Snowman Pool Party

That is a stretch--the snowman is not actually having a pool party. That is what I labeled it in my picture file to distinguish it from other snowman cards. But, it is a snowman theme card with SU Pool Party accents.

Stamps:  SU snowman from last years catalogue. SU sentiment from More Merry Messages.
IP: Cuttlebug snowflakes
Punched snowflakes: Martha Stewart.
DP: all from current SU Holiday catalogue
Colored pencils
Aqua rhinestones
I used the "Tic Tac Toe" grid from The Paper Players and the horizontal center row.

Jolly Santa

Here comes Jolly Old St. Nick. Coming whether we are ready or not so I'm trying to get a head start on the holiday cards. I've used the sketch from Pals Paper Arts turned sideways. The papers are all SU from the new Holiday catalogue. The Santa is from last year. Sentiment is SU More Merry Messages. I colored Santa with colored pencils and used a gold star gel pen for the belt buckle. Glitter glue makes shiny snow at his feet. 2 square glue on gold brads mimic the belt buckle.
Here is the sketch:

Happy Holidays

The sketch challenge at Tuesday Morning Sketches turned into an easy one with a bit of "what to do"

And since this week is "anything goes" at Simon Says I will post it there also.

I have several pieces left from some holiday paper purchased several years ago. I must have really liked it! The label is gone so I don't know who to credit. There is one page with several cutouts and accents. The square in the middle has the sentiment so what to do with that bit of design on the sketch for sentiment. I finally punched out 2 labels with SU punches and used that as an accent. 3 trees from the scraps and glued under the sentiment. 3 punched stars complete the look. I just realized, I actually made a card with no stamping!! That would be a good challenge for someone to put out there.

Mojo Snowman

I have a cute little snowman card today for Mojo Monday sketch challenge.

The DPs are from the scrap file. I have used the part with the label so don't know who makes it. Snowman is Inkadinkadoo, colored with colored pencils and some glitter glue at the bottom for snow.  Sentiment is SU.
Here is the Mojo Sketch. It is a great one for quick and easy cards. I think I will keep this one on file.

Gift Set

Today, I am sharing a gift set of decorated bag, tag and 8 coordinating cards. One of the cards is my entry for the sketch challenge at The Paper Players

I really love this holy/music paper. It is by Paper Studio and purchased at Hobby Lobby after Christmas last year. Super markdown so I bought lots. Here it is paired with a pattern from Paper Adventures, also at HL. The red scallop is a Martha Stewart edge punch. The Joy is Craft Smart stamped in StazOn black and colored with star gel pens. The Christmas Blessings is SU stamped in Real Red.

The inside has a computer printed message and a holy motif cut from the scraps of the DP. Each of the other cards is similar inside.

Here are shots of the gift bag and the rest of the cards in the set.

 

 

 



 



 

bearing gifts/receiving gifts

This cutie patootie either comes bearing gifts or this is her pile of gifts she captured from under the tree.

Actually her name is Betsy Bluebell from Penny Black stamps that I ordered through  Simon Says Stamp Blog. In celebration of their STAMPtember blog hop, they are challenging the use of a stamp purchased from their shop.
This is probably a birthday stamp but with her red and green striped sweater, I guess we could use it for Christmas. I colored the image with colored pencils and star gel pens. Random green and red gems add to the Christmas feel. The sentiment is from Precious Remembrance Shop on a banner from Spellbinders. I used the Big Shot with the magnetic platform from SU for the banner. That is the best product to come along since the Big Shot itself. You really, really need to get your hands on one.
The polka dot DPs are from a 6x6 pack from BoBunny.
Wouldn't this be a cute card for your daughter or granddaughter?
 

Joy

I found this beautiful music and holly paper on sale at Hobby Lobby after Christmas last year.

So, I came across this while looking through my paper stash and at the sketch from Pals Paper Arts wondering what I could use for the 3 stripes

I am letting the stripes of the music staff + the red ribbon work for the 3 stripes on the sketch. The base is SU cherry cobbler cardstock. The Joy is Craft Smart stamped in SU real red and the leaves colored green with gel star pen. That is punched out with circle punch and backed with a scallop of the cherry cobbler.
I fussy cut out one of the holly motifs to decorate the message inside which is done via computer.

 

10 min. dash

Cas-ual Fridays Stamps is sponsoring the 10 min. craft dash by Pretty Pink Posh using these colors:

They are awarding a $25 gift certificate. I sure hope I win because I really like Cas-ual Fridays Stamps. I used their Season's Greeting on this card. That little snowflake used for the O is so cute. I accented it with a clear star gel pen.

As you can see, I barely made the 10 min. deadline. That is because when I put the black pearls on for the buttons and lifted the card up, the glue hadn't come off the sheet with the pearls and I had to grab the all purpose glue and do them again. The grey cardstock is SU, red from scrap stash, strips of snowflakes are Washi tape. The snowman is from Tradefish, colored with colored pencils 

Holiday Greetings

This sketch from Tuesday Morning Sketches


Is just tailor made for this inspiration picture from Papercraft Star

It was the 3 windows in a row that caught my eye. So I pulled out colors from the picture to use for the 3 vertical strips.
Papers: SU and Martha Stewart
Label: Spellbinders Nesties, SU frames IP, SU large oval punch
Sentiment: The Angel Company
Other: recycled red ribbon, button, Tim Holtz twine.

Golden Angel

I have been starting on holiday cards for my church's bazaar. So with this week's challenge of things with wings at Tuesday Throwdown my first thought was "Angels".

This angel is one of my very first Christmas stamp purchases. It is from Inkadinkadoo. Here I stamped it on SU night of navy with Versamark ink and then gold embossed it. The "glory to God" is from the Angel Company. A transparent gold ribbon and bow completes the card.
Super easy except for the embossing powder that I always seem to make a mess of all over my desk.
 

The Stockings Were Hung...

A quick card and post of Christmas stockings for Mojo Monday sketch

The background DP and sentiment are from SU. The stockings cut out from a scrap of Christmas paper and strung on twine from Tim Holtz. 

Gift Tags

Tuesday Throwdown challenge this week is "anything goes". So I am entering these cute little Christmas gift tags.  All but that lower center are just 2 1/2" x 5" folded in center.
DPs:  blue dotted from Bo Bunny, scrap pieces
Die: Spellbinders snow flakes
Stamps: The Angel Company, Inkadinkadoo
Other: colored pencils, blue gems, Color Box sky blue ink, blue ribbon from Michael's.
I think now I will have to make some coordinating gift bags to tie these onto.

Snowlady

I have had a hectic weekend so really needed craft room therapy today. The Mojo Monday sketch provided a great opportunity.
I guess it is time to break out the Christmas stamps and paper and start on those holiday cards. So here is mine for the day:

This adorable snowlady is from The Angel Company, colored with colored pencils. The green polka dots and the red polka dot paper are from the scrap bin. Happy Christmas is from SU stamped with lucky limeade. The banner is anchored with 2 green gems.

Quick and easy

This sketch from CAS(E) This Sketch

sure does make for a quick and easy card. Love those that go together quickly.

I was looking for something other than a Nesties label for the design part. I spotted this scrap of airplane paper with the planes in rows inside clouds on aqua polka dotted paper. I was able to use a scallop border guide from Creative Memories to cut a the border above the planes. The DP was just kind of fading into the white so a darker border helps it show up better. Since the humps looked better at the top of the planes, I flipped the sketch. The sentiment is from SU.
Even the inside is CAS. I punched out one of the planes with a cloud punch and lined it with another punched cloud from the aqua. The stamped b'day greeting is from SU.

 

Fall Is Upon Us

Where did the summer go? In southern Indiana it is still warm but you can tell days are getting shorter, nights a bit cooler, and some leaves are beginning to show color.
So it is to be expected we begin to get the "fall theme" challenges like the one this week from The Paper Players.

These DPs are from SU. Actually they are reverse sides of the same paper. The burlap ribbon and button are also SU. The leaf is from a wallpaper border I picked up at a yard sale for 50 cents. The leaves are all green so I sponged some gold, orange, and brown on this one.. The sentiment is from SU also.
And, since it is Tuesday, I used this sketch from Tuesday Morning Sketches

"Owl" be your friend

Okay, I've put it off long enough. Time to drag out the Christmas stamps and start on those Holiday Cards. I was looking around for a stamp to go with the "best friends" challenge from Tuesday Throwdown and found these adorable owls from Art Impressions

Cuttlebug IP of snowflakes make the perfect background for these owls all huddled together to keep warm. Their hats are colored with colored pencils. The "merry" tag is from SU stamped in Rasperry Ripple and tied on with ribbon. The owls all have such big eyes I added googly eyes for a fun factor.
I tried to get the hat colors close to the color challenge at colourQ