I'm Going to the Dogs for Christmas!

I know that many of you hate to be reminded, but Christmas is right around the corner.  How many of you have started your Christmas cards yet? I like to make some throughout the year, so I'm not overwhelmed at Christmas (please don't hate me for this!).  Here's a few that I thought I'd share that will probably end up going to my daughter for her dog training/boarding business.

I love this adorable dog image by Stamp Happen.  He was stamped and heat embossed with Ranger detail embossing powder.  I used a red marker to color the hat and parts of the candy cane, and then used some glitter to simulate snow.  The design paper is an oldie from Hot Off the Press that I cut to look like hills.  The snowflake is from my stash.

I have a ton of holiday stickers in my stash, and this sticker fit great with the card.  I added another sticker to bring a pop of red to the inside.

Since I was going through my stickers, I found these adorable dogs that I had got at the Current outlet store.  Even though they weren't a Christmas theme, who says you can't make them so with some clever additions?  The holly wreath sticker was also in my stash.  To tie it all together, I added a piece of this adorable bone snowflake DP by Daisy Hill and added a border with a Zig Milenium pen as well as added a bit of Distress ink around the edges.  The saying was another stash sticker.  Even though I don't usually make cards with just stickers, I think this one turned out pretty cute!

This last card was another quickie to make.  This doberman image is by the Stamp Gallery, and was stamped and heat embossed with Ranger detail embossing powder.  The corners of the cardstock and matting were rounded with a corner punch and placed on top of this The Paper Studio DP.  To dress things up a bit, a bling collar was added, and then I thought a rhinestone leash would be nice to go with the collar.  I added a few sprigs of sticker greenery from my stash and it was finished.

There you have it.  Three quick and easy cards that will be sure to please some of the people on your list.  Start trying not to overdo things this Christmas by simplifying things where ever you can.  A few stickers here and there, a little bling and some fun stamps come together to help make things easier for you.  Don't drive yourself nuts trying to make everything over the top...relax and have fun.  Isn't that the reason that we got into stamping anyway?

Don't forget to stop back here next weekend for the annual Veteran's Day blog hop for Operation Write Home.  Since this was the very first blog hop I participated in one year ago, I decided that I needed to celebrate this event with some blog candy!  I'll have the picture on my posting that day, so you'll want to come by to check it out as well as the tons of fabulous bloggers that always make this hop so much fun!

~~~  Lee  ~~~

Merry Christmas & a Whimsy Stamps Reindeer Card

I had to post at least one of the cards I was scrambling to finish for my own family! I'm always making cards for so many people that I don't know that I sometimes forget my own family. Not this year! This is one I made for one of my daughters.

The image is one I won on a blog hop for Whimsy Stamps. Isn't he adorable? I stamped & embossed him & then cut out the second image after coloring him with Twinkling H20s. The sky area was then colored with makeup sponges & several different dye ink pads from Adirondack. I then cut out the painted reindeer & attached him with foam adhesive on top of the first image. I added a shadow with the Twinks and added Magic Scraps white glitter to stimulate snow.

Next, I used DCWV textured cardstock as a mat and inked the edges. This was put on top of the Paper Studio DP that also was inked around the edges. All of this was put on a Stampin' Up! card base. I found these adorable die cut snowflakes from Bazzill called Just the Edge since I'm one of the few cardmakers that doesn't have a diecut machine. After I added some Magic Scraps glitter to add some glitz to the card, I glued it on with a Zig glue pen. I was going to add more to the card, but I didn't want to detract from the image.

I've been trying to get Valentine's cards finished to send to Operation Write Home, so I'll try to get some posted. I didn't get all of my family's Christmas cards out in time, so I'll be sending them New Years cards instead (hopefully). I may even try some challenges since things are finally slowing done some.

Merry Christmas everyone! Lee

Monday Lunchtime Challenge Sketch 96

It's medallion time again! I admit it, I'm addicted! There's something about stamping multiple images, cutting them out, painting or glittering them and then putting them all together with foam adhesives to make them pop that is so gratifying to me. You can truly say that no two images are the same no matter if you use the same colors or not.
The first card uses the sketch for the Monday Lunchtime Sketch Challenge at: http://technostamper.blogspot.com/2009/11/monday-lunchtime-sketch-challenge-96.html and fits the Creative Card Crew Challenge #37 which is called "Strings Attached." This challenge is to make a card with some type of string attached & is located at: http://creativecardcrew.blogspot.com/

This beautiful image is the Fall Leaf medallion from Holly Berry House Originals. I just love, love, love these images & could work with them all day! The image was stamped five times on contrasting colors of cardstock with Top Boss Embossing Ink & orange Creative Zoo EP. The bottom image was cut out about an 1/8" outside of the embossed image & the rest were cut as close as possible to the embossed lines.

One nice thing about medallions is that you don't always have to layer them perfectly on top of each others if you don't want to. You can cut out several of the same image part but lay them on top of the previous image slightly askew. This way you can add more colors or more layers.

Back to the card. I was able to add to my collection of Twinkling H20s at the Rubber Stamp Chat's Virtual Convention last month, so I was itching to use them. I painted each layer a different color, and then I added a contrasting highlight color to each layer. After they dried (very quickly), I then layered them on top of each others with foam adhesives. This beautiful DP from The Paper Parachute was what inspired my colors, but I wanted some more bling, so I matted it with this textured metallic cardstock by DCWV. To get some more of the deeper purple into the card, I matted this layer on some unknown textured purple cardstock. I went looking in my stashes to find some ribbon & came across this textured thread, so I glued it onto the edges of the matting to add even more dimension. The CoMotion Happy Thanksgiving sentiment was stamped with Top Boss ink & embossed with Stampendous Pearlized Carnelian EP (my favorite EP color!). All of the edges were inked with Memories Violet ink.

The card still needed something else, so I embossed three brads with EP & put them in the corners. Now, I was finally happy with the card & I hope you are too!

My next card is for the Stamp Something Challenge Blog at: http://stampchallenges.blogspot.com/2009/11/sketch-something-challenge.html

This is another medallion type stamp from Outlines Stamp Co. I just recently found this company, and you can already tell that they are quickly becoming another favorite.

This image was stamped & embossed with JoAnn's Ink Essentials Gold EP on some DP from my stash instead of my usual cardstock. The two other layers were stamped on some unknown stash cardstock. Since this image has so much detail, I didn't want to paint or glitter them. These layers were cut out close to the image & layered on the image with foam adhesive. I found some gold braid in my sewing stash that I glued on the image with Aleene's Tacky Glue. The red rhinestones were glued to the centers to resemble tree lights. I have some gorgeous poinsettia lights that I hang at Christmas that reminded me of these stars.
The DP in the background are all from the Paper Studio. These were inked at the edges with cranberry Memories ink. Since I was in my sewing stash, I also found these rickrack trims to accent the mattings. The tree was matted on a gold DCWV textured matstack & the trims were glued on with the Tacky Glue. To add some more eye candy, I added a few extra stars with rhinestones to accent the corners.
This card may look difficult, but it was really easy to cut since most of the edges are straight cuts. Instead of cutting each star out individually, I cut the bottom layers of stars out in a row. This also made the placement much easier. Don't let the look of medallions make you shy away from them. You would be amazed at how quickly you can put them together. ~ Lee

My First Outlines Ornament!

Welcome everyone! I decided it was time to get started on my personal Christmas cards, since I've been working to get Christmas, love, thinking of you & more cards ready to ship out to Operation Write Home. As you should know by now, I love medallions & Christmas is such a great time for them.

I mainly use Holly Berry House medallion stamps, but recently a friend in one of my groups introduced me to Outlines stamp company. Rut roh!!! They have some absolutely gorgeous medallions along with some other really awesome mandalas, Christmas trees & ornaments & tons of other stamps that you can go nuts with the bling! These stamps have made me really think outside of the box on my medallion creations. I usually just pop up layers, but I decided to do something a bit different this time.

The design was stamped & embossed on six different coordinating colors of cardstock that matched this gorgeous design paper from the Paper Studio. Here we go with some more non-traditional Christmas colors again! I like to use the lighter colored embossing powders (or metallics) on my medallions to give them more of a pop. Next, the layers were cut out with very sharp detail scissors & a craft knife. When I was playing with the layers, I decided to cut out the inside of one of the layers & go from there to make it less bulky. I really liked the effect it gives. After deciding on the placement of the layers, I used my glue pen to put glitter on some highlighted spots on the designs. I was going to add rhinestones, but decided to just use glitter on this as you can see in the photo. To finish off the design, I put foam adhesives between the layers to give it dimension. This was matted on an oval of dimesional cardstock, and then I added some little snowflakes to give it even more of a Christmas feel. I tied on a ribbon and here's the result! No challenge today, but it was still fun to do.

Lee

Card Recipe:

Rubber - Outlines Ornament I159

White Pigment Ink - Tsukineko

White Ultrafine Embossing Powder - Copper Kate

Glitter - Magic Scraps

Cardstock - Paperbilities

Design Paper - The Paper Studio

Ribbon - Hobby Lobby

Snowflakes - Hobby Lobby

Santa Claus is here already

I made this card for the monthly sketch challenge over at Rubber Stamp Chat that is sponsored by Bombshell Rubber Stamps. Although I have made many cards with this sketch since it's so easy to work with, this was the only one that I took a picture of to show you.

The card is 5" x 7" which is bigger than my usual cards, but it worked better with the image & the sketch. The Santa image was stamped & embossed on a piece of white cardstock. I choose to emboss it with purple to match the papers better. I then colored the image with chalk & then put Crystal Glaze in the inside of the wire frame to look more realistic.

After I inked all of the edges of the card & papers with dye ink, I matted the image on a circle mat. Next I glued it on top of the two pieces of design paper that was cut about 1/8" shorter than the card. To make sure the ribbon stays on better, I cut a slit on the inside edge & ran the ribbon through the slit & glued it on the outside & inside of the card. I added some sparkle with the glistening yarn & glued the snowflakes on top of the ribbon. The inside was then stamped & embossed & the Operation Write Home image was stamped on the back of the card. One thing I did add after I took the picture was a little white dot with a gel pen on each of Santa's eyes. If you don't have a white gel pen to do this, you can always dip a toothpick or end of a paintbrush in white paint & just barely touch in the eye as a highlight.

Since this card will be going with the tons of other cards that I'm sending to Operation Write Home to be sent to our soldiers overseas, I wanted to make sure that I didn't add glitter, but Santa does deserve a little sparkle! I love to use non-traditional colors for my holiday cards as much as possible, so I can use more of my everyday papers. Don't forget to come back on November 14th to my blog & all of the other participants for the Operation Write Home Blog Hop. Don't forget to sign up as a follower on my blog for your chance to win some awesome blog candy after this blog hop. You won't be disappointed!

Lee

Card Recipe:
Image by Victorine Originals
Candy Violet EP by Joann's Craft Essentials
Embossing ink by Top Boss
Purple ink by Memories
CS & DP by Hobby Lobby
Chalk by Kaisercolour
Crystal Glaze on eyeglasses
Ribbon by unknown
Snowflakes by Craft Essentials

Black, White & a Pop of Color challenge card

I was blog hopping last night & came across a challenge from Paper Maniacs at http://papermaniacblog.blogspot.com/2009/10/paper-maniac-inspirations-challenge.html They wanted cards made with black, white & a pop of color. Can you believe that I had just finished making one that fit the challenge? Usually I see the challenges & can't find them again. Well, this time I actually wrote it down so I didn't forget to enter! They will have a new challenge on Sunday, so you better be quick if you want to enter

I really love this image from Impression Obsession, but I couldn't decide what to do with it. I remembered that I had bought a ton of these foil squares at a garage sale, so I decided to give them a try. Boy, I'm glad I did! I love how it really sets this scene off!

First I stamped & embossed (yes, embossed, even w/the fine details!) the image on white cardstock. Then I stamped & embossed it again on the foil & cut out just the sky area. I then glued this section carefully on top of the main image. Finally, I stamped & embossed the image again on some more white cardstock & cut out just the sled. For the final touch, I glued the embossed sled image on top of the foil image of the sled. It really popped, but the wreath on the door needed something. I decided to get out some 1/4" red ribbon & made a bow to balance the color. I thought I was done, but now that I look at the picture, I think I may add some snow to the rooftop, or not!
Lee

Card Recipe:

Image: Impression Obsession K1026 'Twas the Night

Cardstock: The Paper Studio

Ink: Black Versafine

EP: Ranger Black Superfine

Foil: unknown

Ribbon: 1/4" red Hobby Lobby

Adhesive: Ad Tech Glue Runner & Tacky Glue

Tis the Hero Card Challenge

It's that time of year again. CHRISTMAS CARDS!!

If you want to help our veterans serving overseas, now is a great time to start! I challenge each & every one of you to make one or one hundred cards to send to our veterans overseas this holiday season. My daughter was in Iraq last year during the holiday season, so I really appreciate what others did for her. Now it's time to pay it forward by doing the same for others that are giving some much for us here at home.

One of the best ways to help is to join this great organization. It's FREE! Next, you make a ton of Christmas cards & a couple extra birthday or thinking of you cards for the vets to send home to their families. Then you can either mail them to me & I will send them on, or you can follow the link at the top of my blog to send to a Cards For Heroes coordinator closest to you. This challenge runs from September 1st to October 15th. The usual dealine for the holiday cards is November 1st, but the challenge is available only until Ocotber 15th so there's not such a rush at the last minute.

I will be in touch with the coordinators to see who has donated cards from my blog, but I want to offer some blog candy to a lucky random winner, who is also a follower of my blog. What will you win? I just found out about the challenge, so I don't have the candy figured out yet, but I will let you know real soon! I LOVE shopping for others, so you won't be disappointed! Sign up now, so you don't forget and start those cards TODAY!!!

Thanks for thinking about our Vets!

Lee