Merry Christmas!

Sorry I am late posting but I wanted to share some cards that I made for Christmas this year.  I have seen some pretty doors on Splitcoast but whim6915 made the cut for me.  The panels are spellbinders rectangles and I also embossed them to make them a raised panel look.  I added a personal touch with a brad of the initial to whom I was sending the card.  M is for Mott and P is for Peterson which just happens to be my sisters who share the same hobby of papercrafting and cardmaking.  The banner is also from Spellbinders and I used distressed ink from Ranger first and then rock candy for the vintage look to it. 

These cards were fun to make.  Punch art is always fun to see how it all comes together.  I love these Santas on splitcoast and I love being able to use different punches.  Most of the punches were from SU like the ornament for the beard, bird for the mustache, wide oval  for the face and trim of the hat, nestabilities paisley was used for the hat and different round punches for the eyes, nose and pom-pom.  Added some texture on the beard and mustache.

Gretel sleeping

 Christmas Eve we waited for Santa for a while but Gretel stayed right by the tree all night waiting for Santa.  She wasn't going to miss him this year!!

Christmas comes and goes so fast but we all had a wonderful time just getting together.  Wish that we all could be together but some of my family were not able to make it but there is always next year.  Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!!!

Mom and my daughter, Lindsey

Holly Christmas

Finally starting my Christmas cards!! The stamp is from Great Impressions.  Pretty holly and berry stamp colored with copic markers and added some red bling for some of the berries. The sentiment is computer generated on Spellbinders banner.  I just got some rock candy from Ranger which I used on top after inking it a little with Distress Ink Wild Honey.  Love the vintage feel to the sentiment! Used a little twine at the top of the card to finish it off!  Thanks for looking!

Happy Birthday Chris & Connie

Last week was my twin sisters birthday, Chris and Connie so I had to get busy with not 1 card but 2!  I was tempted to do the same card but then they got that
most of their lives so I did two different ones.  Plus their birthdays are in December which I am sure Mom and Dad did their best with birthday gifts but somehow people who have birthdays in December must feel like they got short-changed just because Christmas is not that far away. But I never heard either of them complain.
This card is for Chris. I used SU DP which I can't recall the name of it and too lazy to look it up but it is a very pretty design.  Several different layers with the top one having stamped musical notes from a stamp I had and putting Cheery Lynn Designs die on top with SU sentiment on nestabilities die.  The added touch was the Prima flower and a glittery blue brad from SU for the center. I just love the way it came together.  The design idea I used is from Mrsoke.  Check out her card.

The second card is for Connie and I used SU sizzix EF.  Just saying I love this folder!!!!  SU sizzix little leaves were glued on white cardstock and then placed in another SU sizzix EF.  Love this technique!
Added Prima Flowers and MS butterfly punch with
SU sentiment and SU punch. This was the first time that I used this technique and I definitely am going to do it again.  Love this!!!  Thanks for stopping by, now onto Christmas cards!!

Thanksgiving 2011

So cute!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!  A day late but nevertheless it is still the Thanksgiving weekend.  We had a wonderful holiday at my sister and her husband's house in Yarmouth, Maine. They have just moved into their new home this past summer and decided to have the Thanksgiving meal for about 15 of us in all.  No small task and everything was wonderful.  The food delicious! The tables were beautiful, even Martha Stewart would approve.  After the dishes were done we even had a little energy to put up the Christmas tree!

Love the centerpiece!

Check out this centerpiece!

Oh Christmas Tree!

Now on to the hustle and bustle of the Christmas holiday season!  With the snow that we got on Thanksgiving Eve, we truly ready to start the shopping and everything else that comes with the season!  Thanks for stopping by and Happy Holidays to everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving

Now that Halloween is over, I need to get serious about Thanksgiving and Christmas cards.  Here is my first Thanksgiving card for the season. Thanksgiving will be here before you know it and I'm just getting started.  I love using my Fanciful flourish die from Cheery Lynn Designs with the punch art pumpkins. The background is Tim Holtz woodgrain EF.  I used Rangers distress ink to give the EF some depth. Another new item for me is the banner from Spellbinders.  Just a simple Autumn scene for a Happy Thanksgiving Day card.  Thanks for looking.

Pumpkin Favor

This is a fun favor for Thanksgiving.  I made this a while ago thinking it would be great for a favor at the Thanksgiving table.  I  am sorry that I can't remember where I saw this but let me know if anyone knows where this came from originally.   I used 10 medium sized, embossed, oval nestabilities.  I folded them in the center and then glued them at the center together.  Then just added a stem with 1/4 of an inch brown
cardstock, which I then rolled and fitted it in the middle with some punch bunch leaves and curled some vines.  I cut a slit on both sides of the stem and slid my name on it.    This might even be fun to put on a card if you flattened out on side of it.  I might give this a try for an upcoming Holiday Open House that my sisters (figaro and cbmott) are doing this weekend in Topsham, Maine.    Thanks for stopping by!

One Stop Holiday Shopping

Get your shopping started at "One Stop Holiday Shopping" on October 23rd from 1-4 pm, location is 15 Keay Road Berwick, Maine. Please stop in if you are in the area there will be Miche Bags, Blume Jewelry, Uppercase Living, Tastefully Simply, custom made embroidered items, handmade totes, scentsy,  beautiful handmade cards  and other papercrafts such as the triangle boxes that I have pictured here for you.

What fun decorating them and putting them together! For Halloween I made pumpkin faces and the witch hat and for Christmas there is Santa and Rudolph.

Rudolph is made with the sizzilet swirls for the antlers and the face is the SU owl punch with a ruby gem for his nose!! Love it!  I found some tiny jingle bells at Joann's Fabric Shop and added them for more bling! Kim Score's blog, I saw Rudolph and decided to use him  on a triangle box.  Thanks Beth!

We are also making items for Halloween too!  I saw many of these pumpkin faces on SC.  Sorry I saw so many I don't know who to give the credit too but decided again to use them for triangle boxes.  I used SU corner punch, round punch for the eyes, Fancy Flourish from Cheery Lynn Designs.  The nose and stem were hand done.  Added some beautiful ribbon and some candy and it is complete! 

The witch hat is done with black glitter paper from Joann's or any craft store. I just added ribbon and a silver buckle. A little black spider (hard to see but it is there) was the finishing touch. The spider has eyes.   Can you see them? What could be simpler?

Please stop by our first holiday fair this Sunday!  This is just a sample there is so much more to see!!!
Thanks for looking!

Barrington, NH

Yesterday was a fun day even though it was rainy.  My good friend, Cindy and I went to Calef's Country Store and the Christmas Dove (which is just across the street). Calef's is a quaint country store and reminded me of my grandfather's summer store in Small Point, Maine.  It had the creaky floor boards, the old display cabinets and penny candy!!  There is a little deli in the back of the store and we had our lunch.  Great sandwiches!! It was nice to see that there are still these places around.  Next door to Calef's was a primitive gift shop.  When you walked into the shop, the smell of cinnamon and cider was wonderful!!

Cindy loves this store

Homemade cakes, fudge, and cookies, YUM!

Just to put us in the Christmas mood, across the street was the Christmas Dove.  What a nice shop!  It had everything and more!!  Christmas trees were decorated in every color you could imagine. Definitely something for anyone's home decor.  They also had a line of collectibles that I hadn't seen before called "Patience Brewster".  They were every whimiscal creatures.  I loved their shoes!  They also had some Halloween decorations which were terrific.  Check out some of the pictures.  If you have a chance definitely stop by these shops located in Barrington, New Hampshire.  Cindy and I had so much fun.  Thanks Cindy!!  You know the best shops!!!

A Teal Christmas

Patience Brewster-whimiscal

Cindy got her list in early!

Toys, toys everywhere!

Halloween fun too!

Cake Slice

This is my first attempt at the cake slice box. I can see that I need to cover up the yellow a little better on the corners but  I had fun decorating it.  I found the template on the internet for this cake slice box favor.  The trim on the side is SU border punch and the leaves on the top are from Cheery Lynn designs.  Check out the picture below - I like having the leaves go over the side.  The flower is from SU build a blossom punch.  The petals are embossed with SU EF.  Just a little amber-colored crystal for the center.   The ribbon is from Joann's Fabric. Gonna have to try this again, maybe with carrott cake and cream cheese frosting.  Boy, I'm making myself hungry for cake!!!

From the top

Dripping over the side

Oh Baby!

Congratulations to Jill and Rob!  My niece and her husband are expecting a "little one" April 1st, 2012!  I have wanted to make this card for almost a month since they told us but just now have gotten around to do it.  I remembered seeing this punch art pregnant lady on SC a while ago and thought this would be great card to  congratulate them.  Check out Ellen Kemper's blog for a list of all the punches she used. The only change I did was that I had a hand punch.  It was fun putting her together!  Thanks Ellen! Love your work!

Connie & Russ' Anniversary Card

 I just received my Cheery Lynn Designs die  this week and just in time for an anniversary card for my sister, Connie and her husband Russ. They have been married 6 years yesterday and I was happy to get a chance to use this cute new die!  Love it!  It works so well. Comes right out after running it through my Sizzix Big Kick machine.  Love the little detail of the veins in the leaves.  The paper is from Pattern Paper Ambrosia and Stampin up Tempting Turquoise.  Layered with the SU/sizzix Top Note die and use a Prima flower with a pearl brad for the center.  More pearls for MS butterfly and underneath the sentiment.  Hope Connie and Russ have many more anniversaries to celebrate.  Yesterday was a lot of fun - thanks for inviting us!!!

MS lattice punch with flowers

Black and White Wedding

My son is here from California to visit friends and to attend a wedding for a college soccer teammate so he asked me to make him a card for Adam's wedding. I thought a black and white theme would be appropriate to give it a more masculine feel.  I have had this spellbinders tag with the nestabling to match for a while and  have wanted to use it.  This was the occasion to use it, a wedding!!  I haven't used the MS lace border punch in a long while and this seemed perfect.  The background in white and the background in black are both embossed with different EF.  I just added some pretty white ribbon and some more pearls.  The sentiment "Mr & Mrs" is computer generated.  Wedding cards are so much fun to make and even more fun to attend!  I love weddings!!

Vintage Birthday

This is a lovely card that I cased from Sandy Mathis.  It had a vintage feel to me and I hope I captured the same. Very simple but looks like you put a lot of effort and time into it.  A lot of EF were used.  The first one on the Top note  die and then inked it with Tim Holtz distressed inks.I,  then, used SU embosslits for the flowers and embossed again.  I didn't have any vintage cream colored lace so I used SU twill tape (which I think maybe retired now, not sure).  If I make this card again, I think I would use lace because it would seem even more vintage.  Needed this quickly so no time for the store.  It is in the mail today!! Thanks Sandy!

Dressed in Pink!

Believe it or not, the little tiny butterfly embellishment on the bow was my inspiration for this card. This is really an earring which I have been trying to find the owner.  I have asked and asked and decided after many, many months to put it on one of my cards.  (Better picture of it below) I also wanted to give "punch around the page" from Martha Stewart a try.  After a few trys, I did it!!  It is layered with DP and a white paper doily with the sentiment "Happy Birthday" from Justrite. The roses are from Recollections and the "pink butterfly" (earring) was just found!  The second sentiment is from SU "Congrats" with MS punch butterfly and some  tiny pearls for a little elegance.   Almost forgot, there is a little bird from SU bird punch in the right hand corner of the easel card.  Thanks for stopping by!

Pink inspiration

Closer look

With Sympathy

Unfortunately, I needed another Sympathy card for my husband's colleague.  She is a teacher and her father died on Friday.  This is just a simple card with SU tulip embossing folder that I sponged with SU close to cocoa. I layered  with soft suede CS and a miscellanous DP from Michael's.  The flowers are prima which are always a nice touch with SU sizzix "little leaves".  Thanks for stopping by.

Halloween Quilted Background

When I saw some of the quilted cards on SC, especially  this card  I wanted to make one too but use it as a background. The squares on the "quilt" are 1 inch squares. I have made one with the 1 3/8" punch which I may show you at a later date but I think the 1 inch is  better because you have more squares.  Basically, you just put the 1 inch squares on a cardstock and then cut out with your top note die.  I just added the owl punch bat, which is so adorable, and the sentiment with some ribbon. I have made quite a few patchwork, trip around the world, log cabin, and Irish Chain quilts in my time but this one was a lot easier!!!

Ghosts & Bats

Tis the season for Halloween cards!  I have seen these bats and ghosts on SC last year and this year and I wanted to make a card with them. It is made with the owl punch. Love that owl punch! It is so versatile and so darn cute!!!  The wings of the bat  are the circle punches and the scallop oval nestabilities to make the "wing" part. The pumpkins are the large and small oval punches from SU and the pumpkin with the "Happy Halloween" sentiment is a sizzix die. I did emboss the 2 pumpkins on the left with cuttlebug EF.  Sizzix spider with MS spider border punch to finish the background on this side step card.  I have made 2 cute Halloween cards this year, maybe the next one will be  "scary" one!!!  Thanks for stopping by!

The Cute Witch

 

Now that Labor Day is just about over, it is time for Halloween cards. So this is my first Halloween card for the season!  This cute little witch I saw on SC here and copied for this funky fold design. She is made from a lot of SU punches, scallop, tag, ornament and different round punches. The pumpkin is a sizzix die as well as the spider.  MS border punch was used for the  sides of the card. Enjoy!

 

Celebrate Pink!

I am just loving this pink paper by BoBunny.  This is my 3rd side step card  with it and I could do more but I will spare you the redundancy of it.  Lotus by spellbinder is done in pink and the top layer is a shiny metallic emerald green paper.  Justrite stamps was done for the sentiment with a little bling.  Hard to see but it is there. The leaves are done by sizzix and the butterfly is SU "God's beauty". I have been using my metallic paper a lot lately.  Love the way it adds more bling to the card. My good friend, Cindy, would love this card  because her favorite color of all time is PINK! 

Closer view

Variation in Lindsey's Card

Just a quick post because I had so fun making my daughter's birthday card that I decided to make another one!  You can compare the two of them.  The one on the left has the heart nestabilities with the scallop heart as the background.  I used a shiny, shiny emerald green paper.  The sentiment is the same except I used SU "wish big" underneath Tilda.   Tilda is just so versatile!!!  Thanks for looking!

Happy Birthday Lindsey!

My little girl is going to turn 24 next week!  She is a lover of ice cream (who isn't) so when I saw these ice cream cones on SC I knew this was the card for her.  I found the saying on SC too! At my favorite stamping store, Stamped Designs in Dover, NH, I found Tilda with the ice cream.  Tilda looks a little like Lindsey when she was a little girl because of the blondish ponytails.  I had fun making this side-stepcard with all the pink that I used. The pink paper is BoBunny, so pretty. 

Our little girl at age 5

Side step Christmas Tree

I was thinking of Christmas today and how back in June I stated that I wanted to start making my Christmas cards early.  So here it is almost September and I am starting. This punch art Christmas Tree came to mind and thought it would be a good card to make as a side step card.  The tree is made from the SU scallop punch and then cut into hearts.  Some of them are cut into triple hearts.  Then just layer them on top of one another to form a pine tree.  I saw this on SC months and months ago.  Sorry, I don't remember who to give the credit.  The SU ornament punch is made with shiny gold paper.  (Looks a little like yellow but it isn't) I tried to make it look like it is hanging from a branch.  Check out the pictures below from a different angle and a little closer view.  Thanks for looking!

Scallop punch

Shiny Gold Ornament

Side step/side view