Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! I hope you have a wonderful holiday with your family and friends! If you are traveling, please be safe!


Just a quick share of a few different Christmas cards I ended up making, at the last minute, of course! ha! ha!






Holiday hugs and love to all!

Edited to add: Several people asked about the embossing folder...it's by Provo Craft for Cuttlebug and it's called Joy & Cheer. It's on their website, on the last (5th) page! Hope that helps!

OTWC #38: merry

Happy Monday! And happy vacation! I finally ventured into my crafty room, boy was I rusty! lol! Now, to venture back and attack a new box of Stampin' Up! Occasions Mini Catalog pre-order items...or read a book...or play Pictureka...I love these choices! hee! hee! I do need to start thinking about getting some Christmas shopping done too, I guess!


To get me inspired, I played along with the OTWC #38 challenge. How could you not be inspired with these fun colors?! I started making the tree with some Divine Twine, added some "snow" with a scrap from my Tasteful Trims die, decided it looked "merry", and that was that!


I hope you're having a great day! Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!

Clean & Simple Christmas for Ett Trykk

Happy Friday! What a week! So busy and no time to stamp, boo hoo! :) I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one in this boat this time of the year though! Hopefully this weekend I'll squeeze some in...


In the meantime, I do have a few cards to share that you can find published in the Norwegian magazine Ett Trykk. They invited me to be a guest designer and make a few clean and simple Christmas cards, so exciting! You should definitely check it out...it's full of beautiful cards and you'll definitely recognize some faces of paper crafters that you know featured in this issue! I can't read a word of the magazine, but luckily you don't have to to be able to enjoy the pictures!


Off to grade papers, maybe I can knock them all out on Friday night and get that part of my weekend behind me! Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!

Curtain Call Color Challenge Act 59: Let It Snow

Happy Sunday! How do the weekends fly by so quickly?! We are enjoying some beautiful, sunny yet coolish weather in Dallas! Love it! I should be putting the ornaments on the tree (lights went on yesterday, then I faded!) and putting up the decorations, but I took a few minutes to stamp!


I loved Stacey's inspiration photo for this week over at Stacey's Stamping Stage, so I had to play along. Usually I make a *plan* for a card before I start, but this time I just started stamping and gluing things down, no plan! This little already-made card base was the only thing I could find in my Basic Gray cardstock file, yikes! I need to order more fast!!


Oh, and while I was making this I found Footloose on tv, what a classic! My fave line of the day: "This ain't the Middle Ages! We got tv! We got Family Fued!"

Enjoy your Sunday! Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!


Recipe
Stamps: Jolly Old Saint Nick.
Cardstock: Basic Gray, Whisper White, Always Artichoke.
Ink: Black, Real Red & Pumpkin Pie marker, Craft White.
Accessories: Big Shot, Polka Dots embossing folder, Always Artichoke big designer button, Colored Pencils, Blender Pen, misc white pom poms & red/white ribbon, Melissa Frances snowflakes, Little Yellow Bicycle letter stickers.

Sweet Centers...SU CASE

Happy Saturday! Hope your weekend is going well!


After a year, I finally used my Sweet Centers stamp set and one of the treat cups! I copied this card pretty much exactly right from the SU catalog, gotta love that! This was one of the projects I made for my teacher friends to make at our get together last week. I had trouble getting my mojo flowing, hence the CASE! lol!


Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!


Recipe
Stamps: Sweet Centers, Sparkly & Bright, Tiny Tags.
Cardstock: Old Olive, So Saffron, Baja Breeze, Whisper White, Kraft.
Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive.
Accessories: Treat Cup, Linen Thread, Tiny Tag Punch, 1 3/4" Circle Punch, Small Star Punch, Corner Rounder, Dimensionals, misc. craft store snowflake filling.

Jolly Old Saint Nick...on BINGO background

Happy Thursday!


Can you tell this is my favorite Santa stamp this year?! I love him! Here I went very simple with no coloring and just stamped him in Versamark, then heat embossed with White Embossing Powder. Another favorite this year...this yummy Cherry Cobbler cardstock! The background is embossed with my Big Shot and a little contraband Tim Holtz Bingo embossing folder. Love it!


I entered this in the Kraft Journal hloliday challenge! Did you know there was a blog devoted to Kraft, my all-time favorite cardstock?! Check it out!


Hope you are having a great week! Tomorrow is Friday! Whoo! Hoo! Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!


Recipe
Stamps: Jolly Old St. Nick, Tiny Tags.
Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler.
Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Versamark.
Accessories: Tiny Tag Punch, Wild Wasabi Jumbo Button, White Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Tasteful Trim Bigz Die, Tim Holtz Bingo embossing folder, white yarn.

Dec. 25 in Paper Crafts!

Happy Wednesday!


I almost forgot to share this card that is in the November/December issue of Paper Crafts! You can find the issue at your local store or online here. The card is also featured as an online bonus project with step-by-step instructions and materials here.


Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!

Just Add Ink Challenge #45

Happy Tuesday! Hope your week has started off well! I had a good day back to school yesterday. The kids were pretty awesome, and I had even kind of missed them, shhhhh, don't tell anyone!


I played around with this super cute sketch from Just Add Ink over the weekend. Isn't it so versatile?! My crosswise piece ended up going the wrong direction at the last minute, but I thought it fit the style of the card perfectly this way. I guess I'll stamp some sentiment inside, any ideas? What kind of card does it look like?!


Hope you have a great day! Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!

2 Sketches 4 You: Kazan's Sketch #67

Happy Monday! It's back-to-school for me and time for Kazan's Sketch #67 over at 2 Sketches 4 You!


This week Kazan has a super fun Christmas tag sketch for us! I've seen so many cute tags out in the blogosphere lately, I couldn't wait to try it out! Now I want to make handmade tags for all of my Christmas gifts!


Check out the tags the rest of the design team made over at 2S4Y for inspiration! Kazan and Laura provided this tag sketch just for fun this week, and this will be it until 2011 since this time of year gets crazy for most of us!


Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!

Winter Post: Color Throwdown #120

Happy Sunday! Hope you are enjoying your day! I've slowly been working on back to school stuff the last few days, but still taking short breaks to stamp here and there! :)


Today I decided to play along with Color Throwdown #120, aren't these great colors?! I very rarely use Rich Razzleberry, so it was a perfect challenge for me! Everything is SU except for that yummy snowflake flocked paper from Pink Paislee, I couldn't resist!


Okay, more back to school work to do, including sharpening pencils, sigh. The industrial strength pencil sharpeners broke at school, so I brought my little cr*ppy one home to use between projects. I can do about 12 pencils at a time before my hands cramps up too badly! ha!


Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!


Recipe
Stamps: Winter Post
Cardstock: Rich Razzleberry, Pink Paislee paper.
Ink: Rich Razzleberry.
Accessories: Old Olive Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, Rich Razzleberry Polka Dot Ribbon, Rich Razzleberry Designer Series Button, Felt Snowflake.

Bells and Boughs: Colour Q #60

Happy Saturday! Where has this week gone?!


I loved the colors in this week's Colour Q Challenge #60, so I decided to play along! Don't you want those mittens?! I made a version of this card yesterday and added glitter on the flower petals, but it did not turn out well! lol! So I tore it apart, restamped, recolored, and put it back together again. This explains the stray specks of glitter hanging around! ha! I love the old-fashioned Bells & Boughs set, but I'm afraid it requires too much coloring for me, what was I thinking?! (Doh! I just noticed I forgot to do the flower centers on the redo! Ugh!)


I hope you are having a great weekend! My plan was to finish making the house spotless then put up a Christmas tree and decorations. Will it happen?! That's the million dollar question! Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!


Recipe
Finished Size: 4 1/2" x 4 1/2"
Stamps: Bells & Boughs
Ink: Staz-On Brown; Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso, Soft Suede & Always Artichoke markers.
Cardstock: Early Espressso, Soft Suede, Very Vanilla.
Accessories: Corner Rounder, Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding Ribbon, Aquapainter, Dimensionals, Foof-a-La gold button.

Jolly...and simple...Old Saint Nick!

Happy Friday! Hope everyone is having a great day after Thanksgiving!


Here's a super simple card I made with Jolly Old Saint Nick! Some old teacher friends who used to come when I had stamp club had been requesting a get together with make and takes over our break, so this is one of the projects I made for them. We had such a great time getting together, I miss those girls!


Enjoy your day and don't wipe the stores out completely! Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!

Curtain Call Color Challenge Act 57: Grateful

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you are having a wonderful holiday, spending the time just the way you want to! DH and I are moving slowly and probably won't eat for another hour, but we like not being on a schedule! Plus, it gave me time to make one little card, hee! hee!


I love Stacey and her color challenges and I haven't had time to play forever, so it was definitely on my priority list this week! I loved these colors and they made a perfect Thanksgiving card! I used the SU Growing Green set, finally got to break it in! The "Grateful" is from the SU Falling Leaves set. Everything is SU except for the tiny bit of Divine Twine and some vintage turquoise lace.


Guess I better go check on those potatoes! Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!


Recipe
Stamps: Growing Green, Falling Leaves.
Ink: Versamark, Basic Gray.
Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Cajun Craze, DSP.
Accessories: Heat Tool, Clear Embossing Powder, Modern Label Punch, Big Shot, Embossing Plate, Basic Gray & Whisper White button, Basic Gray Taffeta Ribbon, vintage lace, Janome Sew Mini.

JustRite 12 Weeks of Christmas Blog Hop 12

Happy Wednesday! Today is a special day because the design team over at 2 Sketches 4 You is participating in a special Christmas Blog Hop with this week's sponsor: JustRite Stamps! You can find the fabulous sketch inspiration AND details about the JustRite prize package, by visiting their blog post HERE.


This is the final week of JustRite Stampers’ Wednesday feature, 12 Weeks of Christmas Blog Hops! If you would like to go back through all of the hops and see all of the gorgeous Christmas inspiration from the past 11 weeks, you can do so by clicking on the 12 Weeks of Christmas Blog Hops category on the JustRite Inspiration blog. All of the designers’ projects are hyperlinked directly to their blog posts that have full details of how they created the project, so you won’t have to search for them!



Don’t forget that JustRite also has some Christmas stamps in their newly released CLING line of stamp sets, too. I used the darling Sparky and Friends set for my project. I stamped the snowflakes in Versamark ink, then heat set them with Heat & Stick Powder and an embossing tool, then sprinkled on some yummy red flocking, and heat set once more. The snowflakes turned out darling with the raised, fluffy dimension.


Please visit these designers’ blogs to see what fabulous JustRite Christmas inspiration they have for you on the hop today!

JustRite Inspiration Blog 
2 Sketches 4 You

Debbie Olson

Kazan Clark

Laura Davis

Barb Schram

Angie Tieman

Heidi Blankenship

Courtney Baker

Michele Kovack

Julie Lacey

Sankari Wegman

Laurie Willison

Stephanie Kraft

Mona Pendleton

Angela Barkhouse

Regina Mangum

Santa Hat box

Happy Tuesday! I hope everyone is having a great week! I most definitely am, and it probably has nothing to do with being off work all week! *wink*


I thought I would share this cute, quick little box that I saw and copied from the lovely and talented Kimberly Van Diepen. You can check out her sample and video tutorial here.


Gotta dash, meeting some teachers that I don't get to see very often for a quick bite and a movie! Yippee! Skippee! Then off to the eye doctor and maybe I'll finally fill a prescription instead of wearing the OTC (over-the-counter) readers! lol! Oh, and did I mention that over the last 2 weeks when I've taken off my glasses, 3 different students have gasped and said, "You look pretty without your glasses!" ha! And when I ask, "And with the glasses?"...I got "Well, you look pretty without them." From the mouths of babes...


Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!

2 Sketches 4 You: Laura's Sketch #66

Happy Monday!


Time for another fabby sketch from 2 Sketches 4 You! You will LOVE working with this week's sketch! Our sponsor is Just Rite Stamps and I got to work with the super cute set Sparky and Friends! I added some paper from Pink Paislee and Making Memories, then some vintage lace and voila, easy peasy!


Be sure and head over to 2S4Y to check out the other cards from the awesome design team and upload your sample for a chance to win this week's prize from Just Rite stamps!


Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!

Maybe a Cupcake Will Help?

Happy Friday!


We have six birthdays in my classroom this month, so I've had my share of cupcakes...and yes, they do help!


Hope you have a great Friday! Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!

Paisley Prints: gift card set

Happy Thursday! Hope you are having a great week!


I can't believe I am finally showing my last SU Convention display project! :)


This is another 3D item. I made a little box thing (sort of reminds me of a printer's tray) and laid a little card with matching scallop envelope inside each section. The Paisley Prints set was perfect for making different cards for different seasons/holidays. This is another project that I wish I remembered how I made it! lol! Here's another photo of it, the glare on the cellophane made it a challenge:


On another note, thanks so much for your wonderful, sweet comments lately! I'm especially touched by your supportive comments about my teaching. There are so many thoughtful people out there, what a blessing. I'm so behind in visiting other bloggers out there, but I will soon catch up as I enjoy my Thanksgiving week off next week! :)


Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!

So Many Thanks...to you

Happy Tuesday!


Here's one more card made with that very versatile So Many Thanks stamp! The base and ribbon are the new Marina Mist color, I do love blue! Let me know if you have any questions!


Hope you have a great day! Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!

2 Sketches 4 You: Kazan's Sketch #66

Happy Monday! Yay! It's time for a new sketch and sponsor over at 2 Sketches 4 You! Kazan provided this fabulous sketch, it made this card come together so easily!


This week I was so lucky to work with a fabulous little kit from Cupcake Cards, our sponsor of the week! Almost everything I used was from the kit: the card base and envelope, all the paper (aren't those snowmen the cutest?!), the aqua tulle and sheer pink ribbon, the cute puffy pink star, and the big cream flower. (The only things that weren't were the brown button and sticky letters, cream felt, and aqua glittery ribbon.)


I hope you'll head over to 2S4Y and see what the rest of the design team came up with and upload your fabby card using this week's sketch! I know you'll want to win one of these darling kits from Cupcake Cards!


Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!

Paisley Prints: milk carton box

Happy Saturday! I'm feeling much better after LOTS of sleep last night! By yesterday afternoon at school, I thought I had reached that point where I had to walk out and never return. I'm really counting on Thanksgiving break to restore me. Any other teachers out there feeling this way?! Yikes! :)


But now for the cute stuff, ha! It's my last 3D box for the week, this one uses the darling Paisley Prints stamp set. This is so bad to admit, but I really can't recall how I made this! I think I must have got a template online and printed it out. I like this box, though, because it's actually very usable (for an odd-shaped, small gift, right?!) since the little clip on top lets you open it and reclose it. After you open some boxes that have big bows, tags, etc you know you can never get them closed and looking right again! I do love these colors for Christmas too: Bashful Blue, Real Red, and Wild Wasabi.


I hope you have a super weekend! We had a little cold front come through Dallas last night, love the way it's feeling! Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!

So Many Thanks...another 3D box

Happy Friday!


Continuing with the boxes...here's another! I used the Big Shot with the Matchbox Bigz XL die. I made 4 boxes in different colors, then mixed the "drawers" around and adhered them together. For the sentiment, I ran Whisper White cardstock through the Big Shot with the same die to make the "label" part, then I inked up the So Many Thanks stamp with different colors of markers and stamped. Easy peasy! Let me know if you have any questions!


I know this one is a little bright looking, but I'll have a cute Christmas box to share with you tomorrow! Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!

So Many Thanks...3D box

Happy Thursday!


Here's another little 3D box I made for the SU Convention samples, like the one from yesterday. I have several more of these I haven't shared, so maybe this will be little 3D box week, lol!


For this one, I actually took apart an empty Pop Up Glue Dot box and covered it with designer series paper. I think now I could have chosen a more exciting paper, but I think I had some idea in my head at the time. I made the little flag pennants freehand by stamping the So Many Thanks stamp first, then cutting them out. The "poles" are bamboo skewers cut down. I used mini glue dots to help hold them in place. Let me know if you have any other questions.


Counting today there are just 7 more school days before Thanksgiving fall break, whoo hoo! I really can't believe it's getting so close to the holidays! It's still been so warm here, we've barely had fall start. Is anybody feeling the holiday spirit yet?


Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!

Just Believe...fancy little box

Happy Wednesday!


Here's a nice little spring box! Seems like a perfect time to share it since it's fall now! :)


I used the Just Believe stamp set and Big Shot with Fancy Box die. Lots of other SU goodies, let me know if you have any questions! To make the flower, I just took some designer series paper and kind of folded it and rolled it up as I went along.


I went to a great vocabulary teacher workshop yesterday, so that was a nice little break! Can't wait to get to school today and try some new techniques out!


Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!

2 Sketches 4 You: Laura's Sketch #64

Happy Monday!


It's time for another fabby sketch from 2 Sketches 4 You! Laura's sketch this week is so fun to work with and I went super simple with it to really show off the stencil and artwork from this week's sponsor: Layers of Color Art Stamps. I used their gorgeous Victorian Corner Art Stencil and Fruitful Harvest stamp set.


Head on over to the 2S4Y blog to check out the rest of the design team's gorgeous samples and to upload your submission!


Thanks so much for stopping by and playing along! Hugs and happy stamping!


Recipe
Stamps: Fruitful Harvest from Layers of Color Art Stamps
Cardstock: SU Early Espresso
Ink: Staz-On Timber Brown, Versamark
Accessories: Victorian Corner Art Stencil from Layers of Color Art Stamps; SU Pure Color Pencils, Handmade Ephemera Pack by K & Company; Making Memories lace trim.

J is for Jack-o-lantern

Happy Saturday! Yes, I know Halloween has officially passed, but I'm running late...as usual...and not quite done celebrating! ha!


I still had one card left to share, another one that didn't get picked up by Paper Crafts. The card below, however, did get picked up and you can find it in the September/October issue of Paper Crafts!



Have I mentioned it's only 2 more weeks until Thanksgiving week break?! Whoo! Hoo! I was sick all week, so it was a rough one! I did go to the doctor Wednesday after school and get antibiotics, so hopefully next week will be better! I survived making volcanoes on Friday with the kids, schwooo, were they excited! They probably could have just worn the safety googles and been content, that was a lot of excitement for them! ha! Scientists have to be safe during their experiments, you know, they never know what the outcome may be and something may blow up!





Okay, Chatty Cathy is out of here! Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!

Happy Birthday, Kazan!

The super talented and super sweet Kazan from 2S4Y is celebrating her birthday today! Happy Birthday, Kazan!


The 2S4Y design team thought we would surprise her with a surprise birthday blog hop! Here's the line-up:

Angie Tieman (you are here)
Julie Lacey
Laura Davis
Mona Pendleton
Laurie Willison
Regina Mangum

Thanks so much for hopping by and leaving Kazan some birthday love!


Edited to answer a question about the flowers: It is a ribbon I bought by the yard on a spool. I can't remember which manufacturer, but there are several making this kind of ribbon now, like Prima, Making Memories, American Crafts, and Maya Road. I'm pretty sure this was the Maya Road Large Organza Roses Ribbon-cream.

2 Sketches 4 You: Kazan's Sketch #65

Happy Monday!


It's time for another great sketch from 2 Sketches 4 You!


This week our sponsor is Digital Doodles by Kathy Martin! I have always loved Kathy's work and now she has her own amazing digital stamps! Her artwork is so fun and versatile, I am a huge admirer of hers!


I used her pumpkin, copying and pasting it 9 times to make an all-over print for my background. I printed it on patterned paper from Stampin' Up! that looks like an old book page, then colored it in with my Pure Color Pencils. That's about as fancy as I get with coloring, as you know! lol! Then I resized her "Happy Harvest" digital stamp and made it a little bit smaller to fit inside my button with a 1" circle punch. It's hard to tell in the photo, but that black piece behind the button is some hand-dyed wool (from my other crafty, pre-scrappy days!) that really has a great variegated look. I wrapped the yarn around to look like a sheaf of wheat from harvest time, maybe it worked?! I grew up in a small town but I was not a country farm girl! ha!


Be sure and head over to 2S4Y and check out the rest of the amazing samples from the design team and upload your submission to play along for a chance to win Card of the Week and the fabby prize from Digital Doodles!


Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!