Christmas Card for 2012

Last year I took a "Make 'n Take" at my LSS and decided I wanted to "steal" some elements of the card we made for the next card I would send out for Christmas. When the Boxing Day sales hit, I bought a background stamp with snowflakes (have I ever mentioned how much I LOVE snowflake designs?), a set of angel stamps and some Perfect Pearls mist. It has now been a year and the eagerly anticipated cards got started last night while cropping with friends. I knew exactly what inks I wanted to use to color the card. So, I started with plain white cardstock, stamped and embossed the snowflake background and then blended my 3 different ink colors. I then stamped and embossed the angel and sentiment to stick on the front of the card. I am quite happy with the look. It's softer than I usually go, but I love the colors and that they are non-traditional for Christmas. All that is left to do is spritz the Perfect Pearls for that final overall sheen. I have managed to finish putting together 6 cards and get the pieces all ready for another 10. I plan to make about 40-50 this year (last year was just over 70 and I had some leftovers). So, here it is:

I am also submitting this for The Paper Girls Challenge Blog (#20). This is definitely Christmas themed.

Here are the items I used:

Stamps: Impression Obsession (Snowflakes), Heartfelt Creations (Elegant Angels Precut Set)

Inks: Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Dusty Concord), VersaColor (35 Lilac) and Studio G Chalks (a baby blue color)

Back to Layouts...

Finally! After all the ATCs and the crafts for the craft fair, I got to work on some layouts Friday night. These are the 2 that I got done. I was sooooooo happy to get back to scrapbooking as that really is my first love.

This first layout was of a picture that makes me giggle every time I see it. It's almost as if Alexis was saying, "Enough with the pictures already, Mom!". This was within the first month she was around and already showing us a bit of attitude (she is a strong-willed girl, but I prefer that than a wishy-washy one). I love the bright colors of the papers. They are from the Neon Chic paper stack by DCWV. I love bright and bold colors...I am not often someone who uses muted colors (I struggle with those). The letters and numbers are all Thickers (Lovely and Dazzle Stickers in Taffy Pink).

Here is my second layout. This one took a lot longer to do because I really struggled with what papers to match up and how to place the pictures. All in all, a major labor of love because now that it's done, I am happy with it. Whoa boy, did it ever take a lot to get it done!

These were all papers that I had in my stash. They were not labelled, so I cannot tell you where they were from. I also used some washi tape to add some "zip". Again, all the letters are Thickers (Powder, Taffy and I still have to look up the other ones). I keep looking at the picture furthest to the right and can't get over those big eyes. My little cutie! Well, she isn't so little anymore as she is quickly approaching 11 months...where did the time go???

Winter ATCs

Well, I took part in another ATC swap with my online scrapbooking gal pals. The only rule: the card must be 2.5" x 3.5". This is what I came up with (I made 22 of them):

I used this stamp and sentiment for my Christmas cards 2 years ago (the first time I made cards for everyone on my list). I love this set and was excited to use it again. I also colored with alcohol ink markers for the first time! I'd say this isn't too bad for my first time.

Products:

Papers: Bazzill cardstock (snow), Recollections

Stamps: Stampendous Christmas stamp set

Markers: American Crafts Chromatix (Rouge, Grape, Sapphire and Skin Tone sets)

Stickles: Diamond and Yellow