Christmas Sleigh

Today was a very productive day as I updated my blog, organized my craftroom (a little bit), did laundry, bought a new Cricut catridge and made a card!

I bought the Pretty Pennants cartridge.  It's not an extensive cartridge but many of my creations have some form of a pennant so I thought it would be nice to add to my collection as I often cut that shape by hand and I'm not always pleased with the final look. 

Before I could design this latest creation, I needed to update my Gypsy and then my Cricut Expression.  I won't get into all of the details but suffice it to say that it did take 2 hours.  Sigh!  In case you don't know, the Gypsy is a handheld device that allows you to work with the images of the various cartridges that you own, scale them to the size that you want and then cut them on your Cricut machine.  It is simple for me and I just love working with it!

So here is my Christmas card.

Papers:  Simple Stories

Cricut: Winter Woodland (sleigh, santa's hat), Elegant Edges (frames)

Pretty Pennants (snowflake pennant)

Spellbinders for scalloped circle frames

Fiskars corner punch

Ribbon - beige silk, brown grosgrain, green checkered

Green ribbon criss-crossed in frame

Small gems and pearl

 

I've been following the Deconstructed Jen for some time now but never took the time to participate in their weekly sketches as I'm often a week or too behind. Happy I could this time and here is the wonderful sketch DS74 that gave me my inspiration!

Thanks for dropping by!  Please leave me a comment about my card or the redesigned look!

Back to cardmaking!

I know I've been remiss in keeping my blog current however I changed careers over the summer and was busy with work and getting my certifications.  So all that is behind me now and I've been able to enjoy my little corner.  If you look under the "Craftroom" tab you'll see that my actual workspace is 11' x 3'.  Small but highly functional!

Here's a birthday card that I made for one of my daughter's friends. 

Papers - Authentique

Happy Birthday - Cricut Paper Lace 2

Crimper for rust border

Buttons from my MIL's stash (probably 50 years old)

 

 

And with Christmas a mere 9 weeks away, here is one of the latest Christmas cards that I made:

 

Papers - Recollections

Cricut - snowflakes, tag and words

MS branch punch

Embossed red tag with snowflake folder

Ribbon and brad

 

 

And lastly, to provide some inspiration for my American friends that are thinking about Thanksgiving, here is a place card that I made for a dinner party. 

 

Papers - unsure

Cricut for the green frame and leaves

Button from MIL's stash

Fiskars Corner Punch

Twine



 



Hope you're enjoying your weekend and I will be back more regularly now!

Vintage Christmas

I haven't posted in awhile due to the end of the school year activities and trip to the cottage.  It's been an amazingly hot week but I did find a bit of time to sneak away to my craft room.

I'm playing along with Jingle Belles Vintage Christmas challenge this week and here is my creation:

Papers - Graphic 45

Cricut - Joys of the Season for poinsettia 

Cricut - Accent Essentials for gold frame (welded with Gypsy)

Gold stickles, beads and gem embellishments

Vintage Photo distressed ink for edges and sentiment

I just love the Graphic 45 papers for this card.  The background paper is the classical "Night Before Christmas" story and such lovely images of old time Christmas.

Thanks for dropping by and hope you are enjoying the summer weather!

Challenge - Jingle Belles Have Yourself a Vintage Christmas JB-12-14

Frosty Greetings

So I'm switching gears today from shabby tea to a hot cup of cocoa.  I'm playing along at Merry Monday and I've made another Christmas card - #37 for me, to be exact.

Card recipe

Papers - Fancy Pants Winterland and kraft

Cricut - Joys of the Season (mug) and Speaking of Winter (snowflake)

Crimper used on polka dot paper

Fiskars border punch

Distressed Broken China and Inkadinkado stamp

I've kept this card fairly simple. I used my crimper that's been sitting in the bottom of my drawer to give the allusion of the coffee cup sleeve.

Here's the wonderful sketch from Merry Monday

Thanks for dropping by and I always appreciate hearing from you!

Challenge: Always Playing with Paper - Merry Monday #24 Frosty Greetings

Adestes Fideles - Classic Christmas song

I'm joining in again on the Jingle Belles challenge and this week we need to incorporate Christmas music.  I've also decided to play along with CardPatterns and use their sketch for my card.

There are so many wonderful songs that it was hard to choose the right one.  I picked Adestes Fideles, one of my all-time favourites, and printed off the music sheet on cream cardstock.  I then cut it with the Tim Holtz doily die.  I used my Cricut and cut the angel from the Christmas cartridge.  This was after doing a Nativity scene that I just didn't like.  Sometimes we have an idea and we visualize it but it doesn't always turn out on paper.  Luckily, like most of you, my papers were all on sale so I'm only wasting pennies.

I then tried to create the rectangle piece from the sketch and as I was looking through my paper stacks, I found the "Peace, Love, Joy" from Simple Stories.  So with the card almost complete, I stumbled upon the perfect background from the DCWV Christmas stack.  I added a few pearls, gem stones and ribbon and voilà my card was complete.  It did take a few hours from start to finish but it was a nice way to spend a few hours on a rainy Sunday.

Here is the sketch that I followed from CardPatterns

Thanks so much for dropping by and I always appreciate your comments!

Be Merry Snowman

Wow! What a productive day!  It's been raining here and my household chores are done so I've had some fun in my craftroom.  Here's the third card for today.  This one for the Merry Monday Warm and Cozy challenge which I haven't played along with in the past few weeks.  I need to count but I think this is Christmas card number 31 for me - woohoo!

Card recipe

Papers Graphic 45 and Anna Collins

Cricut - Winter Frolic for the snowman

Metal tree and star brad

Cuttlebug Snowflake folder

Walnut distress and Versafine black ink

And here is the Sketch from Merry Monday



Thanks for dropping by and I hope you're making progress on your Christmas cards too!



Caroling in May

I do realize that Mother's Day will soon be upon us but the weather is cool so I'm continuing to make Christmas cards.  This one is for Jingle Belles and Repeat Impressions challenges. 

The sketch from Repeat Impressions is as follows

For Jingle Belles, we were encouraged to add embossing..."dry embossing, heat embossing, or even textured or embossed papers ... whatever you can do to add a little texture to your holiday project."

Here's what I created

Card recipe:

The black stamped images - Versafine with clear embossing powder then heated

Cuddlebug Snowflake embossing folder for the large white frame, added Glimmer mist

Cuddlebug Polka Dot folder for the blue caroler's coat

Cricut - Winter Frolic for carolers, Ornamental Iron 2 for red and white frames

Embellishments Skittles and pearls, chalk for cheeks, Peachy Keen for faces

Thanks for stopping by!  I love to hear your comments.



Challenges:
Jingle Belles JB10-12 - Embossing around the Tree
Repeat Impressions M212

Merry Monday

It's a rainy day here and I'm still in the mood to create a Christmas card.  It's not always easy but I know that I will feel much better in September if I can keep making a few each month.

This week's sketch on Merry Monday looked like fun so I joined in.

I decided to use up mainly Christmas cardstock scraps as my folder is bulging and there are still some good pieces available.  I designed all the cuts on my Gypsy and then all I needed to do was ink, add a grommet and ribbon and glue down the shapes.   I modified the rounded rectangle a bit but that's part of the creativity and interpretation of the sketch!

Card Recipe

Papers - DCWV and Recollections

Cricut - Accent Essentials card base, Elegant Edges for green frame,

Ribbons & Rosettes for border with snowman and Winter Frolic for ornament

Ink - Antique Linen, Peeled Paint distressed for oval and Versafine for sentiment

Holly Leaves - Ranger Emerald

Ribbon - plaid from stash, stickles coloured with red marker, grommet and

acetate for oval frame

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Merry Monday Challenge

I'm still making Christmas cards despite the warmer weather!  I'm not sure if I'll be able to keep this up weekly but every little bit counts.

This week's Merry Monday Challenge

And here's my interpretation:

Card Recipe

Rosette - made with Cricut Ribbons & Rosettes

Merry Christmas ticket and hanger - Tim Holtz

Papers are all leftovers so uncertain of origin

2 buttons layered and from my stash

Have a great day!

I Spy Sketches Challenge

May is here and we'll be opening the cottage on the weekend.  We just can't wait as it is a magical place for us - we just leave the work and stress behind us and enjoy this wonderful retreat in the woods on a beautiful lake! 

I've been spending some time looking around different blogs and tutorials and came across the I Spy Sketches.  This week's challenge looked like fun and I like the simplicity of the shapes.

 

I created 2 cards using this sketch and I'm quite pleased with them.

Card Recipe:

Patterned Paper Simple Stories

Gingerbread Man - Cricut Winter Frolic

Old button and ribbon from stash

Card Recipe

Papers - My Mind's Eye Lost & Found Portobello Road

Oval Frame hand cut from My Mind's Eye

Cowboy - Cricut A Child's Year

"D A D" lettering - Cricut Songbird

Worn buttons from stash

I love to hear your comments and thanks for dropping by!

Jingle Belles - Another first for me!

I have been considering the Jingle Belles challenge for some time now as Sandy and RAQ from the Cricut forum have been participating and encouraging me to join in. 

The challenge for this week is to "create a holiday card which re-uses, re-purposes, re-cycles, up-cycles, or in some way "rescues" a bit of... well, SOMETHING... which you'd've either thrown away, or perhaps just overlooked in terms of card-making?"

I wasn't sure what to do, so I started by pulling out the Christmas cards that I received (yes, I do hang onto to these items).  From there, I figured I had plenty of scraps to make a card.

Here it is (the flash may not have picked up on the sparkly effect of the image as well as it could have):

Card Recipe

Image with Happy Holidays - recycled from an old card (cut using Cricut Elegant Edges)

Star - recycled from an old card and cut by hand

Silver border - scrap of aluminium foil embossed on scrap cardstock

All remaining papers were scraps including card base

Ribbon - used from a Christmas gift

Button - over 25 years from my MIL's stash, with original thread from clothing

Corner punch - re-use of a Fiskars punch that I had neglected in the bottom of my drawer

Gallery Name: JB:12:09: PEACE ON EARTH(DAY)

I hope to join in again soon!

Winter Wonderland - Merry Monday Challenge

So I decided to try another new challenge, this time the Merry Monday on the Always Playing with Paper blog.  I don't remember how I found this one but I thought it would be fun to join in as it is hosted by a fellow Canadian!

This sketch for this week

And here is what I created

Card recipe:

Three ornaments are Tim Holtz fragments (top Cranberry and bottom Meadow alcohol inks)

Middle ornament - Simple Stories paper

Aluminium Duct tape for the ornament tops

Red snowflake paper - DCWV Christmas Combo Stack

Pearls added to each snowflake

Star and Candy cane metal embellishments



Thanks for dropping by!

Merry Christmas!

I spent a wonderful evening with my family as we celebrated into the early hours of Christmas.  We have a White Christmas after all!  It such a wonderful time of the year to be with family and friends. 

Silver bell - Cricut Joys of the Season

Foil covered cardstock using Cuttlebug snowflake folder

DCWV Shimmer cardstock in brown and Anna Griffin Calisto Christmas

Small ribbon for embellishment

Enjoy the holiday season!  Peace, Joy and Happiness!

Sugar 'n Spice

Another rainy day and only 10 days before Christmas.  We really need some colder days and white, fluffy snow.  The meteorologists are saying that it could be a green Christmas - oh no! 

Here's a quick card that I made after finding the perfect background.

Image Cricut A Child's Year

Cardstock DCWV Glitter then embossed with Cuttlebug Dots folder

Background cardstock Recollections Sugar Plum collection

Have a great day!

Christmas Carollers

Only 11 days 'til Christmas...the preparations are well underway.  We'll be decorating our real balsam tree this evening.  Nothing like the smell of a fresh Christmas tree!

One of my favourite Christmas cards this year are the carollers.  Such a fun card to make!  I have so many Christmas songs that I enjoy.  I'm especially fond of the Canadian Tenors The Perfect Gift album.  An old time favourite is Kenny Rogers' Christmas Everyday.

Carollers - Cricut Winter Frolic, House - Joys of the Season

Face - Peachy Keen Stamps, pink chalk for cheeks

Hero Arts Noel Stamp

Brads and glitter for embellishments

Cardstock - DCWV Shimmer stack in brown and Recollections Sugar Plum for the green plaid

What is your favourite Christmas song?



Stitched Ornament

Good morning!  It looks like freezing rain for us today.  It has been such a mild December, hardly any snow and a bit of rain.  I'm still dreaming of a White Christmas.

Here is a card that I embroidered for some dear friends.  I haven't made too many stitched cards as I've been exploring the wonderful world of Cricut.  I will be making more stitched cards in 2012!

Ornament design Erica Fortgens

Stitched with multicoloured embroidery metallic floss

Embellished with glass beads

Blue frame DCWV Shimmer Stack using Cricut Elegant Edges

Silver card base DCWV Shimmer Stack

Happy Tuesday everyone!

Two Weeks 'Til Christmas - Wow!

It's hard to believe that Christmas will be here in just a few short weeks.  The good news is that the house is decorated, we've done some baking and my cards have been mailed.  We'll put up the real tree this week. 

Angel: Cricut Christmas on DCWV glitter stack

Background:  DCWV Christmas Combo and green cardstock

Embellishments:  Gold ribbon

Stamped message inside:  "Wishing you Christmas Cheer" embossed with white powder

I'll try and be more diligent about posting regularly.

Hope you're enjoying the lead-up to Christmas!