Sky is the Limit!

If you were lucky enough to purchase this neat Masculine Stamp Set (well, not purchase, since it was one of the sets you can choose for free with a $50 purchase), yay for you!  This is one of my favorite new sets.  I used the the amazing World Traveler Textured Impressions Embossing Folder (still available!) on the background and a sheet of DSP from the Going Places Designer Series Paper Stack.  I also embossed the strip of Basic Black with the Chevron Embossing Folder.  Quick, but fun, too!

P.S. If you really didn't get this set (sad for you!), you do have another option.  The Going Global Stamp Set also works perfectly on this card.  :)

Snow Place!

Isn't this just the cutest set ever?  I love it because it can work all winter long, not just for Christmas time!  The pretty new Striped Ribbon and the new Curvy Corner Trio Punch gives this card a cute look.  The background is embossed with the Lucky Stars Embossing Folder.  A swish from the Work of Art stamp set adds some ground for the snowmen to stand on.  The different parts of the Snowmen can each be stamped separately so you can use different colors!

This little guy's black hat is super sparkly thanks to some Black Glimmer Paper!  This set comes with it's own set of Snow Friends Framelit Dies, so it's easy to punch out the hat, tie, and arms.  Some Striped Ribbon accents his hat and top of the tag.  The Curvy Corner Trio Punch and some Washi Tape help add to the mood.  Finally, a background of Whisper White Craft Ink snowflakes are stamped and two of my favorite ribbons are used...Real Red 1/4" Cotton Ribbon and the lovely Burlap Ribbon!

This is an adorable 3-D card that opens up like a shadow box and can stand on it's own.  The Softly Falling Embossing Folder gives the Cherry Cobbler some texture and the cute penguins pop out on some Dimensionals.  They are stamped in Basic Black Ink, then colored with Stampin' Markers.  The penguins and their bows are punched out using the Snow Friends Framelit dies.  A tiny Rhinestone accentuates their bowties.  Completely adorable.

I've so enjoyed this month of Christmas cards and I hope you have, too.  Enjoy this day of peace and may you each be blessed with love and happiness.

Cup of Cheer

Merry Christmas, Friends!

Santa's On His Way!  The Cup of Cheer stamp set and the Lots of Labels Framelits are the perfect place for Santa to hang out!  He is hand trimmed from the Home for Christmas DSP...love this paper!  Two Rhinestones (colored with a Real Red Stampin' Marker!) add some sparkle!

This pretty card is perfect for a Friendship note or even a Get Well card.  Some Dazzling Diamonds in your cup (haha!) and Glimmer Paper behind glams things up a bit.  A delicate Doily and the Decorative Dots Embossing Folder create a soft background.

And it is Christmas Day!  The new Elegant Dots Embossing Folder adds a pretty texture to this card, which is blinged up a bit with some Dazzling Details around the 'wreath.'

I have one more set to share with you later today.  I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas Day!

Peaceful Wreath

This pretty wreath is hand colored with Cherry Cobbler and Old Olive Stampin' Markers and cut out with the Wonderful Wreath Framelits.  The background uses the Hardwood stamp on top of the Woodgrain Embossing Folder, one of my favorites!  I could see this card being used for a masculine Birthday or Father's Day card, if you just switched out the sentiment (which is from the Christmas Greetings Thinlits Dies)

I love this simple card!  I think if you attached the tag with a removable glue dot, it could be a Bookmark!  The pretty Holly leaves are stamped in Garden Green ink, while the berries are hand colored with a Real Red Stampin' Marker.  The background is embossed with the pretty Boughs & Berries Textured Impressions Embossing Folder.

Loving this color!  The Brick Wall Embossing Folder provides a pretty background for the hand colored holly and berries.  Gold Glitter Ribbon peeks out from behind the Peace sentiment, also from the Peaceful Wreath stamp set.  The edges of the Very Vanilla Paper are sponged with the same pretty Hello Honey Stampin' Ink.

Hello December!

These cards use the two Project Life Stamp Sets...Hello December and Seasonal Snapshots.  Cute and easy, when paired with punches, some Dazzling Details and Merry Moments DSP.  The Polka Dots Embossing Folder adds some pizzazz!

I like this technique, of layering your cardstock and stamping them first, then assembling them to create this cute 3-D look.  Silver Cording and Rhinestones glam this card up!

This card uses the pretty Lots of Labels framelits die to showcase the sentiment from the Seasonal Snapshot stamp set.  A couple of Home for Christmas Enamel Dots add some dimension.  The tags are stamped and hand cut and the Merry Moments Paper Stack DSP brings up the background.

These cards are all pretty quick (except for the hand cutting!), but still elegant and fun.  If you need some cards to mail or give along with your gifts, these might be just the thing!  Merry Christmas!

Jingle All the Way!

Here is a cute set of cards that uses the Jingle All the Way stamp set, which comes bundled along with the Sleigh Ride Edgelits Dies.  These edgelits are really neat and easy to use with your Big Shot.  This card uses the Circle Framelits to create a circle behind which the town and moon can be seen.  Silver Glimmer Paper stars are punched from the Confetti Stars Border Punch.  Pretty White Glitter Ribbon and Silver Cording add extra bling!

This card uses the famous (and hard to find!) Woodland Textured Impressions Embossing Folder to create beautiful birch trees.  Use a sponge with just a tad of Basic Grey Ink to lightly shade the trees after embossing.  Silver Cording is used to make a bow next to the Jingle All the Way sentiment.  The sleigh is punched out of Real Red and Basic Black cardstock, using the Sleigh Ride Edgelit Dies,  to create a shadow effect.

The background of this card is created with the pretty Softly Falling Textured Impressions Embossing Folder to give the look of snow.  All three of the Sleigh Ride Edgelits are used in this card, as they form the hills and valleys in this snowy town.  The sentiment is stamped before embossing and the sparkly Winter Wonderland Embellishment is attached with a glue dot or two.

I love using the Big Shot to create cards.  It makes a beautiful card quick and easy and it turns out looking very professional.  I hope these cards give you some inspiration this weekend!

Christmas Poinsettias and More!

I just love this card.  Those gorgeous musical notes contrast so well with the elegant poinsettia, both from the pretty Home for Christmas Designer Series Paper collection.  The sentiment comes from Reason for the Season and the Home for Christmas red Enamel Dots are also from the Holiday Mini Catalog.

This rustic card uses the same stamp set, Reason for the Season.  The leaves are punched out with the Festive Flower Builder Punch and clipped up the sides to create a natural look.  The Note Tag Punch frames the sentiment nicely.  The versatile Woodland Embossing Folder in the background and a bow of natural Linen Thread finish it off!

This final card uses the beautiful Two-Step poinsettia in the same stamp set to create a pretty flower.  The sentiment is stamped on a sheet of White Vellum and punched out with a Circle Punch. A punched out circle from the Merry Moments Designer Series Paper Stack lies behind it.  The background is embossed with the Large Polka Dot Embossing Folder and some curliques of the Gold Metallic Thread add a little shine behind the flower.

I hope you're all having fun preparing for Christmas.  We saw a Christmas play last night that put me in the mood!

Happy Scenes!

This is one of my favorite sets from the new Holiday Mini Catalog, Happy Scenes.  The cute Hearth & Home Thinlit Die is just perfect for all of the holidays.  This card showcases Halloween, but without the Boo! and the spider, it turns into a Thanksgiving card!

This card uses the same stamp as the above card, only it also includes the tree!  And the very popular Woodland Textured Impressions Embossing Folder creates a beautiful background.  A strip of White Glitter Ribbon sparkles it up a bit!

This gorgeous card uses the beautiful tree scene from the Happy Scenes stamp set, along with the Heart & Home Thinlits Die.  The Decorative Dots Embossing Folder and a wide strip of Silver Glimmer Paper add some beautiful texture to the background.

Grateful for Thanksgiving

Here are a few Thanksgiving cards to inspire you this season.

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays.  I love this Thankful Forest Friends stamp set.  It coordinates so well with the Into the Woods Designer Series Paper.  This card adds a little Gold Glimmer paper behind the Mossy Meadow, which is embossed with the Woodgrain Embossing Folder.  A wooden leaf from the Into the Woods Elements set finishes it off.

This elegant card uses the pretty Gold Foil sheets, which are cut out with the Ovals Collection Framelits.  The strip behind the ovals is Black Glimmer paper and the sentiment (from the Thankful Forest Friends set) is embossed with Black Embossing Powder.  The Very Vanilla background is embossed using the new Elegant Dots Embossing Folder.  The bow is tied with the Gold Cording Trim from the new Holiday Mini catalog.

This pretty card uses the same stamp set and DSP as the other two cards, but also uses the Lots of Labels Framelits to cut out the sentiment.  The Rich Razzleberry bow is tied with the new Into the Woods Ribbon from the Holiday Mini Catalog.

I hope you enjoyed these cards and got some ideas for your own Thanksgiving cards this year.  Happy Thanksgiving!

A Christmas Shoebox Swap!

The other evening, a group of us got together and had a Shoebox Swap!  This is where we each bring the supplies to make one card in a shoebox.  Here's the one I chose to bring!

I CASEd (Copy And Share Everything) this card from a fellow demonstrator, Mindy Backes.  Isn't it cute? The stars are 'debossed' using a new to me technique.  After embossing with the Lucky Stars Embossing Folder in my Big Shot, I turned the paper over and sponged Crumb Cake ink on top of the Crumb Cake Cardstock, to create the shadow effect inside the stars.  Very fun!

I used Whisper White Craft Ink to sponge around the edges of the Cherry Cobbler circle (punched out using the 2 1/2" Circle Punch).  The tree stamp comes from the Festival of Trees stamp set and is stamped in Mossy Meadow on Mossy Meadow Cardstock.  The sentiment is from And Many More.  I used a few Rhinestone Jewels for sparkle and added a sparkly Silver Foil Star using the star punch from the Itty Bitty Accents Punch Set.

Merry Early Christmas!

Howl-o-ween Treat! (and a bit of Christmas, too!)

This set of cute cards uses the Howl-o-ween Stamp Set, as well as some fun accessories found in the new Holiday Mini Catalog.

This spooky card has the sentiment embossed on some Vellum Paper and cut out by hand to give it a kind of "floating" look.  The skeleton is also embossed with Basic Black Embossing Powder.  Black Glimmer Paper adds a few highlights!  I just love the look of those Spider Web Doilies on top of the Happy Haunting Designer Series Paper.  The cute bow comes from the Handpicked Framelits set!

This is one of my favorites!  The Boo! comes from the Boo to You Framelits Dies set and the spiders are embossed with Gold Embossing Powder on some White Vellum paper.  The Boo! is cut out twice; once from Gold Foil paper and again from White Vellum paper, to give a shadow effect.  The Happy Haunting Designer Series Paper stands out with a bit of Tangelo Twist paper behind it.  Wouldn't this make a cute candy bar wrapper?

This is the very creatively Christmas version of this stamp set.  Our cute little owl transforms into Santa Penguin!  The Witch's hat becomes a Santa hat and the scary skeleton head turns into Santa's sack!  How cute is that?

The snowy background is created with a couple of strips of torn Whisper White cardstock and the background is Smoky Slate card stock embossed with the Softly Falling Textured Impressions Embossing Folder.  The raised dots are highlighted with a touch of the White uni-ball Signo Gel Pen.  Merry Christmas!

Haunt Ya Later!

This set is one of the cutest in the new Holiday Catalog.  I love Halloween and these cute kids really take the cake!

I just love this cute little witch.  She is colored with Stampin' Markers and stands in front of one of the spooky Spider Web Doilies...one of my favorite accents from the new catalog!  A strip of stars is punched using the Confetti Stars Border Punch at the top and some Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper shows through underneath.  A small piece of Whisper White Organza Ribbon has been dyed by gently rubbing it across the Cucumber Crush Classic Ink Pad.

This is my favorite card from this set.  This cute little vampire is colored with Stampin' Markers and hangs in front of a piece of White Vellum that has been embossed with that pretty Woodland Textured Impressions Embossing Folder.  The orange moon peeks out from behind a Spider Web Doily.  A strip of Whisper White Organza Ribbon that has been dyed with Rich Razzleberry Classic Ink finishes the look.

This gorgeous card uses a piece of the beautiful Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper which has been dyed using Tangelo Twist Classic Ink and Rich Razzleberry Classic Ink along with the Aqua Painter.  What a pretty technique!

The Whisper White Organza Ribbon has been dyed with Tangelo Twist Classic Ink.  A pretty Spider Web Doily adds to the kitty's spooky background.

In all of these cards, the characters and sentiments are stamped with VersaMark Ink and heat embossed by using Black or White Embossing Powder.  They are then cut out and placed on the card using Stampin' Dimensionals to make them stand out.  Happy Halloween!

Witches' Night!

Today, I'm going to share a few more spooky Halloween cards.  This is a very cute set, which can be fun or scary, depending on how you accessorize it.

I love the colors on this card and the little bats flying up from the spooky sign.  A touch of Black Glimmer paper adds a cool highlight!

Here's another one that uses that cute Happy Haunting Designer Series Paper, as well as a strip of Black Glimmer paper.  This one's a bit spookier!

Here's the scary version of this set!  Rich Razzleberry is sponged over the spider webs and Old Olive gives the raven a spooky look!  A strip of Rich Razzleberry, embossed with the Chevron Embossing Folder adds a nice touch, along with a soft highlighting of gold ink daubed here and there.

The really neat thing about this whole set is that you don't have to cut the signs out...there's a Framelit set for them...the Lots of Labels Framelits Dies.  Happy Halloween!

Sparkly Seasons!

Today I'm going to share another set of cute cards from the new Holiday Catalog.  This set is called Sparkly Seasons and can be used all year round!

Isn't this just adorable?  I love the scary background Woodland Textured Impressions Embossing Folder.  The Happy Haunting Washi Tape looks great behind the Seasonal Frames Thinlit die (Spooky!).

Here's a card that can be used for Christmas or Birthday.  The Ballerina twirls prettily on the Silver embossed base.  A touch of Dazzling Details adds sparkle to her tutu and a Rhinestone completes the look.

Here is the Winter version of this set!  The cute snowman is colored with Stampin' Markers and Dazzling Details.  I love the snowy background of the Softly Falling Textured Impressions Embossing Folder.  The Seasonal Frames Thinlit "snow" die cut is punched out of Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper.  A strip of Season of Cheer Washi Tape finishes it off!

I love seeing how one stamp set can be used to create so many different looks!

A new Holiday Catalog...and a new Swap!

So the new Stampin' Up Holiday Mini Catalog is out.  But it's not mini...it's huge!  And it's full of so many wonderful things this time that our group had to have a huge swap to try out all of the new goodies.  So we each made 90 cards!  And swapped them with each other.  :)

Here is the first set of cards I'm going to share.  These cards are from the Among the Branches stamp set.

This cute Halloween card uses the new Woodland Embossing Folder and the Spider Web Doilies...one of my favorites!  A little Black Glimmer paper adds some sparkle!

This stamp set is so versatile, you can use it for all three Fall/Winter holidays!   This card has one of the Into the Woods wooden embellishments and also uses the new Razzleberry ribbon.  Some Gold Glimmer paper finishes it off!

I love this pretty Home for Christmas Designer Series Paper.  Santa Claus adds such a sweet old-fashioned feel to these cards.  This card also uses the new Softly Falling Embossing Folder, which gives the look of a light snowfall in the background.  A circle of Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper adds some sparkle behind the 'ornament.'

I hope you've enjoyed this set of cards.  I plan to post more of the great cards I received in this swap in the coming weeks.  Happy Stamping!