New Year's Card

Hello everyone!  There are only two days until Christmas.  Can you believe it?  And I know everyone is so rushed this time of year, so I have a really simple little project to share with you today.  It is a card again.  I know, I do a lot of cards, but if you celebrate the New Year, this might come in handy as a New Year's Party invitation, or just simply well wishes to friends and family for a wonderful and prosperous New Year.

I re-sized my Silhouette arched lattice image to fit the New Year's couple image from AP-2058, and adhered both to a piece of print paper from the Glitz Design paper pad that I edged with black distress ink.  This sheet determined my card size for me because I did not want to cut off the lower left portion that says, "Something Good Will Happen Today", which is what everyone hopes for the New Year.  So my card measures 6" x 6".  

I stamped the pocket watch image, which is one of Altered Pages new, original stamps, that I thought is also very appropriate for the New Year, because it is, after all, associated with time, such as, the countdown to midnight.  I silver embossed the image onto another piece of print paper from the Glitz Design pad, cut it out, and colored the pocket watch with a silver Wink of Stella pen, my new favorite tool!  

I could not leave well enough alone, so I added some botanicals to the lower right corner to balance the image and give it some added dimension.  If you are going to mail your card or invitation, you can always leave these off.  I have included a picture of the card front without the botanicals.  It does not look so bad, but I really do prefer adding the botanicals.  

I used another image from AP-1133, "A Joyful New Year", for the inside of my card.  I simply cut it out and inked the edges with some black distress ink.  

Supplies used:
Altered Pages Collage Sheets:  A Very Vintage New Year (AP 2058); Happy New Year! (AP-1133)
Pocket Watch stamp (Time on Your Side set)
Glitz Design Pretty in Pink 6x6 paper pad
Wink of Stella pen (Silver)
Kraft card stock
Silver ink, silver embossing powder
Brown and black distress inks
Botanicals
Silhouette die cutting machine and lattice frame image

This card was so easy to make.  You still have time to make up a batch to send before the New Year.  So take a minute to go check out all the new products, original stamp designs, and collage sheets over at Altered Pages.

Thanks for stopping by, and have a very Merry Christmas, and a wonderful, prosperous, New Year!

Barbara

Leslierahye's A Very Merry Steampunk Holiday Blog Hop

Welcome to Leslierahye's 3rd Annual Very Merry Holiday Steampunk Blog Hop.  I am so glad you took a little time out of your busy holiday schedule to visit today.  We have some fun projects to share with you and some blog candy giveaways, so grab a cuppa, sit back, and just relax and enjoy the hop.

I made a Christmas card to share with you today.  This is my interpretation of a "Steampunk'd Christmas".

Supplies used:

5" x 6-1/2" pre-folded green card (Michaels)
Steampunk'd Christmas rubber stamps (Sin City Stamps)
White Snow Glitter cardstock (The Robin's Nest)
Cut Grass Dylusions ink spray (Altered Pages)
Graphic 45 Christmas Emporium paper pad (Altered Pages)
Wink of Stella glitter pens (Altered Pages)
Winter Pine Glimmer Mist (Tattered Angels)
Silver, Brass pigment ink pads
Silver detail embossing powder
Vintage Photo distress ink pad
Sizzix Wall Clock Bigz die (Tim Holtz)
Decorative Label punch (Stampin' Up)

Start with a 5" x 6-1/2" pre-folded green card.  Layer a piece of White Snow Glitter cardstock trimmed slightly smaller than card front (4-3/4" x 6-1/4").   Spray with Cut Grass and Winter Pine, let dry.

Stamp and silver emboss gears in open areas on the White Snow Glitter cardstock.  Edge cardstock with silver ink pad.  Adhere to card front.

Die cut wall clock from heavy chipboard and coordinating papers from the Graphic 45 Christmas Emporium paper pad.  Layer papers onto chipboard clock, as shown.

Stamp and silver emboss one of the gears from the stamp set onto the circle piece from the wall clock parts and adhere to the chipboard circle for dimension.  Ink clock hands with Vintage Photo distress ink and adhere to clock (gear) face.  Attach wall clock to card front with foam tape.

Stamp and silver emboss "Steampunk'd Christmas" onto a scrap of the print paper and punch out with decorative label punch.  Edge with silver ink.  Adhere to wall clock with foam tape.

Ink pendulum with brass pigment ink and adhere to card beneath wall clock.

Stamp steampunk Santa onto white paper with stone gray ink.  Color with colored pencils and Wink of Stella glitter pens.  Fussy cut Santa and adhere to card with foam dots.

There you have it, a fun steampunk'd Christmas card for your "punky" friends.

Thanks for stopping by today, and please be sure to leave a comment and follow our blogs, if you don't already.  This will enter you into the drawing for any giveaways being offered today.  Below is a list of the hop participants to help you find your way.



Have a Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year!

Steampunky Hugs,
Barbara

Butterfly Mini Book

Hello everyone!  So glad you stopped by today.  I have a super fun project to share using some of the newest products from Sin City Stamps, and my favorite technique I learned from Finnabair, aka Anna Dabrowski.  As you will see, this technique allows you to use whatever supplies you have on hand, whether or not the colors match.

Supplies Used:

Sin City Stamps:  Butterfly Chipboard Book, Gears Die Cuts, Gears 3 Die Cuts, Animal Print Stencil
Love of Butterflies, Art Journaling with Terri Sproul 2,
Paper flowers and embellishments (Recollections, Prima)
Metal gears (Tim Holtz)
Ink Sprays:  Seven Seas, Chocolate Covered Cherries (Tattered Angels); Cut Grass, Funky Fuchsia (Dylusions)
Ink Pads:  Encore Gold Metallic, Versafine Smokey Gray, Vintage Photo distress,
Metallic Creams:  German Silver (Baroque Art); Olive, Gold, Copper, Black (Craf-T Products)
Glue n Seal (Ranger)
Hard Molding Paste (Golden)
White Gesso (Ranger)

Directions:

Front Cover:

First of all, I want to show you the quality of these laser cut wood book covers.  These are the most sturdy substrates, and you will be able to embellish these with heavy-duty embellishments without losing stability.

Adhere die cut gears and clock hands with glue n seal to front cover.

Apply hard molding paste through animal print stencil and let dry.

Adhere flowers and metal embellishments, as shown, and paint everything with white gesso, let dry.

Spray cover with ink sprays, dabbing some of the colors off, and re-spraying until you like it.

Blend colors a bit with a damp paintbrush and dab off more with a paper towel.

Apply metallic creams to the die cut gears, flowers, and metal embellishments (gold), clock hands (green metallic), stenciled areas (black and gold metallic) and add some gold metallic around the edges.

Cover metal filigree butterfly with German silver metallic cream and adhere to cover, as shown.  Lift wings a bit for dimension.

Glue chain and metal hanger to center of butterfly, as shown.  Add small metal clock face, lightly inked with brown archival ink, and tiny pearl to center of clock hands.

Here are a few more close-ups of the front cover embellishments.

Inside Front Cover:

Stamp large butterfly onto die cut butterfly book page with grey ink.

Color with colored pencils, distress ink, and add a bit of clear Wink of Stella pen to white flower petals and butterflies.

Stamp small swirl design around the edge of the paper with Encore gold metallic ink.  Adhere to inside front cover.

Back Cover:

Adhere ribbon, lace, die cut gears, paper flowers, leaves, and metal embellishments to cover with Glue n Seal.  Let dry.  Trim excess lace and ribbon.

Paint entire piece with white gesso and let dry.

Spray cover with ink sprays, dabbing some of the colors off, and re-spraying until you like it.  Blend colors a bit with a damp paintbrush and dab off more with a paper towel.

Apply metallic creams to the die cut gears, flowers, and metal embellishments (gold), clock hands (green metallic), stenciled areas (black and gold metallic) and add some gold metallic around the edges.

Inside Back Cover:

Paint inside back cover with white gesso while adhering die cut gears.  Allow to dry.

Spray cover with ink sprays, dabbing some of the colors off, and re-spraying until you like it.  Blend colors a bit with a damp paintbrush and dab off more with a paper towel.  Apply metallic creams to the die cut gears.

Add a few metal gears and clock face with brad over die cuts, as shown.

Here you can see the back (left) and the front (right) side by side.  There are several die cut pages inserted in the middle to be decorated as you choose.  

I hope you enjoyed my project this week, and that you will hop on over to the Sin City Stamps store to see all of their new and wonderful products.  They have so many items to go along with your stamping needs and you will fall in love, as I have, with them.  Also, check out the coupon page for their whopping 40% off everything in the store sale, through December 22nd.  And there is also a design team call going on right now.  You can get all the details here.

Have a wonderful weekend,  a very Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year too!

Barbara

Paper Tole and Oh Christmas Tree Cards

Hello Robin's Nest fans.  Welcome to my last post as a design team member for The Robin's Nest.  On the one hand, it saddens me to leave, but on the other hand, I plan to continue sharing projects with you on my blog using their wonderful papers, embellishments, and of course, dew drops.  In addition, the new design team is going to be simply fabulous, so whatever you do, don't go away.

Well, Christmas is almost here, and the excitement in my heart has already begun.   I can't seem to get rid of that little kid in me that has always loved the enchantment of the holidays, not to mention the good eats!  I also love to make Christmas cards, right up to the last moment.  So, in keeping with my "last minute" traditions, I want to share (one last time) a couple of Christmas cards I made using the beautiful Russian Winter paper collection from The Robin's Nest, and pair it with some products from our monthy sponsor, Ecstasy Crafts.

Supplies used:

The Robin's Nest:  Brick Classic Glitter card stock, Brown Classic Glitter card stock, Gold Classic Glitter cardstock, White Snow Glitter card stock, Kiwi Glitter Sorbet cardstock, Boy Polka Dot Stamp cardstock, Brilliant Blue MiniDew Drops, Fushia Mini Dew Drops, Limoncello Yellow Mini Dew Drops
Snowflake doily die cut (Gina's Designs)
Ecstasy Crafts 3D Reddy Cards die cuts, Starform Christmas Tree sticker
Pumice Stone distress stain and ink pad (Tim Holtz)
Olive Pastel chalk ink pad (Colorbox)
Perfect Pearls Mist:  Heirloom Gold
Copic Markers: B97, E79, G94, R29, R59, V09, Y35
Rubber Stamp (Stampabilities)
Dies: Labels 8, Decorative Labels 8 (Spellbinders); Tattered Banners (Tim Holtz)
Corner rounder punch (Marvy)


Directions:


My first card is a paper tole style card using the 3D Reddy Cards die cuts from Ecstasy Crafts.

Trim White Snow Glitter card stock to 9" x 6-1/4", fold in half to make  4-1/2" x 6-1/4" card.

Color entire paper with Pumice Stone distress ink.

Allow to dry, then spritz with Heirloom Gold Perfect Pearls mist.  Below is a close-up of the paper, showing some of the iridescence of the Heirloom Gold mist.  Round card corners.

The next step is to follow the directions for making one of the paper tole images on the 3D Reddy Cards Sheet, shown below.  These are all die cut images and numbered to make it especially easy and so very special for the recipient.  Layer each numbered piece, in sequence, using foam dots.

Die cut papers and layer, as shown below, using the Spellbinders dies.

Below is a close-up of the dimension achieved using these 3D Reddy Cards die cuts.

My next card is also very easy to make using the Starform Christmas Tree stickers, also from Ecstasy Crafts.  These stickers look so fragile and delicate, but in reality, are very sturdy and easy to use.

I first trimmed Boy Polka Dot Stamp cardstock to 5-1/2" x 8-1/2, folded in half to make 5-1/2" x 4-1/4" card.  Round corners.

Adhere a tree sticker to a scrap of Kiwi Glitter Sorbet cardstock.

Next, color cardstock between sticker openings with Copic Markers.  The glitter in the cardstock will resist some of the color and give this nice gradation of greens to your tree image.

Fussy cut around the sticker.  Do not attempt to cut around the candles, but instead, gently lift them off of the paper and snip beneath them, as shown below.  This will make it much easier for you.

Continue fussy cutting around the tree.  Center a doily from one of our previous sponsors, Gina's Designs, and adhere tree image to that with foam dots.  Add all three colors of dew drops (as listed in supplies) to the tree and around the doily edges.  (See finished photo above).

Computer generate "Oh Christmas Tree" on a scrap of Kiwi Glitter Sorbet cardstock, between the glitter, and die cut with tattered banner.  Adhere to top of card with foam tape.   (See finished photo above).

To finish off the inside, and carry on the theme, stamp sentiment with Olive Pastel chalk ink pad, and add one of the smaller stickers from the sticker sheet to the top right corner.

And there you have it.  Two more beautiful Christmas cards that were a snap to make with the fabulous Robin's Nest papers and the Ecstasy Crafts products.  So check out the 20% off sale on the Russian Winter collection this month, and be sure to pay a visit to Ecstasy Crafts for more fun products.

It has been a real honor and pleasure to be on the Robin's Nest design team, and I hope you will continue to visit me often at my blog for more projects using their wonderful products.  The new design team is about to be announced, so stay tuned for more fabulous inspiration from them.

Merry Christmas to everyone, and a most wonderful, Happy New Year!

Barbara

Altered Pages December Challenge

Hi everyone!  Guess what time it is?  It's challenge time again at Altered Pages.  December's challenge theme is "Colors of the Season", and you can interpret that any way you choose.  Whether you like the traditional reds and greens, the blues of winter, or something else altogether, it is up to you.  We want to see your art work, so take a moment to visit the Altered Pages challenge page to read all about it.  

So, today, I hope to give you a bit of inspiration with a fun Christmas card that I made using the Hello December collection by Glitz Design.  This paper is a bit too primary for me, but I am going to tell you how I "vintaged" it up a bit.  

First, I covered the numbers background from the WhatNots die cuts with Old Paper distress stain.  Then I distressed and inked the edges with more Old Paper distress stain.  This color has a greenish undertone, which is perfect for the "Colors of the Season" I am going for.  However, I added some Gathered Twigs distress ink to the edges to darken them a bit more.

Next, I inked the wreath die cut with Gathered Twigs distress ink and lightly dabbed some embossing ink all over.  I sprinkled on a bit of Winter Wonderland embossing powder and heat set it.  I've had this EP for at least a decade, but any glittery white EP will work to make snow.  

Layer the wreath onto a circle of brown paper and adhere both to card front.

Fussy cut ivy bells garland collage image (AP-1050-Christmas Ivy)  and adhere to center top of wreath with pop dots.  Add green paper rosette and bottle cap with giant rhinestones, a couple of white paper flowers inked with Old Paper distress stain, and bead garland around wreath, as shown.


Remove cut out "happy holidays"portion from the red tag die cut, ink edges with Gathered Twigs distress ink, and adhere a small piece of the yellow striped paper that you inked with the Old Paper distress stain behind the words in the tag.  Adhere tag to bottom of wreath.

 

For the inside:  Fold Merry Christmas banner die cut in half and adhere to card inside, as shown.  You now have an easy pop-up element.  

Trim yellow stripe paper to 4" x 6", fold in half with right sides together.  Adhere inside card, matching center folds.  This will allow you a place to write a note to the recipient.  It also finishes off the inside.  

I wanted to add a touch of glitter here and there, so I went to my new go-to tool, Wink of Stella pens, adding red, green and clear to the ivy bells collage image, and clear to the rosette and tag.  I hope you can see it in the photos. It adds so much to the piece.  

Supplies used:

Hello December collection (Glitz Design) (6x6 paper pad, WhatNots, Giant Rhinestones)
AP-1050-Christmas Ivy collage sheet
Wink of Stella pens (Red, Green, Clear)
5"x7" kraft pre-folded card
Gathered Twig distress ink
Old Paper distress stain
Clear embossing ink
Winter Wonderland embossing powder  
Christmas Bead garland
Mini rosette die

So, what are your colors of the season?  Come on and play along with us.  Make some art and share it with us.  Altered Pages always has a wonderful prize giveaway to the winner, and everyone wins with a free collage sheet, just for entering.    

Thanks for stopping by, and be sure to check out the rest of the design team's interpretation of the Colors of the Season by clicking here.  

Have a wonderful week!

Barbara