Serendipity Stamps - October Blog Hop #2

Welcome to another Serendipity Stamps Blog Hop! 

 I used the elegant Season's Greetings die on my card 

and die cut it twice in black mirror cardstock.

I just love Tim Holtz's new Christmas Stash paper pad and

used it here. The vintage look goes with the sentiment nicely.

Inside I stamped Merry Merry Merry and the 

Chickadees stamps.

Finished card is 5 3/4 x 4 1/2.

The HOP Prize is a $20 Serendipity Stamps 
Gift Certificate to a random commenter.

You can leave comments from today through Sunday

 and Mary will announce the winner on October 22.

Here is the list of Design Team members participating in the HOP:

Mary's Blog

Beth Chiu out this week!

Julie Warner

Marybeth Lopez 

Miriam Napier (that's me!)

Vickie Zimmer 

Next up is Vickie Zimmer's blog here.

Serendipity Stamps & dies: Season's Greetings die 068FD, Merry Merry Merry 663D, Chickadees 682E

Other dies: Lawn Fawn Stitched Scalloped Rectangles, Stitched Rectangles

Paper: Tim Holtz - Christmas Stash 8x8 pad, Bazzill Heavyweight Peppermint

Ink: Distress Oxides: Fired Brick, Forest Moss

Other: Tim Holtz Christmas Adornment charm, greenery punch, Mini Perfect Layers

Serendipity Stamps - October Blog Hop #1

Welcome to another Serendipity Stamps Blog Hop!  I used the elegant NOEL

die on my little card and die cut it twice in red and black.

Inside I stamped MERRY from the Happy Holidays Set.

Finished card is 3 1/2" square.

The HOP Prize is a $20 Serendipity Stamps 
Gift Certificate to a random commenter.

You can leave comments from today through Sunday

 and Mary will announce the winner on October 8.

Here is the list of Design Team members participating in the HOP:

Mary's Blog

Beth Chiu out this week!

Julie Warner

Marybeth Lopez out this week

Miriam Napier (that's me!)

Vickie Zimmer 

Next up is Vickie Zimmer's blog here.

Serendipity Stamps & dies: Noel 091ED, Happy Holidays Set 1423CSS

Other dies: Lawn Fawn Stitched Scalloped Squares

Paper: Carta Bella - Christmas 6x6 pad

Ink: Versafine - Olympia Green

Serendipity Stamps - December Blog Hop #2

Welcome to the last Blog Hop of the year for Serendipity Stamps!

Today I have a lovely NOEL die highlighted.  This card was one of

the projects I taught in my recent Christmas Card class.  The NOEL 

die was the perfect sentiment for the chipboard circle on my card.

Here is a closeup of how the die is popped up from the center of the

circle.  I used tiny slivers of foam tape behind parts of the letters

to give it support.  I glued several of the NOEL die cuts together

to make it a little thick and easier to work with.

Inside I used the sentiment from the FOR UNTO US stamp set.

I just love the font!  Finished size is 4 1/4" square.

Also from the FOR UNTO US stamp set is this cute Nativity

scene and KING sentiment.  They are colored with Chameleon

colored pencils and the tag is a Bo Bunny die.

It is 4 1/4" tall.

The December Stamp of the Month is:

Steeple

The HOP Prize is a $20 Serendipity Stamps Gift Certificate 

to a random commenter.  

You can leave comments from Wednesday through Sunday

 and Mary will announce the winner on Monday.

Here is the list of Design Team members participating in the HOP:

Mary's Blog
Beth Chiu
Patti Kehl
Carol Mayne
Miriam Napier
Julie Warner 
Vickie Zimmer 
Marybeth Lopez

• Serendipity Stamps:  For Unto Us Cling Stamp Set 1422 CSS, Noel die 091ED
• Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black, Olympia Green
• Paper: Neenah Natural White 110lb, Bazzill Wax Lips, Kaisercraft Vanilla, Bo Bunny Double Dot CLOVER, Graphic 45 Winter Wonderland, Neenah Desert Storm
• Other dies: Bo Bunny - Scallop Top Tags, Lawn Fawn - Stitched Squares, Tonic - Square Scalloped, Impression Obsession - Cardinals, Tim Holtz -Laurel punch

MFT Sketch Challenge - 363 Happy Pawlidays

My Favorite Things has a great Sketch Challenge this week!  

It is a simple format that will work with most any image.

I colored up the puppy with Copics and die cut him 

with the Wonky Squares die.

I added some Nuvo Fresh Snowfall glitter to the white parts of his hat.

Inside I paper pieced the little present and stamped the holiday sentiment.

Finished size is 4 3/8 square.

Why not play along in the Challenge to win $50 in MFT products?

• MFT Products: Happy Pawlidays Stamps, Snow Globe Sentiments, In & Out Stitched Squares, Wonky Squares, Stitched Sentiment Strips, Black Licorice Hybrid Ink Pad
• Ink: Versafine - Onyx Black for sentiments
• Topics: W1, W2, R22, R27, R37, R39, E31, E33, E34, E50
• Paper: Neenah - Natural White 110lb, Ella & Ivy - Lumberjack London Fog, Bazzill Black Heavyweight & Red Hots
• Other: Mini Misti, Mini Perfect Layers, Nuvo Fresh Snowfall Glitter

My Favorite Things - Cross Stitch Holiday Card

Lately I've been into cross stitching using both Paper Smooches 

and My Favorite Things cross stitched dies.  This one is 

Paper Smooches which is bigger than MFT's.

I used Distress Oxide Inks to do the trees and sentiment.

Inside I did the sentiment in the ombre style by stamping the 

whole word in the lighter color then stamping the 

lower half with the darker ink.  A very cool effect!

I hope you are having a festive December!

Finished size is A-2.

• MFT: Handwritten Holidays stamps, tree die, Stitched Rectangles
• Paper Smooches: Cross Stitch Die
• Distress Oxide Inks: Twisted Citron, Lucky Clover, Candied Apple, Fired Brick
• Paper: Neenah - Solar White 110lb, Cherry Splash Bazzill, Bristol Smooth for trees

MFT Color Challenge 82

This week I decided to enter the My Favorite Things Color Challenge.

The color scheme wasn't Christmas but I decided to go that

way anyway.  I'm addicted to cross stitching lately and found this 

cute image on Pinterest.  

I outlined the image in grey so it wouldn't be as harsh

as black.  The sentiment is stamped in grey as well.

Inside I used a color similar to Cornflower blue in ink and paper.

You still have 5 days to participate and possibly win a $50 

Gift Voucher from My Favorite Things!

Finished size is an A-2.

• MFT: Hand Lettered Holiday, CROSS STITCH Tag die
• Ink: Versafine - Smokey Grey, Majestic Blue; Distress Ink - Tumbled Glass
• Dies: Lawn Fawn - Cross Stitched Rectangles

Serendipity Stamps - December Blog Hop #1

Welcome to Serendipity Stamps First December Hop!  

Is anyone else thinking, Where did the year go?  

Time just flies!  Today I have a card that uses many

of Serendipity's new products.  For the background 

and birds I used my Distress Oxide Inks 

on Bristol Smooth card stock.

The finished size i s 5 1/4 x 4 1/2.  I usually let the art dictate 

the size of my card.  Especially true in this case!

The December Stamp of the Month is:

Steeple

The HOP Prize is a $20 Serendipity Stamps Gift Certificate 

to a random commenter.  

You can leave comments from Wednesday through Sunday

 and Mary will announce the winner on Monday.

Here is the list of Design Team members participating in the HOP:

Mary's Blog
Beth Chiu
Patti Kehl
Carol Mayne
Miriam Napier
Julie Warner 
Vickie Zimmer 
Marybeth Lopez

• Serendipity Stamps: Snow Birds Branch Die Set 092DS, Happy Holidays Cling Stamp Set 1423CSS
• Inks: Distress Oxide Ink: Fired Brick, Black Soot, Broken China, Faded Jeans
• Paper: Bristol Smooth, Neenah Solar White 110lb, Black Licorice Bazzill
• Other dies: MFT Stitched Rectangles

Cottage Cutz Holiday Owls Tutorial

Today I'm going to show you how I put together a cute 

Cottage Cutz die called Holiday Owls.

There are lots of pieces to this die so I just die cut it once

with white cardstock. 

 After I passed it through my Vagabond I put 

2 all-over-sticky Post-It notes on it to hold the pieces in place.

Here I turned it over and made sure all the pieces were in place.

Next I colored it with my Copic markers.  Another option is to die

cut sections of it with different colored card stock instead of coloring it.

Here I started gluing the owl pieces together and placing

them with repositionable adhesive on my die cut square.

TIP: glue the feet to the branch and not the owls.

They are too small to glue to the owls.

Here are 2 finished pieces.  For the eyes I used several things.

Black nailheads for the largest owl, Black Glaze pen and 2mm

pearls for the smaller owls. Other enhancements are a clear

glaze pen for the berries and beaks and Nuvo White Blizzard

for glitter on the holly leaves, stocking tops and hat fuzzy areas.

Inside I finished up the card with Impression Obsession's 

Merry Christmas stamp.

Hope you enjoyed this and have a great week!

New Lawn Fawn for Christmas

Ive been making a bunch of Lawn Fawn cards and tags lately.  

I just love the products in their recent release!

The otter is from Winter Otter and the ornament is from the

Stitched Ornament die.

Inside I used Distress Oxide Candied Apple ink for the sentiment.

It is a perfect match with the Lawn Fawn paper.

Next up is a mini card with the Mini Wreath die.  I double cut the bow

and layered it on top.  I put Glossy Accents on the berries and bow.

Inside I used Distress Oxide Candied Apple ink again.

My final project is an ornament with the darling otter and 

die cut elements from the Mini Wreath die set.

All of these products are available at Impressive Ideas!

Have a wonderful week!

• Lawn Fawn products:  Stitched Square Dies, Stitched Circles, Stitched Circle Tag, Stitched Ornaments, Outside In Stitched Scalloped Squares, Knit Picky Petite 6x6 pad, Winter Otter stamps and dies, Mini Wreath
• Other: Distress Oxide Ink: Candied Apple, Copics, Neenah Solar White 110lb, Bazzill Light Blue heavyweight, Bow Easy, Iridescent Twine

Christmas Crazy Dog!

Some time ago on Pinterest I saw a card with a 

Crazy Bird with a speech bubble.  

The words in the speech bubble were in a foreign language 

but it still inspired me!

So, here is a Christmas Crazy Dog with a speech bubble!

A friend loves the Georgia Bulldogs so I thought he'd 

appreciate a bulldog Christmas card.

I colored him with Copics and added a Santa Hat and 

Candy Cane from the Crazy Things stamps set.  He is die

cut and popped up with foam tape.

All the sentiments are from Holtz's Crazy Words and the speech bubble is

from Serendipity Stamps.  

They have a set of 3 sizes with the tiny lead circles too.

Have a Merry Christmas!

• Stamps & Dies: Tim Holtz - Crazy Dogs, Crazy Things, Serendipity Stamps - Speech Bubbles
• Ink: MFT - Black Licorice Hybrid, Versafine - Onyx Black
• Other: Copics, MFT - Wonky Square dies, Glossy Accents

Dear Santa Kitty

I just LOVE this little retro kitty from the Avery Elle 

stamp and die set called Dear Santa.

On this card I paired her up with an Impression Obsession 

sentiment and the My Favorite Things Quilt die.  

After assembling the quilt I ran it through my

Vagabond with an embossing folder.

The finished size is 5x5 and I used 

Penny Black Holiday Trimmings 6x6 paper.

A very simple tag die cut with Bo Bunny's tag set.  

A little Copic coloring and done!

Another tag in Bazzill Heavyweight papers and a 

Serendipity Stamps snowflake die cut.  

I make lots of tags every year because they

are FAST, LITTLE and FUN!

Have a great week!

SSCB - SPARKLE Challenge #62

This month's Challenge is SPARKLE!!  FUN!!!

You can find all the details to play along with our 

Texture Challenge HERE on the SSCB.

Enter the challenge to be in the running to win a prize

from Serendipity Stamps!

I added SPARKLE to my card by using a stencil and Bo Bunny

Sugar Glitter Paste for one of the layers (it is very hard to see in the photo).

 I also heat embossed the image to add some shine.

I think these chickadees are the cutest!

Inside is my favorite holiday Serendipity Sentiment!

Here is another card with the same image......

and a third!

This month's 50% off stamp is the Winter Doe.

Check out what the rest of the design team made:

Karen Amidon

Marybeth Lopez

Miriam Napier

Patti Kehl

Carol Mayne

Vickie Zimmer

Jeanne Jachna 

Julie Warner

• Serendipity Stamps: Chickadees 682E
• Ink: Versafine - Onyx Black
• Paper: Neenah - Solar White 110lb, Penny Black - Holiday Trimmings 6x6
• Other: Lawn Fawn Die - Stitched Squares, Black Rainbow Tape, Clear Embossing Powder, Bo Bunny - Sugar Glitter Paste, Stencil Girl - Basket Stencil 6x6