Various Christmas Gift Tags

I made a few gift tags for Christmas using my Labels Four Nestie dies plus co-ordinating stamp sets from Waltzingmouse Stamps. The first tag was to go on a little extra gift for my friend Jan, just as a special thank you for the many kindnesses she has shown me throughout the past year. I sponged some Distress Ink around the vanilla tag and then I also sponged the gingham ribbon with the ink too, as it would have been too white left as it was. I added a lovely SU! Latte Designer Button to the tag to finish off.



This next tag was tied to my hubbie's bag of Christmas gifts. I dug out my neglected PaperTrey monogram sets for this tag and added some jingle bells.



The last tag was to go on a very special gift for our friend Mike. He is a real ginger lover - while I'm not at all keen! Anyway, I made him some stem ginger ice cream and tied the tag onto the plastic container with gingham ribbon. I used Delia Smith's recipe from her latest book so that's why I signed the tag with love from Ruth & Delia! We absolutely love Delia - Dame Delia we call her and we often make the bowing "we are not worthy" gesture when we talk about her!



Supplies:
Stamps: Waltzingmouse Stamps Very Vintage Labels No. 4 and Say it with Style sets, PaperTrey Ink Trajan Monogram Edition alphabet set and Borders & Corners Monogram Edition set, snowflake on the bottom of Jan's tag from My Cute Stamps Let it Snow! set
CS: SU! Whisper White, Very Vanilla & Real Red
Ink: VersaMagic Red Magic, Tea Leaves & Jumbo Java chalk inks, Tim Holtz Antique Linen Distress Ink
Tools: Labels Four Nestabilities dies, Crop-A-Dile
Embellishments & accessories: Red grosgrain ribbon, red & white gingham ribbon, jingle bells, SU! Latte Designer Button, sparkly red glitter gel pen

Christmas Pudding Gift Card Holder

This is the gift card holder we gave to our great friends Debbie and Mike, who we spent Christmas Day with. I got the idea from the beanie gift card holder tutorial that appeared on Splitcoast Stampers a while ago. When I looked at the shape though I immediately thought of a Christmas pudding so I made mine a pud! Click here for the SCS tutorial - the page will open in a new window.

I used my large Coluzzle circle template to cut the two half circles in Chocolate Chip CS. I sponged some Choc Chip ink all over the front of my pudding and I added small punched black circles as currants. The red scalloped bottom piece was made using the SU! Scallop Border punch. Another circle punch was used for my holly berries and the holly leaves were made with a QuicKutz die. I sponged ink on all those shapes too and added some white gel pen highlights to my berries.

The circle sentiment element hides the eyelet hinge that allows the card front to swing up. To finish off, I added some Choc Chip grosgrain ribbon tied in a knot. This was such a fab, fun and festive project to make!



This pic shows the card open and you can see the gift card and receipt tucked inside.



Supplies:
Stamps: Sentiment from Hero Arts set
CS: SU! Chocolate Chip, Real Red, Garden Green & Whisper White
Ink: SU! Chocolate Chip, Real Red & Garden Green
Tools: Large Coluzzle circle template, Crop-A-Dile, SU! Scallop Border punch, circle punches, QuicKutz Holly die
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Chocolate Chip grosgrain ribbon, eyelet, white gel pen

Sparkly Tree Easel Card

This easel card and matching envelope was made for Jan. Her hubby Alan always asks me to make a Christmas card for him to give to Jan. I was very cheeky, I borrowed her SU! Season of Joy stamp set again in order to make this card! Happily she loved the card so I'm forgiven!

The card measures 5 1/2" square and was made with SU! Old Olive CS. For the tree panel, I stamped the tree, sponged around some Old Olive and Garden Green inks and then patted VersaMark ink all over. Then I covered the entire panel with Stamp 'n Bond powder so I could add crystal glitter. It's very sparkly! I embossed the red Labels Four shape with the D'vine Swirl embossing folder. Both the red and vanilla pieces are popped up. At the top of the tree I've put a red star gem.

I used my new Labels Four Nestie dies plus a frame stamp from a Waltzingmouse Stamps set that co-ordinates with the Labels Four dies on this card. I've lightly sponged ink on the sentiment panel plus the snowflake circles. I added crystals to the snowflake centres.



Here's a photo showing the message on the back of the card. I'm loving that fun Elzybells Queen of Stamping set!



Supplies:
Stamps: SU! Season of Joy set, Waltzingmouse Stamps Very Vintage Labels No. 4 set, Elzybells Queen of Stamping set
CS: SU! Old Olive, Real Red, Chocolate Chip & Very Vanilla
Patterned paper: SU! Merry Moments Designer Series Paper pack
Ink: SU! Real Red, Old Olive, & Garden Green VersaMagic Magic Red and Jumbo Java chalk inks
Tools: Labels Four Nestabilities dies, circle punches, D'vine Swirl Cuttlebug embossing folder
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Old Olive grosgrain ribbon, SU! Real Red grosgrain ribbon, Stamp 'n Bond powder, crystal ultrafine glitter, star gem, crystals, 3d foam pads

Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!

Snowflake Shirt Easel Card for Hubby

This is the Christmas card I made for my hubby Owen. As soon as I saw the olive paper with the tiny snowflakes on I thought hmmm, that would be great as a shirt! Owen would actually wear a real shirt like this LOL! If ever I find a blue snowflake shirt (blue will match his eyes better) I'll buy him one!

This easel card measures 5 1/2" square and was made with SU! Real Red CS. The patterned papers are from the SU! Merry Moments pack. I stamped the shirt on the patterned paper, cut it out roughly and ran it through my Xyron machine to add adhesive so I could mount it to some CS to add strength, then I cut it out properly. The shirt is popped up.

I used a small square Nestie die for the red squares and added punched snowflakes with olive crystal centres. The brown strip was scalloped with the SU! Scallop Border punch. The stop is a circle sentiment element. Before punching the vanilla circle, I stamped the snowflake medley stamp in Old Olive ink after stamping off once to get a muted colour and then I stamped the 'be merry' in Real Red ink. The sentiment circle is popped up.



This photo shows the vanilla panel I glued inside so I could write my message. I stamped the snowflake medley stamp repeatedly in Old Olive ink - stamping off once each time - and then stamped the sentiment in Real Red ink.



I am pleased to say Owen loved his card! Mind you, he always does say lovely things about my cards - he is a wise man indeed LOL!

Supplies:
Stamps: Stampendous 'His Shirt', 'be merry' from SU! Warm Words set, PSX Snowflake Medley, inside sentiment by Penny Black
CS: SU! Real Red, Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip & Old Olive
Patterned paper: SU! Merry Moments Designer Series Paper pack
Ink: SU! Real Red, Old Olive & Chocolate Chip
Tools: Xyron 510 machine, Square Nestability die, SU! Scallop Border punch, Woodware Snowflake punch, circle punches
Embellishments & accessories: Square gold brads, olive crystals, 3d foam tape

Poinsettia Trio Easel Card for Joanne

This is the Christmas card I gave to my fab SU! demo Joanne. She taught us how to make the poinsettias last year and I wanted to use a technique I'd learned from her plus SU! products for her Christmas card - well, mainly SU! anyway. I can't ever seem to use products from just one company on a card, I always mix and match!

The easel card measures 5 1/2" square and I used Old Olive CS for the easel part and Ruby Red CS for the front piece. The patterned papers are from the SU! Ski Slope paper pack. I used plain and scalloped Nestie dies for the layering and I embossed the white square with the gorgeous D'vine Swirl Cuttlebug folder - my fave embossing folder I think!

To make the Ruby Red corner accents, I punched out a circle and cut it into quarters. The scalloped snowflake strip at the bottom was made using the Sizzix Lace Edging Decorative Strip die which has holes in each scallop but I covered the holes with small punched snowflakes.

My stop for the easel card is the lovely sentiment from the SU! Best Yet set punched out and matted with the SU! oval punches. Later on, I added clear crystals to each snowflake on the card but I forgot to take a new photo.


Supplies:
Stamps: SU! Best Yet set
CS: SU! Ruby Red, Chocolate Chip, Old Olive & Whisper White
Patterned paper: SU! Ski Slope Designer Series Paper pack
Ink: SU! Ruby Red
Tools: Plain and scalloped square Nestabilities dies, SU! plain and scalloped oval punches, Sizzix Lace Edging Decorative Strip die, SU! 5 Petal Flower punch, circle punch, small snowflake punch, DEET & moulding mat
Embellishments & accessories: Gold sequins, clear crystals

CAS Butterfly Thank You

Today's CAS challenge on Splitcoast Stampers is to make a card based on a sketch from a card made by Lori Tecler. Click here to see Lori's great card - the page will open in a new window.

My card measures just a tad under 5" square and is made with SU! Mellow Moss CS. I die cut a circle out of Perfect Plum CS and embossed it with my new Crafts Too Butterfly embossing folder. I stamped the butterfly on thick iridescent vellum using Elegant Eggplant ink and cut it out. I then ran an embossing stylus along the lines of the butterfly body so the wings popped up. It's such a shame the photo doesn't capture the lovely iridescent sheen of the butterfly, the vellum really is gorgeous!

The sentiment is one long clear stamp and I mounted it on an acrylic block in a curve shape before stamping. The sentiment has dots between the words and I decided to cover these with purple crystals to add a touch of sparkle. I added some Eggplant ribbon and rounded the right hand corners to finish off the card.


Supplies:
Stamps: Butterfly by Magenta, sentiment from Hero Arts Clear Design Thank You Messages set
CS: SU! Mellow Moss & Perfect Plum
Ink: SU! Elegant Eggplant & VersaMagic Jumbo Java chalk ink
Tools: Circle Nestability die, Crafts Too Butterfly embossing folder, Crop-A-Dile Corner Chomper, embossing stylus
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Elegant Eggplant grosgrain ribbon, purple crystals

Stamper's Ten Make & Take Cards

I woke up to a Winter Wonderland today after a heavy snowfall. A perfect day to stay warm and cosy in my craft room. I made my last Christmas card for 2009 - my hubby's card. I'll share that card in a few days.

These are the two cards we made at Joanne's SU! Stamper's Ten make & Take on Tuesday night. We had such a good night, as well as the crafting we had mulled wine, stollen and mince pies - and the usual giggles!

The thank you card uses the SU! Circle Circus set. I really like this set but I have a clear Hero Arts set that is similar so I'm not sure if I'll get it or not. I do like that the stamps work with some of the SU! circle punches though - so I'll probably end up getting it eventually! I love this Not Quite Navy, Kraft and Vanilla colour combo. After rounding the corners of the blue piece I sponged some Not Quite Navy ink around it.



The second card uses another fab colour combo - Sage Shadow, Chocolate Chip and White - and the lovely Flight of the Butterfly set. No indecision on my part when it comes to this stamp set - I ordered it plus the matching punch on the night! We used the lovely Eyelet Border punch on this card too - that will definitely be ordered at a later date!

The larger butterfly was stamped direct to the white panel but also stamped again on a separate piece of white CS and punched out with the butterfly punch. The punched butterfly is then popped up. Not sure if you can see the full sentiment, it says: "If nothing ever changed there would be no butterflies. Unknown". You can always click on any picture to get a larger view. I love butterflies and can't wait to get my new goodies and try out the various options the set offers!



Supplies for thank you card:
Stamps: SU! Circle Circus and Thank You Kindly sets
CS: SU! Not Quite Navy, Kraft & Very Vanilla
Ink: SU! Not Quite Navy
Tools: Various circle punches, Corner Rounder punch

Supplies for butterflies card:
Stamps: SU! Flight of the Butterfly set
CS: SU! Sage Shadow, Chocolate Chip & Whisper White
Ink: SU! Sage Shadow & Chocolate Chip
Tools: SU! Butterfly punch, SU! Eyelet Border punch
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Whisper White grosgrain ribbon, SU! dimensionals

CAS Warm Wishes Tree Card

Monday's CAS challenge on Splitcoast Stampers was to use a curve on your card. I absolutely love the curve you get if you use the negative shape from the Sizzix 'Swirly' Decorative Strip die so that's what I used for my snowy hill.

The card measures 4 3/4" square and was made with Kraft CS. My fabulous SU! demo Joanne showed us how to make a tree using the SU! Scallop Circle punch at our November Make and Take evening. You punch the scallop circle, make a pencil mark in the centre and then cut out 2 scallops, followed by 3 and 4 scallops which then leaves you with 5 scallops. Here's a pic of a scallop circle after the 2 and 3 scallops have been cut out so you can see what I mean!



My tree trunk was made with a piece of Creamy Caramel CS that had been stamped with a woodgrain stamp - I happened to find it in my scrap folder, yay! I then sponged Old Olive ink on all the tree parts and glued them together. I then covered the top of the tree with a small punched star. If you weren't going to cover the top of the tree, you may want to round the top a bit to avoid it looking too pointy.

To finish off, I stamped the sentiment in SU! Whisper White craft ink and heat embossed with white embossing powder. A sweet and simple card.



Supplies:
Stamps: Sentiment by Hero Arts
CS: SU! Kraft, Whisper White, Old Olive, Creamy Caramel & Real Red
Ink: SU! Whisper White Craft ink, Old Olive, Creamy Caramel
Tools: Sizzix 'Swirly' Decorative Strip die, SU! Scallop Circle punch, Woodware star punch
Embellishments & accessories: Stamp 'n Stuff White embossing powder

Pop Up Snowman card for Tanya

It's very chilly here and snow is forecast, a perfect day to stay in and craft!

I've made this card for my friend Tanya and her twins Eddie & Gemma. Ever since I got this adorable snowman stamp from my friend Jan I've wanted to make a pop up card with him. I hope the kids get a kick out of the pop up element!

The card measures just a smidge under 5" square and was made with SU! Real Red CS. I've decorated the front of the card fairly simply with a sentiment panel and punched snowflakes. I've added silver shimmer dots to the snowflake centres.



For the inside, I've added die cut swirls, more punched snowflakes with shimmer dot centres, another sentiment and the pop up snowman. I paper pieced the snowmans hat and coat and used a pencil to add rosy cheeks. I used Polar White Flower Soft to add fluff to the hat and coat. I used the Sizzix 'Swirly' decorative strip die for the snowy swirl and used the negative shape for the snowy hill at the bottom. I hope this jolly snowman brings a smile to all their faces, it certainly was a happy card to make!



Supplies:
Stamps: 'Snowman fall from heaven unassembled' by Stampendous, snowman from Hero Arts Share the Joy cling set, inside sentiment from Penny Black
CS: SU! Real Red, Old Olive & Whisper White, Elzybells smooth white CS
Patterned paper: SU! Merry Moments Designer Series Paper pack
Ink: VersaFine Onyx Black, SU! Real Red & Old Olive
Tools: Rectangle & Long Rectangle Nestabilities dies, Sizzix Bigz Pop Ups die, Sizzix 'Swirly' Decorative Strip die, various snowflake punches, Koh-I-Noor pink coloured pencil
Embellishments & accessories: Polar White Flower Soft, PaperMania self adhesive silver Shimmer Dots

Just to Say Hello Card for Raspberry Suite Colour Challenge #20

I made this card for Dawn's Raspberry Suite Colour Challenge #20. I'm so in the Christmas colour groove that I needed a colour challenge to help me out of it! Click here to visit Dawn's Colour Challenge #20 blog post - the page will open in a new window.

My card measures 6" square and is made with SU! Kraft CS. I stamped the leaf stem from PTI's Beautiful Blooms set with VersaMark ink randomly on Chocolate Chip CS and heat embossed with clear powder. I added a scalloped die cut in Really Rust CS to the bottom. I die cut two leaf stems in Very Vanilla CS and sponged on rust ink. My flower is a lush, velvety Bazzill Bling Bloom. For the flower centre, I've covered a jumbo brad with a 3/4" circle of Really Rust CS stamped with a flower from the PTI Beautiful Blooms set. I went rootling in my stash and was chuffed to find a self adhesive clear dome sticker that was the perfect size to cover my brad! I've added a pale aqua crystal to the centre.

To finish off the card, I've added the sentiment, ribbon and rounded the bottom corners. An unusual colour combo for me but I really enjoyed making this card - and it's nice to get back to non Christmas cards! I'll use this card to send happy mail to a friend in the New Year.



Supplies:
Stamps: PTI (PaperTrey Ink) Beautiful Blooms set, sentiment by Rubber Stampede
CS: SU! Kraft, Very Vanilla, Really Rust & Chocolate Chip
Ink: VersaMark, VersaMagic Jumbo Java chalk ink, SU! Chocolate Chip
Tools: Sizzix 'Ribbons' Decorative Strip die, SU! Sizzix Sizzlits Little Leaves die, 3/4" circle punch, corner rounder punch
Embellishments & accessories: Clear embossing powder, SU! Very Vanilla grosgrain ribbon, Bazzill Bling Bloom, DoveCraft Jumbo Brad, self adhesive clear dome sticker, crystal

EDITED TO ADD: Woohoo, my card made it into the Spotlight - I'm SO pleased! That's put a happy smile on my face!

Bauble Trio Card

A CAS card made with the SU! Tree Trimmings set. This is an A6 sized card made from Very Vanilla CS. I stamped the baubles first and then added the strings using the Stamp-A-Ma-Jig so they got positioned properly. I then added the strip of patterned paper.

For the ribbon, I first glued down the long strip and then I tied a bow and adhered that to the ribbon strip with a glue dot. I added my sentiment and card done. I'm reaching the end of my Christmas cards now - only a few more to make!



Supplies:
Stamps: SU! Tree Trimmings and Seasonal Wishes sets
CS: SU! Very Vanilla
Patterned paper: SU! Merry Moments Designer Series Paper pack
Ink: SU! Old Olive, Garden Green, Real Red & Chocolate Chip
Tools: Stamp-A-Ma-Jig stamp positioner
Embellishments & accessories: Red grosgrain ribbon, glue dot

Vintage Holly Merry Christmas

I don't often make vintage style cards but I do like to go out of my comfort zone every now and again LOL! I love this glittered holly paper but it uses quite deep, rich colours so vintage seems to suit it. Plus I got to play with my new Nesties and stamps!

I've always loved the shape of the Labels Four Nestability dies but I didn't get round to buying them. Then I discovered Waltzingmouse stamps who carry a range of Nestie friendly stamps and their 'Say it with Style' set pushed me over the edge into buying the Labels Four dies. The Say it with Style set has a frame that matches a Label Four die, loads of sentiments in that gorgeous, classy font and several image and accent stamps too. It's a fabulous set - and I also got their Very Vintage Labels Four stamp set too which has lots of frames and accents that go with the Labels Four dies. Oh dear, another stamp company I've fallen in love with! Click here if you would like to visit Waltzingmouse stamps - the page will open in a new window.

This card is a standard A6 size made with SU! Bravo Burgundy CS. I matted the holly paper onto Garden Green CS and used the SU! Ticket Corner punch on all the corners. Before adhering this to the card front, I wrapped some Old Olive grosgrain ribbon around the panel. I stamped the frame, die cut the Label Four shape and then added the sentiment. I've sponged some Burgundy ink on the sentiment piece. Then I cut a larger Labels Four shape in Garden Green CS to mat my sentiment on. The Garden Green and Vanilla pieces are both popped up. To finish off, I added pearls at the corners.


Supplies:
Stamps: Waltzingmouse Say it with Style set
CS: SU! Bravo Burgundy, Garden Green & Very Vanilla
Patterned paper: K & Co Christmas Cheer Holly Glittered Paper
Ink: VersaMagic Tea Leaves & Jumbo Java chalk inks, SU Bravo Burgundy
Tools: Labels Four Nestabilities dies, SU! Ticket Corner punch
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Old Olive grosgrain ribbon, half pearls, 3d foam pads


Ruth

Tree Trimmings Gap Card

Another gap card but this time I've used the Circles Decorative Strip die. To make this card I cut an A4 sheet of SU! Real Red CS in half length ways and then scored and folded that piece in half. It fits in a C6 size envelope.

For the gap, I cut 2 1/2" off the bottom of the card, glued the top of the Circles die shape, lined up the 2 1/2" piece I'd earlier cut off and glued the bottom of the Circles shape to that and then cut the excess CS off at the bottom of the card. I then glued a second Circles die cut shape to the back to add some strength. This time I decided to add some patterned paper behind the gap element. As I tried a strip of the green snowflakes paper I couldn't believe how the three snowflakes just happened to fit behind the larger circles - it's fab when something happens like that!

I stamped the ornaments in Old Olive, Garden Green and Chocolate Chip inks and then cut them out. I hand drew the strings with a Marvy marker pen - I saw a card Kristina Werner made on her blog where she did that and it looked really nice. I'm not very confident at free hand drawing anything but I followed Kristina's foolproof method of drawing in pencil first, going over it with the pen and then erasing the pencil lines after! The ornaments are all popped up. I added crystals to the ornaments and to the three snowflake centres visible through the gap. I then added the sentiment and rounded the bottom corners.



Supplies:
Stamps: SU! Tree Trimmings set, sentiment by Hero Arts
CS: SU! Real Red, Whisper White & Old Olive
Patterned paper: SU! Merry Moments Designer Series Paper pack
Ink: SU! Old Olive, Garden Green & Chocolate Chip
Tools: Sizzix 'Circles' Decorative Strip die, Crop-A-Dile Corner Chomper
Embellishments & accessories: Clear and red crystals, 3d foam pads

CAS Red & Brown Snowman

I'm making a glittered acetate card today and I'm having to wait for the glue to dry before I can move on so I popped onto the Splitcoast Stampers website to see what today's CAS challenge is. It's a colour challenge to use red and brown - plus you can add white or cream.

I made a red and brown snowman window card a while ago so I thought it would be fun to make a similar card but to change things around a little bit. Click here to see the original card - the page will open in a new window. I've still used Kraft and Real Red CS, the same snowman stamp and circles die but I've changed the card orientation to landscape instead of portrait. I've used white CS on this card rather than vanilla so that I could use the gingham ribbon, stamped snowflakes in the circles, added a sentiment and some brads and omitted the window.

I enjoyed using my original card as inspiration to come up with a different design - I may very well do that again in the future!



Supplies:
Stamps: Inkadinkado Holiday Sentiments clear stamp set, Wishes of Joy sentiment from Hero Arts Winter Wishes set, SU! Snow Flurries set
CS: SU! Kraft & Real Red CS, white CS
Ink: VersaMagic Jumbo Java chalk ink
Tools: Sizzix Decorative Strip 'Circles' die, Stamp-A-Ma-Jig
Embellishments & accessories: Red & white gingham ribbon, red brads



Ruth

Merry Christmas Wreath Window Card for Jan and Alan

After making two wreath cards a while ago I wondered how it would look to make one with a circle window cut out of it. I have to say I like this version better, I think it looks more wreath-like. Here's my original wreath cards - the page will open in a new window. My friend Jan came to make a wreath card with me one afternoon last week and she really loved it. I will give this new window version to her and Alan as their Christmas card.

I used SU! Real Red CS for the base and stamped the flourish stamp from SU's Baroque Motifs set all over the card front in Real Red ink for that subtle tone on tone look. I then stamped the Medallion stamp and trimmed it and cut out the middle with a Nestie circle die and using the same die, I cut a window out of the card front. I then cut Olive and Vanilla circles for the inside of the card. I stamped the flourish in Olive on the Vanilla circle after stamping off on scrap paper once so I got a softer Olive colour and then I stamped the Merry Christmas in Real Red ink.

On my last wreath cards I used red brads as decorations on my wreaths but on this card I've used my new gorgeous red Swarovski crystals which really add some twinkle! The wreath is popped up with 3d foam pads. To finish the card off, I've rounded the right hand side corners and tied some thin gold cording around the spine in a bow.



Supplies:
Stamps: SU! Medallion stamp, flourish from SU! Baroque Motifs set, Fancy Christmas sentiment by Stampendous
CS: SU! Real Red, Very Vanilla & Old Olive
Ink: SU! Real Red & Old Olive
Tools: Circle Nestabilities dies, Crop-A-Dile Corner Chomper
Embellishments & accessories: Siam Red Swarovski crystals, gold cording, 3d foam pads

Creative Genius has been at work LOL!

It's very rare for me to make more than one design of a card, I hardly ever make multiples. This year I decided I would do it for a few of my Christmas card designs. I really liked the CAS white and silver card I made a while ago and so I made 9 for the ladies at my card group. On these cards I used wider ribbon and added a crystal to the stocking, otherwise the design is identical to my original card.

I may not always enjoy the process of making multiple cards but there is something very satisfying about stacking up a pile of completed cards! Hubby really liked this card design too so I plan on making a few more. For those cards I will use a Cuttlebug embossing folder for the embossed silver panel. I really love the design of the Spellbinders Snowflakes Impressabilities template but as it's made of thin metal it is SOOOO delicate and the silver CS I used is really thick and the template has started to come apart. I don't want to risk damaging it by using it with really thick CS any more.



I couldn't resist stamping a sentiment from a new stamp set on the back. I thought my ladies would get a chuckle out of it - and no doubt give me a good ribbing about it too! I handed out the cards yesterday and waited for the reaction. They made me wait ages, it took a while for someone to notice!



The stamp is from an Elzybells clear stamp set called Queen of Stamping. It has some fabulous sentiments in it! I loved it as soon as I saw it when it was released in the summer but I talked myself out of buying it. After all, it was a fun tongue in cheek set just for the backs of cards and I would only use it on cards for certain people like close friends and fellow crafters. As I've recently sold some crafty bits and pieces on eBay and had some funds in the PayPal account I've given in to my *need* LOL!

Supplies:
Stamps: Penny Black Winter Glitter, sentiment from SU! Seasonal Wishes set, sentiment from Elzybells Queen of Stamping clear set on back of card
CS: White and silver CS
Ink: Encore Silver pigment ink
Tools: Spellbinders Snowflake Impressabilities template, heat gun
Embellishments & accessories: Stamp 'n Stuff Stardust embossing powder, silver lurex ribbon, silver Dew Drops, 3d foam tape

Reindeer Christmas Card - December 2009 Card Group Project

This is the card we'll be making at my December card group meeting. We're making the tree gift box plus the easel calendar holder - and we'll be having nibbles and our Secret Santa gift giving, so as there'll be lots going on I kept this card quick and simple.

The reindeer is stamped in gold and then heat embossed with gorgeous Jeweled Gold embossing powder so it is super sparkly. It's such a shame you can't tell from the pic how lovely the embossing looks in real life! I love this embossing powder for Christmas cards! The reindeer stamp is from an Inkadinkado clear set which also has a Christmas tree that would work for this card also so I'll let the ladies decide which image they'd like. As it's a quick card they could probably make both! A strip of patterned paper, rounded corners and some ribbon tied around the card in a knot and the card was done.



Supplies:
Stamps: Inkadinkado Holiday Sentiments clear set
CS: Anita's square cream card blank
Patterned paper: SU! Dashing Designer Series Paper pack
Ink: Encore Gold
Tools: X Cut Corner Rounder punch
Embellishments & accessories: Stamp 'n Stuff Jeweled Gold embossing powder, SU! Real Red grosgrain ribbon



Yay, it's the 1st of December, I get to open the first window on my advent calendar and light the advent candle! I always have a traditional advent calendar with pictures behind the windows, a chocolate advent calendar just doesn't do it for me!

Easel Calendar Holder - Dec 2009 Card Group Project

This is another project we'll be making at my December card group meeting. All the ladies loved making the easel cards last month so I decided to make easel calendar holders this month.

These easels measure 4" square. The Old Olive CS was cut to 8" x 4" and scored at 2" and 4" to make the easel card and the front panel is 4" square. I found the lovely Magenta double sided patterned paper called Robin's Nest at the Glitter Pot, it's so sweet and I love that it goes so well with the SU! Old Olive and Really Rust colours. I adhered the calendar pad to the Rust panel with red liner tape so it was stuck down really well.

I computer generated the 2010 using the Arial font and the RGB codes for SU! Old Olive. I punched it out with a 1 1/4" circle punch and mounted it onto a 1 1/2" Rust circle. This is popped up to act as the stop. To finish, I added Rust photo corners. A simple, yet sweet little gift idea.



Supplies:
Stamps: None
CS: SU! Old Olive & Really Rust
Patterned paper: Magenta double sided Robin's Nest paper
Ink: None
Tools: Sizzix Sizzlits Photo Corners # 2 die, 1 1/4" & 1 1/2" circle punches
Embellishments & accessories: Anita's Calendar Tabs, SU! Sticky Strip red liner tape, 3d foam pads

Christmas Tree Gift Box - Dec 2009 Card Group Project

I thought it was time for a festive feel at Flower Sparkle so I've changed to a Christmas template - hope you like it!

Joanne showed us how to make these fab Christmas Tree gift boxes at a Make and Take evening last year. I thought they would be a great project for my card group to make at our December meeting.

I used my M&F board to make the favour box using a piece of A4 Old Olive CS cut in half lengthways. I punched small holes and threaded the gold elastic cord through. Then I cut Old Olive strips which I scalloped using the SU! Scallop Border Punch and sponged the edges with Old Olive ink. Then I cut the strips roughly to size, glued each strip to the box and trimmed off the excess once the glue had dried.

The tree is then decorated with gold sequins with Xmas Red Stickles glitter glue added. To finish off, a punched red star is added to the top. These would be great to hang from the Christmas tree or placed on the festive dinner table.



Supplies:
Stamps: None
CS: SU! Old Olive & Real Red
Ink: SU! Old Olive
Tools: Coppernob M&F Board, SU! Scallop Border punch, X Cut star punch, small circle hole punch
Embellishments & accessories: Gold sequins, Xmas Red Stickles, gold elastic cord