Simple Sympathy

Recently a colleague at school lost her dad.  It is so hard to know  what to say to someone who loses someone they love and so I let my card do my talking for me.  Here is the one I sent her:

Sympathy card for a colleague using the Sweet Floral background stamp and the sentiment from Thanks For Caring (retired) set.

Inside of card using sentiment from Thoughts and Prayers set.

This is one of many of the new background stamps that I fell in love with on seeing the new catalogue.  It is so detailed and such a beautiful image I just HAD to own it!  Ironically, this is the first time I've used it!  It was another victim of "Too-Many-New-Stamps-All-At-Once" syndrome.  I am so glad that I did finally pull it out because it really is a beautiful image.  I stamped it in concord crush on wisteria wonder cardstock, sponged the edges and then layered it on always artichoke.  Those three colours compliment eachother so nicely!  The sentiment is embossed using the new pewter embossing powder from the Holiday Mini.  If you haven't tried this stuff yet you MUST!  It can look silver or gold depending on what colours you surround it with.  On this card it has a more golden tinge.  The sentiment on the inside is from Thoughts and Prayers and is again stamped in concord crush but this time on very vanilla.  I stamped a portion of the floral image again, stamping off first to give a faded look.  This simple card meant a great deal to its recipient which in turn meant a great deal to me.  That is what I love most about this hobby:  being able to create something beautiful to make someone else feel special.

Too Late...

...that's me!  I created today's card for the monochromatic challenge over at Handstamped Sentiments but was a couple of hours too late to enter!  That'll teach me to read the fine print next time!  Ah well, I still like this card and thought you might like to see it too!  It a holiday card without a  stitch of red or green!  See what you think...

 

Monochromatic holiday card using the Winter Post stamp set and Mocha Morning DSP.

Inside of card with sentiment from the Christmas Lodge set from the Holiday Mini.

So, not your typical holiday colour scheme but I actually like this look.  I used several different shades of brown:  crumb cake, soft suede and early espresso as well as very vanilla for my neutral.  I drew my colour palette from the Mocha Morning DSP...loving that stuff more everytime I use it!  The stamped images are all from the Winter Post set in the main catalogue with the exception of the music notes.  Those are courtesy of the wheel of the same name.  This card features lots of sponging and shading with the various shades of brown for depth and texture as well as some watercolouring of the skaters using the same ink colours and my aquapainter.  The antique brad and crumb cake seam binding ribbon are the perfect finishing touch for this vintage-looking Christmas card.   Now if only I'd gotten it in in time for the challenge! 
Speaking of challenges, I just received word that my card was an Artist's Pick over at Pals Paper Arts this week.  Its kind of ironic that a challenge I found really difficult earned me this honour!  I guess the difficulty of it forced me to step it up a notch!  Thanks so much to the ladies for Pals Paper Arts for choosing my card...I am humbled!

Last day of summer...

...I know the calendar doesn't officially turn to fall for another couple of weeks, but as far as I'm concerned, summer is over.  Tomorrow I start back to work and go back to the craziness of my school-year-life.  I have to say that I am not looking forward to the 5:00 am alarms and long days in the classroom.  Ah well, only 10 months till next summer!

Today I have a card I did for another online challenge.  This one's for this week's sketch challenge at Just Add Ink.  I added an extra challenge for myself to use only materials that were sitting on my desk when I started designing the card....lucky for me my desk was a mess at the time, so I had lots to work with!  First of all, let me show you the sketch:

...now here is my version of it...

Holiday card for JAI83 using scraps and odds and ends from my desk!

So, for starters, I rotated the sketch for a horizontal orientation...it just worked better for where I was heading.  The stocking is one I had put together for another project...one that didn't end up working.  I couldn't bear to waste a perfectly good stocking so I had it sitting, adhesive and all, waiting for a new home.  The medallion was leftover from the wreath I did a while back.  The glitter paper was the negative cut left over from using my Tasteful Trim die for this card.  The little snowflake was leftover from another card I am going to post later this week.  The buttons and jingle bell were sitting in their containers still, not having found a permanent home.  Put it all together and this is what you get:  a hodgepodge of a holiday card!  I actually had fun putting this together...its good to challenge oneself now and then, don't you think?!?
Now I am off to put together my lunch for tomorrow and figure out what I am going to wear...gotta love the first day of school!

A tough one...

...that's what I thought when I saw this week's colour challenge at Pals Paper Arts.  The challenge was to use basic grey, calypso coral and riding hood red on a card.  That is not a colour combo I would EVER choose to use myself, but since I'm always up for a good challenge I gave it the ol' college try.  I figured I'd kill two challenges with one card by creating a gate-fold card for the Friday Mash-up as well.  They not only wanted a gate-fold, but also to use numbers somewhere on the card as well!  Talk about a week of tough challenges!  Anyhoo...here's what I came up with:

Gate-fold card for MU22 and PPA109 using the Creative Elements stamp set

Inside of card

So, who'da thought this colour combo would be one I really like???  I discovered while watercolouring the flower that calypso coral and riding hood red blend really nicely together!  The basic grey provides a rich looking base made even lovelier with the vintage wallpaper embossing folder.  I also love the richness of the basic grey satin ribbon and the subtle bling of the rhinestones.  Conveniently, the Creative Elements set includes that No.3 stamp, so it was easy to include the required numbers element for the Mash-up.  The only thing this card is missing is a sentiment!  I  just couldn't come up with a place to put one that worked with the layout.  When I am ready to use it I will stamp an appropriate sentiment for the inside...in the meantime it remains sentimentless!  I actually really enjoyed both of these challenges...they both forced me to think outside of my stamping box and try new things which, really, is why I love playing along!

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!

Cornflowers...

...that's what today's card remind me of.  I love the beautiful blue wildflowers that grow so profusely along country roads at this time of year...they are such a vivid splash of colour against the grass...dried, and dead after this summer's heat.   When one of my hostesses asked for a generic card for her workshop this week, I pulled out the Field Flowers set and put together this simple card.  See what you think...

Simple all-occasion card using the Field Flowers and Nature Walk sets and a sentiment from Teeny Tiny Wishes.

Inside of card

This card was so fast and easy to put together I don't think I need to give you any instructions.  I will tell you the colour combos for the two-step stamping on the flowers though:  marina mist and not quite navy for the blooms and so saffron and more mustard for the centres.  The stems are always artichoke.
My hostess and her guests were thrilled with this card and loved how easily it came together.  Two-step stamping is a great way to get multi-dimensional images without having to colour or shade.  This set is fast becoming my favourite two-step stamping set EVER!

The Holiday Mini is Here!!

WOOHOO!  My favourite mini of the year has arrived!  I just love holiday crafting and having new goodies to do it with just adds to the fun.  Each year I look forward to the start of the Holiday Mini because it means all sorts of new ideas and products to play with.  If you haven't received your own copy of this fabulous new catalogue drop me a line and I will get one to you for FREE!  If you just can't wait that long, click on the image of the mini in the left side-bar to view it online.
With the new month, I have also sent out my e-newsletter.  If you think you are on my mailing list but didn't get your newsletter, please let me know...I am having issues with things I send from my Stampin' Up site getting dumped in SPAM folders! I've also updated my events page for the new month...check it out!
Now on to some stamping!  In honour of the new mini, I have another Christmas card for you!  It uses one of my favourite sets:  The Sounding Joy.  This card is inspired by one by Mary Rindel...thanks, Mary for the gorgeous inspiration!

Holiday card using The Sounding Joy stamp set, Snow Burst embossing folder and pewter embossing powder from the new Holiday mini.

Isn't this set just beautiful???  I love the script and the star-shaped background text...so elegant!  It also helps that Joy the the World is my favourite Christmas carol!  This card came together very simply and quickly and will be one of the cards we do in this month's Christmas Club.  If you like this and would like to schedule a workshop to make it and other projects with new Holiday mini products, give me a call or email and we'll set a date!