Winners Announced & Labor Day Sale

Happy Friday everyone!  Lots of news to share with you today.

First up, the new Stampin' Up Holiday catalog is live! You can see everything online now.  Clicky

Second, Ellen Hutson is having a HUGE labor day weekend sale!!!!  Shop early for best selection.  Clicky

Third, there is a new inspiration photo up at StampNation that I think you are going to love!  My card turned out nothing like the card I planned, but my stamps had a mind of their own when I went to the stamp table.  ;)  Does that ever happen to you? Here's my sneak peek.

Stamps: Holiday Trimmings, Ring in the Celebration (Winnie & Walter)
Ink: Daffodil Delight, Pacific Point, Real Red (Stampin' Up) Black (Staz-On) Ombre Ink Pad (Hero Arts)
Paper: Whisper White (SU)

And last, but certainly not least, Catherine has announced the winners of her store opening blog hop!!!  Are you one of them? Clicky to find out.

Happy Friday, Happy Labor Day Weekend to my American friends,  and Happy Shopping!!!

Love Ya Valentine ~ Video

There is a fun Facebook group called Stamp Junkies and they are running a challenge sponsored by CASual Fridays Stamps.  The theme is RED and I immediately thought of the bold Love Ya sentiment I have from Casual Fridays.  I wanted it to be on a soft pink background, and this is the card I came up with.

Here's my video showing you how I made this valentine card for my love.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_-bJuPUnb0

In the close up you can see how some of the distress ink smeared when it came in contact with the wet glue.  It adds "character" to this piece.  (that's my story and I'm sticking to it)  You can also see some of the glossy texture added with the embossing paste and glossy accents.

Stamps: Girlfriend (CASual Fridays Stamps) Scenery: Holiday Trimmings (Winnie & Walter for SOA)

Ink: Festive Berries, Picked Raspberry, Spun Sugar (Distress Inks) Onyx Black (Versafine)

Paper: Whisper White

Accessories: Harleen Stencil (Winnie & Walter for Stamp of Approval - Young at Heart) Love Ya Fri-Die (CASual Fridays Stamps), Translucent Embossing Paste (Wendi Vechi) Glossy Accents

Ranger Distress Ink Pad, Spun Sugar

Ranger Distress Ink Pad, Picked Raspberry

Ranger Distress Ink Pad, Festive Berries

3M Post-It Adhesive Roll, White, 1x400 in

Studio 490 Embossing Paste by Wendy Vecchi, Translucent

My Favorite Things Die-namics, Blueprints 20

Ranger Ink Blending Tool, 1 Inch Round

VersaFine Ink Pad, Onyx Black

Black Velvet Watercolor Brushes, Short Round 8

Ranger Accents, Mini Glossy Accents

Ranger Multi Medium, Matte Mini, 1/2 oz.

Ranger Multi Medium, Matte With Brush, 1 oz.

Easy Watercolored Snowflake + SOA Giveaway

Someone told me Christmas is only 11 days away!  Yikes!  I spent last week with my extended family in CA and I am way behind on all my Christmas activities here at home.  The time spent with my new niece, Meeka, was worth letting a few other things go back home.

Meeka did not want to dress up early for Christmas.

My card today was originally made for CASEing Christmas.  At the time it was going to be a paid class and my card did not quite fit Catherine's vision for the class.  She gave me a couple of suggestions and I ended up with a CASE of a CASE and a cool Twisted Inlaid Die Cut technique.  

That left me with this video of my watercolor snow flurries, so I decided to share it with you.  I discovered a neat trick completely by accident.  Watch the video below to learn more.

Direct Video Link 

Catherine Pooler is doing a giveaway on her blog.  Now is your chance to earn a FREE (not yet released) Stamp Of Approval box.  The new one comes out in January and you can win one before you can buy one.  How cool is that??!!!  Clicky to go to CP's blog to learn more.

Stamps: Bring On the Snowflakes (CAS-ual Fridays for SOA) Scenery: Holiday Trimmings (Winnie & Walter for SOA)
Ink: Versamark, Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers #31, #32

Paper: Misc. Glitter Swirl Paper (JoAnne's) Whisper White (SU)
Accessories: Silver Embossing Powder (SU) MISTI, Aquapainter

Clean and Simple Merry Monday

Christmas will be here before we know it.  Are you ready to send out those Christmas cards?  Me neither.  This Clean & Simple design would be easy to mass produce.

Are you looking for more ideas to spark your holiday creativity?  Check out the CASEing Christmas class going on for FREE right now for all StampNation members.  Here is a sneak peek of today's CASEings.

Stamps: Scenery: Holiday Trimmings (Winnie & Walter for SOA)

Ink: Versamark
Paper: Whisper White (SU)
Accessories: Metallic Platinum Sparkle Embossing Glitter (WOW) Happy Holidy Die, Little Bits Dies (Neat & Tangled)

Merry Tuesday (x3)

When it comes to stores putting out Christmas decorations in August and September I am vehemently opposed, but as crafters we need a little extra time to make our projects so they will be on time for Christmas.  It was only October 3rd when I saw this monstrosity at Lowe's.  <shake my head>  Told DH NO!!!! That's just wrong in any season! Although, it might be a fun gift for my father in law.  lol  He loves fishing...

Big Bass Santa

 Now that we are in October, you will likely see Christmas cards from me a couple of times a week, at least, as I work to get all my cards made.  Today I'm super inspired by the Merry Monday challenges and have 3 cards to show you.  :)

MM#173

First is this card I made for last week's Merry Monday Challenge: Rainbow Christmas.  I used the Stitched Alphabet Upper stamp set from Whimsy stamps and colored each letter in using my Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers.  Next I took my Wink of Stella glitter pen and smoothed them out.  Sorry the camera didn't pick up the sparkles.  I'm having a "throw your camera out the window in frustration" type of day. 

If you look closely at the top of my card you will also see a sneak peek of the soon to be released Stamp of Approval: Holiday Magic collection.  I just love the little star banners that come in the Scenery: Holiday Trimmings set from Winnie & Walter.  <3

Stamps: Scenery: Holiday Trimmings (Winnie & Walter for SOA); Stitched Alphabet Upper (Whimsy Stamps)
Ink: 32, 22, 52, 50, 40 (Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers); Onyx Black (Versafine); Golden Glitz, Silvery Shimmer (Delicata)
Paper: Basic Black, Whisper White Thick, Red Foil (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Merry & Bright Die (Essentials by Ellen); Clear Embossing Powder (SU); MISTI; Black & White Twine (Doodlebug)

MM#174

If you check out the challenge blog you will see I was completely inspired by Kristie's card.  She was working on this card when we were together last week at a StampNation Design Team retreat.  I should have paid more attention to what she was doing, because then I would have known she embossed her image to get it a bright white.  Anyway, I was in my stamp room yesterday and decided to pull out my Heartfelt Holiday stamp set and make 2 cards.  One with Crumb Cake cardstock and the other with white.  

As I was trying to stamp the hearts inside the mugs on the Kraft card I made a little boo-boo.  To cover it up I decided to try out the tiny heart in the Little Bits die collection from Neat & Tangled (also in the SOA: Holiday Magic Collection)  They fit perfectly!  How cool is that?  Whenever I cut out those little bits I save the extras, and since the gold hearts were also sitting on my table I decided to add them to the card. Hopefully my card isn't too much of a CASE of Kristie.  It's difficult to make the same images look different when you are working in the same color pallet.  

Stamps: Heartfelt Holiday (Wplus9); Lovely Snowflake (CAS*ual Fridays Stamps)
Ink: Crumb Cake, Real Red (Stampin' Up!); White (Simon Says Stamp)
Paper: Crumb Cake, Gold Glimmer Paper, Red Foil Paper, Whisper White (SU)
Accessories: Little Bits (Neat & Tangled for SOA); Stitched Square Frames (My Favorite Things)

WPlus9 Design Studio Clear Stamps, Heartfelt Holiday

Essentials by Ellen Designer Dies, Merry & Bright by Julie Ebersole

My Favorite Things Die-namics, Stitched Square Frames

ZIG Clean Color Real Brush Marker 032, Persian Blue

ZIG Clean Color Real Brush Marker 052, Bright Yellow

ZIG Clean Color Real Brush Marker 050, Yellow

ZIG Clean Color Real Brush Marker 040, Green

ZIG Clean Color Real Brush Marker 022, Carmine Red

Doodle Twine Spool, Beetle Black

VersaFine Ink Pad, Onyx Black