CHRISTMAS CARDS 1

I am not very good at mass production...I am not really able to keep making the same cards over and over again....I generally make each card a little differently. I know this takes longer, but it just makes sense to me and it never gets boring that way. I am a huge fan of glitter and bling. The paper on these cards is from Basic Grey, I got it at the end of the season last year.....it is sort of a vintage Christmas...I love this paper! My cards feature a variety of Close to My Heart stamps. If you have any questions about individual cards, please feel free to ask. Some cards have flock, others have liquid applique and most have liquid glass. You might be able to see some metallic pens, gemstones, skittles beads, watercolor, and ribbon. I didn't really do any embossing, mostly just paper layering and simple stamping. This has been a great Thanksgiving break...I've been working on cards the whole time. Yesterday I watched some movies, one was Breakfast at Tiffany's, it is amazing how movies can influence your work. Enjoy!

A few things that are Close to My Heart....

Everything you will see was made using Close to My Heart products minus one punch on the 'thank you card'. Anyway, the first card below is a little tri-folded purse that I use at gatherings to entice people to book a party. Inside is a piece of candy. I give everyone a penny and they can either wager it for the candy/card treat or keep it. IF they choose to wager it or gamble their penny away, they get to keep the candy and the card, but they MIGHT have to host the next gathering. Inside some of them I put a note explaining how to set up a gathering. I have booked several this way! I made a newer, holiday version of this with nuggets wrapped in silver and gold...if they get the 'golden ticket' they have to be the next hostess. I will post a pic soon!



This little card is a tiny thank you card that I include with all of my receipts. I make up a bunch at a time so they have to be quick and easy. It is a non-traditional size, 3X4.5 I think....Anyway, they are really easy, just a piece of patterned paper, trimmed with scalloped scissors, a stamped sentiment from Annotations punched with a hand held punch adhered with foam square and some ribbon! Easy as pie!







Okay, this card is also very easy.....unless you stamp the word 'HAPPY" upside down like I did!! Ahh!! I just noticed that! All well! I made this card by stamping the Annotations shape twice, it will be easy to fix because all I have to do is stamp the middle again and glue it over the raised up part. The paper is from Perfect day. And then I added a couple of brads.





The next two cards are both cards that I did for home gatherings. Basic stamping, cutting and a little bit of bling. The first one has a Vintage Christmas stamp with some prisma glitter. I gave everyone the option of glittering....and a choice on 2 colors of ribbon.






This card has some non-traditional blue paper...It isn't even Christmas paper! It is from a spring paper pack....I can't think of the name...Anyway, this card has some paper piercing and a rhinestone in the middle of the snowflake. Super easy!! I demonstrated how to add some distressing on this card as an option!


I have been making things like crazy lately!!! I just need to put finishing touches on most of the stuff...I am a little crazy with my Christmas cards....I can't mass-produce...every single card has to be a little different...and a mini-masterpiece! I will be posting tons of them soon!

Color Inspiration Challenge #31

Muahahahahaaa!!! I have done it again! Another scrapbook page for a Color Inspiration Challenge!! This one showcases my love of owls....I could've included dozens of pictures of owls all around my house, but this picture is of a pot holder....from Target....But I've got owls everywhere, my hand towels, doormat, on my mantel, even on my bedroom slippers. I've got owl jewelry, t-shirts, and even an owl soap dispenser. It is not my fault that I decided to fall in love with owls after a school art project last fall...just in time for owls to hit the mainstream. Now you can find owls on stamps, bags, and papers! I love it!!!


Anyway, in this page, I only did a tiny bit of stamping for the argyle pattern on part of the background. The striped paper isn't exactly elegant eggplant (I have nothing even close to it in the house) but it is a great striped paper from S.E.I. The chipboard shapes are from Close to My Heart and the rest are all things that I had in my stash. I am starting to wonder if she throws in a couple of really strange color combinations just to throw us off....I would never normally use orange and purple together unless it was for something Halloween...Enjoy!! (P.S. Check back tomorrow...I will be posting some great new Christmas Cards that I have been working on!)

Color Inspiration Challenge #30

Here is another color challenge! I am now running on reserve battery power....But I am going to post this anyway! I stayed up to finish it by-golly! Another scrapbook page for a challenge!! I love cards and they are so easy to whip up, I have been pushing myself to create more scrapbook pages because I really love to do things with my photos. This photo is from a whole series of pictures taken last fall with my family. This is my little brother Gage!

This page uses lots of embossing....clear embossing on the tan paper, and white embossing on white paper. The chipboard letters are covered in liquid glass. I am always so hesitant to use up my chipboard stuff....but I picked these up tonight at JOAnn's for only a dollar a package, so I am being a bit frivolous with them. The ribbon is from my collection and the stamps are from the September and October stamp of the Month. I did try a bit of paper piercing at the top and went a bit wild with my corner rounder. The paper under my picture is just a background and texture paper that has been crumpled and then inked to give it some texture. Enjoy!

Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge #5

OOOH!!!I am so excited for this one!! I have seen this movie, but I remember the beauty of the book much more vividly. A friend at school recommended the book, it was one of her top favorite books. When I read it, I remember the stunning Japanese imagery. I spent most of the day searching for a picture of my cousins last Halloween dressed as Geisha girls...I had a great layout in mind...but I couldn't find the picture anywhere!! So, I decided to combine most of my ideas on this card for Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge #5.



This card utilizes scraps and old stamps. The branch in the background is one of the very first wooden stamps I ever bought. The little fan is from Hobby Lobby..I never quite knew what to do with it. The flowers are from a big bag of scraps from Wal Mart....the gold paper is from my scrap box and the Japanese Characters are from a set I borrowed from my mentor teacher. I used couple of brads to hold the flowers in place. This was a fun card to make....It would be really fun to create a mini album in this style with some haiku poetry...hmmm...that is a project for another day....

Color Inspiration Challenge #29

This is the first color inspiration challenge that I have used a scrapbook page. No fancy shmancy techniques, just good old fashioned scrappin'. I used actual scrap paper from envelopes and junk mail along with a tag from the Notebook paper pack and my colluzle cutting system to cut circles out of scrap paper, and the patterned turquoise paper is Martha Stewart. The printed circle paper is a really cool 'trash' piece from a school 'throw-away' box that I salvaged when I spotted its potential. I inked the edges of my purple paper with Smokey Plum ink.

This page is about my experience at a conference for art teachers. I was having a good time....
http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
and I never seem to enter in the same challenges! We are always off a week. I actually wasn't going to do anything for this challenge, but it was thundering and windy so I stayed home from the playoff football game and needed a creative, stress reliever. Also, I love H&M I wish we had one here. Enjoy!

Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge #4

Ahhh!! I have absolutely no mojo on these two Grease movie challenge cards....They are very simple, just a bit of stamping and layering. I have been wanting to try out my Doodle Art stamp set using white ink on black paper to give it the chalkboard look. I didn't have many Grease accessories, but I really wish I could've had a cute poodle or a flash of leather somewhere on my cards. I didn't want to miss this challenge so I decided to go with something a little basic for my card. I remember watching Grease in high school and our choir even performed songs from Grease....I think it would be so fun to have a Grease theme party where everyone gets to dress up and dance around.