12.29.2018

Winter Snow

 So, this weeks Free for all ( that comes out on Friday) is to create a Winter Thankyou card.. and I had to smile because, I made this card for June & Dale the day after Christmas and (the inside has the Thank you part of the sentiment) and I knew this was a theme I wanted to do more of.
And then on Saturday I seen the ways to use it was to do a Z (anything) card and one of the links happened to go to the Swinging Z fold tutorial. ( which I have done in the past and was OK with the steps turning out for me) so, I decided I would you know combine the challenges...
I like how the card turned out but, it did not want to be a thank-you note so... its just a swinging Z fold. (with snow) I did modify this from the tutorial to be a 6" square when it is folded closed. So I started with a 6" x 12" piece of cardstock that was scored at 6" in the center and then again at 3" on one of the 6" panels.

 what it looks like folded flat-ish and closed. the tab was done with a spellbinders labels 1 die the second size down from the largest in the set.

 The corrugate is from Die Cuts with a view it has some acrylic green & white paints on it.
The three snowflakes are all Sizzix dies, one is white corrugate, one is PTI vellum cardstock and the top is some recollections white glitter cardstock. The button is a craft one and there is some Hemp string tied in the holes.
I did use an Xacto knife to cut the shape from the fold instead of scissors but, there still was one goof so out came the scissors to distress up the edges slightly.
 what it looks like standing.

A peek at the inside, so when I was gluing the diecuts to the printed paper ( Basic Grey retired) I did line them up with the curves of the cut out on the front and ha, evidently I tilted it as I was tracing the die and never noticed until I glued this in at a slight angle. its OK I doubt most people will notice. but, If I had done it "straight" then it would peek out funny when the card was closed. That sentiment is from the Power Poppy Botanical tree set heat embossed with some SU pool powder. I did not mount this to a folded square cardbase and left it like this to free stand on the Z fold. You can find this tutorial here to try it. Thanks for stopping by.

12.28.2018

Inspired by {Unique Vintage}

This week Susan has shared a site called Unique Vintage with us and I found this adorable Penguin bag. ( I have a secondary thing for them following giraffe's so, I have a little stack of these IO penguins colored that I picked up last year and never used yet that were waiting for an idea)
and my only real thought was to keep it simple since the bag is just the birds body.
So, this was stamped with Versafine Onyx Black ink on Neenah solar white and cut out with a plain Hero Arts Rectangle die. the finished size is A6 in real life. the penguin I did add some color with Polychromos pencils. ( not a lot, not really even any shading) and the sentiment is from the Penny Black set called Sweetest Moments.


Doesn't this bag just make you smile from ear to ear? ( I want one, its highly doubtful I would use it but, I love this. and so far have resisted ordering one for my inner child) You can find it here in their store. and You can find this challenge here to play along with us, Thanks for stopping by.

12.21.2018

Inspired by {the Lakeside Collection}

This week Brenda has sent us to the Lakeside collection for our Inspiration hunting. and I happened across this distressed butterfly on the white washed wood fence and loved the textures.

 This butterfly (Sizzix Tim Holtz layering butterfly) was diecut from some recycled cardboard from a delivery that I had used some acrylic paint on the ribs.
 ( there are 4 shades of greens with some white)
(this was shot with some of the bigger blobs still wet ha ha) the sentiment is from Penny Black and up on foam pop dots, the white fence print is a hobby lobby paper. the whitewashed cardstock base is from Coredinations and this one finished out at 6" square in real life. I just may add some wire antennas when the paint drys completely but, have not decided that one for sure or not yet.
I hope you all are ready for Christmas but, in case you are still working on those projects there are holiday things in that store also.

These outdoor decorations can be found here in their store. And you can find this challenge here to play along with us. Thanks for stopping by.

12.20.2018

VSN {so far}

Misti has a challenge to do a card based on a Christmas Carol ( no, not the story any music carol) so, since I had this Santa from Stamping Bella colored already I based mine on Here comes Santa Claus.


His skin was colored with copic markers and the rest is polychromos and prisma pencils. That sentiment is from the reverse confetti holiday gnomes set.


Sharon has a challenge based on the first Christmas and so, since these challenges have a time limit and I did not have any of my Nativity images colored in advance I picked this old one from Stampendous and just colored it barely barely so it would go quickly, the sentiment is from IO.


Jeanette has a challenge to include a poinsettia, and I had this old one from the SU a flower for all seasons already colored and that frame is a drop piece from something else I did a few weeks ago and the sentiment is one I cut last week when these dies arrived in the mail so, this was done very fast with everything already on the table. its only 4 1/4" square.

This was done for one of Ann's challenges maybe this one was for a Poinsettia? something, the whole time I was cutting papers for this I kept leaving space for a long skinny banner Christmas blessings and at the last minute I glued this square-ish one down instead. ( and I really dont like all those stripes being so big at the bottom.

This was previously colored with polychromos and Prisma pencils. Its an older stamp from PSX.



So, the next morning I pulled off the square sentiment and put this banner back where I started and I liked this one much better.


Ann has a challenge for the polar express so, you needed a child and a train. the Sm. Jonathan is an older stamp from Stampington & Co. that was colored with copic markers and cut out a long time ago. the train and tree are from an older Hero Arts monthly kit. I am probably going to give this one to hubs for this year as when he was growing up they always put a train that moved around the base of their tree.

This was done for Brenda's always winter challenge the snowflake pattern background (Hero Arts) was heat embossed on some Mixed media strathmore paper and has some oxide inks with water smooshed over that. the sentiment is from My Favorite Things.


Bev has a challenge about farm animals having a Christmas party in the barn, and since we have sheep and chickens in our barn, that is usually something I do have colored. this one is from Whipper Snapper and this card is only 3X3 in real life.


Now this is the part that makes it work for Nicole's challenge which is to take a goof and make it work, when I was totally done with the snowman and the snowtex had dried, I stamped this sentiment on, and it got blurry smeary on the right side, so I grabbed a scrap and stamped it again. and then when it was going through the big shot it moved a little and then it was crooked. such is life.
I used it anyways and made the words straight even though the diecut is slightly angled.
(it's handmade) they are not supposed to be perfect right? :) Oh, and this card was also inspired by this week's featured stamper Di, whose cards seen here I love every detail on.

And then Sue has a Pop up card challenge and so while I was making gift card holders I did this one which is 4 each 4" stitched circle diecuts from a Memory Box die that were scored at the 2" mark and glued together in a clock wise pattern, I did add a MFT stitched square in the inside center to put a sentiment on and then you fold it up the same way, one fold at a time, you want to keep the score lines outside of each other as you are folding so that you end up with a square so, since I do not do these that often I tend to play with mine a bit before I glue it all the way. and then I just tied it shut with some vintage notions lace and so when its untied it "pops" up. the Joy is a Pretty Pink Posh shaker die and I just cut it twice from the blue shimmer and glued it together to give it some stability.

I do not know if I will steal time to do any of the rest of the challenges but, this did give me a big push towards finishing what I needed to send out this year with some spares for next year.
thanks for stopping by.

12.19.2018

WOYWW #498 {insides}

Happy desk peeking day, if you'd like to see more spaces or play along 
the link up for this blog hop starts here at our hostess
There is also a new Instagram hashtag of #WOYWW


 So, this is a last night after work shot. knowing I would be driving all day today for work. I grabbed my phone and shot this real quick. this is the stamp that I put inside some of my Christmas cards. ( which I actually got all the envelopes stuffed last night too)
It arrived on monday with some other stamps from the newest Impression Obsession release. Also on monday came some envelopes from Amazon to the right is a set of 6 skinny dies from Spellbinders that cut out ho ho ho and fa la la and a second one that ( I did not order) turns out it is a Christmas gift from DS. so, it was a huge surprise...
I think the free gift stamp may be a lamb but, I have not inked it as of yet. and Yep, I was drinking lots of coffee with cocoa and cream in it yesterday afternoon while it was raining too. And it looks like I still have not put the replacement cartridge into the label maker yet either. well, there is always next year... lol that is what Hubs is saying constantly the last two weeks. ha ha. Thanks for stopping by I hope you all are closer to being ready for Christmas too.

12.16.2018

Inspired by {ShutterStock}

This week we are headed to the ShutterStock site because, at this time of the year we all need a little quick and easy to get last minute projects done yes? :) Chances are you have already seen images from the site used as Meme's and Ad's and such.


 This snowman landscape ( Elyzbells UK size) image was stamped with some Versafine onyx black on Neenah solar white ( 110#) and colored with water based markers and a gold gel pen, some clear wink of stella. a very simple thing. and knowing that the shutterstock site is huge. I actually had this image colored on the table from last weekends card making marathon for Earl and wanted to use it for one of my cards to send out and just typed in snow scene into the search box there which made me find the image below rather painlessly. The frame was die cut from some navy-ish shimmer from die cuts with a view and a My Favorite Things stitched dome die and the sentiment is a Simon Says Stamp holiday words in a line die cut. these are up on foam pop dots to give it some depth like you are peeking out a window at the scene and this one finished out at A2 in real life.

You can find this image here.
and to play along with the Inspiration Challenge this week you can find that here

12.12.2018

WOYWW #497 {Tags}

Happy desk peeking day, if you'd like to see more spaces or play along 
the link up for this blog hop starts here at our hostess
There is also a new Instagram hashtag of #WOYWW


 So, for reals this is my Tuesday "work desk" lol... I came to work and had found this Whooville "tree" on my desk is that not the funnest thing ever? :) It was a gift from my friend at work.
(and I did haul it home)

 now monday brought some happy mail in the form of SSS diecember loot.
and I really thought this was what you were going to get to see this week because, I had finished a stack of custom Christmas cards over the weekend and had not gotten back to finishing my things I need ( tags with names on them for work and personal) So,
 Tuesday night after work I started cutting out names and such for tags.
Since we also shared some Rose of Pinot Nior. with dinner nothing has been glued as of yet so, it can be straight hahaha.


 A closer look towards the left, and will wonders never cease, I actually got my sample done for the IC I am hosting this week ( before Thursday) which is a rare thing. and those make up brushes off to the side have not been played with yet but,I found an empty flower pot to hold them. They are these ones that were linked to on Dina's blog a while back. The bristles of the brushes are extremely soft to the touch so, I decided that having them out and in reach means I will be more likely to mess around with them. ( probably with oxide inks as that seems to be more and more what I am reaching for to blend and shade with) That's about it for me, thanks for stopping by.

12.09.2018

Custom Christmas Cards

These are the rest of Earl's Christmas cards he requested this year, the first was done for his grandson Eli and can be seen in this previous post. He asked me for these last Thursday with the intentions of picking them up Tuesday. 

 
The titmouse stamp here is from Serendipity stamps its colored with prisma & polychromos pencils and there is a bit of snowtex on the branches where the snow was drawn.


 A closer look at the snow. It took me to almost the end of doing this batch of cards for him to realize that the letters on the Concord & 9th perfectly penned set... you cannot lay them all on a clear block and stamp them like so, they have a halo around each letters so, if you want them to have that script calligraphy penned look. you have to do them one letter at a time. ( I thought I was doing good writing the names backwards hahahah)
 This one the angel is from Crafty Individuals. the edges were done with a krylon gold leafing pen.

 On the angel I colored her skin with copic markers and the wings with a clear wink of stella pen.

 This week's featured stamper is miss Vicki :) and I found this darling card in her gallery this morning and thought ah ha... :) because, I knew I had this stamp that has not seen ink for a while. 

She was colored with pencils and the skin is copic markers. there is both clear wink of stella and crystal colored stickles on the snow here.

 For his son The hero arts pinecone wreath was stamped with some olympia green versafine and I added polychromos pencils over the stamped lines and then added some snow tex and crystal stickles to the wreath too.

 A closer look at that. and taking a third look at the spelling on his name I may have to pitch this one and start over as his name may be spelled Jasson. not Jaason.


Since I am not really sure which way his name is spelled I decided to do a back up card just in case tonight as there will more than likely no time to make one tomorrow.

 This one I did the sky on the Elyzbells snowman landscape with a water based marker and a lot of water which got a little streaky & warped but, in my head it was going to finish looking more like a northern lights look haha. ( needs more colors for that but, I liked how it looked when dry so just rolled with it. )
 The snow and snowman have some white gel pen and clear wink of stella on them.
the star has some gold gel pen on it. and the trees and scarf were done with tri liner pens.

 The lady who is one of Earl's friends or neighbors that told him about my cards is receiving this one. she is retired from playing in an symphony orchestra and loves Music and Kayacking ( and snarky cards) but, Earl likes more traditional things so, I think since he is giving it to her this will work.

 I just got these sweet penguins from My Favorite things not too long ago and had stamped this one in smokey grey and colroed him with some pencils.
I kept adding more and more darker and darker greys trying to get him to pop and I think next time I will do it in black.

 Now this, is a previously made card seen here. For an Inspiration Challenge, So I decided it was too plain and its headed to a granddaughter that dances Ballet ( and Earl likes pink for her) so, I decided it needed more to the tree. added a star stamp over the top of the other star,scribbled some gold on it. and randomly dropped some ( dries clear) nuvo drops in soft blue and pink to the tree.


 a closer look at that.

 This one I outsmarted my self. this one was originally going to be a square card. I had the words and letters stamped in the bottom center of the printed woodgrain paper and then had the window (impression obsession) on a piece of  white Neenah, and I cut it out with scissors and told my self, just stamp one on the card where you want it to get the out of the box branches back... so far so good... only its a wood mounted rubber stamp, so I managed to off set it to the right and then trimmed the wood panel down and down until this didn't look so crooked and made it finish at A6 instead.
There is snow text on the branches and wood grain prints. the "glass" part of the image has clear wink of stella on it and the berries have some white gel pen and diamond glaze on them.


that's about it for now, thanks for stopping by.

12.07.2018

Inspired by { the Incredible Christmas Place}

This week Angie has sent us to the Incredible Christmas Place for inspiration where when I seen this Star Wreath I knew instantly that I had this IO star wreath in the un-inked stamps basket waiting. When I bought it my thought was to go Patriotic and do it Red White & Blue. 
Maybe Next time. 
 So, for the last few years I have done a series of custom cards for a man that lives out of the town where I live. and this year, he just asked me for these yesterday. So, this was the first one because, I had just finished coloring this Impression Obsession star wreath maybe 29 minutes before he asked and I knew it would be easy enough to cut the panel large enough to include one of his names on it.
In the past I have added his names to the cards on tags and let them dangle from ribbons and such and this time around that was pretty much the only request he made was he wanted the names flat on the design. So, I have a feeling that the majority of his cards will be on the flatter side this year. ( he mails them in batches to a couple of homes of his out of state family so, lumps like buttons are not an issue) But, I did make more of an effort this last year to keep my Christmas cards flatter than in the past since its so many things to be mailed at once. and that is shocking when they give you the total at the post office haha.  The printed paper on this is from the photoplay mad for plaid 6" printed papers pad and it finished out at 6" square in real life.

A closer look at the coloring, this was done with polychromos and prisma pencils. The star was stamped on some Neenah solar white with Versafine onyx black.

This wreath can be seen here in their store. ( its really 5' across in real life) which would be awesome on the side of our barn with twinkle lights added to it haha :) If you'd like to play along with us this challenge can be found here at SplitcoastStampers. I am hoping after I work my way through Earl's list that I will then start on mine. Maybe even this weekend, it's supposed to snow here again. cross your fingers for me & thanks for stopping by.