Peace on Earth

Hi everyone.  Made a Christmas card using elements from my unfinished projects box. :)  I had made a similar card a few years ago and had stamped and sponged an extra image and tossed it in with my other unfinished projects and forgot about it ... until now. :)  I found it the other day and decided it was time to finish it off.  I added some torn snowbanks with sparkle added to the tops (clear glitter glue), stamped the sentiment and popped it up on top of one of my favourite winter embossed backgrounds (borrowed from a friend Susan I don't have this folder), and voila, another card for my stash!!

This is for this week's Merry Monday Challenge #198 - Christmas Carols.  Such a great challenge that is being hosted by my good friend, Bonnie (Stamping with Klass).  "Peace on Earth and mercy mild" is one of the lines from "Hark the Herald Angel's Sing". :)

I love aqua, red and white together.  Such a pretty colour combo.  Pool Party ink was sponged for the background, and then I splattered with some water to give it visual texture.  The tree was stamped with Versamark and heat embossed in white.  Some red rhinestones were added for a bit of sparkle, along with some clear glitter glue along the top of the torn hills of snow.

The majority of the cards I make now are CAS Mix Up ... and this is no exception. This is a CAS card, but it has a lot of elements and techniques, including sponging, heat embossing, splattering, torn edges and dry embossing. :)

Do you have a pile of unfinished elements??  I bet if you do, you'll find lots to make some quick and easy cards. :)

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Sharing a few pics of my sweet grandson, Cooper.  I LOVE the one of him hugging his grampa ... that was taken at Christmas.  The next is a series of photos of him at my mom's 87th birthday celebration.  He was sneaking something from the table and thought no one noticed ... so cute!!  All pics are courtesy of my DSIL, Alex.  Thanks Alex!

Thanks for encouraging me to share these pics Jane!! :)

Stamps: Warmth & Wonder (SU!); Christmas Sampler (Paper Smooches)
Paper:  Whisper White (SU); White (Neenah)
Ink: Pool Party, Bermuda Bay (SU!); Versamark
Accessories & Tools: sponge, white embossing powder, heat tool, paint brush for splattering water, mini red rhinestones,  dazzling details clear glitter glue (SU!), embossing folder borrowed from friend

Challenges:
Merry Monday #198 - Christmas Carols
Snippets Playground - Week

CAS Mix Up April Challenge

Welcome to the second challenge at CAS Mix Up.  Bonnie and I were thrilled with the amount of entries for our first challenge last month and thoroughly enjoyed looking at each and every card.  Click HERE to see the wonderful cards that we highlighted from the March entries.

On to today's challenge ...

I love to play with stencils! :)  I used the Stencil Monoprint technique and Brushos to create my background for my card.  Once dry, I placed the stencil back over my card front, and spread embossing paste and then sprinkled with iridescent embossing powder. Once the paste was dry, I heat set the embossing powder ... the outline of the cup and steam are very sparkly in real life.  It was fun to use the negative and positive of the same stencil. :)  This card was sent last month to my friend Maria.  I made five versions of this card and then sent them along to the winners of my 5 year blogaversary stamp draw.

Lots of fun creating my CAS Mix Up card that has Stencil Monoprinting in Brushos, embossing paste, heat embossing, and a stamped sentiment. :)

I learned this stencil monoprint technique from my very talented friend Lee-Anne Cross (Creatively LA).  She has a wonderful video on this technique and it's worth checking it out --- click HERE.  I also bought this wonderful stencil from STAMPlorations because of Lee-Anne!!  I saw a couple of cards she made using this stencil and I HAD to have it!  Lee-Anne is my #1 enabler. :)

Not only did I learn this amazing technique from Lee-Anne, but I'm also very excited that she is joining us this month as our Featured Designer.  She made an amazing card for our challenge.  Make sure to check it out and please check out Lee-Anne's blog ... you'll be glad you did! :)  Thanks so much Lee-Anne for being our Featured Designer this month.  xx

I hope you'll come play along this month at CAS Mix Up.  Just remember to use a stencil, some stamping and one other item (your choice) to create a CAS card with mixed media techniques or products.

The challenge is open until April 24th, so there's lots of time to play along.  Hope to see you in the gallery! :)

Stamps:  Lots of Thanks (Simon Says)
Paper:  Mixed Media (Strathmore 400 Series)
Ink:  Brushos, London Fog (Memento)
Accessories & Tools:  Coffee Cup stencil by ARTplorations (STAMPlorations), water mister, white embossing paste (Dreamweaver), Iridescent embossing powder (SU!), heat tool

Challenges:
CAS Mix Up April Challenge - Stenciling

Timely Thanks

Hi everyone.  I struggle making one layer cards, but had a LOT of fun making this one ... and it even has a couple of mixed media techniques and products. :)

I started with a very fun and loose background using Brushos (dark brown, turquoise) sprinkled onto a brick embossing folder.  I sprayed with water and then pressed my card stock over top.  I love how the colours of Brushos flow.  I used my heat tool to dry, and then sponged over top with the clock stencil from Tim Holtz using Vintage Photo ink.  I stamped the sentiment in black so it would stand out over the dark brown stenciling.

This is a very easy card to make using just a few simple techniques.  And it's a great card I can use for one of the men in my life (I have several!). :)  Actually Jer saw this already and claimed it for himself. :)

I'm enter this into the CAS on Sunday Challenge #79 and AAA Cards Challenge #61, they are both looking for cards with Stenciling.

Thanks for dropping by for a visit!

Stamps:  Thinking of You (Happy Little Stampers)

Paper:  White (Neenah)

Ink:  Brusho Colour Crystals (Dark Brown, Turquoise); Vintage Photo distress ink (Tim Holtz); Black (Memento)

Accessories & Tools:  Brick embossing folder (Tim Holtz), water mister, Clockwork Stencil (Tim Holtz), sponge

Challenges:
CAS on Sunday #79 - Stenciling
AAA Cards #61 - Stenciling

You Inspire Me

Hi everyone.  Last card from my play date with some crafty friends a few weeks ago. I had to wait to post this one until it was received in the mail by my very good friend Nancy.  She is someone who inspires me all the time.  I knew that she would love this artsy and fun technique card. :)

This is another technique showed to us by Christine.  Not only did she demonstrate how to slowly add drops of alcohol inks and blending solution to Yupo paper and let them magically flow together (like the card above), but she also shared how to make landscapes using Yupo and AI's.  Didn't get a chance to try that, but Christine gave me a few pieces of Yupo so I could try it later.  Thank you Christine!

For the panel above, the colours were amazing and I thought they looked like an abstract painting.  I didn't want to cover them up at all, so simply added a white frame with a small stamped sentiment.  :)

The silver sentiment is a bit hard to read in the photo, but it plays off the silver fixative that was added to the AI panel.

Thanks for dropping by for a visit!  :)

Edited to add:  Yupo is a synthetic paper that has almost a plastic feel to it. Very slick and lightweight.  The alcohol inks really spread well on this paper, but you can use it for a variety of mixed media products.  You can find Yupo on Amazon and also at Dick Blick.  I'm sure there are other places it is sold.  A friend also mentioend Tyvek paper .. so I think it's similar to that.  Hope that helps. :)

Stamps:  Painted Butterflies (Altenew - sentiment)
Paper:  White card base and frame (Neenah); Yuppo paper (plastic finish)
Ink:  Alcohol Inks:  Turquoise, Botanical, Silver Fixative, Blending Solution (Ranger); Delicata Silver (Tsukineko)
Accessories & Tools:  Rectangle Nestabilities (Spellbinders)