Watercolor Christmas Season of Cheer

Posted on October 24, 2017 by Linda Tolson Yarbrough

I think I am beginning to run into a creativity block – or maybe I need to switch from making holiday cards to something else for a while.  Today’s project was slow in coming together and truthfully perhaps I should have spent a little more time in the planning stage.  Something seems amiss – perhaps it’s the color combination or the white doily behind the gold foil snowflake … just can’t put my finger on it.  But creativity is all a process of trial and error, sometimes it’s a homerun and sometimes a foul ball.

I hoped adding the pop of red would fix my dissatisfaction with this card, but not quite.  Maybe I should have used Real Red cardstock behind the black and green DSP instead of Basic Black … hmmm, an idea for a future project.

Here are the Stampin’ Up! products that I used in the design of this card, all of which can quickly be added to your shopping cart by clicking on their thumbnails below:

Perhaps you can make a better version of this card and share it with me?  I would love to see what you come up with.

REMINDERS:

Designer Series Paper Sale – Ends October 31, 2017.  Click here for more details.

Merry Patterns Host Promotion – Ends October 31, 2017.  Click here for more details.

Thank you for stopping by today.  I hope you leave here inspired to put stamps to ink to paper.  Until next time, stamp on my friends.

Linda

Posted in Cards, Christmas, Holiday Catalog | Tagged | 2 Comments

Pining for Plaid – October 2017 Paper Pumpkin Kit

Posted on October 23, 2017 by Linda Tolson Yarbrough

Today’s project required zero planning on my part thanks to Stampin’ Up! and their monthly subscription kit – Paper Pumpkin.  As I mentioned in a prior post, the kits for the months of October (featured here) and November coordinate with each other.  Here is what the October kit included:

Shaker cards!  10 of them – five each of two designs.  The only alteration that I made to the kit was to add the ribbon (which is not included as part of the kit).

 

Here is the video which demonstrates how quick and easy this kit is to assemble:

Now if you find that you are kicking yourself for failing to subscribe to Paper Pumpkin by October 10 in order to receive this month’s kit, give yourself a break.  If you subscribe now you will receive the November kit after November 10 AND you will have the option to purchase the October kit (while supplies last) after October 23.  So what are you waiting for?  Anything that coordinates with these shaker cards has got to be simply amazing! (UPDATE:  The October kit has already sold out.  It was extremely popular!)

Contact me about how you too can become a Paper Pumpkin subscriber and receive a box of fun in your mailbox each month – for a mere $19.95 (U.S. including tax and shipping)!

Thank you for stopping by today.  I hope you leave here inspired to put stamps to ink to paper.  Until next time, stamp on my friends.

Linda

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A Christmas Stocking & Cable Knit Sweater

Posted on October 22, 2017 by Linda Tolson Yarbrough

Today’s project makes me wish I lived in a part of the United States that actually experiences a Winter season with snow.  Here in Texas we are lucky if we dip below freezing for a week or two so we do not get much opportunity to wear thick cable knit sweaters.  But I am sure those who do have to live with the snow wish they didn’t.  So for now, let’s just enjoy by paper sweater, shall we?

Doesn’t that look like it would be a warm sweater!?!

Here are the Stampin’ Up! products that I used in the design of today’s card, all of which can quickly be added to your shopping cart by clicking on the thumbnails below:

If you have any questions regarding any of the design aspects of this card, do not hesitate to contact me.

Thank you for stopping by today.  I hope you leave here inspired to put stamps to ink to paper.  Until next time, stamp on my friends.

Linda

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Quilted Christmas Stockings on Wood Texture

Posted on October 21, 2017 by Linda Tolson Yarbrough

As I mentioned on yesterday’s post, my project went into a direction that I had not planned on yesterday.  I had die cut several Christmas stockings and assembled the pieces but once my project evolved they no longer were viable for that project.

So I guess you could say I had a head start on today’s project, assuming I could work out a way to use the stockings that I had cut and assembled into a card design.  I knew what I wanted, just not how to get there.  After a couple of hours of playing “shuffle the pieces”, I do believe I managed to create another simple yet rustic Christmas card.  Do you agree – yes or no?

I was tempted to add some rhinestones but I am really trying to tame the bling beast in me and grasp the “less is more” concept.

The stockings are “hanging” from a single strand of the burlap ribbon that I stapled to the Wood Textures DSP that is attached to a piece of Early Espresso cardstock.  The stockings are attached with mini glue dots and I made bows from single strands of the burlap ribbon and attached to the top corner of each stocking with a mini glue dot.  I put a dimensional at the toe of each stocking to lift it up off the paper.  The sentiment is stamped in Early Espresso on a scrap piece of the same Wood Textures DSP that was used for the card front and was attached to a piece of Early Espresso cardstock and attached to card front with dimensionals.  The entire piece is attached to Crumb Cake cardstock base with dimensionals.

If you have any questions regarding any other design elements of this card, do not hesitate to contact me.

Here are the Stampin’ Up! products that I used in the design of this card, all of which can quickly be added to your shopping cart by clicking on the thumbnails below:

Thank you for stopping by today.  I hope you leave here inspired to put stamps to ink to paper.  Until next time, stamp on my friends.

Linda

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Lovely as a Tree Outside a Window

Posted on October 20, 2017 by Linda Tolson Yarbrough

Today’s card project became something all together different than what was floating around inside my head most of the day.  My original plan was a card with Christmas stockings but as you can see that is not what I ended up with.

Do you recognize the stamp set that I used to create the trees?  If you are familiar with Stampin’ Up! you should.  It has been the longest running stamp set in the Stampin’ Up! catalog, at lease since 2001 according to the copyright stickers on my wood blocks – Lovely as a Tree.

I cut two window frames from the Hearth & Home Framelits and attached them end to end (I cut off the flare on both sides/ends where they overlap).  I stamped the trees on a piece of Whisper White cardstock and then used sponge daubers to color the ground (Crumb Cake and Garden Green) and the sky (Marina Mist and Night of Navy).  The stamped image is attached to the back of the window frames and then attached to card front with dimensionals.

The holly leaf garland is made with 6-7 of the images from the Musical Season stamp set.  I cut off the bottom stem on all of the pieces and started in each corner working towards the center attaching with mini glue dots.

Here are the Stampin’ Up! products that I used in the design of this card, all of which can quickly be added to your shopping cart by clicking on the thumbnails below:

Thank you for stopping by today.  I hope you leave here inspired to put stamps to ink to paper.  Until next time, stamp on my friends.

Linda

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Rustic Christmas Pines

Posted on October 19, 2017 by Linda Tolson Yarbrough

I wanted to try a rustic Christmas card for today’s project.  In order to accomplish this look, I had to restrain my tendencies to use lots of glitter and bling on my projects and keep the design S-I-M-P-L-E.  I think I was successful in my mission, but will let you be the judge.

I love how easy the Wood Textures Designer Series Paper gives my projects a rustic look.  I used two different shades and designs of this paper on the front of today’s card, and used the same paper that outlines the borders to create the snowflake star.

I stamped images from the Christmas Pines stamp set directly onto the designer series paper, first tapping my stamp on my VersaMark pad and then the appropriate colored pad for the frame, sentiment and pine leaves.  I then quickly sprinkled the stamped areas with clear embossing powder and heated to set.  (I stamped and embossed each image separately to prevent ink from drying and to avoid smearing.)  This allows you to have embossing in every color for which you have an ink pad (you’re welcome!).  Just be sure that you clean your stamps before reapplying the VersaMark so you do not ruin your pad.

The mistletoe bundle and ribbon in top left corner were cut using the Pretty Pines Thinlits dies that coordinate with the Christmas Pines stamp set.  The snowflake star with cut using the Starlight Thinlits dies.

Here are the Stampin’ Up! products that I used in the design of this card, all of which can quickly be added to your shopping cart by clicking on the thumbnails below:

 

If you have any questions regarding any of the other design elements of this card, do not hesitate to contact me.

Thank you for stopping by today.  I hope you leave here inspired to put stamps to ink to paper.  Until next time, stamp on my friends.

Linda

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Star of Light Starlight & A Special Announcement

Posted on October 18, 2017 by Linda Tolson Yarbrough

Greetings to all my stamping friends.  I enjoyed my first play with the Star of Light stamp set yesterday so I selected this stamp set and the coordinating dies Starlight Thinlits for today’s project.  For a change of pace I elected to use the Merry Music Specialty Designer Series Paper for my background and used the black side rather than the white side.  Well here is how my card turned out:

Now I was fairly confident that my star made using the Gold Foil paper and the Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper would be an “original”.  But since great minds tend to think alike, a fellow demonstrator posted a card today that had a star just like the one on my card; however, the background was Basic Black cardstock and she used the snow swirl stamp that I used in yesterday’s card heat embossed in Gold Stampin’ Embossing Powder behind the star (no ribbon or DSP was included on Jackie’s card).

The steps for making this card are pretty easy.  Unless noted otherwise, all of my cards are standard 5.50″ x 4.25″ when closed on the fold.

The Merry Music DSP is cut at 4.00″ x 5.25″ and the Gold Foil mat is cut 1/8″ larger on each side (if you have the Stampin’ Trimmer, it would be the second little line after the 4.00″ mark and the 5.25″ mark).  These two pieces are adhered together with Fast Fuse.

The small strip of Year of Cheer DSP is 4.00″ x .75(ish)”; the Gold Foil mat is 1/8 longer and 1.00″ wide.  The pieces are adhered together with Fast Fuse.  This small piece is attached to the black piece with dimensionals.  I wrapped a piece of the ribbon around to the back and attached with fast fuse.  I then took a separate piece of ribbon and pulled it through the ribbon on the front and tied a bow.  I used a glue dot to keep the ribbon in place on the strip of paper near the bow.  (You could also tie a bow and attach the bow to the front with a glue dot; however, I don’t like the look – I like it to at least look like I tied the bow in one piece and pulling the ribbon through and the resulting gathering gives me the look I want.)

The two pieces of the star are attached using liquid glue.  The star is then attached to the front of the card with dimensionals.

The sentiment is stamped with VersaMark ink that was then sprinkled with Gold embossing power and then heated until set.  I used the second oval die from the Stitched Shapes Framelits to cut it out.  The gold star is an embellishment from the Year of Cheer suite.  It has a loop on one end so you can hang it on a ribbon (or make jewelry with it!).  I removed the loop with my Crop-o-dile that I keep handy for heavy duty jobs.  If you don’t have one of these, then a wire cutting tool would be needed.  The sentiment is attached to the front with dimensionals and the embellishment is attached with mini glue dots.

Lastly, the completely assembled piece is attached to a base of thick Whisper White cardstock with dimensionals.

Here are the Stampin’ Up! products that I used in the design of my card, all of which can quickly be added to your shopping cart by clicking on the thumbnails below:

I think I have covered all of the steps in the design of this card; however, if there is anything that I may have missed or is not clear, do not hesitate to contact me.

STAMPIN’ BLENDS CUSTOMER RELEASE – ANNOUNCED:

Say hello to a new world of colorful creativity!  Meet Stampin’ Blends, artist-quality alcohol markers in 12 exclusive Stampin’ Up! colors.  To cover all the blending bases, we’re also offering a limited-time 16-card project kit and stamp set with beautiful line-art images.

  • Customer Launch Date:  November 1, 2017!
  • All items available on any order type.
  • Stampin’ Blends will be available in upcoming catalogs.
  • Prices are guaranteed through May 31, 2018.
  • The Color Me Happy Project Kit will be available while supplies last. In conjunction with the kit, the Color Me Happy Stamp Set will be available as long as kit supplies last.
  • There is no minimum order required.
  • New demonstrators can choose Stampin’ Blends as part of their Starter Kit.

Stampin’ Blends’ Features:

  • Add just the right amount of color where you need it with the brush tip or fine-point.
  • Each color (except Ivory and Bronze) has a light and dark shade marker, available individually or in a combo pack.
  • Press fit seal prevents air from entering the barrel and causing evaporation.
  • The nestable lids are easy to keep track of and have a tight fit for long-lasting color.

I will post a link to the product brochure which will appear in the right margin of my blog along with the other catalogs.  In the meantime, if I can be of any assistance or answer any questions you may have, please ask.

Thank you for stopping by today.  I hope you leave here inspired to put stamps to ink to paper.  Until next time, stamp on my friends.

Linda

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Star of Light Meets Hometown Greetings

Posted on October 17, 2017 by Linda Tolson Yarbrough

I found my inspiration for today’s project while browsing one of the demonstrator share sites on Facebook today.  There was this “WOW” card posted by a demonstrator named Michelle Zindorf.  As I tend to do, I modified my card from Michelle’s.  Her card included a moon and Santa’s sleigh with reindeer flying through the night sky, just one house and three pine trees which all appeared to be stamped directly onto the card in black ink, and her greeting was stamped down in the snowbank in what looks like black ink (I didn’t want to purchase the tutorial to get all the fine details!).  Here is my modified version:

The background is another emboss resist sponging background.  I stamped the snow swirl from the Star of Light stamp set in VersaMark four times and coated with clear embossing powder, set with heat tool and then sponged with Night of Navy and Marina Mist inks.  I wiped off the excess ink from the embossed areas.  I reapplied the darker ink in places to add depth where needed.

The house, church and trees are cut with the dies from the Hometown Greetings Edgelits.  I cut the trees in both Early Espresso and Old Olive, then cut the stumps off the Old Olive trees and adhered them to the front of the Early Espresso trees.  I cut the house and church in both Early Espresso and Whisper White and used the roof from the Whisper White house to represent snow and used the punched out pieces to fill in the cut-outs around the door and eaves.  I used Gold Foil paper to represent lights for both the house and the church.  All of these pieces are attached to the card with dimensionals.

The sentiment is stamped in Night of Navy ink and is cut using the second oval in the Stitched Shapes Framelits dies and is attached to the card with dimensionals.

Here are the Stampin’ Up! products that I used in the design of this card, all of which can quickly be added to your shopping cart by clicking on the thumbnails below:

If you have any questions about any other design elements of this card, do not hesitate to contact me.

Thank you for stopping by today.  I hope you leave here inspired to put stamps to ink to paper.  Until next time, stamp on my friends.

Linda

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Snowflake Sentiments and a Cable Knit Sweater

Posted on October 16, 2017 by Linda Tolson Yarbrough

I am happy to report that while my hand is a little painful at times, that I am still able to hold my stamp blocks and crank the handle on my Big Shot so all is good in my world.  (Yay!)

Today’s project was inspired by a post by Catherine Brown, a Canadian demonstrator, who I believe got her inspiration from Tami White, a U.S. demonstrator in Massachusetts.  Here is my version of her card:

I made some modifications from Catherine’s card — my ribbon is different (since the Silver Satin ribbon is retired here in the U.S.), I added rhinestones to the centers of my silver snowflakes, I attached my cable knit sweater piece with dimensionals v. gluing it down flat and I added a snowflake to the sentiment piece.

Here are the Stampin’ Up! products that I used in the design of this card, all of which can quickly be added to your shopping cart by clicking on the thumbnails below:

Tips & Tricks:

Measurements:  Night of Navy cardstock = 5.25″ x 2.75″; Vellum = 5.25″ x 2.50″, Silver Foil = 5.25″ x 2.00″; Very Vanilla for Cable Knit Sweater = 5.25″ x 4.00″

When cutting the ruffled pieces (Night of Navy and Vellum) I cut both pieces at the same time and used small pieces of washi tape to keep them from moving.  This way the scallops match up perfectly.

When cutting the snowflakes and the ruffled pieces the points of the dies need to be touching the very top edge of the card stock so that you only cut off the top edges and leave the bottom lengths.

The Night of Navy and Vellum pieces are glued together with liquid glue that has been sponged onto the back of the vellum.  You could also use mini glue dots.  The silver snowflakes are glued onto the top of the scalloped piece with liquid glue.  If you have adhesive sheets, you could apply to the Silver Foil paper before you cut with the die.

The ribbon is wrapped around to the back and attached with Fast Fuse.  I took a separate piece of ribbon and pulled it through the ribbon on front and tied a bow.  I used mini glue dots to keep the from ribbon and bow in place.

The scalloped piece is then attached to the Cable Knit Sweater piece with liquid glue.  Use a lot of glue due to the nooks and crannies of the embossed paper.  You will need to hold it until it sets.  I then attached the panel to the card base with dimensionals.

I think that covers everything that may give you trouble, but if I missed anything let me know.  I am here to help you on your creative journey.

Thank you for stopping by today.  I hope you leave here inspired to put stamps to ink to paper.  Until next time, stamp on my friends.

Linda

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Happy Owl-oween from Spooky Cat

Posted on October 15, 2017 by Linda Tolson Yarbrough

Have you ever had one of those days where it seemed it would have been best if you had just stayed in bed with your head buried under the covers?  Well I think today was one of those days for me.

My day started about 4:30 AM – I couldn’t sleep and then I smelled something that indicated to me that my blind dog Rosie wasn’t able to get downstairs and out the doggie door quickly enough during the few hours I was actually asleep.  So there was that to deal with and afterwards I was not in the sleeping mood.

When I married my husband a little more than three years ago, I became a grandmother to Jayson who is 10 and about to turn 11.  He plays baseball and now football and of course he has both games on the same day.  Today’s games were at 10:45 AM and 1:30 PM, both in Frisco which is about 30-40 minutes from where we live depending on traffic.

Our usual routine is to stop at Einstein’s Bagels along the way for breakfast and Gary refills his large cup of joe to go.  We were about 10 minutes away from the baseball field when all of a sudden there was this blinding pain as a very hot liquid spilled all over my left leg.  Yes, you guessed it – as Gary was putting his coffee cup back down into the cup holder in the console it slipped out of his hand and flew into my lap – it was a full tall cup!  I soldiered on; sadly Jayson’s baseball team was defeated 14-7.  Also his football team was defeated 26-0.

So one would think that was enough for one day, but you would be wrong.  Our “puppy” Ella is sometimes more than I can manage on the leash and lately she has become very interested in hunting geckos and squirrels whenever we go out for our potty breaks.  This evening as I was preparing to take our three dogs out Ella lunged as I was opening the door causing me to smash my left hand / knuckles into the door.  I now have a couple of bloody knuckles, a very large bruise and a nice sized goose egg between my first and middle fingers.

So this very long explanation leads into today’s project.  I had extra pieces from yesterday’s card design (I had made extra just in case I messed up my first attempt) so I made some slight modifications to yesterday’s card design and came up with this:

It is supposed to appear as though the owl is wearing the sign around his neck.  Not sure I accomplished it though.  Instead of a leaf wreath in the upper right, I used the Patterned Pumpkins Thinlits dies and cut the pumpkin with the stars cutouts from vellum which is supposed to represent the moon.  Again, not sure I accomplished that look.

Here are the Stampin’ Up! products that I used in the design of this card, all of which can quickly be added to your shopping cart by clicking on the thumbnails below:

If you have any questions about any of the design elements of this card, do not hesitate to contact me.

I am not sure how much flexibility I will have in my hand tomorrow so if there is not a blog post, then you will know why.  Rest assured I will return to creating cards and other paper projects just as soon as possible.

Thank you for stopping by today.  I hope you leave here inspired to put stamps to ink to paper.  Until next time, stamp on my friends.

Linda

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