Illuminated Christmas

Hi Stamper Friends!
Recovering from a fun and busy Thanksgiving holiday?  My daughter and I went to one store for Black Friday and that was enough! We got some good deals, felt we had experienced the whole thing to a degree and decided it would be a good idea to head home, curl up and watch a movie.  I don't have young children to buy for so the latest/greatest/hottest toys and electronics aren't an attraction for me. I enjoyed people watching those who did fall into that category!

I have made so many Christmas cards this season with our lovely new stamp sets from the Holiday catalog. I'm taking some time to go back and share what I might have missed. Today I have a faith-based set to share that I really like.  The "mixed fonts" style is particularly appealing and I love the sentiments. Here are a few samples:

For this first card I combined the "Illuminated Christmas" and stained glass framelits.  I used blue Brusho for my background (watercolor paper) and after it had dried, I spritzed it with gold shimmer paint and alcohol in a spritzer.  I also used Brusho for the angels, but a much lighter color (not as much Brusho).  I used gold embossing powder for the angels as well. Did you realize the butterfly framelit in the stained glass framelit set was used for the angels? I love when Stampin'Up! combines their products for a new use.

I continued to experiment with the gold shimmer paint and alcohol mixture on this card. I was curious what it would look like on black cardstock. It took the shimmer paint really well and was easy to spritz on in varying saturations.   I added some gold embossed stars, a few rhinestone diamonds and a foil snowflake from last year's catelog. 

This was a popular card at my last buffet. I combined the stained glass framelits for the frame with the Illuminated Christmas stamp set.   Did you notice the background paper?  It's from the "All Is Bright" Designer Series Paper pack. I even found a spot for some gold sequin trim.

My last card was actually the first one I made with this set. I was drawn to the stained glass vellum paper and wanted to try to create a church window effect. I used the Stampin'Blends and colored on the back side of the vellum paper.

I imagine I will hang on to this set for a long time as the sentiments are so perfect for the holidays. How would you use this set?  Here's a picture of the stamp set to get your ideas started....


I hope you have time to take another look at the Holiday Catalog and order anything you would still like to have. The catalog period ends January 2 and as we start approaching that date, supplies will run low on popular items. It's not too late to do a little Christmas crafting either. Your project could be simple or complicated, depending on your style and time available. I have more ideas than I can use for myself so contact me and I'll share some good ones!

Just a reminder that Online Extravaganza is still going on!  Today is the last day for stamps and kits to be on sale and Tuesday and Wednesday is the sale for Tools and ink.  Order early, especially if you want ink, as I'm guessing their quantity set aside for this sale will be gone quickly! You can go to the online store by clicking on "shop now" at the right =====>>>>

Happy Stampin'!
Sarah