Trees in Snow {Scrapy Land #128}

Hey everyone, it's time for a new Scrapy Land Challenge #128.  I have one more Christmas card to share with you today.  The theme is always Anything Goes using any brand of die that Scrapy Land sells (hint: there are over 55 brands, so more than likely you have a few of these brand in your stash 😀).

The following dies were used to create my card:

Dee's Distinctively: Christmas Tree Silhouette (these would also work)

Dee's Distinctively: Christmas Tree #3 (this Frantic Stamper set would work really well)

Sizzix: Swirling Stars (this Sue Wilson die would work well)

Sizzix: Tim Holtz Holiday Words Script

Paper Smooches: Stitched (these would also work)

The tree silhouettes were die cut from mirrored cardstock and the overlays were die cut from matte mirrored cardstock.  The center tree has been pop dotted for added interest.

I die cut the snowy hill from embossed white specialty paper.  Since this Paper Smooches die only adds the stitching of a hill, I snipped off the top part with a pair of scissors.

Blue glittered cardstock was used for the sky and bright yellow glittered cardstock was added to the back to make the stars pop.

The sentiment was die cut from mirrored silver cardstock. 

I have to say, the photos really don't do this card justice.  It is pretty impressive in person and is one of my favorites that I have created this year.  If you omit the sentiment, it would also look nice for a wintery decoration.

Now it's your turn to join us for the Scrapy Land Challenge #128, which ends on Dec 29.  The winner of the challenge will receive a $15 gift certificate to Scrapy Land and is chosen by random.org.  The Designers choose the Top Three and Honorable Mention categories.


Until next time......

Three Kings and a Star {Lavinia World Challenges #4}

I'm so happy to be a part of this new bi-weekly challenge from Lavinia World Challenges!  Today I want to share a Christmas card I created using these stamps.

If you are new to these stamps, Lavinia World is a US online company that carries the complete collection of the Lavinia stamps and patterned papers (which are from the UK).

Today's card uses the following stamp sets:
Three Kings and a Star
Spirit of Christmas

I started out by adding Distress Oxides (Broken China, Dusty Concord) to dark blue cardstock.  Once I was happy with the way it looked, I die cut my hill (Paper Smooches-Stitched) from black cardstock and temporarily adhered it to the bottom of my panel.

Using a stamp positioner (I love the Tim Holtz platform), I positioned the three Wise Men along the hill.  After removing the hill, I then stamped with VersaFine Claire (Nocturne).  I stamped them a couple of times, making sure the Oxides didn't show through the black.  Then I heat embossed them with black embossing powder to get a glossy finish.

I wanted a lot of tiny stars in the background, so I randomly sprinkled white embossing everywhere, trying not to get any on the three Wise Men.  Although the stars look like they are in small clusters instead of totally random.  (Hint: you want to do this step after you stamp the Wise Men, otherwise the white embossing powder showed through - no matter how many times I stamped and heat embossed! Believe me, I tried everything I could think of to make the original panel work!)

After the background was complete, it was time to stamp my star.  I stamped the star with VersaMark and a bright yellow embossing powder.  As you know from Coloring 101, blue and yellow make....GREEN.  Who ever heard of a green star?  Since the star was still on my stamp positioner, I stamped it again with VersaMark and heat set it with White embossing powder.  THEN, I stamped and heat embossed with the bright yellow.  Yay - success!

Next I adhered the hill to the bottom of the panel.  (Hint: if you adhere the hill before stamping, you will have a small gap in between the hill and the camel's hooves.  Ask me how I know!  This way, you can cover up the gap and the hillside fits snuggly under their feet.)

inside

As I mentioned, I tried everything I could think of to save the original background I created.  So, instead of throwing the entire thing out, I cut off the stamped images and the hill and used a Spellbinders die to cut a label out of the remaining piece.  (as you can see, the original "tiny stars" were much more random!)  I then stamped my sentiment with VersaMark and white embossing powder.  I was going to stamp on top of the white with more yellow embossing powder (like I did on the star), but decided I liked it just the way it was.

Now it's your turn to play along with us for the Lavinia World Challenges #4.  You have until July 15 to enter.  The theme is Anything Goes using a stamp - Rubber or Clear (no digis allowed).  If you use a Lavinia stamp, your chances of winning are doubled!  The Designer's Choice Winner will receive a $15 gift certificate to do some shopping at Lavinia World.

Be sure to share our new bi-weekly blog with all your friends and on social media.  You can see all the links on the Lavinia World Challenges blog.  While there, don't forget to check out the AMAZING projects by the rest of the designers!  You will definitely be inspired!

Until next time.....

Elf Sitter

I have another fun Christmas card to share with you today.  It's an acetate card (which are so hard to photograph, but are so fun to make!).  I used the Elf Sitter stamp set from Sparkle N Sprinkle.  After coloring him with Copic markers, I fussy cut him out and added Imagination glitter to his belt, hat, and boots.  Nuvo Crystal Drops (Bright Gold) was added to the bells on his hat and boots.  His eyes were given dimension by applying Gloss White Nuvo Crystal Drops and immediately adding a small drop of Ebony Black to the still wet white drop.

I decided that since elves live in the North Pole, he should be sitting on top of an igloo.  I didn't have an igloo die that would work, so I made my own igloo by using an oval die (from Spellbinders).  My blocks of ice are outlined with Olaf White glitter (part of the Frozen glitter set).  The snow banks, die cut using a Paper Smooches die (Stitches) were also outlined with Olaf White.

The sentiment base was die cut from vellum using a Sue Wilson die (Spanish Collection - Cordoba).  After stamping the sentiment with VersaMark, it was heat set using Red Apple embossing powder.  A couple drops of Bright Gold Nuvo Crystal Drops were added as well.

The focal panel was then adhered to the center of a piece of Embossable Acetate.  I created the frame using two of the Double Pierced Rectangles (Sue Wilson Designs) and used the Glueless Glitter technique to add Sparkling Snow glitter to the edges.

Here is one more photo with a different color background so you can see the acetate better.

Four Seasons {Scrapy Land Challenge #17}

Scrapy Land Challenge #17 begins today and the theme is Anything Goes using any brand of die that Scrapy land sells.  


Scrapy Land is also having a Guest DT call.  Visit the Scrapy Land Challenge Blog to find out how you can be a part of this team.  All the information needed to apply is included in the Challenge #17 post.

For this challenge, I've used two stamp sets to create a card for each of the four seasons:  Seasonal Trees by Sparkle N Sprinkle and Simple Sayings CMS155  by Stampers Anonymous.

Spring

As you can see from the photo on the right, each of the sentiment banners are curved for added interest.  Each of the sentiments were stamped onto vellum with Distress Inks and then heat set with Clear embossing powder.


The dies used for these cards are  Spellbinders (Labels Twenty-Eight, Grand Labels Large) and Paper Smooches (Dots and Dashes).

Summer

The edges around the die cut and the sentiment banner were heat embossed using Copper Peddler embossing powder and Distress Inks  (Faded Jeans, Picked Raspberry, Ripe Persimmon, Mowed Lawn) were used to stamp each of the images.

Fall

Winter

Liquid Applique was used to create snow on the branches of the winter scene.

Be sure to check out what the rest of the design team has created for your inspiration.  You have until May 17th to upload your project.  The winner, chosen by the Designers, will receive a gift certificate to go shopping at Scrapy Land.    And don't forget to check out how easy it is to become a Guest Designer.

Game On!

This card was made for my favorite gamer using the new Level Up clear stamps and coordinating Game Controller die sets from My Favorite Things (MFT).  As soon as I saw this set, I knew I had to have it and that it would get lots of use :-).

To start off, I die cut the large controller out of black fun foam and then black cardstock.  The fun foam serves a dual purpose of both adding dimension as well as supplying my shadow.  The individual controller buttons were die cut from various pieces of scraps and adhered onto the front.

The sentiment was heat set using Hero Arts White embossing powder and then die cut using the MFT Fishtail Flags Stax.  The dots on the fishtail were added using a Paper Smooches die (Dots and Dashes) and the circle was die cut using a Little B die (Nesting Circles) to mimic the dots on the fish tale.  A Spellbinders M-Bossabilities embossing folder (Garden Lattice) gave the black card base some visual interest.

inside

For the inside of the card, I used the smaller game controller and die cut it in white fun foam and white cardstock.  Scraps were also used to create the knobs and buttons on this controller as well.  Again, the fun foam adds dimension as well as a shadow for this smaller die cut.

The sentiment, which was stamped onto a Spellbinders Labels Twenty Five die cut, was heat set with Sparkle N Sprinkle Black Detail embossing power.

Coincidentally, my design replicates the MFT Sketch challenge this week, so I am entering it in the MFT Sketch Challenge.  I'm also entering the Cut It Up Challenge (embossing, die cut).