CSS Alumni Sketch Hop

It's time once again for another Stamp TV Center Stage Spotlight Alumni blog hop. I hope you arrived here from the blog of Karen Knegten but if you didn't and you want to start the hop from the beginning, jump over to Stamp TV to see all of the great cards the CSS Alumni made based on this sketch.

I am really a fan of sketches because they save me so much time. When I have a sketch I can just jump to figuring out the paper and stamps I want to use instead of trying to figure out the design. They are especially helpful when I need a card quickly and I can just plug in the elements I want rather than agonizing over the layout of the card. I don't use sketches for everything I make but I do like to use them on occasion.

Here is the card I made using this sketch. Even though it is almost 80 degrees here in southern Wisconsin (very un-fall like!), I decided to make a holiday card. It's about time I get started on those, so here is one to get me (and you) going!

I just love this little snowman from the Gina K Designs stamp set called Warm Winter Wishes. The sentiment is from the same set. The cardstock is Gina K Designs Pure Luxury Papers in Ocean Mist and  Rocket Red. The designer paper is from a really fun holiday paper pad from Imaginisce called Cottage Christmas.  I stamped the snowman and greeting with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored him with Copic markers. Those spots you see on his hat are actually glitter -- Stampendous Crystal Snow -- but I couldn't get it to photograph without making it look like spots! There is a touch of glitter other places on the snowman and on the ground also but they don't show up very well. The Ocean Mist strip was embossed using the Cuttlebug Snowflakes folder and then swiped with some Distress Ink in Tumbled Glass, which I also sponged around the edges of the white image piece. The snowflakes were made using the Spellbinders Create A Flake One and are held together with the silver brad. The brad doesn't adhere the snowflake to the blue strip, however; I decided to give it a bit more dimension and popped the snowflakes up on a pop dot.

I hope you enjoyed my little snowman card. Now hop on along the trail to the blog of Melissa Cash. I know she will have something wonderfully creative to share with you!