Christmas in July

I don't know about you but I normally make at least 1 Christmas card a month gradually adding more to my stash for the upcoming holiday well that's not how this year worked...everything seemed to get all screwy but I di manage to make two cards recently LOL I figured Christmas in July! Most supplies can be found at Scrapsalot so make sure you go and check out the shop.

I started with a plain white card base added a 4x5.25 greenish panel then laid my die panel on top... I used the Hero arts fancy die called Holiday confetti that's the white background...the little dots made me think of holly berries so I used a sparkle red gel pen to color the ones that came in three's ...the stamp set is also from Hero Arts color layering Nordic tree. It's really simple to line up these layering stamps.

I didn't have the die set for these but they are fairly simple to fussy cut...if I was making more I would have stamped a bunch then scanned and cut with my silhouette portrait (sometimes I forget to do that LOL) I stamped using Catherine pooler's lime rickey and Rockin red. I popped my sentiment and tree up on some dimensional foam....added some enamel dots! hmmm let us call the card finished LOL


Items from Scrapsalot
Hero Arts stamp-color layering Nordic tree.
Hero Arts-Holiday confetti
Catherine Pooler-lime rickey
Catherine Pooler-Rockin red
Carta Bella enamel dots
archival ink -Jet Black
lawn fawn stamp shammy
score tape


Thank you for coming by and checking out my latest card!

Holiday Critter Chaos day 7

haha as you can see I missed a couple days...But I'm hoping to backtrack and play along on those days too Catch the bug challenge blog

so I got to use this week's freebie....the cutest lil penguin ever! you can get him at Bugaboo Stamps

 thanks for coming by to take a peek!

Pop up box card

I wanted to make a special Christmas card for my best friend this year so I thought why not try a Pop-up box card...I did some research to find a template that would make one that fits an A2 style card.

now if you follow me at all you know my measurements are always off LOL whats that saying measure twice cut once? well even that doesn't work here ...I just stink with any kind of numbers anyway here is what I came up with...

 this does fold flat and fit into a normal envelope for an A2 size card

I used the new set from Lawn fawn HoHo Holidays you can find that set at Scrapsalot they carry all your crafting needs and if you can't find it just send a message to Debra and she'll help you out!

I think this one will just be my prototype LOL I did mess up some measurements on the inside pieces so they sit a little funny but it looks adorable sitting next to my small Christmas tree 😁

Holly Jolly- More Christmas cards

I'm working on more Christmas cards.. this time I used a bunch of crafty goodness from Scrapsalotllc.com. Debra (owner of scrapsalot) sent me a bit of flock in each color she had, at first I wasn't sure what to do with it besides pet it lol but then I remember a cut die I had from Penny black. I di cut the mitten, bow and candy cane out of some flock I love the dimension it gives and also the feel 😁

now for the really fun part...I took the new Holly confetti de die from Hero Arts and made a paper stencil...yes I could have just used the die but I was going for a different feel. I used a couple different green and red distress oxides! I totally love how it turned out.
since I couldn't find the right shade of green for my matte layer I used the same green distress oxides and just kind of swiped the edge it looks random and a bit distressed
I hope you'll head on over to the Scrapsalot Shop and see what Debra has to offer!

Products used from Scrapsalot Shop

Distress oxides- Mowed lawn, twisted citron, candied apple, fired brick
Archival ink -Jet black
Blending brush
Lawn fawn stamp shammy
Hero Arts -Holly confetti die
Hero Arts- color layering Nordic trees stamp set (used a sentiment on this card)
Thermoweb Flock

Christmas in July

Here is another card for the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge
  to Create your own background...I went with a Christmas theme because the card group I'm in has a weekend challenge this weekend it's Christmas in July...I was also hoping it would cool me off since we're in the middle excessive heat warning :(   ha I didn't think how using the heat gun wouldn't help cool me off but it was quick work so it's all good!

yes yes I am playing around with my photos for Instagram...ya know it's about the likes LOL we'll see how it goes It was fun to do anyway and I think the pictures look better..but what do I know I'm a crafter, not a photographer!

thanks for coming by...Hope you have a fabulous weekend!

I BELIEVE

I believe in a whole lot of things...like the good in people and that time heals...I believe my daughter can do/be anything her heart desires... I believe in love at first sight...I believe there is no right or wrong in art...I believe my dog understands me LOL the list goes on and on but when I saw the new challenge over at more than words My first thought was I believe in the magic of Christmas! Its not about gifts its about the feeling I get...no matter how down and gloomy I am the lights and smells..the smiles the Christmas carols always bring a smile to my face... my husband tells me I am worse than any kid he's ever met at Christmas time...if we go out at night my face is plastered to the window looking for lights (I even make him pull over for those special houses lol)

I wanted to document our first Christmas in our new home December makes it 6 months in the new house and I can not tell you the changes this move has made for us, a lot of them were very eye-opening and very much needed! We are both happier and more in sync with each other...anyway this is our little tree...It's small but very cute...on the plus side, the cat hasn't tried to knock it down yet LOL Make sure you stop over at More than words blog and play along!

 thank you for coming to take a peek...I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!

Christmas Challenge

This month at Archi-scraps the challenge is anything Christmas! I decided to create a pretty christmascard....I'm not sure about you but I have almost all of mine made that includes the 50 my daughter came by and picked up to send to her friends! 😲

very simple but festive!

 here is the inspiration photo so if you want to join the challenge over at  Archi-scraps

here are a couple other Christmas cards I've made recenly.... I made a wide variety and some custom ones for some very special people!

thanks for coming to take a peek!

Trial and error

I have a new found appreciation for all the card-makers/crafters that take the time to mask even the smallest of images to create Fabulous cards! I have watched thousands of videos on card-making and stamping and am in awe of the creativity and effort each person puts into their cards. that being said I am still new to stamping, I've been making cards for a while now but mostly using my silhouette portrait and maybe a sentiment stamp or maybe even a single stamped image and a sentiment LOL Like I said I've watched other people do it using plain copy paper (tried that but I always end up crumpling up the paper and messing it up) the post-it note idea is really cool but all my post its are too small... I've seen that neat sticky paper for masking but I didn't have any on hand then it dawned on me yesterday when I was trying to make clouds that I have two huge rolls of painters tape hubby bought! (for a project that never got done LOL) so I tried it with the clouds and LOVED the results...that made me brave haha I pulled out a couple simple stamps (polar bear because they didn't need to be colored much) and trees! Talk about mix and match haha I used five different stamps from 3 different companies!
now came the hard part...stamping on tape and fussy cutting the tiny images....

I took my time...which by the way people who do this all the time WOW! I don't know how you have the patience. It's not so bad once you have the masks all cut out then its just a matter of placing them, Oh and make sure you stick it to your shirt before you put it on your card you really don't need it that sticky LOL!
So here is the first one I did.

On this one I learned I needed to wait for the ink to either dry on the masking or wipe it off, you can see some of the green kind of blended in the snowy area on the right and I need to make sure my hands are clean before touching the card! I have a bit of green here and there from where I touched green ink but since I used a bigger piece of paper to start with it was mostly cut off woohoo me! So I was really encouraged by the end I didn't mess it up too bad so I added it to a card base and really liked the end results ( haha this one goes to my Daughter!)

So I slept on it and this morning I wanted to try again...with a bit more knowledge I made this one with no smudging! I tried to space my trees a bit better. I did notice I didn't get the masking just right on the green scarf but I'm okay with it there are no big blobs of it and the bears don't have (much) blank white space around them! I just need to remember for next time to double check the masking placement next time!

All in all, I call this a success!
thanks for stopping by my blog and checking it out!

CAS(E) this Sketch No132

I thought I would get a jump on some Christmas cards....last year we sent out over 75 handmade cards lots of last minute ones were made....so I want to make sure we have plenty this year! :)
I used the new sketch from  CAS(E) this Sketch #132

CAS(E) this Sketch #132

thanks for coming to take a peek!

Holiday

wow it seems like forever since I've done a layout..lol I guess I was busy making Christmas cards! I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!!

I just wanted to share my latest layout real quick..I used the sketch from Blue Fern Studios and a couple chippy pieces from them too!

thanks for stopping by and have a Happy New Year!!!

Better to Give

really early depending on how you look at things....

I spent most of the day being crafty as I had a couple things that I needed to get done for the holiday....this also works in my favor for the latest challenge over at Scrap Africa (Tell us what a traditional December is like for you, in your home town, city or country. So journalling is a must...even if just telling us the story on your blog!)

since I haven't really had time for a normal layout I decided to share what I've been working on today and kind of journal about it on my blog.

So we haven't had a typical December in the last couple of years..its just been real hard on us but we are gradually getting back into things...one thing that has always been the same is the our giving nature, even when my girls were small we always donated more of our time and small gifts to those who needed them. As I started crafting the list of things to donate became even bigger...this year we took the homemade route I have made dozens of cards for St. Jude and dozens for a local nursing home (never mind the fact that I made 24 for my daughters friends and family)...we baked holiday cookies for the after school program (with homemade holiday tags)...this was great because we actually got to see them receive them...the smile are so worth any effort!

Both girls grew up knowing it was always better to give then to receive....My Sam is 22 years old and she still volunteers and has a special project of her own this year which leads to the things I was working on today.

 I had to make a bunch of tags...my daughter is sewing up a bunch of little pouches that will be holding some holiday candies for her to hand out!

 little box and tag for one of Sam's coworkers

and of course a very special Christmas card  for a very special little girl (wish I had thought of this one sooner...I would have sent these to my family LOL )

I'm not sure how much of this made any sense but thanks for stopping by and checking it out!

Happy Holidays!

Tea lights

I saw this tutorial on how to make these cute little tea lights...they are the perfect size for the batter operated kind (so my kitty doesn't burn her whiskers and I don't burn my house down lol) I thought they made the perfect Christmas decoration....I am entering this into the last challenge over at That's just so cute...I am so sorry this will be their last challenge, I have enjoyed playing along with them for awhile now!

I've made a couple different ones but I think I like this one the best!

thank you so much for taking a peek! and Happy Holidays!

Joy

Here is the card I made using the new sketch from Cardabilities, I used Kaisercaft papers and some twinkling H2O's to make this cute Christmas card!

thanks for coming to take a peek!

Cas(e) Christmas

 I just thought I would share my latest project... a simple Christmas card using the new Cas(e) Sketch #102

 I used the stamp set from Kaisercraft called Christmas Carol....it truly pretty and I love the way the sentiment looks!

thanks for taking a peek at my latest project!

TAG IT

Evening my scrappy friends....let me just tell you I was really excited to see the new challenge over at Scrap Africa.....its called "TAG IT"

Tags are so versatile and can be used in so many ways!

So our challenge to you is to use your tags and show us what you can do with them.

Please just make sure that you use at least 2 tags.

You can create a page, card or OTP project.

anyway...as I was saying I was excited because I had these cute little Christmas tags I printed out awhile back but they were too small (yes yes I have issues with measurements LOL ) for the project I wanted to use them for...so I just kind of tucked them away with all the other miscalculated items (there are lots and lots) I really try not to waste much....in the end it will all get used!

so these tags were the perfect size for a Christmas card :)

a little ink.... a little stamp....add a bow..and..Tada a cute Christmas card!

thanks for coming to take a peek.....