Christmas in a Picture Frame...

... there's just something about frames lately that it showed up in both cards that I was working on! What can I say, I couldn't help myself. Homemade cards sometimes have a habit of "making" themselves. I know it's past Christmas but I still have a few card posts to make.

Today's inspiration: Barbara Anders of Paper Pursuits

I have been dying to use the Swirls from CTMH in some sort of Christmas card, but a proper use didn't actually surface until now! I stamped three of them and wound up moving one of them into the inside of the card in Juniper and Ruby Inks after I cut them out. And I just had to paper piece the ribbon, it was literally calling my name. The white epoxy adhesive stars are by far one of my favorite new embellishments in the Annual Inspirations catalog.

I brought the same red frame inside the card and the candy cane stripes in. After all, what is Christmas without candy canes, cookies, and mints?

Other:
* Red Cardstock
* White Cardstock
* Copic Markers BG72, YG63, YG67,R24, R29, Y11, Y13

CTMH:
* Swirls Around
* Yuletide Greetings
* Card Chatter - Christmas
* Mistletoe Level 2 Paper Pack
* Ponderosa Pine Ink
* Ruby Ink
* Juniper Ink
* Enamel Adhesive Hearts
* Sparkle Adhesive Assortment

The new year is quite balmy so far, hope you are enjoying the sun!

I love being able to...

... use stamp sets that I bought on a whim! With the Hostess Reward set "Sing Glory", I was able to come up with the fifth card that I promised my friend. When I use inspirations, sometimes I start somewhere and wind up totally different, and this one was one of those!

Inspiration: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/40884309092309793/ by Cards On The Table With Vicki.

The ribbon is sourced from somewhere... I'm a total ribbon hog! I love Christmas for what it is, but it also winds up being a massive ribbon grab for me! I'll keep anything that looks like it could be card fodder and this red ribbon was no exception.

I brought the patterned cardstock inside the card like I usually do along with the holly leaves and the berries. This was an old retired paper pack from a few years back : Pear and Partridge.

Other:
Kraft cardstock
Red ribbon

CTMH: 
Sing Glory
Holiday Commentary - retired
Card Chatter - Christmas - retired
Pear and Partridge Level 2 Paper Pack
Cranberry Pigment Ink
Ponderosa Pine Pigment Ink
Ruby Ink
Ponderosa Pine Ink

Time to go put up Christmas decorations!

Postage stamp bliss!

I saw this card on a Pinterest board and I knew immediately that I had to case it. It was so adorable with sparkles and snowflakes, but I didn't want to completely copy the card.

Inspiration: http://cloudwplus9.blogspot.ca/2012/12/december-blog-hop.html from Cloud 9 by their guest designer, Maureen!

I replaced the snowflakes with little Angels, and of course I decided to move the sparkles just wherever I felt like it! The ribbon was sourced from something random at my local Michaels.

I brought the pattern inside the card, a cool little sentiment and one more press of the Angel stamp! I really loved how this worked out. I'm always looking for new ideas for the insides of cards.

Other:
* Red ribbon

CTMH:
* Angel Sent set : retired
* Card Chatter-Christmas : retired
* Ruby Ink
* Mistletoe Level 2 Paper Pack : retired
* Red and Pink Adhesive Sparkles : retired

It's getting close to Christmas, I'm singing along with all the carols on the radio!

Layering in all it's beauty

I honestly do not know what to do with myself if I didn't have foam adhesive. Seriously. I use it on all my projects, and it feels like it gives that extra bit of dimension to the card. This one was no exception. Especially since I wanted the middle tree to stand out. So, with two layers of adhesive and some scissor work, I was good to go!

Today's Inspiration: Case Study #167 - Tasnim Ahmed

As you can see I had to use one of the newest embellishments that has come out of the Autumn/Winter 2013/2014 catalogue, which shows up also with the jewellery line. The silver accent with the word 'Love' is just perfect for a card like this. As for the background, it's an old CTMH paper pack that even I don't remember what the name was! As for the funky coloring on the trees, that is the rock-n-roll technique.

On the inside I used the present stamp with the ribbon swirls to decorate the bottom and the matching sentiment in Olive Ink.

Other:
* Solid Cardstock

CTMH:
* A Timber
* Card Chatter - Christmas
* Olive Ink
* Ponderosa Pine Ink
* Base and Bling Word Accents

It's gearing up to be a balmy week this week - but that's one thing about the weather here, it always changes just as you think it will never end!!

Sometimes inspiration is hard to pass up.

I was browsing some type of social media at the time (either Pinterest, or Facebook) and I ran into this unbelievably gorgeous card. And I just absolutely had to borrow it.

Today's lucky find is from Erin Taylor, for Papertrey Ink's Make it Monday #83.

Of course I'm on a Christmas kick now, and my favorite color combination is red and silver. So much that these were actually my wedding colors four years ago! I stamped the tree, snowflakes, and sentiment in embossing ink, and then used silver embossing powder plus a couple of gemstones to jazz up the tree. If you look closely there are snowflakes from two separate stamp sets in the cluster.

For something new, this time I reversed the colors and instead stamped with Cranberry Ink on white. Again, if you look closely - snowflakes from two different sets. It's about this time of year that I dig out all the Christmas sets I've bought since I started collecting CTMH, and I like to give some oldies a whirl amid the new sets that are available in the current catalog.

I am offering Christmas card workshops this year! Cards are $1.50 each to make and come with their own envelopes. The dates available are October 27th, November 3rd, and November 24th. If you want a card creating party of your own let me know and we can set something else up! Designs are currently in the works and will be posted once complete.

Michaels, etc:
* Solid cardstock - Jewel Collection
* Solid cardstock - Primary Collection
* Rhinestones
* Silver embossing powder
* Embossing Ink

CTMH:
* Snowflakes
* Card Chatter - Christmas
* Holiday Warmth (retired)
* Cranberry Ink

I'm still enjoying what's left of summer!