Simple Halloween Card & Dotted Spider

Decided to do a very simple last-minute Halloween card & get three in the mail today, all the while praying they'll all get to their destinations by Saturday. Had a blast last year doing Halloween cards and 3-D items, but for some reason the "spirits" just didn't move me this year--LOL!!! I did add a cute little "Spidey" inside each card (minus the candy) and thought it would be fun to add a new twist -- I ran the scalloped circles through my Wizard with the Dotted Swiss embossing folder and really liked the outcome. Simple pleasures!!!

Paper, Tag & bat brad: Making Memories DP; white CS (stash)

Stamp (inside) & Both Ribbons: Martha Stewart

Embellishment: SU's Black Hemp Twine

Spider: SU's Photo Corners & Scalloped Circle Punch; Dotted Swiss embossing folder

PTI October Blog Hop: Holiday Tea

I always thought these red/green tea leaves papers would make such a beautiful Christmas card and even though I was unsuccessful in actually finding Christmas tea yet in my little neighborhood store, I just had go ahead and make the card anyway! I really like the outcome! I combined PTI's Tea for Two and Everyday Classics sentiments to get my "Christmas blend" phrase and used a Michael's $1 stamp and Copic-colored gems for the holly & berries on my handmade little "teabag" label. To make that tiny thing was the hardest part of this card. I first cut & embossed one of my tiny original Spellbinder rectangles, then used my SU ticket corner punch and trimmed off the top part of the rectangle to acheive a better teabag shape. I then cut one itty-bitty holly leaf from my $1 stamp (something I often do with my stamps), stamped it, added the 3 little berry "gems" colored with my R29 Copic marker and crochet thread "string"! I felt it just added the perfect little detail to my Christmas tea card!!!

Paper: PTI's Vintage Cream & Pure Poppy CS and Green Tea Leaves DP

Stamps: PTI's Tea for Two & Everyday Classics; $1 Michael's stamp

Ink: PTI's Pure Poppy & Ripe Avocado

Embellishments: Amuse Twinkle Stickers (colored red w/Copic R29); Aunt Lydia's Crochet Thread (Wal-Mart); red velvet ribbon (local ribbon store)

Tools: Spellbinders Wizard & Round, Scalloped Round & Fancy Tags Dies; MS Apron Lace Punch; Singer sewing machine

Stamping Sisters in Christ Challenge #9 (SSCC9)

My sweet friend, Gwen, once again pointed me to a challenge blog with a fabulous prize. (God knows what I'd do without her and I have NO intention of finding out -- obviously, she's a total keeper when it comes to great friends!!!) Go here to see the gorgeous Taylored Expressions Christmas stamp set being offered as a prize. The challenge is to make a card or project featuring the nativity or other religious theme about Christ's birth. Again, I've used PTI's Silent Night set from 2008 (still available for purchase) for my entry. I just love not only the elegant gold paper, embossing, ribbon & pearls, but particularly the fact that it reminds us all of the true meaning of Christmas!
You have almost two more days to post your project and be eligible to win -- good luck!!!
Paper: PTI's Vintage Cream & Gold CS
Stamps: PTI's Silent Night
Ink: Versamark
Embellishments: Sheer Gold Ribbon & Gold "Rhinestone" Stickers (both from Michaels); DeNami Design's Gold Embossing Powder
Tools: Spellbinders' Wizard & Fancy Tags Die

"Just Us Girls" Week 3 - Color Challenge

My BBGF (Best Blogging GF), Gwen, found a fun new challenge for us to try. Go check out her card (just click on her name) and the challenge blog here: Just Us Girls!!! The theme changes weekly, which should really keep our creative juices flowing, something I reallly NEED lately! For this challenge, I decided to play with my Spellbinders' Fancy Tags dies. I love how you can use the tag's flourishes as embellishments with other Nesties dies. I added the end flourishes from the largest tag to the edges of my stamped Curved Rectangles and then another underneath the tag containing my stamped sentiment. Copic BGOOO gave my pearls just the right aqua accent.

Paper: PTI's Vintage Cream, Pure Poppy & Aqua Mist

Stamps: PTI's Silent Night
Ink: PTI's Pure Poppy & Versacolor's 138 Seafoam

Embellishments: Pearls & ribbon from stash

T0ols: Copic Marker BGOOO; Spellbinders' Wizard, Fancy Tags & Curved Rectangles Dies

2S4Y Challenge 37

Our DS was able to extend the end of his business trip and spend a day & a half with us this weekend, so I got a very late start on the 2S4Y Challenge. Wouldn't have missed our short & sweet visit with him for anything, but really wanted to try for the fabulous $100 JustRite Stampers prize offered in this challenge. I'm within a half hour of the deadline (I think!), so here's my card and the details. Love JRS and all the versatility their font stamps offer, but at the moment only own one small set. I decided I'd combine that 25-point Times New Roman font with this gorgeous star from Papertry Ink's Silent Night stamp set. Though it was a rush job, I really like how it turned out!

Paper: PTI's Gold CS; black CS from stash

Stamps: JRS 2 3/8" Round Stamper & Times New Roman 25 Point Font; PTI's Silent Night (2008)

Ink: Versamark

Embellishments: Stamp-n-Stuff Opaque Gold Embossing Powder & Gold Rhinestone Stickers (Michaels); Gold-edge Black Sheer Ribbon (from stash) Tools: Spellbinders Wizard; Labels Two Dies; Plain & Scalloped Round Dies; Cuttlebug Dotted Swiss Embossing Folder

Our Craft Lounge: Snowy Sayings II

Maren Benedict's card in the current issue of Paper Crafts Magazine (Pg. 49) inspired me to dig out my Candy Wrapper paper by My Mind's Eye, along with some Spellbinders' Nesties, and here's my result, another fun little card for winter or Christmas. I thought this flower die was perfect with this paper. For some reason I seem to be on a ric rac kick lately, but the first one I chose from my stash was too blue (not aqua enough) so I grabbed my Copic BG000 Pale Aqua and colored a white ric rac & my Copic R29 Lipstick Red to color my clear tiny stars and easily created two complimentary little details for my card -- love being able to do that! I also once again only embossed the same die I'd just used to cut my sentiment label & simply cut around the outside edge to give that extra little color layer behind the aqua. It takes very little time, but adds a lot, I think!

Paper: PTI's White & Aqua Mist CS; Candy Wrapper from My Mind's Eye DP

Stamp: Our Craft Lounge: Snowy Sayings

Ink: Cardinal VersaColor pigment

Embellishments: Doodlebug Design's sugar-coated brad; Amuse Twinkle Sticker (stars); ric rac & ribbon from stash

Tools: Spellbinders' Wizard & Labels Eight & Flower Creations Three Dies; Copic Markers

Our Craft Lounge: Snowy Sayings

A fun little card made with a darling acrylic sentiment set I won from Our Craft Lounge recently, paired with the little penguins from Technique Tuesday's Zoology set I won @ CKC last spring. I thought the two stamps paired up nicely! Wanting to use the red as my accent color, I embossed the red panel with my same Labels Five Nestie that I'd used to cut the snowflake paper & then used scissors to cut around the outer edge (a trick I saw on a blog, but of course cannot now recall from whom - sorry)! It allows you to have that extra incremental layer of color even though the Labels Nesties don't each come in two sizes (maybe they will one day?) though I don't need any more on my already huge list of "must haves"!

Paper: PTI's White & Pure Poppy CS; Debbie Mumm's Harvest & Holiday DP pack

Stamps: Our Craft Lounge Snowy Sayings; Technique Tuesday's Zoology

Ink: PTI's Palette True Black

Embellishments: RicRac from stash

Tools: Spellbinder's Wizard & Labels Five; Fiskars' Upper Crest Punch

WCMD Challenge #4: Australia

Once I saw Australia was the country for Nichole's WCMD Challenge #4 I couldn't stop thinking about all the Outback Steakhouse drink coasters I've accumulated over the years. After much deliberation over what to do for my card for this challenge, I finally decided I HAD to use this coaster -- if you click on the picture to enlare it, you'll hopefully be able to see the rings of little dots above & to the left of the sun, dotted circular reflections of it's bright impact on Australia! I took my scissors from SU (used for cutting their rubber stamps before mounting) & cut off the bottom 1/3 of the coaster (which said: "just have a seat at Outback.") and used my WeRMemoryKeepers Corner Chomper to round the new bottom corners. I stamped the lizard and attempted to add white gel pen dots around it & the coaster, only to realize I need a LOT of practice in this technique!!! To complete my card, I had to finish the inside with the rest of the sentence begun on the coaster!!! Hope it "tickles" (to borrow a phrase made "famous" by Claire on her blog)! Tee-Hee!!!

Paper: PTI's Kraft

Stamp: Comotion

Ink: PTI's Dark Chocolate

Embellishments: Ribbon (from stash)

Tools: MS Embossed Zig Zag Punch; Copic #YR07 (border)

WCMD Challenge #3: India

Whew -- this took way longer than I'd planned, but with many changes along the creative path, I do like the result! I've posted a photo of the paisley dress that inspired me, though since I had more purple gems, I chose purple & gold colors instead. Nichole is sure making us think outside the box with these WCMD challenges, isn't she? What a really good way to stretch our minds & creativity though!!!
Paper: Bazzill & DeNami Design CS
Stamp: PTI's Friends 'Til the End
Ink: PTI's True Black
Embellies: Hero Arts gems & Sequins; unknown flower gems; Lavender Stickles
Tools: Spellbinders Wizard & Paisley Plain & Scalloped Nesties; ProvoCraft Border Emossing Folder

WCMD Challenge #2: Mexico

Both folklore and archeological finds show that the Chihuahua breed originated in Mexico. The most common theory and most likely is that Chihuahuas are descended from the Techichi, a companion dog favored by the Toltec civilization in Mexico. Gwen, my BBGF (Best Blogging GF!) has three of these little charmers, so I know she'll appreciate my Mexican card entry!!! She and another friend, Ilene, are @ CKC today. They are responsible for getting me into rubber stamping (Ilene) and blogging (Gwen), so they're very important in my life. Finances permitting I'd have been with them today, but I'm so happy WCMD gave me something to think about other than missing the day with them!

Paper: PTI's Kraft & Dark Chocolate CS; PTI's Autumn Abundance DP; Bazzill CS

Ink: PTI's Dark Chocolate

Stamps: PTI's Everyday Classics (sentiment); All Night Media (dog-1999); Copper Leaf Creations (earth-1995)

Embellishments: Ribbon (unknown); stickers (Joann's)

Tools: Spellbinders' Wizard Machine & Dies: Labels One & Double Ended Tags; MS Embossed Zig Zag Punch; Copic Markers

Edited to add: I'd forgotten that I also wanted to post this on Spellbinders' Facebook page to qualify for their random drawing for use of Spellbinders' dies! ;~)

WCMD Challenge #1: Japan

For my first WCMD challenge I'm answering Nichole's 1st of 4 challenges here to create a project that is inspired by either the colors, the design or the themes that are prominent in the Japanese culture. As usual, she has some fabulous prizes up for grabs!!! For my kimono card I had to research kimono folding again (I'd made several kimono cards in the past as I've had two former employers with Asian ties) and I found this video on YouTube, so followed it for my card. I'll simply refer you to Michelle's excellent instructions on her video, as she did a fabulous job. Two things I would mention: I used Papertrey Ink's Scor-Tape (found here ) to attach both my origami DP and my ribbon, which made this soooo easy to create. Secondly, remember to stamp your sentiment low enough on the inside so it won't show above the neckline of your kimono when closed! That's it! Have a fun WCMD everyone!!!