Monday, October 31, 2011

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween to my fellow stampers in blog land! May you have a BOO-TIFUL day!




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Sunday, October 30, 2011

Not A Creature Was Stirring....

I was so happy to see this weeks challenge over at the Jingle Belles blog....Not A Creature Was Stirring.

We have been waiting all year for October ... the month that celebrates creatures, costumes & characters ... to schedule this prompt. Your creature might be an animal ... a mouse ... a bird ... a robot ... elves ... snow-persons ... or yes, even a monstah ... just have fun with it ... you can see we did.



I love Christmas, I love animals and (obviously) I LOVE moose! Moose are one of the best things about living in Alaska and I knew I wanted to make a Christmas card with a moose on it. I based this card on a previous moose card I had made, and just changed the scheme to a Christmas one. I must say I am really happy with the way it came out. The Frostwood Lodge DSP in the SU holiday mini was perfect for this card.
Supplies used(all supplies SU unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Pines, sentiment from unknown company
Paper: Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso, Whisper White, Frostwood Lodge DSP
Ink: Early Espresso
Accessories: Cherry Cobbler ribbon, sponge, dimensionals

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Thursday, October 27, 2011

Friday Mashup Renew, Reuse and Recycle

Its time again for Friday Mashup and this week our challenge is from Heidi. Here is what she has to say:

Happy Friday, All! Welcome back to the Friday Mashup!



Admit it, once you start crafting, you tend to hold on to things... you know, packaging, string, ribbon, paper, fabric, cardboard... just in case you can use them on a project in the future. It always feels good when you get a chance to use up some of those bits and pieces.


So let's dig out those items we saved from other products and packages, and put them to good use! And if you are so inclined, mash it up with the following sketch.

So here is the "Mashup" Challenge :


Make a project using the "Sketch".
Or Make a project using "Recycled / Repurposed Materials or Supplies".
Or "Mash it Up" and create a project "Using The Sketch and Recycled /Repurposed Materials or Supplies".

I have to say, I'm really not one to hold on to a lot of things. I like to use what I have, and I try to use *the exact amount* so I dont have much ribbon, paper, etc left over. The main thing I have for leftovers is scraps of paper, and thats my reuse portion of the challenge. All of the cardstock/PP used is a scrap I had in my bin.

Head over to The Friday Mashup and check out all the great inspiration from the design team, and dont forget to link up your card and play along with us!


Supplies used(all supplies SU unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Out on a Limb, sentiment from Haunted Forest
Paper: Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie, Garden Green, Whisper White, unknown PP
Ink: Pumpkin Pie, StazOn Black
Accessories: Sponge, Dimensionals, Coluzzle
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Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Soft Falling Snow

Whew, what a day to try and create a card about snow! A good portion of Alaska has been hit with a big storm coming in from the Gulf of Alaska and for my area that meant hurricane force winds that brought in warmer temps, so no snow, only rain. However the low will be sweeping through in a few hours and they are saying we'll be seeing snow overnight. With the wind blowing like mad I sat down this morning to make my Jingle Belles card and wouldnt you know it...the power went out! We just got it back on and let me tell you, it was interesting trying to create in the dark. Even though I have a big window in my bedroom the way my craft area sits I dont get much natural light at my desk, plus it was cloudy out so what light was streaming in wasnt very bright.

However, south of Anchorage this was the scene:
https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150887009895532

Lots of snow falling there!

Anyway, the challenge issued at Jingle Belles was to create a card with soft elements...."batting, velvet, fibers, denim, thick layers of embossing powder, soft silk flowers and snowflakes, pillow stickers & upholstered brads! Really, anything your brain can come up with that is SOFT, it doesn’t have to be only papercrafting products that you use, either! I encourage you to pull out those quilting, knitting, sewing, & flocking skills!

I ended up adding Fun Flock to my house for snow as my soft element, and maybe the quilted ribbon could be considered soft? I also added some Dazzling Diamonds for a sparkly snow-on-the-ground look. I used last weeks sketch from Splitcoast also(I think it was last weeks).

Supplies used( all supplies SU unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Christmas Lodge, sentiment from Forest Festivities
Paper: Early Espresso, Cherry Cobbler, Marina Mist, Whisper White, Frostwood Lodge DSP
Ink: Black StazOn, Handsome Hunter, Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake
Accessories: Snow Burst embossing folder, Fun Flock, Dazzling Diamonds, Cherry Cobbler Quilted Ribbon, Modern Label Punch

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Monday, October 24, 2011

Clean and Simple Christmas

And trust me, when I say clean and simple this weeks sketch is VERY clean and simple, and I like that!

I had a bit of a rustic, snowy day on my mind so I grabbed Crumb Cake cardstock and used some Sapphire embossing powder I've had for yrs on snowflakes from the Bright Hopes set. I love these snowflakes and I really like them embossed like this. For the sentiment I used Night of Navy and to keep the focus on the snowflakes I didnt emboss the Merry Christmas.

To give it just a bit of an extra touch I added the rhinestones between the snowflakes. I dont like the way it photographed...here in southcentral Alaska we're having a very windy and gray day and no matter where I took the photo it turned out a bit dark, ugh!

 Supplies used(all supplies SU unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Bright Hopes
Paper: Crumb Cake
Ink: Night of Navy, Versamark
Accessories: Sapphire embossing powder, round corner punch, rhinestones
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Thursday, October 20, 2011

Friday Mashup Band and Twine

** So much for scheduled posting...it doesnt work half the time! Sorry my post is late**

This week our Friday Mashup challenge comes from Kim and she says:

1. Make a project featuring "A Belly Band".

2. Or Make a project using "Twine".
3. Or "Mash it Up" and create a project "Using Twine with a Belly Band

Now I wont lie, I had no clue what the heck a belly band was and had to ask. My fellow DT members explained it to me and I went "ohhhhhhh", LOL. I guess I have never seen one before, and if I have I didnt pay attention to it!

I grabbed the DSP that I am currently enthralled with...Spice Cake! How beautiful is this paper? I am going to have to buy a bunch more of it and stock up for use throughout the year! I also MASHED it up and featured a belly band that also used twine!


Supplies used(all supplies SU unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Season of Friendship, Hand-Penned Holidays
Paper: Pear Pizzazz, More Mustard, Very Vanilla, Spice Cake DSP
Ink: Pear Pizzazz, Soft Suede, More Mustard, Cherry Cobbler
Accessories: Cherry Cobbler brads, twine, sponge

Make sure you head over to the Friday Mashup blog to check out all the inspiration from the rest of the design team and make sure you play along with us.
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Another Card for Pink Week

I feel so bad because I told my friend Holly that I would definitely play along with her Pink Week challenge and this week just hasnt cooperated with me. I have physical therapy 3x a week, then have to come home, do household chores, the kids come home from school, the husband comes home, we eat, I go to work and on and on it goes. I know that most of you out there know what I mean! We need more hours in the day.

I dont have physical therapy on Thursdays so today I spent my afternoon doing nothing but stamping and got 2 cards finished! A card for Pink Week was at the top of my list and I also wanted to be able to play along with this weeks sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches so I combined the 2 challenges for this card.

I used some retired DSP, Candy Lane, and brought in some Close To Cocoa to balance out the pink. The stamp set Strength and Hope went along perfectly with this sketch!

This card will be going to my step mom, a breast cancer survivor!


Supplies used(all supplies SU unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Strength and Hope
Paper: Pink Pirouette, Close to Cocoa, Very Vanilla, Rose Red, Candy Lane DSP
Ink: Regal Rose
Accessories: Beautiful Wings Embosslits, Scallop Edge Border Punch, Paper Piercing Tool, 1 3/4" Scallop Circle Punch, dimensionals, pearls
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Clean and Simple Thankful

I love this sketch over at Clean and  Simple Stamping. Wonderful crisp lines and open space, but nothing too overwhelming!

I have completely fallen in love with the Spice Cake DSP, which is really weird for me. Normally I'm all about the Christmas paper but I am totally going to have to stock up on Spice Cake before the holiday mini ends Dec.31.

Supplies used(all supplies SU unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Always Thankful
Paper: Early Espresso, Very Vanilla, Spice Cake DSP
Ink: Black StazOn, Early Espresso, Soft Suede, More Mustard, Cherry Cobbler, Garden Green
Accessories: Brads, Blender Pen
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Sunday, October 16, 2011

Jingle Belles and Freshly Made

Last weeks challenge over at Jingles Belles was one that is near and dear to my heart, but I was in vacation up in Fairbanks and didnt get to play along. I wanted to make sure and get this card made, plus I combined it with the current challenges at Freshly Made Sketches and Friday Mashup! Also, in honor of breast cancer awareness my friend Holly is hosting 'Pink Week' this week over on her blog. Head over there and link up ANY project, as long as its pink!

The Jingles Belles challenge was this:

in honor of our sisters, our mothers, our daughters and our friends who have bravely battled --or are still coping-- with this disease, we are eschewing the more ordinary Christmas colors of red and green this week in favor of PINK in all its glorious hues, shades, tints and tones.

My best friends mom died of breast cancer 3 yrs ago this past September, and just yesterday they were at the Grand Canyon releasing her ashes. Her breast cancer moved very quickly...went in to the ER July 4th for shoulder pain and was gone by Sept. Then there is my stepmom, who celebrated 5 yrs free of her breast cancer last year but then lost my dad the same year to another type of cancer. Cancer is a horrible, horrible disease and I hope a cure for it is found soon!

Here is the card for these 3 challenges:





Now, the current challenge over at Jingles Belles is to be inspired by a Christmas song. I smiled as soon as I saw this challenge because I LOVE Christmas music! I listen to it year round and have an extensive Christmas music collection. I immediately thought of this stamp, which is one of the new Christmas sets in the fall/winter SU catalog. When I see this picture I think of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman" or "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" or even "Do You Hear What I Hear". I love this image!




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Friday, October 14, 2011

Thinking of You

I am in desperate need of stamping time, lol. I just received my order where I bought just about everything in the holiday mini and I just want to sit and play all day, but life isnt allowing it. I did make time in my afternoon though to play along with this weeks Freshly Made Sketches challenge. I just love the clean and simple sketches they are posting!

I whipped out the new Spice Cake DSP for this card. I love this DSP! Usually I'm all about the Christmas DSP but the Spice Cake paper is totally worth stocking up on...such pretty colors and designs! Because I picked out some of the papers with a busy design I wanted to keep my main image pretty simple. I love the Leaves Of a Tree stamp and originally started with that but it didnt look right with this paper, so I ended up using the very versatile tree from the Thoughts and Prayers set. I got this set a few months ago and it quickly became one of my favorites, as you can use it for so many things. The sentiment is also from the Thoughts and Prayers set and again, I kept it nice and simple.

Supplies used(all supplies SU unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Thoughts and Prayers
Paper: Pool Party, More Mustard, Soft Suede, Very Vanilla, Spice Cake DSP
Ink: Soft Suede, More Mustard
Accessories: More Mustard Ribbon, Decorative Label Punch, Scallop Edge Border Punch, sponge, dimensionals






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Thursday, October 13, 2011

Snowflakes and Easels

Its Friday, and time for another Friday Mashup! The last week has been crazy and this is the first card I was able to get done...I need more stamping time!

This weeks challenge is brought to us by the talented Lesley. Here is what she says:

1. Make a project featuring "Snowflakes".

2. Or Make an "Easel Card".
3. Or "Mash it Up" and create an "Easel Card featuring Snowflakes".

I cant lie, I saw easel card and groaned. I've never made one before and I get nervous with cards that make me have to think, LOL. Luckily Lesley shared the tutorial on Splitcoast with the design team and I used that to get the easel card portion of the challenge done.

The snowflake part definitely makes me happy, as we are getting some small snowflakes falling in my area tonight! We drove to Fairbanks last weekend and I saw some snow along the way but I want it in my yard! LOL I am hoping it snows hard but I dont think its going to quite yet, we're still a tad too warm during the days, hovering around the 40* mark.

I used some of my favorite retired DSP and paired it with a set thats in the Holiday Mini called Bright Hopes. I love this set, it has such a wonderfully classic and elegant look to it. My snowflakes are popped up with dimensionals and I used Dazzling Details on them to give a little extra pop. I also used some Dazzling Detail inside the card on the extra layer that helps keep the front of the card in the easel postion. Added a little silver cord for a hanger and ribbon and voila, done!



Supplies used(all supplies SU unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Bright Hopes
Paper: Sahara Sand, Ruby Red, Taken With Teal, Whisper White, Holiday Lounge DSP
Ink: Taken With Teal, Ruby Red, Crumb Cake
Accessories: Simply Scored, Scallop Border Punch, Elastic Silver Cord, Dazzling Details, sponge, dimensionals
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Thursday, October 6, 2011

This week at the Friday Mashup Holly is bringing us a colorfully spooky challenge! Thats right, you have your choice of a color challenge using the colors Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie, Lucky Limeade and Concord Crush, or you can create a Halloween project or you can MASH it up and do BOTH!

I went ahead and MASHED it up and created a little Halloween scene on my card. Holly let me borrow her Cricut cartridge Happy Hauntings and I used it to create the spooky tree on the front and the pumpkin on the inside, as well as the grass in front of the tree and gravestones. The gravestones, bats and sentiment were all created with Halloween punches from Martha Stewart! I used White StazOn along the edges of the gravestones to give it a look like moonlight shining on it, and I also added some blue metallic ink to the tree to also give it the same moonlit look.Its very subtle and hard to catch on camera but I really like the way it looks in person! The moon was punched out with a SU circle punch and I love it because it reminds me of the huge Harvest Moons we see here in Alaska(and Oct.11, my birthday, we're due to have a full moon.Is the universe trying to tell me something? LOL).

Make sure you head over to the Friday Mashup blog to check out all the other great cards from the rest of the design team!




Paper: Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie, Lucky Limeade, Concord Crush, Ghostly Greetings DSP
Ink: Pumpkin Pie, More Mustard, Lucky Limeade, Metallic Blue, White StazOn
Accessories: MS punches(bats, graveyard, EEK!), Cricut Happy Hauntings, SU Circle punch, sponge, dimensionals

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Sunday, October 2, 2011

Peace on Earth

This week over at the Jingle Belles challenge blog its all about peace. They say "our prompt for this week's card is to incorporate a Peace Symbol or the word Peace into your design ... or create a card that evokes Peace for you (snow, forest, etc.)."

Honestly, for me peace is a forest blanketed with snow, the scent of burning wood in the air and not a sound for miles. I love to snowshoe through the woods that surround my home and just escape from everything. There is a peaceful calm that overtakes me when I'm out in nature, just enjoying the beauty and wonder of it all.

This is what inspired my card. Its a gray, windy day here in southcentral Alaska and the card didnt photograph as well as I wanted it too :( Its so pretty and shimmery in person and I am really happy with the way it came out. I started with a card base of Night of Navy and then added a layer of Shimmery Silver that was embossed with a snowflakes folder. For my forest scene I used silver metallic ink, and I also used the same ink for the sentiment. For just a small pop of color I used Real Red to make a Red Cardinal flying through the sky. I then ran the whole scene through the Cuttlebug with the Swiss Dots folder to make it seem like small snowflakes coming down.

Head over to the Jingle Belles blog to check out the challenge and play along!


Supplies used(all supplies SU unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Scenic Season, Peace To The World
Paper: Night of Navy, Whisper White, Brushed Silver
Ink: Metallic Silver, Real Red
Accessories: CB Swiss Dots and Snowflakes folders, sponge, dimensionals
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