Glittery Snowflake Christmas card

Hi blogging friends

Here is my last Christmas card from 2012.  I am sure many of you will be very tired of seeing Christmas cards and moving onto something else.  I know that I am uber-keen to pack away the Christmas decorations which I will be doing tomorrow and I shall be quite happy to remove the Christmas pine tree as it is madly decorating my carpet with pine needles.  Mind you, our cat Ruby has helped that process as she sits there and chews the pine needles - ick - they must taste horrible - but she loves to chew just about anything and I wonder sometimes if she is part dog!

Again, like my previous post, I CASED one of my cards from last year because I knew the layout worked.  It is an easy layout if you want to make quite a few cards and you just change the main image to make each card look a little different:  

The gorgeous glittery snowflake was diecut from aqua glitter cardstock using my Big Shot and Spellbinder Snowflake die.  So much easier than diecutting plain cardstock and adding glitter afterwards - makes it super-quick with no drying time unlike glitter glue, and far less messy too!

The white centre on the snowflake is one of the dies from the Snowflake die set and was diecut from plain white cardstock.  Hmmmm, in hindsight, I think I should have added glitter to it or diecut it from white glitter cardstock - oh well!  I added a red rhinestone to the centre which mimics the dots in the designer paper then popped the snowflake up on dimensionals.

The sentiment was stamped onto the Little Yellow Bicycle blue lace designer paper with Sapphire Silk pigment ink and heat-set with satin pearl embossing powder.

Challenges:

I am entering my card in the following challenges -

Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge - CHNC #105 - Anything Goes - show any Christmas card that we haven't seen before or make a start on your cards for next Christmas.

Splitcoaststampers - Ways to Use It WT407 - New Year's Resolutions from 2012 - what was yours?   One of my Resolutions from 2012 was to use more of my designer paper stash and to use what Christmas stamps I have rather than buying a whole lot more.  I am pleased to say that (even though I didn't make alot of cards in 2012), I did really well on both counts - and everything on today's card is old stash.

So what are YOUR resolutions for 2013? 

I want to have a whole lot less 'stuff' in my house and, in fact, I have been doing a massive purge these past few months and got rid of lots of things; it has made me feel so much better.  By this time next year, I would like to be able to say how much more space I have in my house and in my cupboards - and already, I am seeing the results.  It is hard work and everything looks worse to begin with - quite frankly, a great, BIG MESS - but when a truck leaves with a pile of stuff, you feel so liberated.

Currently, I am going through my late father's LP collection.  Dad passed away in 1996 and I inherited his record collection.  I don't play any of them - they are not my taste - but it has taken until now, some 16 years later, to feel that I can happily donate them to charity.  A few LP's I will sell to a 2nd hand dealer and donate the money to one of the charities who has supported us through caring for our loved one.  I am now wanting to remember Dad in terms of what a wonderful Dad he was - not by keeping a whole lot of 'stuff' that belonged to him.  Grieving is a process and in my experience you go through different phases as time goes by.  16 years ago, Dad's 'things' reminded me of him; now I am ready to part with many of those 'things' and move on.  I think perhaps I was afraid I would forget him if I parted with those 'things' - now I realise that nothing can ever take away my memories of him as they will forever be in my heart.

My other resolution is to continue to use up my crafty stash of papers rather than buying a whole lot more, do more sewing and in particular, sew some little felt kits that I recently purchased.  I also hope to make Christmas cards all year round instead of starting them so late in the year. 

I would also love to be able to get through the day WITHOUT spilling some food on myself - it's a running joke in my family - tee hee!  I am soooooo clumsy and ridiculously unco-ordinated!  Always tripping over something or bumping myself or knocking something over.  A few months ago, I broke 3 of our mugs in the course of a week!  Last month, I superglued my finger to the kitchen bench and took off a layer off skin in trying to get it off - ouch!  Yes, I know that you use nail polish remover to dissolve the superglue but hello, I was glued to the bench and was the only one home - and the nail polish remover was in the bathroom cupboard...sigh....so I just yanked my finger off instead....   

Currently, I am sitting on my couch with my left hand covered in bandaids because I managed to prune my hand as well as the bush I was pruning!  I thought I would try out the new secateurs that we were given for Christmas.  Yep:  they work and they are really sharp!  But somehow I don't think making a resolution about my clumsiness will make much difference!  And just think of the colourful anecdotes I wouldn't otherwise be able to entertain my friends and family with!
Thanks for stopping by.  Happy New Year May it be everything you would want it to be!

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Sentiment - Hero Arts Snowman Christmas clear set

Ink:   Colorbox Sapphire Silk pigment

Designer paper:   SEI Glitzmas - Frosty the Snowflake, LYB Delighful Collection - Blue Lace D-110

Accessories:  Big Shot, Spellbinder Shapeabilities Create-a-Flake S4-222 dies, Kaisercraft red rhinestone, dimensionals, satin pearl embossing powder, heat-gun, cardstock: white, aqua glitter

Hero Arts Happy Holidays - a Christmas card

Hi blogging friends

Not sure if you caught up with my last post but the weather was against me in the days leading up to Christmas (I photograph my cards outside and it was very hot and very windy) and I couldn't photograph my cards to share.  Anyway, we have had a cool change now and there is not a breath of wind which makes for much easier photography.

Whilst I am typing this, it is now the 26th of December - Boxing Day - and in Australia our stores have this weird tradition of Boxing Day sales.  Boxing Day is a public holiday but people have to work to open stores for a sale!  There are lots of people rushing around nabbing bargains according to the news and people lined up at the doors for hours (some even camped out!) before the shops opened so that they had first dibs on the sale items.  Sometimes people get injured in the mad scramble when the doors open as they are trying to get to the biggest bargain first. 

But you won't find me out shopping:  I couldn't think of anything I would like to do less than shopping the day after Christmas Day, fighting for a car parking spot and dealing with crowds of people hungry for a bargain.  Personally, I just don't understand it but each to their own and I am sure there are plenty of you out there who love the sales; I don't enjoy shopping all that much anyway.  I did go once with a girlfriend many, many years ago who ALWAYS went to the Boxing Day Sales but other than spending time with my friend, I didn't enjoy it at all and came home exhausted and grumpy.   Perhaps because I am a little older now and are downsizing 'stuff' rather than adding to it makes me see these sorts of things differently?  Traditionally, we just spend Boxing Day together with family and have a quiet and relaxing day at home.  And of course, this year after dealing with my family member's life-threatening illness makes that time together as a family even more precious - you don't get that time again - and life is so fragile.

Anyway, I am disgressing as usual.......onto the card:

I made this Christmas card to give my daughter who is as crazy about snowmen as I am!  I am not sure why I love snowmen so much - there is just something so sweet about them that makes me feel happy inside. 

I stamped the image with Versafine Onyx Black ink onto watercolour paper and coloured it with Lyra watercolour pencils.  I added some Fun Flock mixed with fine crystalina glitter to the snowman's hat then dotted around some White Opal Liquid Pearls for snow  I added two layers of hand-cut white glitter cardstock at the bottom of the snowman - which was really to cover up a black mark I had accidentally put there - but I love how it added some depth to the image.  Isn't it great when a boo-boo turns into something better?!  Here is a close-up so you can see the dimension:

I diecut some Snowflakes using my Big Shot and 3 different-sized My Favorite Things snowflakes dies.  I find my Big Shot diecuts the thick glitter cardstock much more easily and cleanly than my Cuttlebug which usually misses bits.  I added some Bo Bunny blue pearls to the snowflake centres.

The silver-edged blue organza ribbon was attached in 2 separate elements and the bow itself was made with my Bow Easy.  I added some fray-stop to the cut edges of the ribbon as organza ribbon frays terribly.  I added the glitter cardstock star that popped out of the centre when diecutting the largest snowflake to the ribbon centre which tied things all together nicely.

After all my work, I then glued the card-front (which I always make separately) to the white cardstock base the WRONG way so it became a left-hand opening card!  Duh!!  You wouldn't believe how many times I do that!!  But, I just cut off the blank cardstock side and re-glued it to a new cardstock base - the RIGHT way.  The only downside is that it makes the card quite heavy but that didn't matter in this case because I wasn't mailing it. 

We have been having a fun thread over at Splitcoaststampers where we are sharing our cardmaking mishaps.  Check it out HERE and add your favourite story (you have to be a member of Splitcoaststampers to be able to post).  It's quite comforting to know (in a weird sort of way) that I am not the ONLY one who has mishaps LOL!

Challenges:

I am entering my card in the following challenges -

The Squirrel and the Fox - Challenge #33 - Christmas
Simon Says Stamp Challenge - Anything Christmassy
Splitcoaststampers - Ways to Use It WT406 - Glitz and Glitter

Thanks for stopping by!

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Hero Arts Happy Holidays Snowman K5522 wood-mounted

Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black

Designer paper:  Echo Park Winter Park -WK23007 Mittens and WK23005 Snow Storm (used for the base and the scalloped circle instead of cardstock as I had no matching cardstock in the right colour blue!)

Accessories:  Spellbinder Circle + Scalloped Circle Nestabilities, Big Shot, My Favorite Things Die-namics snowflakes dies, Stampendous Cotton White Fun Flock mixed with fine Crystalina glitter, Ranger Liquid Pearls - White Opal, silver-edged blue organza ribbon, Fray-Stop, fabric glue, Bow Easy, pearls - Bo Bunny Jewels - Snowfall collection, dimensionals, 140lb watercolour paper, Lyra watercolour pencils, small round paintbrush, Cardstock - white + blue glitter, burgundy, white (for card base)

Merry Christmas everyone!

Hi blogging friends,

I have a couple of Christmas cards to share but the weather hasn't been kind to me this week - very, VERY windy and awfully hot - 39 deg Celsius or 102 deg Fahrenheit - YUK - and I haven't been able to photograph them yet as I usually photograph outside.  I am sure they would have ended up in my neighbour's pool if I tried! 

Anyway, I am sure you are all very busy with Christmas preparations so I will share them over the coming week or so. 

Thanks for your support over the past year and I look forward to being able to post a little more often as my loved one continues to recover from their medical treatment. 

Hope your Christmas is everything you would wish it to be and may 2013 be a happy and healthy one. 




((hugs))

Jocelyn x

Dasher - a couple of quick Christmas cards

Hi blogging friends

Sorry it's been a while since I last posted.  Time always seems to speed up once November hits; I am sure you know what I mean!  Good test results for my loved one has meant we can move forward although it is still very full-on at home helping them recover their strength and stamina.  Christmas will be an extra-special celebration this year as you can well imagine!  Thank you for staying with me and supporting my cardmaking/blog - and especially for your wonderful and caring comments and emails I have received from you over this difficult time - they have meant so much

Because I am so tired emotionally and physically and having trouble thinking after such a tumultuous year caring for my loved one, the cards I am sharing are similar to one I did last year.  Because I loved the simple layout, I thought I could play around with the basic elements to see what I could come up with to make them look a little different to each other.

I must admit, I have tried making a couple of other Christmas cards but got so frustrated in the process that I put them aside.  It was one of the those times where you stamp the sentiment crooked, smear the wet glitter glue and then drop the newly coloured image onto an open stamp pad!!  Grrr - I was so cheesed off - but then thought I should just start afresh and go with something that I know works and doesn't take too long.   I have had to buy (oh the horror!) many of my Christmas cards this year - fortunately people understand that I am very time-poor crafting-wise!  Anyway, without further adieu, here is my first card:

I stamped my favourite Stampin' Up! stamp "Dasher" with Versamark Watermark ink, poured on some silver embossing powder and heat-set it with my heat-gun.  I added a tiny red rhinestone to his nose so of course, now Dasher has become Rudolph.

I added a Scor-Pal line above and below the image and the bottom border was dry-embossed with my Cuttlebug using a border folder from the Sizzix Textured Impressions Christmas Set #6.  I love how the swirls in the embossing tie in with the swirly antlers of Rudolph.

The silver cardstock bottom border was punched using a Martha Stewart Arched Lattice punch.

I added some Fray Stop to the ends of the twine so they wouldn't unravel and look untidy (just me being a fuss-pot!). 

Now here is my 2nd card:

As you can see, I just made some minor changes.  Dasher is stamped with Colorbox Sapphire Silk pigment ink and heat-set using Satin Pearl embossing powder.  I used a different brand of red and white twine (it has more red than the 1st card) and the red cardstock bottom border was punched with my EK Success Scalloped Scallops edge punch.

Challenges:

I am entering my cards in the following challenges -

Splitcoaststampers - Clean and Simple 200th Challenge CAS200PARTYF - Inspired by a song - my card is inspired by Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer as that is one of my favourite Christmas songs

Splitcoaststampers - Ways to Use It Challenge WT404 - create a card or project using your favorite things - my favourite things are everything I used to make my card:  my Cuttlebug, embossing folder, Dasher stamp, twine, Scor-Pal, bling, edge punches.   I think I have made more cards using the Dasher stamp than probably any other stamp in my collection.

Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge #103 - Christmas Birthday or Anything Goes for Christmas - obviously I did the 'Anything Goes'.

Simon Says Stamp Challenge - What's your favourite?  Tool, Stamp, Product?  I have used all my favourite things as listed above in the SCS WT404 challenge.

ABC Christmas Challenge - Y is for your favourite punch/die.  I have used 2 of my favourite edge punches - the Arched Lattice which I love for elegant Christmas cards and the Scalloped Scallop which is an edge punch for any occasion and is suitable for any gender card.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  How are you going with your Christmas cardmaking? Only 8 days until.......



Wow - where does the time go?!!!

Jocelyn


Card Recipe -

Card #1:

Stamps:  Stampin' Up! Dasher

Ink:  Versamark watermark

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, Sizzix Textured Impressions Christmas Set #6, Basic Grey red rhinestone, Scor-Pal, red/white twine, white cardstock - KW Doggett "Knight", scrap silver cardstock, heat gun, silver embossing powder, fray stop

Punches:  Martha Stewart Arched Lattice

Card #2:

Stamps:  Stampin' Up! Dasher

Ink:  Colorbox Sapphire Silk pigment

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, Sizzix Textured Impressions Christmas Set #6, Basic Grey red rhinestone, Scor-Pal, red/white twine, white cardstock - KW Doggett "Knight", scrap red cardstock, heat-gun, satin pearl embossing powder, fray stop

Punches:  EK Success Scalloped Scallops

Elzybells Teddy and Tree - a Christmas card at last!

Hi blogging friends

At last, a CHRISTMAS card to share.....and it's another teddy bear card LOL!!  Just a very simple design/layout as I do feel a bit rusty having not made very many cards this year. 

This very sweeeet little teddy is a retired Elzybells stamp.  Elizabeth Bell who ran Elzybells Stamps UK is now a designer for Penny Black Stamps and they have brought out a number of Elizabeth's designs over the past year so I am really hoping that they will bring out some more Christmas ones as I always get asked where people can buy the Elzybells stamps.  Please note that I am unable to stamp images to share due to copyright.  Occasionally I see Elzybells stamps on EBay but not often!  Anyway, I am digressing as usual.......

The image was stamped on Watercolour paper with Versafine Onyx black ink and watercoloured with watercolour pencils and a small round paintbrush.  I lightly chalked around the image with blue chalk and added some brown/grey chalk along the bottom of the image.

I added some Glossy Accents to the red baubles (not that you can really see it) and some Gold FlowerSoft using Aleen's tacky glue to the tinsel on the tree.  I had quite forgotten I had bought gold and silver FlowerSoft and found it when I was tidying up my craft room.  Here is a wee close-up: 

The designer paper is by Kaisercraft and is very sparkly and glittery in real life; you can probably see a little of the sparkle in my photos.

The green satin ribbon was attached in 2 separate elements and the bow itself was made with my Bow Easy.   I also found some jingley bells when I was tidying up so added one with some gold cord just for a bit of fun as the card jingles when you shake it.  I added Fray Stop to the ribbon and cord ends to stop them from fraying.

I could have gone crazy with lots of embellies but wanted to hold back on them because I might give this card to my husband as he is the sort of guy who doesn't mind cute images like teddy bears and a bit of glitter or sparkle - but obviously I wouldn't tizz a card up too much for him.

Challenges:

I am entering my card in the following challenges -

Crafty Catz Challenge Blog Challenge #159 - Make it sparkle  I hope the glittery designer paper and the gold FlowerSoft is sparkley enough

Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge #99 - use something more than 6 months old   Everything on my card is more than 6 months old.

Winter Wonderland Challenge - Oh Baubles! - make any Christmas project with baubles.

My loved one has a swag of medical appointments this coming week so I probably won't be posting again for a week - plus we are waiting on some test results which we get this coming Monday.  Hopefully, all the results will be good as there is nothing to indicate otherwise yet it is hard not to be nervous about them. 

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a fab weekend!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Elzybells Teddy with tree (retired)

Ink:  Versafine Onyx black

Designer paper:  Kaisercraft Be Merry Collection

Accessories:  140lb watercolour paper, Faber-Castell and Lyra watercolour pencils, small round paintbrush, gold FlowerSoft, Aleen's tacky glue, gold bell, Cuttlebug, Spellbinder Circle and Scalloped Circle nestabilities, Glossy Accents, Bow Easy, Perfect Layers Tools, green satin ribbon, gold cord, Fray Stop (for the ribbon ends), cardstock - red and green

Christmas Stitchery

Hi blogging friends - and welcome to my newest followers who have joined me in the past month or so - thanks for following me

One of my other passions is embroidery and stitcheries so I thought I would share a little Christmas project that I finished a while ago:

I bought this little kit when I went to a Craft Show (and them promptly forgot about it.....!) so it has sat in my stitchery box for goodness knows how long!!  The original designer was Melissa Grant of Giggle Buttons.  Giggle Buttons has since been sold to another lady and the Giggle Buttons trading name no longer exists and is now called CheraBella Buttons.   Please note I have never bought from CheraBella Buttons so I am not recommending them - I am simply passing on the information in case you are interested. 

The Christmas Tree is a ceramic button which came with the kit and if you peer closely at the top, bottom, left and right sides of the burgundy diamond, you will see that I stitched on some tiny little gold and burgundy beads. 

I blanket-stitched around the burgundy hearts and the words were embroidered in burgundy stranded cotton using backstitch with a french knot at either end of the words.

The only things that didn't come with the kit were:  the border fabric, the fabric backing (I just used calico - from Spotlight), the batting (inbetween the top and bottom layers of fabric - from Spotlight), the wire hanger (from EBay), sewing threads for sewing the various pieces of material together (from Spotlight), and the mini green clothes pegs (from Riot Art and Craft - about $2 for an assorted pack of colours).

Finished size is 5-1/4" square or 13.2 centimetres/132 millimetres if you are metric.

Thanks for stopping by

Jocelyn

Wild Rose Studio Milton with card - a thank you card

Hi blogging friends 

On my last post, I gave you a sneaky peak of a card I had been working on and now that the recipient has it in their hot little hands, I can share it here on my blog:  

The recipient has been such an amazing support to our family whilst we have been going through some very tough times caring for our loved one since the beginning of February this year.  Words almost fail me to know how to thank someone so special who has sent tons of positive and caring thoughts and prayers our way; uplifted us when we were despairing; encouraged us and lovingly understood the emotional rollercoaster ride that you go through when a loved one has a life-threatening illness; and, now, at the end of our loved one's treatment and in the recovery phase which is very challenging and very full-on, continues to shower our family with love and ongoing emotional support.   We are so blessed to have this person as part of our lives!  

I LOVE this Milton Bear image by Wild Rose Studio - but that wouldn't come as a surprise to those of you who have been following my blog for a while as I am so crazy for teddy bear images LOL!!  I stamped Milton onto Watercolour paper and coloured him with Watercolour pencils and a paintbrush.  I used a white eraser to rub back some of the colouring to add a few highlights where I felt it was needed.   I added some Kindyglitz Crystalina glitter glue to the envelope and added some blue chalk around the image for the sky and brown plus green chalk for the ground.

The gorgeous designer papers are called 'Bella!' by Sarah-Jane Paperz (distributed by Fynmark Australia) have been in my stash for over a year and I originally bought them from Spotlight.  I have never seen any other dp's by this designer so I don't know if they were exclusive to Spotlight or not (??).   I really love the gorgeous, warm colours in the papers....happy sigh.....even my hubby thought they were beautiful!   The top left-hand fancy corner was diecut using one of the Cuttlebug Vintage tags dies and one of the dp's. 

The cotton lace on the side panel was originally white but I dyed it with a teabag to make it look 'old' and match the dp's.  I attached the lace in 2 separate elements and the bow itself was made with my Bow Easy.  I also added some Fray Stop to the cut edges of the bow so that they wouldn't fray.

I used my Perfect Layers Tools to matt all the layers with a 1/8" border.

Check out that gorgeous brad which is also by the same dp company!  Isn't it beautiful?!  The brad came in a set of 12 brads - some square and some round.  Here is a close-up piccy:

I still have the sentiment stamp (which is a clear stamp) on my stamping block but do you think I can remember what set it is from?  Nope - my brain has turned to mush....but I will update this post when I find out.  The sentiment panel was diecut with my Cuttlebug and Spellbinder Oval and Scalloped Oval Nestabilities.

I used my EK Success Arrows Border punch to punch some tiny hearts (they are the leftover punchies which look like tiny hearts to me) and glued them on around the sentiment then added a little bit of Kindyglitz to them.

I decorated the card inside to match the card front which should be self-explanatory.  I added a Scor-Pal line just above the mustard cardstock punched bottom border so that I had a straight line to butt my designer paper up against.

Challenges:

I am entering my card into the following challenges -

The ABC Challenge - A is for Appreciation - where they would like to you to make a thank you card or thank you gift for someone you appreciate, and

Papertake Weekly Challenge - Anything Goes - with the optional extra of making a card or project for Christmas (obviously I didn't do that part of the challenge!).

I have a couple of other thank you cards in the pipeline for a few other amazing people; hopefully, I will be able to share them soon.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Wild Rose Studio - Milton with card - CL058 - clear stamp, Sentiment on card front - to be advised, Sentiment on card inside - Darcies #11872 wood-mounted

Ink:  Versafine Onyx black

Designer paper:  Bella! by Sarah-Jane Paperz - Spotlight

Accessories:  Perfect Layers Tools, Bow Easy, Cuttlebug, Cuttlebug Vintage corner die, dimensionals, Faber-Castell plus Lyra watercolour pencils, 140lb watercolour paper, small round paintbrush, Bella Bradz, Kindyglitz Crystalina glitter glue, fray stop, Scor-Pal, Spellbinder oval + scalloped oval dies, tea-dyed cotton lace, Kaisercolour chalks

Punches:  EK Success Arrows border (tiny hearts around sentiment), Martha Stewart Pinking Scallop edge (for card inside)