Merry Christmas!!!

Just a note to wish you all a Merry Christmas and every blessing in the New Year!!  Enjoy your friends and family and count your blessings!!

It was a trip down memory lane when we put up the tree this year as we unwrapped ornaments we have not seen for quite a few years because we have been travelling over Christmas.  They all fit on the tree!!

Therese

Large embossed Christmas cards

These are the other kits I prepared for my cardmaking session last night.  I created these for one of my Christmas card classes and still had some supplies so I prepped a few kits.  I used a variety of colours and embossing folders.  I decided to add a bit of colour to all of the ones I made by sponging very lightly over the embossed areas with ink.  I like the look!!  Before I headed for bed I decided to add a bit of bling to them as well so I added red glitter glue to the berries on the holly one, silver glitter glue to the snow flake one and several rhinestones to the tree one.  A bit of a different look from the clean and simple (CAS) look of the ones I created earlier.
I hope you have your cards ready to go and are in the home stretch in your preparations for Christmas.  I am ready other than some food preparation that will happen in the next few days.

Therese

Embossed with oval greeting

I created these greetings at the same time as the ones I used on these cards though they never made into the kits for that class.  So, yesterday, I invited my friend and her daughter over to make cards and decided to make up kits using them.  The image is from MudMaven Designs and I really love the little bird.  These were quick and easy cards to make - just a bit of colour on the greetings, layer onto the larger oval and add this element to the embossed card front using 3D foam tape.  I added a bit of glitter gel pen to greeting and its layer on this one.
We had a wonderful evening and they went home with some cards and goodies!  After they left I thought this was wonderful way to gift friends with cards because you get the gift of their company as well.

Therese

Santas with a vintage look

A few more cards created with supplies from my stash!!  I sponged the edges of my backgrounds, added seam binding and 1/8" ribbon, glued them to card fronts and added my layered colour printed Santa images.
I like how much of the background shows with the smaller images.

Therese

Santa with ruffled seam biniding

I needed just a few more Christmas cards so I went looking into my stash and found these backgrounds along with these Santa images and thought they would work well together.  I have been wanting to ruffle seam binding so decided to give it a try as this card needed a bit of texture.  I laid down a piece of double sided tape and started at the top by laying the seam binding onto the tape, making a little fold and repeating.  I really like how it turned out and it was easy to do!!  I added white 1/8" ribbon over it, tied it down with crochet cotton and added a little round greeting.  I sponged the background and added it to a black card front then layered my Santa image on red to coordinate with my seam binding.
I like the creative challenge of digging into my stash and finding supplies that I can combine to create new projects.

Therese

Iridescent Christmas RAK card

 Created this card as a RAK  - Random Act of Kindness - for a member of one of my groups.  It is always wonderful to receive a handmade card in the mail so I should really be doing this more often!!
The main element is Angelina Fiber impressed with a snowflake.  This was a fun activity with a group of friends - they had purchased a variety of colours and wanted to play.  I chose this bluish iridescent fiber and a snowflake stamp inked with blue.  Here is a tutorial if you are interested in giving it a try.  I added a silver snowflake confetti then layered it onto colour printed decorative paper which was stamped with snowflakes in blue and embellished with a blue gel pen on a blue card front and attached all the layers using a mini silver brad.  I added the torn vellum greeting afterwards - you get a very cool look when you layer the vellum over the angelina fiber - but I did have to peel up the edges of my decorative paper to tuck the ends of the greeting below it.  The soft blue of this card  seems to be just right to go with this greeting.
RAKs are such a wonderful way to spread love into the world!!

Therese

3D snowflake embellshment

 Here is a close up of the 3D snowflake embellishment I created for my Twisted Christmas cards.

I used:
1 - 1 1/4" punchie (SU)
1 - 1 3/8" punchie  (SU)
1 - snowflake punchie  (MS) (you could use confetti)
1 - sequin
1 - brad
6 - snowflake punchies

First, layer the snowflake punchie onto the 1 1/4" punchie, then that onto the 1 3/8" punchie.  Position the sequin in the center of the snowflake, make a hole and insert the brad.

Next, glue the snowflake punchies to the back of this  element positioning them with their centers aligned with the spaces between the branches of the snowflake.  Position the center of the punchies just to the outside of the edge of the layered element you just created.

This creates a nice 3D embellishment for adding to your cards, tags or back to back for making ornaments.

Enjoy!!

Therese

More Twisted Christmas cards

I created more Twisted Christmas cards.  You can see the others here. I played with the dimensions a bit so I could  put them into A2 invitation size envelopes.  You need to cut the length to 10 1/8" and you can leave the width at 4.25".  See the link above to find the tutorial on how to fold and score them.  I added decorative paper from my scraps so I just cut what I needed to cover the different areas of the cards.  These cards are cool because they have a pocket on the front and the inside.  I sealed off the front one before I added my dimensional  snowflake embellishment.  You can check out the

next post to see what I used and how I put them together!!  I added a colour printed greeting which I punched with the Window Punch (SU).
My Christmas cards went out today!!  I always write a family newsletter, print it on decorative letter head and include it in my cards to catch people up on what is going on at our house!!  I love getting news in my Christmas cards too!  Especially from those who we only write to once a year at Christmas!

Therese

Upcycled Heart ornaments

 I have been making little heart ornaments for my friends - just a little handmade something!!  The base of these hearts is a red sweater I bought years ago and wore all the time, especially at Christmas.  As it happens, it because a little stretched out and no longer looked great and fit well so it was removed from my closet to the give away pile.  When I was sorting through that pile I saw my sweater in a new light - crafts supply!!  So I brought into my craft room and cut it apart to so I could use it in my creations.  I first used it to die cut hearts for cards and went looking for it the other day to see if it would work for these little ornaments I had in mind.  One section had Heat N Bond already applied to it because it needed to be stabilized for die cutting earlier so I just ironed it to another piece of the same and  cut out hearts my hand.  I added a bead, round sequin and snowflake sequin to each side by sewing them together with crochet cotton.  I also added blanket stitch all they way around

using the same white crochet cotton.  I created the hanger using the two ends as I started my stitching at the top dip of the heart.
I am really liking the handmade look they have and that my red sweater will live on as tree ornaments in the homes of my friends and family!!
Christmas is about what is in your heart and not about what is under the tree!  There will be less under the tree this year because as a family we have decided to make a charitable donation instead of buying adult gifts. So we will be shopping for the grandchildren and sharing hand made goodies with our families!!
If the holidays are stressing you out, consider changing your mind about what needs to be done and changing any traditions that no longer work for you and your family.  You get to choose!!!

Therese

Christmas Tree tags

 Created these tags for the Tag Exchange with my card making group!  I die cut some decorative paper I created when I made this card using this cool tree die (SX) and then cut bases out of white cardstock for each one.  After gluing them together I sponged all the edges with green ink to blend the white to the green.  I die cut the stars and trunks separately, trimmed them neatly and glued them on afterwards.   I used hot glue to adhere the red sequins to the tree.  Had to be careful as the heat from the glue does interesting things to the plastic sequins.  To finish off the middles I added a little squirt of red glitter glue!  The perfect touch!

Here is the forest of trees that I created!  I did add a string to the top so it can be attached to a gift or used as an ornament!!
We cleaned on the weekend so we could start decorating the house for my get together tonight.  Yeah, the tree is up and has lights!!  Will add ornaments this afternoon and we will be ready to go!!  Looking forward to enjoying all of my Christmas decorations.  We are home this year for the holidays.

Therese

Twisted Greeting card - Christmas

 On one of my groups I am participating in a Christmas fancy fold card exchange so I went looking on the Splitcoast Stampers gallery for some inspiration!!  I found a link to this tutorial by Kelly Gettelfinger for this Twisted Greeting card off a blog so I decided to give it a try!!  It is really easy and looks pretty cool!!  You start with a 4.25" x 11" piece of cardstock, score it diagonally once, fold it over and then score and fold in half to get this angular card.  She also explains how to cut your decorative paper so it will fit your card. It works best with double sided decorative paper

but it is worth paying attention to how you cut it because it will only fit one way.  In my case, I cut it with the wrong side facing up the first time so ended up with the white back side of my paper facing forward so I had to redo it.  If you use double sided paper you can cover both the inside and outside with opposite papers which works quite nicely.  So I embossed my card instead but that was a bit tricky too because of where the folds are I had to be careful how I put the cardstock into the folder so it would fit in my Big Kick.  I embossed a few areas manually - with a mallet!!  Yogi does this all the time and it gives you lots of control as to how much of the folder you want to use or the ability to do just one element on a folder!!  I applied white ink to the embossing afterwards.  I created focal elements using die cuts, double sided tape, glitter and punchies!  This card has a little pocket on the front and on the inside.  I sealed up the front one before I applied my embellishments and colour printed greeting and added a bit of "something" in the inside one!!  Unfortunately, they do not fit in an A2 envelope but I expect playing with the length of the paper you use would fix that.  Once I have experimented I will add any new info to the end of this post and may show you all how to create this embellishment.

Therese

Sticky Note books - stocking stuffers

I have designed some new sticky note books!!  You can see previous versions here and here and here! These feature decorative paper and have elastic closures with chipboard accents!!  They hold a full pad of 3"x 3" sticky notes and can be refilled once the pad is finished.  They will make a wonderful little gift or stocking stuffer for the upcoming holiday season!  Everyone can use one of these!!
I started with a 3" x 11" piece of heavyweight decorative paper and scored folds for a doubled up front cover, 3/8" spine and a reinforced back. I have added layers on the front and back to stiffen up these areas and added clear tape on the inside of the spine to reinforce it. I sewed on the elastics and then added chipboard spacers to each side before I glued on the colour coordinated chipboard circle accents!
These are great little gifts!  Great as hostess gifts, stocking stuffers and little "on hand" gifts for when you just want to give a little something!!

Therese

Masculine Birthday card

Love how this card worked out!  It is a birthday card for my Dad who is 80+.  I am grateful that he and Mom still live independantly in their own house and are still active.  My Dad was a wood worker/carpenter most of his life so I used a thin piece of veneer that my DH gave me earlier this year for the central element.  I backed the veneer with label before cutting it with the Hanging Sign die (SX TH) using just the sign part.  I stamped the greeting with dark brown ink and sponged the edges as well.  I cut the hanger part of this die using silver foil cardstock.  To give it the look of old metal, I sanded it, added dark brown permanent chalk ink and then dabbed on black sharpie which I rubbed in before it dried which resulted in giving it a bit of a coppery tinge.  I added the hanger to the card front using 3D foam tape and tied on the sign using cotton thread.  I added a piece of 3D foam tape to the back of the sign as well to keep it from flipping over when the card is opened.  I like the way the elements work with the decorative paper.
I like that the wood has a connection to several generations.  I am so fortunate because my DH, knowing that I use all sort of "stuff" in my art, often comes to me with items he thinks I might be able to use!!  As soon as he presented me with several of these thin pieces of wood he had leftover from his night light project I knew I would be using one of them to make a card for my Dad.  As they were born, DH has made wonderful night lights for all of our grandchildren with interchangeable front panels which have been scrolled with detailed scenes.
So I will be sending off my card this week with all the best wishes I can pack into it so it will arrive in time for for his special day!!  Be grateful if you live close enough to your family members to actually hug them on their special days!

Therese

Birthday Scrapbook Card

A friend of ours is turning forty and his family is having a  surprise party for him!!  I decided to make him a card that is also a bit of a scrapbook.
This was a fun project!! I created it using two pieces of cardstock - one 4.25" x 11" (folded at 2 7/8")  and the other 4.25" x 10.75"(folded at 4.5").  I set them into each other and bound them on the fold with cotton thread to make the book.  I colour printed 4" letters with a variety of textures and colours which I cut out and mounted to my pages - J on page one, O on page 3, H on page 5 and N on page 7.  I sponged the edges of all the pages, and added some stippling with a stamp as well.  I created and colour printed some 3D embellishments, added some doodling and a few details of the event leaving room for photos and journaling on several of the pages.  I added my greetings on the back!!  Also created a custom envelope using brown wrapping paper and some cool letter packing tape to house my card/scrapbook.
Looking forward to the celebration and wishing him the very best!!

Therese

Christmas cards - star embellishments

Gotta love finding cool embellishments for card making for a bargain!!  These stars were formally part of a Christmas garland which I cut apart to create individual elements for cards!!  Always worth keeping your eyes open and seeing the possibilities for the parts!!
I colour printed the greetings onto letter sized card stock, cut them into quarter sheet layers and embossed them.  I used a subtle embossing folder - Swiss Dots - to keep the greeting legible.  I added ribbon into a point of the star and attached both ends with double sided tape to the top of the embossed layer.  To finish off this layer I covered up the ends with a strip of decorative paper which was cut on the bottom edge with decorative scissors.  I added another strip to the bottom edge.

Therese

Christmas card - winter scenes

These cards feature different winter scenes which I colour printed from images off of a Vintage Holiday CD.  You could easily use old Christmas cards cut with a die or circle cutter instead.  They are layered onto a scalloped circle die cut (Nestibilities) which is embellished with a clear glitter gel pen called StarDust by Sakura.  Love being able to add just glitter with no colour!!  This element is layered over the card front which features a length of seam binding with a single knot bow, a colour printed background and a coordinating card.

Therese

Christmas cards - white on white

I love the elegance of white on white embossed cards!!!  For this card I embossed a swirly oval embossing folder onto shimmer paper and added a soft blue oval using a stencil, blue dye ink pad and a sponge.  Love the way it worked out!!  Added a length of white seam binding, a blue confetti snowflake with a white mini brad, an embossed little tree die cut (SX - movers and shapers) and a colour printed punchie greeting (punch - SU)!!
I hand cut the stencil I used here but have subsequently discovered that the largest oval Nestibilties die is the same size and does the work in no time!!  It is fun creating your own stencils for using with your stamps and embossing folders!!
Want some white on white inspiration??  Check out Sue's Nelson's gallery Heart Prints or search Splitcoast Stampers for white Christmas cards.

Therese

Christmas cards - trees

I was invited to make cards with a new group of women last night. It is always fun to meet new people and share card making with them.  I did not know if any of them had card making experience so I prepped kits accordingly!!  Turns out that only a few had made cards before but all were up to the creative challenge of making cards so we had a fun night.
We started with this card which features these cool little Christmas trees which is a digital stamp from The Alley Way Stamps.  Check them out - they have cool images, a design team and challenges!!  I cut and pasted an extra one into this image to give the card better balance.  I laser printed the images which allows them to be coloured with any medium - watercolour which is what I used, colour pencils, chalk, markers, etc.   The image is layered onto coordinating cardstock and adhered to the card front using 3D foam tape.  For the card front, I added a length of seam binding to the decorative paper layer, tied an extra piece to the front to simulate a bow and glued this layer to the card.   We added a bit of glitter with glitter gel pens but we could easily have used glitter glue instead.
A versatile sketch which allows you to create different looks by simply changing up the decorative paper.  So you can make all your cards the same and not have them all look identical.  Perfect if you are looking to create lots of cards in a short amount of time!!
I have almost as many cards as I need now!  Even if you have not yet started, don't panic.  With this sketch all you need is some decorative paper, some coordinating cardstock and ribbon!!  Quick and easy!!

Therese

Double Dutch Fold card - Tropical Paradise

I created this card for a "Tropical Paradise" Double Dutch fancy fold card swap in one of my groups.  I really enjoyed the process of creating a single card because I took the time to cut the palm trees by hand and embellished them with watercolour, added multiple die cuts to the sky, stamped the sand with shells and added a layered embellished greeting!!  You can check out Splitcoast Stampers for the instructions for this fancy fold.
It was refreshing to be creating something other that Christmas cards and took the better part of an enjoyable afternoon.

It is off to my partner tomorrow!!

Therese

Credit card sleeves

Just created these cool credit card sleeves!!
I used heavy weight decorative paper for the main body, lined the insides with sticky backed foil duct tape and used a few more pieces on the outside edges to make them durable.  I used a round punch, half way over the edge, to make the little finger divot doing the sides one at a time before I taped the edges together.
These covers will protect my cards - debit and credit - that have a chip (RFID - radio frequency identification) in them from being scanned by accident.
You can see a documentary video here about how easily your information can be obtained without your knowledge.    Of course, there are companies out there selling protective card sleeves for this purpose but I thought it would be fun to make my own and make them personal!! Might consider adding some alcohol inks and/or permanent marker doodles to these as well.

Therese