Encre, papier, ciseaux

Warm Wishes and Christmas Merri-mint

Inspiration: Lawn Fawnatics #186 (Coffee, Tea & Treats) + TGIF #502 (red, white and gold)

I looked through my Lawn Fawn sets and dies for the challenge and thought that the mint jar could fit the treats theme, which was perfect for seasonal creating. I realized that this could fit nicely with the TGIF challenge, as I could limit the colours I was using and make the mint red.

I did use grey Copic markers to add a bit of shading inside the mason jar, making sure to avoid touching the mints to avoid any ink bleed. I stamped the lid on gold paper, embossing it in gold powder, and I tied a red ribbon around the jar for a bit of texture.

I was looking for ideas on what to do for the background and decided to use the Layered Plaid dies from Tim Holtz. I did the thinner layer in gold and the larger layer in red. When I placed it over a white card base, I found the result to be too stark, so I decided to try grey cardstock to tone it down, and I have Fog from Lawn Fawn, which is a very soft grey. It made a huge difference and looked much softer, so I added a grey layer in the back, and used the white card base. But I had another surprise - I was not sure why there was such a large margin around the plaid. I would have expected the plaid to be either the exact size of an A2 card or just ¼" smaller, but the size is actually not proportional to a regular card front. Width-wise, it is 3/8" smaller, but height-wise, it is ½" smaller. Make that make sense... I ended up just cutting my card base to size, but I have to admit I was not impressed.

It took me a while to find inspiration for the sentiment. What sparked inspiration is that I spotted the foiled images I had done at Thanksgiving to demo my Glimmer machine to my mom and nieces. I had a few pieces left from that demo that I had slipped into a pocket, and the gold-foiled snowflakes looked perfect to decorate the card. As I was fishing them out, I spotted a metallic red die-cut sentiments that I had also slipped into this pocket after not using it on another project. Here, the size and color was working perfectly, so that solved my problem.

I added one more mint behind the jar and one in the front, popped up on dimensional adhesive, and I topped the snowflakes with ombre glitter drops. I used my remaining images on a red envelope to match.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: How You Bean?, How You Bean? Mint Add-On (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Basic White, Cherry Cobbler, Vellum (Stampin' Up!);
Fog (Lawn Fawn); Opulent Gold Specialty Paper Pack (Sizzix); Red Metallic (Hunkydory)
Ink: VersaMark, Cherry Cobbler (Stampin' Up!); Tuxedo BLack (Memento)
Dies: How You Bean?, How You Bean? Mint Add-On (Lawn Fawn);
Layered Plaid (Tim Holtz for Sizzix); Outlined Christmas Sentiments, Glimmering Snowflakes (Spellbinders)
Accessories: Stampin' Dimensionals Red Ribbon (Stampin' Up!);
Sparkle & Shine Ombré Glitter Drops (PinkFresh Studio); Rich Gold Embossing Powder (Wow!);
A2 Red Envelope (Envelopes.com); Markers (Copic)

 

Christmas Book Stack

Inspiration: Color Throwdown #822 

The Merry Bookmas die and stencil set is one of my latest acquisition. i was looking forward to using it and drew inspiration from the Color Throwdown color combo. I paired Lumberjack Plaid and Peeled Paint Distress Oxide and Altenew's Antique Gold inks to do the stenciling, and when using the center die, I used an embossing sandwich, as I did not want the details to be cut out.

I then used my heat tool on the lowest setting to set the ink and proceeded to add words to the books using the Elegant Christmas 2 stamp set. Most of the sentiments were too long so I masked off some words to keep only one and I embossed them with gold powder. This added a very elegant touch to the book stack. 

I wanted to add this to an embossed background and I wanted it to be elegant. I looked at options and immediately jumped on the Scripty 3D embossing folder. Before running it on the cardstock, I did die-cut it to size using the Stitched Rounded Rectangle dies from Lawn Fawn. I wrapped some seam binding at the bottom of the panel to ground the stack and I added some gold foil pearls and gold sparkle crystals around the books and on their spines. 

I created a card base out of Old Olive cardstock and hesitated between using plain cardstock or adding patterned paper. I did not want to make the card too intricate, but since I have so much patterned paper, I thought I'd at least audition something and I figured the Simple Vintage Yuletide collection might work nicely, as I remembered it includes olive green and warm white in it. Sure enough, it worked very well and I loved how the plaid paper looked so this was a no-brainer.

I then started playing with the Layered Books dies to decorate the inside of the card and the matching envelope. This requires a few steps for each book, but the results are quite cute. I am really excited about this bookish card turned out.

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Elegant Christmas 2 (Waffle Flower)
Cardstock: Old Olive, Real Red, Very Vanilla (Stampin' Up!);
Opulent Gold Specialty Paper (Sizzix)
Patterned Papers: Simple Vintage Yuletide (Simple Stories)
Ink: Peeled Paint, Lumberjack Plaid Distress Oxide (Ranger); Antique Gold Pigment (Altenew); VersaMark
Dies: Layered Books, Merry Bookmas (Waffle Flower);
Small Stitched Rounded Rectangle Stackables (Lawn Fawn)
Accessories: Merry Bookmas Stencils, Blender Brushes (Waffle Flower); Scripty 3D Embossing Folder,
Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!); Seam Binding (Unknown); Rich Gold Embossing Powder (Wow!);
Gold Sparkle Crystals, Gold Foil Pearls (Studio Katia); Green Envelope (The Paper Cut)

 

Lovely Sweater Weather

Inspiration: Tuesday Morning Sketches #785 

After finishing my last layout, I wanted to make a card using the Acorn Lane collection from Simple Stories. I picked plaid for the background and layered a piece of blue bird patterned paper leftover from my layout, plus a thin strip of yellow gingham also left on my desk. I used the vanilla cotton thread I still had on my desk to tie a bow for a bit of texture.

For the circle, I used the Doily die set from Coco and Reno, with the pink polka dot paper. I stuck one of the flower images from the sticker book on a piece of scrap cardstock and fussy cut the image, then I layered it with the sweater image from the cardstock stickers. I looked through my sentiments and picked "have a lovely day" from the Everyday Script stamp set from The Greeting Farm. I stamped the sentiment in VersaMark ink and embossed it with Early Espresso embossing powder. I used the Everyday Sentiment Banners dies from Lawn Fawn to cut it out.

I popped everything up with foam adhesive, and I added an enamel dot to the flower's centre and a decorative brad in the upper right corner. I mounted the card front on In the Navy cardstock. I used a piece of patterned paper to make a matching envelope (slightly oversized since the leaves were hanging off the side of the card). 

 

 

While looking through the sticker book, I had seen a cute image with books, which made me think it would look lovely on a bookmark. One of my recent finds is the Tall Tag dies from My Favorite Things, which worked perfectly to create the bookmark itself. On the back, I used the circle sticker with the glasses. As always with bookmarks, I kept everything flat, and I decided not to add fiber or ribbon to the top of this one.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Everyday Script (The Greeting Farm)
Cardstock: Buckaroo Blue, Very Vanilla (Stampin' Up!); In the Navy (Gina K Designs)
Patterned Papers, Cardstock Stickers, Sticker Book, Enamel Dots, Decorative Brads: Acorn Lane (Simple Stories)
Dies: Doily (Coco and Reno); Tall Tag (My Favorite Things); 
Dotted Rectangle Stackables, Everyday Sentiment Banners (Lawn Fawn)
Accessories: Early Espresso Stampin' Emboss Powder, Stampin' Dimensionals, 
Very Vanilla Cotton Twine, Envelope Punch Board (Stampin' Up!)

 

Don't Get Your Tinsel in a Tangle

Inspiration: The Paper Players #718 (Be a Deer) and Tuesday Morning Sketches # 784

I had been wanting to use the Simple Vintage Holly Jolly collection and I was pretty sure it had some vintage deer images, so it was perfect for the Paper Players challenge. Because the Tuesday Morning sketch was using an angled paper, I thought if I cut the top and bottom off rather than just overlay a piece of paper on my card, I could make two cards at the same time, so that's the strategy I went with.

I added gold-rimmed red ribbon to the seams and I die-cut two doilies two place behind my main images, both of which I picked from the cardstock stickers sheet. It felt a little bare, so I looked in the collection for other elements I could overlay. I found some rectangle words in the sticker book, so I mounted them on cardstock and cut them out in order to be able to move them around the card and decide where to layer then. The little circles also came from the sticker book.

 

 

 

  

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Thick Very Vanilla (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers, Basics Kit, Sticker Book, Cardstock Stickers, Enamel Dots,
Bits & Pieces: Simple Vintage Holly Jolly (Simple Stories)
Dies: Decorative Doily Duo (My Favorite Things); Dotted Rectangle Stackables (Lawn Fawn)
Accessories: 1/8" Red Ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals, Medium Vanilla Envelope (Stampin' Up!)

 

Hello Pumpkin

Inspiration: Freshly Made Sketch #659 + Just Add Ink #725 (Stenciling) + In[k]spire Me #545 (Halloween)

I'm trying to finish off the Bewitched collection from Echo Park and when I saw the Freshly Made sketch, I thought I could line up a few pumpkins to mimic the sketch. Since there was also a stenciling challenge going on, I decided to add details behind the pumpkins using Dune stencil butter and the Theater Night stencil from Finnabair. 

I wanted to add a sentiment that was versatile enough to not be limited to Halloween, so I decided on "Hello Pumpkin." I wanted to add Hello using the Inspired alphabet Thickers and I had a feeling I probably had something that said "pumpkin" somewhere in my stash and I found was I was looking for in the first kit I grabbed - Fall Farmhouse from Simple Stories. On the cardstock sticker sheet, there was "our little pumpkin," so I just cut the extra words off and the shade of orange of the sticker was a perfect match to the pumpkins I was using.  I used Sparkle & Shine ombré glitter drops from Pinkfresh Studio to finish the card off.

The card panel was mounted on Thick Very Vanilla cardstock and I used a medium Vanilla envelope to finish off the set, adding matching stickers and a few extra glitter drops as well.

The result feels oddly elegant. I'm loving the Dune stencil butter against the black night sky patterned paper.

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Thick Very Vanilla (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers, Cardstock Stickers: Bewitched (Echo Park)
Dies: Dotted Rectangle Stackables (Lawn Fawn)
Accessories: Dune Stencil Butter (The Crafter's Workshop); Theater Night Stencil (Finnabair);
Inspired Alphabet Thickers (American Crafts); Sparkle & Shine Ombré Glitter Drops (Pinkfresh Studio);
Fall Farmhouse collection (Simple Stories)

 

Luna Tag Folder

After testing the Tag Folder dies with the 25 & Peppermint collection, I felt ready to make my tag for niece's birthday. I initially picked a fun and colorful Halloween collection from American Crafts called Happy Halloween, that has holographic foil on it. I started putting the tag together and I was not super enthused by the results, so I decided to pivot and pull out the Luna collection from Prima Marketing instead. I'm so glad that I did, because I'm much more pleased with the results obtained on this other tag. My only reticence comes from the fact that I remember making an interactive card for her two birthdays ago using Prima's 31 collection and the results are feeling very similar since Frank Garcia's Halloween collections are really all blending together, despite a few subtle colour differences here and there. Nonetheless, cute is cute, so I'm going to stick with this project. She asked to receive some cash for her birthday, so the pocket inside will be a good place to hide the money in. 

I made a fun dangle using ribbon scraps and one of the beautiful moon charms from the Luna collection. I used a clip at the top, so this can be unclipped and used elsewhere if wanted.

To embellish the front, I used some of the ephemera pieces and the pumpkin from the chipboard stickers. While I was looking through my ribbon scraps to make the dangle, I had found an old ribbon flower trim, so I snipped a single flower out and placed it under the pumpkin to add texture. The little stars were topped with opal rounds.

Inside the tag, I created the pocked with black mirror cardstock and overlayed a piece die-cut out of patterned paper, which I topped with a pumpkin puffy sticker. I fussy cut the witch tag from the cut-apart sheet and used the long tag die from the set to die-cut a sentiment from another cut-apart sheet. I wanted to add hole reinforcers on those, but I was not loving having gold foil paper on all three, so I used Burnished Rose mirror cardstock on one of them and Welsh Gold glitter cardstock on the other. I added black and grey baker's twine on the sentiment tag.

This is another paper collection that really comes to life when you see the gold foiling catching the light, which pictures don't necessarily reflect well. 

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Welsh Gold Glitter, Burnished Rose Mirror (Tonic);
Rich Gold Mirri (Hunkydory)
Patterned Papers, Ephemera Pack, Puffy Stickers, Enamel Charms: Luna (Prima Marketing)
Dies: Tag Folder, Planner Essentials 11 (Elizabeth Craft Designs)
Accessories: Black/Grey Baker's Twine, Pale Papaya Ribbon, Blushing Bride Ribbon, Opal Rounds,
Sparkly Black Organza Ribbon, Black Gingham Ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!);
Jump Rings, Clips (Amazon)

 

It's Witching Hour

Inspiration: Simon Says Stamp Monday (Spooky/Add Some Purple)

I had put aside some Halloween collections I am hoping to finish up, including Bewitched (2018) from Echo Park. It was perfect for the Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge, and I decided to make a tag/bookmark using the Easy Layers tag dies from Avery Elle.

I used the night sky paper for the main layer and the purple bat paper for the base. I die-cut the clouds out of Glacier glitter paper from Pinkfresh Studio and a few extra stars from the same paper.

Because this is meant to be a bookmark, I made sure to glue the sentiment and witch stickers flat. If it had been for another project, I think the witch would have looked cute popped up on dimensional adhesive. 

At the top of the tag, I added a grey large eyelet and threaded some sparkly black ribbon, which I knotted in place. I've noticed that this way of adding ribbon is the least cumbersome on bookmarks.

 

 

Supplies
Glitter Paper: Glacier (Pinkfresh Studio)
Patterned Papers, Stickers: Bewitched (Echo Park)
Dies: Easy Layers Tag (Avery Elle)
Accessories: Grey Eyelet (We R Memory Makers); 3/8" Black Glittered Organdy Ribbon (Stampin' Up!)

 

31 Tag

Inspiration: Cut It Up Challenges #315 (Add Embellishments)

When I purchased my Sidekick, it came with a Tim Holtz starter set, including dies, an embossing folder and stamps. I was inspired to pair it with the Bewitched collection I'm trying to use up.

I die-cut the tag out of purple patterned paper, stamped the frame in Tuxedo Black ink and embossed the frame. I then went back and stamped the No. and flourish in VersaMark and embossed the images in Platinum powder from Ranger. I cut a hole reinforcer out of black mirror cardstock. I also used the dies from this set to die-cut "31" out of Champagne glitter paper.

As I was looking for something else in my stash, I found some Prima flowers I had found on clearance and I pulled them out to add to the tag. I don't particularly like the beads they used for the center of the orange flowers - they're way too colorful to work with most Halloween collections, so I tore the center out and layered the orange flower with a smaller black one in the center. I glued the die-cut numbers on the side of the flower, where it showed up more clearly than when it was placed flat on the tag. I placed a couple of stickers from the collection underneath the flower to layer - and I ended up with an adorable Halloween tag.

Not sure what I'll use it for - it will either get worked into a card design or tied on a cello bag filled with Halloween candy.

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Champagne Essentials Glitter Paper (Pinkfresh Studio); Black Mirror Cardstock (Prism Studio)
Stamps, Dies and Embossing Folder: Sidekick Starter Kit (Tim Holtz for Sizzix)
Patterned Papers, Cardstock Stickers: Bewitched (Echo Park)
Accessories: Flowers - Halloween pack 650292  (Prima Marketing); Platinum Embossing Powder (Ranger)

 

Warm Hugs from Mr. Fox

Inspiration: Mojo Monday #230

I colored multiple images in shades that match the Sugar Plum collection earlier today, and I designed this one around the fox image and the sentiment embossed with Peeled Paint Distress glaze on vellum. I picked an old Mojo Monday sketch as inspiration, and I fussy cut a little poinsettia from the patterned paper to mimic the embellishment in the corner of the rectangle on the sketch. I added iridescent rhinestones to the center of the poinsettia and around the card.

The card base was cut out of rose gold shimmery cardstock. I used a sticker from the collection on my matching envelope.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps and Dies: Winter Wishes (Paper Smooches)
Cardstock: Rose Gold Opulent Cardstock (Sizzix); Solar White (Neenah); 
Vellum (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers and Stickers: Sugar Plum (My Mind's Eye)
Dies: Scalloped Borders (Queen & Co); Perennial Postage (Stampin' Up!);
Layering Circles (Tonic)
Accessories: Iridescent Rhinestone Basic Jewels, Stampin' Dimensionals, Washi Tape (Stampin' Up!);
Square White Envelope (Envelopes.com); Markers (Copic);
Peeled Paint Distress Embossing Glaze (TIm Holtz for Ranger)

 

Sweet Santa

Inspiration: Hand Stamped Sentiments #449

The starting point of this card was the cute little Santa, which I put together using and older Echo Park die set. I used the solid papers from the Christmas Time 6n x 6 Mega Pad, except for the face, which I cut out of Petal Pink cardstock. (The cheeks as well, and I colored them with a Copic marker.) 

One of the cut-apart image from the paper pad was perfect to frame my little Santa, which I used to hide the sentiment. I added another piece of paper from the snowflake pattern at an angle underneath and then I went to the Sticker Book to find the little elements to add at the top and bottom to mimic the sketch. 

I'm really liking this collection - the sage colour that's included in the classic red and green combo really softens the papers and adds a very nice touch.

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Petal Pink, Basic White (Stampin' Up!)
 6 x 6 Mega Pad, Sticker Book, Adhesive Brads: Christmas Time (Echo Park)
Dies: Santa (Echo Park); Zig-Zag Stackers (Penny Black); Cross-Stitched Rectangle Stackables (Lawn Fawn)
Accessories: Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!); Pink Marker (Copic);
A2 Metallic Jupiter Envelope (Envelopes.com)

 

Peace on Earth

I have very little leftover pieces from the Hello Christmas collection from Carta Bella (2020), and the starting point for this card was one of the little labels I had created with the Christmas Labels bundle from Stampin' Up! I liked how I could place the chipboard truck image right underneath the last word of the sentiment, so I looked for a rectangle die that could create the base piece for this setup. I finally ended up using the Mini Slimline Stackables dies from Lawn Fawn and to fill in the space a little bit on the left side, I wrapped thick baker's twine around, tied in a bow and added a snowflake chipboard piece over it, topped with a little red snowflake chipboard piece. The little flourish is actually a negative piece from one of the tags from the Christmas Labels bundle, which I recycled here as an embellishment. I added a puffy sticker bough next to the sentiment and two more circle snowflake chipboard pieces in the right corner. 

I placed a piece of green cardstock on my white card base, and added another layer of patterned paper, also die-cut with the Mini Slimline Stackables dies. 

I used the Mini Slimline Envelope die from Simon Stamps Stamp to make my matching envelope. It was a tight squeeze, but thankfully, I had a couple of 12" x 12" patterned papers from this collection to make it work. I used a leftover die-cut piece as the journaling block and a couple more chipboard piece and puffy sticker to make the envelope match the card.

For something made out of scraps, this turned out pretty nice. I have recently sent in a box of cards to contribute to the Cards for the Cure fundraising, and I'd like to send Christmas cards before the holiday season rolls around, so this would make a great card for this cause. Since the cards are sold in Vancouver, this is giving me a nice opportunity to make English cards, which is a nice opportunity to use up stickers and stamps that I don't usually pull out when I make French projects.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Christmas Labels (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Mini Slimline Card Bases (Simon Says Stamp)
Patterned Papers, Puffy Stickers, Accent Chipboard: Hello Christmas (Carta Bella)
Dies: Christmas Labels, Stitched So Sweetly (Stampin' Up!); Mini Slimline Stackables (Lawn Fawn);
Mini Slimline Envelope (Simon Says Stamp)
Accessories: Stampin' Dimensionals, Garden Green Thick Baker's Twine (Stampin' Up!);
Rich Gold Fine Embossing Powder (Wow!)

 

Winter Wishes

The starting point for this card was the second label I had stamped using the Christmas Label bundle from Stampin' Up! I was trying to work with current sketches I had found online but I'm down to paper scraps and could not quite make it work, so I let the die-cut pieces that I had dictate the design. I had a large reindeer image leftover from the Chipboard Accent set, so I place it at the bottom of the sentiment, and I added a fussy cut flower in the opposing corner. This is again another very simple design, but the elegant label elevates it nicely.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Christmas Labels (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Thick Very Vanilla (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers, Chipboard Accents: Hello Christmas (Carta Bella)
Ink: VersaMark
Dies: Zig-Zag Stackers (Penny Black); Wonky Stitched Squares Stax (My Favorite Things);
Christmas Labels (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Washi Tape (Unknown); Very Vanilla Medium Envelope, Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!);
Metallic Gold Rich Super Fine Powder (Wow!)

 

Celebrating The Holidays All the Ways

Inspiration: Simon Says Stamp Monday (Christmas/Winter) + Mojo Monday #335

I wanted to try out the Christmas Labels bundle from Stampin' Up!, so I die-cut the labels out of green and red Carta Bella paper and embossed sentiments in gold powder on each of them. For this card, I picked the "Celebrate the Holidays in all the ways" tag as my starting point. I layered the label over a mini scalloped square die-cut out of the tree patterned paper. I found some stockings image in the Chipboard Accents set, and I tucked a fussy cut flower underneath the sentiment block.

For the background, I combined a green polka dot paper and a red gingham piece, adding gold-foiled striped washi between the seam, and topping it with two chipboard pieces as well. I used the Zig-Zag Stackers dies to add stitching around the edges for added detailing. I mounted the card base on a piece of Thick Very Vanilla cardstock.

I repeated similar elements on a vanilla A2 envelope to make a matching set. This card is very simple, but I love how elegant the stamped label turned out.

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Christmas Labels (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Thick Very Vanilla (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers, Puffy Stickers, Chipboard Accents: Hello Christmas (Carta Bella)
Ink: VersaMark
Dies: Zig-Zag Stackers (Penny Black); Stitched Mini Scalloped Square Stax (My Favorite Things);
Christmas Labels (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Metallic Gold Rich Super Fine Powder (Wow!); Washi Tape (Unknown);
Stampin' Dimensionals, Very Vanilla Medium Envelope, Small Oval Punch (Stampin' Up!)

 

Elegant Birthday Wishes

Inspiration: Tuesday Morning Sketches #776 + Colour Inkspiration #175

I had not tested the larger die of the Sweetheart Borders set and was curious how it looked so I looked at current colour challenges for inspiration and landed on the monochromatic yellows of the Colour Inkspiration challenge. The flourishes border reminded me of the Tuesday Morning sketch, so I decided to use that as my guide for the design of the card.

I die-cut the flourishes out of Lemon Lolly cardstock first. (On a side note, I'm not really sure why So Saffron was retired and this was added to the SU! colour line. This colour reminds me of Post-It notes. I only have the sheets that came in the new colour introduction package, so at least I had the colour on hand for the challenge.) I added it to Crushed Curry textured cardstock and die-cut it to the right size using the Diagonal Stitched Rectangles from PinkFresh Studio. 

I cut a piece of Crumb Cake cardstock to fill in the rest of the space at the top. It felt a little plain, so I picked the Quilted 3D embossing folder from Tim Holtz for Sizzix and I ran the cardstock through the Big Shot for added texture. Despite my best efforts, every time I use this folder, I think the stitching is very hard to see, so I ended up using the backside, where I feel the stitching is more obvious, and I still get the fabric texture.

For the central block, I thought that a sentiment die with the shadow piece could replace the rectangle from the image. I cut the sentiment out of white cardstock and the shadow from vellum. The sentiment was getting a little lost of the lace background, so I ended up die-cutting a shadow out of Crumb Cake and adding it behind the vellum to give the sentiment more visual weight. The whole panel was mounted on a white card base.

Interestingly, I had a matching yellow envelope in the same Post-It shade I don't particularly like from an assorted envelope pack, and I remembered to pull it out to see if it matched the card - and it did.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Thick Basic White, Vellum, Lemon Lolly, Crushed Curry, Crumb Cake (Stampin' Up!)
Dies: Diagonal Stitched Rectangles (PinkFresh Studio); Birthday Wishes (Simon Says Stamp);
Sweetheart Borders (Heartfelt Creations)
3D Embossing Folder: Quilted (Tim Holtz for Sizzix)
Accessories: Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!); A2 Yellow Envelope (The Paper Cut)

 

Warm Hugs Diagonal Pocket

Inspiration: Linda Heller YouTube Tutorial

Linda's tutorial reminded that I had not done a diagonal pocket in many years and as I was trying to finish off my paper scraps from the Sugar Plum collection from My Mind's Eye, this pocket card was a perfect way to do so. I had a couple of leftover images from my coloring session and the remaining sentiment embossed on vellum, so I used those pieces to decorate the envelope. I added Glossy Accents to the bird's glasses.

I made my insert out of Pear Pizzazz cardstock and used my Circle Tab punch to create a little tab out of gingham paper at the top, on which I added two faceted gems.

I picked a metallic Aquamarine envelope to match and used leftover papers and a colored image to make it match.

Supplies
Stamps: Winter Wishes (Paper Smooches)
Cardstock: Lost Lagoon, Vellum (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers: Sugar Plum (My Mind's Eye)
Dies: Do-It-All Gift Tag (My Favorite Things)
Accessories: Pear Pizzazz Satin Ribbon, Circle Tab Punch, Solid Faceted Gems,
Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!); White Detail Embossing Powder (Wow!);
Glossy Accents (Ranger); A2 Metallic Aquamarine Envelope (Envelopes.com)

 

Ho Ho Ho Bauble

Inspiration: Sunday Stamp #342

I have been crafting all weekend long with the Mistletoe Kisses collection from Simple Stories (2016). I was down to very limited scraps, but the Sunday Stamp sketch inspired me to fussy cut the cute bauble image from the cut-aparts and use at as the circle on my centre square. I added a few embellishments on the O's and I matted the striped paper with Glacier glitter cardstock. I added a fussy cut image to an aqua envelope to match.

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Thick Basic White (Stampin' Up!); Glacier Glitter Cardstock (PinkFresh Studio)
Patterned Papers: Mistletoe Kisses (Simple Stories)
Dies: Dotted Rectangle Stackables, Stitched Banners (Lawn Fawn); 
Stitched Mini Scallop Square STAX (My Favorite Things)
Accessories: Silver Rockette, Mini Buttons (Queen & Co);
Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!); A2 Seafoam Envelope (Envelopes.com)

 

Snowpeople Duo

Inspiration: 52 Christmas Card Throwdown + Mojo Monday sketch #232 

I looked through my stamps and dies for some snow people and landed on the Cool Dudes stamp set from Paper Smooshes. I love those little images, they are fun and quick to colour and look so good on a card. I pulled out the Sugar Plum collection (2016) from My Mind's Eye, which is on my list of paper pack I would like to use up. 

I picked the paper that has little trees on it to give my snowmen a background and as I was moving stamp sets around, I noticed that the Winter Wishes set has a die for the main sentiment, so I decided to use it on my card. I had a piece of vellum lying on my desk and decided to emboss on it. As I was looking at colours options, I found that my Distress glazes would pair nicely, so I tested a couple of colours and decided to use the Speckled Egg version. I particularly like that since the glaze is not opaque, the sentiment looks like it is made out of ice. 

I paired two patterned papers to create the background, added a thin strip of striped paper in the center and I matted the image with a scalloped square to help it stand out more against the patterns. I punched a ribbon hole and added Pretty Peacock ribbon around the papers. I used the Cheery Snowflakes dies from Carta Bella and Glacier glitter paper to create snowflakes to add to the card, topping one of them with a Graphic 45 gem.

I used a piece of plaid patterned paper to make a matching envelope. I die-cut an address block out of Pool Party cardstock, added another small snowman image in the corner and my remaining snowflake in the top corner. I like how the glittery line of the patterned paper frames the block.

I love making Christmas/wintery card in soft candy colours. This turned out pretty cute. Only downside is that the glittered papers shed all over my desk and my clothes, so I'm going to be one sparkly lady for the rest of the evening.

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps and Dies: Cool Dudes, Winter Wishes (Paper Smooches)
Cardstock: Pear Pizzazz, Pool Party, Vellum (Stampin' Up!); Solar White (Neenah);
Glacier Glitter Paper (PinkFresh Studio)
Patterned Papers: Sugar Plum (My Mind's Eye)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento); VersaMark
Dies: Zig-Zag Stackers (Penny Black); Wonky Stitched Squares (My Favorite Things);
Scalloped Square Nestabilities (Spellbinders); Cheery Snowflakes (Carta Bella)
Accessories: Ribbon Hole Punch (Fiskars); Speckled Egg Distress Glaze (Ranger);
Stampin' Dimensionals, Pretty Peacock Ribbon, Envelope Punch Board (Stampin' Up!);
Gems (Graphic 45); Markers (Copic)

 

Not Superstitious

Inspiration: April 2024 Page Maps sketch

I was looking through my pictures to find birthday pictures to pair with Simple Stories' Birthday collection and I stumbled onto this picture of my niece, wearing clothes and holding an umbrella that matched the colour scheme from the collection perfectly. This picture has nothing to do with her birthday, but the patterns from the papers are generic enough that I thought I could work around that. I used a sketch to get my design started and I moved elements around to fit my picture size: the tag was pushed to the right side rather than be tucked underneath the picture (in part because I was using the bunting paper and did not want to hide that pattern) and I moved the title to the bottom of the picture, as it was going to be a long word.

I was debating getting my sewing machine out and laziness won so I did not, but I did go searching for my stitching rub-ons and found instead some very old Stampin' Up! rub-ons, with one of the sheet including olive green rub-ons that matched the collection very nicely. I picked the flourish and added it to the bottom right corner. I also added the "You make me happy." sentiment. I found some number stickers from an old Stampin' Up! Project Life kit and added my date at the bottom as well.

Since the Birthday collection is a small one, it does not include a tag sheet like the larger-sized collections do. I went looking through my other Simple Stories collection for something in matching colours and I found a tag that could work in the Heart Eyes collection. In it, I also found some decorative brads I could add to my layout, as well as a cute pair of pink glasses. On top of the tag, I tied a triple layer of sparkly green metallic ribbon, and I added a piece of thin washi where the pink topper part ends for added details.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Tempting Turquoise (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers, Cardstock Stickers: Birthday (Simple Stories)
Accessories: Project Life Stickers, Parakeet Party Metallic Woven Ribbon, Washi Tape,
Love & Happiness Rub-Ons (Stampin' Up!); Black Roughly Sewn Rub-Ons (49 & Market);
Heart Eyes Decorative Brads, Enamel Dots and Tag Patterned Paper (Simple Stories); 
Turquoise Little Letters (Queen & Co); Doll Thickers (American Crafts)

 

Birthday Gift Squares

Inspiration: Simon Says Stamp Monday (Happy Birthday) + Freshly Made Sketch #648 

After completing my layout using Simple Stories' Birthday collection, I proceeded to make a card with the collection as well. I was inspired by the Freshly Made Sketch since the sticker sheet had three gift stickers, which worked out well with the three squares from the sketch.

I used one of the dies from the Stitched Mini Scallop Squares set from My Favorite Things and I layered them over the yellow star paper using foam tape. I popped the gifts with dimensional adhesive over the squares as well. The top one was a little short, so I filled the empty space using one of the little dot stickers. I picked two sentiment stickers from the cardstock sticker sheet - "Happy Birthday" and "and many more!" and I added those to the center gift.

I added striped paper on each side of the yellow paper, adding green sparkly washi tape as well. I picked my card size based on how tall my block would be once the three squares would be stacked, so the card is 4" x 7". This was one of the sizes featured on the Envelope Punch Board, so I was able to grab patterned paper and make a matching envelope, using one of the cut-apart to make an address block.

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Thick Basic White (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers, Cardstock Stickers: Birthday (Simple Stories)
Dies: Stitched Mini Scallop Squares STAX (My Favorite Things)
Accessories: Envelope Punch Board, Washi Tape, Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!)

 

Mine! Mine! Mine!

Inspiration: Hand Stamped Sentiments #443 + Color Throwdown #803

I drew inspiration from the sunny color combo to use the Postage Collage Beach Days stencils and create some cute summery postage stamps. Once the designs were all inked and die-cut, I cut them apart so that they could be used on more than one card. I paired the French fries and the seagull on this card, and I die-cut a third postage stamp out of yellow patterned paper to add my sentiment on. I found this postage sentiment in an old Cat's Pajamas stamp set called Sending You.

I used the Postage Collage Beach Days stamp set to add a few seal images on the card base. I did not want to stamp the whole background for fear that it would be too busy, but adding a few circles in opposite corners added a bit of interest. I went through my little container of scraps organized by colours and pulled papers that matched my ink to create the blocks from the sketch. I used various rectangle dies to have stitching around my shapes, and I matted the pink rectangle with gold paper for added interest. 

For embellishing, I tied navy hemp twine from Lawn Fawn around the bottom of the card, and added a yellow puffy sticker and two rhinestones. On the envelope, I used some of that yellow paper to create the address block, and then I found some leftover stenciled stamps from a previous project, that were done in Melon Mambo and therefore matched my current card. I stamped the anchor circle image in navy in the middle, cut a smaller stamp and added those to my envelope to match the card.

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Postage Collage, Postage Collage Beach Days (Waffle Flower);
Sending You (The Cat's Pajamas)
Cardstock: Pacific Point, Basic White (Stampin' Up!); Gold Opulent Specialty Paper (Sizzix)
Patterned Papers: Varied (Unknown Source)
Ink: Pacific Point, Daffodil Delight, Night of Navy, Melon Mambo (Stampin' Up!)
Dies: Postage Collage (Waffle Flower); Stitched 4 Bar Rectangles Stackables (Lawn Fawn);
Zig-Zag Stackers (Penny Black); Wonky Stitched Rectangles (My Favorite Things);
Perennial Postage (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Rhinestones (Recollections); Bell Pepper Trinkets Puffy Stickers (Bella Blvd.);
A2 Nautical Blue Linen Envelope (Envelopes.com); Blender Brushes (Taylored Expressions)

Have Fun Beach Polaroid

Inspiration: Hand Stamped Sentiments #441

I wanted to craft but could not find inspiration, so I looked through my Mintay papers and decided to do some fussy cutting to pass the time. Once all of the remaining images from the Paradise collection were cut, I was inspired to start putting something together, Hand Stamped Sentiments' current challenge has summer polaroids on the image, so it fit nicely with the Paradise collection. I used one of the Polaroid cut-apart, and I started layering some of the images over it. 

I wanted to use the empty space at the top to add a sentiment, and I remembered I have a gold Thickers set with summer sayings, so I checked out what was in there. One sentiment said "Sun + Fun", so I pulled out my Dymo to write words to fill the sentiment in. I initially did "Have a Fun Birthday" but I was struggling to fit the words comfortably on the design, so I shortened it to "Have Fun" and it looked much better. 

I was initially planning on cutting the extra parasol that was hanging out the side of the card once everything was glued in place, but I realized that it would not look as cool if I did, so I decided to keep it as is and just make an oversize envelope out of the remaining patterned paper to fit instead. I added one more polaroid frame and a couple of fussy cut images on the envelope as well. 

I'm working my way through this collection to try and finish it off as I don't have a lot of it left.

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Certainly Celery (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers: Paradise (Mintay)
Ink: Antique Linen Distress (Ranger)
Dies: Zig-Zag Stackers (Penny Black)
Accessories: Stampin' Dimensionals, Envelope Punch Board (Stampin' Up!);
Crochet Thread; Heat Wave Thickers (American Crafts); 
Mini Blender Tools (Ranger); Label Machine (Dymo)

 

Back-to-School Time

Inspiration: July 2023 Page Maps Sketch

I paired some back to school pictures with the School Life collection (2021) from Simple Stories. I had printed my pictures in 2½" x 3½" format, so they fit perfectly in two of the chipboard frames from the collection. In lieu of the third picture, I included a tag from the cut-apart sheet. I used chipboard alpha stickers and Thickers to create my title, over a die-cut circle, and I used a 4" x 6" cut-apart to create a rolodex card just like on the sketch (using a Heidi Swapp punch.

 

 

 

Supplies
 Patterned Papers, Chipboard Frames, Puffy Stickers, Cardstock Stickers, Decorative Brads,
Enamel Dots: School Life (Simple Stories)
Punch: Rolodex (Heidi Swapp)
Dies: Cross-Stitched Circle Stackables (Lawn Fawn)
Accessories: White Baker's Twine, Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!); 
Courtyard Thickers (American Crafts); Holiday Magic Cardstock Alpha Stickers (Pinkfresh Studio)

 

Anya Celebrates Christmas

Inspiration: 52 Christmas Card Throwdown (Color An Image) + Mojo Monday sketch #45

I looked through my Greeting Farm stamps and picked Holiday Anya 8 for the 52 Christmas Card Throwdown challenge. I paired it with leftover papers from the Jingle All the Way collection from My Mind's Eye. For design ideas, I looked through old Mojo Monday sketches.

I colored the image with Copic markers, and I used a gold gel pen to add color to the now and the earrings. I also matted the scalloped rectangle with gold paper and used gold chevron washi tape to repeat gold throughout the design.

For the sentiment, I used stickers from the collection, layering Noel over the 25 sticker. I also used the holly berry sticker in the bottom corner of the main image block.

Finally, I made a matching envelope out of patterned paper, adding a die-cut address block and another one of the stickers as well.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Holiday Anya 8 (The Greeting Farm)
Cardstock: Teal (Bazzill); Solar White (Neenah); Basic White (Stampin' Up!); 
Gold Mirri Card (Hunkydory)
Patterned Papers, Cardstock Stickers: Jingle All the Way (My Mind's Eye)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Dies: Stitched So Sweetly (Stampin' Up!); Zig-Zag Stackers (Penny Black); Lacy Borders (Lawn Fawn)
Accessories: Gold Chevron Washi Tape (Bo Bunny); Stampin' Dimensionals, Envelope Punch Board (Stampin' Up!);
Markers (Copic); Gold Gelly Roll Pen (Sakura)

 

 

Baseball: The Greatest Game in the World

Inspiration: January 2024 Page Maps Sketch + Lasting Memory Challenge #705 (Favorite Tool = Sewing Machine)

My sister brought baseball tickets for her spouse's birthday and they sent me this picture of them enjoying the game. I knew it would be perfect to go with the Home Run collection from Carta Bella. I always love Steven Duncan's design style, even though I do find it hard to design with his patterned papers sometimes, as they tend to all have patterns that are the same scale and pretty busy. 

I picked a navy page from the Solids Paper Pack and I added my favorite paper for the main block: the pile of baseballs. I picked the red stripes for the side panel and included another favorite, the pattern with all of the typed quotes, to do a punched border. I decided then that I would like to ink some of the edges with Antique Linen Distress ink. I did not like the stark edge between the two, so I added navy washi tape there.

The next pieces I added were fussy cut from patterned paper. I added three blocks at the top to mimic the banners from the sketch, and I included the vintage ticket next to the picture because I thought it was really cool. I matted the picture with the green solid cardstock. 

I went to my sewing machine and, using navy thread, I ran a few lines of stitching on three sides of the large panel, following the sketch. I was not sure if I wanted to keep the hanging thread or not, but decided it went well with the grungy look of the line. I found this really cool Baseball sticker on the cardstock sticker sheet and really liked the like over the top of my picture, so I slid a piece of navy patterned paper underneath, added the large ball from the sticker sheet and popped up the sentiment on foam adhesive, and I decided this would serve as my title. 

I did need to find a place to add my journaling, though, so I decided to type it in red on manilla paper. I did try to use paper from the line but Carta Bella's cardstock is so thick, it just would not roll around the barrel of the typewriter, so i changed plans and went to my scrap bin and found something from another line that fit perfectly. (It's an old paper from My Mind's Eye and the colour is a perfect match). 

On a side note, I recently someone show how she decided to trim her leftover papers and cardstock to size and place them in a bin that she would place on her desk to pick from when she is designing projects. I liked the idea and I also happened to find a YouCopia divided bin on sale at Michaels recently and it works perfectly for this since I'm able to slide the dividers in the bin where I want them and have my different colours separated. It definitely came in handy here since I looked in the neutrals section and found exactly what I needed in a flash.

I was missing the date, so I went to my smaller alphabet stickers and found a red sticker set from Stampin' Up! that used to be part of their early pocket page kit collections. I used the numbers to write the date and added some enamel dots between the month and year. I'm pretty sure those enamel dots used to be white and they certainly cannot be called that anymore, but the yellowing made it perfect for this page. I also used Stampin' Up!'s resin stars, as their colours fit this line perfectly.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Patterned Papers, Solids Paper Pack, Cardstock Stickers: Home Run (Steven Duncan for Carta Bella)
Ink: Antique Linen Distress (Ranger)
Accessories: Round Binding Edge Border Punch (EK Tools); Sewing Machine;
Resin Star Embellishments, Stampin' Dimensionals, Designer Elements, Playing with Patterns Resin Dots,
Santa's Workshop Enamel Dots (Stampin' Up!); Mini Blending Tool (Studio Light);
Typewriter (We R Memory Makers); Washi Tape (Me and My Big Ideas)

 

Happy Harmony - Two Creations

Inspiration: Queen & Co sketches

I recently stumbled unto sketches that Queen & Co has made to specifically highlight the content of their Foundations die sets. I looked into the Foundation 24 sketches since I have those dies myself and was inspired to pull the Happy Harmony shaker kit to pair with them.

I used the paper pad from the kit and was initially planning to make one card with the pink hues and one with the orange hues, but I ended up making both cards in the same colour scheme because of a designing switch. I wanted to use the guitar along with the "Don't fret! I wouldn't forget your birthday!" sentiment. I started cutting my background pieces, stamped my sentiment, assembled the guitar and then I was shocked to realize just how long the guitar handle is! It was not fitting my card when placing it over the sentiment, so I thought I'd see if the violin would work. I assembled the shaker and was happy to see that I was able to make this instrument work with my original idea. 

Since the guitar was all ready to go, I picked another sketch, cut my papers and then went looking for a sentiment. The ones from the kit stamp set were not filling up the space enough. It took me a while to find something that I liked in my stash, but when I saw the "Howdy!" sentiment, I thought this could go well with a guitar, and the size was working out nicely. It looked nicer at an angle that straight on the card, so I added it that way. It was die-cut out of one of the specialty papers from the Silver Opulent cardstock pack from Sizzix, a nice charcoal grey with a very subtle shimmer to it. I switched the flowers from the sketch for stars instead. This is one of the die set I found in the Spellbinders clearance sale and I was very excited about it, as I found those little hand drawn stars will make really great accents for various different projects, and I like the four sizes included in the kit. They worked perfectly here, and I used the same charcoal grey specialty paper for the back and the orange patterned paper for the stars. I added foam adhesive behind to pop them off the card.

Both cards were embellished with Queen & Co embellishments. I picked linen-textured Nautical Blue envelopes and die-cut address blocks using the same die set, adding matching die-cut images to match the cards. This was a fun set to put together and I have to say, those little musical instrument shakers are super detailed and definitely cute.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps, Shaker Kit, Patterned Papers, Outline Dies, Toppings: Happy Harmony (Queen & Co)
Ink: Basic Grey (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: More Mustard (Stampin' Up!); Silver Opulent Cardstock Pack (Sizzix)
Dies: Foundation 24 (Queen & Co); Hand Drawn Stars (Spellbinders);
Howdy! (Karen Burniston for Riley and Company); Dotted Rectangle Stackables (Lawn Fawn)
Accessories: Assorted Toppings, Orange Pinwheels, Green Epoxy Dots, Iridescent Bubbles,
Orange Jelly Gems (Queen & Co); A2 Linen Nautical Blue Envelopes (Envelopes.com);
Beads (Mill Hill)

 

Create with Us - Treat Cart

Inspiration: Treat Cart Create With Us

This is the two projects I created following the Create With Us class from Lawn Fawn shared online. I had prepared and cut the supplies on the previous Friday and I was all ready to follow along with the class that evening, until I realized I was one week to early. So I put the supplies aside and then the next week, I was asked to babysit my nieces, so I couldn't follow along with the live class. Thankfully, they are recorded, so I was able to put the projects later. And it worked out, because I was reminded that I'm not a quick crafter, so I paused the video a few times to take my time and catch up.

The watercolour sky went well because I had done that technique before, but the drips did not work well the first time around. I only have one pack of Distress watercolour (so not the whole range), which is why I initially pulled out my old Watercolor Wonder crayons from Stampin' Up! and while the drip technique worked, the colours looked a little washed out to my liking. The paper around the crayons had also started to flake and it left a nasty black mark on my watercolour paper. So I decided to turn the paper around and try the technique again on the backside, using the Distress watercolour pencils in whatever colour I had available. Hence, my colour gradient is a little different from the one shown in the class, but I do like the result, and I was happy to learn a new technique. I had coloured all of the images from the set, so I included a couple of extras in my design to use them up.

 

 

 

 

Sweet Treat Wish

Inspiration: Lawn Fawnatics #174

I took part in the Create With Us class from Lawn Fawn, albeit after the live event. To make my life simpler, I stamped all of the images from the stamp set Treat Cart twice, knowing that I would have extra images that I could use to embellish inside the card and on the envelope.

I did that, but still had leftover colored images, including a little bunny, so when I saw the stencil challenge, I went through my Lawn Fawn stencil and when I spotted the Thought Bubbles, I got the idea to have the little bunny think of all of the frozen treats he could get. I also used the Grassy Hillside to ground the bunny. I wanted a French sentiment, so I pulled "Make a Wish" from a retired Stampin' Up! set.

I was going through my 6"x 6" paper pads to find something for the card base and nothing was really grabbing me, until I remembered I still had some frozen treats paper in similar pastels shades, so I fished it out of my scrap bin, and I had enough to not only do the card background, but also make a matching envelope out of it.

The white rectangle was getting lost on the busy background, so I matted it with Calypso Coral cardstock, and I matted the patterned paper with purple cardstock, then mounted the panel on a Pool Party card base. I wanted one more layer, so I pulled a pearlized doily, and it too was getting lost on the pattern so I used a blender brush to ink it with Pool Party ink (on the non-pearlized side). Then I remembered I also had some leftover brads from this collection, so I cut the prongs off and glued it next to the sentiment.

I used a purple cross-stitched rectangle on the envelope and some remaining colored images to tie it all together. For a card made with a bunch of old supplies and leftover images, it turned out pretty nice!

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Treat Cart (Lawn Fawn); Fait fêter ça (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Pool Party, Calypso Coral, Basic White, Chocolate Chip (Stampin' Up!);
Purple (Queen & Co)
Designer Series Paper. Designer Brads: Unknown Name (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento); Milled Lavendar, Bundled Sage, Forest Moss Distres Oxide (Ranger)
Stencils: Grassy Hillside, Thought Bubbles (Lawn Fawn)
Dies: Treat Cart, Cross-Stitched Rectangle Stackables (Lawn Fawn)
Accessories: Pearlized Doilies, Stampin' Dimensionals, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter,
Envelope Punch Board (Stampin' Up!); Blender Brushes (Waffle Flower); 
Markers (Copic), White and Black Gel Pen (Sakura)

 

Christmas Mail

I was trying to finish the remnants of my Merry & Bright collection and thought I could pull out the Parcel & Post Mailbox dies and make a Christmas version of it, giving me at the same time the chance to bring the Glimmer Hot Foil System back out. I combined Real Red and Cherry Cobbler cardstock to create the mailbox and I foiled my sentiment in Champagne foil in the centre.

To fill the mailbox, I used the foliage from this die set, but also added some elements from the Sealed Squiggles and Sealed Holiday Squiggles die sets, done in metallic paper. I did the little letter out of Warm White cardstock and went back to the Wise Owl die set to borrow the wax seal for it, which looks incredibly cute done in red foil cardstock.

On the envelope, I basically used all of my remaining sentiment stickers to create a little holiday border.

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Real Red, Cherry Cobbler, Evening Evergreen (Stampin' Up!);
Warm White, Sage, Forest Green Color Vibe (Simple Stories);
Gold Mirri (Hunkydory); Red Mirror (Prism Studio);
Mystical Opulent Cardstock (Sizzix); Candy Red (Tonic)
Patterned Papers, Cardstock Stickers: Merry & Bright (Simple Stories)
Dies: Zig-Zag Stackers (Penny Black); Parcel & Post Mailbox, All-Occasion Mailbox Greetings,
Wise Owl, Sealed Squiggles, Sealed Holiday Squiggles (Spellbinders)
Accessories: Washi Tape (Recollections); A2 Envelope, Stampin' Dimensionals,
Metallic Pearls (Stampin' Up!); Champagne Glimmer Foil (Spellbinders)

 

Santa Express

One of the Christmas collections that I'd like to use up is Santa Express from Stampin' Up! I had been working on fussy cutting images yesterday while watching some crafting videos and I was inspired to use them on a few cards today. I had also purchased the matching scrapbooking cards that goes with it, so I used some of the 4" x 6" cards to create the backgrounds. I cut them to size for a regular A2 card using rectangle dies.

To mat my cut images, I used circles from the Doily die set. I used white cardstock behind the train image, because the polka dot background is quite busy and I needed something plain to ground the image. I used one of the stickers from the scrapbook kit underneath to create my sentiment. I wanted puffs of smoke coming out of the engine, and I decided to punch some hearts out of red foil paper. The little heart comes from an old owl punch from Stampin' Up! I have not made an owl with it in forever, but I've held onto this punch specifically for the little heart, which is the perfect size and shape. The bottom seemed a little bare, so I wrapped red ribbon tied in a bow. (Because the ribbon does not look the same on the backside, I actually glued a piece of ribbon on the paper and then cut a second piece of ribbon that I created the bow with, tying it around the first piece of ribbon. This gave me better control on keeping the polka dot pattern on the front of all pieces showing.) I used some other fussy cut image and the leftover strip from the 4" x 6" card to decorate a red metallic envelope.

For the second card, I die-cut another 4"x 6" card which already had the sentiment on. I found a leftover piece of tulle ribbon, that I glued behind my red die-cut circle. I added a cute Santa image that has been fussy cut from the scrapbook cards as well, popped on dimensional adhesive. I then added little faceted gems around, mounted the card front on a red card base and that easily, I was done! I fussy cut another Santa image to add to a Rose Quartz metallic envelope to match.

I cut two additional 4" x 6" cards to size to decorate the inside of the envelope. Since some are designed as journaling pieces for scrapbooking, they are perfect for messages inside cards. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Real Red, Spruce Shadow, Basic White (Stampin' Up!);
Red Foil Paper (Prism Studio)
Patterned Papers, Memories & More Cards and Stickers: Santa Express (Stampin' Up!)
Dies: Doily (Coco & Reno); Zig-Zag Stackers (Penny Black)
Accessories: Stampin' Dimensionals, White Polka Dot Tulle Ribbon, Elegant Faceted Gems,
Red and Gold Polka Dot Ribbon, Basic Adhesive-Backed Sequins (Stampin' Up!);
A2 Jupiter and Rose Quartz Metallic Envelopes (Envelopes.com)

 

Good Day Sunshine

Inspiration: Mojo Monday #305 + Cut It Up #305 (Anything Goes)

This is the last image I had colored while spending time with my nieces. I had matched the colors of this one to the Summer Dreams collection from Echo Park. This is an older collection (2017) that I still love a lot.

There was still cool marquee from the chipboard pieces that made for a great sentiment, so I placed my girl next to it and then I layered multiple papers behind it to create a fun, summery card. I layered two ribbons and some baker's twine together for a layered bow, and I picked a few stickers from the sticker sheet to fill the empty space. I added a few enamel dots/shapes to the card as well.

Finally, I made a matching envelope out of the patterned paper, using the cool ombre sheet.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Miss Anya All Year (The Greeting Farm)
Cardstock: Basic White, Bermuda Bay, Night of Navy (Stampin' Up!); Pearlescent Vellum (Lawn Fawn)
Patterned Papers, Chipboard Stickers, Cardstock Stickers: Summer Dreams (Echo Park)
Dies: Zig Zag Rectangle Stackables (Lawn Fawn); Project Life Nesting Dies (American Crafts)
Accessories: Enamel Dots, Metallic Enamel Shapes, Polka Dot Tulle Ribbon, In Color Grosgrain Ribbon,
Stampin' Dimensionals, Envelope Punch Board (Stampin' Up!); Teal Twine (Lawn Fawn);
Markers (Copic)