December 2012 Card Group Projects

Yesterday was the last card group get together of 2012.  A very merry time was had - crafting, Christmas card swapping, Secret Santa gift giving and food made for a most enjoyable afternoon!  I designed one very simple card and then two little gifts for everyone to make.

The ladies wanted to have a go at making rosettes so I designed this card using the largest of the rosettes from the Tim Holtz Mini Rosettes die.  Thank you cards can come in useful after Christmas so I made this a thanks card although I took other sentiments so the ladies could choose what occasion to use the card for.  I stamped the flourish in Certainly Celery ink and the sentiment in Riding Hood Red ink.  I used paper from the SU! Candlelight DSP pack to make the rosette.  I threaded a Real Red CS strip through a Certainly Celery button and popped that on the centre of the rosette.  I took my handy dandy Imaginisce I Bond cordless hot glue gun as I find that the quickest and best way to assemble rosettes and it's also great for gluing embellishments like buttons.  Crystal Effects or Glossy Accents work well too if a hot glue gun isn't an option.

Here's the easel calendar holder that was our next project.  The finished size is 4" x 4" so I cut Crumb Cake CS 8" x 4" and scored at 2" and 4" to form the easel.  The butterfly paper was adhered to an Early Espresso CS square and the strip of SU! 'Chantilly' lace ribbon was added with the ends taped to the back.  At this point at card group Lesley and I entertained everyone by singing a rousing rendition of that rock 'n roll classic 'Chantilly Lace'!  We do like a good sing song!  Then the die cut butterfly was embossed with the Lacy Brocade folder and spritzed with gold Perfect Pearls mist.  Two gold brads fixed the butterfly to the panel and then the panel was glued to the easel front.  Damask paper was adhered to the bottom of the card.  I glued the calendar to a rectangle of Crumb Cake CS and popped that up as the easel stop.  I think these calendars make great stocking stuffers or little gifts for Christmas.

The last project is a hot chocolate/candy cane sleeve.  I bought sachets of Maltesers hot chocolate and candy canes and before assembling the sleeve I tied the cane to the sachet with red ribbon.

To make the sleeve I cut A4 Chocolate Chip CS in half, trimmed it to 7" long and on the long side scored at 1 7/8", 2 1/2", 4 1/2" and 5 1/8".  I used double sided tape to glue the sleeve together.  I embossed a strip of Gumball Green Core'dinations CS with a border folder from the Delicate Designs set and scuffed the embossing with fine sandpaper.  I stamped and die cut the mug and steam - I inked the mug in Real Red ink and used a blender pen to remove the red ink from the drink portion and then added colour for the hot chocolate with a Chocolate Chip marker.  I cut a slit in the mug, slid the steam in the slit, taped it at the back to keep it in place and popped the mug up.  The sentiment element was stamped and punched and the 'For You' and the Chocolate Chip circles were both popped up.

Then I slid the sachet and cane inside the sleeve and hooked the cane over the top so the contents didn't fall out.  Well, OK, that was the theory but when I demoed this to the group I picked it up and of course the sachet fell out!  Much hilarity at my expense ensued - but I tightened the ribbon which put the issue right!  I threatened them with being put on the naughty list which would mean no Secret Santa gifts - but they're such a fab group of ladies I let them off!

Supplies for thanks card:
Stamps: Hero Arts 'Flourish', SU! Thank You Kindly set
CS: PaperMania cream A6 card blank
Patterned paper:  SU! Candlelight DSP
Ink: SU! Certainly Celery, & Riding Hood Red
Tools: Sizzix Tim Holtz Mini Rosettes die, 1" circle punch (circle glued to back of rosette), Imaginisce I Bond cordless hot glue gun
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Certainly Celery button

Supplies for easel calendar:
Stamps: none
CS: SU! Crumb Cake & Early Espresso
Patterned paper: Kaisercraft 'With Love' from Sweet Nothings collection, Echo Park Style Essentials 'Brown Damask'
Ink: none
Tools: SU! Simply Scored, Beautiful Butterflies Bigz die, Lacy Brocade embossing folder
Embellishments & accessories: Anita's 2013 calendars, SU! 'Chantilly' lace ribbon, Perfect Pearls 'Heirloom Gold' mist, gold brads, 3D foam tape

Supplies for hot chocolate sleeve:
Stamps: SU! Scentsational Season & Mixed Medley sets
CS: SU! Chocolate Chip, Whisper White & Gumball Green Core'dinations CS
Ink: SU! Real Red, Gumball Green, Chocolate Chip & blender pen
Tools: SU! Holiday Collection Framelits dies, Simply Scored, 3/4" & 1 3/8" plain circle punches, 1 1/4" scalloped circle punch
Embellishments & accessories: red grosgrain ribbon, 3D foam pads