Easy elegant Christmas

I totally love tonight's card. It was super-easy, didn't take a lot of supplies, and I think it's beau-ti-ful!!! This is going to be on the short list for my own Christmas cards. At regionals, someone had a tip to put rhinestones or pearls around the edge of the medallion punch to jazz it up. I thought that this was a great idea until I counted the dots and realized that it would take 34 rhinestones or pearls!!!! That might work for one really special card, but certainly not for mass production! So I put my thinking cap on and decided to try out my Smooch Accent Ink - LOVE IT!!!! (Although I think it's kind of hard to see in the picture, but I promise it's gorgeous!!!)

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Medallion, Word Play
Cardstock: Whisper White, Cherry Cobbler
Ink: Cherry Cobbler
Other Stuff: Cherry Cobbler & Always Artichoke markers, Silver Fox Smooch Accent Ink, Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding, 1 3/4" circle punch, dimensionals, Bow Easy

Well Owl Be

The owl punch was not high on my original wish list when I got the new Stampin' Up! catalog in July. But people have been making and posting such cute things using that punch that I decided I had to have it too. I'm so glad I have it now! The punch has a lot of bits and pieces to it, but it goes together pretty quickly and it's oh-so-cute!!!! As an added bonus I got to use the Cheep Talk stamp set too, which for some reason is always a challenge for me. And of course I took out my handy Color Coach to come up with the color combination of Old Olive, Rich Razzleberry, and Pumpkin Pie . . . yummy!

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Cheep Talk, Itty Bitty Bits
Cardstock: Whisper white, Soft Suede, Rich Razzleberry, Basic Black, Old Olive DSP, Pumpkin Pie DSP, Rich Razzleberry DSP
Ink: Old Olive, Rich Razzleberry, Pumpkin Pie
Other Stuff: Owl Punch, Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border Punch, Basic Rhinestones, 3/4" circle punch, dimensionals, mini glue dots, stamp-a-ma-jig

Still trying

I'm in a bit of a slump (again! I know!) but I'm working my way through it. Right now my favorite stamp set is the one we got at regionals: Day of Gratitude. Fall is thisclose to coming to Texas; you can feel it in the air in the morning but it disappears by lunchtime. But it's getting closer and putting me in the mood for fall colors. I decided to stick with the yellow-orange-brown theme again tonight, and I think that the results are quite a bit different than yesterday.

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Day of Gratitude
Cardstock: whisper white, Daffodil delight, chocolate chip, Greenhouse gala DSP
Ink: Daffodil delight, Chocolate chip, Pumpkin pie
Other Stuff: chocolate chip grosgrain ribbon (retired), Stamp-a-ma-jig, sponge dauber

Grateful

As I sat in my scrapbook room, looking around at all my stuff, glancing at my family picture I keep on my desk, I realized that I really am lucky. And I am grateful for all the people in my life who love me and support me and for all that I have. Truly. I am a blessed individual, and I try to make a conscious effort to remind myself of that every day. However, if I'm being completely honest, tonight I felt like I would be slightly more grateful if my creativity would come back to me. So as I sat there, staring, thinking, silently begging for inspiration to take over my mind and body, I chided myself for wanting more and tried to make myself be thankful for my blessings and not worry about my complete and total lack of creativity lately. And then, of course, I realized that I had a whole season's worth of cards I can create based on one word I kept repeating to myself: gratitude. Handmade cards are the perfect way to let people know that they are appreciated, so with that in mind, I came up with tonight's card. It still took a while, and it's not perfect, but hopefully I can take this gratitude theme and coax back my creative mode.

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Day of Gratitude, Fabulous Phrases
Cardstock: Crumb cake, Early Espresso, Daffodil Delight, Whisper white, Pumpkin Pie DSP, Greenhouse Gala DSP
Ink: Pumpkin Pie
Other Stuff: Early Espresso, Pumpkin Pie & Daffodil Delight markers, Curly label punch, Scallop Edge Border punch, Dimensionals, Stamp-a-ma-jig

Getting started

Well folks, I know it's only September, but I think it's time we start really thinking about Christmas cards, if you do that sort of thing. Tonight's card is one that I think would be relatively easy to mass produce. The card layout is one that I copied from a swap I received at the regional convention, but whoever came up with the swap didn't put her name on it. This design would be very economical for mass production, because each one is only 1/4 of a sheet of cardstock; you lift the flap and the sentiment and signatures could be underneath. The snowflakes were cut out using my BigShot and the Northern Frost strip, which would also be easy to crank out a bunch and mass-produce. And no snowflake card would be complete without some sparkle - I used the Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz for a hint of glitz.

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Four the Holidays, Confetti
Cardstock: Marina Mist, Bashful Blue, Whisper white, Perfect Plum, Pink Pirouette
Ink: Marina Mist, Bashful blue
Other Stuff: Top Note die, 1/8" Marina Mist ribbon, Basic Rhinestones, Vanilla Shimmer Smooch spritz

Busy birthday weekend

No cards to share at all tonight . . . it's been a crazy busy weekend. We went to the Plano Balloon Festival Saturday night, which was why the weekend was crazy. That place was nuts!!!! Crowded and hot and generally miserable. I did get some cute pics while we were there, but I think that we've had our fill for the next 5 years or so. Son turned 2 Sunday and we had a small party for him at the house. We had to cancel his 1st birthday party because we all had the swine flu last year(remember that???) So we did a re-do this year and just had family and a few friends come by for a cookout. It was perfect for him and he had a really fun day. What a great weekend . . . son had a great birthday, Penn State won, the Eagles won, the Cowboys didn't . . . life is good!!!!

Haunted House!!

Here it is! The debut of my labor of love, the Haunted House. While it was a labor of love for me, it doesn't have to be for you: I'm offering a class to make this house and let you in on all the secrets I figured out through lots of trial and error. The class will be held on Sunday October 10 from 1-4 pm at my house in Plano. Everything you need to complete the house as shown is included in the price of only $20!!!! There is a limited window to sign up though: since I need to order the houses, I need to have RSVPs and payment by October 1. You can contact me either by leaving a comment on this blog with your contact info, or you can send me a private message via email or through my account on Splitcoast (username there is kamigh). I have a feeling this will fill up fast so get your seat while you can!!! It's sure to be a spooktacular class!