Northern Flurry embossed on vellum

Vellum can be used in so many different ways.  It adds a touch of elegance to almost every project in which it is included.   I always tuck a card into each order that I deliver, as a little thank you for the business, and this time I decided to make a Christmas card.

I wanted to keep it very simple but, of course, I wanted it to have a WOW factor as well.  With that in mind, I chose to use the Northern Flurry embossing folder on Vellum cardstock before stamping the little bear from the White Christmas stamp set in the lower right corner.  Using an embossing folder on Vellum is really effective.  The embossed lines become white where they're raised.  With the snowflakes of the Northern Flurry, that makes quite a winter statement.

I came to a grinding halt with my colours.  The Vellum was the easy part as was my decision to back it with a layer of Soft Sky.  After that, however, I waffled between having a base of Naturals White with a frame of Lost Lagoon around the Vellum combination or having a base of Night of Navy with a frame of Marina Mist around it.  Finally I made both and would say that I probably like the one with the Naturals White a bit more by a very slight margin.  What do you think?

I've coloured the little bear from the reverse side of the vellum using my Chalk Marker, added several rhinestones and a snowflake sequin.  The sentiment is from the hostess Good Greetings stamp set.

For more cards using vellum as their focus, check out Addicted to CAS.

PCCC #115, SSC87 --- Love the Nutcracker

*Thrilled to be a Top Pick at the Sunday Stamps Challenge*

Originally I bought the Santa Stache stamp set simply because I loved the idea of putting a die-cut moustache onto Santa's face.  And that's what I did with several cards.  I completely ignored and neglected the Nutcracker.  Well that isn't happening any longer.  I made a little Nutcracker gift box for my blog hop post last week and fell in love with the wonderful colours that can be used on him.  Santa really doesn't invite any colour experimentation, after all.

There are two challenges for which I've created this card:  the Paper Craft Crew Challenge

 and the Sunday Stamps Challenge.

The first one because of the sketch and the second one because of the colours.  The challenges were perfect for another opportunity to play with the Nutcracker.

I decided to use Naturals White for my base and then added a layer of Cherry Cobbler and another layer of Naturals White.  At the bottom of the Naturals White layer, I added a strip of the plaid pattern from the Trim the Tree Designer Paper Stack and the Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding Ribbon.

For the bottom rectangle, I used Cherry Cobbler embossed with the Argyle embossing folder and mounted on a narrow base of Naturals White.  For the upper rectangle, I used Whisper White onto which I stamped the Nutcracker and mounted on a base of Tempting Turquoise.  I used my Pumpkin Pie and Skin Colour Blendabilities to colour his face, hair and moustache.  For his uniform and hat, I used the Tempting Turquoise and Daffodil Delight Stampin' Markers.

To finish the sketch, I stamped little stars from the Holiday Home stamp set using Tempting Turquoise ink in the upper right corner.  Then I added a strip of Silver Glimmer paper and a Daffodil Delight button (retired).  In the lower right corner I added three stars cut from Daffodil Delight using my Confetti Stars punch.  For my sentiment I stamped "merry christmas" from the Holiday Home stamp set, cut it into a tag, sponged it with Cherry Cobbler, and attached it to the Seam Binding Ribbon using a safety pin from the Vintage Trinkets (retired).  A small heart in Red Glimmer Paper attached randomly near the top of the Nutcracker's rectangle finished the card.

For more cards that use this sketch, check out the Paper Craft Crew Challenge.

For more cards that use these colours, check out the Sunday Stamps Challenge.

For a Christmas card challenge where anything goes, check out Christmas Card Challenge as well as Completely Christmas.

Home --- a clean and simple challenge

Our weather is turning colder.  It's not so bad on sunny days but on days such as today, when it's overcast all day long, it feels colder and becomes depressing.  I know winter is just around the corner for this area of the world and I'm just not ready.  I went kicking and screaming from my comfortable flip-flops and sandals to my light sneakers but winter boots?  No, I'm not ready for that yet.

At least when I'm making cards, I can shut out the grey skies and work in my snug crafting room.  And so I turned to the challenges I have enjoyed and, yes, found a couple that appealed to me.  Thankfully they also compliment each other so that I can make the one card and enter both challenges.  Yay!

CASology has as its inspiration word, HOME.  That can be open to so many interpretations, which I find appealing.  Then I also found a great sketch at the Freshly Made Sketches challenge and knew the two would work nicely together.

 



I began with a base of Early Espresso cardstock.  I wanted to keep it very simple and so left it with the one layer and went on to stamping my image onto a smaller square of Whisper White.  I chose the little bird in its nest from the For the Birds stamp set.  Instead of using the sentiment that is attached to the image, I masked it and stamped only the image.  On a separate small piece of Whisper White I stamped my sentiment from the Holiday Home stamp set.

I used the Crumb Cake Blendabilities for the bird's nest along with the deepest shade from the Daffodil Delight Blendabilities.  For the bird, I used the lightest of the Night of Navy Blendabilities.  The beak was coloured with my Crisp Cantaloupe Stampin' Marker and the little heart was coloured with my Real Red Stampin' Marker.

I cut out the sentiment using my 1 3/8" circle punch and then cut a backing for it from Early Espresso using my 3rd to smallest circle Framelit.  I also cut a backing for the stamped Whisper White square leaving a very narrow border.

I mounted both the square and the circle onto the base card using Dimensionals and then, as a final touch, added a tiny heart just under the sentiment, cut from my Red Glimmer Paper.

For more cards using this sketch, please check out Freshly Made Sketches.

For more card with the theme of HOME, please check out CASology.

The Wacky Watercooler October Blog Hop

Welcome to our Wacky Watercooler October Blog Hop.  It's been a busy month!  October began with World Card Making Day and then, for Canadians at least, we celebrated Thanksgiving.  It's also Breast Cancer Awareness Month and, of course, Hallowe'en is right around the corner.  For cardmakers, this has definitely been a very busy month.

Our Blog Hop is set up in a circular style so that no matter which blog you begin with, you will, inevitably wind up at the same spot again if you keep going to the "next" one in line.  I hope you'll take the time to visit every participant's blog.  You don't want to miss the inspiration.

If you've been moving forward in the blog, you'll have come here from Christine Giuda's inspiring creations.

* * * * * * * * * * 

Since Thanksgiving is over for us here in Canada, I decided to concentrate on Christmas.  For my first project I created a little favour box that could be used for either a little gift or as part of a table setting.  You could make these boxes in all sorts of different colours.

After making a little base box using Cherry Cobbler cardstock, I stamped the cute Nutcracker image from the Santa Stache stamp set onto Whisper White and then coloured it using my Blendabilities.  I stamped a second Moustache and, after colouring it, cut it out using the matching Moustache framelit.  For the top of the little box I cut a narrow piece of Cherry Cobbler using the zig zag Finishing Touches edgelit.  I made a tag to match using one of the little tag framelits that goes with the Curvy Keepsakes box die but you can easily just use an oval or circle cut with one of your punches.

I've entered this little box into the SUO Challenges.

* * * * * * * * * * 

Next I decided to create an ornament using the Simply Pressed Clay.  It's so light and flexible when it dries, that I was sure it would make a wonderful Christmas ornament.  I began with a circle of clay, flattened to about 1/8" thickness.  Then I used a star cookie cutter to cut out my shape and put the whole thing, cookie cutter and clay, into the freezer so that the clay would harden sufficiently.  Once I took it out, I was able to remove the star cut-out easily without distorting the clay.

I left it out to dry for a day and then stamped it with the adorable little snowman from the White Christmas stamp set as well as the little star from that set.  Then I just inked up the "peace" from the "joy & peace" stamp in the hostess Good Greetings stamp set and stamped that diagonally along the top right.  I found everything stamped quite clearly with the StazOn ink.

Once that was dry, I coloured the front of the star using my Blendabilities.  I found they worked very well, although the colours were muted, which was fine for my purposes.  I followed that up with a clear coat of Crystal Effects over the entire front of the star.  After that dried thoroughly, I covered the back with Crystal Effects as well.

I finished up by putting a thin layer of Tombo glue around the perimeter of the star and then covering the glue with Silver Stampin' Glitter.  

* * * * * * * * * * 

My final project is a Christmas card.  When I first became a Demonstrator for Stampin' Up! back in November 2011, I designed what I called a "stage" card and made a template for it.  That one was for a 5" x 7" card and today I re-designed it to be a standard 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" card.  The new measurements were perfect for creating a scene using a combination of the White Christmas and the Holiday Home stamp sets.  For my sentiment I turned to the Christmas Bliss stamp set.

I began with a base of Naturals White cardstock and then layered it with Lost Lagoon cardstock and the beautiful All Is Calm Specialty Designer Series Paper.  I stamped the trees right onto the Designer Paper and added white for the bark using my White Signo pen.  All the rest of the images were stamped onto Whisper White and fussy-cut.  I almost went cross-eyed, but managed to cut even the tiny twig arms of the snowman.  Believe me, that was no simple feat!  The house, however, was cut using the Homemade Holiday framelit.  

Added embellishments were the white heat embossing for the sentiment, the Cherry Cobbler Dazzling Details for the berries on the tiny wreath, and the clear Dazzling Details for the "stars".  You can also find the template for this "stage" card here.

I've also entered my card into the everything goes challenge at the Stampin' Royalty Challenges.

* * * * * * * * * * 

Well, that's it for my projects.  I hope you've enjoyed them.  Your next stop will be with the talented Jackie Susnik.   She always has great projects to share.

If you get a moment, please leave a comment.  I'd love to know what you thought of my creations.

A "Moosey" Christmas

The Santa & Co Designer Paper is simply adorable.  I especially love those dressed-up moose.  Of course fussy-cutting one of them out isn't all that much fun.  But I seem to be hung-up on fussy-cutting.

I decided to make a card for the Paper Plunge Challenge.  It had to have a tag on it and so I decided to keep it simple.  My base cardstock is Naturals White and then I added a layer of Soft Suede.  My next layer is Soft Sky which I first embossed with the On Point embossing folder before attaching.

My tag is Whisper White with the trees from White Christmas stamped on it in Memento black ink.  Then I cut the top with my Scalloped Tag Topper punch before stamping the top with the banner "Merry Christmas" stamp from the same stamp set.  I used Soft Suede ink for that to compliment the Soft Suede layer as well as the brown of the moose.  I also added a bit of red to each banner just to make it stand out better.

As I said, I fussy cut the moose.  That took a while since there are so many tiny little pieces to cut around.  I used Tombo glue to attach the moose to the tag because it's one of our strongest glues.  Then I added a red ribbon to the top of the tag before attaching it to the card using Dimensionals.

For more cards with tags, check out the Paper Plunge Challenge.

PCCC#114 -- A Partridge and a bunch of pears

Have you seen that new stamp set yet?  The one with the partridge in the pear tree, "Partridge & Pears".  I sat on the fence and then got it and, wow, am I glad.  There is so much you can do with that set!

I decided to use the stamp set for the sketch at the Paper Craft Crew Challenges

To begin, I chose an Early Espresso base.  Then I added a piece of Sahara Sand which I first heat embossed in the top left corner using the Gorgeous Grunge stamp set and my Gold embossing powder.  After that I embossed the piece using my Woodgrain embossing folder.  To complete the base of the design, I added a strip of the Early Espresso/Sahara Sand design from the Trim the Tree Paper Stack to the left side.  

Since the design just has a small frame into which I could put an image, I decided that I would heat emboss the image from the Partridge & Pears stamp set onto Whisper White using my Gold embossing powder.  Then I cut that to size to fit the Early Espresso frame I had cut using my On Film framelit.  I coloured the image using my Crisp Cantaloupe, So Saffron, Sahara Sand, Pistachio Pudding, Baked Brown Sugar, and Cajun Craze Stampin' Markers.  I also heat embossed three pears in Gold embossing powder and coloured them before fussy cutting them.

I added the frame to the card using Dimensionals and then added the pears using Dimensionals as well.  For the pear in the bottom right corner, I also added a leaf from the Fun Fall Framelits dies and two coloured leaves that were left over from the initial heat-embossed image.  

For the banners in the top left corner, I chose Early Espresso for the one that I glued onto the card while the second one, which is attached with Dimensionals, is cut from Cajun Craze.  I embossed the Cajun Craze banner with the Delicate Designs embossing folder.  The three Candy Dots are actually Sahara Sand which I first heat embossed using Gold embossing powder before attaching them to the card.

For more cards using this sketch, check out the Paper Craft Crew Challenges.

I've also entered my card in the Paper Players challenge.  For more cards that are CAS and use silver or gold, check out The Paper Players.

Chocolate, gold and vellum---oh my!

I love the challenge over at Stampin' Royalty.  The colours are gorgeous:  chocolates, golds, hints of Crisp Cantaloupe.  It's just such a lovely combination.

I knew I wanted to do something with it and just managed to sneak in at the last possible moment.  Thank goodness.  I began with a base of Naturals Ivory and then added a layer of Chocolate Chip.  For my next layer, I took a piece of Very Vanilla and put it through my Big Shot in the Decorative Dots embossing folder.  Then I gently sponged a bit of Crisp Cantaloupe across the dots.

For my wreath I took a piece of Very Vanilla and stamped it first with Baked Brown Sugar, then I used Versamark to heat emboss the next layer of leaves in Gold embossing powder and finally added Chocolate Chip dots before using the matching framelits to cut it out.  

I cut the "Noel" out using the framelit that came with the set and then got to work on some leaves.  I wanted them to be made out of vellum and used the Fun Fall Framelits for that.  After cutting them, I embossed them with the Delicate Designs embossing folder.  After that, I sponged them with a bit of Crumb Cake ink.

My final touch to the card was to add a bow made from the pretty 1/8" Gold Ribbon.

For more cards using this photo inspiration, check out Stampin' Royalty.

WCC11 Gobble, gobble---Curvy Keepsake box Thanksgiving fun!

I have to confess that when I initially saw the Curvy Keepsake Box Die I was unimpressed.  How often, I asked myself, would I honestly use that?  I've come to eat my words.  My goodness, what a lot of fun it is, to use that framelit!  The sky is the limit.  There is nothing you can't create with this little tool, until your imagination runs dry.  Well---when that happens, there is always Pinterest, right?

The theme of our Watercooler Challenge this week is to CASE Pinterest.  The acronym, CASE, stands for "copy and share everything".  Pinterest is the treasure box of shared projects.  I had decided to find something on the site that gave me a new idea for the Curvy Keepsake Box Die.  Hours later, there were still some projects I hadn't seen but my crossing eyes and numb fingers suggested that, perhaps, I had done enough searching.

My CASE from Pinterest is an adorable little turkey which was created by the very talented Darla Watson who posted her version on her blog on August 31st.  Subsequently she posted the darling turkey on Pinterest.  And that's where I found it.

For my version of the turkey, I've used Baked Brown Sugar cardstock for the Curvy Keepsake Box.  This will be the body of the turkey.  I'll also be gluing the head and the tail to this box.  Once I cut the pieces with the die, I stamped them with Baked Brown Sugar ink using the flower from the Blooming With Kindness stamp set.  I thought it would be nice to have a bit of texture to suggest feathers.

For the head, I took my 1 1/4" Circle Punch and cut a circle from a piece of Baked Brown Sugar.  For the beak, I used my Pennant Builder Punch to cut a piece of Pumpkin Pie cardstock (cut to the appropriate length with my snips).  After cutting two white circles using my Owl Builder Punch, I added Black Candy Dots for the pupils.  For the wattle, I did what Darla had done and used the little Heart Punch, cut it in half, and glued it back together, but longer.

Luckily Stampin' Up! added two feather Framelits this year and they were awesome for cutting out cardstock for the tail feathers.  I cut some from Cajun Craze, Baked Brown Sugar, and Soft Suede with the small feather framelit and then more from the same colours using the large feather framelit.  In all I made a total of 20 feathers for the tail.

Before putting the tail together, I used my scoring tool to add feather detail to the die-cuts.  All those score lines also made the feathers curve slightly which was a bonus because I wanted the tail to be a bit curved.

 

Once the turkey was completely assembled, I used the small oak leaf framelit from the Fun Fall Framelits dies to cut out a piece of Cajun Craze.  The part that was a leaf, I scored and then scrunched to give it texture while the negative portion, I cut around to have a leaf outline.  The sentiment is from the Making Spirits Bright stamp set.

For more projects which are CASEd from Pinterest, check out our Watercooler Challenges Blog.

For more projects that have a Thanksgiving theme and showcase twine, check out the Clear it Out Challenge Blog.

Peace and Joy --- in Pink

Pink isn't the first colour I think of when I'm making things for Christmas but sometimes it's the only colour.  The Jingle Belles Challenge is hosting a special challenge right now and it's for something dear to my heart:  breast cancer awareness.  My friend's mother lost her battle with this horrible disease just a few days ago and, of course, it's foremost in my mind right now.  The Jingle Belles challenge isn't just doing this to increase awareness.  Those wonderful ladies, Stephanie and Lauren, are donating $4 to the Susan G. Komen Foundation for each card included in this challenge.  Of course I had to make a card for this wonderful challenge.

My card uses pink as requested by the Jingle Belles Challenge.  I've also used a sketch from Freshly Made Sketches:

I liked the simplicity of the sketch and knew it would work for what I had in mind.

My base cardstock is Naturals White.  Then I've added a layer of Melon Mambo and a layer of Watercolor Paper.  I prepared the Watercolor Paper by giving it a wash with Melon Mambo, Strawberry Slush and Pink Pirouette inks.  After that dried, I heat embossed the piece with the Festival of Trees using Silver embossing powder.  

Then I took a piece of Vellum cardstock and attached a piece of Silver Glimmer paper and Pink Pirouette to the left side.  Then I heat embossed the sentiment to the bottom of the vellum using Melon Mambo embossing powder.  After that, I took another piece of Vellum cardstock and heat embossed a tree from the Festival of Trees onto that using Silver embossing powder.  Once that had cooled, I used my Tree punch to cut that out.  I attached the tree to the vellum using finely cut pieces of Dimensionals.

Once I had attached the vellum piece to the rest of the card, I used some Silver Dazzling Details around the perimeter of the vellum to continue the look of the Silver Glimmer paper.  For a final touch, I added Rhinestones that I first coloured using my Melon Mambo Blendabilies marker.

For more pink breast cancer awareness Christmas cards, check out the Jingle Belles challenge.  

For more cards using this sketch design, check out Freshly Made Sketches.

For more cards using vellum, check out the Around the World Stampin' Up! Challenge.

Hello Fall

I wanted to use watercolours on a card and couldn't decide on an image to colour.  I did, however, make a background of watercolours for my images which are stamped in black.  And I love the effect.

I began with a base of Basic Black, then a layer of the Crushed Curry watercolour design from the Color Me Autumn Designer Series Paper and a layer of Basic Black again.  Then, on a piece of Watercolor Paper, I used my Aqua Painter to brush Cajun Craze, Pumpkin Pie, Crushed Curry and Old Olive inks across it in casual wash.  After that dried, I used Memento black ink to stamp two of the feathers from the Four Feathers stamp set near the top left and the Hello Fall sentiment from the For All Things stamp set at the bottom right.

Before attaching the Watercolor Paper, I added an Antique brad at the top of the feathers and tied some linen thread around it in loops.  It's a simple card but I love the results.

For more cards using watercolours, check out The Paper Plunge.

For more cards with a fall colour scheme, check out {PIN}spirational Challenges.

And because if I go out into the woods these days, I enjoy the splendour of the autumn colours and see birds getting ready to fly to warmer climates.  And so this is my entry for the Out In the Woods challenge over at SUO Challenges.

SMILE --- two challenges: a colour and a sketch!

That sweet single stamp, A Little Smile, is such fun to use.  Not only can it be the theme of the entire card but it can also be used in parts simply by inking only portions.  That's what I've done with this card.  Because I wanted to use the stamp but because of the sketch there was only a small rectangle in which it could be used, I had to get creative.  I'm glad that I did because it opens a whole lot of possibilities with that stamp that I hadn't considered before.

The sketch that I followed is from the Sunday Stamps Challenge:

But I wanted to use the colours from the Stampin' Royalty Challenge for the card:

Since I had also decided to use the A Little Smile stamp, I felt almost as if I had painted myself into a corner.  But I do like challenges and was determined to make this work.

For my base I used Naturals White.  Then I added a layer of Blackberry Bliss, a layer of Sahara Sand, and then a layer of the Blackberry Bliss floral design from the Park Lane Designer Paper which I first cut diagonally before adding.

For the smaller rectangle I used a base of Naturals White, then a layer of Soft Sky and finally a layer of Whisper White that I had stamped using a portion of the A Little Smile stamp.  I stopped partway up the poles each hedgehog held to have the image fit the rectangle.  Then I stamped the "SMILE" from the stamp onto another bit of Whisper White using Blackberry Bliss ink.  I cut around that to make a banner, sponged the perimeter with Soft Sky ink and then attached it on Dimensionals to appear as if it was attached to the poles.

I coloured the hedgehogs with my Sahara Sand Stampin' Marker and the flowers with my Soft Sky and Blackberry Bliss Stampin' Markers.  Then I attached the smaller rectangle to the rest of the card with Dimensionals.   To finish up I added a small banner in Soft Sky with a heart punched into it and also three Rhinestones which I first coloured using the darkest of my Rich Razzleberry Blendabilities (because the darkest colour is almost identical to the Blackberry Bliss).

For more cards using these colours, check out Stampin' Royalty.

For more cards using this sketch, check out Sunday Stamps.

Peek-a-boo Joy -- PCCCS #113

Well, I've done it again.  I've taken the sketch presented by the Paper Craft Crew Challenges and turned it on its side.  It just worked better for the idea I had in mind.

I decided to make this card all about the winter wonderland leading up to Christmas.  The car is brining a tree home, strapped to its roof.  The little snowman is excitedly looking up at a colourful cardinal.  There is snow on the ground, snow in the air, and a wreath on the door of the house.  You can just about imagine kids just past the trees, sledding down the rolling hills.  These are the kind of winter days I enjoy.  

For this card I combined the White Christmas and the Holiday Home stamp sets.  All my colouring was done with my Blendabilities except for the Encore silver ink with which I stamped the snowflakes and also sponged my vellum banner and the Night of Navy Stampin' Marker with which I outlined the "J", "O" and "Y".  

I used Night of Navy cardstock as my base and then Soft Sky embossed with my Decorative Dots embossing folder for my next layer.  My smaller rectangle also begins with a Night of Navy base and then a layer of Whisper White onto which I've stamped my scene.  The rectangle is attached with Dimensionals as is the tiny cardinal in the branches of the birch tree.

For my banner I chose to go with Vellum cardstock.  I didn't want to block out the scene with something more  solid.  For that reason I also chose to use my Little Letters Thinlits to cut out JOY after embossing the strip of vellum with my Delicate Designs embossing folder.  To give the vellum a bit more of a presence, I also sponged it lightly with my Encore Silver ink.  When that was dry, I outlined the letters using my Night of Navy Stampin' Marker.  

The embellishments are the gorgeous sequin snowflakes from the Frosted Sequins Embellishments.  In the centre of each I adhered a tiny rhinestone.

I hope you've enjoyed my card and would love to read your comments.  For more cards using this sketch, check out the Paper Craft Crew Challenges.

Happy Wonderful Christmas

*So thrilled to have this card be an "Artist Pick".*

If I offered you Blackberry Bliss, Pear Pizzazz, Basic Black and a Neutral to make me a card, you'd most likely go and check out your Hallowe'en stamps, right?  Well, that's the color challenge over at Hand Stamped Sentiments right now.  Did I make a Hallowe'en card?

I'm not sure that I'll knock their socks off with my interpretation of their challenge, but I'm happy with my little creation.

For my base I turned to one of my favourites, the Naturals White.  Then I used a diagonally cut piece of the lovely All is Calm Specialty Designer Series Paper and attached it to a piece of Basic Black that I had first stamped with a snowflake from my Endless Wishes stamp set and Craft White ink.  Along the diagonal I attached a piece of the 1/8" Silver Ribbon.

On a piece of Whisper White I stamped the Christmas Bauble using Black Memento ink.  Then I fussy-cut the image out and finally coloured it using my Blackberry Bliss and Pear Pizzazz Stampin' Markers.  I added some silver with my Stampin' Silver Dazzle marker and some bling with my Silver Dazzling Details.  When everything was dry, I attached that to the card with Dimensionals.

For my sentiment I turned to the Wondrous Wreath stamp set and Pear Pizzazz ink on Whisper White cardstock.  To finish the sentiment off, I cut it out using my Apothecary Accents framelits and then added some black "stitching" and sponged the perimeter lightly in Basic Black.  That, too, was attached using Dimensionals.

Those are not the first colours I'd reach for when making a Christmas card, but I'm very happy with the way it turned out.  It really shows you that there isn't such a thing as a Christmas colour.  

For more cards using these colours, check out Hand Stamped Sentiments.

A long way to a challenge --- PCCCS#112

This week's sketch challenge at the Paper Craft Crew Challenge is similar to one of two weeks ago, one with word bubbles.  Oh, yes, one can change the shapes out, but when I first saw the challenge I simply went blank.  Over the week I considered and rejected several designs and, since there are only hours left, was afraid that I would not be able to meet this week's challenge.  A pity since I really do enjoy the variety of challenges they offer.

Finally today I came up with not one but two ideas that actually appealed to me.  One was for a Christmas card and the other was for a Wedding card.  I began work on both.  Actually I had completed at least 3/4 of each card when I realized that the one I would be submitting for the challenge would be the Wedding card.  Yes, there were a number of retired products in that card, but all the products are Stampin' Up! and I've fallen in love with the card.

My base cardstock is Naturals White.  Then comes a layer of Whisper White and then a layer of Vellum cardstock.  I did a lot of stamping and embossing on that Vellum.  My main image is the stunning image of the Bride and Groom from the Best of Brides and Babies stamp set.  I heat embossed that using my Silver embossing powder and then lightly coloured the skin and flowers in the images using my Blendabilities.  It's a very subtle effect, but I'm glad I did that.  I also used the hearts images from the retired Confetti stamp set to stamp three patches of silver hearts on the Vellum using my Encore Silver stamp pad.

Next I turned to my beautiful Shimmery White cardstock and stamped two sentiments.  The Forever & Always is from the retired   stamp set while the other sentiment is from the retired  stamp set.  I love the way the words look heat embossed in silver on the sparkly paper.  I also used the Shimmery White cardstock for the ornate bells from the Best of Brides and Babies stamp set.  I heat embossed the image using my Silver embossing powder.   Yes, there's a lot of white and silver on this card.

I cut the sentiments using my Word Bubbles framelits.  The bells, however, needed fussy-cutting and you know I'm the queen of fussy-cutting.  I really liked the look of the cut-out bells so the cutting was worth it.

I attached the vellum using a narrow line of Tombo glue around the perimenter as well as a glue dot in the centre of the flowers.  The glue dot did not show---the narrow line of Tombo did.  I had a plan for that, however, and set to work.  I cut four strips of Whisper White using my lacy Finishing Touch Edgelit.  Then I ran a narrow line of Tombo just outside the Vellum, on the Whisper White cardstock, and proceeded to make a lace frame around the Vellum.  It worked out beautifully.

Finally I used Dimensionals to attach the sentiments and bells and added rhinestones in strategic places for some extra bling and to satisfy the sketch.  My card was even better than I had planned.  I love it when that happens.

For more cards using this sketch, check out the Paper Craft Crew Challenges.

For more cards where anything could happen, check out {PIN}spirational Challenges.

For more cards where anything goes, check out the Addicted to Stamps and More Challenge.

Believe --- HSSSC195

*Thrilled that this card is an Artist Pick at Hand Stamped Sentiments!*

When I saw the sketch challenge at Hand Stamped Sentiments, I knew I would enter a card in the challenge.  It's a simple sketch, which is always a great way to add a lot of imagination.

I've been making a lot of Hallowe'en cards lately and therefore I decided I would love the change of pace of a Christmas Card.  All the stores have already stocked up their shelves with Christmas decorations, after all.  I'm just waiting for the first Christmas Carol to play on their sound systems.  

But making Christmas cards is NOT jumping the gun.  After all, you have to get that stash put together somehow so that you have enough to send out to your list of friends and acquaintances, right?  

For my card I decided to use some of that wonderful All is Calm Specialty Design Series Paper.  The pattern I chose had a mixture of Whisper White, Soft Sky and Lost Lagoon and that pulled all the rest of my colours together.  I chose to make my base in Naturals White and then added a layer of Lost Lagoon.  For the left side I used the piece of All is Calm paper.  For the right side I decided on Soft Sky and proceeded to stamp it using Lost Lagoon ink and images from the White Christmas stamp set. 

Above the trees that I had stamped, I punched out stars using my new Confetti Stars punch.  I had to punch the top from each side to get the entire width filled with stars.  Then I cut a small piece of Silver Foil and adhered it behind the punched out stars so that they would appear to be silver.  As a special touch I punched out a Silver Foil star and used a Dimensional to place it among the confetti stars.  That gave a focal point at which the little stamped snowman appeared to be gazing.  I coloured the snowman with my Signo White ballpoint pen and added some white to the birches with the pen as well.  Then I used my Stampin' Markers to colour his carrot nose, scarf and hat.

With both sides adhered to the Lost Lagoon layer, I had to decide what to do about the decorative border between the two sides.  That's where the All is Calm Designer Washi Tape came to mind.  With a strip of the striped silver on one side and the Lost Lagoon snowflake pattern on the other, I knew the card was almost complete.  And so I glued a line of the snowflakes from the Frosted Sequin Embellishments down the centre of the two Washi tapes.  Since I don't like those little holes in the sequins, I covered them with the smallest of the Rhinestones.

For my sentiment I used the Believe from the hostess Good Greetings stamp set.  As you can see, I heat embossed it using my Silver embossing powder.  The silver compliments the other silvers on the card so nicely, doesn't it?

 

For more cards using this sketch, check out the Hand Stamped Sentiments challenge.

For more outdoorsy Christmas cards, check out Festive Friday.

For more layered Christmas cards, check out the Christmas Card Challenge.

WCC10 -- Product Challenge: Blendabilities

Welcome to our 10th Watercooler Challenge.  It's exciting to have been doing this for about 5 months now.  This challenge is going to be all about Blendabilities.  That's the product which is the "star" of our new show.

I love using my Blendabilities.  There are so many ways they can be used.  The usual colouring is just one of the great things you can do with them.  I discovered a technique that really appealed to me when I was visiting the Splitcoaststampers site.  Audrie Magno-Gordon posted a tutorial for Alcohol Marker Marbling and, of course, I had to try it.  I enjoyed it so much that I posted my own experiment using several different papers.  For the card in this challenge, I've used some Glossy White cardstock because that's the paper Audrie uses in her tutorial.

It's gorgeous out these days with the leaves all turning colour on the trees.  That's what inspired me to use the colours in my leaves.  I combined the following Blendabilities:  medium Daffodil Delight, medium Pumpkin Pie, medium Cherry Cobbler and light Crumb Cake.  I love the way the colours ran together and blended when I sprayed them with my Stampin' Spritzer and Isopropyl Alcohol.

I had been thinking of falling leaves and, with those little leaf dies from the Fun Fall Framelits, it was possible to fit my idea onto a card.  First I took a piece of Mossy Meadow and ran it through the Big Shot using my Woodgrain embossing folder.  Then I proceeded to cut leaves out of the left side of the piece and across the bottom.  That allowed me to put a piece of the marbled glossy paper behind the cut outs and then mount the Mossy Meadow onto my base of Hello Honey cardstock.  I cut two leaves from the marbled glossy paper and put them aside.

Next I cut a piece of Hello Honey using one of my Apothecary Accents framelits and then stamped it using my Hardwood stamp and Hello Honey ink.  When that was dry I stamped the sentiment from the For All Things stamp set close to the bottom of it, leaving sufficient room to mount the acorn from the Truly Grateful stamp set that I had already stamped, coloured and painted (the lower portion) using Crystal Effects.  Those two leaves I cut from the marbled glossy paper?  They were mounted on Dimensionals beside the sentiment.  If you look carefully you can see the ones that are raised and the ones that are "undermounted".

That's my sample of what you can do with Blendabilities.  You'll see a lot of other techniques in the samples from the other Watercooler Artists.  I'm sure you'll agree that they're far more versatile than you might thing at first glance.

I hope you'll give the challenge a try and link up your own project at the Watercooler Challenge using Blendabilities.  Let us know how you enjoyed the challenge.  We all love reading your comments.

I'm also entering this card in the Addicted to Stamps and More photo challenge:

For more cards in this photo challenge, check out Addicted to Stamps and More.

Autumn colours --- an artist's palette

*Thrilled to be a winner in The Paper Plunge first challenge*

I love Autumn.  The best years have the colours of the leaves changing slowly, going from green through the reds, oranges, and yellows before they finally give up and drift away, a brown shadow of their living selves.  Of course some years the colours seem to go from green to brown overnight, and that's no fun.  This year the trees are putting on a brilliant show.  I love it!

One of my favourite stamp sets is an oldie but a real "goldie".  It's still current even though I'm sure there are bets that it will retire as each new annual catalogue approaches.  I don't care.  I'll keep using it forever.  If you've guessed that the stamp set is Lovely as a Tree, then pat yourself on the back.  You're right.

When I decided to make a card showing off some of the Autumn colours, I considered quite a few techniques and stamp sets.  In the end I decided to use Lovely as a Tree.  I used the stamp with the cluster of oak leaves and the one acorn.  The leaves are so true to life as is the acorn.  That really appeals to me.  My decision to fussy-cut them after colouring them using my Blendabilities?  Well, I gave myself a good talking-to during the seemingly endless curves and twists of that image.  But in the end I'm glad I did it.  I love the way they look mounted on Dimensionals.  The touch of Crystal Effects on the acorn makes it look real, too, doesn't it?

I used Crumb Cake as my base and then a layer of Soft Suede.  For the Soft Suede, I first stamped my sentiment using Versamark and heat embossed it with Gold embossing powder.  Then I stamped along the right side with the largest of the Gorgeous Grunge stamps using Soft Suede ink and also Encore Gold ink.  After that had dried, I scuffed the edges up using my Distress Tool.

My top layer is a strip of Very Vanilla which I first stamped over and over again using the script stamp from the By the Tide stamp set using Sahara Sand ink.  Then I carefully tore all around the perimeter and sponged the torn edge again using Sahara Sand ink.  After that I stamped it using the same large splatter stamp from the Gorgeous Grunge set, again using Soft Suede and Encore Gold inks.

Before adding the strip to the card, I wrapped Linen Thread around the top area and tied a little bow in front.  Then I glued the strip down on the left side of the Soft Suede layer.  That's about the time I added the cluster of leaves which I already told you I mounted with Dimensionals.  To finish the card off, I added a small Gold Mini Clothespin to "hold" the leaves in place.

For more cards featuring Autumn colours, check out SUO Challenges.

For more projects that feature fall, check out The Paper Plunge Challenge.

For more projects that used the photo inspiration, check out "Just Us Girls" Challenge.