Festival of Trees Tablescape Element for Freshly Made Sketches

Who do you have coming to your house for Christmas dinner? Or who are you visiting? In an attempt to stave off a blue Christmas, when none of my family can be here and we can't go to them because hubby works in retail, we are inviting some of his co-workers to Christmas dinner. I wanted to create some elements for a decorative Christmas tablescape so, using Freshly Made Sketches' sketch challenge #165, I came up with these napkin and cutlery holders using the Envelope Punch Board and Festival of Trees Stamp Set.

• I used the Envelope Punch Board to make the pouch using the directions for a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" card.  It makes the envelope just slightly bigger. I sealed all the flaps except for the end one and folded it over the opposite way to create interest on the front.
• I traced the end flap onto some Brushed Gold cardstock and hand cut it out. I glued it on the flap for some elegant gold yumminess!
• And for contrast, I used Burlap Ribbon, Crochet Lace Trim and Gorgeous Grunge heat embossed with Gold Stampin' Emboss powder on a Soft Suede 2 1/2" Circle as a background for the gold embossed tree from Festival of Trees Stamp Set. The star is also from Festival of Trees and it coordinates with the little star punch from the Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack.
• The greeting comes from Endless Wishes and I gave the banner some dimension using my bone folder.
• The personalized name comes from the Alphabet Rotary Stamp that I just got.  It is a brute as far as rotary stamps go, but I think it's really going to come in handy when I want to personalize things.

If you would like more step-by-step instructions on how to make this tablescape element, please sign up to receive my newsletters, which includes 2 more issues of The Nine Weeks of Christmas, which is a newsletter to help you prepare for Christmas this year. It includes step-by-step photo or video tutorials including supply lists and measurements.  The next issue, which comes out this week will contain the tutorial for this utensil and napkin holder which doubles as a place card.

Sign Up for My Newsletter

(Its free and you can unsubscribe at any time.)

Artist Trading Cards

 Recently, I was introduced to the concept of Artist Trading Cards and invited to be part of a group that does a monthly swap of ATCs.  What are Artist Trading Cards?  They are like an old fashioned calling card for artists, you know, like people used to hand to the butler so he could announce their visit to the hosts.  They are also like business cards for artists, like a mini-print of the artist's work.

                                 


The size is typically 2.5" x 3.5" which is easy to fill, but the artist tends to go all out on design and texture so they can take a while to complete.

In the trading group I'm in has a different theme each month and this month the theme is Holidays.  I went very traditional with my design and used the bokeh effect on the background.

• I started by heat embossing the snowflakes and sentiment from Endless Wishes in White Stampin' Emboss Powder on the Whisper White trading card.  I then stamped a couple more snowflakes in Elegant Eggplant.
• I then created the bokeh effect exactly like I did for this card, using the same colours sponged on.
• Lastly, I used the Snowflake Card thinlits' tiny snowflake die to die cut this from the old Silver Glimmer paper from Stampin' Up!  This glimmer paper has now been replaced by a darker silver, but I prefer this lighter shade.
• I mounted the snowflake on the card using a glue dot.  

And that's all there is to Artist Trading Cards.  If you trade them with others, you can begin to keep an album of your collection!

It is Tuesday and here are your latest weekly deals:

Today is the last day of the OnLine Extravaganza, so you can still get in on some of the deals by going to shop at my OnLine store here.  It's also your last chance to Join my Team for a 25% reduction in the price of the Starter Kit and a 5% Cash Back Bonus on all your December sales.

Click on the links below to take you to my On-Line Store, where you can read about, look at, and purchase if you wish, the products used to make this card today!

Product List

Endless Wishes Photopolymer Stamp Set [133455]	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [100730]	Silver Glimmer Paper [135314]	Versamark Pad [102283]	Elegant Eggplant Classic Stampin' Pad [126969]
Island Indigo Classic Stampin' Pad [126986]	Coastal Cabana Classic Stampin' Pad [131175]	Bermuda Bay Classic Stampin' Pad [131171]	Smoky Slate Classic Stampin' Pad [131179]	Whisper White Craft Stampin' Pad [101731]
Stamping Sponges [101610]	White Stampin' Emboss Powder [109132]	Heat Tool [129053]	Snowflake Card Thinlits Dies [135855]	Glue Dots [103683]

Lovely as A Sparkly Tree in Winter for As You See It Challenges

We had our first major snowfall two days ago, and the snow was so wet and heavy that it downed power lines and broke the branches off of many trees, which is sad, because normally it looks so beautiful on the bare tree branches, especially when it sparkles in the sun! I tried to recreate that look using the stamp set, Lovely As A Tree, and some sponging/masking techniques and lots of Dazzling Details! It was created for As You See It Challenges #064 this week:

• Hopefully, you can see all the lovely sparkle on the trees and in the sky from the Dazzling Details and the rhinestones. It looks so pretty in real life.
• Another victory for Lovely as a Tree, the longest surviving stamp set from Stampin' Up! It's been around for years!
• I used my oval framelits to cut out an oval from some scrap cardstock and placed the cardstock I cut the oval from over my Whisper White to act as a mask while I sponged the background with Pool Party, Coastal Cabana and Island Indigo. 
• When I went to stamp the trees in the background, the stamp was wider than the oval, but I didn't want to use the cardstock mask again because of it's thickness and the way that creates a "stamp shadow" at the edges of the oval. So I used a piece of a Post It Note. I stuck it on the edge of the actual oval that I die cut previously and adjusted it so that the Post It Note reached the edge of the paper, then trimmed it around the oval so that I had a mask for the edge of the paper next to the sponged oval on the Whisper White. I was then able to stamp the image without worrying that it would go over the edges of the oval.
• I stamped the fir tree on a separate piece of Whisper White and hand-snipped it out, then added Dazzling Details and White Gel ink with my White Signo Uni-Ball Gel Pen. I let it dry thoroughly before adding it to the card using Stampin' Dimensionals.

Click on the links below to take you to my On-Line Store, where you can read about, look at, and purchase if you wish, the products used to make this card today!

Product List

Lovely As A Tree Clear-Mount Stamp Set [127793]	Lovely As A Tree Wood-Mount Stamp Set [128655]	Endless Wishes Photopolymer Stamp Set [133455]	Island Indigo 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [122923]	Pool Party 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [122924]
Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [100730]	Island Indigo Classic Stampin' Pad [126986]	Pool Party Classic Stampin' Pad [126982]	Coastal Cabana Classic Stampin' Pad [131175]	Rhinestone Basic Jewels Embellishments [119246]
Stamping Sponges [101610]	White Signo Uni-Ball Gel Pen [105021]	Dazzling Details [124117]	Project Life Cards & Labels Framelits [135707]	Ovals Collection Framelits Die [129381]
Paper Snips Scissors [103579]	Stampin' Dimensionals [104430]

Stamping by Candlelight for The Paper Players

Sounds romantic doesn't it?  But not very practical and really hard on the eyes!  Yes, we had a power outage last night - a big one and a long one.  The power went out for 22,000 of us at around 6:30 pm and didn't come back on until about 3:30 am.  And being a night owl stamper and blog writer, that spelled disaster for me.  With no internet connection, I couldn't even use my laptop or tablet.  But I had my card all ready for assembly and I was able to do that with candles and a flashlight. Thankfully, it is a really shiny card.  I took photos but was unable to upload and edit them.  So I'm doing it all this morning!

It was fun playing with all sorts of lighting last night:

Here's one with the flashlight and flash - kind of a neat effect:

I was using The Paper Players Challenge #215 sketch for this week:

Here is my card with flash and exposure adjustment:

• I love the Specialty Designer Series Papers, but sometimes find it hard to use them.  I'm glad I took the opportunity to work with this one with the silver foil accents from All is Calm Specialty Designer Series Paper.  It turned out to be the perfect choice to go with the Endless Wishes Stamp Set.
• I'm also perpetually in love with the Brushed Silver and Gold cardstock.  It give a really classy shine to any card, without the over-the-top glitter. The 1" Square punch was my friend here, making sure all my squares were exactly equal.  When adhering them, it's best to do the two outer ones first and then adding the middle one equidistant from each of the other two.
• The 1/8" Silver Ribbon is tied in a little fork bow and you can follow the link to find out how to make them.  They are fun and easy and create the cutest little bow ever.
• I had to find something to stamp the sentiment on because it just would not have worked stamping it on the DSP.  I chose two more of the many sentiments you get with the Endless Wishes set and stamped them on Whisper White cardstock, as I had done with the other words and images, in VersaMark Ink and embossed them in Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder.  Then I used the Banners Framelits to die cut the banner.

And that's a wrap.  I have to get this on line right away.  But before I do, here's another fun shot of my card with only the ambient flashlight light in the room, no flash! That is one shiny card!

  

Click on the links below to take you to my On-Line Store, where you can read about, look at, and purchase if you wish, the products used to make this card today!

Product List

Endless Wishes Photopolymer Stamp Set [133455]	All Is Calm Specialty Designer Series Paper [135823]	Brushed Silver 8-1/2X11 Card Stock [100712]	Whisper White 8-1/2X11 Card Stock [100730]	Versamark Pad [102283]
Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder [109131]	3/4 Inch Circle Punch [119873]	Small Oval Punch [120908]	1" Square Punch [124094]	Silver 1/8" Ribbon [132137]
Banners Framelits Dies [132173]	Heat Tool [129053]	Embossing Buddy [103083]	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine [113439]