Noel

I hope you have not got bored with my background stamping, because today's card uses this technique again!

I've based the sketch on Always Player with Paper:

And I added some glitter and bling for Holly Jolly Christmas Challenge:

With the help of Cricut Artiste cartridge, this card came together quickly and easily.

Thanks for stopping by!

Some serious play time

What I meant was that I purposefully carved out some time as play time and just played with the craft products I have, and I purposefully wanted to mix and match different things, without much consideration of what the outcome will be.

I based my card on the sketch by The Sweetest Thing:

My card uses the patterned paper from the Avonlea paper packet and the Dakota paper packket.  I've also used the old shades of Gray cardstock - Gray Wool and Gray Flannel.  The Gray Wool strip was stamped with the background stamp using tone on tone, while the Olive strip was stamped with the florish also with tone on tone technique, except that I also employed second generation stamping.  The three circles are cut with Art Philosophy cartridge, stamped with Slate in its second generation (yet another shade of gray) then the decorative layer in Smokey Plum.

Quite a challenge for me in a sense that I've incorporated many colors, though within the same family, and that I've mixed the patterned papers from two packets.  It is the fun about play along the challenges, isn't it?

Have fun crafting!

More Christmas

Let's continue our journey to Christmas with a Christmas card today!

I'm using my old friend, Stella paper packet to make this card.  Stella was first introduced in the Spring/Summer 2012 idea book and is carried over to the current idea book.  I love the vivid, bright and bold colors of it and it is a truly versatile paper packet.  You think the colors are girly?  I think they can be Christmas-y.  You'll see what I mean when you scroll down to see my card.

Before I show you the card, let me tell you my inspiration source:  a sketch by Retro Sketches:

And here's my Christmas card made of Stella paper packet:

Want to know my secret to stamp the greeting solid enough on a patterned paper?  It is double stamping.  Like its name suggests, double stamping is simply stamping twice on exactly the image was first stamped.  It is a useful technique when it comes to stamping on patterned paper, or when you want to make something pop out more than the rest. 

If you are using traditional rubber stamp, you'll likely need to use a stamp positioning tool to help you double stamp.  Thanks to the clear stamps I have from Close to My Heart, I could see through the stamps and stamp it on exactly where I want - zero guess work!

This card is also entering the challenge at Created with Love, asking us to make something Christmas-y!

Try it out on your artwork and you'll like this technique!  Thanks for stopping by!

Boo

This week Black Tie Friday challenge challenges us to use circles with the theme of Halloween, and a touch of black. 

I have previously made this card that could enter the challenge, but of course I want to make something new!

So I cut some circles with the Art Philosophy cartridge (1.5" and 1.75" in white and black respectively), took out the Trinity stamp set that has been collecting dust and stamped "BOO" on the circles.  What about mouting it on a 2" scallop circle?  The 2" scallop circle punch has not received much attention recently and I could use it for this card!

I've stamped the argyle background over the card base, then added a panel of Sunset cardstock as the focal point, put the scallop circle on it, and finally stamped some bats to finish the card.

This card is also entering the challenges listed below:
1.  Catered Crop, that asks us to create something with a theme of Halloween/Fall.
2.  My Crafty Spot - Halloween challenge
3.  Makeover Monday - I was inspired by the sentiment "BOO" in the featured Trick or Treat Bag

Thanks for stopping by!

A Merry Little Christmas

Today, I'm sharing a card that is based on two challenges:

A sketch provided by Freshly Made Sketches:

Then a tic-tac-toe challenge presented by The Paper Players:

 

I have chosen the top row - Christmas, Sparkle/Bling and Ribbon.  Even though I started making Christmas cards early this year, I think I am still short so I need to continue making them!

I'm sorry that the front of the card is rather heavy so it slides forward and the angle makes it look a little funny.

I'm entering this card for the challenge at That Craft Place Challenge blog that asked us to create our own background.  I've used a background stamp set from Universal Background to stamp the Kraft paper to create a muted background, then used burlap ribbon to go across the card.  With the Artiste cartridge a label shape was cut out to serve as a mat for the sentiment.  Finally some red and silver sparkles were added to give it more bling!

This card looks different unique in a way that it is based on kraft cardstock with only a hint of Cranberry.  This is quite a subtle Christmas color combination and I like it!

Merry Christmas

Let's talk about procrastination.  I meant to finish this card last night but felt like doing some other things instead.  Thinking that I will have enough to to complete it this morning, I didn't even jot down how I wanted the card to be made.

This morning I woke up with fragmented pieces of memory of the card.  I lost the vision of it.

Lesson learned.

Like many times before, the card evolved as I was making it.  The sketch was adopted from Merry Monday and the color scheme from Dynamic Duos:

I've chosen green to complete my Christmas card:

It is made of cardstocks only.  It has a card base of Cashmere cardstock, which was stamped repeatedly with the sentiment "Merry Christmas", then it is a Cocoa cardstock square as a mat for the bauble, made with Colonial White base and Cranberry decorative layer.  Finally I made the bow out of New England Ivy cardstock, with the help of Cricut Artiste cartridge.  An pearl accent in the middle of the bow, done!

Blue, blue, blue..........

It's time for another one layer card OLW and this time the challenge is masking.  I've combined this challenge with the sketch challenge presented by Try Stampin on Tuesday:

My card looks very similar to the sketch - using blues, except the color gradient goes from a different direction:

There are 5 shades of blue: Sky, Crystal Blue, Twilight, Indian Corn Blue and Pacifica.  The ribbon has covered up one of the seams, and I think the border between the top two grids was blurry.  Nevertheless, it was a lot of fun to play with sponging and masking!

Happy Crafting!