March 2019 Keeping Christmas Blog Hop

Hello everyone!  It's the 25th of the month so that means it's time for the next edition of the Keeping Christmas Blog Hop!  Thanks for popping in today to see my projects.  I am super happy with the way these turned out even though when I first started this technique, I wasn't too sure it was going to turn into anything.  This particular group of cards was started by just playing with Alcohol Inks on an 11" x 14" sheet of Heavyweight Yupo.  I don't normally like the heavyweight because you can't die cut words out of it, but I have a sheet or two left still that I'm planning to make backgrounds out of as well.

This is going to be a long and very photo heavy post, but I got a lot of questions about the background when I posted this one on Instagram, so I want to be able to give you some of that information in this post.

To create this background was simply sitting with my Alcohol Inks and also my new Alcohol Pearls along with some of the Pinata Alcohol Ink in Brass and playing using a combination of Alcohol Blending Solution and Rubbing Alcohol.  I used 99% Alcohol for this project but it can be hard to find.  It also evaporates quickly giving you less time. The 91% is easier to find and doesn't evaporate quite as fast.  The 70% Rubbing Alcohol that I always have around for cleaning doesn't work too well as it evaporates much more slowly.  All told, I spent about two hours getting the large piece to look the way I wanted which was agate or marble with gold veins running through it. I love the end result but the larger sheets of Yupo can be a challenge.  I knew I wanted to use vivid pinks, purples, and reds for this piece so I pretty much restricted myself to those colors.

You can also do this technique and then run it through your laminator or Minc machine with Deco Foil, but the Brass Pinata ink is a far superior choice to the Mixitives that are part of the regular alcohol ink line of products.   I wanted that bright shiny gold to give it the more defined look of actual veins, so I chose that product rather than a mixative.  The Alcohol Ink Mixative's give more of a pearly color than the bright pop of gold and you can't really get the super defined look of veins without laminating it or rubbing deco foil on it while the ridges are still slightly tacky.

I used an Air Puffer from one of my previous cameras to move the ink around because I don't like to get too close to the fumes of the alcohol.  Plus, it puts out a bigger puff of air and I can lay it on my table to move the ink around.  Rather than bringing it up to my mouth level and not really being able to see where it's moving.  Mostly it's a whole lot of playing until you get a result you like.

I posted this image on Instagram and it was done on a sheet of glossy cardstock rather than Yupo.  Let's face it, Yupo Paper is expensive.  Therefore, I've had to try other materials for this method.

Here are some things to know about working with Alcohol Inks:

• They are messy and they stain!  So I have trash bags over the back of my chair and the seat of my chair and I wear an apron or an older t-shirt.  My work Surface is glass, but I use a craft mat on top of that.  If you are working on a smaller panel, it's easier to contain some of the mess. 
• When working with Alcohol Inks on Yupo, you can clean up a mistake by cleaning it with a bit of alcohol ink on a paper towel or rag.
• When working with Glossy Cardstock, there is no going back.  You can add ink over the top, but you cannot wipe away a mistake. You can dab at it to remove some of the texture, and then put color over the top again, but you cannot wipe away the color like you can with Yupo.  In the beginning, I only used Yupo until I got a feel for how the inks moved and worked.  I recommend using Yupo in the beginning but cutting the sheets into card sized panels. I like to get the 9 x 12 and cut it into four panels which gives me four pieces of 4.5 x 6 inches so I have a little extra because I like to die cut all of my background panels for the crisp edge.  That size is also less intimidating.
• Alcohol Inks, Blending Solution, and the Rubbing Alcohol will pretty much destroy the finish on the handles and discolor your ink blending tools when using the felt pads, so I have a couple that I use exclusively for this purpose. I'm usually trying to get more texture, so I don't often use the felt pads.  
• Start with just a few colors and play around to see how many different looks you can get.  Once you get a feel for them and if you are happy with your results, then you can add more colors to your collection.
• Last, but not least, playing with Alcohol Inks can be very addictive!  Don't say I didn't warn you!  *Ü*

The biggest thing to do is just sit and play with different techniques.  There are a ton of YouTube videos out there to watch if you want more information.  I've tried the straw method to blow the color around but it doesn't work that well in my particular case because I've had lung surgery so my left lung has diminished capacity.  The puffer works great for me.  It also keeps you from accidentally hyperventilating.  *Ü*  You can find one on Amazon.com. 

Now let's get on to the cards!  This was the first card I made and when I was die cutting the background panel, I didn't tape it down so it wasn't quite straight mean I had to recut it using a slightly small die in order to salvage it.  Then the Gold die cut panel is one size up from that as I like a narrow border most of the time.  That is the main difference in this card from the other five that are like it.  I die cut the Art Deco Tree from the inside of the gold background to save on my gold cardstock.  This first card was also assembled using Ranger Multi Medium Matte for the frame and tree.  Because it is a fine-lined die cut, for the rest of them I used my oldie but good, Xyron in the 2.5-inch width.  It was so much less of a headache than glue!  I pretty much always have the smaller little Xyron sitting on my desk but I don't use it often.  It this case, it was perfect to use for the interior tree in the frame. That frame is a single die from Poppy Stamps called Deco Tree Frame Craft Die and it cuts the frame and tree in one pass.  I love all things Art Deco because of the super clean lines and graphics. 

The Greeting is from a Papertrey Ink stamp set called A Thrill of Hope.  It's one of my favorites for Christmas Cards.  I die cut a Double Stitched Rectangle from My Favorite Things and then stamped with Versamark and Heat Embossed with Simon Says Stamp Antique Gold Embossing Powder being careful to use my Powder Tool (cornstarch these days due to the dangers of talc) on each one of these.  I used a negative as my placeholder in my mini MISTI.  This card has a white border around the edge while the others all have a gold border around the edge.  

These next few cards are all made using cut down panels from that original piece of Yupo, each unique in that each section is from a different part of the larger piece that I cut down for my card panels. 

If you'll look carefully, each of the backgrounds is slightly different since the background was not symmetrical in any way.  Once I started working on these, I had everything I need to make six cards, so I did all the die-cutting from the interior of the background panels for the trees, die cut both layers of the background panels and the stitched rectangles for them sentiment and then just assembled everything.

When I was finished, I had a scrap of the marbled piece big enough to put behind the framed tree die, so I grabbed a sheet of the Scarlet Shimmer Cardstock from Papertrey Ink, and die cut a scallop A2 Notecard from it.  The piece was about 4.25 x 2.75 inches tall so it was big enough to put behind the tree.  I still have a little square left so it's on my table for a possible future something on some other card.

And that, friends, is how I ended up with a 7th and slightly different looking card.  This last card is actually my husband's favorite.  That scrap of Yupo had the largest concentration of the deep red which is why I chose the Scarlet Shimmer Cardstock.

Here they all are together and they are simply gorgeous!  I topped each tree with a sparkling gem for the star on top of the tree.

There are several more stops on this hop today so be sure to stop by each of the blogs and leave some love in the comments section.

Kelly Lunceford

Anita Madden

Broni Holcombe

Claire Broadwater

Julee Tilman

Kim Heggins

Lori Tecler

Nance Salkeld

Nina Forsyth

Vicki Finger (you are here)

Nancy Guse

We all work hard to bring beautiful projects to you each month in a wide variety of styles, so I hope you'll be sure to check out everyone's Blog Posts today.  

I know I haven't been blogging as much but my schedule has been absolutely crazy for the last 10 months.  I'm trying very hard to get back into my normal groove and I have a few deadlines for Blog Hops that I am participating in over the next 5 or 6 weeks.  I thank you very much for all of your visits, and notes of encouragement.  See you soon!

Affiliate Links Used Whenever Possible

Kokuyo Long Dot Runner Adhesive Shop at: SSS	Marvy Jewel Picker Shop at: SSS	Mini MISTI Stamping Tool Shop at: SSS | ALT | GKD	PTI Scarlet Shimmer Cardstock Shop at: PTI
PTI Stamper's Select White Cardstock Shop at: PTI	Ranger Multi Medium Matte Shop at: SSS	Ranger Non-Stick Craft Sheet Shop at: SSS	SSS Antique Gold Embossing Powder Shop at: SSS
SSS Stitched Rectangles Dies Shop at: SSS	Teflon Bone Folder Shop at: SSS	Tim Holtz Ranger Alcohol Pearls - Set of 12 Shop at: SSS	Tim Holtz Tonic Paper Trimmer Shop at: SSS
Tim Holtz/Ranger Alcohol Ink Blending Solution Shop at: SSS	Tim Holtz/Ranger Alcohol Inks Shop at: SSS	Tonic 6 Inch Personal Trimmer Shop at: SSS	Versamark Ink Shop at: SSS
Wagner Heat Tool Shop at: SSS	WPLUS9 Gift Card Layers Designer Dies Shop at: SSS	Yupo Paper 74 lb. Shop at: SSS

Enhancing Embossed Cardstock

Hello there!  Thanks so much for popping in today.  I'm joining in with The Paper Players Challenge this week which has a theme of "Spring".  I'm also going to add this card to a challenge over at Papertrey Ink in Laurie's Fabulous Favorites where we are to use one of our favorite accessories.  One of my favorites in addition to Papertrey Ink's Cardstock is Nuvo Drops.  Seriously, Papertrey Ink Cardstock is #110 and smooth making it perfect for card bases or card panels.  I pretty much use Papertrey's Stamper's Select White Cardstock for all of my card bases.

I know that I am beyond ready to have some sunshine and warmer temperatures for sure. I think this is pretty well reflected in my color choices at the moment which seems to be pastels for the most part.  This is the coldest Texas Winter I remember for many years although we are in North Texas so it will be somewhat cooler than an hour south of us in Dallas.  When we were at a doctor's office on Friday evening, there was a Redbud Tree with tiny little buds on it which is the first sign of spring I have seen.  Later, we also saw a Bradford Pear that had small blooms, so Spring is trying to get here.

I have a few cards to share with you that I made using a bottle of Nuvo Drops to enhance the embossed image on my cardstock.  This is a technique I developed in the last few days and I am so happy with it that I have made a few more cards in addition to the originals I posted on Instagram and Facebook.  I feel like at this point I am perfecting my technique and improving each time as well as getting faster each time I make one of these now.  That is a good thing since having RA makes this pretty hard on my right hand.

I'll share a few tips and trick along the way in case you want to try this yourself. Tip #1:  Make sure that your Nuvo Drops or Liquid Pearls are warm in the bottle so they are pliable which also makes it easier to control where you are putting them and helps make the bottle easier to squeeze.  If the bottle feels cold, you'll need to warm them up.  I usually warm mine up in my hands by sitting and rolling the bottle back and forth in the palms of my hands until I feel like they are more pliable.  In the summer, this isn't an issue but in the winter, my studio gets chillier and they aren't as workable.  You could put the tightly capped bottle in warm water if the rolling in your hands doesn't work.  I haven't had to try that yet.

I have several types of embossing folders in my supplies, but this one kind of always stumps me with what to make with it.  I love the design and it is so pretty that I hate to cover it up.  Therefore, I played around with some embellishments to see what I could come up with.  I used Pale Gold Nuvo Drops for this which have a pearly shimmer to them.  While it came out nicely, I wanted to try something with a bit more contrast.  The image on the left is from my original attempt.  I tried a few more attempts that same day and came up with these two additional cards.

For the second card, I inked up the flat area of the embossing folder with some Simon Says Stamp Lemon Chiffon Ink.  It wasn't very noticeable at first, so I inked it up again which gave me the deep golden tone.  My best friend loves this very Tuscan Yellow color and so I made it into a card for her.  I also used a finger dauber to add some Nuvo Embellishment Mousse to the flowers.  It's actually very pretty in person and I framed it with some Avocado Green Shimmer Cardstock which is another of her favorites.  As I told her boyfriend the other night when we met up for dinner, Sometimes I give her a card because the colors make me think of her and other times I give her a card because I want it to remind her of me.  She loved this and in fact, framed it when she got home.  It just reminds me of the 1970's and all the harvest gold appliances, wood paneling and avocado green carpet that everyone had.  YUCK!  The softer yellow one turned out very pretty and I sent that off to a friend already.

But then I wanted to try some other colors and see how things turned out.  I really like the contrast of the Ivory Seashell Nuvo Drops vs. the soft gold.  But it just so happens that my most recent order from Simon Says Stamp arrived on Friday and I had a Bottle of the brand new Nuvo Dream Drops which are iridescent.  All of the Dream Drops are Iridescent and I got all of the colors available so far;  Gold Luxe, Indigo Eclipse, Love Potion, Fairy Wings, Dragon Scales and Cloud 9.  Translate those names to Soft Gold, Pale Purplish Blue, Pink, Lavender, and Pale Green.  Cloud 9 Dream Drops are White with Iridescent Shimmer.  You'll be able to see the difference in my pictures further along in this post.

I also got the idea that I wanted to add a bit of color to the two main leaves with another finger dauber.  I am anxious to try other colors as well, but there are already three more cards for this post so I'll save that for another time.

Tip #2:  If you mist your cardstock panel with a bit of water, it will take the impression better and your cardstock will not crack.  This particular Embossing Folder is a 3Dimensional Folder so it was somewhat of a challenge to figure out the proper sandwich for my Cuttlebug.  My particular sandwich is C Plate, Magnetic Plate, Metal Shim, B Plate, Tan Embossing Mat, Embossing Folder with cardstock inside, and B Plate.  These folders are really much thicker.  I encourage you to get your folders and try embellishing them with whatever you have such a Nuvo Drops, Liquid Pearls or Stickles.  So far, I like the Ivory Seashell best although I think the gold might look nice on certain colors.  I also think this wouldn't work on darker cardstock.

Since I'm using the very tip of the bottle to "paint" my design, it's important to keep the tip clean and not get a lot of excess product on there.  That's why practice is important.  My first attempt was not bad, but my additional attempts are better.  I have four other cardstock colors embossed and ready to do.  I'll wait until another day for those.  I give my Sisters-In-Law a set of cards every year at Christmas, and I think this will be one of the ones I stash for them.  I also think these would make great Mother's Day Cards.

This card was embossed on Gina K Designs Sea Glass Cardstock.  once I run it through the embossing sandwich, I mist it up again with Iridescent Gold Shimmer Mist and Clear Sparkle Shimmer Mist.  Each of those is very pretty by themselves but I've found the combination is even prettier.  The flowers are sponged with Sea Glass Ink and the leaves with Vintage Jadeite from Papertrey Ink.

Here's a slightly angled view which I hope allows you to see that extra dimension from the side.  I die cut each panel before embossing it with a stitched rectangle die that is slightly smaller than an A2 size panel and then matted it on a gold cardstock panel that is a full A2 size which makes for a 1/16th-inch frame around the embellished panel.

This card is made with Lemon Tart Cardstock and Ink from Papertrey Ink with the same Ivory Seashell Nuvo Drops.  The leaves were again done in Vintage Jadeite.

Here's another slightly angled view for you.  The Sentiment is from the Friendly Flowers Stamp Set.  I used the same narrow mat around each of these card panels.

This last card was done with the Cloud 9 Nuvo Dream Drops and while it is very pretty, it is more subtle and not as striking as the ones done using Ivory Seashell Nuvo Drops.

I hope you enjoyed reading this post and my attempt at trying to stretch my supplies in ways that are a bit unexpected.  These cards were all made with supplies I already had on hand.

Keeping Christmas February 2019 Blog Hop

Welcome to this month's edition of the Keeping Christmas Blog Hop.  It has been a zoo in my life for the last several weeks so I'm very happy that I got some projects finished for this hop!  When time is short, it's easiest to select some patterned paper to fit your theme and do a bit of die cutting for your elements and then just get going on your design.  My original plan was to do just a single card, but it was so easy to pull a few cards together, so I just cut a few more of each piece and made 6 cards in total with a few variations for you.

For several years now I've had this Close To My Heart Stamp Set and matching Designer Series Paper.  I actually have 4 -12 x 12 sheets of this particular paper.  I wanted to use something that had a Christmas Sweater kind of vibe and this was an easy choice.  There are a few embossing folders out there that have the sweater look too, but I don't have any of them yet, so for today, the cards are nice and easy.

I also wanted to show you a few ways to change things up so that each card is indeed unique,  For example, on these cards, I changed up the colors and the way the pattern of the background paper is oriented to give each card a different look.  I used cardstock in Pure Poppy, Aqua Mist and Smokey Shadow for the various elements.  I did not try heat embossing the sentiment on to Smokey Shadow Cardstock with one of the other colors but that's a possibility that I did not try here.

For this card, I put the background vertically for a different look than the traditional horizontal sweater.  It is a completely different look and those vertical lines are cool.  Who doesn't want to look tall and skinny!

I also played around with different embellishments like sequins but in the end, there weren't any sequins that I felt added to the card so I kept it simple by using the Black Gloss Nuvo Drops in the center of the flowers - all the different varieties.  In the first image, I hadn't yet added any embellishments so that you can see if adding them would be a win for you.  I personally like the payoff I got for a little bit of extra work that I did while catching up on some of my TV Shows that were recorded.  Here are all the stops along the hop:

Kelly Lunceford

Anita Madden

Broni Holcombe

Claire Broadwater

Julee Tilman

Kim Heggins

Lori Tecler

Nance Salkeld

Nina Forsyth

Vicki Finger (You are Here)

Nancy Guse

Thanks so much for stopping by today and be sure to ask if you have any questions.  The thing I most enjoy about the Keeping Christmas Blog Hop is the fact that I am using things I already have to create a few cards at a time.  All of the cardstock I used today is from Papertrey Ink.

Papertrey Ink's Win It Wednesday

Look at me getting more than one blog post done in a week!  This card is for the Win It Wednesday Challenge over at Papertrey Ink.  This week's challenge is Stand Alone Dies.  While I am at it, I will add this to Virgina Lu's Show & Share as well.  There's no prizes or rules so we can share as often as we want to.

I have mentioned this in previous posts, but I  LOVE Art Deco Styles and so I have another Art Deco Styled group of die cuts that I am using to make my card.  And if you know me, I always love the chance to put Pink and Gold Together.

These things all came from Papertrey Ink with the exception of the label that I stamped my greeting on. That particular die I got several years ago (maybe 15 or so) at the Great American Scrapbook Convention in Arlington, TX at the Spellbinders Booth.  They had several small dies in a box that had been discontinued and this one was love at first sight for me.  I actually always loved it, but more than ever since I got my Gemini Die Cutting Machine because it embosses dies so very well!  Before that, I embossed it in my Cuttlebug but the detail just didn't show up that well.  Now you can really see that bookplate detail and I like to brush some ink in the matching color on it to bring those sweet details out even more.

The products that I used are Sweet Blush Cardstock, Gold Foiled Cardstock, Cover Plate: Twist, Sweet Blush Ink, and I am loving the Delicates Dies all layered up.  These dies are just so striking when you put them together this way.

As I did on some of the previous cards I've shared here and on Instagram, I use my bone folder to curve the bottom petals downward and the upper petals upward.  Then I put two or 3 layers of foam tape under the base flower and just a glue dot in the center to adhere the top layer to it.  It makes it looks so much fuller and more like a flower.  I just love these dies.  Right now, I just want to put them on everything!

This is another of those cards that you have almost no stamping to complete.  I love doing layered florals, but sometimes I want to do something cleaner and simpler to do.  I like pretty much every style of cardmaking and this style is no exception.  It's so clean and graphic!

This image lets you see how the bottom layer of petals are bent downward and the top layer bent upward.

I'll get back to stamping sometime soon, but right now I am enjoying playing with some of the Cover Plate Dies that I have and combining them with other things that I also have.

I'll be looking forward to seeing what everyone completes for their projects over at the Win It Wednesday Link-Up.  Thanks for stopping by to check out my project!

Simon Says - No Stamps Allowed!

Hey there!  I just saw the new Wednesday Challenge over at Simon Says Stamp and lo and behold I just finished making a card that totally works for this challenge so I thought I'd pop in here with a blog post.

If you saw my last post, then you know that I have been playing a ton with some of my new goodies from Hero Arts and the Delicates Dies from Papertrey Ink.  The most recent kit from Hero Arts is Art Deco in Style which I love so I am still playing with that and other dies I have in my collection.  When I first started cardmaking, I couldn't stamp worth a darn, so I made lots of cards with die cuts only.  This is definitely a  throwback to those days.  

Part of the reason I really like Art Deco is that the lines are always so graphic which makes for a super striking look in a card.  

The cover die I am using is in the Hero Arts My Monthly Hero Kit for February 2019.  With other things I have in my supplies, I could play for weeks with this stuff!  

My card project for the Challenge is simple die cutting at it's best for the most part.  I did decide to use a technique that Jennifer McGuire shared during that blog hop that you can find at this link.

This card uses Light Blue, Medium Grey, Dark Blue Shimmer Cardstock and of course the gold cardstock that gives all of that shine.  The diamond die cuts are from very old QuicKutz dies that I have had for many years with 5 different sizes in the group.  I have another card that I will be using them for coming up ad the "hello" die cut is from the Hero Arts Stamp and Cut Hello Set.

Everything here is super simple and all you have to do is the die cutting and assembly.  I cut several of each piece I was working with so I could just play with the colors and see what combinations I could come up with.  In fact, I will have more cards to share in the coming days.  I am enjoying my time playing with these dies, stencils and other products.  

Just a short and sweet post for today.  I'm still working on getting my links list straightened out but hope to have that done by the end of this coming weekend.  

A Simple Art Deco Card

Hello Everyone!  It's good to have time to sit and write a blog post with some detailed information for you!  My card today is for the Fusion Card Challenge and my card is loosely based on the sketch provided.  For me, it seems like a background, with a frame and a central focal point.  So that is what I made.

I'll also be linking this up over on the February Show and Share Challenge at Virginia Lu's Blog, Yes, Virginia.

I've been playing around with my Altenew Watercolor 36 Pan Set just to get a feel for how the color moves on different types of watercolor paper.  For this card, I used Frayed Leaf, Forest Glades and a touch of Evergreen Watercolors on Arches Hot Pressed Watercolor Paper.  The hardest part of watercolor for me is letting it dry to see what I have.  I haven't attempted to watercolor actual objects, I am simply making soft watercolor washes to use for backgrounds.  Sometimes I speed it along with the help of my heat tool but on this particular day, I was working on two pieces and just switched back and forth.

When my best friend was up over the weekend, she noticed this particular background piece and wondered what I was making with it.  She loves greens, so I decided I'd make something for her with it.  I'm also playing with the My Monthly Hero Kit for February 2019.  The particular die I used for the frame on this card was a part of the Add-On Items that were available with the kit.  This one is called Vintage Window Fancy Die.  There are other gorgeous add-on's available and the kit itself has a gorgeous cover style die and stencil in it that I haven't yet gotten to play with or use.  The kit and another order both arrived on Friday and I got my Delicates Dies from Papertrey Ink.  They were out of stock for quite a while and last evening was the first time I had a chance to use them.

For this card, I primarily used only dies with a simple stamped greeting.  I knew after seeing my friend, Kelly Lunceford's cards back when these dies were released, exactly how I wanted to use them.

Anytime I have flowers or leaves that I am attaching to a card, I like to use my bone folder to add some curve to the petals or leaves. Because it is so slick, my Teflon Bone Folder is the perfect thing to do this with.  Since the dies are very delicate, I did this gently.  I took them bottom flower and curved the petals downward and then attached it with a double layer of foam tape.  For the top flower, I curved the petals upward and just used a glue dot underneath to attach it to the bottom flower.  Then I added a gold gemstone in the center of the flower.  This gives a lot of extra dimension to the blooms.  I don't know if it was the intent or not of the designer, Dawn McVey, but these make me think of Dahlias.

This was super simple and quick to do if you already have backgrounds made, which I feel like I always do.  I have a lot of watercolor washes and alcohol inked backgrounds plus I'm always experimenting so this is a great and easy way to use them without having to drag out a ton of stuff.

I'm adding a couple of additional views for you here so you can see the extra dimension.

I love how this card turned out and it was super easy to do.  I'll have more upcoming projects for you soon using more Art Deco Styled products because I absolutely love Art Deco.  I also like Art Nouveau styles but with its cleaner graphic lines, Art Deco is my #1 Favorite.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I really appreciate it when you take time to comment so I know if you enjoy my content.

Show and Share with Yes Virginia - February 2019

Hello there!  I am here today with a blog post and project for the monthly Show & Share event held by Virginia Lu of the Yes, Virginia Blog.  As I was sitting down yesterday to stamp one of my all-time favorite stamp sets, I remembered what it is that I love so much about card making.  I'll go into that a little more as we get into today's post but one of the nice things about this is that we can use any brand or combination of brands that we have.  I have multiple brands of products, so I love this.  I'll also be entering this card in the Papertrey Ink Win-It Wednesday Challenge.

Way back on June 25th of last year, I was accepted into the Altenew Educator Certification Program.  I completed that program in January and I am a fully Certified Altenew Educator now.  I learned so much during my class time; many new techniques and many techniques that I knew of, but hadn't ever tried.  It was a lot of fun.  But as I sat working on this card yesterday, I realized what it is that's been missing lately.

Sometimes, I need or want to put a bunch of cards together for one of my Sisters-In-Law or all of them as is the case at Christmas.  But what I most enjoy is putting together one card that has multiple techniques making it a one of a kind work of art from my heart to someone else's. I also really miss that I haven't had time lately to focus as much on that and, not much time to write blog posts.  Between moving, classes and getting situated with all of my new doctors, I just haven't had as much time to focus on that.  I've missed it and I want to get back to that by participating in Challenges at all of my favorite companies and get back to my blog.  Today's post is the start of that.

We're pretty much settled into our new house except for the garage which continues to remain full of boxes that need to be unpacked and more things donated that we are not using.  This house is quite a bit smaller with a lot less closet space, so even though we donated or auctioned off lots of stuff before the move, we still need to do more.  There are a few kitchen things that I haven't found yet, but probably most everything else can be donated.

I made a card for my daughter and son-in-law last week and have already mailed it, but today is their wedding anniversary and I know it didn't have time to arrive yet because I didn't get it to the mailbox until Friday.  I could have driven it there faster!  Since we were supposed to go to their house this morning to stay with the grands while they went to Anniversary Brunch, I got up early and assembled a card with the things I had already die cut and stamped to pull a quick card together so that I could hand it to them on their way out the door.  The weather is pretty crummy in North Texas today, so they canceled.  That means I had time to photograph my card to share with all of you.

This card is the one that I already mailed.  You might have seen it on my Instagram Account, found here. This was a large square card about 6.5 x 6.5 and I featured the Altenew Mega Alphabet dies after covering some cardstock with the Gilded Ombre Washi Tape to die cut my letters from.  Then I created a bloom and leaves using the leftovers of the covered cardstock with Altenew Garden Picks and Rose Flurries 3D Dies.  The little embossed heart is a die I've had for many years.  The gilded washi tapes from Altenew are just stunning!

Anyhow, let's get on with today's project!  Since I was going to have things out to make a spring card, I decided to die cut enough elements to stamp extra florals.  This is probably my all-time favorite Spring floral, Tulip Time from Papertrey Ink.  This design is from Betsy Veldman and is always worth the effort it takes to stamp all of the layers.  I made 4 sets in all; two in different pinks, one in corals and one in purples.  My daughter really loves Coral, so I decided to create a new card from that set of blooms.

For the tulip bloom colors, I chose the Altenew Red Cosmos Ink Cube family stamping the first layer in Frosty Pink, the 2nd layer in Coral Berry and the 3rd layer in Ruby Red.  I love Altenew Inks and the Ruby Red is a true representation of the color a Ruby should be.  I worked for a jewelry store when we lived in Topeka and Rubies should be deep brilliant red, not pink.  That said, Rubies of that quality can cost far more than diamonds so the lesser quality is typically what you see in the retail market.  Rubies can also have inclusions like diamonds, so the quality of the stone itself also makes them more expensive in some cases.

For the foliage, I used my favorite combination of greens from Papertrey Ink, Vintage Jadeite and New Leaf.  If I would have needed more than two colors I would have chosen one of the Altenew green collections.

My top folding card base is made from Cougar Digital White Super Smooth 110# cardstock.  I love this cardstock so much, even more than Neenah Solar White 110#.  It is smoother and less expensive than the Neenah as well.  I normally use Papertrey Ink Stamper's Select White for my cardbase, but this time I decided to use all the same product.  Most of the time I stamp my images on the Cougar Digital White and then make my card base from the Papertrey Ink 110# white.  It is so smooth that the ink just evens out beautifully!  After the ink on the tulips had dried, I hit them with a layer of Iridescent Gold Shimmer Mist and some Clear Sparkle Shimmer Mist.  This tends to make the paper curl a bit which is what gives the images that slightly rounded appearance.

I cut a 4.25 x 5.5-inch piece of Berry Sorbet Cardstock from one of my Stitched Rectangle Dies and then ran it through my machine with an embossing folder.  I'm sorry I don't know the name and there's not one on it.  It was actually too wide to fit through my Cuttlebug, so my husband cut one side off of it for me.  That was about 3 years ago and I didn't have my Gemini back then.  Once I had that done, going direct to paper (DTP), I gently ran a Delicata Golden Glitz ink pad all along the surface of the cardstock to put some gold sheen on the raised areas.  This is my background panel.  I was going to use some Nuvo Embellishment Mousse, but mine was completely dried out so I couldn't use it until I have time to revive it with some water.  I also hit it with some of my favorite Iridescent Gold Shimmer Mist and set it aside to dry while I worked on the foreground panel.  I die cut the Shape Shifters Oval #2 from Papertrey Ink.  I really love this die and the edge is one I haven't seen elsewhere.  I cut a piece of fun foam for the back of the background panel to give it a bit of dimension and glued that down with Gina K Designs Connect Glue.  I love adhering fun foam with this because tape runner just doesn't work very well on foam.  I attached that to the card base.  Next, I used the same Delicata Ink to go all around the edge of the oval die cut and adhered it to the background panel with some foam tape.

Using connect glue, I adhered the stems of the tulips together how I wanted to arrange them.  This allows me to keep my arrangement intact but I can tuck some narrow pieces of foam tape behind the blooms for dimension.  I just use kind of a skinny strip vertically down the center of the blooms so that they keep that rounded appearance.

The banner is from the Papertrey Ink Paper Clippings: Happy Birthday Dies and it stays on my desk pretty much all of the time.  I used the Papertrey Ink - Inspired: Love Die for the word.  By putting Foam Tape on the center 2/3rds of the banner, it gives the appearance of being slightly rounded instead of flat.  All in all, this card is loaded with texture, dimension, sparkle, and shine.  I considered adding a few jewels or sequins, but I felt they detracted rather than enhanced the card so I left them off.

This is my project for today.  We've had a lot of really grey days this winter in Texas and I was ready to work with some bright Springtime colors. I hope you'll be able to join in with the challenge at Virginia's Blog or the Papertrey Challenge or both!  Thanks for stopping by today!  I appreciate that you took time out of your day to check out my post.  I will soon return to linking products for you as well, but I've got some significant updating to do before that can happen.

February 2019 My Monthly Hero Kit - Art Deco

Hello there!  I know its been quite a few days since I wrote a blog post but I wanted to share this news with you all.  I just became an affiliate for Hero Arts and they actually send a Newsletter out to their affiliates with information to share with my readers, so I wanted to be sure you got to see this month's, My Monthly Hero Kit!

I fell in love with Art Deco Architecture when I was in high school.  Until we moved to Tulsa in 2010, I had no idea that Tulsa boasts one of the nations largest collections of Art Deco Architecture.  They have a Deco District in Downtown Tulsa as well as many other buildings throughout the city and even a museum called The Tulsa Deco Museum.  You can see all the possibilities on the Tulsa Convention and Visitors Bureau page HERE.

While I did order this month's kit with most of the add-ons, I haven't received mine yet, but I'm providing links for you in this post.

Are you ready to party like it's 1922? Step back in time with this month's kit, inspired by the sophisticated glamour and swinging jazz of the era. Your projects will be the bee's knees when you craft with the stylish stamps in this month's kit! We've included a bag of gold and black Mirror Confetti, as well as the prettiest, shiniest silver and gold reflective cardstocks, which look amazing when die cut with this month's Art Deco-inspired Fancy Die. A fun new element rounds out the kit - a smaller stencil of gorgeous architectural design, sized perfectly for handmade cards! Be sure to check it out:

February 2019 My Monthly Hero


The Kit Price is $34.99 and includes the following:

• 6" x 8" Clear Stamp Set
• 7 Coordinating Frame Cuts
• 4.25" x 5.5" Fancy Die
• 4.5" x 5.75" Stencil
• Art Deco Mirror Confetti
• 1 5.5" x 8.5" Sheet of Silver Reflective Cardstock
• 1 5.5" x 8.5" Sheet of Gold Reflective Cardstock

Once the kit sells out, that's it, it is no longer available. As I am writing this, there is still stock to promote.

If you'd like to subscribe to the kit each month, You can sign up for one of three options here: https://heroarts.com/pages/subscribe.

In addition to the main kit, several other products were released this month:

February 2019 Monthly Release



I got several of the add-ons myself and I can hardly wait for my kit to arrive.  There is one die and a background stamp that I am hoping to get later on but since they are not part of the kit, they'll be around after the kit is sold out.

They did a huge Blog Hop on Release Day and you can see all of the projects here:  https://heroarts.com/blogs/hero-arts-blog/february-2019-my-monthly-hero-is-here-giveaway

I hope you enjoyed this update! Shop soon before the kit is sold out.  As always, thank you so much for stopping by!

The Color Throwdown #528 - January 2019 Guest Designer

Hello all! I'm back with this week's guest post for The Color Throwdown Challenge #525, which is my last post as the January 2019 Guest Designer.  This week's colors are Aqua, Yellow Saffron, and Brown. 

Yellow is my least favorite color, so I often struggle when pairing it up with other colors.  You know, different colors than what you might see in nature such as green foliage on a yellow flower. When I know something is going to be a struggle for me, I look to my stamp sets and imagine how it would look in the color scheme designated for inspiration.  When I came across my Home to Roost Stamp Set from Papertrey Ink, I thought what a cute birdhouse it would make to stamp it in the two shades of yellow and add a brown tree branch.  One of the earliest signs of spring is seeing the Bluebirds, so that is where my inspiration came from.

For my card, I used supplies from a few companies; My Favorite Things, Papertrey Ink, and Gina K Designs.  I don't have that Saffron color in any of my ink brands, so I Combined a few to get something that I thought was pretty close.  I used PTI's Summer Sunrise stamped a couple of times, then a layer of Fine Linen with a final layer of Bright Buttercup for the top layer.  When the layers of color are put together, it came out with what I think is a pretty good version of Saffron.  The "siding" on the birdhouse was stamped in Papertrey Ink's Harvest Gold.

For the brown tree frame, I used PTI's Mix & Mat Plaid.  For the background layer, I used MFT Blueprints #15 (which has been retired), die cutting it from a sheet of a designer paper pack from Wild Rose Studio.  For the birds and the baby birds, I used Gina K Designs Ocean Mist.  It has just a touch more blue in it than Papertrey's Aqua Mist which is what I wanted to go with the background panel.

Thanks for stopping by today!  Be sure to stop at The Color Throwdown Blog and see all of the inspiration.  Thanks so much, Wanda, for inviting me to join you this month!  Here are the links to the rest of the stops on the hop.

Barbara Anders

Broni Holcombe

Lisa Henke

Lori Tecler

Lynn Put

Vickie Zimmer

Wanda Cullen

Amy Rysavy

Amy Rohl

Vicki Finger, January Guest Designer (You are here)

January 2019 Keeping Christmas Blog Hop

Hello there!  I have my first round of Christmas cards for the year on my blog today for our Monthly Keeping Christmas Blog Hop.  Kelly Lunceford started this many months ago (February 25, 2017) and eventually the former "The Challenge" designers came to be a part of it.  We share Christmas cards and projects with you on the 25th of each month to show you different ideas, techniques or projects to help you get a jump start on your Holiday cards and tags for the coming year.

I think it was right after Christmas that Concord & 9th had a sale and I picked up a few things that I had been wanting.  One of them was the Deck the Halls Turnabout Stamp.  Since I make Christmas Cards all year long, I knew I would be able to use it, so I went ahead and ordered it.  I must say, I love this even more than I thought I would!  The stamp looks like the image on the right.  You rotate it three more times after your initial stamping to get a completed background panel.  Isn't this just incredible?  This is one of the biggest innovations in the stamping industry in the last couple of years.  And let's face it - with stamps, innovation if a pretty big thing.  Concord & 9th came up with this brilliant idea and I have 4 or five of this style of stamps from them.  They have several styles and bundles available, but their January Release sold out so quickly that those are currently not available.  The thing I most want right now is the templates that go with the turnabouts but even those are completely sold out.  This is not a bad problem to have if you are a stamp company!  They've already ordered more so just sign up for the e-mail notification and you'll know when that is back in stock.

You can use a single ink color or multiple ink colors, or even heat emboss any or all of the layers.  I didn't try that today, but it's on my "to try" list for sure!

For the first group of cards today, I used four different colors on each background.  For the second batch of cards, I stuck with a monochromatic look and used inks from  Papertrey, Altenew and Gina K Designs.  Since Altenew Inks come in color families, they are perfect for this technique.  I'll share each of the colors as I go along so that you can replicate them if you like.  I really love the coral one even though it has non-traditional colors.

As much as I love adding dimension on my cards, they cost quite a bit more to send so when creating the cards that I mail or that my Sisters-In-Law mail, I try to keep them fairly flat.  I did add a poinsettia to each one using the Spellbinders Layered Poinsettia Dies.

For these first three cards, I used 4 different colors.  I always end up with an odd number of cards because I do a test run first.  That is the first card on the left here.  The colors I used on this one are Papertrey Ink, Vintage Jadeite, Pure Poppy, Pinefeather, and Scarlet Jewel.  The middle card also uses Papertrey Ink'ss in Sweet Blush, Autumn Rose, and Ocean Tides with Gina K Designs Christmas Pine.  The Christmas Pine has a little less black in it than Pinefeather, making it a little more green.  The last card on the right-hand side is Altenew Coral Berry, Ruby Red, Sweet Leaf, and Just Green.

The first card on the left uses all Gina K Designs inks in Sea Glass, Ocean Mist, Turquoise Sea and Blue Lagoon.  Next up we have the Sweet Dreams Collection of inks from Altenew; Dew Drops, Aqualicious, Teal Cave and Galactic Stream.  The third card uses Gina K Designs in Powder Blue, Blue Raspberry, Blue Denim and In The Navy.  The last card uses Papertrey Ink's Lilac Grace, Lavender Moon, Amethyst Allure and Gina K Design's Plum Punch.

Here's a close up for you of a few of the cards.  Using my MISTI, I heat embossed the sentiment 3 times on each card.  I used Antique Gold Embossing Powder from Simon Says Stamp for all but one of the cards.

I think this is my favorite of the group.  I like the slightly larger poinsettia and the deep rich color of the 4th layer.

For the Blue Monochromatic Card, I used Silver Embossing Powder but it definitely doesn't stand out as much as the gold.  Unless I am using dark cardstock, I pretty much never like Silver Embossing Powder but it's good to try new things once in a while.

The Merry Christmas greeting came from the Concord & 9th Very Merry Sentiments stamp set.  I wish they had made a coordinating die but maybe another time they will.  I love the size and style of this font!  This was a quick way to make my own designer paper for Holiday Cards and once that was done, assembly was fairly easy.  Heat embossing three layers took the most time of anything for sure!  It requires a lot of patience, care, and powder tool to get it in the same spot each time!  But I do love how bold it looks.  I tried out some large particle embossing powder, but that was not a good thing to do.  I'll go into the why's of that in another post sometime.

If you haven't seen the genius of the Turnabout Stamps from Concord & 9th, be sure to stop by their store and check out the video tutorials they have here.  In addition to that, Jennifer McGuire has several on her YouTube Channel here.  That links to her turnabout playlist and right now there are 15 videos there!

Thank you so much for stopping by today.   Here are all the stops on the hop!

Kelly Lunceford

Anita Madden

Broni Holcombe

Claire Broadwater

Julee Tilman

Kim Heggins

Lori Tecler

Nance Salkeld

Nina Forsyth

Rachel Bergfeld

Vicki Finger (You are Here)
Nancy Guse

I hope you enjoy all of the projects for today!  

The Color Throwdown #527 - Guest Designer Post

Hey everyone!  I'm back with my week 4 post for The Color Throwdown Challenge this week, #527 with the colors Navy, Green, and Gray.  This is a color combination I wouldn't have thought of, but I love how it turned out and I plan to use it again in the future!

I have been wanting to play with a new stamp set I got recently from Altenew called Wild Ferns Stamp Set and this was a perfect time to try it out.  Each of the three ferns in the set has three layers so I started by laying out the arrangement of the ferns on my card front and then choosing the inks I wanted to use.  I used the three darkest shades from the Green Valley Mini Cube Set; Grass Field, Shadow Creek, and Mountain Pine working from lightest to darkest. These ferns are so realistic and I think they could work for several types of cards.  Today I chose to make a thank you card for some of the gifts received this Christmas.

I used Papertrey Ink Stamper's Select White, Weathervane, and Dark Indigo cardstock.  The "Thanks" die is from Simon Says Stamp.

This is super clean and simple cardmaking with a lot of white space and a bold design.  I'll be checking out your projects all this month to see the cards you've created using the color challenges.

Here's the Blog List:

Barbara Anders

Broni Holcombe

Lisa Henke

Lori Tecler

Lynn Put

Vickie Zimmer

Wanda Cullen

Amy Rysavy

Amy Rohl

Vicki Finger, January Guest Designer (You are here)

The Color Throwdown #526 - January 2019 Guest Designer

Hello there!  I am back with this week's Guest Post for The Color Throwdown Challenge #526, White, Blue, and Aqua.  Even though I live in Texas, I am in a very northern part of the state at a time of year when we might just get some snow.  This time last year our home was under a thick layer of ice and no one could get in or out of the subdivision because the ice was so thick.  Actual snowfall is preferable to ice and comes so seldom in Texas that we try to enjoy it when it actually comes around.  These huge snowflakes in the inspiration image remind me of the snow we got on Valentine's Day 2004 when our grandson, Charlie, was just a little toddler still.  He would have just turned three years old that January and it was a memorable occasion because Papa was home, it was Valentine's Day and the two of them got to build a snowman and have a snowball fight in our backyard.  I have a large double page spread in one of Charlie's scrapbooks documenting that event.

I love a good, thick snowfall that leaves a Winter Wonderland for however long it sticks around before it warms up enough to melt it.  In Texas, that is usually a day or less.  The white is almost always accompanied by blue skies which is such a contradiction in and of itself.  So when it came time to put this card together, I was very inspired by the colors we were to use.  I also wanted to use some sparkling elements because, just as in nature, when those sunny blue skies hit the snow, the sparkle is immeasurable.  But, a girl can try.

I die cut the Bold Borders: Flurries from some white shimmer metallic cardstock and then cut a piece of white glitter paper to put behind it.  I have a few types of glitter paper and this particular one does not die cut well at all.  If you just want to put some sparkle behind a border or frame die, it is perfect for that as it cuts simple shapes nicely.  It just doesn't seem to be able to be intricately cut.  I have several sheets of this that I got several years back and this particular style has a plastic substrate which is the issue with intricacy in die cutting.  The glitter papers with an actual paper substrate cut fantastic in the Gemini.  I still use my Cuttlebug most often for die cutting, but anything that has a lot of detail, like the snowflakes, cuts very well in the Gemini.

For the snowflakes, I used Simon Says Stamp Glitter Cardstock in Teal and Sapphire.  I added little gems to the center of each one with Multi Medium Matte and let that dry before attempting to attach them to my card front.  I made a top folding Horizontal Cardbase from Papertrey Ink's Stamper's Stamper's Select White Cardstock and started adhering everything into place.

I used a sentiment from Papertrey Ink's Two Feet Deep Stamp Set and stamped it with Versamark then heat embossed it with some Sapphire Pearl Embossing Powder from Recollections.  I don't often use colored embossing powder, but this was the perfect match for my card!  I always treat with my powder tool so that I have nice clean embossing.  I used a vertical strip from MFT to put my sentiment on since I was planning to do it on an angle.  This will be a fun card to send to a friend in the Winter months.

I took the inspiration photo quite literally this time around but you sure wouldn't have to.  I can't wait to see what you make for the challenge!

Here's the Blog List:

Barbara Anders

Broni Holcombe

Lisa Henke

Lori Tecler

Lynn Put

Vickie Zimmer

Wanda Cullen

Amy Rysavy

Amy Rohl

Vicki Finger, January Guest Designer (You are here)