Glowing Christmas house

I love this technique and will be returning to it again and again, I'm sure. It particularly lends itself to Christmas cards like this one, which we made at Crafty Friday last week.

You begin by taking a piece of Pacific Point cardstock and wiping it with the embossing buddy before embossing your image using white embossing powder.

Next simply sponge around the image – don’t get too close – using Pacific Point ink. Then build up some darker colour around the edges; I used Night of Navy at the bottom of this one and Blueberry Bushel at the top.

This bit is important: swipe it all over the whole lot using the embossing buddy again before stamping and embossing the greeting. If you don’t, the powder will stick to the whole sheet! (Ask me how I know).

Colour the front door with a Stampin’ Blend (it needs to be an alcohol markers as a water-based marker will just pool on top of the embossed image).

Finally, spatter the whole lot with some Frost White Shimmer paint, by tapping the side of a paintbrush.

Sponged Year of Cheer Designer Series Paper

I can't stop sponging the Year of Cheer Designer Series Paper - it looks so deep and rich in the darker shades, like the Night of Navy I've used here.

I'm rationing my Foil Snowflakes now as we need them for a class next week, so I've only used half of one here - remember: if you can't see it, it's not there!

Mix It Up Monday: Sponged Year of Cheer DSP

Happy Monday everyone! Tranquil Tide is the star of the show again this Mix It Up Monday – I must be a fan because I’ve nearly used all the Tranquil Tides colour combinations from my In Color charts.

This weekend, inspired by Natalie Lapakko, I was playing with the Year of Cheer Designer Series Paper and experimenting with adding colour. It looks GORGEOUS with a dark colour sponged onto the background; the ink is resisted in the metallic embossed areas. The trick is to ink up your sponge then remove the excess on some scrap paper; this avoids creating blotches. 

Here I’ve created a two-tone background using Tranquil Tide and Lemon Lime Twist. I prefer the darker colours but you have to try new things. Some scrunched up Crinked Seam Binding and a Night of Navy border sets it off nicely, and it’s finished off with a Year of Cheer gold embellishment… and that is finished off with a Pearl, which I coloured ‘gold’ with the Bronze Stampin’ Blends marker. 

Hearts Come Home Crafty Friday projects

Crafty Friday was a packed one last week, so it was a challenge getting this card – more complex than our usual Crafty Friday projects – completed in time.

It’s inspired by the hugely talented Sandi MacIver, who created this beautiful project. For this CASEd version, I watercoloured the houses and trees but decided for Crafty Friday to switch to Whisper White cardstock and colouring with the new Stampin’ Blends for speed. I loved how everybody’s project turned out differently, so am kicking myself that I forgot to photograph them.

For the border, we mounted the Merry Music paper onto some cardstock and then cut out the centre to create a frame. But the middle bit wasn’t wasted, oh no...

We cut this into two 2" strips to create some cute matching tags. (I only managed one, hence the photo!)

Mix It Up Monday: Hearts Come Home

It's Mix It Up Monday again and a fun gold combo to play with. This year I added metallics to my In Color charts as I felt they were lacking, and it's always fun to add a touch of bling. 

But Fresh Fig, gold, Soft Sky and Whisper White? would that work? I wasn't convinced to begin with but now I quite like it... what do you think?

Moon cat

Cat punch time again! I can't get enough of this punch - it's sooooo versatile and, as you may have noticed, I haven't made a single Halloween project (I never do).

This was from my Caturday Live class and is a simple folded card with a piece of Brick Wall embossed cardstock to hold it all together, tucked under the cat for stability. The stars are embossed in white and there's just a hint of the gorgeous stitched Cherry Cobbler ribbon because it's too nice to share!

Mix It Up Monday: Hearts Come Home

Feeling festive? I hope so, as today’s project uses the Hearts Come Home bundle and some shiny copper embossing. 

I rose to the Mix It Up Monday challenge by die-cutting the image twice - once in Tranquil Tide and once in Cherry Cobbler - then pieced the trees together. There’s also some Copper Foil behind the house windows and some lovely copper embossing. For more colour combos, please see my In Color charts.

Hearts Come Home illuminated card

After lunch at Saturday’s workshop, we went straight into Christmas mode, with this stunning festive scene made from the Hearts Come Home bundle.

It’s really quite simple... take half a sheet of cardstock, cut lengthways and scored at the centre point. Cut 5in off and attach vellum to replace the missing front.

Take the 5in piece and score at 1in intervals to create the zig-zag piece at the front, to mount those beautiful houses.

And the beauty of this card is that you can light it from behind using a battery tealight...