Gold Snowflakes

This is the card I made for Tuesday Morning Sketches.

Sorry it is not a really good photo but it is so difficult to photograph shiny gold. No amount of editing makes it looks as good as real life.
I love the look of Kraft, white, and gold.  I used a MS punch for the border of the gold strip. Used an old snowflake die for the circle. The circle was run through Falling Snow folder from SU. The sentiment is also SU done in gold embossing. Hero Arts snowflake background stamp and white ink was used on the Kraft base. I used the punched out small snowflakes as embellishments.  It is an optical illusion--looks like the sentiment strip is on top of the circle but it actually is under it.
Here is the sketch

Warm Woolen Mittens

Isn't warm woolen mittens part of "My Favorite Things" in Sound of Music?  Well, darn, now I have that song stuck in my head the rest of the day. This DP from Stampin' Up! reminds me of that song.

The sentiment is from Snowflake Sentiments. Your hands are surely wrapped in the warmth of Christmas in these woolen mittens.  I added some red/white twine under the sentiment like the string holding the mittens together.  Even twined together like that, my kids still seemed to lose mittens.
A sparkly red heart adds even more love.
I used the sketch from Global Design Project.

Christmas Forest

I have had a panel of forest trees sitting in my scrap bin for a bit and have been wanting to do something with it. Also was looking for inspiration to use the green houndstooth print. This The Paper Players challenge sketch this week inspired me to use both.

The papers and sentiment are all from SU. The trees are stamped with Lemon Lime Twist in the background and then Mossy Green in front. Hard to see but there is a thin gold layer behind the trees and the sentiment. Inside:

Here is the Paper Players sketch

"Owie"

A good friend fell and broke her elbow. It needed surgery with pins so she is in a cast. I made her a special card to go with the pot of vegetable soup I am taking to her.

The paper is from SU. The bear is an old unbranded stamp. After coloring it with pencils, I punched slits along the arm and tied some trimmed down gauze around the elbow. The sentiment is SU.
Here is the inside:

The band-aid is a Lawn Fawn stamp.
I used the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches

Buddy the Elf

I have a fun card for the kids for Send A Smile 4 Kids Early Holiday Wishes for kids challenge.  It really is not too early to start on those holiday card as they need to be sent in time for the volunteers to send them to the hospitals.  Need to get them done too before the craziness of holiday prep starts. If you have extra cards, consider this project.  Check out their guidelines.

I did the sentiment on the computer and stamped the Stampendous elf next to it.  I colored the elf with colored pencils in the Buddy the Elf colors. Added some musical notes from a Lawn Fawn set. The DP is from a SU paper stack.
Inside I did a Christmas song in all caps and bold to indicate singing loud and accented with some sparkly musical note stickers.

Crafty Snowman

Have you seen those snowmen at craft shows made from barn wood? They are so cute. That is the inspiration of my card today.

The papers are from a Bo Bunny paper pack. The sentiment from SU. Martha Stewart punch for the snowflakes.
Sketch from CAS(E) this Sketch

Believe

I have been making Christmas cards like crazy getting ready for my church's bazaar in November.

I finished this one yesterday. Little bear looks so astounded that Santa left him some gifts. It just fits the challenge at Just Us Girls

The DP is from BoBunny. The polar bear from Memory Box. The Santa sleigh is an old SU stamp. 

Believe die from Little Yellow Bicycle. The little boxes from a Newton's Nook set. 

Inside I punched a snowflake from the DP and coated it with clear glitter glue. I did the sentiment on the computer. 

Naughty Newton

Dear Newton, you certainly do have some 'splainin' to do. This is a great card for the kitty loving friends. When I had cats, it was almost impossible to keep them out of the Christmas tree.

 The kitten image is from Newton's Nook. The sentiment from Print Works Collection was found at Hobby Lobby. The papers are scraps from SU. A little trick: If I had used the next size up oval for a background, it would have been too big. So I die cut 2 of the same size ovals and offset them a bit. Gives an anchor without taking up much space.
The layout is this week's sketch at Freshly Made Sketches

Boy Birthdays

My grandson will be 12 soon. He and his family have been displaced by Hurricane Harry.  Thankfully, they had only minimal flooding and have been able to find housing and starting the clean up in their home. So many will be forever recovering from this devastation.
He was born just prior to Hurricane Rita. Fortunately as a newborn, his house was not affected.
I am just feeling bad that I am so far away and cannot go help them out.
So a very special card for you Andrew

I think pre-teen boys are so difficult to design cards for. This stripe paper from My Favorite Things paper pack makes just the right background. The "phone" is from a new SU set called Text Ya Later. It has lots of sayings & emojis. So fun!  Inside I did my own message and added more emojis.

I used the sketch layout from Freshly Made Sketches

Another boy card with the same sketch.

These images and sentiments are from Newton's Nook.

Seagulls

The Stampin' Up! stamp set Wetlands is a great one for masculine cards.

The tags are 2 inch strips with SU's tag topper punch on the top. I sponged the front tag with Crumb Cake and Pool Party before stamping the seagulls. The sun is from Swirly Bird. I like the look of double tags so used a Pool Party back one. I stamped the sea oats on the edge of it to peek out behind the front one. The wood DP is from ms. sparkle & co. paper pack from Joann's. The wood cross piece is from scraps. Raffia and twine tie up the 2 tags. The sentiment is also from Wetlands.
The inside has a computer generated sentiment with a sun and sea oats stamps accents.

The layout is this weeks challenge sketch at Tuesday Morning Sketches

Since I used a punch on the tag top, I am also linking up to Tuesday Throwdown challenge to use punches or dies.