Vintage Christmas

I like to make up several vintage style Christmas cards to sell at the store (Annie Kay & Co in Kearney, NE) because there don't seem to be many around. Vintage Christmas is a very popular theme in decorating, but I don't often see pretty vintage Christmas cards in retail stores.
For this card, I used a traditional vintage image I received from The Paper Dreams Factory. They have tons of gorgeous vintage images for all occasions! They're the real deal too, printed in Germany. The garland of red bows is a trim by May Arts. They have the cutest holiday trims! The embossed paper was made with a Cuttlebug embossing folder and the patterned paper is by MME.
On this card, I used a sheet from Elizabeth Craft Designs. It's all shimmery and rainbow-like, so the embossing really brings that out. It's hard to photograph though, and it looks much better in person. The ornament was made with a Spellbinders Heirloom Ornament 2010 and some Webster's Pages patterned paper. I embellished it a bit with some pearl paint and bronze glitter for a distressed look. The gold bow was actually from a broken Christmas ornament. I couldn't bear to throw it away!

Thanks for taking a peek :)

Wait!

I just wanted to pop in here to let you know that I'm alive and to tell you not to give up on me! It's that lovely time of the semester where all the projects, papers and exams pile on and I've got 4 days left of classes and 3 days of finals before I can officially cut loose with all my creative Christmas craziness! I do have a couple of cards to share with you in the meantime. This one was created using Basically Bare Banners. The buttons (including the rattle) came from a misc. button bag at Hobby Lobby and the paper is from Authentique.
This card was made with my Waltzingmouse stamp set and the snowman is a button from the same bag as I mentioned before. The candy cane rope is from May Arts. All die cuts are Spellbinders and the patterned paper is a Christmas MME stack. The cork is by Quickutz.


Thanks for taking a peek - stay warm!

Past Scrap n' Art Publications

Today, I'm just sharing some cards and a layout that were published in the September issue of Scrap n' Art. The supply lists, tutorials, full articles and contributions from the other Design Team members are still available for viewing in the "Past Issues" section of the Scrap n' Art website (for subscribers). Thanks for taking a peek!

Yee Haw!

That's right, I'm not quite done with those Waltzingmouse western themed stamps.
I had to one with pink!

I love how I can pick and choose which stamps to use to finish off a sentiment. I used 4 different stamps for the above sentiment. On the inside, I used 2.
I love how this all looks with that Authentique "Brilliance" paper. I also used a Papertrey Ink "Parisian Doily" die and American Crafts Glitter Cardstock. the yellow stars on the sentiment are accented with mini pink rhinestones - this card is for a rhinestone cowgirl!
Thanks for taking a peek!

Rootin' Tootin' Merry Christmas

Last week, I was lucky enough to win two western themed stamp sets from the talented Niki Estes - the stamps are Waltzingmouse sets. I was especially excited because I have had my eye on these stamps since they came out. I knew that I wanted to use them in making some western style Christmas cards.

One of the sentiments in the "Back in the Saddle" set reads "Have a rootin' tootin' time," so when I was inking that stamp up, I covered the word "time" with a scrap of paper. Then I was free to change the rest of the sentiment to "Merry Christmas" using another stamp set. I also added the holly from the other set to offset the red.

I die cut it with Spellbinders Labels Eight and then matted it over an oval I had previously stamped with the woodgrain image from the 2nd Waltzingmouse stamp set "Way Out West."
The red cardstock is from American Crafts and I embossed it with a 5x7" Cuttlebug embossing folder before inking over it (Fresh Snow ink by Papertrey Ink).

Of course I couldn't limit myself to just Christmas cards with these sets. I couldn't wait to do a sunset background with the "Way Out West" set! The sentiment was made with both sets (woodgrain & sentiment) and die cut with a Spellbinders Eyelet Squares die.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Beautiful November

Today was gorgeous. The high was about 65 degrees and it was crystal clear and still. It was a great day for a hike, so Levi and I went geocaching in a big park that stretches out into the country. The air smelled sweet and the sunshine was delicious.

We still have some pretty fall colors, but some trees (like the cottonwoods) are completely bare. I did manage to snap a few photos of my favorites a couple of weeks ago, though. This is at our church, St. George Orthodox Church.
I love the contrast between the trees and the sky - it was a perfect day.

This is obviously not showcasing any amazing fall colors, but it is a funny photo of Max under the clean laundry pile. Levi thought it would make him mad to pile it on top of him like that, but he rather seemed to enjoy it and proceeded to take his 4th nap of the day.
OK, now we're back to fall colors. I love how her hair looks with the leaves. I told her she could be a fall pixie.

This week was a fun mail week. I won a blog candy from Niki Estes and she sent me two fantastic western themed stamp sets from Waltzingmouse Stamps. I've made a few cards with them already, but when I went to take photos this afternoon, the camera battery had other plans. So hopefully, I'll have time to post some tomorrow.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Shabby Chic Birthday

When I was a teenager, I wanted nothing to do with pink or anything that looked too girly. I'm glad that I managed to grow past that stage, because there's nothing sweeter than a shabby chic birthday card!
On this card I started out with the paper - The Girls Paperie paper, to be exact. The die cuts are items that I already cut. They were waiting in my "die drawer." I just realized how ominous that sounds.

I embellished them a bit with stamps (Papertrey Ink Doily Details on the oval, Mega Mixed Messages on the banner), gems and ink (Memento Dandelion and Rosebud inks). The butterfly cut was made with American Crafts Glitter Cardstock, so all it needed was a pink button. The lace bow is made with May Arts lace ribbon and I attached it with Beacon Adhesives Fabri-Tac.

As for the die cuts themselves, they're all from Spellbinders (Standard Ovals, Butterflies 2, Banners).
Thanks for taking a peek!