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!

Sale!

Check out Stampin' Up and save on cardstock, ink pads and bundles that have been selected! Just in time for your Christmas cards and gift making!

Gather Together

The color combo that the designer used for the gather together paper is some of my favorite Stampin' Up colors!  The base for this card is merry merlot and I die cut the leaves in cajun craze, blackberry bliss and pumpkin pie.

Here is a close up of the leaves. I first cut them out with the dies (which it also embosses) and then rubbed my versamark ink pad across the leaf and embossed with clear and copper embossing powders. The dimension that it added is so pretty in person. (hard to get a good photo) I love to add texture to cards and the basket weave embossing folder is such a quick and inexpensive pop of texture. I am so grateful that you have taken time out of your busy day to visit and look at my card.  Thank you and have a great blessed 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.

Thankful box

Hi and welcome to my blog today!  I hope you are having a great week! I wanted to share a quick little gift that I made with the pizza box and the gather together stamp set.  This time of year I like to have gifts made so that when I need a quick gift I have them all ready to go.  These little pizza boxes are great for small candles, candy and individual packets of flavored tea.  (and who wouldn't want to get any of those)  

The entire gather together suite is so easy to use. I love the colors that the designer series paper is created with and the patterns are all so fun! I used the stitched label die for the base of the pumpkins, this die really makes a great base for any image. It is a go to for me when I want to add a little bit of stitching and interest to the background. I also like the way that it cuts out parts as well as adds stitching to the design. What is your go to for quick easy interest to a card? I hope this box gives you some inspiration to create a few gifts to have on hand for giving this Thanksgiving season! Thank you for visiting me and have a thankful day!

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!

GDP #214

Welcome to my blog, I am so happy that you have taken time out of your day to visit! The card I created today was for the Global Design Project Challenge. This is a really fun sketch! I am in full fall mode these days and just can't create enough cards of thanks. I think that I like to create thank you cards more than any others. I love to let people know that I am so grateful for them and there kindness.

Check out website!

The new basic pattern decorative mask pack (stencil) that Stampin' Up has in the holiday catalog has great images. I love this one that resembles leaves to me. I couldn't wait to sponge it with some beautiful fall colors.  The large leaf in the gather together stamp set looks so beautiful and bold when embossed. I used the silver embossing powder for this one and then used the same colors to sponge for a quick pop of color to this leaf.

I used a 21/4 inch circle to punch out a background for my leaf in early espresso and then used the pinewood plank embossing folder to add some texture to the circle. This greeting is one of my favorite from the country home stamp set. It fits so nicely in one of the rectangle stitched dies. Thankful for you and I really appreciate you visiting my blog.  Have a beautiful and thankful week!

Water color birds

Its a good day when I get to watercolor! I really love watching what the way the color moves through the water. The hard part for me is trying to figure out what exactly it will do.  I guess that comes with experience. I find that an easy way to watercolor is when I heat emboss and drop in the color.  Ever since I purchased this stamp set I have wanted to watercolor these birds!

When I first started the colors were so light especially when they dried. (when watercolor drys it lights considerably!)I wanted a strong line of color on the edges of these birds and so I had to add a few layers of color. I also added a few layers of balmy blue to make the entire scene stand out. Let me know what you think I could do to make this painting even better.  I feel something is missing but I do not know what that is.  Thank you for checking out my card! Have beautiful, colorful day! Enjoy the blessings of the day!

Need a new trimmer?  This is the one to get! If you have any questions let me know.

I great suite to make wonderful Christmas cards and gifts! Let me know what questions you might have.

Another take on emboss resist!

Aren't these leaves beautiful stamped and embossed in silver and gold? I have been on a kick to make beautiful, quick cards! Don't get me wrong I do love to spend time creating elaborate cards yet lately my stamping mojo has been nonexistent. So when that happens I like to go back to the basics. If I try to hard to make a card with several layers I just feel like it just is not coming together. I stamped  and embossed each leaf separately so that the embossing powders did not mix. 

Once again, since I still had the fall colors out I used them. This greeting is one of my favorites! It is from the country home stamp set. It is such a great reminder to just be thankful. Thankful for all the stamps that I have to create with, thankful for all the coloring mediums that I have and the hands and fingers to create with. Also, thankful for eyes that I can see all the beautiful colors that God has created in nature to enjoy. All things that God creates are good and 

I am so thankful! I am also so thankful for you coming to visit my blog and for all the amazing friends that I have met in this crafting industry! Enjoy! Have a great week!

Just a quick post to show you the penguins I made for my card.  I had some card stock cut from my stamp club a few weeks ago and so I made a few cards. I made a few changes to this one. I added the dots with sponged on shimmer paint (frost white) and then after stamping the scarves I covered the piece with shimmery crystal effects. I love the look and the dimension that it added!

I can't wait to try this on so many more things! Enjoy this beautiful day!

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!

Finally back

Hi stampers! I am sorry for my lack of blogging lately, my mom has been in need of my help and so family duties have taken my time. But I am back! So excited for the daily marker 30 color challenge. My challenge to myself is to relax through my coloring! I love anything that has color, markers, pencils, paints,etc. My happy place is creating! I am really loving the fall color scheme right now.

Fall colors are so warm and inviting! The large leaf in the gather together stamp set is a great size for watercoloring.  I stamped in versamark ink on watercolor paper and embossed with gold embossing powder.  I added some dazzling diamonds to my gold embossing powder to add extra sparkle.

Unfortunately this picture does not show the amazing sparkle that is achieved with the glitter added. I did a quick wash of color into each leaf. I thought about adding a second layer of color after it had dried but I really liked the way the colors bleed into each other and so I decided to leave it.

I contemplated so many different ideas for the greeting and then just decided to keep it a plain and simple one layer card by stamping the greeting in old olive on the watercolor paper.  I suggest a stamp aligning tool for stamping a greeting on watercolor paper.  Since the paper is so textured you will need to stamp it a few times to get good coverage.  Thank you for visiting my blog and let me know what you think of my fall card.  Do you think that I should have added another layer of color? Enjoy and have a blessed weekend!

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!