Frightening Feline from Stampin' Up! Holiday Catalog

This stamp is one of my favorites from the Holiday catalog.   I don't make a lot of Halloween cards and had already purchased the Googly Ghouls set but I just couldn't resist this cat.  Since it is an a la carte stamp, it didn't hit my pocketbook to badly so I went ahead and purchased it.  I am so glad that I did.

 Here's what I used to make this card:

• Cardstock - Old Olive, Basic Black, Elegant Eggplant and Whisper White
• DSP - Brights Patterned Pack and a retired halloween DSP with flocking
• Inks - Black StazOn and Elegant Eggplant
• Stamps - Frightening Feline and Delightful Dozen
• Stripes embossing folder
• 1/2' Striped Satin ribbon
• Rhinestones - colored black with Sharpie pen

Here's the inside of the card.  Doesn't the cat look so cute with his black eyes?

Googly Ghouls from the Holiday Catalog

Don't you just love this set from Stampin' Up!'s Holiday catalog?  Every time I see a card with the Googlie for eyes, I just want to laugh - they crack me up!  Here's another "Wow" card I made using this set.

The spiders and "Boooo" were embossed on the striped paper from the Howlstoth & Scaringbone DSP in the Holiday catalog.  The striped ribbon is also from the Holiday catalog and is so pretty.  I hope that they carry it over to the main catalog next year but they usually do not carry over specialty ribbon anymore.  Oh well, I will just have to stock up before the catalog expires!

I used the Peekaboo Frames Bigz L die and stamped the little witch on the inside.  I left the Googlies off of her so they didn't damage the front of the frame but I think she's a cute surprise on the front of the card.

 

Here's a peek at the inside of the card which was done using the Wacky Wishes stamp set which is a hostess set that you can get for just $10 with a qualifying workshop. 

Frosty Friends from the Holiday Catalog

This is another card from the "Wow" swap that I participated in.  My assigned stamp set was Frosty Friends.  The real "wow" to this card is the frosted glass technique that I did on the Night of Navy cardstock.  Keep your  eye out on a Technique Tuesday to learn how to do this easy technique.  The picture is not very clear but the card looks like there are ice crystals on the cardstock like you get on your windows during the winter -- at least if you live in a cold climate!

 

 Here's the list of items to make this card:

• Cardstock - Marina Mist, Baja Breeze, Whisper White and Night of Navy.
• DSP - Regals Patterned Pack & Silver Glimmer paper
• Stamp Sets - Frosty Friends and More Merry Messages
• Inks - Black StazOn, Night of Navy and Marina Mist
• Markers - Pumpkin Pie, Marina Mist, Gumball Green and Real Red
• Baja Breeze Seam Binding
• Scallop Trim Border and 1 3/4" Punches
• Circles #2 & Snow Flurry dies
• Rhinestones

Here's the completed inside of the card. 

Perfectly Preserved & Friendship Preserves

I made this card for a recent Holiday Catalog card swap that Deb Townsend hosted.  We are required to a make a "Wow" card which means at least 4-5 layers, 2 embellishments and completed on the inside.  My assigned stamp set was Friendship Preserves.  I love how this card turned out.  I love the Gumball Green and Island Indigo combination with the punch of Real Red.  When I first saw the new In Colors, I didn't think that they coordinated with last year's In Colors but this combination certainly works for me!

 Here's a list of what was used to make this card - it is a long one!

• Cardstock - Whisper White, Island Indigo, Real Red and Gumball Green
• DSP - Summer Smooches and 2011-2013 In Colors Patterned Pack
• Inks - Island Indigo, Real Red and Gumball Green
• Stamp Sets - Friendly Phrases, Perfectly Preserved and Friendship Preserves
• Stripes and Square Lattice embossing folders
• Tasteful Trim Bigz XL die
• Cannery Set and Window Frames framelit dies
• 1/8" Mini Brads and 3/8" Designer Printed Brads

That is quite a list!  Wow!  See, I told you it was a wow card.  Here's the inside all finished and ready for a signature and mailing.

Too Hot to Handle!

Back on August 21, I sat down for several hours and put together blog entries for several weeks so I wouldn't get behind and here I am ..... totally behind.  But I have an excuse and I think it is a good one!  Here's one of our houses on August 22!

Yep, that inferno that you are looking at is my house - fortunately no one was injured.  It wasn't our house but a rental and the renters lost everything which is so sad.  She has great friends, co-workers and family who have helped her out so hopefully she can begin to rebuild her life and I need to rebuild a house.

So I have been busy meeting with insurance adjusters and contractors.  I am learning alot about the insurance process (not fun) and about what you have to go through before you can rebuild.  It is a month since the fire and it is still a charred mess sitting there.  The house has asbestos so an asbestos removal company has to come and remove all the walls, ceiling and anything that the sheetrock touched when the fire department pulled the ceilings down.  Basically, they will have to gut what is left of the house.  Before we can do that, we have to get temporary electrical service to the property and settle on the preliminary scope of the damage with the insurance company.  I am hopeful that we can get started in about a week.

I am hoping to continue to keep you inspired with cards over the next couple of months but Technique Tuesdays will be hit and miss.  They will be totally dependent on my house-building schedule.  Hopefully you will stick with me during the rebuild.  I will take pictures of the house as we rebuild and post them here so you can follow my progress as well.

Have a great day!

Serene Silhouettes Class Card #4

Here's the final card from my recent Serene Silhouettes class.

For this card, the Basic Black matting was run through the Fancy Fan embossing folder although it is difficult to see in this card.  I thought that the shape of the folder matched well with the shape on these trees.
The card is made with Not Quite Navy cardstock and the Basic Gray striped paper at the bottom is from the Neutrals Pattern Pack.  The striped ribbon is from the Holiday catalog and the sentiment is from the Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set.  The punches used are the Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border punch for the Not Quite Navy strip and the Curly Label for the sentiment.
The image was made by coloring the image using Basic Gray and Not Quite Navy markers.  We then used water in the Stampin' Spritzer and made two quick spritzes to give the image a watercolor look.  If you try this, let the water sit on the stamp for a few seconds before stamping.  The more water and/or the longer you wait before stamping will give your image more of a watercolor effect.
Have fun trying this technique and let me know how you do!

Serene Silhouettes Class Card #3

Here is the third card in the Serene Silhouettes card class.

This Regal Rose card was layered with Gumball Green cardstock and then a Whisper White piece which was embossed using the Delicate Designs folder and cut at the top with the Finishing Touches edgelit.
The paper was then scored next to the cut portion twice with an 1/8" separation between score lines.  Down near the embossing, it was scored three times with a 1/4" separation between score lines.
The image was done using the "thank you" from the Made for You stamp set and the flowers were colored using Gumball Green and Regal Rose markers.  The image was then stamped three times without inking between stampings.  Between each of the stampings, I moved the stamp down and to the right or down and to the left. 
The card was finished off with some Stitched Satin ribbon and a Faceted button tied with baker's twine.

Serene Silhouettes Class Card #2

Here is the second card from my Serene Silhouettes class.

For this card we used the butterfly image and stamped it with Midnight Muse ink on Whisper White and punched it out.  We then layered it on the medium size Delicate Doily sizzlit and layered that onto the large Delicate Doily sizzlit in Whisper White.  The sentiment is from the Itty Bitty Banners stamp set and cut using the Bitty Banners framelits.  The Pool Party cardstock was embossed with the Elegant Bouquet folder.  A Pool Party ruffled ribbon bow was placed at the bottom and the final touches were Dazzling Diamonds to the flowers and rhinestones on the small flowers.

Serene Silhouettes Stamp Set Class...

This month I held a Serene Silhouettes class which included the stamp set and four cards made using the four images used in the set.  Again, I found inspiration for these cards from the gallery at SplitCoastStampers.
Here's the first card:

On this card, we stamped the birds from the Serene Silhouettes stamp set in Crumb Cake on the bottom left of the first layer of Very Vanilla matting.  We cut the Early Espresso Core'dination paper using the Apothecary Accents framelit, ran it through the Big Shot with the Lacy Brocade embossing folder from the Holiday catalog.  We then sanded it to get the two-tone look.  The birds were then stamped in Early Espresso on Very Vanilla which was cut with the Apothecary Accents large framelit and pierced using the Essentials Paper Piercing Pack.
The sentiment is from the Apothecary Art stamp set and was stamped on Crumb Cake using Early Espresso ink.  We then pierced along the bottom and used the Signo gel pen to represent stitching.  A piece of Whisper White was cut using the Finishing Touches edgelit and placed below the banner piece.  Everything was sponged using Soft Suede ink.  Finally a Neutrals glimmer brad was placed at the bottom.
On the envelope, I inked the stamp in Crumb Cake and then colored over the birds with Early Espresso and then stamped to get the two tone look.