Challenges - Christmas card

Challenges! I have decided to participate in several and came up with this card to satisfy three different challenges - snowflakes on Sylvia's blog, the sketch for C4C20 on Crazy 4 Challenges and an easel card Tracy's Christmas card challenge!! These were very fun to make and I love the way they turned out!! The blue, red, silver and white background paper is from a gift bag - full of wine - we received at a party before Christmas. I really loved the colours so set it on my craft table when we got home. When I decided to get creative with these challenges it seemed to fit the bill perfectly so I cut it up and used the pieces for my cards. I actually made 6 of these cards. You can see that the set of 5 have different ribbon than the single one. I used the single card for the card exchange with my stamping buddies this week. These are easel cards and use the same sketch as my first card for Cardmaking - the one that features the coffee mug!! So I have five Christmas cards all ready made!! This is the first time ever that I have Christmas cards ready before November!! I am really hoping to be able to keep up with the challenges on Tracy's blog and get most of my cards made before the busyness of the season takes over later this year!!
I hope you are making good on your resolutions for this year! So far, so good for me!!

Enjoy!!

Therese

Cardmaking - Jan - flower embellishment

Here is a quick and easy card!! I used decorative paper for the background on a coordinating card, added a colour printed greeting and a cool flower embellishment!! The flower embellishment I created using several silk flowers in different sizes and colours. Added a little yellow sequin and gold brad to create the center!! Added it to the card using a glue dot!!

We all need some quick and easy designs when we need cards in a hurry!! The embellishment could have been anything - a tag, a chipboard heart, etc.

Enjoy!!

Therese

Cardmaking - Jan - vellum envelope

These cards feature a cute little envelope that holds a little heart tag - another place you can put a little surprise!! The vellum envelope is easy to make and I added a little ribbon pull between the heart and the little square card which makes removing it easier. A little bling too!!

Vellum envelope: You need a square piece of paper. I used a 3" square of vellum which made an envelope just slightly larger than 2" square. You need to mark the center of each edge. Use a rule or do what I do. Fold each side in half and SLIGHTLY crease the fold ONLY at the edge. Vellum marks very easily. Now fold to the center one point and fold it from one mark to the next. If you wish, you can GENTLY score the line before you fold the point in. Now, fold two more points to the center which will give you a little envelope pocket which you can fill with fun stuff!! You will need to hold the points down with something - I usually use a little sticker but in this case I wanted the little heart tag to really show so I used a band of vellum which I attached to the back.
For reference: 4.25" square makes a 3" envelope

Make these appropriate for any occasion by changing up the decorative paper and the colour of the heart and tag!!

Therese

Cardmaking - Jan - Tea cups!

Tea for you!! I will include a teabag or two when I send these cards!! The cups feature alcohol ink background on glossy cardstock and were black embossed to create a bit of a porcelain look. I used my new MS border punch for the right hand edge of the top layer - it punches and embosses!! The heart doilies I found in my stash and they were the perfect size. I added little napkins - saw them on a tea card on Splitcoaststampers and thought they were a perfect touch!! I like them better with the little pin pricks in them. They look more delicate. Added a laser printed greeting just below the cups which helps to ground them - sort of looks like a table top!! I did add a bit of stipple stamping to add a bit of texture to the top layer.
Cards with a bit of a surprise are always fun!!
PS: I thought I had seen a post somewhere about using stamps that have not seen the light of day in quite a while and this morning I found it on Allison's blog!! This stamp is one of those!!

Therese

Cardmaking - Jan - coffee greetings

It was great to be back at Cardmaking and being creative with a group!! Welcomed some newbies!! A really different set of cards this time around. To start - easel cards. Found a tutorial on Splitcoaststampers. I modified it a bit to suit my needs - really cool cards!! Substituted hearts for coffee beans and added a stamped greeting to make one of them a Valentine's card. I am happy with both of them.

I really liked this coffee mug but it had a greeting on the curve of the mug which did not always suit so I took my exacto knife and trimmed my unmounted stamp!! It was a delicate operation but all is good and both pieces survived to be used again together or separately. I black embossed the mug for a really nice contrast and it made it very easily to watercolour. I altered my ribbon with walnut ink so it would not be so black and white - worked great!! Some decorative paper and a ribbon slide to complete the card.

This design was inspired by Crazy 4 Challenges - C4C20!! You will see that I have used the same sketch for a Christmas card because I am following Tracy's Christmas Challenge. More about that later!!

Therese