Medallion Warmest Greetings Card

I joined the Pinterest web site a few weeks ago and have spent many happy hours browsing the lovely cards and papercraft items on there.  I realised pretty much straight away what a time sucker it could be and that I could easily spend far too much time on there.  So I'm trying hard to be disciplined about the amount of time I look.   I'm pinning some cards that I'd like to CASE and I'm hoping to be disciplined about that too - to actually make my version of the cards rather than forgetting all about them!  I've made a few so far but it's early days - I'll have to see how it goes.  I like that when I see something that catches my eye while browsing the web I can save it to Pinterest and I'll know where to look to find it again!

I saw this wreath Christmas card made with the SU! Medallion stamp and I liked that the sentiment was in the centre of the wreath.  I have a couple of large, circular Christmas sentiments and I thought it would make a change to have a greeting be a big part of the main focal image.  I started off with a square cream card blank and I added a Riding Hood Red mat layer.  I stamped the Medallion in Old Olive ink and I stamped the greeting in gold pigment ink and heat embossed it with Jeweled Gold embossing powder.  I love using this powder at Christmas, it is SO sparkly!  I've sponged the edges of the Very Vanilla circle with Riding Hood Red ink and glued it to the centre of the Medallion.  Some red pearls and a red bow finished off the card front.

As there is a large sentiment on the card front I haven't added another one inside the card.  I simply  stamped a few snowflakes and that has left lots of room for a personal message.  I stamped more snowflakes on the envelope to finish off.  Huge thanks to Jan who has passed her SU! Scandinavian Season stamp set onto me, I love that snowflake!

Supplies: Stamps: SU! Medallion background stamp, Stampendous Warmest Greetings, SU! Scandinavian Season set
CS: PaperMania cream square card blank, SU! Riding Hood Red & Very Vanilla
Ink: SU! Old Olive & Riding Hood Red, Encore metallic gold pigment ink
Tools:  Circle Nestabilities die, sponge dauber
Embellishments & accessories: Stamp 'n Stuff Jeweled Gold embossing powder, red grosgrain ribbon, red pearls 

 

Purple Poinsettias Merry Christmas Card - Simply Stampin' Challenge # 37

Purple poinsettias?  Not in real life but in card making anything is possible!  This is the card I've made for this week's Simply Stampin' sketch challenge - and it's a fab sketch to work with.

I've taken the small liberty of moving the bottom strip down and I've tied Elegant Eggplant ribbon round the card for that element of the sketch.  I hope you'll join in with our sketch challenge this week, I want to check out your creations!

One of my fave colour combos for Christmas cards this year has been aqua and purple so for this card I've teamed Pool Party with Elegant Eggplant and added some white and brushed silver.  The card measures 5 3/4" square.  I embossed the brushed silver CS with the Vintage Wallpaper folder and then brayered Eggplant ink over the top.  I stamped the Medallion in Pool Party, trimmed it to a square panel and then added the circle sentiment element and the punched Eyelet Border.  I stamped the three Poinsettias in Elegant Eggplant ink, one is full strength and the other two are stamped off once.  I cut them out, popped them up and added rhinestones to each flower centre.  I added a plain strip of Elegant Eggplant CS before adding the white square panel over the top with Dimensionals.  I couldn't resist putting some sparkly rhinestones on to perk up the plain strip!

Inside, I've added an Eggplant Eyelet Border with a brushed silver CS strip and I've added the multi sentiment stamp from the Season of Joy set.  I stamped it twice and cut some Eggplant elements out and glued them over the Pool Party stamped image. 

Here's the front of the envelope with part of the Medallion, more poinsettias and a punched frame ready for the recipients name to be written in.  Not a very traditional combo for Christmas cards I know - but I just love these colours together!

Supplies: Stamps: SU! Season of Joy, Contempo Christmas, Four Frames & Autumn Days sets, SU! Medallion background stamp
CS: SU! Pool Party, Elegant Eggplant, Whisper White & Brushed Silver
Ink: SU! Pool Party & Elegant Eggplant
Tools: SU! Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, brayer, Eyelet Border punch, circle punches, Decorative Label punch
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Elegant Eggplant grosgrain ribbon, basic rhinestones & Dimensionals


 

Snow Globe With Santa & Snowman Card

I've wanted to make a scene inside my snow globe stamp that included Santa and his sleigh flying across the moon for some time and I finally got round to making it happen.  I stamped the globe on white CS first, added a circle as a mask for the moon and sponged blue and purple inks inside the globe.  I masked off the Santa and sleigh stamp so that I only had 1 reindeer in my stamped image.  I stamped the small snowman, coloured him in, cut him out and glued him inside the globe.  I stamped the globe base on a piece of Crumb Cake CS, cut it out, sponged the edges with Early Espresso ink and popped it up.  I added some punched silver glitter stars and some glitter jewels to the bottom of the globe.  The snow globe is popped up on the card.  I've added a stamped sentiment, punched photo corners and stars, a CS strip and some ribbon to finish off the front.

I've added an oval sentiment piece inside with some more punched silver glitter stars and I stamped snowflakes on the envelope flap.

Supplies:
Stamps: Penny Black 'Sending Love' (snow globe), All Night Media Santa & Sleigh, snowman from Hero Arts, 'Merry Christmas' from SU! Four the Holidays set, inside sentiment from Stampendous Christmas Wishes clear set, PSX Snowflake Medley
CS: SU! Riding Hood Red, Marina Mist, Basic Black, Crumb Cake & Whisper White, Doodlebug silver glitter CS
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, SU! Riding Hood Red, Marina Mist, Early Espresso, Bashful Blue, Not Quite Navy & Elegant Eggplant
Tools: SU! Photo Corners punch, star punches, circle punch, Petite Oval Nestabilities die, sponge daubers
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Marina Mist grosgrain ribbon, Cosmic Shimmer Iced Crystal Glitter Jewels, 3d foam pads 

 

Two Pine Cones Peaceful Wishes Cards

Here are two Christmas cards I made using the lovely SU! Peaceful Wishes set.  For the first card, I stamped the pine bough a few times on white CS, stamping a couple of times before re-inking.  I coloured the berry twig image with markers and stamped those over the top of the pine boughs.  I stamped the pine cones on a separate piece of CS and cut them out.  I inked the cones in Chocolate Chip ink, stamped off once and then rock 'n rolled in Early Espresso so the cones have darker edges.  After cutting all the cones out I sprinkled some seasonal sparkle on each cone with Dazzling Diamonds. I stamped the sentiment - what a beautiful flowing font! - inked the edges of  the card plus the white oval and added a Cherry Cobbler oval mat. I popped all of the pine cones up and added an Old Olive bow to the oval.     

Inside the card I stamped the Mistletoe wheel, three more pine cones and added the Peace, love & joy sentiment oval.  I stamped the Mistletoe wheel on the front of the envelope and added some berry twigs. 

For the second card I stamped the sprig of mistletoe all over the card front as a background and  I've used plain square and lacey square Nestabilities dies for the layers.  I stamped the pine bough repeatedly on the white panel, again stamping twice before re-inking.  This time, I just inked up the berries with a marker leaving the twig uninked.  I added Crystal Effects to each berry so they are raised and shiny.  I stamped three cones using Adirondack Ginger ink, stamping off once and rock 'n rolling in Early Espresso ink and I cut each cone out.  I added a strip of Rich Razzleberry ribbon, popped up the cones and then added a bow with a gold jingle bell over the top.  I rounded the corners of the white and Old Olive squares and the white square is popped up.

Inside this card I stamped the mistletoe image after stamping off once first and then stamped the sentiment over the top.  A simple stamped mistletoe sprig on the envelope flap and I was finished.

I fell in love with the Peaceful Wishes set a few years ago when I saw it in an SU! catalogue sent to me from the USA.  It went on my wish list and I finally acquired it this year.  I also decided I must have the matching Mistletoe wheel but I found that seemed to come up for sale quite rarely on eBay so I had to be patient for that.  My patience paid off eventually and I got my wheel a couple of months back.  I am SO glad I got these stamps, there's a timeless quality to them that I just love.  I hope I can be making cards with these gorgeous stamps for many years!

Supplies for Peaceful Wishes card:
Stamps: SU! Peaceful Wishes set, SU! Mistletoe wheel, Hero Arts Very Merry Christmas clear set CS: PaperMania square white card blank, SU! Cherry Cobbler & Whisper White Ink: SU! Lucky Limeade, Chocolate Chip, Early Espresso & Cherry Cobbler Tools: Petite Oval Nestabilities dies, Stamp-a-ma-jig, sponge dauber 
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Old Olive taffeta ribbon, SU! Dazzling Diamonds, 3d foam pads  

Supplies for jingle bell card:
Stamps: SU! Peaceful Wishes set, Stampendous Christmas Wishes clear set CS: PaperMania square white card blank, SU! Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive & Whisper White Ink: SU! Lucky Limeade, Rich Razzleberry & Chocolate Chip, Adirondack Ginger Tools: Square & Lacey Square Nestabilities dies Embellishments & accessories: SU! Rich Razzleberry taffeta ribbon, SU! Crystal Effects, gold jump ring, gold jingle bell, 3d foam pads 

 

Monochromatic Mistletoe Warm Wishes Card

Back in 2008 I took Julie Ebersole's fabulous 'Simply Great Card Design' online class.  One of the cards Julie featured in the class was this green monochromatic card using the mistletoe stamp from the SU! Peaceful Wishes stamp set.  I really loved the card and the Peaceful Wishes set was already on my wish list so I knew I'd CASE the card one day.  I got the stamp set a few months ago and I've finally got round to making my version of Julie's card.

The A6 card base was made with SU! Certainly Celery CS and I added a strip of Celery CS that I'd embossed with the Cuttlebug Holly Ribbons folder.  I stamped the SU! French Script stamp onto Very Vanilla CS using Crumb Cake ink and stamped the mistletoe over the top in Old Olive ink.   I cut out the panel with a Sizzix ticket Framelits die and sponged the edges with Crumb Cake ink.  I added the sentiment tag and Certainly Celery and Very Vanilla ribbons and popped the panel up on an Old Olive rectangle.  To finish off the card front I put clear rhinestones at the ticket corners and a few on the mistletoe.

I cut a Very Vanilla panel for inside the card which I first stamped with the French Script stamp in Crumb Cake ink after stamping off once first. I really love this French Script background stamp, I think the reason it appeals to me more than the En Francais stamp is because it has a less formal, handwritten look to it.  I love my old, retired SU! stamps just as much as my current ones! I added a sentiment, mistletoe at the top and bottom and sponged the edges to finish the inside.  I stamped the mistletoe image repeatedly on the envelope flap, only re-inking after three stampings.  I think the paler celery with the darker olive makes a lovely combo for Christmas cards, I'll have to make more methinks!

Supplies:
Stamps: SU! Peaceful Wishes set, SU! French Script background stamp, Warm Wishes from Personal Impressions Christmas Messages clear set, inside sentiment from Stampendous
CS: SU! Certainly Celery, Old Olive & Very Vanilla
Ink: SU! Old Olive & Crumb Cake
Tools: Holly Ribbons Cuttlebug embossing folder, Sizzix Framelits ticket die, SU! Word Window punch, sponge dauber
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Certainly Celery & Very Vanilla grosgrain ribbon, basic rhinestones, 3d foam tape

Sparkly Snowflakes Peace On Earth Card - Simply Stampin' Challenge #36

This is the card I've made for this week's fab Simply Stampin' challenge.  It's a theme challenge this week and the theme is 'Snowflake Sparkle'.  Well, that was right up my alley 'cos I love snowflakes and I love sparkle!  I've chosen a cool toned colour combo of Pool Party, Marina Mist, Wisteria Wonder and Whisper White with a hint of silver and I've used the Serene Snowflakes set.

The side opening A6 card was made with Pool Party CS and I've rounded the top right corners.  I used Platinum Shimmer Paint to stamp the background snowflakes.  I shook the paint bottle so some paint got into the lid, removed the lid, patted a sponge dauber inside the lid to pick up the paint, dabbed off the excess onto scrap paper and then inked the stamp with the dauber - and repeated as necessary.  The Shimmer Paint takes longer to dry than dye ink does so if you use Shimmer Paint to ink stamps remember not to smudge your images!

For my sparkly snowflake panels, I stamped the snowflake image in VersaMark ink first, then stamped in the coloured ink, applied Heat & Stick powder, melted that with a heat gun and sprinkled on Dazzling Diamonds.  I lightly heated the panel again and also patted a clean piece of kitchen paper over each panel to set the glitter.  I stamped one snowflake in Wisteria Wonder, one in Pool Party and the last one in Marina Mist ink.  I  cleaned the stamp after stamping with the coloured inks each time so that I didn't contaminate my VersaMark pad.  I edged the panels with the 3 inks also.  More sparkle was added with a rhinestone placed in each snowflake centre and I popped each panel up.  The sentiment, from 'Something for Christmas' was stamped in Wisteria Wonder ink.  I've performed surgery on my stamp and have cut the three sentiments apart so I can use them separately.   I used a square punch on the end to make a flag  banner shape, sponged the edges with Marina Mist ink, added a glimmer brad and popped the banner up.

I've made this card with a pocket inside so I can use it to give money or a gift card.  I covered a piece of Whisper White CS with dotted Wisteria Wonder paper and attached it to the card with Dimensionals just at the bottom and sides to form a pocket.  I stamped the 'Merry Christmas' in Marina Mist ink, edged the panel with Wisteria ink and glued the panel flat to the pocket.  I stamped 3 snowflakes on the front of the envelope and applied a strip of the dotted paper to finish off.

Supplies:
Stamps: SU! Serene Snowflakes set, SU! Something for Christmas a la carte stamp
CS: SU! Pool Party & Whisper White
Patterned paper: SU! Wisteria Wonder dotted paper from In Color DSP stack
Ink: SU! Pool Party, Marina Mist & Wisteria Wonder, VersaMark
Tools: SU! 1 1/4" square & corner rounder punches
Embellishments & accessories:SU! Platinum Shimmer Paint,  U! Heat & Stick Powder, SU! Dazzling Diamonds, SU! Basic Rhinestones, SU! Basics Glimmer Brad, SU! Dimensionals





Thanks for popping by and please do join in with the Simply Stampin' challenge, I'd love to come and see your sparkly, frosty creations!  Ruth

December 2011 Card Group Projects

Today was our last card group meeting for 2011, I can't believe a year has flown by!  I only designed two cards this month as we get busy with other things on our Christmas get together - like swapping Secret Santa gifts, merriment and eating scrummy goodies LOL!

First up is this card that uses two Hero Arts and Sizzix combo sets.  The Artistic Fern stamp comes with a matching embossing folder and the butterfly is from a set that has matching dies.  I inked the fern stamp completely with Crumb Cake ink and then added some Old Olive and Soft Suede inks using sponge daubers before stamping.  After embossing, I cut the Very Vanilla panel to size (3 1/2" x 5 1/4"), inked the edges with Crumb Cake ink, added the ribbon and matted it onto a Marina Mist layer.  I stamped the butterfly in Soft Suede ink onto Marina Mist CS, die cut the shape and inked the edges with Marina Mist ink.  I scored lines either side of the body so that I could pop the wings up - I glued the body flat to the card and then added 3d foam pads with the paper still on under each wing.  I absolutely love this fern image and couldn't bring myself to add a sentiment to the card front, I didn't want to cover any more of that leafy loveliness up!

So I stamped a birthday sentiment and frame inside the card as well as a small butterfly in the corner.  I took various sentiment stamps so the ladies could choose what occasion to use their cards for.

 

The next card uses a fave technique of mine - white on white embossing.  I saw a card recently made with the Elegant Bouquet embossing folder and cherry blossom punched shapes with pearl centres and I just loved it.  I decided to add just a touch of colour by sponging the edges of the embossed panel and the tips of the flowers with Pretty in Pink ink and I used pale pink pearls for the flower centres.  The punched  flowers are popped up and I stamped the sentiment in Early Espresso ink.  A simple card but very sweet I think.

I put a monogrammed bookmark in each Christmas card.  I used the SU! Two Tags die to cut the bookmarks from Rich Razzleberry CS and I embossed them with the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder.  I inked the flourish stamp from the Vintage Vogue set with Marina Mist ink, stamped off twice on scrap paper before stamping on white CS, stamped each letter in Razzleberry ink and punched them out with a circle punch.  I inked the edges with Marina Mist ink, matted onto Marina Mist circles and then matted those onto Old Olive scalloped circles.  After adhering the scalloped circles to the top of the tag, I punched a hole for the ribbon and tied white twine around the ribbon in a knot.  Here's my 10 bookmarks all finished waiting to be put in the envelopes.  I love that Two Tags die!

Supplies for fern & butterfly card:
Stamps: Hero Arts Artistic Fern from combo set with Sizzix embossing folder, butterflies from Antique Flowers & Butterflies stamp & die combo set, SU! Frames with a Flourish & Sincere Salutations sets
CS: SU! Crumb Cake, Marina Mist & Very Vanilla
Ink: SU! Crumb Cake, Old Olive & Soft Suede
Tools: embossing folder from Hero Arts & Sizzix Artistic Fern combo set, butterfly die from Antique Flowers & Butterflies Hero Arts & Sizzix combo set, Stamp-a-ma-jig, sponge daubers
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Marina Mist grosgrain ribbon, 3d foam pads

Supplies for white embossed card:
Stamps: sentiment from Hero Arts
CS: PaperMania A6 white card blank, SU! Whisper White
Ink: SU! Pretty in Pink & Early Espresso
Tools: SU! Elegant Bouquet embossing folder, Woodware small & medium cherry flower punches, sponge dauber
Embellishments & accessories: pale pink pearls, 3d foam pads

Supplies for bookmarks:
Stamps: SU! Broadsheet Alphabet & Vintage Vogue sets
CS: SU! Rich Razzleberry, Marina Mist, Old Olive & Whisper White
Ink: SU! Marina Mist & Rich Razzleberry
Tools: SU! Two Tags Bigz die, SU! Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, SU! plain and scalloped circle punches, Crop-A-Dile, sponge dauber
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Marina Mist grosgrain ribbon, white twine