Another Christmas Card!

I’ve finished 6 cards for my self imposed Christmas Card Quest…

6 of 40:

Each of these finished squares is 1 ½ - so technically an inchie + half! I love the simple color scheme on this card - Sepia, Cream and Mellow Moss with a little copper hardware added in. The Santa’s and Dec calendar were all punched from ATC stamps. The Do Not Open was crackled with Range Crackle medium - because - sigh - I don’t have the new Rock Candy yet…

Quest Update:
6 of 40 cards completed
Money Spent $0
Items Never used - Tim Holtz ATC Stamps and Hero Art Collage Stamp (Santa definition)

How am I doing on making 50% of them easy to complete cards - not so much! I knew this would be hard for me - but I want to enjoy the process more than I am worried about the time it takes! (as long as I get them all complete before the beginning of Dec!)

RU ready for Christmas?

KAT

The Stuff:
Stamps - Holiday Collection, Santa’s Wish (Tim Holtz); Winter Post (SU),
Collate Merry & Bright (Hero Arts), Holiday Prints (SU)
Paper - Very Vanilla, Mellow Moss (SU)
Ink - Sepia Archival (Ranger), Mellow Moss (SU)

Christmas Card Quest - 4 of 40

Here is the next design of two for my self imposed Christmas Card Quest…

4 of 40:

This is my attempt at a easy/simple card - of course it would have been a lot quicker if I didn’t insist on using an opaque pen to have one side of the trees look like there is snow - if you look you can barely see it - so my question to myself - Why did I bother? Cuz the girl just can’t help herself!

The background for the trees is Alcohol Ink and Silver Metallic Mixative. Over the cuttlebug snowflake embossing I used silver rub on. See the felt snowflakes - they are from SU - I just had to have them last year and I bought two packages - this is the first time they’ve seen the light of day!

Quest Update:

• 4 of 40 cards completed (look I’m 10% finished *snort*)
• Money Spent $0
• Item Never used - Felt Snowflakes

KAT

The Stuff:
Stamps - Trees (Just for Fun), Sentiment (endless Creations)
Paper - Glossy, Black, Pretty in Pink (SU)
Ink - Versamark, Black Archival (Ranger), Baja Breeze (SU)
Other - Felt Snowflakes (SU), Rhinestone Brad (Creating Memories), Black EP (Ranger), Metallic Rub On

It's Beginning...

To look a lot like Christmas - well at least in my studio!

I need to make 40 Christmas cards - usually I attend card making parties were we make 10 at each but with my weekend schedule this year that is not going to work… so I am on a quest. What is my Quest? Well…

2009 Christmas Card Quest:

1. Make 40 Christmas cards in 16 weeks and because I don’t like to mass produce (that’s not a lot of fun right) - make 20 different designs, 2 of each.
   
2. All cards must be finished and ready to mail by Dec 7th - 16 weeks from now. No excuses about life getting in the way!
3. Spend no $$$ making these cards. I’ve been hoarding Christmas stamps, trinkets and paper for years. Take off the hoarding panties and use what I have! (a funny side note - I have NO red cardstock)
4. Force myself to make half of them less complicated (most of the cards that I make take 2 or 3 hrs each, some take more time than that). Now I want to simplify half of them BUT I still need to enjoy the process AND be happy with the outcome - this is going to be hard for me!
5. The cards MUST be mail-able (what no Grunge Paper Roses on the cards???). I don’t mind paying extra postage for some of the cards but not all of them.

So - here’s the first two…

2 of 40:

I’ve had this Tim Holtz Santa since last Christmas and this was the first time the poor baby has seen ink! You might think the blue stickles is odd - but IRL there is blue in the designer cardstock.

This card was inspired by a Julia Stainton - check out her card here - she does beautiful work!

Wish me luck on my Quest!

KAT

The Stuff:
Stamps - Letter to Santa, Santa’s Wish (all Tim Holtz)
Paper - Frost (My Minds Eye)
Ink - Walnut, Vintage Photo, Broken China Distress Inks (Tim Holtz - Ranger)
Other - Corner (Tim Holtz - Idea-ology), button, stamped ribbon; Broken China & Walnut Stain Distress Stickles (Tim Holtz - Ranger)

Odd Findings

Man cards - always a struggle, always needed… Today’s sample is a simple two layer masculine card.

Odd Findings:

I think the techniques on this one are pretty straight forward - second generation stamping for a lot of the images, masking around the “stamp” and the carta postal. Love the postcard background paper!

Have a great day!

KAT

The Stuff:
Stamps (all Innovative Stamp Creations) - Odd Findings, Men of Wisdom, Scrapbook Layouts - words
Paper - Postcards from the Shore (scrapperdashery), cream cardstock
Ink - Frayed Burlap, Walnut Stain Distressed Inks (Ranger)
Other - Must Token, Game Spinner, Long Fastener (Tim Holtz - idea-ology); hemp twine

Monday's Notes

A marvelous Monday to you! I don’t know about where you live but here it is HOT, HOT, HOT - a perfect day to stay inside and create some art! Hmmm - maybe today would be a great day to start on my Christmas cards…
But I digress - today I am going to show you another sample from the August stamp release from Innovative Stamp Creations.

Notes:


This is a very easy to make note card holder - something to slip into your purse and have on hand when you need to jot down a quick thought. The flower is made from grunge paper that I cut in my cuttlebug. The butterfly is a Heidi Swapp chipboard that was inked and misted with a brown felt butterfly behind it.

Here’s a picture of the inside:

Stay cool today!

KAT

The Stuff:
Stamps - (all Innovative Stamp Creations) Make a Note, Odd Findings
Paper - from the ISC August Kit, Close to Cocoa (SU)
Ink - Vintage Photo Distress (Ranger), Close to Cocoa (SU)
Other - Hemp Twine, Felt Chipboard Butterfly, Metal Rim Tag; Grunge paper, game spinner, sprocket and gear, long fastener (Tim Holtz - idea-ology), Magnetic Snap (Basic Grey)

Best Wishes

This card uses the paper from the ISC August Kit and the new stamp sheet Bush Flowers, Australian. One of the things the I love about the stamp sheet is it has three sizes of the Bush flower which makes it perfect to layer. So for this card I wanted to try something different...

You Did It:

Can you tell what is different? I actually stamped the flowers on old, used yellow tissue paper (by used a mean it was from gift... not used in other ways... snort...). Then I cut them out, wrinkled them just a little bit and layered them. I used distressed stickles as the flower center.

Tip - when stamping on tissue paper you will need to find an ink that will work for you and not run - I tried Distressed Inks and Ranger Archival ink - these both run on the tissue paper. I found that the Versafine worked great. So play with your inks - the tissue paper is FREE and your fingers are just screamin to get inky!

Have a great Saturday!

KAT

The Stuff:

Used paper and buttons from ISC Little Bits and Pieces August Kit

Stamps - Bush Flowers, Australian (all Innovative Stamp Creations)
Ink - Vintage Sepia (Versafine)
Other - Fragment Charm (Tim Holtz - idea-ology), waxed linen thread, Vintage Sepia Distressed Stickles (Tim Holtz - Ranger)

ISC August Release

The Innovative Stamp Creation August release has a little for everyone! Delicate flowers, eclectic images! Plus a kit packed with many artsy nick-knacks! Beautiful card stock, buttons, & more! This month’s kit has a few of my favorite things - Like stuff from Tim Holtz, ledger paper and how about some of those memory capsules! I thought I would share 2 samples with you today…

It’s All in the Bag:

Look at this little bag - it is such a cutie - it’s only about an inch deep - I thought this would be the perfect bag to alter to put a gift in for a crafty friend - like some ribbon, buttons or a stamp. From the August kit I used the ledger paper, Tim Holtz Trinket Pin, Spinner and long fasteners - oh and let’s not forget the buttons!

You Did It:

The African Daisy was stamped one of each size and marker water colored. The felt butterfly was yellow but I misted it to make it purple. The butterfly, paper, brads and button are all from this month’s kit!


The kit is stuffed with lots of goodies including Memory Maker’s ledger paper, beautiful paper from Scrapperdashery (now it’s that a great name) and trinkets galore!

The Little Bits and Pieces Kit is $12.50 and here is a picture of all the goodies!

Oh - one more piece of goodness - if you place your order by August 20th use code KT10 and you will receive 10% off your order!

For more info about the kit and August stamp release visit ISC.

Hope you are finding time to be creative!

KAT

The Stuff:
Both Samples used items from the Little Bits and Pieces Kit

It’s All In the Bag:
Stamps - Make a Note, Odd Findings
Ink - Sepia Archival, Vintage Photo Distressed Ink (Ranger)
Other - Classic Frame (Spellbinders), Hemp, Lace, Flower (Petaloo)

You Did It:
Stamps - Ganzia - African Daisy
Paper - Perfect Plum (SU)
Ink - Sepia Archival, Vintage Photo Distressed Ink (Ranger)
Other- Adirondack Markers, Floral Accents (Spellbinders)