Christmas Cards - Theme and Variation

Cards are all made and mailed except for these. The snowperson cards are for the grands (I also made a red one) and the others are for my bowling buddies (two teams, eight cards). I forgot to take pictures of the others. Egg nog brain.

Weekly Challenge

Sharon challenged us to make a ROUND card and included a link to the tutorial so it's totally round. It's really quite simple. I used part of the half sheet of glossy I had used to make the resist card from last week's challenge. The embellishment is the center of a brad that I ripped apart. It doesn't show up well in the picture but the scallop is on silver mirror paper.

TAGGED

Karie has tagged me! Oh my. I am to go to my fourth photo folder and upload the fourth photo. I wonder what's in store?

TOO FUNNY! It's my "cards" file! That's what happens when everything is in alphabetical order.

Who do I tag? Anybody who dares read this blog. Ahahahaha!

Resist Challenge

Lori challenged us to make a card using a resist technique. This one is quite simple (the design and the method). The snowflakes were stamped on glossy white CS with VersaMark, then heated. I used three shades of SU blues and sponged them on in a swirling motion, starting with the lightest color first. The darker inks make the images pop better. Then I stamped the dark snowflakes in Not Quite Navy. It takes them a while to dry. Add a sentiment and it's done.

Catching UP

My muse seems to have scarpered and I have not been making cards. I know she is lurking somewhere nearby.

I am catching up on my challenges at Inkstainers, slowly and not too surely. Heather's challenge was to use buttons and, as you can see, I have gone the simple route with this one. Don't you hate it when you don't feel inspired to create? The stamp is Gerbera Daisy from TAC.

The "Happy Haunting" is also made with TAC stamps. It was my own turn to post a challenge and I said CASE a card. Any card. This was from TAC catty but the original had four images instead of three. I tried it with the four but like this better. It is also a better size.

Sandie had challenged us to get out our stylus and dry emboss OR make a card with an unused CB folder. I just happened to have this spider web CB sitting in the drawer, crying out to be used. The spider is, once again, from TAC.

Autumn RAK from Sandie

Now isn't this just sweet! Sandie sent this RAk all the way from Texas. Thank you, Ma'am! Part of what she wrote inside is "When the frost is on the pumpkin . . ." and the paper is finely frosted. The pumpkin die cut is fabu, too!

Identity Crisis

My cat thinks she is the Zindorf. She is obsessed with sponges and hides them all over the house.

One Stamp, Two Cards

This is "GERBERA DAISY" from TAC. It cries to be watercolored. Both cards are for friend's birthdays.

Flea's Challenge

Flea's (I must ask how she earned the nickname - her real name is Fiona, which is a beautiful name) turn to challenge us this week. She made us dig out a stamped image that had been traded, swapped, or just sent as a RAK. I admired this pear image when visiting Sharon one day. Not long after, a card with several pears arrived in the mailbox. Fortunately, the pears did not get squished en route.

I used Prismacolors on this image. The grey pencil makes a big difference in the finished image, You'd almost think I knew what I was doing! The PP is SU and the rest is from my stash. Background cloth is a Frenchy's find for .25; it's a scarf (something I NEVER wear) but I use it on the dining room table.

A Good Cause AND Blog Candy

http://myblogbycammie.blogspot.com/2008/09/heart-to-heart-blog-candy.html

Click on the above link for details.

My Dad's mom had Altzeimer's when she died. Funny story (because if you don't laugh you'll start crying and never stop). She disappeared from the special care home one day. Nowhere could they find her, inside or out. The family was called, along with state troopers. They scoured the grounds - people everywhere. She was eventually spotted hiding in some bushes (did I mention she was ninety-four when this happened and it was the middle of November?) and returned to her room. She just gave them all a smug little smile and said, "I saved everybody. I got them all out. There was a bomb about to go off." God bless her! She also thought there was a cathouse on the third floor. Like I said, you gotta laugh. Lax security? Nope. She was crafty and knew where the cameras were. When they looked back over the tapes they saw a little shadow (she was as big as a minute) slipping out the kitchen service entrance!

So here is my card and I am going to send it to a local home for special care with a wing devoted to Altzeimer's patients.

My goodness! Wouldn't it be wonderful to win? I would be sending stuff to all my stamping friends. But even if I don't (and chances are slim) I have done a good thing. Right?

I expect everybody who reads this to do the same. I'm watching you! LOL!

Weekly Challenge

Ahaha! Christmas is early this year. It's Kathleen's week to post the challenge on Inkstainers and she put us to work stamping on napkins. Stamp, crumple, peel away a layer and flatten. Spread glue all over your CS and there you have it! It was QUITE a challenge for me because I didn't remember having these napkins. They're WAAAAAAAAY up on the 'poison shelf' in the kitchen with bad stuff, booze, and seasonal things. In last week's cleaning frenzy I had discarded the white glue because I never use it anymore (famous last words) and it was almost empty anyway. Had to go digging.

A RAK from Sharon

Sharon and I had lunch today (after I bowled - my OTHER addiction). She surprised me with this autumn RAK. Sharon's work is always so . . . well . . . perfect. She is amazing. Inside the card with the cheery note was a little baggie full of seasonal die cuts. Thanks, Sharon!

My Favorite Flasher

Here is the HAMBO flasher again. This time I paper pieced his coat to look like a bathrobe.

Baby Card

After three misses, my friend and her DH have just had a beautiful baby boy! I am SO happy for them! The teddy paper is vellum and I cut one teddy out using the Nestabilities in the CB. The three teddy embellishments are brads with the backs snapped off. SU paper and ink.

More Horses

More horses.

Miracle and Wonder

This is a total CASE of a card Marilyn sent me. Of course, I didn't have all the stuff I needed to copy it exactly (a la Zindorff) so I made do. The Butterfly is from Starving Artist , the sentiment is CTMH and the swirly is SU. Paper and inks from SU.

Just Horsing Around

I've been horsing around *groan* with this stamp I bought on ebay. The sentiment is CTMH, purchased because I am 'still crazy after all these years' about Paul Simon's music.

Weekly Challenge

Sharon's turn to post the challenge this week: use labels and an autumn theme - Halloween, Thanksgiving or fall. I'm kind of sponge crazy lately - can you tell? LOL. Ever since the Zindorff challenge I've been using a sponge on almost every card. The black background is the insert from my latest Cuttlebug folder. Talk about recycling!

Counting Challenge

Karie's challenge for us was a counting challenge:

1 Image

2 Flowers

3 Brads or eyelets

4 Colors of card stock

My first attempt didn't work because I confused 1 image with 1 stamp and the stamp I used had several images on it. Scrapped that. I tried placement with Prima flowers and couldn't come up with anything I liked. Then a light bulb appeared over my head! Flowers = Nestabilities scalloped circles. Yay! And this was the end result. The stamp is from High Hopes, as is the sentiment (I hope that doesn't count as a second image), the CS is all SU.

Sympathy Card

I seem to be making a lot of sympathy cards lately. Colors used: So Saffron, Barely Banana CS and So Saffron, Creamy Caramel, Always Avocado (just a little bit in the tree) inks, StaZon Timber Brown. Vellum from my stash.

The Inspector

Just Some Cards

Two birthday cards and a stash card. The color in the first one is off - it's SU pink and chocolate chip. I used Dazzling Diamonds AND Glossy Accents for the bubbles in the second one. It looks like someting is resting on the butterfly in the circle in the third card, probably due to Miss Daisy Mae checking out my work area. She is so helpful.

Stamp Cat

It's official, I am a crazy cat lady.

Weekly challenge

Cheryl's turn this week. She challenged us to make a card that would fit in a business envelope and the base had to be white. So here it is. The ink is SU Not Quite Navy.

Cindy's Challenge

Cindy challenged us to be a Zindorf for a week. Well, all right. I've never done this before and don't have a brayer. Cindy pointed out that many of the cards are done with sponges, which I do have. Oddly enough, I bought an enormous sponge the other day with the intent to cut it up as needed. That's what sponges are meant for, right? So here are my attempts. I need to work on it. The flower card shading is too abrupt for my liking. The second one I llike a little better; the original tutorial used a white gel pen for stars but of course I don't have one. So I used Diamond Dust, or whatever the SU fine glitter is called. The 'grass' at the bottom is the top part of the pine stamp from SU 'Fantastic Foliage'. You gotta make do with what you gots, eh?

Holly RAK

A sweet card from Holly. The neatest part is the tag closure. It's a magnet! How clever is that?

Stash Cards

Just a few cards I made lately. The 'ewe's so sweet' is a CASE of one Karie sent. I like the fold and it's the same size sheet of paper as the usual size most of us make. The Bella . . . ah, the Bella. I'm really not into the Bellas - I have a couple I bought for challenges and thought I should dig them out the other day. Please understand, they are sweet - just not me.

Lori's Challenge

Lori's turn this week to post a challenge. Her challenge? Anything but a card. I was going to stamp a pillar candle but couldn't find one in the few stores I was in lately (I hate shopping). I did, however, find these naked gift bags!

Back to Normal

Well, sort of. The bookcase and books are back in place. The top of the wall is "Floral Tapestry", a dusty rose color. The new baby is posing on the couch in the second picture. The couch has to go or be slipcovered (because it's ugly and old). The carpet is the next big project. Out it goes, to be replaced with hardwood.

Here is a birthday card I made for a friend on Inkstainers. Isn't it strange how we can be friends with people we've never actually met? The stamp is from Third Coast. I bought it with Twinkling H20s in mind for coloring but I made a mess of the coloring so did it with watercolor pencils instead.

Sandie's Challenge

Inspiration from a Macy's ad. I made the card for our grandson's sixth birthday, which is Thursday, the 7th. Hard to believe he's as old as that and already has one year of school under his belt.

The explorer boy stamp was a freebie in my order from High Hopes, and the bird's nest was a freebie from Third Coast. Gotta love the freebies!. The paper is all SU and the coloring was done with markers from SU and Zig, except for the skin. I REALLY need to find a watercolor pencil in Caucasian tones.

S & T Challenge

My turn to post a challenge this week and, as president of the Sick and Twisted Club, I thought it was time to live up to my office. No more sweetness and light!

The first card is made with a stamp I bought on ebay. Dogs and toilets . . . well, you know. It happens.

The second card is a sort of CASE of one of Holly's cards from a while back. I used the computer and printer for the sentiment.

#3 is also a CASE of sorts. I saw a similar card somewhere (can't remember where) with owls and the sentiment (sentiment a computer print out).

The last card is the famous flasher from Hambo. The sentiment is a Michael's dollar stamp.

I hope I haven't infringed on any copyrights here. It certainly was not my intention to do so.

So let's get sick and twisted! *evil laugh* My examples aren't too extreme but you can go as far as you want. Bring on the sick, the twisted, the outre, the mildly obscene and the way out there obscene. Anything goes!