HAPPY HOLIDAYS

The Oriental Stampart Yahoo Group was the first one I joined when I started on my journey of creating art using rubber stamps. After eight years, the friendships have grown and I have also made numerous friends from other groups and local stamp clubs. This year, I really fell behind and made very few cards to send to my friends. Thus, I created this card specifically for OSA and then realized it applies to all of my friends who I've met over the years who love art and enjoy working with the various mediums, techniques and products. You are all unique like snowflakes -- delicate and beautiful.

May your holidays be cheerful, fun filled with love and peace for a better year ahead.

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM SNOW COVERED IDAHO.

Christmas Cards

We do shoe box projects at our local stamp club and Barb presented a very elegant card using two full sheets of cardstock to create a holiday shoe -- one color for the front and a second for the back of the shoe. Being large, it allowed ample room for embellishments at the top and around the ankle, and her version was stunning. I loved her project so much that I wanted to use her pattern to make smaller cards that would slide into a regular A2 envelope. This is my small version and there is still room to add embellishments. I kept mine rather simple and flat to save on postage.

The stamp I used for the background is Asian Tree by Inka stamps.

Pendants

I've been working on some pendants to give as small gifts for the holidays and finished this one and wanted to share.

I started with a pendant shell from Crafters Cafe. I used Grungeboard for the base and glued red foil on top; ran it through one of the border embossing folders by Cuttlebug. Then, I highlighted the raised areas with alcohol inks and a Krylon gold leafing pen. When dry I inserted it in the pendant and sealed it with a heavy coat of Diamond Glaze. The interesting thing is the Diamond Glaze and the alchohol inks reacted in such a way that the red appears more orange. Some of the pendants will be embellishments for tags rather than attached and be worn as a necklace.

Holiday Ornaments

At our monthly stamp club, we agreed to make ornaments for each member and this is the one I made for the swap using Inka's darling snow fairy. I also made a similar one for a friend using a different image as I also love angels. You can view more angels over at Inka Stamps as she has a terrific collage selection and I used one of the Littlest Angels for this tin.

Our group is small but with vast ideas and knowledge when it comes to stamping and mixed media projects; and, they are lots of fun to be with. The variety of ornaments was phenomenal. We also made ATCs with a holiday theme for our shoe box projects. Then, to top if off, we had a pot luck luncheon and a gift exchange. It was a terrific way to kick off the holiday season and also add a few more things to our wish lists after viewing some of the gifts that were exchanged.

WELCOME CHRISTMAS.....we are on our way for a happy season.

Carolyn