Christmas Cardinal--#tgifc239

Whew!  I finished up a bunch of stamping projects today, just in time to enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday and quality time with my grandson, Easton.  The only thing still on my agenda before we head to Charleston is to roll out my pie dough, get it in the pie pans and in to the freezer.  I will fill the pies and get them in the oven Thanksgiving morning.  Rolling out the dough for all my one-crust pies and freezing them for transport makes my life a whole lot easier.

My project for today is for this week's TGIF Challenges technique challenge:  dry embossed vellum. I love the look of dry embossed vellum!  

Today I used a piece of Old Olive vellum from the Perennial Essence vellum card stock pack (#149101) and the Seasonal Wreath 3D embossing folder (#151796) to create my card: 

I started with a Whisper White thick card stock base covered with a piece of the wood grain pattern from the Pressed Petals specialty designer series paper pack (#149500). Over the embossed wreath, I layered on pieces from the Toile Christmas bundle (#152367; including the Toile Christmas stamp set and Christmas Cardinal dies).  I stamped the cardinal in Tuxedo Black Memento ink and colored it with the Real Red combo and Mango Melody combo Stampin' Blends.  I stamped the greeting in VersaMark ink and heat embossed it with Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder (#109129).  I layered on die cut leaves in Mossy Meadow and die cut swirls in Gold Foil (#132622).   Gold Metallic Pearls (#146282) compete the card.

Check out the projects over at the TGIF Challenges Blog for more inspiration for dry embossing vellum.  You will love the look!

Wishing you a happy and safe Thanksgiving filled with family, friends and great food (football optional)!--Sara Nell

Thankful for You--#tgifc238

Time for another TGIF Challenge. It is a theme this week: So Grateful. Right now, I am especially grateful for all of my stamping friends and that I was able to see so many I've met along the way at OnStage Local in Atlanta last Saturday.  My color inspiration today came from OnStage.  I think more than one presenter created a green and blue card.  I keep forgetting how much I love greens and blues together, so their cards were a great reminder!

Here's a tribute to all of my stampin' friends and to greens and blues together:

All of the images are from the Painted Harvest stamp set (#144783).  I stamped the first layer of the sunflower in Granny Apple green, stamped off once.  The second layer of petals was stamped in Blueberry Bushel.  The center was stamped in Soft Suede.  The leaves were stamped in Granny Apple Green on Granny Apple Green card stock and punched out with the Leaf Punch (#144667).  The Granny Apple Green background layer was embossed with the Layered Leaves 3D embossing folder (#152321), then layered on Blueberry Bushel card stock. The greeting was stamped in Blueberry Bushel on Whisper White and die cut with a Layering Oval die.  Linen Thread (#104199) and Happiness Blooms Enamel Dots (#148805) complete the card front.  

This card has a little secret--it's an easel card!

For the easel stopper, I fussy cut three acorns stamped in Soft Suede and Blueberry Bushel and popped them up on Whisper White card stock stamped with a leaf image in first, second and third generation Granny Apple Green. 

Be inspired by the "Grateful" projects created for this week's challenge over at the TGIF Challenges blog.

  

Hope I've inspired you today!  Let me know if you love greens and blues on cards, too.

--Sara Nell

   

A Snow Family--#tgifc237

It's time for another TGIF Challenges sketch challenge.  I took a few liberties with the sketch this week: widened the left panel and flipped the sketch 90 degrees.   Then I fussy cut a snow family!

There are four different patterns from the Let It Snow specialty designer series paper pack (#150393) used on this card.  The Real Red and Coastal Cabana stripe is layered on the card base and the Coastal Cabana snow flurry is the sky behind the snow family.  The mom and pop were fussy cut from one pattern and the child from another.  I thought they looked like a happy little family together.  The snow covered ground was cut from a piece of Whisper White card stock, then heat embossed with Snowfall Accents Puff Paint (#150691).

The greeting is from the Snowman Season stamp set (#150458).  It was stamped in the sky with VersaMark ink and then heat embossed with Black Stampin' Emboss Powder.  The card is finished with a piece of Whisper White baker's twine tied in a bow.

Check out some great projects using this sketch over at the TGIF Challenges Blog:

Let me know what you think of my little snow family in the comments.  Stay warm out there!--Sara Nell

Gather Together--#tgifc236

It's color challenge week at TGIF Challenges!  This week we have a color combination that evokes the Fall leaves for me. Who am I kidding? Any color combination evokes Fall leaves for me this time of year!!! But these really are Fall leaf colors:  Pear Pizzazz, Calypso Coral and Early Espresso. My challenge was doing something a bit different with my leaves.

The Praiseworthy Prose stamp set (#149454) was sitting on my desk and I saw "family".  My Thanksgiving card came together quickly after that, using that definition and the Gather Together stamp set (#150589) and coordinating Gathered Leaves dies (#150662):

I die cut the three large leaves out of Whisper White card stock, then stamped the family definition in Early Espresso randomly on the leaves.  I sponged Pear Pizzaz and Calypso Coral inks over the definitions, then stamped the leaf outline image on each leaf using Pear Pizzazz ink.  I die cut the small maple leafs out of Pear Pizzazz ink.  The greeting from Gather Together stamp set was stamped in Early Espresso on Pear Pizzazz, heat embossed with Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder (#109130) and die cut using a Stitched Nested Label die (#149638).  

The leaves were arranged over a piece of Crumb Cake card stock that was embossed with the Brick & Mortar 3D embossing folder (#149643).  A layer of Early Espresso card stock was added to the piece before adhering it to a Crumb Cake card base.  Linen Thread (#104199) and Happiness Blooms enamel dots finish the card.

Check out the other projects created with this color challenge over at the TGIF Challenges Blog here:

Have a happy, crisp Fall day today!

--Sara Nell

Creation Station November Hop--Girl Power!

Welcome to the November Creation Station Blog Hop!  Our theme this month is Girl Power and we are creating thank you notes with spunk, sass, funk and flash for you.  Not sure my thank you notes today fall under any of those categories, but they are the result of stepping a bit out of my comfort zone. Hmmmm, maybe that's Spunk!

Layering stamped images to create a background is something that I have been wanting to try, but was a little afraid to just go for it.  So, I summoned my girl power courage for this hop and went for it!  I finished my backgrounds and then found the perfect "Girl Power" sentiment to finish off my cards.

This was my first card with Whisper White card stock as my background base.   I started my layering with the Crackle Paint background stamp, stamping it on the Whisper White base in Smoky Slate ink.  Over the crackle paint image,  I stamped the grateful definition image from the Praiseworthy Prose stamp sets several times in  Rococo Rose.  Next I sponged on Rococo Rose ink, followed by Merry Merlot ink.  My third stamped image was the floral cluster image from Tasteful Textures.  I stamped it diagonally across the card with Merry Merlot, using both first and second generation stamping.   My white embossing paste layer was created using a mask I made with the coordinating Tasteful Backgrounds die.

The greeting is from the Tasteful Textures stamp set.  It was stamped in Basic Gray ink and die cut using a Stitched Nested Labels die.  I layered it over the white baker's twine.  I wrapped two strands of the twine around the card three times and tied it in a bow.  I layered the stamped piece on Merry Merlot card stock and then on a Whisper White Thick card base. 

After I did the card on Whisper White, I decided to make the same card using Crumb Cake card stock: 

I used the same steps to make this card, substituting Crumb Cake ink to stamp the Crackle Paint image and Soft Suede ink to stamp the greeting.  I tinted the white embossing paste with a few drops of Crumb Cake ink before applying it to the card.   Linen Thread was substituted for the baker's twine.

Here's a close up of the Crumb Cake card.  Do you see the layers?

Now it's time to head over to see what the other Sara on the design team has created using her own special kind of Girl Power:

To Sara Levin's blog . . .

Which card do you like the best:  Whisper White or Crumb Cake?  Let me know what you think in the comments.  Thanks for stopping by today!

--Sara Nell

Reindeer Tags--#tgifc235

The TGIF Challenges team changed the challenge up this week.  We have a project challenge:  Tags!  I love making tags--to use for gifts and also as bookmarks.  In fact, I'd just finished making a bunch of Snowman Season tags when I saw this challenge.  So, no more snowmen tags.  I pulled out by Detailed Deer dies (#147915) and had fun making a set of reindeer tags. I think I will make some more of these! 

I had a couple of two-inch strips of a Night of Navy design from the Feels Like Frost designer series paper (#150444) sitting on my desk, so I started with those.  I wanted to make a set of three tags for the challenge so I went through my stack of Feels Like Frost paper for the matching design.  I was sidetracked by the icy pussy willow design.  I said to myself or maybe out loud to Roxie, "Ooooh, Purple Posy!  I have to use this one."  That's why it looks like an odd set.  But. . .Purple Posy!

Here's how I fancied these up:

1.  Mounted the paper on Whisper White thick card stock to give the tags some heft and to have a nice white space on the back for a gift message.

2.  Punched the top with the Delightful Tag Topper Punch (#149518).

3.  Layered a Pearlized Doily (#146936) on each tag using Multipurpose Liquid Adhesive.

4.  Die cut 3 two-leaf sets from the Frosted Frames dies (#150658): two in Seaside Spray and one in Purple Posy.  I coated these with Shimmery Crystal Effects (#150892) and then sprinkled on some Ice Stampin' Glitter (#150445). After they dried, they were layered on the doily using Multipurpose Liquid Glue.

5.  Die cut 3 blossoms from the same die set out of Sparkle Glimmer Paper (#146957) and layered those on each tag using the Multipurpose Liquid glue.

6.  Stamped the greeting banner from Toile Christmas stamp set (#150469) three times:  two in Night of Navy ink on Seaside Spray and one in Highland Heather ink on Purple Posy.  These were heat embossed with Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder (#109130) and then die cut with the coordinating die from the Christmas Cardinal dies (#150640). They were adhered to the tag with Stampin' Dimensionals.

7.  Die cut two reindeer out of Night of Navy card stock and one out of Highland Heather card stock.  Then coated them with the Clear Wink of Stella Glitter Brush (#141897). They were adhered with Mini Stampin' Dimensionals.

8.  Added three Rhinestones (#144220) to each of the Night of Navy tags and three  Pearls (#144219) to the Purple Posy one.

9.  Tied  Seaside Spray 1/4" metallic ribbon (#150446) on the Night of Navy tags and Whisper White 5/8" Polka Dot tulle ribbon (#146912) on the Purple Posy tag.

I wish you could see all the fun shimmer on these tags!

 

If you need inspiration for your holiday tags, head over to the TGIF Challenges Blog and see all of the design team's  and challengers' entries.  They are fantastic!

Have a happy rest of your week!--Sara Nell

  

Monster Ghost in the Woods--#tgifc234

The inspiration for this week's TGIF Challenge is Halloween.  I don't quite know what it is, but the Boo to You stamp set just brings out my silly side--maybe it's the coordinating googly eyes.  Anyway, I hope you leave my blog today with a smile on your face.  I've created a monster ghost in the woods for you:

To make the card, I started with a piece of Whisper White card stock and stamped the monster from Boo to You stamp set in Tuxedo Black Memento Ink.  Then I started sponging with Rich Razzleberry ink, then Blackberry Bliss and finally with Night of Navy.  The monster was then painted with Frost White Shimmer Paint to create the ghost.  The woods were created with embossing paste and the tree pattern from the Basic Pattern Decorative Masks in the Holiday Catalog.  The embossing paste was tinted with Night of Navy ink for that eerie woods effect.

The greeting was stamped in VersaMark ink on Rich Razzleberry card stock and heat embossed in with White Stampin' Emboss Powder.  It was die cut with the smallest Layering Circle die and then sponged with Blackberry Bliss ink.  The piece was layered on Rich Razzleberry card stock and then on a Night of Navy card base.  Oh, and don't forget the googly eyes!

See some fun Halloween cards over at the TGIF Challenges Blog here.

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Happy Halloween!

--Sara Nell