Skipping Stones Design Sketch #104 (Two more stocking ideas)

One more card tonight...Andrew's off playing hockey, so I have a little extra craft time. :)

First, a big thank you to Jingle! I was the lucky recipient of Sassy Snow from the blog hop that SSD had a couple weeks ago.

As soon as I saw this week's sketch, I knew I wanted to put my snowman in a snow globe. I wanted it to almost look like the snow globe wasn't there...blend it into the sky/snow around it. I think it turned out pretty well. To create the globe, I used a sponge dauber and two shades of blue around the edges to create a sky effect (I did create a mask for the snowman to make sure I didn't get any blue on his body).

Then I put the snowman together. The scarf and mittens are the red plaid fabric from CTMH's Believe Level 2 Paper packet and I used a white gel pen to fill in the polka dots.

For the base of the snow globe, I cut a black piece of cardstock 3/4" wide, and then kind of eyeballed how long it should be. I sanded the cardstock pretty heavily until I got the texture/feel I was looking for. Then I measured off 1/4" at the top on either end, marked it with a pencil, and cut from the pencil mark to the bottom corner.

For the background, I used the sponging tool you see here: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg72nLhWCMmox44ipJQ9wjnJu0RcPAlShrdgfCb_0sCMg2Da_2Lb2RpaZw6DZ07G6JyNOSYgzWv_MnV-bVyILLtfWHxmRAUxf0QRyKqoVvgV4AUSt-DxMqPYPIhf5WnOwysJrH8TYroENI/s1600/IMG_9567.JPG I traced lightly around the circle first so that I could see how far to go, and starting from the top corners, worked my way in.

For the snow, I used the small snowflake from the Sassy Snow set with White Daisy ink on the background. This is pigment ink and against the blue you get kind of a transparent look. On the inside of the snow globe, I used Heavenly blue ink to stamp the snowflakes.

I used two of the fun sentiments from the stamp set to create the little banners and added some cranberry grosgrain to finish it off.

It was a fun card to make. Hope you enjoy it!

Oh yes, and if you're looking for a few more stocking ideas, please consider:
1) Sanding Kit - Item Z1294, $3.50, another inexpensive way to get a totally different look from your papers.
2) Texture Tools - Item Z1298, $9.95, the foam tool I used for this card is just one of the great tools in this kit that will allow you to create a variety of textures and effects on your projects.

Products Used
Stamps: SSD - Sassy Snow
Ink: CTMH - Pacifica, Heavenly Blue, Black
Paper: CTMH - White Daisy, Black, Chocolate, Sunset, Believe Level 2 Paper Pack
Other: Sponge Tool, Cranbery Grosgrain, Sanding Kit, Dimensional Foam Tape

CASE Study #68, and ideas for Stocking Stuffers

I decided to participate in this week's CASE challenge. The inspiration is this beautiful card by Amy Heller. I was inspired by the blue and orange color combination as well as the butterflies.

This card also gave me the opportunity to break out a couple items that have been patiently sitting in my stash waiting for me to have time to use them.

First, a spray pen. For this card I used Twilight reinker, I filled the pen with reinker to the first line, and then added five more lines worth of water.

My goal was get a more concentrated spray in the center (behind the die cut), and a little less saturated towards the outside. This really was an easy tool to use and I love how it turned out. I need to practice a little more to figure out how far away to hold the pen for different spray patterns, how hard to press, how concentrated to make the mix, etc., but I'm definitely going to be using these pens more!

For the sentiment, I cut a small white circle using the CM custom cutting system and stamped the sentiment in the center. Then I used a sponge dauber to lightly add color around the edges. The black die was cut using the Art Philosphy cartridge. I used a white gel pen to add the little white dots as a nod to the polka dots in the pattern paper and on the butterflies of the inspiration card.

Then I broke out the butterlies. This is the other product that I've been waiting to use. These Just Blooms Flutter Paper shapes are so much fun. There are four sizes with a variety of patterns. I chose to use the largest and second smallest sizes for this card. I again used the sponge dauber to add color to the butterflies slowly progressing from light (honey) to medium (creme brule) to dark (autumn terracotta). I also added some emphasis using the blending pen and autumn terracotta.

The ribbon is from Michael's (70% off Black Friday sale). It was a little lighter than I wanted it to be, so I used a sponge dauber with autumn terracotta to add some more color to it.

While there are many different elements to this card, I think it still has a great clean and simple feel to it, and I loved being able to play with my stash.

Now, I promised you some stocking stuffer ideas. There are four, very inexpensive, lots of bang for your buck items I used on this card that would be perfect for the crafter on your list:
1) Spray pens, Item Z1380, for $3.95 you get three of these pens. That's $1.33 a piece. Keep them together or break them up and give them out separately. Either way they are a steal.
2) Sponge daubers, Item Z726, again $3.95 for three.
3) Blending pen, Item 3174, $3.95. If you follow my blog you know I love and use this ALL the time. It's an inexpensive must have tool that has a big impact.
4) Just Blooms Flutter Paper Shapes, Item Z1463, $5.95. I've just scratched the surface with these. For that price you get 68 butterflies in four sizes, with a variety of prints and including some plain. These are a great addition to cards or scrapbook layouts and you'll have plenty to complete whatever project you are doing.

If you're interested in these items, you can place an order using the 'Shop with me' link to the right (and there are some new, very discounted products under While Supplies last while you're at it), or email me.

Hope you had a great start to your week!

CTMH Supplies Used
Stamps: A Little Everything
Ink: Honey, Creme Brulee, Autumn Terracotta, Black, Twilight Reinker
Paper: White Daisy, Black, Honey
Other: Just Blooms Flutter Paper Shapes, Sponge Dauber, Blending Pen, Spray Pen, Dimensional Foam Tape, Liquid Glass

Card Patterns Sketch 143

I just got a little package in the mail from the Sweet Stamp Shop and decided to ink one of the sets, Tree Traditions, up to participate in this week's Card Patterns sketch.

This card ended up being a little more complicated than I intended. I wanted to stretch myself a bit in terms of mixing patterns, but I don't have a lot of patterned paper (since I like to use solids), so I had to improvise.

The pattern for the tree is actually a stamp - it's one of the Christmas trees from CTMH's October Stamp of the Month, Holiday Magic. I stamped it onto a piece of white cardstock, and then stamped the tree from the SSS stamp over top of it and cut it out. I did the same thing for the tires and elements on the front of the truck, using one of the stockings from the CTMH stamp set.

The red pattern for the car comes from the Believe paper pack, and I added some detailing to the car using a while gel pen.

I added a little bit of interest to the blue background by stamping the two smallest snowflakes from Tree Traditions in White Daisy ink (hard to see in the photo). The cardstock that the sentiment is stamped on has some sponging in Heavenly Blue, and then the medium snowflake from Tree Traditions.

A little Twinery twine, a Kraft border, and ta-da. A great way to keep the hands busy while catching up on the DVR after a long work week.

Have a great weekend all!

Supplies Used:
CTMH - Holiday Magic stamp set; Heavenly Blue, Black, White Daisy, Topiary inks; Believe Level II Paper Pack, White Daisy, Sky, Chocolate cardstock, Kraft Borders
SSS - Tree Traditions stamp set
Twinery - Peapod Twine

Cards for Troops

I was asked to design some cards for a package for the troops that we are putting together at work as a part of our Combined Federal Campaign drive this year.

Many of the folks I work with don't normally do this sort of thing, so I wanted to make it pretty simple, and the project needed to be relatively low cost as well.

I designed the five cards you see above, using two sets of stamps: Holiday Cheer ($9.95) and A Holiday ($6.95). The great thing about these sets is that they both include shapes that can be cut with the Cricut AP cartridge, which is a huge time saver!

I've pre-stamped several of the shapes, so if people don't want to do a lot of stamping, they can just assemble -- the cards with the holly leaves. If they are more adventuresome, they can put the card together from start to finish, and if they're interested, they can design their own card.

CTMH Supplies Used:
Stamps: Holiday Cheer
Ink: Cranberry, Topiary, Desert Sand, Chocolate
Paper: Cranberry, Topiary, Chocolate

Lily Pad Sketch Challenge

I know, you're probably tired of seeing this stamp set, but Glory to God is my go-to set for Christmas cards right now. I tried to use another set, really, I did, but it just wasn't working for me. So, I pulled out Glory to God and voila!

I took a few liberties with the sketch, but I love the way it turned out.

To create it, I used my CM custom cutting circles to cut three overlapping circles on the dark cardstock. Then I lightly traced those shapes onto the cream cardstock. I removed the dark cardstock and stamped the images.

I cut one more circle of the same size onto a piece of scrap cardstock to create a mask. Using that mask and a sponge dauber I created those faint circles by lightly swiping the dauber from the mask in towards the center of the circle.

Then the tricky part. I decided I wanted a border of off white around the circles, rather than the dark cardstock coming right up to them, so I had to carefully center the circle templates over the circles on the dark cardstock, and use the next size blade to cut them a little larger. A few deep breaths, but it worked!

Then I trimmed the edges of the dark cardstock to create the frame around the edges, and cut the bottom right corner off. I trimmed about 3/8" off the long end to create the diagonal line.

The sentiment is from the Craft's Meow's All the Merry Best stamp set. It's just perfect for this card, don't you think?

Supplies Used:
CTMH: Glory to God stamp set; Cocoa Ink; Colonial White and Cocoa cardstock; sponge dauber
The Craft's Meow: All the Merry Best stamp set
Creative Memories: Custom Cutting System, Circles

SSD Sketch #103 - Another Gray Hare

Just a quick card tonight for Skipping Stones Design sketch 103.

I wanted to make a really simple card, and cut it to make a mosaic (or at least part of a mosaic) rather than use the squares as a design element.

There's very little in this card, which I thought was appropriate given the 'gray' subject matter. To color in the balloons and create the ground I used my go-to blending pen.

Hope you like it!

Supplies Used:
Skipping Stones Design - Gray Hares Stamp Set
CTMH - White Daisy Cardstock; Gray Flannel, Holiday Red, Topiary, Tulip and Pacifica Ink, Blending Pen

Card for CAS-ual Friday and Ribbon Carousel (RCC30) Challenges

I'm so excited to share this card with you!

I had a great time creating it...it was a bit of an 'aha' moment for me.

A few months ago a won some clear Hero Arts stamps from the Simon Says Stamp blog. I've been waiting for just the right time to use them. The stamps I won were a promotional set that contains images from several different stamp sets, but I did a quick search on Hero Arts' Holiday catalog, and the ornament is included in the 'Decorate Your Holidays' stamp set. I didn't see the sentiment in the Holiday catalog, but there are plenty of sentiments we all have that would be appropriate.

This is really a simple, easy card to make, just takes a little care in the doing.

I stamped the ornament on a piece of white cardstock. Then I cut a strip of cardstock the same width as my grosgrain ribbon (3/8") to use as a guide. I made sure everything was square and marked the top and bottom of the guide on the edges of the ornament. Using my cutting knife, I carefully traced around the ornament (on the inside of the border line) between the hashmarks. Then I fed the ribbon through. You need to be careful in doing this so that you don't tear the slit. Then I threaded through the twine, and secured both to the back of the cardstock using my tombow.

Really easy!

For the bottom piece, I first stamped the sentiment. Then I ran the tombow over my twine so I could shape it onto the cardstock, and followed up with some Liquid Glass at a few points to make sure it was secure. The white pieces of cardstock were mounted onto Cranberry cardstock using dimensional foam tape, and then those pieces were secured to the card base.

I love the look of this card, and am planning to use this technique a lot more.

Thanks for stopping by!

Products Used:
CTMH - Cranberry Ink, Cranberry and White Daisy Cardstock, Cranberry Grosgrain, Dimensional Foam Tape, Cutting Knife, Liquid Glass
Hero Arts - Decorate for the Holidays stamp set, miscellaneous sentiment stamp
Twinery - Maraschino twine