Christmas ABAC

Here is a quick and easy hostess gift or a cute gift for your UPS driver (us crafter order lots of items online!)  You can also make a bunch up to have on hand.  I covered a box of Andes Candies and everyone loves those!

Image/Sentiment—Stampin’ Up Grateful Greetings—Christmas Greetings

Cardstock—Stampin’ Up Real Red and Whisper White

Ink—SU Real Red

Accessories—Red Striped Ribbon; Oval Punches; Santa Hat Brad;

Calendar Girls--Christmas Card

Welcome to another round with the Calendar Girls!

Who are the Calendar Girls? We are a group of bloggers who want to have a place where friendships blossom, creativity abounds, and encouragement prevails! In keeping with that dream, this blog group has been created so we will have a place to interact and enjoy being fellow bloggers. 

This month, our organizer and the phenomenal Jeanette posted the following:  November - Because we post on the 28th, the end of the month... and most of us will be in Christmas mode, since Thanksgiving will be over... how about if we post a Christmas card for our November posting? That should be easy, since we are probably all making a Christmas card or two anyway. I also think it might be fun to post a picture of our work desk/space with all of its creating clutter... you know, the Christmas cardmaking frenzy in all its messiness.

This card is actually a CASE of a card we made in October at stamp club—thanks Nancy!  We made it in shades of blue, with a different sentiment.  You can actually see the original card on my stamping desk. 

Image/Sentiment—Stampin’ Up Stitched Stockings and So Many Scallops

Cardstock—PTI White; SU Cherry Cobbler, Always Artichoke, Silver Glitter Paper;

Ink—SU Cherry Cobbler

Accessories—SU Stocking and Scallop Punches, Snowburst Embossing Folder; Snowflake Punch; Rhinestone

Below are some pictures of my craft space:

 My Craft Table

 My Scor-Pal and Carl Cutter (Thnaks Debbie!)

My Stampin' Up Sets--and still not unmounted........................ Soon I hope!

 My rolls of SU ribbon and all of my punches

These are the shelves behind my desk with containers of brads, designer paper packs, drawers of ribbons on bobbins, box of Copics, drawers of buttons, glitter, Stickles, fibers/twine, etc. 

 Lots and Lots and Lots of Stuff!

Please check out the blogs of all of the Calendar Girls—there are 10 of us, so it might take you a bit. I am sure you will enjoy all of the Christmas cards. All of the blogs are listed on my left sidebar. Thanks for joining us!!!!!!!



Lovely as a Tree Split Negative

First—this is my favorite Stampin’ Up set of all times—I adore using Lovely as a Tree on so many types of cards!  I also like to use the technique called split negative—here is the link
It is great with this specific image—it works well with black and white as well as shades of brown, orange, tans, greens, etc.

Image/Sentiment—Stampin’ Up Lovely as a Tree, Cute & Curly

Cardstock—Stampin’ Up Basic Black, Whisper White, Basic Gray

Ink—Versamark; SU Basic Gray

Accessories—Black and white Embossing Powder; Black/White Polka Dot Ribbon; Curly Label Punch

Time to Give Thanks!

Happy Thanksgiving!  Yes, it is a time to give thanks for many, many things and people in our lives.  Please have a wonderful day—say a prayer for those no longer with us and Go Pack Go!

This card uses a leaf punch that cuts and embosses each leaf—I love the look!

Image/Sentiment—Whipper Snapper Time to Give Thanks

Cardstock—Stampin’ Up Chocolate Chip,  Close to Cocoa, More Mustard Very Vanilla; Hot off the Press Leaf DSP

Ink—Palette Burnt Umber

Accessories—Marvy Embossing Punch-Oak Leaf; Copics; Gold  Ribbon

Kindness comes in Many Forms--Thank You

This thank you card was made for a previous stamp club swap—I think it is one my favorite cards and I am honored that 11 people on SCS have it as “favorited” too!

Image/Sentiment—Stampin’ Up Heard from the Heart

Cardstock—Stampin’ Up Barely Banana, Chocolate Chip, Bermuda Bay, Very Vanilla

Ink—SU Chocolate Chip

Accessories—SU Finial Press Embossing Folder, Chocolate Chip Sending Love Brads, Chocolate Chip Ribbon

Packer Weekend

OK--this post will not have any card creations in it--just a couple of pictures from our great weekend in Green Bay for a Packer Weekend.

We met our friends at the stadium on Saturday afternoon for lunch and a Lambeau Field Tour.

This is our tour guide Don, who happens to be a former Athletic Director who I have known for years and was the President of the state association the year before I was President.  He is a very funny fellow.

It was a cold and rainy afternoon for the tour, but this is my roomie and our friends on the field.

Game Day Sunday--we had great seats--row 15 in the north end zone and I was able to get some pretty good pictures of the action on the field.  Our quarterback, #12, Aaron Rodgers, rolling out and ready to pass.

It was a good game, though a bit closer than we had hoped and the Packers won and are now 10-0!  Temps were in the low 30's all day and we did not see the sun until right at the end of the game.

Live, Laugh Love--Happy Birthday

I love making birthday cards and I also love my top note—put them together and this is what you get.

Image/Sentiment—Stampin’ Up On Your Birthday

Cardstock—Stampin’ Up Elegant Eggplant, Old Olive; Gina K White; Colorbok DSP

Ink—SU Elegant Eggplant

Accessories—Top Note die; Punches; Olive Brads and Ribbon

Mystery Swap ~ Round 7 ~ Prescott

This is the inside of my card, showing the sweet sentiment:

This is my card for our Mystery Swap on SCS. A group of us are doing a bi-monthly swap where we all use the same mystery image, sent to us by the hostess. This swap was created by Forest Ranger—Jeanette. This month, I chose the images and sent them to Karly in September for her to send out with the last swap return.

I chose to use Prescott as he is a very sweet snowman, made by Whipper Snapper Designs. I love all of their stamps, but I think their winter and Christmas stamps are some of the cutest images! It has been fun to see all of the cards come in to see the colors used and the sentiments add to the inside of the card. I did not send any DSP as I wanted everyone to use their creativity; I also asked everyone to add a sentiment to the inside of the card that reflects the image.

Image/Sentiment—Whipper Snapper Prescott; Northwoods Rubber Stamps Sentiment on the inside

Ink—Memento Tuxedo Black; Stampin’ Up Pacific Point

Cardstock—PTI Night Sky Glimmer (Navy); Bazzill Bling White; Neenah Classic Solar White; Little Yellow Bicycle Snow Window DSP

Accessories—White Satin Ribbon; White Snowflake Brad; Blue Mitten Brads; Icicle Stickles; Copics

Wanna Neck?

This card is one a made a bit ago—you know I love my Whipper Snapper stamps!

Image/Sentiment—Whipper Snapper Scratch my Back, Wanna Neck

Cardstock—Stampin’ Up Chocolate Chip, Pretty in Pink, Creamy Carmel; Gina K Ivory;

Ink—Palette Charcoal; SU Pretty in Pink

Accessories—Copics; Punches

Dueling Darling Divas November--What not to Wear!

OK—please read about this card before you judge my creativity………………….

This is round #16 of the Dueling Darlings and the two ladies who organized this group decided to go a bit wild this month.  Kelly sent the Divas an assortment of papers and embellishments and it could only be called bizarre, wild and crazy (remember how Steve Martin dressed?) as none of the designer paper matches—there are stripes, argyle, glittered and even Christmas patterns.  I can only imagine what Jeanette sent to the Darlings…………….

The theme was What not to Wear to this year’s holiday party.  So, my image is of what some us wore back in 70’s to parties—yellow go-go boots, wide patent leather belts (worn on our hips) and purple dresses.  And, I used 1 inch squares of each of the “designer” papers that Kelly sent to make a quilt background which I cut with the Top Note die.  There are Santa faces, argyle (more on that later), stripes, Christmas trees, poinsettias, and holiday words—yes, I used squares from each of the wonderful papers!  The glitter paper background brings the entire theme together—or tries to!  I also decorated the inside, as Kelly really sent us many items to use and there was lots of ribbon and brads and buttons to choose from.

I hope you enjoyed my What not to Wear creation and after the details of the card, be sure to check out the pictures………………………………..

Here is the inside of my card

Image/Sentiment—In Style Stamps, Lilah

Paper—PTI White; Gina K Lipstick Red; SU Orchid Opulence; My Mind’s Eye, Creative Inspirations, DCWV and Best Creations Patterned Paper

Ink—Memento Tuxedo Black

Accessories—Merry Christmas and Red/White Wide Striped Ribbon; Green and Red buttons; Red and Green Ornament Brads; Making Memories Poinsettias; Gingerbread Felt Ribbon with red/white striped twine bow; Copics;

And, for a sample of what not to wear, any place or anytime—here are some wonderful pictures that I found online. The guy in the argyle sweater matches the DSP perfectly.

And, for a sample of those wonderful Christmas Sweaters…….........  Don't they look like they are filled with Christmas Cheer!

 Please be sure to stop in to see what all of the Divas as well the Dazzlers have created this month. All of the blogs are on the left sidebar of my blog.  I am sure there will be quite the assortment of clothing items.

I hope you enjoy looking at our creations! Thanks for joining us!!!!!!

Operation Write Home Was a Success!

I have some pictures from the Operation Write Home Event last night--and I wish I had taken more photos.

 These are the M&M Treat Bags that I made to sell at our table on the concourse.  We did not sell most of them, so I am taking what is left to the Wauwatosa Ronald McDonald House.

These are little boxes that hold a Tic-Tac mint box.  There are two different Thanksgiving designs and we sold most of them.  I think I have only 4 or 5 left.

The picture below--sorry is a bit blurry--is of the tall tables in the suite that had the stacks of cards kits. We had over 150 kits ready to go--too bad there were only 12 of us making cards and barely made a dent in the number.

We may actually do another night later this season and will do it again next year.

The final picture is of Laurie, the organizer of this awesome event, being interviewd by Matt Malone, the announcer at the Bradley Center for the Admirals.  They asked her about the mission of OWH.  She did a great job and did not look nervous at all.

 

Laurie was also honored later in the game with a medal that put over her neck that said something about being a 2011-2012 Admirals Supporter.  She was on the scoreboard again!  She is an avid Admirals supporter, a season ticket holder and did an outstanding job setting all up of this fantastic event.  Way to go Laurie!

 

We made over $300--from raffle tickets, donations and items sold at the table in the concourse.  That money will be donated to OWH to use for shipping of their cards.  I think that is a great start for an event that will only grow more and more in the future.

Operation Write Home Card Kits

Tonight is the night that I have been working more than a month for---the Operation Write Home event at the Milwaukee Admirals Hockey Game.

My stamper-friend Laurie is a huge Admiral fan and she started to plan this after attending a OWH cardmaking day earlier in the year.  Tonight all Veterans get in free to the game, so it was a perfect night to coordinate an OWH event.  We have a suite provided to us and have about 12 other crafters joining us to make cards.  We will also have a table in the concourse to sell cards, altered items, treat bags, etc., with all money going to OWH.

Laurie and our friend Christine have really ROCKED the card kits and have each made over 60 kits!!!!!   I made 20 kits.  Each kit we made has one completed card--some of my completed cards are shown above--and supplies to make 11 more cards.  So, we should have more than 2000 cards completed at the end today to send to OWH!  Glue Dots is a local company and donated a gift basket that one of the participants will win.  Some of us also put together some raffle prizes and we will donate the money from the tickets sold for those also to OWH.

I also made about 60 M&M treat bags--Fall colors, Blue for Winter and Christmas red/green tubes.  I also made 18 Thanksgiving Tic-Tac mint boxes.  I hope post pictures of those tomorrow along with some photos from the event.

Route 66 and my 56 Chevy!

This card was made for a past swap on SCS—Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.  I love this car and I think my brother had one back in the day.......................

Image/Sentiment—Rubbernecker 56 Chevy, 50’s Phrase Set

Cardstock—Stampin’ Up Black and Real Red; Gina K White; Road Map Designer Paepr

Ink—Palette Black

Accessories—Copics; Circle Punches; Black and White Ribbon

Happy Birthday to You!

This is a card that I made for a recent birthday card swap.  I make lots and lots of birthday cards as I am the coordinator of the BRAK--birthday random acts of kindness--group on SCS.  We are a group of over 100 ladies who send out birthday cards each month to the members of the RAK group.  I typically send out 25-30 birthday cards each month as in addition to the 6 or 7 RAK ladies I am assigned to, I also send the the BRAK Volunteers who have birthdays and as many of my SCS friends who have shared the date with me.

Hope you like the card.


Image/Sentiment—A-muse Birthday Greetings

Cardstock—Stampin’ Up Pirquette Pink, Regal Rose; A-muse Gingham; Gina K White

Ink—SU Regal Rose

Accessories--SU Top Note, Pink Ribbon and Pink Brads

Layers of Snowflakes

I guess it it time to start to think about winter.  This is a card that I made with layers and layers of snowflakes--some embossed and the image is stamped on glossy white for additional shine.  I knew I wanted an additional pop of color on the top and did not want a brad, so I tried the use the ribbon at an angle and liked how it turned out.

Image/Sentiment—Stampin' Up Snowflake Spot

Cardstock—Stampin’ Up Night of Navy, Brocade Blue and Glossy White

Ink—SU Brocade Blue

Accessories--Cuttlebug Snowflake, SU Navy Ribbon

Live, Laugh Love--Happy Birthday

I really like this color combination--it seems so warm.   And, this must be a first for me---I used three Stampin' Up stamp sets on one card!

Image/Sentiment—Stampin’ Up On Your Birthday, Short & Sweet, Simply Said (flower used with Versamark on the background

Cardstock—Stampin’ Up Rich Razzleberry, Pale Plum; Gina K Ivory;

Ink—SU Rich Razzleberry; Versamark

Accessories— Vanilla ribbon; Vanilla Brads; Vanilla Hodgepodge, SU Ticket Corner Punch

Some Days...............................

I do love my Whipper Snapper Design Stamps and this one does not disappoint.  I think the dog brads are also so darn cute and the sentiment has to put a smile on your face!  There is crystal effects on his nose and on the hearts.

Image/Sentiment—Whipper Snapper Sheepdog and Hydrant

Cardstock—Stampin’ Up Real Red, White and Black; Gina K White;

Ink—Palette Black

Accessories— Copics; Dog Brads; Black and Red dotted Ribbon; Quickutz Retro Squares; SU Crystal Effects

Credit Cards Have a Limit?

Really?  Really?   Does YOUR Credit Card have a Limit?  I am headed to a couple of stamp stores today, so hopefully my credit limit has not been met.

Image/Sentiment—Denami Designs, Inky Antics

Cardstock—Stampin’ Up Ballet Blue and Gable Green; Gina K Ivory;

Ink—SU Ballet Blue; Palette Burnt Umber

Accessories— Copics; Green Brads; Patterned Ribbon; Cuttlebug Fleur de lis ; SU Ticket Corner Punch

Penny Black Giraffe

This cutie was made for a Jungle theme swap. 

Image/Sentiment—Penny Black Longing

Cardstock—Stampin’ Up Yo Yo Yellow, Creamy Carmel, Pumpkin Pie; Gina K Ivory; Paper Studio Designer Paper

Ink—Palette Umber

Accessories--Copics, Yellow Ribbon, cuttlebug Tiny Mosaic, Yellow Brads

Sometimes You Just Need to Take a Nap

This is another of the Inkadinkado stamps that I just love.  This card was for a Sense of Humor Swap--it may not make you laugh, but I am sure it put a smile on your face.................

Image/Sentiment--Inkadinkado

Cardstock—Stampin’ Up Cameo Coral, Ruby Red and Chocolate Chip; Gina K Ivory

Ink—SU Chocolate Chip

Accessories--Cuttlebug Candy Cane Stripe, Su Alpine Stripe Ribbon, Chocolate Chip Corduroy Brad, Brown and Ivory Brads

Hope Everything Comes Out Okay...........

OK--this cards is a bit sick, I know......................  but it was for a sense of humor swap and I just think it is a hoot!

Image/Sentiment--Gina K Way to Go

Cardstock—Gina K Black, White

Ink—Memento Tuxedo Black

Accessories— QK Polka Dots, Black & White Polka Dot Ribbon, White Pearl Brads

You Know Someone is your Friend when............

Friends are so important in my life and I know all of you feel the same way.  But, would you share more than half of your candy bar?

Image/Sentiment—Inkadinkadoo

Cardstock—Stampin’ Up Chocolate Chip, Cameo Coral; Gina K Ivory; Basic Grey Bittersweet DSP

Ink—SU Chocolate Chip

Accessories—Brown and Pink Ribbon; Brown and Ivory Brads;