Sweet & Lucky Decorations {CCMC179} {SSSC146}

Happy Thursday, friends! Can you believe it's December 8th--yikes!  So much left to do before Christmas.  But you didn't come here to hear me whine...you came here for some eye candy, didn't you?!  It's color challenge week at Create with Connie & Mary...take a look:

Isn't this a fun take on the traditional red and green?  I love Basic Grey with anything!  I also used this fabulous sketch from this week's Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge:

and was inspired to ink up an old favorite Christmas set, Delightful Decorations:

I flipped the sketch to the left-hand side, somehow it just worked better for me that way.  The Basic Grey base was layered with some Lucky Limeade designer paper from the In Color patterns stack as well as a fun Poppy Parade pattern that looks like snowflakes.  I wrapped the panel with some yummy Basic Grey satin ribbon and added a big bow with a a glue dot.

The ornaments were clear embossed in the challenge colors on Whisper White and layered atop a big beautiful Silver Glimmer circle--isn't it lovely?

Here's a close-up of a little background stamping I did with the Creative Elements set--doesn't it coordinate nicely with the limeade pattern?  I hesitated to buy this set but I really like how versatile each piece is--they really do add a little bit of a creative element to any project. Sorry, couldn't help myself!

So there you have it, folks!  I hope you like today's card and that it inspires you to play along with these fun colors.  Be sure to check out all the rest of the inspiring creations from the Create with Connie & Mary Design Team.  If you decide to play along, please link up your crafty goodness by Wednesday, December 14th at noon (EST).  I hope you'll play along with us!  Thanks for visiting today!

supplies:

stamps: delightful decorations, creative elements,tags til christmas

ink: poppy parade, lucky limeade, basic grey; versamark

paper: basic grey, whisper white, silver glimmer; pocketful of posies DSP; in color patterns stack

xtras: basic grey satin ribbon; basic rhinestones; white baker's twine

Crushed Chocolate Plums {CD87}

I know I say this every week but...here I go again...this week Riley has a gorgeous color combination for you at The Color Dare!  Chocolate Chip, Concord Crush and Perfect Plum--lovely isn't it?  These rich, luxiurious colors put me in the mind of a non-traditional Christmas card and I knew right away what I wanted to do.  Because Concord Crush is a very intense color, I wanted to toned it down a bit with Perfect Plum on the background panel.  I've used this technique before on this card and I just love the look--especially with the Vintage Wallpaper impressions folder.  Using a brayer, I rolled Concord Crush ink directly onto one side of the plastic impressions folder, going over it a few times for good ink coverage.  I placed a piece of Perfect Plum into the inky folder, ran it through the Big Shot and the results are a two-tone dry embossed effect that is so pretty!  Here's a close-up for you:

For this card, I inked the front of the impressions folder (that's the side with the Stampin' Up logo) which placed the ink on the de-bossed areas.  You could also ink up the back of the folder (the side without the logo) to highlight the raised or embossed areas.  Either way the results are stunning and such a simple way to incorporate two colors into your design! ;-)

With such a bold main panel, I needed to keep the other elements simple so I embossed one of the ornaments from Delightful Decorations in Concord Crush, popped it out with my coordinating ornament punch and layered it over some rich Chocolate Chip striped grosgrain ribbon.  I little adhesive basic pearl added just a touch of elegance to the only sentiment on the front.  

 I kept the inside simple too with another strip of the inked & embossed cardstock.  Seasonal Sentiments was the perfect flourish for the greeting and I overstamped it in Concord Crush on top of a simple medallion from Charming.  I thought the Charming medallion was a good match to the shapes in the Vintage Wallpaper impressions folder and inked in Perfect Plum (and stamped off once) it tied in with the cardstock nicely.  

So there's my clean but elegant (I think!) card for this week's Color Dare...won't you join us?  To get started, check out the fabulous inspiration from the rest of the design team below and then head over to The Color Dare to link up your creation.  We can't wait to see what you do with these colors!

The Design Team:

• Riley - our leader
• Glenda - Papers, Scissors & Rocks
• Heather - Princess Scrapper Stamper
• Joan - JJ Creations
• Marisa - Rosemary Reflections
• Melissa - My Paper Obsession

supplies:
stamps: delightful decorations, charming, seasonal sentiments

ink: concord crush, perfect plum

paper: chocolate chip, concord crush, perfect plum & very vanilla CS

xtras: vintage wallpaper impressions folder; brayer; chocolate chip striped grosgrain ribbon; basic pearls

delightful merriment

I love this stamp set and punch! This is what I love about SU--coordinating stamps and punches. Coordinating helpers like these are perfect for mass producing holiday cards especially with this simple layout. I can see a group of us making a bunch of these in an hour or two--throw in some christmas cocktails, some Frank on the CD player and it's a party! Oh, but I'm getting ahead of myself...it's still only September. Pretty easy to see the details on this one. I used Very Vanilla cardstock, a strip of Merry Moments designer paper and a little peek from a Chocolate Chip scallop edge. I stamped two of the ornaments from the Delightful Decorations set (#116517)--one in real red and the other in old olive. The ornaments are punched out with the coordinating Ornament punch (#116794) and layered on top of each other with the red ornament up on dimensionals. The chocolate chip "string" is part of another delightful set from the holiday mini catalog called Berry Christmas (#116509). So many to choose from! Warm Words (#115108), one of my all-time favorites, provides the perfect holiday sentiment inked up in cheery real red. Be Merry!

supplies:
stamps: delightful decorations, berry christmas, warm words
paper: very vanilla & chocolate chip cardstock, merry moments DSP
ink: real red, old olive, chocolate chip
extras: ornament punch, stampin dimensionals, stamp-a-ma-jig, scallop edge punch