The Tree Stands Alone

It's ANYTHING GOES for Challenge #47 at Christmas Card Challenges. There's nothing like an open ended challenge to get the create juices flowing!  But before I could begin crafting, I needed to organize my work space. Over the past few weeks, I've created piles of leftovers from previous crafts. As I organized, I discovered the pieces used to create this very simple card. As you know, it's always much easier to use them instead of sorting and putting them away! Fortunately, I even found the folded tree in my pile. So it was just a matter of layering coordinating pieces together. Once I added the shiny brads to the corners, I attempted to add other embellishments and a sentiment. It all seemed too busy, so the tree stands alone. 

Week 4: October Sketch

Here we are in the last week in October and I have one more card to share. This card was inspired by our current sketch at The Sketch File. It's been a fun month. I have enjoyed playing and creating with the sketch and hope you will find a few moments to create something based on it. Both Kathy and I look forward to seeing what you come up with...see you at The Sketch File!

Jingle Belles Sketch Challenge

As I was browsing through blogs this morning, I came across a fabulous sketch for the current challenge at Jingle Belles! I didn't even finish browsing, instead I headed off to create a card for the challenge.  It's a great sketch, Stephanie! I love the simplicity of it and the unlimited possibilities. I had several ideas popping in and out of my head, but finally settled on a mitten themed card. Since I didn't have a mitten image that was small enough for what I had in mind,  I handcut them out of red and cream cardstock. I used up a few scrap pieces of cardstock and patterned paper, added a bit of chalk to the green background and adhered the tiny cream stars to the green.  I bet you already know that the sentiment inside reads: Warm Winter Wishes. Thanks again for the great sketch and inspiration, Steph!

The Wild Woods @ 52 CCT

I woke up this morning determined to create a card for the The Wild Woods, October Theme Challenge at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown.  We are challenged to use woodland inhabitants and/or trees in our creations.   I immediately thought of my Darice birch tree embossing folder. I began by using it to emboss white cardstock. I attempted to add a background and wasn't happy with the results so instead I cut out the individual embossed trees and added detail with a bit of chalk.  I layered the trees on the black cardstock and then created the tag with the deer to adhere over the trees.  I added the red mat to help the tag pop and included a few holly leaves and berries to make it feel festive.

October Sketch Inspiration Week 3

Here it is the end of the third week in October and I am just getting around to sharing another card based on the current sketch at The Sketch File. It's been one of those weeks where I can't keep track of the days! Anyway, I hope you will link up a card or other craft based on our current sketch. Kathy's created a simple sketch that has been fun to play with. It lends itself to so many possibilities. This week I decided to add another card to my Christmas card stash. I ended up using patterned paper that I had left over from a previous project. I used my computer to print the sentiment on the cream cardstock. For the trees I simply
cut three triangles from green cardstock then added a bit of ink to give them a bit of texture.  I created the texture on the red cardstock by scoring it on my scoring board.

Pink for the Cure @ Jingle Belles

Just a quick post to share this card for the current Jingle Belles challenge. It's all about pink this month! Steph and Lauren are generously donating $2.00 to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation for every card that is uploaded for the current challenge. I am so glad I found the time to create a card because the challenge closes tomorrow!

CAS(E) this Sketch #145

Yesterday I took a few minutes to sort through the pile of Christmas cards I have created for this year. Hmmm....there were several among them that I have decided I don't like very much and can't imagine what I was thinking when I created them!  Each year I go through this process and there are always a few cards that I set aside because I don't care for them. Knowing that I will need around 70 cards for this year, I decided I'd better make a few more to replace the 8 or so that I have already set aside. I decided to create a card based on the current sketch challenge at CAS(E)-this Sketch.  To create my card, I printed the sentiment in various shades of green onto white cardstock, then inked the background. I punched holly leaves and created a small wreath with them and attached it next to the sentiment. Hopefully, this card will end up in the keep pile in a few months. Who knows, I could look at it then and decide it doesn't make the cut.  Anyway, I had fun creating it and that is what is important right now.

October Sketch at the Sketch File

I hope you are in a crafting mood because we have the October sketch up and ready for you to play with at The Sketch File. It will be available throughout October and we hope you'll post a card or layout that was inspired by it. If you visit The Sketch File you'll see how Kathy has used the sketch to create another fabulous card.

I absolutely love the simplicity of the sketch. It lends itself nicely to combining pattern papers. I also love the large circle in the center, but feel free to change the shape of the center piece to make it work for you; it doesn't have to be a circle.

Let it Snow: CASE-ing Christmas # 30

I am in no way ready to start seeing snow fall but I was so inspired by Asha's  beautiful card at CASE-ing Christmas that I created a snowy Christmas card.  I was inspired by her inky background as well as her snowflakes. I began with a piece of dark blue cardstock. I used white ink to create the snow base at the bottom of the card and then used blue ink to create the night sky. I added tiny white snowflakes to the background with a white gel pen and bigger punched snowflakes to the foreground. I haven't used ink on a card in a long while and it was fun to create with it again. Thanks for the inspiration Asha!

October Sketch File

It's already October! I am so amazed at how quickly the time has flown by. I started a new job at the beginning of September and it just doesn't seem possible that I have been there an entire month!  Anyway, I've got a card and sketch to share with you. We've got the October Sketch (two versions to choose from) that we will be using all month long at The Sketch File.  I loved the simplicity of the sketch and hope you find it just as inspiring and will post your creation with us. We look forward to seeing what you do with the sketch.