Candy Cane Candle Holder

Can you believe it? I've created yet another Christmas card. Last night my family and I selected the cards that we will be mailing to friends and family in the next few weeks and set them aside. We had around 130 to choose from this year! Since I have a huge pile remaining, we've decided that the remaining cards will be donated.  Of course, this means that I can start creating more cards for next year! Yippee!

Today's card was inspired by the clever challenge at Jingle Belles.  Steph and Lauren from Jingle Belles are challenging us to use a Christmas food item in our creations. I decided to keep this card simple and reached for some red and white paper clips. I cut them apart to create two candy canes and then used the canes to create a holder for a candle. I hand-cut the candle from red cardstock and adhered it with dimensional tape and added layers of cardstock beneath it. My husband has already decided that this card is one we will keep. He likes that it is clean and simple.

Wishing 

everyone a very 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!  

Christmas Ornament

It's time to share another card for the November sketch at The Sketch File. I really love the sketch and found myself dreaming up all kinds of creative ways to use it. This time I am sharing another Christmas card. I have to admit that I really don't need any more Christmas cards for this year. I already have about 130...but, I do love to create them, so what's one more. I used the ornaments for a focal point. I created them with a newly purchased die. I stopped in at the local scrapbook store and saw it on display and just had to have it. I hope to get a lot of use out of it. The one thing that I should point out is that the card base is really a light cream color and not white. For some reason I couldn't get a photo that showed the correct colors and I couldn't seem to adjust it in photo shop.  I hope you find time to use Kathy's sketch and then link up your project with us over at The Sketch File. I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with.

November Sketch

It's time to share another card for our November Sketch at The Sketch File. With Christmas just around the corner, I decided to use Kathy's sketch to create yet another Christmas card. I hope you'll use the sketch and link up your project with us. Here's the sketch:

Santa Card

I've created yet another Christmas card. If you follow my blog regularly, you know that I create a lot of Christmas cards. I love to make them! Each year my family sends out around sixty cards. Of course, I have way more then 60 created, but there's always next year and the year after that...so I just keep on creating them.

This card is my version of a Santa suit. I embossed white cardstock and then cut it into the shape of a beard. I layered it over red cardstock and used more white cardstock to represent the fir that lines Santa's suit.  I added a black belt and a gold buckle to finish the suit. I tried to make the belt look more realistic by punching holes in it. When I began creating it, I had intended on using black eyelets, but I didn't have enough. Instead I used black embossing powder and heat embossed them. I am sharing a close-up of the belt so you can see the detail. It's hard to see it in the larger photo.

The Great Outdoors

This week we had several inches of snow fall here. Although I am not ready to face winter yet, I do have to admit it was beautiful. That freshly fallen snow and the current  Great Outdoors challenge at Jingle Belles had me in my craft studio, trying to create a peaceful, snowy scene.

For this card, I began by layering torn white cardstock onto a dark blue cardstock base.  I added glittery stars with Ranger's Star Dust Stickles and adhered a white circle to represent the moon. I used brown ink to add a bit of dimension and texture to the die cut deer before adhering them to the snowfield.  The final touch was the computer generated sentiment.

In a Flap

Our fearless leader, Kathy, at The Sketch File has done it again! She has created a phenomenal sketch to inspire us all. There are just soooooo many possibilities for this sketch. I've created this birthday card. It was the first idea to pop into my head when Kathy shared the sketch with our DT. I hope you will be inspired and share your creation with us. Please post your creation at The Sketch File.

Penguin Fun

Doesn't this penguin look like it is having fun?  The penguin is actually a sticker,  (which I rarely use). It was given to me by the woman who owns the local scrapbooking store. She always adds a sticker to the shopping bag when a purchase is made. I usually just add the sticker to a collection that I've accumulated and forget about them, but this weekend I was reorganizing a few things in my studio and it fluttered to the ground as I was moving the sticker container. I knew immediately that I would have to use it for the current challenge at Jingle Belles . Steph and Lauren want us to include creatures in our holiday cards. I figured a penguin ought to do the trick. So I punched a circle, then punched snowflakes in it and added a bit of polyfil snow for the penguin to play in. I tried to adhere the penguin so it would look like it was jumping into the snow. To add a bit more visual interest, I added a strip of cardstock that I cut with decorative scissors and used a snowflake embossed mat.