Mass-produceable Christmas Cards

Yesterday, I showed you a fun *Cocoa for Two*gift packet using Pine's new Warm Happiness stamp set. Thank you for all the nice comments! I can tell Pine's set is going to be HOT!! Today, I'm continuing the the fun with some matching cards and envelopes. Nichole challenged the Papertrey Design Team to create some easy, mass produced holiday cards. Check out her BLOG to find the other designer's links, complete supply lists, card sketches and more! If you've always wanted to get a head start on your holiday cards, NOW is the time! The ideas are plentiful so all you need now are the supplies and a stamping date on your calendar!

I chose to use Pine's new stamp set called Warm Happiness again for my holiday cards. By choosing some fun pastel pinks and greens, I chose a less traditional color combination for my cards. I always like to have a stash of cards on hand at the holidays for quick thank you notes, Christmas cards that I forgot to send, teacher notes, etc. These fun cocoa themed cards with matching envelopes will be perfect! The card design is simple and the cards assemble quickly.

Here's a closeup of an individual card with a matching envelope. I used Papertrey's Spring Moss and Sweet Blush cardstock, Dark Chocolate Palette Ink, Polka Dot Parade paper (coming this month), Sweet Blush Polka Dot Satin Ribbon, white envelopes, Marvy punches and iridescent glitter to create my cards.
As promised in yesterday's post, I want to show you how to do some simple masking to achieve the fun layered look to stamping. I started out by stamping the coffee mugs onto punched white circles, using Palette Dark Chocolate ink.

I then stamped a separate solid polka dot image over the outline image using Papertrey Sweet Blush ink. Papertrey's clear stamps are perfect for this layered stamping.
Next, I created a mask by stamping the outline mug image onto Eclipse Masking Tape. You could also use a sticky note. I placed the mask over my stamped mugs (the mask is white and in place on the bottom stamped image below). Then I stamped the solid oval shadow stamp right over the mask using Papertrey's Spring Moss ink. Voila, a stamped image with lots of layers of colors. Fun, fun stuff here folks!!
I finished off my main images using three separate word sentiments from the Warm Happiness stamp set (warm, winter, and wishes). These images were layered onto a scallop punched Sweet Blush circle and adhered to my card fronts.
I stamped the same mug image onto all of my envelopes, plus I had room to add the steam. I used a sentiment from Papertrey's Snow Play stamp set. Imagine the delight the recipient of these cards will feel.....knowing there's something even better inside the envelope.
Here's a tip for you: When lining up pieces of cardstock, you want them to be straight so your finished cards look professional. Lay your card onto a grid cutting mat, lining the bottom of the card up on a straight, horizontal line. I know that I want the top of my polka dot strip to be adhered 2" from the bottom of the card. So after applying adhesive to the patterned strip of cardstock, I simply line it up right across the 2" line. You may think it's easy to eyeball, but this is such a simple trick that takes out the guess work.

Wanna shake things up a bit? How about we take the very simple design of the cards above and add some glitterfied snowflakes and dressed up buttons?
Then you can have cards that perfectly match the *Cocoa for Two* gift I made for yesterday's post. Who wouldn't love THAT as a little gift?
Check out all the bling bling, and shimmer and beautiful ribbon. It's enough to make you wanna squeal, right? Go ahead if you want to, go cuckoo for cocoa!
The big release is the 15th....along with my wedding anniversary. Are you ready for the Papertrey countdown party and excitement? Be sure to check out Papertrey's chat forum, it's always a fun time!

Cocoa for two

Only a few more days until the October Papertrey Release. Today I'd like to show you a fun holiday gift made with Heather's new Warm Happiness stamp set. Be sure to check out Heather's blog for yesterday's sneak peek of this fun new set. Whether you like coffee, tea or cocoa, it seems that we ALL like the cups and mugs that hold the delightful concoctions. Heather(I call her Pine) has designed a very fun stamp set that you'll be sure to use for the holidays and all year round.

My gift project for today is a *Cocoa for Two* box that holds two packets of instant cocoa drink mix. For the box I used Papertrey's clear card box and embellished the outside with lots of glittery snowflakes and dressed up buttons. Two lengths of Sweet Blush Ribbons were adhered to the outside of the box with double sided sticky tape.


For the main image, I used the mug and the shadow image along with three separate word sentiments(warm, cocoa, wishes) from the Warm Happiness set. To help speed the process along for mass produced holiday gifts, I used a circle punch and the Giga Scallop Circle Punch to out my images. Once assembled, I traced along the outer edge of the white circle with a fine tip glue pen and then sprinkled on some glitter. I added more glitter to the cocoa mug too. Stay tuned to my blog..I'll show you soon how I used the masking technique to create the cocoa mug with shadow images. For the inside of my box, I cut out a piece of delightfully fun Polka Dot Parade patterned paper that is being released this month. I cut it to fit snugly inside the back of my clear stationery box. I then stamped some more circles with a cute friendship sentiment from the Warm Happiness set. The word *cocoa* was stamped separately, as there is an option to add the words cocoa, coffee or tea to this sentiment. Clever! I cut out my circles using Spellbinder's Circle Nestabilties. While the metal die template was still on the cut out circles, I traced the inside of the circles with a fine tip glue pen. I then added some glitter for a little extra sparkle. I stuck the circles with sentiments onto two cocoa packets using foam pop dots. Then the cocoa packets get nestled into the stationery box with some iridescent filler. Be sure not to fill the box too full with filler or else the polka dot paper won't peek through.
Here's a closeup of the fun accents on the outside of the box. I'll show you how to make the glitterfied snowflakes, they're so much fun!!
First, you punch out snowflakes using the Extra Jumbo Snowflake punch being released this month at Papertrey Ink. If you've been following Heather's blog, then you've seen that one of her new sets coordinates with a bunch of new snowflakes punches coming to Papertrey Ink this month.

Next, place the punched snowflakes onto the surface of The Essential Glue Pad. You'll need to add just enough glue from the refill bottle that comes with the Glue Pad each time you plan to use the Glue Pad. This re-moistens the pad for just the right amount of stick.
Using craft tweezers, dip the glue covered snowflakes into iridescent glitter and allow to dry for a bit.
Do up some extras while you're at it so you can have plenty for holiday projects. Once you have a little heap of snowflakes piled up, get creative. I used buttons and embroidery floss to adorn my snowflake centers. To attach your fanciful snowflakes to your project, simply add one foam pop dot to the back of the snowflake.
I'm almost wanting a little colder weather to be here so that I can start giving out some fun *Cocoa for Two* gifts. These would be perfect little treats for a friend or coworker or teacher. Since there are two packets, you could invite a friend over for cocoa and give this gift to them as a little favor. You could also attach a note to share the cocoa with a friend and then pass on the little gift box....kind of like the gift that keeps on giving. You might want to make one for yourself though because they're almost too cute to give away!

Be sure to visit Nichole's blog to see more sneak peeks of this month's releases. The excitement is in the air!

Dimensional Butterflies

The countdown to the October Papertrey Release is on. Be sure to visit Nichole's blog for a daily dose of anticipation and see what the other PTI designers have cookin'. My turn's coming but for today I have some cards to show you that I made for my stash basket. I try to devote a few stamping sessions a month to some mass production. I usually have a list handy of the cards I need for the month and then make a few extras to put in my stash basket.

After I'm done working on my monthly Papertrey projects, I like to reach for some old, but still well loved stamps sets. For this stamping session, I chose to work with Papertrey's Butterfly Kisses and the Polka Dot Basics set. I cut my papers first which is kind of backwards to how I usually work. I didn't have stamping layout in mind, but just started cutting papers. The idea was to get a bunch of cards completed and not to worry about creating something over the top fancy. It's better to get those cards made and sent to the mailbox.....kinda justifies purchasing all these supplies, right?

After I had my basic card layout, I then started stamping. I stamped some polka dots in PTI's Berry Sorbet ink along the bottom edge, then added a strip of Papertrey's Text-Style Pink Patterns paper.
Then I stamped a butterfly onto my cardstock. It looked a little flat so I decided to stamp some additional butterflies in Berry Sorbet ink. I cut out the butterflies and used a mini glue dot to adhered the butterfly right over the top of my already stamped butterfly. By bending the wings upward, you get the feel of a butterfly in flight.
I added some pink Stickles to the flowers on the butterfly for some sparkle. I also used my paper piercer to make a swirly flight pattern.
I stamped my sentiments in black and tied on some Berry Sorbet Polka Dot Satin ribbon. These babies were done! Looks like a lot of detail, but they took very little time to assemble.
I made four more cards using the very same card layout. I turned the cards to be vertical and used some various flower sets from Papertrey....Floral Frenzy, Spiral Bouquet and Flower Garden. I switched up my ribbon to PTI's Spring Moss also for some variation.
That was a good day's work and I had a nice little stack of cards to add to my basket. So, next time you head to your stamp room, think about doing a little mass production stamping session. You'll whip out 5-10 cards in no time.

Eek...Witchie, witchie...and some decorations

Hi everyone, it's gonna be a fabulous day today! I have some more Halloween goodies to show you. Let's start off with my witchie feet card. I used Karen Lockhart's Witchie Feet stamp and the matching sentiment. I embossed the witchie image with black embossing powder, it's so shiny and fun! I then colored in the image with Copic Sketch markers. The tiny tips of the Sketch markers are great for coloring in small, detailed areas like the striped socks. I think cut out my image with a large Spellbinder's circle die. While the die template was still over the cut circle, I used a fine tip glue pen to draw a circle outline. I took the circle out of the template and then immediately sprinkled on glitter. I'm loving this technique! I used the Spellbinder's Pinking Circle die to cut out the black circle layer. For the embellishments, I used a Making Memories tag to stamp the sentiment on, some sequins, a Making Memories epoxy button with black string and some black satin ribbon. I'm really digging the black, white and burnt orange look for Halloween this year. Another fun card to add to my stash, can't wait to send some out this year! By request, I took some photos of my Halloween decorations. My first photo shows my two tiered basket that I purchased at Nell Hill in Atchison, Kansas. GREAT shop, the best around for decorations and household decor. My tablecloth is fun, it's a long piece of unfinished fabric straight off the bolt. Sheer black fabric with flocked pumpkins.
Here's the inspiration for my black, white and burnt orange theme. I'm using my new (old) cabinet to show off holiday decorations and the white background really stands out.
I placed some black tulle on the counter top and then nestled some Halloween decorations on top.

The little shelf makes a perfect display for my Halloween cards I've been making. Jordy says the drawer knob looks like an eyeball....good eye Jordan!
I bought some black crows to keep watch over my Halloween goodies this year. $4 each at Michael's this year. My sister bought me the *Be Very Afraid!* bowl at Nell Hills......she went without ME on her visit back here a few weeks ago. The bowl appeased me though!
More Halloween decorations. I guess I like those smiley faces. The white pumpkin ghost was a new find this year at the little antique shop in Lebo. There's a volleyball tournament near there tomorrow so guess where I'm going again?
Here's some little Boyd's Bears that the girls got when they were little.

And I can't resist Jordan's ghost she made in Kindergarten. It's head is dented in, it's getting discolored and all smashed up but I still love it. Check out the face she drew, it just CRACKS me up every time I look at it. I don't know where Josey's went but she made one too.
And here's the start of my fall decorating on our fireplace mantel. There's cobwebs on the candle sticks so I thought I'd just leave them on there for another month. Tis the season for cobwebs right? I need a new Fall wreath, I'm contemplating a horizontal, asymmetrical branch wreath of sorts. I'm still thinking on that though. Eric freaks out when winter comes, because I load the log mantel with decorations. He always checks the temperature of the log when we have fires lit because he thinks I'm gonna burn the house down. Poor dear, he mustn't worry so. You can't expect to build a beautiful fireplace and mantel and then NOT decorate it!
Okay, I must be on my merry little way, lots to do today. I have a FUN card I want to create today, the idea just appeared in my crystal ball. I seeeee something fun coming your way in the very near future!

Snail Mail...JustRite meets Lockhart

It's been a while since I've made some Snail Mail cards. If you are newer to my blog, I took a liking to snails this summer and particularly the phrase *Snail Mail*. I've also made these single layer notecards that I keep hand for quick thank you notes, teacher notes, etc. I needed a few more for my stash so here's what I came up with. I used Making Memorie's Noteworthy patterned papers, some of my all time faves! I love the office supply look and the lines, colors and designs from this line are fab! The notecards are 1/4 sheet of cardstock, layered with another white piece of cardstock and then a snippet of the patterned paper across the top. Here's my favorite part, the circle embellishment. Who knew you could pack so many fun things into one small circle. First, I reached for my JustRite Small Alphabet stamps and Round Monogram Stamper to create the sentiment that reads *snail mail for you*. I stamped that in black and then cut out my circles with Spellbinder's circle and scallop circle dies. I also embossed the top white circle for more detail. I then stamped Karen Lockhart's snail stamp called Escargot and colored it with my Copic Sketch markers. I adhered my circle accents to the tops of my notecards and then trimmed off the excess. Lastly, I adhered two snippets of ribbon to each notecard and secured them with a staple...more of that office supply look. LOVE these little notecards, they're so handy to have on hand.
As I was stashing my notecards away so that they wouldn't make it into the sale basket, I thought I'd snap a photo of this old box. I found it at an estate sale this summer and thought it would make the perfect box for all my stationery stuff. It's not a prized antique or anything, just an abandoned, lonely box that needed a home.
It holds my address book, some stamps, my favorite type of pens, some packing tape, envelopes, etc. If I want to sit and write out a bunch of cards, I can easily grab my box and use it as a writing surface also. It's a good thing!

Have a fabulous day everyone!! We're off to our Homecoming Parade tonight and then hotdogs, chips and pop at the park (aka free supper and no cooking for MOM!)...and a bonfire to boot! Woohoo. My dad's driving his convertible mustang too...good time to tote around the local politicians...and a GREAT time for my girls to throw out candy!

One Sheet Wonder Nugget Labels

Do you have your Halloween treats planned yet? I made up some little treats while my friend Carmen was over one day. I love to make the covered Hershey Nuggets so here was my plan. I decided to make some One Sheet Wonder Nugget Labels. You start with Papertrey's White Label Sheets, the perfect size to cover the Nuggets. I compared these to regular address labels.....the color is a brighter white which I loved. I started stamping each label with a Halloween sentiment from PTI's Spooky Sweets stamp set in Palette Hybrid Black Ink. I kept on stamping Halloween images all over the sheets, just as you would with a typical One Sheet Wonder project (the idea is to stamp an overall sheet with a design, then when you're done, each individual piece will stamped randomly). Some of these images are from Spooky Sweets, some from Spooky Sweets II. The two sets work great together. The ink colors I used were SU! Pumpkin Pie and Kiwi Kiss and, Papertrey Plum Pudding. I used a grey ink for the spider webs.
I decided I wanted a vintage look to my labels, so I went in with some Ranger Distress Ink and my Papertrey Guidelines set and stamped some random square images.
Zoom in on the photo below to see my two finished One Sheet Wonder Nugget Labels. Each label sheet has 30 labels. Here's a close up of the finished Nuggets. All you have to do is unpeel the labels and stick them onto a Nugget. This would be a fun, fun project for the kids to do. You could wrap them up in Papertrey's little tins, glassine sacks, coffee bags, etc. Great teacher gifts!

I decided to set mine out for guests to munch on (I have found that I am my own best guest, whaddya know??!). I found this old wax crayon tin at a garage sale for a steal. The colors were perfect for a Halloween container. So in went all my Nuggets. It sits by my 2-tiered basket in the center of my dining room table. See the fun label embellishment?
Ohhh, you must zoom in on the photo below. Carmen and I played around with some black embossing powder and the results were stunning!! I embossed the big round label from Spooky Sweets II onto Plum Pudding cardstock. I cut it out with a Spellbinders Nestabilities circle and mounted that to a SU! Kiwi Kiss Nestabilities cut scallop circle. I layered on a *Creepy Treats* embossed sentiment. The black, shiny embossing looks kind of Gothic and Martha and Vintage all rolled into one. I love it!! To finish off my label, I colored a regular wooden clothespin with a black Copic Sketch Marker. I allowed it to dry just a little bit then added some purple sticker sequins and a fruity punchy Papertrey Plum Pudding Luxe Satin ribbon. The label just clips onto my vintage tin with the clothespin.
Here's an even better shot of the embossing. Isn't it just so pretty??? I'm kinda hooked on the embossing right now. It's so pretty on holiday projects this time of year.
So there ya have it folks! Anyone want a Nugget for breakfast?? I'm sure they go good with coffee!

My first quilting class...

This Thursday I go to the second session of my quilting class. I have Nichole to thank for sparking such an interest in quilting in me. It was her beautiful Quilter's Sampler set that won me over. So here I am, packing my supplies for quilt class! Can you believe it? My instructor is fabulous and I just LOVE her!! Her name is Trudee, and I know she will be one of the most patient and kind teachers. There's one other student along with me and we couldn't have MORE DIFFERENT styles. She selected bright Batik fabrics for her quilt. I selected the fabrics below. It should be very interesting to compare our quilts when we're all done.

We'll start out making a sampler quilt that will showcase 6 different 12" blocks. Each block will use some different quilting techniques so that we get a good start with the basics of quilting. At our first class, Trudee had us walk around the quilt shop and select a fabric we liked. She then helped us find coordinating fabrics and taught us about contrast, lights and darks, etc. I pretty much knew all of these concepts but I saw them in a whole new light when they were applied to quilting. One of the main things to keep in mind with quilting is that for the patterns to show up in your quilt blocks, you really need the right amount of contrast in the fabrics. Trudee could pick out fabrics that you would never believe would look good together. Like the red fabric below, I never would have picked it but it blends perfectly and this wonderful brown polka dot on it. I also selected a brown fabric with polka dots (gotta love 'em!). The beautiful blue-ish floral fabric on the left will also be used for the backing of my quilt.
Now here's a question for ya. Do you remember the first supplies you purchased as a scrapbooker or stamper..or quilter for that matter? I have SO MANY supplies collected from my 10+ years of paper crafting that I couldn't begin to think what my first supplies were. But I made sure to take a photo of my first quilting supplies and first quilting fabrics. They'll make for a great scrapbook layout, don't you think? Stay tuned and I'll be sure to show you some photos of my first quilt blocks! I'm a quilter...yay!
And how about some quilting cards? I reached for my Lockhart quilt blocks and created two beautiful cards. I paired them up with Papertrey's Quilter's Sampler and Sentiments sets for some great phrases. I forgot to take shots at an angle, but I embossed the quilt blocks and the sentiments with gold embossing powder. Ohhhhh, they're so beautiful and rich looking. Embossing is back, baybee!! Check out the new silver and gold powders over at Papertrey Ink. Nichole says they're her favorites!
I colored my Lockhart quilt blocks with Copic markers. When you emboss images, it's so easy to color with the Sketch markers. The embossing adds a raised edge so it's very easy to stay in the lines. I layered my images with Spellbinder's square and scallop square dies. The patterned paper is from K and Company and reminds me of the colors of my quilt. I added machine stitching to my cards to complete the home spun feel I wanted to create.
The friendship card is going to my quilt teacher, Trudee. I know she'll flip when she sees quilt cards! The birthday card is going to my Aunt Betty. She is a fabulous quilter and I can't wait to pay her a visit so I can marvel at her beautiful quilts.

Sooooo, wish me luck friends. I'm so excited!! P.S.....if there's any quilters out there, please share your great quilting blogs/websites with me. I'd love to start a quilting blog list!

World Card Making Day ...and Button Flower Cards

Happy World Card Making Day! Here's a few details on what WCMD is:

WHAT
World Card Making Day is a holiday especially for card makers around the world to:
Celebrate the creativity of handmade cards and the personal connection that they create between friends and family
Kick off (and get a head start on) the holiday card-making season


WHEN
The first Saturday of each October, kicking off the holiday card-making season, the most popular time for creating and sharing handmade greetings.

WHO
The card-making community worldwide, including hobbyists, beginning card makers, manufacturers of card-making products, retail sellers of products, educators, and press are invited to come together to celebrate this holiday and creative passion.

WHY
It is a day to connect with fellow card makers both near and far, to applaud the creativity that powers the craft, and to provide an opportunity for card makers to connect and find resources that will empower, inspire, and encourage them in their card making.

There's lots of fun activities, galleries to view, blogs to visit, and PRIZES to be won!

To get your started, check out Marianne's BLOG. She's got some good prizes to give away.

And then head to the JustRite Stampers BLOG, there's some awesome prizes there to be won also!

I have some cards to share today to keep in the spirit of World Card Making Day. If you find some time, join in on the fun and whip up some cards!!

Here are my creations for today. I used Pines Rustic Branches set from Papertrey Ink to create some flowers. I used the same supplies on all of my cards, but varied the actual card designs. To turn the wreaths into flowers, I simply stamped the wreath on to the card stock and then used the straight branch stamp to create the stems. I used a sticky note to mask off the very top portion of the straight branch. You can see the card on the right below where I did not mask. The straight green branch kinda flows over into the flower. The card on the left shows how the stem looks when I masked it a little bit. Just a little neater approach.
For all of my cards, I used the Rustic Branches stamp set, button centers from Foofala with some sequins added (a great idea I saw Melissa Phillips using), black gingham ribbon, green polka dot paper, Berry Sorbet Card Stock from Papertrey Ink, PTI Berry Sorbet Ink and Palette Black Ink.
I also stitched around all of my cards. I love the homespun feel that stitching gives to cards. I used various sentiments from several PTI stamp sets so I could get a good variation of themes for my cards. I just love stamping days like this. I get a lot done by using the same supplies on each of my cards.
I hope you're able to join the fun today of World Card Making Day! Have fun everyone!!