Monday, December 19, 2011

Let it snow, let it snow...

Only six days until Christmas, and we have no snow here in west central Minnesota. I don't like it. I don't mind the mild temperatures, but it sure would be a lot prettier with all the brown covered up by an inch or two of that sparkling white stuff! In my humble opinion, it's just not Christmas in Minnesota without snow. So, tonight I'm posting this card to help remind me of what snowflakes look like.

Recipe
Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes
Paper: Whisper White & Bashful Blue
Ink: Bashful Blue
Accessories: Northern Flurry embossing folder & Big Shot; Modern Label & Large Oval punches; Basic Rhinestones; sponge wedge, Stampin' Dimensionals

This is a super easy card to put together! Using the sponging technique, I lightly brushed an inked-up sponge wedge over the raised portions of the design to bring out the snowflake images. Then I lightly sponged around the snowflakes to give the background some depth.  I finished it off by popping the greeting up on Dimensionals and adding a couple of sparkly rhinestones.

Friday, December 9, 2011

Bright Hopes for Christmas

Only 16 days until Christmas! Time is flying by way too fast. Are you ready? If you don't have your Christmas cards started yet, here's another idea for you. This is another one of the sets that caught my eye immediately when I first saw the Holiday Mini Catalog. I just love the elegant look of the scrollwork images, and the style is similar to that of Norwegian rosemaling - another art form I really love!

Recipe
Stamps: Bright Hopes
Paper: Crumb Cake, Always Artichoke, Cherry Cobbler
Ink: Always Artichoke craft Stampin' Spot
Accessories: Iridescent Ice embossing powder & heat tool, Snow Burst embossing folder (Mini catalog) & Big Shot, piercing tool, Clear Rhinestone brad, Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding Ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals

This card is simple enough that you could easily mass-produce quite a few at one time. The Snow Burst embossing folder adds just the right background texture, and I purposely separated the wreath and greeting images, as well as adding the contrasting color layers, to give the impression of a wreath hanging on the outside of a door. The Iridescent Ice gives the wreath an icy sparkle, and of course the bow (done the easy stampercamper way) is the perfect finishing touch.

It's been a long and busy week, and I'm ready for some serious relaxation this weekend - in between finishing my Christmas shopping online and doing some more holiday decorating! Hope your weekend is just as sweet!



Tuesday, December 6, 2011

The Sounding Joy

This is the third project that my stamp club made at our last get-together. This was one of the first sets to go on my wish list when the Holiday Mini catalog came out. As an organist, Christmas is my very favorite season of the year...all those beautiful hymns sung from the heart by a congregation while the candlelight flickers throughout the church. "Joy to the World" is one of my favorite hymns, and I just love to pull out all the stops and just let the music soar! I was inspired by a lovely card made by Jen Sannes, and changed up the colors and layout to better suit my taste.

Recipe
Stamps: The Sounding Joy (Holiday Mini)
Paper:  Cherry Cobbler & Very Vanilla CS (stamp club used Shimmery White and it was beautiful!), Early Espresso textured & smooth CS; Silver Glimmer paper
Ink: Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler
Accessories: Big Shot, Petals-a-Plenty embossing folder, Tasteful Trim die, 3-1/2" circle die, Cherry Cobbler Quilted Satin Ribbon (mini catalog), piercing tool, Clear Rhinestone brad, Basic Rhinestones, Sticky Strip, Stampin' Dimensionals

The assembly of this card is pretty self-explanatory. The only tip I have is to use Sticky Strip to adhere the Cherry Cobbler to the Silver Glimmer paper, as regular adhesive just isn't sticky enough. I also used a dull scissor to clip off the tip of the brad that was showing on the top outside of the circle. The bow is, of course, made the stampercamper way...refer to previous posts for instructions.

That's all for tonight, as it's past my bedtime and I have a busy week ahead of me. Hope to see you again in a few days, and until then, keep it sweet!