Square Deck the Halls Holly Card

I thought I'd make a square card for a change.  A very simple layout but lovely embellishments add a festive touch.  Here's the card and envelope together.

The Crumb Cake card base measures 5 1/4" square and I added a panel of patterned paper from the SU! 'Brightly Gleaming' specialty DSP pack.  I stamped the holly in Old Olive ink and used Stampin' Blends markers to colour in the images.  A 2" circle punch was used for the sentiment and I offset the white circle against an Old Olive 2" circle.  I taped down the ribbon and popped up the circle.  The finishing touch for the front was the addition of three star embellishments.

Here's the inside of the card.

Here's the envelope.  Covering envelope flaps with patterned paper means I'm using more paper, not hoarding it!

Supplies:

Stamps: SU! 'Christmas Gleaming' & 'Perfectly Plaid' sets

CS: SU! Crumb Cake, Old Olive & Basic White

Patterned paper: SU! 'Brightly Gleaming' specialty DSP 

Ink: SU! Real Red ink pad, SU! Old Olive & Real Red Stampin' Blends markers

Tools: SU! '2" circle punch 

Embellishments & Accessories: SU! Real Red woven satin ribbon, 'Star Designer Elements' Dimensionals

Ruth

Autumn Leaf Trio Happy Birthday Card

I just had to have another go at the baby wipe re-inker technique using a solid image stamp after I'd made this snowflake card.  This time I've made a birthday card using leaves and autumnal colours.  Here's the card and envelope together.

Kelly Acheson talks about the quality of baby wipes used for the technique in her video and I bought some Huggies wipes to try this time rather than the Wilko wipes - both wipes have worked fine for the technique.  I laid just one wipe onto my silicone craft sheet and dropped Cherry Cobbler, Crushed Curry and Old Olive inks onto the wipe to create my ink pad.  The great thing about this technique is you can stamp several images - I stamped six leaves altogether.  After stamping the leaves I used the 'Stitched Leaves' dies to cut out the shape and to add the stitched detail.  I decided to use three leaves on my card and I determined my layout.  I made an Old Olive card base and added a panel of plaid paper and a strip of Cherry Cobbler CS.  I die cut a white stitched rectangle and glued two leaves directly on it and popped the central leaf up on Dimensionals.  I die cut the Crushed Curry sentiment label using a shape from the SU! 'Messages' die and I popped it up.  To finish the front I added a green linen thread bow.

Here's a closer look at the leaves.  I really love how they turned out!

Here's the inside of the card.

Here's the envelope.

Supplies:

Stamps: SU! 'Love of Leaves' & 'Shaded Summer' sets, Hero Arts 'Yummy Treats' set 

CS: SU! Cherry Cobbler, Crushed Curry, Old Olive & Basic White

Patterned paper: SU! 'Plaid Tidings' 6" x 6" DSP pack

Ink: SU! Cherry Cobbler ink pad, SU! Cherry Cobbler, Crushed Curry & Old Olive ink refills 

Tools: SU! 'Stitched Leaves' die set, 'Messages' die, Claina Palmer 'A6 Double Stitched Nested Dies' set 

Embellishments & Accessories: Huggies baby wipe, SU! Old Olive Linen Thread, Dimensionals

Ruth

Poinsettia Wreath Merry Christmas Card

Here's another alcohol ink background Christmas card.  I wanted to try with just red and green inks and I wanted to add some gold to the background.  Here's the card and envelope together.

I used Dark Cherry Cobbler and Dark Mossy Meadow Stampin' Blends on the vellum and I think it did get a little muddy in places once I'd added the alcohol.  To add some gold 'veining' detail I used a VersaMark pen to draw lines and then I heat embossed with gold embossing powder.  I've had the VersaMark pen for years and I was amazed it still worked as I haven't used it in years!  It came out a little thicker than I really wanted so I'm not sure I'll do it again, but I tried it!  I taped the vellum to a piece of Basic White CS, cut it out with a stitched rectangle die, mounted that onto a gold foil stitched rectangle and adhered that to the front of the Mossy Meadow card blank.  

Using the SU! 'Wreath Builder' die set, I die cut a Mossy Meadow wreath and a gold foil wreath and glued them together.  I die cut and assembled the poinsettia flowers using Poppy Parade, Cherry Cobbler and gold foil CS.  I stamped the sentiment and die cut that using a shape from the 'Messages' die.  I popped up the wreath, flowers and the sentiment label.

Here's the inside of the card.  I stamped the sentiment in Mossy Meadow ink, stamped three poinsettias in Cherry Cobbler ink and used a blender pen to draw ink into the stamped images to add colour.  I coloured the centres with a gold gel pen.

Here's the envelope.  I used a larger poinsettia stamp to decorate the envelope flap.

Supplies:

Stamps: SU! 'Arrange a Wreath', Hero Arts 'Holiday Cheer' & Creative Expressions 'Shaded Poinsettia Additions' sets 

CS: SU! Cherry Cobbler, Mossy Meadow, Poppy Parade & Basic White, Gold Foil Sheet, vellum

Ink: SU! Cherry Cobbler & Mossy Meadow ink pads, Dark Cherry Cobbler & Dark Mossy Meadow Stampin' Blends, VersaMark pen, gold gel pen

Tools: SU! 'Wreath Builder' die set, 'Messages' die, Claina Palmer 'A6 Double Stitched Nested Dies' set, small circle punch, SU! Blender Pen, flat paintbrush

Embellishments & Accessories: 99% isopropyl alcohol, SU! gold embossing powder, Dimensionals

Ruth

Snowflakes Merry Christmas Card

Recently I watched Kelly Acheson's Facebook Live Replay video dated 8th August 2021 where she demonstrates the baby wipe re-inker technique.  Kelly shows the technique at around the 35.40 mark on the video.  This technique has been around a very long time but I've never tried it.  After watching Kelly's video I decided I'd have a go and here's my card and envelope.

I used Balmy Blue, Coastal Cabana and Highland Heather ink refills for my baby wipe palette.  Kelly talks about baby wipe quality in her video, I used what I had which was Wilko baby wipes and they worked.  I might experiment with a more expensive packet of wipes later on to see if there's a difference.  I made a Highland Heather card base and glued a panel of snowflake patterned paper cut out with a stitched rectangle die on top.  I die cut my multicoloured snowflake and popped that up on a stitched square die cut.  I glued the sentiment rectangle down and then popped up the Night of Navy square.  I added a rhinestone jewel to the snowflake centre to finish the front.

Here's a closer look at the snowflake.  It's fabulous to get a multicoloured image, what a great technique!  

Here's the inside of the card - I had to use the technique on the inside too!  I stamped the sentiment a few times on Basic White CS and die cut the one that came out darkest.  I will try darker colours next time I use the technique.  I felt that a pop of Night of Navy was needed so I stamped a snowflakes cluster a couple of times.

Here's the envelope.  I stamped a few snowflakes to start with on a piece of Basic White CS before I stamped my main snowflake image.  I punched a circle out of that white CS to decorate the envelope.  I've mounted the white circle onto a larger Night of Navy circle.

Supplies:

Stamps: SU! 'Snowflake Wishes' & 'Flurry of Wishes' sets

CS: SU! Highland Heather, Night of Navy & Basic White

Patterned paper: SU! 'Snowflake Splendor' DSP

Ink: SU! Night of Navy ink pad, Balmy Blue, Coastal Cabana & Highland Heather ink refills 

Tools: SU! 'So Many Snowflakes', 'Stitched Rectangles' & 'Stitched Shape' die sets, SU! circle punches, Claina Palmer 'A6 Double Stiched Nested Dies' set 

Embellishments & Accessories: SU! Dimensionals

Ruth

Coloured Strips Snowflake Wishes Card

A little while ago I made this rainbow strips birthday card and when I'd done I knew I wanted to make a snowflakes Christmas card version and here it is!  Here's the card and envelope together.

Here's the card.  I made a Night of Navy card base and chose Balmy Blue, Pool Party, Coastal Cabana, Bermuda Bay, Highland Heather and Gorgeous Grape CS for my coloured strips.  After I'd die cut the strips I stamped tone on tone snowflakes on each strip using the same colour ink as the CS.  I kept my shammy to hand so I could clean the stamp between ink colours!  I cut a Basic White mat layer for my strips and before adhering that in place I stamped and heat embossed the sentiment.  There are some iridescent foil 'Wonderful Snowflakes' in the SU! July to December mini catalogue and they are gorgeous!  I popped up one of those and added a Night of Navy die cut snowflake to the centre.  I added two white die cut snowflakes, added rhinestone jewels to all three snowflake centres and finished the front by adding some self adhesive snowflake embellishments around the sentiment.

I went a bit fancy on the inside by using the negative snowflake label die from the SU! 'So Many Snowflakes' die set.  I stamped the sentiment in Night of Navy ink onto a piece of Pool Party CS and glued that down before adhering the white panel over the top.  I added three more of the snowflake embellishments.

Here's the envelope with a circle snowflake element glued on the flap.

Supplies:

Stamps: SU! 'Snowflake Wishes' set

CS: SU! Balmy Blue, Bermuda Bay, Coastal Cabana, Gorgeous Grape, Highland Heather, Night of Navy, Pool Party & Basic White

Ink: SU! Balmy Blue, Bermuda Bay, Coastal Cabana, Gorgeous Grape, Highland Heather, Night of Navy & Pool Party, VersaMark

Tools: SU! 'So Many Snowflakes' & 'Stitched Rectangles' die sets, circle punches

Embellishments & Accessories: SU! white embossing powder, rhinestone jewels, self adhesive snowflake embellishments, Dimensionals

Ruth

Two Heart Themed Gift Boxes

Yesterday Lesley and Wendy came over to make a set of Double Wonder Christmas cards like this set I'd made previously.  I like to give them both a little treat and I place the packaged gifts on the table so they see them as soon as they arrive.  I'd forgotten I had these SU! 'Love You Always' treat boxes in my stash and they were ideal!  They are great boxes, they're like matchboxes so there is a box and a sleeve that slides over the box.  They're a good size and there's no gluing needed to put them together so that's brilliant!  Here are both boxes together.

I placed the gift at the bottom of the box and covered it with some scrunched up tissue paper.  To decorate the sleeves I chose some bright, happy hearts paper from the SU! 'Pattern Party' DSP pack and made wraps  to go around the boxes.  I cut pieces of Granny Apple Green CS and wrapped those around the sleeves, folding around the boxes as I went rather than scoring before applying the CS to the boxes.  I taped the ends of the Granny Apple Green CS together and then cut narrower pieces of patterned paper and wrapped those around the boxes in the same way, taping the ends together.  The decorative sleeves can be slid off so Lesley and Wendy can re-use their boxes and redecorate them if they wish.

I stamped the 'love you, friend' sentiment (from the SU! 'Shaded Summer' set) in VersaMark on Bermuda Bay CS, heat embossed with white embossing powder and die cut two labels (using a die from the SU! 'Seasonal Labels' die set.)  I die cut two Real Red stitched hearts using a die from the long retired 'Trim Your Stocking' die set.  I cut strips of Granny Apple Green Textured Weave ribbon, made zig zags and attached them to the boxes with double sided tape.  I popped up the labels and the hearts and added rhinestone jewels to finish.

Here's another view.  The boxes really are a good size!  Both ladies ordered the SU! 'Christmas Season' bundle and they used their stamps and dies to create their cards.  I thought the 'Gold Holly Leaves' embellishments that are part of the 'Painted Christmas' suite would be a perfect gift for them so that's what was inside the boxes!

Lesley and Wendy loved their gifts and we had such a happy day together crafting, chatting and laughing!  We're getting together again on Saturday 2nd October - World Card Making Day!

Supplies:

Stamps: SU! 'Shaded Summer' set 

CS: SU! Bermuda Bay, Granny Apple Green & Real Red, 'Love You Always' Treat Boxes

Patterned paper: SU! 'Pattern Party' DSP pack

Ink: VersaMark

Tools: SU! 'Seasonal Labels' & 'Trim Your Stocking' die sets

Embellishments & Accessories: SU! Granny Apple Green Textured Weave ribbon, white embossing powder, Rhinestone Jewels & Dimensionals

Ruth

Greenery & Berries Merry Christmas Card

The SU! 'Painted Christmas' patterned paper is just so lovely and I was drawn to the unusual colour of the leaves and pine boughs paper.  It's not overtly Christmassy, more wintry I'd say.  Here's the card and envelope together.

Here's the card.  I glued a large panel of the patterned paper onto the Evening Evergreen card base and added a Pear Pizzazz stitched strip (cut using the strap die from the 'All Dressed Up' die set.)  I die cut a large Basic White label using a die from the 'Seasonal Labels' die set and stamped the sentiment in Evening Evergreen ink.  I stamped and die cut the leaves, boughs and berries and arranged them on the label, popping up the berries.  That pop of red from the berries is so eyecatching!  I popped the label up onto the card base and then considered embellishment options!  I have to confess I tend to hoard any fancy embellishments - jewels and gems I use frequently - but the SU! 'Mini Pinecone Embellishments' have languished, neglected in my stash!  I thought two pinecone trinkets attached with a linen thread bow was a lovely finishing touch!

Here's a closer look.

Here's the inside of the card.  The 'Happiest Christmas Wishes' sentiment comes from the retired SU! 'Dashing Deer' set and I wanted to use a label die and have some greenery and berries tucked underneath.  The label die I used was too long for the sentiment but I cut it out full size and then repositioned the shape, nestling the shape into the die where I wanted it to go and cut again so I got the perfect size label!  I added a strip of the pretty paper and a strip of Evening Evergreen CS.

Here's the envelope with more pretty paper and a popped up die cut name label.

Very happy with how this turned out and very happy I have another Christmas card added to the stash!

Supplies:

Stamps: SU! 'Christmas Season', 'Arrange a Wreath' & 'Dashing Deer' sets

CS: SU! Evening Evergreen, Pear Pizzazz & Basic White

Patterned paper: SU! 'Painted Christmas' DSP 

Ink: SU! Evening Evergreen, Pear Pizzazz, Real Red & Soft Succulent

Tools: SU! 'Seasonal Labels', 'All Dressed Up' & 'Stitched So Sweetly' die sets

Embellishments & Accessories: SU! linen thread, Mini Pinecone Embellishments, Dimensionals

Ruth