Silly Santa

I think I am going to send this card to Santa after Christmas this year.  Looks like he's already in his PJ's and ready to hit the sack after a long hard night.  I had a word with Mrs. Claus and she told me that after Christmas Eve, Santa wasn't willing to pull on one more outfit of red, so his pajamas are anything but..
.
I colored my sleepy Santa, a newly released QKD stamp from Sandra Caldwell called Silly Santa, with my Copic markers and colored his PJ's GREEN so he could rest in peaceful slumber.  I decided to try an "infinity frame" theme for my card, but ended up with only three layers!  Oh well, one person's infinity is not as long as the next person's...

I kept my card clean and simple, with just a white snowflake and some jewels for embellishment.  This card will go through the post office easily with just one stamp, so I might just send a couple of these out to some friends as well as Santa!

I love to play with Sandra's images!  You will too, so go check them out at the QKD Shoppe!!

One Crafter's Trash is Another Crafter's Treasure

At least, that's what the basis was for a challenge I participate in at my Yahoo Group, Your Scrapbook Place!  We were partnered and sent each other the leftovers off our craft table.  I received a lot of leftover papers and a diecut or two, and since I am still in a "thankful" frame of mind, I made a Thank You card!

I was able to use three pieces of patterned papers to attach to a brown cardstock base.  I also cut the wings off a huge diecut bug and presto change-o, they became flourishes!  I added a piece of my own leftover orange border,the sentiment circle, and a bit of leftover lace.  I finished off my card with a tiny piece of ribbon from the swap, and my thank you card, although it is missing a lot of bells and whistles, is done!  And sometimes, it's nice to work without all those bells and whistles--sometimes they get in the way!! LOL
So remember, crafters, waste not, want not!!  Next time you're ready to brush those snippets and strays into the trash can, why don't you package it all up and challenge a friend?

Oldie but Goodie

Every Thanksgiving, I call a few select people and tell them how grateful I am that they are in my life.  Some people have been there for as far back as I can remember.  Others just made their appearance recently.  Regardless, they made a difference in my life, and I am grateful
This is the inspiration that helped me create this card today for the new Squigglefly Challenge Blog.  The challenge this week is to use an image that's been stored in your computer for a while, one that you used once or twice, but not recently.

I printed up an image called Patchwork Apple by artist Fawn Palmer.  I decided that my card should be cut in the shape of the apple image, so I adhered it onto red cardstock and cut around it.  That's when the fun began!  I used a mix of Copics and Spectrum Noir markers to bring my Patchwork Apple to life.  Once colored, I made it sparkle with sequins, glitter and jewels.  To give it the final Fall touch, I popped on a Harvest sentiment and tied a bit of fiber to the apple's stem.
I had fun "unearthing" an oldie but goodie, and I bet you will too!  If you use a Squigglefly image, go post it on the Squigglefly Challenge Blog for your chance to win!!

Reindeer Favors with a Favorite Reindeer

I get to host Christmas Dinner every year.  Anywhere from 12 to 25 family members are invited, and sometimes I invite the stray neighbor, cousin, in-law or friend to join in the festivities.
I always try to come up with a cute favor for each person, and this year I decided to run with a favor box of treats showcasing a QKD stamped image called Rudolph Decor from our very own Coriander Shea.
As soon as I stamped and colored this fur ball of fun, I knew I had to glitz up his Christmas lights with Stickles for that added shine that every Christmas begs for.  I fussy-cut the image and popped him onto my plain brown box, after first inking the edges and adding a white Christmas tree border.  I cut this border with my new punch system from CTMH.  Since the embellishments are minimal, I added some ink to the front panel behind Rudolph.
I originally wanted to use just the dark brown raffia to tie up my boxes, but that red and green dash of color works well.  I think my guests will get a kick out of these cute boxes.
For more Christmas fun, check out Coriander's newest releases, as well as all the rest of her awesome stamps, at the QKD Shoppe!!

Good night, Santa!

Hello, crafters!  Yesterday I didn't think my workday would ever end, so last night I made a circle-shaped card to match my mood (because a circle has no end)!  I used a brand spankin' new November release stamped image by the very talented Sandra Caldwell.  It's called Silly Santa, and it is too darn cute!!
He looks like he has just finished his nightlong rounds of delivering packages around the world; hence, the dazed and confused look on his face and his half-shut eyes!!
After coloring my image with Copics, I decided to give his old gray hairs some shine with Stickles.  I "framed" my colored image by using a Copic and coloring a border around the circular edge, then popping it onto my card base to which I had already attached some Christmas Basic Grey patterned paper.  A few leftover jingle bells from a diecut border finishes off the bottom half of my card, while a jeweled mini border and a clothespin Christmas tree embellishment take care of the rest of the card.
My sentiment inside reads:  "Around the world in 12 hours or less makes for happy children and one tired Santa!  Have a peaceful Christmas Day!"
For more of Sandra's images, check out the Shoppe!!

If Wishes Were Candy

If wishes were candy I would weigh a ton!!  I have made so many wish lists--health wishes, money wishes, family wishes, stupid wishes, generous wishes--that I'd never want to see a sticky piece of chocolate or a chewy bit of caramel ever again! LOL!

Meanwhile, I have a yummy Wish list to show you, made with one of the newer Squigglefly images called A Gingerbread House by Jane Beljo.
The project is a cardstock booklet that is stapled together and embellished with patterned papers, jewels, stickers and rub-on words AND one very important embellishments for this week's Squigglefly Challenge - a BOW!!
But let's get back to the main image.  I paper-pieced part of it and used my Copics for the rest, with a little CTMH Liquid Glass for shine and a bit of Stickles for glimmer.  I had small leftover pieces of Christmas patterned papers to set a scene behind the house, then dimensionally adhered the image to the background.  I added a few sticker snowballs for a warm look to the chimney (sometimes when I look at this I see snowballs popping out of it like a Nerf gun).
I used leftover word rub-ons for my title, and than wound ribbon around the edge and tied it with a bow (a magnificent bow if I say so myself!!).
This little booklet holds my grandkids' wish lists, and I keep it in my purse at all time, so that if I make an unplanned trip to the store, I know what I need to look for!  It only has about six pages, which is just enough for my newly-added poppets and an extra page for my teen daughter.  Small and thin, it takes up no space but has a lot of impact for my Christmas shopping.  AND it follows the Squigglefly Challenge this week.  It's a win-win project!!

'tis the Season to Make Tags

Now that Halloween is over, my mind is churning with cards and tags and favors and projects for Christmas.  Today I wanted to use a new November-release QKD stamp from artist Crystal Moore called Solar Plexus.  I decided to make a Christmas tag.

I started with a wooden tag for the base and used distress inks in green and red.   I stamped Solar Plexus in black and colored in parts with red and green Spectrum Noir markers.
I chose a Tim Holtz' Ideology Word Band that reads: "Encourage your hopes, Not your fears" and wired it onto the tag.  I added a few Skittles, a vintage button and some greenery with a flower.  I decided that since it is a Christmas tag, it needed a little sparkle, so I used Stickle on parts of the stamped image.
I finished off my tag with a bit of lace on the bottom edge, and some fiber at the top.
I hope you check out more of Crystal's stamps at the QKD SHOPPE.