A Star in a Window

The Peace on Earth challenge always inspires me with its mood boards.  This time I was inspired by the top right image (see the mood board at the end of this post).

I created the star using the Encrusted Jewels technique.  I die cut the star from thin chipboard, then placed it on a warm grill on top of a layer of non-stick craft mat then parchment paper.  I sprinkled it with gold embossing powders.  Once they had melted, I added chunky gold glitter and tiny star glitter on top.  The melted embossing powders holds the glitter in place.  To finish it off, I melted UTEE (Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel) on top. 

I die cut the window three times - twice out of scrap cs and once out of light grey cs and glued them together.  I die cut the pine branch out of a piece of smooshed green background that I had in my box (and again out of scrap and glued them together).  I put everything together, with a bit of gold cord to hang the star from the branch and a sentiment on a banner.
  
Here's the mood board:

We'd love to have you join us, whether you're inspired by the mood board or choose to make an "anything Christmas" card.  That's lots more inspiration from the rest of the Peace on Earth Design Team.

Supplies:
Stamps - unknown sentiment
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - white and light grey cs, lightweight chipboard
Size - A2
Accessories - small Spellbinders star die, TH branch die, Memory Box window die, gold embossing powder, UTEE, chunky gold glitter, tiny gold stars

Christmas Kaleidoscope

The new Group of Seven Cardmakers' technique is something that our member, Darnell, is calling Kaleidoscope Technique.  We were inspired by this card of Jenny's (My Paper Epiphany).  Here's my interpretation:

I stamped the Pink Fresh background stamp with Versamark and heat embossed in gold.  Then watercoloured the image.  It was supposed to be loose watercolouring but I'm just no good at that so ended up watercolouring in my usual traditional way of staying inside the lines!!  Then cut the panel into 1/2" wide strips and played around with rearranging them out of order and deciding what I wanted the card to look like.  I decided to have a vertical sentiment so stamped it and heat embossed it in gold.  Then I glued two strips to the left hand side of it and four to the right.  I felt the card needed a little something else so I found an "encrusted jewels" star that was the same shade of gold in my UFO box and added it.  Here's a close-up of the star:

If you want information on how I do the encrusted jewel technique, see this post on my blog.

There are lots more examples of the Kaleidosope Technique over at Group of Seven Cardmakers from the rest of our members.  If you decide to try this technique, we'd love to have you link up your card for more inspiration for everyone.

Supplies:
Stamps - Pink Fresh background stamp, Impression Obsession vertical sentiment
Ink - Versamark
Paper - watercolour paper
Size - A2
Accessories - Ranger Princess Gold embossing powder, watercolour paints, star die, glitter

Embossed Pine with Star and a Partially Gilded Butterfly

I made this card for the Jingle Belles challenge "Emboss-able" - embossed texture or heat embossing.  I've got both:

I made a dry embossed background with a 3D folder and also made a heat embossed star using the "encrusted jewels" technique.  I die cut the star from thin chipboard, then placed it on a warm grill on top of a layer of non-stick craft mat then parchment paper.  I sprinkled it with gold embossing powders.  Once they had melted, I added chunky gold glitter and tiny star glitter on top.  The melted embossing powders holds the glitter in place.  To finish it off, I melted UTEE (Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel) on top.

I die cut the pine branch out of a piece of smooshed green background that I had in my box (and again out of scrap and glued them together).  Then glued the branch on the dry embossed panel and hung the star from it with gold cord.  Finished off with a sentiment die cut with a banner die.

For Sweet Stampin' "Things with Wings", I made this:

I stamped the butterfly in my MISTI with Frayed Burlap ink. Then applied FlitterGlu to the stamp, only getting it on parts of the stamp, and restamped it. Pressed gilding flakes onto the butterfly and rubbed off the excess. I like the way it's only partially gilded and looks a bit rustic.

Added the sentiment and a die cut pierced frame.

 

Supplies for card 1:
Ink - various green Distress inks
Paper - white cs, thin chipboard
Size - A2
Accessories - TH 3D embossing folder, IO pine branch die, Spellbinder star die, gold embossing powder, UTEE, gold glitter and tiny stars, banner die, gold cord

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Penny Black butterfly, Savvy Stamps sentiment
Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black, Distress Frayed Burlap
Paper - white and dark grey cs
Size - A2
Accessories - FlitterGlu, gilding flakes, pierced rectangle frame die

Sparkly Christmas Tree with a Star

I'm entering this card in the Tic Tac Toe Challenge.  I chose the line that says "Christmas Tree, Sparkle, Star".  And in the Christmas Kickstart "Trees, Trees, Trees" challenge.

I haven't done the encrusted jewels technique for ages so thought this was a good way to use a variety of my glitters to add sparkle.

Here's the technique: I die cut the tree from thin chipboard, then placed it in the Tim Holtz Melting Pot on top of a layer of non-stick craft mat then parchment paper. I sprinkled it with two different shades of green embossing powder. Once it had melted, I added white and multi-coloured chunky glitter on top. The melted embossing powder holds the glitter in place. To finish it off, I melted UTEE (Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel) on top.

I then die cut the tree from fun foam and attached it immediately to the encrusted jewel tree to give it a bit more body so that it wouldn't bend and crack.

I made a background by smooshing with light blue Distress oxide inks. I trimmed a panel for the tree to go on top of, and then a smaller piece with a torn edge for a snow bank to go on top of the tree trunk.

And finished off with a bit more sparkle - a star cut from gold glitter cs.

I couldn't decide where to add a sentiment so will just put it inside.

Here's the Tic Tac Toe Challenge:

Christmas Kickstart Challenge

 

 

Supplies:
Stamps -
Ink - various blue Distess Oxide inks
Paper - white cs, gold glitter cs, lightweight chipboard
Size - 6x4.25"
Accessories - tree and star dies, various types of glitter, two different green embossing powders, UTEE

White and Gold

I've done some more playing with the "encrusted jewels" technique, and put two pieces together for this card:

To make the tree and star, I die cut them out of thin chipboard, then placed them on a warm grill on top of a layer of non-stick craft mat then parchment paper.  I sprinkled them with gold embossing powders.  Once they had melted, I added multi-coloured chunky glitter pieces on top.  The melted embossing powders hold the glitter in place.  To finish it off, I melted UTEE (Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel) on top.  I then die cut the same two dies from fun foam and attached them immediately to the encrusted star and branch to give them a bit more body so that they wouldn't bend and crack.

I stamped and heat embossed my sentiment, scattered some Frantage Shabby White on the focal panel and heat embossed it from underneath,  then attached my two encrusted jewel pieces, and popped the panel up on fun foam.

Here's a close-up of the encrusted jewels:

The card is going off to the 52 Christmas Card Throwdown challenge - "White and Gold".

Love all the challenges out there that keep me working on my Christmas cards!

Supplies:

Stamps - Old Island Stamping Co. sentiment

Ink - ColorBox Gold

Paper - thin chipboard, white cs

Size - A2

Accessories - star and tree dies, various gold embossing powders, various glitters, UTEE, Stampendous Shabby White embossing powder, fun foam

Watercoloured Stencil

Time for February's CAS Watercolour challenge and our host, Marcia, has picked "Red and Pink" as the theme.

Perfect for Valentine's Day!  I did something a little different and watercoloured through a stencil for my card.

I used a TCW stencil called "Confetti".  Here's a picture of it:

It seems I had it flipped over the other way but I don't think it matters.  I taped it down onto watercolour paper and just used the top section.

I took plain old watercolour paints and a small flat brush (a flat brush seems to work better with the stencil than a round one).  I dipped the brush in water and then dabbed off some of the water so it wouldn't run under the stencil.  I drag the flat brush head on an angle over the stencil openings, rather than painting into the openings (if that makes sense!).  I did all the blotches and dots in pink and the hearts in red.

To finish it off, I added an encrusted jewel heart out of my UFO box and a simple stamped sentiment.  The panel is popped up on fun foam on a red card base.  Here's a close-up of the heart and surrounding watercolouring:

We have wonderful examples of red and pink watercolouring from the Design Team and our fabulous Guest Designer, Darnell (djkardkreations) over at CAS Watercolour.  You have until February 24th to link up your cards.

Supplies:

Stamps - Tim Holtz sentiment

Ink - SU Real Red

Paper - watercolour paper, red cs

Size - A2

Accessories - TCW "Confetti" stencil, watercolour paints, encrusted jewel heart from my UFO box (heart die, versamark, red embossing powder, clear UTEE, various tiny beads and sequins, glitter), fun foam

Stars, Encrusted and Embossed

For November's CAS Mix Up, Bonnie is challenging us to use embossing folders.

I'm hoping to make more than one card for this challenge as there are so many wonderful ways to use embossing folders, but for today I've gone with their original purpose of creating an embossed impression on cardstock.

To meet the CAS Mix Up requirements, I have embossing folder, stamping, encrusted jewel technique, die cutting, and heat embossing.

I started by die cutting a star from thin chipboard, then placed it on a warm grill on top of a layer of non-stick craft mat then parchment paper.  I sprinkled it with gold embossing powders.  Once they had melted, I added multi-coloured chunky glitter pieces and tiny star glitter on top.  The melted embossing powders hold the glitter in place.  To finish it off, I melted UTEE (Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel) on top.  I then die cut the star from fun foam and attached it immediately to the encrusted jewel star to give it a bit more body so that it wouldn't bend and crack.

I used a star embossing folder for the background, bordered it with a frame cut from gold shimmer cs, added a heat embossed sentiment, and hung the star with fine gold thread from the frame.

Here's a close-up from a different angle to show the dimension of the embossing folder and the wonderful "jewels" in the star:

I hope you like it!

Supplies:

Stamps - Penny Black sentiment

Ink - ColorBox gold

Paper - gold shimmer and white cs, thin chipboard

Size - 5.25" square

Accessories - Spellbinders star and square dies, Sizzix embossing folder, gold embossing powder, UTEE, various chunky glitter and star glitter, fun foam, thin gold thread

Red, Glitter, and Green

I love tic tac toe challenges and this one from 4 Crafty Chicks lent itself perfectly to a Christmas card.

I chose the left hand vertical column - red, glitter, green.

I've been having fun making some encrusted jewel pieces.  I die cut the tree from thin chipboard, then placed it on a warm grill on top of a layer of non-stick craft mat then parchment paper.  I sprinkled it with green embossing powder.  Once it had melted, I added multi-coloured chunky glitter pieces on top.  The melted embossing powders holds the glitter in place.  To finish it off, I melted UTEE (Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel) on top.  I then die cut the tree from fun foam and attached it immediately to the encrusted jewel tree to give it a bit more body so that it wouldn't bend and crack.

It was incredibly hard to photograph and get the sparkle to show up in the photo but here are a couple of close-ups to hopefully show the chunky multi-coloured glitter on the tree:

I added the tree to a small panel with a red stamped sentiment and put that on a red card base.

Supplies:

Stamps - Rosie's Roadshow sentiment

Ink - SU Real Red

Paper - white and red cs, light weight chipboard

Size - 4x5.25"

Accessories - Spellbinders tree die, green embossing powder, chunky glitter, UTEE, fun foam

Encrusted Jewel Tree

I've had a lot of fun playing with the Encrusted Jewels technique that Loll Thompson taught me.  One of the pieces I made was a Christmas tree - perfect to turn into my reminder card for the CAS Christmas challenge "Tree".

Here's another photo of the card with the light bouncing off of different colours:

I die cut the tree from thin chipboard, then placed it on a warm grill on top of a layer of non-stick craft mat then parchment paper.  I sprinkled it with green embossing powders.  Once they had melted, I added multi-coloured chunky glitter pieces on top.  The melted embossing powders holds the glitter in place.  To finish it off, I melted UTEE (Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel) on top.  I then die cut the tree from fun foam and attached it immediately to the encrusted jewel tree to give it a bit more body so that it wouldn't bend and crack.  Here's a close-up of the tree:

The tree is so stunning in its own right that it really called out for a very CAS card.  I stamped and heat embossed a simple sentiment, added a torn strip of cs to ground the tree, and placed it on a Sizzix label die cut with inverted corners (just to add a bit of interest).  The panel is popped up on fun foam.

There is lots of other inspiration over at CAS Christmas from the Design Team and our August Guest Designer, Barb (Barb's Studio Creations).  You have until August 24th to link up your card so please come and join us!

Supplies:

Stamps - Rosie's Roadshow sentiment

Ink - ColorBox Cranberry

Paper - white cs, thin chipboard

Size - A2

Accessories - Impression Obsession tree die, embossing powders (clear, green, UTEE), chunky coloured glitters, Sizzix label die, fun foam

Poinsettia and Mesh

Time for a reminder to join in with the CAS Christmas challenge with a card featuring poinsettias.

Our sister challenge CAS Mix Up recently had a "layered embossing" challenge so I got several pieces made when making something for it, including the poinsettia on this card:

The poinsettia was made using the Encrusted Jewel Technique.  On a warm grill topped with a piece of non-stick craft mat and a piece of parchment paper, I placed a die cut poinsettia (cut out of thick cs).  I sprinkled with red and garnet embossing powders, letting them melt.  I added glitter all over it and gold microbeads to the centre.  Then melted clear UTEE on top to hold everything in place.


When crafting with friends, I'd randomly brushed some gold grounds that one of them had on a piece of cs to see what it was like, so trimmed that down for a background.  Added a heat embossed sentiment and a piece of red and gold mesh, and popped the panel up on fun foam.

Here's a close-up of the poinsettia and mesh:

I'm also adding it to the July CAS Mix Up challenge - Colour your Die Cuts - as I coloured my die cut with embossing powder.  My mixed media are die cutting, embossing powder, mesh, glitter, and microbeads.

Please come and join us at CAS Christmas.  You have until July 24th to link up a CAS card featuring poinsettias.  There's lots of inspiration from the Design Team and July Guest Designer, Marina (My Perfect Life).

Supplies:

Stamps - Old Island Stamp Co. sentiment

Ink - ColorBox Chianti

Paper - white cs

Size - 4.75" square

Accessories - TH Tattered Poinsettia die, Stampendous Ruby Red and Pearl Claret embossing powders, UTEE, glitter, gold microbeads, red and gold mesh, Daniel Smith Gold Grounds, clear embossing powder, fun foam

Encrusted Jewels Butterfly

At the recent craft retreat I was at, Loll Thompson taught us the Encrusted Jewel Technique.  It is perfect for this month's CAS Mix Up challenge:

I turned one of the pieces I made at the retreat into this card:

To make the butterfly, I die cut it from thick card stock, then placed it on a warm grill on top of a layer of non-stick craft mat then parchment paper.  I sprinkled it with embossing powders.  I think I used some Frantage Shabby Blue, aqua or turquoise, white, and  platinum but I did not make a note of it.  Once they had melted, I added gold tinsel glitter and micro beads on top.  The melted embossing powders holds the glitter in place.  To finish it off, I melted UTEE (Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel) on top.

I kept the card very CAS with just a stitched die cut layer popped up on fun foam on the card base and a few sequins for embellishment.

I was originally going to do the sentiment in a matching aqua colour (ColorBox Robin's Egg with clear embossing powder, but after I'd stamped it, I decided I wanted a contrasting colour so added platinum embossing powder instead.  In the close-up below, you can see that a bit of the Robin's Egg ink shows through the embossing powder.  You can also see all the tinsel glitter and shades of embossing powders in the butterfly.

It is a really fun technique and I may have to go out and buy myself an old used electric grill just to make more pieces.  You could do it with your heat gun but you'd have to heat it from underneath and it would be harder to stop the embossing powder and added things like glitter from blowing off.

Supplies:

Stamps - SU sentiment

Ink - ColorBox Robin's Egg

Paper - white cs

Size - A2

Accessories - Memory Box butterfly die, embossing powders (Frantage Shabby Blue, aqua, platinum, white, and UTEE), Martha Stewart gold tinsel glitter, micro beads, sequins, fun foam

Eat Sleep Craft Repeated

Last year four of us got together for a craft retreat at Christine Alexander's house and Loll Thompson made us all aprons saying "Eat Sleep Craft Repeat" so that formed the name for the posts we all did last year - see this post.

This year two more joined our group, so we're calling our posts "Eat Sleep Craft Repeated".  The six of us crafted our hearts out, ate great food that we took turns cooking, drank wine, talked and talked and got to know each other better.   Here's the group:

 

From left to right: Nancy Littrell, Trina Pham, me, Loll Thompson, Christine Alexander, and Darnell Knauss. 

We had a long list of techniques that we took turns leading.  One of them was the encrusted jewel technique.  I made quite a few pieces for focal images on cards, but couldn't wait to turn my favourite piece into this card:

In an old griddle pan, we layered a piece of teflon crafting mat, then a piece of parchment paper, and then our die cut.  For mine, I sprinkled on one of the new Seth Apter embossing powders (Fractured Ice), a bit of a Lindy's Desert Blue Turquoise embossing powder, then some shaved ice and glitter, then a layer of UTEE to seal it all.  I put the lid on the griddle pan and let it all heat up and melt together, then removed it and cooled it.

I kept the card very CAS to allow the dove to take centre stage.  Just a simple dry embossed background popped up on fun foam, and the dove and a white heat embossed sentiment on black cs layered on top.

Here's a close-up of the dove so that you can see all the lovely encrusted glitter and shaved ice (it seems to turn a beautiful iridescent green when heated):

We also took a little break and went over to my house (20 minutes away) and had tea and scones in my garden - it was heavenly as it was sunny but not too warm, and a nice break in the middle of all the crafting time!

If all works out, we hope to do it again next year!  And you'll see cards in the future using other pieces made during this retreat.

To check the blog posts of the rest of the group and see some of the other techniques we did, go to the May 23rd posts on their blogs:

Loll Thompson - Stamping with Loll
Christine Alexander - It's a Card Day's Night
Nancy Littrell - scandinancy creates
Darnell Knauss - djkardkreations
Trina Pham - My Crafting Closet

And to make it even better, we skyped with Bonnie Klass (Stamping with Klass) and Nance Salkeld (soulstampin') during some of our techniques.  It worked really well and made it even more fun!  Here they are participating in our retreat via Skype:

It never ceases to amaze me that a simple craft can bring so many people together and forge wonderful new friendships!

Supplies:

Stamps - Paper Smooches sentiment

Ink - Versamark

Paper - white and black cs

Size - A2

Accessories - Impression Obsession dove die, embossing powders (white, Seth Apter Fractured Ice, Lindy's Desert Blue Turquoise, UTEE), glitter, shaved ice, SU embossing folder, fun foam