Just Because Medallion

So, purple is by far my favorite color...yet this isn't my favorite of the medallion cards (always save the best for last!). That said, I do really like how it turned out. It is the same technique and materials as the one below, except that I swapped out "Full of Life" for the "Define Your Life" set. I'm so glad that I did--we both bought Define Your Life last year, but haven't found great ways to use the set. This is the first that we're really happy with, and I can certainly see myself making many more of these cards to have on hand for all occasions. What do you think?

Stamps: Medallion, Define Your Life

Paper: Perfect Plum, Going Grey

Ink: Versamark, Basic Grey

Extras: Stampin' Up! Pastels

Medallion Madness

Here it is, the first purchased and most used stamp I've gotten from the 09-10 Idea Book. This card was inspired by a card in the opening pages of the catalog, and then you'll be seeing other variations on this theme in the next two posts. I didn't have the Emerson quote on the catty's card, so I replaced that with a sentiment from one of my favorite sets, Full of Life.

I dusted off my pastels to do this card, and absolutely fell in love with them again--poppin' pastels is such a simple and lovely technique for a soft card. I can see doing these in a number of color combinations (as you'll soon see) and with any number of sentiments. These really are great for any time. And here are the details on today's card. Thanks for stopping by.

Stamps: Medallion, Full of Life

Paper: Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Sahara Sand

Ink: Versamark, Chocolate Chip

Extras: Stampin' Up! Pastels

This Year's Christmas Card

Now that these are all in the mail (well, almost) I can share my holiday card here. December has been a very busy month, but I'm getting ready for the New Year with my little list of goals, and one of those is to contribute to this blog more regularly. I'm also hoping to start doing some design challenges, so be sure to look for those!

In the meantime, I love this card. I absolutely fell in love with the Tree Trimmings set when the 09-10 Idea Book arrived in the mail, and immediately decided that I would do my holiday cards with it. I borrowed the color scheme from my favorite holiday DSP (Holiday Lounge), and whipped up 40 of these (some had Sahara Sand as a base instead of the Basic Grey, which lightened things up) last week. As you can see, I'm still on my embossing kick.

I hope you all had a lovely holiday and are making your own lists of goals for the New Year.

Stamps: Tree Trimmings, Christmas Punch (Hostess Level 2)

Paper: Basic Grey, Taken with Teal, Ruby Red, Whisper White

Ink: Taken with Teal, Basic Grey, Versamark

Extras: Silver EP, Paper Piercer, Mat Pack

Holly Jolly Ornaments

Tree Trimmings is my holiday set of choice this year--it was the first one in the catalog that I had to buy, and I'm still looking for great ways to use it. As I mentioned the other day, I have fallen in love with heat embossing again, and these ornaments look great in gold, or in silver, or any other way. For this card, I paired Tree Trimmings with the Christmas Punch set (Hostess Level Two) and the Movers and Shapers die. I really like that this gives a sentiment on the inside, as well as the depth to the front. Not to mention coordination with the curly label punch! A tiny strip of dsp in holiday colors gives the ornaments have a place to hang, and I'm ready to put this in the mail.

This is another option for the holiday card buffet this Wednesday. I hope you'll be here!

Santa and His Sleigh

Wandering Words is a great set--it takes up the entire front of the card, so you can quickly make a lovely card. For this one, I used santa and his sleigh. I inked it in Real Red, and then took my Basic Black marker to cover the words. I LOVE that you can use a darker color directly over a lighter one--no need to remove the ink. Remember: You do need to clean the stamp between each use, so you don't get the black ink on your red ink pad. A thin frame of Garden Green, and then a simple "Merry Christmas" from Four For the Holidays, and voila! An easy, striking card in just a few minutes. I'm sure that as I run out of time for my ambitious holiday card design, I'll be making batches of these to send everywhere.

This is another card that you can make at the Holiday Card Buffet this Wednesday. Let me know if you'll be joining us!

More Holiday Fun

Last week's holiday card buffet was a great time--thanks to everyone who came! The next is scheduled for this coming Wednesday, November 18, from 3 to 7 PM, and here is another sample. I dusted off my pastels for this one; they were the first thing I ever got, and it's funny how rarely I use them now. But the dove just called for them (and for heat embossing, and for regular stamping...but that's for another time). I CASEd the layout from Kristin Moore--whose cards made me fall in love with this stamp set.

Stay tuned this week for more holiday cards--hope you can make it on Wednesday!

Buffet Time!

We've been busy getting ready for our first holiday card buffet--a smorgasboard of card-making fun! This Sunday, from 1 to 6 pm, there will be a number of pre-designed cards to choose from and you can make as many or as few of whichever you'd like. Here are two of the options.



The first uses one of our favorite sets from last year, Holiday Post. Just love those skaters, but this is the first time we've actually used them.

The next card uses Kiran's favorite holiday stamp, Dasher--a real steal at only $8.95! Paired with some snowflakes and a little fancy cutting with the Top Note Die, this card comes together easily. It's so easy that we'll probably have to make a few more. Join us for the fun!