My Christmas cards are done!

Here is the final result! I'm so happy with how they came out. And somehow it's a one layer card, which I usually have so much trouble making.
As you can see, it's similar to the card I made before. There are a couple of differences. First, I stamped the snowflake in white craft ink all around the edges for a more solid look; random just looked odd. Then for the focal image, I used the baby wipe technique just like on my gift card holder (same colors). But before I inked up the stamp, I inked it with VersaMark. Then I embossed the image with Irridescent Ice EP to add sparkle. You can use this technique to emboss with any classic ink; just ink with VersaMark first. The VersaMark won't hurt your classic ink pad in any way.

Here's a side view to show some of the sparkle!

Happy stamping!

Star tag/ornament

Yesterday, I saw this cool ornament posted on Shelli Gardner's blog (www.soshelli.com) as well as on Jackie Topa's blog. Jackie posted instructions that I used as a guide for my project.
Jackie's instructions call for 6 squares of DSP that are 4"each. I made mine 3" each so I could use my Patterns Pack that is a level 1 hostess set. My ornament is about 4 1/2" when open, and I think that is plenty large enough.
For the outer pieces, I used the center punched from a 2 1/2" square of Real Red textured cardstock using the scallop border punch. (I used this same technique here and here.) I ended up trimming the points off the corners because they got in the way when the ornament was opened.

Here is what it looks like when the ornament is closed. I would use this as a tag, I guess, rather than a card since it's so small. On both sides, I stamped the snowflake from Scandinavian Season in white craft ink onto shimmery white cardstock then embossed with Irridescent Ice EP and punched it out with the 1 1/4" square punch.
On Shelli's blog, she explained that the button holds the piece in place whether it's open or closed.

Here are the 6 pieces of DSP after they are folded. Jackie's directions are very easy to follow!

Here is a close up of one piece.

Here are all of the pieces adhered together before I added the ribbon and button.
Happy stamping!

Tis the season to give gift cards

Last night, I had a workshop at Louise's house. Louise moved to Two Harbors, so she hasn't stamped with us for a while. We really missed her, so we had the workshop at her place last night. Since we had to drive about 1/2 hour to get there, I decided to keep it simple with 2 fun projects.
This card is a gift card holder. I've seen lots of them around, but not too many of them are standard card size. This one is!
The tree image is stamped using the baby wipe technique. I used a stack of baby wipes as an inkpad and covered it in drops of Old Olive, Real Red and Chocolate Chip. The key is to make sure that all of the drops touch so there are no blank spots when you stamp.

I started with a 12X12 piece of cardstock and cut it down to 5 1/2 x 12. (My cardstock was not quite 12"; it was more like 11 15/16, so measure before the next step to be sure!) Next, I scored at 4 1/4" from each end and then scored in the center. Fold it like a W and then adhere the middle parts together so it looks like the above picture. Don't use adhesive along the center fold line, though, because that's where the slot for the gift card goes.

Next, I marked where the slot would go on that piece that is sticking out in the middle of the card. I centered the gift card and made little pencil marks on each side.

If you click on the picture above to enlarge it, you should be able to see the pencil mark inside the opening for the word window punch. Notice that I only put the cardstock in halfway. It took 3 punches to make the full slot.

Here is what the gift card looks like inside the slot.
Supplies (all SU): Stamps: Scandinavian Season; Paper: Confetti White, Old Olive, Real Red textured; Ink: Real Red, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip; Accessories: ticket corner punch, word window punch, Alpine ribbon originals
Happy stamping!

Rhonda's November workshop project # 3

Doesn't the white embossing really make the tree pop against the sponged ink? Just gorgeous!

Rhonda's November workshop project # 2

Rhonda's other projects both use Scandinavian Season, one of my favorite sets. I love how the mittens are hanging from the metallic cord!
Happy stamping!

Christmas card in progress

This card may look slightly familiar. I made one that is similar a few weeks ago. It still isn't exactly what I've been picturing, but I think I'm getting closer. What do you think I need to add or change?
I used the scallop border punch on the bottom of the card to show the wheeled image on the inside. I added the rub-on sentiment in the lower right corner.
For the card front, I started by stamping the tree from Scandinavian Season in Always Artichoke craft ink. I poured on the Irridescent Ice EP and masked off the tree with an oval (cut with the Coluzzle) to stamp the snowflakes in Whisper White craft ink. Then I heat set the whole thing. Why did I do it that way? I find that the white craft ink doesn't really dry on its own, so I wanted to heat set it and heat the EP at the same time. I added some sponging in white to define the oval. The ribbon is the finishing touch.
Supplies (all SU): Stamps: Scandinavian Season, Scandinavian wheel; Paper: Kraft; Ink: Real Red, Whisper White craft, Always Artichoke craft; Accessories: coluzzle, scallop border punch, Chit Chat rub-ons, Riding Hood Red taffeta ribbon
Happy stamping!

Merry and Bright

This Christmas ornament is definitely Merry and Bright! I used Beate's sketch from last weekend to create this card. For the ornament, I started with a piece of chipboard from the Country Living Holiday Collection. I covered it with VersaMark and poured on the gold EP. It didn't look smooth enough, so I repeated those steps. I cut a bigger circle out of Riding Hood Red textured cardstock with my Coluzzle and adhered the chipboard to it. Some DSP, Alpine ribbon, snowflakes and a rub-on sentiment complete the card. I adhered the ornament to the card with Dotto so it can be easily removed to hang on the tree.
Supplies (all SU): Stamps: Scandinavian Season; Paper: Kraft, Junior Varsity DSP, Riding Hood Red textured; Ink: White StazOn, VersaMark; Accessories: gold EP, heat tool, gold elastic cord, 1/16" hole punch, Alpine Ribbon Originals, Chit Chat rub-ons, Country Living Holiday Collection chipboard
Happy stamping!

A Quick Christmas Card

Last week's demonstratable card challenge was to use masking or reverse masking. We were also supposed to use scraps and a bonus was to use rub-ons. I already had an oval cut to use for reverse masking, so I think that qualifies as a scrap! I decided to make a Christmas card and take the colors from the Alpine Ribbon Originals from the Holiday Mini. The colors in the ribbon are Very Vanilla, Kraft, Real Red, Old Olive and Chocolate Chip.
I stamped the tree from Scandinavian Season in VersaMark and embossed it in gold. Then I put the cut-out oval opening over it and sponged on Old Olive. I used the scallop border punch on the bottom of the card and then used the Scandinavian wheel in Real Red across the inside of the card. I sponged Chocolate Chip around all of the card's edges and added the rub-on sentiment. The last thing to do was tie on the ribbon. I'm not totally pleased with the result, but I think it has promise. I'm going to fiddle around with it some more and see if I can come up with my card for this year. I have to decide by Saturday so I can take all of the stuff with me to Florida.
Supplies (all SU): Stamps: Scandinavian Season, Scandinavian wheel; Paper: Kraft; Ink: VersaMark, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Real Red; Accessories: Chit Chat rub-ons, Alpine Ribbon Originals, Coluzzle, gold EP, scallop border punch, sponge
Happy stamping!

Holiday Mini sneak peek

You got a little peek at the upcoming mini last time with the Scandinavian wheel. Well, here is a look at the coordinating stamp set, Scandinavian Season. This set caught my eye right away because it looks like rosemaling. Rosemaling is a style of painting; I think it's from Norway, but I'm not Scandinavian! I have seen a lot of it up here in Minnesota, though. Yah, you betcha!
For my first card with this set, I wanted it to really look like rosemaling. I think I got the colors right anyway; the picture is a little off so don't be too judgemental!
This was a pretty quick card. I stamped the tree image in Chocolate Chip craft ink and embossed it with clear EP. I colored in the image with ink and an aquapainter because I wanted nice deep color; I used Close to Cocoa, More Mustard, Not Quite Navy, Real Red and Garden Green. The ribbon is also from the Holiday Mini. You get 2 ribbons together: this cool felt ribbon, and a striped ribbon!
Supplies (all SU): Stamps: Scandinavian Season, Scandinavian wheel; Paper: Confetti White, Real Red, More Mustard; Ink: Chocolate Chip craft, Real Red, Close to Cocoa, More Mustard, Not Quite Navy, Garden Green; Accessories: clear EP, Fire Circles rhinestone brads, aquapainter, Alpine Ribbon Originals
Happy stamping!