Sunday, January 29, 2017

Paper Play

Paper Play Sketches #32, that is.  Even though this sketch intimidated me at first, once I got going, I really got into it.  Here's the sketch:
 
 
And here's what I did with it:
 
 
To create this card, I finally decided to cut into my 6x6 Perfectly Plaid Winter paper pad from Lawn Fawn (GASP!)  I've been hoarding that and the Perfectly Plaid Christmas pad since I bought them last fall.  I guess they won't do me any good at all if I don't use them, right??  So I chose which patterns I wanted to use, and (luckily) found a matching gray card stock in my stash.  That cute polar bear is from Bugaboo; find him here.  The sentiment is stamped in Memento London Fog ink.
 
Challenges:
 
12 Months of Christmas Link Up #25:  ATG, or optional "Out with the Old, In with the New" theme (new, used my recently acquired MISTI to stamp the sentiment; old just about everything else)
ABC Christmas:  "A" for ATG, or "B" for something beginning with "b" (blue, bear)
Christmas Card Challenges #5:  ATG or optional "Snow" theme
CHNC #318:  ATG or optional "No Sentiment" theme
Crimbo Crackers #125:  Something Cute
January Rudolph Days:  ATG Christmas
Cutie Pie #107:  Winter Warmers
HIMCR #286:  Any Holiday
Crafty Sentiments:  Use Dies (Spellbinders used to cut out sentiment layers)
Come and Get It:  3 or more layers
 
Thanks for joining me today!  I'll be back soon with my DT post for CHNC Extra! God Bless!
 
~Marie~
 
 
 
 
 

Tuesday, January 24, 2017

WHAT is the date today?!?!

The 24th, you say?  No way!  I saw a meme on Facebook today that states it's 11 months until Christmas Eve...I best get crackin' on those Christmas cards!  To that end, here is one now...
 
 
I colored up this CUTIE from Bugaboo, Eggbert Winter to be precise, with Spectrum Noir, Copic, and Prismacolor markers.  I thought at the time that my colors matched the papers I had chosen, but in hindsight, maybe not so much.  AND my camera isn't very good at taking nice photos anymore, but trust me, this looks better IRL!  Hiding on the snow in the image is some clear Spectrum Noir sparkle pen.
 
Challenges:
 
Christmas Card challenges #4:  ATG or optional photo inspiration
12 Months of Christmas Link Up #25:  ATG or optional "Out with the old, in with the New" theme (the square gems are old, the sparkle pen and Lawn Fawn sentiment are new)
ABC Christmas:  "A" for ATG, and/or "B" for something beginning with "B"
Christmas at Sweet Stampin':  ATG Christmas
Crafty  Calendar:  Something New (sparkle pen and Lawn Fawn sentiment)
Cutie Pie #107:  Winter Warmers
Craftyhazelnut's Patterned Paper:  ATG w/patterned paper
Sweet Stampin':  Dies and Punches (Spellbinder's dies)
Catch the Bug: BINGO  (bottom row across; something blue, embossing, dots and stripes [scarf] )
C.R.A.F.T #399:  Christmas
Sweet Stampers #3:  Winter/Snow
CHNC #317:  ATG or use a sentiment
 
Thanks for stopping by today, and God Bless!
 
~Marie~
 
 

Saturday, January 14, 2017

CCAYR Mid-January DT inspiration post

Hello, and happy Saturday evening folks!  I hope all is well wherever you may be; and if not, may God put His blessing upon you.  I'm here to share with you my DT inspiration for the Christmas Cards All Year Round design team for the January mid-month reminder post:
 
 
Deanne has asked us for snowflakes this month, and I went with a pink one!  I have had this digi in my collection for a loooong time!  I CASE'd myself for this one, referring back to this card for inspiration....just switched a few things up.  The shades of pink match much better IRL than in this photo.  You *can* slightly see the sparkle in the white glitter cardstock; but MIA, as usual, is the Star Dust Stickles on the snowflake layers!  I stamped the sentiment in Versamark, and heat embossed with silver tinsel ep from Recollections.  Another card done for 2017!
 
Thanks so much for stopping by, and make sure you check out my teamies' creations for this challenge...they are wonderful!  Don't forget to add your own creations to the linky!  I love to see what you have made!
 
~Marie~
 

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)
Cutie Pie Challenge #107:  Winter Warmers
CHNC #316:  ATG or optional "Feature a creature" theme
Crafty Calendar:  Something New (penguin patterned paper)
Cards in Envy:  Snow Birds
613 Avenue Create #193:  ATG or "your favorite technique" theme
Sweet Stampers #3:  Winter/Snow
 
Whew, that took a little while!  Thanks for stopping by, and God Bless!
 
~Marie~
 
 

Thursday, January 5, 2017

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~
 
 

Saturday, December 31, 2016

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
Cutie Pie Challenge #106:  A Day in the Snow
CHN Patterned Paper:  ATG using patterned paper
The Outlawz Sunday CAS:  Add some sparkle
LTCCB #6:  ATG
 
 
 Thanks for joining me this evening.  I wish you all the best for 2017, and God Bless!
 
~Marie~
 
 

Saturday, December 17, 2016

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
The Outlawz Festive Friday:  Go Caroling Day
613 Avenue Create #192:  ATG or optional Holiday Happiness twist
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~