Coloring

We had a bonus day at Online Card Classes' Holiday Card Workshop 2014 last Saturday, and the topic was coloring.  I had a new stamp from WPlus9 which I thought was perfect for coloring, and just looking at the stamp makes me smile. The set is called Festive Greetings... As a child I would get so excited for the holidays as soon as my parents pulled out the decorations.  I loved those (now-a-days) fat light bulbs in blue, green, red and an orange-y yellow. 

I felt giddy as I stamped them out and colored them with colored pencils...just generic ones I bought at Michaels and a blending pen made for wax based pencils.  Some were additionally gilded with clear wink of stella and glossy accents.  Others only were embellished with glossy accents alone - depending on my perception of them being lit or unlit.

And I have to say I love the "sketchy" font in this set.  The first card I added a piece of paper from Lawn Fawn's Snow Day paper pad, but the rest are pretty much just this stamp set. I had fun with these cards...and leaving white space is so not my comfort zone.

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Be Joyful

Hi I don't seem to be able to keep up with homework...probably because I have that Simon Says Stamp Falling snow stencil in my head...not in my stash.  I was going to order it last year but didn't. Now I just seem to want falling snow on my cards.   I ordered it Monday in the wee hours and it arrived today!


First up is my Day 4 homework, a one layer card.  I followed Jennifer McGuire's example.

I used a circle die from My Favorite things, and a Tree die from Hero Arts that had a matching stamp.  After making my die cuts, I stamped the tree, and the sentiment.  Next opening the card, I created a blue sky with  Salty Ocean Distress Ink, and added some lovely falling snow with embossing paste and some Distress Glitter in Rock Candy.  I loved making this card, and I anticipate making 2 or three more from my holiday card stash.

Next up is day 5 homework, some tags.  I rarely make tags, so this was definitely an exercise.  My simple tag is simply a cut out with some patterned paper sandwiched between two tag die cuts.   My second tag is a shaker tag, on reflection, it probably would be better with a colored background for the shaker bits.  I filled it with glass glitter in clear, silver micro-beads, and a few small sequins. The stamps were from Stampin Up and Simon Says Stamps.  The die cut is from Hero Arts, and the twine is Lawn Fawn.

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Watercolors

Late tonight I sat down and tried some water coloring homework for the online card classes I am taking.  I recently purchased the Seasonally Scattered stamp set from Stampin Up. There is a "Merry" surrounded by scattered snowflake bits that I really wanted to used as the centerpiece for this watercolor project. 

The card in my head is SO much different from the cards I am showing you. I did not like the water color panels I made...several of them.  I couldn't bear to toss them out though. Finally I die cut with a Spellbinders Label die the portions of the watercolor that I did like.  I added Simon Says Stamp Merry Christmas die cut from foiled papers, and dry embossed my card front for some added texture.

Do you attempt to save pieces that might not be quite what you planned?

Trying a Shaker Card

I am a bit behind on my homework already...Today I worked on Day 2 - Interactive cards over at Online Card Classes,  I also watched the videos at A Very Trendy Holiday 2.0 for shaker type cards.  So, armed with the information I set about making a couple of cards. It definitely took some thinking to decide where to put each element.  I used Lawn Fawn's Joy to the Woods stamp set with the matching dies.  I also used a Spellbinders label die, and another Lawn Fawn die for the hills.  Most images were colored with Copic markers.  The ornaments on my middle card were colored with wink of stella pens and stickles. Sequins were from Lawn Fawn, A Muse, Darice, Pretty Pink Posh, and Simon Says Stamp.

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Another Seasons Greetings Trio

I was incredibly lucky to win a spot in the Online Card Classes Holiday Card Workshop 2014.  I also won a spot in Catherine Pooler's  A very Trendy Holiday 2.0.  I definitely hit the jackpot this month.

I started with OCC's day One- Easy to duplicate cards.  I thought the instructors had some great ideas. I have a trio of cards made assembly line style.

First I did the stenciling with embossing paste using Tim Holts' Festive stencil. I have a stack of Neenah Aspen white 120# cardstock cut and folded into card bases ready for use.   

While that dried I cut my die cuts, the photo frame by Lawn Fawn and the Season's Greetings by Avery Elle.  I layered the greeting twice in white, then ran my Brilliance Galaxy Gold ink pad over the stacked sentiment.  I then heat embossed it with clear powder. I also cut it out in red, for a shadow layer. It is very sturdy.  The photo frame needed a bit of color behind it, so a red framing panel was also cut.

For the background I used some patterned paper I had left from last year, American Crafts - Kringle and Co.  Once the embossing paste was dry, I relaid the stencil and inked the leaves, berries and pine cones with Distress Inks in Barn Door, Vintage Photo, and Pine Needles.

Everything was layered together and the card was assembled.  In all it took about an hour to make the three cards. 

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