Coffee Bean Christmas Tree

Today is the first time that PS Sparks projects need to be submitted on a Saturday. I am used to having one more day to finish a  project. I didn't think I will be able to create a card for this week's Anything Goes challenge. I have a sketch in hand but when Friday came, chances of making it became bleak. I work the weekends and it just happened that I woke up today feeling ill. So I stayed home tonight. To try and make myself productive, I went ahead and created a card for the challenge. It is not the original lay-out I sketched but I got inspired with the template craze and a black Christmas tree card I saw in the Target ad today.

Do you recognize the Coffee Bean stamp from Cyber Cafe?
First, I cut a Christmas tree using my Cricut. I used the negative space as my template to stamp the wi-fi  signal as the trim, and the coffee beans to create the tree. I used Versamark ink to stamp both, embossed the trim using Wow! Platinum Glitter embossing powder, and embossed the beans with Gold embossing powder. I used the Merry Motifs stamp set for the star. I masked the tree to ink the star only of the Christmas tree stamp.

I created my own oval diffuser using two pieces of thin cardboard so I can emboss around the Christmas tree.

The sponsor of the  challenge.

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The challenge for this week.

Thanks for visiting my blog.

Maria Giselle  B.

I Love You Card

This is my second project created for the Lawn Fawn 2014 CHA Catalog Challenge.  I thought of making a patterned paper using a sentiment stamp from the Lucky Stars stamp set.  I masked off the rest of the sentiment in the 'I {heart} you to the stars and back.'  Stamped the 'I' and 'you' using Memento Tuxedo Black ink repeatedly. I love the font used on this sentiment!
Then, I masked everything else again except for the heart.  This time, I stamped it using Versamark.  I wasn't decided on whether to apply embossing powder or not. But I decided on leaving it as is. I love the tone on tone effect of the Versamark ink.

The card was cut using the Mini Monograms Cricut cartridge. I chose the big scalloped lay-out, cut it twice in pink card stock.  I cut the white embellishment and heart found on the same page. I ran the heart using an embossing folder.  I distressed the heart with Tim Holtz Distress Ink, painted the bubbles with clear Ink of Stella, and applied Glossy Accents to some of the bubbles.  I tried but I wasn't able to capture in photo the effects it created. I scored the second scalloped die cut at about 1 inch from the top making sure it is aligned with the front card stock. For some reason, they do not match up when you cut it twice. You have to flip the second cut horizontally to match it up. I adhered this to the front part of the card, creating a custom shaped card.

Thanks for visiting my blog.
Maria Giselle B.

Boys' Bookmarks

I love Lawn Fawn products!  That's why I was very excited to create something for their Lawn Fawn CHA 2014 Catalog Challenge.  My head was racing with ideas based on the three stamp sets and one craft die I own.

I made personalized bookmarks for my three boys who are in Seventh, Third and Second Grades.  I have a toddler, too, but I'll make him his own bookmark once he reaches school age.

I used the stamp set Check This Out and the craft die Cole's ABC.  I die cut the letters on black card stock, which is the bookmark base.  I cut the letters in different colored card stocks and nestled these letters on the black card stock (sort of putting a puzzle together.) I painted the letters with clear Wink of Stella and applied Glossy Accents to the letters, as well.  The sentiment was stamped with Versamark ink and heat embossed using white embossing powder.

The dimensions of the bookmark are 7 x 1.5 inches.
I made the tassels based on a video tutorial by Tiffany on the Lawn Fawn blog website http://lawnfawn.blogspot.com/2013/05/lawn-clippings-video-52413-grad-cards.html
I used color coordinated twine and modified the length of the twine since I wanted a longer tassel.
These are the names of my three school boys in reverse order.

Thanks for visiting my blog.
Maria Giselle

Love, Joy, Peace

This is the second card I am submitting to Hero Arts Holiday Challenge under the category of A Few of My Favorite Things. I used the stamp sets Hexagons & Journal Letters. I also used my Hero Arts Ink Pads in Neon Green, Soft Leaf and Field Greens.  I love hexagons which inspired me to make this card. I used one color for each sentiment: Neon Green & Platinum embossing powder for peace; Field Greens  & Red Tinsel embossing powder for love; Soft Leaf & Gold embossing powder for joy. For letters that connect the words, like the e for peace and love, and o for love and joy, I mixed two embossing powders, gold and red for o, and platinum and red for e.  

I cut a snowflake using vellum with my Cricut machine. I embellished the snowflake with red twine and crystal star gem at the center, and crystal gems at the ends.

I inked the edges of the hexagons with Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Tea Dye.  I also used this in inking the edges of the striped pattern paper.  This striped patterned paper was dry embossed using a striped patterned embossing folder from Lifestyle Crafts.  The polka dotted patterned paper, with the main focus of the card, was popped-up with foam tapes.

I am also submitting this to SSS Anything Goes Wednesday Challenge.

Thanks for visiting my blog. Please visit again.

Maria Giselle B.

Merry Christmas

This is a card I made for the Hero Arts Holiday Challenge under the category of A Few of My Favorite Things. I used the stamp sets Snowman Christmas & Holiday Sayings. I am also using the Alphabet Uppercase die. 

The Christmas tree stamp in the Snowman Christmas stamp set is my inspiration for this card, so I made it the focus of the card. I made a scene for this card. I stamped the tree on a white card stock, colored it with Copic makers. I covered the black inked stars with red colored Stickles & used Glossy accents for the yellow stars. I fuzzy cut this, set it aside as I work on the other elements of my card.
I used white card stock for most of the elements. I drew slopes in three different white card stocks. Two of these I pressed onto Versamark ink, poured Ranger Holographic embossing powder, and then heat embossed.  I am happy with the effect since it looks like snow.
For the sky, I used Tim Holtz Distress Ink Tumbled glass.  I wanted subtle colored snowflakes scattered in the sky. I used the Tim Holtz Distress Inks Tumbled Glass & Faded Jeans, but I stamped it on scrap paper first before stamping the snowflake onto my card.

I stamped the gifts on another white card stock. I applied gold embossing powder for the ribbons. I colored the gift wraps with Copic markers. Since the bows are hard to fuzzy cut, I stamped the gifts under the tree. The star is a Studio Calico wood veneer.

One thing good about clear stamps is that you can manipulate it. See how the word Christmas is slanted to align with the slope? Since this sentiment is Merry Christmas, I masked the word Merry before I inked it with Versamark, applied Ranger red tinsel embossing powder, and then heat set it.
The word merry started off as a white patterned paper. Since it doesn't stand out with the snow background, I used a sponge dauber to color it red.

Another look of the  card.

I am also submitting this to SSS Anything Goes Wednesday Challenge.

Thanks for visiting my blog.

Maria Giselle  B.

Thanks

I am submitting this card to this week's PS COOL SHADES challenge.

I used the Hip to be Square background stamp. Double stamped it with the colors above as inspiration, stamping it in green then blue on green card stock. Then stamping it in orange then red on orange card stock. Both were stamped on 5 1/2 x 4 card stock. I got this idea from Jennifer Mcguire's card video on double stamped cards. Here's the link... http://www.jennifermcguireink.com/2013/11/video-double-stamping-exclusive-discount-code.html.

I cut the stamped card stocks diagonally, saving the scraps for a later card.

For the sentiment,  I used my new Chit Chat stamp set. I love this Thanks sentiment. I used Memento Tuxedo black to stamp this on cream card stock. This is my card base. I lightly lined the sentiment with a pencil,  dividing the sentiment into 4 parts to color it based on this week's color inspiration. I based the order of the color from the rainbow (red-orange-green-blue.) I used Copic markers and blended the colors where they meet.

I brushed the sentiment w/ Wink of Stella then applied glossy accent. I cut a 1/8 strip of white card stock and rubbed my red & blue ink pads on it to create a custom made card stock that matches my red & blue inked images. 

After working on the sentiment, I popped up the orange & green card stocks to frame my sentiment. 

Thanks for visiting my blog.

Maria Giselle B.

Snowflake Card

I am submitting this card to this week's PS Designer Drafts challenge. I used the Merry Motifs stamp & coordinating die.

I die cut the snowflake onto the patterned paper. I die cut another snowflake using card stock, stamped the snowflake image to the die cut using Versamark ink, applied white embossing powder then heat embossed the image. I fitted this piece to the negative space snowflake I made on the patterned paper just like a puzzle. I have to rotate it a couple of times to find the right fit since the die cut snowflake is not even on all side. Here is a close-up photo of the snowflake.

Thanks for visiting my blog.
Maria