Holly Jolly Christmas Critters

Hello bloggy buddies!  I'm back again today to share my card for the current Holly Jolly challenge:  Christmas Critters!  So many ways to go with this one, but I chose something fairly typical:

A penguin!  This is a Silhouette file I made into a card.  Isn't Santa Penguin cute?  ;)  I think so!  I used white shimmer paper for his belly, but as usual, you can't tell in the pic.  The scarf is cut from a piece of patterned paper, while the rest is just cardstock.  I added some Polar White Flower Soft to the brim and pompom of the hat for a bit of fun texture.

I'll also be adding this to Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Extra.  Thanks for stopping by to have a look!

Take care,

~Marie~

Guest starring on Jingle Belles this week! :)

Howdy blogging buddies!  This week at Jingle Belles, I am serving as their humble guest star.  Ever since Lauren changed the design of their blog header, I have loved it and I thought, "What wonderful inspiration that would be for a card."  Take a look for yourselves:

Since Stef and Lauren are always kind enough to let their followers make suggestions, I decided to see if they would accept my suggestion of using the blog header for inspiration.  That is, if no one else had given them the idea before.  Luckily for me no one had, so here is my card inspired by the Jingle Belles blog header:

 

I've been wanting to make a card using purple and gray for awhile now...I guess the gray comes from the shading on the white flowers in the header!  I just couldn't do brown and purple, at least not THIS shade of purple.  I used a Silhouette file to cut the flowers, but for some reason the blade would not cut all the way through, so I had to trace the lines with a blade to get them out.  The shading was done with Milled Lavender and Dusty Concord.  I love the effect it gives!  The doily is from stash, and I used homemade shimmer paint to spray thru a snowflake embossabilities plate on the card base.  Dug some bling outta my bling stash and pearls for the flower centers, and the card was done.

 

Please take a look at what Stef and Lauren have created for the "Take a Header" challenge, and I hope you'll be inspired to make something as well!  Thanks for stopping by to have a look, and take care until next time!

 

Can't forget to link this up to Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Extra!

 

~Marie~

Merry Monday #116, Green and White

This week at Merry Monday, LeAnne is the hostess.  She is asking for a lovely color combo of shades of green and white:

 

Isn't that a great inspiration photo?  Such a cute little scene!  And I love the star garland!  Well, my card looks nothing like that...

 

I decided to use one of the Silhouette files I have purchased recently, and backed it with some glitter paper from American Crafts.  I used foam tape to add some dimension between the layers.  The ribbon is from Walmart's after-Christmas sale a couple years ago.  It is very thick ribbon, so this card will not be going through the mail!  The sentiment is from The Paper Company Christmas Glamour set.  I think I may have to make this card again in different colors!  I'm still trying to figure out how I'm going to cover all the stuff on the inside without making the card super thick.  Hmmm....

I also made another card based on this color scheme:

 

I used another Silhouette pattern here.  So intricate!  The green paper is from a shimmer stack, but as usual, you can't see the shimmer.  I went super simple with the layout, making the ornament look as if it is hanging from the top of the popped up white layer.

That's all I've got for today!  Thanks for stopping by!  Here are the challenges this will be linked to:

Merry Monday #116:  Green and White
Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Extra for July

 

Merry Monday #115: White on white.......and a Happy Birthday card

Happy 4th of July weekend to all of us Americans, and Happy belated Canada day to all my friends and relatives up North!  This extra day off has me all outta whack...it feels like Sunday to me instead of Saturday!  And to actually have the whole entire weekend off WITHOUT having to request it, is totally awesome!  I wish I had changed jobs much sooner than I did!  BUT, I digress...I know you are not here to read those kind of comments...you wanna see a card!  So I will oblige by sharing my Merry Monday card for this week, where Kristie was asking for white on white, and the sentiment in silver:

 

I used the same elements for this card as I did on this one a few weeks ago, but I rearranged them, and added some Recollections swirly bling for more interest.  The sentiment from the Vintage Christmas set (The Paper Company) is stamped with Versamark and embossed with Recollections silver.  For the centers of the flowers, I layered buttons, sequins, and pearls.

 

Make sure you check out the DT samples for this week...they are beautiful, as are the gallery entries!  As always, also linking this up to Hazel's Christmas Extra, and I can just squeeze this into the Holly Jolly challenge for glitter (I generously swiped it on each flower petal and leaf.)

 

As my title suggests, I also would like to share a birthday card made for my blogging buddy, Darnell.

Seeing as her birthday is soooo close to Independence Day (the 2nd), I went with a patriotic color scheme.  Nothing too fancy here, just die cut the star using a Nestie, and alternated red and blue ribbon behind it at an angle.  Something I always wanted to try, just hadn't!

 

Thanks for stopping by to have a look, and take care until next time!

ETA:  I found another challenge while commenting on others' gorgeous creations:  Dies R Us, and they're looking for Christmas in July, and dies of course!  I used Spellbinders Large Standard Ovals and Large Scalloped Ovals, and the Layered Poinsettia die.

At Darnell's suggestion, I'm also going to link this up to the birthday party post over at MASKerade.

 

~Marie~

Merry Monday #114 Sparkle, Shimmer, or Shine

Happy Sunday!  I'm here again to share my Merry Monday card for this week:

 

Since my time to get this linked up is limited, I will come back later to add the details...

 

Now that this is safely linked to the challenge, I'll tell you what I used.  The shape is from the Silhouette Store, and I made it into a card.  The dark gray layer is from a DCWV Shimmer Stack (which of course you can't see), and the top layer is from a Recollections glitter stack.  The sentiment is from The Paper Company "Snowflake" set.  I didn't get any "shine" on this one, but I covered the "shimmer" and "sparkle" parts of the challenge!  Even though the challenge is over, go check out what everyone made!  Some gorgeous stuff over there!

 

Thanks for stopping by, and take care until next time!

 

OOPS!  Almost forgot to link this up to Craftyhazelnuts's Christmas Extra, and this also qualifies for the Holly Jolly challenge this week for "Show me some glitter."

 

~Marie~

Thank you, and happy birthday!

I'm here today to share 2 cards I made recently for occasions other than Christmas.  *WHAT?!*  There are other occasions besides Christmas???  Looking at the content of my blog you wouldn't think so, but there sure are!  LOL  Here are the cards:

 

The first card was commissioned as a thank you for a graduation gift.  I used my Silhouette to cut the letters out of colored cardstock, then pounced them on my Versamark pad, poured clear embossing powder on them, heat set that, dragged them through Diamond Dust glitter, then heat set them to make the glitter "melt into" the embossing powder.  (Here's a tutorial from Stamp TV that I followed.)  'Twas a very messy and fiddly process, but each letter is super glittery!  You can see *some* of the sparkle on a few letters...  (Now that I re-read this paragraph, it sure sounds like those letters got some abuse...lol!)

The second card is for a coworker's birthday tomorrow.  I purchased the card design from the Silhouette store.  I used mylar wrapping paper to back the phrase, and attached some white cardstock to the back to provide stability and coverage.  I really like this design, and plan to use it a LOT!  I hope the birthday girl likes it! She's turning the BIG 5-0, and a couple other gals decorated her work station after she left today...I can't wait to see her reaction tomorrow! HEHE!

Well, that's all for tonight...thanks for stopping by, and take card until next time!

~Marie~

Merry Monday #113, Pink, white and silver...

Happy Sunday folks! I hope all is well with you, wherever you may be, and whatever it is you are doing!  I'm here today to share my latest Christmas card for the Merry Monday challenge:

 

I made this card based on a card I found on Pinterest.  Does it look alright without a sentiment on the front?  Sometimes I just think a sentiment on the front takes away from the rest of the card...Anyway, the poinsettia, swirls, branches, and leaves are all made from vellum.  The flower and swirls are made pink using Spun Sugar.  I added Glamour Dust glitter to the branches, but you really can't tell it in this pic.  The white base is embossed with a Snowflake Swirl folder from Darice.

There's not really anything else to tell about this card, and Chad and I have to go to town, so I'll end this now by adding this to Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Extra as well...thanks for coming by to have a look!  Take care until next time! 

~Marie~