Merry Giftmas!

I'm sorry to report that there was trouble in blog land last night, and due to circumstances beyond my control I was unable to get this project posted. Thankfully all is well tonight, so here we go!

 

This is another project that my stamp club made last week. I don't really know how to classify this one: it's a card with unique folds that holds a gift card, so I guess I'll call it a Giftmas card!

Recipe

Stamps: Four the Holidays, Many Merry Messages

Paper: Old Olive, Early Espresso, Marina Mist & Whisper White CS; Letters to Santa DS paper

Ink: Riding Hood Red

Accessories: Northern Frost decorative strip die & Big Shot; 5/16" Jumbo Brads Neutrals; 3/4" circle punch; paper piercing tool

You will need:

1. Old Olive CS cut to 5-1/2" x 4-1/4"
2. Early Espresso CS cut to 7-1/4" x 4", score at 2"
3. Whisper White CS cut to 8-1/2" x 3-3/4", score at 3-1/2"
4. Designer Series paper (RHR diagonal stripes) cut to 3-3/4" x 1-3/4" for left front
5. Designer Series paper (postage stamp images) cut to 3-3/4" x 3-1/2" for right front
6. Early Espresso strip cut to 3-1/2" x 1-3/4" for front greeting layer
7. Designer Series strip (Crumb Cake stripes) cut to 3-1/4" x 1-1/2" for front greeting
8. Designer Series paper (Old Olive diagonal stripes) cut to 3-3/8" x 2-1/2" to hold gift card

To assemble:

• Adhere Early Espresso piece to Old Olive base with fold at left.
• Adhere Whisper White piece to Early Espresso piece with fold at right.
• Adhere RHR rectangle to left front Early Espresso piece.
• Adhere postage stamp images piece to front fold of Whisper White piece.
• Punch a half circle out of the top of the Old Olive diagonal stripes piece and adhere to inside right of the Whisper White CS.
• Stamp greeting on Crumb Cake stripes DS paper with Riding Hood Red.
• Adhere greeting to strip of Early Espresso and adhere EE strip to left fold of card front.
• Use the Northern Frost die with Marina Mist CS in the Big Shot to cut a variety of snowflakes.
• Punch a hole in the upper right corner of the greeting strip and add your choice of snowflake to front using a brad.
• Stamp a greeting inside your card, and you have a unique way to give a gift card! I did use Velcro dots on the back side of the greeting strip to hold the card closed.

These make great little gifts for teachers and other special people, and you can vary the Designer Series paper you use to make them appropriate for any occasion. Now go and create your own Giftmas card - well, not right this minute...unless you're an insomniac!

Online Extravaganza!

Telescoping Christmas

No, my computer didn't crash, and I didn't forget my blog password. Between work and taking advantage of the beautiful November weather to finish up a lot of painting both outside and inside the house, I've been very busy! To make up for those lost three weeks in blog land, I'll be posting lots of Christmas cards in the next few weeks.

The first is one that my stamp club really enjoyed making last week. It's called a telescoping card, and it's actually very easy to put together. I received some Marina Mist Scallop Dots Ribbon from my upline (along with some other goodies) as a reward for meeting a selling goal, and when I opened up the ribbon it immediately sparked the idea for this card. Using my trusty Color Coach as a guide, I paired it with Real Red and Old Olive for a unique and interactive Christmas Card!

Recipe
Stamps: Bright Hopes (Holiday Mini)
Paper: Marina Mist & Whisper White CS
Ink: Marina Mist & Real Red classic ink pads, Old Olive craft pad
Accessories: Big Shot & Scallop Circle, 3-1/2" Circle & 3" Circle dies; 2-1/2" Circle punch; Word Window punch; Iridescent Ice embossing powder; heat tool; paper piercing tool; Circle Fire rhinestone brads; Basic Rhinestones; Silver brads

You need one Marina Mist scallop circle, two 3-1/2" Whisper White circles, one Marina Mist 3" circle, and one 2-1/2" Whisper White circle. Using the Old Olive craft pad, stamp the wreath image on the smallest circle and the Christmas tree on one of the 3-1/2" circles, sprinkle Iridescent Ice embossing powder on both and then heat emboss. On the remaining 3-1/2" circle stamp the "Wishing you a season..." greeting in Real Red and the snowflakes around the outside in Marina Mist. Adhere the Christmas Tree image to the Marina Mist scallop circle and the wreath image to the small Marina Mist circle.

To assemble the card, take the 'greeting' circle, lay it upside down (so you can see the words but they are upside down) over the Christmas Tree image, pierce a hole in the 'top' center of the white circle (actually the bottom of the circle but it's upside down!) and insert a silver brad. Now you can swing the 'greeting' circle up so you can read the words. Then take the wreath circle and center it over the 'greeting' circle, punch a hole in the Marina Mist margin at the top center and insert another brad. Swing the wreath image up to add the ribbon. Fold a 4" piece of ribbon in half and punch a hole in the bottom center with the 1/16" circle punch. Using the piercing tool, punch a hole in the top center of the wreath and insert the Circle Fire brad, then push the brad through the hole in your ribbon. To 'close' the card, hold near the ribbon and swing to the right and down until the circles line up neatly inside each other. You have just made a telescoping card!

To finish off the wreath image, stamp "Merry Christmas" in Real Red on a scrap of 5/16" wide Whisper White paper. Hold your Word Window punch so you are looking at the back, insert one end of the scrap into the right side of the punch opening, and punch off the square end. Turn the scrap and finish off the other end the same way, and adhere over the center of the wreath using Stampin' Dimensionals. To add a bit more color to the wreath, I colored our basic Rhinestones using a red Sharpie marker and then adhered them in a random pattern.

Isn't this a neat idea? You could also change things up a bit and add a family photo in the bottom circle instead of the tree. I'm afraid my photos don't capture the real sparkle of the Iridescent Ice; it looks much better in real life!

Well, that's it for this week - I'll see you next Tuesday with another sweet Christmas idea!

Mixed Up Scandinavian!

Yes, if you didn't know this before, I'm here to admit that I am one mixed-up Scandinavian.  It's Halloween tomorrow, but since I don't do cards for that holiday I'm posting a Christmas card instead!

A few weeks ago the country church I attend held a Lutefisk Supper, complete with all kinds of Scandinavian goodies and a Scandinavian Gift Shoppe. I made these Christmas cards for the gift shop and was quite pleased to have people ask me how I made them; apparently they were a big hit with those craving all things Scandinavian! I tried to keep the embellishments to a minimum in order to keep the postage cost down for those sending these out for the holidays.

Recipe

Stamps: Scandinavian Season (retired)

Paper: Early Espresso, Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive & Shimmery White CS

Ink: VersaMark, Early Espresso, Cherry Cobbler, Night of Navy & Old Olive stamp pads; Old Olive marker

Accessories: Black embossing powder, blender pens, Basic Rhinestones, paper piercing tool, Stampin' Dimensionals

I stamped the tree with VersaMark on the Shimmery White CS and then heat embossed it with black embossing powder. I colored in the tree using ink pads and blender pens. Since the Olive coloring turned out so light, I used the marker to add some shading. (Be sure to carefully blot the embossed parts after using the marker, as it tends to smear.) I added some rhinestones for sparkle, and then finished it off by piercing my paper to give it a Hardanger crochet look.

Well, that's it for tonight. Hope I see some trick-or-treaters tomorrow night...I DO have some sweet treats!

It's a Wrap Card!

Last week I posted a cute little Halloween treat box that used the stamp set "It's a Wrap Holidays" from the Holiday Mini Catalog. I stamped the "EEK!" from that stamp set on a mailing label and wrapped it around a Hershey's Nugget candy. Well, that set is not only for stamping on mailing labels - you can also use the images to make backgrounds or really sweet cards, like this one!

Recipe
Stamps: It's a Wrap Holidays (mini catalog)
Paper: Soft Suede, More Mustard, Pool Party & Very Vanilla CS; Spice Cake Designer Series paper
Ink: Soft Suede, More Mustard & Pool Party stamp pads
Accessories: Scallop Edge border punch, 3/4" circle punch, Glimmer Brads Basics, Spice Cake Designer Fabric, Stampin' Dimensionals

Have I mentioned yet how much I love the color combinations in the Spice Cake papers? And the matching fabric makes the perfect bow! I did the bow the Mary Brown (aka stampercamper) way and double-folded it, then clinched it up in the Glimmer Brad. I put the brad through a circle of Soft Suede and mounted it to the card front using a Dimensional. Isn't it cute?

Well, that should wrap it up for tonight...have a sweet one!

Sweetly Scary

I have a confession to make: I'm not a big fan of Halloween. Yeah, I like handing out candy to the neighborhood kids when they come by in their scary-cute costumes. But as for making cards celebrating the holiday? Nope, just don't see the reason. But since I do like to hand out candy, it stands to reason that I like to come up with interesting ways in which to wrap that candy!

This is the last of the three projects made by my Stamp Club last week. It's a simple Halloween treat box filled with Hershey Nuggets. Of course I didn't have any Halloween Designer Series paper, but the Well Worn packet had the perfect substitute.

Recipe

Stamps: Grateful Greetings, It's A Wrap Holidays (mini catalog)

Paper: Basic Gray, Cajun Craze, Well Worn Designer Series paper, mailing labels

Ink: Basic Gray, Cajun Craze

Accessories: Big Shot & Bitty Box die, 8-blossom punch from Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack

"There's Always Something...

for which to be thankful." I love that quote by Charles Dickens, and it's the main reason (well, okay, I loved the images too!) that I ordered the Always Thankful set in the Holiday Mini Catalog. Being the parent of a special needs child means that your whole concept of a normal life changes. You learn that even though there may be things your child is unable to do, there are so many others that he excels at. You learn that you don't need all those things you once thought you needed in order to be happy. You celebrate the small victories, and you realize that each new day brings another opportunity for growth. Yes, Jayson has Asperger's, but he doesn't have brain damage. We are all healthy. I have three different jobs, and I love them all. I have family and friends that I know I can count on to be there when needed. There is ALWAYS something for which to be thankful!!

This is the other card that my Stamp Club made last week. In keeping with the theme that "It's All About the Paper!" we used two more of the patterns from the gorgeous Spice Cake patterned paper. We also incorporated the matching Spice Cake fabric into the card - love that stuff! It's so easy to work with, and you get quite a bit of material in 3 different patterns/colors - those fat quarters are pretty fat!

Recipe
Stamps: Always Thankful
Paper: Spice Cake Designer Series paper; Soft Suede, Pool Party & Vanilla CS
Ink: Basic Black, More Mustard & Pool Party stamp pads; River Rock & More Mustard markers
Accessories: Spice Cake Designer Fabric; Scallop Oval, Modern Label & 1-3/8" Circle punches; Mini Library Clips; Blender Pens; Stampin' Dimensionals

The wheat image was stamped with Basic Black. I then made a "pool" of color on the inside top of my stamp pad case by repeatedly pressing the top down into the pad and then opening the case. I used a blender pen to pick up ink from that pool to color the image, which enables you to shade the image as you desire. I used the MM marker add some deeper shading to the wheat, and colored the grass with River Rock. The quote was stamped on vanilla CS, then punched out with the oval punch. I punched a circle out of Soft Suede and adhered that to the back of the oval. I punched another piece of Soft Suede with the Modern Label punch and then cut that piece in half, and adhered one half to each side of my quote behind the circle. I finished it off by clipping a short piece of fabric in the Library Clip and clipping it to the quote, then added Dimensionals to the back and adhered it over the fabric strip running along the right third of the card. To adhere the fabric strip, I simply ran adhesive from top to bottom along the right edge of the brown patterned paper, then simply stuck the fabric to the adhesive. Easy peasy!

Well, I'm thankful that I finished this post and can now go to bed. What are you thankful for? Remember, there's always something!!