12 Weeks ‘Til Christmas

I just about didn’t make it, but I am jumping on the bandwagon and will be blogging each week as we countdown to that glorious celebration of Christ’s birth.  And, it will motivate me to get back to blogging about my favorite hobby of all time – stamping!  And, in particular, stamping with Stampin’ Up! products.  I am so glad that my friend Lisa introduced me to the work of papercrafts.  It has been a wonderful journey and now that I am retired- I can stamp all day long!  What could be better than that?

Anyway, each will I will post a card or two as we countdown the weeks to Christmas.  And, what type card will I start with?  Christmas, you say?  Nope, gonna be a Halloween card and a sister friend card.  These were my “swaps” at the Stampin’ Up! Regional Meeting in Chattanooga last weekend.  I made about 40 and traded for some gorgeous cards.  One or two of them just might show up on here.

 

I was very pleased with how they turned out.  I made rolled roses at night when I was watching TV.  Pretty easy, but I did go through a ton of glue dots!  I used the emboss resist technique on the image.  I embossed it in black, then sponged three different colors to create the background.  The embossing powder “resisted” the ink, thus a pretty background.  I used Rich Razzelberry, Lucky Limeade and More Mustard for the sponging.  This really cute Halloween set, Toxic Treats, is in our Holiday Catalog.  I ran the black layer through the Delicate Designs Textured Impressions Embossing Folder using my Big Shot.  Spooks, Witches and Goblins are one of the images in this set- I just stamped then cut them apart.  I did some sponging on all of the Crumb Cake pieces.  Peaking out at the bottom of the images is a stamp from the Fine Feathers set.  I liked the whimsy it presented.  The pretty shape that everything sits on is one of our newer offerings from the Apothecary Accents Framelits. I love. Just a couple of embellishments- lace ribbon, Crumb Cake seam binding, a First Edition flower, Basic Rhinestones and Pearls finished it well.

I will be back next week with more as we countdown to Christmas.  Thank you for tuning in…

Blessings,

Diane

Stamping 411 Saturday Sketch Challenge and My Crafty Picks

It’s been awhile since I have participated in challenges and now I have done two in two days!  Here is my card for Stamping 411’s Saturday Sketch Challenge #221.  Participating in challenges is a good way to get your creative mojo running and I have enjoyed every minute of it.  Here’s the sketch:

and here’s my card.  I really don’t “do” Halloween, but I loved the owl image in this cute Stampin’ Up! Dark and Dreary stamp set, so I purchased the My Digital Studio digital stamp set just to get this little owl.  The set also comes with the cute sentiment, a raven, spider and a chandelier.  I am kinda addicted to the little rolled roses….tutorial this week, I promise.  Used that cute oval frame embossing folder again along with a couple of images from the Creative Elements set, some Basic Jewel rhinestones and a black pearl (colored with a marker).  The lace is from last year’s Holiday Mini. 

Fellow stamper and Stampin’ Up! demonstrator Tiffany Bauer hosts a terrific blog, My Crafty World, and each week chooses stamping/papercraft creations from around the blogosphere for inclusion in her Sunday My Crafty Picks.  I was so excited to get an email from her this week choosing my Ka-Pow card (in the post below) as one of her picks this week.   Check out the cute little badge on my sidebar.   You can check out her blog and other picks at My Crafty World.  I hope you take a look…she’s terrific.

As always, you can purchase all the product used in this card at my Stampin’ Up! website.  Just click here: