Embrace Dies

I remember when I first started this hobby, I would see dies and die-cutting machines and think they were kind of cheesy. The styles of shapes and images available were less than trendy. Things have certainly changed! Dies are now one of my basic tools! I don't go for long periods of time without using Spellbinders nestabilities on my cards. I have also been collecting a few alphabets- Quickutz has a lot of really fun fonts. This card features both companies. I managed to find the elusive Labels One set in stock, so I picked that up. I also saw this adorable set. I loved the font and the little bonuses the set came with! I decided to make a card with both of my recent acquisitions. I used 3 different sized labels, then cut out a few trees and this cute sentiment. I pieced together a small scene, then added a bit of bling, and that was that. This is certainly a fun change from a square card! There was no stamping, but I had still had fun! Supplies: Dies: Labels One, Jolly Paper: White, Olive, Red, Chocolate, Kraft Accessories, etc.: gelly gems, pop dots

Ten Minute Monday!

This weekend I've been busy making lots of cards. I've been making 4 of each item I create. It really doesn't add much time to the creative process. I need to do this more often. Anyway... one of the card designs I made definitely qualified for the ten minute status. I probably made all 4 in 30 minutes. It's based on a Halloween design I made a year ago. I have been meaning to try that design using the winter labels and other wintery images for some time. Basically, start with a 4.25x2.75 strip of glossy white paper. Decide on your colours, stamp the label style stamps overlapping them just a bit. Next, trim the paper down to 4.25x2.25. Let it dry, then curve the corners and attach to a 5.5x5 card base. Decorate with a matching popped up image. Complete with greetings. Supplies: Stamps: Holiday Treats, Take a Bough Ink: Night of Navy, Ballet Blue, Bashful Blue Paper: Glossy White, White, Night of Navy Accessories, etc.: Corner Rounder, 3/4'' circle punch, circle nestabilities

Christmas Wishes

This is another Christmas card that I am making several of this year. It is pretty easy to mass produce - I stamp all of the tree images and color and glitter them at once. Then another time I cut all the papers and use the border punch. Then I use my nestabilities to cut out and mat the image and put it all together. I probably shouldn't stamp the sentiment last but it is a clear image so I can place it where it should go. Supplies: Stamps - PaperTrey Ink; Paper - PaperTrey, Making Memories; Ink - Memento; Misc - Nestabilities, Dimensionals, MS border punch, Art Institute glitter, Quickie Glue pen

Fall-to Colours: Non-Traditional Holidays

Today's first card is a bit of a blast from the past. Its layout is simple, however it's not exactly a quick card. It is one my favorites though, and it showcases exactly what I wanted to today: using non-traditional colour combinations for the holidays. It's nice to step outside of the red and green box, even go beyond the blues, whites, and metallics.Okay, so here's the first card, it features some good old watercolouring using reinkers. Even back then I was quite the fan of pop dots (the card is from 3 years ago).

Next up is another olive and eggplant card. This one was inspired by the patterned paper. This is also from when I still was using my corner rounder to make scalloped edges. It works great, and is a great buy, but it's nice to save your hands and use a scallop punch or die cut! Now I am not saying ban red, green, and blue from your holiday cards. But if you're feeling like you're in a bit of a holiday card rut, try mixing it up. Try grouping several pinks with red, bring in teal with your blue and green. Brighten things up with orange, or tone things down with a pretty pastel palette! Have fun using colours that aren't what we expect to say Merry Christmas! Supplies: Card 1: Stamps: Retro Holiday (Stampendous?) Card 2: Oh Christmas Tree (gel-a-tins)

CAS Holiday Card

I have finally gotten into the mood to make holiday cards and I am late in starting! I definitely need to focus on CAS ones. I enjoy making cards such as this one into sets of 4 or 8 to sell but can also sell them as a single. I hope this inspires you to make quick cards if you're behind in your holiday card making! Supplies: Stamps - PaperTrey; Ink - Memento; Paper - PaperTrey Stampers Select, Making Memories; Misc - Nestabilities