Sunday, January 3, 2010

I'm Back :)

Hi everyone!!! I know I’ve been gone forever. I want to thank all of you who have sent me such sweet e-mails and messages during my long break. While I was gone from blog land for several months, I have been crafting like crazy. I actually even did a craft show back in November which turned out to be pretty successful. I have so many cards to share with you and I am so incredibly excited to be back. I’ve had another great change in my life during this break. I got a new job! I left the corporate world and am now a Prosecuting Attorney. I love my job and I feel like I’m doing something that makes a difference which is very rewarding. So, in short, hubby and I (and the furbabies) are doing great. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and I wish you all a very happy new year. Now, onto my cards I have for you today :)





***Please click on the pictures to make them bigger, for some reason, I can't get the pictures bigger on the homepage. Thanks :) ***

I have been loving the easel card look and I can’t seem to stop making them :) My first card today is an easel card I did using Snow Fun, a Victoria Case image from Susana’s Custom Art and Card Design (SCACD). I love, love, love these images by Victoria case, they are so fun to color. I colored the image with copic markers (R89, R85, R83, and R81 for the pinks, B34 and B37 for the blues and W6 and W8 for the black hat on the snow man). The R81 series is my favorite line of pinks. I added Glossy Accents to the eyes and some Diamond Stickles. I then created my easel card (see instructions for how to create an easel card HERE. I made my card 5 ½ by 5 ½ (this is my favorite card size to make). I then created the top part of the card using design paper from K& Co. (last year’s Christmas paper stack). All cardstock is by Stampin Up (Ballet Blue and Rose Red). Next I added the snowflakes to the card. These are so cool, I got them at Michael’s and they are made by Me and My Big Ideas (I bought several packs because I thought they were so cool . . . hmmmm, may have to do some blog candy :)). Next, I added these beautiful roses to the center of the snowflakes. I got the roses from Wild Orchid Crafts. This is a company based in the UK and they make the most beautiful paper flowers I’ve ever seen. They are very reasonably priced. They have tons of colors and shipping was pretty quick, I definitely recommend them. Finally, I decorated the bottom portion of the easel card. I used the Fleur de Lis punch from Fiskars and then placed my sentiment (from a clear stamp set from Wal-Mart last Christmas) at the bottom. I then used dew drops along the top to hold the front panel up. I attached the front panel to the card using Scor Tape (this tape is so awesome, it’s very strong and is perfect for projects like this or for boxes, bags, etc.).



My second card uses another stamp from SCACD by Victoria Case. This one is called Winter and I just love her. This is a pretty simple card, but for some reason, I just love it :) I sold this card at the craft show and honestly, I was a little disappointed that it sold, I kind of wanted to keep it :) Anywho, I first colored my image with copics. I then mounted the image onto Real Red cardstock from Stampin Up. I then created my card base (which is 5 ½ by 5 ½). It’s a little hard to see in the picture, but the white paper is actually glitter paper from DCWV glitter stack. I layered that on top of my Real Red card base and then I added my design paper which is from My Mind’s Eye (my new favorite paper company). I then placed a panel of the white glitter paper across the card, first punching the bottom with Fiskar’s Threading Water edge punch. I then placed my image on top with dimensional. I added my sentiment (from Whiff of Joy) to the image with dimensionals. I added Glossy Accents to the girl’s eyes and the puppy’s nose and eyes (this is such a cool effect). I also added Diamond Stickles to her coat. Finally, I added the silver snowflakes (I got these at Michael’s, I can’t remember who makes them) and I added red roses from Wild Orchid Crafts to the center of the snowflakes. Easy peasy card to put together, but I love it :)

Well, I hope you enjoyed my projects today. I’d love to hear from you so please feel free to leave a comment if you have the time. I’ll be back tomorrow with some more projects.

Hugs, Christine

19 comments:

Jules (Julia) said...

Love both your cards! I especially like the second one with the beautiful roses and sparkly snowflakes!

Welcome back to blogland!

Brandi said...

These are both gorgeous! It's so awesome you got a new job that makes you happy! :)

stampingtink said...

Just stunning! I'm so glad to have you back in the crafting world and what an entrance you made! Love, love them and the colors are so vibrant and rich. Just simple adore them!

Hugs,

Susan

Katie Cotton said...

these cards are just adorable!

Anonymous said...

Christine--so glad to see you back!! Both cards are wonderful--the colors you used one each is just right!! {{HUGS}}

Kristie W. said...

Welcome back to blog land!!

I love both of your creations!! So glad to see your cards again!

Anki said...

Welcome back to the craft world! Stunning cards and happy to hear your news. It's nice to hear that your changes are making you happy! Kram and all the best for 2010!

Anki

Blog Master E said...

Great cards, I really love the flower centers for your snowflakes :)

Susana M said...

Hey Christine
These were very lovely cards :o) Sounds like you found your bliss and I wish you the happiest of New Years!!!
Hearts and Hugs
Susana

Ila said...

Both cards are over the top Gorgeous Christine!!..Congratulations on the new job!!....Happy New Year!!..Hugs, Ila

Suzanne J Dean said...

Gorgeous cards Christine! So happy to have you back :o) and glad things are going well for ya!

hugz,
Suzanne

marsha said...

Christine, it is so wonderful to have you back! I've sure missed you! Your new cards are just fabulous - I've always loved your creations, you are just so talented!

Hugs,
Marsha

Becky said...

Both of these are just so lovely.

Heather Schlatter said...

Hi Christine,

I can not tell you how happy I was to see a comment on my blog from you yesterday!!!

I also can not tell you how many times I have thought about you in the last half a year I wondered what you were up to and I had hoped that your confidence had not been crushed because you are totally talented and I love everyone of your creations you rock girl and I am so glad to see that you are back to blog land!!!!

I had lost track of what your blog address was but I kept wondering about you and I had told several friends about you and one day one of them said I am just going to google her name and then she found your blog again for me. Well I saw that you had still not posted and I felt sad because you should share your creations and I am just so proud of you and glad that you are back!!!!

Heather

Candy said...

Hi Christine!
Lovely to see you back. So happy to hear about your new job and how much you enjoy it.
Both cards are wonderful....
Hugs, Candy

B said...

LOVE the sparkly snowflakes and fun easel card!

Lyn S said...

Welcome back to blogland! Great to see more of your stunning cards!

Congrats on the new job too :)

vc said...

Beautiful cards!! Happy New Year! Congrats on your new job :)

MarieL said...

Wow, she is finally back. Sure missed you. Saw you today on Suzanne Dean's blog and about fell over.
Great cards. Very, very pretty.

...and they lived happily ever after.
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