Christmas Penguins

A quick post tonight.  Before  the OCC Holiday Workshop started I had made this card and didn't get a chance to post it.  While out and about Christmas shopping with my friend, Kim, we stumbled upon this darling wood mounted stamp by Stampendous called Penguin Pair.  The minute I saw it I knew I had to have it.  

Aren't they just stinking cute?  I went back and forth with putting a frame around this circle window I cut into my card front.  I finally ended up with just doing some faux stitching with a fine tip journaling pen.  The sentiment is from Close to My Heart's  Ornamental Cheer stamp set. I colored the penguins with Copics markers.  I realized after I had colored them that they needed some color on this white card, so I trimmed the card down 1/8" on each side and then 1/4" on the bottom and mounted the whole card onto a standard sized piece of red cardstock.  

Here on the inside, you can see all of this cute little couple. The inside sentiment is from the Merry & Bright stamp set. 

That's it for tonight. I just wanted to share my little penguins.  I am still enamoured with them, so you may not have seen the last of them.  

I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday this Thanksgiving.  Thanks for stopping by !

Online Card Class Day 5

There are so many cards to try and so little time :(  I did manage to get two cards done from the Day 5 assignments.  These cards were inspired by  two lovely cards by Kelly Rasmussen.    They were supposed to be 'His and Her' cards, but I'm not really sure I accomplished that..lol.  I never end up with what I start out to make.

I think they may have turned out just two different styles rather than masculine and feminine.  Her cards had a wonderful curve at the bottom of one and a bracket on the other one.  I didn't have either of those dies so I went old school.  That's right....the dinner plate ;)   For the one on the left I used Ruby cardstock and patterned paper from the Sparkle and Shine paper pack.  I used the silver washi tape for the bottom of the card that peeks out from under the Ruby. 

 I also cut my star from paper I had covered in the silver washi ( I really love that stuff !)   The banners were cut from a die from SSS called Folded Banner.  It's a perfect size for most sentiments.  The sentiment is from the A Holiday stamp set.  I stamped it in versamark and then embossed it in silver.  I used my CTMH silver metallic marker and outlined the tree.  

I'm not sure either of these cards qualify as gender specific, but this one is just a little more fun than the other one.  The chevron stamp is from My Mind's Eye and I used CTMH Pear pigment ink.  The cardstock is Neenah Desert Storm and CTMH Pear.  I outlined this one with my Signo white gel pen.  I cut the star from some scrap yellow pearlized paper. I used the same banner die and sentiment, but with Cranberry cardstock and AC white embossing powder.  

These cards were fun.  I can't wait to try some of the other ones from today.  That's it for me tonight.  For real this time :)  Thanks for stopping by!

Online Card Class Day 4 Round 2

Just a quick post tonight.   I made another card from the Day 4 lessons in the Online Card Class Holiday Workshop.  They have so many talented designers on there.  My card below was inspired by Kelly Marie Alvarez's tall skinny "With Love" card.  I love the design.  Hers was a top fold, but I did mine with a left side fold.  

I used CTMH Cranberry cardstock and Neenah Desert Storm.  The stamp is from a stamp of the month called Poster Tidings.  The inspiration card had a more personalized message but I didn't have any fonts the right size.  I used White Daisy ink and then AC White embossing powder.  The coverage wasn't quite as good as I would have wanted it, but it wasn't too bad.  I am still in search of a great white embossing powder.  I used a makeup applicator and colored in the Joy and Noel with Cranberry ink. 

I just liked the shape of this card.  I don't normally make them in odd sizes, so this was fun.  That's it for Day 4.  I'll be back with some more Day 5 cards. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Online Card Class Day 4

Another great day full of techniques and inspiration in the card class.  I haven't had a chance but to make a few cards for the class.   The first two cards were by Shari Carroll.   Although I didn't exactly follow the "stretch your stamps" theme, I did follow the design and techniques.

I loved the colors in Shari's cards.  Although, I didn't have those colors, I did find some kind of close. The paper I used is from an old K&Co paper pack.  I had never used it and thought this might be the perfect time.  The tree stamp is from SSS called Merry Trees.   I stamped my trees in Juniper, Topiary, Crystal Blue, and Sky.    This is not a normal color combination for me, but I think it kind of worked for this paper. 

The way the light hits the card, it almost makes the sentiment go away.  I stamped the sentiment from CTMH's Merry and Bright stamp set in versamark ink.  I used our silver embossing powder and heat set.   Here's a better angle to see the sentiment. 

The little twine bow was kind of an afterthought.  Meaning I had put the card together before I wrapped my twine around the card face.  So, I added a little line of glue across the paper and just laid my twine on there.  I was going to carefully tuck the ends under the card and glue them in place.  But I decided to just leave them kind of hanging off the sides, because, well, it's  my card and I can do that! Lol.

The other card is stamped in Crystal Blue ink with the Blessings of Peace stamp set.  I used the stamp set Christmas Joy for the sentiment on it. 

I added a banner of our silver shimmer trim.  The sparkles are from Studio G.  I just scattered those on both cards.  

I also made another card based on this design.  I was in the coloring mood.  I had a Christmas paper pack from DCWV that I had never used as well (I'm beginning to see a pattern..hmm).  I tried my hand at a more traditional card. 

The horn stamp is from the Yuletide Greetings stamp set.  I stamped it in Memento ink and colored the image with copics.  I used our gold embossing powder for the sentiment.  Same design, very different card. 

That's it for me tonight. I'm hoping I can get a few more cards from class done.  Wish me luck! lol. 

Thanks for stopping by! 

Online Card Class Day 3

Just a quick post tonight.  I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend.   I'm a little behind with my Online Card Class assignments, which is par for the course for me.  I totally skipped Day 2.   Not to say that I won't come back to it, but for now I am working on Day 3.   I managed to get three cards done..yay!  This day was packed full of techniques and ideas.  And as usual I didn't come close to trying them all, but here is a few that I did.

The first card I put together went really fast.  Mainly, because I cheated..lol.  The inspiration card by Laura Bassen was a beautiful handstamped plaid technique.   After a few attempts, I went with printed paper.

I had a leftover cut out Noel from the last card I did using the negative space.  I then took our Ruby alcohol marker and lightly went around the edges to give it a little bit more depth.  The cardstock is Ruby and Juniper and the paper is from the Sparkle and Shine paper pack.  Super simple card.  Well, my version is anyway..lol. 

The next one was inspired by Jennifer Rzasa's card.  She did a sort of quilled tree.  I thought I would try my hand at it.  This is probably not classified as quilling, but it does use tiny strips of paper. 

I used 1/4" strips of paper in Juniper and Ruby.  I just hand shaped the leaves and then filled them in with the rolled pieces of paper.  I used Tombow liquid glue to adhere them to the page.  At first I thought it was going to be tedious work, but it really wasn't. The sentiment  is from the Frosted WotG cardmaking kit.  The paper and washi tape are from the sparkle and shine collection.  

The card below was inspired by a card by Shari Carroll.  I love her style.  In no way can I do it like she does, but I gave it my best shot. 

Again everything is in Ruby and Juniper (it's what I have on my desk..lol).  I loved the curved bottom of her card.  I didn't have the die, so I just freehanded the curve.  The mesh ribbon on the far left is from the SSS stamp set, Best Mom Ever.  The sentiment is from A Holiday.  The little tree is from the Sparkle and Shine Dimensional Elements.  Most everything on this card is scraps.  I love it when it works out that way.  The little sequins were some I had in my stash.  When I put them on I felt like they got a little lost in the background so I added a bitty sparkle to the center of each one. 

These cards were fun. I can't wait to see what comes next in the class. I'm going to try to steal some time and get some more done, so check back by.   

Thanks for stopping in!

Online Card Class Day 1 Round 2

Another project from the class was to use the negative and positive of the same image on a card.  The class card was by Joy Taylor.  Here's my take on that design.  This is actually the first stage of this card.  I wasn't quite sure about it so I kept adding.  You'll see what I mean :)

This was a very simple design, well, mine was anyway..lol.  I cut the Noel using the Artiste Cricut cartridge from Ruby cardstock.  I used the negative image of that cut and layered over the candy striped B&T from the Sparkle and Shine paper pack.  Using our scalloped edge punch, I scalloped both edges of the paper.   I used Juniper ink and the A Holiday stamp set to stamp the leaves and then just cut them out.  The berries are from the pink Glitter Gems collection.  

The card looked a little plain to me.  The inspiration card from class used a wonderful falling star die to cut little stars scattered on the paper.  I loved the effect, but I don't have that die...yet :)  But I felt it needed something.  Soooo....I used my Glitz Glitter Gel in Stardust and randomly scattered sparkles on the top.   I was going for falling snow.  I'm not sure I got it, but I tried! lol. 

My daughter preferred the second one.  She's thirteen, it glitters, what more is there to say.   It is prettier in person.  Which one do you like better, plain or sparkled?   I think I will try this random sparkling again to see if I can perfect a method, but for now, this will do. 

That's it for me tonight.  Thanks for stopping by!

Online Card Classes - Holiday Workshop 2013 - Day 1

Happy Monday everyone!  And for all of those who have served our country, Happy Veteran's Day and thank you for your service.  Aside from being a holiday, today was the first day of Online Card Classes Holiday Workshop 2013.  Yay! Another great class from Online Card Classes.  These classes are always packed full of inspiration.  They started off the class with four wonderfully inspiring cards that focused not only on the outside, but the inside, too.  The first card was designed by Kristina Werner.    Here is my take on her card.

I followed her lead by embossing the top and bottom portions of the card and leaving enough space for my sentiment.  I had some super tiny red and white gingham washi tape from a previous SSS card kit of the month (June maybe?).  I heat embossed my sentiment in AC White embossing powder.  The nutcracker is from the Candyland stamp set from CTMH.  I colored him with copics.  I had stamped my sentiment a little close to the side of my paper so I didn't have room for the twine she had in hers.  I decided it needed something so I added a little bow made from CTMH Cranberry baker's twine and a button.   I used a little Tombow glue underneath the tails of my bow to keep them in place.  

The inside of left of the card has a gift card holder.  I took a small rectangle of White Daisy, same as the card base, and cut and folded it just big enough to hold a gift card.  I used our new ruby chevron washi tape and folded it over the edges to make it into a little pocket.  I folded it to where the front was lower than the back so you could see the card.  I used our 1 1/4" circle punch to punch out the notch in front to make it easier to grab the card.  

As always, when I start out to make a card, I change my mind, several times.  Sometimes, that does work out to be beneficial.  Like this time,  I got three cards out of this one attempt!  Kristina's card had a cute little penguin on it.  We have penguins, so I had to make one of those, too.  And of course, I'm still enamoured with our polar bears.   

These two are the same basic design as the first one, only I used different stamp sets.  I did have room to put my twine in the one below.  On both of these I thought they just needed a little more color so I stacked my buttons to bring in the green. 

That's it for tonight.  I'm hoping to be able to keep up with the class assignments this go around because they have added an extra day in between.  I'll try to include a list of all the supplies used in these cards below.  

Thanks for stopping by!

Cardstock:   White Daisy, Cranberry - CTMH; Desert Storm - Neenah

Inks:  Black Onyx - Versafine; Versamark; Tuxedo Black - Memento

Stamps:   Hero Arts; Candyland, Polarbear Holiday, Wintry Wishes, Scandinavian Wishes - CTMH

Other:   Copic markers, Cranberry baker's twine - CTMH; twine- May arts; Sparkle and Shine Washi tape- CTMH;  Silver embossing powder - CTMH; White embossing powder - AC; Swiss Dots embossing folder - Cuttlebug; white gel pen - Signo

Happy Autumn Card

Happy Autumn is a stamp set that appeared in the new Autumn/Winter 2013 idea book.  I did a couple of cards using this set for a workshop a few months ago.  I really love the flowers in the set.  It's also a perfect compliment to the Huntington paper pack.

I thought I would try something different.  I do like cards that open/close differently, although, I'm not really a fancy-fold kind of girl.  I love to look at them, just not make them..lol.  This is kind of a tri-fold card.  I'm sure there's a name for it out there somewhere.  You can see how it opens below. 

I used Barn Red, Olive, and Colonial White cardstocks.  The sentiment and the flower were stamped using the Happy Autumn stamp set.  I used Barn Red, Autumn Terracotta, and Goldrush inks for the flower.  I used Olive and New England Ivy on the leaves.  You can't really tell from the picture, but I also used my Wink of Stella glitter brush and kind of traced the tips of the petals.  It gives a great little shimmer to the flower.   I added a three little sparkles from the brown and tan collection.  I used one of each color.  

The inside sentiment was from the Perfect Fit - Thanksgiving stamp set.  I stamped the frame in Desert Sand and the sentiment in Barn Red.   

There really isn't a lot to this card, but I think it turned out quite nicely.  I love the fall colors in the Huntington paper pack.  I think I am going to try a few more Thanksgiving cards so be sure to check back soon. 

As always, if you have any questions about the products I used or would like to purchase any of them for yourself, please visit me at www.stacyburch.ctmh.com.    

Thanks for stopping by !