Encre, papier, ciseaux

Fishing Day

This card was inspired by Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge (Heavy Metal). I figured I'd pull out the long-retired Hodgepodge Hardware, and the Vanilla Hodgepode was a nice match to the Winter Wonderland papers, which in turn looked great paired with the Beary Happy Holidays. The card design was inspired by past Mojo Monday sketch #477.

Since the images and papers were not necessarily Christmas-related, I decided to turn this into a birthday card, as I've noticed that during this period of the year, I tend to get low on birthday cards since I'm heavily inspired by Halloween and Holidays projects.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Beary Happy Holidays (Lawn Fawn), Messages d'amitié (Florilège Design),
Hemlines (Paper Salon)
Cardstock: Lost Lagoon, Baked Brown Sugar, Very Vanilla, Vellum
Patterned Papers: Winter Wonderland (Simple Stories)
Ink: Rich Cocoa Memento, Calypso Coral, Versamark, Soft Suede
Accessories: Northern Frost Die, Vanilla Hodgepodge Hardware, Sequins,
Opalescent and Gold Pearl Embossing Powders, Baked Brown Sugar Ruffled Ribbon,
Brads, Beary Happy Holidays Dies (Lawn Fawn), Pearl Basic Jewels, Calypso Coral Satin Ribbon,
Copic Markers, Mini Stampin' Dimensionals, Vanilla Medium Envelope, Snowflakes Embossing Folder

 

Village Manor

I started this project ages ago, back when I found some of the Village Dwelling dies on sale at my local store. I added the Village Manor die to my collection to go with it and immediately started putting a manor together because the die was so new, I could barely find any pictures of finished projects online or videos showing how to assemble it. I have to say, the diagrams on the back of the packaging don't provide a whole lot of explanations, so you have to figure out a lot of the steps on your own. One of those steps was how to assemble the top of the tower on the house. It sits on the tower but gets crooked if you don't glue it in place. I got a little frustrated, plus I had to clean up my craft room so I put the project aside and pretty much forgot about it.

That is, until my niece visited, found the box with the pieces and asked why the house was not finished. She asked again when she visited later as it still was sitting unfinished in the box. After that second time she asked, I pulled the box out and put it near my desk to remember to finish it. So when I saw the Simon Says Stamp challenge (Anything Goes), I spotted the house and decided to give it another shot.

While looking through the box at the die-cut pieces I had, I spotted the two posts that are meant to be the beams at the front of the main dwelling house. I wondered if I could glue those inside the manor roof and use it to add it to the tower. The answer is yes, and it works really well! I used liquid glue so I could slide it in place and adjust before the glue set. I kept going on the rest of the house, almost took a break again once I saw how long it was taking die-cutting all the little pieces, but thankfully, I held on and two hours later, I can finally call it done! I can't wait to show my niece and see what she says,

A few details close-up:

• I used copper Nuvo crystal drops to make my door handles at the front.
• I stamped the door, the front part of the house and the porch with stamps from Gorgeous Grunge and Timeless Textures to give the cardstock a bit of dimension.
• I added vellum behind the windows so that we could not see inside the house (neater finish).
• See those little spiked on the rooftop? It's the top of the fence die. I used Copper Foil Paper so that it looked like it was made out of metal and the result if pretty cool.
• I found some textured paper at a local store (really thin, almost like crepe paper) and I added it to sturdier cardstock to make the roof. It totally changes the look of the finished house.
• For the walls, I used a crackled-paint patterned cardstock from Tim Holtz.
• You'll notice I added a few bricks around the house. They're the inside of the die-cut window frames that I reused!

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Timeless Textures, Gorgeous Grunge (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Dapper Denim, Bravo Burgundy, Crumb Cake, Easly Espresso, Vellum
Ink: Dapper Denim, Early Espresso
Patterned Papers: Tim Holtz - Ranger, Unknown (brown roof paper)
Dies: Village Dwelling, Village Winter, Village Manor (Sizzix)

 

Christmas Light

So I decided to get the Brightly Lit Christmas bundle on my last order and it was my first time inking it tonight, inspired by SUO challenge #184 and Try Stampin' on Tuesday #341. I was a little confused to discover that while the die set includes a lamppost, it does not match the image in the stamp set. Wait... what?! So I went ahead and handcut it, but I'm still a little confused as to why the main image of the stamp set does not have a die when there's a die set created specifically to go with it.

Then, I decided I would trim the lamppost with a wreath and a bow (which, thankfully, both have matching dies) and add my sentiment on a banner to the right, but when I die-cut the fancy holder, I found out it was too short to hang the sentiment from and not have it be hidden by the wreath. So I had to die-cut a second one and glue it to the first die-cut to extend it a bit.

All in all, I'm happy with how the card turned out, but I'm still a little bit in dismay over the lack of coordination in the bundle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Pleins feux sur Noël (Brightly Lit Christmas)
Cardstock: Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White, Crushed Curry, Basic Black
Designer Series Paper: Warmth & Cheer
Ink: Tuxedo Black Memento, Garden Green, Crushed Curry, Cherry Cobbler
Accessories: Christmas Lamppost Thinlits, Stampin' Dimensionals, Aqua Painter Brush,
Regals Enamel Shapes, Decorative Ribbon Border Punch, Wink of Stella Brush

 

Sending Joy

Inspiration: Merry Monday #258 + TCP Tuesday #339 + MFT Sketch #352

This week's Merry Monday theme was penguins, so I knew I wanted to pull a Cat's Pajamas set out. It was perfect, since the TCP Tuesday challenge was a fall or winter holiday. I settled on Penguin Joy for the main image and decided it would look great with the cute, candy-colored papers from the Milk & Cookies paper collection from Doodlebug. I layered two papers, die-cut them using the Dotted Scallop Rectangles and I added a little white punched border I had leftover from a previous projects.

I stamped and colored with image with markers, traced the letters with a silver gel pen, then die-cut it using the Stitched Shapes Framelits. I liked the look of what I had already, but the sketch I was using as another layered rectangle. Since I didn't want to hide the background too much, I reached for vellum. On my first try, I embossed the vellum with a snowflake folder and heat-embossed the sides with opalescent powder. I found that this new piece detracted from the card rather than adding to it, so I scrapped that idea. I was about to add a plain piece of vellum die-cut with the Stitched Rectangle Stackables dies, but then I spotted in my vellum file a piece that was already white-embossed. I kid you not, this was done many years ago and this piece has been resting in my vellum pile for a long time, but I decided the whimsical hearts worked well with the cutesy look of Doodlebug. These images, by the way, are from a wheel called Lots of Hearts that I bought back in my early demonstrator years, so we're talking a decade ago.

The sentiment strip was cut out of the patterned paper.

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Penguin Joy (The Cat's Pajamas), Lots of Hearts Wheel (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Thick Whisper White, Vellum
Patterned Papers: Milk & Cookies (Doodlebug Design)
Ink: Tuxedo Black Memento, VersaMark
Accessories: White Stampin' Emboss Powder, Copic Markers, Silver Gel Pen,
Stitched Shapes Framelits, White Medium Envelope, Stampin' Dimensionals,
Dotted Scallop Rectangles Dies (Elizabeth Craft Designs), Rhinestone Basic Jewels,
Decorative Ribbon Border Punch, Stitched Rectangle Stackables Dies (Lawn Fawn)

 

Halloween Pizza Box

The mini pizza box, as adorable as they were, didn't make it on my first Holidays Catalogue order. I got them later and before receiving my order, I saw a project online where a stamper had used the new snowflake embossing folder on the cover. Not having seen the boxes yet, I was a little confused about how that could be done. (And the project was done by a German stamper, which didn't help me understand the details of how that had been done.) Once I received the boxes and realized that they come flat and unassembled, I could see how they could be run through the Big Shot. I will warn you, though: they're made of sturdy cardstock so using the regular Big Shot sandwich for embossing folder is not an option there. I had to pull out many options of various shims before I managed to figure out something that did emboss the cover. I had Halloween candy packaging in mind, so I gave embossing a try with the retired Spiderweb embossing folder.

I didn't want to leave the box stark white and I was first planning on using patterned papers, but then I got curious to see if the Distress Oxide inks would work well on the boxes. The answer is: they do!! Based off of an old ColourQ combo (#314), I combined Spiced Marmalade, Seedless Preserves and Peeled Paint on the box.

Then inspired by both Lawn Fawnatics #13 (Fall Inspiration) and Stamp Ink Paper #118 (Anything but a Card) challenges, I used some of the new Lawn Fawn supplies to create a little Halloween scene. The moon was punched out of Dazzling Diamonds glimmer paper and I added the little spider die over it. As I was die-cutting the characters, I spotted a teeny tiny triangle die in the set and was wondering what it was, so studying the stamp set, I spotted a super small candy corn image and decided to have my spider hold on to it. On a whim, I decided to stamp one more for the characters. (Hey, like it says in the other set, "I love you more than candy corn" so it makes sense that the little dude would be wiling to give his candy away. *wink*)

Then I decided to add a Happy Halloween sentiment to the box, but found "Surprise!" in a new French stamp set I have, so I went with that instead. A piece of polka dot grosgrain ribbon was added arond the box.

 

 

 

 

 

 

    

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Costume Party (Lawn Fawn), Messages d'amitié (Florilège Design)
Cardstock: Whisper White, Basic Black. Tango Tangerine, Old Olive, Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper
Ink: Tuxedo Black Memento, Distress Oxide (Spiced Marmalade, Seedless Preserves, Peeled Paint)
Accessories: Mini Pizza Box (Stampin' Up!), Blending Tool (Ranger), Rich Razzleberry Polka Dot Grosgrain Ribbon,
Stampin' Dimensionals, Copic Markers, 7/8" Circle Punch, Spiderweb Embossing Folder,
Village Border Dies, Cute Cobweb Dies, Costume Party Dies (Lawn Fawn)

 

Ring of Flowers

Year after year, I've seen colors in fashion and home decor that match the In Color shades issued by Stampin' Up! in their latest catalogue. This year's release was no exception: when I pulled the Ikea catalogue out of my mailbox, I couldn't help but notice that the striking colours they've used in the decor shown on their cover include hues that very closely resemble Tranquil Tide and Powder Pink. I was inspired to go to my cardstock to find a similar combo. I settled on Basic Grey + Smoky Slate + Daffodil Delight + Tranquil Tide + Powder Pink + Soft Sky. There's something both soft and modern about the result. I was looking at stamp sets to find something that would mesh well with the combo and decided to use Hello Friend, which also has a delicate yet modern twist to it.

This card is uncomplicated - it only mixes ink, cardstock and a few embellishments - but the result still looks intricate. The design was inspired by the Global Design Project challenge #106.

 

 

 

  

Color Combo: Powder Pink + Tranquil Tide + Basic Grey + Smoky Slate + Daffodil Delight + Soft Sky

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Bonjour très chère (Hello Friend), Burlap
Cardstock: Basic Grey, Smoky Slate, Daffodil Delight, Tranquil Tide, Soft Sky, Powder Pink
Ink: Basic Grey, Smoky Slate, Daffodil Delight, Tranquil Tide, Soft Sky, Powder Pink
Accessories: Clear Faceted Gems, Pearl Basic Jewels, Enamel Dots (Brights, Subtles),
Decorative Ribbon Boarder Punch, White Medium Envelope, Stampin' Dimensionals,
Silver Metallic Thread, 1-1/4" Circle Punch, Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder

 

Candy Graveyard

This project was not supposed to be complicated. I planned on doing a watercolor wash of an Halloween scene and layer the awesome new Detailed Gate Thinlits die-cut, which would do most of the work to make the project interesting since it's so intricate.

Although the project started that way (as a card), inspiration kept coming faster than I could put the project together, and I finally ended up with a treat box! Most of the images used were pulled from the Graveyard Gate, which is the stamp set offered in a bundle along with the Thinlits dies. I did reach for the Snowflake Sentiments bundle as well, though (which sounds counterintuitive for a Halloween project). I was looking for a way to hang a little sign on the gate with the "Open if you dare" sentiment and I spotted in the Swirly Snowflakes Thinlits a mini tag, so I decided to use that instead, and I used the matching stamp set to stamp "for:" inside the tag. I lined the inside of the tag with Designer Series Paper, by running the die through the Big Shot a second time with the DSP and cutting the tag in half, keeping only the inside portion.

The adorable lock and key are part of the Thinlits set. I hadn't noticed those elements while shopping the catalogue, but I was happy to discover those when I opened my order. I think it can be used on love and Valentine's as well, paired with a "key to my heart" sentiment. Also, while looking for tag options, I noticed that the Home Sweet Home Framelits include a little bat, so on top of the stamped ones at the left, I die-cut one out of black glimmer paper (which we unfortunately don't carry anymore) and popped it up on mini Stampin' Dimensionals. (Have you noticed that new adhesive in the annual catalogue? It's really useful!)

When I added the gate to my project, I thought there might be a way to slide a lollipop or something underneath the gate (an idea to be explored later). Instead, I decided to create a pocket on the back of my scene - that's when the card turned into packaging. I was exploring ideas and finally decided to create a box bottom out of Tango Tangerine cardstock based on a sketch for measurements.

I drew inspiration for the colour combo from an old ColourQ challenge (#311) and In[k]spire Me challenge #318.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: L'entrée du cimetière (Graveyard Gate), Souhaits en rafales (Snowflake Sentiments)
Cardstock: Basic Black, Tango Tangerine, Kiss Kiss, Watercolor Paper, Silver Glimmer Paper
Designer Series Paper: 2011-2013 In Color Stack
Ink: Basic Black Archival, Tango Tangerine, Wisteria Wonder, Kiwi Kiss
Accessories: Layering Circle Framelits Dies, Circle Punches, Mini Stampin' Dimensionals, Aqua Painter Brushes,
Decorative Ribbon Border, Home Sweet Home Thinlits Dies, Swirly Snowflakes Thinlits, Clear Wink of Stella,
Champagne Foil Paper, Black Glimmer Paper, Black Rhinestone Jewels, Pick a Pattern Washi Tape

 

Trick or Treating

I'm so stocked about how this one turned out, especially since I wasn't envisioning something so intricate when I first started crafting. I found some stamped images I had received years ago in a swap. The pile contained some really cute stuff, including some cute Stampendous Halloween images. I sat down and started coloring them with Prismacolor pencils, thinking I could make a card with them. Then the card became a Halloween treat bag after spotting a kraft bag I had left out on my desk, hoping to find a use for it.

Then, as I was trying to find design that would work, I thought I could do a house backdrop using the Little Town Border die from Lawn Fawn. That's when the ideas started coming and I found myself turning the whole thing into a little scene.

The sentiment at the bottom was sitting with the new Spooky Cat stamp set from the 2017 Holidays Catalogue. This might be my favorite sentiment from the set, because of the funny eyes and the sentiment, which reads "Not even scared." (I believe the English says, "Happy owl-oween." I find the French funnier.)

This was inspired by In[k]spite Me challenge #318.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Stampendous, Mystérieux félin (Spooky Cat - Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Concord Crush, Pumpkin Pie, Basic Black, Summer Sun, Basic Grey, Whisper White
Patterned Papers: Halloween Parade (Doodlebug Design)
Ink: Tuxedo Black Memento
Lawn Fawn Dies: Stitched Hillside Borders, Stitched Tree Borders, Little Town Border, Road Border
Accessories: Finishing Touches Edgelits Dies, Prismacolor Pencils, Stampin' Dimensionals,
Black Rhinestone Jewels, Kraft Paper Bag, Large Deckled Rectangle Nestabilities Dies

 

Kitty Bliss

The colors in the inspiration piece from The Card Concept #78 totally reminded me of the Best Year Ever Designer Paper stampin' Up! had during Sale-A-Bration a few years ago. I thought the soft colours would look great paired with the Meow You Doin'? stamp set, so that was the starting point of the card.

I was drawing inspiration from an old Mojo Monday sketch and after punching the circle out of patterned paper, I realized it totally looks like a ball of yarn. Sheer coincidence, but I love the look. The stamp set does include a ball of yarn, but I wanted my kitty to be playing with something else and I found a little butterfly that was just the right size in the Wild for You stamp set.

I was looking for a sentiment that could match my image well and found "Pure Bliss" in an old Project Life stamp set (the ones that were sold with the PL accessories). A little banner punched out of Copper foil paper was added.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Meow You Doin'?, Wild for You (Lawn Fawn), Project Life Toute l'année (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Sahara Sand, Whisper White, Champagne Foil Paper
Designer Series Paper: Best Year Ever
Ink: Soft Suede, Tuxedo Black Memento, Sahara Sand, Coastal Cabana
Accessories: Copic Markers, Ribbon, White Medium Envelope, Stampin' Dimensionals,
Banner Punch, Circle Punch

 

Candy Corn-Inspired Treat

I found those lovely gumballs at my local Bulk Barn and thought if I got some orange, yellow and white ones, that I could slip them in the mini test tubes Stampin' Up! is currently selling in the color order of candy corn for a fun look. Well, I got home and gave it a try... only to discover that they're a really tight squeeze and that I had to push them down the tube. I suspect once they're down that the will not come back up, so that idea went out the window. I decided to give the clear treat box a try instead and it worked out better. I was keen on matching the cute box with the How You Bean? Candy Corn Add-On stamp set from Lawn Fawn, so I created a little tag out of the grey Bazzill cardstock I had leftover from my last project, using the tag topper punch Stampin' Up! used to carry. I used the Spooky Cat stamp set to add "Happy Halloween" underneath.

I tied Pumpkin Pie chevron ribbon around the clear box and tied the tag on it using grey and black twine (last year's Halloween Night Baker's Twine).

This fun candy packaging was inspired by the In[k]spire Me challenge #318 (Halloween and Harvest theme) and Lawn Fawnatics #13.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Mystérieux félin (Spooky Cat - Stampin' Up!), How You Bean? Candy Corn Add-On (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Whisper White, Grey Bazzill
Ink: Tuxedo Black Memento
Accessories: Pumpkin Pie Chevron Ribbon, Halloween Night Baker's Twine,
Angle Tag Topper Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals, Copic Markers, Clear Tiny Treat Boxes

 

 

Foil Halloween Treat Bag

I'm still playing with the new 2017 Holidays Catalogue release. This treat bag showcases the Spooky Cat stamp set. The images are fun, but the French sentiments are even more awesome, so this one was a no-brainer for me. I really like the little potions included in the set, and the crooked witch hat (shown here).

I used the Foil Frenzy Specialty Designer Series Paper again. It's hard not to get addicted, especially when making projects for festive occasions. The black rhinestones are also a new embellishment from the Holidays Catalogue. I predict those will be popular.

The sentiment reads, "A wicked yummy treat" and in the center "Just one more". (We don't really use the expression Trick or Treat in French, hence the change. This one just cracks me up! This is just a lie we tell ourselves every Halloween...)

The treat bag was created with the Gift Bag Punch Board. I'm getting better at using this thing without having to read the instructions one line at a time!

Inspiration: In[k]spire Me #318

 

 

 

 Colour Combo: Rich Razzleberry + Berry Burst + Old Olive + Tango Tangerine + Basic Black

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Mystérieux félin (Spooky Cat)
Cardstock: Whisper White, Tango Tangerine, Shimmery White, Rich Razzleberry, Basic Black
Designer Series Paper: Foil Frenzy, Merry Little Christmas
Ink: Tango Tangerine, Rich Razzleberry, Tuxedo Black Memento
Accessories: 2-1/2" Circle Punch, Gift Bag Punch Board, Berry Burst Crinkled Seam Binding,
Layering Ovals Framelits, Stampin' Dimensionals, Black Basic Jewels, Home Sweet Home Framelits (bat),
Pick a Pattern Washi Tape

 

Holiday Message

This little elf is the reason I caved and got the Festive Phrases stamp set, even though it's not available in French. That image is just so cute!! Ironically enough, though, it's my third time using the stamp set and only the first time I'm inking this image up. I paired it with the Merry Little Christmas Designer Series Paper, which were a natural fit with the elf because of the the green.

The design was inspired by the Freshly Made Sketch #306. I moved the image back toward the center a bit, because it looked better with my ribbon tied on the striped paper, since the green ribbon showed up better. A bit of mini sequin trim was added to the top of the image for added interest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Festive Phrases
Cardstock: Thick Whisper White, Watercolor Paper
Designer Series Paper: Merry Music, Merry Little Christmas
Ink: Jet Black StazOn, Old Olive, Sahara Sand, Powder Pink, So Saffron
Accessories: Old Olive 1/8" Sheer Ribbon, Basic Black Mini Sequin Trim,
Stampin' Dimensionals, Envelope Punch Board, Lots of Labels Framelits Dies

 

Magic Unicorn

Lately, my niece has been really into unicorns. Plush toy, jewelry, t-shirt... When I spotted the Winter Unicorn stamp set at my local store, I quickly grabbed it, knowing I could make something special with it for her. Her fifth birthday is coming up in a month, so I decided to get working on her birthday card. I already knew I wanted to make a magic color slider because I figured it would probably impress her. Hopefully, she'll like it... because I must admit I really do like it myself. I drew inspiration from MFT Color challenge #77 and the sweet colors look great paired on the unicorn.

I used the Puffy Cloud Borders dies at the bottom of the card front. The back cloud was die-cut out of Cool Caribbean cardstock (I still miss that colour even after all these years) and for the front cloud, I used a piece of white sparkly foam. (Nothing fancy, just a dollar store find.) I die-cut a five out of the Perfectly Plaid Chill patterned paper (which was a perfect match to the colour combo) and added it at an angle on the clouds.

The card front still felt a little bare, and I spotted a teeny tiny star stamp in the set, so I added a few on the Flirty Flamingo cardstock. That immediately made the card more interesting. (Especially when it's closed.) A row of sparkly embellishment, a die-cut topper for the sliding part, an enamel shape and ribbon were added to finish it off.

I decided not to mount the slider on a card base. I'll simply write my message on the back. I did make a matching envelope using the Envelope Punch Board, though.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Winter Unicorn (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Flirty Flamingo, Brilliant Blue, Cool Carribean, Grey textured Bazzill, Whisper White
Designer Series Envelope Paper: 2016-2018 In Color
Patterned Paper: Perfectly Plaid Chill (Lawn Fawn)
Ink: Tuxedo Black Memento, Jet Black StazOn
Accessories: Window Sheets, Envelope Punch Board, Copic Markers, Timeless Type Alphabet Dies,
Magic Color Slider Dies (Lawn Fawn), Puffy Cloud Borders Dies (Lawn Fawn),
Sticky Rhinestone Borders, Brights Enamel Shapes, Glimmer Ribbon, Glitter Foam

 

Christmas Mail

I wanted to use my Christmas in the Making stamp set again, and I drew inspiration from the Curtain Call challenge to put together a color combo (Pacific Point + Berry Burst + Emerald Envy). The design was based on an old Mojo Monday sketch (#466).

I was looking for a small sentiment to add on my image panel. In the Snowflake Sentiments stamp set, the "from:" sentiment was translated in French to something like "kindly" (sort of). Because it is similar to something we would write at the end of a letter, I thought it was perfect to go with this image. The colon was bothering me, though, and since I knew I would never be using this sentiment with the colon at the end, I made the executive decision of getting the scissors out and cutting it off. As Tim Gunn would say, "Make it work!"

I had initially cut a panel out of Emerald Envy cardstock, but when I spotted an Emerald Envy watercolor wash paper in the Naturally Eclectic Designer Series Paper pack, I decided to go with that instead, and to overstamp it with snowflakes from the Snowflake Sentiments set to give it interest. I layered ribbons on top (using Dapper Denim ruched ribbon, which was close enough to Pacific Point to work). As I was thinking it was too bad the wooden snowflakes were retired because they would have been great on top of those ribbons, I suddenly remembered the Swirly Snowflakes Thinlits set includes two small snowflake dies, so I used those on Dazzling Diamonds glimmer paper. Sparkly enamel dots were added on top of the snowflakes.

The Pacific Point cardstock was embossed with the Holly embossing folder.

 

 

 

Color Combo: Emerald Envy + Pacific Point + Berry Burst

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Christmas in the Making, Souhaits en rafales (Snowflake Sentiments)
Cardstock: Pacific Point, Berry Burst, Watercolor Paper
Designer Series Paper: Naturally Eclectic
Ink: Jet Black StazOn, Emerald Envy, Berry Burst, Pacific Point, Powder Pink
Accessories: Swirly Snowflakes Thinlits Dies, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, Holly Embossing Folder,
Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper, Sparkly Enamel Dots, White Medium Envelope, Blending Pen,
Berry Burst Crinkled Seam Binding, Dapper Denim Ruched Ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals

 

Watermelon Treat Bag

This cute little treat bag was inspired by both the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge (Clean and Simple) and a Lawn Fawn video where they are decorating a scallop treat box to look like a watermelon. I liked the idea and wanted to give it a try, so I did a mini treat bag. I have the Scripty Aloha die, which is how I got the melon seed.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Designer Series Paper Stack: 2015-2017 In Color
Dies: Scripty Aloha (Lawn Fawn), Mini Treat Bag (Stampin' Up!)
Ribbon: Narrow White Taffeta

 

Air Mail

I was going through older paper packs and found Sent with Love, which tied in nicely with TGIF challenge #125 (form of transportation) and Lawn Fawnatics #12, which both inspired me the idea to make a scalloped pop-up box using the Plane and Simple stamp set. I won't lie, those pop-up boxes take a while to put together, even though the die kit includes everything you need to die-cut all of the pieces quickly. It still takes a while to decorate all of the layers. Of course, you can keep it simpler and do less layers inside, but the pop-up boxes I've made so far have always evolved into intricate little scenes full of small details.

On this one, I was able to recycle one of the background sky pieces I had done while working on my village shaker card. While it was not working with the other card, it looks pretty great on this one. That's why I don't always discard leftover pieces right away. I usually manage to include them somewhere else successfully the majority of the time.

The Designer Series Paper pack included a page of die-cut images, which I used to my advantage to decorate the flap. I added an image to the tag, and layered a sentiment that reads, "I miss you" over it.

The box includes four layers plus the background. I've included clouds cut out with the Puffy Cloud Borders dies, from both patterned paper and vellum. I used my glue pen to add chunky glitter on the edge of the vellum clouds. It catches the light very nicely when the box is held up. The big cloud and the airplanes were added with little strips of acetate so that they float above the clouds.

While the pop-up box will fit into a regular envelope, I decided to make my own to use up matching paper, and I used the next size up to allow for more room.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Plane and Simple (Lawn Fawn), French Label Love (Altenew)
Cardstock: Island Indigo, Whisper White
Designer Series Paper: Sent with Love
Ink: Tuxedo Black Memento, Pool Party, Salty Ocean Distress Oxide (Ranger)
Accessories: Plane and Simple Dies, Puffy Cloud Borders Dies, Scalloped Box Card Pop-Up Dies (Lawn Fawn),
Envelope Punch Board, Eyelet, Island Indigo Satin Ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals, Clear Chunky Glitter,
Copic Markers, Blending Tool

 

Support Like No Otter

This card shows the new set Lawn Fawn (Christmas Like No Otter) released in collaboration with Simon Says Stamp during the Stamptember event. I was going back and forth on whether I should get it or not, and I remember how fast last year's Lawn Fawn exclusive sold out, so I knew that if I decided I wanted it, I had to be quick. Sure enough, the stamps and dies sold out within a day of being released. This is the first card I'm making with the set, and it was inspired by the sketch from Fab Friday challenge #121 + Lawn Fawnatics #12 (Create a scene) and an old colour combo (ColourQ #61).

I kept the design fairly simple. Initially, I created the background with Tempting Turquoise cardstock, but it was a little plain, so I inked a piece of white cardstock with Broken China Distress Oxide ink and a blending tool, making sure to leave a bit of white peeking at the top and spritzing with water to create a bit of texture, which added to the card design greatly.

To add definition to the waves, I sponged the edges with Periwinkle Glitter Kiss, which catches the light very nicely when you move the card around. The sentiment reads "Thank You for Being Here" and was added to a Fancy Folded Banner die-cut. The Soft Suede background was embossed with the Stitched Windy Backdrop die.

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

Supplies
Stamps: Christmas Like No Otter (Lawn Fawn), Arbre protecteur (Sheltering Tree - Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Wild Wasabi, Pacific Point, Soft Suede, Whisper White
Ink: Soft Suede, Tuxedo Black Memento, Broken China Distress Ink (Ranger)
Accessories: Periwinkle Glitter Kiss, Copic Markers, White Medium Envelope, Stampin' Dimensionals, Spritzing Bottle. Blending Tool,
Fancy Folded Banner Dies, Christmas Like No Otter Dies, Ocean Wave Borders Dies, Stitched Windy Backdrop Die (Lawn Fawn),
Layering Oval Framelits Dies

 

Iron Flowers

This card was directly inspired by THIS video from the Papertrey Ink Stamp-a-Faire. I liked the resulting card so much, I got working on my own version using what I had on hand.

I did learn a new trick watching the tutorial: painting parts of an image or die-cut using VersaMark ink and a paintbrush. It never crossed my mind to do this, but it's an awesome way to control where you add embossing. I'm definitely going to keep this trick in mind for future projects. My favorite detail was adding a thin line of embossing on the edges of the leaves embossed with the Layered Leaves folder on the Early Espresso cardstock. The result is gorgeous. It doesn't show much on the card front, but you can see it more on the stripe I addd to the inside of the card.

I used textured cardstock for the card base and it made the embossing in the back that much more dynamic because it picked up the texture of the cardstock. Considering this card was a very close copy of the original, I was surprised by how long it ended up taking! The painting with the Versamark, all of the die-cutting and the finding the right placement of the elements took quite a bit of time.

Instead of doing a monochromatic look like the original card, I looked at past ColourQ challenge to find one with blue-green in it and settled on #43 (but I substituted Old Olive with Kiwi Kiss). I think that colour combo is perfect for the exotic flowers.

My embossing powder was a mix of Rose Gold, Gold and Platinum. The card design was inspired by Match the Sketch #194.

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Botanical Blooms, Souhaits et voeux (Sunshine Sayings)
Cardstock: Bermuda Bay, Peach Passion, Early Espresso, Kiwi Kiss
Ink: Bermuda Bay, Peach Passion, Early Espresso, Kiwi Kiss, VersaMark
Accessories: Small paintbrush, VersaMark reinker, Botanical Builder Framelits,
Voeux ensoleillés (Sunshine Wishes) Framelits, Embossing Powders (Rose Gold, Platinum, Gold),
White Medium Envelope, Peekaboo Peach Crinckled Ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals

 

Welcome to the Neighborhood

Just something fun and cute inspired by the Retro Rubber challenge #71. I pulled out an old fave, Promenade, from Paper Smooches, and paired it with the awesome Domestic Bliss papers from Simple Stories. I used my Cloud stencil to add a bit of sponged color to the background. I was first worried it was too dark, but once I added a few more rows of clouds with a lighter touch, it gave nice depth to the main panel.

Design is inspired by old Mojo Monday sketch #463.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Promenade (Paper Smooches), En ville (In the City - Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Gumball Green, Primrose Petals, Whisper White
Patterned Papers: Domestic Bliss (Simple Stories)
Ink: Tuxedo Black Memento, Night of Navy, Pool Party, Gumball Green, Primrose Petals
Accessories: White Envelope, Promenade Dies (Paper Smooches), Markers,
Stampin' Dimensionals, Primrose Petals Satin Ribbon, Project Life Corner Punch, Cloud Stencil (MFT)

 

Castle overlooking the Old City

I had a spare piece of cardstock I had embossed and tried out my Red Bronze Gilding Polish on, then left aside to use on a project at some point. I had a flash of inspiration that I could use my verdigris embossing powder to the sheet. Afterwards, while trying to think of which stamp set might work nicely with it, my stamp of the Château Frontenac seemed like a natural choice (and was perfect for the Retro Rubber challenge #71). This might be one of the oldest stamps in my stash. I bought it when I moved to Quebec City after university and discovered that there was a stamp store right outside of Old Quebec. It closed shortly afterwards, so this is the only purchase I ever made from them, but I've kept reaching for it over the years. I've used various coloring techniques on it over time, but it was my first time trying out markers and I think it turned out pretty nicely!

Just to illustrate the fact that we all have to start somewhere and that practice does make better, I went back to the early pages of my Splitcoast Stampers gallery (which pre-dates my blog) and found a couple of cards I had made with this stamp back in 2005. I remember being quite proud of my crafting results back then - at least, proud enough to send those cards out to friends. Must have been interesting for my long-standing friends to see the evolution of the birthday cards they've received over the years.

 

2005

    

 

2017

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Château Frontenac (The Stamp Barn)
Cardstock: Sage Shadow, Baked Brown Sugar, Very Vanilla
Ink: Tuxedo Black Memento
Accessories: Red Bronze Gilding Paste (Cosmic Shimmer), Dotted Lattice Embossing Folder,
Verdigris Embossing Powder (Ranger), Curvy Corner Trio Punch, Markers, Vanlla Medium Envelope

 

 

Good Tidings

Inspiration: Merry Monday #256 and Global Design Project #104

Merry Monday's theme was Favorite Holidays movie and the first one that popped in my mind was The Holiday (with Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet). It's just cute and there was something about the English countryside setting that was just lovely. I wasn't sure how to translate this movie onto a Christmas card until I decide to use mistletoe (with the Good Tidings stamp set) to tie in with the love theme of the movie. When looking at past ColourQ combos for inspiration, I selected one with pink to go with the girlie theme.

The card design was based around the sketch of the sample shown for inspiration in the Global Design Project challenge. I wanted to hand stamp my own background and was about to use white, but I thought it would be a little stark - and then I spotted the Wood Textures Designer Series Paper pack on my desk and got inspired to overstamp on patterned paper. I'm so, so pleased with how that background turned out!

 

 

 

 

    

Colour Combo: Basic Grey + Old Olive + Melon Mambo + Pink Pirouette + White

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Bouquet de houx (Good Tidings)
Cardstock: Basic Grey, Melon Mambo, Pink Pirouette, Whisper White
Designer Series Paper Stack: Wood Textures
Ink: Melon Mambo, Old Olive, Basic Grey
Accessories: White Medium Envelope, Mini Tinsel Trim Combo Pack,
Layering Ovals Framelits, Stitched Shapes Framelits, Stampin' Dimensionals,
Clear Faceted Gems, Old Olive 3/8" Mini Chevron Ribbon

 

 

All Hearts Come Home for Christmas Shaker

The starting point for this card was the MFT Color Challenge #76, which I paired with Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge (Stamp It) and Lawn Fawnatics #12 (Create a scene).

Some cards come together easily. This one did not. I wanted to try out new ways to use the Distress Oxide inks and tried making a softer background brushing the inks on with a paintbrush. (Mind you, a cheap one I had on hand.) It kinda worked, but once the inks dried, the colours were pretty soft. I decided it could make a cool background for a winter scene, which gave me a good occasion to ink up the Winter Village stamp set from Lawn Fawn that I fell in love with when I saw the new release. I used my markers to color the village in matching colours and because the markers are vivid, the sky seemed really washed out in comparison.

So I went on to try technique number two. I decided to try Distress Oxide inks on Glossy cardstock as I was curious to see how it would blend. While the ink really moved on the glossy cardstock, the pigment quality of the Distress Oxide make the inks sit on top of the cardstock instead of really drying on it, so this test was a dud as well. I finally went back to regular ink blending with sponges on thick white cardstock, and this time, the colors were a better match to the village.

I decided that I would use the Stitched Hillside Backdrop: Portrait die to create my Village scene, and die-cut it out of the white pattern from the Knit Picky 6 x 6 petite paper pack. Jennifer McGuire shared a video this week where she created shaker cards with chunky glitter, and also sprinkled her acetate with white embossing powder to create falling snow. This definitely influenced how I put together the rest of this card, transforming it into a shaker and filling it with some rectangular-shaped sparkly glitter that I had in my stash. I also did the dusting white embossing powder on the acetate trick, and it really adds a nice touch.

For the sentiment, I found "All hearts come home at Christmas" in the Hearts Come Home stamp set (2017 Holidays Catalogue, p. 39), whch was perfect with my images. My first attempt was stamping it in Berry Burst ink and embossing it with clear powder so that it wouldn't smudge. It worked, but it was also a little hard to read because it kind of became sheer and although it could be read, I felt it got lost amongst the rest. So I stamped the sentiment again on cardstock, white-embossed it, and use the Layering Ovals to cut and mat it. I like the result much better now.

White pompom trim was added at the bottom, Stickles on the snow and hills, and Crystal Effects on windows.

When came time to make the card base, I thought the card looked better with a colored outline, but since the Stitched Hillside Backdrop die is the exact size of an A2 cardfront, I had to go to an oversize card and make it 4-1/2" x 5-3/4", then make my own matching envelope out of patterned paper. Worthy step, though, because it made the finished card pop out more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

Colour Combo: Smoky Slate + Berry Burst + Pacific Point + Bermuda Bay

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Winter Village (Lawn Fawn), Ensemble à Noël (Hearts Come Home - Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Smoky Slate, Whisper White, Bermuda Bay, Berry Burst
Designer Series Paper Stack: Brights
Ink: Tuxedo Black Memento, VersaMark
Accessories: Envelope Punch Board, White Stampin' Emboss Powder, Layering Ovals Framelits Dies,
White Pompom Trim, Stickles, Glitter, Copic Markers, Window Sheet, Foam Adhesive Strips,
Winter Village Dies, Stitched Hillside Backdrop Portrait Dies (Lawn Fawn)

 

Faux Suede Tag

One of the videos shared by Papertrey Ink during their Stamp-a-Faire event was faux suede. I've used that technique quite a few times back in my early stamping years, but I decided it would be a fun technique to revisit and a good opportunity to make a masculine card. Looking at my stamps to find a big and bold sentiment, I found something interesting in the You're Amazing stamp set. I liked the frame around "You're amazing" but preferred having a birthday sentiment, so I inked the frame with markers and stamped on my faux suede cardstock, then I added the birthday sentiment inside. I pulled out the Apothecary Frames Framelits to die-cut the sentiment, and added a mat in the same shape die-cut out of patterned paper underneath.

I wanted die-cut metallic eyelets to accent my main shape, so I used the Sparkle & Shine Sequins die from Papertrey Ink and die-cut some Champagne Foil Paper (currently sold in Holidays catalogue). Those are supposed to be sequins but when you leave the center in, I think they make terrific eyelets.

I sponge Night of Navy or Soft Suede around my papers and cardstock, and added a bit of kraft rope trim, then decorated a matching envelope and I was done!

Design was inspired by MFT Sketch #347 and theme by Global Design Project #103.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Tu es incroyable (You're Amazing - Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Night of Navy, Soft Suede
Patterned Papers: Original (Authentique)
Ink: Soft Suede, Early Espresso, Night of Navy
Accessories: Apothecary Frames Framelits, Stampin' Dimensionals,
Champagne Foil Paper, Shione & Sparkle Sequins Die (Papertrey Ink), Kraft Rope Trim,
Crumb Cake Medium Envelope, Sponge

 

Joy to the World

This card was inspired by the Merry Monday challenge #255 (Joy) and and an old ColourQ challenge #224, Since the Hearts Come Home stamp set includes a sentiment that reads "Joy the World," I was inspired to pull it out for the challenge. This card will be going to one of my downline members to congratulate her on her August sales.

  

 

 

  Colour Combo: Real Red + Pool Party + Island Indigo + Basic Grey

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Ensemble à Noël (Home for Christmas)
Cardstock: Real Red, Island Indigo, Pool Party, Basic Grey, Silver Foil
Ink: VersaMark, Real Red, Island Indigo, Pool Party, Basic Grey
Accessories: Hometown Greetings Thinlits, White Medium Envelope, Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder

 

P.S. I Miss You

This card was inspired by the Fusion challenge and the Fab Friday challenge #120. It was a great excuse to get the Glamper Greetings stamp set out. Since this set is only available in English, I looked for a French sentiment in other sets and found "P.S. I Miss You" in the You're Delightful hostess stamp set.

I added interest to my pieces of cardstock by stamping the Tree Ring background stamp and Burlap background stamp on them. I also added a thin strip of patterned paper from the Wood Textures Designer Series Paper Stack on the edge of my Tango Tangerine cardstock.

I was looking for an embellishment to finish my card and pulled out the Glitter Enamel Dots. I was going to add a green dot, but then I noticed that the blue ones were a close enough match to the Tranquil Tide color to work, so I went with that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Glamper Greetings, Tu es charmante (You're Delightful)
Cardstock: Tango Tangerine, Tranquil Tide, Lemon Lime Twist, Peekaboo Peach, Watercolor Paper
Designer Series Paper Stack: Wood Textures
Ink: Tango Tangerine, Tranquil Tide, Lemon Lime Twist, Peekaboo Peach, Jet Black StazOn
Accessories: Layering Circle Framelits, Stampin' Dimensionals, Aqua Painters,
Glitter Enamel Dots, White Medium Envelope

 

Stained Glass Window Hot Air Balloons

The colour combo for this project was inspired by TGIF challenge #123 and the technique by a VIDEO shared by the ever so creative Jennifer McGuire. I'm currently working on Stampin' Up! cards that I can send my downline members to congratulate them on their sales and possibly inspire them for future classes, so I had a look at the dies and stamps I had on hand that could possibly work with the stained glass window technique. The hot air balloons from the Lift Me Up stamp set seeemed like a good choice.

Because the colour combo included Peekaboo Peach, I opted for Copper embossing powder, which I think looks terrific paired with peach and aqua. I wanted the background to have a little bit of texture, so I stamped it with the Marbled background stamp.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Gentil remontant (Lift Me Up), Marbled
Cardstock: Soft Sky, Early Espresso, Peekaboo Peach
Designer Series Paper: Subtles Stack
Ink: VersaMark, Smoky Slate
Accessories: Stampin' Write Markers, Copper Stampin' Emboss Powder, Window Sheets,
Up & Away Framelits, Stampin' Dimensionals, Peekaboo Peach Crinckled Seam Binding,
Enamel Shapes (2016-2018 In Color, Subtles), Envelope Punch Board