CHRISTMAS - a Clean and Simple Card

Who doesn't love a cute pig - and on your Christmas card, of all places!  This card was perfect for the Christmas Card Throwdown Challenge of using only pink, red and green on your card.  Be sure to pop over to their blog and check out other cards using this color combination!

This little pig, and 12 other animal friends, can be found on the latest Operation Smile stamp set from Close to My Heart.  Operation Smile is the charity that CTMH supports, and $7 from the purchase of each stamp set goes directly to Operation Smile.  While the little critters are not season specific, I teamed them with the new Beary Christmas Scrapbooking stamp set to create this card. Here's what a few of the other cards looked like when they were finished.

And here's what the Operation Smile stamp set - officially known as Punny Pals (D1751) - looks like!

This is the Beary Christmas Scrapbooking set (D1730 stamp set only, Z4047 stamp set bundled with thin cut dies).  This is the set that provided the Christmas theme for my card.  Notice that I stole the Santa hat right off the bear's head!

The sentiments used on the cards are all individual stamps, so you can choose a single greeting or get them all.  They are:
Ho Ho Ho (M1181)
Mistletoe Kisses (M1182)
Merry Everything (M1183)
Merry Christmas (M1134)

Thanks for stopping by today to see my little friends.  Enjoy the rest of your week!

FALL CARD - Clean and Simple

Today it started to feel like fall!  And if we had any trees in our yard, we would soon be raking leaves from them.  But since we didn't want to obstruct our views, we only planted shrubs, so we don't have to deal with that chore of the season.  But I do love fall leaves - all of their wonderful colors.  So that is what I portrayed on this card with yellows and reds and oranges and greens and even some purple!

I used the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches.  The panel with the leaves is popped up over the white card base.  Those who attend my monthly card classes will be creating this card as a part of the October class.  Stay tuned if you want to see what else we will be working on!

Here's a closer look at the dimension I was able to create with the layers of leaves.  I cut two of the "thankful" words and glued them together so they had a little more substance on the card.


Here's a list of what I used.  All products are from Close to My Heart unless indicated.
Stamps and Dies:
Falling for You Cardmaking stamp/die bundle (Z4041) - stamp set alone is C1686
Happy Day Cardmaking Workshop Your Way kit (G1139) - "for you" sentiment
Thankful for You thin cut die (Z4036)
Inside/Out Stitch Rectangular dies (My Favorite Things)
Paper and Inks:
White Daisy cardstock
Poppy cardstock
Tangerine, Goldrush, Juniper, Fern, NE Ivy, Toffee, Sorbet and Poppy inks
Other:
Thin 3-D foam (Z2060)
Bronze sequins (Z4029)

Be sure to stop over at the Freshly Made Sketches blog and see other projects using this sketch.  In addition, I entered this card in the Clean & Simple Fall challenge over at Stamp Ink Paper.  Check them out as well.

Thanks for stopping by.  Hope you enjoy the weekend.  Take it easy - you may have to be raking leaves soon!