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Posted in Cardmaking, Uncategorized

Need A Little Christmas in July

Posted on by maryredjr

I don’t know about you, but I really need to get a jump on my holiday cards. Every year I say I’m going to do it…but rarely do I actually fulfill it. This year I am teachig a class at the local papercrafting store and the theme for this month is Christmas in July. Lucky for me, I don’t have a choice but to start working on holiday cards.

This card features a wonderful stamp set from Dare2BArtzy. It is called Deck the Halls. I love the images as well as the sentiments.

For my card, I decided to go with a clean and simple layout. I really like how this one turned out! For my class, I thought it was a good card for students to practice their coloring skills by coloring the ornaments. Also, they could go with any color combination they chose, since the rest of the card is black and white.

For my ornaments, I colored with Spectrum Noir Tri Blend markers. I like how simple they are to use and that they take the guess work out of finding colors to blend together. I also added some silver gel pen details to the ornaments to make them even more festive. To give dimension, I added a cardstock layer to the square ornament and then a pop dot to the ornament in the foreground.

I hope this inspires you to start creating your holiday cards!

Posted in Uncategorized

Thank You, Mr. Postman!

Posted on by maryredjr

Did you know that July 1st is National Postal Worker Day? I just found this out a couple of weeks ago. It celebrates and recognizes postal workers and the hard work they put in to ensure your mail and deliveries arrive to you safely. I don’t know about you, but I really appreciate my mail carrier. I LOVE it when he brings me packages❤️

This is the card I created to participate in the July Wacky Holidays Hop!

Welcome to the July Wacky Holidays Hop! You know all those obscure things that earned themselves national days of recognition? We’re here to celebrate them! Who says only the major holidays get cards?!

This hop takes place on the first Saturday of each month on Instagram and we’d love to have you join us! DM @claires_card_on for all the info.

Please hop along with me and the below participants on Instagram as we celebrate all things July!
@claires_card_on
@emiliescardcreations
@handmadebykanicky
@joyinthemakingco
@kellyannsanti
@magymakes
@love.builds_up.crafts
@madewithlovebyterri
@craftwithme101
@withlovebyamy
@maryredjr
@rp_shutterbug
@savyakala
@plum_trillium
@kellys.craft
@vr_handmadelove

I am also submitting this to the My Favorite Things color challenge #192.

Don’t you just love the colors of this challenge?!

To create this card, I used a retired stamp set called “You’ve Got Mail” from My Favorite Things.

I hope this post reminds you to thank your postman!

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Indigo Sympathy Card

Posted on by maryredjr

Today I am sharing a recent sympathy card I made. I was inspired by cards on the Pinkfresh Studios webpage and also the current Freshly Made Sketch Challenge #525. Here is the sketch:

And here is the card I created:

I used the following products to create my card:

~Pinkfresh Studio Indigo Vines Die and Washi Tape

~Pinkfresh Studio Mini Slimline Essentials Dies

~Unity Stamp Company May Hope Sustain You stamp set

~GinaK In the Navy Ink

~sequins and paper from from my stash

I really like all of the texture I created with the different layers of die cutting.

For me, sympathy cards are difficult to make. It was nice to have a sketch for inspiration. Do you have a go to design for sympathy cards? Let me know in the comments.

Thanks!

Mary

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Picked Just for You

Posted on by maryredjr

Today I am sharing a card I made for the Freshly Made Sketches sketch challenge #521. Here is the sketch:

For my card, I used the following products:

~Honey Bee Stamps My Favorite Flower stamp set

~Concord and 9th Eclectic Garden dies

~Newton’s Nook Picket Fence die

~GinaK Premium Dye Ink in Soft Stone

I love how this turned out and that it feels a little Spring-like to me. I may send this as a valentine…who knows! I can tell you that I enjoy stretching my creativity by entering sketch challenges. Do you?

Thanks for stopping by!

Mary

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Encourage-mint

Posted on by maryredjr

Today I am sharing a card I made for a friend who is going through a rough patch. I thought this Lawn Fawn set was the perfect choice and it is super cute and punny. I am also entering this in the Sunday Stamps current color challenge.

For this challenge I chose to use three of the colors from the options.

I hope this card makes my friend smile…and you too!

Hugs,

Mary

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You Warm My Heart

Posted on by maryredjr

I woke up this morning to a winter wonderland! I guess it was time for snow since it’s already mid January. I am fortunate to have the day off, so I thought I’d join in some challenge fun.

My card features the following products:

Image: Hello Bluebird Autumn Gatherings

Sentiment: Hello Bluebird Cocoa Party

Copic Markers: R30, C02, C01, YR15, YR24, YR27, E70, E71, E74

A variety of snowflake dies from my stash

I’m entering this card in the Caffeinated Christmas Card Challenge and Freshly Made Sketches #518 Challenge. I think entering challenges helps stretch my creativity. Do you enter challenges? I hope so!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you stay warm and healthy!

Hugs,

Mary

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National Tea Day

Posted on by maryredjr

Happy National Tea Day! Are you a tea drinker? I mostly drink coffee, but I do enjoy a chai tea every once and a while.

This is the project I created in honor of National Tea Day:

For my card, I used the following products:

Sentiment: Honey Bee Hug in a Mug stamps and dies

Image: Honey Bee Mugs and Kisses dies

Patterned Paper: GinaK Blizzard paper and Lawn Fawn Hello Sunshine Remix/Oh Happy Day

Ink: GinaK Soft Stone and Ranger Distress Oxide in Peacock Feathers

This card is pretty straightforward – it was just a lot of die cutting and glueing!

Though I’m not a regular tea-drinker, I do enjoy chai flavored treats! Here’s a yummy, tea-inspired recipe, Chai Spice Monkey Bread from All Recipes. It’s soooo good!

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/259015/chai-spice-monkey-bread/

If you would like to shop for these adorable Honey Bee products, feel free to click the link below.

https://shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=882137&u=3017887&m=24698&urllink=&afftrack=

I hope you are having a tea-riffic day!

Mary

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It’s National Hot Cocoa Day

Posted on by maryredjr

It’s not the holidays without cocoa! Here are my projects for National Hot Cocoa Day:

Here is my card and belly band recipe:

Sentiment: Honey Bee Stamps “Hug in a Mug” stamps and dies

Image: Honey Bee Stamps “Mugs & Kisses” die set, Hello Bluebird “Holly and Pine” dies

Background: Simon Says Stamp “Pine Bouquet” Embossing Folder

Ink: GinaK Dark Chocolate

Since it is National Hot Cocoa Day, I thought I’d also share a recipe for homemade hot cocoa mix. This recipe makes enough for 4 servings. Serve in a festive mug with marshmallows or a candy cane for a sweet seasonal treat.

Ingredients:

4 cups milk (whole or 2%)

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate chips or chopped chocolate bar

1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Place milk, cocoa powder and sugar in a small saucepan. Heat over medium/medium low heat, whisking frequently, until warm (but not boiling). Add chocolate chips and whisk constantly until the chocolate chips melt and distribute evenly into the milk. Whisk in the vanilla extract and serve immediately.

Enjoy!

I hope you will join in the fun and link up your newly created hot cocoa project for a chance to be a guest designer on the Coffee Loving Cardmakers Blog. Details and link up can be found on the blog: http://coffeelovingcardmakers.com/18349

Now go treat yourself – you deserve it!

https://shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=882137&u=3017887&m=24698&urllink=&afftrack=

May your day be warm and cozy,

Mary

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Holiday Cards

Posted on by maryredjr

I’m participating in Freshly Made Sketches weekly challenge again. I’ll be honest, sketch challenges are hard for me! How do you feel about sketch challenges? It seems like they should make designing your card easier, but for me, that is not the case. I had fun participating last week, so I decided to challenge myself by participating again. This time, I created two cards.

Card #1

For this card, I used the Reindeer Games stamp set from My Favorite Things. I love this little deer/gal! I used the following Copics to color her: C3,C2,C1(shoes) R00,E00,E13 (skin) E21,E23,E25 (outfit) R29,R59 (nose and red bulbs) Y13, Y11(yellow bulbs) B02,B00 (blue bulbs) YG17, YG05 (green bulbs) Y00, Y21,YR12 (hair).

I enjoy adding glossy accents to my projects. Here, I added it to the bulbs and her nose.

Card #2

For this card, I used the Mistle Toad stamp and die from Newton’s Nook. I’ve loved this toad for a few years. Isn’t he so cute? I colored him with the following Copic markers: R29, R35,R59 (bow) YG11,YG91,YG95 (toad) YG03,YG17,YG67 (mistletoe).

I added glossy accents and popped this guy up to add some dimension.

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. Thanks for stopping by!

Mary

Posted in Uncategorized

Adulting is Hard…right?

Posted on by maryredjr

Don’t you agree? I know it’s only Wednesday, but it has been a week for me!

I don’t know about you, but I sure do have a lot to accomplish today. But this llama makes me giggle. You can tell by his 5 o’clock shadow that he is struggling a bit. I’m sure he has lots to do to get ready for the holidays too. So let’s keep the caffeine coming!

For this card I used: Caffeinated Llama and Blended Sentiments from The Rabbit Hole Designs. I also clear, heat embossed the coffe beans from the Blended Sentiments set to create my own patterned paper. I really wanted the focus to be on the llama, so I kept my card clean and simple.

If you’d like to treat yourself to some stamps, feel free to click the link below.

https://shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=1544529&u=3017887&m=97637&urllink=&afftrack=

I hope your coffee is strong enough to keep you motivated through today and that you get a chance to relax tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping by!

Mary