Succulent Notecards

Hi friend! Just had to share my latest notecard creations with you, as I find I get so much inspiration from the natural world these days!  I have been obsessed with succulants and terrariums lately, and I just love these notecards because they feature BOTH!

I love how simply beautiful these turned out, using subtle shades of green, blue, and gray ink (specific ink colors listed below).

Clear transparency sheets are cut and adhered to give the terrarium a realistic “glass” touch.

Here’s the whole group! I stamped a few making a background of succulents, inked using the “rock and roll” technique.

As always, thanks for visiting!

Stamps: Evergreen Sayings (FSJ); paper: lemongrass (FSJ)

Ink: CTMH juniper, sweet leaf, slate, black

D1476 Sentiments: CTMH

Nordic Noel Thank You Notes

Welcome back, friend!  I find that for as many Christmas cards I send out, I also need a stack of thank you notes for all the thoughtful gifts we receive from family and friends at Christmas time.  So, I love to set aside a few Christmas paper scraps to make up some thank you notes to have on hand to send out after Christmas Day.  I enjoyed using a two-step stamping technique on the coffee cup on the card below--if you click on the image to enlarge it, you will find that you can see all sorts of fun wintry and warm words in the swirls on the cup!

Supplies used (CTMH unless otherwise specified): Nordic Noel paper and buttons from SU, cocoa ink, cranberry ink, white daisy card bases, red baker's twine, wood grain washi tape, gold reindeer clips from SU, cocoa cardstock, SU scalloped circle punch, slate washi tape from SU

Stamps used: Wonderland workshop stamp set (CTMH, retired), October SOTM 2014 (CTMH, retired), Card chatter Christmas (CTMH, retired), 

Christmas Accordion Display Card

I had a lot of fun piecing together this accordion display card using the Nordic Noel paper pack (on clearance!) and Nordic Noel buttons and red pom-pom trim from Stampin' Up.  The pattern came from a card kit from the uber-talented Christine Adams with CTMH.  It actually uses two 12 x 6 strips of cardstock that you adhere together to make a double-wide accordion card that has so much dimension and is truly a gift in itself!

Here it is unfolded--feel free to click on the image to make it larger and in more detail:

 Here is both of the right and left front covers.  I just LOVE those gold reindeer paper clips from the current SU holiday catalog!  Sentiments are from the Frosted WOTG stamp set (CTMH) and the 2014 October SOTM (CTMH, both retired) stamped in Cranberry ink:

 A few peeks at some of the inside facets of the card...

 (Sentiment above is from Card Chatter Christmas, CTMH, retired)

And one more time all closed up!

Other supplies used: Tim Holtz tiny attatcher, white 3" Wilton doilies, gold polka dot washi tape (CTMH)

Give Thanks Hinged Display Tray

 Here today with a really fun project, courtesy of the uber-talented paper crafter, Brenda Rose!  She put together these GORGEOUS craft kits using CTMH's Sangria paper pack last month, and I was blessed enough to snag one (before they sold out!) and make it up for my aunt and uncle for Christmas this year.

Here are a few up-close shots of the details!  The rolled flowers were very fun to make--I used Alene's Tacky glue to hold them together.

All the words, stickers, flowers, hearts, leaves, etc were part of the kit and most are complements for the Sangria paper pack in the CTMH catalog.

This is the poem that Brenda enclosed in the kit--I just LOVE it!  Feel free to click on the image below to read it in greater detail...

Right-side of the display...

Left-side of the display...

I am very pleased with how it turned out, and I trust it will be a treasured keepsake for many, many years to come!

Woodland Embossed Gift Box

I had a lot of fun this morning trying out a new technique--embossing AND stamping using an embossing folder!  I love the 3-dimensional effect this technique creates, and I think you will, too!

I used this card and tutorial for inspiration to make my gift box, as well as the Stampin' Up Woodland embossing folder, cocoa and white cardstock (CTMH), Cocoa and Outdoor Denim inks (CTMH) and a rubber brayer.  The gift box is also from CTMH (retired) and has a magnetic flap enclosure to keep photos, note cards, and mementos nice and safe!

Using the rubber brayer, I rolled Outdoor Denim ink onto the embossing folder (the side printed "Sizzix") and then stamped three trees using the CTMH's Always Grateful stamp set in cocoa ink on the same side of the embossing folder.  Then, I placed the white cardstock in the folder and ran it through my Cuttlebug.

Here's an up close view of the awesome texture of the embossed trees!  Finally, I did this a second time (without stamping the trees) and cut down the embossed cardstock to cover each side of the box, matting it with cocoa cardstock.

I am really excited with how it turned out, and I can't wait to gift it to a friend (or my MIL who LOVES trees) this winter!  I also am eager to try this technique to make a few note cards, too!

Nations Advent Calendar

Here's a quick look at one of our favorite Advent traditions!  It is hand-crafted and contains 24 hand-stitched dolls from around the nations.  We take one out each day in the month of December and read the card attached to the day for the day to learn more about that particular people-group and pray over their needs.

Here is the site where you can get your own Advent calendar--it makes a special gift, too!

Fall Burlap Wreath

Here is a wreath I put together using the burlap remnants I had left over from this summer wreath project.  Since I only had enough burlap to cover about one-third of the front, I simply went into my stash and added fall foliage to creep up the sides and cover the exposed straw wreath!  I used another pre-fab chevron burlap bow (which also does double-duty for Christmas) from Michael's and wa-la!  A quick and easy fall wreath AND my scraps are used up!  Thanks for stopping by!