Christmas Joy

Hello Blogger Friends! Thanks for taking the time to stop and visit with The Charmed Life Blog today.

 

I can't believe we have reached the end of October already. Thanksgiving and then Christmas will be coming sooner that we think. I have most of my Thanksgiving cards finished. But, Christmas is another story. I have started my cards but need a whole lot more.

 

So every chance I get, I am making Christmas cards. And, since I am on both the color challenge and sketch teams now on Splitcoaststampers, I am taking that opportunity. I was invited to guest design with the Sketch team for 6 months. That works for me.

 

This week Diane was our hostess and she gave us a great layout to turn into a card. It's sketch #721. I added a layer with some designer paper and also layered the square panels.

The background paper is from the Stampin'-Up "Be of good cheer" collection. I love red & green for Christmas cards. Although I have fun with non-traditional colors as well.

 

The dies are all from CottageCutz. The image dies are from the 2018 Christmas collection. I used holiday mantel and handmade tree w/ presents dies. The stamped sentiment is part of the stitched stockings set from MFT.

 

Well that's it for me for this post. So until next time...…...God bless.

 

Card Details:

Stamps: stitched stockings (MFT) 

Paper: cherry cobbler, whisper white, gumball green, be of good cheer dsp (Stampin'-Up)  

Paper Size: A2  

Ink: gumball green (Stampin'-Up)  

Accessories: holiday mantel, handmade tree w/presents, stitched alphabet, square dies (CottageCutz) 

 

Dies I used to create card: 

 

 

I am also entering:

1.  The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge has an anything goes.

2.  Cards in Envy has a favorite holiday card challenge.

3.  Stamps & Fun = Creativity has a red and green challenge.

4.  Crafter's Castle has an anything goes w/option of Christmas challenge.

5.  HIMCR has an any holiday challenge.

 

 

Stitched Snowman

Hello Blogger Friends! Thanks for taking the time to stop and visit with The Charmed Life Blog today.

 

It's a cold and damp day here in Pittsburgh. Rain is in the forecast all day. One of those perfect days for spending time in my craft room and watching the rain from the window. And since my hubby is at work all day, that is exactly my plan.

 

First though, I want to give details on my card for today. This one I created for my weekly DT post on the CottageCutz Blog. So let's get started with some details on how I created my card using the Stitched Snowman die.

 

Step 1: I wanted to make a card that would be easy to recreate for multiple cards. With that in mind, I kept the layout relatively simple and not as many layers as I like to use. I also wanted traditional Christmas red and green. I chose my designer paper with these colors in mind. It's from the Stampin'-Up "Be Merry" collection.

cherry cobbler card base: 4 1/4" x 5 1/2"

designer paper layer: 3 7/8" x 5 1/8"

garden green stitched oval: used the 2nd largest die from the stitched oval set.

white oval: used the 2nd largest die from the oval set

Step 2: In keeping with my traditional colors, I used garden green cardstock for the snowman's ear muffs and gloves and cherry cobbler for the heart. Sponged a bit of soft sky ink around the snowman and snowbank.

I wanted the sentiment on the image panel so I stamped it with the help of my MISTI.

Then I used a snowfall embossing folder to add some background snow.

Step 3: Now that all my elements are ready, I started card assembly. I decided I wanted to add some ribbon to my card. I like using it on Christmas cards. But you could certainly skip this step to make mailing easier.

Attached my snowman image to the oval panels using dimensional adhesive. The slight lift off the background creates nice depth.

Attached this image panel to the card base. Again I used dimensional adhesive. My intent was to add a bow but I didn't like the look of a bow with this particular ribbon.

To finish off my card I added a few sequins. This was just for more of a festive look.

Well that's my card for today. Hope you enjoy your weekend and get to do something crafty. So until next time...…..God bless.

dies I used to create card:

I am also entering:

1.  Crimbo Crackers has an anything goes Christmas challenge.
2.  Sweet Stampin' Christmas has an anything goes challenge.
3.  Fab n' Funky has a Christmas challenge.
4.  The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge is anything goes.
5.  Christmas with the Cuties has a wrap up warm challenge.
6.  The Merry Christmas challenge is anything goes.

 

A Christmas Birdhouse

Hello Blogger Friends! Thanks for taking the time to stop and visit with The Charmed Life Blog.

 

Today was a Pre-School day for me. We had a fun class today and it was all about pumpkins. I brought a couple of pumpkins in as a visual for the kids. One of them had bumps on it and the other was one without.

 

They were fascinated with the bumps as I knew they would be. I did a brief explanation of how too much rain causes the bumps. I did a bit of reading online to see what causes them. I thought the 3 explanations I read were interesting and I chose the one about too much rain. It was something simple I could explain to 3 year olds.

 

The smooth pumpkin I cut open and let them see the inside. They all had a chance to stick their hands inside and pull out some seeds. Some of them liked doing that a lot and some not so much. I explained how you can dry the seeds and roast them to eat. I had a bag of white pumpkins seeds and I let them all have some to taste. Again some liked them a lot others not so much.

 

We used the pumpkins seed and glued them on a pumpkin that was on construction paper. They liked doing the project. It will be one we will display next week for our art gallery night.

 

Now onto my card for today. This one I created for the sketch challenge #719 on Splitcoaststampers. Carey was our hostess and she provided a great layout for our cards.

 For my card I used a new CottageCutz die - Winter Birdhouses to create a Christmas card. I paired it up with Stampin'-Up's joyous noel specialty designer paper.

The sentiments are 2 different stamps. the Christmas Blessings is from PTI and the "nest" is from ODBD.

 

The image panel is embossed with the Stampin'-Up softly falling embossing folder. I thought this one would be an easy card to make several more of for my Christmas card giving. Now that I have made this card and I have all the measurements.

 

Well that's it for me for this post. So until next time...….God bless.

 

card details:  

Stamps: nest (ODBD), holiday home (PTI)

Paper: whisper white, tranquil tide, merry merlot, early espresso, joyous noel specialty (Stampin'-Up)  

Paper Size: A2   

 Ink: tranquil tide (Stampin'-Up)  

Accessories: winter birdhouses die (CottageCutz), softly falling embossing folder (Stampin'-Up)

 

Die I used to create card: 

I am also entering:

1. ABC Christmas Challenge has a "V" for very quick.

2. Christmas at Sweet Stampin' has an anything goes challenge.

3.  The Holly and Ivy Christmas challenge is anything goes.

 

 

 

A Pie & Latte Treat

Hello Blogger Friends! Thanks for taking the time to stop and visit with The Charmed Life this Saturday in October.

 

Wow -  what a change in our weather this week. We were at 80°+ temps earlier in the week with high humidity. Then yesterday the wind kicked up and brought much cooler air in to our region. I was all bundled up at my grandsons football game last night -I mean a sweatshirt-jacket and I had a blanket covering my legs (lol).

 

I woke up this morning, and it was cold in my house. It forced me to turn the heat on to take the chill off - ugh! Goodbye summer -  hello fall and colder weather.

 

So let's move onto my card for today. The cold weather today is so perfect for the card I created. This one is for my weekly DT post on the CottageCutz Blog. I used some new Autumn 2018 dies.

 

I started with my layout this week. I am using the Splitcoaststampers sketch #718. It's more of a clean & simple layout but I added a couple of extra layers to change it up a bit.

Since this is an Autumn card I wanted to use designer paper that had more of a fall appeal to it. I selected this leaf paper from Stampin'-Up's "painted autumn" collection. I thought it would work well with the pumpkin pie and latte images.

 I cut my pumpkin pie and latte cup + my fall phrase using the package colors as my guide. You can color your images but my preference is usually to cut them in colored cardstock. It requires a few more steps but I am always pleased with the outcome.

I wanted to stamp my sentiment before I attached the die cut images. I laid the images on the panel then figured out where to stamp the sentiment.

The sentiment is actually a Christmas stamp and it had more words than what I wanted to use.  I taped off what I didn't want and inked up the word "treat". I used my MISTI just in case I needed to re-stamp the word.  I didn't have to because it inked evenly and dark enough on my first attempt.

I added my images to the panel using dimensional adhesive. I decided to add a little top border to the image panel- just for added interest. I cut a strip of soft suede cardstock 1/4" x 5 1/8" and attached with double sided tape.

 To complete the card I used a few soft suede enamel dots. I thought that finished it of nicely. Well that's it for me for this post. So until next time...…..God bless.

dies I used to create card:

 

 

I am also entering:

1.  Polkadoodles has an anything goes challenge.

2.  Aud Sentiments challenge has a Fall or Halloween challenge.

3.  Creative Knockouts has a Fall challenge.