12 days of Christmas Cards day 2

On the second day of Christmas cards my true love of paper gave to me

A pair of rustic embellished skates.

I had a lot of fun with this card too. Yesterday's was a really monochromatic look with a pop of red, this one is the more traditional Christmas colors.

I used the plaid embossing folder, then inked up the areas with festive berries and peeled paint distress ink. However, when I put the skates over top, I thought the background was way too busy. I cut a smaller white panel and embossed it as well, just for texture. Much better.

The greenery on top was the same diecuts I used in yesterday's card. (Sizzix, Impression Obsession)

Rock Candy dry glitter, white dimentional paint and some metallic thread finish the look and give it some sparkle and shine.

My friend/coworker loved the card almost as much as I love hand delivering my creations.

Here's one more skate card. This time, totally monochromatic. I had a "textured" cream glossy cardstock in my stash, cut the skates and mini snowflakes (sizzix movers and shapers by Tim Holtz) with it. I added a wee bit of silver distress paint to the blades and layered it on to an embossed white panel.

That's day 2. And that's all the skate cards I made. I should mention too, that I ALWAYS hand deliver my cards. They are usually too thick to go in an envelope, but not only that, I like to play Santa's elf. My cards are a labour of love. It's my gift to the recipient, but their reaction is their gift back to me. ( plus I usually get me some good hugs hehehe)

12 days of Christmas Cards

On the first day of December, my true love of paper gave me an icy glittery pair of skates.

So I know it's not a unique layout, but I loved the whole embellished skates idea that was pictured in the Sizzix booth at this year's CHA Summer show. (Hang on, let me see if I can find a picture. Be right back...)

Ok I'm back, see this picture?

See the skates hanging there? So cool. Anyway, I wanted to make some cards like that. Festive and wintery, with a splash of color.

I make cards for all my co-workers/friends at work. I try to create a card for them that reflects their interests or favorite colors. My weekend coworker used to figure skate and red is one of her favorite colors.

I ran white paper thru the Sizzix Bigshot using the winter berries embossing folder. Next I cut, colored and glittered the TH ice skates die cuts. I added some greenery using holly and pine branch dies from obsession impression. They are colored with Iced Spruce distress ink (OMG, can i gush about how much I love that color?) the bow is also from IO - part of the mitten die set.

I pre made a few pinecones, using the TH tattered pinecone die so I had some in my stash to use as needed.

Once the elements were inked, glittered and dry, i began adhering them to the front panel. It seemed a bit flat, so I colored the berries on the background and added the "joy" stamp to the bottom.

Finally, I added some " snow"  paint and clear rock candy glitter. 

Card 1 - done.

Thanks for stopping by today, until next time...

12 tags of 2013 - October

Hello again,

What a week, this nasty cold/flu bug I have is brutal. It's really encroaching on my creativity ( or maybe it's the cold medication hahaha) Tim's October tag is sure to inspire though, I was a glittering fool. Let's take a look...

Distress paint marbling background with some Distress ink over top to brighten the colors. The weathered clock was glittered with pumice stone and a bit of antique linen. The halloween die set from Sizzix is fab. I love every single one in the package. That's where the pumpkin and the crows came from.

More marbling on the tag, a great stamp from Stampendous was layed on top with black archival ink. The spider web was glittered and adhered with glossy accents, topped off with a murder of crows.

This one was fun too, I cut the tombstone, stained it with black soot then embossed with the cement embossing powder. I cut out the spooky cat ( before inking) so I could add him back in there as an inlay after I glitzed him up. The vine die cut was added to the top. The word (Graphic 45 steampunk spells set) was stamped on clear plastic and stuck on with glossy accents.

I can't decide on a favorite. Which one do you like the best?

You can check out Tim's complete tutorial and other uploaded links here:

http://timholtz.com/12-tags-of-2013-october/