Should auld acquaintance be forgot....

My last card of 2013. Hope you are enjoying your evening. This card was made with a set of clock stamps in my stash as well as cardstock from the Club Scrap Up Up & Away kit from February of this year. The sketch I have used is #205  from Operation Write Home. 

For 2014, the Squirrels have challenged one another to use our stash. My way of dealing with this knotty issue is to schedule a different theme for each month. For years I have been collecting paper, stickers, dies, stencils, stamps and who knows what else featuring hot air balloons. My intention is to try to use all that stash on layouts and cards in January. So you will be seeing a lot of balloons in the coming month. I hope it doesn't bore you to tears but I am so wanting to use these things rather than continue to hoard them. And this seemed like a fun challenging way to do it. You may see a helium balloon now and then also. I realize I have jumped the gun a bit but I was so ready to stop making Christmas cards that I just had to move on. I hope you can indulge me in this little game. Thanks for visiting me and hope to see you soon in 2014 (if my balloon caper hasn't scared you off).

The Love Lasts Forever

My hubby's good buddy Ed was celebrating his 44th anniversary of marriage with wife Karen this month. Another card was requested. This one uses my favorite stamp set from mine from Papertrey Ink called Shutterbug Special. I guess you can deduce why I love this stamp. Papers used are from DCWV. The card allows for an interactive pull tab to include a greeting. Hubby requested the 44 in the corner. I think I could have been happy without it. The couple loved the card. Thanks for stopping by.

What Does the Fox Say????

Another birthday for another Squirrel hubby, this time the dear husband of good friend Farley. Farley indulges me with my silliness over this Norwegian hit song of 2013. I had to make a card using this adorable fox from the Silhouette. Papers are from a Simon Says Stamp card kit. Text is computer generated. Inks are all Distress Ink. So...what does the fox say???? Happy Belated Birthday, Bob!

Roll Out the Barrel....

Now that Christmas has passed, I would like to share a few cards I made for December events which didn't really qualify for my flurry of holiday card postings. This first one was for the hubby of my good friend and fellow Squirrel Nancy. He celebrated his birthday earlier this month. He shares our interest and taste for craft beers so I felt a card like this would be only appropriate. I cut the beer glass card on the Silhouette and colored all the pieces with Distress Inks. Of course, I had to put a bit of Stickles on the wonderful head. Belated Happy Birthday to you, Mark. 

There's No Place Like Gnome for the Holidays

One last card for the Holiday Season of 2013. This one uses digital graphics and text from the Club Scrap Gnome for the Holidays collection. I cut the snow globe shape on the Silhouette with transparency sheet and used Adirondack Pearl Dabber to create the snow, along with a sprinkling of glitter. I must admit I grabbed this gnome globe idea from fellow Club Scrapper Hetty in the Netherlands. Silhouette pieces were all colored with Distress Inks before assembling. The sentiment inside says There's no place like Gnome for the Holidays. Thanks for looking at all of these cards. Happy Holidays to you.

Merry Christmas

One last Christmas Flip It card for 2013. This one uses the paper stack from DCWV along with a cute Santa stamp recently acquired from my friend Toni Hinchcliffe of Close To My Heart. Still loving those dies from Stephanie Barnard and I'm dangerously close to ordering another one. They are addictive. Hope you are having a wonderful holiday season and enjoyed my meager effort to decorate the season, one card at a time.

Heavy Metal Flip It

What was I thinking??? I bought these metal embellishments over ten years ago, sharing the packages with my friend Susan and have been hoarding them, carefully meting out a couple each year. I thought the three circles of the Flip It card would be a fabulous place to feature three of them. However, it does make the card extremely heavy and there's no way on earth it will stand up. Oh, well, it looks very nice. Paper supplies from Simon Says Stamp Warm Winter Wishes card kit. The metal thingies are so old I'm not sure but I think they were made by Making Memories back in the day. Thanks for dropping by. 

Waninyatu Wiyuskinyan na Omaka Teca yuhabpo!

My niece Lexi and nephew John generously agreed to donate the gift I would have given them for Christmas to the children at St. Joseph's Indian School in Chamberlain, SD. In honor of this selfless gift, I created a Christmas card with an Indian flair to give to them. It isn't overly Christmas-y but does include the same colors and papers used on some of my other Christmas cards. I couldn't wait for the opportunity to combine my Dreamcatcher die from Cheery Lynn with the Stephanie Barnard Flip It card die. I love the result. Inside is a holiday greeting in the Lakota language. Thanks for looking.

Winter

This card was made using a stamp I bought last year but had never used. YAY! Using my stash. 

It's a lovely collage stamp from Memory Box. I stamped it on Bristol cardstock and Stickled the pine cones. The cardinal is my Martha Stewart punch (also Stickled) covering a different nondescript bird on the stamp. I just have to use as many cardinals as I can. I am posting this card in honor of the first day of Winter. The paper panel is from the 2012 Simon Says Stamp December card kit. Thanks for visiting.

Merry Kissmas Redux

Another card made using the Operation Write Home Sketch #202. Still working on that Simon Says Stamp kit Warm Winter Wishes. Hearts were cut with a die set from My Favorite Things. Stickles were used, of course. It wouldn't be Christmas without Stickles. 

Happy Bird-day

This card is a bit of a cheater. It's not actually a Christmas card but it certainly has a holiday appearance. My Mom's 79th birthday is today and it certainly is a wintry time of year to celebrate a birthday. Since she lives in Kentucky, I wanted to use a cardinal theme. This cardinal is from one of my favorite companies Northwoods Rubber Stamps. I also wanted to try the chalkboard technique which is so popular now. Paper used is from the Simon Says Stamp December 2012 kit. The little cardinal was punched with my Martha Stewart cardinal punch. Happy birthday, Mom!!!

Joy and Poinsettias

Another Joy card made in Cincinnati. Simple stamping with some bling. Can't provide any details. Sorry.

A Partridge and a Pear Tree

Another card from that 2011 card class at Stamp Your Art Out in Cincinnati. Unfortunately, I have no details on the supplies or technique used. I do love the stamp. If you recognize it, let me know. Thanks for stopping by.

Merry and Bright

Yet another card created from Simon Says Stamp's Warm Holiday Wishes kit. The embossing was done with a Spellbinders folder. I copied an idea from Nicol Magourik to make the rounded edge on the card and I really like it. The stamp is from a Darcie set. The Tree die cut with Papertrey Ink Christmas Tree die.

Joy

Believe it or not, I made this card in 2011 at Stamp Your Art Out in Cincinnati during a class with my sister. Buried it upon my return home and just relocated it. I can't give you any details on the materials or techniques. Sorry. But it is a nice card and I will be happy to have another hand made card to send this year. Thanks for looking.

Operation Write Home #202

This card was made using the weekly sketch #202 from Operation Write Home. The supplies are from the same Simon Says Stamp kit I've been using. Rudy was punched with a Quickutz die and dressed up with Stickles. As usual. Panel was embossed with a Valentine theme embossing folder from Spellbinders. Edges inked with white ink from Club Scrap. The deadline for the sketch is tomorrow so I'm going to have to post my daily card a little early. 

Another Snowflake Flip-It

Back to that Flip-It from Stephanie Barnard. And the same DCWV Merry Christmas stack. This time the patterned paper is a red theme. The snowflake was cut from glitter paper using a Spellbinders die set. Can you tell how much I adore these Framelits. Thanks for taking a look.

A Cardinal Christmas

Another blast from the past. Another Christmas card I evidently loved too much to mail away. Honestly, this is one of my favorite cards I have ever made. I think I wanted to hang onto it until I created a few more in the same style. All paper is from Club Scrap. The beautiful cardinal was cut on my Silhouette. White panel embossed on Cuttlebug. Love this card. I may have to let it go this year. What do you think???

Warm Holiday Wishes Revisited

Another version of a card I previously posted. Same Simon Says Stamp card kit. But everything went wrong on this one. Rather than using ink, I tried using a Memories Mist in Whipped Cream, thinking it would create a snowy effect. I don't know if mine has deteriorated or what, but as you may be able to see, it made a very faint design of the snowflake stencil but nothing more. It does provide a subtle image IRL so I decided to keep it, use the same stamp over it and then add some snowflakes from another stamp set. Also, the Memories Mist made a few unsightly marks on the card which I attempted to disguise with some drops of Diamond Stickles. A piece of ribbon and the kraft card base from Recollections. A card with many mistakes but I was still able to salvage it. Thanks for bearing with me. 

Stitched Tree

This is a card I made for a Christmas past and never got mailed. In order to stay up with my plan to post a card a day this month, I'm going to have to dig deep. So here you go. This card was made with all Club Scrap materials and stamps. Just shapes cut by hand and assembled to make another wonky tree. Stickles on the star.Thanks for looking.

Wonky Tree

Yep, we're still working on the Simon Says Stamp December card kit. I got my inspiration from Lin of Sending Hugs who made a wonky tree with scraps. Mine is a little bit different but I am quite happy with it. I guess I like wonky things. The star was cut with a Stephanie Barnard Sizzix die. The circles from dies from My Favorite Things. Everything else is from the kit except for scraps from my stash. Thanks for looking.

Merry Kissmas

Still working on my Simon Says Stamp December kit. Once again, I used the old Quickutz Vixen reindeer. He's so cute. The card base is from Recollections. All other supplies from the kit. Thanks so much for dropping by.

Twenty Five

Another card from my Simon Says Stamp December card kit. This time I used a piece of the Doodlebug paper and, again, that adorable little snowflake stencil. Another card directly copied from an expert, Sarah J. Moerman, who usually provides card samples for these kits. I copied her very closely, however, my washi tape peeled off before I could even photograph the card so off it stays. I like it fine as it is. A little bit of Christmas red Stickles on the numbers and the card is ready to fly.

Warm Holiday Wishes

Finally broke into my December Simon Says Stamp card kit. Love the paper provided in this kit, but my first card was a direct CASE from Kinsale Creations using only the stencil and stamp supplied by SSS. I used my favorite white ink from Club Scrap and brushed it on with a round applicator. The negative image is what you see. Or is that the positive? Anyway, I love the results. A little piece of ribbon from a past kit and card base from Recollections. Simple but sweet.

Happy St. Nick's Day

Still playing with that Flip-It from Stephanie Barnard. And the same DCWV Merry Christmas stack. The snowflake was cut from glitter paper using a Spellbinders die set. Sorry to be repetitive but I adore these Framelits. Thanks for stopping by.

Rudolph Flip-it

Back to my beloved Framelit Flip-It from Stephanie Barnard. Love it. So simple to put together a card with a big impact. For this one I used a past Merry Christmas stack from DCWV and my old Vixen Quickutz die to paper piece Rudolph. So adorable. 

Holiday Wishes

Here we are on the 4th day of December and a fourth card for you to enjoy. How long can I sustain??? This one was made very simply with a fun stamp set from Papertrey Ink called Tree Trimming Trio. You may see more of it. Cardstock from my stash. Thanks for taking a look.

Warm Winter Wishes

I realize this has been posted previously but I want to stay on track with my 25 Days of Christmas card presentation. Sooooo, this one is getting a curtain call. It was the third Holiday card I made this year and it is a favorite. Stamps are Papertrey Ink. Cardstock is Club Scrap. Thanks for looking. 

Snowflake Flip It Card

Second holiday card created this year. Used my Stephanie Barnard Sizzix Flip it die along with products from last year's Simon Says Stamp card kit. Thanks for looking. 

Merriest Christmas Wishes

This is the first card I made this year for the Holiday Season. It's a direct copy of one made by Farley using paper from a recent Simon Says Stamp kit and my old Martha Stewart cardinal punch. Apertures were cut with circle dies from My Favorite Things. Stickles may have been applied. Thank you for looking.