Tag: make your own christmas cards

Merry and Bright Candy Canes!

Hey Friends! Happy Friday! Did you have a good week!? I sure hope so! And, here we are, less than a week from Thanksgiving!! Yikes, how did that happen? The year is rolling by at the speed of light! I am ready for Thanksgiving and the holidays and getting cozy and all that good stuff! Are you all prepared to have Thanksgiving? Is it at your house? FUN!! Our weather here has been delightful with some pretty clouds and lots and lots of leaves. It's definitely my favorite time of year! I've been doing a lot of organizing and buzzing around town trying to get things done before I next in for Winter! Not doing a ton of crafting – this is kind of a slow time, oddly enough. I do have some fun holiday ideas I want to try and make!! Today I'm sharing a card I made with beautiful new and old supplies from Honey Bee Stamps! I have a thing for candy canes and I have so many different stamps and dies with candy canes on them…. The ones I used today are three layers so I chose pink as my third color – it's so sweet and pretty!!

My finished card is an A2 white card base layered with gorgeous striped paper and then a scalloped rectangle… Then the feature is those candy canes and some winter foliage and a silver, sparkly bow! (All my supplies are listed at the bottom of my post)!

Here's a side view of my card to show the layers! I heat embossed the sentiment with white embossing powder onto black paper…. I popped up the white rectangle with foam tape because I love a lot of dimension.

The candy canes die set comes with the pretty foliage and that sweet bow. I used two shades of green for the foliage and bright silver cardstock for the bow. I think overall I ended up with kind of a 50's retro look, which I love! Look at the beautiful debossing on the leaves from the dies!!! OOH LA LA.

I used some clear droplets on the card to look like icicles! Makes it feel cold! LOLZ.

To make the candy canes, I die cut white, pink and red cardstocks and then glued them together. SO easy and I love the result.

May your days be merry and bright indeed!!

That's it for today! I hope you have an awesome weekend! I will be back on Monday with the introduction of a GORGEOUS new release from The Greetery! The final release of the year from one of our favorite companies! You are going to love it! I can't wait to show you!!

NOTE!! If you're shopping, I would be so excited and grateful if you would use any of my affiliate shopping links! CLICK HERE FOR THE LIST! (Including Amazon – and hopefully soon Target!) This helps me out more than I can even tell you and I thank you in advance!! THANK YOU in advance!!!! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!

CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see the supplies used for today's card! (Affiliate Links Used)

November 17, 2023
The Greetery Fair Isle and Pretty Pines….

Helllooooo friends! How was your week? This week flew by so fast! I hope you had a good one! We have had the best weather this week here in Sacramento and it was a nice week with lots of things accomplished. Not sure what we're doing this weekend yet! How about you?! Got any fun plans? Are you knee deep in holiday crafting? We are going to go to some vintage markets this weekend and I'm excited to be outside in the brisk weather and also to see some beautiful Christmas things. There are so many activities this time of year!!

Today I have a project up on The Greetery Blog, and like always, I'm sharing it here on my blog too! It's another Christmas card mixing and matching old and new Greetery stamps, dies, and stencils. I was in the Christmas spirit after the last amazing Greetery release, so I made another Wintery Christmas card to share with you today. You can never get too early of a start on those Christmas cards!

I created a little Alpine scene with frosty pines and fair isle pattern… LOVE! My finished card is an A2 white card base that I covered in red cardstock. My patterned layer was made with the gorgeous Fair Isle Stencils…. Then the Frost Pines Dies are on top… I used some vellum and a bit of sparkle to make it fun.

Here's a close up of all my layers! I started by making my background stenciled panel. I used Distress Inks in shades of greens, reds and aqua with my soft blender brushes. It came out so nice! Next I die cut out two of the Frosty Pines Dies. I used Kraft, Green, and white paper for the trees. I assembled my trees and then splattered them with white paint 'snow'. I also generously added Diamond Stickles onto the snowy portions of the trees. A few red pearls for a little pop of color on that top circle. I am kind of obsessed with those stencils and I used traditional Christmas colors! I wish I had a sweater with this print because I do love a fair isle!

I stenciled with both small and large blender brushes and Distress Inks. So easy to achieve this pretty result.

The sentiment is from the Merry Sprigs stamp set. I really like this cool retro looking font!

Wishing you a very happy day and a happy weekend! Lots of love from my craft room to yours!! XOXO

CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see the supply list for today's card! (Affiliate Links Used)

November 10, 2023
Pretty Pink Posh – New Release – Christmas Stockings!

Hi crafty friends! How are you today? Hope you're doing great and getting crafty! Today I'm sharing another project I made with the brand new Pretty Pink Posh Holiday Release! I adore this new release so much! I shared two cards last week for the big blog hop, both Christmas cards. Well, today I used the new products with some other PPP items to make a cute stocking card! Today PPP is having a big Instagram Hop to celebrate this new PPP Release! So be sure to head over to Instagram and leave a comment to be able to win a PPP gift certificate! As always with an Instagram Hop, I'm sharing my card here too. I couldn't wait to show you this card!!

CLICK HERE TO SHOP THE NEW PPP RELEASE!

My card features the brand new Build A Stocking Dies, the new Holiday Mug Additions, and the new Eyelet Rectangles! My finished card is an A2 white card base, layered with an eyelet rectangle and then those adorable stockings!!

Here's a side view of my card to show you my layers and elements…. I love those little peppermint candies! And the details on the stockings are just perfection…

I ink blended just the top of my rectangle using ink and a blender brush. I generously splashed on silver metallic paint splatters. It's so shimmery and pretty in person…

That little tag is so sweet! I added a bit of twine and a heart….

CLICK HERE TO SHOP THE NEW PPP RELEASE!

I die cut the stockings from colored cardstock and used Copic Markers to add a bit of shading. I used white glitter paper for the tops of the stockings. I used gems in the centers of the candies…

I'm all about the details…. A Bow, a snowflake, some little trees….everything Christmas!

That's it for today's spooky fun project!! Be sure to head over to Instagram to leave comments in the hop! I hope you have a fantastic day! Thanks for spending part of it with me here! I'll be back tomorrow with a new card for The Greetery! XOXO

CLICK HERE TO SHOP THE NEW PPP RELEASE!

CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see the supply links/list for today's card! (Affiliate Links Used)

October 18, 2023
Pretty Pink Posh – Holiday New Release 2023 – Christmas Cards!

Helllooooo and howdy and Happy Friday! I have MORE Christmas cards to share with you today! I am almost done making all my Christmas cards now! Ha! There were so many beautiful new releases this year and I'm so honored to be part of the fun to show them to you here on my blog. Today is yet another awesome Holiday release – this time from Pretty Pink Posh!! The new release is already available in the PPP store and it's SO GOOD! Perfectly cheerful and happy and warm. Today is day three of a big blog hop celebrating the new October/Holiday release from our friends at Pretty Pink Posh. I hope my cards today get you in the mood to so some holiday crafting! I have two cards today, and then I'll share another card next week when we do the Instagram Hop.

CLICK HERE TO SHOP THE NEW PPP HOLIDAY 2023 RELEASE!!

My first card for today features the brand new Holiday Birds dies, the brand new Pierced Snowflakes Die and the new Sentiment Strips Christmas Stamp Set! I also used the gorgeous Decorative Birdhouses dies and some other favorite PPP items. All my exact supplies are listed at the bottom of my post!! My finished card is an A2 white card base. The blue layer mimics a pretty winter sky with snowflakes…then my focal images.

Here's a side view of my card to show you the layers and elements…. That pretty sentiment fits perfectly across the bottom of my card….

The new Holiday Birds are SOOO CUTE!!! There are three little birds (I made cardinals), a little hat, a scarf, and more! EEP. He's about to nest down for the winter in his cute house!!

Here's a close up of that gorgeous new background die with the snowflakes. I splattered on some white paint/snow….

CLICK HERE TO SHOP THE NEW PPP HOLIDAY 2023 RELEASE!!

I used plaid, black and green to make my birdhouse. I wanted it to be very Christmas-y!

For the opening of the birdhouse I used the little tree that comes in the new Stocking Shaker set. It was the perfect size! I added a little heart over the opening of their love nest. I added snowflakes too….

CLICK HERE TO SHOP THE NEW PPP HOLIDAY 2023 RELEASE!!

My second card today features the brand new Candy Cane Stencils Set, the new Merry Christmas Shadow dies, and the new Eyelet Rectangles Dies. I used a traditional color palette of red, white and silver, with just a little pop of green!! My finished card is an A2 white card base. Layered with red, kraft, vellum and white.

Here's a side view of my layers…. I used vellum with that beautiful new rectangle die and I love it!! The sentiment was die cut from silver glitter paper for some Christmas shimmer! The candy canes are from the Winter Mug Die Set. They are so fresh and pretty.

I added red enamel dots for the holly berries and two shades of green for the holly leaves.

In this photo, you can get a close up look of the new stencil set! LOOOOVE! (I always love a candy cane theme)…. I used kraft cardstock and stenciled with white pigment ink (Using a small sponge dauber). I dried the pigment ink with my heat tool. Then I used bright red ink and a dauber to go over the white. The key here is to really make sure that white ink is dry first before doing the red ink. It came out so nice.

CLICK HERE TO SHOP THE NEW PPP HOLIDAY 2023 RELEASE!!

Thanks for stopping by my blog today for this fun introduction of the beautiful new holiday release, and for the exciting blog hop! It was nice to share with you! Have a great day today and keep on crafting! I have one more card to share next week that I made with this new release. Can't wait to show it to you! XOXO

If you're new to my blog today because of the hop – please take a moment and subscribe to my content! You will be emailed any time I do a new blog post! HERE'S THE LINK TO SIGN UP AND SUBSCRIBE!

BLOG HOP PRIZE INFO! There are FOUR $30 gift certificates up for grabs (one winner each day of the hop). Winners will be picked randomly along the blog hop from all the comments. Comments must be left by 11:59 PM PST on 10/19!! Winners will be announced on the PPP blog. Good Luck!!

CLICK HERE TO SHOP THE NEW PPP RELEASE!

CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see all the supplies I used for today's projects!

TODAY'S FUN BLOG HOP LINEUP!!

Pretty Pink Posh blog

Cathy Zielske

Wanda Guess

Barbara Tarayao

Jeanne Jachna

Dana Kirby

Mindy Eggen

October 13, 2023
Sunny Studio Stamps – 8th Birthday Celebration Blog Hop! Holiday Cards!

Wowza! There's a lot going on around here in crafty land!! It's all good!! SOOOO many beautiful new stamp collections coming out lately, and lots of Christmas already this year. I guess it's good if you're organized and ready to start Christmas! (I am not that organized! LOL) I do love sharing everything with you and introducing you to new goodies from my favorite companies. Today is a big blog hop to celebrate the 8th anniversary of Sunny Studio Stamps! Yiipppeeee! Congratulations to Mendi for eight fun years of creativity!! Here's to many more! I have two Christmas cards to share with you today. If you're new here because of the hop – welcome! XOXO

My first card today features the brand new Woolen Mittens Dies, the brand new Diamond Die, and some old favorites from Sunny Studio!! It's a cozy card perfect for any winter occasion. I used pink and aqua because I love those colors for holidays… My finished card is an A2 white card base, layered with striped paper, then that big cozy mitten!!

Here's a side view of my card to show all the layers and elements. I die cut out all the pieces from colored cardstock and used distress inks to add shading. I also generously splashed on some white paint 'snow'!

I die cut the mitten from pink cardstock and then ran it back through my Big Shot using the new Diamond cover die – love that look!! I die cut some pretty aqua snowflakes to add color and wintery goodness…

I thought this was the perfect sentiment for a mitten card!!

For a little embellishmnent, I die cut out the small tag and added a snowflake and red twine…

There are so many pretty details in this die set! I love the holly…. And I love that the cuff has two pieces to mix and match more colors…. I stamped some aqua snowflakes around the mitten…

My second card for today features the brand new Holiday Hugs stamps and dies!! It's the cutest bear, and he has items he can hold in his hands. Of course I chose the mug of cocoa for him to hold! I debated making him a white polar bear, or a fluffy brown bear…. He is colored with Copic Markers and I love his colorful scarf! My finished card is an A2 card base…

Here's a side view of my card. I used the pretty striped background in red and white because it reminded me of candy canes… I stamped and colored the bear and mug and colored with Copics. I added white gel pen accents and a bit of glitter on the marshmallows….

There is a separate die cut included in the die set, and it cuts out his hands so he can hold the items. It's so clever! I added his mug and a little heart for good measure…

I used Stazon ink on vellum to add my sentiment….

Thanks for stopping by my blog today to help celebrate the anniversary for Sunny Studio! I love their stamps and I'm so happy to help Mendi share her exciting anniversary. Wishing you a blessed and happy day today! XOXO

PRIZE INFORMATION! Sunny Studio has generously given each of us a $25 gift certificate code to give away on our blogs for a total of $425 in prizes throughout the week. WOW! The contest will run through Monday, August 28th. To enter to win, please leave a comment here on this blog post! Sunny Studio will announce all winners on the Sunny Studio blog on Friday, September 1st, and will email all the winners their shopping codes directly! GOOD LUCK!!

August 25, 2023
Pretty Pink Posh Holiday 2022 New Release Blog Hop! Winter Wishes!

Hi everyone! How are you today!? How's your week going so far? I'm having a good week, but it's going by way too fast! Like how does time even go this fast?! It's finally starting to feel like Fall here in Northern California and I am absolutely loving the cool mornings! Hope you're doing great!

Today is a HUGE blog hop to celebrate the beautiful new holiday release from Pretty Pink Posh! I'm so happy to be part of the hop and to help introduce the new stamps, dies and stencils. Everything is just wonderful. I think you're gonna love it too. Really puts me in the Christmas and Winter mood! I am sharing two projects today with the new items – a card and some paper ornaments. Let's get to it! Prize information, blog hop links, and the Supply List are all at the bottom of my post.

First up is my Winter Wishes coffee mug card! My finished card is an A2 white card base, layered with some stripes and then another white layer. This card features the brand new Winter Mug Die Set, the brand new Pine Wreath Stamp Set, and the brand new Winter Wishes script die! LOVE LOVE LOVE! I mean, coffee and candy canes??? What's not to love!? (because peppermint mocha season is coming soon!)

Here's a side view so you can see all the layers. I die cut everything out first with my favorite cardstock colors…. Then I laid out my design to make sure it would all fit!

That awesome coffee mug is the star of the show, but I wanted more wintery goodness! I stamped and die cut out the pretty Pine Wreath to use kind of like background paper. I die cut the Winter Wishes from rich black cardstock to be in contrast to the other colors. Everything was generously splashed with snow (white paint) to look icy.

I die cut the candy canes and gave them a good coating of my favorite Rock Candy Glitter. I added a bit of ink to the marshmallows and also dunked them in glitter.

The snowflakes and holly leaves also come in the mug die set. THEY are PERFECT! I added some gems and rhinestones from my stash…

Next up, I made some pretty Christmas ornaments using the brand new Pine Trees Dies! These would also be nice tied onto a gift bag or a present! They are just the right size, and really easy to make. These were made using the larges of the three tree dies.

I die cut six pine tree shapes out of really old paper from my stash. Feels good to use up the stash! I used my Scor Pal to score each tree in half and then glued them together – so simple! I used some twine glued in the center so I could hang them.

Here is one of them in my hand for scale!

I splattered all the ornaments with white paint and I also added bits of Platinum Stickles to the tips of the branches. I was going for a nice vintage look. There is no end to the ideas!! Add sequins or gems, ink blending, glitter cardstock…..

Here's the bottom so you can see the construction. I used six panels but you could use any number to get the desired effect.

Thank you so much for stopping by today! Glad to have you here! There is also a big PPP Instagram Hop starting tomorrow! I'll have another card to share that I made with the new release! Remember to enter my giveaway that's running until the end of this month (DETAILS HERE). See you soon! XO

PRIZE ALERT PRIZE ALERT!!! Pretty Pink Posh is giving away THREE $30 gift certificates for this three day blog hop! Winners will be chosen randomly from all the blogs/comments!! Comments must be left by 11:59 PM PST on 10/24/2022. Winners will be announced on the PPP blog! Good Luck!!

CLICK HERE to shop the new PPP Release – It's live now!

CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see the supplies used for today's projects! (Affiliate Links Used)

BLOG HOP LIST FOR TODAY!!

Pretty Pink Posh blog

Rachel Alvarado

Wanda Guess

Jeanne Jachna

Melody Rupple

Yoonsun Hur

Lisa Mears

Stefanie Loh

October 19, 2022
The Greetery – A Song of Christmas New Release – Day 2!

Hey hey hey! It's Day Two of The Greetery new release week! The new release is called A Song of Christmas! Today's song theme is Deck The Halls! There are product/project reveals three days this week and then the new release will be available for shopping on Friday, October 7th at 10am EST! I have two more cards to share today with you. I went with a vivid and bright color story today on both of my cards. If you didn't see yesterday's post – make sure to go back and read it so you're all caught up!!

My first card today features the brand new Jumbo Curiosity Ornaments and the brand new Twinkle Background Die (swoon)! My finished card is an A2 white card base. I used the Twinkle Background as my layer to feature that pretty ornament!

Here's a close up side view of the background die and the ornament die!! I used the Pine Wisps Dies and the Tied Up Dies to add a tree and bow to my ornament.

I used glitter and white paint and silver pearl paint to make a snowy look!

The background was ink blended with Blender Brushes and Mermaid Lagoon Oxide Ink!! SO vivid and cool and icy!

The sentiment is from the Opposites Attract Holiday stamp/die combo released last year! I really just wanted a clean and simple sentiment and this was perfect!

My second card for today showcases the brand new Mistletoe Arches stamp, dies, and stencil suite!! It also features the brand new Arched Holiday Sentiments stamps and dies. I went with a frosty pink and green color palette and I could not love it more. These stencils are awesome. My finished card is an A2 card base. I also layered some vellum and hot pink gingham to this fresh and happy card.

Here's a close up view of the sentiments and my card layers. I used Copper embossing powder for this project – and it matches the pink! Like a soft rose gold feeling to it!! I started by stenciling the entire panel of Mistletoe branches and berries and then die cut it out with the matching die. I stamped the arched sentiment in black onto an arched panel. I used pink ink to ink blend just the bottom of the arched part.

I love how the swirls in the larger sentiment fit perfectly inside the arched sentiment. It truly is all in the details, and Betsy thinks of everything!

I put vellum behind the opening in the Mistletoe arch – I just always like that look. I popped the Merry & Bright sentiment up with some foam dots too, and then added a couple of pink hearts.

Alrighty friends! That's it for day two of The Greetery New Release week!! Thanks for stopping by to hang out with me…. Be sure to check back in tomorrow too! MORE good things are to come. Have a great day! XOXO

Remember the new release is live for sale on Friday, October 7th at 10am EST! I am so excited for you to create with these pretty supplies! I know they will bring you joy as they did me.

PRIZE INFORMATION! The Greetery will be giving away two $50 gift cards each day!! To be entered to win, leave a comment on each blog for every day of the release! Random comments will be chosen and announced on The Greetery Blog!

CLICK HERE TO SHOP THE GREETERY STORE!

CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see the exact supplies I used for today's cards! (affiliate links used)!

DESIGN TEAM INSPIRATION FOR TODAY!

Angelica

Kelly

Dana

Melissa

Wanda

Laurie

Dawn

October 5, 2022
Peppermint Cocoa Anyone!?

Hi crafty friends! I'm back! I made a super cute card yesterday and I couldn't wait to share it! So you guys know that I love Pumpkin Spice everything, right? Well, as soon as it turns winter, I loooooove Peppermint + Chocolate everything! LOL. So predictable! I love Peppermint Mochas from Starbucks and I REALLY love the Peppermint shakes at Chik-fil-a! OOOH LA LA. This card has a funny story…. The coffee/cocoa mugs are made with a Halloween die set! The die set is called Boo Brew and I loved it the second I saw it. So much so, that I ordered and bought it TWICE! But then fall came and went and I never even used it (either of them, LOL)…. Well the dies were in my 'in basket' on my desk and I got the creative wheels turning…. And out emerged this Winter themed card with a Halloween die set! Yay! I hope you're having a good week – sorry for the long story. Let's look at my card!

The finished card is an A2 card base that I covered with peppermint striped paper from the new Doodlebug collection!! All the light colored parts are cream cardstock, not white. I wanted a bit of a vintage flair to this one. I used stamps and dies from lots of companies for this card. Supplies are listed at the bottom of my post.

So if you imagine this mug in orange, can you see the pumpkin sections now?? I did red/red tone on tone to make it look like a fancy mug. I used red cardstock and then inked the edges with Brick Distress ink for depth. I glued on a snowflake (cream cardstock) and made a candy cane and a Gingerbread Man too! The leaves are supposed to be the pumpkin leaves, but I used them as holly!! The candy cane die and the Gingerbread man die are both old and discontinued from Taylored Expressions.

You know I had to add lots of rock candy glitter to my elements!! Especially that mountain of whip cream! I added enamel dots to look like holly berries and also for the centers of the snowflakes.

This FABULOUS background die is from Ellen Hutson from last year. I AM OBSESSED with it. I use it all the time!! So pretty and swirly!

I distress inked around the leaves and also my Gingerbread Man….

This pretty sentiment was stamped in dark brown ink onto a cream circle. I used the Lawn Fawn Magic Holiday Messages stamps and dies for the sentiment. I added a kraft paper scalloped circle around the word circle.

I feel like I would absolutely love to sit down with all of you and have a cup of coffee or cocoa and share the holiday season! I hope this card warmed your heart a little bit on this cold day. I will be back tomorrow with something really fun – and not holiday related!! See you then! XOXO

CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see the supply list for today's card! (Affiliate Links Used)

December 15, 2021
Pigment Craft Co – Christmas Hugs and Love – and Ink Pads!

Hi everyone! Merry Christmas-time! It's getting closer and closer now! Not much time left for me to finish all my crafty ideas! I think I might have to just let it go for this year! I hope you are doing great and enjoying the season. We have been out doing lots of activities – craft fairs, Christmas Festivals, Zoo Lights, Volunteering and more! Oh, and it was my husband's birthday this weekend too. Whew. No wonder I'm tired! It has been so nice to be out doing things in the fresh crisp air. Everyone is jolly and happy to be busy. Feels good. Today it's really windy and pouring rain and I'm trying to get things done before the power inevitably goes out. Wishing you a happy season!!

Today's post features stamps, dies and inks from one of my favorite companies – Pigment Craft Co! For my birthday, the hubs bought me the entire set of ink pads. I LOVE THEM! I got them all swatched up and I've been using them on projects. They are wonderful. Today I'm sharing my thoughts on the ink pads, and a card I made with the GORGEOUS Christmas limited edition kit!

My finished card is an A2 card base covered with my fav woodgrain paper. One layer of white cardstock and then the clean and graphic images. Simple and sweet and maybe kinda retro too.

Here are some of the ink colors….. It's a muted palette with mostly warm shades and tones. The colors are (to me) a bit retro and I looooove that. I don't have any of these colors in any of my other ink pad collections. They are super SUPER juicy and with the foam top so you just barely need any ink for good coverage.

Here's my little swatch booklet on a ring! I used my mini tags from Doodlebug (supplies listed at the bottom of my post) and extra thick cardstock. ONE stamp with a heart – see that beautiful coverage???

One of my favorite sentiment sets from Pigment too!!

Here's a close up of two of the pads…. Really saturated and nice, smooth foam pads. I think they are going to last a long time. I am starting to prefer this type of pad over the cloth ones with the threads….

I am particularly drawn to all the greens and blues in this ink collection. SO many pretty choices.

And here's a little shot of my front porch! I love poinsettias!

Okay – that's it for today! Happy Monday! Have an awesome week! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!!! XOXO

CLICK HERE to check out the PIGMENT CRAFT CO website!

CLICK HERE or on the graphic below for the supply list for today's card! (Affiliate Links Used)

December 13, 2021
Vintage Style Christmas Cards – it’s almost December!

Hi everybody! Can you believe tomorrow is December 1st? Now Christmas is gonna be here like in a blink of an eye!! We decorated the house over the weekend and switched everything from Fall to Christmas. It looks really pretty and happy at our house and I like it!! I got down the bins (yes, bins) of Christmas apparel so I can be festive all December long! Yeah, I'm the crazy lady who wears Christmas sweaters!! I have gathered quite a collection over the years. I have one sweater still that's about 25 years old now. Tomorrow I'm going to be doing gift wrapping at the mall with our church and I cannot wait. I LOOOOVE wrapping presents! I signed up for a couple of shifts of wrapping. I'm thinking about Christmas cooking and it's like Santa's workshop here in the craft room. The entire floor is covered in Christmas stuff. Ha. I hope you are doing great this week. Sending a big holiday hug your way today!

On Sunday I had a 'free' day in the craft room to make whatever I wanted – no rules or assignments. I had some cool Tim Holtz products on my list to use and decided to make some vintage style Christmas cards to share with you. These are 'all day' cards. Hahaha. Waiting for layers to dry and adding more and more stuff to everything. Love it. I don't do this kind of crafting enough!! Both of these cards are big fat squares – more room for stuff. Let's get started.

The focal point of this card is Mr. Winston the Snowman!! Isn't he dapper in his top hat?? This is a Tim Holtz Die set called Winston – Colorize! There are tons of pieces and layers and coolness. There were a lot of different routes to go with this die set… I decided to die cut out all the pieces from Watercolor paper and then I used Distress Inks to color all the pieces. For the card I layered kraft and plaid papers and then stamped and inked another watercolor panel for the top.

The sentiment is from the Labels Sticker Pack – I thought he was Holly Jolly!! The die set comes with a broom for Winston. I didn't really want to use the broom so I started rummaging through all my die sets. BAM! I found it – the Tattered Florals set has a perfect branch to make Winston some arms! What do you think?? And in his hand he's holding a big fat heart!

Here's a close up of the snowman – you can see the die cut layers…. Everything is colored with Distress Inks. When I watercolor with my Distress Inks I used my minis and I smush some ink onto a big stamping block. I keep some water nearby and add water as I go. This is a great way to watercolor!! The ink is super forgiving and easy to layer. I also die cut two holly branches to make some greenery behind him. Lots of Rock Candy Glitter!! I made some snow too! I improvised and mixed together some Embossing Paste and some white Nuvo drops to make a paste to look snowy. Then of course, I covered it in more glitter!!

For the background, I stamped some postmarks and some snowflakes. The snowflakes are so funky – from the Snarky Cats stamp set!! In this photo you can see the scarf – it's four pieces!!!! Nice and thick.

The heart is an OLLLLLLD handheld punch from my stash.

I love how the snow came out on his hat. He needs some cocoa!!

This next card is classic vintage Christmas with a big bold beautiful poinsettia!! I bought the Tim Holtz Mica Sprays and the first idea that came to mind was using them on my favorite poinsettia dies!! Guess what?? It came out so nice! I layered kraft and black paper, then Tim Holtz patterned paper. The plaid portion I stenciled with the TH Plaid Stencil onto watercolor paper in Evergreen Bough Ink.

The pieces for the poinsettia were die cut from watercolor paper to be nice and sturdy for lots of ink! I sprayed the petals and leaves using only the Holiday Mica Spray Stains. I let them dry for quite a while. I used Icicle Crackle Paste on top of the colors…. It's more subtle than I was hoping…. I would have done it again but it took a really long time to dry. I was looking for bigger cracks – but I don't think I put on a thick enough layer. I splattered some white paint onto the pieces….and glitter….and snow….

For the sentiment I used a Christmas word charm with some twine….. I added some stickers from the TH Sticker Book for some more color…

Here's a close up of the flower. You can see the crackle effect on the petals. It's very pretty (and vivid) in person!! I love how it came out.

I stenciled the plaid stencil using a blender brush and Evergreen Bough ink. Then I used Vintage Photo Ink and a sponge dauber to go around the edges of the plaid panel. I splashed on some ink splatters too, to make it look aged.

I used Doodlebug Sprinkles in gold for the center of the flower.

Close up of the pretty vintage stickers!!

That's it for my vintage inspired cards! I hope I've inspired you to use something new and/or try a new technique! What are you making lately? Do you have something on your desk calling your name?? I hope you have a blessed, happy and creative day! XOXO

CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see the supply list for today's projects! (Affiliate Links Used)

November 30, 2021
The Snow Squad says hello!!

Hello there friends and crafty people!!! Are you having a good weekend!? I hope so! After a very quiet Thanksgiving, we have managed to completely tear the house apart decorating for Christmas! LOLZ. We bough fresh greenery garland at Home Depot and I'm putting it on the windows and mirrors in the house. WHAT A MESSSSSS! It looks so pretty, but it kinda short circuits my OCD tendencies! It's going to be great when we're finished, but the in between is messy! My husband has gone full Clark Griswold in the front yard and it's quite festive around here. I love winter the best (After Fall of course) and I've got all the crafty bins down, and trying to cook, and dang I'm tired already!!

Today's card was made with some new supplies that have been on my desk. I combined them all into one card – I love it when that happens – when the new things go together! I used the cutest dies/stamp combo set from Taylored Expressions – called Snow Squad! (it's on sale right now too)…. Then I used some cool new items from Lawn Fawn…. The finished card is an A2 card base in white.

The focal point of the card – those adorable critters and snowman!!! I gave them colorful scarves and little pink cheeks. They're so happy and festive. The background is a die!!! It's the Simple Stripes and I die cut it from bright red and crisp white to make a candy cane background. I layered some vellum over the stripes. I also added white paint splatters for some snow.

The Snow Squad Dies are easy to use. They fit onto a tag too – but I decided to group them together on my card. I added white gel pen accents. Their scarves are die cut from cardstock, and then I used Copic Markers to add shading. A few enamel dots give some shimmer….

The sentiment is from Lawn Fawn and I die cut it from the matching die set. The cuties and the sentiment circle are affixed to the card with foam tape.

Here's a close up of the stripes – the die has a pretty stitched edge too. I'm so glad I got this one! I'm already envisioning black and orange for Halloween next year!!

Here's a little glimpse at the beautiful greenery we're putting around the house. It smells divine!!! Like a forest! I love it!

That's it for today! Cheers to a happy Sunday and a great week to come! Sending lots of Holiday Cheer your way! XOXO

CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see the supply list for today's card! (Affiliate Links Used)

November 28, 2021
TGIF – The Greetery Inspiration Friday – Colorful Christmas Trees!

Hi crafty friends! I'm excited to craft and share today for TGIF on The Greetery Blog! And of course, I love to share here too! It's always fun to share a project on The Greetery Blog!! I hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving. We had a super quiet and peaceful Thanksgiving at our home. Lots to be grateful for, that's for darn sure. Now, it's time to finish up our Christmas crafting and creating and start the holiday season in earnest. Today I have a suite of projects with a jolly, merry, holiday theme: A card, a gift card holder, and some pretty tags. I used the same Greetery stamps and dies for all the items so it all matches and would be perfect for giving a gift to a special friend. Let's look!

I started by choosing a bright and happy color palette of mid tone colors: Greens, pinks and aqua….then I used some vellum and silver too. It's all icy and sparkly. I used the tree die from Christmas Time in the City to die cut out about 20 of those fabulous trees. That was my main element. I used the dies from the Snowflake Soiree suite to die cut silver snowflakes. I die cut tags using the new Tag Team Duo Dies. I laid out all the designs first and mixed and matched elements until I liked it. I splattered everything with white paint (snow!) of course. Here's a close up of the card. A mix match of trees and a few snowflakes. Then that pretty sentiment in black to set it off! My layers are aqua, vellum and white. I love these colors. (I'm really into pink this year for Christmas already)

The trees were affixed to the card with foam tape to pop off the paper!!

This was my tree lot! LOLZ. I did red trees too, but when I started to put all my items together, the red didn't look right to me… So I'll save those red trees for something else! This makes me happy.

Here are my matching tags. I used the new Tag Team Duo dies to cut out two white tags from super thick cardstock (See supply list)… I used aqua ribbon, Nordic Circles, vellum…and all the pretty winter things…. I got the pastel bells from Amazon!

I stamped just a few snow flurries in aqua ink onto the tags.

I can't wait to tie these on a package!!

I also made a gift card holder out of vellum! The die for this is about 15 years old! It's a big Sizzix die for Jillibean Soup! It's the perfect size. I tucked in a matching Starbucks card and voila -done!

That's it for today! Happy Friday! Happy shopping and decorating and baking and wrapping season!! Wishing you all the very best. See you soon! XOXO

CLICK HERE to shop The Greetery Store!

CLICK HERE or on the graphic below to see the supply list for today's projects (affiliate links used)

November 26, 2021
Pinkfresh Studio November 2021 New Release Blog Hop!

Greetings! It's time for another beautiful release from our friends at Pinkfresh Studio! And today's my birthday! How nice of Pinkfresh Studio to have a celebration for me! LOL! November's release is pretty and feminine and cool!! There are a lot of participants in the hop today so there's plenty of inspiration! Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy the hop! The new release is available now! My supply list is at the bottom of my post along with the link to the full hop!

My finished card is a 5.25" x 5.25" square card! Lots of yummy layers: White, red, vellum…. It's all pretty for Christmas! This new stencil set is a pretty floral that would be nice in any color. I chose to make it into a Christmas theme by using fresh green and bright red inks. I am featuring the new Sweet Leaves Frame stencils and dies, along with some of my favorites from prior releases! A traditional color palette of red and green with a pop of pretty sparkly silver!

I stenciled the floral/leaves sprays using pretty inks from Pinkfresh Studio and blender brushes. I die cut them out with the matching dies. I laid the sprays out to form a pretty medallion effect.

I used the classy Diamond Tiles Background stamp and crisp white ink to stamp the background onto red paper. I splattered on a bit of white paint for snowy effects.

I created a bow using vellum and red. Vellum also is one of the layers, and the backing for my sentiment. I used the Classic Holiday Words Dies and the Artistic Bow Dies.

Here's a close up of my layers….

Be Merry indeed!!! This font is so pretty and delicate – I used my Bearly Arts fine tip glue for this part.

That's it for my cards for today! Thank you for coming by to see me on this fun blog hop. Please make sure to stop by all the blogs and leave some love. I will see you back here real soon!

November 3, 2021
TGIF – The Greetery Inspiration Friday – Winterberry Postcard Christmas Card!

Hi there, crafty friends! Happy Friday! And Halloween weekend….and it's almost my birthday! EEP. So much going on right now! I'm excited to be up on The Greetery Blog today!! It's The Greetery Inspiration Friday! I'm also posting the project here too so we can share. Like a lot of you, I fell head over heels with the new Christmas release earlier this month. It was all so very very pretty. So, today I'm sharing another idea for using the Winterberry Stamps, Stencils and Dies. Definitely one of my favorite things from the release. It is such a beautiful suite of products and it makes my retro loving heart happy. My card was inspired by old postcards and Christmas cards from the 50's and 60's so I used lots of glitter and classic Christmas colors.

My finished card is a horizontal A2 sized card made from red cardstock. I layered woodgrain cardstock and then cream cardstock. I created the background by ink blending shades of yellow Distress Inks. I also stamped over the ink blending with these stamps: Pretty Postmarks and Christmas Time in the Country. I inked the edges of the Postal layer with Distress Ink also. There's a lot going on here – but I love it all!

I used the Winterberry Stamp/Stencil Combo to ink up that pretty floral spray and die cut it out with the matching die. I added lots of glitter! The sentiment is from the Snowflake Soiree Dies set – and I die cut it from silver glitter cardstock. A few pearls were added for dimension and embellishment. I made postage stamps using the smallest ornament from the Curio: Ornaments die set. I thought I needed some vintage postage stamps for this project! My goal was retro fun!

Here's a side view so you can see all the layers. I wish I would have remembered to take a photo of just the background… Sometimes I get too excited while I'm crafting and I forget to stop and take a photo!! I used a cream panel and blended yellows just in the center. Then I used accent stamps over the ink blending, and also some white snow splatters. I popped in a bit of teal with the traditional red and green.

Remember how old Christmas cards had bits and bobs of chunky glitter? I tried to achieve that messy effect here. I used liquid glue and Rock Candy Distress Glitter – my favorite glitter of all time.

Here's a close up of the tiny ornament stamps!

That's it for today's card! This time of year is so strange…. One day pumpkins, one day Christmas cards…. I guess we'll just go with it! Ha! My heart is firmly in FALL mode still, but I keep making Christmas cards too! I will be sharing some super duper fun cards made with the new Hello Bluebird release – this weekend sometime. There's so much good stuff going on. Be well, and have an awesome weekend! XOXO

October 29, 2021
Christmas Magic with Concord & 9th!

Hi friends! I know it's been A LOT of Christmas here lately! Whew. Everyone is trying to get their holiday releases out early so we have time to create and craft. But, dang. It's been so busy (in the best way)!! I think we can get back to Fall crafting here soon, but first, today, I have some Christmas magic to share with you with stamps and dies from Concord & 9th! Greg, the owner, and I have become friends over the years and have shared a lot of laughs together and spaghetti wrapped in pizza (that's a whole other story)…. He's the best. So when I saw the C9 Christmas release I let out an audible gasp! What??? How do they do it?? I told Greg, and he put the whole release to me in the mail. I am very blessed. VERY blessed. The C9 Christmas release this year has so much to love. I'm sharing two cards today, and I have more ideas brewing in my head… Can't wait to share these with you. They've been ready, but I was waiting for all the goodies to be back in stock!

First up – FA LA LA indeed! A pop up Christmas Village!! Adorable!! And, it folds down flat to mail it. Genius. GENIUS! I used the new Card Stacks Base Die (gonna use this a lot – couldn't be easier) to make the frame for the village. I used the Home For the Holidays Dies and the Fa la la die for the top. I combined some other previously released favorites and used the wonderful C9 color cardstocks….

Here's a side view to see all the layers and snow capped roof tops!!! Oh, and those treeeeeeessssss… And those teeny tiny lamp posts!!! Oh my.

The background was made using the C9 Swirls Dies (one of my all time favorite crafting things)…. I put the fa la la across the top using clear glue. Is anyone else singing the Who-ville song???

Here's the top down view…. The Card Stacks Base is a set of four dies. You die cut the main background piece and then three cross pieces. Glue them into place and then decorate! Believe me – I am challenged by construction cards – but this was so easy. I used the snow drift die to make little hills instead of straight cross pieces. I added glitter glue…

Here's the back. I die cut a second one out of aqua to put on the back to make it colorful. But you don't have to do this step.

Here it is folded flat!! You know I'm extra, so I have pieces hanging off the top. I will use an A6 envelope. If I kept it more simple, It would fit into an A2 envelope. Genius.

Here it is folded from the bottom so you can see the construction.

I had so much fun making this project!

Next up is a card I made using the beautiful O Holy Night stamps set. OH MY GOODNESS. That font! The jumbo stamp! The message! I love everything about this. My first idea that popped into my head was "chalkboard technique" for that stamp…. So I made a chalkboard card. But then, after, as I sat and looked at it, it really just looks like a snowy blizzardy night sky! Either way?! LOL. I layered some plaid paper from my stash (from Michael's I think)…

I used the trees and house dies from the same set as the top card. But I made a little country church! I made a cross from woodgrain cardstock. I think it came out perfect.

I heat embossed the sentiment with white embossing powder onto black linen cardstock. After it was embossed, I splattered some white paint/snow onto it. Then I used white pigment ink and a sponge dauber to add some white ink (ie chalkboard style) to the panel.

I want my entire life to be written in this gorgeous font.

A little fake snow for the photos….

So…. Picture me taking all these card pictures and then yelling to my husband…. "can you come in here and help me?" So now picture him standing there holding a handful of snow while I am all set with my camera…. "Cue the snowfall!" Yeah, we are weird but we have fun at our house! Ha.

That's it for the magic today from Concord & 9th! I hope I've inspired you to make something pretty. I'm wishing you lots of happiness and craftiness today. I will see you soon. XOXO

October 9, 2021