Merry Christmas Cards for Wild Orchid Crafts

Hello, everyone!! It's my turn to post on the Wild Orchid Crafts Blog and I'd love for you to stop by and say hi if you have time :) I have a couple of Christmas cards to share with you today, featuring poinsettias made with Foamiran.

It's never too early to start on Christmas cards, right??!! I'm always behind by the time December rolls around and at the rate the months are flying by, it will be here before I know it :) To create the poinsettias, I used white flower making foam and colored them with oil pastels. For the centers, I used white Bead Berry Spray Clusters.

I also used Babies Breath Fabric Flowers, Hip Rosebuds, Aster Daisies, White Frosted Berries, Mulberry Paper Leaves, Skeleton Leaves, Vintage Seam Binding and Sissal.

Some close-ups of the Foamiran flowers:

I am entering these in the following challenges:

1) Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes
2) Dies R Us Challenge #80 - Die Cut Handmade Flowers
3) Word Art Wednesday - Anything Goes
4) Jo's Scrap Shack Funday Friday - Anything Goes

Wild Orchid Crafts Products Used

White Foamiran Flower Making Foam

White Bead Berry Spray Clusters ~ GST-155

White Babies Breath Flowers

Pale Blue Babies Breath Flowers ~ MKX-290

White Hip Rosebuds ~ GST-020

White Mulberry Paper Aster Daisies ~ GST-216

White Frosted Berry Spray ~ MKX-600

White Mulberry Paper Leaves With Stem (30mm) ~ MKX-450

Natural Skeleton Leaves ~ MKX-285

Vintage Seam Binding Ribbon - White ~ MKX-772

Sissal

Thanks so much for stopping by!!

Have a great day :)

Anything But Cute Secret Santa

Happy Friday!! I hope you have fun plans for the weekend!! The design team of Anything But Cute held a Secret Santa drawing to create a project for one of our dear sisters. I was so excited to draw as my Secret Santa, the sweet, lovely and amazingly talented Branka of Vintage Handmade!! She is one of the nicest, most talented artists I've met in blogland and I'm so honored to be teamies with her!! I wanted to create something special for Branka since she is such an amazing person!! This is the card that I sent in a package to her in Croatia :)

For this card, I used papers from Maja Designs Winter Frost Basics set. I love this paper stack, and especially this vintage Santa image!! I wanted to showcase it with this card :) What a beautiful representation of Christmas!! The edges of all the papers were distressed with a Zutter DIA.

The back layer is a Precious Marieke Snowflake border die. The gorgeous crinkle ribbon is Steel Blue from the DL.ART Blues Bundle which matched perfectly with the papers. Tucked beneath the Santa photo are Impression Obsession Pine Branch dies, Impression Pine Sprigs dies and Sue Wilson Designs Holly Sprays.

The tree is an Impression Obsession Fir Tree die. It was covered in DecoArt Crackle Paste and once it dried, it was brushed with DecoArt Antiquing Cream in Raw Umber, which was then wiped off, leaving it in the cracks. Believe is a My Creative Time die and it was cut once in Maja paper and once in black for a shadow. It was popped up with foam tape for dimension.

The card was finished up with DecoArt Snow Writer for a frosty effect :) I am entering this in the following challenges:

1) Dies R Us - Christmas

How excited am I that my Secret Santa is the amazing Pamellia of My Little Craft Things!! Oh, I can't tell you how honored I am to own one of her stunning masterpieces!! Wow!! They are even more spectacular in person!! It's sitting on a special shelf in my craft room where I can gaze at it every day and be so inspired!! It is truly a work of art!! And not only did Pamellia send a card, but...

...she created this gorgeous handmade ornament, too!! I have my (sadly artificial) pre-lit tree up and I haven't had a chance to put any ornaments on it at all. I can't tell you how happy I was to receive this stunning one!! It is the most gorgeous ornament I've ever seen!! It's the showplace of my tree!! Please stop by Pamellia's blog, My Little Craft Things, so you can see what she created for me, and then go to the Anything But Cute blog to see what the rest of my sweet sisters created for their Secret Santas!! I guarantee you will be inspired!!

Thank you so much for stopping by!! Have a great weekend!! Big hugs :)

A Vintage Journey Guest Designer

Hi, everyone!! I'm so excited and honored to be a guest designer today at A Vintage Journey!! AVJ is a challenge blog focusing on vintage, shabby, mixed-media, art journaling, industrial, timeworn and steampunk genres. Design Team Member Deb has chosen the theme "Winter Magic". Here's how she describes the challenge:

For us in the northern hemisphere December brings the start of winter and for many that means freezing cold weather and Christmas. But winter is so much more than that and so we ask, how would you interpret the magic of winter? Snow, icicles, colors of blue, silver and white, the festivities of Christmas, misty winter landscapes; show us what your magical focus is for the season and in a vintage; shabby; mixed-media; art journaling; industrial or steampunk style.

I love Deb's theme of Winter Magic!! For several years, I lived in the Adirondack Mountains in upstate New York and winters there were definitely magical (and covered in snow). I wanted to recreate that image of a wintry mountain town for my project. I started with a 6x6 canvas and covered it with Gesso.

Next, I used a stencil and crackle paste to add the snowflakes. While the paste was still wet, I added some glitter. After it dried, I brushed a light wash of Bahama Blue over the surface.

Then I chose which dies I wanted to use to create the town and cut them in watercolor paper. They were then covered with Gesso.

The mountains and hills were covered with texture paste through stencils, as was the town (not pictured).

The trees were all covered with crackle paste. Once they dried, I dabbed Tim Holtz Distress Stain in Brushed Pewter over the trees. Once it settled in the cracks, I wiped the excess off.

The village and moose were brushed with Brushed Pewter Distress Stain as well.

To finish it off, I used DecoArt Snow Writer to create the dimensional snow, and while it was still wet, I covered it in crystal ice glitter for that freshly fallen snow look.

I want to sincerely thank the extremely talented design team for A Vintage Journey for allowing me to design with them today!! Thanks so much for stopping by!! Have a great day :)

Scrapy Land Challenge #55 - Anything Goes

Happy Wednesday!! I hope you are having a wonderful week!! It's time for a new challenge at Scrapy Land and the theme is Anything Goes Plus a brand of die Scrapy Land carries...there are over 40 to choose from!! You could win a $15 gift certificate to shop at Scrapy Land :)

For my cards, I used papers from Lemoncraft's Christmas Greetings stack. The ribbon is Christmas Red and Christmas Green from DL.ART's Christmas bundle.

The back layer is a Frantic Stamper Evergreen Forest Edger die. On the bottom background is a Precious Marieke Swirl Border die.

On the middle panel is a Wild Rose Studios Snow Swirl border. Memory Box Resting Birds were covered in glitter and added to the swirls.

The sled is a Memory Box Winter Sled Large die. It was covered with DecoArt Crackle Paste and once it dried, it was covered with DecoArt Antiquing Cream in Red Oxide.

Tucked under the Wild Orchid Crafts poinsettias are Impression Obsession Pine Sprigs dies. The sentiment banner is a Sue Wilson Pierced Flag die. To finish off the cards, I used a DecoArt Snow Writer, glitter, sisal and white paint applied with a Tim Holtz Splatter Brush.

Scrapy Land Dies Used

Memory Box Winter Sled Large

Frantic Stamper Evergreen Forest Edger 

Impression Obsession Pine Sprigs

Memory Box Resting Birds

Wild Rose Studios Snow Swirl

Sue Wilson Pierced Flag

Wild Rose Studios Snow Swirl

Precious Marieke Swirl Border

I am entering these in the following challenges:

1) Dies R Us - Christmas
2) Little Scrap Pieces Show It Off Saturday - Anything Goes

Now it's your turn!! Head on over to Scrapy Land to see the amazing projects my design team sisters have created for today's challenge!! Then link up your Anything Goes project using a brand of die that Scrapy Land carries!! I can't wait to see what you create :)

Scrapping4fun Challenges Guest Designer

Happy Thursday evening, everyone!! I hope all my friends in the USA had a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration today!! I'm so excited to be a guest designer again at Scrappin4Fun Challenges!! The theme this week is Christmas :)

For my Christmas cards, I started with papers from Maja Designs. A Tim Holtz Treeline die was cut in heavyweight cardstock and added to the background.

Tucked in front of the tree line are small poinsettias and white stamens from Wild Orchid Crafts. The large poinsettia is also from WOC and in the center, a WOC fabric baby's breath flower was added.

Sparkly mesh was added to the bottom of the card, along with lace from my stash. Happy Christmas is a Sue Wilson Designs Die. It was cut with the Maja papers and also foam for dimension.

Tucked beneath the flowers are Impression Obsession Pine Branches and IO Pine Sprigs, and Memory Box Holly Jolly Branches along with sisal. The beautiful ribbon is White as Snow from The Christmas Bundle at DL.ART. A DecoArt Snow Writer gave the card a frosty glow.

I am entering this in the following challenges:

1) Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Christmas To Die For

Thanks to Rachelle and the talented Scrapping4fun design team for having me as a guest designer this week!! And thank you for stopping by!!

Scrapy Land Challenge #53 - Anything Goes

Happy Wednesday!! I hope you are having a wonderful week!! It's time for a new challenge at Scrapy Land and as always, the first challenge of the month is Anything Goes using a brand of die that Scrapy Land carries...there are over 40 to choose from!! You could win a gift certificate for $15 to shop at Scrapy Land!

More Christmas cards today :) For these cards, I used papers from Lemoncraft's Christmas Greetings stack. The edges were distressed with a Zutter DIA.

On the top of the card, I used a Precious Marieke Snowflake Border die, tucked behind the mountains from the Elizabeth Craft Skis die set.

This was one of my favorite cards to make because when I saw the skis die, I just had to have it!! For many years, I lived in Lake Placid, New York, in the heart of the Adirondack Mountains. Lake Placid hosted two Olympic Games and winter sports is king there. I'd never skied until I moved there.

I wanted to give the skis a rustic, used look, so I covered them in DecoArt Crackle Paste. Once it dried and cracked, I used DecoArt Raw Umber Antiquing Cream to bring out the cracks. The bindings were cut in silver paper.

To cut the curved edge, I used the Memory Box Curved Dashing Through the Snow die, and adhered the words along the curve as well. The gorgeous ribbon is from DL.ART.

Beneath the Wild Orchid Crafts poinsettias, are Impression Obsession Pine Branch dies, Impression Obsession Pine Sprigs and Sue Wilson Designs Holly Sprays. This beautiful ribbon is from DL.ART as well. The cards were topped off with a DecoArt Snow Writer, glitter and splatters of white paint with a Tim Holtz Splatter Brush.

I am entering this in the following challenges:

1) Word Art Wednesday - Anything Goes
2) Scrapping4fun Challenges - Anything Goes

Scrapy Land Dies Used

Impression Obsession Pine Branch

Impression Obsession Pine Sprigs

Sue Wilson Designs Holly Sprays 

Elizabeth Craft Skis

Spellbinders Curved Borders 1 (inside)

Precious Marieke Snowflake Border

Memory Box Curved Dashing Through the Snow

Now it's your turn!! Head on over to Scrapy Land to see the amazing projects my design team sisters have created for today's challenge!! Then link up your Anything Goes project using a brand of die that Scrapy Land carries!! I can't wait to see what you create :)

DL.ART Thankful Thursday #172 - Penguins or Black, White, Yellow

Happy Thursday!! I hope you are having a wonderful week!! It's been a chilly one here with snow and ice and wind. Ugh. I'm so ready for spring. It's time for another Thankful Thursday Challenge at DL.ART. The theme is perfect for the frosty temps..penguins!! Or you can use the colors black, white and yellow if you prefer. If you used the code l01210 you will get 10% off your order at DL.ART!!

I had the perfect stamp/die set...these adorable penguins from Hampton Art that my dear friend Sherrie sent to me last year!! Thank you again, Sherrie!! Aren't they the cutest??!! I thought I'd have my little penguin couple taking a stroll through a snowy forest :)

I embossed the background with a Cuttlebug Snowflake embossing folder. The trees are a Sizzix Birch Trees die. I popped them up with foam tape for some dimension from the background. The hills are a Lawn Fawn Hillside Border die. They were given an dusting of snow with a DecoArt Snow Writer. The penguins shine from a Wink of Stella pen. The gorgeous ribbon is Midnight Black from The Newspaper Bundle.

I am entering this in following challenges:

1. Jo's Scrap Shack Funday Friday - Anything Goes

Now it's your turn!! Head on over to DL.ART to see the amazing projects my design team sisters have come up with for this challenge. Then link up your penguin or black, white and yellow projects. I can't wait to see what you create :)