Encre, papier, ciseaux

Snowman Selfie

Inspiration: Simon Says Stamp Wednesday (Party Time)

I decided to pair the Christmas sELFies stamp set with the Snow Day papers from Crate Paper (an older collection) for something colorful. The image was colored with Copic markers and I added a few sparkly details using Nuvo glitter markers. I created a tag out of the yellow polka dot paper and I added vanilla sequins on the polka dots for texture. I made an oversize reinforcer for the hole of the tag using a 1" circle punch and I threaded Pear Pizzazz chevron ribbon, tying it in place with thick baker's twine.

For the sentiment, I found "Be merry this season" in a current stamp set, so I embossed it in Aqua Tinsel embossing powder on patterned paper, dit-cut with the Layering Ovals and matted it with Lovely Lipstick foil paper (from last Spring's SAB offering) with a scalloped oval. The card background was die-cut using the Confetti Card dies from Concord & 9th. Because my card had a lot of layers and the ribbon overlapping at the top, I chose to make an oversize envelope for it. It happens that I had purchased both some 12" x 12" paper and the 6" x 6" pad as well, so I was able to find a leftover piece of the larger paper to make a matching envelope.

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Christmas sELFies (My Favorite Things); Fêtes étincelantes (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Berry Burst, Whisper White, Lovely Lipstick Foil Paper (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers: Snow Day (Crate Paper)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento); VersaMark
Accessories: Layering Ovals Dies, Stampin' DImensionals, Scalloped Border Punch,
Circle Punches, Pear Pizzazz Chevron Ribbon, Coastal Cabana Thick Baker's Twine,
Envelope Punch Board (Stampin' Up!); Wonky Stitched Rectangles Dies (My Favorite Things);
Markers (Copic); Aqua Tinsel Embossing Powder (Ranger); Confetti Card Dies (Concord & 9th);
Glitter Markers, Glitter Gloss Aqua Shimmer Brush (Nuvo); Snow Day Border Stickers (Crate Paper);
Vanilla Cream Sequin Mix (Little Things from Lucy's Cards)

 

Happy Mail

Inspiration: Freshly Made Sketch #416

I've purchased the Happy Mailbox Cubbies stamp set a little while ago but hadn't made a project with it yet. I finally took the plunge today, pairing it with some older Authentique patterned papers. I embossed the mailbox image with gold powder and watercolored it using inks and my Starry Gansai Tambi watercolor set. The fun part of this stamp set is that the matching dies included with it die-but slits and opening doors on all of the mailboxes. You can then stamp and color the additional parcels and envelopes images and tuck them in there where you please. It makes for such a cute little scene. I went with something Christmasy here, but this would work well all year long.

Because the focal point was the mailbox row, the rest of the card is fairly simple. I did add Distress Grit-Paste at the bottom using the Snowcap layering stencil and I sprinkled Distress Mica Flakes on the wet paste. I also added a very thin border of Golden Crystal glimmer paste around the largest piece of patterned paper and a piece of gold satin ribbon. The card was a bit bulky, so I made an oversize envelope using patterned paper from the same collection and I added a postage stamp die-cut for the address block.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Happy Mailbox Cubbies (Art Impressions)
Cardstock: Thick Very Vanilla (Stampin' Up!); Watercolor Paper (Fabriano)
Patterned Paper: Peaceful (Authentique)
Ink: VersaMark; Real Red, Granny Apple Green, Soft Suede, Crumb Cake Classic Ink (Stampin' Up!);
Frayed Burlap Distress Oxide (Ranger)
Accessories: Golden Crystal Glimmer Paste (Nuvo); Aquapainter Brush, Stampin' Dimensionals,
Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder, Palette Knife, Envelope Punch Board, Gold Satin Ribbon (Stampin' Up!);
Distress Mica Flakes, Distress Grit-Paste (Ranger); Snowcap Layering Stencil (Tim Holtz);
Postage Stamp Dies (Hero Arts); Dotted Rectangle Stackables Dies (Lawn Fawn);
Starry Colors Watercolors (Gansai Tambi)

 

Not So Basic Mittens

Inspiration: Little Red Wagon #528 (Any winter holiday)

After spotting the Plush Frosty Mitten die in my stash, I decided to put it to use to make something for this Christmas season. Initially, I was thinking of using the felt I had found at the dollar store recently, but I realized I had already made felt mittens before and it might be more fun to see how it'd look out of patterned paper. I found some old Basic Grey holidays paper leftovers and I put together the turquoise mitten. 

Initially, when I cut the mitten pieces, I was planning on having the pattern on both sides of the mitten. I soon found out that you have to remember to turn the paper around before die-cutting the second mitten side so that the fingers line up when you put the pattern on the outside! Rookie mistake... Usually, I would have corrected with another piece, but because I was working with leftovers, that wasn't a option, so I used the aqua side and I added a die-cut snowflake to decorate the front of the mitten instead. I added a pompom from the pack that was also part of my dollar store run. The fun sparkly thread is another recent find from the craft store. It's DMC Étoile thread. I like that it has shine without being as stick as Kreinik thread is. I purchased it to use in my cross stitching projects, but it became a perfect option to stitch the mittens. I used some tinsel trim to make a loop and added buttons as well. (I used my glue gun to add the pompom and the button.) I had found some peppermint candy canes at the dollar store, so I slipped one inside. I discovered that the paper mittens are stiffer than the felt version so that don't open up as much and therefore cannot contain as much. My idea to slip if candy inside along with the candy cane sort of fell by the wayside. I did like the result so much, though, that I decided I wanted to make some more to share at the office. I made seven more, each one different, going through the rest of my Holidays Basic Grey papers (and reminiscing all the while about the Basic Grey glory days). Because my additional mittens were not solid, I switched the snowflake on them to a more substantial version so that it would show up better and I used bigger pompoms to keep the proportions right.

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Red Metallic Foil (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers: Basic Grey
Dies: Plush Frosty Mitten (Memory Box); Snow Crystals (KaiserCraft);
Christmas Day Snow (Echo Park)
Thread: DMC Étoile
Accessories: Buttons (Autumn Leaves); Pompoms, Candy Canes (Dollar Store);
Tinsel Trim (Stampin' Up!)

 

Toile Greetings

Inspiration: CAS(E) This Sketch #352

I was intrigued by the CAS(E) sketch this week as it's different from what we usually work with so I decided to give it a go using patterned papers to see how it would turn out. I reached for the Toile Tidings Designer Series Paper again and I love the look of the mixed patterns. For the top stripes, I used cardstock, with a sentiment embossed in gold, and a piece of matching ribbon underneath.

I made two cards at once and they are slightly different because the first one was my sample and the sentiment was stamped a little too close to the left edge, which left a lot of open space to fill at the other end. I used a ribbon bow to solve that problem. On the second card, I spaced my sentiment better and I was then able to put the bow following the angle of the ribbon and the space was still filled nicely. I think I like the second one better, but it's fun to see two versions of a same concept. 

Sentiment reads, "May this festive season be filled with memorable moments and wonderful memories."

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Ce que j'aime de Noël (Greatest Part of Christmas)
Cardstock: Thick Very Vanilla, Real Red
Designer Series Paper: Toile Tidings
Ink: VersaMark
Accessories: Toile Tidings Glitter Enamel Dots, Very Vanilla Medium Envelopes,
Garden Green 3/8" Double-Stitched Ribbon, Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder

 

Winter Shaker

Inspiration: Fab Friday #179 + Inspired By #103 

I realized the Fab Friday sketch would make a great shaker card, and that it would look cool filled with the Snowflake sequins from the Holidays catalogue. I pulled out the Feels Like Frost Specialty Designer Series Paper, which never disappoint. I created a frame using stitched rectangles dies, and I stamped the biggest sentiment from the Greatest Part of Christmas stamp set on the winter scenery paper, in NIght of Navy ink. (I love this hostess set - this is the fifth project I use it on this week!) I added a punched ornament in the top right corner, also punched out of patterned paper from the same pack, and I added a bit of ink with a sponge dauber to give it shape. I topped it with a stamped image colored with Stampin' Blends markers, from the Free Skate stamp set. The ornament still felt a little bare, though, so I found a snowflake that was the perfect size in the Seasonal Layers dies set. I used Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer paper to die-cut the snowflake.

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Ce que j'aime à Noël (Greatest Part of Christmas)
Cardstock: Night of Navy, Whisper White
Specialty Designer Series Paper: Feels LIke Frost
Ink: Tuxedo Black Memento; Night of Navy, Purple Posy Classic Inc
Accessories: Seasonal Layers Dies, Gleaming Ornaments Punch Pack,
Mini Stampin' Dimensionals, Sponge Daubers, White Medium Envelope,
Stampin' Blends Markers, Detailed Skate Dies, Snowflake Sequins, 
Foam Adhesive Strips, Window Sheet, Stitched Rectangle Dies

 

Christmas Wishes

Inspiration: Global Design Project #220 + TGIF #243 (Use Your Favorite)

My most favorite suite from the Holidays catalogue is the Brightly Gleaming suite. I rarely purchase every single item from a suite, but this time, I did use the collecton code and ordered it all. I love the colors, the copper accents, the elegant patterns. As for the stamps, I recently acquired the Greatest Part of Christmas hostess set and I love the variety of sentiments in there - various fonts, various sizes and great sentiment options. I'm having fun incorporating them in my projects.

The design was based on the inspiration project shared on the Global Design Project page. I picked the largest sentiment from the hostess stamp set and embossed it in Copper powder on one of the neutral sheets of patterned paper, then I used the Stitched Nested Labels dies to die-cut it out, and I decided to mat it with a size larger using Pretty Peacock cardstock. The metallic border at the bottom of the sample card was recreated with a piece of the printed ribbon from the same suite. 

The top of the tag felt very empty, so I pulled out the Brightly Gleaming foil elements and added a bauble. It was getting lost against the background, though, so I had the idea to punch a circle out of a piece of Night of Navy cardstock, which made it stand out more asnd allowed me a way to pop the bauble on dimensionals without it showing. I was trying to figure out how to glue the copper piece without glue oozing out and I realized I could completely fill the whole circle with the Shimmery Crystal Effects and then layering the copper element on top. This in turn added dimension, gloss and shimmer to my ornament and made it really pretty. The tag still felt too bare, so I remembered the copper stars and added a couple. 

I used the ornament punches from the suite to decorate my envelope, adding one of the copper twigs as well. 

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Ce que j'aime à Noël (Greatest Part of Christmas)
Cardstock: Thick Very Vanilla, Pretty Peacock
Specialty Designer Series Paper: Brightly Gleaming
Ink: VersaMark
Accessories: Brightly Gleaming Foil Elements, Stitched Nested Labels Dies,
Very Vanilla Medium Envelope, Star Designer Elements, 1/2" Classic Weave Ribbon,
Stampin' Dimensionals, Shimmery Crystal Effects, Copper Stampin' Emboss Powder

 

Christmas Lights

Inspiration: MFT Colour Challenge #131 + Little Red Wagon #528 (Any winter holiday)

I'm in need of more Stampin' Up! Christmas cards to send out so I looked through my current stamps and decided to make something with the Making Christmas Bright stamp set. The colorful combo from the MFT challenge seemed like a good match to make something festive and fun.

I used the Buffalo Check background stamp on Poppy Parade cardstock and ran the stamped cardstock through the Big Shot using the Subtle 3D embossing folder to add texture. It was a good step to add because the resulting plaid looks like fabric.

The various light bulbs from the stamp set were stamped in the challenge's colors and punched out with the matching punch. I also added the little tops in green cardstock.

I was looking through my current dies to find a border die I could use and I pulled out the Stitched Lace die, which I haven't used much yet since buying it. I used the border die to create a border the right size to my main panel and I layered the white die-cut lace underneath. For the sentiment, I die-cut the word Noël out of silver glimmer paper, using the Joyeux Noel dies.

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Illuminez les Fêtes (Making Christmas Bright), Buffalo Check
Cardstock: Whisper White, Smoky Slate, Poppy Parade, Granny Apple Green, Coastal Cabana
Ink: Smoky Slate, Poppy Parade, Granny Apple Green, Coastal Cabana
Accessories: Stitched Lace Dies, Joyeux Noël Dies, Silver Glimmer Paper,
White Medium Envelope, Mini Stampin' Dimensionals,
Clear Wink of Stella Brush, Subtle 3D Embossing Folder

 

Holiday Haul

Inspiration: Fab Friday #178 + MFT Sketch #467

I took advantage of the day of free shipping offered by Stampin' Up! to get a few last supplies from the Holidays catalogue as well as some new goodies from the upcoming minicatalogue and SAB promotion. I have had my eye on the two Holidays catalogue hostess sets, which were not available during preorder, so I was finally able to get my own sets. I'm still cranking out a few last-minute Christmas cards as I ran out of Stampin' Up! cards to send to my team. The first thing I grabbed from the order to stamp with was the Holiday Haul stamp set.

I thought the Fab Friday colour combo would pair great with it. It's funny, it reminds me of a colour combo I used quite a few times in demos back when Stampin' Up! had done one of its big colour overhaul. Back then, I was combining Bravo Burgundy, Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery and Always Artichoke. Four retired colours and now I'm using four new shades, with a very similar result. There is something about this darker combination that has a classic retro vibe that I like.

As for the sketch, I used the MFT sketch with the four circles. I punched four 1-3/4" circles out of scrap paper and placed them with temporary adhesive on my cardstock to line them up properly, and then I punched them out. I ran the cardstock through the Big Shot using the Hammered Metal 3D embossing folder for texture. The card base was stamped with the stars from the Holidays Haul stamp set and I decided I also wanted texture on the Mossy Meadow cardstock showing through the punched windows, so I used the brand-new Stone 3D embossing folder. (Keep an eye out for this one during 2020 SAle-A-Bration. It's part of a Level 2 set with matching stamps.)

I then started stamping my images and I fussy cut the images out. I had initially placed the reindeer in the fourth window, but this one was looking a little empty, so I decided there was room for a sentiment in there as well. I went looking and realized the second hostess set from the Holidays catalogue was full of sentiments that could work. My initial thought was to stamp a short sentiment and cut it out in word blocks, but then I realized one of the sentiment would work very well in a circle. The first one I used was too big - I realized when I punched it out that it was only fitting in the same size circle punch and I tested it on the card and didn't like the look. I picked another sentiment that was slightly smaller and that looks way better. I sized down to the 1-1/2" Circle punch and now that we see the dark green around the sentiment, the design is more balanced. I didn't want to lose the cute reindeer, so I had him jump between the two panels.

To embellish slightly, I added a piece of Seaside Spray metallic ribbon (one of my favorites we've ever carried) and I added gold metallic pearls to the wheels. I wonder how much I'll use that stamp set. It was one of those sets that I loved on sight, but also had a feeling I would have trouble using. I was happy to find out the images are easy to handcut, which should help, but we'll see how many designs this inspires. This one is about to retire in a few weeks, so I think that will impact how much I use it. There are non-Christmas images in the set, though (pumpkins, hearts, balloon) so I might try to make a few generic cards with it before I move on to the Spring and SAB stuff.

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Holiday Haul, Ce que j'aime à Noël
Cardstock: Merry Merlot, Seaside Spray, Pear Pizzazz, Mossy Meadow, Whisper White
Ink: Merry Merlot, Seaside Spray, Pear Pizzazz, Mossy Meadow
Accessories: Metallic Pearls, Seaside Spray Metallic Ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals,
White Medium Envelope, 1-3/4" and 1-1/2" Circle Punches, Stone 3D Embossing Folder,
Hammered Metal 3D Embossing Folder

 

Snow Much Fun... with the New Doodlebug Line

Inspiration: Just Us Girls #516 (Anything Goes) + sketch from S&CT Winter 2019 Magazine (page 30)

I was reading the latest S&CT magazine and a sketch caught me eye and immediately sparked inspiration. I pulled out the new Winter Wonderland papers from Doodlebug, which I hadn't had a chance to do anything with yet, and the little snowman from the sketch reminded me of the Snow Fun stamp set from Avery Elle. Ironically, while I have yet to ink the four other snowmen from the stamp set, they are smaller and the scale was wrong so I reverted to using the same snowman I had already used before. I was in the mood to try something different so I embossed my image in silver powder on watercolor paper and pulled out my Gansai Tambi watercolors. What the picture does not pick up is that I used the pearlescent watercolor to make my snowman's body glisten. I started with shading in blue and rosy cheeks, let this part dry while I was coloring his scarf and hat, and then I went back and added the pearlescent layer. I like how this little detail brings him to life.

I initially thought I would dig into my old Bigz dies for a large snowflake, but I remembered I had stylized snowflake dies from KaiserCraft that might work, which is what I ended up using, with Dazzling Diamonds glimmer paper. I wanted to add a piece of die-cut rickrack between the two papers, but I couldn't find my rickrack die where it should usually be placed, so I moved on to another idea. I found some mini striped purple ribbon in my stash that was the perfect color and width, and I made my own little dainty bow using a few mini glue dots. I had the glitter sprinkles from this collection, so I added a few to the card.

For the sentiment, I die-cut a banner using the Simple Wavy Banners dies from Lawn Fawn and I curved a sentiment stamp from the same Avery Elle set to stamp in Blueberry Bushel ink on Soft Sky cardstock. I added a little bird from the same kit that was also embossed and watercolored.

The card base was made from a 12 x 12 pink cardstock I picked up at my local store (no name on it, so I'm not even sure what the brand and color is). It's a coincidence that it matches the Doodlebug line. Both were purchased at the same time, but I was looking to fill a hole I've noticed in my cardstock collection. I mostly use Stampin' Up! cardstock for the majority of my projects (current and retired) since I have all the inks and find you get a really nice quality and quantity for a reasonable price. That being said, I've noticed recently that every time I have to pair patterned papers with a bright, bubblegum pink, my cardstock collections falls a little short. If you have any suggestion to make (in 8-1/2" X 11"), please let me know. Looking at pictures online can be so deceiving. 

This card will be going out to the staff of my local scrapbook store. The owner has been raving about the Winter Wonderland as being her favorite winter paper line ever (and I know she LOVES purple, which probably explains in part why she was so taken with this collection), so I hope she'll appreciate receiving a card made with it. I need to pop this in the mail tomorrow as I'm cutting it close. I've already mailed all of my other Christmas cards over a week ago, but I wanted to make a new one using this new line specifically.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Snow Fun (Avery Elle)
Cardstock: Smoky Slate, Soft Sky (Stampin' Up!); Pink (unknown); Watercolor Paper (Fabriano)
Patterned Papers: Winter Wonderland (Doodlebug Design)
Ink: VersaMark; Blueberry Bushel Classic Ink, Soft Sky, Highland Heather (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Snow Fun Dies (Avery Elle); Snow Crystals Dies (KaiserCraft);
Watercolors (Gansai Tambi); White Square Envelope (envelopes.com);
Dazzling Diamonds Glitter Paper, Mini Stampin' DImensionals, Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder,
Gorgeous Grape Mini Stripe Ribbon (Stampin' Up!); Simple Wavy Banners Dies (Lawn Fawn);
Glitter Sprinkles Winter Assortment (Doodlebug Design); Circle Layering Dies (Tonic)

 

Advent Calendar 25th Box

Inspiration: Festive Friday #49 (Flocking + Metallic Paper + Embossing Folder)

I filled an Advent calendar with craft supplies for my niece last year and she really loved it. She not so subtly told me this year she would love to have one again. It was already in the plans, so she's been opening her little doors diligently throughout December. When I placed my preorder, I picked the flower punch as a freebie, planning to gift it to her. She loves punches and I think she was hoping to have a flower one, so this was perfect. 

I've recently received a point reward from Sephora that was packaged in a cool polka dot box, which I made sure to keep so that I could upcycle it. It was the right size for the punch, so I delicately opened the box and lined the clear window with an embossed piece of red foil paper to hide the content of the box. I also peeled back the point sticker from the window and was happy to find out it was coming off easily without leaving any glue residue behind. I placed the punch inside along with the black shredded paper I've recycled from the gift and I tied a piece of striped vanilla satin ribbon and a piece of red pompom trim around the box. To finish it off, I added a folded tag with the number 25 die-cut on it so this will be her gift for the 25th of December. (The Advent calendar was ending on the 24th.)

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Accrochés avec soin (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Thick Very Vanilla, Red Foil Paper, Black Glimmer Paper (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Paper: various scraps
Accessories: Washi Tape (Michaels); Fold-Up Tags Die-namics (My Favorite Things);
Alphanumeric Script Dies (Tim Holtz for Sizzix); Fallins Petals Embossing Folder,
Vanilla Striped Satin Ribbon, Real Red Pompom Trim (Stampin' Up!)

 

Traditional Toile

Inspiration: Try Stampin' on Tuesday #438

I need to crank out a few cards for my downline members before the end of the year, so I decided to make two of the same design, keeping things simple. I used the Greatest Part of Christmas hostess set I recently acquired and die-cut it with the Stitched Shapes dies. I used the beautiful Toile Tidings Designer Series Paper for the background and tied a piece of Garden Green double-stitched ribbon around. I was going through my dies trying to figure out what the rounded piece from the sketch could be on my card and when I spotted the Flourish dies, I decided the flourish would look nice. I also purchased the Toile Tidings glitter enamel dots on my latest order, so I added a few red ones to the flourish to mimick berries. 

To decorate the interior of the card and the envelope, I fussy cut some images from the toile design and glued them in place. Those are simple, but I am happy with the elegant result achieved.

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Ce que j'aime à Noël (Greatest Part of Christmas)
Cardstock: Thick Very Vanilla, Garden Green
Designer Series PAper: Toile Tidings
Ink: Garden Green
Accessories: Flourish Dies, Stampin' Dimensionals, Stitched Shapes Dies,
Toile Tidings Glitter Enamel Dots, Very Vanilla Envelopes, Stitched Rectangles Dies

 

Christmas Ride

I was really excited to get my hands on the Special Delivery Kit as I had wanted a cute pick-up truck die for a while. I've already made a pumpkin-filled truck with the backside view dies, and I was inspired to make a Christmas version with the side-view truck dies. I also realized the Pines Branches from Crate Paper's Snowflake collection would make perfect Christmas trees for the back of the pick up. They're thin, but by wrapping them with twine, they look like trees when they're wrapped for delivery - which makes sense since they are onthe pick-up truck! 

I used patterned papers that are provided in the kit, and woodgrain cardstock for the frame. I added sequins to the rims for dimension and shine and decided to put pearlescent vellum in the window. It looks awesome - it looks like frosted windows! (If you're ever lived in a cold climate, you know exactly what I mean. I remember at my old job, we had offices all across the globe and the Sweden office had windshield scrappers done with the company logo as corporate gifts, which we thought was a very clever thing to hand out to clients. Gotta live in a cold country for it to make sense, though.) 

Back to crafting, I was inspired to use the gold-foil tags that were sitting on my desk to add my sentiment. I pulled out various options, stamped them on a Stamp-a-ma-jig sheet to test them out and "Salutations hivernales" had the best look and size of the bunch. I used the Mixed Media Powder in Lime to emboss my sentiment. I recently picked up both Scarlet and Lime as they were the two colours on sale, and it it perfect for Christmas projects. I've picked a few differents brands of embossing powder with chunks in them, but so far, the Mixed Media Powders jars have been my favorite as they are still fine enough to use on stamped images without distorting the result. I also like that the result is little speckles rather than a really mottled look. It really depends on what you want to add the powder to and what your own style is. Because I'm more cutesy than mixed media grunge, to me those powders are easier to incorporate in my regular projects.

The addition of the tassel was inspired by the fact that they were out on my desk (they're from the same kit of the gold-foil tags and since I'm down to a couple of pieces, I'm leaving them out on my desk in the hope to use them and not have to find a new spot to put them away). The tag was too bare, so I went hunting for little snowflakes to add in Soft Sky ink and since the die-set includes a snowflake and the pearlescent vellum was already out, I got inspired to add one to the tag. The die set also includes a mini-bow, which I die-cut out of red to see how it looked. I tried it on the tag and hated the result, so I moved it to the tassel instead. I also tied two gold jingle bells to the top of the tassel using gold cord. Finally, I used the vanilla sequins again to sprinkle a few here and there.

As a last-minute touch, I also decided the truck was missing a side mirror. The kit comes with a little sheet that shows you which piece you need for each truck set-up and the side view is not including mirrors, but I decided mine would. I did find it looked more to my liking that way.

The card was quite bulky so I decided to forego a regular A2 envelope and create an oversized one out of patterned paper. I pulled a sheet of patterned paper in matching colours out of a Christmas stack and used my beloved Envelope Punch Board to make the envelope. I used a tag from the same paper stack for s spot for the address.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Sous le gui, Serene Snowflakes (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Soft Sky, Early Espresso (Stampin' Up!); Pearlescent Vellum (Lawn Fawn)
Woodgrain Cardstock in Neutrals (Lawn Fawn)
Patterned Papers: Vintage Truck - Sweater Weather (Queen & Co); Evergreen Cabin (Craft Smith)
Ink: VersaMark; Soft Sky Classic Ink (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Special Delivery Kit (Queen & Co); 
Stampin' Dimensionals, Tassel, Tag, Jingle Bells, Gold Cord, Envelope Punch Board,
Linen Threads (Stampin' Up!); Lime Mixed Media Powder (Ranger);
Vanilla Cream Sequin Mix (Little Things from Lucy's Cards); Pine Branches (Crate Paper);
Dotted Rectangle Stackables Dies (Lawn Fawn); Chevron Stripes Die-namics (My Favorite Things)

 

Christmas Cascade

I have been trying to find inspiration to use my Doodlebug Design stamps and when I spotted the Flippin' Awesome dies in my stash, I realized it would be a great way to use the various small images from the Christmas Magic stamp set. I looked for my matching patterned paper but it looks like it has grown legs and walked away to hide somewhere, so I pulled out the Milk & Cookies papers instead. I stamped and colored all of the images to match the papers, used the dies to cut out the images and I started putting together the individual blocks and assembling the mechanism. This card has a lot of little elements on it, so it took a while to finish. I sat down three different times at my desk before I got it done.

(Probably took longer because I was watching Christmas movies on my laptop while i was crafting. As I side note, I started streaming shows on my laptop a couple of years ago, which was a good way to catch up on TV shows I wanted to watch while crafting, even though I don't have a TV in that room. I was not liking how only certain shows are available on the channel websites and the fact that they include ads that you cannot skip was driving me up the wall. Then, recently, a technician came to my place to update my modem and he mentioned at the same time I could access all of my recordings from the Bell app and also the website. I realize this is probably old news for a lot of people, but once I realized I could access most of what I have on my recorder and even away from home, that blew my mind. LIke, a couple of weeks ago, I babysat for my niece and after they were down for the night, I was able to watch shows I had recorded at home, from my sister's living room. I also love that the ads are the actual ones from TV and that I get to skip them if I want. It's much better for my sanity, but it also cuts down on viewing time. Anyway, all that to say that I've been watching my Countdown to Christmas movies while making my Christmas cards. I think it takes me a little while longer to craft when I'm watching TV than when I just have music on in the background, though - as proven by how long this card took to finish!) 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Christmas Magic (Doodlebug Design); Voeux nombreux et joyeux (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Real Red, Pretty in PInk, Gumball Green, Lost Lagoon, Whisper White (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Paper: Milk & Cookies (Doodlebug Design)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento); VersaMark; Lost Lagoon Classic Ink (Stampin' Up!)
Dies: Flippin' Awesome, Flippin' Awesome Add-On (Lawn Fawn);
Wonky Stitched Rectangles Stax, Stitched Domes (My Favorite Things);
Christmas Magic (Doodlebug Design)
Accessories: Washi Tape (Michaels); Markers (Copic);
Golden Ochre Glitter Marker (Nuvo); July and August Crystals (Studio Katia);
Candy Carnival Shape Sprinkles (Doodlebug Design); White Gel Pen (Gelly Roll);
A2 Rose Quartz Metallic Envelope (envelopes.com);
Emerald Envy Glitter Stampin' Emboss Powder (Stampin' Up!)

 

Holiday Ornament

Inspiration: Mojo Monday #526

This card was inspired by the Mojo Monday sketch. I pulled out of the Stitched Ornaments dies from Lawn Fawn and paired them with the gorgeous Snowflake collection from Crate Paper. The big sentiment is from Stampin' Up! and I like how it filles the space when adding at an angle over the other elements. I added a few sequins and a faceted dot in the center of the ornament.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Bordering Blue, Champagne Glimmer Paper (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Paper: Snowflake (Crate Paper)
Dies: Joyeux Noël (Stampin' Up!); Stitched Ornaments, Dotted Rectangles,
Outside In Stitched Rectangles (Lawn Fawn)
Accessories: Envelope Punch Board, 2019-2021 In Color Faceted Dots,
Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!); Sequins (Little Things from Lucy's Cards)

Winter Mitten

After I found felt at my local dollar store, which you've seen me use on my Cocoa Stand card, I thought I would pull out the Plush Frosty Mitten dies from Memory Box and make some mittens with it. I wasn't feeling all that inspired until I started wondering how the die would look paired with patterned papers intead. So I went to the patterned paper I've put aside to work on upcoming projects and I found some old Basic Grey holiday collections. I selected a few scraps and die-cut the pieces I needed. I used some new DMC étoile I found at my local craft store. I really like it because it's sparkly, but much softer than metallic thread, so it made stitching much easier and faster. To make life easier for myself, I stitched the mitten first and then the cuffs separately and I used adhesive strip to add the cuffs in place.

I had initially planned on having patterns on both sides of the mittens, but I messed up when I die-cut the pieces, forgetting that I had to use the backside of the paper for the second piece, in order to have the pattern I wanted out on the outside of the mitten once I put the two pieces together. Instead of wasting paper, I used the aqua piece and decided to decorate it with a die-cut snowflake and to add a pompom in the center. I found those at the same place I found the felt, and I like them because they have metallic flecks in them (silver on the white pompoms, and the assortment also includes red and green). I used my glue gun to add the pompom, the buttons and the loop for hanging the ornament.

The initial idea for the mittens was to prepare holiday gifts for the office, with a few treats stuck in them. What I found is that the felt version will let you slip stuff inside easily. The patterned paper version - not so much. It's too stiff. I was able to slide a candy cane in, but I don't think it'd accomodate much more. That being said, it makes a cute ornament.

 

 

 

Supplies
Patterned Papers: Blitzen (Basic Grey)
Dies: Plush Frosty Mitten (Memory Box); Christmas Day Snow (Echo Park)
Buttons: Autumn Leaves
Pompoms: Dollar Store
Floss: DMC étoile (C816, C699)

 

Something Old, Something New...

No, I'm not sharing anything wedding-related today, but I did pair a very old die with some new patterned papers and Tim Holtz dies to make the cute little Christmas basket I'll be sharing today. Case in point to prove how old the basket die is: is what part of the original Big Shot flyer when Stampin' Up! added the die-cutting machine to its offering in 2008. (Wow, I didn't realize I've had my Big Shot and this die for this long before I did the math, but I remember the announcement was made at the first convention I ever attended, which is how I remember the exact year.) The reason I remembered about this die today is that Stampin' Up! announced this week that they won't be doing their Stampin' Success magazine anymore. This is a bummer since this was a staple of the company for a very long time, but people tend to get their information online nowadays so I can see how they felt that the magazine was maybe not the best medium to make information accessible anymore. Anyway, I was going through some old magazines and when I found the Stampin' Sucess, I leafed through them to reminisce. I jotted a few notes of stuff I was seeing that could spark inspiration for upcoming projects and one of those notes was to pull out the basket die again, which I hadn't used in ages. 

For patterned papers, I pulled out the Winter Wonderland paper from Heidi Swapp. I was so in love when I saw it online - and then when I got the actual pack, I was really bummed at how washed out the colors were. While I love the patterns, they're really faded in person so I wasn't sure how exciting they would turn out on project. I had planned to buy single sheets initially, and I quickly figured out that the paper pad was definitely more economical, so now I have this big stack that I'll try and use best as possible. I figured I'd pair them with the basket die. I started die-cutting the pieces for the basket and as I was putting it together, I realized that the paper are one-sided and that the inside of the basket is therefore left blank, which is a little boring. I hesitated for a moment - do I stamp the backside of the pieces? Ink them? Do I switch to another paper collection altogether?

What saved the original basket was the fact that I spotted the Deck the Halls - Colorize dies on my desk and  realized that the colors of the papers would work well with the die-cut pieces, so I got working on them. My first idea was to simply add a bow to the top of the basket handle. It looked a little empty, so I decided I would do two leaves on each side. But because we die-cut by colors, I also had the other twigs and berries, so I added those as well and then I decided the pinecones would look really cute.

I was then debating about adding a piece of fuzzy trim at the bottom of the basket, but at that point, I got curious about how adding the strings from the same die kit would look. I tried just one to start and found out it's the perfect length to go from one side of the basket to the other. I kid you not, it reaches the seam precisely. So I die-cut a few more, added the smaller bows which were already die-cut from my first pass anyway, and I picked red tinsel to add to the bottom of the basket. I was then wondering if I should do a tag or sentiment somewhere. I looked in the paper pad for something neutral to stamp on and I realized that the papers have a strip that you can cut away, but it has some patterns on it. The one I picked had a tag that said "from:" on it. I thought it would look great if I signed my name on it and then when I give the basket away, the person will know who it came from. I added a punched border to make it prettier, punched a little tree from a sheet of patterned paper and added two gold pearls, plus an extra bow at the top that I had leftover from die-cutting a green string.

Considering how uninspired I was when I started the basket, I'm really happy with where I landed. I love this die set from Tim Holtz, I think that the individual small pieces will be really easy to incorporate in various designs. I'm especially looking forward to using those strings some more!

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Bazzill, Craft Smith
Patterned Paper: Winter Wonderland (Heidi Swapp)
Dies: Basket & Blooms Bigz XL (Stampin' Up!/Sizzix)); 
Deck the Halls - Colorize (Tim Holtz for Sizzix)
Accessories: Metallic Pearls, Border Punch, Circle Punch, Stampin' DImensionals, 
Stampin' Write Marker, Red Tinsel Trim (Stampin' Up!)

 

Hot Cocoa Stand

Inspiration: Color Throwdown #568

The Color Throwdown colors this week would have made a fantastic fall card, but I was in Christmas mode and I looked for a way to make it work. I had the Cocoa Stand stamp set from Avery Elle I wanted to use and I realized the brown would work great for the wooden stand, the blue for the sky and snow and that I could probably get away with working in orange details and just a touch of green for the greenery. 

Since it was my first project using the stamps, I didn't know how much of a card front they would cover, so I started by stamping and coloring the images with Copic markers and die-cutting them to see the space I had to work with for the design.I had heard a lot of great things about the Glitter Markers from Nuvo, so I tried out a set of three from my local store. The Crushed Papaya matched my coloring perfectly, so I added a touch of shimmer with the marker to the orange part of the design. I love how it looks - gorgeous shimmer without being too much.

My first idea was to use only the stand on the card front and use the sleigh and elements for the envelope. I then changed my mind and decided to keep them on the card to create a scene. My first idea was to go horizontal, but once I overlapped the sleigh over the side of the stand, I decided to go vertical instead. To create the sky, I inked a piece of white cardstock with a mix of Stormy Sky, Faded Jeans and Chipped Sapphire Distress Oxide inks. I spritzed with water, then added speckles of diluted white gouache, and I stenciled the stars from the Sparkle layering stencil from Tim Holtz using Red Bronze metallic gilding polish from Cosmic Shimmer. It was hard to get the fine lines from the stars with a sponge, so I finished the details using a fine paintbrush. (Once I was finished, I realized I should have added the white snow afterwards so that some of it was in front of the stars, but that's really just me splitting hairs.)

Because I love the Wonky Scalloped Frames dies, I decided to frame my scene with the largest one. I also happened to stop at what I call my "fancy dollar store" on Friday (if Walmart and the Dollar Store had a baby, that'd be the result - it's really big and they have everything under the sun at very affordable prices) and I found 8½ x 11 felt sheets. I now there are different qualities of felt and not all of it die-cut nicely, but among their vast choice of colors, they had a nice steel blue that caught my attention and I decided to grab it to give it a try. Not only does it die-cut beautifully and neatly, but I also found out when I checked the receipt that they sell for 33 cents (Canadian) a sheet. That is a real steal for felt. Now, I want to go back and have a closer look at the colors they have available. It so happened that the blue felt matched my design perfectly, so I used it for my scalloped frame (and backed it with cardstock because the felt was too soft to handle while trying to glue it down, so adding the cardstock back made it easier to work with it.

Because I had so much blue on the design, I wanted my card base to be orange. It felt a little bare when I placed the design on it, so I tried embossing a piece of copper cardstock cut to 4" x 5-1/4" and embossed with the Woodgrain embossing folder. The resulting embossed piece was gorgeous but it was barely showing underneath the scalloped frame, which felt like a waste of foil paper, so I embossed a piece of 4-1/4" x 5½" Cajun Craze cardstock with the Woodgrain folder, used Soft Suede ink to highlight the embossing using a dauber and I finished it off with a soft brushing of the same red bronze gilding polish around the edges. What a difference to the card adding that texture made! 

For the envelope, I picked a Sapphire metallic envelope and simply added a piece of narrow orange washi tape. I absolutely love how this card turned out. One of my faves this season!

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Cocoa Stand (Avery Elle)
Cardstock: Cajun Craze, Bordering Blue, Whisper White (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento); Stormy Sky, Faded Jeans, Chipped Sapphire
Distress Oxide Inks (Ranger); Soft Suede Classic Ink (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Cocoa Stand Dies, Wonky Scalloped Frames Dies (Avery Elle); 
Sparkle Layering Stencil (Tim Holtz); Pinewood Planks 3D Embossing Folder,
Washi Tape, Stampin' DImensionals (Stampin' Up!); Opaque White (Copic);
Red Bronze Metallic Gilding Polish (Cosmic Shimmer); Markers (Copic);
Ember Glow Glitter Marker Set (Nuvo); A2 Sapphire Metallic Envelope (envelopes.com)

 

Nutty or Nice

Inspiration: Paper Craft Crew Card Sketch #355

This older Stampin' Up! set has been a long time favorite, and when I pulled out the Holiday Village papers from Bo Bunny, I decided they would look nice paired with the nutcracker. In recent years, Bo Bunny has taken a vintage turn with their papers and their new style does not really line up with mine, but I do have a lot of their older collections. This one has a beautiful soft feel to it and I love the non-traditional colours, with shades of soft yellow and pinks.

While looking for Christmas embellishments, I found some mica flakes and decided to glue some around the corners of my papers. I also added silver tinsel trim, wooden snowflakes and epoxy brads. I love the look of epoxy accents, but I hate the fact that they always end up yellowing. This is especially frustrating considering they are not inexpensive. You can see here that the polka dot background the snowflake have a definite yellow hue to them, but the fact that the papers are yellow helped me work around that and work them into my design.

I colored my nutcracker using my Faber-Castell watercolor pencils and for the first time, I tried regular paintbrushes with a little bucket of water, instead of waterbrushes. I wanted to see if that would produce better results. The answer is no, for now. If anything, I found it harder to control the brushstrokes, but since it was my first try, I probably shouldn't draw conclusions right away. I'll also give my brushes a try with different mediums as well to see what works better with each medium.

Finally, I used a sentiment from the same stamp set and embossed it in Melon Mambo powder on Smoky Slate cardstock. I used a cut-apart from the paper to decorate a matching metallic green envelope.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Santa Stache (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Melon Mambo, Smoky Slate (Stampin' Up!); Watercolor Paper (Fabriano)
Patterned Papers: Christmas Village (Bo Bunny)
Ink: VersaMark; Jet Black (StazOn)
Accessories: Albrecht-Dürer Watercolor Pencils (Faber-Castell); A2 Fairway Metallic Envelope (envelopes.com);
Sentiment Labels Dies (Simon Says Stamp); Wonky Stitch Rectangle Dies,
Wonky Stitch Square Dies (My Favorite Things); Wooden Snowflakes (Studio Calico);
Iridescent Flakes (Arnold Grummer's); Make It Merry Designer Brads (October Afternoon);
Silver Tinsel Trim, Melon Mambo Stampin' Emboss Powder, Stampin' Dimensionals,
Ticket Corner Punch (Stampin' Up!)

 

Critters & Cocoa

Inspiration: Try Stampin' on Tuesday #430

I had put my Tree Farm stamp set aside so that I could use it again this season and when I pulled out the For the Love of Winter papers from Photoplay, I decided it could work well with the stamp set. The images are quite big and I wanted to create a scene. Because I wasn't sure how much room it would take on the card, I stamped, colored and handcut the images first, selected a die to create the background (Hero Arts' Postage Stamps Infinity Dies) and from there, I decided I would mount the panel on a 4½" x 6" card. I had an idea of the patterned papers I wanted to use for my background, but midway through making my main panel, I got the idea to pull out the Hail Storm Specialty papers from Tonic and then I had to rearrange background papers for a better fit.

I had also put aside a roll of sparkly blue organza ribbon, purchased last year but unused up until now (not for lack of trying). It was working well on this card, but it was getting lost between the two papers, so I cut and punched a strip of Very Vanilla cardstock before adding the ribbon and it instantly looked better.

The border punch I used on the vanilla cardstock creates tiny snowflakes, which I made sure not to discard, and I was able to use them in the top left corner (topped with rhinestones), and inside the card as well to decorate.

I found a sentiment that reads "For a warm season," which was the perfect size and font and goes great with the cocoa-chugging critters. The sentiment was embossed in Platinum powder on navy patterned paper and punched out. I added four pearls to anchor the sentiment lock in place.

Since I was making an oversized card, I used my Envelope Punch Board to make a matching envelope. I added a piece of patterned paper die-cut with the Postage Stamps dies and a hot cocoa sticker from the paper pack.

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Tree Farm (Essentials by Ellen); Cousu avec joie (Stitched with Cheer - Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Tip Top Taupe, Very Vanilla (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers and Stickers: For the Love of Winter (Photoplay)
Ink: Rich Cocoa (Memento); VersaMark
Accessories: Stampin' Dimensionals, Christmas Traditions Punch, Envelope Punch Board,
Pearl and Rhinestone Basic Jewels (Stampin' Up!); Markers (Copic); 
Blue Sparkly Organza Ribbon (Celebrate It); Platinum Embossing Powder (Ranger);
Snowflake Edger Punch (EK Success)

 

Christmas Sweater Vest

Inspiration: Simon Says Stamp Wednesday (Christmas) + Festive Friday 44 (ribbon + metallics + inspiration theme - boss' day)

I'm not usually into shaped cards all that much, but when I saw the Sweater Vest dies from Sunny Studio online a couple of months ago, there was something about it that struck my fancy. I was really excited to see the dies shown in my local store weekly new items video, along with the Cable Knit embossing folder, so I made sure to have the owner put one aside for me (with two of their new adorable Christmas paper stacks). When I came back from the store, it's the first thing I pulled out to play with. With Christmas coming up, I wanted to make an "ugly sweater vest" version, but it will also work for other occasions and more generic masculine projects as well. I love the argyle dies, along with the stitching.

There are a couple of things I discovered while working on this project.

1) The patterned paper cracked when I ran it though the Big Shot using the Cable Knit embossing folder. The paper became really fragile and the white core shows, affecting the clarity of the Christmas lightbulb pattern a bit. I didn't want to waste good paper so I ran with it, but next time, I'll lightly spritz the paper with water so that it has more give and I'll also add a layer of printing paper with the patterned paper inside the folder to help prevent the crackling.

2) Be mindful of the way you place the bottom strip die on your patterned paper if the pattern has a direction. I didn't know when I ran it through but the top of the band is straight and the bottom has rounded corner to follow the shape of the sweater, so I was not able to simply turn the band around. The design is tone on tone, so I doubt most people would have noticed, but having the gifts and ornaments upside down was distracting me, so I did a second die-cut to rectify (I recycled the other band inside the card, where I didn't mind it as much).

You can get a shaped card that opens up two ways: die-cut two pieces separately, score the top of the second sweater about a 1/2" down and add adhesive only above the scored line, to get a fold. I used the second method: I prepared a regular-sized A2 card base folded at the top and I placed the die over it, making sure the fold was going OVER the top of the die so that it wouldn't cut the two layers apart. The trick to keeping your full shape is to then add a third layer (in this instance, my patterned paper vest) over the top of the card base and this way, the fold is hidden.

I alternated two patterns of losanges for the argyle pattern and used the stitched X on the green losanges. During my shopping, I had also picked up some neat red confetti from Pretty Pink Posh, which looked really nice placed in the middle of the losanges. For the collar, I layered three of the dies included in the kit and added the bow tie on top. I really love this tie die, as it includes scored lines to mimick the folds and it has the little center as a separate die, which adds nice dimension.

I picked an Anthracite Metallic envelope and decorated it with losanges to match and a dotted rectangle for the address block and as I was about to call it done, the Real Red curly ribbon from Stampin' Up! caught my eye on the side of my desk. I placed it on the vest between the bottom strip and the sweater and really liked the way it added color and texture, so I used my glue strip to glue it down. (I used to use that adhesive all the time for ribbon and such and then I forgot all about it when the 1/8" double-sided tape came out. I remembered I still had some when I took inventory of my adhesive last week. I'll definitely use up the glue lines I have left - which will then free up a space in my rotating caddy for other tools or glue.)

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Thick Whisper White (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers: Very Merry (Sunny Studio)
Accessories: Real Red 1/8" Curly Ribbon, Mini Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!);
A2 Anthracite Metallic Envelope (envelopes.com); Red Confetti (Pretty Pink Posh);
Cable Knit Embossing Folder, Sweater Vest Dies (Sunny Studio)

 

Pair of Skates

Inspiration: Just Add Ink #478 (Just Add H) + Simon Says Stamp Wednesday (Christmas)

The inspiration letter from Just Add Ink is H, which kept bringing me back to the word "Hiver" (winter). I had the perfect papers in the Feels Like Frost paper stack. I love those papers - the soft colors and silver foil are gorgeous. For the layout, I pulled out my Cardmaps 5 publication and picked one of the bonus sketches at the end. I knew the skate image would be perfect, so I stamped the skate twice in Night of Navy cardstock on Thick Whisper White cardstock and die-cut them out. I then watercolored them using ink.

Since the Free Skate stamp set is only offered in English, I went looking for a French sentiment in my other sets. I found "Have a nice Holiday season" in the Christmas Traditions stamp set from the punch box kit offered last year. I got it on the sale at the end of the catalogue period, which was late in the season, so I hadn't had the chance to ink it up yet. I liked how the shape of the sentiment fit the curve of the skate nicely, so I stamped it on patterned paper from the same collection and die-cut with the Stitched Shapes dies.

I wanted to watercolor the holly and berry image amd to stamp the image in Night of Navy to match the rest of the card so to avoid ink bleeding, I pourred clear embossing powder on the ink before it dried to protect the ink and be able to watercolor. I used Rococo Rose and Soft Sea Foam. Those two colors look great with Purple Posy. Now that the ink is finally available, I'll have to revisit that soft color combo on other projects.

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Free Skate
Cardstock: Purple Posy, Thick Whisper White, Soft Sea Foam, Highland Heather
Designer Series Paper: Feels Like Frost
Ink: Night of Navy, Seaside Spray, Rococo Rose, Soft Sea Foam, Highland Heather
Accessories: Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder,  Stitched Shapes Dies, Detailed Skate Dies,
White Medium Envelope, Stampin' Dimensionals, Aqua Painter Brush, Seaside Spray 1/4" Metallic Ribbon

 

Have Yourselfie a Merry Little Christmas

Inspiration: MFT Sketch #458 + Simon Says Stamp Wednesday (Christmas)

I love everything Birdie Brown, and she hit a home run with her latest stamp set, Christmas sELFies. It includes adorable selfies from with different winter characters. Here, I went Christmas with my card, but the snowmen and polar bear could work really well for more generic cards. I can't wait to play with the other images some more, but for this card, I picked the North Pole trio: Rudolph, Santa and an elf. I used the sketch to layer three different patterned papers from the cute Holiday Cheer paper pack from Sunny Studio. I tied some green and white trim between the top and bottom panels and I also added white sequin trim between two of the lines on the pattern paper. I die-cut snowflakes out of Tropical Tide glitter cardstock, which matches the patterned papers very nicely.

I was kind of excited that this stamp set does not require the purchase of a die set (instant savings!). The image are just squares. I created my own Polaroid by cutting a white rectangle and stamping the image centered at the top. I used my Polychromos pencils to color the image. I blended some of the colors with mineral spirits. By the way, my store owner shared the best tip in one of her weekly videos: you can use the Alcohol Ink Blending Pen from Ranger and fill it with mineral spirits (Gamsol), whic allows you to blend your pencil coloring without the use of stumps. I was so excited when I heard that because I like the use of mineral spirits to get an even look, but I've always hated how finicky stumps are. Initially, I had a few and I used sanding paper to take the last color off, so it was taking forever to color an image. I later invested in doubles of a few sizes and I was using the same tip for the same colour family, but I still felt like stumps were a hurdle to work with. Enter the alcohol ink blending pen - it's a game changer! It works really well, especially the smaller tip, and you really just have to scribble on scrap paper to take off the last color, like you would with regular blending pens. It works great, in large or small areas. But learn from my mistake - add a very SMALL amount of mineral spirit inside the marker. I was too generous when I filled mine and it not only leaked everywhere when I was fililng it, but the pen kept leaking for weeks even after I took some of the liquid out. I took I had either ruined it or that the tip was not working, but after a while, it stabilized and now I've got the perfect flow. I also like that I don't have to keep the mineral spirit open on my desk and run the risk of knocking it over, so this one is a big win.

I wanted Rudolph's nose to stand out so I trying options - clear gem, red gem, I was thinking of doing red Stickles and then I realized that the red confetti from Pretty Pink Posh I bought this week are the exact size of his nose! The metallic shine is just perfect so I added it to my image with a dab of glue. I also added gems in a few spots on the card, including clear ones on the tuques at the bottom of the card.

For the envelope, I picked a green metallic one and I embossed my image with pink powder in the corner. I repeated the same embossed image inside the card as well.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Christmas sELFies (My Favorite Things)
Cardstock: Thick Whisper White
Patterned Papers: Holiday Cheer (Sunny Studio); Tropical Tide Glitter Cardstock (Tonic)
Ink: Tempting Turquoise Classic Ink (Stampin' Up!); VersaMark; Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Accessories: Melon Mambo Stampin' Emboss Powder, Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!);
A2 Fairway Metallic Envelope (envelopes.com); Wonkly Stitched Rectangle Dies (MFT);
Red Confetti (Pretty Pink Posh); July and August Crystals (Studio Katia);
Polychromos Pencils (Faber-Castell); Christmas Day Snow Dies (Echo Park);
White and Green Cord Trim, White Sequin Trim (Michaels)

 

Christmas Tree Tag

This project started with recycling leftovers from another project. A couple of weeks ago, I made a shaker card with the Stitched Tree Frames dies from Lawn Fawn. I used black foam to create the shaker edge, so I was left with the inside part of the tree both in foam and in patterned paper. I knew this would make a great tag so I put those die-cut elements aside to reuse later. Yesterday, I was looking at some Christmas washi tapes on my desk and thought they would make great ribbon for the tree, so I started decorating it. I also got the idea to add the fun red trim Stampin' Up! currently sells in its Holidays catalogue. I then stamped and watercolored cute images from the Snow Fun Avery Elle stamp set, using my Faber-Castell watercolor pencils and a waterbrush.

I die-cut a second piece of patterned paper from the Merry Little Christmas pack from Pebbles for the back, glue everything together and I used my Crop-a-Dile to punch a hole at the top. I looking in my box of ribbon scraps (once a spool is down to less than a meter, I take it off the spool to save on space and into that box it goes). I found some Certainly Celery grosgrain ribbon, threaded it through the hole and I tied a white baker's twine bow, threadng two gold jingle bells on it.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Snow Fun (Avery Elle)
Cardstock: Neenah Solar White
Patterned Papers: Merry Christmas (Carta Bella); Merry Little Christmas (Pebbles)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Accessories: Merry Little Christmas Washi Tape (Pebbles); Gold Jingle Bells, Black Foam (unknown);
Watercolor Pencils (Faber-Castell); White Baker's Twine, Certainly Celery Grosgrain Ribbon,
Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!)

 

Jingle Bells Tree

With my love of retro-inspired things with a modern kick, I tend to appreciate the lines Steven Duncan designs for Carta Bella. The Merry Christmas has that mix of vintage baubles, old-fashioned Christmas trees and nicely-dressed people getting ready for the Holidays. While the designs are absolutely gorgeous, they are not necessarily easy to design with because those papers are crowded! I was trying to decide where to get started with the paper stack and the Christmas Tree dies from Lawn Fawn caught my eye. Those dies are not new, they were released last year. They are new to me, though, because I was late to the parade getting them­. I scored the frame dies during a sale at my local store, but unfortunately, she didn't have the Ouside In dies that matched so I soon realized that this was creating a difficulty for making shakers since I didn't have the matching piece for the back. It goes without saying that there are many things that I could have create with that set of dies on their own, but because they were purchased after the Holidays, I have moved on to other seasonal projects and it got left behind - until this week.

I finally managed to purchased the other dies I wanted, and when I spotted the patterned paper with the tree branches and hanging ornaments, I thought it'd look great die-cut with the tree. It felt a little bare on its own, but I used the other green paper from the same stack to do the frame and that's when I got the idea of pulling out the newly released Mini String of Lights dies to decorate the front of my shaker. Those light bulbs take a while to put together because you need two die-cuts for each - the light with the little hole for the light reflection and the full piece to back it with (in this instance, white). You can thankfully die-cut four lights at at time, which I did in three colors of cardstock, then I did all my white, and the strings in an emerald green. I pulled out my glue pen and got working on it. It's easy but it takes a minute or twenty. I used a black foam sheet to create a raised frame. I keep trying that technique but the foam gets squished when going through the Big Shot and ends up being slightly larger than the die-cut paper so it shows. It's less obvious when using black foam instead of white, but still, the best option still remains stacking die-cut cardstock. Because the tree is so large, I decided the foam sheet would be a more economical option, though. I thought for sure I would have green sequins to fill the tree with, but it turns out I only have pale mint or olive green, which would have clashed, so I went with Moonstone sequins. It turned out great, I think the sparkle highlights the other elements so it was a good choice.

The top of the tree was decorated with a star. (I realized after I was done that I had the choice of two stars, since there's one in every die set, and I ended up picking the smaller one, where I think the bigger one would have fit better...) I covered the yellow cardstock with Liquid Stardust to make it shine, and it still felt a little bare, so I pulled out a gold faceted gem, which completed the look nicely.

For the envelope, I picked a Sapphire metallic envelope, added a die-cut from one of the patterned papers and finished it off with two light bulb puffy stickers. The inside of the card was decorated with the little pieces of light bulb strings I had left from trimming the tree. I rarely make cards with no stamping, so this is fun and different—yet still me because of all the cutesy thrown in there.

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Bordering Blue, Hello Honey, Poppy Parade, Whisper White
Patterned Papers and Puffy Stickers: Merry Christmas (Carta Bella)
Dies: Mini String of Lights, Stitched Christmas Tree Frames, Dotted Rectangle Stackables,
Outside In Stitched Christmas Tree Stackables (Lawn Fawn)
Accessories: Liquid Stardust (Lawn Fawn); Window Sheets, Gold Faceted Gems, Mini Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!);
A2 Sapphire Metallic Envelope (envelopes.com); Moonstone Sequins (Simon Says Stamp)

Christmas Carols

Inspiration: July 2019 Card Maps Sketch + Simon Says Stamp Monday (Let's Get Ready for Christmas)

As is the case every year, there is a lot of yummy patterned paper offered again this year, but I think the gold star might go to the Merry Little Christmas collection from Pebbles. Every single sheet of the 6" x 6" is absolutely scrumptious! Most of it as gold foil as well (and so do the stickers), which makes it extra special. I couldn't wait to play with those new papers. I don't know if this card highlights this beautiful collection as well as it should, but at least I dove in and created something to get started. I'll probably have more time in the upcoming days to do more with it.

The layout was inspired by a Card Maps sketch and the various pieces helped me showcase a mix of various patterns from the pack. I also liked that it had a sentiment banner, since one of the pages is a cut-apart that has "Merry Christmas" banners on it. I added the stitching detail with a white gel pen as it felt a little bare on the page. The carolers are a sticker from the Accent Sticker sheet.

What I want to rave about is the Albrecht Dürer watercolor pencils from Faber-Castell I managed to score on sale during Labour Day weekend. I had signed up for the local art store emails so that I could specifically get a set when it would be on sale. I have said in the past that despite my best efforts, I had trouble loving the watercolor pencils I had on hand. They're from Stampin' Up!, but it's nothing against that company specifically - I had also purchased watercolor pencils of a similar quality in the past and the results were the same. The tip of the pencils is hard, the colour achieved is not that saturated, the pigment is hard to move around on the paper. Because of those results, I had turned to watercoloring with inks, learned to master the technique and given up on the pencils. The Faber-Castell ones had me curious, since I was so happy with my coloring pencils from the same company. After watching online videos where people compared the Albrecht Dürer pencils with other brands, I could tell they were nothing like the watercolor pencils I have previously owed.

So the pencils were delivered while I was short on time to sit down and stamp. I was still curious about this new acquisition, so I stamped a holly image from the nearest stamp set and picked random colors to try the pencils out. It only took a few strokes to decide that I love them. What a difference! Granted, they are pricey, but at least the results are there. If I can get such a pretty result from a quick first try, imagine once I've got a few hours of practice under my belt! I handcut this image and tried to add it to my ornament card at the time, but it was distracting rather than pleasing to the eye, so I left the image aside and today, it caught my eye while I was putting together the card. The colors and scale was working much better on this card.

Now, I can't wait to color a bigger image with the pencils.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Fêtes étincelantes (Christmas Gleaming - Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Mint Macaron (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers and Accent Stickers: Merry Little Christmas (Pebbles)
Ink: Basic Black Archival Ink (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Wonky Square Frames Dies (Avery Elle); Albrecht Dürer Watercolor Pencils (Faber-Castell);
Just Stitching Double Rectangles Dies (Lawn Fawn); Button (Autumn Leaves);
Stampin' Dimensionals, Crumb Cake Medium Envelope (Stampin' Up!)

 

Sharing the Joy of Christmas

Inspiration: Simon Says Stamp (Anything Goes) + Hand Stamped Sentiments #324

The starting point of this card was an old die-cut of the Stitched Hillside Backdrop out of Dazzling Diamonds glimmer paper, that has been sitting in my scrap pile for probably a year. It thought it could look nice paired with the Snow Bunnies set (this year's Stamptember exclusive set). I really wanted to do a soft pink sky for those guys. My first attempt failed miserably. I had inked the sky in Spun Sugar ink and used my Distress Oxide inks with a snowflake stencil. Unfortunately, the ink seeped underneath the stencil and the snowflakes were a mess, so this idea got scraped and I started again a few days later using the Tattered Rose Distress Oxide ink instead this time. This shade of pink looks a little more vintage and so I paired it with other soft shades for a retro vibe.

This time, I learned from my mistake and I did use Pixie spray on the snowflake stencil before blending the ink. I also overstamped snowflakes from the stamp set using both Tattered Rose and Tea Dye ink. I noticed that Tea Dye has a pink hue to it and it blends very nicely with the Tattered Rose background, being just a shade darker without looking brown.

I stamped all of the images and played around with them once they were die-cut to figure out which setup would look the best. I ended up with having the bunnies and snowman and the bottom and the decorated tree at the top. Because I had a lot of open sky, I picked a larger sentiment to add in there, which reads "Let's share the joy of Christmas." The sky still looked too empty, so I die-cut some Mini Snowflakes out of mint cardstock and added those around, but the bottom of the sentiment still felt empty. That's when I spotted a couple of ornaments that I didn't have enough room for on the tree, so I decided to hang them from the sentiment, drawing threads with a sparkly gel pen and a ruler. That solved the problem nicely and I like the look.

I wanted my bottom bunny to be holding something. Initialy, I thought the branches for the arms, but the left bunny is reaching quite high, so I remembered the tiny styrofoam balls I have purchased a couple of years ago and decided it could look like they are packing snow on the snowman to round him up, so I added a ball on each of their paws.

I didn't have enough room for the last bunny on the card, so he made it on the envelope instead. I picked a Teal one to match with the Stitched Rectangle Frame added on the card.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Snow Bunnies (Lawn Fawn); Coffret d'étiquettes (Tin of Tags - Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Whisper White, Island Indigo, Pistachio Pudding, Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento); Tattered Rose, Tea Dye, Peacock Feathers DIstress Oxide Ink (Ranger)
Accessories: Stitched Rectangle Frames Dies, Snow Bunnies Dies, Stitched Hillside Backdrop Portrait,
Mini Snowflakes Dies (Lawn Fawn); Rhinestone Basic Jewels, Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!);
A2 Teal Envelope (envelopes.com); Markers (Copic); Slime Ballz (FloraCraft)

 

Winter Postage Stamp

Inspiration: Mojo Monday #523

I've loved the Postage Stamps Infinity Dies on all of the projects I've seen made with them online, so I was thrilled to find them at my local store. I also found the Snow Much Fun! collection from Carta Bella, which was my favorite of their fall/winter release. The colours are so gorgeous! Because there's slight touches of coral in some of the images, I used a coral card base, which I stamped with my old but trusty Flannel Plaid background stamp. The first circle of the sketch was made with a KaiserCraft snowflake die with Silver Foil paper and the second one was one of the stickers from the sticker sheet. I found a small sentiment in a retired Stampin' Up! stamp set that reads "joy and love" and I embossed it in Pool Party embossing powder on Night of Navy cardstock. I used my Sentiment Labels dies to cut it out.

I used a Nautical Blue linen envelope and a smaller Postage stamp die, as well as a few extra stickers to finish my set.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Flannel Plaid, Saison du gui (Mistletoe Season - Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Calypso Coral, Very Vanilla (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers and Stickers: Snow Much Fun! (Carta Bella)
Ink: VersaMark
Accessories: Snow Crystals Dies (KaiserCraft); Postage Stamps Infinity Dies (Hero Arts);
Dotted Rectangle Stackables Dies (Lawn Fawn); Sentiment Labels Dies (Simon Says Stamp);
A2 Nautical Blue Linen Envelope (envelopes.com); Mint Macaron Ribbon, Silver Foil Paper,
Stampin' Dimensionals, Pool Party Stampin' Emboss Powder (Stampin' Up!)

 

Everything Old is New Again: Peace on Earth

Inspiration: Sample on page 33 of Stampin' Up!'s 2019 Holidays catalogue

I'm still going through the catalogue and putting together projects inspired by samples and recreated with supplies from years past. This time, it was the frame on page 33 that caught my attention. The scripty font that reads Peace on Earth reminded me of an older hostess set from many years ago that said the same thing. I also liked the idea of the foliage around the tag, which reminded me of the branches from the retired Pretty Pines dies. I did pair those old supplies with a few current items, namely the Stitched Nested Labels dies, the Noble Peacock Foil Sheets and the Bright Gleaming Specialty DSP.

I used the green foil to die-cut the foliage and added a few Old Olive branches in there for dimension. I placed the branches in an oval and added the tag on top to see how it looks. Once everything was arranged to my liking, I covered the back of the tag with sticky strip and glued it on the foliage. Initially, I had used the foiled side of the patterned paper (the copper swirls on the Pretty Peacock background) but the foil was taking center stage and was really distracting so as much as I love the paper, I had to flip it around and use the backside instead for the card to work.

I'm mentioning that part because initially. I had reached for the same jingle bells I used on my last project, but they are gold and the color just looked wrong with the copper background, which is how I got the idea of using some Mini pinecones embellishments instead, since they are copper (another retired embellishment). I used thin silver thread to knot the pinecones on the ribbon and then I tied my bow. I used glue dots to add the bow to the project and on a whim, I decided to use the bow die from the Pretty Pines set to add a cardstock bow on top of the ribbon bow. I topped it with an enamel dot for a bit of shine.

If you look closely at the sample, they used some pierced dies behind the sentiment to add detailing on the tag. I was initially planning on clear-embossing snowflakes to mirror that detail. But... I was working on my foliage, glued it in place and realized as I was doing so that it would be tricky to add the embossed snowflakes, which I should have done before gluing anything behind the tag. Fortunately, I spotted the hanging earth ornament from my hostess stamp set amd realized it would fit the empty space perfectly.

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Paix sur la terre (Peaceful Season)
Cardstock: Old Olive, Very Vanilla, Cherry Cobbler, Noble Peacock Foil Sheets
Specialty Designer Series Paper: Brightly Gleaming
Ink: Pretty Peacock, Old Olive
Accessories: Mini Pinecones Embellishments, Regals Enamel Shapes,
Stitched Nested Labels Dies, Vanilla Medium Envelope, Stampin' Dimensionals,
Silver Thread, Mini Glue Dots

 

Everything Old is New Again: Row of Stockings Tag

The Wrapped in Plaid suite is so similar to the Warmth & Cheer DSP we had a few years ago, I kept on going with my samples copied from the current Holidays catalogue using this retired paper. On page 12, there's a sample of a Christmas tag with stockings on it. I pulled out the retired Christmas Stockings and Deco Labels dies, which are both very similar to the shapes of the tag shown in the catalogue, and I recreated my own version of it with what I had on hand. Instead of a stamped sentiment, I pulled out the Noel die from the same set. I initially stacked two of the stockings like in the sample, but it didn't look right to me, so I went back to having them all in a rowm hanging from the "mantel." I didn't want to punch a hole at the bottom, I preferred adding a gold gem for decoration instead. I replaced the die-cut star with a few star and snowflake sequins from the current Snowflake Sequin Assortment. This is a quick project that was put together in less than 15 minutes (the advantage of copying an existing project).

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Cardstock: Whisper White, Gold Foil Paper
Designer Series Paper Stack: Warmth & Cheer
Accessories: Snowflake Sequin Assortment, Deco Labels Dies,
Christmas Stockings Dies, Stampin' Dimensionals, Gold Faceted Gems,
Garden Green Baker's Twine, Stitched Rectangles Dies, Circle Punches

 

Everything Old is New Again: Christmas Trees

This card follows up on my previous post about drawing inspiration from new samples to use older supplies. The card I'm sharing was based on page 13 of the Stampin' Up! 2019 Holidays catalogue. I remember thinking on my very first viewing of the catalogue that this was very similar to the Holiday Collection dies and some of the Holiday plaid papers from years ago. Sure enough, if it, because look at how close my card is to the sample! The Holiday Collection dies did have a star die in it, but it would have been too big to make a row in the tree, so I went back to my die collection and found a more appropriately-sized star in the Quilt Builder dies from last year. Instead of using gold foil paper, I stuck with the same DSP pack and used one of the yellow papers.

For the background, I wanted to keep the idea of tone on tone, but instead of using cardstock, I picked another sheet of DSP with a Crumb Cake background and a very subtle argyke design. I used a sttiched rectangle die to cut it out. Here's the tea: Stampin' Up! now has sttiched rectangle dies, but they kind of joined the parade on the late side, so I already had a variety of stitched rectangle from other companies, which is why I never purchased theirs when they came out. For this card, I therefore used my Outside In Stitched Rectangles dies from Lawn Fawn, but I still would consider this card a SUO (Stampin' Up! only) card in the sense that you could totally reproduce this with Stampin' Up! products if you did use their Stitched Rectangles.

As for the jingle bell, I know for a fact I have their mini jingle bells somewhere. They came out with silver ones many moons ago and then again with an assorted pack of red and silver ones a few years later. I've purchased both (I was low on the silver ones so I stocked up when the second set came out) but for some reason, they are not stored with my other SU! embellishments and I couldn't find them tonight, so I simply went to a jar of larger fold jingle bells purchased from a craft store 20 years ago when I had just started crafting. Based on the picture of the sample in the catalogue, I would say the size is really similar (3/8") so again, not by Stampin' Up!, but kinda!

Next came the hunt for an appropriately-sized Christmas sentiment. I narrowed my options down to three but when I placed the stamps next to the project to make a choice, it was immediately clear that the one from Snowflake Sentiments had the perfect font and size to fit the feel of the card. I stamped it on Thick White cardstock with Garden Green ink (initially because I was expecting to add a red jingle bell to the tag!) and I notched the right side with my scissors. Now that I look back at the sample, I notice that on theirs, both sides are notched and mine aren't. That was not a conscious choice, just a detail I hadn't noticed, but had I noticed, I think I still would have gone with the straight edge. I pulled out my twines and couldn't find any linen thread (I'm sure I still have some, not sure where it went - looks like half of my stash grew legs tonight!) so I went with the now-retired heavier natural twine the company used to carry. I like it, I think it's stiffer and give the bow more weight.

I repeated a die-cut tree inside the card and on the matching Crumb Cake envelope. This is definitely a simpler look than the cards I usually design, but I really like how it turned out. And what a great way to use scraps - I didn't use a single full sheet, managed to get everything I needed out of scraps. (Which is why those patterned paper stacks last forever!)

Again, I extend the challenge to you to pick a sample you like­, whether in a catalogue, magazine or online, and to shop your stash to reproduce it with what you have on hand. It's a great way to rediscover older, neglected supplies but also to craft on those days where the inspiration might be running on low.

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies (unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Souhaits en rafales (Snowflake Sentiments)
Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Thick Whisper White
Designer Series Paper Stack: Warmth & Cheer
Ink: Garden Green
Accessories: Quilt Builder Dies, Holiday Collection Dies, Natural Twine,
Stampin' Dimensionals, Crumb Cake Medium Envelope, Clear Wink of Stella Brush,
Outside In Stitched Rectangles Dies (Lawn Fawn)