Stitched Nativity Peace on Earth

Another Christmas card to pop in and share a day late! (smiles) Used some Webster's Pages and DCWV pattern paper, the Market Street Stamps retired set again, and some machine stitching. Super simple!

Have a wonderful day!

Earth Tone Peace on Earth

Oops - meant to post this one before Christmas! Still catching up with another Christmas Card this morning! Super simple - Bazzil green cardstock, Paper Smooches Die and image, Market Street stamps (retired) sentiment, and a bit of jute twine to finish it off.

Thanks so much for dropping by! Have a great day!

Joy to the World

Hello! I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas! I know it is the day after - but it is so easy to move on too quickly after Christmas, that I kind of like slowing down and not forgetting what I celebrated only yesterday! So bear with me as I share one more Christmas card with you!

This card uses a (retired) Market Street Stamps set for the background, over which I stamped a music note background from Unity Stamp Company. The edges are inked with distress ink, I added a die cut angel, and stamped my sentiment from "Joy to the World" stamp set from My Craft Spot.

Hope you continue to remember the true meaning of Christmas - and that you have a very Happy New Year!

Market Street Chalkboard Christmas

Good evening! Just dropping by with a quick card this evening using my (retired) Market Street Stamps and some chalkboard technique. I also did some distressing on the edges - a very rustic and fun card! Pattern paper is Echo Park, and I tucked some black jute twine and a button in beside the chalkboard panel.

I am also linking this up to the current Inspired By Challenge - LOVE the texture and cozy and rustic look!

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great evening!

Soft Nativity

Good morning! Whew - life here has been a WHIRLWIND!!! We were gone for two weeks visiting family for Thanksgiving (1,000 mile road trip each way!) - and came home to pick up our new puppy the next day. What was I THINKING? Fortunately life is settling into a bit more of a routine - but it has been hard to get my brain back together. Crafting has taken a back seat to unpacking and settling in again, homeschooling, and taking care of a sweet little puppy - and all of the other normal life things. I did finally have time to make a design team card - but it took me two days to complete it! I'll be sharing that soon.

I do however have a stash of cards that I have had made for a while, and just haven't had the opportunity to share, so I'm finally taking a bit of time to do that! Some of them just sat around until I had time to photograph them, or were cards I made for a publication call that weren't picked up. Right now, I am just happy to have something to share a bit! I also have a few giveaways I would love to do this month - so hopefully I can get those ready to go soon. Otherwise, it will be New Year treats for someone!

This card is made with an Amuse Studio background stamp, and a retired Market Street Stamps set. The lace trim and twine is by October Afternoon. Can't remember much else about it - it has been here for a while! 

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you are having a wonderful week!

Ribbon Carousel Nov Challenge Inspiration - Holidays and Celebrations!

Good morning! Here to share my card for the second week of inspiration for the November Ribbon Carousel Challenge! This is one of three very similar cards I made and submitted for publication (HERE is the post with the one that was picked up...so I waited a while to post this one since they were so similar!)

Very simple...Paper Smooches image, sentiment from Market Street Stamps (Sadly discontinued now!), some May Arts Ribbon, a bit of bling, and distress ink around the edges. 

And here is the info on the challenge - this month is super easy! Hope you'll join us!

America's Thanksgiving Day celebration, Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights, Christmas, New Years, Valentine's Day.....there's crafting happening for all kinds of celebrations!  Then of course, there are Birthdays, Anniversaries, and even TGIF counts as a celebration!  So whatever YOU are celebrating, please share your creation with us!

This month's theme is...you guessed it.....

Holidays and Celebrations!

 So what prize is up for grabs? How about a Ribbon Carousel?!

 Each month we are giving away a Ribbon Carousel to one of our randomly chosen challenge participants! Just a reminder that our Ribbon Carousel Crewmates have divided up into FOUR teams. Each week you will see fresh projects for this months challenge!

 There are only three (3) rules you must follow to be eligible for the prize:

1. You MUST use ribbon, twine, thread, washi tape, wire or anything that comes on a spool on your creation 
2. Your project must be based on the theme of the month. 
3. You must add a NEW project to the inlinkz below and link directly back to your project on your blog or online gallery. (Unfortunately, we've had participants who would have won the challenge, but they didn't do a direct link to their blog and I couldn't find their creation!)

Dreaming of the Sea...

 Hello again today! LOVE those days when homeschooling goes just right and I can sneak a card or two in! I had been eyeing this weeks Runway Inspired Challenge, and as I looked at some of the papers on my desk - the perfect ones jumped out at me!

Here is the inspiration photo:

I pulled out the stripes and the yellow with my pattern paper - the yellow is from Glitz Designs Uncharted Waters 6x6 paper pad, and the black and white stripe is from Crate Paper's DIY 6x6 paper pad.

As I looked at that nautical paper, I instantly thought of the Market Street Stamps set, Dreaming of the Sea. I used my Paper Smooches Notebook Basic die, then stamped the mermaid image in simple black ink. Added the sentiment with PTI ink - in bright pink, to pull the bit of pink out of the inspiration photo. 

Inked the edges with distress ink in Antique Linen, then tied some jute twine and a coordinating button from my stash on, before attaching it to the pattern paper with foam adhesive. 

Rounded a couple corners of the pattern paper, as well as the card base - and inked the cardbase with the same distress ink, then attached the front panel with more foam adhesive to the cardbase.

Thanks for stopping by today! Hope you are having a wonderful day!

Sailboat Chalkboard Card with MSS

Hi there! I don't know if you saw the new release from Market Street Stamps a couple weeks ago - but I just HAD to have this set called Dreaming of the Sea! So many sweet images! So yesterday I had a bit of time and decided to just play for the fun of it - no challenges or design team work for once! Here is what I made:

I decided to stamp with the Chalkboard technique again - I somehow just can never resist doing that! So I stamped on blue DCWV Chalkboard paper, heat embossed, re-stamped slightly offset with white pigment ink, then added some smudges with the white pigment ink.

I used some Echo Park pattern papers, mounted that on orange paper with a border cut at the bottom with a Fiskar's edge punch, then tied some baker's twine from the Twinery around, and tied on a button from October Afternoon.  

I mounted that on my background with foam adhesive, and added a bit of bling under the sentiment. 

The whole thing is mounted on a card base of Bazzil Cardstock - LOVE how thick and strong it is!

That's it! My fun and happy orange and turquoise card - which I didn't plan on putting together when I started - it just sort of happened! Hope you are having a great day!

Market Street Stamps Guest Designing - Day 2

Good morning! It is my second (and final) day as January Guest Designer for Market Street Stamps! For my post today, I had fun combining the sentiments and images from two different sets! Here is the first one:

The two sets I used are Hit the Mark:

And Great Big Greetings:

That first sentiment just jumped out at me and I pictured an arrow stuck right in the center of the heart!

I used some Glitz Designs papers from a 6x6 paper pad, and added some stitching around the outside edges. 

I stamped the tree, colored just the leaves with my Copic markers, then stamped and paper pieced the heart in the center. Finally, I stamped the arrow on top of it all and added my sentiment.

The second card was kind of the same thing - that sentiment made me think of missing the mark - which is probably what I would do were I to actually attempt to take up archery!

I stamped the target, and added a button and some twine in the center. Next, I stamped the arrows, and paper pieced the top part. I selectively stamped my sentiment so that it would fit where I wanted it, and inked it up with different colors.

Used black and white cardstock, and the woodgrain and red papers are from an older My Mind's Eye 6x6 paper pad. Finished off with some washi tape under the sentiment - and the only thing I wish I would have changed would be to have the chevrons pointing the other way! I have already mailed this card off, otherwise I would have fixed it and re-photographed! But even though something was bugging me, I didn't figure it out until afterwards! Oh well!

Thanks again Market Street Stamps for this super fun opportunity! I so enjoyed it! And thanks to everyone who stopped by! Thanks for all your kind words!

Market Street Stamps Guest Design Day 1

Good morning! SUPER excited to be Guest Designing for Market Street Stamps this month! So...for today, I pulled out some DCWV Chalkboard papers, some Basic Grey PB&J, and my Market Street Minis. I ended up with 3 different cards - and slightly different effects on each one! Here is the first one: 

For this first one, I used a light blue chalkboard paper, and used this Market Street Mini:

Wild - $5.00

I used some Memento Pigment ink in two different colors to stamp the feathers, and to stamp the sentiment with a slight shadow. The most important thing I learned in doing this, is to give it plenty of time to dry! I also heat set it a bit with my embossing gun. Otherwise, the ink smears pretty easily on the chalkboard paper.

I finished off by matting it with white paper, adding a few wraps of jute twine tied in a bow on the side, then attached to the background paper with foam adhesive. 

For the second card, I went with a more traditional chalkboard effect, only this time used some red chalkboard paper:

On this one I used one of my favorite Market Street sentiments - also one of the Market minis:

Blessings in Disguise - $5.00

It is hard to tell in the picture, but I stamped with two different shades of Memento pigment ink, wheat and sage. I also used a paper towel held over my finger, dipped in white pigment ink, and smudged around for "chalk dust." Finished off by borrowing one of my kids white colored pencils to add some lines around the sides to frame it.

I tucked a doily behind, wrapped and tied some jute twine behind, then mounted it with foam adhesive. 

The last card is actually the one that inspired all of this. My husband was wearing a shirt he had gotten at Old Navy recently that was this lovely deep turquoise with a lightbulb on it. Poor guy has gotten used to me I guess, because he wasn't too surprised when I looked at it for a while, then disappeared into my crafty corner to make something inspired by it! Took me until the next day to make it work like i wanted, but here it is:

For this one I used this Market Street Mini:

Bright Side - $5.00

And this Christmas set:

Shine On - $15.00

I've said it before - but I LOVE how these sets work together!!! This time I used some deep turquoise chalkboard paper, and stamped and heat embossed the light bulb and sentiment to start with. I then slightly offset and re-stamped the image with white pigment ink for a shadow effect. Then I added the light beams using Memento pigment ink in Thatched Straw, so it has a slightly golden effect. I smudged that a little with my finger so it didn't look quite so "perfect," then added some lines around the edges with my white colored pencil. 

Finished off this one with a couple more doilies tucked behind, then wrapped some jute twine and tied a bow before attaching, again with foam adhesive to my background. Added three little self adhesive gems to fill in the little spot that looked like it needed something else. 

Thanks SOOOO much Market Street Stamps for giving me the opportunity to be Guest Designer today! I had SOOO much fun playing with my stamps! Looking forward to one more chance to share my projects later this month.

And thank you everyone else for stopping by today! Hope you have a wonderful weekend!!!

(Also linking this up with Word Art Wednesday's Challenge - Hearts/Anything Goes)

My Christmas Cards this year!

(((If you're looking for the Peachy Keen Fond Farewell Blog Hop, click HERE, or scroll down to find it)))

It occurred to me this morning, that it is now less than a week until Christmas - and I still hadn't shared my Christmas cards I made this year! I actually made 48 of these - the majority of them all in one day!!! I was pretty happy to have them all done before Thanksgiving too - nothing like starting early, right? Anyway - here they are:

The only step I finished on a different day, was cutting all the little red buttons using my PTI button die. I was trying to keep them flat for mailing purposes, but turns out the bow still counted as a "bump" so my postage was extra, but that's how it works sometimes, right? 

I die-cut the nativity using my Silhouette Cameo and a file from the Silhouette store. It's hard to see in the pictures, but the PTI rustic white cardstock has some texture from the PTI Linen Impression Plate. I love that texture with the printed paper that looks like burlap! So perfect together!

The sentiment is from Market Street Stamps, and I attached the nativity with foam adhesive dots. I wrapped the twine around and added the button and tied a bow to finish it off. 

Sorry I didn't post earlier! But I love how simple and easy these were to produce! I know a day sounds like a long time to spend making cards - but I did it around all the other normal stuff of the day (homeschooling my kids, laundry, dishes, meals, etc...) so I feel like that wasn't too bad for a days work! 

I'm also linking this up to the Holiday Spirit Challenge over on the Ribbon Carousel Blog, and the Simon Says Stamp Challenge: Merry Christmas.

Market Street Stamps Block Party - Light up my life

Hello! We were gone earlier this weekend - made a big shopping trip to Salt Lake City - 4 hours away! I'm happy to say that we were successful in our shopping...and I definitely have my fill of shopping for a while! Our small town will be just fine for quite a while! 

Anyway - I wanted to play along with the Market Street Stamps Block Party - always so much fun! So I pulled out a couple of newer stamps that I hadn't used, and played! Here is what I came up with:

I'm sure I'm not the only one who has noticed how perfectly Shine On and Bright Side go together! As soon as these came I had to use them both! I started off with a technique I have seen over on the Market Street Stamps blog - don't remember who it was, but one of the Design Team had showed using the reverse side of the stamp image to make a shadow. So...I inked up the reverse side of the lightbulb from Bright side with some PTI ink, and stamped it at an angle on my cardstock.  

Next, I inked up the right side with black ink and stamped it over the top. Then I took the pretty light beams from Shine On, and stamped it twice over the top in a slightly different shade of yellow - it doesn't show in the pictures that great, but you can see the difference a little better in person.

I layered it on some pretty chevron paper from my stash (sorry...don't remember who it's from), then stamped the sentiment from Shine On underneath, also at an angle, and added a bit of washi tape.   

I finished off with a bit of bling on the light, and some jute twine in a bow at the bottom, before using a yellow card base made out of Bazzil Cardstock.

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you are able to join the party! I always love looking at the cards everyone links up for these! Have a great rest of your Sunday!