Merry Christmas - A Wintery Christmas

We find ourselves having another year coming to a close and the great joy of celebrating our Savior's birth.  I'm sharing this card through a scheduled post as we are heading up to Christmas breakfast with my husband's family.  This is such a rich tradition, it makes me sentimental.  My SIL has hosted for the better part of all 26 years of my marriage.  She and her husband have both retired and they built a cabin in the woods in Northeastern Arizona.  I figured this card captured some of my melancholy and joy at their good fortune to enjoy Christmases in retirement where there is snow.

Hoping your Christmas celebrations (if you make them!) are joy filled and rich with love and laughter.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Themed Gift Card Holders

I had the need for a couple of gift card holders here at the last minute for Christmas and Birthday gifts.  What easier to use than my Spellbinders April 2019 Large Die of the Month?  I cut the pieces from kraft cardstock and then stamped with my Concord and 9th Plaid background stamp using WPlus9 Warm Wool ink.  Perfectly matched, this created a backdrop for my Spellbinders Poinsettia die cut flowers and Magnolia Doohickies die cut poinsettia leaves.  The flowers were splattered with white gouache and centers made with Art Glitter's Earth Elements.  My favorite way to make a poinsettia. 

I think these turned out perfect and were easily made in a couple of hours of die cutting and arranging.  I'm almost ready for Christmas.  Hoping your celebrations are almost ready too.

Adorable Pet Get Well Cards

These adorable cards were made using some patterned paper and colored images stamped using the WPlus9 Get Well Gang stamp set which were then fussy cut and used on these cards.  The red in the background, the soft, rounded white hearts, the sentiment - everything about these cards is the most adorable.

So adorable and a perfect fit for the card drive.  Congrats on Brandy's hard work - in total 24 different cards were sent to the card drive.

Andie for 

More of the Pet Get Well Cards By Brandy

Today I'm sharing a few more of the cards created by Brandy for the charity card drive.  I think these cards are so delightful - the die cut cats are fun and playful - the inking on the edges is a perfect accent.

So much fun and yet, such a simple design.  Brandy made 24 different cards for the card drive and so I'll be back again in a day or so with the last of the cards made.

Andie

Warmest Wishes!

Dearest daughter Katie's Christmas cardmaking was inspiring.  I joined her while she was coloring images and colored a few of my own... after a tutorial on the real coloring of dwarf hamsters.  It took me a bit to get my cards put together and so I'm sharing today.

I ink blended Distress Oxide for the background and used a rectangle die to create a frame to go with my snowy hillsides.  These adorable little hamsters look like they are having a ton of fun!

I've brought out my Advent wreath again this year and we light it each night, listening to John Piper reading a devotional.  I can't even explain and/or accurately describe how very happy all this makes me. Truly joy-filled as we anticipate the coming of our savior king Jesus. 

Wishing you light shining out into the darkness this Christmas season!

Making Cards for a Card Drive

Brandy has been prolifically making cards for a card drive meant to help a volunteer who sends cards to people who lose their pets and/or have undergone serious health issues.  This is such a sweet charity and Brandy ultimately made 24 cards in all to send to her card drive.  I'll be sharing more of her creations thoughout the weekend as I edit and post the cards she made.

This first card was made using a full plate background die which was then ink blended.  So pretty and the rainbow is cheery without being bubbly... just the right sentiment for the occasion.

These two cards were made using die cuts from the Cricut onto some patterned paper.  So rustic and definitely masculine for a larger male dog.  Apparently, they were bigger than Brandy intended, but I think they are perfect for the occasion.

So fun to create and support a wonderful charity.  More to come.

Andie for 

Merry *Little Dwarf Hamster* Christmas

My daughter was able to be home the entire Thanksgiving weekend.  This was such a blessing for our family as it was also her 21st birthday on Thanksgiving.  I cannot believe it has been so long, but I'm so very grateful for the young lady she has become.  When I saw the Waffle Flower Winter Hamsters stamp and die set, I asked her if she would want to make some Christmas cards.  She enthusiastically said yes. 

Jknaps in his home, looking at Katie with love

Katie's very first pet was a dwarf hamster named Jknaps.  At first, I wasn't quiet sure - he was skittish and nocturnal and you couldn't hold him.  Now, he's her wee beastie and I adore him - frequently asking Katie to say hi! (she's away at college and he visits us for long weekends like last weekend). 

We fashioned this set of cards after the example on the Waffle Flower website, using the ATC card die set to cut the tag and stamping and coloring the hamsters onto Bristol cardstock with Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers.  This is Katie's first try at coloring with the Zigs and I think she got it right - with a little coaching from mom.  A white gel pen was an easy border for the cards - Katie needed them to be simple so she could squeeze in the making around all the birthday celebrations this weekend.

All in all a lovely set of cards - something she can be proud of.  I couldn't have enjoyed her visit more and am delighted to have shared my hobby with her.

Andie for Katie

More Thank You Cards

I had some leftover pieces on the workbench from my Thank You cards and thought they shouldn't go to waste - how many times do I scoop these pieces up and put them in the stash for "another day" only for them to stay in the pile for months (or years!) and then be thrown out.  These cards were quick to go together from white cardstock which I Distress Oxide Ink blended.  Totally worth the time and effort.  I like these as well as the others, though they were my first inspiration.

A few more cards to use and/or keep in the stash.

Simple and Shiny

Andie and I have been crafty cohorts for over 16 years now (boy time flies when you are having fun) and one tradition we have established in that time is attending the Mesa Play All Day hosted by Shelby at Embellish It. 

This year Shelby's connection at Photo Play gave us each a free color page sheet.  These are high quality paper with images printed in crisp black toner, you can definitely Copic color these.  However, you can also foil them!  I chose to foil them.  I used my Deco Foil sheets and my Mink machine, but you could use a laminator.

These are so simple and quick, but the shine from the foil makes them quite nice.  These are going into the stack for donation to the holiday card drive at Scrapbook.com.

How do you make simple cards look special?

Happy Thanksgiving

I happen to have a November birthday.  This makes for a need for a set of Thank You cards right around Thanksgiving.  I was so delighted with the Spellbinders October Large Die of the Month which featured these fall inspired die cuts. 

The background was stamped with WPlus 9 Wild Mango ink using my Concord and 9th Barnwood background stamp.  The die cuts were made from white cardstock that I had Distress Oxide Ink blended and then die cut.  The photos don't do the color differences justice - they really have some depth because of the ink blending.

I doubly have reason to be thankful today as 21 years ago this morning my daughter Katie was born.  We'll spend the better part of today with family to celebrate the holiday and tomorrow is a small party with family and friends.  I feel so blessed by both my kids, but this is a momentous day for her and I will make sure she knows how blessed I am with her grown womanhood.  Happy Birthday, Katie.

Hoping your Thanksgiving Day celebrations are full of gratitude and joy.

More Spellbinders Deers

I stopping in today to share these photos of Christmas cards Brandy made during our recent trip to the Embellish It! Play All Day in Mesa, Arizona.  Brandy had some leftover pieces from this set of cards and wanted to use up the leftovers.  Rather than stamp a background, for these cards she used patterned paper in the background.

I took these photos in the lobby of the hotel where the Play All Day was held.  This wreaked havoc with my camera settings and I didn't realize it until the event was over.  Still, you get the idea that these cards were fantastic and so I'm happy to share the cards with you today.

Andie for 

A Set of Cards Using Nuovo Glacial Paste

I watched this video made by Amy with Prairie, Paper and Ink which was an experiment using the Nuovo Glacial Paste.  I was so enamoured with the final look I promptly placed an order with scrapbook.com (which is just down the street so I had my product the next day, yay!) and brought the supplies along with me to the Play All Day with Brandy.  I made the backgrounds for these cards that day and put together these cards a few days later (when I'd recovered sufficiently from our fun day out).

The pictures just don't do the glacial paste justice as the look is very shiny and satisfactory.  I ended up using some purchased sentiment strips to keep the decorations simple and effective.

In the end, a great set of cards that were a ton of fun to make.  They'll go in the stash for use this Christmas season.