Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Ornamental Christmas

Here is my card for this month's SFYTT sketch challenge. Yes, I know it's the very last day of the month! November was insanely busy for me. I've had this sketch on my desk all month, but just wasn't feeling inspired. Once I got an idea, the card came together quickly.


Since Verve Stamps was this month's sponsor, I had plenty of images to choose from for my card. That can be a good thing AND a bad thing. lol It makes it so hard to decide! I used Ornamental Christmas for the main panel. After stamping the pine sprig several times to make a branch, I hung the large ornament from it and used pop-dots to raise the ball image above the curly outline. I then used a long sentiment from Blessed Christmas instead of the narrow strip in the sketch. It just worked much better that way for my card.

Although I didn't plan the colors ahead of time, I am really happy with how rich and elegant this card turned out. It simply evolved as I stamped. That needs to happen more often! lol

Stamps: Ornamental Christmas, Blessed Christmas (Verve Stamps)
Paper: White, True Black (Papertrey Ink); Handsome Hunter (Stampin' Up); Green at Heart pad (Basic Grey)
Ink: Handsome Hunter (Stampin' Up); Silver (Encore); Tuxedo Black (Memento)

Friday, November 25, 2011

Papertrey Ink November Blog Hop

I nearly forgot about the blog hop today! Amazingly, I had a idea as soon as I saw the inspiration picture, so it didn't take me too long to make my card. I loved the look of the pine garland against the white stair rails and here is my interpretation.


I embossed four white strips with the Distressed Stripes folder and then spaced them out on the white card to mimic the stair rails. Then I stamped the small holly sprig from Tag-Its #9 to make a garland across the top of the card. The small poinsettia is from the same set to add pops of color like the ribbon in the picture.

To mimic the silver bucket of greenery, I stamped the picnic basket on silver paper and colored the Christmas topper with Copic markers. The sentiment is from Holiday Button Bits and is embossed in white on a strip of Pure Poppy cardstock. I will probably add some yellow or gold Stickles to the star and poinsettia centers before I mail this card. It needs just a touch of sparkle. :)

Stamps: Tag-Its #9, Vintage Picnic, Holiday Button Bits (Papertrey Ink)
Paper: White, Pure Poppy (Papertrey Ink); silver
Ink: New Leaf, Pure Poppy, Fresh Snow, True Black (Papertrey Ink); Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Copic: 0 Colorless, T1, Y13, YG11, YG 13, YG 17, R29, R59
Misc: Distressed Stripes embossing folder (Cuttlebug); white Filigree embossing powder; Double-Ended Banners die (Papertrey Ink)

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Workshop cards

I went to a Holiday Card Workshop at my Stampin' Up demo's house last Friday and made five cards amidst lots of laughter and snarky commentary. I had so much fun! Amy (my demo) is amazingly creative and had us trying several techniques, one of which was completely new to me.

I did this card first and it is definitely my favorite. I love the soft colors and the sponged torn edges, not to mention the adorable snowman. (You're wicked, Amy! I was trying very hard to ignore this stamp set despite my weakness for snowmen.) I haven't used chalks in ages and after doing this card, I need to break them out again. It's such a soft, pretty look! I embossed the brown panel using a folder and then sponged it before layering everything together.


I love the embellishment although it makes the card more of a hand-deliver type. The inside was torn and sponged like the front panel, and it looks so neat against the dark cardstock. Just ignore the crooked sentiment. (ugh!)

I was also trying to ignore this next stamp set with its matching punch. (Thank you SO much, Amy! Can you hear the sarcasm? lol) It's just way too cute with that silver glitter paper and the teeny jingle bells. Darn those holiday mini catalogs!

I absolutely loved making this card. It took the longest, but it was so worth it! First I embossed the card to get that great border and then sponged the paper with Crumb Cake ink and some fabulous Soft Champagne liquid ink stuff that added tons of shimmer. The image was stamped with Stazon ink and then I used watercolor crayons and an aquabrush to add color. I've seen the watercolor crayons before, but had never tried using them until now. I loved the process and how pretty it looks. (Curse you, Amy! You know those are on my wish list now, don't you? I'm sure that was your plan all along.) :P Seriously though, I really like them and need to add them to my stash.


These are my last two cards. They took the shortest time to make, and that's a good thing for mass Christmas card production. One of the fun things about doing workshops is that I don't have to design anything. It's already done for me! :) So thanks, Amy, for a really fun night out getting inky!


Stamps: Snow Much Fun, Stitched Stockings, Aviary, Festive & Fun, Bells & Boughs, Beautiful Season
Embossing folders: Vintage Wallpaper, Petals A-Plenty, Framed Tulips, Perfect Polka Dots
Punch: Stocking Builder
(all supplies Stampin' Up)

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

One last nod to Halloween

I wanted to post a couple more Halloween cards and meant to do it yesterday, but ran out of time. Too busy! But hey, better late than never. :)

I made this card at my Stampin' Up demo's house several years ago. It uses Booglie Eyes, one of my favorite Halloween stamp sets. I kept the card because it's just too cute to give away!


Stamps:  Booglie Eyes (Stampin' Up)
Paper/Ink:  Stampin' Up 

The second one is a strange little card.  lol  I was following a sketch (a Verve Stamps sketch challenge, I think) and was trying to use a snowflake image in a different way since I only had one of their sets at the time.  I put the eye from Wise Owl over the snowflake and this is what resulted.  I also paper-pieced the 31 image.


Stamps: Wise Owl (Papertrey Ink); Winter Wonder (Verve); Oct 31 (Studio g)
I had plans to make lots of Halloween cards this year but I ended up just sending the four cards I made along with older ones like these from my stash. I'm pretty sure the cards didn't make it in time either, but at least I SENT them this time. That's progress!