Wishing You...

a very HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!!!

Jennifer and Tim's Tree

Tim's Tree
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

Holtz, Tim Holtz, that is.

This card is a mixture of several different techniques I've seen around the blogospere lately.

Jennifer McGuire: The paper is used here is watercolor paper. Then the background color is made using a clear stamp block, which has been tapped with several different Distress Inks and misted gently with water.

Jennifer McGuire: The trees are made by stamping then stamping off the image, after misting the inked stamp with water.

Tim Holtz: The little charm is a Tim Holtz Fragment. I stamped the tree image on another piece of watercolor paper, then I glued it (using Glossy Accents) to the back of the Fragment. After it dried, I cut off the extra paper around it, then strung the fragment with a bit of wire.

Tim Holtz: I actually pulled the wire out of some wired ribbon I didn't like (OK, that was my idea), then I made a small hole in the watercolor paper, pushed the wire through and then taped it on the back. It swings on the paper but it's very secure.

I stamped Rejoice on the bottom using the same color ink (Peeled Paint Distress Ink) as the trees.


Supplies:
Paper: Strathmore (Watercolor Paper); The Paper Studio (kraft cardblank)
Stamps: Picture Show (evergreen tree); Inkadinkado (Rejoice #96920)
Inks: Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Broken China, Tumbled Glass, Peeled Paint, Forest Moss)
ETC: Glossy Accents; Tim Holtz Fragments; wire


I'm not sure this is actually mailable. But I like the concept. It also began my fascination with Fragments as jewelry. :-)

~Cynthia

One more Turkey Day Card

One more Turkey Day Card
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

I needed one more Thanksgiving card and I had just gotten Stampin' Up's French Foliage set, so I totally had to combine the two!

I used a kraft cardblank and stamped the leaves and the postage cancellation in Walnut Stain Distress Ink. I stamped one little leaf in Fired Brick Distress Ink for just a bit of color.

I didn't do it on purpose, but all the leaves are pointing at the sentiment, which I stamped last. It's like, HEY HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO YOU!!!!!

Anyway, I really love that set of leaf stamps. They really do look like I inked up an actual leaf and did a leaf print. Very cool.


Supplies:
Paper: The Paper Studio (kraft cardblank)
Stamps: Stampin' Up (French Foliage set); Stampabilities (Happy Thanksgiving 02)
Inks: Tim Holtz Distress Inks (Walnut Stain, Fired Brick)


Thanks for stopping by today. I hope you have a great week leading up to Thanksgiving!

~Cynthia

Adventures with Glue and Glitter

Adventures with Glue and Glitter
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

I love rummaging in WalMart's clearance aisle. I found some Martha Stewart glue pads on deep discount and bought one. It comes with a little bottle of glue and a pad, like an ink pad.

Which would lead you to believe that it is easy to operate. I mean, come on, it's a tube of glue and a glue pad.

Right.

I made this card two weeks ago and I swear the glue is not dry YET.

Anywho. I punched out the little Christmas tree, outlined it with Ms. Stewart's glue, then poured glitter on it.

Next I die cut the rectangle from a white cardblank. I backed the opening with some sparkly snowflake paper.

Finally, I stamped 'Silent Night' along the bottom of the card using more of the glue and dusted it with clear glitter....which is hard to see even in real life. *snicker*


Supplies:
Paper: Bazzill (white cardstock); BoBunny (Snowy Serenade Sparkles); Recollections (white cardblank)
Stamps: Artful Legacy (Silent Night)
Inks: Can you believe this??? NONE. :-)
ETC: Punch Bunch (Christmas tree); Spellbinders Nestabilities (Large Labels); Martha Stewart (glue); unknown source for clear glitter


The sun is shining beautifully here. I'm about to head to the studio and get some pictures taken of my latest cards. YAY! Enjoy your Saturday!!

~Cynthia

Christmas Postage

Christmas Postage
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

Yet another experimental card.

I guess being semi-new to all the card making stuff, I can claim that as an excuse for how funky some of my creations turn out.

You know...like this one! =D

I had just bought a new color of Tattered Angels, and so overly sprayed a kraft cardblank with it that the card headed in that "hmmm, NOW what?" direction. It's a deep red color so I was kind of limited in what other colors I thought would look good.

I chose red cardstock and some funky Graphic 45 paper. I distressed the Graphic 45 a little, but the whole thing needed something.

I remembered a tutorial of sorts on how to make faux postage stamps. Simply cut a small square or rectangle, then use a regular hole punch along the edge to make the little 'tear-apart' edges. (I'm sure there's a scientific word for that, but I hope you know what I mean!)

I stamped a tiny tree, the 'be merry' sentiment and a 25 for the postage. Then I distressed the edges with a bit of ink (Antique Linen).

I like the postage stamp--I think that came out really cute.

The rest of the card...not so much.

I suppose I could save it somewhat by adding an image or something to the center panel.


Supplies:
Paper: Bazzill (red and cream cardstock); Graphic 45 (Botanicabella Collection--Secret Garden); The Paper Studio (kraft cardblank)
Stamps: Tree (unknown dollar stamp); Penny Black (Crystalline set); JustRite Stamps (numbers set)
Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Pine Needles, Antique Linen, Black Soot); Tattered Angels (Brick)
ETC: hole punch; Glue Glider Pro; Making Memories (paper distresser)


I've spent a lot of time in the studio the past few days and I really do have some cute cards made! ;-) Thanks for stopping by to check this one out.

~Cynthia

Twinkle, twinkle, little...um...TREE??

Twinkle, twinkle, little...um...TREE??
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

I love this little tree stamp! You could go so many different ways with it--colors, sparkles, gems. Very fun!

I took a "less is more" approach and highlighted just a few of the ornaments with red and green Brush Markers, then I used a sparkle gel pen for all the rest of the dots.

Yeah, that took some time.

The background is cream cardstock, with snowflakes stamped in Pumice Stone Distress Ink, and distressed with Antique Linen and Brushed Corduroy.

I did the same to the Christmas tree piece of cardstock, but I also pulled it across a Fired Brick Distress Ink inkpad. I layered that on a piece of red cardstock, which I slightly distressed.

The ribbon is seam binding which I sprayed with a bit of homemade spritz spray in Walnut Stain Distress Ink. I crinkled it up then dried it out with a heat gun.

The picture doesn't do this card justice. It's pretty cute in real life! :-)


Supplies:
Paper: Bazzill (cream and red cardstock); Recollections (ivory cardblank)
Stamps: Penny Black (Starlit [tree] and Crystalline set [snowflake])
Inks: Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Fired Brick, Pumice Stone, Brushed Corduroy, Antique Linen, Walnut Stain); Marvy Brush Markers
ETC: The Sewing Place (seam binding); Gelly Roll (glitter pen)


Are you getting tired of Christmas cards yet? Yeah, me neither! ;-)

~Cynthia

Vertically Challenged Rejoicing!

Vertically Challenged Rejoicing!
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

Here's another card that almost hit the trash can.

Several times, in fact.

I love that Rejoice stamp. So, I crossed my fingers and held my breath..and stamped it directly on the ivory cardblank.

I almost never do that because, 9 times out of 10, I make a smudge or don't get the stamp inked up fully or it's crooked...or...or...you get the picture.

Here I had a bit of random ink on the edge of the stamp's rubber.

Grrrrr.

There was no camouflaging it. So, I cut off the bottom of the cardblank and tried again.

THIS time, I stamped it on a piece of the cardblank I had cut off, then used a word tag punch to punch it out.

Alas, the Rejoice was too long for any of the tag sizes.

By now I'm aggravated. I punch it out anyway.

I grab a leaf punch and add those to the mix.

So now I've got a short card with a short Rejoice and some leaves.

I had to give up on this one. There was no fixing it.

But the passage of time heals all angry card-making sessions and now I think this card maybe isn't half bad.

It's got a festive, clean/simple look to it. You know, for a vertically challenged card and all! ;-)

Supplies:
Paper: Bazzill (green cardstock); Recollections (ivory cardblank)
Stamps: Inkadinkado (Rejoice #96920)
Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Fired Brick)
ETC: McGill (Word Tag Punch); Martha Stewart (leaf punch); Glue Dots


I had so much fun in the studio yesterday--a rainy, windy day. I got a bunch more Christmas cards done. I really need to count them and see how many more I need. :-)

~Cynthia