Christmas with Mallory

Ohmygosh, I haven't made a layout since August. I can't believe I have allowed so much time to pass before making another one. After Mallory left this week, I was feeling blue so I made a layout about our Christmas time together. This one was made for the Sketch Relay over at Club Scrap. I used papers from the Michael Strong Joyful kit along with some Thickers purchased at Big Lots in Atascadero. Thanks for looking.

Merry Christmas

Bombshell Tussie Mussie

My good friend Farley threw down a December challenge to create some Tussie Mussies for the holidays. I will leave it to you to figure out where they came up with that name. My Mussie was assembled from a DCWV paper pad cut on my Silhouette and my new Bombshell Stamp, which I actually converted to a Print and Cut on the Silhouette. She's actually a Retro Cowgirl but I made her take off her Stetson and wear a Santa cap. Colored her with a combination of watercolor pencils and Ranger Distress Markers. Oh, and there's a bit of Stickles also, just cuz it's Christmas. Beads and fibers from Club Scrap. Border punch from Martha.

And here's a little detail shot also. Thanks, Farley, for challenging me to step outside my little box. I hope to make at least one more for the challenge before the Holiday season is over. This one, however, is also being posted at Simon Says Stamp and Show for their Gift-spiration challenge hosted by May Flaum, PaperArtistsOnline and Bombshell Stamps for their December Pin Up Challenge. You just know I had to multi-task.

Holiday Card Class - Sentiment Backgrounds

One more card from Day Nine of the Holiday Card Class. Same information as the card I posted on December 11. Still not crazy about the technique. Washi tape border and edge punch from Martha Stewart.

Holiday Card Class - Day Nine

Back to my Holiday Card Class. On Day Nine, Jennifer McGuire showed us how to create cards using Sentiment stamps. I wasn't overly fond of this technique and had very few sentiment stamps at the time the class was being held. However, thanks to a recent buying spree, I suddenly found myself the lucky owner of quite a few new Christmas sentiments. Still not crazy about the technique, but determined to try each of the techniques taught to us. This one uses materials from my Simon Says Stamp class as well as my scrap stash. The sentiment stamps are mostly from Simon Says Stamp with a few others thrown in for good measure. I don't think I will try this technique again. I used my Martha Stewart Cardinal punch on this one. Love that little guy.

Inspired by Tim's 12 Tags

Twelve months have gone by since Tim Holtz announced he would not be doing the Twelve Tags of Christmas in 2012. Instead, he was making a sensible decision to offer up one tag per month. Less frenzy at the end of the year. Unfortunately, despite my best intentions, I have not made ONE of his tags for 2012 until NOW. I finally attacked the December tag. Primarily because I recently became the proud owner of a set (well, who am I kidding?) both sets of blueprint stamps designed by Mario Rossi III. Love them. So I had to use the snowman, just like Tim, even though I only have the little version. I am loving this little 4x6 card, designed for a pocket scrapbook page. I used Distress Stains on the background and colored my snowman with Distress Markers and a little bit of Stickles. Tissue tape along the bottom beneath some old Heidi Swapp chipboard letters. The snowflake is an embellie from the ClubScrap Joyful kit. Tinsel also from Tim Holtz. I am very happy with this piece. I am posting it over at Simon Says Stamp and Show for their Challenge: Inspired by Tim's 12 Tags. Thanks for looking. 

Celebrate

A masculine card was needed for the Camaro-loving hubby of my Squirrely friend Nancy. I don't own any Camaro stamps but my hubby assured me that a Chevrolet man would be happy to have a different Chevrolet (as opposed to the Ford stamp I had pulled out....YIKES!). Anyway, it's a fairly simple card without a lot of bells and whistles but I did use a Distress Stain technique on the panel and embossed the copper panel with my favorite automotive embossing folder. Hope it was a great day, Mark. Despite the fact that you had to drive 150 miles.

Distressed Tree

Surprise! This one is not from Simon Says Stamp. It's another one for the Card Sketch over at Club Scrap. All materials are from Club Scrap kits with the exception of the tinsel from May Flaum and the triangle tree which is Bristol Smooth cut on Silhouette and then colored with Distress Stains. Yum. The banner was cut with my new Memory Box Simon Says Stamp die. Thanks for looking.

Triangle Tree

Yes, it's another card from my December Simon Says Stamp card kit. Enough said? I cut the triangles from various scraps on my table. All edges are inked with Distress Ink. With the exception of the two plain green triangles which are Club Scrap POPs, all materials are from Simon Says Stamp. Card is based upon a sketch from December Page Maps. Thanks for looking. 

Cool Christmas

Another cute and simple card using a gatefold card base from Club Scrap and my December Simon Says Stamp Card Kit called Everything is Merry. The adorable little penguin stamp is from my newest purchase from Penny Black called A Cool Christmas. It has several penguin images. Now you know why I had to own it. Simple and complete in under 30 minutes. There's a greeting on the back of the penguin label which says Have a Cool Christmas. Penguin was colored with a combination of watercolor pencils and Ranger Distress Markers.

Sending Holiday Cheer

Following May Flaum over at Camp Scrap: Holiday 2012 Edition, I created this Clean and Simple Card in under 30 minutes. Last week, I bought the adorable Hot Air Balloon die by Memory Box while shopping at the new location of Paper Garden. I have been itching to try it and this seemed like the perfect opportunity. All papers and the stamp are from the December Simon Says Stamp Card Kit. I'm telling you, ya really gotta check it out. Thanks for looking. 

Washi Tree

Ms.Nancy over at Squirrely Art has challenged us this month to make a card using the latest craze of washi tape. Up until I started receiving the Simon Says Stamp kits, I did not have one inch of washi tape. Now I have it all over the place. However, these strips are actually all from my weekly shopping experience at Target. Not sure they are actually washi but they are tape. This is one of those cards that I didn't have conceptualized before starting and then lost interest in before completing. It is what it is. They always look so much better in my head. Why is that? Card base, label and stamp are from the December Simon Says Stamp Card Kit. White panel is Bristol Smooth cut on the Silhouette allowing a tree to peek through. Faux stitches were applied using a template I bought eighty odd years ago and never used. Hooray. Used my stash.

Simon Says Stamp December Card Kit

Finally had the opportunity this weekend to dive into my December kit from the Simon Says Stamp Card Kit. Even though they offered a special Christmas kit, I had my fingers crossed that the regular December kit would also include a Christmas-y theme. And they did deliver. Love these papers from Pink Paislee. Lovely Christmas designs. It's so hard to go wrong with these kits. For this card, I followed the November/December Card Sketch over at Paperartistsonline. Simple but effective. Thanks for looking.

Merry

Time for a new card sketch over at Club Scrap. This month I challenged the members to create a tree shape on their card without using a stamp, rubber or digi. For my sample, I cut wonky triangles out of various green paper scraps, inked and stamped them with Club Scrap stamps and placed all over a card base and panel from All That Jazz. Thanks for looking. 

All items are from Club Scrap.