Inspired Stamps Christmas Card

Christmas is fast approaching and I haven't come up with my Christmas card design for this year.  I have made several sample cards but have yet come up with on I feel will be easy to make and I want to make more of.  This weeks Inspired Stamps Design Team work is one of my samples.  I have used both the Blessed Little Christmas and Vintage Christmas stamp sets. 

With this card I was going for quick and simple. I achieved that with the solid B&T background, lace and sentiment, but when  it came to the Poinsettia, I failed. It might be fairly easy to make (thanks to the Cricut) but it is not quick as the scoring of all those petals takes time. The inside was fairly simple until I decided it needed a little bit more and Masked the Merry Christmas from the wisemen from the Vintage Christmas set.  I masked out the Merry Christmas by putting tape over the part I wanted removed from the image, then inked up my image, once it was all inked I removed the tape and stamped the image.  The tape prevented the ink from covering the unwanted parts and therefore it didn't appear when i stamped it. 

 

At the rate I am going I will not have a batch of matching Christmas cards done in time to give out for Christmas, but with as many samples as I have made I should have enough ready to give everyone their own unique card, which might be the way I go anyhow.  Check back next week to see another sample for my Christmas cards.

Don't forget to check out what the rest of the Design Team created for you this week.  Links to their blogs are in the sidebar of my blog.

Materials used: Inspired stamps - Blessed Little Christmas, Vintage Christmas

CTMH Products used - Aspen B&T, White Daisy Cardstock

Crystal Blue & Outdoor Denim Ink

Glitz Glitter Gel-Silver

Clear Sparkles (colored with Yellow Permanent Marker)

CTMH Exclussive Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge

Martha Stewart Lace

DCWV Glitter Stack green cardstock

Recent Layouts for Jimmy's Sr Scrapbook

It has been awhile since I have posted any artwork other than my Inspired Stamps Design Team work.  So I thought I would post several of the layouts I got done for Jimmy's Sr. scrapbook at our November Crop.  He graduates in 6 very short months and I am so far behind on his layouts I doubt I will get them all done in time. I only have 17 years of his life to get done in a very short period of time. Here is the start of his album.

PS - You will notice I am not a chronological scrapbooker.  Instead I scrap whatever pictures I am in the mood for, so you will see Jimmy at various stages in life.

This was the Warren Township Community Center
Scrapbooking class layout for November

This first layout is from last Christmas, we were making cookies when Robbie and Jimmy took over and kicked me out of the kitchen.  So being the great mom I am I grabbed my camera and took pictures of them making the cookies.  The blank red area above the big tree is where I plan on eventually putting my journaling.  (I hate journaling so it is usually the last thing I do on a layout)

Left Side - Roughly based on Title Topper-Heading from the Reflections How to Program
the circles and Christmas Trees were cut using the
CTMH exclusive Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge



Right Side - My own design
Materials used: all CTMH unless otherwise noted
Believe Paper Pack, White Daisy, Sweet Leaf, Holiday Red cardstock
Holiday Red & Sweet Leaf Inks
Token Alpha & Holiday Wishes Stamp Sets
CTMH Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge

This layout is of Jimmy in 2009, showing his 4-H market hog in showmanship.  He placed first in his showmanship class, giving him the honor of being the Top Showman for his age group.  The layout design is Role Play from the Imagine How To Program.



Left Side



Right Side
Materials used all CTMH unless otherwise specified

Colonial White, White Daisy, Desert Sand, Cocoa & Bamboo Cardstock
Desert Sand & Pacifica Ink
CTMH Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge

This layout is one of my favorites because it is totally Jimmy. We were out taking his Sr. Pictures, he had climbed a tree so I could get several pictures of him in the tree. He is taking Natural Resources at the local Career Center and part of his class work deals with trees. Not to mention he has always been a climber and a clown. After our photo shoot, Jimmy was goofing off and decided to stage a "I'm falling" look to scare his mom. He didn't scare me but I did manage to capture the whole scene on film and thought a story layout was perfect.  This layout isn't quite finished as I plan on adding one of the Art Philosophy Trees to the Below page and of course I plan on eventually adding some journaling. 

Left Side - Very loosely based on
Front & Center-Basic from the Reflections How To Program

Right Side - Very loosely based on
Front & Center-Basic from the Reflections How To Program

Materials used all CTMH
Colonial White, and Desert Sand Cardstock
Back Country B&T
Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge

This layout should probably have been the first one I posted, as it is his first pictures.  I chose not to include his official hospital photo as he looks stoned in it.  This is the only layout I have completely finished as I have even done the journaling.   You can't tell it from the photo but the stars are totally coated in Glitter Glue, and the Marque with his name has glitter glue dots completely around the outside.  Of course this one also has items cut with the Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge.  The Stars, Ticket, and Marque are all from the AP cartridge, the alphabet is from the Doodletype cartridge.  This layout is from the CTMH how to programs

Left side - Front & Center - Accent Band From Reflections
all these pictures are the originals, as Jimmy's hospital pictures
were the only ones not in the house when it burnt down
so I didn't have to scan them in.

Right Side - Based on Sidebar-Main Frame from the Reflections
Materials Used all CTMH unless otherwise stated
Caboodle B&T, White Daisy, Heavenly Blue, Crystal Blue, Key Lime,
Buttercup and Sunkiss Yellow cardstock
( the 2 yellows are because I accidently grabbed the wrong one for a couple of the mats.)
Glitz Glitter Gel Stardust
Art Philosophy & Doodletype Cricut Cartridges

This layout was a hard one to come up with as the underwater pictures are very blue, and I had a hard time finding paper to go with it.  I had to call in my upline for her opinion as I couldn't find anything I liked.  We ended up going with the "You Rock" papers as the Orange & green added to the playfulness of the layout.  I also used the Ducks from the "Makin Waves" Stamp Set.  It might have been the hardest layout to come up with but it was the funnest to complete.  I have fallen in love with the fun little ducks and have added this stamp set to my ever growing wish list.  This layout also happened to be my only one of the day that didn't have any cuts from the Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge.

 Layout Design: Title Topper - Photos from Reflections How to Program

Materials Used: all CTMH unless otherwise stated

You Rock B&T's, White Daisy Cardstock

Giggle Lowercase & Uppercase alphas, and  Makin Waves Stamp Sets

Sky, Pacifica and Black inks

Colored pencils 

I have entered this page in  the Art Philosophy Linky Party, to show how you can use this cartridge to spice up your scrapbook layouts.  Since I have gotten this cartridge it has not been removed from my Cricut.  It is my goto cartridge for everything, and I totally love everything about it.  Please feel free to explore the rest of my blog as just about every post from October on has something that was created using the Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge.





Feel free to explore the rest of the blogs in this linky blog hop.

Sneak Peek Week at Inspired Stamps

This Friday at noon Inspired Stamps will be featuring their December New Releases.  The Design Team is featuring Sneak Peeks of the new stamp sets on their blogs all week.  I get to feature the His Little Ones: Winter Boy.  Isn't this guy just totally adorable he reminds me of when my son's wore their one piece snowsuits and would go outside bundled up to play in the snow.  I can see this guy on a winter layout or two. 

I so love all the His Little Ones (HLO) they are so adorable and they are great for paper piecing, and maybe one of these days I will get brave enough to color them. I used the HLO: Winter Boy to create this Easel Christmas Card, along with Blessed Little Christmas for the sentiment & star and Let It Snow for the snowflakes.

Don't forget to check out the rest of the Design Team's blogs this week as we showcase the December New Releases.

Materials Used: Inspired Stamps HLO: Winter Boy, Blessed Little Christmas, Let It Snow

Close To My Heart: Pacifica, Sky, White Daisy, Bamboo and Vanilla Cream Cardstock, Outdoor Denim, Pacifica, Sky, Key Lime, Indian Corn Blue, Desert Sand, Sunflower Ink and Black Inks, Outdoor Denim Marker, Art Philosophy CTMH Exclusive Cricut Cartridge

DCWV Glitter Cardstock and B&T,  Jelly Roll White Gel Pen

Snowball gems from stash

Christmas Tag Blog Hop

This week at Inspired Stamps we are having a Christmas Tag Blog Hop so if you are coming from Jamie's blog you are on the right track.  If you want to start at the beginning you can go to the Inspired Stamps blog.

For this hop I couldn't stop with just one tag, so I made two.  Here are both of them together.

For the First one I used Inspired Stamps Let It Snow, I love this little snowman he is so cute.  I coated him and the snowflake with Stickles to give them extra sparkle. You can just barely see the sparkle here but in real life they both shimmer.  I am loving the old distressed look so I inked the white cardstock all over with Desert Sand ink to give it that old feel.   I added Stickles to the enter of the stamped snowflakes, and then added a silver sparkle wire to finish it off.

Materials Used: Inspired Stamps Let It Snow
CTMH Crystal Blue and White daisy Cardstock, Desert Sand and Black Ink
Ocean,  Citrus Leaf, Star Spangled Blue, and Orange Markers
Licorice Opaques, CTMH Exclusive Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge
Diamond and Crystal Stickles,
Patterned Paper, Blue Snowflake and Tag  from stash

For the second one I used Inspired Stamps Vintage Christmas to create my scene and the verse. 

Materials Used Inspired Stamps Vintage Christmas
CTMH White Daisy Cardstock, Vineyard Berry, black and Sunny Yellow Ink
Tulip velvet ribbon.  CTMH Exclusive Art Philosophy Cricut  Cartridge
Paper and paper lace doily from stash.

Thank you for looking now hop on over to Kary's blog and check out what she made.

Circle Christmas Card for Inspired Stamps

This week for our Inspired Stamps Design Team Post we are to feature a Christmas card with His Little Ones, with a Scripture.  I created this circle card using His Little Ones: Christmas Boy, and a scripture from Vintage Christmas

Matrerials Used:  Inspired Stamps His Little Ones: Christmas Boy, Vintage Christmas
CTMH Materials Used: Believe Paper Pack, White Daisy, Sweet Leaf, Outdoor Denim, Holiday Red, Vanilla Cream, Chocolate Cardstock, Sweet Leaf, Sky, Chocolate, Black Inks, Star Spangled Blue Marker, Tulip Chalk, Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge
Misc Product used:  White & Silver Jelly Roll Gel Pens, Crystal Stickles, Silver Ribbon from stash.

November Contest at Inspired Stamps Blog - Christmas Cards Antoinette over at Inspired Stamps has joined forces with Cards that Care and is hostng a Christmas Card Contest! Depending on how many enter, we will have a number of $10 Gift Certificates to the Inspired Stamps Online Store to give away to the winners we select.

While you do not have to participate by sending your cards to Cards that Care, and any Christmas Card that is new can be entered, we encourage you to consider sending cards for this wonderful cause! The cards that are received will be sent to elderly in nursing homes at Christmas. While we all send Christmas cards and love to receive them, many time the elderly in the nursing homes do not get cards. Imagine the joy your card can bring to someone this Christmas!!


The rules for sending to Cards that Care are the same rules for our contest (pretty much a Christmas Card, with no pins!)

For More information on Contest Rules and Entry please check out the post November Contest: Christmas Cards on the Inspired Stamps Blog.

Inspired Stamps Fun Fold Card

This week at Inspired Stamps we are creating Fun Fold Christmas Cards.  For my Card I took a 4-1/4"x11" piece of cardstock and folded it to create a 3x4-1/4" Card with a pocket for a gift card.  For this card I used the Blessed Little Christmas Stamp Set.

Card Front

Inside showing sentiment and Gift Card pocket

another view of the Gift Card Pocket

I found the tutorial for this card one day while surfing the net looking for interesting cards for my class to make, I had printed the directions off with the name of the blog I found it on, but since I have made several of these, and no longer need the directions I have misplaced them and can't refer you back to the original tutorial. (If you feel that I found the idea on your blog please e-mail me and let me know so I can give you credit and link to your tutorial)  In absence of the original tutorial I will make one of my own. My tutorial will hopefully be posted this weekend provided I can tackle a kid long enough to have them help me with taking pictures.

Now that you have checked out my Inspired Stamps Design Team Fun Fold card please visit the other members of the design team's blogs and see what beautiful creations they have for this week.  The links to their blogs are in the Left hand margin of this blog.  Also don't forget that we are looking for your Inspired Stamps Artwork, in the October Challenge.

Inspired Stamps Fun Fold Card Materials used:
Inspired Stamps Blessed Little Christmas
CTMH Materials used
Wonderland Paper Pack, Colonial White, Crystal Blue and  White Daisy Cardstock, Crystal Blue and Pacifica Inks,  CTMH Glitz Glitter Gel Stardust, CTMH Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge
Silver Ribbon from stash

Inspired Stamps Designers Choice

This week it is another Designers Choice week over at Inspired Stamps, so for my artwork I pulled out my current favotire stamp set His Plans for You and created this money holder card.  I intentionally kept it simple so it could be used for either a male card or a female card, with 4 boys in the house it seems I am always in need of  "Guy" cards.



Inside of Card

Wow, what a difference a week makes.  Last week's card took me 3 days to complete, and this week's card took me less than an hour to throw together.  I got my creativity back, thanks to a girl's play weekend with my niece and have been playing catch up.  I have so many other items in progress on my table that I almost forgot to get my Inspired Stamps card done for this week.  So I threw it together right before work one morning.  I love it when the Creativity is flowing. 


Card size: 8x3.5

Materials used Inspired Stamps His Plans for You
CTMH used - Roxie Paper Pack, White Daisy, and Black cardstock, Black and Desert Sand Ink.  Originals Card Confidence book for card design, Puzzle Backdrop pg 91, Licorice Opaques