You're Cool

I just wrapped up making holiday cards for Send a Smile 4 Kids. I have had the "Arctic Penguins" and "Jolly and Merry" stamp sets from Mama Elephant for several months, and haven't used them much, since I couldn't really come up with any ideas. Finally, I thought to do a search for "Arctic Penguins" on Pinterest (head slap!). I found lots of ideas there, including the one that inspired this card.

I used the "Stitched Film Strip" die from Pretty Pink Posh. Because the die isn't long enough for what I wanted to do, I had to do a little creative die cutting. I first cut all but one end from some black paper. Then I lined up the die with where I'd already cut, extending it up the paper more, and finished cutting the filmstrip. I didn't really cut both ends "closed," since my paper wasn't long enough, but I had to cut it a little shorter anyway, so it worked out.

I stamped 4 of the penguins on white cardstock with Versafine Onyx Black ink, cut them with the coordinating dies, and colored their beaks with an orange marker. I placed them behind the filmstrip frames, and marked where to cut them so they wouldn't stick out beyond the edges. After trimming them, I glued them to the back of the frame. Then I took a strip of patterned paper from BoBunny's "Candy Cane Lane" 6x6" pad and adhered it to the back of the filmstrip & penguins.

After I adhered the filmstrip in place, I placed the card in my MISTI. I used my grid template to line up the greeting, from "Jolly and Merry," and stamped it on my card in Versafine. All I had left to do was trim off the filmstrip where it hung over the edges, and another holiday card was done!

Peace Crystals

a2z Scrapbooking is having a "One Layer Holiday Card" challenge at their blog. I will be the first to admit, I am not a one-layer kind of girl. It's not that I find them overly difficult; I just love my layers! But I decided to give it a go for this challenge. I really should probably do more cards like this, since it came together super quick.

I used Hero Arts' "Christmas Crystals" stamp set for my card. After creating a card base from Strathmore Smooth Bristol paper, I placed it in my MISTI and positioned my stamps. Once I had them where I wanted them--and STRAIGHT!--I picked them up with the door of my MISTI, and inked them with Versamark. I stamped the images & greeting, and then heat embossed with Ranger Liquid Platinum embossing powder.

Once the embossing had cooled, I used 3 of my Zig Clean Color pens to color the crystals. I basically traced around the embossed lines, and then used a damp paintbrush to pull the color out into the center of each facet.

When the color had dried, I drew a line with a fine-tip black pen from each crystal up to the top of my card front. I tied 3 little bows with crochet thread, and glued them to the tops of the crystals. And that finished this card. Like I said, quick & easy. But oh, that layer withdrawal...! LOL

Thinking of You at Christmas

Ellen Hutson is currently having their November Pin-Sights challenge. They posted the following mood board, as inspiration for participants' projects:

I decided, due to my need for holiday cards, and despite the lack of "regular" Christmas colors in the photos, to make a Christmas card.

I used one of the lessons in May Flaum's "Tried & True Card Designs" class as the inspiration for my design. Basically, the idea is to create a wreath. When I saw the lesson in class, I knew almost immediately which set I wanted to try: Essentials by Ellen's "Bokeh Dots." I've seen holiday wreaths made entirely of ornament balls, and wanted to recreate that look on my card.

I used 3 of the solid dots in the set, with Distress inks in Tumbled Glass, Broken China, Peacock Feathers, Mermaid Lagoon, and Tea Dye, as well as Delicata Silvery Shimmer pigment ink. I cut a piece of 140 lb. watercolor paper to 3.75x5", and lightly drew a circle on it, using a Spellbinders circle die as a template. I had initially thought, since May did in her lesson, that I would use water during the coloring of my wreath, which is why I used watercolor paper. In the end, I didn't do any watercoloring, but there was no harm done from my paper choice anyway. I stamped the dots around my circle outline, trying to keep a balance of colors & sizes, and keep a fairly circular shape. It's really not quite as easy as you might think!

When I had finished stamping the wreath, I turned to the greeting. So that I wouldn't cover up my wreath too much, I decided to use a vellum strip. I stamped my greeting, from Hero Arts' "Merry Christmas Message," in Versamark ink, and heat embossed it with Ranger Silver embossing powder.

I positioned the strip in place, and folded the ends to the back of my panel, without applying any adhesive. Once I had the placement worked out, I applied tiny dots of glue to the back of the strip, hiding them behind the embossed words, and adhered it to my panel. I also added glue to the ends behind my panel, and stuck them down. I then created a "faux bow," as demonstrated in this tutorial.

For the mat, I was again inspired by the look of a mat on one of May's cards. I cut a piece of white cardstock to 4.25x5.5", and painted along all 4 sides with a paintbrush and clean water. Then I tore the cardstock where I'd wet it, giving me a controlled ragged edge. Finally, I dried the cardstock with my heat tool, inked around the perimeter with Tumbled Glass, and adhered my main panel to it. I inked around the edges of another piece of white cardstock, cut to A2 size, with the Silvery Shimmer Delicata ink, and when that had dried, mounted my matted panel to that. I adhered that to a white A2 card base, and another holiday card is finished!

Send a Smile 4 Kids Holiday Cards

Catch the Bug Challenge Blog is having their "Stella Says Sketch #318" challenge. I actually ended up making 3 holiday cards based on the sketch, to send to Send a Smile 4 Kids:

My first card uses the "Teddy--Present" digi image from Bugaboo Stamps. I printed him on Strathmore smooth bristol paper, and die cut that with one of the tags in Mama Elephant's "Tags a Lot" set. I then colored him in with my Zig Clean Color pens, adding white dots to the box with a gel pen. I inked the edges with Aged Mahogany Distress ink, and added a reinforcer I'd cut from brown cardstock, using a die from "Tags a Lot." I punched a hole through the top, and added some baker's twine.

For the background, I cut a piece of red cardstock to 4.25x5.5", and printed my greeting, from Doodle Pantry, directly on it. I cut a strip of paper from The Paper Studio's "Christmas Candyland" patterned paper pad, and punched one long edge with Fiskars' "Threading Water" border punch. I adhered that under the greeting, and added my tag. Finally, I mounted the card front to a white A2 card base, and added 3 dots of Silver Stickles next to the greeting.

My second card uses the "Candycane Stocking" image. I printed this on bristol as well, and colored it with my Clean Color pens. I die cut it with one of Lawn Fawn's "Small Stitched Rectangle" dies, and inked the edges with Aged Mahogany. I printed the greeting on my red background panel, and added a punched strip of paper from Echo Park's "Home for the Holidays" 6x6" pad. After adhering my focal panel, I mounted it on a white A2 card base, and added my Stickle dots.

My final card uses the "Christmas Window--Santa" digi image (discontinued). I again printed this on Bristol, and die cut it with the same "Tags a Lot" die as in my first card. I colored it with my Clean Color pens, adding stars/snowflakes with my white gel pen, and inked the edges of the tag with Aged Mahogany. I cut the hole reinforcer from the same cardstock as the background, punched a hole, and threaded baker's twine through. I printed my greeting, added a strip of paper from The Paper Studio's "Woodland Wonderland" 6x6" pad, glued on my tag, and adhered the panel to a white A2 card base. I added Silver Stickles, and my trio of cards is done!

Two "Card Shower" Cards

Jennifer McGuire is having a "card shower" for two children suffering from cancer. She also included information on each child's sibling, in case anyone wanted to make them cards, too. I decided to make a card for each, not just because I wanted to, but also in the spirit of avoiding sibling rivalry! :)

Emily, one of the children, has a younger sister who likes pink & purple. I was struggling what to do for a 3-1/2 year old girl, whom I don't even know. Then I looked down on my desk and saw this stamp set that I just recently got, and thought of Catherine Pooler's love of pink & purple snowflakes. Bingo--stamp a flurry of pink & purple snowflakes!

I stamped 3 of the snowflakes from the set on a panel I'd die cut using one of the "Small Stitched Rectangle" dies from Lawn Fawn. I used Hero Arts inks in Bubble Gum, Grape Juice (first & second generation stamping), and Soft Lilac. After I'd covered the panel, I set that aside to work on my greeting.

I die cut my greeting from black cardstock, with Lawn Fawn's "Scripty Joy" die. I glued it to a piece of vellum that I'd cut smaller than the snowflake panel. I taped the vellum in place temporarily on my background with low-tack tape, and stitched around the perimeter to attach the vellum. Finally, I adhered my snowflake panel to a white A2 card base, and coated the "joy" with Star Dust Stickles.

I wrote about Xander in this post. He has an older brother who likes airplanes, among other things. I have the "Small Planes" die set from Simon Says Stamp (discontinued), and thought that would be perfect for this card.

I die cut a white panel with the largest of Lawn Fawn's "Large Stitched Rectangle" dies. Then I used one of the "Landscape Trio" dies from Mama Elephant to die cut 4 strips from that panel. I inked the top strip completely with Tumbled Glass Distress ink, then inked just the lower edge of each of the remaining strips. Finally, I glued them all to a 4.25x5.5" white cardstock panel.

After cutting a wavy banner from green cardstock, I stamped my greeting on that with Lawn Fawn's "Milo's ABC's." I heat embossed it with Ranger Super Fine Detail White embossing powder, and cut the left end in a V-shape. I die cut the larger of the 2 planes from red shimmer cardstock, & glued it directly on the background. I added foam tape under 2 points of the banner, and used liquid glue for the rest, to give it an even more "wavy" appearance. After I glued it down, I drew a line along the straight edge with a red gel pen. Then I poked 3 holes, and threaded crochet thread through, so it looks like the plane is pulling the banner. Finally, I adhered my card front panel to a white A2 card base. All I have left to do is add an inside sentiment to each card, and they will be ready to send!

Season's Greetings

Yana Smakula had a lesson on Day 7 of "Holiday Style," which focused on "Shimmer & Shine" cards. Her card used the negative of a greeting die cut in a foil patterned paper background.

My version was actually a pretty simple card to do. I began by stamping the "Wood Plank Background," from My Favorite Things, on a piece of white cardstock using Delicata Golden Glitz ink. Once that had dried, I die cut Simon Says Stamp's "Season's Greetings" from the panel. That was when the real fun began!

In Yana's card, she had had just the negative space from die cutting the greeting as the front of her card, giving it a very modern look. Because of the relatively large open spaces in the letters in my greeting, and my wanting a more "traditional" effect, I wanted to replace the inner pieces of the letters into the negative space. First, I cut a piece of gold foil cardstock to 4.25x5.5", to use as my backer panel. I applied foam tape to the back of my main panel, adding several really tiny pieces around and between the letters. That was actually one of the most time-consuming parts of making this card! When I felt I had covered enough area to support the panel pretty completely, I removed the liner papers from the tape and adhered it to my gold foil panel.

When I'd die cut the greeting, I used a dryer sheet on the back of the panel, so the die cut pieces would stick to it, and I wouldn't lose any of them. I carefully peeled each piece up, and used my 2-way glue pen and tweezers to glue them all in place on the foil panel. The only piece I lost was from the middle "s" in "season's." No problem, though. I just trimmed the apostrophe piece (which I didn't need for this) to the approximate shape, and glued it in place! I will admit, the smallest pieces were not easy to maneuver into place and adhere without getting glue all over. But I think it was worth it in the end. All that I had left at that point to do was mount the card front to a white A2 card base. This will be going into my collection of holiday cards for my mom & me to send out this year.

Merry Christmas Snowflakes

The theme of Day 1 of "Holiday Style" was "Clean & Simple" cards. Debby Hughes' card in that day's lessons inspired this one.

Debby used a snowflake border die from Simon Says Stamp, that I don't have. So I decided to improvise. I first cut my white panel with one of the "Landscape Trio" dies from Mama Elephant, to create a curved edge along the top. I also die cut 4 snowflakes, using one die each from Spellbinders' "2013 Snowflake Pendant" (discontinued) and "Banner and Trees" sets. I coated each snowflake in Versamark ink, and heat embossed them with Ranger Silver embossing powder. I did this one more time for all 4 snowflakes, to get a nice smooth coverage. I also inked the curved edge of my panel with Versamark, and heat embossed that with silver.

For the greeting, I used one from Lawn Fawn's "Peace Joy Love" set. I used my MISTI tool to help me position the stamp so it followed the curve on my panel, then stamped and heat embossed the greeting.

I used a few snowflake stamps from Hero Arts' "Joy Snowman" stamp/die set (discontinued) to stamp a panel I'd cut from 140 lb. watercolor paper, then heat embossed those with Ranger Super Fine Detail White embossing powder. When that had cooled, I wet the entire panel, then dropped in diluted Blueprint Sketch & Pine Needles Distress inks. After I'd blended the colors, while everything was still wet, I sprinkled on coarse sea salt, to create a mottled background. I dried the panel with my heat tool, and then brushed the salt off. I also flicked Heidi Swapp Tinsel and White Linen Dylusions mists onto the panel. Finally, it was time to assemble my card.

I glued my die cut snowflakes to the back of my white panel, so they peek out over the edge. Debby had mounted her panel with foam tape, but I didn't want to risk the snowflakes getting bent as the card goes through the mail. So I adhered my panel to the background with a combination of ATG adhesive for the lower part and liquid glue for the snowflakes. I then mounted my card front to a white A2 card base. All I have to do now is add an inside sentiment, and this card is ready to go!

I'm entering this card in Live Love Cards' November challenge: "Snowflakes."