Cards - House Cards - Christmas

I made some sample Christmas House cards for a realtor friend.

The A2 card base is navy blue along with the middle house.  The little houses were cut with the Stampin Up Homemade Holiday Framelits Dies in three different colors. I used markers to add details like windows and doors to the die cut.

I cut a piece of no shed glitter card stock in silver tone stripes. I added the houses and greeting to this layer. Added silver mini brads as door knobs. Taped the sting of greeting to the back.

Once all was added to the glitter layer I adhered it to the card front.  A white blank card insert was added to the inside and a white envelope completed the card.

This card has an A2 white card base.  I added a blue watercolor designer paper cut to leave a small border all the way around.

I used the navy layer with the hole cut for the house on the first card.  I wrapped a piece of cotton thread around the right hand side of the navy layer and knotted it to the front.  I adhered the navy layer to the card front aligned on the left hand side.

I added a red heart punchie in the house adhered with quick dry glue.

I found a red greeting in my stash which is a Stampin Up Artisan Label punchie with NOEL stamped on it.  The NOEL is from the Bright & Beautiful stamp set. Mounted with 3D foam tape.  White insert and enveloped completed the card.

I modified a graphic I found on Pixabay.  I added a greeting with a shadow and my own green wreath to the front door. 

I sized it to fit on the white layer mounted on the A2 green card base.  I printed it on the white layer and mounted it to the card front.

A white insert and envelope completed the card.

Tree Scent Ornaments

 It is that time of year and I am a little bit behind.  Preparations for the Allied Arts Council Christmas Store in Sprice Grove are underway.

I am adding some 1 of a Kind Tree Scent Ornaments created from found items collected over the last year.

This is a metal star with a Noel banner at the top.   It had a dangly which I removed and replaced with a grey felted ball.  I hung the ball from a metal jewelery head pin supported by a metal cutwork disc.  I gave it a loop at the top for hanging. Added a ring to attach it to the existing loop.

The felt ball is the diffuser where the essential oil will be placed to provide your favorite scent.

The scent can be a tree scent like pine, fir, spruce or it can be a seasonal scent like cinnamon, cranberry, or gingerbread or it can be your favorite scent that puts you in a relaxed mood.

I would recommend pure essential oils rather than others oil which may contain funky ingredients.

Spool tree ornaments are always popular.  This is a larger spool that measures 1.75" tall.  

I chose a wool fabric in red, teal and purple, cut it to length and height and frayed the edges.  I added a small teal heart to create a focal point on the ornament. I hand stitched it on. I wanted the one end of the fabric to stick out so I sewed it away from the edge with teal thread.

I chose red bulky yarn in red for the hanger.  I put a knot on the bottom end then a teal wood bead below the spool.  The spool still has its labels so I wanted those to be visible.  I added a knot at the top of the spool and then another at the top for the ornament hanger.

The heart is where the essential oil can be place or on the fabric at the back if you are concerned with staining.  Most pure oils do not stain and completely disappate leaving no residue.

This ornament is a picture frame which I recycled into a oil diffuser.

I cut a 1 1/8 th inch circle of white felt with my SB circle Nestabilities dies. The circle that looks black is really chrome. I hung a small silver pinecone in the middle. The pinecone is hung on white sewing thread and trapped when the chrome circle is inserted.

I used a silver cord for the hanger.  I added a clear bead to have the 2 pieces of cord hang together.  Knots below and above the bead. Another knot at the top to end the hanger.

The white felt is the diffuser and where a few drops of pure essential oil is placed. 

I repurposed a mini light cover into a difuser.  

I removed the hooks near the hanger which would have captured the mini light edges. 

I opened the cover and traced the shape to cut the yellow felt. I placed the felt inside and added a few Bling Zot so keep the points in place. I added 2 small yellow buttons to allow me to add the cotton thread hanger.  One is on the inside and the other on the ouside. 

Once they were in place I could replace the cover.

A few drops of pure essential is placed on the yellow felt allowing the scent to difuse out of the holes in the cover.  

Christmas Card Challenge - Watercolor - NOEL Resist

 
While clearing out card making supplies I found these three small note cards.   You can see how I have used them in a previous post.  With watercolor being my theme this year I decided to give it a go.  I trimmed the note card to make NOEL more of a focus. I like the way the gold foiling works as a resist to the watercolor.  These were the last three so I am just moving on. 

I painted a purple ornament with the O and outlined it in permanent marker.  Not sure my bough works really well.   I added a gold star brad in the center of the ornament after adhering the gold layer.  

The snow and tree scene on the left is not bad.  

I just added a wash of blues on the last one.

Each watercolor was adhered to a layer of gold metallic card stock to repeat the gold in the accent layer.  This layer was then adhered to a coordinating card base.  Three more for the box.  I used about 50 cards this year due to not seeing my church family so who knows what next Christmas is going to look like.

Ready 2 Go Christmas Card Kit - Set 10

Working on card kits for my stack card class on November 4th.

I started with a red card in the landscape orientation.

I added a piece of red plaid metallic paper which was cut to 4.00 x 5.25 inches and adhered to the front

I added the Christmas green tree brad to the gold foil NOEL label cut with the Stampin Up Apothecary Framelits. I made a hole with a push pin, inserted the brad and pressed the prongs apart at the back. I added 2 pieces of 3D foam tape and adhered it to the card front.

The gold fabric snowflake was adhered in the top left hand corner with a Bling Zot.

I started with a red card in the portrait orientation.

I cut a layer of green card stock to 4.00 x 5.25 inches.  I added a length of red cotton ribbon aligned left of center and taped the ends to the back. The layer was then adhered to the card front.

The musical holly accent square as adhered to the card front over the ribbon with 4 pieces of 3D foam tape.

I added a greeting in the bottom right hand corner.  It was color printed and punched out with the Stampin Up Modern Label punch.

It was adhered to the card front with 3D foam tape.

You can check out my R2G card kits on the tab above.

Recently

I have tried a couple versions of this drink.  

I read about tea infused hot chocolate here.  I decided to try it as it is 2 of my favorite drinks.

LuAnn suggested making the hot chocolate mixture from scratch but I just used what i had on hand.

This sample is Jasmine Green Tea with the off the shelf hot chocolate mix.   It does a different flavor dimension to the hot chocolate.  For me, it is adding caffeine to caffeine so it may not be an evening drink.  

I have tried it with Earl Grey Tea which was very good.

My textile project is complete but I will not reveal it in full until it is submitted to the show in April. 

It was a lot of work and an interesting exercise in using different skills.  Lot of needle work and my right hand was very sore at the end.

Check back here April 13th to see the finished piece.

I picked up this book in early December but only recently finished reading it. 

It is written by my aunt.  She worked on the research, the writing and publishing over an 8 year period.  My aunt inherited my grandmother's journals when she passed away. 

This provides good historical information regarding the ancestry of my grand parents.  It documents the birth of the fourteen siblings in my aunt's family, some of the moves which took place in my grandmother's life and some excerpts from the journals. 

I provided some insight into the family life of my mother and her siblings.  I will have a few questions for my Mom when I see her next.  I am sure she has read her copy by now as well.

My niece has organized a bit of a luncheon before we meet at the book launch in early February.  I am looking forward to see family and speaking to many of those personalities in the book.

Decorative Paper - Christmas Cards

I delivered 10 Christmas cards to the gallery today.

I made this card with some of my Christmas colored ink spot decorative paper.  I trimmed it to leave a small border.  I printed the greeting in green onto a 2.5" strip of vellum and gold embossed.  I ripped both edges then folded the edges over and taped them to the back.
This layer was adhered to the front of a red card.

I created a nativity drawing yesterday.  I checked out a few images on line then incorporated several aspects into my drawing.

I created this card with the image.  I printed the nativity, the star and the greeting in black on vellum and gold embossed it.  I chose a subtle watercolor background with blue, green, and purple.  I adhered it to the front of a purple card. The vellum was placed onto the decorative paper.  I used a small amount of vellum adhesive at the base of the stable.  I made a hole with a push pin and then placed a tiny gold star brad in the center of the star.

Some of these cards and these from last year were returned.

Ready2Go Card Kit - SU - Bright & Beautiful

Here's another kit for my class tonight.  This is a Stampin Up kit using Bravo Burgundy and More Mustard and the Bright and Beautiful Stamp Set. I printed the star on vellum in BB and clear embossed it.  I cut a star from MM and the vellum star with the Sizzix Star #2 die and layered them. I chose BB for the first card base onto which I printed Wonderfully Worn background in BB. The stars are held in place with a tiny gold star brad in the center on a BB card.  I slipped a length of MM grosgrain ribbon behind the stars on the bottom third of the card front and taped the ends to the inside.  The greeting is printed on Very Vanilla card stock, punched with the Artisan punch and mounted to the card front over the ribbon with 3D foam tape.












The next card again has a
Bravo Burgundy card base.  I created a designer layer with the Bright and Beautiful stamp set on Very Vanilla.  This layer was trimmed to 4.00 x 3.5 inches and adhered to the card front aligned to the bottom. I ran a length of More Mustard grosgrain ribbon at the top of the stamp layer by putting a slit in the fold of the portrait card and taping the ends to the inside.  I created the large JOY greeting with the stamp set and layered it with MM and adhered to the card front over the ribbon with 3D foam tape.   The other card is based on the same layout but using More Mustard as the card base and NOEL as the greeting.

Card - White and Green Challenge

I started with a Stampin Up Wild Wasabi green card.  I embossed a piece of Whisper White with the SU Vintage Wallpaper textured impressions folder. I painted the centers of the embossed images with a water brush dipped in a drop of WW ink. I painted the dots in the embossed layer with a silver paint marker. I stamped the greeting with ink coordinating with the card.  The stamp is from the Greetings of the Season stamp set. I punched it with the Decorative Label punch and offset it with a silver one.  I put a WW stitched grosgrain ribbon across the bottom 1/3 of the embossed layer and taped the ends to the back. Mounted the greeting with 3D foam tape.



I'm submitting this card to the Stampin Celebration Challenges: Inspiration Photo.

Alphabet Photo Frame - NOEL

I made this frame for an event I'm attending soon.  It's a donation for the fundraising efforts.
I started with a wooden black frame.  I printed my photos 3" square and it spells NOEL. I mounted them to a piece of black card stock.  As the frame is not exactly square I have a wider border on left and right.  I then mounted it to a piece of scrapbook paper in a neutral taupe with a damask pattern that works with the photos.  I added spaces to the edges so that the photos would not be right against the glass.

Christmas Card Challenge - August - Stickers

The theme for the Christmas Card Challenge for August is stickers.  This leaves it wide open for anything Christmas.  Trees, candy canes, snowflakes, words, and a bunch more of subject matter.  Go for it!!
I bought these sleigh stickers last Christmas because I knew what was on my challenge and they were in clearance for a good price  Stickers are not something I use regularly.  These sleighs are Martha Stewart. There are red and blue sleighs so I alternated the colors accordingly.  I found that they matched Stampin Up! Ruby Red and Soft Sky so I chose those colors for my card and background.  In keeping with SU I used the Northern Flurry folder on the background layer.  I created snowbanks with my Creative Memories wavy cutter.  I created the word accent with a stamp from Peddler's Pack with fit very nicely in the SU Artisan Label punch.  I stamped it in Ruby Red and used the marker to highlight the edges of the punchie.  I glued it to a strip of card stock about 3/8" wide in the same color as the card.  I flagged the ends with a square punch.  This accent is mounted to the card front with 3D foam tape.  Super happy with these.