A Magnolia Christmas

It's scary to think that it's time to start making Christmas cards.  This is only my second card, and I used the Magnolia Lane DSP to do so.

The Magnolia flowers in the DSP were coloured with  both the light and drak Poppy Parade blendabilities.  This makes the flowers look almost like Poinsettias. After trimming the DSP to 4 1/4 by 3 1/2", Versa Mark was applied the entire surface, heat and stick powder applied, followed by Dazzling Diamonds. The picture does not do the glitter effect justice.

The DSP was matted with Basic Black card stock, and then added to a layer of Seaside Spray card stock embossed with the Stripes embossing folder.  This is turn was added to a Basic Black layer and then onto a Poppy Parade card base.

The sentiment, from "Blended Seasons" was embossed with Black Embossing powder on a strip of Whisper White that extends across the entire front in the middle.  This was also matted with Basic Black card stock.

Before adding to the card front, some leaves/stems die cut from the Flourishing dies in gold foil was adhered above and below the sentiment strip.  Some gold thread was also added.

To finish the card, some gold faceted glitter gems were added on both sides of the sentiment.

Supplies Used:

Stamp:  Blended Seasons (R)

Inks:  Versa Mark, Poppy Parade blends (light and dark)

Papers:  Poppy Parade, Basic Black, Seaside Spray, Magnolia Lane DSP, gold foil

Accessories:  Black embossing powder, Gold thread, Heat and stick powder, Dazzling diamonds, Gold faceted glitter gems, Black embossing powder, Flourishing dies

A Tag Background- Stamp, Ink & Paper # 169

I was a bit disappointed with the single Tags & Tidings stamp set and coordinating single die on Pg. 24 of the Holiday catalogue. Stamping and die cutting 16 tags at the same time was very appealing.  However, the resultant tags were very small so wasn't sure I could use them.

After leaving it for a day or so, I came up with the idea to use the tag stamp as a background stamp, and a card was born. This card was submitted to the challenge at Stamp, Ink & Paper 

On a 4 by 5 1/4" piece of Poppy Parade card stock, I gold embossed the Tags and Tiding stamp and  adhered it to a card base of Thick Very Vanilla card stock.

On the right side I added a 2 by 4" gold foil band notched at one end with the triple layer punch.  The sentiment, from "Blended Season" was also embossed with golf embossing powder as were the edges of the Very Vanilla sentiment piece.

A bow made of the 3/8" gold metallic edge ribbon was added just below the sentiment.

Supplies Used:

Stamps:  Tags & Tidings, Blended Season

Ink:  Versa Mark

Papers:  Thick Very Vanilla, Poppy Parade, Very Vanilla, Gold Foil

Accessories:  Gold embossing powder, Triple layer punch, 3/8" gold metallic edge ribbon

My Neighbour Turns 89! What a celebration! SUO Challenges # 207

My 'feisty' neighbour proudly announced last night that she turned 89 on Sept. 11.  "What an awful day to have a birthday" she stated as she handed me some green beans she had picked herself from her son's garden. She was making reference to the horrible event that occurred on Sept. 11 seventeen years ago.

The circumstances of her birth were somewhat unusual and she was literally declared dead by the doctor who delivered her.  She was born at home as were most births back then, and the delivery was difficult.  After she was born, the doctor stated: "What a beautiful baby.  Too bad she's dead"  Everyone was really upset about that announcement, but her Aunt noticed something.  Mary moved her shoulder ever so slightly.  "She's not dead!  She's not dead!"

The doctor quickly ordered the Aunt to put Mary (my now neighbour) in alternating hot and cold water and before long the wail of a healthy baby pierced the birthing room.

After that auspicious start, Mary is now celebrating her 89th birthday.  What a celebration!!!

Since "celebration" is the theme for the SUO challenge this week here I am submitting the card I made to this challenge.

The floral image from "Blended Seasons" was colored with Blends. after which I used the Light Petal Pink blend to color lightly all the way around the image.  Since her eye sight isn't the greatest, I used the larger "Stylized Birthday" stamp and gold embossed it.  I also gold embossed her age, the numbers of which are from the retired "Metro Type Alphabet" set.

I colored some rhinestones with Bermuda Bay blends and added them to the lower right of the card front.  And of course, no card is complete without bling, so I added Clear Wink of Stella to the flowers.

Both top corners were punched using the Detailed Trio Punch, first with the floral image followed by the corner rounded.

The Whisper White art piece layer was adhered to a gold foil layer, which was adhered to a thick Whisper White card base.

Supplies Used:
Stamps:  Blended Seasons, Stylized Birthday, Metro Type Alphabet
Inks:  Black Memento, Blends (Pool Party, Daffodil Delight, Bermuda Bay, Old Olive, Light Petal Pink) Versa Mark
Papers:  Whisper White, Gold Foil, Thick Whisper White
Accessories:  Gold embossing powder, Stamparatus, Detailed Trio Punch, Clear Wink of Stella, rhinestones

I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day-------

The jingle kept ringing in my head as I was making this Christmas card.

Since I learned how to stamp in a circle using the Stamparatus I can't seem to stop doing this technique.  There's something addictive about this technique, and I find myself looking at my stamps in a different light, especially the smaller ones.  So, when I saw the lonely single Christmas bell stamp in the Blended Seasons stamp set, guess what I did --yup, stamped in a circle.

Because the image is a little larger than the ones I usually use for this technique, I had to start with a square larger than my templates - 5", so one of the first things I had to do was to make a template just for this card.

After stamping the images, I coloured them with a combination of watercolor pencils and blendabilities.  I then added some Clear Wink of Stella on each Christmas bell.

In the center I placed a sentiment (from "Getting Ready for Christmas", die cut it with a Stitched Circle framelit and matted it with a Real Red scallop circle.  The two layers were adhered together using dimensionals and then added to the center.

The image piece was matted with Smokey Slate card stock and then added to a 5 1/2" square Real Red card base.

Have you ever finished a card and then have something fall on it?  Well, that happened to this card, thus the 3 gold glimmer stars.

Supplies Used:
Stamps:  Blended Seasons, Getting Ready for Christmas
Inks:  Black Memento, watercolor pencils, Blendabilities
Papers:  Real Red, Smokey Slate, Whisper White
Accessories:  Blender pen, Clear Wink of Stella, Stamparatus, Template, Stitched Circle framelits, Scallop Circle framelits

Blended Season Birthday

In an earlier post I coloured the flowers from the Blended Seasons stamp set to make it look like a Christmas card.

Today, just by changing the colour of the flowers the card is now a birthday card.

This time I stamped the image on the upper right of a piece of Whisper White card stock, and colored the flowers with Petal Pink blendabilities with Melon Mambo in the center.  The leaves were coloured with Granny Apply Green, Old Olive , with a touch of Daffodil Delight.  The image was lightly coloured with Pool Party around the edges.

The sentiment is from Special Celebrations.

On the bottom I adhered a piece of Petal Pink card stock which had been die cut with the new Fancy Edge Thinlet die.  Some 1/4" white organza ribbon was attached over a 5/8" pink ribbon and adhered to the bottom of this die cut piece.

Supplies Used:
Stamps:  Blended Season, Special Celebrations
Inks:  Black Memento, Blendabilities
Papers:  Petal Pink, Whisper White
Accessories:  Corner rounder punch, Pink rhinestones, Fancy Edge Thinlet dies, 1/4" white organza ribbon, 5/8" pink ribbon

The Holly and the Ivy,,,,,,,,,,,

Again I used the Blended Season stamp set but I used the Stamparatus to guide my design. I also used the new Glimmer paint, although it's not so new.  I'm glad to see the 3 colours come back.

I started by stamping "Merry Christmas" on a 4 by 5" piece of Whisper White card stock, and used the Stamparatus to stamp the Holly and the Ivy above and below the sentiment. This image was then die cut using the stitched framelit (second largest). Blendabilities were used to colour the images- Call Me Clover, Real Red, Sea Foam Green. A bow made with 1/8" Call Me Clover ribbon was added below the lower holly and ivy and a touch of shimmer paint was applied to the non Holly berries with dots gently touched on the red berries.

This I matted with a larger glimmer paper framelit.  The two were adhered together using tombo glue ( which is the only adhesive that will adhere glimmer paper to another paper) and adhered to the card front using dimensionals.

The basic top fold card front of  "Call Me Clover"  card  is matted with  Whisper White embossed with the Stripes and Scallops embossing folder.

Supplied Used:

Stamp:  Blended Seasons

Inks: Black Memento, Blendabilities as listed in blog post

Papers:  Call Me Clover, Whisper White, Glimmer Paper

Accessories:  Stamparatus, Stripes and Scallops Embossing Folder, Stitched Framelits, 1/8" grosgrain ribbon, Shimmer paint, Dimensionals

My First Christmas Card

Usually by now I have the majority of my Christmas cards made by now, but for some reason I've been really slow getting started.  Maybe it's the horrible heat outside.

Yesterday I received the Blended Seasons Stamp set and coordinated framelits and couldn't wait to make a card using these products.  I didn't start out to make a Christmas card, but that's what it ended up being.

This flower could be multiseasonal, however, when I was finished colouring it with the new blendabilities it felt decidedly Christmasy.

I stamped the image on Whisper White with Black Memento ink, and coloured the flowers with the two shades of Real Red blendabilites, with Daffodil Delight in the center.  To provide extra depth in the center of the flower, I added some light blue blendability on top of the red.  For the leaves I used the two shades of Granny Apple Green.  Once finished, I used a light Pool Party blendabilites to lightly color around the entire flower.

The flower was die cut using the largest of the stitched framelits, and before removing the framelit I used a flat paint brush to apply light Soft Sea Green ink around the edges.

The card base is Real Red, layered with Whisper White embossed with Starburst Embossing folder.  On the left side is a plaid pattern from "Under the Mistletoe" DSP with 1/4" satin Real Red ribbon added along the edge.

The die cut image was adhered to the card front using dimensionals.

The sentiment was cut into two words , matted with real Red card stock and added to the right image.

Supplies Used:

Stamp:  Blended Seasons

Inks:  Black Memento, Blendabilities (Real Red, Daffodil Delight, Granny Apple Green, Pool Party), 

Papers:  Real Red, Whisper White, Under the Mistletoe DSP

Accessories:  Starburst Embossing Folder, Stitched Season Framelits, Dimensionals, Real Red Enamel dots, 1/4" satin Real Red ribbon, 1/8" Real Red ribbon