More is More...

Happy Tuesday everyone! It was a crazy busy weekend for me and I am just getting myself re-collected after a fabulous weekend at Girl Scout camp. Our entire Girl Scout Service Unit (about 350 girls and adults) was at Camp Agnes Arnold for a weekend filled with crafts, canoeing, archery, smores, too much food and lots of songs and fun! It was so nice to be away from the city, see some fall foliage (a rarity here in Houston!) and feel the cool air.

Our girls shared a treehouse unit with some Cadettes and it was really great to see the interaction between the teens and the tweens- they are growing up so fast and are such wonderful girls!

So onto my "More is More"card! I made the first version of this card for my last stamp class a few weeks back and needed to keep it simple as many of the other cards we were making that night were more complicated. When I looked at the card after the class, I realized I wanted to do a bit more to bring it up a notch and decided to share the two cards as an example of how the addition of a few elements can really bring a card from ordinary to something a bit more!

The card on the left started with a Garden Green base, to which I added a piece of Kraft CS and a strip of patterned paper from the "Merry Moments" Designer paper collection, both of which were sponged with Close to Cocoa ink.  I stamped the wreath from the Yuletide Christmas set in Garden Green and used a Stamp-a-ma-jig to position the stocking exactly in the middle of the oval. The Stamp-a-ma-jig is a great little tool that's worth spending a few moments learning to use- it guarantees perfect positioning of layered elements every time!  The image was layered onto a Night of Navy scalloped oval and adhered to the card over a strip of Real Red dotted ribbon (reverse side) tied with hemp twine. The greeting was stamped on the bottom left corner and some Dew Drops were added to the top left to finish it off. Simple and fast!

The MIM card has a few more elements that I think make it a bit more finished. The Kraft and candy cane striped were stitched together using a zigzag stitch and brown thread, to pickup the color from the stocking, and this piece was layered onto Very Vanilla card stock with dimensionals to make it stand out from the green card base.  I added a layer of red to the main image and sponged all those pieces as well to soften them a bit. The greeting was stamped, cut out using an oval die and sponged before layering onto a vanilla scalloped oval to make it stand out more. I changed the Dew Drops to brown, as there was already more red in this card, and added a brown button on the ribbon.

Two very similar cards with slightly different looks! Leave a comment and vote for your favorite. Better yet, use these cards as an example and go one step further- leave a link to your card to all can enjoy!

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

 





Supplies:
Stamps: Yuletide Christmas
Paper: Garden Green, Kraft, Real Red, Night of Navy, Very Vanilla, Merry Moments DP 
Ink: Close to Cocoa, Garden Green
Accessories: Red dotted grosgrain ribbon, hemp twine, Stamp-a-ma-jig, sponges, Sizzix Machine, nested dies, Dew Drops, sewing machine, dimensionals 

Brick Wall Santa...

I have been really lame about doing any of the challenges over at Splitcoast Stampers over the past year, but this particular one sparked an immediate idea the minute I saw it posted. If you haven't checked out this site, or the daily challenges they have, you MUST follow the link and go there. But warning- it will be an even bigger sink of time than Facebook or Etsy!

Each Wednesday they post a new technique cahllenge, with instructions and often a video, that comes out in their "Weekly Inking" newsletter. There is a gallery for all the cards people created using the weekly technique, which is a great way to see what others have done to take it one step further. This week's technique challenge was the Brick Wall technique.

In their tutorial, they stamped a background image, over-stamped a foreground image, then cut it up and reassembled it into a brick wall. This Santa stamp was a gift last year and has never seen ink, but I knew it would be perfect for teh look I was going for. I stamped the Santa image in Memento Rick Cocoa on Very Vanilla card stock, drew my lines on the back of the image and cut it up into a brick pattern. Warning: cut and lay out the image one line at a time or it's like a jigsaw puzzle getting it back together (can you tell I was a little frustrated at reassembling this image?!).

I sponged ink on all the pieces then re-assembled the image onto a separate piece of Very Vanilla card stock. After the image was assembled, I layered it on some Basic Grey Wasail and Vanilla paper and cut a fancy border from Chocolate Chip. I tied a bow with some wide ivory organdy ribbon and cinched the center with a burgundy button and some twine. The finished image was mounted with dimensionals onto a Chocolate Chip 6" square card base. This card was fun to make, but a bit tedious and long, so this may be the only one of these I make this year!

Hope your Friday is a great one- I'm off to Girl Scout camp with all the troops in my area for a great weekend camp-out. The weather is ideal, so it should be a beautiful weekend!

Thanks for stopping by-

 





Supplies:
Stamp: Tim Holtz "Believe"
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla, Basic Grey "Wasail"
Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa 
Accessories: Wide ivory organdy ribbon, Sizzix machine, border die, dimensionals 

Delightful Decorations...

The Holiday Mini catalog from Stampin' Up has some wonderful stamps and paper this year, including this great set called "Delightful Decorations". When I saw it, I had instant visions of cards, gift tags and scrapbook page embellishments. What's even more fabulous about this set is that it has a matching Ornament punch (no cutting by hand-yay!) and a matching die for the Sizzix machine. I am also in love with their alternate Christmas colors in this paper line called "Holiday Lounge"- it's kinda funky and retro- a perfect accompaniment for this stamp set.

I started this card with a Ruby Red card base and stamped the small snowflake from the Delightful Decorations set on the background using the same color ink. I layered the Holiday Lounge paper onto a Bermuda Bay rectangle and added a piece of Bermuda Bay dotted grosgrain ribbon across the middle, plain side up before adhering to the card front. A quick greeting from the "Warm Words" set in Bermuda Bay, punched out with the large oval punch, and a scalloped oval punched from Ruby Red and teh base of the card was done.

Now onto the ornaments... The base for the ornaments was formed by two layers, Whisper White and Bermuda Bay, cut out with nested dies on the Sizzix machine. I stamped the ornaments in Sahara Sand, Ruby Red and Bermuda Bay ink and punched them out 1,2,3 with the Ornament punch (love it!!). Now for the really fun part- the hangers! I snipped a piece of silver colored wire (about 2" long) and wound the center of the wire around my piercing tool to make the spring part. I then wound the top part around the end of a paint brush to make the hanger and left a 0.5" tail on the other end to secure it under the ornament. You could also hook the tail end through a hole in your ornament so that it could actually be used as a paper ornament on a kids' tree, etc.

I adhered the ornaments onto the card front using dimensionals to pop them up a bit and added a think strip of patterned paper on the inside to finish it off. This is another quick and easy card for the holidays- it can be adapted with a pocket on the inside to hold a gift card or used to make placecards for your holiday dinner table- lots of great ideas!

Thanks for stopping by- hope your day is as bright and shiny as ours here in Houston!








Supplies:
Stamps: Delightful Decorations, Warm Words
Paper: Ruby Red, Bermuda Bay, Whisper White, Holiday Lounge
Ink: Ruby Red, Bermuda Bay 
Accessories: Bermuda Bay dotted grosgrain ribbon, Ornament punch, Large oval punch, Scallop oval punch, silver wire, Sizzix Machine, nested dies

Patterned Pines...

Just a quick post this morning- I'm on my way out to sit at an eternally long swim meet (luckily the weather is nice so I can sit outside!). For those of you who missed the stamp class last night, it was a late night and lots of fun- what a great group I have! I think they were taxed by some of the more complicated cards, so I think everyone was glad to make this card since it goes together so easily and is classic.

Starting with a Kraft card base, I layered paper from the Merry Moments Designer Series paper onto Very Vanilla for the background. I stamped the Patterned Pines trees in White Craft ink and heat embossed with Iridescent Ice embossing powder- it gives the trees a nice shimmer and makes them stand out against the green background! I layered that piece onto Vanilla as well to make it stand out.

I stamped the snowflake and corner detail in Real Red and embossed with the Iridescent Ice EP to make them shimmer as well. The Real Red Classic ink is so juicy, it leaves you enough time to get embossing powder on and is easier to clean up than the Craft ink! I added a few red rhinestone brads for sparkle and contrast and the Sleigh Bells ribbon to finish it off.

A quick and easy card that can be easily mass produced or adapted for a photo card! Thanks for stopping by- hope your day is relaxing!

Supplies:
Stamps: Patterned Pines (Holiday Mini catalog)
Paper: Kraft, Very Vanilla, , Old Olive, Merry Moments DP 
Ink: White Craft, Real Red
Accessories: Sleigh Bells ribbon, rhinestones, dimensionals, Iridescent Ice EP, heat tool 

Shimmery snowflakes...

I love snowflakes for holiday cards and when Stampin' Up retired my favorite set last year, I was despondent. That was until I saw the new Serene Snowflakes set in this year's Holiday mini catalog- just gorgeous! The detail in the big snowflake is just amazing.

The image in the catalog got me stuck on blues and golds, so I decided to play around with their new Champagne Mist shimmer paint. I stamped the swirly snowflake on the Kraft background paper in Sahara Sand and then used the shimmer paint to stamp the smaller snowflakes. It gives it a bit of gold glimmer which is subtle, but pretty. I sponged the Kraft card stock and patterned paper (from the Christmas Cocoa Designer Series paper set) and layered them onto a vanilla square base.

I had to play around a bit with the shimmer paint on the big snowflake to get the look I was searching for. The image didn't show up that clearly by itself on light colored card stock using the shimmer paint alone, so I ended up stamping the snowflake first in Bordering Blue and then in the shimmer paint directly over the top using a Stamp-a-ma-jig to get the snowflakes perfectly aligned. It's hard to see in this photo but the blue shows the detail of this pretty stamp and the shimmer paint makes it glisten. I cut out the image and coordinating layers on my Sizzix machine using some nested dies and sponged all the layers before assembling to give it some softness.

I stamped a greeting from the Christmas Punch Hostess set using Soft Suede ink, punched out with the wide oval punch and layered it onto a small nested square. A little ivory organdy ribbon and a few Dew Drops and its done! This is definitely a set that will see a lot of ink this holiday season!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

 






Supplies:
Stamps: Serene Snowflakes, Christmas Punch
Paper: Kraft, Bordering Blue, Very Vanilla, Christmas Cocoa
Ink: Sahara Sand, Bordering Blue, Soft Suede, Champagne Mist Shimmer paint 
Accessories: Sizzix machine, Wide oval punch, dimensionals, wide ivory organdy ribbon, nested dies, Stampin' sponges

Back on track!

I finally finished a big research talk and can now allow myself some time to think about things other than work! It was really nice to see my college roommate when I was in Boston last week- we went out to Wellesley College to see my former Chemistry professor and meet with his student for a bit. He was so proud- it was very sweet! My friend Cheryl and I also found a fabulous martini bar in Boston, supposedly the best, and it was VERY good: City Bar on Boylston St- definitely a must if you are in Boston!

I have a class coming up this Friday night, so I had to get a move on making cards as soon as I got back Monday night. Somehow the time between Halloween and Christmas gets shorter each year and I was so far behind last year, that I am determined to get my holiday cards done by Thanksgiving!

This is one of the cards we will be making at my class Friday night. I get tired of the standard reds and greens for Christmas, so I was excited to see the new Stampin' Up Christmas Cocoa paper- chocolates and reds- just yummy!

I used the Mojo Monday sketch to jump start the layout. I have become a big fan over the years of using sketches as a starting point for my cards. It gives me a quick idea of scale, where to place embellishments and then I just fill in with paper and stamps. It also helps me break out of the rut of using the same layouts over and over again.

For this card, I used a Soft Suede card base and layered on Real Red and two patterns from the Christmas Cocoa paper collection. I ran a piece of Soft Suede dotted ribbon (back side which is solid) around the line between the two patterned papers and added red rhinestones along the edges.

I stamped the wreath from the Berry Christmas set in Soft Suede then cut it out using a nested die on my Sizzix machine with a background layer to match. I then stamped the holly leaves in Old Olive and the bird and berries in Real Red- they were cut out and layered on top of the wreath to give it some dimension. The poinsettia flower was cut out using a die and some shimmer added with Ice Stickles and a rhinestone brad. I also added a few more rhinestones to the greeting which was punched out using the Modern Label punch- I was in glitter mode so I went with it!

Thanks for stopping by- happy hump day!







Supplies:
Stamps: Berry Christmas
Paper: Soft Suede, Real Red, Christmas Cocoa DP, Whisper White
Ink:  Soft Suede, Real Red
Accessories: Soft Suede dotted grosgrain ribbon, Sizzix machine, nested dies, rhinestone brads, rhinestones, Modern Label punch

And the broom you rode in on...

I'm sure this is the image my son has of me today after a "discussion" about appropriate school clothes this morning-LOL! Mommy did not agree with the favorite, worn out shorts and T-shirt he had dressed himself in and he was a complete grump when I made him change. He even tried the tactic of trying to recruit daddy to his side, which I promptly cut off- he hasn't figured out that I'm wise to his tricks! After that little tussle, a witchy card seemed in order!

I've had this Halloween set from MFT since last year and haven't had a chance to ink it up yet, so today seemed like a good day to get the witch in me going (since I was already on a roll!). I stamped the witch image twice- once on Whisper White card stock and once on a bright green patterned paper from Halloween paper stack by K&Co. I cut out the witch's dress from the green image and pasted it over the white image- this technique is called paper piecing and is a great way to add color and texture to an image. It's a bit like applique but with paper instead- a really fun technique when you start using it!

The rest of the image was colored with alcohol markers and glitter markers on the sun and her boots. I used 3 shades of violet, blending the streaks of color together, to make a spooky sky- it looks a bit like she's flying through some fog!

I stamped some bats in Taken With Teal on the card background and layered some funky striped DP on the bottom. I have been dying to use my new velvet ric rac and this seemed like the perfect card for it- I definitely have a thing for ric rac! The image and it's contrasting layers were cut out using a set of nested dies on my Sizzix machine, as was the greeting. I am in love with the new fancy labels dies- they add a bit more than a standard die or punch with their detailed edges! A few rhinestones around the edges and she's off!

Hope you're having a good day wherever you park your broom!








Supplies:
Paper: Taken with Teal, Basic Black, Whisper White, K&CO Halloween pack
Ink: Pigment black ink
Accessories: Velvet ric rac, Sizzix machine, nested dies, Modern Label punch, glitter and alcohol markers, dimensionals