Merry Moments-A Cause for Celebration!

WARNING: PHOTO HEAVY POST!  No really... LOTS of photos!!!

Hello! I am having a little party in my studio today because I just did the impossible!! Well...almost impossible (for me especially).  I have completely finished a pack of Christmas paper! An entire pack has been used up!! Shocked?! I can hardly believe it myself!

If this is your first time visiting, I would like to clarify that I'm not crazy (my mother had me tested) and I do have a very good reason to celebrate.  You see, I am a bit of a paper hoarder (don't laugh at the understating of this issue if you're a regular) and since we moved into our new home, I have been working diligently to use my incredibly large supply of patterned paper.  A few years ago I celebrated using all of Ski Slope (a veeerrry retired pack of SU paper) and now I get to celebrate again as I have once again used an entire pack of paper.  Merry Moments has always been one of my favorites because it has such a wonderful vintage feel to it, and I have used it a lot in scrapbooking and card making.  After a recent perusing of my Christmas stash, I realized I didn't have a full sheet of any of these papers and that was all the incentive I needed to get busy and finish it off.  I'm not going to lie, it took an entire day of planning and positioning to do this, and I did feel a little sad that it's all gone, but now there is one less package of Christmas paper on the shelf and I'm even closer to having my Christmas cards done on time.

I know you didn't really come here to read my ramblings, so here are the SEVEN different things I created using the last of Merry Moments.

I had 1/2 sheets of these patterns and managed to make 10 cards from them!

I even used the tiny bits to make a quilt card and a little embellishment for 

either a card or a scrapbook page!

Here I used the biggest piece of paper, as well as some tiny strips to make

my scrapbook page.  This will eventually hold two or three photos.

I would love to say that this means that I can go buy more paper, but there is still a lot more on that shelf, and unless the paper is truly crying my name, I won't be buying anything new yet!  I've actually been eyeing the pack of Christmas Cocoa that only has 2 full sheets left and lots of bits and pieces... Who knows? I may be celebrating again really soon!

I hope this has inspired you to dig into your older papers and use them up! Have a fabulous day and thanks so much for stopping by to celebrate with me!

Monday is Merry!

 Hello!  My stash of Christmas cards is looking a bit empty and now that it's October, I'm getting a little worried that I may not be done on time!  I always think I'm going to make cards all summer long and then that never happens...  So today, I threw together some super simple and quick cards to add to my box of cards.

I love the fun patterns in Home for Christmas DSP and they make creating a quick card so easy.  All I needed was a little sentiment and some ribbon and these were together in no time!

 I used Warm Words for the sentiment on this one.  I absolutely love this sentiment set!!

I inked the set Reason for the Season for the first time with this card.  I'm itching to play with the poinsettias in this set!! So pretty!!

I'm thinking I'll be doing quite a few cards like this if I want to have all of my cards ready to go by December!  I'm counting the days until our fall break when DD2 and I can have some time to do fun things together and I'm hoping to squeeze in some creative time as well!  Only two more weeks!! 

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Card Recipes: Paper-real red, whisper white,  pool party, Home for Christmas DSP, Ink-pool party, real red, Stamp Sets-Warm Words, Reason for the Season, Joyous Celebrations, Accessories-large oval punch, pool party satin ribbon, gold glitter ribbon (from stash)

Flashback Friday- Getting Inky!

Hello! I'm apologizing in advance... Today's post is a little picture heavy, but I did include some cute, furry kitten photos so I hope I'm forgiven!  As I was making some phone calls and paying bills last week, I was grumbling to myself  that I really needed to get a little more organized with all of the papers that seem to accumulate when the girls go back to school.  Sign this, send in $ for that, be sure the choir gowns are altered by the first concert, return fundraiser information now...  It is enough to drive me batty some days!  Just as I was wondering what in the world I could find that would organize and I would actually use, Shadow's big ol' Lab tail knocked a clipboard off of a shelf.  I picked it up and was going to return it to the shelf when inspiration struck.  I should have taken a before picture, but didn't think of it until it was already painted.  The clipboard was one that I had bought to use for preschool and the kids helped 'decorate' it with stray marks from markers and pencils.  I gave the whole clipboard a good coat of off white acrylic paint.  As the paint was drying, I went to Pinterest to see what ideas I could borrow to make my new organization board.

I really wasn't in the mood for a neat and clean papered clipboard, of which there were TONS of photos.  I liked them, but didn't really want to do the whole paper thing.  I did however find some inspiration in a mini clipboard that was all inky and stamped-not my usual style, but it looked like a lot of fun!  

So I pulled out some of my favorite stamps, lots of ink pads, and got busy.  I'm not sure if it was the acrylic paint or the clipboard, but my bold browns were sucked right in, leaving behind a very muted design.  I really liked it, and quickly decided to exchange my subtle blues and greens for the stronger, brighter colors.  The funny thing was I would never have combined the different shades that I used, but they really worked well together once they were dry.  Then I went back and sponged some browns and blues, and a little vanilla for good measure.

When I finished, the chrome clip looked completely out of place! Can't have that!!  So I pulled out the vanilla flower trim and made it all inky as well.  The newsprint bird was a suggestion from my oldest DD, and I added some 'vintage' crochet ribbon to finish it off.

Now I just have to convince myself to clip important notes and paper on here.  Not an easy task since it will cover up all of the inky goodness, but maybe it will motivate me to take care of those papers so I can see the clipboard again.

I hadn't intended to share photos of the kittens, but they were weaving in and out of the table legs as I was trying to take my pictures.  I figured if they were feeling so photogenic, I should oblige.

Katniss decided to climb up my leg as I took her photo. Ouch!

Beauty was too busy swiping to sit still, but finally

I was able to capture this shot.

Where was Shadow during all of this?  Why, resting comfortably on the deck like a good dog.  I'm pretty sure he's convinced that we make way too much fuss over the silly cats who don't even have the courtesy to stay out of my pictures.  He does however make quite a big deal of strutting back into the house with me.  I'm certain he makes faces at them through the window as he enjoys his place inside.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend and find some time to play with your craft supplies too!

Project Recipe: Paper-very vanilla, First Edition DSP (ret), Stamp Sets-Faith in Nature (ret), Inspired by Nature (ret), Warm Words (ret), World Map, Ink-soft suede, early espresso, baked brown sugar, marina mist, not quite navy, night of navy, garden green, old olive, Accessories-bird builder punch, scallop oval punch, vanilla flower trim, Chantilly crochet trim

Anything But a Card Challenge 18- An ATC is HOW small??

It is time for week 2 of challenge 18 at Anything But a Card Challenges.  This challenge is to create an ATC (artist's trading card) which is a pretty open challenge as long as your art measures 2 1/2" x 3 1/2".  Susan has a lot of wonderful information about ATCs on the challenge site and there are some fabulous pieces being shared by the design team and fellow crafters linking up.  

I have a confession to make.  I have NEVER made an ATC before.  Yes... I know shocking! And honestly, I wasn't too concerned about this challenge until I tried to squeeze my big ideas onto my itty, bitty piece of paper (can you imagine me doing inchies??).  But once I started adjusting my thinking to pulling out my smaller stamps and embellishments, things fell into place and I ended up with two different ATCs.

This one looked a lot different in my mind, but for my very first

attempt, I kinda like it!  The picture frame was made with Sculpey 

and a silicone mold (this is not SU, but just wait until you see the 

new catalog, hint! hint!).  I attempted another watercolor, inky

type background, and it didn't really turn out how I wanted, so I 

stopped before it became really muddy and finished it with stamping

and embellishing.  The frame was painted with a gold acrylic and 

smeared with gold glitter glue.

I think of the two, this is my favorite.  Maybe it's just more in my

comfort zone, but I like the softer colors.  I stamped my image and 

sentiment and then added pastels to create the background. I really

like the effect of using the watercolor paper for this!

I really hope that you will share an ATC with us this week, even if you have never made one before! I am beginning to find that I have the most fun with this type of challenge, although I need to stop stressing over the finished product and just let the process happen and learn from my mistakes!

As I am posting this, it is a very rainy Saturday and our plans of attending a local Chalk Walk event have been postponed to next weekend.  So I am going to get out of here and try to do some crafty stuff at home! Have a wonderful week and happy crafting!

Flash Back Friday

Happy Friday!  I realize it is Friday the 13th, but since 13 tends to be a good number for me (married on 13th, child born on 13th, first home had 13 in the address), I don't buy into the whole 'bad things' superstition.  Besides, isn't any Friday a good day, regardless of the date!  I am a little sad that I have less than a month of summer vacation left...

Today, I have yet another Christmas card for you!  The good news is I made 3 other cards besides this one and now my Merry Moments is all but gone!  So while I will continue to make at least one Christmas card a week (trying to stay ahead!), there will be a lot more new products and a wider variety of cards, after the last three are posted!  

Once again, I've used a Merry Monday sketch-#9 to be exact.  This seemed to be a good sketch as well (still grumbling about the complete loss of mojo on #7!) and the ornament just seemed to be the perfect thing to put on the center panel!

The pattern I punched out is probably my favorite design out of the entire package.  I'm a little sad it's all  but gone, but I am sure I will find a new favorite to replace it! My Flash Back items are the DSP (obviously!) and the now retired snow burst embossing folder (still sad about this one...), and the stamp set.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend and are able to find a little time to be crafty!

Card Recipe: Cardstock-crumb cake, very vanilla, real red, Merry Moments DSP (ret), Ink-chocolate chip, Stamp Set-warm words, Accessories-snow burst folder (ret), perfect polka dots folder, ornament punch, bitty banners framelits, lucky limeade bakers twine, scallop trim border punch

A Vintage Christmas

Little by little my package of retired Christmas paper is going away, sniff...sniff... But the good news is that my pre-order items from the Holiday catalog have arrived!!  It has been so hard to resist breaking into those new goodies!  I do have a project planned for Saturday that will use some new things from the regular IB&C.  So if you're tired of seeing vacation scrapbook pages and Christmas cards, be sure to visit me on Saturday!

I used sketch #8 from Merry Monday and here's the wonderful part!  They are having a month long challenge to use their past sketches, so I can actually enter their current challenge!! Woo! Hoo!

I really loved this sketch and even managed to use up an oval scallop I had in my stash for the main image!  I also broke out the pastels for this one.  I think the soft color works so well with the vintage style.

I hope everyone is having a good week and finding some time to be crafty!  Thanks for stopping by!

Card Recipe: Cardstock-real red, very vanilla, Merry Moments DSP (ret), Ink-soft suede, black stazon, Stamp Sets- Bells and Boughs, Warm Words (ret), Accessories-Chantilly crochet trim, pastels, oval shape cut w/ cricut

The intervention...

Hello, my name is Margaret and I have a problem.  I started making Christmas cards about a month ago to use up my old Christmas DSP.  I thought I could handle it, just make a few cards, use up some old paper, and then I would stop.  I was in control... or so I thought.  I have recently come to realize that I have an addiction to creating Christmas cards.  I've even started looking at other old packages of  Christmas DSP, just to see what was there...  I knew I hit rock bottom when I became frustrated that I had to make a birthday card. "That won't use up my Christmas paper... I have to use up my Christmas paper!!"  So that's my story.  I am a Christmas card addict.  The saddest part of this is I will have to find a way to control my behavior.  After all, Christmas is an annual holiday, and there will always be new DSP to buy, therefore making my current DSP old.  It's a vicious cycle...  But I can change... if I have to...I guess...

All silliness aside, I am really enjoying making my cards early (gasp!) and I was so excited when I realized I only had two full sheets and some little scraps left of my Merry Moments paper.  Bring on the new paper!!  

I once again used a Merry Monday sketch for my cards.  I'm just obsessive enough to feel that I need to do the sketches in order, but really would have liked to skip this one.  It was a wonderful sketch and I had this brilliant card pictured in my head, but when I attempted to put my vision to paper, I did not love it.  So I decided to try the sketch again with a different idea.  Not overly crazy with that one either...  But I finished the sketch and the next few are very basic and I think they will be a lot easier for me to use.  So here are both of my cards using sketch #7 from Merry Monday.  

   

My initial plan was for the cardinal to be resting on the branch, but it just didn't look right.  I also thought the background would be less bare and more 'forest-like' with the pine tree images.  I just feel like the whole vision fell short of what I wanted...

First of all... apologies for the washed out image... grr...

I decided to go a completely different route with this one.  I wanted to use the shaker frame, but didn't want to actually have a shaker card (confusing, I know).  So I stamped my image twice, added dazzling details to the bottom image and then layered the second image on top.  I think I would have been happier with this one if I had embossed the red background.

So do you ever have this problem?  Finishing a card and then really not liking it?  

Hope everyone has a fabulous rest of the weekend! Happy crafting!

Card Recipe #1-Cardstock-old olive, very vanilla, real red, Merry Memories DSP(ret), Ink-chocolate chip, old olive, Stamp Sets- Lovely as a Tree, Bells and Boughs, Language of Friendship, Punches-scallop oval, scallop circle, bird builder

Card Recipe #2-Cardstock-real red, very vanilla, garden green, Merry Memories DSP, Ink-real red, asst. markers, Stamp Sets- Sweet Snowglobe (ret), Warm Words (ret), Punches-1 3/4" circle, large oval, scallop oval, Accessories-dazzling details, shaker frame

Clean And Simple

Another challenge card! This is for the sketch challenge at Clean and Simple Stamping.  I love the sketch, but seemed to have a hard time getting it to come together... I finally decided on an image and then it went a little better (I'm thinking lack of mojo today...) Stampin' Up supplies used were Warm Words (sentiment), brilliant blue (ret.), real red, and very vanilla card stock.  The DSP is from Merry Moments (also retired). It is actually Christmas paper, but it reminded me of a man's handkerchief. The main image is stamped with black Stazon and the sentiment is brilliant blue ink. The image is colored with copics.