Christmas Cards, the 1st

Christmas is still a way off, but I know some of you are starting to think about your Christmas cards.  It's a big project, making all those special cards to celebrate such a special holiday.  I've been working on putting together some of my old gathering and workshop projects that have been just sitting on my shelf.  I'll be sharing a few of these, which all happen to be Christmas cards, over the next little while.
The first card I'm going to show you is one I used for a gathering a couple of years ago.  It's one of my favourite designs.

It's such a simple pattern and yet can be very striking.  I have used the Aspen paper pack here, along with Twilight, Outdoor Denim and Colonial White cardstock.  The image is from an older stamp set called No Greater Love and is stamped with Desert Sand ink.  All the papers are sponged with Desert Sand as well.  As finishing touches I added 3 Outdoor Denim brads and some Glitz Glitter Gel to the snowflakes in the paper.

There is another reason I love this card.  The image I chose to stamp holds special meaning for me.  It reminds me of the real reason I and my family celebrate Christmas: my Saviour's birth.  It sometimes blows my mind that the God of the universe would send His powerful Son to earth in the form of a helpless baby.  Such love!

Stay tuned for other cards with snowmen, stars, and more.

8 Birthday Cards for the Kids in Your Life

These are the cards we made at my workshop last month.  They use a variety of papers and stamp sets and were so fun to do! 

First up are four little Double Scraplings, a design by Vicki Wizniuk.  You can choose the template for these cuties when you purchase a hand-made card from Vicki.  Check out her blog here.

 These two cards were made using the retired Leve 2 kit, Whoops-a-Daisy and Piece of Cake and Thoughtful Seasons stamp sets.

This set uses another retired paper pack, Rough 'n' Tumble.  The stamp sets used were Thoughtful Seasons and Robot Power.

I just love Waterfall cards!  This perfect-for-boys card was made with Rough 'n' Tumble paper again, and the Birthday Boy stamp set.  We coloured in the images with marker and using a blending pen with ink.

This card was also made with the Whoops-a-Daisy paper pack.  We used the Little Princess stamp set.  The images were heat embossed with silver embossing powder and then coloured with watercolour pencils and a blending pen.  My daughter loves this card, saying she wants it for her birthday, which would be a great idea.  Unfortunately her birthday is in May, so she's got a bit of a wait.  We'll see if this one actually makes it to her.

These cards are great for teens.  They are called Double Diagonal Pocket cards and have a spot for a little tag and a gift card.  Go to Splitcoast Stampers to find the tutorial.  They both use You Rock Level 2, believe it or not.  I think it's so neat how one paper pack can be used for both genders.  We just used different papers from the pack and focused on different colours.  The stamp sets we used were Star Power, Say it in Style and Be yourself.  We also added some Glitz Glitter Gel to add some bling. 

It was a lot of fun making cards specifically for kids and teens, not as hard as I thought it would be.  I'd love to see some of the cards you've made for kids and teens.  Post a link in the comments!

Happy Creating!

New Product: Take a Sneak Peek!

Take a look at these gorgeous new products!  These are just a few sneak peeks at the projects I made at Convention.  I can't wait to share it all with you.

Dry Emboss your Bases for a Simple Card

I had so much fun making these cards for my daughter's amazing teacher as an end-of-the-year gift.  I know I got the idea from someone else, of course now I can't find the original in my folders of photos to give her credit. 
Most of the product here is from CTMH.  I have lots of Heartfelt pieces and am determined to stop hoarding them and start using them.  I love them, but I keep forgetting to use them.  Maybe I'm subconsciously keeping them for the "perfect" project.  I'm sure this is a pretty good use for them.  The paper flowers and patterned ribbon are from Michaels, but everything else is CTMH.

These cards are all top-fold, so I cut my 8 1/2 x 11 paper the long way instead of the short way.  Then I put the bases through my Cuttlebug embossing folders, two at a time so the embossing wouldn't break the surface of the paper.  I inked the edges with a co-ordinating ink.  Did you notice that there is no stamping involved in these cards?  They were so quick and easy to make.  The hardest part was figuring out the colours and what combinations I wanted.

 

I'd love to see your simple cards.  What have you done with dry embossing card bases?  Post a link to your photo in the comments of this post.  I'll try to "lift" your card and post a photo and link to your blog or photo in a later post!

Happy Creating!

5 Amazing things about CTMH!

I am on a high, yup, I admit it, a total high!  Nope, haven't taken or done anything that you would find shocking.  I am just still riding high from Convention.  It was my first one, so maybe that's why.
It took 13 and a half hours of traveling for me and my roomies to finally get to Washington, DC.  I had a wonderful Leadership Day and then 3 more fun-filled days.  I have not experienced so much fun, training, support and excitement in one event before.
I promised you 5 things that are amazing about CTMH, so here they are:

1. Our corporate leadership really listens to us.  I see the result of that in pretty much every change, every new program announcement and even in what is still coming.
2. Our founder, Jeanette, really cares about us as consultants.  It came out in the way she was still taking pictures with everyone even though she told us she's battling vertigo right now and is very tired.  (No I didn't get a picture; the line was too long and I had to leave early in the morning.) 
3. We are innovative.  You should see the new 12" Flip Flaps!
4. Studio J is even better with photo editing and lots more, and we heard that Jeanette has ideas for 10 years!
5. We have 8 new colours!                 

6. And because I can't just stop at 5: my fellow consultants are so wonderful, freely sharing ideas and inspiration.  They welcomed me in to their groups without hesitation.  I never felt like I would have no one to sit with.  Thank you, especially, to Melissa Laverty who has helped me so much through email and her blog and was so excited to meet me, just as much as I was to meet her! 

There are so many more reasons that I love CTMH, but I really don't have time right now.  Wouldn't you want to be a part of this?  Email or call me to find out more.

For now,

Happy Creating!