Metal baubles

The Paper Shelter asked us to use metal on our card this week. Well, it just so happens that I have a huge collection of eyelets and snaps made of metal. Since they aren't exactly a snap to use, they don't get used very often. But I decided to use snaps to be the ornaments on this tree.

The tree, from an old SU set, is white embossed on Forest Foliage colored card stock (which is not as dark as it looks in the photo). I randomly placed the snaps, matted it on red, and stamped the sentiment in Forest Foliage.  Clean and simple is the way to go at this time of year.

I'm playing in these challenges:

The Paper Shelter #184 -- Metal (snaps)
CHNC #205 -- Santa is on his way (He better be, that tree needs some gifts under it)
CHNC Extra November -- anything Christmas
Word Art Wednesday #160 -- anything goes
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday -- anything goes.

Caring Hearts cards

I spent the last month working as hard as any of Santa's elves making cards for Vera Yates' Caring Hearts card drive. She collects cards for senior citizens in nursing homes, and had a goal of 7,000 cards this year.  I managed to make about 60. (Vera needs to receive cards for this year by 28 November, but keep it in mind for next year.)

 This is a CAS design I used for maybe 15 or 20 cards. Each one was slightly different, as I used snippets of different paper to cut the ornament; I also had some pretty ornament stickers I used on a few.

This was an easy design to mass produce. I used a Prickly Pear die for the ornament. The pine branch stamp is from the same set. I stamped it twice, didn't even bother to re-ink -- that gave me a little variation and depth on the branch.

It's fun to see how different papers for the ornament change the look. I like the striped paper -- it reminds me of the striped glass ornaments we had when I was a kid.

I'm showing two cards for the last Rudolph Challenge of the year. The card is for these challenges:

Rudolph Day Challenge November -- two cards
Crafting for all Seasons #91 -- Tis the Season
Creative Inspiration #291 -- Seasons Greetings
CHNC#203 -- getting ready for Christmas
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday -- Anything goes
Word Art Wednesday #160 -- Anything Goes
Pixie's Snippet Playground #152 -- snippets.

What's shaking this Thanksgiving?

I could not resist an opportunity to use the turkey from TAWS It's Fall About You set when I saw the photos for their BE Inspired challenge this time.  Who could resist that cute turkey in the right corner?

With a little bit of basic masking, I created this image of the turkey hiding in the basket (from the same set). The images are stamped in Sepia ink. I colored the turkey with pencils, picking up colors from the photo. Then I created a little acrylic pouch around him to make a shaker card. I punched a bunch of tiny leaves and added them and some gold microbeads to the pouch, then attached it to my card base with seasonal washi tape. It's a fun Thanksgiving card, don't you think?

This card is for these challenges
The Alley Way Stamps BE Inspired #59 -- inspiration photo
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday -- Thanksgiving
CHNC patterned paper Challenge for November
Word Art Wednesday #159 -- anything goes

Glittery ornament

I have this pad of Christmas patterned paper that really isn't to my taste; I like my Christmas stuff pretty traditional, and this pad is very modern. But waste not... so I'm trying to find ways to use it that tone down the paper, and I think I found a nice mix here. The secret seems to be a good amount of white space.

I used a red printed piece for my base, then added a wide snippet of striped glitter paper.  I used a Prickly Pear die and my trusty Cuttlebug to create an ornament-shaped opening on a snippet of white paper, which I placed over the stripes. I took advantage of a glittery strip on top of the striped piece and left it uncovered to provide a glitter band across the card.  A holiday sentiment stamped in burgundy and a bow of burgundy cording was all it took to finish off the card.

I'm entering this card in these challenges:
Ribbon Girl November Color Challenge -- red
Die Cut Divas November -- holiday spirit
Pixie's Snippet Playground #151
CHNC Christmas extra, November

Paper-pieced butterflies

Since I won the Butterfly Challenge a few weeks ago (thanks to Ms. Random.org), Mrs. A asked me to guest design for the Butterfly Challenge #19 that starts today. The challenge is "paper-pieced butterfly." Here's the funny part -- I love paper-piecing, and I have my fair share of butterfly images, yet none of them really lend themselves to paper-piecing.  I finally decided to work with an Inkadinkadoo image of a flock of butterflies, and try piecing a few of them -- the ones that had the more open patterns on them.
The butterflies are stamped in Navy, and the printed paper is from Lime Rickey by Basic Gray.  Once I'd cut the oval, there was a partial butterfly at the top, which I chose to cover with a punched butterfly.  (I put a solid orange butterfly behind the print/punched one so it didn't blend into the background.)  I also used the old trick of running the edges of the paper along an orange ink pad to get a little line of color there.

I'm entering this card in these challenges:
Loves Rubberstamps #127 -- Things with Wings
Papertake Weekly -- Soooooo Girly
Clear It Out -- anything Goes
Word Art Wednesday #159-- anything Goes
Sister Act #83 -- anything Goes
CHNC patterned paper challenge, November -- patterned paper.

Scoring saves the day

It happens to me all the time -- I  finish the card, then think "this would look so much better if I had embossed that panel." Happened again when I made this card -- that green panel was so flat and BORING, but it was too late to emboss it without possibly tearing everything up. Then I had a great idea -- if I can't emboss it, I can at least score it.  Quick, simple and it made a difference. I really need to remember to emboss more, but now I know I can save some cards with a few score lines; my genius moment for the day.

The card features Prickly Pear stamps and matching die I picked up for a song at the craft consignment sale.  They are stamped in Burgundy and popped up over a panel that features a patterned paper of ornaments. The printed paper actually gives a sense of depth, and with the Pop Dots, this card has some
dimension in real life. The ornaments are "hanging" off burgundy colored cording. The ribbon running under the ornaments says "Merry Christmas" in silver -- it was hard to photograph well.

This card is for these challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge:  Ornaments
Die Cut Divas November Challenge -- Holiday spirit
Crafty Ribbons #106 -- Christmas with Ribbons
C.R.A.F.T. 285 -- Christmas
Really Reasonable Ribbons #106 -- Winter holiday with ribbons
Word Art Wednesday #158  -- Anything Goes

Girly birthday

I don't usually make really "girly cards" but this one fits the description.
Mrs. A's Butterfly Challenge challenged us to use three different patterned papers on one card, and that was the start of this. I actually used four different patterns. I used a pack of papers from My Mind's Eye (The Sweetest Thing) that is very feminine, so I decided the embrace the girly thing.
The layout of the card is based on one I saw on some blog -- I thought I'd pinned it, but it wasn't on my board, so I had to go from memory. The doily was cut in half and sponged with a color called Papaya.  I made banners out of a few snippets and pierced them around the edges, then covered all the top ends with an interesting bit of fiber. The butterfly is cut from a die from Simon Says Stamp (and my trusty Cuttlebug), and it's also edged in Papaya.  I added three rosettes to make it really girly, and a sentiment from Endless Creations.

I'm entering these challenges:
Butterfly #18 -- three patterned papers
Cuttlebug Mania -- You go girl (Girly)
Crafting for All Seasons #90 -- Birthday
Clear It Out -- use three of something (roses)
Inky Impressions # 185 -- animals (butterfly)
Word Art Wednesday #158 -- Anything Goes
Craftyhazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge -- use patterned paper

Flat snowflakes

Time to get serious about Christmas cards.  I love the challenge this week at Crafty Hazelnuts Christmas Challenge -- Keep it Flat. Having just packed up and mailed some very bulky cards for the SCS card drive for the MD Anderson Cancer Center, I was ready to think flat.

This cute little marshmallow snowman is from Bugaboo. The layout is the current Sketch Saturday sketch, #335.  The snowman is colored in pencils, and layered on a green snippet, then a candy-cane striped one, and finally on a snowflake printed layer.  The diagonal element is green grosgrain ribbon. The embellishment is a snowflake die cut from a snippet of vellum, topped by one made of shiny silvery paper. To me, the die cuts add a nice illusion of dimension without really adding any bulk. I added a line of Stickles on the ground for snow and a few dots in the sky to finish it off.

This card is for these challenges:
Catch the Bug -- food
CHNC Christmas #202 -- Keep it Flat
Sketch Saturday #335
C.R.A.F.T # 284-- Christmas with ribbon
Pixie's Snippet Playground #150 -- (Lots of snippets here)
CHNC Xmas Extra -- Anything Christmas
CHNC Patterned Paper -- Anything Goes
World Art Wednesday #157 Anything Goes