absc033 - A Big Bunch of Love

Hello!   Wow 2010 is just about over and we're about to start another New Year.  It's been a year of "ups and downs" but one that has also been filled with great friendships, fun and blessings as well.  I want to thank all of you for visiting my blog this past year.  This will most likely be my last post of 2010 but I'll be back again "Next Year" and hope you will be as well.

The latest Annabelle Sketch is today's challenge.  Love this sketch.

Here is my card:

I love this adorable little "Bee" or "bug" as I've never seen a silver/pink bee in my life so we're using our imaginations today. 

For this card I started with a White base (Whisper White-SU cs) and added some textured Pink Passion cs and some patterned designer paper. (Sorry but I don't know who this piece is from) I also used some SU Brushed Silver cs as well.  The image was colored first with Watercolor Crayons from Caran D'Ache that I rarely use (but may have to rethink using them).  I wasn't happy with the watercolor look though as I almost always get way to much water from my Aqua Painter so after it dried I colored over some of the image with my Prismacolored Pencils.  I added a jewel heart and some silver sprinkles both from Annabelle.  The sentiment and Bee are both Annabelle stamps.  Also used were circle Nestabilitie Dies and some Polka Dot ribbon from Annabelle.

Be sure to stop by the DT members blogs.  Also we are looking for a new DT member so be sure to check that out on the Annabelle Blog.  You'll love working with Andrea and her wonderful line of stamps so be sure to try out. 

Hugs and many wishes for a very HAPPY NEW YEAR!

BC192 - Merry Christmas

Hello and Merry Christmas! - As we head into Christmas Eve the BC Challenge Group is sharing Christmas cards today.  I have several to share as I hadn't yet posted them.

First up my "Inspiration" Christmas card.  I was inspired by this card that my mom received in the mail:

Here is my version:

As you can see I did add a "pop" of red not in the Inspiration card.  Stamps used:
Annabelle ( Borders by Design 1 for the Polka Dots,)Annabelle (Holly Branch) for the Sentiment and SU (Retired Paisley).
Card Stock: Always Artichoke, Very Vanilla, Whisper White, Brushed Gold, Pear Pizzaz.  Ink: Always Artichoke. Felt Poinsettia-Hero Arts, Star Brad - Making Memories.  Gold EP - SU.

Card #2 Went to my dear friend, Elena
Card Stock: Always Artichoke, Cherry Cobbler, Cool Caribbean, Whispher White.  Stamp by Stampendous.  Colored with Prismacolored Pencils.  Snowflake Punch-Martha Stewart, Wavy Border Punch, EK Success, Sentiment Stamp, Hero Arts, Ribbon-SU White Grosgrain, Glitter-Art Institute

Stamps-SU Greeting Card Kids, Artful Inkables-Peaceful Wishes, Paper is an old pattern I've had for years. Ribbon-JoAnn's.
Card Stock: Handsome Hunter-retired SU, Prismacolored Pencils, Glitter-Art Institute, Ink: Handsome Hunter.

One of my favorite's that I made was this card.  Stamp Set: Christmas Critters-SU
Card Stock: Cherry Cobbler, Old Olve, Very Vanilla.
Designer Paper - Sorry I forgot to write this one down.  There are actually 2 patterns used.  I embossed the Snowdots Embossing folder on the top piece. Images colored with Prismacolored Pencils.  Scallop punch-SU, Faux Gems-Source unknown.

Can you stand one more:

This one went to my oldest brother and his wife.  They love the outdoors and have a cabin in the mountains.

Stamp Set: Holiday Treats and Tails-Artful Inkables, Card Stock and DP-SU, Prisma Colorpencils, Snowflake Punch-MS,Liquid Applique. Cream Grosgrain Ribbon, Nestabilitie Die.

There were more but perhaps I'll share them after Christmas.  I hate for these ideas to go to waste.  Just haven't had time to post everything trying to get all caught up for Christmas.

I do want to take a moment now to wish all my readers a very Merry Christmas and Holiday season.

BC191 - A Sketch and Some Information

For my Annabelle Card please click here:  It's the last release of the year and there are two great sets available so be sure to check them out.

Hi,  Gosh I've missed the last 3 weeks of Blogger Challenges so I decided to play today.  It's a "sketch" week and those are always fun to do.  Here's the sketch:  This is a fun sketch but different from what I normally do. I did change the 2 side circles and instead use some Holly Leaves but the general sketch idea is still the same.

Now before I go into the details of my card I'd like to tell you about an organization that I've become a part of.

It's called, Mail For Cheer.  There are "volunteers" who send out cards to the people listed in the Newsletter.  I have just taken over putting together this newsletter and will start sending it out to the volunteers in January.

The purpose of this Newsletter is to list anyone who may need some "cheering up" for any reason.  It could be that they are going through tough times, illness, or just want some happy mail to brighten their day.  Sometimes people request cards for relatives celebrating "milestone" birthdays as well.  The volunteers get listings of anyone needing a card and their address.  They then send them a card.  They don't have to include a note but it's always nice to say something.  The volunteers know that no reply is expected back but sometimes the recipient's do send them thank you notes.  My mom has been a long time volunteer and was at one time a recipient of cards after she had her knee surgery and after my dad passed away.  I think this is a wonderful idea and know that many people are in need of encouragement, and just some good old fashioned happy mail. 

So if you know of anyone for that could use some cards please send me their names/addresses.  You will need to let them know though that they may receive mail from people they don't know.  Generally it will be marked that it's from Mail For Cheer but it's always a good thing to give advance notice that they might be getting cards from the volunteers.  Please send requests to my email address:  idratherbstampin@bmi.net and use Mail For Cheer in the subject line.

Now the details on my card:

Card Stock: Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive, Whisper White

Designer paper is an old piece I've had for years.  SU Sentiment stamped with Old Olive ink.

Punch by Martha Stewart

Snowflake Embellishemtn from Making Memories  - I added Glitter to the snowflake and mounted it on a nested circle of Cherry Cobbler cs.

Holly Leaves - Annabelle Stamps

Bell embellishement is a button that I cut the prongs off and mounted with some glue dots.  Ribbon from SU.

Have a wonderful weekend.  I'll be doing my Christmas Shopping - I know nothing like waiting until the last minute. 

Annabelle December Release - Day 2

Hello and welcome to Day 2 of the December Annabelle Release.  Judging from the comments on the first preview (Stemmed Flowers) you really liked that set.  Today we have another fabulous Border set to show off.  This one is:
Borders by Design2  Aren't those borders divine.  To top it off there are several small icon size stamps that can be used in a variety of ways.

Here is the card that I created today.  I've seen several cards on various blogs using a White and Silver color scheme and just thought they looked so elegant that I had to try my hand at creating one.  So without further ado here is my card:

I stamped one of the border on a strip of Whisper White cs and embossed it with Detail Silver EP.  Then I stamped one of the little medallion stamps the same way and popped it up at the end of the row.  Then I embossed portions of a piece of white card stock with the Swiss Dot embossing folder, embossed th sentiment (from - Holly Branch) with Silver EP.  I added my border strip, tied silver cording on and added this to another piece of white card stock punched with the Layered Arch punch-MS and added Silve Sprinkles to complete my card.

So now if you're ready it's time to start hopping.  -  You should have started the hop from the Annabelle Blog -  If you arrived at my blog from Sue's blog you are on the right track.  From here you will travel over to Rene's Blog and continue on arriving back at the Annabelle Blog.  You can WIN this fabulous set by just commenting on each of the Design Teams blog and then letting us know you've completed the hop back at the Annabelle Blog.

Have fun hopping.

Annabelle December Release - Day 1

Hello! - Well if you are anything like me you're still wondering how you're going to get everything done in time for Christmas.  If not...I want to slap you (just kidding).

Today is the first day of the December release for Annabelle Stamps and that means it's also a
BLOG HOP.  You'll start on the Annabelle Blog
and hop your way around the Design Teams blogs leaving a comment on each blog along the way.  Then head back to the Annabelle Blog and answer a simple question for your chance at winning this set:  Stemmed Flowers.

Isn't it pretty! - So many possibilities.  I wish I would have had more time to play with it but alas I was only able to create just one card since I'm still trying to finish up my Christmas cards and get them mailed out.  I hope you like what I came up with though.

I have been stuck on Christmas cards and while this isn't exactly a Christmas card it could be used for one since I used holiday colors.
Card Base: Always Artichoke.
Layered with Whisper White and Old Olive accents.  Designer paper is retired SU.
Inks: Always Artichoke, Cherry Cobbler and Basic Black (smiles sentiment).
Other: Punch-MS, Brads-SU,
Blossom Sprinkles-Annabelle Stamps, Paper Piercing Tool.

Now you should have arrived here on my blog from Sue's Blog  and your next stop will be Rene's Blog - Hopefully all the links will be working correctly.  If not the order of blogs goes as follows:
AnnaBelle Stamps Blog

Andrea
Kylie
Teresa
Sue
Ida
Rene'
Jerusha
Tiffany
Iwona
AnnaBelle Stamps Blog - All links are on my sidebar.

Have fun hopping!

Say it with...Red and Green

Hi! - Wow can you believe that Christmas is just 15 days away! Yikes, I'm so not prepared.  So to get you in the mood today's Annabelle Challenge is to Say it with...Red and Green - Perfect for Christmas.  I did two cards,  One of which I wasn't to thrilled with but am sharing anyway and the other I liked a lot better.  See if you can tell which one is my favorite.

This card has a card base of Glorious Green (retired SU) then layered with Real Red that I stamped stars on (you can't see them very well) from the Annabelle Set, - Santa's Star.  Next I stamped a row of trees from the same set on Gable Green cs (also retired SU) with Green Galore ink.  I stamped a single tree the same way and mounted it to Real Red cs and highlight the star with glitter.  I added a punched border (Martha Stewart punch) some holiday ribbon from Annabelle Stamps and stamped the sentiment with Real Red ink on Green Galore card stock.

For this card I embossed the bottom of some Glorious Green card stock with an embossing folder (Cuttlebug-Provo Craft) and brushed White craft ink on to.  Next I embossed some Whisper White cs with the Swiss Dot embossing folder and once again used that fun ribbon from the Annabelle Store.  I used the set,  Christmas Wish and stamped the background panel with Real Red ink and then stamped the Flourish with Glorious Green and the Sentiment with Real Red.  I used a circle Nestabilitie Die to cut this out and mounted it on the focal panel with foam dimensional tape.  Lastly I added some Holly leaves and Chili Sprinkles both from Annabelle.

Be sure to stop by each of the DT members blogs and see how they used these colors.
Off to make more Christmas cards...almost done.

Holiday Trees

Here's another card that I made and let my mom have.  I did two cards using the same stamp but in different ways so you'll be seeing the one that I kept for myself later on.

For this card I used two cute $1 stamps (Studio G) that I bought at JoAnn's.  I colored the tree trio with Prisma Color Pencils.  The sentiment was stamped with Cherry Cobbler Ink.
Card Stock: Old Olive, Very Vanilla, Cherry Cobbler.
Punches: Circle and Scallop Circle Nestabilitie Dies-Spellbinders
Scallop Circle Chain - EK Success
Old Olive Brads-SU
Glitter: Art Institute

Also if you have a chance I've been posting some Art Work of Coleen's on her little blog and would love it if you'd stop by and check it out.  The latest piece is here:
http://creativecoleen.blogspot.com/2010/12/oh-come-let-us-adore-him.html  but there is also an entry below that one.

Enjoy your day.  More holiday cards to follow in the coming days.

Gingerbread Greetings

Hi,  Wow it's been a few days since I've posted a card. 

I've been working the last couple of weeks on Christmas cards (still have a few left to make) and just haven't posted much on my blog.  So today I thought I'd share this little card that I created and gave to my mom to use.  I helped her with a few of her cards this year too.

This one was so fun and simple to make.
I started by punching out the Gingebread figure, piped on the icing (Liquid Applique) and then assembled the rest of the card.  Easy peasy!

Details: Card Stock: Garden Green, Bravo Burgundy, Pink Pirouette.
DP - Basic Grey
Punches: Gingerbread
Daisy Scallop - EK Success
Sentiment Stamp: Hero Arts
Pink Gems
Burgundy Ribbon
Snowflake Embossing Folder

Say it with...Christmas Scene Baubles

Hello! - Well are you all prepared for Christmas? - Me, not so much.  I'm still working on cards, need to buy gifts and try to do some holiday baking as well.  So much to do...so little time.

So today the Annabelle Challenge is:
Say It With Christmas Scene Baubles.

This is a wonderful holiday set.  I've never heard of the globes being referred to as "baubles" as I've always called them "ornaments" but whatever you call them they make awesome cards.  Today however I chose not to use the globes but rather one of the little scenes in the set and the words.
I saw this adorable card in a magazine and decided I could do something similar with my Annabelle Stamps and this is the result.

I started with a card base of Garden Green (now retired SU).  Then I used an SU background stamp, Wood grain) and stamped it with Close To Cocoa (sadly another retired SU color) on Crumb Cake card stock.  Next I stamped the trees with Garden Green ink on a separate piece of Crumb Cake cs forming a little forest.  Added some snow using, White Liquid Applique.  I added sparkle to the trees with some glitter.
Then I added strips of Cherry Cobbler cs.  I stamped the sentiment with Chocolate Chip ink before mounting my focal piece with foam dimensional tape.  Lastly I added some small Chili Sprinkles to complete my card.  It's really a simple and easy card but I like how it turned out.  Great for those "last minute" cards.

Now you can try this challenge yourself using this set or if you don't have it I'm sure another Christmas Bauble set would also work.  We hope though you like this set enough to order one for yourself or someone else as a gift perhaps.  As always there is a prize up for grabs ($20 Gift Voucher) at the end of the month for anyone entering any of the monthly challenges.

For those wondering my blog header is actually a picture of our house and my mom's next door.  We put the lights up on Saturday in a snow storm, spent 5 hours at it.  I know CRAZY but hey, it's pretty and festive don't you think.  Snow melted  on Tuesday and yesterday during a rain storm but arrived again today.  Getting good use out of our new Studded Snow Tires!