Polished to Perfection

JustRite Christmas Blog Hop

Welcome to the JustRite Christmas Blog Hop.  Today 33 designers are showcasing the New Christmas Releases from JustRite Stampers which are now available for purchase on the JustRite website.

Today I am sharing with you a Custom Christmas Card I designed for the JustRite catalog. 

 

I just love how you can combine JB 08780 1 5/8" A Merry Little Christmas Stamps with theJustRiteJB 08405 2" block with 15 point font and the New JB 08785 Holiday Demi Phrases to create your own stamp image.

 How fun is it that you can design Christmas Stamps with your familie's name on it!!  Here are just a few of the phrases that I have custom designed for this blog hop and future Christmas projects. 

When I played with the first 2" stamper prototype for the first time.  I loved how the 15 point font fit on the block, but I was amazed at how many 15 point letters it took to fill the rim of the block.  And I instantly knew that I needed to give you the tools to make writing on the outer rim of the 2" stamper a breeze.  So I developed 15 fun Holiday Demi Phrases --- I started the thought now you need to finish the demi phrase.

To read more about how you assemble all three JustRite Products to make these custom designs read my post today on the JustRite Blog.  JustRite also has some fabulous blog candy available for those of you who take the time to visit the entire Christmas Blog Hop.  Be sure to read all the details on the JustRite Blog.

To create my card I used Spellbinder's Fleur de Lis Pendant die which is my favorite set of dies from the new Spellbinder's Release.  I die cut turquoise mirrored paper for my first mat layer and a multi-toned green DP from Basic Grey cardstock for the back layer.  I love glitter and this card has tons.  The card itself is a 5 1/2" x 5 1/2" Turqouise Glitter Card from Die Cuts with a View.  The fun beaded snowflakes are Jolies Stickers. After I stamped my image with I diecut  and embossed my image with the Spellbinder's Scalloped Circle Nestabilitie I chalked the embossed area with a copic markers then added Designer Dries Clear Adhesive and Ultrafine transparent Crystal glitter from the Art Glitter Institute to the edge of the diecut.  I also applied glue & glitter to the center of the snowflake image.For even more bling I added Kaiser Pearls and multiply shapes of rhinestones.

JustRite Stampers Blog
Becca Feeken
Sankari Wegman
Sharon Johnson
Kazan Clark
Sharon Harnist
Laura Davis
Debbie Olson
Michelle Woerner
Taylor Van Bruggen
Jenn Balcer
Michelle Wooderson
Lori Craig
Lauren Meader
Beate Johns
Barb Schram
Kimberly Crawford
Michele Kovack
Jami Bova
Kellie Fortin
Jennifer Buck
Heidi Blankenship
Angela Barkhouse
Lisa Somerville
Gerrie Johnnic
Kathy Jones
Debbie Seyer
Kim Sonksen
Terre Fry
Sheryl Dickinson
Bonnie Sharp
Mary Pfaff
Holly Simoni
Angela Robledo
Thanks for stopping by...be sure to check out all the fun projects from this fabulous group of designers!!

Decorate a CD Gift Box using Lockhart Snowmen

I absolutely adore these snowmen from the Lockhart Stamp Company...they are individual stamps ..so you can make your own family.  I also love their holly and bough border (9002 Holiday Ribbon from the Millinery Collection). Anyone who know me persoanlly knows I love snowman, they adorn all of my handpainted christmas ornaments and my snowman paper designs.  I absolutely love the possibilities these cute little snowman have.  I found these great CD Boxes at the Dollar Store - they come 3 in a packet with a variety of fun designs. I am always looking for great gift ideas and I thought these would be cute with a CD or even with a Gift Card inside the box.

So to start this project I cut a 4 1/2" x 4" piece of white cardstock, then I stamped the Holiday Ribbon border. The border was longer than my paper, so I used a mask on both sides of my paper so that I could make a square frame with the bough border.  Next I cut a Scalloped Oval using my Spellbinders Nestabilities I used Steel Blue Elan Metallics from World WIn and dry embossed it with my Snowflake A2 Embossing Folder. (choose the size oval that fits inside your bough frame).  To color the bough border I used YG67 Copic Markers to color the holly leaves and then I used Apple Green Prismacolr Pencil to color the boughs.  Then I highlighted the holy with my Olive Spica Micro Glass Flake Pens and the boughs with my Melon Spica.  I colored in the berries with my Red Spica.

Using Adriondack Pitch Black I stamped all four snowman and colored them with a combination of Copic markers and Spica Pens.  Then I cut each one of the snowmen our and placed 3 of them on my scalloped oval using foam squares.  I used 2 layers of foam squares to add the smallest Snowman to my family.  For the snow I used snowtext writer and Crystal Glitter from the Art Glitter Institute.  I used a pallete knife to put the snow in place, since my snowman were 3-D.  I placed the tallest snowman on the right hand corner.  To balance the red in my card I used American Crafts Rudolph paper to mat my image.

Know if you have been reading my blog - you know I always like to do one more step...so as I was writing this blog it occurred to me that the Tonic Snowflake Border Punch...Punches the cutest scrap baby snowflakes - so of course I retrieved the the snowflakes from the belly of my punch and they just happened to be this beautiful pale blue and a perfect size to add to my card.  So here is the upgraded design: 

Aren't the baby snowflakes cute??  In the larger version of this photo you can actually see the shine of the microglass flakes- I was so hopeful that you might be able to see them in this photo post...it really makes my cards just pop.

Directions for Peppermint Pebbles Christmas Tree #8

Finally here are the directions for making the Peppermint Pebbles Christmas Tree!!

Supplies: 1 - 12 X12 Sheet of American Crafts Maids- A-Milking, 1 - 12 x12 Sheet of Christmas Twinkles- Pebblies Inc., 1 1/2 bags of clear glass accent gems, glue gun, styrofoam cone, smallest circle die cut from your Spellbinders Nestibilitie set, Designer dries clear adhesive from the Art Glitter Institute, an ornament (for top of tree-from Walmart) and a bunch of berries on wire (from the Dollar Tree Store).

Directions:

1. Wrap your Maids- a- milking paper around your cone and trim off the excess paper.  Use a glue gun to adhere the paper to the cone.
2. Using you smallest circle from your Spellbinder's Nestabilitie set - cut out 120 snowflakes from your Christmas Twinkle Paper (you should use about a 1/2 sheet). Using Designer Dries Clear Adhesive from the Art Glitter Institute adhere the snowflakes to the backside of your clear glass accents.  Set these aside to dry. (if you do not have the nestabilities circles yet- use a small circle punch -sized to match your pebbles)
3. Starting at the bottom of the tree adhere the snowflake pebbles with your glue gun, leaving room to add the red berries between your snowflake pebbles.  Since the berries are on wire - simply poke the berries into the cone.  Continue adding layers of Pebbles and Berries until you reach the top of the cone. 
4. Using your Circle Nestabilities find the circle size to match the top of your cone and cut out a circle from the Maids-a-Milking paper.
5. To adorn the top of your Tree - we went to Walmart and purchased this three dimensional topper.  Clip of the plastic hook and fill in the spot left from the hook with red stickles...the colors match perfectly.

Here is a close up of the tree:

Have fun creating this beautiful tree...thanks again to Angela for bringing this tree from design concept in my head to a real finished project!!

Christmas Tree #2 from American Crafts Christmas Scraps

 

Well, I'm now working on creating a small forest...I just can't stop the wheels from turning.  Remember that when I was creating the first tree, Angela was teaching an exploding box class.  Every time we teach this class we come up with a new twist.  Last week Angela came to my studio with this really cute flower/bow/ornament and I saw it and told her it would great on the top of the exploding box she was teaching that day. We agreed since it could be made from the scraps leftover from the exploding box. The box topper was a huge hit.  So we decided to make a Christmas exploding box with the great topper and the great addition of embellishments using my circle nestabilities dies. Tons of directions for these boxes have been on other blogs, so today I won't write directions today...since I have a ton of stuff to cover.  If you would like for me to post directions for the exploding box, just leave me a comment at the end of the post.  If you have not left a comment before on a post but would like to-simple click on the comment button at the end of this article and add a comment. Here is the box:

 

I love using the nestabilities on the side of the box for an embellishment. The snowflake in the center is a button. Since some of you may not know what an exploding box is - here is a photo of what happens when you take the lid off the box: You can put a ton of photos in this box - It's a great gift for dad's desk!!

Here is the box when you add the bow:

Doesn't it look great!!  Thanks Angela for letting me share it!!  Here is just the bow - which actually is also a great ornament too!!

I will post directions on how to make this bow/ornament later this week because after all this is a blog about Christmas Tree #2 ( The beginning of the forest).  Angela was finishing her bow - when the light bulbs went off and I could see how the parts to her bow would be just perfect for the next tree if I used them upside down.  To make Christmas tree #2 - You will need 2" x 2" scraps of Christmas Paper.  We used American Crafts and Pebbles Inc paper for this tree too!! Turn your square 45 degrees so the corners are facing North/South/East/West.  Now take the eastern corner and roll it toward the center of the square without creasing the outside.  Now bring the western corner in to meet it and adhere these together to make your cone.  I recommend making all your cones first and then assembling the tree.

Starting at the bottom of your cone add the first layer of cones using 1 1/2" straight pins about 1/2" from the top to the point of the cone. I used  2 7/8" x 7 7/8" cone to make your tree. Which took a total of 59 cones.

1. Layer 1- is 12 cones-tips should be even with the base of the styrofoam cone.
2. Layer 2 is 12 cones- place the following rows about 1 1/4" above the previous row.
3. layer 3 is 10 cones
4. layer 4 is 10 cones
5. Layer 5 is 9 cones
6. layer 6 is 6 cones

I bought red pearlized pins for the layer 6 of the tree since these pins will show.  When you get to the last layer of your tree place the tip of your paper cone 3/4" above the top of the styrofoam cone (if yours is flat at the top like mine was).  This layer should complete the point of the tree.  The pin tops will look like ornaments. The 3-d Snowflake was a piece of an ornament from the Dollar Tree store- it came with a large 3-d Snowflake and 2 small 3-d snowflakes - the topper is the smaller 3-d snowflake. For added decoration I used a Snow writer from Deco Art to decorate the boughs of the tree, while it was wet I added crystal glitter from the Art Institute.  For embellishments I added self adhesive rhinestones from KaiserCrafts and snowflake buttons. And my husband insisted that the tree needed a tree skirt.  So I have added a doilie which I backed with red cardstock so that you could see the lace work. Check back in tomorrow for Christmas Tree # 3.  Thanks for visting!!

Christmas Tree from American Crafts Christmas Scraps

Today was a great playdate day!!  Angela was here teaching an exploding Box class and we began playing with this project that I have been designing in my head for days. When I was making my clear ornaments from scraps it occurred to me that the same strips - 1/2" x 6" would work to create this Christmas Tree.  The scraps of paper are from American Crafts, with the exception of the 5th layer - which is from Pebbles Inc.  I started with a Styrofoam cone and working from the bottom up I began gently folding my strips of paper in half without creasing the center fold.  I used straight pins to place the strips of paper on the cone.  You need to have pins that are fairly long so that your strips of paper will stay in place.  Here is a view of the tree as I was making it:

Next time I would use pins without fancy balls on all the layers until I got to the top, where they show as these pins are more expensive then flat headed pins.  The biggest challenge Angela and I had designing this tree is trying to figure out how we would finish the top, since my cone had a flat top and the strips of ribbon were also flat at the top. After a trip to the store, I found a great 3-D snowflake which was part of a larger ornament at the Dollar tree store which fit the bill, to fill the top space of the tree your top definitely needs to be 3-D. For a finishing touch I used a Snow Writer from Deco Arts to drip snow from the top of the tree to cover the top of the Styrofoam.  Next I added a little Crystal Glitter from the Art Glitter Institute for a little bling. Then I added this cute little ornaments I found at Jo- Annes Fabrics between the scraps of paper. I love buttons, so next I cut off the shanks of my snowflake buttons and began gluing them on the tree.  For the finishing touches I added self-adhesive Rhinestones from KaiserCrafts.  Now of course this tree just started the wheels of creativity turning and you will have to stop back tomorrow to see the next Christmas Trees Angela and I designed. Wouldn't these be perfect for centerpieces for a Holiday Party or even a Christmas Wedding!!

Added Notes: I started with a cone that was 2 7/8" x 7 7/8". The finished tree is 11" tall and 7" in diameter.  Your paper really needs to be doublesided.  My Pebbles paper is not, but all the American Crafts Paper is. 

Make it 3-D - Poinsettia Christmas Card

Several of my students have been looking for a great Poinsettia stamp - I found this great stamp from Inkadinkadoo, and I can't wait to show you a couple of cards I made with this stamp and how dramatically different I could make the same image look.  This week I have been playing with some 3-D images from Ectasy for a later post..which inspired me to try and 3-D this image and I am so happy with the results.  In order to 3-D this card I stamped the image 4 times using Adriondack Pitch Black Ink. Using Copic Sketch markers - R29 and R59 I colored in the Poinsettia's petals on the first image, I used G07 for the grean leaves. This will be the base of the 3-D image. On the second image I colored most of the poinsettia with the exception of the petals and the leaves that were in the far background. Next I cut out these and using foam dots I placed them on the 1st image creating a second layer. On the third stamped image I colored the petals closest to the top of the flower and cut these out and popped them up as the third layer.  On the fourth stamped image I colored just the centers of the flower and popped them up as the fourth and final layer.  Using my Swirls A2 Folder I dry embossed my red cardstock mat using my Cuttlebug for a little more dimmension and texture. the next mat is this great Holly Paper from Magenta and the cardstock is Shamrock green from World win treasures collection  The embellishments are all buttons from Jesse James. 

For the second card I chose an entirely different technique to show you how different you can make an image look.  I stamped the image using Stazon Jet black on a laminating sheet and let it dry for a few minutes.  Then I removed the backing.  To make a mini shovel I cut a coffee stirrer at an angle and slowly began placing red micro beads on the image where the poinsettia petals were.  I placed green micro beads on the leafs.  Using the coffee stirrer I was able to scrap off any beads that inadvertently landed where I didn't want them.  When I was finished placing the microbeads I used a white glitter from the Art Glitter Institute to fill in the remaining exposed lamenating sheet. To highlight the beads and the glitteron the image I placed it on a piece of darkgreen cardstock and adhere it to the cardstock by adding small dabs of designer dries clear adhesive to the backside of the microbeads. I cut a mat from Worldwin Bronze Elan Metallics and punched the corners of the mat with my tonic corner punch.  The Rhinestones are self-adhesive and are from Kaisercrafts.  The Noel is from the same button assortment as the previous card, but I altered it and made it gold using my Gold Krylon Leafing pen.  The paper is St. Nick Vintage Snowflake from Making Memories.

Art Institute Glitter Butterfly - Hello Friend

                        

In search of more sticky backed surfaces I could glitter I came across stickers from Ecstasy Crafts which are designed to be stitched.  I haven't stitched them yet as I have misplaced my pamphlet showing what they should look like when stitched.  Now today, that was actually a good thing, because when I went to peel them off to see how to use them I discovered that they were similar to lamenting sheets...and you know what that means.  A little glitter please. My recommendation for applying glitter accurately to your image is to use a plastic coffee stirrer. I always use transparent Art Institute Glitter. Simply snip the stirrer at an angle so it makes a tiny shovel. Then dip the shuffle into the glitter and apply the glitter where you want it. Using Art Institute Designer Dries Clear adhesive , I glued the butterfly to a piece of Sherbert Polished Stone Paper to highlight the glitter. Remember you need to place your glittered item on a light colored surface because the glitters are transparent. Then Ginger and I set out to design a card for my glittered Butterfly.  After choosing a green glitter card from Die Cuts with a View, we added paper from A2 Z Essentials.  We used sunshine leaves from the dulce sunshine collection, dreams 103 and possibilties 101 from the Imagination collection. if you are not familiar with this company yet, they have beautiful double sided papers.

Next we decided to Paper Pierce the Glittered Butterfly where it was suppose to be stitched. This really added dimension to the Butterfly. I used a paper piercing tool with a foam mat.  This allows the tool to make a large enough hole for you to see.  Then we decided to use some Dot Sparklers from Stampendous in the butterfly and as you can see I just couldn't stop adding a little bling here and a little bling there. The tiny paper butterflies are also from Ecstasy Crafts. These clippunches come in sets. First you punch the paper clip punch then line up the shape and you create a mini diecut which you can clip onto your card. 

You may have noticed that I rarely stamp a verse on the front of my card.  Usually I get so caught up in the design that I forget to leave space and I am still trying to build my verse collection. So today's challenge was to use a verse and I absolutely love the delicate font of the Hello Friend - this is from a beautiful set of clear stamps from Rubber Stamp Tapestry .  The set has verse for lots of occasions and I love using clear stamps especially for the verse, because often this is the last step in my card and I love that I can see where I am stamping. 

Copic Sketch Markers to the Rescue

Now I must confess, that my husband help me design tonight's card.  I often use him to bounce ideas off, as I am designing and tonight he was on fire!!  Yeah, I know I'm really spoiled, he gets it -all of it!! Now sometimes there is an advantage to my husband helping with the design process and tonight's card is a prime example.

Using Stazon Jet black Ink, I stamped this beautiful F1480 Fish Stained Glass from Impression Obsession onto a sheet of transparent Laminating sheets from Judkins. I peeled off the backing and slowly sprinkled art glitter from the Art Glitter Institute (they have an incredible line of transparent glitters in way too many colors) by color into each section of the stamped image. For this project I used their Pee Wee Caribbean Set. To really make the image show off the glittered background you need to place the image on a light colored background. Robin's Nest Polished Stone Paper looked great behind the image, but as we were trying out Polished Papers and Glitter Papers, we came across this yellow glitter paper from Diecuts with a View and it just made the glittered image sing!!  I used the largest die from my Large Scalloped Nestability Set to die cut the yellow glittered scalloped circle.  Now what's extremely cool about these nestabilities is that you can actually nest them before you use them.  So I was able to use my Circle set to cut The Turquoise Polished Stone ring around my image, this was key because the glittered image did not work on the Turquoise Polished Stone. To accomplish this I placed the two largest circle dies together on the B Plate of my Cuttlebug and taped them in place, so they wouldn't shift during the die cut process.  This allowed me to create the beautiful Turquoise Ring.  I also ended up with the interior circle which I will save for a later date.  These dies were designed to all work together, so I could have also cut the exterior circle with a scalloped edge and the interior with a regular circle.  Once you get playing with these dies and all the great scraps circles and scallops you won't be able to stop designing. (I'll show you what I mean in tomorrow's post.)

After adhering together my image ,rings and scalloped mat, I placed it on the Robin's Nest Polished Stone mat.  I made a 5 x 7 card from Turquoise Polished Stone Paper.  Now I liked where my card was going but in the 5 x7 format there was way too much blank space.  So this is when I ask my husband for a little help.  He really wanted to edge the Robin's Nest mat with a black line (If only a Krylon pen came in black!!) So we decided to mat it with black glossy Kromekote paper leaving only a 1/16th inch border.  Next he decided it needed a fancy corner punch.  Of course I went to my bubbles corner punch, but remembered that it wasn't meant to be used on a card front , so we settled on the basket weave punch.   Again, he wanted a Black Krylon Pen to color the basket weave design, I reminded him that they don't make one and he said "why can't we use your Black Copic Sketch Marker", I was a little skeptical...but wow it worked on Murdock's Polished Stone Paper and looked just like Black Kromekote!!  Now I was still feeling like there was to much open space in the design,  my husband once again said "don't you still have Class a Peel seashell stickers leftover somewhere"  After a bit of digging I found some from Stampendous and additional stickers from Magenta. But some of my shells were plain silver and some were multi colored....but not for long, you guessed it...COPIC TO THE RESCUE!!!!! Just add a little yellow, a little green and a little pink Copic added to your silver stickers and now they are all multicolored!!! The ink dried instantly and I was dancing a happy jig!!  I decided to place the stickers on scraps of glittered paper and to give them a little more depth I added --you guessed a little more Copic Color.  These markers are truly amazing!!! I can't wait to add more to my collection!! For the finally touch I added a blue dot sparkler for the fishes eye. I love these, they come in tons of colors and each sheet has tons of dots in lots of sizes.  They work perfect for adding a little more bling to almost anything!! 

                                             

Thanks for visiting!!!       

Copic Markers on a Birdhouse Christmas Card

 

At every tradeshow I search for Christmas Paper and finding a great Christmas line is often a challenge. This CHA, I hit the jackpot when I visited the American Crafts Booth.  This paper is absolutley gorgeous and all double sided.  It comes with a great line of Christmas Ribbon which I can't wait to get my hands on.  I thought this was the perfect stamp form Northwood Rubberstamps, to show you how beautifully the Copic Markers work. I was able ta achieve beautiful shading even if I didn't have the perfect color of marker since I could use the lighter shade marker to pick up some of the alcohol ink from a marker that was too dark.  It was just like painting. (As you will see my addiction is starting). To give the card more dimension I added Deco Arts Snow Text Writer to the snow covered birdhouse and while it was wet I added crystal glitter from Art Institute Glitter. If you do not own any of this glitter yet, I recommend that the crystal glitter should be your first purchase with the designer dries clear adhesive.I also prefer the translucent glitters to the opaque glitters.  And by the way these glitters come in over 300 colors.  They also come in Pee Wee Kits which allow you to purchase 6 small viles of glitter in one kit. To the snowflake brads and the base of the birdhouses I just added the crystal glitter.  Next I airbrushed the outside of the image with my copic marker airbrush system. This made the birdhouses look like they were in the clouds. As I starting layering my card, I decided I needed to also airbrush the card itself as the Christmas paper I chose did not have any blue in it.  I love the effect.  Last but not least I used my Spica glitter pen to fill in the centers of some of the background designs.  I can't wait for everyone to try these pens, but they are not available yet (sorry to be such a tease!!)

Just a little more glitter - please!!

Once I got starting making Christmas Cards it was hard to stop thinking about what I wanted to try next. I just love the watercolor effect of the dabbers on the collage stamps.  This time I decided to remove the tops of the dabbers and use the radiant rain dabbers like paint.  I absolutely love the Mallard Green and the Hot Cinnamon Dabbers for Christmas colors - they are truly beautiful shades of red and green for Christmas.  For this card I chose to emboss the image in gold embossing powder. Next I painted in the holly with the Mallard Green dabbers. Using the Majestic Blue dabber I dabbed in the background and then quickly softened the color with a wet paper towel which gave me a beautiful sky background.  Then I highlighted some of the stamped images with the Majestic Blue straight from the bottle.  Since the glitter was already on the table I decided to soften the ivy by adding crystal berry glitter to the ivy.

At CHA, I found these adorable micro mini red brads which just screamed to me Christmas Berries. (Don't be surprised to see these popping up in lots of my Christmas Cards)  Once the berries were on the image I decided to soften the color with just a little more glitter.  After I tore the edges of the image I used the Majestic Blue Dabber to highlight the torn edge and then brushed just a touch of the Hot Cinnamon dabber to punch the edge.  Next I used scraps of my altered Peppermint Twist Polished Stone Paper from yesterday's project to mat the image. I tore these edges and embossed them with moss embossing powder. I tried placing the image directly on a St Nick Polished Stone 5 x 7 card and decided it needed one more layer, so I added a layer of Fruitcake Polished Stone Paper and highlighted the torn edges with a softer version of Hot Cinnamon Dabber.

Now I also found these great snowflake brads at the show but for this card they just weren't glittery enough. So of course I added more glitter!! Then I decided to add glitter to the torn edges of each layer. Like the title says just a little more glitter please!!  Oh by the way, being fully glittered from head to toe is a definite deterrent for hugs from my hubby!!!