Inspired Stamps - Christmas

This week's Inspired Stamps project is about Christmas.  I just couldn't resist using the Luke 2:14 mini set again - love this set. (Sorry the image is not the best, it was late at night when the photo was taken)

The image was stmaped on white Neenah cardstock and coloured with Copic Markers (YG91, G94, G99, Y38, Y21, E13, E15, E18).  Can you see the sewing on the card?  I've been having fun with a new sewing machine;)

Keeping this post really short, so you'll have a chance to visit the Inspired Stamps Blog for more Christmas ideas.

Have a great day!
Kary
 

HLO Winter Girl Treat Box

As Christmas draws near, we are getting all set with some handmade Christmas treat boxes for friends and relations.  There's lots of chocolates waiting in the refrigerator to fill the treat boxes - that's the downside living in a warm climate, the chocolates tend to melt when left outside ;-).

For this treat box, I stamped and coloured HLO Winter Girl with Copic Markers, I think she looks adorable in purple.  The papers are from Graphic 45's Christmas Past, and I decorated the box with Viva Decor pearl pens.

The box measures 4-1/8" x 4-1/8" square.  I adhered the lilac satin ribbons across the lid of the box, and the Winter Girl image was cut using Classic Scallop Circle layered on a Lacey Square die-cut.  The sentiment from Winter Ruth, was stamped on separate die-cuts and placed on the lid as shown.

Here is another view of the box.

Thank you for visiting today.  I'd like to take this opportunity to wish you a Blessed Christmas and a wonderful time celebrating with your family and loved ones.

God Bless

Inspired Stamps Christmas Projects

Welcome back to this week's Inspired Stamps post, all about Christmas!  Today I have a couple of projects to share.  First, is a Christmas card, using His Little Ones - Winter Boy & Ask, Seek, Knock sets.

I stamped the tree image from the Ask, Seek, Knock stamp set with Versamark on white cardstock, and heat embossed it using white embossing powder.  The tree was coloured using Distress Inks direct-to-paper technique. To give it a little shimmer, I brushed some Perfect Pearls powder on the tree, and spritzed some water to set it.  Once dry, I added some gems to the tree.  The HLO Winter Boy was coloured with Copic markers and Atyou Spica pens for some sparkle.  Then it was time to cut out the images and assemble the card.

Next, is a simple tag idea.  First I embossed the tag using a Snowflake embossing folder and then inked some Distress Inks over it (I used Evergreen Bough & Festive Berries).  The Snowman, from Let It Snow set, was stamped on white cardstock, coloured with Copic markers and I applied some Glossy Accents & glitter on the buttons and top of his hat.  The sentiment was stamped using Label Maker Alphabet set.

Hope you like these projects, and don't forget there is a special running till end of the week at the Inspired Stamps store, see below for the coupon code:

And, now, please head over to the Inspired Stamps blog or click on the Design Team's list at my sidebar for more wonderful Christmas ideas from the Design Team.

Thanks for stopping by, and enjoy the hop!

WMS Challenge #76 and a Tag

The weekend is almost over, and my craft desk is still messy waiting to be organised.  I thought I should finish a few cards and then get to it.  Here are two of the projects I managed to do today:

It's a day of stamping & exploring some new techniques.  Here's my shaped card using the Spellbinders Picot edge circle die.  Just a sentiment and a piece of patterned paper and some embellishments.  The only big effort on this card is the Chinese good-luck knot holding the card together.  I've had this book on knots for a long time and out of the blue I felt like learning how to tie the Chinese knots.  I thought it's rather cute to have a Chinese twist to this Christmas card.

My card was based on this Waltzing Mouse sketch:

Since I was pulling out my WM stamps, I may as well make a tag too for Claire's challenge.  I think I went a little overboard decorating this tag {grin}:

First I inked up the tag with Distress Inks and a spritz of my own mix of perfect pearls to give it some shimmer. When everything was dry I embossed the tag with the holly embossing folder.  Then lots of stamping using Nordic Winter on a pink cardstock for the pleats at the bottom and to make the flower.  I even stamped on the seam binding to match..hehe.
Some close ups:

What do you think?  No colouring this weekend, which feels odd.

I'll be back tomorrow with the winner for my last Giveaway prize(s). See you soon.

Stamps : WMS Nordic Winter, Compliments of the Season, Candy Jar Christmas fillers
Paper : Echo Park Holly Jolly Christmas
Ink : Memento Rich Cocoa & Rhubarb Stalk, Distress Inks Evergreen Bough, Spun Sugar, Tumbled Glass, Festive Berries, Shabby Shutters
Other : Perfect Pearls, Sizzix Embossing folder, Spellbinders Picot Edge Circle & Labels 4, Seam Binding, Fiskars Postage edge punch,  MFT die-namics Rolled flower & Retro Rolled flower, Prima flowers

Unity Friends with Flair (02.12.2011)

Hello Weekend!  It's Saturday morning where I am, and I'm glad for the weekend.  Nothing planned, just hope to have a good rest.  I made this card late last night - for some reason, I wanted to use the flower block image from KOM Sep 2011 with a stamp-a-ma-jig ;-)

Here's a close up pic:

I used Stickles on the dots of the image blocks and coloured the sentiment with colourpencils and went over it with a clear glitter pen.  I added a strip of tape just above and below the twine, and poured some fine glitter on the top strip and chunky Champagne glitter on the bottom strip.  The patterned paper was cut with a Wonky Scallop border and pleated.

Hope you'll remember to swing by the Unity Blog to see all the Amazing ideas the participants will be sharing today, and you might win some Unity goodies.

Thanks for visiting me today.  Don't forget to check out my final Giveaway post - for a chance to win the Spellbinders Wonky Rectangles!!

Have a wonderful weekend!!

Unity Friends with Flair (25.11.2011)

Happy Friday!  I never realised that Black Friday is such a huge shopping day online (for me, anyway).  This is probably the first year I'm crazy shopping for craft supplies on bargains.  Hence, I didn't have much time to make a card, and a tag was all I managed to complete for the Unity FWF today.

The snowman on the tag is probably my favourite image in the latest Nov KOM - I wish there's snow right here so I can have a snowman just like him at my doorstep.  Wishful thinking, right?  He was coloured with Spica glitter pens (Red, Melon, Turquoise, Gold & Orange) and Copic markers (R32, R35, R81, R83, R00,YR00, Y00, BG000, G00, G02).

The tag was embossed with the Tim Holtz Woodgrain embossing folder, and sponged with Distress Inks Frayed Burlap, Evergreen Bough and Iced Spruce, and Perfect Pearls Gold for some shimmer.  The patterned paper is from Echo Park Holly Jolly Christmas and the tissue tape is from Tim Holtz.

I'm also submitting this tag for the current Unity Let It Snow challenge, found here.

Happy Shopping, everyone, and have a Great weekend!!

p.s. Don't forget to check out my Giveaway post here, for your chance to win some stamps!

Forest Friends

Hi Friends! I can't believe how fast the week's gone.  This is a short post - I made this card for the Taylored Expressions challenge TESC150.  I just can't get enough of these cute forest cuties from Woodland Winter.

Taking this opportunity to say Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends in the US!!  I pray that you will have a Wonderful time with your families and loved ones.  Just enjoy each other's company, and of course all the delicious food too.

Don't forget to comment this week for your chance to win - read all about it here.

Take care,

Inspired Stamps Blog Hop

Hi, and welcome to the Inspired Stamps Blog Hop.  If you have come from Jenn's blog you are in the right place, and if you didn't start at the beginning of the hop, make sure you head to the Inspired Stamps blog for all the details.  You wouldn't want to miss any of the wonderful inspiration the Design Team has to share.

The Design Team's assignment this week is to create a Christmas focused Tag.  For my tag, I've chosen to use the HLO : Christmas Boy image.  He is really so cute, and I love the ornament he holds in his hands.

Here's the tag:

Stamp the HLO Christmas Boy on white cardstock and colour him with copic markers : Skin (E000, E01, E13, R21) Hair (E31, E22, E35, E37) Ornament (YG11, Y13, YG17, Y21) Outfit (B93, B95, B97, B99, E40, E42, E43). Add some sparkle onto the ornament with Atyou Spica Clear marker.

Cut the patterned paper to size and punch both the ends with a border punch, then adhere it to the tag.  Emboss the middle section of the tag where the pattern paper is, with an embossing folder, I used a snowflake folder.  Spritz some Glimmer Mists (Bahama Blue & Mel's Diner) on the doily and adhere it to the tag as shown.  Adhere the cut out image of the HLO Christmas Boy on the doily.  Add a sparkly ric rac trim at the bottom section of the tag and some baker's twine above it, and tie a bow, and add a glittery dot on the bow.  Stamp the Merry Christmas sentiment on some ledger paper and cut it down to size and adhere it just above the doily (I added some white faux stitches but I think it would look better with real sewn stitches).  To add some texture to the tag, I added some Flower soft (Polar white) at the top and bottom ends of the tag.  Finally, adhere a chipboard glittery snowflake with a gem stone in the centre on the top right corner of the tag and a ribbon through the top of the tag (I dyed my own seam binding using Tattered Rose Distress Ink).

Here's a closer look - hope you can see the Flower soft, and the embossed section of the patterned paper.

Thanks so much for joining us, and I hope you have been inspired by what you've seen.  I'm the last stop of the blog hop today, but, don't forget to head to the Inspired Stamps blog and leave a comment for your chance to win some prizes.

Take care, and have a great day!

Twas the Night before Christmas

Welcome to the Waltzing Mouse Blog Waltz!  I'm excited that this month's theme is Christmas, which is my favourite season to be stamping & making cards.  

I remember the first time I saw this stamp set, it brought back some wonderful memories of my childhood years when I first read the poem.  If you have not seen this set before, do check out the Waltzing Mouse store - there are some gorgeous samples there.  It's an amazing set! 

I had so much fun putting this card together:

I made a tri-fold card which measures 3.75 x 5.5" when folded.  On the front panel I stamped the label stamp and the windows on a patterned paper which I had earlier stamped with the poem text.  To add a little interest, I coloured in a little scene of a Christmas tree behind the windows.

On the second panel, I stamped the text, and distressed it with Distress Ink Scattered Straw.  For the third panel, I stamped the wreath & berries onto the patterned paper, and adhered the label with the window that can be opened.  I struggled a little with this window, cos technically it should open the opposite way, if you know what I mean {lol}.

Here's the scene when the window is opened:

I added some Rock Candy clear stickles onto the Santa & reindeers image but I can't get a good photo to show the what it looks like in real life {grins} but you get the idea, right?

Just decided to add in another card, wanting to play the sketch challenge this week.

based on this sketch :

And here's a close up look at the card:

I used an embossing folder and then sponged some white ink on the embossed areas.  I stamped and white embossed the border at the bottom using Nordic Winter.  The silhouette and frame is from Cameo Creations and the sentiment from Candy Jar Christmas.

I hope you like the cards.  Don't forget to check out the wonderful inspiration from everyone participating in the Blog Waltz today - you can find list of all the participants here.

Plus, don't forget to check out my Blog Candy post here.

Enjoy the hop!
Kary

A Christmas Scene

A few years ago, I spent a couple of weeks to visit the Christmas markets in Europe.  It was so much fun, a chance in a lifetime perhaps, to experience how Christmas is celebrated in winter.  It snowed as we visited the Bavarian countryside in Germany and I just couldn't forget how beautiful everything was. 

Today's theme at Inspired Stamps is all about Christmas.  I had an idea of a lovely wintery image in my mind, and tried to recreate that on my card today.  It didn't turn out as pretty as the image I had, but I think you get the idea.  The Inspired Stamps sets I used are "Me and My House", "1 inch Snowmen" and "Perfect Sentiments". 

First, I drew a horizon line with a pencil on a piece of scrap paper, and cut along the pencil line.  I used this as a mask, placed it on my a piece of white cardstock (cut to 4" x 5.25"), and sponged Distress Ink Stormy Sky just above the mask.  Then, I coloured the slopes with Copic Marker B01 as shown.  The church and houses were stamped on another piece of white cardstock, coloured and cut out and adhered to the cardstock with the house on the far left adhered with pop dots.  For the church building, I added some Flower Soft Polar White along the roof & steeple, and also along several parts of the card.  The pine trees were just triangle cuts of white cardstock, and coloured with Copic Markers YG91, YG93, YG95 & the Colourless Blender to create some texture).  I couldn't resist adding some snowmen on the card too.  Finally the scene cardstock is adhered to the cardbase using pop dots.  I added some faux stitch lines around the scene, some tiny crystals in the sky and adhered the sentiment as shown.  The sentiment was stamped on white cardstock and coloured with BG10 and cut out.

It takes a little effort to make this card, but I think the result is pretty fun.  Hope you like this.  For more inspiration on Christmas projects, please visit the Inspired Stamps blog.

Happy Wednesday...

It seems like the weeks leading up to Christmas are always busy.  I feel I haven't done much and it's like I'm running behind time in everything.  Some cards are not mailed yet, all the plans I have in mind are not done yet... but, one thing I had a little time for is making cards ;-)

So, here are the cards:

My new stamp set arrived in the mailbox, and I just had to make a card with it.  I followed the sketch at StampTV - this is an easy sketch.  The cardbase is a window card and I just cut a piece of white cardstock to size (to fit behind the oval frame), adhered the red cardstock and inserted it behind the oval window with the corners as shown. The mug was stamped on Teresa Collins paper and the mini cupcakes were coloured with copics.

This is a perfect card to make when in a hurry. Just insert a lovely patterned paper (Pink Paislee Father Christmas) onto the window cardbase, and stamp the greeting, and the card is done.

I hope your week is going well. Take care!

First card
Stamps : GKD Mugs & Kisses
Window card : Purchased in Amsterdam, can't recall the brand
Papers : White & Red cardstock, Teresa Collins
Ink : Memento & copic markers

Second card
Stamps : Hero Arts
Window card : Purchased in Amsterdam, can't recall the brand
Papers : Pink Paislee Father Christmas 6x6 pad
Ink : Memento

Unity Addicts Challenge #30

Hello again.  Today I'm a guest for Unity Addicts Challenge #30 at Splitcoaststampers, and the challenge is to make tags.  Here's my tag:

I love making tags for Christmas especially.  Today's tag is made using Kraft cardstock, with stamping using two of my favourite Christmas stamps from Unity (see below) and a pretty patterned paper from Pink Paislee. 

First, cut the tag using Spellbinders Labels 4, I used the largest die.  Distress the edges with Distress Ink Antique Linen.  Add some stickles around the edge of the tag.  Leave to dry.  Then stamp the snowflake scalloped stamp (from Snowflakes Fall From Heaven set) randomly with Versamark on the tag.  Ink up one of the cute trees from the stamp set Peace.Love.Joy with waterbased markers, and spritz some ink blending solution so that the colours blend and stamp on the tag.  Next, stamp the Christmas definition stamp onto a cream cardstock.  Cut out the cardstock to fit the bottom of the tag & adhere with foam adhesive.  Use a fancy edged scissors to cut the Santa image from the patterned paper and adhere to the tag with foam adhesive. Tie a red gingham ribbon around tag and adhere a chipboard button on the bow as shown.  Add some blings on the tree.  Punch a hole at the top and add some jute twine and the tag is done!

I've made another tag just for fun.

This one was made with a stamp from All Worth It stamp set and the ornament is from Bright & Merry Winter Wishes.

I hope you play along with the challenge and you could win a prize. ;)

First Tag
Stamps : Unity/Jillibean Snowflakes Fall From Heaven, Unity Peace.Love.Joy
Paper : Kraft cardstock, Cream cardstock, Pink Paislee Father Christmas 6x6 pad
Inks : Versamark, Memento Markers, Tsukineko Ink Potion No. 9, Distress Ink Antique Linen
Others : Jute twine, Red & Green twine, Red Gingham ribbon, Making Memories chipboard button, Imaginisce i-rock crystals, Stickles (Burgundy), Fiskars Paper Edgers (Stamp)

Second Tag
Stamps : Unity/Melody Ross All Worth It, Unity Bright & Merry Winter Wishes, Unity/Jillibean Snowflakes Fall From Heaven
Inks : Distress Inks Antique Linen, Stormy Sky, Broken China, Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic markers
Others : Jute twine, button, brad, blings, Scor-buddy