A Softer Christmas Palette

A couple of weeks ago, I was roaming through the aisles of Hobby Lobby, when out of the corner of my eye, a soft glint caught my attention. I turned and gasped with delight as I happened a glance upon some of the most beautiful Christmas papers I've seen. I snatched this bundle of glittery goodness up and clasped it as if it were the secret to eternal youth (Ha! As if!). This little morsel of happiness just so happened to be a package of Signature Christmas Glitter Papers by My Mind's Eye. It did not hold the power to make me young again, but it did make me feel like a kid in a candy store, and that my friend, is pretty powerful stuff!

Yesterday, I drug this huge pad of paper out and carefully poured through each shiny page. I finally settled on the muted blue and brown papers you see above. They whispered soft vintage style to me so I paired some Tim Holtz Christmas stamps with them. You might think that the glitz of the papers themselves would have been enough for me, but not so! Years ago, when I first started stamping and had discovered the glory of embossing powder as if I were Magellan himself, I happened upon a little something called Turquoise Iridescent Super Sparkle made by Stamp A Mania. I was so smitten with this glimmery powder, I had to buy a whole 8oz. jar of it. As most of you know, embossing powder comes packaged in mostly .5 oz jars. So, take one of those jars and multiply it by 16 and you can just imagine this behemoth jar I purchased. But, I HAD to have it...! I NEVER wanted to run out of it!! LOL!! The jar is still mostly full today ;D Lucky for me, because I have fallen in love with it again and may use it all Christmas long!

I embossed the TH images first with the magic elixir that is Turquoise Iridescent Super Sparkle. Then I covered them again with Versamarker pen and embossed two more times with clear embossing powder. I love my Super Sparkle, but it does leave a rough grainy finish when used alone, so the addition of the clear embossing powder gives it a smooth lacquer finish while still showcasing that sparkle. A little distressing around the edges and a few carefully placed embellishments finish these cards off. Do you need some Super Sparkle to get through the holiday season? Find it here: Stamp A Mania

Now get off the Internet and go make some cards! LOL!!