Encre, papier, ciseaux

Featuring Santa

Inspiration: Mojo Monday #364 

I am really down to only a few scraps from the Home for the Holidays collection, but I am trying to stretch them out so that I can finish using the stickers as well. Here, I used the white frame and placed a fussy cut Santa inside of it, trimming his hat with a mini white pompom. I die-cut a "ho ho ho" border out of green metallic cardstock using the Surprise die set from 4 en scrap. I did it a second time out of red to have a matching border for the envelope, and that allowed me to inlay the letters in contrasting colours. On the card, I only did the H's and I love the red, green and white look that skipping the O's produced.

The sketch I was drawing inspiration from has two little blocks. I used the Petites étiquettes #7 dies (mini tags), but they looked better when they were placed on the left side of the frame rather than the right like on the sketch, probably because Santa's hat stretches on this side of the frame. I stamped and embossed "Merry Christmas" in green powder on a silver tag, and I embossed "special delivery" in white powder on the red tag. I added eyelets to both, and red and white twine to the top tag. I added red gems to the sides of the frames, and to the tree sticker I put on the matching envelope.

This card will be going to the Children's hospital, so I added my message inside as well.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Plaisir d'offrir #3 (4 en Scrap)
Cardstock: Parsley (Concord & 9th); Red and Green Foil (Prism Studio)
Patterned Papers, Stickers: Home for the Holidays (Doodlebug Design)
Ink: VersaMark
Dies: Surprise, Petites étiquettes #7 (4 en Scrap); Zig-Zag Stackers (Penny Black)
Accessories: Wonderful Gems, Stampin' Dimensionals, White Medium Envelope, Eyelets, Gumball Green
and White Stampin' Emboss Powder (Stampin' Up!); Baker's Twine (Recollections)

 

Christmas Snowman and Flair

Inspiration: Mojo Monday #120

This is another card created with my leftovers from the Home for the Holidays collection. I used up the last of the matching cardstock stickers on the card and on the envelope, and the last flair to embellish the card as well. I picked my layers based on the size of the paper scraps I had left, and it did not turn half bad considering. I used the ticket strip sticker to embellish the envelope and I had one ticket leftover, which I slid underneath the flair. The sentiment, which reads "Happy New Year," comes from a 4 En Scrap stamp set.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Meilleurs voeux #2 (4 En Scrap)
Cardstock: Parsley (Concord & 9th); Silver Opulent Pack (Sizzix);
Red Foil (Prism Studio)
Patterned Papers, Cardstock Stickers, Fancy Frills, Doodads: Home for the Holidays (Doodlebug Design)
Ink: Cucumber Crush (Stampin' Up!)
Dies: Zig-Zag Stackers (Penny Black); Cross Stitched Circle Stackables (Lawn Fawn);
Scalloped Circles Nestabilities (Spellbinders); Borders (Photoplay)
Accessories: Red Rhinestone Basic Jewels, Stampin' Dimensionals, Parakeet Party Metallic Woven Ribbon,
White Medium Envelope, Banner Punch (Stampin' Up!); Box of Crayons
Enamel Shapes (Shimelle for American Crafts)

 

Switcheroo

Inspiration: Just Add Ink #658 (Scraps - Strips - Sequins)

This is the other set of images I colored while I was crafting with my niece. I fussy cut the images and went looking for a sketch to add them to a card. Since the image are pretty large and because I had a leftover square envelope made to match the Home for the Holidays collection, I decided to make a square card (5¼" x 5¼"). My paper scraps are dwindling down, so the banners from the sketch were a great way to use the leftover strips - and it fit with the Just Add Ink challenge beautifully.

I added an extra banner (compared to the sketch) so that I could add my sentiment on it. I embossed it with the Gumball Green Stampin' Emboss powder. The sentiment reads "Happiness and more." It's from an European company called 4 En Scrap. I saw one of their French sentiments on a project shared on Instagram and the font and saying piqued my interest, so I went looking for their Website and was super impressed with their offering. European French tends to differ from Quebec French and the expressions don't always fit well for our side of the pond, but in this case, it was not a problem and most of the sentiments appeared very usable so I ordered from them and you will most likely see a lot of their stamps made their way onto my projects for the foreseeable future. This one came from the Meilleurs voeux #2 stamp set.

To back the main images, I used the Essential Stylish Ovals dies from Spellbinders. I was very happy to add that die set to my stash, because the shape resemble an oval, but will be easier to incorporate on a project because the ends are rounded and not as long. I soon discovered after buying ovals that they are hard to add to cards, because if you need a certain height to fit your images completely, then the oval can become very long and almost take the full width of the card, which complicates designing. This shape has the essence of the oval without the problematic width. There is also 16 dies in the set, which made matting very easily as the size between dies is about 1/8". I expect this set to be very useful.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Mini Oddball Switcheroo (Stamping Bella); Meilleurs voeux #2 (4 En Scrap)
Cardstock: 80 lbs. Solar White (Neenah); Parsley (Concord & 9th)
Patterned Papers, Album Inserts, Stickers: Home for the Holidays (Doodlebug Design)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento); VersaMark
Dies: Essential Stylish Ovals (Spellbinders)
Accessories: Sequins (Cartwright's); Polychromos Pencils (Fäber-Castell);
Box of Crayons Enamel Shapes (Shimelle for American Crafts);
Gumball Green Stampin' Emboss Powder, Stampin' Dimensionals, Banner Triple Punch,
Envelope Punch Board (Stampin' Up!)

 

Winter Cardinal

Inspiration: Freshly Made Sketch #591

I've been using up my scraps from the Home for the Holidays collection by Doodlebug Design and when I spotted the Freshly Made Sketch from this week, I knew it would be a fantastic way to use up small pieces of patterned paper. I recently grabbed some red and green foil cardstock from Prism Studio at my local store, to add to my Christmas cards, so I cut strips of foil paper to place between the patterned paper, to zhuzh it up a little.

For the main image, I used a frame from the North Pole Frames stickers, and the sentiment comes from the Home for the Holidays This & That cardstock stickers. I die-cut snowflakes out of the red foil paper and cut them around the card, and I placed green gems in the center of each one. I also added scalloped trim at the bottom of the card, from the Fancy Frills stickers.

I already had a matching envelope ready. It had been done for another card, but not used so I was able to pair it with this card.

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Thick Whisper White (Stampin' Up!); Red and Green Foil Cardstock (Prism Studio)
Patterned Papers, Fancy Frills Stickers, This & That Cardstock Stickers: Home for the Holidays (Doodlebug Design)
Dies: Flocons de neige #3 (4 en Scrap)
Accessories: August Crystals (Studio Katia); Stampin' Dimensionals, Envelope Punch Board (Stampin' Up!);
North Pole Frames Stickers (Doodlebug Design); Mini Black and White Pompoms (Queen & Co)

 

Christmas Drinks

Inspiration: Mojo Monday #178

I went back to the Christmas Mice I had previously colored and not used on my other card, and I used the Mad 4 Plaid Christmas collection from Photoplay again, since the images had been colored to match it. Basing my design on an old Mojo Monday sketch, I created this design.

I recently took inventory of everything I had in my craft room and went through items to do a destash. That included my embossing folders. Some I was sure I wanted to give away, but for the ones I was unsure of, I cut white cardstock and run it through my embossing folders to decide. I ended up with a pile of embossed paper, which I put aside so that I could use it on my projects when I craft. Here, I figured the mice would stand out better against cardstock than patterned paper, so I looked through the pile and picked the one with stars in the background.

For the sentiment, because my cardstock was already embossed, it would have been hard to stamp something, so I stamped my sentiment on a white cardstock scrap and bubble cut it, popping it on Mini Stampin' Dimensionals.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Christmas Mice (Waffle Flower); Pas de triche! (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Shaded Spruce, Old Olive. Basic White (Stampin' Up!); Metallic Kraft-stock (Tim Holtz for Idea-ology)
Patterned Papers: Mad 4 Plaid Christmas (Photoplay)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento); Old Olive (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Wonky Stitched Rectangles Die-namics (My Favorite Things);
Enamel Dots (Unknown Source); Markers (Copic); Mini Stampin' Dimensionals,
White Medium Envelope, Star Embossing Folder (Stampin' Up!); Circle and Scalloped Circle
Nestabilities Dies (Spellbinders); All My Love Shape Sprinkles (Doodlebug Design)

 

Plaid Nutcracker

Inspiration: Mojo Monday #44 

My next paper pad I decided to tackle is Mad 4 Plaid Christmas from Photoplay. I was fully intending on pairing it with the Christmas Mice stamp set from Waffle Flower. I had colored and die-cut my images and started to create my layers for the card, but once I reached the main block and started trying to fit my images on it, I realized they were too small and bringing focus enough. Rather than fight it and make a card I was not happy with, I decided to pull in another stamp set to incorporate something with a size that worked better. I picked Avery Elle's Nutcrackers set. I was also fighting to incorporate a circle like on the sketch, thinking maybe I could make it a snowflake and again, I remembered than in the end, it was better to tweak things to work for what I was trying to achieve and not let the sketch dictate the results.

I stamped my "Best Wishes" sentiment in red on a white banner, which I slipped underneath the nutcracker. I created my photo corners out of gold metallic kraft-stock and I used a few enamel dots I got free with an online order to finish the card off. I used a border from one of the cut-apart papers to decorate a matching envelope. This is another card that will be going to the children's hospital for their Christmas card drive.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Nutcrackers (Avery Elle); Moments lumineux (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Cherry Cobbler (Stampin' Up!); Solar White (Neenah);
Metallic Kraft-stock (Tim Holtz for Idea-ology)
Patterned Paper: Mad 4 Plaid Christmas (Photoplay)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento); Cherry Cobbler (Stampin' Up!)
Dies: Nutcrackers (Avery Elle); Zig-Zag Stackers (Penny Black);
Dotted Rectangle Stackables (Lawn Fawn)
Accessories: Markers (Copic); Enamel Dots (Unknown Source);
Stampin' Dimensionals, White Medium Envelope (Stampin' Up!); 
Gold Metallic Gelly Roll Pen (Sakura)

 

Ready to Open Gifts

Inspiration: Mojo Monday #124 

I wanted to use the other images from Christmas Mice I had stamped and colored, so I used the Mad 4 Plaid Christmas papers again to create this new card. I used the top square of the sketch to include my sentiment, which reads, "May this Holiday season be filled with joy." I embossed it with the Cherry Cobbler embossing folder for a bit of shine. I added a little holly image I had stamped and colored from the stamp set.

The gifts behind the mouse is an image I fussy cut from the cut-apart sheet. On a cross-stitched circle, I mounted the gifts with one layer of dimensional adhesive and the mouse with two layers. Underneath, I layered a strip of patterned paper and a strip of gold-foiled washi tape.

For my previous card, I had tried to make my own photo corners with square punches, and the first pair I had done was way too big for my other layout. Here, by trimming it down a bit, I was able to add it to the left rectangle and fill the space out. I added a red button threaded with green twine as well. 

I covered the flap of my white envelope with patterned paper to match.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Christmas Mice (Waffle Flower); Ce que j'aime à Noël (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Always Artichoke, Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White (Stampin' Up!); 
Metallic Kraft-stock (Tim Holtz for Idea-ology)
Patterned Paper: Mad 4 Plaid Christmas (Photoplay)
Ink: VersaMark; Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Dies: Cross Stitched Circle Stackables (Lawn Fawn);
Christmas Mice (Waffle Flower); Zig-Zag Stackers (Penny Black);
Layering Squares (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Square Punches, Stampin' Dimensionals, Cherry Cobbler Stampin' Emboss Powder.
Green Twine, Washi Tape, White Medium Envelope (Stampin' Up!); Button (Foof-a-La);
Enamel Dots (Unknown Source); Markers (Copic); Frosted Lace Stickles

 

Putting the Stockings Up

Inspiration: Mojo Monday #104

This is my last card using the Christmas Mice images from Waffle Flower I had stamped and colored. Again, I used the Mad 4 Plaid Christmas collection from Photoplay to go with it, and based myself on an old Mojo Monday sketch to design something different. The bubble-cut sentiment had been previously stamped for another project where it did not work well, but here, the size was working out nicely.

The 6" x 6" paper pad does not have a lot of paper left in it, but I think I'm ready to move on to other collections for now. Maybe I can circle back to it this fall and use up the rest then. It does feel really satisfying when I manage to use a paper pad entirely.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Christmas Mice (Avery Elle); Fêtes branchées (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Always Artichoke, Whisper White (Stampin' Up!); Metallic Kraft-stock (Tim Holtz for Idea-ology)
Patterned Papers: Mad 4 Plaid Christmas (Photoplay)
Ink: Old Olive (Stampin' Up!); Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Dies: Christmas Mice (Waffle Flower); Layering Circles (Tonic);
Circle Double Stitched (Art Impressions); Wonky Stitched Rectangle STAX (My Favorite Things);
Scalloped Circles Nestabilities (Spellbinders)
Accessories: Enamel Dots, Candy Dots, Stampin' Dimensionals, White Medium Envelope (Stampin' Up!);
Markers (Copic)

 

Toboggan Day

Inspiration: Mojo Monday #53

I had leftover colored images from the Snow Fun set and enough leftover paper from the Hello Winter 6" x 6" pack to make two last matching cards. I included some additional scraps from the Silver Opulent Cardstock Pack from Sizzix (a really great value to invest in versatile metallic staples for your cardstock collection). I used a lot of the same elements as I had on my previous cards: the Wonderful Snowflakes die-cuts, the white glimmer ribbon, Stickles... I'm really happy with how well the remaining patterns worked together, Sometimes, beggars can't be choosers when putting together one last project with a paper pack, but here, the dominant colours and pattern scales worked really well together.

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Ce que j'aime à Noël (Stampin' Up!); Snow Fun (Avery Elle)
Cardstock: Silver Opulent Cardstock Pack (Sizzix); Solar White (Neenah); 
Dapper Denim, Basic White (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers: Hello Winter (Echo Park)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento); VersaMark
Dies: Snow Fun (Avery Elle); Layering Squares (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Snowflake Punch (EK Success); Wonderful Snowflakes, Stampin' Dimensionals,
Stampin' Blends Markers, Jumbo Rhinestone Basic Jewels, White Glimmer Ribbon (Stampin' Up!);
Star Dust Stickles (Ranger); A2 Seafoam Envelopes (Envelopes.com);
Fine White Embossing Powder (Wow!) 

Sweet Snowman

Inspiration: Tuesday Morning Sketches #710

Back when I received the Santa and snowman die-cut sets from Doodlebug, I looked through my scraps and put one of each together. The result is just so cute! I am happy that Doodlebug had decided to add the Doodle die cuts to their line because they are easy to put together and the result totally has the typical Doodlebug cuteness factor.

I knew those would be great for the Christmas cards I am preparing for the children's hospital. They had been put aside for a while now, but when I saw the Tuesday Morning Sketch, I remembered that in my pile of dry-embossed cardstock (that I had done when I was destashing and trying to decide which embossing folders to get rid of) had an embossed oval that would work with the sketch. I picked washi tapes that matched my snowman and then I started assembling the scene. The little gifts were supposed to go with Santa, but they helped fill the bottom of the card a bit. I stamped and gold-embossed Joy on Candy Red cardstock from Tonic, punched it with my ticket punch and added a gold border with a Posca pen. I added Fairy Crystals to the ornaments on the tree, enamel dots to the snowman's buttons and mini enamel dots to the gifts' bows. I also added two gold dots at the top of the card where the washi meets. I repeated the same washi on my teal envelope to make it match the card.

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Joyeux moments (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Whisper White (Stampin' Up!); Lime Light Opalescent, Venetian Gold Mirror and Candy Red Classic (Tonic)
Patterned Papers: Various scraps
Dies: Snow Cute (Doodlebug Design)
Accessories: Advent Wreath Embossing Folder, Stampin' Dimensionals, Washi Tapes (Stampin' Up!);
Fashion Gold Embellishments (Spellbinders); Enamel Dots (Violet Studio);
Christmas Fairy Crystals (Memory Box); Aquas Hero Hues Enamel Dots (Hero Arts);
A2 Teal Envelope (Envelopes.com); Metallic Gold Rich Super Fine Embossing Powder (Wow!)