House Mouse Sleepy Stocking: some treats for a birdie friend

Hello and thanks for stopping by :-)

I made another Christmas card using one of the images from my House Mouse 'Sleepy Stocking' set.  LOTS of colouring on this mage which I love - it did take a while though.  It was coloured with Prismacolor + Derwent Coloursoft pencils and OMS, and I added some Polar White FlowerSoft using Aleen's tacky glue to the cuff on the stocking.  Because there was so much going on in the image, I kept the rest of the card pretty low key so it didn't make the card look 'too busy' - plus I wanted the image to take centre stage.  Here is a little close-up of the FlowerSoft:

I haven't a clue who made the designer paper - it has been in my stash for years and there is no name on it.   If you do know, please drop me an email or a comment so I can edit my post.  In any case, I would imagine that it is long retired.

The ribbon was attached in 2 separate elements, and the bow itself was made with my Bow Easy.  Isn't the ribbon GORGEOUS?!  I picked it up at Coles Supermarket on Friday in amongst all their Christmas stuff.  I am a ribbon-aholic, so for me, it was like finding buried treasure!  They had some other beautiful rolls of ribbon too which somehow danced their way into my shopping basket.  I only went in to get milk, and came out with ribbon and NO milk - whoops.......!  Anyway, it was nice to have something good happen - I hadn't been having a good week and wasn't feeling well either + my mojo all but disappeared - and just before I went into Coles, I had been in Target doing some Christmas shopping and knocked over a snowglobe onto the floor which smashed into a zillion pieces.  And it sounded so LOUD - like I had dropped a truckload of them!   I never knew a snow globe had so much water in it - it looked like I had tipped a bucket of water onto the floor!  I called a staff member over to the mess - she was lovely and didn't make me feel bad - but I felt so stupid and embarrassed nonetheless.  I moved a large piece of glass that had scattered quite a way so no-one would walk on it and promptly cut my finger open.  Sheesh....... so finding the nice ribbon at Coles cheered me up!

I tied some gold cord through the sentiment tag hole then tied this around the red ribbon, and glued the bow on top of that.  Lastly, I added the 3 red pearls.

Challenges:

I am popping this card into two Challenges.  The first is the House Mouse and Friends Challenge #82 which is "You gotta have friends" - of course, the little mouse is sharing the stocking filled with food with his birdie-friend.  

The second Challenge is the Crazy 4 Challenges C4C63 Challenge of "A Christmas card or item".  Nice and easy.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  House Mouse 'Sleepy Stocking' JSHM006

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo black

Designer paper:  K & Company Holly Vine embossed paper

Accessories:  FlowerSoft Polar White, Aleen's Tacky glue, Ribbon - Coles Supermarket, gold cord, Bow Easy, Fray Stop, Kaiser Pearls SB795 red, Cuttlebug, Spellbinder: Rectangle, Scalloped Rectangles, Circle, Petite Scalloped Circle Nestabilities, Cardstock:  Christmas red, Evergreen, KW Doggett "Knight" white, Odourless Mineral Spirits (OMS), Prismacolor pencils, Derwent Coloursoft pencils, paper stumps

Punches:  Carl CP-1 3/16" circle punch (for punching hole on tag)

Cuttlebug Season's Greetings - CAS Christmas cards

Hi and thanks for taking the time to visit my Blog :-)

I whipped up a couple of CAS (Clean and Simple) Christmas cards where I let the embossing folder do all the hard work and then simply embellished them.  

I used a new folder - Cuttlebug 'Season's Greetings'.  I corner-punched the cardstock BEFORE I ran it through the Cuttlebug - if you do it the other way, you will squash or mark your embossing.

I added some light blue rhinestones to the snowflake centres, then added the silver-edged sheer blue organza ribbon in 2 separate elements - the bow was made with my Bow Easy.  I threaded a Snowflake charm with silver cord then threaded the cord through the blue ribbon bow centre and tied a knot which is hidden underneath the bow centre.  I did add some Fray Stop to the edges of the silver cord and the blue ribbon - you can find Fray Stop at Spotlight, Riot Art and Craft or even you local supermarket. 

And here is the white version:

I decided to layer the white embossed panel onto Bazzill Bling Aqua cardstock (not sure of the actual cardstock colour name - that's just what I call it!) - which matched my sparkly aqua ribbon perfectly - then layered that onto more white cardstock.  The layer borders are very small - only because I kept trimming to make them even, then kept trimming because I trimmed one crooked, and had to make that straight which then made that border narrower than the others, so I kept trimming, trimming.........sheesh, don't let me prune your rose bushes or you will have no garden left LOL!!

The ribbon was again attached in 2 separate elements and the bow was made with my Bow Easy.   Because this ribbon frays terribly, I added Fray Stop to it first, let it dry, THEN cut it - that way, it doesn't fray at all.   I diecut a snowflake, added Opal fine glitter, then glued this to the bow centre, then added a Kaiser Lagoon rhinestone to this snowflake and rhinestones to the snowflake centres on the embossed panel.  Here is a wee close-up of the snowflake:

Easy peasy for mass producing and great to have on hand for those unexpected cards you always need at the last minute.  I don't know about you, but I always get a few cards from people I didn't expect - usually in the week before Christmas - so I always like to have a few "extras" on hand for those times.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great weekend!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Card #1 - blue

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, Season's Greetings embossing folder, silver snowflake charm, Bow Easy, organza ribbon, silver cord, Fray Stop, Kaiser light blue rhinestones, Cardstock:  light blue

Punches:  Stampin' Up corner

Card #2 - white

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, Season's Greetings embossing folder, Cuttlebug Snowflake #2 die, Bow Easy, metallic aqua ribbon, Fray Stop, Kaiser Lagoon rhinestones, Opal fine glitter, Designer Dries clear adhesive (for glitter), Cardstock: white, Bazill Bling Aqua

Punches:  Stampin' Up corner

Penny Black: Message from above - a Thank You card

Hello and thanks for popping in :-)

I made this 'Thank you' card for a friend in the USA who has taught me so much about cardmaking and specifically, how to colour using Prismacolor pencils and Odourless Mineral Spirits aka Magic Coloured Pencil.

It is a simple, one-layer card (OLC) which are my favourite type of card to make.  The image was coloured (as you would have guessed) with OMS and Prismas plus Derwent Coloursoft pencils, and I added some pink glitter to the flower petals, the bird's tummy (bit hard to see in the photo) and there is lemon glitter around the edge of the letter.

The dry embossing was coloured lightly with pearlescent chalks using pink, lemon and blue, and I added these same colours around the image as well so it all ties in together.  They look so pretty IRL as they are shimmery.

The tiny pink hearts next to the sentiment are my all-time favourite little leftover punchies from my Arrows Border punch which I use all the time; I glittered these with Kindyglitz Crystalina.

I am entering this card into the My Time to Craft Challenge #113 of 'Quick and Cute' - where they want you to make something that is quick and easy.

I am also popping this card into the Splitcoaststampers Ways to Use it Challenge WT286 of  'Just One' where you are to stamp on a single sheet of cardstock.  There's nothing I love more than just getting back to basics with a card and having no layers.

That's about it for me - hope to see you again soon!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Penny Black 'Message from above' 2617J, Sentiment from Wendy Irving Expressions J6412.01 clear set

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo black

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, Sizzix Textured Impressions embossing folder from Hello Kitty® Spring Set #2 (656149), Odourless Minerals Spirits, Prismacolor pencils, Derwent Coloursoft pencils, paper stumps, I-Kan-dee Pearlescent chalks, Art Institute pink and lemon glitter (Shabby Chic set), Art Institute Designer Dries clear adhesive (for glitter), Kindyglitz Crystalina, Cardstock: KW Doggett 'Knight' white, pink (for tiny hearts)

Punches:  EK Success Arrows border

Unity - A Beautiful Sight - Little Christmas Gift Bag

Hi and welcome to my Blog :-)

About a year ago, I came across a template and instructions (including a video) for making a little Gift Bag, and finally got around to making one.  Now that I have had a little play and realised how quick and easy it was, I have made about 10 of them!  Make sure that you start off with the cardstock cut exactly to the specifications, or it will turn out all wonky.

You can find the instructions here at the Stamping Videos blog.  If you scroll down a little, you can click on a link to the written instructions and the template and print them out.  The video is really easy to follow too.

I decided to emboss my cardstock - just because I LOVE my Cuttlebug LOL - before I scored the lines with my Scor-Pal.  You don't have to use a Scor-Pal but it sure makes it quick and easy if you have one.  Once I did the scoring, I used one of my Labels Trio dies to diecut the top part where the handle is, THEN folded the box up and glued it.  Don't fold the box up then diecut the top part it as it is much harder that way and most likely will end up crooked (trust me:  I know from experience!!).

The image is a gorgeous new stamp called "A Beautiful Sight" by Unity Stamps.  The image was stamped with gold pigment ink and heat-embossed with gold embossing powder, then diecut with my Deckled Rectangle Nestabilities.  I diecut some snowflakes from gold cardstock and popped them up on mounts (dimensionals).

Lastly, I tied on two different ribbons. Easy peasy.   And just for something different, I made a purple one for something non-traditional for Christmas (plus purple is my favourite colour!):

Instead of diecutting the top part for the ribbon, I used a standard-sized hole punch.  The tree was stamped with Heliotrope pigment ink and heat-embossed with clear embossing powder.  I inked the edges of the diecut snowflakes and added a purple gem to the centres.  Here is a top view of the box:

The finished size of the box is 4-3/4" high x 3" wide, and is the perfect size for popping in a Gift Card eg: Bunnings, Coles/Myer, Target etc., some lollies, or a little present for your child's teacher.

I have made a Vintage-style one using the same Unity stamp which I will share with you soon.  Have a go at these little bags - once you make 1 or 2, you will realise how quick and easy they are.   

Thanks again for stopping by!  TTFN!

Jocelyn

Gift Bag Recipe - white snowflake bag:

Stamps:  Unity - A Beautiful Sight IB48 Itty Bitty foam-mounted rubber stamp

Ink:  Versacolor gold pigment

Accessories:  Scor-Pal, Cuttlebug, Cuttlebug Snowflakes embossing folder, Cuttlebug Snowflakes #2 die set, Spellbinder Tags Trio and Deckled Rectangle Nesties, gold embossing powder, heat-gun, 2mm mounts, ribbon: gold-edged white organza + fancy gold, Cardstock: white, gold

Gift Bag Recipe - purple bag:

Stamps: Unity - A Beautiful Sight IB48 Itty Bitty foam-mounted rubber stamp

Ink:  Colorbox Heliotrope pigment

Accessories:  Scor-Pal, Cuttlebug, Crafts Too Snowflakes embossing folder, Cuttlebug Snowflakes #2 die set, hole punch, Spellbinder Deckled Rectangle Nesties, clear embossing powder, heat-gun, Kaiser purple rhinestones SB705, ribbon: purple organza, Cardstock: purple, white

Vintage Christmas card using Martha Stewart Holly Combo punch

Hi and thanks for visiting my little world :-)

I couldn't help myself - I just HAD to do another one of "my style" Vintage Christmas cards incorporating my gorgeous Martha Stewart Holly Combo punch.  Now I don't do all the distressed, ripped and torn edges and rough stitching etc that other Vintage cardmakers do; that's not really my "thing" - so this is just my take on what I perceive as Vintage-style. 

The image is from the Debbi Moore Vintage Christmas CD which I printed onto white cardstock with my Canon printer using the High Quality setting then added some red glitter to all the holly berries.  This main image is up on 1mm mounts.  The Vintage diecut corners are from my Cuttlebug Vintage Die set and these are up on 2mm mounts.

Because I LOVE lots of texture on my cards, I ran my designer paper thru my Cuttlebug using the Holly Berries embossing folder - although you can't really tell now that the ribbon covers it LOL!  I ran the burgundy cardstock underneath the Holly border thru my Cuttlebug too using the Textile embossing folder.  I did run the cardstock thru twice as the square of cardstock was bigger than the embossing folder - didn't really need to match up the pattern - I just wanted the appearance of texture around the edges.

I did 'age' each layer including the image and sentiment panel quite heavily with Antique Linen Distress Ink and a seasponge.

The sentiment was stamped with Burgundy pigment ink and heat-embossed.  To do the holly on the sentiment panel, I punched a scrap of dark olive cardstock with the Holly corner punch, then used my small curved-blade scissors to cut a little section off and neaten up the curves/stems to make it look better.  I punched three tiny circles from burgundy cardstock using my Doily Lace punch as the leftover circles after using the punch were the perfect size.  Of course, if you didn't have this punch, you might have another border punch that leaves little leftover circles - I just didn't have a circle punch THAT tiny for the berries.   I always love to look at the leftovers of what my border punches punch out - often you can get useful little things to use like little hearts or circles, or even snowflakes.  I added some red glitter to the holly berries too.  This panel is up on 1.5mm mounts.

The gorgeous silk ribbon was attached in 2 separate elements and the bow itself was made with my Bow Easy.  

I popping this card into the Splitcoaststampers Ways to Use it Challenge WT233 of 'Very Vintage'.  See this link for the deets. 

Well, phew - that's about it.  Thanks for stopping by!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Sentiment from Waltzingmouse Stamps - Very Vintage Christmas clear stamp set

Ink:  Versacolor Burgundy pigment, Tim Holtz Antique Linen Distress

Designer paper:  Basic Grey Fruitcake FRU-600 Holly Berries/Spearmint (retired)

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, Holly Berries + Textile embossing folders, Cuttlebug Vintage Die set, Spellbinder Oval Nestabilities, clear embossing powder, heat-gun, 1mm/1.5mm/2mm mounts (dimensionals), Debbi Moore Vintage Christmas CD, Bow Easy, Silk ribbon 1.25"/32mm wide, seasponge, red glitter, Cardstock: white, buttermilk, dark olive and burgundy

Punches:  Martha Stewart Holly combo + Doily Lace edge

CAS Matchbook Sympathy card using Craft Concepts Budding Vine embossing folder

Hi and welcome to my Blog :-)

Over at Splitcoaststampers, this week's Clean and Simple Challenge CAS91 is 'With Sympathy', so I set to work to make a simple card to have on hand.  This card came together so quickly and easily - I love it when that happens!  

Recently, when I was at my local Riot Art and Craft shop (Aussie store), I found these blank white Matchbook cards (they are A2 size and come in a pack of 8) and thought they looked nice.  Of course, you can make your own.  I couldn't find a tutorial on SCS or by Googling it so perhaps it is called something else in the USA (?).  Anyway, I think by the extra photo of the opened card, you could see how to make your own plus I added some directions/measurements below.  Note that this card already came with the scalloped edge on the LH flap.

I embossed the RH flap of the card with my gorgeous Craft Concepts Budding Vine embossing folder (LOVE this folder!) and the LH flap was embossed with one of the narrow folders from the Cuttlebug 'With Love' set.

The ribbon actually ties around the card, and you slip it off to open the card.  I diecut the tag using one of the tags from the Spellbinder Ribbon Tags Trio, then threaded the ribbon thru and tied it at the back of the card.  I made a bow with my Bow Easy and glued this to the ribbon but made sure I didn't touch the cardstock in the process otherwise the ribbon/sentiment wouldn't slip off the card - the bow is meant to look like it is around the daisy stems.

I punched two tiny hearts using my EK Success Arrows border punch (the leftover punchies when you use the punch look like tiny hearts) and glued them to each side of the sentiment.  Lastly, I added some fine white glitter to these hearts plus the centres of the daisy flowers on the LH panel.  This is a really white glitter - it doesn't have the blue/pinky tones that some white glitters have - and I prefer my really white one for Sympathy cards to give an understated look.

Here is a photo of what the card looks like when you slide the ribbon off:

The inside of the card simply says "With Sympathy".

And here is a close-up of the sentiment panel so you can see the tiny white-glittered hearts:

For your info if you were going to make your own Matchbook card from scratch:  

* the LH flap is 1-1/2" wide

* the RH flap (which tucks under the LH flap a little) is 4-1/4" wide

* the card bottom (base) is 5-1/2" wide

* the height of the card is 4-1/4"

Take a sheet of cardstock 11-1/4" long (x 4-1/4" wide), and use your Imperial Scor Pal/Scoring Board to score lines at 1-1/2" (which will be the LH flap) and 7" (which will be the RH flap).  

Don't forget that if you are going to use a border punch on the LH flap, you would need to add extra width to that flap so that once you have punched your border, the RH flap would still tuck under the LH flap, otherwise it will be too narrow and won't tuck in.

The good thing about this style of card is that you can turn it around and have the small flap at the RHS instead, or vertically so that the small flap is at the top, or the other way up so that the small flap is at the bottom.  Very versatile and something a bit different to the norm - and easy.

If you need any clarification of the measurements etc, please don't hesitate to EMail me - or leave me a comment and I'll edit this post.  My Email address is on the LHS of my Blog - scroll down a little just past the "Hello and welcome to my Blog" and click on the link provided which will open up your EMail program automatically with my address already popped in for you.

Thanks again for stopping by - hope to see you again soon!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Sentiment from Wendy Irving Expressions J6412.01 clear set

Ink:  Stazon Jet Black

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, Bunch of Daisies embossing folder from 'With Love' Cuttlebug set, Craft Concepts Budding Vine embossing folder, Spellbinder Ribbon Tags Trio, Bow Easy, white organza ribbon 10mm - 3/8" wide, .008 fine white glitter, Designer Dries clear adhesive (for glitter), The Paper Mill White A2 Matchbook cards PMAZMW - Riot Art and Craft

Punches:  EK Success Arrows Border

Unity A Beautiful Sight - A Winter Wonderland

Hi and welcome :-)

I made this clean and simple DT Christmas card with a new Unity stamp called 'A Beautiful Sight' that Fat Cat's Card Corner sent to me this week.  

The words behind the tree are from the Christmas song:  Winter Wonderland - which is one of my favourite Christmas songs.  I know it's Summer here at Christmas, but I still love all things "snowy" for my Christmas cards.  And I especially LOVE white and gold Christmas cards - they just seem to speak "elegant" which I hope is what I achieved with my card.  It is very, very difficult to take good photographs of gold on a card - I tried outside in the sun, but the gold looked all dark and miserable or reflected so much sunlight, the white background all but disappeared, so did a compromise and photographed it in my home with reflected sunlight from my kitchen window but with the overhead kitchen downlights on to show up some sparkle.  Not easy - but I hope you get the idea of what it really looks like - and it is much nicer IRL!

The snowflakes embossing is one of the folders from the Cuttlebug Winter Wonderland set (there are 6 folders in the set).  I stamped the tree with gold pigment ink and heat-embossed it with gold embossing powder, then diecut the panel with my Deckled Rectangle Nesties and popped the panel up on 1mm mounts (dimensionals).

I diecut two snowflakes and popped them up on 2mm mounts, then added a dot of gold pearl dimensional paint in the centres - does take quite a while to dry though (at the time of writing this post, it's now some hours since I did it, and it's still not quite dry - probably will take overnight). You can get this paint at Riot Art and Craft Stores, and comes in a little bottle about the size of Stickles/Kindyglitz and isn't expensive.

The ribbon was attached in 2 separate elements and the bow itself was made with my Bow Easy.  I'm pretty sure the ribbon came from a $2 Shop and was on a reel that had a couple of metres.

Challenges:

It's been ages since I played one of the Stamp Simply Challenges by Sharon Johnson and this week's challenge is:

Stamp Simply #163 – Tis the Season for Clean and Simple

where Sharon wants us to make a clean and simple card with Christmas or Winter in mind.

Thanks again for stopping by - hope to see you again soon!
 

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Unity 'A Beautiful Sight' Itty Bitty rubber stamp IB48 (comes as rubber mounted with cling cushion)

Ink:  Versacolor gold pigment

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, Snowflakes folder from Winter Wonderland set, Cuttlebug Snowflake #2 die, Spellbinder Deckled Rectangle Nestabilities, gold embossing powder, heat-gun, Bow Easy, gold dimensional fabric paint, 1mm/2mm mounts, Ribbon 1-1/2" - 38mm wide, Cardstock: white