Flourishes & Snowflakes Merry Christmas Card - 52 {C}CT Aug Pick A Previous Sketch Challenge

This week at 52 {C}CT we're asking you to pick one of our previous sketches to create a Christmas card with.

 

I've chosen to use sketch #25 from February 2014 because I hadn't used that sketch before due to taking a break from 52 {C}CT at that time.

 

Firstly,  I stamped the very gorgeous IndigoBlu 'Vintage Flourish' stamp a few times on Bermuda Bay CS using Bermuda Bay ink to create a background.  I stamped the sentiment in VersaMark ink and heat embossed with white powder.  I added two strips of patterned paper and a strip of silver glimmer paper to the Bermuda Bay panel and glued it to the front of my 5 3/4" square Pool Party card base.  I stamped and die cut the snowflake, die cut the circles and popped up the snowflake.  I punched three sparkly silver snowflakes, glued them down and completed the front by adding some deep aqua gems. 

For the inside of the card I cut a white panel, stamped a partial Bermuda Bay flourish and stamped the sentiment in Island Indigo ink.  I used snowflake patterned paper to decorate the flap of the envelope. 

Please do join us at 52 {C}CT for our Pick a Previous Sketch challenge this week, you know it will feel great to add another Christmas card to your stash!  We have an archive of our previous sketches so all you have to do is visit the sketch archive page and select a sketch to work with.  As always, there will be wonderful inspiration from the rest of the DT so do check out their cards.  Very sadly, Mynnette is no longer with our DT as she has chosen to step down.  I'm sure you'll all miss seeing her fab cards each week - I know I certainly will - and she will be missed so much at 52 {C}CT!

Supplies:
Stamps: SU! 'Festive Flurry' & 'Greetings of the Season' sets, IndigoBlu 'Vintage Flourish' stamp, Stampendous 'Snow Brackets' stamp
CS: SU! Bermuda Bay, Pool Party, Island Indigo & Whisper White, Silver Glimmer Paper
Patterned paper: SU! 'Winter Frost' DSP
Ink: SU! Bermuda Bay, Smoky Slate & Island Indigo, VersaMark
Tools: SU! 'Festive Flurry' die set, circle Nestabilities dies, snowflake punches, heat tool
Embellishments & accessories: PaperMania aqua gems, SU! Dimensionals

Ornate Frame Thank You Card

This is a card I made for my hubby Owen after he very kindly offered to collect a stamp for me from our local craft shop, the Glitter Pot.  I'd seen the Penny Black 'Ornately Framed' stamp in the shop and it was half price in the sale but I ummed and aahed about getting it.  A bargain stamp is all well and good - if you USE the bargain stamp.  Sadly, experience has shown I'm tempted to buy a bargain stamp 'cos it is a bargain but I then don't always use it!  Not a bargain then is it?!  I am trying to be more sensible in my craft purchases and so as I wasn't sure I came home without it.  I then looked at the Penny Black web site and saw a couple of cards made with the stamp and I decided I must have it after all! Owen trotted off to the shop the next day and bought it home for me.  Obviously, I had to use the stamp to make him a card!

I chose a dramatic combo of black, white and Bermuda Bay, making an A6 black card base as my starting point.  I stamped the 'Ornately Framed' image on black CS, heat embossed it with white powder, fussy cut around the frame and removed the central part of the frame.  I stamped and heat embossed the sentiment on a piece of Bermuda Bay CS, stamped a small lace border underneath and glued the piece over the top of the strip of Bermuda Bay CS I'd embossed with the 'Splendour' folder.  I popped up the frame, stacked a few silver sparkly punched hearts together and glued them over the 'o' in 'You'.  

Here's the envelope and the inside of the card featuring new favourite IndigoBlu 'Vintage Flourish' and 'Vintage Flourish Dinkie' stamps.  I am always a sucker for an elegant flourish stamp!  I punched more hearts to accent the sentiment and popped up a name label on the front of the envelope.  I'm happy to say Owen loves the card and it's still out on display well over a week after I gave it to him!

Supplies:
Stamps: Penny Black 'Ornately Framed' cling stamp, sentiment from SU! 'Best Blossoms' set, IndigoBlu 'Vintage Flourish' & 'Vintage Flourish Dinkie' stamps, 'With Love' from Crafty Impressions 'Medium Everyday Messages' clear set, lace border from My Mind's Eye Remember 'Hattie' clear set
CS: SU! Basic Black, Whisper White & Bermuda Bay
Patterned paper: silver sparkly paper from DCWV 'Twinkle Glints'  CS Stack
Ink: VersaMark, VersaFine Onyx Black
Tools: Embossalicious 'Splendour' embossing folder, tiny hearts punched from SU! 'Owl Builder' punch, other hearts from SU! 'Heart to Heart' punch, heat tool, labels from Sizzix 'Card, Fancy Frame Flip-Its #2' die set
Embellishments & accessories: white embossing powder, black gems, Dimensionals

Shabby Rose Blush Kindness Thank You Card

Recently, I was at our local craft shop, the Glitter Pot, with Jan and we saw our friend Alex who was running a class at the shop that day.  Alex asked if we wanted to see what cards the class had made and of course we said yes!  Oh my goodness, the cards were stunning, really beautiful and one in particular stood out to both me and Jan.  We both fell in love with the stamp that had been used on the card - the gorgeous IndigoBlu 'Rose Blush' stamp.  I'd originally gone to the shop that day to pick up a Christmas IndigoBlu stamp that I wanted really badly - and a few other IndigoBlu stamps had found their way into my basket as well!  I very reluctantly decided I'd have to leave the Rose Blush stamp and get it another time.  When I walked away from the till after purchasing my stuff Jan ordered me to open my carrier bag.  She then slipped the Rose Blush stamp inside my bag saying she'd treated me to the stamp - how very sweet of her and I was so thrilled!  Obviously, I had to use my new stamp to make a thank you card for Jan!

I based the colours and layout on the card Alex had designed for her class.  I started off by making a Crumb Cake A6 sized card blank.  I stamped the SU! 'French Script' background over the entire front of the card in Baked Brown Sugar ink, trimmed a tad off the bottom of the card where the stamp design hadn't quite reached and I sponged the edges of the card.  I stamped the Rose Blush stamp in Early Espresso, then stamped it again on a separate piece of Crumb Cake CS in Baked Brown Sugar ink and I fussy cut the large roses.  I added Cast Bronze gilding wax to the centre of the bottom rose and popped the roses up.  I stamped, die cut and sponged the sentiment label and glued that to the card front.  After die cutting and embossing the ribbon strip and bow shapes I applied Cast Bronze gilding wax to the shapes and glued the ribbon and bow to the card front.  I then rootled in my stash to find a suitable accent to add to the bow.  After a while I came across my neglected SU! Vanilla Flower Trim so I snipped a flower off and applied it to the bow with a glue dot.  A brown pearl added to the sentiment label completed the front.

I stamped a portion of the Rose Blush stamp at the top and bottom of a Very Vanilla CS panel for inside the card.  I stamped the 'Thank You' and sponged the edges of the panel.  I used the SU! Envelope Punch Board to made a Crumb Cake envelope and used punched circles, tiny gold brads and linen thread to make an office envelope style closure.

I went all out on the front of the envelope!  Before stamping the French Script stamp I tore a piece of paper to create a mask so I didn't get a straight stamped edge.  I stamped the Rose Blush image and some dotted lines.  I stamped and punched a postage stamp and after gluing that to the envelope I stamped the little postmark image - it seemed the perfect sweet finishing detail!  I don't do shabby and vintage cards often but I'm pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoy it when I do make them - I may well dabble with the shabby vintage look more often!

Supplies:
Stamps: IndigoBlu 'Rose Blush', SU! 'French Script' background stamp, sentiments from SU! 'Blooming with Kindness' set, dotted lines from SU! 'Live Your Dream' set, postage stamp from SU! 'Fresh Vintage' set, postmark from SU! 'French Foliage' set
CS: SU! Crumb Cake, Early Espresso & Very Vanilla
Ink: SU! Baked Brown Sugar & Early Espresso
Tools: Spellbinder's 'Grommet Tags' die, Creative Expressions Finishing Touches '3D Classic Bow' die set, SU! Envelope Punch Board, SU! Postage Stamp punch, small circle punch, paper piercer, sponge dauber
Embellishments & accessories: Creative Expressions Cast Bronze gilding wax, brown pearl, tiny gold brads, SU! Vanilla Flower Trim, Linen Thread, Dimensionals, glue dot

Birdhouse Warm Wishes Card

We always feed the birds in our garden and we have regular visitors including lots of blue tits.  It never fails to cheer me up when I see them!  I recently bought this Birdhouse stamp set, I love the collage-y look and the little blue tits are so sweet and it will be ideal to get me practising my watercolouring!  As my craft group ladies told me at the last meeting it's about time for a masculine card I'm planning on using this set at next month's card group get together.  As this set is new to me I thought I'd better have a trial run with a card design and I needed a card for our friend Alan so that was perfect!

I stamped the Hardwood stamp in Gathered Twigs Distress Ink on Crumb Cake CS, inked the edges and glued the panel to the left side of a 5 1/4" square white card base.  I stamped the image twice onto watercolour paper so that I could cut out a second birdhouse and pop it up.  I used inks and a waterbrush to colour the image.  I coloured the central script area with Crumb Cake, used Old Olive for the leaves, Gathered Twigs and Soft Suede for the birdhouse and So Saffron for the frame.  Hmmm, it looked a tad wishy washy and needed more punch so I added Crushed Curry ink to the frame and painted the birdhouse trim with Marina Mist ink - much better!  I fussy cut the image, layered onto a black CS mat, glued the mat to the card front, stamped the sentiment and popped up the birdhouse.

Here's the inside and the envelope.  I fussy cut the little blue tit and positioned him so it looks like he's perched on the wooden strip.  The stamps in the set are clear so it was easy to stamp the bird onto the leafy stem.  After I'd coloured the image I cut it out with a circle punch and matted onto a larger punched black CS circle to finish.

Supplies:
Stamps: SU! 'Hardwood' background stamp, Imagination Crafts 'Birdhouse' clear Decoupage Stamp Set, Crafty Impressions 'Medium Everyday Messages'  clear set
CS: PaperMania square white card blank, SU! Crumb Cake, & Basic Black, watercolour paper
Ink: VersaFine Onyx Black, SU! Crumb Cake, So Saffron, Crushed Curry, Old Olive, Marina Mist, Soft Suede & Smoky Slate, Basic Black marker, Tim Holtz Gathered Twigs Distress Ink
Tools: circle punches, waterbrush, sponge dauber
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Dimensionals

Deer & Trees Card & Patch Snowman Card - 52 {C}CT Aug Stash Challenge

Our challenge hostess Gill is asking us to use both glitter AND bling on our cards for the 52 {C}CT stash challenge this week.  You can't beat some seasonal sparkle!

 

I have an abundance of glitter and bling in my stash - loose glitter, glitter glues, glittery embossing powders, glittery embossing pastes, glittered CS, glittered patterned paper, glittered embellishments, rhinestones, gem brads and jewelled embellishments.  It was so hard to choose what to use for this challenge so I made two cards!

This first card features sparkly embossing paste and rhinestone brads for the glitter and bling.  I applied Gun Metal Sparkle Medium paste through the stencil onto a piece of acetate and when the paste had dried I fixed the acetate piece to a larger piece of Soft Sky CS with rhinestone brads.  I adhered the panel to a 5 3/4" square Basic Grey card base.  I stamped the sentiment, die cut two flag banners, offset them, added another rhinestone brad and popped up the banners.

Snowflake stamps are always hard for me to resist and I just HAD to have the beautiful IndigoBlu 'Snowflake Lace' stamp when I saw it.  I've stamped it in Soft Sky ink to decorate the inside of the card and the envelope.  As with the card front I chose a sentiment for the inside that doesn't mention 'Christmas' as it's always good to have a card to give to friends or family that don't celebrate 'Christmas' but that you want to remember and include.

Of course, I had to show more of the beautiful snowflake stamp so I stamped on the front of the envelope too!  I added a name label and two rhinestones.

My second card features glitter glues and rhinestones for the glitter and bling.  Snowman stamps are also hard for me to resist but this one I was able to borrow, thanks to my very kind friend Lesley.  It's a large stamp so I used a 5" x 7" card base and covered the card front with snowflake patterned paper.  I got busy stamping and snipping to paper piece the snowman and I used markers to add colour to the smaller areas of the image.  Once finished I fixed the white panel to a Cherry Cobbler CS mat layer with black brads and I adhered the panel to the card front.  I stamped the sentiment, cut it out with a label die, sponged the edges with Cherry Cobbler ink and glued it to the card.  I used three different Stickles glitter glues to add a touch of sparkle to my snowman, glittering the side of his body, his nose and the holly berries on his hat.  I added rhinestones to the four black brads, to the sentiment label and to the heart.  To complete the card front I added teeny black buttons to the snowman.  

 

Here's a close up of the glittered parts of the snowman.

Here's the inside and the envelope flap with just stamped snowflakes and a sentiment.  I do love red and pale blue together on Christmas cards!  

So rummage in your stash and break out that sparkle and shine to create a Christmas card for our stash challenge at 52 {C}CT this week.  I look forward to seeing your dazzling creations!

Supplies for card one:
Stamps: 'Warm Winter Wishes' from SU! 'Snowflakes' set, Penny Black 'Beautiful Season', IndigoBlu 'Snowflake Lace'
CS: SU! Basic Grey, Soft Sky & Whisper White, acetate
Ink: SU! Basic Grey & Soft Sky
Tools: Imagination Crafts 'The Clearing' stencil, MFT Die-Namics 'Fishtail Flags Stax' die, label dies from Sizzix 'Card, Fancy Frame Flip-its #2' die set, 1 3/4" & 2" circle punches, spatula, paper piercer
Embellishments & accessories: Imagination Crafts Sparkle Medium Gun Metal paste, SU! rhinestone brads 

Supplies for card two:
Stamps: Woodware 'Patch Snowman', SU! 'Sweet Essentials' set, Hero Arts 'Holiday Cheer' clear set, Woodware 'Snowflakes & Sparkles'
CS: PaperMania 5" x 7" white card blank, SU! Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler & Whisper White
Patterned paper: SU! 'Snow Festival' DSP pack
Ink: VersaFine Onyx Black, SU! Baja Breeze & Cherry Cobbler ink pads, SU! Baja Breeze, Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler, Soft Suede & Early Espresso markers
Tools: Hero Arts 'Small Tag Frame' Frame Cuts die, paper piercer
Embellishments & accessories: 'Star Dust', 'Orange Peel' & 'Xmas Red' Stickles glitter glues, black brads, PaperMania tiny black buttons, SU! rhinestone jewels


 

Flowers Thank You Card - Freshly Made Sketches 150 Challenge

Whilst looking at Pinterest I came across a sketch layout that really caught my eye.  When I found it was the current challenge over at Freshly Made Sketches I had to play along!  

 

I rotated the sketch and made a portrait oriented card.  I cut a piece off the front of my Pool Party A6 sized card base so that the flowers would extend beyond the edge.  I glued a panel of Whisper White CS inside the card.  Mixed Bunch, Flower Shop and Petite Petals sets were used to make my flowers which I stamped with Daffodil Delight and Bermuda Bay inks.  The black circles for the flower centres were cut from the Owl Builder punch and I applied Crystal Effects to make them glossy.  To make the sentiment banner I cut Bermuda Bay CS using the large die from the Apothecary Accents set and I cut off the top and bottom pieces of the shape.  After gluing the banner in place I added a strip of Basic Black CS to the side of the card front and popped up the flowers.  A large rhinestone on the banner was the finishing touch for the card front.

Here's a closer look at the glossy flower centres.

As always, I decorated the inside of the card... 

... and the envelope. 

What a fab layout, I really enjoyed using this sketch!  I'll have to try it again with the original landscape orientation.

Supplies:
Stamps: SU! 'Mixed Bunch', 'Flower Shop', 'Petite Petals' & 'Sassy Salutations' sets
CS: SU! Pool Party, Bermuda Bay, Basic Black & Whisper White
Ink: SU! Bermuda Bay, Daffodil Delight & Basic Black
Tools: SU! 'Blossom', 'Pansy', 'Petite Petals' & 'Owl Builder' punches, SU! 'Apothecary Accents' die set
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Crystal Effects, Rhinestone Jewel, Dimensionals

 

Two SU! 'I Love Lace' Thank You Cards

I needed to make a couple of thank you cards and I decided to use the fabulous SU! 'I Love Lace' stamp and use Pool Party and Island Indigo colours for both cards.

For the first card I stamped the lace onto Pool Party CS using Pool Party ink and I daubed the edges of the panel with Island Indigo ink.  I glued the panel to an Island Indigo mat and glued that to the Pool Party A6 card base.  I inked the lace stamp again, this time with VersaMark ink,  I stamped onto Island Indigo CS and heat embossed with white embossing powder.  I then punched out a flower using the 'Blossom' punch and layered the lacy flower over two plain Island Indigo flowers - attaching the layers together with an Antique brad.  I stamped and die cut the label, glued that to the card, added a rhinestone and popped up the flower.

Here's the inside and the envelope.

For the second card I used the 'I Love Lace' stamp again as a background but instead of layering onto a mat I went round the edges of the Pool Party panel with a ruler and an Island Indigo marker.   I've introduced another colour into the mix on this card - Wild Wasabi.  I inked the 'Hey There Buds' stamp with Pool Party, Island Indigo and Wild Wasabi inks, huffed on the stamp and stamped onto Whisper White CS.  I have to confess to having cut off the 'Hey There' wording from my stamp as I know I'll use the stamp more without that sentiment!  I layered onto an Island Indigo mat, glued that to the card and stamped the sentiment.  I couldn't resist adding a butterfly, a couple of punched flowers and a few rhinestones to complete the card front!

Here's the inside and the envelope with more of those sweet butterflies.

Supplies for card one:
Stamps: SU! 'I Love Lace' background stamp, SU! 'Sassy Salutations' set
CS: SU! Pool Party, Island Indigo & Whisper White
Ink: VersaMark, SU! Pool Party & Island Indigo
Tools: SU! 'Blossom' punch, label die from 'Apothecary Accents' Framelits die set, paper piercer
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Antique brad, rhinestone jewel, Dimensionals

Supplies for card two:
Stamps: SU! 'I Love Lace' background stamp, SU! 'Hey There Buds' stamp, SU! 'Sassy Salutations' & 'Papillon Potpourri' sets
CS: SU! Pool Party, Island Indigo, Wild Wasabi & Whisper White
Ink: SU! Pool Party, Island Indigo & Wild Wasabi
Tools: SU! 'Boho Blossoms' & 'Bitty Butterfly' punches, Stamp-a-ma-jig
Embellishments & accessories: SU! rhinestone jewels

 

Lace, Bow & Doily Birthday Card

My friend Lesley bought the Sue Wilson designed Classic 3D Bow die set and raved about it to me so I also bought a set and I love it and rave about it now too!  Lesley and I were in the Glitter Pot with our friend Jan and we both raved about the dies and so now Jan has the dies as well!  Jan asked if she could come over for a crafty afternoon to make a birthday card with the bow dies.  I was totally happy to oblige and she came round last Thursday. 

While looking at Pinterest I came across this beautiful card made by Louise Sharp and I decided that would be my inspiration for the bow birthday card.  Something else I'm raving about at the moment is the SU! 'I Love Lace' stamp and I think that's a perfect partner to the gorgeous and lacy 'Hello, Doily' stamp.  Jan said she'd prefer to make a non black and white combo card and suggested we could perhaps use a couple of the new In Colours.  I love Blackberry Bliss and Lost Lagoon together so that was the colour combo sorted.

Louise's card has a fancy fold but I kept to a normal square card for my design.  I made a 5 3/4" square Blackberry Bliss card base but ended up trimming it down a tad so that I could get the stamped lacy panel to fit the entire card front.  After die cutting the ribbon and bow shapes I enbossed them to get that extra detailing.  I punched circles to cover the centre of the doily image and trimmed off the excess before gluing the white panel to the Lost Lagoon mat layer.  I then added a Blackberry Bliss die cut flower and I added a smaller Lost Lagoon flower to the centre of the bow.  I embellished the flower centres with silver shimmer dome dots.

I kept the lacy, doily theme going by using the I Love Lace stamp again plus a couple of stamps from the SU! Delicate Doilies set to decorate the inside and the envelope.  I inked the larger doily stamp with Lost Lagoon ink, stamped off twice before stamping it on the white panel and stamped the sentiment over the top in Blackberry Bliss ink.  I'm very partial to a bit of layered stamping!

I'm very happy to say Jan was delighted with this card so huge thanks to Louise for the inspiration!  We both want to make another card like this but with a Christmas theme - so watch this space!

Supplies:
Stamps: SU! 'I Love Lace' & 'Hello, Doily' background stamps, sentiment on front from SU! 'Blooming with Kindness' set, SU! 'Delicate Doilies' set, Penny Black 'Lovely Day'
CS: SU! Blackberry Bliss, Lost Lagoon & Whisper White
Ink: SU! Blackberry Bliss & Lost Lagoon
Tools: Creative Expressions Finishing Touches 'Classic 3D Bow' die set, Sizzix 'Bunch of Flowers' Thinlits die set, 1 1/2", 1 3/4" & 2" circle punches, Stamp-a-ma-jig
Embellishments & accessories: PaperMania Silver Shimmer Dome Stickers