Color Bursts Part 2

Hi everyone.  Today's card is again from the crafty fun I had with some friends a few weeks ago.  This time the background is Color Bursts done with Stencil Monoprint technique.  I placed my butterfly stencil over a piece of watercolour paper, sprinkled the Color Bursts, spritzed with water and then removed the stencil (that print is still in my stash).  But instead of washing off the stencil which was still covered with bursts and water, I flipped it over and pressed it into a second piece of watercolour paper (stencil monoprint).  Love how the colours moved and flowed on the watercolour paper.

Wasn't sure what to do with the background, so decided to try out a new-to-me technique that I saw perfected by my friend Lee-Anne (Creatively LA).   I lined up my butterfly images with my stencil and then used a fine tip black marker to outline them.  This is totally different than my usual style, but I'm happy with how it turned out.  I definitely need some practice using the fine tip marker! :)

Lee-Anne used the same stencil - click HERE to see her card.  You'll notice that she did the positive stencil with the butterflies coloured ... for mine, the background is coloured and the butterflies are left plain. :)  Always learning from Lee-Anne.  She is a constant source of inspiration for me. Thanks Lee-Anne! :)

I needed something fairly dark for the sentiment to stand out, so again with the black banner. :)  It just works.  Everything else seemed to get lost.

Since I used STAMPlorations' stencil and stamp, I'm heading over to join the Never-Ending Anything Goes challenge.

Thanks for coming by for a visit! :)

Stamps:  Fond Expressions2 (STAMPlorations)
Paper:  Watercolour (Arches 140 lb. Hot Press)
Ink:  Color Bursts (yellow, orange, red); Versamark
Accessories & Tools:  Flutterby stencil (ARTplorations / STAMPlorations); water mister, fine point black marker, white embossing powder, heat tool

Challenges:
STAMPlorations - Never-ending Anything Goes Challenge

Fun with Color Bursts

Hi everyone.  Today I'm sharing another card from my get-together with my crafty friends a couple of weeks ago.

I've been away on vacation for a week, and I'm so happy to be back playing in my studio. :)  I missed it!  Today I made a card using a stencil and Color Bursts that Shirl brought for us to play with.  They are really beautiful and very similar to Brushos.  I did find it easier to get the powders out of the containers with Color Bursts, but other than that, don't see a lot of difference.  I already have several colours of brushos, so for now I will stick with what I already have. :)

I placed my stencil over top of my watercolour paper, sprinkled wih Color Bursts, spritzed with water, then removed the stencil.  Love how the panel above turned out. When I removed the stencil, it had brushos and water on it, so I flipped it over to create a stencil monoprint on a second piece of watercolour paper.  Will make a card with that panel soon to share. :)

I sponged some Vintage Photo distress ink through a mesh stencil for the background, cut down my clock face monoprint to a small panel and stamped the sentiment in Vintage Photo ink as well.  Each layer is popped up on foam to add dimension to the card.

I'm heading over to enter at Addicted to Stamps & More #191 - Anything Goes.

* * *

Also want to share how I store my brushos.  I followed the video instructions from Sandy Allnock for organizing my pots of colour --- definitely worth watching.

Here's a picture of some of my pots of brushos ...

Thanks for stopping by for a visit! :)

Edited to Add:  Just realized that this will fit the Time Out Challenge #55 - Celebrations.  I didn't use the optional twist. :)

Stamps:  Heartfelt (Penny Black)
Paper:  Soft Suede (SU!); Watercolour paper from Shirl (Strathmore)
Ink:  Color Bursts
Accessories & Tools:  Clockwork stencil (Tim Holtz), Textured Mesh stencil (Memory Box), sponges, water mister

Challenges:
ATS&M #191 - Anything Goes
Time Out #55 - Celebrations

Happy Birthday Nikki!

Hi everyone.  Today I'm sharing the card I made for my DIL's birthday.  I played with a new-to-me stencil from STAMPlorations. Love these butterflies --- they are so pretty!  I'm heading over to STAMPlorations Anything Goes to join in the fun.

I started with a watercolour sprayed background from my stash.  The stencil was taped over the card and versamark was press on top, and then heat embossed in white.  I sponged more picked raspberry to deepen the colours of the background, then sprayed with a shimmer mist on top.  This is very sparkly in real life, but hard to capture in a photo.  A white embossed sentiment on black finishes the card.

We are away on vacation this week on beautiful Galiano Island.  The weather was sunny and warm at the beginning of the week, but cool these last few days with rain on and off.  Jer and Alex came over to spend the weekend with us.  It's been lots of fun.

Included below is a picture of the four of us out on the deck at our rental house.  We are on a highbank, looking at the Active Pass.  Don't we look happy??!! :)

I'll also include a picture of the delicious breakfast (Chilaquiles) that Alex made for us this morning.  It has a broth (tomato, onion, garlic and cilantro) poured over tortilla chips, with chorizo sausage, feta cheese, avocado ... with a poached egg on top.  Yummy!! :)

Thanks for dropping by for a visit!

Stamps:  Fun Birthday Sentiments (Happy Little Stampers)
Paper:  White card base (Neenah); Mixed Media paper (Strathmore 400 series); Black card stock (SU!)
Ink:  Versamark
Accessories & Tools:  Watercolour sprays made from concentrate (yellow, orange, magenta) - Dick Blick; ARTplorations Flutterby Stencil (STAMPlorations), white embossing powder (Stampendous), heat tool, Shimmer spray

Challenges:
STAMPlorations Anything Goes

Stenciling with Gilding Flakes

Hi everyone.  More fun with gilding flakes.  I hope you're not getting sick of my gilding flake cards. :)

Another reminder that there's only a few days left before the  CAS Mix Up April Challenge - Stenciling closes on April 24th at midnight (PDST).  Come join us!

I posted a card a few days ago that has a little bit of stenciling with gilding flakes.  I wasn't sure if it would work, so just did a little.  The card above uses the same stencil, but with lots more stenciling.  LOVE how it turned out.  The flakes I used are called Verdigis and it is mostly gold, with a little bit of green, turquoise and copper. I wanted to pick up on the turquoise on my stenciled background, so die-cut a leaf sprig out of turquoise foil.  This is my favourite leaf die ... I'm sure you've noticed that I use this ALL the time! :)   I then heat embossed a sentiment banner in gold on gray (love how these colours work together, popped it up and tucked the leaf in behind.  :)

Edited to add:  Linda asked me how I added the glue over my stencil.  I use a sponge.  I squirt lots of glue out onto a piece of wax paper, and then pick it up with a sponged and dab over the stencil.  Don't add too thick a coat of glue.  If the glue is thick, you need to wait for it to dry until it is just tacky, not wet.  Then add the gilding flakes.  Make sure to wash the stencil right away after removing it from your card stock. And any excess glue you didn't use can be added back to the bottle. :)  Hope that helps.

My CAS Mix Up card has stamping, stenciling with gilding flakes, die-cut, and heat embossing.

Since I used a snippet for both my turquoise leaf sprig and for my gray sentiment banner, I'm heading over to the Snippets Playground for some fun. :)

Thanks for coming by for a visit!

Stamps:  Fun Birthday Sentiments (Happy Little Stampers)
Paper:  White (Neenah 110 lb. card stock); Basic Gray (SU!)
Ink:  Versamark
Accessories & Tools:  Textured Mesh stencil (Memory Box), gilding flake glue, sponge, Verdigris Gilding Flakes (Cosmic Shimmer), Rub-it Scrub-it Pad (Inkssentials), Gold embossing powder, heat tool, Little Leaves die (Sizzix), turquoise metal sheet

Challenges:
CAS Mix Up April Challenge - Stenciling
Snippets Playground - Week 225

Gilding Flakes and Watercolouring

Hi everyone.  Yesterday I got together with three stamping friends (Susan, Christine and Shirl).  We played with a few different products and techniques.  It was a lot of fun!!  Thanks for coming over girls!! :)

We started with gilding flakes.  We used them three different ways (die-cutting, over stencils, and with stamping).  Then we moved on to playing with our gelli plates, then color bursts, and finally gelatos.  I'll be sharing some cards later this week with what I made.

Today's card uses gilding flake glue sponged onto a NBUS stamp, stamped onto mixed media paper, left to dry for a few minutes until tacky, and then topped with gilding flakes.  I used a scrubby pad to burnish the flakes and remove the excess.

Next I used my Zig Clean Color Real Brushes to watercolour.  The gilding flakes act as a resist so I didn't have to worry about getting ink on them.  I started by adding a layer of bright yellow, then a layer of orange for the large butterflies, pink for the small ones.

For the last layer, I added just a few thin strokes of pink on each section of the large butterflies and used a very fine, damp paint brush to move those into longer and thinner strokes.  I used the same gilding flakes to make my sentiment banner. Happy with how it turned out. :)

Here's a close-up of the shimmer from the gilding flakes ...

I'll be sharing more gilding flake techniques soon, along with some cards made from our crafty experimenting from yesterday.

I'm entering this card into a few challenges ... AAA #62 - Anything Goes, CASology#193 - Pink (there's pink on every butterfly),  and ATS&M #189 - CAS,

Thanks so much for dropping by for a visit!

Stamps:  Fluttering (Memory Box); Where the Heart is - sentiment (Simon Says)
Paper:  Mixed Media (Strathmore 400 series); Black (SU!)
Ink:  Zigs (Lemon Yellow, Orange, Pink)
Accessories & Tools:  Persian Dawn Gilding Flakes and Gilding Flake Glue (both from Cosmic Shimmer), paint brushes and water

Challenges:
AAA#62 - Anything Goes
CASology#193 - Pink
ATS&M #189 - CAS

Gilded Thanks

Hi everyone.  This is a reminder of the CAS Mix Up April challenge - Stenciling.  I used stamping, stenciling, gilding flakes, heat embossing, and torn edge for today's card. :)

I had fun making this card.  The yellowy background is from my stash.  It's done on mixed media paper, smooshing the watercolour sprays (yellow, orange and pink) and then blotting with a paper towel to get a soft dreamy look.

I experimented with this card.  I used the gilding flake glue through a stencil.  Wasn't sure if it would work, so I just did a small test, adding a bit of gilding flake glue (it's a special glue) over a mesh stencil on the bottom right of my panel, then burnishing with gilding flakes.  Turns out it works really well, with the glue washing easily off the stencil, as long as you wash it right away.  I'll be doing more of this! :)  The large gilding flake butterfly is done using double-sided tape.

Here's a close-up ...

This was made for my dear friend Lee-Anne (Creatively LA) to thank her for being our Featured Designer this month.  Bonnie and I appreciate the time she took to create an amazing card for the launch of our April Challenge on April 1st.  And she created another fabulous card for today's reminder post.  Check it out HERE. Thanks again Lee-Anne.  xx

The challenge is open for another 9 days, so still lots of time to play along.  Hope to see you in the gallery!

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Stamps:  Lots of Thanks Simon Says)
Paper:  White (Neenah); Mixed Media (Strathmore 400 Series)
Ink:  Versamrk
Accessories & Tools:  Watercolour sprays for the background ... mostly likely yellow, orange and pink (made from Liquid Watercolor Concentrate by Dick Blick), Moonlight Butterfly die (Memory Box), Flourish #6 die (Crafty Ann), Textured Mesh stencil (Memory Box), Red Blaze Gilding Flakes (Cosmic Shimmer), Gilding flake glue (Cosmis Shimmer), Be Creative / Sookwang Tape, gold embossing powder heat tool

Challenges:
CAS Mix Up April Challenge - Stenciling

Gilded Christmas

Hi everyone.  I recently bought several colours of gilding flakes and I'm trying different ways of using them.

For today's card, I stamped with them.  I sponged gilding flake glue onto my holly and berries stamp.  I stamped onto white card stock, then left to dry until tacky (only takes a few minutes).  I keep my gilding flakes in a large plastic container.  I held my card front over top of the open container, placed the flakes on top, and let the excess fall back into the container.  To finish, I burnished the flakes with a scrubby pad over top of a piece of copy paper and then transferred all the leftover bits back into the container. This works for me to keep the flakes under control as much as possible.  They are super light, so they tend to "float". :)  I use a wet silicone pad to wipe any stray flakes off my work table.

I added a strip of 1/2" Be Creative Tape (by Sookwang) along the edge to add even more gilding flakes.  I've used Autumn Leaves Gilding Flakes for both the holly image and the 1/2" strip ... the colours are SO beautiful!

The holly and berries stamp is a gift I received from my good friend, Mary H.  Thanks so much Mary.  Doesn't the image look beautiful with the gilding flakes??!!

I die-cut a small bird from heated copper and popped him up over his holly vine perch.   I used a wafer thin die from Poppy Stamps to cut the copper.  I usually have trouble cutting thick copper with these thin dies, but my good friend Nancy S. sent me a metal cutting plate to use with my Big Shot which makes cutting so much easier.  The metal plate doesn't warp like the acrylic ones, so the dies have even pressure and always cut cleanly.  It really works well, giving me clean cuts even with intricate dies that normally cause me grief with the acrylic cutting plates.  The wonderful thing about the metal plate is I won't have to replace it. :)  Thanks again Nancy!

Edited to add:  Nancy developed this metal plate and had a machinist friend make them up for her.  They are not available in stores.  If you are interested, send me an email (my email form is in the right hand column near the top).  Include your email and I'll pass it along to Nancy.  She can then let you know more details.  Thanks.

Stamps:  Holly and Berries (Penny Black); Christmas Sampler (Paper Smooches)
Paper:  White (Neenah 110 lb. card stock)
Ink:  Versamark
Accessories & Tools:  Flake & Glitter Glue (Cosmic Shimmer); Autumn Leaves Gilding Flakes (Cosmic Shimmer), sponge, scrubby pad (Rub-it Scrub-it from Inkssentials), Be Creative 1/2" Tape (Sookwang), copper sheet, butane torch, Nestled Bird die (Poppy Stamps), gold embossing powder, heat tool

Merry Monday Card Challenge #200

Hi everyone.  I'm am so excited to be one of the Guest Designers to celebrate Merry Monday's 200th Challenge! :)  Congrats to Lesley and the team for this wonderful accomplishment.  Merry Monday is a very popular challenge and a great way to get a stash of Christmas cards made throughout the year.

Each of the Design Team members was asked to bring a guest to the party, and I was thrilled when Bonnie (Stamping with Klass) asked me.  Thanks Bonnie!! xx

Here is the challenge.  There's four different pictures to choose from for your inspiration.

I love the elegant picture with the silver glitter and pink ornaments.  That was my inspiration for the card above.  I started by stamping some splats onto my card front and heat embossing in silver.

Inka Gold (in rose, platinum and silver) was smooshed onto a piece of white card stock, and then die-cut for the solid ornament.  The intricate patterned top layer of the ornament was cut with silver glimmer paper.

To finish, the sentiment was heat embossed in silver onto black card stock and cut into a thin banner.  The ornament and banner are both popped up to add dimension to the card.

Used snippets for the ornament and banner, so I'm heading over for some play time at the Snippets Playground.

I've been inspired lately by my good friend, Hazel (My Craft Attic).  She frequently adds black to her card designs.  Just adding the thin, black banner really made the other colours pop.  Thank you Hazel!

Here's a close-up ...

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I couldn't help but make a second card for this fun challenge.  LOVE that adorable snowman in the inspiration photo.  It reminded me of a sweet digital file I have from Sweet 'n Sassy.  This snowman makes me smile! :)

The digital image was printed onto white card stock and fussy cut.  Zig markers were used to colour in his nose and scarf.

For something different, coloured card stock was used for the background, with sparkle texture effect spread over a snowfall stencil.  I love the sparkle. :)  Two torn snowbanks were added at the bottom, along with a simple stamped sentiment.  To finish it off, the top right corner was rounded..

I hope you'll come join the party at Merry Monday and help celebrate the 200th challenge.  Make a Christmas card using one of the four photos above as your inspiration ... any style of card is welcome!

Hope to see you at Merry Monday!  :)

Edited to add:  Heading over to join the fun at Muse Christmas Visions #39 - inspired by Kimberley Wiener.  Entering my snowman card above.  Thanks Kimberley!

Kimberley's MUSE card

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Since this snowman card has stamping, stenciling, embossing paste and tearing, it's another example for the CAS Mix Up April Challenge.

Pink & Silver ornament card:
Stamps:  Gorgeous Grunge, Warmth & Wonder - sentiment (SU!)
Paper:  White (Neenah); Black, Silver Glimmer (SU!)
Ink:  Versamark
Accessories & Tools:  Inka Gold (Rose, Platinum, Silver), water mister, Ornament Set 2 (Elizabeth Craft Designs), Silver embossing powder, heat tool, silver cording

Smiley Snowman card:
Stamps:  Smiley Snowman (Sweet 'N Sassy); Christmas Sampler (Paper Smooches)
Paper:  White (Neenah); Bermuda Bay (SU!)
Ink:  Real Red (SU!), Zigs (Red and two shades of Orange)
Accessories & Tools:  Falling Snow stencil (Simon Says), sparkle texture effect (Martha Stewart), Corner Rounder (We R Memory Keepers)

Challenges:
Merry Monday 200th Challenge
CAS Mix Up April Challenge - Stenciling
Snippets Playground - Week 224
MUSE Christmas Visions #39 - Kimberley

Spring Green Leaves

Hi everyone.  Playing along with STAMPlorations April CAS Challenge.  All their CAS challenges are "Anything Goes", as long as you keep your card CAS.  They also provide an an optional twist each month.  This month it's "Spring Green", and as soon as I saw the challenge I knew exactly what images I was going to use. :)  You do not have to use STAMPlorations products for this challenge.

I LOVE spring time.  And bright green is perfect for spring and a new beginning.

I started my card by sponging through a chevron stencil in lime green.  I stamped my dark green leaf, masked it, and then stamped the lighter green leaf sprig so it looks like it's behind.  So easy to do and it adds visual dimension.  I popped up these cute word banners for a little fun.

I'm embarrassed to say that I've had this stamp set for a LONG TIME, but it's the first time inking it up (another NBUS off my list!). :)  Since I used STAMPlorations stamps, I'm also entering their "Never-ending Anything Goes Challenge".  You have to use STAMPlorations products as the main part of your design.

This is also an example of a CAS Mix Up card that works for our April Challenge - Stenciling.  The challenge is open until the 24th, so there's lot of time to play along if you haven't already.

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Yesterday I hosted a "High Tea" for a few girlfriends that I used to work with. We had a wonderful time ... good company, good food, and good laughs.

I took me two days to make the food ... I made all of it. :)

I'm sharing a few pictures.  First, the savory food (all small --- one-or-two bite). Egg & Chive sandwiches, Herb Cream Cheese & Vegetable Triangles, and Garlic Chicken Croissants with Red Pepper Jelly.

Then the small sweets ... Cranberry Scones (served with Devon cream and Raspberry Jelly), Banana Streusel Squares, Gingersnap cookies, Coconut & Mango Mousse Tartlets, and Dark Belgian Chocolate Ganache Torte.  Yummy!

And the last picture is the six of us.  I worked with all of these lovely ladies at B.C.TEL/TELUS (company changed names).  We had a lot of fun years together and it's wonderful to stay in touch.

Thanks for coming by for a visit!

Stamps:  Trendy Leaves; Bloom Sketches - sentiment (both from STAMPlorations)
Paper:  White (Neenah 110 lb. card stock)
Ink:  Distress Inks:  Twisted Citron, Mowed Lawn (Tim Holtz)
Accessories & Tools:  Chevron stencil (cut with my silhouette cameo), sponge, post-it note for masking

Challenges:
STAMPlorations CAS April challenge - Spring Green
STAMPlorations Never-ending Anything Goes Challenge
CAS Mix Up April Challenge - Stenciling

Inlaid Butterfly

Playing along with a few challenges.  Started with the Less Is More #270 - White space but not white and Addicted to CAS #85 - Inlaid Dies.

I created a watercoloured panel to place behind my butterfly aperture.  I made it a long time ago, so not really sure of the colours, but believe I used Stampin' Up Inks (tempting turquoise, tangerine tango, daffodil delight and gumball green).  :)

I need to start writing down what I use on the backs of my panels since I now have a huge stash to pull from when I'm ready to make a card. :)

I placed the butterfly back into the aperture, gluing the body down and pulling the wings forward.  I hope that counts as inlaid.

Thanks for stopping by.

Stamps:  Bitty Birthday (SU!)
Paper:  Black (SU!); Watercolour (Arches 140 lb. cold press)
Ink:  Tempting Turquoise, Tangerine Tango, Daffodil Delight, Gumball Green (SU!); Versamark
Accessories & Tools:  Silhouette cameo to die-cut butterfly, liquid platinum embossing powder, heat tool

Challenges:
Less Is More #270 - White space but not White
Addicted to CAS #85 - Inlaid Dies

Happy Birthday Gord!

Hi everyone.  It's my hubby's birthday today and I wanted to make him something a little different using my gilding flakes.  I bought gilding flakes late last year and only made one card for Christmas.  I decided it was time to pull them out and play. :)

I find it's always good to have some pieces of burnished gilding flake card stock made up ahead ... makes for quick card making.  I use a large piece of lightweight card stock* for the back, adding the double-sided sticky tape on top (Be Creative or Sookwang works really well), and then removing the top cover sheet and burnishing with gilding flakes.  I use a small piece of Rubit-Scrubit (stamp cleaning pad) for burnishing.  Now I have "gilding flake card stock" that's ready to go to create die-cut embellishments or fussy-cutting outline stamped and embossed images.

* I recommend using lightweight card stock for the backing because once the tape and gilding flakes are added, it becomes fairly thick and will be harder to die-cut if you use thick card stock for the backing.

Today's card has two outline leaf images stamped in Versamark onto a burnished gilding flake panel, heat embossed in black, and then fussy-cut. Great way to use your outline stamps with gilding flakes.  Easy and fun to do! :)

I die-cut the happy three times and glued them together to add some thickness to the die-cut, and then glued it directly on to my card front.  I stamped the birthday sentiment in black (a gift from the lovely Darnell --- thank you Dolly!), and popped up my leaves for more dimension.

I used snippets for my black strip and die-cut happy(s), so I'm heading over to have some fun at the Snippets Playground. :)

Thanks for dropping by for a visit!

Stamps:  Thank You (Lil' Inkers)
Paper:  White card stock (Neenah); Black card stock (SU!)
Ink:  Versamark; Black (Memento)
Accessories & Tools:  Be Creative Tape (Sookwang), Warm Sunrise Gilding Flakes (Cosmic Shimmer), Rub-it Scrub-it pad (Inkssentials), Happy die (Simon Says)

Challenges:
Snippets Playground - Week 223

Holiday Artsy

Hi everyone.  Today I'm back with another Christmas card! :)  My stash is building up quite nicely. :)

I'm playing along with Muse: ChristmasVisions #38.  The muse for the current challenge is my good friend, Maria.  Congrats Maria!

Maria's card

I love Maria's artsy style.  I'm always learning from her as she uses lots of different mixed media products, which have become an obsession with me over the past couple of years. :)

Maria used an awesome stencil from STAMPlorations for her card, but since I recently used it on another Christmas card, I wanted to do something a little different.

I used a NBUS stamp set from StudioL2E called "Bokeh Builder".  It's solid dots and outline dots in the set ... I only used the solid ones to stamp a design onto white card stock.  I used the same colours as Maria's card (gold, green and red).  Once my card front was covered with dots, I used it to die-cut my three layer tree.  Basically, I made my own patterned paper. :)  I'm happy with how it turned out.

Here's a close-up which will hopefully give you a clearer view ...

I added a glittery star at the top of the tree, and also CASED Maria's repeat sentiment across the bottom.  My camera is giving me grief right now, so the photos are a bit blurry.  I have already mentioned to hubby that I'm hoping for a new camera for my birthday in a couple of months.  Finger's crossed! :)

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Also wanted to share my recent craft shopping.  I went into Vancouver to Scrapbook Warehouse --- great selection!!  I was going to just buy gilding flakes and glue, but I ended with a few more things. :)  I'm already thinking I need to head back there for a few more. :)  Don't we have fun with this hobby??  Always so many new things to try. :)

Stamps:  Bokeh Builder (StudioL2E); Holiday Arsty (STAMPlorations)
Paper:  White (Neenah 110 lb. card stock); Silver glimmer paper (SU!)
Ink:  Delicata Gold (Tsukineko); Distress Inks:  Festive Berries, Twisted Citron (Tim Holtz)
Accessories & Tools: 5 part Pine (Elizabeth Craft Designs --- I only used three parts); Large Holiday Shapes die -- Star (Simon Says)

Challenges:
Muse: ChristmasVisions #38 - Maria Fischer