Long Time No Post...

Hello, poor neglected blog!  How have you been?  Lonely?  Yes, yes, I can see that.  The stamps, ink pads and all the accessories have been rather lonely as well. 

I could hear you all calling out to me, yet I ignored you, my mojo gone.  Gone, I tell you.  And, there were other crafty things that needed to be done.  No, I know that's no excuse, but I had to sleep, didn't I?  No?  Well, now I think you're just being unreasonable...  I'm sorry.  It's the best I've got, and the truth.  I'm truly sorry, and I promise to try and do better in the future.  With Christmas coming, you know I'm back for a while. :o)

I have been longing for the "A Wreath for All Seasons" by PTI for quite some time now.  I had to place an order with them for some heavy white card stock, and I'll be darned if this set didn't just jump in my cart.  No, really, it did!

And, how happy am I it chose to do so? Look at that lovely CAS card up there.  Ahhhh. (This is a card heavy post as I'm loading them all for Lissie to see.)
 

I played around quite a bit with the set, trying out different ideas.  I decided no rounded corners, and yes, I was going to add the baker's twine to the wreath.

One layer and simple.

My Thanksgiving cards.  I inked the stamp with Pumpkin Pie and then rocked and rolled it in Cherry Cobbler.  Oh how I love love love the depth and richness of Cherry Cobbler. :o)

And, Jaydee is doing a card drive for Enchanted Makeovers, and I needed to kick it into high gear to get at least a few cards to her.

Here I pulled out one of the first sets I ever purchased, "Pick a Petal" and went with one of my go to color combos--yellow (Daffodil Delight) and black.

To add some interest, I used some of my newly purchased Twinkling H2O's.  I have this thing about bling and sparkles, what can I say?

Another card using "Pick a Petal".

Simple, elegant, and effective, this card uses Baja Breeze and is just like so many others I've created.  It's a fall to for me when I need a lovely card.

And, I pulled out "Darling Dots" once again to make the next two cards.  I'm planning on making cards using each of the stamps in that set if I can.

I added bling to each of the cards for a bit of added sparkle and shine. :o)

Oh, it's been so fun to get back in and play around.  I'm anxious to get in again this evening.  I made twelve cards last night, let's see how many I can make tonight! :o)

--Rach

They're Done!

All 90 of 'em.  Finished.  I had them completed by midnight Friday evening, having worked on the last three sets from 2-4:30 and again from 8-midnight.  Insides, outsides, upside downs, all finished.  Whew!

(I know the image is a bit hot, there's not much I can do about it.  I MISS my flash!!)

I changed the sentiment on this one at Brien's request--he just liked it better.  Hey, they're our FAMILY cards, so who was I to judge?

Last night, Brien spent some time printing out the envelopes (he found a fun Dashboard widget (for those of you who use Macs) that would print the address and our return addy) and I'll work on these while the girlies nap today. 

Tomorrow begins the great gift tag adventure...

--Rach

Playing with My New Goodies

Okay, so I fibbed.  I had no idea I would have a couple of minutes to play around in the studio before we left Friday.  Heck, who can resist the lure of new goodies?  A better person than I, that's for sure.

Getting out the "Holly Jolly" paper and the copics, I made the card above.  I can't believe how intense the Cherry Cobbler looks in that light.  That does it, I MUST get my bounce flash fixed...

I love the intensity of the copics in that image, as opposed to the one a few posts ago.

And, here, I don't think you can see it,  but I played with the VersaMark Dazzle.  IRL, it gives the tiny snowflakes a hint of shimmer and makes them a bit more visible than with VersaMark alone.

Again, I tried to capture the shimmer.  "Tried" being the optimum word, of course...

These are pretty much facsimiles of cards I've already created so you can find recipe details below.  :o)

--Rach

Hung Up on Christmas

 

When I first began stamping in 2007, it was November, right around Christmas time and I knew I just had to make my own cards.  I was still learning the basics and quite overwhelmed, but gosh darnit, I was going to make it happen. I had figured out that I wouldn't have to color in solid images--which was a good thing as I didn't have any markers yet--and I thought the stamp set "Hung up on the Holidays" was the cutest thing EVER. :o)  

I purchased it, I made some cards, and I let it sit unused for the next two years as I used other "fancier" stamps to make my Christmas cards. What was I thinking?!? This is a darling set!

I don't know about you, but I will lie in bed at night and card ideas will flit through my head.  This one kept coming to me and I got in the studio and had to make it.  Initially, I was unimpressed.  Somehow, it didn't quite meet up to the vision in my head.  Okay, more to the point, it wasn't this card I made.  I initially used Very Vanilla instead of the Whisper White and instead used only the ornaments.  It was a bust.  It was too symmetrical (is there such a thing?), and too yellow. I changed the paper and added the gingerbread man, and was somewhat pleased with the results, but still not sure. 

That led to this card:

After putting it together, I realized I actually liked both cards and will be making them both this year. (Yes, I know the string is a little off from that red ornament, remember, these are just mock-ups.)

In other exciting news, I picked up some VersaMark Dazzle to use on the snowflake cards.  It has a hint of shimmer that it adds to the watermarking.  I also picked up...drum roll please...red and green copics.  Oh my.  Oh my oh my.  I found two colors that are so close to Old Olive and Cherry Cobbler and my plan is to use them on the Noel cards. :o) I still need to play around with them--a LOT--but I'm getting the feel for them, and they're pretty nice. :o)

As for this card, it uses:
Stamp Sets: "Hung up on the Holidays"(retired), PTI's "Signature Christmas"
Papers: Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive, Soft Suede, Whisper White
Inks: Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive, Soft Suede, Brilliance's Starlite Silver

I'll be out of town this weekend, so no stamping for me.  And then, we're having a church retreat from 7-8 Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday--during my typical stamping time--so I don't know if I'll have anything new to post until next Friday.  Maybe Lissie can pick up the slack? ;o)

--Rach

I'm Baaaaaaaaaaaaaack! :o)

There really is no excuse I could give about why I have neglected my poor blog for such a long time.  None whatsoever, so I won't even try.  I'm back, the creative juices are flowing, and I'm ready to share once more.  :o)


After tallying more than 75 people/families to whom we will be sending Christmas cards, I came to the conclusion I would go NUTS if I had to make 80 cards of the same design.  Last year I made two different designs and I loved them both.  You can see them here and here.  I absolutely ADORE "Dasher" and keep wondering if I could just work him in somehow again this year.  Hm...

Anyhow, I've decided to go with five or six different designs and I spent last night making mock-ups.  Nine cards later, I had three I liked.  Here's the first:

 

 It is absolutely a CASE of one Jaydee's cards.  I saw hers, fell in love (I have this thing for snowflakes) and went about making it "mine".  Can you see the little snowflakes VersaMarked on in the background? I'm pretty pleased with the results. :o) 

This card uses:

Stamp Sets: "Serene Snowflakes", PTI's "Signature Christmas"

Papers: Bashful Blue, Night of Navy, Whisper White

Inks: Bashful Blue, VersaMark, Night of Navy

Accessories: rhinestones

I'll be back in the studio this evening, playing around with a couple more sets.  I'll have a new card for you tomorrow.  Hooray! :o)

--Rach