Encre, papier, ciseaux

Holly Jolly Tags

Before putting away the Holly Jolly collection, I decided to make a tag with it... and it turned into making a full series using the leftover Bits & Pieces and patterned papers.

What got me going putting together so many was that I pulled the Stitched Oval Scalloped Frames dies and since I wanted the frame to be a different colour from the center, I cut it twice. I was not liking the colour combo against my patterned paper, so I tried a couple of other options and so I ended up with a lot of leftover pieces that I decided to use on other tags, hence the final tally of 7 tags. A lot of the ephemera pieces were also pretty small, so the size was working out better on tags than on cards. I've commented on my last post that the patterned papers are quite tricky to use together. I'll add that the ephemera images are a very random assortment as well. It goes from a moped to trees to a house to a whisk and cake... It's all over the map. I'm a big fan of Simple Stories, but this collection is a little bit of a head-scratcher to me.

 

 

Supplies
Patterned Papers, Enamel Dots, Bits & Pieces: Holly Jolly (Simple Stories)
Dies: Stitched Oval Scalloped Frames (My Favorite Things); Stitched Nested Tags (Tutti Designs);
Tailor-Made Tags, Bonanza, Tasteful Labels (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Wonderful Snowflakes, Stampin' Dimensionals, Various Ribbons, Designer Buttons, 
Pearl Basic Jewels, Triple Corner Punch, Mini Stapler (Stampin' Up!); Buttons (Button Galore & More);
Corner Chomper, Eyelets (We R Memory Makers)

 

Gingerbread Man Tag

I kept going with my Mistletoe Kisses collection scraps and created another tag inspired by the die-cut images I had put aside. I liked the "Tis the Season banner superposed over the gingerbread man, so that was the starting point of the tag. This time, I used my favorite tag die set, Dotted Tags from Waffle Flower. I love the shape of the tags themselves and also the dotted hole reinforcer, which I die-cut out of Aquarium shimmery cardstock from Martha Stewart (found on Clearance at a local craft store).

The tag is pretty long, so I needed to fill the space a bit above the gingerbread man, so I used my last remaining die-cut snowflakes and topped them with the mint stickers from the cardstock sticker sheet. I added pearls in the center of each, a clear red gem to the gingerbread man's button and Frosted Lace Stickles to the icing detailing and one of the mints.

On the back, I used the alpha stickers from the cardstock sticker sheet to write "to" and "from," and I added little heart stickers to the front and back of the tag. I repeated the mint and candy images to the back as well, and I threaded the tag with white/silver baker's twine.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Patterned Papers, Cardstock Stickers, Bits & Pieces: Mistletoe Kisses (Simple Stories)
Cardstock: Aquarium (Martha Stewart); Bubblegum Textured Color Vibe (Simple Stories)
Glimmer Paper: Red/White (Stampin' Up!)
Dies: Dotted Tags (Waffle Flower); Sparkly Snowflakes (Crafter's Companion)
Accessories: White/Silver Baker's Twine (Recollections);
Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!); Frosted Lace Stickles (Ranger);
Red Berry Mix, Bora Bora and Arctic Breeze Pearls, July Crystals (Studio Katia)

 

Dear Santa...

This project started with the Santa panel, which comes from the cut-apart sheet from the Candy Cane Lane collection by Prima. I layered a few elements that were on my desk in the bottom left corner (including a pink vellum tag that's been in my stash for over 15 years now!) and I added Distress Snowfall Grit-paste to the outer edge. then let it to the side to dry.

Before I put away the Candy Cane Lane collection, I decided to see if this panel could become a card. It's quite large, so I bumped my card size to 5" x 6" and I added additional elements to dress it up even more. I was looking for white pompoms and I found a few elements while searching that I thought could work on the card. One of them was a rose gold metal rectangle charm, on which I added a white rub-on that reads "peace on earth" (from a very old Christmas rub-on pack from Stampin' Up!). I also found some wood veneer shapes. I picked the snowflake and colored it using the beautiful Metallic Pink Cerantica wax from Stamperia. (It's my first time using this wax and it is absolutely lovely - the texture is very creamy and the color is very easy to move on the project.) I added a few additional fussy cut images around the panel.

The card base was made out of Candy Red textured cardstock from Tonic. I found this cardstock on clearance for 99 cents, so I gave it a try. It's a little flimsy for card base, so I wasn't sure if it had been a good purchase, but the pinkish red works very nicely with this collection. As for the layer in between (the soft pink toile-looking pattern), it's actually the back of the ephemera packaging. It was too pretty to toss, so it became an additional layer on my card.

Since my card was not the average A2 size, I dug through my patterned papers for a matching sheet and I made my own envelope, using some more fussy-cut images to decorate it. 

On a side note, I totally fell in love with the Ticket Essentials boxes recently released by 49 & Market. Whenever collections have tickets in their ephemera packs or sticker sheets, they're always the shapes that I use first in my project and I'm always hoping the packs had more. When I saw that you could get full rolls or tickets and postage stamps in a variety of scrumptious colours, I was immediately sold. I got lucky - the boxes got released a few weeks before my birthday and my local store still had them on hand when I used my birthday coupon code, so I was able to stock up on multiple colours. Here, I used the Pewter collection and slipped a little ticket in there. The first of many to come...

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Candy Red (Tonic)
Patterned Papers, Ephemera, Say It in Crystals, Flowers #661007: Candy Cane Lane (Prima Marketing)
Designer Series Paper: Unknown (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Pewter Ticket Essentials (49 & Market); Pink Vellum Tag (Making Memories);
Snowfall Grit-Paste (Tim Holtz for Ranger); Wonderful Gems, White Veneer Trees, Mini Stampin' Dimensionals,
Envelope Punch Board, Old St. Nick Rub-Ons (Stampin' Up!); Metallic Pink Cerantica Wax (Stamperia);
White and Black Mini Pompoms (Queen & Co); Rose Gold Metal Plate Charm (Unknown Source);
Gold Gelly Roll Gel Pen (Sakura)

 

Pink Poinsettia Christmas

Here is one more card that was inspired by the Candy Cane Lane collection from Prima Marketing. I initially made a layered tag using fussy cut elements from the patterned papers and a few elements created with dies and my Big Shot. I used a leftover piece of Silver tinsel yarn to top the tag, and I included a red vellum tag that has been sitting in my stash for years as one of the layers. I worked one of my Pewter postage stamps from 49 & Market in there as well. This would have made for a very delicate tags because of the greenery hanging over the edges of the tag, so I decided to put this one on a card. I created my background with the polka dot paper, and I hung a fussy cut ornament at the top to fill in the space.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Lost Lagoon (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers, Say It With Crystals, Ephemera Pack: Candy Cane Lane (Prima Marketing)
Specialty Papers: Silver Pack (Sizzix)
Dies: Wonky Stitched Rectangle STAX (My Favorite Things); Poinsettia (Stampin' Up!);
Snowflake Impresslits (Tim Holtz for Sizzix); Silver Tinsel Yard (Craft Smart)

 

Holly Jolly & Merry

These days, I've been creating with the beautiful Candy Cane Lane collection from Prima Marketing. I saw a card on Pinterest that layered two patterned paper tags as a mat for the main image and I liked the idea, so I looked for papers that would layer well. Funnily enough, I had picked two patterns that I thought I liked together and I ended up using the backside of both and liking the result better! For the main image, I picked the Santa holding deers from the ephemera pack. Since the pack has two copies of each image (which I love), I was able to fussy cut the sentiment banner and pop it on dimensional adhesive to add dimension. I used the remainder of the image on the envelope to match the card.

I used the Stitched Nested Tags dies from Tutti Designs for the tags. They don't have holes, so for the larger one, I borrowed a hole reinforcer die from the Fold-Up Tags dies, which I cut out of Golden Satin cardstock from Tonic. I found some poinsettia images fussy cut from the patterned paper that I tucked between the tags. I had originally added a heart-shaped eyelet on the tag and despite my best efforts to set it straight, it ended up being lightly crooked and the colour was a little off, so I ended up covering it with a little candy cane image. Yesterday, I had done a few was seals, so I slipped a pearly white one under the banner, and I added a little fussy cut bow over it, on which I added gold highlights using a gold gel pen. I finished the card off with a few gold glitter enamel dots.

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Candy Red, Gold Satin (Tonic); Warm White (Colour Vibe by Simple Stories)
Patterned Papers, Ephemera: Candy Cane Lane (Prima Marketing)
Dies: Wonky Stitched Rectangles STAX, Fold-Up Tags (My Favorite Things);
Stitched Nested Tags (Tutti Designs)
Accessories: Pearl Wax Melts, Envelope Wax Seal (Honey Bee); Gold Gelly Roll Pen (Sakura);
Gold Glitter Enamel Dots, Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!);
A2 Rose Quartz Metallic Envelope (Envelopes.com)

Cup of Cocoa

Inspiration: Card Maps October 2022

I'm trying to go through past paper collection and put them to go use. Next in line was Holly Jolly. I pulled the cookie patterned paper and tested my Ribbon Threading border punch on it. The result is nice but I quickly discovered that it can only be used with very narrow ribbon. Here, I used 1/4" ribbon, so that leaves limited options, which is disappointing.

I have a love/hate relationship with the Holly Jolly collection. I kept looking at it every single time I saw it at my local store. It ended up in the sale section and I pondered some more and I finally ended up getting the 6" x 8" pad on clearance but when I'm trying to use it, I'm reminded why I kept hesitating. There's a few sheets that have really cute patterns (the hanging ornaments on the blue background, the polka dots) but the other patterns are so dark and busy, making it hard to pair the papers together. I struggled again today to find something that I liked. I ended up picking red on red and adding the diagonal stripes, with a gold glitter paper border to add some interest.

I fussy cut the cocoa cup from the cut-apart sheet, added a punched scalloped circle in the middle, a sparkly gold heart from the Garden Party collection and an enamel dot. I added Stampin' Up!'s puff paint to the whipped cream. I've used it a few times now and I'm not a fan. The product is very liquid and hard to control. It moved when I tried to make it puff, so I pushed it back to where it should be with my paper piercer, wiping the excess, and it ended up leaving a scorched mark on the paper. I'm also not liking the puffed texture all that much, so I think I will simply reorder Liquid Applique and forget this puff paint altogether.

I added a foliage layer with one of the ephemera pieces under the cup, and I used the sentiment from the bottom of the cut apart on the left edge of the card. Three enamel dots finished the card. I used other ephemera images on the envelope and inside the card.

 

    

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Crumb Cake (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers, Enamel Dots, Bits & Pieces: Holly Jolly (Simple Stories)
Punch: Ribbon Threading Border Punch (Dress My Craft); Crumb Cake Medium Envelope,
Snowfall Accents Puff Paint, Stampin' Dimensionals, Gold Glimmer Paper,
1/8" Old Olive Ribbon (Stampin' Up!)

 

Simple Vintage North Pole - Book Fold Cards

Inspiration: Instagram video from Stampsnlingers + Simon Says Stamp Monday (Die-cuts)

I saw this quick video on Instagram and thought it was an easy but interesting way to make a unique card fold, so tonight, as I was looking for my next idea, I decided to give it a try. I made my scoring marks on a full cardstock and cut it in half to get two card bases out of Old Olive cardstock.

I have been wanting to work with the Simple Vintage North Pole collection from Simple Stories (2020), so I pulled it out to use for both cards. On the first card, I used one of the 4" x 4" cut-aparts, which I cut slightly smaller and matted with the grey paper from the Basics kit. For the left panel, I cut a piece of striped paper, which I stamped in Basic Grey ink using the matching stamp set from Simple Stories. This set does not really have any image, mostly English text, but I was so drawn to the postage stamps, I knew I could use those to add background stamping to my projects, and as seen here, it really adds a lot to the side panel to have the stamping added to it.

On the right panel, I added a banner on a pin sticker that came from the sticker book at the top, and I wrapped red and white baker's twine at the bottom. I layered two tickets from the cardstock sticker sheet and added the boots with dimensional adhesive. I wanted to add a button to the bow, so I pulled out my brand-new button maker. My mom purchased this tool for me when she visited during the long weekend. It's a gift that we had both been sitting on for two years, as she had asked me what I wanted for my birthday in 2020 and I was eyeing this new Button Maker machine that was recent release at the time. Because it was new and because of the pandemic, I had trouble founding it locally and was reluctant to order online as I knew the shipping costs would increase the price of the machine tremendously. We just happened to find the machine while we were out shopping together and discovered that the sale coupon applied on it, so this was a totally unexpected purchase that day. I got the small and medium sizes, but was only able to purchase the small refills, so that's the size I'm currently working with. There were a lot of designs from the patterned papers that fit perfectly in the punch, so I made extra buttons to have on hand for future projects. I figured out that I can use my 1-3/8" circle punch instead of the die from the machine, which makes it much easier to center the design perfectly.

After auditioning my various buttons, I picked the Santa one and added it to the card with a pop-up glue dot. I also added a little candy piece from the Confections by Tim Holtz (idea-ology) on the bow holding the candy canes.

On the second card, I decided to punch holes on the left side using my Crop-a-Dile, add large eyelets and thread ribbon for a different look. I pulled out different ribbons and was not too keen on the result, until I remembered I've purchased tinsel from Prima last year, so I picked the silver one and it fit the retro look of this collection very nicely.

On the right panel, I used another 4" x 4" cut-apart with hanging stockings. I started trying to create layers, but found out that it really did not work well when part of the image was hidden, so I stamped the little star from the stamp set with Pool Party ink around the image and then I stuck to adding a sticker border at the bottom, adding a foam sticker in the right corner and creating a die-cut sentiment to layer in the center. This die from Les ateliers de Karine has been a regular go-to since I bought it. I love the look and size, and the two fonts. I used the grey paper from the Basics kit for the first word, which I then die-cut using Simon Says Stamp's Sentiment Labels dies, and I die-cut the second word out of silver glimmer paper.

I really wanted to add another button to the tinsel, but it was throwing the balance off, so I added two enamel dots in the upper right corner to finish the visual triangle. Finally, I added Glossy Accents to all of the berries on both cards and to the little heart sticker as well. These are two of my favorite Christmas cards I've done so far this year, and I will definitely want to make more book fold cards as well.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps, Patterned Papers, Cardstock Stickers, Sticker Book,
Basics Kit, Foam Stickers: Simple Vintage North Pole (Simple Stories)
Glimmer Paper: Silver (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Basic Grey, Pool Party (Stampin' Up!)
Dies: Joyeux Noël (Les ateliers de Karine); Sentiment Labels (Simon Says Stamp)
Accessories: Vintage Artistry Peace and Joy Wishing Bubbles & Trinkets (49 & Market);
Confections (Tim Holtz for idea-ology); White/Red Baker's Twine (Recollections);
White Micro Glitter (Martha Stewart); Glossy Accents (Ranger);
Button Maker (We R Memory Makers)

 

Ornament Trio

Inspiration: Try Stampin’ on Tuesday #573

I kept going with the Mistletoe Kisses collection, and the open sketch was perfect to set a scene using the three vintage-looking ornaments from the cardstock sticker sheet. I placed them to try and make the thread length work with the design, and then I stamped "Happy Holidays" on a piece of Bubblegum textured cardstock from Simple Stories. I recently built my Color Vibe cardstock collection when my local store had a sale, and I think I'm going to find useful to have matching cardstock for the large variety of Simple Stories paper collection that I own. This specific shade of pink has been especially challenging to find as regular cardstock, so it was nice to have this option to go to to make my sentiment strip. I stamped the words in VersaMark and embossed them in Aqua Tinsel embossing powder from Ranger. I tried really hard to place the sentiment strip near the middle of the card like on the sketch but it was not working at all, and the design worked much better with the strip added at the bottom instead.

I added baker's twine bows to all three ornaments, pearls to the center of the ornaments, and I sprinkled sequins and white beads in the background. I'm really liking the multiple matting in the card background, also inspired by the sketch. It adds a nice design element.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Moments lumineux
Patterned Papers, Cardstock Stickers: Mistletoe Kisses (Simple Stories)
Cardstock: Candy Red Classic Cardstock (Tonic); Pool Party (Stampin' Up!); 
Bubblegum Textured Color Vibe cardstock (Simple Stories)
Ink: VersaMark
Dies: Dotted Rectangle Stackables (Lawn Fawn)
Accessories: White/Red and White/Silver Baker's Twine (Recollections);
Moonstone Sequins (Simon Says Stamp); Aqua Tinsel Embossing Powder (Ranger);
Stormcloud, Seafoam and Arctic Breeze Pearls (Studio Katia);
White Medium Envelope, Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!)

 

No Peeking Tag

The gnome die-cut from the Mistletoe Kisses collection inspired me to make a Christmas tag. I cut the polka dot paper with the Happy Day Tags dies from Carta Bella and I glued a few paper scraps from my desk on it, before adding the gnome and the "no peeking" banner with foam adhesive. I added a hole reinforcer to the top of the tag and threaded white and silver baker's twine at the top.

I had some snowflakes die-cut out of white glimmer paper sitting on my desk, so I added one to the tag and topped it with a red button found in the Deck the Halls cube from Buttons Galore & More. I used red and green sequins from the same set as well, and topped them with matching pearls. I added puff paint to the gnome pompom and finally, I hung a little dangle at the top of the tag.

I recently found the one-step looper tool at my local Michaels and this tool is truly life-changing. I had dabbled a bit in bead wrapping in the past couple of years after seeing crafters share how they made dangles online and while I was managing to make some, it was always with a lot of sweat and effort as I discovered I'm not that great with handling small-scale items. The one-step looper is SO quick and easy in comparison, I started wrapping beads and just couldn't stop! I now have a nice selection put aside to choose from and this red and green version was one of them.

To finish it off, I added Lime Green Stickles to the tree on the gnome's hat.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Patterned Papers, Bits & Pieces: Mistletoe Kisses (Simple Stories)
Glimmer Paper: Red/White (Stampin' Up!)
Dies: Happy Day Tags (Carta Bella); Sparkly Snowflakes (Crafter's Companion)
Accessories: Stampin' Dimensionals, Puff Paint (Stampin' Up!); 
Silver/White Baker's Twine (Recollections); Deck the Halls Sequins Mix (28 Lilac Lane from Buttons Galore & More);
Beads (Bead Landing); One-Step Looper Tool (The Bead Smith); Hole Reinforcer Punch (We R Memory Keepers);
Lime Green Stickles (Ranger); Glossy Berry Mix and Moss Green Pearls (Studio Katia)

 

A Face Worth Being on a Christmas Card

Inspiration: Mojo Monday #59 + Simon Says Stamp Monday (Die Cuts)

I wanted to get back to Christmas card making, so I looked through my holiday collections and pulled out Mistletoe Kisses from Simple Stories (2016), an old favorite. I looked through the die-cut pack and decided to pair the Elf quote with the reindeer head die-cut.

I used a 5¼" x 5¼" square card base and I layered a piece of Cherry Cobbler cardstock and green polka dot paper, embossed with the Ruffled 3D embossing folder for added texture.

For the rectangle block on the left, I used the Mini Slimline dies, but the rectangle was too tall, so I ran it through the machine a second time to shorten it and keep the stitching. I punched a piece of striped paper with the Delightful Tag Topper punch, added a hole reinforcer punched out of shimmery aqua cardstock, threaded silver and white baker's twine and tied in a bow, before adding the quote with dimensional adhesive.

To embellish, I added three snowflakes from the die-cut pack and sticker sheet, which I topped with pearls in matching colours. The top of the card was too bare, so I glued a row of red confetti. The envelope was decorated with matching stickers, and the inside of the card with a reindeer image I fussy cut from the cut-apart sheet.

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Cherry Cobbler (Stampin' Up!)
Card Base and Envelope: DoCrafts
Patterned Papers, Bits & Pieces, Cardstock Stickers: Mistletoe Kisses (Simple Stories)
Dies: Mini Slimline Stackables (Lawn Fawn)
Accessories: Silver and White Baker's Twine (Recollections); Red Confetti (Pretty Pink Posh);
Ruffled 3D Embossing Folder, Stampin' Dimensionals, Delightful Tag Topper Punch (Stampin' Up!);
Seafoam, Glossy Berry Mix and Bora Bora Pearls (Studio Katia); Glossy Accents (Ranger)

 

Skating with Santa

Inspiration: Hand Stamped Sentiments #398

When the Simple Vintage Rustic Christmas collection came out last year, I thought it was pretty, but since I already had a lot of holidays collections that had captured my heart that year, I decided to hold off and hoped I might catch it on sale later on. Luckily, when my local store did a clearance sale this Spring, some of the collection was still in stock so I added it to my basket then. This is the first opportunity I have to make something with it.

I picked from the Page Pieces kit and the foam stickers set for the main images. For the background, I used a piece of green paper from the Basics kit, which I cut to size using the Deckle Trimmer, and embossed it using the Bark 3D folder. It was not standing out enough against the red card base, so I used a gold leafing pen to add a metallic border. As I started layering the elements on the card, the gold seemed a little too bright and shiny so I pulled out Distress crayons and added a bit of brown over the edges to tame the metallic down a bit.

I used patterned paper in the center of the card, and added Distress mica flakes to the corners using Distress Collage Medium to add it in place. I stamped "A very merry Christmas" in Cherry Cobbler ink on the tag from the Page Pieces set, and I layered the foliage and heart from the same set, as well as the layered border piece at left. I added the Santa foam sticker and the little heart foam sticker and an enamel dot and the card was done.

I used one of the cut-aparts on the envelope, and some remaining pieces from the Page Pieces set.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Enveloppé d'amour (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Cherry Cobbler (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers, Sticker Book, Page Pieces, Foam Stickers, Enamel Dots: Simple Vintage
Rustic Christmas (Simple Stories)
Ink: Cherry Cobbler (Stampin' Up!)
Dies: Dotted Rectangle Stackables (Lawn Fawn)
Accessories: Bark 3D Embossing Folder (Stampin' Up!); Deckle Trimmer (Tim Holtz for Tonic);
A2 Midnight Black Envelope (Envelopes.com); Gold Leafing Pen (Krylon);
Ground Espresso Distress Crayon, Distress Mica Flakes (Tim Holtz for Ranger)

 

Room For Everyone on the Nice List

Inspiration: Mojo Monday #59

When I was going through the Mistletoe Kisses ephemera pack, I tested out hanging the mittens on the corner of one of the sentiment blocks and I liked the result paired with this one, because it's short enough to see the second mitten at the bottom, so this was the starting point of this card. I looked at the list of Mojo Monday sketches for inspiration and came up with this design. I thought the Iridescent Trim from the current Stampin' Up! Holidays minicatalogue went well with the soft colours of the Simple Stories collection. To stretch my remaining papers, I also worked in a sheet of the new Knit Picky Winter paper from Lawn Fawn (6" x 6"), which went very nicely with the mittens.

I had three die-cut snowflakes on my desk, that had originally been glued on a blue vellum shadow and after weeks of not being able to work them into any of my holiday projects, I just decided to rip them from the blue paper and use them on their own on this card. I also worked in a piece of white velvet print vellum on the main block for added texture. The green border in the background was die-cut with the Lacy Borders dies from Lawn Fawn, and I used a metallic Lagoon A2 envelope to finish the set.

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Candy Red (Tonic)
Patterned Papers, Bits & Pieces, Cardstock Stickers: Mistletoe Kisses (Simple Stories)
Patterned Paper: Knit PIcky Winter (Lawn Fawn)
Specialty Vellum: Unknown (Stampin' Up!)
Glimmer Paper: Red/White (Stampin' Up!)
Dies: Square Nestabilities (Spellbinders); Lacy Borders (Lawn Fawn);
Felicity Snowflakes (Birch Press Designs)
Accessories: Iridescent Trim, Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!);
Bora Bora Pearls, Silver Crystals (Studio Katia); A2 Metallic Lagoon Envelope (Envelopes.com);
Deck the Halls Sequin Mix (28 Lilac Lane for Buttons Galore & More)

Santa Squad #7 - Christmas Forest

When I made my first mini folder card, I didn't place my die on the side of the patterned paper I needed in order to have the tab where I wanted it and the snowmen facing the right way, so I die cut another piece of paper. This piece was my first attempt, that I recycled by using the pink on the outside and the snowmen on the inside. This time, I used up all of the tree chipboard pieces and created my own little Christmas tree lot of sorts. I added some more Felicity Snowflakes die-cuts and I filled the empty space at the top with a Merry Christmas die-cut.  The tree ornaments were topped with pearls and gems for added shine and dimension. I also added two Doo Dadz on the tab.

 

 

 

Supplies
Patterned Papers, Ciao Chip: Santa Squad, Fa La La (Bella Blvd.)
Dies: Joyeux Noël / Bonne Année (Crealies); Specimen (Tim Holtz for Sizzix);
Felicity Snowflakes (Birch Press Design)
Accessories: Mini Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!); 
A2 Metallic Fairway Envelope (Envelopes.com); Dragon Scales and Cloud 9 Dream Drops,
Holly Berries Jewel Drops (Nuvo); Satin Silver and Arctic Breeze Pearls,
July Crystals (Studio Katia); Princess Sparkle Doo Dadz (Buttons Galore & More)

 

Santa Squad #6 - Ho Ho Ho

This idea has been floating in my end from the beginning, to make a slimline card using the Ho Ho Ho chipboard. I finally committed the idea to paper and I liked the result so much that I made two versions of it. It's pretty much the same except that one has white shimmery snowflakes and the other one, red.

Card size: 3¼" x 6½"

 

 

 

Supplies
Card Bases: #6 (Photoplay)
Cardstock: Vellum, White and Red Glimmer Paper (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers, Ciao Chip, Cardstock Stickers, Ephemera Icons: Santa Squad, Fa La La (Bella Blvd.)
Dies: Mini Slimline Stackables (Lawn Fawn); Felicity Snowflakes (Birch Press Design)
Accessories: White Polka Dot Tulle Ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!);
Frosted Lace Stickles (Ranger); Fresh Snowfall Glitter Accents, Bubblegum Blush and
Morning Dew Crystal Drops, Holly Berries Jewel Drops (Nuvo)

 

Santa Squad #5 - The Big Cheese

Inspiration: Sunday Stamps #290

I picked Santa himself from the chipboard pieces to be the center of this next card. The design was based on the Sunday Stamps sketch, and I used Shimmer Sheetz to die-cut the circle behind him, which in real life has a really nice shine to it. I used a leftover piece of flocked vellum for the band behind and I added a border sticker at the top for a nicer finish.

I included snowflakes die-cut out of vellum and red glitter paper using the Felicity Snowflakes dies, and I topped them with white Altenew enamel dots.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Garden Green, White and Red Glimmer Paper, Vellum (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers, Ciao Chip: Santa Squad (Bella Blvd.)
Specialty Vellum: Plush Poinsettias (Stampin' Up!)
Dies: Wonky Stitched Rectangle STAX (MY Favorite Things); 
Cross Stitched Circle Stackables (Lawn Fawn); Felicity Snowflakes (Birch Press Design)
Accessories: Essential Black & White Enamel Dots (Altenew);
A2 Metallic Fairway Envelope (Envelopes.com); Star Dust Stickles (Ranger);
Stampin' Dimensionals, White Baker's Twine (Stampin' Up!)

 

Santa Squad #4 - Gingerbread Mini-Folder

I kept going with the Santa Squad collection and decided to make a card with the mini-folder die from Tim Holtz's Specimen die set. Didn't that turn into the cutest card ever? 

I added a tab from the ephemera pack, with the little rectangle from the die set and an enamel heart (Altenew). I used the die-cut numbers on the folder tab and added an enamel dot as well.

On the card, I added a piece of plaid paper, tied white cotton twine around and I glued the 25 chipboard pieces at the bottom on each side of the twine. I die-cut the slide and added the gingerbread people ephemera image on top with dimensional adhesive. I decorated the corners and the image with Crystal Drops. I also added a silver star in between. I used leftover die-cuts and ephemera pieces to decorate a matching envelope.

 

 

 

Supplies
Patterned Papers, Ephemera Icons, Ciao Chip: Santa Squad, Fa La La (Bella Blvd.) 
Dies: Specimen (Tim Holtz for Sizzix)
Accessories: A2 Envelope (The Paper Cut); Stampin' Dimensionals, White Cotton Twine (Stampin' Up!);
Morning Dew, Bubblegum Blush and Calming Aqua Crystal Drops (Nuvo);
Cherry Blossom Enamel Dots (Altenew)

 

Peaceful Village

Inspiration: ColourQ #178 + Simon Says Stamp Wednesday (Christmas)

This card had an interesting designing process. I was able to purchase the Colorize Holiday Village dies  from Tim Holtz on sale when my local store offered a Sizzix sale. It was purchased off season, so I hadn't done anything with it yet. I was puttering around in my craft room yesterday and decided to assemble it. I didn't know what colours to use, so I pulled old ColourQ combo for inspiration and picked something that had yellow for the lights and blue for the snow in it. I will admit, this is one of the colour combo that I wouldn't have known what to make with on its own, but once the little town was all assembled, I liked the result! Considering how detailed the village is, the assembly really is not that bad. The trick is to use adhesive sheets on the back of the cardstock before die-cutting it and then adding the small pieces is not as fussy. 

One thing I did not expect was for the assembled image to be 7 inches wide! That is not standard size, although I guess the slimline format could work for it. After testing out a few ideas, I ended up picking the mini slimline format and cutting the ends of the village off. Using blender brushes, I inked the sky in Tumbledd Glass and Prize Ribbon Distress Oxide inks and spritzed with water. 

I stamped my sentiment in VersaMark and embossed it in navy powder, and then I added different sequins to fill in the night sky. I had used blank card bases I found at my local store from Photoplay, in #6 card size, but I realized after the card was assembled that their format is a little different from the one I usually use for mini slimline, as I make my cards 3¼" wide, whereas theirs is 3½" wide. That means that the envelope I have on hand are too narrow and I had to make my own envelope out of patterned paper to rectify. Knowing that, I might just chop the edges of the card base next time so that I can use the envelopes I have.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Pétales de poinsettia (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: #6 Blank Cards (Photoplay); Brilliant Blue, Cool Caribbean, Summer Starfruit,
Midnight Muse (Stampin' Up!); White Glitter Cardstock, Shiny Gold Glitter Cardstock (Recollections);
Textured Blue Cardstock (Bazzill)
Designer Series Paper: Unknown (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: VersaMark; Tumbled Glass and Prize Ribbon Distress Oxide (Ranger)
Accessories: Navy Embossing Powder (Top Boss); Stampin' Dimensionals, Envelope Punch Board,
Apothecary Accents Dies (Stampin' Up!); Holiday Village Colorize Dies (Tim Holtz for Sizzix); 
Moonshine Stars, White Sequins and Medium Cornflower Blue Sequins (Cartwright's);
Blender Brushes (Taylored Expressions); Spritzer Bottle (Ranger)

Sledding Scene

Inspiration: 52 Christmas Card Throwdown (Skiing or Sledding) + Tic Tac Toe #175 (Polka Dots + Red + Square)

I thought the skiing/sledding theme from the 52 Christmas Card Throwdown challenge was an interesting one and had made a mental note to try to make a project for it. Tonight, I was going through my holiday-themed paper packs to see what I would want to work with in upcoming weeks and the Echo Park collection A Perfect Winter caught my eye because one of the cut-aparts is a little guy with his sled - and the sticker sheet had the word Sledding on it. For the design, I drew inspiration from an older Card Maps sketch. I filled the space with some die-cut snowflakes I had prepared earlier in the week that were sitting on my desk.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Card Base and Envelope: DoCrafts
Patterned Papers, Cardstock Stickers: A Perfect Winter (Echo Park)
Cardstock: Red and White Glimmer Paper, Vellum (Stampin' Up!)
Dies: Felicity Snowflakes (Birch Press Design); Sparkly Snowflakes (Crafter's Companion)
Accessories: Mini Stampin' Dimensionals, Real Red Cotton Ribbon, Distress Tool (Stampin' Up!);
Moonshine and White Sequins (Cartwright's); Blue Lagoon Gems (Pretty Pink Posh)

 

Miss Merry

Inspiration: January 2022 Card Maps Sketch + Tic Tac Toe #175 (Embellishments + Die Cuts + Leaves)

I've been wanting to get a Janet Klein stamp set (Aall & Create) for a long time, but I had a hard time narrowing my choice to one set. I finally picked Miss Merry, which I think is adorable. I wanted something very classic when I picked a paper collection to go with it, so I pulled out Home for Christmas from Carta Bella (2021). 

I stamped my images in Tuxedo Black ink, colored them with Copic markers, then fussy cut them. I based my layout on a Card Maps sketch and played around with papers until  I found a layering combination that I liked. I die-cut the scalloped circle three times and kept changing my mind about colours. I finally spotted the black glitter foam sheets from Spellbinder I recently found at my scrapbook store and thought it could work nicely, and I loved the look and raise the foam gave.

I had die-cut the Felicity Snowflakes from Birch Press Design out of white glitter paper, but it was clashing against the creamy background of the papers, so I went back and die-cut the snowflakes out of red glitter paper, then layered them on vellum. I am liking the look and size of those snowflakes, so I think I will use them a lot.

Since I have the Sticker Book to go with the papers, I picked a sentiment strip from it, and also embellished the inside of my card and envelope with more stickers. I added Stormcloud pearls to the center of the snowflakes and I was still bothered by the empty spot on the right of the card, so I added a stocking sticker as well. This card is both classic and whimsical at the same time, which seems to represent me well.

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Miss Merry (Aall & Create)
Cardstock: Thick Whisper White, Vellum, Real Red Glimmer Paper (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers, Sticker Book: Home for Christmas (Carta Bella)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Dies: Dotted Rectangle Stackables (Lawn Fawn); Felicity Snowflakes (Birch Press Design);
Layering Circles (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: A2 Midnight Black Envelope (Envelopes.com); Markers (Copic);
Stormcloud Pearls (Studio Katia); Mini Stampin' Dimensionals, Banners Pick a Punch (Stampin' Up!);
Black & White Pop-Up Die Cutting Glitter Foam Sheets (Spellbinders)

 

All Aboard the Holiday Express

Inspiration: Mojo Monday #402 + Simon Says Stamp Wednesday (Christmas) + Just Add Ink #617 (gingham + die-cuts)

I kept going using my scraps from the Comfort and Joy collection from My Mind's Eye (2016). I had a nice piece of red and black gingham that I used for the background, and I pulled out the Santa's Delivery bundle to go with it. I colored the images with Copic markers and I stamped my sentiment in the wagon's window (it translates to something like "on our way to the Holidays"). I used black foil paper for the track and a piece of ribbon to mimic the two horizontal lines from the sketch.

I had enough gingham paper to make a matching envelope, on which I added a tag in soft green for the address label. This one took surprisingly long to finish, because of the coloring and die-cutting.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Wagon de cadeaux (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Evening Evergreen (Stampin' Up!); Solar White (Neenah);
Black Metallic Paper (Tim Holtz for Idea-ology)
Patterned Papers: Comfort and Joy (My Mind's Eye)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento); VersaMark; Evening Evergreen (Stampin' Up!)
Dies: Stitched So Sweetly, Santa's Train (Stampin' Up!); Circles Layering Set (Tonic)
Accessories: Farm Sweet Farm Say It in Crystals (Prima Marketing); Markers (Copic);
Liquid Platinum Embossing Powder (Ranger); Stampin' Dimensionals,
Envelope Punch Board, Ribbon (Stampin' Up!)

 

Santa Squad #3 - Floating Gatefold Nutcracker

Inspiration: Floating Gatefold Tutorial from Stamping Bella + Just Add Ink #617 (Gingham + Dots)

As I was working on my Santa Squad card series, I received an email from Stamping Bella showing recent blog posts and in it, there was a very unique card with a kind of fun fold I had never seen before. I was curious and went to check the post out and I decided it was the perfect opportunity to give it a try with the supplies I had out. I love how it turned out. It's so unique and the result is pretty darn cute. The finished card measures 4" x 5½" but it is quite thick, so I do advice you either get a larger envelope or make your own to accommodate for the extra thickness. In hindsight, I regret adding the silver adhesive stars in the corners because I think it will make sliding the belly band on and off more difficult for the person who receives the card. 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Cotton Candy (Bazzill)
Patterned Papers, Ciao Chip, Cardstock Stickers: Santa Squad, Fa La La (Bella Blvd.)
Dies: Layering Circles, Stitched So Sweetly  (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Blue Adhesive-Backed Gems, Twinkle Adhesive-Backed Sequins,
Stampin' Dimensionals, Envelope Punch Board (Stampin' Up!);
Essential Black & White Enamel Dots (Altenew)

 

Woodland Tree Trimming

Inspiration: Try Stampin’ on Tuesday #569 + Simon Says Stamp Wednesday (Christmas)

My Comfort and Joy paper pack from My Mind's Eye (2016) is down to a few scraps, so I tried to see if I could finish it all up. I pulled the Christmas Critters stamp set from Avery Elle and stamped and colored the penguins trimming the tree. I used Gansai Tambi watercolor to colour the star in gold and I added white shimmer to their hats.

I had a leftover tag on the sticker sheet, so I used the Merry Christmas sentiment from the Santa's Delivery stamp set on it. I had my little white glimmer paper snowflakes on vellum from yesterday's crafting session, that I sprinkled around the card, and I also included one of the tree rings as a layer on the card to keep with the woodland feel of the papers.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Christmas Critters (Avery Elle); Wagon de cadeaux (Santa's Delivery - Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Soft Seafoam, Evening Evergreen, Vellum (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers, Stickers: Comfort and Joy (My Mind's Eye)
Ink: Evening Evergreen (Stampin' Up!); Vintage Photo Distress Oxide (Ranger)
Dies: Dotted Rectangle Stackables, Outside In Stitched Rectangle Stackables (Lawn Fawn);
Christmas Critters (Avery Elle); Tree Rings (Stampin' Up!); Postage Stamps (Hero Arts)
Accessories: Tree Rings Hybrid Embossing Folder, Stampin' Dimensionals, 
Evening Evergreen Ribbon (Stampin' Up!); Moss Green Pearls, July Crystals (Studio Katia);
Glossy Berry Pearl Mix (Little Things from Lucy's Cards); Markers (Copic);
Starry Sky Gansai Tambi Watercolors (Kuretake)

Lights Aglow Card Set

Today's craft session started a little differently than usual. I pretty much grabbed a bunch of Stampin' Up! dies and the Lights Aglow Specialist Designer Series Paper pack, plus the Festive Foils Specialty Designer Series Paper, Very Vanilla glimmer paper and Gold Foil sheets, and I started die-cutting all kinds of shapes and images that I thought could make great basic pieces to design with.

I prepared pieces for a good two hours and then ideas started coming so I first created a shaker card using the Santa Claus image. I backed this piece with acetate and I created my own mix of sequins to match the collection. I used the really cool bokeh patterned paper for the base, I added a gold rope that comes from a nautical die set, I added vanilla glimmered snowflakes, a gold jingle bell and my sentiment embossed in gold on Soft Succulent bokeh paper. It is one of those things where I would never have thought to pull out all of those die sets if I had been working on that card, but because I was fishing through my pre-prepared pieces, it helped me to break out of my usual mould.

The second idea came from the gold foil frames that are already included in the Specialty DSP. They're not cut out, so I had to die-cut the circle out, but I liked the size of the largest jingle bell in the frame, so it became the focus point of the second card. You can see the sentiment block is exactly the same as on the previous card - it's because my stamping was a little fuzzy, but I managed to save it by overtamping in VersaMark and embossing in gold to hide the fuzzy ink. The little gold holly leaves come from the bell on the first card, and I framed my sentiment with them.

I added a swirly circle die-cut behind the gold-foil frame, and layered various greenery pieces. I added a small poinsettia to the jingle bell, topped with a gem. That gold rope made a second appearance as well. The background was embossed with a stitched plate for added texture.

For the third card, I assembled the poinsettia and mounted it to a tag. I tied ribbon to another tag and paired them over a black bokeh background. I had leftover vanilla glimmered snowflakes that I used to fill in the space a bit, as well as a circle doily, that I squeezed between the tags. The little vanilla banner die-cut also comes from the nautical set and I found a small enough sentiment to stamp on it.

The last card was an embellishment that became a tag that became a card. I never grow tired of using that slate die, I've loved every single project I've ever made with it. The skate looks particularly cool die-cut out of vanilla glimmer paper. I struggled to find what to use for the background. With the three layered pieces, I already had a lot of patterns. I started looking at possibly doing an embossing folder on regular cardstock, but I remembered that I have the Birch background stamp and was curious how it looked. I tried it stamped full force in Basic Grey, then as a second generation for a softer look. I went back to the full-force inked background and I turned the cardstock 180 degrees, stamped the background again in VersaMark and embossed the details in gold powder. This is inspired by a lovely Christmas wrapping paper than I own (and that I paid a pretty penny for since it is gold-foiled). Isn't the result cool? I liked it and decided that's what I wanted to use. I added a strip of black paper with a bit of ribbon to anchor the tags down, and I used the other vanilla banner I had die-cut from the nautical set, stamping Joy on it this time.

I managed to make this four different and intricate cards in an afternoon. I used most of what I had die-cut, and I left the few remaining pieces in my DSP package to be used on future projects.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies (Unless Otherwise Noted)
Stamps: Birch, Moments lumineux, Joyeux moments
Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Thick Very Vanilla, Cherry Cobbler, Soft Succulent,
Gold Foil Sheets, Glimmer Specialty Paper
Specialty Designer Series Paper: Lights Aglow, Festive Foils
Ink: VersaMark, Basic Grey, Evening Evergreen
Dies: Too Many to List!
Accessories: Envelope Punch Board, Polished Dots, Stampin' Dimensionals, Window Sheet,
1/8" Gold Ribbon, Soft Succulent Woven Ribbon, Soft Succulent Taffeta Ribbon, 
Evening Evergreen Woven Ribbon, Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder, Soft Succulent Stampin' Write Marker;
Farm Sweet Farm Say It With Crystals (Prima Marketing); 
Sequins (Little Things from Lucy's Cards, Simon Says Stamp, Cartwright's, Stampin' Up!);
Vintage Shimmer Pearls (Studio Katia)

 

Santa Squad #2 - Scooter Santa

Inspiration: Mojo Monday #337

I dare you to look at this Santa and not smile... He's pure joie de vivre! I kept going with the Santa Squad collection and picked the scooter Santa as my main image. I layered papers inspired by the sketch. I notice the line has a lot of pink in it and I hope this won't deter the staff at the hospital from handing those Christmas cards to the boys as well. I auditioned various papers to put underneath the Santa and the pink was really was made the image pop up the most. 

For the sentiment, I grabbed a little banner from the ephemera pack and I stamped "joy" on it, then embossed it with Real Red glitter embossing powder. The ephemera pack had two Santas, so I placed one inside the card and one on the envelope. I added Twinkle Stickles to the Santa beads.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Moments lumineux (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Ballet Slippers (Lawn Fawn)
Specialty Vellum: Plush Poinsettia (Stampin' Up)!)
Patterned Papers, Cardstock Stickers, Ciao Chip, Ephemera Icons: Santa Squad (Bella Blvd.)
Ink: VersaMark
Dies: Wonky Stitched Rectangles STAX (My Favorite Thnigs); Wonky Square Frames (Avery Elle)
Accessories: Corner Chomper (We R Memory Makers); A2 Metallic Jupiter Envelope (Envelopes.com);
Real Red Glitter Embossing Powder, Stampin' Dimensionals, Glitter Washi Tape,
Iced Rhinestone Embellishments, Wonderful Gems (Stampin' Up!);
Twinkle Stickles (Ranger)

 

Santa Squad #1 - Christmas Beetle

Inspiration: Mojo Monday #390

If you've been following my blog posts, you've seen me pick a paper collection and make a card series with it, in recent instances for cards to give to the Children's Hospital for the upcoming Holidays. When I do, I try to pick collections that have a cutesy, colorful quality to them, which will hopefully be more pleasing to younger kids. Going through my Christmas collections, I realized I have two full packs of chipboard pieces plus an ephemera icons pack from the Santa Squad collection that are just screaming quick and adorable Christmas cards.

This is the first of the series. I was looking at old Mojo Monday sketches for inspiration and I picked the beetle in the circle ephemera piece to fit with the sketch. I stamped my sentiment directly on the polka dot paper and embossed it with Liquid Platinum embossing powder. The cute pink snowflake comes from ephemera pack as well. I added yellow twine, popped up the image on dimensional adhesive and added snow using Indigo Eclipse Dream Drops. Polished Dots were added to the car's headlights for dimension.

I used the larger ephemera car on the matching red envelope, and added gold faceted gems on the headlights.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Moments lumineux (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Ballet Slippers (Lawn Fawn)
Patterned Papers, Chipboard Stickers, Ephemera Icons: Santa Squad (Bella Blvd.)
Ink: VersaMark
Accessories: Liquid Platinum Embossing Powder (Ranger); Indigo Eclipse Dream Drops (Nuvo);
Stampin' Dimensionals, So Saffron Baker's Twine, Petal Pink Rhinestone Gems,
Gold Faceted Gems (Stampin' Up!); Red A2 Envelope (The Paper Cut);
Mini Slimline Dies (Lawn Fawn); Foundation 4 Dies (Queen & Co)

 

All Bundled Up

Inspiration: January 2022 Card Maps Sketch

This image caught my attention as I was working with the A Perfect Winter collection (2017) and I had the perfect sketch for it, so I put it aside for later, and this is the card I made with it. This is another very simple design where the patterned papers do most of the work. I paired two papers for the background, added stitching in the center using the Basic Stitch Lines dies from My Favorite Things and the Wonky Stitched Rectangles dies for the frame.

I added wool patterned paper to the right side of my image, rounded the corners and created stitched ric rac with another MFT die. I let it hang off the edges and stapled it in place like on the sketch. I stamped "Best wishes" at the bottom of the little guy and embossed it in navy powder. I added Snowfall accents puff paint on the top of his hat and I used Crystal Drops to add snow falling and details to his outfit.

For the envelope, I did something totally different than I usually do and I cut a full 6" x 4" cut-apart image to size to fill the whole front of the envelope. I stamped the words "Special Delivery Just for You" at the left of the cute bear, used the rest of my ric rac at the bottom of the image and I added one of the snowflakes I had previously die-cut with my Felicity Snowflakes set. I again added snow falling with different bottles of Liquid Pearl and Crystal Drops and I totally love the look achieved. I didn't have to leave room for the address on this one because it will be going to the children's hospital and will be hand delivered. I hope this cute style will appeal to the kid that receives it.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Joyeux moments (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Balmy Blue (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers, Cardstock Stickers: A Perfect Winter (Lori Whitlock for Echo Park)
Ink: VersaMark
Dies: Basic Stitch lines, Wonky Stitched Rectangle STAX, Stitched Ric Rac (My Favorite Things);
Felicity Snowflakes (Birch Press Design)
Accessories: Snowfall Accents Puff Paint, Mini Stapler (Stampin' Up!);
A2 Nautical Blue Linen Envelope (Envelopes.com); 
Indigo Eclipse Dream Drops, Sea Breeze and Holly Berries Jewel Drops,
Ivory Seashell Crystal Drops (Nuvo); Black Enamel Accents, White Opal Liquid Pearls (Ranger)

 

Soft Snowman

Inspiration: As You See It #280 (My Favorite Christmas in July Creation is cards!) + 52 Christmas Card Throwdown (August Sketch)

I found the new Mintay Christmas collection when I stopped by my local scrapbook store - Merry Little Christmas. It's not like I need more Christmas craft supplies, but I liked the softness of this collection and it was different enough from other papers I have to let myself get tempted. I also like how their 12" x 12" papers don't have the same patterns as the ones in the 6" x 8" paper pad do. The pad has complementary patterns, so I sprang for both. What's nice is that both paper sizes also have different cut-apart images, which adds to the value as well. The images you see on this card came from the 6" x 8" paper pad.

I had my Opalescent Green ombre cardstock from Tonic sitting not too far and I realized the mint colour would pair very nicely, so I used some to back one of the cut-apart frames. I hung a Christmas bauble from the snowman's hand and added a bigger bauble at the top as well. I layered branches and berries around the image and underneath the little note. I decided to leave it blank and I plan to pencil in the name of the person I'll be sending the card to when I'm ready to send my Christmas cards.

I used my square card bases and matching envelopes. This purchase was an interesting one. Years ago, I was out of white square envelopes and asked my local store if she could order some for me. She found a pack of 10 envelopes with card bases for $4.25 CAD. I really just needed envelopes, but as the store owner pointed out, at this low price, the card bases were practically included for free! We were both curious how the quality would be and shocked to discover that the cardstock was really thick and high quality. That pack lasted me quite a while (I do make square cards fairly regularly, but the card bases are not always white, so that's why.) Anyway, when I ran out, I asked my store if it was something that could be reordered but sadly, she couldn't get those specific cards and envelopes anymore. I went hunting on the Internet and found some through Amazon. I could only get a pack of 50, for a fair price, but when they got here, I found out the card base is not the same quality cardstock as what it was before. It's not crappy quality, either, but it just doesn't feel as luxurious as the previous cards did, and I'm wondering how much layering it will take before the card base starts to buckle. When you put the card bases and envelopes side by side, the white is also not exactly the same (envelopes seem brighter than the cards). It's subtle, but that is the kind of details that disappoint me when something is sold as an actual set. Anyway, I have them, I will use them and if/when I get through the whole pack, I will move on to another source to replenish my stash.

To make the background more interesting, I cut the edges using the deckle trimmer and then I ran my VersaMark pad along the edges, embossing them with White Glitz embossing powder from Wow! This powder is so pretty in the container - it's white with long rectangular clear glitter in it. Which you cannot tell looking at my card because none of the glitter stayed on the edges when I embossed them. The company seems to have used fine white embossing powder and it does not seem to have enough hold to keep the glitter in place. This is unfortunately not the first project I have had this problem with on. It's sad, because when the powder does stay in place with the glitter, the result is absolutely gorgeous. I thought about going back and adding more VersaMark, but I wanted to stick to the dainty frosted edges, so right now, they are just plain white. In exchange, I added Frosted Lace Stickles on my berries and snowman, and I also added Glossy Accents to the eyes and buttons. I added sequins and seed beads around the card, and Poppy Parade ribbon to ground the images and add texture to the card.

I like making cards with Mintay papers, the result is always a nice departure from my usual cutesy projects. This gives me more variety to choose from when I'm sending cards to friends and family, as I always pick something that somehow reminds me of them or their personality. Don't know if I always end up getting their tastes right, but it's more based on a gut feeling of which card should go to which person.

 

 

 

  

 

Supplies
5¼" x 5¼" Square Card Bases and Envelopes: Anita's (DoCrafts)
Patterned Papers: Merry LIttle Christmas - 12" x 12" and 6" x 8" (Mintay)
Cardstock: Opalescent Green Ombre (Tonic)
Accessories: Deckle Trimmer (Tim Holtz for Tonic); 
White Glitz Embossing Powder (Wow!); Frosted Lace Stickles (Ranger);
Poppy Parade Grosgrain Ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!);
Pastel Dreams and Deck the Halls Sequin Mixes (28 Lilac Lane - Buttons Galore & More)

 

From Our House to Yours

Inspiration: TGIF #377 (Christmas in July)

I received a nice birthday card from Suzanne last year that featured a double accordion style and it inspired me to try making one myself, using the Holly Days collection from Simple Stories. I took measurements off of hers to figure how the pieces I needed.

For the central panel, I stamped a larger sentiment in VersaMark and embossed it with Real Red glitter embossing powder. I then ran the cardstock through the Big Shot using the Softly Falling embossing folder. I tore white glimmer paper for snow at the bottom, and I added my two house images on each side of the sentiment. I filled the space at the top with snowflake stickers, some glued flat and some popped up on mini Stampin' Dimensionals. I also added a heart underneath the sentiment. 

I used snowflake patterned paper for the central block and added a little sentiment sticker in the center, and I left the right panel blank for a space to write the message on. I added a sticker tab at the right of it, topped with a decorative brad. That is definitely a fun type of cards to make to showcase a few different patterned papers, and it's neither long or complicated to put together. 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Moments lumineux (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Real Red, Spruce Shadow, Whisper White, White Glimmer Paper (Stampin' Up!);
Cotton Candy (Bazzill)
Patterned Papers, Cardstock Stickers, Decorative Brads: Holly Days (Simple Stories)
Ink: VersaMark
Embossing Folder: Softly Falling (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Mini Stampin' Dimensionals, Real Red Glitter Embossing Powder (Stampin' Up!);
A2 Jupiter Metallic Envelope (Envelopes.com); Arctic Breeze Pearls (Studio Katia); Diamond Stickles (Ranger)

 

Holly Days Ornaments

Inspiration: Little Red Wagon #661 (Christmas in July)

This card was inspired by the Tuesday Morning sketch and I kept working with the Holly Days collection from Simple Stories. I inked up the Decorated with Happiness stamp set (currently sold in Stampin' Up!'s Holidays minicatalogue) and used the matching dies to cut the images out. I hesitated on getting this set - I've always liked the two-step doodled images sets, but I've found it hard to use them in the past. Here, the matching dies are what made me reconsider the purchase. I also really like the fun fonts of the sentiments and I'm always looking to add variety to the sentiments I used, so I gave this a try, and so far, I'm liking how easy it is to use the elements found in the bundle.

Because I wanted a long, one-line sentiment, I picked from Brightest Glow, an all-sentiment set. I embossed the words with Wild Wilderness embossing glaze on pink cardstock, which I matted with plaid paper. I added decorative brads on each side.

I die-cut the ornament toppers from silver foil sheets and the little stars from silver glitter paper. I also added a little cut-apart star that was lying on my desk, but fit the papers quite well. On the envelope, I used ornament cardstock stickers with a little sentiment strip to match the card.

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Moments lumineux, Fêtes branchées (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Real Red, Whisper White (Stampin' Up!); Cotton Candy (Bazzill);
Metallic Krafstock (Tim Holtz for idea-ology); Silver Glitter Paper (Unknown)
Patterned Papers, Decorative Brads, Cardstock Stickers: Holly Days (Simple Stories)
Ink: Old Olive, Shaded Spruce, Real Red, Blushing Bride, Pool Party, VersaMark (Stampin' Up!)
Dies: Decorated Pine (Stampin' Up!); Outside In Stitched Rectangle Stackables (Lawn Fawn)
Accessories: Wild Wilderness Embossing Glaze (Ranger); Mini Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!);
A2 Jupiter Metallic Envelope (Envelopes.com)

 

Silver Reindeer

Inspiration: November 2017 Card Maps sketch + Little Red Wagon #611 (Christmas in July)

Since I was done with the current Card Maps sketches, I went looking at past card sketches for inspiration. I found one with a leaping reindeer on it and it reminded me of some pretty cool silver foam stickers I found at the dollar store last year. I used the floral pattern for the center part of the sketch and the Festive Foils Specialty DSP (sold in current Stampin' Up! Holidays minicatalogue) for the background. The sketch had a shape for the sentiment strip that looked a lot like a die I have in a Project Life Nesting Dies set, so I stamped the Happy Holidays stamp in Shaded Spruce ink on Old Olive cardstock and cut it out with the die.

Because the sticker set had two reindeers and I very much loved the first card, I decided to make a duplicate. I realized when I added the reindeer to the card that the second one is slightly smaller, so I did three snowflakes on this card for balance. There's something very elegant about the end result. It's hard to think that those stickers were only a buck.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Moments lumineux (Stampin' Up!) 
Cardstock: Thick Whisper White (Stampin' Up!)
Specialty Designer Series Paper: Festive Foils (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers: Holly Days (Simple Stories)
Dies: Project Life Nesting Dies (American Crafts); Dotted Rectangle Stackables (Lawn Fawn)
Accessories: Red Rhinestone Basic Jewels, Mini Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!);
Diamond Say It in Crystals (Prima Marketing); A2 Jupiter Metallic Envelopes (Envelopes.com)