Hello stampers. It is always so very exciting when unusual combinations turn out well. I love our crinkled seam binding ribbon but it has been in the house now since May and I haven’t used it yet!! I looked at the colours and thought that yes, I could make this work for Christmas. This is how my mind worked. I also wanted to use the stamp sets from the last two Paper Pumpkins. A snowflake card for my next coffee and a card class was at the top of my agenda and I usually use shades of blue for my snowflake cards. It was a perfect match for the night of navy crinkled seam binding ribbon. I also wanted to keep the cards clean and simple since I was still in recovery from the detailed, fussy cards we made at the last coffee and a card class. Here is my snowflake card:
For this snowflake card I used night of navy, pool party and dapper denim as well as the stamp set Colourful Season. The white layer is 3 3/4″ by 5″. Dapper denim layer is 4″ by 5 1/4″. The Everyday Label punch coordinates perfectly with the Back in Plaid November Paper Pumpkin. A Paper Pumpkin subscription would make a great Christmas gift for the crafter on your list, maybe even you! I always compare it with the analogy of cooking. While I love to cook, I also very much enjoy a take-out meal or a pizza delivered to my door. That is what Paper Pumpkin is for the person who already has all kinds of stamps. This is a surprise box of instant gratification with very little thought required and lots of satisfaction. I really like that you can see what other people in the stamping community have done with their kits. It’s like a global design challenge. If you are interested, just click on this link. You can choose a one month, three month or six month prepaid subscription, or you can subscribe month by month and cancel or skip at any time.
This next card uses Berry Burst ribbon. Do you also see how this card is not necessarily limited to Christmas time? It could be a baby congratulations card or a New Year card too, or even a birthday card.
I love how this card looks like a present with the pretty ribbon. The Year of Cheer specialty paper and the scattering of rhinestones make this card simply elegant. The white strip with “joy” is 1″ by 3 3/4″. The final card in this trio uses the emerald envy crinkled seam binding ribbon.
The best part about this ribbon is how textured it is and how surprisingly light, so it is very easy to tie, doesn’t take much room in an envelope and it really has nice volume too. It gets the two thumbs up from me. It also comes in Peekaboo Peach, but there is no way I could turn that into a Christmas card!
I find it rather amusing that these cards all use the Back in Plaid Paper Pumpkin and there isn’t an iota of plaid to be found. What I really do love is that the stamp sets live on long after you have used up your adorable kit. Here is the actual project that was in the kit, I am looking forward to surprising random people with one of these cute stockings full of Lindor chocolates. I also love how the stocking turned out when run through the Big Shot with the cable knit embossing folder. This folder just happens to be on sale now too! Quick tip: I just sprayed it with ironing starch and then ironed it before embossing it.
Take a look at the crinkled seam binding ribbon up close. I love how this picture turned out. You can really see the shimmer and the texture and the glorious richness of the colours.
The last thing I made with this Paper Pumpkin was a cute little tag. I couldn’t resist using our embellishments from last year. Unfortunately they are no longer available, but maybe you also have some leftover in your stash from last year. This tag is the only project that I didn’t use the crinkled seam binding ribbon on, but it looks cute with the twine too.
I hope that you have been inspired by these clean and simple cards. If you have any questions or feedback, please comment below and I would be happy to help. Have a super day!
Hello stampers! Christmas is coming up sooner than you think and gift card holders that are beautiful and hand made are a great way to showcase what could otherwise be a rather generic gift. When you put a gift card in this pretty card, the recipient will definitely feel the love. The best part of this card is that it is really easy to do, but it looks like you really slaved over it. At the end of this post there will be a video to walk you through it.
Merry Little Christmas paper and Merry Little Labels
I actually used the retired Chalk Talk thinlets for the front of this card because my Labels to Love stamp set has not yet arrived. I would have preferred to use the Merry Christmas stamp from that set. It coordinates with our everyday label punch so that would make it quick and easy (and current!!). To get the sparkle in behind, just cut your punched image in half and separate it slightly in the middle behind your stamped image. This is a little cheater trick that I like to use once in a while when there are no layering dies available.
Here is the inside of the gift card holder. When you open the card the insert slides up to show the gift card. The video will explain how that works.
The camera focused on the lovely trees from the Card Front Builder thinlets dies, but the lovely saying comes from the stamp set Just Add Text. I really love this saying “next time you think of wonderful things, don’t forget to count yourself”. The bottom part of the gift card holder is not adhered on the sides with adhesive. This would make the opening too small for the gift card holder insert to slide up and down. Instead, use silver metallic edge ribbon to tie it firmly closed. Looks pretty too!
The gift card covers up the beautiful inside, but as soon as the recipient takes it out they will have a lovely scene to look at. Here are the measurements you need for the base of this card:
The last thing you need to know in order to make this great card is the measurements and dynamics of the inside piece.
Now you need to watch the video to see how the insert gets put into the card, but basically you are adhering the small folded part (on the left hand side of the picture) just above the middle score line on the card. The wider part at the bottom gets sealed shut on the sides with tear and tape and then it slides in the bottom of the gift card. Thank goodness for videos right?
Don’t forget the online extravaganza sale that is happening right now, there is a selection of items anywhere from 10-40% off. If you use the current host code, you will also get a personal thank you card in the mail from me. Here is the link to the sale.
I would just like to end this post by saying thank you for your patience. I know it has been a while since I posted, but in the meantime I helped my parents out, they were both sick with very bad colds, and then my Pap celebrated his 91st birthday so I was there for a few days. Thankfully they are both feeling better. Here he is with the eclipse card that I made for him. He really loved it!
Happy stamping everyone, I hope you have a super day.
Hello stampers. I just wanted to create a quick blog post before I go and visit my parents. It is such a joy to own your own business so that you can prioritize your family. Now that they are almost 91 and 85 I try to visit at least once a month. This month it will be twice! My Pap is turning 91 on November 19. In the meantime, I had given myself a deadline, to get these two samplers done and posted before I left. I will be able to truly relax with them then. These samplers are the same layout as the one in my earlier post. The first one uses Night in Bethlehem and is a traditionally religious sampler. I love the clean lines. What do you think?
I used a smoky slate base of 8″ square and basic grey squares 2 1/4″ square with white squares that are 2″ square. The focal point is basic black 4 3/4″ square with a white piece 4 1/2″ square. The framelits are cut out of basic black and copper foil. The star is crushed curry. The next sampler is made using Hearts Come Home and is more traditional in colour and theme with Santa Claus and a Christmas village look.
For this sampler I used garden green, real red, night of navy and a touch of silver glimmer paper. The dimensions and layout are the same as the other samplers. You can get a class to go kit for $25 in Canada, just message me if you want one and we will figure out the details. The reason I am starting to offer these classes to go is that I am transitioning my business and my life! Bittersweet for sure.
Please just pray for me that I will find a new home that has one room that is big enough to hold my beautiful stamp room table. Sending big hugs your way, and now I am off to visit my loved ones.
Hello stampers! Framed art samplers are like scrapbooking for the wall. It’s like card making taken to a different level. I love creating seasonal samplers that can be interchanged in the same frame. Let’s be real. If we kept making beautiful samplers and adding them to the walls we would soon run out of wall space and our homes would look like a scrapbooking store! This year I wanted to make a sampler using the beautiful Year of Cheer suite, but I also wanted to combine it with the stunning Santa’s Sleigh framelits. This is what I came up with.
As you can see this would also make a great gift for someone on your list. It really doesn’t take much time to make because the smaller squares are so simple; the patterned paper is so beautiful it stands up all by itself! The mats for the small squares are made of champagne foil paper and they are 2 1/4 inches square. The inside squares are 2″ square pieces of Year of Cheer specialty paper. One of the squares is made of copper foil paper embossed with the Softly Falling embossing folder. Here is a close-up:
To coordinate with the Year of Cheer paper, which is very rich and metallic, I used gold glimmer paper, dazzling diamonds glimmer paper and copper foil paper for the trees and for the deer and sleigh. I added early espresso behind the deer and one of the trees to add both depth and contrast. I also thought that the little red bow on the gold embossed wreath added just the right pop of colour. All these dies come from the Santa’s Sleigh set. I found that laying the foil sheets upside down helped for cutting them out so they would delaminate. It also made the sleigh and deer face in the right direction for what I needed. That is what is so nice about using either foil sheets or glimmer paper. If you turn them around you can have your image facing in two different directions.
This frame is 12×12″ with a matted 8×8″ opening. I found them last year at Wal-Mart and I am guessing that at this time of year they will once again have a great selection of frames. The whole thing is “built” on an 8″ square of early espresso cardstock. The biggest square is 4 3/4″ square of whisper white and 4 1/2″ square of champagne foil paper. The foil paper was first embossed with the Winter Wonder embossing folder. If you were planning on giving this away as a gift you could pair it with this beautiful card:
I used champagne foil paper with the Swirly Snowflake thinlets dies together with the Year of Cheer washi tape to make a stunning Christmas card. The sentiment is embossed with copper and I used the ever popular and useful Stitched Framelits to cut it out. The last thing I want to share is a cute little idea for using your left over Year of Cheer specialty paper. This paper is so beautiful that it makes any small gift extra special. I used it to wrap these Ferrero Rocher chocolates. I found a case of these at Costco with a dozen packages of three in a box.
I simply wrapped a 3″ by 5″ piece of paper around the chocolates and then tied a piece of metallic edge ribbon around it.
Class to Go Offer
As you might know, my house is up for sale and when Rachel is done school in June I will most likely be moving away from Chatham. I hope to continue teaching classes in person but I also realize that more of my income will depend on online sales. With that in mind I am starting to offer “classes to go”. The Christmas art sampler will be $25 including shipping to anywhere in Canada. Frame not included. Payment can be made through PayPal or etransfer. I haven’t added an online shopping feature for this yet, but if you comment below or message me we will get the job done!
Hello stampers. I finally had some time to play with a technique I came across a few weeks ago. It is called Faux Leather. Tina Zinck had done a video on it and Sheran Rigg made a beautiful card and linked Tina’s video. And that is how I got hooked. It is so easy and it really does look like leather. You can buy sheets of fun foam at Michael’s or you can get it on Amazon as well. I cut it down to a 3″ squares. You then ink up the stamp you want to use. If you use Stayzon you don’t have to worry about drying time, but I like using early espresso for a deeper colour. You then heat up your square of fun foam for about twenty seconds or until the corners start lifting. Then you firmly stamp your image on the fun foam and hold it there for a few seconds. Let it dry and then run it through the Big Shot with a stitched framelit of your choice. Here are some cards I made and at the end of the post I will include a video.
I also like to sponge the edges of my fun foam after it is trimmed down to give it a more weathered look. I use tear and tape for my adhesive as it works best on this surface. The cowboy boots come from the stamp set Country Livin’ and they suit this technique perfectly.
I love the sayings on this card, they come from the stamp set So Many Shells. The ability to truly listen to someone is such a lovely and rare gift that it deserves to be celebrated with a card don’t you think? Don’t forget to finish the inside of the card, or as France Martin says, bring the party inside!
The faux leather technique also works great with any nature images, especially trees and leaves. This card uses the quintessential Lovely as a Tree and Tree Rings background stamp.
The saying “Just a Note” comes from the Soft Sayings Card kit. I used the burlap ribbon and copper trim to finish it off. Card base is very vanilla heavy cardstock (love that stuff!) and then crumb cake in 4″ x 5 1/4″. The oak tree image from Lovely as a Tree also works ever so well for a sympathy card.
Here you can see how much this really looks like leather!
The last card I am sharing with you uses a retired stamp that I just love, For Your Country. For several years now I make a point of going to the cenotaph on Remembrance Day and handing out hand stamped cards to the veterans to show my gratitude.
I did find that for this technique our rubber stamps work best. The photopolymer stamps that I used simply did not leave a deep enough etching to really make it look like leather. I hope you have lots of fun with this simple technique that has such fabulous results with so little time. As always, you know that I would welcome you on my team if you live in Canada. I am celebrating my 12th anniversary with Stampin’Up this year and to include you in this celebration I am offering a draw for a free bundle of your choice if you place an online order with me in October using the current host code. Good luck!
