Saturday, November 23, 2024

Jeweled Christmas Florals with Power Poppy

 


We are snuggled up inside today because of what the National Weather Services calls “a major snow event”, where a good 8 - 10 inches, or 25 cm fell in the past 24 hours.  I have thoroughly enjoyed it - but I’ll admit, I wasn’t doing the shovelling.   So, tonight I’m in the mood for Christmas!  I pulled out this beautiful image from Power Poppy called Ultimate Poinsettia Digital Stamp set. Marcy always had the most beautiful arrangements of florals for any season, and this one is one of my favourites with the poinsettia and anemone flowers, plus berries and dusty miller greenery.  


The image is coloured with jewel toned Copics, with finishing detailing done with coloured pencils.  I’ve die cut the image out of the box style with the tiny dusty miller greenery in the lower corner peeking out.  The background is foiled in light lilac with a Spellbinders called Glimmer Monoline Stars.  

The sentiment is embossed on vellum with the Power Poppy set,  Joy to the World Bouquet. I ink blended Blueprint Sketch ink on the vellum to coordinate with the purply-blues.  


A few pretty rhinestones give extra shine, and I accented the sentiment and corner with silver die cuts from Spellbinders Christmas Bird Poinsettia Die.   Appreciate you stopping by! 

Wednesday, November 20, 2024

Be Joyful Foiling with Spellbinders


Sometimes you purchase something and don’t have enough time to really dig into it before the season is over.  Last Christmas season I bought the Joyful Glimmer Hot Foil Plate from Spellbinders, and here we are....using it for the first time.  It’s such a pretty 2 plate die combo of letters and Christmas foliage.  I foiled it in gold, added in colouring with Copics and then gave it an arched die shape.  



The foiled background uses the Layered Glimmer Holly Background Stencil and Glimmer die.  Foiled in red on deep red cardstock.  That tone on tone comes out so nice!   Next, to make the arched die really come to life I added coordinated die cut foliage from Spellbinder’s Christmas Bird Poinsettia Etched Dies.  It’s a great way to tie all the colours in together.  


A added a strip of mirrored gold cardstock the the bottom of the card to anchor the image, but it was so shiny and bright - to tone it down a little, I ran my sanding block over it horizontally and vertically, and it had the perfect amount of sheen!  

Thanks for joining me today!  

Monday, November 18, 2024

The Red Christmas Car with TCP


Hi There!  Today I have a really fun design from The Cat’s Pajamas which captures all the delight and retro cool that TCP is known for.  This fun-loving snazzy cat called Sprinkles is zooming down the highways and byways to deliver the Christmas tree and presents.  It’s called ’Tis the Season.  Isn’t it cute?  


I coloured the image with Copics, and added in detailing with coloured pencils.  Having recently been in England and having the delight of being in the famous black cabs - I was a little inspired by this car’s likeness to their style.  So - it had to be red, cause I mean, Christmas!  But, I was thinking of those black cabs as a coloured it up.  The tree almost looks too big for the car!  


After trimming the image out, I placed him on the deep juniper green card base, with a foiled snowflake layer, background trees from a retired TCP die and simple die cut sentiments also from a retired TCP die.   Thanks for stopping by!  

Sunday, November 17, 2024

Creamy Kissed Christmas Florals with Crafty Meraki




Hello!  I’m delighted to be with you today working with Crafty Meraki’s Christmas Countdown, showcasing beautiful Christmas inspiration.  Today I’m back with a beautiful die called Christmas Flower Layering Die.  This die is designed to be stacked to give beautiful 3D effects to your floral.  I cut the layers of petals and leaves from cream cardstock, and then placed them on a sticky craft mat.  I pulled my stylus across the petals to create veining for more realism.  Then, I kissed the petals with some soft peach ink blending and gave the leaves layers of green ink.  It has such a beautiful effect.  



Next I layered my flowers together with foam dots between the sections to really amp up that 3d feel.  I splashed some pretty gold shimmery mist onto the layers to give it shimmer, as you can see below.  The background texture is created with the cream on cream theme using Crafty Meraki’s Mini Slimline Parisienne Para Dies.  I also inkblended the background to tie it together.  Because its a slimline die, I just ran it through sections of paper, and added in the piece as a design detail.  


The pretty Joy sentiment from Crafty Meraki’s Festive Flora Wreath Stamp Set, and I embossed it in gold.  


Simple gold enamel dots accent the sentiment for more touches of gold.  It has a lot of dimension and I’ll probably need to create a special envelope for it ....but oh so worth it for the effect!  

Thanks for joining me today!  

Wednesday, November 13, 2024

Holy Night Nativity with RAM Stamps


Happy Wednesday evening!  Have you explored the wonderful world of RAM Stamps recently?  Rachelle has a treasure trove of gorgeous designs with such sweet whimsy!  At the end I have a special coupon for you at RAM Stamps, so don’t miss it!  

I could not resist this beautiful image Nativity Scene Creator to work with for Christmas.  She’s captured Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus so tenderly, and you can design the scene any way you like, including puffy sheep and wisemen, (which I didn’t include).  



I wanted to spend more time on this image using coloured pencils on kraft paper, so I took my time wiht the layers of colour.  I kept any other detailing very simple so the image takes centre stage.  


I did add a textured stripe die background for the slimline card base, and some white gel pen stars in the distance.  "Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!"  (2 Corinthians 9:15).

As a way of saying thank you for being a faithful reader - I’m extending my 10% off coupon to RAM Stamps - use CHRISTINEOKKEN at checkout! 

Monday, November 11, 2024

Peachy Poinsettias with Pinkfresh



 Hello!  Today I’m bringing you some fresh poinsettias from Pinkfresh Studios with a suite of products including the Poinsettia Frame stamp , coordinating stencils and dies.  They are the perfect framing element for the Christmas season.  Fair warning - I have a lot of poinsettias ahead this month from different companies to show you.  For some reason, I seem to have them on the brain.  They are the perfect quintisential Christmas flower.  


For this design, I stamped the image in a very light Toffee Crunch Memento Ink, then stenciled and ink blended the colours, finishing up the detailing in the flowers with coloured pencils, die cutting the fram out.  

As a perfect foil for the peach poinsettias, I layered the frame on a Seaglass card base with Pinkfresh’s Twist Pattern die, also using the negative image from the die as the place for the sentiment (a long ago stamp from Stampin’ Up!)


A little glitz and glam is added some iridescent holeless sequins, and another Christmas card is in the books!  Appreciate your visit!