Playing with Pattern Paper

I was never one for using pattern paper on my cards, only in scrapbooking (which I feel I am neglecting right now- I have a stack of photos yet to be scrapbooked.) I have seen lots of beautiful cards using pattern paper lately, so I thought I'd get some and give it a whirl. The green snowflake paper came from Michael's and the blue paper is part of the Ski Slope designer paper from Stampin' Up. Both of the cards were super simple and turned out fabulous. I think I might be hooked on pattern paper! Just one more item to stock up on!

Holiday Mail for Heroes

For the 2008 holiday season, the Red Cross is sponsoring a Holiday Mail for Heroes program to distribute holiday cards to service members, a program that encompasses not just troops who are recovering in military hospitals, but also service members stationed throughout the U.S. and abroad. As well as veterans and their families.

When sending your Christmas cards this year, take one card and send it to this address. If we pass this on and everyone sends one card, think of how many cards these wonderful special people who have sacrificed so much would get. When you are making out your Christmas card list this year, please send one to the following:

Holiday Mail for Heroes
P.O. Box 5456
Capitol Heights, MD. 20791-5456

All cards must be postmarked no later than Wednesday December 10, 2008. Cards sent after this date will be returned to sender.

Color Inspiration Challenge #31

This week at KWerner Design the Color Inspiration reminded me a lot of autumn and Thanksgiving. What a perfect time to celebrate the upcoming holiday. I love her choice of warm colors. They are comforting and really make for some beautiful cards. I decided to use the stamp set Season of Friendship from the Holiday Mini-Catalogue before it is gone.

Cupcake Shaker Card

I just recently made my first shaker card at a Stamp Camp I attended. I liked it so much that I made my own version using the Crazy for Cupcakes set and glitter. I love it! These cards are a little labor intensive, but well worth it! So cute! I sent one as a birthday card already and I can't wait to hear what she thought of it.

November Card Class

These were the cute cards and project we made at our November Stamp Class. They were a big hit. I am a fan of cards you can literally make in minutes. I also like the idea of creating cards that you can easily make many of with little effort (especially Christmas cards.) I was feeling a little monochromatic too-can you tell? I had an all pink card too, but we scrapped it to make this adorable lip gloss holder. It is slightly larger than a lip balm holder. We just adjusted the measurements to fit our project. What a cute stocking stuffer or secret santa gift!

Color Inspiration Challenge #30

I am excited about these colors. They are very soothing and I think especially at this time of year, we need anything that can calm us a little. I have used this layout before, but really thought it would be a great way to use those tiny scraps of paper I had lying around. I struggle having too many colors to work with, so this was the perfect color inspiration for me. I like when I can keep it simple! I even used the gold elastic cord from the Holiday Mini-Catalog.

Color Challenge #24 and #29

I was at it again. I think sometimes figuring out the color combinations for cards and scrapbooking can be the biggest challenge. I am learning to "borrow" other peoples ideas and color combinations (no need to reinvent the "color" wheel.) I use Splitcoast Stampers because they post a new color challenge every week. I also use KWerner Design because she has some amazing color combinations. She gets inspiration from all around her...i.e. magazines, clothing and home decor catalogues. Not only can you get inspiration from her blog, but notice color combinations around you. Here are my attempts at Color Challenge cards from the last few posts she has done.

I really love this first one because it so reminds me of fall. I love fall...it's my favorite season!

The second one seems really loud to me, but I tried it and I like what came out of it. I think the fun part is that I would have never put these colors together and they look awesome.

Christmas Gift Stamp Camp

We had our very first Stamp Camp last weekend and it went great. Everyone was excited about all the gift giving ideas they took away from the camp. The only downer was when my dog, Bella, punctured a hole in the White Staz-On reinker. Good thing it was white and not black.

York Spiders

For Lindsay's fourth annual Halloween bash, grandma created about 50 of these adorable spiders. She used the scallop circle punch and the photo corners punch and attach it to either side of a york peppermint patty. They were a big hit!