holiday cards

Black, Silver and Gold Christmas

What do the colors Black, Silver and Gold bring to mind when you think Christmas? You may be thinking…huh? At first, I was a bit intrigued, as those weren’t colors I would gravitate towards…but I have to admit – I love the combo! That was the challenge at the Merry Monday Christmas Challenge this week. I’ve been wanting to play for a few weeks now, and sadly, didn’t have any stamps that went with the themes the past few weeks! Sad smile Here’s this weeks:

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But this one…I have. What do you think? If you’re on the Creative Tips E-letter list, you’ll get a special tutorial on this and another Black, Gold and Silver Card! If you’re a VIP Community member – you’ll have videos to go with those! So watch your inbox this week!

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Thanks for stopping by! Let me know what you think of this card and what these colors mean to you – leave me a comment below!

Filed Under: Challenges, Christmas Tagged: Black Christmas Cards, diy cards, Elegant Christmas Cards, holiday cards, Merry Monday Christmas Challenge, online card classes

Ornament Mojo

Written by Ingrid Blackburn 6 Comments

Happy Monday to you! This morning I decided to break out my Holiday Ornaments Framelits and More Merry Messages for the Mojo Monday Challenge. The sketch for today is a straightforward one that got me stamping right away. I hope you love the design!

Creative Tips –

I wanted to emboss my ornament and run it through the Big Shot, so I cut the ornament shape using my framelits. This set has a matching stamp set too – Ornament Keepsakes. I embossed the ornament with the Chevron Embossing Folder, and lightly rubbed Versamark on the raised chevron lines to add gold embossing powder to it. I love the end result – it really looks like an ornament! To finish that off, I added a touch of our Brushed Gold Card Stock for the top.
I wanted to add a little flair to the ornament, so I used some Linen Thread for a fun little accent behind the ornament.
To add a subtle accent under the ornament, I used the Gorgeous Grunge stamp set to add some simple stripes.
A Chevron Punch made perfect banner flags for the greeting and accent banner.
For a little finishing touch, some Pearl Basic Jewels give just a little something to the card along with a little decorative Paper Piercing in a few spots.

It’s a simple little card, but captures the spirit of the holidays. For some quick, easy and straightforward Christmas Cards, use the Ornament Keepsakes and More Merry Messages stamp sets. Both can be found online only and not in any catalog – so you’d easily miss them. I’ve made several easy and great looking card with both sets. You can’t go wrong with them!

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Stamp Sets – More Merry Messages (126402c, 126400w), Gorgeous Grunge (130517c, 130514w) Paper – Crumb Cake, Real Red, Gumball Green Ink –Real Red, Versamark Cool Tools – Holiday Ornaments Framelits , Paper Piercing Tool, Essentials Mat Pack, Stampin’ Pierce Mat , Gold Embossing Powder The Perfect Finish – Stampin’ Dimensionals, Linen Thread, Pearl Basic Jewels

Filed Under: Cards, Christmas, Clean and Simple, Mojo Monday Tagged: Christmas Cards, clean and simple cards, holiday cards, Mojo303, online stamp classes, ornament keepsakes and framelits

Evergreen Snowy Hillside

Written by Ingrid Blackburn 10 Comments

I was feeling in an Evergreen tree mood this morning. I wanted to create a hilly snow scene since we’re having another scorching hot day here in Florida today. Sometimes you just want to feel the cold! I hope you like my little piece of mountain heaven.

Did you know that there are six holiday stamp sets that you won’t find in our physical catalog, but rather online only. Be sure to check out stamps that are available only online too! Check out our exclusive online stamps here

Creative Tips –

I stamped the large Evergreen solid image in various heights using a torn mask for my hillside. First I stamped in Versamark ink and then I alternated between Wild Wasabi and Pear Pizazz.
Once I had my skyline done I wanted two larger trees up close that I could decorate. I tore another mask and stamped two Wild Wasabi Trees.
To give my trees a glossy look and protect them from the brayer, I embossed all my trees in Clear Embossing powder.
I used the skyline mask and brayered over my trees in Soft Sky and Marina Mist.
To accentuate the ridge, I used the reverse mask to sponge a light edge for the snow.
To create the snow drifts, I used the same mask, but alternated it’s direction.
For my tree decorations, I used Pearl Basic Jewels.
I used my new Hexagon Punch for the perfect banner end with my greeting. My greeting is also stamped in Versamark and Cherry Cobbler. This way it really pops when embossed with Clear Embossing Powder.

It’s a simple little card, but cute. I love the wintery feel of it and I could easily mass produce these for the holidays!

To Shop 24/7 in the Creative Store – Click here!

Stamp Sets – Evergreen (127973), Greetings of the Season (128033) Paper – Whisper White (107330), Crumb Cake (120953) Ink – Wild Wasabi (126959), Pear Pizazz (131180), Soft Sky (131181), Marina Mist (126962), Versamark (102283) Cool Tools – New Heat Tool (129053), Clear Embossing Powder (109130), Brayer (102395) The Perfect Finish –Stampin’ Dimensionals (104430), Pearl Basic Jewels (119247)

Filed Under: Brayer, Cards, Christmas Tagged: creative scenery cards, diy christmas cards, evergreen stamp set, holiday cards, holiday greeting stamps, Stampin' Up!, stampinup

Happy Thanksgiving

Written by Ingrid Blackburn Leave a Comment

Today is a day to be thankful for all the things in your life – some good, some great, some challenging. But none-the-less, it’s a day to give thanks. I for one am thankful to have such wonderful dear friends that make me smile every day. I’m thankful for my precious family – mom, dad, Matt, Robyn, and Aubrey – I love you all! I’m thankful to be a part of Michael’s family and treasure each and every one of you – Mom, Claudia, Donna, Rachel, Allyson, Matt, Nicole, Chiarra, Dick, Rebecca and Landon. I’m thankful that my two step daughters are healthy, happy and living life to the fullest.

I’m thankful to have a business that I am truly passionate about and love every day – both my stamping and scrapbooking business and our travel business. I’m thankful that I have the freedom to go where I want and life my life the way I want to. I’m thankful for both my American and German heritage – I’m a much more well rounded person since I grew up with both as such a large part of my life. Most of all, I am thankful that I get to spend every day with my best friend – my husband Michael.

Here are a few cards I made this year for this great day. Enjoy, and I hope you all have a great day with your friends and family.