Happy Thanksgiving CCC12

It's time for another Creative Challenge Club and this week was a color challenge with a bonus to make it holiday related. I chose Thanksgiving for my Holiday to help kick out the cards I need to send to grandparents and long-distance close friends who we don't see very often.

It's a nice way to let someone know you are grateful for them and thinking about them even though you can't always see one another!

Here is what I came up with:

Isn't it just the sweetest!?!

I just love those mini envelopes with the Old Olive hearts! 

I cased the idea from http://createwithkaitlyn.blogspot.com/2013/10/mondaymontage4.html.

Kaitlyn is on the Artisan Design Team for Stampin' Up! and comes with with the most amazing paper crafting projects using Stampin' Up! products. 

As explained on her blog the envelopes are made by cutting DSP to 1-78" square and then using the simply scored board fitted with the diagonal plate, score at 1", turn, score at 3/4", turn, 1", turn, and once again score at 3/4". Simple, huh?

I added some hugs and kisses peaking out of one of the envelopes. 

Do you do OXOX or XOXO? 

My husband thinks I'm weird for doing OXOX. :)

Ever wish embossing powder came in EVERY SINGLE COLOR of Stampin' Up!'s colors?

You can fake it by inking up your stamp in Versa Mark (don't stamp yet!), then inking up in your color of choice and stamping on your paper. Add clear or iridescent ice embossing powder and then heat set.

Now you have a perfectly embossed image in any color you want!

I also picked that tip up from the blog listed above!

And I know you know by now that I like to add a little love to the inside of my cards.

And it almost always involves embossing.

I embossed the & sign using the same technique as explained above. 

Stamped on Marina Mist card stock I got a totally different look than I got on Whisper White card stock.

If you make something using this week's challenge, don't forget to link up by Sunday for a chance to win $10 in Stampin' Up! product. :)

Here's What I used:

Marina Mist CS

Old Olive CS

Soft Suede CS

"Vintage" DSP

PL Remember This Photopolymer Stamp Set

Tags 4 You Clear Mount (with coordinating punch)

Something to Say Clear Mount Stamp Set (for the heart)

Linen Thread

Embossing Folder (Vintage, I believe)

Iridecent Ice embossing powder

Happy Stamping!

 I lOVE sharing what I make with you! If you would like to use any of my pictures on your own blog, please directly link back to me and give Christina Thurlow credit!

Thanks!!!

A Note Of Thanks

Our oldest son turned 7 at the end of August!

He had a great birthday and received so many legos and even a little spending money, in which he bought more legos! ha!

As I was doing some final organizing of my craft room (my scrap drawers are finished and in place!) I came across a stack of Crumb Cake card stock in sizes too large for my scrap drawers for too small for my full size card stock storage unit.

At first I was unsure what to do with them and then an idea hit me to make some simple 3.5" X 5" Thank You note cards for our son to write his own Thank You Notes.

I stamped the "A Note Of Thanks" stamp in Pacific Point at the top of the card and our little man's initials on the bottom right corner, also in Pacific Point. 

(He likes bright blue so I knew this color would make him happy!)

He already filled out his first Thank You Note to Auntie Syrup and Uncle Pancake (yup, there is a story behind the names but for some other time! haha)

I love seeing my children's sweet handwriting on paper!

Happy Stamping!

 I lOVE sharing what I make with you! If you would like to use any of my pictures on your own blog, please directly link back to me and give Christina Thurlow credit!

Thanks!!!

Happy Thanksgiving for CCC11

We've been off school this week on vacation and having a wonderful time taking day trips to the Blue Bell Ice Cream Factory, an Exotic Zoo in Johnson City, Texas, eating out, doing a little yard clean-up and best of all just relaxing together as a family!

The Creative Challenge Club this week is a color challenge and wow did it leave me stumped!

For several days I had mixed emotions about what I came up with but I think it's growing on me the longer it sits on my desk. ha!

I'll jump right in and share what I came up with:

 (Sorry for the slightly blurry picture and shadow!)

I started off with a card base in Crushed Curry and layered on some DSP featuring Island Indigo and Whisper White. I embossed the "vintage" tree in white on water color paper and then did a water color wash of Island Indigo (bottom), Crushed Curry (middle), and Pumpkin (top). Using my sewing machine I did a little machine stitching three times around the edge of the water color paper, scuffed the edge with my finger nail to roughen it up a bit and curled the top right edge over on itself. The sentiment is cropped with the banner framelits and clipped on with a mini paper clip with a knot of Island Indigo ribbon tied to it. 

Here's the Banner for this week's challenge:

If you create a card using the color challenge don't forget to link up for a chance to win free Stampin' Up! product. See their website for details!

Happing Stamping!

 I lOVE sharing what I make with you! If you would like to use any of my pictures on your own blog, please directly link back to me and give Christina Thurlow credit!

Thanks!!!

A BIG Happy Birthday

On Tuesday I shared our God daughter's birthday card and today I am sharing a card for her big brother! I did my best to keep this clean and simple but in the end couldn't resist layering in stamps and color and doing some embossing on the inside of the card. 

I'm not so sure it would qualify as "clean and simple" any more but for my usual style it is!

 Inside:

I think it will bring a smile to a little boy's face!!

As a bonus picture for you today, here are all of the September birthday and 1 just because cards that I have sitting out on my desk, ready to be signed, stamped and delivered!

Tip: Set a reminder on your phone mid-month to get cards and gifts ready for the following month. 

And hopefully never be late again (unless you have a really cute "late" birthday stamp that you wanna use! ha!)

Happy Stamping!

Driving By Birthday Card and CCC10

It's been 10 weeks with the Creative Challenge Club and I haven't missed one yet!

This week's sketch was nice and simple and I did my best to keep it that way!

Here is what I came up with:

I am in love with that old truck stamp. The set is long gone and honestly I think the greetings are a bit cheesy for my taste but I love that truck so the  set is here to stay!

This card is for our God daughter's second birthday so what is "cheesy" to me I'm sure will make a little girl smile!

I stamped the truck, added the lady as a driver (me? ha!) and stamped some unexpected puppy dogs in the back. 

The faux stitching is done with a silver gel pen.

 And as always, don't forget to give the inside of your cards a little love!

I punched 2 banners with the banner punch and embossed the "happy birthday" in white to make sure it popped off the rich razzleberry card stock.

Wanna play along with this week's sketch?

If you make a card using this sketch by Sunday, be sure to link it up for a chance to win a $10 shopping spree at Stampin' Up!

Details can be found here:

http://creativechallengeclubs.blogspot.com

Happy Stamping!

 I lOVE sharing what I make with you! If you would like to use any of my pictures on your own blog, please directly link back to me and give Christina Thurlow credit!

Thanks!!!

"Vintage" DSP and CCC09

Repeat after me:

I refuse to be wasteful and not use up my retired DSP even though I have shiny brand new product starring me down saying "Pick Me! Pick Me!"

I've been organizing my stamp room and realized I MUST use up some of the retired card stock and DSP if I'm going to keep buying the new stuff. 

What better way to use up some product fast than stamp a stack of cards to give to someone!

That is exactly what I did!

I'm linking up to the Creative Challenge Club with today's project!

Check it out, make something beautiful, link-up by Sunday, and have a chance to win $$ to spend on Stampin' Up! products!

Here is this weeks sketch:

And here is my birthday gift for my sweet Mema!

 I love this designer series paper! 

It is called Beau Chateau and I just love those roosters. To be honest it was the roosters that sold me on the paper!

I kept things simple with a piece of DSP cut at 3-3/4" by 5" layered on top of my Baja Breeze (another "vintage" item) card base. Added a band of DSP matted with basic black across the front of the card. I really think the black grounds the card and gives it a fresher look.

The circle stamp is embossed in gold for a little shine. It is from the Kind and Cozy stamp set.

I love that little chair. It is also retired and I'm so happy I got my hands on it before it went away. 

There is something relaxing and warming like an old wooden chair. Like a comforting hug!

I flagged both ends of the "happy birthday" and added a star sequins for an unexpected pop of color and shape.

 The inside greeting is stamped and cropped out with the decorative label punch. I sponged the edges with crumb cake.

And now for the fun part (not that making the cards wasn't fun but I love wrapping a pretty gift just as much!)!!! 

I created a belly band with a brown paper gift bag (from the current catalog) and layered a doily on top. On top of the doily is a small 3"x3" card tucked inside a custom envelope made with my envelope punch board. A tag-a-bag builder tag sits on top of the envelop with a little washi tape holding it in place. The whole thing is wrapped up in some wisteria wonder bakers twine that I picked up from the clearance rack and to finish the whole project off I couldn't resist a hello honey mini wooden clothes pin!

I love how all of the patterns and colors and textures play together and hope my Mema loves it!

(I know she will!)

Happy Stampin!

 I lOVE sharing what I make with you! If you would like to use any of my pictures on your own blog, please directly link back to me and give Christina Thurlow credit!

Thanks!!!

You Are Awesome!

Hey there, Rock Star!

Is there no limit to you AWESOMENESS?

I didn't think so!

 I made this super fun and simple card over the weekend.

I was in my craft room cleaning up and organizing and found myself stamping instead!

Does that ever happen to you?

I sponged crumb cake on the edges of the ovalish shape that I die cut.

Cropped 2 banner punch flags out of gold glimmer paper and did some faux stitching around the edge of the DSP. All mounted on crumb cake card stock with rounded edges and then on a blushing bride card base.

The inside of my card got a little stampin' love as well!

This card already has a place to go and won't even make it to my box of cards!

Happy Stampin'!

Get Well Wishes and Feathers

Earlier this week I mentioned I finally jumped on the feather band wagon and I'm so happy I did!

Feathers are so fun and easy to make and depending on the size and colors you choose you can really change up the mood and tone of your card. 

This time I used darker deeper colors from Stampin' Up's Regals color family for this get well card for my Dad. He is having surgery this week so hopefully this card will be a welcome in his mailbox when he gets home afterwards! :)

On the card I posted Tuesday I mentioned I used a circle punch to crop the feathers. 

This time I free handed them! Sounds hard? It really wasn't! 

I first cut my paper to the length I wanted them and then starting at one end started cutting the shape.

I scored them down the middle and use my paper snips to make little cuts along the edge.

I love texture and these feathers have a lot of it! After I cut the feathers out I took full size ink pads and "stamped" the pad onto the feathers to add a little color and texture. I think it really brings them to life!

And no card is complete without something on the inside!

I thought this stamped was perfect for someone who was going to be in recovery mode, not able to do the things they love to do for several weeks! :)

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Stampin'!

Feather Card and CCC08

I have a bright and happy card for this weeks Creative Challenge Club!

Feathers are so popular in card making right now and I'm so glad I joined in on the trend.

Here's our sketch for the week:

This sketch is so clean and simple and I love it! I had so much fun coming up with my card and love how it turned out.

I knew when I saw the sketch that I wanted to use the "Life Doesn't Have To Be Perfect To Be Wonderful" stamp by Stampin' Up! I haven't used it yet and just knew it would be a perfect fit for this challenge.

I used a circle punch to crop the feather shapes, scored a line down the middle and then used my paper snips to turn the simple shape into a feather! 

I thought I was being so clever at first by using my fringe scissors but they didn't work as I had hoped for this. Just so ya know!

The inside of this card even got a little attention. I love stamping on the insides of my card and this was no exception. It got a great big star stamp AND a stamped and die cut start layered over as well. I have this thing about doing things in odd numbers but broke my rule with the stars. For some reason 2 stars seemed perfect and 3 would-have could-have been too much!

To finished it off I made a custom envelope with my envelope punch board, added a little washi tape action to the front and already know who this card is going to!

Hope it brightens their day!

Don't forget to upload your cards to the Creative Challenge Club (like at the top). They do a prize when they have 20 or more entries!

Happy Stampin'!

The Perfect Man Card

For today's card I cased it from one of my favorite Stampin' Up! Blogs. 

Justin is so talented and I'm always excited to see what he has to share each and every day! 

Go visit him from day after day of creative inspiration!

The Greeting:

I know Valentine's Day isn't on anyones radar right now.

It's not even on mine but when I was making this card this stamp was calling my name!

Lucky for me, I'm super ahead of the game by already having a Valentine's Day card ready for my husband come February 14, 2015!

GO ME!

Happy Stamping!

CCC07 and AWESOMENESS

 This weeks challenge was another color challenge.

Let me just say this wasn't a combination I would have picked. I guess it's what makes a "challenge" a challenge. It's good to be stretched a little every now and again.

And now for my card:

I do love how all of the colors, elements and textures look and work together. 

When stamping the leaves for this flower I so badly wanted to cheat and add in an extra color. How else would I get a two-tone leaf without an extra color? 

I'm happy to report I didn't have to cheat when I remembered the stamping off technique. 

If you are new to stamping or never heard of this it is really simple.

Ink up your stamp, stamp off on scratch paper and then stamp onto your card. It produces a lighter shade of the ink color. 

On top of the lighter shade of ink I stamped the Pear Pizzaz without stamping off. 

Isn't the texture AWESOME looking on the Wistera Wonder (bottom layer) layer of my flower? I don't have a full size pad (or ink spot for that matter) of Wistera Wonder but happened to pick up a maker from the clearance rack in my last order. I colored the back of the stamp scribbling the ink on, stamped onto my paper and this is what I got! I love it! Wish I could say I knew it would come out that way! 

That's about it!

Happy Stamping!!!

Confetti Card

You guessed it!

I made another confetti card like I showed you on Tuesday. 

This one uses different colors and a different Stampin' Up! stamp set but is just as happy and fun!

 The inside has "BIRTHDAY" stamped 3 times (sorry to state the obvious) and is the perfect finishing touch to this Happy Card!

Happy Stamping and Happy August! 

Congratulations Baby Card

 I love how this card turned out!

Do you see anything different about it?

Are you wondering where the fancy circle came from?

What die it is from?

 Its from the Labels Collection framelits and so simple to crop.

All you do is cut your card stock with the big shot as usual. Then turn the framelit 90 degrees.

Here is a picture from the blog that I first found the idea on:

Pretty easy, right? 

One set of framelits and 2 different shapes!

The inside of the card is pretty fun, too! 

I stamped a bunch of stars in versa mark, gave it a few minutes to dry and then embossed "so happy for you!" in gold.

Happy Stamping!

How I Store My Finished Cards

Hi Guys!

I wanted to do a quick post on how I store my finished cards.

I love stamping and try to do it as often as possible. 

Sometimes that means a card a day and the great thing is I always have plenty of cards on hand when I need one.

This could be a bit of an organizational nightmare to have so many cards and trying to find that perfect one when it's time to send someone a card or attach one to a gift.

But with a little organizing it's a dream come true.

 I bought this plastic box from Target a year ago and it is the perfect size for my handmade cards.

The dividers are made of So Saffron card stock and some DSP cropped with the Labels Collection Framelits and then cut in half. 

I used my label maker with clear label tape to label the dividers and stapled it onto the card stock.

 After I make a card it goes behind the right divider and is ready to go! I keep most of my envelopes in a matching basket that sits on a shelf right next to this one. If I make a hand made envelope or one lined with pretty DSP to coordinate with a card I'll then put it in with the cards.

I find it is easier to flip through cards and not have extra envelopes get in the way. 

And that's how I organize my finished cards!

Hope you find this helpful!

Happy Stamping!