It’s Wednesday and time to play along with The Clean Team at Freshly Made Sketches.  This week’s sketch is courtesy of the talented Tui Nathan. For some reason, I have been on a holiday card making binge, and this week was no exception.  Maybe the hot, dry summer has me yearning for the cold, snowy winters.  Who knows?  But at any rate, I created a fun card which I hope you enjoy!

The finished card measures 5-1/2″ wide x 4-1/4″ long.

• Put the paper to work! The delightful stylized border definitely makes an impact, without any stamping at all!  It was simply snipped from one of the patterns in the Snow Festival Designer Series Paper collection.  It doesn’t get any easier!

 

• Snow drifts! The “Snowflake” Delicate Designs Folder makes perfect snow drifts. It was ripped and snipped and popped upon a background created with the retired Snowburst Textured Impressions Embossing Folder!

• Hurl a pearl! Our frosty friend is not only decked out in Basic Pearl buttons, he is ready to let a pearl snowball fly.  But that’s okay…he has a stash of pearly projectiles just waiting for the next victim.

Sometimes it is liberating to get out of a rut and create something different…and that is the situation with this card.  The Baja Breeze and Primrose Petals hues form a non-traditional holiday duo which is so different from my Cherry Cobbler and Early Espresso stand-bys!

For those of you who have been asking, my son, Brady, is continuing his week of orientation at the University of Missouri, where he is going to be a graduate assistant in the School of Music.  In addition to moving into his apartment and taking care of things like utility hook-ups, parking permits, and bank accounts, he has taken proficiency tests in music history and music theory.  The longest day will be Saturday, when he gets a crash course in pedagogy and grading procedures.  In addition to pursuing his Masters degree, he will be teaching trumpet to a group of 6 non-music majors.  To say he is excited is an understatement!

And several of you have asked for an update about little Lexi Lou!  She is growing soooo fast! I just can’t keep any weight on her.  (Oh how I wish I had that problem!) Her “big girl ears” are looking fabulous.  Here is a side picture of them.

As always, your comments are important to me, so won’t you please let me know what you think about today’s card?  And of course, I am always here to answer any questions you may have about the cards I create and the techniques I use.  Until next time…

Stamp Set:  Snow Much Fun; Inks:  Basic Gray, Soft Suede, Primrose Petals, Baja Breeze, Pumpkin Pie;  Designer Series Paper:  Snow Festival; Card Stock:  Soft Suede, Whisper White, Baja Breeze;  Tools: Blender Pens, Big Shot, Snowburst Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Delicate Designs Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Paper Snips; Glitz and Glam:  Basic Pearls

It’s Sunday and time to play at The Paper Players.  This week we have a color challenge featuring a Terrific Trio consisting of Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler and Not Quite Navy.  Since I needed a masculine card, I reached for one of my favorite masculine sets, The Open Sea.  I also opted to try the Triple Time Stamping Technique that is quite popular now.  I hope you enjoy today’s card!

This finished card measures 4-1/4″ wide by 5-1/2″ long.

• A triple treat! The trick to Triple Time Stamping is stamping three layers at one time.  Here are the dimensions of the three layers:  2″ x 3-1/4″ (mat = 2-1/4″ x 3-1/2″), 3″ x 4-1/4″ (mat = 3-1/4″ x 4-1/2″), 4″ x 5-1/4″ (mat = 4-1/4″ x 11″ scored at 5-1/2″ to form the card base).  I used Naturals Ivory card stock for the images and matted with Crumb Cake card stock.  I lightly adhered the Naturals Ivory pieces into position, and then randomly stamped the Ship image in Not Quite Navy and the Compass in Cherry Cobbler.  To add a little texture, I zipped the stack through the Big Shot with the Square Lattice Textured Impressions Embossing Folder.  Next, I just matted the stamped images onto Crumb Cake card stock and rebuilt the stack.

• Slip ‘n slide! To add a punch of color, Not Quite Navy Taffeta Ribbon was slipped through a Ribbon Slide and layered over Crumb Cake Seam Binding.

• Everything goes better with Pearls! A single Basic Pearl accents the tiny sentiment tags!

At first I wasn’t quite certain if this technique would work well for a masculine card, but I think it does.  What do you think?  Won’t you let me know in today’s comment?  At any rate, I know the recipient of this card will love it.  It is headed to Brady, who left for grad school at the University of Missouri yesterday.  If  you have wondered where I have been this past week and why I was missing in action, Brady and I were getting in some quality “Mother-Son” time.  I feel so badly because I was unable to accompany him and his dad as they set up his new apartment.  However, someone had to stay home with the Twins and Lexi, and since I couldn’t drive the small moving van we rented and because I cannot help carry furniture, I had to stay home.  Of course, the dogs  knew something was up when they saw things being loaded.  But as sad as his leaving is, it is the start of a new adventure for Brady and a time of adjustment for all! Until next time…

Stamp Sets: The Open Sea, Fabulous Phrases; Inks:  Not Quite Navy, Cherry Cobbler; Card Stock:  Naturals Ivory, Crumb Cake;  Tools:  Big Shot, Square Lattice Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Jewelry Tag Punch; Glitz and Glam: Crumb Cake Seam Binding, Linen Thread, Not Quite Navy Taffeta Ribbon, Linen Thread, Ribbon Slide

It’s time for another challenge from Freshly Made Sketches! This week’s fabulous sketch is courtesy of the talented Jennifer Timko.  I thought it was a perfect sketch for highlighting one of my favorite Designer Series Papers from the Holiday Catalog, Howlstooth and Scaringbone.  If you like plaid as much as I do, you will find today’s card to be a treat!

The finished card measures 4-1/4″ wide by 5-1/2″ long.

• Mad about plaid! Plaid, stripes and polka dots come together in a delightful mix of patterns! The key to making them work together is the coordination of colors.

• Terrific texture!  The Argyle Textured Impressions Embossing Folder and More Mustard card stock form the perfect backdrop for the Witch image from the Toxic Treats stamp set.

Sometimes less is more, and such is the case with this sweet, little card.  Whipped up in minutes, its charm lies with the paper, and the slightly retro feel.  

I hope you enjoyed today’s card.  I felt that with such strong patterns of Designer Series Paper, that embellishments were not necessary.  What do you think?  Won’t you let me know in today’s comment?  Your comments are important to me, and I do read each and every one! Of course, I love to hear from you.  So…if you ever have any questions about the cards I create or the techniques I use, I am only an email away.  I leave you with a picture of Lexi sleeping on the ottoman.  Doesn’t she remind you of Muffy?  Until next time…

Lexi

Muffy

Stamp Set:  Toxic Treats; Inks:  Jet Black StazOn; Designer Series Paper:  Howlstooth and Scaringbone; Card Stock:  More Mustard, Naturals Ivory, Basic Gray; Tools:  Big Shot, Labels Collection Framelits Dies,  Argyle Textured Impressions Embossing Folder;