Rustic and shiny

So far this winter we've had very little snow. We had one good storm after Thanksgiving, but the temperatures this month have been above normal -- more specifically above freezing -- so most of our precipitation has been in the form of rain. Definitely not the norm in December. We did get a slight dusting of snow last night, and it looks like we may get a little more later this week, but I'm not sure if we'll have a white Christmas.

To help tide us over until the snow comes, here is a Christmas card design featuring a large focal snowflake:

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Paper: Smoky Slate, thick Whisper White card stock; silver paper (retired); All Is Calm Designer Series Paper (DSP)
Accessories: Snow Flurry die, burlap trim, Snowflake Elements, Mono Multi liquid glue

I love the combination of elements on this card. The rustic burlap trim and wooden snowflake complement the shiny foil-printed DSP and die-cut snowflake. (It's hard to tell in the photo, but the largest snowflake is Smoky Slate and the smaller one is silver.) Looking at the card now I think should have gone a step further and added a few rhinestones or silver sequins for a little extra bling.

The size of this card is 4-1/4" square, which worked perfectly with a 4" x 4" piece of DSP for the background. (I was able to get nine background squares from one 12" x 12" sheet of DSP). And since the card was smaller than the traditional A2 size, it still fit in an envelope even though the burlap extends past the sides.

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Christmas progress

I've had a very productive week Christmas-wise -- all my cards addressed and mailed, ornaments on the tree, shopping done (I think!), and packages picked up by the mail carrier this morning -- so I'm feeling a little less stressed and a bit more in the Christmas spirit. To save my sanity I did give up the idea that I was going to sew any gifts; I had wanted to make several little things, such as lip balm and tissue holders and coin purses. I figure I'll try my hand at those after the holidays and use them as little gifts throughout the year. Or just save them for next Christmas and get a head start.

I'm also going to try to get back on track with my blog and post twice a week. Wish me luck! For now, here is another of my Christmas card designs:

Supplies (all supplies Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: 4702 - Wooden Door (Art Impressions)
Paper: Watercolor paper (Strathmore), Night of Navy card stock
Ink: Marvy Le Plume II markers (86 - African Violet, 72 - Pine Green, 45 - Sepia, 28 - English Red), Clear Stardust Gelly Roll pen (Sakura)
Accessories: Watercolor brush (unknown), Softly FAlling embossing folder, silver baker's twine, Dimensionals

This focal image was one of the ones I practiced in the Art Impressions watercolor-style stamping class I mentioned in my Fall watercolors post last month. It's also the design that is on the packaging for the Wooden Door stamp set, although I changed the color of the door from a teal blue to red. I love red doors on houses, especially at Christmas time.

To keep the watercolor image the focal point of the card, I made the card base very simple. I used Night of Navy card stock, embossed it with the Gently Falling embossing folder and added a bit of silver baker's twine for texture. That's it!

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A cozy Christmas

In my last post I shared two cards made with the Santa's sleigh image from the Cozy Christmas stamp set. Today I have a card featuring another image from that set: a cozy cabin nestled in the woods.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Cozy Christmas
Paper: Whisper White, Mossy Meadow card stock
Ink: Mossy Meadow, Soft Suede, Smoky Slate markers; clear Stardust Gelly Roll pen (Sakura), Wink of Stella gold glitter brush pen (ZIG)
Accessories: Filigree Frame embossing folder, white glitter ribbon, Frosted Sequins, Fine-Tip Glue Pen, Dimensionals

I love this image, and I wish I'd had more time to play with it. Oh well, maybe for next year's cards. For this design I used markers to apply ink directly to the rubber stamp and then stamped the image on Whisper White card stock. I added "snow" to the trees and cabin roof with a Gelly Roll pen and used a gold glitter brush pen to create the effect of warm light in the cabin windows.

To embellish the focal layer I add glitter ribbon and a few sequins. Then I used Dimensionals to attach the panel to an embossed card base.

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Santa's sleigh

It's only sixteen days until Christmas. Eek! How did that happen? I've barely done any shopping, the tree is up but not decorated, I have a whole list of gifts I want to make (but haven't started), and I don't think I 'll be able to put out my Lego village. And then there's my crazy work schedule on top of everything. Sigh. I'm feeling a little stressed about getting everything done, so my blog posts may be a little sparse until after the holidays. For now here are a couple of cards I made with the Santa's sleigh image from the Cozy Christmas stamp set:

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Cozy Christmas, Hello December (Glitz)
Paper: Whisper White note cards and envelopes
Ink: Real Red, Soft Suede
Accessories: In Color sequins, red and white baker's twine (Target), Fine Tip Glue Pen

This was a very simple card design: two colors, two stamped images and two embellishments on a white card base. But I love the way it turned out; it makes me smile.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Cozy Christmas
Paper: Basic Black, Whisper White card stock; red foil sheets
Ink: Smoky Slate, Memento Tuxedo Black, clear Stardust Gelly Roll pen (Sakura)
Accessories: Read Red Pompom trim, silver sequin trim, Tiny Attacher (Tim Holtz)

This card design has a few more steps, but I love the classic red, white and black color combo. I added sparkle in a few different ways: a layer of red foil, a few sequins, and accents made with a glitter pen on the focal image.

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Warm winter wishes

I've been struggling to write this blog post for the past couple of days. First I couldn't decide which card to share. (I think I'm just about done with my Christmas cards, so I do have several cards to post.) Then I couldn't wrap my brain around what I wanted to say. Sigh. I'm not sure why I'm having such a hard time with this post, but it's frustrating.

I've come to the conclusion that the only way I would ever finish this post is to just share a card design and my list of supplies. So here it is. It's a fairly straightforward design -- mostly stamping and sponging -- but if you have any questions, post a comment below, and I'll respond as soon as I can.


Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Winter Wishes
Paper: Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake card stock
Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Lost Lagoon, Soft Suede, Smoky Slate, Early Espresso
Accessories: Snowflake Elements, Color Spritzer tool, twine (Oct. 2015 Paper Pumpkin kit), Corner Chomper (We R Memory Keepers), sponge, Mono Multi liquid glue



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