Encre, papier, ciseaux

Many Christmas Wishes

This month's challenge on Shelli Gardner's blog was to share projects made with the Simply Scored tool. I'll admit I had never felt the need of getting a scoring tool before SU! came out with one but I decided to get one when SU! came up with its own version since it could be a legitimate part of my business. I haven't regretted the investment one bit. I had always used up to this point the scoring blade on my paper cutter but the Simply Scored is so much faster!!

Today's accordeon card is one of those techniques I had seen before but never tried myself. Not sure why - too much ideas, too little time I think was the reason. Anyway, I knew I wanted to use the adorable Something for Christmas single stamp for the middle pannel, and to pick colours, I relied on the trusty Color Coach to find a unique color combo.

The stamp was inked with markers and stamped on Whisper White cardstock. Then, I stamped the ornaments a second time, handcut them and popped them up on Dimensionals. I used one of the ornaments to decorate the back of the card as well, and used Crystal Effects to glue mica flakes all around the back panel.

The rest of the card was decorated very simply using patterned paper and cardstock. The trickiest part is figuring the measurements on the patterned paper. To create the indented shape, you need to use either the small paper cutter or a hobby blade. The tabletop cutter will not work since it is a guillotine cutter and you can't control and measure where the cut begins and end. To embellish the card a little, I added a bow made out of Riding Hood Red taffeta ribbon and a red rhinestone brad in the middle of a Saffron button.

 

 

 

Color Combo: More Mustard + Riding Hood Red + Basic Grey

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Pour Noël (Something for Christmas)
Cardstock: Basic Grey, Whisper White, Riding Hood Red
Designer paper: More Mustard
Inks: More Mustard, Riding Hood Red, Basic Grey
Accessories: Markers, button, rhinestone brad, mica flakes, Crystal Effects,
Simply Scored tool, Riding Hood Red taffeta ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals

 

Santa Comes But Once a Year

When I saw this week's Play Date Cafe colour combo, I thought it could make a beautiful soft Christmas card. I had also just received some new Christmas rub-ons that were recently added to SU!'s Clearance rack and since one of the sheet is brown, I thought it would work perfectly. The design was inspired by Verve's October sketch #5 and although I had a clear image of what I wanted to make, I had to veer off course once I started assembling because the sentiment block was bigger than I had anticipated and I couldn't get it to work with what I had in mind.

Once of the solutions was to use vellum for the vertical block to avoid completely hiding the background I had created. I layered a Lattice die-cut that had been covered with Champagne Mist shimmer paint over some Soft Suede textured cardstock. The sides of the card base and Soft Suede panels were inked with a dauber and Whisper White ink to create a frosted look. I used my Soft Suede marker to add a frame around the panel and added pearls in each corner.

The tape that "keeps" the panel in place is washi tape I got at a craft store. It's a new trend in scrapbook and I have read an article about different ways to use this tape in the latest Scrapbooks Etc. so when I saw the tape on clearance, I let myself get tempted to try it out.

The top and bottom of the vellum were punched with the Eyelet border punch and I added a die-cut snowflake (Northern Flurry die) underneath the Ho Ho Ho circle rub-on. The Santa slegh, another rub-on from the Old St.Nick pack, was applied on Marina Mist textured cardstock, die-cut with an oval die and I added white ink on the edges as well. Finally, I stamped a Marina Mist piece of cardstock and the card base with the Serene Snowflakes set and added a piece of Soft Suede polka dot ribbon. I added a couple of white snowflake rub-ons from the same pack on the card base.

 

 

Inspiration: Play Date Café #105

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Serene Snowflakes
Cardstock: Crumb cake, Marina Mist, Soft Suede, Vellum cardstock
Inks: Versamark, Whisper White
Accessories: Lattice die, Eyelet Border punch, washi tape, Soft Suede polka dot ribbon,
Old St. Nick rub-ons, Oval die, Pearl Basic Jewels, Champagne Mist shimmer paint,
Stampin' Dimensionals, Soft Suede marker, Crumb Cake envelope

 

Inkspirations #93 - Spicing It Up

  
 
  
 
 

I have been happily using my Spice Cake Designer paper throughout the fall and the pack is almost depleted. I plan to use every yummy last piece of paper in it, though, so I pulled it out one more time to make today's card. I was inspired to use one of the flowers from the patterned paper as my main image. I handcut it a few times and layered the various parts with Dimensionals. The resulting flower is very cute!

You'll also recognize one of the sentiments from the Hand-Penned Holidays set, embossed with the awesome Pewter powder. Some of the edges were distressed using the Cutting Kit distressing tool, and I added a few pearls for good measure. There's a lot of layers to this card, but it was still fairly quick and easy to put together. I hope you like it!

 

 

 
 

 

 

Come join the fun! Here is the LINK to our challenge blog, where you can share a link to your creation, and links to the other DT members' creations:

 

Brandi
Carrie
Helen
Ilina
Kirsty
Lee-Anne
Makeesha
Marisa
Renée

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Notes manuscrites (Hand-Penned Holidays)
Cardstock: More Mustard, Early Espresso, Pool Party, Lucky Limeade, Very Vanilla
Designer papers: Spice Cake
Inks: Versamark
Accessories:  Scallop Ribbon punch, Early Espresso baker's twine, Pearl basic jewels,
Ticket Corner punch, brads, Stampin' Dimensionals, Circle punch, Distressing tool (Cutting kit)

 

The Naughty List

After putting together my Letters to Santa class projects, I was left with a couple of sticky die-cuts, and the list one was the starting point for this card. I thought I could make a list of who's been naughty and nice and then try to scratch the Naughty check out, as if a kid had tried changing it up to "Nice."

The blue circle underneath the punched snowflake is another die-cut from the Letters to Santa set, and so is the circle in the center of the snowflake. I added a rhinestone and popped it up over a piece of striped ribbon I tied around the card. I added two sticky borders from the kit and decorated one with rhinestones as well. I added two brads at the top of the list and I was done!

I am really loving the die-cuts and how they allow me to put something really cute together in a pinch.

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Cardstock: Marina Mist
Designer papers: Letters to Santa
Accessories: Markers, Striped grosgrain ribbon, Rhinestone basic jewels, Snowflake punch,
Stampin' Dimensionals, White envelope, Letters to Santa sticky die-cuts, Brads

 

Focus on the Big Shot: Stocking Accents die

 

This is one of the cards we made yesterday at my Holidays mini technique class. We used not only the Stockings die to make the card base, but also the Stockings Accessories die to decorate it. We used the red glimmer paper to paper piece stripes on the candy cane and we use the stylus from the Simply Scored board to add lines to the holly leaves. The cuff, toe and heel were die-cut out of Island Indigo Designer paper and we added a matching Island Indigo brad to hold the Olive polka dot ribbon in place.

The stocking was embossed with the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder and we overstamped the Netting background stamp over it to make the details pop. Then we finished with a couple of rhinestones in the center of the embossed designs.

Thinking you might like to get a Big Shot of your own? Don't forget this is the last week to get it for free. And remember that it also means free shipping on it! Contact me to get the ordering paperwork.

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Netting
Cardstock: Shimmer White, Cherry Cobbler, Lucky Limeade
Designer Paper: 2011-2012 In Colors DSP pack (Island Indigo)
Inks: Cherry Cobbler
Big Shot: Stocking die, Stocking Accessories die, Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder
Accessories: In Colors polka dot brad, Stylus, Old Olive polka dot ribbon,
Rhinestone basic jewels

 

Spotlight on the Big Shot: Petal Cone Die

This is a pocket card I put together last Spring to submit to Paper Crafts that didn't get picked. I thought I'd post it now that the Big Shot promotion is still going on to give you another idea of how you can use the Petal Cone die. If you die-cut one side instead of two and fold it in half, you end up with the pocket you see here. I then die-cut the shape a second time and "slimmed it off" by cutting approximately a quarter of an inch on each side to make an insert that goes into the pocket. I used the same trick to cut the patterned paper that went on the front of the card. The scallop trim also comes from the same die. It is half a circle that fits perfectly over or underneath the cone petals.

To do the ribbon treatment in the front, I overlapped two loops made out of seam binding and then kept them in place with the big Designer button, which was threaded with matching paper.

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Quelque chose à fêter (Something to Celebrate)
Cardstock: Rose Red, Pear Pizzazz
Designer paper: Vintage Springtime
Inks: Night of Navy
Accessories: Pearl Basic Jewels, Big Designer button, Petal Cone die,
Vintage Springtime accents (rose), Baja Breeze seam binding

 

Inkspirations #92 - Measuring Up!

  
 
 
 
  
 
 

This is the last card I made while visiting Brandi. I think it might have been 1 a.m. when I started this one... (We're both night owls and we stayed up stamping quite late.) I was starting to feel a little sleepy and had trouble deciding where to go with this one. I also wasn't working with a sketch, which is always more of a challenge for me. After stamping the tools from Totally Tools (another set I don't have at home and was happy to borrow) on my card base, wrapping the ribbon around the card and coloring the measuring tape and adding it to the punched circle, I was kind of at a loss. So I started looking through Brandi's stamps and when I found the measuring tape in the Sew Suite set, it got the ball rolling again. I stamped and cut out the tape and paper pieced the end with Cherry Cobbler cardstock, and then added a brad. Then, I used the button card from the same set and inked it with a marker, making sure to omit the "button" wording. I stamped this image twice, on Not Quite Navy and on Sahara Sand cardstock. I handcut the center of the tag on the Sahara Sand cardstock and added some texture using the Canvas stamp (retired). Then, I started looking at the French sentiment sets I had brought along and when I spotted the one that said, "On a scale of one to ten, you're an eleven," I thought, "Bingo!" Seriously - how perfect is this sentiment?! It's from the hostess set Perfect Words.

The card still felt a little bare, so I felt compelled to add faux stitching around the card using a marker, a little punched arrow on the tag and three tabs held in place with brads. Then, at the last minute, I decided to stamp and color the measuring tape again and cut out the casing to pop up on Dimensionals to give the main image more depth. I also added a red brad in the center.

This is a 4-1/4 x 4-1/4 square card and I figured I could have the ribbon hang off of the end if I used a regular-sized envelope (4-1/4 x 5-1/2) since I'd have room at the top of the envelope for it.

This might be my favorite card I've made during my stamping weekend at Brandi's. Aren't those colours just great together?

 

 

  

 

 

Come join the fun! Here is the LINK to our challenge blog, where you can share a link to your creation, and links to the other DT members' creations:

 

Brandi
Carrie
Helen
Ilina
Kirsty
Lee-Anne
Makeesha
Marisa
Renée

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Totally Tools, Canvas, Le mot juste (Perfect Words), Sew Suite
Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Sahara Sand, Cherry Cobbler, Not Quite Navy
Inks: Basic Grey, Sahara Sand, Not Quite Navy, Cherry Cobbler
Accessories:  Island Indigo ribbon, linen thread, brads, Word Window punch, marker,
Stampin' Dimensionals, My Way punch, Circle punch, Distressing tool (Cutting kit)

 

October Tour de Freaks - Wrap It Up!



 
 
 
 

Psst... If you are reading this post on October19th, please note that we are getting the tour ready and testing the links to make sure everything is working. The official tour begins on the 20th, so if you cannot make the whole round tonight, hang in there with us!

   

Welcome to our October Tour de Freaks! This tour is brought to you by the Control Freaks Stampers members and if you have been following the tour, you should have gotten to my blog by clicking on the link provided by the wickedly wonderful Wendy Weixler on her blog. If you are just starting out, make sure to visit all twelve blogs that are part of the tour today by following the links provided at the bottom of each post. Our theme this month is Bows, Boxes and Bags for the Holidays! So without further ado, here are the fun projects I would like to share with you this month!

 

 

My first project: Holiday Boxes

Project info: I am totally loving those new kraft boxes sold in the minicatalogue. They are inexpensive, easy and fast to put together and decorate and they are a nice size, too. I started with the Christmas one, which was inspired by the Christmas box SU! sent all new recruits last July, and then I got inspired to do a Halloween version, quickly followed by the Easter and Valentine's Day versions.

   

 

   

 

Supplies
Stamps: Gift Givers, Mes lapins (Everybunny), Étoile de Noël (Pines & Poinsettias), Fine Flourish
Cardstock: Real Red, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla
Designer papers: Holly Berry, First Edition, Just Add Cake, Frightful Sight
Inks: Basic Black, Pear Pizzazz, Blushing Bride, Poppy Parade
Big Shot: Houndstooth embossing folder, Tasteful Trims die
Punches: Decorative Label, Full Heart, Circle Tab, Scallop Ribbon, Circle Tab, Circle
Accessories: Buttons, On Board chipboard accents, Black glitter, Heat 'n Stick, ribbons,
Pearl Basic Jewels, Markers, Cherry Cobbler embossing powder, Kraft boxes (Holidays mini), baker's twine,
Silver glimmer paper, pinking shears, glimmer brads, Pewter embossing powder, Vintage trinkets, blending pen

  

 

 

My second project: Rosette Box 

Project info:  The rosette was first intended to go on the Christmas kraft box and I couldn't make it work like I wanted, so I put it aside. Then, I used the last piece of a brad container and noticed that my punched circle was just the right size to cover the lid, so this cute little container was decorated in minutes. The rosette was created using two punched scallop circles that were scored between each scallop and glued together and the center was decorated with a vintage brad inserted in the center of a Berry Bouquet wasabi button. 

  

 

  

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Early Espresso
Designer papers: Holly Berry
Accessories: Vintage brad, Holly Berry button, Scallop Circle punch, Simply Scored tool,
Chocolate Chip Polka Dot Scallop ribbon, Stampin' Stack container

  

 

And now, don't walk, but run to see the wonderful creations Robin Spinner is sharing with us next this month!

 
  

Spotlight on the Big Shot: Stocking Accessories Die

 

 

Only 12 days until the FREE Big Shot promotion comes to a close. Have you gotten yours yet?

This card is a CASE from a swap sample I received from Dani Graves. I blinged it up a little bit by adding red glimmer paper to the candy canes, changed the sentiment to a French one and added the baker's twine bow and mini button brads. The sentiment was stamped with the Four the Holidays set and embossed with the Pewter embossing powder sold in the Holidays mini (told you I loved that new colour!).

The candy canes were created using the Stocking Accessories die (also from the Holidays mini). The stripes are actually scored directly into the cardstock, which makes it really easy to paper piece them, here with the red glimmer paper. The background paper is from the Holly Berry Designer Paper pack.

By the way, those cute mini buttons are brads from the Vintage trinkets kit. I realized after talking to other demos at a recent event that a lot of people have not noticed these in the catalogue. They also come with safety pins, which look really cute added to a ribbon bow or to hang a mini punched tag. A fun little embellishment pack worth taking a closer look at!

The Stocking Accessories die is a very versatile one since it is a Bigz and can cut through cardstock, paper, fabric, chipboard, coark, etc. You could use it to make cool appliqués on a Christmas apron. Create a banner out of sparkly chipboard Christmas lights. Cut some holly leaves and berries out of colored felt. Lots of great options!

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Quatuor des Fêtes (Four the Holidays)
Cardstock: Real Red, Wild Wasabi, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White
Designer papers: Holly Berry
Inks: Versamark
Big Shot: Stocking Accessories die
Accessories: Vintage trinkets, Early Espresso baker's twine, Red glimmer paper,
Pewter embossing powder, 3/4 Square punch, Chocolate Chip polka dot ribbon, white envelope

 

Spotlight on the Big Shot: Northern Frost die

 

Do you recognize this card? It is a blatant copy of a card you can see in the current Holidays mini... The original was done with the Medallion background stamp in fall colours, but by switching the background stamp to Hello Doily and replacing the colors and flowers for snowflakes, I turned it into a winter-themed card. The new color scheme came directly from my trusty Color Coach, which I have been using a bunch lately.

I used the beautiful Hand-Penned Holidays set (which I love and would like to see come back in the next catalogue) to stamp my sentiment and I used one of the Bitty punches and pearls to decorate the center of the snowflakes. I punched a hole on the right side of the cardstock and threaded the Wisteria Wonder ribbon through. The center of the white-embossed doily was decorated with a die-cut snowflake and a matching Lucky Limeade polka dot brad.

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Notes manuscrites (Hand-Penned Holidays), Hello Doily
Cardstock: Lucky Limeade, Wisteria Wonder, Elegant Eggplant, Whisper White
Inks: Versamark, Elegant Eggplant
Big Shot: Northern Frost die
Accessories: Pearl basic jewels, Bitty punch, White embossing powder, Wisteria Wonder ribbon,
In Colors polka dot brads, Corner Rounder punch

 

Sit Back and Relax

I needed a birthday card for my aunt who lives in British Columbia so I turned to the Paper Crafts Go To Sketches publication for inspiration and pulled out a retired Simply Scrappin' kit to help me put something together fast.

The cute chair is from the Little Additions set, which is originally meant as a baby set but I love to use the furniture to make other types of cards. I added a pillow using a corduroy brad. To make the patterned chair, I stamped the image in Versamark on a piece of patterned paper, embossed it with clear embossing powder and then sponged some Groovy Guava ink all around the embossed chair to give the chair definition, then I handcut it using scissors. That inking trick really makes the chair pop, otherwise the details of the chair really get lost in the patterned paper.

The background paper was already striped, so I only added two die-cuts strips to it and the sentiment panel, with was created by cutting the top off of an existing sentiment block in the SS kit and white-embossing my own sentiment on the lines. Then I added some Early Espresso baker's twine and a button and was done.

Super easy, but I have to say, this card puts a smile on my face when I look at it. I hope it brightens my aunt's day as well.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Small Sayings
Cardstock: Purely Pomegranate, Whisper White
Simply Scrappin' kit: Happy Me
Inks: Versamark, Groovy Guava
Accessories: Early Espresso baker's twine, rhinestone basic jewels, Baja Breeze corduroy brad,
Large scallop circle punch, 1-3/4 circle punch, button, white envelope

 

Dear Santa, I Can Explain...

I just realized I hadn't shared my Control Freaks swap card with you. I put a lot of work into that one, so I might as well take the time to show it off! The set I had picked for the swap was Stitched Stockings and I decided I wanted to create a letter to Santa look.

I used a Early Espresso marker to handwrite my sentiment in a childish font (very much inspired by Calvin's handwriting in the Calvin and Hobbes comic books!) and I rolled the edges of the Vanilla cardstock to create a scroll look. I added a piece of rickrack die-cut out of red glimmer paper using the Tasteful Trims die.

To create my background, I used the Wonderfully Worn background stamp and then used the new 1-in square punch sold in the Holidays mini to punch squares out of the Berry Blossoms paper and create a quilt look. Instead of eyeballing things, I used the Simply Scored board to help me out with placement. I put my cardstock at an angle on the board and scored lines at 1-inch intervals, in both directions. Then, I used the scored grid as reference to glue the squares on the cardstock, which saves me a lot of time.

On the left side, I added a piece of the beautiful Cherry Cobbler velvet ribbon (also from the mini) and tied a bow made out of Cherry Cobbler baker's twine around it. The stocking was stamped in Cherry Cobbler and punched out with the Stocking punch, and then I stamped the stocking in yellow on a separate piece of paper to cut the diamonds out and paper-piece them. I then stamped the toe and heel in Wild Wasabi and punched those pieces out, and I finished the stocking off with a top piece punched out of Silver glimmer paper (which is absolutely exquisite!). I then added a mini jingle bell using a mini glue dot.

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Stitched Stockings, Wonderfully Worn
Cardstock: Real Red, Very Vanilla
Designer papers: Berry Blossoms
Inks: Cherry Cobbler, So Saffron, Wild Wasabi, Early Espresso
Accessories: Mini jingle bell, Cherry Cobbler baker's twine, Cherry Cobbler velvet ribbon,
Square punch, Stocking punch, Early Espresso marker, Red and Silver glimmer paper,
Simply Scored board, Stampin' Dimensionals

 

Focus on Big Shot: Snowflake die

Did you know that SU! is offering the most exciting promotion ever right now? They are offering a free Big Shot machine to everyone who buys the Starter Kit in October! Pretty incredible, right? I couldn't believe my eyes when I read about this promotion and I am hoping if you are not already part of my team that you'll jump on the chance to get your own free Big Shot (or $125 in free merchandise of your choice if you prefer) this month! Wouldn't that make the perfect early Christmas present to yourself? And then you can ask Santa for all kinds of fun dies and folders at Christmas!

Today's card features two Big Shot dies in my favorite shape: snowflakes!! The big snowflake was cut with the Snowflake #2 die and the smaller snowflakes are all from the beautiful Northern Frost Sizzlits decorative strip. I wanted the snowflakes to shimmer so I coated my Marina Mist cardstock with White Frost shimmer paint and let the paint dry before running it through the Big Shot (easier than painting each snowflake individually afterwards).

Do you like the funky border I added to my Vanilla cardstock? I saw this idea on another demo's blog and thought it was an awesome way to use the Simply Scored board. The sentiment comes from the Curly Cute set and was embossed with the Cherry Cobbler embossing powder. The papers and die-cut are from the retired Christmas Cheer SS kit which was sold in last year's catalogue.

 

 

Inspiration: The Sweet Stop sketch #130

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Jolies pensées (Curly Cute)
Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Marina Mist
Designer papers: Christmas Cheers SS kit
Inks: Versamark
Big Shot: Northern Frost die, Snowflakes #2 die
Accessories: Rhinestone brads, Whisper Frost shimmer paint, Stampin' Dimensionals,
Simply Scored board

Inkspirations #91 - Strong Like My Dad

 
 
 
   
 

Have you seen the new stamps and papers in the catalogue that are circus-themed? SU! was right on the money with this collection because the circus is all the rage in scrapbooking products right now. Under the Big Top is one of the sets that caught my eye right away when I leafed through the catalogue for the first time. When I saw that Brandi had this set, I borrowed it to put on paper an idea that had been going around in my head.

This set has been translated to French and the sentiment that goes with this image reads, "Sois fort (je crois en toi)" but every time I looked at it, the one thing that popped into my head was the expression "le plus fort, c'est mon père", which means "My dad is the strongest." This is one of those silly sentences that kids use to win an argument and it has also been made into a song by a Quebec singer, so I think this card should make people smile.

 

 

 
  
 

 

Come join the fun! Here is the LINK to our challenge blog, where you can share a link to your creation, and links to the other DT members' creations:

 

Brandi
Carrie
Helen
Ilina
Kirsty
Lee-Anne
Makeesha
Marisa
Renée

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Le chapiteau (Under the Big Top), Calendar Alphabet
Cardstock: Whisper White, Daffodil Delight
Designer papers: Under the Big Top
Inks: Basic Black, Daffodil Delight, Real Red, Tempting Turquoise
Punches : Circles, Stars
Accessories:  Mini library clips, Smooch Pearlized Accent, Dimensionals, Markers, 
Brads , Mini silver brads

 

Majestic Tree

Isn't that tree image just beautiful? I don't think the grey image printed in the mini really does it justice. To color the tree, I used the Thumping technique to give it some wonderful dimension. I stamped my image directly on the patterned paper for a different look than the one we get with cardstock.

The sentiment panel was embossed with Pewter powder and then slid into the Decorative Label punch so that I could punch the sides. I then added a scallop border using the Scallop Ribbon punch.

As you can see, this card was super easy to put together.

 

 

Inspiration: Clean & Simple sketch #161

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Chalet enchanté (Christmas Lodge)
Cardstock: Certainly Celery, Sage Shadow, Always Artichoke
Designer papers: Wintergreen (retired)
Inks: Certainly Celery, Versamark
Accessories: Pewter embossing powder, Decorative Lable punch, Celery satin ribbon,
Brads, Markers, Scallop Ribbon punch, Stampin' Dimensionals

 

Christmas Stocking Pocket

This is a really quick and easy card I put together with a diamond pocket fold card base I had lying around on my desk. I demo'ed this card at my last team meeting and hadn't decorated it yet, so when I found some retired Christmas paper that matched the base, I decided to use the Stitched Stocking set to finish it off.

The stocking was stamped twice, in Always Artichoke and Certainly Celery and I paper pieced the upper part of the stocking using the second color. The toe and heel were punched out of Silver glimmer paper and I added a rhinestone in the center of the snowflake on the stocking.

This is a super simple card that you could definitely mass-produce for Christmas or any other occasion. Even the pocket takes three minutes to put together when you use the Simply Scored (love that new tool!).

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Stitched Stockings
Cardstock: Whisper White
Designer papers: Gaulthérie (retired), Certainly Celery DSP (retired)
Inks: Always Artichoke, Sage Shadow, Certainly Celery
Accessories: Stocking punch, Stampin' DImensionals, Silver glimmer paper, Stocking punch,
Circle punch, Always Artichoke marker, Rhinestone basic jewels, Sage Shadow grosgrain ribbon

 

Christmas Lodge

This card was inspired by this week's Mojo Monday sketch (#210). I'm trying to save my current DSP for classes and workshops, so I pulled out some retired papers to pair with the Christmas Lodge set. This set was a gift from my wonderful SU! upline and I have to say, I've already used it way more than I could have predicted. It looks so gorgeous and doesn't need a whole lot of work to look awesome. I first thought this was the kind of set that requires extensive watercoloring, but honestly, the images look really good even stamped in one plain colour. Plus, I love the elegant font on the sentiments, so this is definitely one set you might want to revisit, too!

The bow was made with a strip of fabric from the Spice Cake set and tied in place with a button and white baker's twine. The snow on the image was covered with Dazzling Details to give the image some oomph and I completed the beddazled look with a glimmer brad from the Neutrals pack. 

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Chalet enchanté
Cardstock: Sage Shadow, Whisper White
Papers: Wintergreen
Inks: Sage Shadow, Always Artichoke
Accessories: Scallop Square punch, Neutrals glimmer brad, Scallop Trim border punch,
tilver glimmer paper, Tasteful Trims die, Dazzling Deails, Spice Cake fabric, button,
White Baker's twine

 

Inkspirations #90 - Life Without Chocolate

 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 

Chocolate is an addiction than runs through my whole family. More than a snack, it's almost a way of life. I love it, my parents love it, my sister tries really hard to resist loving it, and it only took a couple of Christmases to bring my brother-in-law over to the dark {chocolate} side. I remember visiting my grandfather when I was a kid and there was always chocolate stashed somewhere at his house. He had diabetes towards the end and couldn't eat any anymore, which never stopped him from keeping some on hand to offer to people who visited him. The Macaroons from Looney's will forever be associated to him in my mind.

Anyway, with all of the chocolate lovers in my family, you'd think that I would have bought that Chocolatissimo set when it came out in the Occasions mini, wouldn't you? But nope... Had to make a choice between everything on my wish list and sadly, this one ended up staying on the wish list. I was really excited to find it in Brandi's stamp library, though, and thought this week's color combo would look fab paired with it.

I stamped the main tag in Rich Razzleberry and punched it out, then I colored the chocolates with markers and handcut those before popping them up on the tag using Dimensional foam. Doesn't it look adorable?

The piece of patterned paper is from the Pocketful of Posies kit, and I used the Scallop Trim border and corner punches on the edges, then added pearls between the scallops. I needed inspiration for the design, so I went to the Mojo Monday blog and found a sketch to base this card on. I added two ribbons to the card, one piece of white satin ribbon on one side and one piece of Early Espresso narrow taffeta ribbon on the other. Then, I punched a small heart for the corner and decorated it with Dazzling Details.

After my visit to Brandi's house, I visited my folks and I showed my mom the cards I had made that weekend. The one that jumped out at her was this one. She said she really liked the colours, but I think it really was the chocolate theme that drew her in subliminally...

 

 

 
  
 

 

Come join the fun! Here is the LINK to our challenge blog, where you can share a link to your creation, and links to the other DT members' creations:

 

Brandi
Carrie
Helen
Ilina
Kirsty
Lee-Anne
Makeesha
Marisa
Renée

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Chocolatissimo!
Cardstock: Whisper White, Early Espresso, Rich Razzleberry, Pretty in Pink
Designer papers: Pocketful of Posies
Inks: Early Espresso, Rich Razzleberry, Pretty in Pink
Punches: Circle, Decorative Label, Eyelet border, Scallop Trim border and corner, Heart to Heart
Accessories:  Markers, Silver glimmer paper, White satin ribbon, Early Espresso taffeta ribbon,
Pearl Basic Jewels, Brads, Paper piercer, Stampin' Dimensionals

 

Everlasting Tree

This is the fourth and final project I prepared for this month's Creative Crew gallery. (Read more about the challenges here.) I had been very diligent about working on the challenges ahead of time for the first three pieces and then got caught up in life and then created this last project at the last minute. For one thing, I got my dates mixed up and thought Thursday was the last day of September so I stayed up late working on this project, taking pictures and uploading them - only the wake up the next day, tired, and realizing that I still had one full day left to get everything ready. D'oh!

And then, there's the fact that since I had a clear idea of what I wanted to do, I thought it would be a piece of cake and take maybe an hour top. Well, let me tell you, this little tree project is more time-consuming that I first figured! I had done a similar tree a few years ago. Since it was for a contest, I had to send it away and I had always wanted to make another tree to keep for myself later. The old version was a little wonky since I had tried to create a cone base myself out of cardstock and it was decorated with pearls from the Pretties kit strung on silver cord (which we don't carry anymore). This time, I used a styrofoam base and pined the punched pieces on it. I used three different patterned papers, all from the Paisley Petals pack, and punched them out with the Oval punch. I then used my bone folder to curl the ends up and pinned them on the cone, alternating patterns. At the top, I used a Scallop Circle piece to wrap the end of the cone with (adding snips to help with the wrapping) and I decorated the tree with pearls. I then tied a bow out of Old Olive striped grosgrain ribbon and added it on the top of the tree.

I will definitely be keeping this one and I think I might use it to decorate my desk at the office since it doesn't take up too much room. There's another version of the same idea in this year's Idea Book and Catalogue (p. 21, I think) that is also adorable and that catches my eye every time I flip through the book. If time allows, I might make a couple more trees so that I can group them to decorate.

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Designer papers: Paisley Petals
Accessories: Styrofoam cone, Pearl Basic Jewels, Old Olive striped grosgrain ribbon,
Scallop Circle punch, Oval punch, Bone folder, Silver pins

 

Halloween Packages

These Halloween boxes were made for the third October Creative Crew challenge (see the challenges detailed here) and also with my upcoming Halloween Treat Boxes class in mind. Since I loved a whole bunch of stuff from the Holidays mini and have to stay on a budget, the Pick a Poison papers and matching die-cuts hadn't made it on the list during the first round. When I put together my class schedule, though, I realized they would be the perfect elements to use for a Halloween box class and ordered them.

I am so glad I did. I don't think the picture in the mini really shows those papers and accents to their full potential. Their colours are slightly faded, giving them a slightly vintage look that looks just awesome. Of all the classes on my fall schedule, this is the one I am the most excited about! (The class is on this upcoming Friday, October 7th, and I have enough supplies for one more person to attend, if anyone is interested!)

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Douce douzaine (Delighful Dozen)
Cardstock: Basic Grey
Papers: Pick a Poison (Holidays mini)
Ink: Markers
Big Shot: Milk Box die, Two Tags die, Treat Box die
Accessories: Vintage brads, Pick a Poison Deco Accents, ribbons, markers, rhinestones,
Stampin' Dimensionals, Scallop Oval punch, Scallop Circle punch, Circle punch,
Long cello bags, Crop-a-Dile

 

Sparkly Snowglobe

This is the second project I put together for the October Creative Crew challenges (see details here). In the spirit of keeping my card simple and demonstratable, I pulled out the Letters to Santa die-cuts and used one to make my sentiment block. This sentiment is one of the single stamps found at the beginning of the catalogue. The original image has hanging ornaments, but I used my markers to ink only the three sentiments in different colours.

I had been meaning to buy the Snowglobe stamp (another single stamp from the catalogue) for a while, to use with the treat cups. What gave me the push to finally buy it was that it could also be used with the new shadow frames sold in the Holidays mini. I inked the snowglobe with markers and added some mica flakes (also from the Holidays mini) in the shaker to fill it.

The background cardstock was embossed with the Stripes folder twice (horizontally and vertically) to create a plaid pattern, and I used Crystal Effects to add mica flakes all around it. The scallop circle behind the globe is also a sticky die-cut from the Letters to Santa kit.

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Snowglobe, Pour Noël (Something for Christmas)
Cardstock: Marina Mist, Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White
Inks: Marina Mist, Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler
Accessories: Letters to Santa die-cuts, Pinking Hearts border punch, Silver glimmer paper,
Window sheet, Circle die, White envelope, Mini silver brads, Mica flakes, Shaker frames,
Markers, Pearl Basic Jewels, Stripes embossing folder

 

Family Frame

I'm ba-ack! Missed me? If I haven't been blogging much, it's because I haven't been stamping much. I have been busy with visits from my family and classes. The good news is that October is here and I can now share the projects I have put together for the Creative Crew gallery on SCS.

  

Here are the deets, if you want to play along with us. Just make sure to use the mentioned keywords when uploading your creation to the Splitcoast Stampers gallery:

  

We're all busy enough, the holidays are looming, and we all try so hard to keep our businesses fresh and upbeat. So let's have fun AND plan our fall workshops and classes at the same time! This month we're going with sweet, simple, and demonstrable!

CCREW1011CF, CreativeCrew, SUO or SUM -- Catalog Focus: All things that glitter! Break out your glitter, Dazzling Details, glimmer paper and even Irridescent ICE EP! If it's glittery, show us ways to use it!

CCREW1011DF, CreativeCrew, SUO or SUM -- DSP/Color Focus: This month, you can use ANY holiday-themed DSP. You MUST use DSP on your project, not just the color combo from DSP.

CCREW1011HF, CreativeCrew, SUO or SUM -- Holiday Focus: We all love to decorate and give gifts for the holidays! For this challenge, create a holiday decoration or a gift to give during the holidays.

CCREW1011SF, CreativeCrew, SUO or SUM -- Scrapbooking Focus: Anything goes as long as it includes a photo and you can give it away! It can be a photo Christmas card, a framed scrapbook page, framed art, anything with a picture.

 

Let me start with the project based on pictures. It's the first one I put together and the idea came about as I was looking at the Peek-a-Boo frames die. All five shapes are placed together on the die and it reminded me of those fancy photo mats where you can add pictures of various sizes all in one frame. Got me wondering if the die could create this look, so I looked at the empty frames I had on hand (which I had collected a few of when I was more into stitching) and found this one. It is almost the perfect size, although if I was to make another one, I'd choose a frame that's just a wider so that we could see the outside of each shape better.

Since there's four of us and five apertures, I decided to stamp something in the fifth box. I was thinking maybe our family initial, but then I stumbled upon the Vintage Vogue set, which reads "F for Family" in French (as opposed to "F for Friends" in English). I stamped and embossed the image once on my patterned paper, then placed it under the mat and glued it in place. I then stamped and embossed the image again on a scrap of Island Indigo cardstock and handcut the letter, then placed it over the first one on the paper. I framed the circle aperture with a scallop circle, and stamped the fancy border image between the two lower apertures. I added a piece of ribbon, a matching polka dot brad, some doodling around the shapes and a few rhinestones and pearls and I was done. I didn't want to add too much because I had to fit everything underneath the glass. It's simple, but cute and easy to reproduce. Definitely a good Christmas gift idea.

 

 

 Color Combo: Island Indigo + Lucky Limeade + Rich Razzleberry

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Vintage Vogue
Inks: Lucky Limeade, Versamark
Cardstock: Rich Razzleberry
Designer Papers: 2011-2012 In Colors paper pack
Accessories: Rhinestones, Pearls, markers, Pewter embossing powder, Polka Dot brad,
Island Indigo ribbon, Peek-a-Boo Frames die