Encre, papier, ciseaux

Cabin Christmas

I loved the cabin feel of the inspiration piece from this week's Merry Monday challenge #263. I had been playing with a buffalo plaid embossing folder and gilding paste to test it out, and I decided to use the red checkered piece as a background and it became the starting point of my card.

The design was inspired by Try Stampin' on Tuesday sketch #345 (and I'm now realizing it was last week's sketch). The colours were inspired by past ColourQ challenge #177, and I used pieces from the Watercolor Winter Simply Created Card Kit Stampin' Up! was selling a couple of Christmases ago. Sentiment translates to "Enjoy the warmth of the season" and it comes from the current Hearts Come Home stamp set (HC, p. 39). The fun woodgrain piece comes from the kit. It was initially a white dry-embossed cardstock, and I sponged Crumb Cake ink on it to make it match my colour combo. The big vellum snowflake comes from the same kit as well.

I also recycled a piece of jute twine I had used for a technique card during the Falliday Fest challenge week (wrapping twine around a clear block to stamp a funky background). After I unwrapped my clear block, I liked the look of the shimmery paint on the twine, so I covered the rest of it with paint, let it dry and I used the last piece I had on this card. The jute was perfect for the homey feel.

 

 

    

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies (unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Ensemble à Noël (Hearts Come Home)
Cardstock: Cherry Cobbler, Always Artichoke, Pool Party Core'dinations
Designer Series Paper: Always Artichoke (from hostess paper pad)
Ink: Crumb Cake, VersaMark
Accessories: Watercolor Winter Simply Created Card Kit, Sponge, Iced Rhinestones Embellishments,
Cherry Cobbler Stampin' Emboss Powder, Jute Twine, Frost White Glimmer Paint,
Pearl Lustre Gilding Polish (Cosmic Shimmer), Small Buffalo Plaid Embossing Folder (Carta Bella)

 

An Order of Candy Corn

I'm working on a few last-minute treat boxes. I reached for the adorable mini-pizza boxes again. They take to ink really well, they're easy to assemble and they're roomy enough to accomodate nice-sized treats. I got the idea to use the How You Bean? Candy Corn Add-On stamp set for the top of this one. I had some glitter paper sitting on my desk, so I used some to mat the image in black glitter, and for the background behind the candy corn image, I had the idea of creating a word background by stamping the "candy corn" sentiment repeatedly in Daffodil Delight, Tango Tangerine and Smoky Slate. It turned out pretty cool!

The box itself was inked with Seedless Preserves Distress Oxide ink and spritzed with water to create a mottled effect. Tango Tangerine trim was added around the box.

inspiration: Lawn Fawnatics #15 + Simon Says Stamps Wednesday + The Heart's Desire October

 

 

 

 

   

 

Supplies
Stamps: How You Bean? Candy Corn Add-On (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Whisper White, Tango Tangerine, Basic Black Glimmer Paper
Ink: Tuxedo Black Memento, Seedless Preserves Distress Oxide (Ranger)
Accessories: Mini Pizza Boxes (Stampin' Up!), Tango Tangerine Trim, Layering Squares Framelits Dies,
Stampin' Dimensionals, How You Bean? Candy Corn Add-On Dies (Lawn Fawn), Copic Markers

 

Getting the Gifts Ready

This week's Merry Monday challenge #262 is centered around the theme of gifts. It was a great opportunity to ink the last image from Christmas in the Making I hadn't yet used. Because this stamp set is not translated, I went hunting for a French sentiment in another set and found something perfect in Christmas Pines. The size filled out the space nicely and the font had a retro touch that matched my stamped image nicely. For my coloring, I went old-school with Prismacolor pencils. Because of the bulky button, I decided to use the Envelope Punch Board to make an envelope in a slightly larger size.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Christmas in the Making (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Soft Sky, Whisper White
Patterned Papers: Merry & Bright (Carta Bella)
Ink: Tuxedo Black Memento, Tranquil Tide, VersaMark
Accessories: Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder, Envelope Punch Board, Corner Rounder Punch,
Dotted Scallop Rectangles Dies (Elizabeth Craft Designs), Button (Foof-a-La), Botton Twine,
Green Sparkly Cardstoock, Prismacolor Pencils, Old Olive Narrow Ribbon

 

 

Sparkly Spiderweb Treat Box

Inspiration: Inspired by All the Little Things #69

I used the Fry Box die and modified it by having a rounded side on both the front and back. I pulled out the spiderweb doilies Stampin' Up! carried a few years ago and wrapped the side with it. To make gluing it down in place, I decided to try putting it down on one of the Big Shot adhesive sheets and see what would happen. While the adhesive did transfer, it also filled all of the holes, so I decided to use that to my advantage and pourred Champagne fine glitter all over it. The result is pretty cool and it totally changed the look of the package. I used the potions image from the Spooky Cat stamp set for the main image and sentiment strip. I played off of the bubbles from the main image and added sequins in matching colors all over the box.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Mystérieux félin (Spooky Cat)
Cardstock: Tangelo Twist, Sahara Sand, Basic Black Archival
Designer Series Paper: Happy Haunting
Accessories: Fry Box Bigz L Die, Spiderweb Doilies, Champagne Fine Glitter, Edgelits,
Big Shot Adhesive Sheets, 1-3/8" Circle Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals, Sequins

 

Spooky Gable Boxes

I want to bring Halloween treats for colleagues at work, so I pulled out some Halloween papers from a few years ago (Motley Monsters) and put together those two cute gable boxes using the Scalloped Treat Box die from Lawn Fawn. The reason I ended up with two boxes was because I apparently couldn't figure out how to die the two parts from the right side of the paper in order to get the same pattern on both parts!! I wanted the polka dots (the back has ghosts), so I cut a third piece to finish the first box. I was torn between the idea of doing a silhouette background with last year's Halloween dies or to handcut cute monsters from the Designer Series Paper. In the end, because I had a spare box piece, I decided to do both.

The silhouettes were die-cut with the Halloween Scene Edgelits out of patterned paper and cardstock. The cute pumpkins were handcut from one of the sheets of DSP.

When I cut the fourth piece to finis the second box, I somehow messed up again. I got frustrated and instead of wasting good paper, I cut the two sides out of the die-cut I had, leaving a little tab to add them to the bottom. (Usually, you just overlap the two bottoms together.) That worked out just fine and it salvaged what I already had. I die-cut two dotted scallop rectangles for each sides and added some handcut monsters. I did the same thing on the two other box sides, without the rectangles. I stamped "Taste at your own risks" on the front.

Those treat boxes were inspired by a few Halloween challenges online this week: Simon Says Stamp Wednesday, Hand Stamped Sentiments #275 and Naughty or Nice #44 (Spooky).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Mystérieux félin (Spooky Cat - Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Island Indigo, Basic Black, Cajun Craze
Designer Series Paper: Motley Monsters
Ink: Basic Black Archival
Accessories: Halloween Scene Edgelits Dies (Stampin' Up!), 1-1/4" Circle Punch,
Dotted Scallop Rectangles Dies (Elizabeth Craft Designs), Scalloped Treat Box Die (Lawn Fawn),
Stampin' Dimensionals

 

Retro Ornements

This card was inspired by Merry Monday #261 (Ornements), Freshly Made Sketch #309 and past ColourQ challenge #9.

One of the Falliday Fest challenges on Splitcoast Stampers called for adding scored lines to a holiday card background. I pulled out the Simply Scored (I should say I dusted it off) and when I did, I spotted the borders accessory we need to sell with it and decided to add a scalloped border. I then used the grid itself to add stripes to the rest of the background.

For the ornements, I used the retired set Ornement Keepsakes. It's funny, I was looking everywhere for it last year, to use with the matching dies and I couldn't find it anywhere. I was thinking there was no way I would have gotten rid of it since it's a classic ornement set and a wood-mounted one as well. Flashforward to last week, when I had to empty my living room closet since I was having the water heater changed and it's sitting at the back of it. I stumbled onto a box of paper crafts material I had put aside to eventually sell, and what do you know, the ornement set was sitting in it! I pulled it back out and when I saw that the Merry Monday challenge this week was about ornements, I knew I wanted to use it. The fun, retro combo I found in past ColourQ challenges just takes it from classic to fun.

 

 

 

 

     

Colour Combo: Melon Mambo + Pretty in Pink + Gable Green + Bermuda Bay + White

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Ornament Keepsakes, Hourra pour Noël (Oh, What Fun)
Cardstock: Melon Mambo, Bermuda Bay, Pretty in Pink, Gable Green, Whisper White
Ink: Melon Mambo, Bermuda Bay, Pretty in Pink, Gable Green
Accessories: Holidays Ornaments Framelits, Stampin' Dimensionals, 1" Circle Punch, Rhinestone Basic Jewels,
Candy Dots, Sequins (Simon Says Stamp), Shimmery Hot Pink Envelope (Simon Says Stamp),
Simply Scored Board and Borders Grid, Smoky Slate Stampin' Emboss Powder, Silver Gel Pen (Sakura)

 

 

BooVille Milk Carton

This project was inspired by Naughty or Nice #44.

To make the panels on each side of the milk carton, I stamped on cardstock with a clear block inked with various shades of Distress Oxide ink. I let the ink dry and I handcut each rectangle. I added a bit of stamping on each of them using the same ink and the Fab-BOO-lous stamp set. I had picked shades that matched the BooVille papers from Doodlebug Design, but when came time to die-cut the milk carton, I realized that I needed a piece of paper bigger than 6X6, so I cut two sheets together before running through the Big Shot.

The little ghosts were stamped in Tuxedo Black Memento ink and colored with markers, than handcut and popped up on Dimensionals.

I popped two fun-sized candy bars in there then punched holes with my Crop-a-Dile before tying the carton shut with two pieces of purple fiber. (Those were sold by Making Memories back when I started scrapbooking and they've been in my stash forever.) Finally, I had some sequins that had been die-cut out of Champagne foil paper leftover from another project that I glued on each side of the milk carton.

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Fab-BOO-lous Friends (My Favorite Things)
Cardstock: Whisper White
Patterned Papers: BooVille (Doodlebug Design)
Ink: Tuxedo Black Memento, Distress Oxide (Black Soot, Broken China, Seedless Preserves,
Picked Raspberry, Spiced Marmalade, twisted Citron)
Sccessories: Bigz L Mini Milk Carton, Stampin' Dimensionals, Purple Fibers (Making Memories,
Sparkle & Shine Dies (Papertrey Ink), Champagne Foil Paper, Crop-a-Dile

 

Follow the Light

This card was inspired by Just Us Girls challenge #414 (Light). The theme seemed like a natural fit with the Bethlehem bundle, which I had yet to pull out and use.

For the background, I used a technique a hadn't used in years, but used to love: Polished Stone. For my first try, I covered the whole piece in blue, but then when I started trying to layer the parts, I couldn't make the scene work, no matter which color I was stamping the characters in. Then I had the idea to give the technique a try again, but ground the scene with some Sahara Sand and Crumb Cake ink at the bottom. It made the world of a difference, and I was able to quickly finish the card once I made that change.

The sentiment I used is from the same stamp set, but it's a much longer sentiment in the set. I knew I would never use the whole thing, so I cut it apart to keep only the beginning and the end, which could work well on their own. Since I had limited space on my card, the end part worked well. (I noticed after stamping it that it still had the period attached. I rectified that afterwards with my scissors.)

The Bethlehem landscape was die-cut out of the new Champagne foil paper, and the guiding light was die-cut out of Dazzling Diamonds glimmer paper. It seemed a little empty, so I topped it off with a blue glitter enamel dot.

My test pieces didn't go to waste. I decided to use the blue polished stone background to cover the front of my envelope, and one of the silhouettes in the corner. On the back flap, I layered the shepherd image in all three colors. The last piece went inside the card. It was a nice way to create a cohesive ensemble and not having the extra pieces end up in the bin, unused.

The color combo was inspired by a past ColourQ combo (#248), which I updated with current colors by replacing Not Quite Navy with Dapper Denim and Ruby Red with Real Red.

 

 

 

 

 

     

Colour Combo: Real Red + Marina Mist + Dapper Denim + Sahara Sand + White

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Nuit à Bethléem (Night in Bethlehem)
Cardstock: Real Red, Marina Mist, Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper, Champagne Foil Paper, Glossy White Cardstock
Ink: Dapper Denim
Classic Ink Refills: Marina Mist, Dapper Denim, Sahara Sand, Crumb Cake
Accessories: Bethlehem Edgelits Dies, Stampin' Dimensionals, Glitter Enamel Dots,
Rubbing Alcohol, White Medium Envelope

 

Tree Trimming

This card was inspired by Merry Monday challenge #259 and Viva la Verve Sketch October. I was looking through my stamps for something with a Christmas tree and I decided to pull out Papertrey ink's Tree Trimming Trio with the matching die. Looking at patterned paper options, I thought the Holly Jolly papers would add a fun and whimsical touch. That card came together quite quickly and I like the fun result. It's rare that I make cards without a sentiment on the front, but in this case, I liked the card as is and figured it could work for either language (French or English), which was a plus.

 

 

 

  

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Tree Trimming Trio (Papertrey Ink)
Cardstock: Poppy Parade, Whisper White
Patterned Papers: Holly Jolly (KaiserCraft)
Ink: Wild Wasabi, Mint Macaron, Poppy Parade, Crumb Cake
Accessories: Christmas Tree Die (Papertrey Ink), White Medium Envelope, 1/2" Circle Punch,
Stampin' Dimensionals, Pearl Basic Jewels, Stitched Shapes Framelits, Jute Twine

 

100% Perfect and Sweet Baby

This card was based on the Reverse Confetti Sketch #53 (October). I pulled out some soft colored papers from Doodlebug and made sure to select those that didn't have blues or pinks to keep the card gender-neutral. I paired them with the Special Delivery stamp set (one of my favorite baby sets).

The little ticket is from an older Stampin' Up! set and the text reads, "100% perfect sweet baby."

  

 

 

 

 Supplies
Stamps: Special Delivery (Avery Elle), T'as un ticket (That's the Ticket - Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Crisp Cantalope, Whisper White
Patterned Papers: Spring Things (Doodlebug Design)
Ink: Tuxedo Black Memento, VersaMark
Accessories: Special Delivery Dies (Avery Elle), Dotted Scallop Rectangles Dies (Elizabeth Craft Designs),
White Medium Envelope, Copic Markers, Rose Gold Embossing Powder (Simon Says Stamp), Ticket Punch,
Subtles Candy Dots, Stampin' Dimensionals

 

Northern Scene

Inspiration: Simon Says Stamp Wednesday (Christmas) + Mojo Monday #489 + ColourQ #89

I tried out a technique shown on Splitcoast Stampers, where you roll yarn on a block and turn it into a stamp to get texture on a project. It's not a new technique, but it's not one I had ever tried before. I didn't have yarn handy, but I did have the jute twine from the Holidays Catalogue, so I paired it with the (retired) White Frost glimmer paint to create a funky background on the Island Indigo cardstock.

I actually liked the look of the paint on the twine, so I used a paintbrush to paint the parts of the twine that were not dipped in paint initially, let it dry and used it on my project. (Be warned that the drying time is a while. It was still tacky when I wrapped it around my project and it kept transferring to my fingers.)

I think my favorite part of the project is the trees that were die-cut out of Dazzling Diamonds glimmer paper. They really do look like snow-covered trees and they catch the light beautifully. The stars stamped behind came from the Night in Bethlehem stamp set.

 

 

 

 

  

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Cantiques de Noël (Carols of Christmas), Joyeuses petites étiquettes (Merry Little Labels), Nuit à Bethléem (Night in Bethlehem), Tree Rings
Cardstock: Island Indigo, Calypso Coral, Early Espresso, Pool Party, Whisper White, Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper
Designer Series Paper Stack: 2011-2013 In Color
Ink: Island Indigo, Early Espresso, Calypso Coral
Accessories: Envelope Punch Board, Card Front Builder Thinlits, Jute Twine, Sponge Daubers,
Stampin' Dimensionals, White Frost Glimmer Paint, Circle Framelits Dies, Everyday Label Punch

 

So Grateful

This card was inspired by Lawn Fawnatics #14 (Happy Little Critters) and past ColourQ combo #112. The starting point was the Forest Feast stamp set, which I paired with the Leafy Tree Backdrop Portrait dies. I decided to use the Stitched Woodgrain Backdrop for the sky, on Crumb Cake cardstock. The result was a little bland, so I got the idea to test out my Distress Oxide inks on the kraft-colored cardstock. It gave a very nice, muted look to the inks. The colors show up well, but they're less bright than they would be in white.

For the sentiment, I layered two leaves made with the Fall Tiny Tags dies, tied them together with thick baker's twine and added the sentiment "So grateful" over it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Forest Feast (Lawn Fawn), La splendeur de Noël Project Life (Holiday Cheer Project Life - Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Early Espresso, Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie, Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White
Ink: Tuxedo Black Memento, Early Espresso
Accessories: Fall Tiny Tags Dies, Forest Friends Dies, Stitched Woodgrain Backdrop,
Leafy Tree Backdrop Portrait Dies (Lawn Fawn), Baked Brown Sugar Thick Baker's Twine,
Mini Stampin' Dimensionals, Copic Markers, White Medium Envelope

 

Spinning Skating Bear

This card was inspired by Lawn Fawnatics #14 (Happy Critters). I really like the fact that the Beary Happy Holidays stamp set includes two stamps that create the front and back of a same image. It opens up the door to so many different techniques. Here, I was playing with an old tutorial that has always been a personal favorite, the Cami's Trifold Card technique. Because this technique includes a window in the front of the card, I knew it was a great opportunity to pull out that skating bear and suspend him on a string so he can rotate freely. In the past, I had always done the square version shown in the tutorial, but I figured out that I could make the card a regular A2 size by simply starting with a piece of 5-1/2" x 11" cardstock.

The sentiment banner reads, "Thinking of You."

 

 

      

 

Supplies
Stamps: Beary Happy Holidays (Lawn Fawn), Arbre protecteur (Sheltering Tree - Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Cool Cucumber, Whisper White
Patterned Papers: Snow Day (Lawn Fawn)
Ink: Emerald Envy, Tuxedo Black Memento
Accessories: Beary Happy Holidays Dies (Lawn Fawn), Winter Wonderland Embellishments,
White Medium  Envelope, Copic Markers, Layering Circle Framelits Dies, Duet Banner Punch,
Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies, Pool Party Glimmer Ribbon, Slit Punch, Silver Thread, Stampin' Dimensionals

 

Christmas 2015

Those family pictures have been printed for quite a while now, but I never found the right idea or papers to put them on a page. Then, I came back with the A Perfect Christmas papers from Echo Park and I thought they would compliment the outfit in the pictures nicely. Only problem was that I had printed the pictures in 5" x 7" (which means they wouldn't fit in pocket scrapbooking) and the patterned papers were 6" x 6", so too small for a 12" x 12" page. I looked at Page Maps sketches to try and find an idea that could work and when I spotted a sketch with a bunch of little squares framing part of the page, I knew I was set.

One of the page had a bunch of black tags, so I cut those apart and started creating my border with those. Then, using a bunch of different punches, I added some shapes with the other patterned paper from the stack to fill in the spaces in between­. A few enamel dots were added, as well as a few stars that were sitting on my work surface.

One of the borders from a piece of patterned paper was added at the bottom, and I die-cut a shape for my title using the Bigz Clear Oval Accent die from many moons ago (which, unfortunately, never got used a whole lot). I created my title with the awesome Silver Abigail alphabet stickers from Doodlebug Design. Two flowers were fussy cut out of the patterned paper and added around the title.

 

 

 

 

Source: Page Maps June 2017

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: White Bazzill
Patterned Papers: A Perfect Christmas (Echo Park)
Accessories: Bigz Clear Oval Accent Die, Silver Abigail Alphabet Stickers (Doodlebug Design),
Black Journaling Pen, Stampin' Dimensionals, Classic Christmas New Bradz (Simple Stories),
Home for Christmas Enamel Dots (Stampin' Up!), Punches