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As much happiness as colorful holiday cards bring me, there is just something about this color combo. The connection to Christmas is as instant as hearing Christmas carols on the radio, or smelling gingerbread!  So today, I have two little shares using this traditional palette and a few tips on how to stretch your dies! ____________________________________________________________________ TIP: STITCHED DIES First up,  I have a snowflake tag, cut with PTI's Stitched Snowflake die . I love that the holes are already pre-cut! I usually add a little bit of string or thin wire (if using as an ornament) and it's all set to go! This makes your "stitched" dies double as a pretty fine base for tags or ornaments! ____________________________________________________________________ To decorate my tag, I used a vellum oval, embossing tiny 'snow' with Altenew's Floral Frame stamp .   I then added a die-cut sentiment and banner (both from my stash, but similar here and ...

Hey everybody! Can you believe it's exactly one month until Christmas?! It's approaching quickly and I still have a heap of cards and oodles of ideas to share with you before then!  Today I'm sharing a little CAS duo - and a card that was inspired by  PTI's November Blog Hop . I've been working a lot on paring down the layers over the years. And while I'm not quite ready to give up the intricate cards just yet, I am trying to challenge myself to step outside the box a little. So far so good :)  For today's challenge, I wanted to focus on a single layer background. Plain cardstock seemed a little too vanilla, so I decided to make a dotted and festive one instead! I find this to be such a fun and relaxing technique. And the tools are so simple: just a stencil, an ink blender and some ink. I love the satisfaction I get when I peel back that stencil and reveal whats hiding beneath. It makes me smile every time! For this background, I used a polka dot stencil ( h...

Hi everyone! I hope you've all had a splendid Thanksgiving, enjoyed with family and friends, and all the turkey you can eat! Even though North of the border, our Thanksgiving tradition falls a lot earlier, we still partake in one of the biggest shopping days of the year, so I've compiled below a little list (it was hard , but I narrowed it down to ONLY 4 shoppes) of my favorite BFS happening through the weekend!  And I'm sure, just like me, after all the shopping frenzy, you might need some peace and quiet in your life, and what better than some alone time with Copics and this Beautiful Bouquet floral stamp!  I also thought it would be fun to start a new card series on the blog: Delicate.  I've been straying a little from this style. So this is my way of getting back to it and sharing a few soft + feminine cards with you all.  To start this card, I first stamped the beautiful floral and embossed it in silver. I knew I would eventually add silver glittered accents, s...

Happy hump-day! Today I'm back with the second post in my Stretch Your Stamps Series, focusing on how to use non-Holiday stamps for the Holidays! We all have a stamp or two we absolutely love, and kind of feel a little sad to put away when the season is upon us. But I'm here to say, you don't have to! With a few tweaks, most stamps transition pretty well into many seasons. My floral stamp is a perfect example! I picked up this sweet little stamp from PTI's Buy it Live event a little while back, and I've been wanting to use it for months! When I finally cracked it open, I realized, a little bit of tweaking might be in order to make it 'work' with the current season.  To start this card, I first eyeballed where my floral cluster would be, and then stamped the top sentiment, in Aqua Mist using Altenew's Modern Deer stamp set.   I then started working on my floral cluster. In order to make it seasonally appropriate I knew I would need to do a couple of thi...

Hello everyone! I hope your weekend has been delightful. I promised I would share a little bit about my upcoming plans for this blog, so let's get to that first. So much change is in store, but I'm going to try and break it down a little :) INSTAGRAM Guys, the day is finally here...I'm sooo excited to announce that I have finally joined Instagram! I plan to share all the latest updates from this blog, crafty/life moments, and whatever other random whims come along. I am probably the least social media savvy person you will meet, so it might be a rough ride to start, but I hope you'll join me anyway!  You can find me at @ivana.creates Also, huge spoiler alert in regards to my upcoming name change -  I'm launching #letsmakesomethinglovely  and hope you'll join in! It's where you'll be able to find all of my posts, but I hope you'll join me there too! I'm super excited to see you all in insta-land! Let's be friends, okay? NEW BLOG DESIGN A brand...

Happy Saturday! It's looking a whole lot like winter here, and snow is all around us! Naturally, cozy cards are on my mind, so today I'm sharing a quick little number that  just might warm even the coldest of days :) I started this card with a patterned paper journal card, complete with polka dots, and a striped heart. I love pulling colors from paper patterns, and I thought the combination of burnt orange and red was perfect for a comforting vibe. I added some mustard to the mix and a wee bit of yellow as well. I framed my sweet cup with these beautiful stamped branches using Altenew's Floral Frame stamp set.  I colored some leaves selectively, and also added a few berries using PTI's Holiday Hugs stamp and die set. I used colors of Smokey Shadow, Pure Poppy, Terracotta Tile, and Saffron Spice  to match the cozy hues.  For the striped mug, I used an older stamp set from The Craft's Meow (no longer available), but I did find this sweet stamp that would work perfec...

Hi Friends! I'm popping in today to share a card with a few of my favorite stamp sets. Some old, some new - these beauties seem to permanently reside on my desk, so I finally thought I'd put them to use and share a little creation with you. And with Thanksgiving here, I also want to extend a big, thankful hug to you all. I am so (so!) thankful for each and every one of your visits, notes, and immense amount of support. Without you, this little place of mine wouldn't be the same. I dedicate this card to you! :)  For the base of this card, I used Lawn Fawn's Scalloped Rectangle Stackables . It's one of my favorite go-to for bases. I love the different sizes, so it permanently stays on my desk.  For the beautiful border, I used PTI's Stitch in Time stamp set, embossed in white over green paper.I layered it atop a soft peach cardstock, and used white cardstock as an insert to stamp a few little flowers and my sentiment. I added some sweet sequins and a bright red b...

Oh my, the last few weeks here have been glorious! All the leaves turning, crisp morning, pumpkins on porches...Everywhere you look, fall splendor is upon us.  Golden and rusty orange hues fill the horizon, while the low Autumn sun seems to make things even more vibrant and colorful. I just love this time of year. It's also the time of year I start thinking about cozy layers, pockets for tucking sweet little treasures into, and anything that add a touch of homey-ness and comfort. So today, I have a little pocket card to share with you that was inspired by this wonderful season.  To start my little pocket card, I used simple kraft cardstock along with my W R Memory Keepers Envelope Punch Board  to make the sweet little envelope. I stamped the pretty design using PTI's Stitch in Time stamp set and some White and Rose Quartz embossing powder. At the top, I added a burlap trim, rose and some stamped leaves and flowers from PTI's Rosie Posie set (discontinued, but you Farmer...

It's been a few weeks now, but I've wanted to share this post for some time and I'm finally getting around to it. I created this little card for my mom. She makes my heart so happy.  Over the past year, my health challenges have made even the simplest of tasks impossible at times. Things like cooking, cleaning and general everyday stuff.  We all know how things like this can pile up when not done for a week or two, or even a month or two. But going on a year, I was starting to feel overwhelmed at the sheer amount of life stuff that had mounted. It seemed like every corner of our house (and our life) needed attention, but I could only give so much and I was at a loss of how to tackle it all. My sweet mom, without hesitation, offered to come and help. So, a few weeks ago, she visited and spent an entire week with me, helping organize, clean and sort everything out. I was fortunate to have a couple of good days and even joined in on the cleaning (and even got back into cooking...