Blizzard

Even though I live in Southern California now I did grow up in Minnesota and so I know a good ole blizzard when I see one. And my card today looks like a blizzard has hit this group of trees.

I started the card out with a simple white heat embossed image of trees from the winter woods stamp set, followed by ink blending on top to make the trees really stand out.  Then I got the idea what if I used the same colors to blend but using the new tree stencil.

I think this adds some interesting texture to the card, not really sure if it is the look I was going for.  Then I thought why stop there add some water drops to add more texture.  Well they got kinda big as you can see!  Still was not loving the card. So why not add a bunch of white splatter? Couldn't hurt right?

Well all in all I did a million techniques on this card, not sure how I feel other than I love the colors together!  Maybe a few too many things going on.  Let me know what you think of this Christmas card? Have a great day and thank you so much for stopping by!

CAS(E) this Sketch #349

I had a little free time today after tackling the grocery store so I decided to take a break from cleaning and join in on the Case this sketch challenge! I made my own strip of decorative paper with the holly and pine cone images. When I saw this sketch I thought of the winter woods tree. It is a great sketch and you could use so many images with this layout!

I embossed the tree in with white embossing powder and using the rectangle stitched die cut it out. The greeting is from one of the hostess sets in the holiday catalog.  I love everyone of these sentiments. On the tree embossing folder I used wink of stella on the tips of the branched, although it really did not show up on the camera. It is really hard to get a good photo of the wink of stella. If you have an suggestions I would love to hear them.  Thank you so much for stopping by today. Check out and join in the challenge this week! It is a nice break from all the work that is ahead. Have a beautiful day! Enjoy!

Winter Woods

This is such a perfect Christmas tree. I love this image!  I decided to white heat emboss it and then watercolored using balmy blue for the background, winter scene. I did a few different layers and added a few drops of water for more texture.

The tree looked a little bit lost to me and so I decided to watercolor with mossy meadow and old olive to give the tree some color. I really liked the way that it made the tree pop!

I took a few strips of water color paper and just lightly water colored some balmy blue on the edges to create the look of snow and the after it dried added a little bit of the shimmery crystal effects.

Using one of the stitched label dies for my greeting. I hope that this give you a few ideas to try on your own Christmas tree cards.

Check out the sale that Stampin Up will have on Nov. 20-22! 15% off on select items!  Thank you for stopping by! Have a great day!

Wintery trees

Hi! I have taken a break from fall cards to create a Christmas card for today. The weather has been cooling down here in Southern California and so I have been in the mood to create a Christmas card.  I decided to try embossing in clear and white. I was trying to give the feeling of depth with using both of these different powders.  What do you think? Does it work? 

I used a strip of the brightly gleaming designer paper for a little bit of extra color. If you would like to purchase this paper don't wait. Stampin' Up has told us that the paper is low in inventory. So don't miss out.  The paper is probably the most beautiful of all the holiday paper that I have purchased. I can't wait to use it for many more Christmas cards. Have a great day! Thank you for visiting me and I would love any comments you might have.

Most gorgeous DSP!

Hello stampers, I am sharing what I think is my first Christmas card post. First off I have to say, the brightly gleaming paper is amazing! I thought it looked good in the catalog but when I ordered it and opened it I wanted to save it forever. To me that is the sign of a good designer series paper, you don't want to use it but just hoard it. Every design of this paper is so gorgeous I have had a hard time deciding which side to use.

I kept this card monochromatic with mossy meadow, white and copper. My other favorite thing is the  scripty 3D embossing folder. Wow it is so pretty and I love it on Christmas cards! If you are making your Christmas cards a few ideas that I would tell you to keep in mind; simple and very few layers (if any).

I am really excited to see what more I can do with this paper. I have to be honest when I say that I am really sad to cut it up, however I also can't wait to create beautiful cards (so I will have to cut it). If you would like a real show stopper for your Christmas cards you will want to begin with the brightly gleaming designer series paper! You will not be disappointed!

Have a great day and share with me what plans you have for your Christmas cards! Season blessings!

Emboss Resist

Hello! So glad that you are here to visit me today!  Since I have had my fall colors out on my desk I will be sharing a few ideas with these amazing colors that make me so happy!  This is a simple card that I created with the winter woods stamp set. I heat embossed in white the group of trees on whisper white card stock.  I then did a little emboss resist. If you are not familiar with this technique it is very simple but a great reveal at the end. After heat embossing your image you sponge with ink color over the image. The image pops! 

The colors I used were pumpkin pie, so saffron and old olive. I keep the color very soft but you could add more ink if you would like  bolder color. I sprinkled a little plain water with a paint brush and then placed a paper towel on top to remove the color. The texture this adds to the background is so nice and subtle.  One little secret that I have about this card is that when I stamped the trees they were not straight and so I hid that with the big, bold greeting. You can almost always fix any mistake while stamping. No need to throw it away and start over!

Enjoy your day and spend some time coloring! Blessings!

Birch trees

The birch trees from the winter woods stamp set are so beautiful! I could resist (haha get the play on words) using it embossed in white! I used the crumb cake cardstock for the base. I wanted the trees to pop even more and so I sponged crumb cake ink first and then because that was not enough of a pop I used espresso ink. That gave me the pop that I was looking for. 

Thank you for visiting my blog and taking the time to read.  Let me know what you think of my birch trees. 

Enjoy and blessings for a beautiful day!