Christmas in July - July 25, 2014

There's a stamp technique 'out there' called Triple-Time Stamping.  I put a tutorial here with measurements of the layers.  I'll give you the link a bit later in this post.

I call this Triple-Double stamping.  It's the Triple-Time Stamping technique along with 2 step stamping which is a two layered stamp to make a single image.

I used the Watercolor Winter stamp set, and the Merry Christmas from my very favorite Bells and Boughs set.

The Triple-Time stamping takes a little courage, as it doesn't look like much when you're in the middle of it, but it always comes together beautifully!  Remember, you're stamping on layers, so some of the areas will not stamp along the edges.... BUT that area is covered with the mats.  

Click HERE for the post including all the measurements and instructions you'll need to make these amazing cards.

Christmas in July 31 COMPLETE!

 This is it!  This is the last card in my celebration of Christmas in July!  I wasn't quite sure if I could do it.... 31 separate card designs?  31 consecutive days?  The idea came to me in mid-June while we were traveling and I saw a shop in Door County, Wisconsin called the Tannenbaum.  It's an old converted Lutheran Church - filled with Christmas Trees - all decorated on different themes!

I was in LOVE!!!! and all my husband could do was groan!  Yes, I bought some really beautiful ornaments for our tree this coming Christmas!

The most awesome thing was that each tree display was on a different theme!
Santa Tree                                Turquoise/Pink Tree
Fruit Tree                                 Musical Instruments Tree
Shamrock Tree                         Butterfly Tree
Owl Tree                                  Mardi Gras Tree
Candy Tree                               Halloween Tree
4th of July Tree                       World Traveler Tree
Snowman Tree                         Wine Tree

Oh!  I could go on ALL DAY!  The upside-down trees were so cool too.  I've seen that before and they had 3 or 4 of the trees displayed that way.

SO, after leaving this awesome place, I was re-energized for my monthly Christmas Card Challenges.  Not only that, I started to hatch the idea of this 31 cards for 31 days of Christmas in July.
I wasn't sure I could do it, but here it is!  July 31st, and the 31st card!!!!!

Some of the card designs you've seen are my own creations, others are from the stamp club I belong to, and some came from cards I saw online as inspiration.  

THANKS so much for your kind comments!

Here goes!  Last one.................

This card I saved for today since it's one of my very favorite images.  This stamp comes from 2 years ago and the moment I saw it, I knew I had to have it.  It's large!!  I had to cut it down quite a bit to fit the standard card size.

I then used some previously stamped pieces to add some dimension to the card.  

Truth is, I can't find one of my (other) very favorite stamp sets!  It's called Bells and Boughs, and contains about 4 stamps - a larger version of the bells you see on this card, and the holly piece and poinsettia piece you see added to this card as well as a sentiment stamp.  Sounds like a Cricut room cleaning is in order!  :)

Yesterday's card used wide ribbon, and today I'm using the narrowest ribbon I have.  What a contrast!
The image was stamped in Old Olive, and I used the Stampin' Up markers to add color to the other pieces.

Again,  Thanks so much for indulging me in my mid-year Christmas celebration!

More Christmas in July

Just 6 months away from Christmas, and Hobby Lobby already has the Christmas decorations out... haven't seen the Christmas trees yet, but they're going to be up soon!!!  As you know I'm always in the mood for anything Christmas - and even though these two cards were quite time consuming due to the coloring involved, they were worth it!!

These two cards show a technique called Triple Time Stamping.  It's quite easy, and gives such a nice result, as well as a very pretty card!  I'll use this one often. 

Click this LINK to view the directions on how to make a Triple-Time card as well as another non-Holiday example!

Your comments are always appreciated!
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A Proud member of The Lime Light. Click on over to see what we are doing.

Tulsa State Fair Entries

Today was turn-in for the 2011 "Tulsa" State Fair! I have a total of 3 entries, but one must be turned in next Saturday... and I need to bake it Friday night.

Here are pictures of the two projects I turned in today.
The first one is a "basic card". I used lots of techniques here...
Heat embossing, matting, marker coloring, buttons, 3D elements, embosslits.
Most products on this project are from Stampin' Up.
For cardstock, I used:
Concord Crush, Wisteria Wonder, Whisper White, Lucky Limeade, Daffodil Delight.
Markers used:
Daffodil Delight, Wild Wasabi, Lucky Limeade, More Mustard, So Saffron,
I also used Elegant Eggplant Craft ink and clear embossing powder for the
embossing on the main piece, and the inside as well.



Here's the inside of the card. The 3D piece is the lattice die from Stampin' Up, and the butterflies were cut with the Embosslits die in the cardstock colors listed above.


Here is my Christmas piece. This one took me about a month to complete! At first I thought it was way too busy, BUT as an Advent Calendar, the person using it will have an entire month to look at it, so with lots of details, it won't get boring! When I get it back, my parents will take it back to Wisconsin with them, and it will go to my sister Gail. I know she'll LOVE it!


This bow was made on the Bowdabra with wired ribbon I got from Hobby Lobby.


Here you can see the Stampin' Up Matchboxes stacked in sets of 3.
I used Debbie Mumm paper for the top and bottom as well as the red and green glittered striped paper for the sides. The small circle cut-outs are also from the Debbie Mumm Harvest & Holiday's stack.
The button pieces - holly & ivy, hat & mittens, snowflakes, and snowman all came from Hobby Lobby in the Christmas aisle.

All the rest of the items are from Stampin' Up!

I used a new technique using Glossy Effects, reinkers, and Dazzling Diamonds glitter. You can see it on each individual number from 1 - 24, the poinsettia, and the bells.



Here you can see one of the stockings from the new Holiday Mini... I really LOVE those stockings! I heat embossed it, used the Ballet Blue marker for accents, and a rhinestone in the center of the snowflake.
Here on box #7 you can see one of the snowflakes using the glossy effects, a blue reinker, and the dazzling diamonds. They're so sparkly!


I used the glossy effects on the poinsettias as well. I know my sister will LOVE this!!!


I also embossed the green stocking and used the Daffodil Delight marker to add some accents to it.

Each box was filled with either wrapped Hershey's Nuggets (even dates), or red peppermints and green spearmint candy (odd dates).


As I said, I turned these in today... so we will see how I fare in the ribbons. I really worked hard and put a lot of thought into these two items!!! Hopefully they will realize it. :)


Your comments are always appreciated!
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A Proud member of The Lime Light. Click on over to see what we are doing.