New Home Congrats

I was inspired by these talented ladies, Bonnie & Sharon, to grab my Spellbinders gold craft foil & Labels 5 die this morning. I cut & embossed my die and stamped Congrats in Staz-On ink on my label. I glue dotted the holly leaves & berries (cut from green & red foil & left over from a previous project) above my sentiment, punched a hole in each edge for my gold ribbon & tied it around a bottle of bubbly for a surprise toast when our friends arrive from the frozen Midwest. In hindsight, I'd have Copic colored the leaves to better match the bottle's color and layered a larger label behind my foil one. I realize my rushed effort is in no way comparable to Bonnie's or Sharon's gorgeous creations, but using what stamps/dies & little time I had, I still think they'll appreciate the thought behind it! Another friend joked that I'm "re-gifting" because these friends bought this bottle of bubbly last winter to share with us, but we never had a chance to enjoy it. So I think it was meant to be that we use it to toast them & share it together in their new home we helped them find.

Last Chance for These Digital Stamps

If you'd like to have these two FABULOUS digi stamps, rush over to Jak's blog to purchase them for a very reasonable price for BOTH professional images: Little Soldier by Jim Harker & Out There by Mo Manning. Your purchase goes directly to the Meningitis Search 4 a Vaccine Campaign in memory of Jak's precious little 16-mo.-old Great Nephew. They're only available until Sunday, December 12th, so please take a moment and do it now -- it literally takes about 5 minutes to complete your purchase & receive your images! You'll be so glad you did and to have these exceptional images to enjoy! How adorable is the little Sailor boy and his faithful friend on my 2nd card?! You can also see Little Soldier in red for Christmas on my previous post here -- he's adorable in any color. These are such professionally-drawn images that even though I'm a beginner with Copic coloring & shading, they allow me to create gorgeous cards!

PTI's 2009 Holiday Tag Collection: Mistletoe

A quick/easy little Christmas card using Papertrey Ink's 2009 Holiday Tag Collection's mistletoe tag stamped in Palette True Black on PTI's White CS and cut/embossed with a Spellbinders' circle die. Ranger's White Opal Liquid Pearls highlight the berries and the tag is backed with Bazzill's Emerald City Bling CS punched with Paper Shapers 2" Scalloped Circle. I used Copic YG67 to color the leaves and my (formerly white) ribbon, which matches the scalloped circle IRL, though not in my photo. My background is black suede paper run through the Wizard with my Cuttlebug Dotted Swiss embossing folder. That's it -- hope your Holiday cardmaking and giftmaking are going well for all of you!!!

Cuttlebug Baubles & Bows Card

The Cuttlebug blog challenge is to add glitter/bling! After embossing with my Baubles & Bows folder, I used my Quickie Glue pen, Martha Stewart glitters and Copic-colored Hero Arts gems to add some sparkle. My stamped sentiment is mounted on a second Fancy Tag to finish it off -- fun pr0ject!

Paper: PTI's Shimmer & Pure Poppy CS; Bazzill CS

Stamp: PTI's 2009 Holiday Tag Collection

Ink: PTI's Pure Poppy

Embellishments: MS Garnet & Turquoise Glitter; Hero Arts gems

Tools: Cuttlebug Baubles & Bows Embossing Folder; Spellbinders' Wizard, Fancy Tags & Curved Rectangles Dies; Copics BG000 & R29

Just Us Girls Week 8 Color & 2S4U Kazan's Sketch 40 Challenges

Tonight I had a bit of time to play, so I'm posting a combination of 2 challenges: JUGs Week 8 Color Challenge and 2 Sketches 4 U (Kazan's Sketch 40) Challenge, pictured above. When I first saw these colors (SU's Pumpkin Pie, Really Rust & Bashful Blue) used here I was skeptical, but just look at their fabulous DT samples -- awesome! I used the exact SU colors, though since it's after 6 PM & dark, my blue looks a bit grayer than it really is. What a fun sketch & fabulous color combo! The little corner detail are pieces die cut from the Spellbinder's Lattice Pendant for my original idea for this card -- never throw anything away!!!

Paper: All SU CS

Stamp: Technique Tuesday's Whirly Gigs

Ink: PTI's True Black Palette

Embellishments: Michaels Gems (colored w/Copics: YR07 & B21

Tools: Paper Shapers Scalloped Punches & Spellbinder's Wizard & Lattice Pendant Die

PTI November Blog Hop: Quick & Inexpensive Tags

This month's PTI Blog Hop Challenge: create a quick & inexpensive wrap or tag that can be the perfect solution for "grab & go" gifts! Since most of our family live in far-away states, my main "wrapping" is baskets of fruits/nuts/candy with cellophane & a fun tag for friends or neighbors. Sooooo fun, quick & simple to create tags using Nesties and PTI's 2009 Holiday Tag Collection. I used a package of large tags I'd picked up years ago on clearance for $.50 and placed my circle Nestie just above the "hole" in the tag, cut & embossed. I inked up "Joyeux Noel" with Ripe Avocado & Dark Chocolate Palette cubes (so easy with the cubes). Stamped that & the "to/from" dotted line stamp, added a little ribbon & done! For my next two tags I used my Labels 1 Nesties. Cut/embossed a tag from the left-over bottom portion of the purchased tag. Left the die on after embossing and stamped the Spring Rain snowflakes just inside the embossed frame on the right & added "to/from" in Dark Chocolate @ lower left! Next, cut my Labels 1 in PTI's Shimmer CS, inked & stamped my "to/from", holly & dotted border Vintage Labels stamps in Dark Avocado & added Xmas Red Stickles to the berries. I could punch a hole in these tags too. Lastly used Labels 4, PTI's Shimmer CS and the new Flurries Cuttlebug Embossing Folder, Let It Snow sentiment & PSX Diamond Sparkles. That's my quick/inexpensive Christmas tags ready to add to my last-minute gift baskets and it's not even December -- now that's planning ahead!

Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge #92

Now that my Wizard die cutting machine is repaired, I need to concentrate on cranking out Christmas and birthday cards for family and friends. I decided to do this fun TESC challenge today to kick start the creating frenzy that hopefully will follow. Our friends who bought a winter home here will arrive in just 3 short weeks, so I need to get my act together pronto! My simple little card really requires no explanation.

Paper: PTI's Spring Moss CS & Holiday Vintage Prints DP; Bazzill CS

Stamps: 2009 Holiday Tag Collection

Ink: PTI's Dark Avocado

Embellishments: Amuse Twinkle Sticker (star) Copic Colored Lipstick Red (R29); PTI button; ribbon from stash

Tools: Spellbinders Wizard & Labels 4 & Round Dies

"Just Us Girls" Week 7 Technique Challenge: Dry Embossing

ETA: I've tried every conceivable lighting possibility available to me (considering my extremely limited photographic abilities), but have come to the conclusion that the large black center of this card is causing all the light on the beautiful pink/white BG to be washed out. So, I've added a close-up photo of one edge of it, along with a close-up of the sentiment (where the bright pink ink was absorbed by the black paper, but I really liked the distressed look of that, since the BG paper is distressed too!)

My die cut/embossing machine crashed Saturday and I just received my replacement handle from Spellbinders this afternoon. I'm hoping to beat the JUGs challenge deadline, but my CFL lighting will not allow me to take a decent picture, so I'll have to reload my photo in the morning! The background paper here is actually a beautiful shade of pink on a white background. I need several birthday cards this next couple of months, so this was the perfect chance to get one ready.
Paper: Making Memories Sabrina DP; black CS from stash
Stamps: PTI's Heartfelt Basics & Vintage Labels
Ink: VersaColor Pink
Embellishments: Making Memories Sabrina Ribbon; Hero Arts Gemstones
Tools: Spellbinders' Wizard & Sizzix Botanical Frame Embossing Folder

In Memory of Layton and Copic Colour Challenge 39

My dear friend Jak's 16-mo.-old Great Nephew passed away on Oct. 27th from Meningitis. Two exceptionally-talented artists have given their time to create Digi Stamps: Jim Harker made the Little Soldier Stamp I've used here and Mo Manning made the Out There Stamp, both available on Jak's blog for a single £4.00 (about $6.65 USD) donation and immediate download. All proceeds go to Meningitis search 4 a vaccine campaign. I'm fairly new to digis & Copics, but trust me when I tell you that these are exceptionally well-drawn images for an exceptional price!!! In addition, on Jak's blog you'll be able to link your card made with either of these digis for another fabulous giveaway she's sponsoring until next Sunday -- a wonderful deal for such a small amount and such a HUGE cause! Go check it out!!! Since I wanted my Little Soldier to be for Christmas, I used two new Copics (thanks to Hobby Lobby's 30% off sale 3 weeks in a row!) purchased specifically for the Copic Colour Challenge 39 and will have my Little Soldier do double duty -- I don't think he'll mind!!!

Paper: PTI's White CS

Digi Stamp: See link above to Jak's blog

Copics: R29, R59, G07, Y08, Y17, BG000, C1

Embellishments: Gold Pearls (Michaels); ribbon (from stash)