Christmas Cards

A quick post to share with you the Christmas cards I personally sent out this year.  When I went back to review all the cards I made since October to select a card design to send out this season, I was pleasantly surprised to see that I had so much to choose from.  I could not decide right away which one I would use.  I wanted something simple and easy because frankly, I'm running out of time.  I really like the red cardinals even though the card itself was more involved than I originally wanted.

I got them all done in one day and mailed with plenty of time to get to their destination before Christmas.  I wanted to do other colors but  in the end I stayed with just crumb cake and summer starfruit.

I have some extras so if you want one or two let me know.

Merry Christmas everyone!  Stay safe and be nice to your neighbors.

Until the next post............. Cheers!!!

Christmas Square Collage Frame

I finally put together the swaps I got back for the Christmas Square Collage.   My Christmas swap was posted  HERE.  Remember the Halloween collage swap?  This is the Christmas/Holiday version and next up is the Valentine collage due in January.

I found this 8" x 10" silver picture frame from my local paper outlet.  It was mark down with an additional 50% off so the final cost was $2.15.  It's perfect for my collage project.

Some of the swaps I got had so much dimension they would not fit in the frame.  I decided to "frame" them over the glass so I don't crush the designs.

One of the squares exceeds the 3/8" maximum size so I used it like a medallion on the frame itself.  Below are closer shots so you can see the details.

I really enjoy this square collage swap.  You get so much ideas from other stampers/crafters that you can incorporate with other projects.

I'm pretty much done with the card orders this season.  I'm now focusing on the fun stuff.

Until the next post............. Cheers!!!

Christmas/Holiday Cards Recap III

These are the available designs left  to choose from.

#1 

#2 

#3 

#4  

#5  

#6  

#7  

#8  

#9  

#10  

#11  

#12  

#13  

Stand Up Card

This is another card design/layout I wanted to try for a while now but never got around to it.  I have some flocked window sheets included with Stampin' Up's Candlelight Christmas Specialty DSP  pack that I wanted to use to make something other than a card.  The flocked sheets are so pretty I wanted them to stand out...... what better way to use them than a stand up card!

I didn't add a label to write on or a sentiment because I'm going to use this as a display "stand" for my handmade ornaments.  It folds flat so you can mail it or in my case, it will be easy to store away.

I've only seen a picture of this type of card so I had to come up with the measurements and construction.  It took a couple of tries, I kept cutting the wrong side, but I was able to put it together.  Hopefully, these pictures will give you an idea of how to create one if you want to try this type of card.  It has so much potential.

I used two 4.25” x 5.5” card stocks. Punch or cut an opening in the middle of the two pieces. On the 1^stpiece, cut a 1/4” slit on the top and bottom of the opening (inside).  I scored the middle of the card stock to make sure the slits are lined up.  On the 2nd piece, cut a  1/4” slit from the top (outside) and 2-3/4" slit from the bottom (outside).

The tricky part is sliding the 2nd piece into the 1st piece.  Gently guide the 2nd piece with the long slit into the opening of the 1st piece, you need to bend it but with a little patience it should fall into place.  You can use patterned paper instead of cardstock and add embellishments on all four sides.  TIP: try it on an old card stock or paper you're not too fond of so if you messed up the first try you don't waste your good supplies like I did!

Hope that gives you an idea on how to create this card.

Thanks for stopping by.  Until next time............ Cheers!!!

All supplies used are from Stampin'Up.

Ornaments Keepsakes

I just had to include these cards featuring the Ornament Keepsakes in this series.  I won this bundle of stamp sets and coordinating dies from a raffle held at one of our stamping group meetings.

All the ornaments were heat embossed with white embossing powder on cherry cobbler card stocks.   I wanted to use the same elements and create three distinctly different cards.

The first card came together pretty quickly until I got to the sentiment.  I tried different placements and punches but ultimately decided to add another ornament with the "merry" adhered in the middle.

The next card layout came to me the first time I saw this particular stamp.   Somehow it reminded me of those sparkly bead "curtains" from the sixties.  I thought the embossed double lines added just the right touch of texture.  This is my favorite out of the three cards.

With the last card, I tried to create a non-holiday card using holiday elements.  I made a "flower" with the ornaments and used a vague sentiment.

Here's the side view.

Thanks for stopping by.  Until next time .............. Cheers!!!

All supplies used were from Stampin' Up

Christmas/Holiday Cards Recap II

Updated Recap

-1-   posted HERE

-2-   posted HERE

-3-   posted HERE

-4-   posted HERE, see alternate design

-5-   posted HERE, see alternate design

-6-   posted HERE see alternate design

-7-   posted HERE

-8-   posted HERE

-9-   posted HERE


-10-   posted HERE

-11-   posted HERE

-12-   posted HERE

-13-   posted HERE

-14-   posted HERE

 inside, gift card holder

-15-   posted HERE

-16-    posted HERE

-17-   posted HERE

-18-   posted HERE

-19-   posted HERE

Purple Ornaments

Several years ago, one of the buildings at the Financial District in San Francisco had a Christmas tree decorated with all purple trimmings.  I thought it was gorgeous and everyday I passed by it I smiled and thought to myself that next year I'll have a purple Christmas tree.  Every Christmas since then I've tried but I never end up with a completely purple tree because each year I would still hang my favorite ornaments and they're not purple.

Yesterday, I thought of that purple tree again and that train of thought led to this purple card.  I've done quite a few whimsical cards already so I'm going for elegant this time.  What do you think?  Elegant enough?

Lots of dry embossing here.  The background used Woodgrain embossing folder, not traditional, but I like the effect here.  The ornaments were die cut first then positioned in the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder individually.  I piled on the pearls for contrast and "hanged" them with silver strings.

The photo above was taken with natural light and shows the true color.  I turned on the overhead light for the picture below and got this gorgeous shade.... love it!

If you'd like to see other cards using these Ornament dies and the coordinating stamp set, I have them posted HERE.

Thanks for checking in today.  If you have any questions or comments, please don't be shy and say something.  You can even point out my grammatical errors, after all English is my second language and when I'm in a hurry, it shows.

Until the next post ...........  Cheers!!!

Christmas/Holiday Cards - Recap I

This is a recap of Christmas/Holiday cards so far this year.  For those of you who wants handmade cards to mail in time for the holidays, place your order soon.

-1-  posted HERE

-2- 

-3-   posted HERE

-4-   posted HERE

-5-   posted HERE.  Available as a pop-up gift card holder.

-6-    posted HERE

-7-   posted HERE.  Similar patterned paper maybe used for multiple orders.

 Inside pocket can hold cash or gift card

-8-    posted HERE.  Available poinsettia colors are red, burgundy, pink and coral.

 Inside pocket can hold cash or gift card

-9-   posted HERE

 Inside pop-up holds gift card.  Similar patterned paper maybe used for multiple orders.

-10-   posted HERE

-11-   posted HERE.  Available as a pop-up gift card holder.

-12-   posted HERE, see below for inside view.  Similar patterned paper maybe used for multiple orders.

-13-  

 inside pocket holds cash or gift cards.  

Similar but not identical snowflakes embellishment maybe used for multiple orders.

-14-   posted HERE.  Available as a pop-up gift card holder.

-15-   posted HERE.  Available in shades of green, yellow and blue.  Also available as a pop up gift card holder.

 posted HERE

For additional information, email or call me directly.

Cheers!!!