Glimmer and Shimmer!

If you look closely, you can see the shimmer on the snowman's face. Can you guess what that is??? :-)

I've been playing with some new things today. I borrowed my mom's Radiant Rain and her Glimmer Mist sprays. Oh, these are LOTS of fun. Messy but fun!

I started out by stamping the Plank Fence Backgrounder (SL-3203WUM) from Cornish Heritage Farms with Colorbox Dark Brown Chalk ink onto SU Whisper White cardstock. I love this fence! THIS is the fence that I have been waiting for so long to have. It is the perfect size - it will cover your entire card if that is what you are looking for. I positioned it just below the top of the card, so the snowman wouldn't be dwarfed by the fence.

You can find the fence here:

www.CornishHeritageFarms.com

They have lots and lots of wonderful backgrounds at this store. Check em out!

After the ink for the fence dried, I watercolored with SU Close to Cocoa and Chocolate Chip reinkers. Then I sprayed Sky Blue Radiant Rain all over this white cardstock. I didn't want to leave it all splotchy, so I took a kleenex while the spray was still wet and rubbed it all around. It sort of gives the card a windy look. I then took a sponge dabbed in SU White craft ink and dabbed it all over the blue and the fence. It looks like a windy snowy day.

For the snowman, I stamped it (SU Cold Play) and cut out all three circles, then sprayed the circles with Snowflake Glimmer Mist. So much fun! His coals are stamped with Graphite Black Brilliance ink. I wanted him to have arms, so I stamped the arms on the background layer (on the fence), then attached the circles on top.

The sign is a small piece of Close to Cocoa cs that I ripped up, sponged SU white craft ink all around, and stamped "let it snow" with the same white craft ink. I let that dry, and then I went over it with Baby Blue Stickles. I used the same Stickles on the snow at the bottom (scrap pieces of white cs that I tore and glued down). The sign is attached to the fence with a "nail" - a brad from Making Memories. I sponged the edges of the Chocolate Chip cardstock before I glued down the fence layer to the card.

This card is so shimmery and sparkly! I wish you could see it in person - you can't really capture all the shimmer in a photograph.

Well, I'm off to have some supper with my hunny. Enjoy your weekend!

Christmassy card

My friend Chris challenged me to make a card with the following colors: Ruby Red, Wasabi, and Blue Bayou. I could use vanilla, brown, and/or black if I wanted. Then we used Beate's weekend sketch (WSC20) for this challenge. Here is what I came up with.

I only used one Stampin Up stamp set on this whole card - Season of Joy. This is such a great set! I wish I had some Wasabi or Bayou ribbon to put on this card, but I only had vanilla taffeta, so that's what I used. It would probably pop a bit more with a colored ribbon.

So why don't you create a card with Ruby Red, Wild Wasabi, and Blue Bayou? Let's see what you can come up with. It doesn't have to be a Christmas card - it could be anything. Go create a cute card and then leave a comment here with a link where I can see your card. I'd love to see it! :-)

Humongo Flower

I created this last night for Beate's weekend sketch challenge (WSC19). Mom had given me this huge Prima flower, and it sat on my table for a month before I finally saw a sketch that would accomodate it.

I started off using Pomegranate for the folded card part, and it was just too strong. I needed something a bit more muted, because I wanted the attention on the gorgeous flower and not on the cardstock.

I chose Night of Navy for the folded card, and I added a layer of Brocade Background designer paper (gorgeous paper!). From there, I had my colors for the rest of the card: Old Olive and River Rock. I used flowers from both Stem Silhouettes and Garden Silhouettes on the little stamped panel. To get that faded effect, I stamped the flower once with Olive ink, and without reinking, stamped again. It's a great way to give your artwork some depth.

I sponged some Night of Navy and some Old Olive inks onto twill tape so it would more closely coordinate with the colors in the card, and then I tied a piece of Artichoke grosgrain ribbon over the twill.

The scallop circle punch is just wonderful! I punched out River Rock with the scallop punch, and then used the 1 3/8" punch for the Olive circle layer. The saying (from Vases in Vogue) is stamped with Old Olive.

This was fun to make. I was watching Iron Chef while trying to put this together, and I was chatting with 3 ladies online all at the same time. They accused me of ignoring them! Hee hee!!

M&M tree!!

Who wouldn't want to have an M&M tree???? Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm........... Sounds like heaven to me. :-)


I purposely propped the card up on the stamp so you could see what was stamped inside. Mom would agree with me that every day should be Chocolate Day. Hahaha.


This is another fun kickstand card. I left the Chocolate Chip cardstock plain so the focus would be on the tree and M&M's. The tree stamp is from Judith, and the m-circle and sayings are from deadbeat designs. I bought these from Stamp Salado and I just love these stamps!


I can use the tree for anything, any season. I don't have to just put leaves on it. I could stamp frogs, candy, Christmas ornaments, flowers, whatever strikes my fancy onto this bare tree.


I used red gingham ribbon to give the card a country-ish feel, and on the inside I have some punched out M's glued to the edge. This card is going in the mail to someone who has had a rough week and weekend. I hope this puts a smile on her face when she receives it. :-)

Kickstand Berry Card

Can you guess what I was doing on Friday night? Probably not..... Hee hee!

Mom and I stayed up late to wait for the unveiling of the new Holiday stamps at PaperTreyink. I made this cute strawberry card while I was waiting for midnight (their time) to roll around. This is a kickstand card. Basically it's just a regular card with about an inch of the front part of the card cut off. The scallop circle is the "kickstand" to keep the card the right length so it doesn't fall over.

I used Real Red, Garden Green, and Basic Black inks and cardstocks for this card. The stamps are all from PaperTreyink, the scallop circle is from Stampin Up, and the cute scalloped black edge was made with some decorative scissors. Red and black ginham ribbons finish off the card for a cute country look.

Turquoise Skunky

I made this card last month after thinking about it for several hours. It all just kind of came together in my head, and I sat down to stamp it. I hadn't planned on the Prima flowers nor the sparkly brads, but they just seemed to work.

I knew I wanted to use my Skunky (my pet name for this little guy), and a turquoise scallop circle. No, I don't have this punch, but I'm going to need to buy one. I'm getting low on my little stash of scallop circles and ovals that I got from a couple of wonderful ladies.

I found the cute Flower saying (Hero Arts) sitting on my shelf and it was just perfect for this card. Both Skunky (from Stampin Up's Stinkin Cute set) and the Flower saying are stamped with Versafine Onyx Black ink. I stamped the Dots and Daisies background (Stampin Up) with Tempting Turquoise ink. The black polka dot ribbon is Offray, the turquoise flowers are Primas, and the sparkly white pearl brads are from Making Memories. Cardstock colors are Tempting Turquoise and Whisper White.

Wiper card for VSN

One more challenge for VSN - a wiper card. What is that?? I thought it had something to do with baby wipes. Nope - it's a card that acts like windshield wipers when you "open" it.

It doesn't open like a traditional card. You have to pull on each side and a little card will pop up in the middle. It's really cute, and the One and Only Fabulous JanTink created this concept. She has graciously provided her template here.

So, armed with my printed copy of her template, I set about trying to decode all the numbers and lines and dashes and arrows. I finally got it all figured out, and decided to make a Halloween wiper card where the BOO and the black bat would pop up and scare the person opening the card. (Yeah right....)

I have used this Carved & Candlelit set so much since I finally broke down and bought it. I just love this set, and if you saw my rubber and the blocks, you would see it is definitely well loved. :-)

I'm thinking about doing this wiper card as my demo for the potluck stamping day on October 6. Would you like to learn how to make this? Don't forget to email me with your RSVP if you are coming on October 6. Each person will be bringing their own card/project for all of us to stamp, so it will truly be a World Card Making Day. I'm looking forward to it!