Christmas Gift Certificate Envelopes

I'm trying to sort of wrap up blogging some of my Christmas projects, so I have two Gift Certificate envelopes to share today. For the first one, I needed to give a rather unattractive certificate that I printed from email, so I wanted to make a nice fancy envelope for it. I created a custom envelope from white cardstock, and then decorated both the front and back. I used Tremendous Treats: Christmas, Winterberry die-cuts, and a Tiny Tag. Here is the front: 

On the back, I added a Doily Details die-cut and a tag that I stamped with an image from Winterberry, after masking the lower part to add the sentiment from Tiny Tags: Christmas. The tag is only adhered to the top part of the envelope, and then I attached a glue dot to the bottom portion, after pressing it against my hand several times to reduce the stickiness. Hopefully the recipients are able to open the flap without too much effort! :)

The other envelope I made was for the boys! For Christmas, we hooked their Wii up to wifi - something they have requested in the past - and also gave them a Wii Points card so that they could download some games. I made a "certificate" up to tell them that the Wii was now online, and attached the Wii Points card to it. This is the envelope I made I hold it, using Tremendous Treats: Christmas, Background Basics: Christmas, a Tiny Tag, and some Spellbinders and PTI dies.

I want to share the back also, as I really like how it worked out. I wanted to just tuck the top flap down into a slit, so before I adhered the envelope together, I put it through my Big Shot machine with a Spellbinders die, just going in enough to cut the decorative slit on the lower flap. Then I reversed to crank it back out. I really like how it turned out!

As always, thanks for looking! And have a safe and happy New Year!

Merry Christmas - and some Christmas cards!

Merry Christmas! Just a quickie drive-by post to share a few more Christmas cards. These first two are very similar, but a changed out the sentiment and a couple of details for some variety. I just love how they turned out. Nativity Silhouettes is definitely a Christmas favorite! :)

And finally, a card using Winterberry, sentiment from Stylish Sentiments: Holiday, and a some Background Basics: Christmas peeking through the Quatrafoil die cut on the lower half of the card. I also used Waltzingmouse Stamps Very Vintage Labels 18.

Thanks for looking! Off to check on the ham! :)

Christmas Tags

Merry-almost-Christmas-Eve!! Since I've been doing a lot of wrapping in the past couple of days, I thought I'd share some of the tags that I made this year. Tags are so fun, since you can do several in a short time "assembly-line" style, and build up a nice stash to have on hand. I used to hide gift tags on the back of the packages, but now that I make my own, I put them right on the front where they can be part of the package decor! :)

I recently got my first couple of Waltzingmouse sets: Labels 18 and Labels 4. LOVE THEM! I can't wait to get some more WMS sets... I already have a few picked out! So I used a few of the frames in those two sets, along with a lot of PTI, of course: Tremendous Treats: Christmas; Tiny Treats: Christmas; and Winterberry. Also used PTI and Spellbinders dies. 

Thanks for looking!

a couple of Christmas cards!

Wow, my poor blog has been so neglected! I have been taking photos of the Christmas cards I've been making but just haven't stopped to blog them. So I'll try to share some cards and tags over the next few days.

Two cards to share today! This first one is a very simple card with Nativity Silhouettes. I just love this set. I used the new Mega Mat Stack 3 for the focal point, and popped it up on the patterned paper.

The other card I have to share today used Star of Wonder and the Mat Stack 1 Layerz die. The patterned paper is Echo Park, and the decorative die is from the Spellbinders Fleur De Lis accents set.

I'm going to share a few other cards over the next few days (now that they are in the mail, lol!)... I hope you'll come back to see!

Thanks for visiting and have a very Merry Christmas!

Another Make It Monday: Background from Sentiment Stamps

I managed to get another card finished for the current Make It Monday challenge! I used a combination of images and sentiments from Nativity Silhouettes and Star of Wonder. I just love how these two sets coordinate so beautifully together! The card base and the rectangular panel are Soft Stone, and I sponge-inked the edges of the panel with light blue and then a darker blue just on the edge. I stamped the sentiment a few times, stamping off each time first.  

I stamped the sunburst in dark blue on the panel and on the Spring Rain half-and-half strip, both times stamping off lightly first. I also stamped it using versamark ink on Spring Rain cardstock, and then stamped the circular image in dark blue on top, and punched it out. I lined up the panel, the strip and the circle so that the sunburst images were lined up, with the circle popped up on dimensional adhesive.

I matted the panel on Enchanted Evening, added the scalloped patterned paper strip (Echo Park), and some gems.

Thanks for looking!

Make it Monday: Backgrounds with Sentiment Stamps

I was so tickled with myself to get a card made for this week's Make It Monday challenge ON MONDAY... but then, it took me until now to actually get the photo uploaded and blog it, so I guess no gold star for me after all. LOL! But I do really love this challenge - did you see Betsy's card?? Oh my goodness, it's gorgeous! I decided to go with my Winterberry stamp set, which I got last month, but just got the dies for it when they came out this month. I layered the background with both images and sentiments from the set, stamping off lightly first to get a subtle image. I also stamped a few of the small sprigs, and the berry cluster from Harvest Berries, without stamping off first. I think the variation in the "boldness" of the stamping adds a lot of wonderful depth.

I popped up the die-cut tree, colored with Copics, and added a sweet Little Bitty Bird and a Tiny Tag 2. The patterned paper background is from Echo Park, and the Mega Mat Stack 1 is on Fine Linen, with the tree, bird and tag all cut from Vintage Cream, and a Vintage Cream card base.

Both the tree + bird, and the mat stack, are popped up on dimensional adhesive.

Thanks for looking! :)

Another Make it Monday - Background Building

Just a quickie post to share another card I finished for this week's Make it Monday challenge - background building. I wanted to use my new Winterberry set, and I thought using the hanging ornaments in the set would add some nice punches of color!

The ornaments, leaves, and berries are colored with Copics. I also added the little 3-dot berry grouping from Harvest Berries to fill in some of the white space and balance the design a bit. I used the Holly Jolly die to cut the leaves from felt for the raised sentiment panel, and added some little gems for a touch of sparkle.

Thanks for looking! :)

Make it Monday: Multi-stamp Background Building

Wow, my poor neglected blog! October was a really busy month! But I am so happy that today I managed to find a little bit of crafty time, and completed a card for Nichole Heady's latest Make It Monday challenge, which is to build a background pattern using multiple stamps. Seeing as how it's November 1st and I have not yet used my new Autumn Acorns set, I thought that a pretty fall-leaf background was a perfect plan. I combined the leaves (stamped in Orange Zest, Summer Sunrise and Terracotta Tile, and berries from Harvest Berries in Pure Poppy) with a small image from Turning a New Leaf (stamped in Spring Moss), a sentiment from Tag-Its #7, and a Little Label.

I die-cut and stamped the double leaf and adhered it with the sentiment on a Dark Chocolate fillable frame #1 die-cut, popped it up on the background and added some twine and a Dark Chocolate button to finish it off.

Thanks for another great challenge, PTI, and thanks for looking!

Another Make it Monday - thick chipboard accent

Super quick post because... ack... I just realized that I never posted this card I did last week, for the Make It Monday challenge! My thick chipboard accent is that sweet little Fly Away plane. Thanks for looking! :)

Make It Monday: layered chipboard accent

A fun Make It Monday challenge this week: create a thick chipboard accent by layering several die-cuts of thin chipboard (which the thin dies can cut!). I just got some new Echo Park 6x6 pads, including the lovely Victoria Garden. I combined that with a piece of the new PTI Candy Cane Prints paper, which I cut at an angle so that the diagonal stripes would be vertical.

My thick chipboard element is the Turning a New Leaf accent, with a top layer of Simply Chartreuse, stamped with versamark ink. I also used the Layerz Mat Stack 2 die, the Limitless Layers collection, Tag-its 3, and a sentiment from Take 3 Summer, to complete the focal point.  

The focal point panel is layered over the thick chipboard stem, and then popped up on dimensional foam adhesive.

Thanks for looking!

Happy FIRST birthday to my sweet and beautiful niece!

My adorable little niece turns ONE today! Happy Birthday Jessica! I used Big Birthday Wishes for this card, along with the By the Number dies and some fun Echo Park patterned paper. My favorite Doily Details die created a pretty layer for the focal point.

I finished the inside too and added that cute little cupcake from Tiny Treats: Birthday. I have to confess, though, that the addition of the cupcake all stemmed from stamper error. I originally stamped the "happy birthday" directly on the inside of the card, but a big blob of ink smudged from the corner of my acrylic block. I HATE THAT! I had to fix it (the front of the card was already completed) so I cut the little white rectangle to stamp the sentiment on, but then felt like it needed something else - voila, cupcake + Copics and problem is solved! :)

 

Thanks for looking!

Make It Monday: Background from non-Background Stamps

The newest Make It Monday challenge is to create a custom background by repeated stamping of images that are not intended as backgrounds. I noticed recently that I need to beef up the supply of birthday cards in my stash, so I used the cute little cake image from Tag-Its #1, which I stamped in alternating staggered rows of Orange Zest and Hawaiian Shores. Then I added the repeated "happy birthday" sentiment, also from Tag-Its #1, in green. The "eat cake" sentiment (it seemed the obvious choice, lol) is from 2011 Birthday Tags, and is stamped on a Label Basics circle, along with the coordinating little curly strip from Tiny Treats: Birthday. 

I attached the circle to a Doily Details doily, tied on a Tiny Tag, and added a Hawaiian Shores button and twine. The tag is popped up on dimensional adhesive.

Thanks for looking!

Happy Birthday to my OLDER brother! :)

Just a quick post to share the birthday card that I recently sent to my brother. I just got PTI's Enjoy the Ride - one of those sets that I have seen around for a while but it just finally "caught my eye" and I suddenly had to have it! LOL! This is the first card I made with it. I think it's going to be a very versatile set! Rather than use one of the fun license plate phrases that came in the set, I used Simple Alphabet to put together my own license plate message. ;)

I also just Polka Dot Basics 2 on the background, and the Cane Print impression plate.

Thanks for looking!

Make it Monday: Colored Pencils

I got a little bit of time today, so figured I would tackle the newest Make it Monday Challenge on Nichole Heady's blog! Jenn Ellefson did a great tutorial on using colored pencils, something I've never really experimented with. I thought that the boys had some cheapo colored pencils in a big art set that they have had for years, so I went to find them, and lo and behold - found a 24 box of Prismacolor pencils instead! WOOHOO! I don't have any of the little blending tools that Jennifer used, so I improvised: I cut a Q-tip's cotton tip off and trimmed the stick a bit so that it came to sort of a dull point, and dipped that in Baby Oil to blend the pencils. It wasn't perfect (I'm sure the proper tool would work better), but it definitely did the job!

I used the flowers from Summer Jar Fillers in shades of pinks and purples with the stems from Daydreamer and a Little Label for the sentiment. I added a teeny little dot of Liquid Pearls to the center of each flower.

Thanks for the great video, Jenn and PTI! I still love my Copics, but I think I will be reaching for colored pencils again from time to time! :)

Papertrey Ink August 2011 Blog Hop!

GO, ME! I didn't think I was going to get to participate in this month's blog hop, because I had not had a chance to do a project for it yet. But, I managed to squeeze in some stamping time today and made a card! Yay! The challenge this month was to use the inspiration photo that Nichole provided. (See the bottom of this post for the photo.) The things that jumped out at me from the photo were:

1. The colors pink and green

2. The pretty flowers

3. The jar - maybe since I just recently started to aquire the Friendship Jar and Fillers series! :)

4. The pattern on the inside of the case - which I don't think is exactly damask, but it reminded me of damask, and screamed out for me to use Damask Designs! :)

I was also eager to use the new Bloom Builders #3 die, so I made my flowers out of that, using Daydreamer for the stems.

The flowers are Raspberry Fizz and Hibiscus Burst. I used Tiny Tags for the sentiment, and added another small single image from Damask Design to tie it into the background.

 

The original inspiration photo is below.  Thanks for looking!

sending smiles

Just a quick post today, to share this card that I made a while back when I wanted to play with my Iconic Images set. I added flowers to the pitcher using Peaceful Garden greenery, and the little flower from Tag Its 3. The sentiment is from Little Labels.

Thanks for looking!

Make it Monday: Glitter Die Borders

OK, I'm not gonna lie. When I saw the topic that Erin Lincoln came up with for this week's Make It Monday technique on Nichole Heady's blog, I was not sure whether I wanted to try it. Glitter and I typically do not get along very well! But, I had an idea of where to go with it, and after all, the whole point of the MIM challenges is to try new things, right? :) So off I went!

Just today, I got Damask Designs in the mail, as part of a lovely prize package from a blog giveaway I won at Are You On the Fence, so I was eager to put it to use! So I used the Mat Stack 5 die, splitting it in half to use on either side of the card front. I liked the Hawaiian Shores and Smokey Shadow color combo, but I wanted another pop of color so added the Eyelet Lace border to each edge in Raspberry Fizz.

Here is a close-up look at the glitter border, and the bit of bling I added to the sentiment (Creative Charms clear gems colored with a Copic to match). The sentiment is from the Round and Round anniversary set, and is on a banner from Banner Builder.

Well, thanks for the challenge Erin, and for pushing me outside of my comfortable little box! :) I'm not sure that I'm converted to a glitter fan, but it was fun to pull it out for this project, and I'm very happy with the result.

Thanks for looking!