Merry Monday, Merry Christmas

It's Merry Monday time again.  Here's Lesley's wonderful CAS sketch for this week.

Here's the first card I made with this sketch.

It didn't turn out as well as I'd envisioned it.  So I started over.  And this is what I ended up with.  I like it much better. And you can't get any more CAS (Clean And Simple)!

It's actually inspired by this card by Susan Goetter.  I thought it was a perfect fit for this sketch.

Be sure to check out the wonderful cards the Design Team has created.

Lesley Croghan

Allisa Chilton

LeAnne Pugliese

Nina Forsyth

Wendy Aungst

Narelle Farrugia

Sue Joyce

Sherry Eckblad

Margaret Moody 

Vicki Burdick

Marisa Ritzen (FD)

Hazel Harris (GD)

OK, now it's your turn.  I can't wait to see what you come up with. Then come on over and share it with us at Merry Monday!

All supplies are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted

Card Recipe (Card 1)
Stamps:  Come to Bethlehem
Ink:  VersaMark, Night of Navy, Soft Suede, Basic Gray
Paper:  Sahara Sand, Midnight Muse, Whisper White
Other:  Pewter EP, Stampin' Sponge, Star Die (MB)

Card Recipe (Card 2)
Stamps:  Come to Bethlehem
Ink:  Encore Silver
Paper:  Whisper White, Real Red
Other:  Kars Snowflake Spots (Cuttlebug), Silver EP, Real Red Satin Ribbon, Silver Cord (Michaels)

Thanks for the visit.

Enjoy!

Merry Monday Poinsettia

It's Merry Monday time again.  

I love Lesley's sketch this week!  It went together so easily.

I'm going to take these posies over to the gals at Rudolph Day  If you'd like to join in, just take a festive Christmas card over there before the end of the month.

And Winter Wonderland has a photo inspiration...

 

I was inspired by the poinsettias in the picture.  And the reflection of light in the pearls makes me think of the candlelight. 

All Supplies are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Christmas Blessings, Come to Bethlehem

Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento), SU Markers (Primrose Petals, Garden Green)

Paper:  Whisper White, Primrose Petals

Other:  Lattice EF (Hello Friend, Sizzix), Ovals Collection, Framelits, Square Lattice EF, Basic Pearls, Blender Pen

I hope you'll check out the rest of the Design Team's cards.  I guarantee you won't be disappointed!

Lesley Croghan

Allisa Chilton

LeAnne Pugliese

Nina Forsyth

Wendy Aungst

Narelle Farrugia

Sue Joyce

Sherry Eckblad

Margaret Moody 

Vicki Burdick

Amy Tsuruta (FD)

JoAnn B (GD)

I hope you'll join us for Merry Monday this week and add to that Christmas stash.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Enjoy!

Merry Monday Christmas Window

It's Merry Monday and here's another Christmas card for my stash.

This week we have a color challenge. 

I hadn't used my window die in so long.  I have the shutters to go with it now too and thought it would be perfect for these colors.

I lightly sponged the window with River Rock.  It looked too bright white to me.

Check out the other designer's cards.

Lesley Croghan

Allisa Chilton

Bonnie Klass

LeAnne Pugliese

Nina Forsyth

Wendy Aungst

Narelle Farrugia

Sue Joyce

Sherry Eckblad

Margaret Moody 

Vicki Burdick

Tracey McNeeley (FD)

Katherine Elliot (GD)

All supplies are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Come to Bethlehem

Ink:  River Rock, Cherry Cobbler

Paper:  River Rock, Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White, Always Artichoke, Scrap of DSP

Other:  Window die and Shutter die (MB), Bitty Banners die, Embossing Folder (Cuttlebug), Fir Punch (MS), Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding, Basic Pearls (colored with Copic marker), 

I hope you'll consider joining us at Merry Monday this week.  It's so nice to have those Christmas cards done well before it's time to mail them.

Thanks so much for joining me today.

Enjoy!

The Star

The CAS challenge at SCS this week is based on a quote...

I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night- Galileo 

I have done several cards using this set and I think this is my favorite.  The speckles in the Natural cardstock are so pleasing to me.

I used a VersaMarker to add dots to the sky and embossed them for extra stars then sponged the sky.

I'm going to take this over to the CASology challenge too.

Yesterday I had read:  After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?  We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him."  Matthew 2:1-2

and

Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared.  Matthew 2:7

What a special time!

All supplies are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Come to Bethlehem

Ink:  Encore Silver, VersaMarker, Not Quite Navy, Midnight Muse

Paper:  Whisper White, Naturals White

Other:  Silver EP, Stampin' Sponges, Basic Rhinestone, Silver twine (non SU)

Thanks for the visit.

Enjoy!

Come to Bethlehem in Midnight

I wanted to get this in to honor the Queen for the Day at SCS before her reign ended.  I hope I'm under the wire.  Her name is Shirley and she goes by wannabcre8tive at SCS.  She had lots of wonderful opportunities to CASE.  I chose this one.  Wish I had time to do more.

I turned the embossed frame on it's side and cut out the rectangle putting the Wise Men scene in the window.

It's a very simple card.  I inked the stamp with Midnight Muse and that new ink goes on so well!  I used a marker to fill in under the hill a bit and adhered it behind the window.  A rhinestone on the star and a bit of silver twine finished it off quickly.

I'm going to enter this is the CASology challenge which this week is 

All supplies are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Come to Bethlehem

Ink:  Midnight Muse

Paper:  Midnight Muse, Whisper White

Other:  Basic Rhinestone, EF (Cuttlebug), Silver Cord (non SU)

I had an exciting (for me) email the other day from Jennifer Timko of the Freshly Made Sketches Design Team, telling me that my Little Tree card from last week earned me a Perfect Princess award.  What a surprise.  I got that card in just as the door shut.  I don't think I had a minute to spare.  Anyway, many thanks Jennifer.  I am so honored as there were so many beautiful cards in the gallery.

I'm so glad you could stop by. 

Enjoy!

Christmas Rose

It's Friday and I have my Merry Monday card ready to share.  Have a look.

Here's the sketch Lesley gave us.

And here's what I came up with.

I've wanted to do this rose in red on a Christmas card since I got the stamp set.  It's about to retire, so I thought I'd better get to it.

It was really hard to get a good picture of this.  The colors in the rose look better IRL and it's done on Shimmery White cardstock so it has a little bit of sparkle and looks like velvet. 

I liked the way the Merry Christmas tucked underneath the branch.

I'll send this to SCS for the Christmas Card challenge there too.  There's a wealth of inspiration for Christmas cards in that gallery.

All supplies are Stampin' Up!

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Happiness Shared, Come to Bethlehem

Ink:  Jet Black StazOn, Always Artichoke

Paper:  Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White, Shimmery White

Other:  Reinkers (Rose Red, Cherry Cobbler, Always Artichoke, Soft Suede), Aqua Painter, Scallop Trim Border Punch, Big Shot, Square Lattice EF

I just received an email telling me that this card won an honorable mention at Dynamic Duos.

That makes me a Dynamic Darling!  Who would have thought?   They will post a new challenge tomorrow.

I'm so glad you stopped by.  Have a great weekend and I hope you get a chance to stamp.

Enjoy!