Gold Holiday Lights

There's only three more days til Christmas, so I'm posting my last holiday TJ card for the year.  I wanted to do something different with the Technique Junkies Christmas Lights stamp, so I embossed it with gold embossing powder and watercolored each bulb with an iridescent gold watercolor paint.  The sentiment, from the Poinsettias set, was embossed with the same gold embossing powder.  I fussy-cut that and popped it up with foam tape.

Before I adhered this to my card base, I decided I wanted a gold mat between my black card and the stamped lights piece.  The gold cardstock I had did not match my embossing powder, so I employed an easy trick.  I inked up the edges of some black paper with Versamark, covered them with the gold embossing powder, and melted the powder with a heat tool.  I love the seamless transition from my gold sentiment to the gold lights to my gold "framing." 

I hope you all have a wonderful and happy holiday with your friends and family.  

Holiday Berry Cheer

Hi friends.  I'm doing a mix of old and new stamps on this Christmas card today.  Did you see the new Inventory Reduction sale over at Technique Junkies?  The Technique Junkies 35% off Sale is going on now! Take 35% off all stamps in the 35% Inventory Reduction Category for AMAZING Savings!

https://techniquejunkies.com/35-inventory-reduction-sale/

You can take an ADDITIONAL 10% off by adding my code, TJ10Holly, at checkout. That's 45% off the stamps in the Inventory Reduction Category!

See the cluster of berries on my card above?  That stamp, called Berries Panel, is one of the many TJ stamps in the Inventory Reduction sale.  The sentiment is from the newly released Poinsettias Set.   I stamped these with Chianti Versafine Clair ink and then sprayed them with Gold Shimmering Bliss spray.  You can see the gorgeous gold shimmer in my close-up picture below.

I added some gold Nuvo glitter drops and adhered the stamped panel to a colored card base.  Now I have another quick and easy card for my Christmas stash!  Go check out the stamps in the sale and use my code, TJ10Holly, to save even more money.  Enjoy!!

Deer on Nontraditional Damask

Howdy, friends!  I'm here to share this fun and non-traditional Christmas card with you today.  Pink and purple are not your normal colors for the holiday, are they?  LOL  I just wanted to have a bit of fun and do something totally different.

For this card, I pulled out one of my gel press prints, a monochromatic pink background.  I then placed the beautiful Damask stencil from A Colorful Life Designs over the pink background and stenciled it with a purple ink.  A die cut deer and sentiment and some ribbon complete this fun and easy card.

If you are looking for some great stencils, go to A Colorful Life Designs.  There are tons of styles and sizes to choose from.  Personally, I want them ALL!!  :-)  Feel free to use this code, HollyFan10, to save 10% when you check out.  Enjoy your week!

Wishing You Joy

Good morning!  I'm back with another stenciled Christmas card to share with you today.  This time I've used the beautiful Poinsettia Bling stencil from A Colorful Life Designs.  Isn't that gorgeous?  I stenciled it with a dark red ink onto the dark red paper, but I wanted a little extra oomph.  So I pulled out my iridescent medium and a sponge and very lightly sponged over the inked areas on the stencil.  You can see the shimmer in the close up picture below.  

Once the shimmery medium dried, I wanted some pearls on the little dots, so I used Antique Rose Nuvo Crystal Drops for that 3D effect.  For the sentiment, I looked through all my Christmas stamps and I found this swirly sentiment that echoed the beautiful swirls in the stencil (Snowflake Serenade set from Papertrey Ink).  I stamped it with the same dark red ink and then I dabbed the iridescent medium over the stamp while it was in the MISTI and went over the sentiment again.  It's so shimmery and festive!

Head on over to A Colorful Life Designs to grab this Poinsettia Bling stencil.  You can whip out a bunch of Christmas cards in no time!  Be sure to use this code, HollyFan10, to save 10%.  Enjoy!

Christmas Sled

Howdy, y'all!   I have another watercolored card to share with you today.  This time, I've stamped the Wreath Sled from Technique Junkies with Pinecone Versafine Clair ink onto some cold press watercolor paper.  I watercolored this with Daniel Smith paints and let this dry.  The red berries in the wreath have a tiny touch of glitter because I added some glittery Ruby Slippers Nuvo drops.  

Are you ready for Christmas?  There are a bunch of wonderful Christmas stamps at Technique Junkies so go check them out.  You've still got time to get those Christmas cards created and mailed!  

Day 18 of the Technique Junkies 30 Days of Christmas Event

Hi Junkies, it's Holly posting today!  Can you believe it's Day 18 of our 30 Days of Christmas event?  

All of the stamps in the Christmas Category on the Technique Junkies website are 20% off from today, October 24, 2019, through Friday November 22. To celebrate, the Technique Junkies Design Team will be posting Christmas and Holiday cards every day to ignite your creative muse.

You can start shopping now, HERE.

To save an additional 10%, use code TJ10Holly.

For my card today, I have used the gorgeous new Christmas Rose stamp as well as the Victorian Greetings sentiment set.  I stamped these onto Fabriano Artistico cold press watercolor paper with a gray archival ink.  The flower and leaves are watercolored with Daniel Smith watercolor paints, and I painted a very faint brown watercolor wash for the background around the flower.  To make the little stamens pop out, I painted over those with a yellow acrylic paint.  

Quick Zig Zag Thanks

Have you seen the new stencil release over at A Colorful Life Designs?  This fun background on my card is the new Broken Zig Zags stencil.  I brushed some inks through the stencil (Pool Party, Bermuda Bay, Kraft) and added the sentiment for a quick card.  This actually took me less than five minutes to put together!  Go check out all the great new stencils in the November release!

Remember, you can save 10% when you use this code, HollyFan10, at A Colorful Life Designs.  This will come in handy for your Christmas shopping sprees.  Have a wonderful week!

Technique Junkies November Release

Welcome to the November 2019 Technique Junkies blog hop!  This release is filled with gorgeous winter and holiday stamps, and we can't wait to show you what we created with them.  

All of the November 2019 New Release stamps are 15% off through November 8th.

We can all use a little bargain, right?
No codes needed, just put them in your shopping cart and the discount will be applied at checkout.

How about an additional 10% off at Technique Junkies?
That’s 25% off the New November release!
Use code TJ10Holly

For my first card today, I've used the cute new Let's Chill stamp set.  This set features several different penguins and some fun new sentiments.  I found this paper that I made when I was playing with some paint and my Gel Press, so I used that for my background.  I stamped three of the penguins on the leftover piece of paper and cut out the scarf and hats and paper pieced them onto the stamped penguins.  After I arranged the hexagon-ed penguins, I stamped the sentiment on the side.

My second card uses the gorgeous new Winter Bouquet stamp.  I stamped this bouquet onto opposite corners of my card with some Versafine Clair Pinecone ink and let it dry.  Then I brushed some warm yellow ink into the center and over the bouquets, and some green ink around the edges.  The sentiment is from the Poinsettia set and it is stamped in the center with the same Pinecone ink.  I sprayed the whole piece with some Gold Shimmering Bliss and then I tied some gold ribbon around the card.  

I hope you've enjoyed today's cards!  To see more beautiful holiday inspiration, please check out what my fellow Design Team members have posted on their blogs today:

Technique Junkies blog

Beth Norman-Roberts

Ceal Pritchett

Giovana Smith

Holly Brown

Janine Tinklenberg

Jeanne Streiff

Judy Jackson

Kia Gibson

Lynda Pleckan

Pat Huntoon

Ro Donner

Stephanie Severin

Glitter Diamonds Christmas Cards

Good morning!  I am in total Christmas mode now and I have a ton of Christmas cards to share with you.  I had a blast creating the cards that you see below. 

I pulled out several different colors of glitter paint that I bought from Technique Junkies and used them with the Diamond Strands stencil from A Colorful Life Designs.  The colors you see below are as follows:  Vert Fonce, Noir, Violet, Rose Peche, Bleu, Rose Pastel, and Vert Clair.

Here is a close up look at the Violet card:

Isn't that glitter paint gorgeous?  It works beautifully with all the stencils from A Colorful Life Designs.  This Diamond Strands stencil is perfect for quick cards like this.  The sentiment above is from Papertrey Ink and the sentiment on this pink (Rose Pastel glitter paint) card below is from Impression Obsession.

Go shopping at A Colorful Life Designs and pick up this Diamond Strands stencil today!  Use code HollyFan10 to save 10% off your order.

Day 4 of the Technique Junkies 30 Days of Christmas Event

Today is Day Four of our annual 30 Days of Christmas event over on the Technique Junkies blog!

All of the stamps in the Christmas Category on the Technique Junkies website are 20% off from today, October 24, 2019, through Friday November 22. To celebrate, the Technique Junkies Design Team will be posting Christmas and Holiday cards every day to ignite your creative muse.

You can start shopping now, HERE.

To save an additional 10%, use code TJ10Holly.

Here is the card I created for Day 4 of the 30 Days of Christmas.  I used the new Christmas Lights background stamp along with the All is Calm sentiment.  I stamped both with a blue dye ink and colored the lightbulbs with Copic markers.  For a final touch, I added a little white line to each of the bulbs with a paint pen.

Cup o' Christmas Cheer

I'm heading into full-on Christmas card-making mode, and I'm sharing this fun card with y'all today.  I used two stencils from A Colorful Life Designs on this card.  The stencil pattern on the background is called Heartflakes, and the tiny diamond pattern on the cup is the Teeny Harlequin stencil.

I sprayed the Heartflakes stencil with Pixie spray and placed it over some white cardstock.  I then brushed some fun and bright dye inks over the stencil (Sweet Leaf, Just Green, Teal Cave from Altenew). 

For the cup, I brushed some of the green ink (Just Green) onto some white cardstock and then placed the Teeny Harlequin stencil over that.  I sponged some white pigment ink over the stencil to get that subtle diamond pattern.  Once the white ink was dry, I cut it out with a cup-shaped die and added the little sentiment and the dollop of whipped cream.  I don't drink coffee so in my mind, this is hot chocolate with some yummy whipped cream on top.

Head on over to A Colorful Life Designs and check out all the fabulous new stencils.  Use this code, HollyFan10, to save money when you check out.  Have fun making your Christmas cards!

Deckled Window with Leaves

I created this card a while back and just found it hiding under a pile of UFO's in the studio.  You know what UFO's are, right?  Un-Finished Objects.  I have a ton of UFO's scattered all over the studio.  I tend to work in spurts and some days I might make a bunch of backgrounds, some days I might play with my gel press, and some days I might have 37 different things in various stages of drying.

This card was my first time playing with the Marvelous Masks Deckled Rectangle stencils from A Colorful Life Designs.  I taped the 4" stencil down over some white cardstock and very lightly brushed some Altenew inks into the opening (Lagoon, Teal Cave, Deep Iris).  I built up the colors very gradually to achieve that seamless blending.  While the stencil was still in place, I stamped the silhouette leaves (Floral Shadow from Altenew) across the top and the sentiment at the bottom with Versafine Clair Nocturne ink.

Please feel free to use this code, HollyFan10, when you shop at A Colorful Life Designs.  You'll save money and get some awesome new stencils.  Come on back in a couple of days to see a fun Christmas card that I created with a new holiday stencil.  Enjoy your weekend!

Gel Press Deer

I have a fun Christmas card to share with you today.  I was playing with some acrylic inks and my gel press plate and I created this fun background.  There was a lot of white area on this piece which reminded me of snow and I just had to use the Reindeer Names background stamp from Technique Junkies on this.  Doesn't that look like reindeer standing around in the snow?  

The sentiment is called Season's Greetings and it goes beautifully with this Reindeer Names background.  I need another weekend of "gel pressing" and then I can whip out a bunch of Christmas cards with these two stamps from Technique Junkies.  Have you started on your holiday cards yet?  You can save 10% by using this code, TJ10Holly, when you shop at Technique Junkies.

Glittery Snowflake Noel

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!  It got COLD today!!!!  I feel like we went straight from summer right into winter.  It was almost 100 degrees yesterday and now the temperature is plummeting down into the 40's.  It won't last long though, as we will be back in the upper 80's by Sunday or Monday.  I better enjoy this while I can, right?

I created this card using some glitter paints and a new stencil from A Colorful Life Designs.  This beautiful new stencil is called Snowflake Net and I sprayed it with Pixie Spray and placed it on top of some white cardstock.  With a palette knife, I spread three different colors of glitter paint across the stencil.  I used Bleu, Vert Pastel, and Blue Ciel glitter paints available from Technique Junkies.  I love how they blend together so seamlessly.

After my stenciled piece dried, I added the Joyeux Noel sentiment (also from Technique Junkies).  There is no need to add anything else because, really, those glittery snowflakes take center stage.  I'm going to go make some hot chocolate and run my fingers over this glittery card. 

Be sure to use this code, HollyFan10, to save when you shop for stencils at A Colorful Life Designs.  There are a bunch of brand new holiday stencils with your name on them, including this Snowflake Net. 

The glitter paints, the Pixie Spray, and the Joyeux Noel stamp are all from Technique Junkies, so feel free to use this code, TJ10Holly, to save 10% off your order.  If you love glitter, you need these paints. 

Enjoy your weekend!

Grateful for Friends and Pumpkins

Hi friends!  Did you do any crafty stuff over the weekend?  Saturday was World Cardmaking Day, and I spent the day buying digis from Power Poppy, printing them out, and coloring.  I am just now sitting down to blog this card that I made and enter into Power Poppy's fun challenge.  You can see the details of the challenge here.

I used a brand new digi from Power Poppy called Pumpkins and Pears.  I printed it out with my laser printer and colored this with Copic markers.  Then I cut it down to card size and sponged some Gathered Twigs Distress Ink around the edges.  To further distress the edges, I used a distress tool to rough them up.  The sentiment is from Power Poppy's Nice Things to Say clear stamp set and I stamped it with Versafine Clair Nocturne ink.

There is still time to play along in this challenge (til Thursday at 8pm) so pull out your fall themed stamps and have fun.  See you soon with a glittery stenciled card!

Glittery Season's Greetings

It is still in the high 90's here in Texas and we are more than ready for the "cold" front that is supposed to hit on Monday.  Until then, I am staying cool by playing with my stencils from A Colorful Life Designs and making Christmas cards.  Did you see this month's release?  There are a ton of gorgeous new Christmas and winter themed stencils available now.  I used one of these new stencils called Christmas Flowers on my card today.

I started by pulling out some pink cardstock and I placed the Christmas Flowers stencil on top.  Then I opened my Rose Poudre glitter paint and spread it all over the stencil with a palette knife.  After it dried completely, I added the sentiment strip (Victorian Greetings from Technique Junkies).  That glitter is so gorgeous, I can't stop staring at it.  Moving this card around in the light really makes that glitter shine.

What colors would you use with this Christmas Flowers stencil?  As soon as I clean up a 6x6 inch spot on my table, I'm going to make some more cards.  :-)  Don't forget, use code HollyFan10 to save money on stencils at A Colorful Life Designs.  If you go shopping at Technique Junkies for the glitter paint and stamps, use code TJ10Holly.  Enjoy your weekend!

October 2019 stamp release for Technique Junkies

Welcome to the October 2019 Technique Junkies blog hop!  This release is filled with gorgeous winter and holiday stamps, and we can't wait to show you what we created with them.  

All of the October 2019 New Release stamps are 15% off through October 8th.

We can all use a little bargain, right?
No codes needed, just put them in your shopping cart and the discount will be applied at checkout.

How about an additional 10% off at Technique Junkies?
That’s 25% off the New October release!
Use code TJ10Holly

For my first card today, I used the beautiful new Christmas Rose stamp.  I stamped this with Nocturne Versafine Clair ink onto watercolor paper and then watercolored this with some soft pastel colors of Daniel Smith paints.  After it was completely dry, I stamped the sentiment from the wonderful new Victorian Greetings set.  

For my second card, I broke out the silver embossing powder and used it on everything.  First, I stamped the Drizzle Dots background with Versamark onto some dark blue cardstock and covered it with silver embossing powder.  I hit that with the heat gun to melt the powder and set it aside.  Next, I stamped the beautiful new Happy in my Holidays with Versamark and repeated the embossing process with the same silver embossing powder.

I wanted some snowflakes in the background to echo the snowflakes that you see in the sentiment, so I pulled out some old Martha Stewart snowflake punches.  I punched three of them out of cardstock, pressed them into the Versamark ink pad, covered them with silver embossing powder, and melted them with the heat gun.   Embossing everything with the same silver powder really brings this whole card together.

Have fun checking out what the rest of the team has created with the new October release.  

Technique Junkies blog

Beth Norman-Roberts

Ceal Pritchett

Giovana Smith

Holly Brown

Janine Tinklenberg

Jeanne Streiff

Judy Jackson

Kia Gibson

Lee Ann Barrett

Lynda Pleckan

Pat Huntoon

Ro Donner

Stephanie Severin

Hearts Like Dogs

Did you see this adorable puppy in this month's Technique Junkies release?  I love puppies so I just HAD to have this stamp, which is called Hearts Like Dogs.  I stamped it with a gray ink, and then I stamped it again onto a sticky note.  After I cut out the dog on the sticky note, I used it as a mask by sticking it down over my original stamped image.  Then I placed the Circle Mosaic stencil over the masked image and very lightly brushed some gray ink around the sides and the top of the dog.  When I was satisfied with the stenciling, I removed the stencil and the mask and adhered the stamped/stenciled piece to a gray card base.

Did you see the new ink blending brushes in the Technique Junkies store?  They are super soft and they work beautifully to apply ink over stencils.  You can see how my stenciled mosaic fades out on my card.  Those brushes are magical!!

Glittery and Fabulous

Look at all that gorgeous glitter!   I'm swooning over how colorful and glittery this card is.  I used the fun new Psychedelic Swirls stencil from A Colorful Life Designs along with some glitter paints from Technique Junkies to create this sparkly background.  

You may think I used a multicolored paint on this, but no.  I actually used three different colors of paint, and when I scraped each layer of excess paint off the top of the stencil, it mixed with the paint that was already on the card.  I think it adds a fabulous touch to these funky swirls.  You can see the individual colors of Rose, Violet, and Blue Caraibe glitter paints when you look at the swirls.

If you're a glitteraholic like me, you want to get your hands on that paint.  Check out all the glitter paints at Technique Junkies and fill up your cart.  I couldn't pick just one, so I got em all!  LOL  Use this code, TJ10Holly, to save when you shop at Technique Junkies.

Check out A Colorful Life Designs to get this Psychedelic Swirls stencil and fill up your cart with all their awesome stencils.  Feel free to use this code, HollyFan10, to save money at A Colorful Life Designs.  Stay tuned to see some gorgeous new holiday stencils next month!!

Alien Hello

This little peeper is just adorable, isn't he?  He is part of a great new stencil from A Colorful Life Designs called Little Peepers.  There are several adorable characters on this stencil so you can create all kinds of fun scenes.  I stenciled this guy with some black ink and then I cut a little mask to put over his eyes.  Then I stenciled the Stretchy Lines with a purple berry ink for the background.  These two were just made to go together.  I added the little die cut sentiment and now it's ready to mail.

Check out all the great stencils over at A Colorful Life Designs.  Be sure to use my code, HollyFan10, to save 10% off your order.  Enjoy your weekend!

Watercolored TJ Pumpkin

 Even though it's still hot and humid here in Texas, I've been making all kinds of fall-themed cards.  Today I'm sharing my watercolored pumpkin with a handmade plaid background.    I stamped the Pumpkin from Technique Junkies with a dark green permanent ink onto watercolor paper.  After it was completely dry, I watercolored the image with Daniel Smith watercolor paints.  While that was drying, I started thinking about making my own plaid background with the same green color that I used on the pumpkin leaves.

So I used another piece of watercolor paper and three different sizes of brushes to draw the plaid lines.  The green paint is called Green Apatite Genuine from Daniel Smith, and it's perfect for a rustic handmade background.  I cut the piece down to fit onto a card and then wrapped some brown ribbon around it.  The pumpkin was cut with an oval die and affixed to the card.  

This month's Technique Junkies release is full of wonderful fall-themed stamps.  You can check them out here.  Feel free to use my code, TJ10Holly, when you shop at Technique Junkies.  

Stenciled Autumn Pumpkins

Happy Friday!  I'm back with another stenciled card to share with you today.  I'm also sharing the step-by-step instructions on how I created these pumpkins so you can try it as well. All the stencils are from A Colorful Life Designs and I used kraft cardstock and kraft ink for a soft autumnal monochromatic look.

Supplies needed are: 

Marvelous Masks Pumpkin stencils (set of 4 different sizes)

Teeny Harlequin stencil

Mosaic Sun stencil

Leaf Lattice stencil

kraft ink pad

kraft cardstock

sponge

low tack tape - optional

Step 1: Place the Teeny Harlequin stencil over the kraft cardstock.  Tape the 

stencil in place if desired.

Step 2: Place the smallest pumpkin stencil over the Teeny Harlequin stencil.  Tape

 the stencil in place if desired.

Step 3: Ink up the sponge and press it over the stencils.  Repeat until entire pumpkin is covered with ink.  Note: I simply pressed the ink down, reinked and pressed, over and over.  I did not rub the sponge over the stencils.  You get a much sharper edge by just inking straight down over the stencils.

Step 4: Remove the stencils and cut the pumpkin out with scissors.  Use as desired.

 For my card, I sponged some additional kraft ink onto the edges of the pumpkins as well as the bottom of my card.  Some linen thread was tied around the pumpkin stems and the sentiment was stamped with the same kraft ink.

I hope you try this quick and easy technique this weekend.  Feel free to use my code, HollyFan10, when you go shopping at A Colorful Life Designs.  Go stock up on some great new stencils and have fun!  

Pan Pastel Skeleton Leaf

I know today is Monday, but I couldn't resist sharing this card with y'all today.  See that skeleton leaf stencil?  That's one of the new stencils from this month's release over at A Colorful Life Designs.  It's such a great stencil, full of detail and fine lines.  

My card is actually an "oops" kind of card.  I had some pan pastels that I bought over a year ago, so I thought I'd give them a try with this stencil.  I spread them directly over the Skeleton Leaf stencil onto some smooth white cardstock.  After I took the stencil off, I brushed off the excess pastels, and that was when I learned that I shouldn't use smooth white paper with pan pastels.  Most of the color brushed away and I lost some of the definition and fine lines of the stencil.  

Now I know I should cover the card with Versamark first and then put the stencil on and apply the pastels.  My friend Dina suggested using a cardstock with more tooth, such as watercolor paper or drawing paper.  That would help trap the pastels so they don't brush away.  I will definitely try this next time I play with the pan pastels.

Even though this is not the look I was going for, I still like this faded, bokeh-ish, muted background.  I stamped the sentiment from Technique Junkies' Autumn set with some Acorn Versafine Clair ink and tied some copper organdy ribbon around the top.  This just goes to show you that even though something doesn't turn out the way you expect, you can still make something beautiful.

Head on over to A Colorful Life Designs and pick up this Skeleton Leaf stencil and show me what you create with it.  Use this code, HollyFan10, to save 10% when you go shopping.  

While you're in a shopping mood, pick up some stamps from Technique Junkies to go with your stencils.  The code, TJ10Holly, will save you an extra 10% off your order there.