May the Holiday Spirit Find a Home in Your Heart

Hello friends! It's December, it snowed the other day, and things are starting to feel festive! I mentioned in my last post that I was going to see The Nutcracker....it was absolutely magical and the perfect start to the Christmas season! I'm ready to feel all the holiday feelings that are so warm and wonderful!

My card for today evokes these same sentiments, so let's get started!

To begin, I cut the leaf background twice using the Cover Plate: Lush Foliage Die and then glued them together with liquid glue. Once that was done, I added New Leaf and Garden Green (SU!) ink over the top using blender brushes. My original idea was to layer this over plaid pattern paper, but instead, I created a stenciled panel. In the end, it's hard to see the stenciling, so if I did it over again, I'm not sure if I would do that again! ha ha!

I used the Holly Berries Stencil Collection on an A2 panel of Vellum White paper from Cardstock Warehouse (it is a very lightweight blush paper). I used the same colors as I did on the Cover Plate with the addition of Scarlet Jewel ink for the berries. I glued the leaf portion over the top using liquid glue and then spritzed it with Shimmer Spray-Sparkle.

I cut a bunch of holly and berries using the Into the Blooms: Swag Die from white cardstock and colored them with the same ink as the background to keep everything cohesive. I added the berries here and there using liquid glue. In the end, I felt it need some added detail, so I grabbed a few leftover berries I had from THIS project. At this point, I didn't have any additional ideas as to the direction of this card, so I toyed around with a few ideas, but in the end settled on adding the heart. 

I die cut the heart twice using the Elegant Heart Die and glued them together. The heart was competing with the background, so I adhered it to a strip of vellum using foam squares and then added liquid glue to back of the vellum where the heart would hide it, and adhered it to the background.

I decided to search through my sentiments to find something that was Christmas-y and talked about a heart....BINGO!  I used the Winter Globes Sentiments Mini Stamp Set with gold embossing powder and then cut it using one of the dies included in the Hold That Thought Die. I love the gold on the Scarlet Jewel cardstock! I placed it in the center of the heart and then added a BOW. You all know I have a weakness for using tiny houses and since the sentiment was practically begging me to use one, I added it to the bottom.

I had one leftover in the storage sleeve for the Bring Home the Holidays Die and then I cut a heart from Pale Peony ink using the Larger Than Life: Home Die. I gave it a coating of Glossy Accents. I added some glitter to the berries, leaves, and bow and attached the entire background panel to a top-folding A2 card base using liquid glue. My next project needs to be to add inside greetings to ALL of my Christmas cards! I know I should do it when I create them, but unfortunately I don't! ha ha! Thanks for fluttering by!

 

Warm Holiday Wishes

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I'm headed to The Nutcracker this afternoon with my mom, sister, daughter, and her boyfriend so I thought it would be fitting to share this card with you today! To begin, I cut a 5 by 7 piece of Weathervane cardstock and embossed it using the beautiful Merry Moments 3D Embossing Folder. When I bought this particular folder a few months ago, I didn't realize it was 5 by 7, but it works well with the amount of flowers I chose to use and the tall nutcracker. I added some Stormy Sea and black ink around the edges and over the raised embossed portions to give it some added depth.

I cut quite a few poinsettias in varying sizes using the Into the Blooms: Poinsettia Die from white cardstock and then colored them with ink and blender brushes. I layered and glued them using both liquid glue and foam squares. I inked up the four leaves from the same die set and set those aside.

I die cut all of the pieces that I would need for the nutcracker using the Lovely Layers-Nutcracker Die. 

The pictures are washing the poor guy out a bit, but his skin is a peachy color and his hair and beard are cream. This is the first time I have used or assembled this nutcracker, so I learned that the base layer should be the color you want his hair and pants. I initially thought it would be the color of his face, so I went with peach, so now this dapper fellow is wearing peach pants! ha ha! He DID have peach hair, but I decided to cut the top portion again to give him the cream hair and just glued it to the base.

I adhered the poinsettias and leaves using foam squares and then secured the nutcracker in the middle using a double-stack of foam squares. I added some white acrylic paint splatter and then got to work on the sentiment.

For the sentiment, I chose an older one from Honey Bee Stamps that I bought a few years ago and haven't used yet called Home For the Holidays. I heat embossed it with gold powder and then cut it using the coordinating Home for the Holidays Honey Cuts. I secured it to the card front using foam squares. Each of the flower centers got a gem and then I also added a trio of sparkling clear sequins. It was looking just a bit bare, so I turned to my leftovers pile and found some bits of foliage that I tucked here and there. I gave it a spritz of shimmer spray and called it done! 

Thanks for fluttering by!

 

Project Inspiration {Tis the Season for Peace}

Hello friends! I shared this Project Inspiration on the Papertrey Ink Blog last week, but I also wanted to share it here to give some additional tips and tricks I used to create this card. I was inspired by a snow globe I saw that had a plaid base, so that was the springboard for this design. I also have missed some of my favorite previously released products, so it's always fun to pull those out again and put them to use!

I combined two of the Winter Globes dies to bring this card to life: Winter Globes Die and the Winter Globes: Believe Die along with some other stamps and dies!

Here's a quick look at steps 1-6 (there's actually 7, but it messed up the grid) and I will walk you through each step.

Step 1: Use the Fanciful Snowflakes Hot Foil Plate and silver foil on a panel of Ocean Tides cardstock measuring 4” x 5 1/4”.

Step 2: Use a corner rounder punch for all 4 corners and attach to a white card base using foam squares.

Step 3: Cut the base of the snow globe from pattern paper and antique gold. Cut it again twice from Soft Stone cardstock and glue everything together.

Step 4: Cut all of the pieces for the scene from White card stock and color them with blender, brushes and dye ink. Assemble using liquid glue and foam squares. Add some white ink splatter.

Step 5: Cut all foliage and berries using the Into the Blooms: Swag Die from white cardstock. Color them like the other elements and spritz with fossilized amber distress oxide spray. Attach to snow globe with foam squares and liquid glue.

Step 6: Cut the Peace sentiment twice; once from antique gold card stock and once from White. Glue them together and attach to the snow globe using liquid glue. Heat emboss the companion sentiment on a strip of vellum using silver powder. Attach it to the snow globe using strategically placed liquid glue on the back of the embossing.

Step 7: spritz with shimmer spray and add glitter. 

Some other details to note: this particular pattern paper that I used on the globe is a craft smart North Pole Mail pad of paper. The plaid was just a small strip on one of the pieces, so I used washi tape to line up the bottom portion of the globe on the paper.

The rock candy glitter is more like sugar and doesn't have a lot of sparkle, but I love the frosted, snowy look it gives my projects.

This hot foil plate is one of my favorites because it doesn't need a high heat or a long time to heat and it always gives me great results!

I didn't want to wrap the vellum strip around the entire background panel, so I simply added some liquid glue to the back of the vellum behind the embossed portion for an invisible adhesion.

Thanks for fluttering by!

Walking in a Winter Wonderland {PTI Release Day}

Hello friends! Thanks for stopping by today! There are a few products from the new Papertrey Ink release that I didn't have a chance to use during the countdown, so I have a card to share with you today using one of the never-been-used products, a few of the new products that I DID use, but are some of my favorites, AND some of my older favorites!

To begin this card, I used the Fanciful Snowflake Hot Foil Plate with gold foil on a panel of teal cardstock. I also used the new In Frames: Circle Die to cut the medium and small sized frames from the same cardstock. I adhered those to the two opposite corners using mini foam squares and they are slightly overlapping to keep the circles within the confines of the card front.

The large snowflakes, which are included in the Forever Snowflake Frame Die, are cut using gold glitter cardstock and adhered to the middle of each of the two circle frames. I cut the ornament using the new Holiday Tags: Elegant Ornament Die from white cardstock and then colored it with Pale Peony ink and blender brushes. I gave it a spritz of fossilized amber distress oxide spray and added the top that was cut from gold cardstock using liquid glue. 

I cut a few of the smaller snowflakes included in the Holiday Tags: Let It Snow Die from the same glitter cardstock and added one to the pink ornament and the other to the side of the larger circle frame. I used bright pink adhesive pearls to add to the center of each small snowflake and also scattered across the background.

The greenery and flowers are included in the Tag Creations: Modern Gift Die and were cut from white and then colored with Pale Peony, Stormy Sea, and New Leaf ink and spritzed with the same distress oxide spray.

The centers of the poinsettias are cut from gold cardstock as well as the cute little bow on the ornament that is included in the Bows Galore Die. I added the gold details using liquid glue.

The sentiment is heat embossed with rose gold embossing powder and then cut using the versatile new Hold that Thought Die and adhered using foam squares. I gave everything a spritz of shimmer spray-sparkle for maximum shine and a trio of sparkling clear sequins to really make it sparkle! Everything included in the new release will be available for purchase today at 12:00 PM EST. Thanks for fluttering by!

 

Papertrey Ink November Release Countdown Day 4

Hello and welcome to the 4th and final day of the Papertrey Ink November release countdown! I'm sharing two projects using the last 2 in the new Cover Plate series. I think I mentioned yesterday that I didn't use the Cover Plate: Let It Snow Die, so I remedied that for today and you can see it at the end of this post.

My first card uses the new Cover Plate: Snowman and I think this one is my favorite of the bunch, followed by the Cover Plate: Elegant Ornament that was showcased on day 1. I had so much fun dressing this cutie up in her winter gear all ready for a snow day!

For the background, I cut a panel of Spring Rain cardstock and added some snowflake patterns using the Build-a-Snowflake Stencil Collection with Spring Rain ink. Next, I used the Cover Plate: Snowman main die to cut the frame and base and added it over the top using foam squares.

I die cut the Believe word from silver glitter cardstock and glued it over the top with liquid glue. I added the snowdrift using foam squares and die cut the snowman and all of her accessories.

I inked them up with Spring Rain, vintage photo distress ink, Sweet Blush, Summer Sunrise, and Canyon Clay. I colored the eyes with a black sharpie and then got her dressed with her things using foam squares and liquid glue. I added some miniature buttons from my stash, but please note: there are button dies included in the set...I just love these little buttons so much! The trio of snowflakes are cut using the Bring Home the Holidays Die and the foliage is from the Into the Blooms: Above Ground Die, the berries are leftover from my Reflections card yesterday and the Poinsettia and holly are included in the Tag Creations: Modern Gift Die.

I always love making some type of purple snowflake card at some point during the season, so I took the opportunity to make it with this Cover Plate: Let It Snow. I created an A2 blended panel using an assortment of distress oxide inks. I splattered it with Fresh Snow ink and Shimmer Spray-Sparkle.

I die cut the Cover Plate from white cardstock and layered it over the top of the blended panel with foam squares.

The sentiment is die cut from silver cardstock and glued over the top using liquid glue.

I added some purple pearls and PTI Gems-Clear. I lamented the other day that I was out of the smallest size of the gems, but I found a sheet that was almost completely full! yay!!!

I added some Crystal Stickles to the white snowflakes for some added snowy sparkle!

I added the entire panel to a top-folding A2 white card base using liquid glue. My Christmas card stash is growing and I'm so thrilled! 

Everything will be available for purchase tomorrow! Thanks for fluttering by!

P.S. I decided to give this cute little snow-girl some mittens and I realized I forgot to add a dot of white to the eyes, so you can see the additions here. 

 

Papertrey Ink November Release Countdown Day 3

Hello and welcome to day 3 of the Papertrey Ink November release countdown! I have a few projects to share with you today using the new Adorning Pinecone stamp/die set. This is a large sized pinecone and bow that allows you to fill an A2 card front easily for a bold impact.

There are two sentiments with coordinating die cuts, but I chose to use this curved banner from the Hold That Thought Die with a gold embossed finish.

There is an image of a cord for the pinecone to hang from, but I decided to add some actual gold cord for realism.

I also wanted to get a seamless look on both the pinecone and bow, so I just cut everything from white, added some ink blending and then stamped the detail images over the top. Please note: there ARE base images included in the set, but for this card, I didn't want the white perimeter showing. Hopefully that makes sense.

I added glitter and white ink splatter on the pinecone, glitter on the foliage and bow for a vintage look.

Switching gears from Christmas for just a minute to show you the card I made using the new Reflections: Isaiah 40 stamp/die set. I have mentioned before that I like to take cues from the verse as to what stamps/dies I will use. This particular scripture isn't very Christmas-y, so I went with flowers, but with autumnal hues to celebrate the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday.

I still have little yellow leaves like these all over my yard that need to be finished raking up! ha ha! To begin this card, I used the previously released Fresh Greens Hot Foil Plate on Autumn Rose cardstock with champagne foil. I did add some Scarlet Jewel ink around the edges before I did the foiling for some added depth and detail.

I also cut the largest layer included in the Reflections: Isaiah 40  Die from Autumn Rose and added the same blending around the perimeter. I stamped the verse in black on Vintage Cream cardstock (which is also back in stock) and cut it using the Reflections: Isaiah 40 Outline Die. I added it to the center of the panel using foam squrares.

I can't stop with the anemones, so I chose to use the Into the Blooms: Anemones. I cut three of the smaller flower so they would fit on this card and not cover the sentiment from white and cream cardstock. I colored them with Pale Peony and Autumn Rose ink for the flowers. The leaves are vintage photo distress ink and Harvest Gold and Summer Sunrise ink with fossilized amber distress oxide spray.

The centers are cut from gold and I wanted to add some gems to the centers and I am OUT of the small size....I've been bedazzling way to many projects! ha ha!

My final card for today is a neutral, rustic design using the Adorning Pinecone stamp/die set. 

The background is created using the Winter Pine Hot Foil Plate on Vintage Cream cardstock with silver foil. I used that same layer from my last card to anchor the pinecone cut from Dark Chocolate cardstock.

The sentiment is cut using the beautiful Line it Up: Christmas and is cut from gold and once from white and then glued together. Sometimes the foil cardstock has a tendency to curl, so this helps give it a sturdy base. I added it to the card with tiny pieces of foam tape for dimension.

I had a leaf left over from the last project that I didn't color and it was the perfect choice to tuck behind the bow/pinecone to keep the rustic neutral feeling.

I added a trio of sparkling clear sequins and added it all to a top-folding A2 Kraft base using foam squares. I have been using a lot of red and green this holiday season, so it was nice to switch things up a bit! 

Join me again tomorrow for the 4th and final day of the countdown! Thanks for fluttering by!