Feather Wreath

Well, it's the last day of my Christmas in July sale (check out the product here), so I thought I'd show you another Christmas card:

Paper: Tempting Turquoise, Whisper White, Silver Specialty
Ink: Midnight Muse, Island Indigo, Pool Party
Stamps: Fine Feathers, Petite Pairs
Tools: Circle Punches - 2-1/2, 1-3/4 & 1-3/8
Accessories: Jewels, Silver 1/8" Ribbon (sneak peek!)

This is likely not the last Christmas card you'll see from me (I've got TONS more and it's only July!), but one I wanted to show you sooner than later. I loved the Fine Feathers stamp set the moment I saw it in last year's catalogue. Sad to say though, I haven't used it too much as I've had trouble figuring it out.

Several months ago I did a happy dance because I had this vision of a feather wreath. I spend FOREVER executing my vision (several different ways) and all were epic fails! Last night I was perusing the internet and saw an image that was literally a few blurred swirls that formed a circle and that set off the light bulb. I ran to my craft loft, punched a hole in my paper and got to work.

This card is the result of that, and I love it! I finished it without the ribbon and liked it a lot, but felt it needed a little something else. I remembered about that gorgeous silver ribbon I pre-ordered from the Holiday Catalogue (live tomorrow!) and added a tiny bow. Perfect!

I know this turned out to be a long winded post, but happy you made it through. I thought my readers would want to know a little back story behind this card. I know it's not everyone's taste - non traditional colours and images - but I'm in love because I'm really happy with how it turned out and that my vision finally came to light!

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph

Freshly Made

Today I'm playing with the ladies at Freshly Made Sketches. It's my first time playing, but I liked the sketch and that this challenge site focuses on clean-lined and fresh creations. Here's the sketch:

It's actually quite fitting that I'm playing along today at Freshly Made because there's (finally) fresh air outside. It's been so hot and humid around here lately that I really missed having the windows open. Such a nice change!

Anyway, here is my card:

Okay, so I roughed up the edges just a tad. But not too much, so I think it still qualifies for "fresh" and "clean-lined", no?

I finally got around to using the Fine Feathers stamp set. It's one that drew my attention immediately in the new catty, but every time I pulled it out, I just couldn't come up with anything. This sketch certainly got my creativity flowing with it... and it's about dang time! :)

I started with a very detailed section from the Fan Fair DSP pack. It featured some lace, a flower, a washed out map and the Eiffel Tower (mostly hidden). I then layered with a piece of Island Indigo card stock that I embossed with the Fancy Fan embossing folder. Next, I stamped two feathers in Pool Party ink on Very Vanilla card stock and then cut one feather out and popped it up with some Dimensionals. I wrapped some Pool Party Bakers Twine around and added a punched tag. I stamped the sentiment from the Just My Type set and elongated the tag by pulling the paper up and through the Jewelry Tag Punch. The trick is to have your paper the same width as the punch. You can then make the tag as long (or short) as you want. Cool, eh?!

To finish off, I used the retired Lace Border Punch and added some pearls. I mimicked this on the inside too by stamping a couple of feathers and adding the border again with the pearls.

What do you think?

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph