Poinsettias For Christmas

Sylvia in Edmonton has a monthly Christmas Card Challenge and the theme for June is poinsettias. I don't have a green thumb, which apparently extends to card making! I have bits and pieces to make about six cards, but in the end have only managed to get two finished, and today is the last day of June, so it's time to post!

The first card is made with an old Magenta stamp. I created a Burnished Velvet background with fuchsia glitter, and use metallic gel pens to colour in the borders. 

 

Here is a close up (you can click on it to enlarge):

I prefer this second card, made with a stamper in mind. The flowers in the border were painted with Twinkling H2Os. 

 

 I created a Burnished Velvet border around the frame by laying down strips of 1/4 inch double sided tape and covering with glitter. Tapped and brushed off the excess, then burnished the glitter with my finger to adhere it well and bring up the sparkle. 

Burnished Velvet

I recently attended a few classes at my local stamp store, Stampers!, to get better at the Burnished Velvet Technique. This is a technique that involves strong double-sided tape, and GitterRitz micro-fine glitters. After the glitter is rubbed into the tape, it feels soft like velvet and sparkles like crazy; two features which you won't be able to discern due to the limits of scanners and computer screens!

A close-up of the glitteriness:

For this card, the tape was exposed and then masks were laid down and selectively removed to colour in the flowers and leaves.

For the card above, I used a die set from Cuttlebug to create the tape base from a sheet of double-sided tape. Various parts of the tape liner were peeled away to apply the green and navy glitters.

The instructors, Deanna and Haroldine, are an example of women entrepreneurs who love what they do and have found two are better than one: Deanna is the glitter gal and Haroldine is the tape lady. When the two of them combined forces, Burnished Velvet was born.

WMS Sketch Challenge #4

Oooh, my, I am waaaay behind these days. I have been traveling for work and too bagged since coming home to do too much. I am also without a camera right now, so anything I share has to be flat so the scanner can handle it.

So I missed the Waltzingmouse Sketches the past few weeks, but managed to put together a flat card for today's sketch, which is:

Here is my card, which unfortunately didn't scan well. The Spellbinders Pendant is all glitter - Bronze GlitterRitz in the Burnished Velvet technique. It sparkles in real life. Some other colours to coordinate were also used.

Here is an angle shot that might show the glittery aspect better:

The sentiment is a Waltzingmouse Stamp. Thanks for looking. Some more flat cards will be coming shortly!

Waltzingmouse Stamps Challenge #1

The Mouse has started a weekly challenge blog, with a new challenge to be uploaded each Saturday. This is perfect for me - a mostly weekend stamper! This week we are to try our hand at creating a card that reflects this sketch:

Here's my go:

I used a number of Waltzingmouse Stamps on this card: the circle, the sentiment, and the background leaves. The maroon DP is actually digital paper from WMS, too. To get the closely nested scalloped squares, I first die cut the green one with the largest die in the Classic Scalloped Squares Small set of Nestabilities. Then, using an Exacto knife, I cut around the outside of the die on the digi paper to get a slightly larger border. I created the brad button with an I-top brad maker and set it on a die cut embellishment from the Cuttlebug Harlequin set. The tone-on-tone background was stamped with Antique Linen Distress Ink, and Adirondack Cranberry Ink was used for the sentiment.

I adore Swarovski rhinestones. They have a reflective quality that is unmatched in embellishments. They are a bit pricey, and I have only found them at Michael's. When I have a 40 or 50% off coupon, this is more than likely what I use it for. It's hard to catch the effect on camera, though.

Why not join us over at the Waltzingmouse Challenge Blog and see the wonderful cards the Design Team made for the first sketch, and all those uploaded by others. You don't have to use WMS stamps to play along, and there are random prizes to be awarded, too. Click on the blinkie at the right hand side of my blog to visit there now.