Balloons! Balloons! Balloons!

December's Technique challenge over at Club Scrap is repeat stamping.  I've been wanting to try this with my new Oxide Distress inks because they stamp somewhat translucent.  Perfect for balloons.  I love that you can still see an hint of the image behind the repeat stamping.

Club Scrap papers and stamp. Gelatos splattered. Distress oxide inks. 

Winter Wonderland

I challenged myself to use some neglected stamps and dies for winter inspired cards. The card bases and mats are from the Night at the Met Greetings to Go collection. These birch tree dies I just HAD to have and then forgot all about :)

 

For the backgrounds: splatter white acrylic paint onto the light blue mat.  Let dry. Tear strips of white cardstock and layer for a snow scene.

Club Scrap papers. Paper Smooches quote stamp. Tim Holtz snowshoe stamp.  Lawn Fawn tree die. Nuvo drops.

 

Club Scrap papers and snowman stamp. Paper Smooches sentiment. Dazzles snowflakes. Prismacolor pencils.

 Club Scrap papers, ribbon and stamp. Lawn Fawn die cut. Pretty Pink Posh sequins. 

 Club Scrap papers. Tim Holtz die words, Lawn Fawn tree dies. Pretty Pink Posh sequins.

 

 These cards were created for the Paper Smooches Winter Challenge, the Club Scrap Night at the Met Linky Party and the Cupcake Inspirations North Pole Challenge. Please visit the following blogs for more inspiration.



Dear Santa, I Can Explain.

Merry Christmas!

May you be surrounded by family, friends and lots of fabulous wine this Christmas.

Club Scrap digital papers, flowers. Fiddle Dee Dee Designs template. Sahine Designs tags, snowflakes and snow styles. Red Ivy splatter. Agnes Biro tape.

Thank you Fiddle-Dee-Dee Designs for the free monthly template!

Sparkle & Shine Christmas

You might have gathered that I love to visit some of my local thrift shops.  You can find such great items for more than half the cost.  I like to look for things I can use in my paper crafting projects.  I came across these luscious red velvet poinsettias for $1. I pulled out the plastic center and separated the flowers layers making them easier to use.

 

I knew right away they would be a perfect match with the silver matted cards from the Night at the Met's Greeting to Go collection. I embossed the beautiful silver paper with an Echo Park embossing folder for added Christmas interest.

Club Scrap papers, ribbon. Me and My Big Ideas tag. Echo Park embossing folder. Thrift flower. 

Club Scrap papers, ribbon. Me and My Big Ideas tag. Echo Park embossing folder. Thrift flower.

Club Scrap papers and stamp. Echo Park embossing folder. Dazzles stickers. Thrift flower.

Club Scrap papers. Echo Park embossing folder. Kaiser Craft stamp. Thrift flower.

Block Printing Christmas

One of the most laid back workshops at the annual Club Scrap Retreat  was the Block Printing Workshop.  We took foam sheets and cut our own images and words. We then adhered the foam pieces to book board, applied chalk paint with a brayer and "printed" our own images. I virtually copied Terri's bird and printed my own set adding a little Santa cap to make it a weirdly interesting Christmas card. I'm pretty sure only Terri is going find this amusing :)

Club Scrap papers, foam and chalk paint. Cricut Santa hat. 

Old World Christmas

I recently scored an old World Christmas kit by Club Scrap.  It became available through their Grab & Go promotions.  You have to be quick when vintage collections hit the store, they seriously can go before you even put it in your shopping cart!

 

I was delighted to see these three wise men cut aparts in the collection.  They came in handy when I had to quickly make 12 cards for hubby's work. Using the sketch from Club Scrap's November sketch challenge these cards came together rather nicely.

 

Club Scrap papers and tag. Cuttlebug embossing folder. Misc threads.



Olive You Digital

The Trattoria collection by Club Scrap brought back a ton of great memories from our trip to Italy.  The food and wine were absolutely amazing. I couldn't think of a better way to showcase these photos. 

Club Scrap papers, ribbon, tags and silverware. Karen Funk digital frames. Merkeley Designs inked edges.

A Splash of Color

One of things I love about Club Scrap Retreat is the theme nights. I stalk the post man waiting for my Retreat packet to arrive so I can start searching my closet and Pinterest for something creative.  Masquerade was the theme for Friday night which just happens to be when we received this awesome Masquerade kit. I think Tracey knew ahead of time that there was pink in it...

Club Scrap papers, ribbon and washi tape. Recollections feathers.

Scandinavian Magical Christmas

We had a very magical Disneyland vacation this year.  Although I would have liked the weather to be a bit chillier, the Christmas feeling was definitely in full swing.

 

I used the Scandinavian Holidays digital kit to create this layout of my two favorite photos from the weekend. The layout design was inspired by the Idea Deck Challenge using the 6 of hearts from Idea Deck Vol. II.

 Club Scrap Scandinavian Holidays; Homemade Holidays. Sahine Designs lace flower and snow style. Kristin Aagard lights and words. Studio Flergs snowflake.

If you'd like to see more Scandinavian Holiday goodness stop by the Club Scrap Scandinavian Holiday Blog Hop

Escape Room

What a great team effort getting out of the escape room! We were able to solve all the puzzles and find the locks with two minutes to spare. Although, "wino" wasn't one of the puzzle answers it certainly was THE answer of the day.

Holly Jolly Christmas

I'm at it again, creating tall and skinny cards with left over border strips.  When I receive a kit I usually only ALSB maybe half of the layouts and then use the rest of the collection for cards or projects. In the card below I used a border strip from Scandinavian Holidays.

Club Scrap papers, borders and ribbon. Kaisercraft stamps. Prima sequins.

Making Spirits Bright

I couldn't get enough of spackle backgrounds so I thought I'd share more with a different stencil by Echo Park.  These are very simple cards with amazing texture. You'll find you can't help running your fingers over the images. It's hard to capture on film, but I used a Wink of Stella pen over the snowflakes to make them shimmer.

 Club Scrap papers, tags and ribbon. Echo Park stencil.



Club Scrap paper and jewels. Me & My Big Ideas tag. Echo Park stencil.

 

The Magic of Spackle

This stencil by Echo Park is my new favorite stencil. It totally reminds me of a Christmas sweater. I'm really not very good at using ink with stencils so I used my favorite go-to medium: lightweight spackle. My husband always gets nervous when I ask him to pick me up some when he goes to the hardware store. He's seems very certain that I broke something...

Club Scrap papers, stamps. Echo Park stencil. Me & My Big Ideas tag.

Club Scrap papers, tags. Echo Park stencil. Nuvo crystal drops.

Trattoria Planner

Welcome to the Trattoria Blog Hop brought to you by Club Scrap.  Each month the talented Club Scrap owner, employees and members present a project, card or layout using the monthly featured collection. 

 

If you just happened on the blog hop today because you're a regular reader of my blog, and you'd like to view the entire hop, you can  start back at Club Scrap. If you're already hopping and linked to me from the talented Kelly, you're in the right spot.

I absolutely ADORE the Trattoria collection!  The rich fall colors had me already, but it's the pasta images and food sayings that make this one of my favorite kits of the year. Wait until you see the adorable stencil!

 

One of this year's retreat projects was a flexi-planner.  I love having a paper planner.  Something I can touch, feel and open. With this planner you can have clasped pockets and open flaps.

 

1. Choose prints and trim to 8.25x4.25.

2. Round the appropriate corners of the prints and adhere papers to walls of planner using bookbinding glue.
3. Decorate flaps as desired. How freaking cute is this chef hat and mustache stencil?!

4. Add tabs to light gray pages. I actually wish I had done this step before adding my cover papers.  Maybe next time. 

You can purchase the nekked Flexi Planner in the Pro Shop by heading over to Club Scrap. You can also download the digital templates to make more inside papers.

 

Thanks for hopping with us today! Please continue on to see what the talented Tina has created for you.

Way Pasta Time

I am obsessed with white heat embossing on dark cardstock. It's very striking and bold. Even though I use an anti-static tool prior to heat embossing I still get the little speck of powder through out my project.  Now I just go with it.  The specks give it character :)

Club Scrap papers, ribbon, stamps and tag. Melissa Frances wine glass die.

Mix & Match

Welcome to the Club Scrap Artist's Team final Blog Hop brought to you by Club Scrap. I would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to Club Scrap for allowing me to be part of their Artist Team.  I have enjoyed being challenged and am very proud to have worked with this very talented group of ladies.
 

If you just happened on the blog hop today because you're a regular reader of my blog, and you'd like to view the entire hop, you can start back at Club Scrap. If you're already hopping and linked to me from the fabulous Tina, you're in the right spot. Today we'll be creating projects using a mix of at least three different collections.

 

While we're on vacation we have the philosophy to "eat our way through" the area we're visiting. I love just walking through open air markets and taking pictures of all the fresh meats , fruits and veggies out on display.  We certainly ate our way through Italy and enjoyed watching all the fresh pasta being made. Of course, eating it was pretty spectacular as well :) This layout highlights just a touch of that goodness.

All supplies by Club Scrap

How adorable is that "love" charm spelled with spaghetti?!

 

Collections used:

Trattoria papers, tags, embellishments

Scandinavia washi tape

Coffee Break buttons

Trees bottle caps

Dahlia tags

Adirondack fibers

Thank you for hopping with us today and for your all your support and lovely comments.  Please continue on to see what the amazing Kelly has mixed and matched for you today.

Giving Thanks Today

Today I'm giving thanks for all my readers, supporters and for all the positive feedback I get from all of you. Thank you!

 

Club Scrap papers and background stamp. Fiskars punch. Technique Tuesday sentiment.

 

The background is stamped with my latest favorite noise stamp from Orchard. I kept the color light by using the second stamping on the background mat. A simple sentiment on the front that finishes on the inside with what I am thankful for.

Be Thankful

This month's Trattoria Greetings to Go collection has some uniquely folded bridge cards and they actually took me a bit to figure out how they were to be mailed. By just tilting the strip to one side the card will lay flat to 4.25x5.5. Adorable! You can see the original designs on this blog post.

Club Scrap papers, stamps and ribbon. Sizzix embossing folder. Technique Tuesday sentiment. Unknown washi tape. 

Scandinavia Tearables

November's technique challenge over at Club Scrap is to incorporate texture and dimension into your craft project with torn paper. An easy, no cost way to add a little extra zip to your cards. I'm having a blast with the new Scandinavian Holiday collection and couldn't wait to use this simple technique to add some more texture.

 

These cards were designed using the ALCM deck Vol. II  which is a great "go-to" to use up some hoarded vellum. :)

Papers, stamps and ribbon by Club Scrap. Black tag by Me & My Big Ideas. Nuvo drops. Carta Bella stencil with spackle. 

 

 

 If you give this technique a try, don't forget to add your post to the Linky Party over at Club Scrap for a chance to win a gift certificate.

The Gift of Love

I was so in love with the October Scandinavia collection that I had to buy every piece of the Scandinavia Holiday collection as well. I just love the images and color combination of this kit.

 

November's Idea Deck Challenge is to use the King of Clubs from any of the 5 Idea Decks. Here I used the King of Clubs from Vol. II which is a card making idea deck. I thought this gave me a great opportunity to use those vellum papers I've been hoarding. These cards came together so quickly that I may make multiples and use them as early Christmas gifts. 

I picked up some Christmas stencils by Carta Bella recently and couldn't wait to use some spackle with them.  I love the texture this gives!

Pizza my Heart

November's Past & Present challenge is to use supplies from the following collections:

Culinary (03/2004)
Bon Appetit (06/2012)
50s Kitchen (03/2015)

 

I only had one sheet left of Culinary which just happens to coordinate very well with this month's Trattoria.  I used the same design concept of the Greetings to Go vertical hinge to create this card. 

Close look at inside of card 

 How fun is this design?!