Cheerful Circles

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We spent the holiday visiting my mom and stepdad in Chicago - lots of fabulous, yummy food and fun time with family!

With Christmas a mere 26 days away and as much as I love making Christmas cards, I just felt the urge to create something non-Christmas tonight. Looking for a way to use the Christmas Cocoa designer series paper in a non-traditional way, I paired it with Melon Mambo and Pumpkin Pie for a whimsical look! I wouldn't use this card for mass production, though, because of all the marker-ing on the Circle Circus image. The circle image lent itself perfectly with the jumbo grommets I had just waiting to be used!

I think this will be a very cheery card to send to a friend in need of some positive thoughts.

Hope you like it! Thanks for stopping by! :-)

~~Marilyn~~


Stamps: Circle Circus, Trendy Trees
Cardstock: Melon Mambo, Pumpkin Pie, Soft Suede, Whisper White
Ink: Melon Mambo, Pumpkin Pie, Soft Suede
Accessories: jumbo grommets, Big Shot, scallop square die, Christmas Cocoa designer series paper, corner rounder, stamp-a-ma-jig, stampin' dimensionals

Gobble gobble!

Wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving!

Holiday swap

The group of local Stampin' Up! demonstrators I belong to had a holiday card swap this past weekend. I loved seeing all the wonderful Christmas card designs everyone came up with! This is my card featuring a super cute snowman from one of the hostess sets in the Holiday Mini Catalog. I was getting tired of using traditional green and red for my holiday cards, so I opted for a fresh color combo this time around. I used the Big Shot machine and an embossing folder to create lots of dimension on the panel of Ballet Blue behind the snowman. Hope you like it!

And be sure to check out the fabulous deals Stampin' Up! is offering this week through the Online Extravaganza. There are products and bundles at up to 50% off retail!!

Thanks for stopping by!

~~Marilyn~~

Stamps: Snow Buddies (hostess set), Christmas Greetings
Cardstock: Bashful Blue, Ballet Blue, Almost Amethyst, Watercolor Paper
Ink: Stazon Black, Bashful Blue, Almost Amethyst, Pumpkin Pie
Accessories: Big Shot machine, Finial Press embossing folder, stampin' dimensionals

Greetings from Dasher

Can you believe that it's only a little over 5 weeks until Christmas??! We've been having unseasonably warm weather here in southwest Ohio, but I'm lovin' it! I've started my Christmas shopping, have a good supply of Christmas cards already made, and am looking forward to spending Thanksgiving with my mom and stepdad next week!

So here's a simple card using the Christmas Cocoa designer series paper. I love this Real Red and Soft Suede color combo for holiday cards! Hope you like it!

Thanks for stopping by!

~~Marilyn~~

Stamps: Dasher,
Cardstock: Real Red, Soft Suede, Whisper White
Ink: Soft Suede
Accessories: Christmas Cocoa designer series paper, scallop oval punch, eyelet border punch, corner rounder, stampin' dimensionals

Repurposed

I still have some leftovers from a stamp-a-stack and am trying to find ways to re-purpose them. I created this cute card using Dusty Durango as the cardbase. I love mixing this color with Tempting Turquoise and Old Olive - a very fun, fresh color combo! I stamped the image with Stazon so that I could use an aquapainter to color it in. I just love a quick and easy card - this one took only about 5 minutes!

Thanks for stopping by!

~~Marilyn~~

Stamps: Very Thankful, Polka Dot background (retired)
Cardstock: Dusty Durango, Tempting Turquoise, Old Olive, Close to Cocoa, Whisper White
Ink: Dusty Durango, Stazon Black, Old Olive, Tempting Turquoise, Pretty in Pink
Accessories: wide oval punch, 1-3/4" circle punch, aquapainter, stampin' dimensionals

Reverse Masking

I attended the Stampin' Up! Regional Conference back in September, and one of the techniques that Shelli Gardner herself showed us was a variation on masking. Usually to do masking, you stamp your image twice - once one cardstock and once onto scrap paper. Then you can cover the cardstock image with the scrap so when you stamp other images, they appear to be behind on the original image. It's great for creating dimension without any added bulk.

Well, this technique is called reverse masking. Instead of using the stamped image for masking, you use the negative space. First, I stamped the medallion with Versamark on Whisper White cardstock. I applied clear embossing powder and used the heat tool to set it. Then I stamped the Medallion image on scrap paper and cut it out. Using the reverse mask, I lined it up with the embossed image and applied inks to the image. The embossed area resists the ink and with the mask, you're left with a halo effect around the stamped image. It's so beautiful!

Thanks for stopping by!

~~Marilyn~~

Stamps: Medallion, Full of Life
Cardstock: So Saffron, Bermuda Bay, Whisper White
Ink: So Saffron, Certainly Celery, Bermuda Bay, Versamark
Accessories: clear embossing powder, heat tool, stampin' dimensionals

Give thanks

After discovering the fabulous herringbone technique, I knew my stamp club ladies would love it. After all, what self-respecting stamper doesn't look for every conceivable way to utilize the growing pile of scraps we seem to accumulate?? I tried several variations and ended up with this Thanksgiving Day card that is reminiscent of an old quilt. I love the Bella Bleu designer series paper for this technique - it has such a nice charming vibe. I have to say this is one of my favorite cards I've made in a long time!

Thanks for stopping by!

~~Marilyn~~


Stamps: Holiday Best
Cardstock: Sahara Sand, Not Quite Navy, Naturals Ivory
Ink: Not Quite Navy, Creamy Caramel
Accessories: Bella Bleu designer series paper, 1-3/4" circle punch, wide oval punch, stampin' dimensionals, Xyron

Salute to heroes

Thank you to all those who serve or have served our country! Wishing a safe return of all those serving overseas. Blessings to all of you brave men and women!!

Digital Halloween

A nice quiet evening sitting on a wonderfully comfy couch, dogs curled up next to me, sipping a cherry limeade from Sonic (yum!!) and time to play around with My Digital Studio....what a perfect night! Here's a simple page I designed with some pictures from Halloween night. I love the ability to edit my photos in the program! I changed my mind several times about which pictures to use and how to crop them, and My Digital Studio makes that so easy!

Thanks for stopping by!

~~Marilyn~~

It's Snowing!

Are you ready for another holiday card?? This simple card uses only one sentiment stamp! I love how punched images can be used as a substitute for a stamped image. I punched out several snowflakes from Bashful Blue cardstock and attached them to Real Red textured cardstock, trimming the edges. The panel was mounted on Whisper White cardstock and attached to the cardbase with dimensionals. I wanted the sentiment to really stand out on the cardbase, so I used Versamark ink and white embossing powder.

I love how this one turned out. Real Red, Bashful Blue and Whisper White make one fabulous holiday card color combo! Thanks for stopping by :-)

~~Marilyn~~

Stamps: Four the Holidays
Cardstock: Real Red, Whisper White, Bashful Blue
Ink: Versamark
Accessories: white embossing powder, heat tool, snowflake punch, stampin' dimensionals

Patterned Pine

My next few posts will be more holiday cards I created for a craft show. I wanted to use up some pieces of the Christmas Jingle Simply Scrappin' Kit I used for a class last month. By simply using some leftover pieces of adhesive diecut strips, I was able to create a nice framing for a stamped image. I used a marker to color in just one of the trees in the Patterned Pines hostess stamp set and used the Christmas sentiment from the always-useful Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set. The panel was mounted onto the cardbase with a few stampin' dimensionals and that's it! Done!

Hope you like it! Thanks for stopping by :-)

A little sidenote: Did you notice my new blog header? I created it in My Digital Studio (MDS), Stampin' Up!'s new digital paper crafting software! I still have a lot to learn about of MDS, but boy am I having fun playing with it!!

~~Marilyn~~

Stamps: Patterned Pines (hostess Level 1), Teeny Tiny Wishes
Cardstock: Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White
Ink: Old Olive, Real Red
Accessories: Christmas Jingle Simply Scrappin' Kit, stampin' dimensionals

Make merry!

I'm working on my inventory for a craft show I'm doing this weekend sponsored by the VFW Ladies Auxiliary in Mason, Ohio. I'm focusing my projects on stocking stuffers, teacher gifts, and other kinds of goodies along with holiday cards. This is a simple but elegant Christmas card using a traditional green and red color combo. I used the stamp-a-ma-jig to stamp the wreath image twice (overlapped) to provide more coverage. I ran a piece of Certainly Celery cardstock through the Big Shot with an embossing folder and adhered it to a Certainly Celery cardbase for some tone-on-tone depth. Another very clean and simple card, but the embossing and organza ribbon really cranks up the wow factor. :-)

Thanks for stopping by!

~~Marilyn~~

Stamps: Berry Christmas
Cardstock: Certainly Celery, Real Red, Whisper White
Ink: Certainly Celery, Real Red
Accessories: Big Shot, Finial Press embossing folder, modern label punch, stamp-a-ma-jig, Whisper White organza ribbon, stampin' dimensionals

It's not too early to start!

Don't let the holidays sneak up on you this year. Stampin' Up! has pulled together some great gift-giving ideas for everyone on your list - kids, teens, scrapbookers, card makers, neighbors...

Download the Christmas Gift-Giving Guide here and make your holiday shopping easy. All products can be ordered on my website or by calling or emailing me. And to sweeten the deal, Stampin' Up! is offering a FREE decor elements product (up to a $16.95 value) with every $50 purchase from the guide!

And if your Santa needs ideas for YOU, email me for your very own Dear Santa letter!

~~Marilyn~~