Christmas Martini

I fell in love with this Impression Obsession stamp, Christmas Martini ever since I saw Jenny Gropp's card last year.  Therefore, this year I couldn't wait to get the stamp and use it!

Here is Jenny's card.........isn't it fun!  And check out her blog for a list of Copics that she used.

I started coloring some martinis and thought, wouldn't it be fun to make martinis for different holidays throughout the year?  Change up the colors, cover up the holly,  change the layout and you could be in martinis for a very long time!  (Hmm, not a bad thing!)

So, for Halloween, here is my fun card:

(Don't know if you can see in the photo, but I used glossy accents to make the glass shiny.)

And for fall, I made this card:

I used my tiny floral and leaf punches to cover up the holly.  I added some distress stickles to the centers of the flowers as well as the center of the candy.

I already colored "Lemon drop" martinis and will post that card as soon as I put it together.

Really, you have to try this.........it is so much fun!!!  Just coloring and thinking up different drinks!!! 

Here's the stamp that started it all:

 One little stamp, sooooo many drinks!!! 

Would love to see what you come up with!

Thanks for "stamping" by,
        ~Anna

Fabulous Clean & Simple Cards by Soni Larson

Soni is also taking the Clean & Simple Card Making Class with me and she was inspired by the following card made by Julie Ebersole.

 

Julie used the large solid flower and the large open flower stamps, both by Hero Arts.  Soni didn't have the large flowers, so she used the smaller version of the same images.  Since the images were smaller, she ended up with more white space.  To cut down on that white space, Soni decided to make some layers.  She ended up with these two fabulous versions!

 On this one, she used buttons for the centers of the flowers and cut the upper flower with a Spellbinders scalloped circle nestie.

Pretty punched hearts were used for the centers of these flowers.  

In addition, all of the images, on both of Soni's cards, were heat embossed to make them bolder and therefore, stand out more.

Stay tuned for more cards to come!  I'll have a butterfly card for you tomorrow!

Happy Stamping,

~Anna

Time Flies!

Here is a great card that Ceci Prange made for her DH's birthday, which was at the end of November; hence the fall colors.

Wasn't it clever to use the Marianne Designables, Classic (DS0911) and make it into a clock!  Now, change the color scheme and you can use this clock for New Year's Party invites.

Thank you Ceci for sharing!

Christmas Tag

I really liked the tag I made for the "Thanksgiving wine bottle", so today I made one with Christmas colors.

I used the Spellbinders Mega Ovals, the Marianne Poinsettia dies (LR0122 & LR0142) and Marianne Swirls (LR0116).  These tags are great for wine bottles, but you can also put them on a nice bottle of olive oil or balsamic vinegar.  Or you can easily expand the tag and make a card.

Join us for the Christmas Accessories class where you'll make this tag and a few other non-card items for Christmas. 

Have a peaceful evening
and
Happy Stamping,
Anna

Happy Thanksgiving !

Hope you are having a wonderful day with family and friends today!

I just wanted to post the Thanksgiving Day card I made last night, just in time to be hand delivered today.

I really like the way it came out; I just love those Cheery Lynn Stacking Flowers and the Polynesian Sails oval.  You may remember that it is the same layout as a birthday card I made last month, but this time with a fall color scheme. 

Change the color scheme and you get a totally different look and feel to the card!  (The background paper is Marianne's Pretty Paper Bloc - Songbook, distressed with Antique Linen distress ink.) 

I also made this tag for a bottle of wine.  Here I used Marianne's Creatables dies, a Stampendous saying stamp, and the new Scrollworks embossing folder.  This embossing folder is becoming one of my favorites.

Thanks for stopping by
and
Looking forward to seeing you soon!
Anna

Pretty Additions for your Thanksgiving Day Table

Here are two simple additions you can make for your Thanksgiving Day table. I used pre-printed Memory Box paper, an embossing folder and some Nestabilities and made a place setting card and a favor bag to hold chocolates. I just added stamped images from A Muse, colored them with Copics, used antique linen distress ink over them and put it all together.

Join us in class on Thursday, Nov. 18 and you can have these and a decorated candle for your "turkey" table. Won't your guests be surprised with these special touches waiting for them at their place setting.

Happy Thanksgiving Day Card

I just love the "Pumpkin truck" from A Muse Stamps and today I got to complete a card with it.

I wanted to do a simple and quick card, so I stamped it and colored it with Copics. I cut it out with the Spellbinders Nestabilites. I then used some distress inks (antique linen) to make it look "old". I stamped the saying and then ran the card stock in an embossing folder.



Now, don't forget to decorate the inside.

I stamped the sayings from Stampendous and then wanted to add some color. So I took out my Rubber Stamp Tapestry stamps (yes, haven't used them in a long time) and stamped around the sayings.

Think about how you can decorate the insides of your cards.

Thanks for stopping by,
Anna

There was NO STRESS in the Distress Class

This past Saturday Barbara and I taught the "To Distress or Not to Distress" class and we all had a blast laughing all the way through class! True, the ladies looked very serious here; concentrating on their work. But once we started rolling, we were even singing to the music that was playing and getting lots of cards and tags done. (Click here to see some of the cards they made.)


Here is one of the non-distressed tags. We used a beautiful snowy scene from Stampendous and lots and lots of glitter.


This tag was also non-distressed, with an A Muse saying and an A Muse tiny Santa hat. The tag was cut with the nesting European dies. The poinsettia was punched and then embossed with the special punch set.

Please check the blog tomorrow for the picture of the distressed tag. (Unfortunately, I forgot to bring the tag home to scan.)

Thanks for stopping by and see you tomorrow,
Anna

Cutest Little Bundled up Girl

I got this cute Stampendous stamp set in last week and couldn't wait to use it.

I wanted to color her with my Copics and make a simple card. So, I picked a blue theme, colored her in and picked out matching paper. I decided to use the snowflakes embossing folder and ran the white glossy paper through it for my background. I then used the "Open Scalloped Square" European die and matted the girl onto it. I heat embossed the saying in white and thought it just needed a little something more. So I cut out a snowflake (also from the European snowflake die set), added a few white pearls and stickles of course! I have to say, it is soooo cute! I just LOVE it.

Thanks for stopping by,
Anna

More with Watercolor Backgrounds

Lately, I've been hooked on making these watercolor backgrounds. I've even did demos of it at the NJ State Fair this past Sunday. Everyone liked them because they are so easy to make and the shimmer you get from the Twinkling H2O's is really spectacular. (Not sure if you can really see it in the pictures)

I had to make some thank you notes and this is technique is wonderful. It's not too time consuming and each card looks different. I used sayings as well as picture stamps and had fun embellishing them.

As you can see, you can get a lot done in no time!

Thanks for stopping by!
Anna

Copics class today

We had a blast at the Copics class today. At first we were unsure if we would be able to hold class due to the snowy weather......but it let up around noon and so the afternoon class was a go. I was so glad that everyone made it, especially Laura and Maryanne, as this was their FIRST Copics class! I'm happy to say they loved the markers!

Here are 2 of the cards we made. The hearts in the vase, (Outlines Rubber Stamp) were colored with RV10, 13, 14, & 19. Then the roses were Y11 & 17, and the leaves were YG 13 & 17. We also used BG 10 to accent the vase. The "love" stamp is by Hero Arts.
Here's another great Outlines Stamp, and we used C 1 & 4, and R35. This is just simple coloring, but the outcome is very dramatic, especially with the bling!
We made another card, using Stampendous' Fluffles!; but I'll have to post it tomorrow, as I forgot to bring it home to scan. :(