Card - Christmas Thank You!!

Here's my first thank you card for the gifts I received this year!  I always like to create my cards from the paper my gifts were wrapped in.  The center snowflake is from the gift wrap my niece used.  I punched it with my Stampin Up! 1.75" punch. I then cut a cream scallop circle with Spellbinder Nestabilities.  Glued the snowflake to the circle.  I wanted something dramatic so I cut a Tim Holtz label with the Stylized Labels die and text weight black paper.  I printed the sentiment on a piece of cream card stock 3.75 x 5.00 inches and rubbed the edges with a black ink pad.  I glued that to a Ruby Red card.  The snowflake element has been mounted with 3D foam tape.  Super happy with this one!

Card - Digital Christmas 2013 - O Little Town of Bethlehem

I created this card in order to send Christmas greetings to folks I connect with by email or on-line.

I created this art for a project that fell through so I decided to use it for my digital Christmas card this year.  I started with a 5x7 canvas panel.  I embossed white card stock with the Sizzix Swiss Dots folder then ripped it into strips and glued it to the panel horizontally to create illusion of clouds.  I used the buildings I designed a long time ago, printed them on blue card stock and fuzzy cut them.  I cut out the windows and put yellow paper behind.  These were then glued to the panel.  I painted the whole thing with several shades of blue/purple ink.  You will see that the card stock absorbed ink differently than the canvas which created different values of color.  I glued my Bethlehem down over the strips.  I added silver star which I hand cut and the wavy band was cut with the Creative Memories Wavy cutter and glued down as well.  I dry brushed some silver on the roofs of the buildings and a little around the art piece.

Card - Christmas for Girls

This is the same Basic Grey paper from the previous posting.  I smudged the edges with Always Artichoke ink pad.  I placed it onto a AA card.  I placed a large red silk poinsettia, then a medium silver poinsettia then a smaller white silk flower.  These are all held in place with a flower pewter brad. I punched a Stampin Up! Modern Label punch in silver and then a color printed greeting with the SU word window punch.  The greeting is raised with 3D foam tape.

Cards - Christmas for Girls

Here's another card for the girl at work.  Same sketch as previous but in a monochromatic color scheme.  I cut the Tim Holtz Cabinet die from Figgy Pudding by Basic Grey.  I selected a warm grey card.  I embossed the vellum with the Cuttlebug Victorian folder.  I placed white silk poinsettias in 2 different sizes and a small white silk in the centre and held them all in place with a pewter flower brad. I wrapped the white organza around the two layers and tied a knot on the left.  Punched the green color printed greeting with the Stampin Up! Artisan Label punch and added a small bling rhinestone above the Merry.  Punched another from silver card stock and cut it in half width wise and offset the onto the back of the greeting.

Card - Christmas Cards for Girls

I made these cards as a result of a request from one of the girls at work for Christmas cards for her girlfriends and Mom.  I chose the Christmas Magic designer paper by Fancy Pants Designs. It was cut with the Sizzix Tim Holtz Cabinet die.  I added a Baja Breeze card and layered a piece of embossed vellum in between.  The embossing folder is Sizzix Textured Impressions Sugar & Starry Night By Basic Grey.  I wrapped white narrow organza ribbon around the die cut and tied it in a knot on the left hand side.  I punched the Cherry Cobbler color printed greeting with the Stampin Up! Artisan Label punch.  I punched another one from Cherry Cobbler and cut it in half width wise and then layered them behind the greeting.  I added a small bling rhinestone above the Merry.  This greeting is adhered to the card front with 3D foam tape.  I placed 2 white silk poinsettias and a deep wine flower in the centre and pushed a hole through all the layers and held them all in place with a coordinating large brad.  The card on the right is punched with the SU Decorative Label punch.

Cards - Last minute Christmas

I'm needing more Christmas cards so I dipped into my Ready 2 Go kits as I can make cards up in a jiffy. 

I cut the background paper with Spellbinders Label One die and glued that to the card.  I then layered the circle which matches the card color, the large snowflake and small black snowflake and made a hole in the centre with a pushpin and added the tiny black brad to hold them all in place.


I punched a Stampin Up! Modern Label punch from the same background paper and added a color printed greeting punched with the SU! Word Window punch.  The color of the greeting matches the card color.  The white snowflake above was cut with the Cricut and the Winter Lace cartridge.  The silver snowflake on the right was made with the Martha Stewart punch.  The black snowflakes are MS too! 

Photo - Carol Sing

I post this photo to remind myself of the couple of Community Carol Sings I have attended in the last week.  I love Christmas.  I make Christmas cards all year long.  You will find my blog challenge for the last year. I will be posting the one for 2014 the first week of January. Check back later.

I love Christmas music so I really enjoyed the carol sings I have participated in.

Check out your area to see if there is one in your neighbourhood!

Photo - Nativities Three

Here are 3 more nativities from my visit to the exhibit a couple of weeks ago.  To the left is another holy family figurine where Joseph is embracing his small family.  We can only see the head of baby Jesus but he is there!

This one on the right is quite rough in design but has all the main characters including the livestock in the stable.  Makes it all be in one piece of art and easy to place.

This one on the left is a terra cotta ornament.  I really liked the turquoise accents painted onto it for highlights.

The variety in presentation, material and design is great.  You can find my previous postings here and here.

Calendar - Word Of God

I created this calendar for friends.  I printed 12 popular scripture verses in color on vellum.  Trimmed them down to fit into the 4x6 openings and used vellum adhesive to stick them to the pages. I then added photo corners which I cut with the Cricut and the Picturesque cartridge from metallic and pearl card stock. 

Tag - Poinsettia

I generally do something small for each of my sisters for Christmas.  This year there was a great special with Tupperware so each of them is getting a bowl filled with home made snacks.

I cut the tag from designer paper and added a second light colored one I could write on!  Added a organza bow and a Stampin Up! five petal poinsettia in red and green.  All held in place with a gold brad and a blingy flower for the centre.

Dog Treat Boxes

I made Peanut Butter Pumpkin dog treats for our fund raising bake sale on Thursday.

I started with Starbucks Tazo Tea Tins which I covered with this great Christmas Dog decorative paper.  Their scarves and jackets have glitter on them.  I trimmed the paper to the height of the box and used double sided tape to stick it to the box and wrapped it all the way around (about 14").  I then used washi tape in red and ivory hounds tooth to finish the top and bottom edges.  I created tags for each box by printing the details on kraft card stock and punching it out with the Stampin Up! decorative label punch.  I layered this unto a punchie of the same in red paper.  I cut it in half across the width and trimmed the points and glued them offset on the top and bottom.  I then punched another layer from the decorative paper to cover the back of the label.  I placed the dog bone treats into a bag, tied it with heavy red cord and then added the tag so it would hang outside the box lid.  The bottom picture is the treats cooling on racks. These will make a great gift to bring to a hostess who has furry friends at home.

Photos - Nativities two

Here's a few more nativities from the exhibit I visited recently.  This one on the left is composite material and wonderfully colored. 

This one is a painting on paper or canvas.  I love the rich colors in this one. 

This one is cast in an ivory material.  It has a roman feel with the columns. 

GC Holder - Musical Notes

I'm finally getting to some of my Christmas shopping.

I made this gift card holder with the Sizzix Jumbo Crescent Tag die and black cardstock.  I folded the card stock in half before cutting. Here's a link to the ones I've made before. This time I placed the fold on the side instead of the bottom.  I added some music paper to the front.  I hand cut the curve at the top and punched the hole with a 1/4" punch.  I cut the music notes with the green Sizzix small music notes die.  Some in copper and some in black.  I added the greeting with the Stampin Up! Modern Label punch and the Word Window punch with the greeting being color printed.  I added a copper metallic ribbon to keep it closed.

Card - Cute Dog

Still working on card for my craft sale at work tomorrow.  Here's an adorable dog on it's silk pillow wanting to wish you a Merry Christmas. 

I printed the dog image which is from Graphics Fairy on white cardstock and trimmed it.  Then I layered it with a piece of turquoise card stock to match it's silk pillow.  I then cut a piece of gold card stock to match the gold tassels.  The greeting is printed directly on the card in a deep turquoise color.

Christmas Card Challenge - December - Thank Yous

I chose Washi tape to use on my Thank You cards.  I had a limited supply of Christmas tape.  I chose this hounds tooth and reindeer in cream and red.  I ran them aligned with the bottom edge and cut to the left and right edge of the card.  I cut my thanks from hunter green card stock with a Memory Box thin die.  I used snail adhesive to attach it to the card.  I find this adhesive easily rolls off the areas that are not behind the die. I tied red thread to the holes in a cream button and attached on the corner with a Zot.

This other version is done with Kraft card stock with the same hunter green greeting.  I chose a larger button because it matched well with card stock.  I added heavier thread to balance with the larger button.

Photo - Nativities

I attended a Nativity Exhibit and took a ton of pictures. I will post a few times over the next few weeks.  I noticed on many, how lovingly Joseph was holding his family close.  There were many from different cultures and it was interesting how differently the Holy Family is interpreted.

On the left was a clear glass one.

Right is a classic from Willow Tree.

Here's a bright colored one which may be from Latin America.

Card - Pet Christmas Greetings

Here's a Christmas card for our furry friends. 

I started with the dog stamp by Magenta.  I stamped him on white card stock with Versafine black onyx.  I added a greeting in Glorious Green with a clear stamp.  I selected a card in green to match the greeting.  I layered a piece of white card stock in 3.75"x5".  I wrapped a piece of washi tape in Christmas plaid.  The dog is mounted on the card front with 3D foam tape.

Cards - Tea Party Thank Yous

The teal bags arrived yesterday!!! It was like Christmas. I made these cards for the folks who placed orders at my Steeped Tea Party. 














I started with the deep yellow cards and found designer paper that coordinated. I cut the tea pots with the Cricut and the Folk Art Festival cartridge.  I then found solid card stock to place between.  I see the darker layers would better than the lighter.  I ripped the bottom edge of the layer and glued it to the card.  Then the teapot was added on top.  I had quite a few to make so that worked well.

Card Club - November - Love Peace Joy Ornaments

I created the background from a photo of an old board I took during the summer.  I selected all the rough parts of the board and created a pattern I could color.  In this case I have used Stampin Up! Always Artichoke on textured ivory card stock.  The words are circle stickers which I glued to the green SU punched ornaments.  I added cranberry thread to the ornament hangers and tied them with bows.  I selected a deep red card.  I glued the background card stock to the card front. I decided on the placement of the ornaments then I added strings with a black marker.  Then I applied 3D foam tape to the ornaments and adhered them to the card front. 

Card Club - November - Mitten

I started with the felt mitten die cut.  I chose to coordinate the color of the card and snowflake to the color of the mitten.  I then added a neutral silver embossed decorative paper for the background and the label on the mitten cuff. The label is the Stampin Up Decorative Label.  The snowflake and the mitten are held in place with a tiny silver brad.  Black, white, green and red are the mitten colors used in this class. 





Here's the black one and I switched the thumb to the other side just for a change.

Card Club - November - Snowflake Joy

I started with a navy card.  I cut the navy snowflakes from navy flocked ribbon with Marianne Designs thin die.  It's best to cut from the back side and fortunately with the snowflake it makes no difference in the result. I cut the red scallop borders with a Die-amics die.  I punched holes in the scallops with my 1/8" punch.  I glued the borders down first having measured the distance apart with the white layer.  Then I glued the white layer over the borders.  I then placed the navy flocked snowflake in the centre of the white and used a push pin to create the hole for the snowflake brad.  The J and Y were cut with the Stampin Up! Typeset Alphabet Bigz dies from the same card stock as the borders.  They were glued to the white layer evenly on each side of the snowflake "O".    The girls really liked the turquoise one.

Card Club - November - Glittered Deer

Christmas cards are the order of the day today!  We are making 8 cards - 2 of each design.
I did several things ahead.  The chipboard deer were colored with Tim Holtz Gathered Twigs Distress Stain.  Once dry I applied Deco Art Twinkle Gold Glitter paint.  Thank goodness I did this early in September.  I also spattered black card stock with gold acrylic paint.  Once dry I cut into pieces of 3.5" wide then cut them with the TH Cabinet die. This gives me only 1 notch on each side.  I punched a 1.75" circle from High Gloss Gold Paper with my Stampin Up circle punch, also a Modern Label from the same card stock.  I printed my greeting in black on ivory card stock and punched it with the SU word window. I selected an ivory card.  I adhered the black/gold background die cut to the card front. I glued the gold "moon" circle aligned with the curve on the black die cut.  I glued the greeting to the label and mounted to the bottom of the card with 3D foam tape.  I then adhered the glittered chipboard deer above the greeting placing his head over the gold "moon" circle.

Card - Gold and Ivory Poinsettia

Another music card.  I started with gold foil and ivory designer paper.  I added a gold organza ribbon wrapped around the bottom half and taped to the back.  I cut a poinsettia with Marianne Designs thin dies.  I cut a large and small from ivory flocked ribbon and gold textured foil paper. I punched a small Stampin Up five petal punch for the centre.  All held in place with a red tiny brad.  All placed on a red card.

Card - We Wish You a Merry Christmas

I created this graphic Christmas card.  The musical sentiment was printed on vellum. I trimmed it to let the musical paper show better.  I added a bit of clear adhesive under the flower and opposite corner. I mounted the background paper and vellum on a chocolate brown card. I added a layered poinsettia on the top left hand corner held in place with a chocolate brad.  Quick and easy.





Here's another with red card stock with the sentiment centred on the music paper.

Card - Purple Poinsettia

I'm working on filling a few holes in my inventory for my next sale.  Music related Christmas cards was one such space.  I started with the lime green musical paper.  I cut it with the Tim Holtz Cameo Frame Bigz die.  I layered it onto purple card stock knowing I had similar colored poinsettias. I added velvety poinsettias in a grape color, with a Prima silver flower in the centre all held in place with a crystal brad in a purple color.  I punched a Stampin Up Modern Label punchie with a greeting color printed and punched with the SU Word Window.  The greeting is 3D foam taped to the card front. 

Card - Winter Snowflake

The inspiration was the decorative paper.  It has silver, white, teal, turquoise and white snowflakes.  I chose a teal card onto which I placed a white Stampin Up! Snowflake #2 then a turquoise, red, and silver cut with the SU Bigz Snow Flurry die.  I cut a piece of the decorative paper with the SU Top Note then another in red and trimmed the decorative paper on the stitched line then mounted it to the red.  I cut it down to half and placed it at the bottom of the card then trimmed it to the card edge.  I added a teal greeting with flag ends and mounted to the card with 3D foam tape.  I'm sending these to my card exchange friends.

Calendar - Blog Thank You

I created this small thank you for those who visit my blog and then come to visit me in person at my craft sales.  It's a half sheet card stock duplex printed and folded in half.
On the front I put a poinsettia and a wish for a nice Christmas and Happy New Year.  On the back I put a bit about what I do.
On the inside I printed a 2014 calendar I designed with a free digital calendar designed by Kate Pullen.  I found it on About.com.
I'm happy with the way it turned out.

Cards - Nifty Notes - Another Set

I made another set of Nifty Notes similar to those here.
Using watercolor backgrounds I layered white graphics over them.  I added the words in large bold letters.
Great cards for any occasion.

Card - Polar Bear

I cut the polar bear with the Cricut in white and the scarf in blue. I use quick dry adhesive in a bottle to stick the scarf onto the polar bear die cut. I highlight the nose and eye with a black marker. I added a blue swirly designer paper background.  I ripped a piece of white card stock into a snowbank which was glued to bottom of the card.  I punched several small stars and glued those in the swirly sky.

Card - Christmas Carolers

I made several of these with different colored greetings. I started with a black card and I cut the Tim Holtz Victorian Carolers in black as well.  I wanted a music background so I dug into my archives to find backgrounds I had designed for these cards in 2010.  I changed the color to black and white and printed them onto vellum, which I trimmed to 4x5.25".  I wanted the music to show so I placed a piece of white bond paper behind the vellum cut to 3.75x5".  This piece was glued in place then I carefully placed some snail adhesive to the back of the vellum in places where it would be covered by the carolers.  This was put in place then the carolers were added on top.  I felt it needed a bit of color so I punched a color printed greeting with the Stampin Up! Word Window punch.  This is mounted to the card front with 3D foam tape.  I added some color to the music sheet with chalk.
It's so nice to make cards with die cuts other than snowflakes, poinsettias, and stars.  Good job Tim Holtz!

Calendars - Coasters

More stuff for the craft sale on Saturday, Nov 16th.  Today it's Coaster Calendars.

I took chipboard coasters 4" square and covered them with designer paper.  I left the paper bigger than the coaster and pressed them over night.  The next day, once the glue was well dry, I trimmed the paper to the edge of the coaster with scissors.

I printed the small calendars and stapled them to a piece of scrap card stock.

I then designed my vellum quotes, printed them and cut them with scissors or the Stampin Up Apothecary Rectangle framelit.  I then punched a hole in the top centre with the Crop-a-dile. I double sided taped the small calendars to bottom centre then I mounted the vellum with tiny black brads.  I added a magnet to the back so it can be put on a file cabinet or any metal surface.

Party - Steeped Tea

I hosted a Steeped Tea Party at work over the lunch hour yesterday.  It was a blast.  We tasted the several teas and saw some of their terrific products.  The tea pots poured well without dripping, the tea pitcher is terrific and the heart shaped tea cups are adorable.  Our consultant was Candace Dorey.  Tea is a universal product and we had most everyone browse through the boardroom at sometime over the hour.  Find a consultant in your area and have party!

Check back later to see the tea cards I`m making as thank yous.