My first Jingle Belles card of 2016

Is it January 2016 already??? There's been so much going on in my life the past four months. First of all, my eldest child moved away to college in September. She is going to school nearly 900 kms from us.... and while I am so proud of my girl, it was so hard saying goodbye. School started for my two kids at home.. my baby just started junior high and my second daughter started grade 11... just one more year with her home and I'll two kids gone!!  But the biggest reason I was absent from my blog and participating in all the fun blog challenges was because after 20 years out of university, I went back to college!!! I'm working on my business degree with a focus in human resource management. This was a big life changer for me... and my crafting time has been sorely neglected. I had two weeks off during Christmas but I suddenly developed nerve damage in my left eye, leaving me with double vision ever since. Hopefully, this heals itself soon , cause its driving me crazy!!!! So that was fall 2015 for me, but it's now 2016 ( still keep writing 2015 !!!) and I hope I can find some crafting time in between my studies!

I popped on over to Jingle Belles to check out their current challenge. BTW, love,love the new JB banner!!!! The challenge is a fun way to start off the new year with a little bit of old and some new!

 I didn't buy as many new paper goodies this year as I usually do , but I did manage to find a few super cute 6X6 paper pads from American Crafts.

I love all the tones of blues in this paper collection... it's perfect for a snowy themed card..

I also used a sketch from Basic Grey that I found on Pinterest ( hmm, could that be something old ,as I'm pretty sure its an older sketch???)

So with my new paper pad and this fun sketch, I grabbed my supplies and started creating and here's my finished card........

This was a lot of fun to make and I hope I can play along  with another JB challenge soon!

Thanks for stopping by my blog today... have a great crafty day!

' Tis the Season

Hi and welcome to my blog  My daughter recently told me that there are just 17 more Fridays 'till Christmas! While I may not be in a rush to start my holiday shopping , now is as good a time as any to start my Christmas cardmaking! Luckily I have lots of paper goodies to create with and the current challenge over at Jingle Belles is a great place for inspiration. Lauren and Stef  are encouraging us to have an old fashioned Christmas with a vintage or retro style card and one lucky winner will receive a prize pack from Lauren's shop Just Enough Stuff.

I went with a retro style for my card , after several  failed attempts of an old fashion theme. I have several ephemera packs from October Afternoon with some really vintage looking Santa diecut images which I knew I had to use.

 

 

 

I added a little sparkle to Santa's mittens and giftboxes with a green Wink Of Stella glitter pen. I inked the edges of the die image , as well as all the papers. The banner sentiment is a sticker from Fancy Pants Designs and the enamel dots are from Prima. My base paper is Graphic 45 and the brown mat is from My Minds Eye and the ribbon is an oldie from Stampin' Up!

That's my card... just in time for the deadline for the current JB challenge!! Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to check out Jingle Belles for some fun inspiration!

 

 

 



Shaped Santa card

Hi and welcome to my blog. It's been snowing heavily for a week straight and it really looks like a winter wonderland out there! I'm so ready for spring!!! ** sigh*** But since it's still looking very wintery out there, I'm still in the mood for Christmas cards!!  This week over at Jingle Belles Stef and Lauren are asking us to get in shape for the holidays.... luckily no workouts are needed for this challenge!! All you need is to make a shaped card... whew! I can do that! I recently purchased a few cutfiles from SVG Cuts ( love , love that place!!) and one of the files is a shaped  Santa  card. Here is my  shaped card .....

 

 

 

This Santa reminded me of old-world style Santas , which I love. I used papers from a 6X6 paper pad from American Crafts called Kringle and Co. for the suit and hat. The trim and beard were cardstock, and embossed with a couple different folders. The beard was accented with some glitter for a little sparkle. The Santa is from SVG Cuts file called Santas' Visit and the wreath is from SVG Attic 's set Winter Wishes. The sentiment is from CTMH set Peace on Earth.

This was a fun card to assemble and I'm glad I got it finished in time for the current JB challenge.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

 

 

Jingle Belles : in with the new challenge Christmas cards

Hi and welcome to my blog. I have a couple of cards to share today. I'm a big fan of online shopping - no lineups and with all the great papercrafting goodies out there, the selection is amazing!! But... I have to wait until they arrive by snail mail and that can take weeks . I got some new fabulous Tim Holtz Alterations dies just before Christmas but I never got a chance to really use them. What better time than now when the ladies over at Jingle Belles are challenging us to play with our new goodies.


Here are my cards.......

 

 

I used the candles die for this card and a background stamp from Spellbinders , which I colored with my Copic markers. I loved the 3D effect I got when I added Rock Candy Crackle paint to the leaves , with glitter( all Tim Holtz products). Sooo pretty!!!! The leaves are cut with my Silhouette machine and the red flower is from Prima. The sentiment is from Flourishes stamp set called Sentimental Christmas.

 

 

 

And my second card....

 

 

 



 

I absolutely love the Tattered Poinsettia die from the  TH Alterations line. It looks great just diecut out cardstock or pretty paper but it is stunning when altered! I started out with a diecut from blue cardstock, then stamped it , inked it , distressed the edges and finally added some glaze and glitter. A jingle bell with some glitter for the center and a bit of twine and this poinsettia is all ready for this card! I stamped the base with another new TH product , Christmas Blueprints 4 .The greeting  from Whimsy stamp set ,Christmas Moments , was heat embossed in dark red.

 
 

Hope you enjoyed my cards.... thanks for stopping by today!

 

T'is the Season....

Hi and welcome to my blog! Jingle Belles current challenge is called Three Kings, which I though was going to include gold, myrhh ( hmmm, did I even spell that right??) and frankenscense ( another word I've  probably misspelled!!!) , but nope, I was wrong! This week's challenge is to use three different patterned papers from your stash. Well since my Xmas paper is in desperate need of purging this is  perfect timing for me!!!

Here's my card ( with 3 papers from my stash , of course)......

 

 

Two of my papers( background and red strip) are from Stampin' Up! and the third ( brown) is from Crate Paper. The sentiment tag is from Heidi Swapp and the cute little girl is from Little Miss Muffet Stamps , colored with my Copic markers. I fussy cut the girl out, added some green rhinestones ( Silhouette brand), and some Liquid Applique , puffed up with my heatgun, for her hat pompom and coat trim. The flower is from Wild Orchid Crafts - originally it was a light blue, but I misted it with some Ranger Delyusions ink ( Cherry Pie) and added a bit of Tim Holtz Tarnished Brass Distress Stain to the edges. For a bit of greenery , I added a few twigs of pine leaves cut from my Silhouette ( for another project) and a few Doodlebug Designs sequins to finish the card off.

 

I had a lot of fun participating in this challenge...and I just love how my card turned out!!!

 

Thanks for stopping by.... have a wonderful creative day!

 

Snowglobe Boxcard

Hi all! The current challenge over at Jingle Belles is to make a shaped card - anything goes except square or rectangle cards. decided to make a boxcard for this challenge...

 

I used a cutfile from SVG Cuts called Christmas Boxcards to make my snowglobe card. This wa fairly simple to make , just cut out and assemble. Iused a  blue sparkly snowflake paper which I had laying around  in my Christmas paper stash for a couple of years or longer! I added some glitter and bling to the snowflakes and a couple of deer to the church layer. I love how this card folds flat and has a coordinating envelope file so there's no trouble mailing it!!

 

To view the Youtube video n how to assemble the boxcards click here.

 

 

 

 

One more Christmas card completed-- yay!!!

Thanks for stopping by.... have a great creative day!!!!

 

 

Jingle Belles: taking a header

Hi! Have you checked out the latest challenge Jingle Belles .... well you should!!!! It's called taking a header and is inspired by their awesome blogheader designed by Lauren:

 

 

 

Here's my card :

 

 

I love the purple hues paired with silver and cream, with glittery touches, so I tried to capture that style for my card this week. I started off with a snowflake cluster made using the Anna Griffen Winter Wonderland cartridge and my Cricut machine. I cut this shape out first on silver cardstock at 5.75 inches and then used two shades of purple ( can you see the slight glimmer to them- it's there ,I promise!!) for the various snowflakes. The background is a piece of cardstock that just happened to be on my worktable right now!! See, sometimes it's good not to clean up right away!!!! LOL

I used glitter tape ribbon from American Crafts for the banners - I had a silver trim on first but I like this more. Of course, there's bling all over the place A stamp from Recollections ( Michaels) in SU! Concord Crush ink and this card is done!!! 

 

I hope you've enjoyed my JB card today... thanks for stopping by!!

 

 

 

Peace wishes .... a July Christmas card

Hi all! I hope you're enjoying a beautiful summer day .... we've had a lovely summer so far, which means I spend more time at the beach than I do in my craftroom these days! That's okay , 'cause I know our warm weather is short lived here so I'm gonna take advantage of it as much as possible. I did  find some time to browse around  some of my favorite challenge sites and was super pleased to see two of them team up for a great challenge!! Jingle Belles and Shopping Our Stash have an awesome challenge for us .....


"Isn't that a fantastic idea? Yep, we think so, too! So in honor of this special event, we've got a special "two-fer" challenge for you. Here's what to do:

1. Make a holiday card that uses something from your stash 

which is at least a year old.

2. Post the card on your blog or gallery, and be sure 

to tell us what your older stash item is.

3. Link your card at the bottom of this ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ post 

and also at this Shopping Our Stash post.

4. Check back at both blogs on July 17th to see if you've won 

one of the lovely prizes! (More on that in a minute!)"  - from JB blog

 

And they have a prize to be won- wot-woot!!! So be sure to check out both blogs .Here's my card:

 

 

 

 

So this card has nothing new on it.... the papers( Basic Grey Nordic collection) , stamps ( Deep Red Poinsettia Bloom),rhinestones ( Prima), Thickers ( American Crafts) and doily are all from my stash of at least a year old!!! The only thing that isn't old is the Gelatos(blue) that I used to shade in my poinsettia, but even the embossing powder is old ( probably at least 4 years old!!!!). What a fun challenge and I'm super happy to be using items from my stash.... gotta make room for new stuff,right???

 

So that's my JB and SOS card... hope you enjoyed! Thanks for stopping by!!

 

 

'Tis the Season......

Hi everyone! I'm cutting it pretty close , but I managed to get my card done and posted in time for the current challenge over at Jingle Belles called 'Tis The Season To Jingle . They paired up with the DT at  'Tis The Season ( another great Xmas card challenge site)and they have a great sketch to go along with it.....

 

 

Here's my card....

 

I used papers from My Minds Eye.... love the vintage-y look. For my bling , I added a glittery Noel word , cut on my Silhouette and a  felt poinseta flower.

 

Well that's my card....I'm looking forward to the next JB challenge!!

Thanks for stopping by .... have a great rest of your day!!

 

 

 

 

Joy-ful Christmas

Hi all! I'm been super busy in my craftroom these but not because of the Xmas cards still waiting to be made!!! I have a huge mess of Christmas wreaths in various stages of completion, plus ribbon, and embellishments everywhere in my room! I can barely find my desk these days!!

Here's some of what I've been working on....

 

 

 

 

I made a bunch of these already and have orders for several more so my papercrafting has been put on hold till I get caught up. I have a few orders for cards so I am trying to squeeze those in my already busy schedule!!! It's a good thing I love doing it or I would've gone crazy by now!! LOL

 

Here's the first card I made ......

 

 

I love the large vintage background stamp  from Stampin' Up! called Christmas Collage. This stamp was a leftover from my SU demo days but I loved the vintage feel of it so much that I couldn't part with it. For the greeting I used a CTMH set from Holiday Tags inked in Cranberry... the background stamp was inked in Topiary. I made the poinsettia from a Spellbinders die and the cardstock is CTMH. The matching poinsettia paper is My Minds Eye and the ribbon is SU!

 

Well, that's my card for today.... I'm off to start another project! Have a great day... thanks for stopping by my blog!!

 

 

Happy Owl-days

Hi all! With just a few short weeks left to the big day , I've been nonstop trying to get things ready. I made a bunch of deco mesh wreaths to sell at a local craft sale and now I've got a few more to make. They keep me pretty busy and I'm starting to panic about all the other things that need to be done ---- like shopping!!!! Yikes! I live in a rural area so it's a full day event to get shopping done for the fam! Online is the way to go!!!!  Other things like decorating and of course getting my cards finished and in the mail asap!!! I've got to finish those that have been ordered before I get mine done--- I just need a few more hours in a day!!

Here's a card I made for a lady who has a daughter that loves owls.....

 

This was a cutfile bought at the Silhouette store .I'm not a big fan of paper piecing but this little guy was worth it. The banner stamp is a Recollections brand and the papers are My Minds Eye. The mat behind the owl was made using Elegant Edges( Cricut) ... the inside has a matching mat for the greeting.

 

I decorated the envelope to match .... I hope she likes it.

 

That's one card finished ... yay!! Hope you have time to enjoy the special moments of this season!

 

Traditional Chistmas card

Good morning!! Today I have a card to share with you that I made for the current challenge over at Jingle Belles "Holiday Traditions". There are so many amazing cards already up and I love to read the traditions that they have shared with us. My tradition each year is that after Christmas Eve mass the kids get to open one gift which is always a brand new pair of Christmas pj's. A couple of years ago my kids surprised me with my very own pair of new pj's on Christmas eve!! There's nothing like cozying up next to tree watching the twinkling lights in a brand new pair of comfy pajamas.

Well my card does not have pj's on it but it does have another traditional element that I'm sure many of us do each year .... we always put a wreath on our front door.

 

I made this  card shape using a cutfile and my Silhouette . The sentiment mat and bow were also made on my Silhouette. CTMH has several beautiful Christmas stamp sets out right now but I love this one ( Merry & Bright) in particular for it's gorgeous font on the greetings and the wreath is clean and simple. I SU! papers and button and CTMH cardstock ( which cuts like a dream on my machines!!).

 

That's my card for this week's challenge.... thanks for stopping by! Have a great rest of your day!!

 

Getting ready for Christmas

Hi blogger friends!!! It's been snowing here the last couple of days and it's really beginning to have that Christmas-y feeling . This kind of weather gets me in the mood for some Christmas crafting .... and since I have a few card classes coming up soon, there's no time like the present to get started!! Here's a few cards  I've come up with......

 

This is made with the Cricut and the CTMH  Art Philosophy cartridge. The ornament was cut at 3.5" using  CTMH Topiary cardstock for the top layer and Pear cardstock for the base. The dp is from last year's Recollections X-mas paper pad and the red mat was cut with my Silhouette ( purchased cutfile from Silhouette online) in Poppy Parade and matted with white cardstock. The joy& peace sentiment is from an old set I've had for awhile ( unknown source) and the two shades of seam binding ribbon are from Stampin' Up! - I still have lots of product left from my Demo days. I think I will added some bling to the holly leaves on this ornament.

 

 

 

Here's the second card.....

 

 

This made with the Artbooking cartridge and stamps from CTMH. The adorable snowman is from Flakey Friends and the sentiment is from Very Merry Christmas. Such a fun little card to make ... I think the ladies in my group are gonna love it!!!

 

 

And finally, the third card....

 

 

This was the quickest card I've made in sooo long!!! Really, it's just pine leaves ( from Silhouette) formed into a wreath with a simple bow and some bling for the berries. The sentiment is a Waltzingmouse Stamps set called Ornate Ornaments, inked in black. The paper is also from 2012 Recollections Christmas line .I still have a bit left and really must use it up before I start on my new papers!!!!

Well, those are my newest Christmas cards... hope you enjoyed them!! Thanks for visiting my blog today!! Have a great day!!

 

 

A cardinal Christmas

Good morning! I hope I'm not too late getting my card posted for Jingle Belles's Not A Creature was Stirring  challenge!!  There just doesn't seem to be enough hours in a day to get everything finished!!! Here's my card using Close To My Heart's stamp set To You and Yourswhich features a beatiful cardinal image.

I used my Silhouette to cut the step card base ( sooo easy this way!!!) and then I used a glitter sketch pen in my Silhouette to draw the Merry Christmas which I then cut out with a black mat. I colored the cardinal with  my Copic markers and then handcut it out so that it would amd out against the mat ( also created on my Silhouette). The ribbon and button are from SU! and the papers are  a Recollection Christmas 12x 12 paper pad I got last year at Michaels.The bling/pearl are from an unknown sources and the white cardstock is from CTMH.

I hopeI made the deadline for the JB challenge!!!

Thanks for stopping by my blog today ... have a great day!!

Christmas pocket card

Hi bloggers! So it's been awhile since I last posted, with the kids back to school and life just being generally very hectic these days it seems that my blog has a taken a backseat. Now that things around here seemed to returned to a normal schedule, I'm hoping to be able to commit more time to my papercrafting and blogging.
I have a card, well, sort of , to share with you. It's actually a gift card/ Xmas card and a photo holder all in one. I got the idea from Pinterest and just had to try it. Here it is.....

 

 

I was inspired by Jingle Belles prompt this week , a vintage Christmas, for this card. In used a cutfile from SVG Cuts called Spirit if Christmas Past for the window and cedar branch. I imported the files to my Silhouette machine and cut the shapes I wanted , using cardstock from CTMH. The tree / bird are CTMH set Trees and Things and the sentiment is from Holiday Tags ( Cranberry ink) on a label from Perfect Fit - Frames 2 ( in Whisper ink)- whew, that's a lot of sets used!!! The woodgrain paper is from a paperstack from My Mind's Eye called Bramble and Rose and is full of gorgeous shabby chic papers!

 

Here's a look at the inside........

 

 

 

The left side has two pockets - one for a giftcard and another that can hold a Xmas photo or letter.

 

 

 

I used a pre-made ornament embellishment for the giftcard and then I made a tag for the greeting on the right side. The inside greeting was stamped using another CTMH stamp set , To You and Yours in Olive and Cranberry inks. The buttons , hemp and ribbon are from my stash (unknown sources).

 

I give giftcards to family more and more frequently these days as my nieces and nephews get older - the convenience makes them the perfect choice but I always feel they lack the personal touch . This card solves that problem nicely- and it was so quick to make, too!!

 

Well, that's another card made ..... there's nothing like the satisfaction of some quality papercrafting time, is there???Thanks for stopping by today- have a great rest of your day!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's sketch time at Jingle Belles!

Happy Saturday!! It's sketch time over at Jingle Belles , which was created by this week's guest belle , Allison Fillo:







I love sketches- they eliminate so much of the guesswork , which allows more time for creating !!!


Here's my take on the sketch:

 

I found a tutorial link on Pinterest for making my own Chevron backgrounds with Washi tape - it was so easy and I have enough left over to make another card! I pulled out my Art  Philosophy cartridge and matching CTMH stamp set, Snowflakes, for the snowflake and border and Holiday Commentary for the inside sentiment. The carsdstock is SU! and the papers are from my stash(MME). I used SU's Going Grey, Poppy Parade and CTMH's  Sunset ink for all the stamping .

 

Well, I'm off to enjoy this gorgeous day.... thanks for stopping by ! Have a great weekend!

 

Holiday leftovers .... the paper kind!

Hi all! The Christmas season usually means lots of yummy food and leftovers , AFTER Christmas! But what about all of those crafting leftovers??? I usually host Christmas stamp-a-stacks in November and I always seem to have leftovers that tend to drag around and eventually get pushed to one side of my workspace. This year I was determined to use those scraps and not to duplicate the same projects I've made for classes, either!!  This year I cut out way too many snowmen , but since they were made with my Cricut Imagine , I didn't want to waste them! So I made a few other cards instead.....


 Here is the Imagine cartridge I used.....



This has so many great images and the best part is they are are all ready to print and cut!! I loved the little snowman , so I printed/cut  a full sheet of these  guys at 3inches ( I got about 15 to a 12X12 sheet).

I originally used them to make this card......

 

I love the turquoise and purple tones together .... so very non-traditional and fun!!! This was a pretty simple card as the ladies were making multiples.

 

I wanted to add a bit more detail for mine....

 

 

So I pulled out and dusted off my Gypsy for this one!!! I searched through my files and gathered an assortment of snowflakes and a greeting , which is from Joys of the Season , and welded them together!  How cool is that when we can make out own custom dies!!! My sewing is kinda  wavy like snow banks, so let's pretend that's excactly how it was supposed to turn out!!! LOL My Imagine snowman stands out against this snowy background!

 

Of course I have leftover papers too, that needed to get used , so I made some more cards ( not sure what I'm gonna do with 'em all!!!).

 

 

 

That's my leftover cards ( I don't feel guilty indulging in these leftovers!!!!) .... hope you enjoyed!

Thanks for stopping by today!