Christmas in June?

Hello!

I've been thinking it is about time to start making Christmas cards. Last year I almost exhausted my supplies. If I don't start now I'll never have enough for this year! I've been wanting to join in over at MUSE Christmas Visions, and finally I have done it. Yay!

I used SU! Dasher with a Mama Elephant sentiment. The background is sponged distress ink and glimmer mist. It's nice and "Twinkle-y". :-)

My inspiration came from the MUSE Christmas Visions card by Betty.

I took the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches.

So, one card down, about one hundred left to make. ;-)

Thanks for visiting!

Michelle
xxx

LIM 40 and a Question

Hello!

It's been a while since I joined in the fun at Less Is More. Time seems to slip away from me so quickly!  I love red and orange, which is the colour challenge this week. I didn't quite produce what was in my head, but you take a look and let me know what you think.

I also have a question, so if you'd like to give me some advice (and I'd really love it if you would!), keep on reading after you take a look at my card.

The card:

What I used (all SU! other than the ribbon and black ink):
Stamps: Snow Swirled, Dasher, Curly Cute
Card: Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White
Ink: Real Red, Memento Tuxedo Black, Versamark
Clear embossing powder, miscellaneous ribbon (which I had to colour to get the orange) and bling.

And now onto my question. I finally purchased a Big Shot. Yay! If you are in Australia, and looking for a good price, Lincraft are selling them online for $99 currently. But my problem is that I have no dies or embossing folders. There are SO MANY of these out there. I want to know from those of you who use die-cutting and embossing machines: Which dies and embossing patterns do you use the most? What could you not live without? Do you have any recommendations for me?

Thanks in advance for any comments or advice you decide to leave me. I appreciate each and every visitor.

Michelle
xxx

Christmas

This year the majority of my cards were made at technique classes and at stamp-a-stack sessions with my stamping friends.  This means that the designs were mostly by my friend Manda.  BUT, I did have an idea in mind when Dasher was released, and I worked on it for a while before I came up with my final design.  My idea was blended with an idea I got from one of Manda's cards.  Manda's card is here:

I loved this card, and I did give it away to someone special at Christmas, despite wanting to keep it for myself!  What I came up with for Dasher (the reindeer) this year started as:

and ended up as:

The big thing I learned from making this card was - the more bows you make, the easier they are.  So the next time I'm planning to make bows, I will make them in bulk, because bows are one of my personal challenges (along with cutting out).

I didn't get all my cards out this year, but I live in hope that one year I will make all the cards and send them in time as well!

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and that you have a wonderful New Year!

Michelle
xxxxx

Dasher prototypes

Well, I finallly started working on Christmas cards.  This doesn't mean I'll actually finish them in time to send them for Christmas, but I have made a start!  Today I worked on creating some prototypes using Dasher to figure out what I would like to do with him.  I don't think I've found it yet, but I thought I'd share my progress. 

Using clear embossing powder mixed with dazzling diamonds glitter, I created twinkling stars and a snowy landscape - I'm not sure if you can see this in the picture.  I also added a little bling to his antlers, which is what I imagined doing the very first time I saw this stamp.  Colours are Not Quite Navy, Chocolate Chip, and Whisper White.

Then I thought I should try to go a little bit "Christmasy" with my colours, so I trawled through my papers to find something red and green, and came up with this one.  This card was supposed to be different, but I had a disaster with the ribbon that was unfixable, so it changed to what it is.  There are green hills this time, and sparkly antlers.

Because I hadn't meant to do so much colouring-in, I decided to move onto a more plain layout, and came up with this one, using silver embossing powder.  I made the bow using a fork, as I learned in one of my technique classes (thanks, Manda!)  I quite like this card.  But maybe it is TOO plain?

Then, because I am running out of black cardstock, I went looking for another colour to work with and found Almost Amethyst.  With the paler colour, it needed more matting to get an impact.  I don't mind this one's design either, but if I repeat it I'll neaten it up.

So, that is where I am up to so far.  I'll keep working on it.  By the time I find a design I'm happy with, I might have made enough cards to send to everyone anyway!

I'm loving Dasher, I hope you like him too.