Tag: Christmas

Christmas

Wonderful Counselor

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Would you consider yourself to be an adventuresome person? It’s fair to say that I have a particular paper crafting style, but I’d like to think that I can do things differently every now and then. Today’s design is a good example. I love the angled Z-fold. And as a general rule, I would say I turn to this fold more for fun designs rather than more serious or thoughtful ones. But the angled Z-fold really lends itself well to all occasions.

This card begins with a base of Night of Navy cardstock. Shining Brightly designer paper provides the beautiful sparkle on the two front-facing panels. The front focal panel is a piece of vellum diecut using the Deckled Rectangles dies and the sentiment is then heat embossed in gold in the center. I tied a piece of gold twine at the top and adhered the vellum to the front card panel using my adhesive runner, allowing the top of the diecut panel to overhang at the top. I really liked the emphasis I felt this put on the focal sentiment. The inside center panel is left blank for a personal message, while the back panel has a small vellum Deckled Rectangle with a gold heat-embossed sentiment. I created a visual triangle around the sentiment on the bottom base panel with the gold sequins.

Wanna give the angled Z-fold a try? Hop over here for a PDF tutorial.

Products used:
Night of Navy, vellum, white cardstock
Shining Brightly DSP
Night Divine stamps
Gold embossing powder
Gold twine
Adhesive-backed sequins

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Christmas

Fear Not

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As I was recently preparing for a craft show, and specifically designing Christmas cards, I realized that I had a few older sets that hadn’t seen any ink yet. Do you ever have that happen, where you purchase a lovely stamp set that somehow gets lost in your stash?

Today’s design began with the stamp set called God’s Peace. Because the image and sentiments are so lovely, I wanted them to take center stage so the overall design of this card is quite simple. The card base is Cherry Cobbler and the sentiment panel is Basic White cardstock. The advent wreath image is stamped in black ink and colored using the Stampin’ Blends markers, and the sentiment is heat embossed in gold. I added Wink of Stella to the glow of the candles and a few sequins in opposing corners for added drama and sparkle. The entire focal panel is elevated on dimensionals to draw the eye and add interest.

I love the simplicity of this design and intend to incorporate it in my personal Christmas card designs this year!

Products used:
Cherry Cobbler, white cardstock
God’s Peace stamps (retired)
Stampin’ Blends markers
Wink of Stella
Adhesive-backed sequins
Dimensionals

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Christmas

Peace on Earth

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I love a clean and simple design, and today’s card fits the bill in every way. When preparing for craft shows or even for my own personal mailings, clean and simple designs can help speed production without sacrificing the grace and beauty of handmade designs.

Today’s card showcases another “lost” stamp set I recently found in my craft room. Nature’s Peace is a stunning set, and it’s hard to imagine that it’s gone uninked in my stash! I decided to keep the color palette simple — red and cream. I used Cherry Cobbler cardstock for the card base (scored at the top rather than left) and focal panel base. The focal image of this card design is a single stamp. The stamped image is heat embossed with pearl embossing powder. The focal panel is elevated on dimensionals with natural finish ribbon running behind the focal panel and around the base on the inside. A small piece of Cherry Cobbler twine holds the ribbon together and in place. I finished the design with a shimmer spray so that the entire card front sparkles, which is unfortunately impossible to capture in photos.

I just love how this turned out and am excited to get started on a full set of these for part of my Christmas mailing list this year.

Products used:
Cherry Cobbler cardstock
Nature’s Peace stamps (retired)
Pearl embossing powder
Natural finish trim
Twine
Dimensionals

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Christmas

In the Trees

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I ran across a super cute layout by Stamp It Up With Jaimie on one of my recent strolls through my Instagram feed. I loved the funky layout and how she brought out the Old Olive in the tree pattern from A Walk in the Forest designer paper. And isn’t there something about imitation is the best form of flattery?

I changed up a few of the elements from the inspiration design to fit with the supplies in my stash. I started with a card base of basic white cardstock. The Old Olive is cut to cover the entirety of the card front and is embossed using a retired snowflake embossing folder. The tree pattern is matted by Pretty Peacock while the evergreen pattern is mounted on white. The sentiment is embossed in gold on a white panel diecut using the All That dies and the panel sits atop a folded bunch of natural finish ribbon. A few faceted gems scattered about give a pop of sparkle and complete the visual triangle around the focal point of the card design.

This particular layout is out of my wheelhouse, but I really love it and hope to incorporate it in some future designs to mix up my usual style. What do you think — is this layout a winner?

Products used:
Old Olive, Pretty Peacock, white cardstock
A Walk in the Forest DSP
All That dies
Gold embossing powder
Faceted gems
Magical Meadow stamps
Winter Snow embossing folder (retired)
Natural finish ribbon
Adhesives

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Christmas

We Wish You a Merry Christmas

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During a recent stroll through the Instagram feed, I saw a lovely card design by LoritaMarie Crafts and immediately added it to the inspiration folder. It was the perfect combination of patterns and colors. I made a few modifications to paper selections and this design is the end result.

The card base is Mossy Meadow, which helps draw out the shades of green in the evergreen branches in the greenery panel. The evergreen panel is matted by Cherry Cobbler cardstock and mounted on dimensionals. The tree is diecut using the Merriest Trees dies and the sentiment is heat embossed in gold in the center of the tree. To keep the tree topper more delicate, I placed a star trinket at the top. The gold trim is tucked behind the elevated focal panel and gold pearls are scattered on the focal panel for visual interest. My favorite part of this design is the Christmas tree. What is yours?

My son helped me place a few of the elements, including the tree topper. We both decided that the end result is a really nice design that will be included in those that we personally send out to our holiday mailing list.

Products used:
Mossy Meadow, Cherry Cobbler, vellum cardstock
A Walk in the Forest DSP
Merriest Trees stamps & dies
Gold trim
Star trinkets
Gold pearls
Gold embossing powder
Dimensionals
Adhesives

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Christmas

Christmas Holly

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I always find it funny when I can take an inspiration design and then have the end product look nothing like it! That’s definitely the case for today’s card. And all I did was tweak the look of the sentiment panel to achieve a completely different look.

A base of Cherry Cobbler provides the festive backdrop for the holly designer paper. The inspiration design had a solid sentiment panel with a diecut holly wreath. Because I wanted to see more of the beautiful foiled designer paper, I used a sheet of vellum for the sentiment panel and chose to stamp the holly wreath and nestle the sentiment in the center. Rather than placing the bow atop the wreath, I chose to use it as a design element along the side of the wreath instead.

As I was looking at the completed design, it seemed to be missing a little something. And if I had it to do over, the sentiment needs to be heat embossed in red rather than stamped. That would help it to have the *pop* it deserves. What do you think? Embossed sentiment or no?

Products used:
Cherry Cobbler, vellum cardstock
Shining Christmas DSP
Come to Bethlehem stamps (retired)
Bells & Boughs stamps (retired)
Adhesive-backed sequins
Faux linen ribbon (retired)
Dimensionals
Adhesives

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Christmas

Beary Happy Christmas

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Did you know that even seasoned stampers look for inspiration? Sometimes designs just come to you and other times you have to look high and low for them! I actually stumbled across this design by Susan Campfield in my daily stroll through my Facebook feed and knew it needed to go in the Inspiration file. It can easily be adapted to so many different occasions, which makes it a design you can turn to again and again.

I love how the buffalo plaid is reminiscent of a warm winter flannel, making it a perfect design element for this holiday card. The base of the card is black cardstock and the plaid paper is matted by a sheet of Cherry Cobbler and black cardstock. The bear is punched from black cardstock using the Beary Cute punch. The red and white gingham ribbon allows the sentiment panel to function visually as a banner across the focal panel. If you’re making a set of cards, you can alternate the direction of the bear for some added interest. The sentiment panel is diecut from white cardstock using the Nested Essentials die and then the sentiment is stamped in Real Red using the Merriest Trees stamps. The adhesive hexagons help draw the eye across this playful design.

I just love the rustic feel of this card. It reminds me of a homey cabin in the snowy woods. Don’t you think?

Products used:
Cherry Cobbler, Basic Black and White cardstock
A Walk in the Forest DSP
Merriest Trees stamps
Beary Cute punch
Real Red and White gingham ribbon (retired)
Adhesive hexagons (retired)
Adhesives

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Christmas

Festive Tannenbaum

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I have a thing for foiled papers. Nothing says festive quite like the sparkle of foiled paper! When Stampin’ Up! recently released some new foiled holiday designs in the Online Exclusives, I just had to have them.

I’ve been playing one of my favorite Christmas albums in the craft room this week because it seems to keep my newest office assistant (aka Nolan the 6-week-old kitten) from going full tilt all the time. There’s a particularly lovely arrangement of O Tannenbaum on the album which inspired this card design.

The beauty of the Shining Christmas specialty paper pack is how beautifully each of the patterns stands on its own. The lovely sheet of trees just called for a prominent spot, and so it comprises most of the front of the card with a sheet of Cherry Cobbler serving as the base. And all of the remaining design elements are simple to allow the trees to shine (literally). The velvet ribbon adds a little texture, while the gold holly leaves carry the sparkle across the design. With just the right group of elements, a simple design can still have eye-catching appeal!

Products used:
Cherry Cobbler, white cardstock
Shining Christmas DSP
All That dies
Gold holly leaves (retired)
Glitter sequins
Adhesive-backed sequins
Papertrey Ink Think Big Favorites #8 (sentiment)(retired)
Velvet ribbon (retired)
Dimensionals
Adhesives

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Christmas

Behold the Star

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I’ve been busy in craft fair mode for many weeks now. I’m teaming up with my mom, who also happens to be my upline, and sponsoring a booth in a local fair at the end of the month. And to boot, the church where I work is having a craft fair this weekend, and last week I offered to contribute some items for the church’s booth. So I have been working on new designs for that.

I wanted to use the beautiful O Holy Night suite of products for at least one card. The paper is so thoughtfully designed, which makes it easy to put together beautiful cards with very few elements.

Here, I started with a base of Night of Navy cardstock. I selected the Bethlehem scene from the O Holy Night designer paper pack. I wanted the Star of Bethlehem to be shining brightly over the city and I wanted to capture the ethereal look of that bright and magical heavenly star. Using the Stars at Night stamp set, the largest star is heat embossed in gold atop vellum and then diecut using the accompanying dies. The sentiment is heat embossed directly atop the designer paper as if the words of the angels’ song is hanging over the blessed city. Just a few simple elements with such a stunning impact, don’t you think?

Products used:
Night of Navy, vellum cardstock
O Holy Night DSP
Stars at Night stamps & dies
Adhesive-backed sequins
Dimensionals
Adhesives

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Christmas

Holiday Greenery

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Our family makes it a point to gather together often and especially for holidays. One of my favorite things about Christmas gatherings is dressing the table, and my favorite part of table dressing is a fresh holiday centerpiece.

I designed this card with a holiday centerpiece in mind. A piece of Cherry Cobbler cardstock serves as the card base. I chose a sheet of Joy of Christmas designer paper that resembled a bed of greenery, and I love the surprise of it being printed in shades of red rather than green. The sentiment panel is heat embossed on vellum to allow the lovely patterned paper to shine through. To provide a more realistic look of holiday evergreens, I pulled several different shades of green from which I diecut each branch. The evergreen branches are tied together with both sheer ribbon and twine. The gold sequins provide a touch of sparkle and allow the eye to pass easily from left to right.

I’m super pleased with this design because it reminds me of my grandmother’s Christmas dinner table! ❤️ Do you have any favorite parts about preparing for holiday dinners?

Products used:
Cherry Cobbler, Granny Apple Green, Mossy Meadow, Shaded Spruce, white cardstock
Joy of Christmas DSP
Vellum
Magical Meadow, Nested Essentials dies
Merriest Trees stamps (sentiment)
Sheer ribbon
Gold embossing powder
Adhesive-backed sequins
Adhesives

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