3 cards to share

The mood to create hit me last night...just as all of my men were heading off to bed. I ran a load of towels, washed my hair, did the dishes, and sat down to make some more cards - I needed a ready-to-grab stash for those last-minute cards that come in or a teacher that a child might have suddenly remembered. I'd love to say that this is a jump on next year's card stash, but I'm not delusional! *LOL*

This first one was for Aidan's 1st grade teacher. It was a free digi stamp that I snagged while out surfing one day. I love the Anime look to it & I kept seeing "The Dance of the Sugarplums" from "The Nutcracker." I colored her with my COPIC markers, dusted some frosted lace Stickles on her hair bows & skirt, cut out some white & dusty plum cardstock with my two largest classic oval Nesties, & raised her up with some foam tape. The fun snowflake background paper is last year's DCWV Winter Mat Stack release.

I think she's just darling! (NOTE: the matching of her sweet eyes to the blues in the paper was NOT intentional, but I LOVE how things like that just happen to work out!)
This next one was SO MUCH FUN to make. I followed all 12 days of Tim Holtz and his annual "tags" tutorial/festival of eye candy in green-eyed jealousy and head shaking awe - that man has more crafting talent in his little pinky than any one human should be allowed! *LOL* I actually used Tim's wonderful tags for inspiration on this card & I just HAD to make another brown Christmas card. I colored the sweetest freebie image from Inger Harding at Simply Inger with my COPIC markers & cut her out. Then I took some K& Co paper, mounted it onto a pre-made A2 card base & grunged it up with some Ranger vintage photo Distress Ink. The piece of paper that makes the "pocket" is from My Mind's Eye, with Ranger ink on the edges - I have this really cool ruler in my EK Success 1-2-3 set that has a deckle edge for tearing curves - my secret to perfect quarter circles.
Here you can see the finished tag, peeking out...
Here's a shot of just the tag. It started out an ivory 3.5"x5" tag. I trimmed an inch off the bottom so it would fit into the pocket, then used vintage photo, walnut stain, and tea stain Ranger Distress Inks on a sheet of acetate (just like Tim taught us!) & spritzed it with water, and dipped the tag 3 times, till I got the look I was going for. I used vintage photo & a makeup sponge to darken the edges. I used a swirl from Inque Boutique's SeeD stamp set "Boutique Grunge" inked with old paper Distress Ink at the top and bottom. The snowflakes at top & bottom are from the TAC set "Vintage Santa" and inked in tea stain Distress Ink.

The inch that I cut from the bottom of the tag was edged on top & bottom with deckle edged scissors, then inked all around with vintage photo & a makeup sponge. The sentiment was stamped in walnut stain Distress Ink and a stamp from TAC's Vintage Santa, then mounted to the center of the tag. To finish it off, I took my copper leafing pen from Krylon & went around the tag hole for just a touch of shimmer.
And my final creation from last night. You've seen this angel before...she's from TAC's November Vintage release "Fall and Winter Whimsy." I can't NOT use her - she's just so much fun to color up. This time I used the blue-green shades I had in my COPIC markers; some diamond Stickles dusted over her wings, flower centers in her hair, the candles & the star on the tree. My largest classic oval nestie was too small to cut her out with, so I penciled around the OUTSIDE of the die, then cut it by hand. The snowflakes were run through my Xyron for some "sticky" & dusted with clear & silver MS glitters. The fantastic soft teal background paper is from K&Co.
Look at those bits of shimmer...just like angel's kisses!
Well, today was the boy's last day of school till the New Year begins, so you know what that means...I'll be back OFTEN with more crafts (gotta stay sane somehow! *LOL*).

Thanks for stopping by & have a great rest of your day!!