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!

 

Such a Flake card

Hi and welcome to my blog! I've been thinking about the current challenge at Jingle Belles for the past week ,trying to come up with something . The challenge is to make something for someone who maybe  doesn't celebrate Christmas. I was looking through my stamps and found these cute stamps from CC Designs Stamps ( check out their blog) and I knew I found my mojo !


Here's my card......

 

 

Isn't she such a cutie??? I colored her with my Copic markers  and added some glitter for her fur trim. I found some snowflake paper, a transparency snowflake in my stash and I added an embossed strip of white cardstock and a bit of glitter tape and my card is done!!

 

Thanks for visiting my blog ..... 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!!

 

 

 

 

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!!

 

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!

 

Christmas in July

Hi! We've been having hot and really humid weather these past few days mixed in with heavy rain , so what better excuse do I need to stay inside and pull out my paper and inks and make something??? I found myself browsing through a few challenge sites and I stopped over at Jingle Belles and decided that I was long overdue in making my Christmas cards! It's less than six months away!!! Yikes!!!
Jessi Fogan ( aka .One Crafty Mama) invites us to let our sleigh bells ring! You can use sleigh bells, make a card with a sleigh or use sheet music on your card. There's something for everyone in this challenge .... and you may be lucky to win a sweet prize, too!!

My card uses two of the three ideas... sleigh and sleigh bells.... check it out:

 

I started with a red cardstock base and then a green mat; the patterned piece is a sheet from the 4X76 MME paper pad called All Is Bright collection. The pad is full of trendy tags, journaling blocks and mats that are so much fun to play with. I created a 2.5" sleigh with my Cricut and the Joys of The Season cartridge and then I added a few sleigh bells brads , SU! twine. The sentiment is from Bo Bunny, inked in Cherry Cobbler.

 

Yay!! I finally completed a challenge!!! :-)

 

Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to check out all the entries over at Jingle Belles!

Have a great

 

Winter Wonderland card

Hi all! It's offically spring and there's still snow on the ground , so of course I'm thinking winter!!! LOL Not really, but I wanted to play along with Stef and Lauren over at Jingle Belles for their Neutral Noel challenge. I haven't made a Christmas card in weeks and I know how fast the holiday season can sneak up so I really gotta get back to making a few each week. This challenge was a great place to start. Here's my card:

 

 

I used the sketch from this week's Mojo Monday for the layout of my card...

 

 

 

Hmmm, just noticed that I didn't add a trim beneath my border- maybe I 'll do that later!

 

 

Keeping my card neutral was challenging -- but after searching through my Xmas papers I found this oldie striped from a Michaels paper pack from a couple of years ago. It has all those neu match thetral colors plus a bit of glimmer on the stripes! Yay, I love glimmer!!! I cut out a snowflake to match the CTMH's Season's and Nature set. To make the front sentiment stand out , I heat embossed it wth SU!(retired) dark brown ep. 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christmas duo- card and gift bag

Hello! Hope you're having a great Saturday so far! Have you checked out the current challenge at Jingle Belles yet? They have a guest Belle joining them this week and she has a great sketch for us to play along with! Click here to visit Allison Fillo's blog, Stampin When I Can. Here's her sketch for this week's JB challenge:




I decided that since the Christmas season is fast approaching that I should probably get a start on gift tags,etc. while I'm at it! So I made a bag topper to go along with my card.

 

I found the idea for gift bag toppers on Pinterest ( the best place on the web to spend way too much time browsing!!!). Sorry the card looks a little blurry but I have more pics to share.....

 

 

 

Here's a better pic of my card... I incorporated all elements of the sketch except for the three embellishmnets on top ... I just couldn't get them to work!!!! I inked up SU's  Greeting Card

 Kids on a diecut ornament and then colored her with my Copic markers.

 

 

The inside is  decorated with Michaels ornament stamps and a greeting from Flourishes called Sentimental Christmas. The cardstock / ink is from Stampin' Up! and the patterned papers are from Michaels' Recollection  Christmas  2011 paperline. The sparkly stickers are from American Crafts. I used an embossing folder ( Lifetstyle Crafts) for the banner on the card front. The diecut ornament and Merry Christmas were made with my Cricut ( Art Phiosophy and Artiste cartridges).

 

That's my Jingle Belles card for the Do You Sketch What I Sketch? challenge.

Thanks for stopping my blog today!

 

 

** Instructions on how to make this topper can be found here **

 

 

 

 

Jingle Belles Creature Christmas

Hello! I'm sitting here multitasking, trying to finish up last minute details for our Halloween costumes and creating my card for the current Jingle Belles challenge!!! Talk about being all over the place!!! Stef and Lauren have another fun challenge( click here for the challenge) for us ..... use creatures for our card .... think peguins, polar bears, reindeer and if you're Lauren, Monstas! Hmmmm, they all sound good , but what about birds? I have these border stamps that I got last year and they've seen little ink, so I really need to put them to good use......check it out:

 

Nothing too fancy here , just some papers from Basic Grey's Nordic Holiday collection, some red/white twine, button and of course the stamped greeting.The stamp set came from Michels' Christmas collection last year. I colored the birds with my Copics... so simple!

 

So that's my card for the Creature Christmas challenge... hope you enjoy!

Thanks for stopping by!

 

A Pink Christmas

Hi again! I made this card last week for the Jingle Belles challenge . Lauren and Stef are dedicating this fortnight's challenge to Breast Cancer awareness (please visit their blog for more details). For every card made a donation will be made for breast cancer research ( aren't those ladies awesome or what!!!). So here's my card .....

 

 

I kept my card very simple.... I just used a snowflake embossing folder , lots of pink cardstock , some sheer ribbon and a little bling, 'cause I'm pretty sure this card will be given to a girlfriend! The sentiment is from CTMH , inked in pink, of course!

 

Thanks for stopping by my blog and help Stef and Lauren in raising money for such a worthy cause!