Is winter coming? :)

Winter is NOT my favorite season…BUT I do LOVE snowmen!!!





So, when I saw Close To My Heart’s NEW snowman stamp set in the 2012 Fall/Winter Idea Book called  “Flakey Friends”, I knew this stamp set would become one of my new favorites!  Isn’t it CUTE?!?






It is SWAP time again, and that means I have sent off my created pieces, and am “patiently” waiting for my swaps to be returned back to me! LOL!! J

Each time a new Idea Book comes out…I participate in a swap with my team leader Karen Morris.  She coordinates everything, and swaps all of our items!!!

How does it work???  I design 5 different pieces of artwork(12x12 page, and 4 different card designs) using all new paper, ( I chose Avonlea paper) new stamp sets and new embellishments as MUCH as possible!  Then I create 8 of EACH of the 5 items!!!

I send 7 sets that I created, off to Karen (I keep one for myself) and anxiously await the arrival of the package that will contain 7 different sets of swaps…each set will use a NEW paper pack from our 2012 Fall idea book!!!!

Here is a picture of my swaps, all ready to go…

I LOVE being a part of a swap!!! It generates so many ideas AND I get beautiful artwork in return using the 8 new paper packs!!!

Today I would like to share the details of ONE of the cards with you that I created for this swap. 

I chose to use my Friendly Snowmen stamp set, “Flakey Friends”. I also chose to use our GREAT die-cut cards...these colonial white cards are 3 1/2" x 8" and I love the fancy design on the card!  J

I chose to use the Avonlea paper pack…a beautiful, elegant paper!!! I wanted to pull in the color Smokey Plum with the colors and design of this paper pack and was excited with how the card turned out!!!

 Let me share some of the FUN techniques I used in creating this card!!!

Did you notice the designed background on the top of the card?  Can you guess what it is??

Check it out!!!

I was so excited when I discovered that by laying down my Tulle ribbon, I could use my sponge and ink some of my Smokey Plum ink onto the ribbon and get a great design!!!



 I also tried out our new PIGMENT inks!!! 

I learned to really like these inks…they are PERFECT to use when I want to color in an image with our NEW alcohol markers!!

When using the pigment inks, after stamping them…make sure to give them 20-30 minutes to dry OR heat set the image, before you try to color them in.  The ink needs to bind with the paper, and this takes a little bit of time. 



Here are my snowmen, all inked and ready to be colored! J






I used the smokey plum, crème brulle, autumn terracotta (carrot nose) & olive alcohol markers to give “my men” a bit of color.  I am not a great color inner (is that a word? LOL!) but I really like how smooth these new alcohol markers color!!  I think I could get used to and ENJOY coloring in stamped images!!! LOL!!!





One of my FAVORITE new embellishments is the SILVER shimmer trim…do you see it?  Yes, it’s not silver in the picture above…I tried to color my silver trim with my alcohol smokey plum marker!  It worked!!!….kind of? J

Yes, it colored my self adhesive silver shimmer trim ribbon a beautiful plum color – however, my marker didn’t fare too well.  Because of the roughness of the silver shimmer trim, the marker tip now has some fuzzy ends.  Oh well – I will use this marker for only coloring on items….problem solved! J I added our grey wool baker's twine next to the silver ribbon as a finishing touch. 

I hope I have inspired you to get out your crafting items!J 
Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful rest of the week!!!

Blessings to you!
Krista J