Falling Leaves

Fall is upon us. We are beginning to get those cool nights, rainy days that make the leaves turn color.

Time to make those Thanksgiving cards.

I used 2 designer papers form SU's Serene Scenery paper pack on a Kraft card base. The vertical strip was run through big shot with the Woodlands folder. I used a q-tip and Chocolate Chip ink to stain the trees so they would stand out. Then stamped falling leaves from the Holiday Home set. I don't have any of the SU leave and die sets so I used some old leaf stamps in Pumpkin Pie, Delightful Daffodil, and Real Red and then fussy cut them. Running a coordinating marker around the edges hides any white edge still showing. I often do that with die cuts too. The sentiment banner was done on the computer and sponged on the edges with Baked Brown Sugar. Inside, I stamped more of the falling leaves around a sentiment I did on the computer.

I used the sketch from Pals Paper Arts

Gingerbread Dude

What could be cuter than a gingerbread boy decked out in his red bow tie?

Combining CASology challenge word of the week

And using the sketch from The Paper Players


The DSP is from SU after Christmas sale last year. The gingerbread boy and bow tie are from Cookie Cutter Christmas which comes with a punch to cut out your cookies.(new in the 2016 Christmas book), I mounted the cookie on a die cut oval. Sentiment is also SU from a couple of years ago. It is hard to detect in the picture, I used the Falling Snow impression folder on the white background strip.

Thanksgiving

Send A Smile 4 Kids challenge is fall colors for kids.
This image is actually a Halloween digi stamp at From The Heart but since the pumpkins are not jack-o-lanterns, it is adaptable for Thanksgiving also.

I printed and colored the image. Then to make more of a harvest moon, I die cut a circle of SU's Delightful Daffodil and sponged on some Pumpkin Pie ink. Then I cut a notch to fit around the owl's ear and glued it in place. I made a pattern by die cutting a vellum circle and using it to mark the notch. The sentiment is from The Angel Company. The art piece is then mounted on a Kraft background and then a Pumpkin Pie card base.
Inside is my own sentiment done on the computer:  "owl" always be thankful for you.
I am also posting to Global Design Project for their Random Acts Of Kindness challenge.

More Cool Yule

I so love this Cool Deer stamp from Crackerbox Palace. It makes me chuckle everytime I look at it.

While I had it out yesterday, I had to make more cards with it. This one is for Freshly Made Sketches challenge sketch

I stamped the image and sentiment on white scraps. Colored the reindeer with colored pencils and then cut it out around the circle. I die cut a circle frame from a blue sparkly paper scrap which framed out the image perfectly. The snowflake paper is from SU on sale after Christmas last year. I die cut the sentiment, covered the cool with a clear star gel pen and added Snow Marker to the top edges. 3 snowflakes with Martha Stewart punch accent the edges. After assembly, I added glossy accents to the shades and Wink of Stella to the nose.
I think I like the one with snowflakes best. Here is the one I did yesterday

Cool Yule

I love this cool reindeer dude and his sentiment.

They are both stamps from Crackerbox Palace. I stamped them on white scraps, cut out the reindeer circle and die cut a circle around the sentiment. The deer is colored with pencils, Glossy accents on the glasses, and Wink of Stella on the nose. I used a clear star gel pen to cover the word cool and used Snow marker on the top edges. The DSP is from SU. The green sparkly ribbon from WalMart. The photo doesn't show it, but I covered the gold light bulbs with the clear star gel pen to give some glow to the background.
I used the sketch from Tuesday Morning Sketches

Sequin Shakers

The challenge this week at Just Us Girls is to use sequins.

I bought a Project Life pack of holiday items from the clearance rack of SU because it had a lot of things I thought I could use on tags. There were several acrylic sheets and small design papers that turned into fun shaker cards. The image in the frame is of holly branches with snow and the sentiment Jolly Holliday. There are white dot snowflakes on the acrylic sheet. The holly background paper is from last year's SU catalog after Christmas sale. The green stitched frame is with a Lawn Fawn die. Can't see the sequins here but I used red/green/clear assortment of sequins from my stash.
Here are the other 2 shaker cards I made with supplies from the Project Life kit.

Witch's Shoes

I have already made and sent Halloween cards to my contact for Send A Smile 4 Kids but wanted to share this card I made for my granddaughter for their Halloween for Kids challenge.

This is actually clip art. I put witch's shoes in search line and this was the cutest one. I added the sentiment under the image and printed it out on white cardstock. There were silver buckles on the shoes but I colored over them with purple gel star pen to add sparkle. Then, I mounted that on some green sparkly paper and added a strip of purple sparkle paper below the image. Then mounted it all on a white card base. Inside is that little poem I remember saying as a kid. I don't know if they still say that now but I thought it appropriate here. I added a strip of the purple and green sparkles papers inside too.

A little hint about sparkly papers: The green one tended to shed its sparkles all over the place. I took the sheet outside, laid it on newspapers and lightly sprayed with clear acrylic spray. Problem solved! No more shedding.

The Stockings Were Hung

At a trade show last spring, I found the cutest stamps by Riley and Company. They have the some really fun animals including this line of Riley the Moose

I colored the image with pencils then cut it out to hang on the mantle. The stocking is tacked up there with a brass brad. I added some Martha Stewart punched snowflakes to decorate the stocking and put some glitter glue on them for sparkle. The brick paper is from my stash. The mantle is a strip of scrap that I ran through Big Shot with a Sizzix wood folder. Then I sponged on some SU Chocolate Chip to bring out the grain. The sentiment is done via computer.

Inside I did a sentiment from my Hallmark home program and added a little holly accent.

The layout is the upside down sketch from Freshly Made Sketches

Rockin' Frosty

I have trouble coming up with cards for preteens and teens but I, like totally, think this one will do it!

It was easy with the digi image by From The Heart Stamps. Frosty rockin' his play list--what could be more teen? I colored the image with colored pencils and Tombow markers. The papers are from Hobby Lobby. The snowflakes, a Martha Stewart punch.The central image is popped up with foam tape.
Inside, I stamped some snowflakes above the SU sentiment. Keeping it terse and to the point as teen's don't elaborate much--with adults anyway.

I used the sketch from Tuesday Morning Sketches

This was a great, easy sketch to work with. I will be keeping this in my file to use again.

Cowboy Christmas

Do you have friends in warm climates that your usual snow, snowmen, snowflake, and winter scenes do not seems just right?
For my friends in Texas:

I used a Kraft card base. The wood background is from SU's Serene Scenery paper stack. I free hand cut and lightly colored the snow piles. The snowman is stamped and cut with SU's Snow Place set. I used the scarf die to cut the scarf from a scrap of red bandana paper. The cowboy hat is clip art, printed and fussy cut. Howdy is Die Versions. I added some puff snow to the edges. Punched snowflakes are Martha Stewart. Not likely to have snow in Houston for Chrismas but I know they will love this card.
None of my stamps seemed appropriate so I made up this sentiment and did it on the computer.

If you squint a little and cock your head, you might see how I was inspired by this sketch from Little Tangles