Fifty Christmas Cards - Batch One

As I mentioned in a previous post, one of my neighbors has hired me to make 50 unique Christmas cards, 10 due on the first of the months of August through December.  Because I had nine cards in my "stash," I got a head start this month. I've made nine more cards, and still need to do two more to meet my September 1st deadline.  Below are the nine cards I've made so far.  If you'd like a larger view, just click on the photos.

Card 1:

Card 2:

Card 3:

Card 4:

Card 5:

Card 6:

Card 7:

Card 8:

Card 9:

I used Stampin' Up!'s retired Letters to Santa Designer Series paper as well as the coordinating self-adhesive die cuts.  I got both from the Clearance Rack in the Stampin' Up! store earlier this year, so this batch of cards was rather inexpensive to make.

I have lots of ideas for my next batches of cards, so stay tuned for the next installment.  I'll also have some ATCs to post soon, so I hope you'll enjoy all these creations!

Merry Christmas in August!

Joyce Spear (a.k.a. StamperJoyce)

  

Artist Trading Cards with a Pretty Bow

Last month was a busy month for ATCs for me, and I had a blast making these.

Swap:  Birds/birdcages (click on photo to enlarge)

Swap:  Pearls

Swap:  Mystery Image (corset on dress stand)

Swap:  Quote of the Month

Swap:  Buckaroos

I also downloaded a template from Stampin' Up!'s My Digital Studio to make these darling paper bows:

My goals this weekend are to finish up an embarrassingly overdue birthday card for my friend Margie, and hopefully have time left to work on Artist Trading Cards that are due September 1st.

Off to the stamping trenches,

Joyce Spear (a.k.a. StamperJoyce)

           

A Birthday Card!

A very dear friend of mine -- and my Stampin' Up! downline, too -- had a birthday recently, which gave me the opportunity to pull out the SU! Best of Birthdays set. She is quite fond of this year's In Colors, so I used them all!

It's hard to see in the picture, but some of the presents in the background have Dazzling Details (Stampin' Up!'s version of Stickles) on them for added bling. The Happy Birthday to You oval is clear embossed, which is easy to do even if you don't have a particular color in Craft (pigment) ink; just tap your stamp in VersaMark ink before loading it with Classic (dye) ink, stamp, and heat emboss using clear embossing powder as usual.  Cool, eh?  Here's the inside of the card:

The cupcake has a bit of Dazzling Details on it, too.

Happy Birthday once again, Chris!  I hope you enjoyed your card, and I wish you many more years of happiness and friendship!

Smiles,

Joyce Spear (a.k.a. StamperJoyce)

Language of Friendship

I just finished up a card that I'm entering in a challenge on the Paper Seedlings blog.  (Check it out, Linda does some pretty cards!)  For this challenge we were to use the Stampin' Up! colors of Island Indigo, Wild Wasabi, and So Saffron along with any neutral we'd like.  The theme of the card was "Friendship."  I decided it would be fitting to use the SU! set Language of Friendship.  Working with these colors was a challenge -- the neutral saved me! -- but I think I did okay:

And the inside:

A couple of my friends also participated in the challenge, so I can't wait to see the results.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I've taken on the job of making 50 unique Christmas cards for one of my neighbors.  He plans to give one card to each of the people in our senior community, his philosophy being "everybody should know what it feels like to own a piece of art made just for them."  My goal is to have at least 10 cards done by the first of each month August through December.  I'm currently two cards shy of my September 1 goal, but I'm using some of the cards I made earlier this year.  I'm going to have to work my butt off to keep up, but I am so very excited about this project.

'Tis also the season of birthdays, so I'll be posting some of the birthday cards I'll be sending soon.  I have some artist trading cards (ATCs) to post, too.  I hope you'll stick around to enjoy the ride!

Happy smiles,

Joyce Spear (a.k.a. StamperJoyce)