Oh, Christmas Tree

Once again, I ended up making something completely different than I set out to make. It's what card-making is all about, at least in my world. You never know what you're going to get!

I made two versions of a card (just a minor difference). Here's the first one:

I followed the current Freshly Made Sketches sketch:

Since everything was white-on-white, I used a strip of paper from MME Mistletoe Magic under my sentiment for some color and contrast. The tree is from Hero Arts, stamped in Hero Arts Silver, then embossed with SU silver embossing powder.

The tree is very shiny:

I made a second version with a strip of paper from Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses:

This one is a lot softer and of course, a less traditional color.

This second card is also inspired by the current Fusion challenge:

I saw blue and looked for a blue Christmas paper. I don't know what I'll do when I run out of my Eskimo Kisses papers. Well, I'll probably be 95 by then, so ...

The sentiment is from an A Muse set (and red rubber). I actually cut off the bottom half of it (I consider it customizing, as I'll probably never use that part of the sentiment). I stamped it on a very narrow strip of paper, so I used my MISTI to line it up perfectly.

Compared to my last card, I can see why I'm migrating more toward CAS designs these days. :)

Oh, and just for grins, this is the card that inspired me to take out that tree stamp:

source
Sorry about the quality of the photo. Instagram isn't very screen-capture-friendly.

I think my card veered a bit from the original inspiration, non?

Thanks for stopping by!

Some of the stuff I used: Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses 6x6 paper pad, A Muse Holiday Greetings Inside & Out, SU silver embossing powder, MME Mistletoe Magic 6x6 paper pad, silver sequins, and the following:

InLinkz.com

CSSC #10 WINNERS

Thanks to everyone who played my November sketch challenge.

The winner for November is Annie with this card:

I love all the gold, the snowflake, and the shaped banner.

The two Honorable Mentions are Lynn:

I really like the bright background paper, the embossed center panel, and the ribbon.

and Carol L:

I like how she used a shape for top sentiment, and the two patterns of paper are so different, yet work so well together (even if they are pink :)). 

Congratulations, ladies! Feel free to grab your badge from the CSSC Rules & Badges page, and display it proudly on your blog. You've earned it!

And Annie, please contact me (email in the right side bar), to claim your prize!

I'll be back on the first with a new sketch!

Thanks, again, for your support! xo

Hanukkah 2015

I come from a small family, so I don't need to make a lot of Hanukkah cards. But that means I also need to change it up every year so people don't get the same card over and over again. I'm always on the lookout for something that intrigues me, and this year it was the CAS-ual Fridays Festival of Lights stamp set.

I must have played with this for days before I figured out something that would work. The main image is 5.5" wide, which fills the card width. I first tried it on a tri-fold card, with the front of the card folded back on itself, but it was not quite what I wanted.

I finally ended up with this:

Don't be fooled: there are a bazillion steps here, but each one was manageable and not too involved.

1. Stamp the main image with Hero Arts Silver ink. I used my MISTI and stamped it a few times to get good coverage.
2. Cover with silver embossing powder and set aside.
3. After 3 or 4, heat set.
4. Repeat until you have 10 complete.
5. Stamp the celebrate sentiment (again I used the MISTI) in Memento Luxe Nautical Blue.
6. Cover with clear embossing powder and set aside.
7. After 3 or 4, heat set.
8. Repeat until you have all 10 done.
9. Stamp the flames (9 per card) using SSS Sunshine dye ink.
10. Go over each flame with a clear Wink of Stella brush pen.
11. Cut 1/8" strips from some PTI Night Sky Shimmer card stock. My top panels are 4", and this makes them 4.25" to fill the card front.
12. Glue all those strips into place.
13. Cut some star borders from PTI Night Sky Shimmer card stock and stick one to each card front.
14. Use bright gelly glaze pens to fill in the dots of each letter.
15. Take a nap.

I like how they came out. I think next year, unless I'm wow'd by a new set that comes out, I'll do something completely different.

Thanks for stopping by!

Some of the stuff I used: vat of clear embossing powder, SU silver embossing powder, PTI Night Sky Shimmer card stock (I think it's the only PTI product still in my possession), Star Border die (PTI - okay, I have two PTI possessions), and the following:

InLinkz.com

SOS #229: No Stamping

It's Tuesday, and time for a new challenge at Shopping Our Stash. For this challenge, we'd like you to use No Stamping. That's right: no stamps. This includes anything digital. You can use stickers, paper, dies, rub-ons, etc, but no stamps. Take this opportunity to go into your stash and re-discover some of your loot. That's what I did.

Note: This is a TWO-WEEK challenge so our gals in the US can have some time off to spend Thanksgiving with their families.

Here is my No Stamping card:

Yeah, the sticker is crooked.

This all started when I thought I'd use that Let It Snow sticker. Man, that must be at least 15 years old. It's also really stuck, and I can't move it to straighten it without tearing the paper. :(

I wanted to have snow hills, so I cut three, with the top layer a pale blue so you could see the white sticker.  I sponged the clouds with what I think is the same blue.

It needed a vertical element, so I pulled out my Savvy Dies Birch Trees and cut them out of SSS Fog card stock. I tucked the ends under the top hill.

By tucking the ends under the hill, I created a visible bump, so I dug out my Memory Box Deer Trio, cut it out of a Kraft remnant, cut the legs off of the base, and put the mama and baby deer on the hill to cover the tree bump.

I thought it still needed something, so I pulled out my Memory Box Resting Birds because they are so tiny. I was going to cut a red one, but lo and behold, one of my habits is paying off! I tend to keep left-over die-cuts in the envelope with the dies. You just never know when they might come in handy. As I reached into the envelope to retrieve the die, I spied a cache of already-cut red birds! Yay! So I used one.

I layered everything onto a blue panel and put it on a white card base.

For my last act, I added clear Wink of Stella to the tops of the hills.

I was going to add some snow with a stencil and embossing paste, but I thought that might be a bit much. It's not snowing here, yet, but one of my pals is praying for it.

So, got stash you've forgotten about? I think you need to go rummage and play along with our No Stamping challenge. Go on, make something, then link us up over at SOS. Remember, you have TWO WEEKS.

Thanks for stopping by!

Some of the stuff I used: Stampendous Class A'Peel stickers, and the following:

InLinkz.com