PPA18 - KISS Challenge

Ahh, what a great Thanksgiving weekend! We spent the holiday with dear friends in Mammoth and were treated to a beautiful snow storm on Saturday. We took in the lovely scenery and watched the snowflakes from in front of the fire. As we did, we watched a few movies all while cuddling on the couch. Now it's back to the grind but a little fun first. This week's PPA challenge is a KISS ( Keep It Simple Sweetie) challenge. What is more simple than a rub-on and a die cut? I layered Holiday Lounge DSP with whisper white and taken with teal card stock. I then added a Sparkle die cut for a mod snow flake with a clear rhinestone brad popped in the middle. The greeting is from the Merry and Bright rub-on set. Die cut - rub on - DONE!

PPA17 - Sketch

Here is my card for PPA17. Do you recognize these trees? They are the party hats from the Party Hearty stamp set with the candle bottom for a trunk. I wanted to get away from the Merry Moments DSP and try some different colors for a Christmas Card so I combined Rose Red, Old Olive, Bashful Blue, and Pretty in Pink. I think the colors create a bright, clean card. I couldn't decide which color to stamp the greeting in so I used them all. I am very happy to get a moment to stamp and have fun with a few challenges - now, on to the laundry. Woohooo!!

Mojo114 - Sketch Challenge

Whew! After a weekend of cupcake making, football, 2 soccer games, a full Thanksgiving meal, Stampin' Up! class and a volleyball team party, I can FINALLY stamp again. Here is my card for the Mojo Monday Challenge. I used the Sweet Season stamp set along with Merry Moments DSP for a gingerbread inspired card. A "window" for the greeting was created by using my word window punch. Next up, my PPA challenge. Can't wait!

Pretty Packages for Homemade Gifts - Sweet Season Stamp Set and Merry Moments DSP

During the holiday season, many of us love to share our home-made baked goods or hand crafted items with our friends and family. After all that hard work, those gifts should be presented in a special way. Here are just a few examples of how you can make a lovely presentation when giving those hand-made gifts with the Sweet Season stamp set and Merry Moments designer series paper. To order the Sweet Season stamp set and Merry Moments designer series paper contact me or click here to order directly from my website. You can also contact me directly for patterns to make the small bag and cookie tent.

Create a small bag with red card stock and wrap some Merry Moments paper around the center. Add a stamped image such as the Santa from the Christmas Punch hostess set and finish off with a chocolate chip ribbon and corduroy brads.

This "cookie tent" features the snow flake stamp from Sweet Season along with my favorite paper from Merry Moments.

For larger baked goods or items that you present in a jar, attach a beautiful tag complete with glitter and buttons using a pretty ribbon. Here the gingerbread stamp from Sweet Seasons is used along with candy striped paper from Merry Moments.

OR thread a Sweet Season "From Our House to Yours" tag with ribbon and wrap around the jar.

My prayers have been answered with these new Stampin' Up! Treat Boxes. Each year I give my neighbors a package of home baked goodies and always have a problem finding a affordable, pretty containers. These new treat boxes are large enough for my goodies, are food safe and VERY inexpensive. A package of 5 is only $3.95. The boxes are 4-5/8" x 2-3/8" x 6-1/8". Just add a ribbon and "From Our House to Yours" stamp from Sweet Season and you have a lovely package that you can make in under 2 minutes. Pretty and fast!

Mojo112 - Masculine Birthday Card

Here is my Mojo Monday challenge. I needed a masculine birthday card and turned to my fav's Autumn Meadows DSP and Autumn Splendor stamp set. This was my first time using the Crop-A-Dile to set grommets and WOW! was that easier than setting them with a hammer. I think my family appreciated the fact that I wasn't banging away in my craft closet.

PPA15 - Color Challenge - Lounge Chicken? The Lizard's Third Cousin

Why did the chicken cross the road? To get to the Christmas Lounge Paper. After a long, busy week of football, soccer, volleyball playoffs and mass amounts of homework for the kids, it was so nice to lock myself in my craft closet last night and work on this week's PPA challenge. I lost myself in it and it was almost midnight before I knew. When PPA's color challenge selected Basic Gray, Ruby Red and Taken with Teal, the colors brought to mind some of the colors used in country decor so I went to my Country Morning stamp set. I am really digging the Christmas Lounge DSP with Ruby Red and Taken with Teal in them. I found a few designs that reminded me of chicken wire so I went from there. The Ruby Red and taken with teal are very dark so I didn't want to use too much gray. (The card can be likened to my hair with just a touch of gray.) A few silver brads and white ribbon to balance the darker colors and it was happily done along with the very busy week.

Mojo111- Mojo Monday Challenge - OMG ( Oh My Glitter!)

Whenever I think of snowflakes and winter I think of frosty blue and sparkles. Well, I may have gotten carried away with the sparkles or glitter on this one. I used the Autumn Meadows DSP for the background since I love the cool blues in the paper. I stamped the large Serene Snowflake on very vanilla card stock and embossed it in silver. To tie in the silver embossing I stamped the smaller Serene Snowflakes with platinum shimmer paint directly onto the Autumn Meadows DSP and also embossed my brads. The smaller die cut snowflakes are from the Merry Details sizzlet. I then added the "icy" rhinestone brads to the centers of the snowflakes. To finish, I went a little crazy with my 2-way glue pen and Iridescent Ice glitter but I achieved the frosty look I was after.