Christmas Card for Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day!  I volunteered to work so the nurse with little kids can be off.  I don't have kids, but I am a doggy momma.  It's been awhile, so thought you might enjoy seeing Fritz enjoying the sun while he's on Squirrel Watch.  My bird feeders have attracted a couple squirrels that drive him crazy!  He's so good, though, & stops barking when I tell him no.  We're having summer weather already & the roses love it!  Last night I saw the first rose of the season on my "Mother's Rose" tree rose--just in time for Mother's Day.  

The buds are gorgeous, although it's not my favorite once they open. Better get to my card which happen to be for Christmas.  Merry Monday's theme is Ombre & Glitter--which I actually did last week & was honored to get HM. As soon as I saw the theme I had an ombre glitter tree in mind--hoping I had 3 shades of green glitter.  Sure enough, I did, & the Impression Obsession tree was perfect for the technique.  I used self adhesive 

fun foam which works great for glitter or foil.  The background is done with SSS Falling Snow stencil & Heidi Swapp white Art Screen Ink--beautiful glimmer. The very old sentiment is stamped in Delicata Shimmery Silver which I also used to ink the circle frame.  A dark green scrap was cut for the card front & called it good.  I'm also entering Country View Challenges, Little Tangles & SSS Wednesday.  Thanks so much for stopping by.
  

Stamps Made from Dies

Some time ago I saw a Hero Arts video where the designer used fun foam to make stamps.  It was convenient to have 3 of each stamp so she could use 3 ink colors without cleaning the stamp. I felt guilty doing that since I have about a million stamps that need to be used--haha!  However, I don't own any Ellen Hutson stamps yet, so I made my own from the Bold Blossom dies.  They worked absolutely great with VersaMagic inks--Pixie Dust, Spring Pansy & Aloe Vera.  I used Poster tape to attach them to the acrylic block, which also works with old unmounted stamps.  I was drawn to the bouquet in the EH April Pin-Sights Challenge board.  

My panel began by stenciling the MFT Concentric Circles with Brilliance Pearlescent Yellow & swiping on Heidi Swapp white Art Screen Ink.  The stitched dies are Lil' Inker & the sentiment dies are Ellen Hutson.  I used PPP Sweet Pea sequin mix & mini star confetti for the shaker filler.  I'm also entering ATSM, Country View Challenges, Double D, Word Art Wednesday & SSS Wednesday. 
Edited to add: also entering SSS Work It Wed.
 
Next is my entry for SSS Flickr, Rudolph Days & Merry Monday.  

SSS Snowflake Block was cut from HS iridescent glitter paper & white cardstock.  I blended Distress Inks tumbled glass, broken china & faded jeans.  SSS joyeux noel was inked the same way & then covered with Diamond Glaze.  Finally opened my jar of Faber-Castell Glass Bead Glitter Gel & spread it over SSS Falling Snow stencil.  I'll be doing that again, for sure!  

Before the rain last night, I picked my first 2 Barbara Bush roses to put on the mantle next to the pictures of my folks.  Aren't they beautiful?!
Thanks so much for stopping by my blog.

One Layer With Silver

We're alternating sun & rain every other day. Today it's the sun's turn, so more yard work is on the agenda. Quick post with 2 more cards for challenges about to close.

First is my entry for Merry Monday, One Layer Christmas Card Challenge & Rudolph Days. The bells are a very old DeNami stamp I love, but struggle to actually use.  The card is watercolor paper since I colored the silver embossed image with my Zig markers. The berries are covered in Stickles & the bells are coated with Diamond Glaze--wonderful stuff that comes out of the bottle without bubbles & I've had mine for 15 years! 
The card was just too plain for me so hunted in my ribbon/trim drawer & found just what I needed. It attached easily with Score Tape.  The silver embossed sentiment is by AMuse & I finished it off with a PPP bow cut from SSS fog & a red gem.  

Next is another entry for the W&W Birthday Bash using my only W&W product--the hello die.  

This time I wanted to try "dipping" the die cut in silver. Love the look & since my sister loves blue & silver this makes a perfect note card to send her.  The blue die cut is attached to white so that there's a white shadow which I then attached to one cut from fun foam for easy dimension. The background is smooshed in Distress Stain brushed pewter & then splattered with Distress Ink chipped sapphire. Finished off with 3 marshmallow sequins. I'm entering these W&W challenges:  Two Challenge with Shay (2 toned die cut) & Create Your Own Background Challenge with Gayatri.  I'm also entering SSS Monday as I keep humming "Hello, How are you" by The Eagles & SSS Wednesday. Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.

Christmas with Ellen Hutson & Penny Black

I'm a little behind on Christmas cards & I wanted to make another card for the EH Mix It Up challenge. As soon as I saw Merry Monday wanted berries, I had this idea.  The PB holly berries die cut was watercolored with Distress Stain bundled sage & Distress Paint mowed lawn.  Red Stickles color the berries & the die cut bow is Pretty Pink Posh. The sentiment die cuts are EH Merry and Bright covered with Glossy Accents for a nice shine.  PB Music Background was inked with Distress Ink Antique Linen, spritzed with water & lightly stamped on the card front.  An ivory pearl seemed like the only needed embellishment.  I'm also entering ATSM & DRU & Happy Little Stampers Christmas challenge (Die Cut, Sentiment, Green).  Thanks so much for taking time to visit my blog.

My Two Favorite Holidays

My favorite reason to make cards is Christmas & right behind is Valentine's Day.  For today's post I made one of each with very old stamps & they both turned out one layer!

The Christmas card is one of my favorite DeNami stamps which I embossed in gold. Then I wet the inside of the trees, lightly sprinkled on Ken Oliver Pthalo Green Color Burst & lightly misted with more water.  When dry, I added Stickles Frosted Lace to give a glistening, snowy look. Finished off with  splatters of Distress Stain Tarnished Brass.  I'm entering the new Tic-Tac-Toe challenge (top row), One Layer Christmas Card challenge, SSS Wednesday, ATSM Holiday & Merry Monday. 

Next up is the Valentine made with this wonderful Hero Arts stamp.  I embossed it with JudiKins Black Diamond powder & watercolored the large heart with Distress Ink Festive Berries.  I colored the hearts with the same ink full strength.  The sentiment is by A Muse & is stamped in Versafine Onyx Black. 

The big heart & all the white hearts are covered in Wink of Stella.  Finished off with black gems around the big heart & a few tiny red ones. Kind of makes me think of the adult coloring books you see everywhere right now.  I'm entering these challenges: a2z Scrapbooking, Chouxchoux, SSS Monday & Word Art Wednesday.  Thank you so much for taking time to visit my blog.

First Christmas Cards of 2016!

I haven't made a Christmas card this year & it's almost February!  Decided to take a break from Valentines & participate in these challenges: SSS Flickr, Merry Monday & One Layer Christmas Card.  

This is actually take 2. The tree is a very old wooden stamp & I tried to skip using my stamp positioner--bad idea!  I did salvage the tree & used it for my second card.  The tree is embossed with Zing Green Metallic powder & the sentiment from Clearly Besotted Tiny Trees (used my gc from Tracey's Tags challenge) is gold embossed. I used the SSS Falling Snow stencil with embossing paste & Rock Candy Distress Glitter. Love how this turned out & it's flat for mailing! 

Decided to immediately make use of the tree I cut out of the messed up card with a Spellbinders oval. It's backed with fun foam & attached to a Spellbinders scalloped oval.  I used a piece of Washi (only 2 miles more to go--haha!) & added the Savvy Stamps sentiment. I rounded all the corners & decided to keep it very CAS with no embellishments.  For some reason, I like it that way.  I'm entering SSS Wednesday, The Playground, Rudolph Days, Stamping Sensations & SSS Work It Wednesday (new Washi Tape).  Thanks so much for taking time to visit my blog.