Winter Woodland

We have been experiencing a deep freeze for the past few days with the temperature below -25 degrees Celsius and then add the windchill and it is just unbearable to be walking any distance outdoors. 

Given the cold temperatures, I was certainly inspired to make a Christmas card.  I am still playing along on the Cricut forum in RAQ's Challenges.  The particular sketch for my card was a Viva sketch.  I have also decided to submit this card in the Merry Monday Challenge.  A great challenge but unfortunately I have not played along in a while.  The theme this week is "For the Birds".

Card recipe

Papers Graphic 45 and Bazzil

Cricut Winter Woodland

Snowflake embossing folder

Miscellaneous stamp and brads

Ink - Distressed Black Soot, Vintage Photo, Sepia archival, Versa white chalk

 

Over the holidays, I watched a few videos and was reminded how inking edges can add depth and layering also helps to give dimension.  For the cardinal, I used the Winter Woodland Cricut cartridge but altered it as the bird did not have a wing nor feathery tail.  I inked the bird's chest and tail in distressed Black Soot ink.  The blue, cream and green frames are also from the Winter Woodland cart. The pine branches were made with the Martha Stewart punch and inked lightly with white chalk ink.  The sentiment is a stamp that I purchased at Michaels a few years ago and it is just hand cut.  I embossed the bottom layer using the Snowflake folder and inked with distress Vintage Photo ink. 

I am really happy with this creation!

I plan on being back soon and thanks for dropping by!

 

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!

Birdcage Thank You Card - Honorable Mention

It looks like the nice weather is finally here to stay with us.  We'll be planting our flower and vegetable gardens soon!

I joined The Shabby Tea Week #114 Beautifully Shaped challenge for this week to create a shaped card. 

I'm pleased that my card was selected as one of the 10 honorable mention cups of tea.  Thanks to the selection team!

Cardstock - Ivory Staples #110

DCWV Glitter

DCWV The Sweet Stack

Using one of my new Cricut carts, Straight from the Nest, I formed the base of the card by welding two birdcages together (using the hide feature to remove the bars of the cage).  I then made 2 more cuts of the birdcage - one in blue and one in pink (again using the hide feature). 

From there, I just let my inspiration take over and...I created the grunge flower, made 2 stick pins, glued yellow and blue ribbon together, cut a doily cut from Elegant Cakes and layered all of that together.  Then I added a blue ribbon to look like the birdcage hanging loop and cut the word "Thanks" from Winter Woodland. 

Here were the colour inspirations for this challenge

Thanks for dropping by today!  I appreciate your comments!