Rudolph pennant card

I am slowly but surely finishing my Christmas cards. With a little luck, inspiration and a couple of days off work, maybe I'll meet my goal this weekend. Here is one of the cards I made last Saturday:

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!^® unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Lots of Thoughts
Paper: River Rock card stock, Close to Cocoa card stock, Real Red card stock, Basic Black card stock, Brights Collection Patterns DSP Stack
Ink: Old Olive
Accessories: Doodlecharms Cricut cartridge (Provo Craft), Perfect Pennants die, 1/8" circle punch, 1/2" circle punch, Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border punch, Itty Bitty Shapes punch pack, Real Red satin ribbon, Christmas Red Stickles (Ranger), Dimensionals

I cut out the reindeer (3 1/2") with my Cricut and the Doodlecharms cartridge. His nose is a 1/2" circle covered with Christmas Red Stickles glitter glue (Rudolph's gotta have a little sparkle, right?), and his eyes are 1/8" circles.

To embellish the pennant, I punched a strip of Real Red card stock with the Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border punch. Then I cut the strip in half lengthwise and adhered the pieces behind the long sides of the pennant so just a bit of the scallop detail is visible. For an embellishment at the bottom of the pennant, I punched two small scallop circles (from the Itty Bitty Shapes punch pack). I crumpled one of the circles so it curled up, glued it on the second scallop circle, adhered them to the pennant and then added a drop of Stickles in the center. Rudolph's ready to spread some holiday cheer!

Thanks for stopping by!

Couldn't put it down

I love to read, and truthfully I enjoy most of the books I read. But I haven't read a book I couldn't put down in a while. Then last weekend I started reading The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins. The series takes place in the future in what was once North America. There are twelve districts in the country of Panem, and every year each district has two send two children (or tributes) between the ages of 12 and 18 -- one girl and one boy -- to the Capitol to participate in the Hunger Games. The tributes essentially are required to fight to the death, and the last survivor is the victor.

I'd had the first novel (The Hunger Games) on my Kindle since January, but I was never sure if I was in the right mood to read it. Finally I just decided to dive in, and I wish I had read them sooner! I kept trying to sneak in a few pages or even sentences whenever I could. I even tried reading while I walked to work, but sadly it's just too dark at 6:30 in the morning. (I did, however, read while walking home from work.)

Well, when I finished the first book Wednesday morning, I wanted to start the second one, Chasing Fire, right away. (My sister has all three books on her Kindle, and she said she would loan me the second and third books.) But I had a project to finish for work and a few other things that needed to get done, and I knew that if I started reading the next book I would be distracted and not get my work done. So I said I had to wait.

And wait I did. For about three days. By yesterday afternoon I gave into temptation and started reading the second book. I read on and off during the afternoon and evening and then straight from about 11:00 last night until 5:30 this morning. Seriously. I had droopy eyelids and was the losing the ability to even hold onto my Kindle by the time I was done, but I finished reading the second book.

OK, with two done, I decided I was going to wait until Thanksgiving break to read the third book. I managed to finish a few chores today (and, surprisingly, keep my eyes open) before I gave in again and started reading the third book, Mockingjay. I know I won't be able to read the whole book tonight -- pesky work and all -- but if I pace myself then I'll get to enjoy it longer, right?

Now I'm really excited to see The Hunger Games movie, which is being released next March. (That sounds so far away!) Maybe I'll even read the books again before then. If you haven't read them yet, I would definitely recommend it. They are young adult books, so the reading isn't difficult. But they are very thought provoking, and you will find yourself becoming totally absorbed in the characters and rooting on the heroes.

Have a great week!

'Boo' pennant banner card

For a little change of pace from all the Christmas cards, I thought I'd share a Halloween card today. I didn't post this card earlier because it was one I had made for a contest in Stampin' Success^®, a magazine for Stampin' Up!^® demonstrators, and I wanted to wait and see if I won the contest. No such luck this time, so I'll share it with you now:

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Pennant Parade, Medallion, Bingo Card
Card stock: Peach Parfait, Concord Crush, Lucky Limeade, Whisper White
Ink: Concord Crush
Accessories: Frost White shimmer paint, Old Olive 1/8" taffeta ribbon, In Color 2010 - 2012 glimmer brads, silver mini brads, basic pearls, Petite Pennants Builder punch, Scallop Edge Border punch, 1/16" circle punch, paper-piercing tool, mat pack, Dimensionals, Sticky Strip, Multipurpose Liquid Glue


The theme for the contest was to create a project using any of the current In Colors, and I really like this combination: Peach Parfait, Concord Crush and Lucky Limeade. (I made this card a week or two before Halloween, so I'm sure that influenced my color choices.) I decided to make this card 3" x 6" so it was long enough to accommodate five triangles on the banner.

I love the shimmer on this card, and it was pretty easy to create. For the background, I used a sponge dauber to apply shimmer paint to the Medallion background stamp and then stamped the image on the card base. For the shine on the banner, I punched the triangles out of Lucky Limeade card stock and then applied the shimmer paint all over the triangles and adhered them to the scalloped triangles. The glimmer brads add an extra bit of bling.

The letters on the banner are from the word "bingo" on the Bingo Card background stamp. I stamped the image twice on white card stock and cut out the letters I needed for my card. I'd wanted to try something like this since I bought the Bingo Card stamp; unfortunately, there aren't too many things you can spell with the letters in the word "bingo."

Here's a peek at the inside of the card, too:

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Spooky Bingo Bits, Grateful Greetings
Card stock: Whisper White
Ink: Concord Crush, Peach Parfait, Lucky Limeade markers
Accessories: Frost White shimmer paint, sponge daubers 

I think that with a different color combination this could be a fun layout for a Christmas card, too. Maybe with the word "joy" on the banner. I might just have to try that ... Thanks for stopping by!

Shaker cards

I don't make them very often, but I think shaker cards are so much fun to make and to receive, especially at Christmas. "Snowy" scenes with glitter or beads work perfectly as shaker cards. This weekend I made a couple of different shaker card designs.

I made one card of the design on the left (it didn't turn out quite the way I imagined, and I wasn't sure I liked it enough to make more) and six of the card on the right. For both cards I used silver glass glitter as the "snow," which worked well. It's a bit heavier than regular glitter, so it doesn't stick to the plastic quite as much. The white card stock layers were pre-cut to 4" x 5-1/4" -- perfect for layering on an A2 card -- and they already had a hole cut to fit perfectly over the shakers.

Here are individual pictures of the cards and supply information:

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!^® unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Snow Much Fun, Northern Hearts
Ink: Jet Black StazOn^® pad, Crumb Cake pad, Cherry Cobbler marker, Baja Breeze marker, Pumpkin Pie marker, Basic Black marker
Card stock: Crumb Cake, Whisper White, white overlay (The Paper Cut)
Accessories: Shaker pouch (Impression Obsession), silver glass glitter, Baja Breeze seam binding ribbon, white baker's twine, mini jingle bells

I wanted a bright white color for the snowman, so I paper pieced him and the snowballs and used markers to color the rest of the image directly on the Crumb Cake card stock. I stamped snowflakes on the overlay and tied Baja Breeze seam binding ribbon around it. I strung the mini jingle bells on a piece of baker's twine and then tied the twine in a bow around the knot in the ribbon.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps:Cute Converse
Ink: Not Quite Navy
Card stock: Not Quite Navy, Garden Green, Wild Wasabi, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, white overlay (The Paper Cut)
Accessories: Shaker pouch (Impression Obsession), silver glass glitter, white baker's twine, mini jingle bells, Heart to Heart punch, small oval punch, 1/16" hole punch, snowflake embossing folder (Sizzix), Dazzling Details

For each tree, I used three punched hearts layered together for the branches and added a thin strip of Chocolate Chip card stock for the trunk. I can't take credit for the idea of making trees with the heart shapes, but this is the first time I've tried it. (I think they look pretty cute!) It's hard to see in this picture, but I tore the edge off two pieces of white card stock and glued them at the base of the trees to look like snow. I also added a light touch of Dazzling Details glitter glue to the trees and snow to add a little sparkle.

I embossed the overlay with a snowflake embossing folder, wrapped it with baker's twine and added a tag, mini jingle bell and bow. I stamped the "merry little christmas" greeting on the tags for three of the cards; on the other tags, I stamped "jingle all the way." I think this is one of my favorite Christmas card designs so far this year!

Thanks for stopping by!

Snowy night, Christmas lights

First off, I want to say a big thank you to all of our veterans and active-duty service members. Your sacrifices, strength and courage protect our country and our freedom. Happy Veteran's Day!

Now, I have two more Christmas card designs to share from my crafting day last Saturday. The first is a quiet, snowy Christmas night:

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!^®, unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Pennant Parade, Many Merry Messages
Card stock: Whisper White, Night of Navy, Early Espresso
Ink: Old Olive
Accessories: Pennant Builder punch, basic rhinestones, snowflake embossing folder (Sizzix), Stampin' Dimensionals^®

I made six cards of this design, and when I made the first one, I didn't emboss the navy background with the snowflakes. It didn't look bad, but it was just a bit too plain. I wanted something subtle in the background, so I thought the embossed snowflakes would be the perfect touch. For the bottom of the card, I ripped a piece of white card stock to resemble snow. I added a rhinestone to the middle tree for just a touch of sparkle.

For the last card I made a festive string of Christmas lights:

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Warmest Regards
Card stock: Whisper White, Basic Black, Wisteria Wonder, Cherry Cobbler, Island Indigo, So Saffron, Old Olive
Ink: Jet Black StazOn pad^®
Accessories: Stocking Accents die, Basic Black 1/8" taffeta ribbon, Crystal Effects, Stampin' Dimensionals, Glue Dots^®

I only made one card with this design because A) I wasn't exactly sure how I wanted to put it together, B) the Crystal Effects required some drying time, and C) I didn't want to die cut Christmas lights forever. I made two die cuts for each light: one in black and one in a color. I trimmed the end off the colored lights and glued each one to a black light. Then I coated the colored part of each light with Crystal Effects for a nice shine.

Once the lights were dry, I used Glue Dots to attach them to a piece of ribbon. I originally attached the lights so they were all facing the same direction (i.e., if you held the ribbon from end to end, all the lights faced down), but once I started arranging the lights on the card, I had to pull a couple of them off the ribbon and flip them around. I used Dimensionals to attach the lights to the card, letting the ribbon bunch up and twist a bit. (I suppose if I wanted it to look really authentic, I should have put a few knots in the ribbon!)

Quick writing update: My novel for NaNoWriMo has been coming along very slowly. So far I've written 10,720 words. On the positive side, that's more than I wrote the last time I tried NaNoWriMo. The negative is that in order to reach the goal of writing a 50,000-word novel in a month, I should be around 25,000 words by Nov. 15, which is just four days away. I have a feeling that's not going to happen. But I'm going to try to keep writing at least a little bit every day, and maybe I'll surprise myself.

Thanks for stopping by.