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!

Wishes - Greeting Card Workshop

Jeanette Lynton has published two amazing books for cardmaking : Originals and Wishes. These books contain awesome layouts, tips and tricks, recipes on how to make them, and even printable templates on a CD! You can't get any better than that.

I thought I'd try out one of the card workshops in Wishes - Greeting Card Workshop found on page 111. These workshops make 16 standard 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 cards. It took me a total of three hours to finish the workshop, but most of the time was spent cutting. On average, the cards you see in my posts are an hour to make or more including fiddling, color coordination, and cutting/stamping/assembly.

I ended up with 16 beautiful cards which are much simpler than my usual style. I couldn't resist using foam squares though.

The biggest tip of all is: "keep it affordable by stamping your embellishments instead of using consumable accents". It's a great tip for those just starting out.

3 sheets of 12 x 12 paper and 9 pieces of 8 1/2 x 11 white paper for cardstock... plus additional embellishments and a few stamp sets later and voila!

Michaels:
* Cardstock, "White"
* Green cardstock
* Cardstock, "Gems" collection

CTMH:
* Holiday Warmth - October 2009 Stamp of the Month, retired
* Snowflakes
* Festive Thoughts
* Holiday Commentary
* Mistletoe Level 2 Paper Pack - retired
* Snow Flurries
* Bundled Buddies
* Cranberry Ink
* Ponderosa Pine Ink
* Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge

Christmas is fast approaching! P.S ... did you see the card I made with Mad About You (Dec 2011 SOTM) in the previous post?