Encre, papier, ciseaux

A Cupcake for the Cream of the Crop

The Sewing challenge from Simon Says Stamp Monday caught my eye and I decided to pull out the cross stitch kit we had a few years ago. Since the kit include Melon Mambo cards, it was the perfect opportunity to play with ColourQ #357 as well. The kit included pink and green floss, but I pulled some orange floss out of my own supplies to match the colour scheme I wanted to use. When looking at possible sentiments, I spotted Birthday Banners, which includes a French sentiment that says "Happy birthday to the cream of the crop." I thought it would pair nicely with the cupcake. Speaking of which, I decided on the cupcake over the flower design so that I could take part in the Global Design Challenge #50 as well (food theme).

A piece of Pumpkin Pie washi tape was added to the left of the card and I tied a piece of Basic Black baker's twine. Finally, sequins in matching colours were added to the card.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Banderoles de fête (Birthday Banners)
Simply Sent Kit: Sweet Threads
Ink: VersaMark, Pumpkin Pie
Accessories: Black Stampin' Emboss Powder, Bunch of Banners Framelits,
Stampin' Dimensionals, Metallic and Brights Sequins, Designer Washi Tape,Basic Black Baker's Twine, White Medium Envelope, needlepoint floss

 

White Christmas

One of the Merry Monday challenges I had on my catch-up list was an all-white card with neutral touches only (Merry Monday #186). While I know the results to be beautiful, I also know the process to be painful because all you can create with is texture when you don't have colour. With all of the glorious embossing folders and Thinlits that Stampin' Up! released this year, I finally bit the bullet tonight and gave this challenge a try. I'm happy to report that this went better than I had initially hoped and was not as painful as some of my other monochromatic endeavours have been in the past.

I used white with a touch of Tip Top Taupe, and I started with the big sentiment from Wonderful Year (2016 Holidays Catalogue). I drew Inspiration from the Viva la Verve August Sketch #2 and rearranged the shapes and sizes a bit to accomodate the supplies I wanted to use, but the shapes are all there. The two panels were embossed with the Cable Knit embossing folder (Holidays catalogue) and the Holly embossing folder (Annual Catalogue). The background was covered with a piece of Tip Top Taupe Designer Paper from the 2015-2017 In Color DSP Stack.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Joyeuse année (Wonderful Year)
Cardstock: Whisper White, Tip Top Taupe
Designer Series Paper: 2015-2017 In Color Paper Stack
Ink: Tip Top Taupe
Accessories: Pretty Pines Thinlits, Oval Framelits, Pearl Basic Jewels,
Stampin' Dimensionals, White Satin Ribbon, White Square Envelope,
Cable Knit Embossing Folder, Holly Embossing Folder

 

C'est la vie

I bought two of the great Project Life kits from the annual catalogue and have not played with them a whole lot, so when I spotted the Project Life challenge from Just Add Ink #326, I was all over that one. I pulled out Hello Lovely kit and paired it with the Match the Sketch challenge #139, which was just perfect because the shapes on it looked just like PL cards.

I had to supersize my card to make the layout work for it with the cards. The card measures 4-1/4" x 6". I selected the card that says "C'est la vie" for my focal point. PL cards are not translated to French (only the stamp sets are) so it was a very nice surprise to find a French sentiment in the bunch. I thought it could make a great encouragement card. The card background is also made with a 4" x 6" PL card, on which I stamped little flowers using the matching stamp set included in the Accessory Pack.

I punched slits on each side of the sentiment and tied a piece of glitter ribbon (Holidays Catalogue, p. 37) in it. The cute wooden flower also comes from the kit's embellishment pack, and so do the sequins.

A matching envelope was made using the Envelope Punch Board.

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Ink: Calypso Coral, Pear Pizzazz
Project Life Card Collection and Accessory Pack: Hello Lovely
Designer Series Paper: In Color Stack
Accessories: Slit Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals, 3/8" Glitter Ribbon Combo Pack,
Envelope Punch Board

 

Elf Wishes

This is the last card I'll have time to put together and submit before the Merry Monday Summer Linkie closes, and I'm a little sad that it's over because it's been a great motivation for my seasonal cards this past few weeks. I had put together a little cheat sheet of challenges I had missed since the beginning of the year and out of 20 challenges, I managed to make 16. Pretty good, I think! Today's card was a simple one and a great way to finish off before the linkie closes: One-layer Christmas card (#189)! I went to an old favorite: making a kraft card and coloring on it with pencils. I hadn't done one in a long time, and since I was pretty happy with my Prismacolor coloring on my other elf card shared this week, I was eager to give it another try.

I inked a little elf image from the Stacey Yacula collection at Purple Onion Design. I wanted a medium-size sentiment to go with it and as I was looking at options, this "happy new year" sentiment from the Frosted Medallions stamp set (2016 Holidays Catalogue, p. 37) jumped out at me because of the font. It was perfect to do some more coloring! I picked three shades of green, one for each line, to create an ombré effect. A little bit of Lucky Limeade organza ribbon (from a past SAB offering) was tied at the top of the card, and the bottom corners were rounded with the Project Life Corner punch.

I had another Purple Onion Design stamp with three stockings on it, that I inked part of for the inside of the card and the envelope. I colored both with pencils to match. The green was inspired by the Work It Challenge over at Simon Says Stamp (current challenge = peridot).

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Elwood (Purple Onion Designs - Stacey Yacula collection),
Médaillons glacés (Frosted Medallions - Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Crumb Cake
Ink: Basic Grey Archival, Cucumber Crush
Accessories: Prismacolor Pencils, Lucky Limeade Organza Ribbon,
Project Life Corner Punch, Crumb Cake Medium Envelope

 

Hot Drink Trifold

As I was scanning the list of past Merry Monday challenges, I spotted Hot Beverage (#188) and knew I wanted to pull out the retired Scentsational Season stamp set, which is an old favorite of mine. As I was looking at my 6" x 6" paper stacks, I spotted a piece of paper with little drinks on it, so I selected the I Love Winter paper from Echo Park. For design, I was looking at the July card sketches from Page Maps I hadn't used yet and spotted one with a scallop edge in the center. It reminded me of the video I saw on Jennifer McGuire blog where she explains how to create a trifold card with a fancy border that locks in. I was really impressed with the result and this fun sketch was the perfect way to put this technique to good use.

I have a die in the Toppers CutUp dies from the Cat's Pajamas that mimick the shape seen on the sketch but it's not as large as a regular card, so I adapted the size so the final card is 3-1/2" x 5". Because it was a little smaller, I made my own envelope to match, out of Real Red Core'dinations cardstock. The way to get the perfect matching cut is to overlap the two ends of your card once it's folded and die-cut both layers at once. The die will go through, but it will leave nasty marks on the rest of the card, which is why I've embellished every side of the card afterwards: front, back and inside.

For the sentiment, I used the Falalalala Border die from Lawn Fawn. If you're read its name correctly, you'll see I have two "la's" missing from the card. The die-cut was wider than the card. I could have fit the whole word, but it looked prettier cut down to three and keeping the cute loop before the word. Then, when I assembled the card, I got the idea to glue the rest of the word inside. Gives it continuity and it's cute! The dainty white snowflake border at top is actually leftover punched pieces from a previous card made this weekend. I love when I find scraps on my desk that finish off a project perfectly. Some of my best ideas are found this way. I would never have thought to get out this punch for this project, but seeing the pieces on my desk made the wheels turn and sparked the idea.

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

Supplies
Stamps: Scent-sational Season (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Baja Breeze, Bashful Blue, Real Red Core'dinations, Whisper White
Patterned Papers: I Love Winter (Echo Park)
Ink: Denim Dandy, Real Red
Accessories: Falalalala Border Die (Lawn Fawn), Toppers CutUp (The Cat's Pajamas),
Holiday Collection Framelits (SU!), Basic Stitch Lines Die-namics (My Favorite Things),
Stitchable Dot Circle Die-namics (MFT), Rhinestone Basic Jewels, Envelope Punch Board,
Craft Knife, Real Red Button, White Baker's Twine, Snowflake Border Punch

 

Getting the Stockings Ready

Everything came together so nicely on this card. I started with some new papers I got on my latest trip to the local store. The store owner had boxes of Echo Park stuff on tables in the back where she teaches classes. I was looking at her clearance stuff she had laid out on tables back there and couldn't help but take a peek when I saw it was Echo Park stuff, which I usually love. This time was no different, so I asked her if the stuff was ready for sale and she mentioned that they weren't in the computer yet, but that you could input it if I wanted some items. I'm so glad I asked because I used my new papers this weekend and they are awesome!! Here, you can see the I Love Christmas collection.

Since the back paper has some little elves on it, I reached for my Santa's Elves stamp set and paired it with this week's MFT Sketch (#295). The colors in the paper were also perfect for the Merry Monday challenge #209 (inspiration piece). The little elf was colored with Prismacolor pencils - no gamsol! I'm pretty impressed with the results I managed to achieve. I was inspired by a quick video I saw on the Lawn Fawn video on how to color with Prismacolor pencils on their own and thought, okay, why not? I think as long as you're working in small areas, the strokes are not going to show too much. The stamper in the video was advising to slowly build color and I think it is key, to start with little pressure and keep adding colour and shading and pressing more once you have all your colors in place. This is definitely a technique I plan to revisit. It's faster than using Gamsol - and no fumes from the product, which a definite plus.

The sentiment reads, "It's a secret" and was stamped with the Oh, What Fun stamp set. This stamp carried over to the annual catalogue this year and I'm not surprised, because it was my Christmas sentiment rock star of a stamp set last year. And a bit of a surprise, too, because I didn't purchase it expecting to use it so much (I got it to go with the matching tag kit). In the end, the fonts, sizes and wording are perfect for a lot of projects, so it's been used and loved well. Here, it was stamped on a tag I had leftover from the paper tole cards I put together this weekend. The green was a perfect match to my papers - once again, one more scrap that completed a card. I was really on fire this weekend, putting every last scrap to good use!

Music score washi tape was added to my striped paper and since the bottom felt a bit bare, I found those wooden snowflakes to add, which match the tan from the papers perfectly and finished the card to my liking. A Home for Christmas Enamel Dot (from last year's Holidays catalogue) was again a perfect match to the whole card. And so was that striped natural ribbon we used to carry afew years ago. I'm down to the last bit, so I'm trying to finish it to make room in my ribbon box.

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Santa's Elves (My Favorite Things), Hourra pour Noël (Oh, What Fun - Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Mossy Meadow, Whisper White
Patterned Papers: I Love Christmas (Echo Park)
Ink: Tuxedo Black Memento, Real Red
Accessories: Wooden Snowflakes (Calico Road), Home for Christmas Enamel Dots (SU!),
Crumb Cake Medium Envelope, Striped Natural Ribbon, Die-Cut Tag (Do Crafts),
Music Score Washi Tape (?), Tag Topper Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals, Prismacolor Pencils

 

Fall Scenery

I was eager to try out my new dies, so I paired them with the Paper Players challenge #310 (sketch) and an old ColourQ challenge (#303). I was looking for some matching teal paper to create the grassy hills and then I found the long-retired Sweet Pea DSP stack, which also happened to include orange paper has well.

For the sentiment, I turned to the ever-practical Sunshine Sayings stamp set and its matching Sunshine Wishes Framelits dies. It was also a great opportunity to use my new Pumpkin Pie glimmer paper!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Souhaits et voeux (Sunshine Sayings)
Cardstock: Rich Razzleberry, Taken with Teal, Early Espresso, Pumpkin Pie
Designer Series Paper Stack: Sweet Pea
Ink: Early Espresso
Accessories: Pumpkin Pie Glimmer Paper, Sunshine Wishes Framelits Dies,
Rich Razzleberry Cotton Ribbon, Stitched Tree Borders Dies (Lawn Fawn),
Stampin' Dimensionals, Envelope Punch Board, Handheld Stapler

 

Emerald Ombre Christmas Bauble

The starting point for this card was the Merry Monday challenge #203 (Ombre and Glitter). It screamed for the new Emerald Envy Ombre Pad and Emerald Envy Glitter Stampin' Emboss Powder (both coming in the Stampin' Up! 2016 Holidays Catalogue). The card was designed around Mojo Monday Sketch #410.

Erica Cerwin had shown on her blog how to take the individual ink color out of the container to ink a background stamp and I thought it was a brilliant idea, so I had pinned in on the mental list of things to try. This card was the right time to do it, so I inked the Brushstroke background stamp that way.

Are you wondering how I created the top of my bauble? I thought the dog's bowl / flower bed (depends which side you use it) from the Home Sweet Home Thinlits might work - and it happened to be just the right size for my large circle. As for the hook, I spotted the swirly border from the Cheerful Tags Thinlits, which is meant to embellish the border of your tag. Isn't it perfect? And definitely better than trying to cut it by hand. As for the Silver paper, I used our regular Silver Foil paper for the hook and I had leftover super shiny silver paper from the Hello Life Project Kit (last year's catalogue, p. 131). You got quite a bit of paper left after poking out the hearts and I knew I could use it to die-cut or punch small stars or hearts, so I kept it with my foil papers. It has a different finish, as it's shinier.

A Metallic Doily was added behind the sentiment, plus a piece of 2016-2018 In Color Envelope Paper (love this product!), two white candy dots (sadly retired), and a bow made out of the 3/8" silk taffeta ribbon (coming as a ribbon combo in the Holidays catalogue). I added a little stars from the 2016-2018 In color Enamel Shapes at the bottom of the sentiment.

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Joyeuse année (Wonderful Year), Brushstrokes
Cardstock: Whisper White, Emerald Envy, Silver Foil
Envelope Paper: 2016-2018 In Color
Ink: Emerald Envy Ombre Ink, VersaMark
Accessories: Emerald Envy Glitter Stampin' Emboss Powder, Circle Framelits,
Cheerful Tags Thinlits, Home Sweet Home Thinlits, Stampin' Dimensionals,
Envelope Punch Board, Metallic Doilies, Neutrals Candy Dots, 3/8" Silk Taffeta Ribbon,
2016-2018 In Color Enamel Shapes, Project Life Corner Punch

 

Keeping Warm

So this is the second card I made with the foil decoupage kit. I had put together the two images at the same time, and I still had the cardstock and patterned papers out, so this one was even quicker to put together. I drew inspiration from the Merry Monday challenge #200 (Lori put a special Linky of the blog this summer so that we can catch up on past challenges, so I'm catching up on the ones I had missed). For this special challenge, they had put together four inspiration you could use, so I picked the snowman theme and the sketch. As I was looking for an embellishment to put left of the sentiment like on the sketch, I stumbled onto some old Christmas felt elements from Stampin' Up! and the mittens were just perfect, both with the snowman and the sentiment, which means "Keeping warm for Christmas."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Noël au chaud (Cozy Christmas)
Cardstock: Going Grey, Whisper White
Patterned Papers: Christmas Delivery (Echo Park)
Ink: Real Red
Accessories: White Medium Envelope, Stampin' Dimensionals,
Christmas Felt Accents, Curvy Corner Trio Punch,
Santa & Snowman Foil Decoupage Kit (Do Crafts Anita's)

 

Winter Snowglobe

My list of Merry Monday challenges to catch up on included Snowglobe (#205). I knew exactly which stamp from my collection could work, the Sweet Snowglobe single stamp we used to carry. I pulled it out, combined it with the Create with Connie and Mary challenge #421 and some older paper stack called Festival of Prints and made this simple card. The beauty is in the sparkly snow in the globe created with the addition of Dazzling Diamonds glitter with a glue pen.

The little snowflakes and sentiment come from the Hang Your Stocking stamp set (2016 Holidays Catalogue).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Sweet Snowglobe, Bas de Noël (Hang Your Stocking)
Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Early Espresso
Designer Series Paper Stack: Festival of Prints
Ink: Island Indigo, Bashful Blue, VersaMark
Accessories: Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder, Silver 1/8" Ribbon,
Vanilla Medium Envelope, Two-way Glue Pen, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter

 

The Ingredients for the Perfect Birthday

Have you seen the oven set (Sprinkled with Love) from Lawn Fawn's latest release? The oven door actually opens! I was really taken with the fact that the die does all of the cutting and scoring for you instead of us having to fiddle with a craft knife to get that result. And I think my favorite part of the die kit is the adorable little towel with little stitches on it. Adorable beyond words!

My design was inspired by Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge (Hip to be Square, so I made a square card) and the Freshly Made Sketch #251. For colours, I picked an old ColourQ challenge (#301) I hadn't played with yet. I liked the colours together and the fact that it had More Mustard in the mix, which allowed me to make a mustard stove just like the one my parents used to own. (I think my mom might get a kick out of this card, actually.)

I wanted a French sentiment and found the perfect one in Stampin' Up!'s Sweet Cupcake stamp set. The French comes in two part to create something that says "The ingredients for / the perfect birthday." It was just perfect to go with the images, and more importantly, it was the perfect size to fit into my oven door. Serendipity!

I wanted a window on my oven door, so I glued a piece of acetate inside the door, then I die-cut the stove front a second time and cut the door out to glue on the back of my piece so that it has a nice finish when you open the door. (This was also to fix my mistake - I stamped the stove once, didn't get even ink coverage, so I turned the cardstock around, stamped my image again and die-cut it. Then I realized we would be seeing the back of the cardstock when you opened the oven door, so adding the backing hid both my previous stamping and the glue on the acetate.) Candy Dots were used to add colour to the buttons on the stove. I also used my Stampin' Write Markers to color the details on the stove.

For the patterned papers, I remembered that we used to carry 6" x 6" DSP in various colours that were offered as hostess benefits. I pulled them out and found every single colour from my combo in them! (Calypso Coral came from the In Color DSP Stacks.) It was a great opportunity to use up some older supplies as well.

I put everything together on my card and thought it still looked bare, and I found the finishing touch lying on my desk - a little chipboard star that was teal colored, but that I hadn't used on another project because some part of the front had ripped when I pulled it out of the chipboard page. Here, the colour of the back of the star was working well, so it allowed me to used the "ripped" star anyway, and it ties in with the star-shaped cookies.

 

 

 

 

Colour Combo: More Mustard + Apricot Appeal + Calypso Coral + Night of Navy

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Sprinkled with Joy (Lawn Fawn), Douceurs sucrées (Sweet Cupcake)
Cardstock: More Mustard, Apricot Appeal, Calypso Coral, Night of Navy, Whisper White
Designer Series Paper: Calypso Coral, night of Navy, Apricot Appeal
Ink: Night of Navy, Apricot Appeal, More Mustard
Accessories: Sprinkled with Joy Dies, Scallop Squares Nestabilities Dies, Acetate,
Chipboard Star, Apricot Appeal Grosgrain Ribbon, Candy Dots, Stampin' Write Markers,
White Square Envelope, Stampin' Dimensionals, Stamp-a-ma-jig

 

Strawberries and Hugs

The Tuesday Morning Sketch #366 caught my eye because of the little pennants in the corner of the main piece. They reminded me of the little banner die included in the Home Sweet Home Thinlits set. I thought I could pair it with cute DSP and a fun sentiment and that a fun card could be put together quickly.

I was right - this card was super fast, but I do like the cheery result. I picked a sentiment from the Love & Affection stamp set, embossed it in white on Cool Cucumber cardstock and die-cut it out with an oval Framelits. I topped it with a heart enamel shape from the 2016-2018 In Color Enamel Shapes pack. The banner was die-cut out of Real Red cardstock and topped with circle enamel shapes as well.

The DSP is the Fruit Stand collection. Then, I was looking for a piece of ribbon for the main piece and spotted the new Emerald Envy ribbon from the 3/8" Silk Taffeta Ribbon Combo Pack (2016 HC, p. 20). Even though Emerald Envy is not an official colour in the DSP, it matched beautifully, so I decided to go with this (and this is what inspired the enamel shapes in the same shade).

A matching envelope was made out of matching paper. Just that easy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Amour et affection (Love & affection)
Cardstock: Real Red, Cool Cucumber, Garden Green, Whisper White
Designer Series Paper: Fruit Stand
Ink: VersaMark
Accessories: Envelope Punch Board, Oval Framelits Dies,
White Stampin' Emboss Powder, 2016-2018 In Color Enamel Shapes,
Home Sweet Home Thinlits Dies, Stampin' Dimensionals

 

North Pole Greetings

In all of the years I have been doing paper crafts, I've never tried decoupage / paper tole. But my local store had decoupage kits that caught my eye because the images were gorgeous AND foiled! If you're following my blog, you've probably noticed I have a thing for everything that sparkles. I picked two designs, and I gave the first one a try today. This one includes a jolly Santa and snowman. So I assembled the Santa image and then picked a sketch that could work well with him to add to a card. The August Reverse Confetti sketch was just perfect.

Then, I looked for patterned papers to go with my image and here's the kicker: I had also found at the store the Christmas Delivery 6" x 6" paper stack from Echo Park - and it happens to fit the colours of the Santa and snowman perfectly. The red and green are a perfect match, and the grey goes with the silver. One of the pages even had wooden planks at an angle - which worked perfectly for the angled corner from the sketch. Serendipity at work again. :)

The kit included a few extra die-cuts, so I used the one with the bird to add my sentiment. I picked "Greetings from the North Pole" from the Greetings from Santa stamp set (2016 Holidays catalogue), stamped in Garden Green.

The top corner of the green paper was punched with the Curvy Corner Trio Punch and I paper pieced the holes  by gluing them with the backside showing up for a fun detail. I used a snowflake border punch to create a white border, and used the punched snowflakes as ornements on the card, topped with pearls.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Voeux du père Noël (Greetings from Santa)
Cardstock: Garden Green, Whisper White
Patterned Papers: Christmas Delivery (Echo Park)
Ink: Garden Green
Accessories: Santa & Snowman Foil Decoupage Kit (Do Crafts Anita's),
Snowflake Border Punch, Pearl Basic Jewels, Curvy Corner Trio Punch,
White Medium Envelope, Stampin' Dimensionals

 

Welcome to the World

Baby cards always seem to sell well and it's not something I make a lot of. I had looked at the Special Delivery set before and passed on it, but finally decided to get it because I love the idea of the stork and felt I could use to add baby imagery to my collection. This week's ColourQ #356 challenge provided inspiration for the colours. It's not typical baby colours, but with the pink and blue, it does tie with the baby theme. I made sure to avoid pink or blue on the baby bundle itself to keep the card gender-neutral.

The Soft Sky cardstock was embossed with the Cloudy Day embossing folder from an old Occasions catalogue. Because the pattern is meant to be used on a portrait card, I could only emboss the top of the cardstock. I solved the problem by stamping clouds from the stamp set at the bottom in Soft Sky ink. The Melon Mambo piece was stamped with the A to Z stamp (long retired, but still a personal favorite). The little circles are Enamel Accents from Ranger. I got a few colours and tested them out on our Silicone craft sheet to make my own enamel shapes. I found the biggest challenge is to keep a steady hand to make perfect circles, but those didn't turn out so bad.

The card design was inspired by Try Stampin' on Tuesday #285. The optional challenge was embossing, and I used dry-embossing on my background piece.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Special Delivery (Avery Elle)
Cardstock: Blackberry Bliss, Soft Sky, Melon Mambo, Whisper White
Ink: Soft Sky, Melon Mambo, Tuxedo Black Memento
Accessories: Cloudy Day embossing folder, Enamel Accent (Ranger), Stampin' Dimensionals,
Blackberry Bliss Satin Ribbon, Markers, White Medium Envelope

 

Santa's Visit

I've had this penguin stamp for a long time but it had not seen ink yet. I finally found the inspiration I needed to use him when I pulled out my Holidays papers and found the Christmas Lane Simply Scrappin' kit in the bunch. A few challenges were paired to make this card: Merry Monday #207 (Santa sack or bag), Mojo Monday #462 and Cat's Pajamas #321 (paper piecing).

I paper pieces the sack and the penguin. I used the Pinking Edge Square Die-namics to cut out my image and the size I liked best was a little too narrow to fit the whole image. That's where doing the paper piecing came in handy, because the sack was the part of the image hanging out and since I was paper piecing it. I simple stamped the whole bag, cut it out and added it to my already die-cut image. Having it come off the side of the image adds a nice little touch to it.

The stamp set includes some fun sentiments (including "The diet starts tomorrow") but I wanted something in French, so I looked at my stamps and in Greetings from Santa (coming in the new 2016 Holidays catalogue), I found "Naughty or Nice" which was perfect for my Santa penguin. I embossed the sentiment in Early Espresso powder on Old Olive cardstock.

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Believe (The Cat's Pajamas), Voeux du père Noël (Greetings from Santa)
Cardstock: Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive, Whisper White
Simply Scrappin' Kit: Christmas Lane
Ink: VersaMark, Tuxedo Black Memento, Soft Sky, Old Olive
Accessories: Cherry Cobbler scallop polka dot ribbon, Pinking Edge Square Die-namics,
Early Espresso Stampin' Emboss Powder, Circle Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals,
Markers, Envelope Punch Board, Ticket Corner Punch

 

Have a Sparkly New Year

I went through my [extensive] paper pile and pulled out the Holidays DSP we've carried in past years so that I could combine them with new stamps for a fresh take on them. After seeing the In[k]spire Me #263 sketch, I was inspired to pull out the It's a Celebration stamp set (2016 Holidays Catalogue, p. 38) because the sparkler fit the sketch so well. I wanted to use a light patterned paper to stamp on it (as per Inkspirational Challenges #115) for the background and the All is Calm DSP from two years ago was perfect. It's winter-themed with the snowflakes, but not Christmasy per se, which was perfect since my sentiment reads, "Happy New Year." I used the Curvy Corner Trio Punch to punch two opposite corners, and I added silver sequins from the Metallic Sequins pack.

Here's a tip for you: I won't deny it took me a little while, but I took some time to separate all five colours from the Metallic Sequins pack into five different containers. I keep my old SU! embellishment containers when they're empty so I can use them for other stuff or to separate colours sometimes. While it does take additional room (although I used the half-containers – the ones that are not as high and that you can stack two of in one slot of our former container holder), for this particular sequin pack, I felt it was worth it. I had the hardest time pulling out only the colours I needed - particularly the clear ones, which totally get lost in the pack!! I only wanted silver sequins on this card and thanks to the fact that I had separated my colours yesterday, I was able to find the shapes I wanted and add them to my project in a snap. I've even snuck a couple of flat sequins that come from the sequin trim on my card. (I added them to the container after they fell off the end of the cut trim.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Fêtons les Fêtes (It's a Celebration)
Cardstock: Pear Pizzazz, Lost Lagoon
Designer Series Paper: All is Calm
Ink: Tuxedo Black Memento, VersaMark, Island Indigo
Accessories: Metallic Sequins, Envelope Punch Board, Curvy Corner Trio Punch,
Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder, Stampin' Dimensionals

 

Back to School!

When I saw TGIF challenge #69 - Back to School, all I could think about was to use the Home Sweet Home Thinlits to create a school. I wasn't sure how to go about it, so there was a Google search for images and a lot of fidgeting involved. I have to raise my hat to the Lorri Heiling and Erica Cerwin of the world, who are masters of well-crafted 3D projects. That, I am not. I guess practice would make better. Anyway, here are few details to point out about the project:

• I used our burlap ribbon to create a little mat in front of the school door.
  
• See those little bricks? They're the leftover pieces you get when you take the "windows" out of the rectangle window. I had this idea when I made my haunted house. Couldn't make the bricks work on that house, but I had made a mental note to use that idea on a project later.
  
• I wanted to add a little bell to my belltower, so I used one of our mini jingle bells (back in the 2016 Holidays Catalogue).
  
• I stamped "school" in the banner from the Sweet Home stamp set using the Labeler Alphabet - perfect size! On a side note, as I stamped this word I discovered that the set includes all the little accents we need for the French letters! So cool! We usually don't get those and I always have to add them with a matching marker, but getting them in the right font and format is awesome. I was already in love with this alphabet set and this just made me love it more!
  
• The "grass" was cut out of a piece of Under the Tree Specialty Designer Paper (from last year) with the Layering Squares Framelits.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Labeler Alphabet, Doux foyer (Sweet Home)
Cardstock: Whisper White
Designer Series Paper: Under the Tree
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Real Red
Accessories: Mini Jingle Bell, Burlap Ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals,
Layering Squares Framelits Dies, Neutrals Candy Dots, Home Sweet Home Thinlits

 

Home Sweet Home

I feel like today's card is terribly cute for something so incredibly easy. It all started with me going through my Designer Series Paper stash and pulling out the Holidays-themed ones, to put to good use. I selected the Nordic Noel ones and as I was pulling out the sheets, I thought I would use the row of house as a main image. I immediately remembered that the Pals Paper Arts challenge #314 has a long horizontal line on it, which was perfect. The moment I had paired those two elements, the rest of the design came to me really quickly. As I was looking at my new stamp sets to select a seniment, the "Home Sweet Home" banner from the Sweet Home stamp set seemed like the perfect fit. I tried to keep the whole design as non-Christmasy as possible to be able to use this card for many occasions.

This card uses a lot of retired elements, but illustrates well how pairing new items with what you have in your stash can breathe new life into your older supplies.

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Doux foyer (Sweet Home)
Cardstock: Baked Brown Sugar, Whisper White
Designer Series Paper: Nordic Noel
Ink: Soft Sky, Calypso Coral
Accessories: Home Sweet Home Framelits, White Medium Envelope, Lace Border Punch,
Calypso Coral Satin Ribbon (SAB), Stampin' Dimensionals

 

Ski Weather

When putting together my wish list for the Holidays catalogue, I went back and forth on Mountain Adventure. It's the most adorable stamp set, but I wasn't sure how many different looks I could get out of it and if I would really use it a lot. On the other end, practically everybody I work with skis. They all own ski chalets by the ski slope or rent them during the winter, so from a card sales point of view, this stamp set seemed like a wise investment. I finally decided to go for it with my hostess rewards. We'll see if I was right about those cards selling well once winter comes around...

This design was inspired by the As You See It challenge #140 (sketch) and Just Us Girls challenge #357 (kraft + white + aqua). That soft colour combo seemed appropriate for a winter decor. I used Whimmery White cardstock because Stampin' Up! has shared that it was a great cardstock to watercolor on, since it's a bit thicker and takes the water well. I kept things simple by staming the main images in Crumb Cake, and adding the trees in Soft Sky ink, as well as the falling snow. I then watercolored the whole sky in Soft Sky ink with an Aqua Painter brush.

The sentiment was stamped at the bottom of the card, on a piece of striped Crumb Cake Specialty Paper we used to carry many years ago. The left panel was stamped with the skis and snowboard images in Soft Sky, and I added a piece of Copper washi tape from the Affectionately Designer Tape collection. I used Metallic Sequins to add as falling snow (white and clear sequins). A touch of fine flitter was also added to the snow on the mountain top. And I wrapped Clear tinsel trim around the card (also from a few years back).

 

 

 

    

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Mountain Adventure
Cardstock: Shimmery White, Soft Sky, Crumb Cake
Specialty Papers: Striped Crumb Cake
Ink: Crumb Cake, Soft Sky, Soft Suede
Accessories: Affectionately Designer Tape, Clear Tinsel Trim, Metallic Sequins,
Crumb Cake Medium Envelope, Aqua Painter Brush

 

Celebrating the Best Day

I wanted to ink the Frosted Medallions stamp set and I thought the Stampin' Celebration sketch #133 would work well with this new set from the Holidays catalogue. The colour combo was inspired by the Sunday Stamp challenge #133. I tried to steer clear a bit from making this card too wintery, so I picked the sentiment that says, "Wishing you the happiest of days."

I kept the layout pretty simple. The main image was stamped on Shimmery White cardstock: the big medallion in Pear Pizzazz and the small one in Sahara Sand. Then I stamped the big medallion again in Marina Mist and punched the center with a 1" Circle punch to layer with Dimensionals on my image. The sentiment was stamped in Dapper Denim (one of this year's In Color shades) and I added enamel shapes in the same colour underneath, as well as one in the center of the main medallion.

One card was accented with silver sequin trim and the second one with 1/8" silver ribbon.

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Médaillons glacés (Frosted Medallions)
Cardstock: Dapper Denim, Marina Mist, Shimmery White
Ink: Dapper Denim, Marina Mist, Pear Pizzazz, Sahara Sand
Accessories: Silver Sequin Trim, 1/8" Silver Ribbon,
2016-2018 In Color Enamel Shapes, White Medium Envelopes

 

Woolen Stocking

While still rummaging through my already used papers, I found the Snow Fun collection from Simple Stories. Looking at what I could pair with it, I quickly spotted the Hang Your Stocking stamp set. It was perfect to use with the Paper Craft Crew Sketch #207. I stamped the stocking in Lucky Limeade ink, die-cut it with the Christmas Stockings Thinlits and added Night of Navy details, also die-cut with the Thinlits. I die-cut the chevron pattern out of Silver Glimmer paper and was planning on adding it to the chevrons on the stamped stocking, but the patterns weren't lining up. As I was playing with the pieces, I discovered it was meant to fit the zigzag border at the top of the stocking, so I put it there.

The sentiment banner comes from the Stitched with Cheer stamp set. I embossed the sentiment with navy powder on Baja Breeze cardstock and die-cut it with the Bunch of Banners Framelits.

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Cousu avec joie (Stitched with Cheer), Bas de Noël (Hang Your Stocking)
Cardstock: Baja Breeze, Lucky Limeade, Textured White Bazzill
Patterned Papers: Simple Stories
Ink: Lucky Limeade, VersaMark, Smoky Slate
Accessories: Washi Tape Punch, Washi Tape, Basic Grey Corduroy Button,
Lucky Limeade Baker's Twine, Silver Glimmer Paper, Silver Foil Paper, Envelope Punch Board,
Scallop Squares and Squares Nestabilities Dies, Stampin' Dimensionals,
Navy Embossing Powder, Christmas Stockings Thinlits, Bunch of Banners Framelits Dies

 

Ice Cream Treat

While I had my Summertime papers out, I wanted to use them for my scrapbook, so I looked for pictures and found some of my mother when we went out for ice cream back in Quebec City, as this awesome chocolate factorry where they dip the ice cream in chocolate. The papers and chipboard were perfect for this page. This one is also inspired by the Paper Players challenge #309 - Something Sweet and Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Summer Fun.

A little while ago, I downloaded a serie of fun fonts and I used one of them for my journaling: Banana Yeti. It had that perfect ice cream place vibe to it. You can dowload it for free on DaFont, if you're interested.

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Patterned Papers: Summertime (October Afternoon), Confetti Vellum (Crate Paper)
Accessories: Summertime Stickers and Alphabet (October Afternoon),
Silver Gel Pen, Chipboard Star (from Stampin' Up! Card Kit), Designer Washi Tape, Gold Foil,
Owl Punch (small heart), Gold Sequin Trim, Poolside Chipboard (Crate Paper)

 

Ice Cream Truck

How about a break from the Christmas creations with a summery card? This week's Paper Players challenge #309 was Something Sweet and Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge was Summer Fun and after going through my stash while stamping yesterday, I found some pretty Poolside chipboard images from Crate Paper that I put aside to use on something, and the ice cream truck seemed perfect for this challenge. I paired it with the Retro Sketch #228 for design. I bought the chipboard alone when I got them because the matching papers didn't appeal to me that much, so I looked for other papers that could work with the chipboard image and found the Summertime collection from October Afternoon. The rest of the design is pretty straightforward. I used a sticker die-cut at the bottom that was included in the October Afternoon paper kit to add my sentiment, which was stamped with the retired Remembering Your Birthday stamp set.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Une pensée pour ta fête (Remembering Your Birthday - Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Pink Pirouette
Patterned Papers: Summertime (October Afternoon)
Ink: Island Indigo
Accessories: Poolside chipboard (Crate Paper), Envelope Punch Board,
Early Espresso Baker's Twine, Eyelets, Stampin' Dimensionals

 

Season's Greetings

After finishing my elf card, I was done to just a few paper scraps so I decided to use them right away. There wasn't enough to put away, but still enough to make another project with. I actually ended up making two.

The first one was a card inspired by Freshly Made Sketch #250 and Simon Says Stamps Wednesday challenge (Make For the Border). The paper I had left was not wide enough for the design I was going for, but the die-cuts actually included a striped border that matched the paper, so but lining the stripes up, I was able to create a chevron pattern and siden the paper enough to keep my card to a regular size. Another die-cut was used for the main image. I used my Scallop Border punch to mat the paper with Lucky LImeade cardstock, and I scattered a few sequins to accent the card.

After I was done, I really didn't have much left to work with, but I did have a cute Season's Greetings die-cut and a circle frame one that looked great together, so I decided to go for a tag. I pulled out the Cheerful Tags Thinlits from the Holidays catalogue. The tag I used it meant to be folded in half, but I left it full length, and I glued another piece of paper and die-cut on the back to hide the fold and my adhesive that was showing up on the sides. I used a scrap of Chocolate Chip scalloped ribbon, a little thick baker's twine bow that was leftover on my desk, unused from a previous project, and I used the new Holly Berry Builder punch to add holly leaves on the right side of my top die-cut button. A leftover piece of baker's twine was also used at the top of the tag. It felt great to put so many leftover pieces to good use.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Pretty in Pink, Chocolate Chip
Patterned Papers: Christmas Eve Chowder (Jillibean Soup)
Accessories: Cheerful Tags Thinlits, Baker's Twine, Sequins, Scallop Border Punch,
Vanilla Medium Envelope, Pretty in Pink Gingham Ribbon, Jillibean Soup Die-Cuts,
Stampin' Dimensionals, 2" Circle Punch, Chocolate Chip Scallop Ribbon

 

Tree Trimming Helper

I was going through paper scraps and selected leftover Jillibean papers to pair with the Santa's Elves stamp set for today's card. I used Mojo Moday Sketch #461 for design and Stamp Ink Paper challenge #61 for elements (green + tree + emboss). The tree and elf were embossed in Platinum powder on watercolor paper, before I watercolored them with ink and an AquaPainter brush. The sentiment was also embossed in Cherry Cobbler Stampin' Emboss powder directly on my patterned paper. I was looking at my French Holidays sentiments and when I spotted "Greetings from the North Pole" in the new Greetings from Santa stamp set (release in the upcoming 2016 Holidays catalogue), I knew it would be perfect.

The scallop circle was a die-cut from Jillibean Soup as well, and I added a 2-3/4" Circle of Cherry Cobbler cardstock embossed with the Holly embossing folder (sold in the Annual catalogue - don't forget that it includes a few Christmas elements this year).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Santa's Elves (My Favorite Things), Voeux du père Noël (Greetings from Santa - Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Regal Rose, watercolor paper
Patterned Papers: Jillibean Soup
Ink: VersaMark, Pear Pizzazz, Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler, Chocolate Chip, Mint Macaron, Sahara Sand, Blush Blossom
Accessories: Pool Party Thick Baker's Twine, Embossing Powder (Cherry Cobbler, Platinum),
Stampin' Dimensionals, Envelope Punch Board, Aqua Painter Brush, Holly Embossing Folder, Circle Framelits,
Jillibean Soup Die-Cuts

 

You're on the Nice List?!

I wanted to give the ColourQ challenge #355 a whirl because I thought the colour combo was gorgeous. I spotted my new Jingle All the Way stamp set (I was the lucky winner of a gift certificate in MFT's weekly sketch challenge and used it to get this set, which has been on my wisj list for a long time) and thought the colour combo could make a cool retro combo for a Christmas card. This card also fits in my catch-up Merry Monday challenges with #190 - Santa.

Then as I was selecting which Santa to use, I saw the "You're on the nice list" sentiment and for some reason, the first thing that popped into my head was adding something inside the card that says, "How'd that happen?" And as I was thinking that, I spotted the little girl and her puzzled expression and decided then, I'm totally making this card. haha! I always decorate the inside of my cards with a little something pretty, but I never add any additional sentiments inside. It leaves more room for messages and makes it easier when selling cards at the office so that they won't have any surprises when they open the card (and they don't have to take the cards out of the plastic sleeves to inspect the inside before buying). Here, I'm thinking I just might use this card myself at Christmas for my English family members anyway.

The Chevron Border dies were on sale, so I got those in the same order, and the Mini Fringe was actually an unexpected gift I received with the order. I cut a piece of cardstock out just to test it and as I was starting to gather my stuff for the card, I noticed the elements I wanted to use would work well with this week's MFT sketch. I wasn't initially planning on using this sketch for the very simple reason that I had already used it earlier this week on another card, but it was working much better than the other sketch I had selected anyway, so I went for it again. The card base was a little bared so as I was thinking of which background stamp to use, I remembered I actually own a MFT background stamp called Snowfall. It added the perfect subtle touch to the Pistachio Pudding cardstock.

To add the sentiment inside, I had to improvise a bit. I was planning on using either my own handwriting (and my first try on scratch paper wasn't great) or using another alphabet set, but I was a little bummed that the fonts wouldn't match. So then I thought of something else: using a marker, I inked up the letters I needed and stamped them side by side. I already had the "HO3" sentiment to start the "How" and some of the letters I needed were side by side on some words, so overall, it went fairly quickly. For "happen", I didn't have any Ps but I had the word ALL, that I stamped and I used my marker to transform the Ls into Ps.

You might be wondering how I created that red border on the front of the card. That one was born out of sheer luck. For my first sketch try, I had die-cut the fancy rectangle that will be part of the Cheerful Tags Thinltis in the upcoming Holidays catalogue. Those dies include everything you need to make tags to hang on bottles (I'll make samples to share with you in a later post). I thought I could use the square on the card, and as I was poking out the holes, I noticed that the pieces had a really interesting shape, so I pulled them out and pulled them aside. They would be a pain to put adhesive on, except that I wanted to make my life simpler when I made the die-cut in the first place and had thought to put adhesive sheets behind my cardstock before die-cutting. My little pieces were therefore already stickers, so I managed to add the border easily. I used the rectangle on the back of my card instead, to create my signature block.

I used a tag from the same Thinlits collection for the Santa. The tag has a fold and two holes for ribbon, so I used the half-cutting technique with my Big Shot - where you place your top cutting pad only on the part you want die-cut - to avoid having the second hole at the bottom, and that allowed me to make the tag longer as well. Metallic sequins were added, striped satin ribbon and a darling little jingle bell on Santa's hat. The images were colored on watercolor paper using an Aqua Painter brush and inks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Jingle All the Way, Snowfall BG (My Favorite Things)
Cardstock: Poppy Parade, Pistachio Pudding, Basic Grey, Black Glimmer Paper, Watercolor Paper
Designer Series Paper: In Color Paper Stack
Ink: Pistachio Pudding, Black Archival, Poppy Parade, Smoky Slate,
Soft Sky, VersaMark
Accessories: Black Stampin' Emboss Powder, Cheerful Tags Thinlits, Mini Jingle Bell,
Stampin' Dimensionals, Aqua Painter Brush, Metallic Sequins, Big Shot Adhesive Sheet,
White Medium Envelope, Jingle All the Way Die-namics, Chevron Border Die-namics,
Striped Satin Ribbon, Brad

 

Framed Friendship

This card was inspired by three challenges: Global Design Project #49 for the colours, Tuesday Morning Sketches #365 for the design and Stamp Ink Paper challenge #61 for the elements (I chose Green + Sequins + Flowers in the tic tac toe grid).

The sequins element made me think to turn the frame from the Painter's Palette stamp set into a shaker frame. I picked sequins from the Brights and Metallic packs to match my color combo. A little punched flower was added at the top of the frame, and the sentiment was embossed in Copper Stampin' Emboss powder.

The card background was created using the paint strokes from the stamp set, and the splatter image was also embossed in copper powder. I used the 2016-2018 In Color Envelope Paper and Envelope Punch Board to make a matching envelope, and I used a scrap of paper from my sheet to mat the frame and make it stand out better against my background. I punched a slit and used a piece of Flirty Flamingo ruched ribbon in it, tied with a piece of the burlap ribbon I had previously pulled apart for another project. The corners were rounded using the Project Life Corner Punch.

 

 

 

   

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Palette d'artiste (Painter's Palette)
Cardstock: Whisper White, Flirty Flamingo
Envelope Paper: 2016-2018 In Color
Ink: Flirty Flamingo, Pear Pizzazz, Daffodil Delight, VersaMark
Accessories: Copper Stampin' Emboss Powder, Envelope Punch Board,
Flirty Flamingo Ruched Ribbon, Burlap Ribbon, Project Life Corner Punch,
Foam Adhesive Strips, Metallic and Brights Sequins, Window Sheets,
Small Flower Punch, Curvy Corner Trio Punch

 

Gifts of Comfort and Joy

I found a beautiful inspiration picture on Splitcoast Stampers, in their monthly Christmas challenge forum. Everything about this picture is inspiring: the plaid, the gifts, the pine boughs, the classic red and green combo against the Kraft, the ribbon bow... I've drawn from pretty much all of those elements on my card. I knew exactly which papers I was going to use to make a card for this challenge. I recently got the Comfort and Joy papers and die-cuts from My Mind's Eye and they include a very nice mix of that cottage plaid that's very in right now (that black and red gingham). Some of the papers are even already glittered for us, including the plaid I used here (the white lines have glitter on them). The little gifts on the die-cut are also glittered.

The design was inspired by MFT Sketch #294, and since I'm catching up this summer on Merry Monday challenges, this is for #199 (Getting Sentimental). Speaking of, this cool font is from the Christmas Pines stamp set, all new in the upcoming Holidays catalogue. I also used the pine boughs on my background cardstock, and overstamped the frame from the set in VersaMark and heat embossed in Copper on black cardstock. It looks great against the red and makes for a more modern look than gold, since copper is currently making a comeback. A little pine bough was also die-cut using the matching Pretty Pines Thinlits. To keep with the warm and cozy theme, I placed Cherry Cobbler scalloped tulle (which we used to carry a few years ago) underneath the green cardstock, and I tied a piece of wool trim tied in a bow at the bottom. I've always been in love with that trim, but it is tricky to use because it is so bulky. Knowing that, instead of using a regular-size envelope, I made my own with the Envelope Punch Board and went for a wider size.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Sapins de Noël (Christmas Pines)
Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Basic Black, Garden Green, Pistachio Pudding
Patterned Papers: Comfort and Joy (My Mind's Eye)
Ink: VersaMark, Garden Green, Pistachio Pudding
Accessories: Envelope Punch Board, Stampin' Dimensionals,
Cherry Cobbler Scalloped Tulle, White Knit Trim,
Pretty Pines Thinlits, Oval Framelits, Copper Stampin' Emboss Powder

 

A House Down on Candy Cane Lane

I predict that the Candy Cane Lane suite from the new Holidays catalogue will be popular. The Designer Series Paper is adorable, and one of the sheets include cute little houses that can easily be handcut, so that was the starting point for my card. The Create with Connie and Mary sketch #419 and the Merry Monday challenge #202 (snowy christmas card) was perfect to put this house to good use on a card. The sketch would have been perfect to use paper scraps but as it turns out I just got this paper and had not used it yet, I had to actually cut into full sheets to crate my paper "scraps." I used the Layering Squares Framelits and the Sweet & Sassy Framelits to cut two of them into actual shapes.

Looking for a sentiment, I found "May your season be cozy" in the Stitched with Cheer stamp set, which was perfect to pair with the house, and just the right size. As I was cutting my card base, I also spotted on my desk the Hello December Accessory pack - which includes the cutest little whitewash trees, so I put one on each side of my house. (Love this detail!). I also glued down a piece of white glitter ribbon to ground the house and make it look like snow. This ribbon is unfortunately not current, but if you're lucky, you might have some leftover from our last Sale-A-Bration promotion. Otherwise, we have the same glitter ribbon currently offered in Silver in the Holidays catalogue, so that could work as well.

As a final touch, I added a smidge of Dazzling Diamonds fine glitter to the snow on the roof and the chimney.

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Cousu avec joie (Stitched with Cheer)
Cardstock: Early Espresso, Real Red
Designer Series Paper: Candy Cane Lane
Ink: Early Espresso
Accessories: 2016 Hello December Accessories (trees), Dazzling Diamonds Fine Glitter,
Stamp-a-ma-jig, Layering Squares Framelits, Sweet & Sassy Framelits,
White Glitter Ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals, Neutrals Candy Dots,
Designer Washi Tape, White Square Envelope

 

Simple Joys of the Season

Today's card showcases the Christmas Pines stamp set and Pretty Pines Thinlits bundle (offered at 10% when bought together). This bundle offers so many creative possibilities with the pine boughs and pinecones in it. It's always packed with awesome sentiments - I had a hard time picking which one to use on my card because they would have all been awesome!

I stamped the card base with the little snowflake pattern included in the set, in Crumb Cake ink. Then I layered a bunch of pine boughs die-cut out of Mint Macaron and Garden Green cardstock. I placed them randomly on the card to create a circle, and layered over it the piece of Real Red cardstock embossed with the Cable Knit Dynamic embossing folder leftover from my previous project. On each side, I added a piece of Kraft rope trim. (FYI: the trim looks really pale in the catalogue picture, but it is true kraft colour in person.)

For the sentiment, I stamped the frame from the stamp set in Garden Green ink then added the sentiment in French in the center, and handcut the frame (sorry, no Framelits for this one...). I then put Stampin' Dimensionals on the back, and I rolled a piece of Gold Sequin Trim on the back of it before gluing to the card.

A bow die-cut out of Red Glimmer paper (part of the Thinlits collection) was added below the sentiment.

I am catching up on past Merry Monday challenges during the summer break and this is for challenge #199 - Sentiment as focal point.

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Sapins de Noël (Christmas Pines)
Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Mint Macaron, Garden Green, Real Red
Ink: Crumb Cake, Garden Green, Real Red
Accessories: Pretty Pines Thinlits Dies, Stampin' Dimensionals, Crumb Cake Medium Envelope,
Gold Sequin Trim, Red Glimmer Paper, Kraft Rope Trim, Cable Knit Dynamic Embossing Folder