Keeping Christmas - September 2019

Good Morning!

Today is September 25th!

THREE MONTHS UNTIL CHRISTMAS!!!

Do you have your Christmas cards started yet?  

If not, come check out the

 Keeping Christmas Inspirational Blog Hop.  

Every month on the 25th, the Keeping Christmas Team headed by our fabulous leader, Kelly Lunceford, share lots of wonderful Christmas projects to inspire you and boost your creativity to either begin or add to your Christmas card/paper project stash for Christmas.

This month I decided to make some Christmas Thank You cards so I would have some ready for right after the holiday. This is actually a first for me.  I usually forget all about the thank you cards until about mid-January.  Probably because sometimes I'm mailing my Christmas cards out the day after Christmas! (Cardmaker's problem, or at least this one's).

  

I saw a really interesting technique last week from a card challenge participant whose blog I visited.  This may be totally new to just me.  I've smooshed ink on blocks before but never thought to smoosh the ink in two blocks together  So I had to try it.  I used various acrylic blocks I have but the ones I liked the most were my round one, a medium rectangle and a larger rectangle.  It works best with just two different colors per background.  I wound up with nine backgrounds.  I chose three for now.  I'll make up the others later.  

After all the smooshing, I decided I'd ink the front of the cardbases to match one of the color in each background. Once that was done I got busy stamping all my elements and embossing all my sentiments on labels I had die cut previously.

I used two stamp sets, both by Catherine Pooler Designs. Oh What Fun and Boughs and Berries.  The sentiment was a freebie from Catherine Pooler in the September Release.  

Now see what the rest of the Design Team has created to inspire you by hopping through the list below:

Kelly Lunceford

Anita Madden

Broni Holcombe

Claire Broadwater

Julee Tilman

Kim Heggins

Lori Tecler

Nance Salkeld (You are HERE!)

Nina Forsyth

Vicki Finger

Nancy Guse

See you next month!

Keeping Christmas Blessings!

Christmas Candy Corn

CAS Christmas card challenge is closing later today.  How did I not think of this before?...Christmas candy corn.  It's a thing.  I have this big candy corn stamp and die set.  So I made Christmas candy corn!

The candy corn stamp, from "Eat Candy Corn" by Impression Obsession, comes in three separate pieces and there are two sets, one solid and the other each piece has a pattern on it.  So I used the solid and stamped each piece separately first with ink (Rouge for red, Mardi Gras for green and then the white is just Wanderlust embossing glitter). I stamped them again with Versamark and then I used embossing glitter for the final layer.  The sentiment is also from the same stamp set stamped in Midnight.  I die cut the panel with a laced panel die by Gina Marie Designs.  The background is a buffalo plaid background stamp by Catherine Pooler Designs stamped in Rouge ink also by Catherine Pooler.  

CAS Christmas Treat Blessings!

Inchie Thanks

Hello again!

I have finally been able to play in some challenges again.  Today is the last day for all of the CAS challenges, CAS Christmas Card, Watercolor, Stencil and Mixup.  I at least made a card for CAS Mixup. The theme has been Inchies.  

The newest Club Sursee bundle from Catherine Pooler Designs was perfect for it...

I had a piece of leftover purple watercolored paper sitting on my table so I decided to make a little "inchie" window tower.  I tell you, it was challenging trying to find a shaped die cut that was just an inch long but I did!  The smallest wonky stitched square by My Favorite Things is an inch!  I cut them out from the watercolor paper and set them aside.  Then, I placed my cardbase in my Misti with the purple rectangle piece to layout my first flower to stamp, which is stamped in Pixie Dust and Grape Crush.  The watercolored panel, incidentally was colored using Grape Crush smooshed on a glass mat.  Next I stamped the sentiment in Grape Crush.  Finally, I glued the rectangle panel and then the three squares.


For Following Challenges:

Inchies, Stamping, Die Cuts, Watercolor

Inchie Blessings!  

Brave Wings

Happy Fall Ya'll!

 <insert adopted southern accent> 

I'm sharing a non-DT post for a change! With summer winding down and cooler weather on the way (hopefully, although you never know in the south), I'm trying to get crafty organized for Fall/Winter cards. 

I made my final stamp purchases for 2019, getting some new Fall, Halloween and LOTS of Christmas stamps.  So I've been playing around a little bit with everything.  One of my favorite new purchases are these angel wings die (see below) by Catherine Pooler Designs, part of her Christmas Release this month.  Even the Hubs loved them and said they were a must have!  LOL

Anyway, I always try and make some breast cancer awareness cards for October so I thought they might work for that as well.  Am I understating that?  The photo isn't great as the background is grey, and lighter than it shows in the photo, but I really LOVE how this turned out!

Above is using natural light and a devil may care, just shoot and post the darn thing, attitude.  Below is one of my original attempts at a photo that shows the truer color of the grey background.  I had lighting issues yesterday trying to photograph cards.  I'm sure it was the "photographer" moreso than the lighting but we won't say anymore about that.  Except, I will add I think it is possible to have too much lighting in the one room that gets lots of natural lighting.

I cut out the wings twice, once in Neenah 110 lb cardstock and then out of a pink watercolored background.  I cut out some Stick It paper and adhered to the back of the white wings to keep all the pieces in place.  Then popped out the pink pieces and adhered the pink wings on top of the white ones.  I cut the ribbon from the same watercolored cardstock. I already had the heart die in my "leftover pieces" box. I used grey cardstock, I think "mirror" from CP Designs grey cardstock pack.  

Card Supplies:
Stamps: Sentiment - Ellen Hutson-Be Strong and American Crafts.
Paper: Smoke cardstock (Catherine Pooler); White cardbase (Neenah); Watercolor paper (Strathmore).
Ink: It's a Girl (Catherine Pooler Inks); Versamark
Extras: White embossing powder (WOW); Angel Wings die (Catherine Pooler Designs); Ribbon die (Verve Stamps); Heart die (Sizzix). Stars from Star cutting plate (Catherine Pooler Designs); Sequins - (Catherine Pooler Designs)

Brave Blessings!

Krafty Chicks Challenge #473 Thank You

Happy Thursday!

A new challenge is up at Krafty Chicks Challenge.

Tangii is our hostess and our Twist is "THANK YOU"!

Krafty Chicks Challenge #473 Thank You

I used stamps from Go You Covered Set, the August Sursee at Catherine Pooler Designs.  The sentiments are from the Butterfly Notes stamp set, also Catherine Pooler Designs, as is the patterned paper background.

Stop at the Hen House and see what the rest of the Chicks created along with our Guest Chick, Katie!  Then come play with us!

Krafty Chicks Blessings!

CAS Christmas - Spiked Spirits

Hey there!

We're now at the halfway mark through September.   

Just three months and eight days until Christmas Day!  YIKES!  

Today is mid-month Reminder Day 

for the 

CAS Christmas Card Challenge.

I'm hosting this month and I chose the theme of holiday treats.

I did a very CAS card for my mid-month.  I used the hot beverage stamp from the "Holiday Charm Stamp" Set by Catherine Pooler Designs. I colored it with Copics, using a little ombre for it. I shimmered the cream with Nuvo Glimmer Pen.  The sentiment is from "Spirited Sentiments" by My Favorite Things.  Lastly, I scored a border around the card edge for a little interest.

So stop by the CAS Christmas blog and see the rest of the team's Holiday Treat projects as well as our Guest Designer, Birgit.  And how about playing along with us and get some Christmas cards created.  It's not so far away now!

CAS Christmas Blessings!

Krafty Chicks Challenge #472 - Border Stamp Twist

Good Morning!

It's time for a new challenge 

at

Krafty Chicks Challenge.

I'm your host this week and I've decided we need to break out those border stamps!

Krafty Chicks Challenge #472 - Border Stamps Twist

I used some border stamps from Catherine Pooler Design's Club Sursee for the background of my card. I stamped them in Melon Ice, Garden Party and Mardi Gras inks by Catherine Pooler. The green label was cardstock inked in Mardi Gras and cut using the stitched label die also by Catherine Pooler.  I used the same die to stamp the Irish Blessing sentiment, by Rubber Cottage, in Mardi Gras green as well.

Now stop by the Hen House and see the rest of the DT Chicks' projects along with our Guest Designer, Katie.  Then how about break out some border stamps, or even just create a border with other stamps and play along with our twist this week!  

Krafty Chick Blessings!

Marbled Birthday

 Hello Sunday!

I have a special post tonight.  Today is my hubby's 54th birthday.  So it's been a day of celebrating.  First we slept in really late, getting up just in time to get ready for the Food & Flea event in downtown Cary.  Good food, lots of cool crafty goods, but boy was it HOT!  So we continued the celebrating back home in air conditioning.  So I'm sharing one of the cards I made for him...

 I started with a background made with Catherine Pooler Designs Carnivale Color Bursts by Ken Oliver.  I actually used the backside of it. Here's the front side...

I was playing around with the Color Bursts and the liquid sparkles.  I looked at the back and thought why not try the back stamped with the Marbled stamp set embossed in WOW Genteel Serene embossing glitter.  As you see, it turned out really cool I think!  

I kept the rest of the card simple, adding the sentiment (3 layers) and silver foiled leaf dies, placing it on a white mat and then a black cardbase.  The hubs loved it too!

Marbled Birthday Blessings!

Krafty Chicks Challenge #471 - Balloons

Good Morning Thursday!

It's time for a new challenge at 

Krafty Chicks Challenge.

Leanne is our hostess and her Twist for us this week is:

Balloons.

Krafty Chicks Challenge #471 Balloons

I decided to pull out the balloon die from the YAY die set by Ellen Hutson.  I cut out three balloons from backgrounds made on coated cardstock using the shaving cream technique.  The sentiment is from the WooHoo stamp set by Catherine Pooler Designs.

Stop by the Hen House and check out all the Chicks' projects using the Balloon Twist. Also welcome our September Guest Designer,  Katie Brooks and see what she has created.  Then come play along and share your balloon themed projects with us!

Krafty Chick Blessings!

CAS Christmas Card Challenge - Holiday Treats

Hello Tuesday!

It's the 3rd day of September.  Wow.  A new month!  Now it's only 3 months and 22 days until Christmas!  Holy Moly!  Do you have your Christmas cards started yet?  Yea or Nay, why not come join us at CAS Christmas this month.  

I'm hosting this month and chose the theme:

Holiday Treats!

I used Christmas Cookie Stamp Set by Catherine Pooler Designs to make the cookies.  I stamped them on Sand Dunes cardstock in Versamark ink then white embossed them with WOW pure white embossing powder.  I stamped and embossed a second time.  The sentiment I stamped in Icing On The Cake and added a heart die cut from Rouge inked cardstock.  I sponged Over Coffee around the edges of each cookie.  I placed them on a layer of white cardstock stamped with a buffalo plaid stamp by Catherine Pooler in Rouge ink also by Catherine Pooler.

Now stop by the CAS Christmas Card blog and see the rest of the Design Team's projects as well as our September Guest Designer,  Birgit (Rapport fran ett skrivbord)!  Then come play along with us this month and create some Holiday Treat Christmas cards for your stash!  There's just 3-1/2 months left before Christmas!!!

CAS Christmas Blessings!

Ahoy!

One more for tonight ---

I made this with the Ahoy word die, Ship's Wheel die, and coral dies by Catherine Pooler Designs.  I cut the coral from inked cardstock in the colors All That Jazz, Aquatini and Skylight and cardstock sprayed with Heidi Swapp gold spray.  The ship's wheel I inked with Versamark and then played around with several embossed layers of gold, bronze and Genteel emboss powder.  I cut out a hole of the inked Woodgrain background and added a layer of blue watercolored cardstock behind it to peek through with the ship's wheel on top. The Ahoy word die was cut twice from Sand Dunes cardstock and once from Midnight and I shadowed the lighter one on the bottom.

"Seas the Blessings"!

Adoring Florals

Hello again!

Here is a card made from Catherine Pooler Designs, "Find Your Happy" Stamp Set and BFF background stamp. I stamped the background in Eucalyptus.  I also cut out the smallest label from Nested Labels and inked the edges with Eucalyptus.  The flowers were stamped in Rouge, Mandarin Spice, Sauna, Sage, All That Jazz, Royal Treatment.  The tan stitched scalloped die is by WPlus9.

Adored Blessings!

Blessing Pots

Some more cards I made a couple weeks ago...

 I made this for a special friend. I used a stamp set, "Pick Your Pot" from Catherine Pooler's Club Sursee.  I decided to ink up the pots in different colors and leave the plants all neutral.  The background is a Wonky Triangle stencil by Catherine Pooler.  I stamped the back three pots then masked them off to sponge the stencil background in Sand Castle.  I bumped up the front pots with foam tape.  I wanted to create some shadows around the pots so I used some Twilight ink and an ink blender pen.  I need a little more practice with shading I think.  The other background layers I made by just swiping Polished and All That Jazz around the parameter of white cardstock, adhered them together and then the main layer on top.  The sentiment is from the CPD "Everyday Mod" set and stamped in Icing On The Cake.

Catherine Pooler ink colors used: Royal Treatment, All That Jazz, Sauna, Rouge, Polished, Sand Castle, Icing on the Cake, Twilight.

Southwestern Blessings!

Krafty Chicks Challenge #470 - Crazy Egg/Just A Sentiment

Hello and Good Morning!

This week is breezing by quickly as it is Thursday already!

It's also the last Thursday of August as well as the 5th Thursday, which at Krafty Chicks Challenge means a Crazy Egg Challenge!  Lori is our hostess this week and the Twist theme she chose is "Just a Sentiment".

Krafty Chicks Challenge #470 - Just A Sentiment

I have to admit I struggled a bit with this one.  I created one card, realized it was too busy for just a sentiment even though it was a nice one.  So, I pulled out some backgrounds and this evolved...

The background was created with the baby wipe technique and distress oxide inks.  Then, I die cut the "sunshine" word die (Catherine Pooler Designs) three times, twice in black and once in white.  The white one was inked with Versamark and embossed with Honeydew embossing powder (part of a Melon Ice trio of powders by Wow for Catherine Pooler).  I Versamarked it again and embossed with Ice Pop Sparkles(third of the Melon Ice trio).  I repeated that last step again.  Next I stamped the rest of the sentiment in Versamark on Midnight cardstock by Catherine Pooler and embossed in white, then cut them out.  Finally I stamped the sun rays from the Scatter Sunshine set by Catherine Pooler Designs in Versafiine Black Onyx directly on the background and dried with a heat tool.  The whole layer was adhered to a midnight cardbase.  By luck, the sun was shining bright that day in my craft window so I was able to capture a nice natural photo.   I loooove how the "sunshine" sparkles in the sunshine! 

Make sure you stop by the Hen House and see what the rest of the Chicks have created.  Also it is the last week for our August Guest Designer, Betty Roberts, so be sure and visit her Instagram and "heart" her card.  Then come play along in our Just A Sentiment Twist or our Crazy Egg ATG challenge and let's have some crafty fun!

Krafty Chick Blessings!

Keeping Christmas Blog Hop - August 2019

Hello again!

I have a special post for this 25th day of August!

It's time for another Keeping Christmas Inspirational Blog Hop!

Every month on the 25th, the Keeping Christmas Team headed by our fabulous leader, Kelly Lunceford, share lots of wonderful Christmas projects to inspire you and boost your creativity to either begin or add to your Christmas card/paper project stash for Christmas.

This month I decided to do some ornaments/tags for my project ---

I found these black chalkboard ornament tags at Michaels about a year ago and bought them specifically to do just this. Of course, my plan was to use them all up for last Christams...umm, obviously that didn't happen.  LOL I created a few back last fall for a Paper Sweeties post using Paper Sweeties stamps and dies with felt.  This time I wanted to do it a little different with just cardstock and stamps.  I've used the Stamp/Die set, Christmas Cookies, by Catherine Pooler Designs, for the images. 

The first duo (above), I chose the tree stamp.  I pulled out some backgrounds I have already created.  The blue tree is from a background using the shaving cream technique with re-inkers.  The green tree is a watercolored background using Lime Rickey dye ink by Catherine Pooler.  I stamped both backgrounds with Versamark and then embossed in White emboss powder by WOW.  Then I die cut them out along with a plain white die for an added layer behind the image. I also cut two stars from another die set from silver glitter cardstock.  Next, using Versamark I stamped the sentiments on both tags and embossed in white.  After adhering the trees I added green sequins and sequin snowflakes to the green tree one and blue sequins and tiny silver star sequins to the blue one.

For the angels, I used a background created with Limoncello Colorburst by Ken Oliver for Catherine Pooler Designs.  I Versamarked and white embossed the angels then die cut them with white cardstock angels for extra layer.  Next I used some Limoncello Liquid Ice and painted it onto the angels.  This liquid ice comes with the four Carnivale Colorbursts, along with a Samba liquid ice.  It adds a nice shimmer.  I stamped and embossed the sentiments, from "Here We Come A Caroling" (Catherine Pooler Designs).  After adhering the angels I just added some gold 2D star stickers.  I left the original string hangers on these.

My final two tags, I pulled out some Samba inked cardstock, stamped and embossed the sled onto it twice and die cut them out with white cardstock dies for layering.  I added the Samba liquid ice to the sleds  for some shimmer.  I stamped the sentiment, from "Holiday Charm" (Catherine Pooler) and embossed it white.  I added snowflake sequins and some red enamel dots as well as red baker's twine to finish off the final two tags.

I had a lot of fun creating these using lots of different backgrounds created from various techniques.  I have an enormous stash of backgrounds I need to use and so I love digging through them to use on projects like this.  I need to keep doing it until I've used them all.

I hope you've enjoyed my tags/ornaments.  I think I need to go back to Michaels and see if they still have these chalkboard tags.  They make great tags/ornament gifts, however they are decorated.

Now hop through the list below and see what the rest of the team has created this month.  It is sure to inspire you to break out some Christmas stamps!

Kelly Lunceford

Lesley Croghan

Anita Madden

Broni Holcombe

Claire Broadwater

Julee Tilman

Kim Heggins

Lori Tecler

Nance Salkeld (You are HERE!)

Nina Forsyth

Vicki Finger

Nancy Guse

See you next month!

Keeping Christmas Blessings!