Indigo Pond Birthday Card

Here is my entry for the ABC Challenge "I is for Indigo" this fortnight:

Materials used on this card:

Navy blue cardstock

Patterned paper from K& Co... I think...

Burlap sack paper from DCWV Photo Stack 2

Stamp: "Pond 2" from Nature's Blessings Art Stamps

"Faded Jeans" Distress Ink by Tim Holtz

Wrought Iron Cuttlebug embossing folder

Tsukineko Archival Brilliance "Moonlight White" pigment ink, rubbed over reverse of embossed piece

Martha Stewart Arches edge punch

Zoophabets brads by C.K. Gibson "Markings"

Hobby Lobby floral stem hydrangea blossoms

Spare parts brads

White 3/8-inch ribbon

Sewing machine

X-Acto blade

I thought I was creating a more masculine-looking birthday card, but my husband saw it and said, "It's got flowers on it.  And there's flourishes.  FLOURISH is not a Man-word."  haha... In other words... I still have a lot of practicing before I get mens' cards just right. :)

Thanks for visiting, and I hope everyone is having a wonderful start to their holiday season!

--Kathryn

Warm Holiday Wishes Holly

The Cuttlebug Spot is running a Winter Theme at the moment, so I thought it was a great opportunity to do some fast and simple cards using my favorite little green crafting friend (i.e. Cuttlebug ya'll)...

I love embossing but I always hate to cover up any part of the pattern in a card; so this time I let the embossing be the main part of the design.  And here's a REALLY fast simple trick I've learned:

Blank 3x5 cards are the perfect size to emboss and attach directly onto a card!

That's right--it's just a 3x5.  Cheap, fast, and oh-so clean-and-simply elegant.  And it looks fabulously like SNOW!!

Materials used on this card:

Kraft cardstock

Blank white 3x5 index card

DCWV textured cardstock Green #1

Holly stamp from Rubber stampede

Ranger Superfine Clear heat-embossing powder

BIC Mark-it markers and Crayola Colored Pencils

Sentiment stamp from PrintWorks Clearly Defined Christmas set

Cuttlebug "Floral Fantasy" and "Swiss Dots" embossing folders

Offray White grosgrain ribbon (WalMart)

X-Acto blade

Here are some other views/cards along similar lines:

The card above uses the Birds and Swirls embossing folder and Martha Stewart punched snowflakes.

Thank you all for visiting, and I wish you a wonderful start to your holiday season!

--Kathryn

Spirit of Christmas Penguins

Who can resist penguins with mistletoe?! :)

The challenges are:

Saturday Spotlight "Hats ON!"
Practical Scrappers "Christmas Cards"
My Time to Craft #68 "Winter Pals"

Charizma Cards #47 "Anything Christmas"

Creative Card Crew #39 "Christmas"

And a new challenge!:
SmART Word Challenge: "Christmas"

Of course, this doesn't include the other 3 that I was too late on... oh, well! ;)

Materials used on this card:

DCWV Christmas Card base

"Magic of the Season" patterned paper

Burgundy cardstock

Penny Black "Cheerful Giving" stamp 3514H

Sentiment by Printworks Clearly Defined "Spirit of Christmas" set

1 3/8-inch Black satin ribbon

Butcher's twine

Medium black brads from Spare Parts

EK success corner rounder

Thanks for visiting and have a great day!

--Kathryn

Peace Dove

In the past week I have made cards to play in at least 7 different challenges but have consistently seemed to forget to post them before their deadlines.  I could just blame it on pregnancy brain but that would probably not be 100% accurate.  It's more like busy-holiday-brain taking the blame this time.

At any rate, this card still plays for the following challenges:
Daring Cardmakers White Christmas card challenge
Charisma Cards Anything Christmas
Creative Card Crew #39 Christmas theme
Practical Scrappers Christmas Cards
The Cuttlebug Spot Winter theme

Materials used on this card:

White and Kraft cardstock

Cuttlebug embossing folders: 2009 Snowflakes and Divine Swirl

Spellbinders Nestabilities Label dies

Long-Needle quilling awl (for hole-punching; this is in my top 3 most-used tools)

All stamps from PrintWorks Clearly Defined Christmas set

Ranger Superfine Metallic Gold heat-embossing powder

Butcher's twine from WalMart

Stemmed wedding pearls

Sewing machine

For distressed paper edges, I do not own a special tool...I am a big believer in multipurpose solutions.  My large scissors work perfectly well held at an angle so that they only tear at the paper's edge as I rub back and forth.  If you press harder on the blade, it will slightly curl up the edges of the paper, as you can see especially on the sentiment.

Have a great day all, and thanks for visiting!

--Kathryn