Christmas Is Coming

Ornamental Pine is such a classic stamp set. That must be why I like it so much. I'm a classic kinda girl ya know? I love putting different effects to simulate snow on the pinecones and branches. I've used the splotches on the Gorgeous Grunge stamp set with white embossing powder, and Dazzling Details. I've even used puffy paint stuff with my heat tool. It is a pen called 'Snow Marker' from Marvy Uchida. I got it at a scrapbook store while traveling. To make these pinecones snowy, I prefer white embossing powder. How to apply that to the negative spaces on the stamped pinecone was a challenge. I tried various markers, but they all dried before I could get the embossing powder on. I could not find the embossing pen I used to have, but I looked on another shelf and spotted a bottle of embossing ink. Aha! I grabbed a tiny paint brush, applied ink to the negative spaces, grabbed my tweezers, dipped it in my box of white embossing powder and fired up the heat tool. SUCESS!

Project Details
Stamps	Ornamental Pine, Gorgeous Grunge
Card Stock & Papers	Very Vanilla: card base 5 ½ x 8½ score at 4 ¼                            2 ¾  x 4 ¼   Soft Suede:    3 x 4 ½
Ink	Soft Suede, Mossy Meadow, Chocolate Chip, Silver Encore Metallic
Accessories	Gold, Dazzling Details
Tools	Stampin’ Dimensionals

design by Julie Gearinger

Project Details
Stamps	Ornamental Pine, That’s The Ticket
Card Stock & Papers	Early Espresso:  5 ½ x 8½ score at 4 ¼                                  2 ½ x 3 ¾ Cherry Cobbler: 4 x 5 ¼                                  2 3/8 x 3 5/8 Whisper White:  3 ¾ x 5  Woodgrain embossed                                  2 ¼ x 3 ½ Trim the Tree DSP: 2 x 3 ¾
Ink	Mossy Meadow, Early Espresso
Accessories	Pearls Basic Jewels, Antique Brad, White Organza ribbon dyed with Always Artichoke ink pad
Tools	Woodgrain embossing folder, Ticket Duo Punch

My Favorite Christmas Card

I think... lol  This design is floating all over the internet. I saw Billie Moan's version and that's what made me think I just HAD to buy this stamp set. Using the Blendabilities on top of white embossing is genius. I have now finished making enough Christmas cards to send out to friends and family. I may make some more to donate for sale at our Church Apple Festival, but it feels good to be ahead of the game in one area of my Christmas preparations;)

I’ve been using this great sparkly pen on several cards lately.  It’s Sakura brand Gelly Roll ‘clear star.’  I got a couple of them at a Stamping/Scrapbooking Convention a couple years ago. Stampin’ Up! sells a white one and a chalk marker that I like as well.

I’ve also gotta tell you about using alcohol ink markers over white embossing. After making a few of these cards, I really got the hang of it. The alcohol in the markers really reacts with the embossing powder even though it’s been heated/hardened and cooled. It’s cool because it allows you to blend a lot more. It feels like I’m painting! I saw some white rub off on the light green marker. Just to be careful, when I was finished, I scribbled on a plain sheet of white paper to get any excess off the marker. Look at the difference between the two below. I made the first one before I realized how easily they blended on top of embossed areas. The second one has more colors and they are blended better.

 

Project Details
Stamps	Oranmental Pine, Gorgeous Grunge, More Merry Messages
Card Stock & Papers	Basic Black, Cherry  Cobbler, Brushed Silver,
Ink	VersaMark and Blendability Pens Old Olive, Crumb Cake and Smoky Slate - all markers in a package.
Accessories	Sheer Cherry Cobbler Ribbon, All Is Calm Snowflake Embellishments, White Embossing Powder, Linen Thread
Tools	Stampin’ Dimensionals, Heat Tool