Autumn Blessings to You

When I was at the StampNation Dream Team retreat in September I had the priviledge of stamping with all of Michele's stamps from CAS-ual Fridays Stamps.  How much fun is that?!  I found her stamps so easy to work with that I placed an order as soon as I got home.  Calm & Gentle was one of the sets I ordered.  Michele gave us all Autumn Blessings as a gift.  <3

Last month I made a card for breast cancer awareness using the same tree stamp.  I love that I can get a completely different look just by changing the colors I use.  Clicky if you missed that card.

Stamps: Autumn Blessings, Calm & Gentle (CAS-ual Fridays Stamps)

Ink: Cajun Craze, Hello Honey, Real Red, Soft Suede, Tangelo Twist (Stampin' Up!)
Paper: Whisper White (SU)
Accessories: Blueprints 24 Dies(My Favorite Things) Circle Framelits (SU) Leaf Brad (misc.)

Lovely Snowflake Christmas Card

This week I have been traveling down to CA to see my family and new baby niece.  <3  I hope to have lots of pictures to share with you when I get back.  In the meantime I have another Clean and Simple Christmas card that will be perfect for mailing.  No bumpy/lumpy things to stop up the machines.

I'm linking up to the CAS-ual Fridays challenge to add a little metal.  Those tiny diamonds were die cut out of red foil paper.  The camera didn't even come close to capturing the sparkle of this card.

Stamps: Lovely Snowflake (CAS-ual Fridays Stamps) Scenery: Holiday Trimmings (Winnie & Walter)
Ink: Real Red, Soft Sky (Stampin' Up!)
Paper: Whisper White, Red Foil (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Wink of Stella Glitter pen,  Little Bits Dies (Neat & Tangled)

More CASEing Christmas

Have you checked out the CASEing Christmas class?  I have been so inspired by what Maureen and Catherine and the other members at StampNation have been creating.  I will be sharing a couple of my CASEs very soon.  Here is a sneak peek at day 10.

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)

Sew Saturday ~ Baby Blanket Progress

I've made great progress on my quilt for my new niece, Meeka.  First I have to share a recent picture my mom sent.  If all goes well I will be wrapping Meeka and her quilt in my arms next week.  <3 

Ready for her first photo shoot

Meeka came home from the hospital on Halloween.  Cutest treat ever!

Nothing I make can compare to her cuteness, but I am trying.  I really struggled with the layout of this quilt. Once I sewed the blocks together and put them on the design wall they were overpowering.  It felt more like a quilt for a toddler or preschooler than a newborn.

The first thing I did was take away some of the blocks. I wanted to add in more "white space".

This was a bit better, but my eye was drawn to those dark navy blocks, so I took them out and it made a big difference.  Suddenly the quilt had a "softer" look to it.

I don't have Meeka with me to test it out, so I decided to take the onesie I just bought her and see if it looked good against the quilt. 

Oh yeah, much better.  The shirt says "My Auntie is My BFF"  <3 <3 <3.   This looks more like a baby quilt now that I have taken out several blocks and removed the dark navy pieces.

How are you doing on your A Lovely Year of Finishes goal this month? I think I will get mine done.  I'm really looking forward to having pictures of Meeka on her quilt soon!  <3

Blessings to You

Autumn is my favorite time of year.  The air turns crisp and cool, the shadows lengthen in the afternoon and the leaves put on a spectacular show of color. It is also the season of thankfulness.  

I made this card for my grandma.  She is in an assisted living home and doesn't have a lot of space for decorations, but handmade cards can sit on her dresser and brighten her room.  <3  

It just so happens that my card fits the CAS-ual Chic challenge with those gold foil dots on vellum from DCWV.  My little leaves were made after seeing Maureen Merritt use her Kaleidacolor ink pad to color leaves.  Who knew purple, olive green, brown and navy could look so good?

Before I go I wanted to let you know that my card for the CASEing Christmas class over at StampNation went up yesterday.  Sorry I didn't post about it yesteday. I've been battling a cough/cold, and spent most of yesterday in bed.  My card is on the right with a glitter Twisted Inlaid die cut technique.  That little star snowflake is from the Funky Flakes Fri-Dies from CAS-ual Fridays.  Michele made it for the Stamp of Approval collection and will be releasing it in her shop sometime in 2016.  

Stamps: Autumn Blessings (CAS-ual Fridays Stamps) Forever Fall (Reverse Confetti)
Ink: Vineyard (Kaleidacolor) Crumb Cake (Stampin' Up!)
Paper: Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Whisper White (SU) Foiled Vellum Stack (DCWV)
Accessories: Scallop Tags Fri-Dies, Acorn Fri-Dies (CAS-ual Fridays Stamps) Early Espresso Taffeta Ribbon, Burlap Ribbon (SU)

CASEing Christmas with a Twist

Right now over at StampNation we have a very fun event going on.  It's called CASEing Christmas.  Each day a design team member CASEs (Copy And Share Everything) the card from the previous day and shares a video of the process.  Today I am CASEing Catherine's card with a Twisted Inlaid Snowflake Die Cut.  

The card on the left is Catherine's.  The card on the right is my CASE of her card.   Hop on over to StampNation and play along.  It's so much fun being CASEd and seeing what others create using the same inspiration as a starting point. 

CASEing Christmas Day 1

There is a new class starting Today over at StampNation called CASEing Christmas.  The idea is to take a card and either...

-Change at least 3 things

or

-Use 3 things as inspiration

...and then make a new card.  CASE is defined as
Copy
And
Share
Everything

For Day 1 Catherine Pooler has taken a card she made earlier in the year and redesigned it to make it into a Christmas card.  Here is a sneak peek.

Tomorrow Maureen Merritt will CASE Catherine's card and use it for inspiration to make her own Christmas card.

Each day there will be a new card and video explaining the process.  Best news of all...

IT'S FREE TO ALL STAMPNATION MEMBERS!!!!

All you have to do is log on to the home page and the newest videos will be there.   If you are not yet a member you can sign up now by going to http://catherinepooler.com/stampnation/   The cost of membership is less than a traditional class, and you will get FULL access to the site.  It's a great time to join.

p.s.  My CASE will be up on Thursday, and I still haven't seen how it was CASEd.  ;)   I'll be tuning in on Friday to see who CASEd me and what she made.  

Cardinal Christmas ~ SC116

Today a new challenge is going up at the Stampin' Celebration Inspiration challenge.  Check out the photo and see how I was inspired.

My card was colored with Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers.  Did you know you can color with them without adding water?  They blend really way. I colored the background by doing a water wash with my paint brush and picking up ink for the yellow and watercolor paint for the blue.

My plan was to stamp a bird in canary yellow to match the colors in the photo, but I what came out of my pen was a cardinal.  There is a good explanation.  I grew up in the small town of Corning, CA.  Our small claim to fame is Jeff Stover who played for the San Francisco 49ers.  Football was big in our little town and it still is.  Our high school mascot was the Cardinal.  Every time I see one of those beautiful red birds I feel a bit of nostalgia and pride for my hometown.  Allow me a moment here to share a photo and story for last week's football game.

Corning High Alumni and 2-time Super Bowl Champion with the San Francisco 49ers, Jeff Stover was at Cardinal Stadium to give Corning Union High School a Golden Football presented by the National Football League commemorating its 50th NFL season.

Be sure to hop on over to the Stampin' Celebration blog to see what the rest of the design team has created and to leave them some love.   You have 12 days to play along and link up your projects.


Stamps: Beauty of the Season, Reason for the Season (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Black Licorice Hybrid (My Favorite Things) 60, 22, 50, 52, 10 (Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers) Vintage Photo (Distress Marker)
Paper: Bristol Watercolor (Strathmore)  Whisper White Thick, Polka Dot Parade DSP (SU)
Accessories: White Baker's Twine (SU) Yellow Stickles

Strathmore Bristol Pad 9x12

Ranger Stickles, Yellow

ZIG Clean Color Real Brush Marker 060, Brown

ZIG Clean Color Real Brush Marker 022, Carmine Red

ZIG Clean Color Real Brush Marker 050, Yellow

ZIG Clean Color Real Brush Marker 052, Bright Yellow

ZIG Clean Color Real Brush Marker 010, Black

Ranger Distress Marker, Vintage Photo

Loew-Cornell Simply Art Watercolor Paint Cakes 36/Pkg

Sew Sunday ~ Meet Meeka ~ ALYOF November Goals

My finish this month is a special one and it has to be done soon!  My new niece was born last week and I am traveling down to California to meet her.  I really want to bring her quilt with me.  Indulge a new auntie here for a moment and allow me to introduce to you Meeka Genevieve Anastasia Jobe.

My brother and his 3 day old daughter

Ready to go home

I originally bought soft pastel fabric for her quilt and then discovered that her mom likes bright bold colors and animals, so I switched it up and went with the Wildflower Meadow from Riley Blake. 

Here is my progress so far.  I just need to trim all my blocks, sew them together and quilt it this week.  That's not asking too much is it?  I attach the binding while I am down there visiting.  If I don't get it done in time for my visit I can always send it down later, but I am making this my goal for November with Melissa & Shanna at A Lovely Year of Finishes.

November Goals

Here is my progress.  I have more blocks sewn, but need to make sure the rest are square before I sew them together.  With any luck I will have the top done by tomorrow.