Monday, December 28, 2015

More Holly with Penny Black

I hope you've had a wonderful Christmas.

We had a wonderful, busy time here.

I managed to get another Christmas card done in all that busyness.


I like to join in the Penny Black Challenges and I'm just going to make it in time!

Anything Goes with a stamp


'Christmas/Holidays'

where Di and the gang are celebrating a 4  year anniversary.
And as Di always does it up in style, there are several prizes available.
My holly was cut from snippets of  brown, green and red.
And the snippets bags are still over full!

No Merry Monday this week.

We'll be back next Monday.

Thanks for stopping by.

Enjoy!
    **********
Card Recipe
Stamps:  Season's Wishes (PB)
Ink:  Garden Green, Baked Brown Sugar (SU) (to sponge edges)
Paper:  Solar White (Neena), Snippets of  Crumb Cake, Garden Green, Real Red (SU)
Other:  Powdered Sugar EF (Sizzix), Stampin' Sponge (SU), Stylus, 1/8" Circle Punch (SU)






Friday, December 25, 2015

Christmas Blessings



And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)
To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.
 And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.
 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for,behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

 And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.
 And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

 And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.

 And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

 But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.

 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.
Luke 2:4-20

May you have the gift of Faith

The blessing of Hope

And the Peace of His Love

at Christmas and all through the year.

Enjoy!


Monday, December 21, 2015

These Boots Were Made for Snowballing

It's Merry Monday time again.


One of the things I always liked about the snowmen in this set was the boots.

and Nina said....


That little snippet of Christmas paper that I used to paper piece his boots
and the tiniest snippet of Glimmer Paper for the snowball will get me into 
Parsnip doesn't have to offer mulled wine twice!

I'm sure all of you are as busy with holiday preparations as we are here.

It's all so much fun though!

I hope you'll have a few minutes to join us at Merry Monday this week.

It will be our last challenge of 2015.

It's been so much fun seeing all your creations
and I'm looking forward to seeing even more in 2016!

Thanks for stopping by.

Enjoy!
    **********
Card Recipe
Stamps:  Snow Much Fun (retired SU), Oh, What Fun (SU)
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Marina Mist, Lost Lagoon, Garden Green (SU), SU markers (Real Red, Garden Green, Pumpkin Pie, Basic Black)
Paper:  Solar White (Neena), Lost Lagoon, Whisper White,  retired DSP, Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer (SU)
Other:  Crystal Effects, Chunky Embossing Enamel (Stampendous), Stitched Squares Dies (Lil' Inker)

Monday, December 14, 2015

Mmmm! Gingerbread

Good Merry Monday morning!



Our fun lovin' Lori chose the challenge this week.


I used my favorite Gingerbread Man from Rubber Cottage
and stamped him with Whisper White Craft ink on
Baked Brown Sugar cardstock,
then heat embossed.

I quickly colored the buttons and tie with Bendabilities
and his eyes with a Sharpie.

He didn't look quite right so I added some "cracks" with
my Memory Box Scraped Paint Stencil.
(Love this stencil.)

After fussy cutting him out, I plopped him
on a piece of  embossed Whisper White.

I adhered the little guy to another piece of  brown cardstock
and cut around that to give him some extra thickness.



I've stamped, heat embossed, stenciled, colored with markers and dry embossed.

I hope you'll join us at 
and be sure to check out all the awesome cards the Design Team has done.

I'm so glad you dropped by!

Enjoy!
    **********
Card Recipe
Stamps:  Gingerbread Boy (Rubber Cottage), Holiday Snippets (PB)
Ink:  Whisper White, Real Red (SU)
Paper:  Baked Brown Sugar, Whisper White (SU)
Other: White EP (SU),  Blendabilities (SU), Scraped Paint Stencil (MB), EF (Darice),



Sunday, December 13, 2015

Deck the Halls with Boughs of Holly

and other stuff too.


'Tis the season to be jolly...

and busy!

I made this card a while ago and I'm just getting around to posting it.

I used the sketch at 

and


I have stamping with embossing and punching for added texture.

and I see this works for


HOLLY JOLLY STAMPING

Thanks for stopping by.

Enjoy!
**********
Card Recipe
Stamps:  Mixed Christmas Messages (HLS)
Ink:  Real Red (SU)
Paper:  Solar White (Neena), Whisper White, Real Red, Greens
Other:  Stitched Squares (Lil' Inker), Kars Snowflake EF (retired), Holly Punch, Pine Sprig Punch (both MS), 1/8" Circle Punch (SU), White Gel Pen


Monday, December 7, 2015

Candy Canes and Polka Dots

It's the first Merry Monday in December.

If you've been playing with us all year,
you should be ready to send out those Christmas cards.

 

This week Kreative Kristie chose our challenge.


And the talented Shirley B. is our Guest Designer this week.

I used my favorite candy cane stamp that came from a
Michael's Dollar Bin.

I stamped with red ink on  a snippet of Whisper White, 
then with black on a snippet of polka dot paper.

I fussy cut the bow and pieced on the canes.

Crystal Effects made the candy shiny and 
Wink of Stella gave some shimmer to the bow.

Another polka dot piece behind and a fun sentiment
and I was done.

I'm taking my snippets over to
where Di can't run after us this week. 
I'm sure there will be lots of mischief  fun happening there.

Hope to see your "sweet" cards over at

Thanks for stopping by and for all your comments.

I'm sorry I haven't been by to visit  you lately.
  
I hope to have more time to visit this week.

Enjoy!
    **********
Card Recipe
Stamps:  Candy Canes (Michaels), Handy Christmas Greetings (Amy R)
Ink:  Real Red, Memento Tuxedo Black, SU Markers (Real Red, Garden Green)
Paper:  Solar White (Neena), DSP (Retired SU)
Other:  Stitched Mats Rectangles (Lil' Inkers), Crystal Effects (SU), Wink of Stella (Zig), Dimensionals

Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Christmas Thank you for Happy Little Stampers





Please be sure to include the WHAT, WHY and HOW of your favourite technique in your blog post.  Thank you!!

That's kind of like choosing my favorite child which is an impossible task.

So I tried doing a card using a few of my favorite techniques and
this is the best of the lot.

Dry embossing has been one of my very favorite techniques.

I like a lot of white space and texture.

I love my Big Shot and embossing folders!

This is one of my favorite folders.

I also used a punch, which was my favorite technique before I discovered embossing.

Now won't you share your favorite technique with us at 
(Make sure it CAS)

If you need inspiration, I promise you'll find it at the site.
The Design Team has done some awesome work to inspire.

Our fabulous Guest Designer is TaeEun.
I love her work.

There are prizes for the winner too.



Winner will receive



I'm entering into

Addicted to CAS

I'm so glad you stopped by.

Enjoy!

    **********
Card Recipe
Stamps:  Thinking of You (HLS)
Ink:  Garden Green
Paper:  Solar White (Neena), Whisper White, Snippets of Garden Green and Real Red
Other:  Powdered Sugar EF (Sizzix), Holly Punch (MS), Ribbon (Michaels), 1/8" Circle Punch

All supplies are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted

Holly Berries


I've been meaning to do a card for the 


DIES OR PUNCHES

I finally took the time to get another play with my 
Penny Black Holly Berries Die.

I die cut the holly from watercolor paper
and painted it with my Koi watercolors.

It fit perfectly atop a piece embossed with Christmas sentiments
after I shaped the leaves with a stylus.

The berries have been coated with Crystal Effects.

I'm also entering in



It's their 3rd anniversary.

Happy Anniversary!

and


HOLIDAY

Thanks for stopping by.

Enjoy!
    **********
Card Recipe
Paper:  Solar White (Neena), Watercolor (Arches 140 lb. cold press)
Other:  Holly Berries Die (PB), Koi Watercolors, Holiday Words EF (retired Quickutz),White Gel Pen, Crystal Effects, Satin Ribbon

Monday, November 30, 2015

Winter Birds for Merry Monday

It's the last Merry Monday of November.


The lovely Kathy has chosen our challenge this week.


You know I loved this challenge!

My dear friend Mary (Carolina Cards by Mary H.)
gifted me with this awesome stamp when we met in real life last Spring.

I've actually had this done for quite a while just waiting for the perfect challenge.

I stamped the image on Whisper White with Memento Tuxedo Black
and colored with Copic Markers.

After fussy cutting it out, I adhered it over a lightly stamped background
with dimensionals.

A little Dazzling Details on the snow covered branches
and Flower Soft on the pom poms finish it off.

is in it's final week for this year.  I'll just make the deadline.
Thanks Sarn for doing this challenge each month.

is ANYTHING GOES.

is ANYTHING GOES

Be sure to go over to Merry Monday and check out
all those fantastic Design Team cards
and the gorgeous gallery additions.
We'd love for you to add to the gallery too.

I'm glad you could stop by.

Enjoy!
    **********
Card Recipe
Stamps:  Winter Birds, Christmas Background (Stampendous)
Ink:  Antique Linen (Distress), Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper:  Solar White (Neena), Real Red, Whisper White (SU)
Other: Copic Markers, Dazzling Details (SU), Polar White Flower Soft




Sunday, November 29, 2015

Poppy Trio


I love these poppies and inked them with Distress Stain and Markers.

Then I used a damp Aqua Painter to move the color around. 

I finished off by dotting the centers with a black marker.

The aperture was cut with my Circle Collection Framelits
and embossed with my favorite embossing folder.

Heather Telford has a fantastic tutorial on this technique.
Thanks, Heather, for sharing your technique.

DIES AND/OR PUNCHES

Cuttlebug Mania is looking for
EMBOSSING
(I used my Big Shot to do the embossing)

because I used a snippet of black for that sentiment.

Thanks for the visit.

Enjoy!
    **********
Card Recipe
Stamps:  Poppy Trio (Penny Black), Embellished Events (SU)
Ink:  Distress Stain (Spiced Marmalade, Barn Door, Peeled Paint), Distress Marker (Peeled Paint, Black), Whisper White (SU), 
Paper:  Solar White (Neena), Watercolor (Arches Hot Press),Whisper White, Basic Black (SU)
Other:  Aqua Painter (SU), Circle Collection Framelits (SU), White EP (SU), Square Lattice EF (retired SU)

Thursday, November 26, 2015

Happy Thanksgiving


Happy Thanksgiving to my American friends.

And may the rest of you enjoy a day of counting your blessings.

Enjoy!

Monday, November 23, 2015

Calm Christmas for Merry Monday

Good Merry Monday morning.


This beautiful Christmas dove was roosting in my UFO box.

It's now winging it's way to the
Caring Hearts Card Drive


and it fit with our lovely Lesley's Merry Monday Challenge



Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog
CHRISTMAS

and


Photo Inspiration

and



I hope you'll put some blue and white and some texture on a Christmas card
and join us at Merry Monday.

Be sure to check out the awesome Design Team inspriration cards over there.

Thanks for stopping by.

Enjoy!
    **********

Card Recipe
Stamps:  Calm Christmas, Four the Holidays (both retired SU)
Ink:  Whisper White, Island Indigo (SU)
Paper:  Island Indigo, Whisper White (SU)
Other:  White EP (SU), Northern Flurry EF (retired SU)