Holiday Gift Tag

I usually don't hand make my "to/from" tags for my Christmas packages, but the challenge over at Christmas Stampin' All Year Long has inspired me to get creative! It's time to show off your Christmas tags and here's mine!

This finished tag measures 2.25" x 3.75" and I used several stamps from DRS Designs to create this cute snow scene:

North Pole Sign (518E)

Tiny Snowman (256B)

Christmas Village Slope Roof Cottage (215D)

Gift Tag Greetings (To, From, Love, Santa) (498C)

All of the images were colored with Copic Markers and I used a white gel pen to make the snow.  A bit of glitter was even added to the roof top and the ground to enhance the snow. 

 


DRS Designs is the sponsor of this challenge and the winner will win a $10 store voucher to put toward the stamps of their choice!! Shopping for FREE! How awesome is that?!?!?

 

  Smiles,

Jennifer

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A Warm Winter Wish!

Hi Everyone!

Hope you're doing well and staying warm!
Anyone else excited that January is just about over??  Only about 50 more days until Spring!!  I've had enough of the cold and although we haven't had much snow this Winter, my thoughts and prayers go out to everyone on the Northern East Coast. I can't imagine getting 1, 2, or even 3 feet of snow with a single snow storm, let alone have several of these kinds of storms over a single Winter!! I'm sending a Warm Winter Wish to all of you with my Snowman card today! 

 

The card front was created using an image and sentiment from DRS Designs.  The Medium Mr. Snowman (242H) was colored with Copic Markers.  Both the image and the Warm Wishes Greeting (611D) were cut out using Nestability dies.  Then, before removing the dies they were sponged with light blue ink. They were both matted with dark purple cardstock and then set aside while I worked on the card front.  

I embossed the light blue card front with a snowflake embossing folder and then sponged the edges with purple ink.  It was matted with white cardstock and then a crimped white panel, lined with purple cardstock was added to the lower portion. Snowflake ribbon embellished the crimped panel and then I adhered the snowman image and sentiment in place as shown. 


 

The card front was adhered to an A2 (4.25" x 5.5") purple cardstock base and I embellished the back of it with the Especially For You Snowman (239C), to let everyone know that I made this card! 

 

 Thanks for stopping by, Everyone! Stay safe and warm!
 

Smiles,

Jennifer



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Warm Wishes Mr. Snowman!

So, now that the holiday hustle and bustle is over, has your daily routine returned back to normal? All of my holiday decorations are finally put away and now that my older son is back in school, I'm finding more time to work on my resolutions--to be more organized and take more time for me! This "me" time includes whatever I want to do and stamping is high on the list!

After cleaning up and organizing my stamping table this past weekend, I quickly got back to getting inky and one of the cards I created was this Warm Winter Wishes card. So appropriate for all of us in the Midwest and East Coast experiencing another Arctic Blast right now.  We need all the warmth we can get!

I used the new Medium Mr. Snowman (242H) for the focal point of my card.  I know there's not too much coloring you can do since a snowman is all white, but I researched how to color snowman images on Pinterest and found a few tips that were helpful. One technique is to actually color outside the stamped image line. If you look close at my snowman you can see the bluish-gray ink around the edges. I think this really helps enhance how the snowman looks.  Of course coloring his hat and scarf in bright colors helps him stand out as well!  I paired this image with the Warm Wishes Greeting (611D), and decorated the card front with some iridescent snowflakes that were adhered with matching turquoise brads. The finished card size is 4.25" x 5.5."

 

I hope you're all staying warm and cozy inside today!

Thanks for stopping by! 

 

Smiles,

Jennifer

 

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Warm Wishes

Well, the count down to the big day is on, are you ready? My shopping is done, but I still have all the wrapping to do.  I took a break from the holiday prep this weekend and I found myself stamping a winter scene that's inspired by the upcoming winter storm were expecting this Christmas Eve.  Unfortunately the timing is bad due to all the traveling everyone will be doing for the holiday, but I'm really excited, as we haven't had a true white Christmas in a very long time. The colors are used on this card were inspired by the color challenge that can be found on this weeks DRS Designs blog. 

  

This scene was created by using the masking technique and several of the stamps from DRS Designs Christmas Village series. These stamps included:

The Christmas Village Slope Roof Cottage (215D), The stick trees came from the Christmas Village Four in One Accessories #2 (210G), and the snowman and pine tree were from the Christmas Village Four in One (119D). The sentiment tag was stamped with the Warm Wishes Greeting (611D).  The image came to life by coloring it with Copic markers, and then I added Stickles to the snowy areas for a realistic effect. I hope you like it!

Thanks for stopping by!

Smiles, 

Jennifer

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O Christmas Trees

Tis the season for hecticness and it's in full swing for me right now! It's taken me about 5 days to get this post typed up. But, as they say, better late than never...here's my creation for the glitter challenge that was posted on the DRS Designs Blog this past Thursday. Both the image and sentiment are by DRS Designs. 

I used the sketch challenge from SC428 to inspire my layout. After stamping the Christmas Village Tree Store (214E), I created a Post-it Note mask for it and stamped the bare trees from the Christmas Village 4 in 1 Accessories #2 (210G) over top of it to create my scene. I colored the image with Copic Markers and applied glitter to all of the snowy areas.  I arranged some fishtail banners as shown according to the layout and stamped "Merry Christmas" from the Christmas Multi Greeting (341H) on the largest one. I layered a few snowflake dies and pinned them together with a red brad for the embellishment. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Holidays,

Jennifer

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Happy Thoughts This Christmas

Oh Man, it seems like forever since I've had a chance to stamp, and because of that my blog has been very slow lately.  So sorry about that, but life with 2 little boys under 3 has become hectic! But, just look at them! It's hard to resist these adorable, loving faces when they need me! Anthony is 3 and Alex is a shocking 6 months old in this picture. (He actually just turned 7 months earlier this week.)  We also went on a mini-vacation to visit family up North for a wedding a few weeks ago and I finally unpacked the last bag just the other day.  Things are slowly getting back to normal now and I was able to stamp for this week's DRS Designs Blog challenge!

                                   

The challenge this week features the hot trend using chevrons and arrows.  I used one of DRS Designs newest Christmas stamps, the Christmas Village Post Office (114D) and 3 other stamps from their catalog to create my challenge card: 

Double Chevron Card Edger (904P)

Peace Heart and Home Christmas Greeting (986F)

One Line Happy Thoughts (951D)

I used the Chevron card edger to decorate my red card base before adding any other elements to it.  Then the white layer was stamped with the last 2 lines of the Peace Heart and Home Greeting and then it was embossed with the Swiss Dots folder for some texture.  Next I stamped the Happy Thoughts greeting on beige card stock, trimmed it with blue card stock, and then added red ribbon before adhering it in place.  The final step was to stamp the Post Office image, color it with Copics, and then mat it on a blue oval.  A bit of fine glitter was added to the snowy areas of the roof top and the ground.  That little bit of glimmer really pops on this card! 

Well, that's it for me today.  I hope to be able to stamp and blog more often in the coming days and weeks--and I have every good intention of doing so, but if things are quiet here for a while, you know why.  No worries though, I'll be back soon.

Thanks for stopping by!

Smiles,

Jennifer

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Snow Can Fall So Gently

Here in the Northeast we are experiencing another Arctic blast.  Wind chill temps are in the -20*F and this is the best weather to stay in and stamp! Wouldn't you agree? Or do you enjoy cold snowy weather like this?  I let these freezing temps inspire this Winter card I'm sharing with you today.

I started this card by creating the sentiment banner first.  I stamped it with the Stepping Back In Time Greeting (674H), cut it out, and then masked the edges with Post-It Notes before sponging it with light blue ink.  I matted it with dark blue cardstock and added ribbon and a bow that was decorated with a snowflake and a matching blue brad.

Next, I stamped a blue cardstock base with the Swirling Snowflakes (168F) with blue ink.  I cut a bunch of smaller banner tags using scraps of blue cardstock and arranged them as shown on the right side of the card front so that no two banners were the same length.  Then I adhered the sentiment banner over top.  I love all the different shades of blue on this card.  It really has a chilly, Wintery feel, doesn't it? 

Well, that's it for me today. Thanks for stopping by. I appreciate your visit. 
Stay warm!

Smiles,

Jennifer

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Winter Cheer

Hi Everyone!
I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas holiday! Did you receive any stamping goodies? I'm just relieved that the hustle and bustle is over with. Now it's time to ring in the New Year and have fun with all that Winter brings...Snow!

This was the first time I tried embossing with a Nestability die instead of actually cutting paper with it.  It was a bit tricky at first to get the right thickness to just emboss the die shape, but I think the time it took me to get it right was worth it.  I really like how this turned out.  After shading the embossed area with blue ink, I used a Stamp-A-Ma-Jig to stamp the Snowflake and Winter Cheer Greeting (135G) inside of it.  I did a little masking and stamped snowflakes around it using the Interlocking Snow Background (015H).  Below the greeting I added an embossed panel that I decorated with the Snowman In A Box (581C) and some snowflake embellishments.  A cute little blue bow finished it off.

This card also fits this weeks DRS Designs "Frosted Flakes" challenge that ends at 6pm ET today. Won't you play along? Check out all the details and link your card HERE for a chance to win your choice of 2 stamps from the online catalog at www.drsdesigns.com!

Thanks for stopping by and Happy New Year! 

Smiles,

Jennifer

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No Fun Like Snow Fun

Hi Friends! 
I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!  

We woke up to a few inches of unexpected snow this morning. I had to chuckle, as I noticed this just as I sat down with my coffee to type up this post.  How ironic! The card I'm sharing with you today was made for the Frosted Flakes challenge on the DRS Designs Blog.

This fun Winter note card shows off the Cowboy Snowman (178L) which was colored with Copic Markers.  The "snow" at the botton of the card was painted with a Snow Marker and then heat set. This created a velvety effect from the puffed up snow. Then I split up the No Snow Fun Greeting (691E) to fit the empty space of either side of the stamped image. I embellished the card front with some blue twine and a snowflake punchie that I decorated with a large pearl. I adhered the card fron to a dark blue cardstock base and my card was complete!

Do you have snow where you live? 

Thanks for stopping by!

Smiles,

Jennifer

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Red, White and Blue Christmas

It's time to share my Star Spangled Christmas card with you! That's the new challenge posted on the DRS Designs Blog today! You are required to create a Christmas card in red, white and blue colors or use stars on it.  

I've been pressed on time this week (yes, again!) so it's another Clean and Simple card. However, it is festive and easy to make if you need to mass produce it.  (How many Christmas cards do YOU still need to make this year??)

The first step in making this was cutting out the white cardstock with the Top Note die and then stamping "Merry Christmas" (364B) in the lower right corner. Then I stamped it with the Interlocking Snowflake Background (015H). I matted it with red cardstock and then attached it to an A2 blue cardstock base.  I matted the vertical red panel with blue cardstock and then added 3 snowflakes, each with a red brad to hold it in place.

Interested in playing along as well? DRS Designs is giving away 3 great stamps that would be perfect for finishing your Christmas cards or creating Winter cards. Check out all the details HERE.

Thanks for stopping by and please come back soon!

Smiles,

Jennifer

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So Long Winter!

Yeah, it's the First Day of Spring! 

I'm ready to say "So Long Winter!"

In honor of the big change of seasons, I've created this card.  Both the Flower Border (1076H) and the Goodbye Winter Greeting (384G) are from DRS Designs. 

The flower border was colored with Copic Markers  and fussy cut. Then I adhered them in place above and below the sentiment as shown.  The middle flower on the bottom panel was popped up for dimension. 

How's the weather in your neck of the woods? 
Are you ready to say "So Long" to Winter too?

Smiles,

Jennifer

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Snow Fun Buddies!

Rarely do I ever combine different challenges, but today's Christmas card was made with 3 challenges in mind.  That alone, made things a little more challenging! ;-)  But it was fun to coordinate them all together.

•The layout I used is for this weeks Tuesday Morning Sketch Challenge. DRS Designs is their sponsor and 1 lucky winner will win a $10 store voucher to put towards any DRS Designs product of their choice! Use the sketch below for a chance to win!

• The stamped and embossed elements I chose are for this card are for this weeks DRS Designs "snow fun" Blog challenge. This is another opportunity to win free product from DRS Designs! I colored the Snowman Bird Buddies (232H) image with Copic Markers and after masking it I sponged blue ink around the upper portion of the image.  I stamped the Interlocking Snow Background (015H) for the vertical panel. 
•Then finally for the third challenge I added glitter to enter this card for Last Friday's Free For All challenge on Splitcoast Stampers (F4A144).  

Hope you've enjoyed seeing it! 

Smiles,

Jennifer

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So Sweet Cocoa

With the chill in the air, Autumn is definitely here!  Don't let that bright sunshine fool you!  It's time to start winding down every evening with my fireplace on, a cozy blanket over my shoulders, a good book in one hand and a nice hot cup of cocoa in the other! 

Here's another card I made to sneak peek DRS Designs new "You're So Sweet" (546D) sentiment.  That adorable "Mini Marshmallow" (493A) you see in the background is also part of this upcoming release.  All of the new designs will be available for purchase on September 29th.  I colored the Cocoa and Marshmallows (233H) with Copic Markers and fussy cut it.  I used an SU! punch to cut out the sentiment and adhered it with foam tape.   I wrapped a little twine at the bottom and added 3 brown rhinestones.  

Three more days until the new releases are available for purchase! Stay tuned to see more! 

Enjoy! 

Smiles,
Jennifer

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Winter Friendship!

One of the newer Christmas images from DRS Designs is the Snowman Bird Buddies (232H) that I've used on today's card. I really like how this card turned out--the colors, the layout, and the bit of sparkle on the snowman make this one of my faves!

I appropriately paired this image with the Snowflakes and Winter Cheer Greeting (135G). I used red snowflake punchies as embellishments along with twine tied in a cute little bow on a snowflake embossed background.

Since I like all of the elements of this card so much, I'm pretty sure I'll be using this image and greeting for some of the Christmas cards I send out this year. Stay tuned!

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you'll be back soon!

Smiles,
Jennifer

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Let It Snow!

Dare I say it...It's time to start thinking about your Christmas cards this year! Perhaps some new Christmas stamps are what you need to inspire you. The new stamps I showed off in my previous post and the ones seen on the latest DRS Blog Challenge are now available for purchase!!

This snow scene was created using 4 new stamps:
Pine Tree Snow Drifts (320H)
Visual Let It Snow (305D)
Tiny Snowman (256B)
Snowmen Melt Sign (283F)

It was a lot of masking and sponging, but I think it turned out really cute!  It was a lot easier to create than I thought it was going to be too--which is always a good thing!  For the background I stamped the Interlocking Snow Background (015H) with white Staz On ink. Three simple rhinestones decorate the top right of the card front.


Check out all of DRS Designs new Christmas stamps HERE as soon as they become available. Happy shopping and stamping!

Smiles, 

Jennifer

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Warm Winter Wishes

How neat do these ice skates (373H) look with their glittery blades? Couldn't help but bling them up a bit when I created this card for DRS Designs Blue Christmas Challenge.

The skates were colored with Copic Markers and after cutting it out with a Nestability die, I sponged blue ink around it. The pattern paper was created using the 4 in 1 Snowflakes  background (096D) and heating it with clear embossing powder to give it the darkened look. A thin white panel was embossed with a Cuttlebug folder and silver ribbon really gave it an elegant look. The Warm Wishes sentiment (611D) was simply stamped in the upper left corner and the card front was adhered to an A2 dark blue cardstock base.

Thanks for stopping by today and if you get a chance to do a little stamping I hope you'll join DRS and play along. All of the challenge details can be found HERE.

Have a great day!

Smiles,

Jennifer

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Snowman Challenge!

Have you heard of a Center Step Card? I received 2 hand stamped Christmas cards this past year using this technique, and it was just the inspiration I needed to try something different! I used the instructions found on SCS to create my Snowman card for this weeks DRS Blog challenge. This is such a fun card! I love how it turned out!

Here's what I did...The card base was created from black cardstock, and I stamped the center panel with the Interlocking Snow Background (015H). I cut small strips of white cardstock embossed with the Snowflake Cuttlebug embossing folder to decorate the side panels. The Warm Wishes Sentiment (611D) used here is actually one stamp that I split apart so that I could stamp it as shown on the red panel used to decorate the bottom of the card base. For the center image, I stamped the Silhouette Snowflake Snowman (247K) on Vellum, using white Staz On ink. I layered it on black cardstock, cut it out with an oval Nestie and added red twine for a scarf and 3 black brads for buttons. I matted it with a white scalloped oval which really made the snowman and his red scarf pop! Best part about this card is that it measures A2 size, so no need to purchase a separate envelope for mailing...Gotta like that!

Just to show you how unique this card is, I took a picture of the side view.

Hope you enjoyed seeing this card! Give it a try, it looks so much more difficult than it really is and I'm sure it will become one of your favorites as well.

Smiles,
Jennifer

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Snowman Smiles

Some great new Winter stamps are now available for purchase from DRS Designs!  You can check them all out HERE.  The card I have to show you today shows off the new Snowman Smiles greeting (962G).  Even though this is another CAS card, I love it!

To make this card I started with a piece of white cardstock and stamped the Snowman Smiles greeting on one side and Stretch the Round Button Snowman (1129H) on the other. Stretch was colored with Copic Markers. I then masked the snowman and stamped the Interlocking Snow background (015H) over the entire piece with Versamark ink (However, the snowflakes didn't photograph very well!).  I added a snow mound using one of the snowflake Cuttlebug embossing folders.  I ripped off a small portion of it to adhere to the bottom. I used a snowflake border punch to dress up the top along with some elegant red ribbon. After adhering this card front to a red cardstock base, I went crazy with the Stickles--I love how this card just sparkles! 

Hope your holidays are off to a great start!

Have a wonderful day!

Smiles,

Jennifer

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Snow Doubt About It!

Need an idea for a Winter birthday card? Here's a CAS one I recently created with stamps from DRS Designs. The Snow Doubt Birthday Greeting (964D) is a new release.

I stamped the sentiment on white cardstock and then stamped the Interlocking Snowflakes (015H) with blue ink around it. Next, I created the blue layer by heat embossing the Interlocking Snowflakes with clear embossing powder and then sponging it with blue ink. I used a decorative border punch on the bottom and then embellished this layer using the Snowflake Ribbon Slide (932D). It too was heat embossed however I used white embossing powder instead and then I cut out the center so that I could slide it on white grosgrain ribbon. I added a blue gem to the center and then wrapped it around the snowflake background. The 2 layers were adhered together as shown and a white brad was added to each of the upper corners. For the final step I attached the card front to a blue cardstock base. Finished card size is 4.25" x 5.5".

Have a great day!

Smiles,

Jennifer

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Penguin Warm Wishes

DRS Designs is getting ready for another release of some great winter stamps. They will be available for purchase Nov. 19th. One of the stamps included is the adorable Penguin Snowball Blast (966K) that you can see on today's card.

I started by coloring the entire image with Copic Markers. I even outlined each of the ice blocks with C1, a light gray marker, but I didn't like the look. Plus, it just looked like it needed something. Once I added Stickles to it, this image really came to life! The glistening snow was just what it needed!

After matting the colored image, I stamped the 4 in 1 Snowflakes (096D) repeatedly to create my own designer paper to add behind the image. I stamped a piece of white card stock with Warm Wishes in dark blue ink in the lower right corner and then used a snowflake embossing folder to add texture to it. Then I adhered the matted image on an angle as shown and added some blue brads to help pick out the blue in the image. Finally, the card front was adhered on to an A2 size cardstock base. I really liked the final look to this card. I'm sure it will help beat the Winter Blues when the time comes and brighten up anyone's day! Hope you like it!

Smiles,

Jennifer

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