THREE OF A KIND--Wreaths

My new wreath die arrived the other day, and I finally got a chance to use it this afternoon!  I've seen so many beautiful cards made with this die, including non-holiday ones.  I hope to get a lot of use out of it!

(Please click on the image for a closer view.)


 

PAPER PLAYERS #372--Sketch

Sketches always seem to be more of a challenge for me, but this one seemed to come together more easily.

I like to keep a few New Year cards for those who might send an unexpected  Christmas card too late for me to respond in kind.  So I have some fun cards made with lots of sparkles and glitter for the New Year.  Then I add their name to next year's Christmas card list.  These gold and silver snowflakes from Stampin' Up are just right for the occasion.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!




 

PAPER PLAYERS #371--Warm and Cozy

My CAS card features a warm and cozy quilt.  This card will be going out tomorrow for a friend whose husband is recovering from a nasty spider bite.  He was in the hospital several times for treatment, and the swelling (in his arm) is finally subsiding after 3 weeks.   

PAPER PLAYERS #370--White on White

 I've asked Santa for a new camera for Christmas, and since I've been good (at least I think so) my photos should improve soon.  Meanwhile, I'll have to just describe what I used for this card.

First, I ran some white cs through the Big Shot for a  layer of white embossed snowflakes.  Then I ran it through the scalloped rectangle die and attached it with dimensionals to a white card base.

Next, I used the snowflake die twice.  On the bottom one, I added the glitter and then used the second one to make it thicker and also have the glitter contained between the lines.  Before attaching the snowflake, I added  white glitter washi tape to the bottom for a little more sparkle.  For the finishing touch, I added a pearl in the center.

Click on the photo for a larger image and a closer look at the details!


The Paper Players website can be found HERE:

THREE OF A KIND--Christmas Cardinal

These three were done with the AlteNew stamp and die sets.  For the first one, I made a gate card with a 3-step stamped bird.  Thankfully, I remembered to attach the green panel with adhesive only on the left side!

The second card was done with the cardinal dies which I used to cut the bird out of some red plaid dsp.

Lastly, I chose another dsp to use with the cardinal die, centering the large white flower on the bird and adding a gem in the center.  The background dsp is gold metallic.


As of today, I'm all done with my 100+ Christmas cards--Yay!

PAPER PLAYERS #369

In order to brighten up the front of this card, I added some gold twine on the left and a strip of green and gold dsp on the inside right.  I trimmed 1/2" off the right side of the front and cut the dsp to 3/4" so that it would show in the space created.  You can't see it here, but the card base has some sparkle to it also.

For more examples for this challenge, click HERE.

PAPER PLAYERS #368

This week's card challenge for the Paper Players was a Tic-Tac-Toe one--my favorite!  I chose the top line which is Tree/Birthday/Fall.  Enjoy!

To view other entries, click HERE.

THREE OF A KIND--Leaf Prints

 This past Saturday, Cyndy taught us how to make a card with a real, live leaf instead of ink and stamps.  After choosing a freshly picked leaf, we placed it between two pieces of heavy cardstock, folded a piece of copier paper around it and ran it through the Big Shot.  After mounting it on a piece of green cs and attaching it to our card, we added some embellishment for a final touch.

 

Today, at home, I tried repeating the process.  For the second card, I used two different leaves, (one stamped twice,) wrapped some burlap ribbon around the panel and mounted the image over dsp.  

For the third card, I tried using an oak leaf I found on my front deck that had turned a deep brownish red.  It's very faint here because it was already dried out, but I liked it anyway.  Since the leaf was oak, I mounted it over the acorn dsp.

This was a fun technique and very easy to do--thanks, Cyndy! 


TIP:  Fresh leaves that haven't fallen off the tree or bush work best.  Look for leaves that have an interesting shape or distinct edges.

ANOTHER HALLOWEEN CARD

Can you tell I'm liking these window cards??

TOTALLY SCRAPS!

Here's another card using the "out-take" from a window card.  I added a couple of leaves that were floating around my table top, along with an extra greeting.  Couldn't have been easier to put this one together.  As for the black and white zig-zag strip, it was too short to go across so I snipped it in half and mounted one on each side of the circle.  Sssh...it's our little secret!

EEK!--PAPER PLAYERS #366

The scary part of this card is that it didn't photograph well, colorwise.  The background is actually a deep shade of purple.  Either that, or I'm color blind...

Thanks to YouTube, I was able to make this bat with my owl punch, the inside edge of a scalloped square and an oval punch.  For a video on making the wings, just enter France Martin Mummy Bat in the YouTube search area, and it will come right up.

This card is for the Paper Players HERE.

ANOTHER HYMN BLOCK

Words of encouragement through a familiar hymn are plentiful in this SweetnSassy stamp set.  I can see that these are going to get a lot of use!

The old hymn writers sure knew how to combine meaningful lyrics with music that touches the soul.

THANKSGIVING CARDS ALL DONE!

This is another card for the 3 1/2 x 5 1/2" size envelope.  This smaller size is helpful when using smaller images.

I started with dry embossing the leaves and adding some Distress Oxide inks over them with a stiff brush.  The leaves were inked up and spritzed with water before cutting them with dies.  Before adding them to the card, I taped down some copper thread.  The final touch was the greeting, just the right size for the scalloped punch.

MODERN TREES (Again!)

I'm really getting a lot out of this set of Modern Trees from My Favorite Things.  I made this for my daughter and her family to match her decor.  The tree trunk is embossed with copper, and the leaves are done in silver embossing.

I thought of putting some silver thread down the left side, but decided to leave it as is for a more modern look.

WINDOW CARD

The nice thing about a window card is that one greeting takes care of both the front and the inside at the same time.  In this case, the dsp gives it color and images appropriate for Fall.  More examples of window cards can be found on the Papertrey Ink blog HERE.

THE CARD YOU HATE TO SEND

This sympathy card is for a friend who lost a family member this week.  The stamp is from a Sweet & Sassy set of six familiar hymns that work well for many occasions. 

This is also being featured on the Sweet & Sassy web site.

CARD FOR A FRIEND

It's amazing how two cards using the same stamps and dsp can look so entirely different.  This one features watercolored leaves done by spritzing the stamp after inking it up, a copper embossed tree trunk and a little bit of green grass under the tree.  The greeting is also done in copper embossing.

For embellishments, I used SU sequins and copper thread.  Using just a few sequins keeps  the card from looking cluttered.  The small greeting was chosen so as not to compete with the image.

AUTUMN TREE 4 YOU

This photo doesn't due justice to the image, unfortunately.  The image is a bit pale, but not as light as it looks here.  The leaves have been coated with clear WOS for a bit of shine.

In addition to sparkle or shine, I like to add texture to my cards.  I used a panel of textured yellow cs and some burlap ribbon beneath the dark brown border.  I added dimensionals beneath the dark brown panel to give the image some lift (physically and visually) and kept the embellishments simple.

I can see that this set will be getting a lot of use! The set, "Modern Trees," by My Favorite Things, can be used for any season.  I purchased it after seeing a card done in silver and gold on gray cs--very elegant.  I plan to CASE that soon!

 

 

IT'S ACORN TIME!

Here's a happy squirrel harvesting his acorn.  He is from a color layering set by Hero Arts.  The bundle includes the stamps, 4 dies and 4 ink cubes.  I just love squirrels and how our Creator gave them a tail that serves as a blanket in the winter!

Now that I'm halfway through my 100 Christmas cards for this year, I'm taking a break in order to make some Fall birthday and Thanksgiving cards.  The StampinUp dsp used here is part of a beautiful collection for those Autumn occasions.

 

CASEing MYSELF!

It's amazing how two cards of the same design can look so different!

It feels soooo good to be back in the Tower again.  After a wonderful getaway for two nights with Rick, we came home determined to do it again soon.  This trip was up to the Lake George area of New York State, and we were amazed at how much wilderness is up there.  I expected to find it all built up, and some parts are; but nothing like towns closer to NYC.  Spending time on miles of 2-lane roads, tall mountains and thousands of acres of pine and hardwood forests is awe inspiring.

Meanwhile, I've been enjoying the unseasonable summer weather soaking up the sun on the deck with a puzzle book.  It has been delightful!