WINTER SPARKLES

One of the visual sights I really miss from our time living in Canada is the way  the sun would reflect off the fresh snowfall and make it look like millions of tiny diamonds. Even in the bitter cold (-40F), the sun would still shine, and the sight would almost take your breath away. When I got my "Winter Trees" stamp from Hero Arts, I wanted to try and re-create that. This is what I came up with:

It was a timely process to make this card, as you had to allow for various drying times of ink, Perfect Pearls mist, and Stickles. Here's how I did it:

First, I inked my tree stamp with HA "Stone Wash" ink and stamped onto white cardstock and trimmed it to create a thin white border. Then, I misted it with Perfect Pear Mist (Pearl). I found a coordinating piece of patterned paper that I adhered the stamped image to. Next, I rubbed a thin layer of "Frosted Lace" Stickles over everything. (When I rubbed the Stickles over the stamped image, it started "fading" the ink in spots. I LOVED the way it ended up looking, because it looked like the sky was "glowing" in spots.) I then adhered the 2 layers to my white cardstock card base.

I cut the "Frostyville Border" out of white cardstock, then rubbed a VERY thin layer of "Faded Jeans" Stickles over it. I adhered it to the card front with Glossy Accents.

I live in California now...in an area where we don't see snow...but this card brought back many fond memories of the beautiful - but COLD! - winters we spent in British Columbia!

Here's my supply list:

Neenah Solar White Cardstock	*Hero Arts Cling Stamp WINTER TREES Holiday 2012 CG471	*Hero Arts Shadow Ink Pad STONE WASH Mid-Tone 2012 AF211	*Ranger PERFECT PEARLS MIST PEARL Glimmer Spray	*Ranger STICKLES FROSTED LACE White Clear Glitter Glue
Cuttlebug Machine	*Memory Box FROSTYVILLE BORDER Craft Die 98146	*Tim Holtz DISTRESS STICKLES FADED JEANS Blue Glitter Glue Ranger	Glossy Accents

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Thanks for looking......and please come back ANY time!! ;D

VINTAGE BIRTHDAY

Because of my procrastination...and pre-occupation with Christmas cards, I realized that I needed to get a birthday card in the mail ASAP for my nephew. After a brief moment of panic, I turned to my 6x6 patterned paper pads (my new addiction) for inspiration.I had just received the MME Lost and Found Two paper pad, so I grabbed it. The antique hot-air balloon on the paper reminded me of the "Flying Airships" stamp set by Hero Arts. That was all I needed to get my mojo going!  Here's my card:

Here's how I did it:
First, I trimmed my patterned paper into a 4.5x6" piece. I inked my "airship" stamp with Walnut Stain Distress ink and stamped it onto the 1.5" strip that I had cut off. I trimmed around the stamped image and distressed the edges with Vintage Photo distress ink and adhered it onto a solid color piece of scrap cardstock. When I decided on placement of this piece, I realized I'd be blocking part of the white opaque banner on the printed paper. So, I cut a strip of vellum, cut one edge to resemble a banner, and stamped it with my French Script stamp inked in "Sepia" Archival ink. I adhered this to the patterned paper with my ATG, then adhered the stamped image on top of it with foam tape. Before I adhered the patterned paper to by white card base, I wrapped the piece with twine and added the 3 brads. Finally, I inked my sentiment stamp and stamped it onto another scrap piece of paper, cut one end to look like a banner, and adhered it to the card base. LOVE having patterned paper on hand for these "last-minute" cards!!!

Here's my supply list:

*My Mind's Eye 6 x 6 BREEZE Paper Pad LF2102	Flying Air Ships	Walnut Stain Distress Ink	Vintage Photo Distress Ink	Ink Blending Tool
Stampin' Up French Script	*Ranger Archival Ink Pad SEPIA AIP31505	Double-sided foam tape	*My Mind's Eye EVERYDAY FUN Twine Kraft Funday KFD141	Making Memories "Antique Copper" brads
Hero Arts "MANY BIRTHDAY MESSAGES"	*Ranger Adirondack DYE INK PAD ESPRESSO Brown	Cutter Bee Scissors	Scotch ATG (tape glider)

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Thanks for looking! :D

PAPER-PIECED MANGER

Yes, this card was also submitted for publication....and yes, this card was also    "rejected". I had a lot of fun with this card, though. Unfortunately you won't see a supply list for this card because I used up a lot of my paper scraps on it. I have NO idea where a lot of my scraps of paper came from! ;D

Here's the card:

I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut the various shapes out of various patterned paper.The shapes were assembled and glued together. The kraft card base was ran through my Cuttlebug with the "swirly" embossing folder.  The manger scene was then adhered to the card base and random white dots with a white gel pen were added to the front of the card.

Thanks again for taking a peek at my blog! Come back ANY time!!

YOUR DAY TO CELEBRATE

This card was another "reject" from my submissions to Paper Crafts magazine. 

Again, this was a very easy card, but I loved the way it turned out. Here's how I did it:

I smeared various colors of Distress Ink over the "debossed" side of my embossing folder and lightly spritzed it with water. Then, I placed a piece of white cardstock into the folder and ran it through my Cuttlebug. I love how it just colors the flat surfaces and keeps the raised embossed area white.

I adhered the embossed paper onto a slightly larger piece of kraft paper, and then adhered that onto a slightly larger piece of a slightly darker kraft paper. These layers were then adhered to my white card base.

I then stamped the sentiment - with black ink - onto a banner strip and adhered it to the card. 

Finally, I added pewter adhesive-backed metal embellishments on the sentiment and in random areas on the embossed image.

Here's my supplies:

Neenah Solar White Cardstock	Tim Holtz "Retro" Embossing Folder	Peacock Feathers Distress Ink	Broken China Distress Ink	Walnut Stain Distress Ink
Distress Ink "Frayed Burlap"	Cuttlebug Machine	Scotch ATG (tape glider)	Hero Arts Kraft cardstock	Hero Arts "MANY BIRTHDAY MESSAGES"
Memento Tuxedo Black Ink	Glossy Accents	Hero Arts "Pewter" Metallic Decor

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Thanks for looking!

"LOVE" INCHIES

This card is similar to a card I made a while ago, but I wanted to change it up slightly. I actually made this card to submit to PaperCraft magazine on World Card Making Day. This was the first time that I submitted anything to a magazine for publication. It was "rejected", but I'm okay with that. There were THOUSANDS of amazing cards submitted. Here's mine:

This was actually a very easy card to make. I inked the "Flower Dot Pattern" stamp with Versamark ink, stamped onto white cardstock, and heat embossed with black embossing powder. I did the same with the sentiment stamp. Then I colored in random spots with a red Copic marker.

Once colored, I used by 7/8" square punch to punch out random squares. 1" squares were cut out of black cardstock to make "frames". I used a heart punch for the heart and colored it red, then glued it onto a 1" square piece of black cardstock.

I wrapped red twine around the front of the card. The squares and the sentiment stamp were then adhered to the card base with dimensional foam.

Here's the supplies:

Neenah Solar White Cardstock	Flower Dot Pattern	Versamark	Marvy Uchida Heat Gun	Copic Sketch Markers
Double-sided foam tape	Scotch ATG (tape glider)

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