Never enough thank you cards...

I got an unexpected holiday gift in the mail (because I was a good shopper!):  a little stamp set from Altenew!

(This picture is borrowed from Instagram)

And then Hero Arts released their January kit, leading to a flurry of posts:  Ilina Crouse on the left, and Jennifer McGuire on the right.

This design is right up my street!  I want to make a million of these!  Here's my first version:

Background stamp:  Elegant Script by Gina K Designs; Thank You by Altenew; Die cut:  Inside and Out Berry Branch by the Greetery; Frame die:  Nestabilities Hemstitch Rectangles by Spellbinders 

Thanks, Altenew!  #AltenewLove

Color Anxiety...

Happy New Year!  So many craft projects to work on in the year ahead!

I'm making thank you cards to send to the people who gave me holiday gifts this year and hoping I can tie in each card to the gift itself.  The idea for the first card came easily.  The gift included a small bag of eight kitty treats for my cat, Bunny - one for each night of Chanukah - and though not part of the original gift, the give gave me a tin of cookies that was devoured by my husband over the last few days.  So the card - kitty cat and cookies.  Perfect.

I knew I would use one of the two cat silhouette stamps I have from Lavinia Stamps depending on how much room I had on the card (Mimsy, on the right, made the final cut).

And though I don't have any good cookie images in my collection, which seems impossible to believe, the Celebrations set from Altenew has a fine tiered treat stand. 

 

Then the real challenge - how to color the treat stand.  I mean, I never know how to color anything, not that I lack for coloring mediums.  So I took a deep breath, checked the internet for ideas, and came across this fine card by SkyPaperScissors on Pinterest, and decided that rather than stress about for hours and try a million color combinations, which is my usual habit, I would just use the same set of color that Seeka did in that example using my Zig Clean Color markers and a water brush.  Here's how it turned out:

A sentiment from Gina K Designs and a piece of glitter card stock completed the card.

Not only did I complete the card in less than an hour, I love how it turned out.  My take-away:  it's okay to just go with the color palette from another image I like.  My card is nothing like Seeka's and not nearly as good, but it works for me!

Woodblock Wednesday: Happy Chanukah

Although it's not in any way different than in past years, it struck me this year how most of the stamping industry seems to be so intensely focused on Christmas.  Not only does the Christmas rush start earlier each year with the introduction of new Christmas stamps, dies, etc, with a few token exceptions, non-Christmas holidays are ignored by the major stamp companies and distributors.  And I get it:  this is the key holiday for the vast majority of the customer base, and this is a time of year when more people make and send cards than any other.  Simply from a business perspective, you can't ignore that.  But still, as one of the few who celebrates a different holiday this time of year, I wish the products and card examples were a bit more all-inclusive.

I don't make and send a lot of religion-themed cards, and I don't have many stamps with religious symbols in my collection.  But when I wanted to reflect my holiday on this Woodblock Wednesday, I found this perfect menorah stamp from the now-defunct Rubber Stamps of America.  It was on a short peg with thin, hard to remove foam, but it was fun to use on this slightly askew wreath.

I wish (all two of) you, a Happy Chanukah and a peaceful, healthy new year.

Stamp:  Rubber Stamps of America
Wreath Builder stencil by Gina K Designs
Altenew Inks: the new Tranquility set

Woodblock Wednesday: Moose Day edition

Every year, a number of my friends from college days, along with family members we convince to join us, celebrate a holiday known as Moose Day on the day after Thanksgiving.  The origin of this important day is a story best shared over tea, but making Moose Day cards is an annual tradition of mine, and suffice it to say, my collection of moose stamps and dies is possibly larger than that of your average card maker....

This year, I had two card ideas to choose between for my Moose Day cards.  The first uses a new favorite stamp set of mine:  Cozy Cup by the Greetery.  I stamped the cup layers and wanted to find a moose stamp to use as latte art.  An old woodblock stamp from Silver Fox Stamps just about fit perfectly.  I didn't end up making this card, but last night I pulled out the embossing powder to see how it might look. 

The moose doesn't quite fit in the cup, so I had to not have one of his back legs visible.  I really like this idea, and will probably make an actual card from the moose cup (which is not really adhered to any of the layers below).  I think if I try this again I might find a bigger cup so the entire moose fits inside - I am sure I have one - and/or use white pigment ink instead of white heat embossing for the moose foam.  In the end, this card seemed too involved to quickly replicate, so I went with my second card idea.

Here's this year's official Moose Day card made with Altenew inks, the Concord & 9th Stitched Turnabout and Tim Holtz's moose from Into the Woods.

Happy Moose Day!!!