Snowy Christmas in July (by Shirley)

Hello everyone, I hope you are doing well and ready to see some Christmas designs during the hot months of summer :)   At least it's hot where I live in Ontario, Canada which feels great after our long cold and snowy winter. 

I like to get started on Christmas cards early and as soon as I saw the Harlequin Fragments I thought they were a great match with Harlequin Christmas.

The background was created by blending Festive Berries and Aged Mahogany Distress Inks. I stamped the fragment from Harlequin Fragments with Festive Berries DI.  I stamped the bubble edge from Decorative Edges with Seedless Preserves DI and I coloured them with a white gel pen.

The Harlequin ornament and sentiment from Warm Christmas Greetings were stamped with Cobalt Archival ink.  I coloured the ornament with Dylusions inks and cut it out to attach over the background. 

I was very happy to see the two new Christmas sets, Snowy Scenes and Turtle Doves.  Both sets are full of beautiful smaller designs which have been great fun to use while getting a good start on Christmas cards. 

The background above was created a while ago and sitting in my stash.  It looks like I used Turquoise Dylusions inks (possibly a 'mop up' sheet) which I stamped with Big Bold Background Snowflake Shadow and coloured the snowflakes a little with a Tombow marker.   I stamped the Snowy Scene with Colbalt Archival ink, coloured with Prisma pencils and die cut with an ornament.   I was inspired by a design former DT member Elaine created a year & half ago using the same die.  As soon as I saw the little scenes in the set, it came to my mind to use my die for the first time.   Let it Snow is a clear stamp available on it's own or part of the Big Bold Christmas Words clear set.


I have one more card using the same little Snowy Scene image:

The background above was created with Lime and Green Dylusions inks.   I over stamped a little snowflake from the Snowy Scenes set and used TCW Starfall stencil with Distress Ink and TCW Circle Explosion stencil with Viva  Mother of Pearl light blue molding cream which has a silver hue.  I coloured the main image with Prisma pencils and added lots of glitter to the snow.   

Thanks for your visit and have a great day!
Shirley

Blue Winter Wonderland (by Shirley)

Hello everyone, I hope your week is going well.

I have a design today that takes a little break from "Spooky Creations".    I had a 'play' with the new fabulous Bold Christmas Words clear stamp set, the fonts are beautiful and the sizes are great to use as a focal point.   

I created the background using Dylusions Spray Inks - Teal, Midnight, Turquoise & White (spritzed with water & blotted with a paper towel roll).   I stamped the Big Bold Background - Snowflake Shadow with Salty Ocean & Seedless Preserves Distress Inks.    Winter Wonderland  from Bold Christmas Words was stamped on a 'mop up' piece of watercolour paper and I used Spellbinder S5-015 to mat. 

Please keep come back often as we have lots more to show you this month :)

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!
Shirley

Gold Snowflakes (by Shirley)

Hello everyone, I hope you are enjoying the weekend !

I'm back with another Christmas design, this time using the beautiful new Big Bold Background - Snowflake Shadow.     This card can easily be duplicated to make a quick batch of cards.  I plan to make more in different colours :)

I stamped and embossed the background with Gold.   Next I blended a little Picked Raspberry and Peacock Feather Distress Inks over the background.   'Merry Christmas' is from Gothic Angels which I also embossed with gold and blended a little Seedless Preserves Distress Ink around it.  The die is Spellbinder S4-322.    I added a couple of snowflake charms hanging out in my embroidery stash and rhinestones in the centres of the flakes.   Easy !

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day,
Shirley

Christmas cards, batch style (posted by Judith)

Hi folks, I have a couple of quick cards to show you today. I am always in a hurry as Christmas is approaching to get all of my cards made, and these new Big Backgrounds are just perfect for batch making. My first card uses the Poinsettia background stamp. I have created a background using alcohol inks, and then stamped onto the card using a dark green archival inkpad. The background was so pretty that I didn't want to add anything to the flowers themselves, apart from a few beads in the centres. I stamped a sentiment from the Gothic Angels stamp sheet, and placed this onto a piece of red satin ribbon across the card. This card was made very quickly, and could easily be made in batches.

My second card uses the Snowflake Shadow Big Background stamp.I have embossed the background using clear embossing powder, and then blended three different colour blue Distress Inks over the background. I have added a sentiment from the Pears and Baubles stamp sheet. I die cut a Crealie open flower which looks just like a snowflake when you cut it with white card, and matches the stamp very well. Some organza ribbon and a large gem finish the card.

So, I am well on my way with my Christmas cards, several more to go, but these stamps have got me in the mood to make some batches of cards. I hope that I have inspired you to have a go as well. Thanks for stopping by, Judith xx

Blue and Gold Snowflakes by Glenda

Here's a simple and quick card with the Snowflake Shadow background.  I stamped with Majestic Blue Versafine onto a pale blue card and embossed with holographic embossing powder (trust me on that, the photo doesn't show it at all).  The greeting is from Gothic Angels and is stamped in the same ink onto a strip of card that I then used a large corner rounder on.

I added some gold stickles to the snowflakes and a snowflake embellishment to the centre of one.  I found some gold glitter card in my stash so used that behind the background and sentiment, added a piece of ribbon (which I have been hoarding for about 10 years) and layered the whole thing onto an old gold 7 inch card.

If I was doing this again, I don't think I'd bother embossing the background stamp, the colour combination is striking enough and the stickles and glitter card adds enough bling to be eye catching.  Leaving out the embossing would speed up production of a batch of these too.

How are you getting on with your Christmas card making?