Winter sunset scene - Make your Own Background

This card will be for my daughter's in-laws who have a little cabin in the woods, very remote and isolated in a heavy snow area - no running water or electricity. When Julie and husband Jeff went winter camping a few years ago, they took the skidoo up the mountain road and snowshoed into the cabin. They were walking on the snow at the top of window height level! Jeff had to shovel down to get into the door. There is a generator and Jotul wood stove, so once it gets warm, it is nice and cozy. They often hear coyotes howling in the nightime. There are a lot of sugar maple trees on the property and in the Autumn season, the mountain is ablaze with all the red and gold leaves. Actually, it is beautiful there in all seasons!

click to enlarge

For the background, I sponged TH inks (Spiced Marmalade, Wild Honey, Chipped Sapphire, Worn Lipstick and Dusty Concorde...in that order) on specialty paper creating a winter sunset sky.  I really like this product by Ranger as it allows you to "move" the sponged inks ensuring good blending. The ink doesn't soak into the cardstock  immediately upon application. I gave a quick burst with the heat gun to ensure everything was dry before stamping the trees with Versamark, applying detail black EP and heat embossing.  Hint.... If the distress inks are even slightly wet, they will pick up embossing powder and ruin your image! Finally, I gave a quick burst with TH Picket fence distress spray to look like snow in the air.

I cut a white "snow hill" layer of paper for the bottom section and created snow hills with distress inks. The white trees have an application of Deco Art snow and Stickles glitter, and the large one is popped up with foam tape. Stamped the verse on the very bottom with Archival black ink.

The coyote was cut from gray cardstock. Then I sponged Walnut Stain distress ink over his back and haunches creating dimension to the body. Gave a light touch of white pen to his tail and front of chest.  Now he looks more like a real coyote than a flat gray diecut.

Well, I think I captured the feeling of the winter scenery around the little cabin in the woods and a sunset winter sky.

Thanks for popping in and I love reading all your comments. They are truly appreciated!

Sharon
Dec. 14, 2014

Products Used:
- Ranger Specialty Stamping Paper
- Tim Holtz Distress Inks
- Hero Arts "Winter Trees Pattern" wood stamp
- Tim Holtz Picket Fence distress spray
- Impression Obsesssion dies - Fir Trees
- Deco Art Snow Painter
- Stickles Glitter Star Dust
- Verse stamp - Daniel Johnson 2006 - set of holiday verses
- PoppyStamps Inc. die - "Fine Foxes" (but I think it can also be a coyote LOL!)
- Recollections Mercury Glass paper - silver

Challenges:

Fashionable Stamping Challenges - Create your own background - winter sky

Craft Stamper - December Take a Technique  - distress ink sponged sky background

Little Red Wagon - Snow much fun

Faith Card

I had a request from my elderly neighbour to make a faith based Christmas card, fairly flat as she is mailing it abroad. She didn't want bows or anything too "frou, frou". I didn't know what I was going to create when I agreed, but I knew I had some angel stamps. Well, I found a stamp in my craft cupboard that must be at least 8 or 9 years old, which  I had forgotten about.
I seem to be giving love to a lot of my older stamps this season...LOL...however, I think it fits the request perfectly!

Click to enlarge

I created the background with TH distress inks by patting Wild Honey, Chipped Sapphire and Dusty Concord on a silicone mat, spritzing ever so lightly with water, then placing the cardstock on top to absorb the colour.  I had pre-planned where I wanted the colour to be such as yellow mostly where the stars were located, and each angel a different colour. The first one came out too wet and the colours too diluted. The second one was exactly what I was going for! Then I spritzed again lightly with  Glimmer Mist Heritage Gold. After the background was totally dry, I swiped the stamp with Versamark, and heat embossed the image with fine black powder.

I added a Northern Star cut from sparkly gold paper. Image is layered on gold paper.

I will give my neighbour the card tomorrow and hope it meets with her approval.  Thanks for stopping by!

Products Used

- Ranger Specialty Stamping Paper
- Tim Holtz Distress Inks
- Tin Can Mail wooden stamp
- The Frantic Stamper die "Northern Star"


Sharon
Dec.13,2015

Challenges:

Our Creative Corner - Stars

Craft Stamper - Take a technique and Share the Season
              (distress ink "marble effect" background)

JOY - Addicted to CAS Challenge

The challenge at Addicted to CAS is the word Joy.  I find it difficult to do "clean and simple" and I have been trying more cards with this style. Lots of white space!

click to enlarge

I stamped the pine needle branch with TH Forest Moss distress ink and drew in the main branch with TH Brushed Corduroy marker.  I patted the Forest Moss distress ink pad on a silicone mat and spritzed with water picking up the ink with a wet, fine watercolour brush drawing in more "needles".

I used an embossing folder creating swirls at the top over the pine needles and the hanging ornaments. Using a fine, flat edge 1/8" watercolour brush, I picked up some Adirondack Gold paint lightly painting over the embossed "chain" and top of ornaments. The ornaments were edged with Stickles Star Dust and Gold glitter.

The word JOY is a Tim Holtz die cut from gold paper that resembles mercury glass. I picked up a whole pad of this 12x12" paper with red, gold, silver and copper shades of mercury glass the other day at Michael's for half price! It is so pretty and I'm sure next Christmas season I'll get a lot of use from it!!

At last minute I added the tiny gold, cord bows. I just couldn't help myself....LOL!  I'm not sure if this is agreeable to the challenge rules, so if it doesn't meet the requirements, the judges can eliminate my entry.

Well, it's getting down to the deadline of mailing cards. I have two more to make, then I'll be done for this year.  I have nothing planned for today but being in my craftroom creating, then massive clean-up of all my christmas stuff which has exploded to every surface. LOL!

Enjoy your weekend!

Supplies Used:

- Crafts Too Embossing Folder - Swirl Baubles
- Hero Arts #H2887 "Real Pine"
- Tim Holtz Forest Moss Distress Ink & Brushed Corduroy Marker
- Ranger Adirondack Gold Paint Dauber
- Tim Holtz Thinlit Dies - Holiday Words
- Stickles Glitter Star Dust & Gold
- Recollections Christmas/Noel Mercury Glass 12x12 pad & gold cord

Sharon
Dec. 12, 2015

Honourable Mention

Good Morning:

I was just checking my email when I noticed a post from Pamellia of Anything But Cute  Ornamental Challenge saying I was an Honourable Mention with my "Night Before Christmas Frame".

I was so surprised because the talent on this group in all the entries was AMAZING.  I know this word gets overused, but you have to check the entries. Some of the creations (ornaments, houses, villages, ferris wheels)are all made of paper  Wowsers!!!

Thank you so much to the judges. I will proudly display the challenge badge,and look forward to future challenges.

Sharon
December 12, 2015

Ornament cards

Here are two cards using the Tim Holtz Carved Ornaments die I made this morning. I have gotten behind in creating cards, so I might do a few more of these as they make up fairly quickly!

I stenciled the snowflake pattern on the diecut with distress ink. Next I completely covered the diecut with Versamark ink, sprinkled with sparkle powder and heat embossed to give a shiny glass-like finish to the whole piece. I added a snowflake diecut, a jewel embellishment, some ribbon trim and silver cording to tie them to a pine branch border diecut. The embossed swirl pattern on the bottom is a cuttlebug folder.  I thought about adding Stickles glitter to the pine boughs and snowflake on the ornament, but then decided I liked the "clean" look.  The sparkle in the embossing on the ornament is hard to photograph but when held sideways there is the hint of it!

 I think I like the blue one the best!

click to enlarge

click to enlarge

Products Used:
Tim Holtz Carved Ornaments Movers & Shapers Die
Memory Box stencil " Snowflake Lace"
Cheery Lynn - Snowflake 5
Memory Box - "Pine Needle Border"
CuttleBug - "Scrollwork" embossing folder
Tim Holtz China Blue and Festive Berries distress ink
Ranger Polysparkle embossing powder

Thanks for stopping by and I always enjoy reading your comments!

Sharon
December 8, 2015

Challenges:
Try it on Tuesday - Snowflakes and Winter Whites

Diecuts R Us - Challenge #38 Christmas

Simon Says Monday Challenge: - Christmas

Winter Wishes

I made this card for my crafting friend Marilyn (Crafts & Beyond blog). We had lunch, exchanged our Christmas gifts & cards,  had a good hour and a half gab session ending with a warm brownie & chocolate sauce dessert, and a bit of shopping.  Living a couple of hours from each other, it's always good to get together! Marilyn, we are definitely long overdue for a crafting technique weekend.

click to enlarge

The base was made by spreading Ranger Texture Paste over the whole surface of a 4x6" stencil by Memory Box -"Snowflake Lace", and sprinkling some Stampendous Frantage Chunky Enamel White embossing powder over the wet paste. Once the paste was dried, I lightly heated the EP.  You  have to be careful aiming the heat gun - if heat stays too long on one spot, the paste will bubble. Actually, if I were to do this technique again, I wouldn't use as much EP as I lost a lot of the snowflake pattern. The effect reminds me of tiny hail balls.

The large snowflake is a wooden stamp I've had for at least 10 years. It's always good to give favourite stamps some love every now and then LOL!  I stamped with Versamark and embossed with Wow Metal Rhodium Sparkle powder. This stuff has so much shine...wish I could have captured it in the photo! Also added Star Dust Stickles glitter.  I put some frayed silver, wide mesh ribbon fibres, and loops of silver cording underneath the snowflake. The flower (from Micheal's) has Stickles Silver, Platinum and Star Dust glitter and a sparkly centre jewel embellishment.

The little tag is a Spellbinders die, and words cut from glitzy silver Stampin'Up! paper are Tim Holtz Holiday Word Script dies.  The blue jingle bells music paper was spritzed all over with TH Picket Fence Distress Spray.

We are going to a Christmas party tomorrow night, and Pancake & Sausage Breakfast with Santa on Saturday morning with our daughter , her husband and  3 year old grandson. This is an annual fund-raiser for the local Help Line. Then the high school band Christmas Concert is on Sunday afternoon. Our daughter was in the band, Honour Choir and Jazz Choir all through middle school & high school. Of course, it was a "given" that we attend the concerts. We no longer know any of the kids, but we always appreciate and enjoy listening to holiday music they have spent many hours practicing.  'Tis the Season!  (busy, busy busy.....)

Thanks for popping in to read my blog, and have a great weekend.


Sharon
Dec. 3, 2015

Frilly & Funkie: 'Tis the Season

Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes

ABC Challenge  - W is for Wishes

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge: Let it Snow

Santa Claus is Coming to Town - Ornamental Christmas Frame

Over at Anything But Cute, the challenge for the past month is "It's Ornamental", deadline Dec.5th.

I created this project for my daughter which I called "Santa Claus is Coming to Town". The picture of my grandson Connor with a cookie for Santa, taken last year on Christmas Eve,  is pretty cute so I hope this doesn't disqualify my entry LOL!

click to enlarge

I started off with a  6"x12" frame from the Dollar Store which had a saying on it in black paint on burlap. I bought it thinking this is a good size for something creative - not too large. So many times I bring things home to re-purpose them and they end up sitting in my craft cupboard.  This one was only two days in the house and I had an idea!!!! I took out the saying that was inside the frame replacing it with new burlap.

Over the burlap I patted Ranger Texture Paste through the Festive stencil by Tim Holtz. When the paste was dry, I replaced the stencil over the paste and sponged on distress inks - Fired Brick, Forest Moss, Brushed Corduroy and Tea Dye. I also applied a thick layer of Picket Fence distress paint and distress glitter around all the edges to look like snow. Here's what it looked like before I started adding all the elements.

click to enlarge

I re- sized the photo of Connor, glued it to cereal box cardboard, rounded the corners with a punch,and placed self-adhesive acrylic over the image to protect it, topped with a wood star and cording.  There is a bit of glare on the right side from the camera because of the acrylic coating - hard to photograph.

The Santa face is a vintage cardstock sticker from Heartwarming Vintage Creative Scraps.I sponged around the edge with Tea Dye to further age. The other sayings (Santa Claus is coming to Town, and Believe) along with the pinecone 3-d stickers are from my christmas stash. I used a small tag die to cut the "24" tag, then stamped the numbers, sponged the edges and added red glitter, mounted on a TH pin. I created the pinecone using the Tim Holtz die, added some "snow" with paint and glitter. It is glued under a green crushed ribbon bow, along with some glittered leaves also from my stash.   I also added some bits of Stickles glitter here and there (Santa hat, berries, leaves, etc.)

After doing this frame and the tag below in a previous post, I think I have finally mastered the Tim Holtz pinecone die. I've only had it two years and was about to sell it (from frustration!) when I gave it one more try. I still feel like I'm all "fingers" while putting it together, but at least the finished item now looks like a pinecone instead of something squished!!!  Also I'm going to give the TH Festive stencil a break for this year or you all will be tired of seeing it.  LOL!

It was fun doing this and it didn't take all that long, except for one afternoon to do the stenciling paste. I hope my daughter likes it!

Thanks for stopping by to take a peek at my projects!

Sharon

Dec. 1, 2015

Anything but Cute - It's Ornamental

Deep Ocean Challenge -#118  Santa Claus is Coming to Town

Made my Day!

I just found out that my santa and sleigh scene card made Top 5 in Try It On Tuesday Challenge, and I get a badge to put on my sidebar.

This was an extra nice surprise to end the day!  Thanks so much to the judges!

Sharon
Dec. 1/15