White on White Card

White on white is so pretty but rarely do we think of it so I have to thank Stacy at Sketches4All for the challenge (check it out here)! 

I chose a winter theme for the card - a bit early to start on Christmas cards but one of the blogs I follow (Paper Girls) challenged us to use snowflakes.  I thought it was perfect theme for white-on-white.  I began with a white card base that I edged in Winter Snow glimmer paint from Creative Inspirations.  For the next layer, I created my own pattern paper using a snowflake stamp and clear embossing powder.  The next two layers are white shimmer paper that I embossed with a Tim Holtz folder and the old stand by Swiss Dots.  Finally, the snowflake was cut on my Silhouette and then painted with more of the CI paint.  And all topped off with a snowflake brad (painted with the CI paint) and a rhinestone.  Sketch design is from Mojo Monday.

 

Christmas Card Stragglers

OK - a few final Christmas cards are trickling out my door....  This one used scraps from an earlier card and is based on a sketch from Sweet Stamps.  Stamp is Hero Arts and twin is Queen & Co.

Catching up on Card Creations

As with all of us, I have a lot of events coming up - birthdays, Christmas of course, New Year's, and unfortunately, the passing of a friend's near aunt.

In addition to the Verve and My Favorite Things sketch challenges, I am also submitting these to:

• Go Fish Anything Goes challenge
• Christmas card - Ribbon Carousel's Holiday challenge and Little Scrap Pieces Holiday challenge
• New Year's card - PaperPlay's Out With the Old, In With the New challenge, Hiding in My Craft Room #77 Anything but Christmas challenge, Pile It On - #49 Pile on the Embellishments, and a Rewind challenge at ACOT. 
• Sympathy card was based on a sketch at Freshly Made Sketches.

Christmas with Graphic 45

I created this card with Graphic 45 papers (Christmas Emporium) using a take on Iris folding to create the main section.  Sketch was based on Mojo Monday sketch.  The sentiment is from a stamp set from Close to My Heart and I cut the tag for the sentiment on my Cricut for this week's Creative Cutter Room Graphic 45 challenge.  The green colors in the paperes and the base make it perfect for DL.Art Green or Red challenge this week, too (I love Diana's creations)!  I'm also entering this in the Little Scrap Pieces Christmas challenge (love their crinkle ribboon)

I'm on a Roll....

Created another Christmas card tonight - it came together super quick with a few scraps and a great digital stamp from Eureka!  Design is based on this week's sketch from My Favorite Things.

P.S. - Check out Sketches4All in December for a special challenge sponsored by Eureka!  I'll post details in a day or two.

Challenges:

• My Favorite Things Sketch #100
• DL.Art - December Holidays
• Hiding in My Craft Room #73 - Christmas
• Kaboodle Doodles - Polka Dots or Stripes

Christmas Preparations

In between layouts, I've been creating a few Christmas cards.  This was was made with Bazzill Believe paper set and a stamp from Close to My Heart.  Sketch is the the November Wk 1 sketch from the Viva la Verve challenge.  It's perfect for the Sweet Stamps blog challenge as well as the Southern Girls challenge.

Bring on the Christmas Cards!

I am taking advantage of a very cold day here in Dallas and knocking out a few projects - we went from low 80's yesterday to only 53 today and very grey.  So I warmed myself up with Christmas cards.  And yes, I even made hot chocolate.  I admit - 53 is not cold to most people.  But a 30 degree drop in a single day just left me a bit unprepared!

The first card is for this week's Mojo Monday as well as the banner challenges at Pink Elephant and Use Your Stuff.  The papers are Little Yellow Bicycle; ornament is from Circut Art Philosophy; the scroll stamp, scroll die, and banner dies are from Verve, and the sentiment is from Cutting Cafe;s All About Christmas set which is packed with great images and sentiments.

Onto the next card - horrible photo but cute card!  This one also uses a digital file from Cutting Cafe - the stocking-shaped word art image from the Christmas Sentiments set.  It comes with a cutting file, too, so it was easy to add the shadow layer!  The sketch is based on a layout sketch from Let's Get Sketchy - Scrap Friendzy had a challenge to convert a layout sketch to a card and I thought this one would work well.  The three pattern papers are from Bazzil Believe collection and the "merry christmas" stamp is from Hero Arts.

Cleaning Up My Scraps

And here's a second card I made fom the same CTMH paper set as in my earlier post.  I figured it was easier to carry on than tidy up :-)

I liked the paper so much that I decided to use vellum for the sentiment rather than solid cardstock.  I also created a gold frame for the vellum to hide the adhesive and added a gold scroll-like die cut from Verve (Flourish Trim) .  While I chose a different sketch inspiration for this one, I carried on with the gold and ribbon challenges from the earlier card:

• Sketch - based on Viva la Verve September Week 3
• Text and Gold - the gold frame for the sentiment, the gold mat, the gold flourish at the bottom, and even the gold in the ribbon (along with the text of the sentiment) came from Cupcake Craft Challenges #210
• Ribbon - Paper Pretties Monday Challenge - PPMC57
• Sketches4All - Anything Goes

Wishing You Happy Holidays (already?????)

Yes - it's that time again.  Time to start making Christmas cards!  I bought a stamp and paper set from Close to My Heart and absolutely adore it!  The papers are so elegant!  I see several cards with this paper in my future...  Rather than copy the Close to My Heart layout suggestions I have taken some inspiration from several great challenge sites (I've been a bit out of the challenge world lately so I'm catching up with old friends and new inspirations):

• Sketch - based on a Pagemaps sketch for Stacy's September challenge at Sketches4All
• Text and Gold - the idea to accent the ribbon ends with gold, use gold thread to hang the ornament and use gold metallic paper for the top layer of the ornament (along with the text of the sentiment) came from Cupcake Craft Challenges #210
• Ribbon - Paper Pretties Monday Challenge - PPMC57

Christmas in April

Spring is in bloom and I'm making Christmas cards!  Why not?  I have been joining a number of card challenges lately and I admit to now being a bit over-run with Thank You, Birthday, and Just Because cards.  So, I decided why not get a start on Christmas cards?  My daughter has suggested I make some Halloween cards next - we'll see :-)  I should probably at least finish my Easter cards first!

The design is based on a sketch from Mojo Monday Challenge # 235 and will also be used for Throwback Thursday over at My Creative Time (the great sentiment is from one of their stamp sets).  The faux stitching I did around the scalloped matt is perfect for this week's DYSU challenge of Sew It!

Recipe:

• Papers = Paper Studio
• Gold cardstock = DCWV Metallic Stack
• Embossing Folder = Cuttlebug Devine Swirls
• Stamp = My Creative Time Mixed Holiday Sentiments
• Scalloped Matt = Platypus Creek Digital Scalloped & Lacy Circles
• Banner = Cricut Art Philosphy cartridge from Close to My Heart (a must have)
• Metallic Cord = Hobby Lobby
• Gold Gel pen used for "stitching" = Uni-Ball Signo (the best!)