And again, MORE Christmas cards...

Just a quick post to add in some more Christmas cards...I'm well on my way to wrapping it up for this season...but I will probably spend a week or so more making some really fun ones now...of course, they're all fun, but when I have to produce them in bulk, I'm not able to go super crazy on the details..rather, I have to keep them somewhat simple. So these here are the "somewhat simple" ones...there are quite a few, so keep scrolling!!!...























These have been such a joy to create...I wish I had the time to go in and post supply lists for all of these, and to ramble on about them for posterity's sake, but no time at the moment! Pictures alone will have to suffice for now...

Mojo Monday #214

Right before I tackled this Mojo Monday sketch, I was working on another sketch challenge from the My Mind's Eye blog. Since I was already on a roll using their papers & die cuts, I decided to continue doing the same for the Verve sketch. In fact, I got two cards out of it! I didn't even do any stamping on one of the cards, just used the beautiful patterned papers & coordinating die cuts from the Holly Jolly collection. The 2nd card was a little more involved, but both were simplified because of the use of the pretty collection papers. What fun! :)

For this first card, I turned the sketch on its side and had to make a few other adjustments ~



And for the second card, I followed the sketch more closely "as is".



Supply list:

Cardstock: 5x7 off-white card bases (The Paper Company)
Patterned Paper: Candy Canes & Reindeer Fly from the Holly Jolly Collection (My Mind's Eye)
Stamp Set(s): Take Note, Bells & Boughs (Papertrey)
Ink/Colorants: Cherry Cobbler (SU); Dark Brown Chalk Ink (Colorbox)
Embellishments: Die cuts from the Holly Jolly Collection
Tools: Bells & Boughs dies (Papertrey); Circles Nesties (Spellbinders)

My Mind's Eye Blog Challenge 29

 Though I'm in the throes of making tons of Christmas cards that are a little bit more on the simple side (so I can make them in more quantities), I decided to take a mini break from that and participate in the monthly My Mind's Eye blog challenge. I absolutely adore MME papers, and I have some gorgeous ones from previous years that I bought probably last year. Time to dig them out and create something beautiful!

I have been doing tons of stamping lately, and since I have a sheet of fabulous die cuts that coordinate with the paper collections, I challenged myself to make this card with no stamping, just paper & die cuts. I'm quite happy with the way it turned out! It was a fun break to do something a little different. I had to modify the sketch just a bit to make it work, but I think it's okay...

Here's the sketch (and the assignment was to include brown):

And here's what I came up with using nothing but the Holly Jolly collection patterned papers & die cuts...specifically "Candy Canes" & back side of the "Reindeer Fly"  (oh, and the large scalloped border die from Papertrey):



That's it! Pretty simple to make, but the result is very nice, especially since it's a 5x7 size.

More Christmas Cards...

I have been making Christmas cards like crazy, as I have about 40 of my own to make, plus my dear mother has ordered 50 from me as well!! Since I don't like them all to be the same (how terribly boring would that be!), I like to make them in sets of just four at a time and sometimes I even vary those within each set of four. I have so many wonderful new Christmas stamp sets this season that I have to change it up a bit quite often in order to be able to use them all!

Papertrey knocked it out of the park with the Christmas sets & coordinating dies that they released this year. I love almost every single one of them..they are SO fabulous, and create such professional-looking cards. I'm having such fun putting these together! Be prepared to scroll for awhile because I have quite a number of pictures to add to this post. I don't have time to do an official supplies list for all these cards, so I'll just do a quick mention of the basics of what I used, stamp sets & papers:

All sets are from Papertrey in the cards from this post ~ Holiday Lights; Nativity Silhouettes & Additions; Star of Wonder; Wonderful Words: Holiday; Holiday Photo Finishers; 2009, 2010 & 2011 Holiday Tags; Stylish Sentiments: Holiday; Bells & Boughs; Tree Trimming Trio.

Papers are mostly from a couple of older Basic Grey holiday collections: Eskimo Kisses & Wassail (I'm trying to make a dent in the mountain of patterned paper that I have collected over the years!); I've also used papers from an American Crafts Jolly collection, also a bit older, but still cute nonetheless!

Christmas cards, just the beginning...

These are some of the Christmas cards that I've made so far...but this is just the tip of the iceberg...I have tons of gorgeous new stamp sets from Papertrey and others that I haven't even had the chance to get inky yet. But now that my husband's 40th birthday party has come and gone, and I've finished my Thanksgiving cards, it's now full speed ahead to my stacks and stacks of Christmas cards! I can't wait to start cranking them out.

Some of these here were made for Operation Write Home. Their deadline for Christmas cards is Oct. 31st, so that project is done for now too. The rest of the cards are just part of my growing stash to use for my own Christmas card list as well as ones to sell.

These are some of the ones I made for OWH. I just LOVED how they turned out, even though I was not crazy about these particular patterned papers...I ended up liking them quite well once they were used on my cards. I used one of my new favorite holiday stamp sets from Papertrey: Holiday Photo Finishers.



A set of cards made with cute patterned papers from the Basic Grey Wassail collection and the Eskimo Kisses collection.





These cards are so cute because of October Afternoon's adorable Very Merry paper collection and the 2008 Holiday Tags stamp set from Papertrey.







That's it for now, but I'll be back later with lots more!

Thanksgiving cards

Just a quick post to share some Thanksgiving cards...not making a TON of these, as I usually just end up sending these to family and not selling a whole bunch (not too many people send out Thanksgiving cards, it seems). But I had a lot of fun creating with these stamp sets, and for the most part, I am happy with the results!




Cardstock: Dusty Durango, More Mustard (SU)
Patterned Paper: Autumn Meadows (retired DSP from SU)
Stamp Set(s): Thanksgiving (Crafty Secrets)
Ink/Colorants: Vintage Sepia (VersaFine); Copic markers
Embellishments: Autumn Terracotta organdy ribbon (CTMH); Vanilla Hodgepodge frame & brads (SU)



Cardstock: More Mustard (SU)
Patterned Paper: Autumn Meadows (SU)
Stamp Set(s): Thanksgiving (Crafty Secrets); Fall Elegance (PTI)
Ink/Colorants: Tuxedo Black (Memento); Copic markers; Cocoa embossing powder (CTMH)
Embellishments: Gold Rush organdy ribbon, Hemp twine, Waxy flax (CTMH); Wood buttons (Oriental Trading);
Tools: heat gun




Cardstock: Naturals Ivory (SU)
Patterned Paper: Autumn Meadows (SU)
Stamp Set(s): Friendship Jar Fall Fillers (PTI)
Ink/Colorants: Tuxedo Black (Memento); Copic markers; Copper Pearl Pen (Viva Decor)
Embellishments: Hemp twine (CTMH)
Tools: Notch tool (Basic Grey)



Cardstock: Naturals Ivory, More Mustard (SU)
Patterned Paper: Autumn Meadows (SU)
Stamp Set(s): Fall Elegance (PTI); Thanksgiving (Crafty Secrets)
Ink/Colorants: Autumn Terracotta, Olive (CTMH)
Embellishments: Vintage copper brads (SU)




Cardstock: Naturals Ivory, More Mustard (SU)
Patterned Paper: Autumn Meadows (SU)
Stamp Set(s): Fall Elegance (PTI); Thanksgiving (Crafty Secrets)
Ink/Colorants: Brown Bag (CTMH); Tea Dye (Ranger Distress Inks); Marina Mist (SU)
Embellishments: Brown felt ribbon (SU)
Tools: 1-3/4" circle punch (SU)