Christmas Card Club - Shimmer and Sparkle

This fortnight, Lorraine at Rainy's Craft Room chose the theme of Shimmer And Sparkle for our Christmas Card Challenge. I knew right away which NBus item I would use. I had just purchased a set of crystal owls and thought they would be perfect for Christmas cards.

If you would like to check out the other entries, the hyperlinks to the other members blogs are on my right sidebar. It is worth taking a peak as there are some very talented ladies there and they make fabulous cards!

Card 1. The DP for this card is all from my stash...Doodlebug, Here Comes Santa Claus, 6x6 paper pad.  The NBUS owl, as well as the pearl and diamond bling, are from Forever In Time.

I used a second  NBUS item here...a Nouvo clear crystal glaze paint pen. It is very much like clear Wink of Stella, but the effect is much more pronounced. I used it on the white branch as well as on the aqua embossed snowflake panel.really like the effect and have added some of the other coloured Nouvo pens to my Christmas list! I keep a running list of small items that are perfect for stocking gifts. DH likes the ease of buying everything at the craft store!

I am entering this card over at Pixies Crafty Workshop - must use snippets. My snippets are the aqua embossed panel, the pink and red circular mats, the white branch, and the Xmas tree DP.

Card 2.  My NBUS item on this card is the Forever  In Time, Crystal Swirls that I used in the left hand corners. If anyone knows a foolproof way to get delicate swirly bling off the acrylic paper and onto the card without stretching and distorting it, let me know. After fighting with those swirls several times and even breaking a third swirl, I thought perhaps I should have lifted it off with transfer tape on the good side, and then peeled that tape off once the bling was attached. Let me know if you have tried that or any other good method.

The grey and white snowflake background DP is from my snippets file, and the border band is First Edition. I added two Impression Obsession snowflakes...how I love that die! They are the miniature snowflakes and fit card sizes quite well. A wee diamond in the centre of each one tied in the sparkle theme. The border branch is Memory Box and was given a good coating of Nouvo crystal paint pen. The black circle is Spellbinders, and the red stitched circle is Lawn Fawn.

Card 3. My NBUS on this card is the Simple Stories Claus and Co, DP.
The word Joy and the stars are part of the DP and I went over them with three coats of Nouvo clear glimmer pen. I added clear diamonds to the stars on the red DP and the vintage silver border is glitter tape from the dollar store. I added a thin layer of Nouvo pen over the red and grey mats as I thought they looked a bit plain and I needed to make the card shine for the Shimmer and Sparkle theme..