Saturday, July 28, 2012

Christmas Cardinals!

If you're here, chances are you want to see more
goodies!


Go, Cardinals!
Growing up in the midwest, not only was our famous baseball team named after these gorgeous birds, but they were frequent visitors to our parks and backyards.

I recall watching flocks of mated pairs visiting our bird feeders and
eating seed off the white snow.
Not something I will soon see in Phoenix.



I started with the idea that I would love to have a reminder of these pretty creatures as a home decor item for the holidays.

BEFORE:

I had WON an entire set of these plates in a game of "White Elephant" years ago.
(Thanks Amie!)
These are nice, but never really matched my Tuscan decor.

So, I sprayed a bit of adhesive to help the Shabby Green Embossing Powder and the Shaved Ice flakes stick, then heated it just to the point of melting.


If I had it to do over, I would have sprinkled a little Chunky White first,
just to brighten the plate's center.

I colored the "Cardinals" image with Copics, and cut it into the oval shape.
I then colored a second branch of the berries, fussing cutting around them, and attacheded them to the front of the image with Pop-Dots..
This gave it such a dimensional look!
With liquid applique paint used as snow, it really made the snow explode off the image!
There's also more "snow" around the outside of the image on the plate,
although it is more difficult to see in the photo.
The berries have the tiniest spot of "Red Tinsel" Embossing Powder on each.


As I do not claim to be very good with Copics markers, this image has so much of the texture etched into it already, that coloring it was so easy!


I enjoy using items around the house that I've had for a long time,
and making fun, new projects with them!

It's difficult to imagine it today, but winter and Christmas WILL be here soon!

has some absolutely perfect stamps and essentials to make your holiday decorating and cardmaking a breeze!

And now, to conclude this week-long
Showcase of Releases and for our Blog Hop,
you know the drill!  Go through the following list of Design Team members, visit each one's blog, and leave a comment!!  Not only do some of them have their own blog candy, Stampendous will be drawing a winner today for all three of these great prize packs!




How do you win it? It's easy! THREE of the bloggers today will be choosing a random commenter from their blog, and those lucky people will be announced on the Stampendous blog Tuesday, July 31 (please leave comments by Monday, July 30 at 11:59 PM PST). The more places you leave a comment, the better your chances are to win!   Below is the list of team members who are sharing inspiration today:

Taylor Usry (has additional blog candy)
Lea Kimmel (has additional blog candy)
Pam Hornschu (has additional blog candy)

Please leave your comment, along with your contact information, and someone will be lucky enough to win all 3 of these terrific prizes! You don't know WHO is the featured DT member, so don't miss anyone!
And let me know what your favorite stamp or new color essential was from the new release! I love to hear from you!

42 comments:

Taylor said...

WOW!!!!! This is marvelous!

margaretart said...

What a creative re-purposing, and so pretty!

Scrappychick said...

Wow!! This is stunning! Thanks for the walk through on how you did it :)

Rhea Weigand said...

This is FAB! Nice work

Anne (cornucopia) said...

Wow is right! This came out beautifully!

Liz said...

This is great!!
I want to try it...

craftymom205 said...

Gorgeous plate. Thanks for the inspiration.

craftymom205 at yahoo dot com

jordanbev5@yahoo.com said...

You do beautiful work and I am so envious!! Just lovely!!

Lillian Child said...

Your white elephane turned into a beautiful piece of art! WOW! LOVE this idea!

Tenia Nelson said...

This is really AWESOME!!!

sharon g said...

I love the birds!!! You made them extra, extra special, too. GORGEOUS

Teresa Godines #6857 said...

What a great idea. Thanks for sharing

bzyPTmom said...

Love your plates! I live in PHX area too--don't see those birds often--but lots of hummers!

Susie Moore said...

I am in total awe of your project (and your talent)

Anonymous said...

Really gorgeous. I would definitely miss our "red birds" if I no longer lived in the midwest. We've had a young one visiting our feeders the past week and he's rather comical looking as he's just starting to get his adult plumage.

Michelle said...

Very pretty! Reminds me of the cardinals in our backyard.

Miriam Prantner said...

You did an amazing job upcycling this! This is just beautiful. So much cutting out, but it's so worth it. Great coloring and I love the sparkle!

Robin said...

Amazing! This is just so beautiful. What a transformation. I can't believe all the talent I'm seeing today. I'm in awe completely. Hugs, Robin

Pam Hornschu said...

I love how you repurposed this plate! Just beautiful...coloring, texture, and design.

christi said...

what a creative way to repurpose the tray. i love that your looking around the house. way to keep it green!

Rozy said...

Great plate...your transforamtion was amazing...I think my favorite has to be the Christmas Kitty!

Delfina said...

You did an awesome job on these.

Stampendous said...

This is so beautiful, Jan! What a beautiful home decor piece to remind you of your old home. You never know how things like this will take embossing, but wow, this is really cool! Thanks so much for playing with us this week!

Kathy S. said...

Wow, so creative! You did a beautiful job!

Lea said...

Jan, this is truly beautiful! Makes me want to give it a try myself!

Marilyn Nimmo said...

Wonderful way to turn a white elephant gift into a keeper!

Reba said...

Very pretty!! Love the plate!

Bonnie said...

Beautiful project. I think my favorite from the new release is punkin kitty stamp

Greta said...

Amazing, creative project!

Anonymous said...

Gosh! Its really awesome...great piece of work!

Usha
usharaneem@yahoo.com

wendyp said...

Beautiful job!!!

Chris Dring said...

OMGosh! This is AMAZING! Thank you for sharing!

Holly AKA KopyKat said...

fabulous plate

Sue D said...

Wow this is gorgeous!!

Colorado Crafter said...

Wonderful project! I love cardinals.

Unknown said...

Wow! How creative! I love how you altered the plate to give it a more festive feeling :)

Patti Krauss said...

Love your altered plate. So nice to take something you already have & make it something you love even better!

Denise Bryant said...

Gorgeous cardinals!
DeniseB

Chark said...

wow--so great in lots of ways!

Janelle Stollfus said...

Oh WOW! I so want to see this in real life. I bet all the embossing powders and glitter are just an amazing backdrop to those cardinals. Fabulous job!

Jennifer said...

Jan,

What a WONDERFUL idea!!! :) I love, love, love your beautiful altered plate! And I can't believe how good you are at fussy cutting-all those small berries and thin branches?! It came out so good!

Thanks so much for sharing!

Crafty hugs,

Jennifer
partridgelu at yahoo dot com

Far North said...

Your cardinal plate is stunning! Thanks for sharing!

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