Another version ---

Had made the Trees Christmas card on all white:

Then made another version on a black card which really shows off the blues on the card front:

added crystals by the greeting and this card front is done --- the distressed inks always turn out nicely and make a nice background for the Lovely As A Tree stamp from Stampin Up. TFL and YOLO

Merry Snowy Season Card

Used two older Stampin Up stamp sets for this card. To begin with I used the snowman stamp from the 1999 stamp set Snow Angels. Then the greeting is from the 2001 stamp set A Merry Season.

For the card stock base I used Tempting Turquoise. Cut and scored that and set it aside. For the stamped snowman I used white/GP card stock and stamped him using StazOn black ink -- here is a closer photo of this stamped image:

I stamped the image and used markers for colouring it. Used a light blue marker around the snowman to accent him and the snow. Used a square Spellbinders die to cut out the stamped snowman piece. Kept the stamped piece in the die and lightly sponged light blue ink near the edge of the die piece so there is some blue around the image. Removed the die and cut a piece of black card stock slightly larger to put behind the stamped image piece. Once that was done I used a glue pen and added fine glitter to the hat, cuffs, pom pom, and ear muffs on the snowman.

Cut a piece of white/GP for the card front and stamped my greeting from the A Merry Season stamp set near the bottom of this piece. Using the ATG I put the black frame/stamped snowman image piece onto the stamped white/GP piece.

Wanted to used the Festive embossing folder from Sheena Douglass for the snow on my vellum piece but as will all vellum no matter what adhesive you use for it you can see the adhesive. So I decided to cut a piece of vellum larger than what I would need for the card front and as usual when I emboss I used a piece of white/GP to put in with the vellum and then embossed them together in the folder. This will give the embossed piece a softer embossed look and the vellum and card stock will not rip or tear by doing this.

To attach the vellum to the card front I scored the left side of it on the score board and carefully used a bone folder on this line. Used red sticky tape and put the embossed vellum piece on the stamped white/GP piece for the card front. Using the trimmer I trimmed the embossed piece to just cover the snowman card front piece --- not the full card front. Here is a photo to show the vellum is tucked under the white/GP card front piece and a photo of the back of the card so you can not see where the vellum is attached as usually you would attach the vellum to the back of the card:

Here are photos of the card closed and then with the vellum opened:

Still have the inside of the card to stamp and decorate. Easy card to make and nice to use two new-to-me stamp sets that have been sitting on the shelf waiting to be used. TFL and YOLO

Sew . . . what's new?

'Tis the season or something like that. . .  have been working on sewing fabric ornaments for Christmas. I make them for tie-on's for presents or just an small ornament for the tree and here are some of the fabric ornaments I have been working on --- and tomorrow it will be back to card making for me --

Every year I try to make a new angel for Christmas and this year I found these little cuties on this blog:

http://wienblog-selimutku.blogspot.ca/2013_10_01_archive.html

Cute idea and basically you trace the circle around a CD or DVD and that is the robe for the angel. For my angel wings I used the hearts Spellbinders die set and I used the second largest heart die and cut out my felt wings. I used a 3" circle for the muslin angel head and sewed a yoyo from that. Look at the photos on her blog to see all she did --- cute angels and easy to put together:

Now for Santa baby -- had seen him on:

http://wienblog-selimutku.blogspot.ca/2013_10_01_archive.html

But I adjusted the pattern as I wanted his face to have a straight even piece. Camera did not do well with the glare on his eyes but here he is and the second photo is to show his size -- he is less than 6" long:

Now for "Lollipop, Lollipop, oh Lolly Lolly pop". I had seen these on Youtube.com and the title of the video is Fabric Yo-Yo Lollipop Christmas Ornaments. Easy video to follow and lots of how-to tips on that. But once again I did not sew my rectangles together by hand as he suggested as I did them assembly line on the sewing machine much faster. Here is a group photo of my lollipops using buttons from the button jar and ribbons from my stash --- fabrics are from Hobby Lobby:

Thanks to all the inspiration out there for holiday crafts and patterns. TFL and YOLO.

Envelope Punch Board Treat Holder

Saw this video by PootlesPapercraft on Youtube.com for a mini candy cane box using the Envelope Punch Board.  The video is titled: Stampin Up Advent Countdown 11 and this will bring up her mini candy cane box. This mini candy cane box video is short and it explains all the measurements, punched markings, and score lines.

For my box I used an older pad of 6 x 6 double sided card stock from Stampin Up and I used the green card stock from that. Cut it to the size I needed for my box -- if you should use any of the double sided card stock for this box from Stampin Up be aware they have their logo on both sides of the double sided card stock so be sure to cut your card stock so that their logo will not end up on the front of your project where it will be seen.

Once I cut my piece to the size I needed I used the Envelope Punch Board by We R Memory Keepers to punch and make all my scored lines. Here is a photo of my holder:

Once I had my box punched and scored lines made I used red sticky tape to hold it together. Used kraft card stock from Mikes for the belly band -- then put the belly band around my box using red sticky tape:

For the pumpkin I used the Thanks 2 Fall stamp set and matching pumpkin dies from The Stamps of Life and stamped that onto scrap white card stock. Used an oval punch from Hobby Lobby for the chevron pumpkin piece in the center of the pumpkin. Also used the stem die from that die set for the pumpkin stem. Used a vine die from Sizzix for the vine and the leaf on the pumpkin. Added a small bow from ribbon from the stash by the stem. Using large glue dots I put the pumpkin over the belly band.

For the greeting "Happy Thanksgiving" I used a stamp from The Stamps of Life stamp set Mini Tags 2 Cut. Cut the greeting out using the Spellbinders Charmed, I'm Sure die set. Put the pumpkin on the box front using large glue dots. Tucked the greeting banner under the belly band and that is on the box using a small glue dot.

 Quick and easy treat holder to make up and I found not only does it hold the mini candy canes but I put two Ghiradelli candies in mine:

And also it can hold two of the Hershey Fun Size candy bars:

Or the Fun Size bag of M&M candies:

This is a good pattern that will hold different treats so it will be good as a table marker, a treat holder, favor box, etc.. Thanks to Sam for sharing her box and making an easy video to follow. TFL and YOLO

White Pumpkin Card

Call them Baby Boo, Luminas, Casper, or Cotton Candy seems the white pumpkins are here to stay. Used to be they were very expensive and hard to find but this year they seem to be plentiful both at the pumpkin patch and the farmer's markets --- great for Fall decorating as well.

Wanted to make another pumpkin card using the dies from Paper Trey Ink from their Shape Up Series Pumpkin dies --- this is the first pumpkin I had made using their Pumpkin dies:

But this time I wanted to make a white pumpkin and here it is:

For this pumpkin I used the 110# weight cream card stock from Mikes for the card base. Also used this card stock to cut out all the pumpkin sections. Once the sections were cut out I used seven different embossing folders and embossed the pieces using the Cuttlebug. Once all the pieces were cut and embossed I sponged the edges of each piece. Once I had those all done I used the solid metal pumpkin die piece and cut out a pumpkin, again from the cream card stock, and that is the piece I put all my sections on. Since I had embossed the sections I used a glue pen to put these pieces on my pumpkin shaped base. Once all the pieces were glued on I then used the ATG and put this onto the pumpkin shaped card stock base.

Used the stem from the pumpkin die set from Paper Trey Ink and cut out a stem using Mikes kraft card stock. Put the stem on the card front using a glue dot. Cut out two leaves from the pumpkin die set from Elizabeth Craft. Put the leaves on the pumpkin card front by the stem using glue dots. Made a bow using cream satin ribbon. Trimmed it to the size I wanted and put it over the leaves. Added a pearl to the center of the bow.

For the "Thankful" I used the Words of Gratitude from Penny Black and cut out two of the Thankful word. Used a glue pen to put the two words together -- the Mikes kraft stock is not very thick and the two layers worked better on all the layers of this card. Again I used the glue pen and put the word across the pumpkin card front. Here is a closer photo to show the embossed pumpkin pieces as well as the leaves and ribbon:

Easy card to put together and the Paper Trey Ink dies are really good --- they cut right through the heavier weight card stock from Mikes with no problems -- the pieces fall right out of the die and you do not have to poke them out or anything like that. TFL and YOLO and here is the White Pumpkin Card again:

Once around the block . . . treat holders

Used the Envelope Punch Board to make these BOO Day treat holders --- really easy videos on the how-to's on YouTube -- but I will explain what I did:  I used a 6" x 6" pad of card stocks for my holders -- these are all double sided card stocks which is what you need to make these holders.

Here is a photo of a sheet of the 6" x 6" card stock:

Cut it down to 5" x 5":

Place this on your punch board with the left side of the card stock at the 2" mark -- punch, score and then turn once. This second time put the left side of the card stock at the 3" mark -- punch, score, and turn again. This third time put the left side of the card stock at the 2" mark -- punch, score, and turn again. This last side put the left side of the card stock at the 3" mark -- punch, score, and you are done.

 At this time decide if you want your four corners to be rounded. On my holders the spider web holder on the left I left the corners pointed. On the ghost holder on the right I cut out my holder and then used the corner rounded punch that is built into the Envelope Punch Board and rounded all my corners. Once all your scored lines are made use a bone folder to crease the lines and use red sticky tape to hold your holder together:

For my spider card stock treat holder I used the stamp set from MFT Lollipop Treat Halloween stamp set for the greeting. Used a circle punch and a scalloped circle punch I punched out the pieces for the greeting. Used a Marvy bug punch and punched out a bug from shiny black card stock. Used a piece of black ribbon to wrap around the treat holder and put my greeting on the front using large glue dots. Then added the Fun Size Hershey candy bar:

For the ghost holder, again used double sided card stock and made the holder. This time, after I punched out the holder on the Envelope Punch Board, I used the corner rounder punch on the board and rounded all the corners. The "Boo" was stamped onto orange card stock and I cut that out using a banner die from Frantic Stampers. The ghost was cut out using a Sizzix die. Put the banner piece under the ghost and the ghost is on the holder with pop dots for dimension. Added the Hershey Fun Size candy bar and the holder was complete:

This is a quick project to put together and it is good for using card stocks you may not be fond of. TFL and YOLO

Starburst Halloween Card

Easy technique -- but be sure to plan first. To begin with I cut my card stock base from black card stock and scored and folded that -- that is 4 1/4" x 5 1/2". For the front cream piece I cut that 4" x 5 1/4" and this is the base for the Starburst pattern:

To make this Starburst card I used card stocks from two 6" x 6" pads of card stock. One is from Authentique and the other is Graphic 45. I cut 10 pieces of printed card stock 1 1/2" x 4". Here are those pieces:

As you can see in the above photo I had also cut striped card stock but decided not to use it on my card as I wanted a repeat pattern showing the bats card stock rather than using all different card stocks. Once my pieces were cut I took them to the trimmer and cut them from the top corner to the opposite lower corner and this gives you your angled pieces:

and here are all the pieces cut:

Used the "Trick or Treat" stamp from the Close To My Heart stamp set Hallo-Scream and stamped this on the bottom of the cream piece using StazOn black ink. To have a starting point with my Starburst pattern I used a ruler and a pencil and made a light line across the front of the cream card stock above the stamped greeting:

Laid out all my cut pieces in the order I finally decided on. Using the ATG I ran that across the card front for adhesive and began putting my pieces on the cream piece -- beginning with the bottom right piece:

Be sure your edges all touch each other. Then when done adding all your strips --- turn the piece over and trim off all the pieces that are over the edge of the cream piece:

I sponged the edges with black ink. Cut a piece of matching card stock to go across the front of the card and using circle punches I cut out two circles. Using the M Stewart bat punch I punched out a bat and put him on the circle and added three black crystals. Put the circles/bat piece on the card front using glue dots. Here is the card again:

Easy technique to make up but if you are using a few card stocks as I did, rather than all different, be sure to do a 'dry' layout first so you get the pattern you want.  TFL and YOLO

Flaky Friends -- We all have them . . .

Being a serious stamper we all have stamp sets we like and we use here and there but the rest of the time they are put away for another time. This month I have started my Christmas cards and decided this card was a must to make one -- don't we all have a computer file of photos of cards/projects we have seen on here and there and we save the photo for later inspiration? Some cards/projects get made up, others we use parts of, and then there is a card like this one that is too cute not to make up and right away.

This card was inspired by "Christmas Snow People" by Roberta on Splitcoast. Her card is really cute and I tried to copy it as it is but I did not have the size black ribbon she used so I had to substitute my red ribbon for her black. Thanks to Roberta for the inspiration to use totally different colours for a Christmas card and to use a cute stamp set not used in awhile - - -  here is my version of Roberta's cute card:

I took a photo on the lighter score board so you can see the details but here it is also on a black background:

I usually do not make white cards but since I have been able to buy the 110# weight white card stock at Mike's I am making more white cards. I will give directions of how I made my card with my measurements. To begin with I cut and scored my 110# white card stock base. Set that aside.

For the snowman piece I stamped them on a piece of white/GP (lighter weight @ 65#) that measures 3 1/4" wide by 3" high.  I used black StazOn ink since I would be using markers to colour the details on the stamp. Once the snowmen were stamped I cut a piece of Mike's black card stock 3 1/2" wide by 3 1/4" high. Set that aside. Using a red, a yellow/gold, black, blue, and orange markers I coloured the stamped image -- this is very easy to do even if you are not one to colour your images. Once the image was coloured I then sponged the edges of the stamped piece using black ink. Then mounted the snowman piece onto the black card stock using the ATG:

For the embossed piece behind the snowmen piece I used the Swiss Dots embossing folder and embossed a piece of white/GP (lighter weight white) using the Cuttlebug. Then I cut that to 3" wide by 4 1/2" long. Cut a piece of the Mike's black card stock to 3 1/4" wide by 4 3/4" long. Again used the ATG to put the embossed piece onto the black card stock.

Used red ribbon to tie around the bottom of the embossed piece. Clipped the ends of the ribbon and put a glue dot behind the knot to hold the ribbon in place. Using the ATG I added adhesive to the back of the embossed piece and put that onto the white card stock base, turning it at a slight angle. Then I used the ATG and added adhesive just behind my stamped snowmen -- no adhesive is on the far edges of that piece as it is placed on top of the embossed piece on the card front and I did not want the edges to stick to the card front but the snowman piece to only adhere to the embossed piece:

For the "25" for December 25 I used my Slice machine and the Wedding program and cut out a 2 and a 5 from scrap red card stock. Used a larger and a smaller oval punch for the black and white ovals behind the "25".  Put the numbers on the ovals using a glue pen. To put the ovals/numbers piece on the card front I used pop dots which give that piece some dimension.

Easy card once you have the measurements of your pieces and thanks to Roberta for pushing me out of the red and green Christmas theme --- TFL and YOLO