fresh & fun

I am sorry I have been so quiet. I haven’t  stamped this week. The kids are home and it’s hard to work when they are there. Instead we hang out or I have my nose in a book (Sword of Truth series, Terry Goodkind).

In Germany we open present Christmas Eve. Since the kids stopped believing in Santa, our family follows that tradition. That way Rick and I get to sleep in Christmas morning. You got to love that. Anyway….since for me Christmas is today, I thought I wish you a Merry Christmas. I really appreciate all your kind words and support you give me! May your Christmas be merry and filled with family, friends and love!

I have a 3″ x 3″ notecard box to share with you that I created for a video tutorial last week.

The box base is created out of Real Red cardstock. The patterned paper is from the My Mind’s Eye Colorful Christmas Paper Kit.

The adorable bird and sentiment are from Taylored Expressions Set Wings of Joy. The bird was stamped in Tuxedo Black Memento Ink on White Neenah paper, colored with Copic Markers and cut out. The oval frames were cut with Oval Nestabilities out of White Neenah, Pumpkin Pie SU and Turquoise Core’dinations cardstock. The white oval was air brushed with a light YG Copic Marker. The swirl and snowflakes are also from the set Wings of Joy and were stamped in Shabby Shutter Distress ink. The sentiment was stamped in Tuxedo black ink. I attached the bird to the sentiment layer with dimensionals. The layers were attached to the box also with dimensionals. Stampin’ Up!’s red polka dotted ribbon finished off the box.

Here is a video for the visual learner:

Rose Ann sent me this beautiful Winter card. She is so talented and sweet! Just check out what she did with Martha Stewarts border punch! How cool is that?

Thanks, Rose Ann!

Angel Wilde sent me this adorable winter card. While I don’t look forward to snow (it’s in the forcast for this weekend), it does look cute on a card.

Thank you, Angel!

Check out the darling card I received from Jodi Collins! Isn’t it the cutest? I love her work. Thank you, Jodi!

I love the fairy images in the November Kit of the Month stamp set from Unity. She is so pretty. I knew I wanted her to be the centerpiece of a collage sample for the video tutorial of that technique.

I started with a 2 5/8″ x 3 1/2″ piece of Very Vanilla cardstock. The background Giving it all Meaning was stamped over the cardstock with Antique Linen Distress Ink. Next the lace border from the November Scrapbooking Kit of the month was stamped with Frayed Burlap Distress ink. On the bottom right a branch from Artist in you was stamped in the same color. On the top right the wand with fairy dust was stamped in Frayed Burlap as well.

The fairy was stamped in Black Soot Distress ink. Because Distress ink stays wet longer, I was able to emboss it with clear embossing powder. I added a bit of color (Shabby Shutter, Worn Lipstick) with a sponge dauber. The edges of the layer were distressed and sponged first with Antique Linen, then with a hint of Vintage Photo Distress ink.  It was stitched to a slightly bigger layer of Vanilla cardstock before it was adhered to a black scallop cardstock rectangle, cut with Rectangle Nestabilities. Stardust stickles in the center of the flowers and the wings of the fairy finished off the center image.

The card base is a 4 1/4″ x 11″ piece of Chocolate Chip cardstock folded in half. A distressed 3 15/16″ x 5 5/16″ piece of basic black cardstock was next. A 3 1/2″ x 4 3/4″ piece of My Mind’s Eye patterned paper was embossed with a Victoria Cuttlebug embossing folder, sanded and stitched to a 1/4″ bigger piece of Vanilla cardstock. Celery Silk Ribbon was tied around those layers before they were attached to the card base with dimensionals.

Here is a video for the visual learner:

A few month ago I thought it would be cool to make a mosaic stamp with left over rubber from Stampin’ Up! sets. I showed it to Lydia Fiedler, she helped me name the technique Stained Mosaic. It is today’s tutorial on SCS.

For my sample I chose the Holly and Dove set from Flourishes. As soon as it came out I knew I wanted to use it for this technique. The card base is a 4 1/4″ x 8 1/2″ piece of Ridinghood Red Cardstock folded in half and sponged with Aged Mahogany Distress ink. The bottom of the card was punched with the Deco Shell Border Punch from Martha Stewart.

A 3 5/8″ square was embossed with the Victoria Cuttlebug embossing folder and sponged the raised part with Antique Linen, then the edges with Vintage Photo Distress ink. A small strip of Fruitcake Basic Grey paper was taped to the lower part and it was stitched to a 3 7/8″ square.  Burgundy Silk May Arts ribbon was tied around the layers before they were taped to the card base with dimensionals.

The image was stamped with Tuxedo Black Memento Ink and colored with Copic Markers. I cut it out with Label 3 Nestabilities, stamped my Mosaic stamp over it with Versamark and embossed it with clear embossing powder.  After the embossing powder cooled, I rubbed my black ink pad over the image, then buffed it with a paper towel, leaving the ink only in the cracks that were left by the stamp.

The sentiment is from the same stamp set. It was stamped on Vanilla cardstock, cut with Petite Oval Nestabilities, sponged first with Antique Linen, then a bit with Vintage Photo distress inks. Tiny white pearls were added under the the sentiment and the oval was adhered to a black scallop oval.

Here is a video for the visual learner:

On a personal note, sorry I haven’t been posting. I had another cold and then got stuck on a new book series. Have a wonderful day! Hugs and smiles

I know I posted that last week was the last sketch for the year, but Lori created a new sketch for you. Please go to her blog to link to your image if you decide to play. I didn’t have the change to play, but I hope to play with it later on.

Have a great weekend! Hugs and smiles

Donna Meeks sent me this wonderful card. Thank you, Donna!

Valerie Stangle wrote today’s tutorial on Splitcoast. She is showing us how to make this tag box. Make sure to check it out and leave her a comment on her video. It’s her first one ever.

Have a wonderful day! Hugs and smiles

Jeannette Mitchell sent me this lovely Stampin’ Up! card.