Merry Wreath

Hello All!

Well, the big day is almost here; this is my last Christmas card for this season and last post until after Christmas.

I have really been enjoying the oversized floral images, like the Poinsettia Greetings from Sweet n Sassy Stamps.  I decided to get creative with several sets to make this oversized wreath.  I was inspired by the challenge at Inspired By.

I started with mimicking the wood bowl by stamping a wood grain background with the Wood Backgrounds Stamp Set.  Instead of blue pine cones, I stamped the branch from Christmas Pine Stamp Set in two shades of blue multiple times.  I used a roll of blue tape for my circle size.  I also used one of the pine cone images from the set, added color with Copics and then, GASP, used glitter on the snowy areas.  Yep, 3rd time this season I have used glitter.  Mark it down on the calendar, lol!
I added white berries, or if you prefer, baubles to the wreath; I used the Lots a Spots Stamp Set for these.  I colored them with Copics, fussy cut them out and them coated them with glitter.
The sentiment is from that fantastic set, Poinsettia Greetings.

 Enabler Alert!  The entire Sweet n Sassy store is 20% now through December 31st!

I am also linking up to The Mod Squad Challenge for their Christmas/Winter Challenge and Cupcake Inspirations for their theme challenge, 'Holidays'.

Lastly, I am linking up to Winter Wonderland Challenge for the end of the year 'Anything Goes' Challenge.

And last, but most important of all, Have a very

 MERRY CHRISTMAS!  

Luke 2:11 Today in the town of David, a Savior has been born to you; He is the Messiah, the Lord.

Lee Ann

Penguin Cuteness!

We all have that favorite card of a new release or of a new order we have just played with.  Well, this is my favorite card from the December Sweet n Sassy Stamps Release.  I just adore this happy go lucky penguin! 

This sweet penguin is part of the Winter Hugs Stamp set.  I used pointillism to color him, trying to give him the fluffy baby penguin look. 
My background was a discarded piece from another project and I love how it works with this happy guy.  I used the Folk Art Snowflake Stamp Set and did the Wrinkle Free Distress technique using Coloringz paints in red and pink from Shimmerz Paints.  The snowflakes were first embossed with white ep and then the background was pressed into the colors that was spritzed onto a craft mat.  I dried in between layers.  Lastly, I splattered the background with Shimmerz Angel Wings.
I am linking this cutie up to The Mod Squad Challenge for their Christmas/Winter Challenge as well as the Mix It Up Challenge, Anything Goes.

Freshly Made Sketches- the Last Sketch of 2019!

Hello All! 
Can you believe we are already talking about 2020???  I am not sure where the year went; they somehow seem to be flying by at a faster and faster rate each year. 
Our last sketch of the year is from Amy.  Amy has added skewed panels to her sketch and they just about put me on tilt!  I like everything even and lined up, so skewed panels have always been something I avoided.  But a challenge is a challenge and I did it!

 Here is your sketch for the next 3 weeks~

I made this very easy on myself as I pulled out a gel print I had made over the summer and a watercolored image I made, oh, sometime around last Valentine's Day! 
The image is from Honey Bee Stamps.  It is stamped on watercolor paper and colored with my well loved Ken Oliver Color Bursts.   The Color Bursts are currently 48% off of list price at Dick Blick; this is the cheapest I have ever seen them.  I am not sure of the colors I used anymore, as I did this almost a year ago.  I keep my Powders in a palette like this one.  You don't need tons of powder in the pans as the powder is very concentrated. 
The background was done on a gel press plate, using Shimmerz Well Blue Me Down Coloringz and Vibez Jeni B Blue.  I also used a Tim Holtz Stencil.
Well, it is beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here as it is currently snowing, with about 5 inches already on the ground.  We hope you find time during this busy holiday season to take time for yourself and play along with us at Freshly Made Sketches!  Maybe you can share some of your new Christmas goodies! 

Lee Ann 

December Blog Hop with Sweet n Sassy Stamps

Hello All!

It is time to take a closer look at the wonderful stamps released by Sweet n Sassy Stamps this month.  Check out all of the inspiration and leave a comment at each blog along the way for a chance to win a $10 gift voucher to the snss store!
This release is all about cuteness overload, at least with this adorable stamp set, Winter Hugs!

I cannot get enough of these cute cold weather friends!  For this card, I created a scene, complete with Northern lights and snowy peaks.  The mountains are from the Landscape Silhouettes Stamp Set.  I added snow to them with a white gel pen and some white acrylic paint
This next card was super fun to make.  I used two stamps, and did some masking.

I cannot get over how cute these guys are, especially the joyful one at the top.  I used my MISTI and some post it notes to create my crowd of penguin friends. Once stamped, I fussy cut them out and popped them up on dimensional tape over some patterned paper.   My die cut sentiment was cut out in white cardstock, covered with ScoreTape and then burnished with Dazzling Details glitter.
And yes, that is glitter that I have used twice this season.  The world must be ending, lol!
I am sneaking in under the wire to the Time Out Challenge, 'Merry and Cheerful'.  

The last day to comment on blogs for a chance to win is Dec. 22 at  10pm et.  

Enjoy the hop!  

Sweet n Sassy Stamps Blog

Julie Tilman

Ceal Pritchett

Jane Bosi

Lee Ann Barrett- you are here!

Lucinde van Ballegooijen

Lyn Tomlin

Sheri Gilson

CAS(E) This Sketch and a Snowflake

Hello All!

There is till snow on the ground and I am still playing, lol!  It has really been nice to have 2 unexpected days off.  I really wanted to try the sketch at CAS(E) This Sketch and I wanted to play with a new Impression Obsession Die and play in their challenge as well.

As you can see, I was kind of done with the whole photograph thing today, lol.  Winter lighting just plain stinks.  Even with snow on the ground.  So, my card looks like it is on a hill, lol.
EDIT- It is Saturday and we finally have some sun.  I took another picture- not sure if it is any better, lol.  This just happens to be one of those difficult to photograph cards, I guess.

Impression Obsession has a great challenge this week, It's Snow Time~

I was shopping for snowflake dies and found this beauty at Impression Obsession.  It is called Large Snowflake.  Now I am not one for intricate dies, but- this one really caught my eye and it was a must have.  I do not have a fancy cutting machine, so I did have to use a metal shim with my Big Shot to cut through all of the intricate bits and pieces.
I decided I wanted a watercolored snowflake, so cut it out in watercolor paper.  I used my beloved Ken Oliver Color Burst Water Colors to add various purples to the outer most layer and inner most layer.
I used the sketch from CAS(E) This Sketch~

My curved panel was cut from a gel print that I made some time ago.  I used acrylic paints and a Tim Holtz stencil, Flourish.
The sentiment is one of my faves- I just love the font for this sentiment.  It is Impression Obsession's Peace.
Thanks for stopping by; see you tomorrow!

Lee Ann 

Winter Scene

Hello and Happy Tuesday! 

I am finding time to do crafty things as we are on our second snow day here in St Louis. 
This snow scene was inspired by a Pinterest photo.  It can be a Christmas card, but would work for a general wintry greeting card as well, especially if done in different colors. 

I started with the tree line image from the Thrill of Hope Stamp Set and placed it in my MISTI, allowing me to get perfect placement and even ink coverage. I did second generation stamping with my red ink. 
The pair of trees was next and again I used the MISTI, allowing me to get even coverage of red ink. 
Next up, snowflakes, from both the Thrill of Hope Stamp Set and Snow Much Fun Stamp Sets.  They were stamped in Slate Grey. 
Lastly, I stamped the deer from the Thrill of Hope Stamp Set in Versafine Black ink.  The MISTI allowed me to stamp several times, getting complete coverage. 
I used the sketch from Sunday Stamps- love this versatile sketch.  I was inspired by Korin Sutherland to use patterned paper and layers- something I do not do much of anymore. 

The sentiment strip uses sentiments from the Christmas Wordfetti Stamp Set and is heat embossed in silver. 

Here is my inspiration photo~

That's it for today; I will see you back tomorrow for a new FMS sketch and a SNSS new release blog hop! 
Lee Ann

CAS Freshly Made Sketches

Hello and Welcome back to another Wednesday sketch from FMS!
We have a great sketch from Narelle today- make it as CAS or as detailed as you want it.

I  chose to use images for the vertical elements versus strips of paper and went CAS.

The poppies are from the timeless Sweet n Sassy Stamps set, Precious Poppies.  I was really trying for a soft, airy look, so I tried some no line coloring.  I stamped with InkOn3's Fade Out Ink, then colored with lighter shades of Copics (contrary to what I normally do!).  To add some depth and definition to the poppies, I used Prismacolor pencils for additional shading and details. And get this guys;  the set of 72 pencils is currently 78% off of list price at Dick Blick!  That is one heck of a price!  I am getting myself a second set!  And shipping is free with purchase of $35 or more!
 Lastly, the flower center was detailed with a Sakura Pigma Micron Pen.  The sentiment is from this month's Stamp of the Month, Sympathy Morning Glories.
See what the rest of my talented team mates have for you on the FMS blog, then join us and create with this great sketch!
I am linking up to the challenge over at Color Throwdown~

Lee Ann 

Good Morning, Glory!

Hello! 

When my son was young, I would wake him up in the morning and often say to him, "Good Morning, Glory"!  So when I started this post about Morning Glories, that old memory popped into my mind. 
Today, Morning Glories are in the form of the newest stamp of the month from Sweet n Sassy Stamps, Sympathy Morning Glories. 

I love the size of this stamp; large enough to stand on its own, small enough to stamp off the edge as I did here, creating a frame around the card. 
Using my MISTI, I stamped the flower image with Versafine Black Ink onto Arches Water Color Paper.  I then rotated the panel 180 degrees and stamped it again.  To do the remaining two corners, I needed to repostion the stamp, and then repeated the process. 
Once stamped, I watercolored the image with a combination of Daniel Smith Watercolors and Kuretake Gansai Tambi Water Colors. 
When the painting was dry, I die cut the panel with a SugarPea Designs Zig Zag Stitched Rectangle Die.  Some Wink of Stella was added to the flower centers and sequins added.

If you are doing some snss shopping, remember, this Stamp of the Month is FREE with a $75 purchase. To sweeten the deal, Korin at snss offers FREE shipping with your $75 purchase. 
That's it for me!  Have a blessed week!

Lee Ann

Deer Crossing and FMS

Hello!
I'm working on simpler designs that I can mass produce for Christmas Thank Yous.  This gorgeous scene makes it easy!  It is the stamp, Deer Crossing from Impression Obsession.  I am linking up to their challenge, Holiday Wishes.
I used this week's sketch from Freshly Made Sketches.  It's a great sketch from our talented Karren.

 An elegant yet easy card!

 I used my MISTI to stamp the scene.  The MISTI allowed me to stamp more than once, getting great coverage. My gold edge was done by dragging my Versamark ink pad over the edge of a piece of cardstock and then embossing it in gold.
The sentiment is Peace Script, also from IO.

Won't you join are challenge this week?  We can't wait to see what you create!

Thanks for stopping by!

Lee Ann 

Regal Colors with SNSS

Hello All and Happy December!

The first of the month always means a new challenge at The Rainbow Card Challenge.  This month it is all about a rainbow of colors, a regal rainbow, that is.

I have been working on some Christmas Thank You designs and this fabulous treeline stamp from Sweet n Sassy Stamps set, Thrill of Hope, made for a elegant yet CAS design.  

This was easy to do with the help of my MISTI.   I simply inked up a portion of the stamp, spritzed the stamp with water and then stamped onto watercolor paper.  I repeated this process, changing colors as I went along the length of the stamp.  The MISTI gave me perfect placement every time. 
I added a pretty thank you, from the So Thankful Stamp Set. 
If you love the idea of making monochromatic cards, The Rainbow Card Challenge is having a DT call!  Simply add 'DT' to your name when you play along in the challenge. 

Thanks for stopping by all and have a blessed week!

Lee Ann 

Christmas Cardinal

Hello, Hello! 

I tried to run one errand today (needed to pay taxes and change over the title on a new car), BUT, the DMV was closed.  Darn.  Had to come home and craft.  
 I needed to ink up this IO cardinal a got a few months ago.  I have a thing for birds.  Love this one. 

We have the most dreary of weather today, so lighting was a bear. 

FYI, Impression Obsession has a Fantastic Black Friday Sale going on right now, 

25% off the entire site!  

I used the gorgeous, Snowy Branch Cardinal and colored him with Copics.  Sentiment is 'Peace Script'.  This font is just gorgeous and works perfectly for a peaceful winter scene. 
The sketch is from Sketch Saturday. 

I added some patterned paper, a die cut I had lying on my desk- it is from Simon Says Stamp- the Outlined Cluster Leaves Die, the heat embossed sentiment and a few sequins.  I also used Wink of Stella on the snow. 
I am also linking up to Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Anything Goes Challenge.  

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend as we enter the Christmas season~

Lee Ann 

Vintage St Nick

Hello All!

Hope you got plenty of turkey, stuffing, and pie yesterday!  Hard to believe that the Christmas season is officially underway.
I have a fun vintage Santa to share today.  He is an oldie but goodie from Stampendous. I don't have a particular style when it comes to Christmas cards, but when it comes to Santas, vintage is it! 

I stamped Santa on watercolor paper and colored him with 3 Shimmerz Coloringz- Keep Palm, Pink Stiletto and Scarlet's Fever.  His beard was done with Angel Wings Shimmerz paint.

I heat embossed the sentiment, which is from MFT, in black embossing powder.
The background was done with the Scarlet's Fever Coloringz. I started out applying the color using the packaging technique, but in the end, using my finger turned out the be the best way for the look I wanted.  Once the Coloringz was dry, I splattered white acrylic paint on the background.  Once that was dry, I stamped the music from the Sweet n Sassy Stamps Texture Tiles 1 Stamp Set.
Santa was fussy cut out and then popped up on dimensional adhesive.  A few sequins were added.

I am linking up to a couple of challenges-
Christmas Kickstart Challenge- Show us Your Santa. 
Double D Challenges "What is your Christmas Style"
Winter Wonderland Challenge- Use Holly and/or ivy on your card
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge- Anything Goes

Thanks it for me!  Happy Christmas Season!

Lee Ann 

Freshly Made Sketches #413

Hello Everyone!
I assume lots of you are home baking pies and making stuffing.  When you get a break, join us for the latest Freshly Made Sketches sketch from the uber talented Cecile!

The sketch is true Cecile style, which I really love!

I tried various different things, and admittedly, this looked better in my head, but I ran out of time.
I started with my well loved Ken Oliver Color Bursts, making waves in various shades of green.  Eventually it all looked more like an abstract shape.  
I used the Stamplorations Merry Little Christmas Typografia Christmas stamp and heat embossed it in gold, added a few sequins and called it done! 
 That's it for me as Thanksgiving meal prep is calling my name!
We hope you find time in between your food prep, guests, traveling and whatever Thanksgiving brings you to join us!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Lee Ann  

Guesting with CAS(E) This Sketch

Hello Again!

I have the pleasure of joining the CAS(E) This Sketch team this week and creating with a great sketch by Brian King!

Anyone who knows me knows I am a mountain girl.  But, I know a lot more beach girls and they are beating me to retirement!  So this Art Impression Stamp set, Happy Trails,  was perfect.

Here is the sketch for this week~

My retiree is colored with Copics and fussy cut out.  My background was water colored with my beloved Ken Oliver Color Bursts. I grounded the retiree with a vellum rectangle.
I am linking up to Just us Girls for their color challenge this week~

 As well as AAA Cards- single image

Thanks for stopping by and have a great rest of the week!

Lee Ann

Freshly Made Sketches for Christmas

Hello All!

Sorry to be absent last week, but the brain cells were not all firing as life got nutty!
We have a great Freshly Made Sketches sketch this week from Jen Brum; Jen is a master at using lots of color, yet keeping her cards clean.  

This is a versatile sketch to work with!

I started with a poinsettia from the Poinsettia set of 4.  It was heat already heat embossed in black as I pulled it from my unused 'stuff' pile.  I colored it with Arteza Real Brush Pens using burgundy, red, orange and pink.  Because of my poor lighting, you cannot see the variations in the color- much better irl.  Save 10% on the Poinsettia set of 4 at TJ with code TJ10LeeAnn. 
I paired the image with a print from my gel plate.  The sentiment is from Impression Obsession- Warmest Christmas Wishes- and was stamped in Versafine Black ink.  I made the mistake of letting it sit a while to dry on the acrylic paint from the print.  Instead of staying put and drying, it started to wick on the acrylic paint print.  I quickly added some clear ep to it and heat embossed it. 
That's it for me! 
Pop over to the FMS blog to see the rest of the fabulous inspiration, then paly along!  Hope to see you in the gallery! 

Lee Ann

Parade of Poinsettias

Hello All!

Sorry to have been a bit MIA, life kind of went spinning out of control for a bit.  I hope to be back to normal (whatever that is!) by the end of the month.
Today I have a trio of cards using the gorgeous Poinsettia Greetings Stamp Set from Sweet n Sassy Stamps.  This is truly a beauty.  In my humble opinion, this is the best poinsettia out there.
I have colored the image with 3 different mediums.
First up, Copics.

To begin, I must give credit where credit is due.  This card design is CASed from the amazing Yana Smakula.  I adore how this turned out, especially the pop of black on the pink.  Those fun sentiments are from the Christmas Wordfetti Stamp Set.  Details on this card are on the Sweet n Sassy Stamps Blog.  I am linking this card up to Addicted to Stamps and More for their 'Holiday' challenge.
This next card is a CASE of myself- I cased this blue poinsettia.

I used my beloved Ken Oliver Color Bursts for this card.  The flower center was colored with a white Gelly Roll pen.

Lastly, this version was colored with various Shimmerz Paints products.

This one has a totally different look to it (and was a bear to photograph!).
Here are the steps to doing this card~
-Stamped the flower in Memento Tuxedo Black, using my MISTI, then painted a light layer of Miner Miner  49er Inklingz over the entire flower.
-Once that was dry, I painted some Tickle Me Turquoise Shimmerz Paint at the base of each petal (approximately the first 1/3 of the petal).  
-While still wet, I blended out with Keep Palm Coloringz that I applied with a brush (approximate middle 1/3 of each of the petals).
-While that was still wet, I blended out with Miner Miner 49er Inklingz.
-Once everything was dry, I decided that the Tickle Me Turquoise was too bold and needed to be toned down so I went over the top of it with Keep Palm Coloringz.  This was where the magic happened as the Tickle Me Turquoise still showed through but was much more subtle.  I wish you all could see this in real life!
-I worked each petal a bit more with the Keep Palm Coloringz and the Miner Miner 49er Inklingz.
-Once I was happy with the layers of color, I decided to emboss the image so I put it back in my MISTI and stamped with Versamark ink and heat embossed with gold embossing powder.
-Now all that was left was the background.  I used my Well Blue Me Down Coloringz and painted in on in layers, drying in between to get all of the hard edges.


That's it for me!  I hope I have inspired you to try different mediums on your images!


Lee Ann 

Sweet n Sassy Stamps New Release in Red!

Hello!
Welcome to the November New Release Blog Hop from Sweet n Sassy Stamps!  You are in for a treat, as Korin knocked this month's release out of the park!  Leave a comment at each blog along the way for a chance to win a $10 gift voucher to the snss store! 
First up, the gorgeous, new Poinsettia Greetings.

I can't get enough of coloring this flower.  It. Is. Gorgeous.  This one is done with Copic markers.  The flower center was fancied up with clear seed beads.
On the bottom pink panel, I stamped the Christmas Wordfetti set in Versamark.  I inked and stamped it right from the sentiments mounted on the acetate sheet.  I curved my sentiment, also from the Christmas Wordfetti Stamp Set to match the curve of my die cut panel.  The sentiment is embossed in gold and popped up on dimensional adhesive with some gold thread nested behind it.  A few sequins and some clear Wink of Stella finish off the card.

Next up, I have a simple card that still packs a punch.  I have used the gorgeous Folk Art Snowflakes for this card, specifically, the largest snowflake. 

So easy- I heat embossed the snow flake in white on red cs.  It is framed with a white scalloped rectangle die.  The sentiment is from the Poinsettia Greetings  Stamp Set. I finished it off with white gems and a wood snowflake embellishment.  

The last day for you to comment on the blogs is November 19 at 10pm ET.  Winner will be announced on the snss blog.  

And to sweeten the deal, we are celebrating our 12th birthday this month and you get the presents!  The entire snss store is 12% off!  

Now on with the HOP!  Enjoy! 

Sweet n Sassy Stamps blog
Julee Tilman
Cathy McCauley
Ceal Pritchett
Diane Zechman
Jane Bosi
Lee Ann Barrett- You are HERE!
Lucinde van Ballegooijen
Lyn Tomlin
Sheri Gilson

 

Thanksgiving Floral

Hello Everyone!

I wanted to do some coloring and this Concord and 9th image was really calling my name.  The colors from The Color Throwdown were perfect.

Everything is colored with Copics with a bit of highlighting with a gold pen (which you cannot really see as I struggled with photography today).  The sentiment is from the Sweet n Sassy Stamps So Grateful Stamp Set.  I just love this font. 

The inspiration photo at The Card Concept served as my floral inspiration.  I kept my card CAS style.

I am also linking up to Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge, Thanks/Thanksgiving.
 
Thanks for stopping by and have a blessed week!

Lee Ann 

Be Jolly!

Hello!

I have yet another snowman card using my favorite colors this season.

This chubby guy is from the Snow Much Fun Stamp Set from Sweet n Sassy Stamps.  He is colored with Copics and fussy cut out.  My background is done on Tim Holtz watercolor paper; I stamped snowflakes from both the Snow Much Fun stamp set and Folk Art Snowflakes in versamark ink and heat embossed them in white ep.  I then watercolored the background using the emboss resist technique.  I used my much loved Ken Oliver Colorbursts.
The sentiment is done with a die from Stamplorations and is perfect for this jolly guy.  I die cut it 4 times and stacked the dies, the last one being offset to give a white shadow effect.  I colored the sentiment with Copics in an ombre style.
I put my snowman atop the 'l' as if he was twirling up there on his skate.  A few sequins finish the card.
I am linking up to a few challenges-
Christmas Kickstart Challenge- 'snow'
Krafty Chicks Challenge- 'winter'
Addicted to Stamps and More- anything goes

Freshly Made Sketches Gets Snowed!

Hello, Hello!

It's Wednesday and that means it is time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches!
This week our hostess is Linda, who makes every sketch look effortless!

I took some liberties with the sketch, using stenciling to replace the back panel.

My sledding, candy cane loving, snowman, from the Snow Much Fun Stamp Set from Sweet n Sassy Stamps, was colored with Copics and fussy cut out.

I had a teal watercolor panel that was also spattered with white paint in my stash that was perfect for a snowy, sledding background.  To represent the back panel, I stenciled some flourishes with a Tim Holtz stencil- Fourish- and teal ink.  The sentiment is from the Poinsettia Greeting Stamp Set and was lined up using my MISTI.
That's all from me!  Stop by the Freshly Made Sketches blog to check out the rest of the amazing inspiration, then link up a creation!

Lee Ann