Stamp-It Australia Reindeer Text - Vintage-style Christmas card

Hi and thanks for stopping by :-)

I made another quick and simple Vintage-style Christmas card (well, my style of vintage anyway...) - no colouring on this one - and now that the recipient has it in her hot little hands, I can post it here on my Blog.  The image is a lovely stamp by Stamp-It Australia called "Reindeer Text", and was stamped with Versafine Vintage Sepia ink onto cream cardstock, then aged heavily using Antique Linen Distress ink and a seasponge.  I added a tiny red pearl to his nose.  Here is a little close-up so you can see:

The designer paper is by Cosmo Cricket which I have had in my stash for ages.  The paper actually has 4 different designs on each side of the one 12" x 12" sheet including some diecut embellishments which you are supposed to fold up into a Mini Album and then glue on the embellies as page dividers - in fact, it's called:  Cosmo Cricket - Itty Bitty Album - Winter Wonderland.  But I decided to use the small pieces of paper for my cards rather than making an album.  It seems to still be available at some on-line stores in Australia, but I imagine it won't be available for much longer.  I aged the edges of the designer paper as well as the burgundy and dark brown cardstock.

The ribbon was attached in 2 separate elements, and the bow itself was made with my Bow Easy plus I glued on a burgundy button using Crafter's Pick glue.  I was tempted to add some flowers or some sort of embellishment, but I had nothing that matched, and in the end, decided to just leave the card "as is" - sometimes it's nice to just keep things simple.

Challenges:

I'm popping this card into the Splitcoaststampers 'Ways to use it' Challenge WT297 of Basically Brown.

Now that it is the Summer school holidays here in Australia for about 6 weeks, I won't be updating my Blog quite as often - but I'll update as often as I can.  Plus I will take the opportunity to do some overdue maintenance on the computer.

May I take this opportunity to say thank you so much for visiting my Blog, and for all your support, comments and encouragement since I started blogging in March - I feel very blessed and thankful for you all being a part of my world.   And lastly, I would like to wish you all a very happy and safe Christmas - and may all your dreams come true in 2011. 

(((hugs))) to you all :-)

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Stamp-It Australia Reindeer Text 3902E foam-mounted rubber

Ink:  Versafine Vintage Sepia, Tim Holtz Antique Linen Distress

Designer paper:  Cosmo Cricket - Itty Bitty Album - Winter Wonderland (retired)

Accessories:  Seasponge, Cuttlebug, Spellbinder Circle Nestabilities, Bow Easy, burgundy grosgrain ribbon, burgundy button, red pearl, Crafter's Pick Incredibly tacky glue, Cardstock: cream, burgundy, dark brown

Punches:  Stampin' Up corner punch

Lili of the Valley Christmas Bear

Hi and welcome to my Blog :-)

I finished off another Christmas card today which uses the same layout I have used for my last couple of cards - nice and easy for this time of year to have a "go to" layout when my brain is overloaded with a thousand things and I can't really think anymore!

I don't know why the teddy bear looks so anaemic!  He doesn't look like that in real life!

The gorgeous teddy image is by Lili of the Valley (UK).   I coloured the teddy with Prismacolor and Derwent Coloursoft pencils and OMS.  I added some Polar White Flowersoft using Aleen's tacky glue to the teddy's hat, and fine red glitter using Designer Dries Clear adhesive glue to the presents. 

The green cardstock was embossed using my Cuttlebug Holly Berries embossing folder.

The sentiment was diecut with my Cuttlebug and one of the Tiny Tags dies, and I ran my Warm Red ink pad around the edges.  I added the twine in 2 separate elements - I didn't need my Bow Easy to tie the bow as the twine ties very easily into a nice bow.  

Whew - another Christmas card off my list!

Challenges:

I am entering this card into the Crafty Catz Weekly Challenge #63 and this week's challenge is:  "Your Choice" - and you get to pick one of your favourite past Challenges on their Blog - so I choose Challenge #60 which is "Christmas" (you know how I like making Christmas cards LOL!!).

Thanks for stopping by!  I'll be back tomorrow with another Christmas card.

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Lili of the Valley - Xmas Ted Presents S091, Sentiment from Elzybells Mini Messages Christmas clear set 20-054 (retired)

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo black, Colorbox Chalk Warm red

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, Cuttlebug Tiny Tags die set, Cuttlebug Holly Berries embossing folder, Spellbinder Oval and Scalloped Oval Nestabilities, twine, fine red glitter, Designer dries clear adhesive, Flowersoft Polar White, Aleen's tacky glue, Prismacolor + Derwent Coloursoft pencils, OMS, paper stumps, Cardstock: green, red, KW Doggett "Knight" white

Stampendous Candy Bears Christmas cards #2 and #3 for Flowersoft challenge

Hello and welcome to my Blog!

Yesterday, I shared one of the cards (see this link here) that I made for the Splitcoaststampers Flowersoft Challenge FSC15 of "Last Minute Cards" which ends on December 17th.  And here are my remaining 2 cards that I made for the Challenge:

All my cards use the same layout, embossing folder and colours - I just changed a couple of things so they all look a bit different - and they were surprisingly quick as there wasn't much colouring of the images (they were all coloured with Prismacolor and Derwent Coloursoft pencils and Odourless Mineral Spirits).  And I used some of my favourite Stampendous Christmas images - they are just sooo cute!!  I know it doesn't snow here at Christmas, but I am nuts about anything that has a snowman or snow on it!  And I adore teddy bears too!

For both of my Candy Cane bear cards, I added white liquid applique to the bear's hat band and pom-pom.  I let the liquid applique dry then heated it with my heat-gun to make it "puff up" and then painted over it with white acrylic paint as the white liquid applique tends to look rather creamy - almost lemony - rather than "pure white".  I also ran a line of white acrylic paint along the length of the candy cane for the highlight.

I lightly chalked in the sky around the image with Kaisercolour blue chalk (very subtle but trust me - it is there!). 

On the Red Candy Cane Bear card - the green embossed panel is an embossing folder by Crafts Too called 'Holly Frame'.  I cut out the inside of the frame, then added a piece of red cardstock underneath and cut enough of the red cardstock away to leave a small red border, then attached my image panel underneath.  

The sentiment tag was diecut with my Cuttlebug and Tiny Tags die set and I ran my Warm Red chalk ink pad around the tag.  I added the gorgeous red and white twine in 2 separate elements (looks neater for me as I am so "ribbon-challenged"!).  Twine is so "in" at the moment - I just love it for my cards!!  The star is a sparkly red button from my stash which I glued on with Crafter's Pick Incredibly Tacky glue which is fantastic for glueing on embellies - I no longer have trouble with them falling off!  Yay me!

Lastly, I added Flowersoft Polar White using Aleen's Tacky glue along the bottom of the image.  Here is a little close-up photo:

And here is my 2nd Candy Cane bear card which is essentially the same as the card above but I swapped the red and green colours around.  It is sooooo hard to take photographs of red cards so the image is brighter IRL and my close-up photo (scroll down to see it) is more true-to-life colour-wise:

I ran my Lime Pastel chalk ink around the sentiment tag and the sparkly green star is a brad.  And I attached the ribbon in 2 separate elements plus the bow itself was made with my Bow Easy.

And here is a close-up pic:

Phew - that was a long post!  As always:  if you have any questions, please feel free to email me - my addy is at the top LHS of my Blog.  I used to be new at cardmaking too, so I am always happy to explain something that you don't understand.   Thanks again for stopping by!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe - Red Candy Cane bear

Stamps:  Stampendous: Candy Bears E208, Sentiment: Elzybells Mini Messages - Christmas set 20-054 

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo black, Colorbox Chalk - Warm red

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, Tiny Tags die set, Christmas Holly Frame embossing folder - Crafts Too, Prismacolor pencils, OMS, Derwent Coloursoft Pencils, Flowersoft Polar White, twine, white liquid applique, heatgun, white acrylic paint, fine paint brush, Kaisercolour blue chalk, Star button from Stash, Crafter's Pick Incredibly Tacky glue, Cardstock: green, red, KW Doggett "Knight" white

Card Recipe - Green Candy Cane bear

Stamps:  Stampendous: Candy Bears E208, Sentiment: Elzybells Mini Messages - Christmas set 20-054 

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo black, Colorbox Chalk Lime Pastel

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, Tiny Tags die set, Christmas Holly Frame embossing folder - Crafts Too, Prismacolor pencils, OMS, Derwent Coloursoft Pencils, Flowersoft Polar White, Bow Easy, sparkly green ribbon, white liquid applique, heatgun, white acrylic paint, fine paint brush, Kaisercolour blue chalk, Star brad by Making Memories, Cardstock: green, red, KW Doggett "Knight" white

Stampendouse Freeze - Christmas card #1 for Flowersoft Challenge

Hi and welcome to my Blog :-)

I have a couple of cards to share with you which I made for the Splitcoaststampers Flowersoft Challenge FSC15 of "Last Minute Cards" which ends on December 17th.  All my cards use the same layout, embossing folder and colours - I just changed a couple of things so they all look a bit different - and they were surprisingly quick as there wasn't much colouring of the images (they were all coloured with Prismacolor and Derwent Coloursoft pencils and Odourless Mineral Spirits).  And I used some of my favourite Stampendous Christmas images - they are just sooo cute!!  I know it doesn't snow here at Christmas, but I am nuts about anything that has a snowman on it!

For my Teddy and Snowman card, I added white liquid applique to the snowman's: mitten cuffs, hat band and pom-pom, and on the bear's: hat band, mitten cuff and collar on the jacket.  I let the liquid applique dry then heated it with my heat-gun to make it "puff up" and then painted over it with white acrylic paint as the white liquid applique tends to look rather creamy - almost lemony - rather than "pure white".

I lightly chalked in the sky around the image with Kaisercolour blue chalk (very subtle but trust me - it is there!).  The green embossed panel is an embossing folder by Crafts Too called 'Holly Frame'.  There is actually an embossed frame on the top half of the embossing folder, but I simply covered it with my image. 

The sentiment tag was diecut with my Cuttlebug and Tiny Tags die set and I ran my Warm Red chalk ink pad around the tag.  The red/white ribbon came from Coles Supermarket and is by Artwrap - and the red cord was in a throw-out box at Spotlight - 5 metres for $1 so I couldn't pass that up :-)

Lastly, I added Flowersoft Polar White using Aleen's Tacky glue along the bottom of the image and did two layers of it so it looked all snowy and fluffy.  Here is a little close-up photo:

I will share my other 2 cards I made for this Challenge in the next day or so.  Thanks for stopping by - hope to see you again soon!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Stampendous Freeze D145, Sentiment: Elzybells Mini Messages - Christmas set 20-054 (retired) 

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo black, Colorbox Chalk - Warm red

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, Cuttlebug Tiny Tags die set, Christmas Holly Frame embossing folder - Crafts Too, Prismacolor pencils, OMS, Derwent Coloursoft pencils, paper stumps, Flowersoft Polar White, Aleen's tacky glue, Coles ribbon, red cord, white liquid applique, heatgun, white acrylic paint, fine paintbrush, Kaisercolour blue chalk, snowflake button by "Dress it up" Snowflake collection - Snow Globe, Cardstock: green, red, KW Doggett "Knight" white 

Stampin' Up Vintage Peaceful Wishes - Card #2

Hi and thanks for stopping by :-)

I thought I would CASE one of my own Christmas cards "Vintage Peaceful Wishes" (well, more like variations on a theme!) which I shared here about a week ago - but I changed things around quite a bit so it does look substantially different to my first one - and I like this one better.  It is such a quick and easy card to do that I am doing a bunch the same.

I stamped the foliage with Peeled Paint (green) Distress ink - sometimes I stamped without re-inking so that you have the foliage fading into the background - and did the same with the berries using Aged Mahogany Distress ink.  

Then I set to work with the sponging.  I always use a seasponge for sponging as I find I don't get "hard" edges.  I tear my seasponge into little pieces - don't cut them or you are more likely to get lines of sponging which doesn't look as nice.  Here in Australia, you can find seasponges at Chemists.  They are quite dear, but last for ages.

I sponged the same green and red as the image, and added Antique Linen Distress ink plus some Versacolor Gold pigment, then heat-set it with a heat-gun ready for the next step.  Using my gold pigment ink, I roughly went around all the edges of the cardstock, then dumped on some gold embossing powder and heat-set it.  If you don't heat-set the sponging before you run the gold ink around the edges, some of the gold embossing powder will catch on the rest of the card where you have sponged - which is OK if that's what you want - but I didn't - I only wanted the gold embossing around the edges.

Once I had done all that, then I added the sentiment (if you add the sentiment before the sponging, it doesn't stand out as well as it gets covered by all the sponging).

I added red Kindyglitz to all the berries and added the sparkly star brads either side of the sentiment.  Lastly, I added the burgundy bow. 

Challenges:

I am popping this card into the current Splitcoaststampers Clean and Simple CAS96 Challenge of "bows". 

Thanks again for stopping by!  I'll be back soon with another Christmas card to share.

Jocelyn

P.S.  If you don't know:  CASE means "copy and share with everyone" or "copy and selectively edit"- and there are some variations on that.

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Stampin' Up Peaceful Wishes (retired)

Ink:  Tim Holtz Distress Inks:  Peeled Paint, Aged Mahogany, Antique Linen, Versacolor gold pigment

Accessories:  Gold-dotted Burgundy ribbon, Bow Easy, red Kindyglitz, seasponge, gold embossing powder, Sparkly star brads by Making Memories, heat-gun, Cardstock: cream, dark olive, burgundy

Cuttlebug Winter House Shaker card

Hi and welcome to my Blog :-)

I'm still having fun with my "frame" cards and this particular card is a Shaker Card and is another entry in the Splitcoaststampers Flowersoft FSC14 Sprinkle Challenge of "Winter Wonderland".

I used the now-retired Cuttlebug embossing folder:  Winter House - which I have recently seen on EBay go at Auction in Australia for more than $50 - eek!!   If you Google it, you might be lucky enough to find one somewhere!  

I diecut a circle with my Spellbinder Circle Nesties, then used the larger Snowflakes embossing folder from the Cuttlebug Winter Wonderland set, then punched some icicles with my Martha Stewart Icicles edge punch and attached them underneath.  I know that you can't really tell by the photo, but there is some clear acetate over the Winter House image and I added some Polar White Flowersoft inside (approximately 1 teaspoon) which of course is the "Shaker" part of the card.. 

There is approximately 3mm thick foam tape between the Snowflakes embossing and the Winter House embossing - if you have too small a gap, the "shaker" parts get stuck underneath the acetate and don't move around freely.

I diecut some snowflakes and added Kaiser Island Lagoon Rhinestones and when I glued them to the front, I bent the edges of the snowflakes up slightly so they would stand out a bit better against the Snowflakes embossing.

This panel was then adhered to Bazzill Bling Icey Teal cardstock (I don't know the proper colour name - I am just "guessing"!), then onto more white cardstock  I love how the Bazzill Bling cardstock shimmers in the light.  Lastly, I added the ribbon in 2 separate elements and the bow itself was made with my Bow Easy.

Thanks again for stopping by!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, Snowflakes embossing folder from Winter Wonderland set, Winter House embossing folder, Cuttlebug Snowflake #2 die, Spellbinder Circle Nestabilities, Polar White Flowersoft, acetate, thick mounting tape (approx. 3mm thick), Bow Easy, Teal organza ribbon, Kaiser Rhinestones Island Lagoon RS402, Cardstock:  Bazzill Bling Icey teal, white

Punches:  Martha Stewart Icicles edge punch

Stampendous Winter Chapel Christmas card

Hi and welcome to my Blog :-)

Carrying on the theme of "framed images" which I really love at the moment, here is another card which is essentially the same card as my other one (see this post for my Bunnies in the Snow) except with a different image.  This one is by Stampendous and is called "Winter Chapel" - I bought mine from 1-2-3 Stamps in the USA (you can also get wood-mounted instead of cling foam-mounted rubber), but if you check out the Stampendous Website, you can see the whole range of products including tutorials, projects and card samples. Can you tell I'm a big fan of their stamps?!  I think they have some of the sweetest images and I especially love their Christmas range.

I stamped the image onto KW Doggett Knight white cardstock and coloured it with Derwent Coloursoft and Prismacolor pencils and Odourless Mineral Spirits (OMS).  I added lots of Polar White FlowerSoft with Aleen's Tacky Glue to the image, then added soft white acrylic paint on top just for a slightly different effect.  Because of the angle of the photo, it stands out quite a bit but looks more subtle IRL.

The snowflakes embossing is one of the embossing folders from the Cuttlebug Winter Wonderland set - it is larger than the regular size Cuttlebug folders so was perfect for making a square card for this image.  Note that I did the embossing first, then diecut the circle with my Circle Nesties so the embossing doesn't get squashed.  I popped this white embossed panel up on thick foam tape to add a little bit of dimension to the whole card.  This was then layered onto red cardstock and then again onto white cardstock with just double-sided tape for both of these layers.

Lastly, I added a white organza bow which I made with my Bow Easy, then glued on a sparkly red star brad - I cut the prongs off then glued it with Super Glue - much easier than trying to wrap the prongs around the bow knot and fiddling to get it sit properly.

Challenges: 

I am entering this card into the Splitcoaststampers FlowerSoft FSC14 Sprinkle Challenge of "Winter Wonderland", as well as the Splitcoaststampers Ways to use it Challenge WT294 of "Frames".

Thanks for having a peek at my Blog!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Stampendous 'Winter Chapel' CRQ042 cling-mounted rubber

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo black

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, Snowflakes folder from Winter Wonderland set, Spellbinder Circle Nestabilities, Bow Easy, white organza ribbon, foam tape, star brad by Making Memories, Prismacolor pencils, Derwent Coloursoft pencils, OMS, paper stumps, Polar White FlowerSoft, Aleen's Tacky glue, Super Glue, Cardstock: KW Doggett "Knight" white (for the image), regular white (for the rest of the card), red

Cuttlebug White Christmas card

Hi and welcome to my Blog :-)

I have had this idea running in my head to make an all-white, mostly Cuttlebugged card for Christmas, and this is what I came up with.  I LOVE all-white cards - they always seem to scream elegant - and I hope that I have gone some way in achieving that.

You can probably see how I made the card, but I shall explain a little of it - and if you ever have any questions, please don't hesitate to either leave a comment or drop me an EMail.

Firstly:  make sure your corner-punch the cardstock before you do the dry embossing so you don't squash or mark the embossing.

There are four layers to the card:  the base, the snowflakes embossing, the dots embossing and the trees.  To do the dots panel, I embossed my cardstock, then very, very carefully added a top and bottom Scor-Pal line between the dots (there isn't much room so you have to be very accurate making the line - if it's crooked, it looks pretty-ordinary!), then cut the cardstock just slightly under/above the line.  At first, I did the panel without the Scor-Pal line, but it just didn't look quite right - it seemed to need a "finished edge" to it.  Note that I added the ribbon to this panel in 2 separate elements and the bow itself was made with my Bow Easy - then I glued this panel to the card base.

The diecut trees are a Cuttlebug Treetops die/folder combo which I bought back in 2008 when I first bought my Cuttlebug, and when I Googled it, it seems to be readily available in Australia - not sure about overseas.  There are four different trees in the set, but I decided to just have 3 the same on my card.   In any case, I think that even if you don't have this die, you could hand-cut some trees and either leave them plain or perhaps run them through your Cuttlebug with some other folder.  I popped the trees up on 2mm mounts (dimensionals).

The sentiment was stamped with Sky gray pigment ink and heat-embossed with Pearl clear embossing powder.  I love how it made the sentiment look a bit silvery, but not as bright as silver - just nice and understated - I didn't want it to stand out too much. I also ran my ink pad around the edge of the oval just to make it stand out a bit more against the Snowflakes embossing. This panel is also up on 2mm mounts.

Challenges:

I am entering this card into the Allsorts Challenge - Week 80 of "Monochrome" - it doesn't have to be black and white;  you can use shades of one colour or any colour and white.

I am also popping this card into the Splitcoaststampers Clean and Simple CAS75 Challenge of "Dry Embossing".

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

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Sentiment - Waltzingmouse 'Seasons of Love' Tags clear set

Ink:  Artnic Sky Gray pigment

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, CB Embossing folders:  Swiss dots, Snowflakes, CB Tree Tops 37-1854 die/folder combo, Spellbinder Oval Nestabilities, 2mm mounts, white organza ribbon, Bow Easy, Pearl clear embossing powder, heat-gun, Scor-Pal, Cardstock:  white

Punches:  Stampin' Up corner

Stampendous Bunnies in the Snow Christmas card

Hi and thanks for stopping by :-)

Aren't these little bunnies just so adorable?!!  It is a cling-rubber stamp by Stampendous called "Bunnies in the Snow".  I bought mine here from 1-2-3 Stamps in the USA (you can also get wood-mounted instead of cling foam-mounted rubber).

I stamped them onto KW Doggett Knight white cardstock (love this cardstock for my colouring) and coloured them with Derwent Coloursoft and Prismacolor pencils and Odourless Mineral Spirits (OMS).  I added lots of Polar White FlowerSoft with Aleen's Tacky Glue to the branches for the snow, and added red Kindyglitz to the flowers at the bottom of the image (although they look kind of dark in the photo) plus pink Kindyglitz to the bunnies' ears and cheeks.

Here is a little close-up of the FlowerSoft:

The snowflakes embossing is one of the embossing folders from the Cuttlebug Winter Wonderland set - it is larger than the regular size Cuttlebug folders so was perfect for making a square card for this image.  Note that I did the embossing first, then diecut the circle with my Circle Nesties so the embossing doesn't get squashed.  I actually popped this white embossed panel up on 1mm mounts (dimensionals) to add a little bit of dimension to the whole card.  This was then layered onto green cardstock and then again onto white cardstock with just double-sided tape for both of these layers.

I love how it's been a bit of a trend lately to "frame" images so I have quite a few cards on the go with this same technique.

I thought about adding a sentiment, but decided against it as I really wanted this beautiful image to take centre-stage.  Lastly, I added a white organza bow which I made with my Bow Easy, then glued on a sparkly green Christmas tree brad - I cut the prongs off then glued it with Super Glue.

Challenges:

I am entering this card into the following Challenge:

Splitcoaststampers 'Ways to Use it' Challenge WT294 of 'Frames'.  

Thanks for having a peek at my Blog!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Stampendous 'Bunnies in the Snow' CRQ043 cling-mounted rubber

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo black

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, Snowflakes folder from Winter Wonderland set, Spellbinder Circle Nestabilities, Bow Easy, white organza ribbon, 1mm mounts, tree brad by Making Memories, Prismacolor pencils, Derwent Coloursoft pencils, OMS, paper stumps, Polar White FlowerSoft, Aleen's Tacky glue, Super Glue, Kindyglitz pink and red, Cardstock: KW Doggett "Knight" white (for the image), regular white (for the rest of the card), green

Stampin' Up Vintage Peaceful Wishes

Hi and thanks for visiting my little cyber-world!

Over at Splitcoaststampers, the Clean and Simple CAS94 Challenge is "sponging" so I just HAD to play; I LOVE sponging on cards.  I always use a seasponge for sponging as I find I don't get "hard" edges.  I tear my seasponge into little pieces - don't cut them or you are more likely to get lines of sponging which doesn't look as nice.  Here in Australia, you can find seasponges at Chemists.  They are quite dear, but last for ages.

For my card, I used one of my all-time favourite Stampin' Up sets: Peaceful Wishes which I was lucky enough to win on EBay late last year.  I stamped the foliage with Peeled Paint (green) Distress ink - sometimes I stamped without re-inking so that you have the foliage fading into the background - and did the same with the berries using Aged Mahogany Distress ink.  

Then I set to work with the sponging.  I sponged the same green and red as the image, and added Antique Linen Distress ink plus some Versacolor Gold pigment (which you can't really see in the photo, but it shimmers in the light and looks very pretty).  Once I had done all the sponging, THEN I added the sentiment (if you add the sentiment before the sponging, it doesn't stand out as well as it gets covered by all the sponging - my initial efforts were done that way, so I had to start all-over again........!!).

I added red Kindyglitz to all the berries and added the sparkly star brads either side of  the sentiment.  Lastly, I added the burgundy cord in 2 separate elements, ie: I glued the cord across the card, tied a separate piece of cord and glued that to the centre with Fabric glue.  I tried just tying it all in one go, but the knot wouldn't sit flat and looked too bulky which annoyed me! 

Challenges:

Apart from the SCS Challenge, I am entering this card into the ABC Christmas Challenge and this fortnight's challenge is "X is for Xmas" with the optional extra of flowers - which I didn't add to mine - I didn't think it needed it.

And the Christmas Stampin' all Year Round Challenge. This week Challenge 72 is "Anything goes - just create a Christmas card".  It is their last Challenge of the year.

Thanks for stopping by to have a peek at my card!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Stampin' Up Peaceful Wishes (retired)

Ink:  Tim Holtz Distress Inks:  Peeled Paint, Aged Mahogany, Antique Linen, Versacolor gold pigment

Accessories:  Burgundy cord, fabric glue, red Kindyglitz, seasponge, Sparkly star brads by Making Memories, Cardstock: cream, khaki, burgundy

Punches:  Stampin' Up corner

Unity Silhouette Songbird Vintage Christmas card

Hello and welcome to my Blog :-)

I can't believe how quickly November has gone - the time just seems to speed up once it is the end of October - and I don't know about you, but I have LOTS of different Christmas cards on the go.  You wouldn't want to see my Craft Room - you could get lost forever in all the mess!  Anyway, I am digressing........

I made this card using my new Unity Silhouette Songbird stamp.  It was stamped with a mix of Tim Holtz Aged Mahogany and Versacolor Burgundy ink.  Once I layered the image panel onto the dark olive and burgundy cardstock, I "aged" the edges using a seasponge and Antique Linen ink, then popped the panel up on 1mm mounts (dimensionals).

For the side panel, I ran the dark olive cardstock through my Cuttlebug using the Holly Berries embossing folder (now essentially hidden by the ribbon.....doh!) and punched the burgundy cardstock with my Arches Lattice punch (I LOVE this punch for Christmas cards).

The holly and berries were diecut with my Cuttlebug and Bosskut Holly die, then embossed with my Textile embossing folder - they just kinda looked "naked" before I embossed them - like it needed "something".  I popped a couple of the berries up on mounts to give them a bit of dimension.

To do the sewing on the bottom panel, I pierced the holes with my paper piercer then hand-sewed it with burgundy sewing thread.  The ribbon was attached in 2 separate elements and the bow itself was made with my Bow Easy (it wasn't the easiest of ribbon to tie a bow - in hindsight, I think I should have tied a knot 'cos I don't like my bow at all!!).  Lastly, I glued on the 3 tiny green buttons.

I'm popping this card into the two Challenges:

Papertake Weekly Challenge - and this week's theme is "Cut it out" and they want to see a punched shape or a die cut on your card using punches, border punches, nesties etc.

And the second challenge is the Splitcoaststampers Free for All Challenge of F4A38 Simply Silhouettes.

Thanks for visiting and thanks so much for all the lovely comments you have been leaving - they really brighten my day!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Unity Silhouette Songbird IB-34 Itty Bitty foam-mounted rubber

Ink:  Tim Holtz Aged Mahogany and Antique Linen Distress, Versacolor Burgundy pigment

Designer paper:  Cosmo Cricket Oh Joy "Wrapping Paper" (retired but still available at some stores)

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, Holly Berries and Textile embossing folders, Bosskut Holly die #0604, seasponge, Twill ribbon (from Making Memories Fa La La set of 6 - retired), Bow Easy, mounts (dimensionals), paper piercer, burgundy sewing thread, buttons from Favorite Findings - Christmas Crafts, Cardstock: burgundy, dark olive, cream

Punches:  Martha Stewart Arch Lattice, Stampin' Up corner

Stamping Bella Monstah Bash boy's birthday card

Hi and thanks for stopping by :-) 

Hope you've got your sunglasses handy for my super-BRIGHT card!

It is my nephew's 7th birthday so this is the card I made for him.  Technically, he is my GREAT-nephew but is the same age as my DD - talk about a generation gap!  I don't really like saying GREAT nephew - it makes me feel like a dinosaur!

When I saw this designer paper at my local scrapbooking store, I HAD to have it - I just LOVE the little monsters on it and LOVED the colours - and thought it would go perfectly with this Monster image - I think they were "made for each other"!   I coloured the monsters with Prismacolor pencils, Derwent Coloursoft pencils and OMS, then added some white Liquid Applique to the bumps, feelers and teeth.  Once that dried overnight, I heated the Liquid Applique with my heat-gun to make it 'puff up', then used a paper stump that had blue colour on it, dipped it in OMS, then coloured the bumps on the orange monster, and used a paper stump with orange colour on the teeth on all the monsters plus the feelers on the green monster.  I added some blue glitter to the balloon with Designer Dries Clear adhesive. You can see a close-up of the liquid applique here - it's such cool stuff, isn't it?!

The green cardstock on the side panel was embossed using my Argyle embossing folder, and I ended up adding the orange cardstock underneath the blue/green panel because it looked a little "lost" on the background and the orange just seemed to add some brightness to it.  

The sentiment was stamped with Lime pigment ink and heat-embossed with clear embossing powder.  The sentiment has a blue Petite Scalloped Circle around it, but you can hardly see it!  When I bought my Scalloped Circle Nesties, I bought the Petite ones by mistake instead of the Large ones so the scallops are really tiny on the smaller dies in this set.

Both the image panel and the sentiment are up on 1mm mounts (dimensionals).  The ribbon was attached in 2 separate elements and the bow itself was made with my Bow Easy.

Because the designer paper has lines on it that are wavy, it kind of looks like my cardstock or the dp isn't cut straight, but trust me: it is - it's just an optical illusion!  Lastly, I added the 3 different coloured brads in the bottom RH corner - I put the colours in the same order as I coloured the monsters.

Thanks for have a peek at my Blog - hope to see you again soon :-)

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Monstah Bash cc183 - Stamping Bella, Sentiment: Stampin' Up Riveting set (retired)

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo black, Versacolor Lime pigment

Designer paper:  Reminisce Monster Parade

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, Argyle embossing folder, Spellbinder: Circle Nesties, Petite Scalloped Circle Nesties, Rectangle Nesties, Scalloped Rectangle Nesties, Bow Easy, orange polka-dot ribbon, 1mm mounts (dimensionals), clear embossing powder, heat-gun, white liquid applique, paper piercer, Art Institute fine blue glitter (from Shabby Chic set), Designer Dries Clear adhesive, brads: orange, green, blue, Cardstock: KW Doggett "Knight" white, Colormates Dark Belgium blue, Irish green, orange

Punches:  EK Success Arrows border

Vintage Christmas Gift bags using ATC images plus Unity 'A Beautiful Sight' stamp

Hello and thanks for visiting my Blog :-)

I made three more little gift bags - only this time I went for more of a Vintagey feel.  You can see my post here for my other Gift Bags which are just the right size for a little present such as a Gift Card Voucher eg: Coles/Myer or Target card, or something small for your child's teacher or just some lollies.   

I decided to make this first gift bag out of My Memories designer paper which I picked up at Riot Art and Craft a fortnight ago.  It is really pretty and has lots of glitter on it - you can see a little of it in the photo, but it is more sparkly IRL.

 

The gift bag above uses an image from the ATC Collection Christmas images pad - see pic below of the pad.  The pad is about 65mm wide x 90mm long (or 2-1/2" x 3-1/2" if you are imperial)  and there are 2 of each image.  The image above already came with the border so all I had to do was glue it on.

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And here is my 2nd gift bag using another image from the pad.  Note I rounded the corners of the image with my corner punch:

The ribbon came from a $2 shop.  I bought it last Christmas season as I thought it was unusual having brown satin ribbon with gold holly - it just appealed to me - and since then has sat in my stash looking for a use! Perhaps it was just waiting for a sepia Christmas image like this one!  The button is just a plain wooden one which came from a Folk Art/Tole Painting store - I simply painted it with several coats of a mix of Raw Umber and Brown Earth JoSonya acrylic paint, let the paint cure for 24 hours, sanded the edges with sandpaper to "distress" it and tied it with string I found in the garage.

My 3rd Gift bag uses the Unity stamp "A Beautiful Sight" and was stamped onto cream cardstock with a mix of Bamboo pigment ink and Tim Holtz Peeled Paint Distress Ink, then heat-set (otherwise the pigment ink will smudge as it takes ages to dry):

I layered the image onto burgundy and green cardstock then heavily aged the panel with Tim Holtz Antique Linen Distress Ink and a seasponge.  The bottom panel was also aged in the same way.  I added the button which is by Favorite Findings 'Christmas Crafts'.  I made the bag out of linen-weave textured cream cardstock - you can see the gorgeous texture in the photo - and the ribbon is from a set of ribbons by Making Memories called 'Fa La La'.

Directions for making these super-easy and simple bags are here.  The holes for the ribbon handles on all the bags were simply punched with a standard-sized hole punch.  It is best to punch the holes before you put the bags together - much easier that way.

Thanks for stopping by - I'll be back soon with something completely different....... :-)

Jocelyn

Gift Bag Recipes:

Gift Bag #1

Designer paper:  My Memories #143275 (Riot Art & Craft)

Accessories:  Scor-Pal, ATC Christmas Collection image, wire-edged silver/blue ribbon, hole punch

Gift Bag #2

Designer paper:  from K & Co. Glad Tidings 12" x 12" pad

Accessories:  Scor-Pal, ATC Christmas Collection image, brown/gold ribbon, hole punch, Stampin' Up corner punch, wooden button, JoSonya raw umber + brown earth acrylic paint, sandpaper, string

Gift Bag #3

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

Ink:  Versacolor Bamboo pigment, Tim Holtz Peeled Paint + Antique Linen Distress ink

Designer paper:  Cosmo Cricket Oh Joy - Merry and Bright

Accessories:  Scor-Pal, Ribbon - Making Memories Fa La La, Button - Favorite Findings 'Christmas Craft', seasponge, hole punch, heat-gun, Cardstock: cream textured (for bag), regular cream (for image), burgundy, dark olive

Penny Black Frosty the Snowman in his Cuttlebug Winter Wonderland

Hi and welcome to my Blog :-)

I made another CAS Christmas card for my stash.  Now I know it doesn't snow where I live at Christmas-time - but I just LOVE snowmen and snowflakes.  There's just something special about them that really floats my boat.  And I collect things that have snowmen or snowflakes on them - stamps, paper, ornaments - oh, I could just let my head go if my wallet would allow it!  And I just LOVE this Penny Black stamp - the snowman looks so joyous and I smile everytime I look at him.

I did actually colour him a little with a light blue and grey Derwent Coloursoft pencil plus OMS, but it doesn't show up all that much in the photo - but hope you can see it a little.  I added some orange pencil to his nose.  I added some Polar White FlowerSoft with Aleen's tacky glue along the bottom then used the end of a blunt sewing needle to add little dots of the glue to the snowflakes surrounding him, then added FlowerSoft.  I find it easier to use a sewing needle to make small dots than using the glue straight from the bottle and getting big, messy blobs.

Here is a little close-up of the FlowerSoft:

The embossing folder is one of the folders from the Cuttlebug Winter Wonderland set.   The blue snowflakes are the leftover punchies from using my Martha Stewart Snow Flurry edge punch.  I love how you get several different sized snowflakes from using it - so handy for embellishing a card.  I added blue rhinestones to the centres and popped all these snowflakes up on 2mm mounts (dimensionals).

The ribbon was attached in 2 separate elements and the bow itself was made with my Bow Easy.  I diecut a white snowflake using my Snowflake #2 die and added a blue rhinestone to the centre, then added some Frosted Lace Stickles.  Here is a close-up:

Thanks for stopping by.  I'll be back tomorrow with some Vintage-style gift bags.

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Penny Black Frosty PB-3248H, Sentiment (retired) from Elzybells

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, embossing folder from Winter Wonderland set, Cuttlebug Snowflake #2 die, FlowerSoft Polar White, Aleen's tacky glue, Derwent Coloursoft pencils, OMS, paper stumps, Frosted Lace stickles, Kaiser blue rhinestones, gingham ribbon, Bow Easy, 2mm mounts, Cardstock: white

Punches:  Martha Stewart Snow Flurry edge, Stampin' Up corner