of red with a ruby red marker, over the soft suede ink. 

A bit more...

• I used the Circle Scissors plus to cut the concentric circles. Tip: I use SNAIL to adhere the card stock firmly to the cutter. It keeps the paper from sliding and the residue on the glass mat cleans off easily afterward with Stampin' Mist spray.
• The sentiment is stamped in Always Artichoke craft ink and embossed.
• Designer paper is from the Autumn Traditions series
• The sentiment is from the level 1 Hostess set called Holiday Best
  
• I gave a twist to my ribbon loop and button and discovered I liked it horizontally much better! The ribbon is from the Orchard Originals.

The colors are perfect for fall and we are actually having fall weather today! The air conditioning is OFF and the windows are open. Heavenly! I'm sipping my tea, thanks for sharing this time with me!

NEWS~

Fall is also the time for sales! SU! has opened a special shop of substantially reduced retired items called the Clearance Rack!  All sales must be online and are final, no returns. These items are only available while supplies last, and will be updated often, so you don't miss out! To see what is available each day and to order from me, Cindy Beach - check my website HERE. Don't forget my special offer on the Black and White Specialty Paper. Until October 15, with any online order of $40 or more, I'll send you a FREE   6" x 6" sample of each of the sheets, right to your mailbox. Just e-mail me with your name, order number and address.

Christmas Treat Cup surprise

Sorry that I didn't post yesterday, I got  some very needed organizing and planning for upcoming events done. I promise you won't be disappointed because I have a TWOfer for you today!

I got to thinking about using the Treat Cups from the Holiday mini as a snow globe. Sometimes, creativity can take you in a different direction. Midway, I thought, "OOH, wouldn't it be soooo... cute to make a Christmas ornament out if it?  That's exactly what I did!

Isn't it adorable?~

• inside the ornament is a small scene I built on a 1-3/4" piece of garden green DSP ( Merry Moments DSP) using The More the Merrier stamp set.
• I layered two pieces of whisper white with torn edges and added Dazzling Diamonds glitter for the snow.
• Attached is a circle of Melon Mambo Designer Prints paper on the back
• it's all wrapped up with silver elastic cord for hanging and white taffeta ribbon.
• the snowman is colored with In Color markers (don't you love those? ) cut out, and popped up on dimensionals

Now, I promised TWO projects so, here's another surprise! I thought it would be wonderful to incorporate the ornament onto a pocket card for easy giving! Here's the card!

It's a simple pocket card, folded at the bottom and held together with the band of designer paper (also from the Merry Moments series). When the bow is untied, the inside of the card is revealed, and the ornament can easily be taken off the ribbon.

How do you like it? I hope you are inspired for your own creativity today! 

Berry Christmas

Today's card is a swap I made featuring the Berry Christmas set, this time decked out i traditional holiday colors! It is a great quick and easy card and would mail well too.

Quick observations~

• the Merry Moments Designer Series Paper has a real retro feel
• Using 4 punches really speeds up the creative process
• I love combining the images in this set, it is SO versatile and features two step stamping.

 To see a completely different look for this set, featuring an autumn theme, be sure to check out yesterday's card HERE.

  I have been embracing life as it raced by me today at breakneck speed ( and it's still only 8:10 AM - oh my, hope I can keep up!!)  Thank you for stopping by!

Supplies~  all supplies by Stampin' Up!
Stamps: Berry Christmas
Paper: real red, whisper white, Merry Moments DSP
and Ink: chocolate chip

Accessories: Stampin' Write markers, curly label, word window, modern label and eyelet border punches, 1/4" red grosgrain ribbon

Order from me online anytime HERE or e-mail me HERE with any questions you have!