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My final card of 2011 is a card of gratitude ... an appropriate way to end the year.
Sketch is Pretty Patterns Sketch from My Time Made Easy ... paper is from Basic Grey Jovial ... stamp is new Hero Arts Smiling Snowman ... sentiment is an EAD Rub-on.
Wishing you lots of things to be thankful for in 2012.
Today I needed thank you cards, so I started with this week's Unscripted Sketch.
I used Prima's Madeline papers and new stamps from Hero Arts.
I added a wrap of dyed seam binding to the second card. I trimmed the 6x6" paper in the middle, so I could keep the designs on the top and bottom of the page.
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This week's SCS Inspiration Challenge comes from the Etsy Store of Embroidery Everywhere. I chose this cute *Will Work for Yarn* design for my inspiration.
Embroidery reminds me of my grandma ... when I started thinking about possibilities for my design, I came across some vintage Ideals magazines, which also remind me of my childhood ... sitting at my Gran's house taking in the art on every page ... so I decided to use one of the pictures for my card design.
All I had to add was a stamped & embossed Hero Arts sentiment at the bottom & called it good. Sometimes simple really is best.
I hope you find inspiration.
Well, it's that time of year again ... time to begin building-up your holiday stash for 2012. At Jingle Belles we're planning to help you take back December ... one holiday card at a time.
We've made a few changes including posting every other week ... so you'll have more time to join each prompt ... and speaking of prompts ... this week's is ...
Make a holiday card that incorporates GIFT WRAP:
as a background, as an accent, or using motifs cut from your favorite wrapping paper
OR
Make a holiday card with an image of present(s) on it!
I always buy my holiday wrapping paper at the after-holiday sales ... and I always look for papers that will work throughout the year like this metallic two-sided (teal & silver) paper. I thought it would be fun to see if I could create something using origami, so I found this Wreath Tutorial and started folding.
The fold is very quick & easy and would make fun ornaments too. I added a few punched holly leaves & some silver *berries* ... attached it to a silver metallic card base (framed by more wrapping paper) ... and added a grey EAD Designs rub-on sentiment."
Check out this week's post with lots of Lovely Guest Stars ... and join us as we take back December ... one holiday card at a time.
My sympathy card stash at the office is completely depleted, so tonight I made some quick ones using my favorite sympathy stamps.
The first one uses this week's ColorQ Challenge together with a sketch from Sketch N Stash. There's also an Anything Goes Challenge happening at Simon Says Stamp.
The neglected things in my stash are my die cuts (which I don't use nearly enough) and a star punch I've had for years. Papers are Basic Grey's Little Black Dress & sentiment is Inky Antics.
Next card is inspired by this week's Inspired By Challenge Invitation ... love the colors and tall lines of the design.
I used a favorite sentiment from River City Rubber Works with Authentique Papers.
Sketch is this week's Mojo Monday Layout, and I added a wrap of ribbon for the Tie it Up! Challenge at Shopping our Stash. I bought an entire large spool of this ribbon years ago when a local scrapbooking store went out of business.
The final card uses Basic Grey's Marjolaine Collection ... I love the colors of this collection, but always struggle to make the patterns work well together.
Sketch is from Skipping Stones Designs and the sentiment is from Paper Inspirations.
There's still time to link-up your Five Favorite Holiday cards ... and your Ten Favorites of 2011.
Another week of stumbling through blogland:
Have a fabulous Thursday.
My youngest brother (I started to say little brother, but since he's over 6 feet tall, that didn't seem quite right) bought me some cool art supplies for Christmas, so I wanted to use some to make him a special Thank You card.
My design is inspired by Chupa ... this week's Featured Stamper at SplitCoast Stampers. I chose her Hello Friend card from March 2010 to inspire my design.
I wanted to stay with the dimensional frame & big bold letters, since some fun adhesive glitter letters were included in my holiday gift stash.
I went with black and gold, since Mizzou is one of my brother's favorite teams.
I used gold metallic paper for the frame (attached with foam tape for dimension) and a white EAD Designs rub-on sentiment to complete the sentiment. I finished with a snowflake & black adhesive gem. The background paper is from Basic Grey's Little Black Dress Collection.
Since we're celebrating Holiday Lights at Gingersnap Creations this month ... it seems only fitting that the Color Challenge is Pale Yellow and White.
I decided to use EAD Designs Vintage Furniture Stickerz to stay with the *light* theme for my card with a chandellier and candle sticks.
My pale yellow paper is from Echo Park's Springtime Collection. I added an EAD Stickerz sentiment, pearls & a flower to complete this cheery design ... the Stickerz make a card come together so quickly.
Every year I have fun going back through my posts & choosing my 10 favorite cards (here is 2010, 2009 & 2008) ... it was more of a challenge this year to narrow down my group (which I suppose is a good thing).
1. This card used one of my favorite paper lines of the year ... Graphic 45's Once Upon a Springtime. I love the clean lines of this design (sometimes less really is more) and how all of the elements work together ... not to mention my favorite kraft cardstock ... and if you click through you can see a close-up of the subtle sparkle on the fairy wings that really made this design shine.
2. Super Grover just makes me smile ... as well as this Catslife Sentiment ... and I love my coloring on this one too ... something I don't do nearly often enough.
3. This card features K&Company's Jubilee ... another favorite collection of the year ... love the rich hues and these wonderful dimensional butterfly stickers. It's amazing how a little bit of ink sponging can add such dimension to already gorgeous papers ... and this one was also a member of the Froggin' Fantastic Four at the Lily Pad Cards blog.
4. I love how my faux leather technique worked for this fun cowboy boot ... I also love making shaped cards using photos as a template.
5. Whimsical Melange was one of my favorite sets released by Artistic Outpost this year ... and Authentique was a favorite paper line ... and in this card they come together perfectly.
6. While I love clean & simple cards ... I also love inky techniques like this sponged and water-spotted background & awesomely inky flowers ... this card was also a winner at the Color Me Crazy Challenge on the Petaloo blog.
7. I truly fell in love with everything about this card ... converting a scrapbooking sketch into a card ... EAD Designs rub-ons (another favorite product of the year) ... Art Chix Studio ... fabulous designer papers ... and my step-mom's vintage buttons. It was a Sketchy Thursdays Favorite as well.
8. I know I only made this card a few days ago ... but it's already a favorite. I love how the new stamps work together ... and I love how those colors just POP!
9. I love incorporating vintage magazines & books into cards (in this case Popular Science Magazine) ... and I love the challenge of creating masculine designs ... throw in some vintage buttons and this one is a winner to me.
10. What can I say ... I love cards that make me giggle ... and the fact that a fashion model inspired this wacky design makes me giggle even more.
I love the wide variety of designs ... and yet they are all a little bit of *me*.
Hope you enjoyed taking a walk down memory lane with me ... looking forward to another fun year of creative inspiration.
And if you'd like to join the Top 10 Fun ... link-up here, so we can all share the fun ... I'll leave it open until January 10th ... and might even send a little prize to one random participant.
CAS-ual Fridays and Market Street Stamps have teamed-up for a little Block Party this week, so I wanted to join the fun. The theme for the Party is Brown Paper Packages Tied Up with String (Kraft cardstock & twine).
This card features my favorite kraft from Hobby Lobby (love the nubby texture); designer paper and a sassy scooter embellishment from My Mind's Eye Good Day Sunshine Collection; and Caribbean Twine from The Twinery.
The stamps are from three different Market Street Stamps sets ~ Compass (the sentiment), Hippie Chic (the bird) and Gone Campin' (the hearts) ... all stamped in Charcoal.
