It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year...

From my little Korner to yours, sincere wishes for a very merry Christmas filled with love and happiness!

Christmas Canvas Fun

A few months ago when I cleaned my workroom and reorganized supplies, I came across two 6x6 canvases that I purchased 3(?) years ago or so. I had set them aside like I often do, and years later, they still sat in the package.  So a couple weeks ago, as a break from making cards, I pulled them out and decorated them with holiday patterned papers, stamps, acrylic paints, glass glitter, etc.   I'm no "pro" at mixed media, but it's sure fun to play with other mediums now and then!

Inspired by a couple of Tim Holtz' tags in his annual series for this year, I pulled out a remaining package of seasonal grungeboard shapes last week (the deer, holly branches, mini ornament, and the snowman), and finished embellishing the fronts.  I haven't decided whether I want to leave them as is for hanging, or attach something fun like a flat-bottomed doorknob on the bottom and a decorative element to the top and use them as tabletop decor. Just in case, I finished the backs with paper and paint, so I have the option to hang them for now, and can make them tabletop decor without having to change anything on the backs - they have a finished look.

A few of the details for the reindeer canvas:

-white German glass glitter was used here for the "snow" at the bottom of the canvas;

-the deer antlers are covered with bronze German glass glitter;

-after applying Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint over the painted holly branch (and letting it dry and crackle), I rubbed white acrylic paint over the crackles, then wiped off the excess, to emphasize the veins and add texture to the leaves;

-the lace edge stamp is by B Line Designs.

A few details for the snowman canvas:

-I copied Tim's technique of die-cutting the "25" into the snowman, and backing it with patterned paper and adding glossy accents to the top;

-after painting the snowflakes white and covering them with coarse clear glitter, I *lightly* dabbed on white acrylic paint over the dried glitter to give it a more textured look (don't cover all the glitter...just some of it);

-black German glass glitter covers the snowman's top hat.

And now, my little break is over...must get to wrapping some gifts!  Have a wonderful weekend...and if you're headed out to shop this weekend...well, just keep smiling and don't let the craziness take away your fun!  (And I will keep repeating that to myself, too! :)  )

Almost there...

There's something enjoyable about the "hustle and bustle" of this season when you know you're not in a rush, and can sit back and enjoy it all without the stress part getting in the way! Today I had to stand in line for 40 minutes at the post office, and it was okay.  All of us in line were laughing about it, and making small talk and jokes, and the time flew by until it was my turn at the window. The Christmas roast is ordered, and the logistics of getting everyone together for the day are finally starting to take shape. There's still a bit of decorating to finish around the house, but we'll make it in time to enjoy the season to its fullest.

Are you tired of Christmas cards yet? Hope not..here are the last of the designs from the Korner for this year. :)

For this group, I used a Spellbinders snowflake die and embossed it directly to the front of a cream-colored card, added a small bit of course clear glitter accents, and changed the accent in the center for variety.

Next up, a fun reindeer card using the last grungeboard reindeer left in a set of Tim Holtz seasonal pieces from a couple years ago. The antlers are covered with bronze German glass glitter, and the patterned paper over the grungeboard is coated with Rock Candy Distress Crackle paint. Spellbinders' Labels Twenty-Two shape was embossed with a Cuttlebug Distressed Stripes embossing folder and accented with white acrylic paint around the edges. The "merry & bright" background paper is from My Minds Eye Lost & Found Christmas collection (6x6 size).

This card was made with Simple Stories 25 Days of Christmas papers, and a WRMK "Joy to the World" clear sentiment stamp. Spellbinders' Classic Postage Stamp Edgeabilities was used on the bottom edge.

On this last card, I combined Authentique Wonder collection patterned papers for the background, but pulled the "peace and joy" tag from Simple Stories 25 Days of Christmas collection and matted it onto a Spellbinders' Labels Eight die cut background for the sentiment.  The small reindeer was cut from Ranger Claudine Hellmuth adhesive canvas on lightweight chipboard using the Tim Holtz Mini Reindeer Movers & Shapers die.

Thanks for stopping by...I hope your week goes well and you have some time to stop and take in some of the fun parts of the holiday season!



Ornament Cards, Take 2

A couple posts ago I showed some ornament cards, and mentioned I was working on some with removeable and reusable ornaments.  My original idea didn't work out as planned, but I think the simpler end result will be better anyway!  I found some cute unpainted wooden ornaments at the craft store a while back, and that's when the idea first started.  These cards are for the littlest nieces and nephews in our family. The ornaments are actually picture frames - the center circle is held onto the back with photo turns, so the Christmas sentiment that I inserted for now can be replaced with a photo from Christmas. (I also wrote a personal greeting to each child from my husband and I on the back of each ornament.)

The gingerbread cookie ornaments are for the little girls, and the penguins for the boys...each card has different ribbon combinations at the top. I painted the ornaments front and back, added some white and bronze chunky glitters, and tied them to the bows at the top of the cards so they're easily removeable by Mom and Dad if they want to put them on the tree. 



Thanks for dropping by...and have a wonderful weekend!



And a Partridge in a Pear Tree...

OK, well, maybe not really a partridge, but that song did go through my head while I was making these. :)

I'm taking a little break from sharing cards to show you a fun set of 8 silver and cream ornaments I made for our Christmas tree using this Sizzix Bigz die & embossing folder.  I didn't take step-out photos as I went along (I admit it-I was doing it assembly-line style, and didn't think about taking photos until I was well into the process), but I think I can describe clearly what I did and used if you want to make some yourself.

The ornaments on our big tree are an eclectic mix of elegant large ornaments and large, but less formal, handmade ornaments. I like the ornaments on this tree to have enough sparkle on them that they reflect the mini white lights, so that's why there's glitter galore on these. If your style is more country-chic, they certainly would look wonderful without all the glitter.

To start, I die cut 8 birds from Grafix medium weight chipboard (heavier than cereal box thickness; i.e, just strong enough that it takes a bit of effort to bend). Then I die cut 16 of the same birds (I decorate both the front and back so the ornaments can swing around on the tree and still look finished) from cardstock. I used Coredinations cream cardstock with a kraft center for mine. 

After embossing the 16 cardstock pieces with the embossing folder that comes with the die, I used a foam paint brush and matte gel medium to glue the cardstock to both sides of the chipboard by covering the entire surface with the gel medium, matching and pressing the pieces together, and then rolling with a brayer to remove any air bubbles and get a nice, flat surface.  (Any strong liquid glue or decoupage medium will work as well.)

Next I applied silver German glass glitter using Glossy Accents and following the pattern of the embossing on the cardstock, and around the outside edges.  I love using the German glass glitter, because as it ages, it tarnishes to a beautiful patina.  As time goes by, the silver on these ornaments will turn a rich, darker silver, but still have lots of sparkle.  (I purchase my German glass glitter from Glitter and Kitsch on Etsy.)

(*Note: If you decide not to do the next step that coats the remaining open surface with Glossy Accents, I would recommend putting a coat of gel medium or decoupage medium over the cardstock. It will protect the surface of the cardstock and add many more useful years to your ornaments.)

After applying the silver glass glitter, I applied a thin coat of Glossy Accents over the entire surface of the bird not already covered with silver glitter, and sprinkled on Martha Stewart clear tinsel glitter.  This is a fine glitter that gives a more subtle sparkly appearance than other glitters.  Here's a photo from a different angle:

After all the glitters were dry, I added the amber gems for the eyes, and the clear crystal gems on the body. (I used Ranger "white pearl" Liquid Pearls for the white pearl accents.)

The white wool felt rolled rose was made using the larger of the two rose dies in this die set. Before gluing the flower down with my glue gun, I hot-glued two goose coquille feathers (purchased from Moonlight Feathers on Etsy) to the tail of the bird, then glued the rolled roses over the ends of the feathers. By gluing feathers and roses to both sides, it makes the tail feathers look nice and full without covering all the glittering already added!

The We R Memory Keepers Crop-a-dile works perfectly to punch a hole to add a jumpring to the top of the bird's back for your hanging cord or ornament hanger.

I'll be back soon with some new cards to share.  Thanks for stopping by...Happy Monday!

'Tis the Season...

I have a couple ornament cards to share today.  The package is a wooden ornament that I found at the craft store, and added a bit of paint and glitter to before backing it with a vintage image and some patterned paper. The snowflake ornament is a Spellbinders die, cut from white chipboard and coated with clear coarse glitter, with a circle-punched vintage image in the center. Although these ornaments aren't meant to be removed from the cards, I'm finishing up a few where the ornaments are removeable and useable (if my plan works - wink).

Supplies:

Patterned Papers: Fancy Pants Designs, St. Nick collection

Wood Ornament, Red Bells, Evergreen sprig, Narrow Ribbon: craft store    

Cotton Lace, Vintage Image: Etsy      Pebbles Glitter Candy Dots      Hug Snug Seam Binding

Edge punch: EK Success      Clear Coarse Glitter: Martha Stewart

Supplies:

Patterned Paper: BasicGrey Jovial collection

Spellbinders 2011 Snowflake Pendant Die      Papertrey Ink Edgers 2 Edge Die   

Vintage Image, Cotton Lace: Etsy      Hug Snug Seam Binding     

Mini Rolled Rose Die: MyFavoriteThings Dienamics

Red Gems: Recollections      Clear coarse glitter: Martha Stewart

Thanks for visiting, and have a wonderful weekend!