Encre, papier, ciseaux

A 2018 Retrospective

Seems it was not that long ago that I was putting together my 2017 craft retrospective. The year 2018 seemed to both speed by and to stretch in many ways... I'm happy to call it done and am looking forward to enter a new year, refreshed thanks to the holiday break (despite the unwelcomed cold I'm currently fighting).

Without further ado, let's revisit some of my favorite projects I create this year:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Best wishes to everyone for a fantastic year 2019 filled with joy, health and creativity! May 2019 bring anything you may wish for your way. Thanks for your readership! :)

Hand Painted

Inspiration: Page Maps January 2019 + Lasting Memory Layout challenge #427 (3 or more patterned papers)

Sometimes, it pays to wait a while before scrapbooking pictures. Those date back almost a decade and I was in the mood to work with holidays papers, which is how they wound up back on my desk. The story behind the pictures is that our office had a 1920s-themed party and my colleague handpainted a pair of black shoes so that he would have a black and white pair to wear at dinner. He did a very nice job and I was pretty impressed! I had black and white shoes, too, but mine were store-bought. It was sheer dumb luck that we picked the 1920's theme that year (I was on the planning committee, back then) - retro was back in fashion and I easily found a cloche hat, black and white shoes and a pearl necklace. Fond memories of a great night!

The papers I used are from the Carta Bella's A Very Merry Christmas collection, and their retro feel is just perfect for my pictures. It was one of those times where the ideas just kept coming and everything I tried out was working to my liking. If only creating was always this easy!

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Mossy Meadow (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers: A Very Merry Christmas (Carta Bella)
Specialty Papers: Evergreen Fir, Golden Satin (Tonic); Red Foil Paper (Stampin' Up!)
Dies: Stitched Ornaments (Lawn Fawn); Snowflake Lace Paper CutUp (The Cat's Pajamas)
Distress Oxide Inks: Antique Linen, Frayed Burlap (Ranger)
Accessories: Metallic Rose Gold Gems (Pretty Pink Posh); Land of Wonder Thickers (American Crafts);
Clear Tinsel Trim, Real Red Pompoms Trim (Stampin' Up!); Button (Autumn Leaves)

 

O Christmas Tree

Inspiration: The Card Concept #105

The Card Concept's challenge this week is to share a picture of our Christmas tree, or our favorite card made this year. It's the Holidays, so why not double the fun!

I ordered a natural Christmas tree from the same company I've been buying from for five years. I love that they deliver it straight to my living room and even put it up in the tree stand for me. Not having to carry it myself is worth every penny! Their trees are also always beautiful. This year, I had a surprise, though: the tree didn't really have a top, so no place to put a star! I improvised and fashioned a bow out of polka dot ribbon and pinecones to try and dress up the top a bit. My dad cracked me up when he visited, though - he grabbed the little bird in the plaid coat that was standing at the bottom of the tree (you can see it in the picture) and placed it at the top of the tree. I didn't know about this until later, when I was absentmindedly looking at the tree and suddenly realized the bird was there! Not a bad fix, I have to admit!

 

 

As for my favorite card of 2018, I think I would have to go with my fireworks card. It was my first time using Chibitronics and I was really nervous to see if I could make it work. I became really giddy when I first saw the card light up, but I think this became my favorite because of the reaction this one got from everyone. I don't think my family ever expected to see a light-up card (who can blame them, I was pretty impressed the first time I saw those online as well), but my sister's reaction was the best. She usually doesn't care about crafting all that much, but she let out an actual gasp and sat straight up when I showed her the card and asked her to press on the heart, then she started asking questions to understand how this was made. My niece was also totally mesmerized when I gave her this card on her birthday. Only problem is that she now asks if it's a light-up card every. single. time. she sees a new card I made. (I think I have now rendered regular card boring.) And she's asked repeatedly to make a light-up card with me. She just turned six. I think those can wait.

 

Birthday Shopping

Inspiration: Create with Connie and Mary #536 + Simon Says Stamp Monday (Party Time)

This is the third image I colored during my coloring session. I wanted some bright colours for my little Oddball girl, so I had used the Make a Splash 6" x 6" paper pad from Bo Bunny as colour reference. I recently found this circle Happy Birthday die in French and even though the Create with Connie and Mary sketch was from a few weeks ago, I kept thinking it would work great with the Oddball image, having the birthday circle on both sides of her. I had initially planned on using the same colour on both sides, but because I wanted to die-cut the circle center to fill in the space, I ended up with two die-cuts and I liked having the two opposite colours, so I adopted that idea instead. I had a few gem colours that worked with the design, and instead of picking, I used all four in random places.

The background piece seemed a little bare, so I pulled out the Plum Spinel glimmer paste from Nuvo and a star stencil from Stampin' Up! to fill out the space and add more plum to the design. The square shape was a little drab, so I pulled out my Curvy Corner punch and by just adding one punched corner, it instantly made the whole design more dynamic. The last touch was adding a narrow piece of ribbon at the bottom to fill it up and add a touch of yellow. I'm pretty pleased with the end result.

I wonder if I had this card to my "for sale" pile at the office if it will sell. I personally use funky and colorful cards like those to send out to friends and family, but I've noticed in the past when trying to sell similar design that people think those cards are meant for teenagers. It could be, but to me, we're all cool and colorful, whether we're 18, 51 or 77. Might be because my mom is 70 and still into fun stuff like that herself. Anyway, I think being cool is ageless.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Oddball Shopper (Stamping Bella)
Cardstock: Blueberry Bushel, Whisper White, Blackberry Bliss
Patterned Papers: Make a Splash (Bo Bunny)
Ink: Tuxedo Black Memento, Rich Razzleberry
Accessories: Star Stencil, White Square Envelope, Stampin' Dimensionals,
Daffodil Delight Grosgrain Ribbon, Curvy Corner Trio Punch (Stampin' Up!); Pencils (Prismacolor); 
Plum Spinel Glimmer Paste (Nuvo); Stitched Rectangle Stackables Dies (Lawn Fawn);
Fond bonne fête Die (MC Collection); August Crystals (Studio Katia);
Blue Lagoon Gems, Marigold Gems, Midnight Black Gems (Pretty Pink Posh)

 

Star Light, Star Bright

Inspiration: Global Design Project #170 + SUO challenge #213

I wasn't sure how this card would turn out when I started shuffling supplies around, but I think the result is pretty cool. The beauty of this card is in the copper foil accents and the gorgeous shine it has in person. I started by embossing the Merry Merlot patterned paper (from the Joyous Noel Specialty Designer Series Paper pack) with the swirl and little stars from the Star of Light stamp set. I used the same stars with Tranquil Tide ink of matching cardstock to stamp a row, mimicking the sketch. I dried the ink with my heat tool before adding my sentiment in VersaMark and embossing it with Copper powder. The same stars were also stamped on Copper foil paper and die-cut so that I could pop them up on Mini Stampin' Dimensionals. The big intricate star was die-cut out of Copper foil paper as well and layered over Sahara Sand cardstock. I then looked for little embellishments to finish off the card and added pink Share What You Love Artisan Pearls and Basic Adhesive-Backed Sequins. I stamped a matching envelope as well using the same stamp set.

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Étoile lumineuse (Star of Light)
Cardstock: Tranquil Tide, Sahara Sand
Specialty Designer Series Paper: Joyous Noel
Ink: Tranquil Tide, Merry Merlot, Sahara Sand, VersaMark
Accessoires: Starlight Thinlits Dies, Mini Stampin' Dimensionals,
Copper Stampin' Emboss Powder, Basic Adhesive-Backed Sequins, Ticket Corner Punch,
Share What You Love Artisan Pearls, White Medium Envelope

 

Christmas Packages

Inspiration: TGIF #191

I found this cool bark wrapping paper with gold foil on it at my local Indigo store and on sale, too, since it was the week before Christmas. I paired it with some red plaid metallic paper I already had and I pulled out the cookie tags I had done previously, to wrap my niece's gifts. Technically, I could have wrapped the gifts together, but because I know kids get a big kick out of unwrapping presents, I made sure to wrap everything separately. My oldest niece also thoroughly enjoys everything crafts-related, so I know she'll just love the beautiful packages.

I have to say, they look quite cool laid out underneath the Christmas tree.

 

 

Merry Christmas!!

Christmas Trimmings

Inspiration: Little red Wagon #473 + Freshly Made #368

I had put the Christmas in the Making stamp set aside to use on something this season and when I found the Evergreen Fir specialty papers, I thought they would look great with the set. The Freshly Made sketch was perfect inspiration and I knew I wanted plaid paper to go with this, so I pulled out the Christmas stack from Tim Holtz for Idea-ology. The image was colored with alcohol markers and I added glitter gloss on the black bow to make it sparkly.

I was looking at holiday sets to find a French sentiment and the "Christmas joy" banner from Stitched with Cheer was perfect, but I didn't want to hide my colored image too much, so I embossed it with red glitter powder on vellum. The plaid rectangle seemed a little bare to me, so I added gold glitter paste with a zig zag stencil and a couple of red pearls. The left rectangle was embelilshed with red tinsel trim.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Cousu avec joie (Stitched with Cheer), Christmas in the Making (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White, Vellum
Patterned Papers: Christmas 2018 (Tim Holtz for Idea-ology); Evergreen Fir Specialty Paper (Tonic)
Ink: VersaMark, Tuxedo Black Memento
Accessories: Bunch of Banners Framelits, Red Tinsel Trim, Stampin' Blends Markers,
Palette Knife, Red Glitter Stampin' Emboss Powder, Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!);
Stitched Oval Stackables, Stitched Rectangle Stackables, Dotted Rectangke Stackables (Lawn Fawn);
A2 Jupiter Metallic Envelope (envelopes.com); Markers (Copic); Silver and Gold Gel Pens;
Golden Crystal Glimmer Paste (Nuvo); Zig Zag Dots Stencil (Simon Says Stamp);
Pearls - Glossy Berry Mix (Little Things by Lucy's Cards)

 

Peace on Earth Boxwood

Inspiration: Global Design Project #169 + Paper Craft Crew Sketch #319

The Feathers & Frost stamp set has definitely been my go-to set from the Holidays Catalogue this year. The set I use the most is not always the one I expect to from the start. This was one set that really appealed to me but that I almost talked myself out of buying when going through my wish list and putting together an actual order. I'm so grateful I bought it! I managed to make card that turned out pretty different but always really pretty. This time, I pulled it out because the color combo seemed perfect for watercoloring it and I figured the three stars from the sketch could be poinsettias. Because the flowers were colored red, I did white berries to balance the design out, and I did a Pool Party watercolor wash in the background to make the white berries stand out. The whole thing looks so crisp and pretty! I used Shimmery White cardstock to do my watercoloring on, with a blending pen for the small details and an Aqua Painter brush for the background.

I wanted an embossed background so I looked through my folders and decided to use Woodland, which I hadn't used in a long time. I made sure to stamp my sentiment before embossing, and I dabbed a bit of ink on the raised portions of the design to make it stand out more. The wreath was die-cut with the Layering Square dies and matted with Silver Foil Paper. A few basic adhesive sequins were added as well.

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Plumes et givre (Feathers & Frost)
Cardstock: Shimmery White, Pear Pizzazz, Pool Party, Silver Foil
Ink: Basic Black Archival, Poppy Parade, Pear Pizzazz, Pool Party
Accessories: Layering Square Framelits, Stampin' Dimensionals, Woodland Embossing Folder,
basic Adhesive-backed Sequins; A2 Mirror Envelope (envelopes.com)

 

Bright Holidays

Inspiration: Try Stampin' On Tuesday #387 + SUO challenge #213

I'm catching up on downline cards and using challenge sketches as inspiration. The simple TSOT sketch was perfect to go with the Making Christmas Bright stamp set. The sentiment reads, "May your Holidays be bright." I used some of my favorite Designer Series Paper, the All is Bright collection. I had previously embossed some red paper with the Curls & Twirls embossing folder, but had not used the pieces on my cards because the paper had cracked. For this design, I didn't mind the cracking too much and decided to reuse the leftover pieces. A lot of scraps were used for this project: I was able to get a lot of lightbulbs out of a strip of white cardstock, and also a strip of gold foil paper (the lightbulb tops and the thin strip at the bottom of the red paper).

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Illuminez les Fêtes (Making Christmas Bright)
Cardstock: Spruce Shadow, Call Me Clover, Whisper White, Gold Foil Paper
Designer Series Paper: All is Bright
Ink: Spruce Shadow, Call Me Clover, Real Red, VersaMark
Accessories: Christmas Bulb Builder Punch, Layering Circle Framelits Dies, Curls & Swirls Embossing Folder,
Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder, White Medium Envelope, Stampin' Dimensionals

 

Santa Getting Ready for Takeoff

Inspiration: Simon Says Stamp Wednesday (Christmas)

This is something incredibly simple that was inspired by the awesome border paper from the Santa's Workshop paper pad. The little Santa scene was so adorable, I felt it needed to be showcased on its own on a card. All I added was a sentiment tag ("Merry Christmas to you and yours") and a little bow made with the Bow punch from Stampin' Up! Another one of the strip was used to decorate a matching envelope.

That's it! Might be the only 5-minute card I've ever made in my life...

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Étiquettes des Fêtes (Tags & Tidings - Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Call Me Clover, Whisper White (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers: Santa's Workshop (Carta Bella)
Ink: Call Me Clover (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Gold Eyelets, Christmas Tags Thinlits Die, Bow Punch,
White Narrow Envelope, Red Rhinestone Basic Jewels (Stampin' Up!)

 

Koala Love

Inspiration: Clean&Simple #101 + Just Add Ink #438

The new Lawn Fawn Valentine release is here! I figured the koala set would work well with the Clean&Simple sketch, and the Just Add Ink color combo was also perfect since I needed pink for the love theme, green for the grass and I chose aqua as my third color for the sky.

I've always loved the line sentiments, but they've all been in English, so I got very excited when I saw the XOXOXO, which totally works in French as well. It was easy to work into the design as well.

I lined the card base with diagonal stripe paper from the Polka in the Meadow 6" x 6" paper pad. It seemed a little bare, so I tried adding a stitched rectangle frame. Tried black, found it too harsh. Tried white, still wasn't sure. I was thinking maybe just doing handdrawn stitching with a black pen, but I gave the frame a last-ditch effort with aqua cardstock and I decided I liked the look, so this option won.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: I Love You(calyptus) (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Pool Party, Lovely Lipstick, Granny Apple Green, Basic Black, Whisper White (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers: Polka in the Meadow 6" x 6" pack (Lawn Fawn)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Accessories: I Love You(calyptus) dies, Stitched Scalloped Circle Frames Dies, Dotted Rectangle Stackables Dies,
Stitched Rectangle Frames Dies, XOXOXO Line Border Die, Stitched Rectangle Stackables Dies,
Polka Heart Backdrop: Portrait Die, Stitched Hillside Borders Dies (Lawn Fawn); 
Markers (Copic); Glitter Gloss Aqua Shimmer Brush (Nuvo); A2 Seafoam Envelope (envelopes.com)

 

Simple Seasonal Joys

Inspiration: Inspired By challenge #50 + Fab Friday #152 + Freshly Made Sketch #367

I really loved the picture from the Inspired By challenge. The greenery and pinecones on the mailbox screamed of the Christmas Pines bundle. It came out last year and is still a personal favorite. I noticed that the Fab Friday colours were also perfect since they included a mix of greens and Soft Suede, for the pinecones. The Freshly Made sketch was also perfect since I wanted a greenery bow coming out of the right corner. 

I tried to pick a large sentiment to fill out the remaining space on the card. Using the frame from the same stamp set helped set it up so it wouldn't look too lost. I added two holly images on each side and added red rhinestones (they're on sale in the year-end sale, by the way). I stamped the lovely stars and dots image all around the frame and added basic adhesive-backed rhinestones to the card to make it more festive.

The Shaded Spruce piece is actually a rectangle frame, that I cut out with the Stampin' Paper Cutter. I used the matching Stampin' Write marker to add stitching around it.

 

 

   

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Sapins de Noël (Christmas Pines)
Cardstock: Cherry Cobbler, Shaded Spruce, Pool Party, Soft Suede, Mossy Meadow
Ink: Soft Suede, Shaded Spruce, Mossy Meadow
Accessories: Pretty Pines Framelits, Red Basic Jewels Rhinestones, White Medium Envelope,
Basic Adhesive-Backed Sequins, Shaded Spruce Stampin' Write Marker

 

Simple Vintage Santa

Inspiration: Card Maps October 2018 + Simon Says Stamp Wednesday (Christmas) + Color Throwdown #523

After I finished my last scrapbook page, I made a card with the same supplies before putting them away. The sticker sheet includes a Santa image that I knew would make a great focal point and it reminded me of the big image in the center of the Card Maps sketch. While looking at trim options for my page, I had found a leftover piece of Cherry Cobbler tulle, that I thought could work great on my card, so I used Sticky Tape to gather it under the patterned paper strip and I like the texture it adds to the card.

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Garden Green (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers and Stickers: Simple Vintage Christmas (Simple Stories)
Accessories: Home for Christmas Enamel Dots, Cherry Cobbler Scalloped Tulle,
Very Vanilla Medium Envelope, Festive Farm Cotton Twine, Mini Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!);
Dotted Rectangle Stackables Dies (Lawn Fawn)

 

Christmas Truck

Inspiration: Try Stampin' on Tuesday #388 + Simon Says Stamp Monday (Warm Winter Wishes)

The starting point for this card was the beautiful Merry & Bright collection from Simple Stories. The 3" x 3" square doe-cut with the truck caught my eye and I knew that it could work well for the Try Stampin' on Tuesday sketch. The square was a little big, though, so I trimmed some of the excess cardstock around the truck using a square die. The truck image already had a wreath on it, but it seemed about the size of the Boxwood Wreaths ornaments, so I pulled one out and embellished the image with it. I also used Clear Faceted Gems for the truck lights (perfect size and perfect look!), and Fresh Snowfall glitter drops on the snow and on some of the wreath leaves.

The die-cut sentiment reads, "Happy Holidays". More French companies are coming out with sentiment dies and I'm already excited about it, as it opens up new creative options. This one from Lime Citron has a great font and size. 

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Soft Seafoam, Cherry Cobbler (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers and Stickers: Merry & Bright (Simple Stories)
Accessories: Joyeuses Fêtes Dies (Lime Citron); A2 Jupiter Metallic Envelope (envelopes.com);
Stampin' Dimensionals, Clear Faceted Gems, Boxwood Wreath Embellishments (Stampin' Up!);
July Crystals (Studio Katia); Glitter Gloss Aqua Shimmer Brush, Fresh Snowfall Glitter Drops (Nuvo);
Stitched Rectangle Stackables Dies (Lawn Fawn); Ribbon (Making Memories)

 

Rainbow Snowmen

Inspiration: Lawn Fawnatics #42 + October 2018 Card Maps Sketch

I got the idea for this card when I spotted the Card Maps sketch with the row of snowmen. It was simply perfect to highlight the Simply Celebrate Winter stamp set from Lawn Fawn, so I got going on a design. I pulled out the Really Rainbow Christmas papers for a colorful look, and a touch of Perfectly Plaid Christmas paper for the center piece. The row of snowman was too small to fit the space properly, so I decided to use the row of trees behind them to fill out the space. For the peeking tab, I decided to use the Flirty Frames and I found a French sentiment that was the perfect size and fit in it in the Jingle All the Way stamp set from last year's Holidays catalogue.

The background seemed a little bare, so I pulled out the Mini Snowflakes dies and cut snowflakes out of glitter paper, which really made the whole card come to life. The center piece seemed a little bare as well, so I added scalloped edges using the Lacy Borders dies. Finally, the bow from the Mini Wreath dies was added at the top, and covered with Glitter Gloss Aqua Shimmer, which I also used on the end of the tree branches to make glistening snow.

The last touch was adding clear gems between the snowflakes and in the center of the tag.

 

  

 

Supplies
Stamps: Simply Celebrate Winter, Flirty Frames (Lawn Fawn); Ode à Noël (Jingle All the Way - Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Thick Whisper White, Highland Heather, Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers: Perfectly Plaid Christmas, Really Rainbow, Really Rainbow Christmas (Lawn Fawn)
Ink: Tempting Turquoise, Wisteria Wonder (Stampin' Up!); Tuxedo Black (Mememto)
Accessories: Simply Celebrate Winter, Dies Flirty Frames Dies, Lacy Borders, Mini Snowflakes, Mini Wreath (Lawn Fawn);
White Stampin' Emboss Powder, Stampin' Dimensionals, Corner Rounder Punch, White Medium Envelope (Stampin' Up!);
Gems (Studio Katia); Markers (Copic)

 

'Tis the Season to be Jolly

Inspiration: Lasting Memory Layout challenge #425 (Wreaths) + Global Design Project #167

The starting point of this page was the gorgeous chipboard frames from the Simple Stories Simple Vintage Christmas collection I had bought earlier this fall. My initial idea was to frame pictures of me with my niece, add ribbon or twine and turn the frames into ornaments. Turn out they are way bigger than I had envisioned, but upon looking through Christmas pictures, I found one of me and my nioece that I love and decided to make a scrapbook page with it instead. My style is usual more cutesy than vintage, but I have to say that I really love this Simple Stories collection. The papers and elements are just gorgeous.

I pulled out a ton of older embellishments from my stash for this one: the beveled windows, the glimmer brads, the lace trim, the decorative brads and the felt accents. It just happens that one of those felt accents was a wreath and the colors worked nicely with the papers, so it was perfect for this week's Lasting Memory Layout challenge. The stickers from the collection even include little circle images that were the exact size to fit inside the wreath.

Another embellishment that had been sitting in my stash for a while was the scissors charm and green beads, Those were part of a Santa cross stitch kit, actually, but I didn't think they really fit the piece, so I had put the embellishments in my scrapbook stash instead, figuring I might be able to work them into a project at some point. Because of the vintage style, the little metal charm worked nicely, and I hung the scissors from the scripty work. The green beads were added with Multi Medium Matte adhesive to frame the sentiment.

This was quick to put together since the chipboard frame and stickers did most of the job for me, for a pretty result.

 

Supplies
Stamps: Type Strips Number (Papertrey Ink)
Patterned Papers, Stickers and Chipboard Frames: Simple Vintage Christmas (Simple Stories)
Ink: Basic Black Archival Ink (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Beads and Scissors Charm (Lizzie Kate); Type Strips Die (Papertrey Ink);
Lace Trim, Beveled Windowpanes, Decorative Brads, Felt Ornaments, Natural Trim Ribbon,
Brights Glimmer Brads, Vanilla Twine (Stampin' Up!); Cloud Decorative Scissors (Fiskar); Glossy Accents (Ranger)

 

Gift Card Holder Winter Critters

Inspiration: Simon Says Stamp Wednesday (Wrap it up)

When the Woodland Critter Huggers dies from Lawn Fawn came out, I was on the fence about getting them. I was not sure I would be making a lot of critter projects myself, but I kept thinking they could be a fun project to put together with my niece. I kept hesitating - until the Winter Add-On came out and those adorable hats and mittens just put me over the edge! My niece and I had a full day of crafting planned the week after her birthday so I die-cut all of the pieces we would need the evening before (and was shocked to discover it took close to two hours to do so!), so on the day of her visit, all we would have to do would be to assemble the project. I cut two of everything so we could both put the critters together at the same time.

The project was a hit with her. She loved assembling everything and LOVED the sparkly embellishment. I had die-cut the Stitched Gift Card Pocket to put on the back so she could slip a note in the pocket and use those as Holiday cards for her grandparents, but as we were finishing the first critter, she slipped her finger in the pocket and said, "Look, it's a finger puppet!" After that, there was no going back - those were her new puppets! Had we known, I would have had her glue the pocket the other way around, but I thought it was a very creative idea from her. So notes to parents out there - those dies can be used to make finger puppets!

My finished animals are a little different from hers. I only bought the Winter Add-On dies the day of our crafting session (as going to the scrapbook store together was her birthday gift), so I had to die-cut the pieces while we were crafting and at the end, I couldn't keep up with her and crank out two of each, so I gave up and I finished my animals after we were done for the day. The little fox did not have any winter embellishments and I decided he would be more useful as a generic card holder.

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla, Pink Pirouette, Thick Whisper White, Crumb Cake,
Dusty Durango, Basic Black, Muths & Magic 6" x 6" Glimmer Paper, Joyous Noel 6" x 6" Glimmer Paper (Stampin' Up!)
Dies: Woodland Critter Huggers, Woodland Critter Huggers Winter Add-On, Mini Wreath,
Stitched Gift Card Pocket (Lawn Fawn)

 

Santa's Coming to Town

Inspiration: Stamp Ink Paper #179 (Holidays)

Earlier this Fall, I made some little 3" x 3" notecards for my sister to slip into my niece's lunchbox. It is my understanding that she reserves those notes for special occasions, so I figured I'd make one for Christmas. I found some old stamps from Doodlebug Design called Believe and paired them with some paper scraps from the Milk & Cookies collection. I used the Peek-a-Boo die from Pretty Pink Posh to create the burst in the paper, and I added a piece of brick paper in the background and green gems on the points. The ho ho ho tag comes from the same stamp set. The Santa image was colored with Polychromos pencils.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Believe (Doodlebug Design)
Cardstock: Green Galore, Whisper White
Patterned Papers: Milk & Cookies (Doodlebug Design)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento); Call Me Clover (Stampin' Up! Classic Ink)
Accessories: Peek-a-Boo Die (Pretty Pink Posh); Polychromos Pencils (Faber-Castell);
Eyelet, Stampin' Dimensionals, Envelope Punch Board (Stampin' Up!); August Crystals (Studio Katia);
Pink Ribbon (unknown source); Glitter Gloss Aqua Shimmer Brush (Nuvo)

 

Flowery Frame

Inspiration: Colour Throwdown #522

Another card on my to-do list was a 70th anniversary card. As I was working on my 5th anniversary cards for my downline, I decided to make this card at the same time while the Large Numbers Framelits dies were out. I had the Petal Promenade Designer Series Paper out, which seemed appropriate for my card's theme, and initially, I was planning on using the same layout I had used on my 5th anniversary card, but then I decided I could handdraw the flowery frame from the patterned paper and then it became easier to switch to the Freshly Made sketch to work that rectangle frame in. The creation was going at a good rate, but then I hit a bump once I layered the two rectangles and the numbers. The top corner of the frame seemed really bare, so I started going through embellishments, trying to decide on something that could look nice. The ideas kept evolving - a button, a button over ribbon, a ribbon at a 45-angle degree across the corner. Finally, I got the idea of using the button to tie a ribbon bow in place, and instead of discarding the smaller bow I was initially made with the Grapefruit Grove ribbon, I layered it on top of the polka dot tulle ribbon. That was the perfect way to add oomph and elegance to the card.

For embellishments, I've also used the copper washi from the Suite Season Specialty washi tape (Holidays Catalogue, p. 24), some Faceted Dots over it, and gold metallic pearls on the numbers. I've also used the Decorative Ribbon Border punch to create a tone-on-tone border on each side of the flowery paper. I was pleasantly surprised at how this one turned out, especially since flowery creations aren't my specialty.

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Banderoles de fête (Birthday Banners)
Cardstock: Thick Very Vanilla
Designer Series Paper: Petal Promenade
Ink: Mossy Meadow
Accessories: White Polka Dot Tulle Ribbon, Decorative Ribbon Border Punch,
Vanilla Medium Envelope, Suite Season Specialty Washi Tape, Faceted Dots,
Metallic Pearls, Stampin' Dimensionals, Linen Thread, Tinted Faceted Buttons,
Large Numbers Framelits Dies

 

Starry Forest Scene

Inspiration: ColourQ #152 + Freshly Made #366

When I saw the Freshly Made sketch, I figured it would work nicely with the Starry Scene stamp set, which I was hoping to use. The big starry sky was stamped in VersaMark and embossed in Aqua Tinsel embossing powder. I used my stamping platform and went back for a second coat of VersaMark, hoping for a more opaque result, but even after the second coat of embossing, the Crumb Cake cardstock was still showing through. I don't mind too much, but it'll be interesting to compare how the sky looks when I stamp it instead of embossing it. I figured I would be adding a few sequins in there to try and distract from the uneven embossing.

The colours were inspired by a past ColourQ combo and looked masculine to me, so I tried focusing on picking elements that would work for a masculine card. I created the mountains and trees by die-cutting the base shapes out of Basic Grey and Crumb Cake cardstock, and then I paper pieced some Gumball Green and Whisper White cardstock . I ran my VersaMarker over the edge of the snowcaps and added some white textured embossing powder from Lawn Fawn for a bit of texture. I found a nice big Happy Birthday sentiment in an old Stampin' Up! set and placed the paws of the beat over the top word to anchor him in place in the design. (I went back and forth between adding him or not, but the scene felt a little bare without him.)

A nice A2 Seafoam envelope is completing the set.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Starry Scene, Polar Peek-a-Boo Pals (Avery Elle);
À tout un chacun (Happy Birthday, Everyone - Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Gumball Green, Basic Grey
Ink: Basic Grey (Stampin' Up! Classic Ink); Tuxedo Black (Memento); VersaMark
Accessories: Aqua Tinsel Embossing Powder (Ranger); A2 Seafoam Envelope (envelopes.com);
Sparkling Clear Confetti Mix (Pretty Pink Pôsh); Nautical Sparkle (Little Things from Lucy's Cards)

 

Comfort & Joy Poinsettia

Inspiration: Hand Stamped Sentiments #304 + Colour Inkspiration #45

This colorful Holidays card came together really quickly. I used the Stylish Christmas stamp set from the poinsettia and flourish images, and drew from the Christmas Pines stamp set from the sentiment, since I wanted something in French. The Buffalo Check background stamp was used on the card base and I added a couple touches of Designer Series Paper to complete the card.

I wanted my sentiment to have dimension but since I don't own the In Color embossing powders, I used a stamping platform to stamp the sentiment in Blueberry Bushel ink first, cleaned the stamp in the platform and then stamped it again in VersaMark, then used clear embossing powder on top.

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Stylish Christmas, Buffalo Check, Sapins de Noël (Christmas Pines)
Casrdstock: Lovely Lipstick, Whisper White, Balmy Blue, Blueberry Bushel
Designer Series Paper Stacks: Brights, Subtles
Ink: Lovely Lipstick, Granny Apple Green, Blueberry Bushel, VersaMark
Accessories: White Medium Envelope, Pearl Basic Jewels, Circle Punch,
Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder, Stitched Shapes Framelits, Stampin' Dimensionals,
Gorgeous Grape Striped Ribbon

 

Birthday Harvest

Inspiration: Simon Says Stamp Monday (B is for... Birthday!) + Clean&Simple Sketch #100 + ColourQ #164

This card started out as me wanting to try out my Clarity Stamp stipple brush some more after comparing them to the lovely Picket Fence blender brushes. I was curious how the stipple brushes would work with Distress Oxide inks (which were not out yet at the time I purchased the brushes). I used one of the Seasonal Decorative Masks and stippled Fossilized Amber ink on Crumb Cake cardstock. I kept stippling and stippling and was not getting the depth of colour I was hoping for, so on a whim, I got out the blender brushes again and in just a few strokes, the colour got instantly more opaque and vibrant. So I ditched the stipple brushes and used the blender brushes to add a bit of shading with Rusty Hinge Distress Oxide ink. Then I spritzed the ink with water to oxidize it and let the cardstock dry.

In the meantime, I was tempted to do some coloring, so I pulled out my Polychromos pencils and colored my little Oddball girl with colours inspired by a past ColourQ combo. Initially, I was pretty happy with the overall coloring, except the hair. I had to go to bed without finishing the card, but when I came back to the image the next day and looked at it with fresh eyes, I realized the hair wasn't half bad!

I didn't want to distract from the main image too much, so I went looking for a simple sketch and decided to use Clean&Simple. The bottom cardstock was stamped with the Flannel Plaid background stamp and I used the Slit punch to weave the ribbon through the panel, as I had not left enough room above her head on my cardstock to place a ribbon there.

For the sentiment, I kept going back and forth between a stacked sentiment on the left side or a long sentiment beneath her feet. In the end, I opted for the left side to keep things more balanced. The sentiment reads, "Happy birthday" and I added small Midnight Black gems to the ends of the script font. The same gems were added in a row at the bottom as well. The Midnight Black nicely mirror the teal and purple shades of the card.

For the scalloped border, I used the Lacy Borders dies from Lawn Fawn, and added a piece of bark washi tape from Simple Stories in between the panels. The main image was die-cut using the Dotted Rectangle Stackables dies and popped up on dimensional adhesive.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Flannel Plaid, Ravissant Bouquet (Beautiful Bouquet - Stampin' Up!);
Apple Cider Oddball (Stamping Bella)
Cardstock: Crumb Cake, More Mustard, Concord Crush, Whisper White
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento); More Mustard, Concord Crush (Stampin' Up! Classic Ink);
Rusty Hinge, Fossilized Amber (Distress Oxide - Ranger)
Accessories: Midnight Black Gems (Pretty Pink Posh); Polychromos Pencils (Faber-Castell);
Crumb Cake Medium Envelope, Bermuda Bay Polka Dot Grosgrain Ribbon, Slit Punch,
Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!); Dotted Rectangle Stackables, Lacy Borders Lawn Cuts (Lawn Fawn);
Blender Brushes (Picket Fence Studios); Winter Wonderland Washi Tape (Simple Stories)

 

May Your Holidays Be Filled with Joy and Laughter

Inspiration: Festive Friday #22 (Christmas and Snowflakes) + Sunday Stamps #193

So a few years ago, the Clarity Stamps stipple brushes were the new "in" thing and when I was able to get them on sale (because they are really pricey), I purchased them and gave them a try. I remember being really underwhelmed with the result and thinking maybe I'd get more into them after using them more. That never happened as they remained on the back of my desk, forgotten, and I keep reaching for other tools whenever I am using stencils on projects.

Enter the Picket Fence Studios blender brushes. I saw those recently in craft videos on YouTube and my interest was piqued. The crafters were raving about them, but I could see in the video that the resulting blended ink was really smooth. Again, when a Black Friday sale come on, I decided to give them a try. And here's my take on it: they are an instant favorite!! They are really soft, so they can be used with delicate stencils (like the Knitted Sweater one from Echo Park I used here) and the blending is smooth and seamless. That ombre effect? Done with one colour of ink. I simply started blending at the top of the cardstock after tapping the brush on my ink pad and I went down the cardstock without reinking. And it took less than two minutes - the transfer was really fast as well. What also impressed me is that they can be used to ink edges as well (which is where they differ from the Clarity Stamps brushes). They come in a variety of sizes - I went for the 4-brush set. I cannot wait to test them out some more, but as of now, I am thrilled with them!

So basically, the starting point of this card was trying out the brushes. I looked for a stencil that I could easily work into a design after, which I why I picked the wool design, and I looked at online challenges to see if there was a combo I could use. The one from Sunday Stamps is gorgeous and was just calling out my name. After I was done playing with the brushes, I wasn't sure what to use the stenciled piece for. I rumaged through my things for a while and kept going back and forth between a few ideas - and finally went a whole other direction entirely. I spotted the Woodland Critter Huggers and since I've only used them for gift card pockets so far, I thought I would like to see one done on a card, and doing that allowed me to not cover the background too much (which the other ideas did, and I wanted the beautiful background to shine).

I dressed my deer up with the Woodland Critter Huggers Winter Add-On elements and instead of die-cutting the mittens, I used some felt ones I found in my stash recently. (Those were sold by Stampin' Up! many catalogues ago.) Die-cut snowflakes were added to fill out the space a bit and I added some to an envelope to match as well. Considering this started out as me playing with a new tool to test it out, I'm really happy with the end result.

 

 

   

Colour Combo: Raspberry Ripple + Mint Macaron + Powder Pink + Early Espresso

 

Supplies
Stamps: Parfum de Noël (Christmas Messages - Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Powder Pink, Very Vanilla, Raspberry Ripple, Mint Macaron, Crumb Cake,
Early Espresso
Designer Series Paper Stack: Subtles
Ink: VersaMark
Accessories: Cherry Cobbler Stampin' Emboss Powder, Crumb Cake Medium Envelope, Glitter Dots,
Myths & Magic 6" x 6" Glimmer Paper, Felt Embellishments, Pinewoood Planks 3D Embossing Folder (Stampin' Up!);
Blender Brushes (Picket Fence Studios); Marisa Snowflake Die (Simon Says Stamp);
Woodland Critter Huggers Dies, Woodland Critter Huggers Winter Add-On Dies,
Dotted Rectangle Stackables, Stitched Rectangle Stackables,
Mini Snowflakes Dies (Lawn Fawn); Knitted Sweater Stencil (Echo Park)