I Brake For....Table Top Tree!

Hello stampers!  Nancy here today.  I know we have not yet celebrated Thanksgiving , but I am in full Christmas mode!

This darling stamp is called Table Top Tree and can be found here.  Isn't it just the cutest thing?  We have our main tree in the living room, but also have a small table top tree on the patio where we spend a lot of time.  I love the rustic and natural feel of this image.

I stamped it with Memento ink and colored it using a mix of copics and prisma pencils.  Then I sponged in some snowy hills in the background to make a wintery scene.

And I have two favorites on this card. First is my use of a stardust gel pen to get a sparkly look - I used it mainly on the tree branches - here is a closer look...

The second thing I love to see on holiday cards is plaid paper!!!!  I just love the look of plaids during the holiday.  It seems this year it was a main décor focus because I've seen so many things with plaid in the stores.  I found a great pad of paper at Michaels called Plaid Tidings that had 60 sheets of different plaid designs! I think I am set for many years to come with this pad of paper.

The sentiment is part of another stamp that I used last week called Happy Holidays Ornaments which can be found here. I just used the sentiment part of the stamp.

I hope your holiday season is going well.  Stop by the IBFS store and take a look at all the wintery and holiday stamps they have.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

I Brake For.... Happy Holiday Ornaments!

Hello stampers -  Nancy here and  today it is all about Christmas! I have two items for you today.

I probably make and send about 25 Christmas cards each year and although I keep telling myself that I will start early and make cards throughout the year, somehow it never happens.  So when I do start I go with a few detailed and more time consuming stamps and a few simpler stamps for quick and easier cards

Todays card is one of those quick and easy ones.    I used the Happy Holidays Ornaments stamp, found here.

This is one of those stamps that you can go heavy on the layers and embellishments, or just go clean and simple.

I stamped the image with memento inks and colored it with copics.  Then, because I like my Christmas cards to sparkle, I used a stardust gel pen over the sentiment, ornaments and greenery.  Its a quick way to add sparkle without the mess of glitter.

Here is a closer look - it is hard to capture the sparkle in a photo, but you get the idea!

A couple of fancy edge dies were used along with some plaid paper and red ribbon to finish it off.  I already had the die shapes cut out, so this was one of those quick and easy to put together cards.

One of the great things about this stamp is that you don't have to use the entire image.  In fact you could cut this apart and use the sentiment separately.

In this next piece I made an envelope to hold a gift card.  Much of my gift giving is done with gift cards since I live far away from family - it is just easier to send gift cards and know that the recipient is getting a card from a store they like

I used the We R Memory Keepers 1-2-3 Punch Board to make the envelope.  This is a great tool to have - it makes envelopes, boxes and bows in a variety of sizes.  I bought it this year and it has been a tool that I have used often.

The envelope is 4 x 4 made with some holiday paper I had from last year.  The Happy Holidays Ornaments was stamped on a stitched oval die cut, leaving out the sentiment, stamping only the image. It was colored with copics in shades of blue to coordinate with the patterned paper. I kept the bow white, but used the stardust gel pen overall on this image to add sparkle

Here is what it looks like before it is put together.

I just used a white satin ribbon as a band to keep everything together.  The ornament tag is popped up on the ribbon. Here is a close up with the sparkle added.

Hop on over to the I Brake For Stamps store - there are so many holiday stamps to chose from - I know you will find something you like!

Thanks for stopping by today!