Tuesday, December 14, 2010

My Digital Studio hybrid card : Cardinal Christmas

Have you seen all the awesome downloads Stampin' Up! has released for MDS!!??? I purchased the Christmas stamp brushes to help me finish up some last minute cards. I was playing around with the Cardinal set and this is what I came up with...


The photo doesn't show the layered cardinal as well as I hoped for. I created a sheet of cardinals in MDS and printed them on Whisper White cardstock. I watercolored in Cherry Cobbler and cut one cardinal out, emossed it with clear embossing powder and layered in on the other image which I sprayed with Glimmer Mist ( I like this better than Smooch) and mounted the whole thing on Cherry Cobbler! A bit of DSP from the holiday mini on a Handsome Hunter base with a little vinatge crochet trim and it's done!!
You can see how I also colored the image below for a tole effect.  To emboss the image I just pressed my watermark pad directly on the cutout image and then sprinkled clear embossing powder over it and then heat set .
This is what I started out with : a 8.5 X11 sheet of images :


I think that this has to be my favorite card I made this Christmas and it was so easy,too!!

Hope you enjoy!

Monday, December 13, 2010

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Giftcard ideas

So I made ,what seems like ,a ton of cards this year, but I needed to make a few gift card holders. I kept the holders pretty simple.... I already have too many projects on the go as it is!
I try to use all my scraps of DSP and ribbon and whatever else I have laying around to make them.

The inside message opens up for the giftcard .

The cardstock is Blushng Bride but it doesn't show well in this photo. The DSP is form the Holiday Mini ( agh, can't remember the name of it !!!) with Wild Wasabi for the background. I used the slot punch to make the tabs for the gift card inserts.

Snowflake card

I can't beleive it's the 8th of December already!! I still have lots of Christmas shopping to get done and there doesn't seem to be enough hours in a day to get everything done on my list!  I have nearly all my Christmas cards ready but I thought I'd play along with PPA color challenge, but sadly I am sooooo late in posting my card!!! Oh well, here it is anyway! :-) The color challenge was Marina Mist, Bashful Blue and Chocolate Chip .

Sunday, November 28, 2010

My Digital Studio Christmas card

When I mail Christmas cards I like to enclose a family pic ( or at least one of the kids together). My Digital Studio is a great way to create  personalized greeting cards or just a photo card to accompany my Christmas cards.
Here's mine for this year.


The greeting and elements/ background are MDS and the ornaments are cliparts from the web. I can print these at home or bring them to my 1-hour photo lab for printing.

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Season's Greetings

I haven't made a card in awhile.... just so  busy making other things! I made this awhile ago but I totally forgot to post it!

Let It Snow decor

I made this cute little home decor sign for a craft sale. My Gypsy allowed me to play around with my font sizes so I could make the letters more whimsical . I used Alphalicious font which I got for absolutely free when I upgraded my Gypsy!!! WhooHoo.... gotta love free!!! :-)

The snowflake is a die from Stampin' Up! as is the white vinyl. The paint is from Making Memories.

Christmas altered canvas project/ Stampin' Up! vinyl

Happy Saturday! Today I thought I'd post another altered canvas I made. This is for a friend to give as Christmas gift. I have to tell you , I just love the vinyl from SU!..... it's amazing to work with and they have so many fantastic colors to choose from! It cuts beautifully and applies so smoothly... if you're looking for some good quality vinyl at a reasonable price, check out SU!
Anyway, here's the canvas ( the scallop squares will hold  4X4 pics).....
The sentiment is from Season Of Joy.... seriously getting a lot of use outta that cartridge! The ornaments are a cutfile I purchased from Peppermint Creative. I used Night Of Navy, Whisper White,Real Red, Certainly Celery, Pretty In Pink and Rose Red vinyl for the ornaments. This is a 12X12 stretched canvas, painted with chocolate brown acrylic paint. Cordinating colors for the photo squares and this project was completed in under 2 hours!!
Here's a close up of the ornaments and greeting. The Cricut cuts this vinyl without snagging and tearing... even the smaller sized images.


Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Mojo Monday 166

Here's my card for this weeks' Mojo Monday challenge. I diecut the ornament with my Cricut ( Season Of Joy cartridge) and the rest is Stampin' Up! ...... Holly Jolly DSP, embossing folder and Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive cardstock and Certainly Celery satin ribbon. The sentiment is stamped in Cherry Cobbler and is from Snow Swirled set and the tag is a retired punch ( keytag, I believe).  I added Martha Stewart glitter to the ornament.
Hope you enjoy!
Have a great day!

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Berry Christmas : Christmas wreath on door card


I've seen several versions of this card on the web, but I wanted to add my own touch to this style. I stamped River Rock cardstock with the woodgrain background stamp for the door  (and also for the door panels, which didn't show well in the pic!)and the cardbase is Old Olive and the wreath is from Berry Christmas as is the sentiment  ( Holiday 2009 mini) with a few red rhinestones for holly berries. SU! dimensionals popped the wreath from the door.Finally, I used a vintage brad( Stampin'Up!) for the doorknob. The red paper twist cord is from Ikea.


Sorry that this pic isn't too clear but you can see the door detail  better from this angle.


Altered Canvas : Stampin' Up! vinyl and Cricut

Good morning! Well , last weekend it was a sunny 12 degrees ( celius) and absolutely no snow! Today we have about 3 inches of snow on the ground and it's still snowing! That's life in Newfoundland !!!
All this snow really puts me in the Christmas mood, my son has been begging me to bring out our Christmas village. So this snowy afternoon seems like the perfect day to start it! But before I do, here's today's post. I love combining my Cricut and SU! to make projects. Usually it's cards but this time I thought I'd try to make something a little different. Hope you enjoy!


Originally , I wanted to use these ornaments for my wall. They are  from a cutfile I purchased from Peppermint Creative , but once I had the first layer cut I felt it was too small for my wall. But I just had to put the vinyl to use, so here is my project! This is a 12X12 canvas, inked with Old Olive and  Kiwi Kiss on the edges only and Ruby Red and Holly Jolly DSP for the photo mat. I pulled out my BigShot for the tags , the stamped image behind the Peace is non-SU!. The ribbon is SU! taffeta . The vinyl is cut out with Stampin' Up! Real Red vinyl. Let me tell you , this  is the best vinyl I've used. It's  not too flimsy and it really adheres well to a variety of surfaces. I already purchased all of the colours available! I plan on making a variety of canvases for an upcoming craft sale. Oh, and the ribbon actually came from a package of pj's!!! :-)

Sunday, November 14, 2010

My Digital Studio Fall layouts

I have been so busy with planning  my card workshops lately that I've seemed to have forgotten all about the scrapbooking that I should get done!! I just don't have the space ( card stuff is everywhere!!! YIKES!) in my teeny tiny craft space so I had to satisfy my urge to create pages with My Digital Studio. My favorite aspect of the MDS program is that it allows me to use any of my pics as a background for my layout. I really like to use my shots of nature for this purpose . It`s amazing what an impact it can have on my layouts.... no need for lots of embellishments,etc.


It just a matter of minutes I can make my own unique patterned paper, which can be used for hybrid projects or for a layout. Pretty cool, huh! It looks like the paper is edged but it`s really just the curly label punch ( 4-5 times) stacked together for this neat effect. I reduced the opacity of the snowflakes so that they didn`t overpower the page and alternated their sizes. I think this would also make a cute Christmas card.




Talk about keeping it simple, I just selected a patterned DSP and added pics and a bit of journaling. But if I feel like making some changes later on, I won`t have to worry about glued pics, etc.  I`m pretty sure this page will get a few more details added soon.

Have a fantastic day!

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Color Throwdown Challenge


I made a couple of cards for this challenge ... I just couldn't decide which one I liked best!!
I just got Snow Swirled stamp set and I can already tell it's gonna get a lot of use! It works with just about any color combo! Talk about versatility!!!! You can't tell from the pic but I added a little red Smooch to tyhe center of the small snowflakes for a touch of glimmer.

And now for my second card for this challenge:

I'm not how much I like this one but I made it for the cahllenge so I posted it. I love the Dasher stamp, but often I can't think of  just the right card layout for it! I do like it layered on the circles, though. Anyway, here's my second card!

Happy Crafting !

Friday, November 12, 2010

Flower Pot cards : Cricut "Walk In My Garden" & " Season Of Joy"

I was going through my stash of cards from my past workshops when I found this little card. I made this cute little flower pot card at one of my first stamp classes and it was such a hit! I jazzed it up a little with some new satin ribbon and pearl accents and a button detail on the flower.

The stamp set Favorite Thoughts was perfect for this card! The flowers were made with my Cricut  Walk In My Garden cartridge.
Wouldn't this make an adorable Christmas card? I thought so!!

I really like the colour combo of \Cherry Cobbler and Handsome Hunter ( retired) together. SU! embossing folders give this card an elegant feel, as do the ribbon. I added some glitter glue to the poinsetta  for a touch a festive shine!
Happy crafting!

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Rememberance Day

Today is a very important day; the day we honor those who gave their lives in service to our country. Thank you to all the  members of our country's military . Please take a moment of silence in honor of them.
Our family attended a special service at our church in honor of this solemn occasion. My daughter participated as a cadet ( her first year) and I was so proud of her and all the members of the Codroy Valley Cadet Corps.
I thought I'd post the poem " In Flander's Fields" as a tribute to past and present soliders who selflessly give so much so that we can have so much. Thank you.


In Flander's Fields
In Flander's Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks ,still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn,saw sunset glow,
Loved , and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders Fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from falling hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flander's Fields.
                                                     - John McCrae


                         

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Explosion Box Album

I've seen several versions of the Explosion Box album on the web, but I haven't been able to find one that had pockets for pics, etc. So I made my own. I will be making several of these for a local craft show next weekend.
I made this box with leftover Basic Grey papers and some dies from Stampin' Up!

The inside.... sorry I don't have a better pic. But hopefully you can see how I decorated the inside and some of the flaps. The middle is Basic Grey papers embossed with a stamped sentiment ( on Old Olive) adhered to it, with a bit a ribbon I found in one of stashes.
Hope you enjoy!

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Tote-ally Tess card

This time of year I seem to be focused on making Christmas cards /projects , but today I took a break from and decided to post a simple birthday card. Tote-ally Tess was a set I purchased in the spring but it hasn't been used as much as I would like to. Hmmm, maybe I'll make a Christmas card with her??? LOL

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Gift card holder/ small sized card

This gate fold card is just 4 1/4 by 4 1/4  so it can make a nice gift card holder ( just add pocket inside) or a smaller  card. I'm still trying to use all of my old Christmas paper . The frame is from Cricut's Season Of Joy cartridge.

Letterpress cards from embossing folders

 The art of Letterpress has been around for ages , but it has really caught on in the paper craft world in the last year or so. I've seen products from several companies for quite some time but Stampin' Up! only just launched their own with the release of the 2010 Holiday Mini . I really like them , but it got me thinking, couldn't I use my embossing folders to achieve the same effect? The folders have two sides , one raised side and the other inverted. The inverted side is usually the front of the folder, so if it has lettering like many of the Cuttlebug folders, then you can't use them as letterpress plates. But for most of my folders ( I have so many!) I can use them!! Yay!!!
Here's a few cards,I will post more as I play around with this technique .

This is SU! Northern Flurries folder which I inked with Pacific Point craft ink . I noticed that the slightest pressure was needed when applying the ink, as it tended to smudge the folder. I just used a baby wipe to clean off the excess ink. You can't tell from the pic , but I sprayed Glimmer Mist on the white. I find that the Glimmer Mist will usually make my cardstock bend / curl up ( you can really see it in this pic) , so after it dries I usually put it under a heavy book to flatten out , which I didn't do for this card!!!

When using the embossing folders I had to play around with my Big Shot and the plates to get the right amount of pressure.  I just used two plates with the white spacer but the image didn't press into the paper , rather it stamped on it. I liked that too, so now my folders can be stamps,too!! I used two plates, the spacer ,a crease pad and a piece of folded cardstock to get just the right amount of pressure for the snowflake card.  This is a Tim Holtz embossing folder.

Winter Wonderland

We woke up to a blanket of snow this morning. Everything was so tranquil.... if only winter could stay like this!




Sunday, October 31, 2010

More Vintage CHristmas - Christmas Collage

This stamp is so beautiful; I`ve seen so many gorgeous creations made with it! For this card I inked the stamp in Ruby Red on Crumb Ckae background. I stamped it again in Always Artichoke and cut out just the wreath part and the bells and sentiment are from Bells and Boughs in the new hoilday mini. A few red rhinestones and Glimmer spray over the entire card and, Viola!, it`s finished!

Northern Flurries embossed card

It seems that all my Christmas cards lately have been made with the traditional shades of red and green. For this card I decided to use Marina Mist ( such a pretty shade of blue) with a Confetti White background. The little bit of Cherry Cobbler adds a nice splash of color to this very simple card. Hope you enjoy!!!

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Christmas stamp class .

October isn't over ,yet, but I really need to start planning for my upcoming class; we're making just Christmas cards. When I started going through my stamp sets , I realized that I had accumulated quite a few sets ! I intially bought the Greeting Card Kids set to make back to school cards , but it such an adorable set that I must keep using it !!!


I really like the added bling effect that the glass glitter adds to my cards.


Suplies used:
Old Olive,Rose Red, Very Vanilla cardstock
Merry Moments DSP ( retired from '09 mini)
silver cord (retired) Silver brads
Punches  :Decorative Label  ( holiday mini,)Dotted Scallop Ribbon border, Scallop Trim border
Join In The Cheer die,Ovals , Bigshot
Silver Glass Glitter  (holiday mini)

Friday, October 29, 2010

Haunted House

So last month I posted a pic of a vintage Halloween card which I really liked but then I redid the card using Stampin' Up! waffle paper instead of ribbon and I used Basic Black craft ink for the haunted house image rather than the classic pad. The image was much more bolder, especially after I Smooched the image. I also cahnged the DSP in the background with new Spooky DSP.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Mini Monster Teachers' Halloween gift

Again, using the  MinI Monsters cartridge, I made a simple little gift for my son's teacher. I saw an idea similar to this ( sorry I don't remember the site) and I loved it! I taped treats to toothpicks and stuck them in a styrofoam cup , hidden underneath my own basket stuffing. The little monsters were so much fun to make , I made a whole bunch to use for treat containers for my son's class. ( See pervious post for more details).





Mini Monsters Trick -Or-Treat containers

Earlier this week I posted a  Halloween project I planned for my son's class. The first one I made was mainly from stamped images , but I really wanted to use my Mini Monsters cartridge, so I changed the project a bit. Those little monsters are so cute!! I just love them!