A Clean & Simple Easy Events Mistletoe Card

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Hey y'all. Happy Tuesday! I hope you're having a great week so far. Not feeling too good today so just a quick post.

Most of you know that Clean & Simple, (C&S) or Even Quick & Easy cards are not ones that seem to come to me very easily...but I am trying. In keeping with my goal of a C&S card each week, here is this week's offering-

C&S Christmas Card featuring
Easy Events Stamp Set

I'm pretty happy with how this turned out. Whenever I see this stamp it always seems like it should be hanging instead of reaching across the stamp like it does. So, I fixed it! Lol! I colored the stamp with my  Stampin Write Markers in Soft Suede, Garden Green and Real Red, omitting the greeting and stamped it on a piece of Whisper White c/s. I then used my Blender Pens and Garden Green Classic Ink Pad to color in the leaves. I added a little Cherry Cobbler Dazzling Details and set it aside to dry. 

*Tip*- When using Dazzling Details, if at all possible do this portion of your project at the beginning because it will require drying time.

I used a base of Riding Hood Red simply because that was the only color red ribbon I had at the time. Even though it's not as vibrant as the Garden Green it still coordinates wonderfully. That's one of the things I love about SU products. They all coordinate so beautifully together. I topped this with a piece of Whisper White c/s that I ran through my Big Shot with the Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder, which I adhered with Tombow. 

Once my Dazzling Details was dry I attached a small Riding Hood Red Ribbon to the top of my branch with a Mini-Glue Dot. This panel was mounted with Tombow to my Garden Green layer and this panel was then adhered with Dimensionals. Here's a closer look-

 Didn't it turn out pretty? How simple to make this and hope for a sweet kiss from your special someone? Guess everyone knows where my mind is. HAHAHAHA

Here's the inside-

Inside of Christmas Card featuring
Easy Events

I stamped the image a second time without re-inking it, to give a lighter image to the inside of my card. Doing that makes for a nice effect and it means I don't have to re-color the whole image. Yeah, I'm lazy like that. Why do it twice when once will suffice. Hey lookie there...I'm a poet and didn't know it! HAHAHA, ok, so I'm probably the only one laughing right now, but then I'm silly like that. The sentiment is from the same stamp as the mistletoe image. I stamped it in Garden Green. Oh, and as you can probably tell, I let Tink have just a little fun to brighten up the inside of my card.

Just because I need something else to smile about and wanted you to be able to smile some more too, (Yeah, I'ma Great Friend like that) here's a picture of my little studio assistant/fur-baby, Bitty Kitty, helping out in the Stampin Studio-

Bitty Kitty Studio Assistant Extraordinaire

Isn't it sweet how she's holding down my light box so nothing happens to it? Yeah, she's a great helper when she's not head-butting me, and chattering at me to remind me that it's dinner time... an hour in advance just so I don't forget!

That's all I have for you today. I hope you liked my C&S Christmas Card and that it inspires you to make some C&S of your own. If you liked today's card or have any questions, I'd love it if you dropped me a line. I read all of my comments and they really do make my day. If you'd like to +1 or Pin today's card I've put the buttons here on my blog for your convenience. Friends and Followers are always welcome too!

Thanks so much for stopping by today. You are very appreciated! I hope you'll come back soon to see what I've got in store for you. Till next time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storms to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe,
Shan

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A Reason to Smile- SSC-266 / My Challenge #32

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Hey y'all. Happy Monday! I hope you had a fabulous weekend. Are you watching the Olympics? I'm loving them. Of course I want Team USA to win everything, but my grandparents on one side are from Canada and England so I want them to do good too. Oh, who am I kidding....I want everyone to do their best and be happy with how they performed, but I really do want us to win, but if not us then England and Canada can come in next and then the rest of the competitors. :) Oh yeah, I also really want World Peace. Why yes, I was channeling my inner Sandra Bullock on that one.

Well, I have another card featuring an all-new stamp set for you today. It's a sweet, fun little set and it's only available until midnight tomorrow. Don't wait too much longer or it will be gone. I used it yesterday for the first time while I was watching the Olympics, washing clothes and getting my week-o-stamping done. It made me smile and I hope it makes you smile too! Here's today's card-

Thank-You Card featuring
A Reason to Smile, Petite Pairs and Patio Party DSP

What do you think? I don't often get this type of stamp-set, two-step sets, because it pretty much puts my OCD into overdrive. :(  Even though I know the stamps aren't supposed to line up perfectly, I still have a hard time using them. I only had to stamp this one twice to get an image I was happy with. It's funny, sad actually, but funny too- I love the look of this type of set on other people's cards. *SMH* Just not my own. Are you laughing at me yet? If not, please feel free to start. Trust me, I do it all the time. Sprinkled with a liberal amount of head-shaking. I used the solid image stamp for the bottom, solid portion of the central flower and the center of it as well. The background is all stamped with one the smaller line images stamps and the bottom white square is stamped with the line image that's in the center. Both are stamped in Summer Starfruit. Not sure why I thought it was going to show up more. It actually does show up a little more in person. I used a base of Summer Starfruit and squares of Basic Black and Whisper White. The Polka Dot layer is from the Patio Patio DSP collection. I am determined to enjoy this Summer Starfruit color. Not sure I'm all the way there yet, but I'm getting close.

Here's the sketch I used for today's card-

It's another great sketch from those Fabulous ladies over at Stamping 411. They're off until September, so no Operator's Picks or other types of challenges, but they are posting a new sketch challenge each week for us to play with. And for those of my friends out there that are hopeless with measurements like I am they always give suggested measurements. I'll give them to you to here as well-
Base Layer: 8 1/2" x 4 1/4", scored and folded in half at 4 1/4"
Layer 2 and 3: 2  3/4" squares.  (the first one gets applied on the diamond, and the second is a square)
Layer 4: 2 1/2" square (attached on the diamond)

I swear I l.o.v.e. those ladies! What a great layout that you can keep clean and simple or fancy it up real easy. I used their measurements and just went 1/8" smaller on the squares to make my inner layers. Sooper-Dooper Easy.

Here's a close-up of the center layer-

I can't believe there's not glimmer or shine on the front. What was I thinking!?! Lol. The little blossoms on the base layer were actually added after the fact. I felt like it needed just a little something extra. I think it made the front. Love when that happens. It sure would have stunk to have had to start over because I messed up the base layer!!! *WHEW!*

Here's the inside (I couldn't let it go plain too)-

The sentiment is from Petite Pairs stamped in Basic Black. The flower on the bottom is just the line image stamped in S.S. I then took my Blender Pen and watercolored it in. A little bit of restraint from the Glitter Fairy aka Tink and this card was finished.

Here's a closer look-

I have to say I really like S.S. when it's stamped and colored. I think it's just such a strong color on it's own with the c/s. Oh well, I have two years to get there right?

Well, that's all I have for you today. I've got some pretty things for you this week including a "Masculine" card. Never enough of those in my ready to go box. So, I hope to see you back here real soon. I hope you liked today's card and I hope it inspires you to try something new today, whether it's a challenge or a new/rarely used stamp set or a color that just isn't your favorite. I'd love to hear what you thought of today's card. If you have a second to drop me a line, it would absolutely make my day.  I read all of my comments, so your thoughts or questions are always welcomed. If you liked today's card and would like to +1 or Pin it , I've put the buttons on my blog for your convenience. Friends and Followers are always welcome too! :)

Thanks so much for taking time out of your busy day to stop by my little corner of the world. You are very appreciated!

Till next time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storms to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe,

Shan

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A C&S Pennant Parade Christmas

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Hey y'all. Happy Friday! I hope you've had an Amazing week and are looking forward to an even better weekend. :)

I'm going to apologize right off the bat for the cruddy pictures to follow. My battery was dying so the normal amount of yuck associated with taking pictures of white cards with my crappy B.B. is even worse that normal. I will try and take some better pics when I get home and change them out. :(

In trying to keep with my goal of a Clean and Simple Card each week, I have a new card for you today. This one was really more of a Quick and Easy instead of C&S, but that's because I was in one of those over-achieving/perfectionist modes when I made it. Can you believe it!?! Me in an overachieving/perfectionist mode...what's the world coming to? At any rate this can be a very simple card and I will be including the simpler version of it in an upcoming Christmas Card class.

Here's today's card-

C&S Card featuring
Pennant Parade Stamp Set

Have I mentioned how much I dislike my B.B.? I can't wait for the new I-Phone to come out!!! Any-whoo, I used the Pennant Parade Stamp Set and Pennant Builder Punch for this card. Oh, and of course my trusty Stamp-A-Ma-Jig. Duh!!! :) I colored in the "pots" with Cajun Craze and the tree trunk with Soft Suede, and then used my Stamp-A-Ma-Jig to line them up. The thing that took me so long was stamping the "trees" onto the card as well. I'm not sure why I felt the need to stamp them on under the punched trees, but I did and it cost me a card base and plenty of time. *SMH* For the class I will omit this step for sure! I then stamped my trees using L-R, Garden Green, Wild Wasabi, and Gumball Green. These were then punched out with my Pennant Builder Punch and adhered with dimensionals. I sponged the edges of the Wild Wasabi tree in W.W, otherwise it wouldn't have really had a firm outline. I bet you're wondering what about all that glitter and shine? Well, I never said I was the Brightest Bulb in the Pack. :) I decided on that after adhering the tress to the c/s. *Headdesk* I think it still turned out cute though.  The sentiment at the bottom is from the same set and is stamped in Gumball Green.

Here's the inside-

Once again the sentiment is from the same set. This time the tree is simply stamped on the c/s with the help of my Stamp-A-Ma-Jig. I just low how versatile this stamp set is. Love getting multiple creative options from one set and more bang-for-my-buck.

Here's a close up of my sweet little tree-

No Charlie Brown Christmas Tree here. I used Real Red, Pacific Point, Daffodil Delight, Tangerine Tango, Melon Mambo and Elegant Eggplant for the lights. A little love from Tink and my tree is all shimmery and fun.

Well, that's all I have for you today. I hope you liked today's card and are inspired to make your own C&S card. If you liked today's card, or have any questions, and have a minute to drop me a line, I'd love to hear from you. I read all of my comments and try to respond as well. If you'd like to +1 or Pin this, I've put the buttons on my blog for your convenience. Friends and Followers are always welcome too! :)

Thanks so much for taking time out of your day to stop by my little corner of the world. You are appreciated. I hope you have a fabulous weekend filled with plenty of time for Family, Friends and of course, creativity. Can't wait to see you back here real soon. Till next time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storm to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe,
Shan 

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End Of the Week Technique #40 - Triple Layer Stamping & Some Wintry Relief

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Hey y'all. Happy Thursday! I hope you are having a wonderful week so far. Just one more day till the week-end. Yea!!! *Happy-Dance* It's another "Will We or Won't We" day here in the DMV. Will we get Thunderstorms that keep the heat in the low-mid 90's or won't we? If we don't we are expecting the temp to be 100 again. Yowza! That's Hot! You want to know what's cool? HAHAHA! You know me so well. Today's card is Cool...not just in the "That's really neat" coolness category but in the "take the edge off the heat" kind of cool too. Ha, A little play on words. *tee-hee-hee*

Here's today's card-

Triple Layer Card featuring
Delicate Doilies and  Emboss Resist

I love this set and haven't used it in a few months. I don't know about you, but most of the time it reminds me of snowflakes. Now, if you know me at all (IRL or from here) you know I'm a Southern Girl, always have been always will be. And FYI- just because I live below the Mason-Dixon Line does not mean this qualifies as the south! Well, temperature-wise if it's below 72 then it's too darn cold for me. Hence I don't do snow. You know that whole "it has to be really cold to get snow" means it has to be below 72 so it's really a no-go for me. Don't get me wrong, I think it's beautiful and magical, how in the world does God make it so each little snow flake is different? Talk about Amazing!!! But, I only want to see it if I know my pantry is stocked and I don't have anywhere I'm going to have to be in the next 3-4 days and if it magically disappears from my steps, sidewalks and car without me having to intervene and it also has to magically disappear before it turns brown and Yucky! If it meets those criteria I'm ok with it. Since it somehow never quite manages that then...still a no-go. Or at least it usually doesn't. Some-how it managed for today's card. Don't you feel cooler just looking at it. Well ok, that and the ac is on. Lol. :D

I started with a base of Pacific Point, I think this is the first card I've made with this as the primary color and used layers of Bashful Blue. I stamped my images in VersaMark (tutorial to follow), added White Embossing Powder and Heat Embossed. I then sponged Pacific Point over the embossed images in a circular motion and wiped off any excess with a clean paper towel. It really makes the images "pop". I also sponged the edges of all the cardstock with Pacific Point. The Bashful Blue layers were then Tombowed onto the Pacific Point layers. These panels were then adhered with Dimensionals. I've seen this technique done a lot lately. Mostly with Everything Eleanor or Reason to smile, but I haven't seen any with the Delicate Doilies. I hope you like it. I can definitely get behind these kinds of snowflakes. :)

Here's a close-up-

Triple Layer Card featuring
Delicate Doilies and  Emboss Resist

You can really see the detail in this shot. Of course you can also see that I failed to use my Embossing Buddy. *head-desk* I finally get one and I forgot to use it. *SMH* This is a really cool technique though. Who comes up with these ideas? I wish I could come up with some random, Fabu idea! You know stampers/crafters are so cool about coming up with ideas and then naming them easy to remember names. Not like Gymnastics or Ice-Skating where a new move gets  named after it's creator. Thank goodness, because Triple Layer Stamping or Emboss Resist is so much more descriptive and easier to remember than a  "Boitano" or a Sukahara. *Olympic Giggles*

Here's a look at the inside-

Triple Layer Card featuring
Delicate Doilies and  Just Believe with Emboss Resist

I used the sentiment from Just Believe. It just kinda felt right with this card. I heat embossed this and some more "snowflakes" and then sponged over them again. I think the whole card has a cool, serene feel to it. It makes me happy just to look at it, I hope it makes you feel the same way.

So, on to the technique portion- Why do I always realize as I'm writing my post that I should have taken extra pictures!?! AUGH!!!

Here's what you'll need- Cardstock (your choice of two colors), stamp set- preferably one with midsized images, Ink pad of your choice, adhesive of your choice for the layers, Dimensionals for elevating the panels, and a paper-cutter.

For those of you like me that are measurement challenged, here's what you need to know and with these guidelines you can make your card any size you'd like bigger (for frames) or smaller (notecards)  than this. I will use P.P and B.B for my designators.

Here's how you make your own-
1- Cut your cardstock- For a standard card here are the measurements, Base Layers P.P. 8 1/2 x 5 1/2, scored at 4 1/4, B.B. 5 1/4 x 4. Middle Layers- P.P. 4 1/2 x 3 1/4, B.B. 4 1/4 x 3. Top Layers- P.P. 3 1/2 x 2 1/4, B.B. 3 1/4 x 2. Using this formula you can make any size card you'd like. For each layer the "mat" color is 1/4" (width and length) bigger than the piece mounted on it. Each subsequent layer (both the mat and the focal layer) is 1" smaller.


2- Center your focal layers (the one you will stamp on and then mat) on each other using a small bit of re-position-able adhesive.

3- Stamp your image making sure to overlap all 3 layers as you do so.

4- Finish off your layers by embossing or sponging the edges if desired.

5- Mount these layers to their corresponding mats.

6- Mount your layers together using Dimensionals to enhance the layered look.

7- Smile when you look at your fabulous creation and smile even more when you think of the smile this will bring to it's recipients face. :) I always love that part the most!

Because I'm a dunce and didn't think to take pictures of each step I'm including a video here for you. It's from the Amazing Dawn Olchefsky. She gives you all the dimensions and you'll be making this type of fabulous cards in no-time! :)

Well, that's all I have for you today. I hope I've inspired you to try something new today and I hope it's beautiful and not too hot-not to cold but just right wherever you are. I love hearing from you so if you liked today's card or have any questions, I hope you'll leave me a comment. I read all of them and they really do make my day. :) If you'd like to +1 or Pin today's card, I've put the buttons here on my blog for your convenience. Friends and Followers are always welcome too! :)

Thanks so much for taking time out of your busy day to stop by my little corner of the world. You are very appreciated! I hope to see you back real soon. Till next time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storms to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe,
Shan

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A Soft, Shimmery, Thank-You and a Challenge / NAC #4

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Hey y'all. Happy Humpday! I hope you've had a fabulous week so far. Just two more days until the weekend. Woo-Hoo!!!

*Disclaimer*- Today's post is a little wordier than normal, but full of pretty pictures. I hope it at least makes you smile if not full-on belly laugh. :)

Have you ever gone somewhere and expected one thing and ended up with something totally different? Most of us have had this happen at one time or another. Often times, unfortunately, our "something different" is not something that makes us very happy. I recently had an experience though, that while not really "happiness inducing" at least had me laughing a Great deal. In fact it was so pleasant I decided to make a Thank You card for the people involved.

It just so happens that I was also able to incorporate Nacho Average Challenge's Color Challenge for the week. Most of you know I'm not a fan of the color challenges as they leave me feeling very inadequate, but I think I did ok this week. Thanks to NAC for another great color combo! I don't normally look at the DT samples prior to making my challenge cards, because I don't want my card to come out looking like theirs. It's a good thing I did though, because I had thought of summery ice-cream cones and well, apparently great minds do think alike (lol) because one of the DT members had the same thought. How embarrassed would I have been to have submitted a card so similar!?! Very, would be the correct answer. So I had to come up with a new idea. I thought about some yummy cupcakes, but I recently did a card with a cupcake for another challenge and I wanted something new. What to do, what to do....you know what to do here, come on say it with me in your best Pooh Bear voice...Think, Think, Think, Think.... I would use my new Butterfly set, Papillion  Potpourri. I've seen lots of cards with this set recently but I hadn't had a chance to use either the stamp set or the punch, so I was pretty excited. I've seen lots of people layer the punched out, stamped butterflies over a butterfly that was stamped onto c/s. But just the other day I saw one where the punched butterflies were layered over a butterfly punched out of coordinating cardstock. Genius! It looked so pretty. The stamper had colored her butterflies in with daubers for a really pretty effect. Well,  let me just tell you that I tried searching my reader feed with the "search" function and by going back through all of my recent feeds and couldn't find that card anywhere! I wanted to link to her card. I must have hit upon it off of one of my feed's websites. :'( So if that was your card, or you know whose card it was, please let me know so I can give proper credit.

Any-whoo, back to my story.... I had to take last Friday off to do paperwork for my stolen vehicle which was of course recovered the next day...After I used a day of vacation running around to complete the darn paperwork!!!!! While I was out at the end of the day, no really it was after 5, I stopped by my dental office to give them a down-payment on some dental work I needed done. Fun, right!?! Not!!!! Well, they tell me "The doctor's free now, do you want to just go ahead and get it done?" Well, the it was a root-canal and a crown. Uh-No!!!! I don't ever "want" that done, and somethings you want to give yourself a chance to prepare for.  Especially since even though my new dentist seemed really nice, what did I really know about how uncomfortable she was about to make me? So, why is it that the words "Sure" came tumbling from lips? Ruh-Roh! Can I just tell you that I left there almost 3 hours later and my cheeks hurt! What in the world do "Cheeks", have to do with a Root Canal and a Crown. Well we were all laughing so hard they couldn't help but hurt. My dentist was having such a good time, she said she wanted to "Send me candy, so we could do it again real soon!" Uh, thanks doc, but I'll be good with just a Hi! So long story short, that's why I needed a Thank-You card for my  unexpectedly happy "something different". My dentist is Amazing! Although I don't "want" to need another Root-Canal, if she's the one doing it, I won't be apprehensive. The only thing she needs remedial training in is "How to understand what your patient is saying when you have both hands and instruments in her mouth." Other than that, she and the entire office as well are the Best!!!

Here's today's card-

Thank You Card featuring
Papillion Potpourri and Curly Cute

Here was the challenge-

What pretty, soft, colors! I felt pretty confident about this challenge even with my initial idea null and void. I started with a base of So Saffron. I topped this with a Whisper White panel that I ran through my Big Shot with the Perfect Polka Dots E.F. Layered onto that were the Pink Pirouette and Certainly Celery layers. Because of the width of the three butterflies I couldn't fit a So Saffron layer on so I sponged the edges of the W.W. panel with some So Saffron for the illusion of another layer. :) The P.P. layer and C.C layers were Tombowed together and then raised up with Dimensionals. The W.W. layer was also elevated with Dimensionals. Oh and I stamped my sentiment prior to embossing. Much easier that way.

Here's a closer image of the focal point-

I wish you could see how pretty this is in person! I used my Copic Style Water-coloring Technique shown here. Although it's difficult to see because I then let Tink have her way with the inside portions of the wings.
You can still see some of the shadowing and color variations in these close-ups-

I tried to get them to line up across the screen but they wouldn't, not even small. :( Can you see the color variations. I made it darker at the black lines and softened it out from there. I left the very outer portion of the wings, the little scalloped portions, full strength. The bodies are colored in a light wash of Soft Suede. I stamped them in Black Staz-On on watercolor paper, punched them out, colored them, and then Tink made my studio a mess. :) I gave a slight crease to the center so the wings would come up and then attached them to the coordinating colored Butterflies beneath them with a Mini-Glue Dot.

Here's the inside-

I used the sentiment from Kindness Matters. I liked the thought and how even though it's from a different set than the sentiment on the front, the font is similar with the little curls. I inked up different butterflies from the same set by coloring them in with my Stampin Write Markers and the  let Tink have some more fun. :)

Here's a close-up of one of the beautiful babies-

I. Love. This. Card. I really wish it showed better. This is another one of those cards where you look at it and think "Wow! I made that!?!" And the best part is that this was so simple even beginners will be able to make beautiful reproductions. Love when that happens! :)

That's all I have for you today. I hope you liked today's card and that it inspires you to create something beautiful today. Don't forget to check out the Nacho Average Challenges' site. They are really doing a great job with their new challenge site. This challenge is open until Saturday night at midnight. I hope to see your fabulous creations there.

I love hearing from you, so if you have comments or questions about today's card, leave me a comment or feel free to e-mail me. I read all of my comments and they really do make my day! If you'd like to +1 or Pin today's card, I've put the buttons here on my site for your convenience. Friends and Followers are always welcome too! :)

Thanks so much for taking time out of your busy day to stop by my little corner of the world. You are very appreciated! I hope you'll stop back by soon. Till next time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storms to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe,
Shan Pin It

A Daydream and A Challenge - SSC #265 / My challenge #31

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Hey y'all. Happy Tuesday! I hope you're having a great day and that your week is progressing nicely. It's overcast here in the DMV with calls for storms today. I hope it's sunny wherever you are. :) I have another challenge card for you today. It's over with my favorite peeps at Stamping 411.  I hope you'll take a minute to check them out. They always have great sketches and great cards.

Here's today's card-

Card featuring
 DayDream Medallions set and A Paper Ribbon

I'm so happy with how this card turned out and it's full of sneak peeks for you.  The black border is one of our new edgelets, isn't it fabulous!?! The Real Red center strip is embossed with one of our new Embossing Folders. Both will be available in just 7 short days. The stamp set is all new and it's called Daydream Medallions. I had hoped to play with it at convention. When I found out I wasn't going to be able to go, it was one of the first sets on my wish-list. I also used the Floral Framelets that coordinates with it.

Here's a closer look-

Each layer of the focal point was stamped and then Heat Embossed with Clear Embossing Powder. They were then cut out with the coordinating framelet and popped up with Dimensionals. I needed a ribbon for the sketch and didn't have any in Real Red, so I decided to make my own out of Real Red c/s. This is the first time I have tried this and I have to say I loved how it turned out. Sorry I didn't take step by step pictures, but it's pretty easy. Will do this again soon as a EWT with step by step pics.

Here's what you need- card stock in color of your choice, paper cutter, bone folder and adhesive of your choice. (of course I used Tombow)

Here's what you do-

1- Cut your c/s in the width you'd like your ribbon to be. I used 1/4 inch x 11 1/2 for the entire bow.
2- Fold your c/s loosely into a circle to find out how big you would like your bow to be. I think my bottom bow was about 6" long. Snip it to this length.
3- Take your bone folder and run the edge over and under the strip of c/s almost like you are curling ribbon. This will make the c/s soft and pliable.
4- Fold one end in to the center of the strip and secure it with adhesive. Do this with the other side as well, This will give you the two side loops.
5- Add as many additional smaller loops onto the top of this one, securing each with adhesive.
6- Take another strip and wrap it snugly around the center, securing on the bottom with more adhesive.
7- If you'd like you can take additional pieces and attach them to the underside at an angle like the "tails" of the ribbon, like I did. Cut the ends either at an angle or in banner fashion, and attach to your project. I used Mini-Glue Dots.

Here's the inspiration sketch-

To be  honest, when I first saw this I thought of a big Holiday Ornament. However, I didn't want to just make a holiday card, so I chose to interpret it as a wreath, but in all honesty will probably use this design again later this year as a Christmas Card.

Here's the inside-

I chose to make this a Thank You card and I love the striking combination of Black, White and Red. I think it works well for a masculine as well as feminine card. What do you think? Surprisingly, there is no glitter on this card. *Gasp* I let the shine from my embossing take the center stage.

Well, that's all I have for you today. I hope you liked it and I hope it inspires you to get all your supplies and play along. If you liked it and would like to +1 or Pin it, I've put the buttons on my blog for your convenience. If you liked it and have just a moment to drop me a quick line, you'd make my day! I love hearing from you and read all of my comments. Friends and Followers are always welcome too! :)

Thanks so much for taking time out of your busy day to stop by my little corner of the world. You are so appreciated! I hope you'll come back soon to see all the fun new things I've been working on for you! Till next time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storms to pass, but Learning to Dance in the Rain.

Be Safe,
Shan

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A Clean & Simple Christmas Card - N.A.C. #3

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Hey y'all. Just a quick post today, wanted to get this card done and posted before the deadline. Sorry about not posting the MDS project for you yesterday. It was nonstop from 9am until almost 9pm. Will post it in the next few days.

Here's today's card-

Christmas card featuring
Keepsake Ornaments and Ornament Framelets and Greetings of the Season 

I went very Clean & Simple, C&S, with this card. As many of you know, C&S is definitely not my style but I do try and challenge myself to at least one a week. I started with a base of Always Artichoke and layered Bravo Burgundy and Naturals White on top of it. Believe it or not this was the first time I had used Always Artichoke or Bravo Burgundy, cardstocks, markers, or pads. I really like the combination though. I really need to get me a Color Coach, but somehow it keeps getting missed or passed over for something else. I just placed an order Friday night and forgot again. Wanna know how I came up with this combo? I went looking through an old SU Catalog and saw another card that used this combo. This is why I never through out my old catalogs. What great resources they are for not only layouts but color choices too!

Here's the challenge sketch-

I veered from the sketch just a little. Instead of the ribbon across the bottom I used it to "hang" my ornament. Isn't that ornament pretty? It's from the new Holiday Mini that comes out in just 10 days. It also has a set of framelets that goes with it. No more cutting out those ornaments by hand. So much easier this way. Can you believe that's Cherry Cobbler Bakers Twine? I really do love how our products coordinate with each other. if you look at the top where it's layered over the B.B. piece you can't tell that it's not the same color. :)

Here's a close-up of the ornament-

I used Dazzling Details all over the white portions. I think this is the only part of the card I'm not really excited about. The B.B. bled a little where the Dazzling Details touched it. Next time I try this I think I will just do my old standby of Two-Way Glue Pen and Dazzling Diamonds.  I still think it's pretty though.

*Tip* make sure you have plenty of time for your Dazzling Details to dry, because it will take some time.

You know I don't like to leave you without showing the inside of the card too, and you know I like for the inside to be as pretty as the outside or at least close, so here you go-

Christmas card featuring
Keepsake Ornaments and Ornament Framelets and Greetings of the Season

This features another ornament from the same set and a sentiment from another new set, soon to be available, called Greetings of the Season. I'm so excited the Dazzling Diamonds showed up so sparkly in the picture.

Well, that's all I have for you today. I hope you enjoyed it and I hope it inspires you to play along with a challenge and/or to make a new C&S creation. I know you'll do a great job! Make sure to stop by Nacho Average Challenge and play along. Next week is a color challenge, ooooh I'm dreading it already. They gave a really good one last time, I'm crossing my fingers for another one that I won't stink at. :) If you liked today's card, I'd love it if you had a moment to leave me a message and let me know what you thought. I read them all and they make my day. If you'd like to +1 or Pin it, I've pout those buttons on my page here for your convenience. Friends and Followers are always welcome too! :)

Thanks so much for taking time out of your busy day to stop by my little corner of the world. You are sooo appreciated. Till next time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storms to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe,
Shan Pin It

I Love My Job! How About You?

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Hey y'all, just a quick little post.

I really love my job as a Stampin Up demonstrator. Not only do I love the discounted and free product, and the great support staff from SU, I also enjoy the friends that I've gotten to know because of S.U.


A few months ago, I had an party at my house with some close friends and had some sample cards and projects that I had created for my blog. One of my best friends, Brenda (hey girl!) was there. I had given her a special handcrafted gift the previous month and she had commented how nice it was but, "I could never do that!" Well she said the same thing when she saw more of my projects at my party. I kept assuring her that I knew she could do it and we would do it together. She remained adamant that she would "never be able to do that". I just smiled knowing that she had no idea the things she would be capable of. Then last week during dinner/girls nite out, I showed her my first Christmas Card of the season. What does she say but, "I want that for my Christmas Cards this year!" 


"No problem" I tell her, "I'll show you how to make them and you'll be set!" I of course was treated to more of "I can't do that" and we decided to have a little one on one class last night and dinner. Dinner was great and then came the time to stamp. She was so nervous but at the end of it all guess what I heard? Yep you guessed it.... "I made that! I really made that!" 


How exciting to not only see someone having fun but creating something beautiful as well. I love my job!!! So, I wanted to show you her card-

Can you tell which is mine and which is hers? Brenda's card is the one on the left. I think she did an Amazing job for someone who had never stamped anything other than her signature on her paperwork. What a great first card! I'm so proud of her and the great job she did, I just had to share it with you.


Don't be afraid to try something new. Many things in life look so hard, even un-obtainable at first glance. But when you break them down and tackle things one bit at a time, it's Amazing what you can accomplish.


Thanks so very much for taking the time out of your busy day to stop by my little corner of the world. You are sooo appreciated. And if you happen to have a moment to leave Brenda a quick little note about her fabulous card, I'll make sure she sees it.


Till next time-
Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storms to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain.


Be Safe,
Shan Pin It

Christmas in July #2 - A Holiday Mini Preview

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Hey y'all. Happy humpday! Just two more days to go until the weekend. Woo-Hoo! I've been working on some holiday cards for upcoming classes and have another one for you today. Since I'm planning on at least one Christmas Card class a month until Christmas, you can probably expect 1 card/project a week that's holiday themed.

Here's today's card-

This card is a little bit outside of my normal style. It feels a little "vintagy" to me, which is totally not me, but I'm happy with how it turned out and I showed it to a friend yesterday who really liked it as well. It features a sneak-peek of 4 new products that will be available August 1st. As a demonstrator, I'm lucky enough to get access to new products a month before they become available to the public. The embossing folder is new as well as the sentiment and the DSP. My Top-Note is cut from a piece of Baja Breeze cardstock and run through my Big-Shot with the new embossing folder. Isn't it pretty? The sentiment is stamped in Early Espresso and yes, I will admit to using my Stamp-A-Ma-Jig to make sure my sentiment was centered "just right" in the center of my embossed area. I sponged the top of the embossing and the edges lightly with Soft Suede. It really makes the embossed areas "pop". I used Dimensionals to elevate this layer. Below it is a piece of DSP from our new Festive DSP pack. Lots of really pretty DSP at a great price. Wait till you see them all, 4 pages of each design. :) This was topped off with a 1/2" strip of Crumb Cake that I ran through my Big Shot with the Petals-A-Plenty E.F. I thought it echoed the pattern in the DSP as well as reminding me of poinsettias. All of this is on an Early Espresso base.


Here's the inside-

Isn't this sentiment pretty? It reminds me of the lovely Hand Penned Sentiment set from last year's catalog. It's from the same sentiment set as the one from the front. See that pretty little ornament? It's also in the new catalog. Not only is there a beautiful stamp set with lots of fabulous ornaments in it, there's also a matching set of Framelets. You can even bundle them together and save a little money. You know what that means right? More money to spend on other new product. : D


Here's a closer look-

Ooooohhhh, Aaaaahhhhh. Come on, you know you're thinking it. I inked up my stamp with my Stampin Write Markers in Baja Breeze, Early Espresso and More Mustard and then let Tink have a little fun. It reminds of those hand-blown European glass ornaments. I'm even excited that it actually showed up all glittery in the picture. Yea! *Happy Dance*


Well, that's all I have for you today. I hope you liked today's card and that it gets you just a little excited for the new Holiday Mini in just 13 days. If you liked it and would like to +1 or Pin it, I've put the buttons here on my blog for your convenience. I love hearing from you and read all of my comments. SO if you liked today's card and have a moment to drop me a line, it would make my day. Friends and Followers are always welcome too! :)


Thanks so much for taking time out of your busy day to stop by my little corner of the world. You are so appreciated! I hope you'll come back soon. I still have this weeks End of the Week Technique for you and a MDS project.  Actually they're together, so it will be a two parter. :)


Till next time-


Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storms to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain.


Be Safe,
Shan Pin It

World Treasures and "Room for Creative Design Opportunities" :)

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Hey y'all. Happy Tuesday. I hope you're having a good day. I'm battling some "ickies" today and still dealing with the fallout from yesterday's unexpected discovery. You can read about that here. Suffice it to say that the bank wants me to make this months payment on a car that's no longer in my possession. Also, I have to wait 30 days to see if it "shows up" and if it does "if it's serviceable". :'( Oh, well. I keep telling myself "No one was hurt, and nothing irreplaceable was taken" but it's sure is a pain. Who knew!?!

Ok, so that's not making me smile much...Know what is? Yep, you guessed it! (that's why we're buddies, you and me) Today's card is making me smile and here it is-

Card featuring
World Treasures and International Bazaar DSP

Isn't he pretty? I had so much fun coloring him in and waiting to see how he turned out. I colored him by inking up my stamp with different colored Stampin Write Markers, huffing and then stamping him onto my cardstock. With solid images you pretty much know what it's going to look like when you ink it. With more detailed line images like this, it's often a little bit of a surprise. I liked this surprise. :) Don't you think it's unfair that as pretty as he is, it's still a he? Why should all of the prettiest animals be males instead of females. Things that make you go Hmmmm. Here's the colors I used to make him sooo pretty- Soft Suede, Island Indigo, Rich Razzleberry, Pool Party, Tangerine Tango, Daffodil Delight and Lucky Limeade. All colors in the New International Bazaar DSP Collection. Do you have the this DSP yet? It's one of my new favorites. SO many rich jewel toned colors together. Love it! I added a few jewels and some Dazzling Diamonds to fill in the white space. I fussy cut him out and then popped him up on some Dimensionals. As much fun as he was to color, I'm not sure I'll be doing that often. It does take a fair amount of time to make sure everything is covered just right. I have to say though, that he was really easy to cut out. I think it's easier to cut out those points than to cut out most images. It's so hard to keep an even border around images most of the time.

I also used my new Fancy Fan Embossing Folder. Are you loving the new bigger sizes? I know I am. It's Tombowed down to my Pool Party base. The Daffodil Delight layer with the DSP is adhered with a few Dimensionals.

Here's the sketch I used-

I think this is the first time I've played along over at Techno Stampers Monday Lunchtime Challenge. So many cool challenges....So little time. I had totally forgotten about this challenge until Saturday evening when I was designing. I finished it with just over an hour to spare to submit it. :)

Here's the inside-

Do you ever intend for things to turn out one way and then it doesn't? Yeah, me too. However, this time I was actually really happy I had an "oops". Sometimes "Ooooops" can turn in to an unexpected bonus. We like to say there's no such thing as a "mistake", just room for creative design opportunities. Well that's what happened here.

This was the first time I had used this set so I conditioned it first. I apparently didn't make sure the stamp was totally dry however before I stamped with it. I inked up the sentiment portion and had intended for just the sentiment to be on the c/s. However when I lifted my stamp up, I saw a shadow  around the sentiment, where the un-inked border was. Ooooh! I was not happy. In fact I stamped off and stamped off (on my grid paper) until no shadow remained. I then re-inked my sentiment, flipped my c/s over and re-stamped my sentiment. Oh yeah, I forgot to say that since I was in a hurry to stamp with my new set after conditioning it, I didn't mount the image on the back of the stamp. Do you know where I'm going with that useful piece of information? Of course you do. Well, when I lifted up my stamp this time just the sentiment remained, no border. Woo-Hoo! However, it was upside down. Whomp-Whomp! Double OooooooooH! >:( We also like to say, "It's ok, there's another side of the paper to work on." Well, you can only say that once per piece. What to do, what to do? Ok, let's get creative and design. The shadow on the first page was a perfect border, so why not go with it. A little Two-Way Glue Pen, some Dazzling Diamonds and a few minutes later and this is what I had- (it's a shame I don't like Bling and that Tink and I are not friends!)

I have to say, while it's not what I was planning on, I l.o.v.e. how it turned out. See... no mistakes, just room for creative design opportunities.  And because you know I still needed a little something else for the inside of my card, I stamped the pretty little  flowers from the same set and let Tink have a little fun too-

What do you think? Although I'm not sure it initially looks like "one of my cards", I'm really happy with the end results.

That's all I have for you today. I hope you liked it and I hope it inspires you to push on just a little more the next time you think you've made an "Ooops" and see what special treasure you might still create. I love hearing from you and read all of my comments. So if you liked today's card and have just a minute to drop me a line, well, it would totally make my day! If you enjoyed it and would like to +1 or Pin it, I've put those buttons on my blog for your convenience. Friends and Followers are always welcome too! :)

Thanks so much for taking time out of your busy day to stop by my little corner of the world. You are so appreciated! I hope you'll come back soon to see the other things I've got waiting to show you. Till next time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storms to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe,
Shan

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A Sparkly, Sprinkly, Sketch Challenge (Try saying that 3 times fast!) SSC #264/ My Challenge #30

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Hey y'all. Happy Monday to you. I hope you had a great weekend!

Although I didn't get as many cards/projects made as I would have liked, I did get some fun ones done. I also got all of my new stamp sets conditioned, got some laundry and yard work done and even got my car's state and emissions testing done. Which it passed, thankfully. You know what that meant? It meant that after $400.00 for new front brakes (2 weeks ago) and $30.00 for emissions testing, it was in fabulous shape for the thieves that stole it last night! Yep, I said stole it. Have you ever walked out of your house and just knew something wasn't right but couldn't quite put your fingers on it? That was me this morning. I walked out and was about to get into my SUV and thought "Something isn't right here." What was it....Think, Think, Think... I turned around in a circle and that's when it hit me! I was standing in an empty- parking space.!!! *Palm to Forehead* Silly me, I look up and down the neighborhood to see if it has somehow magically moved during the night to another space, but NOPE, still no-where to be found. Thank-God, I had my SUV. I left for the commuter lot and called the police who I will call again this evening when I get home so they can come and do the paperwork. The good/bad news, it wan't just me they hit. Someone stole my best-friend's dad's truck out of his driveway last night too. He lives about 15 minutes from me. Those were some busy thieves! What a way to start the week!

Wanna know a better way? Today's card. It's another sketch from those fab ladies over at Stamping 411. I have to say when I first saw it, I was a little worried. It really had me stumped. I was going through all of my stamp sets in my mind, trying to figure out what I could use. I was really hoping to use one of my new sets but nothing was coming to mind. And then it hit me, and here's what I came up with-

Birthday Card featuring
Cupcake Builder Punch and Patio Party DSP

Can I just say how excited this card makes me? No, really. Like I'm on a sugar high from all those sweet, sugary, little sprinkles. *Happy Dance*

You probably know how literally I interpret sketches by now. All I could see were those three butterfly areas, What in the world was I going to do? Then I thought of my cupcake punch and the matching stamp set and I knew just what I wanted to try.

Here's the sketch-

I think the only thing I'm not sure about is the little bow on the cupcake wrapper. I was really happy without it. I'm not sure...what do you think? Otherwise, I'm so excited. I just want to take a big ole bite out of it. Best part...Calorie free. Lol!

Here's a closer look-

It's kind of hard to see, but I used my Simply Scored to make the cupcake wrapper and then lightly sponged over it to give some dimension and depth. I used vanilla scented embossing powder mixed with some Dazzling Diamonds for the "frosting" and then added my sweet little candy sprinkles and topped them with some sparkly, sugary,shine. Both DSP's are from the Patio Party collection and my base and scalloped circle punch is Raspberry Ripple and my mat is Primrose Petals. Even though my Bakers Twine is Cherry Cobbler I love how it matches. I mean seriously...if you didn't know, you wouldn't know. Right? I love how with SU, everything coordinates so easily.

Here's the inside

Birthday Card featuring
Make A Cupcake and Cupcake Builder Punch

The sentiment is from the Make A Cupcake set as is the image. I used Crumb Cake and Primrose Petals and stamped off 1x for the Crumb Cake and 2x for the Primrose Petals. More confetti sprinkles and a lot of love from Tink and my card was complete! Yea!!! :)

No Monday Musings today as I am musing enough about my stolen car. Why can't stuff like this happen before you spend all that money? Those new brakes were one of the reasons I'm not getting on a plane to SLC and my first SU Convention tomorrow. Oh well, who am I to question the timing of things in God's Great Plan for my life? It is what it is. I guess that means I have an extra parking spot for my class participants. Glass half full and all that.

For my friends out there headed to convention... I hope you have a wonderful time. Take lots of pictures, get lots of cool swaps, take copious notes and come back ready to share with the rest of us. But most of all, have fun. My good stamping pal Michelle invited me to do a 6x6 recipe swap with her and I am sooo excited to say I did my first ever convention swaps, my first scrapbook type swap and my first hybrid swap all rolled into one. I'll be posting pics of them later this week.

Thanks so much for taking time out of your busy day to stop by my little corner of the world. You are so very appreciated. I hope you like today's card and it inspires you to make/do something fun today. I love hearing from you and read all of my comments and try to respond to most as well. If you liked today's card and have just a moment to drop me a line, you'd make my day. If you wanted to +1 or Pin it, I've added those buttons to my blog for your convenience. Friends and Followers are always welcome too! :)

Till next time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storms to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe,

Shan

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Preview for Monday's Lunchtime Challenge - TSSC 229

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Hey y'all. Just a preview since I have to get this in before it closes. Nothing like waiting till the last minute, huh? This is my first time playing over at Techno Stampers Lunchtime Challenge, but lots of good sketches there. I hope you'll check it out.

I hope you'll come back in the next few days to see the whole card. :)

Till next time-

Be Safe,
Shan Pin It

MDS Day - Charlies Angels - A Scrapbook Page

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Hey y'all. Happy Friday. Woo-Hoo! Are you ready for a fabulous weekend. We're supposed to get heat and rain. Yea....not. :) My boyfriend in brown stopped by the house yesterday. Don't tell my darling S.O. (D.S.O.) I have a boyfriend on the side, kay? Anyways he brought me a big box of happiness. Since circumstances have changed and I'm not getting to go to convention next week *tear* *river of tears* I decided to still use that money towards my business and put in an order. I can't wait to get everything organized and get busy playing! I'm hoping to have a very productive weekend in between errands and household chores.

So, you know I changed MDS Mondays to just MDS Day, so I wouldn't feel like a failure if it didn't happen on Monday's and even now I am barely getting it posted. Sometimes it seems there is just not enough time or days in the week. Lol! I am definitely not complaining though about having felt extra creative this week. It would have been nice, however, if I had been able to store some of that up for next week. Oh well, glass half full and all that.

Mostly I do cards for my MDS projects. I'm really trying to do more scrapbook layouts. They're hard for me though. In fact I think I've only done 2 here. I tried regular scrapbooking years ago. I thought I'd do my daughter's baby pictures but, I always wanted to use all my pics. So. Hard. To. Choose. Do you ever feel that way? I guess I need to just have a "photo-album" for everything and then a "scrapbook" for special things. Maybe that will make it easier. You know what else makes it easier? My Digital Studio (MDS). If I decide I want to change the size of something I haven't wasted cardstock or messed up a picture. *Total Score!*

Here's today's MDS Scrapbook page-

MDS Scrapbook Page

Those two crazy ladies with me are my "sis-tahs". They are my best friends in the whole world! We've been friends for the last 16 years although it seems like "Forever". Penny moved to Richmond a few years back so we don't get to see each other as much as we'd like, but when we do it's always a blast. We do try to at least have one G.N.O. a year. Sometimes if we're lucky it's two. What do we do on that one night a year? Rock out to DMB, baby!!! I really wish we were able to get together more often. I may have to try and make us a DMB/GNO book to chronicle our fun times. You would not believe some of the adventures we've had. Two words for you... "Oh Lawdy". HAHAHAHAHA

I'm so happy with how this page turned out. I especially love how the "hologram-my" parts of the ticket showed up. Doesn't look too bad for having been folded up in my back pocket for hours, huh? I just realized  that you can't see our seating area on the ticket. I must have cropped it out accidentally. Well, actually, we weren't sitting at this show. That's right, we had "pit" tickets. Yep, up close and personal with my hubby Dave. I know I don't "believe" in the institution but you pick your battles. Oh, Don't tell my D.S.O. about this either. Thankfully, for us, he likes DMB too! No, really! As much as I love him, the reason he got to stay was cuz he answered the question right. What question, you may be asking? The "You do like DMB right?" question. It would have made me very sad to have kicked him to the curb if he had answered wrong. Lol! No seriously, to the curb, he would gone and quickly too.

I love this picture of us, all smiling and laughing. Why I didn't realize I was the only one with my shades still on is beyond me. Wish I had known. Whatcha gonna do? It's funny that we've always called ourselves Charlie's Angels when we do these pics. Why have we never thought of saying Dave's Angels? Things that make you go "Hmmmmm". I'm going to send this to my girls, hope they like it as much as I do!

Well, that's all I have for you today. I hope you liked today's project and another excuse to laugh at me, with me. : D

Thanks sooo much for taking the time out of your busy day to stop by. You are so appreciated! I love hearing from you, and read all of my comments and try to respond back as well. So, if you liked today's project and have a minute to drop me a line, you'd make my day! Friends and Followers are always welcome too! :)

I  hope you've enjoyed this week's offerings and will come back soon. I wish you a happy weekend filled with lots of quality time for Family, Friends, and of course Creativity! Till next time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about the Waiting for the storms to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe,
Shan Pin It

First Christmas Card of the Season / NAC #2

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Hey y'all. I hope you're having a fantabulous day! Yes, that is a word, despite what my spell-checker is trying to tell me. :) I'm soooo excited about today's card! Did you see the sneak preview yesterday? I posted it because I entered it in a challenge and hadn't planned on posting it untill tomorrow or maybe even next week. But I can't wait...

Here it is-

Z-Fold Card featuring
Merry & Type

Do you love it?!? Ooooh, I do! And if you've been around here for long, I don't get overly excited about too many of my own cards. I mean I like them, sure, but sometimes you just sit back and say to yourself, "Wow! I made this." This one will definitely be going in my Christmas in July class. I had Girls Nite Out last night with my friend Brenda (Hey girl!), and showed her this and she wants to make a set of these for her Christmas cards. *Happy Dance* 

Wanna know the best part of this card? Even though it's a WOW! card, (or at least I think so) it was Super Simple to make. No really. Like a beginner class easy.  In fact, you'll be surprised at just how easy it is. 

I have to thank the DT over at Nacho Average Challenge for the color combo. The colors are not ones I would have put together, in fact this was the first time I had even used my More Mustard paper and ink pad. In fact if you're new here, this challenge is only the second real "color challenge" I've done although I did two for it. I don't do them because as a general rule I feel like I'm pretty inept at them. There are just too many possibilities with a color challenge, too many ways to lay them out and combine them and it really just stresses me out! I'm trying to break away from my Scaredy Cat tendencies though, so I'm forcing myself to try. I think I got lucky that they picked a really cool combo. Additionally, I was just really inspired and let's face it, that's not always the case. So I'm going to just enjoy my two little victories (self-proclaimed) and be glad next week's challenge is another sketch. LOL!

Here's the Color Challenge-

I was walking to the slug-line trying to come up with stamp sets I could use (Preferably that didn't include Betsy's Blossoms or Bright Blossoms, isn't that nice of me to try and switch it up for you? Yeah, well that's just the kind of person I am. HAHAHAHAHA!) I thought of this set and then remembered a card my team-leader Robin Merriman had created for us either at a team meeting or a Christmas Card Class, I can't remember which. That card used this layout, but the ornaments were all stamped in Riding Hood Red, there was some Early Espresso c/s and a little ribbon too. So I guess, I should say thanks to NAC and Robin! Thanks! MWAH!!! Well after thinking about this set and card layout I wondered if I couldn't make these colors more "jewel -like" to give my ornaments that old-world, blown glass appearance. I used my Blender-Pens and started out with light washes of color  and then went back and added more to create depth of color and shadowing. After that a little Two-Way Glue Pen and some Dazzling Diamonds and WOW!!!

Here's a close-up of the ornaments-

Jewel-Toned Holiday Ornaments
So exciting that the dazzle and shine showed up!

I recently met a new blog-pal (Hey Molly!) who confessed to having the same anxieties I do about figuring out the dimensions for cards and especially the separate design elements/mats. So here's the dimensions for the Sentiment and mats. The Very Vanilla c/s in 1.5 x 2.5, the More Mustard layer 1 5/8 x 2 5/8 and the Lucky Limeade layer 1 3/4 x 2 3/4. Hope this helps. Oh and the base is a standard Z-fold cut at 4 1/4 x 11. Scored at 5 1/2 and 2 3/4. I used my Stampin' Write Markers to ink up the main sentiment.

Here's the card opened up-

I used another sentiment from the same set for the inside. I love that even with the decoration down the side of the card, there's still enough room for a nice hand-written note.

Oh, I really hope that you like this card as much I do. I really hope the design team over at NAC like it too! :) I hope it inspires you to step out of your comfort zone and try something new. You might just surprise yourself. I know I sure did!

Thanks sooo much for taking time out of your busy day to stop by here today. I love hearing from you, so if you liked today's card and have a minute to spare, I hope you'll consider leaving me a comment. I read them all and try to respond back. They really do make my day! If you liked it and would like to +1 or Pin it, I've put the buttons here on my blog for your convenience. Friends and Followers are always welcome too! :)

I really am going to post my MDS Scrapbook page tomorrow, so I hope you'll come back and see me then. Till next time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storm to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe,
Shan

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