Encre, papier, ciseaux

Snowflake Wishes Library Pocket

I'm in love... That Simple Vintage Winter Woods collection is scrumptious and very easy to design with. My local store offered a 12 days of Christmas sale throughout December and I was able to get my hands on products from various companies at a discount. One of my favorites offering were the Elizabeth Craft Designs products. Their dies are already a great value at full price and the sets include a number of unique and versatile dies that can easily be used for various crafting projects. Here, I'm using two great sets I scored on sale: the Nested Tags and Curved Library Pocket. The pocket is a great way to showcase the double-sided paper, and it has a nice layering piece for the front, that I turned into a second pocket by only gluing the sides and bottom. I used the second-smallest tag die and made a plaid tag to slip in. The hole reinforcer was die-cut out of Burnished Rose mirror cardstock from Tonic. The bird was fussy cut from patterned paper and the sentiment is a foam sticker that was the perfect width to fit on the pocket (and the starting point to the design).

I remember I had a stamp set called Library Love that include a library card image, so I stamped it in Basic Grey ink on the mauve striped paper and cut it to size. I added a small cardstock sticker to the top and a snowflake sticker at the bottom. It was the perfect width to fit the die-cut pocket.

Initially, I wanted to dye seam binding to embellish the card. I had an inkling that Victorian Velvet might be a good match to the mauve-ish pink of the collection and sure enough, the ink matches really nicely. I used a foam dauber to press the ribbon into my Distress Oxide ink pad while I was running the seam binding over it. It worked really nicely and the result was a great match. The seam binding was flat, though, and I like the crumpled look, so I misted it water, crumpled it and dried it with my embossing tool on the lower setting. While the result was a pretty pink crumpled ribbon, the oxidation of the ink turned it into something more pink than mauve and it was not a good match anymore. Surely, the ribbon will be used on another project at some point, possibly on upcoming Valentine projects, but definitely not with the Winter Woods collection. I do want to go back to Victorian Velvet and find another way to include it with this line.

On the envelope, I added a piece of Mint Macaron lace (retired) and a piece of Mint Macaron soft velvet ribbon (currently offered by Stampin' Up! at 60% off in their Clearance, so a really good deal) on the front of the card and because the sentiment mention snowflakes, I had to add a die-cut one. I used the Marisa Snowflake die from Simon Says Stamp and the gorgeous Opalescent Green Ombre glitter cardstock from Tonic. 

In summary, here are some colours and products that coordinate very well with the Simple Vintage Winter Woods collection:

• Mint Macaron ink and products from Stampin' Up!
• Victorian Velvet Distress colour
• Opalescent Green ombre glitter cardstock and Burnished Rose mirror cardstock from Tonic

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Library Love (Inky Antics)
Cardstock: Burnished Rose Mirror, Opalescent Green Ombre Glitter (Tonic)
Patterned Papers, Foam Stickers: Simple Vintage Winter Woods (Simple Stories)
Ink: Basic Grey (Stampin' Up!)
Dies: Curved Library Pocket, Nested Tags (Elizabeth Craft Designs);
Marisa Snowflake (Simon Says Stamp)
Accessories: Mint Macaron Lace, Mint Macaron Soft Velvet Ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!)

 

Book-Lover Anya

Inspiration: Colour Inkspiration #134

I wanted to try out my Damask stencil and decided to do it using the Colour Inkspiration combo so that I could incorporate the piece in my design afterwards. It worked out well, because I could use Bermuda Bay ink on Coastal Cabana cardstock to get a tone-on-tone design.

One of my resolution this year is to purge some of my ever-growing stash. I have those big stippling brushes that I purchased years ago with the promise that they were great to get a soft inked background, but I never took on to them and now that we have blender brushes, those have definitely become obsolete for me. I tried them out here to do my stenciling, just to double-check that I did want to get rid of them and while the result looks good, it took three times the time that inking with a blender brush would have taken, so those went in the destash box.

 I was loving the bright colours of the challenge and decided they could work great on a card for my niece's birthday, which will be coming up soon. The Anya Combo stamp set has an image of Anya sitting with a pile of books, which is perfect because Arielle loves nothing more than coming back from the library with a big stack of books. I had not watercolored with inks for a long time, so I stamped the image on watercolor paper using Lawn Fawn's Jet Black ink and I picked up inks from my Stampin' Up! ink pads' lids with an Aquapainter brush.

I based my design on an older Mojo Monday sketch. I matted my stenciled piece with Calypso Coral cardstock and I glued the piece on Pale Papaya cardstock with temporary adhesive to die-cut it with the scalloped rectangle from the Foundation 4 dies. The reason I used temporary adhesive was that so I could add dry embossing to the cardstock afterwards (which would have been flattened if die-cut afterwards). I looked at subtle embossing folders and picked up Scripty, as the text seemed appropriate to go with the books. I inked the embossing with a dauber and glued the cardstock back on with permanent adhesive.

On the initial sketch, this piece was going over a card base, but I was auditioning various cardstock colour and not loving the look so I decided the card would remain scalloped. I die-cut the same piece out of the Pale Papaya cardstock, scored the top at 3/4" and glued the top together with sticky strip. This gives me a card base that has the full scallops at the top.

I looked at sentiment options and picked out "you are one of the joys of my life". I wanted to incorporate the yellow from the combo, but using Daffodil Delight cardstock was a little too jarring, so I decided to emboss the sentiment with Calypso Coral embossing powder on white cardstock and then ink blend Daffodil Delight ink on it using a blender brush. I also used the matching Stampin' Write marker and the now-retired spritzer tool to add speckles. The sentiment was die-cut using another die from the Foundation 4 set and I punched horizontal slots on each sides. I tried out a few ribbons, but picked the Pale Papaya with white border one. I tied it around the card base, added the Anya image with dimensional adhesive and added three sparkly heart stickers (from the Dollar Store). 

Since the card front did not have an actual birthday sentiment, I used the Biggest Wishes stamp set inside the card, stamping the large word in Pale Papaya ink and overstamping the scripty word in VersaMark and embossing it in Calypso Coral powder. I also included a small little Olaf sticker in the corner as I know my niece will like that.

I made a matching envelope using the leftover stenciled piece, punched into a banner, and a piece of Calypso Coral cardstock embossed with the same folder. Another heart sticker was added as well. As a final touch, I added Crystal Glaze to her glasses. I was out of Glossy Accents and picked some up from my local store. The owner mentioned she had heard good things about Nuvo's Crystal Glaze, in particular that it dried really clear (no yellow tone to it). I've used it on a couple of projects since buying it and the jury's still out, but so far I've noticed that it's more runny, which means that you have to be careful as soon as you turn the bottle around as it wants to flow out even before you actually squeeze the bottle. This also means that you have to leave your project perfectly flat while it dries. I tried moving my card after a good 5-10 minutes of the glaze having been applied and while the Glossy Accents would have started to dry around the edges at this point, the Crystal Glaze was still liquidy enough to want to drop down. Thankfully, I noticed and used the tip of my piercer to get the glaze where it dripped below the glasses. On the other project, the glaze also made the dye ink run. (I used it on lollypops on my gingerbread house and the white parts all became colored.) Considering the bottle is more expensive for less product (maybe because Nuvo is an European company and has to be imported in North America), I will probably go back to Glossy Accents once I'm done using this bottle. We'll see if my impression of it changes as I use it more, but this is what I've noticed so far.

(On a side note, there's no matching dies for this stamp set, so I had to get my craft knife out to gut the parts between her body and her pigtails. 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Anya Combo (The Greeting Farm); Souhaits en grand, Bouquet de feuilles (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Pale Papaya, Calypso Coral, Coastal Cabana, Basic White (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Pale Papaya, Calypso Coral, Coastal Cabana, Bermuda Bay, Daffodil Delight, 
Peekaboo Peach, Sahara Sand, Soft Suede, So Saffron, Blush Blossom (Stampin' Up!)
Dies: Foundation 4 (Queen & Co)
Accessories: Scripty Embossing Folder, Stampin' Dimensionals, Daffodil Delight Stampin' Write Marker,
Spritzer Tool, Triple Banner Punch, Banner Pick A Punch, Aquapainter Brush, Pale Papaya Ribbon,
Horizontal Slot Punch, Calypso Coral Stampin' Emboss Powder (Stampin' Up!);
Crystal Glaze (Nuvo); Damask Stencil (Paper Rose); Heart Puffy Stickers (Stickah - Dollarama);
A2 Lagoon Metallic Envelope (Envelopes.com)

 

Big Sister

Inspiration: Scrap Our Stash – January (sketch) + Lasting Memory Layout Challenge #631 (Firsts - First time my older niece met her baby sister)

My style leans more to the side of cutesy, but I can totally do vintage when it is done as beautifully as it was with the Simple Vintage Winter Woods collection from Simple Stories. I was really looking forward to the release of this one and dove right in with a scrapbook page.

My youngest niece was born on a very snowy day of January. The oldest was chomping at the bits to get to go to the hospital and meet her baby sister and we were slightly delayed because I first had to get my car out of a massive snow bank before we could head to the hospital. This picture captures their first moment together.

Most of the supplies used are from the collection. I did add epoxy hardware stickers from 49 and Market to the screws on the snowflakes to make them 3D, and the Curved Library Pocket dies from Elizabeth Craft Designs to create the side tag from the sketch. I placed a die-cut insert inside, along with the chipboard tag from the Decorative brads package.

For the page base, I used the pink paper from the Basics kit. I stamped some of the images from the collection stamp set and I added speckles with a grey marker and my spritzer. The title was created with the alphabet stickers from the Sticker Book, and I also used the numbers from the same alphabet stickers to add the date at the bottom. The word "winter" and the bird on the branch image come from the Page Pieces kit. I used a chipboard frame to highlight the pictures. Those are easily my favorite product from Simple Stories, as it immediately adds to the design and draws the eye to the pictures.  

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps, Patterned Papers, Decorative Brads, Sticker Book, Bits & Pieces, Basics Kit,
Page Pieces, Foam Stickers, Chipboard Frames: Simple Vintage Winter Woods (Simple Stories)
Ink: Tattered Rose Distress (Ranger); Soft Suede, Crumb Cake (Stampin' Up!)
Dies: Curved Library Pocket (Elizabeth Craft Designs)
Accessories: Stampin' Dimensionals, Distressing Tool (Stampin' Up!); 
Crystal Glaze (Nuvo)

 

Winter Skating Tag

I stopped by my local scrapbook store yesterday and lucked out, as the owners had put some of the Distress Sprays in the clearance section for $1 each. The available colours were Hickory Smoke and Blueprint Sketch, so I grabbed both today and sprayed them on the media mat to ink a media heavystock tag. I overstamped an image from the Festive Collage set in HIckory Smoke Archival ink. It didn't show up as much as I expected, but I notice we do see it on the finished tag. I stamped some images from the Vintage Holidays set in VersaMark and embossed them in Prize Ribbon Distress glaze. I used the Holiday Knit stencil and Denim Stencil Butter to add a border at the bottom and I set aside to dry. 

In the meantime, I pulled some white seam binding, sprayed it with water and then sprayed it with Tumbled Glass Distress Oxide spray and Hickory Smoke Distress spray. I crinkled it and let it aside to dry.

Once the tag was dry, I added a few chipboard images from the Celebrate Winter collection. This was sold at a deep clearance price at my store and I figured I could use them on cards or pages even though I don't have the specific matching papers. I also finished a diamond painting project during the holidays and have quite a few leftover diamonds, so I used some in matching colours to embellish the tag.

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Festive Collage, Vintage Holidays (Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous)
Tags: #8 Mixed Media Heavystock Distress Tags (Tim Holtz for Ranger)
Ink: VersaMark
Sprays: Hickory Smoke and Blueprint Sketch Distress, Tumbled Glass and Iced Spruce Distress Oxide (Ranger)
Accessories: Holiday Knit Stencil (Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous); 
Denim Stencil Butter (The Crafter's Workshop); Gems (Diamond Dotz);
Celebrate Winter Chipboard Accents (Echo Park); Prize Ribbon Distress Embossing Glaze (Ranger)

 

Sweet Gingerbread House

Inspiration: Sunday Stamps #299

The color combo inspired me to pull out the Sweet Gingerbread suite and put together this simple card. The white background was embossed with the Wintry embossing folder an the snowy hill was die-cut out of pastel glitter cardstock from Memory Box. I borrowed a French sentiment from another stamp set to add to the smoke cloud. I used a loose flower flourishes embellishment for the doorknob.

 

 

 

 

Color Combo: Blackberry Bliss + Rich Razzleberry + Polished Pink + Mango Melody + White

 

Supplies
Stamps: Sweet Gingerbread (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Polished Pink, Basic White, Rich Razzleberry (Stampin' Up!);
Delicate Pastel Glitter Pad (Memory Box)
Designer Series Paper: Brights, 2021-2023 In Color (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Polished Pink, Mango Melody, Pear Pizzazz, Blackberry Bliss, Soft Sky, Rich Razzleberry (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Loose Flower Flourishes, Gingerbread House Dies, White Medium Envelope,
Distressing Tool (Stampin' Up!)

 

Christmas Town Packaging

I'm trying to use the precious time we have left before Christmas rolls around to finish getting everything ready. I got things off my to-do list today but I was a little off my game so I kept dropping things, getting things crooked, nothing was working quite right. Gift wrapping was part of my to-do list, but inspiration was not really there, so I was planning on waiting for another day, but somehow I found a spark of inspiration and I ended up with packaging that I'm really proud of. As a general rule, Doodlebug will never fail to impress my nieces. The oldest one has turned 10 this fall so I keep thinking at some point, she'll decide it's too childish for her, but because she's really into everything kawaii, Doodlebug keeps holding strong.

The first gift was made out of leftover paper from the Christmas town collection. I simply bent the papier around the gift, added washi paper on both sides and wrapped red scrubby sparkle trim around it. I used a cut-apart image to make a tag, hiding the English sentiment with a strip of Petite Pattern paper, on which I stamped my niece's name. I added gems for the earrings, a little candy sticker and a wax seal over the bow.

The other gift would have been hard to wrap with papers, due to the fact that it was a bunch of little items grouped together, so I decided to make my own box using patterned paper. I pulled out Home for the Holidays, an old collection that dates back to 2013. I reused the same idea for the top of the gift: strip of patterned paper lined with washi tape on both sides, white scrubby sparkle trim wrapped around, a flair in the center of the bow and a tag made out of an album insert piece. I cut it in half, punched the corners, stuck a sentiment banner using dimensional adhesive and stamped my niece's name. I added a few snowflake sequins and a heart sticker in the corner of the box.

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Stay Colorful Alphabet (Dear Lizzie for American Crafts)
Ink: Gumball Green (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers, Flairs, This & That Stickers, Simply Put 4" x 6" Album Inserts: Christmas Town,
Home for the Holidays (Doodlebug Design) 
Accessories: Gem, Stampin' Dimensionals, PInking Hearts Border Punch (Stampin' Up!);
Strawberry, Marshmallow Scrubby  Sparkle Trim (Red Heart);
Washi Tapes (Recollections, American Crafts); Snowflake Wax Seal (Honey Bee); Wax Pellets (Honey Bee);
Tag Corner Punch (We R Memory Keepers); Moonshine Snowflake Sequins (Cartwright's) 

 

Ice Skating Outside

Inspiration: Mojo Monday #251

I kept going with the Santa Express collection, creating new cards based on Mojo Monday sketch #251. The little scene in the circle was punched from one of the Memories & More cards, and matted with Burnished Rose mirror cardstock.

The ribbon used at the bottom is actually one of the ribbons I had dyed with mica Distress spray after watching Tim Holtz's Live presentation. It was actually dyed with orange spray but it dried very pastel and I realized when I held it against the Petal Pink paper that it actually matched, so I decided to put it to good use here. Mrs. Claus' dress was embellished with solid faceted gems. 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies (unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Joyeux Noël (Spellbinders)
Cardstock: Poppy Parade, Bermuda Bay; Burnished Rose Mirror Cardstock (Tonic)
Designer Series Paper, Memories & More Cards: Santa Express
Ink: Shaded Spruce
Dies: Layering Circles; Dotted Rectangle Stackables, Mini Slimline Stackables (Lawn Fawn)
3D Embossing Folder: Tasteful Textile
Accessories: Solid Faceted Gems, Stampin' Dimensionals, White Crinkled Seam Binding,
White Medium Envelopes; Mica Distress Sprays (Tim Holtz for Ranger)

 

Snowman Wishes

Inspiration: Mojo Monday #245

Here is one more card made with the Home for the Holidays collection from Doodlebug (2013) and one of the cards & envelopes from Doodlebug, pulled from the School Days kit. The scalloped card is really cute and does half of the job. For the rest of the design, I drew inspiration from an older Mojo Monday sketch, rounding the corners of patterned papers and matting them with green cardstock and silver foil. The little banners are stickers from the cardstock sticker sheet, and so is the wreath image. I wasn't sure which colour to make my main circle, so I thought to use vellum instead, and emboss it using the Wintry embossing folder. The snowman image actually comes from a cut-apart sheet from another Doodlebug collection (Christmas Town), but the colours fit very well. I cut it out and mounted it on dimensional adhesive. The card base was stamped with little snowflakes and I added a piece of red ribbon. I also added a little die-cut bow to the wreath with mini Stampin' Dimensionals to make the bow stand out more.

The sentiment, which reads "to your whole family for the holidays" was stamped in VersaMark and embossed in Emerald Envy glitter Stampin' Emboss powder. I decorated the envelope to match with stickers.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Moments lumineux, Anges de paix (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Lucky Clover, Vellum (Stampin' Up!); Silver Opulent Cardstok Pack (Sizzix)
 Patterned Papers, This & That Cardstock Stickers, Mini Icons: Home for the Holidays, Christmas Town (Doodlebug Design)
Ink: VersaMark, Granny Apple Green (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Wintry Embossing Folder, Stampin' Dimensionals, Real Red Double Stitched
Satin Ribbon, Emerald Envy glitter embossing powder (Stampin' Up!);
School Days Cards & Envelopes (Doodlebug Design);
Corner Chomper (We R Memory Makers); Mini Wreath Dies (Lawn Fawn)

 

Christmas Tabbed Card

Inspiration: Mojo Monday #437

The starting point for this card was the white tabbed card from Doodlebug's Cards & Envelopes kit and the "Wish List" sticker. I stamped my sentiment in Emerald glitter embossing powder on it and layered it over ribbon. For the circle on the sketch, I decided to hang a little sticker tag from the ribbon bow. I had previously done two die-cut bows for my other card and picked the one I liked the best, so I reused the other one on the gift here. I added a stamp sticker at the bottom and a heart sticker on the tab, topped with two red gems.

The envelope from the set was turquoise, which didn't match, so I made my own envelope out of patterned paper using the envelope punch board. This street and Christmas house pattern is my favorite from the set - I just find it incredibly cute! Because I love the pattern, I didn't want to hide it too much, but I did need an address block over the busy pattern, so I created a small tag out of one of the album inserts, cutting it down to size and punching it with a tag topper punch. I glued it a little lower to avoid hiding the store and house.

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Pétales de poinsettia (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Call Me Clover (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers, This & That Cardstock Stickers, Doodles Seals
Cardstock Stickers: Home for the Holidays (Doodlebug Design)
Ink: VersaMark
Accessories: Put a Bow on It (Lawn Fawn); Stampin' Dimensionals, Envelope Punch Board,
Wonderful Gems, Emerald Envy Glitter Embossing Powder, Eyelets, Tag Topper Punch,
Silver Cord, Real Red Double Stitched Satin Ribbon (Stampin' Up!)

 

Hilarious

Inspiration: April 2022 Page Maps Sketch

I wanted to craft yesterday and I was struggling to find inspiration, so I decided to put together embellishments, using the Make It Merry collection Simple Stories (released in 2021). Today, I thought if I used the chipboard frames pack and my handmade embellishments, I'd have a nice base for a scrapbook page, so I printed a couple of Christmas pictures and found a sketch for inspiration.

I made my pictures black and white to go with the collection and trimmed them to size for the double-picture frame. I matted the back paper with White Smoke Cardstock (a nice warm white cardstock from My Mind's Eye). 

One of the handmade embellishments I put together was a ribbon cluster, using jewelry clamps and a hanging mother-of-pearl star. I had also done a nice little banner cluster using leftover papers and die-cut images. As well, I had used the Seasonal Sketch dies from Tim Holtz to make layered poinsettias, using the papers from the collection and silver foil paper for the overlay. Those were all arranged on the circle at the top left of the sketch. I thought of using the alphabet stickers from the sticker book for my title, but I was afraid the flat brown letters would get lost in the pattern. Using Thickers gave it a little more shine and weight, giving it enough contrast to stand out.

I typed my journaling in Word and formatted it to fit on one of the cut-apart tags from the papers. I added a sentiment sticker, cut in two, and a cute clip from the cardstock stickers, as well as the word Christmas in a frame at the top of the page. I pulled the two gifts from the puffy stickers and added them to the frame. I used the holly image from the puffy stickers at the right of the title.

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: White Smoke (My Mind's Eye); 
Metallic Kraft-stock (Tim Holtz for Idea-ology)
Patterned Papers, Cardstock Stickers, Sticker Book, Puffy Stickers, Enamel Dots,
Decorative Brads, Chipboard Frames: Make It Merry (Simple Stories)
Dies: Seasonal Sketch (Tim Holtz for Sizzix)
Accessories: Baker's Twine (Recollections); Stampin' DImensionals, Ribbons (Stampin' Up!);
Star Charm, Silver Clamp (Bead Landing); Say It WIth Crystals (Prima Marketing);
Garden Party Thickers (American Crafts); White Ricrac (Fabric Store);
Letters to Santa Washi Tape (Carta Bella)

 

Wish on a Snowflake

Inspiration: Mojo Monday #343 + 52 Christmas Card Throwdown (Snowflakes)

Earlier this year, I found some Doodlebug Cards & Envelopes kits on sale. One of the kits was School Days, but since the cards were monochromatic and that Doodlebug introduces the same colours in their various lines, I knew they would probably be easy to pair with other collections. This week, I was playing with the Home for the Holidays collection, so I pulled the red card out of the kit and looked for a design that would work with it. 

I started my design around the snowman block sticker, so I looked though old Mojo Monday sketch for something that would have a long rectangle on it. Inspired by sketch #343, I used a scrap of paper with trees on it and matted it with brushed silver cardstock. In the back, I included two green paper scraps to fill in the space. 

I used the Snowfall stencil from Newton's Nook and Ranger's Metallic White texture paste to add snowflakes in the background. I also die-cut a little snowflake out of white glimmer paper and added to to the snowman block. I stamped a sentiment in VersaMark at the top and embossed it with red powder. I glued the snowman block to the tree paper using dimensional adhesive and wrapped white scrubby sparkle yarn, topped with a glitter button, before adding to the card base. To finish embellishing, I added glitter enamel dots at the top, a decorative brad from a Simple Stories collection and a little red gem. 

I used paper and stickers to embellish the matching envelope, and I cut down one of the album inserts so that it would be added inside the card without showing on the side, so that it would be easier to write a message than on the patterned red.

 

 

 

 

  

 

Supplies
Stamps: Pétales de poinsettia (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Silver Opulent Cardstock (Sizzix); White and Red Glimmer Paper (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers, Simply Put 4x6 Album Inserts, Stickers: Home for the Holidays (Doodlebug Design)
Ink: VersaMark
Accessories: School Days Cards & Envelopes (Doodlebug Design); Make It Merry Decorative Brads (Simple Stories);
Mini Snowflakes Dies (Lawn Fawn); Toile Tidings Glitter Enamel Dots, Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!); 
Red Embossing Powder (Top Boss); Snowfall Stencil (Newton's Nook); July Crystals (Studio Katia);
Metallic White Texture Paste (Ranger); Santa's Sparkle Buttons (Buttons Galore & More);
Marshmallow Scrubby Sparkle Yarn (Red Heart)

 

Vintage Sled

Inspiration: In[k]spire Me #494

I assembled this cute sled when I received the dies, using red foil paper for the sled base, and I despite auditioning it on a few projects, I couldn't get it to work. Tonight, I was playing with the Make It Merry collection released by Simple Stories in 2021 and I found that I really liked the sled placed over the cardinal paper background. I had this white cardstock embossed with the Ski Lodge embossing folder and while I like the pattern, the white was clashing with the paper, so I embossed a piece of warm white cardstock and it made a huge difference.

I tested the Vintage Merry Christmas die cut out of Lime Color Vibe cardstock and the vintage font matched the sled very well. Before adding the sentiment, I matted the embossed paper with Green Color Vibe cardstock and used my Deckle Trimmer to cut the edges. (I know it got mixed review when it was released, but I personally love the soft vintage touch it adds to projects. I added a cardinal puffy sticker to the top of the sentiment.

The top seemed a little bare, so I cut a stitched banner using the Tasteful Labels dies and I topped it with a decorative brad from the collection. I decorated the inside of the card and the envelope with matching stickers.

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: White Smoke (My Mind's Eye); Lime, Green Color Vibe (Simple Stories);
White Grosgrain (Memory Box); Red Foil Sheets (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers, Puffy Stickers, Sticker Book, Decorative Brads: Make It Merry (Simple Stories)
Ink: Crumb Cake, Soft Suede (Stampin' Up!)
Dies: Vintage Merry Christmas (Carta Bella); Large Vintage Sled (Memory Box);
Tasteful Labels (Stampin' Up!); Dotted Rectangle Stackables (Lawn Fawn)
Accessories: Ski Lodge Embossing Folder (Spellbinders); 
Deckle Trimmer (Tim Holtz for Tonic); Blender Brushes (Waffle Flower);
A2 Fairway Metallic Envelope (Envelopes.com)

 

Santa's Route

Inspiration: Mojo Monday #274 + In[k]spire Me #494

After I was finished packaging my Christmas gifts, I decided to use the Home for the Holidays collection from Doodlebug (2013) to make a card. Hopefully, some more Christmas cards will be collected next year to give to the children's hospital again and those fun, cutesy collections are perfect to make cards for a younger audience, so I figured, why not start the new stash...

I went to my list of old Mojo Monday sketches and picked one based on the Santa image I wanted to use. I liked the idea of making a circle card, so I pulled out my Tonic layering circles dies (the largest ones I have) and prepared the card base, plus three layers of patterned papers. I used the street paper for the rectangle behind Santa and matted it with brushed silver cardstock before die-cutting the circle.

Tip: To ensure that the card stands up on a flat surface, I cut a small portion at the bottom of the card backside. This also ensures that the card stays level when it is displayed. 

I picked a sentiment from the French Spellbinders stamp set (still excited about that one), stamped it in Gumball Green ink and cut the strip at an angle, before adding to the circle and cutting the edge to match. I added a sparkly button from Buttons Galore & More, threaded with silver cord. I added white mini pompoms from Queen & Co to the Santa suit and hat.

The overdyed seam binding I used is actually hand dyed. It was inspired by one of the Facebook Lives Tim did this season, where he used his Distress mica sprays to dye seam binding. I was curious so I tried it with a couple of ribbons I had on hand. The seam binding worked out the best, especially to hold the crinkling after it dried. I got this really cool green shade that will work well with a lot of holiday collections in my stash. I will need to dye more and now I'm wondering if I'll be able to reproduce the same colour, as we know with hand dying that every time produces unique results.

I made a square envelope out of matching patterned paper, using one of the stickers for the address block and adding a stamp sticker, since this card will most likely be hand delivered. Considering how hard it was to find my crafting groove earlier today, I'm pretty happy with this finished project.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Joyeux Noël (Spellbinders)
Cardstock: Smoky Slate, Basic White (Stampin' Up!); Silver Opulent Cardstock (Sizzix)
Patterned Papers, This & That Stickers: Home for the Holidays (Doodlebug Design)
Ink: Gumball Green (Stampin' Up!)
Dies: Layering Circles (Tonic)
Accessories: Stampin' Dimensionals, Envelope Punch Board, Seam Binding (Stampin' Up!);
Santa's Sparkle Buttons (Buttons Galore & More); Black and White Mini Pompoms (Queen & Co);
Mica Distress Sprays (Tim Holtz for Ranger); Silver Cord (Unknown Source)

 

Doubleheader Skating in North Pole

Inspiration: Mojo Monday #249

Having images ready to fussy cut from the Designer Series paper really makes the process of cardmaking faster and easier. Here, I fussy-cut the image of Santa and Mrs. Claus skating together and created a little scene for them based on an old Mojo Monday sketch. I have not been into the DSP as much in recent years, but the Santa Express DSP is right up my alley. I love the retro colours and the variety of patterns in the pack (no repeats in different colours, a personal pet peeve as it makes designing harder).

The sentiment comes from the Angels of Peace stamp set. It's a three-line sentiment, but I inked the first line with a Stampin' Write marker and cut it using a little tag die. I couldn't find ribbon that I like threaded in the dainty tag, so I used an eyelet instead and placed the die-cut bow from the Santa's Train die set underneath. At the bottom of the card, I lined up In Color opal rounds. I liked having Mrs. Claus' cape hanging off the side of the card, so I made an oversize envelope (4½" x 5½") to accommodate for the overhang.

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies (Unless Otherwise Noted)
Stamps: Anges de paix
Cardstock: Mint Macaron, Basic White, Granny Apple Green
Designer Series Paper: Santa Express
Ink: Shaded Spruce Stampin' Write Marker
Dies: Santa's Train, Stitched So Sweetly; Lacy Borders (Lawn Fawn)
Do-It-All Gift Tag, Wonky Stitched Rectangle STAX (My Favorite Things)
Accessories: Stampin' Dimensionals, Eyelets, 2021-2023 In Color Opal Rounds,
Envelope Punch Board

 

Mrs. Claus' Kitchen

Inspiration: Freshly Made Sketch #565

I thought the Let's Bake dies from Elizabeth Craft Designs could pair nicely with the Baking Spirits Bright collection from Simple Stories, so I started assembling the cooking lady using cardstock in colors that matched the collection. It should be noted that this die set does not include the face part, so you do need to have another matching die set in order to have a complete character. Here, I used the Mrs. Claus die set as well to complete her. She's holding her cookie sheet a little awkwardly so I'm wondering if I picked the right set of arms, since there's a few arm positions to choose from in the set. The little oven mittens are definitely a cute detail, though.

There was this cut-apart image from the paper that reads "Mrs. Claus' Kitchen in a frame, which was perfect for her and for the Freshly Made Sketch, so I added patterned paper at the bottom and matted the side with red cardstock. I've started using the Color Vibe cardstock when using the Simple Stories paper to make color matching easier. I stamped my sentiment on a strip of Mint cardstock using the Joyeux Noël set from Spellbinders and I used the Treasured Tags Pick a Punch to punch the end. I used enamel dots and decorative brads to add details to the images and a little fussy cut cookie at the top, on the edge of the ricrac border.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Joyeux Noël (Spellbinders)
Cardstock: Petal Pink (Stampin' Up!); Metallic Kraft-stock (Tim Holtz for Idea-ology);
Mint, Red, White, Pear, Black Color Vibe (Simple Stories)
Patterned Papers, Sticker Book, Decorative Brads, Enamel Dots: Baking Spirits Bright (Simple Stories)
Ink: Mossy Meadow (Stampin' Up!)
Dies: Mrs. Claus, Let's Bake (Elizabeth Craft Designs)
Accessories: Stampin' Dimensioinals, Envelope Punch Board, Treasured Tags
Pick a Punch (Stampin' Up!); Markers (Copic); Deckle Trimmer (Tim Holtz for Tonic)

 

Santa Express

A little something simple inspired by the Santa Express Designer Series paper. I cut the wagon and train images with the matching dies, used the background scene paper and added a strip of green paper at the top. On the Petal Pink card base, I stamped the stars in matching ink.

The sentiment was stamped in Evening Evergreen ink on Mint Macaron cardstock and die-cut using the Stitched Shapes dies. I dug out the retired Santa's Workshop enamel shapes to add a bow to the top of the circle, little green dots to the train and "smoke" coming out of the engine. At the bottom, I used a sparkly white ribbon (now retired). A mini white pompom was added to Santa's hat.

A matching envelope was made out of patterned paper and topped with a shape from the Stitched So Sweetly die set.

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies (unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Wagon de cadeaux
Cardstock: Petal Pink, Mint Macaron, Granny Apple Green, Basic White
Designer Series Paper: Santa Express
Ink: Petal Pink, Evening Evergreen
Dies: Stitched So Sweetly, Stitched Shapes, Santa's Train
Accessories: Santa's Workshop Enamel Shapes, White Sparkly Ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals,
Envelope Punch Board; Black and White Mini Pompoms (Queen & Co)

 

Smiley Santa

Inspiration: The Paper Players #620

The Santa Express suite was the first thing that jumped out at me when I leafed through the new Holidays minicatalogue. I have a sweet spot for train and I love retro-inspired Christmas collections and unusual colour schemes, so it was love at first sight for this suite. I got most of the items, including the Memories & More card pack. One of the 4" X 6" card from this pack became the starting point for this project.

I matted the card with Petal Pink cardstock, punched the bottom with a Round Binding Edge punch, embossed it with the Wintry embossing folder and inked the edges for better definition. I die-cut a pine branch using the Decorated Pine dies and sandwiched it between the two layers. I stamped the little stars and dots from the Decorated with Happiness stamp set in Crumb Cake ink to add to the Santa card's background, and I sprinkled a few Polished Dots in there as well.

The wooden hohoho came from the card pack as well. It doesn't have any colour in the pack (light wood veneer) but I covered it with VersaMark and used the Emerald Envy glitter embossing powder (from many minicatalogues ago) to colour the die-cut. In the back, I tied a bow of Smoky Slate textured ribbon (also retired). That made the card a little bulky, so I handmade a matching envelope out of patterned paper and I made it slightly larger to accommodate the bow.

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies (unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Fêtes branchées
Cardstock: Petal Pink, Shaded Spruce
Designer Series Paper: Santa Express
Ink: VersaMark, Petal Pink
Accessories: Emerald Envy Glitter Embossing Powder, Sponge Daubers, Wintry 3D Embossing Folders,
Decorated Pine Dies, Santa Express Memories & More Card Pack, Polished Dots,
Smoky Slate Textured Ribbon, Envelope Punch Board, 
Round Binding Edge Punch (EK Tools)

 

Winston All Bundled Up

Inspiration: Hand Stamped Sentiments #403 (snowman from mood board)

Winston is one of my favorite snowman dies out there and he was on my wish list when Tim released his new dies... until I saw the price. That gave me pause. I was lucky to find him on sale recently, so this is my first time putting him together. I basically just went through my paper scraps and assembled him. I'm happy to report that he is one of the easiest Colorize die-cuts I've put together so far.

Then I was so enamored with the result that I wanted to turn him into a card. I went back to look into my scrap drawers and it turns out that I recently pulled apart some My Mind's Eye 6" x 6" pad, thinking I might have better luck using the paper if it was filed by colours rather than as a full collection and it seems my theory was right, because I found all of the colours I needed to reproduce the Color Throwdown combo, pairing different papers together.

Another recent acquisition is the gorgeous Crest stencil that Tim Holtz just released this week. I love that it looks like a fancy flourish or wallpaper and I think it will class up a lot of my projects. Here, it was paired with the Champagne Stardust Butter, which I couldn't wait to try, and this product does not disappoint. The shimmer is beautiful without being overwhelming, the consistency is great and not too runny and the gold is a nice antique colour that's not too brassy. I'm really pleased with this new purchase, and how it looks on the newsprint paper.

I layered a mustard gold paper and a polka dot one, and I die-cut a Seasonal Seal out of Blue Obsidian mirror cardstock from Tonic. I used Old White wax from Finnabair to highlight the details. At the top, I added a sentiment die-cut out of Cobalt Blue glitter cardstock, layered over vellum. I added mini gold pearls to the scarf and red rhinestones to the berries.

To fit Winston comfortably, I made my card 4½" x 6", which means that I made my own oversized envelope out of 12" x 12" patterned paper and I repeated the Seasonal Seals on the envelope as well.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Navy (My Colors); Textured White (American Crafts); Navy, Green (Bazzill);
Blue Obsidian Mirror, Cobalt Blue Glitter (Tonic)
Patterned Papers: Assorted Scraps (My Mind's Eye, Prima Marketing, Bella Blvd.)
Ink: Antique Linen Distress (Ranger)
Dies: Winston, Colorize (Tim Holtz for Sizzix); Seasonal Seals Switchlits (Sizzix); Stitched Mini Scallop 
Square STAX (My Favorite Things); Falalalala (Paper Rose)
Accessories: Sponge Dauber, Stampin' Dimensionals, Envelope Punch Board,
Metallic Pearls (Stampin' Up!); Champagne Stardust Butter (The Crafters Workshop);
Crest Stencil (Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous); Old White Wax (Finnabair)

 

Santa Gnome

Inspiration: October 2022 Card Maps Sketch + The Paper Players #620

I wanted to put together the cute Holiday Gnome die-cut, so I picked a paper collection to match it with and I pulled out Sugarplum from My Mind's Eye (2016). This is a really quick and easy assembly. I used white velvet paper for the pompom and the hat trim, for a bit of texture.

I then turned to the Card Map sketches for inspiration. I used a 5¼" x 5¼" white card base, but I ended up glittering the edges with the antique gold glitter I have in my Recollections Halloween assorted glitter set. I put double-sided tape on all four sides of the card and burnished the glitter into it. I figured if I didn't like the look, I could just use another card base, but it actually worked out very nicely!

The Ho Ho Ho was die-cut out of glimmer paper and staggered a little bit to add dimension to the design. I used gold striped washi paper between the two papers and a little poinsettia image that was fussy cut from the patterned paper. The snowflake was die-cut using the Sparkly Snowflakes dies and I added another fussy cut snowflake topped with a pearl in the center.

The tree felt a little bare, so I added small metallic pearls from Stampin' Up! to it. I added fussy cut images to the inside of the card and the envelope as well.

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Basic Grey, Poppy Parade, Basic White, Soft Suede, Pear Pizzazz, Soft Sky,
White Velvet Sheets, Champagne Glimmer Paper (Stampin' Up!); 
Square Card Bases and Envelopes (Docrafts)
Patterned Papers: Sugar Plum (My Mind's Eye)
Dies: Ho Ho Ho (Creative Expressions); Sparkly Snowflakes (Crafter's Companion);
Holiday Gnome (Echo Park)
Accessories: Washi Tape (Unknown Source); Arctic Breeze Pearls (Studio Katia);
Halloween Assorted Glitter Set (Recollections)

 

Holidays Boughs

Inspiration: October 2022 Card Maps Sketch + In[k]spire Me #492

The Card Maps sketches have a sketch with a row of foliage under a sentiment banner and it got me thinking that I could pull out the Deck the Halls Colorize set to create a layered banner underneath the sentiment. I prepared my die-cut pieces, using colours to match the Sugarplum paper collection. I used the whimsical #9 Borders dies to add borders to my central panel and I sprinkled a few of the little star die-cuts from the same set around the card, topped with pearls. I made a matching envelope out of patterned paper as well. 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Joyeux moments (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Blush Pink (Dress My Craft); Cotton Candy (Bazzill);
Pear Pizzazz, Old Olive, Poppy Parade, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers: Sugarplum (My Mind's Eye)
Ink: Basic Grey (Stampin' Up!)
Dies: Deck the Halls Colorize (Tim Holtz for Sizzix); #9 Borders (Photoplay);
Tasteful Labels (Stampin' Up!); Wonky Stitched Rectangle STAX (My Favorite Things);
Everyday Sentiment Banners (Lawn Fawn)
Accessories: Arctic Breeze Pearls (Studio Katia);
Envelope Punch Board (We R Memory Makers)

 

All Tied Up in a Pretty Bow

Inspiration: Color Throwdown #721 

I really like the look of the Colorize line by Tim Holtz. Some of the earlier designs were not that easy to assemble, but I've noticed that the designs have been perfected and simplified over the seasons. This bowtied is just beautiful and it is really easy to put together. It's not small, so it needs to be worked either on a larger project or take center stage on a regular card. 

I was about to finally put away the Sugar Plum paper collection, but I was curious to test out the bow over this collection's pastel patterns. I initially thought I'd select a more intricate design, but we were losing the details of the bow over it, so I ended up picking the polka dot paper. I also had this Nostalgic Season's Greetings die from Carta Bella that I found on clearance that I thought would look great, as the font and the scale both worked with my design. I used a scrap of green glitter paper to cut it out, and Pink Frosting glitter cardstock for the stars, which I topped with Fine Sparkle Gems.

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Pear Pizzazz, Pool Party (Stampin' Up!);
Green Glitter Paper (Unknown); Pink Frosting Glitter Cardstock (Tonic)
Patterned Paper: Sugar Plum (My Mind's Eye)
Dies: Bowtied Colorize (Tim Holtz for Sizzix); Nostalgic Season's Greetings (Carta Bella)
Accessories: Fine Sparkle Adhesive-Backed Gems, Stampin' Dimensionals,
Star Punches (Stampin' Up!)

 

It's a Beautiful World

Inspiration: April 2022 Page Maps Sketch + Lasting Memory Layout Challenge #627 (use three of various products)

I went back to scrapbooking tonight and made a page for the picture of my niece in front of It's a Small World. I know that this ride is polarizing - people either love it or hate, but my family falls in the "love it" category. As kids, we often visited WDW during summer, when the heat was smoldering, so a lazy boat ride in air conditioning was very welcome and since the queue was often pretty short, we've even been known to ride it twice in a row so that we could enjoy and relax. I still get amazed by the amount of details found in the various scenes and I am always happy to revisit this old favorite. It's also classic Disney, which adds to the charm.

This gave me a chance to dive into the Say Cheese Fantasy at the Park collection from Simple Stories, one of my favorites from this release with its charming colours. Most of the design is based off of products from the line. I only die-cut one of the cut-apart images with a scalloped rectangle die, threaded twine to the chipboard tag and stamped my date on a ticket, but the rest all comes from the collection.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Date Stamp (Office Supplies)
Ink: Old Olive (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers, Cardstock Stickers, Foam Stickers, Sticker Book, Decorative Brads,
Enamel Dots: Say Cheese Fantasy at the Park (Simple Stories)
Dies: Scalloped Contours (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Golden Yellow Twine (May Arts); Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!)

 

Stars, Poinsettias and Ornements

Inspiration: Tuesday Morning Sketches #686

The sketch reminded me of hanging ornaments, so I pulled out the Decorated With Happiness stamp set from Stampin' Up! and I paired it with the Warm Wishes collection from Vicki Boutin. One of the patterned paper had a branch on it, so I cut the paper to fit on a 4¼" x 8½" card base, using the Deckle Trimmer from Tim Holtz to get deckled edges.

The ornaments were stamped and embossed on watercolor paper with Platinum embossing powder, colored with inks and cut with the matching dies. They were added to the patterned paper with Mini Stampin' Dimensionals. I was planning on stamping my sentiment in a big circle, but then I realized I had the stars and heart chipboard pieces from this collection and I decided to go with an oversized star. I've recently found the Heartfelt Creations poinsettia set that lets you create 3D flowers and I had tested it on Cherry Cobbler and Evening Evergreen cardstock. It was sitting on my desktop, begging to be used, so I added the poinsettia and flourish to the star, adding Prima gems on it. I used a smaller chipboard star on the washi tape and candy dots on both ends. I stamped stars and a sentiment on the patterned paper and embossed them with Platinum powder. I die-cut little stars out of Champagne foil sheets and added them to the paper as well.

To finish, I created an envelope out of patterned paper to match.

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Fêtes branchées (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Cherry Cobbler, Evening Evergreen, Champagne Foil Sheets, Watercolor Paper (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers, Chipboard Stickers: Warm Wishes (Vicki Boutin for American Crafts)
Ink: VesaMark
Dies: Decorated Pine (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Deckle Trimmer (Tim Holtz for Tonic); Platinum Embossing Powder (Ranger);
Mini Stampin' Dimensionals, Aqua Painter Brush, Regals Candy Dots, Envelope
Punch Board (Stampin' Up!); Pretty Pale Say It With Gems (Prima Marketing)

 

Shipping Kitty to the North Pole

Inspiration: Try Stampin’ on Tuesday #585

I paired the North Pole Mischief stamp set from Stampin' Up! (current Holidays minicatalogue) with the Santa Paws papers from Photoplay. I followed the Try Stampin' on Tuesday sketch for the layout, and I colored the image with Copic markers, then fussy cut it with my paper snips to add over an embossed white circle. The sentiment was die-cut out of red glimmer paper. I tied white Scrubby Sparkle yarn at the bottom and added two clay peppermints on the left panel. I added a silver gem to the dog's collar. There's something about those little animals that just crack me up. Stampin' Up! does not do characters often, but I like when they do. It's nice departure from all of the flowers...

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: North Pole Mischief (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Cherry Cobbler, Basic White, Red Glimmer Paper (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers: Santa Paws (Photoplay)
Ink: Night of Navy (Stampin' Up!); Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Dies: Foundation 4 (Queen & Co); Layering Circles (Tonic);
Wonky Stitched Rectangle Stax (My Favorite Things); Postage Stamp (Hero Arts);
Carterie (DIY & Cie)
Accessories: Minty Mix Shaker Sprinkles (Maker's Movement);
Stampin' Dimensionals, Wintry Embossing Folder (Stampin' Up!); Markers (Copic);
Marshmallow Scrubby Sparkle Yarn (Red Heart); Silver Crystals (Studio Katia)

 

Red Skater

Inspiration: Mojo Monday #337 + Simon Says Stamp Monday (Freezing Cold Mood Board)

I was going through my patterned paper collections and realized that the Snow and the City collection had skating images that could work well with Simon Says Stamp challenge. I based my design on an old Mojo Monday sketch, and I used one of the cut-aparts for the main image. I embossed a sentiment in red sparkly powder and stenciled snowflakes using Ranger's Metallic White texture paste. The sentiment comes from Spellbinder's Joyeux Noël stamp set. I was so incredibly excited to find out that Spellbinders had issued a French stamp set! Apparently, my local store owner asked if the company would be willing to issue a French set for the Christmas classes they were giving in Canada and they agreed, so she provided them with the four sentiments you see there. This is really cool and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the set sells well enough that we see other French sets down the line.

The main image was matted with Spellbinder's glimmer foam in black and I tied black shimmery ribbon around the back panel as well. I finished the design with black gems and vintage pearls in the center of the snowflakes. I also added a tag with the same skater image to the matching red envelope.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Joyeux Noël (Spellbinders)
Cardstock: Real Red (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers: Snow and the City (Ciao Bella)
Ink: VersaMark
Dies: Wonky Stitched Rectangle Stax (My Favorite Things)
Accessories: Metallic White Texture Paste (Ranger); 
Glossy Black Gems (Pretty Pink Posh); Vintage Shimmer Pearls (Studio Katia);
Black Shimmer Ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals, Real Red Glitter Embossing Powder (Stampin' Up!);
A2 Jupiter Metallic Envelope (Envelopes.com); Falling Snowflakes Stencil (Carta Bella);
Black and White Glitter Foam Sheets (Spellbinders)

 

Wooden Nutcracker

Inspiration: Sunday Stamps #297

During his Holiday Hoopla, Tim Holtz shared how to put together his Colorize dies using his woodgrain paper. I don't have his woodgrain paper (love the look, hate the price), but I do have a more affordable wood-textured cardstock from Memory Box that I pulled out to test assembling Harvey with. I really love this idea. By getting rid of the colour component, you can die-cut everything at once and simply assemble. The only step that made this more time consuming was that I inked the edges of every single piece before gluing together. The result really is quite lovely, though.

I had started a card earlier using the Sunday Stamps colour combo and stopped mid-way because I didn't know where to go next. Decided to sit on it and revisit later, but I realized that my base looked lovely paired with Harvey. The white-embossed cardstock didn't work well with the wooden soldier, though, so I recreated the scalloped panel in two different colours of cardstock, embossing the middle one, and inking the details with a blender brush to make the details stand out more.

The sentiment was stamped in Evening Evergreen ink on Just Jade cardstock, die-cut with Cross Stitched Circle dies and matted on Evening Evergreen cardstock. I stamped a little holly image from another stamp set to fill the empty space, and I added little gems. I added one to Harvey's hat as well. I added matching ribbon and was happy with this revisited card.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Moments lumineux, Enveloppé d'amour (Stampin' Up!);
Perfect Plaids (Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous)
Cardstock: White Woodgrain (Memory Box); Cherry Cobbler, Just Jade,
Evening Evergreen, Sweet Sorbet (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Just Jade, Evening Evergreen, Sweet Sorbet, Cherry Cobbler (Stampin' Up!);
Pumice Stone Distress Oxide (Ranger)
Dies: Harvey (Tim Holtz for Sizzix); Cross Stitched Circle Stackables (Lawn Fawn);
Scalloped Contours (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Fine Sparkle Adhesive-Backed Gems, Stampin' Dimensionals,
Blender Brushes, Evening Evergreen Ribbon (Stampin' Up!); A2 Envelope (The Paper Cut);
Ski Lodge Embossing Folder (Spellbinders)

 

Hanging Ornaments

Inspiration: Mojo Monday #30 + MFT Color Challenge #201

As I was looking at my MFT stamps for their weekly sketch challenge, I pulled out Christmas sELFies, as I thought it would pair well with the Sugar Plum papers. I stamped the upside down elf and embossed the image in Platinum embossing powder, then I used my Albrecht Dürer watercolor pencils to color the image. The watercolored image worked well with the soft colours of the papers.

For the design, I drew inspiration from a very old Mojo Monday sketch. The sentiment tag was created with a ticket punch, and it reads "Wrapped With Love." I added Fine Sparkly Gems to mirror the sketch.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Christmas sELFies (My Favorite Things); Enveloppé d'amour (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Cotton Candy (Bazzill); Watercolour Paper (Fabriano);
Pear Pizzazz (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: VersaMark, Mossy Meadow (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers: Sugar Plum (My Mind's Eye)
Dies: Square Nestabilities (Spellbinders); Labels Collection (Stampin' Up!);
Outside In Stitched Rectangle Stackables (Lawn Fawn)
Accessories: Ticket Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals, Fine Sparkle Adhesive Backed Gems,
Calypso Coral Glimmer Ribbon, Envelope Punch Board (Stampin' Up!);
Albrech Dürer Watercolor Pencils (Faber-Castell); Platinum Embossing Powder (Ranger)

 

Sketchy Poinsettia

Inspiration: October 2022 Card Maps Sketch + Just Us Girls #658 (Make a matching envelope)

I kept going on the Card Maps sketches and the Sugar Plum papers and this time, I pulled out the Seasonal Sketch dies from Tim Holtz, which were perfect to do the poinsettia from the sketch. Since the patterned papers have champagne glitter on them, I used matching glimmer paper to make the outline of the poinsettia. I created a Poppy Parade (tone on tone) layer to go behind it to make the flower fuller.

For the greenery, I used the leaves from the die set, but I also pulled out the Mini Holiday Greens dies to add filling as well. The sentiment came from the Carterie die set and it reads Merry Christmas. I added a scalloped border underneath using the Champagne glimmer paper again. I added a Candy Cane Lane crystal and a grey line around the dotted frame, which really helped make the card feel more complete.

I repeated the poinsettia on an Avocado A2 envelope.

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Pear Pizzazz, Old Olive, Poppy Parade, Thick Basic White, Soft Suede,
Champagne Glimmer Paper (Stampin' Up!); Blush Pink (Dress My Craft)
Patterned Papers: Sugar Plum (My Mind's Eye)
Dies: Seasonal Sketch, Mini Holiday Greens (Tim Holtz for Sizzix); 
Dotted Rectangle Stackables (Lawn Fawn); Border Dies (Photoplay);
Carterie (DIY & Cie)
Accessories: Candy Cane Lane Say It in Crystals (Prima Marketing);
Grey Pen (LePen); A2 Avocado Envelope (Envelopes.com);
Banners Pick a Punch, Mini Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!)

Ugly and Bright: Create With Us Cards

Inspiration: Create with Us Live from Lawn Fawn

I was excited to find out Lawn Fawn's next Create with Us Live would fall on a Friday evening. I was thinking it would be a great way to end the week and I was happy that it would be featuring my favorite set from the new release, Ugly and Bright, which I had not used since purchasing. I ended up having quite the hectic day at work, so I hastily prepared a very quick meal and then started watching the Live while eating. Which means that when I sat down at my crafting desk, I had not prepared the material for the class and I was already quite behind when I started putting ink to paper. Thankfully, it did not matter because they have a very comprehensive guide that they provide to follow along, so I was able to work in a different order and still craft along with Jen and Kelly. It was great to finish my week crafting when I would have otherwise crashed and burned on the couch after a very long and demanding day at work.

I knew if I was to make those samples that I would have to think outside the box, as both were designed around large English sentiments, which I would be trying to change for French ones. The first card was not so bad as it was using alphabet dies, so I knew I would make my own French word. When looking through stamps, I found a sentiment that reads, "Being together is the best gift," which post-pandemic is a very meaningful sentiment, so I hid the last word, inked the stamp in black and I created the French word for gift using Oliver's Stitched ABCs. I colored white cardstock with two shades of pink Copic markers before doing the die-cutting to make my life easier.

As you can see, the word ended up being a really tight fit on the card, barely making it on the card front. Jen's original had aqua letters, which were really pretty, but I went with pink because my background was already aqua. Hers was using a stencil set that I don't own, so I used a snowflake stencil with Coastal Cabana ink and I layered a different stencil over it, using Nuvo's Moonstone glitter paste for this second layer. Because my sentiment was not going across the full width like on the original, the card felt a little bare in the middle, so I went back with the snowflake stencil and added a couple more and it really elevated the card. The critters are done pretty much how the original was showing it. I did add chunky glitter on the letters, but I used the Stampin' Up! one (long retired), which I like because it is clear with no pink, green or orange highlight.

The second card ended up more challenging. I had made my stenciled background while my supplies were out, covering the whole panel with the snowflakes and Moonstone paste. I don't have any of the Giant sentiments sold by Lawn Fawn since they're all in English and I went through my French sentiments, to find out none of them are super big. The closest I could find was the Joyeux Noël dies from Stampin' Up!, but the card still felt quite bare with the words on it. I was thinking about maybe adding patterned paper at the bottom or even scrapping this specific design altogether, but then I remembered that there's an additional sentiment banner at the bottom, and when I added the Coastal Cabana banner, the card already felt more balanced.

To create the die-cut sentiment, I inked cardstock with a blender brush and Saltwater Taffy and Candied Apple Distress Oxide inks, then I sprayed the cardstock with Pearl Glimmer Mist from Tattered Angels. I die-cut the words again out of Basic Grey cardstock and I loved how the shadow really made the words stand out better against the background. I also added some Marshmallow Scrubby Sparkle yarn, just because I'm still excited over this recent find, and then I placed the images similarly to the original sample, moving the reindeer down to fit with the width of my words better. 

It's always interesting when you try to follow along with a class, but use what you have on hand. It definitely becomes more about picking the parts of the project which you love the most and fitting them in a redesigned project. I'm glad those worked out - for a second there, I was considering using my leftover part to decorate a matching envelope for the first card because I was not liking where my second card was headed...

TIP: You will notice how I used the Santa sweater die-cut image as is on the fox and how it cover its chin. There's no way around it if you use the die-cut as is and want to fit it properly over the shoulders. But if you run your scissors along the edge of the stamped sweater at the top (as I did for all other three images), you can see we now see the neck and the result is nicer. I know that one design member was showing in one of the videos how she uses her markers to color the white part and a black pen to fill in the lines, but that looks like a lot of trouble when snipping the excess cardstock is faster and produces a nice result. 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Ugly and Bright (Lawn Fawn); Joyeux moments, Nombreux joyeux messages (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Coastal Cabana, Basic Grey (Stampin' Up!); Solar White (Neenah);
Blush Pink (Dress My Craft)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento); Coastal Cabana (Stampin' Up!);
Saltwater Taffy, Candied Apple Distress Oxide (Ranger)
Dies: Ugly and Bright, Outside In Stitched Rectangles, Oliver's Stitched ABCs,
Everyday Sentiment Banners (Lawn Fawn); Joyeux Noël (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Blender Brushes (Taylored Expressions); Moonstone Glitter Paste (Nuvo);
Falling Snowflakes Stencil (Carta Bella); Jack Frost Stencil (Echo Park)
Markers (Copic); Clear Chunky Glitter, Stampin' Dimensionals,
Dazzling Diamonds Glitter (Stampin' Up!); Marshmallow Scrubby Sparkle Yarn (Red Heart)

 

Pool Day

Inspiration: MFT sketch #618 + CAS Colours & Sketches #494

I don't do a lot of Clean and Simple cards, but when I spotted the Cool Pool rotating stencil on my desk, I realized it would work great with this week's MFT sketch. I stenciled the image in Mint Macaron ink, then I moved the stencil and used Transparent Gloss paste over it.

While the paste was drying, I stamped and colored the images from the Fun in the Sun set with Stampin' Blends markers. I don't have matching dies, so I fussy cut the images and popped them on dimensional foam. At the top, I stamped a sentiment that reads, "Sending lots of hugs" in Pear Pizzazz ink. I auditioned a few gems to possibly add under the sentiment, but it was distracting rather than adding to the design, so I left it as is. This is as simple of a card as I've ever made, but I think the glossy paste really adds a fun element to it.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Fun in the Sun (My Favorite Things); Collage tropical (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Thick Whisper White (Stampin' Up!); Solar White (Neenah)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento); Pear Pizzazz, Mint Macaron (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Cool Pool Rotating Stencil (Taylored Expressions); 
Transparent Gloss Paste (Ranger); Stampin' Blends, Stampin' Dimensionals,
White Medium Envelope (Stampin' Up!)