Season's Greetings Stamping Symphony Blog Hop

Here we are mid-November and my holiday card making is taking off!  I'm so pleased to be part of the Stamping Symphony Blog Hop today where we hope to inspire you with Christmas projects.  My card is full of texture and dimension and was so much fun to make!  And I have a surprise Bonus Project for you today too, don't miss checking it out. :)

Be Cool Be Chill Be Merry

This little penguin and his (free) matching Penguin Playmates paper is truly the most adorable thing I have seen for the holidays!   All you need is black ink and the coordinating punch and you can make a whole waddle (that's what a group of penguins on land is called, as if they couldn't get any cuter!).  And if you grew up playing with paper dolls like I did, all of the included accessories in the stamp set amp up the fun even more.

So Many Stars Blog Hop

So I've decided--this is my favourite card from my recent Holiday Card Buffet!!  I love the super traditional stars paired with the non-traditional colours.  And that hammered metal embossing folder?? Swoon.

This simple card packs a lot of punch, but can be replicated quickly and easily to mass produce for all your friends and family this year.

I used a combination of Coastal Cabana and Bermuda Bay inks for my star collage and paired that with a Basic Grey sentiment wishing "peace" this holiday season.

I layered the stamped panel with dimensionals onto the embossed panel, which I had adhered to my thick whisper white card base.  The thick cardstock really makes this card feel substantial.  I also used some retired matching ribbon, which is the best part of Stampin' Up!--complete coordination!

Have you started on your holiday to-do list yet?  It's coming up quick!  I still have several events and classes-to-go available if you need some inspiration. :)

Thanks for stopping by.  Keep hopping to see what everyone made this month too!

A La Cards (Leena)

LollyandSand (Sandy)

JustBStamping (Barb--you're here!)

Stampingjen.BlogSpot.com (Jennifer)

Simple Perfectly Plaid Card

One of the things I love best about making my own cards is that I can tailor the final product to the person it's intended for, or to suit my mood.  Usually I enjoy making more elaborate cards, with multiple colours, stamp sets, dies, punches, fancy folds--you name it!  But I've been challenging myself to design simpler cards this fall, creating my Classes-To-Go (which use just one ink colour and stamp set), and some Stamp-A-Stack classes as well.

This is one of three cards designs in my Stamp-A-Stack 2 class, created specifically to help create 12 cards in just 2 hours!

I love the simplicity of this card, and the oh-so-traditional look of the green plaid with just a touch of metallic gold.

I stamped my tree in black memento ink and then added Pear Pizzazz leaves and Real Red "lights", and popped him up on a square of Wrapped in Plaid DSP, which was mounted on a slightly larger square of Pear Pizzazz cardstock.  

The "Happy Holidays" sentiment is one of 18--that's right, 18!!--phrases included in the Itty Bitty Christmas stamp set.

The inside message is one of the sentiments included in the Perfectly Plaid stamp set and sends just the right message to your loved one at Christmas.

I hope you will attend one of my holiday events this Fall!  Check out all the details on my "Holiday Events" page (tabbed across the bar at the top).

Follow along on our hop to see what the other members of the Stamping Symphony team created for you this month:

A La Cards (Leena)

LollyandSand (Sandy)

JustBStamping (Barb--you're here!)

Stampingjen.BlogSpot.com (Jennifer)

Snowman Season (Holiday Blog Hop)

Hi Everyone, welcome to another Stamping Symphony Blog Hop!  I'm so glad you came by.  :)

Our theme this month was anything from the new Holiday Catalogue--talk about a tough decision!  This catalogue is 63 pages of awesome!!!  I have been playing with tons of new products designing my holiday classes and card buffets; it's a tough job, but somebody has to do it. :)  :)  I finally decided to share this card featuring the Snowman Season stamp set and First Frost DSP with you today:

Isn't he the cutest?  And he can be elegant, like in this card, or totally fun with bright colours too--gotta love the versatility!

I started with a thick white cardstock base and added a 2" strip of the First Frost DSP to the left side.  This paper is so beautiful you don't even need to add anything but a sentiment to it to have a blow-your-mind-pretty-card.  I selected a snowy branch scene but there are oodles of great choices in many colours to choose from.

I stamped my joyful snowman in Memento Black ink and coloured very lightly with my Pool Party and Highland Heather blends.  I love the look of not colouring him in completely, but just giving a touch of colour, which adds to the more sophisticated look.  Colouring is not just for kids!

No raindrops falling on this snowman's head!  Instead I stamped a few snowflakes in Highland Heather.  The "Happy Holidays" sentiment is from the new Itty Bitty Christmas set, which is chockful of all kinds of greetings and sentiments for the season.

I cut my snowman out with a stitched square and matted him on a scalloped circle of Seaside Spray, which perfectly matches the DSP (thank you Stampin' Up! for making that so easy!), and keeps my colour palette frosty.  I popped that whole piece up on dimensionals.

Like always, I had to stamp the inside of my card too!  The "Thinking of You" sentiment is also from the Itty Bitty Christmas set; I stamped it with black ink and then added some more purple snowflakes for that festive feel.

Are you a traditional red & green Christmas fan, or do you like to mix it up with some non-traditional colours too?

Thanks for stopping by today, keep hopping to the sites below to see more of our holiday favourites:

A La Cards (Leena)

LollyandSand (Sandy)

JustBStamping (Barb--you're here!)

Stampingjen.BlogSpot.com (Jennifer)

Hofkissed (Stephanie)