Christmas Card Challenges #5

Happy New Year to all my blog followers and especially my newest Bloglovin' follower, Chris B (btw, your cards are AMAZING Chris).

I can't believe how fast the past two weeks flew by. I'm so glad the Christmas Card Challenges Design Team was able to take a little break; but now we're back at it full-force.

Each week, the challenge is to create a holiday or Christmas card. There'll also be an optional challenge. At the end of the week, the Design Team will select the Weekly Winner and the Top Three from all entries.

This week it's an optional Color Challenge.



I really needed several Christmas Thank You Cards and the color challenge worked perfectly.



Although you can't tell by the picture, the dark grey (it looks black) and the burgundy are shimmer cardstock. So is the silver/grey die cut "thanks" (Simon Says Stamp!).  I stamped the snowflake onto the silver/grey shimmer cardstock and heat embossed it with Smoky Slate Stampin' Up! Embossing Powder.  The snowflake stamp and die cut are Festive Flurry by Stampin' Up!



Stop by the Christmas Card Challenges blog to see what the other Design Team members created this week.  I realize Christmas just ended, but what a perfect time to get started on cards for 2016 . . . before you put all your Christmas crafting items away.

Christmas Card Challenges # 1

Yes, I know ... we are at Week 1 and Christmas isn't even here yet .  But, your cards really should be done for this year and either in the mail or just about ready.  So, over at Christmas Card Challenges, we're already starting on next year's cards.  Yes, no break for the weary.

I went with a very CAS design (for me) because when I saw the Photo Challenge, this card came to mind.

And here's the Challenge information ~ although remember, the only real Challenge is you must make a holiday or Christmas Card (or tag).

See the teeny, tiny black belt on those nails?  Yup, that's where my inspiration came from.  To get the belt buckle, I used a square die for the outer edge, then used a small rectangle die for the two inside rectangles ... I didn't trust my xacto knife skills  since I haven't really "crafted" in over 2 months and this worked.

The word bubble I cut using Cricut eons ago and the stamp came from ?? I think the dollar bin at some hobby/craft store.

Stop by the Christmas Card Challenge and see what the other Design Team Members created this week.  We have several new Teamies (Laurie, Mandy, Rema & Susan), so you will want to check out their cards also.

We also have a Facebook page where we announce the weekly challenges and feature entries throughout the week.  Click here to check it out.

Christmas Card Challenges #51

It felt so good to get back to cardmaking and working in my Craft Studio/Room. I never realized how much an illness can knock one down.

With Christmas just right around the corner, I hope you'll join us this week at Christmas Card Challenges.  It's an Anything Goes theme, so grab your Christmas items and join in.

 

This is a pre-colored image from Lili of the Valley's Art Pad 'Tis the Season Set 36. The sentiment is from Whimsy Stamps~Holiday Mini Letter Seals.

I added some ribbon and clear crystals, which in hindsight look more like ice than snow.

Hop on over and see what the other Design Team Members created this week (click here or on the image above). Hopefully you'll be inspired to join along. We really love to see your creations.

And since I had the supplies out, I created another card. These Art Pads make cardmaking SO easy.

Apologies . . .

I'm so sorry that I've been absent for so long. In September, I came down with Shingles and while the rash disappeared overnight due to the anti-viral drugs, the nerve pain continued for 5 weeks. And it just happened to be in my neck, shoulder and collarbone . . . just the areas that make you feel like you have a constant neck/shoulder ache.  It wasn't fun.

 (Side note: no, I didn't get the Shingles Vaccine; my doctor said I was too young ... and I was healthy ...  and I wouldn't be a candidate to get shingles ... and ... famous last words, right?)

I'm just getting back to where I can focus on cardmaking and sitting at my work table for any length of time.  However, our Community's Annual Art & Craft Fair is this Saturday, and I'm the Chairperson.  Since I fell behind on my responsibilities during those 5 weeks, and right now I can only work a few hours a day without the nerve pain returning, I had to focus all my energies on this event the past two weeks. 

But, beginning next week, I'll be back to blogging and sharing crafting projects with you.  Stay tuned.

Hugs,

Heather G

Christmas Card Challenges #42

This week at Christmas Card Challenges we have a Photo Challenge for you ~ Nighttime Tree. I hope you'll play along, because you know you need more Christmas Cards...and Christmas is just right around the corner.

I used Navy cardstock to mimic the dark background.  I sprinkled crystal and blue glitter using this technique.  In hindsight, I should have stamped the sentiment first and embossed it, but I didn't so I just stamped JOY in Craft White Ink and called it a day.

Stop by the Christmas Card Challenges blog to see what the other Design Team members created this week.

Final Doodle Pantry DT Post

It's a sad day for me. This is my final post as a Doodle Pantry Design Team Member.  Things are just a bit crazy right now for me and Laurie gave all of us the option of staying on for another term or "retiring."  Since I wasn't sure I'd be able to fulfill my responsibilities as I'd like, I decided to step down.

But, since you know how much I love Doodle Pantry digital images, this won't be my last project using Doodle Pantry papers or images.

I used flowers from the Joyful Day set.  Printed on vellum, it allows the image and votive light to shine through the lantern.

The shimmery pink cardstock is 12" x 6" ~ I went with 6" tall so it would fit through my die cutting machine.  Each side is scored at 2-7/8" so I had a "tab" at the end.

Score tape all around the openings makes for easy placement of the vellum pieces.

I didn't want the votive to be seen through the "legs" so I created a "ledge" and everything lined up on my first try.  That does not happen very often ... believe me !

I glued (taped) 3 sides before sealing the side of the lantern and the final side of the ledge

Using Doodle Pantry pre-colored images allowed me to finish this project in under 2 hours from start to finish. 

I thought about embellishing the sides and decided to keep the lantern plain and simple. This way the beauty of the digital image shines through ~ pun intended {smile}

Products Used:

Stampin' Up! Decorative Label Punch

EK Success Scalloped Diamond Slim Border Punch

Die-namics Designer Labels 4

Shimmer Pink Cardstock 12x12

Vellum 8-1/2x11

Scrappy Tape 1/8" wide & 1/4" wide

Battery Powered Tea Light

Christmas Card Challenges #38

I'd like to welcome Pamela Harris and Teri Mosby to my blog. They are recent Bloglovin' subscribers.

The weeks are ticking by and before you know it, your Christmas cards will have to be mailed.  Do you have all of yours done yet?  If not, grab your cardmaking supplies and join the Christmas Card Challenges crew to get at least one more card completed.  After all, this week theme is:

Anything Goes

Due to personal reasons I wasn't able to make a card this week so a friend, Patti Widerman, stepped in for me to create my DT sample card.  I'm blessed to have so many talented friends that will help me out in a pinch ~ and since none of them have their own blog, I'm able to showcase their beautiful work here.

 The card decoration is made from 6 double sided hexagon pieces (Stampin' Up! punch).  How cute is this!

The front is embossed with a snowflake EF and the snowflakes were accented with white gel pen, mini flowers and pearls.

Are you wondering about the "trees" in the background?  These are handmade from cardstock cones that are wrapped with yarn. Since I didn't have any thick yarn, I took 3-4 strands of regular yarn, twisted the strands together and glued it to the cardstock cone.  So fun to make.  If you make your own cones, you can make them any size and they cost next to nothing to make. 

Note: Since the yarn is placed tight to the previous row, you don't see the cardstock pattern/color from the front ... only if you look inside the cone.  So, it's a great way to use up your strange cardstock patterns or colors that you know you'll never use.

Stop by Christmas Card Challenges to see what the other Design Team members created. Then, grab your cardmaking supplies and join along. I love to see what you create.