Christmas cards, as promised!

Here are the cards I made recently, using a base card of Kraft, a Riding Hood Red layer, and the tree from the Holly Jolly Christmas set.    My starting point was actually the trees - I stamped out a lot of trees in Old Olive and cut them out  without really knowing what I was going to do with them.  I stamped a background with the flower from Season of Joy, the flourish from Season of Joy, or the swirl from Spotlight on Christmas.  I sponged the edges with RHR.  Then I used ribbon, some hodgepodge, and some hostess sets (Punches Three and last year's retired set that I can't remember the name of!).  Some glitter on the trees, and all done!  Most of the trees were adhered with Dimensionals too.

OK, I know I said that was my last post for a while......

.....but I had to show you these cute little gift bags I made today!  I cheated a little (used my Cricut Expressions to cut out the handbag box templates) but I did at least stamp on them with Season of Joy in Purely Pomegranate.  I also punched out the cute little flower with my Three For You punch and added a half pearl from my Pretties Kit.  The ribbon is purely pomegranate, same as the ink.   

As for what is inside the bags - well, you'll have to wait until after Christmas as I don't want to ruin the surprise!

They look cute, don't they?

Heat 'n Stick tutorial (or how to make the sparkly tree)

Due to popular demand (well, Christine and Maree wanted to know, anyway!) I've made a step by step tutorial on how to use Heat 'n Stick powder.        

Here is what you will need:

• Heat Gun
• Versamark
• Ink colour of your choice
• Dazzling Diamonds Glitter
• Heat n Stick Powder
• small paint brush
• Powder Pal
• Embossing Buddy
• Cardstock
• Stamp

Step One:

Give your cardstock and the powder pal (scrap cardstock may be substituted if you don't have a powder pal) a vigourous rub over with the embossing buddy.  Don't worry if you see little bits of powder from the embossing buddy on your cardstock; they will easily brush away at the end.  This will help stop any stray bits of embossing powder (if you were embossing) or heat n stick powder from sticking to the places you don't want them to go.

Step Two:  

Ink up your stamp with Versamark.  Versamark is a clear "sticky" ink that can be used alone to create a lovely watermark effect (tone on tone) or can be used to heat emboss with coloured dye inks or coloured embossing powder.  It is a must-have in any stamper's arsenal of supplies, in my opinion

.

Step Three

Next ink your stamp into your dye ink of choice (here I've used Wild Wasabi):

And here's what it should look like:

Step Four: 

Next, working quickly while the ink is still wet, pour some Heat n Stick Powder over your image.  Tap off any excess and return it to the jar (it can be used many times over).  Here's where the Powder Pal comes in handy (and now you see why I rubbed it over with the embossing buddy:  static cling makes the fine powder stick even to the powder pal).

 

Step Five

Now heat up the image with your heat gun until you see the powder go shiny:

 

Step Six

While the image is sticky, dump on your glitter, and tap off any excess:

   

I store my glitter (and the embossing powders I use most) in these handy Glad containers,  much easier for clean up.

Step Seven

Then give it a quick (and I mean only for a couple of seconds) blast with your heat gun again to set.  It is frustratingly easy to burn your image if you overheat it - so you might need to do a few practice runs with this.

Step Eight

Allow image to cool, then using a paintbrush, or in my case, an old makeup brush, remove any stray glitter from your image.

  

And voila!  Your lovely, glittery tree is ready to be added to your project.  Click on the image to see more detail.  The other great thing about this technique (apart from the bling!) is that because the glitter is "set" with the heat gun, it won't rub off your project.

Sneak Peek at tonight's cards.....Season of Joy

Here are the cards my lovely "card ladies" (as my kids call them) will be making tonight.  Totally different looks with one stamp set - I love a versatile stamp set!

Apologies for the sideways photo - no idea why I keep doing that!  No doubt there is a simple explanation..........anyhoo, let's pretend they are supposed to be sideways.  Moving on, nothing to see here.

Remember if you wish to purchase this stamp set, you only have until the end of this month - 30th November - before the Spring Mini catalogue ends.  

Better go take these kids to school!

I'm on a roll.....

Here is a Christmas card I made using my beloved Cuttlebug with the Christmas Tree embossing folder - When I posted it on my Splitcoast Gallery (I'm Gemini Mum over there, if anyone wants to look) I realised it looked rather plain and boring.  So I added a liberal dose of Kindyglitz  (thanks for the suggestion Linda) and voila!  It looks much better!

This is another card I turned around after a disaster.  I initially embossed poinsettia flowers all over the metallic bronze cardstock and brayered over some darker ink to try to get an the Metallic Brayering effect I saw over on Linda's blog , but sadly it just looked ugly.  So I flipped it over and left it plain.   As usual, the card stock is Stampin' Up! and so is this stamp set:  Season of Joy from the Spring Mini Catalogue.  

......and here it is again!

Ok, this one is a birthday card made for my son's prep teacher (Happy Birthday Mr B!).  I know I'm not the only one who struggles with masculine cards.  I "manned it up" by using Old Olive with a splash of bright colour.  I can't recall the manufacturer of this paper - I'll have to check and come back to edit when I find it.  The letters were cut with the trusty Cricut Expressions machine.   The sentiment is from a clear Hero Arts set.

And finally, a birthday card for one of my daughter's friends who turned 8 yesterday. 

This one used one of my favourite stamp sets, Garden Whimsy again, SU!  I also used one of my fave Cuttlebug embossing folders on the green layer - Swiss dots.    

Haven't I been productive?    Of course, my house looks like a cyclone hit it, and washing is still on the line from yesterday......ooops.  Better do something about that now!

Making a start on Christmas

This year, I am determined to be organised for Christmas. This year, I am not juggling a new baby, working three days a week as a lawyer, as well as the usual Mum stuff. THIS is the year I will be organised! Hmmmmm, let's see how that works out, shall we?

At least I've made a start on Christmas cards. Note: a start. Not finished or anything.

Here are a few of my cards so far:

I've used Stampin'Up! cardstock, and their Season of Joy stamps for the top four cards, and Stamp-It Australia's awesome unmounted rubber stamps for the last card there. I embossed that card with gold - easy way to achieve a "Christmassy" look, I think. (Is "Christmassy" a real word? It is now!)

Oooh, and I've discovered a great site that makes free watermarks for your photos: PicMarkr (one day I'll figure out how to make a hyperlink. Yes, I am a Luddite. ) Super-easy and quick.

Hmmm, I've managed to make this page all weird. Looks like I have a few kinks to iron out!

Better go, as a small boy has woken from his nap.

Oh, and Happy World Cardmaking Day!