Glad Tidings and Watercolor

I have another card inspired by the Online Card Classes Holiday Card Workshop to share with you today! The Day 3 focus was watercolor and I decided to do a simple card (due to limited time) using the color blending techniques Kristina shared. I stamped and embossed a small, torn strip of watercolor paper with this awesome deer stamp from Bossy Joscie. I then watercolored over the image with various red tones.



I mounted the watercolored piece on a white panel with some silver metallic string behind it. The sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp Inside Holiday Greetings stamp set. Except I used it on the outside. Because I'm rebellious like that. For reals, though.



I kept this design simple and I kind of love it. This one would actually be really easy to do in multiples, which is always a plus for holiday cards. I am not usually a torn paper fan, but watercolor paper just tears SO beautifully and I love how it looks when you paint over the torn edge. It just adds so much texture! LOVE!

Have a Happy!

An Autumn Birthday

Hello, folks! I have a pretty card using some GORGEOUS new dies from Spellbinders on the Spellbinders blog today! I'd love for you to stop by to check it out!




Head on over and leave some love! Thanks!

25 Days of Christmas TAGS {GIVEAWAY!}

I am excited to be participating in the 25 Days of Christmas Tags hosted by Tracey over at In My Creative Opinion! The CAS-ual Fridays Stamps Ink Squad is playing along today, so we have lots of inspiration using CAS-ual Fridays Stamps! Woot! Woot! This is a pretty fun and TOTALLY inspiring blog hop! Today is Day FIVE, so be sure to head over there to see the previous days and follow along throughout this month for TONS of holiday tag inspiration!



I used the Bubble Labels Dies to create the snowmen shaped tags. I just chopped off one bubble and voila! Snowpeople. I wanted the arms to look like sticks, so after some consideration, I decided to use portions of the Casual Trees Fri-Dies for those. Umm... yes. I do love them. Lots. For reals, though. I stamped the bottom with a few snowflakes from the Must Love Snowflakes stamp set in pastel tones to add a bit of interest to the tags. I kind of love these little guys. They are just SO FUN!

AND...we not only have inspiration for you, but we have PRIZES, as well! Some super amazing companies are sponsoring the hop! We are talking Reverse Confetti, Clearly Besotted, CAS-ual Fridays Stamps (obviously), Neat and Tangled, Paper Smooches, and Lawn Fawn! WHAT?! Yup. Totally, you guys!

Leave a comment here for a chance to win and head over to In My Creative Opinion for more information and more opportunities to WIN!

Have a Happy!

A Bit of Ornamental Joy

***Don't forget to enter this fabulous BOOK GIVEAWAY! Trust me... it's a super fun read!***

Today I have another card inspired by the Online Card Classes Holiday Card Workshop. I seriously love these classes! They just motivate me to PLAY and THAT, my friends, is an awesome thing! No pressure, no deadline, no requirements... just PLAY WITH ALL OF THE THINGS!!!!

Whoa. Got a little excited there. Okay. I've got it together now. Moving on....

So, anyway, today's card was inspired by the embedded ornament card that Jennifer McGuire created for the class. I loved the idea of an ornament that could be pulled from the card. My execution didn't work as well as I had hoped, but I think if I create a second one I can correct some of the issues. Another option with this card would be to use a bit of magnet tape on the back of the pull-out piece and create a magnet instead of an ornament, which would be great for cards for all occasions!



I inked both the die cut circle ornament (layered three times to give it some Ooomph!) and the background piece individually. I then stamped and embossed the wisemen and the star from the Blessed Christmas set from Paper Smooches onto the ornament. On the background, I used the Sci-Fi Star Creative Screenings stencil from Winnie & Walter with some pearlescent embossing paste to create a shimmering, starry background.



The sentiment is from the Winnie & Walter The Big, The Bold, and the Merry Cutaways set. Which I love. With all of my heart. And all of my soul. And all of my inner most being. (Wait..that might be your soul... hmmm... I suppose that's a philosophical discussion for later....) I cut it twice, so it is on the ornament and on the vellum, leaving the card looking halfway decent even after the ornament is removed. But only half way. HA!



Here you can see a bit what the ornament looks like outside of the card. I like this idea and I want to play with it a bit more. It is certainly a fun way to include a small gift with your card AND encourage people to keep your art.

I am also entering this card in the Paper Smooches Sparks Anything Goes Challenge.

Have a Happy!

Coffee Time!

It's time for a brand new challenge on the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge blog! (I really need to find a new opening line for these Wednesday posts... hmmm... anyway...moving on...) This week we are creating Thinking of You themed cards. The design team is using Prima products for this challenge. You don't have to use them, but if you have some, we'd love to see how you work them into your projects!



I love these adorable wood shapes from the Prima Coffee Break Collection! They are so much fun! I combined them with this SUPER CUTE coffee cup die set from My Favorite Things. I love it. Lots. Like, super duper lots. For reals, though. That is an awesome die set.



Now it's YOUR turn! Head on over to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge blog to link up YOUR Thinking of You themed card for a chance to win a $50 gift voucher to the Simon Says Stamp Store.

Have a Happy!

Inspired by Debby Hughes

Don't forget to enter my current GIVEAWAY! Go to THIS POST for more information!


Wow! Day 1 of the Holiday Card Workshop over at Online Card Classes was AWESOME! I was super inspired by the designs, and made this fun card, inspired heavily by Debby Hughes, last night. The sketch/layout is all hers, as are many of the components. I switched up some of the colors and a created a 'dip dyed' look on my snowflake rather than on the tag like she did, but I am LOVING the look! I need to do that more often!



I used the snowflake dies from Avery Elle, with which I am IN LOVE, along with a great tag die from WPlus9. Debby used a cute stamped snowflake as the center of the die cut snowflake, but I chose to use a heart flair button from Bossy Joscie, instead.



For the sentiment, I wanted Happy Christmas, rather than Merry Christmas. Mostly because Happy Christmas just makes me happy. For reals, though. SO, I pulled out the Spellbinders® Holiday Sentiments dies (you have the 'merry' option, if you prefer that) and created the white on white look. I LOVE those dies so much!

You can find the links to the supplies I used below! These are affiliate links and your support is appreciated!

Have a Happy!

Supplies:

Cardstock: Crafter's Companion Ultra Smooth White
Patterned Paper: BoBunny Candy Cane Lane 6x6 Paper Pad
Dies: Avery Elle Noel and Spellbinders® Holiday Sentiments
String: May Arts Metallic String, Gold
Spray Ink: Heidi Swapp Gold Lame Color Shine (if you buy nothing else on this list, buy this stuff!!! It is AWESOME!)
Flair: Bossy Joscie

Laura Childs Gossamer Ghost Giveaway

Happy November! I hope you all had an absolutely fabulous Elsaween...err.... Halloween. I thought it would be fun to kick of November with a fantastic giveaway! j

Laura Childs is one of my favorite authors! She writes mystery series that are super fun to read, including the Carmela Bertrand Scrapbooking Mysteries! Carmela owns a scrapbook store right in the hub of New Orleans called Memory Mine. She and her best friend Marla, along with other area friends, celebrate the art and history of New Orleans, but often find themselves right in the middle of some pretty crazy things. And by crazy, I pretty much mean dead people. Yup. Murders. Carmela is known for her 'tendency' to look into these things a bit deeper, which can get her into a bit of trouble with her boyfriend, a local police officer! She and her best friend, and fellow local shop owner, Ava, are at it again in Gossamer Ghost. They find a local shop owner dead, and begin to investigate. Of course, it's Halloween in New Orleans, so it can be tricky to sort through the zombies and the genuine murderers!

Carmela's adventures are always a blast to read! Also, included in each book are scrapbooking and paper crafting tips and ideas AND recipes that are mentioned in the book! BONUS!

I have one hard cover copy of Gossamer Ghost to give away to one lucky reader! This giveaway is open to those in the U.S. only due to shipping costs. The giveaway begins 3 November 2014 and will close 9 November 2014. All opinions in this post are my own. Thank you to Nally Studios for providing this opportunity. Please use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter.

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