Freshly Made Sketch and Color Throwdown Challenge

When I saw today's Freshly Made Sketch and Color Throwdown challenges I knew they'd be perfect together for some small pictures of Santa from Graphic45 paper.

My card is 5" x 6.5."  The The red and olive colors were in some scraps I had from Basic Grey several years ago, I just added a yellow mat which actually tied in with the colors in the Santa pictures. I used a Cuttlebug embossing folder on the Outdoor Denim from Close To My Heart. It's white core was revealed by sanding. The Freshly Made Sketch kept it all simple. The sentiment is from the CTMH stamp set "A Holiday." I wanted a font that could be seen as "old fashioned" to go with the pictures.

I put the pictures in story sequence, ending with Santa watching the little child praying. I thought that was adorable.

Viva La Verve Weeks 3 and 4

I love making cards to encourage my friends and family. The Nook and Pantry papers from Basic Grey spelled "comfort" to me, so I used them to make the card for the Verve Week 3 Challenge. The brown and yellow grid papers are from Basic Grey's Origins paper pack. The circle of dots and sentiments are both retired from CTMH. I love the shaped mats that were cut using the Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge. Using the Cricut gives me more size options than I get from my Nestabilities.

The card for Week 4 is a Christmas card using Basic Grey's Eskimo Kisses. The little snow scene was punched out of the paper using a 2" punch. I cut the snowflake using the cricut Art Philosophy cartridge, then I stamped it with CTMH Clear embossing ink and embossed it with Seafoam white embossing powder. If you try cutting first, then stamping and embossing, I suggest you have tweezers handy so you don't burn your fingers.  The "merry christmas" greeting is from CTMH "A Holiday" stamp set. The sparkles, ribbon, and button are also CTMH.

Viva La Verve and CR84FN Card Challenges

A couple of weeks ago we had our first snow north of Kansas City, Missouri. It only stayed on the cars for a couple of hours in the morning, but it was enough to let me know that I needed to put away short sleeve shirts and get out more sweaters. Overall, we've had a warm November, but I've been ready to play with my new stamps of children playing in the snow. It seems to bring the kids so much joy, I need to remember those days and find things to be thankful for during the long, cold winter. Here's my card for Viva La Verve the first week of November challenge.

The papers are from Close To My Heart (retired "Aspen"). I used a new stamp set called Winter Joy for the image and a sentiment from Verve. The cuttlebug embossing folder is for 5 x 7 cards. I wish there were more that size! I used a Martha Stewart snowflake punch and some dimensional snowflakes from my stash. I added CTMH Glitz Glitter Glue to all of them for some sparkle. The photo doesn't do them justice.

I combined the Week Two VLV challenge with this week's CR84FN Color Challenge that uses green, tan, and brown.

I used Basic Grey's Origin's paper to make this card. The tan paper is CTMH Kraft CS. The verse is from Verve. I stamped some background leaves with the sentiment using CTMH Spring Leaves (retired) and Sweet Leaf ink. I wove a tan organdy ribbon through some tan lace, which looked to skimpy alone.

MOJO Monday 217

This week's challenge on MOJO Monday gives a choice between a square or circular card. It's such a perfect design for a Christmas card.

Mine is 4.75 inches square to fit in my 5 inch kraft envelopes. All of the papers and embellishments are Close To My Heart, although the papers are retired now (Emporium and Wings). The image stamp set is Glory to God (D1483) although the sentiment is from a retired set. I love the latest Red Ribbon Collection and Red Assortment of buttons.

Autumn Cards using Verve patterns

I had made these cards for the month of October, but didn't get them posted when I was sick. Verve has a weekly challenge on Splitcoast Stampers each month. It's called Viva La Verve. I made multiples of each card so I could sell some in the two craft fairs I participated in. Here is the Christmas card I made for week 1. I used a Cuttlebug embossing folder turned sideways to make the snowy frame and a Martha Stewart border punch that I inked. The stamp set is from CTMH.

 I love using the autumn colors so here's the resulting combination. I added a little "pink" to the color combo of some of the cards. Here is Week 2. The stamp sets, ink, Sunset dotted paper, Blush pink cardstock,  and ribbon are all CTMH.

Here's the card for week 3. All of the materials are from Close To My Heart. The papers are from the CTMH Roxie packet. The Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge helped me cut out the stamped shape that goes with the sentiment. It's hard to see, but the black and softie cardstock strip is pleated on the right with sparkles on the pleats. There is also a large sparkle inside the ribbon flower.

The next card for the week 4 design has an embossed circle. The sentiment, flower, and corduroy brad inside the flower are from CTMH.

The last card was for October's Week 5. It uses Basic Grey paper. The stamp set, buttons and flower are CTMH. The black fiber is actually crochet thread. I like the stiffer quality because it helps me thread the buttons more easily and shows up really well. The oval and frame are both cut using the Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge. That is my absolute favorite cartridge because of the 700 different shapes.

Mojo Monday 216

Once I got sick in the middle of October, I got really behind in everything. I've had repeated sore throats and bronchial issues that finally seem better. I did keep making cards but I'll have to catch up posting these. This card for Mojo Monday was a going away card for my sweet friend Trish who moved yesterday with five of her kids so they could be with her husband where he was transferred. We made cards and scrapbooked together so my hope and prayer is that she'll find new friends to crop with. I couldn't believe she cropped with us Friday night before flying out Saturday morning. It shows how dedicated she was to scrapbook her family's adventures.