Texture Overload

Well, here it is Friday already...and more than half-way through November!  How the heck does that happen??  Time just seems to disappear on me these days.  The card I have for you today is one I made more than a week ago and just haven't had time to post till now.  It uses a bunch of odds and ends I had laying on my stamping table that were begging to be made into a card.

Holiday card using Holly Berry Bouquet DSP with sentiment from Bright Hopes.

This card has a ton of texture.  Starting with the embossed polka dots on the card base and then the vintage wallpaper embossed top note die cut.  I added a strip of the glittery polka-dotted paper from the Holly Berry Bouquet pack and topped it with a bit of real red satin ribbon.  The rosette was also made with paper from the same pack and topped off with an ornament punched out of red glimmer paper.  I added a little vanilla bow and the sentiment from Bright Hopes that I hand-cut.  Not much stamping on this card, but I still quite like the result!

Z-fold Joy

Well, my Christmas class schedule is in full swing!  Last night I ran a Stamp-A-Stack in Dundas for a fun group of scrapbooking friends.  We did 12 cards and had lots of laughs!  Here is one of the cards I designed for that class...

Elegant holiday card using The Sounding Joy, Bright Hopes and Christmas Greetings stamp sets.

Open view.

I have to say I was really happy with the way this one turned out.  I was going for something that would come together fairly quickly and easily but that would still provide the WOW factor.  I turned, once again to that gorgeous Mocha Morning DSP for inspiration, added richness with the cherry cobbler seam binding ribbon and an antique brad and viola...quick and easy Christmas card!
Today is all about the gift tags...I have my class tomorrow night and need to prep 120 tags this afternoon!  I hope your Sunday is a little less busy than mine will be!

Variation on a theme...

...that's what today's card is.  After making the card I posted yesterday I decided to try  different layout using many of the same elements.  This is what I came up with...

Holiday card using Bright Hopes stamp set.

Inside view...look familiar??

So this time, instead of using the rock and roll technique, I used my markers to be more precise as to where I was using the darker shade.  I inked the stamp with my pool party ink pad and then used my island indigo marker to colour the parts I wanted darker.  I also heat embossed the entire focal image using iridescent ice which gives it a ton of sparkle.  I used many of the same elements as I did on yesterday's card, but instead of rhinestones I used the silver mini brads...love those little guys!  Now my dilemma is which card I like best!  I'd love to hear what you all think!

Rock 'n' Roll Hopes

Today's post is one I designed for a Stamp-A-Stack I am doing on Saturday evening.  I wanted something elegant yet clean and so I turned to the Bright Hopes set from the Holiday Mini.  I love this year's in-colours, especially pool party and island indigo, so I decided to combine them using the rock and roll technique.  This simple, yet effective technique is a quick and easy way to get a multi-coloured image...have a look...

Holiday card using the Bright Hopes set from the Holiday Mini

Inside view

I am trying to use a lot of whisper white these days...here's a funny story why...

A couple of weeks ago I was in the midst of prepping for three large Stamp-A-Stacks in a short period of time.  I ran short of some cardstock and needed to place an expedited order to get it here in time.  I was at school (I'm a teacher by day) and was rushing to get my order in by 9:00 am MT so that it would ship that day.  I was distracted and rushed and when I went to enter a quantity of 2 packages of whisper white cardstock I neglected to delete the default quantity of 1.  That meant that when I entered 2 packages it actually registered 12!!  Being too rushed to notice I submitted my order and was rather surprised when my package arrived two days later with a whole lot of whisper white cardstock in it!  So...anybody need any whisper white cardstock???

I do have to say, I am liking the white-on-white background look.  I actually did a variation on this card that I'll post for you tomorrow.  In the meantime I am off to Kindermusik with my son!

Bright Hopes for Christmas

Tonight my Christmas Club meets and before they arrive I thought I'd do a quick post to show you one of the projects we'll be doing.

Holiday card using the Bright Hopes set from the Holiday mini

I also used this card for a Stamp-A-Stack I did for a large group of 12 ladies on Saturday.  It is simple and comes together quite easily, yet is rather elegant...a perfect SAS project!
I'm not sure if you can tell in the photo, but I used the Fancy Fan letterpress plate to give my real red background a hint of texture.  I embossed the tree image using the pewter embossing powder...it truly is my new go-to favourite for heat embossing.  The cardbase is very vanilla which I preferred over whisper white as it adds a level of richness without the stark contrast that whisper white would give.  For my SAS tonight I am actually using very vanilla ribbon instead of the old olive...I ran out of old olive after my big class on Saturday!  It actually does look just as elegant with the vanilla satin ribbon.  I hope my Christmas Club folks like this one as much as I do!