Encre, papier, ciseaux

Nordic Mittens

Inspiration: Card Maps October 2018 + Fusion

Today's card was really random. I had put aside the Many Mittens dies Stampin' Up! hoping to use them again this season and they were perfect for the Fusion inspiration picture. I went through my retired Holidays patterned papers from Stampin' Up! and when I spotted the Nordic Noel suite, I thought it might work well with the mittens.

I used a mix of old and new supplies on this creation. The Jeweled Snowflakes 3D embossing folder used in the background and the Studio Katia pearls are new from this year. The Hemlines stamps from Paper Salon date back to my early stamping days. The Nordic Noel papers are also quite old, as I remember using those in workshops back in the days. Speaking of which, I have a weird love-hate relationship with those papers. I always end up loving the final projects I made with them, and yet it's always a struggle to make the busy patterns work together. I feel like the best paper collections have small, medium and large papers and also have a few tone-on-tone motifs thrown in there. This is not the case with this collection: aside from the Pool Party paper with snowflakes, the patterns are quite loud. And yet... once again, though it is a busy card, I do like the result.

Because I had dry embossed my background, I knew I couldn't stamp a sentiment on it directly, like in the sketch, and luckily I found a very nice rectangle sentiment that was the right font and size in the Christmas Gleaming stamp set (which Stampin' Up! carried over in this year's minicatalogue, if you want to check it out). I stamped it in Calypso Coral ink and cut it out, then popped it up on Stampin' Dimensionals. 

I had a big enough piece of patterned paper to make a matching envelope out of, and I used the lighter snowflake pattern to make an address block, using the Deco Labels dies (another oldie).

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Fêtes étincelantes (Christmas Gleaming - Stampin' Up!); Hemlines (Paper Salon)
Cardstock: Thick Whisper White, Shimmery White (Stampin' Up!)
Designer Series Paper: Nordic Noel (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Calypso Coral (Stampin' Up!)
Dies: Deco Labels, Finishing Touches, Many Mittens (Stampin' Up!);
Wonky Stitch Rectangle Stax (My Favorite Things)
Accessories: Jeweled Snowflakes 3D Embossing Folder (Sizzix); 
Baker's Twine (Lawn Fawn); Café au lait, Rose Pink, Glossy Berry Pearls (Studio Katia);
Envelope Punch Board, Stampin' Dimensionals, Snowflake Sequins (Stampin' Up!)

 

Christmas Bits and Pieces

Inspiration: Card Maps November 2017 sketch

I kept going with the 'Tis the Season Ephemera pack and Wintergreen Designer Series Paper to design this pretty and soft card. I am really loving the pairing of those two items and how easy it is to put together quick but gorgeous cards thanks to the ephemera pack. That is not how I usually design, as I tend to prefer incorporating stamping in my cards, but this will help me get a kick-start on the pile of Christmas cards I need. I recently mentioned I had something in mind that would require having a lot of Christmas cards at the ready and the project has been confirmed. I offered to make cards for the nursing home residents in my hometown. My mom does volunteer work for their board and she has mentioned that confinement has been particularly hard on morale. As we don't know what the rules in place are going to be during the Holidays, I suspect people might feel lonely, so I offered to not only prepare cards but also take care of the messages that will go inside. The staff has been spread thin all year long, so I know that providing the empty cards wouldn't be enough. Because I hate assembly-line production, I prefer to use the remaining months to prepare quick but individualized cards. I also suspect that it will give the residents something to talk about and share if all of the cards are different. Let's us this endeavour is a success. There are 56 residents overall (but 6 couples, so 50 cards to make) and I already have a growing pile of cards, but I also want to make sure I have cards left for my own family and friends, so this should keep me busy until December. It's all good. The sooner we can commit 2020 to memory, the better we'll all be, I think.

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Ce que j'aime à Noël (Greatest Part of Christmas - Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Sage Shadow (Stampin' Up!)
Designer Series Paper: Wintergreen (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Always Artichoke (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: White Square Envelope, Stampin' Dimensionals, Triangle Eyelet,
Always Artichoke Cotton Twine, Corner Rounder Punch (Stampin' Up!);
Basic Stitch Lines Die-namics (My Favorite Things); 'Tis the Season Ephemera Pack (Cocoa Vanilla);
Pumpkin and Spice Say It in Crystals (Prima Marketing);
Cloud 9 Dream Drops, Bubblegum, Calming Aqua Crystal Drops (Nuvo)

 

Pumpkin Party Mini Treat Bags

Inspiration: Simon Says Stamp Wednesday (Anything Goes) + Little Red Wagon #573 (Halloween)

I have two Doodlebug Halloween stamp sets purchased last year that I had received late in the season and did not have much time to play with, so tonight, I decided to stamp all of the images from both sets and colour them with Copic markers in colours matching the Pumpkin Party collection (which also dates back from a few years ago). I don't usually work in batches as I don't necessarily often have a use for bunches of similar projects, but I can definitely see the benefit of doing so as it becomes really easy to create various projects and embellishments when you have a series of matching items available on your desk and ready to create something with. 

Instead of figuring out first what my treat bags would need, I assembled the bags and went through my colored images to see what would work best. The sticker sheet from the collection pack has a lot of big stickers that would be hard to work into cards as they would fill in the whole space, but that actually came in handy on the treat bags. I then added my images around the sentiment based on space available.

Both bags were accented with tulle because I had leftover pieces on my desk from previous Halloween projects. On the first bag, I created a dangle using a candy corn glass bead found on sale at Michaels. I tried adding a eyelet on the top of the bag to clip the dangle in, but I placed it too low, so I wrapped a piece of tulle in a bow and clipped the dangle on it instead. For the second bag, I stapled my piece of tulle to gather it and glued it inside the top of my treat bag. Rhinestones, gems and pearls were added to embellish the bags.

My nieces are always drawn to everything Doodlebug designs, so I expect those packages to be amongst their favorites.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Trick or Treat, Happy Halloween (Doodlebug Design)
Patterned Papers and Stickers: Pumpkin Party (Doodlebug Design)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Accessories: Mini Treat Bag Dies, Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!);
Markers (Copic); Midas Touch Aqua Shimmer Brush (Nuvo);
Amethyst Pearls, Pineapple Gems (Studio Katia); Crystal Stars (Button Galore and More);
White Sparkly Tulle, Black Rhinstones (Recollections); White Gel Pen (Gelly Roll);
Alligator Clip, Jump Ring, Candy Corn Glass Bead (Bead Landing)

 

Halloween Town Mini Accordeon Album

Inspiration: Crate Paper Tutorial + Little Red Wagon #573 (Halloween)

So this project started out as a short tutorial I caught on the Crate Paper channel on YouTube. Seemed small and simple and I let myself believe that this could be something I could create quickly. Yeah... Not so much. First of all, the Crate Paper videos tend to be more process videos than actual tutorials and even though there's a few measurements on the blog post (in cm, which is not a big deal because I've been raised on those in school, but I do tend to favour using inches to measure when I craft), you really have to read a lot between the lines. 

I used the cut-apart sheets from the Halloween Town collection (not a new one, something pulled from my stash from a couple of years ago) and had twelve 3" x 4" images that I wanted to use as the inside pages. Which meant I had to figure out new dimensions. The accordeon is what really threw me for a loop. It took three and a half versions of it before it finally worked. The first one was made of patterned paper and the accordeon was too narrow, so the accordeon was simply refusing to fold on itself when the album was closing. So I tried glueing some of the accordeon together to help. It didn't. First fail. I tried a more traditional binding where I spaced the folds more and glued the inside together. I did it from memory and I don't think it was right. Right in the bin it went. The last accordeon, made out of cardstock and with scoring lines spaced ½ apart, worked much, much better and it was the winner. It should be noted in the video, the crafter shows that she glues each end of the cardstock cover. I would advise against that, because if your accordeon is even slightly off when folded, the covers of the album will not line up properly when closed. (This was one of the many problems I experienced with my first accordeon.) It took a lot of struggling, but I pushed the two accordeons down in place and closed the top cover in place lining the front and back together before burnishing the adhesive in place. You need to use strong adhesive to make sure the binding does not come apart.

I didn't have any Halloween pictures on hand to put right away in the album, but I focused on embellishing the covers and inside pages. It went pretty quickly as I used up a lot of stickers from the element sticker sheet, and I added a few homemade die-cuts here and there, a border punch, sequins and pearls and sparkly pens and markers. This turned out pretty cute. 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Blackberry Bliss, Soft Suede, Shimmery White
Patterned Papers and Stickers: Halloween Town (Echo Park)
Glitter Paper: Champagne (Unknown); Black (Stampin' Up!)
Dies: Cute Cobweb, Build-a-House Halloween Add-On (Lawn Fawn);
Stitched Ric Rac (My Favorite Things); Stitched So Sweetly, Black Stampin' Write Marker (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Pumpkin Pie Chevron Ribbon, Pinking Heart Border Punch (Stampin' Up!);
Shimmery Gelly Roll Pen (Sakura); Assorted Moonstone Sequins (Simon Says Stamp);
Metallic Rose Gold and Marigold Gems, Wildflower Sequins Mix (Pretty Pink Fresh);
Ripe Persimmon Pearls (Studio Katia); Crystal Stars (Buttons Galore & More);
Black Shimmery Washi Tape (Unknown); Blush Rosette Aqua Shimmer Brush (Nuvo);

Country Christmas Elf Boy

Inspiration: Card Maps Sketch October 2018

I found a really good Card Maps sketch to use my Oddball Boy Elf, which was part of my Stamping Bella placed earlier this year when they announced they'd retire dies altogether. I got the elf stamps and die at that time, but I wasn't in Christmas creation mood at that time, so this is the first time I'm using it. As you can see, I'm slowly starting to ease into Christmas projects. I had also purchased the Simply Vintage Country Christmas 6" x 8" paper pad very late into last year's Christmas season and it had remained untouched, so I decided to pair both together. I used to be very adamant about not buying new supplies and letting them sit untouched but in the last few years, things have gotten away from me a bit on that front, it seems. 

I really love the sketch's design and I was able to very clearly reproduce all of its elements with things that I had in my stash. I was particularly happy to bring out the Wonky Circle Frames from Avery Elle, which I love. I paired it with the Golden Satin specialty paper from Tonic. Its texture reminds of vintage Christmas cards, and so it was perfect with the Simple Vintage collection from Simple Stories.

I initially planned on doing a sentiment strip like the sketch, but I had already moved the bow to the bottom for better balance and when I found the Traditions de Noël stamp set, it seemed like a really good match to the card, so I switched gears and used this instead, which allowed me to fill in the empty space in the middle of the circle. I did add a little green polka dot banner underneath the punched sentiment.

My little elf boy was colored with Polychromos pencils. I added a smidge of Midas Touch Aqua Shimmer to the bell and buckle for glimmer. Red pearls and gold glitter enamel dots were added for embellishment. 

For the envelope, I needed to make my own since I had made my card (5½" x 5½") just a little too big for my existing square envelopes. I remembered I had another vintage Christmas collection from Simple Stories - Simple Vintage Christmas) - so I dug it out and used one 12" x 12" sheet to make an envelope. I used one of the paler sheets from the 6" x 8" paper pad to make my address  block, picking a die from the Planner Essentials 21 dies from Elizabeth Craft Designs. I am really getting a lot of use out of those planner dies for everything but planners!

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Oddball Boy Elf (Stamping Bella); Traditions de Noël (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Thick Very Vanilla, Shaded Spruce (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers: Very Vintage Christmas, Very Vintage Country Christmas (Simple Stories);
Golden Satin Specialty Paper (Tonic)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento); Cherry Cobbler Classic Ink (Stampin' Up!)
Dies: Planner Essentials 21 (Elizabeth Craft Designs);
Wonky Circle Frames (Avery Elle); Oddball Boy Elf (Stamping Bella)
Accessories: Gold Glitter Enamel Dots, Mini Stampin' Dimensionals, Garden Green/White Baker's Twine,
Designer Buttons, Real Red Baker's Twine, Envelope Punch Board, Tag Punch, Border Punch (Stampin' Up!);
Polychromos Pencils (Faber-Castell); Midas Touch Aqua Shimmer Brush (Nuvo);
Pearls - Glossy Berry Mix (Little Things from Lucy's Cards)

 

Halloween Crate

I wanted to make a Halloween crate using the Wood Crate dies from Stampin' Up! I scored in the Clearance Rack. I had this idea of making a orange crate and dirtying it up with black paint or ink. A few years back, Stampin' Up! had a very potent orange shade in its In Color range (Tangelo Twist) and I ended up with a lot of my cardstock pack leftover at the end of the two years. Because cardstock is getting more and more expensive, I don't want to get rid of the colours I don't like as much and try to work them in projects where it will serve as a base or get covered. I thought this could work here since I would be adding the black and it turns that the Distress Soot Oxide ink mutes the colour enough for me to actually like it.

I used the PInewood Planks 3D embossing folder on my die-cut pieces before inking and assembling the box. To add the ink, I used my stencil brush and I will say, this is one of the rare occasions where I was actually happy with the results I achieved from those brushes! I stippled it in a few places to make darker, textured spot and I like the final look.

I initially wasn't sure how to embellish the crate and my first attempt was not to my liking, so I put it aside and worked on other stuff until I could find inspiration. I did after I had started working on generic embellishments created with die-cuts. I started adding a cobweb abd rose to one end and a wreath, rose and ghost to the other. On the sides, I added a strip of cobweb patterned paper and a row of black rhinestones, then a few little die-cuts.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Tangelo Twist, Soft Sky, Black and Champagne Glimmer Paper (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers: Halloween Town (Echo Park)
Ink: Black Soot Distress Oxide (Ranger)
Dies: Wood Crate (Stampin' Up!), Mini Wreath, Rolled Roses, 
Build-a-House Halloween Add-On, Cute Cobweb (Lawn Fawn)
Accessories: Pearls (Studio Katia); Boo Bling Sheet (Recollections);
Pinewood Planks 3D Embossing Folder (Stampin' Up!);
Stencil Brushes (Clarity Stamp)

 

Going Mini Again!

Inspiration: YouTube tutorial from Pinkstrawberryz

I found another interesting mini-album tutorial from Pinkstrawberryz where she mentioned she was only using small paper scraps. I went back to my Halloween Town collection from Echo Park, which, by the way, is still not completely killed even after making a third mini-album with it! I really like how this one turned out and I think this is the one I will give to my youngest niece, because it is easier to handle than the last one I put together.

I followed the instructions and included my own embellishments using remaining stickers, washi tape, punches and my trusty Planner Essentials dies from Elizabeth Craft Designs. I am getting so much use out of these dies! I think the fact that they are called planner essentials is misleading, because the bits and bobs included in the sets are perfect for any kind of crafting.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Basic Black (Stampin' Up!); Pearlescent Vellum (Lawn Fawn); Green Glitter Paper (Unknown)
Patterned Papers and Stickers: Halloween Town (Echo Park)
Punches: Corner Trio, Circle (Stampin' Up!)
Dies: Planner Essentials 2 and 21 (Elizabeth Craft Designs)
Accessories: Eye See You Sprinkles (Doodlebug Design); 
All the Trimmings Embellishments, Faceted Dots, Silver Elastic Cord, Eyelets (Stampin' Up!);
Decorative Brads (October Afternoon); Copper Metallic Floss (DMC);
Deco Scissors (Fiskars)

 

Mummy Pizza Box

I went all out with Halloween crafts yesterday. I pulled out a bunch of dies, the Halloween Town paper collection and I started putting together embellishments, then I turned some of them into packaging.

One of my favorite embellishments from the bunch was this rosette. I have this white waffle flower that Stampin' Up! used to sell years ago, which I have used many times and yet still have a lot leftover on the roll. I decided to try and see if I would be able to make a rosette out of it. I used my pinking shears to cut the edge to give it a pattern, and then I layered sparkly white tulle over it and cut it in a circle to match the rosette. I LOVE this detail! I then added a Swimming Pool mini doily from Doodlebug Design. The colour was too bright, but I discovered that if I turned it around, the aqua colour was showing through but was more muted, so I used the backside to match my papers better. I then added a black foil paper circle and a patterned paper scalloped circle, followed by a patterned paper punched ticket, a little X made out of "boards" die-cut out of champagne glitter paper and my "Happy Halloween" stamped on patterned paper. The little mummy is one of the images from the 6" x 4" cut-aparts from the paper and I fussy cut it to make it an embellishment. I added little enamel eyes from one of the Doodlebug eye sticker set.

The mini pizza box is something still currently sold by Stampin' Up!  I love them - they are easy to decorate, can be assembled in 15 seconds and they are a great size. I figured the size would probably work for my rosette and I was right. The boxes are white, and I colored mine using Dusty Concord and Wilted Violet Distress Oxide sprays. I then overstamped in Black Soot Distress Oxide ink an Halloween damask motif I pulled from the set From the Crypt, sold by Stampin' Up! a good ten years ago and still one of my favorite Halloween sets ever. I added the bats from the Wicked Cool stamp set in Dusty Concord Distress Oxide ink. I sprayed my box with water and dried it. I pulled out my Gansai Tambi Starry Colors watercolors and used Champagne Gold to add speckles and also to color a line of gold alongside the edge of the box. (I love how that detail turned out.)

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Wicked Cool, From the Crypt, Mystérieux félin (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers: Halloween Town (Echo Park)
Cardstock: Black Foil Paper, CHampagne Glimmer Paper (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Dusty Concord, BLack Soot Distress Oxide (Ranger); Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Accessories: Mini Pizza Box, Stampin' Dimensionals, 2" Circle Punch, Scalloped Circle Punch,
Ticket Duo Punch, White Waffle Flower, Mini Stapler (Stampin' Up!); Pinking Shears;
Swimming Pool Mini Doilies, Eye See You Shape Sprinkles (Doodlebug Design);
Sparkly White Tulle (Recollections); Gansai Tambi Starry Colors Watercolors (Kuretake);
Dusty Concord and Wilted Violet Distress Oxide Sprays (Ranger)

 

Pumpkin Party Treats Wooden Crate

I had a bunch of images leftover from my coloring session with the Halloween Doodlebug stamps so I put together a little wooden crate using the Pumpkin Party papers again. The cotton candy cart is my favorite image from the Trick of Treat stamp set and I was happy to finally be using it. I picked all of the other treat images to add around the box so that it would be Halloween sweets-themed.

I used my Midas Touch and Blush Rosette Aqua Shimmer brushes to add sparkle to my images and I used little embellishments to complete the box. This is arguably the easiest packaging die I own to assemble and I like that because the shape is rectangular, you get very little wasted paper when die-cutting the two pieces you need. This was the first time I was cutting it out of patterned paper and I love how it looks! I was worried it might not hold its shape as well due to the cut-outs to make the planks, but as long as you use good-quality patterned paper, it holds up as well as the cardstock does.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Trick or Treat (Doodlebug Design)
Cardstock: Neenah Solar White
Patterned Papers and Stickers: Pumpkin Party (Doodlebug Design)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Accessories: Trick or Treat Dies (Doodlebug Design); Markers (Copic);
Stampin' Dimensionals, 2020-2022 In Color Enamel Dots, Elegant Faceted Gems, 
All the Trimmings Embellishments, Gold Glitter Enamel Dots,
Playing with Patterns Resin Dots, Faceted Dots, Wood Crate Dies (Stampin' Up!);
Blush Rosette and Midas Touch Aqua Shimmer Brushes (Nuvo)

 

Vintage Oval Window Card

Inspiration: Little Red Wagon #572 (Things That Begin with B - Buttons!) 

I was going through past Christmas paper collection and decided I wanted to revisit an old favorite, Home for Christmas. I thought I could do a bold sentiment in the oval window, fussy-cut a little deer from the pattern paper and maybe create a rosette with foliage at the top of the card. My first rosette was way too big (but I'll probably reuse it somewhere else), so I made sure the second one was very narrow to fit at the top. I topped it with a corduroy button and added a circle of music paper underneath. I didn't like the empty holes from the button, so I added a piece of gold ribbon over it.

For the sentiment, I picked something from the Carols of Christmas stamp set. I stamped the sentiment in Mossy Meadow and started wondering if I would be able to fussy cut the letters stamped in other colors and layer them over the shadow. Answer is yes, but it was challenging. Since everything I was using had a retro feel, I decided to add mica flakes around the oval opening. Initially, I was planning to use dimensional adhesive for the frame, but with the rosette already pretty bulky, I thought I would glue it flat instead. I added foliage from the Pretty Pines die set, die-cut in both Mossy Meadow and Old Olive to create dimension, and I added Wonderful Gems in red to create berries. Tne sentiment still looked a little bare so I added gold metallic pearls on each letter.

I tried the card in a regular envelope, but it was too tight of a fit, so I made an oversized envelope using the Envelope Punch Board. I added a vanilla oval and another fussy-cut deer. Inside the card, I added the same patterned paper, layered a deckled rectangle inked with Antique Linen Distress ink and one more fussy-cut deer.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Cantiques de Noël (Carols of Christmas - Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla, Old Olive, Mossy Meadow (Stampin' Up!)
Designer Series Paper: Home for Christmas (Stampin' Up!)
Dies: Pretty Pines (Stampin' Up!); Stitched Oval Stackables (Lawn Fawn);
Wonky Stitch Rectangle Stax Die-namics (My Favorite Things);
Stacked Deckle Rectangles (Sizzix)
Ink: Baja Breeze, Cherry Cobbler, Mossy Meadow Classic Ink (Stampin' Up!);
Antique Linen Distress Ink (Ranger)
Accessories: Envelope Punch Board, Stampin' Dimensionals, 1½" Circle Punch, Scallop Circle Punch,
Wonderful Gems, Metallic Pearls, Baja Breeze Corduroy Button (Stampin' Up!);
Distress Mica Flakes (Ranger); Gold Ribbon (Unknown)

 

Christmas Bell

Inspiration: November 2017 Card Maps Sketch + Simon Says Stamp Wednesday (Layer It Up)

I kept working with the Wintergreen Designer Series Paper and the 'Tis the Season ephemera pack from Cocoa Vanilla. When I first went through the die-cuts, I had layered the bell over the woodgrain oval and thought it looked really neat, so I had put that aside for later. It was the starting point of this card. I looked through sketches to find something that would work with this pairing and went from there. I love the soft colours and the beautiful papers. Believe it or not, the pack is dwindling down, but I think I still got a couple of cards left in there. I wanted to give my ephemera pieces a little bit more presence so I decided to add a snowflake underneath. I wasn't sure if I'd prefer a white patterned one or a pearlescent vellum one, so I die-cut both to test out and ended up layering them instead. I found a neat Happy Holidays sentiment with uneven font from last year's snowflake set and I stamped it directly on patterned paper. (I love using tone on tone designs for the inside of the card where we will write our message or for the sentiment block. I find I have a harder time designing with patterned papers when those softer pages are not included in a collection.)

For the scalloped border from the sketch, I was looking through border dies and the newly released Snowflake Border from Lawn Fawn caught my eye. I die-cut it out and tried it, but it was too large for my card design, so I went back to using a scalloped border instead. That being said, I did love the look of the Snowflake Border so I recycled my die-cut piece inside the card instead, which looked much better there.

I had been looking for my big tub of beads, which for a couple of weeks I couldn't locate no matter how much I tried and I finally found it yesterday as I was putting something else away in a cupboard I don't often use. That made me want to add a couple of beads in there, so I did some wire wrapping to add to the bell. I was really disappointed when I first bought the beads and pins as I discovered the holes in the beads are so big that it was going right through. Thankfully, I discovered that you can use sequins and seed beads (which I have a ton of as I'm a stitcher and use them on my cross stitch projects) on the pin to prevent the beads from falling off. I found some dusty pink seed beads that were the perfect shade and included white sequins, which I also reused as embellishments on the card.

The last touch was adding Nuvo drops in four shades to finish embellish the bell. For the envelope, I picked a lovely Aquamarine metallic colour, added another bell die-cut and used Nuvo drops as well. If you ever invest in colored envelopes (which it took me a while to do so as I was wary of the price), keep in mind that envelopes with a metallic sheen are much easier to pair with other cardstock and patterned papers than plain colours are. Because the colour varies a bit as it catches the light, you can get away with something that's a similar shade whereas it is way more obvious when a colour is not a perfect match with a plain colored envelope. I have some in Seafoam and I haven't used them half as much as the Aquamarine and Lagoon metallic ones for this exact reason. Here, the aquamarine envelope is not the same shade as the Sage Shadow cardstock I used, but it goes really well with is.

As Stacey and Clinton used to say all the time on What Not to Wear, "It doesn't match, it goooes!" (Good times!)

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Tourbillon de flocons (Beautiful Blizzard - Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Sage Shadow (Stampin' Up!); Pearlescent Vellum (Lawn Fawn)
Designer Series Paper: Wintergreen (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Always Artichoke (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: 'Tis the Season Ephemera Pack (Cocoa Vanilla);
A2 Aquamarine Metallic Envelope (envelopes.com); Seed Beads (Mill Hill);
Satin White Sequin Mix (Little Things from Lucy's Cards); Sparkly Ribbon (Unknown Source);
Cloud 9 Dream Drops, Calming Aqua, Bubblegum and Bottle Green Crystal Drops (Nuvo);
Bead Value Pack (Bead Landing); Basic Stitch Lines Die-namics (My Favorite Things);
Outside In Stitched Rectangles Dies, Snow Border Dies (Lawn Fawn);
Snow Crystals Dies (KaiserCraft); Adorning Accents Dies and Embossing Folders,
Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!)

 

Hope & Fall Leaves

Inspiration: Colour Inkspiration #87

I have recently received the Loves of Leaves bundle and wanted to take it out for a spin. The Colour Inkspiration colour combo was perfect, so I started with two piece of Thick Whisper White cardstock and I started sponging Mango Melody on the first one and Pear Pizzazz ink on the second. I then smooched ink on an acetate, spritzed the ink with water and dabbed my cardstock on it to add ink spots. On the orange cardstock, I stamped the Birch background in Sahara Sand ink and on the green cardstock, I stamped the splatter pattern from Painted Poppies in Mossy Meadow ink. I stamped off the ink for most of the images, but maybe I should have done more direct stamping because I love the depth it gives the leaves where the darker ink appears. Then, I used the Stitched Leaves dies to get as many leaves as possible out of my two inked cardstock pieces. 

When I started plaing around with cardstock pieces to create a background, I found a piece of copper foil paper embossed with the PInewood Planks 3D embossing folder and I was really liking the look, but I wasn't sure, so I tried the same embossing folder on Sahara Sand instead. I inked the wood details with Soft Suede ink so they would stand out more. Then, to have the leave stand out better, I used a strip of cardstock and I added the lovely stitching detailing with the large die from the set on it. I matted my stitched Mango Melody cardstock with Pumpkin Pie cardstock, making sure to ink the edges as well. I used a Piear Pizzazz card base, and I added my sentiment ("Hope Changes Everything") on Sahara Sand cardstock, punching the end with the Banner PIck a Punch.

After finishing the first card, I was curious to revisit the copper background idea, using the stitched strip to tone it down, and it worked out very nicely. At this point, I still had quite a few leaves leftover, so I kept going, changing the cardstock colours around and the embossing folders every time to get different looks. I stamped matching envelopes and used the remaining die-cut leaves on them and inside the cards. I love how using one design, but changing a few details can produce and fun and unique set of cards.

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Birch, Painted Poppies, Bouquets de feuilles (Love of Leaves)
Cardstock: Pear Pizzazz, Mango Melody, Sahara Sand, Pumpkin Pie, Copper Foil Sheets
Ink: Paar Pizzazz, Mango Melody, Sahara Sand, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Mossy Meadow, Soft Suede
Dies: Stitched Laaves
Embossing Folders: Pinewood Planks 3D, Tin Tile 3D, Hammered Metal 3D
Accessories: Banners Pick a Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals, Gold Gitter Enamel Dots,
White Medium Envelopes

 

Trimming the Town - Triple Circles

Inspiration: Card Maps October 2020

This is the third card I put together with the embellishments I created using the Trimming the Town paper collection. I used my circle cluster element in the center, punched two additional wreath images from the patterned paper and layered them over a Misty Moonlight paper strip. The background was created by layering two patterned papers and a piece of Whisper White cardstock embossed with the delicate Scripty 3D embossing folder. I added a silver foil border at the top, die-cut using the Smooth Sailing die set. (I cut about a dozen when I prepared my embellishments, and they make great borders.) I added a little polka dot banner topped with a clear faceted gem. I mimicked the stitching from the sketch with hand stitching done with white embroidery floss.

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Cardstock: Thick Whisper White, Poppy Parade, Red Velvet Paper, Silver Foil Sheets
Designer Series Paper: Trimming the Town
Dies: Layering Circles, Smooth Sailing, Painted Labels
Accessories: Trimming the Town Embellishments, Stampin' Dimensionals,
White Medium Envelope, Clear Faceted Gems, Scripty 3D Embossing Folder,
Sprig Punch, White Embroidery Floss, Paper Piercer, Classic Label Punch,
Circle Punch, Banner Punch

 

Christmas Sweater Vest

I have been wanting to use my Sweater Vest dies for the longest time and I finally got around to it tonight. I have this project in the back of my mind that I've discussed with my mom and that I hope comes to fruition but if it does, I need to have a lot of Christmas cards on hand so I'm trying to get moving on my production, especially since I can't believe it's already mid-October! Not that I'll be sad to see this dumpster fire of a year come to an end, but time really got away from me this year, it feels. Anyway, I also want to make sure to have some more masculine Christmas cards on hand and the sweater vest is always a good bet. I went through my 6" x 6" holidays paper and settled on Deck the Halls from Echo Park (released maybe a couple of years ago?). This is pretty straightforward as I let the dies do the work, but I did add stitching with green embroidery floss. I'd like to make a few more sweater vest cards using different paper collections. They're fairly quick to put together and the result makes me smile. 

Click HERE for another Christmas card made with this die set.

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Crumb Cake (Stampin' Up!) 
Patterned Papers: Deck the Halls (Echo Park)
Accessories: Sweater Vest Dies (Sunny Studio); Dotted Rectangle Dies (Lawn Fawn);
Green Embroidery Floss (DMC); A2 Nautical Blue Linen Envelope (envelopes.com)

 

Tree Tag Cards - Pearl Ex Background Technique

Inspiration: Jennifer McGuire YouTube video + Festive Friday #70 (ribbon + die-cut + gold)

Last week, Jennifer McGuire revisited pigment powders in one of her latest videos. I've been using Pearl Ex powders for well over a decade, and it's a product I like to revisit cyclically. I'm trying to get a jump on Christmas cards as I might need more than usual this year. I found two tags I had made last year after purchasing Planner Essentials dies that included a cute chevron tree. I ended up making two so I could reuse the negative spaces of the first one I had die-cut. I believe we were past Christmas when I made those so I don't believe I ever shared them on my blog. I decided they could make great cards and it was a great opportunity to make Pearl Ex backgrounds, inspired by the Jennifer's video.

At first, I stamped the Diagonal Stripe background on Shaded Spruce cardstock and added Spring Green Pearl Ex. I was pleasantly surprised to find out the green shimmer was a nice match to the mint shade from the paper, so I was happy with the result. For the second background, I pulled Poppy Parade cardstock, stamped the Tree Ring background stamp on it and decided to use Interferene Gold powder. The thing with interference powders is that they only show their colour when they get hit by the light, so I expected the gold sheen to only show when you move the card, but it turns out the gold instantly showed on the red cardstock. The result is SO gorgeous! It stands out just enough without overtaking the main image, and the tree ring design goes really nicely with the tree die-cut. 

I liked my diagonal stripes background but it seemed a little boring with the tag over it, so I decided to try something else Jennifer was showing in her video: layering two stamps. So I overstamped the En français background in VersaMark and brushed Aztec Gold powder over it. (It should be noted I had done the stripes and spritzed hair spray over it as a fixative, then I let it dry overnight, so I was able to brush the gold and not have it change the stripes' colour.)

To decorate matching envelope and the inside of the cards, I pulled out an old Christmas stamp set and used the Christmas tree image, then colored it using the Spring Green pigment again. When I mounted the tags on the card bases, I added a gold metallic doily and I topped my bare tree with red pompons from Queen & Co for a fun, fuzzy detail.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Traditions de Noël, Diagonal Stripe, Tree Rings, En français (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Mint Macaron, Poppy Parade, Shaded Spruce, Gold Foil (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Paper: Holly Jolly (My Mind's Eye)
Ink: VersaMark, Shaded Spruce (Stampin' Up!)
Dies: Planner Essentials #12 (Elizabeth Craft Designs); Tags (scrapbook.com);
Label Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals, Gold Cord, Poppy Parade Ribbon, Metallic Doilies,
Mint Macaron Ribbon, Spring Green, Aztec Gold, Interference Gold Pearl Ex,
Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder (Stampin' Up!); Red Mini Pompons (Queen & Co); 
Gold Jingle Bells (Unknown Source);
A2 Blonde Metallic and A2 Rose Quartz Metallic Envelopes (envelopes.com)

 

Santa Rosette

Inspiration: Card Maps October 2020 + Festive Friday #70 (Twine + Die-Cut + Ivory)

The starting point of this card was the rosette I had done with the Home for Christmas papers that was too big for my previous card. The funky edge of the rosette was achieved by punching my strip of paper with the Snowflake Edged punch before putting the rosette together. I added a Santa that was fussy cut from one of the patterned papers directly.

The rest of the card was an arrangement of papers based on the sketch. I couldn't decide which colour of cotton twine to add to the tag, so I decided to do all three together and I'm liking the look and weight it gives to the bow. I added two tiny jingle bells to it (can't seem to stop doing that on my recent creations). The tiny snowflakes were the leftover parts from punching the rosette edge. I made sure to add pearls to the center so that they would stand out better.

For the sentiment, I picked one from the Greatest Part of Christmas, an old hostess set from a past Holidays catalogue, but I wasn't liking how it would have looked directly on the tag, so I stamped it in Mossy Meadow ink on Very Vanilla cardstock and punched it out instead, which frames it better. For the background piece, I decided to use my Stacked Deckle Rectangles instead of a scalloped rectangle, as I felt the deckle edges went well with the retro look. I inked edges with Antique Linen Distress ink to give it definition and a vintage look. I added a sparkly sticker strip to the top of the scalloped border.

Again, the rosette made the card very thick, so I created an oversize envelope out of remaining patterned paper.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Ce que j'aime à Noël (Greatest Part of Christmas), Free Skate (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Thick Very Vanilla (Stampin' Up!)
Designer Series Paper: Home for Christmas (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Mossy Meadow Classic Ink (Stampin' Up!); Antique Linen Distress Ink (Ranger)
Dies: Large Scallops (Stampin' Up!); Stacked Deckle Rectangles (Tim Holtz for Sizzix);
Dotted Rectangle Stackables (Lawn Fawn); Planner Essentials #2 (Elizabeth Craft Designs)
Accessories: Envelope Punch Board, Christmas Traditions Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals,
Festive Farm Cotton Twine, Mini Jingle Bells, 1½" Circle Punch, Sponge Daubers (Stampin' Up!);
Border Stickers (Starform); Snowflake Edger Punch (EK Success);
Ice Cube Mix Jewels (Little Things from Lucy's Cards); Vintage Shimmer Pearls (Studio Katia)

 

If You've Got It, Haunt It

Inspiration: Septembre 2020 Page Maps Sketch + Inspired By #146

I grabbed the papers and stickers from the Happy Haunting collection from Simple Stories last year and I thought they would be perfect to scrapbook pictures of my niece when she was younger, all dressed up as Minnie for Halloween day at day care. The collection, with its cute and girly elements and shades of pink, is perfect for kids' pictures and the Minnie costume.

There were so many good items to pick from that this page came together really quickly. I used the same page for the three panels - I cut it in thirds and flipped the middle to show the backside (the stars). I kept one of the pictures as a full 3" x 4" and I cropped the other one smaller to fit into the "scary cute" frame from the cut-apart sheet. I pulled another cut-apart for my journaling. I added the "2 cute 2 spook" words handcut from the little square cut-apart sheet. The little ghost with the "if you've got it, haunt it" sentiment was also a 3" x 4" cut-apart, but I cropped it to keep only the image. I added a little sentiment sticker from the sticker sheet and an old black and white decorative brad from my stash.

I wanted to extend the middle row with a pink border, so I looked through my pink scraps drawer and pulled out a hounstooth paper, which I punched with an old lace border Martha Stewart punch. I added peach crinkled seam binding in between and used a bead dangle that was sitting on my desk (an early experiment with teaching myself bead wrapping), tying it with black twine from the peach ribbon bow.

The sketch had four circles and I planned on using the house stickers. I discovered it was a long border, so I only kept four of the houses and snipped them out and I moved them to the bottom of the layout to balance things out. I added a bat sticker and Shimmery Crystal Effects on the windows.

The "Trick of Treat" sticker was used as my title on the flowery circle of patterned paper and I added two flower stickers on each side to frame it. I used the little pompom banner at the top and added Shimmery Crystal Effects to this sticker as well. I then added a spider hanging from the end, drawing a line with my black pen to link the images. Then, I looked through my embellishments and I found rhinestone flowers and little black swirls, that I added to the flower bundles. I added a tab sticker to the journaling block and dabs of Crystal Drops to fill in the gaps.

I love the idea of having Crystal Drops in many colours to be able to create drops of any sizes on your projects, but I find that the product thickens over time and don't create round drops anymore. I've seen tips online to add a few drops of distilled water to your bottle and the product will work again, which seems to work, but then you can't use the product right away and have to wait for the distilled water to mix. This is pretty annoying and it has dampened my enthousiasm for the product, so I've stopped building my collection and have reverted to using enamel dots, even though those are more expensive in the long run. 

 

 

 

Supplies
Patterned Papers and Stickers: Happy Haunting (Simple Stories); Sweet Pea (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Peek-a-Boo Peach Crinckled Seam Binding, Stampin' Dimensionals, Shimmery Crystal Effects,
Spiral Punch, Pretty in Pink and Basic Grey Corduroy Brads, Black Baker's Twine (Stampin' Up!);
Bubblegum Blush Crystal Drops, Earl Grey Vintage Drops, Cloud 9 Dream Drops (Nuvo);
Halloween Bling Stickers, Boo Bling Sheet (Recollections); Gem Art Stickers (Forever in Time);
Beads (Beads Landing); Lace Border Punch (Martha Stewart)

 

Christmas Truck

Inspiration: October 2018 Page Maps sketch + Simon Says Stamp Wednesday (card and matching envelope)

The starting point of this card was the pairing of the Christmas Drive Window stamp from Art Impressions with the gorgeous Christmas Plaid 6" x 6" papers from Memorybox. Those are arguably the best plaid papers I've ever owned. The colours are yummy and every single page has gold foil included in every plaid pattern.

To keep with the gold, I embossed my stamp in gold powder on watercolor paper. The image is quite small and dainty, so I decided to use my Albrech Dürer watercolor pencils from Faber Castell and a small waterbrush to do my coloring. I picked up the pigment with my brush directly on the pencil tip and transferred it to the watercolor paper that way. It worked out very well and I love the effect I achieved. I softly layered a couple of colours for the snow and I love the soft effect it produced. This pencil set includes three metallics - silver, gold and copper - and I used the gold to add a very nice shimmer to the car's lights and the lamppost.

The design of the card was inspired by an old Card Map sketch. I used the plaid pattern at the top and a piece of Merry Merlot cardstock at the bottom, which I embossed with the Cable Knit 3D folder. Between the two pieces, I remembered the new Snowflake Border die from Lawn Fawn that just came out and used it on Gold Foil paper. I layered two washi tapes over it, and tied gold baker's twine. The main image was die-cut with a scalloped square from the Layering Squares dies and I matted the image with Always Artichoke cardstcock. I rounded corners for a better overall look. My curvy corners trio punch was used on the plaid paper and I added two gold foil pearls as well. For the card base, I pulled out Mellow Moss cardstock (now, you know that has been sitting in my stash for a long time!), which was the perfect match to the green from the plaid paper.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Christmas Drive Window (Art Impressions)
Cardstock: Mellow Moss, Merry Merlot, Always Artichoke, Gold Foil Paper (Stampin' Up!);
Green (Recollections)
Patterned Papers: Christmas Plaid (Memorybox)
Ink: VersaMark
Dies: Layering Squares (Stampin' Up!); Snowflake Border (Lawn Fawn)
Accessories: Stampin' DImensionals, Cable Knit 3D Embossing Folder, Curvy Corner Trio Punch,
Envelope Punch Board, Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder, Gold Baker's Twine (Stampin' Up!);
Gold Foil Pearls (Studio Katia); Albrecht Dürer Watercolor Pencils (Faber-Castell);
Winter Woodgrain Washi Tape (Carta Bella); Gold Washi Tape (Recollections)

 

Three Christmas Stockings

Inspiration: Global Design Project #262

Hung with Care was a hostess set offered in a past Holidays catalogue. I thought it was adorable and I loved the French sentiments included in it, but I was only able to get a set for myself when I preordered for Sale-A-Bration in December, which means that by the time I received my order, I was already done with my Christmas stamping and so this set never got inked. I hate when that happens - I hate having stuff in my stash that has never been used, so when I saw the GDP sketch, I thought I could do a bold sentiment and add three stockings underneath.

Initially, I was only planning on hanging the stocking underneath the sentiment banner, but when I looked through my embellishments to pull out my red mini pompons for one of the stockings, I spotted the boxwood wreaths and thought I could add greenery and bows to make it look like a trimmed staircase or fireplace. I love the texture and dimension it added to the card.

For the patterned papers, I needed something whimsical to match the look of the stockings, so I pulled out my Trimming the Town Designer Series Paper. I've been using this one a ton since it came out, I'm already half-way through the paper pack. Because I was adding the sentiment to the olive patterned paper, I made sure to emboss it with navy powder so that it would stand out. I centered the sentiment on the banner, but now that I've chosen to add the bows, I'm thinking maybe the sentiment should have been just a tad higher. To fill in the space a bit more, I added two red dots from the Wonderful Gems pack.

To get the multicolored look on the stockings, I stamped them twice and paper pieced the second colour on each one. I did use markers for the holly image to make it easier.

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Accrochés avec soin (Hung with Care), Voeux indémodables (Greetings of the Season)
Cardstock: Old Olive, Whisper White, Myths & Magic Glimmer Paper
Designer Series Paper: Trimming the Town
Ink: Poppy Parade, Old Olive, Misty Moonlight, VersaMark
Accessories: Layering Circles Dies, Stampin' Dimensionals, Stampin' Write Markers,
White Medium Envelope, Wonderful Gems, Boxwood Wreath Embellishments,
All the Trimmings Ribbon Combo Pack, Red Mini Pompons (Queen & Co)

 

Halloween Coffin

Inspiration: Simon Says Stamp Monday (Spooky)

This is another project that I worked on in two parts, as I originally couldn't find the inspiration to get the box finished. 

Stampin' Up! came out with super cute coffin boxes last year and while I was very tempted to purchase them, I knew I wouldn't have a use for them that year so I ended up passing over it. When they came back on the Clearance Rack at a very low price, I finally got some for myself. That was out of season so they have been sitting unwrapped since and this is the first time I was pulling them out to assemble one. I should have known thet would be small, as all Stampin' Up! boxes always are, but still, I was still surprised at how tiny the top looked even with the sides laying flat. I embossed the top of the box using the Parisian Flourish 3D embossing folder and I used my Midas Touch Aqua Shimmer brush to highlight all of the raised portions of the design. I then assembled the box and I got stuck for inspiration there.

After I started pulling Halloween elements out and working on a bunch of embellishments, the creative juices started flowing. My first idea came from finding the Boneyard embellishments from Tim Holtz. The bones were the perfect size to glue on each side of the box so they would look like handles. I had also die-cut the mini-wreath in orange and champagne, and decorated it with a little bow and the gorgeous pearls from Studio Katia I recently scored from my local store, and the wreath looked awesome added to the top of the coffin. I also added black lace trim around the edge of the lid, a little glittery spider and a rolled flower at the bottom and now I am pleased with the result.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Patterned Papers: Halloween Town (Echo Park)
Cardstock: Champagne Glimmer Paper (Stampin' Up!)
Dies: Mini Wreath, Cute Cobweb, Rolled Roses (Lawn Fawn)
Accessories: Midas Touch Aqua Shimmer Brush (Nuvo);
Bora Bora, Café au lait Pearls (Studio Katia); Boneyard (Tim Holtz for idea-ology);
Coffin Boxes, Black Lace Trim, Parisian Flourish 3D Embossing Folder (Stampin' Up!)

 

Skis and Snowshoes

Inspiration: October Page Maps sketch

This is the second card I put together using the paper dolls I previously colored with distress embossing glazes. I just love this little pair, ready to go enjoy winter sports in their retro garbs. Again, I used last year's Christmas papers from Tim Holtz for my background. I added red trim between the two background papers. I layered a couple of banners and I folded a tab die-cut over them, then stapled them together with a mini stapler. I added a "Merry Christmas" sentiment embossed in lime powder on a tag die-cut and added Mossy Meadow cotton twine on it.

To ground the characters, I added snow using the Snowcap stencil from Tim Holtz and White glitz glitter gel from Gina K. I distressed the edges of the papers before adding them to a Mossy Meadow card base (4½" x 6"), and I made a matching envelope out of Festive Farm DSP (last year papers). 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Traditions de Noël, Bas de Noël (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Mossy Meadow (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers: Christmas (2020) (Tim Holtz for idea-ology);
Festive Farm Designer Series Paper (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: VersaMark
Accessories: Cherry Cobbler Stampin' Emboss Powder, Lots of Labels Dies, Envelope Punch Board,
Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!); Peeled Paint, Fired Brick Distress Oxide Glazes,
Lime Mixed Media Powder (Ranger); Distressing Tool (Tim Holtz for Tonic);
Paper Dolls (Tim Holtz for idea-ology); Snowcap Stencil (Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous);
White Glitz Glitter Gel (Gina K. Designs); Planner Essentials Dies #11 (Elizabeth Craft Designs)

 

Snowy Day

I'm still going through past Holiday papers and stamp sets to see what sparks inspiration. On this one, I paired In the Meadow from Papertrey Ink with the Wintergreen Designer Series Paper. This paper pack is ancient, but it aged gracefully and I still very much enjoyed using it. As for the Papertrey Ink, the design is still gorgeous, but the product itself didn't age so well. Not sure what happened to the photopolymer but the front of the stamp sticks more than the back does, despite me rewashing it, and the photopolymer is a little cloudy... which made it really hard to work with the dies. The matching dies are not open outline dies, they are full metal shapes with NO poking holes on them. I think I had erased this detail from my memory but it came back instantly how problematic it is to get the die-cuts out without damaging them. (Yes, I should have sandwiched wax paper in between layers, but that detail had also escaped my memory when I started workinng on this project.) I just thought I'd use my stamping platform to line the images up, but because the front of the stamp had better adherence than the back, the die-cut wouldn't stay down, even after adding temporary adhesive on the back. The cloudiness of the photopolymer also made it hard to line the images up properly, so in the end, I eyeballed most of my stamping and the results were less than stellar. It's a little sad that the product is not the same quality as other similar products I own. I wonder if the quality of their stamps improved over time. I can't attest to it as I've only ever ordered from them that one time and now that we have good quality photopolymer available and open dies, that set is paling in comparison.

That being said, I made it work and the result is pretty cute. I picked from a French set for the sentiment. I stamped it in Always Artichoke ink and embossed it with clear powder to make it stand out. The green cardstock seemed a little bland, so I decided to add snowflakes. A few were staomped at full force and most were stamped off, which I think I should have done for all of them for the sentiment to be more visible and the panel to appear less busy. That's part of designing, you try things out and go from there. The tree felt very bare without anything on it, so I added a couple of stamped birds and a mix of pearls in white, grey and soft green. The background was created using the Hometown Greetings Edgelits dies from a few years ago, and I used the Slimline Stitched Hillside Borders dies for the snow. I purchased those dies even though I don't plan on doing a lot of 9" wide cards because I saw the opportunity to use the part of the hillside that works best for my design. When you are using A2 border dies, the curve falls where it falls, whereas here, I as able to select where I wanted it and make it work for my little sledder.

I could have used a regular A2 envelope since the card is pretty flat, but I decided to make a matching envelope just to try and use that paper up already. As I was cutting my remaining paper to size, I realized I had one corner too short to get a full 8" x 8" square so instead of wasting what I had cut, I glued a strip to even the square out and this actually creates a really cool detail on the envelope. I might recycle that idea in the future, just because I like the look. I had a few leftover die-cuts, so I used one to embellish the envelope.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: In the Meadow (Papertrey Ink); Parfum de Noël (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Whisper White, Baja Breeze, Certainly Celery (Stampin' Up!)
Designer Series Paper: Wintergreen (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Always Artichoke, Soft Suede, Crumb Cake, Pear Pizzazz, Baja Breeze (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder, Stampin' Dimensionals, Envelope Punch Board,
Hometown Greetings Dies (Stampin' Up!); In the Meadow Dies (Papertrey Ink);
Slimline Stitched Hillside Borders Dies, Outside In Stitched Rectangles Dies (Lawn Fawn);
Arctic Breeze, Seafoam and Stormcloud Pearls (Studio Katia)

 

Joyful Poinsettia

Inspiration: Card from Bekka Prideaux

I'm still working on my Christmas cards and I thought I'd pull out the 'Tis the Season die-cut pack from Cocoa Vanilla. I got it this summer in my local store sale. I don't have any matching paper, but I figured I'd go through my paper scraps and find something fitting. Turns out I didn't even have to do that, as I still had the Wintergreen papers out from my last creation and I realized the soft colours would pair well with the Cocoa Vanilla images.

I was inspired by a card seen on Pinterest and I used the poinsettia die-cut as the starting point. I had the Christmas Messages stamp set out, so I picked a sentiment from it that would fit my opening ("Oh, what joy") and stamped it in Always Artichoke ink. I rounded the two bottom corners with my Corner Chomper and I layered two ribbons for texture. The poinsettia center was embellished with beaded pearls, and I added Seafoam pearls on each fold. I made sure not to glue those down to keep the dimension. I added Stickles to the berries. Pretty simple card, but the result is very pretty. 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Parfum de Noël (Christmas Messages - Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Always Artichoke (Stampin' Up!)
Designer Series Paper: Wintergreen (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Always Artichoke (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Envelope Punch Board, Lots of Labels Dies, Stampin' Dimensionals, Beaded Pearls,
Pear Pizzazz Pleated Satin Ribbon, Pear Pizzazz Chevron Ribbon (Stampin' Up!);
Stickles (Ranger); Seafoam Pearls (Studio Katia); 'Tis the Season Ephemera (Cocoa Vanilla);
Crop-a-Dile Corner Chomper (We R Memory Makers)

 

Christmas Music

Inspiration: Mojo Monday #547

I was in the mood to play with my Distress embossing glazes and pair them with paper dolls, so I started coloring details on paper dolls while watching Tim's latest Facebook Live on replay. As of now, I have Fired Brick, Peeled Paint and Speckled Egg on hand, which happens to work very nicely for holidays card and to match Tim Holtz's Christmas papers (I have last year's stack on hand). So I colored six different paper dolls and today, I decided to start using them on projects. I used the always fabulous Mojo Monday sketch as my starting point and picked the little boy, as the size worked well to layer over the circle.

I prepared my patterned paper layers and then I tried cutting the little flagged tab myself. I wasn't liking the look and scale, so I decided to go through my Planner Essentials dies to see if I could find something that worked. I picked a tab from the collection #11, but the music elements from collection #12 also caught my eye. It's very subtle, but there are music notes on the background paper with the trees, so I thought I could use those music elements to layer. I die-cut two staves, initially thinking I'd use the second one on my envelope, but I ended up using them both on the card. I used black foil paper for the stave and red foil paper for the notes and clef. I used the overhang to fill in the space at the top of the card.

I wrapped Mossy Meadow cotton twine at left of the card and used gold metallic thread to add two little red jingle bells (which are the exact shade of red to match the papers). My card needed a sentiment to I went digging through my French stamps and had trouble finding something that was the right size to fit on the tab. I finally ended up using the "Happy Holidays" in a rectangle from the Christmas Gleaming stamp set, embossed in red glitter powder, and placing it underneath the little boy's feet to ground him. I used paper scraps and another paper doll to decorate a matching red metallic envelope. 

I didn't expect to like the resulting card as much as I do. I do enjoy seeing what Tim Holtz comes out with and the project he shares, but I don't always find it easy to create with vintage elements. It just leaves me pleased when I manage to make it work.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Fêtes étincelantes (Christmas Gleaming - Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Smoky Slate, Red and Black Foil Paper (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers: 2020 Christmas (Tim Holtz for idea-ology)
Ink: VersaMark
Dies: Planner Essentials 10 and 11 (Elizabeth Craft Designs);
Circle Double Stitched (Art Impressions); Outside In Stitched Rectangles (Lawn Fawn)
Accessories: Peeled Paint Distress Embossing Glaze (Ranger);VersaMarker, Wonderful Gems,
Festive Farm Cotton Twine, Mini Stampin' Dimensionals, Mini Jingle Bells (Stampin' Up!);
A2 Jupiter Metallic Envelope (envelopes.com); Antique Gold Metallic Thread (Altenew)

 

November Memorydex Card

Inspiration: Scrapbook & Cards Today World Card Making Day challenge #3

I took part in the challenges shared by S&CT on their  blog last week. One of the challenges was to use the same stamp set on three projects. I had already done two cards using the images I had colored from the Hello Pumpkin stamp set, so I just needed to create one more thing. I've been wanting to make a memorydex card ever since I finally managed to get my hands on the punch and dies. I was just unsure what to make that I could actually use. I do have an old Rolodex that I bought when I became a Stampin' Up! demonstrator 15 years ago to keep my client contacts in. (Very old school, I know.) I'm happy I kept it all these years because I can now recycle it into something else. First thing I wanted to use it for was birth dates. I wanted to create a card for each person who I sent birthday cards to. The rolodex format will allow me to add people in and keep it in chronological order. I can also rotate the cards to the back once the birthday has rolled around and always have the next coming birthday in the front as a reminder. So I decided to make my November divider tab using the Fall Fling patterned papers from Lawn Fawn and the leaves from the stamp set to create a wreath. I also stamped "Hello pumpkin" from the stamp set in the cetner to fill in the space. The leaves were stamped in VersaMark on watercolor paper and embossed in copper powder before they were watercolored with inks. I have a French date stamp set that was just the perfect size to fit on the tab. Initially, I wanted to make an October tab, but I realized I might prefer to have October be Halloween-themed and November could be fall-themed instead.

Since the patterned paper I was using is one-sided (in its 6" x 6" format), I decided to die-cut another piece from another pattern and glue them together. This made the tab sturdier as well.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Mois de l'année Courrier (Lime Citron); Hello Pumpkin (Waffle Flower)
Cardstock: Watercolor Paper (Fabriano)
Patterned Papers: Fall Fling (Lawn Fawn)
Ink: VersaMark; Early Espresso, Peach Passion, Marigold Morning, Blush Blossom,
Tango Tangerine, Lost Lagoon, Soft Suede Classic Ink (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Memorydex Tabs Dies (Heidi Swapp); Circle Layering Dies, Aqua Painter Brush,
Copper and Tango Tangerine Stampin' Emboss Powders (Stampin' Up!);
Hello Pumpkin Dies (Waffle Flower); Planner Essentials 21 Dies (Elizabeth Craft Designs)

 

Boo To You Gift Bag

Inspiration: Pinkstrawberryz Treat Bag Tutorial + Hand Stamped Sentiments #349

So I just came back home today with the two latest Simple Stories collections: Boo Crew and Winter Cottage. Simple Stories is definitely hitting a home run with their new creations this fall. Although I'm pretty much done with my Halloween crafting for this year, I couldn't pass this collection up. I should have a few pictures from this year to scrapbook and whatever I have left can still be used for projects next year.

Pinkstrawberryz's treat bag tutorial inspired me to get the Boo Crew paper collection out and make a bag inspired by hers. I really love her tutorials - they're simple, quick and easy to follow along, and the results are always unique and very cute. This is not different: this bag is made out of a 6" x 11-1/2" strip of patterned paper, seven score marks, a few snips, glue in two spots and you are done. The bag is just an inch deep so it won't house anything bulky, but it is pretty high and wide, so as long as what you are gifting is flat, it offers an interesting packaging option. I love the look of the doily topper. Mine felt a little narrow, so I added a vanilla circle underneath and it made the doily show up better as well. I remembered I had clothespin in my stash, but when I pulled them, I discovered they are regular size and look too big on the bag. I might look into getting medium-sized ones for future packaging, as it would have been a nice option. In a pinch, I pulled out the library clips I have left from a few years ago. The mini black ones were too small, and the ones in the size I wanted were the wrong color, so I embossed a brown one with black sparkly powder. It was a little bit of a struggle to not get my VersaMark pad dirty and not burn my fingers and not leave marks with my tweezers and the result is not even close to perfect, but I deemed it acceptable.

The black sparkly washi tape came from my stash, and the one with the pumpkins is from the Boo Crew collection. The tag comes from the cut-apart sheet and I added a few ephemera pieces to jazz it up. A grey eyelet was added to the tag and I added orange twine through it. I stayed pretty close to the original shared design, but it was fun tp get to play with this awesome collection.

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Very Vanilla (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers, Bits & Pieces, Washi Tape: Boo Crew
Dies: Layering Circles Dies (Tonic); Doily Die (Recollections)
Accessories: Midas Touch Aqua Shimmer Brush (Nuvo); Black Glitter Washi Tape (?);
Tangerine Baker's Twine (Lawn Fawn); Mini Stampin' Dimensionals, Mini LIbrary Clip,
Eyelet (Stampin' Up!); Black Sparkle Embossing Powder (Ranger)

 

Season's Tweetings

Inspiration: Scrapbook & Cards Today World Card Making Day challenge #1 (Analogous Colours) + Simon Says Stamp Wednesday (Anything Goes)

I got all of my "to-do" list handled yesterday so I could clear my schedule for crafting up a storm during World Card Making Day. I checked out the challenges posted online by S&CT on their blog. The first one challenged us to use analogous colours and watercolour a striped background. I decided to go with a gradient from blue to blue-green, thinking it could then serve as a sky or an underwater scene. I pulled out my Gansai Tambi watercolors, had fun painting wide stripes with a big fluffy brush, and I let the panel aside to dry. I used a full 5" x 7" Fluid 100 watercolor sheet from Stampin' Up!, thinking I could cut it to size later.

When I came back to the panel, I wasn't initially sure how to use it. I've admired foiling on other people's projects for the longest time but never got into it (despite my love of everything shiny) because I kept thinking it looked like a really expensive addition to my hobby. Earlier this year, Jennifer McGuire talked about her favorite laminator and I was really surprised to discover the price was way less than I would have expected. So this purchase has been on the back of my mind ever since and I finally ordered one, which got delivered yesterday. I was eager to give it a try, so I pulled out the Duo Deco Foil gel and the Falling Snowflakes stencil and added patterns over the watercoloring. I let aside to dry and in the meantime, I reached out for the Season's Tweetings stamp set, this year's Stamptember exclusive set from Lawn Fawn. I had yet to use it and thought the branches and birds would look great against the blue backdrop. I knew I would have to incorporate colours if I wanted the birds to pop, so I colored everything in a mix of reds, blues, yellows and greens. (I picked colours based on the Christmas light string.) This is more vibrant than what I usually go for, but I was really liking the result. I basically colored every single image from the stamp set, repeated the snow and ornament various times, and then proceeded th die-cut everything.

By the time I was done with the images, the gel had time to dry and I was ready to try out the laminator. I purchased the duo gel so that I could dip my toes into foiling using my die-cut machine. I was liking the result, but even when using brand-new plates, the foiling had a tendancy to take on texture and not be as shiny. It was a lovely result, but with the heat laminator, the result is striking! I ordered two foil colours with the laminator - a proper gold (which is always sold out at my local store) and on a whim, I also picked a roll of aqua. I LOVE how the aqua foil looks against the watercolored background. It adds such a nice sheen, and because the birds and ornaments are bright, the foiling is not taking the focus away from the main images.

I had room left for a sentiment at the bottom so I went hunting for someting appropriate and picked "season of joy" from the now-retired Christmas Pines stamp set. With all of the images I wanted to use, I ended up using the full 5" x 7" panel. I only trimed 1/8" off the sides to show the white card base and frame the scene. Because of the oversize dimension, I had to make my own envelope. I used the envelope paper Stampin' Up! was previously selling. The Midnight Muse paper was a nice match and I like how the polka dots look like falling snow. I added an address block using Cool Caribbean (In Color OG!) and stamped my favorite of the birds on it.

This is a really fun set. It's way bigger than I was expecting! Much larger than the usual Lawn Fawn sets. It's filled with elements that will be fun to pair with other LF sets as well, including the long branches and the light string.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Season's Tweetings (Lawn Fawn); Sapins de Noël (Christmas Pines - Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Thick Whisper White, Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper (Stampin' Up!)
Envelope Paper: 2016-2018 In Color (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento); VersaMark; Blueberry Bushel (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Envelope Punch Board, White Stampin' Emboss Powder, Deco Labels Dies (Stampin' Up!);
Markers (Copic); Aqua Foil, Duo Deco Foil Gel (Deco Foil); Laminator Royal Sovereign);
Season's Tweetings Dies (Lawn Fawn); Gansai Tambi Watercolors (Kuretake);
Glossy Accents (Ranger); Fresh Snowfall Glitter Accents (Nuvo)

 

Fall Festivities

Inspiration: Just Us Girls #556 (Plaid) + Festive Friday #69 (Mice + Embossing + Circles + Sparkle)

Happy World Card Making Day!

I had leftover colored images from my last card so I decided to use them on a project right away. I wanted to make a smaller card, so I went for a 4½" x 4½" square card, with a layout based off of a Card Maps sketch. I paired patterned papers from the Perfectly Plaid Fall and the Knock on Wood petite paper packs. The sentiment ("May your day be festive and filled with great moments") was embossed in Tango Tangerine powder on Marigold Morning, one of the first In Colors that Stampin' Up! came out with and still a favorite cardstock colour to this day. 

I used woodgrain teal paper for the background but it felt a little bland, so I added embossing with the Quilted folder. It was still lacking something so I went through my glitter paste to find one I could add to the edges. The champagne one I planned on using was completely dry, so it went straight in the trash (I've tried reviving it with distilled water before, with no luck), but I spotted the Red Bronze gilding polish so I used that instead, on the edges and the raised portions of the design. I love the result. To fill in the space in the center of the card a bit, I made little green tendrils to add to the pumpkin, which makes for a fun detail and adds texture. I added Aqua Shimmer to the mice's outfits and Glossy Accents to the glasses. I can't skip Glossy Accents when there are glasses involved. It just looks like something's missing if I don't add it.

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Hello Pumpkin (Waffle Flower); Levons nos verres (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Marigold Morning, Rich Razzleberry, Tango Tangerine (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers: Knock on Wood, Perfectly Plaid Fall (Lawn Fawn)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento); VersaMark; Tango Tangerine, Soft Suede (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Hello Pumpkin Dies (Waffle Flower); Red Bronze Gilding Polish (Cosmic Shimmer);
Envelope Punch Board, Mini Stampin' Dimensionals, Quilted Embossing Folder, Ticket Corner Punch,
Finishing Touches Dies (Stampin' Up!); Scalloped Circles Nestabilities Dies (Spellbinders);
Circle Double Stitched Dies (Art Impressions); Markers (Copic); 
Blush Rosette Aqua Shimmer Brush (Nuvo)

 

Trimming the Town - Mini-Envelope

Inspiration: Try Stampin' on Tuesday #477

This is the second card put together with my Trimming the Town embellishments. The mini-evelopes were actually the starting point of me putting together as set of embellishments, inspired by a YouTube tutorial. I made a little matching tag that I slipped inside the envelope. The Try Stampin' on Tuesday sketch was the perfect design to use the mini-envelope on a card. If you look at the whole card series, you can see a lot of elements (punches, dies, trims) repeated. 

I'm always amazed at how much more efficient I get when I work on something based off of a limited set of supplies. I used to think that had to mean working on something assembly-line style (which I'll admit I really hate) but I'm discovering now that it can mean making different projects that are all unique but all based on the same set amount of punches, dies, trims and embellishments. I used to have that when I started with Stampin' Up!, as everything was made to match and as an active demonstrator, I was solely focusing on current products, but I think I kind of lost part of that focus in recent years as my stash expanded. This was a nice experiment and I'm thinking I could do this again in the future, switching to a new DSP pack or bundle every time. I like that this allows me to create a set of cards that are all different in a more efficient way than if I was designing each of them one at a time.

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Cardstock: Misty Moonlight
Designer Series Paper: Trimming the Town
Dies: Stitched Rectangles, Smooth Sailing
Accessories: Trimming the Town Embellshments, White Cotton Trim,
Clear Faceted Gems, Mini Stampin' DImensionals, Ticket Corner Punch,
Circle Punches, White Medium Envelope

 

Winter Cottage Foursquare

Inspiration: Simon Says Stamp Wednesday (Anything Goes)

Simple Stories has really hit it out of the ballpark with its fall collections. Winter Cottage was really high on my wish list. The colors and style really remind me of the look of Crate Paper. I even went for the stamp set, which I rarely do with this company, but the small handdrawn images really appealed to me.

They were the starting point of this card. Because I wanted to feature them, I pulled out the Foursquare Backdrop Portrait die set from Lawn Fawn. I created the frame out of the star pattern and filled in the square with four different patterns. The images were colored with Copic markers and added to the panels with dimensional adhesive.

At the bottom, I created the "Happy Holidays" sentiment with the Joyeux Noël dies from Stampin' Up! and the Star of Light stamp set (on a tag that comes from the same die set). The larger gems come from the Pumpkin and Spice Say it in Crystals collection, which happen to match this line nicely.

I decorated the envelope and inside of the card with the remaining stamped images I had left and a few stickers from the sticker book. This is the first project I was putting together with this line and I'm looking forward to making more with it.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Winter Cottage (Simple Stories)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Patterned Papers, Sticker Book: Winter Cottage (Simple Stories)
Cardstock: Powder Pink, Whisper White (Stampin' Up!); Delicate Pastel Glitter Pad (Memorybox)
Accessories: Joyeux Noël Dies, Mini Stampin' Dimensionals, Wonderful Gems (Stampin' Up!);
A2 Rose Quartz Metallic Envelope (envelopes.com); Markers (Copic);
Pumpkin and Spice Say It in Crystals (Prima); Foursquare Backdrop Portrait Dies (Lawn Fawn),
White, Silver and Sparkly Gel Pens (Gellyroll); Silky LIlac Metallic Thread (Altenew)