Long Tea Gift Certificate Card

I made this card a while back to give a long skinny tea shop gift certificate and never blogged it until now. I also didn't take a pix of the inside- sorry. But I do love the embossed front (Craft Concepts) and the lovely t-cup from Stampin' Up stamped in my favorite aqua blue ink by Versafine. I added some tiny punched butterflies and a pretty ribbon and attached to a long yellow card after rounding the corners.

I am entering this card into the Anything Goes challenges at Simon Says Stamp and Crafty Ribbons.

Nothing better than friends and chocolate...

It's Crackerbox Palace Friday and I am sharing a card I made for a friend recently. Who doesn’t love chocolate? My friend sure does and the sentiment on this card from Crackerbox Palace certainly is true! I love the inlaid die look on a card and putting the pieces back in after cutting a die in two colors is as fun as putting a puzzle together. I cut Simon Says Stamp’s Mod Circle Frame out of pink and white and put all the white pieces back in the pink frame. Then I stamped the sentiment. I stamped the chocolates on a dark brown paper, cut them out and added some gel pen coloring. I attached them with a pop dot for dimension.

**As a present to you from Crackerbox Palace, all the  stamps  on this card will be 20% OFF for one week! What a deal! **

 I am entering this card in the Anything Goes challenges at Simon Says Stamp and Penny's Paper-Crafty.

NBUS Masculine Valentine

I was  in Michaels the other day with a 40% off coupon in my hand and everything on my shopping list was on sale. So of course I had to keep shopping and find something not on sale that I just had to have (and use my coupon on.) I found this fun heart wood pattern background stamp by Recollections (which is Michael's brand.) I decided it would make a cool masculine Valentine. I stamped it in a reddish brown and attached to a brown card base. I just bought the Braid Border set of dies from Dee's Distinctively and used two of them in a cool pattern along the side of the card front with some brown pearls in the intersections. I punched out some hearts in brown and kraft and the love (from W Plus 9) in dark brown.

I am entering this card in the Something New challenge at Top Tip Tuesday (background stamp and braid border die are both brand new), and the Love or Valentine challenge at Crafty Sentiments.

Repeat Impression's Sketch Challenge

Happy Wednesday everyone! It's time for another fun sketch challenge at The House that Stamps Built and we are challenging you to make a card using the sketch below and link it up for a chance at some great Repeat Impressions rubber! For all the details on what you can win and to see the other Rock Stars cards using this sketch, please visit our blog.

I make Christmas cards all year round so I am not in a rush to make them in time to mail them out to friends and family in December. I started with the musical background stamp from Repeat Impressions stamped on the red square and green oval. Then I cut another oval (Nestabilities die) and stamped the Winter Birds in green ink. I paper pieced the blue birds and their cute stocking caps, added a strip of washi tape and “Joy to the World” to complete the sketch card.

Here is the sketch for you to follow when you create a card for our challenge. You do not need to use Repeat Impressions stamps to enter our challenges, but you get an extra chance to win if you do!

I am entering this card in the Anything Goes challenges at Love to Scrap and Craft Your Passion.

**Don’t Forget: for a 10% discount on any size order at Repeat Impressions, make a note of my discount code (rr10kh), click on the blog badge on the side of my blog and go to the website here to shop and save!**

Happy Birthday Friend Screen Divider Card

I love fun folds and making a screen divider card allows the designer to have fun on all four flaps of this card. I started with a 12 x 8 piece of embossed cardstock from Coor'dinations and scored at 3. 6 and 9 inches. I punched the top with a large present border punch from Martha Stewart and punched the bottom with a Stampin' up label punch. The front is a blue foil cardstock that was embossed with an embossing folder from Embossalicious and then sanded. I added a "friend" diecut  from Paper Smooches. I die cut Classy Girl and her shopping bag accessories from Creative Time, then created a shopping bag money holder to match. The circular word dies are from IO Dies. I punched happy birthday with another Martha Stewart punch and left the floral piece blank for a personal greeting and signature. I did a little sponging and added a couple gems to complete the card. The folded card fits into a business sized envelope.

This is what the card looks like closed and from the top:

I am entering this card in the Anything Goes challenge at 613 Avenue Create and Scribble and Scrap.

Card Club Snowmen

I saw a few snowmen made out of square boxes on Pinterest and I decided to try to make some for my friends in card club to use to present small gifts for Christmas. I have made boxes with my envelope punch board by WeR Memory Keepers, but could not figure out how to make them open and close to give gifts. So I purchased the gift box maker also from WeR Memory Keepers and made three square white boxes. I decorated the bottom two with large snowflakes and square gems for buttons. I made a snowman face with gems and a handcut carrot nose on the smallest white box. Then I made a smaller black square hat, added a brim, a red ribbon and some punched greens. The girls loved them and the little chocolate goodies inside too.

I am entering this snowman project in the Anything Goes challenge at Penny's Paper-Crafty and the any holiday challenge at Hiding in My Craft Room.

Batman Lego Heart Valentine for my Grandson

My grandson loves Legos and super heroes so when I saw this punch art card here, I knew I wanted to try to make the Lego Batman for his Valentine. I started with an embossed candy hearts background made with an embossing folder from Cuttlebug. I also cut out the UR GR8 heart for Batman. I used a variety of punches to make Batman. It took a long time to make, but for someone as special as my grandson, I don't mind.

I am entering this card in the Hearts challenges at Simon Says Stamp and Wags 'n Whiskers.

I Used to Jog? Maybe Clara, but not me!

Happy Crackerbox Palace Friday! Today I am sharing a lol card featuring Clara, one of my favorite Crackerbox Palace ladies. I stamped her on cream colored cardstock and paper pieced her suit and cap. I cut a square with pierced squares die from Spellbinder and attached it diagonally. I embossed and sponged some white squares to resemble ice cubes and added the funny sentiment at the bottom. Clara was attached with pop dots for dimension.

**As a present to you from Crackerbox Palace, all the  stamps  on this card will be 20% OFF for one week! What a deal! ** 

I am entering this card in the Anything Goes challenges at Wonderful Wednesdays and Penny’s Paper-Crafty.

Two Versions Same Card

I love the mostly white on white look on cards and played with some favorite diecuts and Brusho Crystal Colours on white watercolor paper to make this card. I sprinkled on some blue shades of Brusho Crystal Colours on the center of a piece of watercolor paper, then spritzed it with water to get the background blue on this card. I layered Penny Black's fern and Joy Crafts "Heartfelt sympathy" in white and then raised that piece over a white card base. But I wasn't sure if the words stood out enough, so I tried it again this way:

I am not sure which one I like the best? What do you think? I am going to teach this card to my monthly class group and let them decide which they prefer.

I am entering this card in the Anything Goes challenges at Inky Chicks and My Craft Creations.

Repeat Impression's Inspiration Photo Challenge

On the third Wednesday of every month at Repeat Impression’s blog, The House that Stamps Built, the challenge is going to be an Inspiration Photo challenge. I find it fascinating to see each stamper’s take on a card based on the same inspiration photo. This is this month’s Inspiration Photo:

Will you be inspired by the colors or the objects or shapes in the photo? It is up to you to pick out what inspires you and make a card, then enter it for a chance to win some great Repeat Impressions rubber. Be sure to check out the RI blog for the inspiration based cards by the other Rock Stars. I have seen them and you do not want to miss them!

I love this picture! I decided to use a sparkly snowflake embossed background for my card. I also used the red dressed lady as my inspiration and stamped Repeat Impression’s Rebecca on cream and red velvet paper and paper pieced her dress and hat. I added a raised row of snowflakes and pearls to complete my card.

I am entering my card in the Anything Goes challenges at Crafting From the Heart  and Craft Your Passion, and the challenge at Design Team Showcase. 

TTCRD Anything Goes Challenge

It’s Tuesday and time for another Through the Craft Room Door challenge. As always the theme is my favorite, Anything Goes! There is a new challenge every Tuesday at TTCRD. I am on Team A and this week is our turn to post our cards. The sponsor this week is Limited Runs and the prize is 3 digis of the winner’s choice! Plus there is a special for anyone who buys an image used by our design team, they get a second digi of their choice of equal or lesser value for FREE!

I had fun making a CAS card for one of my kids using Limited Run’s Jacob and the What’s Up sentiment on the blue background. I paper pieced Jacob’s clothes and shoes and did a bit of coloring before attaching him to the card. I created a square yellow card and rounded the bottom edges with a corner rounder. I think this card would be perfect for one of my boys at  SAS4Kids.

**Don’t Miss It! The January/February 2015 issue of Through The Craft Room Door magazine is available for your viewing pleasure in the "Subscribers Only Area" of the TTCRD website.  It is loaded with over 100 pages of paper craft tutorials, tons of inspirations and projects you can create. Plus free digis, an article by me on Bisters and 9 of my cards! Come check it out! If you do not currently subscribe to the magazine you will need to go to the top of the page and click on the Subscription/Renewals tab. I highly recommend everyone get a subscription to this great on line magazine!**

I am entering this card in the Anything Goes challenges at Jo’s Scrap Shack, 613 Avenue Create, and the Design Team Showcase.

NBUS Sketch Heart Card

I love the term NBUS (Never Before Used Schtuff) and have a whole pile of NBUS on my bed that I have not had time to play with. First the holidays and meeting publication  and design team deadlines, then CHA left me with no time to play with my NBUS. Now I am catching up from being away a week. But I did manage to get one card designed with my NBUS die from Simon Says Stamp Sketch Heart. I am fascinated with the positive and negative versions of cool dies like this one. I die cut the sketch heart twice out of the red card front and again in white, layering the white heart over the top sketch heart opening. I added a die cut love and heart from W Plus 9 and ended up with a CAS Valentine or Love card. I think I will give this card to my husband for Valentine's Day.

I am entering this card in the NBUS challenge at djkardkreations.com, the Love is in the Air challenge at Raisin Boat and the Anything Goes challenge at 613 Avenue Create.

CHA 2015 Favorite Booths and Products

I have just returned from my first ever trip to CHA and I had a blast! I am going to share with you in this blogpost some pictures and my favorite products from the many many booths there. There were thousands of booths and I did not make it into every booth and probably even missed some wonderful stamping related booths. But here is what I did see and love:

I have to say the Sizzix booth was my favorite. I ooohhed and awwwed over most of their new products (especially dies) and wanted them all. And yes, I was this close to Tim Holtz demoing in the Ranger booth which was unbelievable too. I ordered many of the new Tim Holtz Sizzix dies you can see on this blog post at Tim's blog. 

I also was very impressed with and ordered the new Big Shot Plus from Sizzix which is big enough to cut or emboss 8 1/2" x 11" paper and larger embossing folders and dies. The rep told us they have changed the pressure on the plates to get rid of the bowing of plates issues many of us have after time. It will be shipping in April and I cannot wait to get it.

The product that won the CHA 2015 Hot New Product award in Papercrafts was also from Sizzix. It is Sizzix Inksheets and here is a video introducing the product. I did not personally see a demo on this product, but my friend took a class and made some great cards like the ones in the video. I am going to order the Inksheets and Transfer Pad and will share here the cards I make and my impressions.

My favorite surprise of the show was to find out Tonic Studios also sells dies. Gorgeous dies! Of course I knew they had great scissors, paper cutters and punches, but wait until you see the beautiful dies they also carry now. They were being sold mostly in England, but will be available soon in the U.S., and Notions will be carrying their whole line soon so your local stamp shop will be able to order them for you.

I went into many booths looking for magnetic die storage and the one I liked the best was in the Magnum Magnetics booth. We saw and tested a prototype of a super strong but lightweight two sided magnet sheet that will be perfect for my die storage needs and is made here in the United States. Their magnetic die storage product should be available soon and I am going to wait and order from them as I was that impressed with what I saw. I will share here on my blog when the time comes we can all order.

On the last day, many of the booths were selling their booth display products so they did not have to ship or bring them back with them. I found some real bargains that day and one of my favorites is this rolling Smart Cart from dbestproducts. 

It is so lightweight and folds flat to store, but holds several 12 x 12 containers for a stamp camp or a stamp show, or any other time you want easy rolling storage. I am thrilled I found this booth and this great product. My friend, Vicky from Crackerbox Palace who went to CHA with me, bought 4 different styles including a trolley dolly.

I just had to share this picture too from the CHA Facebook page. See the lady on the right in the black and white shirt staring adoringly at Tim? That's me:) I watched his demo for quite some time and enjoyed every minute of it!  I am a a huge fan of Tim and his products for Sizzix and Ranger and other companies.

To see all my pictures from CHA, feel free to visit my CHA 2015 Flickr board here. If you have any questions about the products you see here, just contact me via the contact feature on the side of the blog.

Anything Goes 4 Kids at Send a Smile 4 Kids

It’s Saturday and time for another fun challenge at Send a Smile 4 Kids! This time our challenge is Anything Goes 4 Kids! Create and link any card for a child and you could win one of our great prizes. But it does have to be a card as that is what we are all about.

We have three very generous sponsors for this challenge: Digi Stamps 4 Joy is giving their winner a $10 gift certificate!  Whimsy Stamps is giving their randomly picked winner a $15 gift certificate!  And The Cutting Café’s winner gets 3 sets of digi or cutting files! TEAM S.A.S will also be choosing their favorite cards for our top three and the winners will receive a blog badge and an opportunity to be a guest design team member on a future challenge.

My first card above features a sweet digi from Digi Stamps 4 Joy. I printed the pretty girl in her party dress and paper pieced her dress. I cut out some patterned paper pieces and pierced the sides with my Scor-bug and Scor-buddy, then attached the sweet girl piece on top.

My second card is a stairstep card filled with cupcakes from "All About Cupcakes" from The Cutting Cafe'. I chose patterned papers and cardstock colors to make chocolate and strawberry cupcakes- my favorites! 

I am entering these cards in the Anything Goes challenges at Scrap and Craft Challenge and In the Pink. 

Monochrome Browns, Blacks and White Card for DCC at Repeat Impressions

It’s another Designer’s Choice Challenge at The House that Stamps Built, Repeat Impression’s blog. It is Deonna’s turn and her challenge is to create a monochrome colored card using browns, blacks and white. Why don’t you join us in this challenge and enter your monochrome card for a chance to win some awesome Repeat Impressions rubber? Please visit the blog for all the details and to see the other Rock Star's projects for this DCC challenge. I have seen them and you do not want to miss them!

I created a brown and black background with Repeat Impression’s Tswana Pattern stamp which I stamped and cut out three times. Then I stamped the gorgeous Tiger stamp on white with black ink and attached him in the middle of the center piece. I layered on black and then added cut out words from RI’s Live, Laugh, Love stamp. I love the different fonts used in this background stamp that I stamped on kraft (brown) cardstock. 

I am entering this in the Simon Says Stamp It's a Guy Thing challenge.

CHA Trade Card

Guess where I am? At CHA in California!! It has been a life long dream of mine to go to CHA and see all the new and exciting craft and stamping products in all the booths in person, and thanks to Vicky of Crackerbox Palace, I am here!! I will give a full report when I am back, but I wanted to pop in here and share the Make and Take Exchange card I made to trade with other stampers from all around the U.S. and world! This is one of the my favorite cards that I made with Crackerbox Palace stamps and Bisters in 2014, and it is even going to be part of an article about Bister powders in Scrap and Stamp Arts  magazine to be published in June of 2015. I heat embossed the beautiful Sea Breeze scene (from Crackerbox Palace) on water color paper with black detail embossing powder. Then I created the sunset scene by sprinkling on red, yellow and blue Bister powders and spritzing with water. Bister powders are available at I Brake for Stamps  and Della from IBFS even donated some samples of Bisters so that those receiving this card at CHA can try Bisters for themselves.

The stamps from Crackerbox Palace used on this card are going to be 20% off at Crackerbox Palace.com all month! That's a great deal so grab it while you can!

Blue, Silver and White Color Challenge at Repeat Impressions

The first Wednesday of each month at Repeat Impression’s blog, The House that Stamps Built, is going to be a color challenge. We give you the color inspiration, and you can make a card using those colors to possibly win a great prize of Repeat Impressions rubber! Here is the color palette chosen this month:

I chose to make a winter hello card with these pretty colors. I started with a silver card base and diecut oval for the “Happy Hello” sentiment. I heat embossed a landscape of snowy pine trees with white embossing powder. Next I heat embossed some sparkly stars in the blue sky and then I created some snowbanks with a stitched die from Lawn Fawn.

I am entering this card in the Anything Goes challenges at Loves Rubberstamps and Papertake Weekly. 

TTCRD Anything Goes Challenge and New Issue Available!

It’s Tuesday and time for another Through the Craft Room Door challenge. As always the theme is my favorite, Anything Goes! There is a new challenge every Tuesday at TTCRD. I am on Team A and this week is our turn to post our cards. The sponsor this week is Deedee’s Digis and the prize is a $10 gift certificate! 

I had so much fun designing with Deedee’s Digis Snowman Soup set! I made a hot chocolate holder with my envelope punch board from WeRMemory Keepers, then printed and attached all the super cute images from this set. The picture above shows the front, and this is the back. 

Love that poem! Such a cute way to warm a friend’s day!

**Don’t Miss It! The January/February 2015 issue of Through The Craft Room Door magazine is available for your viewing pleasure in the "Subscribers Only Area" of the TTCRD website.  It is loaded with more than 100 pages of with paper craft tutorials, tons of inspirations and projects you can create. Plus free digis, an article by me on Bisters and 9 of my cards! Come check it out! If you do not currently subscribe to the magazine you will need to go to the top of the page and click on the Subscription/Renewals tab. I highly recommend everyone get a subscription to this great on line magazine!**

I am entering this card in the Anything Goes challenge at Crafty Catz, the Hot Chocolate challenge at Crafts 4 Eternity and the Design Team Showcase.

January/February TTCRD Released and You can play Tic-Tac-Toe and maybe Win!

The January/February 2015 issue of Through the Craft Room Door has been released and I am so proud to have an article on Bisters (with cards) on pages 44-47 and NINE of my cards published on 9 other pages! There are 107 pages of stamping and crafting awesomeness in this issue! The theme is Romance and we have lots of sweet paper craft tutorials, tons of inspiration and projects you can create, including a new Kid Friendly craft section. Our featured digi artist is Paola Jofre of My Whimsical Little World and you can score some really sweet free digis if you are a subscriber.  You can see a sneak peak at this issue by clicking on the video on the side of my blog.

A new feature we have added is a challenge you will be able to play in to maybe win a sweet prize pack and be published in the next magazine. The challenge is a Tic-Tac-Toe challenge and here is the board you can choose your elements from. The deadline to enter this challenge is February 15th.

I chose pearls, design papers and die cut for my card above. For more details on any of  my cards and tons of other great ideas, please visit the TTCRD website and click on the Subscription Tab on the top.

Here are some other cards I am proud to have published in this issue. The theme is Romance and the first card below uses one of the sweet free digis from Paola Jofre.

  

I am proud to be part of this on line magazine and encourage you to subscribe. The tutorials are great and you won't believe how many cards there are in this issue! TTCRD is also looking for more dt members and contributors to their magazine, so you, too, could be published!

I am entering this card in the New Year's Resolution challenge at Open Minded Challenges (mine is to organize and use all my die cuts soon), and the Anything Goes challenge at 613 Avenue Create.

My Favorite Cards of 2014 Part Two

Today I am sharing the rest of my favorite cards from 2014. If you want any details on the techniques or supplies used, just click on the date below the picture.

6/30/14

7/28/14

7/13/14

8/26/14

8/24/14

8/23/14

9/27/14

9/22/14

9/2/14

10/20/14

10/5/14

11/24/14

11/19/14

12/2/14

I think the last one is my favorite of them all. What do you think? I look forward to a new year of creating and sharing ideas here on my blog, in my classes and in my publications. Happy New Year!