Elegant Masculine Christmas

Hello again!  Yesterday, I mentioned that a friend asked me to make some Christmas cards for her to give to loved ones.  This is for her gentleman friend.  He is a classy guy, so I picked some earthy tones and elegant touches for him.

The Hero Arts tree was stamped on polka dotted paper (in green, of course!) and decorated in teal gems and pearls.  The dictionary page is a photocopy of an original.  I bought the 1940s dictionary at a thrift shop in North Carolina on Black Friday this year.  When I set out to make this card, I tore out the page that has the definition for "Christmas tree" and then thought I should photocopy it so I can keep the original.

I used several scrap strips of paper that were lying about:  the teal dots and Early Espresso (with punched border) from Stampin' Up!, the khaki damask from Market Street Stamps.

And shown in the photo below, I intentionally tied a knot in taupe velvet right over top of the Christmas tree, standing in for a star.  The sentiment is from Inspired By Stamping on a Memory Box tag.

Challenges entered:

• Simon Says Stamp - Merry Christmas
• Lawnscaping - Make it Glitter
• Ribbon Carousel - Holiday Spirit

There's a new post up at my photo blog, bleu hydrangea.  They're pics of - what else? - Christmas stuff.  I hope you enjoy!



Dimensions: 4.25" x 5.5"
Stamps: Elegant Christmas Sentiments - Inspired By Stamping; Merry Christmas Trees - Hero Arts; Vintage Wallpaper - Market Street Stamps
Paper: Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, teal patterned, green polka dot - SU; white - PTI; dark brown pattern - Le Romantique - Graphic 45
Ink: Antique Linen, Frayed Burlap - Ranger; Memento Tuxedo Black - Tsukineko; Sahara Sand - SU
Fibers: taupe velvet ribbon - May Arts; twine - Creative Impressions
Other: Copic markers; gems; bracket punch - EK Success; vintage dictionary page; Classic Tags die - Memory Box

One Card, Four Ways

Hello friends!  Thank goodness we still have several more days 'til Christmas.  All is not done here at the Dietrich household.  Still lots of baking to do and a bit of wrapping as well.  I repeat this mantra:  "It will all get done in time."  ;-)  You may be wondering why I am crafting, when there is still work to be finished.

A friend of mine recently gave me a custom order for a couple of Christmas cards.  I relished the chance to sit down and breathe deeply while making the creations for her.  I made four vanilla bases, each with the bottom half embossed with a Sizzix folder, Snow Globe.  Then, I decorated each a bit differently.  All sentiments are from Inspired By Stamping's Elegant Christmas Sentiments.

Not sure if you can see it, but I touched each holly berry on the embossed section of this card with White Opal Liquid Pearls.  So pretty and soft!

The poinsettia, tiny green leaves and red gingham washi tape on the following card are from Inspired By Stamping, also.

The card below is more mail friendly, with bumps coming from the two pearls and little twine knot.  Otherwise, it's fairly flat.

And finally, this last card closely resembles the first one I showed near the top of this post.  The Santa border is from K & Co.  In fact, all of the borders used on this group of cards is by K & Co.  They helped me make (sort of) quick cards.

I'm entering in Simon Says Stamp's Merry Christmas challenge, Word Art Wednesday's Glory To God / Anything Goes challenge, and also Go Fish's Anything Goes challenge.

Thank you so very much to Red Carpet Studio, Just Us Girls, Shopping Our Stash, and Cath of Moxie Fab World for my recent honors.  I am humbled.  :-)

Source credit

Before I go, I just have to share something so very sweet and touching with you.  My 5th grader came home yesterday and told me that her class - and also the 4th grade - made paper snowflakes for the kids of Sandy Hook Elementary School.  When the Sandy Hook kids go to their new school after the holiday break, the halls will be a Winter Wonderland with all of these snowflakes.  Each snowflake has the name of the child who made it, and what school they are from.  I know there are other schools in our country where students are doing the same thing.  It brought tears to my eyes when my 11 YO shared this with me.  She said, "We want to make the Sandy Hook kids happy.  Each kid is unique, just like a snowflake."  After school yesterday, she and I sat on the kitchen floor and made more of them to send.

It just gets me....right....here.  <3 p="p">


Dimensions: 4.25" x 5.5"
Stamps: Elegant Christmas Sentiments - Inspired By Stamping
Paper: Vintage Cream - PTI; kraft tone-on-tone patterned - SU
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black - Tsukineko; Antique Linen, Frayed Burlap - Ranger
Fibers: white seam binding - Zipper Stop; twine - Creative Impressions
Other: Tiny Green Leaves, Poinsettia, Red Gingham Washi Tape - Inspired By Stamping; pearls; button; Classic Tags dies - Memory Box; doilies - Wilton; holly leaves, Santa/Trees, scalloped borders - K & Co; Snow Globe embossing folder - Sizzix; corner rounder punch - EK Success; Liquid Pearls - Ranger

A Christmas Cottage

Last night I began making a little Christmas cottage.  It started as a plain wooden birdhouse from the craft store.  This is a photo-heavy post, just a little warning in case you're short on time.  ;-)

 

My first addition to the house (after painting it white) was a scrap of paper that I had in my cast-off box.  It's this beautiful Market Street Stamps Vintage Wallpaper stamp in red ink on white paper.  I added some skinny strips of red flocked patterned paper from Stampin' Up! along the exposed edges.  And what's a winter roof without some sparkling snow?  The snow was made with Snow-Tex, which has the texture of cake frosting, and then sprinkled some iridescent glitter on top.

On the two narrow sides, I repurposed some gorgeous aqua pearly paper from a booklet we received while in Hawaii.  I topped each wall with a doily-edged punch border that is also 'glitterfied'.

The photo below shows the back of the house.  I covered both the front and back of the house with embossed white cardstock.  I also added a pale gray wrought iron fence die, which is decorated with Liquid Pearls.

One light blue gem graces the eaves on the back of the house.

Here's a close up of the front of the house:

The wreath die cut is made from the same blue paper on the sides of the house.  I touched it with some Liquid Pearls.  The wrought iron fence sports some of that, too.  The little bird perch has a large pearl on the end as it looked too plain with nothing there.

Challenges entered:

• Lawnscaping - Make It Shine - I used glitter - lots of glitter!

• Sunshine Creations - Season's Greetings - this challenge is run by a sweet, talented 11 year old girl named Anushka, whose mom is also in the paper crafting business.  I'm so impressed by Anushka!  I have an 11 year old daughter, too.  :-)
• Simon Says Stamp - What's Your Fave (tool, product, etc.)?  I am using dies/punches - one of my many paper-crafty loves ;-)

Only a week to go 'til Christmas!  Do you have your shopping all finished?  How 'bout presents wrapped?  I'm still working on that!




Stamps: Vintage Wallpaper - Market Street Stamps
Paper: Going Gray, Whisper White, red flocked pattern - SU; pearly blue paper - upcycled from booklet
Ink: Real Red - SU
Other: wooden bird house - JoAnn's; Breezy Wreath, Estate Fence dies - Memory Box; Doily Lace Trim punch - Martha Stewart; White Opal Liquid Pearls - Ranger; Snow-Tex - Deco Art; iridescent glitter; white paint; large pearl - Recollections; blue rhinestone - Want2Scrap; Petals A Plenty embossing folder - SU

Keen On A Neon Kite

Hello everyone!  I never thought I'd make a card with neon colors.  I lived through the Eighties, when the neon rage was first born.  I hated neon then, and don't like it now, either.  Then along came the Keen On Neon challenge at Moxie Fab World.  For some reason, I just felt compelled to play along, especially when I remembered I had some neon buttons from DeNami Design in my stash.

My MO for card-making with bright colors is 1 part brights: 3 parts white (or even more!).  And so it is that my card today is mostly white --

I paper-pieced the DeNami Fly A Kite stamp with Post-It notes.

Other challenges entered:

• ATCAS - 'Sweet' - I think this is a sweet kite..does that count?  ;)
• Go Fish - 'Anything Goes' (love that kind of challenge during a busy time!)
• Annette Allen's Celebrate link-up party - thank you, Annette, for this joyful challenge!

Thank you all SO much for leaving love to this ol' Moxie Fabber of the Week!  It was great fun keeping that most awesome of crafty secrets before the big announcement last Monday.  :-)  Thank you to my new subscribers and followers.  I really appreciate you being here!

Thank you to the kind ladies at Just Us Girls, for my Chic of the Week honor for my Ivory Christmas Tag.    What nice news!

And last, but most certainly not least, my heartfelt prayers go out to everyone touched by the tragedy at Sandy Point Elementary School in Connecticut last Friday.  Words just cannot describe the horror we all share about this.  It's touched every parent's very core, and I hope all of our children are getting more hugs and "I love you's" than usual.  Children are so very precious.  Life is so very precious.  Let us not forget to remind those we love how important they are to us, every day.




Dimensions: 4.25" x 5.5"
Stamps: Sending You Love, Fly A Kite - DeNami Design
Paper: white - PTI
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black - Tsukineko
Fibers: white cotton thread - SU
Other: doily - Wilton; Post-It Notes; buttons - DeNami Design

Inspired By Stamping Challenge #39 - Christmas Holly

Hello everyone!  I'm here today with a Christmas card for Inspired By Stamping's Challenge #39, where the color palette this week is Sage Green, Red and White.

I was inspired by a layout in the new special issue from Paper Crafts Magazine called Paper Crafting Tips and Tricks.  I used a sentiment from Inspired By Stamping's Elegant Christmas Sentiments set.  LOVE the fancy font!  The embossing folder is new to me.  I picked it up at a JoAnn's store recently.  It's called Madison, and I love that you can use either side of the embossed piece; both images are gorgeous.

Here's the inspiration picture:

At this time ALL products (stamps, paper, dies) are welcomed with our challenge. You do not have to incorporate an IBS stamp set or flowers.

This weeks challenge deadline is…December 20th at 12pm Thursday @ 12pm Brisbane time.

If you'd like to be a Guest Designer with us, check out THIS post for all the details.

DESIGN TEAM CALL!  Interested in being part of the Design Team at IBS?  Click HERE for all the info.  Deadline is December 29, 2012.

Hope you'll come play with us this week!  Show us your Sage Green, Red and White projects!

Thank you for visiting with me today.  Have a wonderful, blessed day.  :-)



Dimensions: 4.25" x 5.5"
Stamps: Elegant Christmas Sentiments - IBS
Paper: Mellow Moss - SU; white - PTI
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black - Tsukineko; Always Artichoke - SU
Fibers: dotted ribbon
Other: Madison embossing folder - Cuttlebug; button; twine; holly border - K & Co.; Branch with Leaves die - Sizzix

Inspired By Stamping December Blog Hop

Welcome to the Inspired By Stamping December Blog Hop!  Each of our Design Team members have some projects to share with you today, and there's a chance to win blog candy.  Yum.  ;)  If you came from Joanna's blog, you're on the right track!  Today, I am showcasing the sets Festive Frames, Delicate Doilies II and Elegant Christmas Sentiments.

One of my fave IBS sets revolves around doilies.  There are actually two doily sets in the IBS store, and I love both!   Here, I created chocolate snowflakes from Delicate Doilies II as a background to my chipboard snowman.  Smaller snowflakes from Elegant Christmas Sentiments are sprinkled there, too.

The sentiment is from Festive Frames, set on a die cut tag and tied with twine.

I added crystal glitter to the snowman, as well as on the doily beneath him.  Can you see it?

White cards hold a certain allure for me.  I kept this card's color palette reeeaalllly soft and neutral, with lots of white.  Once again, I used Delicate Doilies II and Elegant Christmas Sentiments to create my snowy backdrop.

The sentiment is from Festive Frames, with more crystal glitter making an appearance.

After a couple of non-traditional Christmas color combos on the two cards above, I went for the customary red and green on this card:

I ripped a page of ledger paper out of a K & Co. paper pad and liked the effect so much, I went with it!  The pretty frame, stamped in cocoa, and sentiment, too, are both from Festive Frames.  Love the mix-n-match-ability of that set!  Plenty of sentiments and different frames to choose from.  It can even go beyond the Christmas holidays.

The snow-white seam binding and Victorian cream crochet lace are from IBS, too.  They pair quite nicely together!  I topped the bow with a red corduroy brad and shabbed it up a little with some Frayed Burlap ink.

More beauty awaits you!  Your next stop on the Blog Hop is Deb Hickman.  That girl can do shabby chic and vintage SO beautifully!  She's also got a talent  for knitting/crocheting beautiful things, too.  Wish *I* did!  ;-)

If you'd like to start the Blog Hop from the beginning, here's our line-up:

Joanna Munster 

Colleen Dietrich  (You are here!)

Deb Hickman

Irit Shalom

Kendra Sand

Liz Weber

One lucky blog hop commenter will win a $25 gift card!  Be sure to leave some love at each blog for your chance to win.  There's also free shipping for a full 24 hours, from 4am Eastern Standard Time on Tuesday December 11th  to 4am EST Wednesday December 12th . Use the code freeshipping when you check out at the store.   

Thank you all for coming today!

(On a personal note, I am entering my snowman card at Red Carpet Studio challenges:  Frosty the Snowman.)



Snowman Card:
Dimensions: 4.25" x 5.5"
Stamps: Delicate Doilies II, Festive Frames - IBS
Paper: Baja Breeze, Mellow Moss, Always Artichoke - SU; white - PTI; pattern - Winter Wonderland - My Mind's Eye
Ink: Soft Suede - SU; Antique Linen - Ranger; Versafine Onyx Black - Tsukineko
Fibers: twine - SU
Other: snowman chipboard die cut - Winter Wonderland - My Mind's Eye; white button - DeNami; pearl; doily - Wilton; Crystal Glitter - Martha Stewart; Classic Tags label die - Memory Box; Dotted Scallop Rock Fern punches - EK Success; ruby gemstone - Recollections

Happy Holidays White Card:
Dimensions: 4.25" x 5.5"
Stamps: Delicate Doilies II, Festive Frames, Elegant Christmas Sentiments - IBS
Paper: white - PTI
Ink: London Fog Memento - Tsukineko; Crumb Cake - SU
Fibers: white seam binding - The Zipper Stop; white thread
Other: Crystal Glitter - Martha Stewart; pearls; Labels 25 die - Spellbinders; Vintage Wallpaper embossing - SU; button

Happy Holidays Red & Green Card:
Dimensions: 4" x 5.5"
Stamps: Festive Frames - IBS
Paper: Very Vanilla - SU; stripe - Christmas Combo - DCWV; ledger - Flora & Fauna Ledger - K & Co.; dots - SU
Ink: Frayed Burlap - Ranger; Close to Cocoa - SU; Versafine Onyx Black - Tsukineko
Fibers: White Seam Binding, Victorian Crochet Lace - IBS
Other: red corduroy brad - SU; twine - Creative Impressions; green pearls - Queen & Co.; gold glitter bracket die cut - K & Co.

Guess Who's Moxie Fab?

Eeek!  Somebody pinch me!  Yes, I am the "Moxie Fabber of the Week" over at Moxie Fab World!  Squeeeee!  :-)  When Cath Edvalson of MFW contacted me earlier this fall, I floated through my days with a big smile on my face.  It was so much fun to fill out the questionnaire she sent me.  I hope you have a few minutes to pop over there and read it.   The "Moxie Fabber of the Week" is one of my fave features that I try never to miss.  I love getting to know the familiar names and faces I see while out-and-about in the blogosphere.  I am completely honored to be ranked among those talented artists.  Thank you so very much, Cath!

I thought I'd better have something pretty to show you since you are here visiting.  It reminds me of cleaning and tidying the house when company is coming.  ;-)

This sympathy card is for my husband's cousin, whose father just passed recently.

My colors were inspired by CR84FN:

and the theme is from Word Art Wednesday - 'Giving/Anything Goes'.  One of the greatest gifts we can give is our support and encouragement for those in need.  

I was also inspired by Jay Gee's Nook challenge photo collage:  the creamy ivory of the hot cocoa cups and the blouse, as well as the pretty lace collar.

I die-cut a scalloped circle from a sheet of cork (wonderful stuff!) to use as a background for my pretty flower.  I topped the flower (from Inspired By Stamping) with a burgundy pearl from Colorbok's Victorian Parlor collection.  The papers are by My Mind's Eye and the velvet ribbon is from May Arts.  And the lace - oh, the lace!  It's debuting here at my blog.  This past summer I bought a huge box of goodies from Webster's Pages when they had a sale (get on their mailing list and you'll be among the first to know when there's a blowout sale) and the lace was in there.

Thank you SO, so much for coming by and sharing my joy today.  May your day be a blessed and beautiful one!



Dimensions: 4.25" x 5.5"
Stamps: With Sympathy - Hero Arts
Paper: Very Vanilla - SU; Lost & Found Union Square - My Mind's Eye
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black - Tsukineko; Frayed Burlap, Antique Linen - Ranger
Fibers: crochet lace - Webster's Pages; gray velvet ribbon - May Arts
Other: cork sheet; Scalloped Circle die - Spellbinders; flower - Inspired By Stamping; burgundy pearl - Victorian Parlor by Colorbok; Dotted Scallop punch - EK Success

Merry Christmas!

Hello everyone! No card to show in this post...well, it's a card, but not handmade.  Remember how I said I'd need to cut back on some Christmas things (like baking three types of cookies instead of 7 - LOL) to reduce my stress level?  I can't possibly make as many handmade cards as I'd like to send out, so I ordered these cards from Shutterfly instead. I love how they turned out!

Stationery card

View the entire collection of cards.

Ah, that feels good!  I can feel the stress lifting a little.  :-)

Merry Christmas to your family from ours!

 

Ivory Christmas Tag

Hi everyone!  My girls and I went Christmas shopping early this morning and tackled some more gifts.  It was fun for a while, but they really aren't shoppers.  The complaints begin relatively quickly (are we done yet?  how many more stores to go?  I'm tired.  I feel claustrophobic....yada, yada, yada) and then it's NOT. FUN. ANYMORE.  Time to go home!  LOL  I can get more accomplished without them, but these gifts were for the special people in their lives like friends, teachers, etc. and wanted them to pick out the presents themselves.

I found time to make a pretty ornament/tag today, so I can play in the Moxie Fab World Tuesday Trigger.  Here's the inspiration picture:

Isn't it gorgeous?  It reminds me of an arrangement I have on my coffee table right now:

I collected some mercury glass ornaments from places like TJ Maxx, Home Goods and Tuesday Morning (all cheap!) and placed them on my grandparents' 25th wedding anniversary silver platter.  (my platter is not as polished and shiny as the one in the Tuesday Trigger photo - ha!)

Anyway, here is the tag/ornament I created today --

I used an already-embossed frame that I found in one of those $1.00 Scrap Bags from my Stampin' Up! demo (thank you, Gail!), which enables me to play in the Winter Holiday challenge at Shopping Our Stash.  I trimmed it out carefully and applied crystal glitter.  A sentiment from Verve goes in the middle, surrounded by a pearl-bejeweled wreath die cut from Memory Box. The final touch is a crystal-look faceted button from SU, topped with another pearl.

Elements in the Tuesday Trigger picture that inspired me:  crystal florets, champagne/ivory colored ornaments, engraving on the platter and the general elegant feel of it.

I'm also entering at Just Us Girls for their technique challenge of embossing, heat or dry....your choice.

Thank you SO much to the Shopping Our Stash ladies for awarding me a Top 3 Badge for my 'Christmas Apron' card!  :-)

And thank YOU for coming to visit today.  I appreciate your time!



Dimensions: 5" x 3.75"
Stamps: Glad Tidings - Verve
Paper: Very Vanilla - SU
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black - Tsukineko
Fibers: white seam binding - The Zipper Stop
Other: pearls; Holiday Frame embossing folder, Vintage Faceted Designer button - SU; Wreath die - Memory Box; Crystal Glitter - Martha Stewart; hole punch - Fiskars