The Open Sea #141: A Ship in the Night

I've recently fallen {back} in love with this stamp set. I've only used it a couple of times so it feels new and exciting again. I created this card for my addition to Stylin' Stampin' INKspiration's Framelits Friday post. I couldn't be more pleased with how this turned out. Since it was a Framelits theme, I wanted LOTS of layers. I think I accomplished that. It's a fatty! Double postage for sure. I love how much depth this card has. Perfect for a nautical theme, right?

*The background for the card was created using sponges and markers.

*I stamped and colored a second ship and cut the sails out and added it to the original stamp. Popping one side of the sail out with dimensionals. It gave it an amazing 3-D look.

Supplies:

Cardstock ~ Crumb Cake, Marina Mist, Whisper White, Chocolate Chip (Core'dinations)

Ink ~ Crumb Cake, So Saffron, Soft Suede, Baked Brown Sugar, Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Marina Mist, Not Quite Navy, Night of Navy, Black StazOn

Stamp Sets ~ The Open Sea, Itty Bitty Banners, Gorgeous Grunge

Embellishments ~ 1/8" mini brads, hemp twine

So Sorry #140: Lots of Sympathy

Once again I'm making a Sympathy card. They are never fun, but they are necessary. This one is for a friend that lost a family member. My heart goes out to their family. This too shall pass my friend.

Supplies:

Cardstock ~ Chocolate Chip, Soft Sky, Core'dinations in Chocolate Chip and Smoky Slate

DSP ~ Sweater Weather

Ink ~ Chocolate Chip

Stamp Sets ~ So Sorry

Embellishments ~ Chocolate colored satin ribbon (not Stampin' Up!)

Hard Knocks

So...last Saturday I slipped on the ice in the driveway and fell backwards, landing on my head. Knocked myself out and everything. Woke up completely paralyzed and had to lay there for quite a while before I could move. Of course I was home alone. Of course my phone bounced out of reach. I managed to crawl to my phone and call Eric (the hubby). It's amazing how quickly he can drive home when he wants to. I didn't think I had a concussion because I wasn't nauseous so I took some Advil and curled up on the couch. By Monday the pain in my neck was too much to bear so I went to the doctor. Four hours later, I walk out of the E.R. with a concussion and whiplash. OUCH! Perfect timing for the Holidays. Ugh!

We went ahead and had Christmas dinner at our house. I'm stubborn like that. But now I'm paying for it. I've been completely useless and it's driving me NUTS. This is definitely not how I planned our Christmas break. I've read, I've watched movies, I've scoured Pinterest till my eyes crossed and I've studied all my Stampin' Up! catalogs. I'm DYING to go to my Woman Cave and play. But, my hubby has me on a VERY short leash. 

How long does this last? How long till I can resume human behavior? I make a horrible patient. I think poor Eric has had it with me. I feel like the 5 year old saying "are we there yet?" but in my case it's "am I healed yet?" I tried to put the ipad in the freezer this morning, so I guess things are still a bit scrambled. 

So, if you're wondering WHY in the world I'm not creating, I guess I have a legitimate excuse. I'm going to try and sneak out tomorrow and put some things together, but we'll see. Maybe I should invest in a helmet...

My Resolutions...

Well, 2014 is coming at us at mach speed. I've said it before and I'll say it again, where does the time go? Along with the New Year comes the dreaded list of personal resolutions. Like everyone else, of course I'm going to promise myself to lose weight, but lets be real. I've been saying that for the past 15 years (or so). I really don't see myself giving up chocolate for sweat. Nope. So, I decided to come up with something fun. Why not make it craft-oriented? Like clean and organize. Or better yet, craft for a cause, teach a young one, learn a new technique, FINISH my projects and maybe gain some recognition. Now those are a few that I might be able to stick to!

What are your resolutions? Are they boring? Or are they fun and exciting?

Stylin' Stampin' INKspiration

Merry Christmas from the Cochrans!

Merry Christmas! We hope ya'll have a wonderful holiday and a very Happy New Year!

Cheers!

Not that we're a bunch of lushes in this family, but we do love a good drink on Christmas eve. We make and give sweet little jars of Apple Pie as gifts. This year instead of just a plain ole' mason jar with a bow on top, I decided to dress them up a bit. What do you think?

Apple Pie Recipe:

2 gallons apple cider

1 gallon apple juice

2 cups brown sugar

2 cups granulated sugar

6 cinnamon sticks

1 bottle 151 proof Everclear

Add all ingredients (except alcohol) to a big pot. Bring to a boil until all the sugar is dissolved. Let cool to room temperature then add the Everclear. Bottle/jar as soon as possible. Enjoy it right away, or wait a week or two. It only gets better with time!

Merry Christmas Money Card

Who doesn't love money? That's pretty much my standard gift. Little to no thinking involved, no Black Friday nonsense, everyone loves it, and it's always appreciated. But, I can't just hand over a wad of cash, right? Well, I could but that would be boring. So, I made a cute little card to hold it.

Supplies:

Cardstock ~ Basic Grey, Wisteria Wonder, Smoky Slate

Ink ~ Smoky Slate, So Saffron, StazOn White, Wisteria Wonder

Stamp Sets ~ Beautifully Baroque, Gorgeous Grunge, Chalk Talk

Embellishments ~ Rhinestones Basic Jewels, Stampin' Up! Shaker Frames, 

white linen fabric, tule, snow glitter

*I rolled So Saffron ink onto the white linen fabric with the Brayer tool. 

A Gift for Grandma

Here is another set of cards that I'm giving as a gift for Christmas. I love how these little boxes turned out. They are so simple! They're perfect for heavily embellished cards too! Though they're extremely time consuming, they're SO worth it! I think it totally completes this gift. No wrapping required!

Supplies:

Cardstock ~ Early Espresso, Real Red, Whisper White, Very Vanilla, Early Espresso Core'dinations

DSP ~ Ooops it's retired, Sorry!

Ink ~ Real Red, Early Espresso

Stamp sets ~ Everything Eleanor, Chalk Talk, Postage Collection

Embellishments ~ Pearls Basic Jewels, Soda Pop Tops (retired), cream colored satin ribbon

Merry Christmas Card Set

Our family draws names for Christmas. Of course I draw someone that is hard to buy for. I wracked my brain for weeks trying to come up with the perfect gift. Luckily, the family requested that gifts this year be handmade. SWEET! Something I CAN do. I raided my stash of cards and put together a card set. I didn't just want to wrap a stack of cards, that would be boring. So, I made this cute little card set box. 

Supplies:

Cardstock ~ Real Red, Whisper white

DSP ~ Ooops it's retired, sorry!

Ink ~ Real Red, Rose Red, Pink Pirouette, Pool Party, 

Old Olive, Pear Pizzazz, Crumb Cake, Smoky Slate, Basic Black, Basic Grey, 

Pool Party embellishing powder

Stamp Sets ~ A Banner Christmas, Color Me Christmas, Sassy Salutations

Embellishments ~ Brads, Soda Pop Tops, Pool Party ribbon, Crystal Effects

Flyin' High

I recently was asked to join a fun little blog called SSINKspiration. It's a group of very talented Stampin' Up! ladies. I'm excited to see where this takes my creativity and I'm excited to meet all these wonderful gals. My first project for January (I'm not officially a member until January 1st so I'm jumping the gun a little) is a Color Challenge. It was a nice change of pace in the midst of the Christmas rush. 

The colors for this challenge are: Primrose Petals, So Saffron and Bermuda Bay.

Sketch is from Retro Sketches, challenge #94

I'm obsessed with feathers. I think they're fabulous. I created these by drawing them by hand onto Stampin' Up! cardstock, then cutting them out. Then I sponged White StazOn around the edges and cut the fringe with my scissors. Finally I added a little detail with my Stampin' Up! markers to give it a little more dimension. I got my inspiration from Stampin' Up! Fine Feathers. Boy do I love this! Was it time consuming? Yes. Was it worth it? Yes! 

Supplies:

Cardstock ~ Bermuda Bay, Primrose Petals, So Saffron, Baked Brown Sugar, Whisper White

Ink ~ Bermuda Bay, Primrose Petals, So Saffron, Baked Brown Sugar, White StazOn

Stamp Sets ~ Gorgeous Grunge, Chalk Talk

Embellishments ~ Antique Brads, Crochet Ribbon

Wrap it up with Love and Cheer!

Okay, that's it. I demand we get another week before Christmas. I don't have near as much done as I wanted to. I swear the time has just been FLYING by these last few weeks. Wasn't it just summer? The kids have their school Christmas parties this week. So, I spent the last 2 days making treats. Of course I can't send them to school without tags. Now that I HAD to have this cute little stamp set, which I love by the way. I had so much fun with these. Both the tags AND the candies! 

Supplies:

Cardstock ~ Whisper White

Ink ~ Real Red, Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake, Baked Brown Sugar, Soft Sky, Smoky Slate, Basic Gray, Old Olive, Always Artichoke, Rose Red, Pink Pirouette

Stamp Set ~ Color Me Christmas

Embellishments ~ Rhinestone Basic Jewels, Bakers Twine

Ingredients:

Peanut butter sandwich cookies, vanilla almond bark, orange tic tacs, black frosting,

Ingredients:

Nutter Butter cookies, pretzels, M&M's, candy googly eyes, Chocolate Almond bark

Teaching about Christmas

The kids have been learning a LOT about Christmas and Our Lord Jesus Christ at school. They come home with so much excitement and enthusiasm for this Christmas Season. I love our school and their ways of teaching and the wonderful strong foundation they are giving to the children. Okay, that's enough mushy stuff.

The kids school Christmas parties are just around the corner and of course I didn't have ANYTHING made up yet. We'll be making treats today and I'll be making tags this weekend. LOTS of tags! I finally came up with an idea for a card for their teachers. I wanted to do a chalkboard effect, obviously because they're teachers. This was such a fun card to make. The sketch came from the Paper Craft Crew for challenge #71. I hope you enjoy it. 

Supplies:

Cardstock ~ Basic Black, Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Cherry Cobbler

Ink ~ Craft white StazOn, Black StazOn, Cherry Cobbler, Pink Pirouette, Real Red, Smoky Slate, Crumb Cake

Stamp Sets ~ Color Me Christmas, A Banner Christmas, Christmas Messages

Embellishments ~ Red ribbon

Drinks for All!

I'm kind of hooked on these cute little bottle tags. Here are a few more for the Christmas Season!

Supplies:

Cardstock~ Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso, Very Vanilla

DSP ~ First Edition (retired), Glimmer paper in Champagne

Ink ~ Cherry Cobbler, Baked Brown Sugar, Cherry Cobbler Embossing powder

Stamp Sets ~ Santa's List, A Banner Christmas

Embellishments ~ Cherry Cobbler Chevron ribbon, Brads dipped in Cherry Cobbler Embossing powder

Supplies:

Cardstock ~ Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Crisp Cantaloupe, Early Espresso

DSP ~ Glimmer paper in Champagne

Ink ~ Crisp Cantaloupe, Early Espresso

Stamp Sets, Beautifully Baroque, Daydream Medallions, Christmas Messages

Supplies:

Cardstock ~ Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Very Vanilla

Ink ~ Soft Suede, Pumpkin Pie, Crushed Curry, Early Espresso, Baked Brown Sugar, Sahara Sand

Stamp Sets ~ Remembering Christmas, French Foliage (retired)

Embellishments ~ Antique Brads, hemp twine, orange ribbon

Color Me Christmas

I've been on a tag-making kick today. I've created a lot of pretty ones to give, but didn't have anything cute for the kids yet, so I decided to put this cute little stamp set to good use. 

Supplies:

Cardstock ~ Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive, Whisper White, Baked Brown Sugar

Ink ~ Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler, Basic Black, Rose Red, Pink Pirouette, Basic Gray

Stamp Sets ~ A Banner Christmas, Color Me Christmas

Embellishments ~ Cherry Cobbler chevron ribbon

I created this cute little tag with a couple of challenges in mind. The layout came from one of my favorite blogs, Retro Sketches. It is for challenge #93. The color combo came from The Paper Players for challenge #175. 

Supplies:

Cardstock ~ Old Olive, Raspberry Ripple, Pink Pirouette, Whisper White, Baked Brown Sugar

Ink ~ Old Olive, Raspberry Ripple, Pink Pirouette, Basic Black, Black Stazon

Stamp Sets ~ Label Love, Color Me Christmas, A Banner Christmas, Off the Grid, Gorgeous Grunge

Embellishments ~ Pink Pirouette Chevron ribbon, Rhinestone Basic Jewels

Cheers to the Season!

Gee, why didn't I think about this sooner? What does someone in Walla Walla, Washington give to friends at Christmas time? Duh, wine! I have given away SO MANY naked bottles of wine. So sad. I could have been doing this the whole time. I am in LOVE with this idea. It was so easy and can be customized for any occasion. I'm definitely doing this from now on!

Supplies:

Cardstock ~ Real Red, Crumb Cake, Whisper White

DSP ~ Glimmer Paper (champagne)

Ink ~ Real Red, Smoky Slate, Craft White

Stamp Sets ~ Label Love, Pretty Petites, Hearts a Flutter, Daydream Medallions

Just for You!

I've been on a Christmas-card-making rampage lately! It helps that it's only 12 degrees outside and I'm stuck inside. Or at least until it's feeding time an the farm critters demand my attention. 

Supplies:
Cardstock ~ Real Red, Crumb Cake, Whisper White

DSP ~ Glimmer paper in Champagne

Ink ~ Real Red, Craft White, Early Espresso, Crumb Cake

Stamp Sets ~ Positively Chevron, Label Love, Hearts a Flutter, Pretty Petites, Daydream Medallions

Gratitude is Beautiful!

I needed a Thank You card. I wanted something a little Christmasy because (well, it's the Christmas season), but I didn't want it to be TOO Christmasy. Yes, I know Christmasy isn't a word, but I'm using it anyway. I finally got to use my Beautifully Baroque stamp. I am in {LOVE} with this one! How classy is that? 

Supplies:

Cardstock ~ Early Espresso, Crisp Cantaloupe (core'dinations), Very Vanilla

DSP ~ First Edition (retired)

Ink ~ Early Espresso, Crisp Cantaloupe

Stamp Sets ~ Beautifully Baroque, Harvest of Thanks

Embellishments ~ Espresso colored satin ribbon (not a Stampin' Up! product)

The JOY of Christmas

I was really in the Christmas mood this morning. Snow is on the ground. The sun is shining. It's beyond FRIGID outside so the best thing to do was stamp! Of course I should have been doing housework but it will still be there later.

I decided to play with the December Color Challenge from Stylin' Stampin' INKspiration's blog (which I am now a design team member!). I think these colors created a FABULOUS scheme for this card. 

Supplies:

Cardstock ~ Smoky Slate, Whisper White, Raspberry Ripple

Ink ~ Pistachio Pudding, Raspberry Ripple, Smoky Slate

Stamp Sets ~ Gorgeous Grunge, Beautifully Baroque, Santa's List, A Banner Christmas

Embellishments ~ 1/8" mini brads, Rhinestone Basic Jewels, Frosted Finishes, white cotton twine

Tag...You're it!

So this past week was filled with family, food and stamps. I couldn't think of a better way to spend the Thanksgiving weekend. I am behind on projects (what's new?) so I'm trying to play catch up. I have 31 class Christmas treats to come up with. No idea what I'm going to do yet. I've been scouring Pinterest for SOMETHING but have yet to find the right thing. I have lots of Christmas cards to make too, but I just focused on gift tags. Yes, I actually stayed on task FOR ONCE! I suffer from crafting A.D.D. so this is a major accomplishment!

Gift tags are a blast. At least I think they are. There are SO many options it's ridiculous. I need some more kiddy related ones though. Good thing I just put in a monster Stampin' Up! order! So there will be cute gift tags to come. As long as I can focus, that is.

Here is what I came up with so far...

Supplies:

Cardstock ~ Very Vanilla, Night of Navy

Ink ~ Night of Navy, Crumb Cake

Stamp Sets ~ Gorgeous Grunge, Come to Bethlehem

Embellishments ~ Rhinestones, navy colored satin ribbon

Supplies:

Cardstock ~ Very Vanilla, Lucky Limeade, Crumb Cake

Ink ~ Crumb Cake, Rose Red, Always Artichoke

Stamp Sets ~ Gorgeous Grunge, Santa's List

Embellishments ~ hemp twine, faceted buttons

Supplies:

Cardstock ~ Very Vanilla, Crisp Cantaloupe

Ink ~ Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Crisp Cantaloupe

Stamp Sets ~ Santa's List, A Banner Christmas

Embellishments ~ Chocolate Chip Chevron ribbon

 Supplies:

Cardstock ~ Whisper White, Night of Navy

DSP ~ Silver Glimmer paper

Ink ~ Night of Navy, Silver embossing powder

Stamp Sets ~ Christmas Deer (retired), Come to Bethlehem (Sentiment)

Embellishments ~ navy colored satin ribbon

Supplies:

Cardstock ~ Soft Suede, Very Vanilla

Ink ~ Soft Suede, Baked Brown Sugar, Crumb Cake, Crushed Curry, Pumpkin Pie, Sahara Sand, Soft Sky, Early Espresso

Stamp Sets ~ Remembering Christmas, French Foliage, Fine Feathers

Embellishments ~ hemp twine, cream colored satin ribbon

{leaf detail}

Supplies:

Cardstock ~ Rose Red, Very Vanilla, Lucky Limeade, Soft Suede

Ink ~ Crumb Cake, Rose Red, Always Artichoke

Stamp Sets ~ Gorgeous Grunge, Santa's List, A Banner Christmas

Embellishments ~ Vintage Faceted Buttons, hemp twine, cream colored satin ribbon

Soft Sympathy

I am addicted to French Foliage. I've been using the heck out of it lately. I always seem to get attached to something AFTER they retire it. Day late and a dollar short is my motto. Oh well, works for me. Once again, the need for a sympathy card sucks, but it WAS really fun to put this one together. I really like the color combo. Not sure if I'll be able to duplicate it ever again. lol

I really love doing detail work. The leaves seem to come alive with a little marker attention. Time consuming yes, but definitely worth it.

Supplies:

Cardstock ~ Sahara Sand, Crumb Cake, Soft Sky, Very Vanilla

Ink ~ Crumb Cake, Crushed Curry, Pumpkin Pie, Chocolate Chip, Baked Brown Sugar, Soft Suede, Soft Sky, Early Espresso

Stamp Sets ~ French Foliage, So Sorry, Truly Grateful

Other supplies ~ cream ribbon, burlap ribbon

With Sympathy

The reason for a sympathy card is always sad, but I did enjoy making this one. 

Supplies:

Cardstock ~ Soft Suede, Very Vanilla

Ink ~ Baked Brown Sugar, Soft Suede, Crumb Cake Crisp Cantaloupe, Rose Red, Lucky Limeade

Stamp Sets ~ Ex Libris, So Sorry, Stippled Blossoms

Other Supplies ~ misc. ribbon

Class Act

I freaking LOVE this card! I saw this stamp on Pinterest (eye roll) and just HAD to have it. However, it's expired. Why do they expire the really cool ones? I got into this whole stamping thing a little too late. Obviously. So, my mad hunting skills paid off and I found one for sale. SWEET!

I am addicted to purple and haven't done a Christmas card in purple yet so... it's about time! It was such a simple card and went together so quickly. I love the colored holly too! Even though it's red and green.

Supplies:

Cardstock ~ Smoky Slate, Elegant Eggplant

Ink ~ Elegant Eggplant, Gumball Green, Real Red

Stamp Sets ~ Christmas Collage, Curly Cute

Tools ~ Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Square Punch, Sponge Daubers

Embellishments ~ Dazzling Details, Brads dipped in Cherry Cobbler Embossing Powder