Merry & Bright

Wishing you a Merry Christmas!

Today's card is oh, so sparkly in real life.  The background was created using a technique that Jennifer McGuire showed several months ago in a video.  She called it "faux textured metal paper".  It involves two colors of distress ink and perfect pearl powder, then an embossing folder.  If you're interested, watch her video.  In fact, watch ALL her videos.  She is amazing!  I layered this on some shimmery silver paper and die cut "Merry & Bright" from glitter paper - for a lot of shimmer and shine.

My tip today - We should all try to be be a bit more like Jennifer McGuire and "share kindness", not just at Christmas, but all year.

Merry Christmas, and thanks for visiting.

Supplies used include:
Paper (Silver Shimmer and Silver Glitzy Glitter paper by DCWV)
Dies (Simon Says Stamp Merry & Bright Die)
Ink (Cracked Pistachio and Evergreen Bough Distress Inks)
Other ( Cuttlebug Forest Embossing Folder, Perfect Pearl Powder in Pearl, Distress Ink Mini
 Blending Tool)
 

baaah humbug!

Today's card was made (with lots of love) for a friend who has always said Baaah Humbug!

The sheep, santa's hat and xmas list were stamped, colored, and fussy cut and mounted onto the background with foam for dimension.  The background was created with a couple dies, a bit of coloring and LOTS of wink of stella for sparkle.

My tip today - Clear Wink of Stella can be used sparingly to give very subtle shimmer, or you can add several coats  (like I did today) to give lots of sparkle.  It can be used on white or colored cardstock or on top of colored images.

Thanks for visiting today!

Supplies used include:
Paper (Canson Watercolor Paper)
Ink (Hero Arts Black Dye Ink)
Stamps (Lawn Fawn Baaah Humbug)
Dies (Lawn Fawn Forest Border Die, Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangles)
Coloring (Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers)
Other (Zig Wink of Stella)

An Ice Christmas

Have an ice Christmas!  Today I'm sharing a card using the Hero Arts Polar Bear stamp from their winter release.

For this card I stamped the Polar Bear onto watercolor paper, and colored the scarf in Christmas colors. After fussy cutting him I propped him up with foam tape onto a die cut oval on which I stamped a bit of ice (clear Wink of Stella was added to the ice for shimmer).  This was then mounted onto an ice blue card front using craft foam for dimension.  The sentiment was heat embossed in silver to continue the "icy" theme.

My tip today - When fussy cutting right up to the stamped edge of the image, run a black marker along the edges.  This covers up any imperfections in your cutting and gives it a clean look.

Thanks for visiting today!

Supplies used include:
Paper (Canson Watercolor Paper)
Stamps (Hero Arts Wooden Polar Bear, Lawn Fawn Critters in the Arctic, Lawn Fawn Winter Scripty
   Sayings)
Ink (Hero Arts Black Dye Ink, Versamark)
Dies (Simon Says Stamp Stitched Ovals)
Coloring (Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers, Black Distress Marker)
Other (Hero Arts Silver Embossing Powder, Craft Foam, Clear Wink of Stella)

A Vintage Christmas

Today I'm sharing a vintage inspired Christmas card.

I diecut two pieces of cream colored cardstock, stamped and embossed the santa on one  and applied a bit of distress ink to all the edges. I also applied distress ink to the edges of a piece of patterned paper to continue the "vintage" feel.  Add a touch of lace and we're done.

My tip today - Continue the "style"of your card throughout your design.  If you're going for vintage, go vintage all the way.  Inking the edges of your cardstock and using an embellishment such as lace really works to continue the vintage look.

Thanks for visiting today!

Supplies used include:
Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Vintage Photo, Brown Pigment Ink
Dies: Avery Elle Finished Frames Dies
Other: Maya Road Vintage Lace Tape in Shamrock Green, Hero Arts Clear Embossing Powder

Wishing (you a happy birthday) - In Pink

Today I want to share a winter birthday card made for a friend.

Today's card is again a simple one.  I stamped and embossed the image (using a very old wood stamp, but oh, so cute!) on watercolor paper, colored, and added a diecut sentiment.  Really cute in white and black, and a pop of pink.

My tip today - sometimes all you need is just one color.

Thanks for visiting today!

Supplies used include:
Paper (Canson Watercolor Paper)
Ink (Versafine Onxy Black)
Coloring (Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers)
Dies (Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangles, Simon Says Stamp Wishing)
Other (Hero Arts Clear Embossing Powder, Wink of Stella)

Happy Birthday, Gold Foiled

Today I'm sharing a simple birthday card, with no stamping at all.  Instead I'm using gold foil.

I simply printed the sentiment using a laser printer, and added gold foil using my laminator.  The heat of the laminator causes the gold foil to bond to the toner used by the laser printer.  In real life the gold is SO shiny, it doesn't show in the photo.  I then diecut and layered on a piece of very colorful patterned paper.

Thanks so much for visiting!

Supplies used include:
Thermoweb Gold Deco Foil
Dies (Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangles)