"Silent Night...

Holy Night, all is calm, all is bright."  What a beautiful Christmas hymn that is!  I'm singing it because Hazel of Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge (among others!), is asking for cards that invoke the feelings of a silent night.  Here is my contribution:

 

I think that snow falling at night is such a quiet, calm experience, so that's what inspired this card.  Also, I think gray is such a calming color.  This is a Silhouette card file, and I cut the inner circle section again in silver glitter paper, and glued it on top of the original cut.  I backed the open area with a piece of acetate for stability.  The tiny sentiment is from the Hampton Arts Seasonal Beauty set, stamped in VersaFine black ink.  The more I look at this card, the more I think I'm gonna add some bling to the closed centers of the snowflakes.  I can see making more of this card in different colors!  :)

 

I have another Christmas card I would like to share with you:

 

I was making this one for the Glory of Christmas Challenge, but I missed the deadline...boo!  I really need to pay closer attention to the deadline times of the challenges across the pond!  :(  Anyway, the patterned paper is from Summer Driggs' Winter Gifts digital collection.  The 2 larger silver snowflakes are from a Silhouette file, and the smaller one is a MS punch.  The ribbon came from the dollar store.

 

Well, I hope all of you are enjoying your weekends!  Tomorrow we are having a birthday party for my older DD, Rena, who turned 16 this past Thursday.  16!!!!!  I can hardly believe the years have flown by so fast! 

 

Thanks for stopping by to take a look...make sure you take some extra time to check out Hazel's other challenge contributors this week!

ETA:  How could I forget Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Extra???  DUH!  Also adding to Paper Creator's Crafts:  Early Christmas, and Craft Your Passion:  Going Round in Circles (for the first card.)  Adding also to Completely Christmas #29:  Anything Goes

ETA AGAIN:  My second card qualifies for Craftyhazelnut's Patterned Paper challenge too! 

 

~Marie~

 

Happy Labor Day weekend in the USA!

I just wanted to get on here quickly to share my Merry Monday card for the week.  Bonnie is looking for wreaths this week, and here is mine:

 

I gotta run to a friend's baby shower, so I'll be back later this evening to share details.

 

Ok, I'm back!  The baby shower was really nice, and my friend Rachel looks so cute with her pregnant belly!  :)  I would share the card I made for the shower, but I unintentionally deleted the pics from the camera...sigh.  That's what happens when I'm in a hurry!

 

So, onto the details of this card...the wreath is a Silhouette file, cut in two shades of green.  The bottom layer was glued down in one piece, while the upper layers were cut apart and glued randomly to *hopefully* look natural.  The bow is three burlap strings I had laying on my desk.  The sentiment (Vintage Christmas- The Paper Company) is stamped in Memento Ladybug Red, while Frayed Burlap was used around the edges of the card base and wreath panel.  I think I may add some glitter to the wreath for some oomph...what do ya think?

 

Anyway, that's all there is to it!  Thanks for looking!

 

 

~Marie

 

Jingle Belles and Winter Wonderland

are the challenges I'm here tonight to add my submissions to.  The Belles are looking for non-Christmassy holiday cards, and anything goes all month at Winter Wonderland.  Here are my contributions:

 

 

 

The top card is modified from a Silhouette file.  I inked all the brown edges with Frayed Burlap distress ink, and I used Faded Jeans on all the flower parts.  The sentiment comes from a new (to me) set called "Christmas" from Cloud9 Design.  I stamped it in Faded Jeans also.  I really like how this turned out!  :)

 

The second card is made from a file by Bird found here.  LOVE this one!  It looks so nice in tonal colors!  I used Peacock Feathers ink to stamp the sentiment and color the flowers (and my fingers!)  The ribbon came from the dollar store.  At the last minute, I decided to add a string of beads around the sentiment oval...which was a tad bit tricky underneath the bow...but mission accomplished anyway!

 

Well, I'm gonna get these linked up, also adding this post to Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Extra!  Thanks for visiting and take care!

 

~Marie~

 

Some more Christmas...

I used just the snowflake shape from Bird's snowflake easel card to make a couple of ornaments...

 

 

I just love this snowflake shape so much!  For the white one, I cut five snowflakes from regular cardstock, and glued them together, inserting the ribbon hanger in between 2 of the layers.  The silver centerpiece was something I've had laying around for years.  Unfortunately I only had one, so the other side only has a sequin and a gem for decoration.  For the blue one I decided to use chipboard to add bulk and stability, and then added a white button, a sequin and a gem in the middle on both sides.  I am having fun making these...I hope to get more done before the season starts!

 

Adding these to:

 

Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Extra

Winter Wonderland:  Anything Goes for August

Christmas Cards All Year Round - Sparkle and Shine

Sparkles Christmas Challenge #43:  Snowflakes

 

Thanks again for stopping by!

 

~Marie~

 

 

I need a little Christmas...

inspiration!  If I don't soon get on the stick, I will not have enough cards for this year!  THAT will NOT be good!!!!!  So toward that end, here is a card!

 

I made this earlier in the month, but this is the first I've taken the time to get onto the 'ole blog!  Ready for some exciting news?  We now have high speed internet...AT THE HOUSE!!!  I am so freakin' excited about it...no longer do we HAVE to go to Dunkin Donuts just to get online.  *sigh*  SO NICE!!  :) 

 

This snowflake easel card was designed by Bird.  You can find it here, along with many others that she posts on her blog for FREE!!!  Just be sure to read her terms of use...she has had to change them recently due to some unscrupulous design stealers!  :(   I for one, am super glad that she is so generous with her work!   I used some of my growing stash of glitter paper on some of the layers for some super sparkle!  (Trust me, it is super!)  The Studio G sentiment is inked using Heidi Swapp mint green ink, and I also distressed the edges of the Silhouette file banner with it.  Added sequins for some more sparkliness, and done!

 

I am adding this to the following challenges:

 

Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Extra

Winter Wonderland:  Anything Goes for August

 Christmas Cards All Year Round- Sparkle and Shine
Sparkles Christmas Challenge #43:  Snowflakes
 

Thanks for stopping by to have a look!  Have a great day!  :)

 

~Marie~

Having a Blue Christmas in a Winter Wonderland

Happy Wednesday!  I just want to let you all know that this will be my last post for about a week.  The hubby and I are making our annual trek to Gettysburg starting tomorrow!  YEA!!!  :)  Last night though I made a card for this week's Winter Wonderland challenge:  Blue Christmas

I've seen many cards similar in nature on Pinterest, so I thought I would try my hand at one too.  I utilized my 2011 and 2012 Heirloom ornaments from Spellbinders.  I cut 3 layers of each shape out of plain cardstock to add some stability to the designer paper, and inked the edges with Broken China.  I added white ribbon as hangers and bows, and a layer of glitter paper between the base and main panel.  The sentiment is stamped with Bahama Blue.

I also want to enter this into these other challenges:

Holly Jolly:  Deck the Halls
Craftyhazelnuts Christmas Extra

Thanks for stopping by!

~Marie~

Festive Friday #36

Howdy and happy Sunday blogging buddies!  Today I'm here to share a card for a challenge I like to follow, but rarely get the chance to participate in:  Festive Friday!  For their current 2-week challenge, they are asking us to be inspired by this photo:

Isn't that a gorgeous scene??  How I wish my house looked like that during the holiday season!  But anyway...here is what I came up with:

I took my inspiration from the white and silver colors, the 3 presents on the right side of the fireplace, and the word "NOEL" leaning on the candle on the table.  All three gifts are popped up on foam tape, with the middle one using 3 layers! The sentiment is also popped up so...this is DEFINITELY a hand delivered card!  :)  The silver backing layers, the silver on the MS dp, and the presents are all shimmery paper, which, as always, is lost in the picture taking process!  I also embossed the sentiment with silver embossing powder.

This card will also be added to Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Extra, Craftyhazelnut's Patterned Paper challenge, and Craftyhazelnut's Christmas challenge, Layer it Up Thanks for stopping by to take a look...make sure you check out these challenges too!!

~Marie~