Elegant Ornaments

Hi there

The 'Ornament Keepsakes' stamp set was one of my must-haves from the current Holiday Mini Catalogue.  Having said that, I have neglected to use them, so I am now remedying that with some simple to reproduce cards using this lovely set.

I have gone for an elegant monochromatic colour scheme using the jewel colours from the In Colour range.  The first examples I have here use Midnight Muse and Raspberry Ripple in combination with textured white and silver glimmer paper. I love the Bazzill textured white for the base card as it is sturdier as well as elegant.

Although it isn't apparent in the photo, I have also added sparkle to the embossed panels with some homemade  champagne shimmer mist.  They look really lovely at night. I love this ornament stamp for its detail and elegance.

The second version uses another of the larger ornaments, without the silver glimmer mat this time. I had added an extra embellishment in the centre and used rhinestones instead of pearls.  The lovely sentiment is from the 'More Merry Messages' stamp set and has been clear embossed.

I also wanted to use the red glimmer paper and I have teamed it with Baja Breeze for a slightly different look. I think these colours are great together for a more contemporary Christmas combination.  I have clear embossed the ornament as well on this one. The seam binding ribbon was a little too wide, so I have used a strip of striped DSP instead. This is a good option if you don't have a matching ribbon.

The details for all three options are combined below.

Project Details
Stamps	Ornament Keepsakes, More Merry Messages
Card stock & Papers	Bazzill White,Whisper White, Midnight Muse, Raspberry Ripple, Baja Breeze, Subtles Pattern Stack, Red & Silver Glimmer paper
Ink	Midnight Muse, Raspberry Ripple, Red Red
Accessories	Basic Pearls, Basic Rhinestones, Narrow silver cord (not SU), White Bakers Twine, Silver craft wire (not SU), Midnight Muse & Raspberry Ripple Stitched Satin ribbon, Vintage Faceted buttons
Tools	Holiday Ornament Framelits,Lacy Brocade Embossing folder, Large Scallop Edgelit, Big Shot, Dimensional, Modern Label punch, Owl Builder punch (heart), Small Crystal punch (not SU), Clear embossing powder, Heat gun

 Thanks for stopping by.

Merry Monday #37

Hi there

Today, I have another Christmas card for you, using this week's great Merry Monday #37 sketch below.

I have used one of my favourite colour combos of Real Red, Soft Suede and White, taken from the lovely retired 'Christmas Cocoa' DSP. This time I have coloured the Santa image to give a more olde world look.  I have kept the embellishment to a minimum to focus on Santa, although I was itching to put some ribbon on it.

Project Details
Stamps	Inspired by Christmas (not SU)
Card stock & Papers	Bazzill White Linen, Soft Suede, Whisper White, Xpress-IT Blending card, Christmas Cocoa DSP (Retired)
Ink	Memento Rich Cocoa, Real Red, Soft Suede
Accessories	Basic Rhinestones
Tools	Oval Nestabilities, Finishing Touches Edgelits, Big Shot, Dimensionals, Sponge dauber. Copics

Have a great week.

 

ETA:

Thank you Allisa, for choosing this card as your Top Pick this week.

JAI # 139 Theme Challenge

Hi there

This week at Just Add Ink they are having a challenge to JUST ADD SOMETHING NEW.  I've been a bit time constrained as Lars (Rotary Exchange student) has come to stay for 2 weeks and I seem to be on a cooking and washing treadmill.  I'm sure my friends with teenage children will be laughing as they read this (I hear 'I told you so'!).

The card I have for you today, is for my Mum's husband John who is having a birthday at the end of the week.  He loves ships, sailing and fishing, so I have inked up my new 'Open Sea' stamp set. I finally decided to purchase this when it came into the Annual Catalogue. I have stamped it with my new Early Espresso ink pad which I love, as it gives a much richer image.  Finally, the sentiment is from the new 'Itty Bitty Banners' stamp set and cut out with the matching Framelit dies.

I wanted to create a view looking out a port hole, with the ship in the distance.  To add to the look, I die cut acetate to create the 'glass' of the port hole and then popped it up over the image. Despite my best efforts, I couldn't get the 'glass' to show up in the photo, so you will have to take my word for it.

Project Details
Stamps	Open Sea, Itty Bitty Banners
Card stock & Papers	Sahara Sand, Early Espresso, Not Quite Navy, Whisper White, Nautical Expedition DSP (Retired), Acetate
Ink	Early Espresso, Not Quite Navy
Accessories	Cherry Cobbler Twine, Real Red brads,
Tools	Bitty Banner Framelits, Square Lattice Embossing folder, Circle Nestabilities, Big Shot, Dimensionals

 Thanks for stopping by.

Merry Monday #36

Hi there

There is another fabulous versatile sketch from Lesley this week at Merry Monday.  I'm enjoying seeing my completed Christmas card stash grow, so why don't you join the fun.

Here is the sketch:

I have flipped the sketch on its side (back?) for my card, which features stockings punched out with the now retired (sob!) stocking builder punch.  To give the stockings some body and make them easier to work with, I used my glue stick to adhere the 'Be of Good Cheer' DSP and then punched them out.

I'm really enjoying the new ink pads; the coverage on solid stamps is fabulous and I love the fact that you can now have embossing in every colour.  For this card, I have stamped the greeting in Early Espresso ink and then clear embossed it.  You get the perfect clarity of the stamped greeting and if you apply the clear embossing powder immediately, you get a lovely embossed finished as well.  I have used the same process on the little red  bow.  The result is not quite as raised, but I think the finished look is a lot cleaner on smaller, detailed stamps such as these and if there is the odd stray fleck of embossing powder, you can't see it.  Give it a go and see what you think.

 

Project Details
Stamps	Joyous Celebrations
Card stock & Papers	Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla, Gumball Green, Be of Good Cheer DSP, Christmas Candlelight DSP
Ink	Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso
Accessories	1/8" Early Espresso Taffeta ribbon, Basic Rhinestones, Jingle Bells (retired), Linen Thread
Tools	Square Lattice embossing folder, Big Shot, Stocking Builder punch (retired), 1 1/4" & 1 3/8" Circle punches, Dimensionals, Clear embossing powder EP, Heat Gun

Thanks for stopping by.

 

Christmas Bells

Hi there

I have another Christmas card for you today.  This one uses another of the images from the 'Bells & Boughs' stamp set that I coloured a couple of weeks ago.  I wanted to practice creating a silver and gold look with my Copics so the Christmas bells from this set were perfect. I will show you the gold version in the future.

I have kept the design really simple, adding the Island Indigo print to the more traditional Cherry Cobbler and Gumball Green combination for this card, but I think it works.  In the process, I have used a few more of the new products from the Annual Catalogue.  Love that new doily sizzlit die, as it a great size for cards.

 

Project Details
Stamps	Bells & Boughs, More Merry Messages
Card stock & Papers	Cherry Cobbler, Gumball Green, Very Vanilla, Festival of Prints DSP
Ink	Versamark, Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories	Gumball Green Stitched Satin Ribbon, Silver flat back pearls (not SU)
Tools	Delicate Doilies Sizzlit, Circle Nestabilities, Petals a Plenty Embossing folder, Big Shot, 2" Circle Punch (not SU),  Glue Dots, Dimensionals, Copics, White Gel Pen, Gumball Green embossing powder, Heat gun

Have a nice day.