Warm Cocoa Wishes

Hi Everybody,

It has been in the high 70's the last few weeks and now it's in the low 60's and 50's.  That's COLD for Mississippi weather lol.  I know, if you live up North you're chuckling right now. :)

I love to drink flavored coffees and hot chocolate when it starts getting cooler outside so I thought it was time to pull out this stamp set by Sweet 'N Sassy Stamps called Winnie's Warm Wishes. 

I used a Tim Holtz stencil for the background called Holiday Knit.  I love this stencil for holiday and winter cards.  For the very first time, I used my new Clarity Stencil Brushes.  I like the soft look but you do have to apply many layers.  I tend to press harder with a jumbo sponge dauber and always seem to make it darker than I would've liked so these definitely will solve that problem.  I used Gina K Designs Ocean Mist and Jellybean Green Inks and card stocks. 

I colored the cups with Copic Markers and added Nuvo drops in Gloss White on the marshmallows for some dimension and shine.  For some subtle shine on the hearts, I used the Sakura Glitter Pen in Clear Star.  

You'll notice there is one cup in this set.... I mirrored it to make the other one. I used a piece of acetate and stamped the cup in Memento Tuxedo Black Ink and pressed it gently on the card stock.  It's not going to stamp as crisp as the original one but I went over it with a black Faber Castel PITT Artist Pen with super fine tip and cut them out. 

Next I embossed the words I wanted for the card on Gina K Designs Black Onyx card stock with Brutus Monroe Alabaster Ultra Fine Embossing Powder and cut into strips. 

To finish it off, I used clear sequins which I think add such a lovely touch without interrupting the other items on the card. 

I like this stamp set also to make cards to send out after the New Year as well. 

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Regina

Winter Is For The Birds

Hi Everybody,

I think the stamp set I'm using on today's card is so cute!!!  It is by Sweet 'N Sassy Stamps called For The Birds.  I don't usually make a lot of cards with birds on them, no particular reason why, but I can't seem to resist the birds on Sweet 'N Sassy Stamps stamp sets.  I used a bird set last week as a matter of fact called Season's Greetings.  If you would like to check out my blog post using that stamp set, HERE IS A LINK.  I made a cute shaker card with it. :)

It looks like this stamp set is currently 20% off so grab it while it's on sale!

It's Sweet 'N Sassy Stamps 10th Birthday Celebration.  You will get this Happy Stamp Set FREE with a $50 purchase.  You can use this alone or with another stamp set.  HERE'S A LINK to this set.

I used a Tim Holtz stencil called Holly Boughs.  I finally used my new Clarity Stencil Brushes that I bought a few months ago.  I had actually forgotten about them until today, when I was searching for something else and found them.  Shows you how organized I am right??  They give a softer look than the jumbo sponge dauber I usually use.  I tend to press too hard and go to fast with the sponge daubers but you can't really do that using these brushes.  You need to apply several layers of color because of the light touch it provides. I'm happy with them!  I used Memento New Sprout on the leaves and then went over it a little with Gina K Designs Jellybean Green. For the berries, I used Gina K Designs Dusty Rose ink. The paper that I used is Bristol Smooth Paper and for the bottom layer, I used Gina K Designs Kraft Cardstock.

I colored the tree branch and bird with Copic Markers and of course, I made the bird a Cardinal.  I lived in St. Louis 20 years so all birds will be Cardinals unless I do not have choice. Fussy cutting is not my favorite thing to do but I felt like it would look better to do it on this one. I added a little Spectrum Noir Clear Glitter Pen to the green in the scarf.  The sentiment was stamped in Memento Rich Cocoa.

To finish it off I used some Brutus Monroe Bottlecap Sequins in Crystal. These sequins are magnificent I have to say.  I love how they are flat and have grooves.  The grooves create so much more shine. They were glued down securely with Brutus Monroe Glue.

I'll be using this stamp set in the future because I used a stencil to make a background that looks like a sweater so that one would be cute with this stamp set and I also made some simple watercolor backgrounds that would work as well.  I also like to use sets like this for after the first of the year as a New Year's type card. I think you'll have a lot of fun with it.

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a great day!

Regina