Greens get Embossing Folders

Hello! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. We got a blizzard here in Wisconsin last week, so my kids had a few extra days added on to their vacation. We did have a lovely day yesterday, though.

I must admit, I have a new obsession.... Pinterest. Have you checked it out lately? My oh my! There are some fabulous ideas. In fact, I found the inspiration to this card on Pinterest which led to Nice People Stamp's blog. Her sample was in browns, but I thought a green thank you card would be appropriate following the holidays. What do you think?

 

I love the simple circles, but it then showcases our textured embossing folders. I also added some bling with the small pearls and more texture with the Gumball Green sweater trim "ribbon". It is so soft and easy to work with, comes in Gumball Green, Cherry Cobbler and Whisper White and is only available until January 2, 2013 in the Holiday Catalog. Here's a closer look at the sweater trim:

 

 

I am hoping to get another post in tomorrow and Friday, but with the kids home, we might just take off and have some fun for the day. Enjoy this inspiration and all that the holidays have to offer!

 

Keep craftin' and be inspired,

Audra

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Polar Party Surprise

 

 

I don't usually think of myself as a cutesy card maker, but this guy is adorable. I think I need to broaden my horizons a little. :)

 

So the front of the card is the top picture, with uses the Oval Designer Frame folder to showcase the little penguin. I don't have an Extra-Large Oval Punch, so I used my paper snips to cut out the center. I used black Stazon to stamp all of the images since I knew I wanted to watercolor. Stazon works great when using blender pens or aqua painters. It won't bleed or run like plain ink does. I used my watercolor pencils and blender pens for this card. I love the soft, muted look of that. For the snow, I used sticky strip and some irridescent confetti.

 

Well, since Christmas is right around the corner, I think this will be my last Christmas card of the year. I hope you enjoyed them and all of the cards that you personally received this year.

 

Keep craftin' and be inspired,

Audra

 

 

Shop with me at My Stampin' Up! site

Like me on facebook at Inspired Creations

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Love These Ornament Keepsakes

 

Yesterday I promised a 3-D ornament, so here it is....

 

This card can be used as a Christmas or a winter birthday card since it doesn't have a greeting on the outside. It uses Sahara Sand, Real Red and Early Espresso cardstock. The small Sahara Sand piece actually is stamped with White craft ink.... it is thicker and takes a little longer to dry, but the outcome is fantastic. I had to use my Big Shot, so the little white piece has some Perfect Polka Dots texture on it. And that ornament... if you've seen the cover of the Holiday Catalog, there are lots and lots of ways to paper craft with this set! The Ornament Keepsakes Bundle comes with the stamp set and the framelits, so it is very easy to create lovely ornaments like this one or the one on the Catalog.

 

To make that ornament, just pick your stamp and stamp at least 3 times, either using 3 scraps or spaced apart enough to use the framelits. Use the coordinating framelit around your stamped image and run it through the Big Shot. Then fold each of your ornaments in half the long way, using a bone folder helps this job immensely. Carefully use sticky strip to connect each of your folded ornaments to each other and then to the card. Voila! Easy and impressive ornament.

 

Gotta run, our new puppy needs me. One more day of school and my kids will be home, I'm excited for that!

 

Keep craftin' and be inspired,

Audra

 

 

Shop with me at My Stampin' Up! site

Like me on facebook at Inspired Creations 

Follow me on Pinterest at Pinterest with Audra 

Black & White Ornament Keepsakes

I love the look of black and white with a pop of color. It is so elegant and easy! This card has simple black and white cardstock layers with black Stazon ink (it makes a crisper black, in my opinion). The Ornament Keepsake bundle in the Holiday Catalog is so freaking awesome! It has gorgeous stamps along with the Holiday Ornaments framelit dies. So you never have to cut one of these babies out by hand! This card uses just one stamped ornament, but you can stick a few together for a wonderful 3-D ornament (come back tomorrow to see an example of that!). The ribbon I used was a scrap of some retired ribbon I had on hand. Little pops of color like this are a great way to use up old ribbons, buttons, etc. The greeting is from the Greetings of the Season stamp set in the Holiday Catalog. Remember, you can only get products from that catalog until January 2.

See that swirly design on the top? Unfortunately, it was retired last year. But you can get it right now in our Clearance Rack. It is part of a set called Baroque Motifs. I LOVE that set. It is so versatile for backgrounds, using as a fancy tree branch, so many other ideas. You won't want to miss out on this set, especially at its discounted price!

I'm off to bake some snickerdoodles. What is your favorite holiday treat?

Keep craftin' and be inspired,
Audra

Elegant Evergreen with Texture

We all know how bad the economy is and how people need to spend their money wisely. I live in a very poor, mostly rural county in Wisconsin. I want my customers to spend their money with me, but how do I give them the most bang for their buck? Hey, I'm cheap and not afraid to admit it! So I decided that at my Christmas stamp-a-stack I would make two cards with each of five stamp sets rather than using 10 different stamp sets for 10 different cards. Sure, I actually used more than one set per card with greetings, verses, etc. But I wanted to show more than one sample for each set.

This is my second card using the Evergreen stamp set in the Holiday Catalog (only available until Jan 2, so contact me asap to get your products!). The tree is the stamp out of the set. I stamped it in Chocolate Chip, added a little rhinestone bling at the top and mounted it on a piece of Chocolate Chip cardstock the was distressed on all edges. I ran the other Whisper White cardstock piece through the Big Shot with the Vintage Wallpaper folder (love that one!). The Basic Gray layer was edge punched using the Scallop Edge Border punch. That rich Cherry Cobbler card base was ran through the Big Shot using the Perfect Polka Dots folder, only the front of the card. "Noel" was stamped in Chocolate Chip ink on a piece of Wild Wasabi cardstock and then punched out with the Curly Label punch. Then I added a rhinestone to that layer to balance out some bling.

With only a few more days til Christmas, I hope you all are relaxing and not stressing too much for the "perfect holidays".

Keep craftin'
Audra

Evergreen Christmas

Do you have all of your Christmas cards out? I got a pile of them in my mailbox today. I just love that! Whether it's a hand-stamped creation, a photo card of something fun your family did or a card you picked just for me, I appreciate all of them. It is like a hug in an envelope. :)

 

This is another example of a card that we made at my Christmas stamp-a-stack. It uses the Evergreen stamp set from the Holiday Catalog (psst.. this catalog is only good thru Jan 2, so order soon!) as the focal point. I stamped the tree first in Lucky Limeade then did a gold emboss of the detail layer, topped off with a red star, easy peasy. The layers all coordinate with the Designer Paper layer from Candlelight Christmas Specialty DSP. I love that it uses colors that are Christmas-y but not the same old greens and reds... it includes that lovely pink Primrose Petals!

That brown layer is Early Espresso from our Core-dinations line. It is a must have! Basically, the inside layers of the cardstock is a different (but coordinating!) color than the outside. So when you sand, tear or distress the cardstock in any way, the inside color comes out. I ran it through the Big Shot with my Vintage Wallpaper folder, then lightly sanded the top to show off the pattern. It is such an easy way to make a layer pop!

Let me know what you are working on this week. Maybe you are on to Valentines cards already!

Keep craftin'
Audra

My Digital Studio Christmas

I love making cards. I love taking pictures of my kids. Why, oh why, do I have such trouble getting out Christmas cards every year. Well, I'm like you. I want the perfect picture, the perfect handmade card, the perfect note telling those friends and family who aren't on facebook how we are doing..... the list goes on and on at Christmas, doesn't it. ENOUGH!!!

I love all those Christmas cards that I get that are a photo or collage of family photos. I feel kinda weird though, doing that when I SELL Stampin' Up! Do you have My Digital Studio (MDS2)? I've had it for a while, and honestly, I don't use it that much. Then I thought, "Hey, I can do one of those cute Christmas postcards on MDS!" What a great idea!

I had my sister-in-law come over and snap some pictures one evening and created this card in less that an hour. About a week later, I received my cards today. How great is that? Yes, I purposely used a non-perfect picture. But it is kind of funny. :)

So if you have MDS, let's try to use it... you can create cards, scrapbook pages, photobooks, lots and lots of cool things! And watch the SU! site for FREE downloads.

Keep craftin' and Merry Christmas!!

Audra