Snowman Season - crafting through the seasons

Last year I was really disappointed in myself, I did not really make any Christmas Cards and did not send many either. Part of the problem was putting it off and then the normal life got in the way excuse.

I love making cards, but I am not good at sending them to people, they seem to be left in a box. It is something that I really need to get better at. This year I am determined to make and send all my friends and family cards, especially Christmas Cards.

So I have set myself a challenge to make a minimum of 5 Christmas Cards a week to be able to send cards to everyone on my card list. So I have created the Claire’s Creative Christmas Card Challenge aka #5cscrimbochallenge. I have decided to document what is happening.

My first card idea is a Simple Christmas Card using the Snowman Season Stamp Set and Glitter. Although Stampin’Up! does not sell Glitter any more there are lots of choices out there for you to choose from, If you do not want to get messy, you could use metallic pearls or sequins.

My Metric

10.5 cm x 14.5 cm

Inside Panel - 10 cm x 14.5 cm

Metric

10.5 cm x 14.8 cm

Inside Panel 10cm x 14.3cm

Imperial

4." x 5.5"

Inside Panel 3.75 x 5.25

I like all three, but the glitter just has an extra edge. Nothing quite says snow/ Christmas like glitter. Which is your favourite?

January to June Mini

I am so excited that Stampin’ Up! have release their new mini catalogue. It contains some super gorgeous new items. The video below gives a quick overview of all the super pretty items.

It is a little book of joy, have you got your copy yet?

Hotel Chocolat Ribbon Bag

I haven’t met very many people who are not keen on chocolate. I know that a few chocolates will cheer anyone up and are greatly appreciated. My favourite are the Gems and my parents favourite Dark Chocolate Brazil nuts are from Hotel Chocolat., they come packaged in the Ribbon bags, they look super pretty. Although they are prettily wrapped, I like to add to the beauty by using gorgeous paper to wrap them in. I try to change the packaging for every celebration.

The original bag uses the gorgeous In Good Taste DSP, I made the second bag with the gorgeous Fine Art Floral DSP from the January to June Mini Catalogue (available from 5th Jan). It is a gorgeous combination of stunning painted flowers and abstract patterns. I love the colours and that the flowers are a large design perfect for large bags and creations.

One of my favourite packages is this gorgeous bag. The video below shows how I have created this bag, I have used the Fine Art Floral DSP but any designer series paper will work.

Instructions

Imperial -

Piece of DSP measuring 9.75” x 11.5”

Score on long side (11.5”) at: - 1.75”, 5.5”, 7.25” and 11”

Score on short side (9.75”) at: - 1.75” flip the paper and score at 2”

Metric -

Piece of DSP measuring 25cm x29cm

Score on long side 29cm at: - 4.5cm, 14cm, 18.5cm and 28cm

Score on short side 25cm at: 4.5cm flip the paper and score at 5 cm

I need to restock up on Ribbon bags, but I hope that you like these which do you prefer, the masculine version or the floral version?

In good taste masculine cards

I really struggle with cards with a masculine theme, it is something I am trying to overcome as my mother always asks for masculine birthday cards. I know that there is always a need for masculine cards but I loose my mojo and end up making something that looks awful (awful to me as I am a perfectionist.)

I decided that I wanted to create a simple birthday card for my brother in laws (they are both June babies.)

I loved the in good taste paper as soon as I saw it and though that it would be the perfect DSP to use. It is a stunning combination of photgraphic imagery (mainly tiles, who knew they could make such pretty papers) and gorgeous neutral patterns. I also wanted to utilise the stamps from the Looking Up Card Kit, Happy Birthday is one of my most used sentiments but this layout would also work for Thank You cards.

This card is simple to make and could be made using any combination of card and DSP. I used the Tailored Tag Punch but any punch or die could be used to create the shape. If you do not have shapes or dies, you could also use any shape for the sentiment.

The sketches for the card are below. You will also find a video of me making the cards (I have to confess it was recorded a while ago).

The Dimensions are:

Metric

Base: 21cm x 14.5cm scored at 10.5cm

Layer 1: 12.5cm x 8.5cm

DSP layer: - 12cm x 8cm

Strip: 12cm x 0.5cm

I love these cards and I will be using this sketch again.

Simple Cards using the Looking Up All Inclusive kits

I have probably said a number of times over the years, that I love the all inclusive kits from Stampin’ Up!® Not just because they contain all you need to make the cards shown in the instructions, but also offer items which can be used after all the cards are made. You will see a number of cards on Pinterest and Youtube which use the Looking Up All Inclusive stamps on cards. It is a very versatile stamp set which includes one of my most used sentiments ‘Happy Birthday.’  

I have been playing with the Looking Up All Inclusive card kit using the Bermuda Bay Stampin’ Spot, stamps and leftovers to create cards with different backgrounds. I have added a few items to the kit, but there are a few cards which just use items from the kit. All the cards use Whisper White Notecards.

The instructions are shown in the video below.

Card 1 – Stamped Background

This card uses one of the sentiments in Momento ink and the star stamp used with the Bermuda Bay Stampin’ Spot. I have used 3 generation stamping for the star (using the stamp 3 times without reinking, to create different colours of stars on the papers.) I have added the waste from the metallic stickers to add interest to the stars. I have repeated the sentiment on the insideand repeated the star stamping.

Card 2 – Side Dots

This card uses one of the sentiments in Momento ink and a sponge
dauber. I have added the sentiment to the right hand side in Momento ink and tapped the dauber in the Bermuda Bay Stampin’ Spot and added spots to the left hand side of the card.

Card 3 - Dot card 

This card uses one of the sentiments in Momento ink and a sponge
dauber. I tapped the dauber in the Bermuda Bay Stampin’ Spot added spots all over the front of the card.  I then added the sentiment to the centre of the card in Momento ink.

Card 4 – Blended background

This card uses one of the sentiments in Momento ink and a Blending
brush. I added the Bermuda Bay ink to the brush and added the ink in circles on the front of the card (remembering to add the first few circles on to scrap
paper to remove the excess ink).  I then added the sentiment to the centre of the card in Momento ink.

Card 5 – Smooshing

This card uses one of the sentiments and the smooshing technique. I added ink to a piece of plastic (I used the plastic on the stamp set) using the
Bermuda Bay Stampin’ Spot. I then sprayed the ink with water, I removed the excess water with a piece of kitchen role then smooshed the plastic on to the
front of the card. If the plastic is too wet, it will warp the note card. I added a sentiment to the centre of the card in Bermuda Bay ink. I added the excess
from the metallic stickers, as I thought that they looked like confetti. I added a sentiment to the front using the Bermuda Bay ink.

All of these technics can be used with any colours, I think that the Smooshing card is my favourite. Which is yours?