Color Throwdown Black, White, and Gold

I have been doing a lot of playing with White and Gold which is quite elegant, but when you add Black per this week's Color Throwdown it really pops!

These are three of several variations.  First I did a few where I embossed the angel with Gold powder:

Next, in addition to embossing the angel, I used the powder to gild the edges of the sentiment which I attached with foam tape:

Finally I went for a softer look by embossing the angel with Clear powder and sponging on Metallic Gold ink:

My original plan had been to use only black sparkles to embellish, but they did not give as much sparkle as much as I wanted, so I used mostly clear ones instead.  

Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted:

Paper:  Colonial White and Black cardstock

Ink:  Black with Metallic Gold by ColorBox

Stamp:  Sing Glory (retired)

Embellishments:  Black and Clear Bitty sparkles, Gold and Clear embossing powder 

Merry Monday Penguin

Here is the card using this sketch from Try Stamping on Tuesday posted on a Sunday for the Merry Monday challenge to use a bird on a Christmas card.  No wonder I am not always sure what day it is...

The twist on the Try Stamping on Tuesday is to include an ornament or use non-traditional Christmas colors.  Because I am posting this just under the wire, I will have to tell you more about this card later.  Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time.

Inspired by Gift Bags

As I was assembling goody bags with the help of my assistant last Christmas, I found myself thinking that they would make good cards, so I made a few extra tags which I have been using thoughout the year. 

My latest effort was inspired by this Try Stamping on Tuesday sketch:

The snowflake was cut and embossed and the hexagon cut using Spellbinders Shapeabilities.  The swirling snowflakes and sentiment are from a long retired but still one of my favorite stamp sets, Snow Flurries, by Close to My Heart.  I embossed the sentiment to give it more pop and to balance the white in the rest of the card.  Of course I had to embellish with sparkles because y'all know how much I like sparkles, particularly the itty bitty ones.

Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted:
Paper:  Glacier and Colonial White cardstock with Kraft paper
Ink:  Colonial White
Stamps:  Snow Flurries (retired)
Embellishments:  Blue sparkles (retired but you can always use an alcohol marker, such as a ShinHan, to color clear ones)
Other:  Create-a-Flake Five and Hexagon Shapabilites by Spellbinders

A Christmas Card with Sparkle and Non Traditional Colors

I have been in the mood to make a Christmas card in non-traditional colors and the 52 (Christmas) Card Throw Down technique challenge to use a sponge or brayer was the perfect opportunity/excuse.  The background was done using the bokeh technique with Pomegranate, Juniper, and Lagoon on the base layer and the circles sponged, not with the usual white, but with Metallic Gold pigment ink by ColorBox.

  After cutting the snowflake with a Tim Holtz die cut and embossing it with the accompanying folder, I used a brayer to ink the ridges with Versamark and embossed them with Ranger Gold embossing powder.  I then sponged the edges with Pomegranate and some Lagoon lightly along the ridges.

After making sure the background was completely dry, I embossed the sentiment and the edges by pushing the bokeh panel edge perpendicularly into the Versamark pad and then into the embossing powder.  I used a paintbrush to remove any excess powder before heating.  Now all that was left was to put it all together and add a sparkle.  And wash my hands because I definitely got inky!

Now you may be wondering how I came up with this color scheme.  I discovered a new (to me)  color challenge blog called Chocolate Baroque.  I have to love a blog with a name like that!  Anyway, there was an absolutely beautiful card and I just had to use those colors.

The next morning it was obvious that I need an Ottlite (are you listening, Tim) because the colors were not quite right.  I felt that the Pomegranate was too purple, so I made a second card using Lagoon, Juniper, and Ruby with the Gold Metallic ink.

Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted:

Paper:  Colonial White cardstock

Ink:  Pomegranite, Juniper, and Lagoon with Metallic Gold pigment ink by ColorBox

Stamp:  Winter Flurries (retired)

Embellishment:  Ranger Princess Gold embossing powder, Purple sparkle

Other:  Tim Holtz die cut and embossing folder

Joy to the World!

When I saw this Freshly Made Sketch I thought of Close to My Heart's Noel Holiday stamp set.

The card actually came together pretty quickly, even with all the embossing.  I am really loving the Ranger embossing powders!  They are finely ground, so they show more detail.  Unfortunately, no matter how I light it, when photographing a white and gold card I can never get the shine to show without the highlights blasting out that detail.

  

To keep with the vintage feel of the stamp set I used a cropped text box cut using the Artbooking Cricut cartridge (page 81) in place of the banner. The embossing and metallic paper provides enough sparkle and interest so I opted not to use any embellishments.

Another Christmas card down.  I don't want to think about how many more I need to make...  Thank you for stopping by!  Now why don't you head over to Freshly Made Sketches for some inspiration and perhaps enter the challenge yourself?  I would love to see your work.  You have until Monday December 7th at 12:00 PST to enter.  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, all Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted:

Paper:  Colonial White cardstock, Gold metallic paper I ordered on Amazon

Ink:  Versamark

Stamp:  Noel Holiday (retired)

Embellishment:  Ranger Princess Gold embossing powder.

Holiday Expressions with Heart

Oh my goodness!  Is it December already?!  This week the Heart 2 Heart challenge is to use something from Close to My Heart's Seasonal Holiday Expressions catalog supplement.  There is no question that I had to use this year's Christmas theme paper, White Pines.  This week the Atlantic Hearts sketch is a particularly fun one:

I love designs where you can use scraps or create a sampler of the papers in a packet.  Now you may have noticed that the sentiment is on clear plastic.  (It was fun trying to photograph it without reflections.)  This made it interesting to attach to the background.  I finally settled on liquid glass, using a pin to apply the smallest dabs behind the leaf parts.  I think I managed to adhere it without the adhesive showing.  This card is also unusual for me because I did not do any stamping on the front nor did I embellish with any sparkles or Stickles.  I did use a little bit of ink though to edge the lamb in chocolate to help him stand out.

Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi

Materials used, All Close to My Heart:

Paper:  White Pines with Fern, Cranberry, Champagne, and Colonial White cardstock

Ink:  Chocolate

Embellishments:  White Pines complements

Other:  Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge