Get Ready for the Holidays!

Even though it's Halloween, I have been busy making cards for the holidays. My SU! monthly club meets next week; and since we won't be meeting in December, we'll be celebrating the holidays. One of the fun things we do every month is a card swap. Out of respect for our demonstrator, we use strictly SU products but it's OK if we use retired products. This is my swap template...only eleven more to go. I cased this card from Iliana Crouse; you can see the original here. While you are there, check out her other creations. If you've not visited her blog, you are in for a real treat. She's a real inspiration for me.!

This card was created for two challenges; Crazy 4 Challenges 61 & FS195. The C4C61 challenge is a sketch challenge hosted by Silke Ledlow. Cheryl is the Featured Stamper this week. She has such a lovely gallery; her copic coloring is awesome. I cased Cheryl's Candy Cane Christmas card. I just love this penguin stamp she used & I've had the same stamp for several years...I think it was one of the first non-SU! stamps I purchased. He's a real cutie, don't you think?

Have a great week! Hugs!

Supplies- Card 1:
All supplies from Stampin' Up
Stamps: Delightful Decorations, Heard from the Heart
Paper: Riding Hood Red, White, DSP- Christmas Cocoa (retired)
Ink: Riding Hood Red
Accessories: RHR 5/8 striped grosgrain ribbon, red hemp twine, rhinestone jewel accents, ornament punch.

Supplies- Card 2:
Stamps: Penguin (Art Impressions)
Paper: Old Olive, Real Red (SU), White (neenah), DP- Christmas Stack (DCWV)
Ink: Black (Memento), SU Markers- Real Red, Old Olive, Summer Sun.
Accessories: MS snowflake punch, red buttons (target), green button (MME)

Happy Halloween!

Hello Friends! Happy Halloween!
I've been away from Blogland for a while for a wonderful reason...three weeks ago, I started a new job! I've been deeply engrossed in it & have had very little evening time to create or visit your blogs. Weekends have been fabulously busy with family happenings.
So today I leave you with a few of the Halloween cards I created earlier this month. As you can see, they are very similar. The middle one was my favorite until I smudged the front while stamping the inside greeting (UGG!), so now the top one is my favorite. I just adore this stamp set from SU! called Greeting Card Kids. You can go vintage with these images or stay more contemporary. There is a very cute image for Christmas too.
Enjoy your Halloween Holiday!

Supplies:
Stamps: Greeting Card Kids (SU)
Paper: Only Orange, More Mustard, Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Rich Razzleberry, Black, Chocolate Chip, White, DSP- Pumpkin Pie (SU)
Ink: More Mustard, Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Rich Razzleberry, Black, Chocolate Chip, Blush Blossom, Sahara Sand
Accessories: Old Olive ribbon, gold brad, Scor-Pal

Soft Blue Flower

Good morning! I wasn't going to play in the studio this morning, but when I saw Julia's Way to Use It challenge to use tissue paper, I was hooked. Luckily, this card only took about twenty minutes. So I can quickly get back to my chores. I start my new job on Monday so I am trying to get caught up on household odds and ends including Halloween & Fall decorating. DD#1 (dear daughter #1) is coming home from college for the weekend & once she get home (around lunchtime), I will want to spend my time with her.

My card was made with Marine Mist as a base which I covered it with white tulle. I like the soft look. I've not made tissue paper flowers before; this was one of the reasons I jumped on the challenge. I was happily surprised at how easy it was. This flower was made with blue tissue paper and cut with the Nestabilities Dahlia die. I added a velvet floral brad.

Supplies:
Stamps: None
Paper: Marine Mist, Black (SU!), DP- B&W Intricate Swirls (the Paper Studio)
Ink: none
Accessories: White wedding tulle (Michaels), Blue lace ribbon (Wyla Inc), Velvet flower brad (Creative Imaginations), Gemstones (the Paper Studio)

Words of Autumn

A quick post with my Clean and Simple card for the SCS Challenge to use the faux letterpress technique by embossing a cuttlebug folder. I like the way this turned out and it was really simple and fast! Check out the CAS87 gallery as there are fantastic cards that are not only CAS but quick too!

Supplies:
Stamps: None- Yikes!
Paper: Crumb Cake, Really Rust (SU!)
Ink: Tangerine Tango (SU!)
Accessories: Cuttlebug folder-Autumn Type (Provocraft), paper flowers and leaves (Oriental Trading), Brads (making Memories), Ribbon- chocolate chip double stitched grosgrain (SU)

Free Bird

This lovely stamp from Tim Holtz reminds me of the Maya Angelou poem "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings"...go figure!

I am enjoying creating cards in this altered style which is new to me. It takes me quite a while to put a card together. One thing that I love about paper art is that I become so focused that I forget everything else.

I used the SU! new color coach when picking these colors. Although I am not crazy about the color coach itself (I liked the previous wheeled one better), I do like the color combinations that the SU coach suggests. In the past I doubted the suggested colors, but have found that these color coaches really know color combos. The nice thing about the SU color coach is that it has the exact shades of my cardstock and inks. My favorite 'color coach' is EK Success pictured below. The reason I like it so much is that it gives you five options for each color. You get schemes for two (1), three (2) and four (2) colors both complementary and split complementary. In addition, there are small openings, where you can place your paper to see which color it best matches. And of course you can see the monochromatic options. I'm not a studied artist and color theory alludes me, so I rely on color coaches. But just like most people, I know when colors work well together and when it just isn't right. So my go to coach is the one below and you can pick it up for about $5.

If you haven't already, check out the sketch challenge at Splitcoaststampers. It is #300 and to celebrate, numerous companies have donated prizes.

Have a great day friends!

Supplies:
Stamps: Birdsong (Stampers Anonymous), Composer's Dream (Stampabilities) Baroque Motifs, Artistic Etchings (SU)
Paper: Crumb Cake (aka Craft), Marine Mist, Cajun Craze, Baja Breeze (for flowers) (SU), White (Gina K Pure Luxury)
Ink: Cajun Craze, Crumb Cake, Marine Mist (SU)
Accessories: Flower punch (MS-3 in 1 Hydrangea), brads- vintage ( SU retired), clear embossing powder (SU), spritzer tool (SU), pearls (SU)

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings- Maya Angelou

The free bird leaps
on the back of the wind
and floats downstream
till the current ends
and dips his wings
in the orange sun rays
and dares to claim the sky.

But a bird that stalks
down his narrow cage
can seldom see through
his bars of rage
his wings are clipped and
his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings
with fearful trill
of the things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hillfor the caged bird
sings of freedom

The free bird thinks of another breeze
an the trade winds soft through the sighing trees
and the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright lawn
and he names the sky his own.

But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams
his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing

The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom.

Camellias

Good morning friends! I hope your week has started out wonderfully. We are having great weather in St. Louis- lots of sun and pleasant temperatures. Perfect convertible weather!

My card today was made for two SCS challenges- the CAS challenge was a sketch and the color challenge was to use basic gray, rose red and daffodil delight. I used my new Martha Stewart clear stamps called Camellia. It is one of the things I purchased last week- a $2 bargain that I couldn't pass up. Really - could you walk away from a 10 piece stamp MS set for only two dollars?

I've got lots to accomplish today, but I hope to be back in the studio later tonight. Hugs!

Supplies:
Stamps: Camellia (MS), Sentiment -Fresh Cuts (SU)
Paper: Basic Gray, Daffodil Delight (SU), White (neenah), DP- Cornflower (We R Memory Keepers)
Ink: Rose Red, Daffodil Delight (SU)
Accessories: Rose Red ribbon, basic gray corduroy button (SU)

Halloween Stickers

A very quick card today for the SCS sketch challenge. I used papers from the DCWV Indian Summer Fall matstack. The images are stickers popped up on dimensionals. The bat from Colorbok was outlined in white & was too stark for the card, so I used my Dusty Durango marker and colored the white outline. The Oct 31 sticker was tucked away in my stash from last year's $1 spot at Target. The ribbon retired SU Jersey.

Remember the vow to start using my stash? Well, I am using it, but I haven't stopped buying. Seriously I have spent the last two days picking up bargains again. Those sale and $1 items get me every time. Jeez...I just love this craft! :)

Have a great day!

Supplies:
Image: no stamps; just stickers
Paper: Dusty Durango, Black (SU); DP- Indian Summer stack (DCWV)
Ink: none; dusty durango marker coloring on bat (outline was white)
Accessories: Ribbon- Jersey (SU), Stickers- bat(colorbok); Oct 31 (Target $1 spot)

Vintage Car

Hello friends! I created this CAS card for the SCS CAS challenge to use the colors kraft, red, vanilla, and brown. Also created for the QFTD challenge where Darla was honored. Here is the card I cased. For the car's background I used the vintage dictionary I purchased recently from an estate sale ($0.50). The hardware is SU! silver star brads which I copic colored in brown and a touch of red.

Have a great day!

Supplies:
Image: The Journey (Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous)
Paper: Real Red, Kraft DP, Chocolate Chip (SU); Vintage dictionary
Ink: Chocolate Chip (SU), Copic markers
Accessories: Star brad (SU), Scor-Pal

Autumn Thanks

Happy Saturday! Today is a bright sunny day! Hooray!

Here's my take on two challenges. The F4A29 challenge where Wendy presented us with a sketch. The second challenge was today's Inspirational Challenge. Stef gave us the website to World Market for the IC249 challenge. We have several brick and mortar World Market stores in St. Louis and it is so fun to browse there. The website doesn't do it justice as all the textures and smells really add to the experience. Anyway I chose two things that inspired me; I am very much into fall cards and autumn decorating so I gravitated in that direction. I chose two items from the world market: an autumn rug runner and batik table linens.

Nothing fancy to this card, but I enjoyed pulling out last year's fall DSP from SU!. Have a great weekend friends!

Supplies: all from Stampin' Up
Stamp: The More the Merrier
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Creamy Caramel and Really Rust
Paper: Really Rust, Close to Cocoa, Vanilla, DSP- Autumn Meadows
Accessories: Circle Punches- 1 1/4, 1 3/8, spritzer tool

Big Pink Bow

Now that is one BIG bow! I am not sure what I think, but I have been seeing so many cards with big bows I thought I'd give it a try. Maybe the big bow would be better on a non-CAS card. I do have other ribbon options so I can change it. Opinions, please!

I made this card for two challenges. THe first was the Curtain Call 46 challenge to use these colors and white. Fellow stamper, Silke is part of the design team & after visiting her blog I decided to give this challenge a try. I do love color challenges! The second challenge was the SCS CAS challenge where we were given a sketch by resqbarbie (aka Denise).

Have a great evening!

Supplies- all SU
Image: Darling Dots
Paper: WHite, Wild Wasabi, Peach Parfait, Pink Pirouette, Poppy Parade
Ink: White (craft)
Accessories: Winter white emboss powder, 1.25 square punch, 1.25" grosgrain Pink Pirouette ribbon