Tour de Freaks ~ October

Tomorrow is the 20th of the month, and that means another Tour de Freaks blog hop. Today (the 19th), you're catching us during set-up, getting out all the kinks. The blog is official up tomorrow though, so make sure you come back then and see it again in all it's glory.

This month's theme is "That Special Holiday Card". If you're starting from me, then make sure you check out Julie Dinn, her blog is just before mine. She's our fearless Tour mom and has some beautiful projects to share. You can get to her blog by selecting the huge TOUR link above.

To me, nothing says holiday more than sparkly, shining, glitter. Here I took the new Serene Snowflakes stamp set and cut out the main snowflake. Stamped that puppy in Versamark and then went to town with the Cosmo Glitter (seems I can't get enough of that stuff).


The background paper is the new Cocoa DSP in the Holiday Mini. I ran it through that fancy texturz plate to give it a little more umph. Can you see the Bermuda Bay snowflakes on the background paper as well?




Here's a close-up of the texturz plate and the Bermuda Bay snowflakes.





The next card uses the same DSP from the Holiday Mini. The stamp set of choice is Patterned Pines (it's a hostess set you know). The white snowflake on the Burgundy disc is embossed in white. The burgundy snowflake was stamped on the Sahara Sand paper and cut out by hand; with the top snowflake being stamped in Soft Suede and removed with the Boho Punch.

This was a fun card to make. You know what REALLY makes a difference? Stamping that background paper with the tiny star using Burgundy ink. It pulls the card together (really...it does).

The patterned paper under the medallion embellishment is the backside of the big snowflake paper. I loved using it; keeping all the papers in the same family.





Here's a closeup of the medallion embellishment. Can you see all the sparkle from the Shimmer Paint?



There you have it! I hope these ideas will help get you started on your own holiday cards.


Next up on the tour is the fabulous Connie Babbert. You can get to her blog by simply selecting the Blog link below. See you next month!

Tour de Freaks ~ September

This month we were called to design something relating to Fall/Halloween/Thanksgiving. I LOVE the Fall so this was right up my alley. We have some awesome projects lined up so make sure you check them all. If you've already been viewing the tour, you've arrived here from the previous blog, Julie Dinn.

First up, a festive fall card. There are so many beautiful Earth Element colors, it's hard to choose which to use when designing for fall. Luckily I was able to narrow it down. The flower cut-outs shown here are from the Birds and Blooms sizzlets. The bold leaves are from the Best Wishes and More stamp set I received last year at regionals. Select colors were Dusty Durango, Chocolate Chip and Taken with Teal.





Next up, is my Woodland tree scape. The new O Christmas Tree pop-up die in the Holiday Mini is all the rage! There are countless tree theme possibilities, Valentine, Halloween, what about Easter?

I've created a how-to video for assembling the tree, but you'll have to wait till Tuesday to view it. Until then, here are a few key parts needed for creating my little forest scene below.

Start off with a sheet of Really Rust card stock, run it through your O Christmas tree die and stamp the edges with the tree image from the Forest Friends stamp set. The animals are all from the Forest Friends stamp set as well. The base of this 5 1/2" x 5 1/2" card is Soft Suede, covered by a sheet of Autumn Meadows DSP (as well as the background paper in the image).




Here's a close-up of the tree. You can see the chocoloate chip leaves and branches stamped with the "tree image" from the Forest Friends stamp set. The gold glitz around the edges of the tree and the oval is the new Champagne Shimmer Paint by SU!. It goes on like a glaze, very thin but with BIG impact. I like it most because it goes on translucent, allowing you to see the images below the paint. Remember, this is an acrylic paint, so if using it directly on your stamp, you'll want to wash it immediately.





Lastly, a decorative hostess gift. I picked up these beautifully Autumn gold candles from the craft store knowing they'd make a great gift once jazzed up a bit. Once again, the Birds and Blooms sizzlets were incorporated here in addition to the new Autumn Meadows DSP featured in the 2009 SU! Holiday Mini.





Here's a close-up of the flowers looking from both sides of the handle.




There you have it. I hope you've enjoyed my projects. Remember, if you'd like to see the video on how to assembly the die-cut tree, it will be available Tuesday.

Time to hop over to the next blog. Select the image below and it will take you to the fabulous Connie Babbert. Enjoy the rest of your hop! See you next month on the 20th!