25 Days of Christmas Cards: Day 1

Hi Everyone!!

I am SO EXCITED to finally be able to share this project series with you. I have been working on this for the last couple of months which is why my blog updating has been so hit and miss lately.
If you are a paper crafter, chances are you probably follow Kristina Werner and you know that each year she does her "Holiday Card Series" which is a series of videos showing her creation of 25 Holiday Cards.
I have tried for a couple of years now to play along with her and create my own version of each of her cards. Usually I give up around day 15, sadly. Not this year!!! This year, I made all 25 cards! WHOO HOO!!

Sometimes, I got a little stumped with images and coloring especially if it was a stamp or an image I didn't have. I did purchase a few items to complete a couple of projects; but for the most part I tried to use what I already had. I also relied heavily on some digital images for a few projects as well.

Each day, I will share two photos. One of the card I created and then a side by side shot of Kristina's card and my card, so you can see them together.

So, here we go with the first card: For this card, I used the Snowflake Embossing Folder on Simon Says Stamp Fog card stock. I sponged some white craft ink around the embossed images. I embossed the sentiment from Simon Says Stamp "Big Holiday Wishes" with versamark and silver embossing powder. I added some Little B tape and silver elastic cord as well.

Here are the two cards side by side. I tried to keep the elements as similar as I could. In the end, I think I came up with a relatively similar creation.

Thanks so much for visiting with me today. Be sure to come back tomorrow for Day 2!

Challenges:

1. Aud Sentiments: Any sentiment appropriate for December Holiday.

2. DL Art Thankful Thursday:  Any Winter Holiday

3. Time Out Challenges: Embossing

Maternal Reflections: WHY are you Thankful for Your Children?

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

It has been quite a while since I've posted about my wonderful children and so I thought today would be the perfect day to reflect on how grateful I am for each of them. As parents, it is easy for us to automatically say we are grateful for our children; it's usually the first thing a parent will say if you ask them. However, I wonder at times if, in our haste to quickly express our thanks and gratitude about the presence of our children in our lives, if we can really say WHY we are grateful for our children. Can you individualize each of your children and name specific things about them for which you are thankful? This is the question I asked myself in preparation for writing this; and later today when we share the traditional "what are you thankful for" at dinner, this is what I will say to each of them.

To my beautiful daughter Reagan, I am thankful for your beautiful spirit that shines through your kindness in everything you do. I am thankful for your love of life and your generous heart. I am grateful for everyday I get to see your beautiful smile and watch you grow into a young woman I am so very proud of. I am thankful for the light you bring to every single day of my life.

To my dear son Tyler, I am thankful for your quiet and calm spirit that reminds me of the beauty that peace and stillness can bring to life. I am thankful for the kindness and friendship you share with your little brother every day. I am grateful for those moments I can look into your eyes and see straight to your beautiful soul. I am grateful for your determination, and your patience and your desire to always be the best person you can be.

Finally, to my littlest man, Jonathan. Jon-Jon, I am thankful that you make me laugh every day! Your carefree, fun approach to life brings me such happiness. I am grateful for the love you show in every hug and kiss. I am thankful for your strength and courage and acceptance of things that sometimes make your life a little more difficult than others. I am grateful for your sweet and tender caring of everyone in our family.


Have a wonderful day, everyone! Take some time to tell your children and your loved ones just exactly why you're thankful for them. I'll be back tomorrow with Day 1 of 25 days of Christmas Cards!

Falling Snow, Candy Stripe Merry Christmas

Hi Everyone!

I hope you've all been doing well. I don't have a recipe to share this week; but I do have a card! This card was made using the November Card Kit from Simon Says Stamp. I also used the falling snow stencil with some texture paste on some Neenah Solar White card stock. I created the candy stripe border with a stamp from the set with Simon Says Stamp Schoolhouse Red ink. 

I stamped the the larger tree on to another piece of Neenah card stock and then stamped the smaller one and cut it out and layered it against the larger one with dimensional adhesive.

Very fun card to create and I like the crisp clean lines of the final product. 

Have a great day and I'll see you all again soon!

Plaid Stamping: Tidings of Joy

Hi Everyone!

I am here on my birthday morning to share a fun card with you for the holiday season. I first saw this plaid stamping technique on Jennifer McGuire's blog and I just LOVED it! I think it's such a fun and versatile way to make an awesome background. You can change how many "rows" of each color you do to whatever makes you happy.

For my card, I chose to do 3 rows of SSS Teal ink and then bordered each of those 3 rows with one row of Hero Arts Wet Cement Shadow Ink.

The center of the card can be a little trickier to do because you don't want to hide the background; but you also need to have something that will stand up the background as well. I made a different card using this technique; but ended up scrapping it because the sentiment used in the middle was just too small.

For this version, I chose the "Unto Us" set from Verve and stamped the outer image using the Wet Cement ink and then the sentiment itself in Teal. I layered it on a piece of Aqua Mist from PTI and then put some platinum liquid pearls around the border for some embellishment.


That is all for me today. I hope you are inspired to create something using this fun techique. Have a great day, everyone and I will see you again soon!

A few challenges:

1. Stamping Sensation: Simply Christmas

2. That Craft Place: Anything Goes

3.Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas: Christmas (Go Green)

4. Treasured Times: Anything Goes

5. We Do Doobadoo: Anything Goes