A Winter Card.....

...... that is not blue and white!  I don't think I've ever stamped black snowflakes before, but I wanted to create this winter/new year card in something other than blue and white.  I ended up with cream/brown tones and black.   That button was a last minute add-on.  Just found it in my button box and thought it was perfect.  Just like you'd expect a black snowflake to look!

Snowflake border stamp is by Hero Arts.  Sledding stamp is by Sugar Lump Studios.

Winter Greeting Card

I was making some new cards to load into my Etsy shop and thought I'd share this one.  I love this image!  In my mind it's one of those images that makes it very difficult to make an ugly card.

I rarely use white cardstock as a base for my cards, but this one seemed to call for it.

The card measures 5x7 and I wanted to share my little trick for creating the large mat in the background.  It's the same method I used to create my mini snowman card yesterday using StampinUps Top Note die and my Cuttlebug.  I simply placed my folded paper on the die leaving one edge of the paper just short of the cutting surface. That way only three sides get cut.  You can then open the paper up and create a mat such as this or leave it folded to create a mini card.

Wednesday Stamper

I could not let the winter go by without making something with my favorite snowman stamp from PSX. So I used today's challenge at Wednesday Stamper to accomplish it. Their theme was "lace," so I added a double layer of it at the top of my card and finished it off with some blue rhinestones (the color of those did not scan well).

It was very scary to add my own handwriting to the bottom of this after the whole card was assembled, but I think it came out all right.

Crazy Amigos Challenge

I don't think I've ever participated in this challenge before, but as I was blurfing this morning I came across someone who had created something for today's challenge of "cozy." As my eyes then fell upon this as yet uncolored House Mouse image laying in a box of "stuff," I figured I would have to join in.

I colored the image with Copic markers (which in my opinion give new meaning to "Coloring for Dummies.") They make coloring everything so, so easy! I've even found that they are very compatible with Staz-On ink and glossy paper when stamping photo stamps.

The paper is from Basic Grey's Mistletoe and Pear. My Michael's had it 70 percent off because it was on Christmas clearance, so I was lucky enough to find the 12x12 pad for $7.

As yesterday was my birthday, DH gave me a gift card for Michael's. The best part of the gift though was that he came with me to Michael's while I looked around for just the right thing. He looked terribly uncomfortable, but he stuck with it.

You can see other submissions for this challenge at http://crazyamigochallenge.wordpress.com/.

TMTA

Think Monday, Think ATC's theme this week is "winter" with a challenge to use light blue. My favorite color for winter cards. Here is my ATC, using an image I've had forever and was glad to finally use. Background paper is from Basic Grey as is the tag. I stamped the leaf border and "winter" from Hero Arts.

Snowman Revisited

I just can't help myself -- this little guy just keeps calling to me. Probably because I've kept him right out on my crafting table where I can see him easily. But here's another card I created with him -- trying to stay away from the blue and white:)

The background paper is one sheet of double-sided paper by Imaginisce. It's really gorgeous paper. The swirls have glitter on them. I also used the window punch from StampinUp for my sentiment. The scalloped frame was made from gold paper which I cut with my scalloped scissors.

This is another card I'll be using for thank-you cards. I've got a few to send out for some lovely birthday presents I've received. Yes, tomorrow I turn 50! I'll have to share some of the wonderful crafting gifts and beautiful cards I received the next few days.

A Couple More Winter Cards

This card didn't photograph real well (maybe because of the sparkle in the paper), but I really like this stamp from StampinUp. The snowflake border is from Hero Arts. Again, you can't tell from the picture but I stamped the border with Brilliance inks and it adds nicely to the sparkle in the card.

I wanted to use this snowman at least once this winter -- he's from Art Impressions. He's my second favorite snowman stamp. Used to be first, but he recently got replaced by this guy. Also used my paper lace from Mary.

I made this card just to prove I can make a winter card that is not blue and white! I silver embossed the background with a snowflake stamp from Stampington. The image is from Crafty Secrets. I applied the snowflake rub-on to a metal tag. The sentiment at the bottom is a PSX stamp which I like -- actually think I can use it for any season.

Winter Cards

We woke up to the first day of 2008 and found a winter wonderland. What a beautiful sight it was outside. Felt very inspired by it to create these winter cards.

Just love this little skater from Magenta. I attached her to some speciality paper I had which looks just like snowflakes and then also attached that to some silver embossed snowflakes (Art Impressions). The sentiment is from Studio G clear stamps. This card was made from a woods scene stamp from Northwoods. After coloring it I decided it would have more "punch" if I punched it into three pieces for this card. I colored it using watercolor pencils and a silver glitter gel pen for some sparkle.

Winter Tag

Kind of a somber color scheme for this tag -- but it matches our weather perfectly. It was so dreary looking outside today! We are to get some snow tomorrow and I'm glad. It should brighten the landscape considerably.
I used a picture of the tree in front of my house for this tag. I stamped the months from Tin Can Mail (Inkadinkado) and snowflakes (Studio G) in white Brilliance ink on my black tag. I then attached my vellum winter quote across the center.

Snowmen

I'm still loving this snowman from PSX. I used him to make a few New Year's cards (for those folks I forgot to send Christmas cards to) and for thank-you's for some of the Christmas gifts I received.
These all include Cutttlebug embossing using the snowflake folder.
I colored the snowman in with watercolor pencils and blender pen and added glitter to the snow and around the snowman.

Snow Much Fun

This is a winter card I made using a color combination I came to really like -- mint green and pink. These images from Crafty Secrets went quite well with this background paper I have from Memory Box.

Snowman

It's funny to me that people always comment when I blog about my shopping experiences -- especially when I find really good deals. I know I love when people post about what they've bought or won on their blogs. Seems we all want to see what everyone else has! LOL
So consider this part two of my shopping excursion this weekend where I told you about the great deal I found on my 12 Days of Christmas stamps. I couldn't get out of there without picking up a couple of PSX stamps. (Unfortunately, those never go on sale. Only occasionally some not-so-desired ones will end up in clearance.)
Sale or not, this snowman was one I just HAD to pick up. Is he not the cutest? I stamped him directly onto white cardstock with Versafine Black Onyx ink. I then colored him in using a combination of Prismacolors and some watercolor pencils and Dove blender pen.
I created the snow at the bottom and around the snowman by adding some glue with the Zig two-way glue pen and adding Hero Arts glitter over that. I was thrilled with how he turned out and so I actually showed some patience, left it alone to completely dry and came back to it later.
Then I punched my hole on the top of the card so my snowman would show through. I stamped my snowflake from Art Impressions randomly across the front with blue Brilliance ink. I then decided I wanted to hand write this sentiment around the circle. When I had done that, however, I realized I should have done it so the writing on the bottom was not upside down. Oh, well, it's not to the snowman!
To finish it off I punched a strip of navy cardstock with my Martha Stewart border punch (I told you'd be seeing a lot of this punch) and adding a strip of Daisyd's paper on top of that. Three Rhonna Farrar Christmas buttons finish it off.

Inspired by....

.....this coffee cup I got yesterday at the bookstore (looking for the new Take Ten and Stampers Sampler which don't seem to be out yet.)

This vintage sled stamp was another one of my yet-to-be-used stamps that I could not figure out what to do with. It's an old PSX stamp which means I just had to have it. Yesterday's coffee cup brought instant inspiration. I created the background with one of my favorite snowflake stamps from Art Impressions. To create my squares to stamp my letters in I used an inch punch and then inked the edges with brown chalk ink. I used one of the new stitched tape runners from Daisyd's to create the border. (I'm not really crazy about these. I didn't feel they were that easy to use and there's a lot of wasted product trying to get it to work.)

This sled reminds me of one of my favorite Christmas decorations I put on my front porch every year. I put out an old rusty sled just like the one in this picture. I hang my old ice skates from when I was young on them. I've added some evergreen branches and some lights to it. It looks darling!