First Christmas Card of the Year

It's late September, long past when I usually start making Christmas cards.  Never mind that temperatures have been running in the upper 80's...  This is my first of the season created using this Freshly Made Sketch:

I made the star using the thinlets that co-ordinate with Stampin' Up's Star of Light stamp set.  What I like about their die cut sets is that you can say they are value added.  Containing more than outline dies that let you avoid fussy cutting stamped images, they include dies that can cut layers, embellishments, and/or windows.  First I used an outline stamp to cut the star shape which I painted several times with a gold shimmer pen to give it a subtle background shine.  Next I cut the lacy layer and heat embossed it twice with white super fine detail embossing powder to give it shine and added dimension.  One things I like about this technique is that the sharp edges of the paper go away, giving it a molded look almost like icing on a cookie.  I wanted even more dimension to the star but hesitated to use pop up foam out of concern that the points of the star would be bent downward in the mail.  My solution was to cut three more background layers out of Kraft paper and stack them.  The finishing touch is a sparkle in the middle because sparkling is what stars do.

It's a little blurry, but this is the shot that best shows the gold shimmer.  I heat embossed the sentiment and two more stars adding sparkles, of course.  Here is the inside:

Originally I filled the center of the star with a brown marker, but it looked almost black, so I covered it with a bit of  Almond Glitter Glitz to better compliment the soft colors of the card.

There you have it.  One card down, 60+ more to go.  Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used:

Paper:  Oh Deer!, White Daisy, Desert Sand, and Cashmere cardstock, Kraft paper, all Close to My Heart

Stamps:  Star of Light by Stampin' Up

Ink:  Sea Glass, Juniper, Twilight from Close to My Heart, Versamark

Embellishments:  White super fine detail embossing powder by Ranger, Gold Shimmer pen, Brown and Blue sparkles and Almond Glitter Glitz from Close to My Heart

Other:  Star of Light thinlets from Stampin' Up

Halloween Cats Love the Moon

Summer is winding down which means it is time to think about Halloween, Thanksgiving, and *gasp* Christmas.  I made this card using this Freshly Made Sketch:

The cats were cut using a die from Penny Black, coated with Versamark and black embossing powder, and heat embossed three times to give them shine and dimension.  I also embossed the sentiment.  I used a clear shimmer pen on the "moon" to make it sparkle, sponged the edges of the background with Goldrush ink to ground it, and finished the front with some Nuvo Crystal Drops in Bottle Green.  Here is the inside of the card featuring a trimmed, un-embossed version of the cats:

Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used:
Paper:  Moonlight with Black, Garden Green, Goldrush, and Creme Blulee cardstock from Close to My Heart
Ink:  Black and Goldrush from Close to My Heart, Versamark
Stamps:  Purr-fect Halloween (retired) and Just to Say from Close to My Heart
Embellishments:  Bottle Green Nuvo Crystal Drops, Black embossing powder from Stampendous
Other:  Cat die by Penny Black

Back to School to Live a Dream

This card is for a young woman I know graduated from Radford University a few years ago with the dream of teaching art or maybe even photography.  Of course thanks to budget cuts and the emphasis on STEM, such positions are few and far between.  She cobbled together part time jobs, some in her field and some not, until last Tuesday she began the school year as a high school photography teacher.  I am so proud of her!

For the background I applied Distress inks directly to acrylic blocks, misted them with water, and pressed them onto smooth watercolor paper.  I left each block on for several minutes to allow the color to absorb and become more vivid.  I used a MISTI to stamp the cameras three times each to get the intense black and embossed the sentiment with black embossing powder on vellum.  The embellishments are Nuvo dots.  To make the mat I used the backside of a metallic paper I bought at Micheal's years ago because it was the most intensly black paper I had.

I plan to enter this card in the Paper Players "Back to School" challenge.

Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Materials:
Paper:  watercolor paper from Close to My Heart, vellum and metallic paper from Michael's
Ink:  Wild Honey, Worn Lipstick, and Chipped China Distress Inks by Ranger, Black from Close to My Heart
Stamps:  Retired Close to MY Heart Stamp of the Months from years ago
Embellishemnts:  Caribbean Ocean Nuvo Drops, Black embossing powder by Stampendous

Freshly Made Sketches Meets Eastern Palace

I am an aging hippie who still sometimes wears flowing Indian print clothes.  Now they call it boho, lol!  I have always been fascinated with India.  I love the rich colors and gold accents in everything from clothing to artwork to home decor.  And the food of course...  My husband use to travel to India for work, and in 2009 I got to join him at the end of his trip and spend five too short days there.

When I flipped through the new Stampin Up catalog I knew the Eastern Palace suite products were going to be at the top of my wish list.  Today I played with a few of them using this Freshly Made Sketch:

For my first attempt I used the thinlits and stamp set, gold embossing the stamped images.  I even embossed along the edges of the center panel.  To accommodate the thinlit I wanted to use I had to make a 6.5 x 5 inch card rather than my usual 5.5 x 4.25.

You say you don't have a heat tool or maybe you don't have time for embossing?  No worries!  The suite includes gold vinyl stickers which I used here.

I had to fudge the dimensions a bit because the border stickers are 6 inches long.  This is the card I plan to enter in the challenge.  The suite also includes specialty paper and adorable mini tassels which I could not work into the design, so I will have to use them on my next card.

Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used:
Paper:  Fresh Fig and Tranquil Tide from Stampin Up, White Daisy from Close to My Heart
Stamps:  Eastern Beauty from Stampin Up
Ink:  Peacock from Close to My Heart, Versamark
Embellishments:  Ranger Princess Gold Embossing Powder, Blue Sparkles from Close to My Heart (retired)

Lighthouse and Waves for Mojo Monday

When I saw this Mojo Monday sketch I knew immediately what I wanted to do with it.  Finding the time this week was another story!

To make the background I stamped my new Hero Arts Waves background stamp using Versamark, embossed the image with Ranger White Detail embossing powder, and sponged on Distress Inks.  I left one at that and sprayed the other until it was saturated to the point of puddling and let it dry to a soft watercolor look.  I then ran it though my Cuddlebug with the sandwich I would use to die cut plus two pieces of cardstock to flatten it back out.  Lastly I sponged around the edge of each panel with Chipped Sapphire to ground it against the card base.  Background done!

Next I heat embossed the lighthouse and birds from Close to My Heart's Perfect Day set in white on vellum.  This is one of my favorite stamps because, not only do I love lighthouses, but this one resembles the Old Cape Henry Lighthouse in my hometown.  The trick to attaching vellum is to apply the adhesive behind the embossing.  For one I folded the top over the edge on the background panel and glued the flap to the back.

Rather than trying to match colored cardstock to ink, I cut strips of White Daisy cardstock and sponged on the same Distress Inks.  The scripture verse was stamped with Blue Denim pigment ink and embossed with Stampendous Clear Detail powder.

The Harriet Beecher Stowe quote was stamped with Versamark and embossed with Stampendous PEARLuster embossing powder.

Both sentiments were attached with foam tape.  A few Bitty Sparkles from Close to My Heart complete the card.

Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Sherlock Seizes the Birthday

My sister is owned by a mischievous ginger cat with a white chin, chest and paws named Sherlock, so how could I not buy this stamp by Stampendous to make her a birthday card and enter it into the Seize the Birthday challenge to use an animal?  I stamped him with Chocolate ink from Close to My Heart and colored him with Prismacolor pencils.  The sentiment is popped up with foam tape.  Here is the inside:

Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used:

Paper:  White Daisy and Sweet Leaf cardstock from Close to My Heart

Stamps:  Feline Curious by Stampendous, Love My Cat and Birthday Sparkles by Close to My Heart

Ink:  Chocolate from Close to My Heart

Other:  Prismacolor pencils

Freshly Made Goldfish

I used my new Color Layering Goldfish stamp set from Hero Arts and this Freshly Made Sketch to make this card of encouragement for a friend.

Following the directions in Jennifer McGuire's Water Color + Embossing Folders video, I swiped mini distress ink pads across the flat side of an embossing folder, used the inked folder to emboss a piece of White Daisy cardstock, misted the now embossed and inked panel with water until it was saturated, and let it dry.  Of course it warped as it dried, so I ran it through my Cuddlebug set up as though I were going to use a die cut to flatten it out.

Next it was time for the goldfish.  I used my MISTI to stamp the first two layers leaving the second layer stamp in the MISTI and an acrylic block to stamp the "facial features."  I then stamped over the fish with Versamerk using the second layer stamp and embossed it with clear detail powder.  I repeated the embossing process two more times for dimension and shine.  The sentiment was embossed using a mixture of Sapphire and black powders on vellum.

Now to put it together.  I folded the ends of the vellum under the background panel and applied a toothpick sized bit of liquid glass under parts of the sentiment and the fins of the fish.  I attached the fish with thin foam tape and used liquid glass to embellish his eye and create some bubbles. 

Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used:
Paper:  White Daisy cardstock from Close to My Heart, Vellum
Stamp:  Color Layering Goldfish by Hero Arts
Ink:  Broken China, Pine Needles, and Chopped Sapphire Distress Inks by Ranger, Honey, Poppy, and Cocoa by Close to My Heart, Versamark
Embellishments:  Clear Detail embossing powder by Stampendous, liquid glass by Close to My Heart, Quatrefoil embossing folder by Close to My Heart