Checkin' It Twice

Howdy -

How can it be the last day of July? Where did the month go? This is my last card for the High Hopes Stamps Christmas in July series. And I just had to end it with the big man himself. This is Santa - "Checkin' It Twice" Great Santa Claus image!  

 

Santa is colored with my Copics (colors below) and then I added some Nuvo Glitter paint for his trim. Why? Because I think Santa needs some magical sparkle!  

My pattern papers is from Basic Grey, love those coordinating front and back patterns. I sewed down the layers and then went to punch out and color my sentiment. High Hopes Stamps "Naughty List" is just so much fun and perfect for this image. It is punched out with an EK Success punch then matted with the same dark red pattern paper. 

A simple but fun card. And easy to mail with less embellishments - sometimes that is a must for mailing out cards.

Copic colors used -

Have you gotten your Christmas Cards started? Planned what image you just have to use this year? If not make sure to jump over to the High Hopes Stamps Website HERE and see all the Christmas images you will for sure find one, two or ten you just fall in love with! 

Thanks so much! 

Gnome for Christmas!!

 Happy Sunday HH Fans!

Yesterday we opened the vault & released Skiing Racoon.  Today I have another surprise vault release....say hello again to Sledding Gnomes.  Aren't they just the cutest?!  

I was super excited to get to colour these cuties.....I love gnomes!  In fact I got so excited that I just started colouring without picking my patterned paper first...something I never usually do.  So that meant I had a bit of a challenge on my hands.  Reason....I added blue to this image with traditional red & green.  Blue does go with green and red BUT it was the shade of blue I chose that made it a challenge.  Finally after some digging through my abundant stash of paper I came across a Memory Box pad called Woodsy Plaid.  Low & behold the blue was a pretty good match.  I liked the gold in the paper too.  I also put on a small strip of Echo Park My Favorite Christmas paper.  My papers are getting older by the day, I haven't bought any new stuff for quite sometime.  I just have soooo much paper & I'm trying to be a good girl and not buy more.  I think it might be time this girl orders some new paper lol.

Copic Colours

Red - R37, R35, R46

Blue - B24, B23, B21

Skin - E0000, E00, E01, E04

Green - G28, G24, G21

Holly - G46, G43, G40

Berries - R37

Beards - W3, W1, W00

Jack Sleeves - C6, C4, C2, C0

Pom Poms - C0 with Stardust Stickles

Shading - W3, W1, W0, W00

Stamps 

Sledding Gnomes - TDG053

Gnome for Christmas - FDG005

Thanks for visiting today, happy stampin'!

You gotta love a skiing racoon!!

 Happy Saturday HH fans!

I can't believe how fast the Summer is going by this year....it's almost August!!

I wanted to at least pop in with one more Christmas In July card.  Today I'm using a previously retired image called Skiing Racoon.  This adorable image is now back up on the High Hopes website....how cool is that?!  I paired this cutie with the Hello Winter sentiment...now I can use it for both Winter & Christmas.

I used some older Echo Park patterned paper from my stash called Winter Park.  The rectangle dies are from Gina Marie, her dies are lovely.  I only added some satin ribbon & Star Dust Stickles for my embellishments.

Copic Colours

Red - R39, R37, R35

Shading - B000, B0000

Blue - B97, B95, B93

Skiis & Poles - C5, C3, C1, C0

Raccoon Black - N8, N6, N4

Raccoon Grey - N3, N2, N1, N0

Stamps

Skiing Racoon TDG052

Hello Winter FDG007

Thanks so much for popping in today!

Snow Sweet

 I can't believe that I am posting my last card for Christmas in July this week! The month sure flew by and I have had so much fun getting started on this years cards!  I love to send/give cards to friends at Christmas and this week my card featuring "Birdies Friend Snowlady" and "Landing Birdie" will be perfect for one of them. How fun would it be to receive a sparkly snowflake gift from a friend!

To begin my card, I stamped on alcohol marker friendly paper, coloured the stamps with Copic markers and hand fussy cut them. I added some polka dots on the snowlady's patched with a white gel pen. I decided on patterned paper from Echo Park and Honey Bee Stamps to create the card base. After cutting the blue paper to size, I added a die cut snow bank and some die cut snow flakes. Next, I cut a small line in the bird's beak and slipped a sparkly snowflake die cut into the slit so it looked like it is in it's mouth. I stamped both sentiments and added them to matching card stock and added the stamps with foam pop dots. Some twine and enamel dots finish off my card. 

Stamp Recipe

Stamps - Birdies Friend Snowlady (S082), Landing Birdie (H186) - High Hopes Rubber Stamps

Sentiment - Snow Sweet (F122), Sm. Christmas Script (F051)

Patterned Paper - Winter - Echo Park, Log Cabin - Honey Bee Stamps

Memento Tuxedo Black ink, Hammermill Digital Cover Card Stock, snowflake die - Memory Box, twine, enamel dots 

Copic Markers

Birdhouse/Hat - E41 E43 E47 E49

Birds - R05 R27 V09

Scarf/Mittens - YG61 YG63 YG67 B39

Nose - N4 N5 N8 

Beaks - Y11 Y15 YR23 Y26

Shading- B91

Thanks for stopping by! Have a super fantastic day!

Wasn't ME

Howdy - MichelleO here today with Christmas In July at High Hopes Stamps - and this week my image is a little close to home! People ask me, why don't you put up a Christmas Tree? Well...

It has happened to us ... years ago and that was calm cats. I can't imagine with these kitties we have it would be insane! But I still love the image! It is a holiday giggle favorite of mine. High Hopes Stamps "Wasn't Me" I colored with my Copics (colors below) and then found some pretty pattern papers from Teresa Collins World Traveler collection. All the layers are sewn down with zig zag and straight stitches. 

For the sentiment I went with High Hopes Stamps "Define Naughty" Sometimes I think I can here our cat Bubba saying that when he is in trouble. LOL  I punched out the sentiment with an EK Success punch then faux matted it with a Copic around the edge. 

Copic colors used - 

 Giggled while doing this one for sure. A fun image for your holiday card! To see all the images at High Hopes Stamps click HERE and see all the fun! 

Thanks!

 

Happy Holidays with Crystal Snowlady

 Happy Saturday HH Fans!

I'm popping in today to share Crystal Snowlady with Happy Holidays.

It's been wet and raining but HOT here is Ontario this past week.  Creating some Christmas cards just makes me feel cool...no pun intended lol.

I used some traditional Christmas colours for Crystal Snowlady this week.  The patterned paper is an older Echo Park 6 x 6 pad called Deck the Halls.

I have so many Christmas cards to make this year I'm keeping them rather clean & simple.  I didn't use any dies with this one.  Just some organza ribbon & enamel dots...oh & a little bit of Nuvo Glitter Accents.

Copic Colours

Clay Pot - E95, E97, E99

Brown Wood - E29, E27, E25

Metal - C4, C2, C0

Snow Seeds pkg & Snowflake - B01, B00, B000, B0000

Red - R59, R37, R46

Green - G28, G24, G21

Cheeks - R02, R000, R0000

Nose - T8, T6, T4

Dirt - E44, E43, E42

Grounding - C3, C1, C00

Snowlady Shading - B00, B000, B0000

Stamps

Crystal Snowlady T060

Happy Holidays FDG006

Thanks for popping in today, happy stampin'!

Christmas Drummer

 I love doing Christmas cards in July. It is hard some times to get in to a cold, snowy winter state of mind when it is hot and humid out but I need a lot of Christmas cards so to get a head start by starting them in July is great. I mail some cards but most of them are handed out in person at family dinners. Last year the card delivery was delayed by a few days because I was in blizzard conditions for three days right over Christmas. I am hoping that won't happen again this year but if it does I will still have my cards ready like this one featuring "Drummer & Friends" From High Hopes Rubber Stamps. 

After stamping on to alcohol marker friendly paper I coloured the stamp with Copic markers and cut it out using a rounded square die. I coloured to match the paper from the Wise Men Still Seek Him paper pad from Echo Park and cut the base paper to fit the 5.5" x 5.5" base I wanted to use. I cut a piece of card stock to go behind the stamp, used a corner rounder the match the rounded edges of the die and glued them together. 

Next, I die cut a poinsettia from matching card stock, glued it together and added it to the card with a foam pop dot. While I had my Big Kick on my table I cut some snow flakes and music notes to scatter in to the corners. I cut a second piece of patterned paper to put along the sides of the stamp, stamped the sentiment and glued it on to matching card stock. Enamel dots finish off my card. 

Stamp Recipe

Stamps - Drummer & Friends (RDG005) - High Hopes Rubber Stamps

Sentiment - Heaven Sing (H268)

Patterned Paper - Winter - Echo Park

Memento Tuxedo Black ink, Hammermill Digital Cover Card Stock, rounded corner die with pierce marks - Your Next Stamp, music notes die - Gina Marie Designs, snowflake die - Gina Marie Designs, poinsettia die - Whimsy Stamps, pop dot, enamel dots

Copic Markers

Skin - E00 E21 E11 

Hair - E25 E29

Camel - E23 E57 E79 

Shirt - YG61 YG63 YG67 

Cow/Lamb Face - YR0000 YR00 W1 W3

Cow - N5 N8 N10

Horse - E53 E33 E39 E57 E79

Thanks for stopping by! Have a super fantastic day!

Baking Ginger

Howdy - MichelleO here today with Christmas in July at High Hopes Stamps! And one of my favorite things about the holidays is the BAKING!! I don't do as much as I use to - but I do still like to make a few goodies. Grandma's Pralines are a favorite! When giving as a gift I like to include a card - and this image is just too perfect for special Christmas treats. This is Baking Ginger - 

Yummy Gingerbread cookies! I colored with my Copics ( colors below ) and found some kraft card stock papers from My Minds Eye - love the warm colors on the kraft card stock. I punched a border for the band across the middle with an EK Success border punch, then sewed everything together. The sentiment is also High Hopes Stamps "Baked with Love" Now full disclosure here... I dropped a copic on my sentiment after had it stamped and punched out with a EK Success ticket punch... so I went with it and made a bunch of hearts to match the image. Work? or Not? 

To top off my Little Baking Ginger images - that icing needed to be done! So I pulled out my Nuvo White paint pen and gave it some shine! 

Copic colors used -

Ok.. now I am wanting some homemade cookies... Not on the eating healthy plan at the moment. darn. 

Hope you enjoyed my little Christmas Goodies card - I think I need a few more of these to have ready to go for the season! 

Thanks so much! 

Fa-la-la-la

 I am blessed to live in an area where we have a lot of different kinds of birds. I love sitting on my front porch and listening to the different "conversations" they are having in the neighbourhood. I don't hear or see them as much in the winter but "Bird Song" from High Hopes Rubber Stamps reminds me of the songs I hear in the other months. I personally can't sing very well so I think I would be the one in the middle just hanging out <smile>

I started by stamping on alcohol marker friendly paper and colouring the stamp with Copic markers. Once that was done, I hand fussy cut it leaving a thin white line. Next I cut a piece of red card stock to fit the 5" x 5" base and cut a white piece of card stock to size as well. I used an oval die to cut a "hole" in the centre of the card and centered the sentiment stamp and stamped it underneath. Using the same oval die I cut a piece of blue snowy sky patterned paper for a pad of Echo Park paper and glued it down inside the hole. I added some Star Dust Stickle so the birds' hats and scarf and some sparkly snowflakes I cut using a Tim Holtz die. The stamp is added with pop dots to the centre of the oval and enamel dots finish off my card.

Stamp Recipe

Stamps - Bird Song (TDG016) - High Hopes Rubber Stamps

Sentiment - Fa-la-la-la (GLL011)

Patterned Paper - Winter - Echo Park

Memento Tuxedo Black ink, Hammermill Digital Cover Card Stock, oval die, pop dots, Star Dust Stickles, snowflake die - Tim Holtz

Copic Markers

Beaks/Feet - Y11 Y15 Y17

Hats/Scarves - G21 G24 G28

Birds- R17 R37 R59

Branch - E23 E25 E27 YG95

Snow - B0000 B000

Thanks for stopping by! Have a super fantastic day!

It's time for some skating fun!

Happy Tuesday HH fans!

I'm back today with a fun card using our Frozen Skating Pond & Leapin' Lewis.

When I was a kid my Mom would never let us skate on the local pond.  She got my Dad to make us our own little rink in the back yard.  This way we stayed in the safe zone according to Mom.  Back in those days Winter seemed to last forever.  Now we have weather that just seems to freeze & unfreeze just as fast.  My Dad worked so hard on our little rink every night adding water & scraping it down.  Boy oh boy did we enjoy hours of fun every year on that rink. 

I'm going to save this card just for my Dad this year, I'm sure it will bring a smile to his face.

I picked the Winter Wonderland sentiment because that's how all 4 of us kids felt when we skated for hours everyday.  I popped Lewis up on a mini wobble, so he's pretty fun just a wobbling around.

Copic Combos

Frozen Skating Pond

Ice - BG000, BG0000 & 0 blender

Trees - G28, G24, YG67

Snow, C1, C0, C00

Sky - B000, B0000 & 0 blender

*it's hard to see some of these colours in the photo but in the real they look cool*

Leapin' Lewis

Blue - B24, B23, B21

Black - C9, C7, C5

Skate Blades - C1, C0, C00

Skate Boot, Hat Trim, Scarf - W7, W5, W3

Heart - R27, R24

Beak - YR18, YR16, YR15

Pom Pom - W3, W1

Stamps 

Frozen Skating Pond S074

Winter Wonderland H230

Leapin' Lewis R133

Thanks for visiting us today, happy stampin!

Still Sleepin'

Howdy - MichelleO here and It's is Christmas in July at High Hopes Stamps - And my little guy needs to head out to do some Christmas Shopping but well - he is having a hard time getting going! This is "Still Sleepin' " 

 

This guy cracks me up - I relate to him I guess. Colored with my Copics (colors below) and found some older DCWV papers that had a bit of Christmas and a bit of warm coffee feel to them.  I layered them and sewed down to a green card stock and then placed on a dark brown card stock base. Love the colors. 

The sentiment is perfect for my sleepy guy. "Coffee is the Rise & Shine" A little caffeine and this guy will be ready to hit the malls for some shopping for presents. 

Copic colors used -

This one came together fast and I love how it and the colors worked so well. For so many great images to have fun with pop over to the High Hopes Stamps Web Store and have some fun surfing through all the fabulous! 

Thanks so much!

 

Oldometer

  Last weekend we celebrated my Dad's birthday. His birthday is technically tomorrow but the "kids" got together and did an open house for him since my oldest brother was in town. We had a great day and went for dinner afterwards. At the dinner it was time to spoil him with his gift and of course I had to make a card for him! He is turning 75 and drives people around to appointments and things in his retirement so I thought the "Vintage Ride" stamp from High Hopes would be perfect for his transportation themed card. 

After stamping on alcohol marker friendly paper I coloured the stamp with Copic markers and added some Glossy Accents to the windshield. When that was dry, I hand fussy cut it leaving a thin white edge. I found some patterned paper from Memory Box (plaid) and some map paper that I had in my stash which I thought were perfect for my car colours and card theme. I cut them to fit my 5.5" x 5.5" base and added them to the card. To create my "speedometer" or Oldometer in this case -  I cut out circle, stamped the numbers with a stamp from Your Next Stamp and traced the circle to create the circle underneath them. 

The Oldometer idea came from a search I had done for masculine cards a couple weeks before sitting down to do this card. I remember seeing it in my "travels" and for some reason it stuck in my brain - although I don't remember where I came across it. I stamped the numbers with Versamark ink and then heat embossed them with white embossing powder. I cut them out and glued them to a rectangle I had printed with the word oldometer on my computer. I rounded the corners and added it to matching card stock. I cut a frame to put behind everything using two square dies and cut a rectangle for the map paper and rounded the corners. I stamped and added the sentiment to finish off my card and added the car with some pop dots to add some dimension.

Card Recipe

Stamp - Vintage Ride (TT143)

Sentiment - Best Miles (GG041)

Patterned Paper - Woodsy Plaid - Memory Box, stash

Memento Tuxedo Black ink, Hammermill Digital Cover Card Stock, pop dots, white embossing powder, number stamps - Your Next Stamp, square and circle dies, Glossy Accents, Versamark 

Copic Markers

Tires  - C1 C2 C4 C5 N4 N5 N8

Car - E41 E42 E43 

Seat -E15 E17 E19 E18

Lights - Y00 Y13 Y18

Thanks for stopping by! Have a super fantastic day!

 

Homespun Merry Christmas!!

 Happy Friday HH Fans!!

We have had some pretty hot weather here in Ontario this week...actually crazy hot & humid.  What better way to cool off than make a Christmas card lol.

I chose Homespun Hearts Snowy for this card, I just love homey he looks.  One of my favourite sentiments is our Fun Merry Christmas.  I have used this so many times.

I was going for a totally non traditional set of colours so I could use some older (much older) Bazzil patterned paper from my stash.  I thought is was perfect for this adorable snowman.

The card layout is pretty basic so I added a couple of enamel dots & a little satin bow.

Copic Colours

Red - R89, R56, R37

Brown - E49, E47, E44

Orange - YR18, YR16, YR15

Shading - B00, B000, B0000

Snow - C1, C0, C00

Yellow - Y19, Y17, Y15

Black - T6, T4, T3

Stamps

Homespun Hearts Snowy S229

Fun Merry Christmas - FLL002

Thanks for stopping by today, happy stampin'!

Jingle Bells

 Welcome to Christmas in July at High Hopes! I love getting a head start on Christmas cards although it is sometimes hard to think "winter" in the summer heat and humidity! My first Christmas card of the year is officially made and I chose to use "Carollers", and yes, I did have the jingle bells song going through my head as I put this card together <smile>.

To start my card, I stamped on alcohol marker friendly paper, coloured with Copic markers and cut out the stamp with an xstitch die. I chose some patterned paper from two different Echo Park pads to create my layers. Before I glued down the piece that runs across the middle of the card, I added some ribbon and added the stamped image with pop dots. Enamel dots, a bow and bell finish off my card.

Stamp Recipe

Stamps - Carollers (TT011) - High Hopes Rubber Stamps

Sentiment - Jingle All The Way (H040)

Patterned Paper - A Cozy Winter, Twas the Night Before Christmas - Echo Park

Memento Tuxedo Black ink, Hammermill Digital Cover Card Stock, xstitch die - Gina Marie Designs, ribbon - Close To My Heart, bell - stash, pop dots, enamel dots

Copic Markers

Kitty  - C1 C2 C4 C5

Skin/Mouths - E00 E21 E11 R21

Pants - G17 G28 B39 B34 B37 B39

Coats - E30 E31 E43 R39 R59 V09

Ear Muffs/Scarf - E30 E31 E43

Dog - E41 E42 E57

Boots - E30 E31 E43 E23 E25 E27

Hair - E23 E25 E27

Bird/Snow - B000 B00 B01

Thanks for stopping by! Have a super fantastic day!

Winter Angel

 Welcome to High Hopes Christmas In July '23,

Today I'm popping in to share our image called Charity Winter Angel, isn't she sweet?!

I did a few things with this card that I have done for a long time.  There is no patterned paper & no enamel dots...that's huge for me lol.  Instead I used my blending tool with some SU ink AND an embossing folder from Tim Holtx.....ya' I did!  I know it's sounds funny but doing this was a step out of the box which I have not done in forever.

I used Bordering & Balmy Blue from SU for the ink blending.  I'm not sure if they even have these colours anymore.  I couldn't resist a little bit of ribbon for an accent...at least it's really thin!

I typically leave the inside of my cards blank but I changed it up for this one.  I used the "Merry Christmas" portion for the outside of the card & the balance of the sentiment for the inside.  I thought it worked out perfectly.  This sentiment is called Gift Of.

Copic Combos

Trim, Wings & Ears - R02, R000, R0000

Grounding - T2, T1, T0

Bird - Y15, Y13, Y11

Coat & Hat - R46, R29, R35

Necklace & Lamb Feet - W7, W5, W3

Holly - G28, G09, G07, R89 for berries

Bird Beak - YR16

Lamb - W1, W0, W00

Skin - E04, E01, E00, E000

Stamps

Gift Of MLL001

Charity Winter Angel S061

Thanks for popping in today!

Happy Stampin'

Skiing Santa

Howdy - MichelleO here today and ---- It's Christmas in July at High Hopes Stamps! But I think someone forgot to tell Santa about the Plan - He is still out on vacation, it looks enjoying some water skiing! he he he - I just love this "Skiing Santa" too much fun! 

I decided to have a little fun and non traditional Christmas colors and use red with the ice blue - Matching up my coloring of Santa and the Water with my Copics (colors below)  - 

Found a scrap of a red dot pattern paper, then some Coredinations cardstock with dots as well! All my layers are sewn down and the a great sentiment to have more fun with Santa enjoying summer... High Hopes Stamps "Think Snow" Especially funny here in Texas as it has been 100 degrees for a few weeks now! I'm more think I'll stay in the air conditioning!

Now Santa's Hat needed some fluffing so I used Nuvo white pearl paint and then added more to the water for those white caps - with some Nuvo glitter for the sparkle of that cool water. Love how that came out. Looks wet! 

Copic colors used -

Fun image to color up - and great for a Christmas card that is different and in the warmer weather! 

To see all the fun image at High Hopes Stamps - pop over to the web store HERE and you will find lots to have fun with no matter what the subject! 

Thanks so much!