Thursday, December 31, 2015

The Other 2 Sunflower Cards

Yesterday I showed 2 of the 4 cards I made using a 6" x 6" OSW template I found on Pinterest.  Here are the other 2 cards.


I used both sides of the paper on the first card. The sunflower paper is by Graphic 45.


I colored the flowers with Copic markers. 


I added some Stardust Clear Gel pen on the flower center for this card.

Stamps:
Hello Lovely
Hello Amazing
Faith Plan

The card stocks, pattern paper, and Scrappers Floss (I have SO much of this, too) are non-FSJ.

I plan on making matching boxes to hold the 4 cards and envelopes (not done yet) to either sell or give as a gift.  I have 4 more cards made from another fun OSW template to show you soon.

Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Desks and a Set of Cards

It's pretty chilly here in southern Arizona.  We even had some snow flurries yesterday which turned to rain and was over in a half hour.  It was a good opportunity to work on some projects and, late afternoon, take my desk picture.  Desk picture, you say??  Yep, every Wednesday I join a group of crafters brought together by Julia at the Stamping Ground to show you, my cherished reader, where we craft. If you would like more info on this weekly get together please click on Julia's page tab at the top of the Stamping Ground blog  called What is WOYWW?.  And now on to my desk...


Here I've just finished making a Valentine card with a new stamp set available Friday in our FSJ Spring Mini catalog.  You can see the dies and stamps center front and the card on my white paper stack on the left (this is where I actually stamp as the paper is scrap and gets tossed when "dirty".  I'll show you the card later.  There's 3 rolls of glue dots on the far left and a bag of chocolates (was here last week too) in front of the Cricut.    And now on to what I was working on last Wednesday...


I have so much 6" x 6" paper pads that I've acquired over the last 4 - 5 years and I really need to use them.  I found a couple templates on Pinterest for a 6" x 6" OSW that made 4 cards per sheet.  This fun sunflower paper is by Graphic 45.  I used both sides of the paper and a stamp set from FSJ called Hello Lovely.


This is the flower center from the card on the right.  I used my Stardust Black gel pen on the lettering for bling.


A bit of Stardust Clear gel pen on the wings...  I added some Glaze to all bees after pictures were taken and it really made the bees pop.

I'll post the other 2 cards tomorrow if you want to come back and see them.  I plan on making a little box for the 4 cards and envelopes to possibly sell or give as a gift to someone.

Now please click on over to the Stamping Ground to get the links to all who are involved in this revealing of desks.  Some are very neat, some are very busy, and some, well, their work area may not be their desk this week.   I hope you had a great Christmas!  And, can you believe it that Friday is next year?? We usually don't go anywhere and stay home to watch movies and eat popcorn.  Hope you have a safe New Year's Eve!

Monday, December 28, 2015

Last Christmas Card This Year

I believe this is the last Christmas card I made for this year.  I did get a couple more cards from friends in the mail this weekend so will make New Year cards for them.


I seen a similar card to this by someone with Fun Stampers Journey but I altered it to use what I had.  The label dies are by Spellbinders.  I have OODLES of their dies from the last 10 years or so. 


I think this turned out pretty good.  Stamps are not Holiday stamps and I thought it was pretty cool that they were used for Christmas

Stamps:
Lead Me
Snow Burst

Card Stock:
Whip Cream
Candy Apple

Inks:
Candy Apple
Kiwi Slice

Other:
Spellbinders "Resplendent Rectangles" Nestabilities
Gold Stickles

Did you make enough cards this year?  I did but I'll save those for next year.  I'm off to make some other projects!

Friday, December 25, 2015

Merry Christmas!



I hope you have the opportunity today to spend some time with family and/or friends and enjoy the real meaning of Christmas. I love Dr. David Jeremiah's daily devotional for Wednesday of how Christmas is about emptiness - "an empty throne, and empty manger, an empty cross, and an empty tomb, all of which fill our empty hearts."  There is much more to this but I don't want to infringe on any copyright laws and I'm sure I did some with just the 1 sentence. If you get the Turning Point please check it out. 

We will be having dinner with my dad and his wife then going into town to spend time with church family.  I do have some cards to share but I decided to get a bit more personal and share some of my favorite ornaments on our tree.


This one celebrates our youngest son's first Christmas.  He is now in his 30's and has a baby!


I had a horrible time getting a clear picture.  I think this is my 3rd try.  But this is our son's baby!  Can you see the resemblance? Both pictures were takes at about the same age, 5 months or so.


This is of our 2 youngest granddaughters.  We don't get to see them much, mostly Instagram and FaceBook but hopefully we can visit this next summer or even Thanksgiving.


I made this ornament Wednesday to put this picture of our granddaughter and her family on our tree.  The stamp is from Holly Berry House and I've had it about 18 years.  I stamped the image 5 times on some paper that I decorated with the Shaving Cream technique and I used an embossing powder called Christmas Gold.  Red and Green Stickles was also used.



This little 2" Swinging Santa was made by my Mom many ears ago.  We used to live in a uranium mining camp in central Wyoming in the 50's - 70's and there was a little ceramic shop which was open once a week.  Mom and I both made dishes and many other items.  I'll be getting the Nativity Set she made (hopefully).


This one was painted for us.  I think my Mom and Dad gave it to us back in 1984.


Our youngest made this with Legos.  I don't think he remembers it but it's a fond memory.


We got this cute ornament from our oldest son and his family this year.   Cute, isn't it!

Last Friday we attended my cousins' Christmas Party.  This party has been a tradition for over 20 years.  We have a gift exchange with a bit of "stealing" going on.  Each gift is allowed to be "stolen" twice then it's frozen.  I had fun wrapping our gifts (2 coffee mugs with pistol grip handles).


I made little package toppers for fun.


These little Hershey Kiss trees were made with instructions I found on Pinterest.  Once these gifts were picked and opened they both were "stolen" and frozen almost immediately.  We had a great time but missed both my Aunt (passed away last January) and my Mom (passed away June 2014).  Next year we'll probably be missing one of my cousin's sons who has ALS.

I hope you have a most blessed Christmas and remember, Jesus IS the reason for this season!  It was named after Him!  God bless you.

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Ho Ho Ho! And Desker Wednesday!

Oh my!  It's the Wednesday before Christmas!  And if you are playing on the internet and blog hopping at all you know today is the day you get to see my desk and many others!  This fun event is brought to you by wonderful Julia at the Stamping Ground. I'm not sure how many other crafters will be participating but you do get me anyway.


Strange shadow across my desk or else my camera is acting up.  Upper left you can see a bag of Hershey Kisses left over from making some package toppers (will be showing those Friday).  I have been playing a bit with a 6 x 6 One Sheet Wonder design and have 2 cards complete and 2 in the process.  You can see some stamps that I'm using by the box of glue dots and some Copic markers.  I'll be posting these sometime next week, maybe on Wednesday since you're seeing a bit of them here.

I am slowly winding down making Christmas cards.  I'm still getting a card about every other day and will continue to send them out, even if late.  I probably should be making New Years cards but don't have any stamps that say Happy New Year.


Here's a card I just made after seeing a similar one on Pinterest (but it used beautiful pine trees).  I used the Jolly Friends set by F.S.J. and Winter Fresh Prints paper (retiring the 31st).


This was easy to make and I may have to do this again next year.  Santa is colored with Copic markers.


A bit of Stickles on the hat and beard for a bit of bling.

I hope you have a wonderful Christmas.  My emotions are all over the place as this is the 2nd Christmas since my mom died and it still is a bit tough.  We will be having dinner with my dad and his new wife (remarried in May) then we'll head into town to spend time with church friends.  Tonight we are going to see the new Star Wars movie with friends and tomorrow night we'll take part in our church Christmas Eve service and communion. 

So, now that you've reached the end of my Desker Post please head over to the Stamping Ground and check out the links to the other wonderful gals who take part in this fun blog tour of desks!

Monday, December 21, 2015

A Couple Pocket Cards

Since my gifts to my niece and nephew are not large I made a couple special gift holders for them.  I used the Pocket Card die which, I've been told, is one of the most popular dies being purchased.  I can see why.  The die uses a full sheet of 8 1/2" x 11" card stock.


I used a lot of different products to make this but I love how it turned out.


Yep, another die for the tag.  I used my Corner Chomper to round the corners on the tag. 



And a lot of Stickles.  Oh, and the heart paper clip!  How fun!  This one is for my niece.


Did you notice the paper clip on this?  It's a car!  The ribbon and staples on the ribbon are from my stash.



And a bit of Stardust Clear and Stardust Black gel pens for a bit of bling!  I colored him with my Copic markers.  This fun pocket card is for my nephew.

Dies:
Pocket Card Die
Bread Tag Die
Journey Circles
Journey Ovals

Paper:
Kiwi Slice card stock
Denim Days card stock
Winter Fresh Prints (retiring 12/31)
Whip Cream card stock
Candy Apple card stock

Stamps:
Jolly Friends (reindeer)
Ugly Sweater ('tis the season - set retiring 12/31))
O Christmas (tree - retiring 12/31)

Accessories:
Fam Bam Elements (car paper clip)
Fun Day Elements (heart paper clip)

The retiring products links will no longer work after 12/31/15 so be forewarned!

Friday, December 18, 2015

Let It Snow

I needed to send out my Technique Junkies 1 on 1 swap card last week and I used the Starburst (or Sunburst) technique from the Designer Paper Perfection CD.


This is such a fun technique and I love how it looks!


I used the following products:
Candy Apple card stock
Winter Fresh Prints (retiring 12/31)
Whip Cream card stock
Pool Play ink
Denim Days ink
Snow Burst Bundle (stamp & die set)
Special Celebrations Sequins
Clear Embossing Powder

The ribbon is from my stash, along with the VersaMark ink I used for the embossing.  I love how this card turned out!  How about you?

Thursday, December 17, 2015

December Kit of the Month Cards

I finished my December cards from the "Kit of the Month" and now I can show them to you!  Remember, the Kit comes with an exclusive stamp set, all papers cut to size, and most embellishments.  You supply the inks, Silks, adhesive, pop dots, and anything else you may want to add.  The stamp set used is called "Cozy Wishes".    The "ingredients' for these cards are listed at the end of this post with links if you want a closer look.


This one I pretty much followed the directions. No changes.



This card I slanted the blue/green layer, tilted the cup the opposite direction, used a different stamp for the red embellishment, and used a different stamp on the banner.


This card was originally a gift card holder and I did cut mine to use as such.  I changed the red apple in that I added a little flower to the center of it.


 Plus I added a little pearl to the center of the flower.   The flower is from the Holiday Elements Sequins.


This card was stamped so the top is along the fold of the card.  I changed the sentiment and that's about the only change.




Oh, I added some Sparkle Cuts to the heart.

Following are the products used on all these cards:

Card stocks:
Butter Cream
Pomegranate Splash
Kiwi Slice
Oatmeal Cookie
Cool Pool
Dark Roast
Basic Neutrals Paper Pack
Winter Fresh Prints (soon to be retired)

Inks:
Dark Roast
Candy Apple (directions called for Pomegranate Splash which I don't have)
Kiwi Slice
Oatmeal Cookie
Dark Roast Silk

Accessories:
Star Frame (a freebie with a $50+ order)
Natural Journey Thread
Oatmeal Cookie Satin Ribbon
Journey Sequins Holiday Elements
Be Cool Journey Tape
Sparkle Cuts
Hearts & Stars Wooden Buttons
Journey Glaze
Glue Dots

Dies and Punches:
Journey Rectangles
Tag Set
1" Circle Punch
Treat label
Journey Circles
2" Scallop Punch
Punch Handle

I used an ATG gun and purchase my special tape elsewhere but I love the White Liner tape!  And the foam squares come in small and medium.

Do you like this format with all the products listed at the end or do you prefer them throughout the post?   This format was a bit easier for me to look up but I want your opinion.  Thanks!

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Desks and Snowflakes

We have had quite a cold snap lately with some hard freezes.  I have sensitive plants covered and hopefully they'll be ok.  We even got snow on our mountain here in southern AZ and snow north and east of us!  So, since today is What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday I decided to show a snowflake tag I made for our grandson's Christmas gift.  Yep, I'm a bit late getting it mailed but I forgot to put it in the package I mailed over a week ago!  Oops!  And if you don't know about weekly desker day, please click on the WOYWW page button when you head over to Julia's blog, the Stamping Ground, when you finish here.


My desk shows the wrapped gift to the far left, the snowflake medallion stamp next to it, and the tag sitting on the spot where I work.  I've yet to sign the back and have just added the string to hang (if the son and daughter-in-law decide to to that).  My desk is a bit messy but for me it's almost tidy.


And here's the tag.  I used 5 different card stocks and lots of Silver embossing powder to make this.  I spent a lot of time fussy cutting, too.


Here's a close up of the center.  I added a silver sequin and a blue rhinestone to finish it out.  I think it looks great!  The stamp was made by Holly Berry House and I've had it and a few others for MANY years!  This one is called "Snowflake in Bloom."  I looked it up and it is still available for purchase!

Well, I'm done for today.  I hope you enjoyed seeing my work spot and tag.  Please head over to the Stamping Ground and check out the other desks and projects to celebrate today.  I'll be visiting if my internet is nice.  I have a technician coming Monday as our lines outside the house are being very wonky and sometimes it works and most times it doesn't. Yesterday I had internet in the morning then, poof!  Nothing for the rest of the day.  This morning I have it so headed out to visit until it poofs again.

Monday, December 14, 2015

A Couple More Gift Card Holders and an Ugly Sweater Card

Here's a couple more of the larger gift card holders I made last week.  I like these so much better than what one purchases at stores where gift cards are sold.  At least, they are a bit more thoughtful as they take time and effort to make them look fun and special.


This one uses the Mistletoe Kiss ATC stamp set which will be retired the end of the month along with the cute Winter Fresh Prints paper pack that I used.  I used some Journey Glaze and Sparkle Dust on the berries and colored the image with Copic markers.


This one is a bit more simple.  I used the Merry Swirl ATC stamp (on backorder at the time of this posting) but the text is from the Be Happy set that came with the November KOTM.  That fun set will be available for purchase either February or March 2016.  I added dots of Stickles to the tree for the ornaments and used my Stardust Clear Gel pen on the word Sparkle and that it did!

I also made a fun card using the soon-to-be retired Ugly Sweater stamp set.


  I also used the soon-to-be-retired Winter Fresh Prints paper pack, Sweet Pear & Forest Forest card stocks.  I did use 3 pieces from the Journey Sequins Holiday Elements.


I did all my stamping with Fresh Forest ink but you can see a hint of trees in the sweater and that was stamped with Sweet Pear ink.  A bit of Silver and Red Stickles for bling and the Ugly Sweater is complete!

I have a few Christmas cards from last year so I am fairly all caught up in cards.  Those old ones are from stamp sets I had before I became a Journey Coach.  I kept a few from back then as they are special to me.  How are you doing with your Christmas cards?  Got them done??  I'll still be making a few more.