Seeing Stars

Are you ready for my 3rd post for today?   It appears that cleaning my stamp room has really given me some creative energy.  I would wait for next week to post these, but I wanted to get in on time to enter the challenges I designed them for.  :)

The current challenge at Merry Monday is to create a Christmas card with stars.  It gave me the perfect opportunity to play with my adorable Stitched Stars dies from Lil' Inker Designs.

MM#108

Since I had everything out I decided to cut another star for the inside of my card.

I thought the star theme would be fabulous with the sketch from Mojo Monday.  What do you think?  It's a great layout for inlaid die cutting.

MM345

As I was applying glue to the back of one of the stars I saw the pattern on the opposite side and thought it would be super cute on a baby card for my friend who is going to be a Grandma soon.

Isn't it sweet?  She is going to love it!  There was one slight problem with this card and that was the vellum. I hid my adhesive behind the star on the left and the rhinestone on the right, but there were still a couple of spots that were not popped up enough.

My solution was to add more rhinestones under the vellum.  It was a great solution.  

Die Crazy

Third challenge for the third post of the day is over at Simon Says Stamp.  The challenge is to use a diecut on your card.  Seems fitting, doesn't it.

Supplies:

Merry Christmas Card
Stamps: More Merry Messages (SU)
Paper: Crumb Cake, Festival of Prints DSP Stack (SU)
Misc: Stitched Stars Die (Lil' Inker Designs), Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding, Washi Tape

Welcome Little One
Stamps: Big Day~Today (WaltzingMouseStamps)
Paper: Same as above + Vellum Cardstock
Misc: Stitched Stars Die (Lil' Inker Designs), Bashful Blue Satin Ribbon, Basic Rhinestones, Silver Embossing Powder, Clear Foam Tape

Embossed Embossing Paste ~ Video

I've been wanting to make a card like this since I took the Holiday Card Workshop 2013 last fall and watched Debby Hughes do a similar technique.

Yes, the calendar says it is Spring, but the weather is a little more like winter outside.  I thought today was the perfect day to try out this technique and make a Christmas card.

Note:  If you are reading this post in your email or on a reader you may need to visit my blog to view the video above.  :) Click on the post title to go there now.

Isn't that a fun technique?  So many possibilities.

The embossed embossing paste is so pretty and sparkly in real life. I wish I could have captures that in the video, but this close up picture shows it very well.

MM#101

This card is going up in the current Merry Monday challenge.  It's the card I wanted to make earlier in the week, but didn't have time to also film a video for you.

Supplies:
Stamps: More Merry Messages (SU)
Misc: Wooden Bird, Leafy Branch (Savvy Dies), Snowflake Stickers, Dreamweavers White Embossing Paste, Silver Embossing Powder (SU)

Playing Christmas Catch Up

Two days without a post.   Can you guess what I have been doing?  Probably the same things you are...  finishing my Christmas shopping, wrapping presents, mailing packages, sending cards, stressing out, going to a Financial Aid meeting for parents of high school seniors....  Ok, perhaps you didn't have to do that last one.  The week before Christmas they have a meeting to discuss all the costs of college we will be facing next year.   Really?  As if I didn't have enough to worry about.  Sigh.   Good thing I have needed to spend lots of time in my hobby room.  :)  It's my therapy!

I've been making cards, tags and boxes.  I've got my Christmas CDs playing while I work and I find peace while I am creating.  Here's a card I made inspired by Catherine & Mo's "A Very Trendy Holiday" card class.   For some reason I really loved using non-traditional colors.

This is one of those cards that I would like to make again.  I would fix the Raspberry tree on the right side and I would add some sequins.  This card was made in November and I didn't have sequins then.  I kept meaning to make another one and show you the improved version, but time is running out.  :)

Have I shown you my Christmas Deer card yet?  This was a fun card to create. I just sat in my hobby room and played.  If I've already shown it, I apologize, but I didn't want the Christmas season to go by and not show you this one. Remember, if you have a deer stamp they make great masculine cards.  ;)

My plan was to film a video showing you how I created the background added the ribbon, but Christmas snuck up on me and I've been fighting allergies for a couple of weeks.   Perhaps I can show you at a different time using Spring colors and images. For today I am adding this card to this week's Merry Monday challenge.

December comes with a few changes to the Design Team.  First, we have more members so each of us take turns getting a week off.  Today is my off day, so I am going to show you a sneak peek of last week's card.   Which brings me to the second change.  All of my Design Team submissions for StampNation will now be exclusive to StampNation.  Just one of the many perks of being a member is that you get exclusive content. Now the DT content is exclusive too.   It's as though I am a part of a special club.  ha-ha.

Not a member of SN yet?  It's only $9 a month and it is well worth the investment in my "me time".   If you are a member you can see my card along with the rest of the DT and member cards by clicking HERE.   If you would like to see this week's challenge click HERE.  My hope is to show you how I made the tag that is on this Christmas Carol card.  If all goes well I'll even have a video for you. :)

Have I made up for two days without posts?  :)  It's time for me to edit my video that I hope to share with you tomorrow, if I don't fall asleep first.  Above is a sneak peek for the video I will be editing.   I hope you enjoying the magic of this season and that you find a parking space near the entrance next time you head to the store.

Creative Blessings,
Heather North

Oh Christmas Tree

Pretty soon I'm going to have to call my hobby room "The Igloo".  It's in the garage and with the temps dropping into the teens at night it is not warming up in there.  :)    Over the weekend we had our old space heater trying to warm things up.   I think it's time for a new one.

As you can see I was playing with my Pennant Parade stamp set and matching punch.

First I stamped in Old Olive on a scrap piece of paper and punched them out.   Then I stamped off before stamping three pennants on my center panel.  I layered the punched trees on top of the stamped trees, a little offset to give a shadow.

The Seasons of Style DSP says it's green color is Old Olive, but that color didn't look right to me, so I experimented with Gumball Green and came up with this second card.  I really like the placement of the greeting to the side of the forest.

Some of the trees are stamped directly on the paper, others are adhered using tape runner and one of them is popped up with a dimensional.  

Creative Blessings,
Heather North

Pennant Parade

More Merry Messages

Easy Christmas Cards

Still need to make a few Christmas cards, but feeling crunched for time?  Here are some super quick and easy cards I whipped up a couple of days ago.  The Snow Festival Paper makes creating quick cards a snap. 

I love the little details on these cards.  It's a way to add my touch to the design.

The ribbon used in the last card is currently available in the Clearance Rack, while supplies last.  :) 

Creative Blessings,
Heather North





Snow Festival DSP



More Merry Messages



Teacher Appreciation

First I have to send my thoughts and prayers to those who have been affected by the shooting in Connecticut.  My heart goes out to those families who have lost loved ones and all the children, staff and parents of Sandy Hook Elementary.  I cannot even imagine what you all must be going through, but my heart breaks for you.

Over the weekend we spent lots of time as a family.  I thanked the Lord for all the years I've been able to have my children in my life.  We watched The Hobbit in a private showing with about 30 other people on Saturday.  It was so fun to have the theater all to ourselves, even though we had to get there before 9am.  ;)  Saturday afternoon our power went out for a couple of hours.  It came back on, so I threw dinner in the oven and it went back off again.  My honey plugged in the generator, we re-heated pizza in the microwave and watched another movie as a family. 

 

Sunday was spent going to church and doing some Holiday baking.   The kids helped me make some chocolate dipped pretzel sticks.  Sooooooo yummy!  I asked my son which friends he wanted to give them to and he said he wanted to give them to his teachers.  In light of the 6 teachers/staff who gave their lives trying to protect their students I think giving these pretzel treats to his teachers is a great idea!

After putting the treats in the bag I added our homemade gift cards with some baker's twine. 

Teachers work hard and I am so thankful for the time and care they give to the children in our community.  It's always a good idea to let them know that.

Creative Blessings,
Heather North



Snow Festival





More Merry Messages




Cherry Cobbler Baker's Twine



Retro Reindeer

This card was super easy to make thanks to SU products.  If you are looking for quick Christmas cards to make, this card might just be for you.

 

To make it even easier you can use the sketch I did from Retro Sketches.

Even the inside was quickly decorated.  Easy does not mean ugly though.   I think this card is super cute!

 

Some of the layers are popped up on dimensionals. 

Creative Blessings,
Heather North

Ribbon: Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding
Ink & Paper: Gumball Green plus items below


Snow Festival DP Tags




More Merry Messages



Snow Festival DSP




Natural Composition Specialty Paper