A Merry Christmas

 Merry Christmas, Sweet Friends!

This past year has been a different (and difficult) year for all of us with the social distancing and staying home due to the pandemic.  While we may not be able to celebrate Christmas in person with our family, our thoughts and prayers are with them, and hopefully, we will be able to get together in person soon!

The card I am sharing today has two versions- one that is very shabby and vintage and the other style, while still vintage due to the image, is more of a clean and layered style. 

I started with the vintage version, but since it was so time consuming to distress all the paper, color the images, etc. I only created one vintage style, lol!  

Thus, the black and white version was designed, and I did create 25 of this simpler style:

 My shabby chic heart normally prefers the vintage style, but I think I may like the black and white one better.  So, which one do you prefer? 

I am linking a version of this card to the Make My Monday #138 "Create Your Own Inky Background" Challenge along with the Word Art Wednesday Christmas Blog Hop #470-#472 and the Watercolor Wednesday #302 "Marsha's Special 3 Week Anything Goes" Challenge.

Stamp Sets: Christmas Collage, Bells and Boughs

Ink/Medium: Versafine Onyx Black, Stampin’ Write Markers- Black and White version- Bermuda Bay, Crushed Curry, Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler; Vintage version- same as B/W plus Tim Holtz Distress Ink- Vintage Tea, Walnut Stain; Extra Fine White Paint Pen, Clear Glitter Pen, Silver Paint Marker

Paper/Cardstock: Whisper White, Basic Black

Tools/Acessories: Gemini, Jr., Stitched Circle STAX Dies (My Favorite Things), Circle Dies (Sizzix), Distressing Tool, ½” Black Seam Binding

I hope all of you have a wonderful Christmas day reflecting on the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!   We are so amazed at His love for us and the free gift of salvation!  He willingly came to earth to be born of a virgin, died on the cross for your sins and mine and rose again on the third day (the reason for Easter) and is seated at the right hand of God in Heaven.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”  John 3:16 NKJV

Jesus wants all of us to to believe in Him and receive forgiveness for our sins.  This is the reason He came to earth- without His sacrifice on the cross, sins could not be forgiven.  Have you trusted in Him as your Savior?  We are not guaranteed tomorrow, today is the day of salvation!   

I pray that if you have never accepted Christ as your Savior, today will be the day of your salvation!  It is as easy as A, B, C- Admit that you are a sinner  (Romans 3:23 "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God), Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and Confess (Romans 10:9  "that if you confess with your mouth the Lord  Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved")- it is that easy and you just have to accept the gift!  

If you have not accepted the free gift of salvation, I pray that this will be your prayer today.

Another Christmas in April- A Vintage Mixed Media Card

Hi Stampers!!

I wanted to create a Mixed Media card using the Splitcoaststampers’ Mix-Ability MIX116 “Fill It In” Challenge- this is a challenge to partially stamp an image and fill in the unstamped area with your own design such as doodling, etc. (see details here and gallery here).  

I did not have too many images that I thought would work with this technique, but finally chose this retired Christmas stamp and hand drew additional holly leaves and berries on the right hand side of the ornament :-)

I also incorporated a watercolor background for the Splitcoaststampers' WT527 Challenge (see details here and gallery here) as well the CC512 Challenge colors again (since they were still on my desk)- see details here and gallery here.

Again, I hope you will take the time to visit the above sites- the Splitcoaststampers Design Team creations are always fabulous as well as the galleries!

To create this card:

Use a foam brush to apply Gesso® to a piece of Natural White cardstock and allow the panel to dry (or you can use a Heat Tool to speed up the drying process).

Once dried, apply Champagne and Silver Metallic Faber-Castell Gelatos® spritz with water and spread to cover the panel. Continue to layer a few more colors- Iced Chai and Metallic Melon, again spritzing with water and drying with the Heat Tool.

Ink the retired Christmas Collage background stamp with Stāz-On® Jet Black Ink and stamp over the panel  (lightly pressing in certain areas to give the impression of an aged image). 

Apply Ranger® Tim Holtz® Distress Stains- Bundled Sage, Festive Berry, Picked Raspberry and Chipped Sapphire, spritz with water, turn to allow the stain to spread onto the prepared panel and dry with the Heat Tool. 

Carefully dab off the color using a cloth in areas where the stain is too dark (until you are satisfied with the results). 

Use a foam brush to apply Mod Podge® over the panel and allow to thoroughly dry.

Trim and mount onto a piece of Blushing Bride cardstock, trim and mount onto a piece of Rich Razzleberry cardstock.

Ink the Christmas Bauble stamp using Stāz-On® Jet Black Ink and use a baby wipe to remove part of the image on the right (opposite the holly at the top of the ornament).

Use a Faber-Castell® Black XS Pitt Pen marker to draw the holly and berries into the ornament side on the right and add a few holly leaves at the bottom of the ornament to balance the design.  Also draw the lines on the ornament to create the “ribbon” stripes.

Use an AquaPainter™ with Classic Ink to color the ornament- Blushing Bride as a wash over the ornament, Mossy Meadow for the leaves and Rich Razzleberry for the stripes, berries and loops areas in the center.

Once dried, use Stampin’ Write Markers to add more definition and shadows- Blushing Bride for the lighter areas of the ornament, Rich Razzleberry for the stripes and berries, Mossy Meadow for the leaves and shadows with Sahara Sand.

Use a White Faber-Castell® Pitt Pen marker to add highlights to the berries and scallops on the ornament.

Fussy-cut the modified ornament image, add a layer of Mod Podge® over the entire image and once dried, add the gold cord around the top of the ornament and mount to the background panel with Stampin’ Dimensionals®.

Mount the entire panel onto the Blushing Bride card base.

Stamp the sentiment using Stāz-On® Jet Black Ink (or use a My Digital Studio image printed onto Whisper White cardstock- which is what I used for this card).

Punch the image with the XL Oval Punch, use an AquaPainter™ to apply a wash of Blushing Bride Classic Ink and stamp the large splatter stamp from Gorgeous Grunge using Sahara Sand Classic Ink.

Once the sentiment is dry, use a Sponge Dauber to apply Sahara Sand Classic Ink to the edges, adhere to two Rich Razzleberry ovals punched from the XL Oval Punch (overlapped and mounted behind the sentiment so you can only see a bit of the Rich Razzleberry layer) and add a layer of Mod Podge®.

Add the sentiment using Stampin’ Dimensionals® and finish off the card using Pearls in the center of the ornament.

Stamp Sets: Christmas Bauble, Christmas Collage, Bells & Boughs (MDS verison)

Ink: Blushing Bride, Mossy Meadow, Rich Razzleberry, Sahara Sand; Stampin’ Write markers- Blushing Bride, Mossy Meadow, Rich Razzleberry, Sahara Sand;  Ranger® Tim Holtz® Distress Stains- Bundled Sage, Festive Berries, Picked Raspbe, Chipped Sapphire; Faber-Castell® Metallic Gelatos®- Champagne, Silver, Iced Chai, Melon, White and Black Pitt Pen Markers

Paper: Naturals and Whisper White, Blushing Bride, Rich Razzleberry

Accessories: Gesso®, Foam Brush, Gold Cord, Mod Podge®, XL Oval Punch, Pearls

Thanks again for taking the time to stop by- it is such an encouragement to me!  Have a wonderful week, my friends!

Joy to the World- A Vintage Easel Christmas Card :-)

Hi Stampers! 

Here is another card that I created this week for the Our Daily Bread DesignsODBDSLC215 Anything Goes Challenge (have to use at least one ODBD stamp set) along with another CCC14 Christmas Challenge card for October.

I hope you will have the time to check out both sites linked above- gorgeous cards from all!

To create this card:

Using Midnight Muse Classic Ink , stamp the Wisemen Ornament onto Very Vanilla cardstock.  Mask the wisemen area and sponge Baked Brown Sugar over the edges, remove the mask and add a bit to the wisemen. 

Cut the circle out using the Big Shot™ with the Circle Collection Framelits™ and cut another circle from Midnight Muse cardstock with a large framelit™ from the Sizzix Circle Collection.  

Mount the wisemen image onto the Midnight Muse circle and add the Spellbinders Flourish die cut (split into two) at the top and bottom to create the ornament.

Wrap the Gold Cord around the top of the die cut and set aside.

Stamp the Joy to the World

Side View of easel 

background stamp onto a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock using Midnight Muse Classic Ink.

Stamp the retired Christmas Collage background (onto another piece of Very Vanilla cardstock) also using Midnight Muse Classic Ink.

Distress the background panels using a Sponge Dauber with Baked Brown Sugar Classic Ink.  Trim the Joy to the World panel and mount onto Midnight Muse cardstock.

Cut the Christmas College panel in half and mount onto Midnight Muse cardstock. 

Create the 5.5” x 5.5” easel card using this tutorial from Very Vanilla cardstock. 

Emboss a 5” square piece of Baked Brown Sugar cardstock using the Big Shot™ with the Lacy Brocade Textured Impressions™ Embossing Folder and mount onto a piece of Midnight Muse cardstock.

Add the background panels, the crocheted lace trim, scrap piece of Midnight Muse cardstock, 3/8” Midnight Muse Stitched Satin Ribbon (“antique” with Baked Brown Sugar Classic Ink), sentiment banner panel and ornament to the card front. 

Mount the entire panel onto a 5.5” x 5.5” Very Vanilla card front.

Stamp the Joy and sentiment image onto Very Vanilla cardstock, distress with Baked Brown Sugar Classic Ink and mount onto Midnight Muse cardstock.

Add the panel onto a piece of Midnight Muse cardstock (embossed with the Lacy Brocade EF) and add a few highlights with the White Gel Pen.

Add the Joy panel to the lower part of the easel card and finish off the card with Pearls and a Rhinestone for the star :-)

Stamp Sets: Joy, Bells and Boughs, Christmas College (retired), ODBD Joy to the World and Wisemen Ornament

Ink: Baked Brown Sugar, Midnight Muse

Paper:  Very Vanilla, Midnight Muse, Baked Brown Sugar

Accessories: Big Shot™, Circle Collection Framelits™, Sizzix Circle Framelits™, Spellbinders Flourish Die, Sponge Daubers, Pearls, Rhinestone, retired 3/8” Midnight Muse Stitched Satin Ribbon, Hexagon Punch, lace from my stash

Thanks again for visiting- have a wonderful weekend, my friends!!

JUN14VSNL Joyful Christmas Collage

Hi Stampers! 

Here is my final card for the Splitcoaststampers’ VirtualStamping Night- Summer Vacation (VSN)..this card is for the JUN14VSNL Christmasin July Challenge along with the Jingle Belles Challenge: Red and Green andChristmas All Over. 

This card was created using My Digital Studio (MDS) images along with traditional card making techniques and our new Stampin’ Blendabilities

I hope you will have time to check out the both challenge sites for so much inspiration!!

To create this card:

Open a blank document in My Digital Studio (MDS), position the Christmas Collage

background stamp brush set onto the page and re-size to be approx. 3 ¾” wide x 4 ¾” long.  

Insert the sentiment from Bells and Boughs , re-size to fit the opening at the top of the collage.

Insert the bells from Bells and Boughs on a different part of the page and print out the page onto a piece of Whisper White cardstock.

Color the elements using the Stampin’ Blendabilities- Daffodil Delight, Cherry Cobbler and Old Olive Collections.

Create shadows using the Sahara Sand Stampin’ Write marker and use a brayer with Crumb Cake Classic Ink to “age” the Whisper White paper.

“Fussy-cut” the bells and holly and attach to the card front covering the “25” in the circle using Stampin' Dimensionals:-)

Trim the panel and mount onto a piece of Basic Black cardstock, trim and add to a piece of Brushed Gold cardstock, trim and mount onto the Basic Black card base to finish off the card.

Stamp Sets:  Christmas Collage, Bells and Boughs  (MDS versions)

Ink: Printer Ink- Black, Blendabilities™- Daffodil Delight, Cherry Cobbler and Old Olive Collections,  Crumb Cake Classic Ink, Stampin’ Write Marker- Sahara Sand

Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black, Brushed Gold

Accessories: Brayer

Thanks again for visiting- this concludes my VSN cards!  It was a lot of fun making the cards for all of the challenges- now off to complete some housework!!

Merry Christmas 2013 !!

Merry Christmas!!!

I hope all of you have a wonderful Christmas with your family and friends celebrating the true reason for the season, the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  

We have had such a blessed year and look forward to 2014!

I am working on finishing up a few last minute gift card holders and the house smells wonderful from the baking earlier (Magic Cookie Bars are my family’s favorite- could not arrive without them :-)).

I thought I would share a few of my favorite Christmas cards from this past year and will be posting new cards later this week- again, I hope you have a very Merry Christmas! 

The retired set, Come to Bethlehem with the new stamp O Holy Night - see the original post here 

Another version using O, Holy Night and the new Silver Foil Paper - details are here

A more vintage style with the new set, Joyful Christmas (here are the details)

Another Vintage Style (this one uses Masking Techniques- again here are more details)

This past year I have focused on creating Christmas cards each month and it has worked well for me- I will be doing this again in 2014 and hopefully will mail them on time next year!!  Still a big issue for me- I tend to hand deliver but still have several to mail :-)

This one was created with My Digital Studio, printed and distressed/colored- see details 

If interested, I have many more Christmas cards on my blog (68 different designs to be exact :-))  Here is the link to all of them and again, please feel free to CASE (Copy and Share Everything) but for personal use only :-)   

Thanks again for stopping by- Merry Christmas to all!! May the Lord richly bless you today and in the days ahead :-)

DD84 A Sparkling Merry Christmas

Hi Stampers! 

This week’s DD84 “Black Tie” Dynamic Duo Challenge combines Basic Black with Cherry Cobbler and the dessert option is “Sparkle”.    Of course, this time of year, who can resist dessert :-)   

I hope that you will stop by and check out the rest of the Design Team projects and create a project of your own using the two colors - we would love to have you join us!!

The Dynamic Duos Challenge Blog

Anne Marie Hile

Annette Elliott

Angel Johns

Caroline Bredeson

Cindy Brumbaugh

Holly Endress

JoAnn Burnham

Julie Gearinger

Michelle Bala

Sarah Fleming 

Tenia Nelson

I decided to try the Chalkboard Technique and the photo was difficult to take since this card is quite "Sparkly" IRL - Trust me, I did use Cherry Cobbler but the photo looks like Real Red- I always have trouble with reds in my photos :-)

To create this card:

De-static a piece of Basic Black cardstock with the Embossing Buddy™ and stamp the retired background stamp, Christmas Collage using Versamark™ ink.   Apply Stampin’ Emboss® White Embossing Powder and heat set with the Heat Tool.

Mount this panel onto a piece of Silver Foil paper- first use the non-SU! Branch Punch to cut out the branches from the Silver Foil paper (being careful to not punch too close to the edges), then mount onto a piece of Basic Black Cardstock and finally onto the Cherry Cobbler card base.

Use the Big Shot™ with the retired, Lacy Brocade Textured Impressions™ Embossing Folder to emboss a piece of Silver Foil paper and add this to the top of the background. 

Add the 5/8” Basic Black Satin Ribbon bow and sentiment (stamped from the retired Bells & Boughs set using Basic Black Classic Ink onto Whisper White cardstock). 

Using Basic Black Classic Ink, stamp three images of the outline poinsettias from the retired set, Watercolor Winter, onto Cherry Cobbler cardstock.  Carefully cut out by hand. 

Adhere the silver foil branches and stamped poinsettias over the circle area to hide the large '25' on the background stamped image. 

Add Pearls to the center of the poinsettias and the Frosted Finish Embellishment to the center of the bow to finish off the card.

Stamp Sets:  Christmas Collage, Watercolor Winter, Bells & Boughs

Ink: Basic Black Classic Ink, Versamark™

Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black, Cherry Cobbler, Silver Foil

Accessories:  Big Shot™, retired Lacy Brocade Textured Impressions™ Embossing Folder, Embossing Buddy®, Heat Tool, Stampin’ Emboss® White Embossing Powder, Frosted Finishes Embellishment, Pearls, non SU! Branch Punch

Thanks again for stopping by- hope all of you have a wonderful week and Merry Christmas!! 

DD78 Vintage Christmas Poinsettia

Hi Stampers! 

This week’s Dynamic Duo DD78 color combination “Subtly Yours” are soft neutral colors- Always Artichoke and Crumb Cake.    If you have not had a chance to do so yet, I hope you will find the time to visit the Dynamic Duos site and check out the rest of my fellow Design Team projects and come join us this week!!  

I decided to combine a few retired sets to create my own  Christmas Designer Series Paper.  The background was created using a masking technique- with this technique you can create a one layer card or multiple layers, the choice is yours!   I love distressing edges of cardstock (helps to "de-stress" my life- lol!) and I enjoy creating vintage style cards so these colors were perfect for me :-)

To create this card:

On a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock, stamp the poinsettia from Bells & Boughs using Early Espresso Classic Ink and stamp another image onto a sticky note.

Hand-cut the poinsettia out from the sticky note, place over the stamped poinsettia created in the above step, re-ink the stamp and stamp onto the Very Vanilla cardstock.  Repeat these steps to stamp one more poinsettia spray image.

Color the poinsettia images using Stampin’ Write markers- Always Artichoke on the pine needles and leaves, Crumb Cake for the poinsettia petals and Sahara Sand as an overall shadow. Apply Moonlight Smooch™ Pearlized Accent Ink to the petals.

Use the sticky note as a mask again and cover the poinsettia, ink portions of the retired Christmas Collage background stamp, lay the background paper face down over the inked areas, remove the mask and continue to repeat until the background is finished.

Use the Distressing Tool to distress the edges, layer onto a piece of Crumb Cake cardstock, distress the edges of the Crumb Cake and use a Sponge Dauber on all of the distressed areas as well as aging the paper in the center a bit.

Stamp the sentiment using Early Espresso Classic Ink onto Very Vanilla cardstock, “huff” onto the Christmas Collage to re-moisten the ink and lay the sentiment over the background stamp.  Distress the edges with the Distressing Tool, punch out with the XL Oval Punch and layer onto two additional XL Oval layers from Always Artichoke cardstock.

Add the triple Satin Ribbon bow and mount onto the Always Artichoke card base. 

Adhere the sentiment using Stampin’ Dimensionals® and Pearls to finish off the card.

Stamp Sets:  Bells & Boughs, Christmas Collage

Ink: Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Stampin’ Write Markers- Always Artichoke, Crumb Cake, Sahara Sand, Moonlight Smooch™ Pearlized Accent Ink

Paper: Very Vanilla, Always Artichoke, Crumb Cake

Accessories:  Distressing Tool, Sponge Dauber, XL Oval Punch, Distressing Tool, Pearls, Satin Ribbon (from my stash)

I hope you can take the time to join in on the fun and check out the rest of our Design Team's projects :

The Dynamic Duos Challenge Blog

Anne Marie Hile

Annette Elliott

Angel Johns

Caroline Bredeson

Cindy Brumbaugh

Holly Endress

JoAnn Burnham

                          Julie Gearinger   (you are here :-) 

Michelle Bala

Sarah Fleming 

Tenia Nelson

Thanks again for visiting!  Again, hoping all of you will have a chance to visit us at The Dynamic Duos and play along this week!!  

Christmas Collage- Slider Card for Three Challenges :-)

Hi Stampers! 

I know that we just finished Easter and spring is technically already here but I need to start my March CCC13 Christmas Cards  (yes, I said start March- I am behind again :-)   Luckily, this challenge is mainly to encourage you to finish your own Christmas cards throughout the year (so there is no penalty for being late) but I was hoping to stay on track this year….

I decided to create a special slider card for the Splitcoaststamper’s New You Can Do It YCDI12 PulleyCard Challenge from last week (this one is late as well- March has been a busy month!) and used the colors from this week’s Dynamic Duos DD46 Challenge as well as the PP139 "Tic TacToe" Challenge at The Paper Players :-)

Again, if you have not had the time, check out all of these sites for wonderful Design Team examples and inspiration!! 

Ok, let me just say that this card is not as difficult as you would think :-).   There is a great written and video tutorial on Splitcoaststampers (located here), plus the New YouCan Do It Challenge linked to a video created by Michelle from Michelle’sRubber Room.  I watched the video from Michelle's Rubber Room a few times and followed the her suggestion to use satin ribbon versus the plastic garbage bag method noted on Splitcoaststampers.

Closed card (pull ribbon on right to open :-))

To create this card:

After cutting and scoring your card per the tutorial and rounding the corners on the tags, stamp the images onto the side “tags” using Early Espresso ink and watercolor with the Aqua Painter and Lucky Limeade Classic Ink (for the leaves) and Primrose Petals for the berries. 

Use a Sponge Dauber to apply Crumb Cake Classic ink over the Whisper White to age the paper and use the Color Spritzer Tool with the Early Espresso Stampin’ Write marker to add additional distressing. 

Use the Crop-A-Dile to add the brass eyelet and add the Early Espresso Quilted Satin Ribbon with the Hemp Twine.

Stamp and color the main panel and the background focal panel in the same manner as the tags.  

Distress the edge of the background focal panel with the Distressing Tool and sponge Early Espresso Classic Ink to age and give the “faux burnt” effect.   Highlight the berries with the White Gel Pen and mount onto a piece of Early Espresso cardstock (distress this as well to mirror the edges created on the focal image layer.

Opened card :-)

Create the rolled flowers using the 23/8” Scallop Circle Punch and the 1 ¼’ Scallop Circle Punch (just punch the scallops out of the Primrose Petals cardstock, cut wavy spirals using Paper Snips along the edges and spiraling towards the center, roll from the outside towards the center and adhere with the small piece of cardstock in the middle).  Insert the smaller scallop rose into the large one to give more depth and volume- see the Splitcoaststampers’ tutorial here.

Add the circle of Lucky Limeade Designer Series Paper (DSP)- punched with the 1 ¼” Circle Punch to cover the 25 on the background image.  Add the paper roses and leaves (from the Bird Builder Punch and Lucky Limeade DSP and the Early Espresso Quilted Ribbon with the Pearls to finish off the card.

Close-Up of Rolled Flowers with the Scalloped Edges -)

Tic, Tac, Toe- Ribbon, Pearls and Tags!!  This was a fun card to make although I tore it apart a few times to create the tags the way I wanted them to be (I had originally stamped the tags before deciding on the center focal image and had to re—create the tags to match).      

Stamp Sets: Christmas Collage, Bells and Boughs

Ink: Early Espresso, Lucky Limeade, Primrose Petals, Crumb Cake

Paper/Cardstock:  Whisper White, Early Espresso,

Accessories:  Punches- 1 ¼” Circle (to use as a rounder), 2 3/8” Large Scallop Circle, 1 ¼” Scallop Circle, Bird Builder; Distressing Tool, Crop-A-Dile, Brass Eyelet, 3/8” Early Espresso Quilted Satin Ribbon (retired), White Gel Pen, Pearls, Spinge Daubers, Color Spritzer Tool, Scrap Satin Ribbon 1” wide for pulley/slider – you cannot see this ribbon and definitely need to use satin :-)

Thanks again for visiting- I hope you like this card and You Can Do It!!  Have a great Monday!!