Casology Week 125: Silver

Love this set and pulled it out for a non-Chrismas holiday card.  There are silver snowflakes and a general pale gray silvery look, and therefore, fits the Casology Silver theme this week. 
 

Can you see those very pale gray snowflakes on the sentiment strip?  They are there, I promise, stamped with a very pale My Favorite Things Grout Gray.

That's Memories Unicorn white ink and Memento Nautical Blue.  The "snow" is a Simon Says Stamp stencil with Hero Arts ink dauber....

Noticed that Clear and Simple stamps has a new website.  They haven't released stamps in ages and I'm hoping they get back into production next year as I love the company's look.

MOOD WHEN DONE = Happy!
HUSBAND'S COMMENT = Trendy  (what???)

noel 2014

Using up some Lawn Fawn Patterned Paper.  And then did it again, this time using Silhouette cut numbers rather than the Dymo Label ones.

Noel and snowflake also cut with the Silhouette.  Love this color combo!  Hope your December is under control.  And, if not, that you don't care too much!

MOOD WHEN DONE = Frosty
HUSBAND'S COMMENT = Like the red

Kiss Me!

Lots of fun making this.  Since the process isn't obvious, it's detailed below.

Entering this card in the Virginia View's Challenge #10.

How I Made This Card:

1.  Cut out Mistletoe with the Silhouette onto white paper.
2.  Sponged with Ranger Distress inks, and stamped the bottom of the petals with Waltzingmouse Vintage Christmas Backgrounder in Encore Gold ink. Painted a bit with Peerless watercolors while the gold ink was still wet, which smeared most of the background.  But that is ok because the bottom has a nice golden touch.
3.  Stamped a circle background with Hero Arts pink neon ink stamped off once and Hero Arts Brush Strokes.  Love that set.
4.  Assembled by covering the background with vellum that's a bit larger than the background and tying the mistletoe with twine.
5.  Made sentiment with a Dymo Label Maker (obsessed with this thing).
6.  Flicked some pink and black paint onto a white card.
7.  Adhered it all.

MOOD WHEN DONE = I feel pretty, I feel witty, I feel....
HUSBAND'S COMMENT = Haven't given it to him yet....

a merry little .....

Love Essentials by Ellen by Julie's Christmas Scribbles.  That sentiment gets me every time!

Embossed the sentiment on watercolor paper.  Colored Tombow markers on the dry watercolor paper and then brushed over with water.   The watercolor paper is hand cut and not even (on purpose!!).  I'm trying for a more relaxed style...(can you try to be relaxed?).

Supplies:

Stamps:  Christmas Scribbles (I cut the star away from the tree)
Paper:  Neenah Solar White, watercolor, and vellum
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo, Versamark, Tombow markers
Other:  White embossing powder, silver wire pulled from ribbon, embossing buddy, water brush, heat gun, paper trimmer, mono multi glue, and dimensionals.  (It takes a village).

MOOD WHEN DONE = Merry, Not Relaxed
HUSBAND'S COMMENT = "That's nice."  (Kiss of death, but I'm partial to this card anyway)

Crystal Christmas

Three flat, easy to mail, Christmas cards using Hero Arts Chrystal Christmas and few background spots and flicks of paint.  Just a bit of Peerless Watercolors and a tiny bit of water and no watercolor paper needed.  More pictures:

Deer in the Headlights

I think this guy has had one too many party nights.

Really, what more do you want?  Cute deer, wreath, candy cane stripes, awesome sentiment.....Ranger's Glossy Accents, Copics, White Gel Pen, Gold, Wink of Stella glitter antleers...  I've thrown the kitchen sink into this card, trying to keep it fresh and not too crowded. 

Deer stamp from Savvy and sentiment from Technique Tuesday.  Stripes from Impression Obsession

MOOD WHEN DONE = Smiling
HUSBAND'S COMMENT = "Oh, I like that card."  Whew. 

ReDesign on a Dime: Studio Sarah

Studio Sarah sells this lovely Christmas card.
The color, gently falling stars,
and the small sentiment all combine to make a serene Christmas card.
The silver envelope sets it off nicely.

You can find the Studio Sarah card here.  

So I set out to remake the card, without buying anything new, and came up with this: 

Pretty close!

And then I made this:

Snowmen don't fall from the sky, but they do ski down on 

invisible hills.  Use your imagination!

The silver ink is pigment ink -- just set it out to dry 

and no embossing needed. 

Supplies for both cards:

Stamps:  Stampin Up Holiday Home and Papertrey Ink Inside Out: Holiday

Ink:  Encore Silver

Paper:  Neenah Solar White

MOOD WHEN DONE =  Pleased

Sunday Savings: Get Advice and Follow Directions

 

Cringe when I think about how much I've wasted because I didn't know how to use something properly and didn't take the time to find out.  This card provides two examples -- Ranger Glossy Accents and the Cameo/Silhouette.

Ranger's Glossy Accents  How many bottles have I tossed?  Love this stuff, but the tip clogged every single time.  I'd stick pins in the top, trim the top, run the bottle under warm water, etc.  Nothing worked and I'd ruin the bottle.  I would buy more thinking that somehow a new bottle would be better.

No, I was the problem, not the product.

Finally, asked on Facebook for advice and someone pointed out that Jennifer McGuire has posted that the way to avoid a clogged tip, is to use it, and then tap the bottle until the glossy accents recede out of the tip into the bottle.  If any remain in the tip, push out, tap and repeat until the tip is clear.   

See that glossy joy above?  Sometimes it takes a little patience, but so far I've used my one bottle repeatedly and have had no reason to toss it off the terrace. 

Cameo/Silhouette -- So frustrated over the years with jagged cuts.  Finally slowed down, got out a new blade, followed the prompts on the screen, and got a clean cut on this fairly intricate design (the "o" in joy is tiny).  This cardstock is 100# -- this was the first time I got a clean cut using cardstock this thick.  I've wasted a lot of paper just moving too fast...

Although this tip is obvious, we can save money slowing down, reading directions, and getting (and following) advice!  

And the card --

Supplies:

Stamps:  Essentials by Ellen Bokeh Dots 
Ink:  3 varieties of green (two Hero Arts and One Versamagic) -- just use three shades for depth
Paper:  Michaels Recollections White, SU vellum, Simon Says Stamp Cotton Candy, Cosmo Cricket Self Adhesive Glitter Sheets
Other:  Simon Says Stamp star dies, dimensionals, Glossy Accents, Silhouette (to cut out the word Joy)


MOOD WHEN DONE:  Happy!
HUSBAND'S COMMENT:  Oh, pink.  For Christmas. That's different.

Edited to add:  At Taheera's suggestion, I'm entering this into the Cure for the Monday Blues challenge that she hosts every week.  You can find it here.  

SU Holiday Home, With a Pop of Green

Devil of a time photographing this card....but lots of fun making it...

Used Stampin Up's Holiday Home to create a white, gray, and bright green card.  The strip of white on the side, the trees, snowflakes, and wreath are painted with Wink of Stella clear brush pen (love that stuff).

MOOD WHEN DONE = Serene
HUSBAND'S COMMENT = "I like the green." 

Christmas Blessings --- and Happy New Year!

Of all the cards I made with Simon Says Stamp Peace on Earth, this is my favorite.
This big sentiment in the classic Kristina Werner handwriting carries a card on its own.  Here is a picture of the set.

Stamped sentiment on white cardstock, added the premade embellishment (part of my stash, not sure who made it), and adhered the white panel on an angle onto a red card.  Once the white panel was down, trimmed the edges.  Really a 5 minute card.  I may need to make a bunch.

I appreciate the free set that Simon Says Stamp sent to me to help usher in #stamptember.  Not sure what the company has in mind for this month, but apparently there will be a lot of new product and ????

MOOD WHEN DONE = Happy!  

Back to work tomorrow after a luscious 5 day break, so the posts may not be as often.

In the meantime, if you celebrate Labor Day, hope it is a happy one.  In my community, school cannot start until after Labor Day (by law) and that is how it was when I was growing up, so tomorrow is like New Year's Day.  So, Happy New Year!

Edited photo since first posted...

Red v Pink

More Simon Says Stamp #stamptember fun.

The red card is festive -- black and white twine and some gold spatters add to the pop of color.  Hard to see, but the right and bottom edge of the white panel has a bit of the Hero Arts Neon green ink that I used to stamp the leaves.

And, then, I went softer:

The pink is nontraditional for Christmas, but close enough to red to be "in the zone." Again, the right and bottom edges are inked with a dark green ink.

Both cards use a holly and berry images from a Clear and Simple set and a sentiment from Simon Says Stamp Peace on Earth, which I believe will be sold starting in September.

Color makes such a difference!    I like them both, although they evoke very different feelings.

MOOD WHEN DONE = Joyful

2 Cards with Simon Says Stamp Peace on Earth

Two completely different Christmas cards using the soon to be available Simon Says Stamp Peace on Earth set.  It will be released as part of #stamptember  Both use vellum and a white embossed sentiment.  The second card is a bit of an experiment.

I'll be coming back with more items and more info on these cards later this weekend. 

In the meantime

MOOD WHEN DONE = Excellent!

Snow Boy

Love this little boy.

MOOD WHEN DONE = It is 4:20 am, I've been up for 2 hours and about to go on the treadmill.  I possibly need a nap.

Supplies:

Stamps:  Clear and Simple Stamps Winter Woodlands
Ink:  Versamark
Paper:  Amuse and Neenah Solar White
Other:  Paper Source Embossing Powder, Red Copic (to draw in scarf), glue, paper trimmer, embossing buddy, heat gun, time to commute to work to earn the $$ to buy this stuff....