Copper Snowflakes

Hello everyone! It's Holly posting today and I am sharing a Christmas card with y'all. Christmas?? It's spring-time! LOL Yup, I saw a fun challenge on the Jingle Belles blog and I was in love with the inspiration picture there. I just had to play along, and guess what? I now have one Christmas card ready for December!

I wanted to stick with that neutral color palette, but I needed a bit of oomph to make it pop. Instead of stamping in brown, I decided to emboss the snowflakes and sentiment with Copper embossing powder from Creative Inspirations Paint. I tried to use a brown cardstock layer, and then a copper cardstock layer, but they just didn't look right. More Copper embossing powder to the rescue! I embossed the layers with the same powder so everything would coordinate. You can see the awesome copper color in this picture below:

I purposely made this card CAS (Clean And Simple) and I didn't add any other embellishments. This card is perfect for mailing with just one postage stamp. Now I'm off to make a big stash of these in different colors - I'll be ready for Christmas this year! :-)

Holly Brown: Copper Watering Can

Hey folks! It's Holly posting today. Did you enjoy the special blog hop that we had this weekend for Creative Inspirations Paints and Great Impressions? That was so much fun and there was so much creative eye candy to drool over!

I'm playing with another stamp from Great Impressions called Watering Can Bouquet (G302). I stamped this with Tuxedo Black Memento ink and colored it in with a bunch of Creative Inspirations Paints.

Isn't that a great stamp? I decided to go bold and summery with my colors, but you could take this in any direction. Pastels for spring, warm fall colors, or even a monochromatic theme would be wonderful with this stamp. I used the Torn Frames technique from Technique Junkies and some bright summer-y papers from Echo Park.

The paint colors I used are:
Antique Copper (watering can)
Green Olive
Mango
Emerald
Plum
Blush
Amethyst
Chocolate
Buttercup

Isn't that Antique Copper just gorgeous?? You can see the shimmer below:

Thanks for looking! I hope you have a wonderful day!

Shimmery Doily Backgrounds

Good morning! I hope you had a great weekend! It's Holly posting today and I've got some shimmery doily background cards to share with you.

I started by stamping a doily from I Brake for Stamps with Versamark and then I embossed them with Deliquesce Fine Clear embossing powder. Then I scooped out some shimmery Blush paint and mixed it with a little water to thin it out a bit. Using a wet paintbrush, I picked up some paint and swiped it all over the cardstock and then let it dry. :-)

Here's a close-up of the gorgeous shimmer:

I had so much fun with the pink card, I couldn't stop!!! I did three more cards in different colors. The colors of Creative Inspirations Paint that I used are:

Blush, Sky Blue, Lavender, and Sage

You can see the shimmer here:

When I opened the Deliquesque Fine Clear embossing powder, I was awestruck at how white it is. Some other brands of "clear" embossing powder are a dull eggshell white or sometimes even an ivory color. This powder is so fine and it wasn't clumpy at all (like some other brands have been). It melts beautifully when hit with a heat gun. I absolutely love the embossing powders that I've tried from Creative Inspirations Paint!! I need a huge vat of every single color!!

Here's hoping you have a wonderful week!

CI Paint: Blush, Sky Blue, Lavender, Sage
Embossing Powder: Deliquesque Fine Clear
Stamps: doily and sentiment (I Brake for Stamps)
Ink: Versamark, London Fog Memento
CS: White
Other: Labels 18 die (Spellbinders), May Arts ribbon
TJ Technique: morphed Walnut Ink Resist

Glittery XOXO Valentine

Good morning! It's Holly posting today, and I've got a glittery and pink-y Valentine card to share with you today.

See the "xoxo" chipboard piece? I covered that with some white gesso, and while the gesso was still wet, I poured some Resplendence Angel Dust glitter over it. I used my fingers to lightly press the glitter into the paint and set it aside to dry. You can see a close-up below:

Have you tried the new glitters and embossing powders from Creative Inspirations Paint? Why not order a few colors and try them for yourself? You will love them!

Just a little reminder - this week's challenge is inspired by hearts, so share your creations with us. We all love seeing your wonderful artwork!

Hot Pink Flowers

Good morning! It's Holly posting today, and I hope you had a wonderful and relaxing weekend. Today I am sharing a fun card with some hot pink flowers:

Isn't that fun?? I love the contrast of the soft greens and blues with those bright and sparkly pink flowers. These flowers were stamped with Versamark and then I covered them with Deliquesce Super Sparkle Pink embossing powder from Creative Inspirations Paint. You can see the sparkle in this close up picture:

This week's challenge on the Creative Inspirations Paint blog is to have pink on your project. I hope you join us and share your pink project with us this week!

Creative Inspirations Paint embossing powder: Deliquesce Super Sparkle Pink embossing powder
Stamps: Flower Fusion #1 (Papertrey Ink)
Ink: Versamark, Spring Moss, Tuxedo Black Memento
CS: Aqua Mist, white, Spring Moss patterned paper, kraft
Other: Aqua Mist buttons, kraft tafetta ribbon, Dotted Wave edge punch

Celebrating Love

Hi, it's Holly posting today! This week's challenge is "Something Old." I created this photo tray for my grandparents who will be celebrating their 67th wedding anniversary this month. Yes, 67 years! This project may be new, but my grandparents' love is timeless. :-)

I started out with some Authentique papers and some dies to put together six different "trays." The "love you always" and the little flourish under the heart (upper right tray) are chipboard pieces that I painted with black acrylic paint and then covered with Antique Silver shimmery paint from Creative Inspirations Paint. I love that shimmery antiqued effect over the black paint.

Why not try using some of your Creative Inspirations Paints over a darker painted surface? It's a cool way to age your project and give it a little shimmer as well. :-)

Have a wonderful day!

Salty Glimmers Christmas

Hi, it's Holly posting today. I'm sharing a Christmas card I made last week - yeah it was a very LATE holiday card. LOL

I started out by creating a background using the Salty Glimmers technique from Technique Junkies. What a cool background, and I love the shimmer! After I cut out the lamp post, the Christmas lights strings, and the lightbulbs, I wanted to make them shimmery as well, so I pulled out my Creative Inspirations Paints.

The lamp post and the light strings were die cut from black cardstock, and I applied some Antique Silver paint to those. I love how the Antique Silver paint looks against the black cardstock. The lightbulbs were painted with Garnet paint, and they really pop out against the die cut fence and the dark blue background. I also painted a tiny piece of white cardstock with some Sunshine yellow paint and adhered it behind the die cut lamp.

The Victorian Picket Fence was die cut from kraft cardstock, and I lightly rubbed a white ink pad here and there to give the fence a snowy look. Well, white ink doesn't dry very fast, so I covered it with some white embossing powder and hit it with a heat gun. Did you know that Creative Inspirations Paint will have embossing powders and glitters for sale in January?? That is a wonderful addition to the paints - more sparkle, more shimmer!

Wanna see the great shimmer?

Stamps: Candy Kisses (Rogue Redhead Designs)
Ink: Jet Black Stazon, Fresh Snow
CS: white, black, kraft
Cheery Lynn Designs dies: Victorian Picket Fence, Christmas Light Swag, Colonial Lamp Post
Creative Inspirations Paint: Garnet, Sunshine, Antique Silver
Other: Frosty Nights glimmer mist, oval punch, scallop oval punch, white embossing powder
TJ Technique: Salty Glimmers

Shimmery Poinsettia

Good morning, it's Holly posting today. Are you ready for Christmas? Here's a Christmas card I'd like to share with you.

I colored this image with colored pencils, and then I used my favorite shimmery paints from Creative Inspirations Paints on the flower, the leaves, the jingle bells, and the berries. You can see the gorgeous shimmer in this picture:

I better get to work on addressing my envelopes and getting my Christmas cards out! We've only got a little over two weeks left before the big day! Yikes!

Stamps: Poinsettia Digital Stamp from Cornish Heritage Farms
Ink: Antique Linen, Walnut Stain
CS: Vanilla, White, Espresso, Wonder dp (Authentique)
CI Paint: Garnet, Sunshine, Winter Frost, Antique Gold, Green Olive
Other: May Arts ribbon, colored pencils, sponge, Copic markers, circle punch, Authentique Noteables
TJ Technique: Pencilled Twinks

Christmas Tree Bear

Good morning! It's Holly posting today, and I'm sharing this fun Double Twisted Easel Christmas card with you. Can you believe it is less than a month til Christmas Day?? Wow!

This chipboard star was painted with some gesso first, and then I used some yellow Sunshine Creative Inspirations Paints to make this chipboard star all shimmery.

For this cute scene, I colored the image with Copic markers first, and then I went to town with several Creative Inspirations Paints. The star at the top of the tree is painted with Sunshine, the red Christmas lights and the holly berries are painted with Garnet, the blue bulbs on the ground are painted with Denium, the tops of the blue bulbs are painted with Antique Silver, and the copper bands going around the barrel planter are painted with Antique Copper. Isn't that shimmer nice and festive? :-)

Stamps: Christmas Tree Bear & Beary Christmas - I Brake for Stamps
Creative Inspirations Paint: Sunshine, Garnet, Denium, Antique Silver, Antique Copper
Ink: Tuxedo Black Memento
CS: Black, Red, White, dp (Recollections)
Other: Copic markers, holly leaf punch, red bling, chipboard star, gesso
TJ Technique: Double Twisted Easel - 3D and Fun Folds CD

Sweet Blossom

It's Holly posting today, and I'm sharing my card with this adorable Sweet Blossom stamp from I Brake for Stamps. I colored her with Copic markers and I used the new Stacked Nesties technique from Technique Junkies.

I pulled out two of my Creative Inspirations Paints - Blue Ice and Pink Highlights. I painted Blue Ice all over the blouse, the leggings, and the headband. Pink Highlights was painted over the butterflies and all of the flowers, including the paper flowers on the edges. It's a fun, unexpected touch of shimmer that catches the light when you are holding the card. You can see the shimmer here:

Have a great day!!

Vampire Costume Bear

Good morning! It's Holly posting today, and I pulled out this cute Vampire Costume Bear from I Brake for Stamps to share with you today.

How adorable is that?? I colored the bear with Copic markers and I used the Copic Texturizing technique from Technique Junkies to give his fur a "furry" appearance. His vest and his "wings" are painted with shimmery Onyx paint (Creative Inspirations Paint) and I used a gold glitter pen to color in his medallion and the stars.

I found some chipboard letters to spell out "boo!" but they had a glossy white finish on them. So I peeled off that glossy paper and then painted the raw chipboard with the same shimmery Onyx paint. You can see the wonderful shimmer in this picture:

Have a safe and Happy Halloween!!

Stamps: Vampire Costume Bear from I Brake for Stamps
Ink: Tuxedo Black Memento
CS: Basic Gray, Black, White
Other: Copic markers, gold glitter pen, black organdy ribbon, chipboard letters
TJ Technique: Copic Texturizing
Creative Inspirations Paint: Onyx

Silver Fairy

It's Holly posting today, and for today's card, I used this beautiful Silver Fairy stamp from I Brake for Stamps. This is colored with Copic markers, and then I used some Creative Inspirations Paints over her hair and her wings. The die cut flourishes are painted with Silver Frost paint for a shimmery accent, and some tiny little jingle bells are dangling from the hand-dyed ribbon.

The wings are painted with Fairy Dust - a shimmery translucent paint. It's perfect for angels and fairies and butterflies. I've used the Silver Frost paint on the hair and the tiny jingle bell on the end of the wing. You can see the beautiful shimmer here:

I hope you have a wonderful, shimmery day! :-)

Shimmery Pink Ornament

It's never too early to think about Christmas cards, right? LOL Here is a bright and fun card for someone who loves pink.

I pulled out some stamps from Flourishes and some fun papers from My Mind's Eye (12 Days of Christmas), and I just had a blast playing around. I used some Fuchsia and Antique Silver paints from Creative Inspirations Paint to color in the ornament. You can see the beautiful shimmer in this picture below:

Creative Inspirations Paint: Fuchsia & Antique Silver
Stamps: All that Glitters, Holiday Greetings (Flourishes)
Ink: Jet Black Stazon
CS: Black, Vanilla, 12 Days of Christmas (MME)
Other: sheer black ribbon, silver pearls, button, silver cord, pencils
TJ Technique: Pencilled Twinks

Puff Box for Diana

Good morning, folks! It's Holly posting today, and I've got a personal project to share with you today. A group of dear friends decided to hold a puff box swap, and this is the box I created for my "puff-ee."

A puff box is basically a customized box that you create for a person who is assigned to you. The box can be anything - a wooden box, a papier mache box, a rigid plastic box, even a heavy duty bookboard box. The box is decorated using the "puff-ee's" favorite colors, favorite flowers, favorite literary characters, anything that is personalized to that person.

Inside the box are the puffs. Puffs are little papers with quotes, Scripture, jokes, inspirational sentiments, or poems all typed up and decorated. We were required to have a certain number of puffs, but I know most of the gals in this swap went WAY over that number just because they couldn't decide which puffs to include and which ones to weed out.

I was assigned to make my puff box for a sweet gal named Diana. I wanted to use this fun wooden lunch box from Hobby Lobby, and I painted it with acrylic paint and let it dry. Then I used some patterned papers and some fun flower stickers and added those randomly all over the box. I painted some chipboard letters with the gorgeous Rose Quartz paint from Creative Inspirations Paint - love that shimmer! I also added some of the clear Jeweled Inspirations (also from Creative Inspirations Paint) in various sizes in the centers of my flowers and the edges of the name plate.

Did you know that this week's challenge on the Creative Inspirations Paint blog is "Inspired by Ribbon?" Think I have enough ribbon on here for that challenge? LOL

Go check out the challenge and share your be-ribboned projects with us. You could win some free Creative Inspirations Paint just for sharing. You will love these yummy, creamy, shimmery paints. :-)

Have a wonderful day!

Painting the Roses Red

It's Holly posting today, and a couple weeks ago I was playing with the gals on The Altered Alice blog in their "Painting the Roses Red" challenge. For my card, I found a rose stamp and colored it with pencils and Creative Inspirations Paint. Since I don't have any Alice-type stamps, I looked around for something that would give me that "courtly" feel of the Queen ordering that all the roses be painted red. I saw this harlequin background stamp (Print Pattern from SU) and that was the vibe I was looking for. I didn't want it to overpower the card, so I only stamped a small strip with the harlequin diamonds.

Here is a close-up of the yummy shimmer from those Creative Inspirations Paints:

Creative Inspirations Paints: Garnet & Green Olive
Stamps: Year of Flowers 2 (Flourishes), Print Pattern background (SU)
Ink: Tuxedo Black Memento
CS: Black, White, Real Red
Other: circle dies, pencils, aquapainter, scallop edge punch
TJ Technique: Pencilled Twinks

Venetian Carnivale Mask

Good morning! I have a very different kind of project to share with you today. I happened to be browsing around one day and I saw a gorgeous project with a mask on Linda Duke's blog. To be honest, I don't remember what the rest of it looked like - I just remember the mask. It just stuck in my brain and I had to sit down and create something with it.

I used the Antique Glimmers technique from Technique Junkies on the mask, and then I used Antique Silver Creative Inspirations Paint around the edges of the mask as well as inside the eyes. While I had the silver paint out, I used it to paint a bamboo skewer - that is the handle of the mask. Instead of stamping on the mask, I added rows of pearls around the eyes so you can see the wonderful shimmer on the mask.

I hand-dyed the seam binding with various purple inks, and then I attached the ribbon to the silver handle along with some silver cord. A Wild Orchid flower from I Brake for Stamps is at the top of the handle. The sentiment is also from I Brake for Stamps.

I hope you enjoyed my little burst of creativity today. Why not break out of your comfortable stamping norm and try something different? :-)


Stamps: Dream from I Brake for Stamps
Ink: Jet Black Stazon, Dusty Concord, Lavender, Walnut, Tea Dye, Antique Linen
CS: Eggplant, White, Fairy Flora (Prima), Victoria Gardens (Echo Park)
Other: Wild Orchid flower from I Brake for Stamps, pearls, bamboo skewer, paintbrush, sponge, seam binding, silver cord, Delphinium Glimmer Mist, Labels 14 die, oval die
Creative Inspirations Paint: Antique Silver
TJ Technique: Antique Glimmers

Food of Love

Howdy - it's Holly posting today from Texas. Amazingly enough, I haven't melted from this record-breaking heat - YET! LOL I'm still here and still making cards to share with y'all!

When I went to a shoebox swap back in May, my sweet friend Tex (hi, Bev!!!) and I had some leftover bags with the card parts ready to go. I asked her if I could steal a few of them and she practically shoved them at me. LOL I gave her some of my bags for an even trade.

All I had to do was stamp something on this and glue the pieces down - so perfect for those days when you just don't have much time. I picked out a little flourish/swirly stamp and stamped it on each side of the white cardstock piece, and then I stamped the sentiment in the center.

Do you remember this "Getting Highlights" technique that Kassi did a few months ago? I used that technique by sponging some Blue Ice Creative Inspirations Paint on the embossed areas in the background. I didn't have that exact same tool that Kassi used. I actually used a Colorbox stylus, and it worked out great. It's so shimmery and sparkly!

I hope you are staying cool and hydrated in this hot weather. Have a wonderful day!

Creative Inspirations Paint: Blue Ice
Stamps: Chapel Road - Inchy Designs and a drama/theater set
Ink: Tumbled Glass, Tuxedo Black Memento
CS: Cool Caribbean, white, black
Other: sponge, Labels 4 die, Tim Holtz flourishes embossing folder

Santa and his Rein-dillos!

Ho ho ho!!!!! Yup, you read that right - Rein-dillos!!!! Santa doesn't have reindeer in Texas because it's just too darn hot for those reindeer. Ever resourceful, Santa loads up his special armadillos when he gets to the Texas border. Hee hee hee!!!

How's that for a fun Christmas card? :-) I watercolored this Santa & Dillos image from Eureka with some dye inks. I sponged "dirt" around the armadillos and I sponged around the entire piece with some dark blue ink and used a white gel pen to add some stars to the sky. The yellow stars & gift bag and the black wrought-iron work around the sleigh were painted with Sunshine & Onyx Creative Inspirations Paints. You can see the shimmer here:

I used the Faux Chipboard technique to create this star and this is also painted with some shimmery Sunshine Creative Inspirations Paint:

Stamps: Santa & Dillos and Ho Y'all from Eureka Stamps
Ink: Jet Black Stazon, Not Quite Navy, Blush, Basic Grey, Caramel, Red, Going Gray, Pumice Stone distress
CS: Red, Kraft, White
Other: sponges, aquapainter, glossy accents (dillo nose), white gel pen
Creative Inspirations Paint: Onyx, Sunshine
TJ Technique: Faux Chipboard

Evergreen Christmas

Good morning, everyone! It's Holly posting today, and for this card, I am using this gorgeous Holly Plate stamp set from Chapel Road. I stamped the holly sprig off onto some scrap paper first and then onto my vanilla cardstock, and then I stamped the sentiment over that. I wanted the holly sprig to fade out enough so that you could read the sentiment.

For the background, I pulled out my shimmery Evergreen paint from Creative Inspirations Paint and used a sponge to smoosh it all over the cardstock. Once the paint was dry, I randomly stamped the smaller leaves all over the background. Yes! You can stamp over the CI Paints!

You can see the gorgeous shimmer here:

I embellished this card with some burgundy wrinkled ribbon and a single ivory colored flower. Now I'm in the mood for Christmas carols and hot chocolate and some good old fashioned holiday movies! :-)


Stamps: Holly Plate (Chapel Road)
Ink: Dark Chocolate, Artichoke
CS: Vanilla, Chocolate Chip
CI Paint: Evergreen
Other: sponge, May Arts ribbon, Wild Orchid Flower (I Brake for Stamps)

Bright Pink Flowers in a Basket

Hi everyone! It's Holly posting today, and I'm sharing this fun basket of bright pink flowers with you today. This fits into this week's challenge to use bright and fun colors, doesn't it? :-)

I colored the basket and flowers with Copic markers, and then went over the basket with the Tan paint from Creative Inspirations Paint. You can see the awesome shimmer in this picture:

I used the matching border stamp on the pale yellow polka dotted paper, and I stamped it again on some white cardstock. I colored the flowers with some pink Copic markers, and then cut them out and paper pieced them onto the pale yellow polka dotted paper. I filled in the centers of all the flowers with some white Liquid Pearls for a little texture.


CI Paint: Tan
Stamps: Great Impressions
Ink: Rich Cocoa Memento
CS: white, brown, yellow polka dot dp
Other: Copic markers, Liquid Pearls, Prima flowers, Labels 8 die, EK Success edge punch
TJ Technique: Paper Piecing