Snowflakes Season Sparkle Christmas Card

The Stampinis are a group on Facebook for direct to Stampin' Up! demonstrators.  It's lovely to belong to a community!  A sketch challenge was launched yesterday and as it's a great sketch I thought I'd take part.  Here's the sketch.

Snowflakes are a favourite Christmas motif for me and I chose to use products from the gorgeous SU! 'Snowflake Splendor' suite of products.  I stayed pretty faithful to the sketch but it's a sketch that could be easily tweaked for sure.  It's a grim day weather wise so the photos are not good, the card looks better in real life!  Here's the card and envelope together.

I embossed a piece of Whisper White CS with the 'Winter Snow' embossing folder and glued that to the front of a Highland Heather A6 card base.  I stamped the snowflakes in Highland Heather ink and then added a touch of Misty Moonlight ink with a sponge dauber.  I used Layering Circle dies to cut my circles and I layered my plain white circles onto scalloped circles cut from Balmy Blue glimmer paper. I popped the two smaller circles up on Dimensionals.  Blue adhesive gems added to the snowflake centres finished off the front.

Here's the inside of the card.  I stamped off the snowflake once and then stamped the sentiment over the top.  I do love a bit of layered stamping!

Here's the envelope.

Supplies:

Stamps: SU! 'Snowflake Wishes' set

CS: SU! Highland Heather & Whisper White, Balmy Blue Glimmer Paper

Ink: SU! Highland Heather & Misty Moonlight  

Tools: SU! 'Layering Circles' die set, 'Winter Snow' embossing folder, sponge dauber

Embellishments & Accessories: SU! Blue Adhesive Backed Gems, Dimensionals

Ruth

Floral 60th Birthday Card

This is the 60th birthday card I made for our special friend Gill who loves bright colours.  It was an absolute joy to make this card for her!  Here is the card and envelope together.

I made a 5 1/2" square Coastal Cabana card base and adhered a mat layer of Melon Mambo CS.  I used pretty stamps from the SU! 'Beautiful Friendship' set and Bermuda Bay, Coastal Cabana, Granny Apple Green, Highland Heather and Melon Mambo inks.  After stamping the flowers, leaves and sentiment I cut the Whisper White square using a wonky stitches square die.  I stamped flowers and leaves on a scrap of Whisper White CS and cut out the 60 numbers.  Usually I cut several numbers out and stack them together for dimension but I bought some SU! Foam Adhesive Sheets and I cut one set of numbers with a piece of the foam adhesive sheet and I got dimensional numbers immediately, fab!  I finished off the front with some Gilded Gems and a generous spritz of Champagne Mist shimmer spray. 

Here's a closer look at the numbers.

Here's the inside of the card.

Here's the envelope.  I thought stamping the 'Friends like you mean more every year' was a sweet finishing touch!

Supplies:

Stamps: SU! 'Beautiful Friendship', 'Fancy Phrases' & 'Positive Thoughts' sets

CS: SU! Coastal Cabana, Melon Mambo & Whisper White

Ink: Bermuda Bay, Coastal Cabana, Granny Apple Green, Highland Heather & Melon Mambo  

Tools: SU! 'Large Numbers' die set, Creative Dies Plus 'Square Wonky Stitches' die set

Embellishments & Accessories: SU! Foam Adhesive Sheet, Gilded Gems, Champagne Mist shimmer spray

Ruth

Fashion/Make Up Theme W Fold Birthday Card & Gift Bag

Lisa Curcio has this fab YouTube video tutorial for a W fold card which I decided would be perfect for a girly birthday card I wanted to make for a work colleague.  I had the SU! 'Best Dressed' patterned paper and my oldie but goodie 'Dress Up' die set but I had to borrow the 'Dressed to Impress' stamp set and matching 'All Dressed Up' die set from my lovely friend Lesley.  I've now ordered the stamps and dies for myself!  

Here's the card and envelope together.

Here's the card front.  My colour combo is Lovely Lipstick, Mint Macaron, Old Olive and Petal Pink with a hint of sparkly Silver Glimmer Paper.

Here's a closer look at the dress.  I added a treasured, long hoarded metal clothes hanger embellishment and popped the dress up.  I die cut several Mint Macaron buttons and stacked a few together so they had dimension.

Here's the inside with the surprise W fold element.  Just two stamped sentiments and lots of patterned papers!

A top view of the card.  

Here's a closer look at the left side of the card.

Here's a closer look at the right side of the card.  The perfume bottle and lipsticks are fussy cut from patterned paper.

Here's the envelope with very pretty paper and a popped up name label.

I gave the card to the recipient and it was very well received I'm happy to say.  Later on I kicked myself for not using the dies in the 'All Dressed Up' die set to make a gift bag so I made a bag and delivered that the next day - also very well received!

A view from the side of the bag.  You can tuck the sides in for a more streamlined handbag shape or do as I did and have the sides pushed out for a tote bag look.  Also, you can arrange the bag straps differently to make a backpack.  The size of the choccies I placed inside determined it had to be a tote bag!

Here's a closer look at the tag which I tied to the handle with silver sparkly thread.

There's something special about creating something tailored for a specific person and it's so rewarding when your efforts are really appreciated!  I had great fun making this, I spent a very happy time in my craft room for sure!

Supplies:

Stamps: SU! 'Dressed to Impress' & 'Fancy Phrases' sets

CS: SU! Lovely Lipstick, Mint Macaron, Old Olive, Petal Pink & Whisper White, Silver Glimmer Paper

Patterned paper: SU! 'Best Dressed' 6" x 6" DSP pack

Ink: SU! Lovely Lipstick  

Tools: SU! 'Dress Up', 'All Dressed Up' & 'Stitched So Sweetly' die sets, SU! 'Label Me Lovely' punch

Embellishments & Accessories: silver metal clothes hanger embellishment, silver lurex thread, SU! Rhinestone Jewels, Dimensionals

Ruth

World Card Making Day Cards

Saturday 3rd October was World Card Making Day and I had my friends Lesley and Wendy round to craft.  I had two cards for them to make, a new Christmas card design plus a Christmas card I'd made before a few months ago.

This is the card I made back in July, the blog post is HERE.  I gave the ladies the pack of  'Tis the Season' 6" x 6" DSP so they could choose their background paper and colour scheme.  They chose different papers but both opted to use Cherry Cobbler CS and ink.

Here is Lesley's card.

Here is Wendy's card.

Lesley had very kindly loaned me the use of her 'Dressed to Impress' stamp set and matching 'All Dressed Up' die set because I wanted to make a fashion/make up themed birthday card for a work colleague.  The die set contains a die that cuts a stitched strip for bag straps/handles which is perfect for cutting the strips of 'ribbon' for the card - a fabulous idea from Lesley!

This next card is a partridge and pears wreath Christmas card.  I loved the look of the SU! 'Arrange a Wreath' stamp set when I saw it in the new annual catalogue and I knew I'd have to get it!  I really like that the set can be used for different occasions plus I love the font style of the sentiments.

Whilst looking in my stash I stumbled across a pack of 6" x 6" kraft card blanks and envelopes and I thought one of those would be ideal for the design I had in mind.  I kept to a very simple layout but I was very happy with the end result.  I stamped the wreath in Old Olive ink and stamped the partridge in Soft Suede ink.  To get multi coloured pears I first stamped them in Crushed Curry ink and then I lightly applied a touch of Real Red ink to the pears using a sponge dauber.  I tried stamping green pears first but there wasn't enough contrast between the wreath and the pears for my liking!  I stamped the sentiment in Real Red ink, popped up the partridge and pears and sprinkled on a few Real Red rhinestone jewels.

Here's a closer look at the wreath.

Here's the inside of the card.  I used dies from the 'Wreath Builder' die set to decorate.  After applying the strip of patterned paper I drew a line with the Soft Suede Stampin' Write marker.

Here's the envelope with another poinsettia for decoration on the flap.

 

I was setting up the table in the morning when I thought about using die cut wreaths from the 'Wreath Builder' die set instead of using a stamped wreath.  I reckoned I had enough time before my friends arrived to make a die cut wreath card to see what that looked like!  I die cut the berry wreath in Real Red CS and the leafy wreath in Old Olive CS.  Here's the die cut wreath card.

Here's a closer look at the die cut wreath panel.  The Real Red rhinestone jewels don't show up well in the photo but you can definitely see the twinkle in real life!

So I had two versions of the card to show Lesley and Wendy.  Lesley opted for a stamped wreath card and Wendy chose to create a die cut wreath card.  I notice I went more subtle on the pear colouring on the die cut wreath card.  Here are both cards together for comparison. Honestly, I'm not sure I can pick a favourite! 

We had such a fab time and I was so very glad to celebrate World Card Making Day with lovely friends - working in retail means I'm usually working on a Saturday.  Mind you, I did have a disaster with my lemon drizzle cake - I knocked it onto the floor and it couldn't be rescued!  Luckily I did that AFTER I'd served up slices to all of us so it wasn't a total disaster!  Lesley and Wendy obviously enjoyed their time because they've booked another crafty day with me in November - yay!

Supplies for ribbon and bow faux gift card:

Stamps: SU! 'Gift Wrapped' set

CS: SU! Shaded Spruce & Whisper White regular and thick 

Patterned paper: SU! 'Tis the Season' 6" x 6" DSP pack

Ink: SU! Shaded Spruce  

Tools:SU! 'Gift Bow' builder punch, 'Banners' pick a punch', Label Me Fancy' punch

Embellishments & Accessories: SU! gold cord from the 'Wonder of the Season' ribbon combo pack, Real Red rhinestone jewels, Dimensionals

Supplies for partridge & pears wreath card: 

Stamps: SU! 'Arrange a Wreath' set, Hero Arts 'Very Merry Christmas' set

CS: Dovecraft 6" x 6" kraft card bases & envelopes, SU! Old Olive, Real Red & Whisper White, SU! Gold Foil Sheet

Patterned paper: SU! 'Dashing Along' DSP

Ink: SU! Crushed Curry, Old Olive, Real Red & Soft Suede, Soft Suede Stampin' Write Marker

Tools:SU! 'Wreath Builder' die set, sponge dauber

Embellishments & Accessories: SU! Real Red rhinestone jewels, Dimensionals

Ruth

Box Of Sunshine

Back in August I shared this post showing the Box of Sunshine Paper Pumpkin kit.  The idea of the kit was to make the eight cards and then fill the empty box with yellow goodies and gift a Box of Sunshine to someone.  My sweet friend Lesley is a ray of sunshine and so I gifted my box to her.

Here's the goodies I bought to go in the box. Flower seeds, Carmex lip balm, decorated magnets, a gold coloured pen, a cosmetic face mask, Carex Little Miss Sunshine hand wash, Starburst sweeties and a Ritter Sport chocolate bar with cornflakes.

Here's the Box of Sunshine decorated ready to give to Lesley.  I used stickers from the kit plus my new 'Playful Alphabet' die set.  It was great fun shopping for the yellow goodies and presenting this to Lesley.

Ruth