Back home and a Mojo Monday card for you!

Christmas Messages 002 Main R 2

Welcome home – Oh, that’s me!  In case you’ve been wondering where I’ve been, I’ve spent the last 2 weeks on the road in New York.  We had a fun family wedding, spent quality time with several members of our family in upstate and Western NY, and even had fun in New Jersey too!  Of course, Michael and I had fun driving up and down the eastern coast!  No, seriously, Michael and I love getting on the road together.  We leave late at night and drive all through the night.  We can usually make it to NY in 17 hours, though we took a leisure trip this time.  We’re rather good in the car and love playing games, chatting and just seeing where the road takes us.  We love to hit Farm Stands, go to new places and visit friends or memorable places along the way if we have the time.  Thankfully both our businesses are mostly virtual and we have the freedom to do this – especially since we added 4 extra days while on the road!

After seeing the beginning of the color change all through the northeast, I thought I’d give you a fall-ish card for my Mojo Monday Challenge card today.  I actually made a killer Christmas version that looks nothing like this one, but thought I’d save it for one of my 12 weeks of Christmas cards instead – so if you’re on the Creative Tips list – you’ll see that this week – it’s so cool, that I think I’m going to use it as one of my own Christmas cards this year!  If you’d like to get my 12 weeks of Christmas projects free and more click here to subscribe today.  So far you’ve only missed one week!

Supplies –

  • Stamps – Christmas Wishes, Gorgeous Grunge
  • Ink – Chocolate Chip, Crumb Cake
  • Paper – Chocolate Chip, Tangerine Tango, Sweater Weather Designer Series Paper, Very Vanilla
  • Tools – Circle Collection Framelits, 1 1/4” Square Punch, Bone Folder
  • Finishing Touches – Chocolate Chip Grosgrain Ribbon (retired), Stamping Dimensionals

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    Here is the Mojo Monday sketch and my fall version.  Enjoy the tips below!

Mojo314SketchChristmas Messages 002 Front

Creative Tips –

  • I wanted to use this great plaid from the Sweater Weather Designer Series Paper Collection, so the rest of the card kind of fell into place.
  • If you want to add a little something to brighten the card up – try the Gorgeous Grunge stamp set as I did here.  The lines (my all time favorite stamp) are stamped in Tangerine Tango and the splats are stamped in Crumb Cake stamped off to make it more of the background.Christmas Messages 002 Side
  • The greeting is from a Christmas set, but honestly – it works for Thanksgiving too!  Gotta love versatility, right?
  • I wanted a larger ribbon for the knot, so I broke out a retired spool – I miss this collection, try anything you have!
  • To make the Banner Flag, you will want to use a square punch or some paper snips.  To get the end to curl up a bit, lightly curl your DSP upward using your bone folder.  The trick is not to over-work it.  View my video on how to make banner flagsChristmas Messages 002 Height
  • To add a little interest, try popping up the card front and greeting with Stamping Dimensionals.

 

        I hope you all enjoyed this fun project!

    Signature Snowflake 001Christmas Messages 002 Angle

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    Gorgeous GrungeChristmas MessagesSweater Weather Designer Series Paper

    Regarding Dahlias Mojo

    Good Morning!  It’s that time of the week again – Mojo Monday and today I broke out my new Regarding Dahlias stamp set.  I have been dying to use this one.  This image is on the same level as the Blooming with Kindness flower.  Having these stamp sets in your arsenal makes you a superstar because they completely rock! I also decided to use my Eastern Elegance Designer Series Paper for the first time.  If you saw my post yesterday about the Beautifully Baroque Bundle – you’ll love this set of DSP.  It fits perfectly with the Baroque image. 

    Here’s the Mojo Monday sketch and my interpretation, I sure hope you like it – leave me a comment if you do!

            Mojo297SketchRegarding Dahlias 001 Front

    Creative Tips –

    • I struggled with the dimensions on this card because I knew I wanted to use the flower as a focal point, so I just stretched the size of the card to 4 1/2” x 5 1/2”. 
    • After I chose to use the stamp set, I decided on which paper to use.  I liked the simple elegance of the Crushed Curry patterns in the Eastern Elegance DSP collection, so I checked my new Color Coach for combinations with Crushed Curry.  I quickly settled on the second one with Island Indigo and Real Red.  I have to admit, I question a lot of these combinations – as you know, I’m color challenged!  But low and behold, it’s an awesome combination!
    • I added the Island Indigo Matte with the top and bottom punched using our Scallop Edge Border Punch.
    • I stamped the Dahlia in Real Red and cut it out using my Paper Snips.
    • Regarding Dahlias has an awesome amount of sayings and I really wanted to use the “hi” that comes with this set, but I needed a saying a bit larger – tall and skinny to be precise to fill the square portion of the sketch.  So I took out my new Really Good Greetings set and chose this one.  I think it works perfectly.
    • At first I cropped the Whisper White and Basic Black matte to just the right size, but I knew I wanted to paper pierce and to add the banner I needed to stretch the matte.  I don’t know why I don’t automatically go to do that, but I have to admit, Julee Tilman, who designed the sketch and is the owner of Verve Stamps, really did a great job.  I wasn’t convinced my card would come out so awesome, and I love it!
    • The colors are just right and to continue my paper piercing motif, I added a little to the corners and around the greeting.  Like I always say, paper piercing is the cheapest embellishment in your arsenal!
    • For the banner, I originally had just a plain piece of Crushed Curry card stock there, but then replaced it with one that was stamped tone on tone with the Dahlia stamp.  I like the subtle addition.  It’s better than having too many plain pieces of card stock.  What do you think?
    • Finally, for a tiny bit of drama to the card I popped up the dahlia.  After all, it is the focal point for me!  I do think all the remaining components balance out the design and card.  Now it’s your turn!

    Let me know what you think in the comment section, I’d love to hear from you!

    Signature-Snowflake-001_thumb1

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    Stamp Sets – Regarding Dahlias (130327c, 130324w), Really Good Greetings (130333c, 130330w)  Ink – Island Indigo (126986), Crushed Curry (131173), Real Red (126949) Paper – Whisper White (100730), Island Indigo (122923), Crushed Curry (131199), Basic Black (121045), Eastern Elegance DSP (130131) Cool Tools – 1” Square Punch (124094), Scallop Edge Border Punch (119882), Paper Piercing Tool (126189), Stampin’ Pierce Mat (126199), Essentials Paper Piercing Pack (126187), Chevron TIEF (127749) Finishing Touch – Stampin’ Dimensionals (104430), Pearl Basic Jewels (119247)

    Regarding Dahlias    Really Good Greetings

    Eastern Elegance