Christmas Cards Assortment 1

I know, I know:

it's not even Thanksgiving yet and I'm sharing Christmas cards.

I've made all of my cards well ahead of time

(many were completed early in the year) and

I decided to share them now.

Perhaps one may spark your creativity

to get your own made if you've not already started ;)  

Today I'm sharing a couple of cards I made with a set of

blank premade, handmade paper cards I bought on clearance

several years ago.

I made these cards months ago,

but never shared them.

I'll share a few different versions over the next several days.

The card bases on some are a bit different.

This set of cards (that came with silver envelopes)

have a shiny green "embossed" design on the paper.

I made five with the felt die cut reindeer

(also bought on clearance several years ago) 

and hand stamped tag (sentiment from Stampin' Up!).

They also have a "faux" glitter brad.

I made one with an image from Scrap N Dipity.

I should have done something differently with the stocking

rather than try to color it with a marker...... 

The patterned paper is from Die Cuts With A View.

Thanks for looking =)

50th Birthday Circle Easel Card

A card I made for an internet "pen pal". 

I printed the 50 out onto white card stock

then carefully trimmed it out with an Xacto knife. 

The numbers are actually leftover from another

50th birthday card I made that became a shaker card. 

Papers, card stock, stamp images, paper clay and mold,

die cut scallop edge card and scallop edge border punch

are all long retired from Stampin' Up!

The fern punch is from Martha Stewart.

Whisper White card stock numbers stamped with

white craft ink and a stampin around wheel

made a nice subtle two tone effect.

Paper clay flower I made and painted with acrylic craft paints.

Side

Back

Thanks for looking =)


I'm entering my card in the following challenges:
Crafting By Designs Anything Goes
613 Avenue Create Anything Goes
Through The Craft Room Door Anything Goes
Use Your Stuff - Take 5  never used designer papers, "paper clay" flower molding kit, multi petal flower punch for the leaves, rarely used tiny birthday sentiment and stampin around wheel I've only used one time that I recall! Bonus: I used the number five on my card AND there are just five words on it ;)

Digitally Made November

Todays' post is a digital image I created for the

 Digitally Made Challenge Blog.

This month's theme is "Thankfulness".

I made my piece in My Memories Suite V8 software

using the Family Gathering digital kit by

JMC Designs.

You have until the end of the month to enter

your 100% digital project 

(no hand made items, please)

at Digitally Made Challenges.

Thanks for looking !

Yoyo Thanksgiving Card

Leaf is a scrap leftover from the window I cut out

on another project (see Kitty's memory box urn).

Fabric yo-yo has been in my crafts stash for years.

Remember when they were all the crafting rage?

Rubber stamp images are oldies from Stampin' Up!

Since I've not mailed this one just yet,

I may add something else to it, it looks kind of "blah"....

Thanks for looking =)

Pumpkin and Leaves Card

Last pumpkin piece I made years ago for

a decorative tissue box cover that I have since

torn apart to repurpose. 

I added a few punched leaves that were

stamped with veins from a leaf stamp. 

Eyelet and organdy ribbon finish off the tag

(stamped with a stipple plaid background stamp

using a Kaleidacolor ink pad)

that is adhered to patterned paper

from Die Cuts With A View. 

Below are images of the box I made so long ago

Fall side

Christmas side.

I made a card out of the Santa piece some time ago.

Thanks for looking =) 

Penguin Ornament

As a design team member for the now defunct 
Making Memories challenge,

I was to use an image from Scrap N Dipity
for the challenge that was scheduled for this month.
Unfortunately, without any notice or explanation
to the DT, the blog and anything online related to
the blog owner dissapeared last month.
I already had my project made and this blog post written
when I discovered the blogs disappearance in early October.
I'm still publishing this project anyway.
Thank you Scrap N Dipity for the image.

I chose one of the Not So Helpful penguins.

http://scrapndipity.com/shop/digital-stamps/holidaysseasons/not-so-helpful-xmas-penguins

Would you like to know how I made my ornament ? Read On!

First of all, using Photoshop Elements I resized 

the digital image to fit inside a glass ornament. 

It was then time to experiment:

I printed it onto a transparency.

The ink jet printer ink wouldn't dry on the transparency,

so I heat set it with black embossing powder. 

The embossing powder made the lines thicker,

which was good because the printed lines were too thin for my liking.

I wanted a bold, coloring book image look.

Yes, there were stray bits of embossing powder that 

melted onto the transparency, but I easily (carefully!)

picked them off with the sharp point of a hobby knife.

I layed a Coluzzle circle cutting system over the image,

then carefully cut a circle around it that would fit

inside the glass ball ornament. I've made this type of 

ornament in the past, so I knew the 4th ring would fit.

If you've never made these, you will probably need to 

cut a few test pieces to see which size will work with 

the ornament you are using.

NOTE: Be sure to cut a little tab at the top

to fit in the neck of the ornament, this keeps

the image in place. 

My coloring medium of choice for making these ornaments

are glossy indoor/outdoor paints. 

Most people use Sharpie markers.

Be sure to paint on the back side of the image so your

lines will show on the front. This photo shows the 

face being painted in, going right over the eyes.

They will be fine when you flip the piece over. 

This is the back of the painted piece, not too pretty I know.

I could go back over the entire piece with a coat of white paint.

Here is the front !

Carefully curl the painted piece, 

paint side inside, so as not to scrape off the paint.

Unfurl inside the ornament, 

keeping the tab in the top/neck of the ornament.

Add "snow" to the inside, 

or whatever other tiny items you may like. 

Place the cap on, making sure the metal tabs

are behind your painted piece.

Attach ribbon and it's done !

On many ornaments I've made similarly to this one,

I've added snow-tex to the top and 

even little tags hanging from the ribbon
(such as the year I made them or names of the recipients).
I've posted several of them on my blog. 

Thanks for looking =) 

I'm entering my ornament in the 
Anything Goes Challenge at Through The Craft Room Door

Simple Leaf Trio Card

Simple card:

image was stamped and heat embossed on copper card stock 

then paper punched out.

The three pieces were adhered onto a strip of

textured black card stock that was then

mounted on top of patterned paper. 

I decided to add copper eyelets to this card after I took the photos.

There is one at each end of the black strip.

Thanks for looking =)

House of Cards Challenge November

The challenge this month at 

House of Cards is

holiday and/or the colors in the photo below

I used very similar colors to create a Christmas card -

with a fun pop out Christmas tree inside !

The basic pop out tree pattern was found in the book

Cards That Pop Up, Flip and Slide

by Michael Jacobs.

Most of the supplies used were from Stampin' Up!:

Sahara Sand, Crumb Cake, Garden Green, white card stock

White craft ink

Real Red and Garden Green markers

White embossing powder

stamp set

Stampin' Around wheels

Scallop top tag punch

Bakers twine

Sequins, leftovers from an old craft project

green copy weight paper

star punch

The images from the Stampin' Around wheel 

were heat embossed in white.

I sponged white craft ink along the edges

of the Crumb Cake card front.

Garden Green is sandwiched between this

and the Sahara Sand card base. 

The sentiment stamp was colored with

water based markers and stamped onto

a white tag made with a paper punch.

Bakers twine and sequins for embellishment.

Various views of the tree inside the card.

I made it from copy weight paper

and rubber stamped it with a darker green ink.

Thanks for looking ;)

Be sure to visit the rest of the design team members'

blogs for more inspiring ideas! 

Repurposed Home Decor Piece

Today I'm sharing my Creative Team project for

Love To Craft Challenge Blog.

It was a somewhat sad looking wine themed piece

of home decor I bought on clearance at a local store

with the plan to repaint/redecorate it.

Chalk paint and wax, sandpaper, card stock, photos

plus various embellishments

(and a lot of patience to remove the old labels!)

were all it took to give this piece new life.  

I started by removing the old labels, 

which was not an easy process. 

I couldn't use anything too harsh or wet

because the panels are a cheap pressed wood composite.

I didn't want to risk causing damage to them.

Once all of the labels and adhesive residue were removed,

I cleaned each part of it to insure the paint would stick.

I did take it apart (a bit tricky because the dowels were

really stuck in the base) before working on it.

I had to buy the paint and wax online 

since there was no place local that carried it.

It is more gray than I anticipated, but still looks nice.

 It was difficult to tell the exact color

on the computer screen. It is called Oyster. 

These are the backs of the panels, painted, sanded

and finished with the wax sealant.

Paint and wax are both by Art Minds, bought from Michaels.com

NOTE: be prepared for lots of fine dust when sanding !!!

I stamped numbers from an old stamp set.

Swanky by Image Tree, with Silver Encore ink

onto black card stock to make a "metal tag". 

It is attached with dimensionals to a binder clip

that has scraps of ribbon knotted on it. 

This metal tag is an oldie from Daisy Hill.

Polka dot ribbon scrap tied on with

bakers twine. 

The center image is one I found online,

but it took some work to make it suitable for printing.

Below is the screen shot of the image that popped up

when I searched "family quote printable". 

Unfortunately clicking the link did not take me

to this image. I have no idea where it originated

or who to credit for creating it since the link

was incorrect. 

Since I was unable to find the original,

I copied the screen, trimmed and edited it a bit in

Photoshop Elements to make it the correct

size for my project.

Thanks for looking =) 

Visit the Love To Craft blog to see more inspiring crafty ideas 
by the team of talented designers ! 




I'm entering my piece in the 
Anything Goes Challenge at Through The Craft Room Door
and
Anything Goes Challenge at Crafting By Designs

CAS Thanksgiving Card

A quick and simple card inspired by the

 current sketch challenge at Retro Rubber. RRCB74

I used stamps from Stampin' Up! that are over a decade old:

Autumn, 2000

All Year Cheer 3, 2002

The ink (Kaleidacolor Creole Spice)

and card stock (Naturals Ivory) 

are just as old !

The edges of the top panel were distressed

before adhering to the card base.

Thanks for looking =)