Cottage Cutz Winter Wonderland Scene Christmas card

Hi blogging friends 

The card I am sharing today is another clean and simple card done in similar vein to my last two posts (see HERE and HERE).  Hope you aren't getting too bored?!?  I guess this is my way of kind-of speeding up the process when I need to make alot of cards in a short space of time but I get really bored if I make 2 or more of the same card so I love to change things up a little even if I might be using similar products and layouts.  I am trying to see how many of my die cut shapes fit inside the MFT Photo Card Frame dies and see it as a fun challenge to see what I can make.

The aqua glitter cardstock frame was diecut using a My Favorite Things - Merry Photo Card Frame die and I trimmed off the word 'Merry' because the word covered up my scene.  The dot embossing is a retired embossing folder by Cuttlebug - Kars Snowflakes.  You will most likely not be able to find this embossing folder anywhere online but if you check THIS post, I have several suggestions for alternative embossing folders that you can use.

The scene is a die by Cottage Cutz - Winterland Wonderland Scene.  Because I wanted to have a space to add a sentiment, I used one of the dies from the My Favorite Things Snow Drifts set and diecut some white cardstock and layered that over the bottom of the diecut scene.  

The snowflake on the bottom LHS is by My Favorite Things - Snowflakes Trio (I used the smallest snowflake in the set) and the snowflake on the RHS above the Church was punched using a Martha Stewart Snow Flurry edge punch ie: it is one of the leftover snowflake punchies from using the punch.  I glued the scene and snowflakes down using Tombow Mono Multi glue then attached the scene to my white cardstock base and trimmed the edges to 1/16" using my Perfect Layers Tools - apart from the top of the card which is where the card fold is. 

The 'Peace' is a die by Elizabeth Craft Designs and was diecut from the same aqua glitter cardstock and attached using Tombow Mono Multi glue.

Lastly, I added a Hero Arts rhinestone to each snowflake centre. 

Challenges:

I am entering my card in the following challenges -

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Bling it on 
Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra - December - Anything Goes 
Splitcoaststampers - Clean and Simple CAS301 - Lovely as a Tree

Thanks for stopping by!

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps and Ink:  None

Designer Paper:  Aqua glitter cardstock

Dies:  My Favorite Things Die-namics Merry Photo Card Frame, Snow Drifts and Snowflake Trio, Cottage Cutz Winter Wonderland Scene CCE-050, Elizabeth Craft Designs Peace ECD-750

Punches:  Martha Stewart Snow Flurry edge

Accessories:  Big Shot, Perfect Layers Tools, Hero Arts rhinestones CH213 Sea Mixed Accents, Cuttlebug Kars Snowflakes embossing folder (retired), white cardstock, Tombow Mono Multi glue, doublesided tape

Cottage Cutz Deer Snowflake Scene Christmas card

Hi blogging friends 

I can't believe how quickly Christmas is approaching - time seems to speed up at this time of year!

Today I am sharing a clean and simple Christmas card just using dies and an embossing folder.  This is also my entry for the following Challenges:

Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes with the optional extra theme of make a decoration or gift for Christmas (which I obviously didn't do), and

Splitcoaststampers - Clean and Simple Challenge CAS301 of add a tree(s) to your card.

The Deer Snowflake scene is a gorgeous die by Cottage Cutz which I purchased at a Craft Show in August.  Isn't it a beautiful?

The dot embossing is a retired Cuttlebug folder - Kars snowflakes which is very difficult to find but there are two embossing folders that you can substitute:-

Taylored Expressions (new release) Snowfall TEEF09.  The dots are larger on this folder compared to the Kars Snowflake folder.  Taylored Expressions embossing folders plus their stamps/dies are now available in Australia from various retailers - just do a search online.

Image copyright Taylored Expressions

Or you can use the Sizzix Dots folder from the Merry Christmas Words and Dots set Item #658285.  These dots are closer in size to the Kars Snowflake folder.  I can't find this set on the Sizzix US website so it may be retired (?).  I have seen the set on various websites around the world so you might be able to pick it up somewhere.

Image copyright Sizzix

I used Tombow Mono Multi glue to attach the diecut Deer Snowflake scene to the embossed cardstock and cleaned up any little bits of glue that seeped out using a Xyron Adhesive remover.

The aqua glitter cardstock was diecut using a My Favorite Things Joy Photo Card Frame die.  I attached the scene to my white cardstock base and trimmed the edges to 1/16" using my Perfect Layers Tools - apart from the LHS of the card which is where the card fold is.

The smallest aqua glitter cardstock snowflake on the scene is from the Poppystamps Christmas Baubles die set (which includes 2 snowflakes - I used the smallest snowflake from the set) and the largest snowflake is from the My Favorite Things Snowflakes Trio set (I used the smallest snowflake in the set).  I added aqua rhinestones to the snowflake centres.

The card is very flat and will be going overseas to one of my cardmaking buddies.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps and Ink:  None

Designer paper:  Aqua glitter cardstock

Dies:  My Favorite Things Die-namics - Snowflakes Trio and Joy Photo Card Frame, Poppystamps Christmas Baubles, Cottage Cutz Deer Snowflake Scene CCE-169

Accessories:  Big Shot, Cuttlebug Kars Snowflake embossing folder (retired), Hero Arts rhinestones CH213 Sea Mixed Accents, Perfect Layers Tools, white cardstock, Tombow Mono Multi glue, doublesided tape

MFT Joy Photo Card Frame Christmas card

Hi blogging friends

I am sharing another Christmas card which I sent to my friend Terese in Canada - and now that Terese has the card, I can share it here on my blog.

After using the My Favorite Things Merry Photo Card frame die alot recently for some Clean and Simple cards (see my two blog posts HERE and HERE), I decided to buy the "Joy" version and here is the result:

I LOVE this die - but then I probably say that about ALL my dies LOL!

The deer and trees are a die by Cottage Cutz - Snow Swept Border.  The layers of snow were made using a set of 2 dies by MFT called Snow Drifts.  The largest snowflake is by Simon Says Stamp and the smallest snowflake is by Impression Obsession. None of these layers are up on dimensionals - they have simply been adhered using doublesided tape.  The shadows in the photograph may give you the impression that the layers are built up but in actual fact, the card is really flat.

The dry-embossed bottom panel is a retired Cuttlebug embossing folder:  Kars Snowflake which is extremely difficult to find.  A great alternative which is readily available is the Sizzix Dots embossing folder from the set:  "Christmas Words and Dots" which you can see here:

Once I had embossed my card front, I attached the scene/frame then just trimmed up the edges of the white cardstock base so that I had a thin border around the aqua frame although the angle of the photo makes it look a little uneven.  My white card bases are bigger than a Cuttlebug embossing folder which means I can just have the dry embossing within the scene and not spill over onto the card edges.

And here are the beautiful cards that my daughter and I received from Terese:

This first card was for my husband and me - and the second was for my daughter.  The RHS bottom oval on the 2nd card had my daughter's name on it and I edited it out for privacy reasons.   Aren't Terese's cards gorgeous?!!

Thanks for stopping by!  Only 3 sleeps to go here in Australia.......

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps and Ink:  None

Designer Paper:  Aqua glitter cardstock

Accessories:   My Favorite Things Die-namics Joy Photo Card Frame die + Snow Drifts dies, Impression Obsession Die100-F snowflake die set, Simon Says Stamp Kate's Snowflake SSSD111309 die, Cottage Cutz Snow Swept border die, Big Shot, Cuttlebug Kars Snowflakes embossing folder (RETIRED), Kaisercraft Ice Blue SB774 rhinestones, doublesided tape, cardstock - white (Paper Mill)

More MFT Photo Card Frame die Christmas cards

Hi blogging friends

If you read my last post, you will have seen 2 Christmas cards that I made using the newly released My Favorite Things Die-namics Photo Card frame die.  Today, I am sharing another two cards which are very similar - the only differences being the dies and the colour of the glitter cardstock.  I finally had some time in my craft room inbetween medical appointments to put the elements together.  I must admit, I really LOVE the aqua glitter cardstock one - but I do love any colour that is in the aqua/turquoise range.

My first card uses the Memory Box Country Landscape die for the main panel.   The top RHS snowflake is a Simon Says Stamp Kate's Snowflake die and the bottom LHS is a My Favorite Things Die-namics snowflake die from the Snowflake Trio set.  I added an Ice Blue Rhinestone to the centres.

The dry embossing is a Cuttlebug Kars Snowflake embossing folder which is RETIRED and virtually impossible to find online.  You can substitute the Sizzix Dots embossing folder from their set:  Christmas Words and Dots, Item #658285, which is readily available online.  Here is a pic of the set:

And now, the gold glitter cardstock version:

For this version, I used the Cottage Cutz Winter Wonderland border die for the main panel and then added another layer of snow using a My Favorite Things Die-namics Snow Drifts die.  Instead of adding white snowflakes, I decided to add gold glitter cardstock snowflakes instead.  The gold glitter cardstock is a lot brighter and paler in real life - looks a little dark in the photo but is really hard to photograph glitter cardstock and find the right balance of showing some glitteriness yet not over-exposing the white portions in the process.  You often end up with a lovely glittery frame and a washed out image!  Wish my camera could see what I actually see with my eye - maybe that will happen one day with better technology (?).

For in-depth details on how I made the card, please see my post from a few days ago HERE where I shared my silver glitter cardstock and red glitter cardstock versions.

Challenges:

I am entering my card in the following challenges -

Christmas Cards All Year Round - November Challenge - Winter Wonderland - card must have a winter theme. Snow, snowflakes etc.

ABC Christmas Challenge - W for Winter Wishes

Splitcoaststampers - Fan Club November Christmas Challenge - Window In/Out - where you need to create a Christmas view either in through a window eg: Christmas tree, decorations or out through a window eg: snowy scene.  Now technically I don't see a wintry scene out my window at Christmas but I have lots of friends and/or relatives in the UK, USA and Canada who tell me that all they see is snow - and these cards will be going to them.  Please note that you have to be a (paid) Fan Club Member of SCS to be able to play these challenges.

Splitcoaststampers - Clean and Simple Challenge CAS247 - Inspired by Music.  My cards are inspired by the song:  Winter Wonderland - which I used to sing in my All Girls Group which I was part of for over 10 years before my loved one became ill.  I am singing it now as I type this:  "Sleigh bells ring, are you listening?  In the lane, snow is glistening.  A beautiful sight, we're happy tonight, walking in a Winter Wonderland."  LOVE it - one of my favs!  We would visit Nursing Homes/Hostels in the area where we live at Christmas-time and sing a huge range of Christmas songs which the residents really loved. 

It was amazing to see how even the residents who could no longer communicate and would often appear to be asleep or just not looking at you nor appear interested, would have little finger or their foot tapping away at the beat of the music.  We used to sing at school fetes, charity functions and local events but I used to love singing at the Nursing Homes the most.  We would visit them at other times of the year too - and they appreciated so much that people would come to sing to them! 

I can't believe it is only about a month to Christmas!  Yikes!  I had better high-tail it to my craft room and get cracking on some more cards!

Thanks for stopping by.  Have a fab weekend.

Jocelyn


Card Recipe - Card No. 1:

Stamps and Ink:  None

Designer paper:   Aqua glitter cardstock

Accessories:  My Favorite Things Die-namics Photo Card Frame die + Snow Drifts die + Snowflake Trio die set, Simon Says Stamp Kate's Snowflake SSSD111309 die, Big Shot, Cuttlebug Kars Snowflakes embossing folder (RETIRED), Kaisercraft Ice Blue SB774 rhinestones, doublesided tape, cardstock - white (Paper Mill)

Card No. 2:

Stamps and Ink:  None

Designer paper:  Gold glitter cardstock

Accessories:   My Favorite Things Die-namics Photo Card Frame die + Snow Drifts die, Cottage Cutz Winter Wonderland border die, Impression Obsession Die100-F snowflake die set, Big Shot, Cuttlebug Kars Snowflakes embossing folder (RETIRED), doublesided tape, cardstock - white (Paper Mill)

MFT Photo card frame Christmas cards

Hi blogging friends

I can't believe how quickly November is flying by:  I am sure the year speeds up once November hits!  It sure seems like it every year.  I have been beavering away in my Craft Room in-between alot of medical appointments this month with my loved one.  Thankfully, they are doing well even if their recovery is long and slow and challenging - and I am so grateful for the times that we can cherish together no matter whether we are travelling in peak-hour traffic coming home from hospital or just sitting for ages in a medical waiting room.  Life is so fragile and you have to make the most of these moments together no matter where you are because you don't know what is around the corner.

The card I am sharing today is a clean and simple design based around a new My Favorite Things die called Photo Card Frame.  When I first set my eyes on this die, I had all sorts of ideas running through my head.  I think the main idea behind the die is to take a Christmas photograph of your family, pets or something Christmassy and pop it into the frame - but I had other ideas of using dies to make a simple scene within the frame - and here is the result:

I diecut the frame out of silver glitter cardstock then attached the diecut elements to that before attaching the finished frame to my card front.  I used my Cottage Cutz Snow Swept border die for the main part of the scene and a My Favorite Things Snow Drifts die to add the extra layer of snow.  None of the layers are up on dimensionals - they are just layered together with doublesided tape.  Even though the Snow Swept border diecut looks like it is up on dimensionals, it just merely the dry embossing that it is on top of that bumps it up a little to look that way.  The snowflakes are by Impression Obsession.  I glued down just the snowflake centres and bent the tips up a little to add a little dimension to them and added a silver rhinestone to the centre.

I ran my white cardstock card front through my Big Shot using the (retired) Cuttlebug Kars Snowflake embossing folder.  If you do not have this folder - plus it is virtually impossible to find online - you can substitute the Sizzix Dots embossing folder from the set Merry Christmas Words and Dots Item #658285 which is readily available.  You can see a little pic of it here:

Once I had embossed my card front, I attached the scene/frame then just trimmed up the edges of the white cardstock base so that I had a thin border around the silver frame although the angle of the photo makes it look a little uneven.  My white card bases are bigger than a Cuttlebug embossing folder which means I can just have the dry embossing within the scene and not spill over onto the cards edges.

While I was on a roll, I made another scene, this time using red glitter cardstock:

Again, I used the same embossing folder for the background snow - just a different die for the scene which in this case, is the Memory Box Deer Trio die.  The top right-hand snowflake is by Simon Says Stamp:  Kate's Snowflake and the bottom left-hand snowflake is the smallest of the 3 dies in the My Favorite Things Die-namics Snowflake Trio set.  Again, I glued down the snowflake centres and bent the points up a little and added a red rhinestone to each centre.  The white cardstock base edges (again!) look uneven in the photo but they are perfectly even in real life:  just the angle of the photo trying to capture a little of the red glitteriness plus the embossing which make it look a little weird.

I can see myself using this Photo Frame die ALOT - and you could even just cut off the words if you didn't want them and stamp a different Christmas sentiment - or use the frame for another occasion.  Yep, one of those really useful dies which I will definitely get my money's worth out of.  

I have a couple of other scenes in the pipelines - watch this space!

Challenges:

I am entering my cards in the following challenges -

Christmas Card Weekly Challenges (by Sparkle Creations) - Challenge #51 - Sparkle and Bling.  My sparkle and bling is the glitter cardstock and rhinestones.

Totally Papercrafts Friday Challenge #193 - Clean and Simple

Splitcoaststampers Fan Club Christmas Card November Challenge - Window In/Out into Christmas.  Create a window scene at Christmas time eg: something you see when you look out your window at Christmas such a snow covered trees, snowmen, streets lined with snow - or when you are looking inside a window such as table decorations, tree, presents.  Now of course, being Australian, we don't have snow at Christmas-time because it is summer so I am not looking out my window at snowy scenes but I have friends and/or relatives in Canada, USA and the UK and I send them cards depicting their snowy winters - so my card depicts what THEY see out their window instead LOL!   Please note you have to be a (paid) Fan Club Member of SCS to be able to play in these challenges.

Thanks for stopping by!  Hope to see you again soon.

Jocelyn


Card Recipe - Card No. 1:

Stamps and Ink:  None

Designer paper:  Silver glitter cardstock

Accessories:  My Favorite Things Die-namics Photo Card Frame die + Snow Drifts die, Impression Obsession Die100-F snowflake die set, Cottage Cutz Snow Swept Border die, Big Shot, Cuttlebug Kars Snowflakes embossing folder (RETIRED), Kaisercraft silver SB700 rhinestones, doublesided tape, cardstock - white (Paper Mill)

Card No. 2:

Stamps and Ink:  None

Designer paper:  Red glitter cardstock

Accessories:  My Favorite Things Die-namics Photo Card Frame die + Snowflake Trio set (smallest snowflake die), Memory Box Deer Trio die, Simon Says Stamp Kate's Snowflake SSSD111309 die, Big Shot, Cuttlebug Kars Snowflake embossing folder (RETIRED), Kaisercraft red SB711 rhinestones, doublesided tape, cardstock - white (Paper Mill)

Cottage Cutz Snow Swept Border Christmas card

Hi blogging friends


ETA:  I have had a couple of enquiries about the Cuttlebug Kars Snowflakes embossing folder.  I recently discovered that this folder is retired and the chances of finding one is very unlikely.  However, Sizzix has a folder set called Christmas Words and Dots set which is readily available which you could substitute.  Please see this link at Sizzix HERE for more information - and here is a picture of the set:

 ***************************

Today I am sharing a Christmas card using a new Cottage Cutz die which I fell in love with the moment I saw it.  There is such a variety of brands of dies available now that it is just mind-boggling - and there are so many beautiful Christmas ones that I could just go crazy and fill my little online shopping basket to overflowing!  This particular die is called Snow Swept Border and was an early birthday present I bought for myself (I know, I know - ANY excuse LOL!!).

There is not alot to explain about my card really.  The cardstock base was embossed with my Big Shot and Cuttlebug Kars Snowflakes embossing folder (RETIRED).  I popped the diecut up on dimensionals and each layer of the snow has been handcut - plus all these layers are up on dimensionals.

The Merry Christmas sentiment is a die by Elizabeth Dies and was diecut using silver glitter cardstock.  This is also a new die and it cut beautifully in my Big Shot - you just have to be careful not to lose the dot for the "i" like I did:  twice!  I added a silver glitter cardstock bottom border which, if I was making my card again, I would add to the top layer of the handcut snow rather than the cardstock base.  It is a bit hard to see that border in my photo because it is in shadow.

Lastly, I tied on the silver ribbon, added Fray Stop to the cut ends because this ribbon frays terribly, then attached the two silver sequins using Glossy Accents.  Glossy Accents is very handy for gluing on odd shapes.  I have been seeing sequins on quite a few cards around the Internet and I really love them.  My lovely friend Sabrina aka Cook22 - one of the Moderators on Splitcoaststampers put me onto them - thanks Sabrina   This card is dedicated to you!

Challenges:

I made my card for the following challenges -

The ABC Challenge - W for Words - add a sentiment to your creations

Splitcoaststampers Inspiration Challenge - IC409 - Barnes and Noble - I chose Bing Crosby's White Christmas album as my inspiration for several reasons:  I love white Christmas cards; White Christmas is my favourite Christmas song; and because I live in the Australia, it is summer at Christmas-time and I will only ever dream of a white Christmas (although we have had hail several times on Christmas Day - not quite the same peaceful scene!). 

Thanks for visiting by blog today.

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps, Ink and Designer paper:  None

Accessories:  Big Shot, Cottage Cutz Snow Swept Border die #CCE-040, Elizabeth Dies #745 Merry Christmas, Cuttlebug Kars Snowflakes embossing folder (retired), 2 x silver sequins 5mm or approx. 3/16" diameter (Riot Art and Craft), Paper Mill silver ribbon (Riot Art and Craft), Fray Stop (Spotlight), cardstock - Paper Mill white, silver glitter (both from Riot Art and Craft), 1mm dimensionals, Glossy Accents