I Brake For....Poinsettias!

Hello my stamping friends!  Nancy here today!

I hope your Thanksgiving was full of joy, family, friends and food!  Now we are in full swing for Christmas!  I have most of my cards completed and my shopping is about 90%  done.  Ok, I cheat a little - I live far from my family so most of them get gift cards to their favorite stores, which makes my shopping very easy to do.  So I tend to focus on pretty packaging for the gift cards - making and embellishing envelopes to hold the gift cards.

Today I have a very pretty card to show you.

It uses only one stamp - actually only part of the stamp.  The stamp is called Poinsettias and can be found here.  The stamp has two poinsettia blooms but I only used one for this card.

Since the image is traditional and classic I wanted to keep that feeling with the card.  I used a fancy swirly die cut in white and mounted it on white cardstock. I used a spray adhesive on the die cut - found that it works best with those die cuts that have lots of open areas.  And I  love the white on white look.  The poinsettia was colored with copics  and mounted on a fancy edge pierced die cut

As I have done with most of my Christmas cards, I used a stardust gel pen to add some sparkle to the image  - here is a close up.

Hop on over to the IBFS store to find thousands of stamps - there is something for everyone there!

Thanks for stopping by today!

I Brake for Nutcrackers!

Hi everyone, Monica here from Taylormadecards4u.

If you are anything like me, it is hard to throw away even the smallest pieces of beautiful cardstock. So instead I have a large storage bag where I save all of my holiday scraps to make "quilt like" backgrounds.  

I typically will make several in one sitting so that I have them ready to go when I want to put a card together.

I used the Tall Nutcracker stamp from I Brake for Stamps and added it to my quilted background. It is a great stamp and so easy to color.

This stamp would also be great for large Christmas tags as well. It is a fun image, perfect for the holiday season.

I mounted the image using some foam tape then added some fun embellishments. 

Thanks for stopping by!

I Brake for Christmas Houses!

Hello and happy Saturday!

Today I'm sharing a brand new release from I Brake for Stamps.

The stamp is called CHRISTMAS HOUSES and it's from

the CHRISTMAS SHEET - all 10 images.

I used some Ranger inks to create the night time sky behind the houses.  Then I used a white gel pen and a glitter pen to add some stars.

The verse is from the sheet called EVERY DAY PHRASES.

I Brake for Teapots!

Hello Everyone, 

  Today, I'm sharing a k cup holder with you. I cut the holder from the silhouette store. The showcase stamp is called Teapot and bag background from the  store. I stamped the background and used my zig watercolor markers to color them up.  Don't forget to check out the store today! 

 

Stamp used: 

Teapot and bag Background

I Brake FOr....North Pole Postage!

Hello fellow stampers! Nancy here today!  Well, tomorrow is the big turkey day here in the USA - are you ready?  Pies baked?  Turkey thawed?  I have to confess that Thanksgiving is easy for me. Since we live far away from family it is only my husband and I on Thanksgiving.  I used to do the whole shebang and ended up with way too much food for two people.  Over the years I cut back and several years ago we decided to forgo all the cooking and go out to eat on Thanksgiving.  A local restaurant not to far from our home offers a traditional Thanksgiving meal and we have been going there for the past several years.    It has been working out fine for us!

But right after Thanksgiving we will be in full Christmas mode.  So, here is a cute card with that in mind.

This stamp is called North Pole Postage and can be found here.

I stamped and colored up a bunch of these (using copics).  They color up easy and are ready to go on a card or gift tag.

I was going to do a clean and simple card but once I started putting things together it just became layer after layer!

The stamped image was layered on a stitched tag that was embossed with a swiss dot embossing folder. It looked so plain on the white tag that I ended up adding some plaid paper along with a punched snowflake with a red glittery brad in the center.

When I placed the white tag on the white base card (which was embossed with a snowflake embossing folder) it just disappeared, so I mounted the white tag on red which helped it pop.  And to make things sparkle I used a stardust gel pen on parts of the image.  It is my favorite tool to use on images for Christmas.

Hop on over to the I Brake For Stamps store for this and some great holiday stamps.

Thanks for stopping by today!  

I Brake for Christmas Music

Hi everyone it's Monica from Taylormadecards4u. One of the things I use to love about going to Disneyland at Christmas time was seeing the holiday Christmas Carolers all dressed up in vintage clothing and singing wonderful Christmas Songs.

We just don't see that too much anymore today and it is a real shame. So I thought I would bring back this tradition through a Christmas card. 

The background is a Music stamp over in the I Brake for Stamps shop called Music Sheets Background. I love this stamp because of the layout of the sheets. On many of the Music sheet backgrounds I have seen, there is only one Music sheet, but this one has three and it is a great visual background. The shop also has a background stamp that is one music sheet if that works better for your project.

It paired up great with the Bigz die cut from Sizzix calle Carolers. There are so many possibilities with this background stamps and can be used all year long! 

Thanks for stopping by!

I Brake for Funny Frogs!

Hello and happy Saturday!

Have you seen the latest stamp release at I Brake for Stamps?

It's the cutest collection of Christmas stamps.  How adorable is this frog??

FREDDIE HANGING LIGHTS

When I saw him I instantly thought of a mini strand of lights that I have.

Isn't it perfect with this image?  Happy Christmas to everyone.

If frogs aren't your thing (but how could this guy not be) there are SO MANY more Christmas images over at IBFS.

It's also available on a full sheet...

CHRISTMAS SHEET -ALL 10 IMAGES

I Brake for Tree Ornament!

Hello Everyone, 

Shanta here, today I'm sharing a holiday box with you. The sentiment is called Tree Ornament Set of 4 from the store. I stamped the tree and bow with Delicata Silvery Shimmer Ink. I also sprinkled Recollections Tinsel embossing powder in silver and red of them to give it an extra pop. The enamel dots were made using Fabriak Decoru glass drops in sparkling ruby. The sentiment came from My Creative Time Mini Christmas Greetings and it was stamped in distress oxide fired brick ink. The gable box is from Jaded Blossom.  The use of white seam binding and twine finished this right on up!

Stamp used: 

Tree Ornament Set of 4

I Brake For....Table Top Tree!

Hello stampers!  Nancy here today.  I know we have not yet celebrated Thanksgiving , but I am in full Christmas mode!

This darling stamp is called Table Top Tree and can be found here.  Isn't it just the cutest thing?  We have our main tree in the living room, but also have a small table top tree on the patio where we spend a lot of time.  I love the rustic and natural feel of this image.

I stamped it with Memento ink and colored it using a mix of copics and prisma pencils.  Then I sponged in some snowy hills in the background to make a wintery scene.

And I have two favorites on this card. First is my use of a stardust gel pen to get a sparkly look - I used it mainly on the tree branches - here is a closer look...

The second thing I love to see on holiday cards is plaid paper!!!!  I just love the look of plaids during the holiday.  It seems this year it was a main décor focus because I've seen so many things with plaid in the stores.  I found a great pad of paper at Michaels called Plaid Tidings that had 60 sheets of different plaid designs! I think I am set for many years to come with this pad of paper.

The sentiment is part of another stamp that I used last week called Happy Holidays Ornaments which can be found here. I just used the sentiment part of the stamp.

I hope your holiday season is going well.  Stop by the IBFS store and take a look at all the wintery and holiday stamps they have.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

I Brake for Thanksgiving Day!

Hi everyone it's Monica from Taylormadecards4u. I am here today to share with you a Thanksgiving card I created using two stamps from the  I Brake for Stamps shop, Thanksgiving Phrase and Scene and Wood Background Half sheet.

I love that this stamp not only has a great sentiment, but a vintage look to it as well. The scene helps to frame the Thanksgiving sentiment perfectly enabling me to create a very easy, yet elegant Thanksgiving card.

After I stamped the image, I colored the pumpkins using some copic markers.  I then outlined the edge with a my antique bronze distress crayon.  I wanted to add a little grunge to the card, so I stamped over the top with the wood background stamp and some vintage photo distress oxide ink.

To finish it off, I added some Nuvo drops.

Thanks for stopping by!

I Brake for the Cutest Christmas Dog EVER!!

Hello and happy Saturday!

Today I'm sharing an absolutely adorable new release from I Brake for Stamps!

They have so many wonderful Christmas stamps over at IBFS.

The second I saw this sweet pup I just HAD to have it!!

I can't wait to color one up to match my sweet Hannah!  I'm sure I'll be sharing one of those soon!

If you need this stamp like I did it's called

DOG AND PINE BRANCH.

I Brake for.. Scratch Art Noel

Hello Everyone, 

Today I'm sharing a holiday card with you. The sentiment is called Scratch Art Noel from the store.  The blue sparkle on this card is recollection tinsel embossing powder, and the gold card stock is from Gina K.  I used embossing ink around the card stock so that my layered blue piece would match the sentiment, and it turned out great. 

 

Stamp used: 

Scratch Art Noel

 

 

until next time,

Shanta 

 

I Brake For.... Happy Holiday Ornaments!

Hello stampers -  Nancy here and  today it is all about Christmas! I have two items for you today.

I probably make and send about 25 Christmas cards each year and although I keep telling myself that I will start early and make cards throughout the year, somehow it never happens.  So when I do start I go with a few detailed and more time consuming stamps and a few simpler stamps for quick and easier cards

Todays card is one of those quick and easy ones.    I used the Happy Holidays Ornaments stamp, found here.

This is one of those stamps that you can go heavy on the layers and embellishments, or just go clean and simple.

I stamped the image with memento inks and colored it with copics.  Then, because I like my Christmas cards to sparkle, I used a stardust gel pen over the sentiment, ornaments and greenery.  Its a quick way to add sparkle without the mess of glitter.

Here is a closer look - it is hard to capture the sparkle in a photo, but you get the idea!

A couple of fancy edge dies were used along with some plaid paper and red ribbon to finish it off.  I already had the die shapes cut out, so this was one of those quick and easy to put together cards.

One of the great things about this stamp is that you don't have to use the entire image.  In fact you could cut this apart and use the sentiment separately.

In this next piece I made an envelope to hold a gift card.  Much of my gift giving is done with gift cards since I live far away from family - it is just easier to send gift cards and know that the recipient is getting a card from a store they like

I used the We R Memory Keepers 1-2-3 Punch Board to make the envelope.  This is a great tool to have - it makes envelopes, boxes and bows in a variety of sizes.  I bought it this year and it has been a tool that I have used often.

The envelope is 4 x 4 made with some holiday paper I had from last year.  The Happy Holidays Ornaments was stamped on a stitched oval die cut, leaving out the sentiment, stamping only the image. It was colored with copics in shades of blue to coordinate with the patterned paper. I kept the bow white, but used the stardust gel pen overall on this image to add sparkle

Here is what it looks like before it is put together.

I just used a white satin ribbon as a band to keep everything together.  The ornament tag is popped up on the ribbon. Here is a close up with the sparkle added.

Hop on over to the I Brake For Stamps store - there are so many holiday stamps to chose from - I know you will find something you like!

Thanks for stopping by today!

I Brake for Retro Art!

Hi everyone and Happy November. Monica here from Taylormadecards4u.

I wanted to start out my month sharing a Retro/vintage card using a brick background and this Retro cutie that both come from the set called Wood Background Half sheet over at the I Brake for Stamps shop.

I have been eying this set for a while. It comes with two background stamps as well as this great sentiment and little lady. She reminds me of WWII graphics and I am sure I will have a lot of fun designing with her.

Before stamping my background, I adhered this fancy frame to some grey cardstock. I wanted to have her framed to make sure she stood out.

I then added some retro looking washi tape along the sides of some designer cardstock and adhered the layers onto some white cardstock.

It is a fun stamp set with so many possibilities.

Thanks for stopping by!