Simple Yet Elegant

Hi again! I know I promised I would start making Christmas cards but I said I would make some cards for a friend of mine for her to give as Christmas gifts, and I thought I should get that off my list before I do anything else. This is one of the cards. You can't go wrong with black and white! Some people may say there's not enough color to make it interesting, but I think all of the different stamps, cuts, shapes and the layout make it very interesting. I hope you like it as much as I do! Mary

Here Comes Santa Claus!

This is a card I just finished making with an old SCS sketch challenge. Whenever I feel uninspired I just go through some sketch challenges I have printed out and find something I like. It cuts out half of the work! The stamps are from a set I found in the dollar bin at Michael's. Isn't Santa just so cute?! The pre-printed holly paper is also from Michael's, as is the ribbon. I used a holly image from SU on the corners of the sentiment to tie in with the holly paper. I used my red SU marker to put stitching around the images to match the ribbon. I used red and white stickle glitter for his hat and white fun flock for his beard, both from Archivers. I think they give the image added dimension and texture. And I of course used my cuttlebug to emboss the snowflakes onto the red and white paper. I hope you like it! Mary

Ready For Snow

Well I hope everyone had as nice a Thanksgiving as my family did. We stayed home and relaxed, played games with the kids, watched the parade & football (go Colts!), ate of course, and just enjoyed being together. That's what it's all about.

So now I can switch gears and start on my wintery Christmas cards. (Forgive the fuzzyness of the picture--I'm still trying to figure out my photoshop on my computer.) This is one I made today with a new Bella stamp I received this week. Isn't she adorable all bundled up?! My favorite color is blue so I like this one a lot. I got the patterned paper from Archiver's, the ribbon is from Wal-Mart, and I embossed the white paper with my cuttlebug. Then I colored her in to match with my SU markers. I made the ovals with my SU oval punches and used the SU corner punch on the main image (I think the corner punch is my favorite punch because it really finishes off the image and gives it a little something special.) Enjoy!

It's Been So Long!

It's been so long since my last post, I know, but I have been so sick this past week. I will spare you the details but I have had to take care of myself, my 2 kids (one who was sick also), and my husband was out of town! I actually ended up going to the ER by ambulance Sunday morning because I was so dehydrated. Let me tell you, ambulance rides are no fun when you are nauseous! So that's why I haven't posted anything in over a week. But all is well now.

I know I have been doing a lot of fall colored cards lately but, "tis the season" :). When I got this Bella stamp in the mail yesterday I had to make just one more Thanksgiving card with it because it is so perfect for that. But with Christmas coming I promise to make some brightly colored and sparkly cards that will be a nice change of pace. And will put all of us in the holiday spirit.

I hope all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving! Mary

More Tributes to Fall

Have I told you how much I love Fall?! ;) These are a few more cards I made in those wonderful fall colors. As you can notice I used the same paper for both, I just changed the layout and direction. Both decorative papers are from Adornit's Fall Leaves Collection. One is Field of Gold and the other is Fall Leaves. The background was made with a paper I found at Archivers, but I don't know the name-sorry. It has an iridescence to it that is so beautiful. The brads and ribbon are from Michael's and the button is from SU. I softened the image's vanilla paper with SU's Sahara Sand. I was just thinking that the trees would look good in shades of light blue with some snow flakes falling for winter, hmmm.... Enjoy! Mary

Autumn Fun

I just love fall. The beautiful colors, the crunching sounds the leaves make when you walk through them, and the smell of wood burning that floats out of the neighborhood chimneys. It reminds me of when I was little and how I would rake leaves into a pile and jump into it. What cozy memories! When I saw this paper of the kids playing among the fall leaves, those are the memories it evoked and I knew I had to have it. It is called Mellow from Basic Grey. To compliment it I used Chocolate Chip and Old Olive cardstock from SU. I punched out the photo corners with my SU photo corner punch and pierced them to add interest. I cut out a little kite to match the one the boy is flying and adhered it with a popdot to make it look like it's flying off the page. I used my SU Really Rust marker to mimic the string/flight line that is on the paper. Don't these kids just make you smile? I hope you are in an area of the country where you can go out and enjoy the changing of the seasons.

Missing You Through All Seasons

Hi again everyone! I've been working hard trying to figure out how to create all of this blog stuff and I think it's turning out pretty good! I had a Christmas card making workshop today as a fundraiser for my daughter's kindergarten class, and it went well. Very tiring though! Now I have to find the energy to go out on a date with my husband tonight. It is our 12 year anniversary tomorrow! In some respects it doesn't seem like it could be 12 years already, but when you look at all we have done in those 12 years it seems like a really long time. I guess it depends on the day! ;)

Anyway, I did find some energy to post this card. It is from a SU set called "A Tree for All Seasons". I used SU's In Color cardstock from last year-buckaroo blue, along with mellow moss. (I wish they would have made those In Colors permanent!) The blue paper was run through my cuddle bug to emboss it. I colored everything in with my SU markers--again, love the matching! I used Snow Writer from Deco Art to create "snow" in the winter scene. I think the black photo corners set it off perfectly. A little black always creates just the right drama. I hope you enjoy it! Mary

My Gallery

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hi again! This is my first try at posting a card project and it's picture so I hope it turns out alright! :)

I just love this time of year! The weather is getting cooler, football is on TV (Go Colts!), the leaves are so beautiful, and the tastes and smells of Thanksgiving is just around the corner. Yummy!! This is a card from a set of cards that I made as a door-prize for a workshop I'm having this weekend. The images are from a retired set from Stampin' Up. I colored them in with my Stampin' Up markers. I love how they match perfectly to the Stampin' Up cardstock. I used a scallop punch and then punched each scallop with a 1/8 in. round punch to mimic what I think her apron and bloomers would have on the edges. I adhered that with a "pop dot" to give it some dimension. I used small scallop scissors around the leaf oval to match the large scallop circle. I think the little pilgrim girl is so sweet and I can almost smell the apple pies!

Hi everyone! This is so exciting for me and a little scary. I am not very computer literate at all. My husband and I are 38 years old and we just bought our first computer last year! I know...sad, very sad. A few of my friends opened their own blog sites this year to start their buisinesses so I thought I would give it a go.
My name is Mary Pickett and I became a Stampin' Up Demonstrater in January of this year. I have been doing paper crafts (mostly cards) for about 3 or 4 years and just love it! It's so nice to have a hobby that lets my creative juices flow. I get lost in it and I am so proud when I create a little piece of art that people oooh and aaah over. I would love to turn this hobby into a money-making buisiness but I'm not sure if that will happen. For now I'm just happy if it pays for my "habit". ;)
This is my first posting and I'm excited to see what it looks like and what I'm supposed to do next so I think this will be it for now. I will post something later after I've figured everything else out.