Non-traditional colors for a holiday card

Hi! Thanks for stopping by!

Here is a Christmas card I created using fairly non-traditional colors, but I really like the way it turned out. How do you like it?

I stamped the image (from Mark's Finest Papers) using Memento Black ink before coloring with Copic Markers. The green strip was airbrushed using a mask for a little texture and then adhered to the Baja Breeze panel which is stamped with the holly and airbrushed around the edges before mounting onto the Perfect Plum card. I added silver for the holly berries on the soldier stamp and then silver ribbon and cord to the green strip.

What do you think of this non-traditional Christmas card?

Thanks for stopping by!

Silver Bells and Silver Ribbons

I tried a new to me technique to create the background for this card. It's called W.I.S.H. Fun, huh? You cut three sides off of a zip loc bag and then scribble water soluble markers all over the inside of one side. I used SU! markers in four shades of blue spritzed with water and then smooshed to create my background. I wanted more color after the first time, so I remarkered it but this time I used glimmer mist for the H2O. It is so pretty and shimmery. My image - from Rubbernecker - didn't show up well enough for me, so I stamped it again with the versamark and embossed it with silver ep. The corners and bottom border are punched with a swirling lace punch. I added the bow created with two different silver ribbons. I hope you like it!

Thanks for stopping by!

Mark's Finest Papers November Blog Hop! Day Four!

Welcome to the MFP November Blog Hop! This month, we are releaseing 6 NEW SETS!

And…LOOK for a NEW LINK LIST TOMORROW!!!

We have 6 New Stamp Sets Released: Brick Wall, Bells on Bobtail, Christmas Postage Due, Bold & Free, Muscial Holiday and Welcome Home. For your convenience, all 6 stamp sets are available for purchase TODAY!

For your chance to win BLOG CANDY, (a set that will be released NEXT month), visit and comment on each of the following design team members' blogs TODAY. On Saturday, (November 13, 2010), a winner will be chosen from those participants who visited all the blogs listed for today. (There will be four different winners, one winner for each day of the blog hop. You DO NOT have to comment every day. However, the more days you comment, the more chances you have to win!) If you miss a day, you can go back and comment on each day's blogs, as the winners will be chosen Saturday morning.


This is a 5-1/2" square tag on which I used the smoosh technique with reinkers and gold glimmer mist to create the background. I then stamped the other wonderful images from the set using versamark ink and embossing with gold detail embossing powder. The music was stamped onto vanilla card stock with Vintage Photo distress ink and the edges torn and distressed and then sponged with more of the ink. It was also spritzed with gold glimmer mist. I added shapes in the upper corners which were cut/embossed with Spellbinders Doodle Parts from a lovely shimmery cardstock. The sentiment is stamped with versamark ink and gold embossed before cutting/embossing with Spellbinders oval die and popped up onto the Fancy Tag shape. I added soem lovely ribbons and heated the gold organdy ribbon to curl it a bit.

Emily
Karen- that’s me and you are already here!
Patty
Roxie
Vicki
Liz
Claudine
Dawn
Joanne T
Nicole
Marilynn
Peggysue
Susan
Judi
Connie
Mark’s Finest Papers

Mark's Finest Papers November Blog Hop! Day Three!

Welcome to the MFP November Blog Hop! This month, we are releaseing 6 NEW SETS!

And…LOOK for a NEW LINK LIST TOMORROW!!!

We have 6 New Stamp Sets Released: Brick Wall, Bells on Bobtail, Christmas Postage Due, Bold & Free, Muscial Holiday and Welcome Home. For your convenience, all 6 stamp sets are available for purchase TODAY!

For your chance to win BLOG CANDY, (a set that will be released NEXT month), visit and comment on each of the following design team members' blogs TODAY. On Saturday, (November 13, 2010), a winner will be chosen from those participants who visited all the blogs listed for today. (There will be four different winners, one winner for each day of the blog hop. You DO NOT have to comment every day. However, the more days you comment, the more chances you have to win!) If you miss a day, you can go back and comment on each day's blogs, as the winners will be chosen Saturday morning.


Here is the card I created to showcase the new Welcome Home set. I just love this set. Lighthouses can be used for so many wonderful cards. For this one, I stamped the image onto vanilla card stock and colored with Copic Markers. I sponged light blue around the lighthouse to give it a sky look and then shadowed and sponged the lower portion with a caramel color. I then cut/embossed the image with an oval Spellbinders die then did the cracked glass technique on it. I rubbed in more brown and blue inks to get into the cracks so you could see them better. I then mounted that onto the light brown cardstock which was cut/embossed with Spellbinders Beaded Ovals die and I sponged on the darker brown using the die as a stencil. That is popped up on the blue cardstock. I added a strip of the brown cardstock behind the blue which was cut/embossed with Spellbinders Fancy Tags and then the sentiment was stamped with brown ink and popped up. I added the lace and ribbon bow and the lighthouse charm. All the supplies for this card can be found on the Mark's Finest Papers website. I love that lace.

Nancyruth
Lois
Vicky
Dawn L.
Anne
Emily
Karen- – that’s me and you are already here!
Patty
Roxie
Vicki
Liz
Claudine
Dawn
Joanne T
Nicole
Marilynn
Geri
Lynn
Mark’s Finest Papers

Mark's Finest Papers November Blog Hop! Day Two!

Welcome to the MFP November Blog Hop! This month, we are releaseing 6 NEW SETS!

And…LOOK for a NEW LINK LIST TOMORROW!!!

We have 6 New Stamp Sets Released: Brick Wall, Bells on Bobtail, Christmas Postage Due, Bold & Free, Muscial Holiday and Welcome Home. For your convenience, all 6 stamp sets are available for purchase TODAY!

For your chance to win BLOG CANDY, (a set that will be released NEXT month), visit and comment on each of the following design team members' blogs TODAY. On Saturday, (November 13, 2010), a winner will be chosen from those participants who visited all the blogs listed for today. (There will be four different winners, one winner for each day of the blog hop. You DO NOT have to comment every day. However, the more days you comment, the more chances you have to win!) If you miss a day, you can go back and comment on each day's blogs, as the winners will be chosen Saturday morning.

Nancyruth
Lois
Vicky
Dawn L.
Anne
Peggysue
Susan
Judi
Connie
Claudine
Dawn
Joanne T
Nicole
Marilynn
Geri
Lynn
Mark’s Finest Papers


Two of my cards are featured on Mark's Finest Papers Blog today, but even though my blog isn't on today's hop, I did want to share these two creations I made using the new sets featured today. I hope you don't mind.

Winter Scene

I wanted to share this card with you. It is not a simple one - at least it wasn't the day I created it. One thing after another and the first one went into the garbage can after I was putting the finishing touches on it when my paint pen went "goosh" and left a huge splotch of gold paint on it. Grrrrrr! So aggravating. I tried to save it, but . . . nope, it was hopeless. Sniff sniff!

This is a sneak peek of a set being released Tuesday - called Bells on Bobtail by Mark's Finest Papers. I love the vintage look of it, don't you?

So, I created this one by using a light blue cardstock, stamping the tree (from A Walk in the Woods) over and over using two shades of green - Distress Ink in Forest Moss and Shabby Shutters. Wanting the winter look, I inked the same stamp with a versamarker here and there and since the stamps are clear, stamped again, trying to align the stamp. I then embossed with white embossing powder. I used the same tree stamp and the same method to create the snowy ground. I like the look it gives - not being a solid white mass. I heated that white powder again and added just a bit of iridescent ice ep to give it a little shimmer.

The sleigh image was stamped onto white card stock with Distress Vintage Photo ink and clear embossed before being colored with watercolor crayons and a wet brush. I then carefully cut out the image and added the snow to the bottom of the sleigh. I also added the red holly berries to the garland around the horse's neck with red stickles. The sentiment is stamped with the Forest Moss ink and punched out, then a marker used to color the edges. I added the green gingham bow and mounted the scene onto the Always Artichoke card stock. I'm happy with the results. What do you think?

Thanks for stopping by!

Mark's Finest Papers November Blog Hop! Day One!

Welcome to the MFP November Blog Hop! This month, we are releaseing 6 NEW SETS!

And…LOOK for a NEW LINK LIST TOMORROW!!!

We have 6 New Stamp Sets Released: Brick Wall, Bells on Bobtail, Christmas Postage Due, Bold & Free, Muscial Holiday and Welcome Home. For your convenience, all 6 stamp sets are available for purchase TODAY!

For your chance to win BLOG CANDY, (a set that will be released NEXT month), visit and comment on each of the following design team members' blogs TODAY. On Saturday, (November 13, 2010), a winner will be chosen from those participants who visited all the blogs listed for today. (There will be four different winners, one winner for each day of the blog hop. You DO NOT have to comment every day. However, the more days you comment, the more chances you have to win!) If you miss a day, you can go back and comment on each day's blogs, as the winners will be chosen Saturday morning.

Using the set Bells On Bobtail, I created these tags by stamping the jingle bells (oh, I love jingle bells!) using Versamark ink then coloring in with Copic markers. I sprayed gold glimmer mist over the entire tag and then added the sentiment stamped in red.



The Brick Wall set is really fun and versatile. For this card, I stamped the brick wall image onto a brick colored card stock then distressed the edges of the panel with a distressing tool and sponging of inks. I then stamped the vine image using versamark ink and embossing with white embossing powder. I colored the embossed vine with pastels, then went back and colored the flowers with purple Smooch and a little gold smooch in the cneters. The butterflies were stamped onto a smoosh created piece of cardstock and embossed with black before cutting out and adding a little more gold smooch. The brick image is mounted onto brown. The butterflies on the brick wall are popped up. I created the purple mat by stamping the vine image with versamark and embossing with clear embossing powder. All that is mounted onto the green card which is an uneven gate fold. I added the luscious purple bow to highlight the brick panel. The cardstock, stamps, ribbon and smooch are all available at Mark's Finest Papers. Go check it out!



Nancyruth
Lois
Vicky
Dawn L.
Anne
Peggysue
Susan
Judi
Connie
Emily
Karen- – that’s me and you are already here!
Patty
Roxie
Vicki
Liz
Geri –
Lynn-
Emily N.
Mark’s Finest Papers

Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to come back tomorrow for another new set.

Simple Joy

This card is a really simple one with just one layer and the sentiment. I stamped the image (from Rubbernecker) using versamark ink onto the dark green card stock and embossed with copper embossing powder. The lower portion is embossed with the Cuttlebug Holly Ribbons folder and the copper cord tied around. I stamped and embossed just the word joy from the sentiment stamp which says Joy to the World and embossed it before punching and mounting onto the copper shimmery card stock which is also punched with an oval. So simple, but quite stunning, if I do say so myself. What do you think?

Christmas Cactus

Living in Phoenix, this is the state Christmas tree. Just kidding! But some people do put lights on the cactus around here. I'm not a big fan of cactus. I like to stay as far away from it as possible.

I inked the image with markers before stamping. I then embossed the star with gold embossing powder. I also colored in the image with Copic markers, then added stickles to the lights and to the star. It really sparkles in real life. That image was cut/embossed with Spellbinders Deckled Edge die and mounted onto the green Spellbinders Beaded Oval shape which was airbrushed through the die to bring out the beads. That is popped up onto the old olive card front. The sentiment is stamped with versamark and embossed with gold detail embossing powder.

Speaking of snowflakes!

Okay, so no one was speaking of snowflakes, but I needed a segway here. lol

I used the same sketch for yesterday's card for this one, keeping it monochromatic for that frosty look. What do you think? Does it look frosty? The biggest card front panel was inked with versamark ink and adding more of the iridescent ice embossing powder to not only the snowflakes but to all the edges as well. I like how that looks.

The images of the snowflakes are stamped with versamark onto the light blue card stock and embossed with iridescent ice embossing powder before mounting each panel onto white card stock. For the snowflake embellishment, I embossed a square onto a scrap of white cs before punching the snowflake (two layers) and adding the rhinestone brad to the center.

Thanks for stopping by. Come back tomorrow to see my Christmas Cactus!

Next week the blog hop begins for the release of six fabulous new stamp sets from Mark's Finest Papers. The fun begins on Tuesday, so be sure to check back!

This is a sneak peek of one of the new sets called Musical Holiday. The French horn and the music score are both images in the set. Does anything say Christmas more than music? I love Christmas music and would like to play it all year long, but I resist. However, it can start before Halloween in my house. lol


For this card, I stamped the horn image with versamark and embossed with silver onto white card stock. I colored in theholly leaves and berries with Copic markers and mounted that onto red card stock. I added the red brads and the silver cord bow. That is popped up onto the designer paper panel which is a scrap, so I can't tell you where it is from. The musical score is also a stamp in thsi new set, just stamped with black ink onto the white. The green card front is olive and garden green layered and then embossed with Cuttlebug's Holly Ribbons folder.

What do you think? I hope you like it. Thanks so much for stopping by! Please come back soon.

This card shows a new stamp from Rubbernecker called daisies. Don't you just love daisies? They are such a happy little flower and . . . what I love about it is that they last so long. My dh gave me some lovely flowers for our anniversary last month and the daisies and carnations lasted a good two weeks! Such a delight.

Thanks for stopping by!