Good Things--#tgifc294

 Okay, I admit it.  I am obsessed with the Feels Like Frost designer series paper (#150444) that is retiring soon.  I should say, I am re-obsessed.  Last year I went on a December spree making tags and bookmarks with this glorious photorealistic paper.  This year I am obsessed with the foliage designs and coordinating the icy foliage in the papers with die cut foliage. Of course, the die cut foliage has to appear icy, too. So I am covering my die cuts with Shimmery Crystal Effects (#150892) to make them sparkle.  I made the decision to not add the shimmery stuff to the last card I posted here for a TGIF Challenge--that won't happen again!  It's just not the same without the shimmer.  Fortunately, this little bottle of shimmer goes a long way--I think I'll have enough to finish off another bunch of shimmery projects (including new bookmarks for me) before Christmas.

The TGIF Challenge this week is composed of three horizontal layers.  I used the designer series paper for my bottom layer (covering the entire card base), the die cut foliage for my middle layer and a greeting piece using the Tasteful Touches stamp set (#152562) as my top layer:

This paper pattern is my favorite of the purples and greens paper in my paper pack.  The die cut layer starts with leaves die cut out of Soft Sea Foam using the large leaf die  from the Forever Flourishing dies (#152714).  Layered over the leaves is the ball shaped foliage in Purple Posy and Highland Heather that looks like the foliage in the paper.  These pieces were die cut with a die from the Poinsettia dies (#153522), then coated with the Shimmery Crystal Effects.  

Tip:  Use a Silicone Craft Sheet (#127853) when you are coating your die cut pieces with the crystal effects.  Once the pieces are covered, carefully move them to another place on the craft sheet to dry overnight.  This will eliminate a lot of excess glue on your pieces and make them easier to remove from the sheet.  The delicate stems will tear easily if you do not take the time to move the pieces before you leave them to dry. I have three or four of these silicone sheets (a must have for me) and use one for coating and one for drying.

The Stamparatus (#146276) was used to stamp the greeting twice in Gorgeous Grape ink onto Soft Sea Foam card stock.  The greeting was heat embossed with Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder (#109130) and a Heat Tool (#129053).  The greeting piece is one inch wide and was punched on each end using the Banners Pick a Punch (#153608).

A spattering of Clear Epoxy Droplets (#147801) complete the card.

This sketch is wide open for interpretation, so head over to the TGIF Challenges blog here to see how everyone created their layers.

Have a wonderful weekend!

--Sara Nell

Peace on Earth--#tgifc293

For this week's TGIF Challenges color challenge, I decided to use the colors, Balmy Blue, Highland Heather and Smoky Smoky Slate in a non-traditional way--as a Christmas card.  I admit, though, it was an easy choice.  These colors are all in the Feels Like Frost designer series paper (#150444).  The icy photo images just lend themselves to soft, pretty, peaceful cards for the holiday season:

The designer series paper is adhered to a piece of Balmy Blue card stock and layered over a Smoky Slate card base.  The greeting is from the Wrapped in Christmas stamp set (#153481).  It was stamped on a Balmy Blue frame die cut using the Beautiful Boughs dies (#150661).  The greeting was stamped two or three times in Smoky Slate using the Stamparatus (#146276).

The Highland Heather flora was die cut using the new Dandy Wishes dies (#154315, available beginning January 5 in the January to June 2021 Mini Catalog).  Some Rhinestone Basic Jewels (#144220) colored with the Highland Heather Dark Stampin' Blends (#154887) complete the card.

Be sure and head on over to the TGIF Challenges Blog to see some great projects using this color combo:

Wishing you a peaceful holiday season

--Sara Nell

 

 

Creation Station December Blog Hop: Ice, Ice, Baby!

 

Welcome to the December Creation Station Hop!  Whether you've arrived from Julie's blog or have started the hop here, I am glad you've stopped by.  Our theme this month is "Ice, Ice, Baby!"  You'll see plenty of sparkle and shine today as you hop from one blog to the next.

I've chosen to use the Feels Like Frost specialty designer series paper (#150444) in my projects today.  I love the ice covered foliage in this photorealistic paper--and it fits right with the theme!  I've paired three of the blue shaded paper patterns with Night of Navy and Misty Moonlight card stock and Balmy Blue Glimmer paper (#153513).

My card features the beautiful sentiment from Peaceful Boughs stamp set (#150541).  It was stamped in Night of Navy ink onto Shimmery White card stock, embossed with Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder, and die cut with a frame from the Beautiful Boughs dies (#150661).  The floral die cut pieces mimic the icy foliage in the paper pattern.  They were die cut using the Dandy Wishes dies (#154315, available January 5).  The Night of Navy die cuts were coated with Shimmery Crystal Effects (#150892) and allowed to dry overnight.  A card base of Night of Navy, a layer of Balmy Blue Glimmer paper and a spattering of Clear Epoxy Droplets (#147801) and Night of Navy Holiday Rhinestones (#150457) complete the card.

The gift tag features similar icy foliage in a lighter patterned paper design and die cut foliage in Misty Moonlight (also coated with Shimmery Crystal Effects) and Balmy Blue glimmer paper.  The sentiment is from the Wrapped in Christmas stamp set (#153481).  It was stamped in Misty Moonlight, embossed with clear embossing powder and die cut with another frame from the Beautiful Boughs dies.  The tag is actually two tags--one of Balmy Blue glimmer paper and the other the decorated designer series paper which was adhered to a Misty Moonlight card stock layer. These were tied together with Metallic Mesh Ribbon (#153550) and the Misty Moonlight/silver baker's twine from the Flowers for Every Season ribbon combo pack (#153620). More droplets and rhinestones complete this fancy, sparkly tag.

The rectangle tin (#153519) was decorated with a different icy foliage pattern.  I rounded the corners of it and the Balmy Blue Glimmer paper layer with the Detailed Trio Punch (#146320).  The die cut foliage is from the Forever Flourishing dies (#152714).  The Misty Moonlight die cuts were again coated with the Shimmery Crystal Effects.  The sentiment is from the Curvy Christmas stamp set (#155364).  It was stamped in Misty Moonlight on Shimmery White card stock, embossed with clear embossing powder and die cut using a Stitched Nested Label die (#149638)   A bow of Metallic Mesh ribbon wrapped around the tin,  more droplets, and some Misty Moonlight In Color Enamel dots (#152480) complete the tin's decorations. 

Now hop on over to Martin's blog to see his icy projects--you are going to love his style!

To Martin Stone's Blog . . .

Wishing you a wonderful holiday season!

--Sara Nell 

Snowman Wonder--#tgifc292

Magical Christmas is the theme challenge this week at TGIF Challenges.  To me, there is nothing more magical than the beauty and wonder created by a Winter snow--which I don't get to experience very often any more.  I pulled out my Snowman Season stamp set (#150458) and the perfect sentiment from the Wrapped in Christmas stamp set (#153481) to create my entry in the challenge:

The snowman was stamped in Balmy Blue on Whisper White, die cut with the largest circle in the Stitched Shapes dies (#152323) then layered over a scalloped circle die cut from Balmy Blue glimmer paper (#153513) using a Layering Circles die (#151770).   The sentiment was stamped in Misty Moonlight onto Balmy Blue card stock and die cut using a Tasteful Labels die (#152886).

The Misty Moonlight layer was embossed with the Woodland embossing folder (#152881).  A piece of Misty Moonlight/silver baker's twine from the Flowers for Every Season ribbon combo pack (#153620) was wrapped around this layer and tied in a bow.  A Balmy Blue card base completes the card.

See more magical projects over at the TGIF Challenges blog here.

Hope you have a magical Christmas season!

--Sara Nell

 

Simply Thankful--#tgifc291

The TGIF Challenges inspiration challenge this week is "Thankful".  I was inspired by the Fall colors in the inspiration piece and by the Country Home stamp set (#147678).  It has some of my favorite "Thankful" sentiments, but the other stamps in the set haven't seen much ink lately.  Time to use a couple of these neglected stamps for this challenge:

The card base is Crumb Cake splattered with a bit of ink from my Early Espresso Stampin' Write Marker.  Next is a two inch wide layer of Cajun Craze card stock embossed with the Tin Tile 3D embossing folder (#151801).  I masked off part of the sentiment stamp image, then stamped it in Early Espresso ink onto another piece of splattered Crumb Cake card stock.  It was die cut with a Stitched Rectangles die (#151820).

The focal point is a floral arrangement in the pitcher.  The pitcher was stamped in Crushed Curry ink on to Very Vanilla card stock, then colored with the So Saffron Combo Stampin' Blends (#154905).  The top of the pitcher was masked off with a pre-stamped post-a-note and then the cotton branch arrangement was stamped in Early Espresso ink over it. The cotton branch arrangement was stamped twice more on Very Vanilla card stock scraps. The arrangement on the pitcher was colored with Granny Apple Green Combo (#154885), Old Olive Combo (#154892), Poppy Parade Combo (#154958), Cajun Craze Combo (#154879) and Cinnamon Cider Combo (#153105) Stampin' Blends.  Once colored, the arrangement was die cut with the largest circle in the Stitched Shapes dies (#152323).

The seed pods in the second stamped arrangement were colored with Cinnamon Cider Combo Stampin' Blends, fussy cut and popped over the seed pods in the pitcher arrangement with Mini Stampin' Dimensionals.  The cotton branches that extended outside the die cut circle were fussy cut out of the third stamped arrangement and glued over the corresponding images in the pitcher arrangement.

You will be truly inspired by the projects this week over at the TGIF Challenges Blog.  Check them out here.

Wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving.

--Sara Nell 

Spirit of Peace--#tgifc290

 My card today was inspired by this week's TGIF Challenges sketch challenge:

The greeting is from the Peaceful Boughs stamp set (#150541).  The boughs and pine cone are from the coordinating Beautiful Boughs dies (#150661).  The greeting was stamped in Early Espresso ink onto Very Vanilla card stock.  The boughs were die cut out of Garden Green card stock and the pine cone out of Early Espresso card stock and a patterned paper from the Gilded Autumn specialty designer series paper pack (#153520).

The background was created with the same patterned paper from the Gilded Autumn paper pack. It was layered on a piece of Early Espresso card stock for strength before being embossed with the Pinewood Planks 3D embossing folder (#152320).  An oval was die cut in the center of this piece using the Layering Ovals dies (#151771).  This piece was then was layered over an smaller oval die cut out of Brushed Metallic card stock (#153524) to create a double oval frame around the greeting.  

A bow created with the gold metallic thread from the Forever Greenery Trim combo Pack (#152475) and a card base of Garden Green card stock complete the card.

This week's sketch is very versatile, so check out the entries for a lot of fun interpretations of this sketch.  See them at the TGIF Challenges blog here.

Have a great week!  I have lots to do before Thanksgiving company arrives.

--Sara Nell

Harvest Blessings--#tgifc289

This week's color challenge from TGIF Challenges is Garden Green, Merry Merlot, and Crushed Curry. Those colors remind me of Autumn and Christmas at the same time.  It was hard to decide which way to go.  Then I spent some time clomping through fallen leaves with Roxie.  Falling leaves it is!

My background was created on Fluid 100 watercolor paper (#149612).  I misted the entire piece with water, then dropped in Garden Green and Crushed Curry inks using a Water Painter (#151298).  Once this background was dry, I splattered Merry Merlot ink across the front.  After the splatters were dry, I stamped the large leaf from Gather Together stamp set (#150589) randomly on the background.  I stamped one leaf at a time in VersaMark (#102283), then coated it with Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder (#109129).  Once all the leaves were in place I heat embossed them using the Heat Tool (#129053).

The greeting is one of my Fall favorites from Country Home stamp set (#147678).  It was stamped on a 3/4" wide strip of Merry Merlot card stock and heat embossed in gold.  One end was punched with the Banners Pick a Punch (#153608).  A loose circle of gold trim from the Forever Greenery Trim Combo Pack (#152475) was placed under the greeting piece. A Merry Merlot card stock layer and card base complete the card.

For more inspiration with this fun color combo, check out the entries over at TGIF Challenges here.

I am trying to talk my husband into not mowing over all the fallen leaves until after my grandson, Easton, visits during Thanksgiving.  He doesn't get to experience the fun of clomping through fallen leaves in Coastal South Carolina. I want to share one of my simple joys with him. 

Here's to simple joys!

--Sara Nell