Christmas Poinsettia

Hello Everyone!
I hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving and that your holiday plans are not too stressful yet! Today I'm sharing a Christmas card I made using the Giant Poinsettia (093M), which I haven't used in forever it seems. It is definitely one of my favorite flowers DRS Designs offers! 

 

I colored this image with Copic markers and loved every minute of it! The way the leaves are drawn really shows off dimension when shaded. I matted the image in green and then added some yellow rhinestones to embellish the flower center.  I stamped the Christmas Especially To You Greeting (618E) at the bottom of heavy, red cardstock for the card front.  It was partially embossed with a polka dotted embossing folder above and below the greeting and then I scored a couple lines as shown to isolate the greeting from the embossed decor. The card base was made from light blue cardstock to form a 4.25" x 5.5" card and I assembled it with the stamped image centered in the upper portion and then adhered the card front to the card base. It was pretty simple overall and so very festive!

Thanks for stopping by today and enjoy your day!!!

Smiles,

Jennifer

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Joy To You!

Are you enjoying the sneak peeks from DRS Designs next release?  This release has inspired me to get a head start on my Christmas cards this year. Only 5 more weeks and the big day will be here! Are you ready? At this point I'm definitely not, but it's a relief to know that I do have things underway! 

 

Here's one of the cards I recently made to show off the new Joy To You Christmas Circle (640G), which I'm really beginning to love! There's something I love about circular stamps like this and with it being stamped in red, I love how it really stands out! It's nice that this stamp has a Christmas feel without saying the word "Christmas" too.  I think the line "in big ways and small ways" would make this a nice holiday thank you card as well. 

 

 

I stamped the Triple Holly (1004F) repeatedly on the card front to create my own background paper.  Once colored, it seemed to have come to life and it is really festive!  I'm considering making more as I get into full swing, card-making mode to mass produce a bunch of backgrounds for the cards I send to all my stamping friends. The background is definitely what brings this card all together.  A few brads, some embossed cardstock and some gorgeous red glitter ribbon made this card complete! 

 

 I hope you like it and I appreciate you stopping by!

Have a wonderful day!

Smiles,

Jennifer

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Dream Big

Now that Halloween is over many people forget about Thanksgiving and immediately jump to Christmas. Our local radio station included. They started playing Christmas music on Monday! Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas and all the hecticness that goes with it, but with Fall being my favorite time of year, I like to enjoy the leaves, the pumpkins, the harvest and Thanksgiving itself. 

However, since were on the topic of skipping holidays and seasons, with my post today I thought I would follow suit and skip right to Spring since I'm not a fan of the cold weather, LOL! The card I'm sharing today is for a graduation, complete with Spring colors and all! 

 

 

I started by coloring the Hot Air Balloon (583F) with Copic Markers, fussy cut it out, and then matted it as shown.  I created my own pattern paper by stamping the Double Chevron Card Edger (904P) with dark pink ink.  Some blue cardstock and this pattern paper created the card front. Next, I hid the seam between the 2 pieces of cardstock with yellow ribbon tied in a knot to match my color scheme. I stamped the "Dream Big" Graduation Greeting (041F) in the lower right corner and adhered the matted image in the upper left corner. I finished it off by adding rhinestones to the upper right portion. 

So, I guess I already have a head start on greeting cards for 2016!  That's what I love about this last release from DRS Designs--there's so much variety and the themes you can create with them are endless.  I'm sure you've seem already from the awesome cards posted from the rest of the Design Team.  I hope you've enjoyed this release as much as I have!

Have a great day!

Smiles,

Jennifer

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Whooo's Special

  Hi Stampers!

Hope you are all doing well today! 

I'm excited that DRS Designs has some new stamps coming out very soon!  This time of year, I get busy making cards for all of the holidays that I often forget about making cards for other occasions, like birthdays etc. One of the best things about this next release is that there is a little bit of everything in it--this release is not just for Autumn and Thanksgiving! For the sneak peek I'm sharing today, the Woodgrain Background (626P) is one of the new stamps soon-to-be released and it was used here to create the tree on this birthday card! 

  

In this little scene, I stamped and colored Oswald Owl (132H) with Copic Markers and cut him out.  I stamped a piece of tan card stock with the woodgrain background and then distressed the edges with brown ink. I used an oval die to cut out the center and adhered natural twine around the opening. I embossed a piece of black card stock with a woodgrain embossing folder to add some dimension to my tree-like card front. Oswald Owl was adhered inside of the oval as if he was sitting in the tree.  Next I created the sentiment tag by stamping the Whooo's Special Greeting (142B) on a piece of yellow card stock and then cut it out with a shaped die. I layered it with an orange fishtail banner and a brown scallop and embellished it with a tan brad on either side as shown. The final step was to adhere the card front on to an A2 brown card stock base.

 

Stay tuned, right here, for another blog challenged to be announced tomorrow and more sneak peeks of the upcoming stamp release.  The new stamps will be available for purchase real soon! Yay!

 

Have a great day!

Smiles,

Jennifer

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Halloween Magic Potions

It's just a week or so into October and our neighborhood has exploded into a Halloween frenzy!  It seems as if many of my neighbors have taken advantage of the mild weather we've had thus far and brought out every Halloween decoration they own. It's so nice to see the neighborhood look so festive! We've taken advantage of the weather ourselves and got our Fall yard work done, but our yard also has some scarecrows, pumpkins and even a milk carton skeleton! 

So, are you enjoying all the awesome, new Halloween stamps from DRS Designs last release? I having a lot of fun with them, but most of all I'm loving the color combos I've been using to show them off.  I love the fun bright colors that you can get away with on Halloween cards and this one is no exception!

 

For starters, I stamped and colored the Magic Potions Shelf (537H) with Copic Markers. Then I used a large, scallop Nestability die to cut it out. The Poison Potions Halloween Greeting (543H) was too long for the layout so I split it up. I stamped the first and last set of lines on purple fishtail banners to use as embellishments around the colored shelf and the middle sets of lines were stamped directly on the white cardstock used for the image. I added some spider webs to the empty corners as shown and the top and bottom portions of the card front were lined with orange scallop borders. The black cardstock base was cut to create a 5" x 4.5" and the card front adhered in the center made it complete. 

 

I hope you enjoyed this card today and I hope the rest of your day is great!

Thanks for stopping by!

Smiles,

Jennifer

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Ghoul Friends

Happy Fall, y'all!

Can you believe it's the first day of Fall? Where has 2015 gone? It's hard to believe that Christmas is right around the corner, but for now, I'm excited for this time of year and for DRS Designs new Halloween stamps! Have you been enjoying them? 
 

 

I stamped and colored the Witch Feet? (140H) with Copic Markers and paired it with the new Ghoul Friend Witch Greeting (536E). This greeting totally makes me chuckle and I know a few "ghoul" friends this would be perfect for! Once I had the focal image colored, this was a pretty quick and easy card to complete. The greeting was stamped with black ink and then cut out using a Nestability die. I used the die as a stencil and sponged the stamped portion with orange ink to match the color scheme. I assembled the card as shown and decorated the card front with a punched spider web at the top edge that was embellished with light green rhinestones, a few cardstock bats with green-dotted eyes, and a bright green grosgrain ribbon pulled it all together. I hope you like it! 

Have a great day! 

Smiles, 

Jennifer

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A Taste Of Fall!

My family and I took some time this past weekend to go to the local Cider mill. Despite the fact that it was 90° with high humidity, the taste of Fall was wonderful! We were out in the country where they were harvesting crops--there were apples and corn on the cob everywhere, and the smell of donuts and cider was absolutely mouthwatering! By the time we left, I decided I'm done with the Summer heat and I'm ready for Fall! I'm looking forward to decorating the house this weekend with my son. I can't wait to get out my sunflower wreath, decorate the mantle with my leaf garland, and put the scarecrow on the porch! Last night when I sat down to stamp I was inspired by our Cider mill visit and I brought my Autumn stamps out to make this card!

 

 

I used several DRS Designs stamps to create this card. I stamped the Scarecrow (566F) first, then I masked him and used yellow and burnt orange inks to stamp the Long Tall Wheat (590H) behind him. I used Copic Markers to color the image. It was matted with a brown scalloped rectangle and set aside while I worked on the rest of the card. The card front was created with orange and yellow card stock. The orange card stock was embossed with a leaf embossing folder and a wide brown ribbon hid the seam where the two colors came together. The matted image was placed just off center between the panels as shown and the Happy Fall Ya'll (635B) sentiment was stamped in brown ink and cut out with a decorative paper punch. As you can see, it was placed at the bottom, left-hand corner of the image. The final touch was adding a fishtail banner embellishment in the upper right corner and an orange paper leaf was added to the center. The card front was then adhered to an A2 dark brown cardstock base and my card was complete. 

So, what are your thoughts about the change of seasons--do you prefer the Summer heat or are you ready for Fall? 

Thanks for stopping by today!

 

Smiles,

Jennifer

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Season's Greetings

Hi Friends!

Yay for Wednesday! Half the work week is just about over! How are you enjoying the last days of summer? Here in Michigan, there's already a bit of crispness in the air and there's no doubt that Fall is right around the corner. This year I am really trying to stay on top of things and that's why I'm still using DRS designs new Christmas stamps to work on more of my Christmas cards. I still feel horrible that time got away from me last year and I didn't send out any!

The card I created for today features the new Season's Greeting Holly Spray stamp (487L). I colored it with Copic markers and added red Stickles to the holly berries. While it was drying I used red cardstock to form and an A2 cardstock base. The card front was created using three different layers. I cut a portion of olive green cardstock and stamped it with the Pine Bough (467K) in dark green ink. Then I ripped it on a diagonal and adhered it to a small portion of red card stock and ripped that on a matching diagonal. Finally, majority of the card front was created using khaki cardstock that was embossed with the Divine Swirls embossing folder. The edges of both the card base and the card front were rounded and the card front was adhered in place. Next, the colored image was matted with red cardstock and adhered to the center of the card front as shown. A simple sheer, red bow embellished the bottom of the image nicely and my card was complete. 

Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy day to check out my work! Have a great day!

Smiles, 

Jennifer

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On The Tree

Hi Everyone!

 

Jennifer here today and I'm so excited to have new Christmas stamps to play with.  DRS Designs just released a bunch of new ones just in time to get a jump start on those holidays cards! The holiday season always seems to creep up, doesn't it? That's why I'm using this time to get started NOW!

 

 

I created this one to show off the new Simple Ornament (491K).  I colored it Copic Markers and then applied Diamond Glaze all over it, before fussy cutting it out.  I love how the shiny look of the glaze makes it look real!

 

 

Of course, I had to make a Christmas tree background using the Pine Bough (467K) to make it look like it was hanging in the tree! I decorated the empty space at the top of the card front using the new Deco Christmas New Years Greeting (488G). I split it up so that I could add the small text of "& Happy New Year" to decorate the yellow banner placed at the lower portion of the card front. "Merry Christmas" was enhanced a bit by coloring portions of it with red Copic Markers. I hope you like it!

 

Don't delay, get started today! The hectic holiday season is right around the corner!

 

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

 

Smiles,

Jennifer

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In Deepest Sympathy

For most of us, I'm sure sympathy cards are our least favorite to make. However, after a long battle with cancer, my best friends Mother recently passed away.  I felt it was important to make her a card to send my condolences and today I'm sharing the Sympathy card I made for her.
 

 

I started by stamping the Brush Deepest Sympathy Greeting (588G) in light blue ink. It was cut out with an oval Nestability die and then matted with blue card stock cut from a scallop oval Nestability die. Next, I created my own pattern paper to decorate the card front.  The Silhouette Branch Background (363H) was heat embossed on light blue cardstock using clear embossing powder. I then hand-cut the bottom scalloped edge and then layered it with white card stock cut the same way. The top of the white card stock was embellished using a border punch. A sheer white ribbon was tied across the middle, knotted on the left hand side, and then the matted sentiment was adhered in the center. Next, the card front was adhered onto a blue card stock base and three white pearls were adhered as shown in the bottom right corner.  Finally, I decorated the inside a little bit by stamping the silhouette branch background with blue ink at the top and bottom edges of the white panel that was adhered inside.

It's little things like this that help us get through difficult times, and my friend was really happy to receive this card. I'm glad I took the time to make it.   

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Smiles,
Jennifer

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Seashell Birthday

Hi Everyone, it's Jennifer posting here for you today!

One of my favorite color combinations is pink and brown, and after I stamped DRS Designs 4 in 1 Seashell stamp (473F) in various pastel colors, I knew that's how I wanted to proceed with this birthday card.

I used Copic markers to color the seashells and then fussy cut them out. I stamped the  Beach Birthday Greeting (480G) and then cut it out using a Nestability die. I sponged it with light brown ink before removing the die to create the nice, white frame around it. I matted it with pink cardstock that was cut with a scallop die and then adhered the seashells around it as shown. 

I used a piece of Kraft card stock for my A2 size card base and stamped the Sea Grass (128L) on the left-hand side and the Lighthouse (461G) on the right-hand side.  Both were stamped using Versamark Ink. The embellished greeting was adhered in the center of the card front. I didn't want to take away from it, so I kept things simple and used a little bit of pink and white twine tied in a knot for the only embellishment.

I hope you like this clean and simple birthday card as much as I do! 

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Smiles, 

Jennifer

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Seaside Birthday!

  Hi Everyone! 

Jennifer here today, sharing with you my seaside birthday card! One of the things I love about where we live in Michigan is that we are close to the water. Growing up as a little girl, it wasn't uncommon for us to spend the weekend on my Grandfather's boat. Swimming and picnic lunches were what the Summers were all about! This Seaside Dock image (1111K) by DRS Designs reminds me of those times. If my Grandfather was still alive, this would have been the perfect birthday card for him.

 

  

I colored the Seaside Dock and the Anchor (434G) with Copic markers. Both of them were matted in red and then with blue. I stamped the first line of the Beach Birthday Greeting (480G) just above the Seaside Dock image. The remaining portion of the greeting was stamped inside the card. I simply embellished this card with two red brads in the bottom right corner, and my card was complete!

Thanks for taking the time to stop by today, and have a wonderful 4th of July weekend!

  

Smiles,

Jennifer

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Friendship

Are you enjoying all of the sneak peeks the DRS Designs DT has been showing off lately? 
This release is fabulous and today I'm showing off the new Fleur De Lis stamp (421F)!

I created this Clean and Simple Friendship card by pairing the Fleur De Lis stamp with the Friendship Double Divide Greeting (1065F).  As you can see, a Fleur De Lis image was stamped with yellow ink on either side of a white cardstock panel and the friendship greeting was stamped in black in the middle.  I like how the Fleur De Lis images are "doubled" and "divided" just as friendship is described in the greeting.  I used a border punch to decorate a black cardstock panel and attached it to the bottom of the stamped white cardstock panel.   Then, yellow and white twine was cris-crossed across the black panel and tied in a bow. I adhered this panel onto a yellow cardstock base and then added 3 black rhinestones to the top for a pop of color and a bit of bling.

Stay tuned for the new stamps to be released in just a few days and in the mean time, I hope you continue to enjoy more of the sneak peeks!

Thanks for stopping by!

Smiles,

Jennifer

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For Two Great teachers

As another school year comes to a close, it's important to let teachers know how special and appreciated they are, especially after all of the hard work they put into teaching our youth. Today I'm showing off the cards I've made to go with the thank you gifts for my son's teacher and teaching assistant.

 

 

These pocket cards were started by cutting scalloped squares using large Nestability dies. I adhered the right, left, and bottom edges of two of them together to form the pocket. I decorated the fronts of each one by stamping the Interlocking Star Background (819H) with Versa Mark and the Starry Background (124H) with dark purple ink.  

 

 

On one of them, I used the Teacher Tools (792G) image to embellish the front. I colored it with Copic markers. Then, I stamped "Thank You" from the Box of Chocolates Greeting (967F) and cut it out with a fishtail banner to put below the image.  

 

 

On the other, I stamped the Brush Thank You (1095H).

 

The inside message was computer generated and the tops of the message cards were embellished with a paper bow.  A matching, layered flower embellished with a pearl in the center decorated each bow.

 

 

Once I had my ideas drawn up on paper and started to create these, everything seemed to fall right into place.  I really had a lot of fun making these and I hope his teachers really enjoy them!

 

Of course, I hope you do too!

 

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

 

Smiles,

Jennifer

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Another Year



There's nothing better than having universal greeting cards in your stash that could be used for multiple occasions.  Like this card I'm sharing with you today, it could be used as a birthday card for someone who likes birds, or an anniversary card because of the way the birds look on the Lovebirds Branch (413H). It would all come down to what the rest of the greeting inside read, and for now I'm going to leave that option open until I actually decide to use this card.







 

The scene I created here was started with a piece of white cardstock.  I stamped the Lovebirds Branch 3 times in different places and at different positions coming from the right side of my card front.  Next, I stamped the Single Bird House (406D) near the bottom, masked it and then stamped the Picket Fence (478P) in place over top.  Everything here was colored with Copic Markers, including the sky and the grass.  I hand cut a piece of brown cardstock and embossed it with a wood grain embossing folder for a realistic look, and adhered it in place on the far right side. The final touch was adding the Another Year Flies By (489F) Greeting right in the center.  The card front was then added to a yellow cardstock base to make the card complete.

 

Have a great day,

 

Smiles,

Jennifer

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Best Of Your Life

Graduation season is upon us and the latest DRS Designs Blog Challenge, "Put It In Neutral" inspired me to create this Graduation Card.  I know the Rest Best of Life Greeting (385F) was originally meant to be a birthday greeting, but I think it's the perfect graduation greeting too. I think many graduates are so happy and excited that the long struggles of school are behind them that graduation is the beginning of the rest of their life, with a career ahead, we hope!

 

 

 

I started by stamping the Rest Best of Your Life Greeting with black ink on white cardstock.  I used a rectangle Nestability die to cut it out and then sponged tan ink over top of it while it was still in the Nestie die.  It was matted with black cardstock, cut out with the scallop-edged, rectangle Nestie die.  I then put that aside and created the background panel.  Starting with ivory cardstock, I stamped the Interlocking Star Background (819H) in black ink and the Starry Background (124H) in tan ink. This panel was also matted with black cardstock cut out with the scallop-edged, rectangle Nestie die.  Next, I created the A2 cardstock base from tan cardstock and adhered the star panel to the far left side as shown.  To break up the light colors a little bit, I added a fishtail banner in dark brown cardstock that was embellished with some paper flowers and petite copper brad.  This was adhered so that the straight edge was flush with the right side of the card front.  The greeting panel was adhered in placed just off center and this clean and simple card was complete! 

So, I mentioned above that the "Put It In Neutral" challenge inspired this card.  Has my post inspired you to play along as well?  Create a card in neural colors (think white, ivory, tan, kraft, brown, black, gray) and link it up on the challenge post to be entered to win a great package of DRS Designs stamps!  But hurry, this challenge ends to day at 6pm ET!

 

 Thanks for stopping by and good Luck!

 

Smiles,

Jennifer

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Hey, Cupcake!

Since DRS Designs last release a few weeks ago, I've been working diligently on increasing my stash of sympathy cards.  I've noticed that my birthday card stash has been depleted as well, and now it's time to replenish them. Here's a rather clean and simple one I made using the new Hey Cupcake Greeting (365B) and the Cherry Top Cupcake image (463E). 

 

I colored the cupcake with Copic markers and shaded it with brown ink while it was in a Nestability die. I went for a realistic look by adding Diamond Glaze to the cherry to give it a shiny, wet look. (Sorry that's hard to see in this picture!) I matted it with red card stock, which really helped make the cherry stand out. Next, I worked on the sentiment banner and shaded it the same way as I did for the image and matted it with red card stock as well. I embellished the banner by adding a small paper flower and adhered it to the banner with a petite pink brad. I adhered 2 pink panels in the background and stamped them both with the Splatter Background (855H) and red ink and then assembled the card front as shown.  Three red rhinestones placed in the upper right corner were the final touch. Cute and easy, don't you think? ;-)

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Smiles,

Jennifer

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Angel By Your Side

Posted by Jennifer E.



The Mother of one of my good friends recently passed and I sent my last sympathy card to her.  I find it's always best to create sympathy cards when you don't need them, so now I'm in the process of replenishing my stash.  DRS Designs latest release is perfect for this!

I made this card over the weekend using the Winged Angel (389H) and I paired it with the Angel By Your Side Greeting (390F).  The Angel was colored with Copic Markers. I used B000, B02 and B05 for her gown and C1, C3, and C5 for her wings.  E00 and E02 were used to create the "glow" coming from behind her.

I just love this pair of stamps! I think the Angel is such a peaceful image, which is perfect for sympathy cards, and the font used for the greeting is so elegant.  You can't go wrong using this combo for a sympathy card! Usually I have a difficult time creating these types of cards, but everything about this card just fell into place.  I guess these stamps really motivated my creative thought process and I hope they do the same for you!

Have a great day!

Smiles,
Jennifer

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A Happy Birthday Without Saying It

Woo hoo! New stamps will be available soon from DRS Designs! I've had the privilege of playing with them over the weekend and now I have a sneak peek to share with you. This card features the new Rest Best of Your Life Greeting (385F). 

I love how this greeting says "Happy Birthday" without coming right out and saying it.  I have a friend who literally dispises her birthday.  She really has a hard time dealing with the fact that she's getting older and this type of greeting would be perfect for her.  We use our birthdays as an excuse to "just get together" for dinner since we don't see each other very often and a birthday card like this that doesn't say "Happy Birthday" would compliment our meal nicely!

I made this greeting the focal point of my card front by stamping it in blue ink and then cutting it out with a Nestability die.  Before I took it out of the die, I sponged the same blue ink it was stamped with around the edges of the die.  I love the nice clean and framed look it creates around the stamp I want to show off.  I paired it with some other great DRS stamps like the Argyle Background (438P) and the Argyle Diamond (441A), which always make a great background design.  The other embellishments I used include some crimped cardstock, a scalloped border punch, white satin ribbon, a button and twine tied in a bow.

I hope I've inspired you to get inky today!
Thanks for stopping by!

Smiles,

Jennifer 

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True Friends!

 Hi Everyone!

 

With St. Patrick's Day right around the corner, I'm still playing with my shamrock stamps and I can't seem to get enough! Maybe it's the promise of Spring that gets me so excited about working with these stamps. I'm giddy that our weather seems to have made a turn for the weather and I can only hope that it keeps warming up from now on.  Here's another card I made using one of my favorite stamps, DRS Designs new Four Leaf Clover Friends Greeting (284F). I love the assortment of greens on this card and I love when I can use stamped images as embellishments. Read on for my explanation... 

 

I stamped the greeting on white cardstock and then used a banner die to cut it out. While it was in the die, I sponged green ink over the top of it to create the white border around it. Then it was matted with a dark green card stock banner. I colored the shamrocks from the Shamrock Swag (1080F) with Copic Markers and then fussy cut them out to embellish the top of the banner. For the backgrounds, I used stamps to create my own pattern papers. I started with the Lines O'Plenty Background (366H) on the white card stock and then distressed the edges was a little bit of green ink. It was then matted with light green card stock and next, the panel was adhered to the front of a dark green cardstock base. The next pattern paper I made was with the Shamrock Background (326H) which was stamped on a small panel of light green card stock. I added a white scalloped border to the bottom of it and then tied a green ribbon around the top before adhering it in place on the card front. I finished this card by adhering the banner in place on the right-hand side of the card front as shown.

 
Well, that's it for me today. 
Thank you so much for stopping by.
Enjoy your day!

  

Smiles,

Jennifer

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