It’s Thursday and time to play at Pals Paper Arts!  This week we are hosting a fabulous sketch challenge designed by talented Pal,  Margaret Moody.  I felt the urge to distress and layer, so I pulled out one of my favorite sets from the Holiday Mini…Christmas Lodge.  This is an easy card to make.  Yes, it’s a wee bit time intensive…but it is easy.  Texture, emboss resist, snowflakes and pearls…these are a few of my favorite things…and I hope you will enjoy them, too!  

• “Roughled” edges! The Seven-Sided Tool from the Cutter Kit is perfect for roughing up the edges of card stock.  Crumb Cake ink, applied with a Sponge Dauber, accents the distressing even more.

• Speckle and spots!  The Color Spritzer Tool, paired with a Crumb Cake Stampin’ Write Marker, adds speckles in a second, while the Waterspot stamp from French Foliage ages in an instant! Simply ink it up with Crumb Cake and stamp it off once before stamping on the image!

• Don’t resist the urge to resist! The Lodge image was stamped in VersaMark onto Naturals Ivory card stock and heat embossed with White Stampin’ Emboss Powder.  Crumb Cake ink was sponged over the image and the excess was removed with a tissue.

• Texture! The exquisite texture of the Snow Burst Embossing Folder is enhanced by brayering Crumb Cake over the surface.  The edges are daubed with more Crumb Cake for further definition.

• Let it snow! A flurry of Snowflakes was created in a jiffy with the Northern Frost Sizzlits Decorative Strip Die and the Big Shot.  The edges were kissed with Crumb Cake.  Pearls add a touch of elegance!

So there you have it! Each step in itself is simple, but when combined, the result looks complex.  When faced with a card with so many details, break it down into a series of smaller tasks, and you will be finished before you know it! 


As always, your comments are important to me, so please, won’t you let me know what you think of today’s card?  And remember, if you ever have any questions about the cards that I create or the techniques that I use, I am only an email away! Until next time…

Stamp Sets:  French Foliage, Christmas Lodge;  Inks:  VersaMark, Crumb Cake, Crumb Cake Stampin’ Write Marker; Card Stock:  Naturals Ivory, Whisper White, Very Vanilla, Early Espresso; Tools:  Big Shot, Northern Frost Sizzlits Decorative Strip Dies, Snow Burst Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Sponge Dauber, Heat Tool, Stamping Sponge, White Stampin’ Emboss Powder;  Glitz and Glam:  Early Espresso 5/8″ Satin Ribbon, Basic Pearls

 After a series of clean and simple cards…how about a card that is equally simple to make, but distressed, vintage-style and a little more time-intensive?  That is exactly what I made for the next Pals Paper Arts challenge. Trust me.  It’s not difficult to make, but it does take longer than 45 minutes.  Join me for Thursday’s reveal.


In the meantime,  make certain to check out this week’s Pals Artist Picks at Pals Paper Arts!

It’s Sunday, and time to play with The Paper Players! This week the talented and lovely Lesley Croghan is hosting a Clean and Simple Red and Green Christmas challenge! So I grabbed my favorite red and green card stocks…Cherry Cobbler and Always Artichoke…and the Snow Swirled stamp set.  Today’s card is quick, easy and so pretty in person.  If you have an extra thirty minutes in which to create, this is the card for you!  I hope you enjoy!

• Emboss! The Flourish from Elements of Style was inked with VersaMark and randomly stamped onto Cherry Cobbler card stock.  Heat embossing with Gold Stampin’ Emboss Powder produces a simply elegant background!

• Emboss again! The Tree from Snow Swirled was inked with VersaMark and stamped onto Very Vanilla card stock.  Once again, the image was heat embossed using Gold Stampin’ Emboss Powder, producing the perfect focal point!

• Pearls! Basic Pearls were colored red using a permanent marker and placed into the centers of the  snowflakes.  The result adds a “pop” of color!

• Velvet! A Very Vanilla Velvet Stitched Ribbon and bow is the perfect finishing touch!

I hope you enjoyed today’s quick and easy card! Won’t you please let me know what you think by leaving me a comment? I do appreciate your comments, and I do read each and every one.  And remember, I love answering questions about the cards that I create and the techniques I use.  I am only an email away!Until next time…

Stamp Set:  Snow Swirled (111690); Ink:  VersaMark (102283); Card Stock:  Very Vanilla (101650), Cherry Cobbler (119685), Always Artichoke (105119); Tools:  Heat Tool (100005); Glitz and Glam: Basic Pearls (119247), Gold Stampin’ Emboss Powder (109129), Very Vanilla 3/8″ Velvet Stitched Ribbon (125637)