More Christmas cards for the 2017 stash!

Hello, and happy Saturday night!  I hope you all are enjoying your weekend...we stayed home today, due to snow and nasty stuff in the forecast.  We didn't get a whole lot of snow, but the hubby was telling me earlier that the roads were bad??  If you live where there is nasty weather going on, I hope you are staying safe!

 

I'm here to share with you all 2 cards for the Christmas stash:

 

 

 

 

I decided that I was going to make 2 similar cards this time, since the sketch part was already done for me by Stella at Bugaboo:

I didn't use Bugaboo images; I chose instead to use 2 wood stamps from Recollections that I have sitting out, but had never used before. In searching thru my Christmas-patterned papers, I found these that I thought would match the images nicely.  I did some simple coloring of the images, added some bling in the top left corners, and these cards were done.

 

Challenges:

 

12 Months of Christmas Link Up #25:  ATG, or optional out with the old, in with the new theme

ABC Christmas:  "A" for ATG, and "B" for something beginning with "B" (blue)

Christmas at Sweet Stampin':  ATG

Cutie Pie Challenge #107:  Winter Warmers

Snowflake's Promise #36:  ATG

CHNC #316:  ATG or optional "Feature a creature" theme

Crafty Calendar:  Something New (penguin patterned paper)

Penny Black and More:  ATG

Craftyhazelnut's Patterned Paper:  ATG

Create And Inspire #58:  ATG

Word Art Wednesday #264-265:  ATG

Crafty Sentiments:  ATG

Cards in Envy:  Snow Birds

613 Avenue Create #193:  ATG or "your favorite technique" theme

Digi Choosday #2:  ATG

Penny's Paper Crafty #311: ATG

Sweet Stampers #3:  Winter/Snow

Love to Craft #6:  ATG

Love to Scrap #93:  ATG

 

Whew, that took a little while!  Thanks for stopping by, and God Bless!

 

~Marie~

 

 

Starting the year off with some recycling

Hello all!  I have kinda made a silent resolution to do more Christmas card recycling this year.  I have 3 people at work giving me their cards, plus all the ones we have received over the last few years...I better get busy!  Here is the first of many ( I hope!):

 

 

I swiped this card off a bulletin board at work before someone could throw it away...I couldn't pass up that pretty country church!  I used the current Sketch Saturday sketch to get this card going.  I found a designer paper that I thought matched the colors in the picture well (mainly the dark blue).  Matted the picture on dark blue cardstock, and adhered all of that to my 5.5" square card base that was embossed with a Sizzix large dot embossing folder.  Here is a pic of the sketch:

 

Well, that's all for me tonight.  Tomorrow evening, I will look for more challenges to enter this into. 

 

Take care, and God Bless!

 

~Marie~

 

 

CHNC Extra January 2017 DT Inspiration Post

Can you believe it?  It's 2017 already!  I know I am having a hard time believing it...another year behind us, and hopefully many, many more to go!  Well, back to the reason I'm here...to share my DT make for Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Extra blog:

 

 

Of course, this has an adorable Bugaboo image on it; Chibi Reindeer, to be specific.  This cutie has been sitting on the desk, all colored up and waiting patiently for his turn to be added to a card.  He was very quiet for most of the wait, I have to give him that!  I need a starting point for my card, so I went searching through my favorite blogs for a sketch and found this one from Freshly Made Sketches:

I loved the simplicity of this one.  I decided to widen the gap between the upper and lower panels to add my sentiment, and popped both panels up on fun foam.  Chibi is also popped up using fun foam.  Baby blue Stickles was added to all the snow, and ColorBox Robin's Egg ink was used to stamp the Hero Arts sentiment.

 

Please be sure to check out my teamies' creations for our month-long challenge, and join us as often as you like...who knows, you could be the random winner of 4 great digis at the end of the month :)

 

 

 

Challenges:

 

12 Months of Christmas Link Up #25:  ATG or optional "Out with the old, in with the New" theme 

Christmas Card Challenges #3:  ATG or optional color challenge

CHNC #314:  ATG Christmas

Crimbo Crackers #123:  Snow

Cutie Pie Challenge #106:  A Day in the Snow

CHN Patterned Paper:  ATG using patterned paper

Simon Says Wednesday:  ATG

C.R.A.F.T challenge #396:  ATG

Cute Card Thursday #458:  ATG

The Outlawz Sunday CAS:  Add some sparkle

Sweet Stampers #2:  ATG

Dream Valley Challenges #146:  Christmas

LTCCB #6:  ATG

 

 

 Thanks for joining me this evening.  I wish you all the best for 2017, and God Bless!

 

~Marie~

 

 

This post is a little bit late,

...But as the saying goes:  Better late than never, right?  I hope so anyway!  At any rate, I am here now to share with you my DT inspiration for the December CCAYR mid-month post:

 

 

I had a total of 4 of these heat embossed sentiment panels sitting on my desk for some time, waiting for a good time to put them to use.  I figured now was as a good a time as any, when I needed more Christmas cards I could send in the mail, AND something for the Christmas Cards All Year Round "Anything Christmas/Holiday" theme for December.  Went pretty CAS with these, using the same layout and process for them all.  I heat embossed all the colored layers using the same powder as the sentiment, then glued all the layers together with Tombow and put them under a stamping block to dry flat.  I only had the time to complete the green and silver ones before the deadline, but later on, I completed the red and gold ones as well.

 

Challenges:

 

12 Months of Christmas Link Up #24:  ATG or optional Welcome to the North Pole theme

Christmas at Sweet Stampin':  Inspired by a song or singing image (I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas)

Crafty Calendar:  Christmas Time

Card Mania #87:  ATG

Crafty Sentiments:  ATG

C.R.A.F.T challenge #394:  Christmas

Craft Your Passion #342:  ATG

The Outlawz Festive Friday:  Go Caroling Day

Glitter and Sparkle #218:  ATG

613 Avenue Create #192:  ATG or optional Holiday Happiness twist

Crafting From the Heart #140:  ATG

Digi Choosday #50:  ATG

Penny's Paper Crafty #308:  Christmas

Sweet Stampers #2:  ATG

Come and Get It:  Christmas

LTCCB #5:  ATG

 

Thanks for stopping by today!  May God bless you this Christmas season, and all throughout the coming year!

 

~Marie~

 

Another month has come and gone...

And here we are in DECEMBER!!!!  I don't know about the rest of you, but for me, this year has just FLOWN by!  As always, with the start of a new month comes a whole new bunch of inspiration from the design team at Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Extra!  Here is my contribution for December:

 

 

Our main sponsor is Bugaboo, and so we use those images for the first-of-the-month project.  I've had this little Stocking Mouse for awhile, and it was time to put him on a card!  He's colored with Prismacolor markers, and the tack holding the stocking is colored with a silver gel pen.  I used an old Papertake Weekly sketch for my card design.

 

Challenges:

 

12 Months of Christmas Link Up #24:  ATG or optional "North Pole" theme

Christmas With The Cuties #1:  ATG

Christmas Card Challenges #50:  ATG

CHNC #309:  Use a sentiment

Holly Jolly #86:  Create a Christmas card or ABC (anything but a card)

CHN Patterned Paper:  ATG

Sweet Stampin':  Got The Blues

Animal Friends #45:  ATG

Card Mania #87:  ATG

Simon Says Wednesday:  ATG

HIMCR #277:  Any Holiday

Word Art Wednesday #258-259:  ATG

613 Avenue Create #191:  ATG

Digi Choosday #48:  ATG

Penny's Paper Crafty #306:  ATG

ABC Challenge:  "U" is for Unconventional (Christmas colors, no red and green)

Love To Craft Challenge Blog #5:  December ATG

 

Thanks for stopping by again today!  Take care and God Bless!

 

~Marie~

 

 

Nativity shaker card

Greetings and salutations, bloggers!  I hope all my fellow Americans have sufficiently recovered from their turkey comas by now...LOL!  It's Wednesday night here in PA, and it's chilly and rainy.  We have been in need of the rain, but I wish I had the power to send it to Tennessee instead.  :(  So much loss is hard to imagine...

 

Getting back on track, here is the shaker card mentioned in my title:

 

 

I love the end result of this card, but man was it trying to put together!!  There are 8 or 9 layers of the Nativity cut from black card stock glued together, with a layer of acetate in between the last black layer and the gold layer.  The card base was sponged with distress inks (Mustard Seed, Tumbled Glass, Broken China, and Black Soot).  All this was not the frustrating part.  When this card idea entered my head, all I thought about was making this a shaker.  What I realized as I dumped the shaker bits onto the card base and prepared to place my Nativity on top, was that I was going to have to separate the bits in order for it to work.  Well, lemme tell ya, that was no small feat!  I can't tell you HOW MANY TIMES I arranged the bits and laid the Nativity on top to make sure nothing would be caught underneath!  It's a wonder I have any hair left, LOL!  BUT, it all worked out in the end.  This card is going to a 10-year-old girl at my church who I think will enjoy it.  :)

 

Challenges:

 

Christmas at Sweet Stampin':  ATG

Christmas Card Challenges:  ATG

CHNC #309:  Use a sentiment

Holly Jolly #86:  Create a Christmas card or ABC (anything but a card)

November Rudolph Days:  ATG

Simon Says Wednesday:  ATG

Crafting with Friends #32:  ATG

Hiding in my Craft Room #277:  Any Holiday

Word Art Wednesday #258-259:  ATG

Die Cuttin Divas #294:  Make it Sparkle

Craft Your Passion #340:  ATG

Outlawz Monday Greeting:  ATG

 

Thanks for stopping by today...I hope you enjoy the rest of your week!  God Bless!

 

~Marie~

 

 

 

Happy Christmas deer

Hidey ho, bloggers!  Happy Sunday!  I just installed a Christmas countdown app on my phone, and it is so cute!  It showcases an adorable snowman picture, counts down (seconds, minutes, hours, days), and plays Christmas music!  EEEEEEE!  On that note, allow me to share my latest Christmas card with you:

 

 

The current sketch from Paper Play Sketches was perfect to showcase this adorable reindeer tag:

 The designer paper from the 6x6 Winter Whimsy pad from love Nicole is perfect for providing a sentiment without adding another element to the sketch.  I do want to use this sketch again and use a sentiment as the focal point, like some of the Paper Play Sketches DT members did.  Gorgeous samples!

 

Other Challenges:

 

12 Months of Christmas Link Up #23:  ATG or optional "BINGO"

ABC Christmas:  "W" for wishes

CHNC #308:   ATG or optional "CUTE" theme

Crimbo Crackers #120:  ATG

Holly Jolly #85:  Ribbon or lace

Craftyhazelnut's Patterned Paper:  ATG

Card Mania #86:  Tag, You're It!

Simon Says Wednesday:  Christmas Critters

Crafting With Friends #32:  ATG

Word Art Wednesday #256-257:  ATG

C.R.A.F.T. Challenge #390:  Christmas

Cute Card Thursday #452:  Christmas/Holidays

613 Avenue Create #191:  ATG

 

Thanks for joining me today.  I hope you all have some time to "get your craft on!"

 

God Bless!

 

~Marie~