Layers of Twinkle!

Hi All! Welcome to the Rose Blossom Blog Hop featuring Close To My Heart's October Stamp Of The Month: Twinkle. 

If you just hopped over from the super talented Shelly Nemitz's blog, Just One Pretty Piece, you're in the right place. If you started with me, or get lost along the way, there's a list of blog hop participants at the end of this post. Now on with the project....

So for this project, I decided to think outside the box a little. (I know, what box, right?!) Anyway, when I saw the ornament stamp, I knew I needed to make a poinsettia out of it, but when all was said and done, the flower was too big for a card. And so my little home decor frame was born. 

For the poinsettia, I stamped the leaves in first and second generations of Pomegranate ink using the back of the stamp. (That means I attached the stamp to the block on the striped side.) I then stamped stripes on the lighter (second generation) leaves with the same Pomegranate ink, and stamped the darker (first generation) leaves with Ruby ink. For the green leaves, I again used the back of the stamp and stamped two layers of Fern ink. I added stripes using New England Ivy. For a little extra zip, I edged all the leaves with gold embossing powder and heat set them. For the center of the flower, I used glittered hearts from the Gold Fundamentals Assortment pack, and topped it with a Gold Bling Gem.

I stamped the frame for the Believe sentiment in VersaMark ink and heat embossed it using gold embossing powder. I then inked around the edges with Cashmere ink to give it a little bit of an aged look. Finally, I stamped the sentiment in Ruby ink and added a little bling to the "i" for extra sparkle.

I wanted a simple background in the center area. So I painted it cream and added some random streaks of gold Rub 'n Buff. I then stamped the Noel, Peace, and Joy sentiments from the stamp set onto the background in Chocolate ink. The ink reacted with the Rub 'n Buff (which has an almost waxy finish) to give it a shadow look that I really liked. (You can se it in the picture above.) I also added some sparkle flourishes around the frame to tie everything together.

The frame is a simple 4x4 inch wooden frame that I picked up for a dollar at my local craft store. I used several coats of paint on it, along with Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint. After the crackling was dry, I added more cream and gold paints. (There are A LOT of layers on this frame.)

Here's one more look:

And that's it! I hope you enjoyed this merry little twinkle. Now, hop on over to the crazy-talented Morgan Vogt at TweetScraps and see what inspiring goodies she has for you today. And here's a list of blog hop participants if you get lost along the way.

Brenda

Lynn

Marg

Shelly

Kim {you are here!}

Morgan

Mary

Kristine

Kim S.

Have a wonderfully creative day!

Kraft-y Hearts Blog Share Day 2: Bright & Shiny Things

Hi All! Welcome to Day 2 of the Kraft-y Hearts Blog Share celebrating Christmas in October!

I'm continuing on with my Christmas card theme, but today's inspiration comes from the Pear & Partridge Card Workshop that Close To My Heart released last year. Folks, when you finish your Workshops on the Go, always keep your instructions. They are fantastic sources of inspiration later on!

So for this card, I chose one layout and used it for three different cards. That way I could cut 6 sets of each element rather than having to cut something different for each card. Let's take a look:

For these cards, I once again turned to my White Daisy cards and envelopes value pack and the Sparkle & Shine collection in the Holidays From the Heart Gift Guide. All of the images and sentiments except the tree branch are from the Trim the Tree stamp set, which, like Scandinavian Wishes, coordinates with the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge. The branch is from the retired Pear & Partridge Card Workshop. I stamped in Juniper, Ruby and Slate Exclusive inks, and used Juniper, Ruby and Slate cardstocks to match the colors in the Sparkle & Shine patterned paper. Did you notice the spiffy bit of bling around the images? I got that done in a snap using the new CTMH Sparkle Holiday Shapes. LOVE it! (Can you imagine how long it would take to do that one rhinestone at a time???) A little silver washi tape finishes the cards off nicely. Another six cards done in less than 30 minutes. I'm on a roll!

Tune in tomorrow to Day 3 of the Kraft-y Hearts Blog Share and celebrate a little more Christmas in October. But, in the meantime, make sure you hop over and see what crafty Christmas goodness Lynn has cooked up in the Bungalow today!

Kraft-y Hearts Blog Share Day 1: Sharing a Little Mojo

Hi All! Welcome the the Kraft-y Hearts' October blog share! It's so good to be back! This month's theme is Christmas in October--perfect for showcasing this month's stamp of the month: Scandinavian Wishes.

For today's project, I took a little inspiration from this week's Mojo Monday sketch challenge. Here's the sketch:

And here's my take:

I like to make my Christmas cards each year--it's fun and guarantees I keep our list on the "under a hundred" side. I did 6 of these cards in less than 30 minutes. LOVE that! The base cards are from the White Daisy value pack. (I like to keep these on hand in both White Daisy and Colonial White. It keeps me from having to do extra cutting and scoring!) I layered the base with Ruby cardstock cut at 4 x 5 1/4 inches. I used patterned paper from the Sparkle & Shine collection in the Holidays from the Heart Gift Guide, along with some of the matching washi tape. (The washi tape not only adds a little silver shine, it's much quicker to use and less bulky to mail than ribbon.) The house is cut at 2 1/4 inches from White Daisy cardstock using the Art Philosophy cricut cartridge. (Several images in this stamp set coordinate with die cut shapes on the Art Philosophy cartridge, making it super easy to create lovely embellishments.) I then stamped the image on the house using Slate Exclusive ink. The sentiment is also from Scandinavian Wishes and is stamped in White Daisy ink on Ruby cardstock. The sentiment, house and candy striped paper are all popped up with dimensional adhesive.

Here are some close-ups:

I hope you enjoyed this little bit of Christmas in October. Make sure to stop over at From My Bungalow and see what lovely and inspiring project the amazingly talented Lynn Darda has for you!

See you tomorrow for Day 2 of the blog share!

A Little Card Inspiration...

Okay, so I was planning to post weekly reviews of the cards I created for the Memory Works 30 Cards, 30 Days challenge, but then life intervened. What is it John Lenon is supposed to have said? "Life happens while you're making other plans." And so it goes.

I thought I'd share a couple of my favorites today, since it's the last day of the challenge. If you want to see all 30, feel free to visit me at The Feast.

So here's a little sampling:

The Colonial White tag was cut from the Artiste Cartridge and stamped in Cranberry Exclusive ink with the October Stamp Of The Month set. I added a little Cranberry and Colonial White grosgrain ribbon to each tag.

This card was made using the November Stamp Of The Month set. Using Cranberry Exclusive ink, I used a 2nd generation stamping (stamping on a separate piece of paper before stamping the project) for "december." I then stamped "25" at full strength. I added a bit of Cranberry grosgrain ribbon for fun.

This card utilizes the October Stamp Of The Month set again. I cut the mittens using the Artiste Cartridge. I cut four mittens and did a first generation stamp on two and a second generation on two using Cranberry Exclusive ink. I then cut the tops of the first generation and popped them up on the second. It's a nice little contrast using just one color. (Love that!)

For this card I cut the embellishments from Colonial White cardstock using the Artiste cartridge. The bottom layer is stamped in Cranberry Exclusive ink using a stamp from the October Stamp Of the Month set. The Olive layer was stamped with one of the Artiste collection sets, and "J," "O," and "Y" are stamped in Cranberry using the Vintage Type set. The first two layers are popped up with dimensional adhesive and the letter are then popped up on those.

For this card, I used stamps from the Pear & Partridge Card Kit. The ornaments are stamped in Cranberry, Bamboo, and Olive Exclusive inks. The sentiment is also stamped in Olive. I drew the strings and added a tiny gem. the little banner was made with Silver Shimmer Trim.

Hope you enjoyed the peek. Don't forget that tomorrow kicks off the first day of the Kraft-y Hearts' 12 Days of Christmas Blog Share. 

See you then!