Woodlbock Wednesday

OOPS I'm a week early here!  The challenge is NEXT Wednesday, Dec 31.  I'm still sharing today, as I have a blog post scheduled for then. Sorry for the mixup this may cause!

Here's my final card for this year for Amy's Woodblock Wednesday.  I chose a lovely Memory Box one called Peace Collage and accessorized it with some Tim Holtz goodies and a new cardinal die from Simon Says Stamp.

supplies: colored cardstock, Memory Box Peace Collage, embossed in white, Tim Holtz Funky Wreath, Mini Holiday Greens, Simon Beautiful Cardinal, 3 snowflake dies

You can see more cards using woodblock stamps at Amy's blog.  They generally come on the last Wednesday of each month.

 Thanks for stopping by, and I wish you a Merry Christmas!

Bright Christmas

I really loved this month's Card Kit from Simon Says Stamp!  I ordered the stamp set almost immediately because of the 2 large linocut images, which were curated by Tim Holtz.   The kit sold out, but thankfully the stamp set will be available ongoing.  Here are 2 simple cards I made with it the day it was received, 1 for each of the linocuts in the set.

supplies: white cardstock, Bright Christmas village and sentiment stamps, VersaFine Clair Medieval Blue ink

supplies: cream parchment paper, Bright Christmas deer and sentiment stamps, VersaFine Vintage Sepia and Satin Red inks, a red enamel dot, small adhesive foam square

After watching Heidi's video that showcased the kit, I decided that I needed the coordinating dies and the little stencil set, but by then they were on waitlist.  They arrived on Friday.  Hopefully I'll find a little time to play with them before Christmas; if not, they'll be ready for next year's cards.

Are you ready?  Our house is decorated to the hilt with 50+ years of collected goodies; I just need to do a good cleaning before The Day!

Thank you for visiting.

Barn Star Wreath

I love this Barn Star Wreath designed by Annie Williams from Spellbinders!  I didn't get it until Black Friday, but it came quickly so that I could make a few things with it for this year.  First a card.  It's a lovely match with the embossing folder, don't you think?

supplies: colored cardstock and metallic silver cardstock, Spellbinders Barn Star Wreath, (retired) Adorning the Tree 3D embossing folder, Simon Says Stamp (retired) Merry die

This die set comes with all of the botanicals you see here, plus the ribbon, the star and 2 sets of different piercings.   I used the 2nd set to make the star again as an ornament in gold.

There are score lines on the star so that you can put in some hills and valleys and make this a bit more dimensional.  For the tree, I thought that the bow and holly were enough of an embellishment.  I cut a 2nd star from white and attached it behind to make it more finished, sandwiching some thread in between as a hanger.

I want to make it a little more rustic next time, foregoing the metallics.

Enjoy your day - thanks for stopping by!

An Angel for Christmas

Last year I chose these PTI Angel dies, but made ornaments with them mostly.  This year I wanted to make a card using them.

supplies: white, Cotton Candy, Mint, and gold foil cardstock, Taylored Expressions (retired) Sheet Music embossing folder, PTI Build an Angel dies, sentiment from Spellbinders Sending Joy Sentiments Betterpress plate/die set, Christmas Wreath die set, and Essential Arches die, Polished Brass glimmer foil, tiny pink pearls, adhesive foam

If you'd like to see my angels from last year, go HERE.  This is a wonderful set!  

Christmas is getting closer - are you ready?  This year, both boys and the Grands will be with us!  First time in an eon, and we are SO excited!  

Holly Concert

Today I'm CASEing a card I made back in 2013.  The retired stamps are Penny Black, one a woodblock and the other from a clear set.

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supplies: white and Schoolhouse Red cardstock, Penny Black Holly Concert woodblock, sentiment from Penny Black Joyous, small snowflake die, tumbled glass distress ink, red ink, markers

This is such a sweet image; after all these years, I'm glad to give it some love again. 

We had a sweet snowfall yesterday that really put me in the mood for Christmas!  How about you?

Thanks for visiting today!

Christmas Ribbon cards

 Here are 2 cards using Tim Holtz' Christmas Ribbon dies.  The set has 2 sizes, so I made a card with each one.  I got these because I thought they'd be great for making last-minute cards, and I was right!  So I used the larger for a landscape vieww and the smaller for a portrait one.

supplies: white, Schoolhouse Red, and 2 blue-greens cardstocks, Spellbinders Holly & Foliage 3D embossing folder, Tim Holtz/Sizzix Christmas Ribbon and Vault Seasonal Sketch dies

supplies: cream, Lipstick Red, green and kraft cardstock, Spellbinders Adorning the Tree 3D embossing folder, Tim Holtz/Sizzix Christmas Ribbon, Holiday Greens Mini, and Funky Festive bow and berries dies 

You'll be seeing more Christmas card ideas here as the month goes on; thanks so much for stopping by!

Here Comes Christmas!

 I've got all my assignments finished, so now I can play!  I need to get my act in gear and make some Christmas cards.  Here is one that mixes some new (to me) goodies with some oldies.

supplies: cream, 2 greens, tans, and Lipstick Red cardstock, vellum, Honey Bee Stamps Lovely Layers Vintage Reindeer, Simon Charming Berry Branch, Taylored Expressions (retired) Winter Flurry embossing folder, Hero Hues Sunset enamel dots, Spellbinders Handwritten Holiday Sentiments dies

I've had this "Bambi" on my list since it was released, and decided I'd better grab it now before it disappears.  It also has lots of acessories for the deer: a scarf, Christmas lights, holly, and tiny ornaments.  The Berry Branch is fairly new - Jen McGuire made me buy it to make wreaths.  And the smallish "Merry" sentiment fit in just right after everything else was glued down.  It's nice that each word in that sentiment set has a shadow die to match; makes a smaller die easier to get straight on your creations.  I can't seem to make a card anymore without an embossed background, and I like the spacing and size of the snowflakes here.

Thank you for stopping by today!

October Spellbinders Club Kits: Glimpses of Christmas, part 2

 The Spellbinders Club Kits for October are now available until October 27; the overall theme is Glimpses of Christmas.

First I played with the Large Dies: Window Wonderland.

supplies: greys, cream, green, red, and white glitter cardstock, Window Wonderland dies, Brick by Brick 3D embossing folder, sentiment and matching die from To You and Yours set

This is one of the most intricate die sets I can remember working with - 35 pieces!  There's also a child pulling a sled included, which is coming up next.  And it works nicely with the brick embossing folder.

Here's a card to show you the child pulling his sled full of gifts, mixed with several of the other Club Kits.

supplies: colored cardstock, Window Wonderland large dies, Snow Day Friends small dies, Magic Wonderland glimmer plate and Moondust glimmer foil, sentiment from To You and Yours

Here is the Caboodle Bonus for this month, mixed with the embossing folder and some greens.

supplies: red, white, and green cardstock, Magic for You dies, Holiday Flurry embossing folder, Christmas Wreath Add-Ons greens

My last card shows you the biggest stamp in the Stamps/Dies: To You and Yours. mixed with the Glimmer plate, Magic Wonderland.

supplies: green and white cardstock, To You and Yours tree stamp and matching die, Magic Wonderland glimmer plate, embossed, red and yellow enamel dots

I stamped the tree in green ink, cut it out with its matching die, and added some "berries" and a star using enamel dots.  For the background, I embossed the glimmer plate; I wanted just some subtle texture.

Edited to add my card using this month's BetterPress plates, called Made with Snowflakes.

supplies: white and red cardstock, Made with Snowflakes (includes sentiment), red marker to color hats

What an easy card to make - I just pressed the snowmen image using black ink, then carefully colored in their hats.  There are 3 sentiment plates in this set.  I pressed this one using red ink, matted it with red cardstock, and affixed it to the card front.  

You can look HERE for information on Spellbinders Clubs.  Each is available for new subscribers only from the 6th until the 27th of each month.  If you click on my links under each card, you can see the specifics of each product.  You can subscribe to each of our 10 kits separately, (and you can "unjoin" a subscription at any time without any penalty), or you can get them all, plus a free bonus item each month, and save 60% by choosing the Deluxe Caboodle!

October Spellbinders Club Kits: Glimpses of Christmas

The Spellbinders Club Kits for October are available, now until October 27!  The theme this month is Glimpses of Christmas!

The Stencils, called Frosty Wishes, make a big A2 card-sized snowman!

supplies: white, red, and green cardstock, Frosty Wishes layering stencils, inks in black, grey, red, pink, orange, and blue, Spellbinders holly leaves and berries dies

I added some holly leaves and berries to his hat, and left off a sentiment.

Next I combined the Dies of the Month, Snow Day Friends, with the Glimmer plate, Magical Wonderland, and one of the sentiments from the Stamps, To You and Yours.

supplies: white and colored cardstock, Magical Wonderland Glimmer plate and silver foil, Snow Day Friends dies, To You and Yours sentiment, red ink, gifts from Window Wonderland (large dies of the month)

This was a fun little scene to put together!  The dies also include a snowman, but I chose to use the tree first.  The little gifts are part of the Large Dies of the Month.  The Glimmer Kit includes a roll of Polished Brass glimmer foil, but I thought silver looked better on my blue background.

Here's the snowman from the set, mixed with the Emossing folder, Holiday Flurry, another sentiment from To You and Yours, and a string of lights from the Large Dies, Window Wonderland.

supplies: white and teal cardstock, Holiday Flurry embossing folder, peacock feathers ink, Snow Day Friends snowman, WindowWonderland lights, To You and Yours sentiment, circle die, adhesive foam squares

I started by trimming a white panel, then cutting a circle in the center, then embossing the panel.  I then lightly swiped on some peacock feathers ink, and added it to my teal mat.  The wnowman and lights were constructed and popped above the circle, and the sentiment was added to finish.

My last card for today shows you the Stitching dies, Peppermint Prancer, the 3D embossing folder, Brick by Brick, and another of the stamps.

supplies: colored cardstocks, Brick by Brick 3D embossing folder, Peppermint Prancer stitching dies, red, white, and beige emboidery floss, To You and Yours stamp

Please come back again in a few days to see the rest of the cards I made with this month's Club Kits.

You can look HERE for information on Spellbinders Clubs.  Each is available for new subscribers only from the 6th until the 27th of each month.  If you click on my links under each card, you can see the specifics of each product.  You can subscribe to each of our 10 kits separately, (and you can "unjoin" a subscription at any time without any penalty), or you can get them all, plus a free bonus item each month, and save 60% by choosing the Deluxe Caboodle!

October Hero Studio - Merry Era

The Hero Arts Studio Kits for October are now available through the 27th of this month.  The overall theme this month is Merry Era.

I always play with the stencils first.  This month they are called The Tree.

supplies: white and dark teal cardstock, The Tree layering stencils, pink, silver, and blue-green inks, sentiment and matching die from Merry Era Card Kit, dewdrops, adhesive foam squares

As always, the stencils are 4 pieces, 3 for the tree and 1 for the baubles.  I added some dewdrops over some of the pink areas amidst the branches, for a little sparkle and dimension, and popped up the sentiment for the same reason.  I trimmed the A2 panel just a tad so that I could mat it with dark teal.

Next up are the Fancy Dies, Twinkle Lights.

supplies: white, gold metallic, red, blue, green, and gold glitter cardstock, Twinkle Lights fancy dies, sentiment from Merry Era Studio Card Kit and die to match, circle dies

This is a set of 5 strings of Christmas lights, and dies to cut out the lights themselves.  The sentiment was the one that I thought worked the best from the Card Kit.  I used gold metallic cardstock for the strings and 4 different glitter cardstocks for the lights.

The Card Kit contains a set of dies to make this big disco ball.  It will fit onto an A2 card, but I chose to make a Christmas Ornament out of it.  It is 4 1/4" in diameter, and has a separate die to make a hook so that you can add a thread to hang it by.

supplies: matte and mirror silver metallic cardstock, red cardstock, Merry Era dies

And finally, here are some of the stamps and matching dies featured in this month's Studio Card Kit.

supplies: metallic silver, teal and white cardstock, Merry Era Card Kit, red and grey inks, clear ink and silver embosing powder, prisma glitter and glue pen, adhesive foam squares

The stamp set and dies to match are all about disco balls, so I stamped and embossed with silver against a teal background, then stamped the sentiment and Santa hat in red, adding a bit of glitter on the hat for some more glitz, and popped them up.  The card front is matted in metallic silver.

The Studio Collection is available now through the 27th of the month.  This is subscription-based, discounted from retail, and includes FREE shipping (for US customers)!

You can subscribe anytime and cancel hassle-free.

Currently the Studio includes 5 separate kits: a Card Kit, Layering Stencils, Fancy Dies, a Cling stamp, and a Clear Set of Stamps and matching Dies.  You can also get The Whole Studio, which includes all of the kits at a discount, plus a bonus item each month.  

A really nice perk is that, once you subscribe to any of the kits, you also will get free shipping on all orders that you make at Hero Arts between the 1st and 5th of each month!

A Country Christmas

 Annie Williams has a new collection being released today; it's called Country Christmas.  Here's a card I made using the Country Snowman dies.  Annie gave her snowman a bit of a cowboy feel - how fun!

supplies: white, kraft, and colored cardstock, Country Snowman dies, sentiment from A Merry Little Christmas glimmer plate/die set, red glimmer foil, snowflake embossing folder, adhesive foam squares

Isn't the bunny cute?  Annie showed the bird feeder full of seeds, and I followed suit, using markers to simulate them.  There's also a broom for the snowman to hold, which I didn't use this time.

The rest of the Country Christmas Collection is just as cute, with dies for a rocking chair and teddy bear, horse-drawn wagon, a barn, a big star, an embossing folder, and a sentiment set.  

I thoroughly enjoyed putting together this little scene, especially during this hot spell we've been having!  

Thanks for stopping by!

July Spellbinders Club Kits: Mugs, Mittens, and Sweater Hugs!

The Spellbinders Club Kits for July are now available for new subscribers!  This month's theme is Mugs, Mittens, and Sweater Hugs.

The small dies of the month are called Cocoa Greetings, and consist of 18 dies to make some cute mugs.  To begin this month, I made up 3 mugs which you will see being used today and in the next few days with various backgrounds.  I thought I'd show you them all together first.

supplies: Cocoa Greetings dies

As you can see, their hats can double as whipped cream dollops!  There's also a snowflake die in this set.

My first card mixes the Stitching Kit, Frosted Stitch, with the little deer mug above, and the sentiment is from the Glimmer set.

supplies: white, cream, pale peachy pinks, tan, and black cardstock, Frosted Stitch, 3 strands of white embroidery floss, Cocoa Greetings dies, Arctic Glimmer sentiment, silver slimmer foil, adhesive pearls, adhesive foam squares

The deer mug was my favorite of the 3, so I chose these pale peachy-pinks and white for my stitched card to use as a background with it.  It is a really lovely design.  Here it is all alone before I added the mug.  I especially like the 6 dainty snowflakes in the center!  I made this into a shaped card by cutting an extra white shaped base, scoring it about an inch down from the top, then securing that to my stitched panel with strong 1/8" adhesive tape.

supplies: pale peach and white cardstock, Frosted Stitch dies, 3 strands of white embroidery floss, adhesive pearls to match

Next I mixed the Santa mug with the Glimmer kit, Arctic Glimmer, and a sentiment from the Stamps and Dies: Stay Snuggly.

supplies: colored cardstock, Cocoa Greetings Santa Mug, Arctic Glimmer glimmer plate and silver glimmer foil, sentiment from Stay Snuggly stamp/die, adhesive foam square

The Clear Stamps/Dies this month are sentiments to fit this month's theme, plus various snowflakes.  This sentiment is one of the larger ones.  Silver glimmer foil is included in this month's Glimmer kit, and enhances the snowflakes nicely. 

And finally, here is the Penguin mug, along with the Embossing Folder, Frosted Stitch, with another sentiment from the Glimmer kit.

supplies: colored cardstock, Cocoa Greetings Penguin Mug, Frosted Stitch embossing folder, sentiment from Arctic Glimmer 

I'll be back in a few days with the rest of my cards from this new release.

You can look HERE for information on Spellbinders Clubs.  Each is available for new subscribers only from the 6th until the 27th of each month.  If you click on my links under each card, you can see the specifics of each product.  You can subscribe to each of our 10 kits separately, (and you can "unjoin" a subscription at any time without any penalty), or you can get them all, plus a free bonus item each month, and save 60% by choosing the Deluxe Caboodle!

Woodblock Wednesday

 Merry Christmas!

Woodblock Wednesday has become a nice post to look forward to each month; this year I've done one every month, so I don't want to break my record now!  Here's a stamp dated 2001 from Stampendous, and named Tiny Babe.  I think it's perfect for this month, since the challenge falls on Christmas day!

I kept it simple, with minimal coloring.  I popped up the "Tiny Babe" part, added a glittery gem to the star, and cut the whole thing out with an arch die, matting it with gold.

supplies: cream and matte gold metallic cardstock, Stampendous Tiny Babe woodblock, Spellbinders Essential Arches dies, glittery gem, adhesive foam squares

You can see all the other entries at Amy's blog HERE.

My friend Linda had a blog post to share her lovely Christmas decorations, so I thought I'd tag on a few pictures of our tree this year.

We wanted a smaller tree this year, so my engineering husband figured out how to smallify our larger 9 foot tree of the past.  This one stands at about 5 feet now, much more manageable for us.

I took a ceramics class maaaaany years ago to make this nativity scene.  

And here are some closer shots of some of the ornaments we've collected and made over these 50+ years.  The hand-made ones are my favorites!

Thanks for indulging me!

Floral Noel

I took advantage of some Black Friday sales this year; one of the sets I got was the Honey Bee Stamps Floral Noel suite: layering stencils, matching dies, and stamps.  Here are 2 cards I made recently with my new goodies.

supplies: white cardstock, old Susan Branch holly design paper, Honey Bee Stamps Floral Noel stencils, twisted citron, mowed lawn, abandoned coral, and festive berries distress inks, Floral Noel dies, sentiment from Floral Noel stamp set, small adhesive foam squares, tiny rhinestone gems

The stencils also include larger versions of the flower sprigs, and the dies also include a smaller version of both Noel and Joy.  Here's what I did with some of those.

supplies: white and matte metallic gold cardstock, Floral Noel stencils, Floral Noel dies, Spellbinders Floral embossing folder, Pink Fresh Stitched Scallop Rectangle die, tiny gold gems 

Everything was easy to work with, and I'm so glad I was able to add them to my collection!  Once again, I'll add these to the current Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, to use dies.

Thank you for coming by today - hope I've inspired you in some small way!

Joy!

I originally saw these Birch Press Design Herbarium Plate dies on my friend Linda's blog, and followed her link after Thanksgiving and got them for myself at an amazing price.  Here's my first play with them.

supplies: white, lipstick red, 3 teal greens cardstock, Birch Press Design Herbarium Plates suite,  Hero Arts Joy stamp and cut die, red metallic dots

This bundle is a set of 3 A2 size plates that you cut from different colors of cardstock and then stack for this lovely design.  I have nothing else like them, and am so glad I was able to add them to my supplies.  I added some hoarded Hero Arts metallic dots for my berries, and a large Hero Arts sentiment.  Everything is retired, I'm sorry to say, from their home websites.

I'm entering this into this year's final challenge at the Simon Wednesday Blog, which is using dies.

It's almost Christmas - are you ready?

Some Tim Holtz Christmas Cards

 I thought Tim's new Be of Good Cheer dies would work nicely with others that I already have.  My first card today features the Santa from that set.

supplies: white, green, 2 reds, peach, pink and black cardstock, a red striped design paper, Tonic Tropical Tide glitter cardstock (for snowflakes), Tim Holtz Big Tidings, Be of Good Cheer, and Funky Festive dies, Ideaology Christmas Sticker, (retired) Taylored Expressions Winter Flurry embossing folder

The embossed panel was in my scrapbasket, as were the glittery stars and the striped paper.  Santa was easy to construct, and I love the shadowing that he has; perfect to bring him to life!  You'll be seeing the snowman in this new set sometime in the New Year....

I also picked up Tim's Vault Seasonal Sketch dies - for the Christmas dies, of course, but the bonus for me was getting a small-scale alphabet with them.

supplies: white, 2 greens, and silver metallic cardstock, Simon Pastel Colorblend cardstock panel, Tim Holtz Vault Seasonal Sketch, Penny Black Stitched Stackers die, tiny rhinestones

Those small letters will come in so handy for personalizing a card!