Today I'm making raspberry jelly with the juice that I extracted from berries I bought in the summer. I froze the juice so that I could make the jelly when it was cooler, rather than in the heat of the summer. I have four batches to make, but I'm going to just make two today so that I'm not on my feet for too long - plus I need to have time to play in the art studio which is always a priority! :) I give my raspberry jelly (along with other preserves) to family and friends for Christmas. I've always given homemade gifts for Christmas and that's part of why I started making cards as well.
Here's a picture of my jelly from today. I love the beautiful color!! Recipe is just the basic one on the Certo box, but I'll include on the website as well.
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On to the cards for today ...
Today's "Free For All" challenge from Splitcoaststampers is "Make your own background" - which I actually do quite a bit. I'm posting a few cards that fit the challenge. The first two are Christmas cards (one from today and one that I actually made last Christmas). The third card uses the lovely "Kind & Caring Thoughts" stamp set that I borrowed from my friend Frances.
Hope you like. This card is made with all SU! products (except the silver stickles).
"Dasher in Snow"
Stamps: Dasher, Christmas Greetings (SU!)
Paper: Night of Navy, Silver Glimmer, Whisper White (SU!)
Ink: Baja Breeze, Pacific Point, Not Quite Navy, Night of Navy, Basic Black, Whisper White re-inker
Accessories & Tools: post-it note for masking, Stamp-a-ma-jig, sponges, silver stickles, toothbrush, sticky strips
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I ripped a mask for the snow and placed it over the lower 1/3 of a large piece of Whisper White cardstock. I sponged the sky with Pacific Point, Not Quite Navy and Night of Navy inks, starting at the snowline with the lighter blue and working towards the top where it's the darkest blue.
I removed the mask for the snowline and ripped a second mask for about 1/3 of the way down from the top of the snow. I used a sponge dauber and gently sponged Baja Breeze along the top of the second mask to create hills of snow. I removed the mask and sponged Baja Breeze along the bottom of the cardstock. I cut the cardstock down to size.
I stamped Dasher and Merry Christmas in Basic Black ink, using the Stamp-a-ma-jig for placement.
I added stickles to Dasher to give him some bling. I wet a toothbrush with water, added a couple of drops of Whisper White re-inker and then wet it with water again to dilute the ink. I pulled my thumb across the bristles and sprayed the ink all over the main image to add drops of white ink that make appear as if it is snowing. I let the snow and stickles dry before mounting onto Silver Glimmer paper. I mounted the whole panel onto a card base of Night of Navy.
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Second Christmas card is one that I made last year. I made all my cards the same last year, so I made 35 of these. I love the way the background paper turned out, so I thought I'd post it for the challenge. This card was made with all SU! products.
"Christmas Ornaments"
Stamps: Tree Trimmings, Patterned Pines, Season of Joy, Short & Sweet (SU!)
Paper: Early Espresso, Whisper White, Baja Breeze (SU!)
Ink: Whisper White, Early Espresso, VersaMark (SU!)
Accessories & Tools: Clear embossing powder, silver embossing powder, heat tool, silver elastic thread, silver mini brads, small oval punch, medium oval punch
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I randomly stamped in Whisper White ink onto Baja Breeze cardstock: the snowflake from Patterned Pines set, the mini snowflake from Short & Sweet set and the swirl from Season of Joy set. I cut the stamped cardstock into three equal pieces to create a triptych background ... you'll see that the pattern matches from one piece the next.
I mounted the stamped background onto a piece of Whisper White cardstock. I wrapped a piece of 1/4" Early Espresso grosgrain ribbon around the bottom. I stamped the sentiment in Versamark and embossed in Silver - I punch it out with the small oval punch. I punched out a frame for the sentiment with Early Espresso cardstock and the medium oval punch. I mounted them together, placed a silver mini brad at each end and mounted it on top of the grosgrain ribbon, popping it up with a dimensional. I wrapped a piece of silver elastic around each brad, crossing it over and then securing it to the back of the cardstock. I mounted the whole panel onto a card base of Early Espresso cardstock.
For the main panel, I stamped three ornaments: one in the middle in Early Espresso ink and then embossed in clear ... and two on either side (a little higher up than the middle ornament), stamped in Versarmark and embossed in silver. I placed the stamped panel on a frame of Early Espresso and mounted the whole panel onto the card front, popping it up with dimensionals to add depth.
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Third card for today has a sponged background which I frequently use with my cards. I like that I can take the ink colors I used for my main image and incorporate them into my background. Patterned DP is great, but sometimes I can't find one with a combination of colors that I've using on my main stamp ... so I just make my own paper - it's easy! This card was made with all SU! products.
"Ginkgo"
Stamps: Kind & Caring Thoughts (SU!)
Paper: Garden Green, Whisper White (SU!)
Ink: Garden Green, Certainly Celery, Daffodil Delight
Accessories & Tools: sponges, 1/4" Daffodil Delight grosgrain ribbon, corner rounder, adhesives and dimensionals
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I sponged two pieces of Whisper White cardstock (one for the background, one for the main image) by randomly adding Certainly Celery, Daffodil Delight and Garden Green inks. I start with the lightest color ink, randomly adding on the page and covering the majority of the white (about 1/2). I add the second color, over some of the white spots left and also some over the first color and blending as I go. The last color is added sparingly, just a little and fills the last of the white space and also over some of the other colors. I usually go back to the first color and then sponged overtop of the whole thing, blending the three colors.
On the small panel, I stamped the ginkgo leaves in Garden Green ink and then stamped a second and third time without re-inking the stamp (placing the second and third stampings a little higher). This gives the illusion of leaves in the background. I rounded the top right corner of the image and placed it on a frame of Garden Green cardstock (also with the top right corner rounded). I wrapped the grosgrain ribbon around the bottom and tied a knot. I mounted all the pieces as shown in the picture above, popping up the main panel with dimensionals to add depth.
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