Why Make Just One When You Can Make FOUR?!

I hope you all are enjoying a special day.  I am spending some wonderful time with family and friends. And while it's a very busy time, I'm not too busy to share with you some cards made with the wonderful Robin's Nest papers!!!

Did you know it's just as easy to make four cards as it is to make one?  Trust me when I say IT IS! You simply cut everything out in fours.  It only takes a couple of minutes longer and when you're done, you will have four cards instead of just one.  This is a great way to put together some spare cards for your stash, or perhaps tie a nice ribbon around them and give them as a hostess gift.  It makes it easy when doing invitations or Christmas cards (just multiply the numbers as needed).  Put together a batch of thank you notes in a snap!  Change the size and layout and you can do multiple gift tags or bookmarks.  The ideas are limitless!

Here is my little "batch" of four...

As you can see, they are not all exactly alike.  The placement of the dew drops is different and the background areas are from different sections of one piece of cardstock.

Here is how you start it out.  Just cut four (or however many you ultimately want) of each piece. Here are the measurements I used.

Once you have all the pieces cut out, you just start your assembly. I added some glittery embossing powder to the top layer of the tags.  Very irridescent and shiny!  Those were then adhered to the back layer of the tags (cut from TRN Red Cardstock).

I added some dimensional tape to the backs so they would be popped up a little from the base.

Once those were assembled, I simply adhered the layers together.

I stamped the sentiment on the tags and on the inside of the card and heat embossed with white embossing powder. Not matter how many times I heat emboss, I am still fascinated by the transformation.

I then adhered the top layers to the front of the card and the sentiment panel to the inside. Easy peasy. And I had four cards in no time!

Don't forget that this month, there is a special over at The Robin's Nest....20% off select cardstock. Check it out here!!!

Hope you have been inspired to try multiples of cards. Thanks for letting me share with you today.  Enjoy your Thanksgiving!

Til next time, keepin' it crafty!

Supplies Used:

• The Robin's Nest:  Red Dew Drops; Red Snowflake Cardstock; Black & White Holly Cardstock; Red Cardstock
• Other supplies:  Silhouette; Black Cardstock (Recollections); Versamark; Stampendous Embossing Powders; Stampin' Up Iridescent Ice Powder; Silhouette Tag File; HOTP Christmas Greetings stamp set

FCCB #186: Sparkle & Bling

Challenge #188 Sparkle and Bling

Make a project that sparkles

~This Weeks Sponsor~

Winner will receive a free class of their choice!

Be sure to visit our wonderful sponsor and the FCCB blog to join in our challenge so you can be eligible for the prize.

This weeks challenge over at Fantabulous Cricut is to use some Sparkle and Bling on your project. Well, since this little elf has been busy working on Christmas gifts, it just inspired me to get one of my Granddaughter's gifts done a little quicker.

My little Kai (rhymes with eye, short for Kaileigh) is a budding artist herself. She's not quite 4, but has the vocabulary and understanding of a six year old, I swear.  Since one of our favorite activities is making "stuff", what better gift for her than a cart full of craft supplies, all for her!

Top of Cart

Front of Cart

I started out with a plain black plastic cart, and busted out my glittery vinyl.  A short time later, I had a cart full of sparkly goodness.

I used Cricut Alphabet to cut out all the words, using my Gypsy to design (Apple and Cricut still not playing nice) and my Cricut Expression to cut.

I even made a little apron for my girl using a piece of acetate for a stencil.

I've filled it with goodies galore and will probably be adding things here and there as I pick them up.

The best Christmas gift I ever received was when I was about 11 or 12.  I received a big box full of art supplies.  It was the best gift for a budding artist, and I've always remembered that wonderful feeling I got when I opened it up and saw all the oil pastels and charcoal pencils and paper and oil paints.  Oh! I just got a rush again!  So I am hoping I can pass that special time on to Miss Kai.  And in such a sparkly way!

Keeping it kind of short today.  Whacked out with a bad case of bronchitis and I think I have a lung or two to cough up.  Sorry, not a pretty picture, is it?

I hope you are encouraged to head over to Fantabulous Cricut and play along.  You will surely be inspired by all the wonderful goodies the Design Team has to share!

I wish all of my regular readers and all the visitors a very Blessed Thanksgiving.  If you're traveling during the holiday, be safe.

Til next time, keepin' it crafty!

TRN/SMOOTHFOAM BLOG HOP

Ornament Hop!!!

Today I am playing along with The Robin's Nest and SmoothFoam in their ornament blog hop! Such fun!!  Here is the ornament I made, although I don't plan on hanging him from my tree...he is just going to stand around and keep me wintery company! lol

I call him my Corey-Bug Cowboy Snowman.  Why, you ask?  He is named after my son, Corey, who is affectionately called Corey-Bug. I have had this little cowboy hat since my son was in high school (several years ago) and had his senior pictures done. Look at this picture and you'll see the correlation!

See?  He's my little country boy from the north.  And when I decided to make my ornament, well, let's just say the hat fit! Literally! 

So here is how my lil Corey-Bug Snowman came to be. I started with the snowman smooth foam shape and hot-glued him to a wooden block (from one of the wooden stamps I unmounted...I knew they'd come in handy for something some day).  

I then pulled apart a couple of cotton balls and glued them to the base.

Next step were the face and buttons.  I used black Dew Drops for the buttons.  I found some teensy weensy black brads which worked great for the eyes and mouth.  I just put a tiny dab of glue on them and stuck them right into his head.  (He didn't feel a thing!)

And his nose?  Oh, so clever.  I glued two of the orange diamond shaped Dew Drops together.

A dab of glue on the end and a slight push, and we have a nose! Hot glue on the hat, glue in a couple of twigs from the yard, and add a ribbon for a scarf...and we have a Corey-Bug Snowman! Don't ya just love his crooked little smile?

 Here are a couple more pics using beautiful Robin's Nest papers as a background.  Very appropriate!

So now I hope you will head on over to The Robin's Nest and play along!  There are even prizes!!!!  Go....now....play....enjoy!

Til next time, keepin' it crafty!

TRN Black & White

Doin' Christmas Up Right...In Black and White!

Merry Christmas, everybody!  I know it's still a little early, but I can't help being in the Christmas crafting groove with these awesome Robin's Nest supplies!  The theme this month is Black and White Christmas and I have been LOVING creating my cards!  If you missed my special post sharing some TRN Christmas cards, you can go here. (And remember...you'll receive 20% off any of the papers in the monthly theme at The Robin's Nest site.)

I chose to work with the Snow Covered Glitter Trees cardstock.  I have always been a fan of the beauty of snow-covered trees and this paper is breathtaking!  The second I saw it, I was inspired!

Here are my cut measurements:

I cut two pieces from the Snow Covered Glitter Trees to use on both the outside and the inside of the card. I also did that with the Red paper.  I stamped the deer on the section for the outside of the card and embossed them with black embossing powder.

I added some Red Glitter letters, to which I added some Xmas Red Stickles to give it a little more dimension and sparkle. I also added some red ribbon and some Dew Drops to accent the letters.

I created a Poinsettia style flower using the red diamond shaped Dew Drops with a black Dew Drop center.

For the inside of the card, I mimicked the basic style and matting of the front of the card and added a sentiment using Versamark ink and white embossing powder.

Supplies Used:

• The Robin's Nest:  Snow Covered Glitter Trees, Red Distressed Cardstock (reverse side used), Black Dew Drops, Red Dew Drops, Ruby Red Diamond Dew Drops, Red Glitter Letters
• Stamps:  Christmas Cheer (HOTP); Forest Silhouettes (Sweet 'n Sassy)
• Other:  black cardstock (Recollections); Xmas Red Stickles; red ribbon; Versamark; black and white embossing powders; adhesive

Purple Cows Co-Sponsoring This Month!

Also this month, Purple Cows is generously co-sponsoring!  So I decided to do a second card featuring a beautiful border punched with the Tonic Studios Vine Strip Pattern Punch.

This card features not only a beautiful border, but a very stunning Flame Swirl background (The Robin's Nest) stamped with gold embossed trees (Stampin' Up).  Outline stickers finish off the edges and a sentiment highlighted with Dew Drops completes the card.  Here are the measurements and supplies used:

I mounted the flame cardstock onto the gold cardstock, and then mounted that onto the black card base. I added outline stickers along the border and stamped the trees with Versamark. I then heat embossed them with gold embossing powder.

I then embossed the sentiment with gold onto black cardstock, and mounted that on the card with a couple of gold Dew Drops.  I added a touch of glitter to the main star.

Here are a couple of close-ups so you can really see the detail:

For the inside of the card, I kept it very simple:

I have to say that those Tonic punches are rock stars!  The gold cardstock that I used was fairly heavy and the punch went through it like butter with little pressure from me.  I can't wait to get my hands on a couple more of these little giants.

Supplies used:

• The Robin's Nest:  Flame Glitter Swirls cardstock, Gold Dew Drops
• Tonic Studios Vine Strip Pattern Punch (Purple Cows)
• Stamps:  Lovely As a Tree (Stampin' Up!); Merry Christmas (Katie & Co); Christmas Cheer (HOTP)
• Other:  Black cardstock (Recollections); Gold cardstock (unknown); Versamark ink; Gold embossing powder (JoAnn's); Outline Stickers (Starform); adhesive

Thanks for letting me share my cards with you!  I hope you will be inspired to try these beautiful Robin's Nest papers and embellishments.  And be sure to visit our co-sponsor this month: Purple Cows.

And stay tuned...The Robin's Nest and SmoothFoam are co-sponsoring an ornament blog hop here starting November 15th (tomorrow)!  See the info in my side bar!

Til next time, keepin' it crafty!