Thursday, October 27, 2011

An "Ornamental" Christmas Past

Welcome to the Studio!
If you’re visiting from the Card A Day Blog, thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you come back again soon. If you haven’t been to the Card A Day Blog, please stop by over there. There is a bunch of talented ladies doing some awesome creating. I’m so excited to be a part of it.

For this week, the theme is Christmas and Ornaments. I’m back on my vintage kick again, but I wanted to do something easy that could be recreated quickly for those of us who have LOTS of Christmas cards to make and mail out every year.

The card base is 8.5 x 3.75 (8.5 x 7.5 and scored at 3.75) The next layer is Cherry Cobbler cardstock, cut about a quarter of an inch smaller with the bottom edge border punched. It give a little pop of color next to the ivory cardbase. {Hint: Trim the width of the strip first, leaving it longer than 8.5. Border punch the bottom, then measure and trim excess from the top.}
The green pattern paper layer is cut about a quarter inch smaller than the red. I used a cut file from Silhouette for the ornament and cut it out of gold cardstock with an ivory shadow for a little extra pop there too. I glued the green patterned paper to the Cherry Cobbler. I then attached a short piece of Cherry Cobbler seam binding to the back of the Cherry Cobbler cardstock before attaching it to the ivory base. Using the seam binding, I looped it so it would look like a double bow and used a brad to cinch it together. For the sentiment, I used scraps and Spellbinders dies. I stamped “Merry Christmas” first and then cut it out so that I could have the sentiment centered as I wanted it. For attaching the ornament, I found it quicker and easier to run both pieces through my Xyron Sticker Maker (2.5”). I layered the gold on the ivory shadow first and then attached it to the card front and popped the bow on top with a glue dot. The sentiment is on a bit of foam tape as well.

Another tip...use what you have on hand. I have a bunch of Christmas-themed chipboard cutouts that would work great as well. You can also make an ornament, wreath, etc. a bit more elegant with pearls or a lot more eye-catching with bling. I hope you enjoyed your visit!

My Supply List:
Cardstock: Colonial White, CTMH; Cherry Cobbler, Stampin Up; DCWV Gold Pearl.
Patterned paper: Green tone on tone, Anna Griffin.
Stamps: A Merry Christmas, Stampin Up.
Ink: Chocolate, CTMH.
Dies: Spellbinders, scalloped ovals and ovals.
Ribbon: Cherry Cobbler seam binding, Stampin Up.
Bling: Pearl Brad, Paper Studio, Hobby Lobby.
Adhesive: Glue Glider Pro High Tack, Glue Arts; Xyron Sticker Maker; foam tape.
Tools: Border Punch, Martha Stewart.


Thanks for stopping by. Until next time, Scrap Sassy!

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Angel Fest!

Welcome to the Studio!

I just wanted to do a quick post to let everyone know that we're taking "the Studio" on the road. We be at St. Michael's Angel Fest on Saturday, October 15th, located at 5941 Main Street, Millbrook, Alabama. So if you're local or passing through, please stop by and visit. We're going to be selling some holiday-inspired Sassy Shimmer Spritz as well as cards and layouts. We have LOTS of Christmas cards!

Need a bit more enticing? They have Boston butts, children's activities, AND a bake sale! I may be doing more shopping than selling;)

I hope to see y'all there!

I know I have some blog candy to give away and I'm really falling behind on my "blog job" here. I promise I'll have a winner chosen shortly and some awesome goodies perfect for Christmas inspiration. And it'll be worth the wait;)

Until next time, Scrap Sassy!

Monday, October 10, 2011

Winter Wonderland

Welcome to the Studio!

If you’re visiting from the Card A Day Blog, thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you come back again soon. If you haven’t been to the Card A Day Blog, please stop by over there. There is a bunch of talented ladies doing some awesome creating. I’m so excited to be a part of it.

For this week, the theme is Christmas and Snow. When I think of snow, the words to White Christmas come to mind and I get that old-time movie scene in my head of frosted windowpanes, roaring fires, and snowflakes gently drifting by outside. It’s definitely all in my imagination. I grew up in Louisiana, near New Orleans. I remember swimming in the backyard on Christmas Day, and New Year’s for that matter, for more years than I care to count. I also remember standing out on Veterans Highway in Metairie, Louisiana in the pre-dawn darkness freezing my buns off, teeth chattering, dressed in some silly costume (ballerina, Indian, Wonder Woman, etc.) with all-weather coat and gloves too, waiting for the Mardi Gras parade to start in late March. Needless to say, the weather down there is unpredictable at best, but I digress. Let’s get to the good stuff…stamped snowflakes!



I used a past sketch from Mojo Monday for the layout of this card. I used a transparency with Staz-On to stamp the individual snowflake “petals.” The stamps are from Heartfelt Creations as well as the die. The hardest part of this technique was waiting for the ink to dry. After it does, however, the fun begins. Using the Heartfelt/Spellbinder die, you just line up the die over the stamped image. Yes, it sounds hard, but remember that your paper is clear, so it’s super-easy. I ran it through my Bigshot and got ready to play with glitter and bling. I used 3-D Crystal Lacquer (with a fine tip) on the unstamped side of the flakes to “draw” where I wanted the glitter to go. Some sections I filled in with glitter and other sections I just traced some of the swirls. I used MS aquamarine glitter for the bottom layer of flakes and MS white gold glitter for the upper flakes. I attached the flakes together with a foam dot, thus giving it the upper and lower levels. To hide the dimensional, I added a huge chunk of “ice” on top. A Stampin Up “Season’s Greetings” and a silver organza bow finish it off. It was fun to make and looks even better in person…and a lot more sparkly!

My Supply List:
Cardstock: chocolate, CTMH; white, CTMH; Bazzill Bling, Bazzill.
Patterned paper: Brown Polka Dot, K & Co. Christmas Paper Pad
Stamps: Season’s Greetings, Stampin Up; Snowflake Medallions, Heartfelt Creations.
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Stampin Up; Timber Brown, Staz-On.
Dies: Snowflake/Medallions, Spellbinders/Heartfelt Creations; scalloped circles, Spellbinders.
Ribbon: Silver Organza, Offray.
Bling: Jolee’s Boutique
Adhesive: Glue Glider Pro High Tack, Glue Arts; 3-D Crystal Lacquer; foam dots.
Tools: Border Punch, Stampin Up.
Glitter: Aquamarine and white gold, Martha Stewart.

Thanks for stopping by. Until next time, Scrap Sassy!

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Christmas Card Double-Header

Welcome to the Studio!

The Card A Day Blog launched its Christmas Card Blog Hop yesterday, and now we're into day two with more crafty goodness. There is still some amazing blog candy up for grabs, including a grand prize that will include something from everyone in the hop. Each of our blog hop designers will choose something new from their stash {or handmade especially for the winner} for this grand prize that will be given away to the random winner of our blog hop challenge.

After that, we will continue by bringing you all types of Christmas cards {and gift card holders too} all the way to just before Christmas. We are doing this to give you lots of ideas for Christmas cards for you to be inspired and get those creative juices flowing in time for this wonderful, and hectic, time of year.

Thank you so much for hopping by for our second day of inspiration! I’m excited to be a part of the CABD Christmas Card Blog Hop. This blog hop is a great big circle, so you can start wherever you want and continue through to see all the fabulous cards. If you would like to start from the beginning, please visit Karen's Blog. Also, at the bottom of this post, you will find a listing of all participants and their blog addresses if you should get lost or want to reference a blog along the way. If you are coming from Janet's Blog, you are on the right track.

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I was cleaning out my Christmas pattern paper scrap bin and I came across my second most favorite CTMH Christmas collection. It too is retired and a few years old. My reasoning, we're all strapped around the holidays. What better way to save money than to use your scraps! Plus, that gives you a little extra to spend on your layouts;)


These are 5x7 cards. Another tip for "bulk" cardmaking is purchasing the card blanks and envelopes together. The chain craft stores all carry them. If they're not on sale, there's usually a coupon for 40-50% off. Where else could get 50 cards for $5? That's a huge savings!

My first card, I used tone-on-tone patterned paper for a soft look. I inked the edges with CTMH Juniper. The "ornament" strip is also inked with Juniper. The tone-on-tone red stripe is inked in CTMH Tulip. The pink rectangle is CTMH Blush cardstock, inked of course, in CTMH Blush. I also used a Sizzix embossing folder for an extra touch of texture. The next layer is CTMH Olive cardstock. I used a Spellbinders scalloped oval to cut it out. You know I inked it;) I used CTMH Olive. The stamp is one of those clearance sets from Michael's from the post-Christmas sales last year. I used chalk ink from SEI for the image on CTMH white cardstock. After stamping it, I used a Spellbinders oval die to cut it out. For a little extra bling, I Liquid Pearls in Petal Pink and Stickles in Fruit Punch and dotted the flower centers and holly berries. I also added three rhinestones and bit of embroidery floss.


For my second card, I decided to cut the base out of Juniper cardstock. I cut a piece of striped pattern paper and glued my ribbon to it before attaching it to my card base. My mom taught me to "hide my ribbon bits." I only attached the ribbon on the back of the pattern paper with ScorTape, leaving the front loose, so I could slide the two strips of pattern paper underneath. The white cardstock strip was added second and sits flush on top of the striped paper. Then the two pattern paper strips were added. I tied a bow and attached it with a glue dot (aka snot dot, booger dot). I used baker's twine in white and hot pink to tie in the buttons for a little extra zing. The button were attached with glue dots. For the sentiment, I diecut Tulip cardstock with Spellbinders scallop oval. I stamped my image on white cardstock and diecut with Spellbinders oval. I also used Stickles and Liquid Pearls just like on the first card. It's hard to see in the photo, but it looks really cool.

My Supply List:
Cardstock: Juniper, CTMH; White, CTMH; Tulip, CTMH; Blush, CTMH.
Patterned paper: Jolly, CTMH.
Stamps: Christmas Clearance at Michael's.
Ink: Juniper, CTMH; Tulip, CTMH; Blush, CTMH; Olive, CTMH; chalk ink, SEI.
Ribbon: embroidery floss; Creme Brulee grosgrain ribbon, CTMH; baker's twine, We R Memory Makers.
Adhesive: Glue Glider Pro High Tack, Glue Arts; ScorTape, ScorPal;
Dimensionals: Fruit Punch Stickles, Ranger; Petal Pink Liquid Pearls, Ranger.
Dies: Scallop oval and oval, Spellbinders.
Embellishments: buttons.

Thanks for stopping by! Please continue onto Michelle's Blog where you will find even more ideas and awesome artwork! Be sure to leave a comment and let me know what you thought of my cards.

Wanna win some blog candy? It's easy. All you have to do is follow me and leave a comment. A winner will be chosen at random. Thanks again for stopping by and happy hopping!

More chances to win even more blog candy:
CABD CHRISTMAS CARD BLOG HOP CHALLENGE
Join in the fun and submit your own Christmas card for our challenge. The challenge will run from now until midnight, October 3.

A two-day extravaganza of Christmas Cards and prizes.
Each of our designers will be choosing something special for our followers and adding it to the grand prize package. You will receive something from each designer.
To join in the challenge, create a Christmas card and post it on your blog.
To qualify, you must be a follower of the CADB blog and you must then include a link to our blog in your post. Please link to http://cardadayblog.blogspot.com (if this text is not included in your post, your submission will be rejected).
The winner of the prize package will be selected at. Check back here on October 3 to see if you have won!!!

As promised, here's the hopping order in case you get lost along the way or want to refer back to a blog…
Karin Adamczyk, ScrapperCreations
Adele Robbetze, Nogards Creative Cave
Christine Patton, Creative Genie-ous
Cindy Foster, Cindy's Creations
Cindy Pointe, The Creative Pointe
Janet White, Stamping At The White House
Kelly George, Sassy Scrapper Studio (You’re Here!)
Michelle Hessler, Paperthreads
Patricia Logan, MDN Creates
Shelley Bordeleau, Gardens Crafts 'n' More
Tina Campbell, Tina's Scrap Corner
Vicki Schram, Paper Squirrel

Hope to see you again soon. Until next time, Scrap Sassy!

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Christmas Card Blog Hop by CADB

Welcome to the Studio!


It's World Card Making Day, and to celebrate, the Card A Day Blog is launching a Christmas Card Blog Hop, but this is no ordinary blog hop. It will start today and continue tomorrow as a traditional blog hop, with some amazing blog candy being given away by everyone in the blog hop. We will have a wonderful grand prize that will include something from everyone in the hop. Each of our blog hop designers will choose something new from their stash {or handmade especially for the winner} for this grand prize that will be given away to the random winner of our blog hop challenge.

After that, we will continue by bringing you all types of Christmas cards {and gift card holders too} all the way to just before Christmas. We are doing this to give you lots of ideas for Christmas cards for you to be inspired and get those creative juices flowing in time for this wonderful, and hectic, time of year.

Thank you so much for hopping along with us! I’m excited to be a part of the CABD Christmas Card Blog Hop. This blog hop is a great big circle, so you can start wherever you want and continue through to see all the fabulous cards. If you would like to start from the beginning, please visit Karen's Blog. Also, at the bottom of this post, you will find a listing of all participants and their blog addresses if you should get lost or want to reference a blog along the way. If you are coming from Janet's Blog, you are on the right track.


I was cleaning out my Christmas pattern paper scrap bin and found some little strips of striped paper. I love the CTMH Mistletoe line (it's retired, sniff) and I didn't want to let any of it go to waste...and this is what I came up with.


This is just your standard A2 card. When you're making a bunch of cards, like for Christmas, it's a fast and easy size, just cut an 8.5 x 11 piece of cardstock in half lengthwise. Another tip for "bulk" handmade cards is to do them in an assembly-line style. Cut all your bases first, then cut all your pattern paper strips, punch all your border pieces, etc. until you have all the pieces ready to go, then it's just an easy, slap-them-together session that can be done in no time while at a crop or during a scrappy playdate with friends.


For my card, I rounded the edges with a corner rounder and I ALWAYS ink the edges. I don't know what I did with myself before I discovered sponge daubers and ink pads. I used CTMH Topiary and Cranberry for the inking. I embossed the Topiary cardstock with a Cuttlebug embossing folder. I cut the border strip from Cranberry cardstock with a Fiskars border punch. I made sure to attach my crocheted lace to that piece so I could hide the "ribbon bits" behind it. The "Happy Holidays" was heat embossed with CTMH Cocoa embossing powder. That stamp is from a set that came from Oriental Trading.


Now, for the holly. If you've been visiting my blog for any length of time, you've probably realized there's usually something "wonky" with some part of the projects I share. Well, the "wonky" is that I wanted to use these little dew drops that I found on clearance at Michael's a while back. They were REALLY cheap and I bought a BUNCH; however, they did not have any in red. These started out clear. So how did they end up red, you say? I used a standard size hole punch and punched out lots of these little red circles. I then used Diamond Glaze (just a teeny, tiny drop) to attach them to the bottom of the dew drops...and viola, shiny, round holly berries. The holly leaves were really easy. I cut them out using Make the Cut and my Cricut. The shape was downloaded from the Silhouette store, and of course, I inked them;)


My Supply List:

Cardstock: Kraft cardstock, Michaels; Topiary cardstock, CTMH; Cranberry cardstock, CTMH; Garden Green cardstock, CTMH.
Patterned paper: Striped from the Mistletoe Collection, CTMH.
Stamps: Christmas Carols set, Oriental Trading.
Ink: Versamark; Topiary, CTMH; Cranberry, CTMH.
Ribbon: crocheted lace, misc.
Adhesive: Glue Glider Pro High Tack, Glue Arts; ScorTape, ScorPal; Diamond Glaze, Judikins; Fast Grab Tacky Glue, Aleene's.
Embossing powder: Cocoa, CTMH.
Electronic cutter: Cricut Expression, Make The Cut Software (MTC).
Cut files: Holly, Silhouette.
Embellishments: dew drops, Recollections.

Thanks for stopping by! Please continue onto Michelle's Blog where you will find even more ideas and awesome artwork! Be sure to leave a comment and let me know what you thought of my card.

Wanna win some blog candy? It's easy. All you have to do is follow me and leave a comment. A winner will be chosen at random. Thanks again for stopping by and happy hopping!

More chances to win even more blog candy:
CABD CHRISTMAS CARD BLOG HOP CHALLENGE
Join in the fun and submit your own Christmas card for our challenge. The challenge will run from now until midnight October 3.

A two-day extravaganza of Christmas Cards and prizes.
Each of our designers will be choosing something special for our followers and adding it to the grand prize package. You will receive something from each designer.
To join in the challenge, create a Christmas card and post it on your blog.
To qualify, you must be a follower of our blog and you must then include a link to our blog in your post. Please link to http://cardadayblog.blogspot.com (if this text is not included in your post, your submission will be rejected).
The winner of the prize package will be selected at random at midnight on October 2. Check back here on October 3 to see if you have won!!!

As promised, here's the hopping order in case you get lost along the way or want to refer back to a blog…
Karin Adamczyk, ScrapperCreations
Adele Robbetze, Nogards Creative Cave
Christine Patton, Creative Genie-ous
Cindy Foster, Cindy's Creations
Cindy Pointe, The Creative Pointe
Janet White, Stamping At The White House
Kelly George, Sassy Scrapper Studio (You’re Here!)
Michelle Hessler, Paperthreads
Patricia Logan, MDN Creates
Shelley Bordeleau, Gardens Crafts 'n' More
Tina Campbell, Tina's Scrap Corner
Vicki Schram, Paper Squirrel

Hope to see you again soon. Until next time, Scrap Sassy!