Holiday Cards Day 1

Hi stamping friends,

Another fun day in the studio busily creating the cards that were in Monday's class on the 11th.  The instructors for that day were Kristina Werner, Jennifer McGuire, Joy Taylor, and Tami Hartley.  These gals have done a wonderful job - not only in their designs, but also by providing supply lists, easy-to-follow directions, and lots of tips.  And on top of that there are videos and downloadable PDF files if you want to store the instructions on your computer.

So, enough chit chat, take a look at these fun designs.

                         

This was a fun card to do.  It was embossed on top and bottom, leaving a flat surface in between to stamp the sentiment on.  By the side of each strip of washi tape, you can see the stitching using a white pen.  Inside there is a gift card pocket made of vellum and decorated with washi tape.

A fun and easy card to make.  It is a Z fold card.  When you pull out the left panel, you can see that the whole card is stamped with a holiday greetings stamp.  Also, a nice surprise here, the banner stretches all the way from the right side of the card to the left, the left end being covered by the Christmas tree.  It makes me smile!

Red and white is always striking to me.  Since I didn't have the falling snowflake template that the design called for, I had to be creative and find a substitute.  I used a small hand punch and my eyelet tool to punch the holes.  Sometimes, you just have to go with what you've got.  The other thing I like about this card is that the label is made with three shades of red.  Very pretty!  I'm looking forward to using this technique with other colors.

Just love this card.  It is so soft and delicate looking.  I masked triangles and then alternately sponged three shades of blue ink.  Distress stain was lightly washed over the card, followed by stamping with white ink using a speckled spot stamp.  The layered snowflake was sprayed with glimmer mist.  I'm a happy stamper to have learned how to use these products together.

Until next time,
Annie

Online Holiday Card Class - Day 2

Having great fun making cards with teachers Jennifer McGuire, Laura Bassen, Kristina Werner, and Debbie Hughes today.  There were six card today, but I have finished only four so far.  Maybe you can get a few ideas for your own Christmas cards.

This is a layered die cut inlay card and a brand new technique to me.  It is perfectly smooth on the card front.

This card features an acetate window frame.  The window frame opens separately from the card and has embossed snowflakes adhered front and back of the acetate.  A really cool  idea.

Here, you see the use of negative and positive die cuts of snowflakes.  The second snow hill is mounted and sits up above the snowflake behind it.  The snowflakes are covered with Vintage Glass Glitter.  It's really a pretty card but this picture doesn't do it justice.

Plain and simple, yet quite striking in red and white, featuring a white wood grain label, saddle stitch ribbon, and die cut poinsettia.

Now I need to get Monday's class cards made and then get ready for the Friday class.  We have classes on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday of next week, too.  Oh, the joy of card making!

Blessings,
Annie

Live the Virtues

Hi there, friends,

Recently I hosted a swap of pages for a  "Virtues Book."  Each participant chose a virtue and illustrated the chosen virtue on a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" card stock page - front and back, and then decorated and embellished it.  We each designed our own cover and chose our own binding method.  I used my Paper Drill to drill a hole in the upper left-hand corner, then  fastened it together with a metal binder ring.  Finally, I added several black and colorful yellow ribbons to the metal ring.  This darling little book is  now displayed on my coffee table.  I love doing collaborative projects because they showcase so many styles of personal creativeness -- always a delight to see.  This beautiful little book will be wonderful for times of meditation, to sit and reflect on the meaning of each virtue and how Jesus teaches us to seek them and let them become a part of who we are.  I like, too, that it will be a constant reminder of how God is molding me to be more Christ-like in my character.  Best of all is, and it's no accident I'm sure, that I'm always finding my dear Lord right in the middle of my paper crafts hobby.  Awesome and all to His glory!!!
Hope you enjoy looking at our book. 
Blessings.
Annie

OK, time for the show to start - enjoy.



Title Page

Virtues Poem




Tranquility - Lisa Barber (Front)

 




Tranquility - Lisa Barber (Back)

Carol Cone - Courage (Front)

Carol Cone - Courage (Back)

Joy - Mary Darnell (Back)

Joy - Mary Darnell (Front)

       



Patience - Peg Waldron (Front)

Peg Waldron - Patience (Back)

Kindness - Phyllis Schaffer (Front)

Kindness - Phyllis Schaffer (Back)



Forbearance - Ronnie Lorenz (Front & Back)

Charity - Ann Lancaster (Front)

Charity - Ann Lancaster (Back)

 

Envelopes Galore!

My newest tool purchase was this Envelope Punch
Board by We R Memory Keepers.  Ooooh, I love it!  I'm confessing that a problem I have is to just jump right in and try to use a tool before I've read the directions with understanding.  Well . . . it was only one line that I missed when skimming over the directions; however, it was an important one.  So I only messed up two times before my friend Sharon stepped in to see why I was having difficulty.  In the blink of an eye, she quickly spotted what I was doing wrong and set me on the road to successfully punching out envelopes.  It was so fun that I couldn't stop!  Really! 

To start with, I used some 12x12 scrapbook paper that I had purchased on sale for $.10 a sheet.  Next time I'll delve into some of my special papers.  I used the scraps from the 12x12 sheets to make the matching cards.  Here's a link to a video tutorial (that I found after the fact):   http://store.scrapbook.com/wr-71277-0.html  And for a bit of inspiration, here are a few sets that I've made:

  A variety set of 6 would make a great little gift and you could make and embellish a little box to hold them.  To make boxes I use Aleene's Box Maker, another great little tool.  Wishing you lots of fun with your paper arts and may God bless you,

Annie

Twelve Unlikely Heroes

I was captivated by “Twelve Unlikely Heroes,”  written by John MacArthur.  He painted such vivid portraits of people in “Twelve Ordinary Men” and “Twelve Extraordinary Women,” so I was really looking forward to reading this book.  Once again he has captured the essence of twelve people in the Bible whom God chose to use to accomplish His purposes.  At first glance, they seem anything but heroes, but who today could walk 300 years with God and please Him everyday.  “As a saved man, Enoch’s life was characterized not by harsh legalism but by the joy of intimate communication with his Creator.”  Wow, that is so awesome! 

Looking at Joseph, we see that he grew up in an environment of family tension and strife.  Joseph was spoiled by his mother and was his father’s favorite son.  When his mother passed away Joseph’s brothers began to treat him with hostility and resentment.  And it certainly didn’t help matters when his father Jacob sent Joseph to spy on his brothers to make sure they were doing their work properly.  Joseph was a tattletale.  It’s a familiar story how Joseph was sold to owners of a caravan and carted off to Egypt.  Who knew that this smug, proud, troublemaking little Hebrew boy would be chosen by God to rise up to unheard of power among the Egyptian royalty and free his people from slavery!

The stories of Miriam, Gideon, Samson, Jonathan, Jonah, Esther, John the Baptist, James the brother of Jesus, Mark, and Onesimus are just as amazing.  The message of this book is to show that God can use anyone for His good purposes.  You don’t have to be an exceptional person because God can do the exceptional with plain, ordinary people.  Through our weaknesses and imperfections, God will showcase His power, wisdom, and love.  From the heart, thank you John MacArthur for this lovely, inspiring book.

I received this complimentary copy from Thomas Nelson Publishing through their BookSneeze program.  A positive review was not required and the opinion expressed here is my own.

Ms. Maddie Hatter

  Hello blogging friends!  What a beautiful Sunday afternoon we're having here in Wenatchee.  Since I had to come inside to cool off from the heat of the sun, I decided to show you what I've been creating for the past week or so.  My church is having a Mad-Hatter Tea Party and we've been challenged to decorate a hat and wear it to the tea.  Naturally, there will be a prize for the owner of the hat that is voted best hat.  Woo, woo!

I thought it would be fun to go as "Ms. Maddie Hatter" (with name tag also saying AKA Annie).  I plan to wear white pants, a white jacket, a red top, a small red fabric purse with red shoulder strap, and red shoes.  Yep, I think I'm going to have some fun with all of this!

I moulded the hat and brim from chipboard, then covered them with a beautiful white specialty paper.  The tulle rose trim around the brim is from Stampin' Up.  (It's only available until the end of May - it won't be in the new catalog, I'm told.)  The red feather was stamped on red card stock (Stamp A Mania), and the butterflies are from a Martha Stewart punch

The flowers were made using two shades of red, but all from the same die - the Sizzix Quilled Rose/Carnation.  I quilled the dark red roses, but separated the petals and glued them together to make the light red flowers with white center.  For the tea cup, I found a template on line at www.layersofcolor.com called Paper Tea Cup and Saucer.  Actually, it was fairly easy to put together.  I cut out one set using the flowered scrapbook paper and then another set using red scrapbook paper, gluing one cup inside the other; same with the saucer.

Well, that's my tea party hat - I can hardly wait to wear it.  Thanks for letting me share this project with you.  Wishing you a blessed week. 

Annie

Hearts-a-Plenty

The love month is just around the corner -- February, of course!  Chocolate and flowers and chocolate and valentines and chocolate . . . you get the picture . . . all given and shared in the name of "love."  Hummm, what a romantic month.  At church "God's Love" is the theme for my library promotion table this year.  I'll have lots of books, DVD's, CD's and Music CD's on display, and available for check out, on marriage, relationships, loving your neighbor, loving acts of kindness, and especially about the love of God and Jesus, His Son.  I can hardly wait until tomorrow when I can start decorating!  Our library has greeting cards available to purchase by donation, with all funds going toward the purchase of new library media.  So for the past few weeks I've been busily creating greeting cards with a variety of hearts on them.  Each card was made 2 or 3 times so I'm talking about a LOT of cards.  Some people see stars -- I see hearts!  I've posted a lot of them for you to view.  Maybe you'll see a design that you'd like to use. 
Blessings, Annie