Cheers!

The 2015 Winter/Holiday Coffee Lover's Blog Hop has begun!  My creation is the cutest make 'n take that the fabulous Lenae brought for us last weekend at Amy's.  That girl is super genius at using designer paper and coming up with adorable cards, isn't she?  I did sort of make it my own by using the flip side of the paper.  Love the design either way!

Bright and Happy Penguins

Hello!   Time for another Great Impressions card for you.

I am so happy with this card.  I don't often use designer paper but I remembered I had some ornament paper that would be perfect.  It turned out so colorful and cute!  I used H273 Joyful Penguins, coloring the image based on the designer paper.  I finished it off with B229 Happy Hearts.   Cute cute cute!

See you next week with another GI design!  Toni 

Don't forget about the GI monthly challenge!

You don't have to use GI stamps but it'd be totally awesome if you did!

Also, if you do use GI stamps, be sure to link up to the customer gallery to show us your fabulous work and for a chance to get a little year-end prize.

Mixed Media Happiness

Time for the second ever  Happy Little Stampers Mixed Media Challenge.  This month it's Anything Goes.  And we mean anything.  Objects, layouts, cards, ATCs, just anything your heart desires.  Why not share with us some of the holiday goodness you've been working on?

For my card I upcycled some fancy tissue paper I received in a gift last Christmas.  So hip and now.  Love it!  I applied it to mixed media paper with Mod Podge before die-cutting it with the stitched rectangle die.  I die cut the frame pieces out of scrap kraft cardstock and mounted it on foam after I painted it with Distress Stain.  That stuff dries really quickly which was a pleasant surprise.  Finally I die cut the remaining pieces out of scrap gold cardstock and finished off the card with a wooden snowflake.  Notice the peace die cut has dots?  The die comes like that and I guess the gold cardstock is thick enough to form an impression as it goes through.  For this card I like the effect lots--like rivets.

The Details:  Stampin' Up Peace die, Simon Says stitched rectangle die, My Favorite Things Chalkboard Frame Builder die, Memory Box Deer Trio die, Impression Obsession Birch Tree die, Modge Podge, PTI kraft and 140lb cardstock base, Strathmore Mixed Media paper

Update:  I'm entering this in Virginia's View #21 All About Glitter

Happy Birthday, Lisa!

Today is the fabulous Lisa Lara's birthday!   She's a fun lady with seriously mad coloring skills.  She's like my sensei when it comes to coloring.  Love you, Lisa!  Hope your birthday is super fantastic!

Be sure to stop by the blogs of my comadres who are also helping Lisa celebrate:  Amy, Tonya, Laura, Lenae and Kimberly.

The Details:  Mama Elephant Photo Bomb, Copics, Simon Says Stitched Rectangle die, Waltzing Mouse Stitched Scalloped rectangle die, Neenah 110lb cardstock, PTI white and blue cardstock, Wink of Stella

I'm entering this in Seize the Birthday without Holiday Stamp Topping and Allsorts #340 CAS

Holiday Hats!

Hello!  Time for another Great Impressions challenge--anything goes!   I'm not sure about you but anything goes means Christmas/holidays for me this time of year.  It always seems like the holidays creep up on you, right?!

I adore the F504 Winter Hats stamp--use the hats as a background, place them on animals, all sorts of fun possibilities.  I chose to create a colorful background of cheery hats with a bold F621 Holidays sentiment across them (to be honest, it hides a boo boo--total butter fingers--oops!).  The hats were randomly stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black then colored with Copics.  The sentiment was stamped with Versamark then heat-embossed with Stampendous detail fine white embossing powder.  The holly is a Memory Box die that I believe is my first time using.  Glossy Accents on the berries make those pop out a bit.

See you next week with another GI design!  Toni 

Don't forget about the GI monthly challenge!

You don't have to use GI stamps but it'd be totally awesome if you did!

Also, if you do use GI stamps, be sure to link up to the customer gallery to show us your fabulous work and for a chance to get a little year-end prize.

I'm entering this in Penny Black Anything Goes with a Stamp and Holly Jolly Embossing

Poinsettia Cards

My poinsettia stamp arrived today--can't believe I didn't already have one, can you?  Thank goodness for Amazon.  With the first card, I used my Zigs.  I had a tough time with the water brush I used to spread the paint around until I realized I didn't need a death grip to get the water to flow.  Some colors seemed to spread more easily than others (dark green, e.g.).

For the second card, I had a gelli plate printing that I wanted to fussy cut for the poinsettia but it lacked shading.  I didn't want to use my Copics, assuming that the acrylic paint would be bad for the tips, but would the Zigs work on regular cardstock?  Yes!

I shaded the poinsettia before fussy cutting it then decided to use the one layer paper tole technique to give it dimension.  So cool; I wish you could feel it!  For the greenery I stamped the image using Versamark so I could see the outline and used that as a guide for adding the gouache.  I love that you can layer that stuff without the color beneath showing through.  As I prepared to stamp the sentiment, I decided to leave the errant gold specks of embossing powder for some glam factor.  For the border I did an inlaid diecut of the gold trim around the green.  Love!

The Details (both cards):  Stampendous Create a Poinsettia, Waltzingmouse stitched scalloped rectangle die, Zig markers, Smooch, Recollections 110lb cardstock base; card 1: Stazon, VersaFine Onyx Black,  Hero Arts Merry Christmas Messages, PTI linen impression plate; Tim Holtz watercolor paper, Distress Ink Tumbled Glass; card 2: Versamark, Ranger gold embossing powder, Liquitex Basics acrylic paint, gelli plate, foam dots, Glossy Accents, Holbein Acryla Gouache, Hero Arts Very Merry Christmas

Card 1 Challenges:  I'm entering this in Fantasy Stampers #51 CAS Christmas, Just Add Ink #291 Just Add C (Christmas), Addicted to Stamps and More #173 Holiday

Card 2 Challenges:  I'm entering this one in 52 (Christmas) Card Throwdown Pick a Previous 2015 Challenge (#39 Technique Mixed Media), Mod Squad 3 Ingredients (embossing, rubber stamping, diecut), Mixed Media Card Challenge #18 Celebration

Shake it up

We're having a super fun event over at Great Impressions this week.  You have a chance to win a prize if you can guess the carol correctly by leaving a comment on the main blog.  Be sure to stop by each day because each of us has chosen a different carol to test your holiday knowledge.

For my card I used J100 Christmas Town.  Don't you love this stamp?  It was great fun to color.  I added touches of sparkle throughout.  I love shaking a shaker so having blingy elements inside makes it even better.
 

Don't forget about the GI monthly challenge!

You don't have to use GI stamps but it'd be totally awesome if you did!

Also, if you do use GI stamps, be sure to link up to the customer gallery to show us your fabulous work and for a chance to get a little year-end prize.

Merry

This month at Happy Little Stampers CAS we have a Favorite Technique challenge.  For me, it's coloring hands down.  What about you?  Die cutting?  Texture?  Mixed Media?  As long as you can incorporate your favorite technique into a CAS card, please share it with us!  The more the merrier as they say.

For my card I had a very large Penny Black stamp (my guess is by Mo Manning) that would dominate the front of an A2 card.  To make it more CAS I offset the image to look like she's swinging off the card.  Lots of fun movement, fun to color and lots of open space.  The merry diecut took care of the ornament hook dangling in midair.  It's quite a clever solution imo. 

The Details:  Penny Black Little Elf Finn, Memento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Up Merry die, Simon Says Stitched Rectangle die, Copic R24, 27, 39 (berries), YR21, 27, Y38 (hair), R22, 24, 27, 29, 39 (ornament), 0, N0, T1 (fur), G21, 24, 28 (holly), R02, 22 (lips), E00, 02, 53 (skin), B21, 24, 26, 39 (clothing)

I'm entering this in Addicted to Stamps and More #173 Holiday,  Crafter's Cafe #138 Diecuts or Punches, Penny Black Saturday Dies or Punches,

Hello, Hello!

I love these HLS elephants with their cute blankets!  They called out to be bright and cheery and fun.  Who am I to argue with an elephant?  The polka dots of the washi is like icing on the cake.  Mmm, cake.  Double mmm, elephant size cake.

The Details:  Happy Little Stampers Whimsical Friends, Copics, washi tape, Sakura white pigment pen, Memento Tuxedo Black, Recollections 110lb white cardstock, PTI 140lb white cardstock base

I'm entering this in AAA Cards  #53 Anything Goes, Tuesday Throwdown 272 Cute and Cuddly

Snowman Shaker

Hello!   We've having an ultra fun and inspirational holiday House of Cards blog hop with some really great sponsors for our December picture inspiration challenge.  I'm the last stop so if  you haven't already checked out Tammy's blog before mine, please do so.  If you've missed any of the other fab designers, you can head on back to HOC for a full list of participants!

For my card I'm using the cutest image from Great Impressions. I knew I wanted to use F251 Build a Snowman but wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do with it.  When that happens with a Christmas card, I search through my box of crafty holiday goodness.  This paper was perfect--a little snow, lots of sentiments, and happy colors.  I colored up the image pulling in the reds, greens and blues from the DP.

I had also run across these instant shaker majiggers in my stash.  You just sprinkle a bit of glitter on the image, peel the backing off the instashaker and plop it right down on top of the image and pile of glitter.  So easy.  You then cut a circle in your top paper and pop it over.  I had cut the wrong size circle initially but no worries since that gave me the idea to turn it into a wreath.