Riley the Moose Easel Card

Wow! Does time fly or what? I cannot believe that it has been over 2 weeks since my last post. This is an easel card I put together with a Riley the Moose stamp. I love this little moose! Perfect when you live in moose country! I also used one of the new Martha Stewart border punches. Easel cards are fun, as they stand up by themselves and look great sitting on a window sill or table. This picture was taken head on, so you cannot really see how an easel card works. The words on the base are mounted with foam tape, which "catches" the main part of the card, creating the easel.

Sitting Tilda with Candy

This is one of my favorite images from the Magnolia "Under the Mistletoe" collection released this year. I used the "Holly Letter" image to have her sit upon and she looks all dressed up with her hair pulled back. I colored her with Staedtler watercolor pencils and a Dove Blender Pen. I love my Copics, but when I am under the gun to get a bunch of cards done, I usually default to my watercolor pencils. I LOVE the ones by Staedtler. They are the best ones I have ever used and the only ones I sell in the store.

Martha Stewart Corner-Border Punch Combos

Martha Stewart Crafts started selling their new punches in a "combo" back where you get both the border and corner punch together for a design. Most card makers are used to border punches and have been somewhat luke-warm to the matching corner punch, as it seems somewhat limiting if you continually punch around a piece. However, I started playing with these and liked the effect I got on this card. One of the downsides of using a straight border punch is when you get the the ends of your piece. Unless you cut a piece larger than what you need, it is hard to get the pattern even on both ends. By using the corner punch at the ends with the border punch in the middle, the effect is a very finished look. I was quite pleased with how this turned out. The deer stamp used is by The Cat's Pajama's and the thank you stamp is by Savvy. I added the ribbon to the edge of the border design to finish it off. The patterned paper is by Darcie's Country Folk (now distributed through Art Gone Wild).

Quick treats and bags...

These are some simple treat bags and "boxes" that are perfect for the holidays. The Santa stick and reindeer are made using a triangle box stamp from Inky Antics and the coordinating holiday character clear set. These would make great treats for a school class or little table favors for the kids in the family. There is also a non-holiday set of character faces - including a cat and a dog. The poinsettia bag is a quick little bag with a poinsettia made with the Spellbinders poinsettia die and one of the Cuttlebug embossing folders to add some texture. And who can resist a quick little House Mouse gift tag?

Sneak Peak of the January BOTM from Inky Antics!

This is the new January "Board of the Month" for Inky Antics. It features new mouse designs that we're getting early because of the board program. Jackie at Inky Antics has designed another fun board with some great projects. Check the Stamped Designs website for class dates and times. And remember, if you take the class, you get 20% off the stamp sets used in the class! A great deal!

Large backgrounds from Impression Obsession...

We used the new large background images from Impression Obsession on each of the cards in this picture in our "Rock the Block" class. These cling mount stamps are 5-3/4" square which allows you to cover the front of an A-2 card. In the flower card, we inked the background image with the Adirondack Lights color Cool Peri and then stamped over the colored flower image (which is by Penny Black). The light color is visible on the ivory card but not on the colored image. The bird image is a new image from Serendipity Stamps and is a Tufted Titmouse perched on a branch. And you should all recognize Tilda from Magnolia stamps - this one is Blueberry Tilda.