Shimmery Pines

My first Christmas card of the year. . . and certainly not my last! So, if you still haven't tried the shimmer paints--you must! :-) I saw THIS challenge over on Stampin' Addicts (fabulous site by the way) and thought I would try the Spritzing Shimmer technique. It is very simple, and the results are absolutely gorgeous!

Fill a little spray bottle (1-2oz) with rubbing alcohol and then add a little (4-8 drops) shimmer paint. Mix, and then start spritzing. Warning, possibly addicting. :-) All of the Old Olive card stock, including the base, was spritzed with shimmer paint. I love the way it looks because it is a very pretty glitter look without being over the top. (Hard to see in the pictures.) In other words you don't feel that by touching the card, you will soon be covered head to toe in glitter. :-)

The tress are from the Holiday Mini Catalog hostess set Patterned Pines and they also have shimmer paint. For the tress and the sentiment (from the set Teeny Tiny Wishes) I inked my stamp and then sponged on the shimmer paint. See THIS post if you'd like more info about that technique.

The layout for this card came from Sketch Challenge 118 over at Stamping 411. Another great website! I loved the sketch so I thought I would play along. There are dimensionals under the small tree, the Old Olive circle, and the white layer. Finished card size is 3 3/4" by 5 1/2". Thanks for stopping by!

Stamps: Patterned Pines, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Ink: Old Olive

Paper: Old Olive, Whisper White

Accessories: Frost White Shimmer Paint, Spray bottle, rubbing alcohol, Circle Scissors Plus, 1/4" Old Olive grosgrain ribbon, corner rounder, sponge dauber, dimensionals

Cupcake Birthday

Happy Monday! Here is a card I made for the CAS34 challenge over at Splitcoaststampers.

All of the white you see is Glossy card stock--one of my favorite products. :-) I used Basic Black craft ink to stamp the cupcake, embossed with Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder, and then colored. I used Soft Suede, Regal Rose, Apricot Appeal, Bermuda Bay, and Green Galore markers. To color the frosting, I used a Blender Pen and ink from the top of my Regal Rose stamp pad.

After I let that dry a minute, I used Frost White shimmer paint to give the flame and the sprinkles a little sparkle. To apply the shimmer paint, I used a toothpick and carefully applied the paint to those small areas.

I used my Circle Scissors Plus to cut the circles. The white circle is approx 1 7/8" in diameter, and the Soft Suede circle is approx 2 1/8" in diameter. The finishing touch is the Soft Suede 1/2" Polka-dot Grosgrain Ribbon. Finished card size is 4 1/4" by 4 1/4".

Stamps: Crazy for Cupcakes

Ink: Basic Black Craft pad; Soft Suede, Regal Rose, Apricot Appeal, Bermuda Bay, and Green Galore markers; Regal Rose Classic pad

Paper: Glossy White, Soft Suede

Accessories: Blender Pen, Soft Suede 1/2" Polka-dot Grosgrain Ribbon, shimmer paint, Circle Scissors Plus, heat tool, Clear EP, dimensionals

Monkey Birthday

Just popping in today with a Birthday card! This cute monkey is from the set Sock Monkey, and the sentiment is from the set On Your Birthday.

The black lines for the monkey and his hat are embossed to give the card an extra little 'bling'. I think I've mentioned this before, but a little trick I learned a while ago, is to use Black Craft ink and then emboss with clear embossing powder (EP)--MUCH easier to use than black EP! Stray specks of clear EP just don't show as much as stray specks of black EP.

Next I used my Real Red marker, Chocolate Chip marker, and a blender pen and Close to Cocoa ink pad to color the monkey. I sponged around the Very Vanilla card stock and embossed the "Happy Birthday" with Real Red Craft ink and Clear EP. The monkey is up on dimensionals.

Note: I used the same basic layout for this card that I used HERE for this wedding card. Shows how just changing the colors and the focal element can make you feel like you have a completely different card!

Finished card size is 5" by 5".

Stamps: Sock Monkey, On Your Birthday
Ink: Basic Black Craft Ink, Close to Cocoa, Real Red Craft Ink, Real Red marker, Chocolate Chip marker
Paper: Kraft, Real Red, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla
Accessories: Real Red brads, Blender Pen, Clear EP, embossing buddy, heat tool, sponge, dimensionals

Two Challenges, Two Cards

Yesterday over on Splitcoaststampers there was a Clean and Simple (CAS) sketch challenge and a Technique Lovers (TLC) challenge. Both caught my eye so I went to work! I had so much fun that I ended up making two cards--both fill the requirements for both challenges.

The TLC challenge was to make a five layer button. Basically you use paper layered on top of each other with Crystal Effects on top to make a button. How simple! You can make the 'button' in any color or shape. See the post HERE for more detailed instructions.

To make the 'buttons' on the card above, I punched out 12 flowers with my Boho Blossoms punch. (I did 4 layer buttons instead of 5.) I adhered the flowers together and then used my paper-piercing tool to poke the holes. I topped it all with a coat of Crystal Effects--being careful to not fill the holes. While I let that dry, I worked on the rest of the card. The sentiment comes from the set All Holidays. The stamp actually says "My dear kind & wonderful friend" so I used my Rich Razzleberry marker on the "wonderful friend" part since that was all I wanted. Finished card size is 3 3/4" by 5 1/2".

Stamps: All Holidays

Ink: Rich Razzleberry marker

Paper: Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White

Accessories: 1/2'" Rich Razzleberry Polka-Dot ribbon, Boho Blossoms punch, paper-piercing tool, Crystal Effects, Linen Thread, glue dots, dimensionals

The second card I made uses the set Pumpkin Patch from the Mini Catalog. Instead of using linen thread to tie through the button (like I usually do!) I used my Tabletop Cutter to cut a very thin strip of Old Olive card stock. I carefully pulled it through the button, tied it once and then curled it a bit. I wanted it to look like those curly things on the top of the pumpkin. Anyone know if there is a name for those things?? Anyway, once I had the card together, I added Crystal Effects to the pumpkins too--with the button so nice and shiny, the pumpkins looked a little bare. :-) Finished card size is 3 3/4" by 5 1/2".

Stamps: Pumpkin Patch

Ink: Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip

Paper: Old Olive, Whisper White, Pumpkin Pie

Accessories: paper-piercing tool, 1/2" circle punch, Crystal Effects, 5/8" chocolate chip grosgrain ribbon, glue dots, dimensionals

Always & Forever

Wedding cards are always hard for me to make, but when it is a fellow stamping friend who gets married, that makes it even harder. No pressure, right? :-) I chose the color So Saffron since it was one of her wedding colors. I'll definitely be trying this card again with different colors; I think pretty much any shade of pink or red would also make a gorgeous anniversary, valentines, or wedding card.

Anyway, here are some of the creative details: I stamped the heart from the set Always twice on Glossy White card stock using Versamark ink. I embossed both hearts with clear embossing powder. Next I sponged on So Saffron ink and then cut out both hearts--one outside of the dots, one along the line of the heart. The picture below shows how I used dimenionals between the two hearts.

I ran the white layer through the Big Shot using the Perfect Details texturz plate (my favorite texture plate!) and then tore along the edges. There are also dimensionals behind this layer. The ribbon is the 5/8" Whisper White satin ribbon. Finished card size is 5" by 5".


Stamps: Always
Ink: Versamark ink, So Saffron
Paper: So Saffron, Whisper White, Glossy White
Accessories: 5/8" Whisper White satin ribbon, Clear EP, heat tool, embossing buddy, sponge, dimensionals

Fall Circus

It's been cooling down a bit here in Houston (not that it's cool yet, just cool-ER) and so the other day I pulled out some fall colors to play with and this is what I came up with. Very simple card that can be put together in 10 mins or less.

Along the left side I used 3 of the stamps from the set Circle Circus and the sentiment is from the set Teeny Tiny Wishes. The white layer is up on dimensionals.

Stamps: Circle Circus, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink: Really Rust, So Saffron, Chocolate Chip
Paper: Really Rust, Whisper White
Accessories: 5/8" Chocolate Chip Grosgrain Ribbon, Corner Rounder Punch, dimensionals

Serene Shaker

This post is a combination of a lot of things. . . . It started as a mini tutorial for the shaker card I posted (HERE or just scroll down to the previous post) and grew. :-) Now it also includes a mini tutorial for shimmer paints.

You can find Shimmer Paints in the Holiday Mini Catalog. Shimmer paints come in 3 different colors: Champagne Mist, Frost White, or Platinum. Today I'll be showing Frost White.

So how do you use Shimmer Paints? There a several ways to use these versatile paints. Also note that this is a "little goes a long way" product. 1. The easiest is to shake the bottle, take off the cap and use a sponge dauber to apply it directly to your project. 2. Or, use the sponge dauber and gently apply it directly to your stamp.

3. Or as I've shown below, you can ink your stamp with a color, then apply the shimmer paint on top, and then stamp--giving you a colorful and subtly shimmery image. Easy huh? Just be sure to clean your dauber in between stamping so as not to mix color into your shimmer paints.

4. If you want to stamp several of the same image, (without cleaning the dauber in between each stamp) just mix a little shimmer paint and a drop or two of reinker. You can see the leftovers here of my shimmer paint/Night of Navy reinker mix in the top of my ink pad. (Please just be sure to clean out the top of the lid--baby wipes work well--before you close the ink pad.) I used the sponge dauber to apply the mix directly to my stamp. Very pretty effect! I have a feeling I'm going to be using these paints a lot!

Ok, so now I have an image--I stamped one of the snowflakes from the set Serene Snowflakes from the Holiday Mini Catalog. I tried to photograph the 'shimmer' part of the paints; this is the best I have.

Now for the shaker part. . . . I used my Circle Scissors Plus to cut a 2" circle. Without moving the cutter, I cut a 2 1/2" circle. That gives my my 'frame'. I then cut out a 2 1/2" circle of Window Sheet (medium). Tip: Before you adhere the frame and the Window Sheet together, make sure to clean the Window Sheet with a window cleaner (such as Windex). This not only gets rid of any smudges, but also leads to less static (ie beads sticking to the window sheet) inside your finished shaker. The next step is to add the dimensionals.

I don't remember exactly how I figured this out, but now that I have, I always save the long sides of my dimensionals sheets--as seen below. I take those long strips and carefully put them around the edges of the 'frame'. Next I put in the Micro Beads. Note: I used less than 1/4 tsp of beads. The last step is to peel the backing of the dimensionals and put the stamped image (image side down) on top of the dimensionals--like making a sandwich. Your 'shaker' is now ready to be added to a project using Sticky Strip.

The card at the top was inspired by a Sketch Challenge found at Splitcoaststampers. All of the stamping on the card was done using the shimmer paint/Night of Navy reinker mix. The sentiment is from the set Best Wishes & More. Finished card size is 5 1/2" by 5 1/2".

The card below uses the exact same shaker element but was made for the CAS31 challenge also over on Splitcoaststampers. As you can see it is a very simple card--but still fun because you just can't resist shaking it. :-)

Stamps: Serene Snowflakes, Best Wishes & More

Ink: Night of Navy

Paper: Night of Navy, Whisper White, medium Window Sheet

Accessories: Shimmer Paint, Circle Scissors Plus, Glass Mat, Micro Beads, dimensionals, Corner Rounder punch, Whisper White Organza Ribbon