himynameistheresa

This is my last Christmas card, I swear! I got a bunch of stamps in the mail much later than expected, and now I’m starting to feel the Christmas cheer. In fact, I’m feeling so Christmasy, I’m thinking about doing a December Daily, working through my stash. Hmmmm.

The idea for the layout came from a Splitcoast Stampers CAS Sketch Challenge.

Cardstock: Gina K 120lbs white. (I should have bought the lighter layering cardstock too. 120 lbs is way to heavy for layers.)

Stamps: Penny Black “A wish for Peace”.

Sentiment: Paper Smooches “Christmas Sampler.”

Ink: Versamark + Gold Embossing Poweder

Ribbon: Random set of 29034829034 colors I ordered off of Amazon.

Ugh. I am already tired of Christmas cards. With these six, I think I’m done. You’ll notice that they were greatly inspired this card that I made for the HCW.

There are a lot of people on my list whose religious affiliations I’m uncertain about. Instead of sending a card and risking offending (or just showing what an insensitive jerk I am for not paying attention), I’m sending Happy New Year cards instead! 2013, here I come!

This isn’t so much a CASE as a blatant copy. I’d never considered using Versamark as an ink before, as I previously used it only for embossing. I really like the way it darkened the brown cardstock. It was so much easier than trying to match ink colors!

I feel like I’m missing something on the edges of the tag, but had I just cut a rectangle, I think the card would stand very nicely as is. I’m starting to get a little bit frustrated with the HCW, as the lessons seem to assume an enormous and diverse stash that I simply don’t have. If I lived in the States, I’d probably have spent a fortune already, running to Michael’s and back (which is, says the cynic, the point). The class is still a lot of fun, but maybe I should have started with a “Use up your stash” type of class, instead of the HCW.

Sentiment: Darcie’s Clear Poinsettia Sunflowers

Ink: Stampin’ Up Handsome Hunter
Paper: Recollections Sugar Plums pack and plain brown cardstock.

A day late and a dollar short? Last night I was exhausted when I got home. Instead of making a new card, I curled up in bed with a good novel and read myself to sleep.

Today, I was ready to work when I got home! Once I figured out what I was doing, this card was very simple to put together. I’d like to find a way to make it more Christmas-y, without having to purchase a Christmas punch.

Paper: Recollections Bold Basics
Punches: EK Success Butterfly and Martha Stewart Butterfly
Ink: Stampin’ Up Only Orange
Sentiment: Hero Arts CL497

I was surprised at how emotionally charged making this first card for the Holiday Cardmaking Workshop. I was tense and stressed and worried and … ridiculous, right? That deceptively simple little moster took me over an hour. I had a really time working in such a small space. It’s super easy to crowd a 3″ x 3″ area, as I discovered as I discarded one stamped square after another.

The end result turned out very well. If I were to mass produce them, I might add some more blink, and vary the colors. I think it’d be gorgeous in a navy, silver, and white palet, instead of green and red.

Stamps: Stampendous Damask Season
Inks: Stampin’ Up Handsome Hunter and Ruby Red, and EK Success dual tip gold pen
Paper: plain ol’ white card stock and green matting paper

P.S. Forgive the poor photo quality, my iPad takes awful photos in imperfect light.

I’m having a lot of fun today, with the entire family out of town and time to myself for the first time in months. Having a baby and an awesome job’ll do that to ya’. Family room’s picked up (first time EVER). My work table is covered with stamps and ink. And hey! I’m getting to play with some new styles and techniques. This is my entry for Cas(e) this sketch #3. I masked and stippled the background with the intention of using a digi sunshine stamp. Too bad I couldn’t find one I liked. Instead, I rotated the card 90 degrees, and added a dimensional embossed flower stamp instead.

Here’s the sketch:

Stamp: Stampin’ Up Circle Circus
Ink: Versamark + no brand name red embossing powder
Sentiment: Hero Arts

A few weeks ago, I attended my very first “scrap”. That is, I joined a group of American, Australian, British, Irish, and New Zealander women to cut and paste in public. It was marvelous. A whole day of social activities, and not a single person asked me about fuel, water, housing, the status of the importation of their personal effects, or any of the other myriad logistics difficulties that it’s my job to take care of.

And hey, who’s gonna turn down a day of cardmaking?

This card is actually the third or forth of it’s kind. I really like the way the three presents look, particularly with nice ribbon, but I haven’t quite found a design that I’m ready to mass produce for Christmas cards.

My second obsession, aside from butterflies, is embossing. Hands down, my favorite technique so far. For some reason, I haven’t really gotten excited about stamping with inks, but give me a set of colorful embossing powders? I’m your woman.

This card was the result of the very first crop I ever hosted. The crop was a stunning failure–we all sat around and watched Friday Night Lights–but the card turned out rather well. I really enjoy the kind of meticulousness it takes to stamp, emboss, and cut a few dozen flowers like that.

Stamp: Stampin’ Up Eastern Bloom
Ink: Versamark + White Martha Stewart embossing powder + a very pretty blue with no brand or color markings (hmmm)
Paper: Recollections Paisley and Damask cardstock in several colors
Sentiment: Hero Arts something or other

Mom sent me some gorgeous butterfly stamps for my birthday. Yes, it’s true, I’m obsessed with butterflies. It turned out a little bit starker than I expected, but lovely overall. I just embossed the butterfly in black, glued it on black cardstock, then glued it to the card. This was the first time I’ve ever added a bow to a card, but I’d say it turned out OK.

Stamp: Inkadinkado Mindscapes
Ink: Versamark + Ranger black embossing powder
Paper: plain ol’ cardstock
Ribbon: I have no idea where I got it. Part of an inherited kit from my mom?

I’ve been playing around with this stamp on plain old letter paper for a few days. I bought the stamp set while home visiting my parents a few months ago, intending to use it on my daughter’s scrapbook. Then I saw the card below on Pinterest.

Source: papersmooches.blogspot.ca via Theresa on Pinterest

I knew that the flowers could be replaced by butterflies, and that a cool color scheme would work equally well. So I CASED it with my butterfly stamp, and Bob’s Your Uncle.

Stamps: My Mind’s Eye Miss Caroline Dolled up “Favorite” Stamps
Inks: Stampin’ Up … well, a lot of them
Paper: plain white cardstock