TCP Sneaky Peek Week...Nature's Christmas Tree

Hello there inky friends.  Today I'm joining some of my fellow designers at The Cat's Pajamas as we give you a little sneaky peek of what's to come in our new release.  I'm featuring the gorgeous new sketchy Christmas set called "Nature's Christmas Tree" and a few other goodies coming to the shop!  You're going to FLIP!

NEW!!! Nature's Christmas Tree

NEW!!!   Great Outdoors Stencilz

NEW!!!  Big Beautiful Blending Brush

NEW!!! Clear Holographics

To create my design, I started out by using the fun four-sided Great Outdoors stencil to create a cloud background.  I used Distress Oxides for their beautiful blending capabilities and for the ability to give that "Snowy" effect with water.  The Big Beautiful Blending brush is AHHHMAZING in helping create a seamless blending and fun design. 

After creating the blended background, I stamped the snow dots and stars and naked trees onto the panel.  I also stamped some of the sketchy trees with some embossing ink so that I could add Hero Arts Puffy White embossing powder.  I think it gave the trees a snowy texture.  I also dipped the bottom edge of the stamped panel into the embossing powder so that I could create a little snowy ground.  

After that, I stamped the deer and the little bird and colored them with Copics.  I also stamped a few additional stars so that I could add some here and there on the card.  

To finish the scene, I added the cute little sparkly snow sequins onto the card.  They pick up a lot of the teal in the photograph but in reality, they are like a glossy icy color.  So yummy and perfect for a snowy scene! 

Thanks for hopping over to check out my creation.  I hope my card inspired you today!  One more Christmas card down, a million more to go!  WOOP! 

Sunday Sip: CLC Fall/Winter Blog Hop and The Cat's Pajamas!

Hello there Coffee/Tea/Cocoa loving friends!  I'm back with another fun Sunday Sip and Share!  I hope you've been enjoying the Fall/Winter Hop thus far!  If you haven't been following or playing along, you can hop right over to the post and find out more!  Just click on the cozy coffee/mittens image and you'll get right to it!  Thank you sooo much to all the fabulous Super Sponsors who so graciously and generously provide prizes for this amazing hop. Thanks also to the hundreds and hundreds of participants!  Without you, we wouldn't be able to have a fun hop like this!  And to Amy, the master planner, organizer, procurer of prizes, picker of prizes, commenter extraordinaire and hop creator, so much gratitude for all that you do! 

Today, I'm featuring the adorable Ship Happens (tea) stamp set by Super Sponsor The Cat's Pajamas.  I paired it with the fun Dots Die.

To start my creation, I used the following inks on my Gelli Plate.  I dropped a few drops of each color on the plate then spritzed with water.  I rubbed it around with my finger until I liked how it pooled.  Next, I set the paper atop the ink and lightly pressed to lift the color.  After that, I spritzed it with Silver Shimmer Spritz spray.

After the page was dry, I diecut it using the Dots Die and then diecut another white cardstock panel to allow me to inlay the watercolor dots.  I have saved the reverse background design for a future project.

Next, I glued the dots into place and added a snowflake diecut from the Five Snowflakes die.  I added some teal ribbon, some bling and mounted this panel onto blue cardstock and then onto the white card base.  

A closer peek at the image will show that I colored with Copics and then went over that with colored pencils.

I hope you've enjoyed today's project.  I'm holding off on the next sketch challenge until next week-so get hopping!

Spring Coffee Lovers Hop...Day 2: Distress OXIDES!

Hello there Coffee Loving Hoppers!  WOO HOO!!! I got my birthday treats (I'm an April Fool!) just in time for the HOP! 

As many of you already know, the Tim Holtz Distress Oxides are a brand spankin' new magical ink that debuted at CHA Creativation 2017 just a few months ago. I have been drooling over their miracle powers and having #fullsetsyndrome, I just HAD to get them all! I didn't do a preorder so I was disappointed that I would have to wait a LONG time to get the whole set immediately as they are so very popular and were a challenge for Ranger to keep up with the demand. I was THRILLED to learn that a long time inky friend could order them for me and I would get them really quickly! There's nothing like waiting a few days for a special box to arrive on your doorstep! As soon as I got home from work on Wednesday, I just had to tear open the box and get started "experimenting". 

This card is my first play-date with these amazingly fabulous inks!  I'm in LUUUUVVV!!!

I selected several colors to create a SNAZZY SPRING SPLATTERY background (say that super fast). For this Kraft background, I used the following reinker colors in this order:

Cracked Pistachio

Broken China

Spiced Marmalade

Wilted Violet

Worn Lipstick

Vintage Photo

To create this fun effect, I used a 5/0 paintbrush and some water to splatter each color onto the paper. I heat set each color before adding subsequent layers of splatter. This allowed the inks to maintain separation and not muddle up.  

After creating the background, I attached some sewing thread to a little twig. My inspiration came from the little easter egg trees in my neigborhood! It was the perfect opportunity to dangle my own sweet treats from a tree! Hee hee.

After adding the thread, I stamped the sentiments and the cups onto white cardstock and "watercolored" them with the remaining reinkers on my ink block. I cut out the images (from the Planner Addict (Chic Tags) Coffee Lover clear stamp set. I added a few foam squares so I could attach them to the thread. Once done, the final step was to stamp the hashtag sentiment, tear the edge of the paper and mount this panel onto a white card base (top fold).  

Isn't it just YUMMY?!  

Please stop by my Fun Stampers Journey Inspiration blog to check out my Super Sponsor post for today.  Thanks for stopping by and happy hopping!  Good luck!