Cracked Glass Cardinal

This technique works great for the antique look but can work well with most any image. This is the Cardinal Christmas set from Stampin' Up!





Materials needed:

• Cardinal Christmas stamp set
• Always Artichoke, Bravo Burgundy, Brushed Gold, Vanilla cardstock
• Basic Black, Mellow Moss and Sahara Sand classic ink pads
• Chocolate Chip reinker
• StayzOn Black ink pad
• Versamark resist ink pad
• Glassy Glaze embossing powder
  
• watercolor crayons

Directions:

1. Stamp the mistletoe branch repeatedly around the vanilla cardstock with Mellow Moss ink.
2. Stamp the verse over and over around the mistletoe branches in Sahara Sand ink.
3. Stamp the cardinal in the center with StayzOn and color in with watercolor crayons.
4. After the image is dry, press the Versamark pad over the entire front of the image and sprinkle with embossing powder. Repeat this 2-3 times until the image is completely coated evenly (no paper shows through and no bumps). Set aside to COOL completely.
   
5. Fold the Always Artichoke cardstock in half to form the card, attach the brushed gold piece vertically on the front as shown. Stamp the "Merry Christmas" in the bottom-right corner of the card in Basic Black ink.
6. Bend the cardinal embossed piece to form cracks in the surface of the embossing. Repeat for the effect and number of cracks you want. Place one drop of Chocolate Chip ink on the front and rub around with a cotton ball, letting it seep into the cracks. (Sometimes it's easier to get in the cracks if you bend the cracks open a bit while sliding the cotton ball across them.)
7. Wipe off the excess ink from the cardinal piece with a clean paper towel and mount on Bravo Burgundy. (I find that heavy embossing like this needs a strong glue to hold it, as the cardstock has been warped and does not like to lay flat; So, I use the Tombow Multi Liquid Glue, especially in the corners, and hold it together with clothespins on the corners until dry.
8. Affix this to the front of the card as shown.
   

Harvest Pumpkins

I know it's been awhile since I put anything new here, but I've been busy with my new stamp room. I've been looking for just the right desk for my stamping room because I was running out of space. (Doesn't that happen to everyone??!) Anyway, everything else slid along the way while I was moving the computer, pulling cables and all trying to get this office situated just the way I wanted it. Here's a picture of my stamping station. I'm so happy with this and I thank everyone online that I wrote to and asked questions about how they liked this and that. The corner desk is from French Envy, yet I had them NOT put the knobs on that they were going to and ordered instead the drawer pulls online from an Antique Hardware site. I still have 5 empty drawers, too!!

Anyway, I know this post is called "Harvest Pumpkins" and I was going to put directions here for making the pumpkins and stems and leaves as someone asked about the card.
Here's the finished pumpkin:

To make this pumpkin you need the large oval punch and you punch 5 ovals from Pumpkin Pie cardstock.
Sponge each piece with Chocolate Chip ink around the edges. (I took a Pumpkin Pie marker and drew in the seams for shadowing after the pumpkin was together, but they look good without doing this!)

Glue the pieces together to make the pumpkin shape.





The stem is made from another scrap of Old Olive cardstock that already had some holes punched in it.
Here's a diagram to show you how you can cut these from the scraps; The oval has been punched out and the black lines denote where to cut with scissors:

Glue this piece that you cut out behind the top of the pumpkin and you're all set!

Now, leaves can be made with a circle punch, as well as a flower punch. Here's how to make the shape for leaves:

Punch a circle from cardstock and slide the circle back into the punch and punch the circle along the black line. If you have trouble getting the circle back into the side of the punch, put a sticky note on the circle to extend it into the punch!




Lots of things use this shape, ears on animals, for example.

Moonlight Madness!!

Moonlight Madness is a name I gave to a special class I'm offering soon, so check the "Events" at the bottom of the page for dates and times! Here's a card that uses that technique of stamping a silhouette, masking off a "moon" (or a sun) and then sponging (or brayering) in a sky. I prefer to sponge because I can get the gradient colors around the orb correctly. (I also have a lot of trouble getting the lines off my brayered skies!) Anyway, here's the card for today, that uses a new set from the Holiday Mini, Season of Friendship. I really like this set, and I'll post one for each season on my gallery on Split Coast Stampers, so check them all out!!

Materials you need for this card:

• Black cardstock (3 3/4" x 5")
• White cardstock (3 1/4" x 4 1/2")
• Bashful Blue cardstock (5 1/2" x 8 1/2")
• White gel pen
• Iridescent Ice embossing powder mixed with White embossing powder
• White Craft pad
• Classic pads: Basic Black, Bashful Blue, Brocade Blue, Pacific Point, Not Quite Navy, Night of Navy (I know... that's a lot of BLUE!!)
• sponge
• sticky notes
• circle punch (I used the 1 1/4" one)
• Versamarker
• Embossing Buddy
  
• Season of Friendship stamp set

Directions:

1. Stamp the tree in Basic Black on the white cardstock.
2. Punch out a circle of sticky note and place over tree where you want the moon to be.
3. Rip more sticky notes (I used 2, depends on the size) and place them horizontally across the bottom where the horizon is. (about 1" above bottom of tree) You rip them to give the horizon a more natural jagged look.
4. Begin sponging with the blues, starting with Bashful Blue and ending with Night of Navy, in a circular pattern, following around the moon. Every time you change a color, leave about 1/4" of previous color not sponged over and work outward away from the moon. When you get to the horizon, you should be sponging with Night of Navy.
5. Remove moon mask(sticky note) and horizon masks. Place horizon masks in the white "snow" area around tree to make it look like moguls and sponge lightly with Bashful Blue to add the shadows.
6. Remove all masks and wipe across cardstock with Embossing Buddy.
7. Stamp the snowflake 3 times with Craft white ink, dust with mixture of embossing powder and heat set.
8. Very carefully, use the Versamarker and go over the moon, sprinkle with mixture of embossing powder and heat set.
   
9. Finally, take the white gel pen and put some "snow" in the crooks of the tree.
   

Birds of a Feather

The owl in this set inspired me to create more birds from punches, so I've been punching and gluing to put together some more "card candy" for my customers. So far, I've come up with a mallard duck, a swan, and today did a loon, using the Boho Backgrounds set from Stampin' Up!
The directions for the loon follow.

This first picture shows the pieces that I put together (minus the water and tail feathers-oops!) to make the loon.

First, stamp the image in black on white cardstock from the Boho Backgrounds set. Then use the Medium oval punch to punch it out as shown. (You might have to stamp it twice to get both pieces.)
Then use the Small oval punch to punch out the wing - one from the image and the other from black cardstock.
Put a sticky note on the back of each piece and slide them back into the punch and punch out the other side to make the "sort of" crescent shape.
To make the following:
Neck (black): Small oval punch, punched twice and then trim a bit off the "chin" area to get rid of that hook formed by the oval punch.
Head (black): 1/2" circle punch
Beak (black): one point of small star punch
Tail feathers (black - not shown): one point of large star punch
Eye (Real Red): 1/8" circle punch

To assemble:

Use a glue pen to affix the neck to the back of the body as shown.













Glue the head onto the top of the neck:

















Glue the beak so that it points upwards slightly, and the eye on as shown:
















Glue the black wing on top of body:

















Finally, use a black marker to put dot in center of eye, and add the tail feathers that I forgot to put into the first picture. The tail feathers get glued onto the back of the body.
Since loons are a sleek bird, I thought it needed water and made that with the scallop punch, which I punched three times on Not Quite Navy paper and used the "garbage" from the punch to glue across the loon body. After all three pieces so that the tips of the waves are slightly below and to the left or right of the previous layer. Use a white gel pen to put the white on the tips of the waves.

Season of Simple Grace

This card uses the Scandinavian wheel along with a verse from the 2007 set, Star Studded Season, which just seemed to fit, but of course, you can substitute one of the verses from the Season of Simple Grace for this!

Materials needed:

• Bravo Burgundy cardstock cut to: 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" and 4 3/8" x 2 1/8"
• More Mustard cardstock cut to: 4 1/2" x 2 3/4"
• Old Olive cardstock cut to 4 1/8" x 1 7/8"
• Elegant Eggplant cardstock cut to 2 3/8" x 3 3/4"
• vanilla cardstock cut to: 4 3/8" x 2 5/8" and 3 7/8" x 1 3/4"
• Gold Glory embossing powder
• Elegant Eggplant and Versamark pads
• Old Olive standard cartridge
• Embossing Buddy

Directions:

1. On the larger piece of vanilla cardstock, roll the Scandinavian wheel in Old Olive and then affix this to the larger piece of More Mustard cardstock.
2. On the smaller piece of More Mustard cardstock, wipe with the Embossing Buddy and then stamp the verse on one end; Emboss with gold and then affix this to the piece of Elegant Eggplant cardstock.
3. Stamp the three wise men stamp in the center of the other vanilla cardstock and then mount on the Old Olive and then the small rectangle of Bravo Burgundy.
   
4. Put all mounted pieces on the front of the card as shown in picture.
   

Season of Grace

This card is made with the new set from Stampin' Up! (available TODAY!) called Season of Simple Grace.
All images are stamped in Basic Black, except the verse on the center panel, which is embossed in gold. Here are the materials list and directions for making this card:

• Basic Black cardstock: 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" and 4 3/8" x 2"
• Baja Breeze cardstock: 1" x 4"
• Close to Cocoa cardstock: 2 1/8" x 1 1/2"
• Kiwi Kiss cardstock: 1 3/4" x 1 1/2"
• More Mustard cardstock: 4 1/8" x 2 1/8"
• white cardstock: 4 1/4" x 1 7/8"
• masking material
• Gold Glory embossing powder
• Versamark
• Embossing Buddy
• Basic Black classic pad
• Basic Black marker
• Dazzling Diamonds glitter
• Barely Banana marker

Directions:

1. Stamp in black: Star in top and center of Baja Breeze; shepherds 1/4" down from top of Close to Cocoa; wise men along bottom 1" of More Mustard.
2. Clean the shepherd stamp well and make sure it doesn't leave a mark on paper before doing sheep. Make a mask of just the sheep. Color sheep with black marker and stamp on top-left side of Kiwi Kiss. Re-ink and stamp again on right side, slightly lower and mask this sheep. Re-ink and stamp again, level with first sheep and to the left of second sheep. All the sheep fit on the top 1" of the Kiwi Kiss paper.
3. Use the photo to affix your stamped images to the front of the card.
4. I put the Dazzling Diamonds in the center of the star with a glue pen.
5. Stamp the Holy Family in black on the right side of the white cardstock, about 1/4" in and 1/4" up from bottom edge. Color in the faces, hands with Blush Blossom marker and halos with Barely Banana marker. Make a mask for all 3 images on the stamp and place over stamped images.
6. Sponge around the center of the image with the following inks, working your way out to the edges: Summer Sun, More Mustard, Ruby Red, and Bravo Burgundy. Blend the sponging so that the colors radiate out from the cradle. The Bravo Burgundy takes the most time, but just keep sponging until the paper is all burgundy completely to the left edge of paper. If you want to add a bit darker color on the edges, sponge black in the corners, continuing the circular pattern started.
7. Remove masks and to make the image "pop" go over the black stamped area of this image only with the fine point end of the black marker.
8. Wipe the piece with the Embossing Buddy and stamp the verse on the left side, slightly above center with Versamark ink and emboss with gold.
9. Affix the main image on the black cardstock and place over the center of card as shown in picutre.