Merry Monday #23 - 3 for 3

Hello friends - in an earlier post I told you that I was so excited to be chosen as the guest designer for the Merry Monday Challenge #23 that I made 3 cards!  I have shared two of them with you and this is the 3rd and final one that I made based on the great sketch from Lesley below:

I was going with a fun take on this Christmas card for some friends and family of mine that live for Christmas shopping (especially the black Friday sales - which this year started at midnight - crazy!).  The packages are were made using a 1" square punch out of coordinating pieces of the Be of Good Cheer DSP (NEW from Stampin Up!) and the bows on the packages are made using the retired Blossom Bouquet Triple Layer punch.  I am love, love, lovin' this Christmas paper with its great reds and greens! It can be used in a fun, whimsical manner or a more traditional manner.   The fun sentiment is from a hostess only stamp set and the snowflake is from the retired Northern Frost snowflake Sizzlit Strip. 

As you can see, I really like the versatility of this sketch.  I will be using it time and time again, I'm sure.  Thank for stopping by and for letting me share my 3 cards with you - hope you like this one too.  Hugs!



52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown #6

Hello friends - hope you are having a most wonderful day.  Today's card is based on the sketch below for a fun Christmas card challenge that I have been  participating in called 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown (52CCT#6).  I am using some of the NEW DSP from Stampin Up! called Be of Good Cheer and when paired with these two cute little fellas how can you not feel cheerful when you look at them.  The tree actually is part of an image of three trees on the stamp but I taped off the other two images so I could stamp just the middle one with Staz On and then color in with my blender pen and inks.  Then I placed the cute little penguins next to the tree.  I also used another NEW product - the stitched gumball green ribbon.  It has great feel to it and is quite cooperative about being tied in a bow.   See below for the great sketch I used for this card.  I made a regular size card (5 1/2" x 4 1/4") rather than a square, but I'm definitely going to have to use this sketch again as I love square cards.

Mynette is having a design team call during the month of June.  If you love making Christmas cards (as I'm finding that I really do) this might be a great opportunity for you to showcase your work and love of Chirstmas Cheer.  I am putting my hat in the ring - wish me luck!  Thanks for stopping by to visit, I'm sure glad that you did. Hugs!

Supplies (all from Stampin Up!):  Cardstock - Cherry Cobbler, Gumball Green (NEW In-Color for 2012-2014) and Whisper White.  DSP - Be of Good Cheer.  Ribbon - 3/8" Stitched Satin Ribbon in Gumball Green (NEW). Stamps - Polar Party and Teeny Tiny Wishes (sentiment).  The sentiment is punched out with the Word Window punch and layered on.  Images were stamped on with Staz On  black ink and colored in with a blender pen and classic ink.

Another Card for Merry Monday #23

Happy Monday friends!  This is one of 3 cards I made this week using the sketch above from Lesley at the Merry Monday Challenge #23.  If you popped into my previous post today you saw that I was asked to be a guest designer this week for the Merry Monday Challenge #23 (my punchy snowman was chosen as Lesley's top pick from the MM#21 Challenge!!).  I was so excited to be chosen, and I must admit very, very nervous about being spotlighted this week.  As a first time guest designer, the thought that more people will be seeing my card, and wanting it to be extra special was - well...yikes (LOL)!  So... with my heart beating with excitement and a tiny touch of fear (still LOL),  I immediately went to work with the sketch and created 3 different cards (all quite different in style).  I couldn't decide which one to submit as my guest designer card, so I put the cards to a family vote and they helped me pick and the polar bear with the slight interpretation of the sketch as my guest designer card. 

I still really liked this card too so I decided to still play along as a participant in the challenge and share with you :o).  I tried this paper bow technique for the first time.  It's really pretty simple to do - but I did find that it is easier to work with the patterned paper instead of cardstock though as it is a bit more pliable. I definitely will do it again as I liked how it turned out and can think of lots more ways to use this.  I stamped the trees first on the Very Vanilla cardstock and then again on gumball green cardstock, then I snipped them out to highlight on the original stamped image.  The middle tree got some extra bling in the form of ornaments by using one of the sets of eyes from the Owl Builder Punch.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Hope you liked what you saw - and maybe was a bit inspired to go create something fun.  The Merry Monday challenge is a great way to get a jump start on your Christmas cards and stretch your creativity at the same time.  Hugs!

Supplies (all from Stampin Up!):  Cardstock - Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla, Riding Hood Red (ornaments) and Gumball Green (NEW In-color for 2012-2014). Stamps - Polar Party (trees), Jolly Bingo Bits (snowflake) and Petite Pairs (sentiment).  Ink - Gumball Green (NEW), Riding Hood Red and Basic Grey.  DSP - Be of Good Cheer (NEW and now available in the new SU Idea Book and Catalog - you can order by clicking on my link at the top of the blog).   I used the 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" circle punches for the sentiment. I used a retired snowflake embossing texture folder for the layer behind the trees (you can see just a little bit of it peeking out).

Guest Designer for Merry Monday #23 and Some Bling for CFC55

Hello and Merry Monday to you!  I'm so excited to have been asked to be a guest designer for this week's Merry Monday #23 challenge!!!  I have been participating in this great challenge for many weeks now and have quite a stash of neat Christmas cards for this next season.  I am always so impressed with the design team's creations and have gotten lots of inspiration from many of the others who are also participating in this challenge.  So its really and honor and priviledge to have had my card chosen as the Top Honor for Merry Monday #21 and to be able to share my card this week with you as a guest designer.  Today's card is based on yet another great sketch from our hostess Leslie (see below).  I chose to make my any shape a small rectangle and to move it down toward the bottom of the card instead of at the top. I am also participating for the first time in the CAS-Fridays Challenge CFC55 - Put a Bling on It!  My bling is all the pearls.

I designed this card with several of my friends and family members in mind who absolutely live for the day after Thanksgiving shopping to get their Christmas shopping started or done.  Me... not so much, the crowds really flip me out.  I remember one year (several years ago) I got brave and was out with a friend.   I was really checking out a big Christmas wreath and was about to pick it up to put in my cart and this lady swooped in an literally snatched it right out from under my nose!  Can you believe that??? LOL.   I do love shopping though for gifts for my loved ones and if I keep this advise in mind it will be even more fun :o) 

Thanks for stopping by today and sharing in my good news of being the guest designer!  I know the design team would love for you to play along too.  It's a great way to get your Christmas cards done early so you have more time for shopping.  Hugs!

Supplies (all from Stampin UP!):  Cardstock - Melon Mambo, Gumball Green (NEW) and Whisper White.  Stamps - sentiment is from a NEW hostess set called Carry On and the polar bear is from a set called Polar Party.  I used Gumball Green ink (a NEW 2012-2014 In-Color) for the sentiment and colored the Polar Bear and her package with blender pens and Melon Mambo, Pool Party, Gumball Green (NEW) and Raspberry Ripple (NEW) inks.  I used lots of pretty pearls from the Basic Pearls and the Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border Punch.

Freshly Made Sketches #37

Hello everyone, hope you are having (or maybe had) a wonderful weekend!  Today I am entering this card in the Freshly Made Sketches #37 Challenge - a blog hop for Rita who is expecting a little girl soon.  I loosely interpretted the sketch by Rita (see below) - by using a banner instead of the strip down the left side of the sketch to mimic the shape of the party hat and to accent the slightly topsy turvy feel of the darling image, but otherwise I followed the sketch pretty closely.  I felt that I had just a little too much pink (although I LOVE pink) and wanted to add a second color, so I consulted my Stampin Up! Color Coach which told me that Melon Mambo and Tempting Turquoise go well together.  This is not normally a combo I would have put together - and I still haven't made up my mind as to whether or not I love this combo enough to keep using it, but I do think it helped create a bright, happy card that a little girl might love to receive. And... it helped me to try something new, which is one of the reasons I have been entering these great challenges.  As a final touch, I added some bling to her party hat with basic rhinestones.  Looks like it really is too heavy for her head doesn't it?  Here's the sketch my card is based on:

Thanks so much for stopping by - I'm sure glad you did.  I hope you saw something that inspired you :o) please come back to visit again.  Congratulations to Rita - what a wonderful, precious time ahead. Hugs!

Supplies:  Cardstock - Pretty in Pink, Tempting Turquoise and Whisper White.  DSP - Melon Mambo from the Patterns Designer Series Paper Pack. Banner was made using the Petite Penants Builder Punch.  Stamps - Party Had Kiddo from Stampendous (stamped with Memento black and colored with copics), Petite Pairs (sentiment).  Large Scalloped Ovals and Large Ovals (Spellbinders), 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" circle punches (Stampin Up!). Sentiment is stamped with Melon Mambo classic ink (SU).

MOJO Monday #243 and Dynamic Duos #5

Hello friends!  Here it is Sunday already and I'm barely making the deadline for MOJO Monday #243.  Where does the time go and How does it go by so quickly? I am using the Square card option for MOJO243 and the color combo of Real Red and Island Indigo from Dynamic Duos #5 - Bold and Sassy for this card. 

I used a fun new set from Stampin Up! called Betsy's Blossoms on this card (the red flower and the bird) and some new DSP called Summer Smooches. I snipped out the bird and then stamped it once more so I could snip another wing out and pop it on top of the first one for more depth (this doesn't show up very well in the photo but looks cool in real life).   Hope you like this card and saw something that inspired you.  Thanks so much for stopping by!  Sorry to be so brief today - but I'm nearly late for a very important date :o) AND my family is complaining that they are hungry - LOL.  Hugs.

Supplies (all from Stampin Up!): Cardstock - Island Indigo, Real Read and Whisper White.  Stamps - Betsy's Blossoms, Petite Pairs (sentiment).  I also used the 2 1/2 " circle punch, the Scallop Circles #2 Sizzix die (recently retired) and the Finial Press embossing folder (also recently retired - darn!).  The ink is Real Red and Island Indigo.

Merry Monday #22

Hello friends - here is another card using one of my favorite Snow Buddies for the Merry Monday Challenge #22 based on the sketch from Lesley (see below).  This card uses some of the new Christmas DSP from Stampin Up that is now available.  It is such fun paper with its traditional reds and greens - but then I also had to add in a little of the Primrose Petal as an accent color (its ever so slightly in the striped paper too) which is a NEW In-Color for 2012-2014.  I love how this all coordinates so beautifully.  I've been having a lot of fun with my pre-order and the sneak peeks I have been giving you with the NEW products.  Now you can get them too.  It's as easy as clicking on my shop now link at the top of my blog - and you are on your way to making some beautiful Christmas creations.  You might even be inspired to play along with the Merry Monday challenge and get a head start on your Christmas cards for this season :o). 

Supplies (all from Stampin Up!): Cardstock - Cherry Cobbler, Gumball Green (NEW), Primrose Petal (NEW) and Whisper White.  DSP - Be of Good Cheer.  Ink colors used -Staz On Black, Gumball Green (NEW), Riding Hood Red, Basic Grey and Peach Parfait. Stamps - Snow Much Fun (snowman) and Bitty Banners - NEW (for the area around the sentiment) and Teeny Tiny Wishes.  The NEW Bitty Banner Framelit was used to cut out my sentiment - I cut one in green to layer behind the top (white) one, and the Scallop Circles Sizzix Die is what I used behind the 2 1/2" circle cut out for my snowman. I used a retired textured embossing folder on the Cherry Cobbler strip that looks like snowflakes.  As a last touch, I added just a few Basic Pearls to make it appear as if my darling fella is juggling the snowballs.   

Hope you enjoyed todays card!  Thanks so much for stopping by!  Happy Weekend to you.