Christmas Time, in July?

It really is hard to believe we are half way through this year already.

But is you are one of those that really likes to plan ahead, we are tempting you this week over at the Cheery Lynn Challenge Blog with a Christmas July theme.

My creation today goes along with that theme.

I know I have mentioned before how I  love to use my Mary Engelbreit calendars as pieces for focal points of my cards.

What I wanted to do with this card was to somewhat mimic the scene that was going on in the Mary Engelbreit image.

You can see here the Window C, peeking from the back of the card image..

When you open up this tri-fold card you will see the small, simple scene inside the Window. I made the snow with Scalloped Circles, the stars are from the Patriotic Swag, the trees are upside down leaves from the Frangipani, and the festive colored flower is the  Frangiapni with leaves.

I also embossed the white scalloped circles with Eccentric Circles Embossing Plate to give them more dimension.

On the inside of the card, I used the Mini Pearl French Flair die for a large background piece and decorated it with the Frangiapni with leaves and Bird on Branch 2.

The white space gives a nice area for a personal note.

I love how the Franipani doubles as a “hook” to catch the corner of the image and holds this card closed.

Be sure to check out our challenge blog and we’d love for you to play along with us on our challenge for your own chance at winning a shopping spree worth $20.00 of Cheery Lynn Designs Dies.

I hope you had a wonderful holiday.

This has been Jeannie with The Polka Cabana with today’s post.

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Last Minute Cards? No problem!

I am not even going to remind you how many days are left till Christmas, ask any child, they will remind you.

You’d think with all the card making I do, I’d have all my cards done and sent in the mail, NOT SO!

I had purchased these cute cards awhile ago and knew that I could do something to make them have a little more wow.

I love the design and color, but when you play with paper as much as I do, the fact that the card is one-dimensional, is, well, troublesome.  Sorry, I just can’t help it.

Let me show you a couple of ways to take a cute store-bought card and give it an extra special touch.

With this card, I added the some very basic flowers and leaves first.  I used the new MEDIUM ROSE and the Leaf for the Stacker Flowers.

I added some jewels to each flower center to make it sparkle.  That is it, just a couple of additions and the cute card is more eye-catching, less generic.

For this card, I added silver cording to the one-dimensional line on the card and this time made more layered versions of the Medium Rose with the same Leaf as the first card.  I also used Stacker Flower 3 and sized them to fit the ornaments exactly by using the Classic Window Stackers.  I also took the Celtic Fire Doily and cut it out in Aluminum Foil for the bottom right corner.

I added jewels for the ornament tops and you can see how beautiful this card has now become.

For this last card, what I did was to mimic the design.  I took the red cardstock and embossed it with the Wood Grain Embossing Plate.

To finish this off, I followed the same steps, more or less, as the previous card.  I then added some words from the Authentique Paper Diction set.

Here they are all together.  I have to say, I love how the doily looks in foil.  You have to be very careful with the foil as it is extremely delicate, but worth the extra work!

Card making does not need to be stressful. Even if you take some store-bought cards and just accentuate them, you are still adding you special touch and that is what counts.

I hope you have enjoyed today’s post, this has been Jeannie from The Polka Cabana.

Have a great weekend, now GO MAKE SOME CARDS:)

Don’t forget about our challenge.  We are currently on SILVER & GOLD.

Check out all the details and how you can win a $20.00 gift certificate to spend on Cherry Lynn Dies, ooh la la!

Click here for all the information.

New Sweet Stamps Card and Challenge

It is Tuesday and it is that time of the week when Sweet Stamps has issued a new challenge.

This week we are challenging you to do a Christmas Bling Card.

Here is what I came up with.

Bear with me.  This was extremely hard to photograph.

If I was able to capture the sparkle and bling, the background was washed out or the wrong green.  If I got the green to be right, you could not see any of the shimmer and sparkle.

I tried outside, inside, in the shade in the light, in the sunlight and nothing worked.  This is the best I could get and I am still not happy with the final outcome.

On the positive side, I have to say, the Holiday Sweets Set is just about the most fantastically fun set ever.  I love how all the candies look stamped.

I could use this set forever and never get tired of it.

Other items used:

Flower Tree

Authentique Paper – Wonder

If you like the sound of our new challenge and would like to enter to have a chance at winning a $20.00 gift certificate to Sweet Stamps.com, head on over to the Sweet Stamps blog.

Have a terrific day!

 Thanks for your visit and if you have time to leave a comment, I love reading every single one.  Your comments make my day.

Is it a Babushka or Matryoshka?

I had a vision for what I wanted to do today.  I went on Etsy and bought a digital file I needed to complete my vision and everything.  But as of writing this post, the file still has not been delivered.

Plan B?  I made my own Matryoshka doll.

Too see the digital image I based this off of, go HERE.

I am thrilled as can be with how this turned out.

She is mounted on a 3/4″ piece of MDF.

The dies I used are the following:

Small Lace Butterfly, Oval Stackers, Window Stacker, Heartland America, Anastasia Border, Miniature Rose, Lace Rose & Flourishes and Dotties Ric Rac.

What do you think?  Thumbs up or thumbs down?

I adore her!  I hope she has brought you a smile at least.

ALSO…Have you checked out our weekly challenges?  Our current challenge is A SHAPED CARD.

Check out all the details here:

http://cheerylynndesigns.blogspot.com/2011/11/cheery-lynn-designs-challenge-4-shaped.html

By entering, you have a chance at a 20.00 shopping spree at Cheery Lynn Designs.

Be sure to follow the rules and play along!

Have a wonderful weekend and thanks for visiting today.  This has been Jeannie with The Polka Cabana with today’s post.

A Gel a Tins Christmas Beauty

I am getting in the mood of making all these fabulous Christmas things and thought I would make a nontraditional color card for you all today.

I am using the same set I made my last Gel a Tins card with, you can find that post here:

https://polkacabana.wordpress.com/category/gel-a-tins/

A friend of mine told me about a wonderful site which I used this sketch to make my card.

Here is what I have made, based on the sketch.

I used paper from the Ooh La La For Her, by My Mind’s Eye.

To create lots of texture I used glitter and these micro mini clear glass beads.

My favorite aspect of this is that I stamped the phrase directly onto the twill tape.  I love the way it looks.

It looks very elegant, perfect for a Very Important Person you need to send a card to.

 Are you thinking about making cards for this Holiday?  There is still time.  If you don’t have enough time to make all of them, pick a handful of people and hand make those people cards.

It is truly an expression of love to put your heart into something and what a way to tell someone close to you, “Merry Christmas.”

Have a great Thursday and Happy Crafting.

This has been Jeannie from The Polka Cabana with today’s post.

Wednesday Wowzer with I Heart {ippity}

How are you today?

(Who am I talking to?)  That is the weird this about blogging, you have no idea if anyone reads this stuff.  On the bright side it gives me license to talk to myself! That’s good enough for me.

Today I wanted to make a Christmassy type card with my {ippity} stamps with a set that is NOT a Christmas set.

I have used the set called Flowers + Friends = Priceless.

I took the flowers and embossed them in white with Stampendous CHUNKY WHITE ENAMEL.

It is supposed to be a shabby chic type feel.  The embossing distorts the image slightly on purpose.

I stamped the leaves in green and embellished with flat back pearls and ribbon.

My final touch was to add the phrase.  I always go to using my DICTION stickers from Authentique Paper.

I do not know what I would do without those little guys.

So there you have it.

Do you have stamps that are not “Christmas” stamps that you can try this technique with?

Think outside the box, that seems to be my motto!

Head on over to I Heart {ippity} we have such creative gals!

I love everything they make, every week.

Go and see for yourself.

Have a great day and remember this is the season of giving, not the season of stress and greed!  Relax and enjoy and don’t get caught up in the worldly view of this season.

Have a wonderful Wednesday.

Supplies:

Canvas Corp Kraft Paper

Stampin’ Up! Ink, Paper, Ribbon and embellishments

Stampendous Embossing powder

Authentique Paper Diction

I Heart {ippity} stamps 

Cheery Lynn Designs dies

Sweet Stamps Gate Fold Card

It is Tuesday and it is that time of the week when Sweet Stamps has issued a new challenge.

This week we are challenging you to do a Gate Fold card.

I found this adorable pattern here.

I used the basic design, but added to it.

Here is the card tied up.

This card is actually sized and made to hold a gift card. Here you can see I have untied the bow.

The Sweet Stamps supplies I used are Holiday Sweets Set and Christmas Joy. This is the inside of the card.

I have to tell you, the Holiday Sweets Set is just about the most fantastically fun set ever.  I love how all the candies look stamped.

The image below shows where the gift card enclosure is.

Here is the card with the card portion removed.

If you like this fun looking card and would like to enter the challenge to have a chance at winning a $20.00 gift certificate to Sweet Stamps.com, head on over to the Sweet Stamps blog.

Have a terrific day!

 Thanks for your visit and if you have time to leave a comment, I love reading every single one.  Your comments make my day.