Winter Tree Scene Christmas Card

Angela and Janet came round yesterday afternoon to make a card and they'd told me they wanted to make a Christmas scene card.  They both have recently purchased the Inkylicious ink duster starter kit so I used the Memento ink colours that are included in the kit - along with a couple more.

The 5 3/4" square card is made with Rich Razzleberry CS and the mat layer is Brushed Silver CS.  For the scene I cut a panel of Whisper White CS and firstly applied Dandelion ink over the whole panel.  I punched a 1 3/4" circle for a moon mask, used repositionable tape to stick that down and used the duster brushes to apply more inks - Rose Bud, Danube Blue, Paris Dusk and Grape Jelly.  I dragged a couple of almost dry duster brushes (with the Grape Jelly and Paris Dusk colours) across the moon to add just a wispy hint of colour so the moon isn't quite so stark.  I used Tuxedo Black ink and the Inkylicious mountain/valley stencil to dust the hills at the bottom.  I then stamped the trees and the Santa's Sleigh image and inked the edges of the panel with Tuxedo Black ink using a sponge dauber.  I popped up the sentiment oval, adhered some punched snowflakes and added a rhinestone jewel to each snowflake centre.  I used a fine tip PVA glue bottle to dot glue over the trees and I sprinkled on Dazzling Diamonds glitter to add some sparkle.

Inside the card I stamped a sentiment layered over a stamped snowflake - I used Rich Razzleberry ink that had been stamped off for the snowflake.  I stamped three snowflakes on the front of the envelope to finish off.  Both Angela and Janet went home clutching their starter kits and were very happy with the cards they made.  I suspect they will be practising ink dusting quite a bit!

Supplies:
Stamps: SU! 'Lovely as a Tree', 'Best Yet' & 'Snowflakes' sets, Inkylicious 'Santa's Sleigh' set, Hero Arts 'Holiday Cheer' clear set
CS: SU! Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White & Brushed Silver
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Dandelion, Rose Bud, Danube Blue, Paris Dusk & Grape Jelly, SU! Rich Razzleberry & Smoky Slate
Tools: Inkylicious ink duster brushes & mountain/valley stencil, SU! 1 3/4" circle punch, SU! plain and scalloped oval punches, Fiskars snowflake punch, X Cut tiny snowflake punch, sponge dauber
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Dazzling Diamonds glitter, rhinestone jewels, Dimensionals

 

Christmas Jumpers Cosy Christmas Card

Happy World Card Making Day, I will be playing and creating in my craft room all day to mark the occasion!  If you fancy joining in the global card making event and want to make a Christmas card, pop over to 52 {C}CT where we have a sketch challenge for you to take part in. 

 

I've inked up the two sweet, woolly jumpers from the Woodware 'Christmas Knits' stamp set.  I stamped onto watercolour paper, used inks and a water brush to colour the images and I fussy cut both jumpers.  I saw the 'Cable Knit Pattern' embossing folder at my local craft shop, the Glitter Pot,  and knew it would be perfect to use with the Christmas jumpers!  I embossed two squares of Core'dinations CS with the folder and sanded it to bring out the embossed pattern detail.  I layered the Fired Brick square onto a larger Island Indigo square, layered the Pool Party square onto a larger Early Espresso square and glued the panels to the front of a white DL sized card base.  The 'have a cosy christmas' sentiment in the set is on three lines so I used masking to stamp the sentiment on just one line.  I popped up the jumpers and added Stickles to both of the noses.  I threaded the teeny tiny buttons with sewing thread before attaching the buttons to the card front.  

 

Inside I stamped the mittens as if they're hanging from the sentiment and added more cable knit embossed CS.  I stamped, watercoloured, fussy cut and attached a snowman head to punched circles to decorate the envelope flap.  A very jolly card to make!

Please join us this week and make a Christmas card using this wonderful layout.  Link up your creations to the 52 {C}CT sketch challenge post HERE.  I look forward to seeing what you make!

Supplies:
Stamps: Woodware 'Christmas Knits' set, Hero Arts 'Holiday Cheer' clear set, Imaginisce Mittens Snag'em clear stamp
CS: PaperMania white DL card blank, SU! Island Indigo & Early Espresso, SU! Pool Party Core'dinations CS, Ranger Fired Brick Core'dinations CS
Ink: VersaFine Onyx Black, SU! Pool Party, Island Indigo, Real Red, Smoky Slate, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede & Wild Wasabi
Tools: square Nestabilities dies, X Cut 'Cable Knit Pattern' 6" x 6" embossing folder, circle punches, water brush
Embellishments & accessories: 'Orange Peel' & 'Xmas Red' Stickles glitter glues, PaperMania monochrome tiny buttons, black & white sewing thread, glue dots, fine sandpaper, SU! Dimensionals

Row Of Trees Kickstand Card - Merry Monday #128 Challenge

I was so happy to play along with the Merry Monday challenge #128 this week as it gave me an opportunity to use a dotty/stripes paper pad I bought months ago but hadn't used!  My SU! Tree punch got it's first outing too!

 

The challenge calls for stripes, polka dots or both to be used on a Christmas card.  Once I'd chosen the papers I decided to make a kickstand card with a row of trees.  I cut almost 2" off the bottom of the A6 sized card, glued a panel of white CS on the inside of the card and adhered the trees at the bottom.  I'd glued the paper trees on top of CS trees and for extra strength I punched more CS trees and glued them at the back so the row of trees kickstand is very robust.  I adhered a strip of large polka dot paper and added the ribbon tied in a knot.  I stamped the sentiment in VersaMark on Real Red CS, heat embossed with white powder, cut it out with a label die and glued the label to the card.  To complete the card front I topped each tree with a sparkly punched star.

Here's the inside and the envelope.

Supplies:
Stamps: 'Merry Christmas' from Inkylicious 'Santa Sleigh' set, inside sentiment from Hero Arts 'Very Merry Christmas' set
CS: SU! Real Red, Old Olive & Whisper White, Champagne Glimmer Paper
Patterned paper: Simple Stories 'Snap Colour Vibe' 6" x 6" pad
Ink: VersaMark, SU! Real Red
Tools: SU! Tree punch, star punch from SU! Merry Minis punch pack, Spellbinder's 'Labels Trio' die, heat tool
Embellishments & accessories: white embossing powder, SU! Real Red Satin Woven ribbon

 

October 2014 Card Group Projects

It was our card group get together this afternoon - I can't believe we're in October already - and a very happy time was had by all!  As per usual, I made three cards for the ladies to make, two Christmas cards and a masculine birthday card.  Yep, that's right - another masculine card -  that pleased the ladies enough to allow me three Christmas cards next month, yay!

First up is a floating front card - I just had to design a Christmas version for card group!  I love that the card is dimensional on display but that it folds flat to go into an envelope. I have written instructions for making a floating front card and the PDF tutorial can be found on my Tutorials page HERE.  I used 12" x 12" textured Island Indigo CS to make the base, the finished card size is 6" square.  I adhered snowflake patterned paper to three of the panels.  I chose a snowflake as the floating element, layering the Smoky Slate stamped and die cut snowflake onto a larger die cut Island Indigo snowflake.  I placed a punched snowflake in the centre of a circle and embellished with a Marianne Designs 'Diamond Gem'. 

This second photo shows the circle and slit closure, the sentiment panel and the decorated envelope flap.

The Glitter Pot, my local craft shop held a Christmas demo this weekend and I went along to check out the wonderful inspiration on offer.  Alex Kamann demoed techniques using embossing folders, she had inked inside embossing folders with Memento inks before dry embossing Centura Pearl CS.  What a fab effect, I was really taken with how the Memento inks, normally so bold and vibrant, appeared soft and muted when applied to the pearl CS.  Rather than inking inside the embossing folder I chose to simply apply ink over the embossed card front using an ink duster brush.  I made an A6 card base with Centura Pearl CS and embossed the front with a holly frame folder.  I applied Memento Bamboo ink, shading from dark to light going from top to bottom to get an ombre effect and lightly buffed the card front with a piece of kitchen towel.  I placed stamped and die cut ornaments back to back, pierced holes in the tops of the ornaments, pierced holes along the frame and added gold lurex thread.  Tiny gold brads keep the thread in place and the ornaments dangle freely.  I adhered the sentiment label to a strip of Cherry Cobbler CS and added a punched holly sprig with tiny red pearl berries.   

Here's the inside and the envelope - I thought the vintage flourish complemented the large elegant ornament on the front of the card - any excuse to ink up that gorgeous stamp!

Onto the final card, the masculine birthday card.  Nothing fancy here, just simple stamping, paper piecing and fussy cutting.  The balloon and basket portions of the image are both popped up.

I simply stamped a sentiment on the inside.

Supplies for snowflake floating front card:
Stamps: SU! 'Festive Flurry' set, Hero arts 'Holiday Cheer' clear set
CS: SU! Island Indigo 12" x 12" textured, plain Island Indigo, Whisper White
Patterned paper: Echo Park Home for the Holidays 'Merry Icons'
Ink: SU! Smoky Slate & Island Indigo
Tools: SU! 'Festive Flurry' Framelits dies, Simply Scored, 1" & 1 1/4" circle punches, X Cut Snowflake punch
Embellishments & accessories: Marianne Design 'Diamond Gem', SU! Dimensionals

Supplies for dangly ornaments card:
Stamps: SU! 'Ornament Keepsakes' & 'Sweet Essentials' sets, Stampendous 'Christmas Cheer', IndigoBlu 'Vintage Flourish'
CS: Centura Pearl Snow White Hint of Silver, SU! Cherry Cobbler, Wild Wasabi & Whisper White
Ink: Memento Bamboo, SU! Cherry Cobbler, Wild Wasabi
Tools: X Cut Holly Frame embossing folder, SU! 'Holiday Ornaments' Framelits dies, Spellbinder's 'Labels Trio' die, X Cut holly punch, Inkylicious ink duster brush, paper piercer
Embellishments & accessories: gold lurex thread, tiny gold brads, tiny red pearls 

Supplies for hot air balloon card:
Stamps: Hero Arts 'Clouds' DesignBlock background stamp, Woodware 'Hot Air Balloon', Hobby Art 'Flock of Birds', SU! 'Sassy Salutations' set, inside sentiment from PSX
CS: PaperMania A6 white card blank, SU! Basic Black, Crumb Cake & Whisper White 
Patterned paper: Bo Bunny Double Dot papers in 'Almond' & 'Mellow Yellow'
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, SU! Soft Sky, Crumb Cake & Basic Black markers
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Dimensionals


 

Floral Floating Front Birthday Greetings Card

Whilst at my local craft shop, the Glitter Pot,  a few weeks ago I saw an interesting 3D card on display so I snapped a couple of pics and made a few notes 'cos I knew I wanted to have a go at making one.  I've since discovered that this style of card is called a 'Floating Front Card' and Joanne Wardle's original designs were featured in the April 2011 issue of the UK Craft Stamper magazine.   Joanne's blog can be found HERE.  It's a fab design - there's the wow 3D aspect but the card folds flat to go in an envelope plus it's so easy to make - that ticks all the boxes for me!

It's my friend Wendy's birthday today and I decided to make a pretty, floral, floating front card for her - and it had to feature pink as that's her fave colour!  I made the card base from SU! Pink Pirouette CS and the patterned paper is from the Bazzill 'Vintage Lace' 6" x 6" paper pack.  I stamped and die cut the flowers and leaves using the gorgeous SU! 'Flower Patch' stamp set and matching 'Flower Fair' Framelits dies.  I used Pretty in Pink and Strawberry Slush inks for the flowers and Pistachio Pudding and Wild Wasabi inks for the leaves.  I added some Wild Wasabi stitched ribbon tied in a bow and used a sparkly embellishment to decorate the centre of the flower.  Here's a photo of the card on display.

Here's a view from the top. 

Here's a look at the front panel with the sentiment label and two butterflies.

In order to make the focal point element float on the front of the card you need to attach what I'm calling 'butterfly hinges' to the front of the card and then the element is attached to the front of the hinges.  The hinges are easily made by punching out two 1" circles, folding them in half and attaching them to the card front.  I got carried away making this card and attached my flowers and leaves before I remembered that I'd wanted to take a photo of the butterfly hinges!  So I started work on another floating front card and here's a photo showing the butterfly hinges in place.

Here's a side view of the card where you can see the element attached to the hinge.

At the back of the card you make a closure by adding a punched circle and cutting a slit for the circle to slide into.  I used a 1 1/4" circle.

Here's a photo of the back of the card when closed.

This photo shows the card folded flat ready to pop into the envelope.  The card measures 5 3/4" square.

I made an envelope for a 6" x 6" card using the SU! Envelope Punch Board and a piece of Rose Red Designer Prints DSP which has been hoarded in my stash for a very long time!  I wanted to try a different type of closure for an envelope and I was inspired by an envelope that Margaret, one of my craft group ladies, showed to me and said I could keep.  Margaret had received some theatre tickets as a birthday gift and they were presented in an envelope which was held closed by a bamboo skewer threaded through punched holes.

I punched four holes in my envelope and added CS washers (front and back) to add strength.

I snipped off a bit from a bamboo skewer but it took a bit of work to thread it through as it's rigid and I'd punched fairly small holes (1/4").  I decided I could use ribbon as a closure instead so I snipped a length of Wild Wasabi ribbon, threaded it through the holes and tied a bow.  Actually, the ribbon is a much more attractive option than a bamboo skewer!

Phew, a very picture heavy post!  I contacted Joanne and asked her if it would be OK for me to produce a tutorial for putting together a floating front card.  Joanne very graciously gave her permission and I've added a PDF tutorial to my Tutorials page if you'd like to check that out and make one of these fabulous cards yourself.  Many thanks to Joanne!

Supplies:
Stamps: SU! 'Flower Patch', 'Kinda Eclectic' & 'Wetlands' sets, Hero Arts 'Yummy Treats' clear set
CS: SU! Pink Pirouette & Whisper White
Patterned paper: Bazzill 'Vintage Lace' 6" x 6" pad, SU! Rose Red Designer Prints DSP
Ink: SU! Pretty in Pink, Strawberry Slush, Pistachio Pudding & Wild Wasabi
Tools: SU! 'Flower Fair' & 'Apothecary Accents' Framelits dies, SU! 'Bitty Butterfly', 1 1/4", 1", 1/2" & 1/4" circle punches, SU! Simply Scored & Envelope Punch Board
Embellishments & accessories: Creative Expressions 'Crystal Sparklers' embellishment, SU! Wild Wasabi stitched ribbon, rhinestone jewels, Dimensionals

Suspended Snowflake Spinner Card - 52 CCT Sept Stash Challenge

The lovely Asha, our September challenge hostess, has a fabulous stash challenge for us this week at 52 {C}CT - Diamonds & Pearls.  Well, I had a blast making my card for this challenge!  My 'diamonds' are SU! Dazzling Diamonds glimmer paper and rhinestone jewels and for the pearls I used pearl jewels plus white with a hint of silver pearl CS. 

 

First off I made a 5 3/4" square Night of Navy card base and  I die cut the circle burst from a square of gorgeous Dazzling Diamonds glimmer paper.  The Memory Box 'Large Circle Burst' die has been on my want list for a long while and I gave into the temptation very recently!  I was delighted to find that one of my favourite SU! 'Festive Flurry' snowflake stamps was the perfect size for the circle aperture and I stamped the snowflake onto the pearl CS in Night of Navy ink.  I knew the ink wouldn't dry on the coated pearl CS so I heat embossed the image with clear powder.  Then I had a light bulb moment - it occurred to me I could use the holes of the die to suspend the snowflake within the aperture.  I cut the circle burst from the front of the navy card base and glued the Dazzling Diamonds panel over the top.  I stamped and heat embossed another snowflake, die cut the two shapes, threaded silver thread through two holes, tied a knot and glued the two snowflakes back to back on either side of the thread.  Not only is the snowflake suspended within the aperture but if you twist the thread a few times before placing the card in an envelope the snowflake will spin when the recipient opens the card!  I haven't made a spinner card in a while so it was fun playing with that for a few moments - I really should get out more LOL!

Here's the card when it's closed ready to slip inside the envelope.  I added pearl and rhinestone jewels on the outer circle of holes, placed Night of Navy die cut corners and added punched pearly snowflakes.  One thing about this circle burst die is you get lots of dots left over from die cutting so I placed a larger sparkly dot on each snowflake centre followed by a teeny tiny rhinestone.  

Here's the card open showing the suspended snowflake.

 

Here's the card fully open.  Talk about precision placement - I had to get the Night of Navy and white circles in exactly the right position because I wanted the white circle to show behind the snowflake - but with the sentiment hidden - and the navy showing behind the two rows of dots.  Easily done thanks to Collall photo glue (AKA snotty glue!) which gives you time to wiggle your pieces into place before the glue dries! 

Stamped snowflakes and a die cut name label on the front of the envelope completed the card.

Do please join us this week, have fun making a card and link it up at our 52 {C}CT Diamonds & Pearls stash challenge - it will be great to add another Christmas card to your stash!

Supplies:
Stamps: SU! 'Festive Flurry' set, Stampendous 'Small Merry Christmas', PSX 'Snowflake Medley', IndigoBlu 'Snowflake Lace'
CS: SU! Night of Navy & Whisper White, Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper, white with a hint of silver Centura Pearl CS
Ink: SU! Night of Navy
Tools: Memory Box 'Large Circle Burst' die, SU! 'Festive Flurry' Framelits die set, MFT 'Photo Corners' Die-Namics die set,  X Cut snowflake punch, circle Nestabilities dies, label dies from Sizzix 'Card, Fancy Frame Flip-Its #2' Framelits die set, heat tool
Embellishments & accessories: clear embossing powder, SU! rhinestone & pearl jewels, PaperMania teeny tiny gems