Bright and Happy New Year at OCC

Hi there and Happy New Year's Eve to you! (albeit a little late in the day...guess who forgot to schedule her blog post to go live this morning?) Well, another week has passed during this busy holiday season and it's time for a new challenge at Our Creative Corner. I am the hostess this week with a "Color and Theme challenge":

"Bright and Happy New Year" - 

It's time to ring in 2012! Create a card for a CELEBRATION using this color combo. There are so many occasions that call for a celebration ...New Year's, birthday cards, congratulations...just to name a few. Have some fun with these bright and happy colors!

I decided to create a birthday card with some new SU! goodies that are coming out in the Occasions Mini Catty starting January 4th. This post is a little "sneaky-peeky". The flower is stamped from the new Mixed Bunch stamp set, which has a coordinating punch. (Hooray!) The striped DSP is from the Spring Fever Simply Scrappin' Kit. My favorite product in the new Mini HAS to be the Pleated Satin Ribbon. It comes in 4 colors and is sooo pretty! I have a feeling I will be using a LOT of it! 

I embossed the stamped flower in Clear Embossing Powder on Melon Mambo card stock. The center of the flower is a punched 3/4" circle dressed up with a bunch of Basic Rhinestones that I colored with markers. I popped up all of the layers of the flower with Stampin' Dimensionals. 

Finally, here is the inside of the card: 

Thanks for stopping by today! If you have a chance this week, we hope you can play along over at Our Creative Corner. The lovely ladies on the Design Team have created some beautiful projects for inspiration, too. Be sure to check them out. Have fun ringing in the New Year tonight! 

Happy 2012! :) 

Stampin' Up! Supply List: 
Stamps: Mixed Bunch (new!), Short & Sweet (front sentiment) and Happiest Birthday Wishes (hostess, inside sentiment)
Paper: Spring Fever Simply Scrappin' Kit (new), Pear Pizzazz, Melon mambo, Daffodil Delight and Elegant Eggplant card stock
Ink: VersaMark, Elegant Eggplant, Pear Pizzazz (for sponging around flower center) and Melon Mambo Classic ink
Accessories: Blossom punch (new), 3/4" Circle punch, Word Window Punch, Modern Label punch, Clear Embossing Powder, Pear Pizzazz 3/8" Pleated Satin Ribbon (new), Perfect Polka dots Embossing Folder, Stampin' Dimensionals, Basic Rhinestones and markers to color them! 

Merry Christmas!

Hi there! I just wanted to peek in today to say Merry Christmas! I hope you all are enjoying this holiday season and have been spending time making wonderful memories with those that you love most. It truly is the "most wonderful time of the year"! I don't have a card to post today, but DID want to share two little, furry faces that are chock full of holiday cheer! 

I found some elf hats for the dogs this year: 

Turns out they fit the cats, too: 

(words can NOT describe how angry he was in this photo)

I hope these little elves made you smile. I wish these furry helpers could have assisted me in getting my holiday cards out on time, but sadly, they will be late this year...along with a couple of gifts. Eeek! I just ran out of time. 

But it is a great excuse to keep the holiday spirit going, right? 

Thank you SO much for stopping by to visit! 

Have a MERRY day! :) 

Ho-Ho-Home for the Holidays - OCC Theme Challenge

Hello there! Happy Christmas Eve to you! I am super-duper late with my card for this week's challenge over at Our Creative Corner. (Sorry!) This week has been busy, busy and I ran out of time yesterday to get my post ready. Eeek! This week at OCC, Sharon W. is our hostess and she has a fun Theme Challenge for us: 

For this week's challenge, we would like you to use the scene in your own home for your inspiration. You can use the decorations on your Christmas tree, a center piece from your dining room table, the winter wonderland seen from your front door, or the wreath on your front door. Whatever your inspiration, please share that with us, in your paper craft item. You can create a card, a layout, a 3-D item, an altered item; whatever your paper crafting heart desires. The only requirement - show us some glimmer/sparkle!

I paired it up with the sketch from Stamping 411...except I accidentally flip-flopped the bow and the sentiment. (I hope that is still ok, ladies!) That will teach me to actually jot the sketch down next time. Sheesh! This is such a fun layout, I love all the different layers! 

I added a lot of little details to the Santa image. His gloves, belt and boots are topped off with Crystal Effects for some shine. All of his fur trim is glittered up and I paper pieced his bag o' presents with some textured card stock...because I really messed up trying to watercolor it. I actually like the texture of the bag better anyway, so I will act like I meant to do it from the start. Finally, I used a clear glitter pen to add a tiny bit of shimmer to his red suit. Santa is rocking the sparkle and shine, indeed! 

So where did my inspiration come from? I focused in on two of my favorite holiday decorations this year.  First, a plush Santa that my husband and I picked up at Nordstrom the first year we were married. This little guy has seen many holidays and every year he still brings a smile to my face when I take him out of that shiny silver box. 

Next, I was inspired by some pretty famous shoes. One of my favorite ornaments on our Red and Gold tree (we have 6 trees, in total, this year) has to be these "ruby slippers". What gal doesn't want their very own pair to prance around town in? I know I'm not the only one! *sigh* The quote on the ornament makes me happy, too. Although I wanted to go full-on sparkle on my card, I added just a pop of Glimmer Paper, because just like the shoes, it is meant to "accessorize". 

I sure hope you can join us this week at Our Creative Corner and play along with some holiday inspiration from your home. Stop by and see what the rest of the Design Team has created, too. Thanks so much for stopping by today! We are off to have dinner with friends and to see the Christmas lights downtown on the Riverwalk tonight. Can you believe it is already Christmas tomorrow? Wow!! I hope you are enjoying the holiday season so far! 

Have a HAPPY day! :) 

SU! Stamps: Petite Pairs (sentiment) and Jolly Old Saint Nick (ret.) 
SU! Paper: Letters to Santa DSP, Silver Glimmer Paper, Red Glimmer Paper, Riding Hood Red, Soft Suede, Old Olive and Very Vanilla card stock

Holiday Color Combo for Our Creative Corner

Hello there and Happy Saturday to you! This week at Our Creative Corner, we have a holiday color combo hosted by yours truly. *grin* I found a cute inspiration photo on Pinterest, once again, and thought it would make for a fun for a holiday card. Can you believe Christmas is only one week away? Wow! Hope you can play along with us this week. Here are the details of the challenge: 

Holiday Color Combo

Create a holiday card using Light Pink, Light Blue, Red and White

*PLUS a touch of holiday SPARKLE, just for fun!*

You can also use the photo for some inspiration! 

I saw those buttons in the photo and immediately knew what set was going to make an appearance on this card...Button Buddies! Awww, yeah! I love that set! Next up, I spied a holiday catalog on my coffee table and that was just what I needed to put it all together. The blue shade on the cover pretty much gives away where that catty came from, too...Tiffany & Co. *sigh* Maybe Santa will do a little shopping there for me this Christmas. ;) 

The little snowman was inked up using markers, then stamped and embellished. I added some red glitter to his hat to play off of the sparkly scalloped border and the polka dots in the patterned paper. That Candy Cane Christmas Specialty DSP is retired and I am stretching out every, single, last piece of it. The white button is adorned with some baker's twine and then the edges of the ovals were dressed up with Pretty in Pink sponged ink and Baja Breeze Glass Glitter (ret.). 


I know the challenge says a "touch" of sparkle...but I just decided to "touch" about 3/4 of the card with sparkle. That's just how I roll!

There is a lot of dimension on the card from the popped up layers and the red satin ribbon. That ribbon ties beautifully every time. Finally, I topped the card off with some rhinestone accents. This is as close to a snowman as we can get for the holidays here in south Texas, so why not bring the bling? :)  

Thanks for stopping by today! I sure hope you can join us this week at Our Creative Corner and play along this week with the colors. Please stop by and see what the rest of the lovely ladies on the Design Team have created, too. They are so amazingly talented and have whipped up some gorgeous projects, yet again. 

Have a very HAPPY day! 

Stampin' Up! Supply List: 
Stamps: Button Buddies and Short & Sweet
Paper: Candy Cane Christmas Specialty DSP, Red Glimmer Paper, Pretty in Pink, Baja Breeze, Real Red and Whisper White card stock
Ink: Basic Black and Pretty in Pink Classic ink
Punches: Scallop Border punch, Word Window and Modern Label
Accessories: Red Satin Ribbon, Baja Breeze Glass Glitter (ret.), Stamping Sponges, Stampin' Dimensionals, Basic Rhinestones, Real Red, Pumpkin Pie and Black Stampin' Write Markers
Non SU! Accessories: oval die cuts, white button, red/white baker's twine, red glitter glue, snowflake embossing folder

Paper Players #76 - Ann's Color Challenge

Hi there! It's Sunday and it's time for another fun Paper Players challenge. This is the LAST challenge for the year 2011, as the Players are taking the next two weeks off for the holidays. The good news is, the challenge will be open until December 30th, so there is plenty of time to play along. 

This week, the lovely Ann Schach has a CAS (clean and simple) color challenge for us, which is just perfect for finishing up those holiday cards: Cherry Cobbler, Gold and Very Vanilla. Such an elegant combo, isn't it? 

For my card, I went with the Snow Swirled stamp set. I love this set! I heat embossed the tree with Cherry Cobbler Embossing powder and dressed it up with some gold pearls. The background is embossed with the Snow Burst Embossing Folder for some texture along with the 3/8" Quilted Cherry Cobbler Satin Ribbon. It is a clean and simple card to create and really easy to make a bunch of cards at once....which I did to finish up my Christmas cards this year. I have to get them mailed out next week, for sure. Eeeek!! 

Here is a quick shot of the inside. I popped up a snowflake image from the stamp set and finished it off with a tiny gold pearl. 

Thanks for visiting today! I sure hope you will join us over at the Paper Players and play along with Ann's colors. Remember, the challenge will be open until December 30, 2011. Also, please stop by and visit the rest of the gals on the Design Team to see what they created this week. 

The Paper Players Design Team

Ann Schach

Anne Marie Hile

Jaydee

Julie Marshall

LeAnne Pugliese

Lesley Croghan

Nance Leedy

Tara Bilbao

Rita Wright

Have a very HAPPY day today! :)

Stampin' Up! Supply List: 
Stamps: Snow Swirled and Petite Pairs
Paper: Brushed Gold, Cherry Cobbler and Very Vanilla card stock
Ink: Cherry Cobbler Classic ink and VersaMark
Punches: 3/4" Circle punch (inside), Small Oval (ret.) and Large Oval
Accessories: Snow Burst Embossing Folder, 3/8" Cherry Cobbler Quiled Satin Ribbon, Cherry Cobbler Embossing powder, Stampin' Dimensionals
Non SU! Accessories: scalloped square die cut and gold pearls

All Ruffled Up for Our Creative Corner

Hi there and Happy Saturday! It's time for another challenge over at Our Creative Corner. This week, I am your hostess and I have a fun theme challenge to try out. We're getting "All Ruffled Up"! In all of my browsing on Pinterest recently, I noticed that "ruffles" are a pretty popular trend right now. On everything from fashion to food to home decor, they are popping up everywhere. 

Here are the details of the challenge: 

Create a project showcasing ruffles! 

Whether it is ribbon, lace, paper, fabric, stamped images or ruffled embellishments....get all "ruffled up" and show us what you can create, using the photo above for inspiration! 

I decided to ruffle up some lace and some Glimmer Paper for my project. Now, this is not a card you are going to pop in an envelope and mail...there is a LOT of dimension. My intention was to add it to a hand-delivered gift, as part of the packaging. 


I found an awesome video by Julie DiMatteo on how to create a paper lollie with a punched trim. you can find it by clicking HERE. Just a tip, I started with a 2" x 12" piece of Red Glimmer Paper for the lollie and a 1- 3/4" punched circle for the back of the lollie to hold it together. (Those are a little different then the measurements in the video.) Julie's tip in the video to use a hot glue gun is REALLY helpful. I tried liquid glue at first but couldn't get it to hold. The Glimmer Paper is super-thick, so the hot glue gun made it SO much easier to hold in place. 

Here is the really FUN part about my card...It's also an ornament. That ruffled, layered lollie is designed to be removed to hang on the recipient's tree. I simply adhered it to the card with a spot of velcro. Then it can easily be removed without damaging the card or the ornament. You can't even see the velcro while it's hanging on the tree, either. Easy peasy! The Glimmer Paper really sparkles in the lights on the tree, too. Love that! :) 

Here is a quick shot of the inside of the card and I also listed all of the supplies I used at the end of the post: 

I sure hope you will join us this week and get "All Ruffled Up" over at Our Creative Corner. Please stop by and see what the rest of the lovely ladies on the Design Team have created. Thanks so much for visiting today! 

Have a very HAPPY day! :) 


Stampin' Up! Supply List: 
Stamps: Bright Hopes 
Paper: Holly Berry Bouquet Specialty DSP, Red Glimmer Paper, Wild Wasabi, Real Red, Chocolate Chip and Very Vanilla card stock
Ink: Real Red Craft ink and Versa-Mark ink
Punches: Eyelet Border Punch, 1- 3/4" Circle punch (for the back of the "ornament")
Accessories: Wild Wasabi Embossing Powder (for wreath image), Basic Rhinestones (coored red with a marker), Basic Pearls, Color Spritzer Tool, Crumb Cake Stampin' Write Marker, Stamping Sponges, Gold Elastic cord (ret.), Chantilly 1/2" Crochet Lace Trim, gold glitter, Sticky Strip and Stampin' Dimensionals
Non-SU! Accessories: red glitter embossing powder, velcro, hot glue gun, circle and scallop circle die cuts

Paper Players #75 - Holiday Hoopla

Hi there and Happy Sunday to you! Sorry my post is running late today. I had internet problems this morning, which almost sent me into a tizzy. (Gasp!) I'm back online and ready to share my card for this week's challenge over at The Paper Players. The super-sweet, Nance Leedy is our "hostess with the most-est" for a fabulous theme challenge: Holiday Hoopla! This was a whole lot of fun, as the objective was to create a Christmas card using non-holiday stamps and non-traditional holiday colors. 

I decided to make a Christmas card for my Mom, who lives in Florida. (Mom, here is a "sneak peek" of what will be in your mailbox really soon!) I used a retired set, Tropical Party which was previously un-inked. I HAD to have it when it came out and just never found the motivation to use it. Has that ever happened to you? 

I created a little beach scene by sponging the sky with Pool Party ink and then tearing some Crumb Cake card stock to make "sand". Then I sponged the paper with Soft Suede ink and used the color Spritzer Tool to create little speckles. I felt like it needed a little sparkle (...shocking, I KNOW!) so I dressed up the edges with Dazzling Details. 

I colored different sizes of pearls with a marker to create the little ornaments. I decided, in the end, to only decorate one of the palm trees because both of them seemed like fa-la-la-la-over-kill. I'm not going to even talk about that triple twine bow. It took me entirely TOO long to get that thing situated and I'm still a wee bit bitter about it. I dressed up the button with a Glimmer Brad and right now, will probably never recreate that look again...unless I find myself with an extra hour and a half to kill. Lol! 

Here is the inside of the card, with a simple sentiment:

Thanks for stopping by today! I sure hope you get a chance to play along in all the Holiday Hoopla this week at The Paper Players. The challenge goes through Friday, December 9, 2011 at midnight PST. We can't wait to see what YOU create!  Also, please stop by and visit the rest of the lovely ladies on the Design Team to see what they whipped up. The sassy Rita Wright is joining us in December as a Guest Designer, too. (Hi Rita!)

The Paper Players Design Team

Ann Schach

Anne Marie Hile

Jaydee

Julie Marshall

LeAnne Pugliese

Lesley Croghan

Nance Leedy

Tara Bilbao
  Rita Wright (December GD)

Have a very HAPPY day today! We have been busy decorating the house for Christmas. So far we have the 4 "little" trees up (including my PINK tree). We still have the "big" tree and the outside lights to go this week. I DID have to pluck a Maine Coon cat from the tree in our bedroom today, so I fear this is going to be an interesting holiday. :) 

Stampin' Up! Supply List: 
Stamps: Tropical Party (ret.), Holiday happiness (sentiment) and Bright Hopes (inside sentiment)
Paper: Sweet Stitches DSP (ret.), Melon Mambo, Wild Wasabi, Crumb Cake and Whisper White card stock
Ink: Soft Suede, Crumb Cake, Wild Wasabi, Pool Party and Melon Mambo Classic ink
Punches: Large Oval and Scalloped Oval
Accessories: Subtles Buttons, Wild Wasabi Glimmer brads, Hemp Twine, Dazzling Details, Color Spritzer tool, Wild Wasabi, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Melon Mambo, Pretty in Pink and Chocolate Chip Stampin' Write Markers, Stamping Sponges, Basic Pearls and Stampin' Dimensionals

Haul out the Holly for Our Creative Corner

Happy Saturday to you! After a long week of battling a horrible cold, I'm finally back...just in time for the new challenge over at Our Creative Corner. This week, Wendy Janson is our hostess and she is challenging us to the folowing challenge: 

"Haul out the Holly"...It's time to Decorate! Challenge  

The challenge this week is to take this very basic sketch, 

use it, and "decorate" it!

This weekend my husband and I are decorating our home for the Christmas season and I am really in the festive spirit! For my card, I decided to break out my beloved Dasher stamp...although he is disguised as "Rudolph" on this card. I heat embossed him using Pewter Embossing Powder. Then, I layered him on a larger circle, dressed up with Silver Glass glitter. When do I ever skimp on the sparkles? All of the Soft Suede edges are sponged with ink in the same color, to add some extra shading. 

I used the Christmas Cocoa Specialty DSP (ret.), because the paper itself has a soft shimmer to it. To finish it off, I added a snowflake embossing folder, some trim using red Glimmer Paper and Real Red Satin Ribbon. All the layers are popped up using Stampin' Dimensionals. I left the sentiment off the front of the card, because I thought it was fairly evident that this was a Christmas card. ;)

Here is the dressed up inside of the card, using a sentiment from the Contempo Christmas stamp set: 

Thanks for visiting today! Please stop by the Our Creative Corner site and see what the rest of the Design Team have done with the sketch this week. We sure hope you will join us and play along. We can't wait to see how YOU "decorate" this sketch for the holidays! 

Have a very HAPPY day! :) 

Stampin' Up! Supply List: 
Stamps: Dasher and Contempo Christmas
Paper: Christmas Cocoa Specialty DSP (ret.), Red Glimmer paper, Real Red, Soft Suede and Whisper White card stock
Ink: Versa-Mark and Soft Suede Classic ink
Accessories: Scallop Border punch, Pewter Embossing Powder, Silver Glass Glitter, Real Red Satin Ribbon, Basic Rhinestones, Stamping Sponges and Stampin' Dimensionals
Non-SU! Accessories: oval and scalloped oval die cuts, snowflake embossing folder

Christmas Swap with the Divas

Hi there! I am still battling this nasty cold I have had since Thanksgiving, so I have not been spending a whole lot of time in my craft room recently. (Thank you for all of the well-wishes that have been sent my way!) As, I just received my swap cards back from the Stamping Divas yesterday, I thought I would share them with you. Every month we do a different "theme" swap and in November it was all about Christmas cards. 

My swap card is in the photo below, on the left. It's the same card I made for the Paper Payers color challenge a few weeks ago. I made 10 of those little buggers, in total. All of the details for the card can be found HERE. With that, here are the swap cards from the DIVAS! Beautiful work, as always, ladies! 

~My card (left), Kerry Hansing (right)~

~Stephanie Fairbanks (left), Sharon Tong-Robinson (right)~

~Debora Shaw (left), Olives Barnes (right)~

~Gina Taylor (left), Teresa Payne-Neal (right)~

Thanks for visiting today! I hope to be back in the swing of things soon. Until then, I'm back to hot tea, tissues, lots of rest and catching up on my DVR from the past few weeks. Maybe Top Chef and Grey's Anatomy will have magical healing powers. Haha! 

Have a very HAPPY day today! :) 

Paper Players #74 - Lesley's Sketch

Hi there and Happy Sunday to you! I am hoping for good day today but have been battling a NASTY cold since Thanksgiving. It has taken my voice and pretty much ALL of my energy, but I am armed with vitamins, DayQuil and lots of fluids. I know it's just a matter of time before it moves along. Until then *cough, cough* I am pressing on!

This week at the Paper Players, Lesley is our fabulous hostess and she has a fun sketch to try out. 

Blame it on the cold meds, but I wanted to try something a little out of the ordinary with my card. I recently received the Mocha Morning Specialty DSP and have been itching to open it up. I decided to try to play with these colors for a Christmas card. If you have visited me before, you know that I like to branch out from "traditional" colors on holiday cards. It's just a quirk of mine. I just like to be different, I guess. ;)

I embossed the ornament and the sentiment in black, which may be a little dramatic but I am really hoping it works with the papers. I tried to soften it up with some sponged ink and delicate pearls. Two of the patterned papers have a soft "shimmer" to them which the photos just don't capture. 

Here is the inside of the card...with the strategically placed watermark...so you won't see the horrible fold...because I seem to have misplaced my bone folder. Look away from that, please. Have pity on the sick girl! Lol!! 

Please stop by and visit the rest of the gals on the Paper Players Design Team and see what they have to share this week. You will NOT be disappointed! I hope you have a chance to play along this week, too. 

The Paper Players Design Team

Ann Schach

Anne Marie Hile

Jaydee

Julie Marshall

LeAnne Pugliese

Lesley Croghan

Nance Leedy

Tara Bilbao
Susan Joyce

Thank you SO much for stopping by! I hope your day is HAPPY! :) 

Hugs, 

Stampin' Up! Supply List: 
Stamps: Tags 'til Christmas and Petite Pairs 
Paper: Mocha Morning Specialty DSP, Soft Suede, Basic Black and Crumb Cake card stock 
Ink: Basic Black Craft ink, Soft Suede Classic ink (for sponging)
Punches; Ornament punch, Scallop Trim Border punch and Scallop Corner punch
Accessories: Black Embossing powder, Stamping Sponges, Basic Pearls, Stampin' Dimensionals and Basic Black 1/8" Taffeta ribbon
Non-SU! Accessories: Oval and scalloped oval dies