Believe

   What a simple word yet oh so powerful. When I set out to design this years Christmas cards, I wanted something eye catching yet meaningful. Now that they are all complete ( and mailed, lol) I thought I'd share these with you.

    My daughter Christine is an artist ( for real!) painted a canvas of this Santa several years ago for us. I always wanted to share this with others and I finally figured out how. First I scan the canvas and then imported it to my computer, played with it in Paint and then printed it out on business cards. I cut the frame out using my cricut Base Camp cartridge and finished up with some inking and a beautiful woven ribbon.
    The inside sentiment was heat embossed and layered on green card stock. I always love to finish the inside as well!
   Now I ask you, when you look at this Santa, Do you believe?

Praying Hands

   Sometimes we just need to take a step back and take a moment for reflection. I had bought this stamp a while ago and finally got up the nerve to try my copic markers (they are alcohol based) so I needed to practice a bit. I really love the texture of this paper too. It's from a spring pad I got on sale at Walmart and it is awesome to work with. It has a really nice sheen to it as well. The gradient jewels came from creative charms and they were in the boy set but they went perfect with this project. I think with the holidays coming I might keep this card in front of me to remind me to breathe!

Rainbows and Jugs 41

    

     It is so much fun to make your own paper, well, sort of. The challenge over at Jugs 41 for the technique this week was to use re inkers and do the drop, spray and smash technique. I wanted to do something to really show off how beautiful a simple strip of the right paper can be.
     Just a few tips about the re inkers. First there are 2 types that I am aware of. One is the water based ex. Inkabilities by Posh Impressions which uses water for spritzing and working with the inks. The other is alcohol inks and uses an alcohol blending solution to spread your inks. The ones I use are the Adirondack alcohol inks. Both produce great results when used on a glossy card stock, paper or velum. My Creative Classroom has some great on line classes to learn all sorts of techniques and fun projects. I highly recommend them.
     Now back to my card. I started with a 4.25 x 11" piece of card stock and then adhered my "designed" card stock. The fun part about using inked paper is you never know where it will take you. After looking at the patterns I created it reminded me of a beautiful sunrise so I decided to use it as a sympathy card. Since I used the smash technique, my other piece of card stock reminds me more of floating balloons so that one will more than likely become a birthday card. That's the real beauty of using this medium.
     The sentiment is from a wood stamp and I used a color box purple ink.The "books" were cut from a nestabilities label with a coordinating card stock and inked with chalks. I used a grass strip rub on to add some interest on the bottom.  For finishing touches I added a nice purple satin ribbon and a few rhinestones.
     Off to do some more creating, lol.

All Dolled Up!

Isn't she just adorable! Meet Vivienne the stamp set I won from a recent blog hop. I now have 3 grand daughters and the older 2 (6 yrs and almost 4 yrs) love to have Mema (up that's me, lol)  french braid their hair, so I thought I'd make a cute "purse" to hold the supplies.
     I have been wanting to try this stamp set so when Color Throw Down 100 had a challenge ( celebrating their 100th challenge let's hear a loud cheer!!!!) using blue, green, pink and real red I thought here comes Vivienne!
     The bag is from TBBM and is cut to fit page. I think the paper was from K&Company ( I went thru so many stacks I can't remember which one I used, lol)

Not Mess Any More!

     Without further a due here are my creations I made with my challenge to myself. I made 6 cards and have plenty of supplies to make more.
     If you would like to purchase some they are for sale in my etsy store .http://www.etsy.com/shop/CardsNMore0005?page=1
     Back to creating!!

Jugs # 40

      Today is a better day. I recently had vein surgery and the fatigue and nausea were slowing me down, not good! Today after a nice shower things are so much better.
     Since I have to lay low for a week its a great time to catch up on some challenges and projects. I just had to play with my new stamps from MSE and Peachy Keen Stamps. I have opened my Etsy store and REALLY need to add some variety so this Anniversary card popped in my head.
     As I have said before I love making these easel cards. The sketch came from the Just Us Girls ( JUGS)

and its JUGS 40. I used all sorts of scrap papers I had hanging around. Don't ya just love when that happens! The smiling face was from the Peachy Keen Stamps and the rest are from MSE including the sentiments. I colored the face with Peebles chalks and the details on the face were done with Creative Memory markers. I also dragged out my Nestabilities to do the scalloped circle around the face and a Fiskar border punch. I just love this ribbon. Believe it or not I've had it for several years and I still have some left. I also added a few flower brads to tie in all the colors.