Fun Background Stamping w/Dawn ft. HOLLY JOLLY CHRISTMAS

Hello, and Happy Holidays! The Holiday season is in full swing around here, how about you? This time of year is always crazy for me. I 'not so successfully' try to juggle work and family. Christmas is BIG in my house and I'm trying to keep it special and full of traditions as long as possible. So hopefully you'll forgive my absence around this time. ;)

In the spirit of busy, I wanted to drop in to share several cards, that believe it or not, are actually quite quick to make even though they are all quite different. The key? They all start with the same background and utilize the ever so useful, MISTI.

All of today's cards were created using the Holly Jolly Christmas stamp set along with various different dies. I started by setting up my background pattern on my MISTI.

I arranged all of the different icon elements from Holly Jolly Christmas onto my MISTI door. I started with a 6 x 6" square jig. I drew a pencil line down the center vertically and horizontally and then placed an image in each of the for quadrants until all of the images where placed.

I closed the door to pick up the images and then started stamping. (You can test your pattern on scrap paper first to make sure the images don't overlap and adjust as needed) I inked them up with one color, stamped, turned the cardstock 1/4 turn, inked with another color, stamped, turned again, and so on.

For the sentiment on this one, I used the Holly Jolly Die. I die cut the label, stamped the greeting from Holly Jolly Christmas and then replaced the "holly jolly" with the die cut from the Holly Jolly Die.

While I had the images all set up on the MISTI, I stamped out quite a few more.

This next card, uses the same colors (Gala Red, Falling For Blue, Last Leaf, and Warm Wool) on white cardstock, but I changed up the greeting a little.

I die cut the "Holly Jolly" greeting twice and stacked it with a "Warm Winter Wishes" banner from Merriest Snowflake between them.

Next, I decided to stamp onto some Coal Mine cardstock. I love Christmas cards on dark backgrounds and Distress Oxides make stamping on dark colors a breeze.

Again, I inked, stamped, turned, inked, stamped and turned until the pattern was complete. This time I used the negative from the "Holly Jolly" letters and paired it with the "Christmas" die cut from the Christmas Tag Die.

For the last card, I decided to use our white pigment ink on colored cardstock. This is the simplest of all and makes creating those last minute cards a snap.

For the sentiment on this one, I die cut the "Happy Holidays" banner from our Holiday Presents Die twice. Once out of glitter cardstock and again from white cardstock. I replaced the letters from the glitter one with the white letters along with the border and popped it up with foam tape.

So there you have 4 different card designs all starting with the same basic stamping.

Featured Supplies

For your convenience, here is a list of the featured supplies used on today's project(s), along with links to purchase. Please note: this list contains affiliate links.

Wplus9 White Cardstock Shop at: WP9	Wplus9 Black Cardstock Shop at: WP9	Tsukineko Versamark EMBOSS INK PAD Shop at: SSS | EH	Precision Heat Embossing Tool Gun Hero Arts Shop at: SSS
3M Scotch DOUBLE-SIDED FOAM TAPE Shop at: SSS	Sizzix BIG SHOT Shop at: SSS	Wplus9 Christmas Tag Die Shop at: WP9	WOW Super Fine Bright White Embossing Powder Shop at: SSS
Wplus9 Dove Grey Cardstock Shop at: WP9	Last Leaf PURE COLOR Dye Ink Shop at: WP9	Falling For Blue PURE COLOR Dye Ink Shop at: WP9	Warm Wool PURE COLOR Dye Ink Shop at: WP9
Tombow MONO Adhesive PERMANENT Tape Dispenser Shop at: SSS	Inkadinkado EMBOSSING MAGIC Powder Bag Shop at: SSS	Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Ink Pad PEACOCK FEATHERS Shop at: SSS | EH	Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Ink Pad CANDIED APPLE Shop at: SSS | EH
Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Ink Pad PEELED PAINT Shop at: SSS | EH	Gala Red Pure Color Dye Ink Shop at: WP9	MISTI Precision Stamping Tool Shop at: SSS | EH	Ranger Distress Oxide Ink Cracked Pistachio Shop at: SSS | EH
Holly Jolly Christmas Shop at: WP9	Holly Jolly Die Shop at: WP9	Holiday Presents Die Shop at: WP9	PURE COLOR White Pigment Ink Shop at: WP9

Making Old New Again w/Kara

Hello! I'm back with another holiday card to share with you. I've pulled out some of my older favorites and mixed in a few new dies to create a winter scene.

Because of the size and shape of this stamp from Snowflake Backdrops it feels like you're looking through a window watching the snow fall. I love to add two colors of blue to the stamp before applying it to my cardstock panel. I tend to reach for Nautical Navy and Lake House dye ink for this.
I die cut Simple Snowflake from vellum and the largest snowflake from Snowflake Trio out of white cardstock and layered them up. On top of that I placed the happy holidays banner from the new Holiday Presents Die.

I tucked in the little heart that I die cut using the heart die from Cookies & Cocoa. I added a few gemstones to finish it off.
I hope today's post has inspired you to revisit some of the existing items in your stash! As always, thanks for stopping by!

Featured Supplies

For your convenience, here is a list of the featured Wplus9 supplies used on today's project(s), along with links to purchase.

Wplus9 Snowflake Backdrops Stamp Shop at: WP9	Wplus9 White Cardstock Shop at: WP9	Wplus9 4 Bar Stitched Rectangles Die Shop at: WP9	Wplus9 PURE COLOR Lake House Dye Ink Shop at: WP9
Wplus9 PURE COLOR Nautical Navy Dye Ink Shop at: WP9	Cookies & Cocoa Shop at: WP9 | SSS | EH	Holiday Presents Die Shop at: WP9	Simple Snowflake Die Shop at: WP9
Snowflake Trio Die Shop at: WP9

GUEST ARTIST FEATURE: Getting Cosy w/Debby Hughes ft. COOKIES & COCOA

Hi, Debby here today with a little cosy watercolouring!

Watch above or watch in HD at YouTube

Let's jump straight in! I used the Cookies & Cocoa set for this card in a style I'm drawn to - that of a focal point of no-line watercolour on an otherwise clean and simple card. I started with a piece of Arches Cold Pressed watercolour card in the Misti and stamped the outline cup image from the Cookies & Cocoa set in Antique Linen Distress ink three times and popped the marshmallows image on top of each cup.

I painted the cups with Daniel Smith watercolours. I chose three colours for the cups which were inspired by some candles I just bought. Although I enjoy all the bright traditional colours of the winter season, I'm always more drawn to muted shades and so for this card I challenged myself to use the muted colours I love. I mixed a grey-green, a dilute pink and a dusky, grey purple. To finish off the painting I added a light shadow beneath the cups which I blended out with plenty of water. This helped ground the cups and stopped them looking like they are floating in mid-air. Then I took a little white gouache and added a few highlights. Gouache is an opaque watercolour and will show up even when painted on a darker colour. Once I was happy with the watercolour on the cups, I splattered a little of the green watercolour mixture around the card and then I added splatters of a solution of Perfect Pearls. This is one of my most favourite ways to add sparkle, highlights and that ethereal look that I like.

I stamped accent images from the Cookies & Cocoa set on the cups with clear embossing ink and white heat embossed - two snowflakes for the cups in the foreground and a heart for the pink cup at the back. I then trimmed the panel down and foam mounted on a Desert Storm card base. For the sentiment, I chose the "It's time to get cozy greeting" from the Cookies and Cocoa set. I treated a scrap of Slate card with a powder tool, stamped the sentiment in clear embossing ink, sprinkled with white embossing powder and heat set. I then used a scalpel and ruler to trim the piece into a banner to add to the card. I struggle with straight lines and find this method to be the most reliable as I can use the lines on the clear ruler to ensure I'm cutting things straight. I foam mounted the sentiment banner on the card and used a T-square ruler to ensure I had it on straight.

To finish off the card I added a few sequins in toning pastel colours to bring in a little more sparkle for the season and kept those in place with Nuvo Deluxe adhesive.

Thanks for joining me today and I hope you enjoyed seeing these cosy cocoa cups come to life.

~Debby

Featured Supplies

For your convenience, here is a list of the featured Wplus9 supplies used on today's project(s), along with links to purchase.

Cookies & Cocoa Shop at: WP9 | SSS | EH

ADDITIONAL SUPPLIES

• Media - Daniel Smith Watercolours, Winsor & Newton white gouache
• Ink - Antique Linen Distress Ink, Simon Says Stamp clear embossing ink
• Embossing Powder - Simon Says Stamp white
• Card - Arches Cold Pressed watercolour card, Neenah Desert Storm 100lb, Simon Says Stamp Slate card
• Embellishments - Perfect Pearls powder, Iced Sherbet sequins from Little Things From Lucy’s Cards, Star Dust Stickles
• Adhesives - Nuvo Deluxe adhesive, 3M foam tape
• Other - Misti, Scissors, Tweezers, Anti-static powder bag, heat tool