This die cut stocking is from a set by Marianne Design. It had the snowflake and a tiny heart as part of the set. I cut it in copper and added the snowflake along with the little bow as you see. I also added a small gem and the Spellbinders banner. I set it aside and did some other cards that were part way finished while I let ideas gel in my head. Because I’ve been lazy at putting things away, the stamp I’ve used – also by Spellbinders – was on my desk so I stamped it onto a card front using Versamark and heat set it with gold. I took the stocking and played with it for a minute decided that it would look okay and added it using foam tape for dimension. Then I added a few more gems before calling it finished. I am adding it to the challenge at As You See It. I really like the stamp and did another card in a similar fashion but with a snowman instead, but I like this version the best.

I’ve spent most of this afternoon, playing with alcohol inks so now my craft room smells of rubbing alcohol. I made such a mess I had to use the alcohol to clean my hands and my glass mat, but it was fun to play.

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As mentioned in my last post, I’m in full blown Christmas crafting mode and I was playing yesterday and the day before with my new 3D folder from Sizzix. I cut 4 panels out of the red CS and put them through the machine and then took metallic inks in both silver and as in this one, gold. My inks are from Scrapbook.com and are metallic pigment inks. I swiped carefully over the raised sections allowing the ink to highlight those areas. Then I took some gold foil CS and using an ornament die front section I cut the filigree ornament. My first thought was to use both parts of the die, but it covered up too much of the layer so using just the part here worked best. Using a new set from Spellbinders I die cut the sentiment in a silver CS so it would stand out more over the gold.

At the time of creation, I wasn’t thinking of challenges, just of getting a few more cards done. I ended up with 4 like this and 2 of a completely different design. This morning I was out at my yoga and a birthday celebration lunch for a friend and hadn’t even thought about card making so on my return to my craft room, I was surprised to find the challenge at Color Hues was up and in the colours I had already used. What’s that word for when this happens, serendipity, I believe. All I had to do was create the post. So easy and such fun.

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The new challenge at Cardz4galz begins today and Helen has chosen embossing (wet or dry) for the theme this session. For my example I chose a StampinUp/Sizzix folder called Scattered Sequins and gently ran a gold metallic ink pad over them for some colour and shine. My stamp set is from Your Next Stamp called Crafty cocktails and the sentiment comes from that set too. I stamped and coloured my chosen images using Prisma Color pencils and I added Nuvo Crystal drops to the drink for some shine and so it looks more like glass. I decided to add a small half oval Holographic piece behind my images for more sparkle and shine. I went around the edge of the panel with an ink pad before adding it to a shimmer note card. The ink gave it just enough definition to stand out from the card front. For once my camera captured colours in the holographic piece.

Anything Goes With A Twist of Turkey/Thanksgiving is the challenge it is being entered into but twist not taken.

I’m quite happy with how this one turned out and like the cuteness of the stamps. I also think the sentiment is perfect for someone who may need a lift in spirits, pun not intended. Thanks for stopping by, it is appreciated.

I’m in full Christmas creating mode at the moment and if a card fits a challenge, great, if not, no worries. Choosing the layout I liked quite a lot from a while ago challenge I decided to cut some PP for a background. Quite by accident the paper I chose fits with the Double D challenge so here is one of the several cards that works.

I don’t measure the PP, just eyeball it and cut. As the paper is two sided it is very easy to match because its all in the same colour family. In this case, snowflakes on one side and stripes on the other. Using an older and much loved favourite GKD die I cut a few snowflakes from holographic paper and added them both in front and behind the larger StampinUP snowflake. I initially thought I would use it alone, but it didn’t standout enough. The dies used for the words are from Spellbinders and I cut the one shown here in both silver and black, slightly offsetting them so it would standout from the background. I added one silvery large gem to the center of the snowflake and decided that adding more would be a mistake.

I hope your day has been going well. I’ve managed 6 more cards today so I feel productive. Thanks for stopping by, it is appreciated.

I think this will be the last card I do that is about fall and or thanksgiving and initially I had no idea of what to make. I knew I had the stamp set from YNS but wasn’t sure I wanted to do leaves. Then I remembered this ancient Sizzix die of the owl and wondered if adding it along with leaves would work. I’m happy with the result and I like the sentiment (YNS) as it can be used with anything. The sentiment was stamped with a dark brown ink. The little owl was die cut in both copper and brown with a layered yellow beak. The leaves were stamped and coloured with inks and two of the smaller ones were done separately and die cut so the owl would look as if he had some leaves falling around him. It is a simple card and fits into the CAS Fall moodboard at AAA so I’m adding it there.

Thanks for popping in and for any comments you leave me. It is appreciated.

The moodboard at Inkspirational has a chalkboard along with candles and pinecones and that particular part of the board inspired this card. The foliage/pinecone stamp was already in my stamping platform and is from an old set for which I have no information. I stamped onto some beige/brown CS using 2 inks, then when dry, I fussy cut them. The black piece is cut using dies from Gina K which includes the candles. I left them white but added colour, using pencils, to the wick and the flames. After fooling around with placement I added the main parts as you see and then took a Martha Stewart punch and added the copper and silver branches as well as the small sprigs at the very bottom. These came from StampinUp. Sentiment was heat embossed in gold and is from YNS and gems are from my stash. There is some gold sparkle here and there but it doesn’t show in the photo. The card front is something I inked the other day and wasn’t happy with, so the black layer helped me to use it. It is a small square card and is kind of cute in real life.

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I almost missed this challenge, but remembered just in time. Taking a scrap piece of soft purple paper I dry embossed it with an old snowflake folder. I edged it with ribbon leaving only the gold edge showing from underneath and then added it to the card front. Using a Catherine Pooler stamp and die set I stamped 2 sets of leaves and die cut them. Then I used a Prisma Color light blue pencil for colouring the leaves and some tiny punched circles in purple for interest. After adding them as you see I included a StampinUp snowflake to which I added some purple gems. A few of the same scattered around the leaves and a repeat stamp of the word Joy (also a StampinUp product) and I considered the card complete.

This was a quick card to put together and one more done for my Christmas stash. Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate it.

One of my stamp buddies made the suggestion of my repeating the card I did yesterday and make it into a birthday card so it would fit the challenge at Seize the Birthday. I thought about it, but as I still don’t like the original I decided to do something quite different and I’m really happy with this one.

After viewing a few examples of cards using neutrals, I had planned on another floral in a square shaped card. It used a piece of ribbon and that is the only thing I took and used, because when I went looking through my dies I found this music die, that I bought from Kokorosa, and hadn’t yet used. I die cut it and spent some time cleaning up the edges which seemed to have frayed a bit. Then I put it against a white background over the ribbon (from GKD), as you see here. Before I adhered it I stamped the sentiment (from Spellbinders) at the top in Versamark then heat set in gold. Using my new lowercase alphabet dies (from Scrapbook.com) I die cut the letters in gold. After some playing I liked how they looked going across the music notes so this is where they were glued.

I am really thrilled with how this card turned out. It seems to have an elegance to it and yet is quite simple too. Thanks for spending your valuable time with me today, it is appreciated.

If I’m honest, I’m not sure I like this card but as often happens it may grow on me when I’ve acquired some distance from it. As with so many of my cards lately it morphed into something totally different than what I had in my head. It was intended for the challenge at Seize the Birthday but I’ve just realized that although the neutrals work, the sentiment does not so it is back to the drawing board for a card there. Keeping it totally neutral was a bit of a challenge, but I managed it and although the Four Seasons challenge is more about Thanksgiving it does fit the neutral of the lower left image, so I’m adding it there.

I ued a Gina K Design poinsettia stamp for the images and sentiment, but the background used a set for which I have no name. It is an older set and likely purchased at Michaels when I first started using stamps. I used Tea Dye ink on the background and initially for stamping the floral but I went over the poinsettia with a gold pen as there wasn’t enough definition. I added the sparkle spray to the flower aswell. Then I added a little Vintage photo ink around the edges of the flower and the panel. Sentiment was done in the same ink but I heat embossed it clear and fussy cut it.

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Another card for the challenges here: Just Us Girls Challenge #704 – Color Week, Peace On Earth Challenge #51 anything goes, https://colorfuloptions.blogspot.com/ RED

When working on my last card post yesterday, I had a thought about this MFT die and decided to use it to create another card. I cut several layers with the final one being this red glitter CS. After gluing them together I added the piece to a vellum layer which in turn was added to the pale green CS. Using the Sizzix holly die I cut several in two different shades of green and added them around the word. Using a small Divinity Designs sentiment I stamped and cut out the word Christmas to add as you see. A few tiny gems for holly berries and it was finished.

Thanks for popping in again. I appreciate it a lot.