Are you looking for some Christmas card motivation and inspiration? Hopefully I can help a teeny tiny bit with some holiday shaker cards I created using Essentials by Ellen and My Favorite Things stamps, dies, stencils and more!
I am deep in my appreciation of October...scary movies, Halloween candy, cinnamon tea & fuzzy socks...BUT I am in holiday creating mode!
I have to admit that I have a hard time making many multiples of one card, even for Christmas, so these cards were a great compromise! The base was easy to duplicate but I can make unique little shaker "polaroids".
You can see the process in this quick video...
You can check out what my friends have been creating by just clicking their pics...
I love creating handmade holiday cards with snowflakes and sparkle!
Hopefully you are joining us for the Honey Bee Season To Sparkle Hop Day 2 and arriving from Bobbi Lemanski's fantastic blog!
Before you hop on to the fabulous blog of Jessica Frost-Ballas, let's talk about making some sparkly snowflake cards!
I recently rediscovered the Nuvo Shimmer Powders in my craft room...you find a lot of treasures when you have to pack it up for moving. The powders are a mix of dry pigments & mica and they are so fun to play with!
You can see how these cards came together in this quick video...
One more thing before you hop along, Honey Bee is giving away a $30 gift card to a lucky & random commenter so make sure to comment on each stop on the hop for a chance to win!
Thanks so much for stopping by! Carly
supplies:
affiliate links may be used at no additional cost to you. thank you!
Today is a special day that I didn't even know existed last year...Pregnancy & Infant Loss Remembrance Day.
This day is important because it raises awareness and support for the estimated 1 in 4 families that suffer this devastating loss. I can speak from personal experience that it truly helps to know that you are not alone. Last winter my husband and I were expecting our son Lincoln. After two previous miscarriages, we were overjoyed. But at 19 weeks and 3 days my water broke and we lost him. I'm crying right now just trying to put the pain of our loss into words. It's the pain of losing him that day but also the pain of all the moments we will never have with him. It still takes my breath away.
And while it is hard to write this post, creating this card was a joy. Lea Lawson and Pinkfresh Studio have designed a truly beautiful stamp set to raise awareness, to convey love & support and to contribute to Lea's fundraiser in honor of her son Layton.
I hope you will head over to Lea's blog to learn more about Layton's Legacy. And I hope you will take a little time to create something soon. Cardmaking has been such a gift to me while I grieve. Not only does creating make me happy, but I have met so many wonderful people through crafting and the cards they sent me after Lincoln died meant so much.
Now if you want to know a little more about creating this card, you can watch my video. I managed to get all the way to the end before I choked up.
You can find the beautiful Forever In Our Hearts stamp set HERE.
Thank you so very much for stopping by today! Hugs! Carly
Fall weather makes me want to add a little cozy to all the things, including my cards so I turn to felt!
Hopefully you are joining us for the Essentials by Ellen October Release hop and arriving from Jessica's amazing blog! And before you hop on to my sparkly friend Carissa's blog, let's talk about felt!!!
Felt is a fabulous addition to cards because it adds a little texture but isn't too bulky. Wool felt is also easy to die cut and just darn cute!
Tips for using felt:
choose the right felt - wool felt die cuts beautifully but acrylic felt can be hard to get a clean cut.
choose the right adhesive - I like making felt "stickers" with double-sided adhesive.
be careful when using low-tack tape to hold down dies while running through die cutting machine. Try to place tape on the edge of dies because removing the tape after die cutting can pull/snag felt and you don't want that on the shape you are going to use.
See a little more in this quick video...
Thanks so much for stopping by! And don't forget to check out what Carissa has made! Hugs! Carly
P.S. See the whole new Essentials by Ellen release HERE!
supplies:
affiliate links may be used at no additional cost to you. thank you!
Ink Smooshing is a really fun and easy technique for creating backgrounds for handmade cards!
Hopefully you are joining us for The Stamp Market's October release hop and arriving from The Stamp Market blog. Now let's talk about ink smooshing and the gorgeous new products from The Stamp Market!
Ink Smooshing is a technique that uses water-reactive inks, water and a surface to "smoosh" the inks onto cardstock to create a background. There are 3 surfaces I like to use for this technique...
#1. ACETATE A piece of acetate/plastic is the first way I learned to ink smoosh. Acetate is super flexible so it is easy to customize the shape of your "smoosh". And we probably all have a spare piece of plastic laying around that we can use.
#2. ACRYLIC BLOCK This might also be considered "acrylic block stamping" but I kinda see them as the same thing, LOL! I love the block shapes this method creates.
#3. MISTI My MISTI is always on my desk so it is convenient to be able to use it for smooshing.
You can see more about these 3 techniques in this quick video...
Your next stop on the hop is Ashlea's amazing blog! And you can see The Stamp Market's whole October release HERE! Thanks so much for stopping by! Carly
supplies:
affiliate links may be used at no additional cost to you. thank you!
