Time for Holiday Thank You Cards!

Stamps: Papertrey ' Signature Christmas'. Cardstock: Basic Grey 'Figgy Pudding Glacier', white textured, Baja Breeze. Ink: Baja Breeze. Accessories: Baja Breeze dotted grosgrain ribbon, Marcella K 'Christmas Snowflake' page accents, Stardust glitter pen.

Now that the Christmas greeting card rush is over, it's time to start sending out the thank you cards! My goal is to have them finished by the 31st, so I can start the New Year with a clean slate.

Sparkle (Sparkle's Creations) is already into her fourth week of 2010 Christmas Card Challenges; now that's what I call motivated! I knew this challenge would be a great incentive to stock up on not only Christmas cards, but also holiday thank yous which always seem to be in short supply. Sparkle's inspiration photo is a yummy chocolate cupcake; I went with its white and aqua color combo and white chocoloate snowflake decorations as my inspiration.

The sketch for this card is Fall-To sketch #55, another example of Clean & Simple Stamping's wonderful design.

Beary Sweet Bargain Girl!

Digital stamps: Soft pencil freebie, Pink Cat freebie sentiment. Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Kiwi Kiss, SU Bella DP, GP110 white. Ink: Copics. Accessories: Riding Hood Red taffeta, silver cording, SU scallop border punch.

Can you believe both the digi stamp and digi sentiment used on this card were free? You can still pick up the Teddy Bear image on the Softpencil Digital Stamps blog; post a card using it for a chance to win three more free images!

I paper pieced her dress and balloon to coordinate with my all-time favorite Stampin' Up DP:

The sentiment is courtesy of Pink Cat digis; they have several free sentiments available that coordinate perfectly with their adorable images.

The sketch is inspired by this week's Tuesday Morning sketch #25. Be sure to stop by this fun challenge blog for amazing examples of this sketch in action!

Santa's Gift Planner

Stamps: Doodle Palace (Santa and Rudolph); Patterned Paper: Basic Grey (Figgy Pudding); Cardstock: Stampin' Up (Always Artichoke), Georgia Pacific (white 110), unknown source (textured red, linen black). Markers: Copics; Ribbon: Stampin' Up (Spring Moss grosgrain); Gems: Hero Arts; Die Cuts: Spellbinders (Oval Nestabilities); Paper Punch: Creative Memories (corner rounder); Other: Stampendous (white flocking), Inkessentials (Glossy Accents), Easy Touch (pen).

Merry Christmas! By now, most of us have already celebrated Christmas with family and friends, leaving only happy memories and mounds of wrapping paper to be recycled . Time to relax, right? Definitely, but also time to start thinking about how to make the next holiday gift giving season easier. My plan is to carry this mini gift planner with me, making notes and keeping lists to keep me more organized from the after Christmas sales through next year's Black Friday!

This altered mini comp notebook design is inspired by Lisa Johnson's Christmas' List tutorial.

Rudolph has some Glossy Accents to make his nose shine, while Santa is flocked out for touchable texture:

This is my last project from the final SheetLoads' issue. Be sure to download your free December issue and check out the archives for other great inspiration. I'll miss you, SheetLoads!

Wishing everyone a merry finish to their Christmas day!

Goodbye, DRS Designs Team!

Stamps by DRS Designs: Silhouette Hiker G1026, Silhouette Background Trees F1030, Silhouette Branch Background H363, Vicki's Versatile Background H369, Successful Future Grad Greeting G850. Cardstock: Soft Suede, Bashful Blue, Old Olive, Glossy white. Ink: Soft Suede, Bashful Blue, Old Olive, Versafine black. Accessories: Long rectangle Nestabilities, Lumiere.

Remember this card? I think it's a great note to start my final post for the DRS Designs Team. Due to life's circumstances, I've decided to scale down my design team commitments for the 2010. DRS Designs was my very first design team; I've enjoyed and learned SO much from my experience with this generous and talented crew!

Be sure to stop by the DRS blog for the rest of my mini walk down memory lane.

Wishing you a very happy Christmas Eve! I know we have excited kiddos in this household tonight!!

Gift Set in a Hurry!

Stamps: Papertrey 'Birthday Basics', 'Vintage Picnic Sentiments', 'Autumn Abundance'. Cardstock: Textured white, Basic Grey 'Sugared'. Ink: Chocolate Chip. Accessories: Word Window punch, chocolate satin ribbon.

Just when I thought I was gift list complete, I realized I needed one more item to complete a gift basket! Thanks to Nichole Heady's 'Paper Pieces' tutorial, I was able to create six coordinating cards in about an hour using pieces of leftover DP.

For photos of other cards in this set, please visit the KLSNS blog.

Wishing you luck with your last minute projects and a very merry Christmas to enjoy with family and friends!

Final Simple, Special, Stunning, SheetLoad!

It is time for the December edition of Simple Special Stunning at the SheetLoad of Cards blog, featuring samples by Denise Wallace.

Each month one of our artists will share three different cards that use the current layout. Each card is a "step up" from the previous one, but they are all fabulous. It is a good way to show how SheetLoad is geared toward papercrafters of all levels.

Here are some sneak peeks to whet your appetite...

Clearly Gingerbread Fun

Stamps: Doodle Palace (Gingerbread Kids), Papertrey (Mailbox Greetings); Patterned Paper: DCWV (Sweet Glitter Mat Stack); Cardstock: Stampin’ Up (Riding Hood Red, Chocolate Chip), Georgia Pacific (white 110); Ink: Stampin' Up (Rinding Hood Red); Markers: Copics; Ribbon: Stampin' Up (Riding Hood Red taffeta); Gems: unknown source; Cutting Dies: Spellbinders (Rectangle Nestabilities); other: Graphix (ClearCraft plastic).

Have you taken a peek at the final issue of SheetLoads yet? The December e-issue our biggest issue ever to celebrate the grand finale!

Aren't these Gingerbread Kids by Doodle Palace adorable? For this card, I rotated the sketch and used an acrylic base to let the fun DP inside shine through:



This image reminds me that it's time to get moving on the Christmas baking -- I'm off to infuse the house with the smells of Christmas!

Merry Magnolia Gift Card Holder

Stamps: Magnolia 'Tilda Picking Peaches', Papertrey 'Limitless Labels'. Cardstock: Bashful Blue, Daisy D's 'Paisley Sugarplums', Papertrey white, Doodlebug glitter white. Ink: Memento black, Copics. Accessories: Vellum tag, red gems, Stardust glitter pen, American Crafts ribbon.

Only 9 more crafting days until Christmas! This is the time of the year when all those good intentions for major handmade gifts transform into less dramatic projects. Gift cards are a lifesaver (and I know I love receiving them, regardless of what the critics say!), but I still like to dress them up with a handmade holder.

This pop-up holder is based on the template by Jane (Whoopsie Daisy) and is quick and easy, more prerequisites for those last-minute gifts.

Sparkle from our KLSNS Design Team gave me the great idea of increasing this Tilda's versatility by coloring the peaches as apples in her fun card HERE. I like how the colors on my 'apple' came out, but next time I'll try to mask off the inner line for a little less of the peachy look.

The recipe for this holder was inspired by Tuesday Morning Sketches Challenge #24 which called for:

* 1 Tag
* 1 Hidden Message
* Lots of Glitter

The tag is a vellum version and here is the hidden message which still leaves space for our daughter's signature:

As for the glitter, I used glitter DP, glitter pen accents on Tilda's dress and the tag sentiment, and gemstones. It's always tough for me to take a photo that really captures the sparkle, but here's a little better detail view:

Now it's time for me to stop blogging and get busy on the rest of the gift card holders I need to finish before the Christmas party day!

Midnight Madness Gold Star Award

Isn't it pretty? It's my first major award (anyone else a 'Christmas Story' fan?) which I won for the 'Sing Like No One Can Hear You' card below.

Talk about making my day sing!

Saturday Spotlight With Hidden Potential #11: The Music of Your Soul

Stamps: Stampendous 'Two-Part Harmony 02', Stampabilities 'Composer's Dream', Penny Black 'Dance, Sing, Love', Papertrey 'Signature Christmas', It's Snow Time. Cardstock: Brocade Blue, Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue Printed Pattern, Papertrey white. Ink: Memento, Copics, Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue. Accessories: Rectangle Nestabilities, Celery twill, CM circle cutter, Dazzling Diamonds, Stardust glitter pen.

Are you ready to rock? Or are you a fan of something more mellow, more alternative, more classical? This week's Saturday Spotlight with Hidden Potential #11 is 'The Music of Your Soul':

The Spotlight Divas would like to challenge you to create something with the music in your soul! What do we mean? What is your favorite style of music? Is it country, rock, opera, Christmas music, or the oldies? Whatever your "music style", show us what it is on your creations! eg: Use a cowboy image for "country music", etc. Perhaps you can just create a "musical masterpiece"....just get creative with it!

I'm a fan of many different styles of music (it might be easier to mention which styles I'm not a fan of), but the ultimate to me is the music of nature. I'm not quite sure what a singing mouse sounds like, but Amanda House Mouse is just too cute acompanying her blue bird buddy!

Sketch inspiration this week is Midnight Madness Sketch #31. I didn't realize until after completing the card that the challenge also included the bonus challenges of using a winter theme and creating a coordinating ornament. Lucky for me, the 'Let it Snow' theme also fits with this week's Simon Says Challenge! So, I went back to the image, stamped in snowflakes (highlighted with my trusty glitter pen) and added Dazzling Diamonds for an icy effect on the stump:

The ornament is actually a modified version of a freebie from Archiver's. It was passed through a Wizard with an embossing plate to create the swirl texture, then sprayed with Glimmer Mist. I added the center with sentiment on the same musical background used on the card:

Our sponsor for this week's Spotlight challenge is Paper Garden:

Everyone is a winner because Cathy from Paper Garden is offering all the Spotlight participants a store discount! Be sure to stop by Saturday Spotlight challenge #11 to pick up your discount code and admire all the ways that music moves the Spotlight Divas!

One lucky winner from our challenge in Mister Linky this week drawn from random.org will recieve these two fabulous images from the store:


Rock on!

Show Us Your December SheetLoad!

It is time for one final round of Show Us Your SheetLoad and two lucky winners this month will receive free digital stamps from our December sponsor - Doodle Palace!!

Head on over to the SheetLoad blog today and find out how you can be entered to win.

Here's my second card based on the December sketch:

Stamps: Doodle Palace (Penguin Snowball); Patterned Paper: DCWV (Winter Mat
Stack); Cardstock: Stampin' Up (Real Red), Georgia Pacific (white 110);
Markers: Copics; Ribbon: Bazzill (white dotted organdy); Brads: unknown
source; Glitter: Stampin' Up (Dazzling Diamonds); Die Cut: Spellbinders
(Nestabilities Label One).

I rotated the sketch and popped up the glittery snowballs for a little extra dimension:

Wishing you snow fun this season, too!

DRS Christmas Showcase Sneak Peek!

Isn't this an adorable Christmas critter?

Be sure to stop by the DRS blog to view the full card and other holiday favorites in my DRS Christmas Card Showcase!

SheetLoad Blogaversary!

Want to find out how you can win the following goodies?!?!

Four (4) Assorted Clear Stamp Sets by Three Bugs in a Rug

(actual sets shown)

&

Nine (9) Assorted Packages of Thickers

(Image above is for illustration only and does not show actual assortment.)

Head on over to SheetLoad of Cards today. They are celebrating their 2nd Blogaversary, and you may be getting the presents.

Quick Gifts Are My Cup of Tea!

Stamps: Basic Grey 'Cup of Tea Bitsy Stamp set'. Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Basic Grey 'Sugared'. Ink: Old Olive, Chocolat Chip, Copic W3. Accessories: Making Memories 'Paperie Greenhouse' organdy ribbon, Kaiser gemstones.

I'm a big fan of quick and easy homemade gifts and this time of year, the quicker and easier they are, the better!

Inspiration for the cover is Tuesday Morning Sketch #23; the only variation besides being in a miniature scale is the ribbon tie closure.

Beate's Tea Bag Holder tutorial on SplitCoast Stampers is the template. She actually includes two versions, but I went with the second in the interest of time. This version has a diagonal pocket to hold the tea bag while leaving space on the opposite side for a personalized message:

Now it's time to tackle some of the larger gift projects like creating family calendars. Maybe next year I should actually use one of those calendars to plan an earlier start date!

Sleeping Like a Baby?

Stamps: Stampendou 'Dreampuff', Papertrey 'Limitless Labels'. Cardstock: Wild Wasabi, Blue Bayou', Papertrey white, Basic Grey ' Two Scoops'. Ink: Memento black, Copics. Accessories: circle and oval Nestabilities, heart brads, flocking.

I'm stocking up on baby cards since I was rushing to make a last minute card for a new arrival last week!

Inspiration was Midnight Madness Sketch #30; the image panel reminded me of a cloud or cottonball which in turn reminded me of this cute House Mouse image. I flocked the cotton ball for a little touchable texture:


Be sure to stop by the Midnight Madness blog for the Christmas Blog Hop, full of inspiration and great prizes. You might even recognize one of the cards on MMSC Design Team member Jeni's blog: I was honored to have my 'Follow Your Heart, Edwin' card chosen by Jeni for the 'Pretty Paper Christmas Card Pick'!

Birthday Cupcakes

**To view this week's Saturday Spotlight with Hidden Potential: Christmas Flowers post, click HERE**

Stamps: Magnolia 'Tilda with Cowberry Muffin', 'Cowberry Muffin'; Papertrey 'Birthday Basics'. Cardstock: Papertrey Dark Chocolate; SU Riding Hood Red, Cosmo Cricket 'Honey Pie' DP. Ink: Memento, Copics, Riding Hood Red. Accessories: Long rectangle Nestabilities, SU circle punches, Quick Cutz die cuts, glitter pens, Dazzling Diamonds glitter.

My new favorite type of swap are the card kit swaps and this is a prime example why: Angela (SCS monkeymama) created this amazing kit full of wonderfully coordinated images, papers, and embellies like buttons and ribbon. There's plenty more supplies for additional cards!

If you are interested in a card kit swap, Angela is currently hosting a Magnolia card kit swap on SplitCoast Stampers that isn't due until February 2010. You create 6 kits with two images, two sheets of DP, and embellies then receive five different kits in return; one is for the hostess.
It's a perfect way to stock up on images you may not have and go-to kits for those last minute cards!

This sketch is based on Tuesday Morning Sketch #22 with a slight modification; I cropped one long side of an A2 card thinner and used the circle element as a fastener to 'lock' the card closed. Here's a view of the card when opened:

Another December birthday card complete!

Saturday Spotlight on Hidden Potential #10: Christmas Flowers

Digi stamp by Integrity 'Favorite Doll'. Sentiment by Papertrey 'Signature Christmas'. Cardstock: Rich Razzleberry, Soft Sky, Old Olive, GP110 white. Ink: Copics, Rich Razzleberry. Punches: Martha Stewar branch and scallop border, EK Success 'Daisy', white organdy ribbon, gold Stickles.

This week's Saturday Spotlight on Hidden Potential challenge is all about the flowers, Christmas style. As Vicki describes challenge #10: With the colors/theme of Christmas in mind, use some flowers on your Christmas creation this week!

Our sponsor this week is Inktegrity:

The very generous creator of Inktegrity, Joni, gave us our choice of images so I chose this sweet doll. Ever since I read Melissa (Stamp It, Scrap It, Share It)'s Digi-Stamping Paper Piecing Tutorial, I've been wanting to try this paper-saving technique and thought this doll's dress would be perfect for it!

This card was also inspired by In Style's 'Punch It Out' which challenged us to use three different punches on our project. The wreath was shaped by using a circle Nestie as the base and then layering a ring of branches once, then filling in with a few more in a slightly lighter cardstock for more fullness. The poinsettias are actually a daisy punched out of holiday DP and modified with a few dots of gold Stickles. The scalloped border punch is one of my new favorites and added the final shape for the challenge.

Check out the other Spotlight Divas' Christmas flower creations:

Vicki (Stamped Smiles)
Chris (Twinkles Glows with Stamps)
Boni (Bonibleaux Designs)
Crystal (Crystal's Crafty Creations)
Darlene (Dar's Crafty Creations)
Dawn (My Stamping Thyme)
Debbie (Crafting Fairy)
Erin (Scrap, Stamp and Be Merry)
Maria (Joyful Stamper)
Susan (Stamping Tink)
Jodi (Inked Inspirations)

Then share your own holiday floral creation by linking it to the SSOHP10 post for your chance to win a $15 gift certificate to Inktegrity!