Keeping Christmas Inspiration Hop - June 2018

Good Morning Monday!

It's June 25th so that means a 

Keeping Christmas Inspirational Blog Hop!

Every month on the 25th we share Christmas cards to help spark some holiday creativity throughout the year, so that by

the time the Christmas holiday is here we have some cards or tags or gift card holders or bags all ready in our stash.

I inadvertently missed the past couple months.  It's been a hectic few months here at the Salkeld abode. We have been cleaning out and purging stuff in preparation for our son moving all of his things back in, including his dog!  His lease was up at his rental home and he made a life changing decision to move out west.  LOL .  So on top of trying to do finish some small renovating projects, we accumulated all of his furniture and stuff.  Then, he packed up what he could in his car and he and I drove from NC to CA.  I went to keep him company and have a little mom/son adventure.   It took six days, stopping here and there.  Then, I spent three days with him and his girlfriend in Ojai, CA, his new town (for the summer at least).  I flew back on the red eye last Monday and I still don't have m East Coast legs.  Sometime in the next 4-10 months the Hubs and I will have to make that drive west again to deliver his dog and more belongings to him.  Right now I hope it's longer than four months.  lol

But I digress, here are my Christmas cards ---

About a month ago, the CAS Christmas Team had a little craft retreat and since Bonnie Klass and I could not join the others in Canada, we Skyped with them from Bonnie's house.  During that time, Bonnie and I tried our hand at acrylic paint pour (dirty pour).  We mostly used small 5x7 and smaller canvases, but also tried some canvas and acrylic papers.  

Some of my papers looked a lot like ocean water (the blue and the purple) and since it's almost July, I thought a little beachy Christmas would be fun.  They turned out better than I first thought, considering the background is acrylic paint. 

I began by cutting all my pieces, backgrounds and sand dollar die all at once to save time.  The J and Y are stamps so I heat embossed the letters with Versamark and white emboss powder. I had to be careful because reheating the backgrounds could cause the white acrylic paint to heat up and emerge from underneath the other paint colors, which it did at one end of the purple one.  The embossing I did a couple times the went over it with a white Sharpie pen to cover up some of the holes. I doubled up the sand dollar on each one for more interest.  Seeing as how I already had the backgrounds made, these cards were very easy and quick to make.

Now come and hop along with us and visit each team member's blog below for some festive holiday cheer and inspiration. 

Kelly Lunceford

Lesley Croghan

Anita Madden

Broni Holcombe

Claire Broadwater

Julee Tilman

Kim Heggins

Lori Tecler

Nance Salkeld (You are HERE!)

Nina Forsyth

Rachel Bergfeld

Vicki Finger

Card Supplies:

STAMPS: Letters J and Y -Joy To The World (Papertrey Ink).

PAPER: Neenah Solar Crest 110 lb white cardstock; acrylic paper (Strathmore); canvas paper (Strathmore).

INK: Versamark; Various acrylic paints.

EXTRAS: White emboss powder (WOW); Postage stamp dies (Catherine Pooler Designs); Sand Dollar Die (Reverse Confetti); colored gems.

Keeping Christmas Blessings!