Sparkle and Shine

Another card with my preferred design, but this time using the gorgeous 'Merry Christmas' die from Impression Obsession.

 I used a rectangle of Be Creative tape behind the negative diecut, and then I covered the back with a piece of cardstock so the underside of the front panel wouldn't be sticky. I then used the paper I peeled off the tape to die cut the die again. This gave me perfectly fitting pieces to mask off the areas that I wanted to use white glitter in. The coated Be Creative paper is easy to remove from the tape and did a good job of keeping the gold and white glitters separated. i raised the front panel with foam tape and covered a bunch of punched stars glitter and stuck them on.
This is so super sparkly in person, and it completely satisfies my inner Magpie.

I am entering this here:
Impression Obsession Christmas Greetings Challenge


( To Katie B. Please start a blog Katie, I would love to be able to comment on your wonderful work !! Thanks for all your sweet comments. They are always much appreciated! )

Ooooh Shiny : part two

I seem to be stuck on a particularly simple card design for Christmas cards this year. I'm really digging into my metallic cardstock stash and glitter. Well, I do love me some shiny!
These cards are based on the same design as before, but this time I was lucky enough to have my friend come over and bring her wonderful Impression Obsession die, "Merry Tree".

I used Be Creative tape in the negative space and rubbed the glitter into it. It stays stuck!
I'm entering these cards here:
Impression Obsession Christmas Greetings Challenge

Here's proof that you can't believe everything you hear on the news. According to our National broadcaster, the Maritimes were blasted by a nor'easter, and buried under snow yesterday. Here's what was actually going on !

That's my Mom raking leaves!  What's going on today? Yup, more leaf raking!
For some reason I have yet to discover, the Ontario based so called "National" news channels lump all the Maritime provinces together. My relatives out west see this drivel, and don't believe us when we tell them that we don't have snow. I still had flowers and vegetables alive outside yesterday.
Parts of New Brunswick got blasted with snow, but this is a different province! A lot of years we don't even have snow for Christmas! So don't feel sorry for me, I haven't shovelled anything yet! ( Bit of a fib there, I have shovelled dog poop.)

Ornament Shaker Cards

My ever-so-generous sister gave me a cute Spellbinders Ornament set called Mix-n-Match Ornaments. I thought it would be fun to make shaker cards with them. Okay, so 'fun' might be the wrong word. Cutting foam tape to fit the back of the ornaments was not fun and neither was discovering that Microbeads are living entities that don't want to go where you want them to go. They have their own plan!

I mixed the demon possessed microbeads (the ones I could catch) with a few larger beads that were much more cooperative.
The first card I made, I didn't think it through very well. I ended up holding the card front over my head while trying to stick the bead filled ornament in the right place. D'oh !!
So, I realized that if I diecut two circles where I wanted the ornaments on the card front, I could attach the ornament then fill it from the back and just glue another piece of paper in behind. So much easier! The mircobeads still acted like psychotic life forms however. I don't know how to make them behave!!
The gold embossed sentiment is from a JustRite stamp set. The gold mirror cardstock I bought at Dollarama years ago, and I'm sorry I didn't buy more. It's so awesome for Christmas cards.

I'm entering this card here:
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Anything Goes

Christmas Vase

I recently got some more Impression Obsession dies and one of them was an adorable Mason jar. I was eager to try it out, but I was trying to stay focused on Xmas cards, so the mess I was making wouldn't be too out of control.

So I decided to use a bunch of my IO dies to make the Mason jar a Xmas vase. I made a card base from a heavyweight red cardstock and cut another piece for a matt. I edged some patterned papers with TH Pumice Stone DI. I cut the jar out of watercolour paper, which I painted with Peerless watercolours. I used the IO Small Bow and cut it a couple of times to layer it up. I cut some greenery with IO Pine Branch and made my own Holly branch by wrapping Florist Tape around a wire and gluing on holly leaves and berries cut from the IO Twig Wreath set. I made my "pointsettias" from the IO Layered Flower die set. I put gold Liquid Pearls in the centres of my flowers. The sentiment is one I use a lot, from the IO All Occasion II set.
This card is quite different compared to all the other Christmas cards I'm making this year, but I always seem to do one tall and skinny card every year.
P.S.
If you like IO products, check out their annual sale on NOW !!

I'm entering this in the IO Christmas Greetings Challenge.
and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Anything Goes Challenge

Snowhere To Be Seen !

My friend posted some photos on her blog of her dogs in the snow. The pictures were taken just a couple of days ago. I was shocked by the amount of snow that was in those photos. This is one of her photographs.


Here is a photo of my dog taken today.

We live 30 minutes apart !!! Seriously!
I took my dog to agility practice on Sunday which is right by my friend's house. For the first half of the drive there wasn't a speck of snow to be seen, the second half was a Winter Wonderland. Blue sky, sun shining and snow everywhere! GORGEOUS !! Some would say I should be thankful that we get so little snow, so that seems like a good segue to my card for Impression Obsession's latest challenge, "Thanksgiving Wishes". (Although, for us Canadians, Thanksgiving has long since passed)

My friend ( with the dogs) asked me if I still use my Slice. I am so glad she reminded me about it because I don't have any Thanksgiving type stamps or dies. I don't do Thanksgiving cards, but I had a piece of BoBunny paper that looked like it would do as a b'ground, and I just got these most wonderful IO leaf dies ( DIE095-D ) I cut them out of a patterned paper and added colour with TH Distress inks and some shine with TA Glitter Glam. The sentiment was cut with my Slice. I added a punched border to the lower edge and have burlap showing out the top edge. A few sequins, and I was done!

I have to apologize to all my favourite bloggers as I have been unable to keep up with their beautiful work. It has either been raining, just finished raining, or about to start raining this entire month so far. I have weather related migraines and have only had two days that I didn't feel miserable. I haven't even been able to play with all my new IO dies. :(  Not that it has stopped me from wanting more! I hope IO extends their sale to us online (and loyal) customers. My wish list never gets smaller!