First Christmas card!

First off, a fun toot!

Crafts n' Things newsletter

 

A card I created with some Paper Smooches stamps is featured in this newsletter. Hop on over to get a peek.

 

Next up,

I wanted to use the retro sketch so this card was created. 

 It was fun to give it a Christmas theme. 

 The colors in the first picture are a little more accurate, it is sometimes hard to show the colors as they actually are.  The bigger circle is a Hero Arts stamp and the smaller one is a Paper Smooches stamp. The snowflake is Hero Arts.

 Here is the retro sketch.

 This card was created to go along with a Colour Q color combination but I was too late to submit it to that challenge. 

 I used a super fun new stamp from Stampin' Up with it's matching die shape. I love this tag shape.  The background is created with a stencil and some Stephanie Barnard Clearsnap spray inks.

Here is the Colour Q combo.
Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Gotta love sketches

I finally found some play time and so I went to a few online challenges, always great for inspiration.

 First up, I used the retro sketch for this week.  I coupled that with the Cas-ual Friday "She's Krafty" challenge.  The patterned paper is from Echo Park, I used both sides of the paper.

 I love this little chipboard drinking jar and the card is also decorated with a few tiny flowers from the same set. 

 Here is the retro sketch.

 Here is the Cas-ual Fridays challenge.

 For this card I wanted to use the CAS(e) this sketch.  I thought it was a pretty fun and different sketch. 

 The black, chalkboard looking label is from Stampin' Up.  It is from a set with matching dies. 

Here is the CAS(e) this sketch.
Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

How many challenges can I fit in one day?

I think I can count FIVE! Three cards, Five challenges or sketches. We have been doing some major projects here at our house so that has really cut into my creating time but at the end of the day, I just have to find myself in my craft room to create at least one card. Of course, I turn right away to sketches and other challenges to figure out what direction I should go.

For this first card, I started out to use the challenge at Hero Arts this week to create a card that fits with "Man Week" and as I was doing that I pulled up the 2 Sketches 4 You sketch #34 to figure out how to put my card together and then a first for me, I used the color scheme at Raspberry Suite color inspiration #16. This color scheme is a natural for FALL but it was the perfect thing for my masculine look card.

The focal point of my card is my little label piece. This is actually where I started because I wanted to use my wood pattern stamp from Hero Arts so I stamped it on white paper with black ink and embossed it with clear embossing powder. Then I pulled out my newest little set of alcohol inks and started coloring that piece. I wasn't totally pleased with it but I thought if I cut it smaller and in a shape, I would like it. SO, I pulled out my new label shapes of Nestabilities by Spellbinders and cut and embossed my stamped piece. I used my Copic markers to add a stronger color to the cut edges of this piece and now I LOVE it plus it is a perfect fit for a masculine style card.

These Jillibean Soup papers were the perfect match for finishing the card. I stamped the reverse side of one piece so I had a solid kraft colored surface and stamped the leaf stamp on that and then put the card together to match the sketch. The little "you & me" is also a Hero Arts stamp and it is stamped on one of the brown circles in the Jillibean Soup paper and I punched that out with a circle punch.

My first inspiration for this card was to use my new ZING embossing powders. I don't really know what makes these powders different then others on the market but I do know I fell in love with this great green and turquoise. I was already using this butterfly stamp by Stampin' Up and so I stamped and embossed it in these three colors and cut those out. Next, I pulled up the Unscripted Sketch #21 and what do you know? The perfect fit for my three stamped and embossed butterflies!

For the bottom edge accent, I just used my Cuttlebug Swiss Dot embossing plate to emboss the bottom edge of my card. I cut that edge with a large scallop scissors and sanded the embossed area. Because the cardstock is Core'dinations, the sanding exposed the core of the paper and really made those dots stand out. The little word stickers are from a package by Sticko.

I just had to use the Card Patterns sketch #30 too, so here is what I ended up with. These Cosmo Cricket papers along with my die cut flowers from old dictionary pages were sitting on my desk so there were put to good use to fit the sketch.

I wanted the flower color to match my papers better so I just rubbed it with chalk stamp pads. These pads are Powder Puff by Quick Quotes. And, this is the funny part of this card, the middle of the flower was a small scrap sitting on my desk. It is a piece of Black Magic by Core'dinations that I had previously embossed and sanded. Right then and there I realized if I punched it in a circle shape, it would make my flower look like the flowers in the paper!

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

YOU & ME card
Materials:
Patterned paper – Jillibean Soup
Wood Grain and Sentiment Stamps – Hero Arts
Alcohol inks and blending solution – Ranger
Label die cut – Nestabilities/Spellbinder
Black Versafine stamp pad
Chalk stamp pads – Powder Puff/Quick Quotes
Copic Markers
Brads – Bazzill

ENJOY THE JOURNEY card
Materials:
Cardstock – Core Essentials/Core’dinations
Patterned paper – Cosmo Cricket
Butterfly stamp – Stampin’ Up
Black Versafine stamp pad
Watermark stamp pad – Clearsnap
Clear embossing powder
Zing colored embossing powder
Word stickers – Sticko
Ribbon
Cuttlebug Swiss Dot embossing plate
Scallop scissors
Foam tape – 3M
Sandpaper

THANK YOU - BLUE FLOWER card
Materials: Cardstock – Core Essentials and Black Magic/Core’dinations
Patterned paper – Easy Bird: Brunch/Cosmo Cricket (both sides)
Chalk stamp pads – Powder Puff/Quick Quotes
Corner rounder punch – Fiskars
Self adhesive pearl – Mark Richards, Inc
Old Dictionary pages
Foam tape – 3M
Sandpaper

CPS #131 and Stampin' Up

The exciting sponsor at Card Postioning Systems blog for this entire week is Jennifer Buck, an independent Stampin' Up demonstrator.

I not only picked out a great set of stamps to work with but I also picked out one of their embossing plates since I LOVE using those things, especially with Core'dinations cardstock.

I used a piece of cardstock from The Chocolate Box collection. This is amazing paper to use with the embossing plates. When I sanded it, you can see the brown cardstock with that great blue core. The butterfly was inked with a blue ink and embossed with clear embossing powder and a little border of color was added to the label with Copic markers.

I used the same basic CPS sketch for an additional card, I just made the card base a different size.

I also picked one of Stampin' Ups texture plates and used it with this Black Magic cardstock. You can see the black cardstock with the blue core showing through when I sanded it. The same butterfly was stamped with black ink on blue cardstock and then cut out.
Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

SKETCH 131 – FRIEND card
Materials:
Cardstock – The Chocolate Box, Vintage and Core Essentials/Core’dinations
Rubber stamp set and embossing plate – courtesy of Jennifer Buck - Independent Stampin' Up Demonstrator
Versafine black stamp pad
Clear embossing powder
Copic markers
Corner rounder punch – Fiskars
Sandpaper

FOR YOU card
Materials: Cardstock – Whitewash and Black Magic/Core’dinations
Stamps – Stampin’ Up
Texture plate – Stampin’ Up
Black Versafine stamp pad
Clear embossing powder
Corner rounder punch- Fiskars
Scallop circle punch – Marvy
Sandpaper