Last Minute Christmas Cards

This year I made several different cards for my family and friends.  I used a variety of Christmas papers, stamps, dies, and of course, bling! 

Red and White Christmas

Update:  My card was chosen as one of the winners of Craft Your Passion Challenge Blog Challenge #37!

The challenge this week at The Shabby Tea Room was to create a Scandinavian Christmas card.  I have a huge stash of Christmas papers, stamps, and ribbons and two new toys--a Cricuit cartridge that cuts snowflakes and a Spellbinders poinsettia die.  I decided to make a criss-cross card using a variety of red and white papers, a lot of glitter, rhinestones, and yards of lace and ribbons!  I also found a SU brad in my Valentine's stash that was a perfect topper for my snowflakes.  I then hand delivered the card to a special paper-crafting friend in my neighborhood.  Enjoy!

I also entered this card in the following Christmas challenges:  Craft Your Passion Challenge #37,  Paper Playtime Challenge #30,  Sugar Sweet Paper Treats,  Christmas Card Challenges #3,  Creative Inspirations Challenge Blog #49, and Critter Sketch Challenge #45.

Birthday Blitz

From November 21 to November 28, four of my family members have birthdays; in addition to getting ready for Thanksgiving, I also had to find time to make four cards.
                   For my sister and my daughter, I cased a card from Sandi MacIver.

      For my sister's card,  I used SU's retired DSP Razzleberry Lemonade and accented it with SU's Crushed Curry and Melon Mambo paper.

My daughter graduated from Duke, so I thought a blue and white card would be perfect for her birthday.  I used SU's retired Brilliant Blue DSP and accented it with Brilliant Blue and Whisper White.  I also used a Cuttlebug embossing folder because I thought it complemented the design on the DSP.

I entered both of these cards in Top Tip Tuesday's "Layer upon Layer" challenge.

I also had to make two masculine birthday cards--very hard for me because I can't add lots of ribbon, glitter, or bling!
       For my brother-in-law, I continued my series of map cards.  At our library's recent book sale, I was able to add another atlas to my card-making collection, and I found the perfect map of Illinois.  I cut out one of the cars, added some Crystal Effects, and popped it up with some dimensionals. 

For my son-in-law, I purchased Graphic 45's A Perfect Gentleman papercrafting paper.  It is an absolutely fantastic collection of antique cars, watches,  golf scenes, and patterns that match perfectly!  However, for my background paper, I used SU's Autumn Spice DSP!  I added some buttons and printed out "Happy Birthday" on my computer, cutting it out with Marvy Uchida's scalloped oval punch.

Now that I'm done with these birthday cards, I'm getting ready to begin making Christmas cards!

Pick A Cause--American Heart Association

Update:  My card received an "Honorable Mention Cup of Tea" for The Shabby Tea Room's Challenge #37!

The Shabby Tea Room's Challenge #37 is "Pick A Cause," and I have chosen the American Heart Association for several reasons.  My son-in-law is a cardiologist, and because of his advice, my husband and I are trying to lead a more "heart-healthy" life.  In addition, several of my family members have had heart procedures that have improved their quality of life.  I made this card for a family member who will undergo a heart procedure in early December and plan to give it to her before her operation.  I've also entered this card in Top Tip Tuesday's  "Layer upon Layer" challenge.

The card is a variation on a bi-fold card, and it opens up to reveal the message inside.

Paper:  SU's Sending Love DSP (retired), SU's Real Red, Pretty in Pink, Very Vanilla; Stamp:  SU's Three Little Words; Punches:  Martha Stewart sunburst and lace scalloped heart; Spellbinders Labels 4 and hearts; Ink:  SU's Real Red; Accessories:  Doodlebug boutique brad, ribbon and flowers from AC Moore.

Anniversary--Happiness Always

My daughter and her husband are celebrating their sixth wedding anniversary so I created a criss-cross card for them.  I used some Fancy Pants Designs paper that my daughter gave me.  Even though the paper is designed for Christmas, I thought it made a wonderful fall anniversary card.

Paper:  Fancy Pants Designs, SU's Very Vanilla; Stamp:  SU"s Whimsical Words; Punches:  SU's Round Tab, Scallop Circle, Heart to Heart; Ink:  Tsukinenko Pearlescent Crimson; Accessories:  Button, Fancy Pants Designs; ribbon and brads from Michael's.

Halloween Blitz

Along with a card I entered in The Shabby Tea Room's Week #30 Challenge (and that I gave to my nine-year-old granddaughter), I also made five other Halloween cards for my grandchildren who range in age from one to nine!   Since I have four grandsons, I did not make very many frilly Halloween cards!

This card was for my one-year-old granddaughter.  I modified it from a door hanger that I made in our neighborhood card club.

My (almost) three-year-old grandson does not like scary things, so I thought these laughing pumpkins would be perfect for him!

While I was looking through SU's latest catalog, I got the idea for pumpkin ornaments, so I used SU's ornament punch and several other SU punches to create some ornaments for my three-year-old grandson's card.

My five-year-old grandson loves to trick or treat, so I thought this would be the perfect card for him.

I found this layout for a card in a recent craft magazine, and I added a web and some spiders to make it extra scary for my seven-year-old grandson!

Consider It CASED!

The challenge for Week #33 in The Shabby Tea Room was to CASE a card that one of the design team members posted.  I chose Clare Buswell's card, "Fruity Strawberries."  I changed the color palette to black and white, added a butterfly since I did not have any DSP that had butterflies on it, and gathered some black ribbon to use instead of lace.  I also found a brad to use in place of the button in the bottom right corner.  Although you can't tell by looking at the photo, I added glitter to the butterfly and also the flowers.
I also entered this card in The Paper Players Challenge #22--Anything Goes!

Stamp:  SU's Whimsical Words; Paper:  SU's Night and Day (retired); Punches:  SU's Decorative Label (extra-large), Martha Stewart butterfly punch; Accessories:  Me & My BIG Ideas rhinestone bling; Making Memories brad, and ribbon and flowers from AC Moore.

Happy Halloween

UPDATE:  My card won an "HONORABLE MENTION CUP OF TEA"  for The Shabby Tea Room's Challenge #30!
This week at The Shabby Tea Room,  vintage Halloween cards are the challenge.  I have six Halloween cards to make for my grandchildren, so I thought I would get started by entering my older granddaughter's card in the challenge.  I printed out the poem on my computer and then assembled the card.

Stamps:  SU's Greeting Card Kids, All Holidays; Ink:  SU's Basic Black; Paper:  SU's Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie, Martha Stewart Holidays mat pad (green patterned paper); Punches:  SU's Decorative Label, Designer Label, Modern Label; Accessories:  Flowers, ribbon, and brads--Michael's, leaves--Wal-Mart, bling--AC Moore.

Sweet Baby

My daughter's sister-in-law recently had a baby, so I made a card to enclose in the gift I sent.  When I checked out The Shabby Tea Room, I found out the theme was "Tag--You're It," so I added a tag to my card in order to be included in this week's challenge!  I printed the words to "Rock-a-Bye Baby" on my computer, sponged the edges,  and then added some embellishments and a "Sweet Baby" tag.

Paper:  SU Green Galore, Pretty in Pink;  Debbie Mumm's Baby Girl patterned paper; Ink:  SU Blushing Bride; Punch:  SU Scallop Edge; Embellishments:  K & Co chipboard tag, dress, flowers, and hearts, gingham ribbon from Michael's, and SU button.

Old Meets New Happy Birthday

The challenge this week on The Shabby Tea Room is "Old Meets New."  I created a birthday card using some new Crate Papers, lace, and scrumpled seam binding. I sponged some Ranger Vintage Photo ink (stash) around the edges and used my Tim Holtz paper distresser (stash) to "shabby" the edges of the card.
I used SU's Well-Scripted birthday stamp for the sentiment and punched it out with my trusty Marvy Uchida scallop oval punch which I seem to used all the time!  I also used SU's Build-A-Brad to create a unique brad to go with the paper!

Stamp:  SU's Well-Scripted; Paper:  SU's Chocolate Chip and Very Vanilla, Crate Paper's Prudence Collection; Ink:  Ranger Vintage Photo; Accessories:  SU's Build-A-Brad, Marvy Uchida scallop oval punch, lace from Joann's, and scrumpled seam binding from Deb's Simple Treasures Etsy Shop.