Old Fashioned Candy Canes

Good morning friends! I'm winding down with the Christmas projects, this is one of the ones I've been putting off since last Christmas! You see, last year right after Christmas I saw these gorgeous old fashioned candy canes in the liquor store on clearance. I snapped up whatever they had left thinking they would keep till this holiday. Well, I stored them in a box in a kitchen cabinet and when I went to get them out a couple of months ago, they were completely ruined. Melted and gooey and icky! Who would have thought hard candy could do that? I didn't. But as it turned out, these are all natural, no preservative candy canes from Hammond Candies, so they weren't meant to last that long, lol! 

Well, I waited, and waited to see them again in the liquor store this year, and when I didn't see them I had to order them from the Hammond Candy web site. They are just so beautiful, and come in luscious flavors. My favorite is the chocolate filled cherry one. YUM! There's also cinnamon filled, gingerbread, pear, apple...

Anyway, they're so beautiful I couldn't cover them up in a box, or package, so this is what I came up with;

They're very, very big candy canes (9") so this folder style card with the cane attached is very big. Pretty, but kind of cumbersome.

How about that antique candy cane DP from Karen Foster? Is it a perfect match to these or what?! The image is from Penny Black, water colored with Distress inks and markers. I went back with some colored pencil to do the soft amber glow around the image.

The rest of the candy canes are much simpler, with just a tag attached to it. Some more snowmen, one from Penny Black again and the other from Whipper Snapper. 

The candy cane on the left is the gingerbread flavor one, and on the right is peppermint. Aren't the colors just divine! I haven't tried the gingerbread one yet, but the peppermint and cherry ones are delish.

It's off to work for me, but I've got quite a few days off this week, thank goodness, I plan on baking those snowflake cookies. Of course I'll take pictures and share them here.


Thanks for dropping by, have a great week!


Stamps: Penny Black, Whipper Snapper, Cornish Heritage Farms, PTI
Ink: Versafine, Distress, Marvy Heritage
Paper: Core'dinations, Karen Foster, PTI, Fabriano w/c paper
Tools & Accessories: Nestabilities, Amuse Studios snowflake die, Marvy/Uchida snowflake punches, glass glitter, SU tiny tag punch, sewing machine, PTI buttons, baker's twine, Tombow/SU markers, acrylic paint, SU ribbon, wide striped grosgrain ribbon, Spellbinders Labels/Lacy Circles, Sizzix embossing folder, Tonic ticket punch duo, EK Success tiny scallop edge punch, colored pencils, OMS

A Winter Day...

I can't believe I've never inked this adorable snow guy 'Twigs' from Whipper Snapper! I came across him when I was sorting through my stamps and immediately put him to paper. A little bit of coloring with my colored pencils, some red Viva Decor berries and Stickles and he's gorgeous!

 I tried something different with my stitching around the paper edges too. I've seen some people alternate between a straight stitch and a Zig Zag stitch and I think it looks so cute!

The little mitten brad is from Oriental Trading, I think. I've had it forever. I thought it went perfectly with this card's theme.

Thanks for peeking in, see you soon!

Stamps: Whipper Snapper, Catslife Press
Ink: Memento, Distress
Paper: PTI, Core'dinations, We R Memory Keepers
Tools & Accessories: Spellbinders Labels/Nestabilities, colored pencils, OMS, Viva Decor, Stickles, mitten brad from Oriental Trading, snowflake charm, sewing machine

Snow Angel

Oh gosh, doesn't your heart just melt looking at this adorable snow angel from Whipper Snapper? Mine does! She is BIG! There was entirely too much white paper behind her when I cropped it into a typical rectangle, covering up all that delish Basic Grey patterned paper, so I just gave in and cut her out.

One thing I learned when coloring this pudgy little snow lady was shading 'snow' looks a lot nicer when two different colors are used. One for the main shadows, then a totally different color for 'accent' shadows. In this case, I used a typical blue with a greenish tint, then went back and added a bit more in a light spring green. For some reason, it just added so much depth the shading. It's hard to see in the pictures, but trust me, it works!

Thanks for looking!

Stamps: Whipper Snapper, PTI

Ink: Vivid, Adirondack

Paper: Heavenly White, Bristol vellum, Basic Grey, Stardream

Accessories: Nestabilities, EK Success edger punch, colored pencils, OMS, Stickles, satin ribbon, PTI button/twine

New Whipper Snapper October Releases

Whipper Snapper has two new sets being released this month, both designed by Anna Wight. These two sets are THE sets to have if you have little boys or girls in your life that you make cards for. ESPECIALLY little boys! The reason I say this is because I always have a very hard time finding stamp sets that are suitable for boys. This set is perfect! There are all sorts of accessory stamps to customize your image, that will make any little boy feel special!

Of course, 'Her Favorite Things' has adorable litte bears and and dolls, art supplies, and even some Christmas/winter toys!

'His Favorite Things' has a skateboard, baseball equipment, trucks, hats, horses...all the things little boys love!

Here's a closer look at 'His Favorite Things'. The DP is from My Mind's Eye. I attached some string to brads instead of tying a knot with ribbon.

Pretty cute, if I say so myself! What kid wouldn't love to get a card like this!

Thanks for looking!

Stamps: Whipper Snapper

Ink: Memento, Perfect Match

Paper: Bristol vellum, Heavenly white, Coredinations, My Minds's Eye, Bazzill, Bo Bunny

Accessories: Nestabilities, Martha Stewart Doily punch, colored pencils, OMS, brads, string, PTI stitched ribbon, natural grosgrain ribbon

Whipper Snapper Snowman

Here's the last of my Whipper Snapper Featured Designer cards. This set was a lot of fun, I really enjoyed working with them. I love the leaf hat this snow guy is wearing, hilarious!

Layering snowflakes is one of my fave embellishments for winter/Christmas cards. I have tons of different snowflake punches/dies! This one is a SU punch, and a Martha Stewart punch. I used glass glitter to sparkl-i-fy the bigger snowflake(yes, I just made that word up). I love glass glitter because it looks like actual ice crystals.

Stamps: Whipper Snapper

Ink: Memento, Distress

Paper: Basic Grey, Stardream, PTI

Accessories: Fiskars edger punch, SU Snowflake punch, Martha Stewart snowflake punch, Making Memories fancy brad, glass glitter, SU designer label punch, felt ribbon, colored pencils, OMS

Folk Santa

Wow, I can't believe I'm doing so many Christmas cards already! It's only September! At this rate I'll be doing spring cards in November, LOL!

But how can I resist this adorable Santa from Whipper Snapper? I love the little feather tree next to him.

I stamped the background paper with the Winter Quilt set in white ink. I found a big wooden button in my stash to embellish the ribbon bow. That wide striped ribbon from Stamp Simply is to die for. I love it. My name is Kathy and I'm a ribbon addict...lol

Thanks for looking, have a great day!

Stamps: Whipper Snapper

Ink: Memento, Distress, Perfect Match

Paper: PTI, Cosmo Cricket, Bristol vellum, Stardream

Accessories: Spellbinders Labels die, striped ribbon, PTI grosgrain ribbon, wooden button, Making Memories brad, colored pencils, OMS, Sakura glaze pen, Martha Stewart loopy punch

Winter Quilt

Well this card took quite a bit of time to create! All the little individual quilt squares from Whipper Snapper's new cling set were individually colored, cut out with my Nesties and layered onto their own individual squares.

I love the look of it though! Like a real quilt. I wanted a neutral snowflake background that was pretty subtle so as not to compete with the busy-ness of the quilt, so I just stamped different kinds of snowflakes with Distress ink onto cream cardstock. And of course, this is an old quilt, so everything had to be distressed and aged! LOL.

I hope you like it, thanks for stopping by!

Stamps: Whipper Snapper, SU, Verve Visual

Ink: Distress, Memento, Adirondack, Perfect Match

Paper: Bristol vellum, Stardream, PTI

Accessories: Nesties, striped grosgrain ribbon, PTI button, Stickles, Liquid Pearls

Introducing Whipper Snapper 'Spirit of Christmas'

I still can't believe that Anna Wight a.k.a Sweet Miss Daisy, asked me to be a Whipper Snapper Featured Designer for September/October! This is very exciting for me, being a big fan of hers as well as Whipper Snapper's.
Well, once again she has two new sets being released today that are so cute! I mean look at this little angel. She is part of a set of 7 stamps, three images and four sentiments. I love them all!

I used very neutral colors for this card, with just a little red to accent. The decorative papers are from SU's Holiday Mini. Gorgeous! I love the little snowflake medallion centered on the ribbon. When I used Martha Stewart's snowflake punch on the shimmer paper, the negative looked so pretty, I couldn't resist using it instead of the actual punched out snowflake!

I've got more samples to show you using the new WS sets, you're going to love them, so stay tuned! And Splitcoast has a whole bunch of gallery pictures from the other Whipper Snapper Featured Designers, you can see them here.

Thanks for stopping by!

Stamps: Whipper Snapper Designs

Ink: SUInk, Distress, Perfect Match

Paper: SU, Neenah Heavenly white, shimmer cardstock, Bristol vellum

Accessories: Spellbinders Labels 8, Fiskars apron lace punch, red rhinestone, Martha Stewart snowflake punch, SU striped ribbon, Stickles, colored pencils, OMS

Summer Sunflowers

There was a thread over on SCS about coloring on Kraft paper, and it reminded me that I love the look and needed to try it again. This sunflower image from Whipper Snapper seemed perfect for it.

I used Liquid Glass and Cinnamon Stickles on some of the flower centers for added dimension. And of course, I had to try the button bow thing that everyone seems to be doing. I think I saw it first on Nichole Heady's blog, and loved the look! It's a lot easier than trying to glue the button to the ribbon, which I have done in the past. This is more durable, it won't fall apart.

Hope it inspires!

Stamps: Whipper Snapper

Ink: Palette, Distress

Paper: PTI, SU

Accessories: SU ribbon, brown button, twine, colored pencils, OMS, Stickles, Liquid Glass, sewing machine

Hot Cocoa Holders

Stamps: Cornish Heritage Farms, Whipper Snapper, Papertrey Ink
Ink: Palette, Distress
Paper: Cosmo Cricket, PTI, SU, Hot press watercolor paper
Accessories: Nestabilities, PTI twill, Clear bags, markers, Stickles, stapler
I actually made these hot cocoa holders a long time ago, the blue one is Debbie Olson's template the other is one from Sonja's Scene. I love the idea of hot cocoa holders, they are so easy for last minute thoughtful gifts, or a little something extra to go with a card. Everyone loves hot chocolate, right!

Keep scrolling down, I'm going to post the rest of my Christmas projects, it's easier to do a new post for each one, instead of trying to format everything in one. Blogger's not so good with that. Thanks for looking!
Stamps: Plum Purdy, Papertrey Ink

Ink: Palette, Versafine

Paper: Bazzill, Stampin Up DSP, PTI, Hot press watercolor paper

Accessories: Nestabilities, White twill, markers, Stickles

Bitten by the Christmas Bug...

I'm tired of making Halloween stuff already! I had to try a couple of Christmas cards and now I can't stop. Oh well. I was able to find Cosmo Cricket's new line 'Oh Joy' and I LOVE it! I thought I loved 'Wonderland' (and I do) but their new collection is incredible. I think almost anything Cosmo Cricket puts out is awesome. They fit my style to a tee. Anyway, the first card was fairly simple, blocks of layered DP on chocolate colored shimmery cardstock. When Papertrey Ink released it's new shimmery metallic cardstocks I really wanted to get them, but they are kinda pricey. I'm all about budget, so I resisted and bought Stardream paper from California Paper Goods instead. I had purchased Stardream paper from them before, and it is beautiful. Their cardstock is heavy, and the subtle shimmer is perfect for holiday projects. Plus there are a lot more gorgeous colors!
Stamps: Verve Visual, Whipper Snapper, Impression Obsession
Ink: Palette, Distress, Adirondack
Paper: Fabriano w/c paper, Cosmo Cricket, Stardream, PTI
Accessories: Tombow/SU! markers


This card has a lot of stamping on it. I didn't have the right BG paper for what I had in mind so I stamped it entirely. The wreath was stamped with individual little stamps from Stamps by Judith. To keep them lined up in a perfect circle, I first stamped one of PTI's circles from 'Borders and Corners' then followed around with the tiny pine sprig stamp, and finally the berry sprig and pinecone. Purty!
Stamps: Papertrey Ink, Stamps by Judith, Verve Visual, Studio G
Ink: Palette, Colorbox, Adirondack
Paper: SU!, PTI, Bazzill, Stardream
Accessories: Nestabilities, Burgandy stitched ribbon, Corner rounder punch

Earthy Sunflowers

I really love this card. It has all my favorite elements. Warm, earthy colors, a little sparkle, simple layout. I colored the sunflowers in with Twinkling H2O's. I used a combo of Cedarwood, Spiced Pumpkin and Blushing Caramel, then colored the petals and leaves with Tombow markers. The 'stitching' around the edges is not real, I have NO patience for any sewing, LOL. Instead, I used a piece of plastic canvas to evenly pierce holes along the entire card front, then I drew faux stitches with a black Sakura Glaze pen. Amazing, huh? They look almost real!

Stamps: Whipper Snapper
Ink: Palette, Distress, Adirondack
Paper: Fabriano w/c paper, PTI, Heidi Grace, SU!, Bazzill
Accessories: Twinkling H2O's, Tombow markers, Sakura Glaze pen, Paper Piercing Tool

Autumn Sheep

I seem to have had a bit of a slump lately. At least I think it was. I may have just been overwhelmed with the amount of stamps I bought recently! I didn't know what to do with all of them! I did make a few cards in the past week, just haven't gotten around to posting them. This one however, I made last night because I just got some wonderful new stamps from Whipper Snapper. I love their images, but put off buying them for a long time because they are IMO a bit pricey, and the shipping is too. I can't afford their stuff very often! I've been wanting this sheep stamp for a long time, and when I saw they were offering unmounted rubber, at a bit of savings, I went for it.
I think the image pairs beautifully with Cosmo Cricket's new Haunted paper collection. LOVE it! Icouldn't find a card base in any color that fit well with the overall feel of the card, so I took my home made tea stain mister, and the Walnut Ink spray and spritzed white Bazzill cardstock lightly, then wiped off the excess with a paper towel, then ironed it. Voila! Instant aged paper!

Stamps: Whipper Snapper, Papertrey Ink sentiment
Paper: Bazzill, Cosmo Cricket, Fabriano watercolor paper
Ink: Palette, Adirondack reinkers, Distress inkpads and reinkers, Tsukineko Walnut Stain mister
Accessories: Nestabilities, Sepia Paper Glaze