She's Alive!

Finally!  I am back among the living.  Wow...this one really knocked my entire family out for a whole week!  Not fun and certainly not something I'd wish on anybody!  Thankfully the worst of it seems to be behind us, though my DH is still feeling under the weather.  I am sniffly but certainly much better than I was.  So, that means I'm back to stamping!  Today I have a fun Christmas card I designed a while back for one of my events this season.  The layout is based on a sketch challenge over at Pals Paper Arts, but I am WAY late to enter the challenge!  Even so, I thought you might like to see what I did, so here is the sketch:



...and here is my take on it:

Holiday card featuring the Snow Much Fun stamp set with sentiment from More Merry Messages.

Don't you just love the Snow Much Fun stamp set?  Those images are just too cute and beg to be coloured!  I have to say I sold several copies of that set during the Online Extravaganza sale when it was 50% off! On this card I used only a portion of the tall snowman, stamping it with Staz-On and colouring with my Stampin' Write markers.  The DSP in the background is from the Snow Festival pack.  I embossed the bottom of the card base using the Delicate Designs TIEF and then sponged lightly using Whisper White Craft ink for a frosted look.  I also made use of some of the white sweater trim from the Holiday catalogue which gives a cozy warmth to the design.  I took some liberties with the sketch, adding the sentiment banner at the bottom, which I embellished with a bit of Cherry Cobbler Baker's Twine. 
There are a lot of elements to this card...I just couldn't stop adding stuff!  Gotta love it when those creative juices get flowing!  Here's hoping they keep flowing...a week in bed has put be WAY behind on just about everything!  Time to get back to my stamping corner...enjoy your Sunday, everyone!

Tags Class Preview

Today I have a little sneak peek at some of the projects I'll be offering as part of my Tags...You're It! class coming up in a couple of weeks.  I had great fun this weekend designing all sorts of gift tags...here is a sampling  of what you can expect:

Selection of Gift Tags for my upcoming Tags You're It! class.

This class is being offered in two different time slots, however the Friday evening class is full.  There are still spots available in the Saturday morning class, but they're going fast, so be sure to call or email to reserve your spot!  For additional details about this event, click the Upcoming Classes and Events tab at the top of this page.

Finally Stamping again!

Well, after a few weeks of near insanity, things are finally getting back to normal in our household.  Our Austrian visitors have returned home safely and the Thanksgiving Holiday and Rockton Fair are behind us.  Now I have a few weeks of calm before the Holiday Season and all of it's accompanying craziness are upon me.  This week I held my monthly techniques group and we, of course, got started on Christmas cards.  Here is one we did that features the burnished vellum technique:

Christmas Card featuring the Snow Much Fun stamp set with sentiment from Pennant Parade.

I still love this stamp set!  The images are too cute and just beg to be coloured! Rather than watercolouring this image I used a combination of Stained Glass and Burnished Vellum techniques.   The DSP in the  background is from the Snow Festival pack...definitely going to need to order more of that stuff before long!  So many fun patterns for not only Christmas, but all winter long!  Now...off to clean up my stamp corner and finally get organized!

Another Quiet Sunday...

...that's two in a row!  I feel spoiled.  Today marks the second Sunday in a row that I've been able to spend with my family.  We are heading to church and then this afternoon its all about the pumpkin carving!  Max is super excited about Halloween this year...a huge switch from the boy who wouldn't even put on a costume last year!  Of course, it helps that his pre-school has been hyping Halloween since the beginning of October.  He is dressing as Mario (appropriate since his life is all about Mario Galaxy for the  Wii these days) and he sure looks cute in that big black mustache!  I'll post photos of his big night on Tuesday. 
In the meantime I have another project I designed for the mega-Stamp-A-Stack  I did last weekend.  See what you think...

Cute, vintage-inspired Christmas card using the Snow Much Fun set with sentiment from Petite Pairs

Inside view

Now, I am not generally a "cute" Christmas kinda gal.  I love all things vintage and my home is decorated in a Victorian style during the holidays.  But I have to say that this set has really grown on me.  If I have to do a cutesy Christmas card this is my go-to choice.  I was faced with a challenge on this card, in that I couldn't have 12 ladies all colouring their snowmen at the same time, so I had to design a card that didn't require colouring!  I stamped the snowmen in early espresso on crumb cake cardstock...and I quite like the look!  With a bit of distressing and some sponging one of the ladies commented that it almost looked like leather!  The rest of the card is pretty straightforward.  The colours I used are always artichoke and riding hood red.  I used the snowburst embossing folder on the cardbase and added the little ribbon treatment with some of those cute little mini jingle bells to finish it off.  The ladies at my SAS really like this card and I do too...I surprised even myself!

...ok...so what happend to the week???

I think I have a problem.  I seem to be losing long stretches of time.  I could swear it was just Sunday night and now here it is Friday already!  Not that I'm complaining...I love it when the work week flies by; but I am a little concerned over just how quickly time is passing these days.  Tomorrow is October first, for goodness sake!!  How the heck did that happen??  Tomorrow is also World Card-making Day and though I am not holding an event to mark the occasion, I will most certainly be busy making cards!  I have exactly one week to get my booth ready for my debut at the Rockton World's Fair.  Talk about a ton to get done!  My To-Do list is literally a page and a half long!!  Tomorrow is all about getting my display projects done, so the rubber will be burning in my house tomorrow!  For now I have a cute little giftcard holder I created for a recent class.  Check this out:

Giftcard holder featuring the Snow Much Fun set and the Top Note die.

Cute, huh?  I love this Snow Much Fun set!  That chubby little snowman is the cutest!!  I designed this project for a class on watercolouring with aquapainters I did earlier in the month.  My ladies loved it!  This is certainly one of those lots-of-bang-for-not-much-effort projects.  I used the top note die to cut the base, and was able to cut all the layers at once...gotta love the Big Shot!  I used lots of new product too:  Dazzling Details on the hat and buttons, a mini jingle bell as the pompom on the hat and the new snowburst embossing folder on the inside pocket to add some texture and interest to the inside of the card.  The whole thing pivots on the brad that holds it together at the top.  Such a simple design, yet so cute! 
I am going to try really hard to be more consistent in my posting this next week, but I honestly can't make any promises.  I have SO much to do to get ready for the fair I almost need to take the week off work to get it all done!  I will try to keep you updated on my progress and post photos of projects as I complete them.  In the meantime, enjoy the weekend!

Back to Christmas stamping!

Well, I was able to take a bit of a break from Christmas cards over the last week or so but now I have to plan this month's Christmas Club projects, so I am back in holiday mode.  Today's card is one I did as I was searching for a way to use the Snow Much Fun set from the main catty in a way that didn't require watercolouring.  I need my projects for the Christmas Club to be fast and relatively simple so that we can get our 12 cards done in 3 hours!  Watercolouring, while not difficult can be time consuming, so I needed a design that could stand without it.  This is what I came up with:

Holiday card featuring the Snow Much Fun set and sentiment from Teeny Tiny Wishes.

Inside of card

What do you think?  I am fairly happy with it, except I should have stamped the snowman on the front full strength, rather than stamped-off like I did.  He's a bit too pale!  I covered him with iridescent ice embossing powder to make him sparkle...looks kinda like he's in a snow storm!  The DSP I used is from the Frostwood Lodge suite in the new Holiday Mini and the scalloped circle I used to thread the ribbon through is from the Perfect Pennants die.  I used confetti white cardstock as the base for this card...I just like the little hints of colour and texture it adds.  I also used some of those adorable mini jingle bells from the mini...they ACTUALLY jingle!  Too cute!
Enjoy your long weekend...last one of the summer!  How the heck did that happen?!?  I am trying to psych myself up for Tuesday and the crazy schedule that goes with it...so far its not working!  Good thing I have two more days to go!