Winter is Coming...

If you live in the Midwest, winter is NOT coming - it's already here.  Yuck!  Snow and cold temps have officially made it wintertime here in Wisconsin.  The only good thing is that it's put me in the Christmas state-of-mind.  And who doesn't love Christmas?  I attended a small vendor fair in a nearby community last Sunday and decided to do a holiday theme.  I made lots of cute little gift tags and even some Christmas cards to sell. It wasn't an overly successful event, but I did have a great time preparing for it and actually spending some much needed time in my craft room.  I thought I'd share some of my favorite creations.

The chalkboard look is so "in" right now so I decided to use it on some of the cards.  This particular stamp set is one of my favorites from A Muse Studio, but is unfortunately retired and no longer available.  Sad.  There is a cute set in this year's Holiday catalog that I think would work well though, called "Wishing you the Merriest".

Anyway, this look is actually pretty darn easy to do.  All you need is a Versamark ink pad (or other suitable ink pad for heat embossing), white embossing powder, a heat gun, and some dark gray or black spray mist.  Oh, an a piece of paper to stamp on.

I used all A Muse Studio products:

• Sugar cardstock
• Versamark Ink Pad 
• White Embossing Powder
• Slate Splash! 

1. Make sure your cardstock is clean and dry.  Stamp your image using the Versamark ink.  It will be hard to see since this pad is a watermark pad.  I love the stickiness of the ink, though, and it works perfectly for heat embossing.
2. Put a scrap sheet underneath your stamped piece and pour your powder over the stamped image.  Lift up the piece and shake excess powder off onto scrap sheet.  Sometimes I even tap or flick the paper from the back to loosen stubborn stuck on powder (from where it's not supposed to be).  
3. Funnel excess powder back into container, don't waste it!  
4. Applying even heat, use embossing gun to heat up powder over stamped image.  The color of the image will change and appear glossy once the powder has melted.  Let it dry and cool down for a minute or two.  
5. Lay something down to protect your work surface.  I actually put a folded piece of my A Muse Studio grid paper in the garbage can and spray into it.  Similarly, you could use a cardboard box and spray into that.  
6. In any event, spray the stamped and embossed paper evenly with the Splash! ink.  Take a baby wipe and wipe off the embossed surface - the embossing will resist the Splash! so all you need to do is clean up the surface.  
7. Now, just let it dry for 10 minutes or so.  Done!

Other Supplies Used:

Cardstock - Wasabi, Mermaid, and Apple

Patterned - 6x6 Paper Pad (Christmas Sweater)

Ribbon - Onyx Chevron

Other Supplies Used:

Cardstock - Slate, Onyx, Cherry, and Vanilla

Sequins - Cherry, Pink, Silver, Lime, Bermuda

Diecut - AS Star Trio

Other Supplies Used:

Cardstock - Cherry and Vanilla

Patterned - Candy Cane Stripe

Pearls - Vanilla

Diecut - AS Snowflake Trio 

I hope you enjoyed my holiday preview.  Stay warm and happy crafting!

Don't forget, you can purchase any A Muse Studio products online 24/7 from my website!  

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