Die-Versions Christmas Ornaments

Happy Monday!! I hope all of your holiday preparations are going well!! I still don't have all of my shopping done or cards made - ugh!! Time's running out one me. It's my turn to post on the Die-Versions blog and I have a Christmas project to share with you today. If you use the code lisa15 you'll receive 15% off your regular price Die-Versions order.

I made ornaments last year using Die-Versions dies and vinyl and I just loved how they turned out, so I made more this year. You can see last year's version HERE.

I started with clear ornaments and then removed the top. I poured about a tablespoon of Future Floor Polish inside and rolled it around until it coated the entire surface. Then I added the glitter and rolled the ornament until the entire surface was covered. Isn't the sparkle gorgeous??!! The Whispers Christmas Word Tree was cut in green vinyl and then adhered to the front of the ornament. If it doesn't lay flat or bumps appear, you can just use a heat gun to flatten the vinyl.

For this one, I used the Whispers Angels of Peace, cut in red vinyl. The dies cut the vinyl perfectly. The beautiful crinkle ribbon is Christmas Red from DL.ART's Traditional Christmas Bundle and the green is Christmas Green from the same bundle.

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 :)

DL.ART Thankful Thursday #194 - Any Winter Holiday

Happy Thursday, everyone!! It's time for a new Thankful Thursday challenge at DL.ART!! The theme with week is Any Winter Holiday. If you used the code l01210, Diana will give you 10% off your purchase at DL.ART.

For my cards, I used papers from Lemoncrafts Christmas Greetings stack.

Texture paste was applied through a stencil for the background.

The mountains are an Elizabeth Crafts Skis die. They were embossed and then given a dusting of snow (DecoArt Snow Writer and Sparkle N Sprinkle Crystal Ice glitter).

The sleigh is an Xcut Reindeer and Sleigh die. I used the same technique as the sled on yesterday's card...DecoArt Crackle Texture Paste and then when it dried, it was covered with DecoArt Antiquing Cream and then wiped off, leaving it in the cracks.

A Joy Crafts Banner die was cut with textured vellum. Merry Christmas was embossed with Sparkle N Sprinkle White Detail Embossing Powder.

The poinsettias are from Wild Orchid Crafts. Tucked underneath are Impression Obsession Pine Sprigs and Impression Obsession Pine Branch dies. This gorgeous crinkle ribbon is Christmas Green from the Traditional Christmas Bundle.

It's a little hard to see in the pictures, but a Precious Marieke Snowflake Border die is along the bottom of the woodgrain paper. Dec 25 is a My Creative Time die, covered in Sparkle N Sprinkle Crystal Ice glitter. This beautiful ribbon is Christmas Red from the Traditional Christmas Bundle.

I am entering this in the following challenges:

1) Word Art Wednesday - Anything Goes
2) Sparkle N Sprinkle December Challenge - Anything Goes

Now it's your turn!! Head on over to DL.ART to see the amazing projects my design team sisters have created for today's challenge!! Then link up your Any Winter Holiday project!! I can't wait to see what you create :)