Christmastini Between Friends

I am so happy with this card. It was for the Bellarific Friday Challenge which is to use all white except for the image and the sketch from this week's Paper Sundaes. I'd seen others do white cards with multiple cuttlebug folders and just thought they were so elegant so I really wanted to try.

The image is coloured with copics and the glass is then covered with Crystal Effects to make it look like a glass. All the paper edges have been outlined with Frosted Lace Stickles. I also used gold Stickles for the star. The bauble was outlined with a jelly roller pen to give it the sparkle. The ribbon is a bit of scrap.

The part I love is the sentiment on the inside. I used the My Favourite Things Merry Christmas? sentiment, "What I need right now is an Elf and an Appletini." It just matches the image perfectly.

I was originally hoping to use my new Bella images that arrived today but it was snowing and after dragging the kids to shovel out a relative, I couldn't ask them to sit in a sled for another few hours for me to hike up to the mailbox. It was very tempting though!!!

Challenges this card meets:
Charisma Cards - One for the Girls
Christmas Card Challenge
Crafty Creations - Christmas
Creative Inspirations - Christmas
Fab N Funky - Go with the Flow
Lexi's Creations - Christmas Colours
Oldie But Goodie - Glitter (Stamp is from Boxing Day Sale last year)
Paper Sundaes - Sketch
Simon Says - Let it Snow!

Advent Calendar Part I

One of my favourite parts of Christmas growing up was the anticipation that came from the daily advent calendar. We had two every year. Each child had the traditional chocolate, open the door variety which we tended to eat the first day. The second was special. My mother found a quilt panel of a teddy bear's house with a place to search each day printed on a box at the bottom. Each day we would move the little stuffed teddy bear pinned on the quilt and then run and search our house in that spot for a little peppermint candy. We always had to be early when the it was the day to look in the mailbox. More than one year, the mailman got there first! What was even more special was the fact that she had each of us help her quilt the panel. I love looking at it each year. You can see who did each section.

I wanted to create something special for my kids. Having seen some fabulous ideas on SCS, I decided I wanted to do an activity calendar. Each circle will be the activity for one day. This way I can switch the date of each activity from year to year but keep the same calendar for the kids. The album with a numbered pocket for each day will be in another post, this is getting long already!

There are more activities that days in December, I know, but I wanted to have some big items, some simple for when we're tired and some that include helping others. This way I can swap out cards as needed. My goal is really to focus on making simple family memories, not making my holiday stressful!

The activities were computer generated in Word and printed on Very Vanilla cardstock. The circles were cut using my Creative Memories circle cutter and decorated with Creative Memories stickers from my stash - yes, I love these CM stickers! Each circle was then mounted on coloured cardstock that was cut using my large scalloped Nestie. I have to admit, I am a paper addict. All the cardstock came from scraps in my stash. No new papers were hurt in this project.

If you have special advent calendar ideas, please let me know. I love hearing about them.

Challenges this Project Meets:
Crazy 4 Challenges - Circles
Creative Inspirations - Christmas
Fab N Funky - Forget Me Not (Some of these stickers are over 4 years old!)
Mark's Finest Papers - Circles
Pile it On - Winter
Saturday Crafter - Handmade Christmas Gifts (For my children but given Dec. 1st)

Dreaming Softly

I don't know why but the monocromatic brown makes me think of dreaming and this Sweet Pea stamp certainly has that dream-like feel especially since I coloured her in such soft, muted tones. It's hard to see but it is completely coloured.

I wanted to play with this week's Sweet Pea Stamper's challenge but didn't have multiple DP that co-ordinated. I found one piece of brown DP that had large 4 inch stripes of variegated brown so I decided to use that for all my elements. I used my SU French Script background (retired) stamp to create on layer of DP and my lace embossing folder for another. The flower is made from Tim Holtz's tattered flower die with a Basic Grey brad. The sentiment is from SU's Life Special Moments, also retired.

The card will be part of a package of birthday cards for Christmas.

Challenges this Card Meets:
Sweet Pea Stampers - Sketch
In A Sweet Pea Dream - Flowers
Critter Sketch - Texture
Daring Cardmakers - In Threes (three rows of ribbon, 3 shades of brown paper, 3 flower petals)
Everybody Art - Monochromatic Brown
Fab 'N Funky - Forget Me Not (I won this stamp six months ago and coloured a few images but have never made it into a card.)
Papertake Weekly - Autumn Skies

Retail Therapy

I don't know what it is about Bella's but they always make me think of my sister. I think they both have that "Here I am World, Love Me!" attitude. I wanted to play with this week's Bella sketch. I really should have used another more rectangular Bella, this gave me so many issues trying to get this card balanced but I bought this Bella as part of last year's Boxing Week sale and I'm embarrassed to say, this is the first time it's seen ink. I just had to use it. The dessert option was to use stitching on the card. Since I've promised DH not to use needles until baby doesn't eat everything in sight, I decided to go with "faux stitching" on my background paper and on my ribbon.

The part I love is the little glitter flower charm I found in my stash that perfectly matches Bella's top. This is a happy coincidence. I think it came as part of some stash I won this summer. The button on the bottom was cut off some jeans I was using for the fabric.

The card is HUGE, 6.25 x 6.25. I kept trying to get the background from getting lost in the large image and now I think I went too far the other way. Oh well. I still like how it turned out.

Challenges This Card Meets:
Stamping Bella - Bellarific Friday
Fab N Funky - Forget Me Not (uninked stamp bought 11 months ago!)
Cute Card Thursday - Anything Goes
Delightful Challenges - Glitter it Up
Oldie but a Goodie - Glitter
Simon Says - Sparkle
Stamp with Fun - Square
Tuesday Throwdown - Buttons and Bows

Baby Blues

I don't know what it is, I go to make a baby card and I immediately reach for the blue. Somehow the pink doesn't look right to me. Other people's pink cards look fabulous but I gravitate to blue. Could it be because I have boys?

I really like this card. The image, Nestie, sentiment, and ribbon all came from a friend in my monthly Grab Bag swap. She had kindly sent me enough items to make more than the required 3 card minimum and I found everything together after having left everything to languish in a drawer for months. I love it - she calls it the LSS Chez Moi. How true!

Challenges this Card fits:
Bizzy Bec's - Cute and Sweet
Cards for Men - Animals
Challenge Up Your Life - Blue and Green
Cute Card Thursday - Anything Goes
Paper Playtime - PS I love you
Paper Sundaes - Punches, Ribbon, Blue
Sentimental Sundays - Childhood

He's Engaged!

My brother just announced that he's engaged. Everyone is very happy for him. We all love his bride. Of course, what does a papercrafter do when she gets such happy news? She immediately starts planning invitations, reponse cards, thank you notes, name plates, shower invitations, bachelorette invites. So much papercrafting to do!

The wedding won't be for a year and is tenatively planned for January which just screams beautiful winter scenes of snow in whites, silvers and blue. I wanted to see what I could do just off the cuff, without specialty papers or supplies since invitations can get so expensive very quickly. I also wanted to keep it to something that would be very quick to mass produce since I will be making at least 50 invites if she likes what she sees.


The first two invitations are measure 3.6 x 8.5 so that they will fit into a business envelope. I've used two different Creative Memories snowflake punches. I love the different effects. The first one is more delicate but the second one would allow her to include stars as well as snowflakes into her decorations.


This snowflake stamp from Heartfelt Creations is rapidly becoming my new favourite stamp! It's just so versatile. I love the simplicity of this invitation. Stamped in the corners with Brocade Blue and then mounted on Brocade Blue cardstock, this invitation is 5 x 7. The bottom of the stamp does actually come up to the bottom of the writing sample; I've just blurred out the couples information.


This last invitation is very traditional with the ribbon. While I love the bottom effect, I hate the ribbon and will pray that the bride won't choose this. This by far takes up the most amount of time to create and is very finicky. Great for a few cards but not for mass producing.

I really like these samples but don't think that this is it. I know I'll end up doing a post later using vellum. I'm out at the moment. I just know that vellum with the snowflakes will create a gorgeous soft effect. I can't wait to try it.

I just hope the bride likes it!

Challenges these Invitations Meet:
Creative Inspirations - Winter
Cute Card Thursday - Anything Goes
Speedy Cat & Friends - Snowflakes
Paper Sundaes - Blue, Punches, Ribbon

Snowy Wishes

I am on a total CAS kick at the moment. Kids are sick and crafting time is at a minimum. I really like this one though. As soon as I saw this DP in the store, I just had to have it. I knew it would be be perfect for this. The sentiment is part of my new Heartfelt Creations goodies. I then covered the whole card with soowang tape and poured on a ton of glitter. It's so sparkly and the glitter muted the colours beautifully.

I'm thinking it will make the perfect notecard set for the Princess's adopted Mom, Heather. She is always very kind to my kids at family events.

Challenges this Card Meets:
Bizzy Bec - Cute and Sweet
Crazy for Challenges - Christmas
Creative Inspirations - Glitter, Glamour, Girlie
Critter Challenge - Christmas
Cute Card Thursday - Anything Goes
Saturday Challenge - Sparkle and Shine
Delightful Challenges - Glitter it Up
Paper Sundaes - Let it Snow

Christmas Kindness

I am an avid follower of Susan Raihala's Simplicity Blog (aka LateBlossom). She is the true queen of CAS. Her latest one layer challenge was inspired by the most fabulous story. Please go to her blog to read about it. Basically, her OLW challenge provide inspiration to women that create cards for the North Dakota State Penitentiary. This week the challenge is to create a December Holiday, one layer card that meets the North Dakota State Penitentiary rules for cards. There are strict guidelines.

• No metal (brads, wire, etc.)
• No gemstones or pearls
• Limited glitter
• Flock, ribbon, embossing, and punched shapes are okay

Since I have finally gotten some decent white cardstock for one-layer cards, I decided to join this week. After going through my stamps, I settled on my new Heartfelt Creations Snowflake Medley and the Christmas Expressions sentiment from CHF. It screamed at me to be done in navy. The first card I tried stamping using white ink and clear embossing powder. Very subtle and pretty but almost too subtle. The second card was done in navy with Versamark and white embossing powder. I love the pop but was a little sad that some of the beautiful snowflake details were lost.


Then it hit me. It wasn't likely that anyone in a state peniteniary would have access to special jelly pens. Back to the drawing board. I tried the card again on white using Ballet Blue ink. Pretty but a little soft.

Again using Navy ink. I can't decide which one I like better.


Then because I was playing, I pulled out my Church in the Wildwood set and stamped the sentiment with Versamark and embossed with gold. This is a little plain for me. I wanted to go around it with one of my Nesties but none of them were big enough. I hope the gold will be sufficient. I don't normally do religious cards but the sentiment is just gorgeous and I so wanted to play with it.

Mermaids and Fairies

This is my second to last challenge for the Hope You Can Cling To Challenges of SCS and to me, the hardest. I've been thinking about it for a couple of days and planned it out yesterday. I'm so glad it's a beautiful as I dreamed.

The image is Sweet Pea Stamp's Kimono Butterfly Mermaid, which I received from Connie at http://sodakstamping.blogspot.com. I just love this image. I hope I did it justice. I did end up having to extend her tail at the bottom. The rectangular stamp just wasn't quite long enough for my oval and it looked funny just ending on a straight line. It's coloured with Copics and Prismacolour Pencils for her hair.

The layout comes from SCS's sketch challenge #304. I remember when I started on SCS, in 2008, I couldn't believe how complicated the sketches were and how many layers were involved. I figured I would never use them. Now I've used 3 just this week. Oh how times have changed!

The card is quite large, measuring 5 x 7 inches. I had to cuttlebug the embossing in two parts, the seam is covered by the image. I had wanted the image to look like a picture frame hanging on a wall.

Challenges this Card Meets:
A Sweet Pea Dream - Things with Wings
Sweat Pea Stampers - Dry or Wet Embossing (Pink Panel)
Crafty Creations - Fables and Fairy Tales (The Little Mermaid)
Incy Wincy - Anything Goes
Lexi's Creations - Anything Goes
One Stop Craft - Embossing

Just Be-Cogs

This was a challenge - I don't normally pair brown with pink. I tend to reach for soft or muted shades of green. I am really happy with how this turned out. This image is Peppy Tinheart from Paperworks Co. I just love this cute robot. She's coloured with copics and then mounted on Chocolate Chip. The base is Creamy Caramel, while the pink DP is more from my Costco case. I admit, I have 4 more cards to complete the Hope You Can Cling To challenge. After that, I will happily put my pink away for a little while.

The pink was embossed with a new Cuttlebug folder. I just had to have it as soon as I saw it because I knew it was perfect for this stamp. Even better, it's larger than the original Cuttlebug folders and can emboss all the way to the edges of a standard A4 card without needing mounted layers.

I just added some pink rhinestones and some brown pearls just to give it the final touches. I love how soft the card turned out.

Challenges this card meets:
Bizzy Becs - Short and Sweet
My Time to Craft - Quick and Cute
Delightful Challenges - Circles (Cogs in the background)
Incy Wincy - Anything Goes
Lexi's Creations - Anything Goes
One Stop Craft - Anything Goes

Team Canada

Okay, I think I just rocked the guy card. A hard thing to do no less. The image is from Paperworks Co. - Zack, the Hockey Player. Every time I use this stamp, I think of my brother, which I think helps to keep these cards really grounded. He's a major hockey buff and hates anything remotely girly. Believe me, he'd let me know. I particularly love the sentiment, I found it on a list of hockey quotes. It fits his ego - what can I say... he black circle the sentiment is mounted on reminds me of a hockey puck, which just makes this card all the better.

The layout itself is from SCS303 challenge. Normally I wouldn't have added the twine - trying to keep this manly and all, but I am trying to finish off the last of my Hope You Can Cling To challenges. I was struggling with the one for twine until I found this is in the back of my stash. I think it was originally on a Starbucks mug I received for Christmas years ago.

Zac is coloured with Copics, I added the Canada to his helmet and the maple leaf. The maple leaf came from Kaboose.com. They have great crafts for kids and printables. I just shrunk the printables down in Word and then cut them out to fit. Hint: Colour the image first and then cut - this would have been soooo much easier. I always seem to do things the hard way!

The DP is from Cosmo Cricket, their Mitten Weather collection. Hope you enjoy him as much as I did making him.

Challenges this card meets:
Cards for Men - Anything Goes
Creative Card Crew - Let's Punch It (Circles for the sentiment and its border)
Delightful Challenges - Circles
Incy Wincy - Anything Goes
Lexi's Creations - Anything Goes
One Stop Craft - Anything Goes
Paper Sundaes - For the Boys
Papertake Weekly - Penny for the Guy
Simon Says Stamp - Punches (Circles for the sentiment and its border)