Card Sketch Tuesday #109

Happy Tuesday! I have a technique that I experimented with on this one. Just playing around, actually. But it turned out rather cool and decided to used it as a focal point on this sketch. Which is easy peasy and needed right after the holidays!

This was inspired by what I saw on Tim Holtz blog for his 12 days of Christmas tags.
I cut out a tag from an old manilla file folder and stamped my images in black and embossed with clear embossing powder. Then I painted on a thin layer of acrylic paint in violet, let dry until just about the tacky stage. Wipe off the paint that is over your images. I rubbed a little too hard in the lighter areas of the tag - but it looks pretty cool. I then added a layer of Palette Lavender Sachet ink over the tag and rubbed it in - wiped it off. Ok - this is really starting to look cool - I'm liking what I'm doing here! I edged the tag with Noir ink and then layered it onto some purple card stock, added a bit of ribbon for the tag and anchored with a brad.

The back ground base of the card is done using versamark and clear embossing powder. Then I sponged Lavender Sachet all around to match the tag. It was really fun playing around with this tag. Of course I would never be able to duplicate this and that's part of the charm of experimenting with techniques - you never know what your going to get.

Supplies:

Stamps - The Angel Company, Script background, deco designs, My life

Inks - Palette Noir and Lavender Sachet, Versamark

Clear embossing powder

Violet acrylic paint

Bazzill purple card stock

Grosgrain ribbon

Brad

Lilac

Merry Christmas everyone! I just finished the latest card sketch over on SCS and after many attempts, here is my final card. The stamp is from Great Impressions and is colored with Copic Ciao Markers. I used Gina K's luxury card stock to stamp the image and worked in V12, V15, G05 and G07 colors into the lilac. This luxury card stock is absolutely the best when it comes to coloring with Copics!

Bazzill card stock in a soft lilac and violet was used as the base and layers. I decided to get out the cuttlebug and do an embossed background in white to make everything else pop. Orchid satin ribbon (from RABOM) was secured around the right hand corner as a photo corner mount. Then I added the two white brads in each corner to anchor everything down. Both of the panels are mounted with foam tape.

I think I did five different main images before finally making this one. All but two went into the circular file! Things were not working for me today and I just wasn't satisfied with anything until I went to this old standby!

We are having a white Christmas this year - we ended up with 12" of snow - and it's snowed off and on all day. The are predicting that we will see some rain/snow mix in the next couple of days and warmer temps! Yea! I'm about done with not being able to get out and about! Take care!

Card Sketch Tuesday #108

Happy Tuesday and Happy Holidays!

Today's sketch measures 3.75 x 8.5 to fit into a legal sized envelope.

Ivory card stock is used for the base, followed by a layer of purple. The designer paper is from The Angel Company (Angelee) that is cut to 2" wide by 8 1/4. I added a strip of satin ribbon (also from the TAC's Angelee's collection) down the center and added a ribbon slide. I actually ran my ATG gun tape down the ribbon to adhere it - and it worked great!

The main image is stamped in Versamagic (purple hydrangea) and then layered over a piece of light green card stock. The label surrounding the happy birthday sentiment is chipboard that I colored with the same ink, and attached with brads that match the ribbon slide.

Supplies:

Stamps: The Angel Company - flower from Simply Devine and the sentiment is a GWP stamp.

Paper - TAC Angelee

Ribbon - TAC Angelee

Hardware - We R memory keepers

My husband and I will be celebrating Christmas alone this year due to bad weather all over Washington state. We just don't want to risk getting into an accident traveling to visit my family. The forecast is for more freezing temperatures and snow/rain in the coming days. Better to play it safe and celebrate at a later date. I wish you, your family and loved ones a very safe and peaceful holiday season!

Last few Christmas cards

Hi everyone - it's still snowing! We are expecting any where from 5 to 12 inches this weekend. I hope the forecasters are wrong, though! Here are two last Christmas cards that I wanted to share!

The vine and mistletoe stamps are from Great Impressions that I got at their outlet store. There's nothing like paying less than half price on some great images!

I painted the vine with H20's to give it a sparkly effect and then added some red rhinestones for the berries. I layered this with red card stock from Bazzill and then decided to do some paper piercing around the lower half so that the sentiment stood out a bit. The sentiment is from The Angel Company.

The mistletoe is colored with Copic markers in G05 Emerald Green and outlined in cool gray C1. The berries are done with White Opal liquid pearls - which gave them a silvery look. I used my oval nestabilities die to cut and emboss the image and added a raffia bow. I colored a piece of mulberry paper direct to paper with Veramagic perfect plumeria - added two rows of gold lines around the edges with a gold metallic pen from sakura and layered it onto a piece of beige bling from Bazzill.
I made a batch of hand cream and now I have to decorate the containers! Then I have to start my Holiday baking - glad I'm done Christmas shopping! Luckily the snow will keep me at home the next couple of days and I'll be able to get some of these things done! Have a great weekend!

Just Because

Just because - it's snowing and very cold - I decided to go with a warm looking design on my card for the SCS card sketch challenge this week.

The back ground was done with distress ink in faded jeans and then spritzed with water. The main image is done in Le Plume II markers to stamp - and a little huffing. The dragonfly is done the same way, cut out and made to fly on the card.

Supplies:

Distress ink in faded blue

Le Plume II markers

Stardust gel pen (wings of dragonfly)

Pink and white card stock

White brads

Stamps - Sentiment from TAC, flowers and dragonfly from Inkadinkado

Palette Noir ink

It's been snowing heavily for two days now! Here are a few pictures I took to show all the pile up.

We actually got a total of 6 inches on Wednesday and another couple inches expected as I'm typing this.

Why do dogs just love to plow their faces into the snow? They get so happy and full of energy when it snows. Just like they do right after a bath! LOL! It's like they have taken a happy pill!

This is the tree in front of my yard. Here in Washington, we normally get just a dusting of snow every year and it melts rather quickly. Now and then we'll get a good dumping (like about every 7 to 10 years) and never right before Christmas. So this is a treat - however it sure is making driving awful! Luckily I can work from home!

Well, where ever you are, I hope that you are warm, safe and busy with last minute Christmas preparations!

Christmas tags

Hi everyone! I think most of us saw a few of the 12 days of Christmas tags by Tim Holtz and wanted to try a few of his techniques. Well here is a tag I did using the Distress inks and water drops tech he showed us.
I used pine needles distress ink - sponged it on and then spritzed water into my hand and flung it on. I did come back and add some moon glow spritz to it to give it some holiday shine. The Sentiment is a GWP stamp from The Angel Company and the tree stamp is from SU lovely as a tree. The images are stamped in Memories Dye ink and embossed with clear ep. I added a very dark red (almost burgundy) layer to the back, punched a hole, used the crop a dile to add the big eyelet (TAC) and add the grosgrain ribbon.

This one was done with Alcohol inks. I used stonewashed, denim, pearl and blending solution. Added them all together randomly on my craft sheet and then ran the tag through the ink. It is so shimmery in real life. I stamped the snowflakes in versamark and embossed using bridal embossing powder - it really sparkles. The sentiment is from TAC called I love snowmen (retired) and the snowflake is also from TAC called Christmas postage (retired). I punched out some snowflakes and added some pearls from Kaiser crafts and stuck them on the tag to add some dimension. Some silver ribbon is tied to the top of the tag.

It was really fun to play with some of these techniques. So many ideas - so little time! Thanks for the inspiration, Tim!!!

Card Sketch Tuesday - #107

Happy Tuesday everyone! Here is sketch #107. This one gave me fits! I had this great layout in my head - but my colors were just not working together on my first two cards!

I ended up doing a monochromatic version that I was finally satisfied with - sorta. I so wanted to used some delicious designer paper with this sketch - but I just couldn't find the right color card stock to match anything that I was working with today. The mojo just wasn't flowing today.

So, show me what you can do with this sketch. It has to be better than my sample! LOL =) Leave me a comment or link and I'll post your creation on my blog.

Supplies:

Stamp - The Angel Company - aged ornaments

Ink - versamagic spring pansy and eggplant

Clear embossing powder

Core'dinations card stock in purples

Kreaxions corner punch

Winter scene

Hi all! Here is my card for the winter card challenge and blog hop over at Paperwings.

I stamped the tree from TAC's Mountain Scenery onto white card stock in Jardin Moss, then stamped again to get the ghost look. The sky is daubered on with sky blue chalk ink and the falling snowflakes are done using the speckle stamp and white craft paint. I also added a little sparkle using my stardust gel pen to some of the snowflakes after the paint dried.

The oval is cut out and embossed using a nestabilities die. I added a thin layer of glue from the quickie glue pen and sprinkled some large white glitter particles around the perimeter. Then I sandwiched the two together and layered it on a piece of blue bling card stock from Bazzill. The blue snowflakes are out of bling paper, too. I added a blue pearl to the white one for some added dimension.

Supplies:

Stamps - TAC Mountain Scenery and Speckle

Ink - Palette Jardin Moss

White craft paint - spread a thin layer on a piece of paper and dip your stamp into it..

White glitter

Bazzill Bling card stock

Stardust gel pen

Inspiration for this cards came from Kitty747 over at SCS.

Here are the other Angels who are participating in this blog hop! Check them out - great stuff!

Stacy

Bridgett

Carol

Jany

Christina

Angela

Melisa

Rita

Maria

Diana

Diane

Jen

Deb

Laurie W

Perpetual Calendar

Hi all! Here's another quick gift to make for someone on your list. There is this thread over on SCS about all the items that people are making for Christmas and found this one on post #51. I made this for my Dad and step mom since they now have so many more dates to remember. So, get out you BIA and whip up a few of these for last minute gifts.

I kept things simple and just added a computer generated title and a monogram. This measures 4 1/4 by 11 and the calendars print up two to a page - just cut down the middle! How easy is that?

I did nothing to the inside lists, just printed them up on card stock from my printer. I used some heavy chipboard to make the covers and covered with designer paper. Nestabilities were used to cut out the rectangles and circles.

This went together in about a half hour - but then again I kept it very clean and simple. My step mom is not one of those girlie girls - less is more for her.

So, head on over to SCS and be prepared to get some great ideas from that thread! Have a great weekend!

Supplies:

Chipboard

BIA

Paper - DCWV luxury stack

Organdy ribbon

Monogram Stamps - Inkadinkado

Cheap last minute gifts

Hi everyone - need a last minute gift that's very inexpensive and quick to do? Here you go!

I bought these votive candles at my local Dollar Tree for .25 cents a piece (unscented) and decided to dress them up to give as last minute gifts. I cut strips of kraft paper (1 1/4 wide and long enough to go around the votive, approximately 5 1/2 inches) and ran it through my paper crimper. Stamped some snowflakes (TAC) in blue on white paper that was cut to 3/4 of an inch. Taped them all in place and tied it with some twine.

I used red bazzill paper for the bands of these candles. Punched out some branches (Martha Stewart) in green and glued them in place. I had these pre-tied bows that I got at Wal-Mart last season (I had to search and destroy my craft room to find them) and applied them with glue.
Then decided that I needed a pretty box to put them in. So, I designed this one. It measures 5 inches long by 2 inches wide and is 2 1/2 inches tall. I started with some chip board as the base for both the lid and the box and then painted it white and added some designer paper.

The bottom is a 10 x 7 piece of chip board scored at 2 1/2 and the top is 8 x 5 scored at 1 3/8. I have a first draft of a template done, but the details are not coming through enough for me to feel comfortable posting it here. However, if you want it anyway, leave me a comment with how to reach you and I'll send it on. Have a great day!

Supplies for the box:

Paper is from Hot off the Press

Mega scallop punch

Sizzix snowflake die

Crystal glitter

Branch punch

Button

Gold self adhesive rhinestones

Card Sketch #106

Happy Tuesday! Here's sketch #106 - normal A2 size.

The middle panel measures 3 1/2 x 5 1/2 and I cut three 2 x 2 squares and stamped my images - I turned the middle one into a diamond due to the small Bee stamp....which made this just a little bit different. All squares and the middle panel are layered with darker purple at 1/16th of an inch.

This picture is really dark (I burned too much daylight today!) and this looks so much better IRL. The Thistles and the Bee are colored with Copic Markers. Both thistle squares are popped up using foam tape and I added one paper pierce on each point of the diamond. I've developed a ennui regarding holiday cards right now and decided to stamp something other than Christmas.
This is the result. Here's the saying that I put on the inside of the card - which came with this cling set that I got at a LSS.

Have a great week!

Supplies:

Paper - Hot off the press - Amethyst

Stamps - Thistle by Serendipity stamps

Ink - Palette Noir

Copic colors - G05, G07, V15, V17, C1

Creative Reindeer

Hello - I wanted to share with you my latest card - I cased the idea of the reindeer off of the Impress Rubber Stamps site, but changed some things around.

I used my branch punch (Martha Stewarts) and punched some antlers out of brown card stock. The eyes and red nose are self adhesive rhinestones from Kaiser Crafts. The corners are done with a new punch from Kreaxions that I just picked up at my LSS. I did a google search for this, since I've been asked about it and found a few at this store. What I like about this punch is that it has two different pieces to insert into the body to make it a corner punch or you can use it alone - basically a 3 in 1 punch.

The sentiment is stamped on white card stock and both are layered with the same brown card stock I used for the antlers. I ran the kraft base through my cuttlebug twigs embossing folder to create the back ground. It's all tied together with the 5/8 red grosgrain ribbon.

Supplies:

Stamp - Sentiment is from The Angel Company

Punches - Martha Stewart branch punch, corner punch by Kreaxions

Rhinestones - Kaiser crafts

Layered Flakes

I completed this card for the limited supplies challenge over at SCS that can be found here. You could only use snowflakes, must be monochromatic and only use a one word stamp and so on. So this is what I came up with.

The snowflakes are stamped in versamagic nigh sky and some of them are embossed with extreme peacock embossing powder. The word snow is stamped in the same ink, but I used bridal embossing tinsel on it. It gives it a slightly different look - lighter and shinier.

I used my cuttlebug and the snowflake die to cut out the two stand alone flakes. One is embossed with the extreme peacock EP and the other is dusted with large crystal glitter. The bottom right one has a rhinestone in the middle to add some additional bling.

Have a great weekend!

Supplies:

Stamps - all snowflake stamps by TAC, except the small "o" in snow which is from provo craft.

Alpha by TAC

Paper - Bazzill bling

Rhinestones

TAC Whimsical, Wintery, Vintage stamps sets

www.theangelcompany.net

Aren't these snowmen awesome? I see so many possibilities with paper piecing! Have a great day!

Awesome new TAC promotions

http://www.theangelcompany.net/

These stamps are so adorable! If your interested in purchasing any of these, please contact me!

Have a great weekend!

December Stamp of The month

This is the stamp of the month for December from The Angel Company! I was asked to designs some cards or 3D items around these stamps. So, here's what I came up with and you can see some of these on TAC website. All paper is from The Angel Company or carried in our catty.

The Best wishes is actually two sided and spins on crafters floss.

This last one has two Hershey nugget bars inside the box. This little set has something for every season and event in our lives! Have a great day!