Downhill

Remember my very first post? I had started a card, playing with my new color cored cardstock from Coredinations, but hadn't finished it.

Well, it's done! I added this cute little skiing snowman from Northwoods that I colored with watercolor pencils and a water brush. I cut out the snowman and put pop dots on his back side. I added some torn white paper in layers for snow...and it's finished. It only took me a couple of months. tee hee.

I am supposed to be working on Thanksgiving cards this weekend, but all this blustery, wintery weather has got me in the mood for snowy cards.

Wishing you...snowflakes

Last one for the night. (I think) ;o)

This was just too easy and I love the look A LOT.

First of all, have I told you all how much I love my Cuttlebug?? I do...and you just can't beat the dry embossing. The other thing I really love is the Cut 'n Dry felt pads from Ranger. I don't use anything else any more when I am adding color to the edge of a card or just grunging it up a bit. I also used it to add a touch of color to the raised parts of the dry embossing and it worked beautifully. I cut my felt into 1.25 inch squares, then just drag or tap them on my ink pads. I like the small square size because it gives me more control, and I can use a real light touch or get rough if I need to for the look I want. Love, love, love them!

That snowflake on the top of the card is a button. I found these wonderful flat back buttons at Wal Mart a few weeks ago. They had them in white and silver, and each bag has two sizes. They seem to be perfect for adding just a touch more dimension to the card. I love the soft colors.

I seem to be using lots of snowflakes today. I guess I really don't mind snow, as long as it is outside and I am inside..and WARM! LOL

sage flowers

This card just happened.

The flower images here, by Close To My Heart, are what I originally wanted to put on the first card when the color combination was sage and navy. I didn't really like the way that looked together. The sage layer with the rope border punch was just me playing around, but I loved the way it looked. So, while I had all the pieces just hangin' around my table...they ended up coming together in a card! It's so much fun when that happens! The colors in real life are just so striking together, they really pop and look great together.

Here is the second card made with one of the medallion parts. The navy blue center that the snowflake is attached to is the center that was cut out of the 2.25 inch medallion I tried this morning.
I stamped the background on this one, and used white embellishments instead of silver. Still using the Denim Adirondack ink and added to the edges. I am loving the look of that Denim ink on the edges.
The "Wishing you..." stamp is from Close to my Heart and inside it says "a Merry little Christmas". Both stamped in the Denim Adirondack ink.
Okay...off to play some more!

Snowflake Medallion

Here's my first creation with this really fun technique.

This is the 3 inch square punched with the rope border punch by Fiskars. The medallion is a deep navy blue. I really liked the navy blue on the sage green that I had together when I was figuring out the square size, an had plans to use some sort of flower in the center of the medallion. I just couldn't get that to work in my head....and I kept hearing my mind whisper "snowflakes". So I grabbed my beautiful snowflake stamps from Stubby Stampers. I love my snowflakes from stubby. I used Denim Adirondack ink to stamp the snowflake and to pull ink in around the edges. I needed to find another color to keep things exciting on this card between the blue and white...and the inspiration for that came from my friend Bibi in Norway. She sent me the most amazing Christmas card...back in June, I think. Bibi used this same color combination...white, navy blue and turquoise/teal. I love the way the colors pop, and make the white seem so cool, crisp and clean. I added the silver brads because they seemed to give it an even more "icy" feel, and the dry embossed snowflakes make it even crisper.

Snow Day!!

I know it's been a really long time since I've posted anything. Life, love, kids, work...they just all take a lot of time and attention. I'm not complaining, I enjoy all of them most of the time, but some days it can be overwhelming and I don't get the chance to create like I would like. (I'm sure there are plenty of you out there that understand that completely)

But...today is a SNOW DAY for me! Most of the state is covered in blowing snow, so I get to stay home and play.

A few days ago someone from a rubberstamping list I am on (YAY RST!) posted this technique from SplitCoastStampers.

I'm a gadget girl....love to have lots of toys. And ever since I saw that technique, I have been trying to figure out how to get my hands on that scallop punch. Money is so very tight and I really can't justify another purchase. Well, the light came on at 4:36 AM this morning! I remembered the Fiskars Rope border punch I had...and started to wonder what that would look like for this technique. The idea rattled around in my head until I couldn't take it anymore and had to run to the stamp room. I didn't want to take the time to boot up my computer to get the dimensions...so I just winged it. I grabbed a long chunk of navy blue from the scrap bin. Then I measured the punch...it was exactly 2 inches wide. I cut a 2.25 inch square, a 2.5 inch square, and still had some navy blue left over, so was able to make a 3 inch square.

The top one here is the 2.25 inch square. As you can see, it was a bit too small. But I kinda like the pieces it made. Same with the 2.5 inch square. The top one has a great little frame with a bit of fun punched in the corners, the second one gives you a perfect 2.5 inch frame. The stuff that falls out of the middle looks like it could be a fun layer on cards, too...or you can turn them a bit and put them inside of the frame. Lots of different options, I think.

The bottom one, the 3 inch square is the one that worked like it was supposed to. I can't wait to make something out of it!

I'm so happy it's a snow day!! I'll be posting later to let you know what the day produced.