Happy Thanksgiving!

Prices lowered for many items in my sale pages.

Wishing all my US friends a lovely Thanksgiving holiday.  Hope everyone stays safe & has a fun day.  Time to start signing & addressing Christmas cards, but first I have some projects to show you.
I recently used a Trinity Stamps gift certificate for their Season Greetings Silhouettes stamp set.  Here's my first card using one of the trees & the lovely greeting.  I wanted to make something for AAA Cards.  This time the challenge is to make a card in minutes with an optional twist of ink blending.  I planned out the design & even did a practice run--hope that's OK.

My final one layer card took 15 minutes.  I began by stamping the sentiment & then gold embossed the tree 3 times.  A light pencil mark showed me where each trunk needed to be.  Then I taped off the area for blending with DO candied apple & abandoned coral.  Simply wiped the ink off the trees & the card was done.  Gotta say--I love how it turned out!  I'm also entering Rudolph Days, SSS Wednesday & Time Out.

Next is another entry for Tracey's 25 Days of Christmas Tags.  I had to make a tree tag like Tracey's on Day 17.  I bought that PPP die after getting a Christmas card made with it last year by one of my friends.  Naturally, the package hadn't been opened, so that's been fixed now!  Such a fun die that can be used for a variety of looks.

I began with a white cardstock panel & added a multitude of DO inks in blues & greens.  Then I splashed on some water droplets & blotted them with a paper towel.  Next I spritzed with GooseBumps Shimmer Texture Spray--really neat in person.  Finally I added white splatters using Windsor & Newton white gauche.  Have to say--it does make the best white splatters!  Then I die cut the 4 pieces & decided the edges needed to stand out more.  So, I painted on some white Pico Embellisher & added Stickles.  The ends naturally curl up & I attached the brown watercolored trunk, twine & bell.  Love this die!

One more tag for 25 Days of Christmas Tags.  My good friend, Rosemary, is on the DT for AJVD.  They sponsored Day 20 & Rosemary made a gorgeous red & gold tag which I had to case!  I used scraps of red & gold paper, so will also enter The Snippets Playground. 

My tag is die cut using MFT Scallop Cross-Stitch Tag & the snowflakes are from Stampendous Winter White--a set I won over a year ago.  Instead of foiling like Rosemary, I gold embossed all the snowflakes & the Hero Arts sentiment words.  Luckily, I happened to have a piece of ribbon exactly the right shade of red.
   
Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you.

Green & Gold

I love green & gold for Christmas cards, so pulled out Brilliance Pearlescent Ivy & Delicata Golden Glitz to make a couple cards for the Twofer Holiday Greenery challenge.  My greenery images are from PTI Spruce & Sprigs.  Here are the 2 cards together.

My first card started by stamping the old DeNami sentiment in Versafine Clair Nocturne on a white card.  Then I stamped the holly & berry branch in opposite corners.

Finished with Altenew black ink spray splatters & rounded the corners.  I'm also entering Time Out.

My second card uses the same green & gold inks (even though they don't look the same) along with the same PTI stamp set.  But this card is vanilla, the sentiment is Altenew & I added a couple more of the Spruce & Sprig images to go with the holly & berry branch.

I die cut the thin SSS frame from my panel & inlaid the gold inked frame stacked 2 high.  This time I added green splatters & gold sequins.  I'm also entering CAS on Friday, Stamping Sensations & WAW.

Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you.

Thankful for Friends

Sometimes I make Christmas cards with non-traditional colors, but this time I made Thanksgiving cards not in Fall colors.  Part of my Pinkfresh gc was used to get the Delicate Wreath stamp set & dies.  I love the unique wreath & sentiments I can actually use!

The PF November Challenge colors are close to DO inks worn lipstick, wilted violet, faded jeans & cracked pistachio.  I smooshed them one at a time on a wc panel.  Then I used SSS Antique Gold embossing powder for the beautiful wreath.

The sentiment from the set was stamped in Versafine Clair Nocturne.  I'm also entering WAW.


Next is an experiment using Pixie Spray stencil adhesive.  I bought it some time ago & finally used it with the SSS Bouquet of Roses stencil.  I saw someone use rubber cement to adhere a stencil for watercoloring & thought the Pixie Spray might work.

The watercolors are Prima Confections & I may not have used a heavy enough coat of the spray.  As you can see, a little did seep under the stencil.  I'll definitely try it again, but decided this piece was worth making into a card.  Think of it as artsy--haha!  I used the same watercolors & TH brushed pewter Distress Stain for the splatters.

PTI Counting My Blessings was used for the die cut word & sentiment strip.  The word has a silver metallic shadow layer & the strip is silver embossed.  Finished off with a few black sequins.  I'm entering SSS Flickr 136, The 30 Day Coloring Challenge & Virginia's Show & Share.

Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you.

Impression Obsession Thanksgiving

I really love the stamps in my last IO order, so pulled out 2 of them for a Thanksgiving card.

First I stamped Leafy Branch (F6046) in Altenew Forest Glades.  Then I copper embossed Happy Thanksgiving (C19863) & brushed the edges with DI vintage photo. 

I thought about adding splatters or some twine, but decided to keep it very simple.  Sometimes the images really are all that's needed.  Hopefully the recipient agrees!  I'm entering IO So Thankful Challenge since that's what Thanksgiving is all about, SSS Wednesday & WAW. 

Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you.

All Christmas

Need to finish another Thanksgiving card & address envelopes, but first I have 3 more Christmas projects to share with you.
First is my entry for Christmas Kickstart's Snow Challenge.  I pulled out a 2011 Hero Arts stamp called Merriest Christmas Wishes.

It's really wonderful we now have positioners, especially for rubber stamps like this with a lot of solid area.  I stamped each color (VersaMagic Night Sky & Purple Hydrangea) multiple times to get the look I wanted.  The snowy dots are part of the stamp, but I wanted them to stand out more.  That was easy to accomplish with my white gel pen.  I added Nuvo Glitter Drops to the bird for a touch of shimmer.  The sentiment from the same set was stamped on a doubled vellum strip & attached at an angle before adding the panel to a silver mat.  Ended up nice & flat for mailing, so probably will send this one overseas.

Next is my entry for Time Out & FMS.  I'm trying mostly to just buy something when I have a gift certificate.  However, Linda's poinsettia cards made it impossible for me to resist the HA Paper Layering Poinsettia die set.  Must admit, I'm glad I gave in!

I began this card by making the plaid panel using W&W Rugby Stripe stencil, Brilliance Graphite Black & Rocket Red & finger daubers.  The inks would have a smooth look using a sponge applicator, but the daubers gave me some texture, which I liked.  I just used the medium & small poinsettia layers--cutting each one twice.  Then I added the Rocket Red ink all over & the Graphite Black on the ends.  Decided a little sparkle was needed, so I used Star Dust Stickles all over the bottom layers & on the ends of the top layers.

The sentiment from HA Merriest Christmas Wishes was white embossed on a black strip.  Finished off with a black sequin for the flower center & a few black Pico Embellisher dots.  Don't think I've ever used this much black for a Christmas card, but it still looks festive to me.

My last project is another tag for Tracey's 25 Days of Christmas Tags.  This one was inspired by one of Lindsey's on Day 9.  I really liked the foliage at the top of the round tag.  The Lil Inker bow die is a single die that cuts all 3 pieces, so I cut it twice to get the 2 tone bow on this tag.  The bow made from the left overs was still sitting on my table & thought it'd be great with some foliage die cuts.

I used IO Pine Branches & PTI Simple Stems.  Decided to add the sentiment from W&W, but there's still room to write the recipient's name.  I'll probably attach it to the plate of pumpkin muffins I always give one of my friends.

Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you.

Tag Card & Tag

Started this card a few days ago & finally finished it today.  Now for a quick post so I don't miss the ModSquad Red & White only challenge. 

I used Gina K Tiny Wreath Builder with Memento Love Letter ink.  Some images were stamped once & others 2 or 3 times for slight variation in color.  I die cut the stamped piece with circle dies & brushed the same ink on the edges. 

Can't tell, but there's also a bit of Frosted Lace (white) Stickles on some of the images.  The PTI die cut tag was masked so I could ink the outer edges with the Love Letter ink which was also used to stamp the W&W sentiment.  The white felt bow was made with a Lil Inker die & I attached the wreath with foam tape.  Here's a shot so you can see it's actually a tag card.

I also made another tag for Tracey's 25 Days of Christmas Tags.  Sandy's tag on Day 2 caught my eye with it's off the edge design & bold color. 

My tag base is Poppystamps Tunnel Tag & I stamped foliage from PTI Spruce & Sprigs using Altenew Forest Glades, Frayed Leaf & Ruby Red.  The sentiment from W&W was stamped in Brilliance Graphite Black.
 
Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you.