Christmas Joy Continues

Hello, friends.

Look what I found.

In all the hustle and bustle of the season, this card sat on my table disassembled.

As the piles of to do stuff dwindle, I'm finding all kinds of things I was going to do, 

things I need to do, and things I should have done!

This was pretty quick to put together.

I had die cut one of my favorite Penny Black dies from snippets of 

watercolor paper and used Loll's Watercolor Smoosh Technique to add color to the pieces.

For the background, I used a Watercolor Resist technique since my intention was

to add it to the CAS Watercolour gallery.  It's bad when you're late to your own party!

I heat embossed the background on mixed media paper.

When it had cooled, I brushed clean water over it and added some color 

from my Gansai Tambi watercolor set.

(The colors are listed below.)

I kept adding bits of color here and there until I was happy with it.

I'm not too late to enter it at

Penny Black Saturday Challenge

WINTER OR CHRISTMAS

Those snippets of watercolor paper will get me into

Pixie's Snippet Playground

where it's hopefully not too late to join in the fun!

Merry Monday 

is asking for our favorite Christmas card from 2016.

Thanks for the visit and special thanks for your comments.

Enjoy!

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Christmas Background (Stampendous)

Ink:   Whisper White (SU)

Paper:   Mixed Media, Watercolor (Strathmore)

Other:  Joyful Die (PB), White EP (SU), Gansai Tambi Watercolors (#58 Evergreen,  #54 Olive Green, #57 Turquoise 

Christmas Blessings

And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)

To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

 And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for,behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

 And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

 And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

 And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.

 And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

 But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.

 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

Luke 2:4-20

May you have the gift of Faith

The blessing of Hope

And the Peace of His Love

at Christmas and all through the year.

Thanks for the visit and special thanks for your comments.

Enjoy!

Christmas Bells

Here's some more sponging for

CAS Mix Up!

The challenge closes on the 24th so there's still time.

Our challenge this month is....

The bells were stamped on a snippet of Whisper White and heat embossed.

Then I sponged some ink over the embossing (emboss resist) and punched them out.

The edges of the punched holly leaves have been sponged and shaped 

and added to the tops of the bells.

I love this wire twine for shaped bows.  It ties beautifully and curls the way 

I want it too.

My mixed media are Stamping, Sponging, Heat Embossing, Punches and Dry Embossing

I hope you'll visit
CAS Mix Up


Thanks for the visit and special thanks for your comments.

Enjoy!

Card Recipe

Stamps: Seasonal Bells, Christmas Pines (SU)

Ink:   Encore Silver, Dapper Denim (SU)

Paper: Dapper Denim, Whisper White, Snippets of Garden Green and Real Red (SU)  

Other:  Bell Punch, Pine Bough EF, Silver EP, Sponge Dauber (SU), MS Holly Punch, Silver Wire (Michaels)

Cheers for Merry Monday

Good Merry Monday morning!

It's the last Merry Monday challenge before Christmas!

And the last Merry Monday challenge for me as a Design Team Member.

I'm going to miss the team and the participants a lot!

Nina is our challenge hostess this week.
Here's what she chose.

I used a NBUS stamp to put the sentiment on a snippet of  watercolor background

that had been die cut.

A few snippets of greenery and a wired twine bow, and the design was done.

I mounted it on a piece of Tim Holtz woodgrain paper.

All these snippets will be my ticket in to 

Pixie's Snippet Playground

where there's lots of Christmas fun going on.

Thanks for all the love you've showed me in my Merry Monday years.

I'll be seeing you in the gallery!

Thanks for the visit and special thanks for your comments.

Enjoy!

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Christmas Messages (retired SU)

Ink:   Cherry Cobbler

Paper:   Solar White (Neena 110 lb.), Woodgrain (TH), Cherry Cobbler (SU), Mixed Media (Strathmore)

Other:  Anytime Tags Die (LI), Holly Punch, Pine Punch (MS), Wire Twine (Michaels)

Sponging for CAS Mix Up

I tried my hand at sponging on dry embossing.

I'd had some bad results with this technique before, but had just the right touch this time.

This card is a little busy for CAS but still has some white space.

I started with a piece embossed with the Pine Bough Embossing Folder from Stampin' Up!

Sponging was done with a sponge dauber and some retired Handsome Hunter ink.

(I still miss Handsome Hunter)

The ornament was die cut from a piece of shaving cream marbling and

I fussy cut a contrasting ornament from a matching snippet.

CAS Mix Up

I used Stamping, Sponging, Dry Embossing and Marbling.

The challenge is open until the 24th so there's still time to enter.

Thanks for the visit and special thanks for your comments.

Enjoy!

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Festive Snippets (PB)

Ink:   Handsome Hunter, Cherry Cobbler (SU)

Paper:  Thick Whisper White, Handsome Hunter (SU)

Other:  Pine Bough EF, Merry Tags Framelits, (SU),

More Resist for CAS Watercolour

We're halfway through the month already.

There's still time to enter at CAS Watercolour Card Challenge.

It's open until the 24th.

This month's challenge

I fell in love with the sweet flowers from this Simon Says Stamp set when I first laid eyes on it!

I stamped and heat embossed one of the flowers.
(LOL, The first time I did it the stem was about 1/2 inch to the side of the flower.)

The watercolor was done with my Gansai Tambi Watercolors. I'm still trying to get used to them.

Check out the samples from all the wonderful Design Team and our talented Guest Designer, Deepti.

 I hope to see you in the gallery.


Thanks for the visit and special thanks for your comments.

Enjoy!

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Spring Flowers (SSS), Painted Butterflies (Alt.)

Ink:   Whisper White

Paper:   Distress Watercolor (TH), Solar White (Neena 110 lb.), Basic Black

Other:  White EP (SU), Gansai Tambi Watercolors (#32 Red, #53 Mid Green)

Tis the Season for CAS Mix Up

We're halfway through the month and there's still time to join in at
CAS Mix Up.

Here is this month's challenge.

I stamped the snowflakes and heat embossed with silver.

Then I used a sponge dauber and sponged some Pool Party ink in the center of each snowflake.
For the largest one, I put the dauber down in the center and twisted.  Then I pulled the color out toward the edges just a bit.

The background is a piece of vellum over the white card.
It adds a misty look like a snowy day, don't you think?

By cutting the vellum half an inch longer than the card front, I was able to wrap it
over the top and adhere it to the back.  I also used some adhesive under where the design piece would be to hold it steady to the card base.

The design is on a piece of silver foil.  The camera thinks it's black.

We did a similar card for a recent card class. Here's a peek.

It's not quite CAS.  Just a bit too much going on.

I hope you'll join us at CAS Mix Up this month and share a bit of sponging with us.

The Design Team has some awesome inspiration for you and we have a 

very talented Guest Designer too.

This challenge is open until December 24th.

December - Sponging videos:

Basic Sponging Techniques by Dawn (3:04).
Bokeh by Brenda Keenan (6:32)
Color Layering for Galaxy background by Ilina Crouse (7:40)
Emboss Resist Ink Blending by Laura Bassen (5:48)
Faux Mother of Pearl by Loll Thompson (6:09)
Layered Sponging by Susan Campfield (6:05)
Masking and Sponging by Brenda Keenan (7:42)

Thanks for the visit and special thanks for your comments.

Enjoy!

Card Recipe (card 1)

Stamps:  Tin of Tags, Peaceful Pines (SU), Holiday Snippets (PB)

Ink:   Encore Silver, Pool Party, Emerald Envy (SU)

Paper:   Solar White (Neena 110 lb.), Vellum, Silver Foil, Whisper White (SU)

Other:  Silver EP, Sponge Dauber, Vinyl Stickers-Silver (Stampendous)

Card Recipe (card 2)

Stamps:  Same

Ink: VersaMark, Bermuda Bay

Paper:  Pool Party, Silver Foil, Whisper White (SU), Foiled Vellum (retired SU)

Other:  Silver EP, Sponge Dauber, Vinyl Stickers-Silver (Stampendous)

Having Fun with Merry Monday

Good Merry Monday morning!

I hope you are having fun getting ready for Christmas.

Here's something to make you smile.

I had this in my UFO box.  I'd stamped it from a borrowed stamp.

When I saw Lori's challenge, I couldn't resist using it.

These guys make me smile every time I look at them!

Come join us if you have a chance.

Thanks for the visit and special thanks for your comments.

Enjoy!

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Snowflakes (Rubber Cottage)

Ink:   Memento Tuxedo Black

Paper:   Garden Green, Whisper White (SU)

Other:  Copic Markers, Glossy Accents, Wink of Stella

Candy Canes for Merry Monday

Good Merry Monday morning.

We're down to the wire.

Are your Christmas cards done?

Mine are, but it's never too early to start on next year's cards.

Or have one on hand for that someone you forgot!

This week Linda is our hostess.

I find that I don't have a lot of candy cane stamps so I started looking

for stamps that had a candy cane on them.

This Paper Sweeties set was a NBUS and I thought a CAS card 

would work really well seeing as Christmas is almost upon us.

And it has a tiny candy cane peeking out of the stocking.

I stamped some stockings and colored with Copics.

A little Polar White Flower Soft made a fluffy cuff.

Quick and easy!

And since I used snippets, I'm off to

Pixie's Snippet Playground.

I hope you'll put a candy cane on your Christmas card and join us at

Merry Monday.

Debbie invited me to enter this at the Paper Sweeties December Challenge

Thanks, Debbie.

Thanks for the visit and special thanks for your comments.

Enjoy!

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Dear Santa (Paper Sweeties), Holiday Snippets (PB)

Ink:   Memento Tuxedo Black, Real Red (SU)

Paper:   Solar White (Neena 110 lb.), Snippets of Whisper White and Real Red (SU)

Other:  Stitched Shapes Framelit (SU), Snowflake Swirl EF (Darice), Polar White Flower Soft

Guest Designing for Penny Black and More

I am so excited to be the December Guest Designer at Penny Black and More!

Their Challenge this month is

"BLACK AND WHITE PLUS ONE"

I used the smallest butterfly from the Penny Black Butterfly Trio set.

I used the Watercolor Resist technique and stamped it with Stazon Black ink then clear embossed it.

I used a Gansai Tambi watercolor cake to color him up.  He needed a bit more shine,

so I liberally added some Wink of Stella. He's quite shimmery IRL.

The Background is a NBUS stamp, also Penny Black.

I used 2nd generation stamping to add the ghost of a flower over the script.

The background is covered with a subtly patterned vellum.

CAS Watercolour Card Challenge

A special thanks to Brenda and the rest of the Penny Black and More team for

including me on their team this month.  And special thanks for this

challenge blog and all the inspiration your provide!

Thanks for the visit and special thanks for your comments.

Enjoy!

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Butterfly Trio, Love Chapter, Enjoy (PB)

Ink:   Black StazOn, Memento Tuxedo Black, Pool Party (SU)

Paper:   Solar White (Neena 110 lb.), Basic Black, Whisper White (SU), Vellum (retired SU)

Other:  Clear EP,  Watercolor (#57 Turquoise Gansai Tambi), WOS, Sequins (SSS)

Warm Wishes for CAS Watercolour

Time for a new CAS Watercolour Card Challenge

This month's challenge is

I stamped this beautiful Penny Black Poinsettia with Whisper White craft ink and heat embossed it.

I colored the flower with re-inkers and my Aqua Painter.

The embossed resist helps to stay in the lines.

It gives a nice contrast too.

The background was my first try with my Gansai Tambi Watercolors.

I've had the set for months and it seems like I'm always in too much of a hurry and 

go with what I know.  I finally made a sample sheet so I could see what the colors 

look like with water and had a play with them.  They are very creamy and I need lots

more practice with them.

I added a little of the Gansai Deep Pink to the base of the petals.

A very subtle contrast.

I hope you'll find time in this busy month to relax

with some watercolor resist and share it with us at

CAS Watercolour Card Challenge

Thanks for the visit and special thanks for your comments.

Enjoy!

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Warm Wishes, Season't Gifts (PB)

Ink:   Whisper White, Night of Navy (SU)

Paper:   Mixed Media (Strathmore), Solar White (Neena 110 lb.)

Other:  White EP (SU), SU Re-inkers (Pink Pirouette, Pretty in Pink), Gansai Tambi Watercolors (#34 Dk. Pink, #67 Deep Blue), Stitched Mat Rectangles (LI), Fun Foam

Sponging with Shimmer for CAS Mix Up

It's time for a new challenge at CAS Mix Up!

Our CAS Mix Up Challenge this month is

I used a technique that Jennifer McGuire shared here.

I started by masking a piece of white and sponging some Distress Ink
Then I brushed Perfect Pearls over the top while the ink was still damp.
It makes for a wonderful shimmer!

I've die cut the sold butterfly from vellum and the open butterfly from white.

Here's a close up of the shine.

I used Stamping, Sponging, Masking, Perfect Pearls, Heat Embossing, Dry Embossing, Die Cuts and Vellum.

The Design Team has some awesome inspirations pieces to show you.

And we have another fantastic Guest Designer, Maura,

who won the October Challenge.

Here's some videos if you'd like some ideas.

December - Sponging videos:

Basic Sponging Techniques by Dawn (3:04).
Bokeh by Brenda Keenan (6:32)
Color Layering for Galaxy background by Ilina Crouse (7:40)
Emboss Resist Ink Blending by Laura Bassen (5:48)
Faux Mother of Pearl by Loll Thompson (6:09)
Layered Sponging by Susan Campfield (6:05)
Masking and Sponging by Brenda Keenan (7:42)

The challenge is open until the 24th of December.

Hope to see you in the gallery.

Thanks for the visit and special thanks for your comments.

Enjoy!

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Painted Butterflies (Altenew)

Ink:   Abandoned Coral, Fossilized Amber (Distress), Whisper White (SU)

Paper: Solar White (Neena (110 lb.), Whisper White, Vellum   

Other:  Perfect Pearls (Metallic Pearl), White EP (SU), Butterfly Thinlits, Bold Butterfly Framelits (SU), Stictched Mats Rectangles Die (LI)