Tiny Leaves Wreath - GDP004

I'm excited to share this card with you today!  Over at the Global Design Project site, the challenge is to case the very talented Louise Sharp.  I remember pinning this card last year - it is so stunning!!!  So when this week's challenge was to case the designer (great idea btw!), I thought, "how do you case this and make it any better??"  Well, I can only try to make something my own and hope to inspire some of my readers!

 

 

The reason I pinned the card last year was because of the color combo.  I love the gold and neutrals and wanted to "case" that part for sure.  I also loved the simplicity of the look though I'm sure it wasn't quick to make.

 

And neither was this...

 

 

If you're wondering where all the leaves came from, take a closer look at the new Square Pillow Box thinlits.  I ran 5 different colors through 3x each giving me 45. I added a extra on the inside too.

 

 

 

I love the way it turned out!  I hope I made Louise proud - big shoes to fill!

 

My tips would be, 1-faintly draw a circle to give your wreath a nice shape as you glue down the leaves and 2-buy the adhesive remover!  I had a lot of sticky residue around the leaves from my Tombow glue and I am always amazed how much that magical square removes!

 

 

I will be back later in the week with more holiday inspiration.  I need the rain to hold off some to take more pictures.  (These pictures were taken in between rain showers!)

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

-Holly

 

Rudolph Meets Wonderland

Just a quick post today...

I have been staring at the antlers from the new Wonderland set from Stampin' Up! wondering what I can do with them to tie in Christmas.  I already know I'll use them for some masculine cards - most of the men in my life hunt - so that will come in handy later.

Then I had one of those ideas that come to you at 2am when you can't sleep.  I am not the only one who gets stamping ideas in the middle of the night, am I? 

The buttons are from last year's holiday catalog and are a steal right now on the clearance rack!  They were perfect for Rudolph's nose :)  Thanks for swinging by! I have another 2am idea to share with you later this week!  

-Holly

All Ye Faithful - FMS205

I passed this set up for the pre-order and really thought I would get by just fine without it.  I need another nativity set like I need to gain 10 pounds... :)

I have collected enough over time, but since the other sets are in storage, I had to get this one too!

 

I'm playing along today with Freshly Made Sketches.

I love this sketch by Rita - nothing too complicated.

 

I wanted to incorperate the entire set.  The shepherd and wisemen are a part of the story too!  I stamped off the images in Tip Top Taupe - they're actually darker in person.

 

Since I had the inks and set already out, I thought I would make another card. 

 

 

Thank you so much for stopping by!  I hope you enjoyed these cards.  Please pin them if you like them :) Have a great weekend!

 

-Holly

Seasonal Snapshot 2015 - Not Just for Project Life!

Well summer is officially over here in the states. I thoroughly enjoyed our summer here by the beach, but I admit - if I could live somewhere where it was fall all year round, I'd move in a heartbeat!  I love the cooler temps, crunchy leaves, apples, football and my Autumn Leaves Yankee candle. (I burn that sucker all year!)

It's also another fantastic time of year to be a stamper! This year's holiday catalog is fantastic!  This particular set is made for Project Life, but I wanted to show you that these PLxSU sets aren't just for filling those album pages!  I love this font and all of the little details in the set.

This would be the perfect card to give to a child or grandchild with some candy attached. :)

I stamped the bat in black on black and added some dimension to make them stand out.

This fall one is my favorite of the three.  The sweater-like stitching is so cool!

Makes me think of my mom and her cross-stitching days. :)

And last but not least, a Christmas card.  This one was fun to make.  Do you notice the background?

 

Yep - that would be two embossing folders. :) The trick here is to run the trees, and then sandwich the falling gently folder (hard) with your hands.  If you run both folders through the Big Shot, your embossed image will keep alternating. (I learned my lesson and will save you the time and patience!)

Thanks for swinging by today.  I hope you enjoyed the twist on the Project Life set!

Happy stamping :)

-Holly

Oh Boy! - GDP003

Hey friends! Sorry it seems like there has been a gap in posts.  I've been a little busy lately but I'm happy to say I've been busy stamping too - lots of new cards to show you - starting with today's card! 

If you missed the post the other day, there is a new challenge site in town.  LOTS of talent on both the design team and challengers.  I was chosen among the entries for their first challenge, but I was quite surprised.  There was a ton of creativity and pure stampin' genius among the mix. 

Needless to say - I was honored to win their first challenge. 

I skipped last week's but I'm playing along again for this week's theme.  I have a friend that just found out they are having a boy so I wanted to send a card!

Make sure you click on the image below to check out the fun over at GDP!

I love this Sweet Li'l Things DSP from Stampin' Up! and all the cute little images on it.  I knew for sure that I wanted to incorporate the DSP in the card but I wasn't sure which set I wanted to use.  I wasn't feeling Zoo Babies and I was kind've stumped.  Then I remembered Dear Heart - and I double checked and it is still current!

Isn't that little guy adorable?

When I showed my husband, he said "dear heart??"... :) I think it's cute!  A little congrats for the parents and a "I already love you little baby boy that I haven't met yet" to the baby. :)

Thank you so much for stopping by!  Check out the photopolymers that aren't listed in the catalog.  You'd be surprised to see which ones are still available to order (online only)!

See you later this week with some holiday catalog fun!

-Holly 

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Peaceful Wreath & Wondrous Wreath Wednesday!

Today I want to share with you two cards I made using a different color combo for Christmas colors.  I can't say they're "non-traditional" because they're red and green in a sense, but these colors are not colors I would think of right away to use for Christmas.  Sometimes I'm glad I have a messy craft desk.  These 3 inks were sitting with a few others and I was immediately inspired!

I also wanted to highlight two stamp sets (one from the annual catalog and one from the holiday catalog) that feature the Wonderful Wreath Framelits.  I love the new coordinating stamp set out of the new holiday catalog.  Maybe because it's a Holly wreath? :)

I wanted to keep things simple so the wreath was the focal point, but I also wanted to ink up the white layer.  I took the "Peace" stamp from the sentiment and stamped the word in different shades of Mint Macaron.  Love the look!

The other wreath set is from the annual catalog.  It was in last year's holiday catalog and I'm so glad it carried over!

I hope you enjoyed this different color combo!  Which wreath card do you like better? Leave a comment and let me know - I'd love to hear from you!

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

-Holly

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Floral Wings Celebrate You - TGIFC20

 

Yesterday I made my friend Jess her birthday card.  Like many of my cards, it was put off for far too long and I had to be quick.  We were meeting her family at a campsite for dinner and cake.  I will not talk a lot about getting so lost with no cell service and my GPS just showing white space...  Yeah... That was not good. 

 

So we actually ended up being late and the sun had gone down.  She had to use flashlights to look at her card but she was so excited about it - makes it all worth the effort!  Happy birthday Jess!

 

As I was making the card I remembered the sketch from TGIF Challenges being similar.  After it was finished, I realized the middle didn't have the wider piece in it like the sketch. But hey - if Allison from the design team can make a great card without the wider strip, I can get away with it, right? :) Right...

 

Here is the sketch:

 

 

I have no idea why I picked this color combo but I'm so glad I did.  I actually stamped Watercolor Wash in Smoky Slate on a piece of white CS.  I wasn't feeling it so I covered it with this vellum.  Can you see it peeking through?  The black and white stripes were bold so I picked Bermuda Bay to go along with it. 

I think my favorite detail on this card is the Calypso Coral strip with the grungy roses.  I stamped the roses and actually rocked the block in ink as well to give it the messy look. 

 

I love doing the inside of the card too to add the extra detail.  I think the stamping world can always credit Ms. Teneale for that!

 

Thanks for joining me today!  Hope you have a great week!

-Holly

 

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

A Sweet Hello - Global Design Project 001

I love finding a new stamp challenge site and this cute little globe as been popping up on a few instagram accounts I follow and I couldn't wait to play along. 

 

Of course, I did wait... until it was almost too late.  Busy week for sure and I'm squeezing this one in with hours to spare!  I also couldn't pass up a challenge to use subtle colors - my favorite color collection from Stampin' Up! :)

 

 

I love this trend of watercoloring.  It is such a soft look to any card and with an aqua painter and your ink pad - it's easy peasy!

 

Silhouette & Script is a hostess set I passed up on pre-order never thinking I'd want it and now it's the one I use the most.  Love it!  I cut out each sunbeam which may have taken longer than I had liked, but oh well - it made the card extra special! :)

 

Thanks for swinging by today!  Make sure you stop by the all new Global Design Project blog! Lots of talented ladies and gents from all over!

 

Happy Friday!

-Holly

OSAT Blog Hop - Designer's Choice

 Welcome to our monthly One Stamp at a Time Blog Hop!  We are a group of stampers from a fun facebook page and once a month we share something special for you!  A card and a project or 2 cards.  Lucky for you, I have 4 cards today :)  If you came from the very talented Marisa's page, thank you for stopping by!  Marisa wows me each month with her creativity.  You'll have to check out her project last month too!  This month we have added new ladies for the hop and our two guys (Justin and James) are taking the month off :)

Anywho, let's get to it!  This month's theme is Designer's Choice.  I wanted to do a technique to mix things up a bit.  Since I have 2 little ones in diapers, I have an excess of babywipes in the house.  If you haven't tried the babywipe technique - it's super simple! 

 

Lay a few layers of wipes down and randomly drop ink from your reinkers. Make sure the size of the ink spot is large enough for your stamp.  I chose the For All Things stamp set from the annual catalog.  (Don't forget that there are great holidays sets in there too!)  Once I had a big enough area to use, I stamped the leaf stamp on the babywipes.  This acts as your stamp pad.  Easy enough right?

 

By the end, my color wasn't as vivid as the first three cards.  But I still love them all!  The corrugated paper, washi tape and burlap ribbon are perfect fall accents.  The addition of the Expressions Natural Elements brings it all together.  Those little wooden words are so worth the price! $5 for 15 words?? A steal for sure!

 

I hope that you enjoyed all of my cards and continue on the hop!  Next up is the fun and talented Andrea P. :)  Can't wait to see what she has for us today! 

 

Pin your favorites and swing by our facebook page too!  Below the list of supplies is a list of all of the participants.  Thanks again for stopping by!

-Holly

 

Eva Bussom

Ginger Pelfrey

Martie Hillyer

Elizabeth Jeanne Thatcher

Amanda Bodine

Megan Thompson

Wynne Grob

Lori Mueller

Dena Rekow

Renee Ondrajka

Tina Riddle

Diane Squires

Maria Willis

Raquelle Clifton

Jeanna Bohanon

Terri Takashige

Kim Smith

Maggie Mata

Marisa Gunn

Holly Stene *(you are here)*

Andrea Pancrazio

Andrea Tucker

A View of Wonderland

Keeping things short and sweet this morning.  Today is a hot day already.  In fact some schools in CT were on an early dismissal today because of the heat wave.  Looks like another day for the beach!

 

To cool off, I thought I'd share a winter card for you featuring some great new products from the holiday catalog.  I am in love with the new Wonderland stamp set!  And these new thinlits and framelits?  Yes, I love them too.  :)

 

 

The frosted look that the vellum gives the window is magical.  Makes it look like our whiteout days living in Alaska.

 

 

Thanks for swinging by today.  Remember there are new items on the clearance rack today and new weekly deals. 

If you would like to place and order with me, shop here and use hostess code 7ZCGKSAH

 

 

Below are the items used for today's card.  Have a great Tuesday!

-Holly

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Tri-fold Birthday Card for Amy - TGIFC19

My sister's birthday is coming up and I was inspired by a card that I saw on Stampin' Up!'s blog.  I loved the look of the tri-fold card and figured I would give it a try.  I chose to use the colors from the newest challenge over at TGIF Challenges. 

 

 

Over an hour later... Here is what I had made for my sister Amy. :)  I can't wait to send it!

 

 

 

 

I made a small 2x3.5" pocket to hold a tag.  Perfect for writing a note without the writing taking away from the card.  I'm sure you could even hide a giftcard in there too.

 

 

 

This might have been my favorite card that I have ever made.  I know she'll love it.  I just wish I could be home to celebrate with her!

 

Thanks for joining me today - make sure you head on over to TGIF Challenges and play along.

 

Have a blessed Sunday and a great Monday (off)!

-Holly

 

 

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog