davebrethauer

Frosty Wreath

Seeing the frost outside on a cold winter's morning is what inspired this card. The delicate branches of the Bramble Wreath (E1276) image were decorated with white liquid pearls and glitter - and when you look closely, it's almost as if sunlight is sparkling on each twig. The whole effect of this card, from the light reflected off the metallic white notecard to the sparkles on stamped image, reminds me of all that is beautiful in winter.

 

Stamp the Wreath in Brilliance Pearlescent Chocolate ink onto Robins Egg cardstock and allow to dry. Make tiny dots of White Liquid Pearls around the wreath - I made lots of them as you can see above - and then sprinkle with prisma glitter while still wet.

 

I mounted the Robins Egg layer first on a piece of shimmery Frost cardstock and then onto a layer of Quartz cardstock that I edged with a Martha Stewart Snowflake Border (so easy to use!).

Celebrate a beautiful winter's day with this greeting!

Snowy Little Birds

I have been watching weather temps around the country on my phone all this last week, wondering if the northwest is going to get any snowy weather. I drove the kids into school this morning in bone chilling 21 degree weather (clear blue skies out), but then I looked up the weather in Wray, Colorado, where my grandparents live - and it was 5 degrees. Brrrrr. 

Best to just stamp "snowy" cards instead I think.

Here's a frosty version of our Birds on Branches stamp - painted with watercolor and glittered. The image was stamped on 140 lb watercolor paper (cold press) with Brilliance Graphite Black ink. Once dry, wet the surface of the watercolor paper, and paint with Teal Zircon and Majestic Blue watercolor paints - and allow to dry again. 

 

The image is then cut out, mounted on a layer of shimmery Frost cardstock and then onto a stamped Water colored notecard. The polkadot stamp that we used on the notecard is from B Line designs - embossed with Judikins White Diamond embossing powder.

I drew a line of White Opal liquid Pearls between the birds, along the branches, and then dusted with prisma glitter while the liquid pearls were still wet. Be sure and do the liquid pearls and glitter once all of the layers have been mounted - to prevent smudging the pearls!

Paper, Glue and Scissors

Sometimes the most fun you can have with paper doesn't even involve stamps (did I hear a gasp?). Here's a card that you probably wouldn't make a 100 of, but this type of paper sculpting is so beautiful (and easy) that anyone can do it if you have some time.

I used a sheet of Opal cardstock from our Soiree collection, an Opal Notecard, Diamond Jewel stickers and some glitter glue. Begin by cutting a triangle out of the Opal Cardstock, and then cut it crosswise into pieces, in a scalloped pattern (use scalloped scissors if necessary).

 

Now you can begin assembling your tree. I used foam mounting tape, so that there was a little bit of dimension between each layer. Begin at the bottom by attaching the widest bottom piece to the card. Then start layering each piece, slightly overlapping the piece below until you get to the top. Don't worry if things aren't quite perfect - we'll put some jewel stickers on the card and nobody will notice!

You can see here that each layer is tucked under the next, all the way up to the top of the card.

 

Once assembled, you do a little embellishing. I placed a few Diamond Jewel stickers here and there, like little ornaments on the tree. 

Last, trim the scalloped edges with glitter glue. I "drew" a line of glitter glue along the edge, and then while it was still wet I sprinkled it with some glitter (ultra fine prisma glitter from Judikins). Glitter on glitter - you can't get more sparkle than that!

Border Glitter Technique

I demonstrated some fun techniques this weekend at Impress, and wanted to share one favorite little tip with you. Glitter on the border of a card looks so cool - and makes things really festive and fun. I've done many things over the years - glues with glitter, embossing, glitter glue - you name it, I've tried it. But here's a nice technique that will give you a really straight border of glitter, without worrying about the adhesive drying too quickly.

Now, when I make my samples to go out to stores I use a 3M ATG gun (tape gun) to adhere all of my layers together. It takes a little getting used to, but once you do, you won't want to use anything else. It's economical and the adhesive holds layers together perfectly without any chance of warping the paper.

To apply glitter using the tape gun, you simply run a strip of glue on the front side of your layer, and dust with glitter. The adhesive remains tacky even if you have to answer the phone or go sample some dark chocolate brownies from the neighbor, so you can add glitter anytime. A bonus is that you get a nice straight border of glitter (not that there's anything wrong with an irregular border of glitter - it's more "vintage" that way).

 

For this card, I stamped the E1302 Tree Silhouette twice - once on Robins Egg paper and once on white paper. Just cut the hills out of the white paper and glue them onto the Robins Egg paper.

Now you just run the tape gun along the edge (keep a scratch sheet of paper underneath to grab any overhanging adhesive) then sprinkle the glitter on. Press the glitter gently into the adhesive strip then tap the excess off - you'll be left with a transparent border of shimmering glitter (I used Judikins Ultra fine prisma glitter).

Once you've mounted onto a card (doesn't this look like a winter wonderland mounted on a Quartz notecard?), then add little dots of liquid pearls to the sky.

 

I used "White Opal" liquid pearls for the "snow" in the sky. Just take your time (and don't press too hard!) when applying the liquid pearls to the sky. The combination of the pearls and the glitter is beautiful!

Shading the Tree

 

The Twizzle Tree (E1284) and Twisty Pine (E1286) have been so popular this year - I think it's just fun to color in all of those little circles! We colored in a Twisty Pine on this card, using some Prismacolor pencils in 2 shades of green.

 

When coloring these circles in, begin with your darkest shade. Start at the side of the circle, with lots of pressure and then slowly soften until you reach the middle - and then fade out. I like to use lots of circular strokes when I color with pencils - because it makes the colors blend smoothly. Once you have your dark layer down, then go over the entire circle with your lighter shade, pressing hard to blend the dark into the light. You'll be amazed - the pencil color ends up looking more like a paint!

Add a few rhinestones and this card is quick and easy, and the person you give it to will love it!

Ho Ho Ho...Santa's coming!!

 

Hello friends and Happy Friday.

How are you?  How's things going in the craft department?  I've been busy as an elf making holiday cards this week and preparing class kits for Sunday!!  We still don't have any snow and the weather has been quite warm for Minnesota if you ask me.  False alarm on the "white stuff" prediction from last week.  Onto my card.  I wasn't quite sure what I was going to do for today's card so I decided to challenge myself and design a card with the Lattice Background stamp and give "Santa Bear" a little love while I was at it!!  I just love the Memory Box penguins and polar bears.  I thought the card would be fitting as I have noticed so many people are out and about in full force preparing for the upcoming holidays.  Can't you just feel *Santa* is coming to town??  Salvation Army bell ringers, wreaths, Christmas decorations, and tons of catalogs, flyers, and sales.  I sure can feel it and yes the holidays are right around the corner.  I can't believe Thanksgiving is next week.  Yikes!!  Let's hope I don't get too stressed out this year with the pressure of it all!!  LOL.  Who can relate to what I'm saying?  Have a super duper weekend friends and I'll see you next week with bells on!!  For those of you in the United States I wish you a blessed Thanksgiving.  I am thankful for my family, friends, and rubber stamps!!  As always thanks for stopping by.  Tami  Ho Ho Ho!!

 

Card Supplies:

Notecard-Vanilla Bean

Jewels-Christmas or Cherry, Diamond

Memory Box Paper Scraps-Crimson, Kraft, Mocha 

Stamps-Lattice Background (E1283), Santa Bear (C954), Peace, Love and Joy (B1114), Sprinkles (B1158), Point Flake (A1159), Snowy Eve (CL142)

Inks-Color Box Chalk Inks (Creamy Brown, Chestnut Roan, Warm Red), Memento Black

Swiss Dots Embossing Folder (Cut Natural White Paper 4 x 5 1/4")

Brown Polka Dots Ribbon

Snow-Tex (Michael's) and craft knife or toothpick 

Other Paper-Neenah Classic Crest Natural White and White Popset (has sparkles)

Copics-0 Colorless Blender, E35 Chamois, R20 Blush

Spica Glitter Pen-Clear

Stickles-Crystal (Santa's cheek)

Tiny Brown Pom Pom

Circle Punch or Die Cut (1 7/8 - 2") 

Glue Dots, Glue Pen, Dimensionals, Double Stick Tape, Scotch Tape

Card Directions:

Emboss natural white panel using Swiss Dots embossing folder.  Edge sides of paper with creamy brown ink and adhere to Vanilla Bean notecard.  Stamp Lattice Background in red ink on Kraft paper and cut out (gift package).  Adhere ribbon as shown.  Stamp Santa Bear in black ink on white sparkle paper, Kraft circle, and on a Crimson scrap (paper piece red scarf).  Color white polar bear image with Copics and cut out.  Glue bear on Kraft circle.  Cut out red scarf.  Adhere scarf to bear and glue on a brown pom pom.  Stamp Christmas from (CL142) clear set on natural white scrap.  Ink edges of Kraft circle and Christmas with creamy brown ink.  Stamp assorted snowflakes using all three chalk inks listed above around bear and Christmas.  Add jewels and glitter accents (Spica clear pen) to snowflakes.  Layer Christmas to Mocha and Crimson scraps.  Lastly, add Stickles to cheek and Snow-Tex on jacket cuff and hat brim.            

Inside of Card:

 

***Please let me know if you have any questions.

Cards of Days Gone By

I'm back from a trip to Colorado, teaching workshops at Simple Pleasures in Colorado Springs and then visiting my grandparents on the Eastern Plains in a little town called Wray. I got to experience all the weather Colorado has to offer - a warm day Friday, snow Saturday and Sunday and warm temps on Monday and Tuesday. Since I was out that way , we decided to fly the kids into Denver on Saturday night after I had completed classes in Colorado Springs - so that I could pick them up and travel on down to Wray and everyone could get a nice visit in for a few days.

On Saturday night, the drive from Colorado Springs back up to Denver turned from a slightly drizzle of rain into a full blown winter storm - extending the usual 1 hour and 15 minute drive to 3 white-knuckled hours of blizzard fun! I hadn't driven in these conditions since my college days in Boulder, Colorado - but I remembered to take it slow and managed to get to the airport, get the kids and find a hotel for the night.

The visit with my grandparents was great (always is) - and my Grammie, born in 1920, always shares lots of stories of growing up on a farm, living through the depression and is eager to share with her grandkids lots of details about days gone by. I get out to see them as often as I can - and we are planning a big celebration next year in honor of her 90th birthday.

Returning to Seattle, I was catching up on some things at my desk - and happened upon a fun coincidence. A friend had given me a Greeting Card catalog from the 1930's (from The Process Corporation Card Company of Chicago, Illinois) - full of custom cards that you could personalize and send out in the mail. The colors were quite different from todays colors (purple, black (lots of black!), oranges) of Christmas, though there were some reds and greens to be seen. I turned to a page that contained this card:

 

What an unusual color scheme, I thought. We are always trying out different color schemes at Memory Box, posting different combinations onto an idea wall for upcoming releases and projects. The more I looked at the card though, it seemed kind of familiar. And no kidding, 12 inches away from the catalog, on my desk was the new Martha magazine...

 

The aqua's, the orange-reds, the creams - even the black text! Isn't it mazing how color schemes are re-invented again and again - and what you think of as brand new might be a classic? I find the cover of the magazine beautiful - just as I do the card.

The fonts are similar (not exactly the same) - they do lend a certain whimsical effect to the whole composition:

 

Here's a close up of the lettering on the card, and below is a close up up the magazine cover

 

The magazine is updated brilliantly, while still retaining a really beautiful vintage look.

Browsing through the rest of the catalog, I found a lot of other interesting greeting cards.

 

This one, an intricate steel etching, was probably more of what I expected in terms of Christmas style. So detailed, the image is amazing - and looking closely it reminded me of the way we chalk a card to color it in.

I am on the hunt for more vintage cards - to add to a growing collection to be able to see what is new and what is old...and what has been re-invented again!

Dewfrost Snowflakes

Happy Tuesday! I hope your week is off to a good start! We have been spoiled with some nice temperatures for this time of year the last couple of days. I think it hit over 60° on Monday. It actually felt a little balmy after having some very cool temperatures. There is a storm expected sometime today, so we are expecting rain for the rest of the week.

I have a pretty simple card to share this week. I used stamps from the Snowy Eve (CL142) clear set & the Verdi Flourish (C987) wood mounted stamp. All of the patterned paper used is from the Dewfrost paper pack, even the punched snowflakes. This is when those scraps really come in handy.

 

 

I started with a Robins Egg note-card. After trimming the polka-dot piece of Dewfrost paper, I stamped the Verdi Flourish in the upper left corner in dark brown ink. I wanted it to look very subtle, so that is why I chose a chocolate brown ink (I used Ancient Page ink). It is hard to see in the photo, but I also stamped some snowflakes & the flourish from the Snowy Eve set on the polka dot background as well. I softened the edges with some dark brown chalk ink by Colorbox.  I stamped the script/snowflake background with Versamagic Sea Breeze ink onto a piece of Robin’s Egg card stock cut to 2 ½ inches by 4 inches. I softened the edges with Creamy Brown chalk ink by Colorbox. I was hoping to create a bit of a vintage-y feel. Next, I added Frost Blue pearl stickers, Sparkling Diamond jewel stickers (from the Christmas Jewel pack) & Snowflakejewel stickers. I punched some Dewfrost snowflakes using the Marvy Jumbo Snowflake punch. The first snowflake, I doubled up with another snowflake & the bottom snowflake is punched out of Frost Soiree shimmer card stock…so pretty! I added some dimension to the snowflake by using foam adhesive.

 

I know with the holidays quickly approaching, it’s nice to have some ideas for cards that are fairly simple to put together. Have a beautiful day!!

Elegant Reindeer

 

Happy Friday the 13th friends-

This week I decided to use one of my favorite stamps from last year the Elegant Reindeer.  I paired it with a sheet of paper from the Spiceberry collection and a 14 Karat Gold Soiree notecard.  The card came together pretty quickly thanks to my trusty and favorite corner punch.  I finally used my Christmas gift from last year...YES Nestabilities!!  Next I attached gold metallic thread, added ribbon, and berry pearls.  There you have it...a pretty elegant but easy holiday card.  I hope your week has been a good one and very productive.  I sure had a busy week taking care of business, planning my annual holiday trip, and preparing for a couple upcoming holiday classes.  As always thanks for stopping by and have a super weekend.  We are suppose to get snow early next week.  I guess I'm ready!!  Why not??  I'll let you know how things go in the "white stuff" department next Friday.  Peace  Tami    

 

Supply List:

Spiceberry Paper

Notecard-Soiree 24 Karat

Elegant Reindeer (C1107), Snowy Eve Clear Set (CL142) 

Inks-Brilliance Galaxy Gold and Pearlescent Poppy, Color Box Chalk Olive Pastel, Versafine Vintage Sepia...(I should have used Memento Brown with Copics)

Karl Southwest Corner Punch

Metallic Thread-Antique Gold 6"

May Arts Ribbon-(JB16) 15-17"

Other Paper-Neenah Classic Crest Natural White 80# Cover

Nestabilities Labels Two

Copic-0 Colorless Blender, E31, E33, R20

Spica Glitter Pen-Buttermilk

Memory Box Pearls-Berry

Card Directions:

Cut Spiceberry paper to 4 x 5 1/4" and save scrap for inside measuring 3/4 x 4".  Punch corners with Southwest punch and wrap gold thread in each corner as shown.  Secure thread ends to back of paper with Scotch tape.  Stamp Elegant Reindeer on a piece of Natural White paper a little larger than the die cut.  Cut out image using the Nestabilities die mentioned above.  Edge frame with gold ink and color reindeer with Copics.  Add glitter highlights (Buttermilk pen) on the reindeer and punch an 1/8" hole on each side of the reindeer for the ribbon.  Feed ribbon through the two holes and wrap around the entire card.  I used dimensionals under the reindeer to pop up the image.  Tie a double knot and trim ribbon ends.  Adhere eight Berry Pearls to reindeer as shown.  

Inside of Card:

Card Liner: 

Cut Natural White paper to 4 x 5 1/4" (same paper as reindeer image) and adhere to notecard.  Attach Spiceberry paper on left side as shown.  All three stamps on the inside of the card are from the Snowy Eve Clear Set. Stamp Christmas in poppy red, stamp three gold snowflakes (its hard to see them in picture), and the flourish below Christmas is stamped in olive pastel ink.  Please let me know if you have any questions.   

20 Miles to Find a Starbucks

 

Driving 20 miles to find a Starbucks is just about unheard of here in the Seattle area - in fact downtown has several shops within just a few blocks of each other. But that's how far Anne Thompson of Your Maine Stamper had to drive to get some Starbucks paper coffee cups to make this supercool book for me. 

Anne came to my class at Ink About It in October (that's Anne on the right) and gave me this book that was created by the staff at Your Maine Stamper (so thoughtful, thank you so much Anne and everyone at the shop! It was very intricate - and I have never seen a book made out paper cups!)

 

This is the cover of the book (yes, the coffee ring is a stamped image!). The shape of the flattened cup was incorporated into the design of the book, so that each page was curved at top and bottom.

 

Here's one of the decorated inside pages - stickers, stamped images, shape punches and papers from my Spiceberry 6x6 collection showed up throughout the book.
Anne was chosen to be won of our new Design Team instructors for 2010, so you'll be seeing more of her work soon!