Christmas Card Dilema . . . .

Each month I hold a Christmas Card Class. During each class (from August to November) we make 12 Christmas Cards, 3 each of 4 different designs. If my stamping girls attend all 4 classes they will have 48 cards to send to family and friends. This month I have a dilemma. Class is tomorrow and I only have 3 of my cards designed. Normally this wouldn't be a problem as I work best under pressure and often design my cards the day before an event (or the morning of - lol). But . . . I am also trying to put the finishing touches on my new stamping area in the basement so I can use it tomorrow for class. I decided that I wanted to finish cutting the counter tops (ssshhhhhhh - don't tell my husband). It needed to be moved onto the cutting table but since it already had a couple of brackets screwed to the underside for me to hold on to, I decided that I could move it all by myself. Well not entirely by myself, I had three 2 year olds looking on. I grabbed hold of the brackets and lifted and as it started to lift off the floor I remembered that it weighs over 200lbs and is just over 10 feet long and realized that this was not my brightest decision. One end started to turn to the right and the other end decided to quickly jump into the air and my right thumb got stuck in the bracket and twisted at an unnatural angle. I'm not sure if it is broken but it hurts and hurts bad! Now I can't use my right hand so I can't stamp the last card. I think that I can cut the card stock for class and if not my dh will help when he gets home from work. So, my question : Do you think anyone will mind if they stamp 4 cards of 3 designs instead of 3 cards of 4 designs? Here are the cards that I already have: I bought this set, Holiday Trim, after seeing an amazing card by JanTink on Splitcoast. The colors are Always Artichoke, Bravo Burgundy, Mellow Moss and Apricot Appeal for the star. I've been wanting to use a pink and green color combination and really like how this turned out. The colors are Green Galore and Pink Passion. To color the ornaments I used Gable Green and Pixie Pink instead as the others came out too dard. The stamp sets are Ornamassortment and Crosshatch with a little white gel pen thrown in for good measure. This is probably my favorite of the three. I really like this set, Peaceful Wishes, it is so versatile. The colors are Garden Green, Rose Red, Night of Navy and Silver. I also used Itty Bitty Backgrounds to create the stippling of Navy and Silver. I didn't want to use my Metallic Silver paper when so little of it is showing so instead I took another sheet of navy and used my Zig Painty to color the edges silver and then matted it. No one will ever know if you don't tell them and it is so much cheaper. Thanks for looking!

And the Winner is . . . . .

Rose Reynolds!! Email me with you address and I'll get it in the mail tomorrow. Congratulations!

Contest!! Free Halloween Layout!!

I had one no-show yesterday and instead if letting this layout go to waste I'm going to give it away!! Here's how to win : post a comment on this posting between today and Thursday, October 26th at 12:00 noon EST. Then I'll take the number of comments, print them out and have one of my daycare children pick one out of a hat! Good Luck!

Halloween 12 x 12 Layout

I have my 3rd Scrapbook class this afternoon and am really pleased with the layout that I came up with. (Click on the picture to see a larger view)

I used almost all of the different style papers from the Halloween Night Designer Paper from the Holiday Mini. It does take a little time to stamp the words so I hope that it isn't too much for first time stampers. What do you think?

Directions for the Hidden Message Card

My family has such drama (understatement of the year - lol) that it's not always possible to get together for special occasions. I don't want any of the children to feel left out or forgotten so I try to create extra special cards and notes to celebrate their birthdays and other important days in their lives. This is the card that I made for my nephew, Timmy, who will be turning 12 tomorrow. He's had such a hard life that I want him to know how amazing my husband and I think he is and that we love him so much. This is such a fun card that I just had to share the directions that I came up with. I'm sure there are other ways (and possibly easier ways) to make it but after trial and error, here's what I do. Cardstock and Sizes: (A) Basic Black - 8½" x 11" (B1) Pumpkin Pie - 4" x 5¼" (B2) Halloween Nights DP - 3 7/8" x 5 1/8" (C) Pumpkin Pie - 2¾" x 4" (D) Old Olive - 4" x 3¼" (E) Basic Black - 2 5/8" x 3 1/8" (F) Whisper White - 2½" x 3" (G) Old Olive - 4½" x 2 7/8"

Decorate (F) and attach it to (E). Then stamp two sayings on (C), one at the top and one at the bottom, making sure that you have at least 3½" between the sayings for the sliding layer. Center (C) onto (B). You don't have to have 2 layers for B. I wanted to use the designer paper and it wasn't sturdy enough so I cut it down slightly (1/8") and layered it on Pumpkin Pie. NOTE : Also at this step (I forgot), using a circle punch, punch a semi circle in the center of the bottom of (B). See finished picture. Using either your cutter or a ruler and an exacto knife, cut a slot on each side of (C) that is about (doesn't need to be exact) 1/16" from the edge and extends about 1/8" past the bottom and top edge (see close up). Slide (D) in the two slots so that the ends are towards the back of the cardfront. Using the bone folder (or the cutter with a scoring blade), score (D) using the slots in (B) as your guide. Do one side and then fold it over towards the center and then score the other side. This will ensure that (D) is not folded too tightly over (B) and will allow it to slide up and down easily. Fold each edge towards the center of (B). Place (G) in the center between the two folded edges of (D) and line up the bottom edge of (G) with the bottom edge of (B). Glue the two folded edges to the back of (G) as shown. I used Tombow Mono Multi Liquid glue and it holds awesomely but some people don't like it. If that is the case then to ensure that it holds I would use Sticky tape for this step. Apply ¼" foam tape to both sides and to the top edge on the back of (B). As you can see I used the leftover edges from my dimensionals. You can also just use dimensionals, placing them about 1" apart. On the front of (B), center your image, (E) & (F), onto (D). If you haven't done it already (I forgot) punch a semi circle in the bottom edge of (B) so you can access (G). Create a ribbon pull on the bottom edge of (G) that is centered in the semi circle. Attach to (A) your main card and enjoy. I hope that these directions are easy to follow but if you have any questions let me know.

Hidden Message Card

I've been looking at these cards online for quite awhile and finally figured them out! I took pictures while I was making it for a tutorial but I missed one step and don't know if it'll make sense without it. I'm loving the Halloween Night Designer Paper and have a scrapbook layout almost complete that I'll load later this evening.

I created this card using colors from this weeks Color Combo Challenge on Splitcoast. I never would have used them together but I really like it. The colors are Blush Blossom, Certainly Celery and Tempting Turquoise. You cannot see it in the scan but I also painted the image with Lumiere so it has a subtle shimmer IRL. This is going for the October Card of the Month through Sudsol (a website for only SU demos). This is also for the OCOTM through Sudsol. The pumpkin on the right has been cut out and I attached it with dimensionals. Thanks for looking!!

Happy Birthday Sue!

This is a birthday card that I created for my mil Sue. The colors are from this weeks Color Combo challenge on Splitcoast. Stamps : Sassy Stems, Paisley, It's Your Birthday Cardstock : Certainly Celery, Real Red, Old Olive, Very Vanilla Inks : Certainly Celery, Real Red, Old Olive, Basic Black, Very Vanilla Craft I used the new distressing tool on the edges of the Vanilla layer and on the Olive layer and dimensionals on the image layers. I don't know if anyone will notice but the image was about ¼" too tall to fit on my vanilla layer so I used the Stamp-a-ma-jig to cut it down to size.

Black and White Challenge Card

I created this card for the "Try a New Technique" challenge on SCS. This weeks challenge was to create a card using only black and white. This is the card that I came up with. I stamped the Paisley background stamp onto black cardstock with VersaMark and then embossed it with White EP. The little label holder was actually a pewter color so I heated it with my embossing tool and then (holding it with tweezers) I dipped it into black EP and heated it again. I needed to use two layers to get total coverage but I really like how it came out. Then of course I had to add a little ribbon. I really like how it came out and will probably use this card in a future class.