Joy

The great thing about taking the Holiday Card Workshop 2013 from Online Card Classes is that you can keep going back to get more inspiration, watch the videos, check out the amazing gallery... Back on Day 3 I was inspired by Laura Bassen's card (love her plaid stamping!!) and so that's how this Joy card came to be. Since we're counting down to the big day (29 sleeps) I want to get in as many cards as I can before it gets too busy!

I started with Kraft cardstock and added some CTMH paper to the bottom, then I cut my Joy from the Create a Critter cartridge in red and black.  I love that when you start looking at all the cuts in a cartridge you get so many ideas and notice cuts you never did before! I sponged on some green Distress Inks, heat embossed snowflakes and swirls and a little gold border and then added a stamped sentiment to the center of the card.

Of course Stickles were added to the Joy die-cut and the center of the border!

I used the gold embossing powder again for the stamp inside the card and stamped a sentiment on the back side of the paper I used on the front of the card.

This really didn't turn out to be a clean and simple card like Laura's, but that's ok! It just seemed to need a little more, and more, and more...

Challenges:
Simon Says Monday Challenge - Count Down to the Holidays
Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog - Sparkle and Bling

Happy Birthday Fox

Even though my mind is on Christmas cards this month - I do have several birthdays to celebrate as well! My nephew's birthday is tomorrow and he definitely needed a cute little card.  I used the very cute fox cut from the Create a Critter Cricut cartridge and the party hat and windmill from the same cartridge. 



I used glittery cardstock to cut the green part of the hat and the windmill and a shiny orange cardstock to cut the fox, hat and windmill.  Of course I had to heat emboss my sentiment with Crystal embossing powder over Distress Ink.

Mr. Fox is sitting on a log sticker from a camping collection!

 I cut the center of the windmill out of brown cardstock, but it needed something else, so I added some Ice Stickles.

The inside cut is from the same cartridge and I again used the same shiny orange and glittery green cardstocks.

Hope you have a great birthday little man!

Challenges:
Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog - Sparkle and Bling

Scenic Trees

The final day of Holiday Card Workshop 2013 was once again amazing! Kristina Werner created a beautiful card with a scene of a black stamped trees against a blue and black inked background.  This 'scene' card theme went perfectly with the card I made with Scrapendipity's Make 'n Take card last week!

We used a die from Cheery Lynn to create this fun folded card, which has a matching die to cut the papers that decorate the card outside and inside. We first tore a piece of cardstock into a sloping hill and then sponged Distress Inks along the edge, moving the torn paper up to the top.  We then stamped the trees and heat embossed with white embossing powder that had glitter in it - so pretty! Then came the background snowflakes stamped with silver ink, the sentiment heat embossed with black and the die cut snowflakes and ribbon.

Inside:

When I got home I measured the cuts and created my own popped up card, using CTMH paper and creating a similar background for the front of the card.  I stamped this one with black trees using a CTMH stamp set, heat embossed the sentiment and stamped on snowflakes with Inkadinkadoo stamps. I used some sparkly Gelly Roll pens and Stickles to decorate my trees.

 Inside:

(stamp by CTMH)

 



With 29 sleeps to Christmas the countdown is on to get those Christmas cards made so we can start with the mailing out!

Challenges:
Simon Says Monday Challenge - Count Down to Christmas

Peace - Trees and Snowflakes

I really like using non-traditional colours on my Christmas cards and Shari Carroll created a beautiful card for Day 4 of the Holiday Card Workshop 2013, featuring how to stretch your stamps. I used her beautiful card as inspiration to create my own card!

This week the Simon Says Monday Challenge Blog has a Mystery challenge.  So, I thought I'd show you my card and let you try to solve the 'mystery' of how I created it!

1) Stamp 3 trees on Ranger's Speciality Stamping Paper with archival ink
2) Stamp large and small snowflakes with Versamark and heat emboss with white embossing powder, partially covering the tree stamps
3) Stamp medium snowflakes with Versamark and heat emboss with Crystal embossing powder (it is clear, but sparkly, so stamp only on the white background.
4) Use a sponge to rub Distress Ink in Tumbled Glass all over the background of the Stamping Paper and then use Peacock Feathers around the edges, blending over the snowflakes well.
5) Stamp Peace sentiment with Versamark and heat emboss with Silver embossing powder.
6) Round 2 edges of the stamped piece and layer it on a card base with coordinating papers

Mystery Solved!

Hope you enjoyed :)

Happy Crafting!

Rudolph Die-cut Card

Online Card Classes' newest class, Holiday Card Workshop 2013 has so many great ideas for creating holiday cards! Day 2 featured die-cutting so I decided to make this cute reindeer to match the cute deer friend I made here.  I'm thinking I'll give one to each of my little girls for Christmas.  You have gotta love it when your 6 year old is excited about opening a card before a gift or when your 2 year old says "NICE!" when she sees a card!

This cut is from the Cricut Create A Critter cartridge and I used my Gypsy to cut everything.  I just sized it to fit on a 4x5.5" card and layered it on some CTMH Christmas paper.  Of course I added some glittery Stickles for some sparkle on his nose and ears and a real jingle bell tied on with bakers twine.



Challenges-
Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog - Use an animal cut

Oh Dear!

Oh, I really like this little guy!! He is just so darn cute :) Day 2 of Holiday Card Workshop 2013 at Online Card Classes focuses on die-cuts, and I really wanted to use this cute cut from the Cricut Create a Critter cartridge.  I cut him with my Gypsy at about 4" high and layered him on some patterned paper from CTMH, the Evensong collection. I added some Stickles to his nose, ear, mouth and snowflake (which came out of the middle of the Joy phrase cut from the same cartridge) and added a dot of white in his eye with Enamel Accents.  He had to have a Christmas bow tied around his neck with a red button and some matching baker's twine, and now he's ready for Christmas!

Inside
Stamp by Inkadinkadoo

Challenges:
Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog - Use a ribbon and button
Die Cuttin' Divas - Use a button

Merry and Bright

Day 1 of the Holiday Card Workshop 2013 at Online Card Classes showed lots of fun ways to add details to the inside of your cards - something I often overlook.  I used Kristina Werner's card as inspiration to create this gift card holder greeting card.  For the front I cut a piece of Kraft cardstock slightly smaller than my card base and used an embossing folder first on the top portion of the card and then on the bottom, leaving part in the middle flat.  Then I sponged Distress Ink over the raised embossing and white heat embossed the snowflakes and sentiment from Penny Black.  I stamped the flower and ornament from a Penny Black Christmas stamp set on watercolour paper and coloured in with Tombow markers.  I hung the ornament on my baker's twine and added some Stickles.

 

For the inside, I folded a double sided paper and inked the edges with Distress Ink.  I cut a half circle in the top of the front fold and then put double sided tape, folded over the edges, on each side edge to keep the folder closed.  I added some silver glitter and then silver embossed the greeting.  I added a little sponged Distress Ink around the sentiment to highlight it and then hung on an ornament.

I love that a gift card is hiding inside this card - now to get to work making a few more!

Challenges -Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Add Ink!