A blog devoted to the cards I make in my tiny upstairs space. When my sister stays there, she calls it an "artist's garret". I'm not an artist, but am an enthusiastic cardmaker - hence the title "Cardmaker's Garret".
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Sunday, 20 September 2015

Happy Little Stampers Blog Hop

Welcome to my blog! 

Happy Little Stampers are celebrating the first release of their stamps with a blog hop! 
Comment on the HLS blog, and then continue on to each Designer. You must comment on all the blogs in the hop to be eligible for prizes.
You should have come to me from Carol Dunham's blog. If you got lost, don't despair. Just start back at the Happy Little Stampers blog.

The blog hop will run for one week giving you enough time to hop through and check out what the designers will be creating.

The prizes

GRAND PRIZE
One lucky commenter (selected randomly) will win the whole release! That's four sets of stamps with a value of AUD$69
MINOR PRIZES
Four lucky commenters (selected randomly) will win a gift certificate to the HLS store!

My cards have been created using some of the fabulous Christmas sentiment stamps.  For this first card, I used a sentiment that fits perfectly on one of my label die cuts.

I was experimenting at Loll Thompson's house recently with Inka Gold.  We sprayed cardstock with various sprays, then ran the cs through an embossing folder (in my case a star ef), and then gently rubbed Inka Gold over the raised part of the embossed cs.  I sprayed with dark blue and used gold Inka Gold - a lot of the Inka Gold smudged onto the lower parts but I was able to salvage just enough of a good section to die cut a tag.  I added a frosty Christmas tree, punched a few gold stars to scatter around the card base, and stamped and heat embossed my sentiment (love the fonts Kylie used on this stamp set!) on a die cut label tag to give it more interest.  Finished off with a gold bow on the tag.

Next up is a card using two of the sentiment stamps.  And again I'm using something from my fabulous day of experimenting with techniques at Loll's house.  We were testing translucent gel medium coloured with Pearl Ex - in this case, green Pearl Ex used with a holly stencil on black cs.  I'll be back another day to show you a couple of other Pearl Ex / gel mixtures.

When I got home, I added the "Deck the hall" sentiment and heat embossed it in gold.  I have inverted scallop Nesties dies that I think are perfect with holly images so cut part of the image with a smaller one and then a gold border with the bigger one.
I happened to have the perfect shade of green cs for the cardbase - love it when that works out!  Added the "Fa la la la la" sentiment and heat embossed it in black.
A few gold pearls stand in for the traditional red berries.
This is also for the 52 Christmas Card Throwdown challenge "For a Man" - I think the black and muted green colour scheme are pretty masculine, even with a bit of gold and pearls.
  I hope I have inspired you today with my card. The designers and I have had so much fun playing with these stamps! Next you need to hop on over to "Bonnie Klass's" blog. 
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52 comments:

  1. Kylie20 September 2015 at 13:38

    Amazing designs, Susan. I love the sentiment you chose for your first tag. Love the tag! Your second card is awesome with all that embossing and gold. Gorgeous! I'm so proud to see these cards, thank you. xx

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  2. Darlene 20 September 2015 at 13:40

    Oh Susan these are fabulous! Thanks for wonderful inspiration! I can sure use it right about now! LOL

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  3. Carol L20 September 2015 at 14:09

    What a pretty pair of cards! I love the white tree on blue and the gold stars look so pretty! Great holly on the 2nd one too!

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  4. Gloria20 September 2015 at 14:23

    So great Susan!
    I love the Christmas cards design!

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  5. BożenA20 September 2015 at 14:47

    Both cards are so beautiful. Great inspiration.
    hugs,
    BozenA

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  6. Melissa L.20 September 2015 at 14:57

    Such pretty Christmas cards, Susan. I really like the white Christmas Tree. :)

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  7. Chriss Blagrave20 September 2015 at 15:11

    Love your colour combos! Great sentiments!

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  8. Birgit20 September 2015 at 16:14

    Very festive cards, Susan! Love them both!

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  9. Bonnie20 September 2015 at 16:18

    Love your fun tag, Susan! And the holly card is so elegant! Sounds like a great play date!

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  10. Nora Noll20 September 2015 at 16:30

    Oh what pretty cards. LOVE that holly card. So shiny and festive!!

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  11. Linda20 September 2015 at 16:42

    Fabulous cards .... love the holly! xx

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  12. Loll20 September 2015 at 17:09

    Two beautiful cards Susan! Especially LOVE that glossy green holly on the black background. So much fun experimenting and it's great to see the cards you make from the backgrounds we did together! xx

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  13. colleen20 September 2015 at 17:23

    cool cards

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  14. BobbisTreasure20 September 2015 at 18:26

    I am a HUGE fan of Inka Gold - fun medium with fun sentiments!!

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  15. Valentyna Komisarenko20 September 2015 at 18:34

    Gorgeous cards, Susan!

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  16. Amy Seigler20 September 2015 at 18:35

    Beautiful cards! I love all the gold!

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  17. deb c20 September 2015 at 19:47

    Great cards!

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  18. HJ20 September 2015 at 19:55

    Beautiful designs on both cards. Love the tree and the gold.

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  19. Ellie Lee20 September 2015 at 22:24

    Cute cards.

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  20. Karen M20 September 2015 at 22:36

    Beautiful cards Susan and I love your designs:) xx

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  21. Inkyfingers20 September 2015 at 23:58

    What pretty cards Susan and I particularly love the pearlex holly - such a fabulous sheen to the leaves!
    Hugs
    Carol x

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  22. Unknown21 September 2015 at 00:03

    What great stamps loving them. Thanks for ideas

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  23. LesLee21 September 2015 at 00:12

    I love the way that tree pops right off the paper.. and the die cuts are fantastic... all the sentiments are perfectly paired Great job xx

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  24. Kathyk21 September 2015 at 00:51

    Fa la la la la indeed! Fabulous makes

    Off to hop to the next stop

    Kathyk

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  25. sandie21 September 2015 at 01:26

    Fab cards, great use of the gold x

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  26. Rahmat21 September 2015 at 01:57

    Beautiful! I simply adore the first card.

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  27. Suchi21 September 2015 at 03:28

    Great pair of cards Susan! First one is my favourite! Thanks for the wonderful blog hop :)
    Suchi xx

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  28. claudia21 September 2015 at 05:02

    Very unique Christmas card designs. Having fun on the hop.

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  29. aussie aNNie21 September 2015 at 05:49

    Lovely cards two delightful ones to view and love how you used the pearl ex on your image.xx
     {The Journey Is The Start  aNNie  my personal blog}

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  30. Nellie21 September 2015 at 06:42

    Please pick me. Hugs, Nellie.

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  31. Canonbury creations21 September 2015 at 08:20

    Fabulous cards, love the holly!
    Val x

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  32. OH Babs21 September 2015 at 08:36

    Two great Christmas cards. How fortunate you are to have spent time with an incredible teacher like Loll.

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  33. Parker21 September 2015 at 11:42

    I'm glad you later added the "Deck the Halls" because it is a fantastic look. Thanks for showing me your creativity.

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  34. Carol21 September 2015 at 12:38

    Two gorgeous cards Susan. Carol x

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  35. nancy littrell21 September 2015 at 21:11

    Both your Christmas cards are so pretty Susan. Loved your sentiments too. TFS my friend.

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  36. Aileen22 September 2015 at 04:53

    Wonderful cards Susan, love the way you used the sentiments.

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  37. cm22 September 2015 at 10:15

    What a fabulous duo of cards you’ve created, each one ever so pretty! I’m crushing over the big bold sentiments and your showcases are making clear this set is a ‘must have’!
    ~c

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  38. Fabiola22 September 2015 at 12:32

    Très élégante et charmante création Susan, parfaite pour notre challenge masculin, merci de jouer avec nous chez 52cct, biz

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  39. TaeEun22 September 2015 at 13:06

    Great christmas cards! The shimmer in the gel medium and Pearl Ex mix is beautiful!

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  40. Gerrina23 September 2015 at 06:33

    Great to see the bold colours on your cards; they work so well Have a colourfull week!

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  41. Marianne23 September 2015 at 13:00

    Wish I could come and play at Loll's house some time lol. Wonderful cards. I so love this first release!

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  42. Kathy Schweinfurth23 September 2015 at 16:28

    Super wow -- such beautiful creations! Thanks so much for the inspiration (I need it!)

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  43. MaryH23 September 2015 at 21:15

    LOVE IT! Lucky you to have Loll to spend play days and do all the experimenting and did this session ever turn out a beautiful look. The gold framing around the pinked circle was unusual, and so effective at drawing the eye right into that gorgeous holly. Love the use of the HLS Mixed Christmas sentiments as you've placed each of them. Thanks for sharing the info about adding Pearl Ex to the gel...must try that. Thanks for playing in the October HLS Christmas Challenge. Well done!

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  44. sue t.24 September 2015 at 09:44

    Great cards! Love them!

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  45. Bobby24 September 2015 at 18:02

    Wonderful cards, Susan. I'm sure you and Loll had fun experimenting. I love the holly with the green translucent paste and that inverted die is fabulous.

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  46. Patricia Hays24 September 2015 at 18:36

    Two great cards! I bet the PearlEx/gel combo looks gorgeous in real life. Thanks for sharing your card with us at 52CCT!

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  47. stempelfrida25 September 2015 at 03:04

    Very fun cards. Thank you for sharing!
    Creative regards from stempelfrida
    http://stempelfrida.blogspot.de

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  48. Anonymous25 September 2015 at 08:48

    Two great cards, both perfect for our challenge. Thanks for joining us at 52CCT this week. Gill xx

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  49. Cornelia (fun stamping)25 September 2015 at 18:44

    Such pretty Christmas cards!

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  50. Deborah Frings26 September 2015 at 03:25

    Super cards. I really like the green one! Thanks so much for playing along with 52CCT this week!

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  51. Monika Reeck26 September 2015 at 14:33

    lovely cards but I love your tag card sweet white tree and all the stars there
    great blog hop and thanks for sharing

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  52. Denise Bryant27 September 2015 at 10:02

    Pretty cards! I love the variety of sentiments and the fonts! Fabulous sets!

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Thanks for leaving me a message! I love hearing from you.

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