Abundance of Joy, #fms510, A Christmas card

 

I'm getting behind on my Christmas cards.  I started out strong with all the new product that SU brought out this year, it was hard to limit myself. For some reason I buy more Christmas stuff then anything else.  Maybe it's because I make more Christmas cards then any other kind, right? 

Plus, I've been busy with some of my other hobbies. Mostly Machine Embroidery right now. Normally I'm making quilt goodies.

So, here we are with another wed sketch from Freshly Made Sketches.   I seem to gravitate a lot over there.  SU had a nice pack of silver foil stock this year, I got that and some of the beautiful gold that we had.  Please use the link and head over to see the lovely projects the team and other posters have made. 

 I used the Silver foil, Evening Evergreen, Silver ribbon retired, and Pale Papaya. With gold embossing on the trike.  The Music embossing folder seemed perfect for this card.

 

Thanks for taking a look.

 

Gorgeous Leaves, Thank you card, #fms508

 

A stranger did something very nice for us, so a special thank you card was in need.  I'm a little late getting this set, but I just saw so many gorgeous cards made using it and had to have it. 

My inspiration for this is this weeks card challenge at Freshly Made Sketches. 

 

So much can be done with this! I also just got the Stitched Greenery embossing plate, it's kind of half embossing and half die cut, I just love it and this was the perfect use.

My colors are:  Cinnamon Cider, Soft Succulent, Pale Papaya, and basic white. Plus a bit of Blackberry Bliss, I just had to stick that in there. 

The leaf set is Gorgeous Leaves bundle, and the sentiment Inspired Thoughts stamps.  Cut out with the Rectanglar stitched dies.

Thanks so much for stopping in. 

Cat and Dog Nativity, #FF0095, a Christmas card.

 

I found this stamp set a while back and since I am a huge animal person it spoke to me. It was a no brainer to use it for this challenge.

 I don't often see a challenge that actually asks for cats! See all the wonderful projects here.

 I used my SU watercolor pencils for this, I just did a light coverage and then my water brush to blend it a bit, the sentiment and star is on vellum. And a pretty SU ribbon to tie it all together. 

Very simple, I did use the snowflake embossing folder on the gray.

Thanks for taking a look. 

 

Merry and Bright, Freshly Made Sketches #506

 

Inspiration this week comes from the fms#506 challenge. Be sure to check out the team and other players projects!  Go here to do that.

 

Such a fun sketch! So many possibilities.  I'm currently in love with these ornament dies so I just had to use one, this called for it.

My colors are from the Tidings of Christmas DSP, I used Evening Evergreen for the ornament and the shimmer gold in the Holiday mini catalog currently out. A  little gold cording and some Holiday Rhinestone basic jewels finish it off, so simple.

 

 

Thanks for stopping by, hope I've given you some ideas.

 

Red, white and Gold Christmas, #PP560

 

I looked at the Paper Players challenge this week and it just called to me, what fun this one was. 

First, here is the Challenge, check it out, look at all the beautiful projects.

So many possibilities.  I choose the Merry Melody embossing folder to start with, then added a piece from the Tidings of Christmas DSP.  I put a little piece of the Be Dazzling paper (free from the SAB). 

I cut the squares using the retired Layering squares dies, then stamped and die cut my poinsettias using Merriest Moments stamps and dies. I used Itty Bitty Greetings for my sentiment.

Colors are White, Cherry Cobbler, and some gold foil.  A few tiny red rhinestones finished it up.

I hope you get some inspiration from this, thanks for stopping by.

 

Fall sympathy, JAI#573.

 

Fortunately I don't have a use right now for this kind of card, but it always helps to have one ready.  I am in love with this DSP and I paired it with Crumb cake and Merry Merlot, with a strip of silver that I think brings out the blues.

Inspiration for this is from Just add ink #573.  Check out the site for many more lovely projects.

This is one of my favorite challenges, I do it as often as I can.

 I'm finding so many useful extra items in the new sets in the mini catalog right now. The tree was cut from the other side of the same DSP, and popped up, just to add a little something.  

I hope you enjoy. Thanks for stopping by.

Merry and Bright ornament, Just Add Ink #572

 

I am in love with this set of ornament dies! I spent an evening making cards using it. So many ways to do them.  If you cut the background piece at the same time as the ornament, you get an extra frame around it, other wise you cut it alone and it becomes a background.   

You can have some fun cutting it out in different colors or papers and exchange the frame around.   

I used the Just add Ink challenge for this week as inspiration.  

 This inspired the colors I used.  Misty Moonlight, Soft Succulent, and Polished pink.

The die set is Delicate Baubles and it does come in a bundle with a stamp set if you like. 

I cut the ivy piece out using a masking paper and put that down to do my sponging around it, then replaced it with the stamped piece. 

The Merry and bright has one of the gold foils from the set in the Mini catalog.  

I hope I've given you some inspiration too, happy stampin.

Snowflake ornament, Christmas Blessings. JAI#571

 

Inspiration for this card comes from the Just Add Ink challenge for this week.  Just add lines. 

Be sure to head over to Just add Ink and check out all the wonderful post. 

What a fun die set this is! I've been having so much fun with it.  It's called Delicate Baubbles, there are so many ideas for these.  My brain just went crazy after this first one.  So, I used the free Be Dazzling paper in the SAB for my piece on top of my card base, then the DSP on top of that and then I cut strips to be my lines out of the Be Dazzling paper.  It doesn't look nearly as wonderful in a photo as it does it person, it sparkles like crazy.

I cut the snowflake ornament out with out the outside edge/ which used separately is also the outside ring or background piece.  I used gold foil and then used that background piece to cut the Coastal Cabana background out of. 

The gold bow ribbon is also in the die set. It's hard to see but I stuck a square vellum doily under the dies. Then I stamped and cut the sentiment.

I hope you enjoy. Thanks for stopping. 

Playing with Chalks, Global Design Project #307

 

Good monday morning to you all.   Today I took inspiration from the Global Design Project challenge, I haven't done that one in quite a long while.

This week it is a Word play theme, the words are Thank you.

 I have put off play with the new chalks for a bit, but decided this was the time.  It's been a very long time since SU has had chalks and now I remember how much fun they were.  

All I did for this one was  use a Versa mark pad, stamp my images, then pick up color that I had scraped off the lengths of chalk, and wipe over the stamped image gently with some of each color.

I then die cut.  Sorry to say, this set is long retired. But I had a Fall card to do and I don't have many fall sets, sometimes I regret that, but I am such a nut over Christmas, that is where I end up putting my money. 

After die cutting I used a die to cut my Cinnamon Cider piece, did a bit of splatter stamping on both my Evening Evergreen and my CC, and put down one of the Vellum doilies then layered on top of that. 

I hope you will try out the chalks and have some fun doing it. Thanks for stopping by. 

 

Poinsettia Joy, JAI#568

 

This sketch from Just Add Ink leaves it wide open for any fun you'd like to have with it.  

 I can't help but make Christmas cards with all the new fun stuff right now.   Lots of great cards from the team and other players, so be sure to click the link and check it all out.

I paired a retired, flocked vellum paper with the new Merriest Moments bundle.   

It's done in Merry Merlot, Evening Evergreen and while with a bit of gold foil.

Stitched Sweetly Dies frame the sentiment.   Pretty simple, although the dies can take a bit of time to cut them all out.  

Thanks for taking a look.  

Flowers, flowers everywhere. Paper Players #553

 

I've been thinking about a card using these 2 sets like this since I first saw the Meadow dies that match the Quiet Meadow stamps.  Bundle priced this year in the 2021-2022 Annual catalog.  

When I saw the colors for the Paper players challenge I thought it was a good time to give it a try. 

 I colored in using my Watercolor pencils after die cutting all my flowers. I just die cut using white then colored the stems green and flowers however I wanted.  I then used the new Shimmery Crystal Effects on the flowers.  I also used the Tasteful Textures 3D embossing folder on my yellow layer.  

I hope you enjoy and maybe I've given you an idea or two.

 

Christmas Rose, #FMS497

 

Merry Christmas.   I know you think it's early, but I make everyone a different card each year. I just love making them, so It takes me months to get done. There are just so many gorgeous, fun sets to use.

This one is done with a challenge from Freshly made sketches.  Hop on over and check out all the lovely cards from the team.

 I just love the traditonal  colors of Christmas, occasionally I'll use something a bit different and toss in a bit of purple or? But mostly I love the greens, reds and metallics. And I love this new embossing folder, it can be used all year long, but is especially neat for Christmas I think. 

 The stamp set here is retired, put I never got the chance to use it enough and it's one of a kind I think.  It seemed the perfect set for this card, it's called Christmas Rose.  

I used Real red, Soft succulent, white and gold embossing. I also used little pieces of the new free glimmer paper, it's called Be Dazzling and comes in 6x6,  in the SAB right now, it was the perfect framing for my flower.

 

The embossing folder is new and is  in the Holiday Mini, it's called Merry Melody 3D embossing folder. 

I considered sponging some color around the rose group on the embossing folder, and altho I love that look, it just seemed perfect without. 

I hope I was able to get you some ideas. Thanks for stopping. 

Heartfelt sympathy, JAI#565

 

This week I am joining in to the Just add ink color challenge. 

 

 The polished Pink and Pale Papaya are both brand new incolors for this year.  Stunning colors. So, it was a lot of fun coming up with a card for this week. I tried out several ways of embossing the flower, and ended up with this. 

The Dahlia is a 2 step stamp, for this I only used the outline and embossed, if you did it on a lighter paper, you could use the 2nd part, the fill in stamp, or simple color in if you like.   This set is called Delicate Dahlias and is free in the SAB catalog starting on the 3rd along with the new Holiday one.   It's got more pieces to it as well, but I decided for this to keep it very simple.

None of us really enjoy the reason for making these sympathy cards, but it does become necessary especially as we get older.  I usually put it off, this time it's going into my stash, with the hope it's not needed for a good long time.

Happy stamping. 

Deer in the Forest, JAI#564

 

I think the deer are really enjoying the snow up in the mountain of AZ, because it has been a very, very hot summer since June1, even for AZ. About now, I'd like to be there with them. 

The inspiration this week comes from Just Add Ink, and now that this is done, I have another idea, should I do that one too? 

I have to admit, hard to choose, sky or sea???  I love the ocean, and do a lot of cards with that idea, but I had to go with this brand new set from the new Mini.  So, check out all the posts over on Just add ink, and maybe join in too.  

I choose a piece of dsp from the Tidings of Christmas papers, altho, there is a whole set of paper just for this bundle called Peaceful Prints. The name of the bundle is Peaceful Deer.  My colors are Crumb cake, white, Misty Moonlight (incolor), and Evening Evergreen, also an incolor.

   To get the sparkle in the sky I just use versamark and sprinkled on some S U Stampin Glitter. Or you could white emboss the tiny snowflakes and then sponge on the blue afterward.

Thanks for taking a look, have fun with your Christmas cards. 

Snowflake Christmas, jai#563

 

Thanks go to Just Add Ink for this weeks sketch challenge. Seems really simple but this was my 3rd try, I just could not get what I wanted and pictured in my mind, but this simple and pretty card did it for me.  

 I hope you will check out all the really lovely projects from the team on FMS.  Just click the link in the colored text above.

So very simple, I used real red for my base card, then a piece of white cut just large enough to tuck a bit under the DSP.

The DSP is from Peaceful Prints, which is the one that matches up with the new Deer Christmas set.   The snowflake is retired, but I love it and collect all the snowflakes I can. I just love using them.

The Merry Christmas comes from the new Heartfelt Wishes in the mini catalog, previously known as the Holiday catalog, which goes live on Aug 3rd for customers.  

I used Dimentionals for popping up the DSP, and the snowflake, it just adds something to the card.  I hope you enjoy. Thanks for stopping.

Merriest Moments Christmas, Sneak peek 2021 Holiday catalog

 

I have 2 new cards today, both made from the new Merriest Moments stamp/embossingfolder/die set in the new Holiday Mini catalog going live on Aug 3rd, 2021.  

I played with my Blends on this one, just embossed on the white cardstock and used my new Soft Succulent blends on it along with one other green.  

I cut the old center using the center die in my set, then stamped and cut the top piece, trimming off just the edges a bit to show the gold under it.

I wrapped that piece with some gold twine, then cute 3 of the small branches from the stamp and dies and added them, popping up the whole small piece in the middle. 

 On this one, I took white cardstock, plus a piece of the Artistically Inked DSP, cut one of each from the big die in the Merriest Moments set and glued them together. This gave it more body.

I used Merry Merlot cardstock, wrapped a ribbon around then layered my piece on top, added the gold piece and added a Poinsettia on top of that, with a little Merry Christmas banner and finished off with red rhinestones in the center of my flower.

I hope you'll take a  look at Merriest Moments, there is so much to it, so many ways to use it.  Thanks for taking a look.

 

 

 

Sneak peek, Holiday Mini 2021, #JAI562

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It's that time of year again, time to start thinking about making those Christmas cards.  I start early because I make a lot of different cards, and that takes time.  

My inspiration this week is from an Inspiration challenge at Just add ink, come and join in.

 

I love the photo, such a beautiful seasonal photo.  I tried hard to capture the essence of it using a brand new set from Stampin Up called Merriest Moments, So much you can do with this set. My brain was on fire, but I did my best to keep to the inspiration photos and ended up really liking this card. 

The colors I used are: Evening Evergreen, and Pale Papaya, both are new incolors, also White and Real Red.

I think you'll be seeing a lot of this set, the new mini goes live on Aug 3rd for customers.

I hope you enjoy and check out the site for all the other yummy projects.

Friendship is a Blesssing, Freshly Made Sketches #492

 

There has been a lot going on here lately, and I haven't been able to sit and make cards like I would like to, but the new sets are so gorgeous, I just had to get in and make another for fms#492,  Such an easy sketch to play with.   

Colors today are Shaded Spruce, White, Mint Macron, with some gold touches.

I used Artistically Inked Bundle, So Sentimental Bundle, the Tasteful Textures 3D Embossing folder and Expressions in Ink DSP.

I do love at least some texture on my white, it's hard for me not to do that.  The DSP is just gorgeous, every single sheet and comes in 6x6. 

I hope you enjoyed.
 

Summer Fun, Freshly Made Sketches #491, Sailing Home

 

Inspiration for this comes from the Freshly made sketches challege.   And since it's not only summer but a record high heat summer here in AZ, it seems fitting. Just wish I could be on one of those boats.

For the Background I used DSP from Sand and Sea DSP pack. Looks so much like ocean doesn't it? I thought about putting in some sand and beach area, but I felt like it would need a larger card to pull that off well. But I do love these sailing ships.  

Colors are Seaside Spray, (retired), White and a bit of Balmy Blue Blend, and Basic gray with a touch of Smoky Slate.  The red on the ships is also a blend.  

I feel cooler already!  Hop on over and check out all the lovely cards from the staff and players, bet you'll find some you just have to case. 

Play time, Vellum and embossing folder

 

I have 2 cards for you today. Both done the same way pretty much, but both a bit different.  They are both done with the new Pretty Flowers embossing folder. On this one I ran by brayer over my Gorgeous Grape ink pad then onto the back side, (the background side) of the EF, leaving the color between the flowers.  

The inspiration comes from a card posted by Patty Bennett!!! It was too gorgeous not to try it.    https://www.pattystamps.com/2021/06/pretty-flowers-embossing-folder-with-vellum-video.html

I used Highland Heather card stock for my base and the same for the ribbon, ribbon is retired.  Then I glued my vellum piece to a white piece of card stock the same size.  I have to say, I did a whole set of wedding invits on vellum for my grandson, so I had to find some way to glue them that didn't show. This was the only way I found, simply a 2 way glue pen, the felt tip one works great.

When I did these I just ran a line of glue around the edges, then I put my ribbon on and attached to the base card.  The 3 Gorgeous Grape jewels worked great on the little tag.   Pretty quick and easy. 

 

 A bit more to this one, but not much. Emboss the vellum, then using the blender brushes, pick up color from your ink pad and gently brush on. I used Flirty Flamingo, Soft Succulent and Mango Melody. 

The sentiment is from Elegantly Said, die cut and I found the leaf somewhere and cut one. I'm always rooting through my stamp sets looking for something to use when I get an idea. 

 

Expressions in Ink, #fms489, Thinking of you

 

I used a few different sets on this one. The main flower is from the Hand Penned bundle, Penned Flower dies. 

For inspiration, I've used the Freshly Made Sketches challenge .

My friend and team mate Linda is hosting this week and I do love playing along especially when she does.

I choose the gold striped paper from the Expressions in Ink DSP pack, I realized the back side was also perfect for my flower die cut. But do I use up 2 pieces of the very special paper? Nope, found a work around. I cut my die out of the middle of my 6x6 sheet, then cut down the rest of the piece to fit my card for the striped side. 

This is also a good tip for using papers like the foils and glimmers to get the most out of them.

Lots of the SU sets have dots and or blotches, I just pulled one out the size I wanted and stamped in my corner. Then I put down my previously cut main flower set, added in the small flowers top and bottom corners.  I colored the rhinestones using the Soft Succulent Blend.  Sentiment is from Inspired Thoughts stamp set. The rest of the colors I used are:Evening Evergreen, White, Pale Papaya. 

Thanks for stopping by.
 

First Christmas card of 2021, #jai556

 

It's Slim card week at Just Add Ink this week. Slim cards are fun, and don't cost anymore to send, and if you have any #10 envys around, they will work great in them.  But I have to say, it's a little hard for me to wrap my mind around a long narrow card, I'm so used to the reg size, it takes me a bit of thinking. 

So, if you'd like to give it a try, it's a great week to get some examples to work from, just click here.

There are some really great card by the team and posters.

So, the stamp is a new background stamp in the 2021-2022 AC.  It, of course would do the whole long card, but what I did was use my stamp positioner and stamp and emboss each end of the card, leaving the middle without.Then I used the Bermuda Bay and my brush to add color.  The stamp is called Festive Foliage. 

The Holiday mini will be out before you know it, but for now the AC has some darling sets to get you started and this neat background.

The sentiment is a previous year as is the branch. The die set is from long, long ago, but I just don't part with some of this stuff.   Fairly quick and easy, no coloring except for the brushing over the embossing. 

Thanks for taking a look.

From there I am sorry, but I used some retired items, 

Wonderful Birthday, Paper Players#542,

 

First, I have to say, this was not the card in my head when I sat down to make one.  But there was this stack of brand new DSP sitting there, so instantly the card in my head changed. I know, I'm pretty strange. 

My inspiration for this comes from this weeks sketch for the Paper Players challenge.  Click on the linked text to see it all. There are some gorgeous cards both from the designers and posted cards from others. 

We continue to have the most beautiful DSP I have ever seen! This is Simply Elegant DSP, which goes with the Elegantly Said stamp and punch bundle.  The sentiment is part of the stamp set along with this flower and some other items.  

The pink is our new incolor Polished Pink, also used is Black, white and Copper embossed. 

As it's so new, I haven't yet bought any ribbon so went looking through my rather large stash of ribbon for something I could use. I could have used a little white ribbon, but found this Melon Mambo ribbon left over and was very surprised that it matched.  Melon is darker in color. So, what would be your favorite, should I have used the white or do you love the pink?  

Thank you so much for stopping by.  

Masculine Happy Birthday, Stampin Up, #JAI553

 

I found out last night that my grandson, the one living in Fl, will be home in CA this weekend. So, it's his birthday soon and I needed a quick card to get in the mail and there by sat.  I loved the sketch, looked really good for a nice masculine card, I know I and many of you, struggle with these. 

The Birthday die is a retired Stampin Up die, one I'll always keep, I used it with the retired Sparkle Glimmer paper. 

My base card is Crumb Cake, then 4 3/4" wide Night of Navy strips, then I cut a piece of Crumb cake from the Rectangle Stitched Dies, and cut a piece of Soft Suede using the next size down in the die set. I added the Birthday die, then stamped 2 of the candle stamps from the retired Piece of Cake set, And cut them out with a small circle die.  

Now I think I'll go make a more girly card with this sketch.  Thank you for stopping by.

Thinking of You, #fms484

 

I guess I'm stuck on yellow and pink, this is my 2nd card using them.  I guess it's just spring that got into me. I'm thinking gray and ? up next.  The interesting item on this card is that little piece under the flower, I'll tell you how to do that.

But first, the inspiration for this card was from Freshly Made sketches, they always do such nice sketches, very easy to use.  

If you find some strange things on my post today, I don't take credit. My mouse is acting up! Clicking twice about 80% of the time when it's only pushed once.  Hubby just last night told me, get a new set for goodness sake!  LOL.  So this morning I ordered one. I'm kinda into the higher end and the high end laser mouse is necessary to keep from making my shoulder from becoming very painful.  But this is a very very old set and I guess it's just time. 

So, can you see that pretty little piece under the flower? I used the SU alcohol Blends + alcohol + Vellum. One of the SU Demo's has a tut on you tube for the technique, that's where I saw it. Her name is Tina Zink.  I did one thing different.  So, you pick colors, color in some areas with them on the vellum, then use the alcohol with a plain brush to get the ink moving. 

I had a bit of trouble with some of my colors, it may have been because she used 90% alcohol and I only have 70% or may some of my Blends are older and not as juicy as they could be.  But I did get some pretty pieces.  She glues her vellum to white cardstock, instead, while it is still very wet, I turned the vellum over and smooched it down onto the white piece to transfer the ink. 

I used White, Daffodil Delight, and 2 new colors Soft Succlent and Polished Pink. To get my flower 2 colors, I used my stamp positioner, did one stamping in the pink, cleaned off the foliage and stamped that part in the green. You can also just make two flowers, one in pink and one in green and stick them together, the sentiment would have covered that part.

I used the Art Gallers stamps and Floral Gallery dies. A square vellum doily and rhinestones from the brand new incolor collection. 

Thanks for stopping by.

Healing Thoughts, Inspiration at JAI#552

 

Such a beautiful inspiration photo for this weeks challenge from Just Add Ink.  I tried to pull in the feel of the inspiration, the yellows, flowers and spring feel.  I hope I've done that.

See how pretty this is?  To join in or just look at all the other pretty projects, click here.

I started with a piece of the beautiful Fine Art Floral DSP, then added the base color, So Saffron, and the accent piece behind the DSP, which is Flirty Flamingo.  The edge die is from the new set Penned Flower dies.  

I cut a few Butterflies from the Butterfly Brilliant die set and kept it simple by using the dies in a see through way so the flowers show through.  I added the yellow rhinestones from the new incolor set of rhinestones.    The sentiment is from the new Inspired Thoughts set.  

Thank you for stopping by.