Joyful Holiday Wishes

Stamps: Hero Arts 'Wreath with Bells', Stampin Up greeting

Paper: Wild Cherry red cardstock, designer paper

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Versamark, Various Copic markers, metallic watercolor paint

Tools: Spellbinders Circles, Paper trimmer, Big Shot, Heat gun

Accessories: White Organza ribbon, Glitter Ritz Silver Glitter, Candi paper 'brads', 3-D tape, Candi 3-D adhesive, Tombo adhesive

The challenge this time was to do a center-step card. I've never done a center step card, so I was happy it turned out on my first try. There was a great tutorial on SCS which helped a lot. The image itself took about an hour and a half for me to color. First I embossed it. Then I colored it. The silver on the bells is a metallic watercolor paint I found, which I love, but it takes quite a few layers to make it a solid color. If you just want it for an accent, you can color with something else and then just brush one layer on. I used Candi paper brads (really just colored circles) that I thought would work well for the bells. I like how it turned out since it's a different color than what I used on the bell itself. Kinda funky! I'm usually really conservative with my colors and matching.A final touch was the silver Glitter Ritz glitter on the greeting. I love, love, love this glitter! It is truly microfine and after you apply it to a strong double sided adhesive, you burnish it in to brighten in. Just be sure not to touch the adhesive so that it stays clean. I bought 6 jars of this stuff and each jar will probably last me a lifetime! A little goes a long way!

Snowy Mittens

Stamps: Impression Obsession: Mittens, 'Snow Happy'

Paper: Smooth White
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Memento Summer Sky, Tim Holtz Fired Brick, Distress Ink, Versamark, Memento 'Lady Bug' red marker

Tools: Spellbinders Classic Scalloped Circles Large, Spellbinders Curved Rectangles, Detail Scissors, Big Shot, Tim Holtz Inkssentials Blending Tool, Heat Gun

Accessories: Flower Soft Polar White, Crystal Stickers Rhinestones, Light Blue & Red ribbon, 3-D tape, Silver embossing powder



This card was a lot of fun to make. The challenge this time was to use your main image to make your own background paper, or at least part of the image. I got some pointers from Sandra, the owner of Dolce Stamps. She showed me how to blend color into the paper by starting off the page, so it starts lighter and not so intense on the edges. I used the tool from Tim Holtz. It looks like a little hand stamper and is really handy. It's hard to tell, but the background has a faint blue tint to it pulled in from the edges about 1/3 of the way in or so. I really like how you can make the embossed image pop off the page by using this technique.