Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Crafty Christmas Collaboration with Jessica Frost-Ballas!


Good morning!! Today, I have the honor of being the very first guest in my fantastically awesome friend Jessica Frost-Ballas's new monthly series:


We were discussing how nice it would be to work on a Christmas card stash all year round, so that when the holidays arrived, the mad dash to get cards mailed wouldn't be quite so maddening! Jess came up with the brilliant idea to have a monthly collaboration with different crafters. She and the chosen crafter (I'm the lucky collaborateur this month!) each create some elements to make a card... some die cuts, a watercolor panel, a sentiment, whatever each one wants... being sure to create two of everything, so that we can keep one set and send the other. This way, we each make our own versions of the cards! We weren't allowed to show each other what we made until after we had already made it. So fun, right?? Here are the pieces I sent to her:


For my elements, I chose one of my sadly neglected holiday stamp sets from Papertrey Ink. I seem to go in spurts with my holiday stamps, and so it was nice to have an excuse to pull out one of the sets I didn't get around to using recently. I die cut and stamped a bunch of snowflakes from the Fab Flakes set, then stamped them with inks in shades of icy blues and purples. My sentiment die cut is also from PTI: Christmas Cheer die set. Truth be told, this is one of my favorite holiday sentiment die sets. I also created a sequins mix to go along with my pretty, icy snowflakes, just in case the Queen of Sparkle wanted to create a shaker card. :)  

And here are the pieces she sent to me:



She knew I had been ogling those darling little owls from Winnie and Walter's Happy Owlidays, and she sent me just enough to whet my appetite and make me want/need to buy the set. (You should have called this collab Crafty Enabling Collaboration, Jess!) She also included some pretty glass glitter and a sequins mix. I can't wait to use that glass glitter... so pretty and sparkly! 


Here's my project using my own supplies. I blended a soft purple halo with Soft Amethyst ink from PTI using my Clarity Stencil Brushes onto an A2 panel of white card stock. I trimmed it down slightly because I knew I wanted to add a frame of royal blue foil around the edge to really add to the icy look I was going for. I then arranged my Fab Flakes in a cluster in the center, using Press 'n' Seal to pick them up in the meticulously arranged cluster, and adhering them back on my blended panel with dimensional adhesive. Next, I adhered my silver foil "Let It Snow" greeting with some Multi Medium Matte.


The last step was to tuck some of the pretty sequins from my new mix here and there around the edge of the snowflake cluster. 



I was so excited when I saw that Jess had sent me something to color... Especially when I saw that I got to color those cutie patootie owls. I got out my new-ish Prismacolor pencils to color that adorable little owl... wearing a scarf... not much cuter than an owl wearing a scarf. <3 For the background, I again used my Clarity Stencil Brushes to first create a halo on an A2 sized white panel, starting with a light blue ink, then a medium blue around the very edges (I'm sorry, I can't remember which blues I used!). I then used my stencil brushes to blend some navy blue ink over a snowflake stencil from Echo Park. To create my shaker, I die cut the scalloped frame using some silver foil and filled my shaker, adding my owl and branch over the top. The sentiment was trimmed down from the panel Jess sent, then flagged on the end and adhered to the side of the card. 


And that's it! I love Jess's idea to see how different (or similar!) our projects can be starting out with the same supplies! So creative. If you haven't already come from Jess's blog, be sure to click over there to see the truly gorgeous cards that she created using the same supplies! They're so lovely.
Jess wants to include as many crafty friends as possible, so she's included a linkup in her blog post so that you can link up your own projects! All you have to do is create a project inspired by the projects in the collaboration series... it can be a color scheme, layout, stamp set, whatever... and link it up to her blog. Be sure to use the blinkie included in the top of the post in your own blog post! At the end of the year, she will draw a name from one of the participants to receive a $100 gift certificate to the crafty store of his or her choice! What a wonderful surprise! (You can read more of the details over on Jess's blog.)
Jess is also doing monthly giveaways... how amazing is that! All you have to do to be entered to win this month's $25 gift certificate to Winnie and Walter is leave a comment on both of our Crafty Christmas Collaboration posts. 

Well, that's all for me today! Have a marvelous day, friends! 


46 comments:

  1. What fun! Sounds like a marvelous collaboration. Your cards are beautiful! TFS and inspiring! Hugs, Kristina

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  2. Wow! Such amazing series!!! Stunning idea!!! All these cards are really breathless!!!

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  3. Now this is how you really share your craftiness. Brilliant idea and you pulled it off brilliantly. Using the same products but so differently is, for me, inspirational. Both of your cards are truly lovely...and unique.

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  4. Now this is how you really share your craftiness. Brilliant idea and you pulled it off brilliantly. Using the same products but so differently is, for me, inspirational. Both of your cards are truly lovely...and unique.

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  5. Your cards are lovely--so many pretty details and great coloring! I wouldn't have thought about stamping the snowflakes like that on the fun shaker card and it looks terrific. Thanks for sharing the how-tos.

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  6. Gorgeous cards!! I love the coloring on the cutie pie owl. The purple and blue hues are stunning!
    Cheers
    Preety

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  7. Love what you created with these supplies.

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  8. Your card are both gorgeous! I can see why Jess asked you to play with her. Thanks for the yummy inspiration!

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  9. So many gorgeous details in your cards! Fab Flakes is on my wish list and you just bumped it higher. lol

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  10. This is such a
    fun idea and I
    love the cards
    you made. The
    owl is so pretty
    and love it being
    a shaker.
    Carla from Utah

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  11. Hey Emily, Your cards are gorgeous! I LOVE the colors you chose. I also LOVE the soft look the clarity brushes give.I NEED a set of those...hahaha!!

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  12. This is such a great idea! I should start my Christmas cards soon so I'm not in a panic at the end of the year. Both of your cards are super cute! I love the blue/silver color combo that y'all used and that owl is adorable.

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  13. Swoon. These are gorgeous. LOVE that purple! Purple is a challenge for me so maybe I will have to use that as my inspiration.

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  14. I love this idea. It is a great way to stretch your creativity.

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  15. My oh my... this is so fun! And the cards are beautiful!

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  16. Love this clever idea! Such a great way to have lots of Christmas cards by Christmas. I'm going to see if a couple of my crafting buddies want to try something like it. I love both your cards! The snowflake arrangement is so unique & the blue foil really sets them off beautifully. The cute little owls are adorable in the shaker card. Great coloring. I have Clarity brushes ordered but not here yet. I can't wait to see if I can make them work as well as you do!😊

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  17. I think this is a great idea! To do Christmas cards all year round is wonderful! Thanks for sharing!

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  18. Your cards re just beautiful! I love the sweet owl.

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  19. Love your cards and what a great idea! It's so fun to see how you use the same supplies in your own style!

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  20. Your cards are stunning! What an amazing collaboration between to incredibly talented ladies!!! Thank you!

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  21. They are both so stunning! Love to see what you've sent to each other and how different the cards turned out. Fabulous collab <3

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  22. Love both of your cards! I need to reach for my Clarity Stencil Brushes more often! I always use them for stencils, but I love the soft blending on your card backgrounds. Sometimes I get too heavy handed with my foam blending tool, and the effect isn't as smooth as with the brushes.

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  23. You and Jess both made awesome cards! Fun idea and a great way to build up your holiday stash of cards! I enjoyed seeing the different cards created with the provided materials!

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  24. Love your beautiful cards. I am hoping this will inspire me to get Christmas cards done early for 2017. Thanks for the great idea from you and Jess.

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  25. Such a fun idea for a collaboration and challenge. Love how different your cards are, and I cannot wait to ink up those super cute owls myself.

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  26. I love this idea, and I love your cards, Emily! I laughed at your crafty enabling comment. That has been my experience when crafty friends have sent me goodies to try out...my wish list grows bigger. :) You picked a fabulous color scheme, and I love how you used the supplies.

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  27. Love this fun idea and I love your cards created with the chosen products! Looking forward to the months ahead to see what exciting inspiration we are going nto receive! Keep up the good and fun inspiration please!

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  28. Such gorgeous cards and love how you used those snowflakes!! I belong to a group of other card making friends and we send an envelope to each other every two months with a theme and post the cards on our blogs. Love how we all use these things differently!!!

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  29. I love this new idea for a monthly blog series! Your cards are so beautiful!

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  30. Your cards are beautiful! Love the different designs and colour choice. I've got to get me some Clarity brushes.

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  31. As I mentioned over at Jessica's place, I'm definitely a 'late starter' when it comes to Christmas cards and oh, how I pay for that with stressing myself out! Your collaboration: precisely the sparks needed to keep the festive flame burning! Bedazzled by your delightful duo! Stunning snowflakes and darling owl (I'm suddenly feeling an 'enabling' coming on, too!). Thank you for the inspiration!
    ~carol

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  32. it is so much fun to see how two people create different cards from the same supplies! Creativity is endless!

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  33. Such a fun collaboration...looks awesome. Love both of your cards.

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  34. I love this collaboration! So fun to see how different are your cards using the same supplies! Love the shaker card :)

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  35. It is amazing. The same materials but 4 different cards. Great inspiration.

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