Prickley Pear March Challenge Card

I recently purchased a set of clear stamps and matching die on clearance and had fun playing with them. The die is itsy bitsy and quite honestly I was stumped as to how to use it, so went in search of ideas. Well so far I haven’t found a tutorial or examples for this particular set called Tree Shapes, so the card below is my way of just winging it. I did manage to find the Prickley Pear blog containing some awesome cards using their products. While there I noticed they have a challenge going on and decided to use their sketch to finish my card. This card will be entered in their March challenge. If anyone has this stamp set and matching die or you know where I can find a tutorial for using the tiny die please let me know. The pieces are so small that it was tricky matching up the small stamps to the cutouts.

Ingredients:

Cardstock:  Buff cardstock is from an upcycled file folder (no kidding folks, these were being sent out for shredding until a coworker and I rescued them!). Kraft and red are from my stash.

Diecuts:  Prickley Pear Tree Shapes (aka Four Seasons), EK Success Slim Edger Punch Large Lattice Chain. Spellbinders Lacey Ovals, Leaves from my stash (possibly cut on my Cricut using the Home Accents cart)

Embossing: Designer Frames Textured Impressions™ Embossing Folders from Stampin Up!

Stamp: Prickley Pear Four Seasons

Ink:  Riding Hood Red by Stampin Up!

Lace from my stash

Wedding Shower Card

This card was made for my niece's wedding shower this month. I was so happy when my prize package from Cathy Lynn over at Ink, Thread and Paper arrived just in time to add some embossing and the perfect embellies. I was having fun playing with my new Spellbinders Nestabilities Lattice Rectangles dies from Stamping Scrapping and needed something to cover up a little boo boo at the bottom. Well combine half of a scalloped square die cut from the clear Bigz die I got from my best Stampin Up! gal Shelly May. The sentiment is from a retired Stampin Up! hostess set Occasional Quotes. The big red heart is cut using a Sizzix die called Tipsy Hearts. I made the pin with red and black beads. (Note to self:  make a list of everything while making the cards so you don't have to keep jumping up and running to the next room to find out what it is!) Ok, I promise to get more organized in the future and make those really nice lists at the end of my posts showing all the ingredients, but hey, I'm lucky to get this far after making 150 cards for my whirlwind Operation Write Home project while working full time outside the home, taking care of four dogs and three cats, a husband (well actually HE is the one who does most of the work around here while I play!) Oh and one last thing..... I won another prize from Market Street Stamps! I can't wait to play with the fun products in the kit! Ok, now you can look at the wedding shower card...

Christmas Cards I've Made

I'm just about done making Christmas cards and wanted to share a couple of them with you. The first one is extremely clean and simple (CAS) using only one piece of cardstock embossed using my Cuttlebug, a bow and a brad and some tape to adhere it to the front of the folded cardstock. The second got a little more involved and took much more time to punch all those little branches and get them lined up, but I love the way it turned out. The last one is super fun because it's in three parts. I got the instructions for it on Julie Davison's site and found all kinds of tutorials that I want to go back and try. The snowman stamps and the sentiment are from Stampin Up. What really makes this card special is the custom die that I used for the outer circles. It's called Embroidery Anglaise Circle and can be purchased here by itself or with matching stamps. Cindy at StampingScrapping has some awesome custom-designed matching stamps and dies and also has a TON of other products in her store. The Merry Christmas sentiment on the white card with the branches is from the matching set of stamps. She even gives discounts to subscribers of her Yahoo group. Disclaimer:  I am not getting any compensation for telling you about her store, I just personally LOVE it and wanted to share the love! Ok, back to the cards.... enjoy!