A Super Special Post

As you all know, our sweet Jenny is leaving Great Impressions.  We are all so sad to see her go--she's been a fixture here for so long!  To say goodbye, we've made some special cards for this very special lady!  Please join us in sending her off in style by leaving a parting comment for her below! :)

From Mynnette~

Products used: D405 Just Me. Thinking of You.

From Giovana~

Products used: B193 So Thankful For You, H212 Lace Frame.

From Mary Anne~

Products used: H174 Peacock.

From Carolyn~

Products used: G28 Winter Chickadee.

Jenny, we love you, will miss you, and wish you all the best in the next journey your life brings!  HUGS to you from all of us here at the Great Impressions Blog!  And HAPPY NEW YEAR to all our friends! :)

Inspiration Tuesday with Carolyn

Hi all, today is my Great Impressions inspiration

day and I am going to show you my little project.

Do you like bells? I happen to collect them and I saw this stamp and had to have it.

My stamps are: 9185 Winter Bells and 9302 Pine Branch.I colored the images up using Copics and I used StazOn for the background green and Memento for the light green ink.

I hope you like my project. Stop back for more inspiration daily!

Carolyn

Warmest Greetings

Hello friends!! I hope you all had a great Christmas time and have the best plans for the coming year! First, I want to say thank you to "Great Impressions" for the chance they give to be a Guest Designer and then part of the Design Team, it has been a fantastic time.
Second, this is my last post as a Design Team Member, sure I will miss you all,  as I say before I have some other plans hopefully everything will be as I am planning it would be ;)

So, now with my last project, I used Warmest Greetings Stamp, stamped it on a piece of Ivory Cardstock in Versamark Watermark ink, then added Gold Embossing powder and heat set it. Then I die-cut, embossed and stenciled it with Nestabilities Labels Fourteen. The background piece was made with Gold Majesty Circles Dies, I used Gold Cardstock, added the sentiment in there and add clear rhinestones.
Finally I added a couple of strips of patterned paper.

Hope you like it!
Once again, thanks so much for having me here and wishing you the best in the New Year 2014!
Hugs!!

Giovana

American as Apple Pie

     Now, that Christmas is over, it's time to make a few thank you cards.  I used the F419 Sweetie Pie and D379 Apple Pie to create this all American thank you note.  I didn't intend to go patriotic, I started by using some red gingham paper but it need something else to go with it so out came the blue.

     I always think gingham needs some white eyelet lace so I added a lacy white border to the checks and then the blue border around the edges of my images and the center mat.  This is the first time I've used a mat underneath the punched border.  I think it's a neat effect.

     I went to my patriotic drawer, Yes, I have a red, white and blue drawer of embellies.  I keep everything sorted by color because it makes it easy for me to find the right embellishment for my cards.  Anyway after sorting through for the right embellishment, I found these flowers and felt they had the country charm I was looking for so I added them to the corners.   This left a large empty space in the upper right so I went to my red drawer and found these lovely red rhinestone flourishes, just the right thing!

    Mary Anne

Valentine Treat Tutorial

Hi, all!  I hope you all had an amazing Christmas yesterday and that you got everything you hoped for and more!  And I also hope you use some of your Christmas cash to purchase some amazing Great Impressions stamps!  That's one thing you will NEVER regret!

Since the holidays are over, I decided to look forward to February and do a video tutorial on a sweet little Valentine holder!

Here are the supplies you'll need for today's tutorial:

• J110 Flower Bouquet
• E779 Would You
• Piece of 3.5" x 12" patterned paper (Valentine theme)
• Piece of 3.75" x 2.5" white cardstock
• Piece of 1.25" x 3" white cardstock
• Piece of 4" x 2.75" red cardstock
• Piece of 1.5" x 3.25" red cardstock
• Scoring tool
• Inks and embellishments to finish your project

Here's the holder, inside and out~

And here's the video tutorial~

Thank you so much for stopping by here today!  I'm super excited to let you know that I will be staying on for another 6 month term here at Great Impressions--as the Design Team Coordinator!  That means more tutorials from me, so stay tuned!  The next tutorial will be another fun Valentine treat holder!.

The supplies you'll need for the next tutorial are:

• D342 Valentine with Hearts
• 6" x 6" piece of double sided patterned paper
• Stapler
• Eyelet setter and eyelet (optional)
• Ribbon (optional)
• Other papers and inks to finish your project

HUGS and happy stamping, friends!

Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas to all of my crafty friends out there!!!  I hope you're all planning on spending time with loved ones and that all your wishes come true! :)  I've got a little tag to show you today with a holiday sentiment meant for each of you!  It uses a fabulous sentiment from the Great Impressions store!

Here's the tag/card~

Details~

Products used: D469 Vintage Merry Christmas.

I hope that everyone enjoys their day off!  Those of you working, I hope you know how much you are appreciated by those of us who might need you!  HUGS and merry stamping to you all--see you tomorrow for another post from me here at Great Impressions--a Valentine treat tutorial!

Inspiration Tuesday with Carolyn

Happy Holidays!

I'm here to give you a little inspiration today and it's all about glitter!

I LOVE bells and this cute stamp: 9230- Christmas Bell Swag is just the ticket!

I used sparkly background paper, embossed the 3rd layer then added a little stickles

for good measure. For yet more glitz, I used a pine branch paper punch to cut punch

out the branches from the same background paper. It also added a litte 3D effect!

I hope you like my little sparkly card, best wishes for you and yours this holiday season.

Carolyn

Sharing few of my favorites (Part II)

Hello friends! It's me again, sharing few of my favorites projects for Great Impressions! Let's see Autumn and Christmas cards today :)

Love this wagon image!! Perfect image for Fall/Thanksgiving. You can see the original post HERE

This CAS card is one of my favorites! You can see the original post HERE

This image is cute and prefect for Christmas time. You can see the original post HERE

Last but not least, what about cute little tags! You can see the original post HERE

Hope you like them!!
Have a beautiful day!

Outlines of Christmas

     Happy Friday and Merry Christmas, Mary Anne here with my final Christmas card for the year.  For this last card, I wanted to do something very different for me, A non-colored card.  I did use color but a little differently.  What I did was stamp   Vintage Holly H190  for my background and then I stamped  K40 Poinsettias and Berries in green for my focal image and in red.  Next I cut out my red poinsettia and popped it over the green poinsettia.  The two different layers are faux stitched with red to echo the red poinsettia.

     Finally,  I added some red Stickles to all the holly berries on both layers and some gold Stickles to the center of the poinsettias and the swirls around the flowers.

     As I said before, this card is very different for me without the coloring but, I think the red and green against the white is really striking.

     May all your Christmas Dreams come true

     Mary Anne

   

 

   

Ornamental, My Dear Watson!

Did you see that title?  Whaddayathink?  It was late when I thought it up...any validation that it is witty is welcome! ;)

Anyway, let's get down to brass tacks!  I've made another holiday card to share with you today--just a few days left until Christmas! :)

Here's my card~

More detail on my personal blog HERE.

Products used: H112 Decorative Bulbs, D469 Vintage Merry Christmas.

Thanks for stopping by today!  Don't forget to grab the things you'll need for the next tutorial I'll have for you!  You've got just one week left to gather your supplies!

Here are the supplies you'll need for that tutorial:

• J110 Flower Bouquet
• E779 Would You
• Piece of 3.5" x 12" patterned paper (Valentine theme)
• Piece of 3.75" x 2.5" white cardstock
• Piece of 1.25" x 3" white cardstock
• Piece of 4" x 2.75" red cardstock
• Piece of 1.5" x 3.25" red cardstock
• Scoring tool
• Inks and embellishments to finish your project

HUGS and merry stamping to you all! :)  

Inspiration Tuesday with Carolyn

Happy Tuesday! I'm watching the snow falling whilst I type up this post.

Today I have a holiday card for you. Have you sent out your cards yet? I was

good and got mine out the first week of December.

My card features something that a lot of holiday trees and decorations feature, Christmas bulb ornaments in fun patterns.

Stamp: 9134 Decorative Bulbs Rubber Stamp- Sku: H112

I LOVE holiday bulb ornaments. I love them with glitter, sequins, ribbon, fabric...just about anything you can think of. I should tell you that if I lived alone, I would probably have ornaments up all year long. I have a collection of elaborate sequined witch hats that would look even better with a few bulb ornaments hanging from them. I colored up these fun cuties with Copics. I stamped out two extra images to add with pop up dots for a 3D effect. I then added pink twine to make the ribbons and instead of driving myself nuts trying to make a straight hangers, I drew them with a black fine tip pen.

I hope you like my little holiday card. Don't forget to join in on the current challenge over at the  

 Great Impressions Challenge Blog.

Great Impressions is having a Design Team call! If your are interested, click HERE for more info.

Carolyn

Sharing few of my favorites (Part 1)

Hello friends!! Hope you are having a great Monday! Today I want to share with you few of my favorite projects I have created for Great Impressions, showcasing Baby/kids projects. December is my last month as a Design Team member, sad to go, but new things are coming and I am very excited for that too!!

I have to confess I "LOVE" to make baby cards!  For whatever reason, making them makes me very happy!!

Celebrate!! For this card I used  Baby Emma Bear Stamp and  "Celebrate" part from Time to Celebrate Stamp. You can see the original post HERE

 

 

This girl card is so pretty! A lot of 3D elements, I used  Baby Girl Shoes image and  Princess sentiment. You can see the original post HERE.

 Another Princess card for your favorite girl!! Here  I used Princess Castle and Princess Sentiment, You can see the original post HERE

 

 

 

Finally, another baby card!! The stamps I used here are: Baby Button Clothesline and New Little Baby. You can see the original post HERE

 

 

Thanks so much for visiting!

Have a fantastic day!



Ornamental Tag

     W I am rounding out the week with another tag for this weeks Christmas Tag theme.  I LOVE making tags and Christmas really is the time to pull out the stops for tags.  I want my tags to be an appetizer for the gift, something that is a small gift in itself and with this tag, I think I have done that.  I can just picture it being recycled onto a Christmas tree

    I have a deep infatuation with all of the darling mouse stamps carried by Great Impressions and this little one of D267 Ice Skating Murray is a special favorite since I have a figure skater in the family.

     This darling stamp may be small but in the right setting, like this tag it can make a big impact.  It also makes a darling addition to the outside of Christmas card envelopes and can't you just see it as a cute part of a napkin ring on a holiday table.  Hmm, I think I just decided to make one to slip into my skater's lunch.  I love adding little homemade touches to her lunch to let her know how much her momma loves her and brighten her day.

Mary Anne

Snowflake Tag

Hi, all!  It's tag week here at Great Impressions and I'm sure you'll agree that the tags so far have been totally amazing!  I've got a fun wintry tag to share with you today, so let's take a peek!

Here's my tag~

More details on my personal blog HERE.

Products used: H171 Snowflake Wreath, D469 Vintage Merry Christmas.

Thanks for stopping by today!  Don't forget to grab the things you'll need for the next tutorial I'll have for you!  You've got two weeks left to gather your supplies!

Here are the supplies you'll need for that tutorial:

• J110 Flower Bouquet
• E779 Would You
• Piece of 3.5" x 12" patterned paper (Valentine theme)
• Piece of 3.75" x 2.5" white cardstock
• Piece of 1.25" x 3" white cardstock
• Piece of 4" x 2.75" red cardstock
• Piece of 1.5" x 3.25" red cardstock
• Scoring tool
• Inks and embellishments to finish your project

HUGS and merry stamping to you all! :)  

Design Team Call!

Great Impressions Stamps Design Team Call!

You heard right!  Great Impressions Stamps is having a Design Team call!

We are in need of a few enthusiastic, friendly and talented stampers!

This call is open to U.S. residents only.

Requirements

• Have an active blog for at least 6 months.
• Able to commit to a 6 month term beginning February 1^st.
• Ability to take excellent bright photographs.
• Have an active Facebook account.
• Enjoy posting comments.
• Participate in our challenges and hops.
• Create projects for Facebook  and/or The Great Impressions Stamps Blog on an assigned basis.

Rewards

• Generous supply of free quality red rubber Stickable stamps every month.
• Your name, a link to your blog, and photo will be displayed on the Great Impressions Stamps store website.
• Opportunity to purchase stamps at wholesale prices for the duration of your term.
• Plus, a great chance to work with a fun and friendly team!

Does this sound like something that would interest you?

If so, we want to hear from you! 

Here is what you need to do:

1.     First, be/become a follower of the Great Impressions Stamps Blog and “Like” our Facebook page.

2.     Next, email the following to Mynnette at [email protected] with the words "Great Impressions Stamps DT Call" in the subject line: 

• Full name, email address, blog link, Facebook link, and any online galleries you may have (Flickr, Youtube, Splitcoast etc.)
• Short bio including your design style and why you would love to join the team.
• Current design teams and terms.
• Previous DT experience, if any.  Previous experience on a design team is NOT REQUIRED.

Deadline for submission is January 6th at 5:59 PM Central Time.

Please e-mail:  Mynnette at [email protected] with any questions

Before you submit your application.

A Change

Hello Friends,

Jenny here with some news.

I have decided to step down from the position

of Design Team Coordinator here at Great Impressions Stamps.

I have loved every moment of my time here and will miss you all greatly!  I don't like long good byes so this will be it for me.  I will be spending more time with my family and may be taking on a new adventure.  I'll still be blogging and getting inky every chance I get!  

I am leaving you in excellent hands.

I am happy to say DT member Mynnette will be taking over and she will be fabulous!

Watch for a Design Team call up on the blog tommorrow.

We are looking for a few crafty peeps! 

Hugs,

Jenny

Christmas Tag Tuesday with Carolyn

Happy Tuesday! It's Christmas tag week at Great Impressions!

Today is the day I get to share my tag. It's inspired by the great outdoors.

So my little tag is a winter scene. A cute little chickadee perched

on a branch in the pine trees during a snowy evening.

My stamp,  9309 - Winter Chickadee Rubber Stamp - Sku: G28.

I used white ink on black background for the pine trees, a Memory

Box die for the brown branches and a little tinsel ribbon for the

perch. I added a velour ribbon on the top and then

added translucent glitter on the pine needles and Stickles on

the buds of the branches.

Do you like my "tag?" I think it's very holiday inspired.

Have a great day and don't forget to check out the blog

every day for new inspiration from the Design Team!

Carolyn

Winter Teddy Tags

Hello friends! This week we are starting our week of Christmas tags! Today I make these cute 3 little tags, perfect for your Christmas presents.

I started die-cutting the tags and banners, then I stamped the cute Teddy image in Memento Tuxedo Black, colored them with Spectrum Noir Markers, then I stamped the jingle bells from Christmas Bell Swag in Golden Glitz Delicata Ink.
The to/from was stamped in Jet Black Archival ink. After stamping the banners I added them to the tags with dimensionals. I added Stickles to the Christmas hats.


Great Impressions Stamps used:

• E814 - Winter Teddy
• B171 - To & From
• G348 - Christmas Bell Swag

Hope you like them.
Have a great day!

Giovana

December Challenge is here!

Hi friends!

Is everyone busy getting ready for the holidays?  

I hope you all find a little time to relax and get crafty.

To help you do that we have a fun challenge for you this month,

but first let's get to our November challenge winners.

The theme was a holiday card or tag.

#60 Jennyfer

#28 Heide

And our Top Pix this month is....

#14 Lorraine

Lorraine Congratulations!!

Contact me (Jenny) at [email protected]

to claim your coupon code good for $20 off your order!!

How awesome is that?

All three of you ladies may grab our badge to share on your blogs!

Are you ready for our December challenge?

December is a great month to show off all thinks glittery and sparkly.

After all that first snow has a shine all of it's own.

So show us your best creations using glitter and/or sequins.

Our team has come up with some sparkly creations of their own.

They are probably still finding glitter everywhere! (lol!)

Giovana

G289 Frosty Friends

Mary Anne

H171 Snowflake Wreath

Mynnette

K40 Poinsettias and Berries

D469 Vintage Merry Christmas

Carolyn

D395 Jingle all the Way

Jenny

F565 Swinging Elf

C456 Have Yourself

Our DT would love to hear what you think.
Give them a visit and leave a little comment love.

Here are some guidelines for our challenges:

If you prefer, you may post your entry in the gallery at Splitcoaststampers
Using keyword - GISMC12 in the title so we can find you and leave a little comment love.
As a bonus, if you use our stamps leave us a comment on this post telling us 
and we will send you a coupon code for 20% off a $25 order!!!  
What a deal!
To view all of our challenge rules just click on the "Challenge Rules & Badges" tab above.

May all your glitter land where you want it to!

Hugs,

Jenny

Inspiration Saturday with Carolyn...

Hi ya peeps! It's Saturday and time for another project from me.

This week I have a cute bird tag..

I am partial to bird stamps and this one is my favorite from Great Impressions!

You can find this stamp Winter Chickadee G28 here.

I colored my image up using Distress Inks on watercolor paper. I added

a little Stickles glitter glue and some sequins on ribbon. I also made

a matching envelope for the tag. Don't forget to stop by the Great Impressions

blog for daily inspiration and don't forget to join in our challenge which starts tomorrow!

Carolyn

Pink Poinsettias

    I absolutely love Poinsettias.  The beautiful reds of the classic flowers, the elegant white and the wonderful shabby chic pink.  I recently saw a lovely display of pink poinsettias and it inspired today's card, which is a little different from a traditional Christmas Card.

     I am totally in love with this Poinsettias and Berries stamp.  I have used it once this year in a classic red and still plan an white and gold card. This time I stamped with a sepia brown ink and then used my pencils and a gamsol technique to get the soft colors. The petals are also covered in icicle Stickles to really make this card sparkle.   I raided my stash for the paper doily that I cut to size and used some adhisive gems, pearls and stones to give it some bling.  The petals are also covered in icicle stickles to really make this card sparkle.

      Till I see you again next Friday,

Mary Anne

Paper Piecing

Hi, friends!  It's an ODD week--yep, the first week of December but also ODD because I'll be delivering my first video tutorial today instead of on the second Thursday! ;)  We're going to be learning all about PAPER PIECING this time around!

Here's a list of the supplies you'll need for our tutorial today:

• K40 Poinsettia & Berries
• D469 Vintage Merry Christmas
• Patterned papers
• Neutral cardstock
• Black or brown ink
• Adhesive
• Embellishments to finish your project

Here's the card I've made with this super fun and easy technique~

More details can be found on my personal blog HERE.

And here's the video tutorial~

Thanks for stopping by today!  I'll be back in THREE weeks with another fabulous video tutorial!  That tutorial will feature a Valentine project (it's never too early to start them!) that is sure to please any sweet tooth! ;)

Here are the supplies you'll need for that tutorial:

• J110 Flower Bouquet
• E779 Would You
• Piece of 3.5" x 12" patterned paper (Valentine theme)
• Piece of 3.75" x 2.5" white cardstock
• Piece of 1.25" x 3" white cardstock
• Piece of 4" x 2.75" red cardstock
• Piece of 1.5" x 3.25" red cardstock
• Scoring tool
• Inks and embellishments to finish your project

HUGS and merry stamping to you all! :)  

Winners Announced!!

Hello Friends,

I'm popping in to announce the two winners of our Give Away

with Guest Designer Cindy Lawrence!

Here is another peek of Cindy's amazingly a-dorable card:

Wowzers!  Can she color and put a card together or what?!

I just peeked at Cindy's blog and did you know she only needs one more follower to hit 1000!!  What an accomplishment!  Now "who" wants to hop over there and be number 1000?!  Just sayin'!

Here are our two winners chosen from the Great Impressions Blog and from Cindy's Blog:

BUNNY - from Bunny's Cards

 AND

TONI - from Frankie Helps Craft

Congrats Ladies!!  Each of you will receive our 

Santa Owl image and our Naughty or Nice sentiment!

Please e-mail me (Jenny) at:

[email protected]

with your full name and mailing address, and I will

get those right out to you.

Hugs,

Jenny

CAS Pinecones

Hi, friends!  It's Mynn--I know it isn't Thursday, but I've got a super quick and easy holiday card to share with you that I think you could mass produce in no time at all...so grab these stamps!

Here's the card~

More details on my personal blog HERE.

Products used: C31 Pine Cone Sprig, F249 Warmest Greetings.

I will be back TOMORROW with a new video tutorial, everyone!!!  The technique I'll be showcasing is PAPER PIECING.

Here's a list of the supplies you'll need for that tutorial:

• K40 Poinsettia & Berries
• D469 Vintage Merry Christmas
• Patterned papers
• Neutral cardstock
• Black or brown ink
• Adhesive
• Embellishments to finish your project

Thanks so much for stopping by!  HUGS and merry stamping to you all!

Whooo's Naughty Give Away!

Hello friends!

It's Cindy Lawrence here, and I'm back with a whimsical Christmas card, and a great give-away!

My card today is made with the darling new Santa Owl stamp, along with the Naughty or Nice sentiment stamp.  Both of these are Stickable Stamps, which are precision cut, cling rubber stamps that have the image printed right on them.  Love that feature so much!

My card is 5-1/4" square, and the pretty patterned papers are from Penny Black's Madison 6x6 paper pack.  I am a big fan of red, white, and pale blue together...so fresh and yummy!



I stamped the owl image on X-Press It Blending Card with Memento Tuxedo Black ink, and colored him in with the following Copic markers:

R32/R35/R37/E31/E35/E42/E44/BG10/BG53/BG57/Y23/Y28/Y32/Y38/YR04/YR09

I added sparkle to the snow with a Clear Stardust Gellyroll pen, and sparkle to his belt buckle with a Gold Spica Glitter Pen.  I added shine to the eyes with Glossy Accents, and fluff to the fur trim on his outfit with Polar White Flower Soft.

The Naughty or Nice sentiment was stamped in Memento Teal Zeal ink.

I die-cut the image with a pierced circle die, and the sentiment with a flag die.  I wrapped a bit of teal/white twine, and sprinkled on a few rhinestones to finish the details.




Inside, I added a couple of strips of patterned paper, and stamped Santa Owl in Memento Teal Zeal, that was stamped off one time.

So....  Would you like to win your very own Santa Owl stamp and Naughty or Nice sentiment stamp???  Of COURSE you would!  All you need to do is leave me a comment here on the Great Impressions Blog, and you'll be entered to win.  Guess what?  You have a SECOND chance to win too!  Just hop on over to my personal blog, The Creative Closet, and leave me a comment there as well!. Two chances to win!!  How great is that?!

Have a truly wonderful day, friends!

~Cindy