Happy Saturday...!!

  Today has been another great day of creating and all of these cards were based on new inspiration from the Holiday Card Boot Camp.  I just can not being to tell you how MUCH I love this class and I'm so happy to be a part of it and also to see all the other creations that each of the students makes.

   I'm catching up today on some of the cards that I had not found time to finish earlier in the week and this first card was one of those.  It was meant to be an idea for a 'Newletter' card, or pocket card and was inspired by Kristina Werner.  I loved her idea about using this style for Cash gifts and that's exactly what I will do.  I will be creating more of these in a variety of colors and designs.  It was very fun to follow her fanbulous idea!  

  The next card is another take-off of the card that Jennifer shared with us yesterday.  It's also done in a snowflake theme and is a design and technique I LOVE.   All of the colors for this card were from the brand new Winter Series of Distress Inks with a touch of Perfect Pearls mist.  I'm also having a wonderful time with my new Silhouette Cameo and cut all these snowflakes and flourishes on my machine.  

   My next three card were all take-offs of card inspiration from yesterday's class.   The idea being that all of these cards are fairly easy to create quickly and can be mass-produced.    The first card was inspired by Kristina, but my colors and design is quite a bit different, as I did not have some of the same materials.  I'm not one of seems to love Kraft cardstock, but the more I have seen of it in this class, I'm thinking I should try it more often!  I used colors that are close and the background stamp is also the same.

  This next card was inspired by Maile Belles who is a new designer to me.   Her card was created in totally different colors and with different stamps on Kraft Paper, but again, since I did not have the same products that she used, I created this card with goodies from my stash and based it on her design!

   And last, but not at all least is this fun and very CAS card that was inspired by Julie Ebersole, who I totally adore.  Her videos are always fun and she is such happy person who can always make me smile.  And speaking of fun, she has an adorable card on her blog today!   This is another one I want to try and I even had the tiny little bags she used on the card.  You can find it HERE and there is also a video on You Tube.  I'm going to make it for the Scrap Card Challenge over at Crafting by Designs.   I have a desk covered with scraps right now, so I may try to get it started before I clean up!!

   I hope to also submit some of these cards to other challenges, but right now I'm getting sore from being online, so I'm going to take a break.   I know there are a lot of challenges starting to inspire us to create Christmas Cards!   Ever since I started on Christmas, I have not made much else and right now it's pretty much all I am into!!  I LOVE it and love making my own cards!!

  Hope you are all having a fabulous weekend!   I am and I hope tomorrow I have as much time to create as I did today!

Happy Friday and Happy Veteran's Day!!

   Wow did this week ever fly by!!   I can't believe it's already Friday and that we have already finished the first week in Holiday Card Boot Camp.  I am having such a great time and don't want it to go by so fast.  The good news is that there is still another full week to go and I have lots of wonderful inspiration to keep me busy all weekend.

   And speaking of Boot Camp in a more series way, I also want to take a moment to say a big THANK YOU to all those who serve in our Military and to honor the Memory of those who have given up their life to protect and serve our country.   My heart goes out to all those who have lost a family member while protecting our Country - those are our true Heroes and deserve to be honored and respected each and every day.   My God Bless all our Troops and bring them ALL back home to the families.

   I would also like to invite you all to hop on over to the Operation Write Home blog, where they are hosting a Blog Hop today to honor Veteran's day.   You'll find all the hop details on the blog and if you are interested in creating card for OWH, you can find more details HERE!!   Thank YOU!!

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  I am stopping in now to share two of the cards that I created today, in Holiday Card Boot Camp.   I'm also working on three more and hope to have another update later, or sometime tomorrow to share those.     Both of these cards were inspired by Jennifer McGuire and the card and technique she shared with us today.  I loved her card so much that I made two using the same basic concept, but changed up the colors and backgrounds!
   This is the first one I created and for this card I used a Sizzix embossing folder along with Distress Inks and Perfect Pearl Mist.  I used two of the awesome new colors from the Winter collection (Evergreen Bough and Iced Spruce), along with Tumbled Glass.   I then sprayed on a layer of perfect pearls mist and set it aside to dry.  I cut a large selection of snowflakes with dies and also with Silhouette images and chose two for my card.  One is actually a flourish (not a snowflake,  and is from Memory Box).  I added Distress Stickles to  the blue snowflake and then heat set and dried it.   I finished off the card with some lace ribbon and  mounted the it all onto some  Hero Arts layering paper.

  My second card was created with the same technique, however, I used different colors and designs and also added a Peace Sentiment, as Jennifer had done on her card.  I am not sure which one I like best today, and I can't wait to see what the other students have in the Gallery today!  It's been such a great week and I have plenty of new inspiration still to work on.

 
  I'm heading back to camp now and excited to finish working on three more cards, all of which are awesome CAS style card.    One was inspired by Kristina Werner and the other two were created by our newest guest Designers.  Julie Ebersole and Maile Belle, who both shared some wonderful cards.     I loved EVERY card we had today and it's going to be a great weekend with all this fabulous new inspiration!  WOOHOO!!

  Please take a moment to remember our Fallen Heroes!

Purplicious......!!!

   Do you happen to now what my favorite color is?   I'll bet you can easily take a guess by simply looking at my blog design or even easier by the name I gave to my blog.   I just LOVE Purple, in every shade and love using it when it create.  Some day I'm going to totally renovate my craft room and make it become my Purple Place!!

   Both of my cards today were created with Purple on my mind and I was inspired by a gorgeous card that Jennifer McGuire shared as her card today in Boot Camp.  Jennifer created her card in a Deep Navy with Silver accents...Love it, so when I first say it I thought about making mine in the same colors, but then tried it in a Deep Purple and really liked it.  I will also be working on one more in Navy and will add it to my blog when it's finished.

    Here is the first card I created and this one has a touch of gold along with other sparkly colors I used for my ornaments.  It's a clear acetate card and I've learned how to create these from taking other classes with Jennifer, as well as at my LSS (Absolutely Everything).   I find it easiest to use Hero Arts Acetate cards, but you could also cut them from larger sheets of clear acetate.  The first step is to pick a nice background image and to stamp it on with White Staz-on ink!  It works best to use a Fiskars Stamp Press and that was a tip I learned from Jennifer.  Using the press after taping the card to your craft mat, will really help to keep the stamp from sliding on the acetate.  

    I stamped two acetate bases and put them both aside to dry for awhile.  The next step is to pick what color paper you want to use and pick a nice stamps for your focal point.  I chose Christmas Trees in two different styles.  I also fell in love with the tree stamp that Jennifer used and now have it on my wish list.   I stamped each with Versamark and then heat embossed them in white.   I loved the look of white on the deeps colors, but you could use any color that work.

    Once they are embossed and cooled you can decorate your tree, as desired.  For this first card, I used Glitter pens to color in the ornaments and then matted it with gold paper.  I then adhered it to the front of my card.   Tip:  To hide the adhesive on the inside of the acetate, be sure to cut a matching sized liner which you will apply to the inside.    When you decide to add your sentiment, you'll also want to be sure that it's printed or stamped on another piece of white cardstock, no larger than the card front.   I put mine all together and this was the end result.  Purple and Gold....two of my favorites!!

   I am such a purple girl, that I decided to make another card also in purple, but simply changed out my stamp to this one, also by Hero Arts.    I also changed to mat and layered it onto some sparkly vellum that I had left over from yesterday.  Next, I decided to decorate my tree with purple flat back pearls.  I have a wonderful selection of these pearls and I've found the best prices and color selection are from Pizzazz aPlenty.  I had won a card challenge a while back and my prize was a gift package from Pizzazz aPlenty.  It was fantastic and full of awesome bling!!   I have since shopped there a few times and I am happy to recommend this store for Bling needs...along with so much more!!    Once I had my tree all decorated, I added a matching little bow and put it all together to make this card.

  This card is being submitted to each of these new challenges:

• Crimbo Crackers - Challenge # 2 - Make it Sparkle
• Just for Fun - Your Favorite Color
• Paper Crafting Journey - # 23 - Embossing
• PartyTime Tuesdays - Bling it on

  I hope you have enjoyed my Purplicious Holiday cards!  I had so much fun making these and really love how they turned out.   I'm so happy to be a part of this fabulous class and to learn all these wonderful hints, tips and ideas.  I'm also meeting lots of new crafters and it's so fun to see all the wonderful creations that everyone is sharing on the blogs.

   If you LOVE creating cards or would like more inspiration, it's not to late to join in.  Today was Day 4 and the class runs through the 21st.  You'll have lifetime access to the website and can go back at anytime to review the videos and PDF files.  Every day at Camp is a blast and I HIGHLY recommend it.  Everyone that joins has been so pleased and to me, there is nothing more fun than creating with other people!!   Jennifer and Kristina are such awesome designers and really put together these fabulous classes.   They Rock!!

Click here for more details!!

   Oh, and if you need even more enabling, this was just one of the three fabulous cards that were shared with us in class today.  Kristina and our wonderful guest designer, Nichol Magourik, also created to wonderful cards that are perfect for sending out newsletters.   I love the designs of those as well and hope to make on in that style now.

Another awesome day!!

.....The weather is even better than yesterday and I totally LOVE it.  I was up and off early to have my hair colored and it was so nice to be going out without a coat again and back in my flip flops.  Comfy and warm in the warm sunshine.

      I was also anxious to get back today, so that I could work on the newest cards at Holiday Card Boot Camp!!  Today, I LOVED all the cards and had a great afternoon creating these three.  What I like most is that they are all in shades of green, aqua and blue, but all different and very much non-traditional colors, which I LOVE.

     The first card was created using a Faux Letterpress technique, which I have done a few times in different classes.   The Holly Design Stamp and matching embossing folder are one of the new combo sets by Hero Arts and Sizzix.  I bought this after taking a class as my LSS and was happy to see it in class today and this is the first time I've tried it at home!!

 
My next two cards were created in a snowflake theme and based on some of the ideas I've learned in class. This first card was really fun and it was made by taking a piece of Bo Bunny (Midnight Frost) paper and a snowflake themed embossing folder, which was inked in Versamark.    I ran it through my Cuttlebug and then added a sparkling white embossing powder and heat set the design onto the patterned paper.  I then die cut a variety of snowflakes, stamped a sentiment and put it all together to make this very sparkly card.  If you loves lots of sparkle and shine, you'll love this card and technique.

  And my third card was already created in a Snowflake theme.  I started by taking some of my new Distress ink (Evergreen Bough) and put some on my craft mat.  I then sprayed it with Perfect Pearls Mist and took a piece of white cardstock and used the ink mixture to color it.  I love the shimmer for the pearl and this new color is AWESOME!!  I dried it with my heat gun and then ran embossed on a snowflake pattern.  I then used a Spellbinder die to cut it out and created two more layers in contrasted papers with the same set.  I layered each and stamped on the Christmas Tree in Memento Ink.   I colored the tree with my Copics and then added bling for each of the ornaments.  I then adhered that to the top and added a little ribbon to finish it.    This turned out to be my favorite of all three cards!   I'll be curious to find out which one YOU like best!!

   I'm off now to make something for dinner and then will clean up my room for today!  My neck is a bit sore today and I think I need a little time off the computer to keep it from getting any worse.  I'll take it easy tomorrow and hope to be back with a new post to share tomorrow afternoon.     Happy Crafting!!

A Happy Camper!!!

    Today is Day Two and Holiday Card Boot Camp and it's been another awesome day of creating for me.  It's also one of the most wonderful Fall days with bright blue skies, lots of wonderful sun and temps up in the 70's.  I know this will likely be the last warm day, but it's a joy to have it and so nice to have a day to open up the windows.

   In camp today the main focus was on creating cards with Photos, which is just not my thing.  For those who love photo cards, I'm sure they loved the wonderful inspiration that Jennifer, Kristina and the Guest Designers shared.  All of their cards are wonderful and if I did like to add pictures to my Christmas Cards, I would be thrilled with the day.  For me, with not little ones and not being a great photographer, it's a day that I used to work on two more cards based more on yesterday's day.

  These are my two cards, both were done in shades of Teal and Silver and I LOVE to use non-traditional colors on my cards.  I also make these my own little take off of the cards we created yesterday.  But, as some days go, the second card was a bust, so that will be one I'll work on revising.

   My first card is very much as CAS style card and I used one of my favorite Memory Box dies to cut the darling little ornament along with the (Crisp Bow), also from Memory Box.   The flourishes were in my die cut stash, so I'm not certain whether I cut them with a die or my Silhouette.   This was a very easy card to create and could be done in a variety of colors.

   I am submitting this card to the following challenges:

• Papertake Weekly Challenge - First Christmas
• Party Time Tuesday - Bling it on - or Sparkly things
• Tip Top Tuesday - Challenge # 59 - Anything Christmas

     My next card is my 'bust' for today and even thought it's not a card I'll ever use, I also like to share the good and bad, so that I can learn from them.   The idea I had was to do a resist technique and I started by stamping my stamp/sentiment in Versamark and then heat embossed both with a sparkling white powder.  This was my mistake, I should have just used Versamark alone, or possible clear powder.   Next, I new I wanted to use one of  my Brand New Distress Inks from the Seasonal Winter Set, which I love.  I chose Evergreen Bow and colored my entire embossed paper with that color and than spritzed it with Perfect Pearl Mists for some extra shimmer.   I then heat dried it and that's when I realized this glittery embossing powder was too much.   As you'll see it's hard to read the Sentiment, and that's what I don't like.    On the upside, I totally LOVE this new color and am so happy I had ordered mine early!

   My next two cards are not Christmas cards and instead are cards that I created for a variety of challenges, as noted with each card.  For my first card, I started with this sweet image from Lily of the Valley, which I mounted on matching patterned papers and created a matching card to fit.   If you ever want to make quick and easy cards and are rushed for them, this pre-colored images are perfect.   You can find them HERE at LOTV and them come in sheets of assorted designs.   I bought them a long time ago and came across them while I was re-vamping my craft room.  They are really adorable and well-priced too!    I stamped my Sentiment and then Embossed in with Gold Embossing powder and then cut it out with an SU Punch.   I completed the card by adding a gold/white ribbon!!   I really love how it turned out and it was so easy with the LOTV images.

 
    My Thank You card is being submitted to each of these new challenges:

• The Outlawz - Greeting Card Challenge - Give Thanks
• City Crafter Challenge Blog -  # 82- Thanks * Giving
• Creative Card Crew - Thankful

  And last, but not least, I created one more card for today's new Color Combo Challenge at The Outlawz. This is a copy of the color swatch and the twist for this week is to use those colors along with Houndstooth or Gingham in some way.

  This card is being submitted to these challenges:

• Catch the Bug Challenges - November Week 1 - Anything Goes
• The Outlawz - Color Combo - Black, White & Raspberry + Twist
• Digital Tuesday - Challenge # 136 - Anything Goes with a Digi

   I always love creating with Black and White and adding the bright Raspberry was really fun.  My image is a digi from Bugaboo Stamps and my papers are also digi papers from Shery K. Designs.  I love all the wonderful sets that she sells and now have a nice collection of digi backgrounds.  I'm getting more and more into digital elements and using them to create Hybrid cards.   I found that Two Peas has a fantastic selection of digi elements, kits and papers and so much more, including many from Hero Arts!  

   And now I am off, as my son, (Brian) is coming by for a visit and to show me his brand new MacBook Pro.  He is one who always has the latest and greatest in gadget and is a huge Mac fan.  He has a Mac PC, a iPad and has also had all the iPhones, not to mention he bought the original iPod, right away it came out.  He's very fortunate to have a fabulous job and make the money to buy all these awesome goodies.  I'm so happy for him and Meghan and totally love their new apartment too.   It really shows when you work hard and they both do, making me very happy to seem them enjoying life!   I'm still dreaming of some day owning an iPad....like I keep saying....this girl Loves to dream.