Christmas Treats

Well, it's been a lag in getting posts up.  I've been feverishly finishing Christmas gifts - almost done, though not quite.

I did snap these quick photos of a Christmas treat that I made for the ladies at work.  Nothing overly fancy - just thoughtful to let them know I was thinking of them.  The poinsettia is made using my Heartfelt Creations (ancient!) poinsettia stamp in Moonheart blue Close to My Heart ink and die cut with my equally ancient Spellbinders poinsettia dies.  The leaves are die cut using my Doohickies poinsettia leaves die.  An equally simple sentiment stamp from my W Plus 9 Drummer Boy stamp set finishes the simple front.  I used my paper trimmer to create the kraft paper envelope and stapled a clear treat bag inside, trimming the extra bag top off at the top.

I'm hoping to squeeze in some more photographing and editing for a few quick posts this weekend.  I also hope this finds you joyfully enjoying these last few days before the holiday celebration.

Prima Oil Pastel Watercolor Crayons

I've been playing around with my Prima Oil Pastel crayons.  This water soluble oil pastel media is so creamy and the colors so wonderful, I just couldn't stop creating images.  I used the technique found in this video for reach of these stamped images.  The leaves were stamped using my Heartfelt Creations Classic Leaf stamp.    The rose is a wood stamp from way back.

Fail - Used too much water on the brush to fill in the gaps

My Heartfelt Creations Delicate Asters stamp provided the detail for these images.  Since this is not a solid stamp, I finished the look with a waterbrush and some water - filling the centers of the petals in with the oil pastel transferred to the page.  It's a different look that I'm sure to explore some more.












One shouldn't end on a disappointing note, but these wings stamps just didn't retain the fine detail in the stamped image.  They are lovely in their own right, but I'm not sure they worked out the way I'd like.  Just proof that I need to keep on experimenting with my new tool.  As so I shall.  If I end up making these into anything, I'll share that with you here as well.  Hope all is well in your world as we look forward to November being here.  Isn't time flying by?

Christmas Cards - It's That Time of Year

It is that time of year.  Christmas cards are on the make and I am joining in the fun.  I made a series of cards and wanted to share them with you.

Each card is made using my Papertrey Ink Rustic Wreath stamp and die.









The poinsettia were made using my Layered Poinsettia Shapeabilities.  The center was made using some Good Earth Elements Earth Textures.  The red cardstock is spritzed with some white acrylic paint using an old toothbrush.

The patterned papers and kraft cardstock are literally from the scrap heap in the stash, bits and pieces from other projects over the years.  I guess these cards are the reason I keep those pieces!

The Peace on Earth sentiment is from the Our Daily Bread Designs Christmas Mini stamp set.      

I hope this finds you happily crafting for the season yourself.  Wishing a little Peace into your portion of the Earth this holiday season.

Merry Christmas Gift for Work

I've started this tradition and kept it going this year.  My daughter, Katie, is a Girl Scout and they sell food products in the fall.  One of the best is a can of butter toffee peanuts.  Sugary goodness is another name for them.  The price is right ($5/can), the cause is right (she earns money for every can sold), and the gift is right (for co-workers where you aren't particularly close, but you want to gift them something).  Folks don't feel like you've over reached and they need to return the favor with this kind of small gift.  Here's the details:

• The top is decorated with a circle of kraft paper cut using my Creative Memories Circle cutter.  Surprising how often they show up in my crafting despite the fact that they are over a decade old. 
• The poinsettia and leaf are cut using my Layered Poinsettia dies.  The center of the poinsettia is made using Crystal Accents and some Good Earth elements.   All of the red and green are from the scrap pile!
• The lid is a plastic yellow- not a fit so I cover with some tissue tape and use a red ink pad to color the tissue tape.  Be sure to wipe off the excess ink because it won't dry fast and it will come off on your hands (or anything else it touches).

• The can label is covered with some plaid pattern paper from the stash that is likely more than a decade old as well.  It doesn't entirely encircle the can so I used a piece of brown cardstock to finish where the two ends meet.  Later versions have the brown cardstock embossed for more effect.  Again, all brown cardstock is scraps.
• The label is from a piece of patterned paper.  I simply used my Spellbinders Labels 18 to strategically cut out images from the patter and glued a twine bow on the side.  

Yummy gift that was never intended to hang around for long.  I hope you found time to craft some special gifts this Christmas.  It feels so much better coming from the heart!

Merry Christmas!

Again, behind posting.  Trying to squeeze in.  Yikes!  Merry Christmas two days late!

This is my Christmas card this year.  When I saw the Heartfelt Creations Shepherd Scene stamps three years ago at the scrapbook convention I fell in love.  I resisted the purchase- times were financially tough then and I couldn't afford the purchase and attending the scrapbook convention too.  In 2012, I could resist no longer mainly because I got a free stamp set for taking a Heartfelt Creations class.  Still, the 2012 Christmas card design was already in development and this stamp set didn't make the cut. 

2013 seemed just the right year to make this card the highlight.  I wanted to play with watercoloring- not my forte.  Here's the details:

• The Shepherd Scene is stamped with black Archival Ink.  The shading is done with a Faded Jeans Distress Marker.  A water pen was then loaded with a little Faded Jeans Distress Ink and washed over the entire image.  This is what created the "cloud" like effect over the image.  It might be hard to see in the picture.
• The star was enhanced with a glue pen and some microfine silver glitter. 
• The image was cut out using Brandy's Nestabilities Labels 4.  It was a perfect fit for the card.
• The frame image was cut out using Brandy's Nestabilities Romantic Rectangles using a blue cardstock.  Truthfully, this cut and that color of paper simply made my Christmas cards this year.  It also sold me on getting a Grand Calibur which I achieved much later in the year after I borrowed all these supplies from Brandy.
• The poinsettia was stamped with Faded Jeans Distress Ink and cut using my Heartfelt Creations stamps and dies.  The poinsettia leaves were cut using a Magnolia Doohickies die.  The size is just perfect for the Spellbinders/Heartfelt Creations Layered Poinsettia dies.
• The branched leaf was cut using my Spellbinders Foliage die.  The posies were cut using my Heartfelt Creations Posy Patch die.  The centers of the posies were created using a white Pearl Pen. 

• The inside was embellished with a sentiment stamp I found at Hobby Lobby, stamped in Faded Jeans Distress Ink.

All in all, I am most proud of this year's Christmas card.  I think I say that each year, but this year I really mean it.  It will take some thinking as to what I'm going to accomplish next year.  The layers/height of this card was probably borderline appropriate for the post office.  It was a pleasure making all 50 of these cards.  I can't hardly wait to start on next years!