Hand Stamped Sentiments #78-Fancy Folds Challenge

Hello there and Happy Tuesday! It's time for another great challenge over at Hand Stamped Sentiments. This week, it's all about keeping it fancy...fancy-folding, that is! We are also sending a BIG welcome to our newest Design Team member (and fellow Texan)...the lovely Erica Cerwin, with this challenge! I hope you will join us this week and play along! 

The inspiration for my card came from Laura Lipe. (Thank you for the amazing inspiration, Laura!)  I saw this fun and fabulous card style on her blog and HAD to give it a try. *CLICK HERE* for the cutting and scoring instructions. It's super-simple and can be created from a single 4- 1/4" x 11" piece of card stock.

 Here is the front view of the card: 

 Here is the side view of the card: 

For my card design, I looked to a few of my favorite stampers, Ann Schach and LeAnne Pugliese. Ann recently featured *THIS card* with the stitched border punch and I loved how LeAnne created *THIS card* using the "other" stamped snowman from this set, on Crumb Cake card stock. 


I colored my sassy snowman with some wonderful watercolor pencils I recently received in the mail from my blogging pal Helene, in Norway!! (Click her name to visit her blog.) Thank you, Helene for the fantastic box of crafting treats. Wow! I promise to get better with my water-coloring with practice! ;) 

This card has a LOT of sparkle! The stamped snowflakes (from the ret. Jolly Old St. Nick set) were embossed in Iridescent Ice embossing powder. Then, I got a little crazy with the Dazzling Diamonds glitter on this one. You know it's bad when your husband walks into the room while the afternoon sunlight is streaming through the window and utters the phrase: "Honey, what have you been doing in here? Your face is sparkling like that vampire in the Twilight movie!" Yes, I made him watch the Twilight movies...and am slightly scared that he is referencing them now! LOL! 

As if Dazzling Diamonds wasn't enough, I busted out the Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz for the embossed snowflake panel and then heat embossed both the sentiments (front and inside the card) with Cherry Cobbler Embossing Powder. Oddly enough, I held back on adding bling...I thought it would be a little TOO much.

I don't want to "over-explain" the card, so if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to email me. I have listed all of the supplies at the end of the post, too...if you are interested. :)  

Finally, here is the inside of the card, with more embossing and sparkle to compliment the front:

Thanks for stopping by! Please check out Hand Stamped Sentiments and see what the rest of  the DT have cooked up. We hope you will play along and show off your "fancy-folded-creation" this week! Have a very HAPPY day today! :) 


Stampin' Up! Supply List: 
Stamps: Snow Much Fun, Jolly Old St. Nick (little snowflakes, retired), Best Yet (front sentiment, retired) and Occasional Quotes (inside sentiment, retired)
Paper: Crumb Cake, Night of Navy, Basic Black and Cherry Cobbler card stock
Ink: Black Staz-On, Versa-Mark and Crumb Cake Classic ink (for sponging around edges
Accessories: Baker's Twine, Embossing Buddy, Cherry Cobbler embossing powder, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, Iridescent Ice Embossing powder, Dazzling Diamonds glitter, Crystal Effects (buttons and hat), 2-way Glue pen, Large Oval punch, Scallop Oval punch, Dotted Scallop ribbon Border punch, Vanilla shimmer Smooch Spritz, Stampin Dimensionals, Sticky Strip and craft knife
Non-SU! Accessories: score tool, watercolor pencils from Helene and snowflake embossing folder

I'm Dreaming of a Green Christmas

I won't have to wish all that hard, though. Christmas is always green in Texas! :)

This week at The Paper Players, LeAnne and the fabulous design team gave the following challenge: 

"I am challenging you all this week to use Monochromatic colors in your creation....use different hues or shades of one color. It can be any color....just used varying shades of that color. Adding a neutral is okay, too!"

At first I was going to use reds...then oranges...then I saw a scrap of Old Olive card stock on my desk and *ta-da*, it was decided. I was "Going Green" for this challenge. Thanks to my trusty Color Coach, pairing my colors was a snap.

I busted out my Snow Swirled stamp set because I thought that the tree image would look awesome embossed in green. I used Old Olive craft ink and clear embossing powder to do that. I recently purchased some green bling in assorted sizes and decided it would be a great way to "decorate" the tree. 


For the background I used a swirl embossing folder on Certainly Celery card stock then brushed on some Platinum Shimmer Paint with a paintbrush. I love Shimmer Paints! I think they give such a quick and easy "pop" to any project. 

I wanted to dress up the Eyelet Border punch because it seemed a little boring on it's own. I wove some gold elastic cord through the top holes to create a "stitched effect", then more bling to the bottom holes in the punch. I really liked how it came out. For some final touches I added another strip of ribbon and then embossed the sentiment in gold and punched it out. 

I had to add this next photo because I thought that regular visitors to my blog would get a chuckle out of it. Looks like there is a new sheriff in town! My sweet (and usually more subdued) kitty, Tomas, decided to get in on the action earlier today while I was trying to take photos to post of the card. I guess he has had enough of Benny Max hogging the spotlight. HaHa! :)

Stampin' Up! Supply List: 
Stamps: Snow Swirled, Best Yet (retired)
Ink: Old Olive craft ink (tree) and Versa-Mark (sentiment)
Paper: Old Olive, Certainly Celery, Always Artichoke and Whisper White card stock
Accessories: Eyelet Border punch, 1 3/4" x 7/8" Oval punch, Scalloped Oval punch, Platinum Shimmer Paint, clear embossing powder, gold embossing powder, Gold Elastic Cord (retired), Mistletoe Ribbon (retired) and Stampin' Dimensionals
*Green bling and swirl embossing folder are non-SU!

Have a great day! 
Thanks for stopping by, 

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like...

...CHRISTMAS! 

Really? Well, this morning I realized that we have 113 shopping days left until the big day. I think it's safe to say the holiday season will be here before we know it. To get in the mood, I decided to use this week's Mojo Monday sketch to inspire a little holiday cheer. Since it's STILL almost 100 degrees here in Texas, snowflakes seem completely appropriate, right? 

Yes, I know it's Friday and I'm just getting around to Monday's sketch. I have been slacking in the creative department this week, *sigh*, there just aren't enough hours in the day sometimes! I had a creative day with my friend, Mandi on Wednesday, which really helped jump-start my productivity. Whew, thank goodness for THAT! 

I am smitten with this color combo, brought to you once again, by the SU! Color Coach. How in the world did I survive before this little tool came into my creative life?? I honestly do not think I have EVER used Bravo Burgandy or Sahara Sand before today!

I was really inspired by the simplicity of this week's sketch. I thought it would be fun to break in my (brand spankin' new) Serene Snowflakes set which has been sitting here, un-inked, since LAST Christmas. Because I JUST finished cleaning up my stamp room from the last glitter explosion, I decided to bust out some silver glitter for a fun accent around the main image. What a mess, but totally cute! Add a little embossed sentiment and some bling and there you have it, HOLIDAY CHEER...just in time for Labor Day! Hee Hee!

Stampin' Up! Supply List:

Stamps: Serene Snowflakes, Best Yet (retired, hostess)

Ink: Bravo Burgundy classic ink, Versa-Mark

Paper: Bravo Burgundy, Pink Pirouette, Sahara Sand and Whisper White cardstock, Bella Rose DSP (retired)

Accessories: Ticket Corner punch, Circle Scissor tool, silver embossing powder, Fine Galaxy Stampin' Glitter in silver, Bravo Burgundy 1/4" grosgrain ribbon (retired), paper crimper 

Non-Stampin' Up! Supplies: scalloped die cuts, bling, rhinestone brad


Thanks for visiting! Enjoy your day!