Bells and Boughs for Rudolph Days

Rudolph Days runs from the 25th of each month until the end.
Thanks Maureen for hosting this challenge to help us
get those Christmas cards done on time!
The Design Team has some very lovely inspiration pieces.
Hope you'll check it out.

The Merry Monday team is taking a summer break,
but Lori has opened up a linky so we can keep the
momentum going on our Christmas cards.  You can post any Christmas card
using a previous challenge.  Challenge 193 was bells.  I had made 2 cards and used
this one for the Design Team and saved today's card for later.

Christmas Card Challenges is running 2 weeks this time.

Addicted to Stamps this week is ANYTHING GOES.


The bells were stamped twice with one cut out and placed on top with dimensionals.

Thanks for the visit and special thanks for your comments.

Enjoy!

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Bells and Boughs (retired SU)

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black

Paper:  Solar White (Neena 110 lb.), Whisper White, Real Red, Gold Foil (SU)

Other:  Copic Markers, Blendabilities (retired SU), Clear Wink of Stella, 2 1/2" Circle Punch, 2 3/8" Scallop Circle Punch (both retired SU), Holiday Words Script Die (Tim Holtz), Kars Snowflake EF (retired Cuttlebug)

Bells for Merry Monday

It's Merry Monday time.

Linda (Lin's Craft Corner) is our hostess this week.

I pulled out my favorite bells from the retired Bell's and Boughs set 

and inked them up with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and stamped 

on a stitched rectangle and on a snippet of Vanilla.

I laid my favorite stencil over the image piece and sponged some 

Antique Linen Distress Ink over it.

After coloring both images with Copics and Blendabilities, 

I fussy cut one of the images out leaving off the bottom bell.  

I laid the partial cutout on the design with foam dots to add dimension.

Then I winked the bells to add some shine.

So I have Stamping, Coloring with Markers, Stenciling, Paper Tole,

Die Cutting, Embossing, and Sparkle.

This is a CAS Mix Up kind of card.

(Our first challenge goes live on March 1)

Here's a closeup so you can see the dimension of the bells.

I hope you'll make a Christmas card with Bells on it

and join us at

Merry Monday.

The rest of the Design Team have some wonderful inspiration for you.

Do check them out.

I used snippets for my stitched design piece and extra bells so I'm off to

Pixie's Snippet Playground

Thanks for the visit and special thanks for your comments.

Enjoy!

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Bells and Boughs (retired SU), Christmas Sentiments (Kaisercraft)

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Chocolate Chip (SU), Antique Linen Distress

Paper:  Very Vanilla, Whisper White (SU)

Other:  Copic Markers, Blendabilities (retired SU), Texture Scraped Paint Stencil (MB), Wink of Stella

Christmas Bells for Merry Monday

The lovely and talented Sue is our hostess at
Merry Monday this week.



Here's what I did.

I love Christmas carols.

It's hard to pick a favorite.

This is one of my favorites though.

"I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" is a Christmas carol based on the 1863 poem "Christmas Bells" by American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.^[1] The song tells of the narrator's despair, upon hearing Christmas bells, that "hate is strong and mocks the song of peace on earth, good will to men". The carol concludes with the bells carrying renewed hope for peace among men.

Found on Wikipedia

"And in despair I bowed my head;

"There is no peace on earth," I said;

"For hate is strong,

And mocks the song

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"

"Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:

"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;

The Wrong shall fail,

The Right prevail,

With peace on earth, good-will to men."

The Mixed Media challenge
is almost over but I think this will squeak in.


On both cards, I have stamped, colored with alcohol markers and dry embossed.

I hope you'll get some bells on a card and join us at
Merry Monday.

I'm real happy you stopped by.

Enjoy!

    **********

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Bells and Boughs (retired), Scripted Greetings (AmyR)

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black

Paper:  Whisper White, Basic Black, Garden Green

Other:  Blendabilities, Copic Markers, Moroccan Frame EF (Sizzix), Stitched Mats Rectangles (Lil' Inker), Simply Scored

All supplies are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted

Merry Monday Bells and Boughs

It's Merry Monday time again. And Lesley has another wonderful sketch!

I love the CASness of this sketch.  And it was a perfect opportunity to spotlight another retiring set, Bells and Boughs.

I didn't do a very good job of coloring these bells. They're kind of spotchy looking.  Lol, that's what happens when I work on cards at night.

All supplies are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Bells and Boughs, Small Script (retired)

Ink: Jet Black StazOn, Encore Gold, SU Markers (More Mustard, Garden Green, Handsome Hunter, Cherry Cobbler

Paper:  Very Vanilla, Brushed Gold

Other:  Gold EP, Petals a Plenty EF, 2 3/8: Scallop Circle Punch, 2 1/2" Circle Punch, 1/4" Circle Punch, Basic Pearls

I love how my stash of Christmas cards is growing!  If you'd like to grow your stash, I hope you'll join us at Merry Monday.  And check out the wonderful samples the rest of the design team has come up with.

Lesley Croghan

Allisa Chilton

LeAnne Pugliese

Nina Forsyth

Wendy Aungst

Narelle Farrugia

Sue Joyce

Sherry Eckblad

Margaret Moody 

Vicki Burdick

Marisa Ritzen (FD)

Tenia Nelson (GD)

Have you ever had Pig Candy?  One of our daughters celebrated her birthday Saturday and they fixed us some.  It's delicious!  Just thick sliced bacon sprinkled with brown sugar and grilled.  They also fixed us Atomic Buffalo Turd.  Sounds disgusting doesn't it?   It was delicious! (And no pasture scraping involved.)  That was just the appetizers!  What a fun day!  Good food and all our family together. 

Thanks for the visit.

Enjoy!

Merry Monday Poinsettia Boughs

It's Merry Monday time.

Lesley gave us another great sketch this week.

                                      

And don't forget to check out the other Design Team samples as well as the beautiful gallery.  While you're at it, join us in the challenge.  We'll be needing to send out those Christmas cards very soon!

Lesley Croghan

LeAnne Pugliese

Bonnie Klass

Nina Forsyth

Wendy Aungst

Narelle Farrugia

Allisa Chilton

Sue Joyce

Carrie Gaskin (FD)

All supplies are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Bells and Boughs, Bright Hopes (retired)

Ink:  Jet Black StazOn, Handsome Hunter (retired), SU Markers (Real Red, Cherry Cobbler, Garden Green, Always Artichoke, Handsome Hunter)

Paper:  Whisper White, Real Red

Other: Big Shot, Labels Collection Framelits, Adorning Accents Edgelits, Perfect Polka Dots EF, Gold Mini Beads (non SU), Paper Piercing Tool & Mat

Note:  The piercing was done freehand.  I don't have that template.  Yet!

Thanks for stopping by.  And don't forget to check out the Merry Monday challenge at Always Playing with Paper.

Enjoy!

Golden Bells

Another Christmas card thanks to the Merry Monday Challenge.

This week Torico gave us this sketch.

Torico does the most adorable digital stamps.  She is celebrating her birthday and, until March 3rd is offering her digital stamps for $1.00 each.  If you visit her blog, Birdie Brown you can find the link to her Etsy store.  Before you leave her blog, scroll down to see her freebies and the beautiful samples made from her stamps.

I didn't use one of her stamps this week.  I'm just starting on the digital stamps and need some more practice. I have found out that I can print and heat set the images so I can color them with the SU Markers and a blender pen without smudging.  They would be great for watercoloring too if I could put the watercolor paper through the printer.  My printer is challenged with card stock. (I appreciate your suggestions and hope to find a new printer soon.)

For this card I used the Bells and Boughs set and stamped the image with Jet Black StazOn on Shimmery White then colored with markers.  I colored the bow with a gold glitter pen that I've had for years.  I can't believe it hasn't dried out yet.  Here's a closer view.  Maybe you can see the sparkle.

The hammered gold paper is some I've been hoarding for ages.  It's too pretty to use and too pretty not to use.  Do you understand that thinking?

I added some gold flat back beads that have also been in my stash for a while.

Card Recipe
Stamps:  Bells and Boughs, Many Merry Messages
Ink:  Jet Black StazOn, Encore Gold, SU Markers (More Mustard, Garden Green, Old Olive, Real Red, Cherry Cobbler)
Paper:  Whisper White, Shimmery White, Gold
Other:  2 3/8" Scallop Circle, 2 1/2" Circle, 1/8" Circle, and Scallop Trim Border Punches, Gold EP, Organdy Ribbon, Gold Glitter Pen, Gold Flat Back Beads


This is one of those cards that didn't end up at all like it started.  Over the course of 2 or 3 days, it evolved.

I'm glad you could stop in.  I hope you have a great weekend.

Enjoy!

Merry Messages

Another Christmas card for the stash.

This is the sketch for Merry Monday challenge this week.

I used one of the new Framelit Labels dies to cut the design.  After I cut it, I left it in the die and traced around the edge with my red marker.  To make the narrow mat, I cut 2 pieces of green with the same die.  I cut both in half; one the long way and the other the short way and pieced them to the back of the design.

All supplies are Stampin' Up!

Card Recipe
Stamps: Many Merry Messages, Bells and Boughs
Ink:  Garden Green, SU Markers (Garden Green, Real Red, Crumb Cake)
Paper:  Whisper White, Garden Green
Other:  Labels Framelits, Square Lattice EF, Blender Pen, Real Red 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon


I'm glad you stopped to visit.

Enjoy!

New Challenge

I have discovered a new challenge that I am really excited about.  It's called Merry Monday and the challenge is to do a Christmas card each week.

Here's what I did for this week.

Like Leslie, I didn't have enough Christmas cards done when I needed to be sending them.  I was frantically making cards right up until Christmas.  And some people will be getting Valentines instead of Christmas cards!

Here's the sketch that Leslie gave us to use...

I'm not sure if she will give a sketch each week or if she'll mix it up with other challenges, but it will be good discipline to do at least one Christmas card each week.  That will still leave plenty to do in the Fall.

The poinsettia is made from the 5 Petal Flower and the Boho Blossoms Punches.  I punched one green and two red of the larger flower and 1 of the medium Boho flower.  I used my stylus and the soft mat from my Mat Pack and rubbed in circles on each of the flowers.  Then I just built them up with glue dots in between and used some teeny gold beads for the centers.

Edited to add: The petals of the poinsettia are "scooped out" with the circle punch in the Itty Bitty Shapes punch pack before they are embossed with the stylus.

The greenery is from one end of the Bells and Boughs poinsettia stamp inked with a Garden Green Marker and stamped in a circle.  The sentiment is from the Beautiful Season set and the snowflakes from a hostess set last year, Northern Hearts.

All supplies Stampin' Up!

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Bells and Boughs, Beautiful Season, Northern Hearts

Ink:  Garden Green, Handsome Hunter, Whisper White

Paper:  Whisper White, Crumb Cake, Real Red, Garden Green, Handsome Hunter

Other:  Five Petal Flower, Boho Blossoms, and Lace Ribbon Border punches, Stylus, Mat Pack, Mini beads

I'm having some connection problems with blogger.  Some blog pages are coming up blank.  Is anyone else having similar problems?  I haven't been able to leave comments on some blogs and I'm not sure if the link to Merry Monday will work here.  If not, just google Merry Monday Challenge and you should be able to get there.  I hope this problem will sort itself out soon.

Have a great weekend.

Enjoy!

Tag It

This weeks Technique Challenge at SCS  is to do a Christmas tag.

This image was in my UFO (UnFinished Objects) box.  It had a spot on the bottom corner so it didn't make it on a card. Cutting the corners for the tag shape took care of that. Then it was mounted on a scrap of Real Red trimmed to be 1/8" larger than the image.  Real Red Taffeta Ribbon finishes it off.

The image was embossed with Stampin' Up!'s new pewter embossing powder.  It's so rich looking and perfect when I can't decide if I want gold or silver embossing.

Here's the embossed image on a card.  The sentiment is embossed too.  The pewter is a perfect complement to the Sahara Sand and Cherry Cobbler card.

All supplies Stampin' Up!

Tag Recipe

Stamps:  Bells & Boughs, Winter Post

Ink:  VersaMark, Basic Black

Paper:  Whisper White, Real Red

Other:  Pewter EP, 1/4" hole punch, Real Red Taffeta Ribbon

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Bells & Boughs, Many Merry Messages

Ink:  VersaMark

Paper:  Sahara Sand, Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White

Other:  Pewter EP, Ticket Corner Punch, Basic Rhinestones

I'm so glad you could stop in.  I've really enjoyed your comments, especially about Luke's turkey.  When I told him this afternoon that I put a picture of it on the computer and my friends really liked it, he gave me the sweetest smile. Three year old smiles are the best!

Enjoy!

 

 

Leaves of Christmas

This week's Less is More challenge is....

ONE LAYER CARD

The theme for your cards this week is

LEAVES

 

I love leaves and have lots to choose from.  Since I'm mainly working on my Christmas cards, I pulled out the holly leaves.

The holly bough is stamped with StazOn and colored by swiping a marker on an acrylic block and using a blender pen to apply the ink to the design.  The berries were colored directly with the marker and the sentiment was inked with markers.

This card has more of a vintage feel without all the embellishments.  I used my Simply Scored to create a lattice below the design.  If I were to do this again, I think I would use brighter colors.

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Bells and Boughs

Ink:  Jet Black StazOn, Always Artichoke, SU Markers (Always Artichoke, Real Red, Soft Suede)

Paper:  Very Vanilla

Other:  Stamp-a-ma-jig, Blender Pen, Simply Scored

Thanks for stopping by.  I really appreciate your comments and look forward to visiting your blogs.

Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Class Project

Our Papercrafting group met yesterday to do some Christmas cards.  This is one of the cards I had ready for them to do.

We had a fun time even though baby Jack was with us.  Actually, he was the star attraction!  He sure did love all the attention!

Card Recipe
Stamps:  Bells and Boughs, Stitched Stockings, Hand Penned Holidays
Ink:  Real Red, Lucky Limeade, SU Marker (Real Red)
Paper:  Whisper White, Real Red
Other:  Stocking Builder Punch, Blender Pen, Basic Rhinestones

I took some pictures of some of their creations.  When I get them in the computer, I'll share some of those.

Thanks for stopping by.

Enjoy!

Puttin on the Glitz

I was able to make a card today.  Yeah!  And it's for the Less is More Challenge this week....

This week we have a really easy recipe which is simply

POLKA DOTS

As long as your design is Clean and Simple, has some white space (or its equivalent) and polka dots in evidence somewhere, it will be perfect for this challenge.

I see that the greenery is a little funky in the picture.  I used the tip of the fir tree in the Lovely as a Tree set stamping first in Lucky Limeade and overstamping in Old Olive.  IRL it doesn't have that yellow cast.

I was feeling sparkly, after all I got time in the studio, so I used some Multipurpose Liquid Glue on the boughs and sprinkled with Dazzling Diamonds. And I used some Glimmer Paper for the toe, heel & cuff on the stocking.  I even added a few rhinestones to the sentiment. This is really sparkly for me and I love it.

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Lovely as a Tree, Stitched Stockings, Bells and Boughs

Ink:  Lucky Limeade, Old Olive, Real Red, SU Markers (Real Red, Lucky Limeade)

Paper:  Whisper White, Silver Glimmer Paper

Other:  Stocking Builder Punch, Basic Rhinestones, Dazzling Diamonds, Silver Elastic Cord

I dropped 2 inkpads today.  The big ones.  On this card.  What a mess.  The first time was on the front, hence the greenery all the way across.  Then, after I was all finished, I dropped another on the back.  I think this card will get a little bigger with some Lucky Limeade behind it.  It's definitely not my Lucky color!

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope I get to stamp something else for you soon.

Enjoy!

.....Boughs of Holly

I love this stamp set from the Holiday Mini Catalog.

I stamped it on Shimmery White with StazOn and colored with markers and a blender pen.

Then I stepped it up a bit with some sponging.

I used an oval mask from cutting an oval with the Big Shot and sponged around the edges.  I sponged the edges of the base card a bit lighter.

The Technique Lover's Challenge on SCS today is to use sponging.  I'm going over there to leave this off.

Card Recipe

Stamp:  Bells & Boughs

Ink:  Black StazOn, Garden Green

Paper:  Whisper White, Real Red, Garden Green

Accessories:  SU Markers (Garden Green, Real Red, Soft Suede, Early Expresso, Real Red grosgrain ribbon

It's really cold here.  Good weather for stamping but I really need to get my Christmas cards out!

Enjoy,

Bonnie

Vintage Skaters

When I saw the ColorQ60 challenge this morning, with those beautiful handmade mittens, I knew I had to pull some stuff back out and do a card.

With Cherry Cobbler, More Mustard, Soft Suede, Early Espresso & Vanilla as the colors, this skating pair was perfect.  Usually, when I see a card this vividly in my head, it turns out to be a big disappointment.  But this time, everything went together just as I visualized.


I stamped the pair with Early Espresso on a scrap of Very Vanilla and painted using SU markers and a blender pen.  A scrap of Early Espresso cut 1/8" larger than the design piece made the mat.  I found this piece of Vanilla already embossed in my stash and thought it was perfect for the vintage feeling I was looking for.

I used Early Espresso & Cherry Cobbler markers to ink the sentiment then punched it out with the Wide Oval punch.  The oval mat for the sentiment is 2 ovals punched from Early Espresso and overlapped a bit.

All this is on a Cherry Cobbler card base.  A piece of Very Vanilla on the inside of the card, with the snowflake from this set inked with More Mustard, stamped off twice and stamped over the sentiment finishes it off.

Card Recipe
Stamps:  Winter Post, Bells & Boughs
Ink:  Early Espresso, Cherry Cobbler, More Mustard, Soft Suede & Early Espresso SU Markers
Paper:  Very Vanilla, Early Espresso, Cherry Cobbler
Accessories:  Big Shot, Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder, Wide Oval Punch

I hope you like this card as much as I do.

My Dad has still not arrived.  He had a bit of a problem with getting lost yesterday.  He is determined to make it down here though.  Tonight he is safe in a motel and hopefully will make it the rest of the way tomorrow.   I think it's more nerve wracking for all of us than it is for him!  I guess it's probably his last great adventure and I can't begrudge him that!

Stay safe and I hope I will be able to post something tomorrow.  If not, I wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving and time to truly count your blessings.

Enjoy,
Bonnie

Golden Bells

This weeks layout for the Sketch Challenge at SCS was perfect for this set.  We did a similar card at last month's Stamp Stack.   I had some pieces left over and I'm always glad to be able to use those parts instead of throwing them in the UFO box!

The bells are stamped with Black StazOn on Shimmery White cardstock.  I colored them with SU Markers and a blender pen, then punched them with the Extra Large Scallop Circle punch and laid that on a 2 1/2" Circle punched from Real Red.

The background is Wild Wasabi stamped with the holly bough in the same color.

Instead of another layer, I drew a line all around the green piece with a Real Red Marker.

Card Recipe
Stamps: Bells & Boughs
Ink:  Black StazOn, Old Olive, Wild Wasabi
Paper:  Whisper White, Wild Wasabi, Real Red, Shimmery White
Accessories:  2 1/2" Circle, Extra Large Scallop Circle, Wide Oval, & Scallop Oval Punches, Real Red Taffeta Ribbon, Basic Rhinestones, SU Markers (Wild Wasabi, Old Olive, Real Red, More Mustard), Blender Pen

Hope you have plans for a wonderful weekend!  One where you can stamp!

Enjoy,
Bonnie

Concord Thoughts

On SCS, Sunday's challenge is the Featured Stamper Challenge.  I usually don't participate because I am usually playing catch up, getting ready for the start of a new week and spending time with family.  Last Sunday, I had some time and I checked to see who the featured stamper was and saw that it was LynniePoo.  I had printed a copy of a card she had done a couple of weeks earlier that I wanted to CASE.  You can see her card here.

To participate in this challenge you have to change at least 2 things.  I used a different stamp set, different colors and put the sentiment below the design instead of above.  But the layout with the scoring was what drew me to her card to begin with.

I had a bit of trouble with the scoring.  I ruined a couple of tries because I couldn't keep my eye on the mark!  But finally I got the lines straight.  Then I stamped the design too high.  But I love this stamp with Concord Crush & Old Olive so I couldn't trash it.  Then I spied a piece of scrap that had been border punched, who knows when, and thrown in the scrap bag!  It helped to balance the design a little.  Even though it isn't perfectly centered, I like this one much better than the other one I did because I thought I was going to have to trash the first one!

For this one I used the Bells & Boughs set from the Holiday mini.  I inked the holly with Garden Green, stamped and used the blender pen with ink pads to paint the leaves.  A SU marker took care of the berries.

This design is centered better and is a good card, but doesn't give me the Aah! that the first card does.

What do you think?

Card Recipe  (Card 1)
Stamps:  Thoughts & Prayers, Watercolor Trio
Ink:  Concord Crush & Old Olive SU Markers
Paper:  Whisper White, Concord Crush
Accessories:  Scallop Oval & Large Oval Punches, ScorePal

Card Recipe  (Card 2)
Stamps:  Bells & Boughs
Ink:  Garden Green, Cherry Cobbler SU Marker
Paper:  Whisper White, Cherry Cobbler
Accessories:  Blender pen,  ScorePal

I'm going to enter one of these at 2pawsdesigns {Made by Me} Wednesday.
 Hop on over and take a look.

Thanks for visiting me today.  I hope you will come back soon.

Enjoy your blessings,
Bonnie

Step it Up with Holly

Last week I showed you a good workshop card then stepped it up a notch.  I'd like to do that again.

This is a card that we did in Sarah's workshop last weekend.  It was very quick and fun and seemed to appeal to all the stampers.

Then I stepped it up a bit to this.....

I used the Square Lattice Embossing Folder on the green, added a punched layer, used the blender pen to pull some color into the leaves and rounded the bottom corners.

I think it made a prettier card.  Only problem is that it didn't leave room for the Season's Greetings on the front.

Card Recipe
Stamps:  Bells & Boughs, Many Merry Messages
Ink:  Garden Green, Early Espresso
Paper:  Whisper White, Garden Green, Real Red
Accessories:  Real Red SU Marker, Blender Pen, Big Shot, Square Lattice EF, Scallop Trim Border Punch

Have a wonderful weekend.  I hope you get to stamp something fun.

Enjoy your blessings,
Bonnie