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