Neutral Christmas

Today's card was one that I did on the weekend - inspired by the current challenge over at the Card Concept to use neutral colours:



I found a panel of a snowflake wreath (Hampton Arts) white embossed on kraft paper when I was cleaning my desk and I decided that it would be a perfect base for my card. Here is how I finished it off:

I added some wood veneer snowflakes and some dark brown liquid pearls to the wreath, wrapped some Hemptique twine around the panel, and layered two Penny Black "Merry" die cuts to the centre of the wreath. For the card base, I used some kraft paper and I stamped the Penny Black "Christmas" background stamp onto it using some SSS Fog ink - I wanted a really subtle tone-on-tone effect but I think that it may have come out to subtle...

I will link this card to the Card Concept Challenge where I think it fits in the clean and layered category and also to Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge where it is a winter inspired theme.

Thanks for stopping by!
Jill

Cleaning My Desk

This morning when I woke up, I knew that I wanted to make a few cards but I didn't have a specific plan. I browsed the challenge blogs for a while and headed down to my craft room - I still wasn't sure what I wanted to do so I started out with my usual form of procrastination - cleaning my desk. I have to say that it has been a while since I have done this - I have a really big desk so the mess doesn't usually get in the way. One of things that I cleaned up was a die-cut from a Kelly Purkey die that I had done from black cardstock a couple of months ago but never used, and it immediately mede me think of the current photo challenge at Inkspirational:



What a gorgeous photo! Perfect for a New Years' card - using that die-cut! Here is my card:

I started by coating the black die-cut with some black Wink of Stella (it doesn't show up in the picture); I then die-cut the Kelly Purkey die again from from some silver metallic cardstock which I used to inlay the little dots into the black die-cut (I now have a silver die-cut on my desk - so much for the clean up ;) ). I heat embossed the fireworks bursts using the Simon Says Stamp (July 2013) kit stamp. I created a custom embossing powder by combining two different purple Zing powders with a little bit of microfine glitter. Once embossed, I used Distress Inks on the background to create the night sky  - Shaded Lilac, Dusty Concord, Chipped Saphire and Black soot. I finished off by adding a few Pretty Pink Posh clear sequins. I'm super happy with how this card turned out - I couldn't photograph it to do it justice. I will link it to the Inkspirational Challenge.

Thanks for stopping by!!!

Jill

Giant Snowflakes

One of the stamps that I was playing with on the weekend was a giant snowflake stamp from Tattered Angels. I bought this 12x12 sheet of clear stamps several years ago on sale but I have never actually used them - I always get distracted by my "new toys" instead. This giant snowflake stamp is so big that it can't actually fit on a card -and I had to go and but a new stamping block just to be able to use it.

Here is the first card:

This card was inspired by Virginia's View Challenge to get out my Distress Inks. The card itself is very simple - the white embossed snowflake sponged over with some Tumbled Glass, Broken China, and Evergreen Bough ink. I then splattered the card with some Perfect Pearls, Picket Fence Distress Stain, and Brushed Pewter Distress Stain. The card was finished of with a silver embossed MFT greeting on a piece of  vellum and a few clear Pretty Pink Posh sequins. A very simple card but so much fun to make! I will link it to the following:

• Virginia's View challenge to use Distress Inks - lots of amazing cards in the gallery there - great inspiration!
• Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge to bling it on!

For my second card, I decided that I wanted a little bit more white space so I knew that I would cut a panel. I used the sketch from CASe this Sketch as inspiration for the layout.

I white embossed the snowflake onto a piece of watercolour paper, and then I watercoloured the piece with Twinkling H2Os - I love these! They sit in the back of one of my drawers, and every time I take them out, I always think about how I should use them more often but I seem to forget. They blend so well and they leave a shimmer when they are done (it is not really captured in the picture but it is really pretty!)

I die cut the panel using a MFT die and I adhered it to a regular white card base. I used a Jillian Vance stamp set to silver emboss the Feliz Navidad on the card front. As a side note, I often try to make my greetings in the recipient's mother tongue - I think that it makes the card more personal. My husband is Danish and I am desperately looking for some Danish greeting stamps to use on the cards I send to his family - no success so far so I would appreciate any information anyone has on where I can order some! I will link this card to a couple of challenges:

• CASE This Sketch for the layout inspiration
• CASology where the key word is SNOW

Thanks for stopping by!!!!

Jill

Merry Monday Guest Designer

It was really a weekend of using some of my crafty supplies that I haven't used before and this card for the Merry Monday Challenge was no exception. The inspiration photo this week is all about a winter scene:

There is a lot to work with in this picture but my mind immediately thought of trees being weighed down by heavy snow, and I had the perfect (not yet used!) die for the task. The Dee's Distinctively die comes in 5 sections so that you can add some foam between the layers to create some dimension and that is what I did. Here is my card:

I die cut the 5 piece tree from some cardstock covered with some Be Creative tape, and then I applied two different colours of Glitter Ritz glitter (Latte and Diamonds). I also cut the snow banks and trees from the same cardstock and applied some Diamonds glitter to them. The background was sponged with some Distress Inks (Chipped Sapphire, Black Soot, and Dusty Concord), stamped with some first and second generation snowflakes in Chipped Sapphire, and splattered with some Perfect Pearls and Picket Fence Stain. The Season's Greetings was die cut using my new Memory Box Die from some SSS Blue Violet cardstock that was also sponged with some Chipped Sapphire ink and misted with shimmer spray. I wanted to keep the sentiment very tone-on-tone so that the focus would be on the tree. 

Thanks for stopping by!!

Christmas Stockings

The challenge at TIME OUT this fortnight is all about case-ing Amy Wanford (I love her work!) - and the inspiration card is this:



There are lots of great design elements in this card but I was really drawn to the white on white and the simple greeting. I don't quite know how made the leap in my mind but somehow I thought of Christmas stockings on a fireplace - it might have been the desperation of trying to finish off my Christmas cards :). Here is what I came up with:

I die cut the white panel using a MFT die and I added some Ranger Texture Paste through a brick stencil to create the white-on-white chimney. For the stockings, I covered some cardstock with BeCreative tape and then die cut them with some MFT dies. I used an Exacto knife to cut the designs into the protective layer of the BeCreative so I could pull sections away bit by bit to apply two different colours of glitter - silver and gold. I used some American Craft glitter which is a little bit coarser than the microfine glitter that I usually use but it still worked well. To finish the card, I added a little bit of Lawn Fawn twine which I shaped with some Multi-Medium, and I stamped a Hero Arts greeting in Cup O Joe. I am really happy with how this card turned out - so much so that I may even make another one (which is something I almost never do).

I will link this card to a few places:

• Time Out Challenge is where I drew the inspiration (they always have great challenges!)
• Merry Monday - the challenge is to use white, silver, gold, and one other colour - hence the colour choice for my stockings!!
• Inkspirational has a challenge to use gold (it goes with anything - so true!)
• Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge to Bling It On - I am not sure that glittery stockings really count as bling but they do in my book ;)

Thanks so much for stopping by!!!

Season's Greetings

The challenge this week at Merry Monday is all about feathered friends - and the inspiration photo features cardinals - one of my winter favourites. We used to get a lot of them on our feeder in Montreal but I haven't seen as many around our new house - most likely since we are in a newer development with smaller trees.




I did a card with red birds a few weeks back so I decided do create something similar. This was the card from last time:

The elements that I decided to use again were the colour scheme, the die cut birds, and the background stamp. Here is what I came up with:

I used a SSS Smoke cardstock base and I stamped the Penny Black Christmas Story in the same clour ink. I then trimmed a piece of SSS Fog cardstock for the front panel. I used the My Favorite Things Out On A Limb die to cut the tree. Same as last time, I die cut the Penny Black Birds on a Wire from SSS Schoolhouse Red cardstock, covered them in Xmas Red Stickles. The music notes and greeting are from a mini Lawn Fawn stamp set, and the twine is also from Lawn Fawn.

It is really amazing how cards made from very similar elements can end up completely different! I think that I prefer the original but my husband prefers the second card. What do you think?

I will link up with Merry Monday challenge and also to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge where the theme is Holidays.

Thanks for stopping by!!!

Joyous Noel

It has been ages since my last post - it is amazing how quickly the last few weeks have just flown by and I've really gotten very little crafty time in.

This is a card that I made on the weekend for the latest (and almost closed!) TIME OUT Challenge. The challenge is embossing with an optional twist of sparkle - so I wanted to make a card that featured three different types of embossing - and lots of sparkle!

I started out by using some embossing paste through a Memory Box stencil on the card panel. When the paste was still wet, I added some Distress Rock Candy glitter to it for some sparkle. I then die cut the Simon Says Stamp snowflakes and coated them in silver embossing powder which I heat embossed. For the greeting, I used part of an embossing folder but before I embossed the paper, I applied some Distress Ink to the folder and I sprayed it with some shimmer spray (more sparkle!). The result is that the raised part of the greeting remained white while the depressed part was watercoloured. To assemble the card, I glued the snowflakes to the card panel and then I wrapped a piece of ribbon around it (I love ribbon on Christmas cards) and glued the greeting on top. I then used foam tape to put the panel on the card base.
I will link this card to TIME OUT Challenge and also to Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge where the challenge is anything goes.

Thanks for stopping by!
Jill

Something Different

This weekend was all about trying new things. This morning, I started by running a 5K - which I've never done before. I can't explain my motivation but I think that it is rooted somewhere in my denial of getting older. I had two objectives: to run the whole thing (i.e. no giving up and walking), and not to finish dead last  - I am happy to day that both objectives were met so I consider it a success (despite my not very impressive time!)

I also decided to try some different techniques in making cards as well. The first technique involved colouring using Copics - now I confess that I equipped myself a month ago with some new Copics and I recently took advantage of a sale at My Favorite Things to buy some good colouring-in type stamps but I had yet to put pen to paper (so to speak!). The other technique that I tried for the first time was partial die cutting. Here is the card I created:

I started out by stamping the image on the front of a card. I then carefully lined up the circle die in my Big Shot and partially cut the circle - I cut the rest of the image using an Exacto knife (much easier than I was envisioning!). Then came the colouring! I am not an experienced Copic colourer so I kept the shading pretty basic - this was all about learning for me. I added so Icicle Stickles to the ornament and then stamped the greeting. I added a larger patterned paper die cut circle on the inside of the card to create the background. Finally, I noticed that the image was curling a little bit from the Stickles so I added an acetate circle on the inside of the card and glued the image to it. 

All in all, I consider this card as much as success as I do my 5K! When I showed it to my husband, he said that "it is very different from your usual style"! I will link this card to CASE this Sketch where the sketch this week is this one:

Thanks for stopping by!!

Jill

Metallic

I love using metallic elements on cards - especially on Christmas cards since it just seems to fit the occasion. When I saw the "Metallic" challenge at Virginia's View this month, I saw it as an opportunity to spread my metallic wings a little bit, and I decided that I wanted to make card using leafing.

I used a die to cut the tree shape from a "Be Creative" sheet. I then removed the backing ( I have to admit that this was a little bit more fiddly than I thought it would be) and adhered it to a piece of white cardstock. I had considered stick the sheet to the cardstock, then die cutting and adhering the shape to the card but I didn't want the extra thickness. I removed the top layer of die cut, exposing the adhesive, and then layered on the leafing - pushing it down and burnishing it with my fingers. I absolutely LOVE the result!!! To make it into a card, I used a tag die to cut the cardstock and stamped a greeting across the bottom. I popped it onto a card base that I has splatted with gold shimmer spray and added a big gold bow to top it off.

I will link this card to Virginia's View Challenge and also to CAS on Sunday where the challenge is to use ribbon, and finally to Inkspirational where the code word is Shine.

Supplies:

Dies: Savvy Dies - Flourish Tree; Sizzix/Tim Holtz - tag

Stamp: Clearly Besotted - Ornamental Style

Leafing: Mona Lisa Variegated Metal Flakes

Mist: Heidi Swapp Gold Lame Colour Shine

Thanks for stopping by!

Jill

Holiday Card Workshop - Day 1

I really enjoy the Online Card Classes, and I really enjoyed the latest one - Holiday Card Workshop 2014. Unfortunately, I haven't had a chance to do my homework yet but I did make one card that was inspired by Jennifer McGuire's Day 1 card. I stamped the greetings inside an ornament shaped opening made with a die in a piece of printer paper. After the greetings were stamped, I felt that it was a little bit bare so I added some Distress Ink with my blending tool. I stamped the ornament caps, string, and card greeting in Versamark and heat embossed with Liquid Platinum powder. I then masked the ornaments and overlaid the SSS Falling Snow stencil to apply some more Versamark. The 'snow' was then heat embossed with a glitter powder. The final touch was the bows made from some metallic embroidery floss.

Thanks for stopping by!

Joyeux Noel

Another busy week... the good news is that my husband and I re-started going to the gym but the downside is that leaves very little time for crafts and blogs. I did manage to get some time in this weekend and I started at TIME OUT for their current challenge - here is the photo:



There is a lot going on in this photo - lots of places to take inspiration - but my eye was immediately drawn to the wooden NOEL on the shelf. Until a little bit less than a year ago, I was living in Montreal, and I spent the better part of my day in French. There is very little French in the area where we live now, and I really miss it - and I'm probably getting quite rusty! So the NOEL in the picture inspired me to make a card for one of my French speaking friends in Montreal.

The panel is a shimmery, textured cream cardstock, and I added the chipboard letters (they are some K & Company letters that I have had forever). I die cut the pine needles from some green cardstock, and the pine cones from brown cardstock. The pine cones are also embossed in the die cutting process but I decided that I wanted to add something more so I sponged some Versamark through the die onto the raised areas of the cones and heat embossed with some Enchanted Gold powder. I glued everything down with some multi-medium. I heat embossed the Joyeux onto some vellum with gold powder and wrapped the vellum around the corner of the panel. The panel was then mounted onto a cream card. 

I will link this to the TIME OUT challenge.

Supplies:
Dies: Impression Obsession
Stamps: Jillian Vance

Thanks for stopping by!
Jill

Simon Says Stamp November Kit

Yesterday morning, we woke up to a blanket of white and snowflakes in the air - of course it didn't even last until noon but it did justify my current obsession with Christmas cards!

Confession time - I subscribe to card kits, I receive them and think about all the great things that I want to do - and then I put them away untouched! I've decided that I need to change this and I will be prioritizing these kits when they arrive from now on. My Simon Says Stamp kit arrived on Friday - with no shortage of fun stuff inside so I stayed true to my self-resolution and made some cards.

The first card:

I took the inspiration for the first card from CASe this Sketch and this week's sketch:

I loved the "dashed lines and stars" background so I stamped and silver embossed it 3 times on the top panel. I then stamped and silver embossed the greeting on the bottom panel. I blended in some Tumbled Glass Distress Ink on both panels as lightly as I could. I stamped the larger tree in Hot Lips (new gorgeous Simon colour!) and the smaller tree in Green Apple. Both were coated with a generous coat of Wink of Stella. I added the snowflake sequin and the heart from the kit as accents, and then added a few Pretty Pink Posh clear sequins from my own stash. I will link this card to Case This Sketch.

The second card:

I took my inspiration for this card from the Festive Friday photo:

I stamped the candy cane stripe in Hot Lips to make an angled frame on a white panel. I coloured between the thin stripes with a silver Wink of Stella pen. I then used the Simon "Pile of Gifts" die to cut out the presents which I inlaid with some of the patterned paper from the kit. I silver embossed the greeting and added a few of the snowflake sequins from the kit. I coated everything with a coat of Wink of Stella and popped the panel up on a white card base. I will link this card up to the Festive Friday Challenge.

For the third card, I decided to start with the sentiment - I love the sentiment and the font and I felt as though they were calling out for a CAS card. I stamped and masked the trees repeatedly across the card front (Audrey Blue, Blue Violet, Lavender, Doll Pink, Hydrangea). I then masked the trees and stamped the snow repeatedly across the top of the panel - I embossed with Sticky Stuff and coated with Rock Candy Distress Glitter. I added a strip of Be Creative tape across the bottom and coated that with the same glitter. I will link this card to the current Less is More challenge to use non-traditional colours on a Christmas card and to CAS on Sunday where the challenge is to make a one-layer card.

So that is it for my first kit self-challenge and I think that I did quite well. I used every stamp except one greeting.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween! I thought that I would celebrate with a Christmas card - after all, everything will turn to Christmas tomorrow morning!

The inspiration photo this week is all about neutral colours, dry embossing, and snowflakes. I took a look at the gallery and the entries so far are amazing! Definitely a lot of inspiration. Here is the main inspiration photo:

And here is my card:

I cut some white cardstock with the SSS Circle on a Line die, and then I dry embossed the large piece with a snowflake embossing folder. I used my silver Wink of Stella pen to colour the raised dots and also the "line" part of the die cut. I used some brown shimmer paper (Prima) at the base of the card and glued everything onto the card base. I then die cut some snowflakes using SSS dies (I love theses snowflake dies!) - I used the Eliza die to cut one white and one brown snowflake, and then I used the Kate die to cut another white one that I coloured with the silver Wink of Stella pen to match. These dies are designed so they stack nicely - which is exactly what I did. I finished off with a gem and a white embossed greeting from My Favorite Things.

I will link to Merry Monday Challenge and to Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes.

Supplies:
Dies: Simon Says Stamp - Circle on a Line; Eliza Snowflake; Kate Snowflake
Embossing Folder: Tim Holtz/Sizzix - Snowflake Pattern
Stamp: My Favorite Things - Cheerful Christmas

Case This Sketch - Snowflakes

A quick last minute entry for this week's Case This Sketch. Actually, I made the card last weekend but I didn't get around to the post until now. Here is the sketch:

And here is my take on it:

I masked the sides of the card using some washi tape and blended in a some blue distress ink (Tumbled Glass, Broken China, Salty Ocean) and then stamped some Simon Says snowflakes as well. I die cut two Simon Says snowflakes and silver heat embossed them before gluing them to the card. I finished the card with some twine, sequins and a Clearly Besotted tag and greeting.

I will link this card up to the Case This Sketch Challenge here.

Thanks for stopping by!!

TIME OUT Guest Designer - Birds of a Feather

I bought this stencil a while back on a whim because - well - it had birds. I've been waiting for the right occasion to break it out and this TIME OUT challenge seemed to fit the bill. The theme is:

"Birds of a Feather Flock Together"

TIME OUT is such a great challenge - I really like that each challenge lasts a fortnight. We know how busy life can get, and two weeks gives enough time to play along. Check out TIME OUT here:

For the first card, I inked the birds through the stencil using some bright colours of Distress Inks. I then die cut the curve using the Pretty Pink Posh die. I felt that the background looked too stark so I used the stencil to trace the birds onto some Post-It tape and fussy cut them to make some bird masks. I then masked the birds and stamped the French Text background stamp onto the background. I gave the birds a little shimmer with some Wink of Stella and then mounted the panel on a Slate card. It was finished off with a white heat embossed Hero Arts sentiment. As a side note, I think this is my most used sentiment stamp - it is so generic that the card can be used for so many different occasions - perfect for cards that I like to keep on hand in case something comes up and I don't have time to make a card specifically for it.

For the second card, I broke out my new metallic Distress Stains and I created the background panel using them and a large flat brush. You can't see it in the photo but it is super shimmery in real life. I then used some embossing paste through the stencil to create the birds - when the paste was still wet, I applied some Rock Candy Glitter to the birds. I used the same die as the first card but I cut the panel at an angle. I did the same thing with a layer of vellum, and I mounted them on a card base made from DCWV Shimmer paper. I finished off by white heat embossing the greeting. This card is so shimmery that when you rotate it in the light, the birds disappear - it is quite cool but unfortunately, it can't be captured with the camera (or at least not by this photographer!).

Supplies:

Stencil: Dina Wakley - Birds In Flight

Stamps: Impression Obsession - French Text; Hero Arts - Good Friends ; Clearly Besotted - Say It In Style

Die: Pretty Pink Posh

I will link this card to the Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes Challenge.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Jill

Stamplorations - Wishing You Well

The last few weeks at work have been quite busy - long days and weekends included so I am taking a few days off for some staycation R&R. Today, I completely spoiled myself by going for a facial and massage - followed by some quality time in my craft room :)

I bought some stamps from Stamplorations a little while ago but most of them have been in their packaging since they arrived. Today seemed like the perfect day to break that trend - this is what came out...

I inked the background using my new favourite Memory Box stencil and a few colours of Distress Inks. I stamped the butterflies on some black cardstock and white heat embossed. I then fussy cut them and glued them to the background. The greeting is from another Stamplorations set - I tried to shape it to match the stencil lines

I will link this card to a few few challenges:

• Stamplorations October challenge featuring embossing.
• Less is More Challenge to use newsprint
• Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes

Supplies: 

Stamps: Stamplorations - Vignette: Tree Sihouettes; Stamplorations - Vignette: Artful Flutters

Stencil: Memory Box - Wave

Distress Ink

Thanks for stopping by!!!!

Merry Christmas

It has been another long week at work and I have been struggling with a horrible cold so I really haven't had much time to spend in my craft room but I did manage to get this one in this morning. It combines two of my current love affairs - Clearly Besotted and SSS grey cardstock (in this case I used Smoke but I love them all).

For this card, I used the new Clearly Besotted Ornamental Style    stamps and dies. I started with my Smoke cardstock die cut into a rounded-corner panel and white heat-embossed the greeting across the top. I then die cut the three ornaments where I wanted them positioned on the panel. I also die cut the ornaments in three sheets of patterned paper and inlaid them into the panel. I then die cut the ornaments onto some vellum and stamped them using the coordinating stamps with Versamark. I heat embossed using Ranger Snowflake Tinsel embossing powder and I glued them over the patterned paper ornaments. I used the small snowflakes in the stamp set on the bottom part of the panel (trying to follow the diagonal line of the greeting) - these were just stamped in Versamark for a tone-on-tone effect. The card base is also Smoke cardstock - and I added some striped paper (from the same 6x6 pad) overlaid with some vellum. I again tried to line up the stripes to the diagonal in the greeting. The panel was mounted with foam tape.

I will link this card to the current Clearly Besotted challenge (Christmas theme) and also to Addicted to Stamps and More Holiday themed challenge.

Supplies:
Stamps: Clearly Besotted - Ornamental Style
Dies: Clearly Besotted - Ornamental Style; Simon Says - Frames
Patterned Paper: MME - Lime Twist (6x6)
Embossing Powder: Ranger - Snowflake Tinsel
Ink: Versamark

Thanks for stopping by!!!!
Jill

TIME OUT Guest Designer

Time Out is a great challenge blog that I have had a lot of fun playing. I was incredibly honoured (and nervous) when they asked me to be a guest designer this week. You can link to TIME OUT by clicking on the badge below.

 This week, the theme is "Inspired By Words", and the quote is:

"Birds of a feather flock together."

I confess that I am a little bit of a bird watcher, and that I have a huge stash of bird stamps, dies, and stencils. I started sorting though everything looking for inspiration, when my latest order from Simon Says arrived in the post. The parcel contained all kinds of Holiday stuff so I got a little bit distracted. One of the things that I had ordered was the Holly Berries stamp that Clearly Besotted designed for Stamptember. I was looking at the branches when I thought "they would look great with some birds on the branches" - and the idea was born:

I stamped the branch three times in Versamark and heat embossed using Snowflake Tinsel embossing powders (I love glitter on holiday cards!) I then die-cut the birds using the Penny Black "In a Row" from some SSS Schoolhouse Red cardstock - it is actually a die cut of birds on a wire but I cut them apart to get the individual birds. I glued them on the branched and then covered them in Christmas Red Stickles (more glitter!).I added a couple of strips of matching cardstock to the sides of the panel, and then wrapped some twine around it. The tag was stamped using a combination of Clearly Besotted stamps, and then die-cut using the matching die. The panel was then mounted on a SSS Smoke card that had stamped with the Penny Black Christmas Story background stamp in Versamark for a tone on tone effect. The Snowflake Tinsel did not show up very well in the picture so I tried to take another angle to try to capture it.. not sure that worked either though...

I have to say that when I first pictured this card, it was a lot more CAS in my mind but I'm quite happy with how it turned out.

I will link to a couple of challenges - Clearly Besotted (I am in love with their products!) is hosting a holiday themed challenge, and Simon Says Stamp is celebrating Stamptember themed cards.

Supplies:
Stamps: Simon Says Stamp/Clearly Besotted - Holly Berries; Clearly Besotted - Journal It; Penny Black - Christmas Story
Dies: Clearly Besotted - Journal It; Penny Black - In A Row
Cardstock: Simon Says Stamp
Ink: Versamark, Simon Says Stamp

Thanks so much for stopping by!!!!
Jill

Merry Monday Guest Designer

Today, I am guest designing on the Merry Monday challenge blog. This is the first time I have been a guest designer, and I have to admit that I was pretty nervous about the whole thing. The Merry Monday blog is a great challenge blog that motivates you to get a head start on holiday cards. The challenges are great and the design team is amazing! Here is the link:

The theme this week on Merry Monday is to create a Christmas card using non-traditional colours. Yay! I love using non-Christmas colours on my holiday cards - many of my friends and relatives have received cards coloured with Picked Raspberry and Peacock Feathers

Here is the card:

I took my inspiration from the tree in the picture. I stamped my tree in Versamark and then heat embossed it using Sticky Stuff embossing powder. This allowed me to cover the image in Gunmetal Blue glitter. I decided that the tree needed a frame so I die cut the frame using a SSS die and did the same thing using some pink glitter paper. I inlaid the pink frame around the tree. I decorated the tree using some gems (teal, lime, pink and clear), and I decorated a wood veneer with Picked Raspberry paint and Rock Candy glitter to use as a greeting. I mounted the front on some non-Christmas patterned paper. Unfortunately, it was a little bit cloudy when I was taking the picture so the sparkle doesn't show up in the picture but (trust me), this card is very sparkly in real life.


Supplies:
Stamp: Penny Black - Tannenbaum
Dies: Simon Says Stamp - Frames
Glitter: Glitter Ritz - Gunmetal Blue
Patterned Paper: Studio Calico
Wood Veneer: Prima


Thanks so much for stopping by!
Jill

You Color My World

One of my favourite techniques lately is to use a stencil to outline an image and then fill in with watercolour. I was going through my stencil stash looking for my next project when I came across this older Studio Calico stencil recently liberated from one of my SC Scrapbook kits. I thought that it would look good in rainbow colours. 

I temporarily adhered the stencil to a piece of watercolour paper and outlined the shapes using Inktense pencils. I then removed the stencil and filled in the shapes using some water. I took my inspiration for the next step from Christine Drogt's guest spot on Virgnia's View - she cut a stencils image out and popped it up with foam tape. I did the same with my watercoloured stencil image. I stamped the greeting and coloured in the "Color" with a black Wink of Stella pen - you can't really see the shimmer in the picture but it is there in real life.

I'm not usually very good at linking to multiple challenges but this card was inspired by so many places. I will link to Virginia's View Challenge which features Clean and Simple. I will also link to Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge to watercolour, and I will link to Addicted to CAS which focuses on stencils (my second entry).

Supplies:
Stencil: Studio Calico
Stamp: Reverse Confetti - Dream In Color
Colour Medium: Inktense Watercolour pencils

Thanks so much for stopping by!!!!

Runway Inspired - Cynthia Rowley

I love the elegant combination of gold, black and white but it's not one that I use often - in fact, I can't recall ever using it so that is why I was so intrigued by the Runway Inspired Challenge this week.

I really like the way the black frames the gold, and the linear floral style of the gold - that is what I wanted to CASE. This is what I came up with:

It took me a while to figure out how to do the gold and black. My first attempt was using gold embossing paste but I found that the gold colour was too bright. I finally used my Versamark through the stencil and applied gold embossing powder - I liked that colour much more. I used my black Copic marker to colour over the embossing powder and make the black highlights. I stamped the greeting in the same gold embossing powder on vellum that I wrapped around the panel with some gold floss. The panel was then mounted (with foam tape) onto a A2 black card.

In case you're wondering why I did the "belated" greeting, it's because I forgot my sister-in-law's Birthday is tomorrow and it will take about a week for the card to get to Denmark from here.

In addition to linking this card to Runway Inspired Challenge, I will also link to Addicted to CAS which is featuring stencils this week.

Supplies:

Stamps: Clearly Besotted - Say It In Style

Stencil: Hero Arts - Leaf & Flourish

Embossing Powder: Stampendous - gold

Twine: DMC

Other: Copic - black

Thanks for stopping by!!!!

Merry and (Really) Bright

The challenge at Merry Monday this week is to use neon colours in Christmas cards - love it!!! I thought that this was the perfect opportunity to break out my Dylusions sprays again - I just love the really vibrant colours in that line (not quite neon but close enough I think). 

Here is the first card:

I stamped the row of bulbs from the Dylusions Christmas Borders set a few times across a piece of white cardstock that I had die cut into a wonky rectangle shape. I then painted the bulbs with several colours of Dylusions sprays, added some Wink of Stella and a coating of Glossy Accents for shine. I then stamped some diagonal stripes on a piece of white cardstock with some HA neon purple ink. The purple was looking a little bit bland next to the shiny bulbs so I added some Glossy Accents to the stripes as well. I mounted them on a black A2 card and white heat embossed the "Merry and Bright" greeting.




Here is the second card:

The second card was done using the same materials as the first card but this time I used my new Memory Box Triangle Tree stamp. I again coloured the tree with Dylusions, then Wink of Stella, and some Glossy Accents to finish off.

I will link my cards up to Merry Monday Challenge.


Supplies:
Stamps: Dylusions - Christmas Borders; Hero Arts - Calico Borders; Memory Box - Triangle Tree; Simon Says Stamp - Christmas
Ink: Versafine - Onyx Black; Dylusions Sprays - various colours; Hero Arts - Neon Purple
Other: Wink of Stella; Glossy Accents

Sympathy Card

On the weekend, I was looking for inspiration on challenge blogs, and I saw that the current challenge on The Card Concept was a colour challenge using black, white, and orange. Orange! My favourite colour! When I think of orange, I usually think of tiger lilies and sunsets... this time sunsets came to mind, and this card:

This card has been in my head for as long as I have owned the stamp (years!) but I have never gotten around to actually making it. I think that I have a hesitation around making sympathy cards - but I hate having to make them when I actually need them. My practical side one out, and I put ink to paper - three shades of Distress Inks to be precise. I used some torn paper as a mask, and then stamped the birds in black Versafine. I did add some Wink of Stella to the orange sunset (I don't think it shows up in the photo). I added a greeting, mounted the panel on some black cardstock and popped the whole thing up on a white card base. 

I will link this card to this week's Card Concept Challenge as a clean and simple card.


Supplies:
Stamps: Studio Calico/Hero Arts - Birds on a Wire; My Favorite Things - Clearly Sentimental About Sympathy
Distress Inks: Wild Honey, Spiced Marmalade, Rusty Hinge

Thanks for stopping by!!!!