Let it Snow Clear Card...

Well, I've got a busy week ahead! A quilling class on Tuesday, preparing for my monthly crafting club, and I've got new stamps and punches to play with! There's nothing like a frosty day staying at home, crafting and drinking homemade apple cider! Oh, throw in an occasional piece of chocolate and talking to my sister, and life can't be better! Let's see what I've been up to this weekend!

This too adorable snowman is a new release from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps. You get two sentiments with the snowman as well, and these are clear stamps that stamp so clean and crisp. My favorite ink of choice is the Memento brand and I use Tuxedo Black for most of my stamping. There's a fabulous deal over at the store, where you can purchase all 6 newly released sets for only $40! There's a total of 23 stamps, with images and sentiments. You just can't beat that price!! So go shopping, then come back and see how I made the card below!

This is called a "clear" card as the card front is transparent using a transparency or piece of acetate. My acetate is .7 mm thickness which makes for a sturdy cardfront and can hold up to ribbon, and embellishments, yet it's crisp and clear! It's made by Grafix and I purchased it at Michael's.

I stamped my snowman onto Whisper White cardstock, colored him with Copics, then cut him out with small scissors. I used a new Martha Stewart punch for the edge of my brown/polka dot designer paper (Heidi Grace Designs). My snowflake paper is by the Paper Studio. To make your clear card, cut and fold your transparency like you would for a normal card, but you are going to sandwich your back piece between a white panel and your designer papers. The white panel gives your card a lot of stability as well as hide your gluing.

Once I glued my designer papers, I added my snowman, and a glittery snowflake with a rhinestone. For decorating the clear front, you'll need to remember that you'll be able to see the backs of the embellishments or the "glue" you used to adhere them to the front! To fix this, you'll add coordination embellishments on the backside of the clear front. For my card, I used two-sided shimmery peel-off snowflakes. They were perfect for this type of card. I cut out a tag label, stamped my sentiment "Studio G" with black ink, then added a pretty ribbon! Card size: 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 inches

Tip: Once you've cut out your image, take a black marker with a brush tip and apply the ink around the edge. It gives your image a clean, cut appearance.

Image and Sentiment: Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps, Studio G
Papers: Heidi Grace Designs, The Paper Studio, Grafix
Embellishments: Offray, Peel-Off Stickers, SU! Snowflake, Recollections, Martha Stewart punch

6 Days til the Fred, She Said Blog Hop!!! January 15th!!! Mark your Calendars and Join US!

Friends are Marshmallows...

Well, I woke up to about 3 inches of snow this morning. Snow is so crisp and pretty to look at, isn't it? Unfortunately, I had to shovel it so I could go shopping today! I made the rounds at Michael's, where the new Martha Stewart punches have come in, then over to Hobby Lobby to purchase the Octagons Nestabilities. After that, I went to JoAnn's and bought the new Inkadinkado $1 bin stamps (18 in all), picked up some tacos at Taco Bell and came home! Now I'll show you my card for the Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge.

This cutie patootie is a digistamp from Sweet 'n Sassy and it's just so darling! I printed the image on Whisper White cardstock, then cut it out with the Labels Nine Nestabilities. I did the same thing with the sentiment which comes with the other image. I dusted a soft teal ink onto the pieces before removing them from the die. I colored the cup and mouse with Copic markers, then put the pieces aside to construct my card.

My designer paper is from My Mind's Eye, which I adhered to a soft teal glittery cardstock then to a white card. I added pretty shimmery glitter swirls, iridescent snowflake buttons and white pearls to finish the card. Card size: 5 x 5 inches

Image and Sentiment: Sweet 'n Sassy
Paper: My Mind's Eye, The Paper Studio, Bazzill, SU!
Embellishments: Dress it Up, Recollections, Making Memories

Here's a quick Valentine's gift for the kids or for your Secret Pal. I took a Valentine Paper Bag (Michael's) and used it to decorate a Sweethearts candy box. I just love those little sayings on the hearts! I printed my image (another Sweet 'n Sassy digital image) then cut it out and colored it with Copics. I wrapped an organza bow around the box, adhered the Koala image, and made a tag with a sentiment to finish it off.

Don't forget, only 7 Days til the Fred, She Said Blog Hop!! I can't wait! It's going to be such fun!

What's a Doodledallion?

Now that I've finally announced all my good news, I'm ready to get back to work designing and creating more great cards for the next months! There are a couple new digistamps being released on Friday from Fred, She Said, and I'm really liking them! Don't forget that the new Fred, She Said Challenge Blog is starting up, and our first Challenge is on the 25th of this month! I can't wait for it! Become a follower of the Challenge Blog and you're eligible to win a free digi on February 1st.

This card is perfect for the 3D theme Challenge over at Our Creative Corner. It also fits the Sketch Challenge at The Sweet Stop!

Friday is the release for this fabulous image called "Stained Glass Floral Doodledallion" from Fred, She Said. I printed it on Whisper White cardstock 5 times, then cut it out with scissors because I wanted a 3D layered look. I colored each piece with Copic Markers, then assembled the doodledallion with popdots for the layering. Once it was put together, I glued it to a mirror red cardstock, then to floral "dollhouse" wallpaper which was adhered to a red card. I added rhinestones and glitter for a bit of sparkle. Below, you can see the 3D look to my finished card. Card size: 5 1/4 x 5 1/4 inches

I almost forgot! Fred, She Said is having a Blog Hop (my first one) on January 15th and I'll be posting more details as it gets closer!! Stay tuned!

Our Creative Corner Sketch Design Team...

Well, it's official! Today they are announcing the new Sketch Design Team for Our Creative Corner, and I was asked to join the team! As you know, I've been doing a lot of the OCC's Sketch and Challenges these past months, and I'm just thrilled to be a part of such great artists! The design Team and their blogs are listed below. Just click on their name to be taken to their respective blogs, and you'll be amazed by their talent! I'm looking forward to working with these ladies and can't wait to get started! We have Sketch Challenges on Thursday's, and Themed Challenges on Saturday. Why don't you come and play with us?

Laurel Seabrook
Gloria Stengel
Iwona Palamountain
Rose Frydrych.
Darsie Bruno (that's me!)
Rose Miller
Jennifer Meyer

Without further fuss and ado, here is my first card as a sketch team designer for OCC. This card is for the Sketch Challenge (sketch is below). Why do I like sketches? Sometimes I can't come up with a fresh idea, or my cards seem to be repeating themselves. With the sketches, it gives me a jump start on an idea, using an image, background papers, and it's just up to me to put it all together.


My image for this darling card is by a new artist on the Digistamp scene. The "Ethereal Forest Designs" website will be up and running soon, and this too, too cute Elephant named "Elmer" is one of the images in their catalog. I will be showing sneak peeks of the designs in the next few weeks. Stay tuned for more information because you'll definitely be wanting these images!

I printed the image on Whisper White cardstock, then cut it out with the Blossom Nestabilities. I dusted Memento Summer Sky ink onto the piece before removing it from the die, then colored it with Copic Markers. I added the cut out to a pink glittery cutout I made using the Inverted Circles Nestabiliites. I stamped the sentiment on a scrap of paper, dusted it with Summer Sky ink, then added pearls to both the image panel and the sentiment panel. I assembled my card with Martha Stewart's new Valentine Paper Stack, added red satin bows, heart rhinestones and adhered it to a red card sized 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 inches.

Image: Ethereal Forest Designs, Studio G
Paper: Martha Stewart, Bazzill, SU!
Embellishments: Satin Ribbon, Pearls and Hearts by Recollections

Don't forget the Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Release today!! I've been giving you sneak peeks the last few days of the sets available and Korin has a Sweet 'n Sassy bundle for all the sets for a reduce price! I recommend you get them all, AND save money!

Pretty Iris....

Only a few more days left until the release of the newest stamps from Sweet 'n Sassy! How exciting for me to be designing cards for them! The stamp below is one of three that is being released on Thursday, January 7th! There is a January/Carnation set, February/Iris set, and March/Daffodil set as well as a few others. They are clear stamps and cling beautifully to your acrylic block and the image is so crisp once stamped. You'll also find discontinued stamps for Autumn and Christmas available at the store.

This was a pretty card to create. I stamped the Iris with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on Whisper White Cardstock, then colored with Copic markers. I overstamped the verse (Inkadinkado) with the black ink then rounded the corners of the panel and laid it aside. My designer paper is from GCD Studios and I used the Martha Stewart Large Lattice punch. Ribbons and pretty pearls finished this card, sized 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 inches.

Images: Sweet 'n Sassy, Inkadinkado
Paper: GCD Studios, SU!, Bazzill
Embellishments, Recollections, Offray
Punch: Martha Stewart Lattice Border, Corner Rounder


There is a new Challenge Blog for Fred, She Said, and you can find it HERE! Our first challenge will be posted on the Last Monday of each month, and they are exciting and fun! Also, if you become a follower, (just click on the "Follow" button on the right of the blog) you'll have a chance to win a free image on February 1st!

Clean and Simple...

The theme this week over at Our Creative Corner is "Clean and Simple", meaning less is best. Well, anyone who knows me, pretty much knows I can't do "less". I have to glitter it, brad it, rhinestone it, Cuttlebug it, and more! So this challenge was exceedingly hard for me. I kept reaching for stuff, then saying to myself "you can't use that!" I love how my card turned out, but I know I could have added more!

White seems to convey simple yet elegant, so I went with that color scheme with a splash of color for my main image. I printed an antique postcard onto Whisper White cardstock, then layered it to a scalloped rectangle Nestabilities cut out of white glittery cardstock. I created my background paper using the "Textile" embossing folder in the Cuttlebug. I added filigree corners from the same white glittery cardstock that I cut out with a Sizzix die. My embellishments consist of tiny pearls, satin ribbon and a pretty bow. I put it all together onto a white card measuring 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inches.

Paper: Whisper White (SU!), Bazzill
Image: Antique Postcard
Embellishments: Recollections, Sizzix, Scalloped Rectangle Nestabilities, Satin Ribbon

A sweet Bunny...

As you know from my postings last week, I have fallen in love with the designs from Fred, She Said. To make things even better, I have been chosen to be on their Design Team! I'm so excited! I just love Fred's digital offerings like the digistamps, coordinating papers, and sweet stackable flowers. Her designs are clean and fresh, and I just love coloring them! In the next few weeks, you'll see new images from the store, and very creative cards from the design team! Stay tuned! You'll find the Fred, She Said store HERE, and the Fred, She Said blog HERE!

I've used an older design for my card, but since I'm new to all of Fred, She Said images, these are NEW to me! This adorable bunny is so bright and cheery, and what better colors than pink, orange and green to use? I tried to squeeze yellow in there, but it just didn't fit my designer papers! Maybe next time! I printed the bunny on Whisper White cardstock using my HP printer, then cut it out using a plain rectangle Nestabilities with the Cuttlebug. I colored with Copic markers, added a few highlights with my white Signo pen, then set it aside to construct my card.

My card is perfect for the sketch over at A Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge Blog, and I had a lot of fun matching the papers and finding all the embellishments for it. I've seen a sneak peek of the next few sketches at A Sweet Stop, and let me tell you, they are fun, fun, fun! You have to try one, at least! Every Saturday, you'll see a new sketch from them, and it's always so inspiring to see what their Design Team has created! Using sketches is a great way for new ideas when you are stuck in your creative zone.

Paper: The Paper Studio, Glitter Cardstock, Whisper White (SU!)
Embellishments: Prima, Recollections, Offray, Spare Parts, and Wrights