Merry Monday and Make It Monday

This week I was able to create one card to satisfy the criteria for both the Merry Monday Challenge and the Make It Monday Challenge.  For Merry Monday, dry embossed snowflakes were in order.  This was easily accomplished with my snowflake embossing folder and Texture Boutique.  For Make It Monday, partial die stamping was required.  I die cut two trees and stamped them with snowflakes, leaving lots of white space.  I combined the embossed snowflake background with the die cut trees to create this card.

Supply list:  Papertrey Ink cardstock in aqua mist and diagonal stripe (from Tinsel & Tags kit)
                    PTI Tree Trimming Trio stamps and die
                    PTI Tinsel & Tags stamps and large banner die
                    PTI Ink in aqua mist and ocean tides
                    Paper Studio snowflake embossing folder

Merry Monday #129: Neon Colors

My husband and I were out of town last wee, so unfortunately, I was unable to upload and post my card prior to the deadline.  However, I decided that it would still be fun to make a card anyway.  Now, neon is not what I typically think of when my thoughts turn toward Christmas.  I am more of a traditionalist who chooses red, green, and gold.  This challenge forced me to step outside my comfort zone and think beyond those usual Christmas colors.  I began looking through some of my brighter patterned papers and decided to use one from the PTI Sprinkles and Shakers kit.  The paper inspired the hot pink and teal stamped trees and the orange "Merry & Bright" banner.  It also led me to create a shaker card.  I decided to cut a card a bit longer than my usual A-2 cards.  I added hot pink, teal, and orange sequins and sparkles.  I used the oval shaker dies and choose orange for the stitched oval and white for the scalloped oval.  I had a little trouble with some of my sequins sticking to the top of my shaker, but that stuff is so sticky, that there was no turning back.  I can be somewhat of a perfectionist, but I certainly wasn't going to ditch the card and start over because a few sequins were out of place.  I kind of like the bright colors and think the shaker gives it a festive look.

Cute Covers for Post-it Notes

I have been wanting to make some cute little covers for Post-it notes for quite a while now and I've finally found the time and inspiration to make a few.  These are so simple to make and can be created to suit anyone's taste.  I loved how they turned out.

My Supplies:  Paper Studio Cardstock from Hobby Lobby
                       Patterned paper from PTI, My Mind's Eye, and others
                       PTI stamps from Filled with Joy and Shakers & Sprinkles
                       PTI Butterfly Dreams die
                       Mementos Dew Drops ink

CASology Week 115: Chocolate

I spent this past weekend card crafting with my sister-in-law and she introduced me to the CAS method of creating clean and simple cards.  She also told me about the CASology site and card challenges, so I decided to check it out.

This week's challenge - CHOCOLATE!!!  It comes to us in so many wonderful forms:  cake, pie, brownies, ice cream, pudding, hot cocoa, and more!  Just thinking about it makes my mouth water.  However, this week's chocolate challenge is about creating a recipe for a card, not a yummy dessert. This is what I came up with.  It's a pink and chocolate brown card with a cute little cupcake in the center.

First, I cut a large piece of hot pink cardstock for my background.  Next, I cut a smaller rectangle from brown cardstock and dry embossed it with hearts.  It needed to be softened a bit, so I used my corner-rounder to trim the corners.  Then, I cut a white circle and stamped it with the circular background stamp using pink ink.  And after that, I stamped the miniature cupcake and sentiment using brown ink.  I colored the stamped image using alcohol markers.  Finally, I adhered the brown cardstock to the pink using double-stick foam pads and did the same with the circle in order to create a little more dimension.  So, there you have it - chocolate cupcakes and hearts.

My supplies:  brown, pink, and white cardstock by Paper Studio
                       Papertrey ink stamps from Tiny Treats Valentine set
                       Mementos Dew Drop ink in rose bud and rich cocoa

Merry Monday Challenge #128: Polka dots and/or Stripes

This week's Merry Monday Challenge was to use polka dots or stripes.  As soon as I read that, I immediately began rummaging through all of my Christmas paper pads.  When I discovered this cute combination of polka dot and stripe print, I knew it would be perfect for my card.  I decided to begin with a card base cut from kraft cardstock.  I then cut a slightly smaller rectangle from my patterned paper for the background.  I thought that this blue snowflake print from the same paper pack would coordinate nicely, so I cut a small tag from it.  I cut a small strip from the dotted stripe paper and taped it to the bottom of the tag.  Next, I stamped the word "joy" and added two snowflake stickers.  To help the tag stand out more, I cut a larger tag from kraft and tied the two tags together with a satin ribbon.  I taped the tag to the front of my card and "Ta-da!," my card was finished.

Supplies:  Kraft cardstock (Papertrey Ink)
                 Lost & Found Christmas paper from My Mind's Eye
                 PTI stamp from Filled with Joy
                 PTI ink pad in ripe avocado
                 Snowflake stickers by Paper Studio
                 Burgundy satin ribbon

Merry Monday Christmas Challenge #127

My sister-in-law just recently introduced me to the Merry Monday Christmas Challenge, so this is the first week that I am participating.  I really liked the Christmas Bingo as it allowed for so many different card options.  The most difficult part of this challenge was deciding which combination of three squares to select for my card.  I sometimes have a habit of over-complicating things which leads frustration, creative block, and a waste of materials (wonder if I'm the only one???).  After experimenting a bit, I decided to go with a (CAS) clean and simple card.  The three square I choose were patterned paper, twine, and punch.  I used white cardstock for the base and covered the front of my card with a green and white snowflake patterned paper.  Next, I cut a rectangular strip from red and white snowflake pattern and adhered it to vertically on the left side of the card front.  Then, I punched a white circle and stamped it with a red snowflake and green sentiment from PTI's Tag its collection. I used a mini hole punch to turn my circle into a tag and finished it off by tieing a simple bow with red & white and green & white twine.

Materials:  white cardstock
                  Paper Studio Christmas Basics patterned paper
                  Papertrey Ink Tag-its stamps
                  Mementos Dew Drop ink in ladybug and cottage ivy
                  Baker's twine in red & white and green & white

This challenge was so much fun, that I decided to create a second card.  Although none of my choices matched up with three Bingo squares, I still enjoyed putting together this sweet card that reminds me of Christmas cookies and warm cider.  This was also a very simple card.  I cut some patterned paper for the card front and die cut a scalloped frame from white cardstock.  I selected the tall mug die and stamped it in tan.  Lastly, I cut a fancy die from white cardstock and stamped my sentiment.

Materials:  white cardstock
                  Paper Studio Christmas Basics patterned paper
                  Mementos Dew Drop ink in Desert Sand
                  Papertrey Ink Warm Happiness stamp and die
                  Papertrey Ink sentiment from Holiday Lights
                  Papertrey Ink die from the Sprinkles and Shakers Make-it Market Kit
                  Sizzix die

Make it Monday #180: Paper Weaving

For this week's PTI Make it Monday Challenge, I tackled paper weaving to create an interesting and unique card background.  Following the steps outlined in Ashley's video, I cut serveral thin strips of patterned paper.  I laid the strips diagonally across my card, adhering the edges with scor tape.  I then began weaving additional strips over and under on the opposite diagonal.  When finished, I trimmed the edges and taped them down to the card front.  With such an intricate background, I wanted a simple sentiment and stamp for the center.  I cut a large scallop front black cardstock and a smaller scallop from white cardstock.  I stamped the kitten and matching sentiment from the Tiny Treats Valentine set on the white scallop.  Finally, I taped the black scallop to the center of the card front and taped the white scallop in the center of the black scallop.  The paper weaving was a bit time consuming, but it was a fun challenge and I'm really pleased with how the background looks.  Thanks for taking the time to stop by!