Magazine Monday

With the head cold working it's way to where ever colds go, I'm back to creating again. I felt so good last night I didn't want to leave the Studio. I created today's card plus cut the base mats and stamped the images for 9 more. Yep 10 more Christmas cards for 2012 will be done by the end of today.

I was inspired with today's card from a member of our Christmas Card Challenge 2012 members. Colleen (Katchoo1 on SCS) showed us her January card using a layout she used back in 2006 in the spring issue of Take Ten. You can see her card HERE. Although I have several back issues of Stampington publications, this was one of only 2 back issues of Take Ten I have in the Studio and am glad it was. WOW!

This LO hits all the marks:

EASY

SIMPLE

CLEAN

USES STASH/ SCRAPS

IMPACT

Here's the recipe:

5x6.5 card (I created mat dimensions for both standard card sizes)

DP scraps from DCWV Christmas 2010

SU Pacific Point CS

SU Pacific Point ink & water color crayon

SU Big On Christmas stamp

Black and Red Perma Marker

Blue snowflake (gift wrapping trim - Walmart)

Dimensions:

5x6.5 card -

Base Mat - Cut 2- 5 1/8 x 1" + Cut 2- 3 5/8x1"

DP - Cut 2 - 5x7/8 + Cut 2- 3.5x 7.8"

Center Mat- Cut 1- 3 7/8x 2.5" (CS) + 1- 3 3/4x 2 7/8" (white)

4.25x5.5 card-

Base Mat- Cut 2- 4x1" + Cut 2- 2 5/8x1"

DP - Cut 2- 3 7/8x 7/8 + Cut 2- 2.5x7/8

Center Mat- Cut 1- 2 7/8x 1.5" + Cut 1- 2 3/4x 1 3/8

This card also fulfilled the January Challenge for the PBU thread at Splitcoast using the theme 'Let It Snow' direct our creativity.

My next plan is to pull out my scrap drawer, cut the DP strip sizes I need and then match with CS to make several cards for the All Occasion Challenge thread. I already see one in browns and earth tones with Noble Deer featured in the center for guy cards.

I hope your 2012 is off to a creative start!

Magazine Monday!

This week, I'm getting a jump on Christmas 2012. I was part of a Christmas Card Challenge at Splitcoaststampers this year. Aside from pledging to do X-#of Christmas cards every month, I mailed out a prize envelope to one lucky stamper who made their personal goal each month. This year I am co-moderator. My co-conspirator, VikkiJo, works out of town part of the week and doesn't always have internet access. So we decided to team up this year so no one got lost in the daily postings. To set a good example, I'm going to try and have my card posted by the 1st day of the month.

I'm still playing in the Volume 4 of Take Ten. The card I chose this week is by Sylvia Yu. I couldn't find a link for her. I hate CASing a card without giving credit back. I can tell you my card is very close to Sylvia's. Sometimes you just like a layout the way it is. Where I used GP White CS, Sylvia chose a pearlescent vanilla CS. She also used actual ribbon for the vertical strip, and punched small holes in her silver-embossed tree so the 'red balls' would show through when she matted it on the red CS. Her tree and border were from Art Impressions.

How is mine different? I used SU Real Red CS and Ink, Lovely As A Tree, and Sculpted Style. I also cut the front flap of the card back 1" and stamped the Sculpted Style border on the right edge of the 'inside' of the card. I added the sentiment mat using the Nauveu label shape (Cricut) at 1.25" and the shadow. I added dimension by popping up the tree and sentiment mats.

So... 6 cards done for 2012 and 46 to go. Now to get this year's mailed!

Magazine Monday

I don't know about you guys, but it seems forever since I've been in here. I spent most of the month of July fighting to keep my internet on line. Basically, it boiled down to my HughesNet modem overheats. After three calls to their out-sourced call center in India, I finally got someone who spoke English well enough to understand my problem. A $10 fan from walmart blowing onto the box whenever it's booted up has solved my problem.

So today I'm showcasing the card I had ready to run a month ago.

I found this card LO in a Take Ten 2005 from the artist Lenita Gratz.

The medallion to the right is a bottle cap with a stamped image of a snowflake in the center. Her card is very elegant. She used a silver mat with a midnight blue ribbon against the white background. It's a beautiful card. But I'm a traditional artist so I took my Christmas card to the country.

I used the CB folder for some texture as well as a fabric frazzle strip. The bells are from Bells and Boughs (SU). I made gold paint from Metallic Gold Pearl X and Gum Arabic. Although it doesn't show up in the picture, the bells really sparkle!

One of my future projects is to create watercolor paints for all 24 of my Pearl X colors. Keep an eye here for how you can make your own Pearl X watercolors.

How are your Christmas cards coming along?

Magazine Monday!

We all know how crazy March was for me. Needless to say, the March Christmas Card Challenge at SplitcoastStampers wasn’t met on time. So I decided this week I’d find something quick and easy while pairing it with Magazine Monday. I didn’t realize I was going to find something THIS easy.

I pulled out the Winter 2005 issue of Paper Made Easy. I only have 3 or 4 of these magazines but really enjoy the projects they include.

Card designer/ artist (and I do mean artist in multiple mediums) Loretta Mateik 4-page spread on 9 simple cards. The first 2-page layo

ut used a Vintage Christmas Collage Paper from Paper Love Designs. She matted them simply, added a sentiment and called them done. With the exception of one card, her only embellishments were brads to adhere the sentiment mats.

Loretta said she purchased the collage paper and coordinating card stock. Everything else came from her stash. Now that’s the way I like to play! She says, “I hate to let anything go to waste!”

So I pulled out a 12x12 sheet of Vintage Santa Postcards from Flair Designs and matching scraps from a Christmas Slab I’d purchased about 5 years ago. To keep these super simple and perfect for the recipients I know won’t cherish the car

d past the holidays, the only embellishment I added was Christmas Red Stickles (a gift from my Secret Sister back in February).

I made the 11 base cards from Mello Moss cardstock (Retired SU). I used Always Artichoke to accent the Mello Moss for the pine bough punch outs and stamped the sentiment in Mello Moss ink (Retired SU). The sentiment is from SU – Bells & Boughs set. I stamped the greeting on Very Vanilla and matted on the inside.

Now to think about April's Christmas Card Challenge.

Magazine Monday!

Happy Monday, everyone!

After a storm moved through here in the wee hours of the morning, disconnecting my power for a few hours, I'm happy to see blue sky, sunshine and have power again. :-)

Friday night and for almost 11 hours on Saturday I had a BLAST at Virtual Stamp Night (VSN for short) over at Splitcoaststampers. Awesome hostesses put together a series of challenges - one new posting every hour - around the theme, You Make My Heart Sing. I'll try to squeeze in some of my favorites of the SEVENTEEN cards I made for the event. But it was one of the participants' take on a texture challenge that had me thinking. Then when I went magazine cruising for this week's card, the VERY FIRST one I came across lent itself to the technique. I had to do it!

This week I used Christmas Crafts for Kids - a Better Homes and Gardens publication from 2002.

Here's the sketch:

The sky blue background with blue and white snowflakes almost looked like a stamp resist. The mitten on the outside mimics a row of 3 hanging 'clothes line' fashion across the center of the opened card.

What I liked: The busy background and the layers

What I didn't like: Lack of real 'image and lack of texture. The background was busy but it was too flat for my taste.

So I inked up the inside front of my Cuddle Bug snowflake folder with Bashful Blue ink (SU), then proceeded to emboss the front panel with textured snowflakes. I loved how it came out:

Instead of one big centrally located, multi-layered panel I did 2 separate panels to incorporate an image and make it more Christmas rather than just winter. I haven't settled on an inside quote yet. I'm still shopping. But for the most part, I have 12 of these made to complete the Christmas Card Challenge for February at SplitcoastStampers.

Are you thinking Christmas cards? I guess now is as good a time as any to remind you there are only 10 months till Christmas!

Creative Blessings

Magazine Monday!

Can you believe this is the final Monday of January, 2011? This month just seems to have flown by.

How many years have you found yourself scrambling at the last minute to get your Christmas cards made and ready to mail? Or ::: gasp ::: caving in to sending store bought cards. If you are an avid card maker, you know how painful that last ditch effort to wish everyone merry is for you.

On Splitcoaststampers, I belong to a thread called the Christmas Card Challenge 2011 (CCC11). The concept is to have all of our Christmas cards ready to mail by the end of November, rather than waiting until the last minute to get them finished. You determine how many cards you need to mail and divide it by 11. That is your target number of cards to make each month, January through November. By December 1st your handmade cards are finished, ready to mail and you can stress over something else about the holiday. (You know you will. We all do!)

My target goal per month is to make 10-12. Technically I only need 10 per month but I seem to have started doing things in sets of 12 lately so I’m adjusting my goal. This month I pulled an idea from the December 2007 issue of Stamp and Scrap Magazine. This card is designed by Sandie Bachand. I wish I could have found a blog or website for Sandie. She does lovely work. For this particular article she chose to showcase the fundamentals of 4 stamping techniques – embossing, masking, direct-to-paper and watermark inking. I did a modified version of her MASKING technique.

Sandie’s card LO is close to mine. her matted JOY is more centered, with 3 red rhinestones in a column below it (near the edge of the printed mat) , and an Antique Gold Snowflake charm.

We both used an A2 card for our base. However, I liked positioning my JOY mat lower – eliminating the rhinestones at the bottom. I didn’t have a Cuttle Bug embossing frame so I chose to just cut the center out with my Sizzix Md Square sizzlit, but keep the deckle edge. It still gave it a ‘framed’ look.

Recipe:

Tools- Sizzix Md. Square Sizzlit, Fiskars Deckle

CS- GP White, SU Wild Wassabi

Stamp- Village Arts Press (VAP)

Ink- VersaMark

Embossing Powder- Stamp n Stuff Red Tinsel and Gold Tinsel

Accessories- Folk Art Metallic Inca Gold acrylic paint

So January cards are done. Now to figure out what I’m doing for February. It’s a short month so imagine how fast it will pass. ::: smile :::

So, are you thinking Christmas now?

Creative Blessings!

An added Bonus - OSW Christmas Cardss

The individual shots of the OSW Christmas cards I showed a couple weeks ago have been uploaded to my gallery at SplitCoastStampers. You can see them here...

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=32055

I hope you'll pop in and leave a comment or two. ;-)

Creative Blessings
Kelly

SCS Christmas Challenge

When I signed up for the Christmas Card challenge back in January, the pledge was to make 10 cards a month. The goal being I would have all the Christmas cards I needed by November when it came time to mail them. Well, I did okay until I got the call from my daughter she was moving back home. LOL

So as the thermometer climbs into the 90s today, I have a wintery card for you. This card completes my obligation for the CCC09-February challenge. hehe

A New Year!

And a new quest to nourish my artistic soul. One of the ways I’m doing that is by participating in a challenge at http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/ The idea is to determine how many Christmas cards you will need to mail in November of 2009 and divide it by 11 months.
I didn’t get any Christmas cards mailed this year. Instead, I sent New Years cards. Nice, but I’d rather remember my family and friends at the beginning of the holiday.

My pledge is to make 10 Christmas cards every month between now and mid-November and to have them done by the 25th of the month. I don’t mail 110 Christmas cards but I do hand out to close family and friends as well as the 30 cookie/candy trays I give to area businesses. So yeah, 110 should cover everyone easily.

This month’s card was inspired by a calendar swap I was in last fall where I made the page for January. This card is a more labor intense version of the calendar page. I started these on the 24th but several stages of drying glitter later, it wound up taking me 4 days! I hope you like