GIVEAWAY: New Stamp Releases - Beautiful Courage & Fierce and Brave

 It's time for some happy dancing, and a stamp giveaway! My brand new set, Beautiful Courage, is being released over at STAMPlorations today! And a STUNNING set designed by Shery Russ called Fierce and Brave is also being released. Both of these sets were designed with Women's History Month in mind. 

I l-o-v-e the chic outlines and fierce phrases from the Fierce and Brave set: 

I thought they could be used for all sorts of occasions - add a little ribbon and viola! a wedding card! 

There is nothing like sending an encouraging cards to your lady friends and between these two sets, encouragement and uplifting sentiments are covered in droves! 

Here's the cards I designed for the Beautiful Courage set: 

Whether you're into one-layer cards or lots o' layers cardmaking, the beautiful profile image and warm sentiments are perfect! 

Which card is your fave? 

Want to win? Head on over to the STAMPlorations blog and leave a comment and you could take both sets home for free!

If you want to skip the contest and head right to the ordering, use code STAMPGIRLBECCA for 20% off your order. :) 

Card Chain Challenge - November reveal

Well folks, I'm starting December off the right way - by being late for everything! Extenuating circumstances have caused my procrastinating self to reemerge victorious. 

Just as a heads up. The regularly scheduled Featured Friday will be on break for the month of December due to hectic holiday schedules. But have I ever got some great guests lined up for January!

Deborah of Society of Stampaholics posted her big reveal of the Card Chain Club on December 1st, and I am just now getting around to posting my coordinating card. 

This card was sent to Florida for Miss Barbara. I embossed that bird stamp I had and paired it with some striped paper and some charms I found at Michael's. 

I'd like to enter my card into the Little Red Wagon's Things With Wings challenge because I love my golden embossed bird. That is one OLD rubber stamp from the 90s! 

I'd also like to support the Chocolate, Coffee, and Cards Challenges "Use A Charm". It was fun to pull out some metal embellishments and figure out how to attach them to the card. I'd also like to thank May Arts Ribbon for the Natural Burlap string that I won in the Caring Hearts Card Drive Blog Hop. I LOVE it!!

If you haven't heard of the Card Chain Challenge - you should check it out! I make and make and make homemade cards, but rarely do I receive one. If you sign up for the CCC another crafter somewhere in the world will send you a homemade card (and sometimes extra little goodies). Signup is offered on a month-to-month basis so there's no obligation if you're busy on one month. The next signup will be offered on December 7th!  :) 

I received this amazing card full of sparkly goodness from Nicole of Chez Parmentier who mailed it all the way from the Netherlands:

 

I loved all the layers, textures and those sweet little wooden embellishments. It's proudly displayed with the rest of my homemade cards. 

There. Now I am all caught up with some of the posts and can get back onto solid footing with good ol' December.

Thank you for stopping by! Leave me a comment and follow my blog and I'll be sure to return the favor!

Stamped Christmas Card Challenges

Today it's a balmy 52 degrees here in North Dakota, but last week it dipped to the upper 20s and we had a flurry of snowflakes. The crisp air always makes my thoughts stray to Christmas cookies and warm cocoa... Since I thought it might be just a hair too early to pull out those treats, I decided to slough off the Christmas spirit in the craft room. It's never too early to start stamping Christmas cards because I always seem to run out of cards to send.

 

Today, I made duplicates of both the cards so that I can send them to the Caring Hearts Card Drive. This is Jennifer McGuire's project to bring together stampers who are willing to craft some extra holiday cards for elderly folks who live in nursing homes. As a former nursing home volunteer, there were many people around the holidays who didn't get visits or cards from family and it always made me sad to see. 

The first card I made uses Lawn Fawn's Critters in the Arctic stamp set and Sweater Weather paper pack. I won both of these things in a challenge and when I got them it was cuteness overload. 

I just love the adorable critters! I colored them in with my Spectrum Noir markers and raised them up using some clear gel. 

The color palette for this card was inspired by Color Throwdown Challenge and the Sketch is inspired by Mojo Monday Challenge. I'd also like to enter it into Jingle Belles "Not a Creature was Stirring Challenge".

 

My second card uses the Joyful stamp set from STAMPlorations. I just love the sketched feel of this present stamp and it was perfect to create a vintage-inspired design. 

I embossed the image in red sparkly powder and had fun layering lots of vintagey prints together to create a cohesive card. I used Kraft card stock to bring it all together and stamped the inside with sentiment from the same set. 

This card was inspired by the image from Festive Friday's current challenge and the sketch from My Favorite things challenge. I used the Vintage Christmas challenge over at the Craft Room Challenges to dictate my vintage-inspired design. I'm also going to enter this into the STAMPlorations Anything Goes challenge. Just click on the images to learn more about any of these challenges!

  

Thanks for being merry with me today! Follow my blog and leave me a comment and I'll be sure to return the favor! You all make my day!