Mojo Monday #326 and the Shabby Tea Room #199

I've combined a couple of challenges today that both inspired me immediately to do another Christmas card, the Shabby Tea Room's colours of Kraft/Black/Cream along with Mojo Monday's square sketch this week.  You can't tell too well in the photo, but the background paper is actually a cream on cream snowflake pattern that fits in well with the snowflake die cuts:

I've also come up with a new Christmas card policy in my craft room... to always make 2 of each card.  That was kindof a "duh" moment for me... I sometimes make multiples of a card, but if I simply ALWAYS make two of each Christmas card, I just may be in a better place come next fall when life simply gets busier.

Patterned paper is Frosted, CTMH; Cardstock is Kraft, Black & Colonial White, CTMH; Stamp set is Peace on Earth, Verve; Ink is Tuxedo Black, Memento; Snowflake dies, My Favorite Things; Martha Stewart snowflake punch.

Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge #200!

Karen Giron is celebrating her 200th Sweet Sunday Sketch this week, so I decided to play along :o)  It was heavenly to make a Christmas card last night to add to next year's stash!  I took my time, there was no rush to make it and then quickly get it in the mail... I just played - heaven.  Here's what I came up with:

Here was Karen's sketch:

Patterned papers are Peppermint Twist, Crate Paper; Cardstock is Pacifica & Colonial White, CTMH; Stamp sets are Frosted WOTG, CTMH & Rescue Remedies, Waltzingmouse Stamps;  Inks are Black, Pacifica and Clover Meadow, CTMH;  Sparkle, CTMH; Martha Stewart snowflake punch.

 

Gordon Golfer

Hello and a belated Merry Christmas to everyone!  My posting was cut off a little early before Christmas last week, when we had 2 ice storms sweep through Toronto... and after the second one hit, we lost power for 52 hours!  Luckily the weather hovered just below freezing for the first couple of days, and just when it was diving to -18 (celsuis!) our power came back on in the wee hours of Christmas Eve.  It was an interesting few days trying to stay warm, and accomplish as much of the pre-Christmas hustle as we could without electricity.  Thank goodness for our gas fireplace, that kept the house in the 50's and low 60's.  We were the fortunate ones that were only without power for 2 days, there are still 50,000+ people without power - and this is 7 days later.  Scroll down to the bottom of my post, and you'll see a couple of ice storm photos.
     Meanwhile... I have a brother-in-law with a birthday in early January, and he is a big golfer, so I've pulled out the Gordon Golfer set (sku#4325) from Art Impressions to make him a card:

And here is a close up of Gordon:

And here is what my weeping mulberry looked like with over an inch of ice... and a sunset shot of the pink sky reflected in the icy tree branches:

 

Patterned papers are Carte Postale, Basic Grey; Cardstock is Chocolate & Colonial White, CTMH; Ink is Tuxedo Black, Memento; Baker's Twine, The Twinery; Copic Markers.

 

Wine Bottle Gift Tags

My Christmas cards are finished for the year, but I'm still delivering gifts to a few co-workers, and we have a few holiday parties to attend... so I've made up some wine bottle gift tags to jazz up some hostess gifts:

This one features Hope Angel (Sku#T4179) on a Kraft cardstock base, and I have another one using my go-to image this season, Lighted Snowman set (Sku#UM4349):

I started by cutting a 3"x 9" rectangle, scored it at 3", rounded the top and cut the bottom into a pennant.  A 1 1/2" circle was cut out of the top portion.  I stamped the images onto ovals, and machine stitched them onto cardstock mats:

Here are what they look like flattened:

When I am making Christmas cards & tags, I always stamp several extra images and colour them up.  Then when I need a quick gift, it just takes a few minutes to put a little something special together.  

 



Christmas Tags

I am posting on the Art Impressions blog today!

Well, it's present wrapping time in the Day household... so I've been making Christmas tags!  I based my designs on an idea I saw on Pinterest, where the designer had stamped her images half off of the tag, and I really like the look.  So I've used three of my favourite Art Impressions Christmas stamps, and this is what I came up with:

I started by cutting out white cardstock tag shapes with my Cricut (they're about 4 1/2").  Then I stamped about 3/4 of each image onto the tag, slightly off center, leaving enough room at the top to write my "To" and "From".

Here is the Lighted Snowman Set (Sku#4349):

And my Christmas Santa (Sku#T4171):

 

And finally, Santa's Helper - Eunice (Sku#P1790)

I added some chevron ribbon, and tied them up with some twine and jingle bells.  You can stamp a bunch of these in just a few minutes, and then do some colouring in front of the tv - you'll have a pile of tags in no time :o)

Happy stamping everyone!

 



More Babies!

I was going to title my post "Can't stop making babies" but I thought that might give you the wrong impression...  I had several more Ai Little People images coloured up, so I kept going and made another simple card using both Little Man and Little Sprout.  They're very much in the same style as my post last week, but these little guys look so cute in circles, that I stuck with the look:

And a shot of them both together:

Patterned papers are My Girl & Boy Crazy, My Mind's Eye; Cardstock is Slate, Lagoon, Smoothie & Colonial White, CTMH; Ink is Tuxedo Black, Memento; Copic Markers; Stamp sets are Little Man (Sku#UM4321) and Little Sprout (Sku#UM4317), Art Impressions.

 

Christmas Santa

It's my day posting on the Art Impressions Blog!

I have a square card to share with you today, using a wonderful holiday stamp: Christmas Santa (Sku#T4171).   My card is 5 1/2" square: 

 

Here's a closeup of Santa:

To make my little poinsettia, I cut out two sizes of red snowflake images with my Cricut, and punched some gold cardstock with my 1/8" hole punch:

I bent each of the five points over a stylus to give them a little dimension, then stacked them together and added the yellow centers:

 

Happy stamping everyone!

 

 

 



Charlie's Sketch

My cardmaking friend, Sheri, has a very talented 8yr old son, who is an amazing sketch artist!  I needed a few more Christmas cards, so when I saw Charlie's sketch, I knew that I had the perfect image already coloured and ready to go.  And yes, you've seen my Reindeer Games gal from Art Impressions more than a few times recently, but she is my favourite holiday stamp this year!  Here's what I came up with:

Here is Charlie's great sketch:

If you want to play along and use Charlie's sketch - leave a note here on Sheri's blog!

Patterned papers are Very Merry Christmas, Echo Park; Cardstock is Cocoa & White Daisy, CTMH; Ink is Tuxedo Black, Memento; Copic Markers.

Frosted Christmas cards

I have a wonderful new Memory Box die that I'm trying out today on a couple of cards.  I've used the Frosted paper pack, and added a little chunky glitter to the berries:

Patterned papers are Frosted, CTMH; Cardstock is Cocoa, Slate, Colonial White, CTMH; Ink is Whisper, CTMH; Stamp set is Glad Tidings, Verve; Curvy Oval dies, Verve; Hayden Twigs die, Memory Box.

 

Art Impressions Babies Blog Hop!

The Art Impressions Design Team is hopping today to share the absolutely adorable Ai Little People with you!  They are now available for purchase through the Ai website here.  I have made up two cards with Little Man (Sku#UM4321), and for my first card, I cut out my Little Man and popped him up on an Action Wobble:

I love machine stitching on my cards, so I've done a straight stitch in cream thread around the background panels, and have added some zigzag stitching in teal to both cards:

 

And a shot of them both together:

Well, I loved my cards so much that I decided to go ahead and make the female version.  So here are the same card designs using Little Sprout (Sku#UM4317):

 

There is some serious cuteness in this line of stamps, so you're going to want to visit all the Design Team blogs today to check out all the babies!  The hop begins here on the Ai blog, if you'd like to start at the beginning.  Your next stop is Cheryl's blog, or here is a complete listing of everyone on today's hop:

Art Impressions Blog

Marie-Pierre Capistran

  Reneé Matarese

   Kerry Kung

   Rhonda Harre

     Karen Day 

  Cheryl Valadez

We have a new challenge starting today on the Art Impressions blog - we are looking for any kind of card that spreads some cheer, whether it's for Christmas or another occassion, like a new baby!

 Happy stamping everyone!

 

 

Atlantic Hearts Challenge #32

I'm playing along with the Atlantic Hearts Challenge this week, with the Frosted WOTG stamp set, and the Sparkle & Shine paper pack:

I was trying hard to incorporate juniper into the card somehow (that's the minty green that you see in the polka dot paper)... I tried second generation snowflakes behind the sentiment, but it was way too busy.  I used to own juniper grosgrain ribbon, but not any longer, so I couldn't add any ribbon.  Anyhow, I decided that plain was best for now - any suggestions?

Patterned papers are Sparkle & Shine, Cardstock is Slate, Ruby & White Daisy; Ink is Slate; Stamp set is Frosted Workshop on the Go - all Close To My Heart.

 

Charity Angel

It is my Tuesday post on the Art Impressions blog!

I have a trio of cards to share today, using the sweet Charity Angel (Sku#T4177) .  She is one of three angels in the Art Impressions collection of Christmas stamps (you can see Faith here, and Hope here!)  I had this set of papers with graphic patterns, and coloured up my angels to match:

 

I made a little banner of pennant shapes, spelling out Joy, which I heat embossed with gold embossing powder for a little shimmer.  I glued them onto some gold cord and added a bow at each end.  There are three little gold sparkles on the lower right of the card as well.

Happy stamping everyone!

 

 



Mojo Monday #332

Another Reindeer Games gal for Mojo Monday this week.  I kept it fairly clean, not a lot of layers, just added a grosgrain bow & a button:

Patterned papers are Very Merry Christmas, Echo Park; Cardstock is Cocoa & White Daisy, CTMH; Stamp set is Reindeer Games (Sku#UM4351), Art Impressions; Ink is Tuxedo Black, Memento; Copic Markers; Button and Chocolate grosgrain ribbon, CTMH.  Twine, American Crafts.