Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all of my blog friends.  I wish you hope and joy and love during this holiday season and especially on Christmas Day.  I would like to share the true meaning of this beautiful season.

May The Lord give you peace and harmony on this Blessed Day.

Merilee

Clean and Simple Snowflake Card

Hi Everyone!  I hope you are all enjoying the holiday season.  I'm not quite ready for my family to arrive, but I'll finish things up this weekend, I hope!

Today I have a clean and simple Snowflake card to share.  This card was a little difficult for me.  I am a "more is more" kind of gal and it was hard not to add more detail.  However, I refrained as best I could and this is the result:

I entered this card in the Cardz TV Design Team Challenge #21, "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas".  I wish you could see the details a bit better.  Instead of adding a lot in the way of embellishments, I added different textures.  The background is dry embossed in a snowflake pattern.  I used my fine tip glue pen to add a bit of glitter to only a few flakes.  Then I used a tiny brush and some pearl paint to add a bit of iridescent shine to a few others.  Hopefully you can see that detail a bit better below...

The embossed background was matted on white cardstock and wrapped in silver satin ribbon.  Then I cut a very thin piece of embossed silver metallic cardstock to apply to the center of the ribbon. 

The focal image was stamped twice, once on white copy paper and once again on vellum. The vellum image was then immediately sprinkled with ultra thick embossing powder and heat set. I wasn't sure how this would turn out, but was pleasantly surprised by the perfect dimension it provided.

I used my MFT Wellworn die to create the frame for the focal point. I cut the background in flat gray cardstock and then the center frame was cut from embossed silver metallic cardstock. I then added rhinestones on either side to finish off the look without taking too much away from the focal image.   I layered the two stamped images on top of each other to add a bit of depth in color, and then set the frame atop. The entire focal image is adhered with pop dots for dimension and a simple bow tied and adhered beneath.

Here is another view so you can see the dimension. I'm sorry...the sparkly and iridescent snowflakes in the background don't seem to photograph very well.

I also kept the inside of the card simple and clean.  You may be able to see the detail in the snowflakes a little better below...

I added the same ribbon around the cardstock and topped it with a thin strip of metallic cardstock to match the card front.

And, of course, the back wouldn't be complete without my company logo.  The frame around it was cut with my Cricut Expression and Lacy Labels cartridge in the same embossed, metallic cardstock.  I usually always add a rhinestone above the banner to add a bit of personality.  (There goes my "more is more" again, lol!)

I hope you enjoyed my card!  I will be back soon with another project!

Thanks for joining me and happy holidays to you and your family!
Merilee

Recipe:
Cardstock:  Recollections; AC Specialty Paper-Foil
Stamps:  Stampin Up-Christmas Lodge; Flourishes-Sentimental Christmas-SS179; PSA Essentials Personalized Stamp
Die:  MFT Die-Namics-Wellworn
Ribbon:  Really Reasonable Ribbon
Ink:  Memento-Tuxedo Black

Adhesives: Zig Two-Way Glue, Pop Dots; Glue Dots; Zots; Scotch- ATG, Mounting Tape

Other:  Ultra Thick Embossing Powder

Tools: Fiskars-Paper Trimmer, Easy Stamp Press; Scotch ATG Gun; Cutter Bee Paper Snips; Martha Stewart Score Board; T-Square; Sizzix Big Kick Machine; Cricut Expression; Cricut Lacy Labels Cartridge

 

Prayers for Victims in Connecticut

Today is a sad day in our history.  My heart is extremely heavy thinking of those victims of the shooting in Connecticut.  So many innocent people killed...so many innocent children who lost their lives before they had even begun. 

I will keep the families, the children, and everyone involved, in my prayers.  I ask that you do the same, as this tragedy is unthinkable.  I pray for those taken from this earth before their time; I pray for those broken families left with a vast hole in their lives that can never be mended; I pray for those children who lived through this horror, and I pray for the lost soul who committed this heinous crime.

Please join me in prayer at this sorrowful time in the lives of so many people.  Together, with the strength of prayer, we can reach out to help make a difference.

Thank you,
Merilee

 

Country Chic Christmas Card - Details and More Photos

Hi everyone!  After running into the storage dilemma on Google, I found that I had to purchase additional storage in order to continue adding photos to my blog posts.  I was surprised by this change, but the world is always changing, isn't it?

I'd like to continue my previous post so I can show you some close-ups of the Country Chic Christmas card featuring my sepia tone Santa.  I also wanted to show you the two cards side-by-side, so you can see how one stamp can be used to create very different cards.

So let's begin with the close-ups of my Country Chic card and a few details describing how it was created.

I don't know about you, but I LOVE to recycle and/or upcycle things to use as embellishments on my cards.  I've added some things like that to this card.  Can you find them?  Let's take a closer look...

The corrugated cardboard I used for the plaque is made from a coffee sleeve!  My husband and I love to go to Barnes & Noble, drink coffee at Starbucks and read our favorite magazines.  I always save the Starbucks coffee sleeves to take home for projects.  Now I've got too many, so I have decided I can't save any more until I use the ones I've got, lol!

 

Here is a view from the side of the card.  In order to add dimension, you can see how many of the elements are set away from the card base at various depths using different thicknesses of foam tape and pop dots.

I added a white "brick" center border to separate the two red and white patterns.  Then beneath the border I added some braided trim I found in my sewing stash.  I has a slight sparkle to it for added interest.

The cardboard background for this embellishment was cut from the remaining coffee sleeve using my circle punch.  Then I added crackle medium to the focal point, as well as to the berries on Santa's hat, to add a little more vintage feel.  I love the way it turned out!  Here's a better look...

For the sparkly effects in the pine sprigs and holly I used Stardust Galaxy Gelly Roll pens.  They work great in adding detail to things such as these!

These little tickets are from Whimsy Stamps-Holiday Ticket Sentiments.  I actually stamped and cut these tickets first from kraft cardstock and then again in off white cardstock.  I fussy cut the second set and inset them onto the kraft set so they would stand out a little more.  The doily I used was actually a little small for this project, so I cut in half and placed it strategically to give the appearance of something a bit larger.

For the inside of the card, I stamped my sentiment and cut it out with Die-Namics-Wellworn Die and Stamp Set.  I used a little twine and a small vintage Santa image popped up to finish it off.  Here is a close-up of the sentiment.

Now I'd like to show you the two different cards I made using the same Santa image.  They each have a very different feel...

 

One a bit more elegant in cranberry and gray tones...

 

And the other with an aged feel in a sepia tone pallet of off white, red and kraft.  Both cards make a big statement.  Which one is your favorite?  I can't seem to choose.  I actually made the Country Chic card to send to my grandchildren with the "Believe" sentiment and the cute Santa tickets.  :o)

 

Well, thank you for joining me today and I hope you enjoyed today's post.  I'll be back soon with another project to share!

 

Happy Holidays!

Merilee

 

Recipe:

 

Pattern Papers and Cardstock:  DCWV-The Downtown Love Stack, Main Street Stack; Me & My Big Ideas-Mambi Sheets; Recollections-Solid Cardstock

Stamps and Die Sets:  Flourishes-Santa I Believe-SS085, Sentimental Christmas-SS179; Whimsy Stamps-Holiday Ticket Sentiments-10210; MFT Stamps and Die-Namics Set-Wellworn

Embellishments:  K&Company BW Evergreen Adhesive Paper Borders; American Crafts Baker's Twine; Wrights-Loop Braid Trim; My Stash-Doily, Jingle Bell; Starbucks-Coffee Sleeve

Ink, Pens and Markers:  Tim Holtz Distress Ink-Brushed Corduroy, Festive Berries; VersaMagic-Jumbo Java; Stardust Galaxy Gelly Roll Pens; Sharpie Ultra Fine Point Markers

Adhesives:  Inkssentials Crackle Accents; Zig Two-Way Glue, Pop Dots; Glue Dots; Zots; Scotch- ATG, Mounting Tape

Tools:  Fiskars-Paper Trimmer, Easy Stamp Press; Scotch ATG Gun; Cutter Bee Paper Snips; Paper Shapers Circle Punch; Hole Punch; Martha Stewart Score Board; T-Square; Sizzix Big Kick Machine; Ink Daubers