2019 Happy Holidays Card Series | Day 9 | Clean and Simple

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you're having a great day.

In our world of rush rush rush, it is really hard to enjoy the little things. Especially this time of year. Is it me, or does the news seem more depressing than usual? I'm not going to get all political here, with everything that is going on, I'm sure we've all got other ways than a crafty-blog to get Presidential opinions.

I'm just talking about what people do to each other. There seems to be more fires right before Christmas, and there seems to be more home invasions right before Christmas, and there seems to be more killing right before Christmas. Are there actually more? Or are we just more sensitive to it, because we so desperately want to hear that there is good out there this time of year?

Perhaps if more people took a moment to appreciate something beautiful around them, they'd be less inclined to set their neighbor's house on fire? I can appreciate the beauty of falling snow, despite the crippling sense of sadness that winter brings me.

Today's card is super simple, clean and one of my favourite go-tos when I need a quick card in a hurry. Not for me, but to make someone else's day a little bit brighter.

I used a snowflake embossing folder to create the dry embossed design on my background panel. I then used Lawn Fawn's "Joy" die and the Mini Stitched Snowflake dies to cut my pieces of blue glitter cardstock.

The rest of the greeting is from the "Let's Bokeh" stamp set, it is stamped with VersaMark ink and then heat embossed with Lawn Fawn's white embossing powder.

This card would be ridiculously easy to mass produce and could be done in any colour palette.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. If you haven't already, please follow me on the right side bar, over on Facebook and on YouTube. Drop me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think.

2019 Happy Holidays Card Series | Day 8 | Silent Night (of Reflection)

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you're having a great day.

We're down to the crunch. Are you ready? I mean, really ready? Not just ready with the shopping, is anyone ever really done shopping? The answer is no. If the answer were yes, we wouldn't have Boxing Day Sales; or Boxing Week Blowouts; or New Year's Door Crashers. We're never done.

Then there's the decorating, maybe we're done. I'm about a third of what I normally do, and I'm pretty done for this year. Every year, my husband and I argue about the placement of the tree and the arrangement of the furniture. Then every year he finally moves stuff around, and I find a time when there is no one in the house and I decorate the tree, and usually the entire upper floor common areas (living room, dining room and kitchen), then every year he comes after it is all done and tells me how "cold and soulless it looks" and I respond with "No, honey. It's perfect." and the rest of the family ooooos and ahhhhhs and that's that. That's our fun tradition. This year, I decorated the tree and the front entry way. That's it, because this year, I don't feel like doing the rest.

Then there's the cooking and the baking. If people know you're a baker, there's never an end in sight. There's always one more person who could use one more loaf of something, and if you do it for a couple close friends or coworkers you have to do if for everyone, because it's the season of giving, right? RIGHT?? So yeah, I don't bake - unless I'm sad.

Finally, the cards (I know there's more, but this is getting long). Are you done the cards? I am. Most of my Christmas supplies are packed right up and put away. I've found that the more cards I send out the fewer I receive in return. I can't be the only crafter to have experienced this. Perhaps this is just a side effect of the additional beauty we put out in world; who knows?

For today's card I created a Silent Night Shaker, featuring stamps from Lawn Fawn's Winter village, along with the Say Cheese Again die and some snowflakes from the Mini Stitched Snowflakes dies.

I stamped the images with Simon Says Stamp Intense Black Ink and coloured them with Copic Markers. I used double-sided adhesive from Darice (this is that really thin stuff) to create my shaker window, which is filled with various snow-looking stuff from my stash (it's older, so there are no labels, but if I had to guess I would say I got it at Michael's crafts).

I adhered the shaker to piece of dark blue patterned paper, then mounted the lot to the front of a standard A2 sized card base.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. If you haven't already, please follow me on the right side bar, over on Facebook and on YouTube. Drop me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think.

(Also, the point of my super long story above, was to take it easy. Christmas is only a day. One little day in the whole year and you are only human.)

2019 Happy Holidays Card Series | Day 4 | Take the Ho-Ho-Holidays

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you're having a great day.

You ever have that moment? That split second, when you when you want to throw your hands up in the air and just - not? Just toss in the towel? Quit? As a mom I experience those moments a whole lot. As someone with a full time job, I experience those moments a whole lot. As a crafter, I experience those moments a whole lot.

The entire month of December is like one of those moments. As a crafter, aside from posting here and if I ever actually get time, to YouTube, I've already moved passed Christmas. You know what I'm talking about. For me, I'm mostly done Valentine's Day and I'm well on my way to planning out Easter. It makes it incredibly difficult to stay in the Christmas Cheer moment when all you want is a really good Spring Sentiment set.

Anyway, my point is - take some time for yourself this week, today, after you read this and realize "Wow, she is SO right", if you have vacation time and you're able to take some, even just a day. Do it. Take a day. A day with no plans and no chores and no work, and dare I say it? A day when the kids are still in school? Take that time for yourself, because as I've learned I'm generally not the only one who feels this way, and if one person will say it, a hundred more are thinking it. So just go on, take a day.

Today I wanted to share an interactive card with you featuring some of Lawn Fawn's Winter release. I stamped the images from Ho-Ho-Holidays with Simon Says Stamp Intense Black Ink on 110lb Copic-friendly cardstock, coloured them with Copic markers and fussy cut them out.

The roof and chimney were made using the Roof-Top Border die set, then I used Fired Brick and Gathered Twigs Distress Ink to shade them. I also cut a snowy border from some glitter cardstock, but that was an afterthought and so only made it to one layer of my roof. If I were to remake this card, I would add it to all the layers.

I used a piece of patterned paper from my stash for the background and used the "Lets Toast" Pull tab die set to make Santa pop out of the chimney.

The greeting was heat embossed with clear embossing powder over VersaFine Onyx Black ink.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. If you haven't already, please follow me on the right side bar, over on Facebook and on YouTube. Drop me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think.

Simon Says Stamp Valentine's Day Card Kit 2019 | Hung Up on You

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you're having a great day.

So I had to wait until now to post today's card, because I had to wait (forever) for the hubby to open it. He's away in Toronto for work (yeah, on Valentine's Day) so I slipped it into his bag for him to open today. While he may have opened it when he arrived on Monday, but I couldn't run the risk. You know how it is.

Today's card features the sweetest little sloth (and the entire reason I purchased the Limited Edition card kit) from Simon Says Stamp's "The Sweetest" stamp set.

All the pieces are from the card kit, which is not only super fun, but something I don't think I've done. So yay!!

I stamped the sloth and the greeting with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on one of the itty-bitty note cards that was included in the kit.

I coloured him in with Copic markers (the note cards are definitely Copic-friendly), using soft blues to create a halo around him.

I used the bow tie part of the sloth die to cut out the hearts from the red glitter paper and adhered them around the card.

To finish off this little card, I covered the heart-shaped leaves with clear Wink of Stella and then Glossy Accents. I cut down a piece of white cardstock to a matching card base and adhered the panel to the front.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. If you haven't already, please follow me on the right side bar, over on Facebook and on YouTube! Drop me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think.

Lawn Fawn | Little Late Christmas Card

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you're having a great day.

It's been a bit, I know. I've been in more of a "make the cards" than I have I been in a "post all the cards" mode. I had to post this last Christmas card, because it's super cute, and I had to wait until the person I gave it to had received it. To be fair, she received it a bit ago... but, like I said I've been making more than posting.

To begin, I stamped the hat from "Hat's Off to You", then masked that off and stamped the shark from "Duh-Nuh" and stamped him off as well. The string came from the "Toboggan Together" set and the little fish came from "Fintastic Friends". All the images are stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink. I stamped off the remaining images as well as the edges of the panel.

I used Broken China, Salty Ocean and Chipped Sapphire Distress Inks to create my background. I then placed my wave stencil down, and used a glitter gelly roll pen to trace the curves and get some shimmer. With the stencil in place I pressed a damp paper towel over top of the panel to lift some of the ink.

Once the panel was completely dry, I removed the masks and coloured all the images with Copic markers. I added some liquid adhesive to the trim and the pom-pom of the hat and dipped it in Lawn Fawn's fine prisma glitter.

I popped the panel up on some foam tape and adhered it to a piece of patterned paper then mounted the whole lot to the front of a standard A2 sized card base.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. If you haven't already, please follow me on the right side bar, over on Facebook and on YouTube. Drop me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think.

Happy Holidays 2018 | Cascading Snowflakes | ft. Lawn Fawn Dies and Stamps

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you're having a great day.

I know I promised this post on Sunday, but other things happened and it didn't work out for me. But it's here today, and I'm feeling lucky I've gotten this far. My computer is being rather uncooperative and I'm starting to feel rather hostile towards it.

So today's card (and video) are a little different. There's only a little bit of stamping for the greeting and zero colouring. I wanted to share a card that has been in my head for a little while and maybe appeal to some of the people who aren't into stamping and colouring as much as I am.

I recommend watching in HD over on YouTube!

In the video you'll get to hear how this card didn't go according to plan as well as my thoughts on the Nuvo liquid glue.

I hope you like today's card (and video) and are inspired to create something of your own. If you haven't already, please follow me on the right side bar, over on Facebook and on YouTube! Drop me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think.

All of your support and encouragement mean the world to me and I cannot thank you enough for every comment, like/thumbs up and follow you guys have given me. You are all awesome.

Happy Holidays 2018 | Using up the Scraps ft. Lawn Fawn "Winter Skies"

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you're having a great day.

Today I want to share a card for the 2018 Happy Holidays Series using up the scraps. If you're like me, you stamp and colour more than you need, then you don't have the heart to toss the extras away, because you could probably use them on a card at some point in the future.... maybe.

This card is created completely using the scraps from that were left over from other cards. Even the background was made while I was just playing around trying to get motivated. It's been hard for me lately.

I stamped the trees and these snuggling critters from Lawn Fawn's "Winter Skies" stamp set with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on 110lb Copic-friendly cardstock and coloured them with Copic markers.

I created the background by sponging Peacock Feathers, Blueprint Sketch and Chipped Sapphire Distress Inks onto Bristol Smooth cardstock, I added some Black Soot around the edges, just to darken it up a bit. To create the Northern Lights look, I sponged on Twisted Citron, then used the edge of my blending tool and swooshed it up - much like the flicking motion I use when I colour with Copic, just with the sponge.

Once I had selected all the pieces, it was just a matter of putting them together! The only new thing I did today, was stamp the greeting with VersaMark Ink and heat embossing with fine white embossing powder.

I hope you enjoyed today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. If you haven't already, please follow me on the right side bar, over on Facebook and on YouTube. Drop me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think.

Mixed Haul | It's a Long One; There's So Much FUN Stuff

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you're having a great day!

Today I have a mixed haul video with a bunch of different stuff! Let me tell you, I cannot wait to start playing with all these new and fun things. This is a scheduled post, as I'm actually at work while this is going up! YAY for technology!!

Watch in HD on YouTube!

Check out the video above to see all the fun new goodies, as well as a few "first tries" for: 

• Tombow Dual Brush Markers (there will be a review coming soon!)
• My first try and reaction to Ken Oliver Colour Burst Watercolours - OMG!! When you see the video, I think you'll be just as excited as I am!
• Opening and first try of the Nuvo Glimmer Paste

There are so many new things here, you'll just have to watch the video on YouTube, to see what's coming!!

I hope you enjoyed today's haul video! If you haven't already, please follow me on the right side bar, over on Facebook and on my YouTube Channel! Drop me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think! And don't forget to subscribe!!!

Happy Heart Day Series | Window Panel ft. Stampin' Up "Rose Wonder"

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you're having a great day.

Happy Valentine's Day! Today I have the final card in this year's Happy Heart Day series. I've had this Rose Wonder set by Stampin' Up sitting in my craft room forever. Well not really forever, but for a very long time.

For the life of me, I cannot fathom why I don't use it more. The rose is perfect for so many different occasions, not to mention how great it is for practicing shading and colouring in any medium imaginable.

To begin, I used one of my rectangle dies from Spellbinders to cut a window out of the front of a standard A2 sized card base as well as from the piece of glitter paper that is the frame on the front. I used some post-it tape to line the glitter paper with the card base, and hold the die in place to cut them at the same time, this way the window lines up perfectly.

I then trimmed down a piece of acetate to match the size of the outer edge of the frame and stamped the rose with StazOn ink with the MISTI. I had to stamp it a couple of times because my ink pad is on its way out; even then there were a few places that the impression wasn't awesome, so I used a smooth surface black pen to fill in those areas.

I adhered the acetate to the back of the frame then mounted that to the front of the card base, so the entire front of the card is a window.

I stamped the "Love" with CTMH Tulip ink, again using the MISTI as this is a dye ink and doesn't give the best impression the first time around. I used Memento Tuxedo Black ink for the "with".

I wanted to provide a better picture of how this card would look if it were standing partially open, as cards tend to do when we display them.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. If you haven't already, please follow me on the right side bar, over on Facebook and now on YouTube! Drop me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think.

Happy Heart Day Series | Stamping Mash Up ft. Clearly Besotted and Lawn Fawn

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you're having a great day.

I've found the more I create cards, the bigger my stash gets, the more videos I watch and the more blogs I follow, that I tend to try to stay within one brand for my cards. Each card, from start to finish is either all Lawn Fawn, or all MFT or all Clearly Besotted etc. And that's all well and good, and maybe if I'm lucky enough to be a guest designer or (dare I dream) on one of the design teams that habit will serve me well.

As of right now, though, I'm not. I remember way back when I first started it didn't even occur to me to stay in the same brand for a whole card. First off, I didn't know that was a thing, and second I certainly didn't have the supplies to do that. LOL We've all been there, right?

Today's card is a mash up of two of my favourite companies; Lawn Fawn and Clearly Besotted.

To begin, I stamped the rose from Clearly Besotted's "Merci Beaucoup" set with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on 110lb Copic-friendly cardstock. I then stamped the top of the dome from Lawn Fawn's "Ready, Set, Snow" set, masking the bottom. I repeated the process, stamping the bottom of the dome and used a Copic-safe liner and a straight edge to pull the lines together.

I coloured the rose and the base of the dome with Copic markers. I then used some of the little snowflakes from the Lawn Fawn set with Delicata silver ink to add the sparkles around the flower. Once that was dry, I prepped the base of the dome with my powder tool and stamped the "Valentine" with VersaMark ink and heat embossed with silver detail embossing powder.

To make the dome look a little more like glass and a little less flat, I took my lightest blue Copic marker (B000) and drew a few streaks to create the illusion of reflection. This is a relatively new technique for me and I definitely need some practice, but I think it turned out well for a first try.

Finally, to finish off the panel and because I just can't really help myself, I used the Spectrum Noir clear glitter brush pen over the petals. This time I was very careful not to add too many layers (like we saw here, I guess I learned from that mistake!).

I had to trim down the left edge of the panel as my images weren't centered, I adhered my panel to a piece of red glitter paper then mounted the whole lot to the front of a standard A2 sized card base.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. If you haven't already, please follow me on the right side bar or over on Facebook, so you don't miss any future posts. Drop me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think.

This card is for:

Muse Challenge #253

Inspired by Tracey

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge

It Must Be Love

Happy Heart Day Series | Beary Lovable ft. Gerda Steiner "Warm Fuzzies"

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you're having a great day.

Today's card fits in two different series', but in the interest of not having a title as long as the blog itself, I'll keep it to my Happy Heart Day Series today; though, as you can see it would also fit in the Coloured on Kraft Series.

Anyone who watches card making videos on YouTube has had to have seen stamps by Gerda Steiner Designs. This is the first time that I am trying them out and I have to say that I'm very much impressed. They have a bunch of sets and I'm very excited to get my hands on more of them.

To begin, I stamped this bear from Gerda Steiner's "Warm Fuzzies" with VersaMark ink on 65lb Kraft paper by Recollections, then coloured him with Prismacolor Premier pencils.

I used an inside out stitched rectangle to cut him from the centre of the paper. I then used an open heart stamp randomly about the outer frame and then coloured them with pencils as well. I adhered the frame to the front of a standard A2 sized card base and added the little bear piece back inside.

To cover the cut edge, but preserve the stitching, I laid down a line of liquid adhesive and sprinkled red glitter over it.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. If you haven't already, please follow me on the right side bar or over on Facebook, so you don't miss any future posts. Drop me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think.

Happy Heart Day Series | ft. Lawn Fawn "Wheelie Like You"

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you're having a great day.

I got this set almost as soon as it was release, I had so many plans for this little guy, then it arrived and nothing. This is actually the first time I have ever even inked it up. Sad, right? But it happens.

I also noticed that all my critters are little "guys". Not sure why, just a funny little thing I have.

Anyway, you may have noticed that my posts are a bit more sporadic than usual. Well, I have a new job! For the first time since my youngest was born (five and a half years ago) I'm working. Once the training is over, it's every other weekend some stat days and then every now and then if someone else's shift needs to be covered, but I'm working! I knew I missed work, but honestly I had no idea how MUCH I missed it until I started last week.

To begin, I stamped the little hamster from Lawn Fawn's "Wheelie Like You" set with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on 110lb Copic-friendly cardstock. I then masked him off and stamped the wheel with the same ink.

I removed the mask and coloured the images in with Copic markers. I used one of my scalloped circle dies to cut out my little panel, then stamped the greeting on the top edge using the MISTI.

For the background, I adhered a piece of heart cardstock to the front of my standard A2 sized card base, then added a strip of red glitter paper across it. I popped up the scalloped circle panel with some foam tape and mounted that on top.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. If you haven't already, please follow me on the right side bar or over on Facebook, so you don't miss any future posts. Drop me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think.

This card is for:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge

Anything Goes

Muse Challenge

#251

2 Crafty Critter Crazies

Challenge #11

Happy Holidays Series | White Christmas ft. Lawn Fawn "Large Wreath" Dies

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you're having a great day.

It's the final day of this year's Happy Holiday Series!! I cannot believe it's all done for another year. It's been such a fantastic ride, and I honestly could not have pushed through without all of your support and encouragement! The holidays are just crazy here with three kids and multiple extended families, so thank you all for your comments, shares and likes. They mean so much to me!

For a while it didn't look like we were really going to be having a white Christmas, we had summer time temperatures for most of November and the first half of December, but then last week the temperature dropped and the white stuff came falling down so we'll have a white Christmas after all.

Today's card is rather fitting, as I went with a classic white monochrome to finish off the holiday series.

To begin, I used the "Large Wreath" die set by Lawn Fawn to cut a bunch of boughs from shimmering white cardstock as well as from some white glittery cardstock. I cut the bow from silver cardstock and used Tombow Mono Multi glue to put it together and my reverse tweezers to hold it in place until it was dry.

I used the same liquid glue to adhere the bases of the boughs to the ring, filling it in with more pieces then adding the glitter boughs around until it looked just the way I wanted it to.

I adhered the bow to the bottom of the wreath then set that aside to dry.

For the background panel I used Lawn Fawn's "Wood Grain Backdrops" stamp with CTMH Linen ink to get a delicate tone on tone panel. I adhered that to the front of my standard A2 sized card base and then mounted the wreath to the front.

I had considered adding a greeting to the front of the card, but I didn't want to add any more to it. The simplistic design and the colours were just enough for me. So in a move that was completely unlike me I opted to not further embellish the card.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. If you haven't already, please follow me on the right side bar or over on Facebook, so you don't miss any future posts. Drop me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think.

Happy Holidays Series | Dimensional Goody Bag ft. Lawn Fawn "Goodie Bag" Die

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you're having a great day.

For each seasonal series, I like to include a couple "not cards", generally a tag and a goody bag. I've already done the tag (which you can see here), today I have the goody bag or gift card holder - it will work for either. I wanted to kick it up a notch this time around, so I made a windowed goody bag with a dimensional scene.

To begin, I used the "Goodie Bag" die and cut a piece of kraft cardstock twice to form the bag. I then cut just the front panel of it again from a piece of "Perfectly Plaid - Chill" patterned paper. I then used the outside stitched rectangle to cut a window from the patterned paper and one of the kraft panels.

Using super strong tape, I adhered the patterned paper panel to the kraft panel. I used the "Stitched Hillside Border" dies to cut some snowbanks from 110lb white cardstock and trimmed them down to the width of my bag, adhering one to the outside of the bag to give even more dimension.

On a scrap of 110lb Copic-friendly cardstock I stamped two trees and the Sasquatch from "Lovable Legends" with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and cut them out using the Brother 2 Scan N Cut, then coloured them with Copics. 

For the inside back panel of my scene I sponged Tumbled Glass, Salty Ocean and a bit of Faded Jeans Distress Inks to create a sky making it the darkest at the top. I used the Distress Sprayer to spritz on some water and give it a splattered look.

Once all my pieces were dry, I adhered some sparkling snowflakes that were left over from another project to be stars in the sky.

To get the dimensional snow, I used a Marvy Snow Marker to add snow to the trees and the tops of the hillsides. I've found the best way to use this marker is to press it down on an acrylic block and use a small cheap paintbrush to add it where I want it. I cannot control the flow from the marker directly and I have ruined more than one project trying to apply it directly - lesson learned.

I adhered a piece of acetate to the inside of my window and assembled my whole scene before securing it to the bottom of the bag. I used two layers of foam tape around the edges of the window and pressed the scene into place. Only when I was satisfied with its position did I finish assembling the bag.

This took a bit of time to put together, I recommend folding the bag together to see where all the pieces need to go without adhesive or with a repositionable adhesive before bonding it permanently. The end results are well worth the potential frustration, and with a bit of time and patience these can come together relatively quickly.

To finish off the bag, I adhered a few more sparkling snowflakes to the outside and used coordinating ribbon and baker's twine for the bow at the top. I didn't actually have mini bells, but I had brads that were bells, so I clipped off one of the pokey things and curled the other, then used some invisible thread and a needle to tie them into place.

I'm excited to create more of these for the seasons to come, but I'll definitely be saving them for those special friends who will treasure the bag as well as the gift inside.

I hope you like today's post and are inspired to create something of your own. If you haven't already, please follow me on the right side bar or over on Facebook, so you don't miss any future posts. Drop me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think.

Happy Holidays Series | 4x4 ft. Lawn Fawn "Mini Wreath"

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you're having a great day.

I typically do all my cards in the standard A2 (4 1/4 x 5 1/2") but every now and then I like to mix things up a bit, so today I have a sweet 4x4" card. This could easily be done in the standard A2 size format, and give you room for a greeting.

To begin, I used the "Mini Wreath" die from Lawn Fawn and cut 4 wreaths from dark green cardstock and 4 from light green cardstock. I used the mini bow that comes with the set to cut two silver and two gold bows, then used the little berry dies and cut those from red glittering cardstock.

I assembled my wreaths using liquid glue and then set them aside to dry.

I then cut a piece of 65lb kraft cardstock down 3 1/2 x 3 1/2 and used the Wood Grain Backdrop stamp with CTMH Chocolate ink, then sponged Gathered Twigs Distress ink around the edges to darken them up.

For the next layer I used the same dark green cardstock and adhered that down to the front of my card base. I then added the wood grain layer and added the wreaths.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. If you haven't already, please follow me on the right side bar or over on Facebook, so you don't miss any future posts. Drop me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think.

Happy Holidays Series | Classic Christmas ft. Lawn Fawn "Large Wreath" Die

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you're having a great day.

Welcome to the 14th card in this year's Happy Holidays Series. I sat on the fence about this die for a long time. I was well into my Holiday Series before I made the decision to get this, and I am so very glad that I did. We can all thank Pinterest for pushing me over the edge on this one.

Pinterest is that wonderful place where you discover you really NEED to have all the things you didn't think you even wanted. LOL

While my plan for this year's series was to do cute stuff focusing around the North Pole and Santa's Workshop I just couldn't resist tossing in a little elegance. This is one of my favourites from this year, and I wouldn't be entirely surprised if it made an appearance next year in the Happy Holidays Series.

To begin, I stamped the wood grain stamp from Lawn Fawn's "Wood Grain Backdrops" with CTMH Chocolate ink on 65lb kraft cardstock by Recollections. I then used Gathered Twigs Distress ink to darken the edges going lighter towards the centre.

I used the "Large Wreath" die to cut 3 sets (the die cuts 4 at a time) of the boughs from shimmering cardstock and once from white glitter cardstock. I used Tombow Mono Adhesive to glue the boughs in place around the stitched circle that comes with the die set. Once I had the majority of my shimmering boughs in place I added the glittering ones every couple of spaces.

I cut the bow from silver glitter cardstock and assembled that using liquid adhesive as well. I have found that if you cut a foam square in half, it just fits in the loops of the bows, so that even when compressed it will still retain some dimension and not just be squished flat. I used my reverse tweezers to hold the bow together while it dried, then adhered it to the bottom of my wreath.

To mount the wreath onto my background panel, I used 3/4" lengths of two-way tape to secure it in place all around the back of the circle, then mounted the panel to the front of a standard A2 sized card base.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. If you haven't already, please follow me on the right side bar or over on Facebook, so you don't miss any future posts. Drop me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think.

This card is for:

CASology Week 277

Round

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge

Anything Goes

Freshly Made Sketches

Challenge #315

Inlaid Anniversary | ft. Stampin' Up "Rose Wonder" Dies

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you're having a great day.

Today I thought I would share a super fun technique where you use both the positive and the negative space of the die cuts to create a beautiful inlay design. I chose this die set because of all the pieces to work with, it's very much like a puzzle and I found it to be quite soothing to put together.

While I created this card with Anniversary in mind, it can easily be used as a shower card, a birthday card, a love card; and it doesn't have to be glitter paper, but really who doesn't want a card that sparkles like crazy in the light??

To begin, I used the large rose die cut from Stampin' Up's "Rose Wonder" set and die cut the flower from three different pieces of glitter cardstock.

I first cut down my panel from the medium pink then die cut the rose to get my base and I adhered the positive panel to a piece of cardstock that was cut down to be the same size.

I then cut the flower again from the darkest piece of glitter cardstock to get my outline. Finally I cut the flower from my lightest piece of glitter cardstock to get all the little pieces to inlay. If you have a package of Stick-It, this would be the time to use it. I did not have any so I went old school and used glue.

Much like a puzzle, I found it most efficient to work with the pieces that were obvious first, then made my way down through the smaller pieces. If you are lucky enough to have the paper stick in your die, it is even easier. I was not so lucky.

Because I didn't have Stick-It at the time, I covered my hidden background panel with wide two-way tape and worked slowly and carefully. The tape is quite strong so once it's down, it's down.

I prepped a strip of vellum with my powder tool and heat embossed the greeting from CTMH "Finding the Words" with white embossing powder and wrapped it around my panel to hide all of the adhesive.

I then mounted the completed panel to the front of a standard A2 sized card base. To finish off the card (because three types of glitter paper just doesn't sparkle enough) I adhered a few sequins across the panel using Aleene's Glass and Bead Adhesive.

Also, because I created this piece from three different card stocks, I can ultimately create three different cards! YAY!!

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. If you haven't already, please follow me on the right side bar or over on Facebook, so you don't miss any future posts. Drop me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think.

Clean and Simple Birthday | ft. Newton's Nook "Newton's Birthday Bash"

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you're having a great day.

Today, I thought I would share a birthday card for any cat lover on your list. I'm running a bit behind today, as we had the kids Christmas party this morning and then I got to doing other things. I'd like to tell you that they were super important things, but really they weren't. It's been quite a lazy day, in fact.

To begin, I stamped the kitty image and the greeting from "Newton's Birthday Bash" with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on 110lb Copic-friendly cardstock and coloured him with Copic markers.

I then tied a length of 1/8" ribbon around the top. To finish it off I added bright red glitter to his hat and the ribbons of the gifts.

I adhered this panel to the front of a standard A2 sized card base.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. If you haven't already, please follow me on the right side bar or over on Facebook, so you don't miss any future posts. Drop me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think.

Fairy Happy Birthday | Lawn Fawn "Fairy Friends"

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you're having a great day.

Birthday's are generally magical when you're small - all those people coming to see you, and the party and the cake and the presents. As you get older, I've found that they start to become just another day. Which is sad when you think about it. There are so few things that we as adults get as excited for as a child whose birthday is nearly upon them.

Today, I wanted to share this super sweet fairy birthday card that I created for a little girl who is turning 6 very soon.

To begin, I stamped the fairy and the house from Lawn Fawn's "Fairy Friends" stamp set with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on 110lb Copic-friendly cardstock. I used the scallop border from MFT Blueprints #27 to cut the front panel.

I masked off the house and added the flowers and the little rock path from the same set and coloured everything with Copic markers.

I masked off all my images and the scalloped border and used Cracked Pistachio and Mowed Lawn Distress inks for the grass, Shaded Lilac, Milled Lavender, Spun Sugar and a bit of Victorian Velvet for the sky.

Once the background was completely dry, I stamped the greeting (also from "Fairy Friends") and added the chunky star glitter by the fairy.

To finish off the card, I popped the panel up on some foam tape and adhered that to a piece of pink paper and then mounted the whole piece to the front of a standard A2 sized card base. For just a bit more sparkle, I used my Quickie Glue pen by Sakura on the petals of the house and on the fairy's wings then sprinkled them with Lawn Fawn's fine Prisma Glitter.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. If you haven't already, please follow me on the right side bar or over on Facebook, so you don't miss any future posts. Drop me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think.

This card is for:

Sunday Stamps Challenge

SSC164 Sketch Fun

Coloured on Kraft | Troll Party ft. Your Next Stamp "Insanely Happy"

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you're having a great day.

Today I'd like to share this super cute birthday card I created using the "Insanely Happy" stamp set by Your Next Stamp. This is a new (to me) stamp company with super cute images and clever sentiments. Given the popularity of the Trolls movie that recently came out, I thought that this set would be a perfect one to start with.

The images can work for both a boy or a girl; don't have to be for birthdays and are super fun to colour.

To begin, I created masks of all the trolls in the "Insanely Happy" stamp set by Your Next Stamp. I then used the MISTI to stamp the two outer trolls, masked them then stamped the third, masked her and finally the last troll.

I removed all the masks and coloured the images in with Prismacolor Premier pencils (you can see my review of those here). I'm still having trouble with natural skin tones when using the coloured pencils, so colouring these trolls was super fun!

I used three shades for each of the different colour skins, four shades for each of the hair and two shades for all of the clothes. Typically, I would use more shades for the clothes but these are very small areas and don't require as many shades to get a good blend.

Once I was certain I liked the colouring, I put the panel back into the MISTI and stamped the greeting. All of the stamping was done using Memento Tuxedo Black ink. Not because it's required, but out of habit.

I then traced the "Have An Insanely" portion of the greeting with my Quickie Glue pen by Sakura and sprinkled Lawn Fawn's fine Prisma Glitter over the letters. Since the Trolls movie, all trolls must have glitter! Sadly, the writing is obscured in the picture, but in real life it sparkles and you can read it. WIN!

To finish it off, I used the Imaginisce i-Rock heat tool to add the coloured embellishments around the greeting. I've had this tool for ages, and I keep forgetting that it's around. Then adhered the kraft panel to the front of a standard A2 sized card base.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. If you haven't already, please follow me on the right side bar or over on Facebook, so you don't miss any future posts. Drop me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think.

This card is for:

Seize the Birthday

Kraft Card Base