Feast or Famine

Hello!

It seems to be all or nothing with me these days.  Flurries of cards, followed by...nothing!  I think that I've realized that my creativity has a mind of it's own!  It comes...and just like that, it goes!  And I just can't force it (no matter how much I try!).  Hopefully it will start to come more often, since I just submitted a ridiculous order to Ellen Hutson (stayed up til midnight last night to take advantage of the 25% off sale!!!) and will be receiving some new goodies soon!  So excited!  As if that wasn't bad enough, I also spent a ton of money at the local store, who were offering 40% off of any product from one manufacturer.  So I chose Ranger, and stocked up, mostly on a lot of distress inks.  I've been wanting to try them out for a while, and now I've got an ink pad (or ten!) to play with!  How could I resist 40% off?!!  Love Black Friday!

My creativity did make a very brief appearance the other day (and quickly left!), and I came up with this card:

I really do need to make a little extra effort in photographing my cards!! 

It looks so much better in real life!

One of the new Simon Says Stamps (I think it's the one in their December kit) featured some xo stamps.  It sparked the idea to create a Christmas tree out of "hugs and kisses"!  I used the x an o from the Paper Smooches Alphadots set and just eyeballed the placement best as I could.  It's not perfect, but it will do!

Hope you like this little guy!  And thank you so much for coming by to see me!
Have a good weekend, everyone!  And a VERY (belated) Happy Thanksgiving to all of my American friends!!
Shannon

A Quick Hello

Hello!

Just dropping in quickly today to share a couple more Christmas cards I made.  This first card is the fastest card I have ever made!  That snowflake being the focal point just did all the work for me!  The second card is similar to one of the cards I sent to the Caring Hearts drive.  I haven't posted the original yet, because it's still on the camera that won't download my photos!

And without further ado, voila!

That's it for me today!  Thanks for coming by, and I hope you are all having a lovely, crafty weekend!!
Shannon

Another Post!

Hello again!

Two posts in one day!  CRAZY!  Just wanted to whip this little guy up for the Unscripted Sketches Challenge.  The ever-talented Kimberly Wiener is now on the design team there and I just had to make a card to celebrate her new posting!  Make sure to check out Kimberly's blog - prepare to be inspired!

Here's this week's sketch:

And here's my take:

Just a quick and simple one.  I was totally inspired by Emily Liephart to tuck the little heart in between the hamster's hands.  I've seen her do this a few times, and just LOVE it.  So sweet!  (I take no credit for that at all!).  She always just adds the sweetest finishing touches on all of her cards! 

And that's it for me today.  No more trips to the craft room until tomorrow.
Thanks for dropping by - I love it when you do!
Shannon

Feeling Girlie!

Hello!

Today's Christmas card is brought to you by the colour pink!  I'm not normally a big fan of pink.  I love it for baby girl cards, and like to use it as an accent, but rarely do I use it as the main theme.  But today I embraced the pink and went full on girlie!  But I think little Miss Snow-woman wears it well! 

Here's what I came up with:

I came across a stash of chipboard snowflakes - who knows how long I've had them.  But when I spotted them yesterday, I knew I had to use them!  I'm sure you will see more cards in the near future displaying similar flakes!  I just heat embossed this one to make it white.  Instead of using glitter along the fallen snow, I thought I'd try it with Perfect Pearls.  And I kind of like it!  It gives a nice little shimmer.  I added some teeny tiny little pearl drops to three of the snow dots as well, just to carry the shimmer "up"!  Looking at it now, I'm not sure if I should have added a few more drops - what do you think?

Hope you are having an awesome day!  I'm hoping to squeeze in a little more craft time if I can!
Shannon

...by the Chimney with Care

Hello!

Just sharing another Christmas card today!  I stamped and fussy cut five of these sweet holly branches with the intention of making a wreath.  Which I did.  And while the wreath looked good, I was struggling (who knows why!) with the card design.  So I went with a new direction and created a bough with them instead. 

And here's what resulted:

I don't know what made me decide to throw in purple for the stockings - it was on a whim!  But I kind of like it with the green and red.  Who knew!  Almost all images are from TAWS, with the exception of the bows at each end of the bough - they are from PS (Spring Fling). 

Hope you like it!  And hopefully I can sneak into my craft room again today - hope you can too!
Thanks for coming by today :)
Shannon

A Christmas Card Bonanza!

Hello!

I made three more Christmas cards last night!  I'm laughing at myself - going from "I'm just going to take a break for a *little* while longer" only a few days ago, to full-on card bonanza!!  Whaaaattt happened there?!!  ha ha!!!

I just sat down last night and played.  Again, no challenges, just allowing my mind to go wherever it felt like going!

And here they are:

I am definitely on a craft base kick.  Donna Mikasa is the inspiration for that.  She makes THE most beautiful cards using a craft base.  And her style is just incredible! 

I have a few things on the go today, but I'm hoping to make at least one card today.  Yup, the bug is back!!!

Thanks so much for dropping by for a visit!
Shannon

Colourful snow?

Hello!

Hope you are all well!  I've got another Christmas card to share with you!  No challenges on this one.  Just trying to get back into the swing of things.  And obviously I'm out of practice, since I missed the deadline for CAS on Sundays for one of the cards I made yesterday!  Oopsie!

Here's the latest:

This one is all PS.  I went a little abstract with the "snow fall", using patterned paper with colourful drops to depict the snow!  Might be a little too abstract - but I am a lover of the non-traditional!  I glittered up the fallen snow and wrapped the penguin in a little scarf, just to add a little fun!

Hope you like it, and hope you're having a fun, crafty day!
Shannon

I Just Couldn't Stay Away!

Hello!

So I said yesterday that I was going to keep my break going for just a little while longer, but that I was already getting the itch!  Well, guess what I did right after I posted yesterday?!  I made two cards!  So I guess we can consider my break officially over!  Plus, even though my camera is not fixed, I realized from yesterday's post that my phone takes pictures just as well (if not better!) than my cheapy point and shoot!  I do have a bunch of photos of cards I made over the past month sitting on the old camera waiting to be downloaded - I will share those as soon as I do get around to dealing with that!!  But for now, I'm sharing the two cards I made yesterday.

Both are Christmas cards.  Before I show them, I want to encourage everyone, if you haven't already, to send in cards to the Caring Hearts Card Drive.  It is such a good cause!  I sent in five a month or so ago, and did photograph them, but of course they are sitting on the old camera waiting to downloaded!  I will share as soon as I can!  For my fellow Canadians, the organizers have made it even easier for you - Anita Recksiedler is collecting cards from Canadians!  This helps in the postage for sure!

And here are the cards:

Well, the camera quality might be better, but I can't say the same
for my photography skills!  Sorry for the giant shadow!!

I had a ton of fun putting card #1 together - it's a mix of TAWS and PS.  Card #2 was inspired by this week's CAS on Sunday Challenge (my first time entering!), and also by the amazing Kay Miller.  Have you seen here amazing PS cards?!!  You have to check out her blog! 

Hope you enjoyed the cards!  So glad to be back!  Have a good weekend, everyone!
Shannon

A Quick Break from my Break!

Hello!

First, just wanted to say a big thank you to everyone who left a little comment of support regarding my little break!  Every one of them made me smile!!!

Just putting my break on hold for a wee little bit and popping in to share a card for Miss Lisa Arana's Wanna Sketch challenge.  She has the BEST sketches!  I thought I had actually made a card for this before my "hiatus", but nope!  So I just had to come out of hiding to sneak one in for the challenge!  Come and play along with me if you can!!!

Here's the sketch:

And here's my card (taken with my i phone since my camera is still on the blink - still haven't gotten my act together enough to do that yet!!):

I made this for a sweet lady who is the admin assistant in my husband's office.  She's been off work for a while with an injury, and my husband asked if I can make a card for her return.  Of course I can!!  Mix of TAWS and PS - what else?!!  Hope you like it!

Heading back into retirement now, but I just know I won't be able to stay away for long!  I'm already getting the itch!!

Thanks for stopping by!!
Shannon